438
The Great Controversy
men would but study the Book of God with earnest prayer that they
might understand it, they would not be left in darkness to receive false
doctrines. But as they reject the truth they fall a prey to deception.
Another dangerous error is the doctrine that denies the deity of
Christ, claiming that He had no existence before His advent to this
world. This theory is received with favor by a large class who profess
to believe the Bible; yet it directly contradicts the plainest statements
of our Saviour concerning His relationship with the Father, His divine
character, and His pre-existence. It cannot be entertained without
the most unwarranted wresting of the Scriptures. It not only lowers
man’s conceptions of the work of redemption, but undermines faith
in the Bible as a revelation from God. While this renders it the more
dangerous, it makes it also harder to meet. If men reject the testimony
of the inspired Scriptures concerning the deity of Christ, it is in vain to
argue the point with them; for no argument, however conclusive, could
convince them. “The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit
of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them,
because they are spiritually discerned.”
1 Corinthians 2:14
. None
who hold this error can have a true conception of the character or the
mission of Christ, or of the great plan of God for man’s redemption.
Still another subtle and mischievous error is the fast-spreading
belief that Satan has no existence as a personal being; that the name is
used in Scripture merely to represent men’s evil thoughts and desires.
[525]
The teaching so widely echoed from popular pulpits, that the sec-
ond advent of Christ is His coming to each individual at death, is a
device to divert the minds of men from His personal coming in the
clouds of heaven. For years Satan has thus been saying, “Behold, He
is in the secret chambers” (
Matthew 24:23-26
); and many souls have
been lost by accepting this deception.
Again, worldly wisdom teaches that prayer is not essential. Men
of science claim that there can be no real answer to prayer; that this
would be a violation of law, a miracle, and that miracles have no
existence. The universe, say they, is governed by fixed laws, and God
Himself does nothing contrary to these laws. Thus they represent God
as bound by His own laws—as if the operation of divine laws could
exclude divine freedom. Such teaching is opposed to the testimony of
the Scriptures. Were not miracles wrought by Christ and His apostles?
The same compassionate Saviour lives today, and He is as willing to