For eighteen centuries the people of this world have been groping in spiritual darkness. They have had the Bible, it is true, but what have they learned from it? In letter, many things. In the true spirit of divine inspiration, they have learned little. "The letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life." (II Cor. iii:6.) They are "ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth." (II Tim. iii:7.) These statements of Holy Writ are fully corroborated by human experience in religious matters. The world is divided and sub-divided into many contending factions, professing Christianity, yet not having a unity of faith. Many ideas of the Lord, many faiths in baptism. "One Lord, one faith, one baptism." (Eph. iv:5), was the doctrine of Paul. "Straight is the gate and narrow is the way which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it." (Matthew vii:14.)

What is the cause of all this uncertainty respecting the glorious plan of eternal life? If one was or is right, all opposing methods must be wrong. We answer that the lack of unity, the ignorance in relation to the Gospel, and finally skepticism and infidelity, are due to substituting the wisdom of men for the revelation of God, using human learning instead of the inspiration of the Holy Ghost.

We desire to show in this article that without direct and continuous revelation from God, the Gospel cannot be understood and properly applied for the salvation of mankind, nor can the purposes of God be accomplished on the earth. First, we take direct statements of Scripture: "Where there is no vision, the people perish; but he that keepeth the law, happy is he." (Prov. xxix:18.) The law of God has never been kept without the Spirit of God to enlighten those who sought to keep it. The history of the human family, from Adam to Noah, from Noah to Moses, from Moses to the Lord Jesus Christ, and in all subsequent ages, proves beyond cavil that where there was no vision from heaven, no inspired voice, no revelation, the people utterly perished in darkness and unbelief. The combined wisdom and learning of men could not save them from spiritual darkness.

That there may be an authorized channel of communication between the heavens and the earth, the Lord has, whenever His Church has existed on the earth, appointed men to receive His will and make it known to the people. "Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but He revealeth His secrets unto His servants, the prophets." (Amos iii:7.) This literally might be understood as equivalent to saying that where no prophet was, there the Lord was doing nothing that would result in man's salvation. Without being technical respecting the language of Amos, the history of the world from Adam down proves his statements true. When there has been no prophet there has been no revelation from God. When there has been no revelation or vision the people have wandered to and fro, have tossed upon the billows of clashing opinion, perished in darkness and have been buried in the great ocean of doubt and uncertainty. On the other hand, when authorized prophets have existed among men we may exclaim with the ancient Scriptures: "I have also spoken by the prophets, and I have multiplied visions, and used similitudes, by the ministry of the prophets. And by a prophet the Lord brought Israel out of Egypt, and by a prophet was he preserved." (Hosea xii:10, 13.) And we affirm that without prophets Israel never was preserved and never will be.

In looking over the field of mysterious sayings contained in the Bible, as well as the mystery which enshrouds many phases of human history, we are consoled by the promise of the Savior: "For there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; neither hid, that shall not be known." (Luke xii:2; Matthew x:26; Mark iv:22.) In this connection we may cite the fact that men by learning do not see the truth alike, they do not harmonize on the fundamental principles of the Gospel. As an example, they cannot, unaided by revelation, tell the origin, history and destiny of the American Indians.

Isaiah, over 200 years before the advent of the Messiah, foresaw the spiritual ignorance of the last days and how that condition would be overcome by the light of revelation. He prophesied as follows: "Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honor me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men: Therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvelous work among this people, even a marvelous work and a wonder; for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid." (Isa. xxix:13, 14.) By reading the context it is evident that the prophecy refers to a time later than the first coming of the Savior, and that the prediction never could be verified without direct revelation from heaven.

Paul, writing to the Hebrews, calls attention to the great truth that the method of the Lord in leading His people from the beginning has been by revelation. He says: "God, who at sundry times and in divers manners, spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by His Son." (Heb. i:1, 2.) Jesus said in St. John xvii:3: "And this is life eternal, that they might know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent." Paul says in I Cor. xii:3. "No man can say that Jesus is the Lord but by the Holy Ghost."

When Peter received a knowledge of the divinity and mission of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Savior said unto him: "Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona; for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father, which is in heaven." It required a revelation for Peter to receive that testimony. How could any one receive that knowledge without revelation from God? The Jews saw Jesus, witnessed His wondrous miracles of healing the sick, giving sight to the blind, unstopping the ears of the deaf and even raising the dead, but all that was not sufficient. They read the ancient prophecies, pointing to the birth and nativity, the birthplace, life, ministry and martyrdom of the Messiah. Yet were they blind, with eyes to see; deaf, with ears to hear, and without understanding. No reason can be assigned for the ignorance of the masses and the enlightenment of the humble fishermen other than that the former depended upon the learning of men; the latter had received a revelation from God.

To place the necessity of revelation beyond question as to obtaining a knowledge of God, we quote the statement of Jesus to His disciples: "All things are delivered to me of my Father; and no man knoweth who the Son is, but the Father; and who the Father is, but the Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal Him." (Luke x:22.) Compare this plain, unmistakable testimony of Jesus with the assertions of modern divines, who claim that the canon of Scripture is full and that we do not need divine revelation as it was given to men in ancient days. The position of the latter simply contradicts the plainest teachings of Holy Writ. If it required revelation 2,000 years ago to know that Jesus was the Christ, nothing short of revelation from heaven will secure that knowledge now. Notice, too, the remarkable fact that notwithstanding all the personal experience of the apostles through their association with the Savior, He commanded them to "tarry ye at Jerusalem until ye be endued with power from on high." (Luke, chapter 24.)

Another phase of the subject is this, that men claim that which is written in the Scriptures is sufficient. This view simply makes uninspired men the judge of what is and what is not essential as to all the writings of the apostles and prophets of the Lord Jesus. This is an unwarrantable assumption, condemned by the Scripture; for John says, concerning that which he had written in the Book of Revelation: "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." (Rev. xxii:18, 19.)

This does not deny God the privilege of adding more revelation, as it is an undisputed fact that the Gospel according to St. John was written subsequent to the Apocalypse; but it is a decree of divine displeasure upon any man who shall add to or take from the revelations of the Almighty. In the face of this decree, history informs us that councils of the Roman Church sat in judgment upon the writings of the apostles, and received only that which, in the light of their human wisdom, was acceptable to them. Notwithstanding this fact, the various factions of Christendom are essaying to build upon the foundation of what has come down to them through the channel of unauthorized councils of men. May we not ask with perfect propriety, is not that which was rejected or lost just as valuable as much of that which has been handed down to us?

As proof that writings of the disciples of Jesus have been lost to the world, I would call special attention to several passages of the Scripture. The writings of the New Testament are from eight authors—Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Peter, Paul, James and Jude. Luke says: "Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of these things which are most surely believed among us." (Luke i:1.) While there is no definite proof in this statement as to how many had written their testimonies concerning the Messiah, it is evident they were not few, but many. That there was opportunity and material upon which to write respecting this glorious subject, the life and ministry of Jesus, is very apparent from the last verse of the twenty-first chapter of St. John, as follows: "And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written, every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written." With such a statement, it is to be wondered at that the world who believed in the Redeemer should rest contented with the narrow view that we have all that is important.

We have in the New Testament what is called I Cor. and II Cor., written to the Saints in Corinth by the apostle Paul. In I Cor. chapter v:9, we have this: "I wrote unto you in an epistle not to company with fornicators." This must have been previous to the one in which this occurs, and yet such an epistle is not found in our New Testament. In Col. iv:16, Paul says: "And when this epistle is read among you, cause that it be read also in the church of the Laodiceans; and that ye likewise read the epistle from Laodicea." This refers to an epistle from Paul to the Colossians, written from Laodicea, but which is not found in the canon of Scripture as we have it. In II Tim., chapter iv:13, Paul requests Timothy to bring him certain parchments; what they contained we know not. Jude says: "And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these things, saying: 'Behold the Lord cometh with ten thousand of His saints.'" How delightful it would be to read the predictions and teachings of that great prophet Enoch, the man who walked and talked with God 365 years, "and was not, for God took him." Only a few verses in the Old and New Testament are all we have in the canon of Scripture respecting Enoch and his city. What a glorious flood of light will dawn upon the world when the writings of Enoch are revealed! In the Old Testament may be found references to about thirty books written by the Jewish scribes and prophets, but which have been lost to the world, rejected and cast aside by uninspired, unauthorized councils of men.

Suppose that all that is necessary so far as explanation of doctrine is concerned is contained in the New Testament, we are then confronted with man's inability to understand what has been revealed without the light of revelation to guide the human mind in understanding and applying the truth. As proof of this I will cite the testimony of Paul: "For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? Even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. * * * But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness unto him; neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." (I Cor. ii:11, 14.) Jesus said to Nicodemus: "Except a man be born again he cannot see the kingdom of God." (St. John iii:3.) "No man can say that Jesus is the Lord but by the Holy Ghost." (I Cor. xii:3.) The truth of these sacred sayings is verified by the history of the world, which has languished in darkness without revelation, as shown by previous quotations.

Another very important feature of this subject consists in the fact, that there always have been in every gospel dispensation labors to perform of a practical character, such as the building of temples, the gathering of Israel out of Egypt, the building of the Ark of the Covenant, etc., none of which could be accomplished except by direct revelation from God. We may therefore conclude that while the ordinances and doctrines of the gospel are eternal and unchangeable, the circumstances associated with the people in every dispensation of the gospel are constantly changing. The emergencies of this situation must be met, not by the dead letter of ancient Scripture, but by present inspiration and revelation given through living oracles of God.

"By a prophet the Lord brought Israel out of Egypt, and by a prophet was he preserved." (Hosea xii:13.) The prophecies of the Jewish prophets in the Old Testament, pointing to the advent of the Messiah, are clear and explicit. Read the seventh chapter of Isaiah, fourteenth verse; the ninth chapter and sixth verse; the fifty-third chapter of the same book; the fifth chapter of Micah, second verse; and many other passages of the Old Testament. In these we find plain predictions which were verified in the birth, ministry and crucifixion of the Savior, which were read by the Jews but not understood by them, because the light of revelation from God was not the source of their information. This was rather the wisdom of their own learning, which led them to reject the Messiah and discard the great message of life which He brought unto them.

As there were many plain prophecies relating to the first coming of the Savior and the great work associated with His advent, so there are pointed predictions referring to His second coming and a work of great magnitude to precede that great event. I will call attention to a few as proof that more revelation will be given, and that without it these prophecies could never be fulfilled: "Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me; and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to His temple, even the Messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in; behold, He shall come, saith the Lord of hosts. But who may abide the day of His coming? and who shall stand when He appeareth? for He is like a refiners' fire, and like fuller's sore. * * * And He shall purify the sons of Levi," etc. (Mal. iii:1-3.) This prophecy must refer to His second coming. At His first advent He did not come suddenly; He did not come to His temple. The house of the Lord had become "a den of thieves." He did not accept it. He did not purify the sons of Levi. It was a day when they could in their wickedness abide His coming. "Who shall stand when He appeareth" is clearly a condition when He shall come in power and glory to take vengeance on the ungodly.

How could He suddenly come to His temple unless a temple should be built for Him? One could not be built without a chosen people to build it; and how can men build the house of the Lord without revelation to tell them where, when and how to construct such a holy edifice? In Malachi, chapter iv, we have a very striking prophecy of the judgments of the Almighty in the last days, before the coming of the Lord. In the fifth verse the prophet says, "Behold, I will send you Elijah the Prophet, before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord." The great prophet Elijah, who was taken to heaven in a chariot of fire without tasting death, was to visit the earth in the last days. The apostle John, when upon the isle of Patmos, also saw the hour of God's judgement, and uttered the following prediction: "And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, Saying with a loud voice, Fear God and give glory to Him; for the hour of His judgment is come: and worship Him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters." (Rev. xiv:6-7.) From this prophecy we learn that an angel was to visit the earth at a later period than when John uttered the above words. His mission was to be to restore the everlasting gospel, a gospel that does not change; a gospel of apostles, prophets, gifts, visions, revelations, etc.

"The everlasting gospel." Why should an angel bring the gospel if it already existed upon the earth? Why should the call be to worship the God who made the heavens, the earth and the fountains of water, etc., if these creations were brought into existence by a God "without body, parts or passions"? This prophecy of John agrees with Peter's words recorded in the third chapter of Acts, wherein he says: "And He shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you; whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began." (Acts iii: 20-22.) By this we learn that before the advent of the Messiah to reign on earth there should be a grand restitution, bringing back that which was lost; a restoration of revelation, ministry of angels, prophecies, tongues, healings, miracles, etc. Who can believe the Scriptures and yet deny the necessity for more revelation? The quotations here given are only a few compared with many that can be made bearing upon the subject. They all show that direct and continuous revelation from God is an absolute necessity to the welfare, progress and final salvation of the children of men.