Heresy
by Ellen White
We are God's commandment-keeping people. For the past fifty years every phase of heresy
has been brought to bear upon us, to becloud our minds regarding the teaching of the
Word--especially concerning the ministration of Christ in the heavenly sanctuary, and the
message of Heaven for these last days, as given by the angels of the fourteenth chapter of
Revelation. Messages of every order and kind have been urged upon Seventh-day Adventists,
to take the place of the truth which, point by point, has been sought out by prayerful
study, and testified to by the miracle-working power of the Lord. But the waymarks which
have made us what we are, are to be preserved, and they will be preserved, as God has
signified through His Word and the testimony of His Spirit. He calls upon us to hold
firmly, with the grip of faith, to the fundamental principles that are based upon
unquestionable authority.
1SM 208
The days are fast approaching when there will be great perplexity and confusion. Satan,
clothed in angel robes, will deceive, if possible, the very elect. There will be gods many
and lords many. Every wind of doctrine will be blowing. Those who have rendered supreme
homage to "science falsely so called" will not be the leaders then. Those who
have trusted to intellect, genius, or talent will not then stand at the head of rank and
file. They did not keep pace with the light. Those who have proved themselves unfaithful
will not then be entrusted with the flock. In the last solemn work few great men will be
engaged. They are self-sufficient, independent of God, and He cannot use them. The Lord
has faithful servants, who in the shaking, testing time will be disclosed to view. There
are precious ones now hidden who have not bowed the knee to Baal. They have not had the
light which has been shining in a concentrated blaze upon you. But it may be under a rough
and uninviting exterior the pure brightness of a genuine Christian character will be
revealed. In the day time we look toward heaven but do not see the stars. They are there,
fixed in the firmament, but the eye cannot distinguish them. In the night we behold their
genuine lustre. 5T 080
The experience of the past will be repeated. In the future, Satan's superstitions will
assume new forms. Errors will be presented in a pleasing and flattering manner. False
theories, clothed with garments of light, will be presented to God's people. Thus Satan
will try to deceive, if possible, the very elect. Most seducing influences will be
exerted; minds will be hypnotised.
Corruptions of every type, similar to those existing among the antediluvians, will be
brought in to take minds captive. The exaltation of nature as God, the unrestrained
license of the human will, the counsel of the ungodly--these Satan uses as agencies to
bring about certain ends. He will employ the power of mind over mind to carry out his
designs. The most sorrowful thought of all is that under his deceptive influence men will
have a form of godliness, without having a real connection with God. Like Adam and Eve,
who ate the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, many are even now
feeding upon the deceptive morsels of error.
Satanic agencies are clothing false theories in an attractive garb, even as Satan in
the Garden of Eden concealed his identity from our first parents by speaking through the
serpent. These agencies are instilling into human minds that which in reality is deadly
error. The hypnotic influence of Satan will rest upon those who turn from the plain word
of God to pleasing fables.
It is those who have had the most light that Satan most assiduously seeks to ensnare.
He knows that if he can deceive them, they will, under his control, clothe sin with
garments of righteousness, and lead many astray.
I say to all: Be on your guard; for as an angel of light Satan is walking in every
assembly of Christian workers, and in every church, trying to win the members to his side.
I am bidden to give to the people of God the warning: "Be not deceived; God is not
mocked." Galatians 6:7. 8T 293,4
The coming of Christ will take place in the darkest period of this earth's history. The
days of Noah and of Lot picture the condition of the world just before the coming of the
Son of man. The Scriptures, pointing forward to this time, declare that Satan will work
with all power and "with all deceivableness of unrighteousness." 2 Thessalonians
2:9, 10. His working is plainly revealed by the rapidly increasing darkness, the
multitudinous errors, heresies, and delusions of these last days. Not only is Satan
leading the world captive, but his deceptions are leavening the professed churches of our
Lord Jesus Christ. The great apostasy will develop into darkness deep as midnight. To
God's people it will be a night of trial, a night of weeping, a night of persecution for
the truth's sake. But out of that night of darkness God's light will shine. PK 717
The enemy of souls has sought to bring in the supposition that a great reformation was
to take place among Seventh-day Adventists, and that this reformation would consist in
giving up the doctrines which stand as the pillars of our faith, and engaging in a process
of reorganisation. Were this reformation to take place, what would result? The principles
of truth that God in His wisdom has given to the remnant church, would be discarded. Our
religion would be changed. The fundamental principles that have sustained the work for the
last fifty years would be accounted as error. A new organisation would be established.
Books of a new order would be written. A system of intellectual philosophy would be
introduced. The founders of this system would go into the cities, and do a wonderful work.
The Sabbath, of course, would be lightly regarded, as also the God who created it. Nothing
would be allowed to stand in the way of the new movement. The leaders would teach that
virtue is better than vice, but God being removed, they would place their dependence on
human power, which, without God, is worthless. Their foundation would be built on the
sand, and storm and tempest would sweep away the structure.
Who has authority to begin such a movement? We have our Bibles. We have our experience,
attested to by the miraculous working of the Holy Spirit. We have a truth that admits of
no compromise. Shall we not repudiate everything that is not in harmony with this truth?
I hesitated and delayed about the sending out of that which the Spirit of the Lord
impelled me to write. I did not want to be compelled to present the misleading influence
of these sophistries. But in the providence of God, the errors that have been coming in
must be met. SPTB02 54
Shortly before I sent out the testimonies regarding the efforts of the enemy to
undermine the foundation of our faith through the dissemination of seductive theories, I
had read an incident about a ship in a fog meeting an iceberg. For several nights I slept
but little. I seemed to be bowed down as a cart beneath sheaves. One night a scene was
clearly presented before me. A vessel was upon the waters, in a heavy fog. Suddenly the
lookout cried, "Iceberg just ahead!" There, towering high above the ship, was a
gigantic iceberg. An authoritative voice cried out, "Meet it!" There was not a
moment's hesitation. It was a time for instant action. The engineer put on full steam, and
the man at the wheel steered the ship straight into the iceberg. With a crash she struck
the ice. There was a fearful shock, and the iceberg broke into many pieces, falling with a
noise like thunder to the deck. The passengers were violently shaken by the force of the
collision, but no lives were lost. The vessel was injured, but not beyond repair. She
rebounded from the contact, trembling from stem to stern, like a living creature. Then she
moved forward on her way.
Well I knew the meaning of this representation. I had my orders. I had heard the words,
like a voice from our Captain, "Meet it!" I knew what my duty was, and that
there was not a moment to lose. The time for decided action had come. I must without delay
obey the command, "Meet it!"
That night I was up at one o'clock, writing as fast as my hand could pass over the
paper. For the next few days I worked early and late, preparing for our people the
instruction given me regarding the errors that were coming in among us.
I have been hoping that there would be a thorough reformation, and that the principles
for which we fought in the early days, and which were brought out in the power of the Holy
Spirit, would be maintained. SPTB02 55,56
What influence is it that would lead men at this stage of our history to work in an
underhanded, powerful way to tear down the foundation of our faith,-- the foundation that
was laid at the beginning of our work by prayerful study of the word and by revelation?
Upon this foundation we have been building for the past fifty years. Do you wonder that
when I see the beginning of a work that would remove some of the pillars of our faith, I
have something to say? I must obey the command, "Meet it!" SPTB02 58
One thing it is certain is soon to be realised,--the great apostasy, which is
developing and increasing and waxing stronger, and will continue to do so until the Lord
shall descend from heaven with a shout. We are to hold fast the first principles of our
denominated faith, and go forward from strength to increased faith. Ever we are to keep
the faith that has been substantiated by the Holy Spirit of God from the earlier events of
our experience until the present time. We need now larger breadth, and deeper, more
earnest, unwavering faith in the leadings of the Holy Spirit. If we needed the manifest
proof of the Holy Spirit's power to confirm truth in the beginning, after the passing of
the time, we need to-day all the evidence in the confirmation of the truth, when souls are
departing from the faith and giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils.
There must not be any languishing of soul now. SPTB07 57
"Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart
from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; speaking lies in
hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron." Before the last
developments of the work of apostasy there will be a confusion of faith. There will not be
clear and definite ideas concerning the mystery of God. One truth after another will be
corrupted. "And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was
manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the
Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory." There are many who deny
the pre-existence of Christ, and therefore deny his divinity; they do not accept him as a
personal Saviour. This is a total denial of Christ. He was the only-begotten Son of God,
who was one with the Father from the beginning. By him the worlds were made. ST MAY
28,1894
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