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01 - Introduction - The Great Controversy · Philosophy and Faith

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  Speaker 1: Introduction. Before the entrance of sin Adam enjoyed open communion
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  Speaker 1: with his Maker. But since man separated himself from God
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  Speaker 1: by transgression, the human race has been cut off from
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  Speaker 1: this high privilege by the plan of Redemption. However, a
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  Speaker 1: way has been opened whereby the inhabitants of the earth
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  Speaker 1: may still have connection with Heaven. God has communicated with
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  Speaker 1: men by his spirit, and divine light has been imparted
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  Speaker 1: to the world by revelations to his chosen servants. Holy
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  Speaker 1: men of God spake as they were moved by the
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  Speaker 1: Holy Ghost second Peter one, twenty one. During the first
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  Speaker 1: twenty five hundred years of human history, there was no
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  Speaker 1: written revelation. Those who had been taught of God communicated
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  Speaker 1: their knowledge to others, and it was handed down from
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  Speaker 1: father to son to successive generations. The preparation of the
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  Speaker 1: written word began in the time of Moses. Inspired revelations
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  Speaker 1: were then embodied in an inspired book. This work continued
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  Speaker 1: during the long period of sixteen hundred years, from Moses,
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  Speaker 1: the historian of Creation and the Law, to John, the
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  Speaker 1: recorder of the most sublime truths of the Gospel. The
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  Speaker 1: Bible points to God as its author, yet it was
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  Speaker 1: written by human hands, and in the varied style of
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  Speaker 1: its different books. It presents the characteristics of the several writers.
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  Speaker 1: The truths revealed are all given by inspiration of God
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  Speaker 1: Tewo Timothy three sixteen. Yet they are expressed in the
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  Speaker 1: words of men. The Infinite One, by his Holy Spirit,
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  Speaker 1: has shed light into the minds and hearts of his servants.
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  Speaker 1: He has given dreams and visions, symbols and figures. And
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  Speaker 1: those to whom the truth was thus revealed have themselves
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  Speaker 1: embodied the thought in human language. The Ten Commandments were
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  Speaker 1: spoken by God himself and were written by his own hand.
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  Speaker 1: They are of divine and not of human composition. But
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  Speaker 1: the Bible, with its God given truths expressed in the
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  Speaker 1: language of men, presents a union of the divine and
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  Speaker 1: the human. Such a union existed in the nature of Christ,
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  Speaker 1: who was the son of God and the son of Man.
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  Speaker 1: Thus it is true of the Bible, as it was
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  Speaker 1: of Christ, that the Word was made flesh and dwelt
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  Speaker 1: among us John one fourteen. Written in different ages by
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  Speaker 1: men who differed widely in rank and occupation, and in
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  Speaker 1: mental and spiritual endowments, the books of the Bible present
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  Speaker 1: a wide contrast in style, as well as a diversity
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  Speaker 1: in the nature of the subjects unfolded. Different forms of
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  Speaker 1: expression are employed by different writers. Often the same truth
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  Speaker 1: is more strikingly presented by one than by another. And
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  Speaker 1: as several writers present a subject under varied aspects and relations,
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  Speaker 1: there may appear to the superficial, careless, or prejudiced reader
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  Speaker 1: to be discrepancy or contradiction, where the thoughtful reference student
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  Speaker 1: with clearer insight discerns the underlying harmony as presented through
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  Speaker 1: different individuals, The truth is brought out in its varied aspects.
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  Speaker 1: One writer is more ste strongly impressed with one phase
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  Speaker 1: of the subject. He grasps those points that harmonize with
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  Speaker 1: his experience or with his power of perception and appreciation.
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  Speaker 1: Another seizes upon a different phase, And each, under the
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  Speaker 1: guidance of the Holy Spirit, presents what is most forcibly
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  Speaker 1: impressed upon his own mind, a different aspect of the
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  Speaker 1: truth in each, but a perfect harmony through all, and
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  Speaker 1: the truths thus revealed unite to form a perfect whole
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  Speaker 1: adapted to meet the wants of men. In all the
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  Speaker 1: circumstances and experiences of life, God has been pleased to
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  Speaker 1: communicate his truth to the world by human agencies, and
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  Speaker 1: He himself, by his Holy Spirit, qualified men and enabled
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  Speaker 1: them to do this work. He guided the mind in
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  Speaker 1: the selection of what to speak and what to write.
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  Speaker 1: The treasure was entrusted to earth and vessels, yet it
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  Speaker 1: is nonetheless from Heaven. The testimony is conveyed through the
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  Speaker 1: imperfect expression of human language. Yet it is the testimony
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  Speaker 1: of God, and the obedient believe leaving child of God
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  Speaker 1: beholds in it the glory of a divine power, full
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  Speaker 1: of grace and truth. In his word, God has committed
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  Speaker 1: to men the knowledge necessary for salvation. The Holy Scriptures
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  Speaker 1: are to be accepted as an authoritative, infallible revelation of
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  Speaker 1: His will. They are the standard of character, the revealer
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  Speaker 1: of doctrines, and the test of experience. Every scripture inspired
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  Speaker 1: of God is also profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction,
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  Speaker 1: for instruction, which is in righteousness, that the Man of
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  Speaker 1: God may be complete, furnished completely unto every good work.
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  Speaker 1: Two Timothy three, sixteen and seventeen revised version. Yet the
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  Speaker 1: fact that God has revealed his will to men through
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  Speaker 1: his word has not rendered needless the continued presence and
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  Speaker 1: guiding of the Holy Spirit. On the contrary, the Spirit
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  Speaker 1: was promised by our Savior to open the Word to
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  Speaker 1: his servants to illuminate and apply its teachings. And since
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  Speaker 1: it was the Spirit of God that inspired the Bible,
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  Speaker 1: it is it is impossible that the teaching of the
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  Speaker 1: Spirit should ever be contrary to that of the Word.
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  Speaker 1: The Spirit was not given, nor can it ever be
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  Speaker 1: bestowed to supersede the Bible, For the scriptures explicitly state
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  Speaker 1: that the Word of God is the standard by which
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  Speaker 1: all teaching and experience must be tested. Since the apostle
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  Speaker 1: John believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether
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  Speaker 1: they are of God, because many false prophets are gone
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  Speaker 1: out into the world First John four one. And Isaiah
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  Speaker 1: declares to the law and to the testimony, if they
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  Speaker 1: speak not according to this word, it is because there
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  Speaker 1: is no light in them Isaiah eight twenty. Great reproach
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  Speaker 1: has been cast upon the work of the Holy Spirit
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  Speaker 1: by the errors of a class that, claiming its enlightenment,
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  Speaker 1: profess to have no further need of guidance from the
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  Speaker 1: Word of God. They are governed by impressions which they
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  Speaker 1: regard as the voice of God, and the soul, but
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  Speaker 1: the spirit that controls them is not the Spirit of God.
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  Speaker 1: This following of impressions to the neglect of the scriptures
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  Speaker 1: can lead only to confusion, to deception and ruin. It
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  Speaker 1: serves only to further the designs of the evil One.
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  Speaker 1: Since the ministry of the Holy Spirit is of vital
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  Speaker 1: importance to the Church of Christ, it is one of
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  Speaker 1: the devices of Satan, through the errors of extremists and fanatics,
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  Speaker 1: to cast contempt upon the work of the Spirit and
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  Speaker 1: cause the people of God to neglect this source of strength,
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  Speaker 1: which our Lord himself has provided in harmony with the
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  Speaker 1: Word of God. His Spirit was to continue its work
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  Speaker 1: through the period of the Gospel dispensation. During the ages,
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  Speaker 1: while the scriptures of both the Old and the New
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  Speaker 1: Testament were being given, the Holy Spirit did not cease
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  Speaker 1: to communicate light to individual minds. Apart from the revelations
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  Speaker 1: to be embodied in the Sacred Canon. The Bible itself
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  Speaker 1: relates how through the Holy Spirit men received warning, reproof, counsel,
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  Speaker 1: and instruction in matters no way relating to the giving
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  Speaker 1: of the scriptures, and mention is made of prophets in
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  Speaker 1: different ages, of whose utterances nothing is recorded in like manner.
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  Speaker 1: After the close of the canon of Scripture, the Holy
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  Speaker 1: Spirit was still to continue its work to enlighten, warn
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  Speaker 1: and comfort the children of God. Jesus promised his disciples
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  Speaker 1: the comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father
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  Speaker 1: will send in my name. He shall teach you all
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  Speaker 1: things and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I
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  Speaker 1: have said unto you. When he the Spirit of Truth,
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  Speaker 1: is come, he will guide you into all truth, and
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  Speaker 1: he will show you things to come. John fourteen twenty
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  Speaker 1: six sixteen thirteen Scripture plainly teaches that these promises, so
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  Speaker 1: far from being limited to apostolic days, extend to the
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  Speaker 1: Church of Christ in all ages. The Savior assures his followers,
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  Speaker 1: I am with you always, even unto the end of
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  Speaker 1: the world. Matthew twenty eight twenty and Paul declares that
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  Speaker 1: the gifts and manifestations of the Spirit were set in
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  Speaker 1: the Church for the perfecting of the saints, for the
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  Speaker 1: work of the ministry, for the edifying of the Body
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  Speaker 1: of Christ, till we all come in the unity of
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  Speaker 1: the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God,
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  Speaker 1: unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature
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  Speaker 1: of the fullness of Christ Ephesians four, twelve and thirteen.
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  Speaker 1: For the believers at Ephesus, the apostle prayed that the
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  Speaker 1: God of our Lord, Jesus Christ, the Father of Glory,
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  Speaker 1: may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation
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  Speaker 1: in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding
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  Speaker 1: being enlightened, that ye may know what is the hope
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  Speaker 1: of His calling, and what is the exceeding greatness of
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  Speaker 1: His power to usward who believe Ephesians one seventeen through nineteen.
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  Speaker 1: The ministry of the Divine Spirit in enlightening the understanding
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  Speaker 1: and opening to the mind the deep things of God's
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  Speaker 1: Holy Word was the blessing which Paul thus besought for
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  Speaker 1: the Ephesian Church. After the wonderful manifestation of the Holy
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  Speaker 1: Spirit on the day of Pentecost, Peter exhorted the people
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  Speaker 1: to repentance and baptism in the name of Christ for
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  Speaker 1: the rest of their sins. And he said, ye shall
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  Speaker 1: receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, for the promise
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  Speaker 1: is unto you and to your children, and to all
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  Speaker 1: that are afar off, even as many as the Lord
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  Speaker 1: our God shall call Act two thirty eight and thirty nine,
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  Speaker 1: in immediate connection with the scenes of the Great Day
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  Speaker 1: of God, the Lord, by the prophet Joel, has promised
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  Speaker 1: a special manifestation of his Spirit Joel two twenty eight.
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  Speaker 1: This prophecy received a partial fulfillment in the outpouring of
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  Speaker 1: the Spirit on the day of Pentecost, but it will
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  Speaker 1: reach its full accomplishment in the manifestation of divine grace,
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  Speaker 1: which will attend the closing work of the Gospel. The
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  Speaker 1: great controversy between good and evil will increase in intensity
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  Speaker 1: to the very close of time. In all ages, the
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  Speaker 1: wrath of Satan has been manifested against the Church of Christ,
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  Speaker 1: and God has bestowed his grace and spirit upon his
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  Speaker 1: people to strengthen them to stand against the power of
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  Speaker 1: the evil One. When the apostles of Christ were to
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  Speaker 1: bear his Gospel to the world and to record it
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  Speaker 1: for all future ages, they were especially endowed with the
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  Speaker 1: enlightenment of the spirit. But as the Church approaches her
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  Speaker 1: final deliverance, Satan is to work with greater power. He
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  Speaker 1: comes down having great wrath, because he knoweth that he
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  Speaker 1: hath but a short time Revelation twelve twelve. He will
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  Speaker 1: work with all power and signs and lying wonders second
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  Speaker 1: Thessalonians two nine. For six thousand years, that master mind
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  Speaker 1: that once was highest among the angels of God has
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  Speaker 1: been wholly bent to the work of deception and ruin,
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  Speaker 1: and all the depths of satanic skill and subtlety acquired.
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  Speaker 1: All the cruelty developed during these struggles of the ages,
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  Speaker 1: will be brought to bear against God's people in the
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  Speaker 1: final conflict, and in this time of peril. The followers
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  Speaker 1: of Christ are to bear to the world the warning
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  Speaker 1: of the Lord's second advent, and a people are to
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  Speaker 1: be prepared to stand before him at his coming without
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  Speaker 1: spot and blameless second Peter three fourteen. At this time
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  Speaker 1: the special endowment of divine grace and power is not
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  Speaker 1: less needful to the Church than in Apostolic days. Through
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  Speaker 1: the illumination of the Holy Spirit, the scenes of the
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  Speaker 1: long continued conflict between good and evil have been open
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  Speaker 1: to the writer of these pages. From time to time
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  Speaker 1: I have been permitted to behold the working in different
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  Speaker 1: ages of the great controversy between Christ, the Prince of Life,
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  Speaker 1: the author of our salvation, and Satan, the Prince of evil,
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  Speaker 1: the author of sin. The first transgressor of God's holy law.
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  Speaker 1: Satan's enmity against Christ has been manifested against his followers.
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  Speaker 1: The same hatred of the principles of God's law. The
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  Speaker 1: same policy of deception, by which error is made to
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  Speaker 1: appear as truth, by which human laws are substituted for
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  Speaker 1: the law of God, and men are led to worship
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  Speaker 1: the creature rather than the Creator, may be traced in
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  Speaker 1: all the history of the past. Satan's efforts to misrepresent
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  Speaker 1: the character of God, to cause men to cherish a
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  Speaker 1: false conception of the Creator, and thus to regard him
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  Speaker 1: with fear and hate rather than with love. His endeavors
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  Speaker 1: to set aside the divine Law, leading the people to
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  Speaker 1: think themselves free from its requirements, and his persecution of
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  Speaker 1: those who dare to resist his deceptions, have been steadfastly
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  Speaker 1: pursued in all ages. They may be traced in the
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  Speaker 1: history of patriarchs, prophets, and apostles of martyrs and reformers.
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  Speaker 1: In the great Final conflict, Satan will employ the same policy,
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  Speaker 1: manifest the same spirit, and work for the same end
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  Speaker 1: as in all preceding ages. That which has been will be,
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  Speaker 1: except that the coming struggle will be marked with a
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  Speaker 1: terrible intensity, such as the world has never witnessed. Satan's
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  Speaker 1: deceptions will be more subtle, his assaults more determined. If
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  Speaker 1: it were possible, he would lead astray the elect Mark
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  Speaker 1: thirteen twenty two revised version. As the Spirit of God
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  Speaker 1: has opened to my mind the great truths of His
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  Speaker 1: word and the scenes of the past and the future,
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  Speaker 1: I have been bidden to make known to others that
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  Speaker 1: which has thus been revealed, to trace the history of
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  Speaker 1: the controversy in pastages, and especially so to present it
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  Speaker 1: as to shed a light on the fast approaching struggle
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  Speaker 1: of the future. In pursuance of this purpose, I have
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  Speaker 1: endeavored to select and group together events in the history
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  Speaker 1: of the Church in such a manner as to trace
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  Speaker 1: the unfolding of the great testing truths that, at different
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  Speaker 1: periods have been given to the world, that have excited
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  Speaker 1: the wrath of Satan and the enmity of a world
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  Speaker 1: loving Church, and that have been maintained by the witness
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  Speaker 1: of those who love not their lives unto the death.
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  Speaker 1: In these records we may see a foreshadowing of the
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  Speaker 1: conflict before us. Regarding them in the light of God's
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  Speaker 1: word and by the illumination of his spirit, we may
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  Speaker 1: see unveiled the devices of the wicked one, and the
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  Speaker 1: dangers which they must shun, who would be found without
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  Speaker 1: fault before the Lord at his coming. The great events
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  Speaker 1: which have marked the progress of reform and pastages are
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  Speaker 1: matters of history, well known and universally acknowledged by the
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  Speaker 1: Protestant world. They are facts which none can gain say.
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  Speaker 1: This history I have presented briefly, in accordance with the
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  Speaker 1: scope of the book and the brevity which must necessarily
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  Speaker 1: be observed, the facts having been condensed into as little
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  Speaker 1: space as seemed consistent with a proper understanding of their application.
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  Speaker 1: In some cases, where a historian has so grouped together
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  Speaker 1: events as to afford in brief a comprehensive view of
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  Speaker 1: the subject, or has summarized details in a convenient manner,
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  Speaker 1: his words have been quoted, But in some instances no
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  Speaker 1: specific credit has been given, since the quotations are not
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  Speaker 1: given for the purpose of citing that writer as authority,
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  Speaker 1: but because his statement affords a ready and forcible presentation
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  Speaker 1: of the subject. In narrating the experience and views of
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  Speaker 1: those carrying forward the work of reform in our own time,
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  Speaker 1: similar use has been made of their published works. It
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  Speaker 1: is not so much the object of this book to
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  Speaker 1: present new truths concerning the struggles of former times, as
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  Speaker 1: to bring out facts and principles which have a bearing
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  Speaker 1: on coming events. Yet viewed as part of the controversy
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  Speaker 1: between the forces of light and darkness. All these records
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  Speaker 1: of the past are seen to have a new significance,
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  Speaker 1: and through them a light is cast upon the future,
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  Speaker 1: illumining the pathway of those who, like the reformers of pastages,
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  Speaker 1: will be called, even at the peril of all earthly good,
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  Speaker 1: to witness for the word of God and for the
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  Speaker 1: testimony of Jesus Christ. To unfold the scenes of the
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  Speaker 1: great controversy between truth and error, to reveal the wiles
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  Speaker 1: of Satan and the means by which he may be
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  Speaker 1: successfully resisted, To present a satisfactory solution of the great
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  Speaker 1: problem of evil, shedding such a light upon the origin
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  Speaker 1: and the final disposition of sin, as to make fully
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  Speaker 1: manifest the justice and benevolence of God in all his
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  Speaker 1: dealings with his creatures, and to show the wholy, unchanging
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  Speaker 1: nature of His law. Is the object of this book, that,
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  Speaker 1: through its influenced souls may be delivered from the power
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  Speaker 1: of darkness and become partakers of the inheritance of the
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  Speaker 1: saints and light. To the praise of Him who loved
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  Speaker 1: us and gave himself for us is the earnest prayer
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  Speaker 1: of the writer e. G. W End of Introduction,