p. 11 | J. N. LOUGHBOROUGH by John Norton Loughborough

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Nov 28, 1907

J. N. LOUGHBOROUGH

By John Norton Loughborough

Things That Differ—No. 4

J. N. LOUGHBOROUGH

THERE is a decided difference between the Bible doctrine of sanctification and holiness, and the teaching of those who regard it as some peculiar state of feeling, a condition of mind to which they must be wrought up. There is “peace in believing,” and “joy in the Holy Ghost,” as the result of entire surrender to the Lord.

The mistake in some cases has been that persons strive, in their own strength, for the blessing, without making that consecration to God which secures the real blessing. And Satan holds them in their unconsecrated state by giving them of his spirit, or leaving them to an excitement of their own feelings.

The difficulty with many is that they consider a peculiar state of feeling to be sanctification, instead of regarding it, as it really is, a growth attained by daily victories.

Satan would have rejoiced could he have started a fanatical movement among the Seventh-day Adventists, but in this he has been defeated because the Lord connected early with the work the gift of prophecy, and persons who had received an experience in combating false systems of holiness and sanctification. These took the position that every such theory and manifestation must be tested by the Word of the Lord, and not by some peculiar state of feeling or power one claimed to possess.

I will mention one of Satan’s attempts along this line. It occurred in the winter of 1852-53 in a new company of believers in eastern Michigan. This little company made much of their feelings, and had, through their peculiar manifestations, instruction and reproofs for one another. On the last Sabbath in May, 1853, in a meeting held at Tyrone, Mich., a vision was given to Mrs. E. G. White, correcting the erroneous views held by those who had been in that movement, and who were present at the meeting. The most of them at once confessed their mistake, while some wished to describe their peculiar exercises, saying that “when one would receive these blessings [as they called them], the sensation was as if cold water had been poured on one’s back.” They were plainly told that the Spirit of God did not operate in any such way as that.

While different ones were confessing their way out of the snare Satan had set for them, one brother arose and said he wanted to tell his experience, and then he would leave it to Elder White to say what spirit had been actuating him. He said: “When I was first converted, my heart was filled with the love of God, and a love also for my fellow men, and I had a great desire to lead souls to Christ. After a while my mind was filled with a great desire to have one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. I chose the gift of healing. When any one was sick in the neighborhood, I would feel it in my arms—a peculiar sensation as if my arms were swelling. Then I knew I had the gift of healing.” He, however, did not claim that any one had ever been healed by him. Having stated his case thus far, he said, “When I got this gift, that love all left me. Now I will leave it to Elder White to tell me what spirit that was.”

Elder White replied, “It was the spirit of the devil, of course, for the first fruit of the Spirit of God is love. If that love left you when you got another spirit, that spirit that had not the love must have been the spirit of the devil.” The brother at once said, “That is so.” He renounced his error, and took his stand for the right, with the love of God again taking its abode in him.

The meeting at Tyrone closed gloriously, and thus was Satan’s effort to introduce his false holiness, feeling-chasing, and fanaticism into the young cause in Michigan completely checked.

Another case, still later, may be of interest. In the summer of 1860 the writer, with another brother, held tent-meetings in Illinois and Wisconsin. Toward the close of the summer there came to us a man who, when residing in the Eastern States, had entertained extreme views of holiness. Having now begun the observance of the Sabbath, he seemed anxious to have us all receive this holiness of which he spoke. Although he cautiously introduced it at first, I feared that Elder ——’s ideas would lead to fanaticism, for it savored so much of the theory of getting where every thought would certainly be from the Lord.

It proved in the end to be another effort of Satan to get his fanaticism among us. This time he chose the young field of Wisconsin. He found a few individuals, in one locality, who accepted fully the theory, and claimed to be where all their impressions were from the Lord. When this movement had about reached its height, Elder James White, who was holding meetings in the West, met this company and plainly exposed their deceived condition. They had been led to the point of deciding by acts of bodily affliction whether they would be able to endure in “the time of trouble.” One of them said to him, “I know I shall endure in the time of trouble,” and referred to a great bodily affliction which had been brought upon herself by following the impressions of another. She held out her hand, which was covered with poultices, it having been severely burned as the test. Elder White’s reply was, “Well, sister, if grit is all that is needful to endure in the time of trouble, I think you have grit enough, if you could endure to have your flesh burned that way without flinching.”

In “Testimonies for the Church,” Vol. I, pages 228-232, 244, 311-323, 336-340, this Wisconsin movement—the cause of it, its results, etc.—is fully set forth.

This movement grew out of extreme views of getting into a condition where every thought and impression was to be recognized as from the Lord.

Now let it be distinctly understood that in speaking against these fanatical views and impressions I am not discounting the Scripture truth that the Lord is more willing to give us his Holy Spirit than we are to give good gifts to our children; nor do I for a moment doubt the instruction that “the Holy Spirit awaits our demand and reception.” I only wish to caution against the idea of following a spirit of independence and self-sufficiency.

It was said to the leader in the Wisconsin fanaticism: “Had you accepted the gifts which God has placed in the church, and committed yourself fully in regard to them; had you established yourself decidedly upon all points of present truth, and drawn in even cords with those of experience in the cause, you and yours would have been perfectly free and safe from this delusion. You would have had an anchor which would have held you.” “Breaking away from such safeguards,” he was told, “you were left to your blind judgment to figure in the most unreasonable, foolish, wild fanaticism that ever cursed Wisconsin.”

Such breaking away from restraint is just as liable now as in 1860-61 to develop a following of one’s own impressions instead of the Spirit of the Lord. May the Lord guide us as we seek to “prove the things that differ.”

Healdsburg, Cal.