Like Israel of old, we as a people have usually dwelt apart, keenly conscious of our divine commission and message for mankind today. We have not in times past mingled to any extent with other religious groups. This in part was because we were deeply engrossed in our own work, and partly because we felt out of place and unwanted in interdenominational gatherings.
Through the years we have been keenly conscious of the fact that in the past we "have been regarded as too insignificant to be worthy of notice."—Testimonies, vol. 5, p. 546.
All too often we have been in the habit of emphasizing our points of difference and separation. We have said hard things of those who differed, and they have rejoined with even harsher things about us. Debates were not uncommon, with the intense feelings inevitably engendered. There was no fraternizing because of fear of compromising.
And because of the antagonisms on the part of religious leaders not of our faith, we usually refrained from identifying our denominational affiliations in public and personal evangelism, in our literature, and in our earlier radio work as well. This too was misunderstood. It was not done with intent to deceive, but to avoid fatal prejudice, and to obtain a hearing without a difficult, if not an insurmountable, handicap.
But the same Spirit of prophecy counsels have also said in immediate connection with the statement just quoted, "But a change will come."—Ibid. And the same writer adds that developments were already under way that would bring this to pass.
Fellow workers, that epochal day is here. That prediction is being fulfilled before our eyes today. The humanitarian character of our welfare work, the dissemination of the fact of our basic loyalty to the great fundamentals of saving faith, the vast influence of the Voice of Prophecy broadcast for more than a quarter of a century, the steady witness of the Signs of the Times to its great host of readers, the illuminating article in Look magazine on Seventh-day Adventists, the presence of fifteen hundred sets of The Prophetic Faith of Our Fathers in fifteen hundred of the largest university, seminary, college, Bible institute, and public libraries in North America, Britain, and the Continent, and the direct impress of the Holy Spirit has definitely changed the attitude of literally hundreds of religious and educational leaders. This change is from deep disdain to profound respect for Seventh-day Adventists, the soundness and historicity of our positions on prophecy, the truth concerning our origin, and the cardinal teachings of our movement.
Added to this are the successful accomplishments of our Bureau of Public Relations in bringing our name constantly to the fore in the public press, and the pioneering temerity of some of our evangelists in openly proclaiming and publicizing our identity. Then there are factual and favorable articles in six of the great encyclopedias and yearbooks—like Schaff-Herzog, Colliers, American Peoples, and the International Yearbook. In addition there are chapters on Seventh-day Adventists in such books as The American Church of the Protestant Heritage, which was widely circulated through the Religious Book Club of America.
Added to these there are apologetic works like F. D. Nichol's Midnight Cry and Ellen G. White and Her Critics, dissipating popular misconceptions. All these factors, to mention but a few, along with developing apostasy in the religious world followed by separations and splits, and the increasing operation of the Holy Spirit on the hearts of men, are all contributing factors in a changing attitude toward Seventh-day Adventists. There are other striking, yes, revolutionary developments that will shortly be revealed, and these too are having a major bearing on it all.
We have clearly come to a new day when our teachings and our place in the religious world are being scrutinized as never in the past. Our evangelical views are being actively and favorably discussed in some of the greatest seminaries, universities, and divinity schools. Many religious leaders are at last coming to believe that we do not rightly belong in the category of the cults, but instead we can be recognized as true Christians, despite our convictions on the Sabbath, the nature of man, and other separating views.
Christ in Our Teaching
And why is this? Because we have slowly come to follow the counsels of the Blueprint, long on record, in putting forth prominently our true adherence to the great fundamentals of the gospel and the saving faith in Jesus Christ alone, before coming to separation issues.
These fundamentals include the deity and eternal pre-existence of Jesus Christ as the Son of God; His incarnation through a miraculous conception and virgin birth as the Son of man; His sinless life and vicarious, atoning death once for all and all-sufficient; His literal and bodily resurrection from the grave; His literal and bodily ascension to heaven; His high priestly mediation in heaven above before the Father, ministering and applying the complete atonement He made on the cross; and His personal, bodily, premillennial, and imminent Second Advent in power and glory to raise the righteous dead, thereafter to establish His glorious eternal kingdom.
This has all come as a discovery and a shock to the conservative religious world. They formerly believed—and not without some reason—that we denied the deity and eternal pre-existence of Christ and the completeness of the efficacy of the blood atonement on the cross. They rested their misconception of Seventh-day Adventists on the repetitions of detractors and the citations of the Arian positions of some of our early pioneers that were later squarely confuted by repeated declarations of the Spirit of prophecy such as "There are three living persons of the heavenly trio."—Evangelism, p. 615; "In Christ [Jesus Christ, the Second Person of the Godhead] is life, original, unborrowed, underived."—The Desire of Ages, p. 530; "He [Christ] assures us that there never was a time when He was not in close fellowship with the eternal God."—Evangelism, p. 615. (See also Signs of the Times, Aug. 29, 1900 and May 3, 1899.)
That we have held these cardinal truths, confirmed by the Spirit of prophecy, and cherished by the overwhelming majority of our leadership and people for more than half a century, has come as a distinct surprise to religious leaders, along with our belief in the personality and deity of the Holy Spirit, and the completeness of the sacrificial atonement made by Jesus Christ on the cross (The Review and Herald, Sept. 24, 1901; Signs of the Times, Aug. 16, 1899), thereafter ministered and applied by Christ our great High Priest in heaven above. All this has forced a re-cataloging of Seventh-day Adventism.
That is the explanation, along with clarification of such points as that we do not make Satan our sin bearer, that our sole hope of salvation is by grace and faith in Jesus Christ alone (not by faith plus our works), and that our works and obedience to the law of God and its Sabbath are the inevitable fruitage of that salvation, and spring from love. These concepts are at last breaking down the century-old barriers of prejudice and misunderstanding so common in the religious world.
I found this to be impressively true during this past spring and summer as I visited religious leaders in Germany, England, Canada, and the United States. A tremendous change in attitude is under way. It is giving us access to universities, seminaries, and numerous churches where, upon invitation, a number of us have been able to tell freely of our faith. Scholars are opening their homes to us, and vital correspondence is under way. This is more widespread than many of us are aware.
Some eight hundred of the key religious leaders in North America, Great Britain, and Europe possess and have read The Prophetic Faith of Our Fathers. As a result I am personally in contact with hundreds of religious leaders at this very time, and there is a constant stream of inquiries concerning our beliefs on this point or that. It is indeed a new day, fraught with great potentialities. And yet it is simply what the Spirit of prophecy has repeatedly and most earnestly called for during the last sixty years. How slow we have been to believe and respond! How tardy has been our following of the clear specifications of the Blueprint appearing in the Counsel section of this issue on page 40.
We were never able to make an impression or to change misconceptions until we came into line with these counsels on the basis of deep personal conviction. Present conditions stand as a solemn rebuke to our slowness to respond, and as a vindication of the truthfulness and soundness of these counsels when heeded. The pattern is crystal clear. Emphasis upon the uplifting of Christ is imperative—His divinity, incarnation, and atonement; His resurrection, ascension, heavenly ministry, and coming again—for the purpose of correcting misconceptions in the popular mind, and because of the intrinsic, basic importance of these phases of Christ's life.
We must never forget that our literature, radio, TV, and public evangelism will be increasingly successful in just such proportion as our approach and emphasis was in harmony with these self-evident, sound, and sane principles given to us as a people.
For years this journal has emphasized the importance of following the counsels of the Lord in our evangelism—to dwell first on our points of common belief in the great historical verities of the Christian faith before setting forth the separating truths that we hold. This is not "soft-pedaling the truth." Nor is it hiding our light. It is simply good common sense and sound psychology. Furthermore it is in harmony with inspired counsel.
And it works! Try it! Reject it and it will be to our peril, and our great loss denominationally. This is not a clever trick. It is sanctified common sense. It is simply putting first things first, and letting the world know that we are actually and truly orthodox Christians, which has not been understood in the past.
The Challenge of the Congress
These words were written near the close of the Second International Congress on Prophecy held in the Calvary Baptist Church in New York City from November 6 to 13. The contrast in attitude toward those of us Seventh-day Adventists who attended is striking when compared with the first congress in 1952, just three years ago. At that time we were not only merely tolerated but publicly castigated as a people by at least one of the speakers. This time the leaders were cordial in their welcome, and no speaker took us to task. Priceless contacts have been made, prejudices reduced or dispelled, and we were made to feel welcome as Christian leaders.
May I frankly state some of my reactions? They may shock THE MINISTRY readers a bit. In the first place, there was a tremendously heavy, almost continuous program—one we would not tolerate—of eight periods or studies daily. There were three in the morning-9:00-10:00, 10:0011:00, and 11:00-12:00, and three in the afternoon beginning at 2:00, 3:00, and 4:00. At 6:00 p.m. there was still another—motion pictures or illustrated reports of the Holy Land. And finally, two large meetings were held each evening at 7:30 and 8:30. I make bold to say no Seventh-day Adventist congress or council lasting eight days would ever survive such rigors. And the attendance was constant and remarkable. Why was such a heavy program successful in this congress? I sincerely believe that it was because of the deep convictions and longings of the participants, and the fact that they were there exclusively for Bible study and spiritual refreshing. Among the thirty-seven speakers was Dr. Wilbur M. Smith, who gave five masterful studies on "The Conflict of the Ages." These were remarkably searching presentations by one of the greatest conservative Bible teachers of the country. They were packed with Bible, and were not only stimulative but were 98 per cent in harmony with our own beliefs, though freshly and uniquely stated. Hundreds of notebooks were open with busy pencils and open Bibles on the knee.
I must say, with deepest regret, that rarely do we ever have such penetrating and stimulative Bible studies in our own councils or workers' meetings. They provided food for the soul. And men drank them in eagerly. Brethren, is not our need for more solid Bible studies and real Bible conferences, where we penetrate beneath the familiar surface with studies that are the result of intensive and extensive study? Dr. Smith spent five or six weeks preparing for his series. Is it possible that we are too busy about other things to take the time that is imperative for such exegesis?
Of course, along with these able, scholarly Biblical addresses were interspersed some that were highly speculative and decidedly un-Biblical, such as the future state of the Jews, the futurist rapture contention and ultra dispensationalism. These, of course, had no appeal for us. These speculations contained little or no message. Moreover, some of the ablest speakers, we learned, were not in harmony therewith. All this was to be expected.
Second, in not a few of the addresses there was an uplifting of Christ that made our hearts burn within us. The names of such speakers and their themes could be furnished. But the emphasis in these particular studies was simply what we are admonished in the Spirit of prophecy we should be foremost among all Christian bodies in presenting. Here is the declaration:
"Of all professing Christians, Seventh-day Adventists should be foremost in uplifting Christ before the world. . . . The great center of attraction, Christ Jesus, must not be left out."—Gospel Workers, p. 156.
But alas, brethren, we are not noted for our pre-eminence in presenting Christ. Instead, it is emphasis on the law, the Sabbath, the mark of the beast, the sleep of the dead, and the prophecies for which we are noted. These we must present, but withal in a better, more winsome, and more appealing way. But while presenting these we should not have neglected the basic gospel provisions. We are to take our rightful place in the forefront in preaching Christ. We are to present not simply the prophecies about Christ, or interesting and important things concerning Christ, but we are to present Him to the people as our all-sufficient Saviour, Priest, and King—our complete hope and provision for salvation.
When people want to find Christ they should instinctively seek out an Adventist minister. But do they? Here is a lesson and a rebuke!
This uplifting of Christ was markedly evident in the singing of both solos and congregational hymns. There was a heartiness in praising Christ in song that made the vaulted ceilings ring.
One could not but observe the simple sincerity and earnestness of the congress soloist who made her contributions so effective. There was no posing, no display. Hers was not a performance—just the witness of a soul redeemed by the blood of Christ speaking through the touching medium of simple spiritual gospel songs concerning the saving power of Christ. Each was a message from the heart of the singer that spoke to the hearts of the listeners. When the song had ended, the entire congregation had been lifted Godward, simply because every song was an ascription of praise and adoration of Jesus. The songs expressed the same basic issue of the gospel emphasis. Again we were reminded of the counsel given to us:
"Lift up Jesus, you that teach the people. Lift Him up in sermon, in song, in prayer. Let all your powers be directed to pointing souls, confused, bewildered, lost, to 'the Lamb of God.' . . . Let the science of salvation be the burden of every sermon, the theme of every song."—Ibid., p. 160.
"Christ crucified—talk it, pray it, sing it, and it will break and win hearts."—Testimonies, vol. 6, p. 67.
In the past we have not often ventured into such gatherings, congresses, and conferences unless specifically invited, even when they were open to all Christians. But such a policy has automatically cut us off from many desirable and profitable contacts. It is well for us to become acquainted with these men, both for our own sake and for theirs. They come to find out that we do not have horns and hoofs, that we are not ignorant fanatics, but that we love the same Lord, and trust in Him wholly for salvation. On the other side of the picture we come to see that they have usually been sincere in their misconceptions, unwittingly taken in by detractors and apostates. We have found these misconceptions can be corrected and prejudices dissipated. In this way they see that we are not ashamed of our faith and are not hiding because we have something to cover. The result is wholesome both ways. And the opportunity for association and prayer with such leaders is a privilege indeed.