Guarding New Members Against Error And Fanaticism

Satan Annoys and Distracts New Believers—Wherever there is a little company raised up, Satan is constantly trying to annoy and distract them. When one of the people turns away from his sins, do you suppose that he will let him alone? No, indeed. We want you to look well to the foundation of your hope. We want you to let your life and your actions testify of you that you are the children of God.—Manuscript 5, 1885.

No Lack of Isms to Delude New Converts—Satan is constantly seeking to lead men into error. He is the God of all dissension, and he has no lack of isms to bring forward to delude. New sects are constantly arising to lead from the truth; and instead of being fed with the bread of life, the people are served with a dish of fables. The Scriptures are wrested and, taken from their true connection, are quoted to give falsehood the appearance of truth. The garments of truth are stolen to hide the features of heresy.

Paul planted the pure truths of the gospel in Galatia. He preached the doctrine of righteousness by faith, and his work was rewarded in seeing the Galatian church converted to the gospel. Then Satan began to work through false teachers to confuse the minds of some of the believers. The boasting of these teachers, and the setting forth of their wonder-working powers, blinded the spiritual eyesight of many of the new converts, and they were led into error....

For a time Paul lost his hold on the minds of those who had been deceived; but relying on the word and power of God, and refusing the interpretations of the apostate teachers, he was able to lead the converts to see that they had been deceived, and thus defeat the purposes of Satan. The new converts came back to the faith, prepared to take their position intelligently for the truth.—Manuscript 43, 1907.

Erroneous Doctrines by Professed Believers—We shall all be severely tested. Persons who pretend to believe the truth will come to us and urge upon us erroneous doctrines, which will unsettle our faith in present truth if we pay heed to them. True religion alone will stand the test of the judgment.—The Review and Herald, December 2, 1884.

Satan’s Efforts to Divide God’s People—Christ foretold that the going forth of deceivers would be accompanied with more danger to His disciples than would persecution.

This warning is repeated several times. Seducers, with their scientific problems, were to be guarded against more carefully than any other peril that they would meet; for the entrance of these seductive spirits meant the entrance of the specious errors that Satan has ingeniously prepared to dim the spiritual perceptions of those who have had but little experience in the workings of the Holy Spirit, and of those who remain satisfied with a very limited spiritual knowledge. The effort of seducers has been to undermine confidence in the truth of God and to make it impossible to distinguish truth from error. Wonderfully pleasing, fanciful, scientific problems are introduced and urged upon the attention of the unwary; and unless believers are on their guard, the enemy, disguised as an angel of light, will lead them into false paths....

Satan can skillfully play the game of life with many souls, and he acts in a most underhanded, deceptive manner to spoil the faith of the people of God and to discourage them.... He works today as he worked in heaven, to divide the people of God in the very last stage of this earth’s history. He seeks to create dissension, and to arouse contention and discussion, and to remove if possible the old landmarks of truth committed to God’s people. He tries to make it appear as if the Lord contradicts Himself.

It is when Satan appears as an angel of light that he takes souls in his snare, deceiving them. Men who pretend to have been taught of God, will adopt fallacious theories, and in their teaching will so adorn these fallacies as to bring in Satanic delusions. Thus Satan will be introduced as an angel of light and will have opportunity to present his pleasing fables.

These false prophets will have to be met. They will make an effort to deceive many, by leading them to accept false theories. Many scriptures will be misapplied in such a way that deceptive theories will apparently be based upon the words that God has spoken. Precious truth will be appropriated to substantiate and establish error. These false prophets, who claim to be taught of God, will take beautiful scriptures that have been given to adorn the truth, and will use them as a robe of righteousness to cover false and dangerous theories. And even some of those who, in times past, the Lord has honored, will depart so far from the truth as to advocate misleading theories regarding many phases of truth, including the sanctuary question.—Manuscript 11, 1906.

The Church to Be Sifted—It is always difficult to hold fast the beginning of our confidence firm unto the end, and the difficulty increases when there are hidden influences constantly at work to bring in another spirit, a counterworking element, on Satan’s side of the question.

In the absence of the persecution there have drifted into our ranks men who appear sound and their Christianity unquestionable, but who, if persecution should arise, would go out from us. In the crisis they would see force in specious reasons that have had an influence on their minds. Satan has prepared various snares to meet varied minds.

When the law of God is made void, the church will be sifted by fiery trials, and a larger proportion than we now anticipate will give heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils. Instead of being strengthened when brought into strait places, many prove that they are not living branches of the true Vine, they bear no fruit, and the husbandman taketh them away.—Letter 3, 1890.

To Keep a Firm Hold on Bible Truth—The Christian is to be “rooted and grounded”(Ephesians 3:17^L) in the truth, that he may stand firm against the temptations of the enemy. He must have a continual renewal of strength, and he must hold firmly to Bible truth. Fables of every kind will be brought in to seduce the believer from his allegiance to God, but he is to look up, believe in God, and stand firmly rooted and grounded in the truth.

Keep a firm hold upon the Lord Jesus, and never let go. Have firm convictions as to what you believe. Let the truths of God’s Word lead you to devote heart, mind, soul, and strength to the doing of His will. Lay hold resolutely upon a plain “Thus saith the Lord.” Let your only argument be, “It is written.” Thus we are to “contend for the faith once delivered to the saints.” Jude 3^L. That faith has not lost any of its sacred, holy character, however objectionable its opposers may think it to be.

Those who follow their own mind and walk in their own way will form crooked characters. Vain doctrines and subtle sentiments will be introduced with plausible presentations, to deceive, if possible, the very elect. Are church members building upon the Rock? The storm is coming, the storm that will try every man’s faith, of what sort it is. Believers must now be firmly rooted in Christ, or else they will be led astray by some phase of error. Let your faith be substantiated by the Word of God. Grasp firmly the living testimony of truth. Have faith in Christ as a personal Saviour. He has been and ever will be our Rock of Ages. The testimony of the Spirit of God is true. Change not your faith for any phase of doctrine, however pleasing it may appear, that will seduce the soul.

The fallacies of Satan are now being multiplied, and those who swerve from the path of truth will lose their bearings. Having nothing to which to anchor, they will drift from one delusion to another, blown about by the winds of strange doctrines. Satan has come down with great power. Many will be deceived by his miracles....

I entreat everyone to be clear and firm regarding the certain truths that we have heard and received and advocated. The statements of God’s Word are plain. Plant your feet firmly on the platform of eternal truth. Reject every phase of error, even though it be covered with a semblance of reality.—The Review and Herald, August 31, 1905.

Drifting Away From Bible Landmarks—Many know so little about their Bibles that they are unsettled in the faith. They remove the old landmarks, and fallacies and winds of doctrine blow them hither and thither. Science, falsely so-called, is wearing away the foundation of Christian principle; and those who once were in the faith drift away from the Bible landmarks, and divorce themselves from God, while still claiming to be His children.—The Review and Herald, December 29, 1896.

New Parties of Professed Believers—The church needs to awake to an understanding of the subtle powers of satanic agencies that must be met. If they will keep on the whole armor, they will be able to conquer all the foes they meet, some of which are not yet developed.

Confederacies will increase in number and power as we draw nearer to the end of time. These confederacies will create opposing influences to the truth, forming new parties of professed believers who will act out their own delusive theories. The apostasy will increase. “Some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils.” 1 Timothy 4:1^L. Men and women have confederated to oppose the Lord God of heaven, and the church is only half awake to the situation. There needs to be much more prayer, much more of earnest effort, among professed believers.—The Review and Herald, August 5, 1909.

Danger in Ignorance of Our Past History—All genuine experience in religious doctrines will bear the impress of Jehovah. All should see the necessity of understanding the truth for themselves individually. We must understand the doctrines that have been studied out carefully and prayerfully. It has been revealed to me that there is among our people a great lack of knowledge in regard to the rise and progress of the third angel’s message. There is great need to search the book of Daniel and the book of Revelation, and learn the texts thoroughly, that we may know what is written.

The light given me has been very forcible that many would go out from us, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils. The Lord desires that every soul who claims to believe the truth shall have an intelligent knowledge of what is truth. False prophets will arise and will deceive many. Everything is to be shaken that can be shaken. Then does it not become everyone to understand the reasons for our faith? In place of having so many sermons, there should be a more close searching of the Word of God, opening the Scriptures text by text, and searching for the strong evidences that sustain the fundamental doctrines that have brought us where we now are, upon the platform of eternal truth.

My soul is made very sad to see how quickly some who have had light and truth will accept the deceptions of Satan, and be charmed with a spurious holiness. When men turn away from the landmarks the Lord has established that we may understand our position as marked out in prophecy, they are going they know not whither.—Undated Manuscript 148.

Errors Attractively Taught—Spurious doctrines, spurious piety, spurious faith, much that is fair in appearance, abound all around us. Teachers will come clothed as angels of light; and if possible, they will deceive the very elect. The youth need to learn all they can of the truth if they would not be deceived by the tissue of falsehood that Satan will invent. They need to live in the sunlight of Christ’s righteousness. They need to be rooted and grounded in the truth, that they may impart to others the light they receive.—The Youth’s Instructor, April 22, 1897.

Dangers of Sensational Religion—There is no safety, much less benefit, for our people in attending these popular “holiness meetings”; let us rather search the Scriptures with much carefulness and earnest prayer, that we may understand the ground of our faith. Then we shall not be tempted to mingle with those who, while making high claims, are in opposition to the law of God.

We must not have a sensational religion, which has no root in truth. Solid instruction must be given to the people upon the reasons of our faith. They must be educated to a far greater extent than they have been in the doctrines of the Bible, and especially in the practical lessons that Jesus gave to His disciples. The believers must be impressed with their great need of Bible knowledge. There must be painstaking effort to fasten in the minds of all, the solid arguments of the truth; for everyone will be tested, and those who are rooted and grounded in the work of God will be unmoved by the heresies that will arise on all sides; but if any neglect to obtain the necessary preparation, they will be swept away by errors that have the appearance of truth.—Gospel Workers, 228, 229 (1892).

Confusions of Babylon and Antichrist—It is our individual duty to walk humbly with God. We are not to seek any strange, new message. We are not to think that the chosen ones of God who are trying to walk in the light, compose Babylon. The fallen denominational churches are Babylon. Babylon has been fostering poisonous doctrines, the wine of error. This wine of error is made up of false doctrines, such as the natural immortality of the soul, the eternal torment of the wicked, the denial of the pre-existence of Christ prior to His birth in Bethlehem, and advocating and exalting the first day of the week above God’s holy, sanctified day. These and kindred errors are presented to the world by the various churches....

Fallen angels upon earth form confederations with evil men. In this age antichrist will appear as the true Christ, and then the law of God will be fully made void in the nations of our world. Rebellion against God’s holy law will be fully ripe. But the true leader of all this rebellion is Satan, clothed as an angel of light. Men will be deceived and will exalt him to the place of God, and deify him.—The Review and Herald, September 12, 1893.

Believers to Continue Searching the Scriptures—It is not enough to merely read, but the Word of God must enter into our hearts and our understanding, in order that we may be established in the blessed truth. If we should neglect to search the Scriptures for ourselves, that we may know what is truth, then if we are led astray, we are accountable for it. We must search the Scriptures carefully, so that we will know every condition that the Lord has given us; and if we have minds of limited capacity, by diligently searching the Word of God we may become mighty in the Scriptures, and may explain them to others.—The Review and Herald, April 3, 1888.

Our Books Helpful in Establishing New Believers—Many will depart from the faith and give heed to seducing spirits. Patriarchs and Prophets and Great Controversy are books that are especially adapted to those who have newly come to the faith, that they may be established in the truth. The dangers are pointed out that should be avoided by the churches. Those who become thoroughly acquainted with the lessons in these books will see the dangers before them, and will be able to discern the plain, straight path marked out for them. They will be kept from strange paths. They will make straight paths for their feet, lest the lame be turned out of the way.

In Desire of Ages, Patriarchs and Prophets, Great Controversy, and Daniel and the Revelation, there is precious instruction. These books must be regarded as of special importance, and every effort should be made to get them before the people.—Letter 229, 1903.

Good Judgment in Dealing With New Members—Hasty and inconsiderate actions result from a lack of judgment, and lead to wrongdoing. But that which is most to be lamented is that the young converts will be hurt by this influence, and their confidence in the cause of God shaken. Let us pray that when the time shall come to act we may be ready.—Letter 16, 1907.