Focus on God's Word

The Testimony of Jesus Christ

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

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Series Code: FGW

Program Code: FGW000037A


00:27 I like to welcome you to Focus on God's Word,
00:31 where we at the end of this six part series,
00:35 as we discover God's wonderful truth
00:38 for these last days.
00:40 As I've shared earlier, I've entitled this series,
00:43 "End-time Apocalypse"
00:45 as we take a look at the very heart
00:47 of the Book of Revelation,
00:49 Revelation 12, 13 and 14, where we have been journeying
00:53 over these past five sessions,
00:54 and this is our final session together,
00:57 and if you have missed any of the previous session,
01:00 I'd encourage you to catch up
01:01 in order to see where we are in this particular session.
01:05 So I want to welcome you all here at the 3ABN studio
01:09 here in Morisset, New South Wales, Australia.
01:12 All those who are watching in Australia
01:14 or wherever you may be, a warm welcome to you
01:17 as well as to those who are watching
01:19 around the world via the Internet,
01:21 or on your TV screens,
01:22 or you may be listening on radio,
01:24 wherever you are, may God bless you
01:27 as we journey through God's Word together.
01:30 I'm excited about this journey that we have been in
01:32 as we have taken a look at this all important message
01:36 from the Book of Revelation,
01:37 the heart of the Book of Revelation
01:39 where God unwraps for us His final message of love
01:43 in those three angels' messages
01:45 that we have gone through time and time again.
01:49 So before we begin, as always, what do we need to do?
01:52 We need to pray,
01:53 we need to pray that the Holy Spirit
01:54 that inspired the prophets of scripture
01:57 will impress and inspire us here together
02:00 as we journey through His Word.
02:01 So let's pray, Father in heaven,
02:03 we ask and pray that as we open Your Holy Word,
02:07 and once again look at the Book of Revelation,
02:10 once again go to the very heart of the Book of Revelation,
02:14 we ask and pray that Your Holy Spirit
02:16 will lead and guide us.
02:18 By Your Holy Spirit, give me the words to share
02:21 that You would have me share
02:22 and may our ears and especially our hearts
02:26 be opened to receive Your Word,
02:28 for this is our earnest prayer in Jesus' name, amen.
02:32 In the last program,
02:34 we discovered that God in a very beautiful way
02:37 describes His end time church in the Book of Revelation,
02:40 in particular, in Revelation 12,
02:44 and we discovered
02:45 a number of key identification marks
02:49 that God has given to us in the Book of Revelation
02:51 to help us understand the church or the movement
02:55 that He has raised up at the end of time
02:57 to proclaim the gospel or the everlasting gospel
03:00 to the entire world.
03:03 We discovered that God has raised up
03:05 indeed a people, He's raised up a church
03:08 at the end of time to share His final message of love,
03:12 and that church is the Seventh-day Adventist Church.
03:16 Now does that mean
03:17 the Seventh-day Adventist Church is perfect?
03:19 Far from it
03:20 because the Seventh-day Adventist Church
03:22 is made up of individuals who are less than perfect.
03:25 However this is a church
03:26 that God can point to at the end of time
03:29 based on the Book of Revelation
03:31 that we have discovered together
03:32 and say, "This is my church.
03:35 This is my movement.
03:36 This is the message that I have ordained
03:39 for this group of people to preach."
03:42 So we looked at that in our last presentation.
03:45 Now we looked at seven identification marks
03:47 that I briefly want to go through
03:48 once again with you as we plunge into.
03:51 An identification mark that we have not...
03:54 Had the opportunity to examine that we will be doing
03:56 in this presentation.
03:58 We discovered that God's end-time church
04:00 that Revelation identifies, it's called the remnant,
04:04 that is it stands on God's Word alone.
04:06 It keeps all of God's Ten Commandments
04:09 including the Fourth Commandment.
04:12 It will have the testimony of Jesus Christ.
04:14 Now that is our subject for today.
04:17 It has the patience of Jesus.
04:19 It has the faith of Jesus, faith in Jesus.
04:23 It will arise after 1798,
04:26 that is after the 1260 year prophecy
04:29 in the United States of America.
04:31 And finally, it will be a worldwide movement
04:34 that will preach the everlasting gospel,
04:36 God's final message of love to the world.
04:39 Now we have discovered that this is none other
04:41 than the Seventh-day Adventist Church,
04:43 the only church in the entire world
04:45 that fulfills each and every one
04:48 of the seven identification marks
04:50 that God has given in the Book of Revelation.
04:52 Now we need to take a look at this third all important
04:56 identification mark that clearly identifies
04:59 the Seventh-day Adventist Church
05:01 as God's end time church.
05:03 And so together we want to take a look
05:04 at the testimony of Jesus Christ.
05:07 God's church will have the testimony of Jesus Christ.
05:11 Now as we go to the Book of Revelation,
05:13 we go to Revelation 12:17,
05:16 and there we have a description of God's end-time people.
05:20 Notice these words.
05:21 "And the dragon..."
05:23 And who is the dragon? That's the devil and Satan.
05:26 "Was enrage with the woman..."
05:27 And who is the woman?
05:29 It's the church. We've identified that already.
05:32 "And he went to make war with the rest or the remnant
05:34 of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God
05:38 and have the testimony of Jesus Christ."
05:41 Now in Revelation 19:10, there we have a definition
05:46 for what the testimony of Jesus Christ is.
05:48 Notice these words from Revelation 19:10.
05:52 John writes, "And I fell at his feet..."
05:55 That is at the feet of the angel
05:57 that is about to give him this message to worship him.
06:00 "But he said to me, 'See that you do not do that!
06:03 I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren
06:05 who have the testimony of Jesus.
06:08 Worship God!
06:09 For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.'"
06:14 So John was clearly told by the angel
06:17 that the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy
06:22 or the prophetic gift.
06:24 Now the angel here shares
06:25 that he is also one of the brethren.
06:30 The brethren according to Revelation 22:8, 9,
06:34 are the prophets, God's mouthpiece,
06:38 that God has used in order to communicate
06:40 His truth with His people, and ultimately with the world.
06:44 In Revelation 1, right at the very outset,
06:47 there the Bible tells us
06:49 that John received the testimony of Jesus.
06:52 So a prophet is someone who shares
06:54 the testimony of Jesus Christ.
06:57 Now we have just read in Revelation 12:17
07:01 that the dragon is angry
07:04 with those who have the testimony of Jesus Christ,
07:06 with those who have the prophetic gift.
07:10 We know that
07:11 because in the very first chapter of Revelation,
07:14 notice what John says regarding why he was imprisoned
07:19 on the Island of Patmos.
07:21 Notice these words in Revelation 1:9.
07:24 John writes, "I, John, both your brother and companion
07:27 in the tribulation and kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ
07:31 was on the island that is called Patmos
07:33 for the word of God and..."
07:35 For the what?
07:36 "For the testimony of Jesus Christ."
07:40 John was imprisoned
07:42 because of his faithfulness and commitment
07:45 to the Word of God
07:47 as well as to the testimony of Jesus Christ
07:50 being faithful to God in the message
07:53 that God had entrusted to him as a prophet of God
07:57 to share with the seven churches,
07:59 ultimately to share with the entire world
08:02 and especially prepare the people of God
08:04 for the second coming of Jesus.
08:06 Now as we discover in scripture,
08:08 we discover that prophets were not God's original plan
08:14 for communicating His message with us.
08:17 God's original plan was to speak with us
08:20 face-to-face, isn't that right?
08:23 To Adam and Eve, God spoke face-to-face.
08:26 However after sin entered the world,
08:30 God now had to speak through His prophets
08:33 because He could no longer communicate face-to-face
08:36 with Adam and Eve because they were now sinners.
08:39 And a sinner cannot communicate face-to-face with God.
08:44 It's what sin does, it separates us from God.
08:47 So in order to communicate with us,
08:50 God needed to send prophets.
08:53 Prophets are God's mouthpieces for communicating with us.
08:57 The Old and the New Testament
08:59 records the names of men and women
09:02 who were used by God as His prophets
09:04 and prophetesses.
09:06 All the way through Scripture, God used His prophets
09:10 in order to communicate His truth,
09:13 His love with His people.
09:15 In fact the truth is that without the prophetic voice,
09:19 God's people would not have survived the devil's attacks.
09:22 Prophets kept God's people on track
09:25 through their council and their prophecies.
09:28 Notice what we read in 2 Chronicles 24:19.
09:33 "He," that is, "God sent prophets to them."
09:36 That is to His people.
09:38 "To bring them," what? "Back to," who?
09:41 "Back to the Lord,
09:42 and they testified against them,"
09:44 but sadly the rest of the verse goes on and says,
09:47 "But they would not listen."
09:49 God sent prophet after prophet to His people,
09:52 and the sad history as we read the Bible
09:56 is that on most occasions,
09:58 God's people did not listen to the prophet
10:02 that God sent to them,
10:03 which was the message that God had for them.
10:06 Now what was God's primary manner
10:10 of communicating with His prophets?
10:12 Notice what we read in Numbers 12:6,
10:16 the Bible says,
10:17 "If there is a prophet among you,
10:19 I, the Lord make myself known to him in a," what?
10:23 "In a vision, I speak to him in a dream."
10:26 So God's primary method of communication
10:29 through His prophets was to give them
10:31 visions and dreams.
10:33 He shared His message in this way.
10:36 There are times in Scripture when God speaks face-to-face.
10:40 And we have that in the case of Moses.
10:43 God veiled His glory.
10:45 Obviously, otherwise no human, no mortal can exist and survive
10:51 in the very presence of God as a sinner.
10:54 But God spoke to Moses face-to-face,
10:56 the Bible says to Abraham also.
10:58 We have one of the angels
11:00 who we know was Jesus Christ Himself,
11:04 the pre-incarnate Christ spoke with Abraham.
11:07 God also sent angels at different times
11:10 to communicate His message.
11:11 But visions and dreams was the primary method
11:15 that God used in order to communicate
11:17 His message to His servants, the prophets.
11:21 The devil knows how important the gift of prophecy is
11:26 to God's people and to the world.
11:28 He understands how vital prophets are to God's cause,
11:32 and He seeks to derail God's purposes
11:35 by sending many false prophets.
11:38 That's just how the enemy works.
11:41 He wants to derail the plans of God
11:44 and the purposes of God.
11:45 He ultimately does not want us to understand
11:50 what God's truth is,
11:51 us to accept and experience the truth
11:54 as God's prophets and God's servants would share.
11:59 Jesus in fact in Matthew 7 made that abundantly clear.
12:04 Notice the words of Jesus
12:05 that we find in Matthew 7:21-23.
12:09 Jesus speaking,
12:10 "Not everyone who says to Me 'Lord, Lord,'
12:12 shall enter the kingdom of heaven,
12:13 but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.'"
12:16 Verse 22, "Many will say to Me in that day,
12:20 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied
12:22 in Your name, cast out demons in Your name,
12:24 and done many wonders in Your name?'
12:27 And then I will declare to them,
12:29 'I never knew you, depart from Me,
12:31 you who practice lawlessness!'"
12:34 Notice Jesus said,
12:35 there will be many false prophets
12:39 that the enemy will raise up
12:41 who will prophesy in the name of Jesus,
12:44 but yet they are not prophesying
12:46 in the name of Jesus.
12:47 They haven't been sent by Jesus,
12:49 they've been sent by the enemy,
12:50 but they are claiming they have been sent by Jesus.
12:53 They are claiming that they are mouthpiece of God,
12:57 when in actual fact they are not.
12:59 Jesus said, "Watch out,
13:01 there will be many false prophets."
13:04 But notice what Jesus didn't say,
13:06 "Jesus didn't say beware of everyone and anyone
13:10 who claims to be a prophet."
13:12 Jesus never said that.
13:14 And we know in the New Testament
13:16 after Jesus went to heaven, we know that God sent prophets
13:20 to His New Testament Church,
13:21 both men and women in order to lead, and guide,
13:25 and direct the people of God
13:27 that they may be effective in reaching out
13:31 to the people of this world in sharing the gospel.
13:34 So the question is, how can we determine
13:38 whether a person is a true or a false prophet?
13:42 Let me tell you a story.
13:44 I don't know if you're aware of this,
13:46 but at the moment in Australia, there are countless,
13:51 thousands upon thousands upon thousands,
13:53 tens of thousands of counterfeit
13:57 $5, $10, $20, $50, and even $100 notes circulating.
14:03 How many of you are aware of that?
14:04 Okay. If you're not, I have just made you aware.
14:07 So be aware.
14:10 The most commonly counterfeited note
14:15 here in Australia at the moment is the $50 bill.
14:20 And there was a news report in The New Castle Herald,
14:23 not so long ago,
14:24 where the headline read, "Fake $50 bills so good,
14:30 they even fool the banks."
14:33 Very, very, very good counterfeits.
14:36 Now on this particular Saturday night back in 2004,
14:40 I'm having a discussion with my mother,
14:43 who at the time, my mother and father
14:45 were living in a little country town
14:47 in Victoria called Pyalong.
14:49 How many of you have heard of Pyalong?
14:51 One of you have because you have been there,
14:53 the rest of you haven't but now you have little Pyalong
14:56 in the middle of nowhere,
14:58 about an hour and a half out of Melbourne.
15:00 Anyway my mum and dad were there,
15:02 and I'm chatting to my mum on a Saturday night
15:04 just asking how's life,
15:05 anything new happened this week.
15:07 And usually the answer is what? Nothing new has happened.
15:11 Everything is the same as it was
15:12 when I spoke to you last.
15:14 But this time my mum says to me,
15:16 "Yes, there is something new."
15:18 I think, I'm in the possession of counterfeit $50 notes."
15:23 And I'm like, "Really?
15:24 How on earth did you get hold of counterfeit $50 notes?"
15:28 And she says, "Well, I read about it
15:30 in my local paper, there's a number of counterfeit
15:32 $50 notes circulating in the area.
15:34 And I think I've got several of them."
15:37 And I'm like, "Really?" And she's like, "Really!
15:40 Maybe you do too, Danny."
15:41 And I'm like, "Well, I'm not sure but anyway,
15:44 how do you know they are counterfeit?"
15:45 So my mom said, "Go and find all the $50 notes
15:49 you can find in the house."
15:50 So first of all, I went to my wallet
15:52 and discovered how many were there
15:54 in my wallet, none, zero.
15:56 Guess where they all were? In my wife's wallet.
15:59 Yes, so I went to my wife's wallet,
16:02 and lo and behold, all the $50 notes were there.
16:06 And anyway, so I pulled out all these $50 notes,
16:09 I get back on the phone, and I'm chatting to my mother,
16:12 and I'm like, "How do you know whether it's a fake $50 note,
16:16 and how do you know whether it's the real deal?"
16:18 So here's a couple of $50 notes.
16:20 And she said, "One of these, as I went through them,"
16:23 she says, "One of these was fake."
16:25 Now which one was the fake one?
16:26 Let me put them up on the screen for you.
16:29 The top one there is a fake, a counterfeit.
16:33 The bottom one is the real deal,
16:35 according to what my mom said.
16:37 Now why is that?
16:39 At the bottom here of the $50 note,
16:42 the one at the bottom,
16:44 notice there is the name of the person
16:47 whose portrait appears in the $50 note,
16:48 can you see that?
16:50 Edith Cowan, can you see it on the top one?
16:52 No, you can't.
16:53 Let's go to the next slide.
16:56 On the backside, notice the bottom one
17:00 has the name, that's the real deal.
17:02 The top one is the counterfeit,
17:04 it doesn't have the name according to what my mom said.
17:07 And I'm like, "Well, I've got one of those."
17:10 So what do you do
17:11 when you have a counterfeit note
17:12 or you think you have a counterfeit note?
17:14 What are you supposed to do?
17:15 Well, you're supposed to take it back to the bank
17:17 or to the police station.
17:19 Now there's good news and there's bad news.
17:21 Which one would you rather, the good news or the bad news?
17:24 The good news is...
17:25 I'll start off with the good news.
17:27 The good news is, if it's not a counterfeit $50 note,
17:31 the bank or the police station give that money back to you.
17:35 The bad news is, if it is a counterfeit $50 note,
17:38 they keep it and you don't get it back.
17:40 So I'm like, "What are we going to do, mom?"
17:43 And she's like, "Well, if I give it
17:44 and it's a counterfeit note, I've lost $50.
17:47 If I pass it on to someone else,
17:48 they won't know, and I'll be okay."
17:50 But I'm like, "That's wrong, mom,
17:52 we can't do that."
17:53 So either we go to jail and do the wrong thing
17:56 or we do the wrong thing in God's eyes,
17:58 so what is my mom and I supposed to do?
18:00 Now as I'm talking to my mom,
18:02 I decided, "Hang on a minute, let me check this out,
18:06 let me check out what my mother has been taught to believe
18:10 is a counterfeit $50 note,
18:11 whether this is really true or not?"
18:14 So while I'm talking to my mom,
18:16 my mom didn't have the internet at that time
18:17 but I certainly did.
18:19 So I go online and I decide to go to the Reserve Bank
18:22 of Australia website.
18:24 So I go to the Reserve Bank of Australia website,
18:28 and there on the website, as you can see,
18:31 get to know your bank notes,
18:32 and there is a section there that deals with counterfeits.
18:35 So I clicked on counterfeit and noticed what I discovered.
18:39 Common myths about banknotes.
18:42 Notice, myth.
18:44 Bank notes without the printed name
18:46 below the portrait are counterfeit, that's a myth.
18:50 The truth, the fact,
18:52 a bank note without the name of the person
18:53 below the portrait is not necessarily counterfeit.
18:56 Printed names were added to Australian bank notes
18:59 from 2002.
19:00 This was done to help the public
19:02 identify the people that our bank notes feature.
19:05 I was like, "Mom, good news,
19:07 you're not going to lose your $50,
19:09 you don't have counterfeit $50 notes.
19:12 You're all good, you're all in the clear."
19:15 Now do you know your $50 bank note?
19:18 Do you know whether it's a counterfeit
19:20 or a genuine?
19:21 Well, you can go to the website there and you'll discover
19:24 how you can spot a counterfeit bank note.
19:26 There are eight different points there
19:28 to help you know whether it's the real deal
19:31 or whether it's not the real deal.
19:34 The message from the Reserve Bank of Australia
19:37 was get to know your bank notes.
19:41 I have a message for you, I have a message for all of us,
19:44 get to know your Bible.
19:47 Get to know your Bible.
19:49 If you and I know what this book teaches,
19:53 you and I will never ever be deceived.
19:56 The only way to remain undeceived
19:58 is to get to know your Bible.
20:01 How did I know the truth whether my mom, and whether I
20:05 was in the possession of a counterfeit $50 note?
20:08 I had to go to the Reserve Bank of Australia,
20:11 I went to the official source.
20:13 The official source for the Christian, my friend,
20:15 is the Bible.
20:16 Get to know your Bible.
20:18 The only way to remain undeceived in the end
20:22 is to know the scriptures.
20:24 So how are we going to test
20:26 whether someone is a true prophet of God?
20:29 How are we going to do that?
20:31 Through the Bible, through the Bible.
20:33 Does the Bible give us tests that we can conduct
20:37 to ascertain whether a woman or a man
20:41 is a genuine prophet of God or not?
20:44 Indeed, the Bible does.
20:45 Notice what we read in 1 John 4:1,
20:49 we read these words.
20:50 John writes, "Beloved..."
20:52 The same John that wrote the Book of Revelation.
20:54 "Do not believe every spirit, but..."
20:56 Do what?
20:57 "Test the spirits, whether they are of God,
20:59 because many false prophets have gone into the world."
21:02 So we need to test the spirits.
21:04 Now there are a number of tests given in the Bible
21:07 whereby we can test
21:09 whether someone is a genuine prophet of God or not.
21:12 There's at least half a dozen or more.
21:14 Today, we are going to look at the three primary tests
21:19 of how we can test whether a person
21:21 is a true prophet of God or not.
21:23 Test number one,
21:26 biblical test of a true prophet.
21:28 The prophet must teach in harmony with the Bible.
21:31 There must be biblical faithfulness.
21:34 How important do you think that is?
21:35 Absolutely important.
21:37 Who is the ultimate author of the scriptures?
21:40 It's God, through His Holy Spirit
21:42 inspired and impressed men to write the scriptures,
21:46 to write the Word of God.
21:47 So a true prophet of God
21:49 must teach in harmony with the Bible.
21:51 If they do not, they get the gong
21:54 or they get the whammy, and it's all over.
21:57 You can dismiss them as a false prophet
21:59 if they do not teach in harmony with the scriptures.
22:03 That's test number one.
22:04 Notice what we read in Isaiah 8:20,
22:07 "To the law and to the testimony!
22:08 If they do not speak according to this word,
22:10 it is because there is..."
22:12 How much light in them?
22:13 "There is no light."
22:14 The law and the testimony
22:16 is a reference for all of Scripture.
22:17 The law being the first five books of Moses,
22:19 the testimony being the prophetic books
22:23 of the Old Testament
22:24 that continue on all the way to the very end.
22:28 Let's have a look at test number two.
22:30 There must be prophetic accuracy.
22:32 Notice what we read in Jeremiah 28:9,
22:36 "As for the prophet who prophesies of peace,
22:40 when the word of the prophet comes to pass,
22:42 the prophet will be known
22:43 as one whom the Lord has truly sent."
22:46 So when the word of the prophet comes to pass,
22:49 you and I will know that
22:50 that prophet has truly been sent by God.
22:53 Now why does Jeremiah here
22:54 speak of for the prophet that prophesies peace?
22:57 You see in his day,
22:59 Jeremiah was saying very clearly,
23:01 "God has told me, unless we repent,
23:03 unless we turn back to God,
23:05 the Babylonians are going to come,
23:07 they're going to besiege our city,
23:08 they're going to destroy our temple,
23:10 they're going to take us away captive to Babylon."
23:14 But Satan raised up false prophets
23:16 who said, "No, no, no, no, no, no,
23:18 don't listen to Jeremiah,
23:20 he doesn't know what he is talking about."
23:22 There will be peace, there will be safety,
23:25 all is well.
23:26 And that's why Jeremiah says,
23:29 "If the prophet prophesies peace and it happens,
23:32 well, then it's from God."
23:34 But if there is no peace, then it's not from God.
23:37 And most of the time, if you read Scripture,
23:39 you'll discover the prophets did not prophesied peace
23:44 because God's people weren't on the right track,
23:46 God's people were on the wrong track
23:48 and God was seeking through His prophets
23:51 to bring them back on the right track.
23:54 Let's take a look at number three.
23:57 The third test that the Bible gives us
23:59 as to whether a person is a true prophet of God or not
24:04 is spiritual fruitage.
24:06 Notice what Jesus said in Matthew 7:15, 16.
24:11 "Beware of false prophets,
24:13 who come to you in sheep's clothing,
24:15 but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.
24:17 You will know them by their fruits.
24:20 Do men gather grapes from thornbushes
24:22 or figs from thistles?"
24:23 Jesus said, "You and I will know
24:26 whether a person is a true prophet of God or not
24:29 by the fruit."
24:30 Now what fruit was Jesus referring to
24:32 in particular?
24:34 It's the fruit that we find Paul speaking of
24:36 in Galatians 5.
24:38 Notice these words from the Apostle Paul.
24:40 "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace,
24:45 longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
24:48 gentleness, and self-control."
24:51 As I take a look at these characteristics,
24:54 these are the exact characteristics
24:56 that Jesus had in His life.
24:57 Isn't that right?
24:58 Jesus had all these qualities.
25:00 These were beautiful character traits that Jesus had.
25:04 And so what God is saying, what Jesus is saying,
25:08 you will know them by their fruits.
25:10 Are they reflecting My character?
25:13 Are they Christ like in how they live their lives?
25:17 It's one thing for a prophet
25:18 to say this or that or the other,
25:21 it's another thing to take a look
25:22 at how they live their lives.
25:24 A very, very important test. The test of spiritual fruitage.
25:29 So the question is,
25:31 "How should we relate to those who pass all the biblical tests
25:36 of a true prophet of God?"
25:37 Notice what the Bible says in 1 Thessalonians 5:19-21.
25:43 The Apostle Paul writes,
25:44 "Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies.
25:47 Test all things which we have done
25:50 and hold fast to what is..."
25:51 What? "Good."
25:53 So we are to test all things.
25:57 Do not despise prophecy and hold fast what is good.
26:01 So when you and I come across a true prophet of God
26:05 that passes all of the tests of a true prophet,
26:09 we are to embrace the message of that prophet.
26:13 Because that prophet is speaking to us
26:15 on behalf of who?
26:17 On behalf of God.
26:18 So by embracing the message of the prophet,
26:21 we are embracing the message of God Himself.
26:25 For God Himself is communicating to His people
26:28 and to the world through a prophet.
26:31 Now were all prophet...
26:32 Were prophets perfect individuals?
26:34 Absolutely not, prophets were sinners.
26:36 The Bible says, "All have sinned
26:38 and fallen short of God's glory."
26:40 But the message that the prophet of God shared
26:44 was from God, and needed to be heeded
26:48 for those who are concerned about their eternal wellbeing.
26:52 Now there are two ways.
26:53 There are probably more,
26:54 but there are two important ways
26:56 that you and I are not to test whether a person
27:00 is a true prophet of God or not.
27:02 And the first one is miracles. Notice what Jesus had to say.
27:07 In Matthew 24:24, Jesus said,
27:09 "For false christs and false prophets
27:11 will rise and show..."
27:12 What?
27:14 "Great signs and wonders to deceive,
27:15 if possible, even..."
27:16 Who? "The elect."
27:18 So the devil will raise up false prophets
27:23 that will perform great signs and miracles
27:26 in order to deceive if possible even the very elect.
27:30 The Bible tells us that the devil has the power
27:33 to perform miracles, great miracles,
27:36 beyond what you and I can even begin to imagine.
27:39 He has the ability that God has given him
27:43 to transform himself into an angel of light.
27:47 So just because a prophet is performing miracles,
27:51 that does not mean
27:52 that they have been sent from God.
27:54 Jesus was abundantly clear in what He had to say.
27:59 Here is the second way
28:00 we are not to test a true prophet of God,
28:04 and that is popularity.
28:06 Will the true prophet of God be popular?
28:09 Notice what Jesus said once again in Matthew 23:37,
28:13 he's speaking to the religious leaders,
28:15 and this is what Jesus says, "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem..."
28:18 He is speaking to His people.
28:21 "The one who does..."
28:22 What?
28:23 "Kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her!"
28:27 Sadly down through history,
28:29 the Bible is filled with one prophet after another
28:34 being persecuted for the simple reason
28:37 that their message was not popular.
28:40 Just because a message is popular
28:42 does not mean that message has been sent by God.
28:45 In fact, if I read my Bible correctly
28:47 and I believe I do,
28:50 the majority of God's prophets
28:53 were not received by the people of God.
28:56 That is because what is popular
29:00 is not necessarily what God's truth is
29:03 and vice versa.
29:05 You see that which is popular, we love, we enjoy,
29:10 but that's not always in our best eternal interest,
29:13 isn't that right?
29:14 So God sends prophets not that they may be popular,
29:19 but that God's people through them might be saved,
29:22 that they may be turn back onto the right path.
29:25 As we discovered early in that scripture that we read,
29:28 "God sent them prophet after prophet."
29:30 But sadly, in most cases,
29:33 they ignored the prophet's warning
29:35 or as Jesus pointed out,
29:37 they stoned and they killed the prophets.
29:38 In fact, in fact, let's not go beyond John the Baptist.
29:42 John the Baptist, whom Jesus labeled
29:45 as the greatest of all the prophets.
29:48 What happened to him? He was beheaded.
29:50 His life, his life came to an end.
29:53 Did the religious establishment by and large
29:55 accept the message of John the Baptist?
29:57 No, they didn't.
29:59 So we are not to test
30:01 whether a person is a true prophet of God or not
30:03 based on popularity.
30:06 "Before any major event took place,
30:09 God raised up a prophet
30:10 to foretell and warn the inhabitants.
30:12 An invitation to follow God and be saved was given."
30:16 Let me give you just a few examples.
30:18 Before I do, notice what Amos 3:7 says,
30:22 God says, "Surely the Lord God does..."
30:25 How much?
30:26 "Nothing, unless He reveals His secret
30:29 to His servants the prophets."
30:30 We have looked at this scripture in the past,
30:33 and this scripture simply tells us
30:35 that everything and anything that is of eternal value,
30:39 God will not allow to come across our path
30:42 without first and foremost God raising up a prophet
30:46 in order to warn the inhabitants of the world,
30:49 in order to warn His people, in order to prepare His people
30:53 for what is about to come.
30:55 Notice some examples that we have in Scripture.
30:59 We have Noah, God raised up Noah.
31:03 He was His prophet
31:05 to prepare the world for the flood,
31:07 isn't that right?
31:09 God also raised up Moses
31:11 to prepare the children of Israel to leave Egypt,
31:15 and to move into the Promised Land.
31:18 A little later on,
31:19 God raised up Jeremiah and other prophets
31:22 in order to warn His people that destruction was imminent
31:27 if they would continue to turn their backs on God,
31:30 and continue to allow the enemy
31:33 to lead and to guide the nation.
31:36 We do not need to go
31:38 any further into the New Testament
31:40 as we read this first few pages of the New Testament
31:43 where we discover that God sent another prophet.
31:45 This time God sent who?
31:48 John the Baptist.
31:49 God sent John the Baptist to prepare His people,
31:53 to prepare the world to receive the Messiah
31:56 at His first advent.
31:59 Before any and every major event in human history,
32:03 God has always raised up a prophet
32:07 in order to prepare the people of God,
32:10 and to invite the people of God to follow God
32:13 to be ready and to be prepared for Him.
32:17 We are now on the verge,
32:19 we are now on the edge of eternity.
32:23 We are now at a point where Jesus is about to come.
32:27 If God in the past has raised up a prophet
32:30 before a major event
32:32 each and every time as we go through Scripture,
32:37 can we be certain
32:40 that God will once again raise up a prophet
32:42 at the end of time to prepare the world
32:45 for the greatest event in all of human history,
32:47 the second coming of Jesus?
32:49 I believe we can.
32:50 For this is exactly how God has worked in the past.
32:55 Now will God raise up a prophet in the last days?
32:59 What does Revelation 12:17 make absolutely abundantly clear.
33:04 It says, "The dragon was enraged with the woman,
33:06 and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring,
33:09 who keep the commandments of God
33:11 and have the testimony of Jesus Christ."
33:15 Revelation makes it abundantly clear
33:18 that in God's end-time church,
33:20 in this end-time prophetic movement,
33:23 as we discovered in our previous presentation
33:25 that God has raised up.
33:27 God will raise up the testimony of Jesus Christ
33:30 that we have discovered based on Revelation 19:10
33:34 is the spirit of what?
33:36 The spirit of prophecy or the prophetic gift.
33:38 So we are to expect God to raise up a prophet
33:43 at the end of time to prepare the people of God,
33:46 to prepare the entire world for the second coming of Jesus.
33:51 We are to expect that
33:52 based on what God has shared with us in Revelation 12:17.
33:58 So let's ask the all important $1 million question.
34:02 Has God blessed the Seventh-day Adventist Church
34:05 with the gift of prophecy?
34:07 God's end-time remnant church,
34:10 God's end-time remnant movement,
34:12 and the answer is yes.
34:14 Right on time, God raised up a prophet
34:18 in the Seventh-day Adventist Church,
34:20 and her name was Ellen G. White.
34:25 At the age of 17, in 1844,
34:29 December 1844,
34:31 God raised up this 17 year old weak teenager
34:36 with a third grade education,
34:38 and He invited her to be His mouthpiece.
34:42 And over a period of 70 years,
34:45 Ellen White ministered as a prophet of God
34:48 on behalf of God to His people,
34:50 and as we'll discover to the entire world.
34:53 I find it fascinating
34:54 that the very first vision that God gave Ellen White.
34:58 And He gave her some 2,000 visions and dreams
35:01 in the course of those seven decades
35:03 that she ministered.
35:04 The very first vision that God gave her
35:07 when He invited her to be a prophet
35:09 was a vision of God's people
35:13 walkin along this narrow path that led to the New Jerusalem
35:18 with Jesus right there
35:21 at the entrance of the New Jerusalem,
35:23 and as long as God's people kept their eyes firmly on Jesus
35:28 and continued to walk on this narrow path
35:31 that led upward,
35:33 that would be safe and secure for all eternity
35:35 in the nail scarred hands of Jesus.
35:38 Now I find it fascinating that the very first vision
35:42 that God gave Ellen White when He invited her
35:45 to the prophetic ministry was to invite God's people
35:48 to remain on that narrow path that Jesus said,
35:51 "We need to remain on that narrow path,"
35:53 in Matthew 7,
35:55 "and to keep our eyes firmly on Jesus."
35:58 Isn't that the message that God's people
36:01 need at the end of time?
36:02 Isn't that the message that the world needs
36:04 at the end of time?
36:05 During the darkest phase in earth's history,
36:09 just before the coming of Jesus,
36:10 we need to keep our eyes firmly placed on Jesus Christ,
36:16 our Lord, and our Savior.
36:18 There are two key principles
36:22 that Ellen White's writings fall into,
36:25 two overall foundations, and here they are.
36:29 Ellen White's messages can be summed up
36:32 in these two statements.
36:33 Number one, they are saturated with the Word of God,
36:35 and number two,
36:37 they continually point to Jesus.
36:39 Ellen White's writings filled with the Word of God
36:43 as we would expect from a true prophet of God,
36:46 and pointing people continually to who?
36:49 To Jesus.
36:51 Doesn't that remind us of John the Baptist
36:54 who continually cried out, "Behold!"
36:56 Who?
36:57 "The Lamb of God that takes away
36:59 the sins of the world."
37:00 Notice these interesting facts regarding Ellen White
37:02 and her ministry.
37:04 She ministered, as I pointed out,
37:06 over a period of 70 years.
37:07 She received approximately 2,000 visions and dreams.
37:11 She wrote 40 books and 5,000 periodical articles,
37:15 a total of 50,000 pages.
37:18 She is the most translated woman author of all time.
37:22 She wrote concerning religion, education, family,
37:25 and social relationships, evangelism, prophecy,
37:28 publishing, nutrition, and many other topics.
37:31 And she lectured on three different continents.
37:33 This is a woman with a third grade education.
37:37 How many years of schooling did she have?
37:39 Only three years, only three years,
37:42 and yet she wrote on this vast array of topics.
37:47 And it's interesting what she wrote,
37:49 as we'll discover in just a moment.
37:51 But before we do that, we need to ask the question,
37:54 "How are we to test Ellen White?
37:56 Do we go to Google
37:59 to find out whether Ellen White is a true prophet of God?
38:02 Yes or no? No.
38:05 I put in a search in Google just the other day,
38:08 I just typed in Ellen G. White
38:11 and I came up with some 30 million websites
38:14 that have something to say about Ellen White.
38:17 Now sadly, a great many,
38:20 I don't know whether it's the majority or the minority,
38:22 but a great many of those websites
38:25 say all sorts of untruths
38:27 about Ellen White and her ministry,
38:29 twisting her words, and twisting her statements
38:32 out of context and so on and so forth.
38:35 Now that doesn't surprise me.
38:36 That does not surprise me one little bit
38:39 because if God was to raise up a true prophet,
38:43 the enemy would be just as quick
38:47 in order to seek to find a way
38:52 to disown this individual as a true prophet of God,
38:57 to discount this person as a true prophet of God.
39:00 So are we to test whether Ellen White
39:02 is the real deal or not?
39:03 Where are we to go, to Google? No.
39:06 We have to go to God's Word.
39:08 We have to go to the Bible and test
39:10 whether she is a true prophet of God.
39:13 So let's do that.
39:14 Let's go to the Bible and discover
39:16 whether Ellen White passes these three tests
39:20 of a true prophet of God that we have established.
39:22 Firstly, biblical faithfulness.
39:24 Was she faithful to the Bible?
39:25 Notice what she writes,
39:27 "In our time there is a wide departure
39:28 from their..."
39:29 She is speaking of the reformers...
39:31 "Doctrines and precepts, and there is a need of a return
39:35 to the great Protestant principle, the Bible,
39:37 and the Bible only as the rule of faith and duty."
39:41 That's from the book Great Controversy.
39:42 Notice another statement,
39:44 "The Lord has sent His people much instruction,
39:47 line upon line, precept upon precept,
39:49 here a little, and there a little.
39:50 Little heed is given to the Bible,
39:52 and the Lord has given a lesser light..."
39:54 She's speaking of her writings and her ministry.
39:57 "To lead men and women to the greater light."
39:59 Now what do you think the greater light is here
40:01 that she is referring to?
40:03 To the Bible.
40:04 "Oh, how much good would be accomplished
40:06 if the books containing this light
40:08 were read with a determination
40:10 to carry out the principles they contain!"
40:14 You see,
40:15 if God's people would simply heed the Word of God,
40:18 there was no need for God to send a prophet.
40:21 If God's people would simply have heeded the Word of God.
40:25 Let's take a look at two...
40:29 At these books.
40:31 These books here that I have up there on the screen
40:33 are filled with the scriptures.
40:35 There are two books in particular that I treasure.
40:39 The book, Steps to Christ, and the book, Desire of Ages.
40:43 These two books are absolutely precious,
40:46 and they tell you all about Jesus.
40:50 You and I today have the opportunity
40:52 to read these books
40:54 and to ask whether they passed that test
40:56 of biblical faithfulness or not.
40:59 I like to refer to Ellen White's ministry
41:01 as a magnifying glass.
41:05 You're familiar with a magnifying glass?
41:07 What does a magnifying glass do?
41:10 A magnifying glass simply magnifies
41:13 what's already on the page, isn't that right?
41:17 A magnifying glass is not designed
41:19 to bring out something new,
41:21 something that's not on the page, isn't that right?
41:24 Ellen White's writings,
41:26 Ellen White's ministry was simply aimed by God
41:31 to magnify what is already in His Word,
41:35 not to add from, not to add to His Word,
41:38 not to subtract from His Word,
41:40 but to simply make it abundantly crystal clear
41:44 to the people of God and to the world
41:47 as to what God had instructed in His Word.
41:50 Ellen White is that magnifying glass
41:54 through whom you and I can understand the will
41:57 and the ways of God through His Word
41:59 in a more clear way.
42:01 Does that make sense? Yes or no?
42:03 I hope you will remember that.
42:05 God's Word is to be trusted
42:08 above and beyond everything and anything else.
42:12 Let's take a look at this second test.
42:14 Did God through Ellen White
42:18 bring about prophetic accuracy?
42:21 Are her writing's prophetically accurate?
42:23 Well, let's take a look at some statements
42:26 that she made regarding health.
42:27 There is some much we can share,
42:29 but we don't have time.
42:30 But I just want to take a look at just a couple of statements.
42:33 Notice what she wrote back in 1864,
42:35 "Tobacco is a poison of the most deceitful
42:38 and malignant kind.
42:39 It is all the more dangerous
42:41 because its effects upon the system
42:42 a slow, and scarcely perceivable."
42:45 Now how many of you believe that to be true?
42:48 Absolutely, we know that to be true,
42:50 that's a no-brainer.
42:52 However, the amazing thing
42:55 is that Ellen White is writing this in 1864
42:59 when doctors were prescribing cigarettes and cigars
43:05 for those who suffered from emphysema,
43:08 had asthma or other lung ailments as you do.
43:12 You prescribe smoking to someone
43:14 who's got problems breathing, don't you?
43:16 No, you don't, but that's what doctors were prescribing
43:19 back in 1864 when she wrote this.
43:22 No one had any idea back then that smoking causes cancer,
43:27 that it is just as she said,
43:32 "A dangerous and malignant evil poison"
43:36 is the word that she uses,
43:38 "and its effect upon the system a slow
43:40 and scarcely perceivable."
43:42 Notice it was in 1957, it wasn't until 1957,
43:47 almost one century later
43:50 that the American Heart Association
43:51 concluded that smoking was a causative factor
43:54 in the lung cancer.
43:56 She was one hundred years ahead of her time.
43:59 This was the front cover of National Geographic magazine
44:03 back in November of 2005, The Secrets of Living Longer.
44:08 And in this particular edition of National Geographic,
44:12 they looked at places around the world
44:15 where people live the longest and they lived the healthiest,
44:20 and they discovered that there is a group of people
44:25 in a little place there in the United States of America
44:29 that are part of the longevity all stars.
44:33 That place being Loma Linda there in California.
44:37 And they live longer than any other American citizen
44:42 by average 7 to 10 years longer
44:45 because of the health and the lifestyle
44:48 that they have adopted.
44:49 Now this same study came out just recently
44:54 in this Time magazine which I subscribe to,
44:58 and the title on the front cover was
45:00 "How to Live Longer Better?"
45:03 If we go to the next slide, you'll discover
45:05 that there are five zones in the world,
45:08 they call them the blue zones where people live the longest
45:13 and they are the healthiest.
45:15 There is one in Sardinia, Italy,
45:17 there's another one in Okinawa in Japan,
45:20 there's another one in Nicoya, Costa Rica,
45:22 there's another one in Icaria in Greece,
45:26 and then as I pointed out, there is another blue zone
45:29 in Loma Linda, California.
45:31 Now what is fascinating about this study
45:34 is that there's other four zones
45:36 are specifically dealing with regions,
45:39 are dealing with a section of the population
45:43 in that particular country based on where it lives,
45:46 based on the environment, based on their food
45:49 and their diet they are living longer
45:51 than those citizens of the country.
45:54 However, what they are discovering
45:57 is that Seventh-day Adventist Christians in Loma Linda
46:01 are experiencing the same blessings
46:04 as those in Sydney, and those in Melbourne,
46:07 those wherever around the world
46:10 who have adopted the same diet also.
46:13 It doesn't matter where you live.
46:14 You don't need to live in Loma Linda,
46:16 you can experience the same blessings.
46:21 How did the church come about the health message?
46:23 God through the gift of prophecy
46:25 gave this wonderful message.
46:27 Notice this statement by Dr. Clive McCay,
46:31 former professor of nutrition at Cornell University,
46:33 this is what he wrote,
46:35 "In spite of the fact that the works of Mrs. White
46:37 were written long before the advent
46:39 of modern scientific nutrition,
46:41 there is no better overall guide today."
46:45 No better overall guide today.
46:49 Notice what else we read.
46:51 From Dr. James Dobson,
46:53 the founder and the president of Focus on the Family.
46:58 This is what he wrote,
46:59 "Her books on the family are 'excellent.'"
47:01 They are his words.
47:03 "And if she were alive today
47:04 we would be 'of a kindred spirit.'"
47:07 How could this woman with a third grade education
47:11 write so prolifically and so accurately
47:14 on so many subjects from health to family
47:18 to Bible prophecy?
47:19 It is because God inspired her through His Holy Spirit.
47:23 It was God that gave her the messages,
47:26 and not messages that she came up with herself.
47:29 Let's take a look at this second test.
47:32 Third test I should say.
47:34 Apply this prophetic test to Ellen White,
47:37 we need to apply the test of spiritual fruitage.
47:41 What did Jesus say?
47:43 "By their fruits you will..."
47:44 What?
47:45 "By their fruits you will know them."
47:47 Are they exhibiting the character of Jesus Christ?
47:51 Is the character of Jesus Christ evident
47:54 in their lives in their day-to-day work?
47:57 Notice what was written regarding Ellen White
48:00 at the end of her life, after she had passed away
48:03 by the newspaper there in St. Helena, California.
48:08 July, 1915.
48:09 These are the words not by a Seventh-day Adventist,
48:11 but by a newspaper
48:13 that is reflecting on the life of Ellen White.
48:17 Notice these words.
48:19 "The life of Mrs. White
48:20 is an example worthy of emulation by..."
48:23 How many?
48:24 "By all.
48:25 She was a humble, devout disciple of Christ,
48:28 and ever went about doing good.
48:30 She was honored and respected by all
48:32 who appreciate noble womanhood consecrated to unselfish labor
48:37 for the uplifting and betterment of mankind.
48:40 Her death marks the calling of another noted leader
48:43 of religious thought
48:44 and one whose almost 90 years were full
48:47 to overflowing with..."
48:49 What?
48:50 "Good deeds, kind words, and...
48:52 What?
48:53 "Earnest prayers for..."
48:54 How much of mankind?
48:56 "All mankind."
48:57 Ellen White passed this third,
49:00 all important test of a true prophet of God.
49:03 Her life was one that emulated the life,
49:06 and the ministry, and the love of Jesus Christ.
49:10 As the newspaper so well put it,
49:12 she went about doing good deeds,
49:15 sharing kind words, and praying earnestly for all,
49:20 not just for Seventh-day Adventists, but for all.
49:24 God blessed this woman in every sense of the word,
49:29 including the character of Jesus Christ,
49:32 which she received as she accepted
49:36 the role of following in the footsteps of Jesus.
49:40 Did she make mistakes? Absolutely.
49:42 Was she a sinner? Yes.
49:43 Did God use her as a mouthpiece?
49:46 Indeed the answer is yes.
49:50 Notice what the Bible says in 2 Chronicles 20:20,
49:54 we read, "Believe in the Lord your God,
49:56 and you shall be..."
49:58 What?
49:59 "Established, believe in His prophets,
50:00 and you shall..."
50:02 Do what?
50:03 "You shall be prospering."
50:05 You shall prosper.
50:07 God says, "Believe in the prophets
50:10 and you will be established, and you will prosper.
50:14 God has, in a beautiful way, through the gift of prophecy,
50:19 not only blessed
50:20 the Seventh-day Adventist Church,
50:22 but He has also blessed the world
50:25 through this prophetic gift.
50:26 Notice the Seventh-day Adventist Church
50:28 today around the world
50:31 has more than 7,000 schools
50:33 from primary all the way to university level.
50:36 Hospitals and clinics number 600 plus,
50:40 publishing houses more than 60, sanitariums, 29,
50:44 ADRA, the Adventist Development and Relief Agency,
50:47 present helping humanity in more than 130 countries,
50:51 media ministry, retirement villages,
50:54 nursing homes, and the list could go on and on and on.
50:58 God has blessed
51:00 not only the Seventh-day Adventist Church,
51:02 but God has blessed the entire world
51:05 through the gift of prophecy.
51:08 Do you eat Weetabix?
51:09 Weetabix is produced by guess who?
51:12 Sanitarium which is owned and operated
51:15 by the Seventh-day Adventist Church.
51:18 The Seventh-day Adventist Church leads the world
51:21 in health and wellbeing.
51:23 And it's not because Seventh-day Adventists
51:26 are brighter and smarter
51:28 than the rest of the world population,
51:30 than the rest of the Christian churches out there,
51:32 no, no, no, no.
51:34 The reason why the Seventh-day Adventist Church
51:36 has been blessed more than any other Protestant church
51:40 in the last 150 years
51:43 is because God has placed His gift of prophecy
51:47 in the church.
51:48 It is as if...
51:50 Well, it's not as if,
51:51 God has Himself
51:52 through the gift of Ellen White,
51:54 through the gift of prophecy I should say,
51:56 through Ellen White, God has been giving clear
51:59 and direct instructions to the people of God
52:03 to share with the world on how they can not only live
52:07 better in this world,
52:09 but how they can more importantly
52:10 prepare for the world to come.
52:12 Amen?
52:13 God raised up Ellen White to prepare a people,
52:17 who will prepare the world for the second coming of Jesus,
52:20 the greatest event in all of human history.
52:25 That is why God gave the gift of prophecy.
52:29 That is the sole reason.
52:31 It was to prepare God's people to prepare the world
52:33 for the second coming of Jesus.
52:36 Before God sent His Son, Jesus Christ,
52:39 into the world the first time,
52:41 God raised up a prophet by the name of who?
52:44 John the Baptist, to prepare the world,
52:46 to prepare the people of God for the first coming of Jesus.
52:49 And Revelation 12:17 tells us
52:52 that before the second coming of Jesus
52:54 that God would once again raise up a prophet
52:57 to prepare the people of God, to prepare the world
53:01 for the second coming of Jesus.
53:02 Can you say amen?
53:03 Can you see how God is working in an identical manner
53:08 as He did some 2,000 years ago at the first advent of Jesus.
53:12 It's so, so clear.
53:15 I'm so looking forward
53:16 to the coming of Jesus, my friend.
53:18 I don't know about you, but I'm so looking forward
53:20 to the coming of Jesus.
53:21 Are you looking forward to the coming of Jesus?
53:23 Wouldn't that be a great and awesome day?
53:27 When we kneel,
53:29 not stand but when we kneel at the feet of Jesus,
53:32 and forever thank Him for His wonderful sacrifice,
53:35 for His wonderful gift of salvation
53:38 that He has so beautifully bestowed upon all of us
53:42 because of His wonderful sacrifice at Calvary.
53:46 What does the Apostle Paul say
53:48 regarding genuine prophets of God?
53:51 Notice what we read, in 1 Thessalonians 5:19-21,
53:56 these words again,
53:58 "Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise..."
54:01 What?
54:03 "Prophecies. Test all things, and hold fast to what is..."
54:06 What? "Good."
54:07 Hold fast to what is good. Hold fast to what is good.
54:12 Test it and hold fast to what is good.
54:16 I want to encourage you to test the gift of prophecy.
54:19 I have tested and tasted as the Bible says
54:23 and seen that the Lord is good.
54:25 There are two books that I especially love,
54:29 that I especially cherish,
54:31 and they are the two books that she has written,
54:34 two of her most popular books, Steps to Christ,
54:39 translated in more than 100 languages,
54:41 and The Desire of Ages,
54:44 a book on the life of Jesus Christ,
54:47 a beautiful book on the life of Jesus Christ.
54:50 I want to invite you to do two things.
54:54 I want to invite you to read one or both of these books,
55:00 and I want you to ask yourself the question, two questions.
55:05 And those two questions are, "What I am reading,
55:09 is it in harmony with God's Word?"
55:12 Is what I am reading in these two books
55:15 in harmony with what God says?
55:18 Is it true to the Bible?
55:20 Number two,
55:22 "Do these books point me to Jesus?"
55:25 Do these books point me to Jesus?
55:27 And if the answer is yes to both of those questions,
55:30 I encourage you to hold fast, hold fast, cherish, and enjoy,
55:34 and be blessed through the gift of prophecy.
55:39 I want to pray that God will bless us
55:43 as we test all things and hold fast to what is good.
55:47 Let's pray together.
55:49 Father in heaven, we want to thank You so much
55:51 for all of Your gifts that You have given to us
55:53 including the gift of prophecy.
55:56 Father, as we test the things
55:59 that have been written in these beautiful books
56:02 for our admonition
56:04 to prepare us for Your soon return.
56:07 Father, may we treasure these writings
56:09 and be blessed by them
56:10 and share them far and wide to prepare not only ourselves,
56:14 but to prepare many others for Your soon return,
56:17 for this is our prayer in Jesus' name.
56:18 And everybody said, amen and amen.


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Revised 2018-08-29