Chapter 7—Teachings of the Church in Recent Years

We come now to a later period in the history of the church. Have the leaders of the church continued to hold the same faith regarding the subject of spiritual gifts and the manifestation of the gift of prophecy as did those early leaders who have passed from the stage of action? We answer, They have. Mrs. E. G. White died July 16, 1915. Funeral services were conducted at the Tabernacle in Battle Creek, Michigan, July 24, 1915. A report of these services was published in the Review and Herald of August 5 of that year. From the paper of this date we take the following quotation from a statement made at the funeral regarding the work of Mrs. E. G. White, by A. G. Daniells, president of the General Conference for twenty-one years:TOJ 42.1

“Her life of full surrender, obedience, and unceasing prayer for divine help was rewarded by the bestowal of the gift of prophecy, one of the choicest of all the gifts of the Spirit.TOJ 42.2

“In December, 1844, the Holy Spirit gave her a revelation of the second coming of Christ. In this vision of the future there was given a view of the glorious reward that awaits the redeemed and the terrible fate that will come to all who refuse to serve their Lord and Master. This view of the destiny of the human family made a profound impression on her. Here she received her appointment as a messenger of God. She felt that God was commanding her to give this message of light and salvation to others.TOJ 42.3

“This was a great trial to her. She was but seventeen years old, small, frail, and retiring; but after a long, severe struggle, she surrendered to the call of her Lord, and then she was given strength for her lifework.TOJ 42.4

“Following this surrender and victory there came to her a series of remarkable spiritual experiences, unmistakably genuine, and regarded by her associate workers of that day as a manifestation of the gift of prophecy promised by Christ to the remnant church. Those who have been associated with her through all the years that have passed since that time, never have had occasion to alter their conviction that the revelations which have come to her through the years have come from God....TOJ 43.1

“No Christian teacher in this generation, no religious reformer in any preceding age, has placed a higher value on the Bible. In all her writings it is represented as the Book of all books, the supreme and all-sufficient guide for the whole human family. Not a trace of higher criticism, new thought, or skeptical, destructive philosophy can be found in any of her writings. Those who still believe that the Bible is the inspired, infallible word of the living God, will value most highly the positive, uncompromising support given this view in the writings of Mrs. White.TOJ 43.2

“In her teaching, Christ is recognized and exalted as the only Saviour of sinners. Emphasis is placed upon the bold and unqualified announcement of the disciples that ‘there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.’ The power to redeem from the power and effects of sin is in Him alone, and to Him all men are directed.TOJ 43.3

“Her writings hold firmly to the doctrine that the gospel, as revealed in the Sacred Scriptures, presents the only means of salvation. None of the philosophers of India nor the codes of morals and ethics of Burma and China are given any place whatever with the gospel of the Son of God. This alone is the hope of a lost world. The Holy Spirit, the third person of the Godhead and Christ’s representative on earth, is set forth and exalted as the heavenly teacher and guide sent to this world by our Lord to make real in the hearts and lives of men all that He had made possible by His death on the cross....TOJ 43.4

“The church instituted by our Lord and built up by His disciples in the first century is set forth as the divine model. Its prerogatives and authority are fully acknowledged, and all its ordinances and memorials are observed. Strong emphasis is placed on the value of gospel order and organizations revealed in the Scriptures for the efficiency of the church in all its world-wide operations.TOJ 43.5

“Through the light and counsel given her, Mrs. White held and advocated broad, progressive views regarding vital questions that affect the betterment and uplift of the human family from the moral, intellectual, physical, and social standpoint, as well as the spiritual. Her writings are full of instruction, clear and positive, in behalf of a broad, practical Christian education for every young man and young woman. In response to her earnest counsels the denomination with which she was associated now maintains a system of education for all its children and young people.TOJ 44.1

“Her writings present the most comprehensive views regarding temperance reform, the laws of life and health, and the use of rational, effective remedies for the treatment of sickness and disease. The adoption of these principles has placed the people with whom she worked in the front ranks with others who are advocating sane temperance reforms, and working for the physical improvement of mankind.TOJ 44.2

“Nor is the social status of the human family lost sight of. Slavery, the caste system, unjust racial prejudices, the oppression of the poor, the neglect of the unfortunate, are set forth as unchristian and a serious menace to the well-being of the human race, and as evils which the church of Christ is appointed by her Lord to overthrow....TOJ 44.3

“As we survey the whole field of gospel truth—of man’s relation to his Lord and to his fellow men—it must be seen that Mrs. White’s lifework has given these great fundamentals positive, constructive support. She has touched humanity at every vital point of need, and lifted it to a higher level.”TOJ 44.4