Early in my ministry I found myself talking to a man who felt he was led by the Spirit because he spoke in tongues. However, it was not the Bible version of speaking in tongues, where “every man heard in his own language.” He was speaking things no one understood. He told me about a Pentecostal prayer meeting he recently attended, where he was “filled with the spirit,” spoke in tongues and ended up at a hotel with a lady he met at the meeting! I assured Him the Holy Spirit would not have led him to do such a thing. He would not listen to me. He was on an emotional high, going strictly by feelings.

This man was not the only one who put emotions and feelings above Scripture. Not long after, I began studying with three members of a 7th-day Pentecostal church in west Texas. They explained the wonderful emotions that overtakes them when speaking in tongues. Interestingly enough, I preached in their church a handful of times, but they never spoke in tongues while I was there. Still, for years, they put their emotions over Scripture, telling me they knew it was real because they felt it. I sure am glad Jesus did not put feelings above the Word of God, after fasting 40 days in the wilderness, when Satan questioned if He was really the Son of God. I am glad I don’t need to consult my emotions before the Scripture, when John tells me that when I confess my sins, God is faithful to forgive me. I can believe that God forgives even though I still feel terrible about what I have done. It took me several years of study and friendship before this trio were convicted and put God’s Word above their feelings and were baptized and joined my local Seventh-day Adventist Church.

What I find ironic, is how many people sincerely believe that a church has to speak in tongues in order to be spirit-filled, while at the same time scoffing at the Seventh-day Adventist Church for claiming to have the Spirit of Prophecy. However, we read in the book of Revelation that God’s “remnant” or last-day church will have the “Spirit of Prophecy,” as indicated in the texts below. (The gift of tongues is not specifically mentioned. )

And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.  Revelation 12:17 NKJV

the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.” Revelation 19:10 NKJV

Pursue love, and desire spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy. 1 Corinthians 14:1 NKJV

God’s last-day church has the Spirit of Prophecy, and the Spirit of prophecy is the gift the Bible tells us to pursue above all others, and not speaking in tongues. Why?

Because…

Therefore tongues are for a sign, not to those who believe but to unbelievers; but prophesying is not for unbelievers but for those who believe. 1 Corinthians 14:22 NKJV

According to Acts 2:6 Biblical speaking in tongues is when people hear the gospel in their own language.

About ten years ago I heard a young lady preaching. She was a student at Southern Adventist university near Chattanooga Tennessee. She spoke of a mother she knew who was at a local park with her 6-year-old English-speaking daughter. The daughter met a little Spanish girl at the swings, and started talking to her about Jesus. The two little girls continued talking, and both of the girls’ mothers were amazed to hear them  speaking to each other, because the English girl only knew English and the Spanish girl only knew Spanish! God created a miracle so the little girl could hear about Jesus in her own language just like on the day of Pentecost. According to 1 Corinthians 14:22 speaking in tongues is for the unbelievers to hear the gospel in their own language. It is not for the believers in church, because they have already heard the gospel. That’s why they are there.

By contrast, prophesying is for those who already believe. This is very important to understand. We are not supposed to use the Spirit of Prophecy to convince unbelievers. The Testimonies for the church are directed to the church, not unbelievers. It was the same in Isaiah’s day.

Tell My people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins. Isaiah 58:1 NKJV

Isaiah was given the Spirit of Prophecy to show the church its sins, not the world. The world is to be told there is a Savior, and then they can be instructed through the Spirit of Prophecy, not before. What that means to us today is that we need to be telling our neighbors that Jesus loves and died for them, and not that they need to stop eating cheese or drinking with their meals. But I digress…

So Biblical speaking in tongues is when someone hears the gospel in their own language. Speaking in tongues does not need to be used in the church. It needs to be used outside the church to share the gospel with unbelievers in their own language. When unbelievers accept the gospel and become believers, they are welcomed into the church, where the gift of prophecy is shared with them.

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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/speaking-in-tongues-in-the-bible/

“Blessing Is Greater to Us”

By Andrew McChesney

A woman in the US state of North Carolina invited her two church pastors to her house to talk about something weighing heavily on her heart: the Annual Sacrifice Offering. She described how the Seventh-day Adventist Church had established the offering in a last-ditch effort to avoid calling missionaries home because of a lack of funds in 1922. She spoke about how people gave then and how the offering still supports missionaries today.

The pastors took her appeal to heart. One even preached a nine-part series on sacrifice ahead of the annual offering, which is collected in most parts of the world on the second Sabbath of November. As a result, the Annual Sacrifice Offering at the 700-member Hendersonville Seventh-day Adventist Church soared from $1,400 the previous year to $24,119 that year in 2016. The growth was only the beginning. During the COVID-19 pandemic when the world church again faced a budget crunch, members gave an astonishing $37,545 to the 2021 Annual Sacrifice Offering.

“We were happily surprised,” said pastor David Wright (pictured). “Praise the Lord!”

He credited God’s grace for members’ sacrificial giving. “It is true this will bring much-needed light into dark areas of the 10/40 Window,” he said. “But consider the blessing that is ours as a church family. I have to believe the blessing is greater to us because Jesus Himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ ”

Adventist Mission director Gary Krause agreed, noting that Adventist Church cofounder Ellen White called such a blessing the “reflex influence.” She said church members’ generosity toward foreign fields promoted success in their home field. For example, when some church leaders questioned the wisdom of sending funds abroad in 1900, White declared, “The prosperity of the home work depends largely . . . upon the reflex influence of the . . . work done in countries afar off” (Testimonies for the Church, vol. 6, p. 27). The Adventist Church’s top statistician, David Trim, has statistically verified White’s assertion.

A sacrificial spirit has permeated the church since its origins, world church leader Ted N. C. Wilson said. “We are told that God’s Advent movement was started in sacrifice and it will end in sacrifice,” he said. “What a privilege for each of us to sacrificially share what God has given to us.”

Thank you for considering a generous donation to the 2023 Annual Sacrifice Offering. For online information, visit bit.ly/annual-sacrifice-offering. See also Global Mission (gm.adventistmission.org); the 1922 Annual Sacrifice Offering (bit.ly/1922-offering); and Ellen White’s “reflex influence” (bit.ly/EGW-reflex).

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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/inside-story-blessing-is-greater-to-us/

Daily Lesson for Friday 10th of November 2023

Our mission work must come from deep love and thankfulness for what Jesus has done and is doing in our lives. Any other motivation is misguided. Keeping immersed in the Word and in tune with the Word is the key to successful outreach and evangelism.

“Our life is to be bound up with the life of Christ; we are to draw constantly from Him, partaking of Him, the living Bread that came down from heaven, drawing from a fountain ever fresh, ever giving forth its abundant treasures. If we keep the Lord ever before us, allowing our hearts to go out in thanksgiving and praise to Him, we shall have a continual freshness in our religious life. Our prayers will take the form of a conversation with God as we would talk with a friend. He will speak His mysteries to us personally. Often there will come to us a sweet joyful sense of the presence of Jesus. Often our hearts will burn within us as He draws nigh to commune with us as He did with Enoch. When this is in truth the experience of the Christian, there is seen in his life a simplicity, a humility, meekness, and lowliness of heart, that show to all with whom he associates that he has been with Jesus and learned of Him.”—Ellen G. White, Christ’s Object Lessons, pp. 129, 130.

“There can be no growth or fruitfulness in the life that is centered in self. If you have accepted Christ as a personal Savior, you are to forget yourself, and try to help others. Talk of the love of Christ, tell [others of His self-sacrificing death in their behalf]. . . . As you receive the Spirit of Christ—the Spirit of unselfish love and labor for others—you will grow and bring forth fruit. . . . Your faith will increase, your convictions deepen, your love be made perfect.”—Christ’s Object Lessons, pp. 67, 68.

Discussion Questions

1. How do you understand Paul’s words in Philippians about Christ’s being preached out of envy, strife, or selfish ambition? How can we make sure that we ourselves are not guilty of doing just that?
2. What has been your own personal experience with the reality of God and God’s love? That is, based on your own experiences, could you preach to others with sincerity and honesty about the goodness and love of God? What would your testimony be?
3. What has been your experience in waiting upon the Lord, and what has it taught you about trusting in Him and about faith in general?

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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/23d-06-further-thought-motivation-and-preparation-for-mission/

Daily Lesson for Thursday 9th of November 2023

Acts 2:1-47 ends with a beautiful picture of what the early church was like. Acts 2:1-47:41 says that those who were baptized were “added to them” (NKJV). We could read this to say that someone did the math and added the number of new believers to the number of existing believers and established a new total membership for the group. But that is a shallow understanding. Hidden in the wording is the idea that these newly baptized believers became part of the group as equals.

Meanwhile, a core function of the early Christian church was disciple­ship. As new members were added, they were discipled in three ways. First, they continued to be taught by the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship. The words “doctrine” and “fellowship” in this text literally mean “instruction” and “partnership.” The apostles’ preaching confronted incorrect beliefs and offered new explanations for what people were seeing and experiencing. But it didn’t teach them how to live out that new truth in their lives. Rather, the application of truth to one’s life happened in relationship as part of the group. New believers were carefully and intentionally discipled through direct teaching, as well as through participation in the daily lives of the other believers, all under the supervision and leadership of the spiritually mature and grounded apostles.

It is poor preaching that tells people what to do but not how to do it. However, even if one reads how-to books or listens to sermons that explain how to do things, there is no substitute for seeing people doing it and then imitating them. Paul knew this and instructed his followers to imitate him as he had imitated Jesus (1 Corinthians 11:1). When others can see you and the reality of your experience with Christ, it will impact them, as well.

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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/23d-06-a-picture-of-the-early-church/

Join It Is Written Sabbath School host Eric Flickinger and this week’s featured guest, Gregory Whitsett, as they provide additional insights into this week’s Sabbath School lesson, “Motivation and Preparation for Mission.”

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The post 6: Motivation and Preparation for Mission – It is Written – Discussions with the Author appeared first on Sabbath School Net.

Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/6-motivation-and-preparation-for-mission-it-is-written-discussions-with-the-author/