WHEN the year 1968 slipped into eternity religious and political writers began to reflect on a year that brought heart break and sorrow on both the home front and the international scene. Editors and authors analyzed the Vietnam war and the Nigerian situation. Student power, church and race, hunger and poverty, were by lines for articles and comment. Men sought solutions for divisive issues, but few came up with any stimulating proposals. So many conceded that the only worth-while accomplishment in a year of anguish was the fantastic translunar flight of Apollo 8.
So it has been year after year. Man has tried to analyze the sad failures and catastrophies of the past, always hoping that a new day, a new month, a new year, would produce the answers he so earnestly desires.
To Seventh-day Adventists the day-to-day happenings of the sixties should not come as any surprise, for we claim to be students of the Word of God, which is backed by the Spirit of Prophecy. We recognize that developments around us are but portents of the second advent of Christ.
Undoubtedly one of the greatest blessings that has come to the Advent Movement is the gift of the Spirit of Prophecy. This gift leads us into a deeper love for the Word of God and a clearer understanding of the days in which we live. As has been said so many times, the Spirit of Prophecy writings are not an addition to the Bible, but rather a means used by God to lead us to the Bible. Eternity alone will reveal the great value of the Spirit of Prophecy to the church. As a result of the gift, the recipients have had opportunity to come under a steadying divine influence and have been steered down a middle road that travels through a troubled world.
In the beginnings of the movement men and women came from different religious persuasions with a variety of ideas and beliefs. Of those early days Ellen G. White wrote as follows:
Many of our people do not realize how firmly the foundation of our faith has been laid. My husband, Elder Joseph Bates, Father [Stephen] Pierce, Elder [Hiram] Edson, and others . . . after the passing of the time in 1844, searched for the truth as for hidden treasure. I met with them, and we studied and prayed earnestly. Often we remained together until late at night, and some times through the entire night, praying for light and studying the Word. Again and again these brethren came together to study the Bible, in order that they might know its meaning, and be prepared to teach it with power. When they came to the point in their study where they said, "We can do nothing more," the Spirit of the Lord would come upon me, I would be taken off in vision, and a clear explanation of the passages we had been studying would be given me, with instruction as to how we were to labor and teach effectively. Thus light was given that helped us to understand the scriptures in regard to Christ, His mission, and His priesthood. A line of truth extending from that time to the time when we shall enter the city of God, was made plain to me, and I gave to others the instruction that the Lord had given me.—Selected Messages, book 1, pp. 206, 207.
If the counsel of the servant of the Lord was of value to the pioneers, how much more should the Testimonies and other Spirit of Prophecy writings be of benefit to the church today. By adhering to the counsel of the Spirit of Prophecy, ministers and laity alike can avoid the spiritual dangers of this generation and meet the challenges of an age that has been described as "decadent." If this church is to triumph and its members be found in glory land at the end of time, we need to study even more diligently the Word of God and the Spirit of Prophecy. The Bible is timeless, and its mes sage just as fresh as the news of the daily newspaper. Likewise, the Spirit of Prophecy writings are just as pertinent to our clay as when first penned.
Nevertheless, some are led to state that Ellen White's writings are out of date, that they were given many years ago and applied to earlier decades. Let Mrs. White herself answer:
Time and trial have not made void the instruction given, but through years of suffering and self-sacrifice have established the truth of the testimony given. The instruction that was given in the early days of the message is to be held as safe instruction to follow in these its closing days.— Ibid., p. 41.
Then there are those who hesitate to accept the writings of Ellen G. White as inspired messages. Such are usually unqualified to pass judgment, because of a lack of real knowledge concerning the gift. Many of these have not read the writings, nor do they understand the topics presented. In this connection we would quote Letter 292, written by Mrs. White in 1907:
I am instructed to say to our churches, Study the Testimonies. They are written for our admonition and encouragement upon whom the ends of the world are come. If God's people will not study these messages that are sent to them from time to time, they are guilty of rejecting light. Line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little, God is sending instruction to His people. Heed the instruction; follow the light. The Lord has a controversy with His people because in the past they have not heeded His instruction and followed His guidance.
These are strong and challenging words. Every church member should search his own heart and discover whether he is guilty of rejecting the light because of the lack of study of the Testimonies. We are the people "upon whom the ends of the world are come," and how important it is that there be the appropriate depth of study, that we not fall by the wayside. We need to be re minded that "Satan is ... constantly pressing in the spurious—to lead away from the truth. The very last deception of Satan will be to make of none effect the testimony of the Spirit of God. 'Where there is no vision, the people perish' (Prov. 29:18). Satan will work ingeniously, in different ways and through different agencies, to unsettle the confidence of God's remnant people in the true testimony."—Selected Messages, book 2, p. 78.
So long as we remember God's leading hand in the past we have nothing to fear. It is only as men and women turn their backs on the gift to the church and consider it outmoded that they are placed in difficult situations. As one loses confidence in the Spirit of Prophecy he also loses interest in the Bible and places himself on Satan's ground.
As a member of the church in the Washington, B.C., area, I have had the privilege of attending a pilot program of the Testimony Countdown classes. A report of this activity has already appeared in this journal. It has been inspiring to witness over flow audiences studying the Testimonies and eagerly drinking in the instruction night by night. Seldom have church leaders looked upon such a stimulating and encouraging scene. This is an indication of the recognition by a large group of church members of the value of the counsel given through the Testimonies to this church. May the spirit of the Testimony Count down program sweep across the nation and through the world field, thus strengthening the spiritual life of God's people.
At the 1968 Autumn Council of the General Conference Committee, the brethren assembled saw fit once again to point the flock to the importance of the Spirit of Prophecy. One recommendation recorded at the council reads in part as follows:
WHEREAS, The church is at the threshhold of earth's closing events, adequate preparation for which demands of all its members, confidence in the Spirit of Prophecy and an intimate acquaintance with its messages,
We recommend, 1. That we continue to encourage Seventh-day Adventists throughout the world to possess and thoughtfully read available Spirit of Prophecy books.
2. That churches be led by their pastors in systematic study of these books, not overlooking the advantage of selecting those for which study guides are provided.—G.C. Minutes, p. 1253, 1968.
The stimulus given by this action must be ongoing and not limited to a given period. Publishing houses have been asked to provide Spirit of Prophecy volumes at a dis count rate, and plans are also under way to increase the circulation of the inspired volumes in overseas fields, both in English-speaking lands and where the books must be translated into other languages.
Spirit of Prophecy Day is scheduled for May 17, 1969, and comes but once a year. Let us not limit Spirit of Prophecy emphasis to but one Sabbath each year, but let the ministry lead the membership into an appropriate study on May 17 that will be but a beginning of the more thorough study of the Scriptures and the Spirit of Prophecy so that all will have a complete understanding of God's will for His people as the last chapters of history are being written.
