The Fruitage of Spiritual Gifts

Chapter 15 — Clearer and Clearer Light

NOT A CREED BUT A MESSAGE is a thought that has been strong in the advent church. A creed is a statement of doctrine drawn up usually by some leading churchmen. The purpose of a creed is said to be to defend the true faith, but in actual experience a creed stifles research and fosters petrified doctrines. On the one hand, Mrs. White earnestly warned in her writings against side issues or notions claiming to be “advanced light.” FSG 185.1

“Brethren, as an ambassador of Christ I warn you to beware of these side-issues, whose tendency is to divert the mind from the truth. Error is never harmless. It never sanctifies, but always brings confusion and dissension.”—Testimonies for the Church 5:292. FSG 185.2

She urges God’s children to “think calmly and work without excitement.” She stresses the fact that new light would never make the old light darkness, but she also warns the church against becoming conservative “in their doctrinal views,” resting “satisfied with light already received.” Again and again she emphasizes that the children of God are to obtain a clearer understanding of His work. FSG 185.3

“It is His will that they should be ever moving forward, to receive the increased and ever-increasing light which is shining for them.”—Testimonies for the Church 5:708-709. FSG 186.1

“Peter exhorts his brethren to ‘grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.’ Whenever the people of God are growing in grace, they will be constantly obtaining a clearer understanding of his word. They will discern new light and beauty in its sacred truths.”—Testimonies for the Church 5:706. FSG 186.2

In hundreds of places the Spirit of prophecy urges us to study the Bible with much prayer and thought. FSG 186.3

“The Bible should never be studied without prayer.... We should exert all the powers of the mind in the study of the Scriptures and should task the understanding to comprehend as far as mortals can the deep things of God.”—The Great Controversy, 599. FSG 186.4

But while thus urging us to Bible study and clearer light, the Spirit of prophecy just as earnestly warns against deceptions and fanciful notions. FSG 186.5

“I have been instructed to say that it is not new and fanciful doctrines which the people of God need. They do not need suppositions, which can not be sustained by the Word of God.... FSG 186.6

“I beseech those who are laboring for God not to accept the spurious for the genuine. We have a whole Bible full of the most precious truth. We have no need for supposition or false excitement.... FSG 186.7

“Walk firmly, decidedly, your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. God has not laid upon any one the burden of encouraging an appetite for strange, odd doctrines and theories. My brethren, keep these things out of your teaching. Do not allow them to enter into your experience. Do not let your life-work be marred by them.”—The Review and Herald, January 21, 1904, page 9. FSG 186.8

The topic of increasing light as stated and repeated in the foregoing quotation is certainly one of paramount importance. The advent movement and church with all its many activities in all the earth is really a fruitage of the advent truths. Sin is a great danger to a church, but error is an even more deadly peril. If we would preserve this movement we must not alone hold to the old fundamentals but we must preserve the old emphasis on what doctrines are to be taught. Truth is eternal and unchangeable, but our knowledge of truth cannot be static. It must grow to live. But clearer light never denies former light; it makes earlier light shine brighter all the while. FSG 186.9

It should be stated that it is clearer light on the Bible we are considering, not clearer light in the Spirit of prophecy writings. The Bible alone is the foundation; the Testimonies are a help to understand the Bible. Through the years we have seen many studies or manuscripts pretending to have new light on such topics as the close of probation or Armageddon. But they consisted almost wholly of detached sentences from here and there in the messages sent us from heaven, and these statements were pieced together in such a manner as to sustain some pet fancy of the writer. In certain cases the manuscript was really a rewriting of the last few chapters of The Great Controversy—written, however, not as the Lord gave it to us but as someone seems to think those chapters should have been written. Such writings only confuse. It is safer for our members to read these chapters as the Lord has given them. The revelations from the Lord are not to be torn apart and reset and put together as may suit somebody’s fervid fancy. FSG 187.1

As for Armageddon, the bound volumes of the Spirit of prophecy writings mention it but once, and only say that “the battle of Armageddon is soon to be fought.”—Testimonies for the Church 6:406. According to this statement, instead of beginning in heaven many thousands of years ago, when Satan revolted, Armageddon is spoken of by Mrs. White as still future; and instead of the battle ending after the thousand years outside the New Jerusalem, it was “soon” to be fought. The Adventist position on Armageddon as both a political and a spiritual conflict has been clearly stated in our many books, and never stood out clearer than it does today, when the nations are really on the march toward that momentous event. In the unpublished works of Mrs. White there are two other statements about Armageddon, as follows: FSG 187.2

“Four mighty angels hold back the powers of this earth till the servants of God are scaled in their foreheads. The nations of the world are eager for conflict; but they are held in check by the angels. When this restraining power is removed, there will come a time of trouble and anguish. Deadly instruments of warfare will be invented. Vessels, with their living cargo, will be entombed in the great deep. All who have not the spirit of truth will unite under the leadership of Satanic agencies. But they are to be kept under control till the time shall come for the great battle of Armageddon. FSG 188.1

“Angels are belting the world, refusing Satan his claim to supremacy, made because of the vast multitude of his adherents. We hear not the voices, we see not with the natural sight the work of these angels, but their hands are linked about the world, and with sleepless vigilance they are keeping the armies of Satan at bay till the sealing of God’s people shall be accomplished.”—E. G. White, Letter 79, 1900. FSG 188.2

“We need to study the pouring out of the seventh vial. The powers of evil will not yield up the conflict without a struggle. But Providence has a part to act in the battle of Armageddon. When the earth is lighted with the glory of the angel of Revelation eighteen, the religious elements, good and evil, will awake from slumber, and the armies of the living God will take the field.”—MS. 175, 1899. FSG 188.3

The quotations just given teach exactly what James White wrote in the Review years ago and what we have taught right along. In the middle nineties a few claimed new light on the close of probation and kindred topics, including the sixth plague. They boasted of new light, and made a bit of a stir, as one even claimed the prophetic gift, but the whole matter ended in disaster and shame. When the servant of the Lord was in Europe, she frequently warned against following and teaching what she repeatedly called vagaries instead of the true advent message as held by the pioneers of our church. She also deplored and strongly reproved some who in their pride wanted to appear original, as she said, and think up something new. These counsels and cautions given overseas in the eighties are needed by us in America today. FSG 188.4

When we study the events of the coming conflicts, we must, beware of building on foundations of sand—that is, on our own reasoning or imagination. The Spirit of prophecy warns us against accepting fine-spun presentations that “unsettle minds in the truth by entering into speculative theories.” FSG 189.1

When the servant of God was so brief and cautious in her reference to Armageddon or similar topics, it is not for us to build up any long theory as if it were facts or fundamentals founded on her writings. The early founders of the advent church loved to quote, “The secret things belong unto the Lord our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever.” Deuteronomy 29:29. FSG 189.2

The keynote in the Spirit of prophecy urge to Bible study is that we give most earnest consideration to those teachings of the Scriptures which directly affect our eternal salvation. Subjects like justification by faith, conversion, prayer, genuine sanctification and overcoming grace, preparation for the judgment, are always made prominent. That is why we read so much about the heavenly sanctuary, the second advent, the past experiences of Bible characters, the church, and the home. It is practical and applied Christianity that is explained and enforced. Again and again we find precious gems of thought as to what it is to be a living Christian. This was the primary purpose for which the messages from the Lord were given. FSG 189.3

It is important to notice that while the messenger of the Lord continually urged Adventists to more Bible study and to search for clearer and clearer light, she never indulged in idle controversies and did not want her writings used in such conflicts. Years ago some began to teach another view concerning the meaning of the term the daily, of the book of Daniel. This teaching differed from the one formerly held, and it brought not a little discussion. For a time it really looked as if Adventists in England and Europe would hold one view and Adventists in America another, and some on both sides of the discussion quoted Testimonies to prove their ideas. But then came a message from the servant of the Lord, from which we quote the following: FSG 189.4

“Sanitarium, California, July 31, 1910. FSG 190.1

“I have words to speak to my brethren east and west, north and south. I request that my writings shall not be used as the leading argument to settle questions over which there is now so much controversy. I entreat of Elders Haskell, Loughborough, Smith, and others of our leading brethren, that they make no reference to my writings to sustain their views of ‘the daily.’ FSG 190.2

“It has been presented to me that this is not a subject of vital importance. I am instructed that our brethren are making a mistake in magnifying the importance of the difference in the views that are held. I can not consent that any of my writings shall be taken as settling this matter. The true meaning of ‘the daily’ is not to be made a test question. FSG 190.3

“I now ask that my ministering brethren shall not make use of my writings in their arguments regarding this question; for I have had no instruction on the point under discussion, and I see no need for the controversy. Regarding this matter, under present conditions, silence is eloquence. FSG 190.4

“The enemy of our work is pleased when a subject of minor importance can be used to divert the minds of our brethren from the great questions that should be the burden of our message. As this is not a test question, I entreat my brethren that they shall not allow the enemy to triumph by having it treated as such.”—MS. 11, 1910. FSG 190.5

The fruitage of that instruction was most helpful. This message from the servant of God has been like a guiding star to the advent church. Every teacher in our schools and every minister or even member should be a faithful Bible student. To study is to think; to think often means to differ, since we are different in both background and mental mold. Every teacher, too, and every preacher has a right if not a duty to formulate his study into a written lesson or sermon. He also has a duty, or at least a right, to send such outlines of thought to a few responsible men for counsel. But no teacher, editor, minister, or member has the privilege of making such studies public to his class, his congregation, his readers, unless he knows that these studies are in full harmony with the teachings of the Adventist Church, and, further, that the time for making them public is timely. This is the only way we can hold together and follow the light given us of the Lord. FSG 190.6

We are never heresy hunters. We urge every man to study and pray for himself. We are glad when younger men come with what they call new thoughts or light. We believe in talking these over freely and counseling as to what should and what should not be taught as the doctrines of the church. FSG 191.1

Adventists do not believe in so-called “academic freedom” for their schools, nor in a similar freedom for other workers. We hold that it is only a matter of common honesty that every paid denominational employee of the church teach the faith of the church and not his own pet ideas. This applies to every editor, teacher, minister, and all workers for the church. FSG 191.2

The Christian world today abounds with foolish prediction and speculative exposition of prophecy. Books and pamphlets almost without number claiming to be based on Bible prophecies tell about a “coming antichrist” of the “tribe of Dan” and about the future of the Jews and the reign of Christ over them in Palestine, and so on and on. Some writers evidently make money on extravagant guessing. There is nothing of all this in the writings of the Spirit of prophecy; in fact, many Bible prophecies are not dealt with at all. Topics which have interested many are entirely omitted. For instance, these writings never enumerate the ten kingdoms of Daniel and Revelation. They say almost nothing about Revelation 17, and are entirely silent about the seven heads or seven mountains, the king of the north, and Gog and Magog. They never dogmatize about the details of unfulfilled Bible predictions. While they speak hopefully and helpfully about the trials and victories and final deliverance of the faithful in the time of trouble ahead, they do not stake out these tribulations in chronological order. There is a purpose in this. FSG 191.3

Some have taken the last chapters in The Great Controversy and similar statements elsewhere and made charts of how and when these experiences would come. They have speculated and imagined about the sequence of these future events, and have done great harm by their idle vagaries. Whatever else they may have of ability to guess or to teach, they certainly do not have the gift to explain the messages of the Lord. Indeed, these messages are not to be explained they are themselves an explanation of what God has revealed in His Word. Explanations of explanations are usually of the kind that “darkened counsel by words without knowledge.” Job 38:2. But all this solemn and appealing instruction in regard to the trial and triumph of God’s children in the days to come, has been and is of untold value to the remnant church—and no doubt it will mean even more in the years ahead, especially during the very last days, after the close of probation. FSG 192.1

The manner in which the messenger of the Lord through the Spirit of prophecy has caused the truth of God to shine forth in brighter rays is well seen when we study the clearer light on the fourth commandment. The Sabbath truth came to us in a human way from the Seventh Day Baptists. Captain Bates was the first to teach it, but our light on the sanctuary and on the prophecies of Revelation 13 gave an importance to the Sabbath that we had not had before. Our people had established in articles and pamphlets that every one of the Ten Commandments is a moral commandment and in no sense ceremonial. They had proved that the Ten Commandments were unchangeable, being a revelation of the character of God. They could easily overthrow such foolish ideas as the no-law theory or the round-earth and date-line sophistries. They had also taken a decided and logical stand concerning the change of the Sabbath by the papal church. But some in the beginning did not know when the Sabbath commenced. They were inclined to think that it was from midnight to midnight or from Friday at 6 PM until Saturday, at 6 PM. But as they studied the Bible further it became clear to them that the Sabbath of the Bible was to be kept from sunset to sunset. This conviction was strengthened with them when the Lord revealed to His messenger that the Sabbath began at “even” and that the expression “From even unto even, shall ye celebrate your Sabbath” (Leviticus 23:32) meant from sunset to sunset. In the beginning there was strong opposition to this view, as there has been since, but in time all our members came to see that this practice was in harmony with the Bible. FSG 192.2

However, it was not so much on minor matters concerning the Sabbath that new light came as on the great fundamentals of what true Sabbath keeping is. This was an important question. Some were inclined to think that we should keep the Sabbath as Protestants kept Sunday or as the Catholics taught Sunday observance. It was easy in Europe, as it was here, to convince the people that the seventh day was the day of the Lord and should be observed, but the manner of true Sabbath keeping was a new idea and hard to accept. When Mrs. White met with our people overseas, she gave them clear light on what true Sabbath observance at home and in business really meant. FSG 193.1

“While some have been urging their man-made tests upon the people, the claims of the fourth commandment have been held very lightly. We knew that the blessing of God could not rest upon this church until there was a reformation upon this important point. Those who stand in responsible positions should be careful that their words and example are such as will lead the people to correct views and practices. They should be sure that in no way they belittle the requirements of God. Because the fourth commandment is so widely disregarded, we should be the more earnest and decided in seeking to honor this precept of God’s holy law. The third angel’s message is that which we are to present to the world. Here God has a test for us, and if we come up to the standard, we shall be a peculiar people. Whoever obeys the fourth commandment will find that a separating line is drawn between him and the world. The Sabbath is a test, not a human requirement, but God’s test. It is that which will distinguish between those who serve God and those who serve Him not; and upon this point will come the last great conflict of the controversy between truth and error. FSG 193.2

“Among our people generally in these kingdoms, the Sabbath has not stood in the exalted position where God has placed it. The world is the instrument that sifts the church, and tests the genuineness of its members. The world holds out inducements, that, when accepted, place the believer where his life is not in harmony with his profession. Some of our brethren engaged in business have not kept the Sabbath according to the commandment. Some have been in partnership with unbelievers, and the influence of these Sabbath breaking associates has had its effect upon them. Some have been so blinded that they could not discern the danger in such connections, but it is only the greater because unperceived. While one partner is professedly observing the Sabbath, the other, with the laborers employed, is carrying on the business of the firm. The Sabbath-keeper, though not outwardly engaged in labor, cannot keep his thoughts from business matters. While he may endeavor to keep the Sabbath, he does not keep it. The Lord looks upon him as a transgressor. FSG 194.1

“Even in business relations we cannot, without involving principle, connect ourselves with those who are not loyal to God. What the one party feels that conscience forbids, the other allows. And this not merely in regard to religious matters, but in business transactions. The one acts from selfish motives, regardless of God’s law or the salvation of the soul; and if the other sincerely loves God and the truth, there must be either a sacrifice of principle or frequent and painful differences. It will require a continual struggle to resist the worldly influence and example of his ungodly associate. He has great difficulties to meet; for he has placed himself on the enemy’s ground. The only safe course is to give heed to the inspired injunction: ‘Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers; for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?’ ‘Come out from among them, and be ye separate, said the Lord, and touch not the unclean; and I will receive you.’”—Historical Sketches of the Foreign Missions of the Seventh-day Adventists, 215, 216. FSG 194.2

One other very difficult question in regard to the Sabbath was whether to have children attend school on that day. Concerning this there was a difference of opinion, but the servant of the Lord gave definite instruction to our people on that matter. FSG 195.1

“Some of our people have sent their children to school on the Sabbath.... Some parents have tried to justify their course by quoting the words of Christ, that it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath day. But the same reasoning would prove that men may labor on the Sabbath because they must earn bread for their children; and there is no limit, no boundary line, to show what should and what should not be done. FSG 195.2

“Had these dear brethren possessed greater spirituality, had they realized the binding claim of God’s law as every one of us should, they would have known their duty, and would not have been walking in darkness. It was very hard for them to see how they could take any other course. But God does not consult our convenience in regard to His commandments. He expects us to obey them, and to teach them to our children.... FSG 195.3

“Our brethren cannot expect the approval of God while they place their children where it is impossible for them to obey the fourth commandment. They should endeavor to make some arrangement with the authorities whereby the children shall be excused from attendance at school upon the seventh day. If this fails, then their duty is plain, to obey God’s requirements at whatever cost.... FSG 195.4

“Some will urge that the Lord is not so particular in His requirements; that it is not their duty to keep the Sabbath strictly at so great loss, or to place themselves where they will be brought in conflict with the laws of the land. But here is just where the test is coming, whether we will honor the law of God above the requirements of men. This is what will distinguish between those who honor God and those who dishonor Him. Here is where we are to prove our loyalty. The history of God’s dealings with His people in all ages shows that He demands exact obedience.”—Historical Sketches of the Foreign Missions of the Seventh-day Adventists, 216, 217. FSG 195.5

Now we might be inclined to say that this instruction is only needed by our believers overseas, especially in Catholic lands, but has no value for us in the United States. However, when we see how certain forces are working today in America and when we remember that the Testimonies declare that someday provision will be made to propagate papal errors by our own government (Testimonies for the Church 5:451), the thing looks quite different. FSG 196.1

Some years later, first in Europe and after that in other countries, came a great test concerning Sunday laws. Some extreme leaders taught that it was our duty to work every Sunday and that to refrain from our common work on Sunday was to receive the mark of the beast. Others denied this, but not a few were inclined to state, as we find in their writings: FSG 196.2

“The keeping of Sunday is therefore a direct violation of the fourth commandment, the day itself being a rival of the Sabbath of the Lord, brought into the church when the pagan element gained control of it in the third and fourth centuries.... To recognize Sunday as in any way whatever different from other working days, by ceasing a portion of our work on that day, we may not do, since it would be sin against God.”—The General Conference Bulletin, 255, 1895. FSG 196.3

There was not a little confusion, as some took a hotheaded, decided stand on both sides. But our more thoughtful leaders began to study the subject of persecution in the light of both the Bible and the Testimonies. They discovered that the Savior’s instruction was that when “they persecute you in this city” then you should not always stand up and fight against it but “flee ye into another.” Matthew 10:23. They also found that the Spirit of prophecy warns us not “to invite persecution.” FSG 196.4

About this time, too, many of our brethren began to study anew the question of what was really meant by the expression “six days shall thou labor, and do all thy work” and some felt that they would obey the commandment if they spent part of those six days at least in missionary work, and thus not violate the national Sunday laws. I remember well how many studied this question with fasting and prayer, eager to do God’s will. Concerning this, too, the Spirit of prophecy gave light, which has been a marvelous help to our people in many lands. On August 17, 1902, the servant of the Lord wrote: FSG 196.5

“The light given me by the Lord at a time when we were expecting just such a crisis as you seem to be approaching, was, that when the people were moved by a power from beneath to enforce Sunday observance, Seventh-day Adventists were to show their wisdom by refraining from their ordinary work on that day, devoting it to missionary effort. FSG 197.1

“To defy the Sunday laws will but strengthen in their persecution the religious zealots who are seeking to enforce them. Give them no occasion to call you lawbreakers. If they are left to rein up men who fear neither God nor man, the reining up will soon lose its novelty for them, and they will see that it is not consistent nor convenient for them to be strict in regard to the observance of Sunday. One does not receive the mark of the beast because he shows that he realizes the wisdom of keeping the peace by refraining from work that gives offense, doing at the same time a work of the highest importance.”—Testimonies for the Church 9:232. FSG 197.2

Few today can realize what a blessing this instruction through the Spirit of prophecy was to our work and people, especially in Europe. FSG 197.3