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The Prophetic Faith of Our Fathers, vol. 4

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    CHAPTER FIFTY-THREE: Prophecy’s Place in the Master Plan of God

    I. Prophecy’s Fundamental Place in the Adventist Faith

    Prophetic interpretation has occupied a central place in the thinking and teaching of Seventh-day Adventists from their very inception. This was but natural as well as logical. First of all, they sprang out of a prophetic movement, and in many ways considered that they were descendants in the direct line of the Historical School preinillennialists of the centuries. They therefore felt themselves called upon to continue, in prophetic exposition and related teachings, in the hallowed path marked out by their Reformation and post-Reformation forefathers. And that had, in turn, really been but a noble attempt to return to and to re-establish the prophetic highway of the early church positions on prophecy.PFF4 1152.1

    But believing that the Christian’s course concerning prophecy is designed to be like the following of a “light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day” (Proverbs 4:18), the Sabbatarian Adventists felt called upon to advance beyond the constrictions, and contradictions, and partial views of the past. They were convinced that more light was yet to shine on Bible prophecy, beyond that perceived in the Old World Advent Awakening and by the Millerite movement leaders. They therefore believed that God desired them earnestly to study the prophetic Scriptures for a still greater understanding of truth. This they conscientiously sought to do.PFF4 1152.2

    They did not, however, devote attention to prophecy to the neglect or disparagement of the foundational principles and provisions of the gospel-salvation solely by grace through faith in Christ, including regeneration, justification, sanctification, and final glorification upon our Lord’s return. They sought to follow fully in the footsteps of the Master, but always through His enabling grace and power. They were convinced, however, that an understanding of prophecy and a knowledge of their own part and place in the fast-fulfilling last events of prophecy were imperative. More than that, they found that prophecy gave an even deeper meaning to many of the doctrinal fundamentals of the evangelical faith than had been anticipated. This will be noted later.PFF4 1153.1

    1. TWO PRINCIPAL AREAS OF EMPHASIS

    These early Seventh-day Adventists considered that their prophetic emphasis should center on two principal areas of prophetic interpretation-(1) the three messages of Revelation 14:6-12 (the “everlasting gospel,” embracing “the commandments of God” and the “faith of Jesus”), and (2) the cleansing of the sanctuary, including the final judgment phase of Christ’s ministry as our heavenly High Priest, to be climaxed by His glorious second advent as King of kings.PFF4 1153.2

    Moreover, they believed that the participation of some of their leaders in the heralding of the first (or judgment hour) and second (or Babylon’s fall) messages—the heart of the Millerite emphasis—placed them in a logical position for leading on in the proclamation of the inseparable third message of Revelation 14. This they considered as now due, and really as the consummation of the first and second messages of the former movement. This involved intensive study of the deeper implications of the sanctuary and its cleansing beyond the point at which the Millerites had ceased their study.PFF4 1153.3

    The fundamental features of Seventh-day Adventist belief have already been sketched in the preceding chapters of this Part III. It has been apparent that their views developed gradually, and were not fully matured at the outset. They were consciously rooted in the background of centuries of progressive exposition, but they constantly sought to develop and perfect them. However, the threefold message of Revelation 14 was recognized by all as raising the banner of last-day loyalty to God, as well as of separation from all aspects of the ecclesiastical apostasy of the centuries.PFF4 1153.4

    2. A CLEANSED PEOPLE AND A CLEANSED SANCTUARY

    Similarly, the implications of the cleansing of the sanctuary began to be broadened and deepened. In this clearly established period of preparation, prior to the second advent, they felt that the special ministry of Christ in heaven was to be paralleled by a special preparation of the church on earth. They saw this typified in the annual round of the ancient Days of Atonement, when the Israelitish sanctuary was cleansed, or justified. Then the closing priestly service, which typified the final blotting out of the record of sins, was accompanied by a searching of heart by the people, to be sure that their sins had all been put away. A cleansed people was called for,, to comport with a cleansed sanctuary.PFF4 1154.1

    Thus also in the cleansing of the antitypical sanctuary, the need for a paralleling preparation on the part of the church came to be increasingly sensed and emphasized. The cleansing of the individual heart from sin, and consecration to a life of complete righteousness by faith—as well as the restoration of truth long trodden down by the apostate power of the centuries—was seen to be inseparably connected with this period of the cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary and its activities. Now note some of the broader applications developed in the enlarging Seventh-day Advetitist prophetic interpretation.PFF4 1154.2

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