Come Out of Her, My People.

Rev 18:4  And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. 


CHAPTER X.
SPIRIT OF PROPHECY RESTORED
“It is time for thee, Lord, to work; for they have made void thy law.” Ps. 119:126.
In tracing the connection between the law and the gifts of the Spirit we quoted several texts from the New Testament. which we must notice again, because they refer to the time of which we are now speaking, viz., of the last days, or the time immediately preceding the second coming of Christ.
In Rev. 14:9-12, just before the Son of God is seen upon the white cloud to reap the harvest of the earth, a message of warning is given, ending with these words:—
“Here is the patience of the saints; here are they that keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.” Rev. 14:12.
The apostle says, in Rom. 5:3, “Tribulation worketh patience.” Tribulation brings patience into exercise, and exercise perfects all graces. By this text, therefore, we are given to understand that tribulation will be the lot of those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus, at the time to which it refers, viz., just before the earth is reaped in the great harvest.
In Rev. 12 the church is brought to view under the symbol of a woman. In prophetic symbol the church is always represented by a woman. This chapter very briefly traces the history of the church from the birth of Christ, and the effort of the dragon, or the pagan Roman power, to slay him as soon as he was born, and his
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being caught up to God and his throne, through the long persecution of “a time, times, and a half,” or “a thousand two hundred and threescore days,” down to the last persecution of “the remnant of her seed.”
The dragon was, not directly, but indirectly, the persecutor during this great tribulation of the Christians in the “time, times, and the dividing of time.” Pagan Rome had long persecuted the Christians unto death. When the empire professed to become the patron of Christianity it soon beheld a most unchristian strife progressing between the Bishops of different churches. It was another clamor for power, a revival of the question, “Who shall be greatest?” The parties entirely ignored the instructions of the Saviour, given to quell just such spirits. The Bishop of Rome, the most arrogant and overbearing, and of course the least a Christian, was favored by the empire. Favored, not because the most worthy, not because such self-exaltation was according to the spirit, the example, or the teachings of Christ, but because it was deemed most fitting that Rome should have the ascendency!
Such were the means and such the motives by which an unchristian, persecuting hierarchy was brought into existence. By the power of the dragon this vast machinery of error and of death was set in motion. The dragon power made itself responsible for the consequences which it could easily forsee, when it elevated an ambitious and arrogant church ruler to a position which Christ forbade his followers to occupy.
The last persecution will be under “an image to the beast.” This image will cause men to worship
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the beast, the papal power, which received its authority from the dragon, the pagan power. See Rev. 13. And thus it is shown that the spirit of the dragon has descended down to our own times, and that it will be active in the last persecution. Of this last phase of dragonic power it is said:—
“And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.” Rev. 12:17.
Having noticed the manner of the rise of the papal hierarchy, it may not be amiss to speak of the formation of the “image of the beast,” for it is through this image that the spirit of the dragon will be manifested in the last persecution.
In the United States great efforts are now being made to secure a “Religious Amendment” to the Constitution, by which, its advocates say, “all Christian laws, usages, and institutions may be placed on an undeniable legal basis in the fundamental law of the land.” “All Christian laws, usages, and institutions” are supposed to embrace all Christianity, and when all these are legalized in the Constitution then Christianity will be established as the religion of the land by the United States government. And, of course, when controversy arises it will be for the courts to decide what are Christian laws and institutions. And this will be an exact “image to the beast,” when Christianity will be enforced by law, and matters of faith must be decided by the civil courts. This will, doubtless, be the manner of the fulfillment of this prophecy; and under such a state of things, with the history of past persecutions in the name of Christianity before us, it
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is not difficult to foresee how war may be made with those “who keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.”
This prophecy of Rev. 12:17, is easily located. “The remnant of the seed of the woman,” can mean no other than the last part or last state of the church. They keep the commandments of God, as do the saints of Rev. 14:12, and these behold the Son of God in his second advent. War also is made with them, which calls for patience, which is marked as a characteristic of those who live in the last days. And they “have the testimony of Jesus Christ.” An explanation of this is given in Rev. 19:10, thus: “The testimony of Jesus is the Spirit of prophecy.” This is an inspired and, of course, a decisive definition of the phrase.
The reader may still better appreciate this definition by a comparison of this text and Rev. 22:9. The text just quoted reads, “I am thy fellow-servant, and [the fellow-servant] of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus.” The other reads, “I am thy fellow servant, and of thy brethren the prophets.” The expression in one, “thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus,” is equivalent to this expression in the other, “thy brethren the prophets.” And it is made sure by the definition being immediately added, “The testimony of Jesus is the Spirit of prophecy.” They who have the testimony of Jesus have the inspiration of the Spirit—the gifts and powers of the Holy Spirit—which spoke through the prophets. If further proof of this truth were needed it is furnished in the following scripture:— “Even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed
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in you, so that ye come behind in no gift.” 1 Cor. 1:6, 7.
By this we learn that the confirmation of “the testimony of Jesus” in a church is the establishing or manifestation of “the gifts of the Spirit” in their midst. And thus are we brought to the unavoidable conclusion that the remnant, the last part or last generation of the church of Christ, who heed the last warning given to man, who keep the commandments of God, who live to see the Son of man appear on the white cloud to reap the harvest of the earth, have the testimony of Jesus Christ—the spirit of prophecy—among them; that is, the gifts of the Spirit will be restored before the Lord comes. These heed the injunction given to those who “are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord,” that they should “Quench not the Spirit. Despise not prophesyings. Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.”
In drawing toward the close of our argument we will call the attention of the reader to some points which we think are established by sufficient proof:—
1. The unimpaired authority of the commission which our Saviour gave for the preaching of the gospel and the baptism of believers.
2. The perpetuity of spiritual gifts which were promised in the commission “unto the end of the world,” and also promised to the faithful in the first public sermon under that commission on the day of Pentecost.
3. The continued existence of the gifts, not only among the immediate successors of the apostles, but among the Reformers, and the early Methodists, and even to our own age.
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4. That in view of the coming time of trouble, the ending of the priesthood of Christ, and the plagues of God’s wrath soon to fall upon the world, God’s people must have a special preparation both in a higher Christian life and by the outpouring of the Spirit, to meet the Saviour in peace at his coming.
5. That in the last days Satan will work through false christs and false prophets who will resist the truth by counterfeiting the work of God, showing great signs and wonders, thereby leading to a denial of Christ and the Father. And this is now being fulfilled in “Modern Spiritualism.”
6. Many will also do wonders in the name of Christ, or claim to work miracles by the Spirit and power of Christ, who are workers of iniquity. This is literally fulfilled in the Mormon delusion; as the Mormons, while making the highest professions, have been the vilest in practice of any body of professed Christians who have arisen for many centuries.
7. That the true people of God will prepare for the Lord’s coming by keeping the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus; and they will have the testimony of Jesus, which is the Spirit of prophecy.
We have remarked that if one instance of the manifestation of the direct power of the Spirit can be found this side of the apostles, then the inference that that power was withdrawn at the death of the apostles is shown to be unjust. The candid reader will hardly deny the evidence of the power of the Spirit with the Reformers, with Wesley, and in the instances of Eld. Finley, Dr. Bond, and others.
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And we might quote still more striking examples from the experience of Mrs. Ellen G. White, but we forbear, as any notice we could give of her experience in our brief limits would not do justice to the facts, and the inquiring reader can find them fully set forth in works published by herself. We have no sympathy with the course of any who, as the Mormons usually do, thrust such facts before the public in a self-sufficient manner, at all times and under all circumstances, and offer them as the evidence that they are the people of God. They are not evidence of themselves, as we have proved in our examination of Matt. 7:21-23. But when we find a people who in meekness and humility are keeping the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus Christ, and are striving to perfect themselves in the Christian graces, that they may be prepared to meet their coming Lord, we shall find, as the promises of the Scriptures are true, that God will manifest himself to and with them by the power of his Holy Spirit. See James, chapter five, entire.
And for the truthfulness of our conclusion we appeal with all confidence to the reader. This conclusion is based on our assurance of the faithfulness of God’s promise, and of the certainty of the fulfillment of prophecy. We have seen that three classes are plainly brought to view in the prophetic Scriptures which speak of the last days. 1. False christs; deniers of Christ, working miracles to deceive. These are found in the Spiritualists. 2. Workers of wonders in the name of Christ, who are also workers of iniquity. These are Mormons. 3. Those who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony
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of Jesus, which is the Spirit of prophecy; and these constitute “the remnant,” who are looking for the coming of the Son of God to redeem his people from death and the grave. This prophecy must be fulfilled. Not one jot or tittle of the word of God can fail of its fulfillment, and such a people must arise in the last days as surely as the other classes, the Mormons and the Spiritualists, have arisen.
These cannot be a popular people. The expression of the prophecy that war will be made against them, shows that they will receive opposition from the world, which they would not if they belonged to any popular religious body.
The harmony between the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus has been considered in Chapter V. The commandments of God are not fully kept while any one of them is rejected or neglected. This company is pointed out because they keep them all—the fourth not excepted.” The faith of Jesus” covers the entire remedial system, the gospel, and includes all doctrines and duties peculiar to the gospel. “The testimony of Jesus” is more restricted; it is a part of the gospel system,—it “is the Spirit of prophecy;” it pertains to the gifts which were set in the church for the accomplishment of the work of the gospel. And as the commandments of God are not kept while one of them is violated, for no one is a keeper of law who breaks even one law, even so the faith of Jesus, the gospel, is not honored while one part of it is dishonored. And above all we should honor the gifts of the Spirit of God, remembering the warning of our Saviour, that a word spoken
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against the Spirit may place us beyond the reach of forgiveness. And the occasion on which he gave this warning shows that they spoke against the Holy Spirit by speaking against its works.
We have the utmost confidence that these prophecies of “the remnant” will not fail. Even now there is a people in the earth in whom these prophetic declarations are receiving a fulfillment. We hope that prejudice will not prevent the reader examining their position and claims with candor. A want of patient, candid examination was what prevented the Jews accepting Christ; this also led them to take that most dangerous position of ascribing the work of the Spirit of God to Beelzebub.
The Seventh-day Adventists have, from their beginning, maintained these two unpopular ideas, of keeping all the commandments of God, and all the faith of Jesus, not rejecting the “Spirit of prophecy.” By this gift they have been preserved from many evils and errors, and to it they are indebted for that extraordinary state of union which has thus far characterized them, and been the great means of their wonderful prosperity. They fully believe in the gifts of the Spirit as the appointed means to perfect the church, and to bring to the unity of the faith, and to preserve the unity of the Spirit. Assured that they have a message for the times—present truth—they have shown a willingness to sacrifice all of earthly joy and hope to spread the knowledge of the saving truth. “Before many nations, peoples, tongues, and kings,” is the third angel’s message of Rev. 14:9-12 to be preached, and its light is fast spreading to the nations now. It is destined to call out a people who will stand for the truth
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of God in its purity, who will be a witness against the corruptions of the last days, and who will stand secure in the favor of God when the plagues of his wrath are poured out upon a guilty world.
The view we have advocated in these pages makes Christ, not only the burden of the prophetic word, but the giver, the inspirer of all prophecy. Christ, the Son of God, has ever been with his Church. He was the Angel of the Covenant; he preached to the world in the days of Noah; he held converse with the patriarchs; he instructed and led Moses in all the journeyings of Israel; he was Captain of the Lord’s host when Joshua led the children of Israel into Canaan; he “held” with Daniel in the future destiny of his people, as “Michael your prince,” or “Michael the archangel,” the chief over all the angels. Peter says it was the Spirit of Christ which was in the prophets, which testified aforetime of the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow. It is a great mistake to endeavor to confine the work of Christ to the present dispensation. He is and has been our Saviour—the only Saviour—since the fall of man. Ever since man separated himself from God by sin, it has been true that no man cometh to the Father but by his Son.
And now the world, even the “Christian world,” seems determined to commit another great error, even to separate Christ from his church in the present dispensation. He who said, “I am with you alway, even to the end of the world,” has devised the means to fulfill his promise. It is the duty and privilege of the church to claim the power from on high, to receive the heavenly
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anointing, to walk in the strength of an ever-present Saviour.
When Jesus left his disciples, to return to his Father, they had to be endued with power from on high before they were permitted to stand as his witnesses. And when they gave their testimony it was with power to convert the heart, for they were “strong in the Lord and in the power of his might.” On that day of Pentecost he showed to the world the triumph of his grace, in a church strong in his own strength. The “falling away,” the rising of “that man of sin,” dimmed the radiance of the light of the church and obscured her glory; but we are assured she shall come from the wilderness “leaning on the arm of her Beloved.” We believe that when Jesus comes again—when he has finished his work of intercession and mediation, having sealed his servants for immortality and withdrawn the offer of mercy from the impenitent—he will not find his people in darkness; he will not receive a worldly, careless, fallen church, but will present “to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing.”
But this can never be accomplished without Heaven’s own means “for the perfecting of the saints,” namely, the gifts of the Spirit. Without these, the church may have the form of godliness but she will lack the power. With these, we “may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ.”
There are degrees or stages of glory for the church to attain unto in this life; and of course the higher we rise in the divine life, the more we shall glorify God, and the more will the world feel the force of our testimony. The church justified,
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but with little experience, is “fair as the moon;” with a growth in Christian graces she becomes “clear as the sun;” but it is only when endued with power from on high by the gifts of the Holy Spirit that the world trembles at her testimony, and she is truly as “terrible as an army with banners.”
May the Lord in mercy to his chosen hasten the time when his servants shall all be perfected in their obedience to the commandments of God—and the faith of Jesus, and have the testimony of Jesus confirmed in them so that they come behind in no gift, waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.


(((This conclude the study of the Spirit of God its - offices and manifestations, to the end of the Christian Age, by J.H. Waggoner, 1877.


Do I agree with everything He's written here- yes and no. For the time he lived in, he believed everything he was writing and for the time it was the truth. However, many naysayers of the Spirit of prophecy as recognized being in the works of EG White, have proven time and again her prophecies were not perfect and if a prophecy isn't perfect it cannot be from God, so they toss the 'baby out with the bath water' rather than study for truth, and only truth. Was Jonah lying to the people of Nineveh when he told them of their impending doom should they not repent? How many unbelievers afterwards could point and laugh at Jonah for prophesying doom when none came? The point could be made that they did indeed repent and were spared, and that is the truth of the matter, however there had to be some who thought Jonah a liar, not a prophet, because nothing untoward occurred.


Jon 3:10  And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not.
Jon 4:1  But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was very angry. 
Jon 4:2  And he prayed unto the LORD, and said, I pray thee, O LORD, was not this my saying, when I was yet in my country? Therefore I fled before unto Tarshish: for I knew that thou art a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repentest thee of the evil. 
Jon 4:3  Therefore now, O LORD, take, I beseech thee, my life from me; for it is better for me to die than to live. 


Jonah himself wanted to die because he was a prophet who told people they would die in forty days, and God did not kill them. You'd think he'd rejoiced that his message had spared the people from a sure death, not be angry, upset, suicidal. Jonah himself felt like a false prophet. God set Jonah straight on the matter, but it doesn't negate what Jonah's reaction was to his own prophecy and it's seeming failure to come to pass.


EG White directed people to the BIBLE as the ultimate authority- NOT HERSELF. She knew of her own fallibility. She also warned people just as Waggoner in this writing of his from 1877, but she stopped warning the Seventh Day Adventist people after they started down the road to apostasy, and changed the warning to their being left here on earth a lot longer than originally thought, because of the backsliding into Satan's grasp. The people of God, the remnant of God spoken of in this study would they themselves end up having a remnant- those who would come out of the apostatized church rather than follow it to its lying, deceptive end. While Waggoner speaks of Mormons as a sign of those filled with lying wonders etc, I can speak of the Seventh Day Adventist church as being filled with lying wonders. Does this stop the fact they were once God's chosen? Not any more than the Jews of old being God's chosen and then left desolate.


The fundamental truths in this study will forever be TRUTH. Only not applicable to those of Waggoner's time any longer.


We must have the SPIRIT to belong to the SAVIOR, to be HIS at HIS appearing, to be HIS through the time of trouble that will come prior to HIS arrival to take HIS people home with HIM. This is truth as it stands in God's word. May we, through HIM, through the HOLY SPIRIT be truly HIS, by HIS power kept HIS in keeping the commandments of God and possessing the testimony of JESUS, the SPIRIT of prophecy.


All through HIS LOVE, HIS MERCY, HIS FORGIVENESS, HIS TRUTH! Now and forever!!!!!!!))))








INDEX OF TEXTS
GENESIS
1:2, .................................................................9
6:3, ...............................................................15
17:11, ...........................................................28
EXODUS 20:5, 6, .........................................................74
2 CHRONICLES
15:3, .............................................................53
PSALMS 119:126, .....................................................131
PROVERBS
28:9, .............................................................75
29:18, ...........................................................52
ISAIAH
2:10-21, ........................................................19
8:16, 20, .......................................................48
13:6-13, ........................................................19
59:1, 2, .........................................................83
JEREMIAH 17:19-27 .......................................................53
LAMENTATIONS 2:9, ...............................................................52
EZEKIEL
7:26, .............................................................53
8:12, .............................................................84
9:9, ...............................................................84
13:7, .............................................................75
JOEL 2:1, .............................................................124
MICAH 3:6, 7, ...........................................................53
ZEPHANIAH 1:12, .............................................................84
MATTHEW
7:15-23, ........................................................77
7:21, .............................................................51
7:21-23, ........................................................73
12:32, .............................................................8
24:27-31, ......................................................19
25:34-41, ......................................................74
28:19, 20, ...............................................78, 90
MARK
16:15-18, ......................................................78
LUKE
11:9-13, ..................................................11, 15
11:12, ...........................................................12
24:49, ...........................................................16
JOHN
1:12, .............................................................11
5:43, .......................................................10, 79
7:16, 17, .......................................................51
14:9, 10, .......................................................10
14:16, .....................................................15, 16
14:26, .....................................................10, 79
15:5, .............................................................42
15:7, .............................................................13
16:8, .............................................................14
17:11, 20, 21, ...............................................41
ACTS
1:5, ...............................................................45
2:2-4. 7, 8, ....................................................17
2:14-20, ........................................................18
2:28, 29, .......................................................49
2:33, .............................................................19
2:38, 39, ...........................................20, 21, 63
7:51, .............................................................15
8:14-16, ........................................................36
11:27, 28, .....................................................27
13:1, .............................................................28
19:5, 6, .........................................................36
19:12, ...........................................................26
20:21, ...........................................................51
21:8-11, ........................................................28
ROMANS
2:28, 29, .......................................................29
2:29, .............................................................26
3:19, 20, .......................................................50
3:25, 26, .......................................................51
3:27, .............................................................70
3:31, .............................................................76
4:11, .............................................................29
5:1-3, ............................................................57
5:3, .............................................................131
6:1-6, ......................................................61, 62
7:1-6, ............................................................62
7:14, .............................................................50
8:9, .........................................................10, 30
8:16, .............................................................31
10:17, ...........................................................84
 12:5, .............................................................83
12:6, .....................................................66, 125
12:4-8, ..........................................................82
1 CORINTHIANS
1:6, 7, ...........................................58, 109, 135
1:10, .......................................................37, 42
1:13, .............................................................43
3:3, ...............................................................42
3:4, ...............................................................43
12:6-10, ........................................................68
12:10, .................................................125, 126
12:14-18. 21, ................................................46
12:25, 26, .....................................................47
12:28, ...........................................................44
12:29, 30, .....................................................25
13:1, 2, .........................................................76
13: 2, 8, ..............................................125, 126
13:9, 10, 12, .................................................87
14:5, 24-26, ..................................................81
14:6, 22, .....................................................126
14:12, 31, .....................................................82
15:3, 4, .........................................................61
2 CORINTHIANS
1:21, 22, .......................................................29
GALATIANS
3:27, .............................................................62
3:28, 29, .......................................................30
EPHESIANS
1:13, .............................................................20
1:13, 14, .......................................................29
2:11-18, ........................................................20
4:8-11, ..........................................................88
4:8-13, ..........................................................37
4:12, .............................................................40
4:12, 13, .......................................................47
PHILIPPIANS 2:2, ...............................................................42
COLOSSIANS 2:11, .............................................................29
1 THESSALONIANS
4:13-18, ........................................................19
5: 1-3, ...........................................................19
5:20, .....................................24, 125, 126, 127
5:19-23,. .....................................................124
1. TIMOTHY
4:1, ...............................................................11
2. TIMOTHY
4:20, .............................................................26
HEBREWS
5:14, .............................................................13
6:12-19, ........................................................84
JAMES
5: ................................................................137
5:1-8, ............................................................85
3. PETER
1:10, 11 ..................................................10, 30
4. PETER
1:21, ...............................................10, 30, 125
1 JOHN
2:23, .............................................................10
4:1, ...............................................................68
5:3, ...............................................................76
REVELATION
6:12-17, ........................................................19
12:17, .........................48, 56, 58, 75, 133, 134
13:11-17,..................... .................................57
14:9-12, ........................................................57
14:12, ...............................................52, 56, 75
14:9-14, ......................................................131
19:10, .......................................48, 57, 75, 134
22:11, 12, ...................................................123

Come Behind In No Gift.

CHAPTER IX.

GIFTS IN THE PRESENT CENTURY (((NOTE - this was written in 1877))))

“Even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you; so that ye come behind in no gift; waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” 1 Cor. 1:6, 7.

…

The object of the gifts, according to Eph. 4, is to carry out the work of the ministry, to edify or build up the church, and to perfect the saints in a complete union of faith and spirit. Now it must be borne in mind that the last generation of the church will be subject to special trials and

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dangers. The Saviour, speaking of the last days, said, “Because iniquity shall abound the love of many shall wax cold.” Evil servants will say, “My Lord delayeth his coming.” They will eat and drink with the drunken, and smite their fellow servants who give “meat in due season.” Formality in religion and destitution of the power of godliness will be almost all-prevailing. Satan will also work with great malignity and power. In such a time, if ever, will the church stand in need of the aid of the Holy Spirit.

Again, the last generation of the church of Christ must pass through the time of trouble; must stand complete in righteousness when Jesus ceases his priestly work in Heaven, as he prepares to come to this earth to take vengeance on the ungodly; they must have a special work wrought in them and for them, to take them to be translated without tasting death; for their translation must, of course, take place after Jesus ceases his work of mediation. A single sin committed after the priestly work of Christ closes would sink any one to hopeless perdition. And it is not after, but before he comes that he says: “He that is unjust, let him be unjust still.” See Rev. 22:11, 12. This awful truth is not appreciated, because men refuse to examine the doctrine of the second advent, and therefore they do not understand the nature of the perils which are impending.

In 1 Thess. 4, the apostle gives the true ground of consolation to those who sorrow for their friends who are asleep. He says, The Lord himself shall descend; the dead in Christ shall arise, and the living saints shall be caught up

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with them to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

Having thus introduced the subject of the coming of the Lord, he proceeds in chapter 5 to state circumstances which precede and attend his coming. Many will cry, “Peace and safety” when sudden destruction is impending, and “they shall not escape.” Their hope is delusive—they know not the hour of their visitation. As it was to the people in the days of Noah and of Lot, so it will be to them. As a thief in the night shall their destruction come upon them. “But,” says Paul to the brethren, “ye are not in darkness that that day should overtake you as a thief.” 1 Thess. 5:4. They are watching for the return of their Lord. They have received the words of warning spoken by the prophets, and by those whom God in his providence has raised up to “sound an alarm” when “the day of the Lord is near.” See Joel 2:1. To the brethren of the time herein set forth, the apostle says:—

“Quench not the Spirit. Despise not prophesyings. Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.” 1 Thess. 5:19-21.

And to further show its application, as to time, he adds:—

“And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” verse 23.

It is beyond question that they whose bodies are preserved unto the coming of the Lord are they who do not sleep or die, but are changed and caught up or translated, to meet the Lord in the air. Thus every part of this scripture shows

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that it is specially for, and pertaining to, those who are “alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord.”

Prophesyings here denotes the exercise of the gift of prophecy. The admonition not to despise the exercise or manifestation of this gift is sufficient proof that the gift will be manifested at the time of which he is speaking; viz., when the day of the Lord is near; when the careless and worldly cry, “Peace and safety,” or, as translated into the language of these days, they sing the song of delusion, “There’s a good time coming.”

But some, under a profession of a knowledge of the Greek, have denied the correctness of the rendering of 1 Thess. 5:20, in the common version. They say it should read prophecies, not prophesyings. It is not difficult to show that they err in this.

There are two methods of determining the truth in regard to the meaning of words. First, by referring to the lexicons which define them. Secondly, by their use. And in this case we have both the lexicons and usage in favor of the common version.

Greenfield, in his lexicon of the Greek of the New Testament, says of the original word:—

“Prophesying, the exercise of the gift of prophecy, in this sense, 1 Thess. 5:20.”

He gives this as the meaning of the word, and refers to this text as an instance of its use in this sense. And Parkhurst’s lexicon says:—

“The gift of prophecy, i.e., either of declaring or of predicting truths by divine inspiration, whether in the Old Testament, 2 Pet. 1:21, or in the New, Rom. 12:6; 1 Cor. 12:10; 13:2, 8.

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“Prophesying, i.e., the exercise of the gift of prophecy. 1 Thess. 5:20.” And Robinson’s lexicon says:—

“3. Meton., a prophesying, the exercise of the prophetic office.”

Liddell and Scott say:—

“The office or gift of prophecy.”

And thus, by the lexicons, this definition is fully established. And the use in the New Testament is in harmony with this definition. Thus in Rom. 12:6,”Whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith.” This refers to the possession and exercise of the gift of prophecy. And in 1 Cor. 12:10, the same word is used in the enumeration of the gifts.

In 1 Cor. 13: 2, it is rendered “the gift of prophecy,” and every reader can see that this is the meaning of the text. And again, in verse 8, “Whether there be prophecies, they shall fail.” This cannot refer to the prophecies of the Scriptures, for it is easier for heaven and earth to pass than for them to fail; but as the whole context shows, it refers to the gifts of prophecy. Says the apostle, “For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.” That is, When we see as we are seen, and know as we are known, the exercise of the prophetic office, by which things are but partially seen and known, will no longer be required.

In 1 Cor. 14: 6, 22, this word is rendered prophesying, as it is in 1 Thess. 5:20, and in these texts it cannot be rendered otherwise.

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And thus the usage fully sustains the lexicons in fixing the signification of this word.

The Cottage Bible says:—

“This may primarily refer to miraculous gifts.”

The commentary of Lange says:—

“The word stands without the article in the plural, denoting the individual cases.….

This gift despise not.”

And Œcumenius is also quoted as saying, on this text:—

“Hinder not the gifts of the Spirit by turning away from them that have them, and not suffering them to speak.”

Dean Alford, on 1 Thess. 5: 20, says:—

“On prophesyings see 1 Cor. 12:10, note. They were liable to be despised in comparison with the more evidently miraculous gift of tongues.”

Bloomfield, in his notes on the Greek text, says:—

“As the foregoing admonition was, not to quench the Spirit in themselves, so this, I apprehend, is, not to quench it by disallowing and discouraging the exhibition of it in others. The sense of propheteia is, I conceive, the very same as in the three chapters on the Spiritual gifts at 1 Cor. 12-14.”

Olshausen’s Commentary says:—

“This expression [verse 20] must rather have inspired the Christians in Thessalonica with the sorrowful conviction that all gifts might easily

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give occasion for abuses, and led them, to avoid these, to slight the gifts themselves.”

Different versions might be quoted in harmony with all these testimonies, but we do not think it necessary. We should rather apologize for giving proof at such length, did we not consider the evidence of this text of very great importance at this time. And we think the rendering of the common version is fully vindicated against all objections which may be raised.

Each age has its own peculiar form of unbelief. In the early ages of Christianity all Christians looked with anxiety to the second coming of Christ as the time of their deliverance and their reward. To deny that event was to deny their hope. Jesus had told his disciples not to let their hearts be troubled about his going away, for he would come again and take them unto himself; he said they should be rewarded at the resurrection of the just, which will take place when he comes; and he said he would bring his reward with him when he should come. With them the prayer was a united, fervent one, “Come, Lord Jesus.” To them the prophecy pointed out a fearful declension when it said that scoffers shall arise, saying, Where is the promise of his coming? But now we see this prophecy fulfilled. So greatly has the professed church of Christ departed from the primitive faith that they who say, “My Lord delayeth his coming,” are almost universally commended for their prudence and good judgment; while the faithful servants who give meat in due season, who sound the alarm as the prophets say shall be done, are regarded as fanatics and alarmists, if

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not despised as impostors. A “second-advent believer” is, in the estimation of a popular and worldly church, as contemptible as was “a Nazarene” in the days of our Saviour.

And a change fully as great as this has taken place in the church in respect to the gifts of the Spirit. In the early church, while all the gifts were accepted as objects of faith, and received according to that faith, there was a tendency to respect only the larger or more prominent gifts, such as apostleship, healing, and prophecy. Those less prominent were lightly esteemed, and by some considered almost worthless. This led to the apostle’s argument in 1 Cor. 12, wherein he asserts that God often bestows more abundant honor upon that which is lightly esteemed of men. The dependence of the gifts upon one another is shown in this expression, Ye are members one of another; that is, united to Christ in one body by being united to one another. The hand or the eye, apparently the most useful of all members, cannot say to another or less prominent member, “I have no need of thee.” The hand is useful to the head only as it is connected to the head by other members. Every organ must be in its proper place, or the body is imperfect, and the action of all is obstructed.

We are now prepared to realize the change which has taken place in the church concerning faith in the gifts. While in the early church the more obscure gifts were lightly esteemed, and only the more prominent ones were valued, in the last days the reverse is exactly the truth. Now the less prominent gifts are accepted, at least professedly, while the gift of prophecy is

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regarded with suspicion and even with aversion. And what seems most strange of all, many who teach that we are in the last days; who profess to believe that the coming of the Lord is near; who have had all the Scripture evidences of the truth relative to the second advent plainly set forth to them; and who even profess to believe that a special work of sanctification is necessary to meet the Saviour at his appearing, show the most determined opposition and even hatred to the gift of prophecy. This is sad proof of the strength of self-deception, and shows how deeply man may be blinded when he quenches the Spirit of God, and leans to his own understanding. Surely the injunction is timely for these last days, “Quench not the Spirit. Despise not prophesyings.”

The word rendered despise, in this text, is defined, to despise, neglect, or slight. Hence, there is an admonition in this text for all classes. Many who would shrink with horror from the idea of despising or rejecting prophesyings, would yet neglect them so as to utterly fail of meeting the requirements of this scripture. As it is possible, yes, a very common thing, to accept Christ in profession and yet dishonor him in the life, so it is possible to accept prophesyings as from the Lord and yet neglect their teachings to the dishonor of God and to our own ruin.

To be continued…

THE SPIRIT OF GOD:– ITS – OFFICES AND MANIFESTATIONS, TO THE END OF THE CHRISTIAN AGE.

BY ELD. J. H. WAGGONER.  1877

Abundance of Healing Diminishing, but Not Gone.

CHAPTER VIII.
GIFTS IN THE REFORMATION
“And, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.” Matt. 28:20.
The term “Reformation” is not here used as applying exclusively to the work and times of Luther. The Reformation from the darkness and the errors of Romanism then commenced, but was not then consummated. It progressed powerfully in the days of the Wesleys, and remains yet to be perfected.
We have no sympathy with the course of those who quote history and offer the opinions of uninspired men to prove points of doctrine. But when we come to facts of existence we must appeal to history. And more especially are we warranted to do so in this case, for history attests the continued existence of that which the Scriptures inform us should continue to exist. Now we are brought to the question, Is there evidence that the gifts of the Spirit have existed and have been manifested in the church since the days of the apostles? The field is a very wide one. Testimony to almost any extent might be given; but we shall content ourselves with giving a few cases which we believe to be well authenticated.
Milner, speaking of the third century, says:—
“Though the miraculous dispensations attendant on Christianity form no part of the plan of this history, I cannot but observe on this occasion
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how strongly their continuance in the third century is here attested. Pionius affirms that devils were ejected by Christians in the name of Christ; and he does this in the face of enemies, who would have been glad of the shadow of an argument to justify their bitterness, resentment, and perfidy.”—Milner’s Church History, p. 143.
Cyprian speaks thus of the gifts of the Spirit:—
“Hence, an ability is given with sober chastity, uprightness of mind, and purity of language, to heal the sick, to extinguish the force of poison, to cleanse the filth of distempered minds, to speak peace to the hostile, to give tranquility to the violent, and gentleness to the fierce, to compel, by menaces, unclean and wandering spirits to quit their hold of men, to scourge the foe, and by torments bring him to confess what he is.”
Upon which Milner remarks:—
“The testimony here given to the ejection of evil spirits, as a common thing among Christians, even in the third century, deserves to be noticed as proof that miraculous influences had not ceased in the church.….Indeed, the testimony of the fathers in these times is so general and concurrent that the fact itself cannot be denied without universally impeaching their veracity. We may safely, therefore, infer that such things were frequent among Christians.”—Church History, Am. Ed., p. 254.
Mosheim, speaking of the progress of Christianity in the third century, says:—
“Among the causes which belong to the first of these classes we do not only reckon the intrinsic
1. force of celestial truth, and the piety and fortitude of those who declared it to the world, but also that special and interposing Providence, which, by such dreams and visions as were presented to the minds of many who were inattentive to the Christian doctrine, or its professed enemies, touched their hearts with a conviction of its truth, and a sense of its importance, and engaged them without delay to confess themselves the disciples of Christ. To this may also be added the healing of diseases, and other miracles which many Christians were yet able to perform by invoking the name of the divine Saviour. The number of miracles, however, we find to have been much less in this than in the preceding century; nor must this alteration be attributed only to the divine wisdom which rendered miraculous interpositions less frequent as they became less necessary, but also to that justice which was provoked to diminish the frequency of gifts, because some did not scruple to pervert them to mercenary purposes.”— History, vol. i. p. 78.
This diminution of the frequency of the gifts in the third century is just what might have been expected in view of the “falling away” of which Paul prophesied, and which was then fully in progress; of the “grievous wolves” who should enter the church, the “false prophets” and the “damnable heresies,” of which Peter wrote, and whose “pernicious ways” so many followed by which the Spirit of God was grieved away. But we cannot see the reasonableness of the historian’s conclusion that the gifts were “less necessary” under such circumstances. Inasmuch as they were given “for the perfecting of the saints, for the edifying of the body of Christ,” they were really more necessary, but less frequent because of the unbelief and worldliness of the church.
Much more reasonable than the conclusion of Mosheim is the answer of Mr. Wesley to the question, “If you allow miracles before the empire became Christian, why not afterward?” He replied as follows:—
“Because after the empire became Christian, a general corruption of both faith and morals infected the Christian church; which, by that revolution, as St. Jerome says, ‘lost as much of her virtues as it had gained of wealth and power.’ And this very reason St. Chrysostom himself gave in the words you have afterward cited: ‘There are some who ask, Why are not miracles performed still? Why are there no persons who raise the dead, and cure diseases?’ To which he replies that it was owing to the want of faith, and virtue, and piety in those times.”—Wesley’s Works, p. 700.
Again, of the fourth century Mosheim speaks thus:—
“But I cannot, on the other hand, assent to the opinions of those who maintain that, in this century, miracles had entirely ceased; and at this period the Christian church was not favored with any extraordinary or supernatural work of a divine power engaged in its cause.”—Church History, vol. i. p. 105.
In the time of the Reformation it was the belief that the Spirit of God was yet in the church, in its gifts, and in special answers to prayer. D’Aubigne says:—
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“John Huss did more; prophetic words issued from the depths of his dungeon.”
Huss saw the Reformation about one hundred years before Luther came, and was, says D’Aubigne, “the John Baptist of the Reformation.”
Martin Luther not only believed in the direct interposition of God by the power of the Spirit, but he recorded the following remarkable case:—
“A woman at Isenack, lying very sick, had endured horrible paroxysms, which no physician was able to cure; for her indisposition was directly the work of the devil, and an unnatural thing, occasioned by devilish frightenings, insomuch that she fell into a faint swooning, and thereupon had four paroxysms, each enduring the space of three or four hours; her hands and feet bended in the manner of a horn. She was chill and cold, her tongue rough and dry; her body, by reason of the disease, was much swelled; she, seeing Luther, who came to visit her, was much rejoiced thereat, raised herself up and said, ‘Ah! my loving father in Christ, I have a heavy burden upon me. Pray to God for me;’ and so she fell down into her bed again—whereupon Luther fetched a deep sigh and said, ‘God rebuke and command thee, Satan, that thou suffer this his creature to be in peace!’ Then, turning himself to the standers-by, he said, ‘She is plagued of the devil in the body, but the soul is safe and shall be preserved. Therefore let us give thanks to God and pray for her.’ And so they all repeated aloud the Lord’s prayer. After which Luther concluded with these words, ‘Lord God, Heavenly Father, who hast commanded us to pray for the sick, we beseech thee, through thy
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only beloved Son, that thou wouldst deliver this thy servant, from her sickness and from the hands of the devil. Spare, O Lord, her soul, which together with her body thou hast purchased and redeemed from the power of sin, of death, and of the devil.’ Whereupon the sick woman said, Amen. The night following she took good rest and the next day was graciously delivered from her disease and sickness.”—Table Talk, p. 359.
Zwingle, of Switzerland, the great reformer, was seized by the plague called “great death,” which was sweeping off its thousands; and he was so near gone that he was supposed by some to be dead; but he was miraculously restored in answer to prayer. D’Aubigne says:—
“The believers cried to God night and day, earnestly entreating that he would restore their faithful pastor. The prayer was answered, and the news was soon flying everywhere that Zwingle had been snatched from the brink of the grave.”—Hist. Ref., vol. ii. p. 331.
Mr. Wesley records the following case of the healing of a Mrs. Jones, an eminently pious woman:—
“She had various physicians but still grew worse and worse; still perceiving herself to be no better, she left them off. She had a continual pain in her groin, with such a prolapsus uteri as soon confined her to her bed. There she lay two months helpless and hopeless; till a thought came one day into her mind, ‘Lord, if thou wilt thou canst make me whole! Be it according to thy will!’ Immediately the pain and the distress
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ceased. Feeling herself well, she rose and dressed herself. Her husband coming in and seeing her in tears, asked, ‘Are those tears of serious joy?’ She said, ‘Of joy!’ on which they wept together. From that hour she felt no pain, but enjoyed perfect health. I think our Lord never wrought a plainer miracle, even in the days of his flesh.”— Wesley’s Journal, vol. iv. p. 748.
All who are not deeply prejudiced will acknowledge that there was much consecration among the early Methodists, and that the Spirit often witnessed to their work with great power. There were among them many godly persons of strong faith, and the fruits of faith were often manifested according to the gracious promises of the Saviour. The following case of curing of blindness is copied from the life of Bramwell:—
“William Greensmith, son of Thomas Greensmith, of Watnal, near Nottingham, when about nine years of age, was severely afflicted with a scrofulous humor in his eyes, so that he was unable to bear the light, even with a bandage upon them. Mr. Bramwell was then in Nottingham circuit, and went in his regular turn to preach in Mr. Greensmith’s house. On one of these occasions he remained all night; and previous to his departure the next morning, when his horse was brought to the door, he asked where the boy was who had sore eyes. Mrs. Greensmith replied that he was in a dark room behind the door. He wished him to be called out. He came and stood near Mr. Bramwell, who put his hand on the boy’s head, and looked upward as if in ejaculatory prayer. He then went out leaving the child
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standing, while the latter, as if conscious of some important change, pulled off his bandages, looked out of the window, and asked if Mr. Bramwell was gone. On perceiving that his eyes were perfectly healed, all the family were completely astonished. He is now about thirty years of age, and has never since had any complaint in his organs of sight.”—Memoir, p. 157.
The following is one of many cases of healing by faith, recorded in Wesley’s Journal:—
“In returning to Canterbury I called upon Mr. Kingsford, a man of substance as well as piety. He informed me, ‘Seven years ago I so entirely lost the use of my ankles and knees that I could no more stand than a new-born child.…. I could not move from place to place, but on crutches. All the advice I had, profited me nothing. In this state I continued about six years. Last year I went on business to London, then to Bristol and to Bath. At Bath I sent for a physician; but before he came, as I sat reading the Bible, I thought, Asa sought to the physicians and not to God; but God can do more for me than any physician. Soon after I heard a noise in the street; and rising up found I could stand. Being much surprised I walked several times about the room, then I walked into the square, and afterward on the Bristol road; and from that time I have been perfectly well; having as full a use of all my limbs as I had seven years ago.’”—Wesley’s Journal, vol. iv. p. 682.
The reader must not suppose that these things transpired without awaking some opposition in the minds of the unconsecrated. Prejudice was aroused which often manifested itself in bitter
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reproaches. To the charge of egotism and self-righteousness Mr. Wesley made the following reply, which we would commend to the consideration of all who think there is a lack of humility in claiming answers to the prayer of faith:—
“Now let the candid man judge, does humility require me to deny a notorious fact? If not, which is vanity? to say I by my own skill have restored this man to health, or to say that God did it by his own almighty power?”
Bishop Hall, speaking of the good offices which angels do to God’s servants, says:—
“Of this kind was that marvelous cure which was wrought upon the poor cripple at St. Marden’s, in Cornwall; whereof besides the attestation of many hundreds of the neighbors, I took a strict examination in my last visitation. This man, for sixteen years together, was obliged to walk upon his hands, the sinews of his legs being so contracted. Upon following an admonition in his dream to wash in a certain well, he was suddenly so restored to his limbs that I saw him able to walk and get his own maintenance. The name of this cripple was John Trebble.”
Wesley remarks: “And were ‘many hundreds of the neighbors,’ together with Bishop Hall, deceived in so notorious a matter of fact? or did they all join together to palm such a falsehood on the world? O incredulity! what ridiculous shifts art thou driven to! what absurdities wilt thou believe rather than own any extraordinary work of God!”—Wesley’s Journal, vol. vi. pp. 565, 566.
Wesley’s Journal, Dec. 20, 1742, says:—
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“When I came home they told me the physician said he did not expect Mr. Meyrick would live till the morning. I went to him, but his pulse was gone. He had been speechless and senseless for some time. A few of us immediately joined in prayer (I relate the naked fact); before we had done, his sense and his speech returned. Now, he that will account for this by natural causes has my free leave; but I choose to say, This is the power of God.
“Saturday, 25. The physician told me he could do no more. Mr. Meyrick could not live over the night. I went up and found them all crying about him; his legs being cold, and (as it seemed) dead already. We all kneeled down and called upon God with strong cries and tears. He opened his eyes and called for me; and from that hour he continued to recover his strength till he was restored to perfect health. I wait to hear who will either disprove this fact, or philosophically account for it.”—Vol. iii. p. 275.
Mr. Bramwell’s biographer writes:—
“I was once attacked by a violent pleuritic fever, when all around me despaired of my life. Many of our kind friends visited me in my affliction; and almost unceasing supplication was offered up to God for my recovery. But all prayers appeared to be without effect till Mr. Bramwell came home out of the circuit. He immediately came to see me, and on entering the room was quite astonished at beholding such a woeful change in my appearance. He thought. I had all the marks of a speedy dissolution upon me; and giving me a look of the greatest sympathy he raised my head a little higher by means
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of a pillow. He then went to the foot of the bed and began to pray to God in my behalf. His faith seemed to gain ground as he proceeded. He continued his intercessions with the greatest fervency; and, in agony, asked in submission to the will of God, that I might be restored. The Lord heard and answered his servant’s prayers; for I immediately experienced such a sweet tranquility and melting of soul, as I am unable to describe. From that moment my recovery commenced, and I was soon strong enough to resume my ordinary occupations.”—Memoir, pp. 163, 164.
Mr. William Carvosso, who was sixty years a class-leader in the Wesleyan Methodist connection, gives an account of the healing of a sick woman as follows:—
“The next morning, a friend asked me to visit a woman who was sick, and offered to accompany me. When we arrived at the house, we were informed she was very ill. I went up stairs and found her, to all appearance, on the borders of eternity. Finding that she had been three years a member of the society and knew nothing of salvation by the remission of her sins, I felt no little concern for the salvation of her soul.…I explained to her the plan of salvation.…’And now,’ said I, ‘it is a duty which God requires of you to believe in Jesus Christ and in the truth of his promises.’ While I was thus speaking to her she was seized in a strange manner; and it appeared to me and those present that she was dying. But in a moment or two she lifted up her hands and eyes to heaven, and cried out, ‘Glory be to God, I am healed! I am healed!’ And for some considerable time she kept on repeating,
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‘The Lord has healed me, body and soul.’
“The news of this was soon conveyed to her neighbors, who rushed into the chamber in such crowds that I was afraid the beams would give way. But she continued saying, ‘The Lord has healed my body and my soul.’ We then kneeled down to praise the Lord for what he had done; and while engaged in prayer, two of those who came in were awakened and began to pray for mercy. With these distressed souls I was occupied four hours before I could leave the place. The next day Mr. Sibley, from Truro, came there to preach, and dined with us at the friend’s house where I lodged; when the friend who had been with me the preceding day related the circumstance to him. Having expressed a desire to see the woman, I went with him to the house; and to our very great astonishment, we found her down stairs, sitting by the fire. I visited her several times after this, and found her not only happy in God, but confirmed in her restoration of health. I have seen many of the mighty works of the Lord, both in convincing and converting sinners, but never before saw the body healed as well as the soul.”—Memoir of Carvosso, pp. 73-75.
The memory of Hester Ann Rogers will ever be precious to the Christian world. In her journal of June 29, 1782, she says:—
“This day the Lord instantaneously removed a rapid mortification in my dear mother’s limb, in answer to prayer. The doctor having given his opinion that in a few hours it would be fatal, I flew to my almighty Refuge, and felt I had power with God, through faith in that promise— ‘The prayer of faith shall save the sick.’ And
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when in half an hour I looked again at the wound, all the bad symptoms were gone; and the same doctor, standing astonished, said no danger now appeared. I could not forbear weeping aloud for joy and gratitude, praising the God of my life.”
“June 10, 1794. I had a peculiar season in wrestling prayer with my God this night, on account of my dear little Mary. The great weakness of her limbs for three months past, and her seeming total inability to walk, has caused much pain to my dear husband as well as myself. It appears to me I had used every possible means in vain. But this night I had power to cry unto my God, and tell him, ‘Thou art the same yesterday, to-day, and forever: thou art my God! Thou hast said, Call upon me in the day of trouble, and I will hear thee. Thou hast healed cripples, made the lame to walk, yea, raised even the dead in answer to praying faith! Lord, hear me now; stoop to my request; let the child’s feet and ankle bones receive strength; give power to walk, and let me soon know thou hast heard my prayer;’ and I had power to believe it would be done; my soul was filled with the divine presence.
“Thursday, the 12th. I already see in the child an answer to my prayer. She is greatly strengthened in her limbs. How good, how faithful, how condescending is the Lord! We may—I may, like Abraham, like Moses, like Elijah, ask and obtain.”—Journal, pp. 116, 119, 120.
What has been said of the early Methodists may be said in truth of the people known as Christians. I mean those who are now bearing the nick-name of New Lights. Elder William Kinkaid was a well-known writer, and minister, and missionary of that church. He said:—
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“There have been in the bounds of my acquaintance many miraculous cures performed in answer to prayer. I have been acquainted with several of the people who were healed, conversed on the subject with the persons who were present at the time, and some of these cures I have seen myself. I as firmly believe that Elder David Haggard had the gift of healing, as that the apostles had. He has fallen asleep, but there are many alive who saw him perform cures, and what I saw myself puts the matter beyond doubt with me. I state these facts in honor to God, who, in every age of the world, has shown a willingness to bless his creatures in proportion to their faith and obedience.”—Bible Doctrine, p. 341.
“Discerning of spirits” was set down by the apostle as one of the “gifts of the Spirit” which was “set in the church” according to the promise. The following instance of the exercise of the gift of discernment is recorded in the Memoir of Mr. Bramwell, whose sincerity, piety, and Christian graces were questioned by none:—
“Mr. Bramwell was by no means of a censorious disposition; yet he had the gift of discerning the spirits and dispositions of men in a remarkable manner. I have frequently known him to detect impostors who have stepped forth to exercise in various meetings. On one occasion when he was desired to visit a dying man I went with him. We beheld the wretched object without a shirt to his back. The few rags which hung on him scarcely covered his body. His habitation was a damp, miserable cellar, and a woman was attending him who was represented to be his wife. For some time after our entrance
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into this dwelling, Mr. Bramwell remained silent. At length he exclaimed, ‘All is not right here! I am clear there is something amiss in this place!’ Then turning to the woman he said, ‘This man is not your husband. You never were married to him, but for several years you have been living together in sin and wickedness!’ His word went with power to their hearts. They both wept exceedingly, acknowledging the charge to be true, and began to entreat the Lord to have mercy upon them.”—Memoir, p. 155.
Other instances in his life might be given, but we omit them for the sake of brevity, promising to refer to facts which have occurred in the present generation as notable as any recorded in the times of the reformers, Luther and Wesley.
The following cases of deliverance from enraged enemies are recorded by John Wesley and Dr. Adam Clarke. While the facts cannot be disputed we must look upon them as direct interpositions of divine grace, and as truly miraculous as any case recorded in the New Testament:—
“The circumstances that follow I thought were particularly remarkable: That many endeavored to throw me down while we were going down hill on a slippery path to the town; as well judging, that if I was once on the ground I should hardly rise any more. But I made no stumble at all, nor the least slip, till I was entirely out of their hands. That although many strove to lay hold on my collar and clothes, to pull me down, they could not fasten at all: only one got fast hold of the flap of my waistcoat, which was soon left in his hand; the other flap, in the pocket of which was a bank-note, was torn but half off.
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That a lusty man just behind, struck at me several times with a large oaken stick; with which if he had struck me once on the back part of my head it would have saved him further trouble. But every time the blow was turned aside, I know not how; for I could not move the right hand nor the left. That another came rushing through the press, and raising his arm to strike suddenly let it drop and only stroked my head, saying, ‘What soft hair he has!’ That I stopped exactly at the Mayor’s door as if I had known it (which the mob doubtless thought I did) and found him standing in the shop, which gave the first check to the madness of the people. That the very first men whose hearts were turned were the heroes of the town, the captains of the rabble on all occasions, one of them having been a prize-fighter at the bear garden.…. By how gentle degrees does God prepare us for his will! Two years ago a piece of brick grazed my shoulder. It was a year after that the stone struck me between the eyes. Last month I received one blow, and this evening two; one before we came into the town, and one after we had gone out; but both were as nothing; for though one man struck me on the breast with all his might, and the other on the mouth with such force that the blood gushed out immediately, I felt no more pain from either of the blows than if they had touched me with a straw.”—Wesley’s Journal, vol. iii. pp. 297, 298.
Dr. Clarke’s account is as follows:—
“A missionary who had been sent to a strange land to proclaim the gospel of the kingdom of God, and who had passed through many hardships,
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and was often in danger of losing his life through the persecutions excited against him, came to a place where he had often before, at no small risk, preached Christ crucified. About fifty people who had received impressions from the word of God, assembled. He began his discourse, and after he had preached about thirty minutes, an outrageous mob surrounded the house armed with different instruments of death, and breathing the most sanguinary purposes. Some that were within shut the door; and the missionary and his flock betook themselves to prayer. The mob assailed the house and began to throw stones against the walls, windows, and roof; and in a short time almost every tile was destroyed, and the roof nearly uncovered, and before they quitted the premises, scarcely left one square inch of glass in the five windows by which the house was enlightened. While this was going forward a person came with a pistol to the window opposite to the place where the preacher stood (who was then exhorting his flock to be steady, to resign themselves to God, and trust in him), presented it at him and snapped it, but it only flashed in the pan! As the house was a wooden building, they began with crows and spades to undermine it and take away its principal supports. The preacher then addressed his little flock to this effect: ‘These outrageous people seek not you but me; if I continue in the house they will soon tear it down, and we shall all be buried in the ruins; I will, therefore, in the name of God, go out to them, and you will be safe.’ He then went toward the door: the poor people got around him and entreated him not to venture out, as he might expect to be instantly massacred.
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He went calmly forward, opened the door, at which a whole volley of stones and dirt was that instant discharged; but he received no damage. The people were in crowds in all the space before the door, and filled the road for a considerable way, so that there was no room to pass or repass. As soon as the preacher made his appearance, the savages became instantly as silent and as still as night; he walked forward, and they divided to the right and to the left, leaving a passage about four feet wide, for him and a young man who followed him to walk in. He passed on through the whole crowd, not a soul of whom either lifted a hand or spoke one word, till he and his companion had gained the uttermost skirts of the mob. The narrator, who was present on the occasion, goes on to say: ‘This was one of the most affecting spectacles I ever witnessed; an infuriated mob without any visible cause (for the preacher spoke not one word), became in a moment as calm as lambs. They seemed struck with amazement bordering on stupefaction; they stared and stood speechless; and after they had fallen back to right and left to leave him a free passage, they were as motionless as statues! They assembled with the full purpose to destroy the man who came to show them the way of salvation; but he, passing through the midst of them, went his way. Was not the God of missionaries in this work?’”
By reference to the “Life of Adam Clarke,” it will be seen that the “missionary” above referred to was no other than Clarke himself. From page 209 we take the following:— “During the whole time of his (Clarke’s) passing
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through the mob there was a death-like silence, nor was there any motion, but that which was necessary to give him a free passage. Either their eyes were holden that they could not know him; or they were so overawed by the power of God that they could not lift a hand, or utter a word against him. The poor people, finding all was quiet, came out a little after, and passed away, not one of them being either hurt or molested. In a few minutes the mob seemed to awake as from a dream, and finding that their prey had been plucked out of their teeth, they knew not how, they attacked the house afresh, broke every square of glass in the windows, and scarcely left a whole tile upon the roof. He afterward learned that the design of the mob was to put him in the sluice of an over-shot water— wheel, by which he must necessarily have been crushed to pieces.”
It would seem that no one could read this without being struck with the conviction that an angel of God accompanied this humble servant of the Lord as he passed through the midst of the enraged mob who sought his life. What but the power of God could have held them thus in quiet, peaceably making way to him whose life they came to take, until he passed beyond their reach? He who said, “Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world,” always means what he says, and always fulfills his promises. He never changes and it is as safe to trust him now as it ever was.


To be continued…


THE SPIRIT OF GOD:– ITS – OFFICES AND MANIFESTATIONS, TO THE END OF THE CHRISTIAN AGE.


BY ELD. J. H. WAGGONER.  1877

The Holy Spirit Given Still Today.

THE SPIRIT OF GOD:– ITS – OFFICES AND MANIFESTATIONS, TO THE END OF THE CHRISTIAN AGE.

BY ELD. J. H. WAGGONER.  1877

Continued…

CHAPTER VII.

THE GREAT COMMISSION

“Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost; teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you; and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.” Matt. 28:19, 20.

“Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. And these signs shall follow them that believe: In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; they shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.” Mark 16:15-18.

These texts are parallel, and they cast light upon each other. We admit that the expression, “the end of the world,” might be rendered, “the end of the age,” but it refers, of course, to that age in which the gospel was to be preached, that is, the gospel dispensation. And this is proof that the commission was not designed for the apostles alone, nor yet for their immediate successors, as is often claimed, for they could not preach the gospel to the end of the age or dispensation. This commission is as extensive as the preaching of the gospel was designed to be.

Now, as the passages quoted are parallel, the expression, “I am with you,” in one, is the equivalent of the manifestations of the power of

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 the Spirit or the signs to follow, in the other. When Jesus said he is, or would be, in the midst where two or three are gathered together in his name, all understand that he meant, not personally but, by the Spirit. We learn from the Scriptures that, as the Son represented the Father, even so the Spirit represents the Son. As Jesus came in his Father’s name, John 5:43, so did the Spirit come in his name, John 14:26. And he promised to be with them to the end of the world. The evidence that he is with them, that the promise is fulfilled, is found in the signs of the Spirit’s presence and power, which were to follow them that believe. This is made very plain in Acts 2, where the promise first commenced its fulfillment.

When the commission was given they were told to tarry at Jerusalem until they were endued with power from on high. Accordingly they remained at Jerusalem and did not preach any until the day of Pentecost, when the promised power came. It cannot be disputed that their labor under this commission commenced on that day of Pentecost.

And we can trace an exact parallel between the commission of the Saviour and the preaching of Peter on that day. By this parallel the application of this subject is made clear and certain. Jesus in the commission, said that believers should be baptized, and, these signs shall follow them that believe. Peter, acting under this commission, said, Repent and be baptized, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. We see by the reading of Acts 2 that the promise of the Holy Ghost which was offered to believers on the day of Pentecost was the same promise

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that was fulfilled to the apostles on that day. This also is made sure by the parallel which we have pointed out between the commission and the preaching of Peter on that day of Pentecost. Peter, in opening the work under that commission, commanded them to be baptized, because the Saviour, in giving the commission, said the believers should be baptized. In like manner, Peter said they should receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, because the Saviour said these signs shall follow them that believe. Therefore the gift of the Holy Ghost which Peter promised to them who received the gospel, is the exact equivalent of the signs which the Saviour said shall follow them that believe.

This conclusion cannot by any means be avoided, and it is decisive as showing the scope of the promise set forth by Peter on that day of Pentecost. It proves most conclusively that the signs were to follow them that believed even unto the end of the world, and were matters of promise to as many as the Lord our God shall call.

And with this agree the history of the early church, and the instruction given by the apostles. These gifts were in the church in the apostolic age; and they were not confined to the apostles nor to the ministers of the gospel.

Agabus was a prophet. Philip the evangelist had four daughters who had the gift of prophecy. This was according to the promise made by Joel, as quoted by Peter: “Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy”, and, “on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit.” The promise of the Saviour in the commission is the same; for “them that believe” embraces males and females, sons and

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daughters, alike. In the instruction of the apostles to the churches they make such reference to the gifts as to confirm the view that the gifts were quite general among the believers.

Paul wrote to the church of Corinth to “covet earnestly the best gifts,” but rather the gift of prophecy as being most useful to the whole body for their edification. He said:—

“I would that ye all spake with tongues, but rather that ye prophesied.” 1 Cor. 14:5.

This statement is not consistent with the idea that the gifts were to be confined to the laborers in the ministry. This whole chapter contains instruction to the church at large in regard to the operations of the Spirit among them. Of the benefits of the gift of prophecy he says:—

“But if all prophesy, and there come in one that believeth not, or one unlearned, he is convinced of all, he is judged of all. And thus are the secrets of his heart made manifest; and so falling down on his face he will worship God, and report that God is in you of a truth.” Verses 24, 25.

Thus Paul has stated, first, his desire that they might have the gift of prophecy; then, the usefulness of this gift, both to the church and to the conversion of unbelievers; and, finally, he speaks of what actually existed among them, thus:—

“When ye come together, every one of you hath a psalm, hath a doctrine [or instruction], hath a tongue [i. e., a gift of tongues], hath a revelation, hath an interpretation. Let all things be done unto edifying.” Verse 26.

Paul did not disapprove of these things, but gave such directions in regard to the use of their gifts as seemed necessary for their growth, and

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 that the gifts of God’s Spirit might not be abused nor perverted. For he had before exhorted them to desire spiritual gifts, and to covet earnestly the best gifts. And again he said:—

“Forasmuch as ye are zealous of spiritual gifts, seek that ye may excel to the edifying of the church.” Verse 12.

In furtherance of this object he directs that he that hath a tongue, or the gift of tongues, shall keep silence in the church unless there be an interpreter, because others would not be edified by his speaking if it were not interpreted. But upon the gift of prophecy in the church no such restraint was laid. Of that he said:— “For ye may all prophesy one by one, that all may learn, and all may be comforted.” Verse 31.

In like manner he instructed the church at Rome. We observe that his argument in 1 Cor. 12, concerning the various members of the body, has respect to the gifts of the Spirit set in the church. And so to the Romans, carrying out the same idea, he says:—

“For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office; so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another. Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith; or ministry, let us wait on our ministering; or he that teacheth, on teaching; or he that exhorteth, on exhortation;” etc. Rom. 12:4-8.

The mutual dependence of the gifts, one on the other, is shown in this text as it is in 1 Cor. 12. In that he says one member may not say to another, I have no need of thee. And those

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least esteemed are often most useful and necessary. So in Rom. 12:5 it is said, Ye are members one of another. That is, to have a perfect and efficiently active body the members must all be perfectly united together. The hand is confessedly one of the most useful members of the body; but its connection with the head, and consequent usefulness, depends entirely on its connection with the wrist, arm, etc. Were it connected directly with the head, without the intervention of other members, it would be of no use, and mostly an incumbrance. In all this we are taught that we should receive with humble reverence whatever God has set in the church; for he who formed the body knows best the wants of the body, and best understands the proper order of its members.

James, writing “to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad,” directs that prayer be offered for the sick, with the assurance that “the Lord will raise him up.” There is no force nor reason in the objection often urged, that answers to prayer in that manner are not now given. If that were true (but it is not), it would argue nothing against the certainty of the promise, for we might possibly find a reason for it in the following scripture, Isa. 59:1, 2:—

“Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear; but your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.”

The duty and privilege of prayer are greatly abused. While things which God has never promised are made subjects of prayer, to pray for the things which he has promised is often to subject ourselves to ridicule and reproach. As faith

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is not without the word of God, Rom. 10:17, so there is no genuine hope unless it is fixed on the promise of God. Heb. 6:12-19. The custom now prevailing of praying all over the world, and concerning everything upon which the fancy chances to rest, and of slighting and neglecting those blessings which we immediately need and which God has promised to bestow, is practical infidelity in regard to the faithfulness of God. It is no test of faith to pray for things which we do not immediately need, or which, if granted, are so far removed from our personal experience and observation that we could not realize the answer. To pray for the heathen in a distant land, for the restoration of Israel, or for the conversion of the world, may gratify general religious feelings and satisfy the conscience in regard to the duty to pray; but that will never satisfy our consciousness that God is a present help in time of need, and that he exercises an immediate providential care over his people.

They who think lightly of praying for the Spirit of God, which Jesus assures us will be given in answer to prayer; or for the sick, whom James says the Lord will raise up in answer to prayer; or for any other blessing which is directly promised, really reproach God as if he would not fulfill his word. They are of those who are reproved because they “say in their heart, The Lord will not do good, neither will he do evil;” Zeph. 1:12; or of the perverse ones who say, “The Lord hath forsaken the earth.” Ezek. 8:12; 9:9. They think the Lord has no care for our wants, and will not regard our petitions. But he who hears the cry of the young ravens, and notices the fall of the

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sparrow of the field, and numbers the hairs of the heads of his children, will not turn away from their cry when they are in affliction.

No reason can be given to show that this promise of James is not of general application and for all time. The frequent references in this chapter to the coming of the Lord, prove that it may be claimed by those who live in the last days (see Jas. 5:1-8), who have the assurance that “the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.”

Nor can it in truth be said that to claim answers to prayer in such manner begets egotism and self-confidence in religion. The reverse of this is truth. Nothing so makes a person feel his insufficiency—his entire dependence on God—as to be brought before him as a petitioner for a present—needed blessing. General blessings, or things afar off, may be prayed for with the unconcern of a formalist, or the self-complacency of a Pharisee; but to ask for a present blessing with the expectation of a present answer, is calculated to greatly humble the petitioner, to give a sense of entire dependence, and to produce exalted views of the faithfulness of God and trust in his providential care. Thus there is practical utility of great importance in the acceptance of these precious promises of direct answer to prayer, and in relying upon the gifts which God has graciously set in the church “for the edifying of the body of Christ.”

And thus it is shown that: 1. The commission embraces faith, obedience, and the signs or gifts of the Spirit. 2. The first preaching under the commission, on the day of Pentecost, embraced the same points; the same duty and

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the same blessing were presented to those who believed the gospel. 3. The history of the church shows that these continued in the church. 4. The instructions of the apostles prove that they looked upon the gifts as belonging to the church for all time. 5. The promise in the commission runs “to the end of the world,” or gospel age, which proves that the commission was intended to cover the entire age; while not a sentence can be found to show that it was limited by any time but the end of the world.

No truth of the Bible can be more clearly proved than this, that the signs following the believers, spoken of by the Saviour in the great commission, are identical with the gift of the Holy Spirit which was promised by the apostles who first preached under that commission on the day of Pentecost; and these signs were designed to continue in the church as long as the commission is of force, or as long as the gospel is preached.

But some object that the commission itself was limited to the apostles, and expired with them, and, therefore, they say that promise is no longer extended to believers. Let us look at the result of this affirmation. The commission included two prominent points: a duty and a promise. The duty is baptism; the promise is the signs or gift of the Holy Spirit. When the apostles first preached under this commission these two were associated. Now, if the promise is annulled by the expiration of the commission, then the duty enjoined has also expired. It cannot be controverted that the apostles baptized under this commission, and by no other authority. Therefore, if the commission was for the apostles only, and expired with them, then there has existed no authority

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to baptize since their day; for no other authority in the gospel can be shown by which they or any others ever baptized. And it is a noteworthy fact that they who deny the perpetuity of the gifts, and of the commission under which they were promised to believers, yet go directly to Acts, to that day of Pentecost, for authority to baptize, both for precept and example. Such inconsistency on their part is evidence that they are in error. This thought should lead to more carefulness in taking their positions; for all can see that they are in error in regard to the commission and the gifts, or else the baptism they administer is unauthorized and unscriptural.

The perpetuity of the gifts is the subject of direct remark by another apostle who acted under this same commission, in 1 Cor. 13:9, 10:—

“For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.”

It is a truth to be deplored that men are sometimes so blinded as to rest their cause on the very texts which testify against them, as this has often been quoted by those who deny the perpetuity of the gifts. It is easy to catch at the sound of the words, “done away,” but quite another thing to point out the time when this shall be fulfilled. In regard to that we read farther:—

“For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.” Verse 12.

This shows that Paul looked forward to a time when he should know more and see more clearly than he then did by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. And when we consider that he had been caught up to the third heaven, and by “visions

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and revelations” had heard unspeakable words which it was not possible for a man to utter, and which, of course, exceeded in wisdom and glory all that he could speak or write, we see at a glance that the time is not yet in which that perfect is come; for the church has not yet attained unto wisdom and knowledge greater than that which the apostles possessed by inspiration. Hence, “that which is in part” is not done away.

On this text, as on Eph. 4: 8-11, an erroneous position is taken in reference to the object of the gifts. It has often been asserted that the gifts were conferred for the sole purpose of establishing the gospel in perfecting the canon of Scripture, and when the Revelation was completed they were withdrawn. But, as before said, when the apostles speak of the reasons of their being bestowed, that is never mentioned as being one of them. Not for the perfecting of a system of divinity, but “for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry.” And so in 1 Cor. 13, it is not reaching unto the establishing of a perfect system of theology by revelation, but to a time when the inspired ones shall see more clearly and know more perfectly than they could by that inspiration. That time and position are not yet reached. We cannot know more nor see better by the aid of the revelation given than they could see and know who were inspired to give it. And especially is this true in regard to Paul, who saw and knew more than it was possible for him to write. And yet he knew only in part, and prophesied (for our instruction) only in part, and saw through a glass darkly, by the spirit of prophecy, compared to how we shall see and know when that which is perfect is come. Language could

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 hardly be framed to more clearly teach the perpetuity of the gifts, to show that the time is not yet come for them to be done away, than it is taught in 1 Cor. 13.

The sum of all objections will be found to amount to this: They have ceased; therefore it was the design of the Lord that they should cease. But this is no reason at all; certainly it is no valid argument in favor of their having been abolished. In that manner a great declension of piety might be offered as proof that it was not designed that the spirit of piety was to be perpetuated in the church. But where is the evidence that they have been done away? Where is the evidence that they have not been in existence since the days of the apostles? Such evidence does not exist. But in favor of a position involving such consequences some clear and decisive evidence should be produced.

On the other hand, it is shown that the Scriptures contemplated their perpetuity. And in harmony with their teachings there is evidence clear and strong that they have existed since the days of the apostles. Moreover, there is proof that they exist even in our own generation. And why not? If they existed for a single century after the apostles, there is no reason, except the unbelief in the church, why they should not still exist. We call special attention to the following proposition: If a single well-attested instance of the manifestation of the Spirit of prophecy, or of any gift of the Spirit, can be produced this side of the apostles, then the force of every argument and of every objection against their perpetuity throughout the Christian dispensation is entirely destroyed.

To be continued…