REVELATION, PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE.
Article 9.—We believe all that God has revealed, all that He does now reveal; and we believe that He will yet reveal many great and important things pertaining to the kingdom of God.
1. What is Revelation?—In a theological sense, the term revelation signifies the making known of Divine truth by communication from the heavens. The Greek—apocalypsis, which in meaning closely corresponds with our word revelation, expresses an uncovering, or a disclosure of that which had been wholly or in part hidden,—the drawing aside of a veil. An Anglicized form of the Greek term—Apocalypse—is sometimes used to designate the particular Revelation given to John upon the Isle of Patmos, the record of which forms the last book of the New Testament as at present compiled. Divine revelation, as illustrated by numerous examples in scripture, may consist of disclosures or declarations concerning the attributes of Deity, or of an expression of the Divine will regarding the affairs of men.
2. The word inspiration is sometimes invested with a signification almost identical with that of revelation, though by its origin and early usage it possessed a distinctive meaning. To inspire is literally to animate with the spirit; a man is inspired when under the influence of a power other than his own. Divine inspiration may be regarded as a lower or less comprehensive manifestation of the heavenly influence upon man than is shown in revelation. The difference therefore is rather one of degree than of kind. By neither of these directing processes does the Lord deprive the human subject of agency or individuality;[856] as is proved by the marked peculiarities of style and method characterizing the several books of holy writ. Yet, in the giving of revelation, a more direct influence is exercised upon the human recipient of the God-given message than is the case under the lesser, though no less truly Divine, effect of inspiration.
3. The directness and plainness with which God may communicate with man is dependent upon the purity and general fitness of the person. One may be susceptible to inspiration in its lower and simpler phases only; another may be so thoroughly responsive to this power as to be capable of receiving direct revelation; and this higher influence again may manifest itself in varying degrees, and with a greater or lesser shrouding of the Divine personality. Consider the Lord's words to Aaron and Miriam, who had been guilty of disrespect toward Moses the chosen revelator:—"And the Lord came down in the pillar of the cloud, and stood in the door of the tabernacle, and called Aaron and Miriam: and they both came forth. And He said, Hear now my words: If there be a prophet among you, I the Lord will make myself known unto him in a vision, and will speak unto him in a dream. My servant Moses is not so, who is faithful in all mine house. With him will I speak mouth to mouth, even apparently, and not in dark speeches; and the similitude of the Lord shall he behold."[857]
4. We have seen that among the most conclusive proofs of the existence of a Supreme Being is that afforded by direct revelation from God Himself; and that some knowledge of the attributes and personality of God is essential to any rational exercise of faith in Him. We can but imperfectly respect an authority whose very existence is a matter of uncertainty and conjecture with us; therefore, if we are to implicitly trust and truly love our Creator, we must know something of Him. Though the veil of mortality, with all its thick obscurity, may shut the light of the Divine presence from the sinful heart, that separating curtain may be drawn aside and the heavenly light may shine into the righteous soul. By the listening ear, attuned to the celestial music, the voice of God has been heard, declaring His personality and will; to the eye that is freed from the motes and beams of sin, single in its search after truth, the hand of God has been made visible; within the soul properly purified by devotion and humility, the mind of God has been revealed.
5. Revelation is God's Means of Communication.—We have no record of a period of time during which an authorized minister of Christ has dwelt on earth, when the Lord did not make known to that servant the Divine will concerning the people. As has been shown, no man can take upon himself, by his own act alone, the honor and dignity of the ministry. To become an authorized minister of the Gospel, "a man must be called of God, by prophecy, and by the laying on of hands, by those who are in authority," and "those in authority" must have been similarly called. When thus commissioned, the chosen one speaks by a power greater than his own, in preaching the gospel and in administering the ordinances thereof; he may verily become a prophet unto the people. The Lord has consistently recognized and honored his servants so appointed. He has magnified their office in proportion to their own worthiness, making them living oracles of the Divine will. This has been true of every dispensation of the work of God.
6. It is a privilege of the Holy Priesthood to commune with the heavens, and to learn the immediate will of the Lord; this communion may be effected through the medium of dreams and visions, through the visitation of angels, or by the higher endowment of face to face communication with the Lord.[858] The inspired utterances of men who speak by the power of the Holy Ghost are scripture unto the people.[859] In specific terms the promise has been given that the Lord would recognize the medium of prophecy through which to make His will and purposes known unto man:—"Surely the Lord God will do nothing but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets."[860] Not all men may attain the position of special revelators:—"The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him, and he will show them his covenant."[861] Such men are oracles of truth; privileged counselors, friends of God.[862]
7. Revelation in Ancient Times.—Unto Adam, the patriarch of the race, to whom were committed the keys of the first dispensation, God revealed His will and gave commandments.[863] While living in a state of child-like innocence prior to the Fall, Adam had direct communication with the Lord; then, through transgression the man was driven from Eden; but he took with him some remembrance of his former happy state, including a personal knowledge of the existence and attributes of his Creator. While sweating under the penalty fore-told and fulfilled upon him, tilling the earth in a struggle for bread, he continued to call upon the Lord. As Adam and his wife, Eve, prayed and toiled, "they heard the voice of the Lord from the way towards the garden of Eden, speaking unto them; and they saw him not, for they were shut out from his presence; and he gave unto them commandments."[864]