Advent Movement Survey 14

Transcription

1 Advent Movement Survey 14 Righteousness Continued Study given by W. D. Frazee - March 21, 1962 We will begin our study this afternoon with Book 1 of Selected Messages, page 363. There is a very interesting and significant statement here regarding the message of righteousness by faith (which Elders Waggoner and Jones were leading out in presenting during the 1890s, - from 1888 on) and the relationship between that message and the loud cry. You will notice at the top of the page these two sentences: 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 Selected Messages, Book 1, page 363. Now, I don t pretend to know all that that means, but I submit to you that however men may discuss it and explain it, there is a plain statement here that the loud cry of the third angel has already begun. That is a most interesting and significant statement. You will notice the date of it is 1892: The loud cry of the third angel has already begun in the revelation of the righteousness of Christ, the sin-pardoning Redeemer Selected Messages, Book 1, page 363. There was something very important about that message of righteousness by faith, wasn t there, friends? Something was happening back then in Now, having introduced that, I lay it aside and I will come to some other statements, because we need to have clearly in our minds that the fullness of the loud cry message comes after certain events in the religious and political world. For instance, here in Volume 7 of the Commentaries, page 984, Sister White, writing in 1904 (that is twelve years after the other statement) says: The prophecies in the eighteenth of Revelation will soon be fulfilled. During the proclamation of the third angel s message another angel is to come down from heaven having great power, and the earth is to be lightened with his glory. The Spirit of the Lord will so graciously bless Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, Volume 7, page 984. And so forth. You notice the future tense in speaking of it. So, while in 1892 the statement is made that the loud cry has begun in certain things that were happening there, you notice Παγε 1 οφ 14

2 she says in the next sentence there: This is the beginning of the light of the angel whose glory shall fill the whole earth Selected Messages, Book 1, page 363. So there is a fullness of glory coming in the final loud cry work. And we must not become confused over that. In fact, if you look at the message there in Revelation 18:1-4, the scripture itself makes clear that the fullness of that message can be given only when the fall of Babylon is what? Complete. Commenting on that, you may put in your notes Great Controversy, page 603 and Great Controversy, page 390. We should study those two pages and note that the complete fulfillment of Revelation 18 is in the future, after the churches of Protestantism have united with one another and with the papacy in enthroning Sunday, the idol sabbath, and enforcing it by union with the state. This completes the fall of Babylon and thus makes relevant and timely the total message of the loud cry. So I repeat, the fullness of the loud cry obviously still lies ahead of us, and has always been ahead. And that is not in any way contradictory to this statement which we have read, about the loud cry beginning back then, in the righteousness by faith message. Now, how did that begin? In what sense did the loud cry begin in that message? Well, let us notice in Revelation 18 what it says about that. Another mighty angel comes down from heaven having what? Great power, and the earth was lightened with his glory, and he cried mightily with a strong voice, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, and so forth. You notice, it s a burst of glory. But what is the glory of our Lord? What is the glory of God all the way through the Bible? His character. That s right. And a revelation of that character is, of course, just another way of speaking of His righteousness, for His righteousness is His character, is it not? You cannot separate them. And it is as the character of God is revealed to the world fully in the loud cry that the glory of God is seen as it has never yet before been seen in and upon His people. Notice this in Christ s Object Lessons: Those who wait for the Bridegroom s coming are to say to the people, Behold your God! The last rays of merciful light, the last message of mercy to be given to the world, is a revelation of His character of love Christ s Object Lessons, page 415. A revelation of His character of love. That sentence would be worth committing to memory. The last rays of merciful light, the last message of mercy to be given to the world, is a revelation of His character of love Christ s Object Lessons, page 415. Now, that is what God was seeking to lead His people into in the 1888 message. And as it was given from place to place after that 1888 conference, He was seeking to lead His people into an appreciation of, and an acceptance of the righteousness of Christ, that the character of Παγε 2 οφ 14

3 God might be seen in their lives. I want to ask you something friends. Can we ever impart these things to the world until we have received them ourselves? Why, no. Merely preaching a sermon on the glory of God, or the law of God, or the character of God, or the righteousness of God, or the love of God, will not in itself produce any particular results. The power of the message comes by the presence of the Holy Spirit in the lives of those who are giving the message. As their lives come into harmony with the message, there is tremendous power. That is the power of the loud cry. And insofar as some among God s people were beginning to receive that message, and the fruits of that message were being seen in their lives, in that way, to that point, to that degree, the loud cry was beginning back then. Let s notice this sentence again, there on page 363 of Book 1, Selected Messages: 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 Selected Messages, Book 1, page 363. If we may represent it here as a crescendo - I think that is a very good diagram because Sister White speaks more than once of the message swelling into the loud cry. We are not to think, then, of the loud cry, simply as something that we come up to, and then, all of a sudden, there is a great burst, nothing before that, and everything after that date. Rather, we want to get the picture of the message swelling into the loud cry. Now, I want to ask you something then, and here is a very meaningful question. If this is so, was it God s plan that that message of 1888 should continue to swell by the acceptance of more people, and by all those who accepted it more fully, until it should eventually reach the fullness of glory that Revelation 18:1 speaks of? Was that God s plan? Apparently. Otherwise, there is no point in the use of this expression: 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 Selected Messages, Book 1, page 363. Then I ask you this question, do you suppose it was the Lord s plan that it should take all these years since 1888? No. As Elder Daniels, who for many years was president of the General Conference, in his book, Christ Our Righteousness - written over thirty years after the 1888 conference - says: This message has never yet had full course as it should have had Elder A. G. Daniells, Christ Our Righteousness. And yet dear friends, as we review what was given back then, and the glorious light that God Παγε 3 οφ 14

4 gave His people all through the 1890s and after, in the books of the Spirit of Prophecy on this subject - like Steps to Christ, The Desire of Ages, Mount of Blessing, Christ s Object Lessons, and many others- I say as we review all that, I don t think we need to believe for a moment that there is some little twist of theology or some big twist of theology, that if everybody had accepted back then, or if everybody would accept today, that that would end the work in a blaze of glory. It is the experience of entering into the righteousness of Christ which constitutes the focal point of all the preaching, isn t it? And unless that takes place, the best preaching in the world won t accomplish it. Certainly we must give the Lord credit for giving us in the inspired writings of the Spirit of Prophecy the very light that He wanted us to have on righteousness by faith. Don t you think so? And when we remember that the Spirit of Prophecy plainly states that even before 1888, if all who had worked in the Advent movement of 1844 had accepted the third angel s message, and united in proclaiming it, we could have been in the kingdom even before 1888, we can see that what is needed all the way along, is a heart acceptance. Now, with those thoughts before us, I would like to study with you several statements, particularly in the book Testimonies to Ministers, showing how this message was received back then. We have looked at some statements on this in our last two lessons, but there is some more we want to study today. I want to study it for two reasons. First, that we may, perhaps, get a bit of an idea why the message didn t swell fully into the loud cry in its fullness. Second, (and perhaps this is more important for you and me) if that was the beginning of the loud cry, and yet the fullness of the loud cry has not developed yet, will those who enter into the loud cry experience, and give the loud cry message, have to succeed where others have failed? You can see that, can t you? Whatever the difficulty was back then in the 1890s, you and I must meet it in our own experience, and the church must meet it. You remember in our last study, I brought you a very important letter from Elder A. V. Olsen, for many years vice-president of the General Conference, dealing with the suggestion on the part of some, that the General Conference, in conference assembled, should pass a resolution repudiating the rejection of that message. But as he pointed out, the General Conference never by any vote rejected the message back then, therefore no vote of the General Conference today, could rescind an action which was never taken. That is very clear. He points out, I read it to you from the Review last week, that the essential thing is the attitude that you and I take personally, individually. Those men are dead and gone, back then. What the church today does, must be a matter of personal acceptance. But we study these things that happened back then because it happens with movements as it does with individuals; God leads His people around to a point and if they don t take hold of it, then by and by they have to be led around again. Did it happen with Israel? And it happens with each of us personally. It will happen with this movement. Then let us focus on what we have studied these last fifteen minutes right on this point. If the loud cry was beginning in that message back then, and if there was a failure on the part of some to take hold of that which would have brought that loud cry to its fullness, is it a good thing for you and me to study that, so that we will see the barriers that have to be broken Παγε 4 οφ 14

5 through, the failures that have to be remedied, and the lessons that have to be learned, before we can go on into the fullness of the loud cry? That is the great reason in studying, the great reason. So let s see what happened back then. I would like to make this point very plain. Some of the statements we are going to read this afternoon reflect very much on those who criticized Jones and Waggoner. Some of the statements we are going to read sound like that those who were rejecting the message and messengers were rejecting the Spirit of God. I say they sound like that. That s the truth. But do not, because of those statements, jump to the conclusion that Jones and Waggoner were fully sanctified men and that they made no mistakes. We have already pointed out that there were some things they taught that Sister White didn t feel free to identify herself with. But in my study next week, the Lord willing, I shall have the painful but important task of tracing the downfall of those men, and of showing what finally happened to them. As I think you all know, they finally found themselves outside of this movement. Now, as we shall see when we study their lives, there were seeds in their hearts all the way through this experience which finally bore a harvest that put them outside. That teaches you and me a very important lesson. That is that even though God may be using us, it shouldn t give us an overconfidence and it shouldn t make us blind to our faults. It should teach us also that if God chooses to rebuke those who oppose us, it shouldn t inflate or exalt us, neither should it lead us to feel that we are right in everything. It should also lead us to the very important realization that simply because men finally fail, is no reason to think that God hasn t used them previously. All of those lessons are important. In the book Testimonies to Ministers, we will start with page 80, and notice some sentences there regarding the attitudes towards Jones and Waggoner. The references which we shall study this afternoon cover the period from 1888 up to as late as During all that time there were some who appreciated the message of Jones and Waggoner. Some who were definitely opposing it. I am not limiting the period by those dates. I am simply saying that it s within those dates that we are studying this afternoon. We read: Some have been cultivating hatred against the men whom God has commissioned to bear a special message to the world. They began this satanic work at Minneapolis Testimonies to Ministers, pages 79, 80. Where did this work of opposition begin? When was that? Now watch: Afterward, when they saw and felt the demonstration of the Holy Spirit testifying that the message was of God, they hated it the more, because it was a testimony against them Testimonies to Ministers, pages 80. One of the things which will stand out vividly in our study this afternoon is the great danger of ever taking a wrong position. It is very hard to change. One of the greatest reasons that Παγε 5 οφ 14

6 certain men did not ever yield for year after year to these messages, was that they had opposed them in Just like back in the days of Jesus, those who rejected the message of John the Baptist didn t get much help from Jesus messages, did they? And when they started in to reject Jesus messages, then every time He did something more wonderful it only made them more enraged and adamant. So it is a very dangerous thing to reject the message of God. So these opposers, it says, began this satanic work at Minneapolis. Afterward, when they saw and felt the demonstration of the Holy Spirit testifying that the message was of God, they hated it the more, because it was a testimony against them. They would not humble their hearts to repent, to give God the glory, and vindicate the right. They went on in their own spirit, filled with envy, jealousy, and evil surmisings, as did the Jews. They opened their hearts to the enemy of God and man. Yet these men have been holding positions of trust, and have been molding the work after their own similitude, as far as they possibly could Testimonies to Ministers, pages 80. What were some of these opposers holding? Positions of trust, and seeking to do what? Mold the work, yet they were opposing the message of righteousness by faith. I think this would be as good a place as any for me to point out a very important truth. And if you forget everything else we study this afternoon, be sure you remember this: There are those outside this church today (and even inside the church, I am sorry to say) who would like to create the impression that God s work of reformation and bringing righteousness is a lay-movement. That it begins and is largely carried on by unheard-of people, and that the leaders reject it. That is a false concept. It is not borne out by the references. We must never think that the issue in 1888 and 1890 and 1895 was an issue between leadership at the top on the wrong side, and a group carrying the message of righteousness by faith which were in revolt, or working independently of the leadership of the church. That is a false concept entirely as it relates to 1888 and the 1890s. And since it is, it would certainly be wrong to apply such a false concept and project it on further into the future work of the loud cry. No, instead of this, let us see what really happened. Instead of the line of cleavage being between the leadership of the church on one side and laymen on the other [it was split on both sides]. The line of cleavage was not a horizontal line between leadership and laity. The line of cleavage was a vertical line. Nothing can be clearer in reading the records of 1888 and onward. There were some leaders who were on the right side. There were some who were on the wrong side. There were some young ministers who were on the right side. There were some that were on the wrong side. There were some laymen that were on the right side. There were some that were on the wrong side. And once you get that picture, it s an entirely different approach to this thing than the critics of this movement would like to present, concerning 1888 and thereafter. And I repeat, it bears most Παγε 6 οφ 14

7 directly on the issues of the future. So these who began a satanic work at Minneapolis, and afterward, when they saw and felt the demonstration of the Holy Spirit hated it the more (Testimonies to Ministers, page 80), some of these were men who way on into the mid 1890s were holding what? Positions of trust, positions of trust. To further strengthen the idea that there were strong leaders on the right side of this thing, remember, friends, that Elder Jones and Elder Waggoner were prominent in the messages borne at every General Conference from 1888 on, for years. They were leading speakers at General Conference after General Conference. They traveled extensively between General Conferences. They weren t going out and holding little meetings on the side in opposition to the church and its leadership. They were speaking in our large churches and to great audiences. And Sister White, on many occasions, was present with them, adding the authority of her message to their message. So let us never get the idea that Jones and Waggoner were two young upstarts off on the outskirts of the movement somewhere, and that the leadership of the church was united against them. Not true at all. The references will not bear it out. Some of the leaders doubted their work and criticized it and opposed it. Some upheld it and rejoiced in it. That s the truthful picture. But the thing we want to note is the great danger that those men were in who did oppose and reject the work of Jones and Waggoner. Let us turn now to pages 412 and 413 of this same book. One of the things that those who opposed the message did was to oppose the messengers. That was a very natural thing to do. It s an easy thing to do. In The Review and Herald of May 27, 1890, Sister White wrote: Some have turned from the message of the righteousness of Christ to criticize the men and their imperfections because they do not speak the message of truth with all the grace and polish desirable. Christ has registered all the hard, proud, sneering speeches spoken against His servants as against Himself Review and Herald, Jones was not as polished a man as many of our ministers were, and so those who were opposing him and his message, pointed out his errors. And they were errors, but God was using him in spite of those. Another thing that they were opposed on, as we shall see now in this page I have asked you to turn to, was that they spoke so strongly: Rather than sit in judgment upon men whom God has accepted to do Him service, let the burden of their prayer be, night and day, that the Lord may send forth more laborers into His vineyard. Ministers, do not dishonor your God and grieve His Holy Spirit, by casting reflections on the ways and manners of the men whom He would choose. God knows the character. He sees the temperament of the men He has chosen. He knows that none but earnest, firm, determined, strong-feeling men will Παγε 7 οφ 14

8 view this work in its vital importance, and will put such firmness and decision into their testimonies that they will make a break against the barriers of Satan Testimonies to Ministers, page 412. So even though these men weren t perfect and even though they had to be reproved at times, Jones, in particular, for being a bit harsh, nevertheless God selected them because, shall we say, they were the best material He could find available. If today, down here, God is using somebody, and you and I find some defect in the way he presents things, might we, if we are not careful, use that as a reason for rejecting the work of the Spirit of God? A very important lesson, isn t it? God gives men counsel and reproof for their good. He has sent His message, telling them what was needed for the time Did you accept the message?... You sat still and did nothing. You left the word of the Lord to fall unheeded to the ground; and now the Lord has taken men who were boys when you were standing at the forefront of the battle, and has given to them the message and the work which you did not take upon you. Will you be stumbling blocks to them? Will you criticize? Will you say, They are getting out of their place? Yet you did not fill the place they are now called to fill Testimonies to Ministers, page 413. Was there opposition to them because they weren t quite as old as some of those who were opposing them? Apparently that is true. Before I leave that, I want to give another statement from the Review and Herald of May 27, It fits in with what we have just read there. It shows that one of the reasons that certain leaders found it difficult to accept these men is simply this: they weren t consulted before God used them. That is a difficult thing for human nature to take, isn t it? A very difficult thing. Those whom God has sent with the message are only men, but what is the character of the message which they bear? Will you dare to turn from or make light of the warnings because God did not consult you as to what would be preferred? Review and Herald, May 27, In this same Review and Herald of May 27, 1890, notice again how Sister White links this work with the loud cry: Some have turned from the message of the righteousness of Christ to criticize the men. The third angel s message will not be comprehended. The light which will lighten the earth with its glory will be called a false light by those who refuse to walk in its advancing glory. We entreat of you who oppose the light of truth to stand out of the way of God s people Review and Παγε 8 οφ 14

9 Herald, May 27, Notice how she links this with the loud cry. She says that the work of the loud cry will be called what? A false light, by those that refuse to walk in its advancing glory. This is in harmony with the statement in Testimonies to Ministers, page 300, that some won t discern the work of the loud cry and will oppose it. But now, turning to page 407 of Testimonies to Ministers (by the way I want you to study this entire chapter), I want to call your attention to just a few statements. Sister White speaks here of the controversy waxing stronger. And in the middle of this paragraph, she speaks of planting the standard of Christ s righteousness in the church and as this is done, the great controversy will wax stronger and stronger. Isn t it strange that planting the standard of Christ s righteousness in the church would create any controversy? Isn t that strange? Do you know why it does, friends? That s the thing you ought to ask yourself as you study. If you study the life of Christ you see the reason. The very purity of His life, the righteousness of His life, was a rebuke to what? All sin and all selfishness. That is why it creates controversy. Mind will be arrayed against mind, plans against plans, principles of heavenly origin against principles of Satan. On page 408, she speaks of those who see no necessity for reform, so they reject the words of the Lord, and hate him who reproveth at the gate. On page 409, she speaks of unsanctified ministers who are arraying themselves against God and by their actions say concerning Christ, Not this Man, but Barabbas. Isn t that a striking picture, friends? That our people at that time were facing a choice like the people who stood there in Pilot s judgment hall? And then at the bottom of 409 (and keep in mind that this is all in the setting of the controversy over righteousness by faith in the 1890s. That is very clear as you read the whole chapter. We have already called attention to page 413 on this point. This is all part of this chapter. We are going back now, to get the setting). After speaking of these unsanctified ministers that oppose this work she says: Many will stand in our pulpits with the torch of false prophecy in their hands, kindled from the hellish torch of Satan. If doubts and unbelief are cherished, the faithful ministers will be removed from the people who think they know so much Testimonies to Ministers, page 409. Then back there, and at all times, does God give people a certain amount of choice as to what they listen to? Yes. It s is always true, friends. Those who want a message which will quiet them in worldly conformity, somewhere along the line God will let them get it. Won t He? Those who want a message which will stir their hearts to get ready for the latter rain and the loud cry, God will let them get that. And may I add, friends, those who, whether they know it or not, are open for a message which leads to extreme and radical and fanatical positions, the Lord will allow them to get that, too. The danger is on both sides. At the bottom of 410, you notice that another of the criticisms concerning Jones and Παγε 9 οφ 14

10 Waggoner is indicated: Let no soul complain of the servants of God who have come to them with a heaven-sent message. Do not any longer pick flaws in them, saying, They are too positive; they talk too strongly. They may talk strongly; but is it not needed? God will make the ears of the hearers tingle if they will not heed His voice or His message Testimonies to Ministers, page 410. Did God want people to be stirred then, to get busy, repent and seek His true righteousness? Well, as I say, I want you to study this whole chapter for it s very meaningful in this matter of the loud cry as it was beginning back then, and as these lessons bear on the future work ahead of us. On page 77 of this book, you will find an interesting application of the parable in Matthew 24. You remember that Jesus when He gave the lessons on the Mount of Olives concerning the coming of Jesus, said there would be some servants who would give the household meat in due season, and there were others who would eat and drink with the drunken and do what to their fellow servants? Smite them and beat them. So Sister White here applies this in 1895 to this very situation: There are many who have outgrown their advent faith. They say in their hearts, My Lord delayeth His coming and they are beating their fellow servants Testimonies to Ministers, page 77. You will notice on the page before: That men should keep alive the spirit which ran riot at Minneapolis is an offense to God Testimonies to Ministers, page 76. For years after, some were keeping that. Then on page 79, is one of the most fearful warnings in the whole book. Again, I say the reason I want you to study this is because it bears on the future crisis. Here Sister White quotes what Jesus told the Jews about how they were the children of those that had killed the prophets, and that prophets and wise men and scribes would be sent to them. Some of them they would kill and crucify, and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues. Now watch: This prophecy was literally fulfilled by the Jews in their treatment of Christ and of the messengers whom God sent to them. Will men in these last days follow the example of those whom Christ condemned? Παγε 10 οφ 14

11 These terrible predictions they have not as yet carried out to the full; but if God spares their lives, and they nourish the same spirit that marked their course of action both before and after the Minneapolis meeting, they will fill up to the full the deeds of those whom Christ condemned when He was upon the earth Testimonies to Ministers, page 79. What a warning, dear friends. I want to ask you something. Suppose that the loud cry had continued to swell back then, and suppose that the opposition of the world had burst in all its fury upon the church. What would those who rejected the message of Jones and Waggoner and the message of righteousness by faith, unless somewhere along the line they repented, what would they have joined with the Protestant and Catholic world in doing to the men who were giving the true message? Persecuting them, putting them in prison, and trying to kill them, right? You see what Sister White says here? She says, You haven t gone the limit yet, but unless you repent and your lives are spared, if you keep nourishing that spirit that you showed at Minneapolis: [You] will fill up to the full the deeds of those whom Christ condemned when He was upon the earth Testimonies to Ministers, page 79. I want to tell you my dear friends, as we approach the great crisis, our worst enemies, and those hardest to meet will not be the infidels, and it won t be the Catholics, and it won t be the Methodists. It will be those within the Seventh-day Adventist church that have not accepted fully the message of revival and reformation and that turn against the work of the Spirit of God in the latter rain, and condemn those who bear the loud cry. And we are told that they will be among our worst enemies. Isn t that what it says? Yes, Great Controversy, 608 paints the picture very vividly. Oh, think of it. Now, friends, if that is true, I want to ask you this question. Do you see then that it is very dangerous for you and me to take any position without knowing that the Spirit of God witnesses to that position? Do you see that one step can lead to another step, and that to another and that to another, just as the Jews did in crucifying Jesus, and as some of those opponents did back then in the 1890s with these? I am going back - most of these references that we have read today are in the mid 1890s, but I am going back now to a very important article in the year It is in an extra, a Review and Herald, Extra, December 23, And before I read a few paragraphs from this, I want you to see what Elder Peas, who has given a great deal of study to the 1888 message and work, says was the result of this particular article: This article Elder Peas, (The one that I am about to read from, that Sister White wrote) This article created a stir in official circles in Battle Creek. Mrs. White relates in a personal letter that confessions were made by three prominent leaders following the publication of Παγε 11 οφ 14

12 this appeal. These confessions were specific in their application to the Minneapolis conference Elder Peas. So this testimony that Sister White wrote that came out in this Review and Herald, Extra, stirred up some folks. And some of them made confession, not all, some did. And it is in that setting of the controversy over righteousness by faith and the attitude that some were taking toward Jones and Waggoner that these statements will best be understood and appreciated. But keep in mind that all of this is a foreshadowing of the latter rain and loud cry work which must reach its fullness before what can happen? Before the Lord can come. The Lord has sent a message to arouse His people to repent and do the first works. But how has His message been received? While some have heeded it, others have cast contempt and reproach on the message and the messenger Review and Herald, December 23, You see how this fits in with the other things? Some have headed it, other have cast contempt and reproach on the message and the messenger. Spiritually deadened, humility and childlike simplicity gone, a mechanical, formal profession of faith has taken the place of love and devotion. Is this mournful condition of things to continue? The Saviour calls. Listen to His voice. Be zealous and repent. The True Witness declares, I know thy works. Repent and do the first works. This is the true test, the evidence that the Spirit of God is working in the heart to imbue you with His love. I will come unto thee quickly and will remove thy candlestick out of its place except thou repent. The church is like the unproductive tree, which receiving the dew and the rain and the sunshine should have produced an abundance of fruit, but on which the divine Searcher discovers nothing but leaves Review and Herald, December 23, What was the church compared to? An unproductive fig tree. Solemn thought for our churches. Solemn indeed for every individual. Marvelous is the patience and forbearance of God. But except thou repent it will be exhausted. The churches and our institutions will go from weakness to weakness and from cold formality to deadness while they are saying, I am rich and increased with goods, and have need of nothing Review and Herald, December 23, Can a total local church sink into backsliding and apostasy? Can an entire institution? Has it happened? The true witness says, And knowest not that thou art Παγε 12 οφ 14

13 wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked. Will they ever see clearly their true condition? Review and Herald, December 23, Now comes the paragraph which doubtless more than anything else created this stir in official circles in Battle Creek, and it should have. Thank God it did. It should stir our hearts today: (What s that? The loud cry.) There is to be in the churches a wonderful manifestation of the power of God. But it will not move upon those who have not humbled themselves before the Lord and opened the door of their heart by confession and repentance. In the manifestation of that power which lightens the earth with the glory of God Review and Herald, December 23, In the manifestation of that power which lightens the earth with the glory of God they will see only something which in their blindness they think dangerous, something which will arouse their fears, and they will brace themselves to resist it. Because the Lord does not work according to their expectations and ideal, they will oppose the work. Why, they say, should we not know the Spirit of God when we have been in the work so many years? Because they did not respond to the warnings, the entreaties of the messages of God, but persistently said, I am rich and increased with goods and have need of nothing Review and Herald, December 23, You can see how that might have stirred some hearts. I am so glad that the report is that some were stirred, aren t you? I wish all had been. These later testimonies we were reading in 1895 and 1896 and 1897; there would have been no need for them to have been written, if all had been stirred by this. Thank God some were. I repeat, the reason we are studying this is because those things that were happening back then in the beginning of what was called the beginning of the loud cry, are experiences that we must face in their fullness in this closing work. Talent, long experience will not make men channels of light unless they place themselves under the bright beams of the Son of Righteousness and are called and chosen and prepared by the endowment of the Holy Spirit. When men who handle sacred things will humble themselves under the mighty hand of God, the Lord will lift them up Review and Herald, December 23, Thank God some did humble themselves, and received blessings. Others continued to oppose and finally went out in darkness. The lesson is for us, dear friends, the lesson is for us. God is giving us today the opportunity to succeed where some succeeded back then, and to Παγε 13 οφ 14

14 succeed where others failed back then. And only as we are willing to have ourselves humbled low in the dust, will we be able to appreciate and receive the righteousness of Christ. In our Friday night vespers service, I am giving you another study on righteousness by faith from the Bible, and I trust that you will be praying that God will meet with us in a special way. For your assignment for our class next week, I wish you would study very carefully the references we have given today, particularly this chapter in the book, Testimonies to Ministers, entitled God s Messengers. That begins on page 404. A number of the references that we quoted today are in there. And when you remember that this is dated, according to page 413, as late as 1897, you can see what a sad situation it was that year after year called for these messages of the servant of God. Wouldn t you think that a people believing the Spirit of Prophecy would have accepted it right back then in 1888 or 1889 or 1890? We sometimes think if we only had a living prophet today, how it would clear up certain situations. But remember what Jesus told the Jews of His day. If they believed not Moses and the prophets what? Neither would they be persuaded though one rose from the dead. We have precious light, plenty of light in the Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy, to deal with our present problems. And as we study these things that God has given us, it will prepare us for the fullness of the loud cry which is just ahead. Shall we bow our heads. Our heavenly Father, we pray very earnestly that Thou wilt rightly interpret to our hearts the things we have studied today. Oh, help us to see on the one hand, the great peril of rejecting God s message, and on the other hand, the great importance of so presenting God s message that it is acceptable to as many as possible. Help us to learn to overcome every defect, that our presentation of Thy message may be as winsome as possible, that we may not unnecessarily place a stumbling block in the road of a single soul. Oh, we pray that in this time of great opportunity and great peril, Thou wilt unite Thy church. Forbid that we should, in any way, be drawn aside, either by worldliness on one side, or the extreme and fanatical elements on the other. Draw us, dear Lord, along that narrow way that leads to the fullness of the blaze of glory of the loud cry. For Jesus sake. Amen. Παγε 14 οφ 14