Mat 16:1 The
Pharisees also with the Sadducees came, and tempting desired him that he would
shew them a sign from heaven.
Mat 16:2 He
answered and said unto them, When it is evening, ye say, It will be fair
weather: for the sky is red.
Mat 16:3 And
in the morning, It will be foul weather to day: for the sky is red and lowring.
O ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern the
signs of the times?
Mat 16:4 A
wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign
be given unto it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas. And he left them, and
departed.
Luk 12:54 And
he said also to the people, When ye see a cloud rise out of the west,
straightway ye say, There cometh a shower; and so it is.
Luk 12:55 And
when ye see the south wind blow, ye say, There will be heat; and it cometh to
pass.
Luk 12:56 Ye
hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky and of the earth; but how is it
that ye do not discern this time?
How
incredibly easy it is for us to try and predict earthly signs we are given.
Back before radar, before wind gauges used in specialize weather planes, back
before satellites could track cloud cover and air pressure was an actual
number- men did use other signs to discern what they believe would be the
weather- good or bad. Desiring signs isn't unusual. People want to be able to
plan their work day- especially if the work was hard labor outdoors. Some work
simply cannot be undertaken in inclement weather. As we look for signs to
determine the course of our day to day life, we often choose to ignore the
signs already given by our Lord in His word concerning our spiritual day to day
life. We want grandiose signs, magnificent spectacles to point at so people
might comprehend the signs of our times. The signs were given in the Word of
God and the unfolding of them time has revealed. So many of the signs are now
history- never to repeat themselves and still- people wait for those very signs
to take place. They are not able to discern what is right before them. They can
discern the mundane, but not the eternal and choose to keep blinders on to the
truth revealed.
Grasping
for lies, they are going to be given the lies. Satan is ever ready to
accommodate deception and he will spare no expense (monetary or otherwise) to
do so. Lull the people into seeking signs that have already come to pass and
they will not be ready for Christ when He returns. They are truly hypocrites and as most
hypocrites are- they are blind to their
own sad condition of hypocrisy.
Jesus
wants us to comprehend all truth in HIM, not just some truth. Jesus wants us to
believe in the truth revealed. Today
there are millions of people (and the number continues to grow) who choose not
to believe in salvation through Jesus Christ and His Righteousness which we
partake of through faith. Today there are millions of people who choose to
believe they have all the truth they'll ever need and so they refuse to let the
Spirit work in them. We are living in dark times, very dark times and they are
only going to get darker and darker until but a few compared to the many are
going to belong to Jesus Christ and be known by Him. May WE be among those
KNOWN by JESUS.
All
through HIS amazing love, through HIS grace, HIS mercy now and forever!
Amen.
*******
(Excerpt)
"ELLEN
G. WHITE VERSUS ELLEN G. WHITE ESTATE"
(The
Mystery of 1888, D. K. Short Manuscript -- Part 3)
The title
of this thought paper is the title given to a major section of the manuscript
-The Mystery of 1888.(1) It is based upon the "Historical Foreword"
and the "Appendix" to be found in the 1962 edition
of Testimonies to Ministers. [ The date of this edition coincides with the
publication of By Faith Alone, and antedates the publication of
both Through Crisis to Victory and Movement of Destiny.]
Concerning
this 1962 edition of Testimonies to Ministers, Elder Short writes:
The latest
edition of Testimonies to Ministers has the most extended explanatory
foreword of perhaps any E. G. White book ever published. To add to this, there
is a lengthy Appendix such as none of her other books have. In all, the
Historical Foreword and the Appendix have a total of 36 pages. When it is
considered that the previous edition of this book published in 1944 does not
have a single page of Historical Foreword or one page of even one entry in an
Appendix, it would seem strange that the 1962 edition should require 36 pages
of special notes.
When an
analysis is made of this material, a pattern emerges that is singular and most
serious. It would be extremely difficult to read all of this without getting a
very pronounced concept that the writings are being both "explained"
and " "interpreted." In fact, the Preface to this Third Edition
printed in 1962, states specifically on page xi: "The notes will aid the
reader in ascertaining correctly the intent of the author in the messages here
presented." (2)
There are
forty-five entries made in the Appendix, and as Elder Short observes, "the
largest [single] group of references is to 1888." (3) Three of the twelve
sections of the Historical Foreword also deal specifically with the 1888
General Conference Session and the Message of Righteousness by Faith, while
three other sections "review certain situations in our church history
which form the background for the messages of the 1890's." (4)
P 2
Before
citing specific examples where interpretive explanations are made in regard to
statements of the servant of the Lord concerning the 1888 historical
experience, I would call the attention of the reader to the report of "The
Vault Incident" found in Andreasen's Letters to the Churches.) (5)
Let it be noted that while the Trustees in this incident did not grant the
request for explanatory notes to be placed in certain writings of Ellen G.
White, their decision was delayed eight months, and the final action taken only
after the plan had become known to Elder Andreasen who protested to the General
Conference president. Every sincere seeker for truth needs to reread with clear
open vision the report of this experience, and the correspondence that took
place between Elder Andreasen and the President of the General Conference at
that time.
Let us
note carefully some of the footnotes and explanations placed in the 1962
edition of Testimonies to Ministers. On page 76, we read -"That men should
keep alive the spirit which ran riot at Minneapolis* is an offense to
God." At the bottom of the page is this comment -"*See
Appendix." Turning to the Appendix we
read: Page 76. The spirit which ran riot at
Minneapolis: The background of the 1888 General Conference held at Minneapolis,
and its aftermath, is traced briefly in the Historical Foreword. This forms the
basis for a better understanding of this and other statements
in Testimonies to Ministers touching on the experience at
Minneapolis. (6)
So we turn
to the Historical Foreword, where we
read: To many, the message of righteousness
by faith struck home, and there was a response of heart and soul which led to
victorious experience in personal Christian living. There were others who
identified themselves with certain cautious and conservative leaders
from Battle Creek who saw what they thought were perils in some or the
teachings presented. (7)
Now
honestly can you equate a riotous spirit with "cautious and
conservative" guidance of church leadership? Does "riot" =
caution, and conservatism? Paraphrasing the words of Jesus to the Pharisees of
His day -"Ye have made the testimony of the Spirit of none effect by your
interpretation." Of this meeting the servant of the
P 3
Lord wrote
in 1896: The scenes which took place at that meeting [ in Minneapolis]
made the God of heaven ashamed to call those who took part in them His
brethren. All this the heavenly Watchers noticed, and it is written in the book
of God's remembrance."(8)
Who are we
really covering for in this rewrite of history, when we say that those who
opposed the message of 1888 were "cautious and conservative," and
thus could not have possibly fostered a riotous spirit? Is not the present
leadership seeking to convey a similar public image to cover the
behind-the-scenes activities? What is written for the consumption of the laity,
and what is being done are two different things!
Consider a
second example from Testimonies to Ministers, p. 468, which
states: 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.*
Again at
the bottom of the page -"See Appendix." So we turn and read:
Page 468. Slighted, spoken
against, ridiculed, and rejected: Reference is here made to the attitude
which some took in resistance to the emphasis given to the message of
righteousness by faith at and following the General Conference Session in 1888.
See Historical Foreword for a fuller statement indicating that while some took
the attitude here referred to there were many who received the message and
gained a great blessing in their own personal experience.(9)
So we
again turn to the Historical Foreword, where it states: (Note carefully the use
of the words which denote numerical numbers.)
Unfortunately, several among
the leaders of our work connected with the General Conference and our
institutions at Battle Creek ranked themselves on the negative side and
established in the very heart of the work of the church a hard core of resistance.
Within the next few years, many of those who had placed themselves in
this camp saw their mistake and made heartfelt confession. But there were some
who stubbornly resisted. Some of these, connected with the business
interests of the church and our institutions, made their influence felt well
through the 1890' s. It was such that Ellen White in 1895 wrote as recorded on
page 363: "The righteousness of Christ by faith has been ignored by some;
for it is contrary to their spirit, and their whole life experience."(10)
Consider -
define in your mind the possible number envisioned by the word,
"several".
P 4
Subtract
from that what would equal "many of these", and you should arrive at
a definition of what constitutes the "some" who opposed the message
of 1888. Now honestly is the God whom we profess to serve -a God of
righteousness and of true judgment, a God of mercy and understanding -going to
keep His people here in a world of sin, lo, these many years because the
"some" as arrived at by the arithmetic of the White Estate opposed
the message given at Minneapolis?
But let us
turn to the reference quoted in the Historical Foreword -p. 363-
in Testimonies to Ministers. Note the setting of the chapter as a whole;
it is dealing with the "spirit of domination", which is extending to
the very level of the local conference.(11) It is placing the church "In
the track of Romanism." But where was the influence beginning?
Note: At the center of the work matters are being shaped so that every
other institution is following in the same course. The General Conference is
itself becoming corrupt with wrong sentiments and principles. In the working of
plans, the same principles are manifest that have controlled matters at Battle
Creek for quite a length of time. (12)
This
likewise has been weakly footnoted -which you can check for yourself -but the
fact remains that the "some" is much larger than the arithmetic
conjured by the White Estate would allow. The influence of the "hard core
of resistance" permeated the entire General Conference and reached down to
the local conference presidents. This is the insubordination which remains to
this day -which has caused us to have to remain here in this old world many
more years than God wanted us to be here.
There is
another very interesting concept which finds its germination in the Historical
Foreword, as pointed out by Short in his, Mystery of 1888. Froom in his
book, Movement of Destiny, sets forth "fourteen points attesting the
fact that the denomination as a whole, and its leadership in
particular, did not reject the message and provisions of
Righteousness by Faith in and following 1888."(13) He lists as #1 -
"No vote was taken by the delegate leadership at Minneapolis, rejecting
the teaching of Righteousness by Faith." Then both Sister White and Elder
A. T. Jones
P 5
are cited
in the use of the word, "some". Froom emphasizes this "no
vote" idea in two other places in his book.(14) Keep in mind that the date
of Froom's publication is 1971. Going back to Olson's posthumous
publication, From Crisis to Victory in 1966, we find the same idea
expressed - "No action whatever was taken by vote of the delegates to
accept or reject it." (15)
But where
did the seed for this idea originate? Short answers -"The unique thing is
to discover that the seed of this idea was planted by the Ellen G. White Estate
in the Historical Foreword of the book under consideration. On page xxiv of
this 1962 edition, the following statement is made: 'No action was taken on the
Biblical questions discussed.'" (16) But what is the truth of the matter?
The truth is a vote was taken. At the 1893 General Conference Session, Elder A.
T. Jones stated: (and note how he used the word, "some"):
Some of those who stood so openly against
that [the message of righteousness by faith] at that time, and voted with
uplifted hand against it, and since that time I have heard say "amen"
to statements that were as openly and decidedly papal as the papal church
itself can state them. (17)
Thus the
Ellen G. White Estate has not only become guilty of seeking to interpret what
the servant of the Lord has written, but they have also planted the seed for
the distortion and cover-up of our history. How much longer will the laity
remain in Laodicean blindness, sleeping on to eternal ruin? Is it not high time
to awaken out of sleep?
(1) D.K.
Short, The Mystery of 1888, pp. 59-74
(2) Ibid.,
Pp. 59-60
(3) Ibid.,
p. 60
(4) Board
of Trustees, E. G. White Estate, "Historical Foreword", p. xvii, in
the 1962 edition ofTestimonies to Ministers.
(5) M. L.
Andreasen, Letters to the Churches, No. 4, pp. 6-14
(6)
"Appendix Notes", p. 524, 1962 edition, Testimonies to Ministers
(7)
"Historical Foreword", p. xxiii, 1962 edition, Testimonies to
Ministers
(8) Ellen
G. White, Special Testimony to the Review & Herald Office, p. 16
(9)
"Appendix Notes", p. 533
(10)
"Historical Foreword", p. xxv (emphasis ours)
(11) Ellen
G. White, Testimonies to Ministers p. 362
(12) Ibid.,
p. 359
P 6
--
(13) L. E.
Froom, Movement of Destiny, p. 370
(14) Ibid.,
Pp. 233, 373
(15) A. V.
Olson, From Crisis to Victory, p. 36
(16) D. K.
Short, The Mystery of 1888, p. 62. The fact that a vote was taken was
first pointed out in a series of thought papers in 1970 on the subject
-"What Did Elder A. T. Jones Teach?" See "Watchman, What of the
Night?", July, 1970, p. 3
(17) A. T.
Jones, "The Third Angel's Message -No. 11", General Conference
Daily
Bulletin,
1893, p. 244 .
NOTES AND
COMMENTS -- More on A. T. Jones -- Besides stating at the 1893 General
Conference Session, that a vote had been taken, he also entered into a dialogue
with the congregation as to what had been rejected in 1888. Here is the
report:
Now
brethren, when did that message of the righteousness of Christ, begin with us
as a people? [One or two in the audience: "Three or Four years ago."]
Which was it, three? or four? [Congregation: "Four."] Yes, four.
Where was it? [Congregation: "Minneapolis."] What then did the
brethren reject at Minneapolis? [Some in the congregation: "The loud
cry."] What is that message of righteousness? The Testimony has told us
what it is; the loud cry - the latter rain. Then what did the brethren in that
fearful position in which they stood, reject at Minneapolis? They rejected the
latter rain -the loud cry of the third angel's message. (G. C. Bulletin, 1893,
p. 183)
To this
rejection, our present leadership will not admit; to this sin, they will not
confess in corporate repentance. But now a greater tragedy has been added - a
conspiracy to distort history and an attempt to interpret the Spirit of
Prophecy to cover up the debacle in 1888. Thus the sin of the leadership is
compounded, and the laity continue to support this prolonged insubordination.
INDIVIDUALITY
IN RELIGION -- This old book by Elder A. T. Jones has been made
available to the Foundation for distribution. It is a limited facsimile reprint
edition (155 pp.)
.
More
Ecumenicalism -- Since reporting a news item appearing in the Vicksburg,
Miss., Evening Post of a community service shared by the local SDA
minister, a Catholic priest: and other Protestant clergy, several have sent in
clippings telling of such fraternization in other areas. In the January 13,
Lake Union Herald, p. 8 appeared a report of a similar community service
actually held in the SDA church, participated in by the local Catholic priest.
The report reads: Those gathering together to
praise the Lord in song were from the following churches: Raymond Blackford,
Bethel Lutheran; Dr. William Early, Cicero Methodist; Rev. Stephen Bard, Cicero
Wesleyan; Father Duane Craycraft, Sacred Heart Catholic Church; Rev. Don
Paden, Cicero Christian; and Pastor Randall Murphy, Cicero SDA Church.
P 7
Another
report in the North Pacific Union Gleaner (August 18, 1975) features
a project of Maranatha Flights International on Kodiak Island, Alaska. In the
report is found the following: Not all those
cooperating in the project are Seventh-day Adventists. Father Sean O'Donoghue,
rector of the Kodiak Catholic Church, offered the facilities of the St. Mary's
Parish School for use by Maranatha. …
The
fellowship is genuine. Father O'Donoghue delivers one of the early morning
worship talks and prays for the success of the Adventist center. He and the
Sisters of the Sacred Heart eat with the workers and seem intently interested
in a religion that would motivate people to perform as Maranatha is doing.
[They even framed a 30 by 40 all-purpose building for the Catholic Church
there.] Father O'Donoghue is invited to participate in the opening services (of
the new SDA Church). p.5
Do we no
longer believe the prophecies of the Word of God? What about the "little
horn" of Daniel 8? It is just one horn representing both the pagan and
papal phases of that power which stood up and continues to stand up against the
"Prince of princes." Would it not be well to reread "Aims of the
Papacy" in Great Controversy? Seeking the salvation of sincere seekers for
truth in the Catholic Church, even including priests, is different than
ecumenical fellowship no matter how "genuine."
Heresy in
the Sabbath School Lessons? -- Did you notice in Part 2, Lesson 1 (p. 11)
Of the adult lessons for this Quarter, the teaching relative to God:- "The
paradox of a triune monotheism (Trinity) is not explained in the
Scriptures." Do we now believe that our God is three-in-one (triune) or do
we believe that our God -the Godhead -consists of three distinct Persons? To
support the concept of "triune", the quotation at the bottom of the
page from the Spirit of Prophecy was altered to read: -"There are three
living powers of the heavenly trio;. ..." Such a concept would
tend to support the "triune" concept. However, the original source of
this quotation in Special Testimonies, Series B, #7, p. 62 reads:
There are three living persons of the
heavenly trio; in the name of these ,three great powers -the Father, the Son,
and the Holy Spirit -those who receive Christ by living faith are baptized, and
these powers cooperate with obedient subjects of heaven in their efforts to
live the new life in Christ."
These
powers are three Persons, not just manifestations of One Person! Perhaps the
typist erred, and the proof reader missed it. Did anyone see a note in
the Review, or any Union paper calling attention to this error, and
explaining it? We need so much to reach the maturity spoken of by Paul in
Hebrews 5:14, where by reason of use our senses are exercised to discern both
good and evil.
March
1976 -
"Watchman, What of the Night? " Thought Paper. Adventist Laymen's Foundation. (Excerpt)
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