Meeting the Claims of False Prophets
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I have not spoken by them, nor given them any word or message. They
have spun lying words, from the suggestions of Satan.”
Some have come to me claiming to be Christ, and have apparently
worked miracles. They have said that the Lord led me in many things,
but the Sabbath was not a test question; that the law of God was
not binding upon men; all we had to do was to accept Christ, and
they themselves were Christ. I have had experience with all these
pretentious claims, and I have no faith in them. “To the law and to the
testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there
is no light in them” (
Isaiah 8:20
).
In one place, four in one family professed to have communica-
tions from the Lord, reproving wrong, and they predicted things that
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actually did take place. This inspired confidence in them. But the
things that did not take place were kept in the dark, or were treated
as something mysterious, which would be understood later. Whence
did these receive their inspiration?—From satanic agencies, which
are many. The Lord laid it upon me to meet these things, and bear a
decided testimony against them
I have seen several fall in vision; but when I rebuked the spirit
which controlled them, they immediately came out of vision, and were
in great distress of mind.
Cheap, Common, Earthly Matters
Such experiences as these came to be very common. Several in
one family were under this species of deception.... Messages would be
given for different members of the church, telling some poor trembling
soul, “You are proud”; another, “You are unbelieving; you will be lost.”
The Lord gave me light in this instance to speak words of comfort and
encouragement. I bore my testimony to those deceived ones, whether
they would hear, or reject it. Their visions were Satan’s work. The
things revealed were often common, earthly matters, such as, who
should get breakfast the next morning, who should prepare the dinner,
who should wash the dishes. Mingled with these frivolous things
were sacred truths, which they had found in the Bible and testimonies.
Satan’s hand was in all this, to disgust people, and cause them to
spurn everything in the nature of visions. Thus the false and the true
would be rejected together. And even those who were engaged in the