The Spirit of Prophecy
By Amy Pavlovik
In 1844, God raised up a movement for a special purpose.
They were given a responsibility unlike any other movement in the history of
His church. One, they were to come up to every point of God’s instruction by
obedience. Thus they were to perfectly reflect the character of Jesus. When
this would happen, Jesus could then come to claim them as His own. They would
have demonstrated that Jesus does
have the power to keep His people from sinning and that we can, by His
grace, live a holy life in the midst of a sinful world.
They would have disproved Satan’s great lie that God’s Law is unfair and cannot
be kept. How would they have disproved it? Through the power of God, they would
have kept that Holy Law, including the fourth commandment, and thus have been a
living proof of the fact that God can enable His people to live a life of
obedience to the Law. We are told, “Christ is waiting with longing desire for
the manifestation of Himself in His church. When the character of Christ shall
be perfectly reproduced in His people, then He will come to claim them as His
own.”
This was the first mission of the Seventh-day Adventist movement—to manifest Christ’s character perfectly. Their second mission was to take the everlasting gospel—the Three Angels’ Messages—to the world. This could only be accomplished, however, in harmony with the first mission. If God’s people lost their earnestness for developing a perfect character of obedience to God’s requirements, they would be ineffective in leading others to accept God’s message. If, however, they fully surrendered their lives to Jesus, and prayerfully, earnestly strove to carry out all of His teachings, they would be a mighty power in the earth, the head and not the tail. They would be a peculiar people—unmistakably marked as God’s own.
God’s plan
was for this movement to pattern after the early Christian church that was
established in the days of the apostles. Christianity had to a great extent
become formal and worldly. False doctrines, adopted from paganism, were all
throughout the Christian churches. Thus, God called His movement out of these churches,
out of
In the
early church, spiritual gifts were very important. They included the gift of
prophecy. Paul wrote to the church in
First Corinthians 12:28 says, “And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues.”
Should not God’s last-day church also have the gift of prophecy manifested within it? It certainly should, for Joel 2:28 prophesies of the last days: “And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions.”
When God established the Seventh-day Adventist movement, and made them the custodians of His Law, calling them to live in obedience to it and proclaim it to the world, He also placed a prophet in this movement. We believe that this prophet was Sister Ellen G. White.
Why would this movement need a prophet? Does not the Bible give enough information that anyone can be saved with it alone? Yes, it does. God did not raise up a prophet to present new truth, but rather to direct our attention to, and clarify, the already-revealed truth.
On this point Sister White says, “The written testimonies are not to give new light, but to impress vividly upon the heart the truths of inspiration already revealed…. Additional truth is not brought out; but God has through the Testimonies simplified the great truths already given and in His own chosen way brought them before the people to awaken and impress the mind with them, that all may be left without excuse.” 5T 665
There is another reason why the Spirit of Prophecy was given. “The word of God is sufficient to enlighten the most beclouded mind and may be understood by those who have any desire to understand it. But notwithstanding all this, some who profess to make the word of God their study are found living in direct opposition to its plainest teachings. Then, to leave men and women without excuse, God gives plain and pointed testimonies, bringing them back to the word that they have neglected to follow. Yet those who serve their own lusts turn from all this light….” 2T 454, 455
The gift of prophecy was given because some who profess to be God’s followers are living in direct opposition to the Bible’s plainest teachings. What strong words! But we must not soften them. They were not living partially out of harmony with a few minor Biblical points. No, they were living in direct opposition to the Bible’s plainest teachings. For this reason, God gave the Spirit of Prophecy to hopefully wake them up, so that they could be saved.
God is so merciful! He does not want anyone to be lost, and while He cannot save them in sin, He does all He can to warn and counsel them that they might turn from their sins.
A very special part of the Spirit of Prophecy writings is the nine volumes of the Testimonies. Sister White refers to these as having special importance.
“The volumes of Spirit of Prophecy, and also the Testimonies, should be introduced into every Sabbathkeeping family, and the brethren should know their value and be urged to read them….They should be in the library of every family and read again and again. Let them be kept where they can be read by many, and let them be worn out in being read by all the neighbors.” 4T 390
The Testimonies are
special messages for Seventh-day Adventists. They are much different from the Great Controversy, Desire of Ages, or Ministry
of Healing
in that they deal with specific cases such as our own. They
point out dangers we are facing personally and show us how we can find
victory
in our particular difficulties. They also give very specific
commands from God on
such practical topics as Sabbath-keeping, diet, health, dress,
missionary work, reading material, associations with others, and family
matters. These books are to be in every Sabbath-keeping family,
and to
be read again and again. Let us never underestimate their importance.
God has given us the Spirit of Prophecy in His great mercy. He wants you and me to be saved. He knew that in the last days we would be faced by many dangers and pitfalls that we might not easily see. Satan’s deceptions would be so well camouflaged that we could easily fall into them. We are living in the most dangerous time of earth’s history. The popular Christian churches are urging us to conform to their compromised gospel. The world is pressing conformity to its values and lifestyles into our very churches. God is giving us a message of warning in the Spirit of Prophecy. It is a message of mercy. We desperately need it.
Let us read some statements about the Spirit of Prophecy. Notice the words
“testimony” or “testimonies” in many of them. These terms do not always refer only to the nine volumes of
Testimonies. In the Bible, “the testimony of Jesus” is another name for “the spirit of prophecy.” You can read it in Revelation 19:10.
God has given us more light than any other generation. If He called the Israelites to be a holy and peculiar people, how much more has He called us to be so! God is instructing us through the Spirit of Prophecy about His will and what He wants us to do.
Yet there is something very, very strange revealed in the Spirit of Prophecy. Sister White, under the influence of the Holy Spirit, prophesied that some amazing things were going to take place in regard to the testimonies in the last days.
“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.” 1SM 48
“There will be a hatred kindled against the testimonies which is satanic. The workings of Satan will be to unsettle the faith of the churches in them, for this reason: Satan cannot have so clear a track to bring in his deceptions and bind up souls in his delusions if the warnings and reproofs and counsels of the Spirit of God are heeded.” 1SM 48
This is very concerning. Why would Satan have such terrible hatred against the testimonies? He must know that they contain messages which would save God’s people from the terrible deceptions he is trying to destroy them with. In fact, that is just what we read.
What is Satan’s very last deception? It is to make of none effect the testimony of the Spirit of God. Now, look closely here. How do you make something of none effect? Satan often makes the testimonies of none effect in subtle ways. One of his common weapons against the Spirit of Prophecy is this" He leads people to believe that the Spirit of Prophecy is out of date. “That was then, and this is now,” is the opinion of some. “That applied in Sister White’s day, but today, things are different.”
Yet Sister White says, “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…. If we study carefully the second chapter of Hebrews, we shall learn how important it is that we hold steadfastly to every principle of truth that has been given.” 1SM 41
“I have been shown that the principles that were given us in the early days of the message are as important and should be regarded just as conscientiously today as they were then.” 9T 158
Another way that Satan makes of none effect the Spirit of Prophecy is through the idea that it is basically good counsel, but is not really a command of God. It is not something we really have to take so seriously. Yet Sister White said that it was the voice of God speaking through the testimonies.
“In ancient times God spoke to men by the mouth of prophets and apostles. In these days He speaks to them by the testimonies of His Spirit. There was never a time when God instructed His people more earnestly than He instructs them now concerning His will and the course that He would have them pursue.” 5T 661
When God speaks, He is not giving optional counsel. Obedience to this counsel is the only way we can enter the heavenly city. Disobedience to this counsel will cost us our salvation.
If we are driving, and we see a road sign warning us of a sharp curve ahead, and counseling us to slow down, what shall we do? We can say, “That is only counsel. I do not really need to obey it." And we can speed up the car. But if we do that, an accident is likely to result, and we may even die as a result of disobeying that counsel. God’s counsel is just the same. He gives it to us because He knows we need it, and if we reject His counsel, which is given in love, we will not make it safely into heaven.
There are even some people today who would like to have us believe that God’s prophets, including Ellen White, made mistakes in the things that they wrote. But we must think about this carefully. Does God inspire His prophets to write things that are untrue? No!
The Bible clearly states that the prophets received their messages straight from Him. “Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.” 2 Peter 1:20, 21. The prophets received messages from God, and then they put them into words.
Sister White wrote, “The Holy Scriptures are to be accepted as an authoritative, infallible revelation of His will.” (Introduction to The Great Controversy, p. vii). Yes, God’s prophets have written truth, not error. Ellen White, like Daniel, Isaiah, or John, had the gift of prophecy. And we have seen that God inspires His prophets to write that which is truth.
1 John
Sister White wrote about her own work: “God is either teaching His church, reproving their wrongs and strengthening their faith, or He is not. This work is of God, or it is not. God does nothing in partnership with Satan. My work . . . bears the stamp of God or the stamp of the enemy. There is no halfway work in the matter. The Testimonies are of the Spirit of God, or of the devil.” 5T 671.
Either a prophet’s message is inspired of God, or it is not. Either it is true, or it is not. That is only logical. So if God was speaking through Sister White, then we need to take very good heed, because what she has written are not her personal ideas, but rather it is God’s message to us.
But there is another very dangerous way in which Satan makes of none effect the testimony of God’s Spirit. He leads people to neglect to read it. He is pleased when these books get dusty on the shelf, while other books, magazines, the internet, and the television are eagerly viewed. He leads people to think that these books are not so important for us, or that we probably know everything that is written in them anyway, and thus we do not need to read them.
We will look at a story from the
Bible which has immense significance in helping us understand how to relate to
the Spirit of Prophecy. The story takes place in the
In the days of King Josiah, Hilkiah
the high priest found that lost book of the law. It had been somewhere in the
temple all of that time. He gave it to Shaphan the scribe, who read it and then
brought it to King Josiah. The king was deeply impressed as he heard this
book read for the first time. He had not yet known how clearly God placed
before His people the choice between blessing and cursing, and how He called for them
to choose righteousness. The book said that God wanted
Josiah had worked hard to remove
the idols from
But was reform possible, when things had gotten so bad?
God answered Josiah through the
prophetess Huldah. God said that the evil in
This gave Josiah hope, and he "determined to do all in his power to bring about decided reforms." (PK 400) He called for a convocation, and invited the priests, Levites, elders, rulers, and people. And what did the king do at this convocation? He himself read "all the words of the book of the covenant which was found in the house of the Lord." 2 Kings 23:2. The people were greatly touched as they saw their king’s deep sorrow, and "...many determined to join with the king in seeking forgiveness." (PK 400)
Josiah suggested that the highest leaders should join with the people to make a solemn covenant before God. And what was this covenant? It was a promise "to co-operate with one another in an effort to institute decided changes." (PK 400)
"And the king stood by a pillar, and made a covenant before the Lord, to walk after the Lord, and to keep His commandments and His testimonies and His statutes with all their heart and all their soul, to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people stood to the covenant." 2 Kings 23:3.
A reformation took place. Josiah worked hard at destroying all of the idols still remaining, so that he could perform the words of that wonderful book. He destroyed the large images set up more than three hundred years ago by Solomon. He destroyed the priests of the groves. He also led the people in again keeping the Passover as commanded by God in the book of the Law.
The book of the law had been lost through carelessness and neglect. The inspired writings had not been read. Has the same happened to us? We have been given the testimonies, much as the people in Josiah’s day had been given the inspired writings of the book of the law. Have we lost them? Have we neglected to read them? Are we unsure of what is contained in them?
When Josiah found the book of the law, he took immediate action. He did not wait. The first thing that he did was to listen to them being read.
Second, he applied them to himself and his own people. He acknowledged that they had not been living in harmony with God’s merciful instruction.
Third, he repented. He did not merely say, “Lord, I am sorry. I will try to do better.” No, he tore his kingly robes in sorrow and bowed down before God.
Fourth, he presented the book’s teachings to his people. As a leader, he was accountable before God to inform the people of these long-hidden treasures of truth. He did not keep silent in the hour of crisis, but faithfully showed them the commands of God they had been breaking, and the results that would come if they persisted in transgression.
Fifth, he called for a decision on the part of the leaders and people. He did not leave them to go home and make their own choice about what they would do with what they had learned. He called them to unite in the work of reformation. More than that, he called them to make a covenant with God for obedience.
Sixth, he set a strong example by personally participating in the work of reformation. Josiah was there to see that the idols were broken down. He did not just ask the people to take care of it, then sit at home in his palace and have a relaxing day. He put himself into the task of reformation.
So much of the amazing message given to us by God through Sister White has been lost in the temple, just like the book of the law was. We have not really lost the books, but we have neglected them and their teachings, and that is the same thing.
Don’t we desire to do today as good King Josiah did? Don’t we desire to take the same steps he took in making the testimony of Jesus a part of our lives?
First, we must read the messages God has sent us.
Second, we must acknowledge that they apply to us personally, and that they point out ways that we have not been in harmony with God.
Then, third, we must repent of our failures and ask the Lord to mercifully help us. We can be assured that He loves to hear such prayers, and will always come to the help of anyone who prays them with a sincere heart. He will help us to come up to His high standard if we truly desire it.
Fourth, we need to share what we are learning with others. We need to encourage others to begin studying, and getting serious about preparing for Jesus’ soon coming. We also must not forget those for whom God has made us responsible. If we are parents, we are responsible for our children. Fathers, you are responsible as priests of your families. If we are teachers or church leaders, we are responsible for the people we are leading.
Fifth, we need to make a definite decision to obey what we are learning. And, like Josiah, we must extend the call for a definite decision to those whom God has given us to lead. We must lovingly teach them, helping them and cooperating with them in the work of reform and preparation.
Sixth, we must take an active part in the work of coming into harmony with God’s testimonies. We cannot sit back and tell others about the changes that they need to make, while we are not making those changes ourselves. Josiah got busy, and we must too. When we see something that God wants us to do differently, we need to make those changes with God’s help.
Jesus is ready to help and assist all who come to Him. When we realize our need and our failures, it might seem discouraging. Our families might be unhappy at first about the new way of life we desire to live. But we do not need to be discouraged, because God promises to give us all of the strength and help we need in the work of reform. We can do nothing without Him, but with Him, we can do all things.
God’s judgments were soon to fall
upon