Message of the Latter Rain - Kelvin M. Duncan

What was the essence of the message which came to us in 1888 at
Minneapolis? Why was opposition to it such a serious matter? We find a
strong hint as to why this was so serious a matter in the following inspired
statements:
The message of the gospel of His grace was to be given to the church in
clear and distinct lines, that the world should no longer say that Seventh-day
Adventists talk the law, the law, but do not teach or believe Christ.[7]
I have no smooth message to bear to those who have been so long as
false guideposts, pointing the wrong way. If you reject Christ's delegated
messengers you reject Christ. Neglect this great salvation, kept before you
for years, despise this glorious offer of justification through the blood of
Christ and sanctification through the cleansing power of the Holy Spirit, and
there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful looking for of
judgment and fiery indignation.[8]
The message which began to be proclaimed at the 1888 General
Conference session was "the gospel ... in clear and distinct lines."[9] To
believe the gospel means to believe in Christ. In the 1888 era Seventh-day
Adventists were so preoccupied with the objective of defending the law and
the Sabbath that "Many had lost sight of Jesus."[10] Thus, the message was
sent to bring us back to Jesus, that the "world" might know we "believe
Christ." Therefore, to reject the message after receiving knowledge of its
content inevitably involves a rejection of Christ. The Spirit of Prophecy tells
us that Christ was rejected in the person of His messengers.[11] Thus, we
conclude that what was really at stake during the controversies of the 1888
era was the "sin against the Holy Ghost."[12] In rejecting "the message of the
gospel," some were committing the sin of blasphemy against the Holy Ghost.
No one need look upon the sin against the Holy Ghost as something
mysterious and indefinable. The sin against the Holy Ghost is the sin of
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