Jesus - A Prophet.

Prophecy-  As prophecy fulfilled we can easily- with the Holy Spirit's guidance, comprehend truth. We are called to live in only truth, Jesus is the truth.  When Jesus walked the earth as a human being He lived in truth. His advocacy for truth was well recounted.  Jesus lived as a prophet- because if we do NOT recognize Jesus was a prophet, how can we believed that He gave prophecies?

Heb 1:1  God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, 

Heb 1:2  Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds

God at various times, in different ways spoke in the past to the fathers through prophets.

In the days of Jesus, God spoke through His Son.

God appointed His Son as His Heir of all things.

God also made the worlds through His Son.

Jesus a prophet?

Deu 18:18  I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him. 

Deu 18:19  And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken unto my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him.

Joh_5:30  I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.

Joh 5:19  Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise. 

Act 3:20  And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you: 

Act 3:21  Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began. 

Act 3:22  For Moses truly said unto the fathers, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you. 

Act 3:23  And it shall come to pass, that every soul, which will not hear that prophet, shall be destroyed from among the people. 

Act 3:24  Yea, and all the prophets from Samuel and those that follow after, as many as have spoken, have likewise foretold of these days. 

Act 3:25  Ye are the children of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying unto Abraham, And in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed. 

Act 3:26  Unto you first God, having raised up his Son Jesus, sent him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities. 

Act 7:37  This is that Moses, which said unto the children of Israel, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear.

Luk 24:13  And, behold, two of them went that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was from Jerusalem about threescore furlongs. 

Luk 24:14  And they talked together of all these things which had happened. 

Luk 24:15  And it came to pass, that, while they communed together and reasoned, Jesus himself drew near, and went with them. 

Luk 24:16  But their eyes were holden that they should not know him. 

Luk 24:17  And he said unto them, What manner of communications are these that ye have one to another, as ye walk, and are sad? 

Luk 24:18  And the one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answering said unto him, Art thou only a stranger in Jerusalem, and hast not known the things which are come to pass there in these days? 

Luk 24:19  And he said unto them, What things? And they said unto him, Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, which was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people: 

Luk 24:20  And how the chief priests and our rulers delivered him to be condemned to death, and have crucified him. 

Luk 24:21  But we trusted that it had been he which should have redeemed Israel: and beside all this, to day is the third day since these things were done. 

Luk 24:22  Yea, and certain women also of our company made us astonished, which were early at the sepulchre; 

Luk 24:23  And when they found not his body, they came, saying, that they had also seen a vision of angels, which said that he was alive. 

Luk 24:24  And certain of them which were with us went to the sepulchre, and found it even so as the women had said: but him they saw not. 

Luk 24:25  Then he said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken: 

Luk 24:26  Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory? 

Luk 24:27  And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself. 

Luk 24:28  And they drew nigh unto the village, whither they went: and he made as though he would have gone further. 

Luk 24:29  But they constrained him, saying, Abide with us: for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent. And he went in to tarry with them. 

Luk 24:30  And it came to pass, as he sat at meat with them, he took bread, and blessed it, and brake, and gave to them. 

Luk 24:31  And their eyes were opened, and they knew him; and he vanished out of their sight. 

Luk 24:32  And they said one to another, Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures? 

Luk 24:33  And they rose up the same hour, and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven gathered together, and them that were with them, 

Luk 24:34  Saying, The Lord is risen indeed, and hath appeared to Simon. 

Luk 24:35  And they told what things were done in the way, and how he was known of them in breaking of bread

Mat 21:11  And the multitude said, This is Jesus the prophet of Nazareth of Galilee. 

Joh 6:14  Then those men, when they had seen the miracle that Jesus did, said, This is of a truth that prophet that should come into the world. 

Joh 9:17  They say unto the blind man again, What sayest thou of him, that he hath opened thine eyes? He said, He is a prophet. 

Joh 1:45  Philip findeth Nathanael, and saith unto him, We have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. 

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Beyond a doubt, Jesus was a prophet.  As such He predicted future events. To ignore Jesus' own prophecies is self-condemnation. We have so much history, a couple thousand years of history since our Savior sacrificed Himself upon the cross for us and ultimately returned to be with the Heavenly Father, leaving the Holy Spirit to guide us in His absence. A couple THOUSAND years and as the scroll of time unfolded so did prophecies. We are BLESSED to be able to look back at history and prophecy at the wondrous Biblical truth we must never forget. So many people did not have what we have today, a huge wealth of prophecies opened for our comprehension.

Many people will go only so far where prophecy is concerned and then they'll say it's impossible to understand all that cryptic stuff in the Bible, if God wanted us to understand He would have wrote it plainly for us simple humans, of average intelligence. Satan has blinded people as it was PREDICTED he would do. People, we are told would only desire smooth things, things easy to hear, things pleasing to them. Satan will give them that- all the smooth, pleasing, easy things they desire just so long as they keep away from the truths that are to be searched out as a hidden treasure.  Turning a blind eye to prophecies is to turn a blind eye to Jesus the Prophet. To stop believing in the prophecies of Jesus after His predicted death and resurrection, is to cut short the word of God, it is turning a blind eye to truth revealed for all to comprehend.

As we study revealed prophecy, we have to pray for continued comprehensions. We are living so close to the return of our Savior that we dare not blink when it comes to seeking truth for our times! We must know the truth Jesus predicted for US right now!

All through the grace and mercy of our LORD and SAVIOR, Jesus Christ, now and forever!!!!!!!

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ANALYSIS -- Part 1 -- (Times of the Gentiles)

In the January thought paper - "Lift Up Your Heads" - we outlined the significance of the prophecy which Jesus gave as recorded by Luke. This was done in harmony with the counsel of the servant of the Lord when she wrote:

In the twenty-first chapter of Luke Christ foretold what was to come upon Jerusalem, and with it He connected the scenes which were to take place in the history of this world just prior to the coming of the Son of man in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.   1

In the presentation of Christ, there were three major sign divisions. The first marked the time of the destruction of Jerusalem. The second group of signs - signs in the sun, moon, and stars - proclaimed "the period of the revelation of the Son of man."  7    The third division marked the fulfillment of  "the times of the Gentiles."   2    or nations. In this thought paper, we shall begin an analysis of the first two divisions to discover what lessons we can learn as we seek to find the answer of what God is saying to us by permitting the final prophecy which Christ gave to be fulfilled before our very eyes in this generation.

Jesus stated -     "When ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh."  3    In 66 A. D., Cestius did come, and surround Jerusalem with armies. Josephus tells us that      "he retired from the city, without any reason in the world. "  4    Titus resumed the siege and Jerusalem was trodden down of the Gentiles four years later. This can be diagrammed thus: 

----------66 AD-------------------- 70 AD

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Suppose you had been living in Jerusalem in 66 A. D., and were operating a successful market place. You had heard the Apostles tell of the words of Jesus. What would you have done when the armies of Cestius suddenly withdrew from the city? What should you have done?

Suppose again you had been living in 68 A. D., and had left your business, home, and possessions in Jerusalem, and were now trying to re-establish yourself with difficulty in the country to which you had fled in 66 A. D. Word comes to you that things are pretty normal in Jerusalem, and that business is good. What would you have been tempted to do? What would you have done? What should you really have done? Then comes 70 A. D., and the destruction of Jerusalem with "vengeance". Wouldn't you have thanked God for the words of Jesus, and been exceedingly joyous that you had believed what had been spoken, and acted in harmony with those words?

The second division of the prophecy of Jesus concerned the  "signs in the sun and in the moon, and in the stars."   5   Matthew enlarged this aspect of the prophecy of Jesus and declared that      "the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven."  6    These major signs mark the beginning of a "period", not a single event. We read:      While wholly unconscious of their condition and their peril, the church and the world were rapidly approaching the most solemn and momentous period of earth's history, - the period of the revelation of the Son of man. Already had the signs which Christ Himself had promised, - the sun clothed in darkness by day and the moon by night, - declared His coming near.  7

This period of "the revelation of the Son of man" is likewise three-fold.    1)    Jesus came as "the Son of man" in the clouds of heaven to the Ancient of Days in 1844 to begin the work of Judgment.  8    While the Father presides, all judgment is placed in the hands of Christ because      "He is the Son of man."  9    How reassuring to know that One who became us in all aspects save in the acts of sin, and who can understand what we have faced in each decision of life, will render the final decision

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 in our eternal destiny.    2)    The Son of man is to be revealed in humanity. Those who live through the final hours of human history      "must reflect the image of Jesus fully."  10    Now Jesus is the human name given to the Son of God when He became the Son of man. This means simply that the saints of earth's final hour will walk as He walked when He was here as a Man among men. How important then, that we understand the nature of the Incarnation,   11    for unless we do, we shall never reflect the image of Jesus fully.    3)    The final event of the period of the revelation of the Son of man is His coming in the clouds of glory to gather the subject of the Kingdom given to Him in the Judgment, and to vindicate those who have in turn vindicated God by reflecting in earth's last hour, the image of Jesus fully.  12

The signs which marked the eve of the period of the revelation of the Son of man can be diagrammed thus:

May 19, 1780--------------------Nov. 13, 1833-----------------------Oct. 22, 1844

Suppose you had been living in 1832 in one of the New England States, and an announcement was made that a Baptist layman was coming to town to tell about the end of the world in a little more than ten years from then. You were a member of the Methodist church, and on the Sunday morning prior to the meeting, your pastor warned his congregation not to get alarmed because there had always been rabble rousers telling that the end of all things was near. After all what could this layman know more than all the great scholars of the Church? What would you have done? What should you have done? Would there have been deep religious ties holding you to the thinking to which you had been accustomed?

Suppose that you had still been in New England on the night of November 13, 1833. You had listened to your pastor, and had not gone to hear William Miller the year previous. But now you read your Bible, and having seen with your own

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eyes the sign which Jesus gave, what would you do? What should you have done if strictly honest with yourself and God?

Suppose after listening to the preachers of the Advent - for their number had grown since the final sign which Jesus gave to mark the period of the revelation of the Son of man - you joined the Movement. Then came the summer of 1844. According to your belief and expectation you looked for the coming of Jesus to earth that Fall - October 22, to be specific. How would you have related yourself to the business as usual routine that was still evident in the world? How should you have?

William Miller and those associated with him misunderstood the meaning of the prophetic phrase -"the cleansing of the sanctuary." They believed that this referred to the destruction of the earth by fire. They were correct in their understanding of the time part of the prophecy - the 2300 Days. Now we face the final sign that Jesus gave in Luke 21: - Jerusalem is no longer trodden down of the Gentiles or nations. It can be diagrammed thus:

----------1967------------------------Second Advent

We cannot afford the luxury of a single mistake in interpreting the meaning of this final sign, which marks the completion of the times of the Gentiles. What is God seeking to tell us in permitting this sign to be fulfilled before our eyes today? We must know what it signifies so as to know how to relate ourselves to its fulfillment. There can be no question but that it relates to the final scenes of this earth's history. It is also clear by comparison that the generation, which was alive during any of the other signs, did see fulfilled the event to which those signs pointed. We are thus past the point where we can play tidily-winks with our eternal destiny.

We must know, we must understand the significance of this final sign given by Jesus.

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Further, how we react today to what God is saying by this sign is the same way we would have reacted had we been living when the other signs occurred. Every prophecy of God demands a commitment on the part of each individual who is alive at the time of its fulfillment.

This analysis will be continued in the next thought paper.

1 -- Ellen G. White, Counsels to Writers and Editors, pp. 23-24

2 -- Luke 21:24

(((Luk 21:24  And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled. ))))

3 -- Luke 21:20

(((Luk 21:20  And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh. ))))

4 -- Josephus, Wars of the Jews, Bk. II, Chap. xix, Sec. 7

5 -- Luke 21:25

(((Luk 21:25  And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; ))))

6 -- Matthew 24:29

(((Mat 24:29  Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:))))

7 -- Ellen G. White, Spirit of Prophecy, Vol. IV, p. 195

8 -- Daniel 7:9-10; 13-14

(((Dan 7:9  I beheld till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool: his throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire. 

Dan 7:10  A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him: thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him: the judgment was set, and the books were opened. 

Dan 7:13  I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. 

Dan 7:14  And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed. ))))

9 -- John 5:22,27

(((Joh 5:22  For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son

Joh 5:27  And hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man. ))))

10 -- Ellen G. White, Early Writings, p. 71

11 -- See Manuscript -In the Form of a Slave, a study of the meaning of the Incarnation and what it means to be a partaker of the Divine Nature as revealed in the scriptures, and the Spirit of Prophecy.

12 -- Luke 21:27, Matthew 24:30-31

(((Luk 21:27  And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. 

Mat 24:30  And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 

Mat 24:31  And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. ))))

NOTES AND COMMENTS -- Bauer Tape -For April the subject will be -"God's True Church." 

Believe It or Not! -- The letter on the next page sent to Elder Bauer is being reproduced as a facsimile for only by seeing can one believe under such circumstances. Those of the laity and ministry who have been accorded such "brotherly love" know the malice, hatred, and professional jealousy which lies behind such a letter. Identical letters were also sent to the clerk and church school teacher at South Lake Tahoe. (The underscoring and paragraph markings are mine.) Take a good look at "A", and then compare with the Church Manual, 1967 edition, p. 233, which reads:

"A vote of censure must not carry any provision involving severance of church membership in case of failure to comply with any conditions imposed. " Consider "B", and note that the Church Manual on the same page states that one censured      "is not deprived . . .of the privilege of sharing the blessings of Sabbath school, church worship, or the ordinances of the Lord's house. "     The gap between the actions of the hierarchy, and the verbalizing of "revival", "reformation", "perfection", and "righteousness by faith" in the general church paper continues to widen. May God have mercy on the deceived laity.

(Letter not attached here. Possibly a letter to Jean Colston from S. Lake Tahoe church re: censor for handing out material and threats of disfellowshipping and told not welcome in the church building.)

April 1975  -  "Watchman, What of the Night? " Thought Paper.  Adventist Laymen's Foundation.