Now that the 1988 Centennial year is over, will the 1888 issues die a natural death? Have we made right the Minneapolis wrong? Has our century-old famine at last given way to fullness of bread? It has often been said in the past that there has been no famine. Our forefathers accepted "the most precious message" and for a hundred years it has been enjoyed as a secure possession and powerfully proclaimed to the world. It has been a popular rich-and-increased- with-goods idea, nurturing denominational pride.1

However, considerable progress toward reality has marked the 1988 Centennial. Now the candid judgment is almost universally recognized that not only was the 1888 message the beginning of the latter rain and the loud cry, but that leadership were on the wrong side of the issues. This about-face is a phenomenal development in Seventh-day Adventist history.2

It has also been said in the past that it would be virtually impossible ever to achieve denominational unity on the 1888 issues. But the speed with which the history issue has now been turned upside down and resolved with virtual unanimity gives encouragement to believe that the remaining issues of disagreement may also be resolved much sooner than we think. We have good reason to take heart.

The main issue that now remains unresolved is: what is the authentic 1888 message? It should not take long to determine objectively what the message is. Jones and Waggoner’s extant writings are readily available. And their message is so clearly expressed that it is impossible to misconstrue it if we will permit the primary sources to speak.

A growing minority of church members have already caught a glimpse of what it is, either by reading newly published reprints of the 1888 messengers’ works, or seeing slides on the screen.

A nearly universal testimony from those who have attended 1888 message seminars indicates that the message comes across as refreshingly different:”1 never before understood the Gospel so clearly.” "We have never heard these things preached before.” "Why has no one told us?"

...the message comes across as refreshingly different...

A century ago Ellen White declared that "there is not one in one hundred who understands for himself the Bible truth on this subject [justification by faith].... The people have not an intelligent faith" (RH, Sept. 3, 1889). "Our churches are dying for the want of teaching on the subject of righteousness by faith in Christ, and on kindred truths" (RH, March 25, 1890). When the 1888 message is understood, it becomes apparent that Ellen White's 1889 comments remain present truth today.

Generally speaking it is those who are least informed of the actual content of the message who press the rich-and-increased-with-goods boast. Is something missing in our current understanding of the gospel?

The 1888 message says Yes. But the disclosure brings heartening news. While it humbles denominational pride, it renews confidence in the Seventh-day Adventist mission and its accomplishment.

The message is not a mere revival of "historic Adventism," nor is it a new legalism. Those who rejected the message at Minneapolis I were all "historic Adventists." If we could resurrect our most dynamic preachers of fifty years ago who were also "historic Adventists," their preaching would wither in the brilliant light that now shines in the recovered 1888 message. Their preaching prepared the way for our present state of confusion and pluralism.

The reason is that they were largely uninformed of the actual realities of the 1888 message. Their concepts of the gospel were conditioned by the "Victorious Life" enthusiasm which infiltrated Adventism in the 1920’s and 1930's. Our denominational leaders of that era publicly embraced these Evangelical ideas, which had their source in the Sunday School Times, mistakenly assuming that they were the same as the 1888 message.3

"Victory over sin" was the theme, inspiring hope and confidence that the message would prepare a people for the coming of the Lord. It was an especially appealing doctrine in the bewildering post-World War I era. But the "how" of the doctrine was a cruel deception. Sincerely unaware of the unique truths of the 1888 message, our leading brethren of that era were powerless to distinguish between the genuine and the counterfeit.

The question that now demands attention is whether at any time since the 1930’s the missing spiritual nutriments of the 1888 message have been truly recovered. The most poignant loss is often that which is unrealized. We have all had the experience of suffering a thief's depredation only to awaken long after to realize that we had lost something but did not know it at the time. This is the point of Christ's appeal to Laodicea: "Thou knowest not" that something precious has been lost (Revelation 3:15-18). What is missing in our contemporary "popular" Adventism?

(1)  The precious truth of the nearness of the Saviour.

It is common knowledge that virtually every Sabbath School class finds itself split whenever the nature of Christ comes up for discussion. Circumspect leaders and pastors hardly dare speak on that "most precious" subject for fear of arousing contention. Just as the law-in-Galatians controversy caused the brethren to miss a precious truth a century ago, so this present contention creates a famine for the nearness of Him who declared Himself to be the bread of life. We may pride ourselves for "preaching Christ," but all too often he turns out to be the mirror image of a popular messiah who saves people in their sins not from their sins.

(2) Christ's closing sanctuary ministry of the final atonement.

Here is where the nature of Christ truth shines brightest. The High Priest's ministry in the Most Holy Apartment since 1844 is a grand truth yet to lighten the earth and bring into sharp focus the closing issues of the great controversy.4 Here is the foundation of the Seventh-day Adventist identity, yet it is common knowledge that it has been all but lost in our contemporary Adventism. The 1888 contribution to the sanctuary doctrine is the joining of justification by faith to that special closing work of atonement. This is why Ellen White perceived the 1888 concepts to be "the third angel’s message in verity." The message is not a stern "get-ready-or-else" demand but glorious Good News of how to get ready. It transformed Adventist imperatives into Gospel enablings.

The message...transformed Adventist imperatives into Gospel enablings.

It reveals the Saviour as a Divine Physician of souls, a "nigh-at-hand" Healer of every wound in the human psyche that sin has caused. He is the grand, effective Original of every stop-gap 12-point program devised by experts to meet the desperate need of addicts of every kind from alcoholics to shopaholics.

It was Heaven's intention that there "shall be deliverance...in the remnant," not in AA and all its adapted progeny who look wistfully for deliverance from their compulsions to some vague "Higher Power," even pagan deities (cf. Joel 2:32). Seventh- day Adventists were called to be "foremost" in uplifting a real Saviour who was tempted in all points like as every addict on earth is tempted, yet without sin. But we have been shamed into virtual silence or at best a me-too echo.

(3) A truth of justification by faith that transcends both Calvinism and Arminianism. Calvinism says that Christ died only for the elect. Arminianism protests this misconception, saying that He died for "all men." But in so doing it maintains that He merely made a "provision" whereby it might be possible for "all men" to be justified if they take the initiative in activating the provision. If the sinner does not take advantage of the offer, then the death of Christ on the cross has done him no good.

The 1888 messengers perceived that the cross accomplishes far more than making a mere provision dependant on the sinner's initiative in order to be effective. Here is where New Testament justification by faith exposes subtle legalism. Our Arminian view has left a fatal opening for it to intrude. In pure New Testament justification by faith "boasting ...is excluded" (Rom. 3:27), but in the popular view the key factor is the sinner's initiative. He can say, "I took advantage of the offer, I accepted the provision, I made the decision that brings me to heaven." Thus an egocentric mindset is locked in.

Something is tragically missing in this Arminianism. Christ actually did something for "all men." He tasted death "for every man," and made propitiation for the "sins of the whole world" (Heb. 2:9; 1 John 2:2). The sins of all men were legally imputed unto him as He died so that no one has as yet had to bear the true burden of his guilt (2 Cor. 5:19). All men live because He died for them, whether or not they believe (vss. 14, 15). He has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, life for all men and immortality for those who believe (2 Tim. 1:10). Every loaf of bread is stamped with the cross so that both saints and sinners are nourished by the sacrifice of Christ (DA 660).

An example of how this truth is denied in our current literature is the recent Sabbath School Quarterly lessons for July 23 and September 3, 1988 where it is said that the death of Christ on the cross does no one any good unless and until the sinner makes a positive response. The reality of what "all men" enjoy as the gift of Calvary is denied. To limit the efficacy of the cross thus is to invite the essence of legalism.

Therefore, since "all men" live because their trespasses were imputed unto One who died in their place, it is correct to say that a legal justification has been effected for all men. The 1888 messengers maintained that when the sinner hears and believes the Good News, he experiences justification by faith, which forthwith makes him obedient to all the commandments of God. No wonder Ellen White rejoiced when she first heard the message!

Thus the 1888 message recognizes what truth there is in both Calvinism and Arminianism, but goes far beyond both. As Calvinism rightly discerns, the sinner’s salvation is due entirely to God's initiative in saving him; as Arminianism rightly discerns, all men are equally offered the possibility of salvation. As neither discerns, the only reason anyone can be lost at last is because he has taken the initiative to reject the justification already given him and placed in his hands. Thus sin is recognized to be a constant rejection of the saving grace of God. In this light, repentance can be seen in its true dimensions.

(4)  The Holy Spirit is far more powerful than we have been prone to think.

If one understands and believes how good the Good News is, he sees that it is easy to be saved and hard to be lost. Salvation is not dependent on our seeking and finding God (the root element of every pagan religion in the world), but on our believing that He is seeking and finding us. In other words, the love of God as Saviour is lifted far above the merely-provisional category wherein He casually makes the sinner a take- it-or-leave-it offer. Christ is seen as a Good Shepherd who is actively seeking His lost sheep "until He find it" (Luke 15:4). God's love is immeasurably clarified by New Testament concepts implicit in the 1888 message. The only possible result: a replacement of dead works by a heart-felt service of faith, a devotion that knows no limit. Lukewarmness becomes impossible to one who believes the Gospel!

(5)  The he art-changing power of the two covenants truth.

This unique 1888 concept is practically non-existent in the church today. Our Commentary and Bible Dictionary lean toward the view of those who opposed the message a century ago. Yet Ellen White "was shown" while the brethren were fighting Waggoner on this truth that the Lord gave him the correct view (Letters 30, 59,1890).

This again is practical godliness. Paul says that a wrong idea of the covenants "gendereth to bondage" (Gal. 4:24). Like an inadequate view of justification, it opens the door to a self-centered motivation—the essence of legalism. We are not saved by making promises to God, but by believing His promises to us.

(6)  A correct motivation is another word for genuine righteousness by faith.

All self-centered motivation is legalism. This is evident from Romans 6:14,15. To be "under grace" is to realize the higher motivation imposed by a heart appreciation of the grace of Christ. This delivers from the lesser motivations of fear of hell or hope of reward (DA 480). To be "under the law" is the opposite of being "under grace." It is being motivated by fear or self-seeking reward. But "perfect agape casteth out fear" (1 John 4:18).

This supersedes the familiar "assurance of salvation" concern and makes possible deliverance from the root of selfishness. This is because it enables the believer to be incorporate with Christ, the ego being "crucified with Him." Anything short of this is an immature, childish "righteousness by faith," suitable only for the flower girl at the wedding. A true bride has a higher concern, the honor and vindication of her Bridegroom.

(7)  Thus the 1888 idea of perfection is a mature motivation.

No longer is perfection degraded to a topic for theological arguments, forcing Ellen White into mind-twisting contradictions.5 Granted, a true "under grace" motivation is impossible for any sinful human being apart from an appreciation of Christ's sacrifice. But to "glory in the cross" is an experience that is possible for any sinner who will behold and believe. What teaches us to say "No!" to ungodly lusts and all the addictions and perversions mankind can know is not fear of punishment or hope of reward, but surveying the wondrous cross on which the Prince of glory died (see Titus 2:11, NIV).

In this way, the Ten Commandments become Ten Promises. The Lord says in effect that if we will but appreciate what it cost Him to redeem us, how He has brought us out of the land of Egypt' out of the house of bondage, He promises that we will never steal, lie, commit adultery, etc. etc. (1 BC 1105). This is because the Holy Spirit is a stronger motivation to the believer than the promptings of his sinful nature (cf. Gal. 5:16-18).

Do we as a church need the blessings of the 1888 message? Let those who dare to say "No" come up with something better than that "most precious message" which "the Lord in His great mercy" sent.

1   See, for example, Through Crisis to Victory, by A. V. Olson (Review and Herald, 1966, pp. 233, 236). "It is correct to say that the [1888] message has been declared, both from the pulpit and through the press, and by the lives of thousands upon thousands of God’s dedicated people. Anyone who takes the time to examine Seventh-day Adventist books, papers, pamphlets, and tracts will discover that this glorious truth has been printed time and again. Since 1901...[it has[ been taught with power and clarity, ...made prominent, ...announced...from church pulpits and public platforms, with hearts aflame, .. .constantly.. .in clear, forceful language." See also Movement of Destiny by L.E. Froom (Review and Herald, 1971)., ch. 22: "It is surely deceptive to seek to maintain that the leadership, or even a majroity of the leadership, rejected the [1888] message of Righteousness by Faith—much less that they maintained that attitude...in subsequent years....The leadership clearly did not reject the message..." (pp. 369,370,373).

2   See, for example, Ministry for February, 1988, pp. 4,6, and What Every Adventist Should Know About 1888 by Arnold Wallenkampf (Review and Herald, 1988), chs. 5,6,7,9,10, etc, where very frank statements are made recognizing that the "majority" of delegates to the 1888 session rejected the message, insulted the Holy Spirit, treated Christ shamefully as did the ancient Jews, rejected Ellen White, and allowed a "groupthink" mentality to reinforce their rejection for years following Minneapolis. Further, Union papers, camp meeting sermons and Centennial presentations have been virtually unanimous in acknowledging these facts of history.

3   Cf. Review and Herald, Nov. 11,1920; June 8, July 6,1922.

4   Evangelism, pp. 221-225.

5   Cf. Perfect in Christ by Helmut Ott (Review and Herald, 1988).

Training Workshops Planned

Plans are on the drawing board for a training workshop to equip church members for more active participation in sharing the message which God gave to prepare the way for the loud cry and the latter rain.

The workshop is planned to make possible more effective use of the methods and materials available. It can be scheduled on a Sabbath afternoon and/or Sunday wherever there is a group who would like to learn how others are doing successful door-to-door work; how to share with fellow church members or reach the public with video-taped messages; how to start a study group; and other methods.

The session will include practical instruction in how to use the tools now available, especially for reaching non-Adventists; and the inspiration of what others are doing. For more details, write Don and Helen Cate at the Newsletter office.

The task of taking the Good News to Adventists everywhere and to the people outside the church who hunger for it, can never be accomplished by the small corps of workers now active. In addition to the few ministers now available to hold seminars, an increasing number of pastors are preaching it; and there are lay persons who are conducting Bible study groups; speaking in prayer meetings, Sabbath school classes, etc.; distributing literature; and witnessing to friends and fellow church members. But the task needs the active involvement of many more lay people.

Again and again Ellen White emphasizes: "All may find something to do. None need feel that there is no place where they can labor for Christ" (MH 104). "So vast is the field, so comprehensive the design, that every sanctified heart will be pressed into service as an instrument of divine power" (9T 47).

Paul, himself a self-supporting worker, includes each one of us in his fervent appeal to "anyone [who] is in Christ" to accept the "ministry of reconciliation.... God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Therefore we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God" (2 Cor. 5;17-20).

That glorious Good News must reach every honest heart—an overwhelming task, humanly speaking. But God has made Himself responsible for its accomplishment; He only asks that we be faithful.

e accomplished by the small corps of workers now active. In addition to the few ministers now available to hold seminars, an increasing number of pastors are preaching it; and there are lay persons who are conducting Bible study groups; speaking in prayer meetings, Sabbath school classes, etc.; distributing literature; and witnessing to friends and fellow church members. But the task needs the active involvement of many more lay people.

Again and again Ellen White emphasizes: "All may find something to do. None need feel that there is no place where they can labor for Christ" (MH 104). "So vast is the field, so comprehensive the design, that every sanctified heart will be pressed into service as an instrument of divine power" (9T 47).

Paul, himself a self-supporting worker, includes each one of us in his fervent appeal to "anyone [who] is in Christ" to accept the "ministry of reconciliation.... God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Therefore we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God" (2 Cor. 5;17-20).

That glorious Good News must reach every honest heart—an overwhelming task, humanly speaking. But God has made Himself responsible for its accomplishment; He only asks that we be faithful.

Study Committee Plans Outreach to Adventists and Non-Adventists

The pilot TV programs we have talked and prayed about for so long are at last a reality.

Four half-hour segments of professional quality have been produced with the title, "The Good News Is Better Than You Think," and will be ready for airing in mid-February. We hope they will soon be used on TV stations across America.

Each program will carry an invitation to send for the Glad Tidings Bible Study Guides. The DeLand, Florida, team has volunteered to handle the response from listeners, mailing the lessons, checking and returning them, and following up interests.

The four segments are to be produced on VHS or Beta 2-hour cassettes. Their titles are: "The Word That Turned the World Upside Down"; "Faith That Works by Love"; "Why the Good News is Better Than You Think"; and "How Could Christ Be Tempted as We Are?"

A separate, 50-minute question-and-answer session suitable for Adventists was taped at the same time. The subject is "Righteousness by Faith and the Cleansing of the Sanctuary."

If you or your group would like to sponsor these programs on a local TV station or use them at prayer meeting or invite friends to view one or more in your home, you may order from our Book and Tape Distribution Center, 915 Parks Ave., SE, Paris, OH, 44669. Available after February 15.

Prices of VHS or Beta video cassettes will be as follows: four half-hour segments on a two- hour tape, $21; the 50-minute recording, $17. Three-quarter- or one-inch tapes can be provided if needed for broadcast. Contact us for details.

The future of this TV project will depend upon what the Holy Spirit impresses friends of the message to do in support and how viewers respond. Please join us in praying that God will guide in every decision made about this effort to reach out to the people who wait to hear the true good news of the gospel.

Priebe Paper on the Nature of Christ Available From Amazing Facts

"A Response to the Study by Stephen Wallace, ’Our Sinless Yet Sympathetic Saviour,’” has been prepared by Dennis Priebe.

It deals kindly yet forthrightly with the issue of our understanding of the nature of Christ, which is fundamental to the gospel.

In the introduction to his 18-page paper, Elder Priebe states:

"It is with some reticence that I undertake this response. I prefer to proclaim the Word of God as I understand it, rather than responding directly to the presentations made by others. However in this case I am making an exception because of the requests of a number of individuals and because this study purports to be a thoroughgoing study of the humanity of Christ based totally on the Bible and Spirit of Prophecy."

Elder Priebe goes directly to the basic assumption upon which Stephen Wallace builds his position:

"Near the beginning of his presentation the speaker reveals a fundamental presupposition which is the key to every conclusion he draws. He states that ’self’ and the ’old man’ and the 'sinful nature' are synonymous concepts. If this assumption is correct, then the rest of his presentation is logical and consistent and valid. However, if this assumption is incorrect, then every conclusion drawn is faulty because it is based on a false premise."

In conclusion, Elder Piebe states his position: "We have been watching, over the past fifteen years or so, a marriage of Augustinian/ Calvinistic ideas to the Seventh-day Adventist great controversy motif.... Adventism, at this very late date in its history, does not need to borrow gospel understandings from bodies which the Lord has classed as Babylon. Rather, let us return to the rich watershed of God's pure river of life, which He graciously allowed to spill over the banks of heaven onto this earth one hundred years ago."

This paper is available from Amazing Facts, Box 680, Frederick, MD 21701, for $2.00.

Appointment Calendar

For information about time and place of meetings, including last-minute changes, call numbers listed below or (216) 699-2021.

If you would like to schedule a seminar in your church please contact us as far in advance as possible.

 

Dayton, OH, January 6, 7

Speaker: Alex Snyman

Call: Nate Jenkins, 513-276-2251

 

Loma Linda University, January 6

Panel Discussion: Fritz Guy, Graham

Maxwell, David Vandeburgh,

Robert Wieland

 

Smithville, TN, January 14

Speaker: Alex Snyman. Sabbath service

 

Woodbury, TN, January 21

Speaker: Alex Snyman. Sabbath service

 

Loma Linda University, January 27-29

Speakers: Donald Short, Robert Wieland

Call: 916-878-2444

 

Milwaukee, WI, January 27, 28

Speaker: Alex Snyman

Call: Tony Phillips, 414-375-3459

 

Burbank, IL, February 3,4

Speaker: Robert Wieland

Call: 312-920-8599

 

Rockford, IL, February 10,11

Speaker: Robert Wieland

Call: 815-226-9607 or 399-3399

 

St Louis, MO, February 10-12

Central Church. Speaker: Alex Snyman

Call: Chico Rivera, Jr., 317-6564-7477 or 668-7300

 

Neligh, NE, March 10,11

Speakers: Alex Snyman,

Robert Wieland

Call: Dave Crockett, 402-776-2469

Holiday Greetings, Gifts Bring Cheer

A special thanks to you who have cheered us with special holiday greetings and gifts, large and small to spread the Good News. They encourage us to face the New Year with confidence that God will continue to prosper the work He has begun.

Your letters are tangible evidence that the Holy Spirit is guiding in the search for truth and shedding His love abroad in many hearts.

In the year ahead let us pray and work unitedly that we may uplift "Christ and Him crucified...not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power."

—Don and Helen Cate Greg and Jo Lynne Owen 

I spent my first three and a half years in Adventism struggling to comprehend the true import of our church’s mission, and, worse yet, trying to find peace in my own soul. It wasn’t until I heard this "most precious message" of "justification through faith in the surety" that I began to see just how good the Good News is and realized that I was "accepted in the beloved."

Once we have heard, seen, and handled these glorious truths we can't help but share them (1 John 1:1-4) so the joy of others may be full. But I thank God that His agape doesn’t only constrain us to speak a word to the weary; it also casts out fear; and so in Him, we have boldness and with confidence through faith in Him.

When I came back from the National 1888 Conference at Andrews in the summer of 1987,1 was able to share with my pastor little by little aspects of the message which eventually led to His acceptance of it and our own church sponsoring an 1888 Seminar with Pastor Wieland.

But God has also opened up other doors for me to speak. At camp meeting this past summer a few of us got together at 5:30 a.m. to pray and study. We didn't know that the camp had an official 6:00 a.m. devotional group (before the 6:30 speaker) being held in the same place. As people kept trickling in and joining our group, we eventually had about 75 people, including the pastor who was going to lead out, listening to my talk on corporate repentance. When I finished, the pastor introduced himself and explained the situation, much to my embarrassment. As I was apologizing, he told me he didn’t interrupt because he enjoyed the talk and saw how much the group enjoyed it. Then he asked me if I would be willing to lead out every morning!

Camp meeting allowed me to meet and share with numerous people, and this has opened up more opportunities to share this message. Over this past year, I have been able to give sermons in a dozen different churches in our state, including a district meeting and full weekend seminar. But also important is the myriad of opportunities to present topics in small group studies and meetings. Occasionally on Sabbaths that we have no commitments, we visit a church that we haven’t visited before. The Lord always leads us to have lunch with those who are hungry and thirsty for fellowship and truth, giving us the chance to share with those who haven't heard the Good News yet.

It has been such a blessing as people discover how much the cross really means. Last Friday night I arrived at the retirement home where I was scheduled to present a study. As I parked, I noticed the pastor of this group’s church walking in, and immediately I began to get nervous. He had never been there before and although I had given him books and tapes a few months earlier, I knew he had some reservations, particularly on the nature of Christ.

I prayed earnestly in the car before I went in, and, after a few extra glasses of water, gave a 90-minute presentation during which I could just feel the presence of the Holy Spirit. Afterwards, we had a good discussion, and the pastor asked if I would do a week of prayer at the church. He also invited my family to his home next Friday evening to fellowship and discuss the humanity of Christ. I couldn’t believe how God had answered my prayers. I drove home singing, "How Great Thou Art" at the top of my lungs.

This message has also warmed other souls in our church. One member donated a 3-tape duplicator and 500 tapes to help spread this "most precious message." Others are likewise active in leading study groups, using video tapes and books.

But maybe most importantly, we are beginning seriously to take the message which "God commanded to be taken to the world" to non- Adventists. We have started a correspondence course, using a P.O. box and the Glad Tidings Bible Study Guides, and we have 30 interests and more cards coming in. I really believe that the success of this message in winning non- Adventists will be the greatest testimony to church leaders that this message bears the divine credentials.

May God help all of us to move forward with everything we have while many doors are still open because the time is soon coming when we will have to sneak in through the window to present the message (Joel 2:9).

—Tony Phillips

Every true disciple is born into the kingdom of God as a missionary. He who drinks of the living water becomes a fountain of life. The receiver becomes a giver. The grace of Christ in the soul is like a spring in the desert, welling up to refresh all, and making those who are ready to perish eager to drink of the water of life.

—Desire of Ages, p. 19

Thinking on how best to present the urgent need to enlist and train every member to share the precious message of Christ’s righteousness, I turned to a little book that has stood largely unnoticed on the revolving book shelves that hold my Spirit of Prophecy library. Christian Service is a storehouse of almost overwhelming richness of inspiration and instruction for those who would share with others the Good News that has changed their lives.

As I scanned the compilation covering many methods of witnessing, a paragraph from Christ's Object Lessons, pages 299-300, caught my eye:

”To praise God in fullness and sincerity of heart is as much a duty as is prayer. We are to show to the world and to all the heavenly intelligences that we appreciate the wonderful love of God for fallen humanity, and that we are expecting larger and yet larger blessings from His infinite fullness....our joy in the Lord and our efficiency in His service would be greatly increased by recounting His goodness and His wonderful works in behalf of His children. These exercises drive back the power of Satan. They expel the spirit of murmuring and complaint, and the tempter loses ground. They cultivate those attributes of character which will fit the dwellers on earth for the heavenly mansions. Such a testimony will have an influence upon others. No more effective means can be employed for winning souls to Christ.”

The word "praise" is personified, for those of us who knew Nell, in her life of unfailing praise in the midst of problems that would have crushed us of lesser faith. In prayer and song and testimony she gave glory to God unmixed with a single word of complaint through heartbreak, poverty, family problems, and excruciating, incurable illness. With little education but rich gifts and boundless enthusiasm, she inspired us all to greater devotion to her precious Saviour.

Only eternity will reveal the full harvest of her life, but her death brought together Amish neighbors, members of her former Baptist choir, Adventists from black and white churches, Christians and non-Christians in an outpouring of love and grief that did more for race relations than any affirmative action.

Nell rejoiced in the spread of the 1888 message, and grieved that she was unable to share it in a door-to-door ministry. But her demonstration of the power of agape will have eternal consequences.

Whether you are called to preach or lead Bible studies or invite people into your home or form a study group or write or sing the Good News, won’t you join me in learning how to express more fully our gratitude and praise for the outpouring of agape on the cross?—HFC

From the Mailbox

Needs Tracts to Give Door-to-Door

Just a note to let you know that I was thrilled and greatly blessed by attending the 1888 Message weekend at the Marion, Indiana, church on November 18-20, presented by Brother Snyman.

Also I am writing to ask if you have available any special tracts that would be used to give out door-to-door in fulfillment of our commission to scatter tracts like "the leaves of autumn"? —Indiana

(Some are using Glad Tidings Lesson 1 and Custom-printed Courtesy Reply Cards successfully to find Bible study interests. See page 8.)

Good News Spreads Abroad

We have really enjoyed receiving your magazine and wonder how we can continue receiving it as we now have moved to China to teach English for two years. —People's Republic of China

Student on Fiji Island Hears Message From Friends

I am a student of Fulton College studying in preparation to have a part in the ministry.... Just recently some of my friends have a discussion on the 1888 message. I was very interested and therefore...ask if you could send me some books that would help me to know more about the 1888 message.—Fiji Island

Study Guides Requested for England

I have recently acquired copies of Good News for Laodicea and Glad Tidings Study Guides. ...Here in Britain these studies are a source of precious light to the church members who know very little of what took place in 1888 and are in darkness concerning the message.

I would like to ask permission to reproduce these studies here in England so that we can take part in spreading the message to the people. —London

Study Guides Useful in Evangelism Training Program and Outreach

We are interested in your Bible study series for use in our evangelism training program and field outreach. Could you send us a sample copy of what you have as well as prices.—Colorado

Newsletter Greatly Appreciated

Please keep me on your mailing list. I desire to keep abreast of the serious situation. Your material contains much valuable information. It is greatly appreciated.—Florida

Loves Simple Yet Powerful Message

I am more in love with this simple, yet powerful message every day! I only wish I could convey the message better to friends who ask "What am I missing?" when they do not seem to find in it what I have. I am beginning to think it would be far better if we all quit looking "for" and "at" the spectacular theories that are abounding in our church today and become satisfied to listen to the "still small voice" whisper the old gospel story of Jesus and His love to our hearts.

Without this sweet love and power, found nowhere else, all the "straight testimonies" we are nowadays bombarded with only tend to discourage and make for legalism.

—Florida

Enjoys Peace, Joy and Rich Blessings

I have enjoyed peace, joy and rich blessings since, like Lewis Walton, I began to research and investigate the 1888 subject of which I knew nothing. Discovering truth is such a thrilling experience! —California

E.J. Waggoner Placed Health Message in the Setting of Righteousness By Faith

The gospel of Jesus Christ is in the world today to bring men back to the beginning; and when the gospel shall have finished its work, and every soul susceptible to the influences of the Spirit of God has yielded to that influence, then will the end come, and the new earth and the new heavens will be here as in the beginning...

The power by which Jesus is able to subdue all things to Himself, the power by which the heavens and the earth shall be made new, is the power by which He takes this cursed body, and works His will in it; finally, by that same power, quickening it, and making it immortal....

...If we are among those who are translated, who stand as God's great sign to the universe, who stand as the perfect sign of His coming—that is, His manifestation here in the flesh, —you and I must learn that perfect submission to God, ...that perfect recognition of the fact that this body is not our body at all, but it is Christ's body, and we must resign all right to it; ...And when the flesh lusts and clamors for forbidden things, there will be a power there that can say, No; you can not do it....

...I know that one of the principal reasons why I did not, years before I did, realize the power of God to save from my own sinful disposition, was simply my unwillingness to be saved from it. And why? Man loves his own. We were united to the flesh, and there were things that were such a part of this sinful flesh, that you and I found sinful pleasure in, that we could not conceive of happiness even in heaven apart from them. Is that the experience you have ever come in contact with?

...When I talk to somebody about the joy of healthful living, and point out certain things that tend directly to sensuality and lust and passion and disease, they say, O what would be the use of living if we could not have any of these things? Did you ever hear people say that?...

Don't you see that that is only the perpetuation of the sin of Eve? When every tree of the garden, everything that was pleasant to the sight and good for food was given to her freely, and the Lord said, Eat all you want of it, and take it freely, then the devil fixed her mind on that one forbidden fruit, and all the rest was lost sight of....

And the devil has perpetuated that blindness in human flesh, and he has made sin look so attractive to us that we have thought, "Oh, must I be delivered from this thing?" No, we do not put it that way, but, "Must I be separated from that?" We do not call it a deliverance; but, "Must I have this thing taken away from me? Must I give it up?"

And that is the way the gospel has often been preached. It has been a gospel of giving up. But instead, it is a gospel of receiving. The Lord Jesus Christ is the one who has given up everything, and we are the ones who receive everything.

Now when we come to the matter of healthful living, for that is all in this, we see it is not giving up this thing, and the other thing, as though every joy of life had to be given up; but it is getting our eyes fixed on the Lord Jesus Christ; it is getting our eyes fixed upon that which is spiritual and real, and which is joy, and seeing that the thing which He gives us is so much greater than our highest previous conception of pleasure, that, when we take them in God’s way, we wonder how we ever have been satisfied to be ruled by the flesh.

When we get hold of that, we have healthful living in mortal flesh, and sinless lives in sinful flesh; and we shall glory in infirmities; we shall take pleasure even in temptations, in infirmities, that the power of God may rest upon us. Oh, I do not know, I cannot conceive, I cannot understand, what joys there may be in the world to come; but I know this, that I could be perfectly content never to know any higher joy than this that Jesus gives us, the experience of the power of Christ in sinful flesh—to put under foot, and make subservient to His will, this sinful flesh. It is the joy of victory; and there can be a shout in the camp when that is done.—1901 General Conference Bulletin, pp. 403- 408)

After the concentrated effort during the Centennial year to share with fellow church members the "most precious message," many minds are being directed toward the honest hearts that wait outside our church doors.

In several places the Glad Tidings Study Guides are being used to contact interested people.

In door-to-door work, the first lesson is left with a card enclosed like the sample in the illustration on the far right.

In some places, the lessons are advertised to the public by running a small, inexpensive ad in the local papers.

When the first lesson is returned, it is corrected and returned with one or two additional lessons. By these methods, church members are discovering people who are interested in personal Bible studies.

A camera-ready copy of the advertisement (as illustrated) is available. It can be made to fit the column size of your local paper displaying the name and address of your choice.

The cards can also be ordered with custom imprinting with the same name and address, front and back. It is best to allow at least six weeks for delivery.

Any one of the first four lessons is available in separate packs of 100 each.

These items are listed on page 2 of the 1888 Message Literature Price List for Jan-Mar 1989.

We are committed to the support of our beloved Seventh- day Adventist Church. Specifically, all tithe is to be paid to the organized church. We support financially the local church, the Sabbath school, and other denominational programs.

 

1888 MESSAGE NEWSLETTER

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