Dividers. No I’m not talking about an organizational tool. It’s about people. People determined. People on a mission.
The problem is, it’s not our mission, it’s not the mission of my church. It’s the mission of people bent on having their way, what they honestly and earnestly believe is God’s way. The problem is, it’s not what the Bible says.
Council from Below
“We must do all we can to divide the hated sect of Sabbathkeepers because that is the only way we can ultimately destroy them. They have this dreaded organization from the Enemy making them all think and walk and talk in lockstep. We must make them believe that this is wrong, that their earthly cultures are to be prized above all else, and that the heavenly culture has been forced upon them by a misguided paternalistic human tendency to control rather than being learned from that Book and the little books that point to the Enemy and His Book.”
“But Master, how will we do that?”
“It’s actually very easy. The Enemy has given them such a strong organization that all we have to do is use it against them. We will start by bringing a few influential shepherds over to our side. The people look up to them and trust them and just like sheep they will follow them! These shepherds need to be the ones in the large educational centers—colleges and universities first, which will spread our ideas to the largest churches and influence the local leaders there too. Then we will attack the dreaded academies in the same way because that is the source of many young leaders who can then influence their friends. That way, the shepherds we influence can insist that this is what the young people want, that they are the future, and that they must not be lost. Of course, it’s only the young people that think like us that they really care about. The others who actually believe the Enemy and follow His hated Book will be ridiculed and made to think they are the problem.”
“Perfect. Absolutely perfect!”
“But that is not all. Once we succeed here our most effective work really begins. Once we have enough shepherds on our side, local leaders of large churches, and re-educated young people, then we are ready to attack the dreaded organization itself. The union leaders over the colleges and universities will be the first on our side because they want to keep the colleges and universities happy; otherwise their jobs are in jeopardy.”
“But Master, what can we possibly use to get the shepherds over to our side? We’ve tried to attack the worst ideas of the hated Book, especially the most important ones for this time of earth’s history, and have failed over and over again.”
“Look. These attempts haven’t failed. They have softened up the Enemy’s forces so that now they are not too sure about these ideas and the books that teach them. Some have even been openly expressing doubts about these things for a long time, all the while thinking they are helping the Enemy when they are really helping us! Now we need to insinuate doubts about the Book itself, because that is the source of all our troubles. That Book is the key to the Enemy’s power; people read it and believe it and then we lose them. So we must get the Sabbathkeepers to doubt that Book.”
“How can we do that? They even believe the little books so how can we get them to doubt the big Book?”
“It’s not as hard as you might think. Look, all we have to do is get them to start doubting a little here and a little there. Then, as their doubts mount, they will begin questioning more and more, especially about the dreaded organization, and, finally, they will come completely over to our side.”
“But how will you get them to doubt the big Book? They see the fulfillment of the Enemy’s predictions written in that Book long ago.”
“Right. We’ve only succeeded in getting a few to doubt the predictions. We won’t win many to our side that way. We have to use a different strategy. We will get them to think that the dreaded organization is unfair in not giving half of their number any role as shepherds. A few—and, remember, it only takes a few key ones to begin with!—a few shepherds with large followings we will convince of the Great Idea: that to be a shepherdess would be demeaning, and that they really need to be shepherds. Already we have won the culture to our side, taking mothers out of the home and away from their children so we can influence their little ones more directly and easily, even among the Enemy’s forces. Now we simply need to spread this Great idea to a few key women so they will want to be shepherds, not just shepherdesses.”
“But what does that have to do with the Book?”
“I’m getting to that now. You see, the Book is very clear that a shepherd, and it doesn’t matter whether the leader is local or global, the shepherd “must be . . . the husband of one wife.” So we must get people to think this unfair, that the Enemy must mean something else, so they begin to read the hated Book differently. We must get them to really believe that it doesn’t mean what it says, that the meaning is really just about faithfulness and not about gender. Of course, we have already softened up the Enemy’s forces by getting them to think that local leaders can be either gender. That was our entering wedge. Finally we are ready for the killer blow to the Book itself. If gender doesn’t matter for local leaders why not shepherds? Our clever strategy of making a fundamental difference between local leaders and global shepherds when the Book only makes a difference in their sphere of operation has worked beautifully. Now, when we open their eyes to the fact that the Book has the same requirement for both it will be obvious to them that they can’t go backward, they can only go forward. So they will find many reasons the Book doesn’t mean what it says. And once we get them to believe that with this idea, then it will be a simple matter to get them to believe it with other ideas. From this one Idol we will have them believe if gender doesn’t matter, gender orientation doesn’t matter. Then they will begin to find reasons not to believe the hated Book about this fact either. And if gender orientation doesn’t matter, then they will soon begin to question whether gender really exists at all and be more open to evolution, our new age ideas, and spirit-influences we send their way. Before long, they will worship they know not what.”
“Brilliant! Absolutely brilliant!! But what about the dreaded organization? How can we dismantle that?”
“That’s the easy part. The hard part was getting them to read the Book differently. Doing that leads to many different good ideas—ideas that will divide them into many different groups. They will begin fighting each other. Their leaders will pass measures that look to them like they’re moving forward—and they are, toward us! Long ago the Enemy said, ‘A house divided against itself will not stand.’ Of course, he was talking about OUR house, but actually we’re going to make it come to pass with HIS!”
“Nothing can go wrong now!”
“Oh yes, something could still go wrong.”
“What’s that?”
“Well, it’s extremely unlikely, but if enough of the sleepy sheep should wake up and realize that the dreaded organization is collapsing and should start to cry out to the Enemy and begin speaking up about the Book, that it actually means what it says and not what our helpers want it to mean then our plans could be imperiled.”
“But what damage can just a few of the Enemy’s forces really do?”
“Don’t you remember how small this hated sect of Sabbathkeepers was in the beginning? After the glorious Disappointment multitudes came back over to our side and only a handful were left. We thought we could easily extinguish the few that remained, but no, what did the Enemy do? He helped them understand that Book even more clearly and then He did the unthinkable—He began speaking again to the weakest of them all. And I thought it would be no problem to discourage her. A few times I nearly succeeded in ending her life but the Enemy kept dispatching His loyal slaves to her rescue, so she could keep producing those hated little books that reveal our plans and make so clear how to avoid our traps. From that small beginning the Enemy was somehow able to multiply those few followers into a mighty army and spread His ideas almost everywhere.”
“But things are different now. So many of them have joined our side and those who haven’t are terrified to say anything. What could possibly go wrong?”
“Look, as I said, it’s only the remotest of possibilities, but if enough of the Enemy’s forces begin to speak up and enough sleepy sheep wake up to the point that they succeed in removing our most prized leaders and replacing them with others who actually care more about the Enemy and that Book than themselves and their own cozy comfort then our plans may be threatened.”
“But we can always attack their character, twist their words, and make people think they’re the problem—and they ARE the problem!”
“Yes, that should work just as it always has. I just worry that maybe the Enemy has one last surprise in store for us...”
Council from Above
“Listen, for I will speak of excellent things, and from the opening of my lips will come right things; for my mouth will speak truth; wickedness is an abomination to my lips. All the words of my mouth are with righteousness; nothing crooked or perverse is in them. They are all plain to him who understands, and right to those who find knowledge” (Proverbs 8:6-9).
“Every word of God is pure; He is a shield to those who put their trust in Him. “Do not add to His words, Lest He rebuke you, and you be found a liar” (Proverbs 30:5-6).
“The prevailing spirit of our time is that of infidelity and apostasy—a spirit of pretended illumination because of a knowledge of the truth, but in reality of the blindest presumption. There is a spirit of opposition to the plain word of God and to the testimony of His Spirit. There is a spirit of idolatrous exaltation of mere human reason above the revealed wisdom of God.
“There are men among us in responsible positions who hold that the opinions of a few conceited philosophers, so called, are more to be trusted than the truth of the Bible, or the testimonies of the Holy Spirit. Such a faith as that of Paul, Peter, or John is considered old-fashioned and insufferable at the present day. It is pronounced absurd, mystical, and unworthy of an intelligent mind. . . .
“The time is not far distant when the test will come to every soul. The mark of the beast will be urged upon us. Those who have step by step yielded to worldly demands and conformed to worldly customs will not find it a hard matter to yield to the powers that be, rather than subject themselves to derision, insult, threatened imprisonment, and death. The contest is between the commandments of God and the commandments of men. In this time the gold will be separated from the dross in the church. True godliness will be clearly distinguished from the appearance and tinsel of it. Many a star that we have admired for its brilliancy will then go out in darkness. Chaff like a cloud will be borne away on the wind, even from places where we see only floors of rich wheat. All who assume the ornaments of the sanctuary, but are not clothed with Christ's righteousness, will appear in the shame of their own nakedness.
“When trees without fruit are cut down as cumberers of the ground, when multitudes of false brethren are distinguished from the true, then the hidden ones will be revealed to view, and with hosannas range under the banner of Christ. Those who have been timid and self-distrustful will declare themselves openly for Christ and His truth. The most weak and hesitating in the church will be as David—willing to do and dare. The deeper the night for God's people, the more brilliant the stars. Satan will sorely harass the faithful; but, in the name of Jesus, they will come off more than conquerors. Then will the church of Christ appear “fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners” (5T 79-81).
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