How are we Biblically supposed to test a Phrophet. How can we know if someone is a true or false Phrophet?

<p>How are we Biblically supposed to test a Phrophet. How can we know if someone is a true or false Phrophet?</p>

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Granite Bay SDA Church

Jean Ross

Let the Prophet Speak: God’s End-Time Messenger

This was recorded at the Granite Bay Hilltop SDA Church, located in Granite Bay, California.

Hope you are blessed by the message and that it draws you closer to God.

Our sermon today is entitled, Let the Prophet Speak, God's End Time Message for His People.

What would you think if right after the service today, as you're standing in the church foyer, somebody walks up to you and they say that they are a prophet and they have a special message from God just for you.

Now honestly, you'd probably be thinking, this is a little weird.

But then the person looks you straight in the eye and they begin to tell you things about your life that nobody would know, things you haven't told anyone else.

Now friends, this isn't just a hypothetical scenario because the Bible tells us, the Bible warns us, that in the last days, many false prophets will arise and they'll work signs and wonders, deceiving many and leading souls astray.

But of course that's not the whole story because the same Bible also warns us about these false prophets and also promises that God will send true prophets to guide his people in the final hours of earth's history.

The book of Revelation describes God's people at the end of time and says that they keep his commandments and they also have the testimony of Jesus.

Now the testimony of Jesus in Revelation chapter 19, 10 is the spirit of prophecy.

To reject a true prophet is to turn away from a heaven sent warning and that path leads to spiritual ruin.

But on the other hand, to accept a false prophet is to open the door to confusion, deception, and final destruction.

Well, first of all, we don't ever want to build our faith on an emotional experience.

We don't follow signs and wonders and we certainly don't want to be swept away by the opinions of the majority or what's popular at that time.

We must test everything by the Word of God.

Because when we stand on the Bible, when we measure every message by the law and by the testimony, then we are standing on solid ground.

Now I've heard it said before and maybe you've heard it as well, well I believe in the Bible and that's all I need.

I'm not interested in some end-time prophetic message.

Now at first, this might sound like a reasonable argument, but let's see what the Bible itself has to say about the subject.

Yes it is true the Bible must always be our final authority, sola scriptura, that was the cry of the Reformation, that's the foundation of our faith.

But friends, the same Bible that we uphold as our final authority clearly teaches that the gift of prophecy did not cease with the death of the apostles.

It wasn't just meant for the early church.

It was meant for God's people until the very end of time, the time we're living in now.

The Apostle Paul, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, tells us in Ephesians 4, verse 11, that Christ himself has given gifts to his church.

Not just 1 gift, but a whole toolbox of gifts, you might say, resources.

And among those is prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers.

For the equipping of the Saints, for the work of ministry, and for the edifying of the body of Christ.

He tells us how long these gifts would remain in the church.

He says, until we all come to a unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ." Now look around you.

Have we reached the fullness of the measure of Christ?

Have we received the outpouring of the latter rain?

And that then means that these gifts, including the gift of prophecy, is still needed and relevant today.

The idea that we no longer need the gift of prophecy in these last days isn't just a mistake, it is dangerous.

We are still in the thick of the battle, the great controversy between good and evil is not yet over, The enemy is more cunning and more deceptive now than he has ever been.

And to say that we no longer need the prophetic gift is like the lookout on a ship deciding to go to sleep while the ship is sailing through iceberg-infested waters.

Do we really think that we need less light as the darkness deepens?

The storm is intensifying, the danger is surreal.

No, this is not the time to silence the voice of heaven, it is the time for us to listen and let the prophet speak.

So yes, the Bible is our foundation, friends, but according to the Bible, the spirit of prophecy is the scaffolding, you might say, that God uses to build up His church in the last days.

Jesus warned in Luke 7, verse 28, that those who rejected the message of John the Baptist weren't just turning away from a man, no, they were rejecting the counsel of God.

In Acts 2, verse 17, the apostle Peter, quoting from the Old Testament prophet Joel, said that in the last days God would pour out his Spirit on all flesh.

Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy." Notice that in the last days, the time that we are now living, that the Spirit of prophecy will be given.

Now, of course, the Bible is many examples of women who were prophets.

You have Anna, the prophet in the temple.

You have Miriam, the sister of Moses in Acts 15.20 and she prophesied.

You have Deborah the prophet in Judges 4.4.

You have Huldah the prophet who spoke the word of God to King Josiah in 2 Kings 22.14 and in the New Testament you have the 4 daughters of Philip mentioned in Acts chapter 21, and they all prophesied.

Well somebody might be wondering then, how does a prophet receive their message from God?

Second Peter chapter 1 verse 21 tells us plainly how this happens.

He wrote, prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.

Real prophets don't just share good ideas.

They don't invent doctrines, but they speak as they are moved by the Holy Spirit.

A radio receives and then it transmits a message.

But the message that it receives and transmits is not its own.

So it is with the message received and conveyed by a prophet.

It is not the prophet's message, it is God's message given at the right time and for the right reason.

Let me illustrate this with a story from history.

It was May 1940, World War II was raging, and over 330, 000 Allied soldiers, both British and French, were trapped on the beaches of Dunkirk in France.

They were surrounded on all sides by German forces.

The situation was so bleak that military leaders feared a devastating loss, the kind of loss that would end the war in favor for Germany.

But in the darkest moment, the British government sent out a simple radio broadcast.

They appealed to ordinary people, fishermen, ferry operators, pleasure boat owners, anyone who had a vessel and a willing heart.

Over 800 small boats, later known as the little ships of Dunkirk, sailed out into danger.

Through bombs, through bullets, through mine-infested waters, these little boats ferried thousands of soldiers from the beaches to the safety of the larger ships.

Over 330, 000 lives were saved and military historians still refer to it as the miracle of Dunkirk.

Now it all began with a radio call, an urgent message at the right time for the right reason.

Does God have an urgent message for our time to meet our specific needs?

And he has raised up a messenger to help guide his people through the confusion of these last days.

So if God says that his church will have the spirit of prophecy in the last days, that's Revelation 19.10.

We should then expect a prophetic voice in the church today, not to replace Scripture but to point us back to the Bible and to help prepare us for what is just ahead.

In Numbers 12, verse 6, God says, "'If there is a prophet among you, I, the Lord, will make myself known unto him.

In a vision, I will speak to him in a dream, or I will speak to him face to face, as God did with Moses on the mountain.

But how are we to tell if a vision is truly from God?

How do we know if a person is a true prophet or a false prophet?

Well the Bible provides us with 6 physical signs that accompany the genuine gift of prophecy, a genuine vision.

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Let the Prophet Speak: God’s End-Time Messenger

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