We believe in the doctrine of spiritual gifts and we believe that the gift of prophecy is one of the identifying marks of the last day church.

1.  The Lord will do nothing we are told unless He first reveals His secrets to a special group of people.  Who are these people?  Amos 3:7.

Answer: The .

2.  Were some of the prophets women?  Judges 4:4.

Answer: .


This verse also makes it clear that there were prophets whose writings were not part of the canon of Scripture.

3. Phillip had four daughters who did what?  Acts 21:8-9.

Answer:.


If they prophesied, then they would be called “prophetesses” -- the term used for female “prophets.”

4.  Will the gift of prophecy and the office of prophet be in the church until the end of time?  Ephesians 4:11-13.

Answer: .

We have not yet all come into the unity of the faith, and we are not yet all “perfect” men and women in Christ.  The gift of prophecy is for the “perfecting of the saints” and, henceforth, is needed in the church until the Savior returns.

5.  Whom did Jesus tell us to beware of?  Matthew 24:24.

Answer: .


The very fact that He mentions false prophets indicates that there would be true prophets also.  If that were not the case, Jesus would have said to beware of all who claimed to be prophets!  Also, if you look at Matthew 23:24, you will see that there would be prophets sent by Jesus AFTER His death, resurrection, and ascension.

6.  What is one of the ways we can identify a false prophet?   Isaiah 8:20.

Fill in: “To the and to the : if they speak not according to this Word, it is because there is no in them.”

A true prophet will uphold God’s laws and will be in agreement with the testimony of the Scriptures.  God does not contradict Himself!  A true prophet will be in agreement with all the true prophets that came before him or her.  Anyone who claims the gift of prophecy and yet writes or teaches things that are contrary to the light already given previous prophets in the Scriptures, simply cannot be a true prophet!

7.  What did the Lord say should be done to anyone claiming the gift of prophecy yet, at the same time, teaching against obedience to God’s commandments?  Deuteronomy 13:1-5. (The answer is in verse 5.)

Answer: That “prophet” shall be to .

8. What is another test of a true prophet?  Deuteronomy 18:22.

Fill in: “When a prophet speaketh in the name of the LORD, if the thing nor came to , that is the thing which the LORD hath spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it , thou shalt be of him.”

A true prophet must be right 100% of the time unless he or she is relating a conditional prophecy, like when Jonah spoke of Nineveh’s destruction.  The people repented and The LORD did not destroy Nineveh as He had said.  But when the prophecy is not conditional, a prophet must ALWAYS be right because God does not make mistakes!

9.  What are some of the things we are to do concerning the gift of prophecy?  1 Thessalonians 5:19-21.

Fill in: " not prophesying, all things; that which is ."

We are to be careful that we do not “despise” the idea of someone having the gift of prophesy unless we first test their claim with the Bible!  If it is “good” and passes the Bible tests, we are to “hold fast” to it!

10.  What two characteristics will the “remnant” church have? Revelation 12:17.

Answer: They will the of God, and they will have the of .

11.  What is the “testimony of Jesus”?  Revelation 19:10.

Answer: The "testimony of Jesus" is the of .

12.  Who were John’s brethren that had the “testimony of Jesus”?  Revelation 22:9.

Answer: They were .

The true church at the end of time will have among her those who have the “testimony of Jesus.”  In other words, they will have the prophetic gift in the church.  This church that has the testimony of Jesus will also keep all of God’s commandments!

The great “second advent” of the mid-1840s was prophesied of in chapter 10 of the book of Revelation.   Open your Bible to Revelation chapter 10 and let’s look at some important passages of Scripture.

Verses 1 and 2 -- The angel symbolizes a message from heaven involving a “little book” that is “open.”  The “little book” was at one timed sealed, but at the end of time would be opened!  The only book that the Bible says was sealed till the time of the end was the little book of Daniel.  See Daniel 12:4.   The last day message would involve the book of Daniel!

Verses 8 and 9 -- It was commanded that the “little book” should be “eaten” and would taste “sweet” in the mouth, but it would make the belly “bitter.”  In the mid 1800s people all over the world, with no contact with each other, began to study the prophecies of the little book of Daniel.  Many of these students of the Scriptures came to the same conclusion, that is, according to Daniel chapter 8 and verse 14, Jesus would return on October 22, 1844.

They arrived at this date because the prophecy of Daniel 8:14 states that “unto two thousand three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.”  Like many students of the Bible living in those days they believed that the earth was the sanctuary mentioned in the prophecy.  Thus, the cleansing of the sanctuary must mean that Jesus would come and cleanse the earth!  In prophecy, a day represents a year.  See Ezekiel 4:6.   Thus, 2300 days must mean 2300 years!  And since the beginning of this prophecy was 457 B.C., then 2300 years later would be 1844 A.D.! (We will study more about this in a future lesson.)  Jesus, they believed, was returning in 1844!  This news was indeed “sweet” in their mouths!

This brought great excitement to the religious world at the time, and the great second advent movement was born!  But when October 22, 1844 had come and gone and Jesus did not return as expected, their “belly” became “bitter,” so to speak!  This became known as the “Great Disappointment of 1844.”  It was an exact fulfillment of Bible prophecy.  From this movement arose the Seventh-day Adventist Church.  It is because of this great second advent movement that most churches today believe in and preach about the imminent return of the Savior!  According to Revelation 10, verse 11, the church was to go from the great disappointment and “prophesy again” to “many peoples, and nations, and tongues and kings.”  In order to “prophesy,” the church would need to have a prophet and the “spirit of prophecy” as mentioned in Revelation 19:10.

Shortly after the great disappointment of 1844, a seventeen year old girl by the name of Ellen Harmon (later to become Mrs. Ellen G. White) received her first vision.  Throughout her life she received some 2000 visions.  She wrote 54 published books and recorded over 25 million words of testimony to the church.  Her writings have had all the biblical tests of a true prophet applied to them and in every case they have rung true!  It is recommended that you read some of the writings of Mrs. White and test the writings for yourself.

Because Seventh-day Adventists follow the health principles shown Ellen White in vision, they live on the average 7 to 9 years longer than the general population.  Her writings on health were generations ahead of her time.  Because of this, Seventh-day Adventists have always been on the leading edge of health and dietary reform!

13.  What will we know true prophets by?  Matthew 7:15-20.

Fill in:  “By their ye shall ."

Jesus said in Luke 11:17 “If Satan be divided against himself, how shall his kingdom stand?”  The spirit of Satan would not inspire someone to write about the need for obeying the laws of God, or the need to fully surrender our lives to Jesus Christ.  The devil would not fight against himself by inspiring someone to write about Jesus, holy living, and preparing for Jesus’ soon return.  Yet these were the main themes of Ellen White’s writings.  Remember that a bad tree cannot make good fruit!

On the other hand, the writings of other so called “prophets” who arose about the same time as Mrs. White, do not meet the Bible tests for true prophets or Holy Spirit inspired writers.

For example, these modern day “prophets” wrote against the need to obey the seventh-day Sabbath.  They therefore are condemned by Isaiah 8:20 and other Scriptures.  (See Isaiah 8:20 again.)  You will find that the writings of Ellen White are in perfect agreement with the law of God, the seventh-day Sabbath, and all other Bible truths!

The fruit of Ellen White’s writings have been “good,” and millions the world over can attest to that!  Please read some of her writings and decide for yourself whether her writings were inspired or not!

But never get the idea, or allow anyone else to tell you that Seventh-day Adventists base their teachings on Ellen White’s writings!  Adventists base their teachings directly and solely on the eternal Word of God which lives and abides forever!  It is because His people follow the Bible and the Bible alone that the Lord gives them the Spirit of Prophecy!

14.  Do you believe that the gift of prophecy is one of the identifying marks of the “remnant church,” and are you willing to investigate this matter further? 

Answer: .

Now that you have studied this important subject, it would be a very good time to “prove all things” by reading one of the published works of Ellen G. White. Ask the person sharing these Bible studies with you to give you some free copies of books by Ellen White.  You will be blessed as these writings draw you closer to the Bible and the Lord of the Bible!

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