False Preachers and Y2K: How to Discern Truth from Hype – audio video notes, sermon notes, sermon audio. Remember Y2K? Remember the year 2000, i.e. Y2k? We were told when the clock ticked from 1999 to 2000, everything was going to explode. Plus, remember when those speaking doom and gloom were riding the Y2K wave, selling their books and speaking lies? Remember all their doom and gloom predictions didn’t happen? Then why do people continue to listen to those people? This message is about false prophets today.
False Preachers and Y2K: How to Discern Truth from Hype
by Delbert Young
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False Preachers and Y2K: How to Discern Truth from Hype
This sermon was preached in 1999, just before the turn of the century and millennia. At the time, there was a scare that the world would blow up. Computer glitches were going cause all the nuclear weapons to detonate. People were storing food and digging/building nuclear fallout caves to hide in. We were in an extended study of the Book of Revelation. I was telling everyone there was nothing to the scare. This was the context when this sermon was shared. Of course, nothing happened. Though this was preached back then, the principles exist today. There always have been and always will be doom and groomers wanting the world to blow up. It won’t happen. Now for the sermon notes.
I thought it would be a good time to discuss the year 2000 and the Y2k computer bug.
I. JESUS TAUGHT US NOT TO WORRY
Matthew 6:25 Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?
Jesus asked a question. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? How many lives do we have? We have the life – one life. There is something more than only seeking after provisions. What is more than life? What is more important than me, and what is bigger than I am?
Matthew 6:26 Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? 27 Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? 28 And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: 29 And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?
Little faith is associated with worry. Little faith is associated with not believing God will do what he said he would do. Great faith is believing if God has said it or will say it, he doesn’t even have to come to my house and lay hands on my servant. If he said it then it will happen.
Y2k Should Be Why?
Matthew 6:31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? 32 (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. 33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
The thing that is more than me, that which is the highest form of the life is the kingdom of God.
What does it mean to seek first the kingdom of God? It means the Kingdom of God is first in every part of my life — the life. In raising my children, I raise them in and for the kingdom. When I work, I work to establish the kingdom. The way I pay my bills, the way I talk, the things I do, my witness, and everything else must have first the kingdom of God in mind. If I do this, then all things shall be added to me.
How many had concerns about Y2k and the year 2000? The reason is the false prophets and false teachers.
II. THE YEAR 2000 – CALENDAR
Let’s begin by discussing the actual change of the year to 2000. We live in a wonderful time. We will all live to see our Gregorian calendar change from 1999 to 2000. The false prophets of doom are making much of this.
I was listening to Jack Van Impe, and he is now saying that the year 2000 is not what we should be watching for the coming of the Lord, but rather the year 2001. His reason was when the anno Domini (“the year of our Lord”} calendar was created, it began with the year 01 and not the year 0.
What is so sad is I know he knows the calendar has a four (4) year error and knows we are already living in the third millennium after Christ.
“In ancient calendars, years were generally numbered according to the year of a ruler’s reign [Luk 3:1]. About AD 525, a monk named Dionysius Exiguus suggested that years be counted from the birth of Christ, which was designated AD (anno Domini, “the year of the Lord”) 1. This proposal came to be adopted throughout Christendom during the next 500 years. The year before AD 1 is designated 1 BC. (before Christ). Dionysius had referred the year of Christ’s birth to other eras. Modern chronology, however, places the event at about 4 BC…”
From Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia
Y2k Should Be Why?
Dionysius miscalculated the years. He made a four (4) year error. Christ was born four years earlier than Dionysius calculated. His calendar had already been accepted, so the error was never corrected. This means 1996 was the actual end of the second millennium from Christ. We have been in the actual “year of our Lord” (anno Domini) 2000 plus for several years now. The only thing that will happen on January 1, 2000, is the calendar will catch up. There will not be a rapture. The “great tribulation” will not begin. The most significant problem will be we will all have to remember to write 2000 for the date rather than 1999.
Luke 3:1 Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar…
III. Y2k
What is Y2k?
Y2K is a contemporary term meaning the “Year 2000.” It is not a Biblical term. What I mean by this is that Jesus never mentioned Y2k. The apostle Paul never mentioned Y2k. Peter, John, and no writer in our Bible mentioned Y2k. The book of Revelation does not mention Y2k. My point is that this is not a part of Bible prophecy.
The Y2k problem we are told to fear occurs when a computer system is vulnerable to a software data flaw. This simply means that at midnight on December 31, 1999, some older computers will not change to January 1, 2000; instead, they will read January 1, 1900.
Y2k Should Be Why?
For the most part, this means absolutely nothing. For example, if your savings account had $2000.00 in it on December 31, 1999, it would still have $2000.00 in it on January 1. The only difference is that the date would read January 1900 instead of January 2000. The computer would not erase your balance unless it was told to delete it. The computer thinks it is simply the next day’s date.
Most, if not all, financial institutions are already Y2k safe and have sent out and will continue to send out mail and information to let the public know they are safe.
They have a great incentive to do this. Their fear is the Y2k terrorist, meaning those who make the Y2k bug sound immense for personal gain. Please notice those who talk the most about Y2k have something to sell their listeners.
For example, I was listening to television the other day. A commercial came on, beginning with the horrible effects Y2k would have upon society. The person in the commercial then began to push his product. He said precious metals were the answer to financial security and the Y2k bug. He wanted me to exchange my stocks, savings accounts, and cash to buy his gold, silver, and platinum. Van Impe and Hal Lindsey will sell us audio and video tapes and books. Everybody has a gimmick.
Following is a News article from the LA Times.
March 4, 1999
Web posted at: 5:28 p.m. EST (2228 GMT)
By GARY CHAPMAN
(LA Times) —
“We’ve gone through three distinct phases of the year 2000 problem so far. First was a phase of simply alerting people responsible for computer systems to the nature of the bug. Next came the phase, which many companies and other institutions are still in, of fixing software by rewriting code or replacing programs and chips. And now, many managers are in a third phase of contingency planning, sometimes called business continuity planning,” which attempts to forecast possible disruptions and prepare for them. But now it’s time for a fourth phase, one we’re only beginning to see unfold: public education and preparedness.”
Y2k Should Be Why?
A. Blizzard of 93
What is public education and preparedness? I will give the worst scenario that could happen using an event most of us experienced. We live in Northwest Georgia and the surrounding areas. What did you do in the blizzard of 93? Most of us went without lights and water for a few days. We ate groceries we already had. If necessary, we went to friends or relatives. It was a little inconvenient but not the end of the world. It’s the worst scenario. But even this will not happen.
I personally do not think it will be anything. I do know people will attempt to use it as an excuse, so I have good financial records, bank statements, credit card records, insurance policies, etc., in hard-copy form and stored in a safe place. But this is nothing new. Any responsible person should do this all the time.
Martinez in LA says, “We continue to believe that any disruptions will be relatively minor and of short duration, and we think we can respond quickly… Public officials responsible for the Y2K problem are faced with several competing and vexing difficulties. They are typically charged with fixing the Y2K bug in public-sector computers at the same time they’re supposed to be educating people about how to prepare, and both tasks are full-time jobs. Also, they need to strike a balance between alerting people and not fostering unnecessary and dangerous panic. Too they have to negotiate with some people who have alarmist agendas…”
Distributed by Los Angeles Times Syndicate
Y2k Should Be Why?
Following is an article from the Newhouse News Service
Wall Street pretends it’s the Year 2000
Industry-wide rehearsal set to test readiness for date change
NEWHOUSE NEWS SERVICE
March 5 — Wall Street flips the calendar Saturday into the Year 2000 as the securities industry tests its readiness for the electronic day of reckoning with a computer glitch that broad sectors of the nation’s economy are rushing to fix.
The testing simulates the entire process—from order to delivery to settlement—for the six days beginning Dec. 29, 1999. These would be the first transactions recorded in the new millennium because trades usually must be settled within three working days.
BROKERS AND DEALERS AT 13 stock markets
and 400 financial firms will take part in the first industrywide dress rehearsal of trades in the new millennium of the economy’s vital financial instruments — stocks, bonds, mutual funds, and money market funds.
The mock five-day trading cycle, which will continue on weekends into late April, marks the end of a three-year effort to fix and test a computer-reliant industry that marshals $270 billion in revenue yearly and employs 380,000 people…
“The central concern in Washington, D.C., and on the Street is that people will panic,” said Victor Porlier, head of the Manhattan-based Center for Civic Renewal and former computer information specialist for the federal government who lectures widely on the Year 2000 computer bug.
Y2k Should Be Why?
The only reason Y2k would be a problem is if people do not want to fix it. There is plenty of software available free on the internet. There are even free tests to test a computer to see if it is Y2K safe. Computer companies have updated their programs to be sure their programs do not cause problems.
B. No Sector Wants A Problem
We can all rest assured no financial institute, no utility business, no grocery store, or department store will not be Y2k ready. Financial institutes do not want people to remove one penny from them. Wall Street does not want to crash as millions sell off stocks. Utility services do not want to lose one dime by houses not using electricity, gas, and water. Grocery stores and department stores are in business to make money, not close because of some silly computer glitch. The government has already assured the Social Security recipients they have nothing to be concerned about. This department was the first to undergo the Y2k check.
I will end with this story.
A friend called me asking about the Y2k and the year 2000 question. He said he respected me and my opinions. Also, he said I had never told him wrong, and when others predicted in error in the past, I had consistently told him correctly. Moreover, he had been listening to two or three dispensationalists predicting all sorts of false prophecies ranging from the rapture to the great tribulation. This was all Y2k and year 2000 related. They had said believers should store up food and money. Of course, they each had a book or a videotape on the subject. Some even had survival kits they would provide for a fee, of course.
Y2k Should Be Why?
I listened and then said, “My wife and I have food that would last us several weeks if necessary, but not because of Y2k. This is the way we live. We have a freezer in the house and one on the carport. There is nothing wrong with having provisions around. Regarding the financial problems, I hope the stock market does go down so I can purchase good stocks at a low price. As far as having cash on hand, I always have a little. This is how I live every day.”
Then I asked him to do one thing for me. “After the year changes and nothing happens, will you stop listening to those people and warn every person you can about them? They are false prophets and need to be stoned. (I was kidding – sort of, but they would have been stoned in the Old Testament.) It’s the Biblical remedy for a false prophet.” He said he would.
I say the same to us.
False Preachers and Y2K: How to Discern Truth from Hype
False Preachers and Y2K: How to Discern Truth from Hype
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