The Spirit of Prophecy in the Remnant Church by G. I. BUTLER

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Jul 6, 1916

The Spirit of Prophecy in the Remnant Church

By G. I. BUTLER

G. I. BUTLER

“The dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.” Rev. 12:17. The symbolic woman of the twelfth chapter of Revelation is the true church of Jesus Christ. There can be no doubt of this. Therefore “the remnant of her seed” must be the people of the last great reform movement, those composing the church on earth when Christ comes. This conclusion is demonstrated beyond all question by the characteristics of the true people of God, developed by the third angel’s message of Rev. 14:12: “Here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.” This last message brings the people of God to the grandest event the universe will ever see, the second advent of Jesus Christ in the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory, closing up the reign of sin, and bringing salvation to the good and faithful of all ages. Rev. 14:14.

The third angel’s message is the climax of the three angels’ messages of Revelation 14. It has been in process of proclamation since the great disappointment of 1844, that is, for more than seventy years. Beginning in poverty and obscurity, steadily increasing into a loud cry, it is now being proclaimed by more than one hundred thousand persons to the ends of the earth.

This remnant church has the testimony of Jesus Christ. This term is defined by the Word of God itself, yea, by an angel from heaven: “The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.” Rev. 19:10. The spirit of prophecy must be that special manifestation of the Holy Spirit which enables chosen agents of heaven to prophesy, that is, to have visions of glory revealing events of the past, of the present, and even of the future, which human beings never could reveal by any natural endowment of the mind. Such were the visions of Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Jacob, Moses, Samuel, Elijah, Elisha, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Paul, and John, yea, and of many others whose names are recorded in the Book of God.

God-given visions and revelations are no mere guesswork. They are divine illuminations of something more than human reasoning. They are special light given from God direct, or through holy angels whom God has commissioned to give that light to men. A good illustration of God’s method is given in Rev. 1:1-3: “The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to show unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John: who bare record of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that he saw. Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.” Here “the testimony of Jesus” is named precisely as it is presented in the words of God to the remnant church. That remnant church has in it “the testimony of Jesus Christ,” which is defined to be “the spirit of prophecy.” In other words, the last church, the remnant church, has the same spirit of prophecy as John had in the grand apostolic church in the closing period of the first century of the Christian dispensation. There is no reasonable way of escaping this conclusion. John had this testimony of Jesus, and John wrote that the remnant church would have the testimony of Jesus.

Has the remnant church had this testimony of Jesus, or did John make a mistake? Can we believe John had the testimony of Jesus Christ when he wrote the revelation which Christ gave to him, or shall we doubt his word? Shall we believe that the remnant church had the same gift? Coming down to the advent experience, at the very time when this remnant church began to be developed, we find a young woman of seventeen, who had had, through great affliction and much sorrow, a most remarkable religious experience, receiving a vision of God’s glory. Indeed, she had many of these wonderful experiences, some of which we shall mention hereafter. These spiritual manifestations were a source of great encouragement to those who had passed through the terrible disappointment of the passing of the time when they confidently looked for the Lord to come. They were as greatly disappointed as were the disciples when Christ was crucified.

This work could never have been successfully founded by a body of inexperienced persons. These greatly disappointed believers who had held on to their faith in the soon-coming Saviour, were believers of experience. They were scattered here and there, but were sought out by the pioneers, and were the first converts. They were people of stamina, and devout Christians; and they became firm believers in the visions of Mrs. E. G. White and in the spirit of prophecy. They were acquainted with the Spirit of God, and recognized these visions as from heaven. Many of the visions were given as important helps in the early days of this cause. Indeed, the work could never have been established without

them. God in mercy gave the visions to instruct and guide his servants in establishing this mighty movement which is to prepare a people for Christ’s coming, in this age of unbelief, infidelity, atheism, rejection of anything and everything supernatural.

The popular churches are constantly giving evidence of having discarded the Holy Scriptures as spiritual authority. The Testimonies of the Spirit in the remnant church ever emphasize the importance of the blessed Bible in all their teachings. Those writings warn our people against fanaticism, Spiritualism, so-called Christian Science, and every satanic counterfeit. The Bible is our great standard of authority. We as a people accept spiritual gifts and the spirit of prophecy because we cannot fully believe the Bible without doing so, for the Bible, as we have seen, positively declares that the spirit of prophecy will be in the last church on earth when Christ comes. Our belief in the Bible compels us to accept this statement as well as other portions of Scripture.

Bowling Green, Fla.