S. N. Haskell. and Mary Haskell (approx.)

Transcription

1 S. N. Haskell and Mary Haskell (approx.)!1

2 Mary Haskell On January 20, 1894, Mary Haskell passed to her rest and was buried in a cemetery at Napa, California. 2

3 Stephen N. Haskell At first Stephen was relieved, knowing that Mary could never again experience pain. But immediately this feeling was followed by a sense of unutterable loneliness. 3

4 For more than forty years they had loved each other. Even when separated by his travels, he had known that she was thinking of him and praying for him. Now he felt that he was alone in the world, for he had no children.!4

5 Then, one night soon after Mary s death, he had a strange and distressing experience. He told it a few months afterward to the A. T. Robinson family, while visiting them in Cape Town, South Africa:!5

6 One night soon after my wife s death, I fell asleep repeating the promises of God, for I felt very lonely. I had not been asleep long when I was awakened by a light in the room. Opening my eyes I saw, standing beside my bed, a bright, shadowy form. I heard a voice speak: Stephen, I have come to bring you comfort. I shall ever watch over you to comfort you, for I am nearer to you now than when I lived on earth. It was Mary s voice, so natural, so sweet.!6

7 My first impulse was to reach out my arms to her. But at that moment there sounded clearly in my consciousness, though no audible words were heard, The dead know not any thing. I drew back in fear. O, Stephen, don t you know me? Love, longing, and pathos were in the voice. I gathered all my strength, and answered boldly, No! I never knew you! You are not my Mary. You are an evil spirit sent by Satan to deceive me; and, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, I command you to depart, and to trouble me no more.!7

8 The spirit vanished. But in the going, for one brief instant, the gentle expression on that face turned to one of baffled rage, the most malignant that I ever saw on the face of any man, or in the pictured likeness of any evil demon. It left me all of a tremble and in deep distress of mind. Why had such an experience come to me? Had I failed somewhere and shown some weakness, that the devil dared to approach me in this manner?!8

9 I prayed and asked God to reveal to me any unknown sin. But instead of the conviction of some unrepented wrong there came into my mind clearly and emphatically, words that I had read many times in the book Early Writings: I saw that the saints must have a thorough understanding of present truth, which they will be obliged to maintain from the Scriptures. They must understand the state of the dead; for the spirits of devils will yet appear to them, professing to be beloved relatives or friends, who will declare to them unscriptural doctrines.... The people of God must be prepared to withstand these spirits with the Bible truth that the dead know not anything (page 262).!9

10 So with the knowledge that these evil spirits will appear even to the saints, we need have no fear that such experiences indicate God s displeasure, but that they are permitted as a test of our faith in the revealed instructions from heaven.!10

11 I thanked and praised God that he had warned us against our subtle enemy, who is seeking our destruction. For the living to the dead? Never! What light can come from that source? Bright, shining messengers, direct from the throne of God bring us light, comfort, and joy, even in the time of our greatest sorrow. (Ella M. Robinson, S. N. Haskell, Man of Action, pp. 128, 129)!11

12 Spiritualism and You!12

13 It is through false theories and traditions that Satan gains his power over the mind. By directing men to false standards, he misshapes the character. (DA 671.1)!13

14 !14

15 A. G. Daniells, the president of the General Conference, presented a brief biography of Ellen White and a synopsis of her teachings at the services in Battle Creek. In the synopsis, he said: The Holy Spirit, the third person of the Godhead and Christ s representative on earth, is set forth and exalted as the heavenly teacher and guide sent to this world by our Lord to make real in the hearts and lives of men all that he had made possible by his death on the cross.!15

16 F. M. Wilcox (editor R&H), A. G. Daniells (president GC), S. N. Haskell (former president NE conference, 3x president Ca conference, president Me conference), W. C. White, C. S. Longacre (secretary religious liberty NA division.) G. B. Thompson (president Columbia Union Conference in 1909, GC committee 1915, GC field secretary 1919), M. C. Wilcox (editor ST), F. Griggs (president EMC),???!16

17 When did the change to Trinitarianism occur? As Jerry Moon points out, an irreversible paradigm shift occurred in the Adventist Church in the 1890s, spurred along by the church s publication of Ellen White s The Desire of Ages in This influential book on the life of Christ reflected Mrs. White s own developing understanding and called attention to scriptures whose significance had been overlooked. Its publication contributed to a complete reversal of Adventist thinking on the Trinity, and it became a kind of continental divide. (Gilbert Valentine, A Slice of History: How clearer views of Jesus developed in the Adventist Church, Ministry, May 2005)!17

18 Valentine wrote that this paradigm shift enabled the church to give its distinctive message in a new gospel context (Ibid.). He also wrote that M. L. Andreason and others were astonished at reading in The Desire of Ages the revolutionary statement, in Christ is life, original, unborrowed, underived (Ibid.). W. W. Prescott was one of the means of this change.!18

19 Professor Prescott s theological emphasis had changed radically since Events following Minneapolis had led him into a new religious experience that centered on a personal relationship with Christ. As a result, he came to see the whole range of church doctrines from a quite different perspective. As he explained to delegates at the 1919 Bible Conference years later, the change had come to him almost like a personal revelation, like a person speaking to me. When he first started out in the work in the early 1880s, he had thought that the thing to do was to prove the doctrines.... As I had observed and heard. The preacher s task was simply to demonstrate the truthfulness of church teachings through careful argumentative use of proof texts (Ibid.).!19

20 At the time Prescott was in Australia, holding meetings and writing, and Ellen White solicited Prescott s help in critically reading her manuscript [The Desire of Ages] from a literary, biblical, and theological perspective. Why? Help was needed in organizing the material. And, it seems clear, it was important that the new emphasis Prescott was giving was properly presented.prescott s assistance and emphasis brought about a clearer and more decided presentation of Christ s deity in the book, reported Lacey. Professor Prescott s interest in the Eternity of the Son and the great I AM s, coupled with the constant help he gave Sr. Davis in her preparation of the The Desire of Ages, may serve to explain the inclusions of the abovenamed teachings in that wonderful book (Ibid.).!20

21 The impact of the new emphasis in The Desire of Ages lingered long in M. L. Andreason s mind. I remembered how astonished we were, he wrote, for it contained things that we considered unbelievable: among others the doctrine of the Trinity (Ibid.).!21

22 Sin could be resisted and overcome only through the mighty agency of the Third Person of the Godhead, who would come with no modified energy, but in the fullness of divine power. (DA 671) He determined to give His representative, the third person of the Godhead. (ST December 1, 1898, par. 2) Evil had been accumulating for centuries, and could only be restrained and resisted by the mighty power of the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Godhead (Letter )!22

23 The Comforter is called the Spirit of truth. His work is to define and maintain the truth. He first dwells in the heart as the Spirit of truth, and thus He becomes the Comforter. There is comfort and peace in the truth, but no real peace or comfort can be found in falsehood. It is through false theories and traditions that Satan gains his power over the mind. By directing men to false standards, he misshapes the character. Through the Scriptures the Holy Spirit speaks to the mind, and impresses truth upon the heart. Thus He exposes error, and expels it from the soul. It is by the Spirit of truth, working through the word of God, that Christ subdues His chosen people to Himself. (DA 671.1)!23

24 In describing to His disciples the office work of the Holy Spirit, Jesus sought to inspire them with the joy and hope that inspired His own heart. He rejoiced because of the abundant help He had provided for His church. The Holy Spirit was the highest of all gifts that He could solicit from His Father for the exaltation of His people. The Spirit was to be given as a regenerating agent, and without this the sacrifice of Christ would have been of no avail. The power of evil had been strengthening for centuries, and the submission of men to this satanic captivity was amazing. Sin could be resisted and overcome only through the mighty agency of the Third Person of the Godhead, who would come with no modified energy, but in the fullness of divine power. It is the Spirit that makes effectual what has been wrought out by the world s Redeemer. It is by the Spirit that the heart is made pure. Through the Spirit the believer becomes a partaker of the divine nature. Christ has given His Spirit as a divine power to overcome all hereditary and cultivated tendencies to evil, and to impress His own character upon His church. (DA 671.2)!24

25 The Father cannot be described by the things of earth. The Father is all the fulness of the Godhead bodily and is invisible to mortal sight. The Son is all the fulness of the Godhead manifested. The Word of God declares Him to be the express image of His person. God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. Here is shown the personality of the Father.!25

26 The Comforter that Christ promised to send after He ascended to heaven, is the Spirit in all the fulness of the Godhead, making manifest the power of divine grace to all who receive and believe in Christ as a personal Saviour. There are three living persons of the heavenly trio; in the name of these three great powers the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit those who receive Christ by living faith are baptized, and these powers will co-operate with the obedient subjects of heaven in their efforts to live the new life in Christ. (Ms )!26