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English Lecture 23

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"Turning Prophets into Profits: Are All Modern Prophets a Scam?"

  1. How would you like to become a prophet?
    1. Illus: For $450 you can--I'm serious!--one of the students here at the university loaned me video with all the instructions you need!
      1. I hold in my hand the brochure that comes with the video.
      2. And in this brochure the offer of Kent Simpson, whose title is: Prophetic Minister in the School of the Prophets, Forth Worth, Texas.
      3. Let me read from the brochure that comes with the introductory video: "Prophetic Ministries is committed to raising up a people who have an ear to hear what the Holy Spirit is saying to the Church. [Now there's nothing wrong with that at all--quite commendable, actually!] The equipping process begins with the School of the Prophets. When you have completed the School of the Prophets you will have in your possession ten video tapes [a list of the titles then follows]....After completion of the School of the Prophets you will receive ordination and ministerial license from Prophetic Ministries Tabernacle of Fort Worth, Texas. You will then become a part of the prophetic move of this ministry....Ordained graduates automatically become a part of the Prophetic Alumni. The Prophetic Alumni are seasoned ministers with many different gifts that make up God's army ready to do battle against the psychic network.....[The costs?] $45.00 Each Lesson, $450.00 All Ten Lessons....Postage, Handling and Taxes Included. Accepting MasterCard, Visa, Discover and American Express....[Dial] 1-800- [and then the toll-free phone number]."
    2. For $450 you can become a prophet--it makes you wonder if this school more about PROFITS (p-r-o-f-i-t-s) than PROPHETS (p-r-o-p-h-e-t-s)!
    3. Illus: The fact of the matter is that prophets (p-r-o-p-h-e-t-s) are sprouting up every where these days--from super-psychic-supermarket tabloids to mail order catalogs to toll-free telephone numbers to classified ads--everybody wants to get a piece of the action and makes some profits by becoming prophets!
    4. How in the world is a rational, logical, thinking human being supposed to sort all of this out?
      1. Shall we write it all off as a bunch of luny, hysterical fanaticism?
      2. Laugh it off as a clever money-making scheme that preys on the superstitious and the gullible?
      3. Or in the midst of all this chicanery, is it possible that there is the genuine, the real thing, obscured by all the counterfeits?
      4. Tonight we look for the answers.
    5. I repeat our opening question: How would you like to become a prophet?
    6. Be very careful how you answer that question: Because the occupational hazards of being a prophet are extremely high and the biblical track record is abysmally discouraging--since the ministry of most prophets was terminated by martyrdom.
    7. Oh, the people will love you after you're dead and gone, but while you're alive and here it is literally a pain in the neck, as any beheaded prophet will tell you!
    8. Illus: How did Jesus put it? Let's read His words in Matthew 23:29-34 (p 960).
    9. Pretty strong language Jesus uses to indict all those who reject the prophets of their own generation while pretending to revere the prophets of long ago!

  2. Take John the Baptist, for example!
    1. Who of course wasn't a Baptist--just another prophet candidate for martyrdom.
    2. And yet six months AFTER he was thrown into prison and six months BEFORE he was beheaded, Jesus paid him the most sweeping compliment ever given to any mortal!
    3. illus: Read the story for yourself, beginning in Matt. 11:2,3 (p 944).
      1. Can you believe that? This is the GREAT THUNDERING PREACHER John the Baptizer, who stood on the rocky outcroppings of the Judean wilderness and called the nation to repentance and revival.
      2. And they flocked to him by the thousands, the gospel records tells us.
      3. He was the most popular preacher and prophet around!
      4. But his was a single passionate mission: Prepare the way for the coming Messiah!
      5. And we all remember the story of Jesus coming to John and being baptized by immersion at the hands of the leather-garbed bushy- bearded prophet!
      6. And John himself heard the Voice from heaven rumble overhead as Jesus came dripping up from out of the muddy Jordon River: "This is My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased."
      7. JOHN KNEW THAT HE WAS IN THE PRESENCE OF THE MESSIAH!
      8. And yet now--months later--John's in jail--at the hands of wiley King Herod--and John is discouraged--very depressed and very discouraged!
      9. You see, even the greatest of saints can experience doubt and discouragement!
      10. Which is good news for the likes of you and me, isn't it!
      11. Illus: In that classic on the life of Jesus, Desire of Ages, there is this sentence: "There were hours when the whisperings of demons tortured his spirit, and the shadow of a terrible fear crept over him." (p 216)
      12. Because it can happen to all of us, can't it?
      13. Here was this bold, fearless rebuker of sin--who dared to stare wilely King Herod straight in the eyes and call a spade a spade--"You adulterous leader! It is unlawful for you to be married to your brother's rightful wife!" (Matthew 14:3-5, p 949)
      14. But that's the problem with prophets--and that's why nobody likes them-- because it seems they're forever pointing out our sins!
      15. Herod is furious and throws the prophet into his fortress dungeon and waits for an opportune moment to rid his conscience of the man!
    4. Read v. 4-8.
      1. What did you go out there to see? Some 3-piece suited, matching hanky in the breast-pocketed preacher?
      2. What did you go out there to see? Some purple velveted, royalty- pampered cleric?
    5. Read v. 9-11
      1. There it is: the greatest compliment Christ ever paid to a mortal.
      2. Among all those who have exited from their mothers' wombs alive, there has never been a prophet greater than John the Baptist!
      3. Although it's almost a left-handed compliment, since the second half of that verse reminds us all that the most fortunate of all peoples are the ones who were born AD and not BC.
      4. John was BC (before Christ)--but the least in Christ's new kingdom of grace has the privilege of living in AD (anno domini)--and that very reality makes those subjects the most privileged, and in that sense, the greatest privileged ones of all!

  3. But, you say, Pastor--what does all this about John have to do with our NeXt Millennium Seminar and "Finding a Forever Friendship with God"?
    1. Here we are for the last few weeks studying the Bible truth that God has always had a passion for a personal friendship with the human race.
    2. So what does Jesus' compliment about John have to do with all of that?
    3. More than first meets the eye, let me assure you!
    4. Illus: Remember our text this weekend--Revelation 12:17? Let's take a quick look at it again (p 1182).
      1. The dragon is furious with the endtime community of faith, symbolized by the "rest of the woman's offspring"--her children at the end of time --this pure woman who represents the people of God throughout history.
      2. And who are these endtime people?
        1. They are a people who keep God's commandments, all Ten of His Decalogue.
        2. Therefore, the 4th commandment is included, which means that they are a Sabbatarian people, whoever they are--they worship on the Creator's seventh-day Sabbath.
        3. BUT SECONDLY, THEY ALSO POSSESS THE TESTIMONY OF JESUS.
    5. NOW WHAT IS THE TESTIMONY OF JESUS?
      1. Does it mean the testimony that is about Jesus?
      2. Or does it mean the testimony that is from Jesus?
      3. Two other verses in the Apocalypse leave no question as to what the testimony of Jesus represents.
      4. Illus: Rev. 19:9,10 (p 1187)--clearly describes the testimony of Jesus as the spirit of prophecy--i.e., it is that testimony that Jesus sends to His people through the spirit of prophecy.
      5. But what is the spirit of prophecy?
      6. Illus: Rev. 22:9 (p 1190)--Notice the parallel verse with 19:10, which clearly indicates that the spirit of prophecy is the presence of a prophet or prophets in that community.
      7. I.e., the community of faith at the end of time will be identified by obedience to God (including the seventh-day Sabbath) and by its possession of the spirit of prophecy, the presence in its midst of a prophet sent to it with "the testimony of Jesus."
    6. But you say, WAIT A MINUTE--I thought all true prophecy ended with the Bible, with the last page of the New Testament?
      1. To answer that question we need to insert a parenthesis here, and pause for a moment and ask ourselves: WHY WOULD GOD HAVE GIVE THE GIFT OF PROPHET OR PROPHECY AT ALL?
      2. That's a key question and there is vital text that provides a critical answer--Amos 3:7 (p 889).
      3. There's a very beautiful picture of God here: He is the God of the universe, our own Creator, who in spite of our hateful and rebellious running away from Him has refused to give up on us!
        1. In fact He has come running after us.
        2. The story of this Book is the story of God's love chasing after us day after day, century after century, millennium after millennium.
        3. And through the specialized mission and ministry, as it were, of certain men and women in history--GOD HAS SENT VERY PERSONAL MESSAGES TO HIS RUNAWAY CHILDREN WHOM HE LONGS TO MAKE HIS FRIENDS AGAIN!
        4. And as Amos, himself a farmer prophet millennia ago, reminds us: GOD HAS ALWAYS REVEALED HIS SECRETS, THE SECRETS OF THE FUTURE, TO HIS FRIENDS THE PROPHETS.
        5. And it has been their mission to come to us and pass along the "Word" they have heard from God.
      4. Illus: You think about it: FOR EVERY MAJOR WORLD EVENT IN THE HISTORY OF GOD'S CHASING AFTER US, GOD HAS ALWAYS ALERTED US TO THAT EVENT BY SENDING A PROPHET. Let's take a quiz right here and now:
        1. Before the flood, what prophet did God send to warn and alert and prepare His runaway children? NOAH.
        2. Before the mighty exodus and deliverance from Egypt, what prophet did God send to alert and prepare His enslaved children? MOSES.
        3. Before the awful exile of Israel to Babylon, what prophets did God send to plead with and warn His runaway children of impending disaster? ISAIAH and JEREMIAH, to name the two most well- known in a long line of prophets to Israel and Judah.
        4. Before the momentous advent of the Messiah, what prophet did God send to prepare the way and alert the people and cry out for repentance and revival? JOHN the Baptizer.
        5. Go ahead--read the Scriptures through for yourself--and you will discover that for every major epoch of God's offer of salvation in this history of His runaway children, He has ALWAYS sent a prophet to announce in advance the next great epoch or cataclysm or warning.
        6. Why? BECAUSE GOD GETS SOME SORT OF PERVERSE JOY OUT OF SCARING HIS CHIDLREN?
        7. Hardly! Rather because the heart of a loving Father and Friend desperately wants to spare His children of impending danger or disaster.
        8. GOD'S PASSION IS SINGLE AND SOLITARY: HE LIVES TO SEEK AND SAVE THE LOST, as Jesus put it in Luke 19!
        9. The prophets' mission was to be a human extension of that passionate divine love.
      5. Therefore, if Amos 3:7 is true--and we see that it is--DOES IT NOT FOLLOW THAT THIS SAME GOD WOULD SEND A MESSENGER JUST BEFORE THE SECOND COMING OF THE SAME MESSIAH FOR WHICH HE SENT JOHN LONG AGO?
      6. But of course! It would be utterly logical and consistent with God to do just that!
    7. And Revelation 12:17 declares that in fact He will do just that!
    8. Illus: The gift of prophecy and prophets did NOT end with the New Testament! Read Acts 2:17,18 (p 1052).
    9. The Bible evidence is clear that God will go on revealing His secrets to His servants and friends the prophets right until the return of Jesus!
    10. Why would He suddenly abandon His children and friends at the end?

  4. But returning again to our question: What does the compliment Jesus made about John have to do with this endtime community that will also have a prophet in its midst?
    1. Notice again the specific compliment Jesus spoke of John the Baptizer.
      1. Of all those born of a woman, there has arisen in the history of time no prophet greater than John!
      2. Which being interpreted means that Amos and Micah and Jeremiah and Isaiah--all great major and minor prophets of the Old Testament- -not one of them could be considered greater than John the Baptist!
      3. In fact Jesus' compliment makes it clear that even Daniel and Ezekiel and Moses COULD BE ONLY LESS THAN OR EQUAL TO JOHN, BUT NOT GREATER.
      4. What gave John his preeminent position? Ah, surely it was the fact that he was the one appointed by God to be the great herald of the coming Messiah--he was the prophet raised up to prepare the people for the coming of Christ.
      5. No other prophet was accorded that signal honor!
    2. But besides that fact, another very significant difference remains between John and the great host of Old Testament prophets? Do you know what it is? John the Baptist had no writings in the Bible!
    3. JESUS' COMPLIMENT OF JOHN PROVES 2 POINTS:
      1. First, one does not have to be canonical (have his or her writings placed in Scripture) to be a prophet.
      2. And secondly, one doesn't have to be canonical to be considered a great prophet!
      3. The greatest prophet of all time didn't write a single word in the Bible!
    4. Illus: A prophet without any writings in the Holy Scriptures--was John alone in that category? Not at all!
      1. 1. Ever heard of the prophet Elijah? One of the greatest of the Hebrew prophets? Did he write anything in Scripture? No!
      2. And how about Elisha? No again!
      3. And how about Gad and Ahijah and Shmaiah an Iddo and Obed--why you've probably never heard of any of these men--yet they are all called prophets by the Bible--prophets without any writings in the Holy Scripture!
      4. THE POINT: YOU DON'T HAVE TO BE AN AUTHOR IN THE BIBLE TO BE CALLED AND CONSIDERED BY GOD A PROPHET!
    5. Illus: Even more interesting, you can be a prophet and have actually written prophetic writings that never made it into the Bible--and still be, as my author and editor friend Clifford Goldstein colorfully puts it, "a full-fledged, card-carrying prophet."
      1. Take a look at I Chronicles 29:29 (p 408).
      2. Nathan, who fearlessly stared down that guilty king David, who not only impregnated the wife of one of his soldiers but then had the man murdered to cover up his own sin--Nathan who pointed his finger in the adulterous king's face and cried out, "You are the man!"--Nathan wrote prophetic writings, but not one of them is included in the Old Testament.
      3. Does that then mean that Nathan was not a true prophet?
      4. Oh no--you can be a called of God prophet and even write authoritative writings inspired by God--but have no book in the Bible!
      5. The point is clear: Your writings don't have to make it into this Book in order for you to be a prophet of God!
    6. And surprise of surprises, you don't even have to be a man to be a prophet!
      1. Now, how do you like that, gentlemen!
      2. Illus: But it's true--they were called prophetesses--and you may find them in both the Old and New Testaments!
        1. Deborah (Judges 4:4).
        2. Huldah (II Kings 22:14).
        3. Anna, of the Christmas story (Luke 2:36).
        4. And bless his soul, Philip the evangelist had four daughters and all four prophesied (Acts 21:9).
    7. The Scriptures are clear [on screen]:
      1. POINT ONE: You don't have to have writings in the Bible to be a great prophet.
      2. POINT TWO: You don't have to have writings in the Bible to be a prophet period.
      3. POINT THREE: You don't have to be a man to be a prophet.
      4. POINT FOUR: What made John the Baptist the greatest of all the prophets, even though he wrote not a single word in the canon of Scripture, was the fact that God chose him to be the prophet that prepared the way and a people for the coming Messiah.
    8. Based on those 4 points, the question begs to be asked: Could it therefore be that before the Messiah returns the second time, God will raise up another prophet just as He did before the Messiah's first coming--a prophet to prepare a people for the return of Christ, a prophet who will not have written a single word in Scripture, a prophet who could be a woman, a prophet who would be entrusted with the same great mission and message of John--Prepare to meet your God and King?
    9. Wouldn't it be utterly consistent with God to reach out one last time to His runaway children?

  5. Illus: But for $450 anybody can become a prophet--SO HOW SHALL WE KNOW THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE TRUE AND THE FALSE PROPHET? Here they are--let me share them with you--they're in your lecture outline for this evening--FOUR TESTS BY WHICH YOU CAN TELL THE DIFFERENCE between the true and the false prophet:
    1. #1--the most common and obvious test of a prophet--Dueteronomy 18:21,22 (p 184)--Does the prophet's prediction come true?
      1. Illus: That will weed out the vast majority of our supermarket psychics!
      2. Illus: But it will not eliminate all false prophets--because even charlatans can guess the future once in a while--and modern computer analysis makes the guessing even easier!
      3. Which is why Deut. 13:1-3 is critical (p 179).
      4. Remember: there are two sides in this great cosmic battle that is escalating! And one should hardly be surprised if the side of darkness attempts to predict the future and then cause that prediction to come true--all for the sake of deceiving the guillible and the careless!
      5. Moses' point: YOU CAN'T SIMPLY TAKE A FULFILLED PREDICTION AS THE INFALLIBLE SIGN!
      6. If a professed prophet makes a prediction that does not come true, that alone disqualifies them as a true prophet.
      7. If a professed prophet makes a prediction that does come true, that simply advances them to the next level of testing according to the additional following three tests for a true prophet of God.
    2. You need test #2--Isaiah 8:20 (p 661)--the critical test that weeds out so many in the religious world today.
      1. Do they speak and teach according the law and to the testimony of this Book?
      2. If they do not--then no matter how right they might appear, they are false!
      3. Case in point turn to Acts 17 (p 1071). Here the Book of Acts is describing a visit the apostle Paul made to the Macedonian city of Berea.
      4. As a prophet as well as an apostle Paul had received a message from God and he delivered that message to the people of that city.
      5. Now notice how Dr. Luke, the author of Acts, describes how the Bereans received that message from God through Paul.
      6. Read Acts 17:11.
      7. Note that Acts commends these people for receiving with "readiness," or an open mind, what Paul preached to them.
      8. But note also that even though he was an apostle and a prophet and spoke to them by revelation, the Bible commends the Bereans for searching the OT scriptures to be certain that what he preached to them was true.
      9. Every true prophet of God has nothing to hide, and will like Paul of old encourage you to search the Scriptures to test whether what they are saying is true!
      10. MARK MY WORD, ladies and gentlemen, EVERY FALSE PROPHET WILL EVENTUALLY TRY TO WEAN YOU OFF OF YOUR RELIANCE ON THE BIBLE AS THE ULTIMATE AUTHORITY IN YOUR LIFE, AND ONTO THEIR OWN INTERPRETATION OR WRITINGS.
      11. But this Book must remain the infallible standard of all spiritual truth and teaching!
    3. Test #3--I John 4:1-3 (p 1170)--The true prophet today will be passionately Christ-centered--he/she will exalt and glorify and honor the Lord Jesus Christ in every pronouncement and in every writing.
    4. Test #4--Jesus Himself gave us this test--Matthew 7:15-20 (p 940).
      1. What is the lifestyle of the one who claims to be a prophet?
        1. Illus: That question in itself would weed out a host of television stars who with the bejeweled and bedecked finery belie the very life and teaching of Jesus of Nazareth!
        2. "By their fruits you will know them."
        3. Does he/does she seek more to demonstrate the fruits of the Spirit more than the gifts of the Spirit?
        4. I am always suspisious of the one who endeavors to prove his or her calling to me by manifesting some sort of supernatural demonstration!
        5. The most supernatural of all evidences it the evidence of the Spirit of Jesus in the life of that human being.
      2. Four simple but infallible tests that you may apply to anyone who claims to bring to you or me a message from God (review the four on the screen).

  6. The question is, in the light of God's promise in Revelation 12:17 that the gift of prophet and prophecy would be revealed at the end of time in His community of faith: Is there anybody today whose life and ministry can successfully fulfill the four tests of a true prophet, one who does not have writings in the Holy Scriptures--yet one whose mission is very much like John the Baptizer's-- to prepare a people to meet the soon-coming Messiah King? Is there such a one today?
    1. Illus: Enter now a woman, who from the age of 17 until she died 70 years later, who testified that she received from God approximately 2000 visions and dreams, visions that varied in length from less than a minute to nearly four hours.
      1. A woman who took the knowledge and counsel she received from those revelations and wrote it out to be shared with others.
      2. Resulting in 5000 articles and 26 books during her lifetime, including compilations from her 55,000 pages of manuscript, with more than 100 titles now available in English.
      3. From information that is available, she may well be the most translated woman writer in the entire history of literature, and the most translated American author of either gender.
      4. Her life-changing masterpiece on successful Christian living, Steps to Christ, has been published in more than 135 languages.
      5. Through her dynamic leadership, she helped raise up a Christian movement that today offers the largest Protestant educational system in the world and the most extensive Protestant health system on earth.
      6. Through her visionary leadership the church she helped found is in more countries today than any other Protestant church on earth.
    2. But without question it has been her writings that have impacted the world of thought most significantly--writings covering a broad range of subjects including education, health, prophecy, nutrition, cultural and ethno- linguistic issues, creationism, and the origin of life.
    3. Illus: Let me quote now from Wheaton College professor Mark Noll's award- winning book, The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind: Referring to University of Wisconsin historian Ronald Number's newest book, The Creationists, Noll "explains how a popular belief known as 'creationism'--a theory that the earth is ten thousand or less years old--has spread like wildfire in our century from its humble beginnings in the writings of Ellen White, the founder of Seventh-day Adventism, to its current status as a gospel truth embraced by tens of millions of Bible-believing evangelicals and fundamentalists around the world." (p 13)
      1. This woman, who brought the testimony of Jesus which is the spirit of prophecy to an endtime community of faith through her visionary writings, has impacted the thought of the entire evangelical Christian community today through her seminal writings regarding creationism and the origin of life.
      2. She who began her Christian journey as a humble Methodist teenager was called by God to a prophetic ministry that was instrumental in raising up a remnant community of faith and truth known today as the Seventh-day Adventist Church.
      3. The name of this prodigious writer and influential spiritual leader who was a woman--Ellen White.

  7. I would like to conclude this evening with a personal testimony.
    1. Andrews University on whose campus we are meeting this evening holds a very dear and sacred place in my heart.
      1. Because it was while I was a graduate student here on this campus--24 years ago--that I met Jesus in a very personal and lasting way.
      2. I'll never forget the day as long as I live.
      3. It was a gray January winter's day, and I suppose I could testify that I met Him in the stairway of the theological seminary, where a professor of mine, in response to my anguished guilt, told me to go home and read a little book called Steps to Christ.
      4. I painfully made my way back to our little university apartment, and pulled down from my shelf a small paperback edition.
      5. I had grown up in a Christian home--in fact I was a 5th or 6th generation Christian.
      6. But sometimes when you grow up with it, you take it all for granted and you miss the chance to make a deeply personal journey.
      7. Well, that was what had happened to me.
      8. Until that day I began to read this little classic, translated now into 135 different languages.
      9. And all I can testify to tonight is that--through the miracle of divine grace--God used this little book and made it's title a self-fulfilling prophecy in my own life--for here I truly did find the STEPS TO CHRIST, THE STEPS TO A FOREVER FRIENDSHIP WITH GOD.
      10. I found the Jesus of the gospels and the Christ of the Scriptures through Steps to Christ.
      11. And the guilt and the fear and the shame that I had known were lifted from my heart, and I found instead a most glorious peace and joy of forgiveness and grace through the Jesus I met on those pages.
      12. It was out of that young adult encounter with Christ that my mind and heart set out on a new journey to get to know Jesus every early morning--which I want to share with you in our last lecture together, "A New Way to Pray."
      13. And by the grace of Christ, what began through the pages of Steps to Christ has become a daily encounter for the last twenty-four years.
    2. Who wrote Steps to Christ? Ellen White did.
      1. And from that day on I began to discover a soul-stirring spiritual depth in the writings of this woman--writings that have profoundly touched my mind and heart and drawn me to the God of this Book we've been encountering night after night here in the NeXt Millennium Seminar.
      2. HAS SHE BECOME THE BIBLE TO ME? NOT ON YOUR LIFE OR MINE!
      3. Like the apostle Paul of old, she encouraged people to test her writings by the Bible, and not the other way around as false prophets do.
      4. Her consistent testimony was that the Bible alone was to be the sole rule of faith and practice for the Christian.
      5. Illus: She herself described her writings as "a lesser light" that shines toward "the greater light."
        1. Just as the moon simply reflects the glorious light of the magnificent glory of the sun, even so this humble author described her writings in relation to the Holy Scriptures.
        2. The written Word and the Word made flesh--they are the glorious light that shines upon our pathway.
        3. Her writings were always given to point the reader back to Jesus and His eternal Word.
        4. Steps to Christ, Desire of Ages, Christ's Object Lessons, Thoughts from the Mount of Blessing--book after book with the passionate focus on Jesus, our Lord and Savior.
      6. The more I encountered Jesus on those pages, the bolder I became in widening my reading of her writings.
      7. ARE HER WRITINGS WHAT I TURN TO FIRST? Never! I read and meditate and study the Scriptures, which is what we have done night after night together.
      8. DO I READ OTHER AUTHORS? But of course--I read as widely and a deeply as my busy day allows.
    3. But this much I can testify to: In all my reading outside of the Holy Scriptures, I have yet to find an author whose writings bring to my mind and heart the voice of God more powerfully and personally than Ellen White.
    4. Title after title I have discovered that this woman's life and prophetic ministry were ignited by two undeniable passions, that like a fire erupt in whatever book you may pick up:
      1. First there was her very evident passion for Jesus.
      2. In all my life of reading I have never found an author who has as great a passion for the Savior as does Ellen White.
      3. But concomitant with that first passion is her second passion: a passion to seek and save the lost for Jesus.
      4. In all my life of reading I have never found an author who has as great a passion for saving the lost as does Ellen White.
      5. And as I read her--those twin passions I find are birthed in my own life and journey.
      6. Which is no credit to me--but is wholly credited to the Lord Jesus Christ who raised up this young woman to become a messenger of His testimony of love to this endtime community in this endtime world.
    5. Am I alone in my experience of being so profoundly impacted at such a deep spiritual level by the writings of Ellen White?
      1. Not by a long shot.
      2. Millions of people around the world have been similarly affected.
      3. Illus: In fact, one very carefully researched study confirmed on a broad scale what many of us have experienced at a deep personal level.
        1. Two experienced researchers, both friends of mine, Dr. Roger Dudley and Dr. Des Cummings, Jr., surveyed more than 8,200 members of 193 Seventh-day Adventist churches in North America.
        2. 20 different categories of spiritual life were involved in this survey, including one question on whether those surveyed were regular readers of the writings of Ellen White or not.
      4. The results were stunning. [show on screen]
        1. 82% of the regular readers of Ellen White's writings assessed their relationship with Jesus as intimate the figure was only 56% for the non-readers of Ellen White a 26% difference.
        2. 82% of regular readers of Ellen White indicated a high degree of assurance of being right with God, compared to 59% of the non- readers.
        3. Readers of Ellen White were 24% more involved in Christian outreach and service activities than were non-readers.
        4. And get this, 82% of those who read Ellen White regularly also have daily personal Bible study, as compared with 47% of the non-readers exactly the opposite effect which false prophets tend to have upon their followers.
        5. In fact, in every one of the 20 spiritual life categories surveyed, the regular readers of Ellen White scored higher than the non- readers.
      5. In their conclusion the researchers wrote: "Seldom does a research study find the evidence so heavily weighted toward one conclusion. In the church growth survey, on every single item that deals with personal attitudes or practices [of spiritual life], the member who regularly studies Ellen White's books tends to rank higher than does the member who reads them only occasionally or never."
    6. DOES SHE FULFILL AND PASS THE FOUR CRITICAL TESTS THAT THE BIBLE DECLARES MUST BE APPLIED TO A PROPHET?
      1. [show four tests slide again on screen]
      2. Beyond question for me, I have in fact concluded from my examination of her life and writing that she indeed passes all four vital conditions with flying colors.
    7. BUT I CANNOT SPEAK FOR ANYBODY BUT ME.
      1. The Seventh-day Adventist Church has never required that those who join this community of faith must accept the writings of Ellen White prior to embracing the Bible truths we've shared from night to night.
      2. Ellen White's writings have never been a condition of church membership.
      3. Yes, the Bible declares that the gift of prophecy--the Spirit of Prophecy, as Revelation described it--will be operative in God's endtime community of faith.
      4. And Yes, I believe that the ministry of Ellen White convincingly fulfills that apocalyptic description, by meeting the tests that God has given us to protect us from false prophets.
      5. BUT I CAN ONLY DO WITH YOU what I am so grateful others have done with me over the years--AND THAT IS EXTEND THE INVITATION TO EXAMINE AND TEST AND SCRUTINIZE FOR YOURSELF the writings of this godly woman, Ellen White.
      6. She isn't the Bible and never will be--but it is possible that what God inspired her with will bring the very same life-changing inspiration to your life as He did to my life.
    8. This much I can tell you without equivocation--God's promise in II Chronicles 20:20 is just as true tonight as it was when it was first spoken.
      1. Read this final verse with me on p. 425.
      2. In this Book you and I have been given all we will ever need be firmly established and to truly prosper.
      3. God has always sent His prophets--never to draw a following unto themselves--but always to be a passionate echo of His longing to offer anyone who would listen a FOREVER FRIENDSHIP WITH HIMSELF.
      4. For the sake of His friendship, God has sent us His prophets.
      5. For the sake of His friendship, why wouldn't we believe them?


    Further Study:

    Discover Guide - Mysterious Power In My Life     (Lecture Study Guide from Discover Bible School)




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