#25
Messages From Beyond the Stars
God Still Speaks Through His Prophets

In different parts of the world, scientists using powerful radio telescopes are listening for sounds from outer space. Hoping someday they’ll hear a message from intelligent aliens on some other planet.

It may come as a surprise, but there’s plenty of evidence that messages from the farthest reaches of the universe have, in fact, been beaming to Earth for thousands of years now – but few are listening.

It’s a message from the Creator of this planet – a message of love from God trying to win back His rebellious children.

We humans weren’t always aliens, you see – estranged and separated from God. Way back in the beginning before sin, Adam and Eve had the unique privilege of talking face to face with God. Strolling along together in the cool of the evening! God designed it this way, that nothing should keep them apart.

But sad to say, sin came. Abruptly ending their privilege of this glorious relationship of love and togetherness. (Which lasted for only two chapters in the Bible.)

Why did conditions change so dramatically? Simply this. When Adam and Eve sinned, they rebelled against God, and sin separates. So Adam and Eve by their own choice could no longer have direct face-to-face communication and fellowship with God.

God loved Adam and Eve. And He still wanted to commune with them. So now God had a problem. Adam and Eve had listened to the serpent and obeyed Lucifer instead of God.

Sin shatters relationships; sin separates us from God. Isaiah wrote:

<Isaiah 59:2>
“But your iniquities have separated you from your God; and your sins have hidden His face from you…”

So, what did God do? Give up? No, hallelujah! He devised the Plan of Salvation to give us a chance to get connected with God again.

Yes, sin still separated us from God in this life, but it didn’t separate us from His love. Because love always finds a way of keeping in touch! Jeannie and I fell in love when we were just 17. Seniors in high school. She winked at me in English class one day. And the rest is history! But unfortunately after we graduated from high school in Maryland my family moved to California. Talk about heartbreak hotel! Talk about sad, sad day. We loved each other. Back then we didn’t have a nickel to our name. So we wrote letters. Every day sometimes. Once a month we took turns making telephone calls. We kept finding ways to keep in touch. One year she hitchhiked to California then I hitchhiked to Maryland. Because love always finds a way of keeping in touch! And God did, too, with us. The Bible tells us,

1. Sometimes He spoke through ANGELS.
2. David in Psalms says God reveals Himself in NATURE.
3. In Old Testament times God spoke through the High Priest’s two special stones on the right and left side of his breastplate, the URIM AND THUMMIM.
4. Occasionally we know He spoke through DREAMS AND VISIONS.
5. Sometimes there was a great VOICE FROM HEAVEN.
6. The New Testament tells us God speaks through our CONSCIENCE and the
7. HOLY SPIRIT.
8. Of course God’s clearest communiqué ever was speaking through JESUS CHRIST Himself when He was here in person!
9. Once in a while God’s spoken through other SIGNS AND TOKENS. Like when Gideon put out that fleece to see whether it would be wet or dry.
10. But God has chosen to especially convey His will to us through some of the most reliable and unforgettable personalities you and I will ever meet. God’s PROPHETS.

He chose men and women He could trust to be His mouthpiece.

Moses, Miriam, Samuel, Elijah, Huldah, Deborah, Isaiah, Jeremiah...prophets and prophetesses – spokespeople for God! Not just predictors of the future.

Amos 3:7 says this is the way God does things to keep in touch. Isn’t that marvelous!

“Surely the Lord God does nothing, unless He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets.”

That process of God speaking to us through people, conveying important messages about salvation, God calls “the gift of prophecy” or “the spirit of prophecy.”

And notice how these prophets received their messages. They didn’t attend Oxford University or Seminary or Harvard’s School of the Prophets.

<2 Peter 1:21>
“For prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.”

The Bible books they wrote were not merely their opinions. Not their smarts. Wise ideas. No, it was “inspired,” literally. “God-breathed!” But you say, “How did God get through without computers or cell phones?” Ah! God said:

<Numbers 12:6>
“…If there is a prophet among you, I, the Lord, make Myself known to him in a vision; I speak to him in a dream.”

God sent His messages by impressing them with holy thoughts, and the Bible is the result. It is God’s love letter to us saying, “I love you, and want to keep in touch with you. I want to guide you. Help you, teach you. Instruct you.” And all the Bible authors were part of that plan. God speaking to us through the prophets.

But here’s something we tend to forget. When Jesus returned to heaven the Bible says God planned to still send prophets to keep in touch!

<Ephesians 4:8>
“Wherefore He saith, when He ascended up on high, He led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men.”

Notice what these gifts were.

<Ephesians 4:11>
“And He gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists, and some, pastors and teachers.”

Why these gifts? Verse 12 says,

“For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ.”

Well how long are these gifts to remain in the church?

<Ephesians 4:13>
“Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God...unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.”

The gifts strengthen, encourage, and give ongoing stability to the church.

<Ephesians 4:14>
“That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive.”

Let me put it this way. God’s prophets are the “eyes” of the church. What would we do without our eyes? Pretty necessary for us to function, right? In fact, Paul likened the church to the “body of Christ.” A body has ears, feet, a head, hands, eyes!

<1 Corinthians 12:27>
“...you are the body of Christ...”

<Colossians 1:18>
“And He is the head of the body, the church...”

But without eyes we’d soon lose our way, right? Without vision the church would be blind, too! That’s why we need prophets, “seers” the Bible says.

<Proverbs 29:18>
“Where there is no vision, the people perish...”

Someone says, “Well, maybe that was in Bible times, but are we to have modern prophets and visions, too? There’s weird stuff out there. Jean Dixon. Mohammed. Joseph Smith. Mary Baker Eddy. What about those?”

The Bible is crystal clear in Acts 2:17-18 that we are to have prophets. Notice:

“And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your young men shall see visions, your old men shall dream dreams. And on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days; and they shall prophesy.”

1 Corinthians 1:6-8 says

“...so that you come short in no gift, eagerly waiting for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will also confirm you to the end...”

Did you see? God’s last day “called out” people will have these gifts including prophecy. It’s just that simple.

O, but watch out! Jesus warned in Matthew 7:15,

“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.”

<Matthew 24:24>
“For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.”

He doesn’t say reject all modern prophets, just the false ones. In 1 Thessalonians 5:20, 21 Paul tells us,

“Do not despise prophecies. Test all things; hold fast what is good.”

I hold in my hand a counterfeit $13 bill. Anyone believe me? Of course not! Why? Because there’s no genuine $13 bill. No fool would waste time making a counterfeit if there’s no genuine. Do you see the parallel? Satan isn’t going to waste his time counterfeiting with a lot of false prophets in these last days if there isn’t a true genuine around. When Jesus says, “Right down at the end of time, watch out for false prophets!” He’s indicating, “Lonnie, there are true prophets, too. Beware of false prophets...Yet at the same time, believe in God’s true gift of prophecy.”

Do you know what happened to the gift of prophecy after Christ ascended to heaven and after all His apostles and disciples died?

Sad to say, not many generations passed until the New Testament church became so careless and so unfaithful to God…prophecy basically ceased. There was so much heresy and so much apostasy the prophetic gift became mute for centuries.

Jeremiah records what always happens whenever God’s people apostatize:

<Lamentations 2:9>
“…the law is no more, and her prophets no longer find visions from the Lord.”

Check it out. Throughout the Bible whenever God’s people abandoned God’s law (especially the Sabbath), “Boom!” The lights went out. The gift of prophecy died out. And…

<Proverbs 29:18>
“Where there is no [prophetic] vision, the people perish.”

So in the early centuries of the Christian church, when it apostatized and adopted pagan rites and practices, and jettisoned fundamental Bible truths, guess what? One by one the spiritual gifts dried up.

During the Dark Ages, there were very few evangelists, pastors, or teachers. Bibles were literally locked up and chained shut. Forbidden to own or read or interpret.

Just a handful of true Christians secretly holding tenaciously to New Testament Bible truth. God’s precious little “remnant,” as we’ve studied – despite persecution – hung on. And the gift of prophecy was all but extinguished.

Until finally after 1,500 years Wycliffe, Luther, and others slowly began turning on the lights again! Translating the Bible into the common languages of the people. Secretly distributing them. Punished if the authorities found out. But persecution only whetted people’s appetite for more of God’s Word.

Old truths obscured for centuries began to surface. The great religious awakening of the Reformation exploded. The Renaissance brought light and truth. Revival.

Spiritual power began to spread like fire through many churches. Bible societies were born. Translating the Bible into dozens of languages. And guess what happened? Evangelists. Pastors. Teachers...the “gifts of the spirit” began coming back into the church! And by the mid-1800s, the long-absent gift – the gift of prophecy – was restored to God’s people. The Spirit of Prophecy to a group of dedicated Baptists, Methodists, Presbyterians, Congregationalists, and others – earnestly searching the Scriptures; praying for light.

These believers were in South America, England, Europe, and in the New England states. As they searched the Bible from cover to cover, they discovered something: God’s Law was being trampled on. God’s great memorial of creation – the day God asked His people to “remember.”

They read Revelation, and saw there the description of God’s last-day people:

<Revelation 14:12>
“Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.”

They were impressed that keeping the commandments of God involved keeping the Bible Sabbath. Simultaneously, as these sincere Baptist-Methodists and Christians of different faiths courageously rediscovered that missing fundamental Sabbath truth, guess what? The missing spiritual gift – the gift of prophecy – was also restored.

God had been waiting! Wanting to get back in touch with His last-day people again! Just like He predicted He would in Joel 2:28, 31. And they discovered in Revelation 12:17, God’s special “called out ones” from Babylon are those…

“who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.”

Well, what was this “testimony of Jesus?” Over the page they read in Revelation 19:10,

“…the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.”

Ah! In other words, in the last days we must look for a Bible-based church characterized by having the faith of Jesus, keeping all the commandments of God, and being blessed by the gift of prophecy.

Because God still wants to “keep in touch.” He still has something to say to this generation. But you ask, “What about the possibility of deception? How can we tell the difference between a genuine prophet of God and an imposter?”

Throughout history there have been false prophets. That’s why the Bible lists detailed qualifications – distinct characteristics – that identify a true prophet. Let’s look at some.

1.) A true prophet’s message will be in complete harmony with God’s Word and His law.

<Isaiah 8:20>
“To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no Light in them.”

2.) A true prophet’s predictions come to pass!

<Jeremiah 28:9>
“…when the word of the prophet shall come to pass, then shall the prophet be known, that the Lord hath truly sent him.”

3.) A true prophet edifies the church. Not to get rich like some psychics on TV. No. They instruct. They encourage. They counsel. They point out sin. They don’t predict who movie stars are going to marry.

<1 Corinthians 14:3, 4>
“But he that prophesieth speaketh unto men to edification, and exhortation, and comfort...but he that prophesieth edifieth the church.”

4.) A true prophet always exalts Jesus Christ as the Son of God and the Savior of mankind:

<1 John 4:1, 2>
“Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits, whether they are of God, because many false prophets are gone out into the world...Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God.”

5.) A true prophet or prophetess can be known by his or her life and works.

<Matthew 7:16, 18>
“By their fruit you will recognize them. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit.”

6.) A true prophet never disagrees with previous prophets.

<1 Corinthians 14:32>
“And the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets.”

In other words, they never say, “I’ve got new light. I supercede the Bible.” There are some major denominations who claim, “We have a prophet, and our prophet has new light different from the Bible.” That’s a yellow flag, Paul says. Watch out. “The spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets.”

They line up with all these spiritual tests. And by the way, while not a biblical test, true prophets have often experienced some rather unusual physical phenomena, especially while in vision. Quickly, notice five.

1. The person is in a trance-like state. (Acts 10:10)
2. The person does not breath while in vision. (Dan. 10:17)
3. The person’s natural strength departs. (Dan. 10:8)
4. The person is given brief supernatural strength. (Dan. 10:18)
5. The person’s eyes remain open. (Num. 24:3, 4, 16)

No matter who claims to be a prophet for God, you apply the biblical tests! If they pass, thank God! If they don’t, follow Christ’s warning: Be cautious.

The Voice of Prophecy says clearly, that God’s last-day “remnant” have two identifying marks. Has that happened? Are there a people who keep all the commandments of God? And also have the testimony of Jesus? (the gift of prophecy)

I want to tell you an amazing story, about a woman – born in the 1800's, into this confusing world of different religions and multi-denominations. I believe God clearly used her to establish exactly the kind of church, we've been talking about.

It’s a very beautiful story how God chose to “keep in touch” with His people around 1800 as Christians began making known to the world truths which had lain dormant for centuries, including the Sabbath truth which came to these believers through our friends the Seventh-day Baptists.

It was the time of the Great Religious Awakening of the early 19th Century – a time of tremendous interest in Bible study and prayer. And the prophecies of Daniel and Revelation.

But then the “Great Disappointment” of 1844 crushed the followers of Baptist preacher, William Miller. Lutherans. Methodists. Congregationalists. All suffered bitter, unbearable pain. The wonderful great revival in many of these churches that “Jesus is Coming” was in crisis. Jesus wasn’t coming. Now what?

Would God forsake all these sincere lovers of Jesus and seekers for truth? No. He never does. He wanted them to know He cared. And at this most crucial moment, God chose to restore the gift of prophecy to His people. Surprisingly, He called upon one of His young handmaidens.

Ellen Harmon received her first vision right after that Great Disappointment, in December of 1844. She had been a Methodist. But she was shown God’s faithful people (who believed in the advent) traveling along an elevated pathway to heaven with a brilliant light illuminating their way. What an encouragement this message was to this scattered group of believers, nicknamed “Advents” or “Adventists,” decades later to become known as Seventh-day Adventists.

For more than 70 years, she spoke, she wrote, she taught, and she counseled for God.

Her greatest work, as she put it: “To lead men and women to the ‘greater light’” – the Bible. She championed the Scriptures as the final court of appeal in all doctrinal questions.

“Cling to your Bible as it reads and stop your criticism in regard to its validity and obey the Word, and not one of you will be lost.”

God blessed her ministry. Few authors ever produced as much published religious material as Ellen White did in her lifetime: 100,000 pages (over 52 books). Magazine articles, tracts, pamphlets, and personal letters of counsel, advice, and reproof.

She wrote widely on many subjects. Doctors and educators are still running to catch up with some of her insights. Imagine a book on education written by a person whose formal education ended at the age of nine. Yet a professor at Columbia University has praised its educational principles. Frankly, it is one of the great textbooks of all time on education. She wrote on diet, health, medicine, prenatal care, drugs, marriage and the home, child guidance and much, much, more. Astronomy. History. Church organization. Numerous devotional books. All based totally in Scripture. Explaining it in modern language.

Her medical counsel helped found Loma Linda University Medical Center and hundreds of hospitals around the world, 300 high schools and colleges, 4,000 secondary and elementary schools – the largest Protestant school system in the world. Seminaries. Universities – all the result of her writings and influence.

She’s still quoted by professors, doctors, news commentators – even by Paul Harvey News and by the late Dr. Clive M. McCay from Cornell University – as an authority in many of these fields.

For example, as far back as 1864, Ellen White wrote on medicine making statements people laughed at in her day. Because she was so far ahead of her time. She wrote: “Tobacco is a poison of the most deceitful and malignant kind. It is all the more dangerous because its effects upon the system are so slow and scarcely perceivable.”

Why is this remarkable? Because doctors in her day were prescribing smoking! Medical science believed tobacco and cigar smoke cured certain kinds of lung disease!

But she shared more. Mrs. White never heard of a “virus” in her day – but in 1905 she wrote that there were cancerous “germs.”

“…fatal diseases can be thus communicated.” –The Ministry of Healing, p. 313

Ninety-three years later, Newsweek magazine carried a headline story, “Viruses are Activating Factors in Cancer.”

In 1902, Ellen White warned San Francisco and Oakland they’d be visited by the Lord because they were becoming like Sodom and Gomorrah. (Manuscript 1902, p. 114)

On April 18, 1906 at 5:12 a.m., the Great San Francisco Earthquake occurred. Her prophecy was true. The predicted judgment did take place.

Who was Ellen White? What was she like? The answer takes us back to November 26, 1827, during the presidency of John Quincy Adams.

Twin girls – Elizabeth and Ellen – were born to a Methodist family near Gorham, Maine. Ellen was the last of eight children born to Eunice and Robert Harmon. A normal happy, healthy little girl until the age of 9.

But one day, an accident changed her life forever. She and her sister were trying to run away from an older girl, a classmate, who was chasing them. As they ran, Ellen turned to see how close the girl was. Just then the girl threw a rock, struck her on the bridge of her nose and seriously injured her.

For three weeks she was unconscious. Doctors didn’t give her much hope to live. So she never went back to school again.

Doctors said she had TB and would only live six months. But Ellen struggled on. Since she could no longer attend school, she became an avid student of the Bible and started attending religious meetings and revivals and was converted at a Methodist camp meeting in Buxton, Maine. Later, on June 26, 1842, she was baptized in the Atlantic Ocean at Portland, Maine.

She and her family attended meetings in Portland, Maine, conducted by a Baptist lay preacher, William Miller, a former army captain who was preaching on the prophecies of Daniel and Revelation!

The Harmon family was absolutely convinced of the truthfulness of Miller’s messages. But after the great disappointment of October 22, 1844, they too were devastated that Jesus hadn’t come. Ellen was only 17. She wept, she prayed, she studied God’s Word for an answer, as did thousands of the “advent” believers. Should they give up their faith? What were they to do? And that was when God called upon Ellen Harmon to be His prophetess. “Me? A prophetess? A 17-year-old girl, fighting tuberculosis and a heart condition? Me help these people?”

In December of 1844, in her own words, she tells of her reaction:

“After I had the vision, and God gave me light, He bade me deliver it...but I shrank from it. I was young, and I thought they would not receive it from me.”

I’m too weak! I can’t do it! I don’t have an education. But the Lord told her, “Ellen, I will strengthen you.” So, humbly she promised, “Lord, if you can use me, help yourself!”

And so it was that God called young Ellen Harmon to be His messenger to His remnant people. The Lord did strengthen her.

On August 30, 1846, Ellen married James White, a young preacher. Four boys were born to Ellen and James: Henry, Edson, William, and Herbert. Ellen Gould White lived not only six months, but to the age of 87. Seven decades longer than doctors predicted!

She died near St. Helena, California July 16, 1915. For 70 years of faithful ministry God used her to help the world re-discover Bible truth. Guiding, instructing, counseling, writing.

A few weeks after her death, a New York newspaper carried this statement: “She showed no spiritual pride and she sought no filthy lucre. She lived the life and did the work of a worthy prophetess, the most admirable of the American succession.”

Yes, her voice is stilled tonight – her pen is at rest. She’s sleeping. Waiting for the resurrection. But because of her exemplary life and the marvelous unfailing guidance both she and her writings have been to the church, Seventh-day Adventists believe the gift of prophecy was manifested in the life and work of Mrs. Ellen G. White. She wasn’t perfect. She never originated any new doctrine of the church. She never called herself a prophet. She said, “I’m a messenger.” We don’t accept her writings in place of the Bible, or as a part of it, or even as an addition to it. We accept her for what she claimed to be: a manifestation of the “gift of prophecy” promised God’s church in these last days as specified in Revelation 12:17.

Not to take the place of Scripture. Never! Her writings only magnify the Scriptures and help make them more plain. They’re God’s Magnifying Glass. That’s what a prophet’s supposed to do! Magnify and support the Scriptures. A magnifying glass – does it change the writing on a page? No. It only helps me see the print more clearly. Over and over she stressed: “My writings aren’t to give new light; but to impress vividly upon the heart the truths of inspiration already revealed.”

In fact, at the close of one of her last large public meetings, as she turned to sit down, she stopped. She walked back to the pulpit. Picking up the Bible, she pressed it close to her; then held it outstretched on her hands and said, “Brethren and sisters! I commend to you this Book.” Not my writings. This Book! That’s just the kind of woman she was.

Ellen died in 1915, yet if you go out to the internet and do a word search for Ellen G. White, you’ll quickly discover that she is one of today’s most “tested” prophets. She’s been attacked umpteen times. But go to this website for another view: www.whiteestate.org. I encourage you to visit the EGW Estate website to learn more about her life, writings, and to research any questions you may have regarding her ministry.

Her legacy, you see, is a message to earth from across the universe, from a God of love who still wants to “keep in touch” with His children just before Christ comes. God promised He’d do that!

<1 Corinthians 1:4-8>
“I thank my God always concerning you for the grace of God which was given to you by Christ Jesus, that you were enriched in everything by Him in all utterance and all knowledge, even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you, so that you come short in no gift, eagerly waiting for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will also confirm you to the end, that you may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

God says to us today in 2 Chronicles 20:20:

“…Believe in the LORD your God, and you shall be established; believe His prophets, and you shall prosper.”

Isn’t that encouraging? He has given us guidance. He has given us hope for today. And He has given us prophetic guidance for tomorrow, just as He has all through time.

Through the Voice of Prophecy, I simply want to invite you to examine some of these books. Read a couple of them. Test them. Every one is written simply, clearly. Take this little book “Steps to Christ” or “Desire of Ages” home – your downlink location is making them available or giving it away so you can take a look at the possibilities these books have to enrich your life. “Steps to Christ” is one of my favorite devotionals. Published in more languages than any other religious book except the Bible.

If you enjoy the preaching of my messages from night to night, it’s because of the wonderful impact these books have made on me personally. They have helped me fall in love with Jesus! And with prophecy!

<Hosea 12:10, 13>
“I have so spoken by the prophets, and have multiplied visions; I have given symbols through the witness of the prophets…by a prophet the Lord brought Israel out of Egypt, and by a prophet he was preserved.”

It’s a very precious gift, friend – the Spirit of Prophecy. Will you consider these messages from beyond the stars? Good news! Comforting news that God still speaks through His prophets. I promise you this, the time of trouble and the seven last plagues are not to be feared, when you’ve got God on your side!! This could be the most important commitment of your life.