How Do I Get Through To My Adventist Sister?
My sister has now been an Adventist for 30-some years and is woven deeply within the web of the religion. I fear for her salvation so much that it makes my heart sick. I continue to try and reach her in a civil way with questions. She does not know her Bible well at all, and usually she answers my questions by sending me a Doug Bachelor video. I was on the phone with her recently and asked her about the nature of man and if she believed people have an immaterial spirit, and she said that when we are born, each one is given a small percentage of the Holy Spirit, but we do not have a spirit, and that when we are baptized, that percentage grows. I don’t ever remember you or Nikki saying anything like that.
She said some other things I couldn’t understand at all, but I do remember her mentioning that Jesus is in the sanctuary atoning for each individual that repents. She felt abiding in Christ is how we are saved, but cannot expand on that, and definitely does not believe in hell because God would never do that to anyone, but that Hitler will definitely be punished longer than most.
I have listened to podcasts and Fact Checks regarding some of these issues and have taken lots of notes, but how can I reach her? I know it’s the Holy Spirit’s job to touch our hearts and open our eyes and ears, but she seems bent on following falsehood. She will not question or research anything but firmly believes those who tell her untruth and lies. I wanted her to watch one of your videos but she refused and said they are all lies. I firmly believe she has a “lying spirit” that is attached at the hip and will not depart.
I’m at my wits end.…Even though she expects to be in the time of trouble, I can’t bear her being here…alone! If she is deceived now, I don’t see the time of trouble helping, but maybe enough seeds were planted that she will see the light (?)
Any advice? Any suggestions or other videos/podcasts/fact checks I can watch that might help??
Thank you so much for your and Nikki’s faithfulness!!!
—VIA EMAIL
RESPONSE: I feel for you regarding your sister. It is a great sadness when unbelief separates us from the loved ones who are close. The darkness and hostility, the mocking and arrogant shaming are dreadful.
I wish I had a magic bullet for you. I think all of us who have loved ones in Adventism struggle with similar feelings and grief.
If your sister refuses to have civil discussions with you, it’s better not to pursue those discussions. Jesus said not to cast one’s pearls before swine (Mt. 7:6), because the swine would trample the pearls into the mud and then turn and tear you to pieces. In fact, He Himself ceased to teach the Pharisees in straightforward words when they accused Him of casting out demons by the power of Satan. He turned to parables in order to keep the truth from being so direct in front of those who refused to acknowledge what they saw and heard.
When we persist in forcing an unbeliever to grapple with truth when they fight and do not want to hear, we actually increase their sin. Their clarity on the gospel makes their hostility that much more dreadful. I believe that is why Jesus said not to cast pearls before swine. People harden when they argue against truth. If we leave them alone, we step out of the way and they can stop fighting us and deal directly with the Lord.
I believe you are right about her having a spiritual power connected to her stubborn refusal to hear the gospel. Yet the Lord sees and knows, and He knows how to break through her resistance with His light and truth.
I suggest that you pray that the Lord will send someone into her life whom she will “hear”, and that whoever that may be, the Lord will use that person to reach her with the gospel. It is really hard to let go of the drive to talk about these things…but when people are hostile and rebellious and argumentative, persisting in explaining the truth only makes them more resistant.
All to say—prayer really IS our most powerful weapon! The Lord sees and knows.
I pray that He comfort your heart and show you how to entrust your sister to Him, laying her before the Lord in your prayers and asking Him to take charge of her now. Ask Him to show you how to trust Him with her and to give you the trust and strength to let go of her. The Lord has access to her, and you can pray in trust, knowing that He will do what she needs. Pray for her, but release her to the Lord. Love her and be there for her—always ready to speak truth if she wants to hear or asks you a question. But let the Lord provide the answers she needs and the people she will hear. Sometimes our loved ones simply will not hear us!
It is hard to let go and trust God with a person, but truly only He can reach her. Ask Him to teach you how to love her for Him, and just let her be taught by Jesus in His way and time.
Do We Comply?
I started reading the Proclamation! article you posted and I wondered: if your state said you can’t collect rain water (they say they own it), nor use well water on your crops, would you comply even if it could cause a huge lack of food for the country?
I know our constitution says we can defend ourselves from a tyrannical government, or even replace it if necessary, but what about smaller abuses of power?
—VIA EMAIL
Response: This really is a hard thing. The Lord gives us wisdom for what is before us.
Ultimately I believe we have to trust God. Matthew 6:25–34 has become a “life verse” for me. Jesus said not to worry about what we eat, drink, or wear. Gentiles worry about those things, but our Father knows we need them. He will provide those things for us if we seek first the kingdom of God.
This question reminds me of something that happened to my grandparents’ family when my mother was growing up. Her parents were Romanian immigrants living on a 2,000-acre homestead in Saskatchewan, Canada, and my grandfather was raising Angus and wheat. During the 1930’s the Dust Bowl hit the Canadian prairies when it also decimated the farmland of the Midwest. My mother said the drought became so severe on their farm that even the Canadian thistles did not grow. Absolutely NOTHING grew. The government was shipping barrels of brine-preserved fish to the prairies so the people would have something to eat.
During those terrible years, my grandparents prayed, and at the height of the drought, a remarkable thing happened. An artesian well sprang up on a corner of my grandparents’ land. There had never been water there before, but throughout the drought that well bubbled up water—enough to water their cattle and the cattle of the neighboring farmers as well.
When the rains finally resumed, that artesian well disappeared and never came back.
I say this only as an illustration of one instance of people otherwise doomed to financial ruin for whom the Lord was faithful to His promises. We can trust the Lord.
I don’t know how He will provide for His people as time moves forward, but I know that He will because He has promised to do so. I often remember that Elijah was literally fed by ravens.
God is sovereign over the land, the sea, and the heavens. He made them, named them, and owns them. Even more, He has us. We are His, and He takes responsibility for us. He provides what He knows we need. I’m trusting God with you.
Fact Check Is Helpful
I have been listening to your Former Adventist Fact Check Sabbath School commentaries. You are doing such a great job. I. Know what you are saying is true, but to have you put it so precisely and directly together is so helpful.
—VIA EMAIL
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