Practical Reasons

A more practical reason I believe in the Spirit of Prophecy is that I grew up in a home that held the Spirit of Prophecy in great respect. My father always spoke so positively and passionately about it. My mother gave such unflinching loyalty to God’s Word and the Spirit of Prophecy. I never heard a scornful word or a disparaging remark from my parents about the Bible or the Spirit of Prophecy. My wonderful wife, Nancy, grew up in a home with the same positive attitude. She loves to daily read the Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy, as do I. It has a tremendous influence in our home. I advanced from the early trust instilled in my heart by my parents to my own personal deep appreciation for the counsel, direction, and clarification in the Spirit of Prophecy. Parents, instill in your children a love for and confidence in God’s Holy Word and the Spirit of Prophecy. As I read the Spirit of Prophecy I accept that it is inspired by God because it is the testimony of Jesus.GOP 422.2

Let me share with you another practical reason I believe in the Spirit of Prophecy. About 1870 William immigrated to the United States from Ireland. He was of Scottish and Presbyterian background. He and his wife, Isabella, also from Ireland, lived for some time in Philadelphia, where he worked as an engineer building locomotives, and finally headed out west to the “big tree” area of northern California to do logging. He settled down in the area north of Healdsburg, becoming a fruit and cattle rancher and running a country store. He was not necessarily a highly religious person up to this time. Eventually William and Isabella had four sons. Isabella became a Seventh-day Adventist, but William did not. In 1905 some tents were erected north of the Russian River near Healdsburg for a Seventh-day Adventist camp meeting. Isabella went to the camp meeting even though William had initially thought the circus had come to town. Isabella invited her husband to come to the camp meeting. As William was sitting under the tent, the speaker began to unfold the wonderful truth about Jesus, sharing the need of all sinners to have a Savior and allow Him to change their lives. The speaker made an earnest appeal and, much to the surprise of Isabella, William stood up and went to the front, giving his heart to the Lord. He studied this precious Advent message for a year. He closed his store on Sabbath and trusted God for the future. He was baptized, joining this remnant church, and later became the first elder of the Healdsburg Seventh-day Adventist Church, the forerunner location of Pacific Union College. Christ changed his life, and he became known as a generous man helping people in need. William and Isabella Wilson were my great-grandparents, and the speaker who preached so earnestly about Jesus at that camp meeting was Ellen G. White. She had purchased property in Healdsburg after James White died. My grandfather remembered Ellen White coming to their ranch home when he was a boy and how she lovingly told stories to him and his brothers as they sat at her feet. The Wilson family owes its knowledge of this precious Advent message to the direct practical and prophetic evangelistic activity of Ellen White. As a result, the Spirit of Prophecy takes on an even more personal value and is another reason I believe in the Spirit of Prophecy.GOP 422.3

What has the Spirit of Prophecy done for me personally? It has pointed me to Christ and His plan of salvation. It has pointed me back to the Bible. It has amplified many aspects of Scripture. It has given me a strong belief in the leading of God in the lives of those who commit themselves into His hands as I have observed the work of our church’s pioneers. It has given me new insight to Christian living. It has drawn me closer to Christ. It has provided incredible understanding of how to accomplish our mission entrusted to us by the very One who inspired the Spirit of Prophecy. For instance, it has given me an unusual burden for Revival and Reformation, for Mission to the Cities, for comprehensive health ministry, for Christ and His righteousness, for faithfulness to God, for Total Member Involvement, of which you will hear much more, for the use of publications and media in our evangelistic outreach, for an understanding of prophecy, for the sanctuary service, for the work of departments, and on and on. It points us back to Christ and His work for us on the cross and His soon second coming. You read the Spirit of Prophecy, and you will be positively changed forever as it points us back to Christ, His ministry and His work for us in preparing a world through the Holy Spirit’s leading for the new world to come after the Lord’s return. The Spirit of Prophecy has given me an inexhaustible resource for implementing heaven’s plans for the Advent movement.GOP 423.1

When I think about the Spirit of Prophecy, I just am thrilled with happiness that God would provide us with so much information to accomplish His will in our lives personally and for His church’s mission to the world. For me personally, I am so excited to have the written Word of God and the Spirit of Prophecy. There are no better sources of clear, understandable instruction from God—these two heavenly sources of God’s instruction have given me a very settled confidence in God Himself and His plans for you and me. What a wonderful God we serve! I praise Him for the Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy. I am so happy to be a Seventh-day Adventist and rely completely on Christ and His righteousness, which the Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy explain so fully.GOP 423.2

I personally believe and attest that the writings of the Spirit of Prophecy are believable and true because Ellen G. White and her prophetic ministry pass the four tests of a prophet. 1. Her writings agree with the Bible, fulfilling Isaiah 8:20—“To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.” 2. Her life and works testify of her connection with God, fulfilling Matthew 7:20—“Therefore by their fruits you will know them.” 3. Her prophecies have come to pass, fulfilling Jeremiah 28:9—“As for the prophet who prophesies of peace, when the word of the prophet comes to pass, the prophet will be known as one whom the Lord has truly sent.” 4. Her writings lift up Christ and affirm Him as the Son of God, who came to this earth to save us, fulfilling 1 John 4:2—“By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God.” In addition, her life and work is verified by physical manifestations during visions, the timeliness of her work at the end of time, the certainty and fearlessness of her pronouncements, the high spiritual plane of her work and the practical nature of her explanations about multiple aspects of the Christian life.GOP 423.3

It is our happy responsibility to nurture and foster the belief in and the active use of the Spirit of Prophecy. God asks us to help people believe in the prophetic gift of the Spirit of Prophecy. Do not get discouraged by anyone deriding or mocking your belief in the inspiration of the Bible or the Spirit of Prophecy. We are nearing that glorious day of Jesus’ return, and He calls us to stand for Him.GOP 424.1

“Believe in the Lord your God, and you shall be established; believe His prophets, and you shall prosper” (2 Chron. 20:20).GOP 424.2

At this special symposium I appeal to each of us and the world church membership to commit ourselves completely to the proclamation of the Advent message in the context of the three angels’ messages as we point people to Christ, to His righteousness, to the true worship of God, and to an understanding that God’s last-day church is identified in Revelation 12:17—people who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus, which is the Spirit of Prophecy.GOP 424.3

Our Redeemer will see us through to the end because He is the origin of all truth. He is the Truth and the Word. He is the Spirit of Prophecy. He is the Coming King.GOP 424.4

One day soon we will look up and see in the eastern sky a small cloud about half the size of a man’s hand. That cloud will get larger and larger and brighter and brighter. Soon it will fill the whole sky—all of heaven poured out for this climactic event of earth’s history. And there, seated in the center of the cloud of angels with a rainbow above and lightning beneath, will be Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.GOP 424.5

We will look up and say, “This is the God whom we have waited for: He will save us.” And Christ will look down and say, “Well done, good and faithful servants—defenders and proclaimers of my precious Word and the Spirit of Prophecy—enter into the joy of your Lord.” What a wonderful time that will be.GOP 424.6

As part of God’s called people, those who keep His commandments and have the testimony of Jesus, will you join me in committing yourself, through God’s grace and power, to walk with Christ daily, to spend time in His Word, to utilize the power of prayer, to believe His prophets and be enriched by a daily reading of the Spirit of Prophecy as you proclaim this Advent message? If you accept that challenge, would you stand to your feet with me right now?GOP 424.7