Predictions Fulfilled and Fulfilling

How shall we test the claim of an individual to the prophetic gift? The word of God itself tells us how we may distinguish the true from the false.AGP 278.1

“If thou say in thine heart, How shall we know the word which the Lord hath not spoken? When a prophet speaketh in the name of the Lord, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the Lord hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him.” Deuteronomy 18:21, 22.AGP 278.2

Not all the utterances of a prophet are predictive. But when one arises assuming to have the gift of prophecy and, in the name of the Lord, depicts future events or conditions, then the failure of such a prediction is sufficient to indicate that he has spoken falsely.AGP 278.3

As already set forth, in Mrs. White’s first vision she saw briefly the experiences of the advent people on to the time when they should enter the city of God. That view was later repeated and given with added details. Fifty years and more ago she brought out a book entitled “The Great Controversy Between Christ and Satan.” In this are portrayed such vivid pictures of the present, and such predictions of future conditions in the world, that, with no alteration of its fundamental teachings, it is still circulated widely today. It grips the hearts of the readers with a conviction that leads many of them to seek for such a preparation of heart as will fit them for their soon-coming Lord.AGP 278.4

Considering the tremendous changes—political, social, and religious—that have come over our world during the last half century, what human mind unilluminated by the Spirit of God, could have penned fifty years ago hundreds of pages of detailed and accurate description of future conditions? The first views given Mrs. White regarding the future of spiritism were given at a time when only a few outside of Rochester, New York, hadAGP 278.5

even heard of the mysterious knockings that marked the rise of modern spiritism.AGP 279.1

The almost universal departure of the churches from the fundamentals of Christianity, as seen today, seemed almost incredible when it was first foretold by Mrs. White in “The Great Controversy.” In this volume is to be found a convincing portrayal of the very final acts in earth’s drama,—the mighty triumph of the gospel message, the close of probation, the time of trouble, the last great conflict of God’s people with the hosts of darkness, and their final deliverance. All this is in harmony with momentous statements of Scripture, yet given in the detail needed by those who must pass through these experiences.AGP 279.2

The diligent and candid reader of Mrs. White’s predictive writings must admit that they pass the test of having been fulfilled, or of being in process of fulfillment.AGP 279.3