Chapter 8—The Nathaniel Davis Vision “The Exorcism” August 16, 1897
The late H.M.S. Richards, founder of the Voice of Prophecy radiobroadcast ministry, visited the West African metropolis of Ibadan, Nigeria, in August 1953. He held a meeting for students and graduates of his Bible correspondence school, and also for the general public. His audience consisted of animists, Muslims, a sprinkling of Christians of various persuasions, and persons of no religion whatever. Some probably had never even heard the name of Jesus.GVEGW 108.1
The radio evangelist preached a heart-touching sermon, “The Three Great Circles of God’s Love.” The largest of these concentric circles, he said, was revealed in John 3:16: “God so loved the world...” The second: “Christ also loved the church” (Ephesians 5:25). The third and smallest circle of God’s love: Jesus “loved me, and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20).GVEGW 108.2
A favorite and frequent theme of Ellen White’s was God’s love, concern, and care for the individual sinner. She introduced her commentary on the lost sheep by pointing out that in Christ’s well-known parable, “the shepherd goes out to search for one sheep—the very least that can be numbered. So if there had been but one lost soul, Christ would have died for that one.” 1Christ’s Object Lessons, 187.GVEGW 108.3
In that same context, but in another book, she expands the theme: “Jesus knows us individually, and is touched with the feeling of our infirmities. He knows us all by name. He knows the very house in which we live, the name of each occupant. He has at times given directions to His servants to go to a certain street in a certain city, to such a house, to find one of His sheep.GVEGW 108.4
“Every soul is as fully known to Jesus as if he were the only one for whom the Saviour died. The distress of every one touches His heart. The cry for aid reaches His ear. He came to draw all men unto Himself.... He cares for each one as if there were not another on the face of the earth.” 2The Desire of Ages, 479, 480.GVEGW 109.1
Lest her reader feel that the great Sovereign Superintendent of the universe is so preoccupied with cosmic, intergalactic concerns that He cannot notice one insignificant, struggling soul upon Planet Earth, Mrs. White urges with a ring of triumph:GVEGW 109.2
“Keep your wants, your joys, your sorrows, your cares, and your fears before God. You cannot burden Him; you cannot weary Him. He who numbers the hairs of your head is not indifferent to the wants of His children.... His heart of love is touched by our sorrows and even by our utterances of them. Take to Him everything that perplexes the mind. Nothing is too great for Him to bear, for He holds up worlds, He rules over all the affairs of the universe. Nothing that in any way concerns our peace is too small for Him to notice.” 3Steps to Christ, 100.GVEGW 109.3
Not surprisingly, Satan too “cares” for the individual, as Mrs. White also noted. Taking off from a popular nineteenth-century motif of the “game of life,” she spoke of the devil finding “satisfaction” 4Counsels on Stewardship, 136. as he plays the game of life for every soul. 5Counsels on Stewardship, 135; cf. Evangelism, 359; Testimonies for the Church 5:507; Testimonies for the Church 6:148, 264, 446; Testimonies to Ministers and Gospel Workers, 84, 454.GVEGW 109.4
Furthermore, “if Satan sees that he is in danger of losing one soul, he will exert himself to the utmost to keep that one. And when the individual is aroused to his danger, and, with distress and fervor, looks to Jesus for strength, Satan fears that he will lose a captive, and he calls a reinforcement of his angels to hedge in the poor soul, and form a wall of darkness around him, that heaven’s light may not reach him.” 6Testimonies for the Church 1:345, 346.GVEGW 109.5
This being the case, it is not surprising that many of the visions and prophetic dreams of the prophets, from biblical times to modern, focused upon the struggles and salvation of one single person. Such was the case with Nathaniel Davis of Australia.GVEGW 109.6