Our Firm Foundation -1987_02

7/26/2019 Our Firm Foundation -1987_02

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ur irm oundationThe 7th Day Sabbath

.

Law of God The Everlasting Gospe,lof the Soul ;Ehree Angels Messages The Sanctuary

Vol 2, NO 2

Ellen WhiteMember

of the Board

The Powerof Music

Cry Aloud

Losing OurFirst Love

Persecution

and theChristian

February 19

The Mystery of Iniquity, see page 8 .


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:Ed i to r i a l

T H E W H O L E w o r issearching fo r happiness, bu tin t he mil li ng masses of human-it y in the streets of our cities orin the five o clock bumper t r a f f i c you can se estrained, hurried faces and verylittle happiness shows through.You ca n find laughter at the tav-ern over a soc ia l dr in k or infront of a television set, where af amily, ea ting a hurried T.V. din-ner, laughs as a member relatesth e la test off -co lor joke. Butlaughter is no t happiness.

Where do we f ind happinesstoday? Where i t has always been-at the foot of th e cross, at th efe et o f Jesus-with a fUlly surren-d er ed l if e an d will. From inspira-tion we f ind the key to realhappiness:

As the sinner, drawn by thepower of Christ, a pp ro ac he s t heupl i f ted cross, and pros t ra tesh im se lf b ef or e i t, there is a ne wcreation. A ne w heart is givenhim. H e b ec om es a ne w creaturein Christ eSt i s . Holiness findstha has nothing more to re-quire. Go d Himself is justi-fier of him which b el ie ve th i nJesus. (Romans 3:26) A nd whomhe justified, them he also glori-fied. Romans 8:30; Christ s Ob-j t Lessons 163

A new heart brings happiness.Th e ne w heart is an obedientheart with the law of Go d writ-te n on i t by th e hand of Jesus.

This is th e covenant that w ill m ak e with th em after thosedays, saith the Lord, will pu tmy laws in to th eir h ea rts, a nd intheir minds will write them;an d their sins an d iniquities will

I remember no more. He br ews10:16,17

With a new heart yo u ar e justi-fied an d Go d does n ot r em em be ryour sin anymore. Justificationcomes in st an tly w he n y ou are sosorry fo r sinning yo u want tostop. See 2 Corinthians 7:10) cannot be jus ti f ied while practic-in g kn ow n sins or neglect ingknown duties. See Selected Messages Book 366; Testimoniesvol. 2, 355

But you ask, ow can I sur-render my l if e a nd w il l to God? have tried an d still do n ot havevictory or real happiness. Inspi-ra tio n g ives us the answer:

HMany are inquiring How am to m ak e t he surrender of myselfto God? You d es ir e to g iv e y ou r-self to Him, but yo u ar e weak inmora l power, i n slavery to dOll bt,a nd c on tr ol le d by th e h abits ofYOllr life of sin. Your promisesand r esolu ti ons are like ropes ofsand. Yo u cannot control yourthoughts, your impulses, your af -fections. Th e knowledge of yourbroken p ro mi se s a nd forfei tedpledges weakens your conf idencein your own sinceri ty an d causesyo u to feel that God cannot ac -cept you; but yo u need not de -spair. What you need to under-stand is t he t ru e f orc e of th e will.This is t he g ov er ni ng power inth e nature of man, th e power ofdecision or of choice. Everythingdepends on th e r ig ht a ct io n ofth e will. Th e power of choice

God has given to men; it is theirsto exe rc ise . You cannot changeyour heart , y ou c ann ot of your-self give to God it s affections;bu t you ca n choose to serve Him.Yo u can give Him you r wil l; Hewill t he n w or k in you to will an dto do according to His good pleas-ure. T hu s y ou r whole nature willbe b ro ug ht u nd er the control of

th e Spirit of C hr is t; y ou rtions will be centered u po nyour thoughts will be i n h arwith Him. Steps to Christ

L ovi ng obedi ence brings happiness spontaneously. Tragivery f ew C hr is ti an s havethis beautiful e xp er ie nc e o f hp in es s b ec au se they neverh ad v ic to ry over the i r shearts an d motives. Theynever felt t he re al joy of han d blessing others as thepr ior ity in thei r l ives. As at h ei r c o u nt e na n ce s n ev erthe sunsh ine of h eav en . Twalk around with s om be ran d a re d is tu rb ed by thespirit of real born-again Ctians. T he b or n- ag ai n Chrknows that his sins are forgand he spea ks ho pe, courage, afaithfulness. When everythinggone wrong and the horizolife are forebo ding, theirfidence is in God. Theytraged y and sorrow withfidence that Go d is over allthat He will not allow themtempted above what t hey a rean d w il l m ak e a wa y of escthat t he y w il l be able to betrial. They know the promisGod a re sure.

T he Lord is m y l ig ht ansa l va tion; w ho m s ha ll fearLord is th e s tr en gt h o f myof whom shall be af rPsalm 27:1

We are l iving in serious,some t imes an d we must be

denying ungodliness andpletely separated from wolusts. We must extend hapto an unhappy world as wf or th e soon an d glor ious apping of our g reat God and SavioJesus C hr is t. L et us remembr ea l S ev en th -d ay A dv en ti sthappy Christian.R SPEAR-EDITOR


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Table of Contents

t is th e mISSIOn of Hope Interna-tional an d th e editors of Our FirmFoundation to give th e straight testi-mony an d to present C hrist an d H imcrucified. The days that y et re ma inof t hi s w or ld ar e few, and what wedo we must do quickly. We mustbo ld ly p roc la im th e t ru th s t ha t placeus on so firm a foundation in th emidst of this troubled world.- THEE ITORS

Vol. 2 No.2

ARTICLES

February 1987

Ellen White-Member of th e Board Dave FiedlerO nly o ne o rg an iz at ion cou ld m ake t he claim

Th e Mystery of IniquityRelig ious persecution sooner than we think

Editor Ro n SpearManaging E di to r D ave FiedlerAssociate Editor Vern JenningsAsst. Ed./Typography Arnet MathersAsst. Ed./Books Jeff CrockettCopy Editor Lila R a e F r ed e ri ckAss t. Copy Editor Lori Crocket tEdi tor ia l Secretary Clarissa FiedlerC on tr ib ut in g E di to rs C ol in S ta nd is h,

Ralph Larson,John Osborne

Ar t Di recto r Bob BresnahanL ay ou t S ha ri ly n KendallCirculation Joseph Leatherman

What Must I Do?Th e question we all must ask

Losing Our First Love t n ee d n ot , i t must no t happen

The Power of MusicScience and h i story shed l ight o n m us ic

Ellen G. White

Ro n Spear

Ellen G. White

H . L lo yd Leno

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Persecution and the Christ ianWhy? Why? Why?

Cr y AloudTh e heart cr y of Isaiah 58

DEPARTMENTS

Editorial 2

Bulletin Board 6

Looking Back 7

Fernando Chai j

Beveridge R Spear

Religious Liberty Update

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Our Firm FoundationEditorial Office:P.O. Box 940Eatonville, W 98328(206) 832-6602

Copyright 1987

Hope Internat ional

Invitation to Writers

We ar e accepting article-length (1800-2800 words mascripts p refe rab ly typewr it t en fo r possible p ub li ca ti on i nFirm Foundation are no t in a position to give considerat ionto longer submiss ions . When sending m a te ri al f o r ou r considet ion . p lease retain your original manuscript and send us a phcopy. Should y ou d es ir e advance notice of a dec is ion to pUbyour article, please include a se lf - addres sed , s t amped envelope.A ddr es s al l editorial correspondence to Managing Editor, Firm Foulldatioll P.O. Box 940, Eatonville, W 98328

February 1987 Our rm Fou n da ti ol l


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What ust

I Do? llen G Whjte

B EHOLD THE lam b of God,which taketh a way th e si nof th e world [John 1:29] I repeatwords of John, B eh o ld t he Lambof God We ar e to contemplateth e c ha ra ct er o f Chris . We ar e tom ed it at e u po n th e cross of Cal-vary; fo r i t is t h e u n an sw e ra b leargument of Christianity. God'smessage to th e impeni te n t, Hi swarning to the backs l ider, is , Behold t he L am b of God, whicht ake th away the sin o f theworld. Those wh o bring th e mes-sage to th e soul may turn asidef ro m t he truth, but he w ho w ou ldbe saved must keep hi s eye onJesus. By beholding Christ he w il ll ea rn to ha te sin, t h a t hasbrought to hi s Redeemer suffer-in g and death. By beholding, hi s

fa i th is made s t rong , and hecomes to know th e only trueGod, an d Jesus Christ, whomthou hast sen . [John 17:3] Th esinner sees J esu s a s He is, full ofcompassion an d tender love, andby beholding this manif estationo f G od 's great love toward fallenman in Chr i s t ' s s u f f e r i n g s onCalvary, he is tra ns fo rm ed incharacter.

While r salvation is whollydependent upon Jesus, ye t wehave a work to do in order thatwe shall be saved. Th e apostlesays, Work ou t your own salva-tion with fear and trembling; fori t is God which worketh in youboth to w il l a nd to do of hi s goodpleasure. [Philippians 2:12, 13]

The truth isthat the humanwill must be insubjection tothe divine will

T he w or k that we ar e to do is notindependent of what Go d is todo, but a work of co operationwith God Th e power an d th egrace of Go d ar e to be wroughtinto th e hear t by the div ineWorker; bu t some go astray here,claiming that ma n has a work todo that is wholly i nd ep en d en t o f

an y work of God. Anothertake th e other extreme, andthat man is free from al l otion, b ec au se G od does t he wwork-both th e willing an dBu t th e true ground to tathat the hum an will mustsubjection to th e divine willwill of man is no t to be fi nt o c o- op er at io n with dagencies, bu t must be voluntsubmitted. Ma n has no powerhimself to work out hi s ownva t ion. Sa l va tioD must bresult of co-operat ion wi th d ivinpower; and God will no t dofor man which he ca n dh imsel f. Man is wholly dependon th e g rac e o f Christ. He hpower to move one step idi rec t ion of C hris t unlessSpirit of Go d draws him. ButHoly Spirit is continuallyin g th e soul, an d wi ll cont inuedraw until by pers i st en t r e futh e sinner grieves away theder Messenger of God.

I n t he he ave nl y councilsbeen decided by what meansm et ho ds t he grace of Christprove e f f e c t u a l in savingsoul. And it is clear that u


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the sinner consents to be drawn,unless he will co-operate withdivine agencies, the en d will notbe attained. The wor k to be doneis a un ite d work. The tl.ivine andth e humari ar e to w or k t og et he r,an d t he s in ne r is to depend upongrace, while render ing will ingobedience to t he d ic ta te s of th eSpirit of God. Work out yourow n salvat ion with fear andtr em bl in g; f or it is God whichworketh in you both to will an dto do of his good pleasure.

God ha s endowed men withreason and with intellectual fac-ulties, but if these ar e untrained,left uncultivated, men will be-come l ike the savage heathen.T he m in d must be cul tivated, andit is necessary that teachers pre-sent line upon line and precep tupon precept, guiding and t ra in -ing the free-will moral agent sothat he shall understand wha t itis to co-operate with God. Godworks in the h um an a ge nt by th elight of truth, an d th e mind, en-lightened by truth, is capable ofsee ing truth in distinction frome rr or. O pe n to th e light of truth,fr ee f ro m pre judice , unbound bythe opinions and traditions ofmen, the enlightened mind clear-ly sees the evidences of the truth,an d believes i t as from God. Th eman enlightened by t ruth will no tcall falsehood truth, and lightdarkness. The Spirit reveals toth e mind the things of God, an dto hi m who co-operates with Godis the realiza tioo that a DivinePresence is hovering near. Whenthe heart is open to Jesus an d th emind responds to th e truth, Jesusabides in th e soul. The Spirit senergy works in the heart, andleads the inc l ina t ions towardJesus. By living faith, th e Chris-ti an places ent ir e dependence ondivine power, expecting that Godwill will and do that which

is according to His good pleasure.As fast as the soul resolves an dacts in accordance with th e lig htthat is revealed, th e Spirit takesthe things of God an d gives morelight to the soul.

As many as received him, tothem gave he power to becomethe sons of God, even to themthat believed on hi s name. [John1:12] A nd th e Word wa s made

flesh, an d d we lt a mo ng us (andwe beheld h is g lo ry, th e glory asof th e only begotten of the Fa -ther, full of grace an d truth.[1:14] Th e S pirit of God is no tcommissioned to do our part ofthe work, either in willing ordoing. t is the work of the hu -man agent to co-operate withdivine agencies. As soon as weincl ine ou r will to harmonizewith God s will, the grace ofChrist is supplied to co-operatewith our resolve. But it is not tobe a substitute to do our work-towork in spite of our resolutionsand actions. Th er efo re, our suc-cess in th e Christian life will notbe because of an abundance ofl1ght an d evidence, bu t will de-p en d u po n ou r acceptation of th elight given, upon t he r ou si ng ofthe energi es , and ope ra ti ng witht he h ea ve nl y ministers appointedof God to work fo r th e salvationof th e soul.

If t he s in ne r or t he backs lidersettles himself in sin, t he l ig ht ofhea ven may flash about him tono purpose, as it di d about Saulwhen the bewitching power ofthe world s deception was uponhim. Unless the human agent in-c li ne s h is will to do th e will ofGod, as finally Saul did, t he l ig htwill shine in vain, and a thou-sandfold more light an d evidencewould do no good. God knowswhen the sinner has sufficientevidence, and s ays to such, They

od knowswhen the sinnerhas sufficientevidence

have Moses an d the prophet s; le tthem hear them t hey h ea rno t Moses an d t he p ro ph et s, nei-ther will they be persuaded ,though one rose from the dead.[Luke 16:29, 31]

Paul ha d a terrible awakeningwhen th e l ight from heavenflashed upon him, and a voice

said to him Saul, Saul, why pseeu test thou me? Paulswered, HWho art thou, Lord?And He said, I am Jesus whot hou per secu test ; i t is hardthee to kick a ga in st t he prickAnd the Lord said, Arise, andgo into the city, and it shalltold thee what thou must[Acts 22:7-10] The Lord alw

he man mustdo the work inclining hiswill

gives the human agent his workto do. Paul was to work in pliance with th e divine commaBu t i f he ha d said, Lord, Inot in the least inclined to folyour directions in working omy salvation, then, shouldLord have showered upon himlight tenfold as bright, i t woh av e b ee n useless. t i s man s pato co-operat e with the DiviHere is where the conflict ibe sternest, hardest, and mostf ierce- in yielding the willwa y to God s will an d way, reing upon th e gracious influencewh ic h G od has exerted uponhuman soul throughout al llife. Th e ma n must do th e wof inclining. For t is God thworketh in yo u both to willto do. Th e character of th etions w il l t es ti fy what has bth e nature of th e resolve. Tdoing was n ot in accordance withfeel ing and natural inclinationbu t in harmony with the willth e Father i n h ea ve n. Follow

obey th e leadings of th e HSpirit; obey not the voice ofdeceiver, which is in harmowith th e unsanctified will,obey th e i mp ul se G od has givThis is what t he h ea ve nl y inligences are constantly workito have us do-the will ofFather whieh is in heaven.

Th e warfare against self isgreatest b att le th at wa s e

February 1987 r rm llndation


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f ough t. Th e y ie ld in g o f s elf , sur-rendering al l to th e will of God,requires a struggle, bu t th e soulm us t s ub mi t to God before it ca nbe renewed in holiness.

God does no t force th e will ofHis creatures. He cannot acceptan homage that is no t willinglyand intel ligen tly given. A mereforced submission would prevental l re al d evelop ment o f mind orcharacter; it would make man amere automaton. Such is no t thepurpose of th e Crea tor. He de-sires t hat man th e crowningwork of His c r ea ti ve pow er shal lreach th e highest possible devel-opment. He sets before us th eheight of blessing to which Hedesires to bring us through Hi sgrace. He invites us to give our-selves to Him, that He may w orkHis will in us. It remains f T usto choose whether we will be setfree from the bondage of sin tosh are th e glorious liberty of th esons of God.

What you need to understandis th e t ru e f or ce of th e will. Thisis t he g ov er ni ng p ow er in the na-ture of man, th e p ower of deci-

sian or of choice. Everythingdepends on th e right action ofth e will. The power of choiceGod has given to men; it is theirsto exercise. You c an no t c han geyour heart you cannot of your-self give to God i ts a ff ec ti on s;but you can choose to serv e Him.Yo u can g iv e H im your will; Hewill then work in you to will an d

You wjll havestrength fromabove to holdyou steadfast

to do according to Hi s good pleas-ure. Thus your whole nature willbe brought under th e c on tr ol o fth e Spirit of Christ; your affec-tions will be centered upon Him;your thoughts will be i n h ar mo nywith Him

Through th e right exercith e will, a n e nt ir e change mmade in your life. By yieldinyour will to Christ , yo uy ou rs el f w it h th e power ta bo ve a ll principalities an ders. Yo u will have s tr ength fabove to h old you ste adfast, athus through cons tan t su rrento God you will be enablelive th e new life, ev en t he li ffaith.

Everything is at stake. Whum an ag ent co-operatedivine agencies to will and t a ma n pl ace s his will oside of Go d s wi ll , fUlly sd erin g se lf to do His willrubbish will be c le ar ed f ro mdo or o f th e h ea rt, th e defi ancth e soul will be broken downJesus will e nt er t o abide scome Guest .

Originally published in AppGold Library No. 17 Oc t1894. Currently available inG White Pamphlets in the [ isk] Concordance vol. 3 42from Leaves of Autumn PaArizona

BULLETIN BOARDHope International Campmeeting:Since summer is always full ofactivity. it s best to plan ahead.Now s the time to jot down onyour calendar th e dates for theHope International Campmeeting.We ve done f best to worka ro un d o th er m ee tin gs in th e

Northwest an d still f i t i t intoo ur o wn h ect ic monthly schedule)and have set t led on July 30t hrough Augus t 2 with a specialsession on home schooling to bepresented by Gwen Hawkins onMonday the third.

Last year we h ad a pp ro xi-mately 400 i n a tt en da nc e, an d

Our Firm Foundation February 1987

felt th a t th e blessing was wellworth th e effort. We expect alarger g ro up th is y ear , an d it willhelp us to plan if you wi ll l et usknow in ad vance i f yo u wish tocamp on our grounds NOTE: wear e n ot e qu ip pe d to p rov ide RVhookups or dump stations.

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sage to Laodicea, Closing Ean d th e Final Crisis an d ArReally Seventh-day Adventists

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W HATEVER E ld er C an ri gh tsaid an d wrote in thosedays [1880s] meant as much toou r people as the words of ourmost prominen t l eader s do t oda y.But in view of what he has saidand written si nce that time andbecause of my intimate associa-t io n w it h him, I feel i t to be myduty to make a brief statement,w it h a ll the love in my heart it ispossible fo r a human being tohave fo r an admired, fallenfriend

E ld er C an ri gh t talked freelywith me about e ve ry th in g i nwhich he was int er es ted abouthis personal difficulties, abouthis past trials an d sorrows, an d ofhis future hopes an d plans. Heseemed to f ind c on so la ti on i ngoing over these t hi ng s w it h me.He evidently felt that while Isympathetically listened, I wouldno t repeat. No t u nti l t he presenthave I made an y public statementof th e facts I am no w to state,and these are given no t to can

demn him but if possible to saveothers even as strong as he fromth e pitfall into which he fell.

His estrangement began an ddeveloped through harboring thatg re at es t s ed uc ti ve th ing tha tfinds its way into some humanhearts which I name an abnormaldesi re to be g reat not great in thetrue meaning of the word, butg re at o nly in th e estimation ofpeople-to be popular.

The elder wa s remarkablybr igh t, and grew rapidly from hi s

humble beg inning , through th eblessing of Go d an d th e power ofth e message he proclaimed withHeaven-bestowed ability. He wasso greatly admired an d openlypraised by o ur wo rk er s an d th elaity, that he f ina l ly reached th econclusion he h ad i nh er en t abil-i ty-that th e message he was pro-claiming was a hindrance to himrather than the exclusive source

of hi s power. He gradually grewsensitive and resentful and whenreproof came th ro ug h the testi-monies he rejected it an d finallygave up e ve ry th in g an d beganwarr ing ag ain st the Spir i t ofProphecy an d th e message whichha d made hi m all he was.

During th e summer a nd f al l of1880 immediately after gradua-tion I with other students fromBatt le Creek College , a tt ep.dedProfessor Hamill s School of Ora-tory in Chicago. Elder Canr igh t,

i no cu la te d a t h ea rt w it h a beliefthat through a t ho rough s tudy in ,and mastery of , exp re ss ion heco uld accomplish his consumingdesire to be a popular publicspeaker, joined us; an d because ofmy former pleasant associationwith him I became his critic ashe lectured, upon invi ta t ion,through th e influence of th eSchool of Oratory, in many of th elargest popular c hu rch es in Chi-cago during the summer vacationof th e pastors of these churches .

In these lectures he a pp li ed t heoratofical principles taught in th eschool and needed a critic versedin these principles, to follow himin his lectures and later point outhis misapplications and of courseto c om pl im en t h im on al l thatwere r igh t ly applied. He hadmore invitations than he couldpossibly accept, so he selectedthose from th e largest an d mostpopular churches.

On e Su nda y nigh t, in th e larg -es t church of th e West Side hespoke on

T h e S ai nt s I nh er i-tance to more than 3 000 peoplean d I took a seat in th e gallerydirectly in front of him, to seeevery gesture and to hear everytone form of voice emphasisstress an d pitch, an d all t he rest.Bu t that was as fa r as I got in mypart of t he s er vice, fo r he soquickly an d e loquen tly l aunchedinto this, hisJavori te theme, that

I with the entire congregatiobecame entirely absorbed inbiblical facts he was so conviingly presenting. I never thouof anything else until hefinished.

A fter the benediction I cn ot g et to hi m fo r more thanan hour because of the mpeople crowding aroun d hi m

complimenting an d t ha nk in g hfo r hi s masterly discourse . Onsides I could hear people sayinwas th e most wonderful serthey ha d e ve r h ea rd . I knewwas not th e oratorical mannert he d el iv er y, bu t th e Bible tclearly and feelingly presenthat h ad a pp ea le d to the peo was the power in tha t t immessage. t made a deep, l as tiimpression upon my mind. I sawthat the power was all intruth and not in the speaker.

After a long time wealone and we went i nto a beaufu l c i ty pa rk jus t acroSSstreet which was almost desertbecause of the late hour ofnight, and sat down to talkoccasion over and for me toliver my criticisms. But I hnone fo r th e Elder. I franconfessed that I became so completely carried away with thsoul -insp i ring b ib li ca l subjecdi d no t think once of th e oraca l rules he was a pp ly in g i n

presentation. Then we sat inlence fo r some time. SuddenlyElder sprang to his fee t a nd

D. W I believe I could becomgreat man were it not for OUpopular message.

I make no immediate replyfo r I was shocked to hear apreacher make such a statement;to t h i nk of th e message,which I had given up th e win the estimation of it s leaminister being inferior to andthe way of , th e progress ofwas a lmos t paralyz ing. Thenup an d steppe d in f ront ofE lder and said with muching M the message mayou all yo u are, an d the dayleave it, you will retrace ysteps back to where t foyou.

W Reavis, [ Remember 117 119

February 1987 Our i rm OlJ lldatio


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ysteryof niquityThe HE POPULARITY o f th ep resent pope is phenomenal.

Everywhere he goes he is me t bypresidents, monarchs, prime min-isters, and o th er h ea ds of stateswho honor him with 21 -gun s a-l utes or ticker-tape parades whiletens of t ho us an ds w or sh ip an ddeify hi m as a god in human

flesh.Another great phenomenon is

th e Protestants acceptance ofthis man of si n as a great worldevangelist. Billy Graham, in arecent interview with a majornews magazine, designated th epope as a great evangelist. Whatdoes the Scrip ture sa y concerningthe p ower thi s ma n represents?

8 Our i rm oundation February 1987

For the mystery of iniquitydoth already work: only he whonow letteth wi ll l et , until he betaken out of th e way. And thenshall that Wicked be revealed,whom the Lord shal l consumew ith th e spirit of h is m ou th , an dshall d es tr oy w it h th e brightnessof hi s coming: E ve n h im, whosecoming is after the working ofSatan with all power an d signsan d lying wonders, an d with alldeceivableness of unrighteousnessin them that perish; because theyreceived no t th e love of th e t rutht t th e y m igh t be s a v e d .2 Thessalonians 2:7 10

Ellen White God s prophet fo rthe end time, sa: a confede racy

on pear

of Satan s power by th e reriage of Protes tan ti sm wi thPapacy.

B y th e decree enforcingi ns t it ut io n o f th e P apa cy inlation of th e la w of God, oution wi ll d isconnect herse lf ffrom righteousness. When Prtantism shall stretch her haacross th e gulf to g ra sp t heof the Rom an power, whenshall reach o ver t he abyss tohands with spiritualism wu nd er t he influence of t hi s tfold union ou r countryr ep ud ia te e ve ry p rin cip leConstitution as a Protestant aTepu blican government andm ak e p ro vis io n f or th e propt ion of papal falsehoodsdelusions, then we m ay k no wthe time has come for the mavelous w or ki ng o f Satan an dthe end is near. Testimonies 451

Very soon th e deadly wd es cr ib ed i n R ev el at io n 1w il l b e c om pl et el y heajed anwhole world will wonderthe bea st power; then thecombined forces of so-caChristendom will ar ise an dsecute G od s ho ly, pecul ia r, remnant people.

Th e popes of the pastopenly declared that what Rhas done fo r other countries, sw il l do fo r t he U ni te d Statespresent pope with all his ci sm a h as no t changed that phophy.

When w e r ev ie w the tragic

tory of the Dark Ages an dRef ormatioD, we see the rackfagot, th e stake, an d th e agin g death of millions of marT he re w er e dungeons filledGod s saints wh o agonizedprayer fo r their persecutors . Tpersecut ion is what Romeagain planning for our counan d th e world. Le t us loo


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what inspiration tells us is tocome:

HChurch and state are no wmaking prepa ra t ions fo r the fu-ture confl ic t . Protes tants ar e no wworking in disguise to bring Sun-da y to t he f ro nt , as did th e Ro-manists. T hr ou gh ou t t he land th ePapacy is piling up her lofty an dmassive structures, in th e secretrecesses of which her former per-secutions ar e to be r epea ted. Andthe wa y is preparing for the man-ifestation on a grand scale, ofthose lying w on de rs b y which, i fit were po ssible Satan wo ulddeceive even th e elect. Ibid., 449450

Do we as God s r emnant Sev-enth-day Adventis ts in these last Jloments of time really under-,tand what lies ahead in the verytlear future? Le t us r eme mberprophecy never fails.

Now, ou r beloved Constitutionis in jeopardy. A constitutionalconvention will soon be cailedf or th e purpose of limiting th eliberties we have enjoyed as aChristian nation, whose founder sfled from Europe because of thewr a th of th e dragon power ofRevelation 12 Le t us keep theseinspired statements in mind:

t is the rejection of Bibletruth which makes me n approachto infidelity. is a backslidingchurch that lessens t he d is ta nc eb et we en i ts el f an d th e Papacy.Signs o the Times February 191894

BThe goodness mercy an dlove of God w er e p ro cl ai me d byChrist to oses This was God scharacter. When men who professto serve God ignore His parenta lcharacter and depar t from honorand i n d ea li ng w it htheir fellowmen Satan exults forhe has inspired them with hi s a t-tributes. They are following inthe track of Romanism. Testimonies to Ministers 362

God has never led a ma n orgroup of men whether i t be ac om mi tt ee o r church board, tomake dec is io ns contrary to Hisdivine counsel as revealed in th eBible an d the Spirit of Prophecy.

R ome has e ver been anxious todo fo r th e United States that

which she has done for othercountries, The glorious era of theD ec la ra ti on o f Independence an dof the United States Constitution,hailed with joy by ever y lover of i berty. was an era of cloudsan d t hi ck d ar kn es s fo r her.Rome has ha d sinister designsagainst this government an d na -tion ever since that period. Bu tshe found herself powerless tocarry out her wicked machina-tions as long as the governmentab id ed b y th e Constitution. Romeknew this, b ut w ha t could she do?

Professed Pro tes tan t cans are persuading Congress toreverse this order of things, toabandon the principles of theConstitution, an d legislate in be-half of so-called C hr is ti an r el i-gion. A Sunday law, upon a ly religious basis will soon bepassed, an d thus the barriers of

There is theprospect eforeus of waging continuous war

protestation w il l be r em oved, th eflood gates will be opened, an dRome w ill h av e he r age -o ld dog-mas. She will seize and appropri-at e to her own uses al l th e his-to r ica l l ines of proof brou ghtf o r w a r d by these professedlyPro te st an t Ame ri cans in s up po rtof th e theory that this is a Chris-t ian nat ion and th at they are theproper a ut ho ri ti es o f what con-stitutes acceptable Christianity.

Let not the commandment-keeping people of God be silentat this time, as t ho ug h we gr ace-fu l ly accepted the si tuat ion.There is t he prospec t be fo re us owaging a continuous war, at therisk of imprisonment, of losingproperty an d even life itself, todefend th e law of God which isb ein g m ad e void by the laws of

men. Seventh day Adventist BiblCommentary vol. 7 9?5

We as Seventh-day Adventistsha ve told these p rof ess ed Ameca n Protest an Is all these yearthat Rome w ou ld r es tric t rgious liberty. They wouldbelieve us. Now th is pr ed ic tionwill soon come to pass. The nation will be doom ed to destrut ion, sold by the p ries ts arulers to th e a man of sin.Rome th e great American Repuli c will be ruined.

A time is c omin g wh enla w of God is, in a special sento be m ad e v oi d in ou r l an d. T hr ul er s o f our nation w il l, b y legl a ti v e e n ac tm e nt s e n f o rc e tS un da y l aw, an d thus God s pple be b ro ug ht i nt o great periWhen our nation in its legislativcouncils, s ha ll e na ct laws to bithe consciences of men in regato their religious privilegesf or ci ng S un da y observance. abringing oppressive power to beagainst those who keep the se nt h- da y S ab ba th , t he law of Gwill, to al l in te n ts an d purposbe made void in our land; annat iona l apostasy will be flowed by national ruin. Ibi977

When t he l ea di ng churchesthe United States, uniting upsuch points of doctrine as aheld by them in common, shin f luence th e state to enforct he ir d ec rees and to sustain thi n s t i t u t i on s then Protes tantAmerica wil l have formedimage of the Roman hierarchand the infliction of civil penties u pon dissenters will inevitbly result. h Great Controversy445

But thank Go d R om e w ill mher end in the operation and hlong a nd d is gr ac ef ul career wbe terminated by Him w ocalled Fai thfu l and True, who in righteousness doth judgand make war, an d whom armies which are in heavenfollow an d by whom the bewas taken and cast alive into lake of fire burning with bristone. Then will be fulfilledword of th e angel w o wa s sby Jesus Christ to John when


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Under the c lo ak o f C hr is ti an itand sanctification far-spreadand manifest ungodlinessprevail to a terrible degree andwill continue until Christ coto be glorified in all thembelieve.

In the very courts oftemple, scenes will be enathat fe w realize. God s pewill be proved an d tested,He ma y discern betweent ha t s er vet h God an d hi mserveth Hi m not.

uYengeance will be execuagainst those wh o sit in th edeciding what th e people sho

wicked thing to an ex te nt twill in an y way compare withdegree to which t he R om an Colic Church has done it . OfPapacy, Paul , wri t ing toThessalonians, said: Who opeth an d ex alte th himself aall that i s c al le d God, or thworshipped; so that he as Godteth in th e temple of God, shin g himself that he is God.Thessalonians 2:4 Le t us rember th a t th e temple of Go d isplace where sins are forgivenBut th e Papacy c la im s t he pto forgive sins. thereforelows that the Papacy doesherself in th e place of Godth e temple of God.

This tragic scene nowb ef or e t he remnant church:

This is an age of signal retion of th e grace Go d has

posed to bestow upon His peothat in th e perils of th e lastthey may not be ove rcome bprevai l ing iniqui ty and uwith th e h os tility o f th e wagainst God s remnant peo

the cloak of Christianitysanctification far-spreading

ungodliness wto a terrible degree

strong exceedingly; an d i t hadgreat iron teeth: i t devoured an dbr ak e in pieces, an d s ta mp ed t heresidue wi th t he f ee t of it: an d itwas diver se from al l th e beaststhat were before it ; an d i t ha dte n horns. I considered th e horns,and, behold, there came up a-mong them another little horn,

before whom there were th ree ofth e first horns plucked up by th eroots: and, behold, in this hornwere eyes like the eyes of manand a mouth s pe ak in g g re atthings. I beh el d t il l th e throneswere cast down, and the Ancientof days did sit, whose garmentwas white as snow, a nd the hairof hi s head l ike the pure wool:hi s throne wa s l ike th e f ieryflame, and his wheels as burningfire. A fiery stream issued andcame for th from before him:

thousand thousands ministeredunto him, an d te n thousand timeste n th ou san d stood before him:the judgment was set, and thebooks were opened. I b eh el d t he nbecaus e of t he voice of th e g rea t

words whi ch th e horn spake: Ibeheld even till the beast wasslain, and his body destroyed,and given to the bu rn ing fl ame.Daniel 7:7-11

No w al l this was said concern-ing a power of whom it was also

said: H e sha ll speak great wordsa ga in st t he most High, an d shallwear out t he s ai nt s of th e mostHigh. Everyone of t he se s ta te -ments is true of the RomanCatholic Church; an d moreover,they al l are pre-eminent ly true ofher. Other powers have spokengrea t words ag ain st th e MostHigh; but no power has done that

Underand

and manifestprevail

was upon the isle of Patmos: Re-joice over her, thou heaven, andye holy apost le s an d prophets; fo rGod hath avenged you au her.(Revelation 18:20 And al l th eredeemed saints will rejoice andwell they may.

To th e prophet Daniel, whilein holy vision the angel said:

And in the latter time oftheir kingdom, when the trans-gressors ar e come to th e fUll, aking of fierce countenance , andunderstanding dark sentencesshall stand up. An d hi s powershall be mighty, but no t by hisown power; an d he shal l dest roywonderfully, an d shall prosper,a nd p ra cti ce , an d s ha ll d es tr oyth e mighty an d th e holy people.An d through hi s policy also heshall cause craft to prosper in hishand; an d he shall magnify him-

self in hi s heart, and by peaceshall destroy many; he shall alsostand up against the Prince ofprinces; bu t he shall be brokenwithout hand. Daniel 8:23-25

By r ea di ng t he e igh th chap terof Daniel from the first versedown to th e twenty-third, i t willbe clearly seen that these versesmust apply to Rome, an d to noo ther power bu t Rome. is Romethat is to be broken withouthand. may be urged that thispassage applies only to th e de-

struction of the Roman Empireand not to th e R om an C ath oli cChurch. No t so; Rome as an em-pire was destroyed long ago bythe barba rian tr ibes of ancientGermany. Rome as an empir e wasnot broken without hand. Nev-ertheless, th e p ri nc ip le s o f paganRome exist in papal Rome just astruly as they di d in th e empire.The f u nd a m en t al p r in c ip l e ofRome from first to last, fromstart to finish, is self-exalt a tion.

It is therefore clear from the

above Scripture that th e RomanCatholic C h urch w ill perish without hand, that is, withoutth e hand of man. is th e handof God that wi ll dest roy her. Thisfact is stated in the followingwords f ro m H ol y Writ:

After this I saw in th e nightvis ions, and behold a four thbeast, d re ad fu l a nd terrible, an d


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dangerous snares which Sa tan hp re pa re d for the church wc om e th ro ug h its ow n membewho do no t love G od s up re me lyor their neighbor as themselveSatan is continually strivingwedge himself in between bre thren. He seeks to gain c ontrolthose who claim to believe

truth, but who are unconvertedan d when he can influence thethrough their ow n carnal natureto unite with him in tryingthwart th e purposes of God, thhe is exultant. estimonies5 477

The work which the chu rcha s failed to do in a timepeace and prosperi ty sh e whave to do in a terrible crisis ude r most discouraging forbid-ding ci rcumstances . The warninthat worldly conformity ha slenced Or withheld must be givu n de r th e fie rces t opposi t iofrom enemies of th e faith . A ndthat time the superficial, consvative class, whose influencesteadily retarded th e progressth e w ork will r en ou nc e t he faand ta ke th e i r s tand witha vowed enemies, toward whomt he ir s ym pa th ie s h av e long betending. These apost a te s wil l tm an if es t t he most b it te r enmitydoing al l in their power topress and malign th eir formbrethren an d to excite indigntion against them. This da y isbefore us. Ibid. 463

Eternity s tr et ches be fo reTh e curtain is about to be liftWe who occu py this so lemn ,sp on si bl e p osi tio n, w ha t aredoing w h a t are we th ink iabout, t ha t w e cling to our selflove of ease, while souls are is hi ng a round us? Havehearts become utterly callouIbid. 464

In conclusion, le t us keepmind t hese insp ired thoughts:

A nd that, knowing the timthat no w i t is high time to awaou t of sleep: for now is our salvtion nearer than when welieved. The night is fa r spentda y is at hand: let us therefocast off th e works of darkneand let us put on the armourl ight. Romans 13:11, 2

along l in es w he re the chu rch it -self needs to be reformed.

We ar e told that we have fa rmore to fear from within thanf ro m w it ho ut . See Selected Messages Book I 122 T h e m aj or it yof Seven th -day Adven ti st s willreject us an d join the ranks ofth e enemy. See Testimonies vol.5, 136 Ou r worst persecutors willbe laitYl pastors l and leaders whohave apostat ized . They di d no tprepare and their characters areno t fi t to live in the presence ofa holy God. Again G od s pe ak s tous in these last days:

Do not forget that th e most

who h av e been l oya l to th e com-mands of God hav e been impris-oned an d died r at he r t ha n yieldtheir God-given rights to worshipGod according to the Bible truths.What ha s been taking place in th ecommunist world fo r years willsoon come to this great nation ofl ibe rty and freedom.

The c hu rc h is strong in num-bers (five million), in learning,and intelligence, and strong inw ea lt h a nd social influence. An dyet the church is weak unable tograpple successfully with th e er -ror, the immorality, an d the sinsof our country, the world, an d U f church.

And why this weakness? Whatis th e cause of this i na bi li ty o fth e church to make itself felt as apowerful a nd d om in an t force inopposition to al l these evi ls? s itno t the prevalence of a worldlys pi ri t i n t he c hu rc h? Because th echurch is so m uc h c on fo rm ed toth e w or ld , to i ts s en ti ment s an dcustoms, it c an no t e ar ne stly a ndconsis tent ly insist on reform s

dangerous sn r s

has prepared for

will come throughits own members

The mostwhich atan

the church

church wa s ready fo r Christ sf i rs t advent. We have given a me-dallion to the pope. In communistcountries we have quietly con-d on ed c hi ld re n attending schoolon the Sabbath. Christian eth-ic s w ill allow such compromise,then millions of Christians haveaccepted mar tyrdom in vain.Those who have refused to yieldtheir conscience to t he p ow er s ofthe state have ha d to go under-ground. I n c om mu ni st c ou nt ri esthose wh o h av e found themselvesin t hi s s it ua ti on ar e refusedrecognition by th e church leadersan d hundreds possibly thousands

Do we love r ighteousness morethan s in? Is th e character of Jesusbeing reflected in ou r daily lives?Ar e we overcoming si n by theblood of the Lamb? Are we read yfor the inevi table- the time oftrouble th e sealilJg, th e latterrain, the loud cry, Sa tan s per-sonaliolJ of Christ th e close ofprobation, the s ev en l as t p la gu es ,a nd th e c omin g of Christ?

HOlJestly we m us t c on fe ss thatwe are no more ready for thesecond coming than th e Jewish

Are We Ready?

have alJd what they should lJothave. These take a wa y th e ke y ofklJowledge. They refuse to elJterin themselves, an d those wh owould elJter ilJ they hilJder. Thesebear lJot the seal of th e livilJgGod. All who ]JQW occupy respOlJ-sible positiolJS should be solemlJlyalJd terribly afraid lest ilJ this

time they shall be found asUlJ

faithful stewards. Manuscript15, 1886; Paulson Collection

OU rm oulld tion


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LosingOurFirst

LoveEllen White

E V E RT H E L E S S I h a v esomewhat against thee be-cause t ho u h as t l ef t t hy f ir st love.R e m e m b e r t h r o r r o mwhence thou art fallen an d re -pent an d do th e first works; orelse I will come unto thee quick-ly an d will remove thy candle-stick ou t of his place e xc ep t t ho ur ep en t. Bu t this thou hast thatth ou h ate st t he de ed s of th e Nico-laitans which I also hate. He thathath an ear le t hi m hear whatthe Spirit s. i th unto th e churches;To hi m that o ve rc om et h w il l Igive to eat of the tree of lifewhich is in t he m id st of th e para-dise of God. Revelation 2:4-7

Nevertheless I have somewhatagainst thee because thou hastleft th y first love. Thine is adecay a declension in holy zeal-n ot f or sa ke n is th e object of itbu t lost is t he f er vo r. Th e firstaffection of th e convert to Christis deep full a nd a rd en t. is no tnecessary that this lo ve s ho uldbecome less as knowledge increas-es as the mOre an d i ncre ase d

l ight shines upon him. That loveshould become more fervent as hebecomes bet te r a cq ua in te d w it hhis Lord. God sees that there isnot hea rt s erv ice a love for Je-sus an earnest zea l in His work.

We must carefully

review the ground

over which we have

traveled

Remember therefore fromwhence thou art fallen an d re-pent an d do the first works; orelse I will come un to th ee quick-ly an d will remove th y candle-s ti ck o ut of h is p lace excep t thourepent How much need there isfo r th e people of Go d at this time

to consider th e words of th eesty o f heaven and carefreview the ground over wthey have traveled an d seeunder st an d whe re the verys tep w as taken in the wrongAbsence of zeal and devotionearnest willing service incause of God shows how indomany professed fol lowersChrist are ho w destitute ofnest heartfelt effort. They mh av e b ee n going o n f ro m s tr ento strength from light togreater light. They migh t hbecome st rong i n faith ha dwalked on f rom step tothinking more of Christ thathemselves.

Th e Lord ha s a right to exmore of His bel ieving ch ildrt ha n t he y g iv e Him. E ve ry iv id ua l C hr is ti an is indeedl igh t of th e world. Christ iconnect with Christ. They re fth e charac ter of Christ . Thave b ee n e nt ru st ed with gtreasures of light; th e oracleGod have been given to t


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Could mortals find language more

impressive, more to the point, than the

words of Christ words of Him who say

I know thy works ?

and in these they have been thor-oughly fu rnis hed un to al l goodworks . Every provision has beenmade and why have the individ-ua l members of the church wea-ried of th eir Lord? Why does hewho professes to love God refuseto obtain from th e Source of l ightan d power th e oi l of grace thathe may be a bright an d shininglight? The church ha s h ad g reatopportuni t ies great pr ivi legesand why is th e light growingd im? Why does i t no t shine to th eworld? His church whose individua l members ar e advancinggrowing in grace and in th eknowledge of Jesus Christ, is th eelected means of the Redeemer ssystem for enl igh tening an d sav-ing the world. Christ lived an ds uf fe re d a nd died to establish achurch capable of doing thisnoble work. He bought her, Hecleansed her with His own blood,and clothed her with th e gar-men ts of His sa l vation. He laidthe cornerstone upon the blood-s tained rock of Calvary. He madeHis church t he d ep os it ar y o f Hi sp re ci ou s l aw a nd transferredinto he r hands in a high an d holysense the work of car ry ing outHis holy designs; that th e churchs ho ul d t ak e th e work when Heleft it , an d carry i t f or wa rd to it sconsummation.

Th e Lord of righ teo us ness isw al ki ng a mi d th e golden cand le -sticks. An d He w at ch es e ve ry di mb ur ni ng l amp of His individu albe lieve rs, and says, Remembertherefore from wh enc e th ou artfallen, an d repent, and do th ef ir st works; Or else I will comeunto thee quickly, and will re -move thy candles ti ck out of hisplace except thou repent. Hethat hath an ear, le t hi m hearwhat the Sp ir it s ai th unto thechurches ; To hi m th at overcom-et h will I give to ea t of the treeof li fe , w hi ch is in the midst ofthe paradise of God. Could mor-tals f in d l an gu ag e more impres-sive more to th e point, than thesewords of Christ-words of Himwho says, know thy works ?He presents th e necessity of ob-taining all the zeal an d earnest-ness and energy that has everglowed in th e soul. An d thosewho ha ve c ast off responsibility,

and are content to have theirl ig ht f li ck er in g and dim, Jesuswould arouse to a sense of theirobligation to le t their l ight shine.He tells them that i f they do no tr ep en t o f t he ir falling a wa y f ro mt he ir f ir st love He will come sud-denly, an d remove their candle-stic k o ut of its place. As in th ecase of the unfruitful tree, thecommand will be given, Cut itdown; why cumbereth i t th eground?

God will accept nothing lessthan th e whole heart. Happy ar ethey who from the commence-ment of their rel igious life havebeen true to their f i rs t lovegrowing in grace and knowledge

of our Lord Jesus Christ. Th esure resul t of the ir intercoursean d fellowship w it h t he ir belovedLord will be to increase theirpie ty, their purity, their fervor.They are receiving a divineeducation, an d this is illustratedin a life of fervor, of diligencean d zeal. They have that faithconstantly b ec om in g s tr on ge rwhich works by love a nd p ur if ie sth e soul. Theirs is a childlikedevotion developing itself intoactivities o f h ol in es s g iv in gproof by th e most expressiveoutward ac t of their inwardg ra ti tu de , t he heartfelt joy an ddevoted a ttachmen t to Jesus theirRedeemer, the divine Restorer.

T ho se who h av e b een g ro win gin harmony with the world incustom, in p rac ti ce, in thoughts,are not growing in grace. Theirprayers become less an d less fer-vent an d intelligent. They seemlifeless an d cold an d dead. Theymust repent . They are calledupon to be inwardly grieved anda sh am ed a nd c on fu se d b ef or e th e

Lord f or t he ir w an t of love.should blame themselves,humbly confess before Godcondemn themselves. Theycome back, retrace their stepan d do th e first works; takeagain firmly in faith wherelet go, recover their first zetheir conscientious, tenderfo r Go d an d Hi s precious t rThey must pray as earnest ly,watch s diligently, as whenlight of Christ s forgiving,d on in g l ov e first fell uponsouls. A sev ere thr eateni ng froG od f ol lo ws i f this workdone. I will come untoquickly, and wil l removec an dl es ti ck o ut o f hi s place.

we l ike Chorazin an dsaida, ar e exal ted to heavenpoint of privilege and, nots ta nd in g t he abundant m er cyloving tender compassionGod, i nd i f f e r en t ly regardgreat privileges and are nosponding to the li gh t an dtunities b es to we d, He willin judgments fo r impenitencHis churches, and remove tlight, and le t darkness takplace. Those who are connw ith Chr ist , b ear in g the yoChrist, a nd l if ti ng H is b urwill be constantly self-denpartakers w it h C hr is t of Hiferings. They will be oneChrist, in deep s ym pa th yHi m wh o loved us an d gaveself fo r us that He mightus to His side in heaven. Ththe religion t ha t i s earnest, dfirm and far-reaching, andsures res t, and peace , and ful lneof joy.

The only wa y to grow inis to be interestedly doingvery work Christ ha s enj

u r i r m o u ll d at i on


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The angels hold the four winds, forbidding

the terrible power of Satan to be exercis

in its fury until the servants of God are

sealed in their foreheads

upon us to do-interestedly en -gaged to the very extent of ou ra bili ty to be helping and blessingthose wh o need the help we ca ngive them. This is th e only waywe ca n grow in grace and in th eknowledge of Jesus C hr is t. C hr is -t ians wh o a re cons tan tly growingin earnestness, in zeal , i n fervor in love-such C h ri st ia n s n e ve rb ac ks li de . T he y are becomingmore closely ident i f ied with th eSaviour in al l Hi s plans. Th ey a repartakers of the divine nature,hav ing escaped the cor rup t ionthat is in the w orl d through lust.Their wisdom is increasing, theirability ho w to work. They seemto comprehend th e largest plans.They are ready to engage in th emost s t i r r ing e nt er pr is es , a n dthey have no room for slothful-ness; they cannot f ind a place fo rstagnation.

Those wh o are ever pressing alittle closer to th e world, and be -coming more like them in feel-ings, in plans, in i de as , h av e lef ta space between them and th eSaviour, and Satan has press edhis way i nt o t hi s space, an d low,worldly-ta inted, sel fish plans be -come interwoven with their ex -perience. G od s vo ic e is address-in g this class, which ar e no t few; He that hath an ear, le t hi mhear what th e S pirit saith untothe churches . t is o f conse-quence that yo u h e ar a t te n ti ve l yan d obey. Come into close rela-tionship with Christ. Keep yoursouls in c on st an t c on ta ct w it h t heworld, and i ts c us to ms will be-come your cu sto ms , i ts practiceswill become your practices, i fyo u p lace yourselves where yo uwill see a nd h ea r an d feel a nd a ctas they do.

Come out from among them,an d be ye separate, saith theLord, an d touch no t th e unclean.[2 Corinthians 6:17] Turn quicklyto Jesus Chr i st . Yield y ou r p ri de ,your self-love, your selfish aspi-r at io ns , y ou r love of the w or ld,which are death to spirituality.R ep en t q ui ck ly . Delay not indeciding, lest you be too late.Elevate your soul s aspirations tohigher spheres of a ct io n i n Chris-t i an act ivi t ie s . Those wh o do thisar e th e only class in our churchesthat will grow. They wi ll speed ily

a t tain t he hi gh es t m or al efficien-cy and th e clearest spiritual per-ceptions. T hey w il l h av e u n us ua lvigor a nd s te ad in es s o f fa ith .They will know ho w to p ray an dbe persevering and earnes t inprayer. And al l those who aredeeply a nd i nt er es te dl y engagedin the salva tion of others ar e th emare surely working out theirown souls salvation with fearand trembling. The piety thatdoes no t reveal itself in workinginterestedly fo r others, will be-come a form, strengthened, big-oted, sel f -conce it ed . Coming incon tac t with souls fo r whomChrist has d ie d, s ee ki ng to bringthem to repentance, an d evidenc-

in g a love fo r their souls, willcall them ou t of themselves, sothat they will no t be exclusivelyengaged fo r their ow n s elf is h i n-terests, either in t em po ra l p ur -suits or in spiritual things. Go dhas shown t to be ou r duty no t tolive fo r ourselves. Christ pleasedno t Himself.

Th e times of ignorance Go dwinked at , but now, with th eb lazing l igh t of t ruth shining al laround us, with warnings, withreproofs, with increasing l ight i fwe will bu t open ou r eyes to seeit , there is no excuse fo r any,even the weakest child of God,that he s ho ul d n ot d is pe rs e l ightto th e world. Th e four angels ar eholding the four winds that aspecial work may be accom-plished: t he s ai nt s of Go d ar e tobe sealed in the i r foreheads.Brethren, how long before youwill be ready fo r th e seal of God?Every step yo u advance upon th epath which God forbids, towardyour ow n pleasure and in sin, is astep neare r your des t ruc t ion .

Every ac t of disobedienceWord of th e Lord is exposingto irreparable loss. Every mof ease, of self-indulgence,cured by yo u in n eg le ct in gdivine admonitions a nd cduty in earnes t w ork forMaster, is placing yo u undepower and control of th eof d ark ne ss . Your c and le st ickma y at any moment b e m ov edof i ts p lace .

Four mighty angels ar eholding th e four winds oearth. Terrible destructionb id de n t o come in full. Th edents by lan d an d by sea; thof l ife, steadily increasing,storm, by tempest , by ra

disaster, by conflagration;terrible floods, t he ear thquaa nd the w i nd s w il l be th e stup of the nations to on e dcombat , wh il e th e a nge ls h ol dfour winds, forbidding t hebl e power of Satan to becised in it s fury until thvants of Go d ar e sealed inforeheads. G et r ea dy, g et r eabeseech you, ge t ready befshall be forever too lateministers of vengeance wil lal l th e terrible judgments uGod-forsaken people. The wobedience is th e only p ath oMa y the Lord help yo u toin t ime to open your ears,yo u may hear what th esaith unto th e churches.

What is my duty? What sdo to save my c hild re n a ndsave many souls from th e ctempest of wrath unmixedmercy? God claims every pevery capability of actioninves ted in the doing ofwork. Talents, possessions, evething that is great and nob


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When the candlestick refuses to reflect

light and the great truths committed to

us individually are not given to the world

then the candlestick will be removed

man He calls to be e xe rc is ed i nHi s wor k. Duty admits no rivalenters in to no compromise withan y opposing powers. Th e mostprecious friends an d relativesmust not step in between yourdu ty an d your God. The voice ofduty is the voice of God in oursouls. Obedience to it s claimsbrings us in to ving personalagreement with th e high est lawin the universe brings man in toal liance with God.

Let the ch urch es be aroused. He that hath an ear let himhear what th e Spirit saith untothe churches. This message con-cerns al l ur churches. You cannever employ your facu l ty of

hear ing be lt er than in hearkeningto hear what th e voice of Go dspeaks to you in Hi s Word. Thereis a rich and abundant promise to

those who overcome. is no tenough to enter upon this war-fare; we mus t pur sue it to theend. We must kn ow no th in g ofyielding. We must fight th e goodfight of faith to th e very end. Tothe overcomer is promised thet riumphal vic tory. To hi m thatovercometh will I give to eat ofthe tree of life which is in th emidst of the paradise of God.Wh at ev er wa s lo st in th e fall ofAdam is more than r es to re d inredemption. He that sitteth on th ethrone saith Behold I ma ke allthings new. Let us look closelyan d critically to ourselves. Arenot the vows we entered into atour baptism violated? Ar e wedead to the world and a li ve u nt oChrist? Are we seeking thosethings which ar e above whereChrist sitteth at th e r ig ht h an d ofGod? Is the cable cu t w hich an -chored us to the eternal Rock?

Ar e we drifting with th e currentto perdition? Shall we make noeffort to press an d u rge o ur pas-sage upstream? Let us no t hesi-tate longer bu t vigorously applyth e oars; an d le t us do ou r firstworks ere we make hopeless ship-wreck.

It is our work to know ourspecial failings an d sins whichcause darkness a nd s pi ri tu al fee-bleness a nd q ue nc he d ou r firstlove. Is it worldliness? Is it self-ishness? Is it the love of self-esteem? Is t str iving to be first?Is it th e sin of sensuality that isintensely active? Is it the sin ofth e Nicolaitans turning th e graceof God in to la sciviousnes s? Is it

the misuse and abuse of greatl ight and oppor tuni ties and privi -leges making b oa st ed c la im s towisdom and rel ig ious knowledge .while the life and charac te r areinconsistent and immoral? What-ever it is that has been pettedand culti va te d un ti l it has be-come strong and overmastering.make determined efforts to ove r-come else you will be lost. isthese cherished sins. abhorrent toGod that make en f ee bled mo ra lcourage an d leave yo u to chooseto walk apart from God whileyou retain a miserable heartlessoutward form. Once th e soul wasal l aglow with love fo r Jesus; butall this is changed. Th e greatHead who moves in the midst ofHis candlesticks will n ev er bewithout a church. There will befaithless ones wh o will go ou tfrom us because they were not ofus. There wi ll be apost as ie s. But never the le ss the founda ti ofGod standeth sure having thisseal th e Lord knoweth them thatar e his. [ Timothy 2:19] There

will be those wh o ar e evil h old t he t ruth in unrighteousneswho are sensual who aretrolled by t he mas te r-worke ral l evil wh o w ill h av e to ber at ed f ro m t he church .

I know thy w or ks and tlabor an d th y patience an dthou canst not bear them war e evil; an d t ho u h as t triedwhich say they ar e apostlesar e not an d hast foundliars. [Revelation 2:2] Thisof purifying th e church is afu l work bu t one that mustbe neglected i f t he c hu rc h whave th e c om me nd at io n o fBut repent because thou hastth y first love. Here is plpresented before us our workmembers of t he c hu rc h of C we are faithless we shallth e CrOwn of life an d anwill take it ; for in th e dropout of the faithless the places upp lied by t he f ai th fu l. refuse to let ou r light s hi neth e Master i f we do no t dworks of God others will dovery work which we mightdone and could have done refused to do. When we ceaful f i l l our mission whencandles t ick refuses to relight and the great truthsmitted to us individually inf or the world. are not giventhem then the candlestick wr emoved . I will come untoquick ly and will removecandlestick ou t of hi s place.Another will be placed istead an d will shine . Let prabe ascending no w withoutto Hi m wh o w al ke th i n th eof th e golden candlesticks.no t th y Holy Spiri t from me with hyssop anshall be clean: wash meshall be w hi te r t ha n snow Create in me a c le an h ear tGod; and renew a right

within me. Cast me not awfrom th y presence; an d takth y holy s pi ri t f ro m me. Reunto me th e jo y of th y salvan d uphold me with th yspirit. Then will I teachgressors thy ways; and sinneshall be converted unto[Psalm 51:7 IO-l3]

Review n erald June 7 1

ebruary 1987 llr i rm Ollllda ion


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Ellen WhiteMember of the Board

Recap of Part One: Amid thetumultuous events which rocked theAdventist Church in the first yearsof this century, E.A. Sutherlandand P.T. Magb.n gai ned an experience o both sides of the matter o fmisapprehension. First allowingthemselves to be inf luenced toolargely by their old friend JohnKellogg, they showed all too welltheir distrust o f the General Con-f er en ce l ea de rs hi p. They soonfound however that they wereworking at cross purposes wi th God

in this matter. In 1904 the tableswere reversed an d when they tookup a new work the South theyfelt the sting o f their brethren slack o f confidence in them.

Ellen White refused to sidewith ei ther par ty. Support ing t ruthwherever she f ound it, and rebuk-ing the hardness of heart o f allconcerned she sought th e furtherance of God s work. Seeing theLord s leading the tw o men sdec is ion to move south she accom-panied t he m on the riverboat Morn-

Dave Fiedler

in g Star as they sought profor their project. In addition,gave the new school a benefitgranted to an y other organizafor the first and only time, EWhite agreed to serve as a meof a Board o f Directors. Itthat she did fo r the NashAgricul tura l and Normal Ins ti

was so on to f ac e h ar d times.

HE st.ruggles sinceresometlmes ernng meno t new. Still this story deour interes t. No t fo r th e keof record as to wh o was a tor th e casting of recriminaupon men long dead but folearning of lessons given oto ou r spiritual ancestors.

W he n t he M ad is on s ch oo lth e inst i tut ion was mostmonly known in it s early

came in to exis tence it met wmixed response. The relatfew workers of th e Soufield were t ha nk fu l f or an ythey could get, an d a scespecially one i n tended pr imato t ra in workers fo r the Swas a real godsend . St il l,were questions louder andpronounced th e farther nortwent as to t he i nt en ti on s ogroup of renegades. Afterthey had done some rathertling th ing s d uri ng th eir tiBerrien

Springs.The abolishing of degreeins tance. And operating a con a farm. A nd having stuspend half their t im e w or ki nga trade. But the biggest Qumark wa s t h ei r u n fo r tu n at eh ea te d r es ig na tio n andavowal that they could no lwork with th e brethren aGeneral Conference.

T he t emptat ion was stroncu t al l ties an d let the littleof pioneer educators driftTo be re lie ve d o f th eir preseemed the easiest wa y outuncomfortable s it ua ti on . I nit appeared to be th e onlyout, for the conference now hno control of the situationever. was a perplexitysure.

Th e wh ole sto ry is not knnow. Writing to t he Workerst he Madi son School Sister


17/32

t is your privilege, Brother Daniells,let these brethren understand that they

have your confidence and encourageunentin the work they are doing

counseled , S ilence is e loquence .To open up all matters concern-ing th e beginning of your workat Madison would not be wisdom.I have just received a letterr eg ar di ng y ou r work, but I ca nnot now deal with i t as I wish. Iwish to say to you, Be wise asserpents and as harmless as doves . t

will no t be safe to tr y tomake al l understand everything.Those things that ar e of a privatecharacter, you should not makepublic. Let them be kept withint he k no wl ed ge of your specialfew.,,2

We can but i ma gi ne h ow manymen in positions of responsibilityspen t s le ep le ss h ou rs w r es tl in gwith th e question of ho w th echurch should re la te to thisdeparture from al l normal pro-cedure. Th e s am e g os pe l of Lukewhich says He that is no tagainst us is fo r us, 9:50 alsosa ys He that is not with me isagainst me. 11:23 Wh ich ve rs ewould apply? Where di d th is ne wschool r eal ly s t and?

A good course to f ol low w ouldhave been to check with th eo rg an iz at io n s b oa rd . E sp ec ia ll ymight they h a v e asked EllenWhite. Perhaps th e inquiry wasmade. Perhaps th e strangeness ofthe s it ua ti o n p re ve nt ed theanswer from real ly s inking in.

Whatever th e case, d ur in g th eyears of 1906, 1907, and 1908 wefind a stream of letters encourag-ing the workers at Madison, andexhor ting the leaders of variousconferences to press in to help inthe work a t Nash vi l l e 3 Oftengifts of money were suggested.But there were even more bas icneeds. Writing to Elder A.G.Dan ie ll s, S is te r Whi te said:

Words of inst ruct ion weregiven to me to speak to yo u andElder Evans, and Elder Wash-burn. I said, Yo u have a work todo t o e nc ou ra ge th e school workin Madison, Tennessee . There arebu t fe w teachers among us wh ohave had experience in carryingforward th e work in hard places.Th e workers wh o have been striv-in g to carry out the mind andwill of God in Madison have notrecei ved the encouragemen t theyshould have had. Unless Brother

Sutherland is relieved of some ofthe pressure that is upon hi m hew il l f al l under t he b ur de n.

You may ask what is needed. answer it is encouragement

t is your privilege, BrotherDaniells, an d the pri vi le ge ofthose who have wide influence inth e work, to le t these brethren

understand that they have yourconfidence and encouragement inth e w or k th ey ar e bravely doing.B r o t h e r u t h e r l n d is in aprecarious state of health. We canno t afford to lose hi m Meansshould be appropr ia ted to theneeds of the work in Madison,th a t th e labor of the teachersma y no t be so hard in th efuture.,,4

The gul f between th e tw opa rti es was not eas il y spanned. InNovember of 1907, C.C. Crisler

wrote A.G. Daniells offering hisu nd er st an di ng o f th e difficulty.From la te r even ts, it appears tha the misapprehended certain pointsof th e situation. Still, hi s letteroffers a va luable insight into thet hi nk in g o f th e day.

Express ing his former concerntha t some of S ut he rla nd a ndMagan s ideas regarding inde-pendent work were no t fully in

a cc ord w it h the general ly ac -cepted views we have held on or-ganization, he explained how heha d r es ol ve d t he di le mm a in hi sow n mind:

As soon as I fromProfessor Suther land tha t theoriginal design of himself and hi sassociates to found a new schoolthat would be en ti r ely independ-ent and self-suppor ting, was n otcarried ou t because of instructionthrough Sister White to maintaina living connection with their

brethren, an d to look tob re th ren for partial support,ray of light entered my mi ndthought I could now se e adi ffe rence b etw een th e scthey have established at Madian d th e sort of school theythought of establishing. Atrien Springs th ey we re propo

to c arry fo rwa rd , in the Southfield independent institutionwork in the manner in whichdependent priv te work is carrforward by an individu l nothe employ of an y conferenThey were counseled not tothis, but to help individualsf mili s or groups o f individ(not institutions please note),demons t ra te the feas ib i l i tycarry ing on self -supporting was self -s uppor t ing Seventh-dAdvent is t missionaries. T

whom Professor Sutherlandhis associates were to tr ain , wto establish sm ll centers Ofluence NOT TRAINING SCHOOLS,a se l f - suppor t ing b as is ., ,5 (emphasis his.

E xa ct ly w ha t great difence in the nature of the scBrother Cr is l er though t he sathe result of its not being locin a more isolated location

f i r s t c o n t e m p l a t e d - i s atobscure. I t is cer ta in , though, thatthe limitations as to workinges tab li sh only i n di vi du a ls i nsionary service, fell fa r shorEllen White s concept. She wro

Every possible means shoube devised to establish schoolsthe Madison order in variparts of the So uth f mmore in other schools were receiving a similar training, wea people w ou ld be com e atacle to th e world, to angels,

irm Ollndalion


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In the matter of the Madison school,there has been a standing off from them

because they were not under theownership and control of some conference

to men. Th e message would becarried to every country, andsouls no w in darkness would bebrought to th e light. 6

Every possible means wa sprobably used, at least by thew or ke rs a t M ad is on , and by 1909thi rteen rural schools were edu-cating more than 500 chi ld ren. In

the years to come, more thanforty such enterprises were estab-lished, some of which -con t r a -dicting Brother Crisler s expecta-t ions-c lear ly deserve th e t i t leatraining school.

Brother Crisler s misunder-standing of Ma di son s work is notmentioned to detract from his in -telligence or dedication. to th eLord s work, bu t to point ou t howdifficult it was fo r good meneve n those working closely withEllen White (Crisler wa r ked at

that time as on e of her literaryassistan ts), to u n de rs ta nd h owthi s new entity could fi t into th edenominational scheme of things.

Still , when he wrote ElderDaniells, he brought to light onevalid problem area: There is oneposition taken by the members ofthe Madison faculty, that is oftenmisunderstood-and possibly notalways without cause, because ofthe use of certain terms in a ttempting to express th e i dea. Thi sposition is w it h r eg ar d to condi-

tionsthat ma y p re va il i n th e fu -

ture, at the time when thousands,w it h f aces l ighted up with holyjoy will o forth into al l p ar ts o fthe earth to proclaim th e message.

The breth ren at Madison holdthat as th e t ime of th e en d ap-proaches, mare an d still moreself -supporting work will be doneb y con secr at ed men and women.. _ . Thousands will go forth intoal l parts of th e world becausethey are impelled by t he S p ir it ofGod to o They will go no t asd is o rg a ni ze d i n te g e rs , bu t asmembers of on e united body; ye tthey will at times be isolatedfrom t he ir fellows, an d will becompelled to look to Go d alone astheir Counselor. While laboring inharmony with t h e i r bre threnelsewhere they will not look toa ny o rg an iz ed b od y fo r support,bu t will trust in Go d to supplytheir necessities

Of course, we cannot nowforesee just how this will be donein detail, in every instance, in atime when i t will have becomealmost impossible to keep incommunica t i on w ith a ll thevarious parts of Our organization.As we enter these times th e Lordwho has taught an d led us thus

fa r will surely show us th e rightwa y

It is my conviction that theless we say no w about ho w wema y find things in th e future,with regard to forms of oTfSaniza-t ion, the bet te r i t w ill be.

We have here some good ad-vice w hic h m igh t profitably beconsidered even by some to day.When we go beyond the clear,definite teachings of Scripture,an d begin to fill in details ofw h i c h we h a v e no s u r e

knowledge,

on thispoint and that , we inevitablyp rod uce u l t y specu l a t i onswhich, in Ellen White s words,would bet ter be strangled in thecradle. 8

Considering Adventism s right-fu l emphasis on th e end of al lthings, and e sp ec ia ll y t ak ing intoaccoun t th e turmoil of a fewyears before con ce rn ing Sundaylaws in various states, it is no tdifficult to see how th e attentionof the Madison f ac ul ty w ou ld befocused on th e closing up of thisworld s history. But to attempt toe xp la in j us t how th e L ord s w or kwill be carried ou t under th econditions of a time of troublesuch as never was, is to invitemisunderstanding. Such an effortmay be prompted by motives as harmless as a dove, but i t f al lsfar short of be in g as wise as aserpent.

Brother Crisler s best ein th e latter part of 1907unable to resolve-or evenidentify-the issues which cthe b re th re n to remain somealoof from the group at MaBut a clearer understandingno t lo ng i n coming. On Septem23 1908 a much mor e acc

analysis of th e difficultyf ro m Ellen White:

T he Lord has instructedth a t from th e f irs t, the woHuntsville an d Madison shave received adequate helpins t ead o f th is he lp b

r en d er ed p r om p tl y, thereb ee n l on g d el ay. And in th eter of th e Madison schoolhas been a standing of fthem because they were node r t he o wn er sh ip a nd c on trsome conference. This is a

tio n tha t s ho ul d s om e ti m esconsidered, but i t is notL or d s p la n that means shouldw it hh el d f ro m Madison, becthey are no t bound to thef er en ce . T he attitude whichof our brethren have asstoward thi s enterpr ise shows tit is no t wise for every woagency to be under t he d ic taof conference officers . TherSOffie enterprises u nd er c er taconditions, that wil l p roduceter results i f standing alone.

When my advice was askreference to the Madison schosaid, Remain as yo u are. Thea da ng er in binding everyin g agency under th e dictatiot he conference . Th e Lord didesign that this should beci rcumstances were such thab urden be are rs in the MaSchool could not bind upwork with th e conference. I


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toMan

their situation l an d when manyof the leading men in ou r f erences ignored them l becausethey did not place their schoolunder conference dictation l I wasshown that they would not behelped by making themselvesamenable to t he c on fe re nc e. T he yha d be tt er r emain as le d by God,amenable to Hi m to work ou t Hi splans. g

was difficult fo r me n tounderstand how they might co-operate with an d even support anendeavor over which they heldno control. Perhaps i t involved acertain amount of f e a r - f e a r ofthe unknowll l t he unpredict able.Perhaps it in vo lv ed p ri de . Wemay never know, no r is i t neces-sary that we should. After all, theLord is the judge of such matters.

Bu t still we ma y learn fromthe experience. would be well

to p on de r w ha t ou r own reac t ionsmight h av e b een ha d we been in-volved with these events of 80years ago. Would we have co-o pe ra te d w it h those wh o lenttheir inf luence to the closing of aschool about which the Lord smessenger could write:

T he work that th e l ab or ers

h av e a c co m p li sh e d a t M ad is onhas done more to give a correctknowledge of what an all-roundeducation means than an y otherschool that has been estab li shedby S ev e nt h- da y A d v en ti st s inAmerica. The Lord ha s giventhese teachers in the South aneducat ion tha t is of highestvalue, an d it is a t ra in in g t ha tGod will be pleased to have al lou r youth receive. l0

What would we have done?Where would our influence have

beenfeIt? These questions ar e

hypothetical, of COurse. Bu tdeserve ou r thought. We sp on de r t he past often, for,late as we may, we knowwhat th e future holds.

Sec Emmett K. Vande VerWisdom Seekers

2. U ll pu bl is he d M al lu sc ri pi T

nies, [ Spau ld in g a nd Magan Colle3933 Sec ibid., 375, 376, 385-38

393,395,396,398-403,410-412,4 Ibid., 395, 3965. c.c. Crisler, Th e Vallle

izatioll [tract], 1914, n.p., 38, 39 UHpublished Manuscript T

nies, 4237 Crisler, ap. ci t., 42, 438 Sewmth day Adventist Bibl

melltary vol. 6, 10649 Letter 314, 1907,

Daniells an d Evans;Release, 582, 4, 5

1 Letter 168, 1908; ManRelease 883, 14

R USSELL AND C OL IN Standish, twin sons an deldest in a family of four children, were bornin Newcastle, Australia. Fo r th e f ir st f ou r years theyattended public schools, but fo r the rest of theirprimary [elementary] and secondary educa tion , theya tt en de d t he N ew ca st le Adventist school. They thencompleted th e two-year teacher-education diploma atAvondale College before teaching in denominationalprimary schools in Australia.

Both were awarded their Bachelor of Arts withhonors in psychology at th e University of Sydney,but from there the i r careers and service havediverged. Russell then completed medicine, choosingto specialize in internal medicine, an d achievedmembership in the Royal College of Physicians,United K in gd om , w hi le Col in comple ted h is M as te rof Arts an d Doctor of P hilo so ph y, b ot h in psychol-ogy, an d then a second Masters in education.

Currently, Russell is Medica l Di rec to r of PenangA dv en ti st H os pi ta l i n M ala ys ia , w hil e Colin is serv-ing as president o f H art la nd Institute in Rapidan,Virginia. Both Russel l and Colin are orda ined ,credentialed ministers of t he Seven th -day AdventistChurch. They ar e deeply concerned in the issuespresently affecting th e chu rch , an d have carefullys tu die d o ur landmark beliefs. They have written aseries of si x books in defense of t he h i sto ri c truths ofAdventism.

To Order:Enclose 4.95 fo r e ach volume o rd er ed a nd s end t o

Books by t he S ta nd ish Brothers

Vol. 1 ADVENTISM IMPERILEDCritical issues i n C h ri s ti an education today

Vol. 2 ADVENTISM VINDICATEDThe b ibl ica l message of righteousness by faith

Vol. 3 ADVENTISM UNVEILEDThe b ibl ica l foundation of th e sanctuary mes

Vol. 4 ADVENTISM PROCLAIMEDT he t hr ee a ng el s messages today

Vol. 5 ADVENTISM JEOPARDIZEDA biblical approach to home, family, an dt ional issues facing AdveiI tis t famil ies

Vol. 6 a A DV EN TI SM CHALLENGED:Th e Gathering Storm

Vol. 6b ADVENTISM CHALLENGED:T he S to rm B ur sts

A history of th e doctrinal con trover si es inSeventh-day A dv en ti st c h ur c h a nd t he ir effect

HARTLAND PUBLICATIONSP.O. Box 1Rapidan. Virginia 22733


20/32

The ower

of Music

Part TwoH. loyd Leno

A s NOTED IN our previousarticle m usic enters themind on the subconscious le velbecause it is received first by th ethalamus which record s it ase it he r a p le asant or an unpleasantsensation. The cortex is not in-volved the powers of reason andjudgment are not employed. No wn ot ic e t he se statements by EllenWhite: Satan has no objection tomusic i f he can make that ac ha nn el t hr ou gh which to gainaccess to t he m in ds of t he y ou th .Testimonies, vol. 506) Satan

knows what organs to excite toanimate, engross, and charm themind. Ibid., 497

T he i mp li ca ti on of these fo rth e Chri st ian shou ld be frighten-ing especially when consideredalong with these statements: T henatural mind leans toward pleas-ure and self-gratification Coun-sels to Parents Teachers and Stu-dents, 325); Satan is using everymeans to make crime an d debas-i ng v ic e popular Th e mind iseducated to familiarity with sinPatriarchs and Prophets 459 ;

When it suits hi s pu rpo se , he[Satan] ca n impart to men senti-ments tha t are enchanting. Coun-sels t Parents, Teachers, and Stu-dents,

Now if m usic can affect ussubconsciously, we need to knowjust what effect it has. Scientific

2 OUI il m oundatioll

investigations p ro ve m us ic canbring about mood c ha nge s by af -fecting the body chemistry ande le ct rol yt e ba la nc e. B ut can thethoughts be affected by musicwithout words? Mrs. White wrote: No one who has an indwellingSaviour will dishonor H im b ef or eothers by producing strains froma musical instrument which callthe mind from God an d heavento light a nd t ri fl in g things. Tes-timonies, vol. 1,510

Note that in this instance itwas instrumental music that she

There s a reasonfor the close affinityo f certain music withcertain activity

warned would call the mindfrom God to li ght an d t rif lin gthings. Again, with the sameconcern, she spoke of music that, instead of inciting to holinessand sp i r i tua l i ty, ha s been themeans of diverting their mindsfrom th e truth. Immediately, shequalif ies the type of music: frivolous songs and popular

sheet music an d in the nextence she again spoke of thof of music. (I497) Other express ions such pleasing i n f a tua t i on (506), depr ve the imaginatIbid., vol. 4, 653), an d

dance of enthusiasm and aof inspiration Counsels toents, Teachers , and Students, 3show a causal relationshiptween th e musical atmosphand the mood of th e peopvolved.

By contrast, she descr ibeactivities of those enrolledschools of th e prophets: N oolous waltz was heard . Fmentals o f Christian EducationWhatever the music was, we kit was a kind opposed toity.

Our brief survey of scies tu di es showe d that responsmusic can be physical thatc ul ar e ne rg y ca n be affemo vem en t can be inhibitedstimulated and that repetrhythmic music ha s a hypeffect. Mrs. White warn ed Satan knows what organsc i t e to animate engross charm the mind. Other stments which relate music toical activity are these: Musicpower to promote harmonyaction Education, 168), alous ditty, f it fo r th e dance


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Testimonies, vol. I, 506) Speakingof th e effect of a certain kind ofmusic sh e wrote: t p re pa re s t heparticipants fo r u nh ol y t ho ug htand action. Counsels to Parents,Teachers and Students, 339

Music an d Environment

I f s cie nt if ic in v es ti ga t iousregarding music are v alid an d th einspired counsel is correctly in -terpreted, we should be able tofind some evidence in l i fe situa-tions that music does, in fact,ha ve a n i nf lu en ce and that thisha s been true throughout history_Furthermore, we want t o d iscoverwhat type of music was, an d is,detrimental to character.

A great deal ca n be learnedfrom observing music in it s origi-na l setting, and it s ba sic f un c-

tion.Some would

o bj ec t t o a con-s id er at io n o f association as evi-dence of musical meaning andinfluence; bu t there is a reasonfo r th e close a ffi ni ty o f certainkinds of music w it h c er ta in ac -tivity. t cannot be mere coinci-dence. t has to do with th e in -trinsic qualit ies of th e musicalmater ia l . As Finkles te in says: The h um an i ma ge ry of music,th e ke y to it s content, is con-firmed by people t hr ou gh t he irvery use of it.,,1

Recen tly Blue Cross InsuranceCompany issued a study of th eyouth scene in A me ric a e nti tle dAdolescence for Adults. Believingt ha t p ub li c hea l th educa t ionstarts wi th unders t and ing , BlueCross commissioned a group ofsociologis ts , psychologists , andwriters from various educationalinstitutions to make a n i n- de pt hstudy of th e y ou th c ul tu re , it sphilosophy, mores, an d morals.

The ana lysi s of th e musicalscene enti t led Songs of theHang-Loose Ethic begins withthis provoca ti ve sta temen t Pop-ular music has troubled Ameri-cans ever since th e turn of th ecentury when ragtime and jazzbegan to evolve an d be played inth e off -limits of sou the rn a ndeastern cities. From it s inception,it was colored with some of theil l repute of the peoples fromwhich it sprang . . . an d eversince many people have wor-

Tied over th e v ulg ariz in g a ndi mm or al iz in g i nf lu en ce s of thewild ne w music.,,2

History b ea rs o ut th e accuracyof this s t at emen t wi th o ne e xc ep -tion, th e dating of ragtime. Ac-cording to th e black-music his-to r ian E il ee n S ou th ern , p ia nor ag ti m e d ev el op ed dur ing the

years 1865 to 1875. Mins t re lshows (vaudev i l l e theater) alsoemerged at this time. s

T hr ou gh t he syncopa ted banjof igures used in these per for-mances, th e music of t he m in st re lshows contributed directly to th e

The etymology

the name jazz isdoubtless significant

develop men t of rag t ime . (Theterm rag was used synonymouslyw it h t he word syncopation.)

According to Southern, Thefusion of the blues an d ragtimewith th e brass band and synco-p at e d d an ce music resulted in th em usic c all ed jazz.,,4 Descriptivenames f or f un ct io na l music ar ecommon, an d th e etymology ofth e name jazz is d ou bt le ss s ig -ni f ican t . Many ingred ien ts ofjazz, as well as j az z i ts el f, wereso closely associated with theimmoral entertainment world ofwhich i t wa s a part and so ap -propriate for th e brothels, it wasonly n a tu r al t ha t a t er m w it h thisconnotation should be chosen.

Webster s New World Dictionarystates: Jazz, C re ol e p at oi s (dia-lect) jass, a s exual t er m a ppl ie dto th e Congo dances (New Or -leans): present use from Chicago,c 1914 bu t f ro m e ar li er similaruse in th e vice district of Ne wOrleans. Th e h is to ri an B o rr o ffquotes a f am ou s b la ck entertainerwh o confirms that jass was a f o u r- l e t t e r w o r d common inth e Ne w Orleans brothels Later, t became a common s lang expres-sion fo r sexua l in te rcourse in

many parts of the United StatesSome have a t tempted to equa

th e entire po pul ar ja zz musicscene with folk music. Some foltype elements such as the fiehollers, work songs, and sp ir i tua lwere am ong the elem ents thcontributed to jazz, bu t th e resuwas n ot mor e f ol k music . Jazz h

no para l le l anywhere in tworld. t is a distinctive musicmani fes ta t ion whose style adevelopment bear no resemblancto an y body of folk literaturan yw he re . T he success o f tma ny State Department toursjazz groups to al l parts ofworld is conv inc ing evidenceth e universal appeal of jazz.

Continuing as an i n teg ra l pa rof the lower class entertainmenw or ld , j az z s oo n b ec am e acceptin a ll e co no mi c levels of socie

Through th e years it evolved achanged with th e social climaan d created a lucrative industryEven though ne w styles emergedth e old ones continued to be usTod ay j az z exists in many formin addition to its fusion witrock, older forms have beenvived.

t seems more than a meco inc idence tha t dur ing theyears 1865-1869) Ellen G. Whs ho ul d r ec ei ve visions withstruction an d warnings fo r Sen th-day Advent i s t s a b o u t tm us ic u se d in th e t he at er a n ddance hall. No t only di d she met ion music used fo r t he se typesamusements see Testimonies, vI, 506; vol. 4, 652; Patriarchs an rophets 707, 708), b u t alwarned tha t at social gatheringof professed Chri s ti ans (pleasu

There was mirth,

abundance enthusiasm, and akind inspiration

parties) certain music had a poerful inf luence on attitudes abehavior.


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She described on e scene thus: One was seated at th e ment of music [piano?], an d suchsongs were poured for th as .madet he w at ch in g angels weep. Therewas mir th , abundance of en-thusiasm, and a kind of inspira-tion; bu t th e joy wa s such asSatan only is able t o c re at e. Thisis an e nth usiasm and in

Our Firm Foundation -1987_02

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