We submerge the distinctive truths of our movement only at the risk of denominational suicide. There should be no misunderstanding upon this point. God has delivered to us a message involving the restoration of perverted and neglected truths that we as His ministers are bound before Heaven to declare. God will not hold him guiltless who neglects this responsibility, or who slights or perverts our comprehensive platform of truth. No substitute is acceptable. No partial presentation will suffice. The whole message is demanded.
The impending advent, the judgment features preceding, the standard of that judgment, the Sabbath precept of that standard, and the remedial provisions of salvation lie at the heart of our message. But the general perversion or rejection of this harmonious and connected system of Bible truth has turned the nominal Christian churches into Babylon, with Protestant communions as the daughters, and Rome as the mother or originator of these spiritual pollutions. Against this we must bear solemn witness.
Yet our work is vastly more than negative, It is essentially positive. It is basically the substitution of truth for error, light for darkness, clarity for confusion, and righteousness for sin. It is fundamentally the saving gospel of Christ and the apostles, revived and restored. If rightly presented, it is th'e "everlasting gospel," correcting the perverted doctrines held by the mind, reestablishing the broken relations sustained by the soia, and embracing even reformation of the physical 'practices of the body. The design of our last-day message is to prepare the whole man to meet his soon-returning Lord.
There can be no rightful divorcement of doctrine from spiritual life, or vice versa, or of either from the laws of the physical being. Virtually exclusive emphasis upon any one of these, to the neglect of others, constitutes a form of unfaithfulness subject to divine disapproval. There can be no rightful aloofness from any of the basic features of our message. Of course, all will recognize that there are times when, because of preceding neglect, there must be strong corrective emphasis upon one feature for a time; also that God sometimes lays a burden upon individuals to give themselves to the enunciation of certain needed truths. But this all blends into God's larger plans.
For example, this was the case when the neglected gospel fundamental of righteousness by faith was brought strongly to the fore in the late 80's and early 90's. In our earlier decades we were confronted with a sustained doctrinal opposition to the law and the Sabbath. Resultant debates were constant, and the argumentative mood was, highly developed. We gloried in the possession and logic of truth. We were strong on the law, and not a few were controversialists rather than preachers of the gospel.,
It therefore became imperative for righteousness by faith—the basic principle of the Reformation and of the very gospel itself—to have a revival of emphasis. The servant of the Lord never at any other time in her witness wrote such a volume of gripping endorsements and elucidations of this truth, together with reproofs for indifference and opposition, as are recorded in the Review, the General Conference Bulletins, and in personal testimonies throughout that period. A typical group of these are assembled in the book, "Christ Our Righteousness," which should be in the hands of every worker in this cause.
Emphasis upon the doctrinal, the spiritual, and the physical, should blend harmoniously. There should be no criminations or recriminations by any who have emphasized some phase to the neglect of another. Aspersions are manifestly out of place, as disastrous examples are found in every field. Some of our outstanding apostates, dead and living, have been conspicuous for their acquaintance with, and effective preaching of, the doctrines. Shortly before he left us, D. M. Canright debated the Sabbath question with a university president, winning the debate. In fact, he was teaching Bible in Battle Creek College when he broke his denominational connections.
Others who have departed have done notable work in the writing or revision of our standard and widely distributed books. So mere knowledge of doctrine will not hold a person in loyalty. It is the right relation of the soul to the full, transforming truth of God for the whole man that is requisite.
Similarly, there have been those who valiantly stressed those spiritual truths of the gospel that are ever essential. They were mightily used and indorsed by God for a time, but became one-sided and confused, and finally left us. So the teaching of righteousness by faith or the work of the Holy Spirit will not immunize against apostasy. The sable fatal departures are to be likewise noted in the case of certain outstanding exponents of health and educational truths, as we all know. These sad experiences of the past constitute a sobering challenge to us all to search our hearts, and see that there be no wicked way in us, and to renew our allegiance to God and to His remnant movement at this critically important time.
It is regrettable for slurs to be cast upon doctrinal sermons, though some are so devoid of transforming power as to be largely valueless. It is likewise regrettable for slighting remarks to be passed upon spiritual studies, though they have sometimes been unfortunately divorced from the doctrinal truths with which they should be inseparably bound up. And it is distressing indeed to observe levity of speech over the great principles of health reform, which likewise form a constituent part of our complete message. Rather there should be a correction of weaknesses and an outreaching for balance and unity that are alone the course of safety.
It is both unjustifiable and unseemly to intimate that the cause of apostasy is overemphasis upon the doctrinal as against the spiritual or the physical. Rather, it is the outgrowth of a distorted vision, a break in fellowship with God, some cherished sin, some lifting up of the soul in pride or rebellion. The manifest conclusion is that a balanced, full-rounded emphasis is requisite, based upon a real experience in the salvation of God, a daily fellowship with Him, a loyalty to the principles of His kingdom and the declared doctrines of His church. This attitude and this experience are the individual obligation of every one who accepts a commission in His ministry.
L. E. F.
