The Great Controversy
by Ellen G. White
Introduction
Before the entrance of sin, Adam enjoyed open communion with
his Maker; but since man separated himself from God by transgression, the human
race has been cut off from this high privilege. By the plan of redemption,
however, a way has been opened whereby the inhabitants of the earth may still
have connection with heaven. God has communicated with men by His Spirit, and
divine light has been imparted to the world by revelations to His chosen servants.
"Holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost." 2 Peter
1:21. {GC v.1}
During the first twenty-five hundred years of human history,
there was no written revelation. Those who had been taught of God, communicated
their knowledge to others, and it was handed down from father to son, through
successive generations. The preparation of the written word began in the time
of Moses. Inspired revelations were then embodied in an inspired book. This
work continued during the long period of sixteen hundred years—from
Moses, the historian of creation and the law, to John, the recorder of the most
sublime truths of the gospel. {GC v.2}
The Bible points to God as its author; yet it was written by
human hands; and in the varied style of its different books it presents the
characteristics of the several writers. The truths revealed are all "given
by inspiration of God" (2 Timothy 3:16); yet they are expressed in the
words of men. The Infinite One by His Holy Spirit has shed light into the minds
and hearts of His servants. He has given dreams and visions, symbols and
figures; and those to whom the truth was thus revealed have themselves embodied
the thought in human language. {GC v.3}
The Ten Commandments were spoken by God Himself, and were
written by His own hand. They are of divine, [vi] and not
of human composition. But the Bible, with its God-given truths expressed in the
language of men, presents a union of the divine and the human. Such a union
existed in the nature of Christ, who was the Son of God and the Son of man.
Thus it is true of the Bible, as it was of Christ, that "the Word was made
flesh, and dwelt among us." John 1:14. {GC v.4}
Written in different ages, by men who differed widely in
rank and occupation, and in mental and spiritual endowments, the books of the
Bible present a wide contrast in style, as well as a diversity in the nature of
the subjects unfolded. Different forms of expression are employed by different
writers; often the same truth is more strikingly presented by one than by
another. And as several writers present a subject under varied aspects and
relations, there may appear, to the superficial, careless, or prejudiced
reader, to be discrepancy or contradiction, where the thoughtful, reverent
student, with clearer insight, discerns the underlying harmony. {GC vi.1}
As presented through different individuals, the truth is
brought out in its varied aspects. One writer is more strongly impressed with
one phase of the subject; he grasps those points that harmonize with his experience
or with his power of perception and appreciation; another seizes upon a
different phase; and each, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, presents what
is most forcibly impressed upon his own mind—a different aspect of
the truth in each, but a perfect harmony through all. And the truths thus
revealed unite to form a perfect whole, adapted to meet the wants of men in all
the circumstances and experiences of life. {GC vi.2}
God has been pleased to communicate His truth to the world
by human agencies, and He Himself, by His Holy Spirit, qualified men and
enabled them to do this work. He guided the mind in the selection of what to
speak and what to write. The treasure was entrusted to earthen vessels, yet it
is, nonetheless, from Heaven. The testimony is [vii]
conveyed through the imperfect expression of human language, yet it is the
testimony of God; and the obedient, believing child of God beholds in it the
glory of a divine power, full of grace and truth. {GC vi.3}
In His word, God has committed to men the knowledge
necessary for salvation. The Holy Scriptures are to be accepted as an
authoritative, infallible revelation of His will. They are the standard of
character, the revealer of doctrines, and the test of experience. "Every
scripture inspired of God is also profitable for teaching, for reproof, for
correction, for instruction which is in righteousness; that the man of God may
be complete, furnished completely unto every good work." 2 Timothy 3:16,
17, R.V. {GC vii.1}
Yet the fact that God has revealed His will to men through
His word, has not rendered needless the continued presence and guiding of the
Holy Spirit. On the contrary, the Spirit was promised by our Saviour, to open
the word to His servants, to illuminate and apply its teachings. And since it
was the Spirit of God that inspired the Bible, it is impossible that the
teaching of the Spirit should ever be contrary to that of the word. {GC vii.2}
The Spirit was not given—nor can it ever be
bestowed—to supersede the Bible; for the Scriptures explicitly state
that the word of God is the standard by which all teaching and experience must
be tested. Says the apostle John, "Believe not every spirit, but try the
spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into
the world." 1 John 4:1. And Isaiah declares, "To the law and to the
testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no
light in them." Isaiah 8:20. {GC vii.3}
Great reproach has been cast upon the work of the Holy
Spirit by the errors of a class that, claiming its enlightenment, profess to
have no further need of guidance from the word of God. They are governed by
impressions which they regard as the voice of God in the soul. But the spirit
that controls them is not the Spirit of God. This following of [viii]
impressions, to the neglect of the Scriptures, can lead only to confusion, to
deception and ruin. It serves only to further the designs of the evil one.
Since the ministry of the Holy Spirit is of vital importance to the church of
Christ, it is one of the devices of Satan, through the errors of extremists and
fanatics, to cast contempt upon the work of the Spirit and cause the people of
God to neglect this source of strength which our Lord Himself has provided. {GC vii.4}
In harmony with the word of God, His Spirit was to continue
its work throughout the period of the gospel dispensation. During the ages
while the Scriptures of both the Old and the New Testament were being given,
the Holy Spirit did not cease to communicate light to individual minds, apart
from the revelations to be embodied in the Sacred Canon. The Bible itself
relates how, through the Holy Spirit, men received warning, reproof, counsel,
and instruction, in matters in no way relating to the giving of the Scriptures.
And mention is made of prophets in different ages, of whose utterances nothing
is recorded. In like manner, after the close of the canon of the Scripture, the
Holy Spirit was still to continue its work, to enlighten, warn, and comfort the
children of God. {GC
viii.1}
Jesus promised His disciples, "The Comforter which is
the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in My name, He shall teach you all
things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto
you." "When He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide you into
all truth: . . . and He will show you things to come." John
14:26; 16:13. Scripture plainly teaches that these promises, so far from being
limited to apostolic days, extend to the church of Christ in all ages. The
Saviour assures His followers, "I am with you alway, even unto the end of
the world." Matthew 28:20. And Paul declares that the gifts and
manifestations of the Spirit were set in the church "for the perfecting of
the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of
Christ: till we all come in the unity of the faith, and [ix] of the
knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the
stature of the fullness of Christ." Ephesians 4:12, 13. {GC viii.2}
For the believers at Ephesus the apostle prayed, "That
the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the Spirit
of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him: the eyes of your
understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of His
calling, and . . . what is the exceeding greatness of His
power to usward who believe." Ephesians 1:17-19. The ministry of the
divine Spirit in enlightening the understanding and opening to the mind the
deep things of God's holy word, was the blessing which Paul thus besought for
the Ephesian church. {GC
ix.1}
After the wonderful manifestation of the Holy Spirit on the
Day of Pentecost, Peter exhorted the people to repentance and baptism in the
name of Christ, for the remission of their sins; and he said: "Ye shall
receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you, and to your
children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall
call." Acts 2:38, 39. {GC
ix.2}
In immediate connection with the scenes of the great day of
God, the Lord by the prophet Joel has promised a special manifestation of His
Spirit. Joel 2:28. This prophecy received a partial fulfillment in the
outpouring of the Spirit on the Day of Pentecost; but it will reach its full
accomplishment in the manifestation of divine grace which will attend the
closing work of the gospel. {GC
ix.3}
The great controversy between good and evil will increase in
intensity to the very close of time. In all ages the wrath of Satan has been
manifested against the church of Christ; and God has bestowed His grace and
Spirit upon His people to strengthen them to stand against the power of the
evil one. When the apostles of Christ were to bear His gospel to the world and
to record it for all future ages, they were especially endowed with the
enlightenment of the Spirit. But as the [x] church
approaches her final deliverance, Satan is to work with greater power. He comes
down "having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short
time." Revelation 12:12. He will work "with all power and signs and
lying wonders." 2 Thessalonians 2:9. For six thousand years that
mastermind that once was highest among the angels of God has been wholly bent
to the work of deception and ruin. And all the depths of satanic skill and subtlety
acquired, all the cruelty developed, during these struggles of the ages, will
be brought to bear against God's people in the final conflict. And in this time
of peril the followers of Christ are to bear to the world the warning of the
Lord's second advent; and a people are to be prepared to stand before Him at
His coming, "without spot, and blameless." 2 Peter 3:14. At this time
the special endowment of divine grace and power is not less needful to the
church than in apostolic days. {GC ix.4}
Through the illumination of the Holy Spirit, the scenes of
the long-continued conflict between good and evil have been opened to the
writer of these pages. From time to time I have been permitted to behold the
working, in different ages, of the great controversy between Christ, the Prince
of life, the Author of our salvation, and Satan, the prince of evil, the author
of sin, the first transgressor of God's holy law. Satan's enmity against Christ
has been manifested against His followers. The same hatred of the principles of
God's law, the same policy of deception, by which error is made to appear as
truth, by which human laws are substituted for the law of God, and men are led
to worship the creature rather than the Creator, may be traced in all the
history of the past. Satan's efforts to misrepresent the character of God, to
cause men to cherish a false conception of the Creator, and thus to regard Him
with fear and hate rather than with love; his endeavors to set aside the divine
law, leading the people to think themselves free from its requirements; and his
persecution of those who dare to resist his deceptions, have been steadfastly
pursued in all ages. They may be traced [xi] in the
history of patriarchs, prophets, and apostles, of martyrs and reformers. {GC x.1}
In the great final conflict, Satan will employ the same
policy, manifest the same spirit, and work for the same end as in all preceding
ages. That which has been, will be, except that the coming struggle will be
marked with a terrible intensity such as the world has never witnessed. Satan's
deceptions will be more subtle, his assaults more determined. If it were
possible, he would lead astray the elect. Mark 13:22, R.V. {GC xi.1}
As the Spirit of God has opened to my mind the great truths
of His word, and the scenes of the past and the future, I have been bidden to
make known to others that which has thus been revealed—to trace the
history of the controversy in past ages, and especially so to present it as to
shed a light on the fast-approaching struggle of the future. In pursuance of
this purpose, I have endeavored to select and group together events in the
history of the church in such a manner as to trace the unfolding of the great
testing truths that at different periods have been given to the world, that
have excited the wrath of Satan, and the enmity of a world-loving church, and
that have been maintained by the witness of those who "loved not their
lives unto the death." {GC
xi.2}
In these records we may see a foreshadowing of the conflict
before us. Regarding them in the light of God's word, and by the illumination
of His Spirit, we may see unveiled the devices of the wicked one, and the
dangers which they must shun who would be found "without fault"
before the Lord at His coming. {GC xi.3}
The great events which have marked the progress of reform in
past ages are matters of history, well known and universally acknowledged by
the Protestant world; they are facts which none can gainsay. This history I
have presented briefly, in accordance with the scope of the book, and the
brevity which must necessarily be observed, the facts having been condensed
into as little space as seemed consistent with [xii] a
proper understanding of their application. In some cases where a historian has
so grouped together events as to afford, in brief, a comprehensive view of the
subject, or has summarized details in a convenient manner, his words have been
quoted; but in some instances no specific credit has been given, since the
quotations are not given for the purpose of citing that writer as authority,
but because his statement affords a ready and forcible presentation of the
subject. In narrating the experience and views of those carrying forward the
work of reform in our own time, similar use has been made of their published
works. {GC xi.4}
Find out more today how to get a special discount when you purchase a
hardcover or
paperback
copy of The Great Controversy.
|
|
It is not so much the object of this book to present new
truths concerning the struggles of former times, as to bring out facts and
principles which have a bearing on coming events. Yet viewed as a part of the
controversy between the forces of light and darkness, all these records of the
past are seen to have a new significance; and through them a light is cast upon
the future, illumining the pathway of those who, like the reformers of past
ages, will be called, even at the peril of all earthly good, to witness
"for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ." {GC xii.1}
To unfold the scenes of the great controversy between truth
and error; to reveal the wiles of Satan, and the means by which he may be
successfully resisted; to present a satisfactory solution of the great problem
of evil, shedding such a light upon the origin and the final disposition of sin
as to make fully manifest the justice and benevolence of God in all His
dealings with His creatures; and to show the holy, unchanging nature of His
law, is the object of this book. That through its influence souls may be
delivered from the power of darkness, and become "partakers of the
inheritance of the saints in light," to the praise of Him who loved us,
and gave Himself for us, is the earnest prayer of the writer. —
E.G.W. {GC xii.2}
Click here to read the next chapter:
"The Destruction of Jerusalem"
|
