Participants: Kameron DeVasher
Series Code: 12POP
Program Code: 12POP000004
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00:46 Well this is our Spring Camp Meeting and we're having
00:50 beautiful spring weather here in West Frankfort, Illinois. 00:55 Showers of blessings today. Yes. 00:57 And we needed it. We haven't had rain it seems like 00:59 in a couple months. Right. So we needed that rain. 01:02 But it's beautiful outside today in the 70's. 01:04 Yes. This evening. Going to be a beautiful weekend 01:06 and we've put in additional chairs so we have plenty 01:09 of seats for everybody. Um-hmm. 01:11 If you're planning on coming this weekend 01:13 we will have a place for you. 01:15 Um-hmm. And you know what they told me? No. 01:17 They said they fed 150 people more than they had planned for 01:22 at lunch today. Isn't that great? 01:24 Wow. But you know we have to give our staff over there 01:29 a big hand because they have it all ready. 01:36 There are people who drive and I know folk who drive 01:39 all the way, for instance, from south Alabama. 01:42 They come from states all over 01:44 and instead of being in these services they come all the way 01:47 and they volunteer - that's right - and they work in the 01:50 kitchen. They do other work that needs to be done, 01:52 whether it's helping maintenance... doing whatever. 01:55 And they sacrifice much of the meetings. They do. 01:58 And even on Sabbath some of them are over there helping feed 02:00 you all as you come, and it's an incredible ministry. 02:03 And we give every one of them a full set of DVDs 02:07 of everything. So they go back home 02:09 and enjoy watching it. So... But we appreciate them so much. 02:14 And Mark Anthony and Melody Prettyman do such a tremendous 02:19 job with those volunteers, 02:21 and we really appreciate them. 02:24 Don't you love Camp Meeting? Ya'll love Camp Meeting? 02:26 Apparently... you came here. 02:27 I talked to people from Canada and California 02:30 and Florida. Yes. From states all in between. 02:32 And we'll find out if there's other countries represented 02:35 here. And it's going to get bigger even tomorrow. 02:38 And Sabbath we're expecting to have some pretty big crowds 02:41 here so we want you all to come early and get your seats. 02:44 But it's just such a wonderful atmosphere. 02:46 It reminds you a little bit... a taste of heaven, what it's 02:49 going to be like, because people are here together. 02:52 Loving each other - yeah - and loving Jesus. 02:54 That's right. And then being fed and spiritually fed. 02:56 And so I know a lot of you you're being physically fed 02:59 over here by Mark and the others 03:01 but also you're being spiritually fed, right? 03:03 With all the speakers and the singers. 03:05 And tonight we have some singers with us 03:08 that are some of our favorite. I'm going to say our... 03:10 Yes, both. I know you and Camille love them too 03:13 and they love you guys. But Reggie and Ladye Love Smith. 03:15 And many of you have seen them on the Gaithers. 03:18 They're on the Pillars... They sang on the Pillars project 03:21 that we had. The Pillars and also the Pillars Hymns. 03:24 And they're just incredible people. 03:26 Some of the "funnest" people in the world - yeah - 03:28 especially to travel. We've been to many countries... 03:30 several countries with them including Australia 03:33 and New Zealand and all around. 03:35 And these folk love Jesus and they're happy - they do. 03:38 Because there's never a dull minute when they're around. 03:40 No, no. And we love them. We not only love their music 03:43 we love them personally because they are just - 03:46 as Danny says - such loving and kind people. They are. 03:50 A few weeks ago I was down at Nashville 03:52 and Ladye was singing on the Grand Ole Opry. 03:54 She was doing back-up singing so she invited us to go behind 03:57 stage. And that was a neat experience to go there. 04:02 These folk: they do the Grand Ole Opry. 04:03 They do all kinds of singing... not only on their own 04:07 but with the Gaithers and others. 04:09 So you may turn on the television and see them 04:11 just about on any channel. But I'm especially happy 04:13 when we see them on 3ABN. Amen. 04:16 And we'd like them to come on out tonight. 04:17 Reggie and Ladye Love. 04:19 Glad to have you. Let's make them welcome. 04:21 All right. 04:25 Hi. The song that ya'll are... 04:28 The song you all are going to sing tonight 04:30 is... Tell us about it. Whose favorite song is it? 04:34 Come on over here Ladye. Come on up front. OK. 04:36 Whose favorite song is this song? 04:38 This is my Daddy's favorite song. 04:40 He's 88-1/2 years old. 04:42 And every time we go somewhere to sing he'll say 04:46 "Program's not finished if you don't sing this song. " 04:48 But it's his favorite song, but it's just an amazing 04:51 message of the story... So Danny, he's very serious 04:55 about it - this song - truly because he talks about... 05:00 Bill and Gloria Gaither actually wrote this song. 05:03 And he says "a program is never done... " 05:05 And we sang a concert one time almost two hours 05:08 and we finished singing and it was over 05:10 and we were all together just hugging and 05:12 carrying on with folk. And he came up to me and said 05:15 "The program's not finished 05:17 because you haven't done my song yet. " 05:20 So he's serious about this song. Eighty-eight years old. 05:21 And after you hear this song tonight I've got a feeling 05:24 ya'll will be saying the same thing 05:25 when you hear them sing from now on: "I've Just Seen Jesus. " 05:28 Amen. 05:45 We just knew He was dead 05:50 "It is finished" He said 05:53 And we watched as His life 05:57 ebbed away 06:00 Then we all stood around 06:04 till the guards took Him down 06:07 Joseph begged 06:10 for His body that day 06:15 It was late afternoon 06:19 when we got to the tomb 06:22 Wrapped His body 06:25 and sealed up the grave 06:30 So I know how you feel 06:34 His death was so real 06:38 But please listen and hear 06:41 what I say: 06:46 I've just seen 06:50 Jesus. 06:55 I tell you 06:57 He's alive! 07:01 I've just seen Jesus, 07:07 our precious Lord, 07:11 alive! 07:15 And I knew - yes I knew - 07:21 He really saw me too. 07:29 As if till now, 07:33 I never 07:37 lived. 07:40 All that I've done before 07:46 won't matter 07:49 anymore. 07:54 I've just seen Jesus 08:00 and I'll never 08:05 be the same 08:08 again. 08:20 It was His voice she first heard 08:25 those kind gentle words 08:28 asking what was her reason for those tears. 08:34 And I sobbed in despair 08:39 "my Lord is not there. " 08:42 He said: "Child, it is I... 08:46 I am here. " 08:50 I've just seen 08:56 Jesus! 09:01 I tell you He's alive! 09:08 I've just seen Jesus, 09:13 our precious Lord's 09:18 alive! 09:21 And I knew - yes I knew - 09:27 He really saw me too. 09:30 He really saw me too. 09:35 As if till now 09:39 I never lived. 09:47 All that I've done before 09:53 won't matter 09:55 anymore. 10:00 I've just seen 10:03 Jesus! 10:07 Well, I've just seen Jesus, 10:13 I've just seen Jesus, 10:18 And all I've ever 10:22 done before 10:26 won't matter 10:29 anymore. 10:33 I've just seen Jesus 10:38 and I'll never be 10:42 the same 10:44 again. 10:49 I've just seen 10:52 Jesus! 11:05 Praise the Lord! Amen! 11:08 Wow! I can see why her Daddy wants to hear that song. 11:13 Our speaker tonight needs no introduction to 3ABN. 11:19 He did an Anchors of Truth series this past year. 11:24 In addition he was a main speaker at GYC 11:29 and so you have already been introduced to him. 11:33 His name is Kameron DeVasher 11:36 and he is a pastor from Michigan. 11:38 He has the Muskegon/Fremont district in Michigan. 11:43 He's going to be speaking to us tonight 11:47 on a very important subject involving 11:53 prophets as they relate to the latter day church. 11:58 This church, just before Jesus comes. 12:03 And we're going to invite him to come 12:08 and to bring us to the throne at this time. 12:14 Good evening everyone. Good evening. 12:16 As Jim said, my name is Kameron DeVasher and I'm a 12:18 pastor from the Michigan Conference specifically. 12:20 I bring you greetings from the believers in Fremont and 12:24 Muskegon, Michigan. 12:25 All is going well in that part of the world, and I hope 12:28 all is going well in your part of the world. 12:30 And I know it's going well in this part of the world 12:31 as already this has been a blessing, has it not? 12:34 Amen! It's a wonderful time to be here. 12:36 As you saw in your bulletin this evening, the assigned topic 12:40 that I've been entrusted with is The Prophet's Role, 12:44 True Latter-Day Messengers, 12:46 and Judging New Light. 12:48 Judging New Light. There are at least 3 or 4 good books 12:52 in that title if not 3 or 4 good sermons. 12:54 And we have under an hour to work it out tonight 12:56 so we're going to do our best to have a very concentrated 13:00 yet at the same time a very clear presentation 13:03 of the important role of prophecy... especially as 13:06 we get closer and closer to Jesus' second coming. 13:08 And by the way, Jesus IS coming again. 13:10 Amen? Amen! Soon and very soon. 13:12 So this is an important topic and we want to give all of our 13:15 time and attention and energy 13:16 to a Biblical understanding of the role of prophecy 13:20 so that we can be led by the Spirit of the Lord 13:23 safely home to the other side. 13:25 But before we do any study of God's Word 13:27 let's begin with a word of prayer. 13:30 Dear heavenly Father, 13:32 Lord, I thank you again for blessing us with such a 13:35 tremendous opportunity to fellowship together 13:38 here in this room and throughout the media world. 13:42 And Lord, now as we come together to study Your Word 13:45 we ask that the same Holy Spirit who inspired its writing 13:49 will now inspire our understanding. 13:53 Teach us, we pray. In Jesus' name, Amen. 13:59 We serve a God who is great and who does wonderful things. 14:02 But one of the interesting or unique aspects of His character 14:06 is that God likes to talk. 14:08 The God that we serve is a talker. 14:11 He doesn't just communicate and let things go, 14:13 He continues to relate to them and communicate with them 14:16 and speak to them. God used His voice and words 14:20 to set creation in motion. 14:22 Throughout the Genesis 1 account you see: "And God said" 14:26 and then something would occur. 14:28 God would speak it. In Psalm 33 verse 6 we read: 14:31 "By the word of the Lord the heavens were made 14:34 and all the host of them by the breath of His mouth. " 14:38 Genesis chapter 2 verses 16 and 17 14:41 records the very first action that God had - 14:45 first interaction that God had - with the created Adam 14:50 when He places Him in the Garden of Eden. 14:51 "And the Lord commanded the man saying... " 14:56 The very first thing God does with humanity 14:59 is have a conversation. 15:00 He speaks and communicates His will. 15:03 And of course the substance of that command is... 15:06 has incredible significance and requires a study all of its own. 15:10 But the simple point that I would like to emphasize 15:13 for our purposes this evening 15:15 is that the very first thing God wants to do with His human 15:18 creation is to speak to it. 15:21 God likes to talk... He's a communicator. 15:24 And even after our fall into sin 15:27 which made face-to-face communication impossible 15:32 God still, out of His love for us, decided to continue 15:36 speaking to us. To work with us, to communicate His will 15:39 hopefully to restore us and to redeem us. 15:42 And so since the face-to-face walking in the garden 15:46 in the cool of the day was no longer a possibility 15:49 the Lord had to get creative. 15:51 Sometimes He would speak audibly. 15:53 Speaking to Moses from the burning bush 15:55 there in Exodus chapter 3. Or to the boy Samuel 15:58 in I Samuel chapter 3. Or at Jesus' baptism 16:02 in Matthew chapter 3 you actually have recorded 16:04 in scripture where the audible voice of God 16:06 just says something and people hear it. 16:10 He speaks audibly. 16:11 But there were times when He communicated in other ways. 16:14 He indicated, for instance, His approval or disapproval 16:18 through the urim and thummim stones 16:21 in the ephod of the high priest's breastplate. 16:24 Now this is in the most holy place 16:26 and its high priestly role in the Old Testament. 16:30 And the Lord would reveal whether He approved 16:32 or disapproved of an idea through these stones. 16:35 Interestingly enough, He communicates. 16:37 Sometimes He speaks to people in dreams and visions. 16:40 You think of Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel chapter 2. 16:43 Not a particularly religious man. 16:46 Definitely not a follower of the true God, yet 16:47 the Lord spoke to him, gave him a dream, revealed His will 16:51 to him and then explained it through the agency of the 16:54 prophet Daniel. But He spoke to the king 16:58 and gave him this vision. 17:01 The same thing in the New Testament. 17:02 You see the example in Acts chapter 10 where Peter 17:04 was shown a vision from the Lord 17:06 when the Lord wanted to communicate His will about 17:08 the Jewish leaders going to the Gentile world. 17:12 The apostles going outside of their normal Judeo world 17:16 and going out to the Gentile world. He communicated that 17:19 through a dream. 17:21 And sometimes the Lord literally would just write things down. 17:25 By the way, I think this is one of the most beautiful 17:28 wonderful things about God is that when He wants to get it 17:30 right, when He wants to make absolutely certain, 17:33 when He wants to add that very personal touch 17:36 He'll just take His finger and write something down. 17:39 I think of the Ten Commandments. 17:41 The transcript of His character He wrote with His own finger 17:45 and delivered it to humanity. 17:47 Sometimes even negative things like at Belshazzar's feast 17:51 in Daniel chapter 5 a hand shows up 17:53 and writes out the message from the Lord in writing 17:57 for all to see. These instances recorded in the Bible 18:01 of God speaking to people through an audible voice, 18:05 or direct transcription, or by the use of the ephod stones 18:08 or such other spectacular occurrences are relatively rare, 18:14 especially when compared to the incredible number of times 18:18 the Lord communicated through His primary agent 18:22 which was His servant the prophet. 18:26 Without question God's most consistently utilized 18:31 method of communication with humanity 18:34 is the ministry of His messengers the prophets. 18:38 A simple word search reveals more than 500 instances 18:42 in scripture where phrases such as 18:45 "The Word of the Lord came to" and it gives someone's name. 18:48 "The Word of the Lord came to... " The Word of the Lord 18:49 came to this one... and it will be Abraham. It will be Moses. 18:52 It will be Elijah. It will be some messenger 18:54 who then takes that Word and speaks it to others. 18:56 The Lord doesn't speak directly to those people 18:58 but uses the agency of the prophet. 19:00 "And the Word of the Lord came to... " 19:02 And often times including that word search you can find 19:05 where it says they were commanded to give the message 19:08 with the preamble "Thus saith... " Whom? 19:11 "the Lord. " When Elijah went before someone, 19:14 when Isaiah, when Jeremiah, when Abraham... 19:16 When anyone who had a message from the Lord came to them 19:18 they didn't say: "I am Isaiah and thus saith me. " 19:21 They said: "No, no, no, no. I am speaking on behalf of 19:24 the Lord. Thus saith the Lord. The Word of the Lord came to me; 19:27 thus saith the Lord. " 19:29 It was God Himself, interestingly enough 19:32 and appropriately enough, through the prophet Amos 19:37 in Amos chapter 3 and verse 7 who made the statement 19:40 "Surely the Lord God does... " How much? 19:43 "Nothing. " I'm glad the statement doesn't end there. 19:50 Our God does some things, right? Amen. 19:53 But He does them within a context: 19:55 "Surely the Lord God does nothing EXCEPT 19:58 or unless He reveals His secret to His servants the... " Whom? 20:03 "the prophets. " 20:04 God is all about doing things. But before He does 20:08 He likes to talk. 20:09 God communicates His will before He executes His will. 20:14 God is a talker. 20:16 So tonight we're going to kind of "unpack" 20:19 this gift of prophecy. What is the role of the prophet? 20:23 What is the authority of the prophet? 20:25 What places does it have in our Christian experience 20:28 as we look forward to and by the grace of God hasten 20:31 the coming of Jesus? 20:32 What's this role of prophecy all about? 20:35 If God's preferred method of communication 20:39 is the work of a prophet - is the agency of that person - 20:44 it would be immensely helpful for us as Bible-believing 20:48 Christians to have a Biblically sound definition of exactly 20:53 what a prophet is. 20:55 I would imagine if you were to take a walk down the street 20:58 in Main Street America - anywhere in the world 21:00 for that matter - and ask someone "What is a prophet? " 21:03 I'm guessing you would get some interesting suggestions, 21:07 opinions, some ideas. 21:09 And most of them... I would hazard a guess that 21:11 most of them would say that a prophet tells the... what? 21:14 The future. They probably conjure images of, you know, 21:18 gazing into a crystal ball or reading some sort of cards 21:21 or doing some sort of incantation and sorcery 21:23 kind of thing so that they can look into the great unknown 21:26 and see the future. 21:28 And sometimes even in the Christian world we have this 21:31 idea that prophets are simply God's way of telling the future. 21:34 But I think we're going to see tonight from a study of God's 21:37 Word that prophecy is primarily not focused on future telling 21:41 or foretelling but as just simply a mouthpiece for God 21:47 or "forthtelling" what He has to say. 21:50 We're going to see that the prophet is a spokesman for God. 21:54 Basically we can summarize it this way: 21:57 prophecy is the voice of God to humanity 22:01 through humanity. 22:03 OK? God speaking to people through people. 22:09 This is the Biblical definition. 22:11 Let's take a look at it... the prophet as a spokesman for God. 22:14 Please go in your Bibles to the book of Exodus. 22:18 Exodus chapter 3. We're going to study this out. 22:20 I'm sorry... Exodus chapter 4. 22:22 Exodus chapter 4. 22:24 And we see this Biblical job description of a prophet. 22:31 Exodus chapter 4. We're going to go to verse 10. 22:33 The Lord has seen the woe and misery and sorrow 22:37 of His people in the land of Egypt 22:39 and it's time for then to... have Pharaoh let His people go. 22:43 But the Lord does not go directly to Pharaoh with that 22:45 message... He raises up a prophet... a spokesman. 22:48 Chapter 4 and verse 10: 22:50 "Then Moses... " 22:52 Of course we would imagine Moses said: "Then Moses said: 22:55 yes Sir! " Much shorter book we would have. 22:59 But that's not what the scripture records. Verse 10: 23:01 "Then Moses said to the Lord: 'Oh my Lord, I am not eloquent - 23:05 neither before nor since You have spoken to Your servant - 23:08 but I am slow of speech and slow of tongue. ' " 23:12 He said: "Oh, Lord... Nnnn no. " 23:18 "I am slow of speech... I'm not eloquent. " 23:21 Which from a human perspective is a legitimate 23:24 excuse for not being a spokesperson. 23:27 You want someone who's a mouth- piece who has a decent mouth. 23:30 And Moses said: "I don't have the equipment; I'm not 23:32 qualified; I can't do it so I won't do it! " 23:36 And you know I'm so glad the Lord didn't say 23:38 "Oh, never mind. " 23:40 That's not what He said. 23:43 Watch what the Lord said... verse 11: 23:44 "So the Lord said to him: 23:46 'Who has made man's mouth? ' 23:48 Or who makes the mute, the deaf? 23:51 The seeing or the blind? 23:52 Have not I, the Lord? Now therefore... ' 23:55 So in light of My ability to make someone be able to speak 23:58 'Now therefore go and I will be with your mouth 24:03 and teach you what you shall say. ' " 24:06 And that should be enough. 24:09 But notice that Moses - this great hero of faith - 24:11 contends with the Lord even more. Verse 13: 24:14 "But he said: 'Oh my Lord, PLEASE 24:16 send by the hand of whomever else You may send. ' " 24:21 It's like: "Lord, don't send me. Send literally anyone else... 24:27 just don't send me. " 24:31 How did the Lord like this response? 24:32 Look at the very next verse. 24:34 "So the... " What's the next word? 24:36 "anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses 24:40 and He says: 'Is not Aaron the Levite your brother? 24:44 I know that he can speak well. ' " 24:47 Notice He didn't have to touch his mouth. 24:49 He already knows the language; he already has eloquence; 24:52 he's a good speaker. 24:53 But the Lord didn't want to use a good speaker. 24:56 He wanted a miracle to be done through a bad speaker. 25:00 "I know that he can speak well and look, he is also coming out 25:04 to meet you. When he sees you he will be glad in his heart. 25:06 Now... " And here's our key understanding of the role 25:09 of prophecy. Look closely at verse 15 and onward. 25:11 "Now you shall speak to him 25:15 and put the words in his mouth. " 25:18 Notice the Lord was going to put His words in Moses' mouth 25:22 but now Moses is supposed to take those words and put them 25:25 in Aaron's mouth. 25:29 "You speak the words... speak to him and put the words 25:31 in his mouth. And I will be with your mouth and with his mouth 25:33 and I will teach you what you shall say. 25:35 Here's the key... verse 16: "So he shall be your 25:39 spokesman to the people 25:42 and he himself shall be as a mouth for you. 25:45 And you shall be to him as God. " 25:51 God said: "The relationship I wanted to have 25:53 was Me be God; you be My prophet; 25:56 and Pharaoh would be the audience. 25:58 But now - because of your doubt, your disbelief, 26:02 your refusal - we're going to have to shift that. 26:05 So now you're going to be God; he'll be your spokesman 26:09 to Pharaoh. " 26:11 But it's interesting. He said: "He'll be your spokesman 26:16 and you'll be to him as God. " 26:18 Go to Exodus chapter 7 verses 1 and 2 26:22 and we see an equivalence developed in the story. 26:26 "So the Lord said to Moses: 'See, I have made you as God 26:30 to Pharaoh and Aaron your brother shall be your... " 26:33 And instead of the word spokesman what's included now? 26:36 "prophet. " 26:37 Do you see the equivalence now between the term 26:40 spokesman and prophet? 26:42 This is the Biblical job description of these servants 26:47 of the Lord. That a spokesman for the Lord is His prophet. 26:50 Jeremiah... let's go there quickly. 26:52 Jeremiah chapter 1. 26:54 We see the Lord called yet another person 26:56 to be His special spokesman. 26:59 And once again God's chosen vessel 27:04 is hesitant to the call. 27:08 Jeremiah chapter 1 starting with verse 4. 27:10 And here's one of those many 500 phrases: 27:13 "Then the Word of the Lord came to me. " 27:16 Jeremiah is writing his own memoirs about this. 27:19 "Then the Word of the Lord came to me saying: 27:21 'Before I formed you in the womb I knew you. 27:24 Before you were born I sanctified you. 27:27 I ordained you a... ' What's the word? 27:28 'a prophet to the nations. ' 27:32 Then said I: 'Ah Lord God behold, I cannot speak! ' " 27:36 Now Moses' excuse was because he was not eloquent. 27:40 Jeremiah's excuse is what? 27:43 I'm too young! 27:46 "For Lord, I cannot speak for I am a youth. " 27:49 "But the Lord said to me: 'Do not say I am a youth. ' " 27:55 Let me just parenthetically pause here. 27:58 We need young people to preach the message of the Lord. 28:02 Amen! 28:03 And we don't need a generation who says: "Maybe someday I will 28:05 when I'm older. " 28:07 The Lord doesn't look at that as a rational excuse. 28:10 He doesn't think that's reasonable. 28:11 He says: "I want to use you because you're young 28:13 and do something mature through you. " 28:15 "I want to be a living miracle that only you can host; 28:19 that only you can speak to. 28:20 I want to use you as My mouth. " 28:23 But he goes on: "But the Lord said to me 28:25 'Do not say I am a youth, for you shall go to all 28:27 to whom I send you and whatever I command you 28:29 you shall speak. Do not be afraid of their faces 28:33 for I am with you to deliver you says the Lord. ' 28:35 Then the Lord put forth His hand and touched my mouth 28:37 and the Lord said to me: 'Behold, I have put My words 28:40 in your mouth. ' " Again, God's words in a human mouth 28:45 is the definition of a prophet. 28:49 II Peter chapter 1 verses 20 and 21. 28:53 Therefore we can see from this Biblical job description 28:57 what Peter was talking about when he wrote 29:00 in II Peter chapter 1 and verse 20 29:03 where it says: 29:07 "Knowing first that no prophecy of scripture 29:10 is of any private interpretation. " 29:11 Here's the reason in verse 21: 29:13 "For prophecy never came by the will of man 29:17 but holy men of God spoke as they were moved 29:20 by the Holy Spirit. " 29:23 And again thus in II Timothy chapter 3 verses 16 and 17 29:27 Paul can unequivocally state that all scripture is 29:31 "God breathed" or "inspired of God. " 29:36 It's His Word through a human's voice or a human's pen. 29:42 They are His spokesmen. 29:44 And by the way, let's go a little bit deeper now. 29:47 Seen from this perspective Jesus Himself - 29:49 which was far and away God's clearest communication 29:53 of His will with humanity... 29:54 The best way, the most explicit way that God communicated 29:58 His character to humanity was the person of Jesus Christ. 30:01 Is that clear? 30:04 But Jesus in this sense was the most fundamental... 30:07 in the most fundamental sense was a genuine prophet. 30:11 He was literally called "The Word. " 30:14 John chapter 1 verse 1: "In the beginning was the Word 30:18 and the Word was with God and the Word was God. " 30:20 Jesus is the Word of God. 30:24 He didn't just convey the Word He WAS the Word. 30:26 He didn't just have a message He WAS the message. 30:31 By the way, don't get caught up in the trap 30:34 of thinking we have Jesus on one hand 30:36 and we have doctrine on the other hand. 30:39 Friends, Jesus is our doctrine. Amen. 30:42 Anything else that tries to split those apart 30:45 is a false dichotomy. 30:47 It is not founded on scripture. 30:49 Jesus is not just a part of our message 30:52 Jesus IS our message. Amen! 30:54 Hebrews chapter 1 and verse 1: "God, who at various times 30:57 and in various ways spoke in times past 30:59 to the fathers by the prophets 31:02 has now in these last days spoken to us 31:05 by His Son. " 31:07 In this sense Jesus can be understood as the apex of 31:11 prophecy, the... not just the Word of God 31:14 to man but the Word of God AS MAN. 31:16 He was the embodiment of God's message to humanity. 31:21 To Moses the Lord had prophesied this coming prophet. 31:24 In Deuteronomy 18 verses 18 and 19 we read: 31:27 "I will raise up for them a Prophet" - capital P - 31:30 "like you from among their brethren. I will put My words 31:34 in His mouth, and He shall speak to them 31:37 all that I command Him. " 31:39 This was Jesus' job description when He came. 31:42 He didn't come to have His own will. 31:44 But not His will but the Father's will be done. 31:46 Is this true? 31:48 It only stands to reason then that Jesus would make the 31:50 statements that He did... John chapter 8 and verse 28 31:53 for example. He says: "I do nothing of myself. 31:56 But as My Father taught Me I speak these things. " 32:00 A spokesman for God. How about John 14 verse 10? 32:04 "Do you not believe that I am in the Father and that the 32:06 Father is in Me? The words that I speak to you 32:09 I do not speak on My own authority, 32:11 but the Father who dwells in Me does the work. " 32:15 John 14:24... how about this one? 32:17 "The Word which you hear is not Mine. " 32:21 So in this same context, Jesus can say: "I am the Way, 32:25 the Truth, and the Life" but at the same time "the words 32:27 that I speak aren't My words. " 32:28 "I am the Truth, but I am sent from God. 32:31 I am the message. " 32:33 "The word which you hear is not Mine 32:36 but the Father who sent Me. " 32:40 Let's take this a little bit... step deeper. 32:42 We're developing an idea here. We're developing a theme. 32:47 In the gift of prophecy we get a glimpse 32:50 into the working relationship that God has with Himself. 32:55 Did you know that God can work with Himself? 32:58 God can talk with Himself. 33:01 He's a totally unique being... 33:03 He can't be totally unique... you just simply ARE unique. 33:05 He's a solitary, one of a kind, unique being in all the 33:09 universe: one God in three persons. 33:12 Thus we see in Genesis 1:26: "Let us make man in our image. " 33:18 God has a conversation and then executes His will. 33:21 God works with Himself. 33:23 So thus we can see... For instance, we saw in 33:26 II Timothy chapter 3 and verse 16 33:28 "All scripture is given by inspiration of... " Whom? 33:31 "God. " And we read that God the Father. 33:35 So that's what Paul says, but II Peter chapter 1 and verse 20 33:38 which we just read - verses 20 and 21- 33:41 declares that "holy men of God spoke as they were moved 33:44 by the Holy Spirit. " 33:47 Apparently every member of the Godhead has a role 33:50 in this prophetic utterance. 33:53 God the Father; God the Holy Spirit. 33:55 "But you may say: "What about Jesus? 33:56 Besides being the embodiment of the message 33:58 how does He work in it? " 34:00 Go with me to I Peter chapter 1. 34:03 You're already in II Peter. Just back up to I Peter 34:05 chapter 1 and verses 10 and 11. 34:08 Let me show you something fascinating. 34:11 We're going to break this down. 34:13 Chapter 1 starting with verse 10. 34:17 Speaking of the salvation that is ours 34:20 that is extended - offered to us - through Jesus Christ 34:23 notice what the apostle says. Verse 10: 34:25 "Of this salvation the prophets inquired 34:30 and searched carefully. " 34:32 Now pause right here. The prophets were the ones 34:35 who foretold the coming of Jesus 34:37 yet they still searched and studied 34:40 to understand it more. 34:42 We see that also in the book of Daniel. 34:44 He would receive a message, write it down, 34:46 and still not understand the full implication. Is this true? 34:50 Same thing about... with Jesus. 34:51 They would prophesy the coming of Jesus 34:52 but they didn't quite understand it... so they inquired. 34:55 They searched to understand it better. 34:57 "They searched carefully" - verse 10- 34:59 "who prophesied of the grace that would come to you. " 35:02 Verse 11: 35:04 "Searching what or what manner of time 35:07 the Spirit of Christ who was in them 35:11 was indicating when He testified beforehand 35:15 the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow. " 35:20 Now this is a little bit of a complicated sentence structure 35:23 but let's break it down what he's actually saying here. 35:26 The prophets prophesied by what the text says here 35:31 as the Spirit of Christ who was in them. 35:36 But I thought it was the Holy Spirit who moved them to speak? 35:39 But according to this text it was the Spirit of Christ 35:42 who inspired them with their messages. 35:46 Note this carefully again. According to the apostle... 35:48 and by the way, can I add the prophet Peter... 35:53 it was the Spirit of Christ in the prophets 35:56 that testified to them of the things that they wrote. 36:00 The Spirit of Christ was testifying... 36:02 Which by the way this is a fascinating parallel. 36:05 Christ testified in the prophets 36:10 about Himself and then showed up 36:13 and fulfilled the words of the prophets in His life. 36:18 And the apostle Peter said it was the Spirit of Christ 36:21 who was testifying in the prophets. 36:24 When someone testified, by the way, they have shared 36:27 their testimony. Is that true? 36:30 So whose Spirit was in the prophets? 36:33 According to the text, the Spirit of Christ, 36:37 the Spirit of Jesus. Jesus was giving His testimony. 36:43 Would it not be perfectly reasonable then 36:46 to understand in Peter's statement a simple equivalence? 36:49 The gift of prophecy IS the testimony of Jesus. 36:55 So all scripture is given by inspiration of God, 36:58 holy men were moved by the Holy Spirit, 37:01 and it was the Spirit of Christ who testified in them 37:03 of things to come. All three members of the Godhead 37:07 represented in this gift of prophecy. 37:09 And it's the testimony of Jesus is the content of their message. 37:13 The gift of prophecy IS the testimony of Jesus. 37:18 Go to the book of Revelation. 37:20 Let's flesh it out even more. 37:21 Revelation chapter 1. 37:23 Perhaps the clearest passage in scripture 37:26 to explain the mechanics of prophecy... 37:30 how God's message gets to His people... 37:32 is found here in Revelation chapter 1 starting with verse 1. 37:36 "The revelation of Jesus Christ 37:39 which God gave Him to show His servants 37:44 things which must shortly take place. 37:47 And He sent and signified it by His angel 37:50 to His servant John 37:52 who bore witness to the Word of God and to the 37:54 testimony of Jesus. " 37:56 Notice the Word of God is the scripture 37:58 and the testimony of Jesus is that message he's received: 38:02 the gift of prophecy. 38:04 "Who bore witness to the Word of God 38:06 and to the testimony of Jesus Christ 38:08 to all the things that he saw. " 38:10 Notice that the testimony of Jesus Christ 38:12 is the testimony of all the things that he saw. 38:14 It was that prophetic insight he was given 38:17 by God through Jesus. Fascinating. 38:20 In fact, let's break it down a little bit. 38:22 We notice here that God the Father gives the message 38:24 which He calls the revelation of Jesus Christ 38:26 to His Son. His Son gives it to His messenger - 38:32 which in this case is the angel - 38:34 and the angel gives it to John. 38:38 John writes it down and gives it to the churches. 38:41 Thus we see exactly the mechanics of the gift 38:45 of prophecy. From God to Christ, 38:48 and Christ sends it this time through an angel 38:50 to His messenger John. 38:52 John writes it down, sends it out to the churches. 38:54 And all of this experience 38:56 in Revelation chapter 1 and verse 10 38:58 John calls simply "being in the Spirit. " 39:02 God the Father, God the Son, 39:05 God the Holy Spirit... all transmitting a message 39:09 from God to His people. 39:10 God likes to talk to His people. 39:13 Notice this also: 39:14 this makes it perfectly reasonable that as He continues 39:18 unfolding this message to the churches which is the book 39:21 of Revelation notice what He says here starting with verse 4: 39:26 "John to the seven churches which are in Asia" - 39:29 so now the formal letter has begun - 39:31 "grace to you and peace from... " 39:34 and he doesn't say "from John. " 39:37 He says "No, this is not my message. " 39:39 He said I'm giving you greetings from "Him who was 39:44 and is and is to come" - 39:46 which is God the Father - 39:47 "and from the seven Spirits which are before His throne" - 39:50 which is the Holy Spirit. Verse 5: 39:52 "and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness. " 39:56 The One who can testify. 39:58 "The faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, 40:00 and the ruler over the kings of the earth. " 40:02 All the members of the Godhead are at work 40:06 in the gift of prophecy. 40:08 This is how it operates. 40:10 By the way, that same equivalence - the testimony 40:13 of Jesus IS the gift of prophecy - 40:15 is the spirit of prophecy - 40:18 that Peter had outlined already we see again in Revelation. 40:22 This time go to Revelation chapter 19 and verse 10. 40:24 Revelation 19 verse 10. 40:28 John receiving this message from his angel messenger 40:31 is so excited, so astounded, he basically loses his mind. 40:36 He gets so excited. In verse 10 in chapter 19 he says: 40:40 "And I fell at his feet... " - speaking of the feet of the 40:43 messenger, the angel messenger - 40:45 "And I feel at his feet to worship him, but he said to me 40:48 'See that you do not do that! 40:51 I am your fellow servant. ' " 40:55 And you'll notice as you study the Bible that there's 40:57 an equivalence always between servant and prophet. 41:00 "Surely the Sovereign Lord does nothing till He reveals His 41:03 secrets to His servants the prophets. " 41:06 He calls John His servant. 41:08 And now he says "I'm a fellow servant. " 41:13 "See to it that you do not do it. I am a fellow servant 41:15 and of your brethren who have the testimony of Jesus. 41:18 Worship God for the testimony of Jesus is... " What? 41:24 "the spirit of prophecy. " 41:26 Now there is an idea floating around that no, no, no, no, no. 41:28 The spirit of prophecy is simply - or the testimony of 41:31 Jesus - is simply your personal testimony about what 41:35 Jesus has done in your life. 41:37 By the way, every Christian should in that sense 41:41 have a testimony of Jesus. Is that true? 41:43 We should have something to say. 41:45 Before I was that... I was lost but now I'm found. 41:47 I was blind but now I see. Jesus is the change in me. 41:51 However, that's not what's being discussed here. 41:54 And we can tell that. Let's say: "Well you can see here 41:57 the spirit of prophecy can kind of be interpreted... 42:00 doesn't necessarily mean a prophet. " 42:03 Until you go to Revelation chapter 22... 42:06 Look at chapter 22 and go to verse 8. 42:11 John once again gets so excited that he does the same thing. 42:14 22 and verse 8: 42:16 "Now I John saw and heard these things. And when I heard 42:20 and saw I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel 42:24 who showed me these things. 42:26 Then he said to me: "See that you don't do that! ' " 42:30 He must be getting tired of it at this point. 42:32 Please stop it! "For I am your fellow servant... " 42:37 Word for word so far, right? 42:39 "and of your brethren... " But this time he doesn't say 42:42 "who have the spirit of prophecy. " He says... 42:45 "or have the testimony of Jesus" he says: 42:48 "Am your fellow servant and of your brethren the prophets. " 42:52 What we're talking about here in the testimony of Jesus 42:56 is the gift of prophecy. The prophetic utterance 43:00 that God gives to an individual as His mouthpiece: 43:03 His spokesman to His people. 43:06 Now let me pause here. 43:08 Christians vehemently and I believe correctly so 43:13 war against the idea of deism. 43:16 Deism is the belief that God started everything 43:20 and then just kind of flung it out there. 43:22 Good luck. Everything operates on natural law. There's no... 43:26 there's no personal God involved in our life. 43:29 That deism basically there was a God way back here 43:31 and everything else just kind of goes. 43:35 We... and I believe Bible- believing Christians should be 43:37 against that idea... but I believe that the same 43:39 Bible-believing Christians who war against that, many of them 43:43 have somehow suddenly or even subconsciously 43:46 accepted a modified form of deism. 43:50 Basically they look at the Bible and say 43:52 "Yes, from Genesis to Revelation God was a personal God. 43:55 God spoke to people; God spoke to prophets 43:57 hundreds of times in the Bible. 43:59 God spoke to prophets and He gave a message to His people 44:02 through the gift of prophecy but NOW 44:04 we're on our own. " 44:07 God spoke but now He is silent. 44:15 My friends, God still speaks. Amen. 44:21 He has a message for us today 44:24 and He has sent it through His servants the prophets. 44:29 Have no mistake about this. 44:31 God did not get this whole thing going for x-many years 44:34 and then just kind of stop and let it take it momentum. 44:36 No, no, no, no. God has a plan from the beginning to the end. 44:39 He's the first to the last and friends 44:41 Jesus is coming soon. Amen! 44:43 And until Jesus comes He will continue to guide His church 44:47 through the spirit of prophecy. Amen. 44:49 So let's see if we can justify this. 44:51 By the way, Hosea chapter 12 and verse 13 44:55 tells of how God guided His children of Israel 44:58 in the Old Testament times by a prophet. It says: 45:00 "By a prophet... " Hosea 12:13... 45:03 "By a prophet the Lord brought Israel out of Egypt 45:06 and by a prophet he was preserved. " 45:08 They were led and preserved by the gift of prophecy... 45:12 ancient Israel. 45:13 Stephen in Acts chapter 7 explains that the rejection 45:17 of the guidance of God's prophetic messengers 45:19 culminated in their rejection of Christ. 45:21 You'll find this in Acts chapter 7 verse 51 and 52 45:26 where standing before the Sanhedrin - the Jewish leaders 45:29 of his time - who now after Jesus' death he makes this bold 45:32 speech saying: "You stiff necked and uncircumcised in heart 45:37 and ears... " I'm sorry... "in heart and ears 45:40 You always resist... " Whom? "the Holy Spirit. " 45:44 And what does he mean by that? 45:47 "You always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did 45:50 so do you. " Then he says: "Which of the prophets 45:54 did your fathers not persecute? " 45:58 He's like: "Open the scroll. Show me one prophet 46:01 that they were like: "Oh we love your message. 46:03 We respect you; we trust your authority. 46:06 Come on in. " No! 46:07 He says: "Looking back... all the way back... 46:10 God's people don't like God's messages 46:13 so they take it out on God's messengers. " 46:19 "Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? 46:21 They killed those who foretold the coming of the Just One 46:23 of whom you have now become the betrayers and murderers. " 46:29 By the way, Jesus said the exact same thing 46:31 in parable. You'll find it in Matthew chapter 21. 46:33 The vineyard owner sent servant after servant - 46:37 of course that's prophet after prophet - 46:40 servant after servant to the hired laborers, but they killed 46:43 each one. Finally the owner sent his son saying 46:47 "Surely they will listen to my own son... " 46:50 but they killed him too. 46:54 Looking at this tragic history of the children of Israel 46:58 Paul in I Corinthians 10 explains that their history, 47:02 their failure, should be a lesson, examples for us 47:05 upon whom the ends of the ages are come. 47:09 The history of Israel and their rejection of prophecy 47:13 that led to their rejection of the Messiah at His first coming 47:16 is to be a lesson book for us in the New Testament time 47:19 as we look forward to the second coming of Christ 47:21 that we will not repeat their folly. 47:24 And if God guides through the gift of prophecy 47:27 we should listen to the God who speaks to us today. 47:32 Each gift list in the New Testament 47:35 whether it's in Romans 12, I Corinthians 12, 47:38 I Corinthians 14, Ephesians chapter 4... 47:41 the only gift that's mentioned in each one consistently 47:44 is the gift of prophecy. 47:46 This is the New Testament church. God didn't stop talking. 47:49 When Jesus showed up He was done. No, no, this was 47:51 the New Testament church. After Christ apparently the gift of 47:53 prophecy continues on. 47:55 Revelation chapter 12. 47:56 Maybe you're still there in your Bibles. 47:58 Go to Revelation 12 verse 17. 47:59 As Seventh-day Adventists we probably know this text by heart 48:03 but if haven't seen it, it's right there in your scripture. 48:05 After a description of Satan's war against the true church 48:08 of God it culminates in verse 17 48:10 where Satan - 48:16 this... here in figure referred to as the dragon - 48:19 we find in verse 17: "And the dragon was enraged 48:21 with the woman" - which represents the church - 48:24 "and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring 48:28 or the remnant of her seed. " 48:30 And how do you know who's the rest of the offspring? 48:32 Who's part of that true church? That final message? 48:35 "Those who keep the commandments of God 48:39 AND have the testimony of Jesus. " 48:42 Which the book of Revelation and the apostle Peter calls 48:45 the gift of prophecy. Amen! 48:47 If you want to know if we are part of God's last time 48:49 end-time message just before Jesus comes, 48:51 just look for simple things. Are they keeping God's law? 48:55 Are they faithful to the Ten Commandments... 48:57 all of them? AND within that movement 49:03 is there guidance from the gift of prophecy? Amen! 49:06 According to scripture, this is a Biblical definition; 49:09 it's a Biblical expectation. 49:11 Prophecy didn't end... God still speaks. 49:15 Given the tragic example of Israel's rejection of the 49:18 prophets and the clear teaching that the New Testament church 49:20 would have the gift of prophecy even till Jesus comes - 49:23 that final movement - it's no wonder that in I Thessalonians 5 49:27 verses 19-21 we read the words of Paul 49:31 which I imagine he wrote so emphatically: 49:33 "Do not quench the Spirit. " 49:37 "Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecy. " 49:44 Now he doesn't say "So anything that's called 49:47 a prophet accept it" 49:50 'cause that would be ridiculous. 49:52 Jesus Himself said: "Beware lest anyone deceives you. 49:56 False prophets will be coming. " 49:58 But does not that imply that there will be true prophets 50:00 at the same time? Why counterfeit something 50:02 that doesn't exist? 50:06 Jesus said there's going to be false and there's going to be 50:07 true. And so Paul says here "Don't quench the Spirit. 50:09 Don't despise them... " Don't accept them out of hand 50:12 nor reject them out of hand. 50:14 You should be discerning; you should be judicious. 50:17 He said: "Test all things 50:18 and hold fast to that which is good. " 50:21 Test all things. 50:22 Now if we had time we could go through a long litany of 50:25 the test of the prophets, but I'll very quickly give this 50:27 to you. If you want to buy the DVD and slow it down 50:29 you can catch it. Maybe they'll offer one with subtitles, 50:33 but here we go: what to look for in a true, latter-day 50:36 messenger/spokesman for God. 50:38 First of all, does it harmonize with the rest of God's 50:40 inspired Word in his holy scripture? 50:42 The same Spirit that inspired the scripture 50:45 will inspire the prophet to explain the scripture. 50:47 Is that clear? Amen! 50:48 Isaiah 8 verses 20 and 21: 50:52 "To the law and to the testimony. If they do not 50:53 speak according to this Word 50:55 it is because there is no light in them. " Very simple. 50:57 God's new light has to match with the other light. 51:00 Amen. Very simple. 51:01 Acts chapter 17 verse 11 Paul - which by the way 51:04 at this point Paul was not in the Bible - 51:06 he was a noncanonical prophet 51:10 when he would go around and speak to people. 51:13 He would show up in the synagogue: "I have... 51:14 the Word of the Lord has come to me saying... " 51:17 And when he went to the town of Berea 51:20 he found that they were more noble-minded than those 51:22 other towns he had been to. 51:24 For what reason? He says: 51:26 "They received the Word with all readiness 51:29 AND searched the scriptures daily to find out 51:33 whether these things were so. " 51:34 Seventh-day Adventists here at Camp Meeting: 51:36 we have a lot of wonderful speakers here. Amen? 51:39 Amen. We have a lot of wonderful speakers out in the world 51:41 presenting fantastic messages. But never accept a message 51:43 just because of a personality you like saying it. 51:47 Test all things and hold fast to that which is good. 51:50 Amen. The history of scripture is littered with great men 51:54 who fell at important times. 51:57 Your trust is in the Lord. 52:00 Your trust is in His Word, and if a messenger has 52:04 the message from the Lord, you put your faith in the 52:06 message but you always test new light by the Word of God. 52:12 If it declares something will occur, the event will 52:14 come to pass. 52:16 If they proclaim the truth about Jesus coming in the flesh, 52:18 that's one of the signs. 52:20 By the way, if it's the testimony of Jesus 52:23 he'll get the teaching about Jesus correct. 52:26 Does this make sense? Yes. Common sense. 52:29 And of course, Matthew chapter 7 verse 20: 52:32 Christ-like fruits from their ministry must be evident. 52:36 After they present their word, when the teaching goes 52:38 in the hearts and the mind and the practices and the lifestyle 52:40 of those listeners, do they become more like Jesus? 52:43 But if the message leads away from Jesus, 52:46 away from a Christ-like life, watch out now. 52:50 But I tell you: we go through these tests of a prophet 52:54 which are valid and which are true 52:56 but you know what you will never find in scripture 52:59 is a test that says: "And make sure you like it. " 53:06 If it speaks not according to your desires 53:10 it is because there is no light in it. 53:12 That text is nowhere in scripture. 53:15 How many times did the Word of God come to His own people 53:19 and His own people said: "No no no. We don't like this one. " 53:23 That's what Stephen was saying in Acts chapter 7. 53:25 "The reason you rejected Christ is because you rejected 53:27 His prophets. " Jesus had to deal with that in the Pharisees. 53:30 "You search through the scrip- tures but they testify of Me. " 53:35 Hmmm. 53:40 Your enjoyment of the message presented is never an argument 53:43 for or against its validity. 53:45 The question is always and only: 53:47 "Is it true according to God's Word? " 53:51 By the way, there are people today... and I believe that 53:54 the Lord has spoken in these last days through the gift 53:56 of prophecy as manifest in the ministry of Ellen G. White. 53:58 Amen. 53:59 I'm just saying it out loud because I believe it's true. 54:02 And don't just take my word for it. 54:04 Read it for yourself; test it to scripture; 54:06 run it through the wringer. I promise on the other side 54:08 it will come out shining clean. Amen. 54:12 But there are people who will say: "No, no, no. 54:14 The spirit of prophecy is manifest but 54:16 you've got to understand, um, 54:19 she was human. " Which, by the way, yeah. 54:24 That's right... OK. 54:26 Not a particularly profound statement. 54:28 It sounds deep when you say it all slow... 54:30 but it's just a statement of fact. So was Isaiah. 54:33 So was Jeremiah. So was Daniel. 54:35 So was Isaiah. We could go through every list and every one 54:36 of them could have passed the human test. 54:40 So the question is not humanity 54:42 or gender. Female prophets in scripture, too. 54:49 But they'll say: "No, no, no. The spirit of prophecy 54:51 is a wonderful gift; it's great devotional reading 54:53 but it has no doctrinal authority. " 54:57 A friend of mine, Pastor Mark Howard, 54:59 brings out a beautiful question: 55:03 if God sends a prophetic message 55:06 and it doesn't have authority in matters of doctrine, 55:10 why did God send the prophetic message if it wasn't to correct? 55:16 You know, what we don't need is more opinions. 55:21 Right? Right. We need clarification; 55:24 we need understanding; we need truth from God's Word. 55:27 Not truth apart from God's Word but help us to understand 55:31 God's Word better. We need an authoritative helper. 55:33 We need the clarifying lens. 55:35 Acts chapter 15. Acts chapter 15. 55:38 How does the Word of God say that this happens? 55:41 I want to show you something as we come to our conclusion 55:43 very quickly: Acts chapter 15. 55:46 When there was a question in the early church - 55:49 verse 6 of Acts chapter 15- over circumcision 55:52 and the reception of Gentiles into the church 55:55 notice what happened. Verse 6: 55:56 "Now the apostles and elders came together to consider 55:59 this matter. And when there had been much dispute 56:01 Peter rose up and said to them: 56:04 'Men and brethren, you know that a good while ago 56:07 God chose among us that by my mouth 56:10 the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel 56:13 and believe. ' " How did they know that, by the way? 56:14 If you do the study, you would go back to Acts chapter 10 56:18 the vision - the prophetic experience he had - 56:21 where God sent him to the Cornelius Gentiles, right? 56:27 And he said: "You know that this occurred. " 56:28 A prophetic experience now is guiding them in the formation 56:32 of doctrine. And watch what happens. 56:37 Goes on: "So God who knows the heart acknowledged them 56:41 by giving them the Holy Spirit just as He did us 56:43 and made no distinction between us and them 56:45 purifying their hearts by faith. 56:46 Now therefore... " And he starts to base his argument 56:48 on that reason. When he was done you go down to verse 12 56:51 everyone listens to Paul and Barnabas talk about their work 56:54 among the Gentiles and finally James comes here in verse 15... 57:02 I'm sorry, verse 13: "And after they had become 57:04 silent James answered saying: 'Men and brethren, 57:05 listen to me. Simon has declared how God at the first 57:08 visited the Gentiles to take out them a people for His name. 57:11 And with this the words of the prophets agree. " 57:16 They took the spirit of prophecy manifest among them, 57:19 compared it with scripture, 57:21 and made a doctrinal decision because God still speaks. 57:27 Ladies and gentlemen, God is still speaking 57:28 to His church today. |
Revised 2014-12-17