"'And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of My Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams'" (Acts 2:17, quoting Joel 2:28).
Acts 2:17 has a tantalizing attraction for Adventists. On the day of Pentecost, Peter is quoting Joel 2:28, but introduces a significant change to the Old Testament passage. For where Joel simply says, “Then afterward,” Peter makes Joel’s implied eschatological element explicit with, “In the last days.” Both passages reek of eschatology, but only Peter makes the “last days” explicit.
Why is this passage of special interest for Adventists? It’s because of the references to dreams and visions by both men and women. In both Joel and Acts, “sons and daughters” and “old men and young men” are all caught up in the work of the Spirit.
For Adventists, the ministry of Ellen White can readily be seen in both passages.
But my interest is in the reference to “old men,” for at age 81, I am one of those old men with dreams. And I can now claim to have had a nocturnal dream that reinforces that other kind of dream described by Webster as a “strongly desired goal.”
My nocturnal dream was clearly triggered by the fact that we are on the eve of another General Conference session, but my dream as a “strongly desired goal” has been with me for many years.
But first, a confession, namely, that I have not attended a GC session in my adult years. In my teens, I attended two GC sessions with my parents, one in Cleveland in 1958 when I was 15, and one in San Francisco in 1962 when I was 19.
As I have matured, I have become increasingly troubled by the unhappy political maneuvering that so easily creeps into the sessions.
I will confess that I have spoken with family and friends who have been inspired and motivated by the GC sessions. The amazing story of Adventist missions and the opportunity for fellowship with like-minded believers have enriched the lives of many.
But for me, the dark shadow of political intrigue has seriously eroded my sense of idealism. It has been much healthier spiritually for me to escape to Scotland and pray! My idealism is embodied in the concept of the “church covenant,” which was adopted in 1861 at the organizing session of the first Adventist conference — Michigan — and was recommended for use in the organization of local churches.
It was published in the Review and Herald on Oct. 8, 1861: “We, the undersigned, hereby associate ourselves together, as a church, taking the name, Seventh-day Adventists, covenanting to keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus Christ [Rev. 14:12].”
The spirit of those early Adventists is nicely captured by James White’s response to an inquiry from a Seventh Day Baptist, published in the Review and Herald on Aug. 11, 1853:
“As a people, we are brought together from divisions of the Advent body [the Millerites], and from the various denominations, holding different views on some subjects; yet, thank Heaven, the Sabbath is a mighty platform on which we can all stand united. And while standing here, with the aid of no other creed than the Word of God, and bound together by the bonds of love — love for the truth, love for each other, and love for a perishing world — "which is stronger than death," [cf. Song of Songs 8:6: "for love is strong as death"] all party feelings are lost. We are united in these great subjects: Christ's immediate, personal second Advent, and the observance of all of the commandments of God, and the faith of his Son Jesus Christ, as necessary to a readiness for his Advent.”
Note that there was room for diversity of opinion and that the Bible was their only creed.
Our first statement of beliefs, published in 1872, was emphatic that this statement of beliefs had no binding authority. It was descriptive, not prescriptive:
“In presenting to the public this synopsis of our faith, we wish to have it distinctly understood that we have no articles of faith, creed, or discipline, having any authority with our people, nor is it designed to secure uniformity among them, as a system of faith, but is a brief statement of what is, and has been, with great unanimity, held by them. We often find it necessary to meet inquiries on this subject, and sometimes to correct false statements circulated against us, and to remove erroneous impressions which have obtained with those who have not had an opportunity to become acquainted with our faith and practice. Our only object is to meet this necessity.”
It was not many years, however, before our statements of beliefs became highly prescriptive.
I will skip the details and transition to my “nocturnal” dream, an old man dreaming dreams. In my dream, the setting was the upcoming GC session. I was presented with a significant cluster of papers detailing changes in church practices and doctrines. My heart sank as I pondered the great gulf between the ideal “church covenant” and what the church had become.
My nocturnal dream was merely a dream. It certainly carries no prophetic authority, but it does reflect a felt “dream” of mine that we trust one another and never seek to force others to accept concepts or ideas that do not spring naturally from the heartfelt love of God.
