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Beware of Satan’s Delusions, December 8
Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit,
after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not
after Christ.
Colossians 2:8
.
We need a firm reliance upon God if we would be saved from the
power of satanic agencies. If we will keep close to the teachings of the
Word, the truths of that Word will be our safeguard, saving us from the
delusions of these last days. We need the truth. We need to believe in it.
Its principles are adapted to all the circumstances of life. They prepare
the soul for duty and brace it for trial. They bear the stamp of the divine
Author....
The natural stubbornness of the human heart resists the light of truth.
Its natural pride of opinion leads to independence of judgment and a
clinging to human ideas and philosophy. There is with some a constant
danger of becoming unsettled in the faith by the desire for originality.
They wish to find some new and strange truth to present, to have a new
message to bring to the people; but such a desire is a snare of the enemy
to captivate the mind and lead away from the truth.... The Lord would
have those who understand the reasons for their faith rest in their belief
of that which they have been convinced is truth, and not be turned from
the faith by the presentation of human sophistries.... In these last days we
need a large and increasing faith. We need to be established in the faith by
a knowledge and wisdom not derived from any human source, but which
is found only in the riches of the wisdom of God....
Those who have accepted the truth of the third angel’s message are to
hold it fast by faith, and it will hold them from drifting into superstitions
and theories that would separate them from one another and from God.
Our reception of the truth we hold as Seventh-day Adventists was not a
chance experience. It was reached by earnest prayer and careful research
of the Inspired Word. The Lord would have us walk and work in perfect
unity. His name, Christ Jesus, is to be our watchword, His example our
badge of distinction, the principles of His Word the foundation of our
piety. In unity of spirit and action will be our strength.
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