Sermon
Outline for Spirit of Prophecy Sabbath, October 18, 2003
GOD’S
MEANS OF COMMUNICATION
INTRODUCTION
Our
loving God is a God of communication. From the very beginning, He has communicated
with His creation. In fact, He not only communicates with us, He also urges
us to communicate with Him. In addition, He invites people to communicate with
one another in the same loving manner.
I
– BIBLE COMMUNICATION TERMS
1. “To
say” (Hebrew: amar) – Genesis 1:3. Immediately after the
verb “to create,” which
identifies
God as the supreme Creator of the universe, the next verb that refers to God
describes Him as a communicator. It is the verb “to say.” “God
said, let there be light” (Genesis 1:3).
2.
“To call”
(Hebrew: qara). This almost always carries the connotation of “shouting.”
“Then the Lord God called to Adam and said to him ‘where
are you?’” (Genesis 3:9, italics supplied).
3.
“To speak”
(Hebrew: dabar). It is used in the expression “Ten Words,”
usually translated as “Ten Commandments” (cf.
Deuteronomy 4:13; 10:4).
4.
“To reveal”
(Hebrew: galah). Deuteronomy 29:29: “The secret things belong to
the Lord our God, but those things which are revealed belong to us and to our
children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.”
II
– GOD’S AGENTS OF COMMUNICATION - HOW HE COMMUNICATES
1.
Through His prophets
(Hebrew: nabi). Amos 3:7: “Surely the Lord God does nothing, unless
He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets.” 2 Chronicles 20:20:
“Believe in the Lord your God, and you shall be established; believe His
prophets, and you shall prosper.”
2.
Through His priests
3.
Through the Urim and
Thummim (cf. Exodus 28:30).
4.
Through animals
5.
In “various ways.”
Hebrews 1:11: “In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets
at many times, and in various ways.”
6.
Through His Son (cf.
Heb. 2).
7.
In New Testament times.
Through His disciples. Matthew 24:14: “This gospel of the Kingdom will
be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end
will come.”
III
– GOD’S SPECIAL MEANS OF COMMUNICATION IN MODERN TIMES
1.
True prophets of God
-
The Seventh-day Adventist Church believes that it was called into existence
to confirm that Jesus will soon return to earth.
-
The church believes that it fulfills Revelation 14:12: “Here is the patience
of the saints: here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith
of Jesus.”
-
The Adventist Church believes it has been given the gift of prophecy (1 Corinthians
12:10; 14:1-6).
-
This gift was predicted by Joel 2:18: “And it shall come to pass afterward
that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall
prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions”
(Joel 2:18).
-
The Adventist Church believes that such a gift was bestowed in a special way
upon Ellen G. White , who referred to herself simply as the Lord’s “messenger.”
2.
God’s messages through Ellen White
- She
emphasized the need to preach the Gospel of the Kingdom.
-
She emphasized Jesus as our Saviour as well as His present role of being our
High Priest in the heavenly sanctuary.
-
She emphasized John the Baptist’s call to return to God, for the Kingdom
is at hand.
-
She called for revival and reformation in order to receive the final outpouring
of the Holy Spirit.
-
She emphasized the absolute need to love Jesus and His Ten Words.
-
She emphasized the need to live up to the message we proclaim, because our lifestyle
has to match our high calling.
-
She emphasized the great controversy between good and evil, something not generally
taught by theologians or other Christian churches.
3.
Divine messages/human messengers
-
2 Timothy 3:16: “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God (in the
original it is said that all Scriptures come out of God), and is profitable
for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.”
-
Are Ellen White’s writings a second Bible? They are not. In fact she considered
herself a lesser light helping to understand the greater light found in the
Holy Bible (2 Peter 1:19, 21). Throughout her life she kept pointing to the
Bible.
4.
Beware of false prophets
5.
A call to serious study
CONCLUSION:
Through
Ellen White we are reminded that the price of the cross was not cheap. We are
called to love Jesus with the same kind of love with which God so loved the
world that He gave His only begotten Son. We are called to communicate God’s
love to others in order to help prepare His church to meet Jesus. We have nothing
to fear for the future, unless we forget the marvelous way God has led and taught
this church in the past. (cf. Life Sketches, p. 196.)