Introduction—The Prophetic Gift and Ellen G. White
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dealt with the manner of life, the home, and the church. How did the
members of the church receive these messages?
From the outset of her work, responsible leaders examined her work
to assure themselves that the manifestation of the gift of prophecy was
genuine. The apostle Paul admonishes, “Despise not prophesyings.
Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.”
1 Thessalonians 5:20,
21
. The Bible tests of a prophet were brought to bear on Mrs. White’s
work, and this is as she would have it, for she wrote:
“This work is of God, or it is not. God does nothing in partnership
with Satan. My work for the past thirty years bears the stamp of God
or the stamp of the enemy. There is no halfway work in the matter.”
The Bible gives four basic tests by which a prophet is to be exam-
ined. Mrs. White’s work stands each test.
The message of the true prophet must be in harmony with the law
of God and the messages of the prophets.
Isaiah 8:20
.
The E. G. White writings elevate the law of God and ever lead
men and women to the Bible in its entirety. She points to the Bible as
the sole rule of faith and practice and as the great light to which her
writings, “the lesser light,” lead.
The predictions of the true prophet must come to pass within the
context of conditionality.
Jeremiah 18:7-10
;
28:9
. While the work of
Mr. White was much like that of Moses in leading and guiding the
people, yet she wrote in a predictive manner of the many events to
take place. At the outset of our publishing work in 1848, she spoke of
how it would grow to encircle the world with light. Today Seventh-day
Adventists publish literature in 200 languages valued at more than
$100,000,000 a year.
In 1890, when the world declared that there would be no more
war and the millennium was about to dawn, Ellen White wrote: “the
tempest is coming, and we must get ready for its fury.... We shall see
trouble on all sides. Thousands of ships will be hurled into the depths
of the sea. Navies will go down, and human lives will be sacrificed by
millions.” This was fulfilled in World Wars I and II.
The true prophet will confess that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh,
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that God was incarnate in human flesh.
1 John 4:2
.
The reading of The Desire of Ages makes it clear that the work of
Ellen G. White measured up to this test. Observe these words: