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CONFERENCE ADDRESS

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Publishing Committee · BATTLE CREEK, MICH. · Jul 24, 1856

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 8, No. 12.

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CONFERENCE ADDRESS.

By Editor

TO THE SCATTERED SAINTS:—

Dearly Beloved, In the good providence of our God we are again permitted to meet in Conference and thus strengthen and encourage one another in the great work in which we are engaged; and as we enjoy the opportunity of praying with and for one another, our hearts are moved toward the scattered ones whose servants we rejoice to be, for Christ's sake.
After the example of the apostles of our absent Lord, we earnestly desire to be helpers of your joy, and to stir up your minds by way of remembrance, that you may be mindful of the words spoken before by the holy prophets; and this we will endeavor to do, realizing the perils of the last days in which we live and our own responsibility as bearers of a priceless treasure. But perilous as the times are, we must not look upon them as altogether peculiar in this respect, since the remnant are instructed to take the prophets as an example of suffering affliction, and of patience. The way to life is narrow, and the redeemed throng are said to come out of great tribulation. Disappointment is incident to the present state. But that we meet with disappointments is no evidence that God is not for us, or with us; for the ways of his providence are beyond our vision. His ways are higher than our ways. The saints of God have ever been an afflicted people as it is written; they are troubled, perplexed, persecuted and cast down. As it is now, even so it was in the days of Christ and of his apostles.
When the Saviour came into the world, and signs and miracles were wrought by him to the glory of his Father, a company of humble ones were gathered as his followers. Though many gladly heard his word, and for a season rejoiced in the light, they could not long bear the plainness of the truth; they were displeased at his hard sayings, so that the true followers of Jesus remained but few—even a "little flock." These few, having high hopes that he would then redeem Israel, or restore the kingdom, were sore dismayed when the counsel of the ungodly prevailed to put him to death. But God raised him from the dead, and the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. Yet to their great grief they must be again separated from him; he had to go away to prepare a place for them in his Father's house. Though they could not then follow him to the mansions on high, he gave them the assurance that he would return and take them to himself; and thenceforth his second coming became to them the blessed purifying hope. The thought that the Lord himself would descend and raise their sleeping friends from the dead, and change them to immortality, filled the souls of the believers with comfort and joy.
But they were not to see these things without tasting death. That day should not come till the "falling away" had taken place. A day of darkness and persecution awaited the church of God: "the patience and faith of the saints" must be tried; they must fill up that which was behind of the afflictions of Christ; the members of the body must all suffer with their head, before they could rise and reign with him in glory. And not only did persecution await them from without, but they were told that there should be false teachers among them; grievous wolves should enter in not sparing the flock. Also, men should arise of their own selves speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them. These were spots in their feasts of charity, feeding themselves (not the flock) without fear among the saints; murmurers and complainers, who separate themselves, having not the Spirit.
To those who have marked the fulfillment of prophecy in the past and present advent movement, and have searched the scriptures to see the manner in which God will carry on his great work of preparing a people to stand in the battle in the day of the Lord, there will be nothing unseemly in a parallel drawn between the times of the early church and the times in which we live. The expectations of the disciples of Jesus were never higher—never were their hopes brighter that he would restore the kingdom and redeem Israel, than were those of the Advent company that he would come again and establish his kingdom in 1844. And as the former "mourned and wept at their own homes, or walked together and were sad" while conversing of the prostration of their hopes in the death of their Lord Jesus, their disappointment was not greater than that of the latter when "the time" passed, and the kingdom was not restored—their Lord did not come. And as the hopes of the former revived when he rose from the dead, so did the hopes of God's waiting ones revive when the truth arose from the dust and rubbish of slander and persecution, where it was for a time obscured, and the glorious light of the Third Angel's Message came like life from the dead, harmonizing the word, and fully explaining the mystery of the dark providence through which they had passed.
But though glorious was the light, and sweet the precious truth as it reached the sorrowing heart, the day of the Lord was not yet. As in the first age of the church so now a time of persecution and peril must be passed; "the patience of the saints" must be tried; false teachers must be exposed; grievous wolves unmasked; murmurers and complainers silenced; and they who have been feeding themselves among the saints, who separate themselves to work iniquity and speak perverse things, must be manifested as "having not the Spirit."
Some of these things we have already experienced; already have false teachers been manifested among us; perverse things have been spoken, by reason of which evil reports have been raised against the truth, and disciples drawn away from their steadfastness. And many perils we have yet to pass. The dragon, the beast, and the false prophet, urged on by the unrighteous influence of seducing spirits, will combine to make war on the children of God. Satan, transformed to an angel of light, and his ministers to ministers of righteousness, will deceive, if possible, the very elect. Evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, and because iniquity shall abound the love of many will wax cold.
But, beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you; but rejoice inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy. We are aware that it is hard and even impossible to rejoice in tribulation and affliction, unless we apprehend their object according to God's word. But the word is very explicit; so that we cannot consider ourselves followers of Jesus unless we have learned to follow him through the darkness of this world with meekness and patience. Says the Apostle: "We glory in tribulation, knowing that tribulation worketh patience." But if we constantly dwell on our trials as though some strange thing happened to us, we have therein evidence that our tribulation worketh impatience; and the result will be to our shame. The chastisement which we receive is designed to yield the peaceable fruit of righteousness; and so it will to them which are exercised thereby. But if we are not exercised (or disciplined) thereby according to godliness, it cannot be expected to yield such fruit.
The word declares that our affliction is light and momentary, and that it worketh for us: not against us as we would almost persuade ourselves. And the result is glory. The affliction is light: the glory is weighty. The affliction is but for a moment; the glory is eternal; and it is a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. But we know that the affliction of the unrighteous and the worldly does not end in glory—it does not yield the peaceable fruit of righteousness to them; hence, it is evident that this glorious result is only obtained by receiving it in a patient, uncomplaining spirit. In order that we may exercise this patience in affliction we are assured that we have a High Priest who can be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, who is the head of the body, and feels all that the members suffer. And as Jesus suffered so much for us without a murmur, we should cheerfully bear the cross of Christ in hope of soon being glorified together with him. Can you consider him that endured for our sakes, and say you suffer too much? Can you think of Gethsemane and complain? Can you look upon the cross and murmur? O, that we might realize the agony of him upon whom our sins were laid!
Most of those who have a form of godliness at the present day, endeavor to shun the cross, and seek salvation in a smooth and easy way; and with them have our associations mostly been. We therefore consider it well to impress these things upon your minds, and put you in remembrance. Think that the afflictions you now bear are not your own; they belong to the head of the church, of whose body we trust you are members, and you only bear them for his sake. In the great day of account he will claim these sufferings as his own; whatsoever is done to the least of his disciples is done to him. If Jesus thus feels your trials, (many of which are, perhaps, brought on by your own unfaithfulness,) and does not complain, you should not. And if we are truly devoted to God we shall bow to the dispensations of his providence as cheerfully as to the decisions of his word. Then look no more with mournful thought on what you here endure, but look to Jesus, our pattern and our friend, and to the glory soon to be revealed, at his appearing. "Walk by faith and not by sight."
To direct our minds in the way of humility and patience, as marked out by our pattern, the institutions of the Lord's house are given to us, as well as the instructions of his word; and these institutions speak in emphatic terms to the heart of the believer. Patience may well be exercised in view of what Jesus has suffered and bought for us; but christian patience without christian humility cannot be attained; and as we have both precept and example before us to inculcate patience, so we have both divine precept and example to lead us to perfect humility. We show forth the Lord's death, the shedding of his precious blood, in the Lord's supper; and his burial and resurrection in baptism.
To prepare our minds for a better appreciation of these truths, we should follow our Lord's example, and obey his command, in washing one another's feet. We know that against this ordinance much prejudice exists, and to it much repugnance is felt by many; but let us remember that it was on the occasion of its institution that the Lord uttered those memorable words: "The servant is not greater than his Lord." Read John xiii, 1-17; especially verses 14, 15, 17. It is very plain that a positive command is here given; and we feel that the most solemn obligation rests upon us to exhort you to follow the Saviour in self-denial and humility, without which you cannot be his disciples. Should we pass this by in silence, we should fail to fulfill the "great commission," which says: "Teaching them [the disciples] to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you." In so-doing we have the sweet assurance that he will be with us to the end of the world; but if we hide his counsel, or neglect his commands, he will forsake us utterly.
We think it is incumbent upon us to again call your attention to the subject of the gifts of the Spirit; and this we feel the more constrained to do, inasmuch as there are, not only those who deny these gifts, but those who profess to believe all that the word of God teaches on this subject and even to rejoice in his goodness in fulfilling his precious promises, and yet treat these manifestations of divine favor as though Godwrought only for our convenience, or to gratify curiosity. We earnestly entreat you to consider well that God will work all for his glory, and we are commanded to do all things to his glory: but it is greatly to be feared that many have had other objects in view than the glory of God when they have looked for the outpouring of his Spirit, and the spread of the truth. If we desire the manifestation of God's power to prove to the world that we are a favored, peculiar people, exalted above many that claim to be the children of God, it is selfishness, and we shall not receive while thus asking amiss. God will not give his glory to another; but he has graciously connected our salvation with his glory, so that to glorify him is to secure our highest good. But we should let his glory be first, and our benefit the secondary object. If we have a very correct view of this truth we shall realize that God will only pour out his Spirit when we stand where we can glorify him in its reception; and that he will withhold it whenever we use its gifts for purposes of a selfish nature, or cease in our efforts to be benefited by them in a manner consistent with his glory. Of the truth of this we have had a sad experience in the past. Some have shown a desire to be noticed, even though it were with a reproof, merely to gratify selfish curiosity, and to have the assurance that they were objects of divine care, without any effort being manifest on their part to seek by renewed consecration and humble faith in Christ, higher attainments in Christian holiness. On such the frown of our heavenly Parent must surely rest, until they humble themselves, and in deep contrition seek forgiveness of God for such presumption.
When we consider how weak and inefficient we are to work righteousness, how entirely dependent we are on Jesus and the Spirit of his grace, we should be led to the deepest humility by such unmerited favors so freely conferred. If the precious gifts of the Spirit were not to be bestowed, we should in vain seek for the unity of the faith, or perfection in the knowledge of Christ; and we exhort you to shun the counsel of those who profess to take the Bible as the rule of faith and practice, but slight or reject that part of it which teaches us to seek and expect the power and gifts of the Spirit. We hope you will take the word in all things, and seek the illumination of the Spirit to instruct us in its truths, and to correct us when we err from its teachings. Nor do we think it proper to sit still, as the church has done in time past, and wait for the outpouring of the Spirit, with the mere willingness to recognize the gifts when they are bestowed, but remember it is made our duty in the word to earnestly seek for spiritual gifts. To fulfill this duty we must constantly strive for more humility—more holiness of heart, and daily pray that God will crown our efforts with the blessing that our hearts desire, that we may stand strong in his strength, and be prepared for the work to which we are called, and to meet the dangers to which we are exposed.
The bare consideration of the fact is solemnly impressive that the church of Jesus Christ must stand complete in him when his mediation has ceased, and the vials of wrath are poured out upon a guilty world from whom the Spirit of truth is wholly withdrawn; and we cannot think that they who reject these gifts, or deny their necessity for the perfection of the church, realize the depravity of our natures or the depth in which we have sunk ourselves by our sinful lives. Nor do we consider it any excuse to say that we are liable to deception by the seducing spirits of the age; for we must more need the influence and aid of the Spirit of holiness to assist us to stand in the light and liberty of the gospel in this age of strong delusions. Those who object thus should, to be consistent in all things, shrink from being called the children of God, for there are also "strange children" in these last days. But our Father has not given us to understand that his children shall receive a stone when they ask for bread; nor do we expect that the "strange children" shall receive the food that belongs to those who truly have the spirit of adoption. This illustration is authorized and used by our Saviour; and to carry it out we would ask:
What father would commend the forethought of his son who should refuse to take the bread without which he must starve and die, merely because there were stones in the land? While some profess to lament the blindness of those who receive a stone and call it bread, we can consider it but a species of insanity in them to turn away from the pure bread offered them and call it a stone. Surely God's children should by "reason of use, have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil." We realize the extreme danger of those who assert that all manifestations of supernatural power are wrought by the Spirit of God; for they then receive as of divine origin the miracles wrought by "the spirits of devils." But we think there is equal danger of those who look upon all spiritual phenomena as of Satanic origin; for thus they make light of God's promise to pour out his Spirit, and slight the choicest blessings which he confers on fallen creatures.
Dear brethren and sisters, we have great reason to have increased confidence in the gift which God has already bestowed upon us in these last days; for whereas, many murmurers and complainers have arisen and openly avowed that the visions which God has given for his glory and our good were causing division and confusion in the church, we find that since we have been free from the unhallowed influence of such persons, and have humbled ourselves before God, and he has more frequently bestowed such favors on the church, our peace has increased, and the bond of our union has been strengthened, while confusion and distraction, and every evil work is in the midst of our enemies. They have drawn away disciples after them, and while they promised them liberty, they have shown that they themselves are the servants of corruption. In this we rejoice, not that they have denied the truth, and been led away by the error of the wicked, but that their reviling has been overruled to our great comfort, and the advancement of the cause of Christ. Truly has our God caused the wrath of man to praise him, and we will no longer fear if God be for us. Let us then rest on his promise, and seek meekness; and in all things avoid the ways of those who speak evil of the things which they know not; and even corrupt themselves in those things which they know. For it is not only the unlearned, but the unstable that wrest the Scriptures to their own destruction. But, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, be ware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own steadfastness. But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever. Amen.