Organizational Authority

Hosea 12:13 makes clear that “by a prophet the Lord brought Israel out of Egypt, and by a prophet he was preserved” (NKJV). Protecting and guiding God’s people was a formative and essential part of the work of the biblical prophets.

If we read such texts as Judges 4:4–8, 2 Chronicles 20:14–17, Exodus 12:1–3, and Deuteronomy 1:9–16, we can see that prophets were crucial in revealing God’s leadership strategy for His people. In times of war and crisis, prophets were the means by which God offered direction, encouragement, and hope to His people and their leaders, as He did through Jehaziel and Deborah. Prophets also gave guidance concerning festivals and worship (Exod. 12:1–3). At other times, God spoke to prophets concerning the governance of the nation. In short, no area of Israelite life was beyond the direction and guidance of God through His chosen messengers.

Imagine beginning a new organization without an operational manual and no visible leader. Such an organization is sure to experience serious challenges. In a certain sense, this was the situation in the early Christian church. Jesus had ascended and was no longer with His disciples. They had a clear directive from Him: “ ‘Go into all the world and preach’ ” (Mark 16:15, NKJV). Although the Twelve Apostles had been chosen, there was no clear organizational structure to help them get started.

The early church faced many challenges, such as church organization, structure for mission, and the need to identify and condemn heresy and immorality among them. In a real sense, the prophetic gift operating in the early church played a critical role in its preservation and protection (Acts 13:1, 2). It is hard, in fact, to envision how the early church could have even gotten started without the aid of the prophetic gift in helping organize it and move it forward for mission.

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Additional Reading: Selected Quotes from Ellen G. White

The principle for which the disciples stood so fearlessly when, in answer to the command not to speak any more in the name of Jesus, they declared, “Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye,” is the same that the adherents of the gospel struggled to maintain in the days of the Reformation. When in 1529 the German princes assembled at the Diet of Spires, there was presented the emperor’s decree restricting religious liberty, and prohibiting all further dissemination of the reformed doctrines. It seemed that the hope of the world was about to be crushed out. Would the princes accept the decree? Should the light of the gospel be shut out from the multitudes still in darkness? Mighty issues for the world were at stake. Those who had accepted the reformed faith met together, and their unanimous decision was, “Let us reject this decree. In matters of conscience the majority has no power.”—Merle d’Aubigne, History of the Reformation, b. 13, ch. 5.
This principle we in our day are firmly to maintain. The banner of truth and religious liberty held aloft by the founders of the gospel church and by God’s witnesses during the centuries that have passed since then, has, in this last conflict, been committed to our hands. The responsibility for this great gift rests with those whom God has blessed with a knowledge of His word. We are to receive this word as supreme authority. We are to recognize human government as an ordinance of divine appointment, and teach obedience to it as a sacred duty, within its legitimate sphere. But when its claims conflict with the claims of God, we must obey God rather than men. God’s word must be recognized as above all human legislation. A “Thus saith the Lord” is not to be set aside for a “Thus saith the church” or a “Thus saith the state.” The crown of Christ is to be lifted above the diadems of earthly potentates.
We are not required to defy authorities. Our words, whether spoken or written, should be carefully considered, lest we place ourselves on record as uttering that which would make us appear antago­nistic to law and order. We are not to say or do anything that would unnecessarily close up our way. We are to go forward in Christ’s name, advocating the truths committed to us. If we are forbidden by men to do this work, then we may say, as did the apostles, “Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye. For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.”—The Acts of the Apostles, pp. 68, 69.