The 1888 message, what was it? The answer: "The Lord in His great mercy sent a most precious message to His people through Elders Waggoner and Jones."[1] This was a victory message. "We can overcome. Yes; fully, entirely. Jesus died to make a way of escape for us, that we might overcome every evil temper, every sin, every temptation, and sit down at last with Him."[2] The redeemed, who by the Holy Spirit follow Christ's perfect example, by developing His perfect character day by day, can be made safe to save.
When this relationship is reached by God's faithful and loyal people, "When the character of Christ shall be perfectly reproduced in His people, then He will come to claim them as His own."[3] This is justification and sanctification. It is "the third angel's message in verity[4].
Listen to these inspired statements from the Lord:
"Some have erroneous ideas of what constitutes a Christian and of the means through which a firm religious experience is obtained; much less do they understand the qualifications that God requires His ministers to possess. These men are unsanctified. They have occasionally a flight of feeling, which gives them the impression that they are indeed children of God. This dependence upon impressions is one of the special deceptions of Satan. Those who are thus exercised make their religion a matter of circumstance. Firm principle is wanting. None are living Christians unless they have a daily experience in the things of God and daily practice self-denial, cheerfully bearing the cross and following Christ. Every living Christian will advance daily in the divine life. As he advances toward perfection, he experiences a conversion to God every day; and this conversion is not completed until he attains to perfection of Christian character, a full preparation for the finishing touch of immortality."[5]
"To follow Jesus requires wholehearted conversion at the start, and a repetition of this conversion every day."[6]
None of us are living Christians unless we practice self-denial for the finishing of God's work and are daily advancing in perfection by the Holy Spirit's power working in the life.
"That belief that is laid aside when convenient, and put on and off like a garment, is not the religion of Christ, but a spurious article that will not bear the tests even of this world."[7]
"Every passing hour of the present is shaping our future life. These moments spent in carelessness, in self-pleasing, as if of no value, are deciding our everlasting destinies. The words we utter today will go on echoing when time shall be no more. The deeds done today are transferred to the books of heaven, just as the features are transferred by the artist onto the polished plate. They will determine our destiny for eternity, for bliss or eternal loss and agonizing remorse. Character cannot be changed when Christ comes, nor just as a man is about to die. Character building must be done in this life. We fear that repentance will come to the self-indulgent, tainted soul all too late."[8]
A perfect character must be developed now before Jesus comes.
"A character formed according to the divine likeness is the only treasure that we can take from this world to the next."[9]
Tragically, the church rejected the great opportunity that God brought to us in 1888. We had filled the church with a legalistic gospel. In the last century, the church by and large has finally rejected the futility of that legalistic gospel only to replace it with another gospel, a gospel offering the assurance that we are saved in sinning. Sad history proves that we have been in insubordination to all of God's directions in the educational system, medical missionary work, the publishing, and our evangelism. I know the conclusion we will come to will be startling and rejected by many leaders and pastors, who will readily admit that there is apostasy in the church, but they state "the church is not in apostasy." Yet if we overlay that admission and statement with the facts, following them to their conclusion, we do not find leaders nor the General Conference in session making the necessary efforts to put down the apostasy they admit exists. The inescapable conclusion that any honest, logical mind must come to is that the church is in apostasy. Insubordination is apostasy.
"Through Humble Instruments--As the time comes for it [the message of the third angel] to be given with greatest power, the Lord will work through humble instruments, leading the minds of those who consecrate themselves to His service. The laborers will be qualified rather by the unction of His Spirit than by the training of literary institutions. Men of faith and prayer will be constrained to go forth with holy zeal, declaring the words which God gives them. The sins of Babylon will be laid open. The fearful results of enforcing the observances of the church by civil authority, the inroads of Spiritualism, the stealthy but rapid progress of the papal power--all will be unmasked. By these solemn warnings the people will be stirred. Thousands upon thousands will listen who have never heard words like these."[10]
The following material when read prayerfully and carefully will support the statement that the church is now in apostasy. The straight testimony must come again to the Seventh-day Adventist leaders, pastors, and laity.
"According to the light that God has given me in vision, wickedness and deception are increasing among God's people who profess to keep His commandments. Spiritual discernment to see sin as it exists, and then to put it out of the camp, is decreasing among God's people; and spiritual blindness is fast coming upon them. The straight testimony must be revived, and it will separate those from Israel who have ever been at war with the means that God has ordained to keep corruptions out of the church. Wrongs must be called wrongs. Grievous sins must be called by their right name. All of God's people should come nearer to Him and wash their robes of character in the blood of the Lamb. Then will they see sin in the true light and will realize how offensive it is in the sight of God.
"It seemed a small matter to our first parents, when tempted, to transgress the command of God in one small act and eat of a tree that was beautiful to the eye and pleasant to the taste. To the transgressors this was but a small act, but it destroyed their allegiance to God and opened a flood of woe and guilt which has deluged the world. Who can know, in the moment of temptation, the terrible consequences which will result from one wrong, hasty step! Our only safety is to be shielded by the grace of God every moment, and not put out our own spiritual eyesight so that we will call evil, good, and good, evil. Without hesitation or argument, we must close and guard the avenues of the soul against evil.
"It will cost us an effort to secure eternal life. It is only by long and persevering effort, sore discipline, and stern conflict that we shall be overcomers. But if we patiently and determinedly, in the name of the Conqueror who overcame in our behalf in the wilderness of temptation, overcome as He overcame, we shall have the eternal reward. Our efforts, our self-denial, our perseverance, must be proportionate to the infinite value of the object of which we are in pursuit."[11]
This document is the straight testimony in present truth. The true gospel of Jesus Christ is victory over sin by the power of the Holy Spirit.
"The Christian's life is not a modification or improvement of the old, but a transformation of nature. There is a death to self and sin, and a new life altogether. This change can be brought about only by the effectual working of the Holy Spirit."[12]
"By the power of the Holy Spirit the moral image of God is to be perfected in the character. We are to be wholly transformed into the likeness of Christ. ... Unless the early showers have done their work, the latter rain can bring no seed to perfection."[13]
The change must be developed in the early rain. When the latter rain comes, there is no more opportunity to change our characters.
The Sorrow of Minneapolis
For over one hundred years, we have been living under the shadow of a very important date, known to most Seventh-day Adventists as 1888. This date has generated a debate among scholars and students, leaders and laity. What was this precious message God gave to Elders Waggoner and Jones that would have brought down the fourth angel of Revelation 18 to give the loud cry? Was this message accepted or rejected by leaders, then pastors, and laity?
Many books have been written on this very important date leading us to believe that this message accomplished its purpose, and that all is well. If, however, this were true, we should have been gone from this world in the early 1890s. For this powerful and dynamic message was given by God for one purpose, and that was to give the necessary power to the third angel's message, causing it to swell into the loud cry.
The church would have been shaken and purified. The world would have been warned. God's call to come out of Babylon would have shaken the other churches. The Seventh-day Adventist Church--God's last-day church--would have been victorious in its great commission and Jesus would have come! Then there would not have been World Wars I and II, Korea, Vietnam, 9-11, or the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan; neither would we be faced with the possibility of a nuclear third world war, which looms ominously on our horizon today.
You say, where is your proof for such a statement? First of all, we must see that the leadership at the Minneapolis Conference of 1888 was given a test. Let us read from inspiration:
"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."[14]
We must now determine whether we passed or failed that test.
Ellen White, writing in Selected Messages, book 1, 118, and Testimonies, vol. 9, 11, stated that this angel's message would cut God's work short in righteousness, going like fire in the stubble, and that the final movements would be rapid ones. What has gone wrong?
Over three hundred and twenty-five thousand babies are born into our world every day, and even though the church has become a well-known international organization, with thousands of missionaries and institutions encircling the globe, producing grandiose statistics, we must confess that we are farther from completing the work God commissioned us to do than when we began. We are now faced with over 6 billion souls who need the message that was given the church in 1888. What is this message Ellen White speaks of as "a most precious message" from God? Listen to her as she speaks:
"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. Many had lost sight of Jesus. ... All power is given into His hands, that He may dispense rich gifts unto men, imparting the priceless gift of His own righteousness to the helpless human agent. 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."[15]
Message after message came from her pen, urging our leading brethren and pastors to accept the experience of righteousness by faith, victory over every sin, through Jesus Christ.
"An unwillingness to yield up preconceived opinions, and to accept this truth [that the "law" in Galatians refers to the moral law], lay at the foundation of a large share of the opposition manifested at Minneapolis against the Lord's message through Brethren E.J. Waggoner and A.T. Jones. By exciting that opposition Satan succeeded 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."[16]
Again, we read from a manuscript written during the Minneapolis meeting:
"When I have been made to pass over the history of the Jewish nation and have seen where they stumbled because they did not walk in the light, I have been led to realize where we as a people would be led if we refuse the light God would give us. Eyes have ye but ye see not; ears, but ye hear not. Now, brethren, light has come to us and we want to be where we can grasp it. ... I see your danger and I want to warn you.
"If the ministers will not receive the light [given at the 1888 Conference], I want to give the people a chance; perhaps they may receive it."[17]
And again: The following quotations from Inspiration will help us to see the attitudes of the leaders and their rejection of this precious message.
"When the Jews took the first step in the rejection of Christ, they took a dangerous step. When afterward evidence accumulated that Jesus of Nazareth was the Messiah, they were too proud to acknowledge that they had erred. ... Just like the Jews, they [the brethren] take it for granted they have all the truth, and feel a sort of contempt for anyone who should suppose they had more correct ideas than themselves of what is truth. All the evidence produced they decide shall not weigh a straw with them, and they tell others that the doctrine is not true, and afterward, when they see as light evidence they were so forward to condemn, they have too much pride to say 'I was wrong'; they still cherish doubt and unbelief, and are too proud to acknowledge their convictions. ...
"It is not wise for one of these young men to commit himself to a decision at this meeting, where opposition, rather than investigation, is the order of the day."[18]
"Those to whom Christ has intrusted great light, whom he has surrounded with precious opportunities, are in danger, if they do not walk in this light, of being filled with pride of opinion and with self-exaltation as were the Jews."[19]
"We should not be found quibbling, and putting up hooks on which to hang our doubts in regard to the light which God sends us. When a point of doctrine that you do not understand comes to your attention, go to God on your knees, that you may understand what is truth, and not be found, as were the Jews, fighting against God. ...
"For nearly two years we have been urging the people to come up and accept the light and the truth concerning the righteousness of Christ, and they do not know whether to come and take hold of this precious truth or not."[20]
"I think that Elder A. T. Jones should attend our large camp meetings, and give to our people and to outsiders as well the precious subject of faith and the righteousness of Christ. There is a flood of light in this subject."[21]
"I never labored in my life more directly under the controlling influences of the Spirit of God. God gave me meat in due season for the people, but they refused it for it did not come in just the way and manner they wanted it to come. Elders Jones and Waggoner presented precious light to the people, but prejudice and unbelief, jealousy and evil-surmising barred the door of their hearts that nothing from this source should find entrance to their hearts."[22]
"O that all who stepped in false paths at that notable meeting at Minneapolis, and have felt the same spirit enfolding them about, would let heaven's light into their souls which would give them a true sense of their course of action, and their manner of spirit since that time! ... Hating Jesus Christ in the form of his saints!"[23]
"The Lord has been calling his people. In a most marked manner he has revealed his divine presence. But the message and the messengers have not been received but despised. ... In rejecting the message given at Minneapolis, men committed sin. They have committed far greater sin by retaining for years the same hatred against God's messengers, by rejecting the truth that the Holy Spirit has been urging home. ... Light from the throne of God has been long resisted as an objectionable thing. It has been regarded as darkness and spoke of as fanaticism, as something dangerous, to be shunned."[24]
"No more tender calls, no better opportunities, could be given them in order that they might do that which they ought to have done at Minneapolis. ... The time will come when many will be willing to do anything and everything possible in order to have a chance of hearing the call which they rejected at Minneapolis."[25]
"We know that Brother [A.T.] Jones has been giving the message for this time--meat in due season for the starving flock of God. ... the heaven-sent message ... They [the opposers] will be asked in the judgment ... When evidence was piled upon evidence, why did you not humble your hearts before God, and repent of your rejection of the message of mercy He sent you?."[26]
We see, from the foregoing statements, that the angel that was to lighten the whole earth with his glory was resisted, and by the action of the brethren, kept from the world. Because of the rejection by the leadership, Ellen G. White wanted to give the people an opportunity to hear it. This desire led her to travel the camp meeting and workers-meeting circuit with Elders Waggoner and Jones, standing with them, preaching this precious message of victory over sin through the total surrender of the will to the truth of God, leading to obedience through faith by the indwelling Holy Spirit.
Yes, the angel came down to give power to the third angel's message, but the church was not strengthened. It's leadership stood in the way, eclipsing the needed light of heaven's message from shining on the laity, leaving the church to a great extent, deprived of its beauty, blinded and enfeebled by the leadership.
"How long will those at the head of the work keep themselves aloof from the message of God?."[27]
"The Lord has shown me that men in responsible positions are standing directly in the way of His work because they think the work must be done and the blessing must come in a certain way, and they will not recognize that which comes in any other way. My brethren, may the Lord place this matter before you as it is. God does not work as men plan, or as they wish; He 'moves in a mysterious way His wonders to perform.' Why reject the Lord's methods of working, because they do not coincide with our ideas? God has His appointed channels of light, but these are not necessarily the minds of any particular set of men."[28]
"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 ideas and expectations, they will oppose the work. 'Why,' they say, 'should not we 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.' "[29]
The problem of resisting the message from God to the church is not new to our day; it is as old as the church itself. The church has resisted God's leading and orders most of the time.
"Woe to the rebellious children, saith the Lord, that take counsel, but not of me; and that cover with a covering, but not of my spirit, that they may add sin to sin: Now go, write it before them in a table, and note it in a book, that it may be for the time to come for ever and ever: That this is a rebellious people, lying children, children that will not hear the law of the Lord: Which say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits" (Isaiah 30:1, 8-10).
"The watchmen are responsible for the condition of the people. While you open the door to pride, envy, doubt, and other sins, there will be strife, hatred, and every evil work. Jesus, the meek and lowly One, asks an entrance as your guest; but you are afraid to bid Him enter."[30]
"I appeal to my brethren to wake up. Unless a change takes place speedily, I must give the facts to the people; for this state of things must change; unconverted men must no longer be managers and directors in so important and sacred work. With David we are forced to say, 'It is time for Thee, Lord, to work: for they have made void Thy law.' "[31]
Elder A.G. Daniels was at the 1888 meeting, and later, in 1926, wrote an apology for what had happened, in Christ Our Righteousness, p. 23:
"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 someday 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."
In the light of all this inspired evidence, those who wish to continue to write or preach that the message was received and experienced in 1888 must now examine the credibility of such pronouncements. Remember, this message was the beginning of the loud cry.
In the 1893 General Conference Bulletin, 377, there is an excerpt from a letter by G. B. Starr, in which he quotes Sister White: "Sister White says that we have been in the time of the latter rain since the Minneapolis meeting." Yet today there is no loud cry; no latter rain.
What was this precious message that God gave to us through Elders Waggoner and Jones? Let us re-examine the description of that message as our prophet saw it.
"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. Many had lost sight of Jesus. They needed to have their eyes directed to His divine person, His merits, and His changeless love for the human family. All power is given into His hands, that He may dispense rich gifts unto men, imparting the priceless gift of His own righteousness to the helpless human agent. 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."[32]
It was to bring the uplifted Saviour more prominently before the world. How?
- By proclaiming the sacrifice that heaven had made to recover the fallen race from sin (through the incarnation of the Son of God).
- By the experience of victory over sin and righteous living
- By presenting justification by faith in its true meaning--victory over every sin through Jesus, the Lamb slain for us
- By showing that perfect obedience to all the commandments of God, by the faith of Jesus, is possible
- By confirming that it was, in verity, the third angel's message that was to be proclaimed with a loud voice, and attended by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in the latter rain.
According to Ellen White, God wanted to accomplish these goals for His people with the 1888 message.
Disregarding the Testimonies
The second great problem is the disregard for the Testimonies from the Spirit of God.
"If God has given me a message to bear to His people, those who would hinder me in the work and lessen the faith of the people in its truth are not fighting against the instrument, but against God. 'It is not the instrument whom you slight and insult, but God, who has spoken to you in these warnings and reproofs.' 'It is hardly possible for men to offer a greater insult to God than to despise and reject the instrumentalities that He has appointed to lead them.' It is not alone those who openly reject the Testimonies, or who cherish doubt concerning them, that are on dangerous ground. To disregard light is to reject it."[33]
"Is it so that if, when the Testimonies come to our brethren, they harmonize with their ideas and plans, they are confident that they are of God; but that if, when they come, they do not harmonize with their cherished plans, they regard them as of no special value? If this is so, how can the message I bear fulfill the purpose for which it is sent? What power to help is there in the message I bear if when leading men receive from me a communication that cuts across their plans, they have so little faith in the Testimonies as to say that I have been influenced by my son or by some member of my family, or by someone else high or afar off."[34]
"Men may get up scheme after scheme, and the enemy will seek to seduce souls from the truth, but all who believe that the Lord has spoken through Sister White, and has given her a message, will be safe from the many delusions that will come in these last days."[35]
The almost total disregard for the Spirit of Prophecy is responsible for the terrible sin problem that exists in our midst today. As leaders in the cause of God, we must accept the responsibility for this great apostasy that has so insidiously encircled us. Many have changed leaders and don't even know that they have done so.
"What stern truth is here spoken. How many there are who boast that they are not in bondage to any one, when they are bound to the most cruel of all tyrants. They have placed themselves under Satan's training, and they treat God's people as he directs them to. How many there are who hear the word of truth, but hate the message and the messenger, because the truth disturbs them in their deceptive practices!
" 'I speak that which I have seen with my Father,' Christ continued, 'and ye do that which ye have seen with your father.' Two classes are plainly brought to view in these words--the children of light, who obey the truth, and the children of darkness, who reject the truth.
"The forces of the powers of darkness will unite with human agents who have given themselves unto the control of Satan, and the same scenes that were exhibited at the trial, rejection and crucifixion of Christ will be revived. Through yielding to satanic influences men will be merged into fiends, and those who were created in the image of God, who were formed to honor and glorify their Creator, will become the habitation of dragons, and Satan will see in an apostate race his masterpiece of evil--men who reflect his own image."[36]
Where Are The Watchmen?
"But if the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned; if the sword come, and take any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at the watchman's hand." (Ezekiel 33:6)
"The watchmen upon the walls of Zion should have been the first to catch the tidings of the Saviour's advent, the first to lift their voices to proclaim Him near, the first to warn the people to prepare for His coming. But they were at ease, dreaming of peace and safety, while the people were asleep in their sins. Jesus saw His church, like the barren fig tree, covered with pretentious leaves, yet destitute of precious fruit. There was a boastful observance of the forms of religion, while the spirit of true humility, penitence, and faith--which alone could render the service acceptable to God--was lacking. ... A backsliding church closed their eyes to the signs of the times. God did not forsake them ... but they departed from Him, and separated themselves from His love. ...
"Unless the church will follow on in His opening providence, accepting every ray of light, performing every duty which may be revealed, religion will inevitably degenerate into the observance of forms, and the spirit of vital godliness will disappear. This truth has been repeatedly illustrated in the history of the church. God requires of His people works of faith and obedience corresponding to the blessings and privileges bestowed. Obedience requires a sacrifice and involves a cross; and this is why so many of the professed followers of Christ refused to receive the light from heaven, and, like the Jews of old, knew not the time of their visitation (Luke 19:44). Because of their pride and unbelief the Lord passed them by."[37]
"The watchmen are responsible for the condition of the people."[38]
"One matter burdens my soul; the great lack of the love of God, which has been lost through continued resistance of light and truth, and the influence of those who have been engaged in active labor, who in the face of evidence piled upon evidence, have exerted an influence to counteract the message God has sent. I point them to the Jewish nation and ask, Must we leave our brethren to pass over the same path of blind resistance, till the very end of probation? If ever a people needed true and faithful watchmen, who will not hold their peace, who will cry day and night, sounding the warning God has given, it is the Seventh-day Adventists. Those who have had great light, blessed opportunities, who like Capernaum have been exalted to heaven in point of privileges, shall they, by non-improvement, be left to darkness corresponding to the greatness of the light given?"[39]
"He said furthermore unto me, Son of man, seest thou what they do? even the great abominations that the house of Israel committeth here, that I should go far off from my sanctuary? but turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations. And he brought me to the door of the court; and when I looked, behold a hole in the wall. ... And he said unto me, Go in, and behold the wicked abominations that they do here. So I went in and saw; and behold every form of creeping things, and abominable beasts, and all the idols of the house of Israel, portrayed upon the wall round about. ...
"Then said he unto me, Son of man, hast thou seen what the ancients of the house of Israel do in the dark, every man in the chambers of his imagery? for they say, The Lord seeth us not; the Lord hath forsaken the earth. He said also unto me, Turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations that they do. ...
"And he brought me into the inner court of the Lord's house, and, behold, at the door of the temple of the Lord, between the porch and the altar, were about five and twenty men, with their backs toward the temple of the Lord, and their faces toward the east; and they worshipped the sun toward the east. ...
"Therefore will I also deal in fury: mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity: and though they cry in mine ears with a loud voice, yet will I not hear them." (Ezekiel 8:6-10, 12, 13, 16, 18)
Let us remember that Ezekiel chapter 8 is the introduction to the sealing of chapter 9. Ellen White clarifies this passage by stating that the sanctuary is the church, and that the ancient men are Seventh-day Adventist ministers.[40]
The leaders of the ancient church would not accept instruction from the prophets through the Spirit of Prophecy.
"And the Lord God of their fathers sent to them by his messengers, rising up betimes, and sending; because he had compassion on his people, and on his dwelling place: But they mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, and misused his prophets, until the wrath of the Lord arose against his people, till there was no remedy" (2 Chronicles 36:15, 16).
Listen to God's message to us today:
"In the parable of the vineyard it was the husbandmen whom Christ pronounced guilty. It was they who had refused to return to their lord the fruit of his ground. In the Jewish nation it was the priests and teachers who, by misleading the people, had robbed God of the service which He claimed. It was they who turned the nation away from Christ.
"The law of God unmixed with human tradition was presented by Christ as the great standard of obedience. This aroused the enmity of the rabbis. They had set human teaching above God's word, and had turned the people away from His precepts. They would not give up their man-made commandments in order to obey the requirements of the word of God. They would not, for the truth's sake, sacrifice the pride of reason and the praise of men. When Christ came, presenting to the nation the claims of God, the priests and elders denied His right to interpose between them and the people. They would not accept His rebukes and warnings, and they set themselves to turn the people against Him and to compass His destruction.
"For the rejection of Christ, with the results that followed, they were responsible. A nation's sin and a nation's ruin were due to the religious leaders.
"In our day are not the same influences at work? Of the husbandmen of the Lord's vineyard are not many following in the steps of the Jewish leaders? Are not religious teachers turning men away from the plain requirements of the word of God? Instead of educating them in obedience to God's law, are they not educating them in transgression?"[41]
"The Jews perished as a nation because they were drawn from the truth of the Bible by their rulers, priests, and elders. Had they heeded the lessons of Jesus, and searched the Scriptures for themselves, they would not have perished."[42]
"As for my people, children are their oppressors, and women rule over them. O my people, they which lead thee cause thee to err, and destroy the way of thy paths." (Isaiah 3:12)
"My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge." (Hosea 4:6)
"Let a church become proud and boastful, not depending on God, not exalting His power, and that church will surely be left by the Lord, to be brought down to the ground. Let a people glory in wealth, intellect, knowledge, or in anything but Christ, and they will soon be brought to confusion."[43]
"There is great similarity between our history and that of the children of Israel. God led His people from Egypt into the wilderness, where they could keep His law and obey His voice. The Egyptians, who had no regard for the Lord, were encamped close by them; yet what was to the Israelites a great flood of light, illuminating the whole camp, and shedding brightness upon the path before them, was to the hosts of Pharaoh a wall of clouds, making blacker the darkness of night.
"So, at this time, there is a people whom God has made the depositaries of His law. To those who obey them, the commandments of God are as a pillar of fire, lighting and leading the way to eternal salvation. But unto those who disregard them, they are as the clouds of night. 'The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.' Better than all other knowledge is an understanding of the word of God. In keeping His commandments there is great reward, and no earthly inducement should cause the Christian to waver for a moment in his allegiance. Riches, honor, and worldly pomp are but as dross that shall perish before the fire of God's wrath."[44]
"The important movements of the present have their parallel in those of the past, and the experience of the church in former ages has lessons of great value for our own time."[45]
If, then, the Seventh-day Adventist Church is duplicating the history of ancient Israel, what can we expect?
"Thus saith the Lord, which giveth the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, which divideth the sea when the waves thereof roar; The Lord of hosts is his name: If those ordinances depart from before me, saith the Lord, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me for ever. Thus saith the Lord; If heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have done, saith the Lord." (Jeremiah 31:35-37)
"These words the Jews applied to themselves. And because God had shown them so great favor and mercy, they flattered themselves that, notwithstanding their sins and iniquities, he would still retain them as his favored people, and shower especial blessings upon them. ... This has been the danger of the people of God in all ages; and especially is this the danger of those living near the close of time. We are cited by the apostle to the unbelief, blindness, rebellion, and repeated sins of the Hebrews, as a warning. Paul plainly states that 'all these things happened unto them for ensamples; and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.' If, in these last days of peril, for the encouragement of persons in responsible positions, God in mercy gives them a testimony of favor, they frequently become lifted up, and lose sight of their frailties and weaknesses, and rely upon their own judgment, flattering themselves that God cannot accomplish his work without their especial aid. They trust in their own wisdom; and the Lord permits them, for a time, to apparently prosper, to reveal the weakness and folly of the natural heart. But the Lord will, in his own time, and in his own way, bring down the pride and folly of these deceived ones, and show to them their true condition. If they will accept the humiliation, and by confession and sincere repentance, turn unto the Lord, perfecting holiness in the fear of God, he will renew his love to them. But if they shut their eyes to their own sins, as did the Jews, and choose their own ways, the Lord will give them up to blindness of mind, and hardness of heart, that they cannot discern the things of the Spirit of God.
"God cannot do much for man, because he misinterprets his blessings, and concludes that he is favored on account of some goodness in himself. It is not safe to speak in the praise of mortals; for they cannot bear it. Satan has the special work to do of flattering poor souls, and he needs not the help of the Lord's servants in this matter."[46]
Let us remember that God has declared that the Jewish church would remain as long as the sun, moon and stars. These ordinances, as the heavenly bodies are called by God, are still there; but the Jewish church was cast aside by God in A.D. 34. All the promises of God are conditional on obedience to all of God's commandments.
The Rejection of the 1888 Message and Its Messengers
"It should be remembered that the promises and the threatenings of God are alike conditional."[47]
Note the instruction of the Spirit of the Lord through His servants to Kings Solomon, Asa and to all His people. This would include us whom God has favored with such great light.
"And thou, Solomon my son, know thou the God of thy father, and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind: for the Lord searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts: if thou seek him, he will be found of thee; but if thou forsake him, he will cast thee off for ever" (1 Chronicles 28:9).
"And he went out to meet Asa, and said unto him, Hear ye me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin; The Lord is with you, while ye be with him; and if ye seek him, he will be found of you; but if ye forsake him, he will forsake you" (2 Chronicles 15:2).
"Certain conditions are to be complied with on the part of man, and if he refuses to comply with the conditions, he cannot become the elect of God"[48]
When we as Adventists see that we are worse than they were because of our "greater light"[49], can we say that God will not treat us as He did the Jewish church, if we do not repent? The prophet describes our condition today:
"Ministers and people are unprepared for the time in which they live, and nearly all who profess to believe present truth are unprepared to understand the work of preparation for this time. In their present state of worldly ambition, with their lack of consecration to God, their devotion to self, they are wholly unfitted to receive the latter rain and, having done all, to stand against the wrath of Satan, who by his inventions would cause them to make shipwreck of faith, fastening upon them some pleasing self-deception. They think they are all right when they are all wrong."[50]
Signs Of The End And The Close Of Probation For The Church And For The World
"We are standing upon the threshold of great and solemn events. Prophecies are fulfilling. Strange, eventful history is being recorded in the books of heaven. Everything in our world is in agitation. There are wars and rumors of wars. The nations are angry, and the time of the dead has come, that they should be judged. Events are changing to bring about the day of God, which hasteth greatly. Only a moment of time, as it were, yet remains. But while already nation is rising against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, there is not now a general engagement. As yet the four winds are held until the servants of God shall be sealed in their foreheads. Then the powers of earth will marshal their forces for the last great battle."[51] "The world is a theater; the actors, its inhabitants, are preparing to act their part in the last great drama. With the great masses of mankind there is no unity, except as men confederate to accomplish their selfish purposes. God is looking on. His purposes in regard to His rebellious subjects will be fulfilled. The world has not been given into the hands of men, though God is permitting the elements of confusion and disorder to bear sway for a season. A power from beneath is working to bring about the last great scenes in the drama--Satan coming as Christ, and working with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in those who are binding themselves together in secret societies. Those who are yielding to the passion for confederation are working out the plans of the enemy. The cause will be followed by the effect.
"Transgression has almost reached its limit. Confusion fills the world, and a great terror is soon to come upon human beings. The end is very near. We who know the truth should be preparing for what is soon to break upon the world as an overwhelming surprise."[52]
"My heart is filled with anguish when I think of the tame messages borne by some of our ministers, when they have a message of life and death to bear. The ministers are asleep; the lay members are asleep; and a world is perishing in sin. May God help His people to arouse and walk and work as men and women on the borders of the eternal world. Soon an awful surprise is coming upon the inhabitants of the world. Suddenly, with power and great glory, Christ will come. Then there will be no time to prepare to meet Him. Now is the time for us to give the warning message."[53]
The second beast of Revelation 13 is America. It now stands in a position to enforce the image to the first beast of Revelation 13, which is the Papacy. Sunday laws are hanging ominously over the horizon of our world and our church. Satan's personation of Jesus Christ revealed in The Great Controversy, 624, will occur simultaneously when the Sunday laws go into effect.
The 1888 Message came just before a national Sunday law[54]. The 1888 Message was to prepare a people to stand in the righteousness of Christ against the onslaught of Satan. And in Christ's righteousness, give the loud cry message to this perishing world. Within the message of 1888 was the grace God's people have needed to see the fulfillment of Romans 16:20 and bring a victorious end to the Great Controversy between Christ (and His people) and Satan.
"And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen (Romans 16:20).
God's power is still in the true 1888 Message, and when received, we will bear the fruit the Christlike character the Lord is waiting to see. The proof it has been rejected is in the fact that we are still in this world. Today, we have either studied indifference or looked to committees to interpret the message for us. Because of this, the church is in no way more prepared for the crisis than when the message was first rejected in Minneapolis.
The conclusion of this booklet tells us that the Seventh-day Adventist Church today is in a great apostasy--insubordination to all the directions that God has given to us in Christian education, medical missionary work, publishing, and evangelism.
We have used man's wisdom instead of God's inspired directions. Therefore, spiritual blindness has come upon the pastors and laity. God gave Ellen White inspired testimony of the condition of the church in the final generation. We are told in Selected Messages, book 1, 406, that the same trials, positions and attitudes, and experiences that came to the church in Christ's day will be repeated in our day.
"The remnant church is called to go through an experience similar to that of the Jews; and the True Witness, who walks up and down in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks, has a solemn message to bear to His people. He says, 'I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.' (Revelation 2:4, 5) The love of God has been waning in the church, and as a result, the love of self has sprung up into new activity. With the loss of love for God there has come the loss of love for the brethren. The church may meet all the description that is given of the Ephesian church, and yet fail in vital godliness. Of them Jesus said, 'I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars: and hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name's sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted. Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love.' (Revelation 2:2-4)"[55]
God charges the leaders, and pastors, and lay leaders of this church with insubordination to God's commands.
Insubordination to God's commandments--inspired testimony in the Seventh-day Adventist Church--is responsible for the long delay[56]:
"I saw that watch after watch was in the past. Because of this, should there be a lack of vigilance? Oh, no! There is the greater necessity of unceasing watchfulness, for now the moments are fewer than before the passing of the first watch. Now the period of waiting is necessarily shorter than at first. If we watched with unabated vigilance then, how much more need of double watchfulness in the second watch. The passing of the second watch has brought us to the third, and now it is inexcusable to abate our watchfulness. The third watch calls for threefold earnestness. To become impatient now would be to lose all our earnest, persevering watching heretofore. The long night of gloom is trying; but the morning is deferred in mercy, because if the Master should come, so many would be found unready. God's unwillingness to have His people perish has been the reason for so long delay. But the coming of the morning to the faithful, and of the night to the unfaithful, is right upon us. By waiting and watching, God's people are to manifest their peculiar character, their separation from the world. By our watching position we are to show that we are truly strangers and pilgrims upon the earth. The difference between those who love the world and those who love Christ is so plain as to be unmistakable. While worldlings are all earnestness and ambition to secure earthly treasure, God's people are not conformed to the world, but show by their earnest, watching, waiting position that they are transformed; that their home is not in this world, but that they are seeking a better country, even a heavenly."
"Had Adventists, after the great disappointment in 1844, held fast their faith and followed on unitedly in the opening providence of God, receiving the message of the third angel and in the power of the Holy Spirit proclaiming it to the world, they would have seen the salvation of God, the Lord would have wrought mightily with their efforts, the work would have been completed, and Christ would have come ere this to receive His people to their reward. But in the period of doubt and uncertainty that followed the disappointment, many of the advent believers yielded their faith. ... Thus the work was hindered, and the world was left in darkness. Had the whole Adventist body united upon the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus, how widely different would have been our history!"[57]
The Three Angels' Messages Revelation 14:6-12
The fourth angel's message of Revelation 18 came down to the Seventh-day Adventist Church in 1888.
"The Beginning of the Loud Cry
"Let everyone who claims to believe that the Lord is soon coming, search the Scriptures as never before; for Satan is determined to try every device possible to keep souls in darkness, and blind the mind to the perils of the times in which we are living. Let every believer take up his Bible with earnest prayer, that he may be enlightened by the Holy Spirit as to what is truth, that he may know more of God and of Jesus Christ whom He has sent. Search for the truth as for hidden treasures, and disappoint the enemy. 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. For it is the work of every one to whom the message of warning has come, to lift up Jesus, to present Him to the world as revealed in types, as shadowed in symbols, as manifested in the revelations of the prophets, as unveiled in the lessons given to His disciples and in the wonderful miracles wrought for the sons of men. Search the Scriptures; for they are they that testify of Him."[58]
The rejection of the 1888 message, which is the first angel's message, was rejected by the leaders in 1888.
The conclusion of this document; all must see that the sanctuary message and the three angels' messages, and the fourth angel's message has been rejected.
"An unwillingness to yield up preconceived opinions, and to accept this truth, lay at the foundation of a large share of the opposition manifested at Minneapolis against the Lord's message through Brethren E.J. Waggoner and A.T. Jones. By exciting that opposition Satan succeeded 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."[59]
These messages have separated the Seventh-day Adventist Church from the Evangelical world and its worldliness, but Satan has gradually and persistently inspired our leaders, pastors, and laity to embrace another gospel, a gospel of saved in sinning. Is this not the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which Christ so unsparingly condemns? From our pulpits we do not hear the old Adventist doctrines, but more and more of Satan's doctrine--saved in sinning and not overcoming all sin by the power of the Holy Spirit. And it cannot entirely be laid at the feet of the leaders, as to a great degree, this is what the people want to hear. They want to be comforted with assurances while they sin. Those who offer no such assurances are condemned as unloving or unchristlike. This attitude was foreseen by the prophet Ezekiel as well as how God will take this matter into His Own hands.
"Because with lies ye have made the heart of the righteous sad, whom I have not made sad; and strengthened the hands of the wicked, that he should not return from his wicked way, by promising him life: Therefore ye shall see no more vanity, nor divine divinations: for I will deliver my people out of your hand: and ye shall know that I am the Lord." (Ezekiel 13:22, 23)
There Will Soon Be An Awakening That Will Surprise Many
"We are made sad as we see in many places so much left undone that should be done. But the Lord will use in the accomplishment of His work means that we do not now see. He will raise up from among the common people, men and women to do His work, even as of old He called fishermen to be His disciples. There will soon be an awakening that will surprise many. Those who do not realize the necessity of what is to be done, will be passed by, and the heavenly messengers will work with those who are called the common people, fitting them to carry the truth to many places. Now is the time for us to awake and do what we can."[60]
God is preparing in the laity of the Seventh-day Adventist Church a ministry that will take the three angels' messages to the world. God has some like Nicodemus in the leadership and pastors that will join the great final movement. The fourth angel joins the third angel's message and swells it to a loud cry. The Seventh-day Adventist Church will be shaken and purified, and the warning message of the third angel will be given under much persecution and trouble.
The united power of the first and second beasts of Revelation 13 are preparing to enforce Sunday laws while Satan is preparing to personate Christ[61] . These events will bring this world into the little time of trouble before probation closes, and the great time of trouble will end for the 144,000 saints who have proved by the power of the Holy Spirit that they can overcome all sin and temptation, and respond to life's situations just like Jesus did. They are Jesus' greatest witnesses throughout eternity. This perfection of Christ's character in the Spirit of holiness will be manifested in perfect law keeping. They are the Enoch's of the final generation.
The 144,000 are the only ones to pass through Jacob's trouble without an intercessor.[62]
"To the Little Flock
"Dear Brethren: The Lord gave me a view, January 26, 1850, which I will relate. I saw that some of the people of God are stupid and dormant and but half awake; they do not realize the time we are now living in, and that the man with the 'dirt brush'[63] has entered, and that some are in danger of being swept away. I begged of Jesus to save them, to spare them a little longer, and let them see their awful danger, that they might get ready before it should be forever too late.
The angel said, 'Destruction is coming like a mighty whirlwind.' I begged of the angel to pity and to save those who loved this world, who were attached to their possessions and were not willing to cut loose from them and sacrifice to speed the messengers on their way to feed the hungry sheep who were perishing for want of spiritual food."[64]
"When the soul surrenders itself to Christ, a new power takes possession of the new heart. A change is wrought which man can never accomplish for himself. It is a supernatural work, bringing a supernatural element into human nature. The soul that is yielded to Christ becomes His own fortress, which He holds in a revolted world, and He intends that no authority shall be known in it but His own. A soul thus kept in possession by the heavenly agencies is impregnable to the assaults of Satan. But unless we do yield ourselves to the control of Christ, we shall be dominated by the wicked one. We must inevitably be under the control of the one or the other of the two great powers that are contending for the supremacy of the world. It is not necessary for us deliberately to choose the service of the kingdom of darkness in order to come under its dominion. We have only to neglect to ally ourselves with the kingdom of light. If we do not co-operate with the heavenly agencies, Satan will take possession of the heart, and will make it his abiding place. The only defense against evil is the indwelling of Christ in the heart through faith in His righteousness. Unless we become vitally connected with God, we can never resist the unhallowed effects of self-love, self-indulgence, and temptation to sin. We may leave off many bad habits, for the time we may part company with Satan; but without a vital connection with God, through the surrender of ourselves to Him moment by moment, we shall be overcome. Without a personal acquaintance with Christ, and a continual communion, we are at the mercy of the enemy, and shall do his bidding in the end."[65]
The 1888 message given by Waggoner and Jones, and supported by our prophet Ellen White, was presented to the Seventh-day Adventist Church, its leaders, its pastors, its lay leaders, and its laity. A marvelous opportunity was given to us to bring the great controversy to its completion, but we have chosen man's way instead of God's way, and it is the cause of the great delay, the coming of our Saviour, Jesus Christ. And as a result, many have adopted the gospel, saved in sinning and not overcoming sin and temptation. The spiritual blindness presented in the Laodicean message of Revelation 3:14-20, has brought us into the experience of wretchedness and spiritual blindness. The present crisis in the remnant church is now before us. Our only hope now for God's people, is to repent or be spewed out of the mouth of God and the judgment of the living soon to come.
This great warning, what I suggest to the Seventh-day Adventist leaders, Seventh-day Adventist pastors, and Seventh-day Adventist laity, is found in these inspired quotations and Scripture:
"Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." (2 Timothy 2:15)
"And only those who live the life of Christ are His coworkers. If one sin is cherished in the soul, or one wrong practice retained in the life, the whole being is contaminated. The man becomes an instrument of unrighteousness."[66]
"Even one wrong trait of character, one sinful desire, persistently cherished, will eventually neutralize all the power of the gospel. Every sinful indulgence strengthens the soul's aversion to God."[67]
"Only those who have been diligent students of the Scriptures and who have received the love of the truth will be shielded from the powerful delusion that takes the world captive. By the Bible testimony these will detect the deceiver in his disguise. To all the testing time will come. By the sifting of temptation the genuine Christian will be revealed. Are the people of God now so firmly established upon His word that they would not yield to the evidence of their senses? Would they, in such a crisis, cling to the Bible and the Bible only? Satan will, if possible, prevent them from obtaining a preparation to stand in that day. He will so arrange affairs as to hedge up their way, entangle them with earthly treasures, cause them to carry a heavy, wearisome burden, that their hearts may be overcharged with the cares of this life and the day of trial may come upon them as a thief."[68]
In this booklet we have examined the matchless love of God (in the 1888 Message) and the tragic history of His Remnant Church in rejection of the things which belong to our peace (i.e. the righteous character of Christ), which may be ours if we will enter in to that experience by faith. Soon these things may be hid from our eyes as surely as they were from Israel with the rejection that closed their national probation. Like ancient Israel, (see songs of the vineyard (Isaiah 5:1-7; 27:1-6) we as a church and as individuals have but two possible futures ahead of us. One that involves being trodden down, receiving neither dew nor rain from the Lord, or we can take hold of His strength and fill the face of the earth with fruit. Which experience will you enter into?
"The time is nearing when the great crisis in the history of the world [The Sunday Law] will have come, when every movement in the government of God will be watched with intense interest and inexpressible apprehension. ...
Oh, that the people might know the time of their visitation! There are many who have not yet heard the testing truth for this time. There are many with whom the Spirit of God is striving. The time of God's destructive judgments is the time of mercy for those who have had no opportunity to learn what is truth. Tenderly will the Lord look upon them. His heart of mercy is touched; His hand is still stretched out to save, while the door is closed to those who would not enter.
The mercy of God is shown in His long forbearance. He is holding back His judgments, waiting for the message of warning to be sounded to all. Oh, if our people would feel as they should the responsibility resting upon them to give the last message of mercy to the world, what a wonderful work would be done!"
Notes:
- Testimonies to Ministers, p. 91
- Testimonies, vol. 1, p. 144
- Christ's Object Lessons, p. 69
- Evangelism, p. 190
- Testimonies, vol. 2, p. 505
- Letter 39, 1899; The Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, vol. 1, p. 1113
- Testimonies, vol. 4, p. 190
- Testimonies to Ministers, pp. 429, 430
- Christ's Object Lessons, p. 332
- The Great Controversy, p. 606 [1888]; Evangelism, p. 699, 700
- Testimonies, vol. 3, pp. 324, 325
- The Desire of Ages, p. 172
- Testimonies to Ministers, p. 506
- Selected Messages, book 1, p. 363
- Testimonies to Ministers, pp. 91, 92
- Selected Messages, book 1, pp. 234, 235
- The Ellen G. White 1888 Materials, p. 152
- Ibid., 169, 170
- Review and Herald, February 4, 1890
- Ibid., March 11, 1890
- The Ellen G. White 1888 Materials, p. 291
- Ibid., pp. 308, 309
- Ibid., pp. 1474, 1475
- Ibid., pp. 913, 915
- Ibid., p. 1030
- Ibid., pp. 1122, 1126
- Review and Herald, March 18, 1890
- Testimonies, vol. 5, p. 726
- Review and Herald Extra, vol. 2, p. 454
- Testimonies, vol. 5, p. 235
- Testimonies to Ministers, p. 373
- Testimonies to Ministers, pp. 91, 92
- Testimonies, vol. 5, p. 680
- Battle Creek Letters, p. 43
- Selected Messages, book 3, p. 83, 84
- The Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, vol. 5, p. 1136
- The Great Controversy, pp. 315, 316
- Testimonies, vol. 5, p. 235
- The Paulson Collection, p. 349
- See Testimonies, vol. 5, p. 211; vol. 3, pp. 266, 267
- Christ's Object Lessons, pp. 304, 305
- Testimonies to Ministers, p. 109
- Testimonies, vol. 8, p. 127
- Ibid., vol. 4, p. 27
- The Great Controversy, p. 343
- The Spirit of Prophecy, vol. 2, pp. 52, 53
- Evangelism, p. 695
- Selected Messages, book 3, p. 315
- See Testimonies, vol. 1, p. 129
- Testimonies, vol. 1, p. 466
- Testimonies, vol. 6, p. 14
- Ibid., vol. 8, pp. 27, 28
- Ibid., vol. 8, p. 37
- The Blair bill was before the 50th Congress 1st Session S. 2983
- Selected Messages, book 1, pp. 387, 388
- See Testimonies, vol. 2, pp. 193, 194
- Evangelism, pp. 695, 696
- Selected Messages, book 1, pp. 362, 363
- Selected Messages, book 1, pp. 234, 235
- Loma Linda Messages, p. 83; See Counsels on Health, p. 395
- See The Great Controversy, p. 624
- See Early Writings, p. 48; The Desire of Ages, p. 324; The Great Controversy, p. 625
- See 'William Miller's Dream,' p. 81
- Early Writings, pp. 48, 49
- The Desire of Ages, p. 324
- The Desire of Ages, p. 313
- Steps to Christ, p. 34
- The Great Controversy, pp. 625, 626