FIRST QUARTER January – March 2009 Gerhard Pfandl - Principal Contributor John the Baptist was called by Jesus to be the greatest of all the prophets. But “the prophetic gift involved something other than writing the books of the Bible.” This Sabbath School Bible Study Guide not only introduces God’s messengers through out the ages but the also Source of all true prophecy, the ‘Gift-Giver.’

FIRST QUARTER 2009 This Sabbath School lesson help was produced for the glory of God. It is being distributed through the internet media for you to use as you teach our Sabbath School classes. Please do not alter the way it was arranged. Thanks and God bless. Yours–in-Christ, Pastor N. V. Macatiag

FIRST QUARTER 2009 Memory Text: “God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds” (Hebrews 1:1, 2, NKJV).

FIRST QUARTER: January 3, 2009 I.Introduction 1. The Prophetic Gift was given by God to His chosen messengers to communicate His will and intentions. But God has not limited His interventions through His human messengers. He had made it possible through various means available in order to reach separated mankind. God used these different methods to expose His character to lost humanity that they may appreciate Him and be saved.

Goal: 1.To show that God had been using different methods to restore the broken communication with humanity because of sin. 2. To help members appreciate and respond to that initiative made by God. FIRST QUARTER: January 3, 2009

2. How did God reveal himself? a. General Revelation - the way by which God revealed Himself ‘through nature conscience and religious history.’ b. Special Revelation – the way by which God revealed Himself through the prophets, the Bible and Jesus Christ.

FIRST QUARTER: January 3, 2009 II. Broken Relationship 1. The Edenic Fall of Adam and Eve resulted to a disruption of that very holy and close relationship between God and the first couple. Because of that disruption direct communication was cut off and other methods were needed to replace it. Nature which was perfect and friendly was now replace with Imperfection and destructive forces of nature marred our aging planet earth.

FIRST QUARTER: January 3, 2009 But somehow, nature still s how the beauty and love of a caring God. After the wreckage caused by a storm the sky shines blue, after a destructive earthquake there is calm, after a volcanic eruption nature lives again to form new flora and fauna.

FIRST QUARTER: January 3, 2009 III. God’s Methods of Communication 1.General Revelation. The revelation of God that is universal, accessible to all human beings everywhere…. Handbook of SDA Theology p. 26

FIRST QUARTER: January 3, 2009 a. Nature - "The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament showeth His handiwork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night showeth knowledge." Psalm 19:1,2

FIRST QUARTER: January 3, 2009 b. Human Conscience – The main task of conscience is to encourage us to do the right and wrong. Handbook of SDA Theology p. 28 c. Religious history – Daniel 2:21 “And he changeth the times and the seasons: he removeth kings, and setteth up kings:…”

FIRST QUARTER: January 3, Special Revelation – is the “entire process by which God revealed Himself” through His messengers, the Scriptures and His Son Jesus Christ. Handbook of SDA Theology p. 30

FIRST QUARTER: January 3, 2009 a.The Prophets – i. It was Christ that spoke to His people through the prophets. PP 366 ii. The primary task of the prophet is “to declare the divine will.” G. Pfandl

FIRST QUARTER: January 3, 2009 b. The Bible – The “word of the Lord written down Should be read and heard by future generations so that the people may know God as their Saviour and King. Handbook of SDA Theology p. 25

FIRST QUARTER: January 3, 2009 c. Jesus Christ – the “heart of the true process is the great redemptive act of the Incarnation of the Son of God, who through his life, death and resurrection and intercession, redeems from sin all who believe in Him and restores in them the true knowledge of God. Handbook of SDA Theology p. 31

FIRST QUARTER: January 3, 2009 IV. Reaction “Christ revealed all of God that sinful human beings could bear without being destroyed. He is the divine Teacher, the Enlightener. Had God thought us in need of revelations other than those made through Christ and in His written word, He would have given them.” —EGW, Testimonies for the Church, vol. 8, pp. 265, 266.

FIRST QUARTER: January 3, How well do you know Jesus yourself? If someone were to say to you, “Tell me about Jesus, what He is like and what He can do for me,” what would you say and why?

FIRST QUARTER: January 3, 2009 Happy New Year! God Bless and a Happy Sabbath!