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EGW comment on

Jones & Waggoner

One of the first comments from the Lord's messenger about E J Waggoner and A T Jones is the one below in which she tells us that they brought a good message to the church in the years around 1888.

In the other two quotes Ellen White says that she had not heard this kind of teaching in the church before!

Testimonies to Ministers pages 91 - 93

The Message of Justification by Faith

The Lord in His great mercy sent a most precious message to His people through Elders Waggoner and Jones.

This message was to bring more prominently before the world the uplifted Saviour, the sacrifice for the sins of the whole world. It presented [the three angels' messages]

[1] justification through faith in the Surety;

[2] it invited the people to receive the righteousness of Christ,

[3] which is made manifest in obedience to all the commandments of God.

[gold - raiment - eyesalve]

Many had lost sight of Jesus. They needed to have their eyes directed to His divine person, His merits, and His changeless love for the human family. All power is given into His hands, that He may dispense rich gifts unto men, imparting the priceless gift of His own righteousness to the helpless human agent.

This is the message that God commanded to be given to the world.

It is the third angel's message, which is to be proclaimed with a loud voice, and attended with the outpouring of His Spirit in a large measure.

The uplifted Saviour is to appear in His efficacious work as the Lamb slain, sitting upon the throne, to dispense the priceless covenant blessings, the benefits He died to purchase for every soul who should believe on Him. John could not express that love in words; it was too deep, too broad; he calls upon the human family to behold it. Christ is pleading for the church in the heavenly courts above, pleading for those for whom He paid the redemption price of His own lifeblood. Centuries, ages, can never diminish the efficacy of this atoning sacrifice.

The message of the gospel of His grace was to be given to the church in clear and distinct lines, that the world should no longer say that Seventh-day Adventists talk the law, the law, but do not teach or believe Christ.

The efficacy of the blood of Christ was to be presented to the people with freshness and power, that their faith might lay hold upon its merits. As the high priest sprinkled the warm blood upon the mercy seat, while the fragrant cloud of incense ascended before God, so while we confess our sins and plead the efficacy of Christ's atoning blood, our prayers are to ascend to heaven, fragrant with the merits of our Saviour's character. Notwithstanding our unworthiness, we are ever to bear in mind that there is One that can take away sin and save the sinner.

Every sin acknowledged before God with a contrite heart, He will remove.

This faith is the life of the church. As the serpent was lifted up in the wilderness by Moses, and all that had been bitten by the fiery serpents were bidden to look and live, so also the Son of man must be lifted up, that "whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life."

3 Selected Messages page 172

When I stated before my brethren that I had heard for the first time the views of Elder E. J. Waggoner, some did not believe me.

I stated that I had heard precious truths uttered that I could respond to with all my heart, for had not these great and glorious truths, the righteousness of Christ and the entire sacrifice made in behalf of man, been imprinted indelibly on my mind by the Spirit of God? Has not this subject been presented in the testimonies again and again? When the Lord had given to my brethren the burden to proclaim this message I felt inexpressibly grateful to God, for I knew it was the message for this time.

The third angel's message is the proclamation of the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus Christ. The commandments of God have been proclaimed, but the faith of Jesus Christ has not been proclaimed by Seventh-day Adventists as of equal importance, the law and the gospel going hand in hand. I cannot find language to express this subject in its fullness.

Ms 5, p. 10. (Sermon, Rome, New York, June 19, 1889. {5MR 219.1}

I have had the question asked, What do you think of this light that these men are presenting?

Why, I have been presenting it to you for the last forty-five years - the matchless charms of Christ. This is what I have been trying to present before your minds.

When Brother Waggoner brought out these ideas in Minneapolis, it was the first clear teaching on this subject from any human lips I had heard, excepting the conversations between myself and my husband. I have said to myself, It is because God has presented it to me in vision that I see it so clearly, and they cannot see it because they have never had it presented to them as I have. And when another presented it, every fiber of my heart said, Amen.

But, by the time the following letter was written, things had changed!! As seen below, Jones would not receive warnings from God regarding his attitude, and Waggoner was involved with Dr. Kellogg's ideas on pantheism and so also passed from the scene.

Therefore we need to be very careful when we read the words these men wrote as the time went by. Over the years from 1888 there was a gradual falling away until both men were no longer safe to listen to.

June 26, 1906

Brother and Sister Amadon:

I have read your letters, but have not had time to answer them. I have been permitted to view the case of Elder A. T. Jones. His bitterness is as gall, though he has been warned. At Washington, during the General Conference, I conversed with him for about three hours, but he would not receive my warnings. He seemed very self-confident, and when he spoke of his work at Battle Creek, his boastings were a surprise to many. All that I could say to him at Washington, seemed to make no impression on his mind.

A. T. Jones has had precious opportunities to see and feel the power of the messages of warning sent by the Lord to His people. He himself has been admonished to be constantly on guard, else the power of other minds would be exercised on his mind, and he was cautioned regarding the subtle working of spiritual science upon human minds. He had eyes, but he saw not; ears, but he heard not, and he has done the very work that he was warned to avoid doing. I am very sorry for the man, for all these chapters in his experience are bringing him over a road that will have to be retraced step by step, if he ever comes to an understanding of the work he is now doing, and turns his feet to follow the precious Saviour, our Leader.

We must walk circumspectly before God. We can not afford to make mistakes now. Truth will bear away the victory. I am not angry as I read statement after statement of falsehood, regarding my writings and my work. I am sure that the Lord has helped you to stand for and vindicate the truth. Brother Farnsworth made a wise decision when he said, I will keep to the affirmative. We are to show the people that the truth of heavenly origin is sufficient to keep every soul. It is our duty to rebuke sin, for with Satanic energy, men will do all in their power to overcome the testimony of the righteous, with falsehoods and misstatements.

PC.125.001 The Paulson Collection
Sanitarium, California June 26, 1906

oooOooo

The following studies by A T Jones, with their subject matter on the INVISIBLE church which Christ alone can build, are very good, and worth thinking about. Unfortunately, they also lean towards denying that God was working through the VISIBLE Seventh-day Adventist Church, and that it would be a good thing to "come out" from her. The studies are published here because what Jones says is valuable and bears repeating, but we would warn that the inferences he draws from his thoughts should be prayerfully studied.

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