1980 Prophetic Guidance for the Church

Voted, To adopt the following statement on prophetic guidance for the remnant church.DDP 479.8

The Seventh-day Adventist Church has, from the time of its formative years, accepted as normative the teaching concerning spiritual gifts as set forth in the Pauline writings (1 Cor. 12; Eph. 4), recognizing that these gifts were not intended to be confined to any one period but were given to edify the church from the apostolic era to the end of time.DDP 479.9

The church has recognized further that from among those gifts the gift of prophecy has been bestowed in a special way, for the blessing of the church, being manifest in our midst in late 1844 when Ellen Gould Harmon, who later became Mrs. White, was called to be God’s messenger. From that time to the present the Lord has, through this means, continued to provide guidance and counsel for His people.DDP 479.10

The influence of this prophetic gift has been such that it has leavened every aspect of the church’s development and life: (1) counseling and undergirding the efforts of leaders as they organized the church, (2) confirming its basic Biblical teachings, (3) planning for world mission expansion, (4) giving expression to guiding principles in the operation of publishing, medical, and educational institutions, and (5) contributing to the edification of the church and its members in devotional life and Christian service. No phase of the life of the church has been without the influence of this teaching gift, and it is evident that the church could not have developed its distinctive character and grown to its present proportions without it.DDP 480.1

This broad spectrum of counsel, written under the influence of God’s Spirit, is pertinent to help meet the challenges to the total well-being and the very existence of the church in these last days. Faithfully observed, these counsels will be of value in uplifting Jesus Christ as the only way of salvation, in confirming doctrine and prophetic truths for this time, in encouraging revival and reform, and in warning against error and fanaticism. Especially pertinent is the clarion call of God to His people to seek a spiritual preparation to meet their Lord as they take to the world God’s last messages of Revelation 14 and Revelation 18.DDP 480.2

We, the delegates to the fifty-third session of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, reaffirm our confidence in the prophetic guidance so graciously provided by the unfailing Word of God and the counsels from the pen of Ellen G. White. ^{22«Session Actions,» Adventist Review (hereafter AR), May 1, 1980, 19.}DDP 480.3