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Modern Israel at the Crossroads portrays a divine plan for a mutual union between God and man, and
After nearly a century the truth of the 1888 General Conference
session continues to elude us and is largely unknown in our church or else
where known is a “stone of stumbling.” This is a baffling situation. During
this 100-year-confrontation, many members have become bewildered and
confused. The enticements of the world loom large and the expectation of
Christ’s imminent return has grown dim. The hallmarks of Adventism
have become tarnished. The truth of the message we have been given has
not been applied to cure the terrible problem of sin. It is a sad fact that we
as a people have only a vague idea of our high calling and what the final
atonement is to accomplish. Many are in the church as passengers on a bus
hoping that soon the trip will be over and they will reach their destination.
They are unaware the bus is on an extended detour.
This detour began 100 years ago. The time has come for the world church
to know the truth about this prolonged journey, this history of wandering.
Only then can we be led to the humble confession and repentance required
in the end-time by the True Witness.
But many will ask, “What does an event in our church many decades
ago really have to do with us now? Let that generation rest. Our task is to
finish the work.”
However the significance of that 1888 session continues large in our
consciences and haunts us to this day. The 1986 Annual Council in South
America voted to have a Centennial Commemoration at Minneapolis in
November, 1988. A unique proposal indeed. The church has had over 50
General Conference sessions since it was first organized, but here is one
that is different from all others. It was here that the Lord sent the “most
precious message” to His people which was the “beginning” of the solution
to Laodicean lukewarmness and held the key to preparing a people for
translation.
Every Adventist knows the work is not finished yet. What they do not
know is that it cannot be finished until the truth of our past is understood, no
matter how terrible the implications. We stand by as the world is swallowed
up in turmoil, crime, poverty, disease and every kind of degradation the
human mind can invent. But all this only dimly compares with the issues
now facing our church. Truly Modern Israel is at the crossroads.
•••••••••••••
The very existence of the Remnant Church is built upon a written
record. Without “history” as found in the Bible, the Seventh-day
Adventist denomination would have no reason to exist. This Record
defines the truth of righteousness and the death inherent in sin. It
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man and God. The belief that this union can be perfect now and throughout
eternity, is the truth that is to gather out a distinctive spiritually mature
people from all the earth.
That Book is the record of men’s lives. It is a record that claims to
have been “given by inspiration of God” even though the record is filled
with every shade of human misdemeanor and gross sin. That history has
an irrevocable finality about it that is most serious. It is impossible to
undo or change in any way the facts that make that history— not even the
sovereignty of God can do so. This leaves us to accept that history for just
what it says. The Lord has seen fit to use this record and build His case
on this history of rebellion and enmity towards Himself. No matter how
shameful that history is, we accept this Word as His word of truth which
must eventually win the battle over sin.
Seventh-day Adventist claim to be the guardians of this truth and to
have a solution for the sin problem. For well over a century we have been
making this claim. But we have been content to ignore or overlook our own
history as a people. We cannot continue to do this and at the same time
profess we hold to truth anymore than we can discount and ignore the
record of His Word and remain in union with the Lord. When our history
is known, understood and accepted for just what it says, it will accomplish
exactly what this generation is called upon to attain. It will also unfold the
future.
Seventh-day Adventists do not believe the Bible because they were
present when it was written or because they know eyewitnesses who saw
the prophets write it. Neither do they believe it because they knew the
authors personally and can vouch for their characters, or because the
record is flattering. They believe it out of conviction that it is the truth God
gave to His people and that it has in it the power to destroy man’s deep-
rooted sin—his enmity toward God. The Christ of this Book proved that
there is power in the Word and He did that which Satan said fallen man
could not do. The basic spiritual equipment that enabled Jesus to triumph
is available to the last generation who are likewise called to live without
sin. Inherent in this must be the belief that the history portrayed in the
Book is true.
By the same guarantee the history of Seventh-day Adventists must be
known, be understood, believed and be accepted for just what it is. Anything
less than this “is not of faith” and the Word says, “whatsoever is not of faith
is sin.” (Rom. 14:23)
Ancient Israel
If the Hebrew nation could grasp the whole truth of the Old
Testament, they would find Christ the promised Messiah clearly
presented and verified in the New Testament. Because they failed to read
their history with spiritual insight, they failed to recognize the Chief
Character which their history reveals. The tragedy of this blindness can
be overcome by any Hebrew who re-reads the Record and understands
and accepts just what that history really says. Honesty will require a
heart-felt acceptance of Jesus as Messiah. If the Jews could see God’s real
purpose and glory in their history it would have world-wide repercussions.
The effects would be felt among all nations. The denial of their history
over the centuries would be changed into deep repentance with amazing
consequences. But not all the Jews would accept the truth of their history
for what it says and the nation would be polarized. In Adventist parlance
there would be a “shaking” because of the “straight testimony” with terrible,
far-reaching results.
If, however, the Spirit of God could reach a segment of the nation and
they by faith find salvation and bring to God the glory He deserves and
vindicate His name, then surely the travail of the “shaking” would be worth
all that was involved. The result of this genuine faith in the Bible, the
history of their nation, would bear the fruit of conviction and repentance.
It would be as if that “other angel came down from heaven, having great
power; and the earth was lightened with His glory.” (Rev. 18:1) Such a
result could happen any time they are willing to accept the Record for what
it says.
Modern Israel
Modern Israel, the Remnant Church, our church, has been making history
for only a brief century compared to the Hebrew nation’s millenniums. But
our history is being made in the end-time and has special significance for
the whole universe to read. The latent genius of Adventism, now but dimly
perceived, must come to be understood and take its place, invincible before
the ramparts of sin. The question is, how much longer before Adventists
will be able to “see” and “know” their history any better than their spiritual
forefathers? This history could have closed long before now except we insist
that we “see” and therefore we are proving that not only the Jews of old
can be blind. Our on-going history becomes more perplexing with each
passing year. If the “oracles of God” which the Jews held and which have
been passed on to the Remnant are to be accepted at face value, sooner or
later the divine purpose must be carried out in every detail no matter how
humbling the experience may be for us. The final atonement must be made,
“then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.” (Dan. 8:14)
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The Problem
In sacred history there is a great mystery that stands out when the life
and work of Christ is considered. For centuries God’s chosen people had
been looking for Messiah to come. But when He came He was rejected. He
did not fit the preconceived ideas of what Messiah ought to be and do. He
did not dress right. He did not know the right people. His message was too
humbling.
However, the Book says, “the common people heard Him gladly.” The
problem was not the people. The inspired record of Luke affirms, “the chief
priests and our rulers delivered Him to be condemned to death, and have
crucified Him.” (Luke 24:20) Why did it turn out this way? It need not have
been so, for Jesus said, “O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the
prophets have spoken.” (Luke 24:25) Those who should have known, those
who should have believed—the leaders—were the very ones who were blind
and unbelieving, ignorant of the real meaning of scripture.
From that day to this there has been debate about this historical event.
Jews, atheists, agnostics, deists, Muslims, and a host of others including
Christians, have all been involved. But it need not be so—if only we would
believe the historical record.
In a similar way, terrible to contemplate, we as a people have built
up an array of ideas as to what happened at that remarkable meeting
known as the Minneapolis Conference of 1888. It is this event that we are
to commemorate in 1988. This century-old 1888 meeting has caused two
views to be published that are diametrically opposed to each other. How
could God’s people get so ensnared—when there is a written record? As
time has gone on this dichotomy has become increasingly worse and now
has reached vexing proportions. Unfortunately there can be no compromise
between the two views. One or the other is terribly wrong. It is a grievous
thing that a people who talk much of the second coming of Christ could find
themselves in a position so completely untenable. The need to know and
understand our history is imperative. Truly Modern Israel has reached the
crossroads. It is time to choose the right way and get off the detour. This
will be the most challenging decision of all the ages.
Is it not plain to see the enemy will continue to do everything possible
to delay that decision which signals his doom? Until that right choice is
made, all the strategy in the world will avail nothing and the detour must
continue.
Modern Israel’s History
It is now more than thirty-five years since the document 1888 Re-
Examined was presented to Seventh-day Adventist church leaders. For
all these years this manuscript has been circulating in the world field in
various forms, complete or incomplete, but always in limited quantity.
That has now changed. The authors have now published this book
for the first time and it is available to the world church. The historical
evidence with complete documentation and hundreds of Ellen White
citations, establishes the 1888 event in our history as a battle which the
enemy won—but the war is not over. Though the “enemy prevented” us
“from obtaining that efficiency which might have been” ours, yet the True
Witness continues to plead and knock at the door for entrance. The Lord’s
messenger states categorically that, “the light that is to lighten the whole
earth with its glory was resisted, and by the action of our own brethren has
been in a great degree kept away from the world.” (See 1SM 234, 235.) This
is a tragedy which only eternity will fully reveal. In it is to be found the root
of current spiritual impotence and wide­spread apostasy. One hidden result
is the growing credibility gap between laity and leaders.
Notwithstanding all that Ellen White has said to the contrary, the official
position of the church persists in calling the 1888 session a “victory.” If this
is true and the message was truly accepted, then it becomes obvious that
the Lord is responsible for the delay in finishing the work. If the message
was not accepted, which is the appraisal the Lord places on our history,
then the church is responsible for the delay. This means that until this
matter is put right, there is no way that we can seriously expect Heaven to
try again to give us the latter rain.
The official position has been set forth clearly in the following three
books: By Faith Alone (1962), Through Crisis to Victory (1966), and
Movement of Destiny (1971).
Since these 1500 pages were published, further attempts have been
made to tell the church that the message was “generally accepted.” A more
recent denial of our history is found in The Australian Years (1983) page
11, and reads: “The crisis at the General Conference session of 1888 at
Minneapolis and the resistance on the part of some church leaders to the
wholehearted acceptance of the message of righteousness by faith had, upon
the confessions of certain key men, largely subsided. In her oral ministry
and writing Ellen White had for much of two years helped to stem the tide
of negative reaction, and the Bible-based doctrine of justification by faith
was by 1891 generally accepted.”
Indeed, Ellen White did try “to stem the tide of negative reaction”
but all these published claims of acceptance are in sharp contrast to the
emphatic statements she made which declare the exact opposite. We have
already referred to the one she made in 1896. She plainly said “the light
that is to lighten the whole earth with its glory was resisted, and by the
action of our own brethren has been in a great degree kept away from the
world.” (1 SM 234, 235)
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It is impossible to evade the seriousness of this charge against “our
own brethren.” In contrast to the idea the “resistance … largely subsided”
in two years, it must be especially noted that her statement of continuing
opposition and resistance was brought to the attention of the church eight
years after the session. From that day to this there has not been a single
word from the pen of inspiration giving any other interpretation of the
1888 crisis. The evidence demands that we begin to read our history for
what it says. With grief it must be noted that there was still another denial
to be published in 1984.
The biographer of Ellen White tells us in The Lonely Years. 1876-
1891, page 398, “the concept that the General Conference, and thus the
denomination, rejected the message of righteousness by faith in 1888
is without foundation … contemporary records yield no suggestion of
denominational rejection. There is no E. G. White statement anywhere
that says this was so.”
How can such a statement be made? It is the contemporary records
that give the history of the 1888 rejection of the latter rain and loud cry.
It is the 1893 General Conference Bulletin that makes this very clear. It is
the E. G. White statements over a period of years that make the tragedy so
evident. This is documented in full and explained in the publication, 1888
Re-Examined. It need not be pursued here.
Current Thinking in Modern Israel
Many Seventh-day Adventists sense that something in the church is
restraining the fulfillment of its divine calling and destiny. Things are not
going well in Israel, notwithstanding proclamations to the contrary and
all the strategy programs. In seeking a resolution many will suggest, “As
a church we understand righteousness by faith and we preach it clearly;
our problem is simply that we don’t live it as we should.” (Cf. Origin and
History. Vol. 2, p. 281: also The Lonely Years, p. 415)
Such a statement indicates a serious misunderstanding. It cannot
bear careful analysis. If we agree “righteous” is by “faith,” then obviously
if one has “faith” it follows that “righteousness” will be manifest in the
life. Such a one will live it. If this is not true, then the term is nothing but
semantic nonsense. To Seventh-day Adventists “righteousness by faith” is
most certainly a preparation of character for the coming of the Lord. The
messenger of the Lord understood this clearly. Speaking of the power and
glory of the 1888 message she proclaimed: ‘The enemy of man and God is
not willing that this truth should be fully presented; for he knows that if
the people receive it fully, his power will be broken.” (RH, Sept. 3, 1889)
This should open our eyes as to why there is the terrible dichotomy
in our church. As long as there is confusion over the “precious message”
the Lord sent to His people, just so long the enemy can hold the church
subservient. But for now we must ask, is the enemy’s power broken in our
lives as a church? When his power is truly “broken,” will not the Lord’s
people be ready for His coming, for translation? And if we are not ready,
and have not been ready for a century, either we do not “fully” understand
the truth of righteousness by faith and have not received it— or else the
Lord is to blame for the long delay in His return. If we understand it but do
not “receive it fully,” then we are most truly rejecting it!
The “light” given to Seventh-day Adventists is not merely to get a people
ready to die, we are responsible for preparing a people to live, now and for
eternity. This means translation. If this is not true, no one knows how
many more decades must elapse before the world’s burden of sorrow, pain
and sin can be lifted. “Righteousness by faith” is just what it says—right
living by faith. Therefore it is impossible to understand it truly and preach
it clearly without living it! It is the proper understanding of this truth that
brings Modem Israel to the crossroads.
God’s Purpose for Modern Israel
It would seem clear that the essence of the new covenant is to provide
a forgiveness that remembers sin no more. It blots it out from the heavenly
sanctuary with a complimentary work in the hearts of God’s people. It is
a forgiveness that does not cover imperfection but rather removes it. The
very term “righteousness by faith,” must mean Christ’s righteousness and
it is this He desires His people to have. Thus before He arrived in this
world it was proclaimed, “thou shalt call His name JESUS: for He shall
save His people from their sins.” (Matt. 1:21) The meaning of perfection
must therefore be inseparable from that perfect faith in the righteousness
of Christ. An unwillingness to accept this truth has kept away from our
people the special power of the Holy Spirit that God longed to impart to
them.
The generation that witnessed this rejection is at rest. But in recent
years the importance of the 1888 General Conference has by force of
circumstances been thrust upon the church. There are simply too many
deviations from the landmarks to go unnoticed. If the official position
would change and the historical evidence as given by the Lord through His
messenger, be accepted as the truth, then the detour could end and the
“stone of stumbling” be removed from the road. The light that is to lighten
the whole world would break forth.
If the leadership persists in rejecting the truth of our own history, we
face a further long journey and will follow ever more closely in the footsteps
of ancient Israel. This is a path that we have been warned specifically,
repeatedly and emphatically to shun. The result of such a tragic course is
terrible to contemplate. It means that the continued reign of sin becomes
an ever larger responsibility of the church.
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But more than this. The Lord has given us a chilling, startling
documentary of pending awful consequences if we persist in demanding our
own way in opposition to His counsel and light. In the context of rejecting
the 1888 message the Lord has told us:
“There is less excuse in our day for stubbornness and unbelief than
there was for the Jews in the days of Christ. They did not have before them
the example of a nation that had suffered retribution for their unbelief and
disobedience. … In our day greater light and greater evidence is given. We
have also their example, the warnings and reproofs that were presented
to them, and our sin and its retribution will be greater, if we refuse to
walk in the light. … If with all the light that shone on His ancient people,
delineated before us, we travel over the same ground, cherish the same
spirit, refuse to receive reproof and warning, then our guilt will be greatly
augmented, and the condemnation that fell upon them will fall upon us,
only it will be much greater as our light is greater in this age than was
their light in their age.” (R&H, April 11, 1893)
When the Lord has to stoop to the word “retribution” to try and awaken
His children to their stubborn blindness, surely a crisis is pending. One
thing is certain— at this date we have done no better than the Jews. How
much longer before “retribution” falls upon us remains to be seen. Some
might suggest that recent financial disasters are anything but blessings.
When it is borne in mind that the entire context and thrust of this warning
deals with the 1888 failure, we can but stand amazed at the longsuffering
of our Lord. How much longer will Modern Israel live under the illusion
that all is well and continue to spurn reality, ignoring God’s counsel, His
purpose and His attitude? If it were not for the example of Ninevah and the
certainty that a nation can repent—there would be reason for despair.
Modern Israel in the End-time
The history of the Jews is a parable for us today to be read and
understood. The parallels that the Lord’s messenger draws are too plain
to be ignored. We are conscience-bound to accept this council as from the
Lord. Therefore certain facts stand out in summary:
1. The final solemn call to the seventh church, the last church, the
Laodicean church, is a call to the leadership, the ministry of that church. It
is the leadership which the True Witness charges with a false understanding
of their condition. Being “rich, and increased with goods,” does not refer
to material wealth. The accusation is against our pride in our supposed
knowledge of the gospel, our vaunted assumption that we understand
“righteousness by faith.”
Equally serious is the clear inference in published denominational
material that charges the laity with ignorance and blames them for the
delay while exonerating the ministry. (Cf. Through Crisis to Victory, pp.
233-239; Movement of Destiny, pp. 317, 582, 613) If after a century of waiting
the leaders are right, “there was no rejection,” and the church members are
wrong, they will not follow the light, what hope is there that the church
will ever get ready for the coming of the Lord? The full truth will clear the
minds of our ministry, our laity and the minds of our youth. All will know
that the Lord is not unresponsive to our prayers and repentance. We will
all know that it is our own unfaithfulness that delayed His return.
The call of our Lord to “be zealous therefore, and repent,” needs to
be understood as a clear call to denominational repentance. The message
is to the angel of the church, therefore it is directed to the leadership of
the church. We honestly do not know our destitution. We are sincere in
our ignorance. What we proudly assume is the genuine article, actually
consists of themes and concepts borrowed from the sixteenth century
Reformers or from modern Evangelicals. The proof of this can be found in
the history of the Jews which serves as a parable. They “had” the Sabbath
for millenniums but it is obvious from the words of our Lord that they
did not understand it, or appreciate its true significance or in any way
truly “keep” it. Our spiritual ignorance parallels theirs. Jesus says, “thou
knowest not.”
Christ’s call to the leadership to “repent,” may appear as an affront
and demeaning. He says, “As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten.” Such
chastening will come in seeing with horror and dismay our past rejection
and complacency and then come to know the full, unvarnished, whole
truth of our denominational history. Honest hearts will respond and be
revitalized. Such repentance will restore the respect due the official church
leadership. When the leaders lead in repentance and confession of our past
insult to the Holy Spirit, the world-wide church will honor the General
Conference and the widening credibility gap will cease to exist. Financially
a new day will dawn.
The call to this generation to repent for the failures of our church
forefathers is in order. Sacred history is replete with acknowledgements
and confessions for the “iniquity of their fathers.” There are many Old
Testament examples. “Denominational repentance” is the call of the Lord
throughout His word. The final atonement comes from recognizing the full
truth of “our” position before the Lord. It is this group that is the “woman”
who is prepared to be the Lamb’s “wife.” Christ’s last public discourse
was a final appeal to the Jewish leadership at Jerusalem to repent, and a
heart-broken lament for their refusal to do so. Ninevah is a “model” that
Jesus used for the Jewish leaders to follow in repentance. This repentance
was “from the greatest of them to the least of them,” from the king to the
street sweeper, or as we know it, from the General Conference to the most
recently baptized church member.
The sin of rejecting the “beginning of the Latter Rain” at and after
1888 must be seen for what it really is—an insult to the Holy Spirit. Time
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can never cancel an insult. Ordinary common ethics demand that an insult
be acknowledged and that forgiveness be sought. As long as the insult is
denied, there is no way for reconciliation to take place. Thus the 1888 event
must continue as an insult to Deity. No matter how many prayers there
may be for the Latter Rain, there is no way for Heaven to accommodate
until the insult is acknowledged and repentance is genuine.
Finally—the sin of Calvary and the sin of 1888 are both revelations
of the deep sinfulness of the human heart—our own hearts. If the Jewish
nation could “see” the sin of Calvary, honesty would demand they accept
Jesus as Messiah. If the leadership of the Seventh-day Adventist church
could “see” the sin of 1888 for all it really is- an insult to the Holy Spirit
and a reenactment of Calvary—then the earth would be “lightened with
His glory,” and Babylon the great would be known for what it really
is, “the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit.” Genuine
denominational repentance will recognize and acknowledge our true
position as we stand “miserable” and “naked” before the watching eyes of
the universe.
Modern Israel at the Crossroads
And so today there looms before our church the century of confrontation
between God and His people. The delegates to the Annual Council in 1986
have gone on record to commemorate the tragedy of 1888. According to the
Adventist Review, October 30, 1986, there will be a “dramatic reenactment
of the 1888 session.” Truly there was drama in 1888! “Satan succeeded in
shutting away from our people, in a great measure, the special power of
the Holy Spirit that God longed to impart to them.” (1 SM 234, 235) This
notable meeting, “was the only General Conference session where Ellen G.
White was publicly defied.” (AR, Oct. 30, 1986)
The plans are large for the meeting at Minneapolis in November, 1988.
These plans include searching for answers: What really happened? What
were the doctrinal issues? Who were the personalities involved? What were
the results?
These facts have been known for over thirty-five years. These facts have
been the reason to produce three books of rebuttal to our history plus other
strong denials. Not only Ellen G. White has been defied, but the history of
our church has been defied. We already know what happened. We already
know the doctrinal issues. We already know the personalities involved and
we know the terrible results. What we don’t know is how much longer we
will continue to try and cover up our history.
The sacred Record makes it plain that it was the leadership, the priests
and rulers who rejected Christ at His first coming and thus deceived the
people and led to their rejection of the Saviour. When the tragedy of that
experience dawned upon the hearts of God’s people, they were pricked
and they cried, ‘What shall we do?” The answer was clear, “Repent!”
The heavenly illumination and divine power that followed made hearts
understand truths that heretofore had been uncomprehended. Can we
expect any less in the end-time?
If the 1988 Centennial Commemoration proves to be a season of fasting
and prayer without any “dramatic enactment”; if it is a solemn proclamation
of the truth of our history; if it brings us to have the “faith of Jesus” and to
stand for the right though the heavens fall; then the God of Abraham, Isaac
and Jacob, the Saviour of Israel will be able to do for His people now what
He has longed to do for a century. Growing out of this centennial there could
be a sanctified understanding of our sin, a blessed humble repentance that
would make the General Conference of 1990 a genuine day of atonement
for Modern Israel.
Modern Israel stands at the crossroads. Which road will we take?

A Paper Presented at the

Third National 1888 Message Conference
Andrews University, Berrien Springs, Michigan

..........
Republished in this digital format by CFI, 2009
www.cherokeefarms.com

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