The enemy is preparing to deceive the whole world by his miracle-working power. He will assume to personate the angels of light, to personate Jesus Christ.” Maranatha, 207.
“Satan…comes as an angel of light…by means of false reformations. The churches are elated, and consider that God is working marvelously for them, when it is the work of another spirit.”
Early Writings, 261.
“God’s people will not endure the test unless there is a revival and a reformation.” Testimonies, vol. 7, 285. “The Lord calls for a revival among His people, an acknowledgment of the peculiar obligations He places upon them.” Review and Herald, August 5, 1909.
“Christians should be preparing for what is soon to break upon the world as an overwhelming surprise, and this preparation they should make by diligently studying the Word of God and striving to conform their lives to its precepts. . . . God calls for a revival and a reformation.” Prophets and Kings, 626.
God sends a Revival of Primitive Godliness The Holy Spirit is Poured Out
“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. The Spirit and power of God will be poured out upon His children.” Maranatha, 33. “The baptism of the Holy Ghost as on the day of Pentecost will lead to a revival of true religion and to the performance of many wonderful works.” Selected Messages, Book 2, 57.
The Old Truths, the Law of God is Restored
“God’s remnant people, standing before the world as reformers, are to show that the law of God is the foundation of all enduring reform.…” Conflict and Courage, 269. “It is only as the law of God is restored to its rightful position that there can be a revival of primitive faith and godliness among His professed people. ‘Thus saith the Lord, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein…’ Jeremiah 6:16.” The Faith I Live By, 326. “In the last days knowledge shall be increased. There are new truths to be revealed to the humble seeker. The teachings of God’s Word are to be freed from the errors and superstition with which they have been encumbered.” Spirit of Prophecy, vol. 4, 186. “Great reforms are to be made. Many changes will be required as we strive to advance the cause of reform.” The Health Food Ministry, 50.
True Worship is Restored
“A great religious awakening…is foretold in the prophecy of the First Angel’s Message of Revelation 14.” The Great Controversy, 355. “Fear God, and give glory to Him; for the hour of His judgment is come: and worship Him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.” Revelation 14:7.
“The hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship Him.” John 4:23. “Unless correct ideas of true worship and true reverence are impressed upon the people, there will be a growing tendency to place the sacred and eternal on a level with common things, and those professing the truth will be an offense to God and a disgrace to religion.” Testimonies, vol. 5, 500.
“[After] the Babylonish captivity the Israelites…gave much attention to religious instruction and to the study of that which had been written in the book of the law and in the prophets concerning the worship of the true God.” Prophets and Kings, 705.
Satan Counterfeits the “Work” of Christ
“Whenever and wherever the Lord works in giving a genuine blessing, a counterfeit is also revealed, in order to make of none effect the true work of God.” Selected Messages, Book 1, 142.
“Satan has ever been ambitious to counterfeit the work of Christ, and establish his own power and claims. He does not generally do this openly and boldly. He is artful, and knows that the most effectual way for him to accomplish his work is to come to poor fallen man in the form of an angel of light.” Messages to Young People, 57. “The devil has as much power to imitate and counterfeit the work of God as he did in Moses’ time.…” Ellen G. White: The Early Years, vol. 1, 77.
“…pray for divine enlightenment …that when the wonderful miracle-working power of Satan shall be displayed, and the enemy shall come as an angel of light, you may distinguish between the genuine work of God and the imitative work of the powers of darkness.” Review and Herald, December 24, 1889.
A False (Counterfeit) Revival Comes First
“At every revival of God’s work the prince of evil is aroused to more intense activity; he is now putting forth his utmost efforts for a final struggle against Christ and His followers. The last great delusion is soon to open before us. Antichrist is to perform his marvelous works in our sight. So closely will the counterfeit resemble the true that it will be impossible to distinguish between them except by the Holy Scriptures.” The Great Controversy, 593.
“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.…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 [Holy Spirit] is poured out; there will be manifest what is thought to be great religious interest.…There is an emotional excitement, a mingling of the true with the false, that is well adapted to mislead. Yet none need be deceived. In the light of God’s Word it is not difficult to determine the nature of these movements.” Ibid., 464.
False Revival—Reforms of Error not Truth
“I saw that the mysterious signs and wonders, and false reformations would increase, and spread. The reformations that were shown me, were not reformations from error to truth; but from bad to worse.…” Review and Herald, August 1, 1849.
“In many of the revivals…There is an emotional excitement, a mingling of the true with the false, that is well adapted to mislead. Yet none need be deceived.…Wherever men neglect the testimony of the Bible, turning away from those plain, soul-testing truths which require self-denial and renunciation of the world, there we may be sure that God’s blessing
is not bestowed.” The Great Controversy, 464.
False Revival (Celebration)—Counterfeits True Worship
“An enemy has been at work to destroy our faith in the sacredness of Christian worship.” Child Guidance, 541. “Whenever and wherever the Lord works in giving a genuine blessing, a counterfeit is also revealed, in order to make of none effect the true work of God. Therefore we need to be exceedingly careful, and walk humbly before God, that we may have spiritual eyesalve that we may distinguish the working of the Holy Spirit of God from the working of that spirit that would bring in wild license and fanaticism.” Review and Herald, February 6, 1894.
False Excitement, Strange Forms of Worship
“New and strange things will continually arise to lead God’s people into false excitement, religious revivals, and curious developments.…Fanaticism will take the place of well-regulated, well-disciplined, heaven-ordained efforts to carry forward the work to its completion.…” “People should not be educated to think that religion of an emotional order, bordering on fanaticism, is the only pure religion.” Selected Messages, Book 2, 17, 21.
Strange Performances—Drama, Theatrics
“I am instructed that we shall meet with all kinds of experiences and that men will try to bring strange performances into the work of God.…In my very first labors the message was given that all theatrical performances in connection with the preaching of present truth were to be discouraged and forbidden.…The light given me was, ‘Give this no sanction.’ These performances, which savored of the theatrical, were to have no place in the proclamation of the solemn messages entrusted to us.” Evangelism, 137.
Satan (Counterfeits) Personates the Holy Spirit
“I saw a throne, and on it sat the Father and the Son.…Before the throne I saw the Advent people—the church and the world. I saw two companies, one bowed down before the throne, deeply interested, while the other stood uninterested and careless. Those who were bowed before the throne would offer up their prayers and look to Jesus; then He would look to His Father, and appear to be pleading with Him.…I saw the Father rise from the throne, and in a flaming chariot go into the holy of holies within the veil, and sit down. Then Jesus rose up from the throne, and most of those who were bowed down arose with Him. I did not see one ray of light pass from Jesus to the careless multitude after He arose, and they were left in perfect darkness.…I turned to look at the company who were still bowed before the throne; they did not know that Jesus had left it. Satan appeared to be by the throne, trying to carry on the work of God. I saw them look up to the throne, and pray, ‘Father, give us Thy Spirit.’ Satan would then breathe upon them an unholy influence; in it there was light and much power, but no sweet love, joy, and peace.” Early Writings, 55, 56.
They Believe the Holy Spirit is Blessing Them
“The things you have described as taking place in Indiana, the Lord has shown me would take place just before the close of probation. Every uncouth thing will be demonstrated. There will be shouting, with drums, music, and dancing.…And this is called the moving of the Holy Spirit.…the Lord showed me that erroneous theories and methods would be brought into our camp meetings, and that the history of the past would be repeated.” Selected Messages, Book 2, 36, 37.
Signs and Lying Wonders
“Like the Jews, who offered their useless sacrifices, [they who reject the First Angel’s Message] offer up their useless prayers to the apartment which Jesus has left; and Satan, pleased with the deception, assumes a religious character, and leads the minds of these professed Christians to himself, working with his power, his signs and lying wonders, to fasten them in his snare.…He also comes as an angel of light and spreads his influence over the land by means of false reformations. The churches are elated, and consider that God is working marvelously for them, when it is the work of another spirit.” Early Writings, 261.
“I saw that God has honest children among the nominal Adventists and the fallen churches…and before the loud cry of the Third Angel is given, he [Satan] 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.” Ibid.
Rejecting the Cleansing (Sanctuary) Message Prepares the Way for the False Revival
“Those who rejected the first [angel’s] message could not be benefited by the second; neither were they benefited by the midnight cry, which was to prepare them to enter with Jesus by faith into the most holy place of the heavenly sanctuary. And by rejecting the two former messages, they have so darkened their understanding that they can see no light in the Third Angel’s Message, which shows the way into the most holy place.…Therefore they have no knowledge of the way into the most holy, and they cannot be benefited by the intercession of Jesus there. Like the Jews, who offered their useless sacrifices, they offer up their useless prayers to the apartment which Jesus has left; and Satan, pleased with the deception, assumes a religious character, and leads the minds of these professed Christians to himself, working with his power, his signs and lying wonders, to fasten them in his snare.…He also comes as an angel of light and spreads his influence over the land by means of false reformations. The churches are elated, and consider that God is working marvelously for them, when it is the work of another spirit.” Early Writings, 260, 261.
“If we are firmly fixed upon the present truth, and have our hope, like an anchor of the soul, cast within the second veil, the various winds of false doctrine and error cannot move us. The excitements and false reformations of this day do not move us, for we know that the Master of the house rose up in 1844, and shut the door of the first apartment of the heavenly tabernacle; and now we certainly expect that they will ‘go with their flocks,’ ‘to seek the Lord; but they shall not find Him; He hath withdrawn Himself (within the second veil) from them.’ The Lord has shown me that the power which is with them is a mere human influence, and not the power of God” The Present Truth, March 1, 1850.
False Revival—Moves the Emotions Not the Heart
“The character and tendency of modern revivals…have given no evidence of the work of the Spirit of God.…Popular revivals are too often carried by appeals to the imagination, by exciting the emotions, by pandering to the love for what is new and startling. Converts thus gained have no more desire to listen to Bible truths, no more interest in the testimony of prophets and apostles, than has the novel-reader. Unless a religious service has something of a sensational character, it has no attractions for them.” Spirit of Prophecy, Book 4, 294.
“There are two extremes to be avoided: one is the shunning to declare the whole counsel of God, and running into the spirit of revivalists in this age…and weaving into the labors an element which moves the feelings but leaves the heart unchanged. A sensational religion is to be dreaded, for it is hard work…to ever make the individuals feel that they must go deeper than mere emotional exercise; that they must practice true godliness.” Manuscript Releases, vol. 17, 101.
False Revivals—Produce False Conversions
“How much I have thought upon the popular revivals.…Advantage is taken of the impulses of the moment…Reformation in life is needed, but the reformation made under excitement will seldom outlast the excitement in which it originated. Conversions made by moving the feelings by the relation of anecdotes and sensational stories, do not bear the impress of Heaven. Heart work is needed. The sinner needs to have a clearly defined understanding of what sin is, and that he must repent of sin, which is the transgression of the law of God. When this is understood the seed is sown for a true and thorough conversion.” Signs of the Times, August 12, 1875.
“Some open revival meetings, and by this means call large numbers into the church. But when the excitement is over, where are the converted ones? Repentance and confession of sin are not seen. The sinner is entreated to believe in Christ and accept Him, without regard to his past life of sin and rebellion. The heart is not broken. There is no contrition of soul. The supposed converted ones have not fallen upon the Rock, Christ Jesus.” Manuscript Releases, vol. 3, 27.
“The reason there are so many spurious conversions in these days is that there is so low an appreciation of the law of God. Instead of God’s standard of righteousness, men have erected a standard of their own by which to measure character.…The kindest thing that can be preached to the sinner is the truth of the binding claims of the law of God.” Faith and Works, 96.
True Success is in Preaching the Word of God
“‘Preach the word.’ Compared with the Word, everything else is weakness itself. The Word of God is the weapon of our warfare. Educate, train the people to be doers of the Word.…” Manuscript Releases, vol. 14, 188. “In the truth there is a power which no outward appearance or display can give, which no worldly suppositions or opinions can change or alter.” Medical Ministry, 161. “We do not want a sensational religion; but we want a religion founded on intelligent faith. This faith plants its feet on the eternal rock of God’s word.” Review and Herald, April 9, 1889. “We must not have a sensational religion, which has no root in truth.” Gospel Workers, 228.
Those Who Feed on the Sensational are Led Away by Satan’s Temptations
“Educate the people to have a sound, solid experience, and do not create in them an appetite for something new and strange and startling. These are the very things which those who are weak in moral power crave as the liquor drinker craves liquor, and the result is that they are not sound in the understanding of the Word. They have not root in themselves, and when the masterly working of Satan shall be made manifest, and he shall perform miracles to testify that he is Christ, those who have been controlled by feeling, who have fed on the sensational, and have been seeking for strange things, will be carried away, because they are not feeding on Christ.” Manuscript Releases, vol. 14, 188.
“The season of distress before God’s people will call for a faith that will not falter. His children must make it manifest that He is the only object of their worship, and that no consideration, not even that of life itself, can induce them to make the least concession to false worship. To the loyal heart.…truth will be obeyed though the result be imprisonment or exile or death.” Prophets and Kings, 512.
[All emphasis supplied.]