"Do not despise prophesying, but test everything; hold fast what is good. 1 Thess. 5:20,21. (RSV)

Yes, it behooves us to be cautious when it comes to modern prophets for Matthew 24:24 tells us that many false prophets will arise to deceive. However, Christ does not warn us against all prophets, but only false prophets. We are admonished to "test" prophesying. We are counseled not to despise prophesying. We are urged to hold fast to the true.

The close of the Scripture canon did not mark the cessation of Heaven's communication with man. The close of Scripture did not take the gift of prophecy away from the spiritual gifts which are to edify God's church. Listen to what Paul tells us about the gifts Christ bestows upon His church until the end of time.

"Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which works all in all. ..." And one of those gifts is the gift of prophecy. (1 Corinth.12)

Corinthians begins with Paul addressing the whole church (1 Cor.1:2) and thanking the Lord that they have been enriched "Even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you: So that ye come behind in no gift; waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ:" (1:6,7)

Ephesians 4 says the same thing: "He gave some, apostles; and some, PROPHETS; and some, evangelists, and some, teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the EDIFYING of the body of Christ." (Verses 11,12)

Here we see three interesting things:
1. "The testimony of Christ" is one of the gifts. Revelation 19:10 identifies it--"for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy." Ephesians 4:11, 1 Cor. 14:22, and Romans 12:6 all include the gift of prophecy in their list of gifts given to the church.

2. This gift is part of the church that eagerly is waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

3. Christ confirms or shows his approval by bestowing the gift of prophecy or "testimony of Jesus" upon His true church.

We see this again in Revelation 12. The dragon is warring against the "woman" the true church, and in the end (verse 12:17) it is declared that his full fury is directed against the last true church identified as "Those who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus."

Let's look again at the meaning of the term "testimony of Jesus." For the end time true church is comprised and identified, according to Revelation 12:17, by those who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus. Revelation 19:10 says "the testimony of Jesus is the Spirit of Prophecy." Now let's look at Revelation 1:1-3 here we read that "The Revelation of Jesus Christ which God gave to Him, to show to His servants things which must shortly come to pass" "given to his servant John" (the prophet) "who bare record of the word and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of the things he saw. Blessed is he that reads and they that hear the words of this prophecy and keep those things which are written therein..."

Here the sequence is plain. The testimony of Jesus Christ is clearly linked to the prophecies of things that must come to pass, it is linked to God sending a message through a prophet that people may read and know and understand what must soon come to pass. Coupled with this is the admonition that this knowledge will change the person and they will "keep those things which are written."

If the testimony of Jesus is a gift to confirm the church looking for the coming of the Lord, (1 Cor.1:6,7) and if the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy (Rev. 19:10) and if the gift of prophecy is one of the gifts the Holy Spirit bestows upon a church to edify the church for "he that prophesies edifies the church, (1 Cor. 14:4) would it not be reasonable to expect God to give the His last day church a prophet?

How has God dealt with people in the past? Before any great calamity struck, God always sent a message of warning to His people. "Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, but he reveals his secret unto his servants the prophets," says Amos 3:7. The old testament prophets faithfully warned and entreated the people as destruction was descending upon them. Most all of these spokesmen for God were scorned, ridiculed, persecuted and some were even killed. Rarely was a prophet who predicted the end of worldly prosperity and called for a forsaking of sins, welcomed by either the majority of the people or even the popular religious leader. The religious leaders would usually rather take the old writings and interpret them in a pleasing fashion, then listen to the warnings and reproofs of a present day prophet.

Yet God sent these men to His people to warn them. This gives us another reason to believe that God would not allow the horrendous predictions of Revelation to come to pass before sending strong prophetic messages to warn the people. Revelation speaks of a massive deception to sweep the world. It warns of terrible things to befall those who follow the beast and his image. It speaks of only a remnant of faithful clinging to God's commandments and the faith and testimony of Jesus. Would not God make it plain to the people how to avoid the deceptions of the last days which Revelation predicts?

Donald Ernest Mansell, in his book "The shape of the Coming Crisis" p. 15, relates a parable which defines the role of Ellen White's prophetic gift and purpose well.

He likens the Bible to a high-seas chart by which a pilot guides a ship to its destination. This large high-seas chart is located in a prominent place in the navigational area of the ship. However, as the ship draws close to the coral reef invested waters of a harbor, a little boat approaches the large ship. In the boat is a man who is well informed on the location of the reefs in the waters and he brings with him a harbor map.

Now the harbor map does not replace the high-seas map. The only difference between the two charts is that the harbor map is much more detailed and highlights more clearly where the coral reefs and sandbars are located in that specific harbor.

The pilot would be foolish indeed to discard the harbor map by saying he already has the high- seas map and that is all that is needed, for it already shows where the harbor is.

We believe the ship, of true believers, is going to enter some very dangerous reefs that could cause shipwreck to our faith if we are uninformed of the dangers ahead. God gave messages to Ellen White, to highlight and warn us about these deadly, deceptive reefs so we need not make shipwreck and fall into the clutches of the beast, his image or his mark.

Revelation tells us that the main focus of the devils wrath is against those who keep God's commandments and have the testimony of Jesus. Would it not be like a caring God to send special messages to His people who are the brunt of this arch fiend's wrath?

So why did the gift of prophecy seemingly disappear from the church only to be revived in the end of time? Again notice the two identifying marks of God's last day church: "They that keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus." Rev. 12:17.

Interestingly enough the commandments and prophecy are often seen linked in the Bible. Jeremiah 26:4-6 "If you will not hearken to me to walk in my law, which I have set before you, or to harken to the words of my servants the prophets, whom I sent to you..." And notice in Lamentations 2:9 "The law is no more; her prophets also find no vision from the Lord." Notice that the law is cast aside, is no more, and now there is no prophetic revelations either. Proverbs 29:18 sums it all up in this way: "Where there is no vision the people perish, but he that keeps the law, happy is he."

When people turn against God's law and trample it underfoot, there also seems to an absence of true prophets. Would God need to raise a new church that had regard for His holy law through which the prophetic gift could be given?

Is it not logical to understand that when God's commandment law was once again seen in it's true setting in the life of a Christian, and as those angels of Revelation began to sound their messages in the 1840's calling a world back to the full gospel, to the worship of the Creator God and to announce the judgment, that God would also make this "LOUD" voice louder with prophetic utterances?

Revelation 14 sounds with loud voice the last messages to a world about to end! The messages focuses peoples attention on the everlasting gospel, it announces that judgment has begun, and calls the people back to worshiping God upon the Sabbath— "worship Him that made heaven and earth" The Sabbath was established because God created the heavens and the earth and all that in them is." Most of the world will reject this call and follow the beast and his image, but God's "saints" are they that "keep the commandments of God and have the faith of Jesus". During the 1800's this message was sounded. A people arose who discovered the Biblical Sabbath, they discovered the sanctuary and the judgment. God's law, which had been cast down and trampled underfoot, was restored as the law of God. The gospel as it is in Christ, requires obedience (2 Thess. 1:8,9; 1 Peter 4:17) We know that those who heed the warning of the three angel's message and escape the terror reserved for those who follow the beasts, are again identified as those who keep the commandments and have the faith of Jesus.

No other church has really identified, nor proclaimed this LOUD message of Revelation 14, that is to warn the earth. Only the Adventist church has a clear, strong message stemming from Revelation 14. Those who reject Ellen White reject these messages as not having any real concern for people today. They simply spiritualize them into non-warnings. Yet to reject those messages, and to follow the popular false worship and pleasing fables of peace and safety where there is no peace and safety, to accept the counterfeit of the beast and his image, holds the sharpest and most fearful warnings of destruction found in all the new testament.

Ellen White gave a clear, forceful picture of the unraveling of end time events based solidly upon the Bible. The Bible gave the "big picture" Ellen White filled in the details as we near the great time of trouble about to burst upon the world. She was given the harbor map that we might not make shipwreck in the final crises. Her predictions of the activities of the churches is being fulfilled before our very eyes. The churches are uniting upon points of doctrine they can agree upon and pushing aside those doctrines which they do not agree upon. There is a reaching out of the hand between Protestants and Catholics. The US President worked closely with the pope for the downfall of communist Poland and Russia. The Pope draws more crowds than any other public figure. The wall between church and state is being eroded and attacked. The list goes on— yet in spite of the clear fulfilment of Ellen Whites's revealed predictions as to the set up and take over of the beast and his image, people are attacking and throwing out the harbor map and running board the ships that think they do not need a harbor map.

Where is the patience of the Saints— those who keep God's commandments and have the testimony and the faith of Jesus? (Rev. 12:17, 14:12)