Biblical Authority
What parallels do you see between the experience of the disciples after the Crucifixion and the early Advent believers after the Great Disappointment in 1844? Luke 24:13–27; Acts 10:9–16, 44–48.
The disciples experienced their great disappointment at the Crucifixion. They had hoped Jesus would redeem Israel; as they watched Him ride a donkey into Jerusalem in fulfillment of Zechariah’s prophecy, they were certain that He would set Himself up as their king, drive out the Romans, and establish God’s kingdom on earth. Only after His death, when He had “opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures” (Luke 24:45, NKJV) did they see for the first time that He had come for a different purpose. In other words, even with all those years of Jesus being in their midst, even with His plain testimony, they made mistakes, they still didn’t understand what the Scriptures had taught. Jesus pointed them to the Bible, and on that they were to base their beliefs.
Read Acts 1:6. What does this say about how even after Jesus was with them after the Resurrection, they still were carrying false ideas about what His coming meant?
The early Advent believers also experienced a great disappointment because of William Miller’s mistaken view that the sanctuary in Daniel 8:14 was the earth. And just as Bible study and God’s supernatural interventions had helped the disciples to shed their mistaken views, so, too, did the early Advent believers come to a new understanding of the sanctuary truth through their study of Scripture and by God’s guidance in the prophetic ministry of Ellen White.
In the end, however helpful the prophetic gift was, our pioneers were determined to base doctrines on the Bible without using the prophetic gift as a doctrinal authority.
Today, too, the strength and certainty of what we believe as Seventh-day Adventists must be based on the Word of God alone. Once we are certain of our doctrines from the Bible, and work from that firm base, we can truly have confidence in the prophetic gift.
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