The Careless, Indifferent and Unbelieving

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Dear Reader,

There is a large class of professing Seventh-day Adventists who believe that there is no particular need to warn of end-time events. They refer to such warnings as “a feeding the frenzy about the coming world economic collapse, and many other sensational things.” Those are the words used by an SDA evangelist who claims to be the largest and most prolific in the world. He says not to be concerned about the economic crisis and the current events because it will all pass. It is this kind of unbelief that Ellen White described in the following statement:

Begin at My Sanctuary -- "Here we see that the church--the Lord's sanctuary--was the first to feel the stroke of the wrath of God. The ancient men [leaders], those to whom God had given great light and who had stood as guardians of the spiritual interests of the people, had betrayed their trust. They had taken the position that we need not look for miracles and the marked manifestation of God's power as in former days. Times have changed. These words strengthen their unbelief, and they say: The Lord will not do good, neither will He do evil. He is too merciful to visit His people in judgment. Thus 'Peace and safety" is the cry from men who will never again lift up their voice like a trumpet to show God's people their transgressions and the house of Jacob their sins. These dumb dogs that would not bark are the ones who feel the just vengeance of an offended God. Men, maidens, and little children all perish together." E. G. White, Testimonies, Vol. 5, 211.

The carelessness and indifference of the leaders of the church is due to one thing: UNBELIEF. The SDA Bible Commentary says that the leaders of apostate Israel were virtual atheists.

Virtual atheists—SDA Bible Commentary on Isaiah 29:16:

“Isa 29:16 Surely your turning of things upside down shall be esteemed as the potter's clay: for shall the work say of him that made it, He made me not? or shall the thing framed say of him that framed it, He had no understanding?

16. “Upside down.— They were attempting, as it were, to have the potter take orders from the clay. They regarded themselves as having wisdom greater than that of the Creator. These spiritual leaders were virtual atheists, who masqueraded under the guise of religion.” SDA Bible Commentary, Vol. 4, p. 216.

Where does Ellen White get her reference to “dumb dogs?” She gets it from Isaiah and she said that all the ancient prophets wrote more for us than the Jews of old:

"The Bible for Our Time.--Never are we absent from the mind of God. God is our joy and our salvation. Each of the ancient prophets spoke less for their own time than for ours, so that their prophesying is in force for us. 'Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come' (1 Cor. 10:11). 'Not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven which things the angels desire to look into' (1 Peter 1:12).'" E.G. White, Selected Messages, Bk. 3, p. 338.

10 His watchmen are blind: they are all ignorant, they are all dumb dogs, they cannot bark; sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber.

11 Yea, they are greedy dogs which can never have enough, and they are shepherds that cannot understand: they all look to their own way, every one for his gain, from his quarter.

12 Come ye, say they, I will fetch wine, and we will fill ourselves with strong drink; and to morrow shall be as this day, and much more abundant. Isaiah 56:10-12.

In other words: Eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow will be better than today! And how many does God indict as ignorant because of unbelief and peace and safety teachings? ALL! How many does God indict as dumb dogs who will not bark? ALL! How many does God indict as Shepherds that cannot understand and who look to their own way? ALL!

You can show this to any given SDA new movement church member, and he/she will begin to cite some “Shepherd” who is exempt from God’s indictment of them ALL. That is blasphemy against the direct Word of God. The only ones who are exempt from the indictments of Isaiah 56:10-12 are the ones who make the same response to apostasy that Jesus took and I will cite that further along.

Ellen White on Closing the Eyes to the Evidence that Warns of Christ’s Coming

“The careless and unbelieving close their eyes to the evidence which Christ has given to warn men of his coming. They seek to quiet all apprehension, while, at the same time, the signs of the end are rapidly fulfilling, and the world is hastening to the period of the revelation of the Son of man in the clouds of heaven. But those who receive the light of truth as it shines upon their pathway, are not in darkness that this great event should come upon them unawares. Paul teaches that it would be sinful to be indifferent to the signs which should precede the second coming of Christ. Those who should be guilty of this neglect, he calls children of the night and of darkness. He encourages the vigilant and watchful with these words: "But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day; we are not of the night, nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober." {LP 114.2}

God has revealed what is to take place in the last days, that His people may be prepared to stand against the tempest of opposition and wrath. Those who have been warned of the events before them are not to sit in calm expectation of the coming storm, comforting themselves that the Lord will shelter His faithful ones in the day of trouble. We are to be as men waiting for their Lord, not in idle expectancy, but in earnest work, with unwavering faith. It is no time now to allow our minds to be engrossed with things of minor importance. While men are sleeping, Satan is actively arranging matters so that the Lord's people may not have mercy or justice. The Sunday movement is now making its way in darkness. The leaders are concealing the true issue, and many who unite in the movement do not themselves see whither the undercurrent is tending. Its professions are mild and apparently Christian, but when it shall speak it will reveal the spirit of the dragon. It is our duty to do all in our power to avert the threatened danger. We should endeavor to disarm prejudice by placing ourselves in a proper light before the people. We should bring before them the real question at issue, thus interposing the most effectual protest against measures to restrict liberty of conscience. We should search the Scriptures and be able to give the reason for our faith. Says the prophet: "The wicked shall do wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand." {5T 452.1}

Did Jesus protest?

“Christ was a protestant. He protested against the formal worship of the Jewish nation, who rejected the counsel of God against themselves. He told them that they taught for doctrines the commandments of men, and that they were pretenders and hypocrites. Like whited sepulchers they were beautiful without, but within full of impurity and corruption. The Reformers date back to Christ and the apostles. They came out and separated themselves from a religion of forms and ceremonies. Luther and his followers did not invent the reformed religion. They simply accepted it as presented by Christ and the apostles. The Bible is presented to us as a sufficient guide; but the pope and his workers remove it from the people as if it were a curse, because it exposes their pretensions and rebukes their idolatry. {RH, June 1, 1886 par. 14}

Those who have access to God through Christ have important work before them. Now is the time to lay hold of the arm of our strength. The prayer of David should be the prayer of pastors and laymen: "It is time for Thee, Lord, to work: for they have made void Thy law." Let the servants of the Lord weep between the porch and the altar, crying: "Spare Thy people, O Lord, and give not Thine heritage to reproach." God has always wrought for His people in their greatest extremity, when there seemed the least hope that ruin could be averted. The designs of wicked men, the enemies of the church, are subject to His power and overruling providence. He can move upon the hearts of statesmen; the wrath of the turbulent and disaffected, the haters of God, His truth, and His people can be turned aside, even as the rivers of water are turned, if He orders it thus. Prayer moves the arm of Omnipotence. He who marshals the stars in order in the heavens, whose word controls the waves of the great deep, the same infinite Creator will work in behalf of His people if they call upon Him in faith. He will restrain the forces of darkness until the warning is given to the world and all who will heed it are prepared for the conflict. {5T 452.2}

Are SDA leaders warning of the New World Order that will take great measures to restrict liberty of conscience? Not that I know of! Rather, they are quieting with ridicule the concerns of the faithful watchmen on the walls of Zion. This is the exact course of the leaders of ancient Israel, so that when the destruction of Jerusalem came upon Israel in A.D. 70, most of the Jews perished in that Ezekiel 9 debacle, while the faithful who had been warned and had themselves warned others were spared.

Who are the True Shepherd’s of the Flock When Omega Apostasy Becomes Invasive Among God’s People?

To answer this important question, we merely need review who were the true shepherds of the flock when the Jews of Israel apostatized and the course they followed. The true shepherds who were exempt from the “dumb dogs” of Isaiah 56:10-12 were those who followed Christ in His “gathering out” from the apostate Jewish church. So it will be in this end-time of Omega Apostasy in the SDA church which has formed a new movement that has removed God, 1SM 204-5.

When a corporate church engages apostasy and will not put it away and out of the camp, the faithful must leave or be corporately responsible. This is the reason Christ and His disciples left. This is why Paul left. This is why Protestants left Rome. This is why Adventists left the other churches in 1844, when they would not tolerate light.

Jesus Left

"Christ was a protestant...The Reformers date back to Christ and the apostles. They came out and separated themselves from a religion of forms and ceremonies. Luther and his followers did not invent the reformed religion. They simply accepted it as presented by Christ and the apostles." E.G. White, Review and Herald, vol. 2, 48, col. 2.

Paul Left

"And as they persisted in their rejection of the gospel the apostle (Paul) went into the synagogue, and spake boldly for the space for three months, disputing and persuading the things concerning the kingdom of God. But when divers were hardened, and believed not, but spake evil of that way before the multitude, he departed from them, and separated the disciples, disputing daily in the school of one Tyrannus." Acts, 19:8, 9.

"Fearing that the faith of the believers would be endangered by continued association with these opposers of the truth, Paul separated from them, and gathered the disciples into a distinct body." E.G. White, Acts of the Apostles, p. 286.

The People Left Even Centuries Before the Final Apostasy of the Jews

Shiloh was the first settlement of the Jews after roaming in the desert for 40 years!

"The recreant priests added licentiousness to the dark catalogue of their crimes yet they still polluted by their presence the tabernacle of the Lord, and, laden with sin, dared to come into the presence of a holy God. As the men of Israel witnessed the corrupt course of the priests, they thought it safer for their families not to come up to the appointed place of worship. Many went from Shiloh with their peace disturbed, their indignation aroused, until they at last determined to offer their sacrifices themselves, concluding that this would be fully as acceptable to God, as to sanction in any manner the abominations practiced in the Sanctuary." E.G. White, The Signs of the Times, vol. 1, p. 264, col. 3, December 1, 1881.

"The Sanhedrin had rejected Christ's message and was bent upon His death therefore Jesus departed from Jerusalem, from the priests, the temple, the religious leaders, the people who had been instructed in the law, and turned to another class to proclaim His message, and to gather out those who should carry the gospel to all nations.

As the light and life of men was rejected by the ecclesiastical authorities in the days of Christ, so it has been rejected in every succeeding generation. Again and again the history of Christ's withdrawal from Judea has been repeated. When the Reformers preached the word of God, they had no thought of separating themselves from the established church but the religious leaders would not tolerate the light, and those that bore it were forced to seek another class, who were longing for the truth. In our day few of the professed followers of the Reformers are actuated by their spirit. Few are listening for the voice of God, and ready to accept truth in whatever guise it may be presented. Often those who follow in the steps of the Reformers are forced to turn away from the churches they love, in order to declare the plain teaching of the word of God. And many times those who are seeking for light are by the same teaching obliged to leave the church of their fathers, that they may render obedience." E.G. White, Desire of Ages, 232.

"And as they persisted in their rejection of the gospel the apostle (Paul) went into the synagogue, and spake boldly for the space of three months, disputing and persuading the things concerning the kingdom of God. But when divers were hardened, and believed not, but spake evil of that way before the multitude, he departed from them, and separated the disciples, disputing daily in the school of one Tyrannus." Acts, 19:8, 9.

"Even though you may not be able to speak a word to those who are working on wrong principles, leave them. Your withdrawal and silence may do more than words. Nehemiah refused to associate with those who were untrue to principle, and he would not permit his workmen to associate with them The love and fear of God were his safeguard-Dare to be a Daniel, Dare to stand alone. Thus as did Moses, you will endure the seeing of Him who is invisible. But a cowardly and silent reserve before evil associates, while you listen to their devices makes you one with them. Come out from among them and be separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty." Review & Herald Vol. 4, p. 42.

Those who are not willing to protest the laxity of the dumb-dog pseudo-shepherds who are not warning the sheep of the seriousness of the times will meet with the same fate the false shepherds met in A.D. 70. Those who see no need to warn others of the signs of the times and the fact that we are at the end of all things because of a New World Order government, which fits the description of the feet and toes kingdom of Daniel 2, the final kingdom on this earth, will meet with the same fate experienced by the foolish virgins.

May God impress you with the seriousness of the times. Every item I post on my Website is geared toward that objective and is relative to the Bible description of the end-time. The purpose is not to engender fear, but respect for God’s Word; that prophecy is being fulfilled and that Jesus will soon come.