Testing The Prophet-1

February 26  Testing The Prophet-1

 


Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing. . .You will know them by their fruits. Matt. 7:15, 16, RSV.

Yesterday we noted the Bible command to test those who claim the prophetic gift. The early Sabbaterian Adventists did just that.

Take Joseph Bates, for example. After witnessing Ellen White in vision several times, he declared himself to be a "doubting Thomas." "I do not believe in [her] visions," he said. "But if I could believe that the testimony the sister has related tonight was indeed the voice of God to us, I should be the happiest man alive."

He claimed that her message deeply moved him, believed that she was sincere, and was somewhat mystified as to her experience." "Although I could see nothing in [the visions] that militated against the word," he later wrote, "yet I felt alarmed and tried exceedingly, and for a long time [was] unwilling to believe that it was anything more than what was produced by a protrated debilitated state of her body."

But even though he had his doubts, he did not just turn her out. Coming out of the Christian Connexion, he was at least open to the idea that the New Testament gifts of the Holy Spirit (including that of prophecy) would remain active in the church until the return of Christ.

As a result, Bates decided to investigate what Ellen believed to be a divine gift of prophecy. "I therefore," he penned, "sought opportunities in presence of others, when her mind seemed freed from excitement (out of meeting), to question, and cross question her and her friends which accompanied her, especially her elder sister, to get if possible at the truth. When she was in vision, Bates added, "I listened to every word, and watched every move to detect deception or mesmeric influences."

With Bates we find a case study of a person struggling between the natural proclivity to reject an individual's claim to the prophetic gift and the Bible command to test and accept that which is good (1Thess. 5:19-21).

We will return to Bates' struggle on the topic. But we need to be honest with our own selves. How is it with me? Are my mind and heart really open? Or am I so full of prefudice agianst (or for) such a gift that I am blind to evidence? May God grant each of us clear vision and open hearts on the topic.

God in His great love is seeking to develop in us the precious graces of His Spirit. He permits us to encounter obstacles, persecution, and hardships, not as a curse, but as the greatest blessing of our lives. Every temptation resisted, every trial bravely borne, gives us a new experience and advances us in the work of character building. The soul that through divine power resists temptation reveals to the world and to the heavenly universe the efficiency of the grace of Christ(TFMB, 117).