Introduction A Crucial Subject for Seventh-day Adventists Today There is nothing that Satan fears so much as that the people of God shall clear the way by removing every hindrance, so that the Lord can pour out his Spirit upon a languishing church and an impenitent congregation. … Satan can no more hinder a shower of blessing from descending upon God’s people than he can close the windows of heaven that rain cannot come upon the earth. [1] Perhaps no other subject should receive our close attention as the subject of the Holy Spirit and His relationship to the plan of redemption. We are told that the Holy Spirit was given as a “regenerating agent, and without this the sacrifice of Christ would have been of no avail.” Why? Because “sin could be resisted and overcome only through the mighty agency of the Third Person of the Godhead.” [2] The Holy Spirit is the 1 representative of Christ Himself, and is “accessible to all.” [3] “This promised blessing, claimed by faith, brings all other blessings in its train.” [4] This was the subject upon which Christ “dwelt most largely” during His earthly ministry. [5] During the last 150 years, Seventh-day Adventists have given much attention to the subject of the Holy Spirit. In the Index to the Writings of E. G. White, 30 pages of references are listed on the topic of the Holy Spirit. Many Adventist books have been written over the years on the subject, all seeking to present more clearly the work of the Holy Spirit and our need of His indwelling. The “early rain” and “latter rain” are intimately connected with this topic for they also “represent the work of the Holy Spirit.” [6] “The outpouring of the Spirit in the days of the apostles was the beginning of the early, or former, rain, and glorious was the result.” [7] The disciples, who only a few days before had all deserted Christ, now boldly testified of Him. The result of the early rain was soon realized; 3,000 were converted in a day and in 2 a short time the world was “turned upside down” (Acts 17:6). However, those of us living at the close of this earth’s history will see a far greater manifestation of the Holy Spirit’s power: “The great work of the gospel is not to close with less manifestation of the power of God than marked its opening. The prophecies which were fulfilled in the outpouring of the former rain at the opening of the gospel, are again to be fulfilled in the latter rain at its close.” [8] The early rain also represents the work of the Holy Spirit in conversion and the process of spiritual growth “from one stage to another.” The latter rain, ripening earth’s harvest, “represents the spiritual grace that prepares the church for the coming of the Son of man.” But if the early rain has not done its work “the latter rain can bring no seed to perfection.” [9] The full significance of the latter rain, however, is seen only when placed in its proper setting in 3 Adventist theology. Rather than being just one of a list of beliefs, the latter rain is closely associated with a proper understanding of the cleansing of the sanctuary, end-time judgment and last-day events, all set in the context of the great controversy theme. The “loud cry” is closely connected with the latter rain, for those who receive the heavenly showers will give the final message of God to the world. “It is the latter rain, the refreshing from the presence of the Lord, the loud cry of the third angel” that enables God’s people to “speak forth the truth with great power” amidst the most trying circumstances. [10] This “refreshing from the presence of the Lord, will come, to give power to the loud voice of the third angel, and prepare the saints to stand in the period when the seven last plagues shall be poured out.” [11] This “last message of mercy to be given to the world is a revelation of His character of love,” [12]* “the message of Christ’s righteousness,” [13] the message of “justification by faith” which is the 4 “third angel’s message in verity [truth].” [14] This message which God “commanded to be given to the world … is to be proclaimed with a loud voice, and attended with the outpouring of His Spirit in a large measure.” [15] We may look forward to the time when “the events of the Day of Pentecost shall be repeated with even greater power than on that occasion. John says, ‘I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory’ [Rev. 18:1].” [16] One of the greatest reasons for anticipating this outpouring is the prospect of unity among church members as on the day of Pentecost. Yet this unity must take place first—during the early rain experience—before the latter rain can be poured out: We have need of divine illumination. … [God’s] transforming grace upon human hearts will lead to unity that has not yet been realized; for all who are assimilated to Christ will be in harmony with one another. The Holy Spirit will create unity. 5 … The Holy Spirit glorifies God by so revealing His character to His people that he becomes the object of their supreme affections, and by making manifest his character in them. They see clearly that there was never any righteousness in the world but his, no excellence in the world but that derived from him. When the Spirit was poured out from on high, the church was flooded with light, but Christ was the source of that light; his name was on every tongue, his love filled every heart. So it will be when the angel that comes down from heaven having great power, shall lighten the whole earth with his glory [Rev. 18:1]. [17] We can easily see why there is nothing that Satan fears more than the outpouring of the latter rain. If ever there was a time when the outpouring of the Holy Spirit was needed, it is now. We should all be personally praying for the early rain experience and for the unity that will be created among us, which will prepare us for the outpouring of the latter rain. It is only in this way that we will 6 have a united voice through which the loud cry can be proclaimed. What About Unity? One look at the current condition of our beloved Seventh-day Adventist Church, however, tells us that we are far from unity and perhaps have even entered into a shaking time. On the one hand, some offshoot groups and various independent ministries have organized, calling themselves “historic Adventists” while at the same time calling the organized church “Babylon.” Some of these ministries have separated themselves from local churches into small groups or home churches, and recognize no church authority while diverting tithe money away from the denomination. Issues over doctrines, from the subject of the Trinity to timing of the Sabbath according to ancient calendars, from time setting to reinterpretation of last day prophecies, are examples at the core of many a new movement. [18] On the other hand, and riding the pendulum in 7 the other direction, several churches in North America over the last two decades have separated from the denomination, becoming Adventist Congregational churches. Although some of these churches are church plants, many of them are derived from the splitting of older established churches. Not only has there been a diversion of church members and their monetary support; there has also been an apparent abandoning of many foundational doctrines of the Advent faith. A common denominator amongst many of the Congregationalist churches is a disregard for the Biblical doctrines of 1844, the cleansing of the sanctuary, the investigative judgement, the three angels’ messages, and other distinctive Adventist beliefs that are closely connected to an end-time understanding of the message of righteousness by faith. [19]* More recently the church seems to be struggling with the fact, newly made public, that some professors in our universities and colleges (not just La Sierra), are promoting evolutionary theory. [20] The role of Ellen White and the question of her inspiration, as well as the inspiration of the entire Bible, continue to be 8 questioned by some. [21] Adventist Today, the voice of the progressive Adventist movement, adds issues to the pot on almost a monthly basis. While Church membership is swelling toward the 20 million mark on the world wide scale, membership is more static in North America. The reason for such a condition may lie in the fact that amidst the seeming polarization taking place throughout the North American Division, thousands of members within the organized church are faced with a multitude of voices calling for their attention. In his book The Remnant, Clifford Goldstein depicts in graphic language some of the terrible sins that exist in our church. [22] It does not require a great deal of investigation to come to the conclusion that all is not well within our ranks. The prospect of unity seems more out of reach than at any other time in Adventist history. Many are expressing the idea that the only hope for survival is to “clear the way” that God might pour out the latter rain upon His “languishing church.” But one of the greatest possible hindrances to unity, sadly enough, is over the issue of the latter rain and the 9 loud cry itself, specifically in regard to our Adventist history.