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-------- Original Message --------
| From: |
Jonathan E. Smith |
| Organization: |
Management Studies, UWI Mona |
| To: |
Mollie Steenson, Walt Thompson |
| CC: |
Pastor John Lomacang |
| Subject: |
Re: 3abn and Lawsuits – I fear for your souls |
| Date: |
Mon, 16 Jul 2007 11:32:29 -0500 |
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Dear Folks,
Let me say that I do love 3ABN and would like to see us all
in heaven. Again, I must stress I am not addressing your rights
in seeking redress – I am unqualified to deal with the merits
of your case.
Yet in reviewing Scripture and the writings of Ellen White,
I am convinced that under no condition whatsoever should a believer
sue another. To do so would imperil your souls!! Are you willing
to take that chance? By the way, I am not accusing you of being
evil, my choice of word would be misguided – and dangerously
so. I sure hope you have not been cajoled or railroaded into
making a decision that would banish you from heaven.
Consider these written words from Scripture and the SOP:
- Matthew 18:21-35: Forgiving plentifully and endlessly.
- But I say unto you which hear, Love your enemies, do good
to them which hate you, Bless them that curse you, and pray for
them which despitefully use you. And unto him that smiteth thee
on the one cheek offer also the other; and him that taketh away
thy cloke forbid not to take thy coat also. Luke 6:27-29.
- Let Christ the King of Israel descend now from the cross,
that we may see and believe. And they that were crucified with
him reviled him. Mark 15:32.
- For what glory is it, if, when ye be buffeted for your
faults, ye shall take it patiently? but if, when ye do well,
and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with
God. For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered
for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps:
Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth: Who, when
he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened
not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously: Who
his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that
we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose
stripes ye were healed. 1 Peter 2:20-24.
- Dare any of you, having a matter against another, go to
law before the unjust, and not before the saints? 1 Cor 6:1. [Note
the word DARE – would you challenge God?]
- Now therefore there is utterly a fault among you, because
ye go to law one with another. Why do ye not rather take wrong?
why do ye not rather suffer yourselves to be defrauded? 1 Cor.
6:7. [The word UTTERLY – holos – hol'-oce – completely, that
is, altogether; (by analogy) everywhere; (negative) not by any
means: – at all, commonly, utterly. Strong's Hebrew and Greek
Dictionaries.] This word leaves no room for an excuse for anyone
who initiates a lawsuit. Such a person is already found guilty.
Christ forgave His enemies on the cross and did not seek to
exact revenge or even shut them up. He was confident that He
had done righteously, so then His Father would be the true Judge
and His exceedingly great reward. Christ is our example, and
we MUST follow in His steps. As many as are led by the Spirit
of God – these are the children of God. If you are confident
that you have done righteously, why do you not bear the accusations?
Why do you seek to shut up these pesky little trouble makers?
How will that commend you to God? How can they destroy 3ABN
when their objective is to save 3ABN? Did God not intervene
many times to save His institutions when they were under attack?
You are altogether wrong to retaliate with a lawsuit.
Christianity is not a business mixed with spiritual matters.
Christianity is a WAY of life. It means forgetting the ways
of the world. Christ said in Luke 9:23, "If any man will come
after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily,
and follow me." We need to deny the lusts of our selfish souls;
crucify them instead. When Jesus said, "Come, follow Me," He
also said, "Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek
and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls."
Matt. 11:29. He is the WAY, the TRUTH and the LIFE. Can we
not follow Him? Can you follow Jesus without being yoked to/with
Him? I fear that you have been influenced by the ways of this
world far too much. Friendship with the world is enmity with
God. Thus the command is, "Wherefore come out from among them,
and be ye 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."
2 Corinthians 6:17, 18.
To be children of God we must learn from Christ. We will
suffer persecution if we desire to live godly (2 Tim. 3:12); we
are to be a peculiar people (Deut. 14:2; 26:18; Tit. 2:14; 1 Pet. 2:9).
It seems like you ought to drop the lawyers off your payroll,
except for those needed to do battle with the state and other
secular matters. You certainly do not have a Christian right
of using the heathen to judge your brothers.
Prayerfully consider these SOP words:
Counsel to a Believer Threatening Lawsuits
When you engaged in that lawsuit against R, I said if S has
gone so far as to enter into that business, it will be a blot
upon his life. I have sorrowed because of your course in this;
I know that it is not right, and will not in the least relieve
the situation for you in any way. It is only a manifestation
of that wisdom which is not from above. {3SM 301.2}
I was informed that you intended to institute a suit against
me, on the ground that you had been wronged by the testimonies
given in your case. A letter came to me, threatening that if
I did not acknowledge that I had wronged you, the suit would
be entered upon. Now, I could hardly believe that you had gone
so decidedly on the enemy's ground, knowing my lifework as well
as you do. {3SM 301.3}
All that I have written to you, every word of it, was the
truth. I have no retractions to make. I have done only that which
I know to be my duty to do. My only motive in publishing the
matter was the hope of saving you. I had no thought but of sincere
pity and love for your soul. You yourself know that I have great
interest for your soul. . . . {3SM 301.4}
If anyone shall seek to hinder me in this work by appealing to the law,
I shall not abate one jot of the testimonies given. The work
in which I am engaged is not my work. It is the work of God,
which He has given me to do. I did not believe that you would
do so terrible a thing as to lift your finite hand against the
God of heaven. Whoever shall do this work, let it not be you.
. . . {3SM 301.5}
I want to say to you. Do not extort money from anyone because
of words spoken against you or yours. You harm yourself by so
doing. If we are looking unto Jesus, the Author and Finisher
of our faith, we shall be able to pray, "Lord, forgive us our
trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us." Jesus
did not appeal to the law for redress when He was unjustly accused.
When He was reviled, He reviled not again; when He was threatened,
He did not retaliate.—Letter 38, 1891. {3SM 302.1}
The Very Thing God Told Them Not to Do.—I have written largely
in regard to Christians who believe the truth placing their cases
in courts of law to obtain redress. In doing this, they are biting
and devouring one another in every sense of the word, "to be
consumed one of another." They cast aside the inspired counsel
God has given, and in the face of the message He gives they do
the very thing He has told them not to do. Such men may as well
stop praying to God, for He will not hear their prayers. They
insult Jehovah, and He will leave them to become the subjects
of Satan until they shall see their folly and seek the Lord by
confession of their sins. . . . {3SM 302.2}
What Appeals to the Courts Reveal.—The world and unconverted
church members are in sympathy. Some when God reproves them for
wanting their own way, make the world their confidence, and bring
church matters before the world for decision. Then there is collision
and strife, and Christ is crucified afresh, and put to open shame.
Those church members who appeal to the courts of the world show
that they have chosen the world as their judge, and their names
are registered in heaven as one with unbelievers. How eagerly
the world seizes the statements of those who betray sacred trusts!
{3SM 302.3}
This action, of appealing to human courts, never before entered
into by Seventh-day Adventists, has now been done. God has permitted
this that you who have been deceived may understand what power
is controlling those who have had entrusted to them great responsibilities.
Where are God's sentinels? Where are the men who will stand shoulder
to shoulder, heart to heart, with the truth, present truth for
this time, in possession of the heart?—Manuscript 64, 1898.
{3SM 303.1}
The Saints to Judge the World
The saints are to judge the world. Then are they to depend
upon the world, and upon the world's lawyers to settle their
difficulties? God does not want them to take their troubles to
the subjects of the enemy for decision. Let us have confidence
in one another.—Manuscript 71, 1903. {3SM 303.2}
Lawyers and Laodiceans
To lean upon the arm of the law is a disgrace to Christians;
yet this evil has been brought in and cherished among the Lord's
chosen people. Worldly principles have been stealthily introduced,
until in practice many of our workers are becoming like the Laodiceans—half-hearted,
because so much dependence is placed on lawyers and legal documents
and agreements. Such a condition of things is abhorrent to God.—Manuscript
128, 1903. {3SM 303.3}
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Jonathan E. Smith
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