Whereas, We as a people have held the doctrine of the perpetuity of spiritual gifts and professed to believe that ‘the spirit of prophecy’ was manifested among us as “the remnant” (Rev. 12:17; 19:10), GOP 389.1
And whereas, Our faith on this subject has been, to a very great extent, a merely nominal or dead faith, as the following facts bear witness: GOP 389.2
1. The Testimonies of the Spirit have faithfully warned against the spirit of worldliness and selfishness, yet very many of the persons professing to believe the Testimonies have manifested this spirit in their lives. GOP 389.3
2. The Testimonies have spoken most pointedly of the danger arising from the licentious tendencies of the age, and of the necessity of purity of heart and life, yet we have had a most deplorable case of depravity developed by a minister and in a church professing also to believe the warnings. GOP 389.4
3. The Testimonies have, from time to time, warned of the danger of pursuing certain courses of action by those having charge of, or laboring in, the Review Office for several years past; yet those in the Office where these Testimonies were published, and whence they were sent forth, have, in many important particulars, pursued exactly the course against which they were warned, thereby contradicting their profession and wounding the cause; therefore, GOP 389.5
Resolved, That we will humble ourselves before God for these things, and endeavor to so walk in harmony with the teachings of the Spirit, as no longer to present such inconsistency in our lives, and to grieve God’s Spirit away from us. GOP 389.6
And whereas, in these things we have seen that those who disregard these Testimonies, whether in private or public life, have shown themselves to be lamentably weak in judgment, and have wounded themselves and the cause by their unfaithfulness; therefore, GOP 389.7
Resolved, That we recognize the wisdom of God in the “Testimonies to the Church,” and that it is dangerous and destructive to disregard or neglect their instructions; and we confess our weakness and inability to carry on this sacred work to divine acceptance, without their aid. 3“Business Proceedings of the Eighth Annual Session of the General Conference of S. D. Adventists,” RH, Mar. 22, 1870, 109. GOP 389.8