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More Than a Prophet

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Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Nov 1, 1906

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 83, No. 44.

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“More Than a Prophet”

D. H. KRESS, M. D.
In speaking of John the Baptist, Jesus said, “But what went ye out for to see? A prophet? yea, I say unto you [he was a prophet], and more than a prophet. For this is he, of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee.”
He was a messenger with a message for the people, which called for repentance. John the Baptist was the voice of one crying, “Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain: and the glory [character] of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.” This briefly outlines the work and the burden of the message of John the Baptist. His message removed the pharisaical veneer, and laid bare the hidden sins of the people. The ax was laid at the root of every difficulty. This prepared the way for the first coming of Christ.
A message similar to that of John the Baptist’s will be given to the professed people of God and to the world to prepare the way for the second coming of Christ. In speaking of this, the Lord through the prophet Malachi predicted, “Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, . . . behold, he shall come. . . . But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth?” Only those can abide who have been purged and purified through the message borne by the messenger sent to prepare the way for his coming.
To Sister White God has given a work and message similar to that of John the Baptist. No one can read the messages that have come from her pen without recognizing that they are designed to make the crooked places straight and the rough places plain, in order that the glory of God might be revealed. Like John the Baptist, she is a messenger with a message to prepare a people for the coming of Christ.
During a discourse delivered at Battle Creek, Sister White said that she did not claim the title of prophetess. Some were surprised at this statement, and some have used this expression in such a way as to lead to the belief that the messages through Sister White were uninspired. Sister White herself explained later what she meant by this expression: “I said I did not claim to be a prophetess.” “My work includes much more than this word signifies. I regard myself as a messenger, entrusted with a message for His people.” “I am God’s messenger, sent to bear a message of reproof to the erring and of encouragement to the meek and lowly.” Of her it may just as truthfully be said as it was of John the Baptist: “But what went ye out for to see? A prophet? yea, I say unto you [a prophet], and more than a prophet”—a messenger with a message to prepare the church to stand without spot or wrinkle at the second coming of Christ.
Miriam was a prophetess, and Aaron was a prophet of the Lord. The Lord spoke through them. But Moses was not merely a prophet, he was more than a prophet. When Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses, saying, “Hath the Lord indeed spoken only by Moses? hath he not spoken also by us?” they placed their work on a par with that of Moses. But “the Lord spake suddenly unto Moses, and unto Aaron, and unto Miriam, Come out ye three unto the tabernacle of the congregation. And they three came out. And the Lord came down in the pillar of the cloud, and stood in the door of the tabernacle, and called Aaron and Miriam: and they both came forth. And he said, Hear now my words: If there be a prophet among you, I the Lord will make myself known unto him in a vision, and will speak unto him in a dream. My servant Moses is not so, who is faithful in all mine house. With him will I speak mouth to mouth; . . . wherefore then were ye not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?” Moses was a prophet, for it is recorded, “By a prophet the Lord brought Israel out of Egypt, and by a prophet was he preserved.” Hosea 12:13. Moses was a prophet, and more than a prophet; this the Lord desired Aaron and Miriam and all the people to recognize. Moses was a messenger with a message of reproof to the erring and of encouragement to the meek and lowly; his work included more than the word prophet signifies.
Our experiences, too, are similar to the experiences of ancient Israel. Korah, Dathan, and Abiram “rose up before Moses, with certain of the children of Israel, two hundred and fifty princes of the assembly, famous in the congregation, men of renown: and they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron, and said unto them, Ye take too much upon you, seeing all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the Lord is among them: wherefore then lift ye up yourselves above the congregation of the Lord? And when Moses heard it, he fell upon his face: and he spake unto Korah and unto all his company.” When all his pleadings with them were rejected, “the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the congregation, saying, Get you up from about the tabernacle of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. . . . And he spake unto the congregation, saying, Depart, I pray you, from the tents of these wicked men, and touch nothing of theirs, lest ye be consumed in all their sins.” After they had separated, “Moses said, Hereby ye shall know that the Lord hath sent me to do all these works; for I have not done them of mine own mind [of this they evidently accused him]. . . . And it came to pass, as he had made an end of speaking all these words, that the ground clave asunder that was under them: and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up, and their houses, and all the men that appertained unto Korah, and all their goods. . . . And there came out a fire from the Lord, and consumed the two hundred and fifty men that offered incense.” See Numbers 16. This is a most solemn warning.
All this has been placed upon record that we might understand the deceitfulness of the human heart, and thus be kept from placing confidence in our impressions, and even in our convictions. These princes considered themselves holy men; they were confident they were men who were influenced by the Spirit of God. So subtle was this deception, and so pious appeared their teaching, that the people were led to believe that they were holy men, that they were right, and that Moses was wrong, for “on the morrow all the congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron, saying, Ye have killed the people of the Lord.” Many of this number had wholly rejected God, and nothing could ever be done for them, and nothing but a further demonstration of God’s judgments could convince those who were doubting, yet not wholly deceived; and so the plague was suffered to come among them. “Now they that died in the plague were fourteen thousand seven hundred, beside them that died about the matter of Korah.” These all perished by refusing to recognize only one voice as infallible—the voice of God through Moses.
This deception began in heaven with Satan, and led to the fall of one third of the heavenly host. He said, “I will be like the Most High.” Isa. 14:14. Satan used this to cause the overthrow of Adam and Eve. “Ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil,” he said to them. It is natural for man to worship himself, and to make a god of his convictions and impressions. It is natural for man to claim the power of knowing between good and evil; in other words it is natural for man to desire and claim infallibility. All this is now carried forward in the form of godliness, in the belief that it is true Christianity, and we hear men who worship their infallible convictions and impressions, quote in defense of their position: “The anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you all things, and is truth, and is no lie.” Of course they say this is all on condition that we abide in him. But who is to determine whether we abide in him or not? They will say, “Self, of course. The voice God has placed in the church, ‘God’s messenger with a message of reproof to the erring,’ can not determine that.”
Of any one who, like Moses, is chosen of God to correct the erring and point out dangers and defects in character, it will be said by such: “Ye take too much upon you, seeing all the congregation are holy,” or, We are all “as gods, knowing good and evil.” We have only one infallible voice in the church, that is the voice of God’s Spirit through his messenger;and we are admonished, “He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.”
Among the Laodiceans the voice of the Spirit of God is not in agreement with the voice from within, which we are in danger of considering the voice of God’s Spirit. Which shall we believe? The voice from within says, “I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing. I know my condition, I am as a god, knowing good and evil, and need not that any man teach me.” But this is the voice of a lying spirit, for the voice of the true Spirit, “the faithful and true witness,” says, “And knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked.” It is evident that in order to receive help from God we must deny our evidences from within, and say we are wrong on the very points we feel sure we are right, when his message comes to us through his messenger in reproof or correction. This seems like folly to the natural man. It is too humiliating for him to deny self and bow down and worship God alone. Thus the two hundred and fifty princes who said, “Ye take too much upon you,” reasoned anciently, and said to Moses, “Wilt thou put out the eyes of these men?” Man can not judge by the seeing of the eye, nor by the hearing of the ear, nor by the impressions of his heart, and judge righteously. When his impressions are in accord with the law and the Testimonies, then, and then only, are they trustworthy.
Feeling we are right is no evidence whatever that we are right. In fact, the true child of God, knowing the deceitfulness of human nature, places no confidence in his flesh. He has a very humble opinion of himself, and esteems others better than himself; therefore he is willing to counsel with his brethren. He possesses a meek and teachable spirit. When the message of correction or reproof comes to him through God’s messenger, he is prepared to believe and receive it. But to such it is seldom necessary for the Lord to send a personal message of reproof. These messages come to the self-deceived who think they are right, and who know not that they are “poor, and blind, and naked.” The message does not come to condemn, but to save from self-deception and destruction. “As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten.”
The purpose of the spirit of prophecy in the remnant church, and the purpose of all the Testimonies and messages that come to us pointing out the wrongs we do not see, is “that we might be partakers of his holiness.” We can see, then, why Satan’s special effort in the last days will be exercised to destroy confidence in this voice that God has placed in the church to correct its members and to make of them a holy people. The Word of the Lord alone abideth forever, and only they who receive the Word of God as the word of God, whether they can harmonize it or not, are secure. They will have confidence in their impressions only as they accord with the word of the Lord. They say: “Yea, let God be true, and every man a liar.”
Wahroonga, N. S. W.