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Counsels for the Church

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    The Testimonies and the Reader

    For seventy years Ellen G. White spoke and wrote of the things God had revealed to her. Many times the counsels were given to correct those who erred from Bible truth. Many times they pointed out the course God would have his people follow. At times the testimonies dealt with the manner of life, the home, and the church. How did the members of the church receive these messages?CCh 29.1

    From the outset of her work, responsible leaders examined her work to assure themselves that the manifestation of the gift of prophecy was genuine. The apostle Paul admonishes, “Despise not prophesyings. Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.” 1 Thessalonians 5:20, 21. The Bible tests of a prophet were brought to bear on Mrs. White's work, and this is as she would have it, for she wrote:CCh 29.2

    “This work is of God, or it is not. God does nothing in partnership with Satan. My work for the past thirty years bears the stamp of God or the stamp of the enemy. There is no halfway work in the matter.”CCh 29.3

    The Bible gives four basic tests by which a prophet is to be examined. Mrs. White's work stands each test.CCh 29.4

    The message of the true prophet must be in harmony with the law of God and the messages of the prophets. Isaiah 8:20.CCh 29.5

    The E. G. White writings elevate the law of God and ever lead men and women to the Bible in its entirety. She points to the Bible as the sole rule of faith and practice and as the great light to which her writings, “the lesser light,” lead.CCh 29.6

    The predictions of the true prophet must come to pass within the context of conditionality. Jeremiah 18:7-10; 28:9. While the work of Mr. White was much like that of Moses in leading and guiding the people, yet she wrote in a predictive manner of the many events to take place. At the outset of our publishing work in 1848, she spoke of how it would grow to encircle the world with light. Today Seventh-day Adventists publish literature in 200 languages valued at more than $100,000,000 a year.CCh 29.7

    In 1890, when the world declared that there would be no more war and the millennium was about to dawn, Ellen White wrote: “the tempest is coming, and we must get ready for its fury.... We shall see trouble on all sides. Thousands of ships will be hurled into the depths of the sea. Navies will go down, and human lives will be sacrificed by millions.” This was fulfilled in World Wars I and II.CCh 29.8

    The true prophet will confess that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh, that God was incarnate in human flesh. 1 John 4:2.CCh 29.9

    The reading of The Desire of Ages makes it clear that the work of Ellen G. White measured up to this test. Observe these words:CCh 30.1

    “Jesus might have remained at the Father's side. He might have retained the glory of heaven, and the homage of the angels. But He chose to give back the scepter into the Father's hands, and to step down from the throne of the universe, that He might bring light to the benighted, and life to the perishing.CCh 30.2

    “Nearly two thousand years ago, a voice of mysterious import was heard in heaven, from the throne of God, ‘Lo, I come.’ ‘Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body has thou prepared me.... Lo, I come (in the volume of the Book it is written of Me,) to do Thy will O God.’ Hebrews 10:5-7. In these words is announced the fulfillment of the purpose that had been hidden from eternal ages. Christ was about to visit our world, and to become incarnate... In the eyes of the world He possessed no beauty that they should desire Him; yet He was the incarnate God, the light of heaven and earth. His glory was veiled. His greatness and majesty were hidden that He might draw near to sorrowful, tempted man.”CCh 30.3

    Perhaps the most crucial test of the true prophet is found in his life, his work, and the influence of his teachings. Christ enunciated this test in Matthew 7:15, 16: “Ye shall know them by their fruits.”CCh 30.4

    As we look at the fruit as manifested in the lives of those who have followed the spirit of prophecy counsels, we see that it is good. The testimonies have yielded good fruit. As we look at the church, knowing that we have been lead into various lines of activity by these counsels, we must acknowledge that Mrs. White's work measures up to this test. The unity of teaching in the writings penned over a period of seventy years also bears positive witness to the integrity of the gift.CCh 30.5

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