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
132
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
133
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
134
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
135
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:—
- The unimpaired authority
of the commission which our Saviour gave for the preaching of the gospel
and the baptism of believers.
- 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.
- 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.
136
- 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.
- 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.”
- 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.
- 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.
137
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
138
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
139
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
140
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
141
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,
142
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
- TIMOTHY
4:1,
...............................................................11
- TIMOTHY
4:20,
.............................................................26
HEBREWS
5:14,
.............................................................13
6:12-19,
........................................................84
JAMES
5:
................................................................137
5:1-8,
............................................................85
- PETER
1:10, 11
..................................................10, 30
- 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
