Thunder in the Holy Land

The Spirit Of Prophecy

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

Program transcript

Participants: Charles Byrd (Host), Andrea Endries, Carl Preval, Levi Longoria

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Series Code: THL

Program Code: THL000020


00:01 God's Word, the Bible is full of stories of people
00:04 who claimed they had encounters with God.
00:07 Moses at the burning bush. Joshua outside Jericho.
00:14 Elijah in the cave on Mount Horeb.
00:17 Yes, the Bible is full of encounters with God,
00:21 a God who knows the end from the beginning.
00:25 When God speaks to an individual telling that person
00:29 what will happen before it happens,
00:31 that person and those who hear the message
00:34 are faced with a choice.
00:37 Will they listen? Will they believe?
00:40 Will they like Noah, act in faith?
00:44 The prophetic word like any thunderstorm
00:46 always causes a disturbance.
00:49 For it changes the trajectory of our lives,
00:52 as well as the course of history.
01:48 Today, we are investigating the Spirit of Prophecy.
01:52 These encounters with divinity
01:54 are not something out of the ordinary.
01:57 I believe the reason the Bible is full of them
02:00 is because God actually wants us to know Him,
02:03 to experience Him.
02:06 Jesus believed in prophecy.
02:08 He believed in the foretelling of history.
02:11 He embraced the prophetic words of the prophet Daniel.
02:15 He quoted from the prophet Isaiah.
02:18 Jesus embraced the prophetic ministry
02:21 of John the Baptist.
02:23 In fact, this whole book could not be here
02:26 without the Spirit of Prophecy.
02:29 It was the Spirit of God
02:30 that inspired the men and women
02:32 with the truths and knowledge recorded in these pages.
02:36 Paul echoed this truth
02:38 when he wrote these words to Timothy.
02:41 "All scripture is given by inspiration"
02:44 that is they were inspired.
02:47 This is the spirit of prophecy at work.
02:51 All scripture was given by a God who knows everything in advance.
02:57 But this gift of prophecy is like fire,
03:00 a wonderful thing, a powerful thing.
03:02 But it needs to be understood
03:05 and it needs to be used properly.
03:08 Let's join our reporters as we investigate
03:10 this prophetic gift of Revelation
03:12 that comes from God Himself.
03:16 Thanks, Charles.
03:18 When many people think of prophecy,
03:20 they may think of Nostradamus
03:22 or perhaps the Mayan Calendar Prophecy.
03:25 These prophecies have been popularized in the media.
03:29 In fact, a short trip to the web and you can find many
03:33 who claimed to have a prophetic word.
03:36 But careful investigation reveals the Bible
03:39 as the only source with a perfect track record.
03:44 And that makes perfect sense,
03:46 if you realize who is behind the prophecies of this book.
03:50 The creator God,
03:52 this God can do something that none of us can do.
03:55 Accurately predict the future.
03:58 Isaiah 46:9, 10 says,
04:01 "Remember the former things of old,
04:04 for I am God, and there is none else,
04:07 I am God, and there is none like me,
04:09 declaring the end from the beginning,
04:12 and from ancient times
04:14 the things that are not yet done."
04:16 Not only can He declare the end before it even happens,
04:21 but according to Amos 3:7,
04:23 God wants to tell us what is going to happen.
04:27 "Surely the Lord God will do nothing,
04:30 but He revealeth His secret unto His servants the prophets."
04:35 God wants people to know what He's up to.
04:39 He wants folks to know Him and that is the reason
04:43 why God has gifted some people with the Spirit of Prophecy.
04:48 God wants people to see that he is interested
04:52 and involved in the details
04:54 and power plays of earth history.
04:57 And Deuteronomy 18:18,
05:00 Moses explains why the prophecies of the Bible,
05:03 though spoken through humans have proven to be so accurate.
05:08 "I will raise up a prophet
05:11 and I will put my words in his mouth,
05:14 and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him."
05:19 The Spirit of Prophecy proves true, over and over again
05:24 because it is the Lord
05:26 who is speaking through the human agent.
05:29 And this phenomenon shows up over and over again
05:34 in the chronicles of human history.
05:37 At this point, we need to notice
05:38 a very important teaching of Jesus.
05:41 Our friend and Savior made it clear
05:43 that along with true prophets,
05:45 there would arise false prophets.
05:48 This would not be just a little problem that might crop up.
05:53 Jesus told us there would be many false prophets
05:56 and they would deceive many.
05:59 In fact, three times in the Book of Matthew alone,
06:03 Jesus warned us to be on our guard
06:05 against these counterfeits.
06:08 "Beware of false prophets," Jesus warned us in Mathew 7:15,
06:12 "which come to you in sheep's clothing,
06:14 but inwardly they are ravening wolves."
06:18 False prophets don't have your best interest at heart.
06:22 So how can you tell the difference between
06:24 a true prophet of God and a false one?
06:27 Levi is standing by with a biblical answer.
06:31 The first test of a true prophet can be found in Isaiah 8:20,
06:36 "To the law and to the testimony,
06:38 if they speak not according to this word,
06:41 it is because there is no light in them".
06:44 If I want to know how long in inches, I get a ruler.
06:49 This then becomes the standard by which, I measure an inch.
06:52 The Bible with its laws and testimonies is our ruler,
06:57 the standard by which we measure
06:59 new revelations for truthfulness and integrity.
07:04 While conflicting doctrines and theories abound,
07:07 the Law of God is the one unerring rule
07:10 by which all opinions, doctrines and theories are to be tested.
07:15 And let me share one reason
07:17 this is important by way of example,
07:19 Jim Jones was a college educated pastor
07:22 who built up a 900 member interracial church.
07:26 But at some point along the way
07:28 he became more important in his own eyes.
07:31 It's reported that at one service,
07:33 he threw the Bible on the floor and stamped on it saying,
07:36 "The problem is that people are reading this book
07:39 instead of, listening to me."
07:41 This is the Jim Jones who led over 900 people
07:45 in a mass suicide in Guyana, after assassinating
07:48 Congressman Ryan and some reporters.
07:51 Of course, every false prophet
07:53 doesn't necessarily lead people to an early demise,
07:57 but rest assured that anyone who claims to speak for God
08:01 will never dismiss God's Word.
08:05 And this brings us to the second test
08:07 of the true prophet found in 1 John 4:2,
08:10 "Hereby know ye the Spirit of God,
08:13 every spirit that confesseth
08:15 that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God."
08:20 Anyone claming to speak for God will affirm
08:23 that Jesus came as a man in the flesh.
08:27 Yes, He was Immanuel, "God with us."
08:30 Yes, He is the Christ, the anointed one,
08:34 but He was also fully human.
08:37 He came as a man walked in our flesh,
08:39 knew what it was like to be tempted.
08:42 And thus, He can encourage us,
08:44 guide us and strengthen us in our human flesh
08:47 and to live righteous and obedient lives.
08:51 Yet another test of a true prophet
08:53 is found in Matthew 7:20,
08:56 Jesus said, "Wherefore by their fruits
08:59 ye shall know them."
09:01 All who join themselves to Christ
09:04 will develop a godly character that is what is meant by fruits.
09:10 God's true spokesperson will exhibit the fruit,
09:13 the character of godliness, temperance, patience, kindness,
09:18 love, and charity in their lives.
09:21 Thus, their example will point others to the truth
09:25 as it's found in Jesus.
09:27 You can't counterfeit truth.
09:31 There is one more test of a true prophet, Levi
09:33 that we need to look at critically.
09:35 It's found in Jeremiah 28:9,
09:38 "When the word of the prophet shall come to pass,
09:41 then shall the prophet be known,
09:42 that the Lord hath truly sent him."
09:46 Makes sense, if what's predicted doesn't happen,
09:49 then God didn't send the messenger.
09:52 For example, Noah told the antediluvians
09:54 the whole world would be destroyed.
09:57 It came to pass
09:58 and now we think of Noah as a true prophet.
10:01 Daniel told King Nebuchadnezzar that his kingdom would not last,
10:04 that it would be followed by three world kingdoms
10:07 and then be divided into many kingdoms,
10:09 partly strong and partly weak, never to be united again.
10:13 Once more history faithful records
10:16 that God's prophetic word to Daniel
10:18 was absolutely true and accurate.
10:21 By contrast psychics or prophets
10:23 so-called have a very poor track record.
10:27 There is one exception to the rule of prophecy coming to pass.
10:31 Some of God's predictions are conditional.
10:33 That is He'll do X, if condition A is met.
10:37 Like the one found in 1 Chronicles 28:9,
10:40 "If you seek Him, He will be found by you,
10:43 but if you forsake Him, He will cast you off forever."
10:48 If this, then that a conditional prophecy.
10:52 However, sometimes
10:53 the conditions of a prediction are not stated,
10:56 but understood because of some overarching truth.
10:59 For example, a dominating truth of the Bible
11:02 found in 1 John 4:8 is, "God is love."
11:06 As a result of that love,
11:08 He shows great mercy and forgiveness.
11:12 "The Lord is longsuffering and of great mercy,
11:16 forgiving iniquity and transgression."
11:19 This is what happened in the Book of Jonah.
11:21 God told him to go to Nineveh
11:23 and cry against it with the words
11:25 that He would put in His mouth.
11:27 "And he cried, and said, in just forty days,
11:29 Nineveh' shall be overthrown."
11:32 Now the people in Nineveh chose to repent saying,
11:36 "Who can tell if God will turn and repent,
11:38 and turn away from his fierce anger,
11:40 that we perish not?"
11:43 God did repent and let them live,
11:46 but this troubled Jonah
11:48 because he thought this would change his credibility.
11:51 He told God that this was why he didn't want to go to Nineveh
11:54 in the first place because God might forgive
11:57 and then he would be seen as a false prophet.
12:00 But Jonah wasn't a false prophet.
12:02 He just served a loving God.
12:06 Good news, indeed, Andrea. But the choice is ours.
12:11 We can take the one thing we possess
12:14 choice and embrace the words,
12:16 God sends us through His chosen messengers.
12:20 Through the prophetic gift,
12:21 we can open ourselves to the God who actually cares about us--
12:26 our pain, our fears, our joys, and our hopes.
12:32 At this point, of our study we need to make
12:35 an important change in our focus
12:37 because the Bible has a very interesting prophecy
12:40 that actually impacts our lives today.
12:44 Check it out in Joel 2,
12:46 "And it shall come to pass afterward
12:48 that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh,
12:52 and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
12:55 your old men shall dream dreams,
12:57 your young men shall see visions.
12:59 And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids
13:03 in those days will I pour out my spirit."
13:06 When the Apostle Peter quoted this verse in Acts 2:17,
13:11 he said it this way, "And it shall come to pass
13:14 in the last days, saith God,
13:17 I will pour out of my spirit upon all flesh
13:20 and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy."
13:25 So here is the prophecy.
13:26 In the last days, God has every intention
13:29 of pouring out His Spirit of Prophecy on lots of people,
13:33 on our sons, on our daughters
13:37 and even on the nobodies, the servants.
13:39 In fact, Jesus told John in Revelation 12:17 and 19:10,
13:45 that one of the identifying marks of His remnant people
13:48 was the Spirit of Prophecy
13:50 that would be poured out on many people.
13:53 And there is one more absolutely profound insight
13:56 about the modern manifestations of the Spirit of Prophecy,
13:59 we can glean from the pages of sacred read.
14:03 Let's join Carl for this crucial point.
14:06 Thanks, Charles.
14:08 From my study, I glean an insight
14:10 that directly impacts my understanding
14:13 regarding modern manifestations of the Spirit of Prophecy.
14:18 I've discovered that biblical prophecies
14:20 repetitively come with the following pattern.
14:24 There is the one who makes the prophecy
14:27 and at the time of the fulfillment,
14:30 God puts another prophet on the ground
14:32 that point's people back to the author of the prophecy
14:36 and its present fulfillment.
14:39 Let me illustrate, in Genesis 5,
14:42 the patriarch Enoch prophesied
14:44 through the naming of his son Methuselah.
14:48 According to the exhaustive dictionary of Bible names,
14:52 his name means "when he is dead it shall be sent."
14:57 Friend, 849 years later, the prophet Noah,
15:01 the grandson of Methuselah
15:03 announced there would be a flood.
15:05 And the year that Methuselah died, the flood came.
15:10 Thus, the name Methuselah.
15:13 When he is dead it shall be sent.
15:16 Enoch makes the prophecy and the prophet Noah
15:19 is on the ground, at the time of its fulfillment.
15:23 Abraham is told by God in Genesis 15, 13, 14,
15:27 that his descendants would be in a country not their own
15:30 and would be afflicted 400 years,
15:33 but then they would come out with great substance.
15:37 And at the time of fulfillment, the prophet Moses
15:40 shows up in Egypt where God's people are being afflicted,
15:44 tasked with slave labor.
15:46 Moses announces their deliverance
15:49 and they leave Egypt with great wealth.
15:53 In Jeremiah 29:10, he prophesied that Israel would be
15:57 in Babylonian captivity for 70 years
16:00 and 70 years later God put the prophet Daniel
16:03 on the ground to call attention to
16:06 and to aid in the prophetic fulfillment.
16:10 In Daniel 9:25, we discover a 70 prophetic week prophecy
16:15 that will lead to the Messiah.
16:17 Then in Mark 1, we find that right on time,
16:21 the forerunner of the Messiah,
16:23 John the Baptist appears announcing
16:25 the time is fulfilled. The Messiah has come.
16:30 So many patterns so little time.
16:33 But we must look at one more and Daniel 8:14,
16:37 we have the longest time prophecy in the Bible
16:39 that began in 457 BC and ended in 1844.
16:46 We have a clear pattern in a consistent God.
16:49 So a modern prophet would need to show up around 1844
16:53 to announce the fulfillment of Daniel's prophecy.
16:57 What does history reveal?
16:59 During this time, there were scores of movements
17:02 that captivated the attention of many people.
17:06 Joseph Smith who started Mormonism,
17:09 or Siyyid Ali Muhammed who founded Babism,
17:13 and its successor the Baha'i Faith.
17:15 There was the spiritualist movement
17:18 the launch of Jehovah witnesses,
17:20 scientology and the New Age Movement.
17:25 It was in 1844 that Marx's published
17:28 the communist manifesto
17:31 and Darwin set forth the origin of species,
17:34 but none of these movements point us back
17:37 to Daniel's prophecy.
17:40 None of them announce the fulfillment
17:41 of Daniel's prophetic timeline,
17:44 the longest time prophecy in the Bible.
17:49 So I'd like us to consider another possible candidate,
17:53 Ellen G. White.
17:57 With the many movements and prophets
18:00 which arose around the time Daniel's prophecy was to end.
18:03 How can we know who is the true prophet
18:06 sent to usher in the fulfillment of the 2300 prophetic day
18:09 or literal year of prophecy?
18:12 Now I believe, the answer is very simple
18:14 because there is only one prophet that fits,
18:18 Ellen G. White.
18:19 And precisely on time, she had her first vision
18:23 in the year 1844 and from that time
18:25 until she died in 1915,
18:28 she continued to preach by word and pen,
18:32 the fulfillment of the 2300 year prophecy,
18:34 along with many other wonderful Bible truths.
18:38 Out of this truth filled movement,
18:40 arose the Seventh-day Adventist Church
18:42 that has continued to carry forward
18:44 this message to the present day.
18:47 Now if Ellen White is not the prophet
18:50 who was sent to announce
18:51 the fulfillment of the 2300 years
18:53 and the cleansing in the sanctuary
18:55 and soon coming of the Messiah, then who is?
18:59 If you don't choose her, then who?
19:02 And throughout history God has been faithful
19:05 to raise up prophets at the open and close
19:08 of every major event, relating to His people.
19:11 And the most recent being Ellen White
19:13 at the close of the 2300 year prophecy,
19:16 but don't take my word for it.
19:17 Let's go back and compare her life
19:20 with the biblical tests of a true prophet.
19:23 We learned that a true prophet
19:25 will never contradict the Word of God.
19:28 Mrs. White uplifts the Bible and all her writings
19:31 with words like this, "Cling to your Bible as it reads
19:35 and stop your criticism in regard to its validity
19:38 and obey the Word, and not one of you will be lost."
19:43 Jeremiah 28:9 tells us that,
19:45 what a prophet predicts must come to pass.
19:49 Here's one of Mrs. White's prophecies,
19:52 in 1902 she warned that San Francisco and Oakland
19:55 would be visited by the Lord
19:57 because they were becoming like Sodom and Gomorrah.
20:00 In 1906 the terrifying rumble of an earthquake
20:03 shattered the early morning silence of April 18 at 5:15 AM.
20:08 The San Francisco quake lasted only 28 seconds
20:12 but caused the 2nd worst natural disaster
20:15 in the nation's history with loss of life
20:17 between 3,000 to 6,000.
20:20 Modern analysis estimates
20:22 it registered 8.25 on the Richter scale.
20:26 The next biblical test was found in 1 John 4:2 which says,
20:30 "Anyone claiming to speak for God will affirm
20:33 that Jesus came as a man, in the flesh."
20:37 Does Ellen White take that stand?
20:39 Most certainly.
20:41 And she writes "Having taken our fallen nature
20:44 Christ showed what it might become,
20:47 by accepting the ample provision He has made for it,
20:50 and by becoming partaker of the divine nature."
20:55 And finally "A true prophet will keep the commandments of God."
21:00 And what did she teach about obedience?
21:02 "Profession of religion which though in itself good
21:06 is too often unaccompanied by saving faith in Jesus
21:10 or living obedience to the commandments of God."
21:15 Ellen White embraced all ten
21:16 of God's commandments including the fourth.
21:19 And so check, check, check and check,
21:23 she passes a biblical test.
21:25 Very fascinating, Levi.
21:27 Thanks to the biblical tests and the patterns of prophecies
21:30 beginning and ending with a living prophet
21:33 sent by God to guide His people.
21:35 We can be sure Ellen White was one
21:37 to whom God gifted the Spirit of Prophecy.
21:41 This prophetic gift led to a life of travel
21:43 for Ellen White and her husband James.
21:45 But for seven years, they made Battle Creek,
21:47 Michigan their home base,
21:49 living in this home on Wood Street.
21:52 Just inside the upstairs windows is the room where Ellen White
21:55 received many of her visions and dreams.
21:58 When I was first introduced to the idea
22:00 that Ellen White was a prophet,
22:02 it seemed a little weird.
22:04 Honestly, my attitude was
22:06 "Hey, we've got the Bible. That's enough."
22:09 But when I understood God's pattern
22:11 and when I compared her life to the biblical tests.
22:15 I was compelled to take a second look.
22:17 And when I did, I was pleasantly surprised.
22:20 I didn't find a woman on an ego trip,
22:23 using her prophetic status
22:24 to excuse her lapses and character.
22:28 I discovered a young woman, a teenager
22:31 who was pushed by the Spirit of Prophecy
22:33 into a lifetime of selfless service for others.
22:37 And she didn't try to seek attention,
22:39 but kept pointing others
22:41 to the light of God's word, the Bible.
22:45 Listen to this humble self evaluation,
22:48 "Little heed is given to the Bible,
22:50 and the Lord has given a lesser light
22:52 to lead men and women to the greater light."
22:56 Here Mrs. White states that it is
22:58 because the Bible has not been studied
23:00 and delved into us as it should,
23:02 that God sent a lesser light to bring people
23:05 back to the greater light, or the Bible.
23:09 Her desire was to lift up Christ
23:11 and, "Oh, how she did."
23:14 In the precious books, "Steps to Christ,"
23:16 "The Desire of Ages" and "Christ's Object Lessons"
23:19 I have gotten such a revelation and experienced
23:22 such an encounter with Jesus as a Savior and as a friend.
23:26 Her writings have made me dig deeper
23:28 and look more critically at the Bible.
23:31 Some have erroneously thought and I used to be one of them,
23:35 if the Bible is the greater light just skip Mrs. White
23:38 and go directly to the source.
23:40 But this attitude misses the point for two reasons.
23:44 One, God sends a Spirit of Prophecy.
23:47 He tells us they will be a marked manifestation
23:49 of the prophetic gift in the last days.
23:52 The second reason this attitude misses the point
23:55 is God has something more to say.
23:58 Israel had the Bible, but God still sent John the Baptist.
24:02 Likewise, His remnant people have the Bible.
24:05 But He still sent Ellen White.
24:08 Because of her writings, the Seventh-day Adventist Church
24:10 operates the largest
24:12 Protestant parochial school system in the world.
24:16 Because of her prophetic insights
24:18 guided by the Spirit of Prophecy,
24:20 Seventh-day Adventists are all stars
24:22 of Longevity producing a high number of centenarians,
24:26 according to the November 2005 National Geographic.
24:30 Ellen White's insights regarding our physical wellbeing
24:33 are a boon to those who desire a long and healthy life.
24:37 The question we should be asking is,
24:40 are we going to listen to what God has to say?
24:44 Good question, Andrea.
24:46 You know, so much of religion today is just a form.
24:50 We go through the emotions of saying the Lord's Prayer,
24:53 making the sign of the cross,
24:54 attending Holy Communion or visiting holy sites.
24:59 But what God is most interested in?
25:01 What He most longs for?
25:03 Can be found in this doctrinal statement
25:05 by Jesus Himself in John 17:3,
25:10 "And this is life eternal,
25:12 that they might know thee the only true God,
25:16 and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent."
25:19 Jesus came here to help us know God.
25:23 We're not talking about knowing some simple fact
25:26 like who is the current President of the United States?
25:30 We are talking about knowing the president,
25:33 being invited to the White House,
25:34 having the first family over to your house for a barbeque.
25:39 The word know that Jesus used here is, 'ginosko.'
25:43 It means, of course, to know, to understand,
25:46 to perceive or have knowledge, but it means more.
25:51 It means to know all the way to your feelings.
25:54 In fact, this word 'ginosko'
25:57 is a Jewish idiom for marital intimacy.
26:02 We're talking about really knowing God
26:06 in a spiritually intimate and committed way.
26:11 This is the experience that a prophet has
26:13 when God communes with them, face to face as with a friend.
26:18 And if you had such an encounter with divinity,
26:21 it would be so easy to think of yourself
26:23 as special, above others.
26:26 But Ellen White taught that this experience,
26:28 this personal encounter is something
26:31 God is willing to do with anyone, with everyone.
26:35 The prophet in the Psalms was David encountered God
26:38 and through David God calls to us,
26:42 "Be still, and know that I am God,
26:46 I will be exalted among the heathen.
26:48 I will be exalted in the earth."
26:51 When we take the time to be still,
26:54 to listen to God through the Bible
26:56 or through other manifestations of the Spirit of Prophecy
26:59 such as God revealed in Ellen G. White.
27:02 We will encounter Him through this gift.
27:06 God fully intents to lead His people
27:09 all the way into His kingdom.
28:11 I hope you enjoyed today's Bible study
28:14 regarding this special gift of God
28:16 to His remnant church, the Spirit of Prophecy.
28:20 As a special edition to this study,
28:22 we visited the widest state in Silver Springs, Maryland.
28:25 Check out that short interview at QLP.tv.


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Revised 2014-12-17