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Key to Revival

By Gordon L. Ziegler Blueprint for Revival Series

Cover: A key in the beak of a dove flying out of the blackness is a fitting symbol of the key to revival. The dove represents the Holy Spirit. The blackness represents ignorance, sin, apostasy and rebellion. Only the Holy Spirit can rouse the human mind with the logical and spiritual key to revival. ii

Key to Revival

by Gordon L. Ziegler

Blueprint for Revival Series

Key to Revival by Gordon L. Ziegler © 1973 Gordon L. Ziegler © 1979 Gordon L. Ziegler © 1994 Gordon L. Ziegler © 2003 Benevolent Enterprises © 2004 Benevolent Enterprises © 2006 Benevolent Enterprises © 2007 Benevolent Enterprises This book was born in 1973; Was rewritten several times by 1979; Had a major revision in 1994; Was revised December 13, 2004. Was reformatted and revised April 4, 2006. Was reformatted and last revised August 21, 2007 Permission is granted to quote from this book, and to widely circulate the electronic files, and even to reprint the book on paper, provided the books are not for sale, but are given away free. Unless otherwise noted All Scripture citations are from The King James Version of the Bible.

Author: Gordon L. Ziegler Publisher Benevolent Enterprises P.O. Box 1162 Olympia, WA 98507-1162 U.S.A. [email protected]

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PREFACE This book answers the following type of questions: Why hasn't Jesus come yet? Is it because God's people need a revival and reformation? How can we obtain an awakening? Can we secure clues from past revivals? Is there a recurring pattern in historical revivals and reformations? Where are we now relative to that pattern? What is the difference between legalism and antinomianism? How do views on the atonement, the nature of Christ, and the sealing impact our quest for a revival and reformation? What is the final revival type? Are we nearing it? These pages prepare the reader for the final revival and reformation. Some of the answers offered in this book will surprise you. They could even change your life.

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CONTENTS

PREFACE......................................................................... 3 CONTENTS...................................................................... 5 1. Why the Delay?........................................................... 7 PART ONE: CLUES FROM THE PAST 2. Early Revivals: From Eden to Egypt ........................ 16 3. Early Revivals: From Egypt to Babylon ................... 22 4. Struggles Over the Law............................................. 31 5. Struggles Over the Gospel ........................................ 35 6. More Struggles Over the Gospel............................... 50 7. Struggles Over Bible Prophecy................................. 71 8. Law Based Revival—1844-1865 .............................. 90 9. Revival and Reformation Patterns ............................ 94 PART TWO: REVIVAL KEY FOR ADVENTISTS 10. Adventism Repeats the Past .................................... 111 11. What Really Happened After 1888? ....................... 135 12. The True and the Counterfeit................................... 169 13. Adventist Antinomianism ........................................ 185

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14. Struggles Over the Atonement ................................ 205 15. Struggles Over Christ's Nature ................................ 227 16. Struggles Over the Sealing...................................... 266 17. Adventists Begin Prophecy Emphasis .................... 337 18. Adventist Revival Patterns...................................... 340 19. On to the Finish Line! ............................................. 344 BIBLIOGRAPHY ........................................................ 355

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Chapter 1 WHY THE DELAY?

This world's many problems, which grow worse year by year, are never resolved or eliminated: war, poverty, disease, juvenile delinquency, crime, catastrophic loss of life and property, old age, and prospect of death. What is the solution to these pressing predicaments of humanity? The Bible student knows that human sin is the underlying cause of all these complications. How and when will human sin be eliminated? Sin and the increasing difficulties associated with it will continue to the end of the world when Jesus will come in the clouds of heaven to rescue His redeemed from the general ruin of the planet. Only the plan of salvation can rescue people from sin, and one would think only the fires of the last day and the recreation of the world more beautiful than it was in the beginning can eliminate the sin problem in the universe. All creation travails in agony waiting for that day. Romans 8:22, 23. Jesus promised, "Behold, I come quickly." Revelation 22:7. Our agonized hearts respond, "Even so, come, Lord Jesus." Revelation 22:20. If the coming of Christ is the solution to mankind's difficulties, then why has Christ not come already, or why doesn't He come now? What is delaying His advent? Why must the human agony continue any longer? The answer, of course, is found in the Bible. Jesus laid down a prerequisite for the end of the world. "And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come." Matthew 24:14. The end of the world cannot come until all men have a chance to accept the gospel. To end the world sooner would be contrary to His love and pity for humanity. Therefore Christ would delay His advent if there is any hope that any more might accept the gospel, for He 7

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is "longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." 2 Peter 3:9. What then determines how swiftly the gospel shall be carried to all the world? Christ might have given this work to angels, but instead He said, "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you." Matthew 28:19, 20. Many years ago Ellen White commented on the delay of Christ's coming: Christ tells us when that day shall be ushered in. He does not say that all the world will be converted, but that "this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations, and then shall the end come." By giving the gospel to the world it is in our power to hasten our Lord's return. We are not only to look for but to hasten the coming of the day of God. 2 Peter 3:12, margin. Had the church of Christ done her appointed work as the Lord ordained, the whole world would before this have been warned, and the Lord Jesus would have come to our earth in power and great glory.1 The above statement, copyrighted in 1898, antedated the World Wars and countless other conflicts. Think of the untold human agony that could have been prevented "had the church of Christ done her appointed work"! Think also of the divine heartaches that could have been shortened— seeing His children suffer and His creation marred through sin! Those who think of the result of hastening or hindering the gospel think of it in relation to themselves and to the world. Few think of its relation to God. Few give thought to the suffering that sin has

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caused our Creator. All heaven suffered in Christ's agony; but that suffering did not begin or end with His manifestation in humanity. The cross is a revelation to our dull senses of the pain that, from its very inception, sin has brought to the heart of God.2 If Christ could have come prior to 1898 "had the church done her appointed work," why hasn't over a century of extra time been sufficient to get the job done? Clearly there must be a deficiency somewhere. The early Christian church succeeded in taking the gospel to the entire world prior to the fall of Jerusalem (Colossians 1:23). This they accomplished in less than 40 years without the modern advantages of rapid travel, printing presses, and mass communication. What power did the early Christian church have that we have not yet had in as full a measure that enabled them to preach the word of God so successfully? But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. Acts 1:8. (Emphasis added.) And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness. Acts 4:31. What was the result of the outpouring of the Spirit on the Day of Pentecost? The glad tidings of a risen Saviour were carried to the uttermost parts of the inhabited world.4

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The church of God today lacks the full measure of the Holy Spirit, and needs the Pentecostal power to finish its work on earth. If divine power does not combine with human effort, I would not give a straw for all that the greatest man could do. The Holy Spirit is wanting in our work.... What we need is the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Without this, we are no more fitted to go forth to the world than were the disciples after the crucifixion of their Lord. Jesus knew their destitution, and told them to tarry in Jerusalem until they should be endowed with power from on high.5 The promise of the Spirit is not appreciated as it should be. Its fulfillment is not realized as it might be. It is the absence of the Spirit that makes the gospel ministry so powerless. Learning, talents, eloquence, every natural or acquired endowment, may be possessed; but without the presence of the Spirit of God, no heart will be touched, no sinner be won to Christ. On the other hand, if they are connected with Christ, if the gifts of the Spirit are theirs, the poorest and most ignorant of His disciples will have a power that will tell upon hearts. God makes them the channel for the outworking of the highest influence in the universe.6 Other serious problems inhibit the outpouring of the Spirit of God, the rapid completion of the work of God on earth, and the coming of Christ. For forty years did unbelief, murmuring, and rebellion shut out ancient Israel from the land of Canaan. The same sins have delayed the entrance of modern Israel into the heavenly Canaan. In neither case were the promises of God at fault. It is

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the unbelief, the worldliness, unconsecration, and strife among the Lord's professed people that have kept us in this world of sin and sorrow so many years.—Manuscript 4, 1883. Charge It Not to God.—We may have to remain here in this world because of insubordination many more years, as did the children of Israel; but for Christ's sake, His people should not add sin to sin by charging God with the consequence of their own wrong course of action.—Letter 184, 1901.7 The great outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the church, so needed to finish the work of the gospel quickly, cannot come until there is a decided change in the attitude and experience of the people of God. In other words, a great revival and reformation of primitive godliness must first take place among us before we can have the full promised outpouring of God's Spirit and power. Latter Rain Postponed. The great outpouring of the Spirit of God, which lightens the whole earth with His glory, will not come until we have an enlightened people, that know by experience what it means to be laborers together with God. When we have entire, wholehearted consecration to the service of Christ, God will recognize the fact by an outpouring of His Spirit without measure; but this will not be while the largest portion of the church are not laborers together with God. God cannot pour out His Spirit when selfishness and selfindulgence are so manifest; when a spirit prevails that, if put into words, would express that answer of Cain,—“am I my brother's keeper?"—Review and Herald, July 21, 1896.8 Since we cannot receive the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in its fullness until we have a revival and

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reformation, then of consequence we see that seeking revival and reformation should be our first, and most important work. A revival of true godliness among us is the greatest and most urgent of all our needs. To seek this should be our first work. There must be earnest effort to obtain the blessing of the Lord.... It is our work, by confession, humiliation, repentance, and earnest prayer, to fulfill the conditions upon which God has promised to grant us His blessing. A revival need be expected only in answer to prayer.9 The church must arouse to action. The Spirit of God can never come in until she prepares the way. There should be earnest searching of heart. There should be united, persevering prayer, and through faith a claiming of the promises of God. There should be, not a clothing of the body with sackcloth, as in ancient times, but a deep humiliation of soul. We have not the first reason for self-congratulation and self-exaltation. We should humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God. He will appear to comfort and bless the true seekers.10 There is nothing that Satan fears so much as that the people of God shall clear the way by removing every hindrance, so that the Lord can pour out His Spirit upon a languishing church and an impenitent congregation. If Satan had his way, there would never be another awakening, great or small, to the end of time. But we are not ignorant of his devices. It is possible to resist his power. When the way is prepared for the Spirit of God, the blessing will come. Satan can no more hinder a shower of blessing from descending upon God's people than

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he can close the windows of heaven that rain cannot come upon the earth.11

Key to Everything! What then is the key to revival and reformation? Could we find and come into the possession of that key, come to think of it, we would have the key to everything! If we knew how a revival and reformation could be brought about, we would possess also the key to the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, the key to finishing the work of the gospel quickly, and the key to ushering in the coming of Christ, which is itself the solution to all the perplexing problems of humanity. Let us search for the key to revival. The Holy Spirit will help us find the key. God's promise is, "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened." Matthew 7:7, 8. What is the key to revival and reformation in our time? We see the importance of having such an experience, but we do not yet see how to obtain it. Could we find clues from past revivals? It would seem so. The work of God in the earth presents, from age to age, a striking similarity in every great reformation or religious movement. The principles of God's dealing with men are ever the same. The important movements of the present have their parallel in those of the past, and the experience of the church in former ages has lessons of great value for our own time.12 Let us leaf back through the pages of time to observe the characteristics and patterns of true and false revivals and reformations. Perhaps by so doing we can learn

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something that will help us know how a revival and reformation can be brought about today. __________________ 1

Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, pp. 633, 634.

2

Ellen G. White, Education, p. 263.

3

Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, p. 633.

4

Ellen G. White, The Acts of the Apostles, p. 48.

5

Ellen G. White, Selected Messages, Book One, p. 411.

6

Ellen G. White, Christ's Object Lessons, p. 328.

7

Ellen G. White, Evangelism, p. 696.

8

Ellen G. White, Counsels on Stewardship, p. 52.

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10

Ibid., p. 126.

11

Ibid., p. 124.

12

Ellen G. White, The Great Controversy, p. 343.

PART ONE

CLUES FROM THE PAST

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Chapter 2 EARLY REVIVALS: FROM EDEN TO EGYPT

In Eden before the fall, Adam and Eve knew of no gospel or prophecy. They didn't need them. Adam and Eve were sinless. They did not as yet need a Savior from sin. Neither did they need prophecies of a better world to come. They then lived in Paradise. God Himself had declared their world and everything in it "very good." Genesis 1:31. But Adam and Eve did need religious training relative to the moral law of the Universe. Angels therefore taught them the nature of the divine law, their obligation to obey it, and Satan's purpose to tempt them to disobey it.1 In the fall of the human race, a dazzling, flying, talking serpent beguiled Eve. She believed the serpent's lies, and thus doubted God. She partook of the forbidden fruit, and then hurried to tempt Adam to also eat of it. Adam was not deceived. However, he agonized over a dilemma: Should he obey God and be forever separated from Eve whom he loved more than life itself? or should he disobey God, incur His wrath, and share the fate of Eve his wife? He seized the forbidden fruit and ate it, vowing to be united with Eve in death. When God came to visit the pair in the cool of the day, Adam and Eve desperately needed a revival and reformation. They did not wish to see God. Ashamed, they accused each other, the serpent, and, indirectly, God for their sin. The law was now powerless to cleanse them from their sin, or even to bring them to a state of repentance. God could not do away with the law to meet their fallen condition. Yet the law was no longer sufficient for their needs. They needed a Savior and a hope for the future. They needed the gospel and prophecy. God gave them both in the sentence pronounced upon Satan.

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Chapter 2

Early Revivals: From Eden to Egypt

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To man the first intimation of redemption was communicated in the sentence pronounced upon Satan in the garden. The Lord declared, "I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel." Genesis 3:15. This sentence, uttered in the hearing of our first parents, was to them a promise. While it foretold war between man and Satan, it declared that the power of the great adversary would finally be broken. Adam and Eve stood as criminals before the righteous Judge, awaiting the sentence which transgression had incurred; but before they heard of the toil and sorrow which must be their portion, or of the decree that they must return to dust, they listened to words that could not fail to give them hope. Though they must suffer from the power of their mighty foe, they could look forward to final victory.2 Adam and Eve received the provisions of the plan of salvation (the gospel) in a variety of ways. The sentence upon Satan implied a promise of a Savior and a Messiah. Angels more fully opened to our first parents the relationship between the atoning sacrifice of Christ and the law.3 Christ Himself instituted the typical sacrificial system and supervised Adam in the performance of that first painful ceremony. God also revealed to Adam the important events in human history, from the time Christ pronounced the sentence in Eden, to the Flood, and onward to the first advent of the Son of God.4 Adam and Eve then possessed the law of God, an understanding of the provisions of the plan of salvation (the gospel), and a glimpse of the future (prophecy). The heavenly agencies presented Adam and Eve a balanced theological revival and reformation message. Yet they most emphasized to Adam and Eve the gospel. The prophecies presented were mostly messianic in character, and the

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sacrificial system emphasized the Lamb of God that would one day take away the sin of the world. John 1:29. Satan did not wait long before he counterfeited the gospel. He led the eldest son of Adam to devise a theology of his own. While Abel brought the offering prescribed by God—a sacrifice from the flock—Cain brought to the Lord only the fruits of his labors—produce from his field. He would not bring the lamb, and mingle its blood with his offering. He rejected the concept of the atonement of Christ, and instead thought to appease God with the works of his hands. Nearly every false religion has been based upon the same principle—legalism, salvation by works. As human population increased, so did wickedness. "And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually." Genesis 6:5. "The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence." Genesis 6:11. Earth rapidly approached a crisis. Soon God must sweep away the wicked in a world-wide flood. Men and women trampled the law of God under foot. They despised and neglected the gospel provisions. The times demanded something more. And so, increasingly, God emphasized prophecy—especially prophecies of judgment to come. And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him. Jude 14, 15. Noah, Methuselah, Enoch, and others preached also of the more imminent judgment to come upon the world, the great universal Flood.5 As Noah preached, he worked. The

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construction of the ark proved his sincerity and gave force to his prophetic message of the destruction to come. Yet the world rejected that message. The flood came and swept nearly all of humanity away. Only eight people were saved in the ark—Noah and his family. Noah and his sons kept alive the great religious truths known before the Flood, passing them down generation to generation. The world had seen the emphasis of law, then gospel, and then prophecy. As the world again grew increasingly wicked, God called out a noble line of patriarchs to keep alive these spiritual truths. Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph and his brothers sojourned in this world as aliens, keeping their eyes fixed on the blessings of God to come. They knew and kept God's law (Genesis 26:5), they experienced righteousness by faith (Genesis 15:6; Romans 4:3), but their greatest preoccupation was with future events.6 Over and over again, God promised Abraham a son (Genesis 12:7; 13:15, 16; 15:4, 5; 17:15, 16, 19; 18:10), for whom he had to wait many years. Abraham was promised that he would be a father of many nations (Genesis 17:5, 6). Sarah his wife would also be the mother of nations (Genesis 17:16). Their posterity would be like the stars of heaven for multitude (Genesis 15:5), or as the dust of the earth (Genesis 13:16). God reconfirmed these promises to Isaac and Jacob. God promised them their seed would inherit the land through which they were then sojourning as aliens (Genesis 17:8; 26:1-4; 28:13, 14). Through their seed all the families of the earth would be blessed (Genesis 22:18; 26:4; 28:14)—that is, through their seed the Messiah would come. The patriarchs cherished these promises, and looked forward by faith to their fulfillment. By faith they looked even further into the future to the home of the redeemed in eternity. They "looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God." Hebrews 11:10. God faithfully told His patriarchs the bad things as well as the good things to come. One night God warned Abraham

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of the fearful bondage that would come upon his children in the land of Egypt, and how long it would last. And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, lo, an horror of great darkness fell upon him. And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years; And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance. Genesis 15:12-14. The bondage of the children of Israel in Egypt for so many years well nigh extinguished the light of truth. The Egyptians enslaved the sons of Abraham, abusing them physically, psychologically, and spiritually. Persecution and oppression attacked the true worship. Idolatry and licentiousness met the eyes of the slaves at every turn. As a consequence, the Israelites forgot most of the hoard of accumulated spiritual wisdom of the ages. With this people God virtually had to start all over in the process of religious education. And this He did. God showed them His power and His love for them. And He began again with the law. __________________ 1

Ellen G. White, Patriarchs and Prophets, pp. 49, 52,

2

Ibid., pp. 65, 66.

3

Ibid., pp. 66-68.

4

Ibid., pp. 67, 68.

5

Ibid., p. 92.

53.

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Ibid., p. 177.

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Chapter 3 EARLY REVIVALS: FROM EGYPT TO BABYLON

From Eden to the period just before the Exodus, God emphasized the law, the gospel, and prophecy in His dealings with the human race—in that order. During the period of bondage, however, the Israelites forgot most of their religious knowledge. Thus, at the Exodus, God started His spiritual training of His people at the theological beginning. As before, He first emphasized the law in His dealings with the delivered slaves. Shortly after the Israelites began their march through the Sinai desert, they received an effective lesson regarding the Seventh-day Sabbath. When the store of food was exhausted, Jehovah rained manna from heaven to sustain the Jewish people. Six mornings the people awoke to find manna on the ground. But on the seventh day, as God forewarned them, the people found none. God, through Moses, instructed the people to gather only as much manna each day as they could eat that day (for the manna spoiled if kept overnight). The rule for Friday, however, was to gather twice as much so that there would be no need to gather manna on Sabbath. The Lord miraculously preserved the manna gathered on Friday that was kept for Sabbath. The people were instructed to stay in their tents on Sabbath, and not to go in search for manna. The first Sabbath a few disobeyed. Some ventured out to gather manna, but there was none, just as God had indicated. The Lord reproved the congregation for their disobedience. Exodus 16:27-29. Soon after this experience the congregation received another lesson on the law of God. The Lord came down upon Mount Sinai to proclaim His law to His people amid scenes of awful grandeur and mystery. In preparation for this event the people were required to spend three days 22

Chapter 3 Early Revivals: From Egypt to Babylon

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cleansing their bodies and their clothes, and in confessing their sins. On the morning of the third day, as the eyes of all the people turned toward the mount, a thick cloud, which grew more black and dense, covered its summit, sweeping downward until it wrapped the entire mountain in darkness and awful mystery. Then a sound of a trumpet was heard, summoning the people to meet with God; and Moses led them forth to the base of the mountain. From the thick darkness flashed vivid lightnings, while peals of thunder echoed and re-echoed among the surrounding heights. And Mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because the Lord descended upon it in fire: and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly." "The glory of the Lord was like devouring fire on the top of the mount" in the sight of the assembled multitude. And "the voice of the trumpet sounded long, and waxed louder and louder." So terrible were the tokens of Jehovah's presence that the hosts of Israel shook with fear, and fell upon their faces before the Lord. Even Moses exclaimed, "I exceedingly fear and quake." Hebrews 12:21. And now the thunders cease; the trumpet was no longer heard; the earth was still. There was a period of solemn silence, and then the voice of God was heard. Speaking out of the thick darkness that enshrouded Him, as He stood upon the mount, surrounded by a retinue of angels, the Lord made known His law.1 God spoke the law amid thunder and flame and aweinspiring scenes to impress His people with the sacredness, the importance, and the permanence of His law. He wanted

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His people never to forget His law and to be impressed with profound veneration for the Lawgiver—the Creator of heaven and earth.2 The people of Israel were over-whelmed with terror. The awful power of God's utterances seemed more than their trembling hearts could bear. For as God's great rule of right was presented before them, they realized as never before the offensive character of sin, and their own guilt in the sight of a holy God. They shrank away from the mountain in fear and awe. The multitude cried out to Moses, "Speak thou with us, and we will hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we die." The leader answered, "Fear not: for God is come to prove you, and that His fear may be before your faces, that ye sin not." The people, however, remained at a distance, gazing in terror upon the scene, while Moses "drew near unto the thick darkness where God was." The minds of the people, blinded and debased by slavery and heathenism, were not prepared to appreciate fully the far-reaching principles of God's ten precepts. That the obligations of the Decalogue might be more fully understood and enforced, additional precepts were given, illustrating and applying the principles of the Ten Commandments. These laws were called judgments, both because they were framed in infinite wisdom and equity and because the magistrates were to give judgment according to them. Unlike the Ten Commandments, they were delivered privately to Moses, who was to communicate them to the people.3 These judgments and precepts delineated for the children of Israel the principles of God's law in more minute detail than they had ever before been understood in human history. Thus we see that in starting the cycle of


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theological emphasis over, God was not just repeating what had been fully understood before. While starting over in a sense, God also carried his Church forward in the amplification of truth. God's people reached new levels of understanding. While establishing the principles of the law in such a glorious manner, God did not long leave the emphasis upon the law. He knew the people needed something more. They needed the gospel. The people proved this fact in less than 40 days. They proved their inability to keep, in their own strength, their promise to obey all the Lord commanded them (Exodus 24:3), by their daring idolatry and licentiousness during the time Moses spent communing with God in the mount. This debauchery nearly caused the destruction of Israel, but Moses interceded with God. After God, through Moses, settled the matter, and He reinstated Israel in covenant relation with Himself, He had Moses and the children of Israel carry forward the plans for the erection of the tabernacle sanctuary. God had commanded Moses, "Let them make Me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them" (Exodus 25:8). The Lord planned to amplify greatly the lessons of the sacrificial service, typifying in much more detail the features of the plan of salvation (the gospel). God specially honored the tribe of Levi in having the care of the sanctuary, in being priests unto God, and in being teachers and instructors of the people, because they maintained their fidelity to God during the apostasy at Sinai. The Lord attached significance to every feature of the sanctuary and the sanctuary service. Everything typified some aspect of Christ's work in the plan of salvation. The holy and most holy apartments of the sanctuary, and the veil separating them, the furnishings of these rooms and the decor of both typified features of the heavenly sanctuary where Christ in the Christian dispensation would minister for man. The animal sacrifices represented Christ the Victim. The ministering priests represented Christ Our

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High Priest. The manna in the Ark of the Covenant, the showbread in the holy place, and the incense offered daily unto the Lord also typified Christ. The seven golden candlesticks represented God's church on earth, and the oil burned in them represented the Holy Spirit. The incense, ascending with the prayers of Israel, represents the merits and intercession of Christ, His perfect righteousness, which through faith is imputed to His people, and which can alone make the worship of sinful beings acceptable to God. Before the veil of the most holy place was an altar of perpetual intercession, before the holy, an altar of continual atonement. By blood and by incense God was to be approached—symbols pointing to the great Mediator, through whom sinners may approach Jehovah, and through whom alone mercy and salvation can be granted to the repentant, believing soul.4 Not only the sanctuary itself, but the ministration of the priests, was to "serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things." Hebrews 8:5. Thus it was of great importance; and the Lord, through Moses, gave the most definite and explicit instruction concerning every point of this typical service. The ministration of the sanctuary consisted of two divisions, a daily and a yearly service. The daily service was performed at the altar of burnt offering in the court of the tabernacle and in the holy place; while the yearly service was in the most holy.5 The daily service typified the work of Christ from His ascension to 1844. In the earthly daily service the sins of the people were transferred in type to the sanctuary, while they were transferred in fact to the heavenly sanctuary by


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the blood of Christ. In the earthly service there was a special service once a year to "cleanse the sanctuary" of the sins that had been transferred there throughout the year. Just so once in the end of the world Christ ministers in the most holy place of the heavenly sanctuary to cleanse it and His people. This work of Christ, otherwise known as the investigative judgment, began on October 22, 1844 at the end of the 2300 prophetic days of the prophecy of Daniel (Daniel 8:14). As in the final atonement the sins of the truly penitent are to be blotted from the records of heaven, no more to be remembered or come into mind, so in the type they were borne away into the wilderness, forever separated from the congregation. Since Satan is the originator of sin, the direct instigator of all the sins that caused the death of the Son of God, justice demands that Satan shall suffer the final punishment. Christ's work for the redemption of men and the purification of the universe from sin will be closed by the removal of sin from the heavenly sanctuary and the placing of these sins upon Satan, who will bear the final penalty. So in the typical service, the yearly round of ministration closed with the purification of the sanctuary, and the confessing of the sins on the head of the scapegoat. Thus in the ministration of the tabernacle, and of the temple that afterward took its place, the people were taught each day the great truths relative to Christ's death and ministration, and once each year their minds were carried forward to the closing events of the great controversy between Christ and Satan, the final purification of the universe from sin and sinners.6

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Thus God greatly expanded for the children of Israel the lessons of the plan of salvation. God amplified the detailed specifications of the law, and enlarged and clarified the gospel in type. Daily the typical offerings presented in the court reminded the people of the atoning sacrifice of the Messiah to come. The gospel in type was the great theological emphasis for many years. The typical service reached the zenith of its glory in the magnificent temple erected by Solomon. But Solomon, while beginning his reign in humility, simplicity, and devotion to God, soon compromised his principles in marrying heathen wives and in building edifices of worship for heathen deities. Though in later life he repented and tried to counter his earlier negative influence, his course began an apostasy that resulted eventually in the permanent scattering of the ten tribes and the Babylonian captivity of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin. Not all the judgments and statutes of God, nor the beauties of the typical service halted this downward course. And so, God called into increasing action the prophetic office to warn the people of impending doom for the nation, and to give the people also a hope for the future after all the trials and suffering awaiting the Jewish race. Of all Bible times, this period of history had the greatest emphasis upon prophecy. Just prior to, and during the Babylonian captivity, more Hebrew prophets spoke than at any other time in history. More pages of prophecy, by far, were written in the Bible during this time than at any other time. The prophets wrote pages after pages of the judgments to come and of the glory that was to follow. Many have called Isaiah "the gospel prophet," and Jeremiah "the weeping prophet." God specially honored Daniel by showing him the connected sweep of history from his day to the second advent of Christ. Much more could be said regarding these interesting times. However, we can see, by the study we have done, the cycle of theological emphasis during the ages. Two


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revolutions of this cycle occurred from Eden to the Babylonian captivity of the Jewish people. As we shall study in succeeding chapters, another revolution of the same cycle occurred from the Babylonian captivity to 1844. Much more space shall be devoted in this book to that period of history, for the struggle between true and counterfeit revivals and reformations is more clearly recognizable in the Babylon to 1844 period of history and more directly applicable to our circumstances today. The author included the first two revolutions of this theological emphasis cycle in this book for two reasons. First, they prove the cyclical pattern of relative theological emphases followed a similar course throughout all of human history. Second, without the inclusion of this early period in a study of the pattern of history, one might erroneously conclude that the gospel emphasis and prophecy emphasis were strictly limited to the Christian dispensation. Not so. One of the greatest times of prophetic emphasis was prior to and during the Babylonian captivity of the Jewish people. As we study the next revolution of this cyclic theological emphasis pattern, we shall give greater attention to Satan's counterfeits that corresponded to God's special emphasis for each age. While God used law, gospel, and last-day prophecy to bring about revival and reformation and to advance His work, Satan ever attempted to thwart God's plan by promulgating a corresponding counterfeit message: legalism, antinomianism, and false prophecy. The study of the third revolution of this cycle, from the Babylonian captivity to 1844, suffices to develop this pattern clearly. The pattern, in turn, sheds great light on where the Advent Movement has been since the 1844 disappointment (in the theological and spiritual sense), and where it must yet go. ________________

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Ellen G. White, Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 304.

2

Ibid., p. 309.

3

Ibid., p. 324.

4

Ibid., p. 353.

5

Ibid., pp. 351, 352.

6

Ibid., p. 358.

Chapter 4 STRUGGLES OVER THE LAW Historical Setting—607-457 B.C. By the time of the Babylonian captivity, the Jewish people had reached a real spiritual low. For many years they had scoffed at, persecuted, and tortured the messengers God had sent to warn them of their impending doom. The nation was dead in sins. The exile, however, changed their national attitudes. It humbled their proud spirits. It taught them the first lesson, that obedience to God is necessary for prosperity and happiness.1 They truly repented of their crimes. They permanently renounced the worship of graven images.2 So God directed their reestablishment in their homeland after the fall of Babylon under the favorable treatment by the Medo-Persian kings. The returned exiles under Zerrubbabel and Joshua the high priest made some gains in the first return. They rebuilt the temple and experienced a revival and reformation. But when Zerrubbabel and Joshua died, grave sins again crept into the lives of the populace at Jerusalem, including the leaders. When Ezra arrived some 80 years later, he found matters in a bad spiritual condition. Very soon thereafter a few of the chief men of Israel approached Ezra with a serious complaint. Some of "the people of Israel, and the priests, and the Levites" had so far disregarded the holy commands of Jehovah as to intermarry with the surrounding peoples. "They have taken of their daughters for themselves, and for their sons," Ezra was told, "so that the holy seed have mingled themselves with the people" of heathen lands; "yea

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KEY TO REVIVAL the hand of the princes and the rulers hath been chief in this trespass." Ezra 9:1, 2.3 Revival Based on the Divine Law—457-408 B.C.

Ezra's research showed the leading cause of Israel's apostasy and subsequent captivity was their mingling with heathen nations. When Ezra learned his people were again guilty of the crimes that caused them to be led into captivity, he was overwhelmed with righteous indignation and grief. He rent his garment and mantle, plucked off the hair from his head and beard, and sat down astonied. (Ezra 9:3, 4). Those that "trembled at the words of the God of Israel" gathered about him, sympathizing with his grief. At the time of the evening sacrifice he rose, again rent his garment and mantle, then fell upon his knees and unburdened his soul in supplication to Heaven. Ezra 9:6-15. The sorrow of Ezra and his associates over the evils that had insidiously crept into the very heart of the Lord's work wrought repentance. Many of those who had sinned were deeply affected. "The people wept very sore." Ezra 10:1.4 The response of the people encouraged Ezra to rise and lead the people in covenanting with God to forsake their sins and to be adjudged "according to the law." This began a wonderful reformation based on the law. This revival and reformation maintained a theological balance through the combined study of the law, the gospel in sanctuary types, and the prophetic messages,5 yet emphasized mostly the law of God.6 Inspiration used the great reformation during the time of Ezra and Nehemiah as a symbol of the final great reformation to be affected in the end of time.7 Contrary to popular opinion, the law of God can bring about a revival and reformation, for "the law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul." Psalm 19:7.

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Legalism Apostasy—408 B.C.-27 A.D. The law-based revival and reformation in Ezra's time placed Satan in a dilemma. The people were more motivated to obey God than they had been for centuries. How could he regain control over them? He would work to bring in thousands of contradictory human precepts to be obeyed. Legalism would work to their spiritual defeat, for "a legal religion can never lead souls to Christ: for it is a loveless, Christ-less religion."8 Satan nearly succeeded with this policy. By Jesus’ day the priests and rulers had so multiplied minute and burdensome exactions it was practically impossible for the people to keep the law. Those trying to serve God staggered under a weighty load. Thus Satan perverted the faith of Israel. Men no longer had a barrier against sin.9, 10 True Obedience—27-31 A.D. By the time of Christ's first advent, almost all humanity had lost sight of the true revival emphasis based on the theme of love to God shown by obedience to His law. Humanity groaned under a heavy burden of human enactments. Christ came to lift that burden. Through example and teaching, Jesus tore away the mass of tradition and human enactments, leaving but the heavenly precepts. Jesus showed that "it is lawful to do well on the Sabbath days." Matthew 12:12. But though Jesus did not regard human tradition, He did not break God's law. His Father's commandments He kept perfectly. Through the influence of Christ's life and teaching, and the labors of His disciples, God's followers regained the truths and much of the enthusiasm of the first revival emphasis (on the law of God). ________________

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34 1


2


3

Ellen G. White, Prophets and Kings, pp. 619, 620.

4

Ibid., p. 622.

5

Ibid., p. 705.

6

Ibid., p. 622.

7

Ibid., p. 677.

8


9

Ellen G. White, Prophets and Kings, p. 709.

10

Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, pp. 35, 36.

Chapter 5 STRUGGLES OVER THE GOSPEL

Preview of the Gospel—27-31 A.D. As Jesus worked to restore the law to its rightful place, He also began presenting a preview of the truths which would soon burst upon humanity with compelling power. In His death and resurrection, Christ would unleash a second and more powerful force in revival and reformation—the second theological emphasis. The new force would be the Christ Our Righteousness message theme—always inherent in God's message to man, but heretofore dimly veiled in type, ritual, and prophecy. Jesus began lifting the veil early in His ministry as He talked to Nicodemus in the nighttime interview. Jesus drew a lesson from an Old Testament experience: "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have eternal life." John 3:14, 15. In the experience from which Jesus drew this lesson, the children of Israel were bitten and were dying of "fiery serpents" due to their sin in speaking against the Lord. God prescribed an unusual remedy. God instructed Moses to make a like "fiery serpent" of brass, and raise it upon a pole. Those who were bitten and looked upon this serpent, believing, were healed (Numbers 21:4-9). What a mysterious type the wilderness brazen serpent had been! The ancient Jews had misinterpreted its import—in later years they burned incense to it as though it had been a heaven-ordained idol. 2 Kings 18:4. Yet to this Old Testament mystery Christ pointed Nicodemus. "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life." John 3:14, 15. 35

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Not until the ascension of Christ did God's people clearly understand that the serpent (the symbol of sin, Genesis 3:15) lifted upon a pole (a symbol of a curse upon the hanging one, Deuteronomy 21:22, 23) represented Christ, the sinless sin bearer, lifted up to die upon Calvary's cross. As Paul taught, "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every on that hangeth on a tree: That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith." Galatians 3:13, 14. Again, in another place, Paul explained, "he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him." 2 Corinthians 5:21. The truth that Christ opened to Nicodemus, Ellen White explained in these words: Christ was treated as we deserve, that we might be treated as He deserves. He was condemned for our sins, in which He had no share, that we might be justified by His righteousness, in which we had no share. He suffered the death which was ours, that we might receive the life which was His. "With His stripes we are healed."1 This amazing transaction—exchanging our sins for Christ's righteousness—is the underlying mystery of the gospel.

Apostolic Christ Our Righteousness—31-100 A.D. When Christ rose from the dead, met the disciples, and explained the Scriptures to them, the disciples began to see both prophecies and events in a new light. Their eyes opened to truths they could not comprehend before. Their great sorrow and disappointment at the crucifixion of the

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37

Lord turned into joy as they fellowshipped with the risen Christ and learned why He had to die. They learned He died to atone for the sins of the world, and so whosoever would believe on Him could have eternal life. John 3:16. This precious new light on the truths of the gospel became their all-engrossing theme and emphasis. This second theological emphasis brought about a revival and reformation in the apostolic period. As with the first theological emphasis revival—on the law of God—the first sign of genuine revival and reformation, earnest mourning for sin, showed in the faces of the disciples and people immediately after the cross, as part of the second revival emphasis. The disciples could scarcely forgive themselves for having deserted their Lord at the time of His crucifixion. During Peter's sermon at Pentecost, the people, "pricked in their heart" as their sin of crucifying Christ was presented unto them, "said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do?" Peter answered, "Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost." Acts 2:37, 38. What love Christ showed for man! Even considering His death, Christ did not purpose to condemn man; "but that the world through Him might be saved." John 3:17. The consciousness of such thrilling facts brought a new experience to the disciples and the people. They could not contain their joy. "The record says that they were 'continually in the temple, praising and blessing God.' Luke 24:53."2 Mysteries hidden from generations were make known to God's people. To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Colossians 1:26, 27.

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God utilized this aspect of new, fresh, gripping interest of the truths to inspire His people with a holy zeal. More clearly than had those in any previous age, New Testament Christians came to understand the science of salvation. The apostles emphasized righteousness through faith in Christ, justification, sanctification, and the indwelling of Christ in the life by the Holy Spirit. With a new and holy boldness, the disciples went to the uttermost parts of the earth with the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Legalism Wars Against the Gospel—31-100 A.D. In a desperate move to stop the success of Christ's gospel message (His second revival emphasis message), Satan quickly propounded and disseminated a counter argument to the gospel. It had two parts: (1) a masterly misrepresentation of the gospel—the claim that the teaching of salvation through faith in Christ did away with the law and the necessity of law keeping; (2) the conclusion that this alleged doing away with the law is bad. Paul protested against this misunderstanding of the gospel. "Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law." Romans 3:31. Obedience to the law in the gospel era is just as important as it was in Old Testament times. The apostle James urged, "So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty." James 2:12. "For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.... Faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone." James 2:10, 17. Far from doing away with the law of God, the death of Christ proved the law immutable, for could God have at all altered the law to meet fallen man, Christ need not have died.3 Christ's death atones for the believer's sins, and the life of the risen Saviour enables the believer to overcome sin and to keep the law through the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit. The second revival message (the

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gospel) subtracted nothing from the true first revival message of law keeping by faith. The gospel emphasis added new truths and momentum to the law emphasis. New light did not replace old light; it amplified it and clarified it. Despite all the clarifying speeches and letters by the apostles, the argument that the gospel had done away with law keeping, and that was bad, was not easily silenced. The repeated use of this argument by the external foes of the church led to the martyrdom of Stephen (Acts 6:11, 13, 14), the persecution of Paul at Corinth (Acts 18:13), and his later arrest in the temple in Jerusalem (which led to his long imprisonments and death in Rome). Acts 21:28. By confusing the minds of the people over the difference between the ceremonial and moral laws, Satan brought this legalistic counter argument of the gospel into the Christian church itself. "Certain of the sect of the Pharisees which believed" (Acts 15:5) "were slow to discern that all the sacrificial offerings had but prefigured the death of the Son of God, in which type met antitype, and after which the rites and ceremonies of the Mosaic dispensation were no longer binding."4 So these converted Pharisees zealously undertook missionary journeys preaching to the Gentile Christian converts, "Except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, ye cannot be saved." Acts 15:1. They taught that all the law of Moses must be kept with the rites and sacrifices, contrary to the teaching of the apostles. They did not totally comprehend and accept God's plan of saving men by means of faith in the Son of God. They still supposed men earned salvation by means of the rigorous observance of certain rites and ceremonies. In effect the converted Pharisees voiced the same arguments as the non-Christian Jews. While professing belief in Christ and the church, they protested that the teaching and example of the apostles did away with the law of God, which effect they maintained was bad. They set themselves to correct the supposed error. But though the

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antitypical life, death, and resurrection of Christ (the actual substance) then rightly displaced the ceremonial law (rites and ceremonies which had been a shadow of things to come), the gospel did not do away with the moral law nor with the necessity of obedience. The Pharisaic teaching in Antioch resulted in much discussion and contention. With urgency, the local leaders sent Paul and Barnabas to a council in Jerusalem to settle this question. In actuality, the Holy Spirit already settled the question in coming upon the uncircumcised believing Gentiles with the same power and gifts as upon the circumcised Jewish believers. Recognizing this heavenly evidence, the apostles wrote letters warning of those "which went out from us" having "troubled you with words, subverting your souls, saying, Ye must be circumcised, and keep the law: to whom we gave no such commandment." Acts 15:24. Only for awhile did this church action silence this legalistic argument of Satan. Later it rose again in the churches of Galatia. Here again "false teachers were mingling Jewish traditions with the truths of the gospel. Ignoring the decision of the general council at Jerusalem, they urged upon the Gentile converts the observance of the ceremonial law."5 These false teachers led many converts in an open apostasy, which threatened to destroy the Christian churches in Galatia. Paul was obliged to strongly rebuke this apostasy. "O foolish Galatians," he exclaimed, "who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth...? This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?... He therefore that ministereth to you the Spirit, and worketh miracles among you, doeth he it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?"

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Thus Paul arraigned the believers in Galatia before the tribunal of their own conscience and sought to arrest them in their course.6 The apostle's earnest words of entreaty were not fruitless. The Holy Spirit wrought with mighty power, and many whose feet had wandered into strange paths, returned to their former faith in the gospel. Henceforth they were steadfast in the liberty wherewith Christ had made them free.7

Satan Experiments with Antinomianism—65-100 A.D. Satan did not succeed as well as he might have hoped in combating the gospel (God's second revival emphasis message theme) with legalism (Satan's counterfeit first emphasis message theme). The gospel knew no bounds. "The Jews which believed not" complained that the Christians had "turned the world upside down." Acts 17:6. Before the destruction of Jerusalem, Paul told the Colossian believers that "the gospel . . . was preached to every creature which is under heaven." Colossians 1:23. That was quite an accomplishment for but one generation of time. Satan needed a new tactic. He needed a second type message theme of his own—one that could easily be mistaken for the gospel. He needed a cross-centered lesson, a righteousness by faith precept purporting to be the gospel, leading people deeper into sin. Satan ingeniously originated antinomianism. ("Anti-nomian”—“a member of a Christian sect which held that faith alone, not obedience to the moral law, is necessary for salvation."8) Near the close of the apostolic period, John, the beloved apostle, encountered the beginnings of out-and-out antinomianism. In his time "some who professed Christ claimed that His love released them from obedience to the

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law of God. . . . Some who pretended to be true to the cause of God were deceivers, and in practice they denied Christ and His gospel. Living themselves in transgression, they were bringing heresies into the church."9 We can learn a lot about late apostolic era antinomianism by observing what John wrote to refute it. God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth. 1 John 1:5, 6. Apparently then, as now, many were confidently living in sin while claiming a special love relationship with God. John said this boasted relationship with God, while paying little heed to the obligations of the law, is a lie. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. 1 John 1:7. In combating the counterfeit "Christ Our Righteousness" message, John solidly maintained the blessed truths of the real Christ Our Righteousness message. He did not combat antinomianism with legalism. While maintaining the necessity of obedience, he did not preach that men are saved by their works, or that obedience can atone for past transgression. No. John affirms, "the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin." 1 John 1:7. John continues: If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 1 John 1:8. One of the fearful deceptions of antinomianism is the delusion of sinlessness. This is quite natural. If one

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believes the law has been abrogated, and obedience to the law is no longer necessary, he stops looking in the mirror (law), and soon detects no dirt on his face (sin in his life). However, on the authority of the scriptures and the apostleship of John, we may know of a certainty that anyone who claims to be sinless is deceived, and the truth is not in him. The antinomians "assert that Christ by His death abolished the law, and men are henceforth free from its requirements. There are some who represent it as a grievous yoke; and in contrast to the bondage of the law, they present the liberty to be enjoyed under the gospel."10 John clearly answered this by saying, "For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous." 1 John 5:3. Peter also warned against those who, "while they promise liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption." 2 Peter 2:19-22. Associated with this anti-law form of "righteousness" are false theories of sanctification. Many antinomians "teach that sanctification is an instantaneous work, by which, through faith alone, they attain to perfect holiness. 'Only believe,' say they, 'and the blessing is yours.' No further effort on the part of the receiver is supposed to be required. At the same time they deny the authority of the law of God, urging that they are released from obligation to keep the commandments."11 The apostle James met this idea of effortless, no works, by-faith-alone Christianity. He responded, "But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?" James 2:20. By means of direct dictation to John on the Isle of Patmos, Jesus Himself went on record as being against this counterfeit gospel of righteousness by faith without obedience—antinomianism. In the messages to the seven churches, Jesus commended the Ephesian believers: "But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate." Revelation 2:6. Jesus reproved the

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church in Pergamos for having those there that held the doctrine of the Nicolaitans. Revelation 2:14-16. From Ellen White's writings we can see that the doctrine of the Nicolaitans is antinomianism: Doctrine of the Nicolaitans. —The doctrine is now largely taught that the gospel of Christ has made the law of God of no effect; that by "believing" we are released from the necessity of being doers of the Word. But this is the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which Christ so unsparingly condemned (Signs of the Times, January 2, 1912).12 We notice that antinomianism is just the reverse side of the first argument Satan used against the gospel. Satan first argued that the death and teachings of Christ did away with the law of God (which is not true), and this doing away with the law is bad. Antinomianism teaches that Christ has done away with the law and the necessity of obedience, and this is good! This is by far the worst error. Legalists can never succeed at being over comers, but antinomians don't even try!

Heresies on the Nature of Christ Along with the attacks of antinomianism against the gospel came attacks against the truths regarding the person of Christ. Christ is not only the Son of God, and thus truly God, but He is the Son of man, and thus truly man. Texts written by John indicate that these truths were being attacked in his day, and he indicated there would be even greater departures from the faith along these lines in the future.

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Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time.... Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son. Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: [but] he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also. 1 John 2:18, 22, 23. This passage counters, perhaps, more than one prevalent heresy. It counters total atheism (denying the Father and the Son). It counters the denial of the messiahship of Christ (as the Jews teach). It counters the denial of the divine Sonship of Christ—that He is the Son of God. This would counter the disbelief in the virgin birth of Christ. This passage in 1 John may also anticipate the heresy of Arius, 250-336 A.D., a Christian priest from Alexandria, Egypt, who taught only the Father is truly God, Christ and the Holy Spirit are not God—Christ was created by the Father, and the Holy Spirit is only a force or influence. Those that teach such heresies are antichrists, according to John. While some have attacked the deity of Christ, others have attacked His humanity. These also are antichrist's according to John. And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world. 1 John 4:3. For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist. 2 John 7.

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Christ came in the flesh—fallen, sinful human flesh. That is, Christ had the infirmities of fallen sinful flesh. He suffered and died as a mortal human being. He could be, and was tempted as a man. Thus He learned to identify with our temptation tortured souls. He learned how to succor those that are tempted. John indicated there were those in his day who denied this. They made Christ altogether superhuman and divine, untouchable by the feelings of our infirmities. The Catholics later did this. They taught the doctrine of the immaculate conception. The immaculate conception referred to Mary, not Christ! Thus Christ was born of an immaculate mother—sinless, perfect mother. He could not in any way have our infirmities or be tempted as we are. Thus Christ was made afar off and altogether too high for man to approach or to imitate. For that reason Mary and the saints were made to be intercessors for us to Christ. This practice robbed Christ of His intercessory role for man, and robbed man of the "one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus." 1 Timothy 2:5. Others went to the opposite extreme and made Christ altogether such as ourselves. They taught that Christ had sinful propensities or natural hereditary inclinations to sin. They did this in an attempt to make Christ a better example for us in resisting temptations felt from within. But a bent to sin is itself sin, the root of sin. Should evil propensities be in the mind of Christ, then Satan would have succeeded in touching the head of Christ, winning the contest. But the New Testament writers clarified this point also. They taught that Christ was "that holy thing," (Luke 1:35) "holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners." Hebrews 7:26. These attacks against the truths regarding the person of Christ were all attacks against the gospel—the divine formula whereby man are saved. If Christ were a mere creature, He would Himself be under the law. If He were not fully God, He would not be equal with the law and able

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to atone with His death for transgression of the law. If Christ were not truly man, if He did not have fallen, sinful human flesh, if He did not have our infirmities, then He could not have suffered and died upon the cross, and the atonement could not be made. Or at least it would only be a charade. If Christ were just like us, if He Himself had evil propensities, then He would be a real sinner, Himself needing a Saviour. And there would be none, "for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved." Acts 4:12. Each such heresy would break the only formula possible for human salvation.

Tribulation and Triumph—65-321 A.D. For three centuries Satan tried legalism, antinomianism, and various heresies on the divinity and humanity of Christ, etc., as well as increasingly severe persecution to overthrow Christianity and the gospel. But he had not yet come up with a successful plan. In vain were Satan's efforts to destroy the church of Christ by violence. The great controversy in which the disciples of Jesus yielded up their lives did not cease when these faithful standard-bearers fell at their post. By defeat they conquered. God's workmen were slain, but His work went steadily forward. The gospel continued to spread and the number of its adherents to increase. It penetrated into regions that were inaccessible even to the eagles of Rome. Said a Christian, expostulating with the heathen rulers who were urging forward the persecution: You may “kill us, torture us, condemn us. . . . Your injustice is the proof that we are innocent. . . . Nor does your cruelty . . . avail you.” Ir was but a stronger invitation to bring others to their persuasion. “The oftener we are

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mown down by you, the more in number we grow; the blood of Christians is seed.”—Tertullian, Aapology, paragraph 50. Thousands were imprisoned and slain, but others sprang up to fill their places. And those who were martyred for their faith were secured to Christ and accounted of Him as conquerors. They had fought the good fight, and they were to receive the crown of glory when Christ should come. . . . Their living example and dying testimony were a constant witness for the truth; and where least expected, the subjects of Satan were leaving his service and enlisting under the banner of Christ.13 ________________ 1 Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, p. 25. 2

Ellen G. White, The Acts of the Apostles, pp. 35, 36.

3

Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages., pp. 762, 763.

4


5

Ibid., p. 383.

6

Ibid., pp. 384, 385.

7

Ibid., p. 388.

8

Webster's New Twentieth Century Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged, Second Edition (N.Y.: World Pub. Co., 1968). 9


10


11

Ibid., p. 471.

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12

49

Ellen G. White, S.D.A. Bible Commentary, Vol. 7, p.

957. 13

Ellen G. White, The Great Controversy, pp. 41, 42.

Chapter 6 MORE STRUGGLES OVER THE GOSPEL

The Great Apostasy—321-1374 A.D. The futility of persecution disturbed Satan greatly. He realized that he needed a new and better tactic. He made an abrupt change in his methods. The great adversary now endeavored to gain by artifice what he failed to secure by force. Persecution ceased, and in its stead were substituted the dangerous allurements of temporal prosperity and worldly honor. Idolaters were led to receive a part of the Christian faith, while they rejected other essential truths. They professed to accept Jesus as the Son of God and to believe in His death and resurrection, but they had no conviction of sin and felt no need of repentance or of a change of heart. With some concessions on their part they proposed that Christians should make concessions, that all might unite on the platform of belief in Christ.1 We could wish that an inspired writer, and thus a reliable historian, had left a fuller record of the sermons and discussions of that critical time in history. With more confidence and certainty, then, we would be able to categorize the theological ideology that prevailed in that era. What did the proponents of compromise say? How did they say it? We don't know exactly. Ellen White's treatment of this period of history is very brief. The above quotation states or implies a lot of information, however. We can immediately observe that an "up with Jesus, down with 'other essential truths'2" ideology prevailed. And these essential truths were doctrines. In a 50

Chapter 6 MORE STRUGGLES OVER THE GOSPEL 51 later paragraph in The Great Controversy, Ellen White said, "these apostate Christians, uniting with their half-pagan companions, directed their warfare against the most essential features of the doctrines of Christ." (Italics supplied.)3 Thus we could say that an "up with Jesus, down with doctrines" sentiment prevailed. But what were the "essential truths" that were "rejected"? There is a clue in the clause, "but they had no conviction of sin and felt no need of repentance or of a change of heart."4 Conviction of sin comes through a proper presentation of the law of God together with Christ crucified. Presenting Christ crucified, but disregarding the law (as in antinomianism which we previously studied), produces no conviction of sin. The half-converted pagans in that time of compromise did profess "to accept Jesus as the Son of God and to believe in His death and resurrection, but they had no conviction of sin and felt no need of repentance or of a change of heart."5 Perhaps this was because the law of God was not stressed, or was rejected. This combination of features would make those compromisers antinomian in practice if not also in doctrine and propaganda. Were those compromisers indeed warring against the law of God and Christian standards? Yes. That is clear from the inspired record. Most of the Christians at last consented to lower their standard, and a union was formed between Christianity and paganism. Although the worshipers of idols professed to be converted, and united with the church, they still clung to their idolatry, only changing the objects of their worship to images of Jesus, and even of Mary and the saints. The foul leaven of idolatry, thus brought into the church, continued its baleful work. Unsound doctrines, superstitious rites, and idolatrous ceremonies were incorporated into her faith and worship. As the followers of Christ united with idolaters, the

52

KEY TO REVIVAL Christian religion became corrupted, and the church lost her purity and power.6

We can put together the above evidences to deduce that the compromisers between paganism and Christianity advocated an "up with Jesus, down with doctrines, standards, and law" policy. While we don't know for sure that many were going around preaching in those days that the law of God had been done away, nailed to the cross, yet we clearly see that they were compromising it away. The "up with Jesus, down with doctrines and standards" policy advocated had a definite ring of antinomianism to it, though this appears to have been a different form of antinomianism than was first advocated in late apostolic times. This new form of antinomianism was somewhat more subtle. Satan disguised it carefully in great outward success in converting large numbers of pagans, and even the rulers of the empire. But while there were large accessions to the church, the terms of conversion of the masses amounted to setting aside the divine safeguards for the purity of the church. Jesus was "uplifted," but His standards were "trampled." Now the church was in fearful peril. Prison, torture, fire, and sword were blessings in comparison with this. Some of the Christians stood firm, declaring that they could make no compromise. Others were in favor of yielding or modifying some features of their faith and uniting with those who had accepted a part of Christianity, urging that this might be the means of their full conversion. That was a time of deep anguish to the faithful followers of Christ. Under a cloak of pretended Christianity, Satan was insinuating himself into the church, to corrupt their faith and turn their minds from the word of truth.

Chapter 6 MORE STRUGGLES OVER THE GOSPEL 53 Most of the Christians at last consented to lower their standard, and a union was formed between Christianity and paganism.7 Did this compromise result in more broad mindedness and tolerance of differing views? No. Those who were most tolerant and compromising with pagans became the most intolerant toward those who refused to compromise with them. They began persecuting their former brethren, and "directed their warfare against the most essential features of the doctrines of Christ."8 As the result of this compromise with paganism, the Christian church rapidly degenerated into popery. The papal religion stands as a tragic monument to the success of Satan's "up with Jesus, down with doctrines and standards" ploy, which he used in the fourth and succeeding centuries. Notice the changes in Christian doctrines and standards made by this gigantic system through this form of antinomianism: Whereas in apostolic Christianity there were 1. safeguards against idolatry (1 John 5:21); 2. the observance of the Seventh-day Sabbath (Exodus 20:8-11; Luke 4:16; 23:56; Acts 18:4); 3. a belief in man's total unconsciousness in death (Ecclesiastes 9:5; John 11:11-14); 4. prohibition against creature, angel, or human worship (Exodus 20:3; Luke 4:8; Romans 1:25; Revelation 19:10); 5. admonition to "search the scriptures," (John 5:39); 6. the celebration of the Lord's supper (1 Corinthians 11:23-26); 7. confession of sins to Christ (1 John 1:9); 8. the doctrine of religious liberty (Galatians 5:1; Acts 4:19; 5:29), and 9. the spirit of loving service (Matthew 20:27); In the papacy there came to be 1. the adoration of relics and images, and a change in the ten commandment law to permit this;9 2. the substitution of the "venerable day of the sun" for the ancient Sabbath, and curses pronounced on Sabbath keepers;10 3. belief in man's natural immortality and consciousness in death, which led to the invocation of saints and adoration of Virgin Mary, as well as the heresy

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KEY TO REVIVAL

of eternal torment for the lost;11 4. the deification of the pope;12 5. the prohibition against owning or reading the scriptures;13 6. the idolatrous and blasphemous mass, in which men claim to have power to create the actual blood and body of the Creator;14 7. the doctrine of indulgences, by which men were taught that they can be released from sins, past, present, and future, and all penalties incurred by the payment of money to the church,15 and bestowal of power upon priests and monks to hear confessions and to grant pardon;16 8. great religious intolerance—the doctrine of religious freedom being termed heresy, and its upholders proscribed;17 and 9. overbearing prelate pomp, power, and pride.18 In summary, the "up with Jesus, down with doctrines and standards" form of "righteousness" brought the world into the church. "The work of corruption rapidly progressed. Paganism, while appearing to be vanquished, became the conqueror. Her spirit controlled the church. Her doctrines, ceremonies, and superstitions were incorporated into the faith and worship of the professed followers of Christ."19 Even today, there is a tremendous lure in the idea of uplifting Jesus and minimizing doctrine. The human mind has difficulty in conceiving how such a policy can be destructive of good. The concept seems so pure and uplifting. After all, isn't Jesus the center of every correct doctrine? If one has Jesus, wouldn't he automatically have all truth? In reality, however, history proves that if one disregards Christ's doctrines, he does not really have Christ, no matter how much he may boast of a love relation with Jesus. Jesus queried, And why call ye me Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say? Luke 6:46. Not every one that saith unto me Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that

Chapter 6 MORE STRUGGLES OVER THE GOSPEL 55 doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. Matthew 7:21-23. The secret of the "up with Jesus, down with doctrines and standards" theology is that it leads to iniquity rather than purity. A study of the great apostasy leading to the Dark Ages should prove this point to us. Antinomianism did not long supersede legalism as Satan's tool. While Satan gave the people enough of a dose of the "up with Jesus, down with doctrines and standards" sentiment to separate the Christians from the law of God and the seventh-day Sabbath, he immediately plunged the people into a new religion of works complete with the Sunday sabbath. Legalism again became entrenched in the very concepts of the plan of salvation. The gospel was lost sight of, but the forms of religion were multiplied, and the people were burdened with rigorous exactions. They were taught not only to look to the pope as their mediator, but to trust to the works of their own to atone for sin. Long pilgrimages, acts of penance, the worship of relics, the erection of churches, shrines, and altars, the payment of large sums to the church—these and many similar acts were enjoined to appease the wrath of God or to secure His favor; as if God were like men, to be angered at trifles, or pacified by gifts or acts of penance!20 A very great paradoxical mystery—the mystery of iniquity—is how oppressive legalism and antinomianism (contradictory opposites) can be blended in one great

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KEY TO REVIVAL

monolithic religion. But this has been accomplished in the papacy. Ellen White comments on this: The papacy is well adapted to meet the wants of all these [those who desire a method of forgetting God which shall pass as a method of remembering Him]. It is prepared for two classes of mankind, embracing nearly the whole world—those who would be saved by their merits, and those who would be saved in their sins. Here is the secret of its power.21 In the sixth century the papacy had become firmly established. Its seat of power was fixed in the imperial city, and the bishop of Rome was declared to be the head over the entire church. Paganism had given place to the papacy. The dragon had given to the beast "his power, and his seat, and great authority." Revelation 13:2. And now began the 1260 years of papal oppression foretold in the prophecies of Daniel and Revelation. Daniel 7:25; Revelation 13:5-7. Christians were forced to choose either to yield their integrity and accept the papal ceremonies and worship, or to wear away their lives in dungeons, or to suffer death by the rack, the fagot, or the headman's ax. Now were fulfilled the words of Jesus: "Ye shall be betrayed both by parents, and brethren, and kinsfolks, and friends; and some of you shall they cause to be put to death. And ye shall be hated of all men for My name's sake." Luke 21:16, 17. Persecution opened upon the faithful with greater fury than ever before, and the world became a vast battlefield. For hundreds of years the church of Christ found refuge in seclusion and obscurity.22

Chapter 6 MORE STRUGGLES OVER THE GOSPEL 57 During this long period of papal persecutions, the truths of Christ's first and second revival message emphases (law and gospel) came to be almost completely forgotten. In their stead Satan succeeded in substituting his own counterfeit gospel—antinomianism—but more universally his counterfeit law based revival—legalism, in the form of false and blasphemous sacraments, indulgences, and superstition. Losing the power of the gospel, the people became in bondage to every form of vice. The few who maintained a relatively pure religious experience were hunted like wild animals. They had to be very covert in their methods of sharing the gospel.

Protestant Christ Our Righteousness—1374-1800 The time in earth's history approached in which the allwise God would shift the religious emphasis to the prophetic theme. Yet, true to His principle, God would not shift into a third theological emphasis until the truths and momentum of the first emphases were in large degree recovered. The light of the gospel would shine forth again upon the sons of men. In the fourteenth century arose in England the "morning star of the Reformation." John Wycliffe was the herald of reform, not for England alone, but for all Christendom. The great protest against Rome which it was permitted him to utter was never to be silenced. That protest opened the struggle which was to result in the emancipation of individuals, of churches, and of nations.23 In the next several centuries, many other notable reformers followed Wycliffe, such as Huss and Jerome, Luther, Calvin, and the Wesley brothers, John and Charles. Wycliffe taught what they all taught: "Wycliffe . . . taught

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the distinctive doctrines of Protestantism—salvation through faith in Christ, and the sole infallibility of the Scriptures."24 The main emphasis throughout the entire Protestant Reformation was righteousness and salvation through faith in Christ, the very emphasis that we would expect for those times according to our revival pattern of history. Note that what was preached by the Protestant reformers was the true Christ Our Righteousness message, and not the counterfeit. While presenting salvation by grace alone through faith in Christ, the reformers did not disparage the law, but in fact exalted the law and taught the necessity of obedience and good works. For example, after John Wesley learned to "trust in Christ, Christ alone, for salvation,"25 "he continued his strict and self-denying life, not now as the ground, but the result of faith; not the root, but the fruit of holiness."26 The grace of God in Christ is the foundation of the Christian's hope, and that grace will be manifested in obedience. Wesley's life was devoted to the preaching of the great truths which he had received—justification through faith in the atoning blood of Christ, and the renewing power of the Holy Spirit upon the heart, bringing forth fruit in a life conformed to the example of Christ.27 Huss unsparingly denounced the evils and vices practiced by the people, and he appealed to the Word of God to enforce the principles of truth and purity.28 In a letter to a friend in Prague, he said, ". . . let us then advance with a firmer heart in the knowledge and the love of His law."29 In Germany, Luther worked to get men to acknowledge and obey the requirements of God: The elector saw that there was a general breaking down of the moral restraints of society. A

Chapter 6 MORE STRUGGLES OVER THE GOSPEL 59 great work of reform was needed. The complicated and expensive arrangements to restrain and punish crime would be unnecessary if men but acknowledged and obeyed the requirements of God and the dictates of an enlightened conscience. He saw that Luther was laboring to secure this object, and he secretly rejoiced that a better influence was making itself felt in the church.30 To a crowded assembly, Luther explained the proper relationship between salvation by faith and the necessity of good works in the life. "God has raised one Man from the dead, the Lord Jesus Christ, that He might destroy death, extirpate sin, and shut the gates of hell. This is the work of salvation.... Christ has vanquished! this is the joyful news; and we are saved by His work, and not by our own.... Our Lord Jesus Christ said, 'Peace be unto you: behold My hands;' that is to say, Behold, O man! it is I, I alone, who have taken away thy sin, and ransomed thee; and now thou hast peace, saith the Lord." He continued, showing that true faith will be manifested by a holy life. "Since God has saved us, let us so order our works that they may be acceptable to Him. Art thou rich? let thy goods administer to the necessities of the poor. Art thou poor? let thy services be acceptable to the rich. If thy labor is useful to thyself alone, the service that thou pretendest to render unto God is a lie!31 Whereas antinomianism (counterfeit Christ our Righteousness) dragged the early Christian church down into a maze of false doctrines, the true Christ Our Righteousness message discovered and taught by the Protestant reformers tended to restore the very same truths that had

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been lost and forgotten through the antinomian apostasy. The "up with Jesus, down with standards (law)" type of spurious holiness (antinomianism) led the early Christian church down, down to 1. the worship of idols, the adoration of relics and images;32 2. the deification of the pope;33 3. the doctrine of the infallibility of the pope;34 4. the pomp of papal prelates;35 5. the doctrine of the natural immortality of the soul, and the invocation of saints;36 6. the doctrine of eternal torment;37 7. the substitution of the idolatrous mass for the Lord's supper;38 8. the prohibition against owning and reading the scriptures;39 9. the doctrine of indulgences;40 10. the system of monkery;41 and 11. great religious intolerance and persecution;42 In contrast, the true law-exalting Protestant Christ Our Righteousness message led its adherents to: 1. renounce the worship of idols, relics and images;43 2. renounce the pope and label him the antichrist;44 3. believe in the infallibility of the scriptures;45 4. rebuke prelate pomp;46 5. recognize the uselessness of the invocation of saints;47 6. "cease the contemplation of infinite punishment for the violation of God's law, and [to] look to Jesus, . . . [the] sinpardoning Saviour;"48 7. reestablish the Lord's supper;49 8. translate the scriptures into the languages of the people;50 9. deny the efficacy of papal indulgences, and to preach instead free forgiveness through Christ;51 10. attack the system of monkery;52 and 11. renounce the use of force, and advocate liberty of conscience.53 Thus, though there is an apparent similarity between the law-depreciating, byfaith-alone spurious righteousness (antinomianism) and the law-exalting righteousness by faith, and although many people mistake the counterfeit for the genuine, we see the effects of these two kinds of righteousness by faith are entirely opposite.

Chapter 6 MORE STRUGGLES OVER THE GOSPEL 61 Satan Wars Against Protestantism—1374-1800 Satan used four devices to war against Protestantism— persecution, legalism, antinomianism, and false interpretation of prophecy. In this condensed summary, we shall omit the many instances of persecution against Protestants by the papal hierarchy and its supporting governments. Suffice it to say that Satan tried desperately to blot out the Protestant faith by interdict, fire, sword, and the headsman's ax, but to no avail. "The Protestant Reformers had built on Christ, and the gates of hell could not prevail against them."54 Satan also tried to make legalism as appealing as possible. At the time when God is preparing to break the shackles of ignorance and superstition, then it is that Satan works with greatest power to enshroud men in darkness and to bind their fetters still more firmly. As men were rising up in different lands to present to the people forgiveness and justification through the blood of Christ, Rome proceeded with renewed energy to open her market throughout Christendom, offering pardon for money. Every sin had its price, and men were granted free license for crime if the treasury of the church was kept well filled. Thus the two movements advanced,—one offering forgiveness of sin for money, the other forgiveness through Christ,— Rome licensing sin and making it her source of revenue; the Reformers condemning sin and pointing to Christ as the propitiation and deliverer.55 The greatest trial the reformers faced was the antinomian fanaticism.

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KEY TO REVIVAL Satan was not idle. He now attempted what he has attempted in every other reformatory movement—to deceive and destroy the people by palming off upon them a counterfeit in place of the true work. As there were false christs in the first century of the Christian church, so there arose false prophets in the sixteenth century.56 The fruit of the new teaching soon became apparent. The people were led to neglect the Bible or to cast it wholly aside.57 "To them the Holy Scriptures were but a dead letter, and they all began to cry, 'The Spirit! the Spirit!'" . . . The fanatical teachers gave themselves up to be governed by impressions, regarding every thought and impulse as the voice of God; consequently they went to great extremes. Some even burned their Bibles, exclaiming: "The letter killeth, but the Spirit giveth life."58

This teaching brought with it quite a bit of lawlessness and a spirit of revolution. "The most terrible scenes of sedition and strife followed, and the fields of Germany were drenched with blood."59 Counterfeit holiness, spurious sanctification, is still doing its work of deception. Under various forms it exhibits the same spirit as in the days of Luther, diverting minds from the Scriptures and leading men to follow their own feelings and impressions rather than to yield obedience to the law of God. This is one of Satan's most successful devices to cast reproach upon purity and truth.60 Though long, the following quotation describing John Wesley's time is an important Spirit of Prophecy source showing many significant variations of antinomianism.

Chapter 6 MORE STRUGGLES OVER THE GOSPEL 63 The spiritual declension which had been manifest in England just before the time of Wesley was in great degree the result of antinomian teaching. Many affirmed that Christ had abolished the moral law and that Christians are therefore under no obligation to observe it; that a believer is freed from the "bondage of good works." Others, though admitting the perpetuity of the law, declared that it was unnecessary for ministers to exhort the people to obedience of its precepts, since those whom God had elected to salvation would, "by the irresistible impulse of divine grace, be led to the practice of piety and virtue," while those who were doomed to eternal reprobation "did not have power to obey the divine law." Others, also holding that "the elect cannot fall from grace nor forfeit the divine favor," arrived at the still more hideous conclusion that "the wicked actions they commit are not really sinful, nor to be considered as instances of their violation of the divine law, and that, consequently, they have no occasion either to confess their sins or to break them off by repentance.”—McClintock and Strong, Cyclopedia, art. "Antinomians." Therefore, they declared that even one of the vilest of sins, "considered universally an enormous violation of the divine law, is not a sin in the sight of God," if committed by one of the elect, "because it is one of the essential and distinctive characteristics of the elect, that they cannot do anything that is either displeasing to God or prohibited by the law." These monstrous doctrines are essentially the same as the later teaching of popular educators and theologians—that there is no unchangeable divine law as the standard of right, but that the standard of morality is indicated by society itself, and has

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KEY TO REVIVAL constantly been subject to change. All these ideas are inspired by the same spirit—by him who, even among the sinless inhabitants of heaven, began his work of seeking to break down the righteous restraints of the law of God. The doctrine of the divine decrees, unalterably fixing the character of men, had led many to a virtual rejection of the law of God. Wesley steadfastly opposed the errors of the antinomian teachers and showed that this doctrine which led to antinomianism was contrary to the Scriptures. "The grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men." "This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; who gave Himself a ransom for all." Titus 2:11; 1 Timothy 2:3-6. The Spirit of God is freely bestowed to enable every man to lay hold upon the means of salvation. Thus Christ, "the true Light," "lighteth every man that cometh into the world." John 1:9. Men fail of salvation through their own willful refusal of the gift of life. In answer to the claim that at the death of Christ the precepts of the Decalogue had been abolished with the ceremonial law, Wesley said: "The moral law, contained in the Ten Commandments and enforced by the prophets, He did not take away. It was not the design of His coming to revoke any part of this. This is a law which never can be broken, which 'stands fast as the faithful witness in heaven.'... This was from the beginning of the world, being 'written not on tables of stone,' but on the hearts of all the children of men, when they came out of the hands of the Creator. And however the letters once wrote by the finger of God are now

Chapter 6 MORE STRUGGLES OVER THE GOSPEL 65 in a great measure defaced by sin, yet can they not wholly be blotted out, while we have any consciousness of good and evil. Every part of this law must remain in force upon all mankind, and in all ages; as not depending either on time or place, or any other circumstances liable to change, but on the nature of God, and the nature of man, and their unchangeable relation to each other. "'I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill.'... Without question His meaning in this place is (consistently with all that goes before and follows after),—I am come to establish it in its fullness, in spite of all the glosses of men; I am come to place in a full and clear view whatsoever was dark or obscure therein; I am come to declare the true and full import of every part of it; to show the length and breadth, the entire extent, of every commandment contained therein, and the height and depth, the inconceivable purity and spirituality of it in all its branches.”—Wesley, sermon 25. Wesley declared the perfect harmony of the law and the gospel. "There is, therefore, the closest connection that can be conceived, between the law and the gospel. On the one hand, the law continually makes way for, and points us to the gospel; on the other, the gospel continually leads us to a more exact fulfilling of the law. The law, for instance, requires us to love God, to love our neighbor, to be meek, humble, or holy. We feel that we are not sufficient for these things; yea, that 'with man this is impossible;' but we see a promise of God to give us that love, and to make us humble, meek, and holy: we lay hold of this gospel, of these glad tidings; it is done unto us according to our faith which is in Christ Jesus.... "In the highest rank of the enemies of the gospel of Christ," said Wesley, "are they who openly and

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KEY TO REVIVAL explicitly 'judge the law' itself, and 'speak evil of the law;' who teach men to break (to dissolve, to loose, to untie the obligation of) not one only, whether of the least or of the greatest, but all the commandments at a stroke.... The most surprising of all circumstances that attend this strong delusion, is that they who are given up to it, really believe that they are magnifying His office while they are destroying His doctrine! Yea, they honor Him just as Judas did when he said, 'Hail, Master, and kissed Him.' And He may as justly say to every one of them, 'Betrayest thou the Son of man with a kiss?' It is no other than betraying Him with a kiss, to talk of His blood, and take away His crown; to set light by any part of His law, under the pretense of advancing His gospel. Nor indeed can anyone escape this charge, who preaches faith in any such a manner as either directly or indirectly tends to set aside any branch of obedience; who preaches Christ so as to disannul or weaken in any wise, the least of the commandments of God."—Ibid. To those who urged that "the preaching of the gospel answers all the ends of the law," Wesley replied: "This we utterly deny. It does not answer the very first end of the law, namely, the convincing men of sin, the awakening those who are still asleep on the brink of hell." The apostle Paul declares that "by the law is the knowledge of sin;" "and not until man is convicted of sin, will he truly feel his need of the atoning blood of Christ.... 'They that be whole,' as our Lord Himself observes, 'need not a physician, but they that are sick.' It is absurd, therefore, to offer a physician to them that are whole, or that at least imagine themselves so to be. You are first to convince them that they are sick: otherwise they will not thank you for your labor. It is equally absurd to offer Christ to them whose

Chapter 6 MORE STRUGGLES OVER THE GOSPEL 67 heart is whole, having never yet been broken."— Ibid., sermon 35. Thus while preaching the gospel of the grace of God, Wesley, like his Master, sought to "magnify the law, and make it honorable." Faithfully did he accomplish the work given him of God, and glorious were the results which he was permitted to behold. At the close of his long life of more than fourscore years—above half a century spent in itinerant ministry—his avowed adherents numbered more than half a million souls....61 Antinomianism has been the greatest threat to Protestantism because antinomianism so closely parallels and counterfeits righteousness by faith, which has been the main theme of Protestantism. ________________ 1


2

Ibid.

3

Ibid., p. 45.

4

Ibid., p. 42.

5

Ibid.

6

Ibid., p. 43. (Italics supplied.)

7

Ibid., pp. 42, 43.

8

Ibid., p. 45.

9

Ibid., p. 52.

10

Ibid., p. 53.

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KEY TO REVIVAL 11

Ibid., p. 58.

12

Ibid., p. 50.

13

Ibid., p. 51.

14

Ibid., p. 59.

15

Ibid.

16

Ibid., p. 83.

17

Ibid., p. 45.

18

Ibid., p. 58.

19

Ibid., p. 50.

20

Ibid., pp. 55, 56.

21

Ibid., p. 572.

22

Ibid., pp. 54, 55.

23

Ibid., p. 80.

24

Ibid., p. 89.

25

Ibid., p. 256.

26

Ibid

. 27

Ibid.

28

Ibid., p. 99.

Chapter 6 MORE STRUGGLES OVER THE GOSPEL 69 29

Ibid., p. 105.

30

Ibid., pp. 138, 139.

31

Ibid., p. 152.

32

Ibid., p. 52.

33

Ibid., p. 50.

34

Ibid.

35

Ibid., pp. 57, 58.

36

Ibid., p. 58.

37

Ibid.

38

Ibid., p. 59.

39

Ibid., p. 51.

40

Ibid., p. 59.

41

Ibid., p. 83.

42

Ibid., pp. 54-55.

43

Ibid., pp. 94, 174-5, 232, 240, 250.

44

Ibid., pp. 87, 139, 142, 151.

45

Ibid., pp. 89, 93, 102, 126, 173-4, 243, 249, 251.

46

Ibid., pp. 99-100.

47

Ibid., pp. 175, 212-3.

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Ibid., p. 123.

49

Ibid., pp. 92, 189, 224.

50

Ibid., pp. 87-8, 99, 193-5, 214, 238, 245.

51

Ibid., pp. 84, 125, 128-130, 178.

52

Ibid., pp. 82-4.

53

Ibid., pp. 79, 80, 93, 189-190, 197, 201, 238.

54

Ibid., p. 210.

55

Ibid., p. 178.

56

Ibid., p. 186.

57

Ibid., p. 187.

58

Ibid., p. 191.

59

Ibid., p. 192.

60

Ibid., p. 193.

61

Ibid., pp. 260-264.

Chapter 7 STRUGGLES OVER BIBLE PROPHECY

Who is the Antichrist? While the primary emphasis of the Protestant reformers was the Christ Our Righteousness message, yet a secondary and important point was the belief that the papacy is the antichrist of prophecy. Luther discovered "Christ and His salvation" before 1517. And before 1520 he had discovered the identity of "Antichrist and his damnation." The entire Reformation rested on this twofold testimony. The reformers were unanimous in its acceptance. And it was this interpretation of prophecy that lent emphasis to their reformatory action. It led them to protest against Rome with extraordinary strength and undaunted courage. It nerved them to resist to the utmost the claims of the apostate church. It sustained them at the martyrs' stake. Verily, this was the rallying point and the battle cry that made the Reformation unconquerable.1 The prophecies concerning that Antichrist soon became the center of controversy, as the Reformers pointed the incriminating finger of prophecy, saying, Thou art the Man of Sin! Rome was declared to be the Babylon of the Apocalypse, and the papal pontiffs, in their succession, the predicted Man of Sin. Separation from the Church of Rome and its pontifical head therefore came to be regarded as a sacred, bounden duty. Christians were urged to obey the command, "Come out of her, My people."2 71

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A number of years went by during which the papacy had no logical counter argument to the Protestant assertion that the pope was the antichrist. During this time the Protestant Reformation became firmly established. After a few decades, however, Jesuit scholars devised two alternative, though contradictory, explanations of the prophecies of Daniel and the Revelation designed to divert the label of antichrist from the pope—Preterism and Futurism. These were designed to meet and overwhelm the Historical interpretation of the Protestants. Though mutually exclusive, either Jesuit alternative suited the great objective equally well, as both thrust aside the application of the prophecies from the existing Church of Rome. The one accomplished it by making prophecy stop altogether short of papal Rome's career. The other achieved it by making it overleap the immense era of papal dominance, crowding Antichrist into a small fragment of time in the still distant future, just before the great consummation. It is consequently often called the gap theory.3 Unfortunately "the Jesuit schemes of counter-interpretation were more successful than their authors had ever dared anticipate."4 The impact of Preterism and Futurism upon Protestant prophetic interpretation led "ultimately [to] the virtual overthrow of the historic Protestant positions."5

New Revival Force Needed After the reformers passed to their graves, Satan's attacks began overwhelming Protestantism. He again used the tactic of compromise between true Christians and worldly-minded individuals. As a result the churches

Chapter 7 STRUGGLES OVER BIBLE PROPHECY 73 became corrupted.6 Unless a new force should be added tending to revival and reformation, soon all that had been recovered in the Protestant Reformation in the second message emphasis of Christ Our Righteousness would be forever lost. So God brought about some predicted supernatural events which focused human minds on the last-day Bible prophecies—God's third revival message emphasis. Heralds of the Morning—1755-1800 The events that redirected the attention of Bible students from principally a gospel-oriented emphasis to a prophecy-oriented emphasis were 1. the great Lisbon earthquake of 1755; 2. the strange unaccountably dark day over all New England, May 19, 1780, and the appearance of a red, bloody looking moon the following night; and 3. the dramatic events of the French Revolution, culminating in the capture of the pope in 1798, and the end of the long period of papal supremacy. Ministers and laity alike could see these events were specifically prophesied to occur in the last days just before the second advent of Christ. And so began a rush to comprehend better the prophecies, especially the remarkable time prophecies of the Bible. Men of all walk of life, farmers, judges, captains, and even the first president of the independent United States under the Continental Congress—Elias Boudinot (1740-1821), studied and wrote on the issues of prophecy as they related to last events.7

End-time Prophecy Based Revival—1800-1844 Simultaneously, all over the world in the early nineteenth century, a prophetic movement surfaced of those expecting the speedy return of Jesus Christ. Bible scholars from many nations arose independently with similar expectations—which fact gave force to their conclusions.

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They variously expected Christ to come between 1843 and 1847. William Miller, a farmer, became the leader of the New World branch of the Advent Movement, the forerunner of Seventh-day Adventism. As a youth he had associated with a company of Deists, thereby coming to doubt the scriptures. But Miller's life became weighted down with imponderable thoughts of the future. He found in his former belief no assurance of happiness after the grave. He continued in a state of mental anguish and despair some months when suddenly an impression came to him that there might be a being so good and kind as to himself atone for his sins. But nowhere, except in the Bible, could he find evidence of the existence of such a being. He studied the Bible with a new interest, originally with the idea of proving their consistency and divine inspiration. The difficult texts, which before had appeared to him and his friends as contradictions, he found explained in other parts of the Bible. And as he progressed verse by verse in his orderly study, he inevitably came to the Bible prophecies. To his great joy, he found that these also could be understood by employing the same techniques and principles he had used to interpret the other scriptures. He was totally unprepared, however, for the startling conclusion that presented itself to him. He had devoted two years to the study of the Bible, when, in 1818, he reached the solemn conviction that in about twenty-five years Christ would appear for the redemption of His people. . . . "With the solemn conviction that such momentous events were predicted in the Scriptures to be fulfilled in so short a space of time, the question came home to me with mighty power regarding my duty to the world, in view of the evidence that had affected my own mind."—Bliss,

Chapter 7 STRUGGLES OVER BIBLE PROPHECY 75 page 81. He could not but feel that it was his duty to impart to others the light which he had received.8 After five more years of study, for fear of being wrong and leading others into error, he could find no difficulties in his logic and arguments. So he began to share his discoveries in private as opportunities presented themselves. He did not begin presenting his views in public, however, for nine more years. Finally, at the age of fifty, being urged by his brethren, he at last consented to preach his messages in public. His [William Miller's] first lecture was followed by a religious awakening in which thirteen entire families, with the exception of two persons, were converted. He was immediately urged to speak in other places, and in nearly every place his labor resulted in a revival of the work of God. Sinners were converted, Christians were roused to greater consecration, and deists and infidels were led to acknowledge the truth of the Bible and the Christian religion. The testimony of those among whom he labored was: "A class of minds are reached by him not within the influence of other men."—Bliss, page 138. His preaching was calculated to arouse the public mind to the great things of religion and to check the growing worldliness and sensuality of the age. In nearly every town there were scores, in some hundreds, converted as a result of his preaching. In many places Protestant churches of nearly all denominations were thrown open to him, and the invitations to labor usually came from the ministers of the several congregations. It was his invariable rule not to labor in any place to which he had not been invited, yet he soon found himself unable to comply with half the requests that poured in upon

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KEY TO REVIVAL him. Many who did not accept his views as to the exact time of the second advent were convinced of the certainty and nearness of Christ's coming and the need of preparation. In some of the large cities his work produced a marked impression. Liquor dealers abandoned the traffic and turned their shops into meeting rooms; gambling dens were broken up; infidels, deists, Universalists, and even the most abandoned profligates were reformed, some of whom had not entered a house of worship for years. Prayer meetings were established by the various denominations, in different quarters, at almost every hour, businessmen assembling at midday for prayer and praise. There was no extravagant excitement, but an almost universal solemnity on the minds of the people. His work, like that of the early Reformers, tended rather to convince the understanding and arouse the conscience than merely to excite the emotions.9

A number of ministers of the gospel, convinced of the correctness of Miller's views, joined him in proclaiming the near advent of Christ. The revival movement grew and grew. The Great Advent Movement was God's third emphasis on revival and reformation, based on the prophetic messages, "Fear God, and give glory to Him, for the hour of his judgment is come." Revelation 14:7. "Unto two thousand and three hundred days: then shall the sanctuary be cleansed." Daniel 8:14. "Behold the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him." Matthew 25:6. Jesus is coming soon! Get ready to meet Him in peace! Repent of all your sins. Cleanse your hearts. Put on the spotless robe of Christ's righteousness. The third emphasis message did not do away with the first or the second. It was founded on them. The emphasis on prophecy was but an addition to the truths of God being presented on the law and the gospel. In fact, the prophecy

Chapter 7 STRUGGLES OVER BIBLE PROPHECY 77 in Scripture which foretold the prophetic movement with the message, "Fear God, and give glory to him: for the hour of his judgment is come," is introduced with these words: "And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people." Revelation 14:7, 6. Thus, again, in shifting into a new prophetic emphasis, the old light was not replaced, it was added to; and as with the increased velocity of a vehicle, the shifting of spiritual emphases added to the momentum of God's movement. What was the secret of the power of the prophetic revival? For one thing, the sense of the nearness of the coming of Christ called forth the most solemn searching of individual consciences, and a realization of the necessity to be found pure and spotless at the Lord's coming. Another secret to the power of that movement was the newness, the freshness of the prophetic insights. Once again, God's revival movement had received a powerful impetus through the exciting revelation of "mysteries" from the Word of God, that had been hidden for centuries. As with any true revival and reformation, the movement was characterized, too, by weeping and mourning for sin, a rending of hearts and not of garments. The spirit of grace and supplication was poured upon the people. They looked to Him whom their sins had pierced. Another who participated in the movement testified: "It produced everywhere the most deep searching of heart and humiliation of soul before God of high heaven. It caused a weeding of affections from the things of this world, a healing of controversies and animosities, a confession of wrongs, a breaking down before God, and penitent, brokenhearted supplications to Him for pardon and acceptance. It caused self-abasement and prostration of soul, such as we never before witnessed. As

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KEY TO REVIVAL God by Joel commanded, when the great day of God should be at hand, it produced a rending of hearts and not of garments, and a turning unto the Lord with fasting, and weeping, and mourning. As God said by Zechariah, a spirit of grace and supplication was poured out upon His children; they looked to Him whom they had pierced, there was a great mourning in the land,...and those who were looking for the Lord afflicted their souls before Him."—Bliss, in Advent Shield and Review, vol. 1, p. 271 (January, 1845).10 The writings of Miller and his associates were carried to distant lands. Wherever missionaries had penetrated in all the world, were sent the glad tidings of Christ's speedy return. Far and wide spread the message of the everlasting gospel: "Fear God, and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment is come." The testimony of the prophecies which seemed to point to the coming of Christ in the spring of 1844 took deep hold of the minds of the people. As the message went from state to state, there was everywhere awakened widespread interest. Many were convinced that the arguments from the prophetic periods were correct, and sacrificing their pride of opinion, they joyfully received the truth.11

Satan Wars Against God's Prophetic Movement—17001844 Truly this message must have aroused the great deceiver. What was he to do? Could he find a counterfeit prophetic emphasis revival? With the law he was at home. His original apostasy in heaven had been regarding the law

Chapter 7 STRUGGLES OVER BIBLE PROPHECY 79 of God.12 He ruined the nation of Israel with his counterfeit law emphasis reformation—legalism. Also, he successfully counteracted the true gospel emphasis revival by allowing the elevation of Christ, yet so intermingling paganism with Christianity that the end result was anything but Christian. He had succeeded with his "up with Jesus, down with doctrines and standards" ploy. Now he faced a different challenge—prophecy. Well he knew that wicked men and angels, himself included, could not have perfect accuracy in foretelling every detail of the future. That is because he, Satan, does not have full control of the future. Often times God and the heavenly angels intervene in human affairs, and in the past spoiled the outcome of the predictions Satan inspired his psychics, astrologers, and fortune tellers to make. Satan does have a very good comprehension of what God has said about the future, however. He is a deep student of prophecy.13 Yet, should Satan inspire his agents to present correctly Bible prophecies, and thus ensure a high prophetic accuracy quotient, men would repent and be converted and turn to God. Satan could but present systems of false prophecy, and carry on a tirade of mocking and persecution against those who believed the prophetic messages as presented by God's human agents. This tactic would be more successful than one might first expect, for Satan could see what the Millerites could not at that time see—there was coming a great disappointment when Christ should come to the Most Holy place of the heavenly sanctuary instead of to the earth as the Millerites were expecting. Could Satan have the Adventists mocked and despised as fanatics, after their disappointment it would seem proved they were fanatics. Thus he could cause many Adventists to abandon their faith in God, and rejoin the worldly minded ones. The scoffers would be on his side anyway, for they would be possessing his spirit. He could lead them to pass the bounds of God's forbearance, and their doom would be sure. In the meanwhile, Satan could

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spin his web of false prophecy, not haphazardly and ridiculously, but in such a way as best to prepare the world for his own impersonation of Christ in the last crisis. Satan set to work in earnest according to his strategy. The truths which he [William Miller] presented were not received with favor by the popular religious teachers.... Time, means, and talents were employed in maligning those whose only offense was that they looked with joy for the return of their Lord and were striving to live holy lives and to exhort others to prepare for His appearing. Earnest were the efforts put forth to draw away the minds of the people from the subject of the second advent. It was made to appear a sin, something of which men should be ashamed, to study the prophecies which relate to the coming of Christ and the end of the world.... Miller's name was seldom mentioned by the religious press except by way of ridicule or denunciation. The careless and ungodly emboldened by the position of religious teachers, resorted to opprobrious epithets, to base and blasphemous witticisms, in their efforts to heap contumely upon him and his work.14 Satan worked to discourage those also who listened to and accepted the messages that Miller and his associates brought. Many were persecuted by their unbelieving brethren. In order to retain their position in the church, some consented to be silent in regard to their hope; but others felt that loyalty to God forbade them thus to hide the truths which He had committed to their trust. Not a few were cut off from the fellowship of the church for no other

Chapter 7 STRUGGLES OVER BIBLE PROPHECY 81 reason than expressing their belief in the coming of Christ. Very precious to those who bore this trial of their faith were the words of the prophet: "Your brethren that hated you, that cast you out for My name's sake, said, Let the Lord be glorified; but He shall appear to your joy, and they shall be ashamed." Isaiah 66:5.15

Prophecies Fulfilled—Spring-Autumn, 1844 Miller and his associates first believed Christ would come in the spring of 1844, while the prophecies pointed to the Autumn of 1844 for the time of the cleansing of the sanctuary. This mistake in calculation brought about disappointment, doubt, and uncertainty. The Adventists then discovered, however, that interwoven with the prophecies they had considered as applying to the time of the Second Advent were passages that taught there would be a seeming delay when there would not actually be a delay. Among these prophecies was that of Habakkuk 2:1-4: "I will stand upon my watch to see what He will say unto me, and what I shall answer when I am reproved. And the Lord answered me, and said, Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it. For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry. Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him: but the just shall live by his faith." As early as 1842 the directions given in this prophecy to "write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it," had suggested to Charles Fitch the preparation of a prophetic chart to illustrate the visions of Daniel

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KEY TO REVIVAL and the Revelation. The publication of this chart was regarded as a fulfillment of the command given by Habakkuk. No one, however, then noticed that an apparent delay in the accomplishment of the vision—a tarrying time—is presented in the same prophecy. After the disappointment, this scripture appeared very significant: "The vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry. . . . The just shall live by his faith."... The waiting ones rejoiced, believing that He who knows the end from the beginning had looked down through the ages and, foreseeing their disappointment, had given them words of courage and hope. Had it not been for such portions of Scripture, admonishing them to wait with patience and to hold fast their confidence in God's word, their faith would have failed in that trying hour.16

Another prophecy which implied an unexpected waiting time for those expecting the second advent of Christ was the parable of the bridegroom and the ten virgins of Matthew 25:1-13. "Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom. And five of them were wise, and five were foolish. They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them: but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept. And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him." The coming of Christ, as announced by the first angel's message, was understood to be represented

Chapter 7 STRUGGLES OVER BIBLE PROPHECY 83 by the coming of the bridegroom. The wide-spread reformation under the proclamation of His soon coming, answered to the going forth of the virgins. . .. "While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept." By the tarrying of the bridegroom is represented the passing of the time when the Lord was expected, the disappointment, and the seeming delay. In this time of uncertainty, the interest of the superficial and halfhearted soon began to waver, and their efforts to relax; but those whose faith was based on a personal knowledge of the Bible had a rock beneath their feet, which the waves of disappointment could not wash away. "They all slumbered and slept;" one class in unconcern and abandonment of their faith, the other class patiently waiting till clearer light should be given. Yet in the night of trial the latter seemed to lose, to some extent, their zeal and devotion. The halfhearted and superficial could no longer lean upon the faith of their brethren. Each must stand or fall for himself.17 In the parable, after a period of waiting and slumbering, an earnest voice made a cry at midnight, "Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him." Matthew 25:6. This occurred to the waiting Adventists also. While the Millerite Adventists had for some time called some of their publications the Midnight Cry, and had associated themselves with this parable of Jesus, they discovered the true midnight cry was a special announcement of the coming of Christ given in summer, after a period of waiting and apparent delay. Midnight in the parable was typical of early summer in real life, for when one takes a day for a year as in Bible prophecy, the beginning of a Biblical day (sundown) ought to correspond to the beginning of a Biblical year (spring). Sunrise would answer to fall, and

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midnight—halfway between—would represent first summer. At that very time there was a startling announcement of new discoveries that the sanctuary should be cleansed (what they thought to represent the coming of Christ to cleanse the earth with fire) in the fall—specifically on the Day of Atonement, which according to the true Karaite reckoning that year would fall on October 22, 1844. Elder Snow, not William Miller, presented these discoveries to an awestruck audience at a camp meeting at Exeter, New Hampshire. The result was similar to an explosion. . . . when that meeting closed, the granite hills of New Hampshire rang with the mighty cry, "Behold the Bridegroom cometh, go ye out to meet Him!" As the stages and railroad cars rolled away through the different States, cities, and villages of New England, the rumbling of the cry was still distinctly heard. Behold the Bridegroom cometh! Christ is coming on the tenth day of the seventh month! Time is short! Get ready! Get ready!! . . . Who does not still remember how this message flew as it were upon the wings of the wind—men and women moving on all the cardinal points of the compass, going with all the speed of locomotives, in steamboats and rail cars, freighted with bundles of books and papers, wherever they went distributing them almost as profusely as the leaves of autumn.18 Like a tidal wave the movement swept over the land. From city to city, from village to village, and into remote country places it went, until the waiting people of God were fully aroused.19 Intensity marked the closing days. A quickened tempo and greater urgency took possession of men, like the fervor of the crusaders of old, as the

Chapter 7 STRUGGLES OVER BIBLE PROPHECY 85 movement swept toward its intense but orderly climax. Their Boston steam presses rolled at top speed twenty-four hours a day, to turn out Adventist papers for distribution "without money and without price," and a dozen other presses ran day and night to supply the need. All the way from Maine out to Ohio, and from Canada down into the South, living messengers went from house to house in city and village, and from farm to farm in the country, with the last warning message.20 The last issue of the Midnight Cry before the fateful day makes the bold announcement: TO THE PUBLIC: Our present position—the expectation that the Second Coming of Christ is to take place on the 10th day of the seventh Jewish month, which coincides nearly with October 22d.21 For one sublime moment it seemed that the greatest event of human history was about to occur,...the second coming of Christ.... For this group, known historically as the Millerites, the second coming was a certainty. Their faith was sound, their convictions sure; and with joy they awaited the holy event.22

God's Program Receives Real Setback—October 23, 1844 The Millerites had based their expectation of Christ's return on October 22, 1844 on the prophecy, "Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed." Daniel 8:14 Millerites believed a day in prophecy represents one literal year of time (Numbers 14:34; Ezekiel 4:6). The prophecy, given, then, in the time of Daniel, reached far beyond the destruction of the literal

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Jewish temple in A.D. 70. In harmony with most theologians of his day, William Miller believed the earth, or some portion of it, was the sanctuary in the Christian dispensation. The earth, becoming more and more polluted and corrupt with the passage of time, would not be cleansed until purified by fire at the second coming of Jesus. Wherefore, if the earth were the sanctuary referred to in the prophecy which must be cleansed at the close of the 2,300 years, then it seemed logical to conclude that Christ would come at the close of 2,300 years. The Millerite scholars concluded this period of 2,300 years began together with the seventy weeks (490 literal years) of Daniel 9:24-27 which began at the commandment to restore and rebuild Jerusalem in 457 B.C. The 2,300 years extended to the fall of 1844. Furthermore, the "cleansing of the sanctuary" service in the old Jewish types occurred on the Day of Atonement on the tenth day of the seventh Jewish month, which in 1844 nearly coincided with October 22. Thus the Millerites expected the earth to be cleansed by fire at the coming of the Lord on October 22, 1844. When Christ did not come to earth on October 22, 1844, the confident Millerites were quite devastated. So long as any part of that day remained, there remained the hope and anticipation of the Advent people. But as midnight came, and with it the beginning of October 23, 1844, a great spirit of sorrow and weeping settled upon the waiting companies of believers. Some believers maintained their faith, and again commenced waiting for God to make their error clear. But the faith of the great majority was broken. On that crucial day, perhaps a hundred thousand Christians lost their confidence in the prophetic messages and succumbed to crushing despondency and discouragement. Satan's campaign of pressure, reproach, and scoffing paid off all too well. God did not purpose to bring such an abrupt end to the movement, but only to test and purify His people. He purposed that should the body of believers hold on by faith

Chapter 7 STRUGGLES OVER BIBLE PROPHECY 87 to their experience, He should soon reveal their mistake, reveal greater light to them, the basis of an additional prophetic message. Had Adventists, after the great disappointment in 1844, held fast their faith, and followed on unitedly in the opening providence of God, receiving the message of the third angel and in the power of the Holy Spirit proclaiming it to the world, they would have seen the salvation of God, the Lord would have wrought mightily with their efforts, the work would have been completed, and Christ would have come ere this to receive His people to their reward.23 The overwhelming majority of Adventists in 1844 did not hold fast to their faith. Only a few persons did. Rather than to rocket through to the kingdom with the few remaining faithful believers, God put on the brakes, as it were. He slowed His religious vehicle down in an endeavor to pick up the mass of humanity that had fallen off. __________________ 1

LeRoy Edwin Froom, The Prophetic Faith of Our Fathers (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1950), Vol. II, pp. 243, 244. 2

Ibid. p. 245.

3

Ibid., pp. 486, 487.

4

Ibid., p. 511.

5

Ibid., p. 510.

6


KEY TO REVIVAL

88 7

Prophetic Faith of Our Fathers, op. cit., Vol. IV, pp. 164-168. 8


9

Ibid., pp. 331, 332.

10

Ibid., p. 401.

11

Ibid., p. 368.

12

Ibid., p. 115.

13


14


15

Ibid., p. 372.

16

Ibid., pp. 391-393.

17

Ibid., pp. 393-395.

18

Joseph Bates, Second Advent Way Marks and High Heaps, pp. 30, 31, as quoted by Francis D. Nichols, The Midnight Cry (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1944), pp. 214, 215. 19


20

LeRoy Edwin Froom, The Prophetic Faith of Our Fathers, Vol. IV, p. 824. 21

Midnight Cry, Oct. 10, 1844, p. 108, as quoted by Froom, op. cit., IV, p. 821.

Chapter 7 STRUGGLES OVER BIBLE PROPHECY 89 22

Jerome L. Clark, 1844: Religious Movements, Volume I (Nashville: Southern Publishing Association, 1968), p. 15. 23


Chapter 8 LAW-BASED REVIVAL—1844-1865

The Millerite Adventists were in the prophetic emphasis—the third type of revival. They had proclaimed the first two of the three angels' messages of Revelation 14. Had they kept their faith in God's leading in their experience, they would have seen the salvation of Jehovah. The Lord could have finished the work on earth quickly with a little more prophecy—the third angel's message. However, the overwhelming majority of Adventists in 1844 did not hold fast their faith. They lost their confidence in prophecy and in God's leading. His people came to a standstill in disappointment and confusion. They needed to begin all over with God's starter reformatory program—a revival and reformation of the first type—based on the law of God. Here is shown the genius of the design of the third angel's message. While being a prophetic message, and rounding out a prophetic revival emphasis, it is designed just as well for leading back to a reemphasis of the law of God in the rediscovery of the binding nature of the seventh-day Sabbath of the Decalogue. Shortly after the 1844 disappointment, God revealed to the few who had maintained their faith the nature of their error. "As they could see no error in their reckoning of the prophetic periods, they were led to examine more closely the subject of the sanctuary. . . . They learned that there is no Scripture evidence sustaining the popular view that the earth is the sanctuary; but they found in the Bible a full explanation of the subject of the sanctuary, its nature, location, and services." Those who were studying the subject found indisputable proof of the existence of a sanctuary in heaven. Moses made the earthly sanctuary after a pattern which was shown him. Paul teaches that that 90

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91

pattern was the true sanctuary which is in heaven. And John testifies that he saw it in heaven.2 The cleansing of the sanctuary the Millerites had preached to the world was seen to meet its fulfillment in the antitypical Day of Atonement in the cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary. For eighteen long centuries Christ ministered in the first apartment of the heavenly sanctuary, pleading the merits of His Calvary sacrifice to forgive the sinner. There remained, however, a work of judgment to determine who all had maintained their relationship with Christ, and who would be worthy of the final blotting out of sins and the heavenly reward. This was the work to be done in the most holy place in the heavenly sanctuary—the place to which the disappointed Adventists could see that Christ entered on October 22, 1844, in the fulfillment of prophecy. "The temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in His temple the ark of His testament." Revelation 11:19. As their attention focused on the most holy place in the heavenly sanctuary, the believers considered the sacred ark and the great ten commandment law that must be enshrined inside. None could fail to see that if the earthly sanctuary was a figure or pattern of the heavenly, the law deposited in the ark on earth was an exact transcript of the law in the ark in heaven; and that an acceptance of the truth concerning the heavenly sanctuary involved an acknowledgment of the claims of God's law and the obligation of the Sabbath of the fourth commandment.3 No evidence in Scripture could be found for a divine change of the Sabbath from the seventh day, Saturday, to the first day of the week, Sunday. No evidence existed but that the claims of the fourth commandment were still binding. Rather, many more prophecies involving the various aspects

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of the history and importance of the Sabbath came to be understood. Adventists saw the papacy had deliberately set about to change the Sabbath from the seventh day to Sunday, fulfilling the prophecy that "he shall . . . think to change times and laws." Daniel 7:25. In harmony with the Protestant Reformers, the Adventist pioneers also saw the papal power as the "beast" power of Revelation 13:1-8. The United States of America matched the specifications of the two horned beast of Revelation 13:10-17. Although starting out in lamblike innocence, according to the prophecy this power would ultimately cause all the world to make an "image," or like form of worship, to the first beast, in exalting the Sunday Sabbath, and commanding its observance upon the pain of the severest of penalties. The warnings of the third angel of Revelation 14—the last warning message—are directed against this false worship. In proclaiming the first two angels' messages only, the Millerite Christians had not completed their work of warning the world. The Scriptures brought to view a great work of Sabbath reform and return to the full obedience to the law of God. Revelation 14:12. Some Adventists did not give up their faith at the disappointment in 1844. They clung to their belief in the accuracy of the prophetic time periods and recognized the nature of their error as misunderstanding the subject of the sanctuary. They followed on step by step until they saw the binding claims of the Seventh-day Sabbath. These Adventists saw they had heretofore been ignorantly transgressing God's holy law. Sorrow filled their hearts. A new reformation started. God's people began to manifest their loyalty to Him by keeping His eternal Seventh-day Sabbath. The Spirit of God impressed the hearts of those students of His word. The conviction was urged upon them that they had ignorantly transgressed this precept by disregarding the Creator's rest day.... They had been honestly seeking to know and to do God's

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will; now, as they saw themselves transgressors of His law, sorrow filled their hearts, and they manifested their loyalty to God by keeping His Sabbath holy.4 Those who received the light concerning the sanctuary and the immutability of the law of God were filled with joy and wonder as they saw the beauty and harmony of the system of truth that opened to their understanding. They desired that the light which appeared to them so precious might be imparted to all Christians; and they could not but believe that it would be joyfully accepted.5 ___________________ 1


2

Ibid., p. 415.

3

Ibid., p. 435.

4

Ibid., pp. 434, 435.

5

Ibid., p. 454.

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Chapter 9 REVIVAL AND REFORMATION PATTERNS

A surface survey of our study so far shows one thing: All religious revivals, whether by Elijah, Ezra, John the Baptist, Martin Luther, or William Miller, were brought about by the preaching of a truth or doctrine. None were simply the result of an inspiring talk. If we want a lasting revival and reformation now, we must discover from the word of God the appropriate revival and reformation message for this time. We have observed throughout history several repetitions of a cycle of theological emphasis in revival and reformation. The emphases and cycle are important, but the overall balance through the ages has also been important. In every age God has presented a theological balance in employing law, gospel, and prophecy in the messages to man. God's means of salvation has not been dispensationalistic. The three broad areas of theology have been important, individually and collectively, in God's revival program for man. At no time in earth's history, after the fall of man, did God intend that only one element of theology be presented. The law is powerless to save without the gospel. And the gospel is powerless to convict of sin without the law. And the human spirit can not endure without hope for the future brought about through the promises of God in Bible prophecy. In every age God's means of saving men has been the same. The standard of righteousness in every age has been the moral law. Transgression of that law in every age has made men sinners. The only remedy in any age for sin has been faith in the merits of the Messiah. There is little difference between the Old Testament dispensation and the New Testament dispensation other than that in Old 94

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Testament times people looked forward by faith to the merits of the Messiah to come by observing the ceremonial law. In New Testament times believers look backward by faith to the merits of Him who died on Calvary. There is no such contrast as is often claimed to exist between the Old and the New Testament, the law of God and the gospel of Christ, the requirements of the Jewish and those of the Christian dispensation. Every soul saved in the former dispensation was saved by Christ as verily as we are saved by Him today. Patriarchs and prophets were Christians. The gospel promise was given to the first pair in Eden, when they had by transgression separated themselves from God. The gospel was preached to Abraham. The Hebrews all drank of the spiritual Rock, which was Christ (Signs of the Times, Sept. 14, 1882).1 We see then there is no warrant for dispensationalism— the idea that God's means of saving men in one age is not the same as that in some other age. That simply isn't so. Yet on the other hand we need not imagine the divine message emphasis has been uniform in every age. This also has simply not been the case. Dissimilar messages were presented at various times to bring about revivals and reformations. Each age had its own special testing truth. For instance, after 1844, the Sabbath was, according to the plan of God, specially emphasized. It has since been a test of faith. This is an issue concerning the law of God. Martin Luther's principal theme was righteousness by faith, while William Miller's special emphasis was last-day prophecy. Various messages and truths were specially adapted to people's needs in different centuries. Early Adventists stressed the Sabbath and the law, yet they presented the gospel and Bible prophecy also. And though Luther taught righteousness by faith most of all, he taught

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also the law of God and Bible prophecy. And though Miller centered his message on last-day prophecies, he preached also regarding the law of God and the gospel provisions. God presents an overall balance between the three broad areas of theology in every revival and reformation message. Yet characteristically, He stresses one area above the others in each revival message. And at different times in history, the emphasis is upon different areas of theology. This variation in theological emphasis, from time to time, has, perhaps, several reasons behind it. While God's plan of salvation is a great whole, and remains the same in every age, certain features of it have been the most emphasized at various times partly because specific issues have been the most controverted at those times. Satan works specially to attack particular points—selected issues become popular at different times. Those issues most controverted at any particular time are those issues most emphasized. Yet Satan is not foremost in guiding the course of theological debate. For the most part, as we have seen, God brings out a message specially emphasizing some particular point His people most need at that time. Satan then works to counteract God's work and deceive the people by palming off a look-alike error in place of the truth God is specially presenting. God usually plays the offensive, while Satan is forced into the defensive. We have seen the variation of emphasis in revival messages follows a simple recurring pattern. The first area God emphasizes is the law, the second the gospel, and the third prophecy. When God's people come to a theological standstill of ignorance, confusion, or disappointment, God patiently begins all over again with a law emphasis revival. Then the cycle starts over. This seems to be the plan of religious education God has always had for His people. Some individuals in religious history have been shifted through all three areas of theological emphasis in one lifetime. The disciples of Jesus began their training under

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Jesus learning Christ's relationship to the law of God and the traditions and customs of the Jews. After His resurrection they became conscious of the implications of the crucifixion of their Lord. They were thrilled with the gospel as with a new discovery, and they most emphasized it—the Christ Our Righteousness message—in their teaching. Toward the close of their lives they received and transmitted most of their prophetic instruction. We have seen the revival cycle repeated several times. In Eden, the theological system presented was the law of the Universe—love. After the fall, God brought in gospel and prophecy also, but the emphasis was upon the gospel promises. As corruption on earth increased, and the earth reached a spiritual crisis necessitating the destruction of the earth by water, God increasingly presented prophecies of judgment to come. Enoch prophesied of Christ's Second Advent to judge the world. Noah foretold the coming flood, and under the instruction of God, prepared the ark to preserve life. God kept the attention and faith of the patriarchs focused on the future. The prophetic emphasis remained until the Israelite Dark Ages of Egyptian bondage nearly obliterated religious knowledge. Then Jehovah started again with the Jews with the reemphasis of the law of God. He brought out the importance of Sabbath observance. He spoke the law from Sinai, and wrote the law in tables of stone. He presented an elaborate system of statutes and judgments to Moses to present to the people. Next God intensified knowledge relative to the plan of salvation (the gospel) by instituting the sanctuary service. For centuries this was the spiritual emphasis. This system of worship with an earthly sanctuary reached the pinnacle of its glory in the erection and dedication of the temple built by Solomon. Yet Solomon apostatized, and the children of Israel followed his negative example. An apostasy developed in Israel and Judah which eventuated in the permanent dispersion of the ten tribes of Israel, as well

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as the Babylonish captivity of the Jewish people. As this crisis approached, God sent many prophets with warnings of the coming calamities, yet also visions of future glory. That period in history was one of the times of greatest prophetic emphasis. A third revolution of this revival and reformation cycle occurred from the Babylonian captivity to the 1844 disappointment. We studied this period in more depth, noticing particularly the devil's deceptions brought to counterfeit the work of God. We noticed Satan would always bring in a counterfeit which best corresponded to the emphasis God used at the time. For example, in the time of Ezra, the Lord presented a balanced system of truth in which law, gospel, and prophecy were all presented, but in which the law was emphasized.2 Shortly thereafter, Satan found a way to distort and corrupt this true movement by driving the Israelites over the mark to legalism. Legalism reigned until the time of Christ. In His earthly ministry, Christ brought back a revival and reformation based on the law. He magnified the law and made it honorable. He swept aside the mass of traditions and legalistic restrictions that had been added to the law by men, and showed God's precepts in their beauty, simplicity, scope, and penetration. He showed the reasonableness, joy, and reward in serving God and keeping His commandments. During His earthly ministry, Christ also gave a preview to Nicodemus of the gospel—the Christ Our Righteousness message. Then in His death and resurrection, Christ unleashed that fresh force in revival and reformation—the gospel—always inherent in God's program for fallen man, but heretofore dimly veiled in type, ritual and prophecy. This again was a second emphasis type revival message. The apostolic church heralded this truth to the world. Satan first fought against this doctrine with his counterfeit first-emphasis message—legalism. Some thirty years later he produced a second emphasis counterfeit of

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his own, antinomianism. This was a teaching centering in the cross and purporting to be the "good news of the gospel." This theory taught Christ had abrogated the ten commandment law on Calvary, and that now by faith alone men could obtain the blessing of salvation. No effort or obedience was supposed to be necessary. Along with this came an "up with Jesus, down with doctrines and standards" sentiment. The devil used this type of compromise between Christianity and paganism to corrupt the church and introduce the Dark Ages. Through this tool (Satan's second emphasis message) and a re-introduction of legalism (his first emphasis type program), he caused God's people to forget and lose sight of practically everything taught to them by Christ and the apostles. Before Christ could initiate the last day prophetic emphasis revival movement, He had to restore the law and the gospel. This He did through the Protestant Reformation. Then through supernatural events and the decisive effects of the French Revolution, Christ initiated a prophecy consciousness among His people. A revival and reformation in the time of William Miller occurred upon prophecies of the end of time. Satan had anticipated this work of God by disseminating false interpretations of prophecy—his third emphasis program. However, Satan's prophetic emphasis program was not as effective as his law and gospel counterfeits. Here in the prophetic emphasis Christ is to win the controversy with Satan. The Millerite Adventists failed, however, to complete the gospel race. Just as God was about to finish His work in a blaze of glory with the addition of the third angel's message, the Adventists forsook the Advent Movement en masse. The Great Disappointment of October 22, 1844 shattered the faith of most of the believers in prophecy and God. The Lord did not will that Adventists should give up so easily. His plan was to test and purify them by the disappointment, reveal greater light to them, and pour His Holy Spirit upon them. But the disappointment the

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believers experienced, when Christ did not come when they expected, put them at a real spiritual standstill. God could not revive them with straight prophecy. They were burned out on prophecy. With these disappointed ones God had to start all over in reestablishing their faith. He had to start all over again at the beginning, as it were. Thus we would expect to find that the first revival and reformation after the Great Disappointment of October 22, 1844 should be on the law of God. And so it was. The first revival and reformation after October 22, 1844 was on the Sabbath— the fourth commandment of the Decalogue. The reader should be able to see that religious history made another complete circle, or cycle, between the time of Ezra and the time just after the 1844 Disappointment. History began to repeat itself. This fact we have not merely by observation. We also have it as a divine fiat: "The Lord has declared that the history of the past shall be rehearsed as we enter upon the closing work."3 If God's people would not at first succeed, He would bring them back again over the same ground so that they could recognize their mistake, and gain the victory.4 In the early ages of earth's history, God's people went through characteristic experiences largely for the first time. The pattern was not yet completely established. They could not know precisely what to expect. How could we expect them to get it all right and make all the right choices? But now the pattern is plainly laid before us. It remains for us only to see if this same cycle of history continued to be fulfilled after 1844, where we are now in the cycle of history, and thereby learn what we are doing right or wrong. We can also check to see if we have progressed to the end of the cycle, or if there is anything God has yet it store for us in the line of revival and reformation. The revival and reformation pattern of the ages we have discovered is a simple but profound key to unlock a succession of doors in the treasure house of revival and

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reformation truths. Some of the most difficult riddles of our past are unlocked with this key. For example, this pattern sheds light on what undoubtedly occurred in our post-1888 era. Besides this overall pattern in the history of revivals and reformations, we have learned some other features of true awakenings and reordering of lives: 1. As stated at the beginning of this chapter, every revival and reformation, true or counterfeit, has had a message that brought it into being. No awakening resulted simply from an inspiring talk. A doctrinal teaching formed the basis for any given movement. We can conclude by induction this is an invariant rule. If we want a true revival and reformation in the future, we can not expect one to come from an inspirational message. We shall be required to discover from God's Word the appropriate theme for this time which points out our errors, and offers the solution. 2. True revivals and reformations have always been associated with heartfelt conviction of sin, sorrow for sin, and mourning. 3. Such seasons of sorrow for sin have been followed by prayers for forgiveness, and strong faith that God has forgiven the sins. This has always brought joy and enthusiasm. We cannot expect such joy without first experiencing sorrow for sin. 4. Revivals have traditionally come through joy and enthusiasm over mysteries newly revealed from the Word of God. Where there is no growth and progress in understanding the Bible, where men are content with their present comprehension of the Scriptures, there can not be such thrilling power. Notice what solid Spirit of Prophecy support there is for such a historic parallel.

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KEY TO REVIVAL Spirit of Prophecy Confirmation of Parallel Apostasies have occurred and the Lord has permitted matters of this nature to develop in the past in order to show how easily His people will be misled when they depend upon the words of men instead of searching the Scriptures for themselves, as did the noble Bereans, to see if these things are so. And the Lord has permitted things of this kind to occur that warnings may be given that such things will take place.5 . . . consider that the experience of the ancient people of God with all its objectionable features was faithfully chronicled to pass into history. The Scripture declares, "These things . . . are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come." (1 Corinthians 10:11).6 The Lord has declared that the history of the past shall be rehearsed as we enter upon the closing work.7 In the great final conflict, Satan will employ the same policy, manifest the same spirit, and work for the same end as in all preceding ages. That which has been, will be, except that the coming struggle will be marked with a terrible intensity such as the world has never witnessed. Satan's deceptions will be more subtle, his assaults more determined. If it were possible, he would lead astray the elect. Mark 13:22, R.V. As the Spirit of God has opened to my mind the great truths of His word, and the scenes of the past and the future, I have been bidden to make known to others that which has thus been revealed—to trace the history of the controversy in past ages, and

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especially so to present it as to shed a light on the fast-approaching struggle of the future. . . . In these records we may see a fore-shadowing of the conflict before us. Regarding them in the light of God's word, and by the illumination of His Spirit, we may see unveiled the devices of the wicked one, and the dangers which they must shun who would be found "without fault" before the Lord at His coming. . . . It is not so much the object of this book to present new truths concerning the struggles of former times, as to bring out facts and principles which have a bearing on coming events. Yet viewed as a part of the controversy between the forces of light and darkness, all these records of the past are seen to have a new significance; and through them a light is cast upon the future, illumining the pathway of those who, like the reformers of past ages will be called, even at the peril of all earthly good, to witness "for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ."8 Satan was not idle. He now attempted what he has attempted in every other reformatory movement—to deceive and destroy the people by palming off upon them a counterfeit in place of the true work. As there were false christs in the first century of the Christian church, so there arose false prophets in the sixteenth century.9 The work of God in the earth presents, from age to age, a striking similarity in every great reformation or religious movement. The principles of God's dealing with men are ever the same. The important movements of the present have their parallel in those of the past, and the experience of the

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KEY TO REVIVAL church in former ages has lessons of great value for our own time.10

By the above we can see (1) the history of the past is to be rehearsed in the last days; (2) God has designed it thus for the benefit of His people; and (3) Satan's policy has been, is, and will be to use a counterfeit of the work God is doing at the time. An out-of-date counterfeit of a past work God did, when God has passed on to a new emphasis, cannot be of much success to Satan. To help the reader visualize the revival and reformation pattern of the ages, and to draw the striking analogy to developments in the Adventist movement, the cyclic revival and reformation pattern in pre-1844 history will be presented in chart form in the next pages. The corresponding chart for Adventist history will be presented at the end of the book. The numbers in the charts signify the type of theological emphasis in God's revival program or in Satan's corresponding counterfeit: 1. stands for law emphasis revival for the true, and legalism for the counterfeit; 2. stands for gospel emphasis revival for the true, and antinomianism for the counterfeit; and 3. stands for true prophecy emphasis and its corresponding false prophecy counterfeit. Also P. stands for persecution, and T. for testing time.

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PRE-1844 HISTORY True Revivals

Counterfeit Revivals

The Jewish people at a standstill of apostasy and captivity. 677-537 B.C. _____ Struggles Over the Law 1. Divine revival and reformation based on the law in time of Ezra and Nehemiah, 457-408 B.C. 1. Jewish faith degenerates to legalism, 408 B.C.-27 A.D. 1. Christ restores the law, demonstrates and encourages true law keeping, 27-31 A.D. _________________ Struggles Over the Gospel 2. Death and resurrection of Christ initiates revival and reformation based on Gospel, 31-321 A.D.

1. Satan first tries Jewish legalism to war against Christian Church from outside, 31 A.D.-now.

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Struggles Over the Gospel (Cont.) 1. Satan also tries legalism within Church to war against Gospel. Procedure fails. 31-65 A.D. 2. Devil gets wise with second message theme of his own— counterfeit Gospel— antinomianism. He experiments with it, 65- 100 A.D. P. Satan tries to crush Church with persecution, 65-321 A.D. 2. Satan uses a form of antinomianism, "up with Jesus, down with doctrines and standards," to overthrow Christianity by compromise with paganism, 321-400 A.D. 1. Once this is accomplished, Satan downshifts people again into legalism, 400-1374 A.D.

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Struggles (Cont.)

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Over

the

Gospel

2. (1) Christ Our Righteousness message recovered in Protestant Reformation plus most principles of the law, 1374-1800.

P. Satan fights Protestantism with persecution, 1374-1780. 1. Devil fights Christ Our Righteousness with papal legalism, 1374-end of time. 2. Within Protestantism, Satan has primarily used spurious holiness-antinomianism—to counteract Gospel message, 1540-end of time.

Struggles Over Bible Prophecy 3. Satan anticipates God's prophetic movement with system of false prophecy—1700-1844. 3. God shifts into prophetic Advent movement, 17981844.

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Testing Time T. God tests His people on point of time, October 22, 1844. His people fail the test. The great majority gives up their faith or adopts a wrong interpretation of their error so that they reject the true when it comes. A remnant follows on to know the Lord. _______________ 1

Ellen G. White, S.D.A. Bible Commentary, Vol. 6, p. 1061.

2

Ellen G. White, Prophets and Kings, p. 622.

3

Ellen G. White, Selected Messages, Book Two, p. 390.

4

Ellen G. White, My Life Today, p. 92 (see also Testimonies for the Church, Vol. 5, p. 623, and Vol. 9, p. 182). 5


6

Ibid., p. 393.

7

Ibid., p. 390.

8

Great Controversy, op. cit., "Introduction," pp. xi, xii.

9

Great Controversy, op. cit., p. 186.

10

Ibid., p. 343.

PART TWO:

REVIVAL KEY FOR ADVENTISTS

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Chapter 10 ADVENTISM REPEATS THE PAST

The preceding section, CLUES FROM THE PAST, disclosed a cyclic pattern of revival history. A valuable key to revival and reformation, the pattern unlocks difficult mysteries in Adventist history and explains where we have been, are, and must yet go (theologically). The revival pattern has been quite noticeable in the Advent Movement as well as in pre-1844 history. The close parallel between the Ezra-to-1844 period and the post-1844 interval is immediately noticeable. In the time of Ezra, God took the Israelite nation from the standstill of apostasy and captivity, and set them in motion with a revival and reformation emphasizing the law. In the aftermath of the 1844 disappointment, God likewise took the Adventists from the standstill of disappointment and confusion, and set them in motion with a new system of truth that explained their past mistake in expectation, but which also emphasized a neglected, trampled aspect of the Decalogue—the Seventhday Sabbath. As the ancient Israelites mourned as they saw they had ignorantly broken God's statutes, the Adventists mourned as they saw they also had ignorantly broken God's Ten Commandments. As the Israelites covenanted with God to keep all of His precepts, the Adventists covenanted with God to keep all of His commandments. As God's Rule of conduct was emphasized more than anything else in the revival and reformation in the time of Ezra, the law became to be emphasized more than anything else in the postdisappointment Sabbatarian Adventist movement. Clearly, then, the Sabbatarian Adventist movement had its parallel in the great reformation movement in the past in the time of Ezra.1

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The question, then, is, did this parallel between modern and ancient spiritual history continue? We know that Satan succeeded in bringing post-exile Israel into legalism. Did he also succeed in bringing post-disappointment Seventh-day Adventism into legalism? Robert J. Wieland and D. K. Short, in their unpublished but well circulated manuscript, 1888 Reexamined, as well as in their later communication, "An Explicit Confession . . . Due the Church", maintained that "between the 1860s and the 1880s the Seventh-day Adventist Church was permeated by a legalistic, self-centered spirit that made the finishing of the gospel commission impossible in that generation."2 A. V. Olson3 and A. W. Spalding agreed in their works. Spalding said of that period, "The trend was to legalism."4 Spalding further wrote: Men rested from sunset to sunset on Saturday, and claimed credit for keeping the Sabbath; they declared that Christ was quickly coming, but in their conduct hardly revealed that He had come to them; they assented that the body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, yet on one point and another defiled it; they preached that the judgment is in the future, yet judged and criticized their fellow men; they paid tithes and gave offerings and felt merit therein, yet apparently forgot that the poor widow cast in more than they all. Thus they clothed themselves with imperfect works, filthy rags, and failed, each for himself, to search the Scriptures on his knees and find the heavenly eyesalve and the white raiment of Christ's righteousness.5 And so, apparently, Seventh-day Adventists did indeed fall into partial legalism as did the Israelites before the time of Christ.


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We marvel at how quickly the devil accomplished this. What took Satan 400 years to effect in Israel (from the time of Ezra to the time of Christ) with legalism, took Satan only 40 years to attain the second time in Adventism (from the 1848 Sabbath conferences to the 1888 Minneapolis meeting of the General Conference). Evidently the devil immediately recognized the repetition of history and made full use of it. Satan knew through years of experience just how to counteract a revival and reformation based on the law. He already knew how to overcome the obedience dilemma—his problem when people are eager to obey God. Satan devised a way to make Adventists legalists while they were zealous to obey God and to defend His truth. How did he do it? He had to do it right in the presence of a living messenger of the Lord, while she was continually receiving and giving correction and instruction for the people of God.

Resisting Antinomian Attacks Seventh-day Adventists' early slip into legalism seems to be directly related to the warfare they were forced to wage against antinomianism. The story how all this developed is as follows: Seventh-day Sabbath keeping Adventists, or Seventh-day Adventists as they later came to be called, were at first inconspicuous, few in number, and unorganized. The early believers were usually poor in worldly goods and widely scattered. Its ministers were not seminary trained, and they preached to the "little flock" in modest homes or school-houses in the countryside, villages, or cities. Church buildings and institutions were nonexistent. The tiny movement was expected to disappear from the scene of action, and its work to come to nought.

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KEY TO REVIVAL But the movement grew, becoming in time a vigorous body spreading itself across America and over the seas into other lands, organizing schools, and building medical institutions. And as this growth and expansion occurred, many of the ministers of other denominations became uneasy. Conscious that Seventh-day Adventists were really beginning to make an impact upon the world and the members of their own churches, they became alarmed and moved in to save their flocks from this strange but convincing new doctrine. Danger signals were hoisted. From pulpit and press, warnings were sounded by the alarmed clergy. Tracts, pamphlets, and books were published denouncing the doctrines of the Seventh-day Adventists. The Sabbath became the special object of attack, and in order to counter the Bible evidence for seventh-day observance, Protestant preachers produced the most fantastic arguments to prove that God had changed, modified, or abolished the moral law of ten commandments. This they did in spite of the fact that their own creeds or confessions of faith made crystal clear that the law of ten commandments is as unchangeable and eternal as its Author, and that it is binding upon all men in all ages. Seventh-day Adventist ministers and writers constantly were called upon to meet these spurious arguments and misrepresentations. At times their evangelists were challenged to debate the issues with these antinomians. Many of them became expert in the debater's arena, and seldom lost a battle. Because of this intense warfare against the law and the Sabbath, Adventist preachers were forced to devote time, thought, and effort to controversial subjects. The vital, life-giving doctrines of the gospel and the cross of Christ—conversion, justification, sanctification, righteousness by faith—were taken for


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granted in the main without denying or questioning their necessity and importance. After all, these were not the issues at stake. It is easily understood that Seventh-day Adventist writers and editors of the first few decades of the movement also gave a preponderance of space to the discussion of the law and the Sabbath. For the first few decades, nearly every issue of the church papers carried articles dealing with the various facets of law keeping, Sabbath observance, the covenants, et cetera. The arguments produced, from the pulpit and through the press were founded on the Word of God. They were sound. No one doubted that Seventh-day Adventist evangelists were able defenders of the moral law. In time few dared to meet them in debate. They were respected for their knowledge of the Bible. It was true then, however, as it is true now, that debates do not produce the best results, and they often have a detrimental influence upon the debater, his opponent, the audience, and the cause he represents. In 1871 Ellen G. White denounced this practice in forceful language: "The discussions," she wrote, "either oral or written, result in more harm than good" (Testimonies, vol. 3, p. 213). And with true insight she observed that—“those who love to engage in discussion generally lose their spirituality. They do not trust in God as they should. They have the theory of the truth prepared to whip an opponent. The feelings of their own unsanctified hearts have prepared many sharp, close things to use as a snap to their whip to irritate and provoke their opponent. The spirit of Christ has no part in this."—Ibid., p. 215. As the result of the constant emphasis upon the law and the Sabbath in lectures, sermons, and debates, Adventist preachers became known as legalists, and were accused of believing in salvation

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KEY TO REVIVAL through works rather than through faith in Christ's work for them. It is a common charge that the Adventists did not really believe in Christ and His work of grace. Now while it was grossly untrue to say that the early Adventist preacher disbelieved in the gospel and the precious light of the love and mercy of God, it was exceedingly difficult to detect such faith in Christ while listening to his vigorous defense of the moral law. There was little room in his preaching for the precious light of the love and righteousness of Christ—the Giver and Fulfiller of the law of God, the Lord of the Sabbath, and the Revealer of the character of God the Father. Alas, it must be said in truth that some Adventist ministers failed to emphasize that by living faith in Christ and His atoning sacrifice, the very righteousness of God is available to the repentant, believing sinner. Because they neglected to set forth this bright and appealing light of truth, all too often many lost it from their own sight and experience. And as a result, God's truth was at times robbed of its converting power. Referring to these sad facts, in a sermon preached at Otsego, Michigan, on October 10, 1890, Ellen White remarked: "In presenting the binding claims of the law, many have failed to portray the infinite love of Christ. Those who have so great truths, so weighty reforms to present to the people, have not had a realization of the value of the atoning Sacrifice as an expression of God's great love to man. Love for Jesus, and Jesus' love for sinners, have been dropped out of the religious experience of those who have been commissioned to preach the gospel, and self has been exalted instead of the Redeemer of mankind. . . . "Many sermons preached upon the claims of the law have been without Christ, and this lack has made


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the truth inefficient in converting souls."—Review and Herald, Feb. 3, 1891, p. 66; in Selected Messages, book 1, pp. 371, 372.6 Referring several years later to the situation which had developed, Mrs. White showed how serious it was and said: As a people, we have preached the law until we are as dry as the hills of Gilboa that had neither dew nor rain.7 The trouble with our work has been that we have been content to present a cold theory of the truth.8 Spiritual things have not been discerned. Appearance and machinery have been exalted as of power, while the virtue of true goodness, noble piety, and heart-holiness, have been made a secondary consideration. That which should have been first has been made last and of least importance.9 Thus we see that by forcing Seventh-day Adventists to wage a vigorous battle against antinomians and their attacks against the moral law and the Sabbath, Satan succeeded in causing Adventists to over emphasize the law and under emphasize Christ, the cross, and the Christ Our Righteousness message, and thereby become legalistic. Seventh-day Adventists, beginning beautifully in God's first emphasis revival and reformation based on the law of God, slipped into Satan's counterfeit first emphasis reformation— legalism.

The Call to Revival In Bible times, when lukewarm conditions developed in the church, God sent prophets with

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KEY TO REVIVAL burning messages calling for revival and reformation. So among the Adventists of those early times God worked to right every wrong and to bring His people into a vital relationship with Christ. Through Ellen G. White the Lord sent earnest messages to the people of His remnant church. These messages pointed out their lukewarm condition, the reasons responsible for it, and called for a change. They contained earnest appeals to put first things first—to make Christ the center of all their living and preaching and activity.10 As early as 1879 Mrs. White wrote: A great and solemn truth has been entrusted to us, for which we are responsible. Too often this truth is presented in cold theory. Sermon after sermon upon doctrinal points is delivered to people who come and go, some of whom will never have another as favorable opportunity of being convicted and converted to Christ. Golden opportunities are lost by delivering elaborate discourses, which display self but do not magnify Christ. A theory of the truth without vital godliness cannot remove the moral darkness which envelops the soul.11 In 1880 Ellen White wrote: I long to see our ministers dwell more upon the cross of Christ, their own hearts, meanwhile, softened and subdued by the Savior's matchless love, which prompted that infinite sacrifice. If, in connection with the theory of the truth, our ministers would dwell more upon practical godliness, speaking from a heart imbued with the spirit of truth; their hearts would be touched by the pleadings of the cross of Christ, the infinite generosity and pity of Jesus in


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suffering for man. These vital subjects, in connection with the doctrinal points of our faith, would effect much good among the people.12 In 1882 she penned: God has made ample provision that we may stand perfect in His grace, wanting in nothing, waiting for the appearing of our Lord. Are you ready? Have you the wedding garment on? That garment will never cover deceit, impurity, corruption, or hypocrisy.... God spared not His own Son, but delivered Him to death for our offenses and raised Him again for our justification. Through Christ we may present our petitions at the throne of grace. Through Him, unworthy as we are, we may obtain all spiritual blessings. Do we come to Him, that we may have life?13 Will we put forth most earnest efforts to form this alliance with Christ, through which alone these blessings are attained? Will we break off our sins by righteousness and our iniquities by turning unto the Lord?14 Ellen White authored a great deal along this line in 1887 and 1888: Profession Not Enough: The observance of external forms will never meet the great want of the human soul. A mere profession of Christ is not enough to prepare one to stand the test of the judgment.15 Too Much Formality: There is too much formality in the church. Souls are perishing for light and knowledge. We should be so connected with the

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KEY TO REVIVAL Source of light that we can be channels of light to the world.16 Like the Pretentious Fig Tree: Those who profess to be guided by the Word of God, may be familiar with the evidences of their faith, and yet be like the pretentious fig tree, which flaunted its foliage in the face of the world, but when searched by the Master, was found destitute of fruit.17 A Revival of True Godliness: A revival of true godliness among us is the greatest and most urgent of all our needs. To seek this should be our first work. There must be earnest effort to obtain the blessing of the Lord, not because God is not willing to bestow His blessing upon us, but because we are unprepared to receive it.... There are persons in the church who are not converted, and who will not unite in earnest, prevailing prayer. We must enter upon the work individually. We must pray more, and talk less. Iniquity abounds, and the people must be taught not to be satisfied with a form of godliness without the spirit and power.... We have far more to fear from within than from without. The hindrances to strength and success are far greater from the church itself than from the world. .. There is nothing that Satan fears so much as that the people of God shall clear the way by removing every hindrance, so that the Lord can pour out His Spirit upon a languishing church and an impenitent congregation. If Satan had his way, there would never be another awakening, great or small, to the end of time. But we are not ignorant of his devices. It is possible to resist his power. When the way is


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prepared for the Spirit of God, the blessing will come. Satan can no more hinder a shower of blessing from descending upon God's people than he can close the windows of heaven that rain cannot come upon the earth. Wicked men and devils cannot hinder the work of God, or shut out His presence from the assemblies of His people, if they will, with subdued, contrite hearts, confess and put away their sins, and in faith claim His promises. Every temptation, every opposing influence, whether open or secret, may be successfully resisted, "not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts.". . . What is our condition in this fearful and solemn time? Alas, what pride is prevailing in the church, what hypocrisy, what deception, what love of dress, frivolity, and amusement, what desire for the supremacy! All these sins have clouded the mind, so that eternal things have not been discerned.18 Pretended or Real Connection With Christ: There is a wide difference between a pretended union and a real connection with Christ by faith. A profession of religion places men in the church, but this does not prove that they have a vital connection with the living Vine. . . . When this intimacy of connection and communion is formed, our sins are laid upon Christ, His righteousness is imputed to us. He was made sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. . . . The power of evil is so identified with human nature that no man can overcome except by union with Christ. Through this union we receive moral and spiritual power. If we have the Spirit of Christ, we shall bring forth the fruit of righteousness—fruit that will honor and bless men, and glorify God....

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KEY TO REVIVAL A union with Christ by living faith is enduring; every other union must perish. Christ first chose us, paying an infinite price for our redemption; and the true believer chooses Christ as first and last, and best in everything. But this union costs us something. It is a relation of utter dependence, to be entered into by a proud being. All who form this union must feel their need of the atoning blood of Christ. They must have a change of heart. They must submit their own will to the will of God. There will be a struggle with outward and internal obstacles. There must be a painful work of detachment, as well as a work of attachment. Pride, selfishness, vanity, worldliness— sin in all its forms—must be overcome, if we would enter into a union with Christ. The reason why many find the Christian life so deplorably hard, why they are so fickle, so variable, is, they try to attach themselves to Christ without first detaching themselves from these cherished idols.19 The Presence of Jesus Needed: Without the presence of Jesus in the heart, religious service is only dead, cold formalism. The longing desire for communion with God soon ceases when the Spirit of God is grieved from us; but when Christ is in us the hope of glory, we are constantly directed to think and act in reference to the glory of God.20

The Solemn Question: The solemn question should come home to every member of our churches, How are we standing before God, as the professed followers of Jesus Christ? Is our light shining forth to the world in clear, steady rays? Have we, as a people solemnly dedicated to God, preserved our union with the Source of all light? Are not the symptoms of decay and declension painfully visible in the midst of the Christian churches of today? Spiritual death has


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come upon the people that should be manifesting life and zeal, purity and consecration, by the most earnest devotion to the cause of truth. The facts concerning the real condition of the professed people of God speak more loudly than their profession, and make it evident that some power has cut the cable that anchored them to the Eternal Rock, and that they are drifting away to sea, without chart or compass.21 Arguments Not Enough: It is not enough to be familiar with the arguments of the truth alone. You must meet the people through the life that is in Jesus. Your work will be made wholly successful if Jesus is abiding with you; for He has said, "Without me, ye can do nothing." Jesus stands knocking—knocking at the door of your hearts—and yet, for all this, some say continually, "I cannot find Him." Why not? He says, "I stand here knocking. Why do you not open the door, and say, Come in, dear Lord?" I am so glad for these simple directions as to the way to find Jesus. If it were not for them, I should not know how to find Him whose presence I desire so much. Open the door now, and empty the soul temple of the buyers and sellers, and invite the Lord to come in. Say to Him, "I will love Thee with all my soul.... I will obey the law of God." Then you will feel the peaceful presence of Jesus.22, 23 Ellen White cautioned against either extreme in regard to the law of God: of saying the law has been done away, or in presenting the law in a loveless, Christ less manner: These men [the "false prophets," the "ravening wolves" Christ warned of] tell us that the commandments of God were done away at the death of Christ. Shall we believe them, these men who

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KEY TO REVIVAL claim to be sanctified, while they refuse to obey God? They say the Lord has told them that they need not keep the Ten Commandments; but has the Lord told them this? No, God does not lie....

A Timely Caution.—We as a people have fallen into the opposite error. We acknowledge the claims of God's law, and teach the people the duty of rendering obedience. We believe in giving everything, but we do not see that we must take as well as give. We fail to have that trust, that faith, which keeps the soul abiding in Christ.... Through a lack of faith, many who seek to obey the commandments of God have little peace and joy. . .. It is our duty to preach faith, to present the love of Christ in connection with the claims of the law; for neither can be rightly understood without the other.24 In 1889 Ellen White wrote of the loveless, Christ less condition that had come upon Seventh-day Adventist through years of neglect of the truths of Christ and His love—truths which were needed in a true, balanced presentation of the law: There is a deplorable lack of spirituality among our people. A great work must be done for them before they can become what Christ designed they should be—the light of the world. For years I have felt deep anguish of soul as the Lord presented before me the want in our churches of Jesus and His Love. There has been a spirit of self-sufficiency and a disposition to strive for position and supremacy. I have seen that self-glorification was becoming common among Seventh-day Adventists and that unless the pride of man should be abased and Christ exalted we should, as a people, be in no better


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condition to receive Christ at His second advent then were the Jewish people to receive Him at His first advent.25

Gospel Presented to Adventism Just as God specially prepared Ezra and Nehemiah to be his men to meet the spiritual crisis of their times, God specially prepared Alonzo T. Jones and Dr. E. J. Waggoner to meet the legalism crisis in Adventism in the late 1880s. In 1882, six years before the epochal 1888 General Conference Session, Dr. Ellet J. Waggoner began his intensive study of Righteousness by Faith. One Sabbath afternoon at a camp meeting in Healdsburg, California, he [E. J. Waggoner] was sitting rather apart from the congregation at the edge of the tent. Suddenly, Christ in all His glory seemed to appear vividly before him, hanging in his stead on a brilliantly illuminated cross—brighter than the noonday sun—crucified for him, and his sins. Like an overwhelming flood it burst upon his consciousness, as never before, that Christ loved him, that Christ had died to save him. He saw that God was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself— the whole world and its sin, and his in particular— and proffering His indispensable Righteousness in its stead. It seemed that Paul's experience on the way to Damascus could not have been more real and vivid. Waggoner resolved then and there that he would thenceforth study the Bible in the light of that revelation in order that he might give the remainder of his life to helping others to see the same truth of that glorious revelation—Christ crucified, and God's love for individual sinners, with Christ as "all the

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KEY TO REVIVAL fullness of the Godhead," and our Righteousness vested in Him and received as a gift from Him.26 From 1887 to 1890 E. J. Waggoner and A. T. Jones were jointly editors of the Signs of the Times and the American Sentinel, then of Oakland, California. Both were at the same time teachers at Healdsburg College. And both preached frequently in the Bay churches—Waggoner at Oakland and Jones in San Francisco. Moreover, both men were keenly interested in the "Gospel of Righteousness by Faith," as they referred to it. Though each had pursued his own individual study of the theme, chiefly in Romans and Galatians, they were in basic agreement in view and emphasis. Both had caught a vision of the supreme glory and redemptive provisions of the eternal Christ, and felt commissioned of God to declare it to the church, because of what they regarded as much current misconception.27

God supplied the needed Christ Our Righteousness message antidote to Adventist legalism through the messages of Jones and Waggoner at a Bible Institute and General Conference Session of the Seventh-day Adventist Church held in Minneapolis, October 10-November 4, 1888. In the years following this 1888 meeting, these men, with the support and backing of Ellen G. White, presented these refreshing second emphasis truths of the uplifted Savior in revival meetings throughout the land. The messages were just what were needed to counter the legalistic unbalanced view of the law of God that had come to predominate. These young leaders presented Christ in connection with the law, taught the eternal preexistence of Christ, His absolute deity, and practical information on how we can receive justification by faith in Christ and also become over comers through faith.


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Ellen White endorsed this message and these two messengers as she did no other teaching or men. The following is a mere sample.28 "The Lord in His great mercy sent a most precious message to His people through Elders Waggoner and Jones.”—TM 91. "The message given us by A. T. Jones and E. J. Waggoner is a message of God to the Laodicean Church." Letter S-24, 1892 (to Uriah Smith). "I would not now rehearse before you the evidence given in the past two years of the dealings of God by His chosen servants; but the present evidence of His working is revealed to you, and you are now under obligation to believe." TM 466 (the date is Nov. 3, 1890). "God has committed to His servants a message for this time; but this message does not in every particular coincide with the ideas of all the leading men, and some criticize the message and the messengers." TM 465. "The opposition in our own ranks has imposed upon the Lord's messengers a laborious and soultrying task. . . . The Spirit of God has been present in power among His people, but it could not be bestowed upon them, because they did not open their hearts to receive it." Letter, January 9, 1893 (GC Bulletin, 1893, p. 419).

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KEY TO REVIVAL The 1888 Message

The 1888 message of Jones and Waggoner was of Christ and His righteousness in relation to the law. Contrary to the Arian limited deity of Christ view held by some of the early leaders of the Seventh-day Adventist church, Jones and Waggoner showed from scripture the full deity of Christ.29 Christ is God's only begotten Son, the express image of His Person, not a created being.30 Christ is Himself the Creator of everything in the Universe, and the Sustainer of everything.31 He is fully God and has the power to do anything. Waggoner urged this fact as an evidence that Christ has the power to make us overcomers. In Christ is the power to live godly lives.32 While stressing the full deity of Christ, Jones and Waggoner also taught some of the significance of the full humanity of Christ. The Word was made flesh—sinful flesh—that He might conquer and condemn sin in the flesh.33 While dwelling in sinful flesh with infirmities, Christ knew no sin. He did no sin. He is the sinless, pure, spotless Lamb of God. But He was made to be sin for us. He bare our sins in His body and confessed each one as though they were His.34 He knows from experience what it is like to be tempted as a weak man. And He knows by experience how to conquer each temptation. Thus He can succor (help, aid) us in our temptations. The humanity of Christ is as important in our salvation as is the deity of Christ. The bulk of the 1888 presentation concerned righteousness through faith in Christ as opposed to attempted righteousness through the works of the law. The book of Galatians deals almost exclusively with this issue. Waggoner thus wrote and preached an exegesis of Galatians. Paul wrote to the Galatians to try to reverse a legalism apostasy among them. Under the teaching and preaching of Paul, the Galatian believers had accepted the gospel by faith, received the Holy Spirit, and were the recipients and workers of miracles.35 After this good start, they were swayed by the


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arguments of certain fellows saying, "Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved." Acts 15:1. The Galatians began to attempt to earn salvation by the works of the law. Paul wrote to them showing them that was a fatal error. I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed. . . . O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you? This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh? Have ye suffered so many things in vain? if it be yet in vain. He therefore that ministereth to you the Spirit, and worketh miracles among you, doeth he it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? Galatians 1:6-9; 3:1-5. Jones and Waggoner taught what Paul taught, "that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God.... The just shall live by faith." Galatians 3:11. The law is holy, just, and good. It is the transcript of God's character. But it cannot

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justify the sinner. It can only condemn a sinner. That is not because it is a bad law, but because it is a good law. The law will not lie or cheat and call a sinner a saint. And it has no power to transform an evil person into a righteous person. Also, no amount of keeping the law can atone for past transgressions of it. "Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin." Romans 3:20. The blood of Christ alone can cleanse a sinner and bring him forgiveness. "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." 1 John 1:9. Calvary's sacrifice is of infinite value in that Christ is fully God as well as fully man. His sacrifice was not spoiled by any sin Christ did. "For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him." 2 Corinthians 5:21. Christ lived by the Father. John 6:57. His faith in the word that God gave Him was such that He repeatedly and positively maintained that when He died He should rise again the third day. In this faith He died, saying, "Father, into Thy hands I commit My spirit." Luke 23:46. The faith that gave Him victory over death also gave Him complete victory over sin. That same faith He exercises in us when He dwells in us by faith, for He is "the same yesterday and today and forever." Hebrews 13:8. It is not we that live, but Christ that lives in us, and uses His own faith to deliver us from the power of Satan. "What have we to do?" Let Him live in us in His own way. "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus." Philippians 2:5, KJV. How can we let Him? Simply by acknowledging Him, by confessing Him.36


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Justification by faith is not alone for the sinner or the beginning Christian. Because we have sinful natures and propensities to sin, it is impossible for us in our own strength to keep God's law perfectly. We need Jesus in us resisting temptation and obeying the law all through this earthly life. Many follow the steps to Christ in confessing sin and obtaining forgiveness, but then attempt to keep the law on their own or with the external assistance of Christ. These are doomed to fail. Some in strong temptation may even plead, "Jesus, p l e a s e, p l e a s e help me!" then give up and succumb to the temptation and ask forgiveness. This is not righteousness by faith. The individual may agonize with God for assistance, but does not believe Christ will do it. This is not faith. In temptation it would be better to pray, "I thank Thee, Lord Jesus, that Thou art the Creator of heaven and earth, and no problem is too hard for Thee. I thank Thee that Thou hast taken care of this little problem of mine." That is righteousness by faith.

The Beginning of the Loud Cry The acceptance of this heaven-sent message of Righteousness by Faith was so fraught with thrilling potentialities that Ellen G. White said the loud cry of the third angel's message began in the revelation of the righteousness of Christ. The time of test is just upon us, for the loud cry of the third angel has already begun in the revelation of the righteousness of Christ, the sin-pardoning Redeemer. This is the beginning of the light of the angel whose glory shall fill the whole earth.37 ____________________

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2

Robert J. Wieland and D. K. Short, "An Explicit Confession . . . Due the Church" (Printed in U. S. A., 1972), p. 4. 3

A. V. Olson, Through Crisis to Victory, 1888-1901 (Wash. D.C.: Review and Herald, 1966), p. 15. 4

Arthur Whitefield Spalding, Origin and History of Seventh-day Adventists (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1962), Volume 2, p. 286. 5

Ibid., p. 301.

6

A. V. Olson, op. cit., pp. 9-12.

7

Ellen G. White, Review and Herald, March 11, 1890.

8

Ibid., May 28, 1889.

9

Ibid., Feb. 27, 1894.

10

A. V. Olson, op. cit., p. 25.

11

Ellen G. White, Testimonies for the Church, vol. 4, pp. 313, 314. 12

Ibid., pp. 374, 375.

13

Ibid., vol. 5, pp. 220, 221.

14

Ibid., p. 231.

15

Ellen G. White, Review and Herald, Jan. 25, 1887.

16

Ibid., Feb. 15, 1887.


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17

Ibid.

18

Ellen G. White, Review and Herald, March 22, 1887.

19

Ibid., Dec. 13, 1887.

20

Ibid., April 17, 1888.

21

Ibid., July 24, 1888.

22

Ibid., Aug. 28, 1888.

23

The above collection of E. G. White statements comes from A. V. Olson, Through Crisis to Victory, 1888-1901 (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1966). 24

Ellen G. White, Evangelism, pp. 598, 599 (1900, 1902). 25

Ellen G. White, Testimonies for the Church, Vol. 5, pp. 727, 728. 26

LeRoy Edwin Froom, Movement of Destiny (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1971), p. 240. 27

Ibid.

28

This is just a sample of the 123 such Ellen White endorsements listed in Appendix A in the following publication: Robert J. Wieland, An Introduction to the 1888 Message Itself (P. O. Box 408, Baker, Oregon 97814: The Adventist Forum Association, 1976 (?)), pp. 111-126. 29

E. J. Waggoner, Christ and His Righteousness

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(Nashville: Southern Publishing Association, Facsimile Reproduction 1972 (original 1890).), pp. 8-24. 30

Ibid., pp. 12, 14, 15, 19-24.

31

Ibid., pp. 16-19.

32

E. J. Waggoner, Christ and His Righteousness (Nashville: Southern Publishing Association, Facsimile Reproduction 1972 (original 1890)), pp. 46, 60. 33

Ibid., pp. 24-31.

34

Ibid., pp. 26-28.

35

E. J. Waggoner, The Glad Tidings, Studies in Galatians (Mountain View, CA: Pacific Press Publishing Association, 1972 (originally published in 1900)), pp. 52, 53. 36

Ibid., p. 47.

37

Ellen G. White, Review and Herald, November 22, 1892.

Chapter 11 WHAT REALLY HAPPENED AFTER 1888?

I. CONSIDERING WIELAND AND SHORT'S VIEW

If the loud cry of the third angel began in the presentation of the Christ Our Righteousness message in 1888, then why are we still in this world over a century later? Shouldn't the loud cry have quickly reached its climax? Couldn't the work be finished in a few short years? Notice what Ellen G. White said in 1893, only five years after the 1888 Conference: The Spirit of God has been present in power among His people, but it could not be bestowed upon them, because they did not open their hearts to receive it. . . . The Lord designed that the messages of warning and instruction given through the Spirit to His people should go everywhere. But the influence that grew out of the resistance of light and truth at Minneapolis tended to make of no effect the light God had given to His people through the Testimonies. . . . . . . If every soldier of Christ had done his duty, if every watchman on the walls of Zion had given the trumpet a certain sound, the world might ere this have heard the message of warning. But the work is years behind. What account will be rendered to God for thus retarding the work?1 Did something happen at the Minneapolis General Conference Session that greatly retarded the work of God? Could it be that some error initiated there has persisted uncorrected all these years, thus preventing God from pouring out upon this church the latter rain of the Holy Spirit? These are questions that occurred to two Adventist 135

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missionaries to Africa, Elders Robert J. Wieland and D. K. Short. In the late 1940's they researched these questions, and in 1950 they presented a typewritten manuscript entitled 1888 Reexamined to the General Conference for review and evaluation. The findings and conclusions of their research as presented in 1888 Reexamined, are as follows:

What Wieland and Short Said 1. Between the 1860s and the 1880s the Seventh-day Adventist Church was permeated by a legalistic, self-centered spirit that made the finishing of the gospel commission impossible in that generation. To correct the deficiency, "the Lord in His great mercy sent a most precious message to His people" in the 1888 message of Christ's righteousness. 2. This message was far more than a mere reemphasis of the historic Protestant 16th Century doctrine of "justification by faith" as taught by the Reformers. Our authoritative denominational histories up until 1950 had said that was all it was. The evidence is clear that the 1888 message was in reality the beginning of the Latter Rain and the Loud Cry. We said so in 1950. 3. Ellen G. White said over and over in words that to us proved that this 1888 message was misunderstood and rejected, not by the general laity but by the responsible leadership of the Church. This is why we as a people are still here with our task unfinished so many decades after the "beginning" of the final outpouring of the Holy Spirit, which was to have finished the gospel work then like fire goes in the stubble. Although "some" among the leadership accepted the 1888 message they are always said by Ellen G. White to be "few" while the rejecters are

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consistently said to be "many." And those "some" who accepted or wanted to accept were overborne by the impact of the determined opposition from men in responsible positions. 4. Further, we discovered abundant Spirit of Prophecy testimony declaring that the opposition to the 1888 message was enmity against Christ of the same nature as the enmity the Jews manifested against Him when they crucified Him. If ever a people on earth needed the "final atonement," we do. Thus "the cleansing of the sanctuary" can never be complete until the 1888 incident of our history is fully understood by the responsible leadership of the Church today and the tragic mistake rectified by this generation. This cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary requires a complementary and parallel work of cleansing the unconscious content of our heart and mind of those hidden, buried, "underground" roots of unbelief and enmity against God (and one another, too). 5. Our greatest need as a Church is spiritual, not numerical or financial. Even should we "baptize" millions more lukewarm, spiritually self-satisfied members, this is not true "progress." A contrite reconciliation with the Lord Jesus Christ is our need. Only then can true love permeate the Church. 6. The Lord has been with us truly in all our "wanderings" since 1888 just as He was with Israel during their wanderings in the wilderness long ago. The Church, enfeebled and defective as she is, is still the object of His supreme regard. We are not better than our "fathers." We cannot criticize a past generation for their refusal to accept the Latter Rain. But we can repent now as a generation and as a denomination, so that we shall not repeat their tragic mistake. "The long Detour of wandering which we brought upon ourselves must lead us in the fullness of

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the time to the Christ whom we spurned at Minneapolis. In self-abhorrence and deep repentance, we shall find Him." This position requires absolute loyalty both to the Church and to Christ. 7. The self-centered motivation ("let's finish the work so we can all go home to glory") is not sufficient to arouse the Church to Christ like service. The real issue is the integrity and honor of God's throne. "He has staked that honor upon His confidence in the honesty of the Seventh-day Adventist conscience. In a sense, God Himself is now on trial in the course to be pursued by His people.... If now [1950] is understood to be the time for the proclamation of the loud cry, it follows that now is the time for the making right of the [1888] wrong. The mistake of [1888] was the rejection of the very power which the church is now committed to a program of seeking for." 8. Therefore before the Lord can again pour out His Holy Spirit in full measure for finishing the gospel commission in all the world, the General Conference Committee must lead the Church in denominational repentance. Otherwise, there is grave danger in our determination to secure supernatural "power." In our false assumption that we truly accepted the 1888 message we have thought ourselves "rich and increased with goods, and in need of nothing" when we are really confused by Babylon's ideas of "righteousness by faith." These have largely taken the place of the truth the Lord sent us in 1888. Unless we accept our Lord's call to denominational repentance ("Be zealous therefore, and repent," Revelation 3:19), there is grave danger of our becoming infatuated with a false Christ and a false and counterfeit "holy spirit" which we can easily mistake for the true.

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9. Such a situation is extremely serious. The first step in rectifying the prevailing confusion [1950] should be the publication of an anthology of the long out-of-print writings of the "messengers" whom the Lord sent in 1888.2 So said Elders Wieland and Short in 1950.

Disagreement on Post-1888 History The conclusions in 1888 Reexamined were not well received by the Seventh-day Adventist General Conference. They were in fact rejected, and the authors were advised to retract. In time, denominational writers published alternate theories—stated as fact—as to what took place in 1888 and the years following. Such works were, By Faith Alone, by Norval F. Pease (Mountain View: Pacific Press Publishing Association, 1962); Through Crisis to Victory, 1888-1901, by A. V. Olson (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1966); and Movement of Destiny, by LeRoy Edwin Froom (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1971). In Movement of Destiny, Froom challenged "promulgators of a misleading charge [that the post-1888 leadership rejected the true Christ Our Righteousness message brought by Jones and Waggoner]"3 to make "an explicit confession . . . due the Church." Though not specifically naming them, this was unmistakably an oblique reference and direct challenge to Robert J. Wieland and Donald K. Short. Wieland and Short answered in a little booklet in 1972, which they entitled, "An Explicit Confession . . . Due the Church". We see that there was not complete harmony and unity in the Seventh-day Adventist Church on the understanding and interpretation of some of our important past history. Some said one thing, some said another thing about what happened in 1888 and the years since. However, a true understanding

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of this period of our history is essential if we shall succeed in getting our bearings and in laying the groundwork for a true revival and reformation. We will discover in our analysis of this period of church history a great asset at our disposal which neither Wieland and Short nor the leading writers of the denomination had—our revival and reformation pattern of the ages, the three true and three counterfeit revival emphases used by Christ and Satan in their great controversy. Let us carefully consider the positions on both sides of this question, and compare them to our revival pattern of the ages. In the next sections we shall study the contrasting views of Elders LeRoy Edwin Froom and A. V. Olson on this controversial period of Adventist history.

II. CONSIDERING FROOM'S VIEW Froom and Olson agreed with Wieland and Short on the first portion of this sequence: legalism in the Church between the 1860s and the 1880s; that Jones and Waggoner presented the true Christ Our Righteousness message at and after 1888; that this message was resisted by "some" [rather than "many, as Wieland and Short believed] conservative, legalistic church leaders. But Froom and Olson disagreed with Wieland and Short more fundamentally on the last portion and outcome of this sequence of events. The title of Olson's book aptly summarizes his conclusion: Through Crisis to Victory, 1888-1901. Both Froom and Olson maintained that though there were some influential leaders which at first opposed the 1888 Christ Our Righteousness message (which thus delayed the denominational acceptance of the message), that changes in personnel, confessions on the part of some of the wrong doers, and the removal of others by death or apostasy, soon brought about a harmony and acceptance and agreement upon the Christ Our Righteousness message, and thus victory. Froom appealed to the record of O. A. Olsen (General Conference President

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immediately after the 1888 session) as the principal evidence of denominational leadership acceptance of the Christ Our Righteousness message of Jones and Waggoner in the years immediately after 1888.

What LeRoy Froom Said First consider the idea set forth in Movement of Destiny that the post-1888 leadership headed by President O. A. Olsen did truly accept the message. This point is vital because we are told that "we must . . . look chiefly to him for determinative evidence" pages 358, 359. In other words, if the post-1888 General Conference President was clearly on the right side, it would be very likely that his administration was also on the right side. This is reasonable and fair. We agree that the General Conference President's record provides such "determinative evidence." Quoting in context as full and complete as possible, note what Movement of Destiny says: “The nineties were marked by a succession of powerful revivals and helpful institutes—and confessions and a surrender to truth on the part of a growing majority of the Minneapolis disputants. . . . “. . . These were tremendous gains.—Page 264. “The leading post-1888 mold on the Movement was, of course, largely given by the incoming General Conference president. We must consequently look chiefly to him for determinative evidence. Now, the record of Olsen's spiritual leadership is clear and loyal, and his definite support of, and undeviating leadership in, the broad field of Righteousness by Faith is openly before us.

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“Olsen seemed to sense the spiritual bearings of the questions at issue, and gave quiet but effective leadership to their solution. “Olsen's calm and kindly spirit helped to bind the Church together at this most difficult time, and to advance the Message of Minneapolis during those nine crucial years of his presidency following '88-that is, from 1888 to 1897. His was a healing, unifying, and helpful influence, following the tension of the stormy Session. “The years of Olsen's administration saw a real revival and reformation. . . . Olsen's tenure of office was a time of awakening from Laodicean selfsatisfaction and self-reliance, a renewal brought about through the growing acceptance of the message of Righteousness by Faith. . . . “So it cannot, with any show of right, be said that Olsen personally rejected or subdued the message of Righteousness by Faith, or led or aided or abetted in such a direction. Rather, those were the years of its steady early advance and spread. . . . “Olsen diligently fostered various Ministerial Institutes in which Righteousness by Faith was stressed among our ministry. He fostered the study of the Spirit of Prophecy. . . . That surely cannot be construed as rejection. Indeed, it was the precise opposite. . . . “Clearly, Olsen did not reject the message of Righteousness by Faith. . . . Derogators of our post1888 leadership have not, perhaps, thought this through.—Pages 358-364.” There are nearly fifty repetitions of these ideas in the book, some being the concurring opinions of other scholars and researchers cited. But the Church cannot help but discern that this vast and impressive

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repetition includes no vital Ellen G. White documentation.4

What Ellen G. White Said Providence placed in the hands of Wieland and Short rare unpublished Ellen White documents which deal specifically with this issue. Let us consider this material. Consider now the testimony of Ellen G. White. The extensive quotation in context is from a letter she wrote to Elder A. O. Tait dated August 27, 1896. This is eight years after Elder Olsen's administration began, giving plenty of time for adjustments and "confessions" to become effective (see Movement of Destiny pages 368-370). She describes in vivid language how the over-all leadership situation appeared to her: “Letter to Elder A. O. Tait, Battle Creek; ‘Sunnyside,’ Cooranbong, August 27, 1896. “Dear Brother:-“I have not written to you much because I knew that which I should write you would only increase your burden and intensify the painful feelings you must have, while there is no hope that you can in any way relieve the situation. “I feel very sorry for Brother Olsen. I have written him much in regard to the situation. He has written back to me, thanking me for the timely letters, but he has not acted upon the light given. The case is a mysterious one. While traveling from place to place he has linked with him as companions men whose spirit and influence should not be sanctioned,

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and the people who repose confidence in them will be misled. But notwithstanding the light which has been placed before him for years in regard to this matter, he has ventured on, directly contrary to the light which the Lord has been giving him. All this confuses his spiritual discernment, and places him in a relation to the general interest, and whole-some, healthy advancement of the work, as an unfaithful watchman. He is pursuing a course which is detrimental to his spiritual discernment, and he is leading other minds to view matters in a perverted light. He has given unmistakable evidence that he does not regard the testimonies which the Lord has seen fit to give His people, as worthy of respect, or as of sufficient weight to influence his course of action. “I am distressed beyond any words my pen can trace. Unmistakably Elder Olsen has acted as did Aaron, in regard to these men who have been opposed to the work of God ever since the Minneapolis meeting. They have not repented of their course of action in resisting light and evidence. Long ago I wrote to A. R. Henry, but not a word of response has come from him to me. I have recently written to Harmon Lindsay and his wife, but I suppose he will not respect the matter sufficiently to reply. “From the light God has been pleased to give me, until the home field shows more healthful heart-beats, the fewer long journeys Elder Olsen shall make with his selected helpers, A. R. Henry and Harmon Lindsay, the better it will be for the cause of God. The far-away fields will be just as well off without these visits. The disease at the heart of the work poisons the blood, and thus the disease is communicated to the bodies they visit. Yet, notwithstanding the sickly, diseased state of things at home, some have felt a great burden to take the whole

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of believing bodies under their parental wings.... It is not in the order of God that a few men shall manage the great interests throughout the field. “Many of the men who have acted as counselors in board and council meetings need to be weeded out. Other men should take their places; for their voice is not the voice of God.... These men are no more called Israel, but supplanters. They have worked themselves so long, instead of being worked by the Holy Spirit, that they know not what spirit impels them to action. “The spiritual blindness which rests upon human minds seems to be deepening.... “. . . It would have been much better to have changed the men on boards and committees than to have retained the very same men for years, until they supposed that their propositions were to be adopted without a question, and generally no voice has been lifted in an opposite direction.... E. G. White”5 [Another] point of evidence is Ellen G. White's letter to Elder Olsen himself of May 31, 1896, which fully corroborates what she said to Elder Tait three months later. The context is unmistakable: “I have communications which have been written for one and two years, but I have felt that for your sake they ought to be withheld until some one could stand by your side who could clearly distinguish Bible principles from principles of human manufacture, who, with sharp discernment could separate the strangely perverted, human imaginations, which have been working for years, from things of divine origin.

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“I am sorry you have not regarded the warnings and instructions which have been given you, as of sufficient value to be heeded, but by disregarding them before men who care nought for them, have made them a common matter, not worthy to have weight in your practice. Your practice has been contrary to these warnings, and this has weakened them in the eyes of men who need correction, who in their life-practice have separated from God.... “Brother Olsen, you have lost much from your experience that should have been brought into your character building, by failing to stand firmly and faithfully for right, braving all consequences [the context of the letter is discussing the leadership resistance to the 1888 message]. Had you done this, you might have had a very different showing from what you now have. . . . “Scenes that were a shame to Christians, have been presented to me, as taking place in the council meetings held after the Minneapolis meeting. The loud voice of dispute, the hot spirit, the harsh words, resembled a political meeting more than a place where Christians were met for prayer and counsel. These meetings should have been dismissed as an insult to heaven. The Lord was not revered as an honored guest by those assembled in council, and how could they expect divine light to shine upon them; how could they feel that the presence of Jesus was molding and fashioning their plans?... “Brother Olsen, you speak of my return to America. For three years I stood in Battle Creek as a witness for the truth [1888-1891]. Those who then refused to receive the testimony given me by God for them, and rejected the evidences attending these testimonies, would not be benefited should I return. . . .

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“The Spirit of the Lord has outlined the condition of things at the Review and Herald offices. Speaking through Isaiah, God says, "I will not contend for ever, neither will I be always wroth; for the spirit should fail before Me, and the souls which I have made. For the iniquity of his covetousness was I wroth, and smote him; I hid Me, and was wroth, and he went on frowardly in the way of his heart." “This is precisely what has been done in the offices of publication at Battle Creek. Covetousness has been woven into nearly all the business transactions of the institution, and has been practiced by individuals. This influence has spread like the leprosy, until it has tainted and corrupted the whole. . . . The wrong principles remain unchanged. The same work that has been done in the past will be carried forward under the guise of the General Conference Association. The sacred character of the Association is fast disappearing.... “To a large degree the General Conference Association has lost its sacred character, because some connected with it have not changed their sentiments in any particular since the Conference held at Minneapolis. Some in responsible positions go on "frowardly" in the way of their own hearts. Some who came from . . . and from other places to receive an education which would qualify them for the work, have imbibed this spirit, carried it with them to their homes, and their work has not borne the right kind of fruit. The opinions of men, which were received by them still cleave to them like the leprosy; and it is a very solemn question whether the souls who become imbued with the spiritual leprosy of Battle Creek will ever be able to distinguish the principles of heaven from the methods and plans of men. The influences and impressions received in Battle Creek have done much to retard the work. . . .

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“I have been shown that the people at large do not know that the heart of the work is being diseased and corrupted at Battle Creek. . . . I am called upon by the Spirit of God, to present these things before you, and they are correct to the life, according to the practice of the past few years. . . . “God's work cannot be carried forward successfully by men, who, by their resistance to light, have placed themselves where nothing will influence them to repent or change their course of action.”6 Other published counsels of Ellen White agreed with these unpublished letters. [See Ellen G. White, Testimonies to Ministers, pp. 319-327, 341-343; A. V. Olson, Through Crisis to Victory, 1888-1901, pp. 126-128.] We can summarize the points in this material as follows: 1. For the primary problem in the post-1888 leadership from 1888-1897, certain leaders of the General Conference had rejected the Christ Our Righteousness message brought by Jones and Waggoner. The principal rejecters were specifically Harmon Lindsay and A. R. Henry (others such as Frank Belden and Captain Eldridge are treated in Through Crisis to Victory, 1888-1901, pp. 117-122). 2. For the secondary problem, these men were, for the most of the nine year term of President O. A. Olsen, kept as his closest advisers and administrators. They were often sent on long journeys to advise on important matters. Their advice was all wrong, because they had severed their connection with God through their rejection of the Christ Our Righteousness message. Their suggestions now came from Satan, and through them Satan was able largely to mold the course of the Seventh-day Adventist church for those years. 3. For a tertiary and compounding problem, the believers were educated to refer all administrative questions to the few leaders at Battle Creek. This was decidedly wrong in the first place, but was even more disastrous on account of the fact that men that had lost their connection with God were

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the very ones deciding these important matters which even righteous leaders at the headquarters should not decide, but God alone. 4. These problems persisted for many years in spite of repeated counsels from the Lord through Ellen White. Harmon Lindsay and A. R. Henry refused to repent. They boasted of the confederacy of the most responsible men who had lost confidence in the messages coming from Sister White. Nor did entreaties to Elder O. A. Olsen seem to avail. Though he was not as guilty as Harmon Lindsay and A. R. Henry, he did act the part of Aaron in sponsoring these men, and was reckoned by heaven as "an unfaithful watchman" during the time of his inaction and ignoring of Ellen White's counsels. He gave weight, authority, and power to the erroneous propositions of Lindsay and Henry. O. A. Olsen's spiritual perception of the problem was blinded; and it was only after the strongest order from Ellen White at the close of his term of office that any change was made at all. But only one of the men stepped down at that time, A. R. Henry. Lindsay continued in office until the General Conference session at which Olsen himself was replaced. 5. The problem did not end with these individual offenders themselves, because their negative influence was like "a malarious atmosphere upon the hearts of God's people." The bad influence of these men "is being exerted on the work everywhere." "This influence has spread like the leprosy, until it has tainted and corrupted the whole." "Some who came from . . . and from other places to receive an education which would qualify them for the work, have imbibed this spirit, carried it with them to their homes, and their work has not borne the right kind of fruit. The opinions of men, which were received by them still cleave to them like the leprosy; and it is a very solemn question whether the souls who become imbued with the spiritual leprosy of Battle Creek will ever be able to distinguish the principles of heaven from the methods and plans of men. The influences and impressions received in Battle Creek have done much to

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retard the work." Thus even with the removal of these men at the close of Olsen's term of office, we could not expect the negative effect of their work to be wholly eradicated. The situation would be similar to that of the effects of the wrong doing of Solomon upon Israel. Even though he repented in late life of his rebellion against heaven, and tried to lead his people back to God, the effects on Israel of his earlier apostasy could not be wholly eradicated, but remained to increase until Israel was taken captive to Babylon.

Laying to Rest Froom's Principal Argument LeRoy Froom said, "The leading post-1888 mold on the Movement was, of course, largely given by the incoming General Conference president. We must consequently look chiefly to him for determinative evidence."7 Froom's proposition that "the record of Olsen's spiritual leadership is clear and loyal, and his definite support of, and undeviating leadership in, the broad field of Righteousness by Faith is openly before us," is his principal argument and chief evidence.8 In all honesty, we must admit that Ellen White's testimony leaves no doubt that Elder O. A. Olsen did not have a clear model record of leadership during this period. Had Froom qualified his statement to admit that Olsen had problems early in his term of office, but at the close of his term made the necessary corrections, his case would have been more difficult to disprove. But he said of Olsen, "Now, the record of Olsen's spiritual leadership is clear and loyal, and his definite support of, and undeviating leadership in, the broad field of Righteousness by Faith is openly before us."9 In contrast Ellen White said, "Unmistakably Elder Olsen has acted as did Aaron, in regard to these men who have been opposed to the work of God ever since the Minneapolis meeting."10 "Notwithstanding the light which has been placed before him for years in regard to this matter, he has

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ventured on, directly contrary to the light which the Lord has been giving him. All this confuses his spiritual discernment, and places him in relation to the general interest, and wholesome, healthy advancement of the work, as an unfaithful watchman."11 Froom said, "Olsen seemed to sense the spiritual bearings of the questions at issue, and gave quiet but effective leadership to their solution."12 Ellen White said, "He has ventured on, directly contrary to the light which the Lord has been giving him. All this confuses his spiritual discernment...."13 In Testimonies to Ministers, Ellen White said of Olsen, "But a strange blindness was upon him."14 Thus Adventists' "dependable, authoritative," "peerless witness," whose testimonies are "not marred by human misconceptions,"15 directly refutes Froom's principal evidence that the post-1888 Seventh-day Adventist leadership accepted the Christ Our Righteousness message. Let us therefore firmly lay this argument to rest as disproved.

What About Froom's Lesser Arguments? Even though Froom may have been wrong about Olsen, he still may have been right in some of his other lesser arguments, and right in his overall conclusion. Let us consider another one of the issues: What about the resisters of the 1888 message, were they the "few" as Froom and Olson said, or were they the "many"? We turn to a letter addressed to Elder O. A. Olsen dated May 1, 1895 as found in Testimonies to Ministers, pages 77-81. Twice in this letter those "some" who were resisting and "cultivating hatred" against the 1888 message are said as late as 1895 to be influential "men who are entrusted with weighty responsibilities" whose "satanic work" begun "at Minneapolis" is carried on by those who "have been

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holding positions of trust, and have been molding the work after their own similitude, as far as they possibly could." A year later she said: "In Battle Creek you have evidence that men who have had the most to say are not walking with God. There is abundant activity, but not many are working in partnership with Christ; and those who walk and work apart from Him have been the most active in planning and inaugurating their methods."—TM 320, March 13, 1896. Indeed, "some" were walking with the Lord truly. Were they "many" or "few"? What was the true relationship between those who believed the message and those who did not? "I have tried to present the message to you as I have understood it, but how long will those at the head of the work keep themselves aloof from the message of God?"—R&H, March 18, 1890. . . . "Just in proportion as men of influence close their own hearts and set up their own wills in opposition to what God has said, will they seek to take away the ray of light from those who have been longing and praying for light and for vivifying power. Christ has registered all the hard, proud, sneering speeches spoken against His servants [Jones and Waggoner] as against Himself."—R&H, May 27, 1890. In a letter to Elder Olsen dated June 4, 1896, Ellen G. White disclosed that this same attitude was prevailing as late as then. She speaks 35 times of the reaction of "those in responsible positions" as still being resistance, rejection, despising, pouring contempt on, speaking against, unappreciating, refusing to accept, hating, not heeding, the "message," etc. etc.—TM 89-98. These are generic terms.16

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Apparently, then, until at least 1896 the leaders "who . . . had the most to say”—that is, the majority of influential leaders—were setting "up their own wills in opposition to what God has said." The "many" were rejecting the true Christ Our Righteousness message. "Not many were "working in partnership with Christ." Wieland and Short appear to be right on this question also.

How Long did the Rejection Last? Consider now the very end of Elder Olsen's nine year administration. Movement of Destiny informs us that "most of those who first took issue made confessions within the decade following 1888, and largely within the first five years, and thenceforth ceased their opposition . . . . Only a small hard core of 'die hards' continued to reject it. These left the faith." Pages 267, 268. But nearly a decade after 1888, Ellen G. White's view of the "revival and reformation" in Battle Creek is entirely different: “To my brethren in Battle Creek: “The work that will meet the mind of the Spirit of God has not yet begun in Battle Creek. When the work of seeking God with all the heart commences, there will be many confessions made that are now buried. I do not at present feel it my duty to confess for those who ought to make, not a general, but a plain, definite confession, and so cleanse the soultemple. The evil is not with one man or two. It is the whole that needs the cleansing and setting in order.—Letter, ‘Sunnyside,’ July 27, 1897.”17 Notice what Ellen White said as late as April 1, 1901:

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Another unpublished document that came into our possession years ago is the original unedited transcript of Ellen G. White's remarks made in the Battle Creek College Library on April 1, 1901, at 2:30 p.m. which presents clear-cut evidence: “When we see that message after message that God has given, has been taken and accepted, but no change—just the same as it was before, then we know that there is new blood must be brought into the regular lines. . . . Not that anyone means to be wrong, or to do wrong; but the principle is wrong, and the principles have become so mixed and so foreign from what God's principles are, and the message has been going constantly in regard to principles, sacred, holy, elevated, ennobling, in every institution, in the publishing house and in all the interest of the General Conference—everything that concerns the Spirit of God. . . . There should be a renovation without any delay. . . . This thing has been acted and reacted for the last fifteen years or more, and God calls for a change. . . . Our standstill has got to come to an end; but yet every Conference, it is woven after the very same pattern. . . . Enough has been said; enough has been said over and over and over again, but it does not make any difference; they go right on just the same, professedly accepting it, but they do not make any change. Well, now, that is what burdens me; that is what burdens me. . . . ‘You have lost your first love,’ you have lost it.” If we were asked, "Did the post-1888 leadership 'professedly accept' the 1888 message?" we would have to answer "yes." But "professedly accepting it" and "not making any change" will never finish God's work, even in a thousand years. It is this "professedly accepting it" which has confused certain sincere

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denominational historians into assuming that such lip service meant heart-acceptance.18 From this evidence we can see that even by 1901 the general picture of rejection of the 1888 message had not changed. Yes, there was "professedly accepting it," but "no change." This is just the same as rejecting it. Froom and Olson do not appear to be correct in their assertion that the 1888 Christ Our Righteousness message was generally accepted by 1901.

III. CONSIDERING OLSON'S VIEW

What A. V. Olson Said Though Through Crisis to Victory, 1888-1901 was published five years before Movement of Destiny, it offers by far the more serious challenge to the position of Wieland and Short. First of all, if we consider inaction on the part of the General Conference leaders to Ellen White's appeals to reorganize and decentralize the General Conference as constituting rejection of certain aspects and the spirit of the 1888 Christ Our Righteousness Message, then it is only natural to equate the great advance made in the 1901 reorganization of the General Conference to acceptance of the 1888 message. This is one of A. V. Olson's implied arguments in his book, and it has a certain force behind it. Secondly, A. V. Olson takes into account factors that Froom left out entirely. While Movement of Destiny does not even once mention A. R. Henry or Harmon Lindsay and the satanic influence they had on O. A. Olsen and the worldwide Seventh-day Adventist cause, Through Crisis to Victory, 1888-1901 does speak at length about these men and the problem they caused, but maintains the problem was corrected before 1901.

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Thirdly, A. V. Olson recognized continuing problems in the church even after 1901--especially in the publishing work and the medical work—which necessitated God's corrective judgments in the burning of the main building at the Battle Creek Sanitarium on the night of February 18, 1902, the burning of the manufacturing plant of the Review and Herald Publishing Association, December 30, 1902, and the burning of Pacific Press at Mountain View, California, July 21, 1906. He tells of the corruption in these institutions during these times. Thus he does not speak of 1901 as being a victory in every respect, even though his title might imply it, but he maintains that these publishing and medical problems, while needing correcting, were not a Christ Our Righteousness issue. That is, rejection of Ellen White's counsel to reform in these areas, Olson maintains, was not rejection of the 1888 Christ Our Righteousness message. As to Ellen White's charge that the 1891 General Conference session had "the same spirit that was revealed in the conference at Minneapolis,"19 A. V. Olson claimed this did not mean there was the same rejection of the Christ Our Righteousness message at the 1891 session (as Wieland and Short would have used this statement to prove), but only that the same spirit of resisting the testimonies of the Lord through Ellen White manifested at Minneapolis was also manifested here, only on an entirely unrelated subject. "This spirit did not take shape in a conflict over righteousness by faith. This needs to be emphasized."20 In Minneapolis in 1888 the spirit that caused so much sorrow and harm was a spirit of criticism and jealousy, and also of opposition to divine counsel, while the sensitive point of conflict was the message of righteousness by faith. In Battle Creek, in 1891, there was likewise revealed by some a spirit of disobedience and opposition to the counsels of God, but on issues other than those prominent in 1888. Neither in the minutes of the 1891 session nor in

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reference to this gathering can we find that there was any repetition of the basic issue of the Minneapolis conflict. E. J. Waggoner was present and presented sixteen studies on the book of Romans, stressing especially the subject of righteousness by faith, without meeting any open resistance.21 Thus, while Olson might admit there may have been a failure to obey God on every point, he claimed there was a victory in accepting the Christ Our Righteousness message by 1901. These assertions present a far more serious challenge to the position of Wieland and Short. The Ellen White statements quoted in this book thus far may easily lay to rest Froom's propositions; however, some of these Spirit of Prophecy statements, Olson reasoned, were directed to rejection of counsel to clean up the corruption in the publishing work, or to rejection of counsel to reorganize the General Conference, but not to rejection of the Christ Our Righteousness message of 1888. We must therefore carefully reevaluate the evidence in light of this alternative.

Evaluating Olson's Positions What was the nature of the problems during this period in the organization of the General Conference? And were these problems, or were they not an indication of nonacceptance of the principles of the 1888 Christ Our Righteousness message? Prior to the reorganization of the General Conference in 1901, only a handful of men in Battle Creek ran the General Conference. Ellen White had said during that time, There is altogether too much responsibility imparted to a few men in Battle Creek, and these men

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need the transforming power of the Holy Spirit, else they will lead God's heritage in false paths. . . . There are altogether too many weighty responsibilities given to a few men, and some do not make God their counselor. . . . For many years an education has been given to the people which places God second, and men first. The people have been taught that everything must be brought before the council of a few men in Battle Creek. . . .22

On the opening day of the 1901 General Conference, Ellen White said: Greater strength must be brought into the managing force of the Conference. . . . God has not put any kingly power in our ranks to control this or that branch of the work. The work has been greatly restricted by the efforts to control it in every line.23 In retrospect, after much of this problem was resolved in the 1901 reorganization of the General Conference, Ellen White cautioned: "The kingly power formerly revealed in the General Conference at Battle Creek is not to be perpetuated."24 We do not ask if the exercising of such kingly power by men in the General Conference was wrong during this period (we know it was wrong), but specifically, was this error contrary to the teaching of Jones and Waggoner's 1888 Christ Our Righteousness message? To answer this question, let us turn to the writings of E. J. Waggoner. Though there was no verbatim record of his presentations at the 1888 General Conference session at Minneapolis, we do know he presented there a series of studies on the Galatians. We have every evidence to believe these were in harmony with his later publication, The Glad

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Tidings, Studies in Galatians (originally published in 1900). Referring to a recent reprint of this work, we find this: All men are chosen to be witnesses for God, and to each is his labor appointed. . . . What a wonderful, a joyous, and yet a solemn thought, as we see men moving about, that to each one of them God has given a work of his own to do! They are all servants of the Most High God, each one assigned to a special service. We should be extremely careful not to hinder anyone in the slightest degree from doing his Heaven-appointed task. Since it is God who gives to every man his work, each is to receive his orders from God and not from men. Therefore we should beware of dictating to men concerning their duty. The Lord can make it plain to them as well as to us; and if they will not hear Him, they will not be likely to hear us even if we could direct them in the right way. "It is not in man who walks to direct his steps" (Jeremiah 10:23), much less to direct the steps of some other man.25 There is no man or body of men on earth that has a monopoly of truth—a corner, so to speak, so that whoever wishes it must come to them. Truth is independent of men. Truth is of God; for Christ, who is the shining of His glory and the very impress of His substance (Hebrews 1:3), is the truth (John 14:6). Whoever gets the truth must get it from God and not from any man, just as Paul received the gospel. God may and does use men as instruments or channels, but He alone is the Giver. Neither names nor numbers have anything to do with determining what is truth. It is no more mighty nor to be accepted more readily when presented by ten thousand princes than when maintained by a single humble laboring man. And there is no presumptive evidence that ten

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thousand men have the truth than that one has it. Every man on earth may be the possessor of just as much truth as he is willing to use, and no more. See John 7:17; 12:35, 36. He who would act the pope, thinking to hold a monopoly of the truth and compel people to come to him for it, giving it out here and withholding it there, loses all the truth that he ever had (if he ever really had any). Truth and popery cannot exist together; no pope, or man with a popish disposition, has the truth. As soon as a man receives the truth, he ceases to be a pope. If the pope of Rome should become converted and be a disciple of Christ, that very hour he would vacate the papal seat.26 Thus we see that this counsel of Ellen White against the exercise of a kingly power in Battle Creek was also a teaching of Waggoner. He derived it directly from his study of Galatians—from Galatians 1:13-17; 2:6, 7. This teaching was an integral part of the Christ Our Righteousness message—one of the foundational introductory principles of that doctrine. Thus to profess to accept the testimonies of Ellen G. White, but for a number of years to neglect to make any change relative to this problem, was for the same number of years to profess to accept, but in actuality to disregard and to reject, the 1888 Christ Our Righteousness message. According to the teaching of Waggoner, those who had such a popish disposition didn't have the truth. It was impossible for them to have the true Christ Our Righteousness message and continue to disregard Ellen White's testimonies regarding this matter. The same sort of argument can also be made concerning the rejection of counsel to cleanse the corruptions from the publishing houses, etc., and the covetousness all through those institutions.27 Covetousness is sin. And disobedience to any of the counsels of the Lord is sin. One who is thus openly, stubbornly sinning cannot in heart have truly received the true Christ Our Righteousness message and been

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converted, for "Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin." 1 John 3:9. Thus, while the verbal issues may have changed somewhat over the period of 1888-1906, the underlying issue and problem remained unchanged. Though A. V. Olson's assertion (that these problems were separate from the righteousness by faith issue) constituted a more serious challenge to Wieland and Short's position (that the 1888 message was not truly accepted), we conclude this assertion was also erroneous. These issues could not be separated. And all the E. G. White statements indicating a continued failure to reform in these areas do indeed signify also a continued rejection, while professedly accepting, the Christ Our Righteousness truth. One surprising thing we may get out of this is God does not consider that we have accepted the true Christ Our Righteousness message when we assent to the mere theory, but only when we also cease disregarding His counsels on every point of reform. Many of the leaders during this time did not even accept the correct theory of truth even though they said they did and thought they did.

Did Re-organization Cancel Out Rejection? Did not the 1901 General Conference Re-organization bring victory to the 1888 righteousness by faith controversy and close the damage done in the previous thirteen years? Had thorough work been done during the last General Conference [1901] at Battle Creek; had there been as God designed there should be, a breaking up of the fallow ground of the heart, by the men who had been bearing responsibilities; had they, in humility of soul, led out in the work of confession and consecration; had they given evidence that they received the counsels and warnings sent by the Lord to correct their mistakes, there would have been one

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of the greatest revivals that there has been since the day of Pentecost. What a wonderful work could have been done for the vast company gathered in Battle Creek at the General Conference of 1901, if the leaders of our work had taken themselves in hand. But the work was not done; for the leaders closed and bolted the door against the Spirit's entrance. There was a stopping short of entire surrender to God. And hearts that might have been purified from all error were strengthened in wrong doing. The doors were barred against the heavenly current that would have swept away all evil. Men left their sins unconfessed. They built themselves up in wrong doing, and said to the Spirit of God, "Go Thy way for this time; when I have a more convenient season, I will call for Thee."28 . . . The result of the last General Conference [1901] has been the greatest, the most terrible sorrow of my life. No change was made. The spirit that should have been brought into the whole work as the result of that meeting, was not brought in because men did not receive the testimonies of the Spirit of God. As they went to their several fields of labor, they carried into their work the wrong principles that had been prevailing in the work at Battle Creek.29 The above shows that Ellen White does not agree with A. V. Olson's assertion that 1901 marked a spiritual victory. These statements lay that proposition to rest. A. V. Olson's theses in Through Crisis to Victory, 1888-1901 are disproved.

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IV. SOLVING THE POST-1888 MYSTERY We have seen little agreement in Adventism on what really transpired in our post-1888 theological history. Sincere prominent religious historians were positive the 1888 Christ Our Righteousness message was accepted at least by 1901. However, Ellen White quotations above cited showed there was spiritual defeat even in 1901. There was professed acceptance of the messages of God, but "no change." How could there strongly seem to be acceptance, but continued rejection of the Christ Our Righteousness message? Our revival and reformation key, the pattern of the past revivals and reformations, gives us a possible solution to this mystery. Two questions [(1) What could pass for acceptance of the Christ Our Righteousness message, but really be rejection of the true righteousness by faith? and (2) What is the next logical tactic of Satan after the presentation of the Christ Our Righteousness message in 1888 and the initial reaction from legalism?] are both answered by the same answer from our pattern of the past: counterfeit Christ Our Righteousness—antinomianism. Consider the parallelism of the Adventist theological history to the revolution of the revival cycle from Ezra to 1844. The Adventists' temporary standstill after the Great Disappointment of October 22, 1844 paralleled the Jewish spiritual standstill before and during the Babylonish captivity of the Jewish nation. The post-1844 revival and reformation based on the law (seventh-day Sabbath) answered to the lawbased revival and reformation in the time of Ezra and Nehemiah. Adventist historians and writers are agreed that the period 1865-1888 was a time of drifting more and more to legalism by the Seventh-day Adventist Church. This repeated the drift to legalism by the Jewish Church, 408 B.C. to 27 A.D. In 1888 God countered the trend to legalism in the Seventh-day Adventist Church by an intensive presentation of the Christ Our Righteousness message through the work of Alonzo T. Jones and Ellet J. Waggoner.

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This paralleled the change of emphasis from law to gospel at the crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension of Christ. At first the righteousness by faith message presented by Jones and Waggoner and supported by Ellen White was resisted through means of legalism by some conservative church leaders. This matched the first tactic of Satan, legalism, used in his warfare against the apostolic Christ Our Righteousness message. On this much all Adventist historians can agree. For a span of over 5880 years, the cycle of history continues without deviation. We have no evidence there should be a break in this pattern of the ages. What is the next step in the cycle? Satan introduced antinomianism into the late apostolic church. Did this also occur in Adventism after 1888? Has the Seventh-day Adventist church indeed been afflicted by a good deal of subtle antinomianism? Yes. This is precisely what has taken place. In subsequent chapters will be presented evidences of Adventist antinomianism in the early post-1888 era, as well as a great deal of subtle antinomianism in the present. The reader will find plenty of substantiation for this conclusion. But first notice again some of the comments by Wieland and Short. Wieland and Short admitted that Adventists have assumed that "we truly accepted the 1888 message," but stated their conviction that "we are really confused by Babylon's ideas of 'righteousness by faith.' These have largely taken the place of the truth the Lord sent us in 1888.30 What are Babylon's ideas of 'righteousness by faith"? From that term alone we might catch only that Babylon's ideas of "righteousness by faith" are wrong and confused. But in what ways? Wherein specifically lie the difficulties with Babylon's ideas of "righteousness by faith"? We need a clearer designation of the problem. Seemingly Wieland and Short have spent more research proving the true message was not accepted than showing specifically what was wrong with what was accepted. Our simple three message emphasis revival and reformation pattern of the past quickly and

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directly identifies and characterizes the difficulties with Babylon's ideas of "righteousness by faith." Babylon's theology of "righteousness by faith" is not merely confused, it is an elaborate, remarkably self-consistent counterfeit of the truth—antinomian in character. However, now that we have studied the past sufficiently to know what to expect after 1888, we discover that Wieland and Short's brief description of the current Adventist problem is right on target. We assumed "we truly accepted the 1888 message," but "we are really confused by Babylon's ideas of 'righteousness by faith.' These have largely taken the place of the truth the Lord sent us in 1888."31 Babylon's ideas of "righteousness by faith" is certainly a good and correct term for counterfeit Christ Our Righteousness message— antinomianism. Perhaps the greatest Adventist misconception of our time is that the great issue of the present is Christ Our Righteousness versus legalism (that truly was the issue in 1888). Unfortunately, these are practically the only soteriological viewpoints that are discerned—legalism— righteousness by works—and the gospel—righteousness by faith. But this is a grave oversight that contributes to our Christ Our Righteousness confusion. Besides the true and counterfeit prophecy issue, there are four conditions, not just two. Legalism is but a counterfeit of a true revival and reformation based on the law. Also, besides the true gospel, there is the counterfeit—antinomianism. We have seemingly been completely blind to the possibility that Satan can palm off on us a form of antinomianism while we blindly war at the straw-man legalism. Thus, all the while we may think we are accepting the true, we may actually be accepting the counterfeit and thus rejecting the true Christ Our Righteousness message. This is what our pattern of the ages suggests is the next step to be expected in the conflict between Christ and Satan after the 1888 presentation of the Christ Our Righteousness message to Adventism.

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166

___________________ 1

Ellen G. White, General Conference Bulletin, 1893, p.

419. 2

Elders R. J. Wieland and D. K. Short, "An Explicit Confession . . . Due the Church"(Printed in U.S.A., 1972), pp. 4, 5. 3


Summation of Movement of Destiny position and thesis by Wieland and Short, op. cit., pp. 7, 8. 5

Unpublished Ellen G. White letter to Elder A. O. Tait, August 27, 1896, as quoted by Wieland and Short, ibid., pp. 8, 9. 6

Ellen G. White letter to O. A. Olsen, "Sunnyside," Cooranbong, N.S.W., May 31, 1896, as quoted by Wieland and Short, ibid., pp. 11, 12. 7

LeRoy Edwin Froom, Movement of Destiny (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1971), pp. 358, 359. 8

Ibid. p. 359.

9

Ibid.

10

Ellen White letter, as quoted by Wieland and Short, “An Explicit Confession . . . Due the Church”, (Printed in U.S.A., 1972), p. 9. 11

White letter to Tait, as quoted by Wieland and Short,

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167

ibid. 12

Movement of Destiny, op. cit., p. 361

13

White letter to Tait, as quoted by Wieland and Short, op. cit., p. 9. 14

Ellen G. White, Testimonies to Ministers, p. 343.

15

Movement of Destiny, op. cit., p. 445.

16

Ellen G. White material summarized by Wieland and Short, op. cit., pp. 10, 11. 17

Wieland and Short, op. cit., pp. 14, 15 (emphasis added). 18

Ibid., pp. 15, 16 (emphasis added).

19

Ellen G. White, General Conference Bulletin, 1891, p. 257, as quoted by A. V. Olson, Through Crisis to Victory, 1888-1901 (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald, 1966), p. 131. 20

A. V. Olson, op. cit., p. 131.

21

A. V. Olson, Through Crisis to Victory, 1888-1901 (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald, 1966), p. 132. 22

Ellen G. White, Testimonies to Ministers, pp. 320, 321, 325. 23

Ellen G. White, Life Sketches of Ellen G. White, p.

386. 24

Ellen G. White, Testimonies for the Church, Vol. 8, pp. 233, 234.

KEY TO REVIVAL

168 25

E. J. Waggoner, The Glad Tidings, Studies in Galatians (Mountain View, CA: Pacific Press Publishing Association, 1972), pp. 23, 24. 26

Ibid., p. 34.

27

Recall documentation of this point in statement endnote 6 in this chapter. 28

Ellen G. White letter to Dr. J. H. Kellogg, "Elmshaven," Sanitarium, Calif., August 5, 1902; italics supplied. 29

Ellen G. White letter to Judge Jesse Arthur, "Elmshaven," Sanitarium, Calif., January 15, 1903. 30

Robert J. Wieland and D. K. Short, “An Explicit Confession . . . Due the Church"(Printed in U.S.A., 1972), p. 5. 31

Ibid.

Chapter 12 THE TRUE AND THE COUNTERFEIT

If we would see if Adventism has been confused by Babylon's ideas of "righteousness by faith," we must understand what Babylon's ideas of "righteousness by faith" are, and how they differ from the truth. We must have a better definition of truth and heresy as it relates to the gospel. In studying religious history, we have seen that antinomianism is Satan's look-alike counterfeit of the gospel. We have discovered several identifying characteristics of antinomianism, such as "up with Jesus, down with doctrines and standards," and "only believe, and the blessing is yours; and no effort is supposed to be required on the part of the believer." With just a little more thought, we can broaden our definition to cover a whole host of similar errors. Both legalism and antinomianism can be considered general categories of heresies under which come many similar errors. Legalism and antinomianism are really one-sided opposites.

Legalism and Antinomianism—One-sided Opposites [Note: The references cited in this section do not all define the errors referred to as legalism or antinomianism (some do), but they all demonstrate the error of such onesided positions.] Presenting the law without Christ is legalism.1 Presenting Christ without the law is antinomianism.2 Teaching works without faith is legalism.3 Teaching faith without subsequent works of gratitude and love is Eliciting human effort without antinomianism.4 appropriating the work of Christ for the sinner is legalism.5 Appropriating the work of Christ for the sinner without eliciting subsequent human effort in works of love is 169

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antinomianism.6 Earnest repentance without faith in Christ's atoning sacrifice (as Martin Luther tried as a monk) is legalism.7 Faith in Christ's atoning sacrifice without earnest repentance for sin is antinomianism.8 Preaching high standards (another expression for the laws of God) without Christ is legalism.9 Preaching Christ without high standards is antinomianism.10 Uplifting doctrine while minimizing or neglecting Christ is legalism.11 Uplifting Jesus while minimizing or neglecting doctrine is antinomianism.12 Stressing sanctification (in which human obedience is an important aspect) while minimizing or neglecting justification (in which Christ's obedience is imputed to the person) is legalism.13 (This is the situation that occurred in Adventism between 1865 and 1888.) Stressing Christ's role in justification, and minimizing or neglecting sanctification (in which human obedience plays an important role) is antinomianism.14 (This is one of the main errors that threatens the Adventist church today.) Teaching sanctification in a one-sided manner (in which faith in Christ and the work of the Holy Spirit are lost sight of) is legalism.15 Teaching justification in a one-sided manner (in which repentance, restitution, and obedience are lost sight of, and persons are taught that "believe, only believe" is all they have to do) is antinomianism.16 Emphasizing Christ"s role as Example and Pattern for man to copy and minimizing or neglecting Christ's role as sacrificial Substitute for man is legalism, while the opposite, emphasizing Christ's role as sacrificial Substitute for man and minimizing or neglecting Christ's role as Example and Pattern for man, is antinomianism.17 Even reformation without revival is legalism, while revival without reformation is antinomianism. A revival and a reformation must take place, under the ministration of the Holy Spirit. Revival and reformation are two different things. Revival signifies a renewal of spiritual life, a quickening of

Chapter 12 THE TRUE AND THE COUNTERFEIT 171 the powers of the mind and heart, a resurrection from spiritual death. Reformation signifies a reorganization, a change in ideas and theories, habits and practices. Reformation will not bring forth the good fruit of righteousness unless it is connected with the revival of the Spirit. Revival and reformation are to do their appointed work, and in doing this work they must blend.—The Review and Herald, Feb. 25, 1902.18 Claiming to hold to the written word of God while rejecting true manifestations and guidance of the Spirit is legalism.19 To cast aside the Holy Scriptures and treat them as a dead letter, and to give up oneself to every impulse of the "Spirit" is antinomianism.20 The idea that man can keep himself from sin by his own watchfulness and efforts alone is legalism.21 The idea that it is unnecessary for ministers to exhort the people to obedience of the moral law, since those whom God had elected to salvation would, "by the irresistible impulse of divine grace, be led to the practice of piety and virtue," is antinomianism.22 While genuine fruit bearing is impossible to the unconverted, it is not automatic to the bornagain Christian. It is not even automatic to sinless beings. Adam in the beginning was a "perfect tree." But he did not automatically bring forth good fruit. He was a free moral agent capable of bringing forth bad fruit as well as good fruit. And this he did. Lucifer also, and the angels that followed him, were in the beginning perfect by nature. But they did not automatically bring forth good fruit. To bring forth good fruit we must maintain our connection to the vine—Christ. To maintain this connection and resist the wiles of our adversary who would find ways to cut us loose from Christ requires constant watchfulness and human effort as well as prayer and faith in Christ.23 Antinomianism can not only be the teaching that it is unnecessary to try to obey the law because obedience is automatic, it can also be that perfect obedience is

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nonessential because God does not require it because it is impossible. These are two opposite reasons for believing that human effort in obedience is unnecessary. Both are forms of antinomianism. While "those who are really seeking to perfect Christian character will never indulge the thought that they are sinless,"24 they will never claim that it is impossible to obey God's law, or even impossible to obey it perfectly. That it is impossible to obey God perfectly is one of the age long arguments of Satan.25 The law of God is changeless, and man can be saved only through obedience to its precepts.26 This is why Christ died on Calvary--not only to pardon (justify) man of his past transgressions, but to make available to him a power which in verity can keep him from falling, making possible to him perfect obedience. We may often have to fall at the feet of Jesus weeping for our sins, but we must commence the battle with Satan anew with the realization that Jesus has made provision whereby all may attain to perfect obedience. From the beginning, it has been the special doctrine of the adversary of God and man, that the law of God was faulty and objectionable. He has ever represented the royal law of liberty as oppressive and unendurable. He had denoted it "a yoke of bondage." He has declared that it was impossible for man to keep the precepts of Jehovah. This has been, and still is, the work of Satan. This is the seductive doctrine that devils are seeking to spread throughout the world.27 You may say that you believe in Jesus, when . . . you have an intelligent, understanding faith that his death makes it possible for you to cease from sin, and to perfect a righteous character through the grace of God, bestowed upon you as the purchase of Christ's blood.28

Chapter 12 THE TRUE AND THE COUNTERFEIT 173 Another serious antinomian error prevalent in Adventism today is the opinion that since it is "impossible" for us to keep perfectly God's law (even with the power of the Holy Spirit), we shall remain sinners (justified sinners, but sinners none the less) until Jesus comes. This is an error of the most startling character which unfits God's people for the coming of the Lord at the very time that He is near, even at the doors. We are led to believe that Christ will perfect us and remove our sinful natures when He comes and changes our corruptible bodies into incorruptible bodies. This is most certainly another deadly antinomian heresy. If we accept it, it will mean our ruin. We are now in the workshop of God, to be hewed, and squared, and chiseled, and polished for the heavenly building. All our preparation for heaven must be completed here. When Christ comes, our characters will not be changed. These vile bodies will be changed, and fashioned after the likeness of his glorious body; but there will not be a moral change wrought in us then.29 Eternity demands of you individually a solid experience, such as will stand the test; and it is in this probationary period that you must obtain thorough transformation of character.30 Now, while our great High Priest is making the atonement for us, we should seek to become perfect in Christ. Not even by a thought could our Saviour be brought to yield to the power of temptation. . . . Satan could find nothing in the Son of God that would enable him to gain the victory. He had kept His Father's commandments, and there was no sin in Him that Satan could use to his advantage. This is the condition in which those must be found who shall stand in the time of trouble.31

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Truth is Balanced We see that legalism and antinomianism are one-sided opposites. What then is the true Christ Our Righteousness message? Truth is balanced. Truth teaches that both faith and works are required for our salvation. But we are not saved by faith and works, but by a faith that works—a faith that works by love, purifying the soul.32 Yet faith and works must go together. They are like two oars which must be used equally.33 The law and Christ must be presented together, Christ in the law, and the law in Christ. "It is our duty to preach faith, to present the love of Christ in connection with the claims of the law; for neither can be rightly understood with the other."34 There must be earnest repentance for sin, mourning, and a breaking up of the fallow ground of the heart. But there must also be faith in Christ's atoning sacrifice, joy and thanksgiving for sins forgiven. There must be a balance between Christ and doctrine. Christ must be made the center of every correct doctrine. There must be a balance in preaching Jesus and high standards. The work of Christ for the sinner must be appropriated, but fervent human endeavor must also be elicited. We must teach not that we can do it all, or that Christ will do it all for us, but that we need to cooperate with God.

Cooperation With God Man is to cooperate with God, employing every power according to his God-given ability. . . . Let no man present the idea that man has little or nothing to do in the great work of overcoming; for God does nothing for man without his cooperation. Neither say that after you have done all you can on your part, Jesus will help you. Christ has said,

Chapter 12 THE TRUE AND THE COUNTERFEIT 175 "Without me ye can do nothing." (John 15:5.) From first to last man is to be a laborer together with God. Unless the Holy Spirit works upon the human heart, at every step we shall stumble and fall. Man's efforts alone are nothing but worthlessness; but cooperation with Christ means a victory. Of ourselves we have no power to repent of sin. Unless we accept divine aid we cannot take the first step toward the Saviour. He says, "I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end" (Rev. 21:6) in the salvation of every soul. But though Christ is everything, we are to inspire every man to unwearied diligence. We are to strive, wrestle, agonize, watch, pray, lest we shall be overcome by the wily foe. For the power and grace with which we can do this comes from God, and all the while we are to trust in Him, who is able to save to the uttermost all who come unto God by Him. Never leave the impression on the mind that there is little or nothing to do on the part of man; but rather teach man to cooperate with God, that he may be successful in overcoming. Let no one say that your works have nothing to do with your rank and position before God. In the judgment the sentence pronounced is according to what has been done or to what has been left undone (Matt. 25:34-40). Effort and labor are required on the part of the receiver of God's grace; for it is the fruit that makes manifest what is the character of the tree. Although the good works of man are of no more value without faith in Jesus than was the offering of Cain, yet covered with the merit of Christ, they testify [to] the worthiness of the doer to inherit eternal life. That which is considered morality in the world does not reach the divine standard and has no more merit before Heaven than had the offering of Cain.— Manuscript 26a, 1892.35

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Though usually overlooked by well meaning Christ Our Righteousness advocates who present a one-sided view of righteousness by faith, Scriptural texts on righteousness by faith stress cooperation between God and man—a part for God to do and a part for man to do. Consider some familiar and some not-so-familiar righteousness by faith texts in their larger context:

Repentance, Justification . . . the goodness of God [God's part] leadeth thee to repentance [man's part]. Romans 2:4. Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ [man's part] for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost [God's part]. For the promise [God's part] is unto you, and to your children and to all that are afar off [man's part to claim the promise], even as many as the Lord our God shall call [God's part]. . . . Save yourselves from this untoward generation [man's part]. Acts 2:38-40. Repent ye therefore, and be converted [man's part in response to God's part], that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord [God's part]; And he shall send Jesus Christ [God's part], which before was preached unto you [man's part]: Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken [God's part] by the mouth of all his holy prophets [man's part] since the world began. Acts 3:19-21.

Chapter 12 THE TRUE AND THE COUNTERFEIT 177 If the wicked restore the pledge, give again that he had robbed, walk in the statutes of life, without committing iniquity [man's part, but also an indication of a great deal of the work of God on the heart]; he shall surely live [God's part], he shall not die. None of his sins that he hath committed shall be mentioned unto him [God's part]: he hath done that which is lawful and right [man's part]; he shall surely live [God's part]. Ezekiel 33:15, 16. Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil; Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow [man's part]. Come now [man's part], and let us reason together [both God and man's part], saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool [God's part]. If ye be willing and obedient [man's part], ye shall eat of the good of the land [God's part]: But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it. Isaiah 1:16-20. He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them [man's part] shall have mercy [God's part]. Proverbs 28:13. . . . he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble [God's part]. Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil [man's part], and he will flee from you.

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Draw nigh to God [man's part], and he will draw nigh to you [God's part]. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded. Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord [all man's part], and he shall lift you up [God's part]. James 4:6-10. If we confess our sins [man's part], he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness [God's part]. 1 John 1:9.

Sanctification, Growing in Grace Sanctify yourselves therefore, and be ye holy [man's part]: for I am the LORD your God. And ye shall keep my statutes and do them [man's part]: I am the LORD which sanctify you [God's part]. Leviticus 20:7, 8. Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed . . . work out your own salvation with fear and trembling [man's part]. For it is God which worketh in you [God's part] both to will and to do of his good pleasure [man's part]. Philippians 2:12, 13. Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit [God's part], unto obedience [man's part] and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ [God's part]. . . . 1 Peter 1:2. But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath

Chapter 12 THE TRUE AND THE COUNTERFEIT 179 from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit [God's part] and belief of the truth [man's part]. 2 Thessalonians 2:13. As God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God [God's part], and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing [man's part]; and I will receive you, And will be a Father unto you [God's part], and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty. Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God [man's part]. 2 Corinthians 6:16-7:1. Rejoice evermore [man's part]. Pray without ceasing [man's part]. In everything give thanks [man's part]: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. Quench not the Spirit [man's part]. Despise not prophesyings [man's part]. Prove all things; hold fast that which is good [man's part]. Abstain from all appearance of evil [man's part]. And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly [God's part]; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ [both God and man's part]. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-23.

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Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect [the Lord lays a great portion of the responsibility to strive for perfection upon man]. Matthew 5:48. As the will of man [man's part] co-operates with the will of God, it becomes omnipotent. Whatever is to be done at His command, may be accomplished in His strength. All His biddings are enablings [God's part].36 Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God [man's part], that he may exalt you in due time [God's part]: Casting all your care upon him [man's part]; for he careth for you [God's part]. Be sober, be vigilant [man's part]; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: Whom resist steadfast in the faith [man's part], knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world. But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus [God's part], after that ye have suffered a while [man's part], make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you [God's part] 1 Peter 5:6-10. For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified [God's part]. Hebrews 10:14. Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work [man's part], that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing. If any one of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God [man's part], that giveth to all men liberally, and

Chapter 12 THE TRUE AND THE COUNTERFEIT 181 upbraideth not; and it shall be given him [God's part]. James 1:3-5. Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life [man's part]. . . . Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory [God's part] with exceeding joy [man's part], To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen. Jude 21, 24, 25. If we love one another [man's part], God dwelleth in us [God's part], and his love is perfected in us. 1 John 4:12. And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father's name written in their foreheads. . . . And in their mouth was found no guile: for they are without fault before the throne of God. [The end result of cooperation with God in the work of overcoming sin.] Revelation 14:1, 5. Thus we see that "from first to last man is to be a laborer together with God. . . . Man's efforts alone are nothing but worthlessness; but cooperation with Christ means a victory."37 Divinity needed humanity that humanity might afford a channel of communication between God and man. Man needs a power out of and above himself to restore him to the likeness of God; but because he needs divine aid, it does not make human activity

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182

unessential. Faith on the part of man is required; for faith works by love and purifies the soul. Faith lays hold upon the virtue of Christ. The Lord does not design that human power should be paralyzed; but by cooperating with God, the power of man may be efficient for good. God does not design that our will should be destroyed; for it is through this very attribute that we are to accomplish the work He would have us to do both at home and abroad.38 __________________ 1

Ellen G. White, Selected Messages, Book One, pp. 371, 372. 2

Ellen G. White, The Great Controversy, pp. 465-469.

3


4

Ibid.

5

Ibid., p. 381.

6

Ibid.

7


8

Ellen G. White, Selected Messages, Book Two, pp. 18,

9

Ellen G. White, Gospel Workers, pp. 156-158.

19.

10

Ellen G. White, The Great Controversy, pp. 463, 474,

475. 11

Ellen G. White, Selected Messages, Book One, pp. 370, 371.

Chapter 12 THE TRUE AND THE COUNTERFEIT 183 12

Ellen G. White, The Great Controversy, p. 46; also Ellen G. White, Selected Messages, Book Two, pp. 392, 393. 13


14

Ellen G. White, Christ's Object Lessons, pp. 50, 51.

15


16

Ellen G. White, Selected Messages, Book Two, p. 20; see also Ellen G. White, Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, Vol. 6, p. 1073. 17

Ellen G. White, Testimonies for the Church, Vol. 5, p. 253; Vol. 6, p. 472. 18


19

Ellen G. White, The Great Controversy, p. 7; see also Ellen G. White, Testimonies to Ministers, pp. 90, 402. 20


21

Ellen G. White, Gospel Workers, pp. 322, 323.

22

Ellen G. White, The Great Controversy, pp. 260-264.

23

Ellen G. White, Testimonies for the Church, Vol. 2, p.

193. 24

Ellen G. White, The Sanctified Life, p. 7.

25


26

Ibid., p. 763.

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27

Ellen G. White, Review and Herald, July 31, 1888.

28

Ibid., July 24, 1888.

29

Ibid., August 7, 1888.

30

Ibid., December 18, 1888.

31


32


33

Ellen G. White, Welfare Ministry, p. 316.

34


35

Selected Messages, Book One, op. cit., pp. 380-382.

36

Ellen G. White, Christ's Object Lessons, p. 333.

37


38

Ibid., pp. 375, 376.

Chapter 13 ADVENTIST ANTINOMIANISM

Now that we have defined antinomianism, let us check how well Adventism fared regarding this issue after 1888. Shortly after 1888 Ellen White wrote the following: My soul is made very sad to see how quickly some who have had light and truth will accept the deceptions of Satan, and be charmed with a spurious holiness. . . . And if the men and women who have the knowledge of the truth are so far separated from their great Leader that they will take the great leader of apostasy and name him Christ Our Righteousness, it is because they have not sunk deep into the mines of the truth. They are not able to distinguish the precious ore from the base material.1 Taking "the great leader of apostasy and naming him Christ Our Righteousness" is not legalism. Legalism is "self my righteousness." This must be a theory of an outside righteousness imputed to the believer that sounds almost like the true Christ Our Righteousness message. It must be a cross-centered teaching, claiming to give righteousness, but in reality giving men a false security to go on sinning. The only thing that answers to these features is a heresy of the antinomian family. Again Ellen White said: Some will not make a right use of the doctrine of justification by faith. They will present it in a onesided manner. Others will seize the ideas that have not been correctly presented, and will go clear over the mark, ignoring works altogether.—Manuscript 16, 1890.2

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We hear a great deal about faith, but we need to hear a great deal more about works. Many are deceiving their own souls by living an easy-going, accommodating, cross-less religion. But Jesus says, "If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow me."—The Signs of the Times, June 16, 1890.3 Presenting justification by faith in a one-sided manner and ignoring works altogether, preaching faith, faith, but neglecting works is another form of antinomianism. Remember, the definition of antinomianism is, "antinomian"-"a member of a Christian sect which held that faith alone, not obedience to the moral law, is necessary for salvation."4 This definition of antinomianism applies to a one-sided presentation of justification in which works are ignored, because good works are obedience to the moral law, nothing more. There is no good work we can offer to God above what we are duty bound by the moral law to give, for the law says, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself." Matthew 22:3739. When we give our best, do our best, we are only rendering obedience. Thus works and obedience are really the same, and the different words should not confuse us. With this in mind, we see that ignoring works altogether is failing to obey the moral law. It is expecting salvation by faith alone without the necessity of obedience. This is the dictionary definition of antinomianism. We notice by the dates on the last two quotations from Ellen White that this problem had begun in Adventism as early as 1890, during the foremost presentation of the 1888 Christ Our Righteousness message. How soon Satan had introduced his counterfeit! Antinomian justification teaching in Adventism was not confined to the 1890's. There is a great shaking of

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Adventism today by this heresy, and a large number of laymen and ministers and even several prominent theologians are taking sides with former Adventists and non-Adventists on this issue. Several other features of antinomianism in Adventism in recent years we cannot so fully blame on off-shoots and offshoot sympathizers. There are other features of this religious cancer that have been prominent in mainline Adventism. Perhaps the most unintentional aspect of this heresy in Adventism is the following problem referred to by Ellen White: A new order of things has come into the ministry. There is a desire to pattern after other churches, and simplicity and humility are almost unknown. The young ministers seek to be original, and to introduce new ideas and new plans for labor. Some open revival meetings, and by this means call large numbers into the church. But when the excitement is over, where are the converted ones? Repentance and confession of sin are not seen. The sinner is entreated to believe in Christ and accept Him, without regard to his past life of sin and rebellion. The heart is not broken. There is no contrition of soul. The supposed converted ones have not fallen upon the Rock, Christ Jesus.5 This problem may be deliberate. Ministers may intentionally present such one-sided appeals to sinners. But more often this is probably unintentional. The ministers are zealous to witness for Christ and have evangelistic meetings. They do the best they know how. But they fail to understand the proper method of bringing souls to Christ. The result is antinomianism in practice, though not in intent. The Old and New Testament Scriptures show us the only way in which this work should be done.

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Repent, repent, repent, was the message rung out by John the Baptist in the wilderness. Christ's message to the people was "Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish." (Luke 13:5). And the apostles were commanded to preach everywhere that men should repent. The Lord desires His servants today to preach the old gospel doctrine, sorrow for sin, repentance, and confession. We want old-fashioned sermons, oldfashioned customs, old-fashioned fathers and mothers in Israel. The sinner must be labored for, perseveringly, earnestly, wisely, until he shall see that he is a transgressor of God's law, and shall exercise repentance toward God, and faith toward the Lord Jesus Christ.—Undated manuscript 111 [but undoubtedly from the era 1888-1908, as are the surrounding statements].6 The above quotations from the same source are together an evidence of antinomianism within Adventism shortly after 1888. Young ministers were catching the "Christ Our Righteousness" fervor, and with zeal preaching faith, faith, but were patterning their revivals after the worldly revivals which were antinomian in character. In The Great Controversy, Ellen White explains why these modern revivals do not bring about true repentance, confession, and conversion: "The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul." Psalms 19:7. Without the law, men have no just conception of the purity and holiness of God or of their own guilt and uncleanness. They have no true conviction of sin and feel no need of repentance. Not seeing their lost condition as violators of God's law, they do not realize their need of the atoning blood of Christ. The hope of salvation is accepted without a radical change of the heart or reformation

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of life. Thus superficial conversions abound, and multitudes are joined to the church who have never been united to Christ.7 The problem of these young ministers, then, was preaching Christ without preaching and enforcing the law. This was in effect "up with Jesus, down with the law (though the ministers undoubtedly had nothing against the law and did not intend to down the law, but neglecting the law had the same effect). This we recognize from our revival pattern of the past as antinomianism. The pendulum had swung quickly. Before 1888, Adventists were preaching law and works and were ignoring Christ and faith. Now, already many were preaching Christ and faith while ignoring law and works. The young evangelists imperfectly grasped the idea of Christ's righteousness. They were ready to cast aside works and only believe. But that is not the truth of God either. Let us also consider that the young ministers of that era became the seasoned evangelists and workers in the cause, took over positions of highest leadership, retired, and were finally laid to rest. Unless they discerned and corrected the errors in their methods of evangelism, these would be carried forward with them into prominence in the Seventh-day Adventist work. Remember also, that Ellen White was laid to rest shortly after this development, and her voice could no longer reprove such creeping antinomianism in Adventism. If one could not detect such errors by the counsels she had written during her lifetime, these errors could remain undetected for years after her death. For many years we have been concerned with the "swinging back door of the church." Evangelists bring in many souls through baptism which immediately go out of the church as soon as the evangelists are gone. Could it be that the problem is largely an improper presentation of the Christ Our Righteousness message, presenting Christ without properly presenting the law, teaching faith without works?

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More than we realize, our problem may be subtle forms of antinomianism. Perhaps the most offensive form of antinomianism to God that has occurred in Adventism in recent years cannot be blamed on off-shoots. It cannot be blamed on the laity. Though a few laymen participated in the adoption of this error in Adventism, and though many laymen have been contaminated by this error in Adventism, the laity themselves are powerless to throw off this abomination. It is maintained in the publishing branch of our work, and controlled by church leadership. The problem is parallel to that great abomination of desolation that swept the early Christian church. Notice again the means of the introduction of the counterfeit gospel emphasis revival (antinomianism) at the beginning of the Dark Ages: Idolaters were led to receive a part of the Christian faith, while they rejected other essential truths. They professed to accept Jesus as the Son of God and to believe in His death and resurrection, but they had no conviction of sin and felt no need of repentance or of a change of heart. With some concessions on their part they proposed that Christians should make concessions, that all might unite on the platform of belief in Christ.8 A similar thing happened again in recent years in the Christian world, having, as we shall see, a negative impact on Adventism. In the 1960's and early 1970's a strange religious phenomenon occurred. Religion became popular to the irreligious. Dope addicts and the like—all sorts of persons of the world—made partial reforms and were added to the churches. They renounced their dope and some of their vilest and most notable of their sins and professed conversion to Christ. Yet in their appearance and disposition many of them more closely resembled Barabbas and the rabble than the meek and lowly Jesus. These persons "baptized" their music,

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speech, and art forms, and incorporated them in their lauding of Jesus and their new life style. Church leaders eager for large accessions to the churches compromised church standards so that these "converts" could perform rock operas from the church platform. Long haired swaying bodies took to the stage, and voices wailed out tunes to Jesus in a vernacular indistinguishable from the common rock and roll hits. And so, by this means, the Christian Church was infected with religious rock music, psychedelic and comic art, and vulgar jargon. Automobile bumpers joined in the bazaar with such quips as "Honk if you love Jesus," and "Things go better with Christ" (a take-off of a Coca Cola commercial). Was not the sacred name of our Lord profaned by thus lowering it to the level of the common? Was God in all this? Was not this the work of our enemy Satan? Not all persons or groups affected by compromise with this base element went to the extremes above mentioned. The standards of many were lowered just a little. But the compromising of long-established Bible-based standards in literature, art, music, speech, dress, and mannerisms, etc. seemed to begin a steady evolution toward the more and more vulgar. There was a brief period around 1973-1974 in which this fad (?) seemed to wane. But assuming a more sophisticated character, this religious phenomenon has infused itself into the very core of Christianity. Far more disturbing than was the lowering of standards in the personal life was the lowering of the standards in the methods of presenting the gospel message. Crusading youth claimed that vulgar jargon must be used to reach the unchurched. And church leaders believed them and hearkened to their counsel. Crude cartoon caricatures were presented as illustrating spiritual truths, often in a joking manner. Flashy, psychedelic colors were used—all to shock the senses, catch the eye—in an effort to gain the attention of the public for the purpose of presenting to them the message of Christ. Did the gospel really need to stoop to all this? Was not this sensationalism? The serious mind is repulsed

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by any such thing, not attracted. The seeming success of any such policy can only be temporary—in the end proving "the vanity of human inventions."9 Our true need is the word of God in all its power and beauty, not the methodology of man. It would be nice to be assured that this corruption did not become a part of Seventh-day Adventist Church policy. Unfortunately this claim cannot be made. In spite of the many warnings in our prophetic heritage, in recent years Seventh-day Adventists have followed the worldly revival movements, incorporating into the evangelistic outreach— especially the youth work—these very errors. Jargon, psychedelic art, and crude cartoons have found their way into the youth outreach papers. How have these "up with Jesus, down with standards" (antinomian) practices come so suddenly into the Seventhday Adventist Church, of all churches? Certain influential Adventist young people became intrigued with non-Adventist international campus revival movements. They openly advocated these movements on Adventist college campuses. Many Adventist youth and even a number of Adventist ministers and educators went to receive training from the movement headquarters. Several Adventist college students actually became staff workers in the movements. (This certainly should be sufficient to warn us of the error of this policy because of the following inspired statement: "We cannot now step off the foundation that God has established. We cannot now enter into any new organization; for this would mean apostasy from the truth."10) The Adventist church leaders, desirous of a revival and reformation in the Adventist church—one that would appeal to young people— sought out these youth, concluding they had best learned how to devise evangelistic methods for reaching the unchurched youth, especially on university campuses. These young people, trained in worldly methods of presenting the gospel, were set to work in the very heart of the Adventist church composing cartoon and psychedelic-color illustrated, jargon filled papers for youth. These young persons also recorded

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contemporary music, and took to the Adventist camp meeting stages. But, has not all this been a very serious mistake? Have we done any better than the Israelites of old who "were mingled among the heathen, and learned their works"? Psalms 106:35. (Incidentally, Psalms 105 and 106 are chapters that Ellen White urged should be read at least once a week by Adventists so that we would not make the same mistakes as did the Israelites.11) Have we not mingled among the churches who have rejected God's seventh-day Sabbath— the fourth commandment of the Decalogue? Have we not imitated those who openly teach that the law of God as been done away, nailed to the cross? How can such persons and such movements be led by the Spirit of God? How can we receive true light from them? Long ago Seventh-day Adventists were warned of revival movements that would originate in the worldly churches: Before the time for such a movement shall come [a revival of primitive godliness among the people of the Lord such as has not been witnessed since apostolic times], he [the enemy of souls—Satan] will endeavor to prevent it by introducing a counterfeit. In those churches which he can bring under his deceptive power he will make it appear that God's special blessing is poured out; there will be manifest what is thought to be great religious interest. Multitudes will exult that God is working marvelously for them, when the work is that of another spirit. Under a religious guise, Satan will seek to extend his influence over the Christian world.12 In the chapter "Modern Revivals" in the book The Great Controversy, from which the above statement comes, Ellen White explained some of the many errors of these modern counterfeit revivals—in both their doctrine and practices and

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their harmful effect upon the people. The chapter is just saturated with pertinent information regarding these counterfeit revivals, and is difficult to condense. Perhaps just a listing of some of the points presented in the chapter would help to show the errors of these modern worldly revivals, and why Adventists should have in no way copied them. 1. The revival movements would be extensive and impressive. 2. They would be based largely on emotional excitement with 3. a mingling of the true and the false that is well adapted to mislead. 4. The movements would be characterized by a neglecting of the testimony of the Bible, turning away from those plain, soul-testing truths which require self-denial and renunciation of the world. 5. The nature and importance of the law of God would be lost sight of, 6. resulting in errors in relation to conversion and sanctification because of the wrong conception of the character, the perpetuity, and the obligation of the law of God. 7. There would indeed be widespread interest kindled. 8. Many would profess conversion. 9. But the light which would flare up for a time from the various revivals would soon die out, leaving the darkness more dense than before. 10. The revivals would be carried by appeals to the imagination in gratifying the love for what is new and startling. 11. The converts gained thereby would have little desire to listen to Bible truth, little interest in the testimony of prophets and apostles. 12. Instead, the converts would be attracted by religious services that have something of a sensational character. 13. They would not respond to messages that appeal to unimpassioned reason. 14. Plain warnings of God's word, directly relating to their eternal interest would go unheeded. 15. The converts would not renounce their pride and love of the world, or be willing to deny self, to take up their cross, and follow the meek and lowly Jesus. 16. The movements would also be characterized by picnics, church theatricals, church fairs, fine houses, personal display, etc.

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To this lengthy list of distinguishing characteristics Ellen White adds others of a more doctrinal nature relating to the methods of presenting the gospel. 17. There would be a neglect of the pulpit to enforce the divine law, 18. an underrating the evil of sin, the extent of it, the demerit of it, and 19. underestimating the justice of God. 20. The tendency would be to strain out the divine justice from the divine benevolence, to sink benevolence into a sentiment rather than exalt it into a principle. 21. The same persons would tend to underestimate the grace which has provided an atonement for sin. 22. Those that assert that Christ by His death abolished the law would contrast the grievous yoke and bondage of the law to the present liberty to be enjoyed under the gospel. 23. The sanctification theories that would gain prominence would carry with them a spirit of self-exaltation and a disregard for the law of God. 24. The advocates of these modern theories of sanctification would teach that sanctification is an instantaneous work, by which, through faith alone, they attain to perfect holiness. 25. The argument would be, "Only believe, and the blessing is yours." No further effort on the part of the receiver is supposed to be required. 26. The movements would also be characterized by a lack of Bible temperance and modesty. The lips of many who profess Christ would be defiled by tobacco, while claiming the blessing of entire sanctification. 27. Others would enfeeble their powers in the pursuit of gain or the worship of the goddess of fashion. 28. Many would debase their godlike manhood by gluttony, by wine drinking, or by forbidden pleasure. 29. And instead of rebuking such evils, the churches would often encourage such evils by appealing to appetite, to desire for gain or love of pleasure, to replenish their treasuries.13 We recognize in this chapter in The Great Controversy a true description of modern revival movements we have witnessed. We also see better why these trends are wrong. We detect the areas in which Seventh-day Adventists have

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copied these revivals. Earnest laymen have difficulty in comprehending how the Seventh-day Adventist Church could have adopted some of these erroneous techniques, especially in the light of these more specific counsels to Adventist writers and editors: Pictures to represent Bible scenes must be no cheap designs. True science of all kinds is distinction and power. He who by painstaking effort ascends step by step the ladder of human progress, must fix his eyes on the One above the ladder. The knowledge which God imparts is not of a character to belittle our ideas of sacred things. The glory of God must be kept before the mind's eye, not the cheap, earthly representations that imprint in the memory scenes which give a false conception of Christ and heavenly things. A proper illustration of Bible scenes requires talent of a superior quality. With these cheap, common productions, the sacred lessons of the Bible disdain comparison. . . . God forbid that we should please the devil by lowering the standard of eternal truth by using illustrations that men, women, and children will make sport of.14 Would not the mind have clearer, more perfect ideas of angels, of Christ, of all spiritual things, if no pictures were made to represent heavenly things? Many of the pictures made are grossly false as far as truth is concerned. Do not pictures so far removed from the truth give voice to falsehoods? We want to be true in all our representations of Jesus Christ. But many of the miserable daubs put into our books and papers are an imposition on the public.15 The ideas of many in reference to the matters pertaining to God's work are too cheap. In the selection of pictures to illustrate holy things, a

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deficiency of wisdom has been shown that God cannot approve.16 I hope our publications will not come to resemble a comic almanac.17 While we are commanded to separate from the world, it is not necessary that we become coarse and rough, and descend to common expressions, and make our remarks as rude as possible. The truth is designed to elevate the receiver, to refine his taste and sanctify his judgment. There should be a continual effort to imitate the society we expect soon to join; namely, angels of God who have never fallen by sin. The character should be holy, the manners comely, the words without guile, and thus should we follow on step by step until we are fitted for translation.18 Ellen White also warned of extremes in music. Notice the uncouth scenes she predicted would come into our camp meetings before the close of probation: The things you have described as taking place in Indiana, the Lord has shown me would take place just before the close of probation. Every uncouth thing will be demonstrated. There will be shouting, with drums, music, and dancing. The senses of rational beings will become so confused that they cannot be trusted to make right decisions. And this is called the moving of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit never reveals itself in such methods, in such a bedlam of noise. This is an invention of Satan to cover up his ingenious methods for making of none effect the pure, sincere, elevating, ennobling, sanctifying truth for this time. Better never have the worship of God blended in music than to use musical instruments to do the work which last

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January was represented to me would be brought into our camp meetings. The truth for this time needs nothing of this kind in its work of converting souls. A bedlam of noise shocks the senses and perverts that which if conducted aright might be a blessing. The powers of satanic agencies blend with the din and noise, to have a carnival, and this is termed the Holy Spirit's working. When the camp meeting is ended, the good which ought to have been done and which might have been done by the presentation of sacred truth is not accomplished. Those participating in the supposed revival receive impressions which lead them adrift. They cannot tell what they formerly knew regarding Bible principles. . . . Those things which have been in the past will be in the future. Satan will make music a snare by the way in which it is conducted.19 Under the cloak of Christianity and sanctification, far-spreading and manifest ungodliness will prevail to a terrible degree and will continue until Christ comes to be glorified in all them that believe. In the very courts of the temple, scenes will be enacted that few realize. God's people will be proved and tested, that He may discern "between him that serveth God and him that serveth Him not."20 Unfortunately, jargon, psychedelic art, and crude cartoons have found their way into the Seventh-day Adventist youth, temperance, and religious liberty papers. As early as April, 1969, there was a large camp meeting (the large youth's congress) at Portland, Oregon which saw the fulfillment of Ellen White's prediction of shouting, with drums, music, and dancing (ballet dancing), and a bedlam of noise (including the honking of horns and the bleating of sheep recorded on tape) being used in a religious service.

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One woman who witnessed the scene recalled weeping in anguish afterward that such an evil had come upon the Adventist church. The author also was eye-witness to the scene, and was greatly grieved over the unfortunate experience. Truly, in the very courts of the temple, scenes have already been enacted that few persons in previous eras could realize. Many subsequent camp meetings have been afflicted with the modern beat and jazz runs in the music in the youth tents, as well as with films from worldly revival movements confusing the Adventist youth with false sentiments. By the 1990's the soft rock and loud music with drums and orchestration had become standard fare in our churches and camp meetings. Whole Seventh-day Adventist churches have become Celebration churches, employing the rock music and hand gestures in emotional revival meetings, appealing to former Adventists. But the Celebration movement is a policy of the papacy to unite the churches. Seventh-day Adventist leaders should stand firm against this evil tide. But not many, if any, have. Some claim that it became Seventh-day Adventist church policy that all Seventh-day Adventist churches should become Celebration churches by the year 2000, in harmony with the papal ecumenical policy. Tragically enough, in the young adult meetings at our camp meetings, many in the audience confuse the emotion stirring effects of the religious rock music with the deep stirrings of the Holy Spirit, just as Ellen White said in the above quote. Following jazzy presentations of gospel music, the audience responds with hearty amens and clapping. In Seventh-day Adventist churches today there is almost a universal failure on the part of the ministry to enforce the law of God and uphold standards. As a result jewelry is rampant—even earrings worn by longstanding Adventist men. Do you think the angels of God wear earrings? Do you think Jesus wears earrings? Do you think Jesus wants His followers to wear earrings? 1 Peter 3:3, 4; Isaiah 3:16-26.

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The situation is critical. Just when it is time for the judgment of the living and the coming of Christ, the church is corrupted with far-spreading ungodliness, exactly as predicted in the above quote from Ellen White. Does anyone expect a widespread revival and reformation in the Adventist Church before Jesus comes? Consider again the following statement by Ellen White: Under the cloak of Christianity and sanctification, far-spreading and manifest ungodliness will prevail to a terrible degree and will continue until Christ comes to be glorified in all them that believe. In the very courts of the temple, scenes will be enacted that few realize. God's people will be proved and tested, that He may discern "between him that serveth God and him that serveth Him not."21 Angela Holdsworth, a 25-year old associate editor of Liberty Alert, describes the current situation facing the Adventist young people: I'm caught between my traditional Adventist education and the gospel of the nineties. I'm encouraged to accept a new brand of easy religion. The kind that allows me to customize my religion to fit my lifestyle. It says that God accepts me as I am, and as long as I accept His grace, I can do almost anything I want. But this goes against my traditional upbringing. I was taught the "house rules" of the family of God. No jewelry, no Coca-Cola, no dancing, no swimming on Sabbath. Now I'm told that there's nothing inherently wrong with these things. God wants me to be happy. He gave me a brain and the right to choose, and He wants me to use them. So how does a twentysomething deal will all these changes? I ride the fence. Sometimes I follow

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the old rules rigidly; sometimes I break them, using the God-wants-me-to-be-happy excuse. And I feel guilty—a lot.22 The "house rules" of the family of God Angela cited are valid—every one of them. The "gospel of the nineties" Angela is being exposed to is antinomianism—counterfeit righteousness by faith. What do all these things prove? They demonstrate that Seventh-day Adventists as well as other denominations have succumbed in a great degree to an "up with Jesus, down with standards" policy, which we recognize from our pattern of the past as an aspect of antinomianism—counterfeit Christ Our Righteousness teaching. Thus, either by way of Spirit of Prophecy evidence, or our present experience, we have identified a number of forms of antinomianism in Adventists' post-1888 period: a neglect by evangelists to adequately present the demands of the law of God and the need for heartfelt confession and repentance; presenting justification by faith in a one-sided manner; ignoring works altogether; living an easy-going, accommodating, crossless religion while claiming to have faith; and this more dreadful monster among us, "up with Jesus, down with doctrines and standards" in the form of youth outreach and temperance papers filled with jargon, psychedelic art, and crude cartoons, and camp meetings, evangelistic meetings, and church services utilizing music such as gospel rock or soft rock. By the instances of antinomianism in Adventism shown here in this chapter (and this list is by no means exhaustive), we see that the sequential pattern of past revivals and reformations opens our eyes to our current problem as a people—counterfeit Christ Our Righteousness teaching and practice. We see that as a church we did not fully accept the true Christ Our Righteousness message after 1888, for we have largely been deceived by the counterfeit. In the 1970s and 1980s there was a great agitation in Adventism to

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recover the true Christ Our Righteousness message, which has died down. However, much that many have advocated as the true message has been contaminated with antinomianism. Our pattern of the past helps us to see these errors, for they are mostly but a repeat of the same errors in past ages. It is time for a great revival and reformation in Adventism. Many talk of revival and reformation, but most really only want a revival. They do not want to admit that some of the things that the church is presently doing are offensive to God. But there need to be reforms made in our publishing work, in our youth work, in our music. There are reforms to be made in our educational work, and our medical work. We need to begin obeying the counsels God has given to this people in the writings of the Spirit of Prophecy. Until there is a willingness to do this, there can be no lasting revival. A revival without reformation is just a flight of feeling. And it soon dies out. Revival without reformation is antinomianism. Let us admit our errors, plead to God for forgiveness, and plead for divine energy and direction to make the necessary changes in our lives and our churches so that the Holy Spirit can be poured out upon us at last. _________________ 1


2

Ibid., p. 20.

3

Ibid., Book One, p. 382.

4

Webster's New Twentieth Century Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged, Second Edition (New York: The World Publishing Company, 1968). 5

19.

Ellen G. White, Selected Messages, Book Two, pp. 18,

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6

Ibid., p. 19.

7


8

Ibid., p. 42.

9

Ellen G. White, Review and Herald, February 4, 1902.

10

Ellen G. White, Selected Messages, Book Two, p.

390. 11

Ellen G. White, Testimonies to Ministers, pp. 98, 99.

12


13

Condensed from Ellen G. White, "Modern Revivals" (Chapter 27), The Great Controversy, pp. 461-478. 14

Ellen G. White, Counsels to Writers and Editors, pp. 167, 168. 15

Ibid., p. 171.

16

Ibid., p. 171.

17

Ibid., p. 172.

18

Ellen G. White, Testimonies for the Church, Vol. 1, p. 216. See also Vol. 4, p. 405; Christ's Object Lessons, p. 336. 19

Ellen G. White, Selected Messages, Book Two, pp. 36-38. 20

Ellen G. White, Evangelism, pp. 592, 593.

21

Ibid.

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Angela S. Holdsworth, "Confessions of a Young Adult," Adventist Review, August 5, 1993, p. 13.

Chapter 14 STRUGGLES OVER THE ATONEMENT

The Doctrine of the Atonement In the Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy, Christ's atonement is a process with stages—each stage dependent upon the success of the stage before it. The first stage of the atonement is the cross of Christ (which in turn depended upon the successful sinless life of Christ). On the cross Jesus fulfilled the conditions (which were ratified by the Father) for Christ's high priestly atonement in the application of His blood in the Heavenly Sanctuary in behalf of the sinner. In the closing up of the work of the Gospel, there is a final atonement in the Most Holy Place of the Heavenly Sanctuary for the righteous dead and the living saints. The cross is so central in the atonement process, that it is often called an atonement, or an atoning sacrifice. And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement. Romans 5:11. Jesus died to rescue man from the grasp of Satan. He came to set us free by the blood of His atoning sacrifice.1 [Christ] bared His breast for the stroke of death, took man's guilt and its penalty, and offered in man's behalf a complete sacrifice to God. By virtue of this atonement, He has power to offer to man perfect righteousness and full salvation.2 The [Christ's] wounded hands, the pierced side, the marred feet, plead eloquently for fallen man, whose redemption is purchased at such an infinite 205

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cost. Oh, matchless condescension! Neither time nor events can lesson the efficacy of the atoning sacrifice.3 The sufferings of Christ on the cross, however, were actually the condition of the atonement in the Heavenly Sanctuary to be made by Christ after His ascension to heaven. Christ's sacrifice in behalf of man was full and complete. The condition of the atonement had been fulfilled.4 Christ's words on the mountainside were the announcement that His sacrifice in behalf of man was full and complete. The conditions of the atonement had been fulfilled; . . . He had entered upon His mediatorial work.5 God the Father was and is fully satisfied with the conditions of the atonement Christ fulfilled on the cross. The Father demonstrates His infinite love for Christ, who paid our ransom with His blood, by receiving and welcoming Christ's friends as His friends. He is satisfied with the atonement made.6 The Contract Ratified.--. . . . The request of Christ is granted; the church is justified through Him, its representative and head. Here the Father ratifies the contract with His Son, that He will be reconciled to repentant and obedient men, and take them into divine favor through the merits of Christ. Christ guarantees that He will make a man "more precious than fine gold; even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir."7

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The blood of Christ had or has two functions in the heavenly sanctuary. As Christ's ministration was to consist of two great divisions, each occupying a period of time and having a distinctive place in the heavenly sanctuary, so the typical ministration consisted of two divisions, the daily and the yearly service, and to each a department of the tabernacle was devoted. As Christ at His ascension appeared in the presence of God to plead His blood in behalf of penitent believers, so the priest in the daily ministration sprinkled the blood of the sacrifice in the holy place in the sinner's behalf. The blood of Christ, while it was to release the repentant sinner from the condemnation of the law, was not to cancel the sin; it would stand on record in the sanctuary until the final atonement; so in the type the blood of the sin offering removed the sin from the penitent, but it rested in the sanctuary until the Day of Atonement. In the great day of final award, the dead are to be "judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works." Revelation 20:12. Then by virtue of the atoning blood of Christ, the sins of all the truly penitent will be blotted from the books of heaven. Thus the sanctuary will be freed, or cleansed, from the record of sin. In the type, this great work of atonement, or blotting out of sins, was represented by the services of the Day of Atonement-the cleansing of the earthly sanctuary, which was accomplished by the removal, by virtue of the blood of the sin offering, of the sins by which it had been polluted. As in the final atonement the sins of the truly penitent are to be blotted from the records of heaven, no more to be remembered or come into mind, so in

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the type they were borne away into the wilderness, forever separated from the congregation.8 Satan will bear the final punishment. Since Satan is the originator of sin, the direct instigator of all the sins that caused the death of the Son of God, justice demands that Satan shall suffer the final punishment. Christ's work for the redemption of men and the purification of the universe from sin will be closed by the removal of sin from the heavenly sanctuary and the placing of these sins upon Satan, who will bear the final penalty. So in the typical service, the yearly round of ministration closed with the purification of the sanctuary, and the confessing of the sins on the head of the scapegoat.9 In the end of the world Christ makes a final atonement in the heavenly sanctuary by means of the application of His Calvary blood atonement. As the priest entered the most holy once a year to cleanse the earthly sanctuary, so Jesus entered the most holy of the heavenly, at the end of the 2300 days of Daniel 8, in 1844, to make a final atonement for all who could be benefited by His mediation, and thus to cleanse the sanctuary.10 Attended by heavenly angels, our great High Priest enters the holy of holies and there appears in the presence of God to engage in the last acts of His ministration in behalf of man—to perform the work of investigative judgment and to make an atonement for all who are shown to be entitled to its benefits.11 The final atonement is now being applied by Jesus in the Heavenly Sanctuary.

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Thus those who followed in the light of the prophetic word saw that, instead of coming to the earth at the termination of the 2300 days, in 1844, Christ then entered the most holy place of the heavenly sanctuary, to perform the closing work of atonement, preparatory to His coming.12 When in the typical service the high priest left the holy on the Day of Atonement, he went in before God to present the blood of the sin offering in behalf of all Israel who truly repented of their sins. So Christ had only completed one part of His work as our intercessor, to enter upon another portion of the work, and He still pleaded His blood before the Father in behalf of sinners.13 The announcement that the temple of God was opened in heaven and the ark of His testament was seen points to the opening of the most holy place of the heavenly sanctuary in 1844 as Christ entered there to perform the closing work of the atonement.14 We are in the great day of atonement, and the sacred work of Christ for the people of God that is going on at the present time in the heavenly sanctuary should be our constant study.15 . . . the atoning work of Christ is now in progress in the heavenly sanctuary.16 Today He is making atonement for us before the Father.17 The above doctrine of the atonement is not merely a Spirit of Prophecy view. It is a Bible position. Paul explained to the Hebrews the differences and similarities of

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Christ's High Priestly ministry and that of the Aaronic priesthood. Hebrews 4:14-5:10; 6:20-10:22. He drew the eyes of his readers to the heavenly sanctuary where Jesus is "a minister of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man." Hebrews 8:2. There Christ is a priest "after the order of Melchisedec." Hebrews 7:21. Paul's parallel between the Jewish and heavenly sanctuary services makes the earthly sanctuary type a lesson book for Christians, pointing the types on earth to Christ as the great Antitype in heaven. Thus the 80 uses of the word "atonement" in the Old Testament can apply in type to Christ's work for the sinner. (There is only one use of the word "atonement" in the New Testament, Romans 5:11. Thus those that reject or neglect the Old Testament testimony and do not have or reject the magnifying glass of the Spirit of Prophecy have only one text on the atonement, and may falsely conclude it is limited to the cross of Christ.) The books of Moses describe a sanctuary service that not only typifies Christ's sacrifice on earth, but His work in the heavenly sanctuary making atonement for us with His blood. Daniel 8:13, 14 in connection with Daniel 9:24-27 and Ezra 7 predicts when Christ will enter upon His final work in the Most Holy Place of the Heavenly Sanctuary, making final atonement for the righteous dead and living. Just after the Great Disappointment in 1844, O. R. L. Crosier published an article on the atonement in the Daystar, Extra, February 7, 1846 without the aid of the Spirit of Prophecy. But Ellen White testified of this presentation: "The Lord shew (showed) me in vision, more than a year ago, that Brother Crosier had the true light on the cleansing of the sanctuary, etc., and that it was His will, that Brother C (Crosier) should write out the view which he gave us in the Daystar, Extra, February 7, 1846. I feel fully authorized by the Lord, to recommend that Extra to every saint. I pray that these lines may prove a blessing to you, and to all the dear children who may read them. Signed, E. G. White."18 Crosier wrote:

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But again, they say the atonement was made and finished on Calvary when the Lamb of God expired. So men have taught us, and so the churches and the world believe; but it is none the more true or sacred on that account, if unsupported by Divine authority. Perhaps few or none who hold that opinion have ever tested the foundation on which it rests. 1. If the atonement was made on Calvary, by whom was it made? The making of the atonement is the work of a priest; but who officiated on Calvary? Roman soldiers and wicked Jews. 2. The slaying was not making the atonement; the sinner slew the victim. Lev. 4:1-4, 13-15, etc., after that the priest took the blood and made the atonement. Lev. 4:5-12, 16-21. 3. Christ was the appointed High Priest to make the atonement, and certainly could not have acted in that capacity till after His resurrection, and we have no record of His doing anything on earth after His resurrection which could be called the atonement. 4. The atonement was made in the sanctuary, but Calvary was not such a place. 5. He could not, according to Heb. 8:4 make the atonement while on earth. "If He were on earth, He could not be a priest." The levitical was the earthly priesthood; the Divine, the heavenly. 6. Therefore, He did not begin the work of making the atonement, whatever the nature of that work may be, till after His ascension, when by His own blood He entered the heavenly sanctuary for us.19 Seventh-day Adventist history is replete with the doctrine that Christ entered the most holy place in the Heavenly Sanctuary in 1844 to offer His blood as an atonement for our sins.

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History records that all our [Seventh-day Adventist] teachers taught this. James White, J. H. Waggoner, Uriah Smith, J. N. Andrews, J. N. Loughborough, C. H. Watson, E. E. Andross, W. H. Branson, Camden Lacey, R. S. Owen, O. A. Johnson, H. R. Johnson, F. D. Nichols (until 1955) all stoutly defended the doctrine of Christ's atoning work since 1844, and committed their convictions to writing. As I write this [1959], I have nearly all their books before me. James White, our first General Conference president, when he was elected the first editor of Signs of the Times, wrote in the first issue of that paper an article "to correct false statements circulated against us. . . There are many who call themselves Adventists, who hold views with which we can have no sympathy, some of which, we think, are subversive of the plainest and most important principles set forth in the word of God." The second of the twenty-five articles of faith reads in part as follows: Christ "lived our example, died our sacrifice, was raised for our justification, ascended on high, to be our only mediator in the atonement for our sins; which atonement, so far from being made on the cross, which was but the offering of the sacrifice, is the very last portion of his work as priest." These Fundamental Beliefs, were also printed in a little tract and circulated by the thousands.20 Elder Nichols states the Adventist position correctly when he says, "We believe that Christ's work of atonement was begun rather than completed on Calvary." Answers to Objections, p. 408. This was published in 1952.21

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Adventist Leaders Change Doctrines The Adventist leaders had for some time been in contact with two ministers of another faith, evangelicals, Dr. Barnhouse and Mr. Martin, respectively editor and an assistant editor of the religious journal Eternity, published in Philadelphia, and had discussed with them various of our doctrines. In these conversations, as in the numerous letters that passed between them, the evangelicals had raised serious objections to some of our beliefs. The question of greatest importance was whether Adventists could be considered Christians while holding such views as the doctrine of the sanctuary; the 2300 days; the date 1844; the investigative judgment; and Christ's atoning work in the sanctuary in heaven since 1844. Our men expressed the desire that the Adventist church be reckoned as one of the regular Protestant churches, a Christian church, not a sect.22 For a report of the conferences between the evangelicals and the Adventists, we are confined almost entirely to the published account in Eternity. A little less than two years ago [from September, 1956] it was decided that Mr. Martin should undertake research in connection with Seventh-day Adventism. We got into touch with the Adventists saying that we wished to treat them fairly and would appreciate the opportunity of interviewing some of their leaders. The response was immediate and enthusiastic. Mr. Martin went to Tacoma Park, Washington, D.C., the headquarters of the Seventh-day Adventist movement. At first the two groups looked upon each other with great suspicion. Mr. Martin had read a

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vast quantity of Adventist literature and presented them with a series of approximately forty questions concerning their theological position. On a second visit he was presented with scores of pages of detailed theological answers to his questions. Immediately it was perceived that the Adventists were strenuously denying certain doctrinal positions which have been previously attributed to them. As Mr. Martin read their answers he came, for example, upon a statement that they repudiated absolutely the thought that seventh-day Sabbath keeping was a basis for salvation and a denial of any teaching that the keeping of the first day of the week is as yet considered to be the receiving of the anti-Christian "mark of the beast." He pointed out to them that in their book store adjoining the building in which these meetings were taking place a certain volume published by them and written by one of their ministers categorically stated the contrary to what they were now asserting. The leaders sent for the book, discovered that Mr. Martin was correct, and immediately brought this fact to the attention of the General Conference Officers, that this situation might be remedied and such publications be corrected. This same procedure was repeated regarding the nature of Christ while in the flesh which the majority of the denomination has always held to be sinless, holy, and perfect despite the fact that certain of their writers have occasionally gotten into print with contrary views completely repugnant to the Church at large. They further explained to Mr. Martin that they had among their number certain members of their "lunatic fringe" even as there are similar wild-eyed irresponsibles in every field of fundamental Christianity. This action of the Seventh-day Adventists was indicative of similar steps that were taken subsequently.

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Mr. Martin's book on Seventh-day Adventism will appear in print within a few months. It will carry a foreword by responsible leaders of the Seventh-day Adventist church to the effect that they have not been misquoted in the volume and that the areas of agreement and disagreement as set forth by Mr. Martin are accurate from their point of view as well as from our evangelical point of view. All of Mr. Martin's references to a new Adventist volume on their doctrines will be from the page proof of their book, which will appear in print simultaneously with his work. Henceforth any fair criticism of the Adventist movement must refer to these simultaneous publications. The position of the Adventists seems to some of us in certain cases to be a new position; to them it may be merely the position of the majority group of sane leadership which is determined to put the brakes on any members who seek to hold views divergent from that of the responsible leadership of the denomination. To avoid charges that have been brought against them by evangelicals, Adventists have already worked out arrangements that the Voice of Prophecy radio program and the "Signs of the Times," their largest paper, be identified as presentations of the Seventh-day Adventist church.23 Dr. Barnhouse states that they took the precaution to submit their manuscript to the Adventists so that no misstatement or error might occur. The Adventists published no report. Even at the General Conference session last year [1958], the matter was not discussed. Only a few know that there had been any conferences with the evangelicals. There were rumors that the Adventist leaders had been in conference with the evangelicals, but that was

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considered by some only as hearsay. The few who did know, kept their counsel. There seemed to be a conspiracy of secrecy. Till this day [1959] we do not know, and are not supposed to know, who carried on the conferences with the evangelicals. We do not know, and are not supposed to know, who wrote Questions on Doctrine. Diligent inquiry produced no result. We do not know, and are not supposed to know, just what changes were made, and in what books, concerning the mark of the beast and the nature of Christ while in the flesh. We do not know who authorized the omission of the thirteenth chapter [of Revelation] in our Sabbath school lessons for the second quarter of 1958, which deals with the mark of the beast. Dr. Barnhouse reports that to "avoid charges brought against them by the evangelicals," the Adventists "worked out arrangements" that concerned the Voice of Prophecy and the Signs of the Times. What was "worked out" we do not know and are not told. Should we not have a detailed report? We, of course, also wonder how it came to pass that ministers of another denomination had any voice or any say whatsoever in how we conduct our work. Have our leaders abdicated? How is it that they consult the evangelicals and keep our own people in the dark?24 Dr. Barnhouse's estimation of the Seventh-day Adventist sanctuary doctrine was not favorable. On the morning after the "Great Disappointment" two men were going through a corn field in order to avoid the pitiless gaze of their mocking neighbors to whom they had said an eternal good-bye the day before. To put it in the words of Hiram Edson (the man in the corn field who first conceived this peculiar idea), he was overwhelmed with the conviction "that

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instead of our High Priest coming out of the Most Holy of the heavenly sanctuary to come to this earth on the tenth day of the seventh month at the end of 2,300 days, He for the first time entered on that day the second apartment of the sanctuary, and that He had work to perform in the Most Holy before coming to this earth." It is to my mind, therefore, nothing more than a human, face-saving idea! It should also be realized that some uninformed Seventh-day Adventists took this idea and carried it to fantastic, literalistic extremes. Mr. Martin and I heard the Adventist leaders say, flatly, that they repudiate all such extremes. This they have said in no uncertain terms. Further, they do not believe, as some of their earlier teachers taught, that Jesus' atoning work was not completed on Calvary, but instead that He was still carrying on a second ministering work since 1844. This idea is also totally repudiated. They believe that since His ascension Christ has been ministering the benefits of the atonement which He completed on Calvary. Since the sanctuary doctrine is based on the type of the Jewish high priest going into the Holy of Holies to complete his atoning work, it can be seen that what remains is most certainly exegetically untenable and theological speculation of a highly imaginative order. What Christ is now doing, since 1844, according to this version, is going over the records of all human beings and deciding what rewards are going to be given to individual Christians. We personally do not believe that there is even a suspicion of a verse in Scripture to sustain such a peculiar position, and we further believe that any effort to establish it is stale, flat, and unprofitable! (Emphasis in original.)25

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Subsequent to the Eternity article, the following was printed in the Seventh-day Adventist Ministry magazine: The sacrificial act on the cross (is) a complete, perfect, and final atonement for man's sin.26 The truth is, our forefathers believed and proclaimed no such thing. They did not believe that the work on the cross was complete and all-sufficient. They did believe that a ransom was there paid and that this was all-sufficient; but the final atonement awaited Christ's entrance into the most holy in 1844. This the Adventists have always taught and believed, and this is the old and established doctrine which our venerated forefathers believed and proclaimed. They could not teach that the atonement on the cross was final, complete and all sufficient, and yet believe that another atonement, also final, occurred in 1844. Such would be absurd and meaningless. Paying the penalty for our sin was, indeed, a vital and necessary part of God's plan for our salvation, but it was by no means all. It was, as it were placing in the bank of heaven a sum sufficient and in every way adequate for any contingency, and which could be drawn on by and for each individual as needed. This payment was "the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb, without blemish and without spot." 1 Peter 1:19. In His death on the cross Jesus "paid it all;" but the precious treasure becomes efficacious for us only as Christ draws upon it for us, and this must await the coming into the world of each individual; hence, the atonement must continue as long as people are born. Hear this: “There is an inexhaustible fund of perfect obedience accruing from His obedience. How is it, that such an infinite treasure is not appropriated? In heaven, the merits of Christ, His self-denial and self-

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sacrifice, are treasured up as incense, to be offered up with the prayers of His people. General Conference Bulletin, Vol. 3, pp. 101, 102, Fourth Quarter, 1899.” Note the phrases: "inexhaustible fund," "infinite treasure," "merits of Christ." This fund was deposited at the cross, but not "used up" there. It is "treasured up" and offered up with the prayers of God's people. And especially since 1844 is this fund drawn on heavily as God's people advance to holiness; but it is not exhausted, there is sufficient and to spare. Hear again: “He who through His own atonement provided for them an infinite fund of moral power will not fail to employ this power in their behalf. He will impute to them His own righteousness. . . There is an inexhaustible fund of perfect obedience accruing from His obedience . . . as sincere, humble prayers ascend to the throne of God, Christ mingles with them the merits of His own life of perfect obedience. Our prayers are made fragrant by this incense. Christ has pledged Himself to intercede in our behalf, and the Father always hears His Son. Ibid.” When we pray, in this very year of 1959, Christ intercedes for us and mingles with our prayers "the merits of His own life of perfect obedience. Our prayers are made fragrant by this incense . . . and the Father always hears His Son."27 There is another serious error in the Ministry statement. Consider again that statement. The sacrificial act on the cross (is) a complete, perfect, and final atonement for man's sin.28 Christ's sacrificial act on the cross was not the atonement. The atonement was made with the victim's blood, not his suffering and dying. Leviticus 17:11. The same error was

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repeated in several places in the book Questions on Doctrines, published as an authoritative presentation of Adventist doctrine after the conferences with the evangelicals. It is the blood that is to be applied, not "an act," "a great act," "a sacrificial act," "an atoning act," "the act of the cross," "the benefits of the act of the cross," "the benefits of the atonement," all of which expressions are used in Questions on Doctrines [pp. 352-3, etc.; see also Movement of Destiny, pp. 1, 356, 119, 14229], but any reference to the blood [in these pages] is carefully avoided. It is not an act of any kind that is to be applied. It is the blood. Yet in all the 100 pages in the book dealing with the atonement, not once is the blood spoken of as being applied, or ministered. Can this be merely an oversight, or is it intended? Are we teaching a bloodless atonement [p. 344]?30 The blood atonement is clearly taught in the Spirit of Prophecy. Jesus was clothed with priestly garments. He gazed in pity on the remnant, and with a voice of deep pity cried, "My blood, Father; My blood; My blood; My blood."31 The ark that enshrines the tables of the law is covered with the mercy seat, before which Christ pleads His blood in the sinner's behalf."32 The original Adventist doctrine of the atonement is distinct from every other church, "has made us a separate people, and has given character and power to our work."33 In the same place Ellen White warns us against making "void the truths of the atonement, and destroy our confidence in the

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doctrines which we have held sacred since the third angel's message was given." In [the days of Paul] men spoke sneeringly of the true church as a sect [Acts 24:5; 24:14, R.V.], as men do now. Paul was not disturbed by this. We have no record that he attempted to have the church of the living God recognized as an evangelical body by men who trampled the law of God in the dust. On the contrary, whatever they might call him and his "sect," he confessed that he believed "all things which are written in the law and the prophets." Verse 14. The religious journal, Christianity Today, states in the March 3, 1958 issue, that "the Adventists today are contending vigorously that they are truly evangelical. They appear to want to be so regarded." Mentioning the book, Questions on Doctrine, it says that this "is the Adventist answer to the question whether it ought to be thought of as a sect or a fellow evangelical denomination." It states further that "the book" is published in an effort to convince the religious world that we are evangelical and one of them. This is a most interesting and dangerous situation. As one official who was not in favor of what was being done stated to me: "We are being sold down the river." What a sight for heaven and earth! The church of the living God which has been given the commission to preach the gospel to every creature under heaven and call men to come out of Babylon, is now standing at the door of these churches asking permission to enter and become one of them. How are the mighty fallen! Had their plan succeeded, we might now be a member of some evangelical association and not a distinctive Seventh-day Adventist church any more, in secrecy "sold down the river." This is more than apostasy. This is giving up

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Adventism. It is the rape of a whole people. It is denying God's leading in the past.34

Atonement Doctrine Restored The Questions on Doctrine book was written secretly, anonymously. Thank God a better summary of Adventist belief was voted publicly in the 1980 General Conference Session. As quoted by Seventh-day Adventists Believe . . . , Fundamental Belief 23 reads: There is a sanctuary in heaven, the true tabernacle which the Lord set up and not man. In it Christ ministers on our behalf, making available to believers the benefits of His atoning sacrifice offered once for all on the cross. He was inaugurated as our great High Priest and began His intercessory ministry at the time of His ascension. In 1844, at the end of the prophetic period of 2300 days, He entered the second and last phase of His atoning ministry. It is a work of investigative judgment which is part of the ultimate disposition of all sin, typified by the cleansing of the ancient Hebrew sanctuary on the Day of Atonement. In that typical service the sanctuary was cleansed with the blood of animal sacrifices, but the heavenly things are purified with the perfect sacrifice of the blood of Jesus. The investigative judgment reveals to heavenly intelligences who among the dead are asleep in Christ and therefore, in Him, are deemed worthy to have part in the first resurrection. It also makes manifest who among the living are abiding in Christ, keeping the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus, and in Him, therefore, are ready for translation into His everlasting kingdom. This judgment vindicates the justice of God in saving those who believe in Jesus. It declares that those who

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have remained loyal to God shall receive the kingdom. The completion of this ministry of Christ will mark the close of human probation before the Second Advent.35 Notice that the Calvary sacrifice is correctly called "His atoning sacrifice offered once for all on the cross." The "act of the cross" was not mentioned, but "the perfect sacrifice of the blood of Jesus." The date of 1844 was prominent, as well as the investigative judgment. M. L. Andreasen (author of several of the above quotes and outspoken opponent of Adventist doctrinal changes in the 1950s) would have wept for joy with this act of the General Conference. Jesus still lives and reigns in His church. He has been with us in all our wilderness wanderings. He is a good General. He still retains His church. To be sure, Jesus did not come in the generation of the secret General Conference Committee responsible for Questions on Doctrines. Jesus is waiting for a generation that will honor Him in all things. Is it this generation of Adventists? ___________________ 1

Ellen G. White, The Sanctified Life, p. 31.

2

Ellen G. White, The Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, Vol. 7, pp. 924, 925. 3


124. 4


5


6

Ellen G. White, Testimonies for the Church, Vol. 6,

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pp. 363, 364. 7

Ellen G. White, S.D.A. Bible Commentary, Vol. 5, p. 1150. 8

Ellen G. White, Patriarchs and Prophets, pp. 357, 358.

9

Ibid., p. 358.

10

Ellen G. White, Early Writings, p. 253.

11


12

Ibid., p. 422.

13

Ibid., p. 429.

14

Ibid., p. 433.

15


520. 16

Ellen G. White, White Board Minutes, p. 1483, as quoted by M. L. Andreasen, Letters to the Churches (Payson, Arizona: Leaves of Autumn Books, 1991), p. 41. 17

Ellen G. White, Manuscript 21, 1895, quoted in Ministry, February, 1957, p. 30, as quoted by M. L. Andreasen, Letters to the Churches (Payson, Arizona: Leaves of Autumn Books, 1991), p. 41. 18

Ellen G. White, A Word to the Little Flock (Brunswick, Maine: James White, May 30, 1847), p. 12. 19

O. R. L. Crosier, Daystar, Extra, February 7, 1846, pp. 40, 41, as quoted by Letters to the Churches, op. cit., pp. 49, 50.

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20

M. L. Andreasen, Letters to the Churches (Payson, Arizona: Leaves of Autumn Books, 1991), pp. 54, 55. 21

Ibid., p. 93, quoting F. D. Nichols, Answers to Objections, p. 408. 22

Letters to the Churches, op. cit., p. 21.

23

Dr. Barnhouse, Eternity Extra, September 1, 1956, as quoted by Letters to the Churches, op. cit., pp. 15, 16. 24

Letters to the Churches, op. cit., pp. 21, 22.

25

Ibid., p. 53.

26

Ministry, February, 1957, p. 10, as quoted by Letters to the Churches, op. cit., p. 24. 27

Letters to the Churches, op. cit., p. 24, 25.

28

Ministry, February, 1957, p. 10, op. cit.

29

LeRoy Edwin Froom, Movement of Destiny (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1971), pp. 1, 119. 30

Letters to the Churches, op. cit., pp. 92, 93.

31


32


33

Ellen G. White, Counsels to Writers and Editors, p.

54. 34

Letters to the Churches, op. cit., p. 90.

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Fundamental Beliefs, 23, Seventh-day Adventists Believe . . . 27, A Biblical Exposition of Fundamental Doctrines (Ministerial Association, General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, 6840 Eastern Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20012), p. 312.

Chapter 15 STRUGGLES OVER CHRIST'S NATURE

I. CHRIST'S DEITY Early Views Arian Contentions Go Back to Fourth Century— Historically, the Arian controversy goes back to the opening decades of the fourth century, when a theological crisis developed in the early church over the question of the fullness of the Deity of Christ. The church had earlier vacillated over the issue of "subordinationism," and the resultant uncertainty and confusion had now to be met. In the simplest terms they must decide— "either that the Son is a creature, and hence, not eternal, and not in the highest sense divine; or, that he is uncreated, eternal, truly God, of the same essence with the Father, yet with a personality distinct from that of the Father." (Albert H. Newman, A Manual of Church History, vol. 1, p. 325. Cited as a simplified statement.) Gist of the Arian Concept.—The Arian controversy continued for nearly a century, absorbing a disproportionate share of the energies of the early church, and rending asunder whole sections of Christendom. The straight Arian view, it is to be remembered was that the Son was a created being. Hence He was believed to be different in essence or "substance," from the Father. Such advocates held that He is the "Son of God" only by grace—that He is not so in and of Himself.

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Further, their favorite cliché was "There was when He was not"—that is, that He was a finite Being, and not infinite and from all eternity. But He was held to be created, or begotten, before all else. And through Him the universe was in turn created and is administered. Nevertheless, the Arians held that, though the Incarnate Logos is finite and not wholly God in the highest sense, He is to be worshiped as being unspeakably above all other creatures and as the Redeemer of man. Hence their love for Him. Fundamental Differences Are Involved.—The opposing Athanasian party utterly repudiated the hypothesis of any sort of original subordination, or of origin, on the part of the Son. Such held to the absolute Deity of the historical Christ. The Athanasians contended that God is unchangeable, and that there was never a time when the Son was not with—and one with—the Father. They maintained that the distinction between the Father and the Son is an eternal distinction, because the Son is eternal. They tenaciously held that the Son is "identical in substance" (essence or being) with the Father, and equal in intrinsic Deity with the Father. Creation was recognized as the work of the Son, but not because it was beneath the dignity of the Father. Same Essence; Distinct Personality.— Historically, Athanasius (d. 373), Bishop of Alexandria, emphasized the personality of the Son just as much as he did His identity and "substance" with the Father. To Athanasius the Son was not a mere attribute, or more of the manifestation of the Father, but a distinct personal subsistence. So Athanasius set forth with great clearness the two tenets of the doctrine involved—the sameness of

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essence and the distinction of personality of Father and Son. Modifications of "Semi-Arianism."—The semiArian, or Eusebian party, at the Nicene Council, was not prepared to deny the full Deity of Christ. Neither would they go all the way with Athanasius. The semi-Arians rejected the view that the Son was created out of nothing, and hence differed fundamentally in essence from the Father. At the same time they rejected the total Arian view that the Son is a creature—that is, involving a creation or begetting in the sense in which other things are created or born. The semi-Arians held that the Son was before all these, but not eternally pre-existent. To them, Christ was God of God before all time—but not from all eternity. And they denied the Athanasian "sameness of essence," holding only to "likeness as to essence." But the issue involved far more than words or definitions. The provisions of salvation were involved. Arius held that if the "Son" were truly a son there must have been a time when He was not. The Arians likewise held that the Holy Spirit was not truly a divine Person like the Father and the Son—only an influence, power, or energy. The chief object of the Nicene Council was to settle this Arian controversy, and the Arian position was officially condemned and the Athanasian contention accepted.1

The Author's View To the author, the Arian, Semi-Arian (or Eusebian), and Athanasian views are all wrong, though the Semi-Arian and Athanasian views are close to correct. The Son is not

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different in essence or substance from the Father. Thus the Arian and Semi-Arian views are in error. The Son was not made out of nothing. He was not a created Being. The Athanasian propositions, however, while they sound good as applied to a Divine Son, are contradictory. The Father and the Son cannot mathematically and physically be eternally distinct and yet of the same substance. There must be a convergence somewhere far back in time for the Father and the Son to share the same substance. Else there is an eternal distinction between the Father's and the Son's substances. The best way the "origin" of the Son may be described in modern terms is that the Divine Son of God was one spirit with God throughout the ages of eternity, but agreed with the Father to incarnate a clone of the Everlasting Father, somehow gestated in the Father's own body and brought to a birth. John 1:14. The term "clone" somehow seems irreverent science, but it is not meant to be. There is no other English word which may describe what actually took place. "clone n. 1. a. A group of genetically identical cells descended from a single common ancestor. b. One or more organisms descended asexually from a single ancestor. 2. One that is an exact replica of another. -v. cloned, clon-ing. To duplicate (an organism) asexually. -clon'al adj.2 In cloning, a cell is taken from the parent and developed into a descendant individual by implanting the nucleus of the cell into a non-fertilized ovum, and gestating the resultant individual. The Son was not created out of nothing. His spirit had been one with the Father throughout the ages of eternity. John 17:22. His genes, chromosomes, cytoplasm (if that is what divine beings have), and substance were those of the Everlasting Father. His genetic combination was not different from that of the Father (as a newly conceived infant is different from either the father or the mother). Thus no new genetic identity was brought into existence with His birth. The Son was the express image of the Father. Hebrews 1:3. He was a second Everlasting Father. Isaiah

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9:6. He was an identical twin God the Father, yet a generation younger in birth, rightly looking up to and respecting His Father. John 14:28. But though He may have had a pre-time birth, His genetic material was that of the Father—identical to the Father. In His tissues was the original Life, not one day younger than the Father. John 5:26. In those senses the Son is an eternal Being. Micah 5:2. Also having the same substance as the Father, the Son possesses all the capabilities of the Father in thought, emotion, deed, and physical power. John 5:19-23. The Divine Son is equal to the Everlasting Father. John 5:18. His "goings forth," or birth, were from "the days of eternity." Micah 5:2. The LORD [God the Father] possessed me [God the Son] in the beginning of his way, before his works of old. I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the earth was. When there were no depths, I was brought forth [cloned and begotten of the Father]; when there were no fountains abounding with water. Before the mountains were settled, before the hills was I brought forth: While as yet he had not made the earth, nor the fields, nor the highest part of the dust of the world. When he prepared the heavens, I was there: when he set a compass upon the face of the depth: When he established the clouds above: when he strengthened the fountains of the deep: When he gave to the sea his decree, that the waters should not pass his commandment: when he appointed the foundations of the earth: Then I was by him, as one brought up with him: and I was daily his delight, rejoicing always before him. Proverbs 8:22-30.

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The cloning and birth of the Son were so far back in the days of eternity, and so long before the creation of the Universe and intelligent life, that the Son and the Father were like two Beings brought up together. Proverbs 8:30. Both were the fullness of the Godhead bodily. Colossians 2:9. Both were also Spirits. John 4:24. The Father must have also cloned the Holy Spirit from His Spirit essence, a Personality not limited to a body, but Who can assume a body at will or be everywhere at once—a Personality also of the divine essence of the Father, fully God. Then there was a triune Spirit God, while a duo God bodily. While the Son and Holy Spirit were clone triplets of the divine eternal substance of Life, from and with the Father, they have different personalities like human identical triplets. In this aspect, Athanasius was correct. Were the church to err on the Deity of Christ, it was safest to be Athanasian. Arians sought to substantiate that the Son of God had a beginning, and thus He is not truly God. Athanasians sought to authenticate that the Son of God had no beginning, and that He is fully God. These are both singular solutions that have been unsuccessfully sought by men. In the author's view, the "origin" of the Son of God is a subtle and profound duality. The Son of God's distinct Personality had a beginning when He was cloned from the Everlasting Father. But His substance and spirit had no beginning. They were as old as God the Father. Both Arians and Athanasians are wrong, and both are part right. The Son of God is truly God. He has the very substance and spirit of God, which participated in the self-existence of Jehovah. Yet in a sense (as a distinct Personality), the Son of God had a beginning, satisfying some of the arguments of the Arians. Thus it is not wholly correct to say that the Son of God had a beginning, as it is not wholly correct to say that He did not have a beginning. This is because of the duality in the divine nature of the Son of God. The origin of the Spirit of the Son of God was an eternity before the cloning of the Son of God. For an eternity the

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Spirit of the Son was one with the Father—part of the Father—yet addressable and communicatable by and with the Father before this part of the Father was sent on assignment to incarnate the Son of God. In the greatest sense, the Son is one with the Father, and was so throughout the ages of eternity. John 10:30. This is the ultimate origin of the Son.

Adventists Struggle Over Christ's Deity Post-Millerite Ambivalence Over Views on Christ's Deity. Seventh-day Adventists were descendants of the Millerite Movement. The Millerites were an eclectic collection of believers from many different denominations and religious persuasions. There was not perfect uniformity of belief among these believers. What held them together was a conviction that Christ was coming in months or days. Differences on views on the Deity of Christ mattered little to the Millerites. After all, when Christ came all such matters would be made plain. Early Seventh-day Adventists also were united by such things as the Heavenly Sanctuary, the Sabbath, and the third angel's message.3 Early Adventists were rugged individualists holding a variety of other views. There seemed to be a pervasive tolerance to other persons' views as long as each one could hold his or her own view. This was true also of the nature of Christ, and the view of His Deity. While Ellen White reproved divergences from accepted Adventist prophetic views, she remained strangely silent for decades in not reproving erroneous views on the Deity of Christ. Yet from the beginning she wrote on that subject in gems of truth often lost in periodical publications.4 Introduction of Arianism into Adventism. A few rugged individualists holding minority views on the Deity of Christ eventually championed them publicly and in writing, thus jeopardizing the Adventist Church. Messages then had to be

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presented from other prominent Adventist leaders and Ellen White correcting the matter. The early conflicting views of certain of our own pioneers on this point are understandable, and perhaps even inevitable in the light of such backgrounds. But the irascible [Henry] Grew [eccentric disfellowshipped Baptist pastor, 17811862] was apparently the inspiration [literary source] for the injection of Arianism among us in printed form, by [J. M.] Stephenson [former First Day Adventist minister] in 1854.5 Stephenson was not a Seventh-day Adventist minister long. During this brief stay his book—The Atonement—was published in Rochester. Tinctured with an Age-to-Come theory, and its future-probation tenet and "no law" concepts. Sought to inject these among us, but without success. Giving up the Sabbath and rejecting the Spirit of Prophecy, he defected in 1855, returning to First Day Adventist. Divorced his faithful wife and married younger woman under his "no law" liberalism. First Day Adventist soon "cast him off." Disillusioned, James White wrote that his "'sheep's clothing' has fallen off."6 Arguments in Stephenson's Book and Their Answer. "Commenting on 1 Timothy 6:16—‘Who only hath immortality'— Stephenson took the Arian position that— 'the Father only is self-existent, ; i.e., hath life (eternal life) in himself; and he has given his Son to have life in himself; that he should give it to them that

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are his at his coming.' Atonement, p. 50.)"7

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While it is true that the Father only is self-existent in a sense, yet the Son and Holy Spirit, as parts of the Spirit of the Father and clones of the Father, shared the same Spirit, tissues, and mental blueprint with the Father. Their substance was eternal. In a sense they eternally co-existed with the Father, yet mono-existed might be a better term for it. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit were all the same substance. In that sense the Son and Holy Spirit shared in the selfexistence of the great I AM. That is why the Godhead alternately calls itself "I" (Isaiah 43:14, etc.) and "us" (Genesis 1:26; 3:22; 11:7.) Stephenson added that "pre-existence, simply considered, does not prove his eternal God-head, nor his eternal Son-ship" (p. 127). Nevertheless, He had "priority of existence to all other things" (pp. 122, 123). This, he frankly admits, is the "Arian hypothesis" (p. 127).8 The above paragraph is all true. Christ's existence long before the creation of the Universe does not prove His eternal Godhead. But His eternal oneness with the Father and His cloning from the very substance of the Father, which is eternal, does prove His eternal Godhead. To say that the Son is as old as his Father, is a palpable contradiction of terms. It is a natural impossibility for the Father to be as young as the Son, or the Son to be as old as the Father. (Ibid., p. 128.)9 This is an Arian argument repugnant to Athanasian Trinitarians. Yet this is a natural and seemingly logical objection. How many honest souls reasoned thus? For centuries the mystery seemed beyond finite understanding.

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The Son of God as a distinct Personality was younger than the Everlasting Father. Yet as a clone, His tissues and mental blueprint were as old as the Father. The Holy Spirit and the Son’s Spirits were one with the Father from the days of eternity. Thus in more than one sense the Son and Holy Spirit are as old as God the Father. "The idea of an eternal Son is a selfcontradiction." (p. 129). Again, "He must have had a beginning," "an origin" (pp. 130, 131).10 The Son did have a beginning as a distinct Personality, though not as a substance. His eternal substance qualified Him as "an eternal Son." Stephenson declared Christ's life to be derived life. And since He is declared to be "the firstborn of every creature" (Col. 1:15), he comments in unequivocal phrasing: "Creature signifies creation; hence to be the first born of every creature (creation), he must be a created being; and as such, his life and immortality must depend upon the Father's will, just as much as angels, or redeemed men." (Ibid.., p. 133.) His life, Stephenson insists, was "given" to Him, therefore His was only a "derived" life. That, of course, is straight Arianism.11 Inasmuch as in the author's view the Son and Holy Spirit were cloned from the Everlasting Father, in a sense they were derived from the Father. Yet the tissues, substance, and Spirit used in that cloning were eternal and not derived. Thus Christ's Life was not derived. The Divine Son was the Firstborn in the Universe, but not a creature or creation. He was not made out of nothing or matter. But as Firstborn, He held preeminence above all other creatures. Thus He is "the firstborn of every creature" (Colossians 1:15).

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Stephenson recognized that "the position I have taken in reference to the nature, origin, and incarnation of the Son of God, will be objected to by many" (p. 187). And it was—for "many" Sabbatarian Adventists were not Arians. But he nevertheless challenged in print the thought of the Son "being absolutely equal with the Father, the Supreme and only true God."12 Neither Denominational Voice Nor Pronouncement.—The reason for bringing in James M. Stephenson, as the initial projector of Arianism into our ranks in published form, in 1854, is not because of prominence or representative character. Nor is it because of any constructive or permanent contribution made to the Church. Instead, it is to disclose the unfortunate character of his brief stay among us—and its unhappy sequel. It is to show the unstable source of Arianism's printed introduction in 1854. In timing, it was a full decade after our emergence as an entity in 1844. But it was nine years before the organization of our General Conference in 1863. Note the timing further—from other angles. 1854 was six years after the "1848 Sabbath Conferences." These dealt chiefly with the Sanctuary, Sabbath, nature of man, Spirit of Prophecy, and nearness of the Advent, but not with the nature or Person of Christ, and the other Persons of the Godhead. The 1854 date has significance, for it was in the midst of a period of transition, as relates to the "shut door" angle. Many positions had not yet been crystallized. We had not even adopted a name or an organization. Stephenson's book was not, therefore, a denominational pronouncement or commitment. It was Stephenson's personal view in 1854. This needs

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to be understood, so as not to attach undue weight to his presentation. As to where and how Stephenson got his Arian concepts, we do not know. He was a Wisconsin convert of Joseph H. Waggoner, who published a book in 1868 likewise titled The Atonement—with decided Arian sentiments. Whether Stephenson got his view from Waggoner or vice versa, we are not informed. But Stephenson leaned strongly on Henry Grew, [previously] noted. As to whether Uriah Smith, joining the Review staff at Rochester in 1853, was influenced by Stephenson's book in 1854, we have no way of knowing. If so, it did not appear for another decade.13 Uriah Smith: Eminent Adventist Arian. Our well known Uriah Smith (1832-1903) was editor of the Review for 48 years, an author of several books (including Daniel and the Revelation, in print and circulation continuously since 1872), and a teacher. He served as the first secretary of the Michigan conference in 1861 and first secretary of the General Conference in 1863. He was well respected and conspicuously able. He was a strong character with positive views.14 Smith's Arian slant appeared in a number of places. One was his comment on Revelation 1:4. Here he says: "From Him which . . . was, and which is to come,' or is to be: an expression which signifies complete eternity, past and future, and can be applicable only to God, the Father. This language, we believe, is never applied to Christ. He is spoken of as another person, in distinction from the being thus described." (Uriah Smith, Thoughts on the Revelation, "1865," p. 14.)

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This distinction is, of course, based on the issue of eternal preexistence.15 Uriah Smith's conclusion was natural for one not knowing the nature of Christ's birth as a cloning of eternally preexistent divine substance, genetic blueprint, and eternal Spirit. In more than one real sense Christ was eternally preexistent. Commenting on the expression, "The beginning of the creation of God" (Rev. 3:14), Smith sets forth the straight Arian position in this original "1865" edition.16 In subsequent revisions of his book, Uriah Smith modified his view in two stages. By the 1881 (3d) Edition, he ruled out the straight Arian view.17 Uriah Smith made progress toward the truth, though he never gave up the Arian position altogether. In a series of lectures Smith gave at a "Biblical Institute" in Oakland in the spring of 1877, he stated that the Holy Spirit is merely an "emanating" "influence." He repeatedly called the Holy Spirit an It. This also was part of the false Arian view. Uriah Smith's Arian or Semi-Arian view evolved in later publications, such as "Looking Unto Jesus" (1898). Uriah Smith's errors remained in print long enough to threaten our standing with other churches in the 1950's. Joseph H. Waggoner's Part in Approaching Crisis. Joseph H. Waggoner (1820-1889) was the second of two strong, capable characters in early Adventism to advocate aspects of Arianism. Editor, author, evangelist, he was the father of Dr. Ellet J. Waggoner, with whom he must not be confused. He was previously a Baptist from the Midwest. He was editor and publisher of a newspaper in Wisconsin when he accepted the Advent faith in

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1852. An indefatigable reader, and an effective speaker and lucid writer, he first pioneered as an evangelist in Wisconsin. He was on the publishing committee of the Review when it was transferred from Rochester to Battle Creek, and continued as a corresponding editor. Beginning in 1857, he wrote three small books— on the law, on Spiritualism, and against the Age-toCome fallacy. This was after the defection of Stephenson, previously covered, who was one of Waggoner's early converts. Waggoner was a member of the conference called in 1860 to form our legal church organization. He was likewise one of the three suggesting the name "Seventh-day Adventist," which was adopted for the newly organized Church in 1863.18 In 1868 Waggoner brought out a treatise titled The Atonement, with a second edition in 1872 (168 pages). It was issued from the "steam press" of our publishing house in Battle Creek—Uriah Smith being editor at the Review office at the time, and similarly committed to the Waggoner views presented therein. In 1877 Waggoner also published The Spirit of God (144 pages), which reiterates some of these same erroneous concepts. In 1881 Joseph Waggoner succeeded James White as editor of our Sentinel. He likewise started the Pacific Health Journal. Then, three years after James White's death, in 1884 Waggoner reissued his work on The Atonement in amplified form (368 pages), which militant volume intensified the growing reaction against the Arian and antiTrinitarian positions there trenchantly put forth.19 Joseph Waggoner presented a Constricted Christ Who was only "God" in a "subordinate sense." "Waggoner refers

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to Christ's 'pre-existent divinity' (p. 87), but presses on the 'Son' aspect."20 He stresses a "subordinate" "son." He held that Christ was God only in a "restricted" sense. He held that Christ was not "Co-equal with God." He held also that the Holy Spirit was merely a "power". Ellen White warns of the dangers of denying the deity of Christ: Another dangerous error is the doctrine that denies the deity of Christ, . . . . It directly contradicts the plainest statements of our Saviour concerning His relationship with the Father, His divine character, and His pre-existence. It cannot be entertained without the most unwarranted wresting of the Scriptures. It not only lowers man's conceptions of the work of redemption, but undermines faith in the Bible as a revelation from God. While this renders it the more dangerous, it makes it also harder to meet. If men reject the testimony of the inspired Scriptures concerning the deity of Christ, it is in vain to argue the point with them; for no argument, however conclusive, could convince them. "The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." 1 Corinthians 2:14. None who hold this error can have a true conception of the character or the mission of Christ, or of the great plan of God for man's redemption.21 1888 Minneapolis Speakers Stress Deity of Christ. The 1888 Minneapolis Adventist General Conference Session was probably the most important in our history. It was a theological, doctrinal, and experiential watershed. At the conference legalism and righteousness by faith met face to face. The full deity of Christ and Arianism also faced off. Dr. E. J. Waggoner, the son of Joseph H. Waggoner, was one of the featured speakers. The first five of his 13 messages

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concerned the deity of Christ. statements published in 1890.

Consider some of his

Jesus said: "For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them; even so the Son quickeneth whom He will. For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son; that all men should honor the Son, even as they honor the Father. He that honoreth not the Son honoreth not the Father which hath sent Him." John 5:21-23. To Christ is committed the highest prerogative, that of judging. He must receive the same honor that is due to God, and for the reason that He is God. The beloved disciple bears this witness: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." John 1:1. That this Divine Word is none other than Jesus Christ is shown by verse 14: "And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us (and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the Onlybegotten of the Father), full of grace and truth.22 While E. J. Waggoner refuted the claims and objections of the Arians, he did not make Christ eternally distinct from his Father like the Athanasian Trinitarians. He allowed that Christ "proceeded forth and came from God" (John 8:42) "so far back in the ages of eternity as to be far beyond the grasp of the mind of man."23 The Son of God is God "not . . . in consequence of some great achievement, but it is His by right of inheritance. . . . Heb. 1:4." "A son always rightfully takes the name of the father; and Christ, as 'the only-begotten Son of God,' has rightfully the same name."24 LeRoy Edwin Froom, an Athanasian Trinitarian Adventist was disturbed by E. J. Waggoner's stopping short of making the Son of God eternally pre-existent and distinct from the Father.

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We must admit that to us today it seems strange that anyone could make such sweeping and obviously Biblical confessions and yet . . . stop short of admitting the beginning less eternal pre-existence of Christ. But it is an example of the outreach for truth for that day. It was, nevertheless, a tremendous advance.25 Post-1888 Views on Christ's Deity. In the years since 1888, the Seventh-day Adventist Church has almost unanimously adopted the Athanasian Trinitarian view of the deity of Christ, where He is eternally co-existent, distinct from the Father. This is not monotheism. This is tri-theism, polytheism. It is against the Judeo-Christian-Muslim ethic. We departed from the simple teaching of 1888, which, with the understanding of the eternally preexistant one Spirit divided to incarnate the cloned Son, is correct. The author believes we should not lose the gains from the 1888 message on the deity of Christ any more than from its righteousness by faith message..

Ellen White Comments on the Deity of Christ In the creation of man was manifest the agency of a personal God. When God had made man in His image, the human form was perfect in all its arrangements, but it was without life. Then a personal, self-existing God breathed into that form the breath of life, and man became a living, intelligent being. All parts of the human organism were set in action. The heart, the arteries, the veins, the tongue, the hands, the feet, the senses, the faculties of the mind, all began their work, and all were placed under law. Man became a living soul. Through Christ the Word, a personal God created man and endowed him with intelligence and power. (Emphasis added.)26

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[At the close of the above quote, Ellen White shows that Christ created man. Yet at the beginning of the quote she says that a "self-existing God breathed into that form the breath of life." This shows that Christ was self-existing. Yet we do not believe that Christ self-existed eternally distinct from the Father, or He would be another God separate from the Father. The above quote may instead imply that Christ participated in the self-existence of the one Godhead, by being one Spirit with the Father, and by being cloned from the eternal substance of Life in the Father.] The Son of God shared the Father's throne, and the glory of the eternal, self-existent One encircled both.27 [God the Father might be seen to be the "self-existent One," or the Son of God and the Father may be both a part of the eternal, self-existent One by means of the oneness of the Spirit of the Father and the Son and the cloning of the Son.] Jehovah, the eternal, self-existent, uncreated One, Himself the Source and Sustainer of all, is alone entitled to supreme reverence and worship.28 [Jesus is Jehovah as well as the Father and Holy Spirit. Isaiah 43:3, 11. Titus 2:13. He also is the Source and Sustainer of all. Thus by the above, He is part of the eternal, self-existent, uncreated One.] The Sovereign of the universe was not alone in His work of beneficence. He had an associate—a coworker who could appreciate His purposes, and could share His joy in giving happiness to created beings. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God." John 1:1,2. Christ, the

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Word, the only begotten of God, was one with the eternal Father—one in nature, in character, in purpose—the only being that could enter into all the counsels and purposes of God. "His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace." Isaiah 9:6. His "goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting" Micah 5:2. And the Son of God declares concerning Himself: "The Lord possessed Me in the beginning of His way, before His works of old. I was set up from everlasting. . . . When He appointed the foundations of the earth: then I was by Him, as one brought up with Him: and I was daily His delight, rejoicing always before Him." Proverbs 8:22-30. The Father wrought by His Son in the creation of all heavenly beings. "By Him were all things created, . . . whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by Him, and for Him." Colossians 1:16. Angels are God's ministers, radiant with the light ever flowing from His presence and speeding on rapid wing to execute His will. But the Son, the anointed of God, the "express image of His person," "the brightness of His glory," "upholding all things by the word of His power," holds supremacy over them all. Hebrews 1:3. "A glorious high throne from the beginning," was the place of His sanctuary (Jeremiah 17:12); "a scepter of righteousness," the scepter of His kingdom. Hebrews 1:8. "Honor and majesty are before Him: strength and beauty are in His sanctuary." Psalm 96:6. Mercy and truth go before His face. Psalm 89:14.29 [Clearly "the only begotten of God" as "one with the eternal Father—one in nature, in character, in purpose—" is fully God. Arianism is a dangerous error.]

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II. CHRIST'S HUMANITY Human Nature After the Fall View

In 1888, E. J. Waggoner put forth not only a view on the full deity of Christ, but also a view on the humanity of Christ. While maintaining that Christ "knew no sin," "did no sin," Waggoner believed that Christ "assumed . . . all the weaknesses and sinful tendencies to which fallen human nature is subject." That is, Waggoner believed Christ had both the infirmities and the propensities and passions of fallen sinful flesh. We have already read that "the Word was made flesh," and now we will read what Paul says concerning the nature of that flesh: "For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh; that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." Rom. 8:3, 4. A little thought will be sufficient to show anybody that if Christ took upon Himself the likeness of man, in order that He might redeem man, it must have been sinful man that He was made like, for it is sinful man that He came to redeem. Death could have no power over a sinless man, as Adam was in Eden; and it could not have had any power over Christ, if the Lord had not laid on Him the iniquity of us all. Moreover, the fact that Christ took upon Himself the flesh, not of a sinless being, but of sinful man, that is, that the flesh which He assumed had all the weaknesses and sinful tendencies to which fallen

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human nature is subject, is shown by the statement that He "was made of the seed of David according to the flesh." David had all the passions of human nature. He says of himself, "Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me." Ps. 51:5.30 Waggoner appealed to Hebrews to further his point. The following statement in the book of Hebrews is very clear on this point.— "For verily He took not on Him the nature of angels; but He took on Him the seed of Abraham. ["For verily not of angels doth He take hold, but He taketh hold of the seed of Abraham." Revised Version.] Wherefore in all things it behooved Him to be made like unto His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. For in that He Himself hath suffered being tempted, He is able to succor them that are tempted." Heb. 2:16-18. If He was made in all things like unto His brethren, then He must have suffered all the infirmities, and been subject to all the temptations, of His brethren.31 Waggoner's reason for believing that Christ should have had sinful propensities and passions, while not sinning, is so that He could be tempted in all points as we are, within and without, so that He can effectually aid us in overcoming inbred sin. Waggoner wanted a Saviour that is near and that is not far off. A. T. Jones stated the position more forcefully.

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If He were not of the same flesh as are those whom He came to redeem, then there is no sort of use of His being made flesh at all. More than this: Since the only flesh that there is in this wide world which He came to redeem, is just the poor, sinful, lost, human flesh that all mankind have, if this is not the flesh that He was made, then He never really came to the world which needs to be redeemed. For if He came in a human nature different from that which human nature in this world actually is, then, even though He were in the world, yet, for any practical purpose in reaching man and helping him, He was as far from him as if He had never come: for, in that case, in His human nature He was just as far from man and just as much of another world as if He had never come into this world at all.32 What did Ellen White say? Did she believe Christ took a sinful nature? Was He nigh rather than far away? Did she believe Christ had tendencies and propensities to evil as well as infirmities? Did He share our passions? Letters have been coming in to me, affirming that Christ could not have had the same nature as man, for if He had, He would have fallen under similar temptations. If He did not have man's nature, He could not be our example. If He was not a partaker of our nature, He could not have been tempted as man has been. If it were not possible for Him to yield to temptation, He could not be our helper. It was a solemn reality that Christ came to fight the battles as man, in man's behalf. His temptation and victory tell us that humanity must copy the Pattern; man must become a partaker of the divine nature. . . . Men may have a power to resist evil—a power that neither earth, nor death, nor hell can master; a power that will place them where they may overcome

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as Christ overcame (morning talk, January 29, 1890).33 Clad in the vestments of humanity, the Son of God came down to the level of those he wished to save. In him was no guile or sinfulness; he was ever pure and undefiled; yet he took upon him our sinful nature.34 On Sabbath afternoon, many hearts were touched, and many souls were fed on the bread that cometh down from heaven. . . . The Lord came very near and convicted souls of their great need of his grace and love. We felt the necessity of presenting Christ as a Saviour who was not afar off, but nigh at hand.35 He took "the nature but not the sinfulness of man."36 He took "man's nature in its fallen condition," but "Christ did not in the least participate in its sin. . . . We should have no misgivings in regard to the perfect sinlessness of the human nature of Christ."37 He is a brother in our infirmities, but not in possessing like passions. As the sinless One, His nature recoiled from evil. He endured struggles and torture of soul in a world of sin.38 In "identifying Himself with our needs, our weaknesses, and our feelings, . . . He was a mighty petitioner, not possessing the passions of our human, fallen natures, but compassed with like infirmities, tempted in all points even as we are."39 Be careful, exceedingly careful as to how you dwell upon the human nature of Christ. Do not set

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Him before the people as a man with the propensities of sin. He is the second Adam. The first Adam was created a pure, sinless being, without a taint of sin upon him; he was in the image of God. He could fall, and he did fall through transgressing. Because of sin his posterity was born with inherent propensities of disobedience. But Jesus Christ was the only begotten Son of God. He took upon Himself human nature, and was tempted in all points as human nature is tempted. He could have sinned; He could have fallen, but not for one moment was there in Him an evil propensity. He was assailed with temptations in the wilderness, as Adam was assailed with temptations in Eden. Avoid every question in relation to the humanity of Christ which is liable to be misunderstood. Truth lies close to the track of presumption. In treating upon the humanity of Christ, you need to guard strenuously every assertion, lest your words be taken to mean more than they imply, and thus you lose or dim the clear perceptions of His humanity as combined with divinity. His birth was a miracle of God; . . . "That holy thing which shall be born of thee [Mary] shall be called the Son of God." . . . Never, in any way, leave the slightest impression upon human minds that a taint of, or inclination to, corruption rested upon Christ, or that He in any way yielded to corruption. He was tempted in all points like as man is tempted, yet He is called "that holy thing." It is a mystery that is left unexplained to mortals that Christ could be tempted in all points like as we are, and yet be without sin. The incarnation of Christ has ever been, and will ever remain, a mystery. That which is revealed, is for us and for our children, but let every human being be warned from the ground of making Christ altogether human, such an one as ourselves; for it cannot be.40

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Ellen White was clear: Jesus did not possess tendencies or propensities to evil. His was a perfectly sinless human nature. Yet she says that He partook of our sinful nature. How could that be? He was a brother in our infirmities, but not in our passions. Perhaps human flesh subject to infirmities [such as hunger, thirst, weariness, fatigue, and susceptibility to death] is correctly called sinful flesh or sinful nature even without sinful propensities, inasmuch as that kind of flesh resulted from the sin of Adam and his descendants. There never would have been such weak flesh had it not been for Adam's sin. Jesus partook of this weak flesh, but did not partake of our propensities to sin or our passions. Thus Jones and Waggoner were partially in error in their views. Christ did not possess inclinations to evil and sinful passions. These were not necessary for Christ to be tempted in all points such as we are, or to be a Saviour nigh unto us and not afar off. All Jesus needed for that was weak human nature with our infirmities. How could Jones and Waggoner believe Christ could possess propensities to sin and like passions and still be sinless? Jones and Waggoner believed all sin was sinning, the doing of transgressions of the law. In their view, as long as Christ did not act upon His evil inclinations, He did no sin, He was sinless. But it has long been a Christian view that inclinations to sin are themselves sin, the root of sin, Capital SIN, original sin [though there were several errors historically associated with the term original sin, which therefore ought to be avoided]. Paul called iniquity "fruit." Romans 6:19-21. People think as long as they can keep all leaves and fruit picked off an evil tree they are all right. But John the Baptist had a better idea. "And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: every tree therefore which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire." Luke 3:9. The root of all sins is just this inherited and cultivated propensities to evil. This we have. This Jesus could not Himself have without being a real sinner in need of

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a Saviour. This He could not have and be the Lamb of God without spot and blemish to atone for the sins of the world. Jones and Waggoner thought it was necessary for Jesus to have hereditary propensities to sin and passions that He may help us to conquer sin in our lives. But they somehow missed the point. We do not need One with sinful propensities to come into our life in order that we may overcome. We need One with a divine nature Who always conquers temptations to come into our souls to vanquish sin in us. It is the divine nature we need, not a sinful human nature. We have one of those already. Notice that Ellen White agreed with Jones and Waggoner as much as possible and disagreed with them as little as possible. Jones and Waggoner were bringing the truth of righteousness by faith and a revival and reformation. If that revival were successful, it would bring the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, Who would sweep away all error from the believers and shed great light. Ellen White seemed to sense it was more important to have an awakening than to be at first technically correct on every point of doctrine. Only when serious false statements were made did she correct them with her clearer light.

Human Nature Before the Fall View In spite of Ellen White's correcting and clarifying statements on the humanity of Christ, many Adventist leaders still clung to the errors of Jones and Waggoner. There remained erroneous statements in print, even in Bible Readings for the Home. Many of the most outspoken proponents of the 1888 Christ Our Righteousness Message today still cherish and propagate Jones and Waggoner's error that Christ had tendencies and propensities to evil and sinful passions, as well as innocent infirmities of the flesh. This serious error did not go unnoticed by the world. Walter Martin and Dr. Barnhouse from Eternity Magazine

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challenged our church leaders with these statements on the nature of Christ while in the flesh in their contacts with church leaders in the 1950s. This issue was one of the main sticking points standing in the way of the Seventh-day Adventist Church being recognized as being an evangelical Christian church. Adventist church leaders did a hasty reappraisal of Ellen White's statements regarding the sinless human nature of Christ [most already quoted above]. They then wrote in Questions on Doctrines that "He [Christ] was the second Adam, coming in the "likeness" of sinful human flesh (Rom. 8:3), but without a taint of its sinful propensities and passions." "In both His natures, the divine, and the human, He was perfect; He was sinless."41 What did they mean perfect? Christ's infirmities of the flesh [hunger, thirst, weariness, fatigue, pain, and susceptibility to death] were serious imperfections compared to the Adamic flesh. Perhaps the implications of the above quote were intentional. Note the following: Notice the words used to express the thought, both in Isaiah 53 and Matthew 8. He bore our griefs, our sorrows, our infirmities, our sicknesses. The original words are also translated pains, diseases, and weaknesses. . . . It could hardly be construed, however, from the record of ether Isaiah or Matthew, that Jesus was diseased or that He experienced the frailties to which our fallen human nature is heir. But He did bear all this. Could it not be that He bore this vicariously also, just as He bore the sins of the whole world? These weaknesses, frailties, infirmities, failings are things which we, with our sinful, fallen natures, have to bear. To us they are natural, inherent, but when He bore them, He took them not as something innately His, but He bore them as our substitute. He bore them in His perfect, sinless nature. Again we

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remark, Christ bore all this vicariously, just as vicariously He bore the iniquities of us all.42 If Christ bore all of our infirmities vicariously and had none of His own inherently and had no propensities to sin, then Christ was just as Adam before the fall. Thus the title of this section. The author has noticed, however, that when Questions on Doctrines quoted some of Ellen White's statements on Christ's sinless nature, it left out those adjoining portions that dealt with Christ's infirmities. The book did not do justice to Christ's infirmities. M. L. Andreasen believed in the traditional Jones and Waggoner half erroneous, but half correct view of the humanity of Christ. He believed Christ had both infirmities and propensities and inherited passions. Thus the Questions on Doctrine position was too much of a shock for him. He wrote a protest in his Letters to the Churches that is still being read and reprinted. He especially reacted to the Questions on Doctrine statement that Christ was "exempt from the inherited passions and pollutions that corrupt the natural descendants of Adam."43 To disprove this view, he cited the following statements from Ellen White: God permitted His son to come, a helpless babe, subject to the weakness of humanity. He permitted Him to meet life's perils in common with every human soul, to fight the battle as every child of humanity must fight it, at the risk of failure and eternal loss.44 Many claim that it was impossible for Christ to be overcome by temptation. Then He could not have been placed in Adam's position. . . our Savior took humanity with all its liabilities. He took the nature of man with the possibility of yielding to temptation.45

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The temptations to which Christ was subject were a terrible reality. As a free agent he was placed on probation with liberty to yield to Satan's temptations and work at cross purposes with God. If this were not so, if it had not been possible for Him to fall, He could not have been tempted in all points as the human family is tempted.46 When Adam was assailed by the tempter, none of the effects of sin was upon him. He stood in the strength of perfect manhood, possessing the full vigor of mind and body. . . . It was not thus with Jesus when He entered the wilderness to cope with Satan. For four thousand years the race had been decreasing in physical strength, in mental power, in moral worth; and Christ took upon Him the infirmities of degenerate humanity. Only thus could He rescue man from the lowest depth of his degradation.47 Christ "vanquished Satan in the same nature over which Satan obtained the victory. The enemy was overcome by Christ in His human nature. The power of the Savior's Godhead was hidden. He overcame in human nature relying upon God for power. This is the privilege of all."48 Letters have been coming in to me, affirming that Christ could not have had the same nature as man, for if He had, He would have fallen under similar temptations. If He did not have man's nature, He could not be our example. If He was not a partaker of our nature, He could not have been tempted as man has been. If it were not possible for Him to yield to temptations, He could not be our helper. It was a solemn reality that Christ came to fight the battle as man, in man's behalf. His temptation and victory tell

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us that humanity must copy the Pattern; men must become a partaker of the divine nature.49 Christ bore the sins and infirmities of the race as they existed when He came to the earth to help man.... He took human nature, and bore the infirmities of the degenerate race.50 Not one of the above quotations proves that Christ had sinful propensities or sinful inherited passions, as Andreasen wanted to prove. The above quotations do show, however, that Jesus had inherited infirmities of the flesh, which were necessary that He could be tempted in all points such as we are, but without sin. This is in harmony with our earlier conclusions on the humanity of Christ. In one of his later Letters to the Churches, Andreasen corrected himself on inherited passions of Christ, but pointed out the remaining error in Questions on Doctrine regarding the use of the word exempt. There are two statements in the Testimonies which are referred to as proving that Christ was exempt from inherited passions. The first says that Christ "is our example in all things. He is a brother in our infirmities, but not in possessing like passions." Testimonies, V. 2, p. 202. The other states, "He was a mighty petitioner, not possessing the passions of our human, fallen natures, but compassed with like infirmities, tempted in all points even as we are." Ibid. p. 509. Both of these statements mention passion, neither mentions pollutions. The word exempt is not found. Does Sr. White's statement that Christ did not have or possess passions mean that He was exempt from them? No, for not to have passions is not equivalent to being exempt from them. They are two entirely different concepts. Exempt is defined "to

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free or excuse from some burdensome obligation; to take out, deliver, set free as from a rule which others must observe, which binds others; to be immune from." Was Christ excused from "a rule which others must observe, which binds others?" No.51 M. L. Andreasen's observation on exempt is well taken. While Christ did not have our fallen passions, He was not exempt from them. He could have fallen, then He would have possessed them. He was not exempt from falling, as previous statements from the Spirit of Prophecy show. If Christ could not have the possibility of falling, He could not be our Savior. His incarnation would have been a mere sham. The Question on Doctrine's use of "exempt" was a poor choice of words and erroneous doctrine. Another observation of M. L. Andreasen will introduce our next section in this chapter. M. L. Andreasen questioned the outworking of the great law of heredity in the case of Jesus Christ. Every child that is born into this world, inherits varying traits from his ancestors. Did Christ likewise inherit such traits? Or was He exempt? Here is the answer: "Like every child of Adam He accepted the results of the working of the great law of heredity." Desire of Ages, p. 48. "What these results were is shown in the history of His earthly ancestors." Ibid. Some of these ancestors were good people; some were not so good; some were bad; some were very bad. There were thieves, murderers, adulterers, deceivers among them. He had the same ancestors that all of us have. "He came with such a heredity to share our sorrows and temptations." Ibid. "Jesus accepted humanity when the race had been weakened by four thousand years of sin." Ibid.

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Of course M. L. Andreasen would like the above statements to prove that Christ had sinful propensities and passions after all, inherited from his ancestors. But such cannot be the case. It would contradict earlier texts and quotations from Ellen White. But that leaves us with a mystery. How could Christ accept the outworking of the great law of heredity from his human ancestors and not receive their corrupt propensities and passions? Christ's Forgotten Chromosomes It is generally thought that Christ inherited his divinity from the Holy Spirit and his humanity from Mary. But that is not entirely the case. God did not father Christ's divinity at the incarnation of the Son of God. God the Son had been a distinct Personality perhaps trillions of years before the creation of the Universe since His cloning from and by the Everlasting Father, and from eternity as substance and Spirit of the Everlasting Father. In the incarnation, the Spirit of the Son of God came and indwelt and combined with the cell that grew to be Jesus Christ. This is after the original form of the Son of God was consumed "in a most painful process" to make way for the incarnation of the Spirit of the Son of God in the baby Jesus. While the Son of God was capable of preparing the body for His indwelling, Scripture indicates that He deferred that work to His Father: "a body hast thou prepared me." Hebrews 10:5. This made Christ the Son of God in a new sense.52 God the Father had a part in fathering the humanity of Christ. How is that? "When Jesus took human nature, and became in fashion as a man, He possessed all the human organism."53 That means the cells in His body had 23 pairs of chromosomes, or 46 chromosomes, as all normal human beings have. Only 23 of those chromosomes, not 46, could Christ inherit from His mother Mary, in accordance with the outworking of the great law of heredity. The other 23 chromosomes had to be

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supplied by God the Father playing the part of a human father in a miracle—a fathering of a new Man, the second Adam. God used chromosomes from His own body. You can be assured that God's 23 chromosomes were as perfect as the first Adam's 46 chromosomes. Christ inherited 23 pure, holy, healthy, powerful chromosomes from His Father. These are Christ's forgotten chromosomes. They are not Mary's 23 defective chromosomes from Christ's human ancestors, and they are not Christ's indwelling Deity from the Spirit of the Son of God. These are the genes and chromosomes that scores of theologians have not considered in wrestling with the Bible texts and Spirit of Prophecy statements on Christ's humanity. To be sure, if all of Christ's humanity came from Mary's contribution of 23 chromosomes, then Christ would have had the propensities of his ancestors to lie, deceive, murder, and commit adultery. But Christ received 23 pure and holy chromosomes to counterbalance the 23 defective chromosomes and give Christ a unique inheritance. Each of the 23 defective chromosomes were matched with a perfect chromosome. From the current state of biological science, it is impossible to predict, gene for gene, which gene would be dominant and which gene recessive, the good gene or the bad gene. But we can ascertain from the Bible record and the Spirit of Prophecy just what did result from those perfect-imperfect chromosome pairs in the case of Christ. Regarding disease: Jesus inherited disease infirmities and propensities from Mary. But Jesus was a healthy, robust individual. The perfect gene to be healthy must have been dominant over the gene to be sick. Christ's divinity combined with this robust human health to make Jesus immune from disease (while still carrying the recessive gene to be sick). Jesus could touch lepers without becoming ill. Instead disease fled from His presence. But other infirmities of the flesh [hunger, thirst, weariness, pain, susceptibility to death] Christ suffered. His

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perfect gene did not incline Him thus. But his imperfect gene did. It appears that the imperfect gene for these kinds of infirmities was dominant. The imperfect genes from Mary gave Jesus an inclination and propensity to do evil and sinful passions. But Jesus perfect genes inclined Jesus to have a perfect hatred for every sin and a love for God and His law. Which gene was dominant here? From the above inspired testimony we know that His good genes were dominant in the matter of sin. He still had in Him recessive genes to do evil. Thus He could be tempted in every point. But His good genes were dominant. Interestingly enough, sin is apparently a recessive gene. Had Adam not fallen, but only Eve fell, and they had children, their offspring would have been like Christ. Adam's good genes would have been dominant over Eve's bad genes in the matters of propensity to evil. After a period of testing, the controversy with Satan could have been terminated quickly with merely a Physician to heal the infirmities with no need to have a Savior to forgive human sins. It was only because both Adam and Eve sinned that the human race was doomed to sin, because both then had the recessive sin gene, and there was no other gene available in the gene pool until the incarnation of Christ. What the human race needed was a new father. And this they now have in God the Father.

Current SDA Doctrine on Christ's Humanity . . . Though made in the form or likeness of sinful flesh, He was sinless and His sinlessness is beyond question. He was the second Adam. The Bible draws a parallel between Adam and Christ, calling Adam the "first man" and Christ the "last Adam" or second Man" (1 Cor. 15:45, 47). But Adam had the advantage over Christ. At the Fall he lived in

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paradise. He had a perfect humanity possessing full vigor of body and mind. Not so with Jesus. When He took on human nature the race had already deteriorated through 4,000 years of sin on a sin-cursed planet. So that He could save those in the utter depths of degradation, Christ took a human nature that, compared with Adam's unfallen nature, had decreased in physical and mental strength—though He did so without sinning. When Christ took the human nature that bore the consequences of sin, He became subject to the infirmities and weakness that all experience. His human nature was "beset by weakness" or "compassed with infirmity" (Heb. 5:2; 5:2, KJV; Matt. 8:17; Isa. 53:4). He sensed His weakness. He had to offer "prayers and supplications, with vehement cries and tears to Him who was able to save Him from death" (Heb. 5:7), thus identifying Himself with the needs and weaknesses so common to humanity. Thus "Christ's humanity was not the Adamic humanity, that is, the humanity of Adam before the fall; nor fallen humanity, that is, in every respect the humanity of Adam after the fall. It was not the Adamic, because it had the innocent infirmities of the fallen. It was not the fallen, because it had never descended into moral impurity. It was, therefore, most literally our humanity, but without sin." [Henry Melvill, in Sermons by Henry Melvill, B.D., ed., C. P. McIlvaine (New York, N.Y.: Stanford & Swords, 1844), p. 47. By "innocent infirmities" he meant hunger, pain, sorrow, etc. He called this view of the pre- and post-Fall nature of Christ "the orthodox doctrine" (ibid.).]54

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Praise the Lord! This is the correct view on the humanity of Christ as we have discovered in our study in this chapter. Again we see that Jesus is a good General. In spite of and through all our mistakes and counterarguments, Christ is patiently and silently leading His remnant people into the unity of the faith. The testimony of none is lost. Christ uses the good parts to weave a fabric of truth and overthrow error. Even partial incorrect stands by His people He turns into logical stepping stones in the path of holiness. We should be thrilled to be a part of His people and His building. We should rally around Jesus as He quickly brings us into unity in these closing hours. We should not fear to state our honest opinion, or to be different from the rest. Jesus will make our testimony and contribution last forever, even if we die. Christ will not permit our struggles for truth to be in vain. ___________________ 1

LeRoy Edwin Froom, Movement of Destiny (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1971), pp. 149-151. 2

Webster's II New Riverside Desk Dictionary, Home and Office Edition (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, Company, 1988). 3

Movement of Destiny, op. cit., p. 35.

4

Ibid., pp. 117, 118.

5

Ibid., pp. 152-157

6

Ibid., p. 152f.

7

Ibid., p. 153.

8

Ibid.

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Ibid.

10

Ibid., p. 154.

11

Ibid.

12

Ibid.

13

Ibid., pp. 152, 153.

14

Ibid., pp. 157-159.

15


Ibid.

17

Ibid., pp. 159, 160f.

18

Ibid., pp. 168, 169.

19

Ibid., p. 169.

20

Ibid.

21


22

E. J. Waggoner, Christ and His Righteousness (Nashville: Southern Publishing Association, 1972), pp. 8, 9. 23

Ibid., p. 9.

24

Ibid., pp. 11, 12.

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264 25

L. E. Froom, op. cit., p. 194.

26

Ellen G. White, The Ministry of Healing, p. 415.

27


28

Ibid., p. 305.

29

Ibid., p. 34.

30

Christ and His Righteousness, op. cit., pp. 26, 27.

31

Ibid., p. 27.

32

A. T. Jones, The Consecrated Way, p. 35, as quoted by Robert J. Wieland, The 1888 Message, An Introduction (Washing-ton, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1980), p. 56. 33

Ellen G. White, Selected Messages, Book One, pp. 408, 409. 34

Ellen G. White, Review and Herald, December 15, 1896. 35

Ibid., March 5, 1889.

36

Ellen G. White, Signs of the Times, May 29, 1901.

37



202. 39

Ibid., pp. 508, 509.

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40

Ellen G. White, S.D.A. Bible Commentary, Vol. 5, pp. 1128, 1129. 41

Seventh-day Adventists Answer Questions on Doctrine (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1957), pp. 52, 54. 42

Ibid., pp. 58-60.

43

Ibid., p. 383.

44


45

Ibid., p. 117.

46

Ellen G. White, The Youth's Instructor, October 26, 1899. 47


48

Ellen G. White, The Youth's Instructor, April 25, 1901. 49

Ellen G. White, Review and Herald, February 18, 1890. 50

Ellen G. White, The Temptations of Christ, pp. 30, 31.

51

M. L. Andreasen, Letters to the Churches (Payson, Arizona: Leaves of Autumn Books, 1991), pp. 77, 78. 52


53


Seventh-day Adventists Believe . . . 27, pp. 46, 47, 57.

Chapter 16 STRUGGLES OVER THE SEALING

I. WHO SHALL BE ABLE TO STAND? But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner's fire, and like fuller's soap. . . . Malachi 3:2. The sinners in Zion are afraid: fearfulness hath surprised the hypocrites. Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? Who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings? Isaiah 33:14. Who will be able to stand when Jesus shall come in the clouds of heaven? When the Majesty of heaven is seen approaching the earth in blazing glory, not only the wicked, but the righteous are made to tremble. There is an awful moment of wondering who shall be able to stand. Before His presence "all faces are turned into paleness;" upon the rejecters of God's mercy falls the terror of eternal despair. "The heart melteth, and the knees smite together, . . . and the faces of them all gather blackness." Jeremiah 30:6; Nahum 2:10. The righteous cry with trembling: "Who shall be able to stand?" The angels' song is hushed, and there is a period of awful silence. Then the voice of Jesus is heard, saying: "My grace is sufficient for you." The faces of the righteous are lighted up, and joy fills every heart. And the angels strike a note higher and sing again as they draw still nearer to the earth.1 While even the righteous will tremble, and ask the agonizing question, "Who shall be able to stand?", those who have stood during a time of trouble without an intercessor 266

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will be given grace to stand before the Lord at His appearing. But who will be able to stand without an intercessor during the time of trouble? Should one stain of sin and guilt rest upon them at this time, their cases would be hopeless. There would be no intercessor to plead in their behalf and take care of their sins. Now, while our great High Priest is making the atonement for us, we should seek to become perfect in Christ. Not even by a thought could our Saviour be brought to yield to the power of temptation. . . . Satan could find nothing in the Son of God that would enable him to gain the victory. He had kept His Father's commandments, and there was no sin in Him that Satan could use to his advantage. This is the condition in which those must be found who shall stand in the time of trouble.2 The Bible plainly teaches that God will have a perfect people ready for Him when Christ comes to earth to receive them to Himself. This truth is taught in a number of texts. Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen. Jude 24, 25. And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven. And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled

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In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight. . . . Colossians 1:20-22. And I heard the number of them which were sealed: and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel. . . . And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they? And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Revelation 7:4, 13, 14. And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on mount Sion, and with him an hundred and forty and four thousand, having his Father's name written in their foreheads. . . . These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed from among men, being the first fruits unto God and to the Lamb. And in their mouth was found no guile: for they are without fault before the throne of God. Revelation 14:1, 4, 5.

A Pillar of Adventism The absolute character perfection of those who stand during the time of trouble without a mediator has long been a pillar of Adventism. Our great pioneers believed and taught this doctrine.

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James White The mass of people think that if a person is prepared to die, he is prepared for the coming of the Lord. But they do not consider the difference between dying and standing alive to meet the Lord at His appearing. It is one thing to die in the Lord, to yield our spirits to Him while He is pleading for us before the Father's throne, and quite a different thing to stand in the time of trouble after Jesus has ceased to plead in man's behalf, after His priesthood is closed, and He is preparing to come to redeem His own, and take vengeance on His foes. They who realize these things will bless heaven that means have been devised in the mercy of God for the perfection of the saints.3 S. N. Haskell We must not content ourselves by doing just as our fathers did, who passed away before the judgment opened in the courts of heaven. God requires special service of His people now. They are to live while their cases are being decided in heaven, and Satan brings to bear upon the last generation, which are weaker physically than any previous generation, all the wisdom he has gained in a six thousand year's warfare. Those who, in the investigative judgment, are accounted worthy, will live for a time without a Mediator. Their experience will be different from that of any other company that has ever lived upon the earth. There are many reasons why God in His infinite mercy has enjoined special duties upon the last generation, that they might be more strongly fortified against the attacks of the enemy, and not be overthrown by his devices.4

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. . . in the last days under the Third Angel's Message, a peculiar people will be developed, whose characteristics will be righteousness and holiness, such a people, indeed, as have never been since the world began.5 Ellen G. White The righteous [in the time of trouble] will not cease their earnest agonizing cries for deliverance. They cannot bring to mind any particular sins, but in their whole life they can see but little good. Their sins had gone beforehand to judgment, and pardon had been written. Their sins had been borne away into the land of forgetfulness, and they could not bring them to remembrance.6 But while they have a deep sense of their unworthiness, they have no concealed wrongs to reveal. Their sins have gone beforehand to judgment, and have been blotted out, and they cannot bring them to remembrance.7 The late M. L. Andreasen also taught the absolute character perfection of the people of God who will in the time of trouble stand before God without a Mediator. The final demonstration of what the gospel can do in and for humanity is still in the future. . . . When it has been accomplished, the end will come. . . . The demonstration which God intends to make with the last generation of earth means much, both to the people and to God. . . . God is ready for the challenge. He has bided His time. The supreme exhibition has been reserved until the final contest.

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Out of the last generation God will select His chosen ones. . . . In the last generation God gives the final demonstration that men can keep the law of God and that they can live without sinning. God leaves nothing undone to make the demonstration complete. The only limitation put upon Satan is that he may not kill the saints of God. He may tempt them, he may harass and threaten them; and he does his best. But he fails. He cannot make them sin. They stand the test, and God puts His seal upon them. Through the last generation of saints God stands finally vindicated. Through them He defeats Satan and wins His case. They form a vital part of the plan of God. . . . The matter of greatest importance in the universe is not the salvation of men, important as that may seem. The most important thing is the clearing of God's name from the false accusations made by Satan. The controversy is drawing to a close. God is preparing His people for the last great conflict. Satan is also getting ready. The issue is before us and will be decided in the lives of God's people. God is depending upon us as He did upon Job. Is His confidence well placed? . . . All this is closely connected with the work of the Day of Atonement. On that day the people of Israel, having confessed their sins, were completely cleansed. They had already been forgiven; now sin was separated from them. They were holy and without blame. The camp of Israel was clean.8 He [Paul] does not claim absolute perfection, which is equivalent to holiness, but he does claim relative perfection. . . . Will any ever attain to the perfection to which Paul said he had not attained? We should be disappointed if Paul had claimed

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absolute perfection; for no man who attains to this will ever claim it, or perhaps know it. God knows, but man himself will make no such claim. But will any ever reach that stage? We believe so. Read the description of the 144,000 in Revelation 14:4, 5 . . . . They will reflect the image of God fully.9 We see that it has been a pillar of Adventism that the righteous who live in the time of trouble without an intercessor will not have a trace or stain of sin in them. They will be morally perfect. They will stand faultless and unreproveable before the throne of God.

A Pillar of Protestantism At first glance, this pillar of Adventism seems to contradict a long-standing pillar of Protestantism. A pillar of Protestantism is that the sinful nature remains in the born again Christian. So long as Satan reigns we shall have our besetting sins to overcome. We may be pardoned, or justified. We may be counted in God's sight as if we had never fallen. But we will have the sinful nature in us so long as Satan reigns, so long as life shall last. Many of the Protestant reformers, and Ellen White herself, taught this truth. And as this position, there is no sin in a believer, nor carnal mind, no bent to backsliding, is thus contrary to the word of God, so it is to the experience of his children. These continually feel a heart bent to backsliding, a natural tendency to evil, a proneness to depart from God, and cleave to the things of earth. They are daily sensible of sin remaining in the heart, pride, self-will, unbelief; and of sin cleaving to all they speak or do, even their best actions and holiest duties. Yet at the same time they "know that they are

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of God"; they cannot doubt it for a moment. They feel his Spirit clearly "witnessing with their spirit, that they are the children of God." They "rejoice in God through Christ Jesus, by whom they have now received the atonement. So that they are equally assured, that sin is in them, and that "Christ is in them the hope of glory."10 Christ indeed cannot reign where sin reigns; neither will He dwell where sin is allowed, But He is and dwells in the heart of every believer who is fighting against all sin; although it be not yet purified, according to the purification of the sanctuary.11 That believers are delivered from the guilt and power of sin we allow; that they are delivered from the being of it we deny.12 Are you in Christ? Not if you do not acknowledge yourselves erring, helpless, condemned sinners.13 There are those who have known the pardoning love of Christ and who really desire to be children of God, yet they realize that their character is imperfect, their life faulty, and they are ready to doubt whether their hearts have been renewed by the Holy Spirit. To such I would say, Do not draw back in despair. We shall often have to bow down and weep at the feet of Jesus because of our shortcomings and mistakes, but we are not to be discouraged. . . . The closer you come to Jesus, the more faulty you will appear in your own eyes; for your vision will be clearer, and your imperfections will be seen in broad and distinct contrast to His perfect nature. This is evidence that Satan's delusions have lost their power;

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that the vivifying influence of the Spirit of God is arousing you. No deep-seated love for Jesus can dwell in the heart that does not realize its own sinfulness. The soul that is transformed by the grace of Christ will admire His divine character, but if we do not see our own moral deformity, it is unmistakable evidence that we have not had a view of the beauty and excellence of Christ.14 A constant battle must be kept up with the selfishness and corruption of the human heart.15 From the cross to the crown there is earnest work to be done. There is wrestling with inbred sin; there is warfare against outward wrong. (Italics 16 supplied.) Notice how Ellen White states that all our prayers, praise, and penitence which ascend to God are so corrupted by the channels of humanity that they can never be of value with God unless purified with Jesus' blood. This is in consequence of the sinful nature remaining in the true believer. The religious services, the prayers, the praise, the penitent confession of sin ascend from true believers as incense to the heavenly sanctuary, but passing through the corrupt channels of humanity, they are so defiled that unless purified by blood, they can never be of value with God. They ascend not in spotless purity, and unless the Intercessor, who is at God's right hand, presents and purifies all by His righteousness, it is not acceptable to God. All incense from earthly tabernacles must be moist with the cleansing drops of the blood of Christ. He holds before the Father the censer of His own merits, in

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which there is no taint of earthly corruption. He gathers into this censer the prayers, the praise, and the confessions of His people, and with these He puts His own spotless righteousness. Then, perfumed with the merits of Christ's propitiation, the incense comes up before God wholly and entirely acceptable. Then gracious answers are returned. (Italics added.)17 Martin Luther spoke the same truth when he declared that every good work of the believer was sin apart from God's mercy and forgiveness. Notice how this understanding leads to the paradoxical truth that the saints are righteous and impure at one and the same time. Every good work of the saints while pilgrims in this world is sin. . . . Every good work is sin. . . . I have taught that our good works are of such a kind as cannot bear the judgment of God. . . . it therefore follows that our good works are not good unless His mercy is reigning over us and offering forgiveness. . . . these people [the saints] are righteous yet impure at one and the same time. And thus he shows that no one ought to rely on this righteousness but only on the mercy of God. . . . The principle stands firm, I repeat, that a good work in itself is unclean if the covering cloud of grace is removed, and only if God's forgiving mercy is there, may it be considered pure, worthy of praise and honour. . . . On this account God has been wondrously mindful of us. He assures us of two facts. First, He teaches us that good works are plain to see. "The fruits of the Spirit are love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness" (Galatians 5:22); and "by their fruits ye shall know them." (Matthew 7:20). Secondly, He makes us absolutely certain that these good works are not without taint of sin in case we put our trust in them, so that we are able without doubt or

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mistake to confess that, in every good work we do we are sinners and men who mercy found. . . . He has not freed us from death yet, not yet from sin, but He will free us in the end, for we have still to die and still to labour in sin. But He has freed us from the law of sin and death, that is from the reign and tyranny of sin and death. As a result sin is still present but it has lost its power to tyrannize and can do nothing. . . . If you take mercy away from the faithful they are sinners, and really have genuine sin, but in that they believe and live under the reign of mercy, and sin has been condemned in them and is being continuously put to death in them, it is on those grounds not imputed to them. . . There is sin even after remission, but it is not imputed. . . . Now we believe that the remission of all sins has been accomplished, and we have no doubt about it at all. But we go about our daily task in the expectation even yet of the abolition of all sin and freedom from it in every way. And so I declare, and this is my teaching, so that every man should know that in every good work he does there is as much sin as he has in him not yet cast out.... This I teach lest he boast to God of the purity that is in him rather than glory in the grace and gift of God. . . . I merely ask whether the sophists dare admit that there is any man who could say of one single work of his "This is without sin," even in the sense in which they speak of sin. For my part I cannot believe that even they or any other man would have the audacity to say this of his good work.18 Ellen White's writings support this idea that the believers are righteous and impure at the same time. Notice these statements:

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It was possible for Adam, before the fall, to form a righteous character by obedience to God's law. But he failed to do this, and because of his sin our natures are fallen and we cannot make ourselves righteous. Since we are sinful, unholy, we cannot perfectly obey the holy law. We have no righteousness of our own with which to meet the claims of the law of God. But Christ has made a way of escape for us. He lived on earth amid trials and temptations such as we have to meet. He lived a sinless life. He died for us, and now He offers to take our sins and give us His righteousness. If you give yourself to Him, and accept Him as your Savior, then, sinful as your life may have been, for His sake you are accounted righteous. Christ's character stands in place of your character, and you are accepted before God just as if you had not sinned. (Italics supplied.)19 This justification—this substitution of Christ's righteousness for our righteousness—this being accepted of God as though we had never sinned, does not remove from us our sinful nature as we can see from statements we have before quoted. We must still wrestle with "inbred sin."20 "Men who have lived the nearest to God, men who would sacrifice life itself rather than knowingly commit a wrong act, men who God had honored with divine light and power, have confessed the sinfulness of their nature. They have put no confidence in the flesh, have claimed no righteousness of their own, but have trusted wholly to the righteousness of Christ."21 Let us notice the context of this last statement more carefully: Sanctification is not the work of a moment, an hour, a day, but of a lifetime. It is not gained by a happy flight of feeling, but is the result of constantly dying to sin, and constantly living for Christ. Wrongs cannot be righted nor reformations wrought in the

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character by feeble intermittent efforts. It is only by long, persevering effort, sore discipline, and stern conflict, that we shall overcome. We know not one day how strong will be our conflict the next. So long as Satan reigns, we shall have self to subdue, besetting sins to overcome; so long as life shall last, there will be no stopping place, no point which we can reach and say, I have fully attained. Sanctification is the result of lifelong obedience. . . . The nearer we come to Jesus, and the more clearly we discern the purity of His character, the more clearly shall we see the exceeding sinfulness of sin, and the less shall we feel like exalting our selves. There will be a continual reaching out of the soul after God, a continual, earnest, heartbreaking confession of sin and humbling of the heart before Him. At every advance step in our Christian experience our repentance will deepen. (Italics added.)22 Dwight L. Moody recognized the truth that the old, corrupt nature must be fought all through life, even after one is born again. When I was converted, I made this mistake: I thought the battle was already mine, the victory already won, the crown already in my grasp. I thought the old things had passed away, that all things had become new, and that my old, corrupt nature, the old life, was gone. But I found out, after serving Christ for a few months, that conversion was only like enlisting in the army—that there was a battle on hand.23 The principle that the sinful nature remains in the born again Christian, and will remain "so long as Satan reigns," "so long as life shall last," was not only believed by

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Reformers, great evangelists, and the messenger to the Remnant, Ellen White, but it is also firmly rooted in the Scriptures. Many Bible writers taught this truth. Moses ". . . cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life. . . ." Genesis 3:17. The ground illustrates the human heart. For thus saith the LORD to the men of Judah and Jerusalem, Break up your fallow ground, and sow not among thorns. Circumcise yourselves to the LORD, and take away the foreskins of your heart, ye men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem. Jeremiah 4:3, 4. Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the LORD, till he come and rain righteousness upon you. Hosea 10:12. (See also Matthew 13:3-9, 19.) The changed condition of the earth after the fall serves to illustrate the changed condition of man's heart after the fall. It was not the will of God that the sinless pair should know aught of evil. . . . But, contrary to His command, they had eaten of the forbidden tree, and now they would continue to eat of it—they would have the knowledge of evil all the days of their life. From that time the race would be afflicted by Satan's temptations.24

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Where once was written only the character of God, the knowledge of good, was now written also the character of Satan, the knowledge of evil.25 The result of the eating of the tree of knowledge of good and evil is manifest in every man's experience. There is in his nature a bent to evil, a force which, unaided, he cannot resist.26 Adam was not completely restored to God's image after He repented of his sin. Through sin his nature had become evil, and he was not able to see God's face again. He had to contend all his life with a bent to evil, just as he was required to contend with bad seeds, thorns, and weeds in the cursed earth. Solomon For there is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not. Ecclesiastes 7:20. Who can say, I have made my heart clean, I am pure from my sin? Proverbs 20:9. Job Behold, I am vile; what shall I answer thee? I will lay mine hand upon my mouth. . . . Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes. Job 40:4, 42:6. (Yet the same Job was a "perfect and upright" man. Job 1:1.) David Who can understand his errors? cleanse thou me from secret faults. Psalm 19:12.

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". . . enter not into judgment with thy servant; for in thy sight shall no man living be justified." Psalm 143:2. If thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand? Psalm 130:3. Isaiah But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags. . . . Isaiah 64:6. Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips. . . . Isaiah 6:5. (Isaiah was a holy prophet, yet he included himself among the unclean.) Daniel And whiles I was speaking, and praying, and confessing my sin. . . . Daniel 9:20. (Daniel was a blameless servant of God when he was engaged in this prayer.) And I Daniel alone saw the vision [of Christ's glory and moral excellence] . . . and there remained no strength in me: for my comeliness was turned in me into corruption. . . . Daniel 10:7, 8. Paul I am not conscious of anything against myself, and I feel blameless; but I am not vindicated and acquitted before God on that account. 1 Corinthians 4:4, Amplified Bible.

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This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief. 1 Timothy 1:15. Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. . . . Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. . . . For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: but I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind. . . . Romans 7:17, 20, 22, 23. Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. Philippians 3:12. John ". . . but if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth [Greek: keeps on and continues to cleanse] us from all sin. 1 John 1:7. James For we all often stumble and fall and offend in many things. James 3:2, Amplified Bible. Summarizing this Protestant pillar: The sinful nature remains in the born again Christian, and will remain "so long as Satan reigns," "so long as life shall last." During this time the true believer is righteous and impure at one and the same time. While this sinful nature remains, the heart is "not yet purified according to the purification of the sanctuary."27

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Luther said it: SIMUL JUSTI ET PECATORES (righteous yet impure at one and the same time).28

A Seeming Contradiction A pillar of Adventism teaches that the saints must not have a trace or stain of sin in them during the time that they have no mediator. If they did, they would be lost. There would be no Saviour to purify them. They would have to be consumed with their sins. But a pillar of Protestantism teaches that the sinful nature remains in the born again Christian, and will remain "so long as Satan reigns," "So long as life shall last." How then can God's people be perfect during the time of trouble? Notice again that the presence of a sinful nature in the saints requires Christ to continually intercede for them: The religious services, the prayers, the praise, the penitent confession of sin ascend from true believers as incense to the heavenly sanctuary, but passing through the corrupt channels of humanity, they are so defiled that unless purified by blood, they can never be of value with God. They ascend not in spotless purity, and unless the Intercessor, who is at God's right hand, presents and purifies all by His righteousness, it is not acceptable to God. All incense from earthly tabernacles must be moist with the cleansing drops of the blood of Christ. He holds before the Father the censer of His own merits, in which there is no taint of earthly corruption. He gathers into this censer the prayers, the praise, and the confessions of His people, and with these He puts His own spotless righteousness. Then, perfumed with the merits of Christ's propitiation, the incense comes up

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before God wholly and entirely acceptable. Then gracious answers are returned. (Italics added.)29 As long as the saints have a mediator, they can offer acceptable service to God, even when they have sinful natures. However, should they still have propensities to sin when they no longer have a mediator, their service would be wholly unacceptable to God. This means that the saints must be more than justified—more than accounted righteous— during the time of trouble. They must be morally perfect— without the slightest trace or stain of sin in their lives. Even their natures must be purified. The bent to sin must be completely eradicated from the believers before the second coming of Christ because there is to be no moral change in the believers at that time—only a change in the vile bodies. Only the finishing touch of immortality is conferred upon the saints when Jesus comes. We are preparing to meet Him, who, escorted by a retinue of holy angels, is to appear in the clouds of heaven to give the faithful and just the finishing touch of immortality. When He comes He is not to cleanse us of our sins, to remove from us the defects in our characters, or to cure us of the infirmities of our tempers and dispositions. If wrought for us at all, that work will all be accomplished before that time. When the Lord comes, those who are holy will be holy still. Those who have preserved their bodies and spirits in holiness, in sanctification and honor, will then receive the finishing touch of immortality. But those who are unjust, unsanctified, and filthy will remain so forever. No work will then be done for them to remove their defects and give them holy characters. The Refiner does not then sit to pursue His refining process and remove their sins and their corruption. This is all to be done in these hours of

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probation. It is now that this work is to be accomplished for us. (Italics added.)30 When Christ shall come, our vile bodies are to be changed, and made like His glorious body; but the vile character will not be made holy then. The transformation of character must take place before His coming. Our natures must be pure and holy; we must have the mind of Christ, that He may behold with pleasure His image reflected upon our souls. . . . (Italics added.)31 We are now in the workshop of God, to be hewed, and squared, and chiseled, and polished for the heavenly building. All our preparation for heaven must be completed here. When Christ comes, our characters will not be changed. These vile bodies will be changed, and fashioned after the likeness of his glorious body; but there will not be a moral change wrought is us then.32 From a careful study of the above quotations, we see that the bent to sin is not only eradicated before the coming of Christ, but also before the close of human probation. Complete moral cleansing is to be accomplished in the saints before probation closes. We are to seek perfection in Christ—the condition of the Son of God who said, "The prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in Me." John 14:30. Now, while our great High Priest is making the atonement for us, we should seek to become perfect in Christ. Not even by a thought could our Saviour be brought to yield to the power of temptation. Satan finds in human hearts some point where he can gain a foothold; some sinful desire is cherished, by means of which his temptations assert their power. But Christ

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declared of Himself: "The prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in Me." John 14:30. Satan could find nothing in the Son of God that would enable him to gain the victory. He had kept His Father's commandments, and there was no sin in Him that Satan could use to his advantage. This is the condition in which those must be found who shall stand in the time of trouble. (Italics added.)33 The pillar of Adventism, that the bent to sin cannot remain in the saints until the coming of Christ, or even until the close of probation and the time of trouble, seems to contradict the pillar of Protestantism that the bent to sin remains in the born again Christian "so long as Satan reigns," "so long as life shall last." How can these two principles be harmonized?

The Atonement Superstructure Although the two pillars we have considered might seem contradictory, they cannot be so. They are both supported by the Spirit of Prophecy and the Word of God. It must at once be true that the bent to sin remains in the born again Christian throughout the lifetime, as long as Satan reigns, and that the bent to sin in the last-day true believer does not remain until the close of probation and the coming of Christ. This could only be true providing Satan does not reign until the close of probation and the time of trouble. Christ must begin to reign. When does Christ begin to reign? And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.

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And the four and twenty elders, which sat before God on their seats, fell upon their faces, and worshipped God, Saying, We give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art, and wast, and art to come; because thou has taken to thee thy great power, and hast reigned. Revelation 11:15-17. The seventh trumpet does not sound all at once. At first it just "begin[s] to sound." Revelation 10:7. Thus Christ does not receive His kingdom all at once. But He begins to receive His kingdom when the seventh trumpet begins to sound. He begins to reign over the part of the kingdom He has received when the seventh trumpet begins to sound. When does Christ receive His kingdom? Is it at His coming, or before? The receipt of the kingdom by Christ is symbolized by His marriage. And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever. And the four and twenty elders, which sat before God on their seats, fell upon their faces, and worshipped God, Saying, We give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art, and wast, and art to come; because thou hast taken to thee thy great power, and hast reigned. Revelation 11:15-17. In the summer and autumn of 1844 the proclamation, "Behold, the Bridegroom cometh," was given. . . . The coming of the bridegroom, here brought to view, takes place before the marriage. The marriage represents the reception by Christ of His kingdom. The Holy City, the New Jerusalem, which is the capital and representative of the kingdom, is

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called "the bride, the Lamb's wife." Said the angel to John: "Come hither, I will show thee the bride, the Lamb's wife." "He carried me away in the spirit," says the prophet, "and showed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God." Revelation 21:9, 10. Clearly, then, the bride represents the Holy City, and the virgins that go out to meet the bridegroom are a symbol of the church. In the Revelation the people of God are said to be the guests at the marriage supper. Revelation 19:9. If guests, they cannot be represented also as the bride. Christ, as stated by the prophet Daniel, will receive from the Ancient of Days in heaven, "dominion, and glory, and a kingdom;" He will receive the New Jerusalem, the capital of His kingdom, "prepared as a bride adorned for her husband." Daniel 7:14; Revelation 21:2. Having received the kingdom, He will come in His glory, as King of kings and Lord of lords, for the redemption of His people, who are to "sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob," at His table in His kingdom (Matthew 8:11; Luke 22:30), to partake of the marriage supper of the Lamb.34 Christ is married—He receives His kingdom--not at His coming in glory, but before—during the investigative judgment.35 Thus Christ begins to reign over His people before He comes in the clouds. He begins to reign over them during the judgment. If He then takes to Him His great power and begins to reign during the judgment, then Satan no longer reigns—at least not in the lives of the saints—at some point during the judgment. The stranglehold of the sinful nature upon the human soul is broken—Satan no longer reigns—during the judgment of the living. Thus, a special work of purification of the sinful nature is performed for the saints during the judgment of the living.

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We find that there is a way in which the pillar of Protestantism and the pillar of Adventism can both stand. The bent to sin can remain in the born again Christian so long as Satan reigns, and still not remain until the coming of Christ or even until the close of probation, because Satan will cease to reign during the judgment of the living. His power in the lives of the saints is broken. Christ takes to Him His great power, and He reigns. The study of these two pillars can lead only to the conclusion that God has a special purification in store for His people in the final hours of history that has not been experienced by the saints of any age until the present time. The saints must experience not only the thorough cleansing from the guilt of past sinful thoughts, words, and deeds, but the complete cleansing of the inner human nature itself. Since the last vestiges of the natural bent to sin were never completely cleansed from the saints in ages past during the ministry of Christ in the holy place, this cleansing must of necessity be an antitypical Day of Atonement experience. This experience can be seen prefigured in scriptures regarding the Jewish yearly Day of Atonement. And he shall make an atonement for the holy place, because of the uncleanness of the children of Israel, and because of their transgressions in all their sins: and so shall he do for the tabernacle of the congregation, that remaineth among them in the midst of their uncleanness. And there shall be no man in the tabernacle of the congregation when he goeth in to make an atonement in the holy place, until he come out, and have made an atonement for himself, and for his household, and for all the congregation of Israel. . . . For on that day shall the priest make an atonement for you, to cleanse you, that ye may be clean from all your sins before the Lord. . . .

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And he shall make an atonement for the holy sanctuary, and he shall make an atonement for the tabernacle of the congregation, and for the altar, and he shall make an atonement for the priests, and for all the people of the congregation. Leviticus 16:16, 17, 30, 33. This text shows that not only was the tabernacle cleansed, but the people were cleansed. Of course this was a ceremonial cleansing, for the people of Israel did not afterward remain sinless, as would have been the case if the bent to sin had been eradicated. Paul describes this problem and notes that it will not be true of the atonement of Christ and its effect upon the saints on earth. For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect. For then would they not have ceased to be offered? because that the worshipers once purged should have had no more conscience of sins. But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins every year. For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins. . . . We are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins: But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God.... For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified. Hebrews 10:1-4, 10-12, 14.

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Notice that those who are "perfected for ever" are those who have already been sanctified. They must be first justified and sanctified before they can receive this experience. But, a special cleansing—a "perfecting for ever" is to come to God's saints before the close of probation. Zechariah gives us another insight into Christ's work of judgment and intercession for the saints. And he shewed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand to resist him. And the Lord said unto Satan, The Lord rebuke thee, O Satan; even the Lord that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee: is not this a brand plucked out of the fire? Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, and stood before the angel. And he answered and spake unto those that stood before him, saying, Take away the filthy garments from him. And unto him he said, Behold, I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I will clothe thee with change of raiment. And I said, Let them set a fair mitre upon his head. So they set a fair mitre upon his head, and clothed him with garments. And the angel of the Lord stood by. Zechariah 3:1-5. This experience of Joshua and the Angel Ellen White applies to the saints during the judgment in the closing up of the great antitypical Day of Atonement. Zechariah's vision of Joshua and the Angel applies with peculiar force to the experience of God's people in the closing up of the great day of atonement.... As the people of God afflict their souls before Him pleading for purity of heart, the command is

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given, "Take away the filthy garments" from them, and the encouraging words are spoken, "Behold, I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I will clothe thee with change of raiment." The spotless robe of Christ's righteousness is placed upon the tried, tempted, yet faithful children of God. The despised remnant are clothed in glorious apparel, nevermore to be defiled by the corruptions of the world. Their names are retained in the Lamb's book of life, enrolled among the faithful of all ages. They have resisted the wiles of the deceiver; they have not been turned from their loyalty by the dragon's roar. Now they are eternally secure from the tempter's devices. Their sins are transferred to the originator of sin. And the remnant are not only pardoned and accepted, but honored. "A fair miter" is set upon their heads. They are to be as kings and priests unto God. While Satan was urging his accusations and seeking to destroy this company, holy angels, unseen, were passing to and fro, placing upon them the seal of the living God.36 What follows in this reference is a beautiful description of the future of this group of people that are made "eternally secure" at Christ's command. But let us concentrate on the above portion of this statement from the Spirit of Prophecy. The filthy garments here spoken of are not unsanctified selfrighteous characters, for the company wearing these filthy garments are described as "tried, tempted, yet faithful children of God." "They have resisted the wiles of the deceiver; they have not been turned from their loyalty by the dragon's roar." These people are clearly overcomers. They have overcome pride, sin, and every besetment. Yet there remains something that still needs cleansing. These people know themselves what needs cleansing. "The people of God afflict their souls before Him pleading for purity of heart."

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They desire release from their sinful natures. They desire to reflect the image of Christ fully. At the time of the most intense crisis their prayers are answered. The Angel—none other than Christ—commands that they be clothed with the garment of His perfect righteousness. "The despised remnant are clothed in glorious apparel, nevermore to be defiled by the corruptions of the world." "Now they are eternally secure from the tempter's devices." How is this accomplished? "Holy angels, unseen, were passing to and fro, placing upon them the seal of the living God." How are we sealed? "And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption." Ephesians 4:30. The commandment of Christ which renders the tried, tempted, yet faithful believers eternally secure is carried out by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon them. This can also be seen in Acts 3:19. Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord. Two great events are here portrayed—(1) the blotting out of sins, and (2) the times of refreshing. Adventists have always believed and taught that though Christ forgave the sins of the penitent believers in past ages, the record of these sins remained in the books of heaven until the time of the investigative judgment. In this judgment, which we believe began in 1844, these records have been thoroughly scrutinized to see who is worthy of Christ's final atonement. At the close of the judgment there will be a permanent blotting out of sin for all those found worthy of the atonement. We believe that this is the blotting out of sin primarily referred to by this text. Associated with this blotting out of sin is the "refreshing. . . from the presence of the Lord." This "refreshing" is the great outpouring of the Latter Rain of the Holy Spirit in the last days just before the glorious second advent of Jesus

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Christ in the clouds of heaven.37 This outpouring of the Holy Spirit in the last days is spoken of as "the completion of the work of God's grace in the soul."38 "The latter rain, ripening earth's harvest, represents the spiritual grace that prepares the church for the coming of the Son of man."39 Through a careful word study of the original Greek text and later versions, the Seventh-day Adventist Bible commentators have pointed out that the word translated "when" in the King James Version in Acts 3:19 should rather be translated "that," or "so that." "The Greek should be translated, 'that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord.' (RSV)."40 Thus the blotting out of sins in the investigative judgment clearly must precede the outpouring of the latter rain. It is the blotting out of sin in the heavenly sanctuary books of record that enables God to pour out His Spirit. Thus it can also be seen that the outpouring of the Latter Rain is the great benefit brought by the atonement of Christ—the final atonement. As we review the progress we have made in our study in this chapter, we see that only those who were enabled to stand during the time of trouble without an intercessor will be able to stand before Christ at His appearing. We have seen that only those who have had their bent to sin eradicated as a benefit of the judgment will be able to stand during the time of trouble without an intercessor. The next sobering question is, Who shall be able to stand in the judgment? If the eradication of the bent to sin takes place in the judgment, then necessarily, we must go into the judgment while we still have our sinful natures. We must go into the judgment "righteous yet impure at one and the same time." Clearly we must be justified in order to stand in the judgment, but we must have even more: Not one of us will ever receive the seal of God while our characters have one spot or stain upon them. It is left with us to remedy the defects in our

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characters, to cleanse the soul temple of every defilement. Then the latter rain will fall upon us as the early rain fell upon the disciples on the day of Pentecost.41 None can "share the 'refreshing' unless they obtain the victory over every besetment, over pride, selfishness, love of the world, and over every wrong word and action."42 Notice carefully: the natural bent to sin is not eradicated until the Latter Rain is poured out. Yet none will receive the Latter Rain until they have gained "the victory over every besetment, over pride, selfishness, love of the world, and over every wrong word and action." "Not one of us will ever receive the seal of God while our characters have one spot or stain upon them. It is left with us to remedy the defects in our characters. . . ." Clearly, then, there must be a difference between our natures and our characters, even though the two are closely related. There is a difference between our natures and our characters. Our sinful nature is that part in us that is the root of all our sins. It is the part in us that makes us bent, or inclined, to do evil. It is that part in us that responds to Satan's temptations, and makes us have an impulse to do wrong. However, we need not obey that impulse. We need not do wrong. We may not be able to prevent the birds from flying over our heads, but we can prevent them from building a nest in our hair. We may not be able to stop enticements from coming—even from being felt in our inner being in our natures craving to do the wrong—but we need not yield to the temptation, or cherish it. Through God's grace we may resist each enchantment at once. Strengthened by the grace of God, our wills may say no to each allurement. Each time we yield to a temptation, we strengthen the habit of sinning. Each time we say no to a temptation, we strengthen the habit of doing right. Character is force of habit. Even though our natures may tempt us, our characters may say, "No, I will not do that. I love God, and I do not

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want to dishonor Him." Thus it may be possible to develop characters which will always say no to temptation, even while the human heart still has a sinful nature. We may develop perfect sinless characters even while we have sinful natures. And according to the inspired writings, we not only can, we must. God will not remove the sinful nature from anyone who has not first overcome it by developing a perfect character. But when God's saints reach the condition of rather dying than sinning—and they are tried, tempted, tested, yet faithful,—then God will answer their prayers for purity of heart. God will claim the right to remove from them that wretched bent to sin which only tortures them, when they have demonstrated they will never again obey the dictates of the sinful nature. Such a proof, however, requires the sorest of trials. God's people must be tempted to the utmost, and still refuse to yield. They must stand for the right though the heavens fall. They must prove their loyalty to God in the face of the dragon's roar. They must love righteousness more than life itself. They must do right in the face of death. In order that such a test may come upon God's people, God must permit religious intolerance to again come into the world. God's people must be threatened with torture and death. Thus, God reserves the outpouring of the Latter Rain (the benefit of the judgment) until God's people are tested by Sunday law persecution in the last days. The judgment of the living comes during a time of Sunday legislation. The judgment of the living is an awesome thing. Even Ellen White exclaimed, when she was given a view of it, "Who can be saved? Who will stand justified before God? Whose robes are spotless? Who are faultless in the sight of a pure and holy God?"43 Let us now review the grand events studied in this chapter to note their chronological order. (1) With the aid of Christ and His Holy Spirit, the saints must cleanse their soul temples of every defilement—every besetting sin—through the process of justification and sanctification under the

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ministry of the early rain. (2) In the closing up of the great day of atonement the saints agonize and wrestle with God in prayer for "purity of heart" [eradication of the bent to sin]. (3) Christ administers his final atonement and blots out forever the sins of the "tried, tempted, yet faithful children of God." (4) He commands that the saints be clothed in His perfect righteousness and rendered "eternally secure." (5) This is accomplished by the fixing of the seal of God in the foreheads of the saints by the outpouring of the latter rain. (6) The saints are honored. "'A fair mitre' is set upon their heads. They are to be as kings and priests unto God."44 These shall follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth. Since the outpouring of the latter rain comes at the time of, and in consequence of the judgment of the living, God's people ought to be zealous to prepare their hearts and their lives in order that that day may be hastened! With such great benefits before us as the eradication of the bent to sin, we should long for the judgment, not dread it, and attempt to delay it. We should grasp every opportunity to develop character and purify our hearts now, in the time of the early rain, so that we shall be prepared for the latter rain. We see in these conclusions a call to revival and reformation and a higher plane of living.

II. RECEPTION OF THE MESSAGE The pillar of Protestantism is nothing new. It is taught in the Bible and in the writings of Ellen G. White, and was taught by many Protestant Reformers. The pillar of Adventism is nothing new. It is taught in the Bible and the writings of Ellen White, and was believed and taught by pioneer Adventists. Even the atonement superstructure—the understanding that the bent to sin will be eradicated in the saints in the judgment—is nothing new. Paul taught it in Hebrews, and it was typified in Leviticus. Ellen White taught it, and some pioneer Adventists believed it. However, after

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the passage of years, Adventism in general began to forget part or all of these related truths. Some believed in the pillar of Adventism—that the bent to sin cannot remain in the saints until the time of trouble—and didn't understand the pillar of Protestantism—that the bent to sin remains in the born again Christian "so long as Satan reigns," "so long as life shall last." Thus they attempted an impossibility—trying to eradicate their sinful natures through obedience to the law and sanctification—failing to realize the great work that Christ must do for them in the judgment. Many became weary in well doing, frustrated that they could never do away with their sinful natures. Others, through a study of the writings of the Reformers, saw the truth of the pillar of Protestantism, yet they lost sight of the pillar of Adventism. They saw that in the ordinary course of sanctification the sinful nature is not eradicated. They concluded that we would not be relieved of our bent to sin—until Christ comes and changes our vile bodies and fashions them like unto His glorious body. In both cases the benefit of the judgment— the eradication of the bent to sin in the saints at the command of Christ—was lost sight of. This truth needed to be restored to Adventism. There was a young man, a college student, a farm boy from Australia, who became absorbed with the question, "Who shall be able to stand?" He wanted to know how a person could be ready for the judgment of the living. He was not satisfied with the answers he got from his theology professors. He made a real research of the question. At first he couldn't find the right words to describe the bent to sin (or that deep inner root of sin in the heart). He called it unconscious sins, subconscious sins, or scars of sins. He had as yet not read the writings of the Reformers and found out that they called it original sin, or capital sin. ["Original sin, therefore, seems to be a hereditary depravity and corruption of our nature, diffused into all parts of the soul, which first makes us liable to God's wrath, then also brings forth in us those works which Scripture calls 'works of the flesh'

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[Galatians 5:19]. And that is properly what Paul often calls sin. The works that come forth from it—such as adulteries, fornications, thefts, hatreds, murders, carousing—he accordingly calls 'fruits of sin' [Galatians 5:19-21], although they are also commonly called 'sins' in Scripture, and even by Paul himself." John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, The Library of Christian Classics, Vol. XX, p. 251.] He did not at first have all the historical Adventist documentation for his conclusions or all the best statements from Ellen White's writings. But he did come to the overall conclusion that Christ would perform a miracle for the saints in the judgment, and he was electrified with the prospect. Instead of altogether dreading the judgment of the living, as he had done, he now saw the benefits to be gained then, and longed to get ready for the judgment himself, and help others to get ready so that that day could be hastened. He believed that he had discovered "new light" He felt God had called him to proclaim this message to Adventism to wake people up to the glories ahead during the judgment, and to get God's people ready for that momentous event. He called his message, the "Awakening Message." With all the zeal and idealism of youth, he began proclaiming what he had learned. The young man, and we might as well name him, Robert Brinsmead, found to his consternation that his bit of truth was not joyously received by the leaders of the church. In fact, the leaders began to treat him as a dangerous person. He was branded as a heretic and an offshoot. People were instructed to have nothing to do with him, and not to listen to his teachings. The leaders of the church were quick to point out that Robert Brinsmead came from a family background of criticism of the denomination in the Reformed Adventist offshoot. The young man was branded. The more the man tried to spread around his convictions, the more he was warred against by the leaders of the church. Eventually he was disfellowshipped for heresy and subversive actions against the church.

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It is true that Brinsmead did not fully grasp the basic truth that he tried to champion. Some of the arguments he used to substantiate his belief were unsound, and led to false conclusions. These unsound arguments later led him and others into grave difficulties. But these misconceptions were not peculiar to Brinsmead. Most of these he had inherited from other Adventists—some were even used by the leaders of the church in arguments against him. Had we as a people been willing to learn a truth from the humblest of people, been willing to candidly examine evidence and accept the good, and reject the bad, the Adventist church might have been spared several unfortunate and bitter chapters in its experience. Brinsmead had some beautiful truth, but he also had some unfortunate error. All his views should not have been accepted by the church, for they were not all correct. However, a point which he was advocating was a point that Adventism once believed, but had lost sight of. Adventism needed this truth again. But in our blind war against a man, we were not careful what we rejected. We came to condemn doctrines that had been held by our pioneers, simply because they were taught by a man who was our enemy—Robert Brinsmead. Another man, Peter C. Jarnes, former chairman of the department of religion at Union College, Lincoln, Nebraska, played an important role in the story. At one time his son became a Brinsmead sympathizer. The leaders of the church caught wind of this fact. They had contact with Peter Jarnes, and insisted that he publicly denounce Robert Brinsmead and his teachings, and the actions of Jarnes' son. Peter Jarnes responded that he was not actually familiar with what Robert Brinsmead was teaching, having never specially looked into it. He agreed that he would be willing to look into what Brinsmead taught, and that should he find anything wrong with it, he would be willing to publicly present his findings. However, he could not agree to publicly smear a man without first finding out what he taught.

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As Jarnes began researching into what Brinsmead had written, he was quite startled to find that, with minor variations, Brinsmead had been teaching what he also had been teaching for years at Union College in his theology courses. Jarnes, of course, had not gotten his view from Brinsmead, but from historical Adventist teachings and Protestant teachings. His view of the matter was, perhaps, somewhat more mature than Brinsmead's—he didn't share some of the same misconceptions. But Jarnes began to be alarmed at the content of Adventist refutations of Brinsmead's teachings—seeing that they uprooted either the pillar of Adventism, or the pillar of Protestantism. He began collecting the arguments used against Brinsmead [the collection of arguments pro and con on this subject in this book are from Peter Jarnes’s book The Sanctuary Restored, 1969], and discovered that some of the dogmatic stands taken by church leaders had never been taught before the Brinsmead controversy decade. Jarnes began formulating his findings in a book manuscript, The Sanctuary Restored. The leaders of the church were upset that Jarnes did not denounce Brinsmead. Jarnes' book, The Sanctuary Restored, scarcely mentioned Robert Brinsmead, but dealt with the issue of the eradication of the sinful nature in the saints in the judgment, as a consequence of the pillar of Protestantism and the pillar of Adventism. Jarnes did, however, show the fallacy of many arguments that Adventist leaders had directed against this doctrine. And for this, Jarnes was said to be critical of the church. He was told to reconsider. He did revise his manuscript, and resubmit it to the brethren. But he could not, and did not, change his overall conclusions. Therefore he was relieved of his position at Union College. He was forced into the Brinsmead camp. The Brinsmead and Jarnes story took a strange twist around 1972. Partly because Brinsmead had printed some illadvised material against the Catholics in Australia (and from Catholic reactions against it he found out that the Catholics did not believe what he thought they did about righteousness

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by faith), partly because Brinsmead had preached his message for ten years and thought his work was done (he tried to make a day-for-a-year application of the ten days of blowing the trumpets before the day of atonement to his own ministry), and partly through a desire to be in harmony with the brethren of the Adventist church, Robert Brinsmead came to decide that Desmond Ford and Edward Heppenstall were correct in believing that the sinful nature remains in the saints all the way to the coming of Christ. Thus Brinsmead repudiated the pillar of Adventism, and his earlier conclusion of the eradication of the sinful nature in the judgment. He was convinced by Adventist theologians that this was a form of the "holy flesh" doctrine, and was heresy. Brinsmead switched his position, taking the position advocated by Ford, Heppenstall, and others. But though those theologians were Adventists "in good and regular standing," Brinsmead was not readmitted to church fellowship. Though he changed his theology to make it in harmony with some of the most respected theologians in the denomination, he was still not welcome in the church. Feelings against a man still ran deep. The church now began warring against Brinsmead's new views, but found themselves now warring against a number of the previously accepted and respected theologians. The church became divided as it had never been before. Now a number of respected theologians were saying the same thing as Brinsmead, whether they liked it or not. These men were lumped together in the same group—but this time a large camp was on the side of Brinsmead. Jarnes and the followers of Brinsmead followed him in making the switch. Brinsmead began publishing his reformation brand righteousness by faith to non-Adventist ministers and theologians. And he began to have a marvelous impact in the non-Adventist world. Geoffry Paxton, a non-Adventist theologian, became sympathetic to the Brinsmead position, and he wrote a book, The Shaking of Adventism. And Adventism was shaken. Views on righteousness by faith became more and more

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divided, and threatened to divide the Adventist church right down the middle. An interesting by-product of the Brinsmead-Jarnes switch, was that Adventists found themselves more and more forced to opinions similar to Brinsmead's original position in order to refute his new view. Brinsmead, also, noticed this phenomenon. It disturbed him that Adventists now were taking the position that he once advocated and they rejected. He was disturbed that the old view may have been right, and his new view wrong. Perhaps this has all been in the providence of God. God has permitted men to switch camps, to become disassociated with the doctrines they once championed, in order that Seventh-day Adventists could at last dispassionately examine the original views, compare them with the Bible, the Spirit of Prophecy, and the writings of the Reformers and pioneer Adventists. He would show that we cannot safely follow men—whether they be so-called offshoot leaders, for they meander all over in their theological wanderings, at times completely reversing themselves—or leaders of the church, for they do likewise. God would teach us, "Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the LORD." Jeremiah 17:5. "Cease ye from man, whose breath is in his nostrils: for wherein is he to be accounted of?" Isaiah 2:22. God would also teach us the terrible wrong in blind prejudice and warring against personalities. People can switch sides and still be hated. But the truth of God never changes. We must not have our warfare against personalities, but "against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of the world, against spiritual wickedness in high places." Ephesians 6:12. We need to pay more heed to the counsels Ellen White gave regarding how we should examine controverted points. We are on dangerous ground when we cannot meet together like Christians, and courteously

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examine controverted points. I feel like fleeing from the place lest I receive the mold of those who cannot candidly investigate the doctrines of the Bible. Those who cannot impartially examine the evidences of a position that differs from theirs, are not fit to teach in any department of God's cause.45 If there is a point of truth that you do not understand, upon which you do not agree, investigate, compare scripture with scripture, sink the shaft of truth down deep into the mine of God's Word. You must lay yourselves and your opinions on the altar of God, put away your preconceived ideas, and let the Spirit of Heaven guide you into all truth.46 When a message is presented to God's people, they should not rise up in opposition to it; they should go to the Bible, comparing it with the law and the testimony, and if it does not bear this test, it is not true. God wants our minds to expand. He desires to put His grace upon us. We may have a feast of good things every day; for God can open the whole treasure of heaven to us.47 No Claim to Infallibility. We have many lessons to learn, and many, many to unlearn. God and heaven alone are infallible. Those who think that they will never have to give up a cherished view, never have occasion to change an opinion, will be disappointed. As long as we hold to our own ideas and opinions with determined persistency, we cannot have the unity for which Christ prayed.48 The Bible must not be interpreted to suit the ideas of men, however long they may have held these ideas to be true. We are not to accept the opinion of commentators as the voice of God; they were erring mortals like ourselves. God has given reasoning

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powers to us as well as to them. We should make the Bible its own expositor.49 When a point of doctrine that you do not understand comes to your attention, go to God on your knees, that you may understand what is truth and not be found as were the Jews fighting against God. While warning men to beware of accepting anything unless it is truth, we should also warn them not to imperil their souls by rejecting messages of light, but to press out of the darkness by earnest study of the word of God.50 Errors may be hoary with age; but age does not make error truth, nor truth error. Altogether too long have the old customs and habits been followed. The Lord would now have every idea that is false put away from teachers and students.51 The fact that there is no controversy or agitation among God's people should not be regarded as conclusive evidence that they are holding fast to sound doctrine. There is reason to fear that they may not be clearly discriminating between truth and error. When no difference of opinion arises which will set men to searching the Bible for themselves to make sure that they have the truth, there will be many now, as in ancient times, who will hold to tradition and worship they know not what.52 With these guidelines and Christian safeguards in mind, let us carefully weigh positions taken on the atonement.

III. WEIGHING POSITIONS ON THE ATONEMENT

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Now that we see that Brinsmead and his opponents have virtually switched sides from their original positions, and that neither side inspires confidence in their handling of the word of God, let us carefully weigh previous positions taken on both sides. Let us compare them with the truths of scripture, the writings of the Spirit of Prophecy, and the stand of reformers and pioneer Adventists, to determine what is truth. The primary conclusion in the original "Awakening" teaching was that in the investigative judgment the bent to sin would be eradicated from the saints. We studied many evidences of this in the section "Who Shall Be Able to Stand." A number of different arguments were raised against this conclusion. One was the claim that the blotting out of sin is done upon the record books of heaven only, and in no way alters or affects the nature or mind of man. This argument is to a greater or lesser degree presented by Elders Harry W. Lowe, L. C. Naden, W. P. Bradley, and G. D. Keough. It is in a context of blotting sins from the heavenly records, and not from a human memory, that the investigative judgment is set.53 Nothing in either the Bible or the Spirit of Prophecy substantiates the claim that the blotting out of sin from the books in heaven coincides with a blotting out of sin from the life of the believer.54 He will blot out the record of their sins and remove them from the sanctuary. But this blotting out does not remove sin from God's people. . . . The removal of sin from God's people must already have taken place.55 Without some clarification, the last quotation can lead to confusion. Actually, this argument is a misrepresentation of the position that the bent to sin is eradicated in the judgment.

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Those who held this position did not teach that unconfessed sins, or even unconquered sins are blotted from the life of the believer at the time of the final atonement. Only in the sense that the innate bent to sin is considered sin (as it was considered by some of the reformers) is sin thought to be blotted from man concurrently with the blotting out of sin from the records of heaven. But if the sinful nature be considered sin (original sin, or capital sin), then the above argument by L. C. Naden applies to the point at issue. Let us continue reviewing arguments against the cleansing of the sinful nature of man in the atonement: Especially unacceptable is the suggestion that in Daniel 8:14 the cleansing of the sanctuary describes the work of the cleansing to be accomplished by faith in Christ in the human life. What is going on now? Cases are being reviewed in the judgment. The faithful are justified as regards God's broken law. Names are retained in the book of life. At the end comes the sealing of those who are saved, the blotting out of their sins from the record. Christ comes out of the Most Holy Place and, last of all, lays the blame for sin upon the head of Satan. These are the great juridical acts of God taking place in the heavenly sanctuary, not in the soul temple.56 This cancellation of the sin [the blotting out of sin from the records of heaven] removes every trace of condemnation from the forgiven, sanctified sinner; but though it affects his standing and is indeed an atonement for him, it is not performed on the sinner's person, but is just what it is said to be, and no mistake, "the cleansing of the sanctuary."57 What did the Adventist pioneers say about this subject? We inquire, for Ellen White said, "We have nothing to fear for the future, except as we shall forget the way the Lord has led us, and His teaching in our past history."58

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The blotting out of sin is the erasing of it from the nature, the being of man. . . . The erasing of sin is the blotting of it from our natures, so that we shall know it no more. "The worshipers once purged"—actually purged by the blood of Christ—have "no more conscience of sin," because the way of sin is gone from them. Their iniquity may be sought for, but it will not be found. It is forever gone from them—it is foreign to their new natures, and even though they may be able to recall the fact that they have committed certain sins, they have forgotten the sin itself—they do not think of doing it any more. This is the work of Christ in the true sanctuary, which the Lord pitched, and not man—the sanctuary not made with hands, but brought into existence by the thought of God.59 And the blotting out of sins is exactly this thing of the cleansing of the sanctuary; it is the finishing of all transgression in our lives; it is the making an end of all sins in our character; it is the bringing in of the very righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ, to abide alone everlastingly.60 It means something more than simply blotting out a record up in heaven. It means blotting out of a man's mind the nightmare of sin, so that he will never remember it any more. That is what God is going to do for His blessed children, brethren, for all eternity, very soon.61 The positions of recent leaders in the Adventist church were directly contrary to the pioneer Adventist positions. Which shall we accept? The pioneer Adventists were more in harmony with the light given us through Ellen White. The prayer of the saints in the end of time "for purity of heart," is

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answered by the command of Christ, "Take away the filthy garments from them." "The despised remnant are clothed in glorious apparel, nevermore to be defiled by the corruptions of the world. Their names are retained in the Lamb's book of life, enrolled among the faithful of all ages."62 The command of Christ is elsewhere described as a decree: "When the decree goes forth and the stamp is impressed, their character will remain pure and spotless for eternity."63 This stamp is the seal of God,64 which is impressed at the time that the latter rain falls upon us: Not one of us will ever receive the seal of God while our characters have one spot or stain upon them. It is left with us to remedy the defects in our characters, to cleanse the soul temple of every defilement. Then the latter rain will fall upon us as the early rain fell upon the disciples on the day of Pentecost."65 The outpouring of the latter rain must necessarily follow an investigative judgment of the living, for none can "share the 'refreshing' unless they obtain the victory over every besetment, over pride, selfishness, love of the world, and over every wrong word and action"66 There must necessarily be an investigative judgment to see who qualifies for the outpouring of the latter rain upon them. And it is plain that the blotting out of sins, the judgment, and the latter rain are all intimately bound together: . . . it is impossible that the sins of men should be blotted out until after the judgment at which their cases are to be investigated. But the apostle Peter distinctly states that the sins of believers will be blotted out "when the times of refreshing come from the presence of the Lord; and He shall send Jesus Christ." Acts 3:19, 20.67

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We can clearly see from the three statements of pioneer Adventists, and the corroboration of this truth found in the Spirit of Prophecy, that the maligned former advocates of the atonement revival and reformation message, and not ourselves, were in line with the historic Adventist position. This thought should rightly fill us with great alarm as we reconsider an accusation we made against those that sounded the atonement message. The teaching . . . that during the ministry of Jesus in the Most Holy Place of the heavenly sanctuary it is possible for men to obtain a more complete cleansing from sin and a higher state of perfection than was possible through the power of the gospel in former times is an example of bringing in of a "strange gospel."68 This teaching [that during the ministry of Jesus in the Most Holy Place of the heavenly sanctuary it is possible for men to obtain a more complete cleansing from sin and a higher state of perfection than was possible through the power of the gospel in former times] was not the bringing in of a "strange gospel." Rather, the "strange gospel" quietly crept into the ranks of Adventism, until, through the neglect of the study of the Bible, the writings of Ellen White and our pioneers, we "main line Adventists" thought that doctrine was in error. God's people did need a more complete cleansing than was available to them prior to 1844. Said Ellen White of the pre-1844 Adventists: But the people were not yet ready to meet their Lord. There was still a work of preparation to be accomplished for them. . . . Those who are living upon the earth when the intercession of Christ shall cease in the sanctuary above are to stand in the sight of a holy God without a mediator. Their robes must be spotless, their characters must be purified from sin

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by the blood of sprinkling. Through the grace of God and their own diligent effort they must be conquerors in the battle with evil. While the investigative judgment is going forward in heaven, while the sins of penitent believers are being removed from the sanctuary, there is to be a special work of purification, of putting away of sin, among God's people upon earth. This work is more clearly presented in the messages of Revelation 14. When this work shall have been accomplished, the followers of Christ will be ready for His appearing. (Italics added.)69 Note the word special in the above statement. implies no ordinary purification as in past ages.

This

The mass of people think that if a person is prepared to die, he is prepared for the coming of the Lord. But they do not consider the difference between dying and standing alive to meet the Lord at His appearing. It is one thing to die in the Lord, to yield our spirits to Him while He is pleading for us before the Father's throne, and quite a different thing to stand in the time of trouble after Jesus has ceased to plead in man's behalf, after His priesthood is closed, and He is preparing to come to redeem His own, and take vengeance on His foes. They who realize these things will bless heaven that means have been devised in the mercy of God for the perfection of the saints.70 We are not only to receive a more complete cleansing in the blotting out of the bent to sin in the final work of atonement in heaven, but we are thereby to receive an entirely different experience. But in our writings we have denied this too:

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The suggestion that there is a different experience of righteousness by faith in these last days as compared with pre-1844 days is in direct conflict with our history and teaching.71 Notice what Ellen White says about the "experience" of the 144,000: With the Lamb upon Mount Zion, "having the harps of God," they stand, the hundred and forty and four thousand that were redeemed from among men; and there is heard, as the sound of many waters, and as the sound of a great thunder, "the voice of harpers harping with their harps." And they sing "a new song" before the throne, a song which no man can learn save the hundred and forty and four thousand. None but the hundred and forty-four thousand can learn that song; for it is the song of their experience— an experience such as no other company have ever had.72 As we continue in the quotation, we can clearly see that this unique experience obtained by the 144,000 is definitely an experience of righteousness by faith: "These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth." These, having been translated from the earth, from among the living, are counted as "the first fruits unto God and to the Lamb." Revelation 15:2, 3; 14:1-5. "These are they which came out of great tribulation;" they have passed through the time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation; they have endured the anguish of the time of Jacob's trouble, they have stood without an intercessor through the final outpouring of God's judgments. But they have been delivered, for they have "washed their robes, and

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made them white in the blood of the Lamb." "In their mouth was found no guile: for they are without fault" before God. "Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve Him day and night in His temple: and He that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them." They have seen the earth wasted with famine and pestilence, the sun having power to scorch men with great heat, and they themselves have endured suffering, hunger, and thirst. But "they shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. For the Lamb which is in midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters; and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes." Revelation 7:14-17.73 What is it that enables these people to endure "suffering, hunger, and thirst?" "The season of distress and anguish before us will require a faith that can endure weariness, delay, and hunger—a faith that will not fail though severely tried." (Italics added.)74 There is no question about it. There is to be "a different experience of righteousness by faith in these last days as compared with pre-1844 days" or any other days, though we have lately steadfastly denied it. Here is another statement meant to refute the idea of the eradication of the bent to sin in the judgment: Those who live in the last days supposedly reach entire spiritual perfection on this earth in their mortal state. This is dispensationalism in its most insidious form.75 Ellen White was not a dispensationalist, yet she taught this moral perfection of the saints while in their mortal state. First notice her position regarding dispensationalism:

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There is no such contrast as is often claimed to exist between the Old and the New Testament, the law of God and the gospel of Christ, the requirements of the Jewish and those of the Christian dispensation. Every soul saved in the former dispensation was saved by Christ as verily as we are saved by Him today. Patriarchs and prophets were Christians. The gospel promise was given to the first pair in Eden, when they had by transgression separated themselves from God. The gospel was preached to Abraham. The Hebrews all drank of that spiritual Rock, which was Christ (ST Sept. 14, 1882).76 Now notice again Ellen White's description of the saints after the work of the judgment: As the people of God afflict their souls before Him pleading for purity of heart, the command is given, "Take away the filthy garments" from them, and the encouraging words are spoken, "Behold, I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I will clothe thee with change of raiment." The spotless robe of Christ's righteousness is placed upon the tried, tempted, yet faithful children of God. The despised remnant are clothed in glorious apparel, nevermore to be defiled by the corruptions of the world. . . . Now they are eternally secure from the tempter's devices. . . .77 God's people were never in past ages eternally secure. This is a new experience of God's people in the last days. Why then is this not dispensationalistic? The answer is that this blessing comes upon the saints of all ages, not just those in the end of time. It comes to all in the judgment. The righteous in all times past went down to their graves with their sinful natures. But they were required, as are the people in the last days, to develop righteous characters. In the

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judgment of the dead their sins are blotted out, not only out of the books of record of deeds, but out of the records of God as to the composition of the individual. When God recreates the individual, He recreates him with a perfect sinless nature. The individual goes into the grave with a righteous character but a sinful nature. He comes out of the grave with a righteous character and a sinless nature. The difference was not made at his resurrection, but as with the living righteous, the difference is made in the judgment. The dead as well as the living receive the benefit of Christ's atonement. The only difference is, they receive it while they are asleep. The last day saints receive it while they are awake. Here is another argument that has been used against the idea of the eradication of the bent to sin in the judgment: Some have mistakenly applied the statement of Leviticus 16:30—that on the Day of Atonement "the priest shall make an atonement for you, to cleanse you, that ye may be clean from all your sins before the Lord"—to moral cleansing.78 It is evident, therefore, that an attempt to apply Leviticus 16:30 to a moral cleansing of God's people during the great anti-typical day of atonement now in progress in the heavenly sanctuary, or to read into it the idea of moral perfection in the flesh, is to wrest Scripture.79 It is interesting to note that the author of the last statement, Raymond F. Cottrell, wrote another statement which tends to refute his own argument. Whereas the personal sacrifices stressed the need of forgiveness for overt, extrinsic sinful acts, the Day of Atonement sacrifice placed emphasis on the intrinsic character transformation through renunciation of the latent principle of sin that leads to

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overt sinful acts. The service of that solemn day taught the people that, despite the provision for releasing them from guilt occasioned by overt sinful acts, they were not to take sin lightly. There was something even more important—deliverance from their sinful nature, from the frame of mind that leads men to commit sin.80 The Day of Atonement sacrifice in the earthly sanctuary service symbolized the work done for the sinner to solve the natural bent to sin problem. This is a moral cleansing in one sense, however not in the sense of forgiving extrinsic sins. Thus there is nothing wrong in applying the Leviticus 16:30 text to moral cleansing. Interestingly enough, Adventist theologians considered, at the time, to be members in good and regular standing, presented diametrically opposite and contradictory arguments against the idea that the bent to sin is eradicated in the judgment. Some took a "Preteristic" view, and shoved that event back to the experience at baptism. Others took a "Futuristic" view, and shoved the experience forward to the coming of Christ to the time when He will change our vile bodies and fashion them like unto His glorious body. Both arguments were acceptable in the minds of some leaders as being weapons to use against Brinsmead. First, notice the "Preteristic" view: Firstly, to say that the corrupt sin principle, the source of evil, the sinful nature, remains in the subconscious life of the believer after his conversion, is to deny the real nature of the rebirth experience. Secondly, to say that the corrupt sin principle, the source of evil, the sinful nature, remains in the subconscious life of the believer until the final atonement puts off the work that must be done today. One woman became horrified when I insisted that sins must be "blotted out" of the life today. She

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believed that this was the work of the final atonement.81 Our Bible says: "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." (1 John 1:9). Here there is no reservation made for subconscious sins.82 These statements make the eradication of the sinful nature before the judgment. Other statements made by Adventist theologians in good and regular standing put off the cleansing of the sinful nature until after the judgment, until the coming of Christ: The old creature or the old man remains with us till the day of our death or the day of Christ's coming; but as long as we look to Christ the author and the finisher of our faith, sin and self cannot prevail. . . . The Christian believes that there still remains in the regenerate man a fountain of evil; that sin always exists in the saints till they are divested of their mortal bodies. . . . This original sin remains in Christians and nonChristians until they die or are translated.83 We find here the most solemn warning against sinless perfection in this life. The Christian knows that there still remains in him a fountain of evil, a depraved nature. . . .84 Webster defines perfection as being "blameless" and "flawless" with characters "fully formed," "completely developed," "satisfying the highest expectation," and having reached "full maturity." It is stated that perfectionism from a theological viewpoint is "the doctrine that a state of freedom from sin is attainable, or has been attained, in the earthly life. . . .

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We should remember that only when Jesus comes can we be made perfect.85 "We will never reach sinless perfection in this life. . . ."86 Some Adventist theologians placed the eradication of the sinful nature at baptism. These were not Protestant. They uprooted the pillar of Protestantism. Other Advent theologians placed the eradication of the bent to sin at the coming of Christ. These were not Adventist. They uprooted the pillar of Adventism. Now it cannot be that both views are correct. Either this transaction takes place before the judgment or after. It cannot be both. The real only logical compromise—and yet not really a compromise, but an acknowledgement of scriptural evidence—is the view that the eradication of the bent to sin takes place during the judgment. We have studied a number of arguments pro and con in this chapter regarding the idea of the eradication of the bent to sin in the saints during the judgment. This basic belief of Brinsmead and Jarnes (before they switched sides) has fared well against all the challenging arguments. If this were their supposed great heresy, for which they were excommunicated, then it is about time that we gave them "white robes." (Revelation 6:11.) They ought to be recognized as men who had a truth, but who were persecuted by their brethren, like Jones and Waggoner were. To be sure, they did not have all the truth. Neither was all that they believed truth. They had some fallacies. But they had an important truth. Had they not been persecuted so much, they might still have that truth today. Hopefully they might even yet come back to the truth they once championed.

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IV. FALSE CLAIMS OF SEALING In the 1960s and 1970s the Seventh-day Adventist Church, and especially its leaders, seemed to lag far behind Christ by resisting and rejecting the sealing message. But in the late 1980s and early 1990s, a number of fanatics, offshoots, and false prophets seem to run ahead of the Lord and claim sealing now for God's people—and that, before the Sunday Law crisis. Some say the Gospel work is finished. Others say that probation is over for Seventh-day Adventists, and all that remains is to sound the loud cry to the world. The Lord Our Righteousness Church (otherwise known as Life Supports), led by Wayne C. Bent, is an offshoot of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. They emphasize sinless living from conversion on. The spirit that is with them has recently led them to believe that the Gospel work is finished. They are preparing themselves for immediate translation. A number of prophetesses have arisen leading people out of the Seventh-day Adventist church. The most noteworthy one is Jeanine Sautron of France. Another one is Patia. There are others. Jeanine Sautron works mostly with tapes and transcripts of tapes. In her first tapes she gave many reproofs and counsels that were certainly conservative, and for the most part exemplary of high standards. She pointed to needed reforms in dress, diet, music, and reverence in church. Her first tapes had a convincing ring to them, though some persons detected errors even in the first tapes, and were on their guard. Jeanine then set forth a dubious interpretation of the seventh seal of Revelation 11, and urged Seventh-day Adventist General Conference leaders to accept this teaching of hers regarding the judgment of the living, and to propagate it quickly to church members, for the end of the judgment "is imminent, imminent!" When church leaders did not accept and advance her view, she quickly condemned them, and called them

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"religious gangsters." She rapidly closed probation for the Seventh-day Adventist Church. She told Adventist church leaders that they could do her no more good and she could do them no more good. She taught that the remnant righteous in the Adventist church were already sealed, but that the Adventist Church had become Babylon, and God's people must leave the Adventist Church or be lost. A number of sincere people are devout followers of Jeanine Sautron. They do not see any error in all that she has said. Therefore they take all that she says as Gospel. The author cannot agree with Jeanine Sautron that probation has closed for the Seventh-day Adventist church, and all the faithful are sealed already. What does it mean to be sealed? One no longer has inclinations and propensities to sin. He or she is sinless—like Jesus was in this earth. Like Jesus he or she still has infirmities of sinful flesh, but no inherited or cultivated tendencies to evil. Satan can tempt that one from without, but no more from within. That one is eternally secure—as secure as the angels that have never fallen.87 What would happen if a sealed person sinned just a little sin? That person would be eternally lost. There would remain no more sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation. Hebrews 10:26-27. Most do not even know what sealing is. One Jeanine Sautron follower asked the author, "Gordon, do you love the Lord?" I said, "Yes." Then she said, "You're sealed!" How low a conception of the sealing! Paul dearly loved the Lord. But he was not sealed in his life. No one in Bible times was sealed but Jesus, Enoch, and Elijah by the time they were translated. The martyrs were not sealed. God does not permit the sealed 144000 to die or be martyred. They are a special group. They live like Jesus for an extended period of time sinless and unconquerable. It is too soon for the sealing. God first has to test His people with the Sabbath-Sunday test. Those that fail that test

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receive the Mark of the Beast. Those that pass that test receive the Seal of God.88 The Lord has shown me clearly that the image of the beast will be formed before probation closes; for it is to be the great test for the people of God, by which their eternal destiny will be decided.... [Rev. 13:11-17 quoted.] . . . This is the test that the people of God must have before they are sealed. All who prove their loyalty to God by observing His law, and refusing to accept a spurious sabbath, will rank under the banner of the Lord God Jehovah, and will receive the seal of the living God. Those who yield the truth of heavenly origin and accept the Sunday sabbath, will receive the mark of the beast (Letter 11, 1890).89 The author does not believe the Seventh-day Adventist Church has been spewed out. In the first place, Ellen White taught that the denouncement of the Seventh-day Adventist Church as Babylon does not come from God. The message to pronounce the Seventh-day Adventist Church Babylon, and call the people of God out of her, does not come from any heavenly messenger, or any human agent inspired by the Spirit of God.90 The Lord has not given you a message to call the Seventh-day Adventists Babylon, and to call the people of God to come out of her. All the reasons you may present cannot have weight with me on this subject, because the Lord has given me decided light that is opposed to such a message.91 Ellen White warned that the doctrine that the Seventhday Adventist Church is Babylon is satanic.

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To claim that the Seventh-day Adventist Church is Babylon, is to make the same claim as does Satan, who is an accuser of the brethren, who accuses them before God night and day. . . . "My brother, I learn that you are taking the position that the Seventh-day Adventist Church is Babylon, and that all that would be saved must come out of her. You are not the only man the devil has deceived in this matter. For the last forty years, one man after another has arisen, claiming that the Lord has sent him with the same message; but let me tell you, as I have told them, that this message you are proclaiming is one of the satanic delusions designed to create confusion among the churches. . . . "My brother, if you are teaching that the Seventhday Adventist Church is Babylon, you are wrong. God has not given you any such message to bear. Satan will use every mind to which he can attain access, inspiring men to originate false theories or go off on some wrong tangent, that he may create a false excitement, and thus divert souls from the true issue for this time. I presume that some may be deceived by your message, because they are full of curiosity and desire for some new thing."92 Ellen White's cautions in this matter were not merely for some past time, but for all future time. Notice her predictions: Satan will work his miracles to deceive; he will set up his power as supreme. The church may appear as about to fall, but it does not fall. It remains, while the sinners in Zion will be sifted out—the chaff separated from the precious wheat. This is a terrible ordeal, but nevertheless it must take place.93

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Believing one is sealed when he or she is not yet sealed is very dangerous. Allow the author to relate a personal experience. In 1975 the author was a roommate briefly of a pitiful man in a hospital who was in a catatonic state. That is, his body seemed frozen in suspended animation. He could scarcely move and hardly speak. His family, his pastor, and his doctor came to visit him. But their visits seemed to do him no good. I listened very closely to his barely audible words. The man told me what his problem was. He belonged to a church that believed in sinless living, and he had claimed to be sinless for several years. But instead he knew that he had sinned. He felt terrible guilt. He felt unpardonable. I shared with the man the promise of 1 John 1:9: "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." I led the man through the sinner's prayer confessing his sin and claiming the promise. He had to repeat after me one word at a time. After the prayer I urged on his faith. I asked him, "Did you confess your sin?" In a hardly audible voice he replied, "Yes." Then I read him again the promise of 1 John 1:9. I assured him, on the authority of Scripture, his sins were forgiven. By the next day a dramatic transformation had taken place in the man. He was no longer in a catatonic state. He was up exercising in the floor parlor. I do not know what made the transformation, whether the drugs the doctor was giving him, or the release of his guilt in the sinner's prayer. The author does know, however, that sinning after one thinks he or she is sealed and sinless brings terrible, unbearable guilt and anxiety. Some commit suicide. This is the devil's plan. Some go to mental hospitals. Some go the other way and insist the sins they commit are not really sins and contend that they are sealed and can no longer displease God. This attitude also pleases Satan. Some people run roughshod all over the law of God, doing the vilest things, all

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while claiming to be sealed. Such ones do not know what sealing is. Even closer to home, in the last several years the devil has tried repeatedly in different ways to convince the author that he was sealed and sinless. But the author knows that is not yet true. The Sunday law test has not yet come. The author can still detect propensities to sin in his being. He is not yet sealed. But he knows that the devil's delusions are almost overmastering, and must be being experienced by many other persons than just the author. False sealing and sanctification is a special temptation for this time. In some of her later testimonies, Jeanine Sautron has urged the sealing of her followers as the reason they cannot now or ever return to fellowship with the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Satan used a similar but opposite argument on the angels of heaven that sided with him. Still the loyal angels urged him [Lucifer] and his sympathizers to submit to God; and they set before them the inevitable result should they refuse: He who had created them could overthrow their power and signally punish their rebellious daring. No angel could successfully oppose the law of God, which was as sacred as Himself. They warned all to close their ears against Lucifer's deceptive reasoning, and urged him and his followers to seek the presence of God without delay and confess the error of questioning His wisdom and authority. Many were disposed to heed this counsel, to repent of their disaffection, and seek to be again received into favor with the Father and His Son. But Lucifer had another deception ready. The mighty revolter now declared that the angels who had united with him had gone too far to return. . . .94 Satan wants all of Jeanine's followers to think they have gone too far to return to fellowship with the Seventh-day

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Adventist Church. But it is not true. One woman who labored in the heart of the Jeanine Sautron center in North America saw Jeanine's errors and got out and began fellowshipping again with her home church, and was blessed. Not all Adventist churches are Celebration churches and pulpits of satanic hypnotism, as Jeanine Sautron would imply. There are many yet that are being richly fed and blessed by the presence of the Holy Spirit. While whole churches may go out, we must remember the promise above that "The church may appear as about to fall, but it does not fall. It remains, while the sinners in Zion will be sifted out— the chaff separated from the precious wheat."95

V. HOW TO BE SEALED Few persons, if any, are truly sealed at the present time [2007]. The Sunday-law test has not yet come in North America and around the world. The Sunday-law test time is the occasion for the sealing of God's people who pass the test.96 There are a few statements from the Spirit of Prophecy of elderly people in times past who were about to die who were sealed. So the author will not categorically say that no one is truly sealed at the present time. No one could know that without access to the records of the heavenly sanctuary. But we can know that the Sunday-law crisis has not yet come, which is the occasion for the sealing of the bulk of God's saints. By the signs all around us, the Sunday-law test time may not be far in the future. Natural disasters are increasing in frequency, intensity, and fury. More and more people are attributing these disasters to judgments of God upon the nation for increased iniquity. And they are not entirely incorrect. Ellen White indicates that a public awakening from the intensifying calamities will catapult the nation and the world into a popular revival and reformation to curb the lawlessness and appease an angry God. Sunday legislation

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and persecution will be part of an over all law-and-order back-to-God movement. The calamities are already here. Public sentiment is forming. The Sunday legislation may not be far away. When that time comes, many will panic. How can they be sealed? The answer is straight forward, but staggering. Give your allegiance to God and His holy ten-commandment law, including the Seventh-day Sabbath law. Rather die than break that law. God will help you. Be willing to go hungry or without shelter, if necessary, to obey God rather than men. Do all humanly possible to put away all sins in your lives, trusting in Jesus power to help you and make it possible. As the dragon roars, plead earnestly to God for purity of heart.97 This is something that no one can give him or herself. Only God can give purity of heart. This includes no propensities or inclinations to evil. Those are in every cell of one's body in faulty genes and chromosomes. God alone can give such a victory, and He will for His tempted, tested, yet faithful children very soon. Then don't be surprised if you should feel something like an electric shock through your body rearranging your cells and impressing the mold of heaven, the seal of God. But don't be so foolish as to claim sealing even then. The devil can counterfeit electric shocks in the body—he has with the author. There is no need to claim sealing until we are safe in heaven with Jesus. Just use the increased power to resist every temptation of the wicked one, and maintain your allegiance to Jesus and the Father. Rather die than sin. And pray for the speedy coming of Jesus. None who are living victoriously need to fear being left out of the sealing of the saints. God will seal everyone who gains the victory over pride, sin, and every besetment. How can one live victoriously? How can he or she gain the victory over every besetment? When the sinner is forgiven of his sins and is justified, God imparts to him faith which he can exercise in shielding the fiery darts of the devil. The repentant believer is to act on

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this faith and gain victories through claiming the precious promises of God in his behalf. The Life of Faith At times a deep sense of our unworthiness will send a thrill of terror through the soul, but this is no evidence that God has changed toward us, or we toward God. No effort should be made to rein the mind up to a certain intensity of emotion. We may not feel today the peace and joy which we felt yesterday; but we should by faith grasp the hand of Christ, and trust Him as fully in the darkness as in the light. Satan may whisper, "You are too great a sinner for Christ to save." While you acknowledge that you are indeed sinful and unworthy, you may meet the tempter with the cry, "By virtue of the atonement, I claim Christ as my Saviour. I trust not to my own merits, but to the precious blood of Jesus, which cleanses me. This moment I hang my helpless soul on Christ." The Christian life must be a life of constant, living faith. An unyielding trust, a firm reliance upon Christ, will bring peace and assurance to the soul.

Resisting Temptation Be not discouraged because your heart seems hard. Every obstacle, every internal foe, only increases your need of Christ. He came to take away the heart of stone, and give you a heart of flesh. Look to Him for special grace to overcome your peculiar faults. When assailed by temptation, steadfastly resist the evil promptings; say to your soul, "How can I dishonor my Redeemer? I have given myself to

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Christ; I cannot do the works of Satan." Cry to the dear Saviour for help to sacrifice every idol and to put away every darling sin. Let the eye of faith see Jesus standing before the Father's throne, presenting His wounded hands as He pleads for you. Believe that strength comes to you through your precious Saviour.98 A Progressive Work Sanctification is a progressive work. The successive steps are set before us in the words of Peter: "Giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; and to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; and to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ" (2 Peter 1:5-8). "Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall: for so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ" (verses 10, 11). Here is a course by which we may be assured that we shall never fall. Those who are thus working upon the plan of addition in obtaining the Christian graces have the assurance that God will work upon the plan of multiplication in granting them the gifts of His Spirit. Peter addresses those who obtained like precious faith: "Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord" (verse 2). By divine grace, all who will may climb the shining steps from earth to heaven, and at

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last, "with songs and everlasting joy" (Isa. 35:10), enter through the gates into the city of God. Our Saviour claims all there is of us; He asks our first and holiest thoughts, our purest and most intense affection. If we are indeed partakers of the divine nature, His praise will be continually in our hearts and upon our lips. Our only safety is to surrender our all to Him and to be constantly growing in grace and in the knowledge of the truth.99 The reader may say, "I am not living victoriously. I am not even justified. I am a sinner in need of a Saviour. What must I do to be saved?" The answer can be found in a search of the Holy Scriptures. That is how millions have been saved in past ages. Perhaps the best aid in leading the sinner to Christ is the book, Steps to Christ, by Ellen G. White. That book is full of rich detail and wonderful insights. A more simplified aid to the repentant sinner may be found in the author's condensation of Steps to Christ in “Steps to the Messiah,” published in the author's book, The Messianic Redemption of Israel. The basic steps described are below: 1. See God's love for you. 2. See your need of Christ. 3. Repent. 4. Confess your sins. 5. Consecrate yourself to God. 6. Believe you are accepted. 7. Obey God with His help. Follow these steps with Scripture guidance, and you will be safe. ___________________ 1


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330 2

Ibid., p. 623.

3

James White, Life Sketches of James and Ellen G. White, 1888 edition, p. 431. 4

S. N. Haskell, The Cross and Its Shadow (Nashville: Southern Publishing Association, 1970), p. 221. 5

S. N. Haskell, Union Conference Record (Australia), July 10, 1899, p. 4. 6

Ellen G. White, Spiritual Gifts, Vol. 3, p. 135.

7


8

M. L. Andreasen, The Sanctuary Service, pp. 299-321.

9

M. L. Andreasen, The Book of Hebrews, pp. 467, 468.

10

John Wesley, Wesley's Sermons (Kansas City, MO: Nazarene Publishing House, 1939), pp. 12, 13. 11

Ibid., p. 13.

12

Ibid., p. 21.

13


48. 14

Ellen G. White, Steps to Christ, pp. 64, 65.

15

Testimonies for the Church, Vol. 5, op. cit., p. 397.

16

Ellen G. White, Review and Herald, November 29, 1887. 17


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18

Martin Luther, Luther: Early Theological Works, The Library of Christian Classics, Ichthus edition (Louisville, KY: Westminster Press, 1962), Vol. XVI, p. 318-354. 19

Ellen G. White, Steps to Christ, p. 62.

20

Ellen G. White, Review and Herald, November 29, 1887. 21

Ellen G. White, Acts of the Apostles, p. 561.

22

Ibid., pp. 560, 561.

23

Dwight L. Moody, as quoted by Charles W. Colson, Life Sentence (Lincoln, Virginia: Chosen Books, 1979), p. 21. 24


25

Ellen G. White, Education, p. 26.

26

Ibid., p. 29.

27

John Wesley, Wesley's Sermons, (Kansas City, MO: Nazarene Publishing House, 1939), p. 13. 28

Martin Luther, Luther: Early Theological Works, The Library of Christian Classics, Ichthus edition (Louisville, KY: Westminster Press, 1962), Vol. XVI, pp. 317-324. 29


30


355. 31

Ellen G. White, Our High Calling, p. 278.

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32

Ellen G. White, Review and Herald, August 7, 1888.

33


34

Ibid., pp. 426, 427.

35


36

Ellen G. White, Testimonies for the Church, Vol. 5, pp. 472, 475. (Italics added.) 37


38


39

Ellen G. White, Testimonies to Ministers, p 506.

40

Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, Vol. 6, p.

159. 41


214. 42


43

Ellen G. White, Life Sketches of Ellen G. White, p.

242. 44

Testimonies for the Church, Vol. 5, op. cit., p. 475.

45

Ellen G. White, "How to Meet a Controverted Point," Selected Messages, Book One, p. 411. 46

Ibid., p. 413.

47

Ibid., p. 416.

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48


49

Ibid., p. 106.

50

Ibid., p. 110.

51


142. 52

Ibid., Vol. 5, p. 707.

53

Harry W. Lowe, "The Purpose of the Sanctuary Service," Review and Herald, April 9, 1964, p. 7. 54

L. C. Naden, "Christ's Atoning Ministry," Review and Herald, September 10, 1964, p. 4. 55

L. C. Naden, "Christian Perfection, How Do We Attain It?" Review and Herald, September 17, 1964, p. 4. 56

W. P. Bradley, "Limitations of Symbolism," Ministry, October, 1968, p. 21. 57

G. D. Keough, "God's Power to Pardon and Forget," Ministry, June, 1966, p. 37. 58

Ellen G. White, Life Sketches, p. 196.

59

E. J. Waggoner, "The Blotting Out of Sin," Review and Herald, September 30, 1902, p. 8. 60

Alonzo T. Jones, The Consecrated Way to Christian Perfection, p. 124. 61

Eugene W. Farnsworth, "A Personal Testimony," Divine Healing (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald

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334

Publishing Association, 1927), p. 13. 62


475. 63

Ibid., p. 216.

64

Ibid.

65

Ibid., p. 214.

66


67


68

Varner J. Johns, Review and Herald, June 25, 1964, p.

3. 69


70

James White, Life Sketches of James and Ellen G. White, 1888 edition, p. 431. 71

Australian Division Committee, "Into the Holiest Through the Open Door," published by the Defense Literature Committee of the General Conference, December, 1963, p. 6. 72


73

Ibid., p. 649.

74

Ibid., p. 621.

75

Varner J. Johns, Review and Herald, July 2, 1964, pp.

7, 8.

Chapter 16 76


Ellen G. White, Seventh-day Commentary, Vol. 6, p. 1061.

Adventist

335

Bible

77


475. 78

Editors, Review and Herald, September 10, 1964, p.

4. 79

Raymond F. Cottrell, "That Ye May Be Clean," Review and Herald, July 30, 1964, p. 13. 80

Raymond F. Cottrell, "Meaning of the Day of Atonement," Review and Herald, February 18, 1965, p. 15. 81

Alan Starkey, Basic Brinsmead Belief, pp. 8, 9, published 1968 by Defense Literature Committee of the General Conference. 82

Third General Conference "Wieland-Short Manuscript Committee Report," A Warning and its Reception, p. 390. 83

Edward Heppenstall, Definitions of Righteousness (lessons used at Andrews University), pp. 18, 20. 84

Edward Heppenstall, Signs of the Times, December, 1963, pp. 11, 30. 85 Taylor Bunch, Ministry, December, 1965, pp. 7, 9. 86

Ralph Watts, Review and Herald, May 19, 1966, p. 4.

87


475. 88


KEY TO REVIVAL

336 89


976. 90


91

Ibid., p. 63.

92

Ellen G. White, Testimonies to Ministers, pp. 42, 58,

59. 93


380. 94


95


380. 96


976. 97


475. 98

Ellen G. White, The Sanctified Life, pp. 90, 91.

99

Ibid., pp. 94, 95.

Chapter 17 ADVENTISTS BEGIN PROPHECY EMPHASIS

By 1980 the Seventh-day Adventist people seemed to be stuck in the second emphasis issues [righteousness by faith] when God was calling us to advance into the third emphasis subjects [last-day prophecy]. For over a century God's people struggled with the Christ Our Righteousness concepts, and hardly went beyond. However, in 1982 the Encounter Bible lessons came out with a Revelation series. In 1983 the Revelation Seminars were produced. These had a large impact on Adventist evangelism. Then rapid, staggering, and unforeseen world events wakened Adventists and caused a deep interest in Bible prophecy and end-time events. In 1989 Soviet Communism surrendered to the West, the Berlin Wall was torn down, and Eastern Europe had a democratic revolution, opening the way for Protestant evangelization. The events occurred at breakneck speed, reminding Adventists of the following prediction by Ellen White: The agencies of evil are combining their forces and consolidating. They are strengthening for the last great crisis. Great changes are soon to take place in our world, and the final movements will be rapid ones. (Italics supplied.)1 Daniel "Prophecy Seminar" lessons were prepared. Now prophecy seminars are the chief means of evangelism. Books inspired by recent world events include, Pretenders to the Throne, by Roland R. Hegstad (1990),2 Countdown to the Showdown, by Dwight K. Nelson (1992),3 The Jesus Generation, Shaping Up For The Showdown, by Dwight K. Nelson (1993),4 Day of the Dragon, by Clifford Goldstein 337

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(1993),5 The Antichrist and the New World Order, by Marvin Moore (1993),6 The Crisis of the End Time, by Marvin Moore (1992),7 Millennial Fever, by George R. Knight (1993).8 Because of the Vatican's role in the fall of the Iron Curtain, and because the United States suddenly became the world's sole superpower, Adventists experienced a new, heightened interest in the prophecies regarding the papacy and the United States and their joint roles in making a one world government. In the Adventist camp meetings one could sense a new fervor among the laymen and leaders as we approached the end of the millennium. According to the statements of Ellen White which we shall study in the last chapter, the above is just the beginning of a true revival and reformation based on prophecy. Much more is yet to come. But a beginning has been made. We earnestly look forward to the future. We look to divine guidance to mold our revival and reformation after the heavenly pattern. May God take charge in these final critical hours, for: We are standing on the threshold of great and solemn events. Many of the prophecies are about to be fulfilled in quick succession. Every element of power is about to be set to work. Past history will be repeated; old controversies will arouse to new life, and peril will beset God's people on every side. Intensity is taking hold of the human family. It is permeating everything upon the earth. . . .9 Those naming the Seventh-day Adventist Church Babylon, and calling people to come out of her, are sounding the warning, "Behold the Bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him." Undoubtedly this is the counterfeit Midnight Cry. Is it not now time for the true Midnight Cry? The reader is encouraged to study the author's book, The Mystery of the Second Advent, Revised Edition.

Chapter 17 ADVENTISTS BEGIN PROPHECY EMPHASIS

339

____________________ 1


11. 2

Roland R. Hegstad, Pretenders to the Throne (Boise: Pacific Press Publishing Association, 1990). 3

Dwight K. Nelson, Countdown to the Showdown (Fallbrook, CA: Hart Research Center, 1992). 4

Dwight K. Nelson, The Jesus Generation, Shaping Up For The Showdown (Fallbrook, CA: Hart Research Center, 1993). 5

Clifford Goldstein, Day of the Dragon (Boise: Pacific Press Publishing Association, 1993). 6

Marvin Moore, The Antichrist and the New World Order (Boise: Pacific Press, 1993). 7

Marvin Moore, The Crisis of the End Time (Boise: Pacific Press Publishing Association, 1992). 8

George R. Knight, Millennial Fever (Boise: Pacific Press Publishing Association, 1993). 9


Chapter 18 ADVENTIST REVIVAL PATTERNS

POST-1844 HISTORY True Revivals

Counterfeit Revivals

Adventists at a standstill of disappointment and confusion following October 22, 1844. Struggles Over the Law 1. Divine revival and reformation based on the law (Sabbath), 1844-1865. 2. Adventist writers agree that this drove non-Adventists to take an out and out antinomian approach to counteract teaching on Seventh-day Sabbath, 1844end of time.

1. Adventist writers agree this warfare between early Sabbatarian Adventists and the antinomians drove Adventists over the mark to legalism in their zeal to uphold the law, 18651888.

340

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ADVENTIST REVIVAL PATTERNS

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___________________________ Struggles Over the Gospel 2. God supplies antidote for Adventist legalism through 1888 Christ Our Righteousness message brought by Jones and Waggoner, 1888-1900. 1. True to the pattern of the past, Satan first fights true Christ Our Righteousness message with the legalism of some SDA leaders, 1888-1890. Adventist writers are in agreement on this. There is no agreement, however, on our post-1888 history. Some feel Adventists truly accepted Christ Our Righteousness message. Others feel we did not. 2. Satan counterfeited 1888 message with a good deal of Adventist antinomianism. 2. There is yet to be a great movement putting away the Adventist antinomianism among us. ___________________ Struggles Over Prophecy 3. Since 1983 there has been an increased emphasis on prophecy in Revelation Seminars and Prophecy Seminars, which are now the principal means of

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evangelism. The fall of Soviet Communism in 1989, the opening of the Berlin wall, and the democratic revolution of Eastern Europe, and the power of the Vatican in precipitating those events rapidly reawakened Seventh-day Adventists to lastday prophecy fulfillment. The staggering events inspired a number of prophetic emphasis books. A new evangelistic fervor has taken hold of the Adventist laity. Is it not time for a revival and reformation based largely on prophecy, and for a true Midnight Cry in the great centers of population, "Behold the Bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him"?

3. Meanwhile Satan has attacked the year-day principle in Adventist prophecy interpretation. He has challenged the existence of a sanctuary in heaven. He accused Ellen White of gross plagiarism in her writings, ostensibly proving she was not inspired, but all was a "White lie." He has again called the Seventh-day Adventist Church Babylon, and called the remnant saints out of her. He has insisted that probation for the Seventh-day Adventist Church is

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over and that God's faithful ones in her are sealed already (before the Sunday law test). He has sincere deceived ones attempting to give the loud cry to the world and the Midnight Cry, "Behold the Bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him." ____________________________________ Testing Time Then we can expect a great testing time for Seventh-day Adventists and the world. How will we fare with persecution? Will we be ready to be sealed? Will we be ready for Jesus to come, even if He comes at a time we are not expecting Him according to our prophetic charts? Will we fare any better than the Millerites in the 1840s or the Jews at the first advent of Christ? Only a small fraction of God’s people will be ready for a coming of Christ in glory (Isaiah 66; Psalm 50). The rest will be terribly disappointed at not being ready for translation. After Christ returns to heaven, there will be a great reformation among God’s people. Like Ezra, all will be minded to seek the law and to do it. This will be the final reformation.

Chapter 19 ON TO THE FINISH LINE

Not only does the revival and reformation key we have discovered (the three-emphases sequential revival and reformation pattern of history) show us one major current problem in the Seventh-day Adventist church (antinomian confusion), and not only does it help to resolve this problem by giving us a familiarity with different forms of antinomianism and their contrast with the true Christ Our Righteousness message; our revival and reformation key shows us that God is calling us to advance in the third emphasis subjects [last-day prophecy]. The revival and reformation pattern of the ages informs us that the next revival and reformation will be based on prophecy. Our pattern of the ages points to a veritable explosion of prophetic understanding as the key to the next revival and reformation. To be sure, the importance of God's law (first emphasis) and the truths of the gospel (second emphasis) are not to be lost sight of. They are to be reclaimed, polished, and made more glorious in a new spiritual setting—a prophetic message theme. However, a greater prophetic understanding will bring the next revival. Are we mistaken in reading the pattern of the ages? Is the pattern reliable? Do we have independent, inspired evidence that points to prophecy as the key to revival and reformation in our day? If our people were half awake, if they realized the nearness of the events portrayed in the Revelation, a reformation would be wrought in our churches, and many more would believe the message.1 Notice also this statement: 344

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ON TO THE FINISH LINE

345

When the books of Daniel and Revelation are better understood, believers will have an entirely different religious experience. They will be given such glimpses of the open gates of heaven that heart and mind will be impressed with the character that all must develop in order to realize the blessedness which is to be the reward of the pure in heart.2 Our historical theological pattern does not lead us to a wrong expectation in envisioning a prophetic revival in our time. Inspiration confirms that a reformation will come when "the books of Daniel and Revelation are better understood." Yet the rehearsal of history at this time is to be more profound than merely that the next revival and reformation medium shall be prophetic. The special message proclaimed in the summer of 1844 was, "Behold, the Bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet Him." Notice the work and message God again has in store for us at this time: The work in the cities is the essential work for this time, and is now to be taken hold of in faith. When the cities are worked as God would have them, the result will be the setting in operation of a mighty movement, such as we have not yet witnessed. May the Lord give wisdom to our brethren, that they may know how to carry forward the work in harmony with His will. With mighty power the cry is to be sounded in our large centers of population, "Behold, the Bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet Him." (Italics supplied.)3 Prophecies, many prophecies are to be studied, not just Daniel and Revelation.

346

KEY TO REVIVAL Daniel and Revelation must be studied, as well as other prophecies of the Old and New Testaments. Let there be light, yes, light, in your dwellings. For this we need to pray. The Holy Spirit, shining upon the sacred page, will open our understanding, that we may know what is truth.4

The secret of former revivals will give power to the final prophetic movement—the revealing of mysteries from the word of God long hidden from the minds of men. Those who eat the flesh and drink the blood of the Son of God will bring from the books of Daniel and Revelation truth that is inspired by the Holy Spirit. They will start into action forces that cannot be repressed. The lips of children will be opened to proclaim the mysteries that have been hidden from the minds of men.5 What could catalyze such a revival and reformatory movement? The answer perhaps lies in two obscure and little quoted articles written in the Review and Herald by Ellen White, both entitled, "A Test of Gratitude and Loyalty." Tucked into these articles primarily on tithes and offerings are significant clues as to the content of the successful revival and reformation message that shall come in the future. One of the articles was published in the November 10, 1896 Review and Herald, the other in the February 4, 1902 issue. The 1896 article says the deep moving of the Spirit of God would be seen among us if we studied certain books of the Bible. The 1902 article reports an impressive dream Ellen White had in which those books were studied by a large group of ministers and their families in a large meeting, and the deep moving of the Spirit of God was felt among them. Notice what Ellen White said in those two articles. In the November 10, 1896 article she said:

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I have been deeply impressed with the importance of studying the book of Daniel in connection with the smaller prophets, especially Malachi. And we need to give careful attention also to the lessons taught in the building of the tabernacle and the temple, and in the temple service. Through the prophets God has given a delineation of what will come to pass in the last days of this earth's history, and the Jewish economy is full of instruction for us. . . . The whole sanctuary service was designed to impress the people with the fact that the things which God has set apart for himself are holy. They were ever to observe the distinction between the sacred and the common. Holy things must be kept holy. When these things are studied and heeded as the message of God to every soul, we shall see the deep movings of his Spirit among us. . . . Now notice the 1902 dream: In the night season I was in my dreams in a large meeting, with ministers, their wives, and their children. I wondered that the company present was mostly made up of ministers and their families. The prophecy of Malachi was brought before them in connection with Daniel, Zephaniah, Haggai, and Zechariah. The teaching of these books was carefully investigated. The building of the temple, and the temple service, were considered. There was close searching of the Scriptures in regard to the sacred character of all that appertained to the temple service. Through the prophets, God has given a delineation of what will come to pass in the last

348

KEY TO REVIVAL days of this earth's history; and the Jewish economy is full of instruction for us. . . . The whole sanctuary service was designed to impress the people with the fact that the things which God has set apart for Himself are holy. They were ever to observe the distinction between the sacred and the common. Holy things must be kept holy. All these things were closely studied by the company before me in my dream. Scripture was compared with scripture, and application was made of the word of God to our own time. After a diligent searching of the Scriptures, there was a period of silence. A very solemn impression was made upon the people. The deep moving of the Spirit of God was manifest among us. All were troubled, all seemed to be convicted, burdened, and distressed, as they saw their own life and character represented in the word of God, and the Holy Spirit was making application to their hearts. Conscience was aroused. The record of past days was making its disclosure of the vanity of human inventions. The Holy Spirit brought all things to their remembrance. As they reviewed their past history there were revealed defects of character that ought to have been discerned and corrected. They saw how through the grace of Christ the character should have been transformed. The workers had known the sorrow of defeat in the work entrusted to their hands, when they should have had victory. The Holy Spirit presented before them Him whom they had offended. They saw that God will not only reveal himself as a God of mercy and forgiveness and long forbearance, but by terrible things in righteousness He will make it manifest that He is not a man that He should lie.

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Words were spoken by One, saying, "The hidden, inner life will be revealed. As if reflected in a mirror, all the inward working of the character will be made manifest. The Lord would have you examine your own lives, and see how vain is human glory." "Deep calleth unto deep at the noise of thy waterspouts; all thy waves and thy billows are gone over me. Yet the Lord will command His lovingkindness in the daytime, and in the night His song shall be with me, and my prayer unto the God of my life."6 The prophesied last-day revival is to be based on all the major Biblical prophetic books, including Daniel and Revelation. But the 1902 dream brings to view a specific message from Malachi in connection with Daniel, Zephaniah, Haggai, and Zechariah. Perhaps the message from these books is to start the reformation and pave the way for further prophetic messages from other books. Actually, the 1902 dream does not clearly spell out the prophetic message presented in the large ministerial meeting, but only gives clues as to the message content, and predicts the response of the ministerial audience. But the clues are enough to indicate that this is indeed the type of message that is needed at this time. The message does not strain out the divine justice from the divine benevolence, nor sink God's love to the level of a sentiment as do the counterfeit movements of the day. The ministers and their families were startled and convicted with the fact that by "terrible things in righteousness He will make it manifest that He is not a man that He should lie." Through the Malachi message ministers could see the error of so emphasizing the love of God in evangelism that the congregation loses sight of the startling truths of the judgment. The 1902 dream predicts that the message given in the large ministerial meeting will point out the grave error of

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KEY TO REVIVAL

mixing together the sacred and the common. Is this not just the type of message that is needed now that in some programs we have copied the popular revival movements of the day in incorporating vulgar jargon, psychedelic art, and contemporary vernacular music into the presentation of the gospel? In the dream, the laborers had known the sorrow of defeat when they should have had victory. Reports were coming in that were bearing witness to the vanity of human inventions. Such a situation could easily be fulfilled right now. Perhaps it is time for this ministerial meeting. Already, youth programs incorporating jargon, psychedelic art, etc., have lost their appeal for most people—even to those who first praised and adopted the methods. Church programs utilizing these methods, for the most part, have fallen into disuse. The youth are realizing the emptiness of such programs, and are searching for something of more lasting value. The 1902 dream portrayed all present at the meeting as burdened, distressed. All seemed convicted. The Holy Spirit was making application of the message to individual hearts. Here is presented no flattering, easy-going, popular, modern-day revival message. No, the dream presents indications of a true revival and reformation. All true revivals and reformations we have studied have been characterized by deep, heartfelt conviction of guilt, and sorrow for sin. Penitent, heartfelt mourning for sin has always accompanied seasons of the refreshing presence of the Holy Spirit and the presentation of the cutting truths of scripture. Modern man naturally shuns such an experience, but it is needful. It must be experienced before the Lord can pour out His blessing in enriching the life. All must "fall upon the Rock, Jesus Christ, and be broken"— penitent—or else finally that Rock must fall on them and "grind them to powder." (Matt. 21:44.) God must pour upon us the spirit of grace and of supplications. We must

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look upon Him whom we have pierced. (Zechariah 12:10.) We must see Him whom we have offended.

Carefully, step by step, we have traced the course of religious history to the present. We have noted the trends, the patterns in revivals and reformations. In our minds we now see a panoramic sweep of the past, the present, and the future in the change and counter change of the theological emphases in the message themes by Christ and Satan. We see where we are now—between the second and third emphases—two thirds of the way home. The challenge now is to master the second emphasis issues and advance in the revival and reformation on prophecy—the third emphasis area. May we also pay attention to the law and the Gospel as we prepare for translation at a glorious coming of Christ during probationary time (Isaiah 66; Psalm 50). Let's go for the finish line! We see the kind of message theme that is needed at this time in earth's history to bring about a revival and reformation (a prophetic message). We know that there are yet truths to be revealed that will start into action forces that cannot be repressed—the lips of children will be opened to proclaim mysteries that have been hidden from the minds of men. We know even the books of the Bible from which the initial prophetic revival message should come, the type of message it should be, and strong clues as to its content. With this insight, we are on the very verge of the long hoped-for last-day revival and reformation. The challenge is now to research carefully the named prophetic books (Malachi, Daniel, Zephaniah, Haggai, and Zechariah) to discover the actual message. Here is a field open to any sincere, earnest Bible scholar. Each person should feel the challenge to dig for himself, looking for the special gems of truth needed at this time. Each person should also feel duty bound to consider carefully the results of the research of any other Bible scholar whom he feels to

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be sincere. This is an obligation we each have under God. We must candidly examine the views of others regardless of our own personal bias. If scripture supports new views, we should take our stand upon them, regardless of the consequences. If the positions are erroneous, we should feel equally duty bound to search out the strong Bible reasons pointing out the errors and establishing the truth. We should never refuse to examine the Scriptures with those who, we have reason to believe, desire to know what is truth. Suppose a brother held a view that differed from yours, and he should come to you, proposing that you sit down with him and make an investigation of that point in the Scriptures; should you rise up, filled with prejudice, and condemn his ideas, while refusing to give him a candid hearing? The only right way would be to sit down as Christians and investigate the position presented in the light of God's word, which will reveal truth and unmask error.7 Finally, the challenge is to the Adventist church leadership to call the large ministerial meeting—at whatever the expense—should there be evidence that this revival message has been discovered and is ready for presentation. Thus could Ellen White's 1902 dream be fulfilled. Thus could this passage of scripture be fulfilled in Adventism. Blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly: Gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the children, and those that suck the breasts: let the bridegroom go forth of his chamber, and the bride out of her closet. Let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say,

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Spare thy people, O Lord, and give not thine heritage to reproach, that the heathen should rule over them: wherefore should they say among the people, Where is their God? Then will the Lord be jealous for his land, and pity his people. Joel 2:15-18. Soon the oft dreamed of, and much talked about lastday revival and reformation will be a reality. God's people will be purified by the blood of sprinkling and anointed by the Holy Spirit. Then the work will go like fire in the stubble. The sick will be healed, and signs and wonders will follow the believers. In a short time the way will be prepared for the coming of Jesus Christ Himself. Then, at last, the manifold problems of mankind may be solved. Inspiration reveals we may have a part in hastening that day (2 Peter 3:12, margin). May we devote our lives to that first and most important work—seeking a revival of true godliness? Let us dig deeper in our study of the word of God, so that we may have an intelligent knowledge as to how a revival and reformation can be brought about. And let us not fail to apply to our own hearts and lives the lessons that we learn. Thus only will our words have effect when we share with others exciting spiritual discoveries. __________________ 1

Ibid., p. 118.

2

Ibid., p. 114.

3

Ellen G. White, Medical Ministry, p. 331.

4


5

Ibid., p. 116.

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KEY TO REVIVAL 6

Ellen G. White, Review and Herald, February 4, 1902.

7


BIBLIOGRAPHY Non Ellen White Sources Books. Andreasen, M. L. The Book of Hebrews. Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1948. Andreasen, M. L. Letters to the Churches. Arizona: Leaves of Autumn Books, 1991.

Payson,

Andreasen, M. L. The Sanctuary Service. Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1947. Clark, Jerome L. 1844: Religious Movements. Nashville: Southern Publishing Association, 1968. Volume I. Colson, Charles W. Chosen Books, 1979.

Life Sentence.

Lincoln, Virginia:

Farnsworth, Eugene W. Divine Healing. Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1927. Froom, LeRoy Edwin. Movement of Destiny. Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1971. Froom, LeRoy Edwin. The Prophetic Faith of Our Fathers. Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1950. Vols. II, IV. Haskell, S. N. The Cross and Its Shadow. Southern Publishing Association, 1970.

Nashville:

Jarnes, Peter C. The Sanctuary Restored. Lincoln, NB: Published by Peter C. Jarnes, 1969.

355

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Jones, Alonzo T. The Consecrated Way to Christian Perfection. Mountain View, CA: Pacific Press Publishing Association, 1905. Luther, Martin. Luther: Early Theological Works, The Library of Christian Classics. Ichthus edition. Louisville, KY: Westminster Press, 1962. Volume XVI. Nichols, Francis D. The Midnight Cry. Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1944. Olson, A. V. Through Crisis to Victory, 1888-1901. Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald, 1966. Seventh-day Adventist Believe . . . 27, A Biblical Exposition of Fundamental Doctrines. Ministerial Association, General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, 6840 Eastern Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20012. Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary. Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1957. Volume 6. Seventh-day Adventists Answer Questions on Doctrine. Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1957. Spalding, Arther Whitefield. Origin and History of Seventhday Adventists. Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1962. Volume 2. Waggoner, E. J. Christ and His Righteousness. Nashville: Southern Publishing Association, Facsimile Reproduction 1972.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

357

Waggoner, E. J. The Glad Tidings, Studies in Galatians. Mountain View, CA: Pacific Press Publishing Association, 1972. Webster's II New Riverside Desk Dictionary, Home and Office Edition. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, Company, 1988. Webster's New Twentieth Century Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged, Second Edition. New York: World Pub. Co.,1968. Wesley, John. Wesley's Sermons. Nazarene Publishing House, 1939.

Kansas City, MO:

White, James. Life Sketches of James and Ellen G. White, 1888 edition. Wieland, Robert J. An Introduction to the 1888 Message Itself. P. O. Box 408, Baker, Oregon 97814: The Adventist Forum Association, 1976. Wieland, Robert J. and D. K. Short. "An Explicit Confession . . . Due the Church". Printed in U.S.A., 1972.

Articles Bradley, W.P. "Limitations of Symbolism." October, 1968, p. 21.

Ministry,

Bunch, Taylor. Ministry, December, 1965, pp. 7, 9. Cottrell, Raymond F. "Meaning of the Day of Atonement." Review and Herald, February 18, 1965, p. 15. Cottrell, Raymond F. "That Ye May Be Clean." Review and Herald, July 30, 1964, p. 13.

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Editors. Review and Herald, September 10, 1964. Haskell, S. N. Union Conference Record (Australia), July 10, 1899, p. 4. Heppenstall, Edward. Signs of the Times, December, 1963, pp. 11, 30. Holdsworth, Angela S. "Confessions of a Young Adult." Adventist Review, August 5, 1993, p. 13. Johns, Varner J. Review and Herald, June 25, 1964, p. 3. Johns, Varner J. Review and Herald, July 2, 1964, pp. 7, 8. Keough, G. D. "God's Power to Pardon and Forget." Ministry, June, 1966, p. 37. Lowe, Harry W. "The Purpose of the Sanctuary Service." Review and Herald, April 9, 1964, p. 7. Naden, L. C. "Christian Perfection, How Do We Attain It?" Review and Herald, September 17, 1964, p. 4. Naden, L. C. "Christ's Atoning Ministry." Herald, September 10, 1964, p. 4.

Review and

Waggoner, E. J. "The Blotting Out of Sin." Review and Herald, September 30, 1902, p. 8. Watts, Ralph. Review and Herald, May 19, 1966, p. 4.

BIBLIOGRAPHY Ellen White Sources Books The Acts of the Apostles Christ's Object Lessons Counsels on Stewardship Counsels To Writers and Editors The Desire of Ages Early Writings Education Evangelism Gospel Workers The Great Controversy Life Sketches of Ellen G. White Medical Ministry Ministry of Healing My Life Today Our High Calling Patriarchs and Prophets Prophets and Kings The Sanctified Life Selected Messages, Book One and Book Two Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, Vols. 5, 6, 7 Spiritual Gifts, Vol. 3 Steps to Christ The Temptations of Christ Testimonies for the Church, Vols. 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9 Testimonies to Ministers Welfare Ministry Articles General Conference Bulletin, 1891, p. 257. General Conference Bulletin, 1893, p. 419. Review and Herald, Jan. 25, 1887. Review and Herald, Feb. 15, 1887.

359

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Review and Herald, March 22, 1887. Review and Herald, Nov. 29, 1887. Review and Herald, Dec. 13, 1887 Review and Herald, April 17, 1888. Review and Herald, July 24, 1888. Review and Herald, July 31, 1888. Review and Herald, Aug. 7, 1888. Review and Herald, Aug. 28, 1888. Review and Herald, Dec. 18, 1888. Review and Herald, May 28, 1889. Review and Herald, Feb. 18, 1890. Review and Herald, March 11, 1890. Review and Herald, Nov. 22, 1892. Review and Herald, Feb. 27, 1894. Review and Herald, Nov. 10, 1896. Review and Herald, Dec. 15, 1896. Review and Herald, Feb. 4,1902. Signs of the Times, May 29, 1901. The Youth's Instructor, Apr. 25,1901.

Letters Letter to Dr. J. H. Kellogg, "Elmshaven," Sanitarium, CA, August 5, 1902. Letter to Elder A. O. Tait, Aug. 27, 1896. Letter to Judge Jesse Arthur, "Elmshaven," Sanitarium, CA, January 15, 1903. Letter to O. A. Olsen, "Sunnyside," Cooranbong, N.S.W., May 31,1896.

This book answers the following type of questions: Why hasn't Jesus come yet? Is it because God's people need a revival and reformation? How can we obtain an awakening? Can we secure clues from past revivals? Is there a recurring pattern in historical revivals and reformations? Where are we now relative to that pattern? What is the difference between legalism and antinomianism? How do views on the atonement, the nature of Christ, and the sealing impact our quest for a revival and reformation? What is the final revival type? Are we nearing it? These pages prepare the reader for the final revival and reformation. Some of the answers offered in this book will surprise you. They could even change your life.