Through many decades, Seventh-day Adventists have been anticipating the glorious revival that is to accompany the great outpouring of the Holy Spirit called the "latter rain." The second advent of Christ is our hope, so fundamental to our faith that it is articulated in our name. Yet before that hope can be realized, the outpouring of the Sprit must take place. We remember the record of the Day of Pentecost, and we recall the promise: "The outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost was the former rain, but the latter rain will be more abundant."[1] Many recognize that the Great Commission can never be completed, apart from the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in latter rain proportions. Before the gospel commission can be finished, we must have much more of the presence and power of the Holy Spirit.
While some recognize our great need for this outpouring,[2] few seem to have grasped two closely related events:
- The latter rain and loud cry began more than 120 years ago and were squelched by unbelief.
- A message associated with the latter rain was rejected, and it must be recovered.
The time of these events was 1888. The place of this dubious beginning was Minneapolis, Minnesota. A relatively humble assembly had gathered for the General Conference session of Seventh-day Adventists. Only about ninety delegates were present to represent the worldwide membership of the church, yet the "loud cry" began to be proclaimed, and it was accompanied by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit that is so desperately needed today. The reception of the Spirit and the message was the key to the success of the church back then, and it remains so today.
During those decisive early days, the servant of the Lord was alarmed by what was then taking place. She could see that the Spirit was hovering over the delegates, ready to bestow the blessings of God with mighty power. "But there was no reception."[3] To this day, this is the key to our dilemma. "The Spirit awaits our demand and reception."[4] Ellen White stood to alert the delegates with regard to the issues at stake in the crisis. She said, "God will withdraw His Spirit unless His truth is accepted."[5]
Note what the servant of the Lord had written shortly before that crucial Minneapolis meeting:
God is raising up a class to give the loud cry of the third angel's message. "Of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them" (Acts 20:30). It is Satan's object now [1884] to get up new theories to divert the mind from the true work and genuine message for this time. He stirs up minds to give false interpretation of Scripture, a spurious loud cry, that the real message may not have its effect when it does come. This is one of the greatest evidences that the loud cry will soon be heard and the earth will be lightened with the glory of God.[6]
The Rain Begins
Heaven did not disappoint the prophet. She had indicated that the "loud cry" would "soon be heard." In November of 1892, just eight years later, she was able to announce that the loud cry had indeed "already begun." Again, note her words: "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."[7]
Exactly how did the "loud cry" begin? When did this "revelation of the righteousness of Christ, the sin pardoning Redeemer" begin? We again turn to the inspired record.
The Lord in His great mercy sent a most precious message to His people through Elders Waggoner and Jones. This message was to bring more prominently before the world the uplifted Saviour, the sacrifice for the sins of the whole world. 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.[8]
When Brother Waggoner brought out these ideas in Minneapolis, it was the first clear teaching on this subject from any human lips I had heard, excepting the conversations between myself and my husband. I have said to myself, It is because God has presented it to me in vision that I see it so clearly, and they cannot see it because they have never had it presented to them as I have. And when another presented it, every fiber of my heart said, Amen.[9]
Let us carefully consider the import of this statement. At Minneapolis, the servant of the Lord heard "the first clear teaching" on righteousness by faith among Seventh-day Adventists. This "most precious message" was "sent" to them/"us" by the "Lord." They had "never had it presented to them" clearly before. We conclude that this first clear presentation in 1888 marked the "beginning" of the "loud cry." It marked the descent of the mighty angel of Revelation 18. Since it is the "latter rain" which is to "give power"[10] to the voice of the third angel, thereby producing the "loud cry," the "loud cry" could not have "begun" unless the "latter rain" had "begun." Therefore, it follows that 1888 also marked the "beginning" of the "latter rain." This conclusion harmonizes perfectly with a statement that we find on page 377 of the 1893 General Conference Bulletin: "Sister White says that we have been in the time of the latter rain since the Minneapolis meeting."[11]
When the "latter rain" began, more than 100 years ago, there were some among us who did not realize that the time of the latter rain had come and were looking for it to come sometime in the future. For this reason, Ellen White would write, on March 2, 1897, "Unless we are daily advancing in the exemplification of the active Christian virtues, we shall not recognize the manifestations of the Holy Spirit in the latter rain. It may be falling on hearts all around us, but we shall not discern or receive it."[12]
Evidently, in this passage, Ellen White was not merely speaking of a danger which the people of God would face in the future. Although the warning would be applicable in the future, her primary concern was to warn her contemporaries of what was already transpiring at that time.
The "latter rain" had begun to fall. The "loud cry" had "already begun." Yet there were those among "us" who did not "discern or receive it." Ellen White lamented the fact that "some felt annoyed at this outpouring, and their own natural dispositions were manifested. They said, 'This is only excitement; it is not the Holy Spirit, not showers of the latter rain from heaven.'"[13]
She was declaring that it was the latter rain. They said it was "not showers of the latter rain." So she pleaded with the brethren: "Let us, with contrite hearts, pray most earnestly that now, in the time of the latter rain, the showers of grace may fall upon us."[14]
The Rain Rejected
"We" had been given the warning right from the beginning. "God will withdraw His Spirit unless His truth is accepted."[15] The reception or rejection of the "truth," which constituted the message of the latter rain, was the key that would shape the future of the movement. The opportunity to accept the "truth" lingered for several years following 1888, but we have been told that the responsible leadership, "stood for years resisting light and cherishing the spirit of opposition."[16] Ultimately, the servant of the Lord was constrained to write:
The true religion, the only religion of the Bible, that teaches forgiveness only through the merits of a crucified and risen Saviour, that advocates righteousness by the faith of the Son of God, has been slighted, spoken against, ridiculed, and rejected.[17]
An eschatological opportunity greater than Pentecost was squandered. By exciting opposition, Satan succeeded in shutting away from our people, in a great measure, the special power of the Holy Spirit [i.e. the "latter rain"] 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.[18]
Our own people opposed the work of God by refusing the light on the righteousness of Christ by faith. This they should have received and should have imparted with heart and voice and pen, for it is their only efficiency. They should have labored under the Holy Spirit's direction to give the light to others.[19]
The message which began at Minneapolis is still the "beginning" of the "loud cry" and is still our "only efficiency." Its proclamation today is still accompanied by the "beginning" or initial outpouring of the "latter rain"--the only door which leads to power such as was manifested on the Day of Pentecost. That power alone can complete the Great Commission and usher in the second advent.
Ellen White's warning words spoken to the delegates at Minneapolis are still full of meaning today: "God will withdraw His Spirit unless His truth is accepted."[20] The reception of the Spirit in latter rain proportions is inseparably linked with the truth which began to be proclaimed in 1888. The specific truths embodied in the message which was recognized by inspiration as the "loud cry" are inseparably linked with the "latter rain." We cannot have one without accepting the other, fasting and prayer notwithstanding. To seek the latter rain apart from seeking to understand that "most precious message" which had its "first clear" public presentation at Minneapolis is futile. The greatest need of the church is to truly receive both. A revival of true godliness cannot come to us apart from the gift of the Spirit, and the Spirit will not be poured out in latter rain proportions while "His truth" is not accepted.
The Return of the Latter Rain
For many centuries, the Jews have been praying to God, asking Him to send the long-expected Messiah. They pray in vain. God will not-- indeed, He cannot--give them another Messiah. They must accept the One He has sent. Likewise, Seventh-day Adventists have been praying for many decades that God would send the long-expected outpouring of the latter rain, which is to produce the loud cry. Apart from genuine repentance and a willingness to receive the truth into which the Holy Spirit desires to guide us, we also pray in vain. God will not give us another latter rain or another message. We must accept that which God "in His great mercy" has already sent. The problem is not that God has been negligent in providing. "The Spirit awaits our demand and reception."[21]
What will we do? Will we study with the objective of understanding that "most precious message" which was sent more than a century ago? Will we receive it and receive the Holy Spirit with it, in a special measure? Will we "labor under the Holy Spirit's direction to give the light to others?"[22] Not yet is it too late to prepare. As surely as Jesus has promised to return, the rain must come again.
In the remaining pages of this document we shall turn our attention to the message of the latter rain. We shall explore one of the core elements of that message in both the Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy. And we shall seek to demonstrate that it is the key to understanding the gospel which has eluded the Christian church for more than 400 years. Indeed, the world awaits the message of the latter rain.
Notes:
- E. G. White, Christ Object Lessons, 121.
- See annual council action, God's Promised Gift, voted 10/11/2010.
- "Now, brethren, we want to have the simplicity of Christ. I know that He has a blessing for us. He had it at Minneapolis, and He had it for us at the time of the General Conference here. But there was no reception" (Ellen G. White 1888 Materials, 615).
- E. G. White, Christ's Object Lessons, 121.
- E. G. White, Oct. 20, 1888, The Ellen G. White 1888 Materials, 124.
- E. G. White, Letter 20, July 27, 1884, to Uriah Smith.
- E. G. White, The Ellen G. White 1888 Materials, 1073.
- Ibid.
- E. G. White, The Ellen G. White 1888 Materials, 348, Sermon, Rome, New York, June 19, 1889.
- "At that time the 'latter rain,' or refreshing from the presence of the Lord, will come, to give power to the loud voice of the third angel." E. G. White, Early Writings, 85.
- A. T. Jones, 1893 General Conference Bulletin, 377.
- E. G. White, Testimonies to Ministers, 507.
- E. G. White, The Ellen G. White 1888 Materials, 1478.
- E. G. White, Testimonies to Ministers, 509.
- E. G. White, Oct 20, 1888, The Ellen G. White 1888 Materials, 124.
- Ibid., 1341.
- E. G. White, The Ellen G. White 1888 Materials, 955.
- E. G. White, The Ellen G. White 1888 Materials, 1575, emphasis supplied.
- Ibid., 1325.
- Ibid., 124.
- E. G. White, Christ's Object Lessons, 121.
- E. G. White, The Ellen G. White 1888 Materials, 1325.