Chapter 1 — The Gift of Prophecy

THREE DIFFERENT TERMS in the New Testament stand for the same thing. They are “the gift of prophecy,” “the Spirit of prophecy,” and “the testimony of Jesus.” (1 Corinthians 13:2; Revelation 19:10.) This is not merely a personal opinion. The Word of God says plainly that “the testimony of Jesus is the Spirit of prophecy,” or the gift of divine revelations and visions. When we use the Bible expression church as denoting all the redeemed of God in every age and in all lands, “the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven” (Hebrews 12:23), then that church as the body of Christ is invisible and known only to the Lord. But when we think of that other use of the word church, as the visible body of true believers in any age, then that church is the organization of converted people who have the clearest light on the Bible and who proclaim God’s special message for that age. The Lord has always had such a visible church as His witness. The Bible term remnant—meaning those that remain at the last end—when applied to the church as “the remnant of her seed” (Revelation 12:17), means the visible church of Christ at His second coming. We need at this time to give earnest thought to the exalted position and heavenly call and nature of the church of Christ.FSG 9.1

His ideal for His church must be our ideal. The church is the only agency appointed by the Lord to save the lost. This is her special work, and only as she does this work will she fulfill her divine mission. The church of the Lord, small, despised, and weak as men think of her, is the strongest power on earth. If she stands true to her heavenly loyalty, the “forces of the enemy will be no more able to overcome her than is the chaff to resist the whirlwind.” In these unsettled times Christ calls His church to the greatest work she has ever done, and for that reason she faces now “the dawn of a bright, glorious day.”FSG 10.1

But men are constantly trying to divert the church from her God-appointed task. They want her to join the world and work for them. Politicians, capitalists, labor leaders, and even ecclesiastical officials look to the church for assistance. Right after the first World War, a book was published by a prominent state-church bishop in Europe, entitled The Twentieth Century, the Century of the Church. The author stated that we had had an age of democracy and were coming into an age of totalitarianism, and that he believed the great factor in modern life for the future would prove to be church and religion. Shortly after this book was printed came the beginning of the ecumenical movement, the purpose of which is to gather all Christian bodies into one and make this united body a social power with world dominion to control mankind. At the Oxford Council of this movement in 1937 the motto adopted was “Let the Church Be the Church.” Though this slogan sounds good, it really means that the work of the church is to be recognized and enlarged to include social, economic, and many other modern activities.FSG 10.2

The church of the New Testament, however, has a different commission, as well as another spirit and objective. The primary and divine purpose of Christ’s church is not to reform society but to save sinners. We are happy to say that the true church of Jesus does render an essential service to society and the state. It builds up morality. It strengthens character. In other words, it makes good people, out of whom the state can make good citizens. When high-minded statesmen recognize this and appeal for it, they do well. But there are certain activities now carried on by some churches in which Christ never intended His church to engage. The Bible does not state that the mission of the church is race betterment or reformation of the world. Christ did not urge His followers to seek influence in worldly affairs, to take part in politics. The work of the church is not to rule the world, not even to guide the world, but to warn the world. The members of the church are in the world, but they are not of the world.FSG 10.3

The Christian church is ordained to teach the gospel as the power of God unto salvation. It should possess light and power to save the lost, to keep them from error and sin, and to prepare them for heaven. To do this great work, God has placed His Holy Spirit in the church. Without holy endowments the church would be both poverty stricken and crippled, and it would certainly fail to do the work to which the Lord called it. The Holy Spirit, the third Person of the Godhead, is Christ’s representative among men. The Spirit dwells in the church, and would use and empower the church to do its divinely appointed work.FSG 11.1

The supreme need of every child of God and every group of believers is the presence and power of the Holy Spirit. Logic, knowledge, and eloquence, without a tender spiritual appeal born of the Holy Ghost within, can never lead a soul to Christ. The measure of a preacher or of a church is neither money nor majorities but spiritual gifts and vigor. It was this fact which led the Savior before His ascension to promise us “another Comforter,” the Holy Spirit, as His personal vicegerent in His church.FSG 11.2

God did not send His church this divine fullness of grace and power without some very distinct purposes, and these designs are explicitly stated in the Scriptures. The office of the Holy Spirit is to reprove men of sin (John 16:8); to take away the carnal mind, and to change our evil nature by removing guilt from the conscience; to make us new creatures (Romans 8:1); to shed abroad in our hearts the love of God (Romans 5:5); to bear witness with our spirits that we are the children of God (Romans 8:16); to lead into all truth (John 16:13); and finally to change the saints to i the last day (Romans 8:11).FSG 12.1

Some will admit the preceding statements, but they consider the Holy Spirit simply an influence, not in any specific manifestation or gift. That, however, is not the teaching of the Scriptures. The Bible speaks of distinct spiritual gifts, such as prophecy, healing, and tongues.FSG 12.2

In Paul’s first epistle to the Corinthians complete instruction is given regarding the form, faith, discipline, and order of the church. The apostle, however, devoted more time to presenting the plan, place, and purpose of the manifestations of the Spirit. He states distinctly that he does not want the brethren to be ignorant concerning spiritual gifts (1 Corinthians 12:1), and then he goes on to enumerate at least ten of these heavenly graces. Churches today have an abundance of rules and goals, and these things are not to be despised, but they can never take the place of the divine gifts.FSG 12.3

There are those in our day who claim that the spiritual gifts of the New Testament church were bestowed only for the apostolic age, but the Bible expressly teaches that the existence of these gifts is as necessary to the church as are the different members to the well-being of the body. The gifts do not supersede the Bible, nor were they given to do the work of the Bible. The Scriptures contain the truth of God, and the Spirit leads us to find the way of life as we search the Bible. But it should be plain that God, in giving us the Scriptures, did not give them for the purpose of shutting Himself off from all participation in the work of God among men. The promise of the Spirit is that He will abide with us forever. The gifts of the Spirit are needed, and will continue with the church to the end of time.FSG 12.4

God has a particular object in placing these spiritual gifts in the church. They are to preserve His people from fanaticism and error and to correct wrongs and expose sin. Through the Bible the Lord uses these gifts as means by which He teaches His people when they are in danger of taking a wrong step. By them the Spirit of God sheds light upon church difficulties and helps to adjust things that otherwise would be impossible. The spiritual gifts cause light to shine out upon His people when they are in danger of going astray. The Spirit brings in unity and preserves God’s children from strife and division. In one word, we may say the purpose of the spiritual gifts is to keep the people of God in the faith so that they may be of one mind and one judgment concerning the Scriptures. Human discernment alone cannot search out hidden iniquity or adjust dark and complicated situations or preserve from error. Many churches have adopted creeds to help them preserve the faith. God’s plan is that, instead of a creed, the church should have the divine gifts, especially the gift of prophecy, and thus prevent this conflicting interpretation of the Scriptures. It would be sad indeed if God could not at this late and dangerous day converse with His people.FSG 13.1

To the foregoing, however, we would add that the gifts of the Spirit belong primarily to the household of faith. Seventh day Adventists claim to have the gifts of the Spirit in their church, especially the Spirit of prophecy. But we recognize that God’s children should not test the world in any manner by demanding a belief in spiritual gifts. Nor do we in our intercourse with various religious parties who are striving to walk in the Spirit of God make these gifts a test of Christian character. We do not urge upon nonmembers an acceptance of these manifestations of the Spirit of God, nor do we test them by their teachings.FSG 13.2