Seventh-day Adventism begins with a man named William Miller. Early in the nineteenth century, after a life alternately as a farmer, an army officer, and a Deist, he decided to begin to study the Bible in earnest. He determined to allow the Bible to be its own interpreter, using no helps other than Cruden, a concordance. His study led him to the book of Daniel and a fascination with the prophecy of the 2300 days of Daniel 8:14: "Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed." From this he concluded that Christ would return to this earth at the end of this time to "cleanse this earthly sanctuary." He calculated the time of the prophecy as ending in 1843, which date was later changed to 1844, when it was realized that there was no zero years between the BC and AD dates. Time was calculated on the "day-for-year" principle. For some twelve years he and others who believed his message preached vigorously that Christ would return to earth in 1844. In time an exact date of October 22, 1844, was set for the Second Coming of Christ.
Of course, Christ did not return as expected, which resulted in what came to be known as the "Great Disappointment." Further study of the Bible revealed that this very disappointment was prophesied in the tenth chapter of Revelation (10:7-11). William Miller died soon after 1844, and the indications are he never understood why Christ did not come as he had predicted for so long.
Out of this "Millerite" movement arose the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Its early beginnings were marked by the visions which came to Ellen Harmon, later Mrs. Ellen G. White, and the enthusiastic spreading of the message by these early believers, who distributed tracts and other literature by hand, by horse and buggy, Bible studies in the home, open air meetings, and camp meetings and evangelistic campaigns in tents and similar places. In this way the message of the Three Angels of Revelation continued to be preached as far and wide as human limitations would permit, so that the date 1844 was a foundation stone in the entire Seventh-day Adventist structure and the establishment of its prophetic origins.
We come now to the next great date in Seventh-day Adventist history. That was the date of the General Conference which met in the city of Minneapolis, Minnesota, in the year 1888. It has turned out that this was the most important General Conference session ever held in the history of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. By the standards of such General Conferences as those held in Dallas, New Orleans, and Indianapolis, with their attendances of 20,000 or more, the Minneapolis General Conference of 1888 was inauspicious. But it will be seen that what actually took place there at the time made it a great highlight in the story of Adventism.
The institute meetings began on October 10, 1888, a Wednesday, and continued until the evening of Wednesday the 17th, when the General Conference proper began. The session ended Sunday, November 4. During the conference Ellen G. White spoke a total of ten times, once by proxy, when another delivered her written message. One Sunday she spoke twice. From the very beginning of the Institute meetings two young men gave a series of studies at the morning meetings on the subject of Righteous and Justification by Faith, and these continued on through the entire General Conference.
Meetings were held in the Seventh-day Adventist Church in the city of Minneapolis, situated at the corner of Lake and Fourth. The church no longer exists, having long since been torn down and replaced. But the original pulpit used by Ellen G. White and the 1888 messengers is still in use in the church which stands today about a mile from the original site. A picture of the delegates and others was taken at the time and can still be seen. Some have been able to recognize a relative from long ago in the group. Less than 100 delegates were in attendance at the session.
By coincidence I happened to be conducting a seminar in the present church in Minneapolis just one hundred years after the original session began. As mentioned earlier, the General Conference session of 1888 began on October 10. I was in the Minneapolis church for my seminar on Friday and Sabbath, October 8 and 9, 1988. One day later would have been exactly one hundred years from the beginning of the original GC session. Also, I had the use of the pulpit which was in use at that session of 1888. Not that this matters one particle, but it was, to me, an interesting coincidence! While there I asked one of the elders of the church if he would take me to the site of the original church in which the 1888 GC session was held. He gladly agreed to take me there, saying it was barely a mile from the present church. When we came to the site at the corner of Fourth and Lake, I noticed a building standing there on which I saw the word, MOVIES, in large letters written on it. I asked him what it was used for, and he told me it was a place where they produced pornographic literature and motion pictures of an immoral kind. What a sad commentary, when we remember what actually took place on that very spot a hundred years before!
And now to the messengers who actually presented the studies during the morning meetings, both during the Institute sessions and also the General Conference itself. Their names were Alonzo Trevier Jones and Ellet Joseph Waggoner. The latter was a medical doctor as well as a keen Bible student of no ordinary ability. Jones had a military background, and was also a talented student of the Scriptures. Their presentations made an immediate and lasting impression on Mrs. Ellen G. White. She was, in fact, elated as she listened to the message which she recognized as the one she herself had been trying to give to the people for many years, but had not articulated it as Jones and Waggoner were doing. Writing of this later she said:
The Lord in His great mercy sent a most precious message to His people through Elders Waggoner and Jones. ... It presented justification through faith in the Surety; it invited the people to receive the righteousness of Christ, which is made manifest in obedience to all the commandments of God. ... This is the message that God commanded to be given to the world. It is the third angel's message, which is to be proclaimed with a loud voice and attended with the outpouring of His Spirit in a large measure. (Testimonies to Ministers, pp. 91-92).
Particularly notice the words, "This is the message that God commanded to be given to the world." Here there has been identified for us the very message that God intends the world to receive from us. This immediately cancels out all the many variations of Righteousness and Justification by Faith which are heard among us today. Surely, if these words are true, we have no business paying attention to anything else except that message: studying it, assimilating it, and spreading its good news to the ends of the earth.
Elder A. G. Daniels, president of the General Conference for longer than any other, wrote an interesting little book concerning this message, in which he said:
In 1888 there came to the Seventh-day Adventist Church a very definite awakening message. It was designated at the time as "the message of Righteousness by Faith." Both the message itself and the manner of its coming made a deep and lasting impression upon the minds of ministers and people and the lapse of time has not erased that impression from memory. To this day, many of those who heard the message when it came are deeply interested in it and concerned regarding it. All these long years they have held a firm conviction, and cherished a fond hope, that some day this message would be given great prominence among us, and that it would do the cleansing, regenerating work in the church which they believed it was sent by the Lord to accomplish. (Christ Our Righteousness, p. 23).
And later in the same book Elder Daniels says again:
The message has never been received, nor proclaimed, nor given free course as it should have been, in order to convey to the church the measureless blessings that were wrapped within it. (p. 47).
Probably no more significant statement relative to the 1888 General Conference and the message which was there proclaimed was ever made by Ellen G. White than this one which describes so graphically what really took place at the time and with what results.
An unwillingness to yield up preconceived opinions, and to accept this truth [here she was referring especially to the fact brought out at the time that the 'law' in the letter to the Galatians is especially the moral law], lay at the foundation of a large share of the opposition manifested at Minneapolis [1888] against the Lord's message through the Brethren [E. J.] Waggoner and [A. T.] Jones. By exciting that opposition Satan succeed in shutting away from our people, in a great measure, the special power of the Holy Spirit that God longed to impart to them. The enemy prevented them from obtaining that efficiency which might have been theirs in carrying the truth to the world, as the apostles proclaimed it after the day of Pentecost. The light that is to lighten the whole earth with its glory was resisted, and by the action of our own brethren has been in a great degree kept away from the world. (Selected Messages, book 1, pp. 234-235).
Pay very careful attention to the last sentence in the above quoted paragraph. "The light that is to lighten the whole earth with its glory" is clearly a reference to Revelation 18:1, which text has been understood by Seventh-day Adventists from the very first as being a prophecy of the final outpouring of the Latter Rain. And this "light," we are told, "was resisted," and "in a great degree, kept away from the world." Other statements from the Spirit of Prophecy confirm that what took place at the General Conference session of 1888 was actually the beginning of the Latter Rain and the Loud Cry of the Third Angel. Notice this one:
"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" (Ibid., p. 363; emphasis supplied).
Again the reference to Revelation 18:1, and the "Loud Cry" of the third angel. This is what took place in 1888. A. T. Jones understood this all too clearly. Here is a sample of his preaching some four years later:
Now brethren, when did that message of the righteousness of Christ, begin with us as a people? (One or two in the audience: "Three or four years ago."). Which was it, three) or four? (Congregation: "Four.") Yes, four. Where was it? (Congregation: "Minneapolis.") What then did the brethren reject at Minneapolis? (Some in the congregation: "The loud cry"). What is that message of righteousness? The Testimony has told us what it is; the loud cry--the latter rain. Then what did the brethren in that fearful position in which they stood, reject at Minneapolis? They rejected the latter rain--the loud cry of the third angel's message. (1893 General Conference Bulletin, p.183).
Rejected. Resisted. Sad comments on what could have been such an outpouring of the Holy Spirit as would have prepared a people for translation during the 1890's. In fact, four years would have been enough for the world to hear the message of warning (see the 1893 General Conference Bulletin, p. 419). Statement upon statement from Ellen G. White tells us that Christ could have come back to earth before 1900 had God's purpose been fulfilled. After her return from Australia, and the entire drama of the 1890s had been completed, the Lord's Messenger summed up the position in these words: "The disappointment of Christ is beyond description" (Review and Herald, December 15, 1904).
These are not dark and hidden secrets which are being revealed here. They are matters of clear and open record. Notice this item taken from the Adventist Review of a few years ago:
In commemoration of the 1888 General Conference session, which led to the Adventist Church's first emphasis on the righteousness by faith doctrine, delegates to the Annual Council voted to hold a special centennial convocation in early November, 1988. "This was the only General Conference session where Ellen G. White was publicly defied," said Robert Olson, director of the Ellen G. White Estate. "After that meeting came three years of revivals conducted by A. T. Jones and E. J. Waggoner, coeditors of Signs of The Times, and Ellen White." (Adventist Review, October 30, 1986).
Numerous publications made their appearance during the 1988 centennial era. Among these were the Ellen G. White 1888 Materials of four volumes, a total of more than 1800 pages, containing all that the Lord's Messenger had ever written on 1888. This meant that, finally, the whole story of the 1888 session and the message which came to God's people at that time was there for all to see in its fullness. There was a companion volume to these entitled, Manuscripts and Memories of Minneapolis 1888 a collection of various materials from those who were present at the time and who have left us their recollections. There was also an interesting book entitled, What Every Adventist Should Know About 1888, written by Dr. Arnold Wallenkampf, which clearly sets out the story of the giving of the message and its rejection. So that the entire history of the 1888 Message and its background and aftermath is now available for all to read and understand.
One question kept cropping up after the 1888 General Conference and that was the matter of the relationship between the Three Angels' Messages and the often discussed teachings on Righteousness and justification by Faith. Were we not supposed to be giving the Third Angel's Message to the world? Then why all this never-ending emphasis on justification by Faith? Ellen G. White dealt with this about eighteen months after the Minneapolis session when she wrote:
"Several have written to me, inquiring if the message of justification by faith is the third angel's message, and I have answered, 'It is the third angel's message in verity'" (Review and Herald, April 1, 1890).
This statement has been reproduced in Selected Messages, book 1, page 372. What, in effect, is the Third Angel's Message, or, as we are accustomed to say in Adventist terminology, the Three Angels' Messages (which are the same thing)? The answer in brief summary is found in Revelation 14:6, where we are told that the first angel had "the everlasting gospel" to preach to the world. This is the essential content of the Three Angels' Messages, the "Everlasting Gospel." Our conclusion, then, is that the message of Righteousness and justification by Faith, or the 1888 message of Christ's Righteousness (Ellen G. White's favorite expression), or the Third Angel's Message, or the Everlasting Gospel, all are one and the same.
Evidence such as we have compiled thus far emphasized strongly that exactly what happened in Minneapolis, Minnesota, at the General Conference of 1888, was actually the beginning of the long-expected outpouring of the Holy Spirit in the form of the Latter Rain. This was no spectacular display of some kind of celestial brilliance, the way many think of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, but the giving of a message of Truth. In fact, had it not been for the presence of an inspired Messenger among us at the time, probably no one would have known that what was taking place was the Latter Rain and the Loud Cry.
Probably for the first time in history a Seventh-day Adventist publication of a few years ago recognized the truth of this, that in 1888 at Minneapolis there actually began the outpouring of the Holy Spirit known as the Latter Rain. This publication was the book by Dr. L. E. Froom, entitled, Movement of Destiny. Some significant paragraphs from this book will establish the point:
There was thus, in the nineties, not only an exposition but a manifestation of the power of Righteousness by Faith that was an earnest of the power of the crowning Loud Cry climax destined to come, samplings of which were then given. Mrs. White expressly stated that what was taking place was actually the beginning of the Latter Rain" (p. 345).
He who denies that the Loud Cry began to sound in 1888 impugns the veracity of the Spirit of Prophecy. He who asserts the Latter Rain did not then begin to fall challenges the integrity of God's message relayed to us. (p. 667).
As all students of these backgrounds are aware these truths of 1888 have not yet come to their full tide, as we are told that they must and will before and as we enter upon the final phase of our witness to the world. They will yet definitely become the throbbing, all-pervasive heart of our final presentation to the world. The "final movements" will be "rapid ones"--Spirit-filled, Christ-centered, full-message, Righteousness-by-Faith-surcharged movements. ... The glorious truths of 1888 will triumph. (p. 521).
Most Seventh-day Adventists are familiar with the statement that "the final movements will be rapid ones." It is found in Testimonies volume 9, page 11. But many, I have found, are not as familiar with what I consider to be a much more spectacular description of the last movements. It is one which appears on the last page of volume five of Testimonies for the Church:
In Ezekiel's vision, God had His hand beneath the wings of the cherubim. ... The bright light going among the living creatures with the swiftness of lightning represents the speed with which this work will finally go forward to completion. (p. 754).
Rapid movements, yes. But more than this, the final movements will be like "lightning" for swiftness. When the message of 1888 goes on its last mission under the power of the Holy Spirit and the Latter Rain, the world will be warned in an incredibly short time. We have been told that the message will go "like fire in the stubble."
During the years immediately following the Minneapolis meetings there was, among the people of God, a "translation awareness," which motivated them in all that they did. They believed that they would soon meet their Lord on the clouds of glory. This conviction can be seen in such statements as this one by A. T. Jones:
Brethren, that is where we are. Let us act like it. Let us thank the Lord that He is dealing with us still, to save us from our errors, to save us from our dangers, to keep us back from wrong courses, and to pour upon us the Latter Rain, that we may be translated. That is what the message means--translation--to you and me. (1893 General Conference Bulletin, p. 185).
A. T. Jones laid emphasis upon this thought more than once, as we find in this next statement also from the same source:
Brethren, is there not a lot of good cheer in the thought that ... the latter rain is to prepare us for translation? Now, where is the latter rain to fall, and when does it? Now is the time for the latter rain, and when is the time for the loud cry? (Voice: "Now.") What is it to prepare us for? (Voice: "For translation.") It brings good cheer to me that the tests that the Lord is giving us now, are to fit us for translation. And when He comes to speak to you and me, it is because He wants to translate us, but He cannot translate sin, can He? Then, the only purpose that He has in showing us the depth and breadth of sin, is that He may save us from it and translate us. Then, shall we become discouraged when He shows us our sins? No; let us thank Him that He wants to translate us, and He wants to do this so much that He wishes to get our sins out of the way as soon as possible" (1893 General Conference Bulletin, p. 205).
And further, this awareness of the fact that the Lord would soon return, and that His people then living would be translated to heaven, and leave this world without seeing death, had the effect of bringing about a corresponding awareness of the importance of healthful living. This point received emphasis by both the 1888 messengers. First, here is A. T. Jones:
Now another thing right there. We are living in view of another fearful fact, that is, if that message which we ate now to give, is not received, it has attached to it the fearful consequences that the wine of the wrath of God will be received. ... And the work which is to bring all face to face with that fact, as it is there recorded, is now begun. Therefore, will not that give a power to the health reform that it has not yet had! When the health reform was given to the people of God, it was defined as that which is to fit the people for translation. ... But we have to go through the seven last plagues before we are translated; and if a man's blood is impure and full of gross material will he be able to pass through that time, when the air is sick with pestilence? Indeed, he cannot. (1893 General Conference Bulletin, pp.88-89).
E. J. Waggoner also laid emphasis upon this important aspect of the Third Angel's Message. Here are his words:
Now when we come to the matter of healthful living, for that is all in this, we see it is not giving up this thing, and it is not giving up that thing, and the other thing, as though every joy of life had to be given up; bur it is getting out eyes fixed on the Lord Jesus Christ. ... Now when we get hold of that, we have healthful living in mortal flesh, and sinless lives in sinful flesh; and we shall glory in infirmities; we shall take pleasure even in temptations, in infirmities, that the power of God may rest upon us. ... While we cannot do anything to bring the Spirit of God into us, we can do a great many things to keep Him out; so that when somebody says to me as I talk health reform and healthful living they say, "We are not saved by works". No, but we are lost by works. ... That is why this health reform is presented to us: it is the life of God manifested: it is for us to behold God in all His works. (1901 General Conference Bulletin, p. 407).
Translation awareness! This is what filled the people of God in the early 1890's. Had they been told that one hundred years later Seventh-day Adventists would still be preaching their message in this world of sin they would never have believed it!
Frequently asked by many is the question which deals with the many prophesied events which were to take place shortly before the Second Coming of Christ, most particularly the Mark of the Beast prophecies and the matter of the Sunday Laws which would precipitate this final, ultimate test upon the people of God. "How," they asked, "could the Lord have returned in the 1890s when all these prophecies were still unfulfilled?"
Actually, a national Sunday law was on the verge of being enacted during the height of the 1888 era. It was, in fact, in 1888 that senator H. W. Blair introduced a bill into the United States Congress enforcing Sunday as a day of worship.
Immediately after the 1888 Minneapolis session A. T. Jones was called to Washington D. C. to oppose the bill. So well did he present his case that the bill was never passed. It is my personal conviction that had God's people been ready to play their part fully in the final acts of the great drama of the ages, it would not have been the senator, H. W. Blair, who would have suffered defeat, but A. T. Jones!
More than this, it is a fact that in those early 1890s, there were cases in such states as Tennessee, where I live, and in others like Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and even Arkansas, where Seventh-day Adventist farmers were in chain gangs because they plowed their fields on Sunday. Sunday laws were being enforced, and with a vengeance! At the time when the message of warning should have gone to the ends of the earth the stage was set for the fulfillment of every prophecy having to do with the last-day events.
Remember, God is not waiting for Sunday laws to be enacted so that Jesus can return to earth. He is waiting for a prepared people! Sunday laws are Satan's concern. God's people are expected to believe the message which has in it the power so to transform human beings everywhere that they can be prepared for translation into the kingdom of heaven. What message can accomplish this? It is, of course, the 1888 message of Christ's Righteousness, which has lain virtually dormant for centuries. From the time of the reformers like Martin Luther and others there has been a steady and certain growth in the recovery of that Gospel which virtually turned the world upside down in the first century. Notice these words from the Pen of Inspiration:
Great truths that have lain unheeded and unseen since the day of Pentecost, are to shine from God's word in their native purity. To those who truly love God the Holy Spirit will reveal truths that have faded from the mind, and will also reveal truths that are entirely new. (Fundamentals of Christian Education, p. 473).
Here the time and the setting of this statement clearly means that Ellen G. White was writing with the Jones-Waggoner message in mind. When this message goes to the farther most reaches of earth under the power of the Holy Spirit in the Latter Rain and the Loud Cry of the Third Angel, "like fire in the stubble," the "prepared people" concept will become a reality, and then the Lord will come again, "in the glory of His Father with the holy angels."
Never mind the Sunday laws! I have said repeatedly that if all the Lord is waiting for is the enactment of Sunday laws to make it possible for Jesus to return to this earth, my suggestion is that we all climb on the Sunday-law bandwagon and put the Sunday legislation into effect as soon as possible so that Jesus can return to earth without further delay! This, of course, is ridiculous, and it is said facetiously, but it does illustrate the utter futility of looking to Sunday-law legislation to point the way to the nearness of the Second Coming.
Remember, God is not waiting for Sunday laws, but a prepared people. As Dr. Herbert Douglas said to me on the telephone years ago:
"Alex, if we can only get across to Seventh-day Adventists everywhere the 'prepared people' concept, we will have won probably ninety percent of the battle." How right he was! Think of it! A prepared people! A bride in readiness! It's going to happen, because we are told this in Revelation 19:7: "Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to Him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and His wife hath made herself ready." It is as if it has already happened. The only question is, When? The answer rests with the people of God!
Probably no more puzzling question is asked concerning the 1888 message and the messengers than that which deals with the personal history of Jones and Waggoner. "We hear that they lost their way. Is this true? And if it is, does this not virtually negate their entire message?" This is the question so often asked. It is one which must be addressed.
Both A. T. Jones and E. J. Waggoner lost their way, it is true. Does this indeed negate their message? The answer is "No," and this will be demonstrated. First of all, it seem that Ellen G. White was given some kind of indication that something of the sort would take place. She wrote as follows:
It is quite possible that Elder Jones or Waggoner may be overthrown by the temptations of the enemy; but if they should be, this would not prove that they had no message from God, or that the work they had done was all a mistake. (Letter S-24, 1892).
This was clear warning in advance. She did not say that it would happen. She only mentioned the possibility. But there is a significant undercurrent, or tone, of suggestion that such a tragedy would occur. It comes across to many as a prophecy. Notice this, penned in the same year:
Should the Lord's messengers, after standing manfully for the truth for a time, fall under temptation, and dishonor Him who has given them their work, will that be proof that the message is not true? No. ... Sin on the part of the messenger of God would cause Satan to rejoice, and those who have rejected the message and the messenger to triumph; but it would not at all clear the men who are guilty of rejecting the message of God. (Letter 0-19, 1892).
And again from the same letter:
Will the Lord's messenger bear the pressure brought against him? If so, it is because God bids him stand in his strength, and vindicate the truth that he is sent of God.
Throughout all of the above statements one central point of emphasis stands out clearly. Any falling away from their earlier position and the truths which they had taught, must not be interpreted to mean that the message they had borne could be discarded as untrue. Elders Waggoner and Jones had presented the truth, and quite regardless of what happened to them later, or what they did or said subsequently, the message they gave remained what it had been from the beginning: unassailable truth.
Consider for a moment the following statement made by an earlier preacher of the Adventist message. He is explaining the moral law of the Ten Commandments and its importance:
Reader, if this law were strictly observed in this community, would it not produce an excellent state of society? There would be no idolatry, profanity, Sabbath breaking, disobedience to parents, murder, adultery, stealing, or lying. Who would not wish to live in such a community? This is the law for which we plead. These principles have always existed since God made man upon the earth. They were as binding upon the antediluvians as upon the Jews, and they are as obligatory now as then.
Surely no one would disagree with the sentiments here expressed. They speak for themselves. Now notice this:
We could conceive of no nation, generation, or individual that could violate these precepts with impunity. This law is as eternal and unchangeable as the Creator.
Again I am sure it would be hard to conceive of anyone's disagreeing with the above statement. Even hard-bitten antinomianists should be able to see light in these sentiments.
But now consider the following:
"Now, under Christ, we are delivered from the law; that law is dead." "This letter of the law is not binding upon Christians as a coercive code." "We have something better than the decalogue."
These last three statements could hardly go unchallenged! In the Seventh-day Adventist Church we would find severe opposition to anyone expressing such ideas. But, as you might have guessed by now, all the statements quoted above, the first two as well as the last three, were made by the same individual! His name, of course, was D. M. Canright. At the height of his career as an Adventist preacher he articulated the Seventh-day Adventist message with talent and eloquence which has probably never been matched by any among us. And yet he apostatized. The first two statements quoted above reflect his teaching while he still walked with us. The last three appear in his book, Seventh-day Adventism Renounced, written, of course, after he left the church. What we are trying to emphasize, and this is the point of it all, is that what he said after he left the church in no way changes the truths of those things he articulated so eloquently in earlier years. We may still believe heartily all that he taught while preaching the Third Angel's Message as only he could, because it is still truth. His later departure from the faith, brought about by conflicting forces within himself which are hard to understand, failed to make any change in the truth of the Adventist message. They remained as true after his separation from the church as before. Any changes were those in D. M. Canright, not in the message of Adventism.
Here is where we see the parallel with the message of Jones and Waggoner. Their later falling away did not alter the truth of the message they bore to the church, as Ellen G. White so clearly explained, anymore than did Canright's falling away change any of the truths of Adventism.
Besides all that has been said above there is a further point which needs to be emphasized. We have every reason to believe that both Jones and Waggoner will be saved in the kingdom of God. Both gave indications toward the end of their lives that whatever mistakes and sins had marred their careers they had made every possible effort to make wrongs right, and had shown deep contrition as they faced the end of life's journey. Waggoner wrote a long letter near the end of his life which brought this out. The daughter of A. T. Jones wrote in a letter, which I read many years ago, that she was with her father on the day that he died, and that his faith in Jesus Christ as his Lord and Redeemer was as strong as it could be. Would it not be tragic if there are those who are eternally lost because they rejected the 1888 message for the reasons of the falling away of the 1888 messengers, when Jones and Waggoner themselves will be there? This could happen! Notice this complete quotation of an earlier statement we gave about the messengers:
It is quite possible that Elder Jones or Waggoner may be overthrown by the temptations of the enemy: but if they should be, this would not prove that they had no message from God, or that the work that they had done was all a mistake. (Letter 5-24, 1892).
This is as far as we quoted earlier. But notice how the Letter continues:
But should this happen, how many would take this position, and enter into a fatal delusion because they were not under the control of the Spirit of God.
There is a solemn warning here! First of all, there is the use of the word 'fatal'. This word, of course, always denotes death in some way or another. But it is obvious that in this case the death which is implied is not the result of a heart attack, or physical death by accident, for example. Clearly, what is implied is being eternally lost, or eternal death. In other words, those who "take this position," that is, reject the message of Jones and Waggoner because they fell away at one time, are running the risk of being eternally lost. They could lose their salvation as a direct result of rejecting the message of 1888!
Furthermore, the words, "Because they were not under the control of the Spirit of God," has overtones of the unpardonable sin! Whenever anyone persists in rejection of the Holy Spirit, he immediately places himself in a dangerous position, because such persistence can lead to a place where the tender voice of the Holy Spirit is no longer heard: the Holy Spirit has been grieved away! One does not play fast and loose with the tender, pleading voice of the Holy Spirit of God, without running the risk of dangerous and eternal consequences.
Another question asked sometimes is why Jones and Waggoner did not remain faithful to their God-appointed task when someone like Martin Luther, for example, faced the might of the church of Rome and never failed in his mission. But it is not really fair to compare Jones and Waggoner with Martin Luther. Luther had come to understand the prophecies of Daniel and Revelation as they referred to the papal antichrist. When this church excommunicated him, it was, to Martin Luther, something to be expected. It was probably an evidence that he was on the right track. But Jones and Waggoner had every reason to believe that the Seventh-day Adventist Church was a movement raised by God to give the last message of warning to a dying world, and when this church turned against them in the way that it did, it was more than they could bear. We do not excuse them in their failing to fulfill their mission, but we do need to understand the circumstances under which they gave their message, and the bitter opposition they encountered. At the height of their ministry, Ellen G. White was sent to Australia in what was subsequently revealed to be an exile, and Waggoner was sent to England under conditions of "extreme privation." Jones was left in the U.S.A. to carry on the giving of the message on his own. This must surely have seemed to them to be a final and complete rejection of the work they had been called of the Lord to do: a "slap in the face," we could say.
Finally, remember the words quoted earlier from Testimonies to Ministers, page 92:
THIS IS THE MESSAGE THAT GOD COMMANDED TO BE GIVEN TO THE WORLD
May God grant that we all will soon have a part in the final triumph of His church!