The Protestantization
of New Movement Adventism
Nurtured by Questions on Doctrine Book
“Internal corruption will bring the
denunciations of God upon this people as it did upon Jerusalem. Oh, let pleading voices, let earnest prayer be heard,
that those who preach to others shall not themselves be castaways. My brethren,
we know not what is before us, and our only safety is in following the Light of
the world. God will work with
us and for us if the sins which brought His wrath upon the old world, upon
Sodom and Gomorrah and upon ancient Jerusalem, do not become our crime.”
{2SM 378.3}
The
following article is excerpts from Kevin Straub’s book Of the Times and Seasons, with an addendum by me. It provides keen insights into the
changes that have occurred within Adventism to form a new movement since 1955.
The “Protestantization” of Adventism Nurtured by Questions on Doctrine
It is
appropriate in bringing this book to a close that we review a pithy article by
Fernando Canale, entitled, “A Close Look at the Adventist Mind” (available at
http://1ref.us/ik, accessed 2/22/16). I recognized in his writing a highly
pertinent coverage of Adventism’s legacy of the “drift” of earlier generations.
It is a tidy summation of the machinery of the Omega of apostasy that got
underway in the late 1940s. His thesis is that Adventism has all but abandoned
the principle of sola scriptura, which is a shocking thing to say, until one
takes a really honest look at what has happened. I had
not realized that, in the capitulation to mainstream Evangelicalism, this is
exactly what has happened, for, actually, evangelicalism
is not rooted in Scripture alone like fundamental Protestantism from which it
springs. Rather, it is also rooted in “the multiplicity of theological sources
used by evangelical and Roman Catholic theologians.”
Canale asserted
that, given the current conditions and paradigm, “the way back to Rome is only
a matter of time.” O, praise the Lord! Here is an Adventist
theologian who sees what is going on. Ellen White warned: “It is a backsliding
church that lessens the distance between itself and the Papacy” (Signs of the Times, Feb. 19, 1894).
I spoke
with Herbert Douglass about Canale’s article, and he
responded by saying, [Regarding the sanctuary as the key to interpret
Scripture] Canale is the only seminary teacher who
truly understands this meta-hermeneutical principle. For 70 years now, I have
tried to express all this in unfolding the Great Controversy Theme—and have
found the breath of “good” Adventist colleagues to be very hot and resentful.
Trying to remain pedestrian in my teaching, writing, preaching, I have simply
tried to show the great overview of the sanctuary doctrine by emphasizing the
core connection between the right understanding of sin, humanity of Christ, JXF
[Justification by Faith], character growth, overcoming sin, and why Jesus
waits. All this I find rooted in the sanctuary model.
Canale is the
clearest interpreter of Scripture since Andreasen—although Andreasen may not
have the experience of C, especially since he did not live long enough to see
the disintegration of the Adventist purpose and message. (Herbert E. Douglass
to Kevin Straub, email, Dec. 19, 2013) An enduring legacy of all
of the drift that we have covered in this book is something referred to
by Fernando Canale as “The Protestantization”
of Adventism. Straub, Kevin. Of the Times
and Seasons (Kindle Locations 12934-12954). Aspect Books. Kindle Edition.
It was
Bible study that informed the Adventist pioneers that made the sanctuary the
key macro-hermeneutical principle in Adventism’s systematic theology.
Protestantism, on the other hand, left sola scriptura behind, for in actual
practice, Luther, Calvin, Arminius, and Wesley gained many insights on the
“basis of Roman Catholic interpretation of the material and hermeneutical
conditions of theological methodology” (Fernando Canale,
PhD, “A Close Look at the Adventist Mind,” “Perspective Digest,” vol. 17, no.
4). By this he means that
the revelation that guided their theology is not the Bible alone, but the Bible
plus tradition.
Straub,
Kevin. Of the Times and Seasons
(Kindle Locations 12974-12979). Aspect Books. Kindle Edition.
The Protestantization of the Adventist mind was given great
impetus by the answer to Questions on
Doctrine’s first question: “What doctrines do Seventh-day Adventists hold
in common with Christians in general, and in what aspects of Christian thought
do they differ?” (p. 21). The book’s answer is that, with the exception of a
few points (as if “the existence of the heavenly sanctuary, the investigative
judgment, the Spirit of Prophecy, the three angels’ messages, and the seal of
God and mark of the beast” are only minor teachings), Adventists hold, in
common with major Christendom, the “eternal verities,” i.e., evangelical
doctrines on the Trinity and salvation. There is a problem here in that the
distinctive doctrines of Adventism are not perceived as having any bearing upon
Froom’s “eternal verities,” which are in fact, “most of the content of
evangelical systematic theology” (Canale). From this
simple answer to a complex question, an increasing number of Adventists today
assume their beliefs are evangelical, notably, the central doctrines of
Christianity. One can see why they feel free to use evangelical books to learn
their theology and ministerial paradigm. (Canale)
Straub, Kevin. Of the Times and Seasons
(Kindle Locations 12979-12988). Aspect Books. Kindle Edition.
Froom
carried forward his campaign in Movement
of Destiny, teaching that the distinctive doctrines handicapped early
Adventists, with the teaching of the sanctuary doing the most damage in that it distanced Adventists from the evangelicals. Yet, Froom
never went so far as to suggest that we discard the teaching. He did uphold it
as important, even while pointing out that neither the early church nor the
reformers taught it. Froom, as the principal actor in this story, sought to
“soften its divisiveness by ignoring its hermeneutical role” and by downgrading
it from “hermeneutical key” to “distinctive doctrine,” which would serve to
reshape the Adventist norms in theological methodology, teaching and
ministerial practice in the overall inculcation of the “Protestantization
of Adventism” (Canale).
Thus,
in many ways, Froom articulated the gospel as the new hermeneutical principle
in Adventism. As we have seen above, the sanctuary doctrine continued to be an
important distinctive eschatological emphasis, but leaders no longer conceived
or used it as the hermeneutical key to understand all Christian doctrines,
including the gospel. At least after QOD the gospel as understood by the
evangelical theological tradition became the hermeneutical key to interpret all
doctrines, including eschatology and the sanctuary. (Canale,
emphasis added) Straub, Kevin. Of the
Times and Seasons (Kindle Locations 12994-12999). Aspect Books. Kindle
Edition.
The
floodgates have therefore been opened in Adventism for pluralism. Once we
admitted a theological method that supersedes sola scriptura, we abandoned the
sanctuary model as our overall hermeneutic and left Adventists no longer
deriving “their theological understanding from Scripture alone but also from
the multiplicity of theological sources used by evangelical and Roman Catholic
theologians” (Canale). Straub, Kevin. Of the Times and Seasons (Kindle
Locations 12988-13002). Aspect Books. Kindle Edition.
When,
during the 1960s, more Adventists ventured into the halls of secular
universities and evangelical seminaries, their Adventist experience and
self-understanding became strongly influenced by the emerging Protestantization of Adventism nurtured by QOD. As they
faced millennia of unfamiliar theological thinking, a sense of bewilderment overcame
many young Adventists.…Straub, Kevin. Of
the Times and Seasons (Kindle Locations 13002-13005). Aspect Books. Kindle
Edition.
Contemporary, progressive Adventism
sees itself as one among many churches that make up the visible body of Christ. This is
ecumenism, which paves the way for an Adventist mindset that will accept the
threefold union of the beast, the false prophet, and the dragon. This
new mindset is why leadership feels at liberty to utilize the teaching of
evangelical and even Catholic sources of theology, doctrine, and ministerial
methodologies. Straub, Kevin. Of the Times and Seasons (Kindle Locations
13012-13015). Aspect Books. Kindle Edition.
“The alliances made by the Israelites with
their heathen neighbors resulted in the loss of their identity as God’s
peculiar people. They became leavened by the
evil practises of those with whom they formed forbidden alliances. Affiliation with worldlings caused them to lose their first love, and their
zeal for God’s service. The advantages they sold themselves to gain,
brought only disappointment, and caused the loss of many souls.” {4BC 1155.8}
Addendum
by Ron
No Difference Between the Fallen Churches
and the World
The
SDA new movement regards the other churches as part of the family of God, that
is taking the gospel to the world. This is a total anomaly in that the cocept of “grace” as taught by the other churches, is that
it provides for PARDON ONLY, rather than HOLY SPIRIT POWER FOR OBEDIENCE,
Romans 1:5. The fallen churches are teaching a false gospel on commandment-keepint and sanctification, and that is the prime reason
they are regarded by God as fallen Babylon.
New
movement Adventism’s view of the other churches is a lot different than God’s
view of the fallen churches. The new movements’ view is a lot different from
Ellen White’s view of the other churches. Either they are fallen and we
should have come out to stay out, or they are not fallen and we would then have
no cause to come out of them—ONE OR THE OTHER, NOT BOTH! But more and
more, the new movement is patterning itself and the gospel after the other
churches that teach that we cannot KEEP the commandments, nor are we required
to do so.
“I saw that since the second angel
proclaimed the fall of the churches, they have been growing more and more
corrupt. They bear the name of being Christ's followers; yet it is impossible to distinguish
them from the world. Ministers take their texts from the Word of God, but preach smooth things. To this the natural heart
feels no objection. It is only the spirit and power of the truth and the
salvation of Christ that are hateful to the carnal heart. There is nothing in
the popular ministry that stirs the wrath of Satan, makes the sinner tremble,
or applies to the heart and conscience the fearful realities of a judgment soon
to come. Wicked men are generally pleased with a form of piety without true
godliness, and they will aid and support such a religion.
“Said the angel, ‘Nothing less
than the whole armor of righteousness can enable man to overcome the powers of
darkness and retain the victory over them. Satan has taken full possession of
the churches as a body.’” Early Writings,
p. 273.
Interpreting Scripture According to the Sanctuary as the
Key
If we
truly go by the “greater light,” as Walter Veith advocates on his video on The
Spirit of Prophecy, and as we indeed should, we must go to the Sanctuary to find out what God expects of
us in the antitypical Day of Atonement. We should not have the least intimation
of a trifling spirit concerning overcoming and obedience to God’s law.
Especially because we are in the antitypical Day of Atonement.
A number of
so-called SDA Independent Ministries that work intra-church, are becoming very
profitable financially because they minimize the importance of obedience and/or
state that it is IMPOSSIBLE to perfectly keep God’s law this side of
glorification. Even if they teach properly on obedience, they never mention
corporate responsibility for the apostasy of the new movement, even though they
continually sigh and cry for all the abominations.
Some
years ago, a famous retired Adventist minister told me the formula for making a
lot of money in the SDA church. He said: Tell the people to remain in an apostate church and that they cannot overcome
sin. Never teach them corporate responsibility for the apostasy of the church.
Just tell them to support your church and thus imply that they won’t be
corporately responsible for the apostasy. Also, don’t teach against the Trinity
Doctrine! And above all, never hint at the need to separate from a new movement
we were never to join, but was formed “among” WITHIN, by Satan, to fool SDA’s.
The
minister named individuals he felt were working according to the above formula:
The Standish brothers (now deceased), Hal Meyer, Charles Wheeling, Ron Spear,
Doug Batchelor, Vance Ferrell, Walter Veith, Desmond Ford, Danny Shelton, and
Andrew Henriques. It is interesting that since I was told that formula by the
retired SDA minister, not ONE of the named persons (and there are many more he
didn’t name, have ever taught corporate responsibility for the abominations of
apostasy some of them decry! Why? I asked the Lord that question and the answer
I received was as follows:
These
men inherently know that any mention of separation would reduce their financial
support to a very small amount. Some of them have sold or sell wares in the
form of books and other merchandise. I think of Hartland with its catalog of
many items. How much would they sell to Adventists if they took a correct
stance against the apostasy of the new movement? What about the huge book
publication ventures of Vance Ferrell and Charles Wheeling? They would have had
few buyers if they had ever given the correct response to the apostasy. What
about Walter Veith? He has just purchased expansive and expensive new
facilities for his Amazing Discoveries Ministry. If he told all the pure truth,
would he have received the funds for that facility?
Walter
has a luxurious log home on his property as does Doug Batchelor on lake front
property. Think of the many homes that could be built with the logs in those
homes. We all know that lake front property does not come cheap! What justifies
such expenditure when these men are not teaching the full pure truth to the
world?
Ellen White’s Response in the Alpha Heresy
Ellen
White made a clarion call for all associated with John Kellogg, to come out
from among him and his associates. She told elder Haskell to keep the youth
separated from Kellogg. Haskell rented a house and the youth held church in
that home church. Ellen White advised that we should LEAVE all who are working
on wrong principles:
"Even though you may not be able to speak a
word to those who are working on wrong principles, leave them. Your withdrawal
and silence may do more than words. Nehemiah refused to associate with those
who were untrue to principle, and he would not permit his workmen to associate
with them. The love and fear of God were his safeguard-Dare to be a Daniel,
Dare to stand alone. Thus as did Moses, you will
endure the seeing of Him who is invisible. But a cowardly and silent reserve
before evil associates, while you listen to their devices makes you one with
them. Come out from among them
and be separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will
receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and
daughters, saith the Lord Almighty." Review & Herald
Vol. 4, p. 42.
And many SDA’s maintain that Ellen White never said
to leave under any circumstances!
But what is more important is the example of Jesus.
Ellen White said that what He did was a PREFIGURE type for us to follow, GC, p.
25. How did Jesus and His followers respond to apostasy of His first chosen
people?
"Christ
was a protestant...The Reformers date back to Christ and the apostles. They
came out and separated themselves from a religion of forms and ceremonies.
Luther and his followers did not invent the reformed religion. They simply
accepted it as presented by Christ and the apostles." E.G. White, Review
and Herald, vol. 2, 48, col. 2.
Paul left
"And
as they persisted in their rejection of the gospel the apostle (Paul) went into
the synagogue, and spake boldly for the space for three months, disputing and
persuading the things concerning the kingdom of God. But when divers were
hardened, and believed not, but spake evil of that way before the multitude, he
departed from them, and separated the disciples, disputing daily in the school
of one Tyrannus." Acts, 19:8, 9.
"Fearing
that the faith of the believers would be endangered by continued association
with these opposers of the truth, Paul separated from them, and gathered the
disciples into a distinct body." E.G. White, Acts of the Apostles,
p. 286.
Way
back in the fist civilized settlement of Shiloh, after the Hebrews first exited
the desert, the faithful separated from the recreant priests.
"The
recreant priests added licentiousness to the dark catalogue of their crimes yet they still polluted by their presence the
tabernacle of the Lord, and, laden with sin, dared to come into the presence of
a holy God. As the men of Israel witnessed the corrupt course of the priests,
they thought it safer for their families not to come up to the appointed place
of worship. Many went from Shiloh with their peace disturbed, their indignation
aroused, until they at last determined to offer their sacrifices themselves,
concluding that this would be fully as acceptable to God, as to sanction in any
manner the abominations practiced in the Sanctuary." E.G. White, The Signs of the
Times, vol.
1, p. 264, col. 3, December 1, 1881.
As we
see from the following statement, TRUE REFORMERS have separated in every
succeeding generation for ONE REASON: The leaders would not tolerate light?
Will they tolerate light today? Will they tolerate the truth on the Godhead,
the most fundamental doctrine of all Christendom? Will they tolerate the
principle of corporate responsibility for their apostasy?
"The
Sanhedrin had rejected Christ's message and was bent upon His death therefore Jesus departed from Jerusalem, from
the priests, the temple, the religious leaders, the people who had been
instructed in the law, and turned to another class to proclaim His
message, and to gather out
those who should carry the gospel to all nations.
As
the light and life of men was rejected by the ecclesiastical authorities in the
days of Christ, so it has been rejected in every succeeding generation. Again and again the history of
Christ's withdrawal from Judea has been repeated. When the Reformers preached
the word of God, they had no thought of separating themselves from the
established church but the religious leaders would not tolerate the light, and
those that bore it were forced to seek another class, who were longing for the
truth. In our day few of the professed followers of the Reformers are
actuated by their spirit. Few are listening for the voice of God, and ready to
accept truth in whatever guise it may be presented. Often those who follow in
the steps of the Reformers are forced to turn away from the churches they love,
in order to declare the plain teaching of the word of God. And many times those
who are seeking for light are by the same teaching obliged to leave the church
of their fathers, that they may render obedience." E.G. White, Desire of Ages, 232. FULL QUOTE
God’s Word
tells us that His Way is in the Sanctuary:
Psa 77:13 Thy way, O God, is in the sanctuary: who is so great a God as
our God?’’
True Adventists believe that since 1844, we are in the
ANTITYPE of the Day of Atonement, during which all sin had to be searched out
and put out of the camp. Any person who did no confess and put away all sin was
ceremonially put out of the camp. They were lost. That is the model. That is
God’s Word. That is how serious overcoming really is.
Quotes:
“Adam
taught his descendants the law of God, and it was handed down from father to
son through successive generations. But notwithstanding the gracious provision
for man’s redemption, there were few who accepted it and rendered obedience. By
transgression the world became so vile that it was necessary to cleanse it by
the Flood from its corruption. The law was preserved by Noah and his family,
and Noah taught his descendants the Ten Commandments. As men again departed
from God, the Lord chose Abraham, of whom He declared, “Abraham obeyed My voice, and kept My charge, My
commandments, My statutes, and My laws.” Genesis 26:5. To him was given
the rite of circumcision, which was a sign that those who received it were
devoted to the service of God—a
pledge that they would remain separate from idolatry, and would obey the law of
God. The failure of
Abraham’s descendants to keep this pledge, as shown in their disposition to
form alliances with the heathen and adopt their practices, was the cause of
their sojourn and bondage in Egypt. But in their intercourse with idolaters, and their forced
submission to the Egyptians, the divine precepts became still further corrupted
with the vile and cruel teachings of heathenism. Therefore when the Lord
brought them forth from Egypt, He came down upon Sinai, enshrouded in glory and
surrounded by His angels, and in awful majesty spoke His law in the hearing of all the people.” {PP
363.2}
Internal Corruption Grieving the Spirit of God
“God
never forsakes people or individuals until they forsake Him. Outward opposition
will not cause the faith of God’s people, who are keeping His commandments, to become dim. The neglect to bring purity and
truth into practice will grieve the Spirit of God and weaken them because God
is not in their midst to bless. Internal corruption will bring the denunciations of God
upon this people as it did upon Jerusalem. Oh, let pleading voices, let
earnest prayer be heard, that those who preach to others shall not themselves
be castaways. My brethren, we know not what is before us, and our only safety
is in following the Light of the world. God will work with us and for us if the
sins which brought His wrath upon the old world, upon Sodom and Gomorrah and
upon ancient Jerusalem, do not become our crime.” {2SM 378.3}
“The least transgression of God’s law
brings guilt upon the transgressor, and without earnest repentance and
forsaking of sin he will surely become an apostate.… Let
us as a people, as far as possible, cleanse the camp of moral defilement and
aggravating sins. When
sin is making its march upon the people who claim to be elevating the moral
standard of righteousness, how can we expect God to turn His power in our
behalf and save us as a people that did righteousness? ... If as a
people we do not keep ourselves in the faith and not only advocate with pen and
voice the commandments of God,
but keep them every one, not violating a single precept knowingly, then
weakness and ruin will come upon us. It is a work that we must attend to in
every one of our churches. Each man must be a Christian. {2SM 379.1}
The
CONDITION of salvation is obedience based on faith and love for Christ.
Putting Away Sin
“Let the
sin of pride be put away, let all superfluities of dress be overcome, and
repentance toward God be exercised for the highhanded robbery toward Him which
has withheld money which should flow into the treasury to sustain the work of
God in its mission fields. Let the work of reformation, of true conversion, be
set before and urged upon the people. Let our works, our deportment, correspond
with the work for this time, that we may say, “Follow me as I follow Christ.” Let us humble our souls before God
by humiliation, fasting and prayer, repentance of sin and putting it away.”
{2SM 379.2}
“The voice of the true watchman
needs now to be heard all along the line, “The morning cometh, and also
the night” (Isaiah 21:12). The
trumpet must give a certain sound for we are in the great day of the Lord’s
preparation.... There are many doctrines current in our world. There is
many a religion current that numbers its thousands and tens of thousands, but
there is but one that bears the superscription and the stamp of God. There is a
religion of man and a religion of God. We must have our souls riveted to the
eternal Rock. Everything in God’s world, both men and doctrines and nature
itself, is fulfilling God’s sure word of prophecy and accomplishing His grand
and closing work in this world’s history.” {2SM 379.3}
“We are
to be ready and waiting for the orders of God. Nations will be stirred to their
very center. Support will
be withdrawn from those who proclaim God’s only standard of righteousness, the
only sure test of character. And all who will not bow to the decree of
the national councils and obey the national laws to exalt the sabbath
instituted by the man of sin, to the disregard of God’s holy day, will feel,
not the oppressive power of popery alone, but of the Protestant world, the
image of the beast.” {2SM 380.1}
“Satan
will work his miracles to deceive; he will set up his power as supreme. The
church may appear as about to fall, but it does not fall. It remains, while the
sinners in Zion
will be sifted out—the chaff separated from the precious wheat. This is a
terrible ordeal, but nevertheless it must take place. None but those who have been overcoming by the blood
of the Lamb and the word of their testimony will be found with the loyal and
true, without spot or stain of sin, without guile in their mouths. We must be
divested of our self-righteousness and arrayed in the righteousness of Christ.”
{2SM 380.2}
Zion is
the church triumphant, Heb. 12:22, 23. Of course Zion will not fall, though it
appears to fall when the apostate new movement is destroyed in the next Ezekiel
9 debacle. In the PREFIGURE, the dross was gathered into the midst of the
church. Ezekiel 22:17-31. So it will be in the next literal fulfillment.
Arrayed in Christ’s Righteousness
“The remnant that purify their souls by
obeying the truth gather strength from the trying process, exhibiting the
beauty of holiness amid the surrounding apostasy. All these, He says, “I have graven upon the palms of My hands”
(Isaiah 49:16). They are held in everlasting, imperishable remembrance. We want
faith now, living faith. We want to have a living testimony that shall cut to the heart of
the sinner. There is too much sermonizing and too little ministering. We
want the holy unction. We
need the spirit and fervor of the truth. Many of the ministers are half paralyzed by their own
defects of character. They need the converting power of God.” {2SM
380.3}
“That which God required of Adam
before his fall was perfect obedience to His law. God requires now what He
required of Adam, perfect obedience, righteousness without a flaw, without
shortcoming in His sight. God help us to render to Him all His law requires. We
cannot do this without that faith that brings Christ’s righteousness into daily
practice.” {2SM 380.4}
“If Christ is my Saviour, my sacrifice, my
atonement, then I shall never perish. Believing on Him, I have life
forevermore. Oh, that all who believe the truth would believe in Jesus as their
own Saviour. I do not mean
that cheap faith unsupported by works, but that earnest, living, constant,
abiding faith, that eats the flesh and drinks the blood of the Son of God.
I want not only to be pardoned for the transgression of God’s holy law, but I
want to be lifted into the sunshine of God’s countenance. Not simply to be
admitted to heaven, but to have an abundant entrance.” {2SM 381.2}
Salvation a Union With Christ
“Are we
so insensible as a peculiar people, a holy nation, to the inexpressible love
that God has manifested for us? Salvation is not to be baptized, not to have
our names upon the church books, not to preach the truth. But it is a living
union with Jesus Christ, to be renewed in heart, doing the works of Christ in
faith and labor of love, in patience, meekness, and hope. Every soul united to
Christ will be a living missionary to all around him. He will labor for those
near and those afar off. He will have no sectional feeling, no interest merely
to build up one branch of the work over which he presides and there let his
zeal end. All will work with interest to make every branch strong. There will
be no self-love, no selfish interest. The cause is one, the truth a great
whole.” {2SM 381.3}
“I want to speak to the ears of our people
in America in every church. Awake from the dead, and Christ will give you life.
Souls are perishing for the light of truth as it is in Jesus. We are standing upon the very borders of the eternal
world. Fair-weather
Christians will not be wanted for this work. The sentimental and tasteful religion is not
needed for this time. There must be intensity brought into our faith and in the
proclamation of truth. I tell you, a new life is proceeding from satanic
agencies to work with a power we have not hitherto realized. And shall not a
new power from above take possession of God’s people? The truth, sanctifying in its influence, must be
urged upon the people. There must be earnest supplications offered to
God, agonizing prayer to Him, that our hopes as a people may not be founded on
suppositions, but on eternal realities. We must know for ourselves, by the evidence of God’s Word,
whether we are in the faith, going to heaven or not. The moral standard of
character is God’s law. Do we meet its requirements? Are the Lord’s
people bringing their property, their time, their talents, and all their
influence into the work for this time? Let us arouse. “If ye then be risen with
Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right
hand of God” (Colossians 3:1).—Letter 55, 1886. {2SM 382.3}
“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). 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
of prayer, much more of earnest effort, among professed believers.” {2SM 383.1}
“Satanic
agencies in human form will take part in this last great conflict to oppose the
building up of the kingdom of God. And heavenly angels in human guise will be
on the field of action. The two opposing parties will continue to exist till
the closing up of the last great chapter in this world’s history. Satanic
agencies are in every city. We cannot afford to be off our guard for one
moment. The true, stanch believers will pray more and more, and will talk less
of matters of little consequence. More and more decided testimonies will come
from their lips to encourage the weak and the needy. This is no time for the
people of God to be weaklings, neither one thing nor the other. Let all be
diligent students of the Word. We must be strong in the Lord and in the power
of His might. We cannot live haphazard lives and be true Christians.”—The Review and Herald, August 5, 1909.
{2SM 383.2}