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Lectures on the Spirit of Prophecy

Germany, 25 through 28 of May 2006

 

By:  Johannes Terinathe

 

          Greetings to all of you, Brethren and Sisters. Thanks a lot to your Board of Trustees, for the invitation to enable me to stand here before you. I am not a very eloquent preacher as you might think, nor even a well known minister of the gospel, to come to you with good sermons. I only want to teach you the foundation of our faith as Seventh-Day Adventists. Ellen G. White as the servant of the Lord and the establisher of our SDA Church, had ever said:

 

          “Ministers should present the sure word of prophecy as the foundation of the faith of Seventh-Day Adventists. The prophecies of Daniel and the Revelation should be carefully studied, and in connection with them the words, ‘Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.’” – Gospel Workers, p. 148.

 

“There should be less preaching and more teaching. There are those who want more definite light than they receive from hearing the sermons. ……. If the truth presented could be a little plainer, they would see it and take hold of it, and it would be like a nail fastened in a sure place.

 

“There must be less sermonizing and more tact to educate the people in practical religion.” – 6 Testimonies, p. 87.

 

“True religion means living the word in your practical life. Your profession is not of any value without the practical doing of the word.” – Test. To Ministers, p. 127.

 

Now let us read together the statement of  MOSES:

 

“The secret things belong unto the Lord our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this Law.” – Deuteronomy 29 : 29.

 

           In the Spirit of Prophecy Moses is well-known as a historian of the creation and the law scientist, and John the Revelator is known as the recorder of the most sublime truths of the Bible. Please Read The Great Controversy, p. 7.  In his book entitled Deuteronomy 29 : 29 he has divided the Bible into two separate divisions, consist of The Constitution or the Law of the Ten Commandments as the basic Law, on the one side, and those revealed things of the Bible as the by-law on the other side. The act of dividing the Law into such two divisions is very common known among the modern people in this time. And the by-law usually contains the rules of implementation or the rules of doing the Constitution.  It seemed clearly that not only Moses had been familiar with the way of dividing the law into such two divisions, but the other authors of the Bible too, such as the prophets David and Isaiah, and the apostles Matthew and John; these have the same scientific knowledge on the act of dividing the Law into those two divisions. Let us now look at each of their statements in the following quotations:

 

Moses the prophet:

 

“The secret things belong unto the Lord our God; but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.” – Deuteronomy 29 : 29.

 

The secret things which belong to God will not be revealed unto us in the Bible. The only secret thing that had been informed us  is found in Revelation 10 : 4  : “And when the seven thunders had  uttered their voices, I was about to write : and I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Seal up those things which the seven thunders uttered, and write them not.”

 

The story of the seven thunders could not be found in the book of Revelation. And that is why they could not be interpreted for us in this time of the end.

 

However, those things which are revealed are to be found in the Bible. And those secret things of the Bible, which comprise the prophecies of the Old Testament prophets, and the book of Revelation, and the parables of Jesus, are to be interpreted in the SPIRIT OF PROPHECY.  So those things which are revealed in the Bible and in the SPIRIT OF PROPHECY belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of the Ten Commandments. Here is seen clearly how Moses divided the Bible into two separate portions: The Law of the Ten Commandments as the Constitution on the one side, and those revealed in the Bible and THE SPIRIT OF PROPHECY, as the BY-LAW on the other side.

 

David the prophet:

 

“Blessed are the undefiled in the way, which walk in the law of the Lord. Blessed are they that keep his testimonies and seek him with the whole heart.” – Psalm 119 : 1, 2.

 

“Oh how love I thy law! It is my meditation all the day. Thou through thy commandments hast made me wiser than mine enemies; for they are ever with me. I have more understanding than all my teachers: for thy testimonies are my meditation.” – Psalm 119 : 97 – 99.

 

David had divided the Bible in his life time into two separate portions, namely the law of the Lord or the Constitution on the one side, and His testimonies on the other side. The testimonies are the by-law, containing the rules of implementation of the law.

 

The prophet Isaiah:

 

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

 

Here again the prophet Isaiah had divided the Bible in his life time into two separate portions, namely the law of God or the Constitution on the one side, and the testimony or the by-law containing the rules of implementations, on the other side.

 

Matthew the apostle:

 

“Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets.” – Matthew 7 : 12.

 

The law and the prophets mean to be the law of God and the testimonies of the prophets in the Old Testament Scriptures. It seemed that Matthew had uttered that statement in his time when the new testaments Scriptures were not as yet available. So the testimonies of the prophets must contain the rules of implementations of the Law.

 

John the Revelator:

 

“And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.” – Revelation 12 : 17. “For the testimony of Jesus Christ is the Spirit of Prophecy.” – Revelation 19 : 10 margin.

 

In the life time of John the Revelator when he wrote the book of Revelation, the New Testament Scriptures have been already in existent. That is why he said that the remnant Church of God will comprise only those who keep the Law of the Ten Commandments and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. Since all the secrets of the Bible will be revealed in the time of the end, then the testimony of Jesus Christ in the time of the end would also include those newly revelations of the secret things of the Bible. And all these revelations would be accommodated in the SPIRIT OF PROPHECY, to be the by-law or the rules of implementation for the Law of God in this time of the end.

 

Although the Bible as the law of God was just for the first time written by Moses when the history of the world has reached its 2500 years, it does not mean that the law during that long period of time does not also consist of those two divisions. So let it be understood that it is the characteristic of the law itself that it must be divided into two divisions:  The Constitution or the Law of the Ten Commandments on the one side, and the testimony or the testimony of Jesus Christ or the SPIRIT OF PROPHECY, on the other side. 

 

The Author of the Law is God the Father Himself. The Author of the Bible and all its interpretations in the SPIRIT OF PROPHECY is Jesus Christ. Thus said Sister White in the book The Great Controversy,  p. 7 – 8.

 

 

 

 

From the Testimony, to the Testimony of Jesus Christ, and then became The SPIRIT OF PROPHECY.

 

          Now we can see that the Law of God or the Constitution is unchangeable from time to time, because it contains the character of God Himself. And the testimony as the by-law, however, is changeable. As well as the inhabitants of God’s people in the world continue to increase, so is the by-law to increase. It is first called the testimony, because the name of Jesus was not as yet known in the Old Testament era. Later in the New Testament it is called by the name testimony of Jesus Christ, because Jesus was already popular among His people. And later when all the secret things of the Bible have been interpreted in the time of the end, then the name was again developed unto the SPIRIT OF PROPHECY. The SPIRIT OF PROPHECY is not the Spirit of God. It is the product of the Spirit of God in the writings of the New Testament prophets, to be found in the books of The Spirit of Prophecy by Ellen G. White and in the books of the Shepherd’s Rod by Victor T. Houteff.  Sister White said:

 

“In ancient times God spoke to men by the mouth of the prophets and apostles. In these days He speaks to them by the testimonies of His Spirit. There was never a time when God instructed His people more earnestly than He instructs them now concerning His will, and the course that He would have them pursue.” – 5 Testimonies, p. 661.

 

In the time of the end Jesus, Who has been represented by His Spirit, is to guide His messengers (Ellen G. White and Houteff) to provide us with THE SPIRIT OF PROPHECY.  And that is why Sister White named it THE TESTIMONY OF HIS SPIRIT or THE TESTIMONY OF JESUS’ SPIRIT.

 

          Since the Law of God must be obeyed by all generations of the people of the world, then the people must take into their practical life all the words in the testimony, or in the testimony of Jesus Christ, or in the SPIRIT OF PROPHECY.  For those living in the Old Testament time they had to practice all the rules of implementation in the testimony that they may do all the words of the Law. But for those living in the New Testament era, especially for those living in the time of the apostles, they have to take into their practical doing the words of the Testimony of Jesus  Christ, that they also may do the word of the Law. And for you and me now living in the time of the end where all the prophecies and the parables of the Bible have been revealed in our Church, we are bound to obey the Law of God by only obeying all the instructions given us in the SPIRIT OF PROPHECY. This SPIRIT OF PROPHECY is a combination of the message of the angel of Revelation 18 : 1 and the third angel message of Revelation 14 : 6 – 9.  And only in the SPIRIT OF PROPHECY could be found all the Bible doctrines revealed and arranged especially for the use and benefit of the people of God who are now living in the time of the end. For us the Bible and the SPIRIT OF PROPHECY are inseparable. But we are bound to obey only those things which are interpreted in the SPIRIT OF PROPHECY.

 

 Spiritual identity of God’s people in the time of the end. — Revelation 12 : 17; 19 : 10 margin. Read the whole verses.

 

          “And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. ……Worship God: for the testimony of Jesus Christ is the Spirit of Prophecy. “ – Revelation 12 : 17; 19 : 10, margin.  

 

The woman symbolizes the Church, and so the Child is Jesus Christ; the seed is the Christian; the remnant of her seed is the remnant Church in the time of the end, which are to suffer during the time of trouble a short period before the close of probation.

 

The identity of the remnant Church in the time of the end is to keep the Law of God, and to have the Testimony of Jesus Christ, which is THE SPIRIT OF PROPHECY.

 

We must not rest satisfied with only the message in the New Testament Bible, nor with only the Spirit of Prophecy by Ellen G. White, to be the foundation of our faith, because they are not as yet complete. God will not save us with only an incomplete gospel. Suppose should God be willing to save us with an incomplete gospel, then all the Christian Churches of the world should have been saved into Heaven with all their incompleteness. And that is illogical and illegitimate and even impossible. We even cannot be saved with only the Spirit of Prophecy by Ellen G. White, because as long as the new message of the fourth angel of Rev. 18 : 1is still absent, there would be no power nor light to enlighten the earth , which could enable us to understand fully the three angels’ messages. As long as the light of the angel of Revelation 18 : 1 still absent to unite his voice with the third angel to enlighten the earth with its glory, we would never be able to say as did David the prophet of old when he said:  “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.” Psalm 119 : 105.

 

           Up to 1915 when Sister White died, the new light of the angel of Revelation 18 : 1 had not as yet come. But she had warned us of the new light that is to come later to unite with the message of the Spirit of Prophecy. From her statement we read as follows:

 

          “Then I saw another mighty angel commissioned to descend to the earth, to unite his voice with the third angel, and give power and force to his message. Great power and glory were imparted to the angel, and as he descended, the earth was lightened with its glory.” – Early Writings, p. 277.

 

Now let us look at the slide!  The Law of God in its entirety from LOVE to THE TEN COMMANDMENTS (Four on the left and six on the right), and their details in the BIBLE, and their interpretations in the SPIRIT OF PROPHECY.

 

                  

 

 

Firstly: The Christian World today upholds the word “LOVE” of God very high. Meanwhile most of our Seventh-Day Adventists also join them in orchestrating the LOVE in like manner. But they forget that Satan is so cunning to darken their mind to the fact, that the LOVE is only just the character of God in principle. Only in principle. It sounds very great and wonderful, but still impracticable to our every day living. Because it is not the Law of God. Whereas we need a practical doing of the Law of love in our religious life. The servant of the Lord said:

 

“True religion means living the word in your practical life. Your profession is not of any value without the practical doing of the word.” – Testimonies to Ministers, p. 127.

 

Since many of our people lack the knowledge of the Rules of Implementation of the Law in the SPIRIT OF PROPHECY, many of us are in the dark of how to love GOD supremely with all our heart, and with all our might. The voice of God pleading with His people in this time of the end has been so neglected, only because the prophetic and parabolic languages of the Bible have not been revealed to them through their high institutions of learning, or through their most respected leadership in the General Conference of Seventh-Day Adventists. Sister White said:

 

“Those who allow prejudice to bar their mind against the reception of truth cannot receive the divine enlightenment. Yet, when a view of Scripture is presented, many do not ask, is it true – in harmony with God’s word? But, by whom is it advocated? And unless it comes through the very channel that pleases them, they do not accept it ………” – Testimonies to Ministers, p. 106.

 

Having the LOVE of God, without comprehending those specifications in the Ten Commandments and their interpretations in the Bible and the SPIRIT OF PROPHECIES, no one could show their LOVE to their own Creator or even to their own fellowmen. LOVE is the source of the Law of God. It is not the Law of God itself. So let us understand that the LOVE is inseparable from the Law of the Ten Commandments. And the Law of Ten Commandment is also inseparable from its rules of implementations in the Bible and THE SPIRIT OF PROPHECY. The definition of the Law according to the Law experts is as follows:

 

“The Law is the norms and the rules and the regulations, either written or not written, which oblige people to do something, or forbid people from doing anything, all of which are necessary for arranging and maintaining peace and order in the community.”

 

This is a very simple definition of the Law, although actually there is many more of such definition to be found in the domain of the Law science. Every nation of the world has their own norms and rules and the regulations, but it is the same law for maintaining peace and order. We can see for ourselves how important the Law of God is for maintaining peace and order, either between men and the Lord as our Creator, and also between the human beings ourselves. 

 

In this modern time of the end where knowledge has been developed everywhere in the modern societies, let us beware that we are not to love God supremely and to love our fellowmen according  to the law of the nations, or according to the cultures and traditions of men. The practical doing of such love is now rampant among the so-called Christians of today. And it is not the practical doing of the word of God in the SPIRIT OF PROPHECY.       

 

The True F a i t h

 

 

 

 

Secondly:  The Chart of FAITH

 

Sister White said:  “When Nicodemus a great teacher in Israel, came to Jesus, the Master laid before him the conditions of divine life, teaching him the very alphabet of conversion.”– 6 Testimonies, p. 154.

 

“The work for these last days is a missionary work… Present truth, from the first letter of its alphabet to the last, means missionary effort.” – Counsels on Health, p. 300.

 

“True religion means living the word in your practical life. Your profession is not of any value without the practical doing of the word.” – Testimonies to Ministers, p. 127.

 

True religion means having the true faith, which is the belief that is followed by works, because faith without work is nil or nothing. Faith itself must be based upon the whole truth of the Bible from A — up to — Z. That is the whole Truth found in the SPIRIT OF PROPHECY, especially provided for the people in the time of the end. The servant of the Lord said:

 

           “We may not, in this life, be able to explain the meaning of every passage of Scripture; but there are no vital points to practical truth that will be clouded in mystery.“ — Testimonies, vol. 2, p. 692. 

 

We are now living in the time of the end. Just in this time the word of Jesus in John 16 : 13 will be completely fulfilled. Jesus said: “Howbeit when he, the Spirit of Truth come, he will guide you into all Truth …… and he will shown you things to come.”  (John 16 : 13). The Spirit of the first Pentecost is still abiding with us today, which is the Spirit of the early rain. The Spirit of the latter rain, which is prophesied by the prophet Joel in his book, chapter 2 is still in the future.  With the aid of the Spirit, the Bible and all the prophetic and the parabolic words of Jesus, have now been interpreted into the SPIRIT OF PROPHECY by Mrs. E.G. White and Bro. Victor T. Houteff.

 

Why are the prophecies and the parables of Jesus being categorized as parts of the four Commandments to love God supremely, and not as parts of the six Commandments to love our fellowmen? Let us keep always in mind that God is now speaking with us in this time of the end, using those prophetic and parabolic words.  As well as how He spoke to Adam and Eve in Eden, the same way He is now speaking to us to show us the way to the deliverance from sin and its consequences.  If you truly and honestly love God, you will not repeat the sin of Adam and Eve in the past by neglecting His words, because the consequences will be more dangerous…

 

Most of our people today in their petitions to the Lord for the forgiveness of sin, they even do not know which rules of the Law they have transgressed, because they do not as yet have the SPIRIT OF PROPHECY to be the foundation of their faith. Most people today have been more familiar with the law of the land and the culture of the community wherein they live, than with the Law of God. When they err, instead of going to the Law of God and its rules of implementations in the SPIRIT OF PROPHECY for correction to repent, they go right away to the Lord to pray for the forgiveness of sin. They think the Lord would always be willing to forgive whatever sin they have been committed in, although without any repentance on their parts. You see, how illogical it is!

 

The Old and the New Testament Prophets

 

          There are two generations of God’s prophets: The Old Testament prophets of Matthew 11 : 13, and the New Testament prophets of Ephesians 4 : 11 – 14. Let us read together those verses here below:

 

“For all the prophets and the Law prophesied until John.” – Matthew 11 : 13.

 

“And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the  ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ : till we all come in the 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 : 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.” — Ephesians 4 : 11 – 14.   And Sister White said:

 

“God has a church, and she has a divinely appointed ministry. ‘And He gave some apostles; and some, prophets; and some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ …………..etc.“ – Testimonies to Ministers, p. 52.

 

We all know better the Old Testament prophets, because they are the writers of the Old Testament Scriptures. However, for identifying those New Testament prophets we must first know their works. They will be identified by their works. That is why we must read again the Ephesians 4 : 11 – 14 carefully, and then look at the following statement given us by Sister White :

 

           “The  r e f o r m a t i o n did not, as many suppose, end with Luther. It is to be continued to the close of this worlds’ history. Luther had a great work to do in reflecting to others the light which God had permitted to shine upon him; yet he did not receive all the light which was to be given to the world. From that time to this, new light has been continually shining upon the Scriptures, and new truths have been constantly unfolding. “— The Story of Redemption, p. 353.

 

It means:

 

1.  There is a need of reformation because there comes a new light to be presented to the people of God.

 

2.  Reformation would continue until the end of human history as long as new light or new truths continue to be revealed one complemented the others until the end of time.

 

3.   Luther was the first reformer with his first light of truth God has given him at the time.

 

4.    Due to the continuity of new lights ever coming from time to time up to the time of the end, the lights have themselves shown to us that not only Luther was the reformer of his time; there are more reformers coming down after him with each of their new light of truth.

 

The New Testament prophets will be identified by their work to edify the body of Christ or the Church of God with the light of truth they proclaimed. So we are obliged to acknowledge Luther as the first prophet of God in the New Testament era, because he edified the body of Christ, which was the Protestant Church at its beginning. Then followed by John Knox, who was the establisher of the Presbyterian Church. And John Wesley, the establisher of the Methodist Church, and then Alexander Campbell, William Miller, Ellen G. White, and   Victor T. Houteff.  All of them are the reformers in the New Testament era. Let us now look at the chart!

 

The first four reformers have been tasked to restore all the truths which have been darkened by the papacy of the Roman Catholic Church during the dark ages of religion. But the last three reformers, William Miller, Sister Ellen G. White, and Brother Victor T. Houteff, besides restoring the Sabbath Truth, they also have been tasked to reveal the entire secrets of the Bible into the SPIRIT OF PROPHECY.  Here is fulfilled in among us the word of Ellen G. White:

 

“Each of the ancient prophets spoke less for their own time than for ours, so that their prophesying is in force for us.” – 3 Selected Messages, p. 338.

 

So the ancient prophets spoke to us in the prophetic words of the Old Testament Bible, and the latter days prophets revealed them for us in the SPIRIT OF PROPHECY.  This is according to the procedure as stated by Amos the prophet, when he said: “Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but He revealed His secrets unto His servants the prophets. “ – Amos 3 : 7.

 

Those things restored by the prophets are as follows:

 

(1) The Just shall live by Faith, by Martin Luther,

 

(2) The Holy Spirit, by John Knox,

 

(3) The Grace, by John Wesley,

 

(4) Baptism through immersion, by Alexander Campbell,

 

(5) The Sabbath of the fourth Commandment, by Ellen G. White

 

And those secret things revealed by the prophets in the time of the end are:

 

(1) The Judgment at the end of the 2300 days of Daniel 8 : 14, which began in 1844, by William Miller

 

(2) The Judgment  began for the dead, by Ellen G. White

 

(3) The Judgment for the Living, and the establishment of the Davidic Kingdom of the 144.000 elects of God as its first citizens, by Victor T. Houteff.

 

 

The Latter Days Prophets of Zachariah chapter 4.

 

(Look at the slide of the projector, and read the whole prophecy of Zachariah 4, and its interpretation in a special article dealing with the subject.)

 

 

              

Actually this prophecy teaches us three important things, namely: (1) the procedure of how the Bible truth could be obtained: not directly from the Bible, nor to be obtained through the interpretations by the ministers of the gospel, although after being accredited by the Organization of the General Conference of SDA. But only through the SPRIT OF PROPHECY.  This is the SPIRIT OF PROPHECY in the golden bowl, which is to be the foundation of the house, or the church of God in the time of the end. (2)  This prophecy shows us how the last prophet of God in this time of the end obtained the Bible truth, and then by the truth itself he had been divinely called or indirectly inspired to reveal more truths to fill the golden bowl. And later only by his hands he laid the foundation of the house, which is the Church of God in the time of the end.  Sister White in regard to this end had ever said:           

 

“In the highest sense the prophet was one who spoke by direct inspiration, communicating to the people the messages he had received from God. But the name was given also to those who, though not so directly inspired, were divinely called to instruct the people in the works and ways of God.” – Education, p. 46.

 

From the historical facts we know that the way Sister White got her messages was through directly inspired of God, when she was in vision. Sister White saw so many things in her visions, and then she wrote them all for us. But on the contrary Brother Victor T. Houteff was never in a trance to get his messages in vision as did Sister White. That is why Bro. Houteff should be categorized as the divinely called prophet, who was not directly inspired of God.  Please see at the projector.  And this is the reason why Bro. Houteff said:

 

“The Bible and the books of the Spirit of Prophecy being the sole source of the Shepherd’s Rod message, therefore when the Rod is taught, the Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy are taught.” — The Fundamental Beliefs, p. 27.

 

This is to prove that he has first read the Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy of Ellen G. White, prior to being divinely called to reveal all the prophecies and the parables of Jesus into his own publications by the name, THE SHEPHERD’S ROD. 

 

 

 

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