Guarding New Members Against Error And Fanaticism
311
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 sci-
entific 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 inge-
niously 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. Wonder-
fully 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
[360]
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