W.D. Frazee

Another Ark to Build

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Jesus says that “as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be” (Matthew 24:37). Has He given a message to the world today like the message of Noah? The world is going to be destroyed and God has sent some people into the world to preach as Noah preached. In fact, all Christians are called to give a message similar to Noah’s message, in no uncertain tones.

However, Noah’s preaching is not the subject of this article, but rather Noah’s ark-building.

“By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house” (Hebrew 11:7).

Noah not only preached, He worked. He worked with his hands. Mighty trees had to be brought down to the ground, made into timbers, and then put together to build that great boat, which was quite a piece of engineering.

God’s purpose in telling Noah to build the ark was to provide a way of escape, a refuge from the storm that was coming. The only people who survived the flood, survived as a result of Noah’s ark-building.

The time in which we live is as the days of Noah and the world is not preparing for what is coming. As in the days of Noah, they ate and drank, they planted and they builded, they married and were given in marriage (Luke 17:26, 27). So today this country is in the greatest spending spree of history. The feeling is, “People never had it so good.” That is the way it was in the days of Noah.

Today the labor unions are coming into the picture larger and larger. In 1955, the two great branches of the labor movement, the American Federation of Labor (AFL) and the Committee for Industrial Organization (CIO), combined to form one great union. When that happened, we read over the prophecies and said, “This will mean something in the history of America and the world. Here is an enormous new factor—a political power—13 million working men and women welded into one great movement. Things can happen now that couldn’t have happened here before.”

We didn’t have to be profound thinkers to predict that something might happen. You and I have been given special light from heaven that it is largely through the labor unions that the persecutions, Sunday laws and boycotts of Revelation 13 are going to be fulfilled. (See Selected Messages, Book 2, 141–144.) We saw this great new power – the AFL – CIO – come onto the scene, and we began to look for results. Some of those results are here already—politically, legislatively, industrially, financially.

One hundred and fifty years ago the Lord’s messenger pointed forward to the time when in all our great cities there would be a binding up in bundles by the confederacies and unions formed. The lives of those who refused to unite with these unions would be imperiled. And then she said that the same binding up in confederacies that exists today, existed in Noah’s day.

Although Noah faced these same problems, by following God’s directions, he was led to safety through every one.

Is there need for an ark today? At the coming of Jesus we know that we will be taken away from every danger and go up to heaven. We are going to leave the world. We won’t need any ark to get through that experience.

There is a great time of trouble just before that when the plagues will be falling, when many of God’s people will be in the caves and the rocks of the mountains. How are we going to get along then? We are told that the angels are going to feed us. (See Early Writings, 56). How we are going to live through that awful time of trouble and get out of the world I think we all understand. But there is a time before that called the “little time of trouble” that occurs before probation closes, a time of peril and persecution that follows swiftly after the national Sunday law is passed. How will we get through that?

Revelation 13:16 speaks of the actions of the two-horned beast, the symbol of the United States: “And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads.”

Verse 17 tells what will happen to those who refuse this mark: “And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.”

God says in the 14th chapter of Revelation that you must not take this mark or you will drink the wine of the wrath of God. In Revelation 15:2 John sees in heaven the company of saints who have gotten the victory over the beast, and his image, and his mark, and the number of his name.

If there is coming a time before the close of probation when you cannot buy anything to eat, of what help is it going to be to you to have a promise that angels will feed you at some later time in a cave, if you starve to death before that? Is that a practical question?

There was a rainbow on the other side of the flood, but the great thing when the rain began to fall was how to get through that flood! There is a storm coming, just ahead, and many people have little idea how they are going to get through it. The attitude of some is, “Well, the Lord will take us through somehow.” In other words, they just expect to get through that great time of trouble when the plagues are falling, without any preparation of their own.

Now suppose Noah had gone about preaching and saying, “There’s a flood coming! Get ready for it!” And suppose the people had said, “If a flood is coming, what are we going to do?” Just suppose that Noah had answered, “Oh, the Lord will take care of us somehow.”

And picture him saying to his sons, “We just haven’t any time to build a boat, because it is so important to get out and preach and tell the people that the flood is coming.” That would not have been logical, nor would it have been obedient.

It was God who told Noah that the flood was coming. He told him to preach and warn the people and He also said, “Build an ark.” Noah was to practice what he preached. He was to preach what he was practicing. It was all tied up together.

Hear this wonderful statement from The Story of Redemption, page 63: “He was not only to preach, but his example in building the ark was to convince all that he believed what he preached. …

“Every blow struck upon the ark was preaching to the people. Noah directed, he preached, he worked, while the people looked on in amazement and regarded him as a fanatic.” You see, Noah preached with his hammer as well as his vocal cords!

Now, I wonder if God has given you and me any hammering to do while we are preaching and warning people about that storm of persecution that is coming. Is there some practical work involved in preparing for that awful boycott when thousands will be confronted on the one side with the seal of God and on the other with the mark of the beast? I believe there is an answer to that. I find part of it in Selected Messages, Book 2. On page 141 the servant of the Lord says, “The time is fast coming when the controlling power of the labor unions will be very oppressive. Again and again, the Lord has instructed that our people are to take their families away from the cities, into the country, where they can raise their own provisions; for in the future the problem of buying and selling will be a very serious one.”

I am glad that is put in such simple language that anybody can understand it. Let’s start with the last thing it says. “The problem of buying and selling will be a very serious one.” We won’t be able to do it, the Bible tells us, unless we take the mark of the beast. And page 142 of this book tells us that the labor unions are going to have much to do with it.

In view of that fact, Inspiration says we ought to get out of the cities and move into the country and raise our own provisions—our own food.

On pages 310, 311 of Medical Ministry it says, “To parents who are living in the cities the Lord is sending the warning cry, Gather your children into your own houses; … Get out of the cities as fast as possible.

“Parents can secure small homes in the country, with land for cultivation where they can have orchards and where they can raise vegetables and small fruits. … God will help His people find such homes outside of the cities.

“As far as possible, our institutions should be located away from the cities. … It is not God’s will that His people shall settle in the cities. …

“The Lord desires His people to move into the country, where they can settle on the land and raise their own fruit and vegetables.”

Friends, you see, this is how the Lord plans for us to get through this preliminary time of trouble. This is the way He plans for us to have something to eat when we cannot buy or sell, a place of refuge in that time when our lives would be in danger in the cities.

God has three ways of caring for us in three different stages of the final events. At the very end, He will take us clear away from the world. Before, that, in the great time of trouble, angels will feed us. But in this first time of trouble we are to get our food by growing it ourselves on the land.

There is a little tract entitled “The Nashville Agricultural and Normal Institute”—that’s the Madison school—published by the Pacific Press in 1908. It was gotten out by Elder W. C. White. On page 11 Professor Magan says: “At first we felt that the school farm was too large. We had planned, in our own minds, an ideal school farm which should be small, but kept so clean and orderly that it would be a model. … When we told Sister White our objections to the size of the farm, she said that the time would come when many that are now living in the cities would be forced to leave, in order to live the truth, and that we should make the farm a place of refuge, where some of these could stop for a while and be taught how to make a living from the soil. Then they would have courage to go out into the country where they could find land, make a home, and educate their children in harmony with God’s law.”

That is the “ark,” friends. There it is! When the storm breaks, when the national Sunday law is passed; when the labor unions are carrying on their oppressive, coercive work; when the Loud Cry is being given and the saints are being hurried out of Sodom, they will need “a place of refuge.” O, let’s build an ark for these dear people!

Let me ask you, do you think this preliminary time of trouble is going to last for more than a few days or weeks? Why, you cannot even grow carrots and harvest them in just a few days and it takes several months to grow sweet potatoes. It takes longer than that to grow strawberries and other small fruits.

Noah’s message was practical. God help us to see that, and if we have a Bible in one hand, to have a hammer or a hoe in the other hand. And we had better know how to use them all—the Bible and the hoe and the hammer! That is the only way we can “make the farm a place of refuge, where some of these could stop for a while, and be taught how to make a living from the soil.”

“A place of refuge.” The Lord wouldn’t tell us to make a place of refuge if there were no refugees going to come to it. Friends, it seems to me that we need to do all our work with that view in our minds—the coming of the refugees. They’re coming. God knows, they’re coming whether we get ready for them or not.

It must have been a wonderful feeling for Shem and Ham and Japheth, as they saw those two elephants come walking up the gangplank. Can’t you hear Noah saying, “Boys, here come the elephants!” And they could answer, “Right this way. We’ll put them right down here!”

And what was there, waiting for them? Why, of course there was hay. The ark was stored with provisions, for they were expecting their guests.

When the refugees come, will you have a place for them? And will there be something in the garden and in the granary for them to eat? Or will you say, “Oh, I’m so sorry! I just don’t have any place to take anybody and we don’t have anything ready to feed them.” Oh, we had better be ready, because the One who knows says they are coming.

Now notice, it takes more than merely living in the country to meet this problem. These refugees are coming out of the cities, and they are coming out to these farms in the country because of a serious problem. They cannot buy anything. They cannot sell.

The time of trouble isn’t here yet. … It is not only making room to house the refugees; it is planting gardens and berry patches and corn and sweet potatoes, not only that we may have some food, but that we may have the “know how” to teach the folks who come.

Wouldn’t it be a wonderful thing if some morning the manager would say to you, “Brother, last night some refugees came in from Chicago, and we would like you to take Brother Smith out—he has been working in a factory—he doesn’t know anything about the land—we would like you to show him how to get a living from the soil.”

What would you say? “I don’t know anything about growing food. I just eat the stuff, that’s all!”

Oh, let’s build the ark, what do you say? Let’s remember that the refugees are coming. If we plant a garden or an orchard, remember the refugees, because the Lord has told us they are coming.

Friends, if you and I ever act upon this instruction … we will act upon it by faith, in advance of the storm. There were millions, remember, who were convinced of Noah’s wisdom when it was too late. I thank God that the Holy Spirit is moving upon us to build this ark before it is too late.

But, what kind of an ark is this that we are building? Where do we get the blueprint and the orders? What is it going to look like when we get it done? You can look in the book Medical Ministry and see the whole picture, pages, 308 and 309. The “ark” is a complete little program that God gave our people to establish outside every city. A farm, a school on that farm, a little sanitarium connected with it, an evangelistic center. It is all there.

And God is calling, not only for little institutions but He wants every home to be a place of refuge. Read The Ministry of Healing, pages 192 to 194. You farmers, there is a work for you. You who are builders, mechanics. You who know how to cook, how to sew, how to nurse. Read it. Let God fill your souls with the determination to make your homes places of refuge in the coming crisis.

Do you remember how the allied armies got off the beach at Dunkirk when the enemy seemed to have every way of escape cut off? The big ships were under fire and it looked like doom for those thousands of men, but God had an ark of safety for those men—the little yachts and fishing craft of England. Some could take ten men; some could pack in fifty or more. Every size and speed and capacity was there, little boats plying back and forth in the fog. They moved an army, friends! Those little boats, hundreds of them, saved the lives of an army. That is the picture of how God works.

But those boats had to be there when the crisis came. They had to be seaworthy and loaded with fuel for the voyage and ready for the rescue. That preparation cost something, didn’t it?

It cost Noah to build the ark. In Patriarchs and Prophets, 95, it says, “He gave the world an example of believing just what God says. All that he possessed, he invested in the ark.” How much? “All that he possessed.” Did there come a time when he had to call the family together and say, “Listen, folks, we are going to have to draw out that last money we have in the bank to get another keg of nails”? All that he had he invested.

Furniture, carpets, houses and land—all that he had he invested in the ark. The people of that time were sure that he was a crazy man, that “religion had gone to his head.” But when the rain began to fall, and the waters began to rise, and men were throwing their money everywhere in wild desperation as the flood rose around them, Noah did not have the sorrow of seeing any green-backs that belonged to him floating on those billows. Not one. There was not anything that belonged to Noah that perished in the flood. None of his property; nothing.

We can confidently believe that because it says, “All that he possessed, he invested in the ark.” Noah was right there with everything he possessed, right there in the ark!

O let us concentrate on getting the ark built, if it takes everything we have. Getting all the parts together according to the plan. If you want to help, God needs you, with your own particular talents. Just tell Him, “I want to help build the ark, and the thing that I am most concerned about is not what happens to me—what I get out of it—but what happens to the ark and the people who are going to find refuge in it in a little while.”

And if you say that, and if you will do that, you may find, as Noah did, that the ark you build to save others will be the ark that God will use to carry you and your family safely through the storm!

“This article originally appeared in Another Ark to Build, A Chapel Talk, Sunset Series–1. Although some of the references in the article refer to the specific situation at the time it was written, the principle Elder Frazee expresses is certainly appropriate for today.”

Elder W.D. Frazee studied the Medical Missionary Course at the College of Medical Evangelists in Loma Linda, California. He was called to Utah as a gospel medical evangelist. During the Great Depression, when the church could not afford to hire any assistants, Elder Frazee began inviting professionals to join him as volunteers. This began a faith ministry that would become the foundation for the establishment of the Wildwood Medical Missionary Institute in 1942. He believed that each person is unique, specially designed by the Lord, of infinite value, and has a special place and mission in this world which only he can fill. His life followed this principle and he encouraged others to do the same.

Counterfeits

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An Adventist is somebody who believes in the imminent return of Christ to this world. We are Adventists because of Bible prophecy, which opens to us things that are going to happen in the future.

In the book of Revelation, we are told that in the last days there will be counterfeits. Generally, counterfeits precede the genuine. Jesus also predicted counterfeits in Matthew 24 and history proves that the devil has continually used counterfeits to further his evil ends.

In Egypt, Aaron was told to cast his rod down and it became a serpent. The devil, attempting to demonstrate his power, enabled the magicians to cast their rods down and they also became serpents. There was just one little difference – the devil is unable to create life, so Aaron’s live serpent devoured the counterfeits. Aaron grabbed the tail of the serpent and it became a rod again. However, the rods of the magicians had been eaten.

The devil knew that at the time of the judgment, God was going to send a special Elijah prophet message. Therefore, he set in motion many counterfeits. Around the 1830s to 1840s there were other people claiming to have the gift of prophecy. Joseph Smith, the founder of Mormanism and Mary Baker Eddy, the founder of Christian Science are just two of them.

To cause confusion is a very successful tool of the devil. There were also counterfeits during the first advent of Jesus. One significant counterfeit was Barabbas. According to at least some of the New Testament manuscripts his first name was Jesus. Bar is the Aramaic word that means son. Abba means father. So, Jesus Barabbas would be translated, Jesus, Saviour, the son of the father.

Pilate asked the Jews whom to release according to the custom of the feast, Jesus Barabbas, the Saviour, the son of the father, or Jesus of Nazareth, the Saviour from Nazareth. Barabbas was a counterfeit. Both had a name that claimed to be the son of the father. The only way to tell the difference was by the actions of each life. Jesus claimed to be the Son of God and had said, “If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me; but if I do, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, that you may know and believe that the Father is in Me, and I in Him” (John 10:37, 38).

Jesus said if you do not believe Me, look at what I have done. From that you should be able to believe. The sum of a person’s works is his character and the way to tell the difference between the true and the counterfeit is by the character.

The Bible records a marked difference between the character of Jesus Christ and Barabbas. Their names were the only similarity. Though Barabbas also claimed to be a savior, the Bible records that he was a thief and a murderer. A person who is a thief and a murderer cannot be the Messiah. Yet it was he who was set free and the true Saviour was crucified.

Before the second coming of Jesus there are going to be many counterfeits. The crowning act will be Satan’s impersonation of Christ but let’s consider some of the others.

There are some things that people have speculated would be counterfeited, like Armageddon and the seven last plagues. However, there is no solid evidence to substantiate that. We do know that in addition to the second coming there is one other counterfeit mentioned often in the Spirit of Prophecy that we need to remember.

Ellen White wrote, “I saw that God has honest children among the nominal Adventists and the fallen churches, and before the plagues shall be poured out, ministers and people will be called out from these churches and will gladly receive the truth. Satan knows this; and before the loud cry of the third angel is given, he raises an excitement in these religious bodies, that those who have rejected the truth may think that God is with them. He hopes to deceive the honest and lead them to think that God is still working for the churches. But the light will shine and all who are honest will leave the fallen churches, and take their stand with the remnant.” Early Writings, 261.

Today there seems to be more nominal Christians than honest people in both the Adventist as well as in the Sunday keeping churches. These will be the targets of Satan, who will raise a religious excitement among them to cause in them a false sense of security.

In the book, The Great Controversy, 464, the same event is described. “Before the final visitation of God’s judgments upon the earth there will be among the people of the Lord such a revival of primitive godliness as has not been witnessed since apostolic times. … At that time many will separate themselves from those churches in which the love of this world has supplanted love for God and His word. Many, both of ministers and people, will gladly accept those great truths which God has caused to be proclaimed, at this time, to prepare a people for the Lord’s second coming. The enemy of souls desires to hinder this work; and before the time for such a movement shall come, he will endeavor to prevent it by introducing a counterfeit. In those churches which he can bring under his deceptive power he will make it appear that God’s special blessing is poured out; there will be manifest what is thought to be great religious interest. Multitudes will exult that God is working marvelously for them, when the work is that of another spirit. Under a religious guise, Satan will seek to extend his influence over the Christian world.”

This counterfeit will occur first. Satan knows that this is his last chance and will go to battle to prevent the people from accepting the final invitation to come out from the churches that are described as Babylon. During this time, something is going to happen in the world, and especially in the United States, that is going to make it possible for the counterfeit to be accepted by the majority of the population.

“By the decree enforcing the institution of the papacy, in violation of the law of God, our nation will disconnect herself fully from righteousness. When Protestantism shall stretch her hand across the gulf to grasp the hand of the Roman power, when she shall reach over the abyss to clasp hands with spiritualism, when, under the influence of this threefold union, our country shall repudiate every principle of its Constitution as a Protestant and republican government, and shall make provision for the propagation of papal falsehoods and delusions, then we may know that the time has come for the marvelous working of Satan and that the end is near.” Testimonies, vol. 5, 451.

We are told that at the time of the passing of a national Sunday law, there will already be excitement among the religious bodies, but when the national Sunday law is implemented, we can look for the marvelous working of Satan. This is something that most Adventists cannot imagine right now. Suddenly, this false revival is going to explode and the devil will attempt to take in the entire world. For a little while it will look as if he is going to succeed.

To understand how this deception is going to be so persuasive, look at Revelation 13:3, which says, “… I saw one of his heads as if it had been mortally wounded, and his deadly wound was healed. And all the world marveled and followed the beast.”

“Then another beast came up out of the earth, and he had two horns like a lamb and spoke like a dragon. And he exercises all the authority of the first beast in his presence, and causes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. He performs great signs, so that he even makes fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men. And he deceives those who dwell on the earth by those signs which he was granted to do in the sight of the beast, telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the beast who was wounded by the sword and lived” (verses 11–14).

Notice that he is going to deceive the earth by “signs which he was granted to do.” The Greek word used here for signs or miracles is semeion. Signs is the most literal translation. However, when a supernatural being is going to give a sign, he gives it by doing something supernatural. In other words, by working what people would call a miracle.

There are going to be real miracles. Some people believe that all the devil’s miracles are counterfeit. The Bible does call the devil a liar and a deceiver and there is no question that he works miracles that are counterfeit, but a careful examination of this text shows that there are going to be genuine signs and wonders performed by devils that you will not be able to deny or explain away as simply a sleight of hand. There are going to be real miracles. Just how far the Lord will allow the devil to go we do not know, but we do know that he cannot create life.

Many years ago, a Pentecostal lady told me about the wonderful things that were happening in her church. She shared how a person had died somewhere in the South Pacific and when the mourners prayed, the dead person began to wiggle his toes. A short time later he could wiggle his feet, and then his whole body could move. Finally, he sat up and was alive again. She was convinced that the Lord had raised this person back to life. We can be sure that the devil cannot raise people back to life, but he can deceive you into thinking that he can.

What are you going to do when miracles are worked right in front of your eyes? You cannot deny it. Most people immediately assume that it is performed by the power of God. However, we just read in the Bible that in the last days it will be evil spirits that are working these miracles. These same people who are deceived by the miracles will refuse to believe when they are shown truths from God’s word. A person like that is preparing himself or herself to be deceived.

The Bible predicts that the whole world is going to be deceived. This will not take very long once the miracles begin. One of the most common miracles that will be performed is the healing of the sick. Whether it is a counterfeit or real, you will not be able to tell the difference.

For deception to be successful, it must be as close as possible to the real. Evil spirits are going to claim to be Christians with respect and reverence for the ordinances of the church. These spirits will claim to be Christians and to have reverence for the churches and its institutions. You will see miracles of healings and tongues, among other things, that you will be unable to deny.

“It is true that spiritualism is now changing its form and, veiling some of its more objectionable features, is assuming a Christian guise. But its utterances from the platform and the press have been before the public for many years, and in these its real character stands revealed. …

“As Spiritualism more closely imitates the nominal Christianity of the day, it has greater power to deceive and ensnare. Satan himself is converted, after the modern order of things. He will appear in the character of an angel of light. Through the agency of Spiritualism, miracles will be wrought, the sick will be healed, and many undeniable wonders will be performed. And as the spirits will profess faith in the Bible, and manifest respect for the institutions of the church, their work will be accepted as a manifestation of divine power.” The Great Controversy, 557, 588.

These spirits will say that you need to respect the government. Seventh-day Adventists should always respect and obey the laws of the land in whatever country they live, unless these laws conflict with God’s law.

Most Christians keep Sunday instead of the seventh-day Sabbath. When the government enacts a national Sunday law and the explosion of miracles begin, Adventists will be accused of disaffection of the government by not going along with the law and of disrespecting the community of faith. The Catholic church often uses this terminology that you should respect, and that conscience should be in subjection to the community of faith.

We are Protestants. We believe in the community of faith, but we do not believe that our conscience should be in subjection to a false community of faith. Adventists are going to be accused of being lawbreakers and of disaffection toward the government.

“Communications from the spirits will declare that God has sent them to convince the rejecters of Sunday of their error, affirming that the laws of the land should be obeyed as the law of God. They will lament the great wickedness in the world, and second the testimony of religious teachers, that the degraded state of morals is caused by the desecration of Sunday. Great will be the indignation excited against all who refuse to accept their testimony.” Ibid., 591.

Romans 13 and 1 Peter 2 will be quoted. “They will lament the great wickedness in the world, and second the testimony of religious teachers that the degraded state of morals is caused by the desecration of Sunday. Great will be the indignation excited against all who refuse to accept their testimony. …

“Under the rule of Rome, those who suffered death for their fidelity to the gospel were denounced as evil-doers; they were declared to be in league with Satan; and every possible means was employed to cover them with reproach, to cause them to appear in the eyes of the people, and even to themselves as the vilest of criminals. So, it will be now. While Satan seeks to destroy those who honor God’s law, he will cause them to be accused as law-breakers, as men who are dishonoring God, and bringing judgments upon the world. …

“Those who honor the Bible Sabbath will be denounced as enemies of law and order, as breaking down the moral restraints of society, causing anarchy and corruption, and calling down the judgments of God upon the earth.” Ibid., 591, 592.

During this time, God’s judgments will be in the land. When the United States passes a national Sunday law “… the limit of God’s forbearance is reached, that the measure of our nation’s iniquity is full, and that the angel of mercy is about to take her flight, never to return.” Testimonies, vol. 5, 451.

Those who continue to regard God’s commandments will be accused of disaffection against the government of being lawbreakers, the cause of anarchy, and bringing on the judgments of God on the land. For this reason, it is so important now to live in an honest way so that nobody should ever be able to accuse us of breaking the law. We must dare to be a Daniel, that as it was with him, there will be nothing in our lives that could be used to accuse us of breaking the law. Jesus also was accused with false accusations.

Among Christians during this time, every wind of doctrine will be blowing and there will be fanaticism. Satan, clothed in angel robes, will try to deceive the very elect. He will use human beings as teachers to try and take control of the church by bringing in false teachings. Unless you know what the Bible says, you will be deceived without realizing it.

“None but those who have fortified the mind with the truths of the Bible will stand through the last great conflict.” The Great Controversy (1888), 593. “God will have a people upon the earth to maintain the Bible, and the Bible only, as the standard of all doctrines, and the basis of all reforms. The opinions of learned men, the deductions of science, the creeds or decisions of ecclesiastical councils, as numerous and discordant as are the churches which they represent, the voice of the majority—not one, nor all of these should be regarded as evidence for or against any point of religious faith. Before accepting any doctrine or precept, we should demand a plain ‘Thus saith the Lord’ in its support.” Ibid., 595.

Without this we will be deceived. If we are alive during this period, we will probably have a number of meetings with the devil and evil spirits in human form, even as believers. “He (the devil) and the angels who fell with him, will appear on the earth as men … .” Manuscript Releases, vol. 8, 399.

“Evil angels in the form of believers will work in our ranks … . These powers of evil will assemble in our meetings … .” Mind, Character, and Personality, vol. 2, 504.

The devil knows how to preach better than most. He can quote Scripture and knows how to persuade. He attempted to deceive Jesus in the wilderness with his perverted Scripture. The Spirit of Prophecy teaches that the time is coming when the path of truth and the path of error will be so close together that without the Holy Spirit, you will not be able to tell the difference. We need to study our Bibles and know what is in it and pray for the Holy Spirit to protect us from all deceptions.

“All who dwell on the earth will worship him, whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” (Revelation 13:8).

For further study …
Five Crucial Bible Truths to Know

1. The Ten Commandment Law – This is a single law written on two stones. It was written by the finger of God and cannot be changed. What happened to the commandments at the cross and what did the apostles say about the law decades later?
2. The Difference Between the Two Laws – Which law was nailed to the cross and abolished?
3. The State of the Dead – What does the Bible teach about what happens when you die?
4. Obedience to Civil Authority – When is it appropriate and in fact required that Christians disobey civil authorities? Although we should be impeccable law keepers, is there a time when it is right to disobey authority of both the church and the state?
5. Second Coming – What instruction does the Bible contain regarding exactly how and what is going to happen when Jesus comes again in the clouds of heaven? Cannot the devil counterfeit the Second Coming?

Study and pray for the Holy Spirit to avoid being taken in by the worldwide deceptions that are coming.

(Unless appearing in quoted references or otherwise identified, Bible texts are from the New King James Version.)

Editorial – Gods Many and Lords Many

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“The days are fast approaching when there will be great perplexity and confusion. Satan, clothed in angel robes, will deceive, if possible, the very elect. There will be gods many and lords many. Every wind of doctrine will be blowing. … Chaff like a cloud will be borne away on the wind. … Trees without fruit are cut down as cumberers of the ground.” Testimonies, vol. 5, 80, 81.

We are rapidly approaching the time predicted in these sentences. Notice one of the descriptions of that time is that there will be gods many and lords many. Maybe we are already in such a time. If you desire to profess yourself to be a Christian, then you will arrange to be baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. (See Matthew 28:20; Mark 16:15, 16; Acts 2:38.)

The Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit are all called God in the Bible. (See 1 Corinthians 8:6; Hebrews 1:8 and Acts 5:3, 4.)

The Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit are also all called Lord in the Bible. (See Psalm 110:1; 1 Corinthians 8:6; 2 Corinthians 3:17.)

Both the Father and the Son are referred to many times in Scripture as being our Savior. (See Titus 3:4–6 and Luke 2:11.)

Inspiration makes it clear that the Father and the Son are two distinct persons.

“From eternity there was a complete unity between the Father and the Son. They were two, yet little short of being identical; two in individuality, yet one in spirit, and heart, and character.” The Youth’s Instructor, December 16, 1897.

Jesus “existed from eternity, a distinct person, yet one with the Father. He was the surpassing glory of heaven.” The Review and Herald, April 5, 1906.

It requires, however, not only the Father and the Son for a human being to be saved but also the working of the Holy Spirit on the heart. This is what Jesus taught Nicodemus by night so long ago. (See John 3:5.)

“The Holy Spirit was the highest of all gifts that He could solicit from His Father for the exaltation of His people. The Spirit was to be given as a regenerating agent, and without this the sacrifice of Christ would have been of no avail. The power of evil had been strengthening for centuries, and the submission of men to this satanic captivity was amazing. Sin could be resisted and overcome only through the mighty agency of the Third Person of the Godhead, who would come with no modified energy, but in the fullness of divine power. It is the Spirit that makes effectual what has been wrought out by the world’s Redeemer. It is by the Spirit that the heart is made pure.” The Desire of Ages, 671.