Sleeping or Hysterical?

[Richard OFfill]

I suppose this is a ridiculous question but here goes anyway, and that is can we believe everything we read on the internet? Of course the answer is no. But I will ask another and that is can we safely believe everything we read which is sent to us by well-meaning members of the Seventh-day Adventist Church?

I receive, by my own choice, a newsletter that came every day. The person begins with a disclaimer and then follows three or four spectacular news items that he has found somewhere along the line. If taken seriously these items tend to lead to hysteria as far as last day events are concerned.

Sometimes I go to the original sources and they are something like "News Underground" or Papal Insider Report" or an article, "Adventist grandmother revealed as Jesuit plant."Of course I am just making these up but often the sources are from these kinds of things. Is it possible that we can be deceived in spite of the best intentions of our brothers and sisters? In the last days which is best, to be sleeping or to be hysterical? How can we discerned what is real and what is someone's sensational imagination?

[ColporteurK]

I think what can be helpful is when those who have given us reason to have confidence in their work present such things. In other words those who customarily do a lot of leg work to validate certain things and have proven to be reliable. There is a well intentioned SDA man posting a lot on facebook. A lot of his stuff is good but sometimes he comes up with things that are suspect like a million pounds of rat meat sold in the US and passed off as chicken wings. I can believe some pretty bizarre things but there was no validation to this claim and on a google there was a lot of links that said this was a hoax. Just because someone says something is a hoax does not make it so but there was no validation. To begin with that's pretty far fetched. I have never eaten rat meat  but I'm thinking that not only would it be pretty hard to pass this off on the public but also the FDA has not totally lost it yet. The day could come for something like this but I do not see evidence that the FDA is quite that radical yet. Could something like this ever be attempted ? Certainly, but it is pretty far out and we are not quite as far down yet as Cambodia or Vietnam. It would take more than one obscure article to convince we that something that flagrant has happened.

We do not believe a Bible doctrine based solely off of a single text. We look at other texts to see if they support or contradict what the one texts seems to say. While there are some wild fabricated stories out there there  is at the same time some pretty wild reality going on as well. If something is reality we can usually find indicators from more than one source. The smoking gun usually not only has smoke coming out of the end of the barrel but also smoke coming out of the cylinder. Also as Richard more or less indicated if it is coming from Donald Trump, or Don Rickles, we take it with a grain of salt from the onset.

    Probably many times regarding a conspiracy or even a conspiracy theory  the truth lies somewhere in the middle of denial and imagination. We are told in Inspiration that Jesuits are a formidable foe that dedicate their lives to infiltrating everything. I have absolutely no doubt that there are a fair number in our church. However, it is nearly impossible to iron clad prove it and if we could it would be called a hoax. As far as I'm concerned we do not need to prove it or even try to prove it. Suffice to say that the SOP has already told us of such things. In the end it does not matter whether someone is a bonified Jesuit or  just a Jesuit at heart, a Jesuit sympathizer. The reason that it does not matter is because a 100% bonified Jesuit and a SDA that believes similarly or covets the same principles is essentially doing the same work, one on an official level and one on a level of confusion and rebellion.

[Raven]

I've encountered a number of these sensational stories over the years, as I'm sure you have, Pastor O'Ffill.  I believe one reason people fall for them so easily is that they have not made themselves familiar with what the Bible and the SOP says about the end.  If it sounds far-fetched, it usually is, especially when it is speculative in nature, as in, predictive of what to expect, beyond what we've been told from inspired sources.

I remember one old saint speaking up in church and saying that the Sunday law would come that year because the US has started communicating with Yasser Arafat and the PLO.  I remember wondering what the PLO had to do with a Sunday law.  A number of years later, another saint came into the office at work and asked me if I'd heard about the Sunday law that has just passed in Congress.  That was probably 15 or 20 years ago.  I bit my tongue (because I've found that getting into an argument over these things is unprofitable for all concerned), but, according to the scenario laid out in Great Controversy, the Sunday law will not be sneaked through Congress on an appropriations bill. It will be demanded by religious leaders and will receive a lot of public attention.

Our biggest worry now is not when the Sunday law will come, but being prepared for Christ's coming, helping others get ready, and avoiding deception.

[ColporteurK]

I wonder Raven if the NSL will have a two stage approach. A low key secular approach with variations of enforcement followed by a "holy Sunday" with teeth and with national ruin in the middle.  We are told by Mrs. White that not all is known about this and we will not see some of this until the unrolling of the scroll. Already we have Sunday laws a few of which are enforced relative to selling cars and alcohol on Sunday. Certainly, this can not be what EGW was talking about when she said national apostasy will be followed by national ruin. The NSL will be much more comprehensive than that. There is getting to be an almost  universal consencious with minimal disagreement that it would be good for the world to slow down a notch and for those polluting factories to gear it down (one day a week) for the sake of the climate. I can see from observation that people in general are much more open to a day of rest that has no religious drive. Of course the "religious" people have no problem with "holy Sunday" but our nation is sliding more into the secular ditch every day.

    I wonder if it could unfold with low key secular (fronted) day of rest passed with loose variations of enforcement. Businesses are shut down and jobs are laid to rest accept for, of course the police, doctors, ambulance etc.. Then as national apostasy is followed by national ruin, gthe people get more desperate and the religious leaders kick into over drive with the people. Then the people demand that the gov't gets far more aggressive  an the "holy Sunday" ( prong number two) push comes entirely out of the closet as people are more willing to support the papal Sunday.

Raven, am I one of those old saints you spoke of ?

[Carl]

I believe one reason people fall for them so easily is that they have not made themselves familiar with what the Bible and the SOP says about the end.

Our biggest worry now is not when the Sunday law will come, but being prepared for Christ's coming, helping others get ready, and avoiding deception.

Exactly. Like our favorite city mayor said about another topic, "like it or not, it's coming" I've always believed, if you have and understood the SOP, that's all you'll ever need.


Addition: Besides, if you love the Lord and await His glorious promises, you might even hope the prophetic events come soon, get it over with.

[Raven]

Raven, am I one of those old saints you spoke of ?

No, not at all.  One of them was an eccentric old guy who was a member of our local church years ago, and another was a fairly young woman.

But . . . . if the shoe fits . . . . 

Auto dealerships have to be closed here on Sunday, and have been for years.  They have made exemptions for Jews and Adventists, however.  When we moved here 30 years ago, only small stores could be open on Sunday.  The voters got rid of that law with a referendum, and now most businesses can be open on Sunday.  But, as you said, these are not the kinds of laws Ellen White was referring to, because they had those kinds of laws even back in her day.

You may be right about the 2 stage approach, and I think that can be inferred by a careful reading of the SOP.  First, required all but essential services to be closed; then maybe everything shuts down; and finally stiff penalties for those who won't participate in the corporate worship experience on the "Lord's Day."

[ColporteurK]

They may or may not get the Sunday day of rest passed under a secular climate change need but apparently that is their thrust as presented on the surface. It might be they will not be able to get this accomplished until things deteriorate to such a state that the legislation comes through on all counts, in others words on a secular as well as a religious basis. Satan will obviously use all the bullets he has to hit the target. Just like Satan personating Christ will appear as a universal christ who will appeal to all people, the Sunday rest day will be presented in variations and under pretexts that will appeal in flavor to all appetites.