Friday Morning Manna February 28, 2020
Nathaniel Fajardo email:[email protected]
Where the Eroding Laws and Institutions of Man, the Churches and the Crumbling of Society Are Leading To
I cannot thank God enough for the high and holy privilege—with the corresponding accountability to Him that comes with it—of still having free, untrammeled access to “the Spirit of prophecy, which is the Testimony of Jesus” (Rev. 10: 10) entrusted to the “remnant people” who further carry the distinctive mark as “the saints patiently keeping the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.” Rev. 14: 12. On that I share these. The extracts below are from the inspired pen of Ellen G. White in her must-read, must-own, must-study-with-Bible-prophecy, non-fiction, handbook of the last days, “The Great Controversy,” 1911 ed., pp. 584-589:
Church Authority vs Heaven’s Authority; Church Doctrine vs Bible Doctrine; Man’s Laws vs God’s Law. “No error accepted by the Christian world strikes more boldly against the authority of Heaven, none is more directly opposed to the dictates of reason, none is more pernicious in its results, than the modern doctrine, so rapidly gaining ground [this was written in 1884], that God’s law is no longer binding upon men.
“Every nation has its laws, which command respect and obedience; no government could exist without them; and can it be conceived that the Creator of the heavens and the earth has no law to govern the beings He has made? Suppose that public ministers were to publicly teach that the statutes which govern their land and protect the rights of its citizens were not obligatory,—that they restricted the liberties of the people, and therefore might not be obeyed; how long would such men be tolerated in the pulpit? But is it a grave offense to disregard the law of states and nations than to trample upon those divine precepts which are a foundation of all government? It would be far more consistent for nations to abolish their statutes, and permit the people to do as they please, than for the Ruler of the universe to annul His law, and leave the world without a standard to condemn the guilty or justify the obedient.
“Would we [like] know the result of making void the law of God? The experiment has been tried. Terrible were the scenes enacted in France when atheism became the controlling power. It was then demonstrated that to the world that to throw off the restraints which God has imposed [in the precepts of the Decalogue] is to accept the rule of the cruelest of tyrants. When the standard of righteousness [God’s law] is set aside, the way is open for the prince of evil [Satan, through his human agencies] to establish his power on earth.
“Whenever the divine precepts are rejected, sin ceases to appear sinful, or righteousness desirable. Those who refuse to submit to the government of God are wholly unfitted to govern themselves. Through their pernicious teachings, the spirit of insubordination is implanted in the hearts of children and youth, who are naturally impatient of control; and a lawless, licentious state of society results. While scoffing at the credulity of those who obey the requirements of God [Seventh-day Adventists, as a people and a denomination], the multitudes eagerly accept the delusions of Satan. They give the rein to lust, and practices the sins which have called down judgments upon the heathen [in the past generations].
“Sow the wind, reap the whirlwind.”___. “Those who teach the people to regard lightly the commandments of God, sow disobedience to reap disobedience. Let the restraint imposed by the divine law be wholly acts aside, and human laws would soon be disregarded. Because God forbids dishonest practices, coveting, lying, and defrauding, men are ready to trample upon His statutes as a hindrance to their worldly prosperity; but the results of banishing these precepts would be such as they do not anticipate. If the law were not binding, why should any fear to transgress? Property would no longer be safe. Men would obtain their neighbor’s possessions by violence
[or fraud or manipulation]
; and stronger [in positions of power and authority] would become the richest. Life itself would not be respected. The marriage vow would no longer stand as a bulwark to protect the family. He who had the power, would, if he desired, take his neighbor’s wife in violence. The fifth commandment would be set aside with the fourth. Children would not shrink from taking the life of their parents, if by doing so they could obtain the desire of their corrupt hearts. The civilized world would become a horde of robbers and assassins; and peace, rest and happiness would be banished from the earth.
“Already the doctrine that men are released from obedience to God’s requirements has weakened the force of moral obligation, and opened the floodgates of iniquity upon the world. Lawlessness, dissipation, and corruption are sweeping in upon us like an overwhelming tide. In the family, Satan is at work. His banner waves, even in professedly Christian households. There is envy, evil surmising, strife, betrayal of sacred trusts, indulgence of lust.
“The whole system of religious principles and doctrines, which should form the foundation and the framework of social life, seems to be a tottering mass, ready to fall to ruin. The vilest of criminals, when thrown into prison for their offenses, are often made the recipients of gifts and attentions, as if they had attained an enviable distinction. Great publicity is given to their character and crimes. The press publishes [and movie producers and writers create blockbuster movies based on these] the revolting details of vice, thus initiating others into the practices of fraud, robbery, and murder; and Satan exults in the success of his hellish schemes. The infatuation of vice, the wanton taking of life, the terrible increase of intemperance and iniquity of every order and degree, should arouse all who fear God, to inquire what could be done to stay the tide of evil.
The gospel-prophet of old wrote of our time: “Justice standeth afar off: for truth Is fallen in the street, and equity cannot enter.” Isa. 59: 14.“Courts of justice are corrupt. Rulers are actuated by desire for gain, and love of sensual pleasure. Intemperance has beclouded the faculties of many, so that Satan has almost complete control of them. Jurists are perverted, bribed, deluded. Drunkenness and revelry, passion, envy, dishonesty of every sort, are represented among those who administer the laws.
Rome suppressed the Scriptures during the Dark Ages where religious freedom was considered a heresy. But now, under the full blaze of the gospel in a precious time where religious liberty is still guaranteed to study God’s Word as never before in order to know and do His will, WHY is the nation and human society in general, rapidly deteriorating morally and spiritually?
“The iniquity and spiritual darkness that prevailed under the supremacy of Rome were the inevitable result of her suppression of the Scriptures; but where is to be found the cause of the wide-spread infidelity, the rejection of the law of God, and the consequent corruption, under the full blaze of gospel light in an age of religious freedom? Now that Satan can no longer keep the world under his control by withholding the Scriptures, he resorts to other means to accomplish the same object. By introducing the belief that God’s law is not binding, he as effectually leads men to transgress as if they were wholly ignorant of its precepts. And now, as in former ages, he has worked through the church to further his designs. The religious organizations of the day have refused to listen to unpopular truths plainly brought to view in the Scriptures, and in combating them they have adopted interpretations and taken positions which have sown broadcast the seeds of skepticism. Clinging to the papal error of natural immortality and man’s consciousness in death, they have rejected the only defense against the delusions of Spiritualism. The doctrine of eternal torment has led many to disbelieve the Bible [and become agnostics and atheists].
The real reason behind Christianity’s claim that the law was abrogated at the cross. “And as the claims of the fourth commandment are urged upon the people, it is found that the observance of the seventh-day Sabbath is enjoined; and as the only way to free themselves from a duty from which they are unwilling to perform, many popular teachers declare that the law of God is no longer binding. Thus they cast away the law and the Sabbath altogether. As the work of Sabbath reform extends [under the proclamation of the three angels’ messages], this rejection of the divine law to avoid the claims of the fourth commandment will become well-nigh universal. The teachings of religious leaders have opened to door to infidelity, to Spiritualism, and to contempt for God’s holy law; and upon these leaders rests a fearful responsibility for the iniquity that exists in the Christian world.
The irony, hypocrisy, confusion and contradictions of it all. “Yet this very class put forth the claim that the fast-spreading corruption is largely attributable to the desecration of the so-called ‘Christian sabbath,’ and that the enforcement of the Sunday observance would greatly improve the morals of society. This claim is especially urged in America [the epicenter of mainstream Christianity or ‘the Christian world’] where the doctrine of the true Sabbath has been widely preached. Here the temperance work, one of the most prominent and important of moral reforms, [was] often combined with the Sunday movement, and the advocates of the latter represent themselves as laboring to promote the highest interest of society; and those who refuse to unite with them are denounced as the enemies of temperance and reform!
“But the fact that a movement to establish error with a work which in itself is good, is not an argument in favor of the error. We may disguise poison by mingling it with wholesome food, but we do not change its nature. On the contrary, it is rendered more dangerous, as it is more likely to be taken in unawares. It is one of Satan’s devices to combine with falsehood with just enough truth to give it plausibility. The leaders of the Sunday movement may advocate reforms which the people need, principles which are in harmony with the Bible; yet while there is with these a requirement which is contrary to God’s law, His servants cannot unite with them. Nothing can justify them in setting aside the commandments of God for the precepts of men.
The Twin Towers of Doctrinal Error. “Through the two great errors—the immortality of the soul and Sunday sacredness—Satan will bring the people under his deceptions. While the former lays the foundation for Spiritualism, the latter creates a bond of sympathy with Rome. The Protestants of the United States will be foremost in stretching their hands across the gulf to grasp the hand of Spiritualism [the foundation of soul immortality and consciousness in death]; they will reach over the abyss [that once separated Protestantism and Romanism] to clasp hands with the Roman power in trampling upon the rights of conscience. [NOTE: Trampling upon God’s law prepares the way for the final trampling upon individual conscience].
The “rising bad moon” of Spiritualism, not Socialism or Communism. “As Spiritualism more closely imitates the nominal Christianity of the day, it has greater power to deceive and ensnare. Satan himself is converted, after the modern order of things. [See 2 Cor. 11: 13-15; 2 Thess. 2: 9-12]. He will appear in the character of an angel of light. Through the agency of Spiritualism, miracles will be wrought, the sick will be healed, and many undeniable wonders will be performed. And as the spirits will profess faith in the Bible, and manifest respect for the institutions of the church, their work will be accepted as a manifestation of divine power. The line of distinction between professed Christians and the ungodly is now barely indistinguishable. Church members love what the world loves, and are ready to join with them; and Satan determines to unite them in one body, and thus strengthens his cause by sweeping all into the ranks of Spiritualism. [Miracles are not a sure sign of divine power. Satan is a miracle-worker!]
The Three-fold Union.- “Papists, who boast of miracles as a certain sign of the true church, will be readily deceived by this wonder-working power; and Protestants [today’s Christians], having cast away the shield of truth [the law, though they claim to be Christ’s followers], will also be deluded. Papists, Protestants, and worldlings will alike accept a form of godliness without its power [2 Tim. 3: 5], and they will see in this union a grand movement for the conversion of the world, and the ushering in of the long-expected millennium.” (end of extract).
Counterfeits precede what they are counterfeiting. The counterfeit global “morality” movement happens before the latter-rain powered, final loud-cry movement of the Revelation 18 angel. The counterfeit millennium and its alleged “time of peace and conversion” takes place before Christ comes; the real Biblical one commences after His glorious second advent.
It is “high time to awake out of our sleep for now is our salvation nearer than we first believed.” Rom. 13: 11-14. “Take heed, that ye be not deceived!” Luke 21: 8.
(To be continued next week)