THE GIFT OF PROPHECY 

By Ben Berto

²⁰ So they rose early in the morning and went out into the Wilderness of Tekoa; and as they went out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, “Hear me, O Judah and you inhabitants of Jerusalem: Believe in the Lord your God, and you shall be established; believe His prophets, and you shall prosper. 2 Chronicles 20:20, NKJV

^19 [i]And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts; ²⁰ knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private ^[j]interpretation, ²¹ for prophecy never 

came by the will of man, but ^[k]holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. 

2 Peter 1: 19-21 ESV

Surely the Lord God does nothing, unless He reveals His secret to His servants, the prophets.    Amos 3:7, NKJV

We have come to one of the most controversial beliefs of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, that is, the Gift of Prophecy.  The Bible speaks about prophets and prophecy. Our friends, the Mormons or Church of Christ of Latter-day Saints have Joseph Smith as their prophet. During the apostolic times,  there were prophets who were not apostles. The four daughters of Philip, the evangelist, Agabus, Simeon, Anna, John the Baptist. The 17^th Fundamental Belief of the Seventh-day Adventist Church states; One of the gifts of the Holy Spirit is prophecy. This gift is the identifying mark of the remnant church and was manifested in the ministry of Ellen G. White. As the Lord’s messenger, her writings are a continuing and authoritative source of truth which provide for the church comfort, guidance, instruction, and correction. They also make clear that the Bible is the standard by which all teaching and experience must be tested.

Some people, even, in the church misunderstand this and think that Ellen G. White is more authoritative than the Bible, and they pepper their sermons and writings with more quotations from her writings than the Bible. But she (EGW) says that we must take the Bible as our guide. Her writings only point to the Bible. I invite those who want to know more about her to read her books, Steps to Christ, Patriarchs and Prophets, Prophets and Kings, The Desire of Ages, Acts of the Apostles, and The Great Controversy. These books are available at the Adventist Bookstore or you could ask your Adventist friends to get them for you.

What were the functions of the prophetic gift in the New Testament times? “The New Testament  gives prophecy a prominent place among the gifts of the Holy Spirit, once ranking it first, and twice second, among the ministries most useful to the church. (Romans 12:6, 1 Corinthians 12: 28, Ephesians 4: 11. It encourages believers to desire especially this gift(prophecy).” 1 Cor. 14:1

1. They assisted in the founding of the church. The church was “built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself, the chief cornerstone. Ephesians 2: 20, 21.
2. They initiated the church’s mission outreach. It was through the prophets that the Holy Spirit selected Paul and Barnabas for the first missionary journey and gave direction as to where the missionaries should labour. (Acts 13: 1, 2; Acts 16: 6-10)
3. They edified the church. (1 Cor. 14: 3,4; Ephesians 4: 12)
4. They united and protected the church. (Ephesians 4: 14
5. They warned of future difficulties.(Acts 11: 27-30. Other prophets warned of Paul’s arrest and imprisonment in Jerusalem. Acts 20:23, 21: 4, 10-14 Agabus)
6. They confirmed the faith in times of controversy.( Acts 15: 32 Judas and Silas)

Thus, “the writings of Ellen G. White are not a substitute for Scripture. They cannot be placed on the same level. The Holy Scriptures stand alone, the unique standard by which her and all other writings must be judged and to which they must be subject.” Once again, we must not judge by what we hear or read about Ellen White. We must read them for ourselves and then make our conclusions. She has written some things about health more than a hundred years ago that are being proven right by science.

Let us go by the Scriptures we have written above. King Jehoshaphat said,” believe his prophet and you will prosper.”

To contact us: Our website is www.abundantlifeadventist.ca. Worship with us every Saturday Sabbath, the seventh day of the week. Genesis 2: 2, 3, Exodus 20: 8-10, Isaiah 58: 13, 14; Isaiah 66: 22, 23; Matthew 5: 17-19; Revelation 22: 14, John 14: 1-3, Rev. 6:6-12, Romans 8: 35-39