Revelation, Past, Present, And Future

Current Revelation Necessary --

The scriptures are conclusive as to the fact that, from Adam to John the Revelator, God directed the affairs of His people by personal communication through commissioned servants. As the written word -- the record of revelation previously given -- grew with time, it became a law unto the people, but in no period was that deemed sufficient. While the revelations of the past are indispensable as guides to the people, showing forth, as they do, the plan and purpose of God's dealings under particular conditions, they may not be universally and directly applicable to the circumstances of succeeding times. Many of the revealed laws are of general application to all men in all ages; e.g., the commandments -- Thou shalt not steal; Thou shalt not kill; Thou shalt not bear false witness -- and other injunctions regarding the duty of man toward his fellows, most of which are so plainly just as to be approved by the human conscience even without the direct word of divine command. Other laws may be equally general in application, yet they derive their validity as God-given ordinances from the fact that they have been authoritatively instituted as such. As examples of this class we may consider the requirements concerning the sanctity of the Sabbath, the necessity of baptism as a means of securing forgiveness of sins, the ordinances of confirmation, the sacrament, and others. Revelations of yet another kind are of record, such as have been given to meet the conditions of particular times, and these may be regarded as special, or circumstantial revelations, e.g., the instructions to Noah regarding the building of the ark and the warning of the people; the requirement made of Abraham that he leave the land of his nativity and sojourn in a strange country; the command to Moses, and through him to Israel, relative to the exodus from Egypt; the revelations given to Lehi directing the departure of his company from Jerusalem, their journeying in the wilderness, the building of a ship and the voyage on the great waters to another hemisphere.

It is at once unreasonable, and directly contrary to our conception of the unchangeable justice of God, to believe that He will bless the Church in one dispensation with a present living revelation of His will and in another leave the Church, to which He gives His name, to live as best it may according to the laws of a bygone age. True, through apostasy the authority of the Priesthood may have been taken from the earth for a season, leaving the people in a condition of darkness with the windows of heaven shut against them; but at such times God has recognized no earthly Church as His own, nor any prophet to declare with authority "Thus saith the Lord."

In support of the doctrine that revelation especially adapted to existing conditions is characteristic of God's dealings, we have the fact of laws having been ordained, and subsequently repealed when a more advanced stage of the divine plan had been reached. Thus, the law of Moses* was strictly binding upon Israel from the time of the exodus to that of Christ's ministry; but its repeal was declared by the Savior Himself,* and a higher law than that of carnal commandments, which had been given because of transgression, was instituted in its stead.

From the scriptures cited, and from numerous other assurances of holy writ, it is evident that revelation from God to man has been a vital characteristic of the living Church. It is equally plain that revelation is essential to the existence of the Church in an organized state on the earth. If to have authority to preach the Gospel and administer in the ordinances of the same a man must be called of God,"by prophecy"* it is evident that in the absence of direct revelation the Church would be left without authorized officers, and in consequence would become extinct. The prophets and patriarchs of old, the judges, the priests, and every authorized servant from Adam to Malachi, were called by direct revelation manifested through the special word of prophecy. This was true also of John the Baptist,* of the apostles,* and of lesser officers* of the Church, as long as an organization recognized of God remained on the earth. Without the gift of continual revelation there can be no authorized ministry on the earth; and without officers duly commissioned there can be no Church of Christ.

Revelation is essential to the Church, not only for the proper calling and ordination of its ministers but also that the officers so chosen may be guided in their administrations -- to teach with authority the doctrines of salvation, to admonish, to encourage, and if necessary to reprove the people, and to declare unto them by prophecy the purposes and will of God respecting the Church, present and future. The promise of salvation is not limited by time, place, or persons. So taught Peter on Pentecost day, assuring the multitude of their eligibility to blessing: "For the promise is unto you," said he, "and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call. * Salvation, with all the gifts of God, was of old for Jew and Greek alike;* the same Lord over all, rich unto those who would call upon Him, without difference.*

Alleged Objections in Scripture --

The opponents of the doctrine of continual revelation quote, with gross perversion of meaning, certain scriptural passages to sustain their heresy; among such scriptures are the following. The words of John with which he approaches the conclusion of his book are these: "For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book."* To apply these sayings to the Bible as it was afterward compiled is wholly unjustified, for John did not write his book as the concluding section of any such compilation of the scriptures as we now possess in our Bible. John had reference to his own prophecies, which, having come to him by revelation, were sacred; and to alter such, by omission or addition, would be to modify the words of God. The sin of altering any other part of the revealed word would be equally great. Moreover, in this oft-quoted passage, no intimation is given that the Lord may not add to or take from the word therein revealed; the declaration is that no man may change the record and escape the penalty. A similar injunction against altering the message of divine command was uttered by Moses, over fifteen centuries before the date of John's writing,* and with a similarly restricted application.

Another alleged objection to modern revelation is offered in Paul's words to Timothy, regarding the scriptures "which are able to make thee wise unto salvation, * and which are "profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works."* The remarks of the apostle to the elders of Ephesus are quoted with the same intent: "Ye know * * * how I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you, but have shewed you, and have taught you publicly, and from house to house * * * For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God."* It is argued that if the scriptures known to Timothy were all-sufficient to make him "wise unto salvation," and the man of God "perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works," the same scriptures are sufficient for all men to the end of time; and that if the doctrines preached to the Ephesian elders represented "all the counsel of God," no further counsel is to be expected. In reply, it is perhaps sufficient to say that the objectors to continued revelation who defend their unscriptural position by strained interpretation of such passages, if consistent, would be compelled to reject all revelation given through the apostles after the date of Paul's utterances, including even the Revelation of John.

Equally inconsistent is the assertion that Christ's dying exclamation "It is finished" meant that revelation was at an end; for we find the same Jesus afterward revealing Himself, as the resurrected Lord, promising the apostles further revelation,* and assuring them that He would be with them even unto the end.* Moreover, were the words of the Crucified One susceptible of any such intent, the apostles, who taught as they were directly and specifically led by revelation as long as they lived, must be classed as impostors.

To justify the anathema with which the opponents of modern revelation seek to persecute those who believe in the continual flow of God's word to His Church, the following prophecy of Zechariah is quoted: "And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord of hosts, that I will cut off the names of the idols out of the land, and they shall no more be remembered; and also I will cause the prophets and the unclean spirit to pass out of the land. And it shall come to pass, that when any shall yet prophesy, then his father and his mother that begat him shall say unto him, Thou shalt not live; for thou speakest lies in the name of the Lord: and his father and his mother that begat him shall thrust him through when he prophesieth. And it shall come to pass in that day, that the prophets shall be ashamed every one of his vision, when he hath prophesied."* The day here spoken of appears to be yet future, for the idols and the unclean spirits still have influence; and, moreover, the fact that the prophets here spoken of are false ones is shown by Zechariah's associating them with idols and unclean spirits.

Such attempts to refute the doctrine of continued revelation as have been made on the authority of the foregoing scriptures are pitiably futile; they carry their own refutation, and leave untouched the truth that belief in current revelation is wholly reasonable and strictly scriptural.*