The Spirit of Prophecy by George A. Irwin

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Nov 22, 1906

The Spirit of Prophecy

By George A. Irwin

G. A. IRWIN

(Reading for Sunday, December 16)

THE gift of prophecy is the greatest gift of the Holy Spirit, in that it shows us “things to come.” It is the gift that caused holy men of God to speak as they were moved by the Holy Ghost, whose sayings became the sure word of prophecy, which is as a “light that shineth in a dark place.” It is “the revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to show unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass;” which he sends and signifies by his angel (Gabriel) unto his chosen messengers, who, in turn, make it known to the church. In short, it is God the Father communicating his infallible word and will through fallible human beings of his own choosing.

Its Object

In the thirty-third chapter of the book of Job, beginning with the fourteenth verse, we read these words: “For God speaketh once, yea twice, yet man perceiveth it not. In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falleth upon men, in slumberings upon the bed; then he openeth the ears of men, and sealeth their instruction, that he may withdraw man from his purpose, and hide pride from man.” Our purposes are not always in harmony with the mind of God. The wise man has said, “There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.” Prov. 14:12. Pride is at the bottom of many of our purposes, and this same pride beclouds the mind so that we are incapable of reasoning from cause to effect; hence, God, in love

for our souls, speaks to us to withdraw us from our purpose and smother our pride, which would otherwise prove our ruin.

A noteworthy instance of the application of this principle is found in Daniel’s interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream of the tree, an account of which is found in the fourth chapter of Daniel. God wanted to save the king from the result of carrying out the purpose that pride had put into his mind; hence the dream and the interpretation. After giving the interpretation, Daniel exhorts the king to “break off thy sins by righteousness, and thine iniquities by showing mercy to the poor; if it may be a lengthening of thy tranquillity.” Dan. 4:27. Had the king heeded this counsel, he would have been saved the humiliation that brought him to a level with the brute creation until he could humbly acknowledge that “the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men,” and that “he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?”

From Neh. 9:29 we see that another object of the spirit of prophecy is to bring men back to obedience to the law. The law of God is the foundation of his throne, a transcript of his character, the transgression of which, either in the letter or in the spirit, is sin. Even while professing to keep God’s law, we may fail in discerning its far-reaching nature, and fall far short in the application of its principles in our intercourse with our brethren and others with whom we come in contact. The law, which is “holy, just, and good,” can not witness to our righteousness while we are transgressing its principles; so the spirit of prophecy steps in with its testimony to bring us “back to the law,” that our righteousness may be witnessed by both the law and the prophets. Rom. 3:21. “The testimonies of the Spirit of God are given to direct men to his Word, which has been neglected. Now, if their messages are not heeded, the Holy Spirit is shut away from the soul. What further means has God in reserve to reach the erring ones, and show them their true condition?”

The prophecies of Ezekiel and Jeremiah were especially directed against the idolatry of their time. For years Jeremiah pleaded with King Jehoiakim to turn from his evil ways, and come back to obedience to the law. By a wrong interpretation of God’s continued prosperity, even after repeated warnings, the king became so defiant that when the last appeal came, telling what would come to pass if he did not repent, as fast as it was read, he cut out the leaves from the prophetic roll (or testimony) with his penknife, and cast them into the fire, until all the roll was burned. Jer. 36:22, 23. One more roll was sent (Jer. 36:28); but it contained also the judgments that were determined against him because of his persistent rejection of the testimonies, and his defiance of the Author in his act of burning the former roll.

AT THE KARMATAR (INDIA) ORPHANAGE, SCHOOL, AND PRINTING-OFFICE

In the judgment pronounced against him, he was told that the king of Babylon should come and destroy the land, and he should be killed, and his dead body “cast out in the day to the heat, and in the night to the frost.” Jer. 36:30.

After reading this incident, we ought to be prepared more fully to appreciate the statement found in “Testimonies for the Church,” Vol. V, page 676, that “the plain, straight testimony must live in the church, or the curse of God will rest upon his people as surely as it did upon ancient Israel because of their sins.” This statement is in perfect accord with Hosea 12:13: “And by a prophet the Lord brought Israel out of Egypt, and by a prophet was he preserved.” Had it not been for Moses, Israel would have gone straight back to Egypt after the apostasy at Sinai; and on numerous other occasions they were kept from utter ruin by the same instrumentality. There is but one way marked out in God’s Word for men to become established and prosper, and that is, “believe in the Lord your God, so shall ye be established; believe his prophets, so shall ye prosper.” 2 Chron. 20:20.

Its Importance

Just as surely as individuals, and as God’s people collectively and in an organized capacity, have been preserved by obedience to the voice of the prophets in the past, just so surely have we as individuals, and as a people in an organized capacity, been preserved in this generation.

In Prov. 29:18 the statement is made that “where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.” The marginal reading for “perish” is “made naked.” The Jewish translation reads, “become unruly.” The Revised Version reads, “cast off restraint.” And another translation reads, “become reinless.” Each of these renderings is forceful, and gives an added thought, so that by taking them together, we have quite a clear conception of the results that follow where there is no direct revelation from the Lord.

For a period of three hundred and ninety-six years prior to the birth of Christ, there was no prophetic vision. While the forms of worship were kept up, the law of God had been made void by human tradition. Every principle of the decalogue was violated by those high in authority in the church, under the cloak of religion. At the end of this time “truth looked down from heaven upon the children of men, but found no reflection of itself, for darkness covered the earth, and gross darkness the people. Men could see no way out but for the Lord to again destroy the earth by a flood, angels could see no other way out, and the devil himself feared it.”

A vivid pen-picture of the wickedness of this time, given by divine inspiration, can be found in the last fourteen verses of the first chapter of Romans. The final culmination of what men will do when they decide to follow their own “purpose,”—“cast off restraint” by rejecting God’s message, given through his own chosen messenger,—can be seen in the merciless persecution and final crucifixion of Christ.

In the twelfth chapter of 1 Corinthians, Paul calls special attention to spiritual gifts in the church, using the human body, with its different members, and the relation that they sustain to one another, to illustrate the relation the different gifts sustain to one another in the church, which is the body of Christ. He says, “Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I would not have you ignorant.” The similitude used is so perfect that there is no need of our being ignorant, for we carry around with us wherever we go the figure used in the illustration, and are perfectly familiar with the workings and relative

importance of each of its members. The eye is a very important part of the human body. When it is put out, the body is compelled to grope its way in darkness. No other member can supply its place. In ancient times prophets were called “seers.” 1 Sam. 9:9. And the business of the seer was to see. Read Isa. 30:8-10. Then, following the logic of the writer in the figure used, the church, which is the body of Christ, that is without a “seer,” or a divinely appointed messenger, is blind. And that church will inevitably be deceived, and deflected from its course and mission. The history of the church in its apostasies, both before and after Christ’s time, furnishes proof of this statement.

This subject was regarded of so much importance by the apostle that he does not dismiss it with the one lesson, but in his second letter to the Corinthians he takes it up again, in the following language: “It is not expedient for me doubtless to glory. I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord. I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago (whether in the body, I can not tell; or whether out of the body, I can not tell: God knoweth); such an one caught up to the third heaven. . . . How that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful [“possible,” the margin] for a man to utter.” 2 Cor. 12:1-4.

One more statement from the same writer is worthy of special note. It reads as follows: “I thank my God always on your behalf, for the grace of God which is given you by Jesus Christ; that in everything ye are enriched by him, in all utterance, and in all knowledge; even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you: so that ye come behind in no gift; waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ: who shall also confirm you unto the end, that ye may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.” 1 Cor. 1:4-8.

This scripture especially applies to a people who are waiting for the coming of Christ, and who are to come behind in no gift, thus clearly indicating that the gift of the spirit of prophecy would be among them. But the writer’s language has a deeper significance than this. The gift of prophecy will not only be in the church, but the church’s reception of the other gifts will turn upon its reception of this gift. “Even as the spirit of prophecy is confirmed among you.” The people that reject the spirit of prophecy—the greatest gift of the Spirit—will never receive the other gifts; for “it is hardly possible for men to offer a greater insult to God than to despise and reject the instrumentalities that he has appointed to lead them.”

Success in our publishing houses, sanitariums, and schools is just as contingent upon following the instruction God gives relative to the principles and spirit that should actuate those in charge, as in following the light given for our guidance as individuals. To ignore light and instruction in either case, is an insult to God, because by so doing we place human judgment and foresight above the divine.

The only light that can illuminate the darkness of this world is the sure word of prophecy, for it is “a light that shineth in a dark place.” In this age is focusing all the light which God has given in this way from Enoch’s day until the present time. But when men despise and reject the very means which God has appointed to give light and to lead them, then there is nothing left for them to do but to go on in darkness until they stumble into perdition.

The following paragraphs taken from chapter sixty-four of “The Desire of Ages,” so fittingly and forcibly sum up the importance of the spirit of prophecy in the church, and the consequences that will follow as a result of its rejection, that I insert them here, as an appropriate—

Conclusion

“In every age there is given to men their day of light and privilege, a probationary time in which they may become reconciled to God. But there is a limit to this grace. Mercy may plead for years and be slighted and rejected; but there comes a time when mercy makes her last plea. The heart becomes so hardened that it ceases to respond to the Spirit of God. Then the sweet, winning voice entreats the sinner no longer, and reproofs and warnings cease. . . .

“In this generation there are many who are treading on the same ground as were the unbelieving Jews. They have witnessed the manifestation of the power of God; the Holy Spirit has spoken to their hearts; but they cling to their unbelief and resistance. God sends them warnings and reproof, but they are not willing to confess their errors, and they reject his message and his messenger. The very means he uses for their recovery becomes to them a stone of stumbling.

“The prophets of God were hated by apostate Israel because through them their hidden sins were brought to light. Ahab regarded Elijah as his enemy because the prophet was faithful to rebuke the king’s secret iniquities. So to-day the servant of Christ, the reprover of sin, meets with scorn and rebuffs. Bible truth, the religion of Christ, struggles against a strong current of moral impurity. Prejudice is even stronger in the hearts of men now than in Christ’s day. Christ did not fulfil men’s expectations; his life was a rebuke to their sins, and they rejected him. So now the truth of God’s Word does not harmonize with men’s practises and their natural inclination, and thousands reject its light. Men, prompted by Satan, cast doubt upon God’s Word, and choose to exercise their independent judgment. They choose darkness rather than light, but they do it at the peril of their own souls. Those who caviled at the words of Christ, found ever-increased cause for cavil, until they turned from the Truth and the Life. So it is now. God does not propose to remove every objection which the carnal heart may bring against his truth. To those who refuse the precious rays of light which would illuminate the darkness, the mysteries of God’s Word remain such forever. From them the truth is hidden. They walk blindly, and know not the ruin before them.”