Should a Christian vote? Should a Christian have anything to do with politics? Should we fight gay marriage/abortion or any of these controversial topics?
Hebrews 11:13 These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of [them], and embraced [them], and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.
John 18:36 Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence.
2 Corinthians 5:20 Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech [you] by us: we pray [you] in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God.
The Lord would have His people bury political questions. On these themes silence is eloquence. Christ calls upon His followers to come into unity on the pure gospel principles which are plainly revealed in the word of God. We cannot with safety vote for political parties; for we do not know whom we are voting for. We cannot with safety take part in any political schemes. We cannot labor to please men who will use their influence to repress religious liberty, and to set in operation oppressive measures to lead or compel their fellow men to keep Sunday as the Sabbath. The first day of the week is not a day to be reverenced. It is a spurious sabbath, and the members of the Lord’s family cannot participate with the men who exalt this day, and violate the law of God by trampling upon His Sabbath. The people of God are not to vote to place such men in office; for when they do this, they are partakers with them of the sins which they commit while in office. {FE 475.2}
“The Lord has been geatly dishonored by his peoples catching up in the issues that arise in this time of test and trial. …His people are to keep free from politics. They are to stand a seperate and peculiar people, the name of God our ruler is to be in there foreheads, showing to all that he is their sovereighn “MS, 1, 1897, P. 7
“Men of intemperance have been in the office today in a flattering manner expressing their approbation of the course of the Sabbathkeepers not voting and expressed hopes that they will stick to their course and, like the Quakers, not cast their vote. Satan and his evil angels are busy at this time, and he has workers upon the earth. May Satan be disappointed, is my prayer.”–E. G. White diary, Sunday, March 6, 1859. {2SM 337.3}
Comments (12)
Sabbath Sermons (@sabbath_sermons) - 15/03/2022
The words of Sr White are inspired and she said they were. https://sabbathsermons.com/category/the-spirit-of-prophecy/
Steve Ferguson - 09/06/2013
Are you collectively quoting? Doesn’t your last quote talk about the evils of not voting, not the evils of voting? And what about other quotes from Ellen White:
‘The decision to vote for candidates is a personal decision. If you vote, “keep your voting to yourself. Do not feel it your duty to urge everyone to do as you do.”‘ Selected Messages, book 2, p. 337.
http://www.whiteestate.org/issues/Voting.html
Bongani - 22/10/2012
This article is clear, I have been looking for the message like this. We can say we vote for democracy, but what is this democracy thing? The system that refuses to hear the voice of God? I think I know how it all started whem people who God chose to fulfill His plan started to be rebellious and wanted to have a ruler [like] other nations. God had used prophets and judges to govern His people [1Samuel 8]. They were not made rulers but gave the message to the people and told them what God required them to do. Theocracy was then lost, God’s own governance. If I read these words of the Lord, John 18:36 Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My kingdom is not from here.” I compare them with the words that He said in His prayer, praying for disciples and also the people who will accept the Gospel the disciples were going to preach to them.
Jesus said that the people that God had given to Him were not of this world, as Himself was not of this world [John 17:14]. How did Jesus walk on earth? To be a Christian means to be like Him, walk on earth as He walked and taught. He never participated or interfered with rulers or government. In John 6:15 Therefore when Jesus perceived that they were about to come and take Him by force to make Him king, He departed again to the mountain by Himself alone. Comparing this with John 17:16 They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. What does it means when He says we are NOT of the world like Him? We must be Christlike. It is a pity that we think we can make people our presidents and lobby that they listen to us. There are many sects, and people of different lifestyles that these people represent. They will not put God first in their way of government. Does God like gay marriages, abortions and freedom of all religions these governments have passed as laws in so-called human right. Participation in electing them is also conformity to the world.
casmige - 14/10/2012
We are commanded to Occupy until the end…..that means remain involved in every jot, tittle and every aspect of G*Ds work (Including rebuking evil & mis-truths and rigorously defending the faith & truth in deed, word & thought) while there is still breathe to be breathed.
Pray without ceasing until, at the end, when you deem the doors to probation are closed & then don’t bother any more to lift your voice & cry aloud, spare not…oh, until you think it no longer necessary or within divine constraint??.
Bawahahahahaha.
Yeah, I’ll queue up for THAT message of hope….
casmige - 14/10/2012
Oh….& “Cowards”…do NOT inherit the Kingdom of Heaven, BTW Rev. 21:8
casmige - 14/10/2012
….& yet who was it that single-handedly FOUGHT against the National Sunday Law on a political, legal & more sullied than voting foundation in the 1800’s??.
Can’t “Fight” that which you do not involve yourself in and KNOW……
The Defence against the Sunday law THEN was done with Knowledge of the Political machine from being INVOLVED in it & knowing the procedures & machinations of the same….
un-involvement?? Yup!!….just keep singing louder.
casmige - 14/10/2012
Ellen G. White never claimed that her special ministry was to give an inspired and infallible commentary on the biblical text so that we are obliged to accept the teachings of the Bible as she interpreted them. Spiritual gifts do not relieve us of the necessity of using all the tools of proper biblical research. While a comment from Ellen G. White may be edifying and helpful, we should not think that such a comment is necessarily definitive and makes further research redundant or unnecessary. The special ministry of spiritual gifts was a prophetic voice to draw us to Christ and the Bible rather than to be an infallible expositor of the biblical text.
In many sections of the church there is a belief that the Bible is an obscure book and difficult to understand but that Ellen G. White makes the Bible understandable. This popular assumption must be challenged. First, it assumes the Roman Catholic premise that the Bible is an obscure book which requires an infallible interpreter. Catholics have the teaching office of the Roman Church, and Seventh-day Adventists have Ellen G. White—but the principle is un-Protestant. Second, Protestantism affirms that the Bible is clear in all matters necessary for salvation. Mrs. White often affirms this too.8 In fact, she says that her writings are the “lesser light” and the Bible is the “greater light.”9 If this is true—and we believe it is—then the Bible, as the brighter light, is also the clearer light. There is a sharpness and clarity about the New Testament witness that is greater than Ellen G. White. The Bible possesses a grandeur and dignity not shared by any other writings. It is absolutely unique. If Seventh-day Adventists followed Mrs. White’s advice and studied the Bible as they should, they would find that it really is a greater light, a brighter light and a clearer light than Ellen G. White. In this respect Mrs. White points to the Bible like John the Baptist, saying, “He must increase, but I must decrease.” The “Spirit of Prophecy” is a prophetic voice designed to drive us to the Bible, not an interpreter to take the place of the Bible.
Even the bible is but a way-stop towards a greater end in and of itself…the lesser light of a written word to lead us back to the first revelation or “book” of Yahushua.
“Creation”. The word walks in the cool of the day…both in the morning and in the evening. It seeks to commune with us and to be ONE with us in the MIDST of us (As the Sanctuary of the wilderness proposed)…..but this is also being missed these days as well.
In verity, Yahushua (Remember, “a name” connotes character?) in the midst of his people, just a certainly as messiach was kept from being sullied from self & the symptom of self-enshrinement in the most holiest of holies: sin, the same Creator will keep (Means to protect & preserve) his people from sinning and they will commune with him and be his people.
THAT is the sum-total and focus of any and all written word be it NT, OT, 1888 Message, SoP, Sanctuary message or any part and parcel of “Creation”.
When the apostolic gospel was proclaimed within the Judaistic community, it was proclaimed not as the destruction of their God-given traditions, but as their fulfillment. Paul saw more clearly than anyone that the gospel of Christ was the glad tidings that all which Israel had hoped and lived for was fulfilled in the coming of Jesus Christ. The preaching of the gospel to the Gentiles was the fulfillment of God’s promise to Abraham—”in thy Seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed” (Gen. 22:18). Yet tragically, the majority of the “chosen people” did not see it that way. Rather than seeing the gospel as the fruition of Judaism, they saw the unleashing of the apostolic gospel as the negation and destruction of all that Judaism had hoped for. Therefore they braced themselves to resist it—from a feeling of blind loyalty to Moses.
The problem of Judaism was that they tended to regard Moses—the law—as the substance of what God had promised Abraham. More and more, the Torah itself became absolutized. The Rabbis even called it “the logos,” the “bread which leads to the life of the age to come,” “the light” and the “water of life.” They failed to see that Moses was like John the Baptist, who pointed away from himself to the One who was the “end”—goal—of “the spirit of prophecy.”
If the Bible had been studied and appreciated as it should have been, the special ministry of Ellen G. White would not have been necessary. 12 Mrs. White’s description of her own work as a “lesser light” to lead to the “greater light” indicates a pedagogic function of “the Spirit of Prophecy” (Gal. 3:24)—a John the Baptist type of ministry. If the spiritual gift is to lead to something higher and greater than itself, that greater thing must be the “end”—the goal or purpose—of the spiritual gift. When the people of God are led into the full light of the gospel as it shines from the Word, the spiritual gift has accomplished its highest purpose.
But is there not a danger that we might regard the mighty recovery of the apostolic gospel, which is really the fruition of all that Adventism has hoped and worked for, as the destruction of all that we hold dear. The Jews made this mistake, and it is possible for us to do the same. Is there not a danger that we might try to “absolutize” the light given us through spiritual gifts—as if that were the final revelation of light for the Advent people? Ellen G. White’s ministry was a prophetic voice like that of John the Baptist. But we must remember that John the Baptist was not an end in himself.
In view of these things, we ought to carefully consider what it might mean to make the Spirit of Prophecy “of none effect.” We need to remember that the Jews did this by building monuments to the prophets while opposing those who proclaimed the gospel…….from the micro to the things of the macro…
casmige - 14/10/2012
“To sin by Silence when one should protest makes cowards of Men” A. Lincoln.
“The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.” Edmund Burke
“When you have to make a choice and don’t make it, that is in itself a choice.” -William James
This side of A New Earth Ruled by Yahushua, the choices we make are inevitably always the lesser of 2 evils….but indeed those choices MUST be made as certainly as disobeying Laws of the State to preserve those slated for the Ovens of Auschwitz inculcated.
Or would your rather do as MOST Churchians of the Churchiantity of the day Did??:
an excerpt from “How Do You Kill 11 Million People?: Why the Truth Matters More Than You Think” Andy Andrews
“In at least one German town the railroad tracks ran behind the church. An eyewitness stated”:
“We heard stories of what was happening to the Jews, but we tried to distance ourselves from it, because we felt, what could anyone do to stop it?
“Each Sunday morning, we would hear the train whistle blowing in the distance, then the wheels coming over the tracks. We became disturbed when we heard cries coming from the train as it passed by. We realized that is was carrying Jews like cattle in the cars!
“Week after week the whistle would blow. We dreaded to hear the sounds of those wheels because we knew that we would hear the cries of the Jews en route to a death camp. Their screams tormented us.
“We knew the time the train was coming and when we heard the whistle blow we began singing hymns. By the time the train came past our church, we were singing at the top of our voices. If we heard the screams, we sang more loudly and soon we heard them no more.”
Because your stance is just to attend to “sabbath worship” & keep yourself from being sullied with the issues of the day is NO DIFFERENT than those Sunday Keepers in Church…who simply SANG LOUDER…., as idealistic as it is, your stance is simply the sophisticated subtle sophistry of satan: being oh so heavenly minded & full of indifference to devolving into a being of absolutely no earthly good.:
casmige - 14/10/2012
….so things were different back then against the satanic encroachments upon G*D Given Liberties?.
I guess then, we should all queue up and voluntarily stoke the ovens & pass on into them without utterances or resistance??.
So, in actuality we should “Hasten the coming of the Lord” by encouraging sunday laws & sunday keeping & ignore all the other aspects of the 4 angels messages??.
(Yes, there are 4, not only 3)
It’s time to simply sit in silence & “wait” for it all to happen now??.
Rly? Srsly??
casmige - 14/10/2012
So, what you’re implying is the regurgitated regular churchianity doctrine of some-sort of quasi dispesnationalism….that “That” was then & “This” is Now, so NOW is the time to not agitate the truth amongst the nations & bear witness in thought, word & deed.
That i’s really already all decided & every one is predestined to this end or that end & that there is no longer need to vigorously defend the faith which entails action & involvement??.
You’ve given me a lot to read through tho~! I will have to digest that eMail message in context and consider your additional thoughts on the matter.
Basically what you’re implying is that the time has come for that aspect of Rev. 8:1
N’est pas?? Yeah, that must be it…..no?
casmige - 14/10/2012
I Agree: Steps to C States that we need to be careful with whom & how we share the truth because if the people are not yet ready to hear it, it could harden their hearts to the future reception of that truth.
Holy Writ also states to be at peace with all men as far as is possible.
And, it is not so much a well formed argument compared to a well & orderly lived life that commends the truth….
But there is still that Power of G*D’s Word even unto the dividing asunder of joints & marrow…
casmige - 14/10/2012
My “Take” on things is all or nothing.
My personal quiet walk of faith has taught me that I am to be 100% involved in everything with-IN the world but remain unsullied by it as well.
That whatever I set my hand to do, that I do it with 100% intent to the glory of G*D.
That means NOT taking the easy way to do some-thing or doing it half-way.
It means that in doing some-thing that I may not know 100% how to do, that I find out & THEN do it 100% correctly.
That when I’m walking along for my after-meal walk, that the still small voice is there & that the slightest whisper to pick up an errant piece of strewn trash or to smile, or say hello to some-one along the path-way,…that I am to do it & be humbly submitted in doing THAT work of G*D & not necessarily seeking great & noble works as exampled by a favourite quote of myne: “”I long to accomplish a great and noble tasks, but it is my chief duty to accomplish humble tasks as though they were great and noble. The world is moved along, not only by the mighty shoves of its heroes, but also by the aggregate of the tiny pushes of each honest worker.” Helen Keller”
That also is conveyed into any & every aspects of life, work, living, & life’s pursuits….including voting & politic’s.
I also early on adopted the not ours to vote stance…..however I also struggle with the encroachment of evil upon the rights & liberties of G*DS Law & his creation & my duty to stand in defiance defence of the same.
It’s the one very main reason that I am & have been VEGAN since College….prior to ever even “Hearing” of the advent message: Because of the utter insult & atrocities to G*DS Innocents simply to shed their blood to satisfy some animalistic lusts of the appetite & bury them in our stomachs became repugnant to me early on.
As also with the seemingly violation of my conscience in casting a vote for always the lesser of 2 evils….which to me was “Still an evil” regardless of the choices.
However I’ve also realised that NOT to be involved in this one area (As I am to be in ALL AREAS …”Salt”) wrestling with G*D at the voting-booth jabbock, that I would submit that while repugnant, that we are to stem the encroachment of evil at any & every chance little or great we get just as the responsibility to do the deed that layest closest might entail picking up a piece of strewn garbage notwithstanding the signs of the times.
We should all perish leaving our last breath, thought & well done deed doing the very best & utmost to fight evil within ourselves & without for our fellow men AND G*Ds Innocents.
Else, we could also dismiss the need for Veganism & dispensing with Milk, Cheese & all the peripherals.
Voting is like eating….it’s a necessity herein & for the here-now. Is it the ideal or the original??, Nope, just like living in the city is not opportune. However, I say, let each be persuaded of their own conscience… & let the development of conscience (Which Noe Webster defined as the “Voice of G*D upon the human mind”) be the utmost of character development since without Conscience the character (Which is Thoughts & Subsequent diligent actions combined) cannot ever be ennobled & developed….
If that character development means that we are to attend to that still small voice instructing us to merely & simply quietly pick up strewn trash as we walk along or dealing with the trash in political office….I would submit that the ending should be best left up with the resolution left open & for the individual to decide with G*D.
Every little thing counts……& certainly is recorded in the books of remembrance to greet us later at the white throne judgement, n’est pas??.
Isaiah 30:15 tho~ to consider…..