This from one of the Review editors:
There are likely several statements by Mrs. White that would support
such an interpretation, but in this instance, I was particularly
thinking of the following, from "Fundamentals of Christian
Education," page 82:
“Dear youth, what is the aim and purpose of your life? Are you
ambitious for education that you may have a name and position in the
world? Have you thoughts that you dare not express, that you may one
day stand upon the summit of intellectual greatness; that you may
sit in deliberative and legislative councils, and help to enact laws
for the nation? There is nothing wrong in these aspirations. You may
every one of you make your mark. You should be content with no mean
attainments. Aim high, and spare no pains to reach the standard.”
I hope this helps.
Judy Thomsen
Correspondence Editor
Adventist World/Adventist Review
12501 Old Columbia Pike
Silver Spring, MD 20904
One could point out
that the quotation from FCE
is not quite the prophecy represented by the article; but there is
no denying that the statement is explicit, and can be used to legitimize
the quest for and acceptance of such high honor as the one bestowed
on Pastor Allen. However, before getting carried away by such
ambitions, it is well to consider the following:
How many there are whose lifelong
ambition it is to be esteemed great among men, that like Jehoiada
they may be inscribed in the city among kings, and have their names
handed down as great men.
God's great ones have their names registered in the Lamb's book of
life; and if they remain faithful to the end
they will have a pure, nobler immortality than earth can conceive
of. They will have a crown of immortal glory that will
never fade away. Then why seek for the honors of earth?
Rather, live in such a way that it may be written on your
gravestone, "He hath done good in Israel, both toward God and toward
His people."
Christ did not seek to be thought great, and yet He was the Majesty
of heaven, equal in dignity and glory with the infinite God. He was
God manifested in the flesh. What a rebuke is the life of
Christ to everything like self-conceit, self-exaltation, seeking to
be great among men!
{20MR 94}
But there is even more
that is applicable to
the life of a Christian, and specifically a Seventh-day Adventist in
these times when the evidence is overwhelming that God is separating
the wheat from the chaff, and sealing the saints in Zion for the
final conflict of the ages!!
Consider first the phrases
emphasized above:
"elevates the church,"
"it does something to our church’s esteem,"
"Straighten up your
shoulders and walk straight now, you’re an Adventist." Do they signify
glory to God or to man? They are antithetical to the following
admonitions and counsel of the Apostle Paul:
That no flesh should glory in his presence. But
of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom,
and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: That,
according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory
in the Lord. 1
Cor. 1:29-31 (Emphasis added)
But he that glorieth,
let him glory in the Lord. For
not he that commendeth himself is approved, but whom the Lord
commendeth. 2 Cor.
10:17-18
(Emphasis added)
And
he is the head of the body, the church: who is the
beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that
in all things
he might have the preeminence. Col.
1:18
(Emphasis added)
Wherefore Jesus
also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered
without the gate. Let
us go forth therefore unto him without the camp,
bearing his reproach. For
here have we no continuing city, but we seek one to come. Heb.
13:12-14 (Emphasis added)
No verses of Scripture
should be taken lightly, and least of all these which go to the
heart of the essentials for salvation. Ellen G. White defined
justification by faith and regeneration as follows:
What is justification by faith?
It is the work of God in laying the glory of man in the
dust, and doing for man that which it is not in his power to do for
himself. When men see their
own nothingness, they are prepared to be clothed with the
righteousness of Christ. When they begin to praise
and exalt God all the day long, then by beholding they are becoming
changed into the same image. What is regeneration? It is
revealing to man what is his own real nature,
that in himself he is worthless. These lessons you
have never learned. Oh, that you could realize the value of the
human soul.
(20MR 117; emphasis added)
This realization of
nothingness and the recognition of worthlessness, are the essential
state of mind of those who await the ultimate seal of God in the
Final Atonement. It is expressed in the concept of "soul
affliction." How revealing it is to do a word search for
"afflict their souls" in the Writings of Ellen G. White and note the
critical importance of soul affliction for those who live in the
sealing time! Here are passages that embody this essential for
salvation in the time of the antitypical Day of Atonement:
We are now living in the great day of atonement. In the typical
service, while the high priest was making the atonement for Israel,
all were required to afflict their souls
by repentance of sin and humiliation before the Lord, lest they be
cut off from among the people. In like manner, all who would have
their names retained in the book of life, should now, in the few
remaining days of their probation, afflict
their souls before God by sorrow for sin and true repentance.
There must be deep, faithful searching of heart. . . . There is
earnest warfare before all who would subdue the evil tendencies that
strive for the mastery. The work of preparation is an individual
work. We are not saved in groups. The purity and devotion of one
will not offset the want of these qualities in another. . . . Every
one must be tested, and found without spot or wrinkle or any such
thing.
{Mar 93.3}
In the typical service, when the work of atonement was performed by
the high priest in the most holy place of the earthly sanctuary, the
people were required to afflict their souls
before God, and confess their sins, that they might be atoned for
and blotted out. Will any less be required of us in this antitypical
day of atonement, when Christ in the Sanctuary above is pleading in
behalf of his people, and the final, irrevocable decision is to be
pronounced upon every case?
{RH,
March 22, 1887
par. 9}
Thus in humility we kneel at the foot of the
Cross "To
the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he
hath made us accepted in the beloved. In
whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins,
according to the riches of his grace" (Eph. 1:6-7; emphasis
added.) These
statements of Ellen G. White are firmly based on Lev. 16:29-31:
And this shall be a
statute for ever unto you: that in the seventh month, on the
tenth day of the month, ye shall afflict your souls,
and do no work at all, whether it be one of your own country,
or a stranger that sojourneth among you: For on that day
shall the priest make an
atonement for you, to cleanse you, that
ye may be clean from all your sins before the LORD. It shall
be a sabbath of rest unto you, and ye shall afflict your
souls, by a statute for ever. (Emphasis added.)
The
Apostle Paul
sheds light on the
"sabbath of rest" in
the fourth chapter of Hebrews. At the heart of it he states,
"There
remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God. For
he that is entered into his rest, he
also hath ceased from his own works, as God did
from his" (vs. 9-10; emphasis added.) This is a
proscription of good works as a means of earning salvation.
How much more therefore is it a proscription of the works of union
with the world? Jan Paulsen is totally out of order in
stating, "Some have been critical, and rightly so, of an
eschatological perspective that serves simply to reconcile
us to current miseries. Awaiting [Christ's return]
is not a passive exercise, but something that demands action [in]
the present. "Adventist
Church moves to strengthen partnerships with health organizations"
ANN, July 2009 (Emphasis added.) Either Paulsen
does not know his Bible, or this is a bold and presumptuous
statement of defiance against the Word of God. He recognizes
the eschatological nature of the times, but advocates action that is
the opposite of the need for consecration and soul affliction in
these end times.
It is the great
tragedy of the Seventh-day Adventist Church that its leaders failed
to make necessary corrections of the Sanctuary Doctrine in
accordance with Lev. 4 & 16 when they had the opportunity to do so
in the mid twentieth century. Instead, they abandoned the
foundation principle of a dual atonement, that of the sacrificial
atonement at the Cross which brings forgiveness of sin and the Final
Atonement of Christ's ministration in the Heavenly Sanctuary which
brings forgiveness and cleansing.
This is at the root of the apostasy that has produced increasing
entanglement with the Church of Rome and her daughters, and also
with the secular world. The reports that are gathered on this
website are but the tip of the iceberg. The process has been
long and in large measure secretive at the highest levels. Now
the entanglements are advancing at all levels and in all parts of
the Church organization.
Hear the spoken word on:
Self Renunciation
Windows
Media 54kbps
Windows Media 11kbps
Of the reports of harlotry
that are hyperlinked in this section and the other sections of this
web page, one is of the most disturbing gravity:
First religious liberty festival in Jerusalem draws hundreds
This page
Armageddon sheds vital light on
the deadly nature of
involvement with ecumenical events in Jerusalem. This
involvement of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in a religious
liberty festival in Jerusalem should sound the alarm in the
Adventist community. It places the Church on the wrong side of
prophecy:
The prophetic scriptures picture
the gathering together for the battle of the great day of God Almighty as
energized by "the spirits of devils" under the symbol of
"frogs" coming "out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the
mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet (Rev. 16:13-14).
. . . The final
conflict is in a "place called in the Hebrew tongue – Har-Magedon"
(16:16 ARV). "Har" in Hebrew means, "mountain.' The phase of the
conflict that brought "salvation" (12:10) was settled on a
"mount" outside Jerusalem, Golgotha, "the place of the
skull" (John 16:17). The final phase of the conflict both before and after
the 1,000 years will be settled at the place called in the Hebrew tongue -
Har-Mo'ed - "the mount of the congregation" - Jerusalem, and even as
the first phase - outside the gates of the city (Rev. 20:9).
Spirits of Devils,
WWN 11(05)
As the Word of God rides
forth to "judge and make war," He does not come unopposed. "The
beast and kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war
against Him that sat on the horse, and against His army." (19:19) They had been gathered together by "spirits of
devils" to "a place called in the Hebrew, Har-Mo'ed," for "the war (Gr.) of the great day of
God Almighty." (16:13-14, 16) The "beast" and "the false
prophet" are taken and cast "alive" into "the lake of
fire." (Gr. 19:20) Daniel speaks of the "beast" which had
"the little horn" as being "given to the burning flame."
(7:11) EXEGESIS OF REVELATION -6- The Tale of Two Cities
WWN
10(95)
Overall, the following statements have been sounding a warning that
has too long been ignored:
Babylon
is also charged with the sin of unlawful connection with "the kings
of the earth." It was by departure from the Lord, and alliance with the
heathen, that the Jewish church became a harlot; and Rome, corrupting herself
in like manner by seeking the support of worldly powers, receives a like
condemnation.
Babylon is said to be "the mother of
harlots." By her daughters must be symbolized churches that cling to
her doctrines and traditions, and follow her example of sacrificing the
truth and the approval of God, in order to form an unlawful alliance with
the world. The message of Revelation 14, announcing the fall
of Babylon must apply to
religious bodies that were once pure and have become corrupt. Since this
message follows the warning of the judgment, it must be given in the last
days; therefore it cannot refer to the Roman Church alone, for that church
has been in a fallen condition for many centuries.” (GC 382-383;
emphasis added.)
What was the origin
of the great apostasy? How did the church first depart from the
simplicity of the gospel? By conforming to the practices of paganism, to
facilitate the acceptance of Christianity by the heathen.
The apostle Paul declared, even in his day, "The
mystery of iniquity doth already work." 2 Thessalonians 2:7. During the
lives of the apostles the church remained comparatively pure. But
"toward the latter end of the second century most of the churches
assumed a new form; the first simplicity disappeared, and insensibly, as
the old disciples retired to their graves, their children, along with
new converts, . . . came forward and new-modeled the cause."--Robert
Robinson,
Ecclesiastical Researches,
ch. 6, par. 17, p. 51. To secure converts, the
exalted standard of the Christian faith was lowered, and as the result
"a pagan flood, flowing into the church, carried with it its customs,
practices, and idols." --Gavazzi, Lectures,
page 278. As the Christian religion secured the favor and support of
secular rulers, it was nominally accepted by multitudes; but while in
appearance Christians, many "remained in substance pagans, especially
worshiping in secret their idols."--Ibid.,
page 278.
Has not
the same process been repeated in nearly every church calling itself
Protestant? As the founders, those who possessed the true spirit of
reform, pass away, their descendants come forward and
"new-model the cause."
While blindly clinging to the creed of their fathers and refusing to
accept any truth in advance of what they saw, the children of the
reformers depart widely from their example of humility, self-denial, and
renunciation of the world. Thus "the first simplicity disappears." A
worldly flood, flowing into the church, carries "with it its customs,
practices, and idols."
(GC
385-385; emphases added)
The
greatest want of the world is the want of men-- men who will not be
bought or sold, men who in their inmost souls are true and honest, men
who do not fear to call sin by its right name, men whose conscience is
as true to duty as the needle to the pole, men who will stand for the
right though the heavens fall.
(Ed 57; emphasis added.)
Some will be
honest when it costs nothing; but when policy will pay best, honesty is
forgotten. Honesty and policy will not work together in the same mind.
In time, either policy will be expelled and truth and honesty reign
supreme, or if policy is cherished, honesty will be forgotten. They are
never in agreement; they have nothing in common.
One is the prophet of Baal, the other is the true
prophet of God. (2MCP
638
; emphases added)
The following are but a few of the
reports which signal a fallen Church that has led its members into
harlotry and Babylonian captivity:
Here is the conclusion of the matter:
The first, second, and third
angels' messages are to be repeated. The call is to be given to the church:
"Babylon
the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the
hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. For
all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the
kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of
the earth have waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies. . . .
Come
out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye
receive not of her plagues. For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath
remembered her iniquities."
Many who went forth to meet the Bridegroom under the messages of the
first and second angels, refused the third, the last testing message to be
given to the world, and a similar position will be taken when the last call is
made. (The Parable of the Ten Virgins,
RH,
October
31, 1899; emphasis added)
