Ellen
White Said She was not a Bible Scholar
“We rose
early to prepare to go to San Francisco. My heart is inexpressibly sad. This morning
I take into candid consideration my writings. My husband is too feeble to help
me prepare them for the printer, therefore I shall do no more with them at
present. I
am not a scholar. I cannot prepare my
own writings for the press. Until I can do this I shall write no more. It is
not my duty to tax others with my manuscript.” Manuscript 3, 1873, p. 5.
In
stating that she was not a scholar, Ellen White implied that she was not a
Bible scholar. That she was not a Bible scholar by man’s measure,
is attested to by the fact that she did not know Hebrew and Greek. “In order to
be an excellent Bible scholar, your Hebrew and Greek needs to be solid,
without question.” http://patmccullough.com/wanna-be-a-bible-scholar/
And one might be tempted to believe that a prophetess should be an excellent
Bible scholar! But is that the case with the minor and major prophets of
Scripture?
I once
stated that I was not a Bible scholar, meaning that I have neither taken
doctoral studies in the Bible along with studying Hebrew and Greek. Satanic
elements mocked me for making that statement in light of my professing to have
a message from the Lord. It is interesting to note that when one entered the
Temple or any Jewish synagogue, he was asked if he had a message from the Lord.
If he did, he could give it. It was not a requisite to be a Biblical scholar.
Amongst
the Hebrews, the Pharisees and Scribes were the Bible scholars of their day.
Did that make them authorities on truth? What did Jesus call them? Did He not
call them blind leaders of the blind? Were the minor and major prophets
Biblical scholars? I think not. Were the fisherman disciples Biblical scholars?
Nay except for Dr. Luke (possibly). There is no record that Jesus attended the
schools of the Rabbis and the Pharisees and Scribes. Ellen White certainly was
not educated with but a third grade education. There is no record that John the
Baptist had a formal, scholarly education. William Foy and Hazen Foss were not
Biblical scholars. http://www.whiteestate.org/books/pay/PAYAXA.HTML#sth7
We are
told that the Holy Spirit can teach us all things. So what is regarded as a
Biblical scholar in the eyes of most men is obviously not so regarded by God.
Ellen White said that God would choose humble men who were led more by the
unction of the Holy Spirit that the educational centers of the world.
Through
Humble Instruments—“ In every generation God has sent His servants
to rebuke sin, both in the world and in the church. But the people desire
smooth things spoken to them, and the pure, unvarnished truth is not
acceptable. Many reformers, in entering upon their work, determined to exercise
great prudence in attacking the sins of the church and the nation. They hoped,
by the example of a pure Christian life, to lead the people back to the
doctrines of the Bible. But the Spirit of God came upon them as it came upon
Elijah, moving him to rebuke the sins of a wicked king and an apostate people;
they could not refrain from preaching the plain utterances of the Bible--
doctrines which they had been reluctant to present. They were impelled to
zealously declare the truth and the danger which threatened souls. The words
which the Lord gave them they uttered, fearless of consequences, and the people
were compelled to hear the warning. Thus the message of the third angel will be
proclaimed.
As the
time comes for it [the message of the third angel] to be given with greatest
power, the Lord will work through humble
instruments, leading the minds of those who consecrate themselves to His
service. The laborers will be qualified
rather by the unction of His Spirit than by the training of literary institutions.
Men of faith and prayer will be constrained to go forth with holy zeal,
declaring the words which God gives them. The sins of Babylon will be laid
open. The fearful results of enforcing the observances of the church by civil
authority, the inroads of Spiritualism, the stealthy but rapid progress of the
papal power,—all will be unmasked. By these solemn warnings the people will be
stirred. Thousands upon thousands will listen who have never heard words like
these.”—The Great Controversy, 606
(1888).
It has
been my experience that Biblical scholars are not usually humble men. Biblical
scholars do not always interpret and accept the truth as the Bible teaches
such. For example, there are many Biblical scholars who do not keep the Sabbath
and the special doctrines of true Seventh-day Adventism. Indeed they choose to
reject such doctrines as the Investigative Judgment and the truth about the
Godhead which is so basic as a landmark of true Christianity. Most of them
teach the Trinity Doctrine which sweeps away the entire economy of true
Christianity, by denying the sacrifice that met the prescribed limit as a
sacrifice at the time of the Incarnation.
Sanctuary Gone Atonement Gone -- "In a
representation which passed before me, I saw a certain work being done by
medical missionary workers. Our ministering brethren were looking on, watching
what was being done, but they did not seem to understand. The foundation of our
faith, which was established by so much prayer, such earnest searching of the
Scriptures, was being taken down, pillar by pillar. Our faith was to
have nothing to rest upon--the sanctuary was gone, the atonement was
gone." E.G. White, The Upward Look,
152.
"The darkness rolled away from the Saviour and from the Cross.
Christ bowed His head and died. In His Incarnation He had
reached the prescribed limit as a sacrifice, but not as a redeemer." E.G. White
Manuscript Releases Volume Twelve, p. 409.
I don’t know of one Biblical scholar who teaches the truth concerning
the Incarnation sacrifice in the heavenly Sanctuary which reached (satisfied)
the prescribed limit as a sacrifice, which is directly related to the Testator
Everlasting Covenant, to wit:
Hebrews 9:16
For where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of
the testator.
Hebrews 9:17
For a testament is of force after men are dead: otherwise it is of no
strength at all while the testator liveth.
Few men, let alone the so-called Biblical scholars, know that at His
Incarnation, the Son of God died to something eternally, and it was that death
that provided for the “greatest good, crowning gift” that heaven can bestow—the
divestation of Christ’s former Holy Spirit Divine Nature from His humanity
which was bequeathed to us.
“If man had made you the executor of his property, would you not closely study the will of the testator, that the smallest amount might not be
misapplied? Your heavenly
Friend has entrusted you with property, and given you His will as to how it
should be used. If this will is studied with an unselfish heart, that which
belongs to God will not be misapplied. The Lord’s cause has been shamefully
neglected, when He has provided men with sufficient means to meet every
emergency, if they only had grateful, obedient hearts.” {CS 328.4}
“Cumbered with humanity Christ could not be
in every place personally, therefore it was altogether for their advantage that
He should leave them to go to His Father and send the Holy Spirit to be His
successor on earth. The Holy Spirit is Himself divested
of the personality of humanity and independent thereof.
He would represent Himself as present in all places by His Holy Spirit.” E.G.
White, (Manuscript Releases Volume 14 (No’s 1081-1135) MR No.1084.
At His Incarnation, Christ divested His Divine
Nature from His humanity and His Divine Nature became the independent Holy
Ghost of His former Being. This is why the title Holy Ghost is not mentioned in
Scripture until Matthew 1:18.
18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this
wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came
together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost. Matthew 1:18.
So the Testator, the Son of God, sired
Himself into the womb of Mary, and He became ever after estranged from His
former state of DIVINITY ONLY. This was a sacrifice of all sacrifices
associated with the Heavenly Sanctuary at the Incarnation. This provided the
bequeathed gift of His Holy Spirit power as a regenerating agency and a cure
for sin. Romans 1:5. Grace is the Holy Spirit says Ellen White.
"The apostle would call our attention
from ourselves to the Author of our salvation. He presents before us His two
natures, divine and human. . . . He voluntarily assumed human nature. It was
His own act, and by His own consent. He clothed His divinity with humanity. He
was all the while as God, but He did not appear as God. He veiled the
demonstrations of Deity which had commanded the homage, and called forth the
admiration of the universe of God. He was God while upon earth, but He divested Himself of the form of God, and in its stead took
the form and fashion of a man (FOREVER). He walked the earth as a man. For our sakes He became poor, that we
through His poverty might be made rich. He laid aside His glory and His
majesty. He was God, but the glories of
the form of God He for awhile relinquished. . . . He bore the sins of the
world, and endured the penalty which rolled like a mountain upon His divine
soul. He yielded up His life a sacrifice, that man should not eternally die. He
died, not through being compelled to die, but by His own free will." E.G.
White, SDA Bible Commentary, Vol. 7a, p. 446.
"He (Christ) suffered the death which
was ours, that we might receive the life which WAS His." Desire of
Ages, p. 25 1 Cor. 11:24-265, cf. John 6:53, 54, Titus 3:5, 6.
What death was ours? Was it three days and
nights in a tomb? What death did He experience at His Incarnation? It was
eternal death from His former HOLY SPIRIT ONLY BEING—HIS DIVINE NATURE ONLY—TO
BE EVER AFTER COMBINED WITH HUMANITY. It took a little lady with a third grade
education to figure that out!
One Spirit Eternal Spirit
Hbr 9:14 How much more shall the blood of
Christ, who through the [ONE] eternal Spirit
offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to
serve the living God?
Jhn 4:24 God [is] a Spirit:
and they that worship him must worship [him] in spirit and in truth.
“They have one God and one Saviour; and one Spirit—the Spirit of Christ” (9T p. 289)
“Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is; there
is Liberty.” (2 Cor. 3:17)
“They must have His grace, the Spirit of Christ, to help their
infirmities, or they cannot form a Christian character. Jesus loves to have us
come to Him, just as we are—sinful, helpless, dependent.” Faith and Works, p. 38.
“There must be a power working from within, a new life from
above, before man can be changed from sin to holiness. That power is Christ. His grace [the
Spirit of Christ] alone can quicken the lifeless faculties of the soul, and
attract it to God, to holiness.” (ST, May 28, 1902, par. 3).
Our Dispositions Unchanged
If you would be a
saint in heaven you must first be a saint on earth. The traits of character you
cherish in life will not be changed by death or by the resurrection. You will
come up from the grave with the same disposition you manifested in your home
and in society. Jesus does not change the character at His coming.
The work of transformation must be done now. Our daily lives are determining
our destiny. Defects of character must be repented of and overcome
through the grace of Christ, and a symmetrical character must be formed
while in this probationary state, that we may be fitted for the mansions
above.--13MR 82 (1891). {LDE 1}
The Glory that the Father gave to Christ is given to us: “Jesus is
waiting to breathe upon all his disciples, and give them the inspiration of his
sanctifying spirit, and transfuse the vital influence from himself to his
people . . . Christ is to live in his
human agents, and work through their faculties, and act through their
capabilities. Their will must be submitted to His will, they must act with His Spirit, that it may be no more they that
live, but Christ that liveth in them.
Jesus is seeking to impress upon them the thought that in giving His Holy Spirit He is
giving to them the glory which the Father has given Him, that He and
His people may be one in God.” Signs of the Times, October 3, 1892, par. 4.
The Glory that the Father gave to Christ is given to us: “Jesus is
waiting to breathe upon all his disciples, and give them the inspiration of his
sanctifying spirit, and transfuse the vital influence from himself to his
people . . . Christ is to live in his
human agents, and work through their faculties, and act through their
capabilities. Their will must be submitted to His will, they must act with His Spirit, that it may be no more they that
live, but Christ that liveth in them.
Jesus is seeking to impress upon them the thought that in giving His Holy Spirit He is
giving to them the glory which the Father has given Him, that He and
His people may be one in God.” Signs of the Times, October 3, 1892, par. 4.
“Christ gives them the breath of His
own Spirit, the life of His own Life.”
Desire of Ages, p. 827, par. 3.
“The Holy Spirit is the breath of life in the soul. The impartation of
the Spirit is the impartation of the life of Christ. It imbues the receiver
with the attributes of Christ.” Desire of
Ages, p. 805.
“They have one God and one Saviour; and one Spirit—the Spirit of
Christ—is to bring unity into their ranks.” Testimonies,
Vol. 9, p. 189.
Our Security: “Christ has made every provision for us to be strong. He
has given us His Holy Spirit, whose
office is to bring to our remembrance all the promises that Christ has made,
that we may have peace and a sweet sense of forgiveness. If we will but keep
our eyes fixed on the Saviour and trust in His power, we shall be filled with a sense of security; for the righteousness
of Christ will become our righteousness.” My
Life Today, p. 45.
In Kellogg’s apostasy, the Sanctuary and the Atonement were rendered as
GONE:
Sanctuary Gone Atonement Gone -- "In a
representation which passed before me, I saw a certain work being done by
medical missionary workers. Our ministering brethren were looking on, watching
what was being done, but they did not seem to understand. The foundation of our
faith, which was established by so much prayer, such earnest searching of the
Scriptures, was being taken down, pillar by pillar. Our faith was to have
nothing to rest upon--the sanctuary was gone, the atonement was gone." E.G.
White, The Upward Look, 152.
Kellogg’s Living Temple swept away the entire
Christian economy by teaching that the Holy Spirit presence of Christ was in
everything of nature—pantheism. This is the same thing as saying that the Holy
Spirit third person of the Godhead and the Incarnation sacrifice involved in
bequeathing this “highest good, crowning gift that heaven can bestow” was
extant from time eternal, and that is not true. Kellogg believed that the Holy
Spirit of God permeated all things—including man, without the Heavenly
Sanctuary/Atonement at the Incarnation, which was the prescribed limit of a
sacrifice of the Testator according to the Everlasting Covenant. By the gift of
the Holy Spirit as a result of the Incarnation sacrifice, man is given grace
(which Ellen White defines as the Holy Spirit) for obedience, Romans 1:5. For
man to be invested with the Holy Spirit Divine Nature of Christ gift, he must
accept Christ, be born again, and obey God by faith in and love for Christ, as
evinced by obedience to all His commandments out of a motive of love for God,
rather than being automatically permeated by the Holy Spirit of God, which
belief negates the Heavenly Sanctuary/Atonement sacrifice required by the Incarnation
death of the Testator to His Divine ONLY Nature forever.
The third person to the godhead became that
third person at the Incarnation when Christ’s Holy Spirit Divine Nature was
divested from His humanity and became independent to the personality of His
humanity. The Holy Spirit of the Son of
God was extant from eternity, but not as a third person. For until the
Incarnation, there were only two persons to the Godhead. Did that Holy Spirit
aid in working out the plan of salvation? Sure it did, but not as a third
person until the Incarnation.
Omit the heavenly Sanctuary Incarnation
sacrifice which met the prescribed limit of the Testator’s sacrifice (eternal
death to something) before the cross, and you sweep away the entire Christian
economy by doing away with the Sanctuary sacrifice in heaven, without which the
sacrifice on the cross would have been to no avail because there would have
been no cure for sin. The cross provided pardon from sin or redemption.
—rwb