My mind is impressed this morning to read again Eph. 4:13: "Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ." In my first talk I told something about the work of the gifts in producing unity; but that is not all there is to it, for our text says, "unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ." And here is this little work of Sister White's, "Steps to Christ," which Brother Jones has called the "Gospel Primer" -- yes, and it's a whole library -- in what direction does it point? Is it not in this very direction of growing to the up full measure of the stature of Christ?
I have here Testimony No. 1, -- a vision given Nov. 20, 1855, in the first Seventh-day Adventist meeting house ever built in Battle Creek. I read from the third paragraph. "Exaltation has come into the ranks; there must be more humility. There is too much of an independence of spirit indulged in among the messengers. This must be laid aside, and there must be a drawing together of the servants of God. There has been too much of a spirit to ask, "Am I my brother's keeper?" Said the angel, "Yea, thou art thy brother's keeper. Thou shouldst have a careful watch for thy brother, be interested for his welfare, and cherish a kind, loving spirit towards him. Press together, press together." There is the very root of order among us, laid right down in that testimony; and in the second meeting-house that was built definite steps were taken toward organization.
I want now to connect with my text another scripture found in the first chapter of 1st John: "That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled of the word oflife. ... That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: And truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus-Christ." "If we say that we have fellowship with him and walk in darkness, we lie and do not the truth: but if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin." (Verses 6, 7) Then how is it we are to get this true harmony and unity? Why, the text tells us that our fellowship is with Christ and the Father; so if we all have the spirit of Christ in our hearts and have fellowship with him, there'll be no trouble about all having the same mind, and all being in unity. You remember the proposition in philosophy that "two things that are like the same thing are like each other," and it is just so here. Two minds that are like the mind of Christ will be like each other.
I have here a recent special testimony to brethren in responsible positions, and on page 11 I read these words: "Now is the time for God's people to take up the duties that lie next them. Be faithful in the little things; for on the right performance of these hang great results. Do not leave the work which needs to be done, because it appears to your judgment to be small and inconsiderable. Make up every waste place, repair the breaches as fast as they occur. Let all go to work to help some one who needs help. There is a cause for the great weakness in our churches, and that cause is hard to remove. It is self. Men have none too much will, but they must have it wholly sanctified to God. They need to fall on the Rock and be broken. Self must be crucified in every one who shall enter the gates of the city of God. The fierce spirit which rises up in the hearts of some in the church when anything does not please them, is the spirit of Satan, and not the spirit of Christ.
"Is it not fully time that we return to our first love and be at peace among ourselves? We must show ourselves to be not only Bible readers, but Bible believers. If we are united to Christ, we shall be united to one another. 'A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.' 'We then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves. For even Christ pleased not himself, but, as it is written, the reproaches of them that reproached thee fell on me. For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope. Now the God of patience and consolation grant you to be like-minded one toward another according to Christ Jesus.' So then where is the working of the gifts to bring us? -- "Unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ."
I want now to read a few texts which speak more about this fullness. "And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only-begotten of the Father), full of grace and truth." "And of his fullness have all we received, and grace for grace." (John 1:14, 16) "For in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily." (Col. 2:9) "And hath put all things under his feet, and given him to be the head over all things to the church; which is the body, the fullness of him that filleth all in all." (Eph. 1:22, 23) Also "That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God." (Eph. 3:17-19) As we behold and contemplate the infinity of God's love to us, and grasp it and take it in, we are filled with all the fullness of God. "And he [Christ] is before all things, and by him all things consist. And he is the head of the body, the church." Then if we are united to that Head we are filled with his fullness.
This is what the Bible teaches; and now let us see what the Testimonies teach. I thought I had read the Testimonies pretty thoroughly and understood what was in them, but now I begin to see things in them that I had never seen before. True, I had read these things, and thought they were very good, but somehow did not grasp the real point that was in them. This means that God is clothing his word with power. You can't separate the message from the Testimonies. Just as well try to get along without eyes or nerves or muscles in your body, as try to carry forward the message without them.
I read from Testimony No. 8, written in 1861: "We must study the life of Christ, and learn what it is to confess him before the world. In order to confess Christ we must have him to confess. No one can truly confess Christ unless the mind and the Spirit of Christ are in him. If a form of godliness or an acknowledgement of the truth were also a confession of Christ, we might say, Broad is the way that leadeth unto life, and many there be that find it. We must understand what it is to confess Christ, and wherein we deny him. It is possible by our lips to confess Christ yet in our works to deny him. The fruits of the Spirit manifested in the life are a confession of him."
I stated yesterday some points of comparison between ancient prophets and prophets of our own time; but here is a point I wish to mention, concerning the difference between the true prophets and the false. With the false prophets there was always flattery, but with the true ones there was never flattery, but always reproof. So, in the Spirit of Prophecy, you would expect to find reproofs. And that is just what we do find. There have been a great many people with broken heads, people who found fault with the Testimonies given to them because their course had been reproved, and they would talk about them and say it was not true, and perhaps before they were through talking you would see from what they said that it was true. Notice what the Lord says: " Howbeit, I sent unto you all my servants the prophets, rising early and sending them, saying, O do not this abominable thing that I hate. But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear, nor turned from their wickedness, to burn no incense unto other gods." (Jer. 44:4, 5) You see it did not say, Oh, you are a good fellow; you are just about right. O no, it was "Do not this abominable thing that I hate." There is shown the character of God's messengers.
Now how did the false prophets do their work? "Thus saith the Lord of Hosts, Hearken not unto the words of the prophets that prophesy unto you; they make you vain, they speak a vision of their own heart and not out of the mouth of the Lord. They say still unto them that despise me, The Lord hath said, ye shall have peace; and they say unto everyone that walketh after the imagination of his own heart, No evil shall come upon you." (Jer. 23:16, 17) Here you see the flattery that was a characteristic of their work.
I read now another text: "Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God, because many false prophets are gone out into the world. Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God, and every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God." (1 John 4:1, 3) I used to believe this meant that these false spirits had got to acknowledge the incarnation of Christ, but I bless God there is greater light coming to us, and now I believe it means to confess that Jesus Christ has come in our flesh. That is just how we are to overcome, -- by Jesus Christ in our flesh, as the text says, "Greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world." "They are of the world, therefore speak they of the world, and the world heareth them. We are of God. He that knoweth God eareth us, and he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth and the spirit of error." (1 John 4:5, 6) Here is the contrast. They are of the world, but we are of God, and God is our strength. This is just what we find in the Testimonies all the way through.
At Rocky Hill, Conn., a circumstance occurred which brought these two opposite classes right together. A meeting was held at the home of one of our brethren, and there was a blind man there who claimed to have visions. Sister White had a vision in which she was instructed to tell this man and his wife that they should send for their daughter, who was away from home among strangers in New Britain, and have her return home right away, for she was in great danger, and that she had already taken an imprudent course. The blind man said, O no, the daughter would not do anything that was wrong, and he got up in the meeting and rattled off what he called his gift of tongues. There was quite a power went with it, and quite a number sympathized with him. Along about midnight there was a loud rap at Sister White's door, and the word came that the daughter wanted to see Sister White, for she was sick, and was afraid she was going to die. The outcome was that she confessed all that Sister White had said.
The next morning the man who claimed to talk with tongues was seen taking a hasty departure.
But some say, I never had any testimony of reproof sent to me. How is that, -- never had any reproof? Why, you have all had reproof. Christ said, "If any man hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches." Just keep your ears open, and you will get the reproof.
We say to ourselves, O that testimony is for Brother J. That hits him. Yes, but quite likely it hits you too, and if it hits you it was given for you also. Some of these persons who were reproved used to try to keep their reproofs hidden from their brethren, so that it would appear that Brother and Sister White sanctioned their course. This is what first led to the publication of the Testimonies. I read from Testimony No. 14, paragraph 8:--
"I have finally decided that many of these personal testimonies should be published, as they all contain more or less reproof and instruction, which apply to hundreds of thousands of others in a similar condition. These should have the light which God has seen fit to give, which meets their cases; it is wrong to shut it away from them by sending it to one person or to one class, where it is kept as a light under a bushel. My convictions of duty on this point have been greatly strengthened by the following dream: 'A grove of evergreens was presented before me: several including myself were laboring among them. I was bidden to closely inspect the trees and see if they were in a flourishing condition. I observed that some were being bent and deformed by the wind, and needed to be supported by stakes. I was carefully removing the dirt from the feeble and dying trees to ascertain the cause of their condition. I discovered worms at the roots of some; others had not been watered properly, and were dying with drought; the roots of others had been crowded together to their injury. My work was to explain to the workmen the different reasons why these trees did not prosper. This was necessary, from the fact that trees in other grounds were liable to be affected as these had been, and the cause of their not flourishing, and how they should be cultivated and treated must be made known."
Yet the Lord deals with us gently, and does not wish to expose all our faults to others, to be a hindrance to us.
I read now from Testimony No. 15, paragraph 2. It tells of a dream that Sister White had which she thus relates:--
"I dreamed that a person brought to me a web of white cloth, and bade me cut it into garments for persons of all sizes and all descriptions of character and circumstances in life. I was told to cut them out and hang them up all ready to be made when called for. I had the impression that many for whom I was required to cut garments were unworthy. ... I felt discouraged at the amount of work before me, and stated that I had been engaged in cutting garments for others for more than twenty years, and my labors had not been appreciated, neither did I see that my work had accomplished much good. ... The person replied, 'Cut out the garments; that is your duty. ... The loss is not yours, but mine; God sees not as man sees. He lays out the work that he would have done, and you do not know which will prosper, this or that.' I then held up my hands, calloused as they were with long use of the shears, and stated that I could but shrink at the thought of pursuing this kind of labor. The person again repeated, 'Cut out the garments, your release has not yet come.' With feelings of great weariness I arose to engage in the work. Before me lay new polished shears which I commenced using. My feelings of weariness and discouragement left me. The shears seemed to cut with hardly an effort, and I cut out garment after garment with comparative ease."
But now comes somebody and says, O yes, I guess it was all so, but there is a little something about this that I don't understand. It is about that teaching of Sister White's that after the time passed, there was no more mercy for sinners. O, is that it? Well, bless your heart, Sister White didn't teach that. I will tell you how that teaching originated. Joseph Turner was the first one to advocate it, at South Paris, Maine, after the passing of the time; though the same idea had been held by others before the time had passed. I read from "Rise and Progress of Seventh-day Adventists," page 118: "Some of these fanatical and exclusive persons took the position that no one could be saved except those who had already identified themselves with the Advent movement. Shortly after the circumstances above mentioned, Miss Harmon returned to Maine and made a second visit to Paris, where she had a reproof for such extremists. Concerning this visit, I will quote from Mrs. Truesdail, who, as we have before said, then resided in Paris:--
"During Miss Harmon's visit in Paris, Maine, in the summer of 1845, I stated to her the particulars concerning a dear friend of mine, whose father had deprived her of attending our meetings, consequently she had not rejected light. She smilingly replied, 'God has never shown me that there is no salvation for such persons. It is those only who have had the light of truth presented to them and knowingly rejected it.'"
Eld. J. N. Andrews, who resided in Paris, Maine, in 1845, and who is wholly conversant with the people there, and with that of Eld. Jos. Turner, who taught there was no more mercy for sinners, says of Miss Harmon's position on the subject at that time, "Instead of the visions leading them to adopt this view, it corrected those upon it who still held to it." To this I will add a further testimony by Mrs. Truesdail:--
"Another occasion worthy of mention was a vision given in 1846, in Paris, Maine. Miss Harmon was shown that when Satan could not prevent the honest hearted from doing their whole duty, he would exert his skill in pushing them beyond duty. One good sister had been telling the churches that God had rejected them because they had rejected the message sent from heaven to save them. Sister Harmon was shown that there was no truth in her message, as there were many in the churches who would yet embrace the truth; that the good angels would leave her (this sister) at the door of the church if she went there upon such an errand."
Yes, but didn't she get hold of that idea afterwards? No, that won't do, for our enemies, who oppose the visions, say that she taught this from the very first. The people held to these doctrines, and whenever she would go to them and associate with them and hold meetings, she was charged with advocating their views; and this was how this shut door objection originated. She gave Joseph Turner a testimony, saying that he was corrupt at heart. Elder Turner had announced his intention of going to Portland, Maine, but this testimony said he had no call to go to Portland, and that his character would there be manifested. Then he turned against Sister White, and made the claim that she taught there was no more mercy for sinners. But at this very time, and later, people were being converted and brought into the light through her labors. Hiram Patch and his wife were converted in Oswego, N. Y., in 1848, by a testimony concerning a man who was conducting a revival. In this testimony Brother Patch was told to wait one month and he would see the true character of this pretended revivalist, and he did see it only about two weeks later.
In 1849 Sister White had a vision about these false shepherds who professed to have a travail of soul for sinners, and yet had rejected the truth, that the time for their salvation was past; and since then people have pointed to this and said that Sister White had claimed there was no more mercy for sinners. But with those who came out into the light, and were converted at that time, you can no more shake their faith in the Testimonies than you can blot out Bunker Hill Monument with a blow of your fist.