Is there a false "holy spirit" that masquerades as the real Holy Spirit, and deceives people into believing a lie as if it is the truth?

I have been reading brother Lambert's book, and have yet to find any harm in it.    I have seen a lot of good homilies, and some very accurate truth about losing faith in certain SDA messages.    One could argue that one homily is as good as another, but it seems to me that there is more harmony in the SDA homilies.    And if brother Ron's homilies seem to ring true and do not oppose any pillars of faith, I think they should be given due acceptance.

The problem with new light on end time events is that it means so little.    I mean, what if a person knew exactly what was going to happen hour by hour and day by day?    How would that have any impact on their salvation?    I'm sorry, I just don't see the need to argue about end time events, and what the true interpretations of prophecies are.    And this is because I don't see the need to know these true interpretations.    I guess I would have to say, one interpretation actually is as good as another, because I believe no matter what anyone thinks will happen, it probably won't.

The problem is when we mistake the work of the Holy Spirit for the work of Satan and don't know the difference. It makes it very hard for God to lead us when He sends messengers to us and we mistake them for servants of Satan.

If someone disagrees with the "basics," I have to disregard them as either ignorant or listening to Satan. And on the short list of basic truths are:
1. Don't deny that Jesus was, is, and will be always the one God who causes to be, the one infinite non-derived entity with no beginning and no end.
2. Love God first, and love your neighbor, and know who your neighbor is.(according to the parable of the good Samaritan, your neighbor is the one who will help you when you need it. And there is a difference in being a neighbor and having a neighbor.)
3. Don't deny the 7th day sabbath.
4. Don't deny the "midnight cry."
5. Don't deny the investigative judgment.
6. Don't deny the day = year time principle. (day also = millennium, century, 40 years, season, month, week, and of course day.)
7. Don't deny the trinity doctrine. (also don't limit God's revelation to a trinity. He is capable of revealing Himself in an unlimited number of ways and beings)
8. Don't deny Ellen White was a messenger of God.
9. Don't run ahead of God. Patiently wait for God to open the door for you.
10. Be satisfied with your job as that which the Lord has given you to do for a soul winning mission, and don't try to do that which He has not given.

Oldsailor29, some strange things have been turning up in this thread, but I thank you for your very meaningful question about the value of understanding Bible prophecies of end-time events.

First of all is what Revelation 19:10 tells us, that the spirit of prophecy is the testimony of Jesus. It is Jesus who gave John these prophecies to be transmitted to the church so it could speak to the church especially in the time of the end. Also these prophecies help us to know and appreciate Jesus Himself all the better, as we let Him talk to us in these prophecies and reveal to us the things He thinks we need to understand for this time in which we now live.

Second, the time of the end is upon us. It looks like we are right near the end of the fourth seal, and that prophecy reveals to us what are the overriding characteristics of the present time in which we live, and that the fifth seal, which signals the time when the Judgment of the Living begins, is the very next thing on the list of what is to happen. So since it appears that the Final Conflict is just about to begin, when all on earth will be confronted with the issues of good versus evil in such a clear and compelling way that all are led to make their final decision for or against Christ, we have a very deeply vested personal interest in knowing what is about to happen, and why, and about how long it will take (so we can be encouraged that the Time of Trouble will not last too long).

It will be useful for us to know how Bible prophecy in the fourth trumpet describes the Shaking that will occur in the Seventh-day Adventist Church, to prepare the church to give the three final warning messages to the world--and so we will not be dismayed when much confusion abounds in the church involving some doctrines and particularly the gospel, and some of the brightest lights among us go out in darkness.

It will be very useful for us to be forewarned that spiritualistic manifestations, followed by devils themselves, will appear in churches that have blasphemed the Holy Spirit in their rejection of these messages the faithful will be giving. It will be useful for us to be forewarned about the immense propaganda campaign that the wicked will use as they wage war, and get the secular authorities to enforce a death decree against the righteous.

All these things could be over and done with, and Jesus could have come to take us home, within five years, perhaps less. The events leading up to the start of the Final Conflict, could be only a few months away. And there are some definite things we can look for to let us know when that time comes, even before the National Sunday Law has been enacted in America.

God’s purpose is not to use fear to make us more earnest, but to show us His compassion in giving forewarning so we can prepare for what is coming. The time of fear and earnestness will come of their own accord, very soon. God needs for us to be ready to play the roles He needs us to play as His faithful witnesses during the Final Conflict, so we can give guidance and encouragement to others as end-time events unfold.

As the Scripture promises, "Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power." (Psalms 110:3a)

If prophecy was not critical for us to understand then God would not have seen to it that both Daniel and Revelation became part of the Bible. Also if it were not possible to know the true interpretations of end-time prophecies then Jesus would have lied when He said that when the Holy Spirit comes she will lead us into ALL truth. We know that the real Jesus Christ is not a liar, so it is possible to know the truth. We do need a reliable method for consistent interpretation that anyone using the right method can discover for themselves. There is a method that I think could be helpful found at Spirit of Truth Ministry. Here are the 7 rules for prophetic interpretation that anyone can use to discover the true meanings of end time prophecies.

1.All prophecy has a beginning and ending point in time. Elements within a prophecy are consecutive and occur in chronological order.


2.In order for a prophetic fulfillment to occur, ALL elements of the prophecy must occur as stated within the prophecy. (This precludes partial or multiple fulfillments, or types of fulfillments.)


3.The interpretation for a symbol will be given within the prophecy. If no interpretation is given, then the symbol is to be taken literally.


4.Timing within the restoration calendar (Jubilee) is given in days/years. One day equals one year. Timing after the expiration of the "restoration calendar" is literal.


5.Time Elements - A year is one rotation of the earth around the sun, calculated as beginning at the Spring Equinox. The half year occurs on the Fall Equinox. Months are calculated from the lunar cycle and begin on the New Moon and end the day before the next new moon. Weeks begin on the first day of the week (Sunday) and end on the seventh day of the week (Sabbath). A Day is the rotation of the earth around its axis in 24 hours.


6.Time Specific Prophecy - Certain prophecies or elements of prophecy have a specific time for their understanding. These prophecies can be read anytime, but the understanding of the interpretation of these prophecies is sealed up until a specific time has been reached. Before these prophecies are unsealed (understood at the specific time) it is IMPOSSIBLE for them to be understood and/or accurately interpreted.


7.Only the Wise will understand - both the time when the prophecy is unsealed and the accurate interpretation of the prophecy when it is unsealed. (See Dan. 12: 9-10)

The explanation can be found at that web site on the 'Must Read' page in the archives. Take a look and let me know what you think. I believe that these rules will help answer some of the specific questions that have been asked and as yet unanswered, or at least not well understood.

"the spirit of prophecy is the testimony of Jesus." If this is true (and I believe it is) then why do people call the writings of EGW 'the spirit of prophecy'? It is nice to see that some others are starting to agree that the words of Jesus are important enough that we should study them first.

But, when was the last time anyone heard a sermon on the words of Jesus? Sure, there are stories and such, but what I would like to hear is a sermon on the issue of the words of Jesus being important.

No doubt the SDA Church grew like it did because of what EGW wrote. And no doubt the Christian Church grew like it did because of the words of Paul. But, just because of this growth it still does not prove EGW and Paul were being led by the Holy Spirit. Look at the growth of Mormans and Islam.

Musicman1228, your principles of prophetic interpretation are interesting, and I can see some value in some of them. I would, however, have to question your #3, where you state: "The interpretation for a symbol will be given within the prophecy. If no interpretation is given, then the symbol is to be taken literally."

The interpretation does not always come in the same prophecy. No definition is given in Revelation for many symbols such as "mountain." But we can use the definitions supplied elsewhere in Bible prophecy, because we assume that all the Bible was inspired by One Divine Mind. One final check on the correctness of an interpretation is to see if the definition for a symbol you have found works equally well when "plugged in" to all other instances in Bible prophecy where the same symbol is used. In fact, this is a strong evidence for the Divine Inspiration of the Bible.