ARE WE DECEIVED?

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by BINOLA ESTHER DOWNER on November 2, 2009 at 11:29am

hi, we are not deceived, we need to live what we are preaching, we cant pretend to be an adventist only on sabbath mornig
neighbors carefully are observing os, you know what they are looking for?. something that is genuine and true and our lifestile have a lot to do with that, just ask your owne family and they will give you the answer, some time we even threat
our owne so bad then we go and preach on the rostrom. we need to be very careful with what we are doing. we are interpreting the bible in a wrong way ,Jesus say let your lihgt shine that other can see him throught os.

Permalink Reply by Sammy Lee on November 2, 2009 at 12:34pm

ARE WE DECEIVED?
OR
WE GOT THE INTERPRETATION OF THE BIBLE WRONG?
No , we are not deceived in our beliefs concerning the final events prior to Christ's Coming.
But many of us are deceived by the Dragon and Old Serpent that it is still a long way away.
Many of our members and ministers are no longer proclaiming the 3 angels messages, especially the second and third angels' messages.
We are instead now preaching the Gospel of Peace, and Love. Peace and Love to everyone, don't rock the boat. Just preach about Jesus' Love. After all we are one no matter how seemingly different our interpretations are on some petty rituals, they say. After all we are all the children of the same merciful God, so we should be united in diversity!
Don't be judgmental. Don't be a Pharisee! We must all come together as Christians!

If we are deceived, we are not deceived in the matter of what we believe but the attitude towards the doctrines and about the time we have. Many of our leaders are insisting that we don't invite persecution before it is due.

Permalink Reply by Ruel Sanchez on November 3, 2009 at 12:07am

I dont think that we've got the interpretation of the bible wrong, but when it comes to deception, yes., some of us are being deceived, even the elect can be deceived. Truth and errors nowadays are very much indenticals wherein it is very much difficult to find what is right and what is wrong. The only solution is always rely on God on truth thru prayers, study, devotions and worship.

Permalink Reply by Yvonne Williamson on December 25, 2010 at 1:06pm

Amen brother Ruel..Well spoken!

Permalink Reply by Fred Asante on November 4, 2009 at 3:46am

Let us learn thi from Madam White

Be Not Deceived

It is the work of Satan to deceive God's people and lead them from the right course. He will leave no means untried; he will come upon them where they are least guarded; hence the importance of fortifying every point. The Battle Creek church did not mean to turn against us, they are as good a church as lives; but there is much at stake at Battle Creek, and Satan will bring all his artillery against them if by so doing he can hinder the work. We deeply sympathize with this church in their present humbled condition and would say: Let not a spirit of triumph arise in any heart. God will heal all the wrongs of this dear people and yet make them a mighty defense of His truth if they walk humbly and watch and guard every point against the attacks of Satan. This people are kept continually under the fire of the enemy. No other church would probably stand it as well, therefore look with a pitying eye toward your brethren at Battle Creek and pray God to help them in keeping the fort.

When my husband was inactive, and I was kept at home on his account, Satan was pleased, and no one was pressed by him to cast upon us such trials as are mentioned in the foregoing pages. But when we started out, December 19, 1866, he saw that there was a prospect of our doing something in the cause of Christ to the injury of his cause and that some of his deceptions upon the flock of God would be exposed. He therefore felt called upon to do something to hinder us. And in no way could he so effectually do this as to lead our old friends at Battle Creek to withdraw their sympathy and cast burdens upon us. He took advantage of every unfavorable circumstance and drove matters as by steam power.

But, thank God, he did not stop us nor fully crush us. Thank God that we still live and that He has returned graciously to bless His erring, but now repenting, confessing people. Brethren, let us love them the more and pray for them the more now that God manifests His great love to them.

Permalink Reply by christiaan vermeer on September 17, 2010 at 7:36pm

Study til Christ is in you indwelling with His Spirit.

Without the Spirit of God a knowledge of His word is of no avail. The theory of truth, unaccompanied by the Holy Spirit, cannot quicken the soul or sanctify the heart. One may be familiar with the commands and promises of the Bible; but unless the Spirit of God sets the truth home, the character will not be transformed. Without the enlightenment of the Spirit, men will not be able to [p. 411] distinguish truth from error, and they will fall under the masterful temptations of Satan.

Christ's Object Lessons
by Ellen G. White

Permalink Reply by Yvonne Williamson on December 25, 2010 at 1:12pm

Amen !!!

Permalink Reply by Frank T. Clark on January 11, 2011 at 6:26am

Wonderful comments and I will add my own. Intensive Bible Study leads me to the conclusion our fundamental beliefs are correct and grounded solidly on the Bible. Beyond these fundamentals, I think there is deception for some people. There are people who only give lip service to the fundamentals but don't really believe them.

The recent uproar over Creation is an example of how people can take a truth and twist it. Those who reject a literal six day creation with the crowning act of a seventh day for "rest" are very deceived. Evolution is a lie of Satan, if evolved means a more advanced development. On the contrary, the "evolution" of this world is a "devolution" or degeneration to greater and greater depravity. This is an established fact to those who are not deceived! I am a man of science and I believe in science but only subject to the Word of God. If you think science contradicts Scripture, then you need to rethink your science.

There are other issues, but the basics are solid and true. Don't let the lies of the world shake your faith. Trust in God and not man.

Jeremiah 17:5-10

5 Thus saith the LORD; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the LORD. 
6 For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh; but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land and not inhabited. 
7 Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is. 
8 For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit. 
9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? 
10 I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.

Permalink Reply by Deven on June 6, 2011 at 12:57am

"All points of doctrine {in the Seventh-day Adventist church}, even though they have been accepted as truth, should be brought to the law {Bible} and to the testimony; if they cannot stand this test, `there is no light in them.'"--5 Testimonies, pg. 575:0 (bold emphasis, braces added).
If the doctrines taught in the Seventh-day Adventist church were all truth, then there would be no need to "test" them; and the above statement should not have been written. But since it was written, then it is implying, if not outright saying, that not all doctrines taught in the Seventh-day Adventist church are true! This means that whatever doctrines the church teaches from the Bible, which is verified by the "Testimony" (writings of Sis. White), we must accept as truth; but all the other doctrines have "no light in them." Therefore, no Seventh-day Adventist should take it for granted that these false doctrines is the truth!
"Even Seventh-day Adventists are in danger of closing their eyes to truth as it is in Jesus, because it contradicts something {a false doctrine} which they have taken for granted as truth but which the Holy Spirit teaches is not truth."--Testimonies to Ministers, pg. 70:2 (bold emphasis, braces added).
Truly, the above statement clarifies this point irrefutably: Seventh-day Adventists cannot take it "for granted" that everything they are taught from the pulpit or in their publications is all truth! They must first "test" it according to the law and to the testimony before they accept it as truth!
"Many will stand in our pulpits with the torch of false prophecy in their hands, kindled from the hellish torch of Satan."--Testimonies to Ministers, pgs. 409, 410

Permalink Reply by Frank T. Clark on June 6, 2011 at 6:09am

You note an important principle because there are teachings which have been accepted without careful study by generations of Adventists. However, you must beware of the false premise! You are implying an incorrect interpretion of the logic of her statement. It is not explicitly saying there is error in the doctrines. The need to test by each person is to strengthen their own understanding. It is not explicitly stating there is error. Your own statement of principle to study is correct and applicable reinforcing what she said, without interpreting what she says as an explit statement of error. She is saying we must carefully validate the doctrines for ourselves and not accept them as truth without that test.

 

I am not saying there are no errors, for I know there are by the test of the Bible. We must be careful what we say in defense of truth for those who will reject truth will latch onto any false premise and use it as an excuse to reject what we say. They will probably still reject anyway but we must do our best in defense of truth. Keep the faith!

Permalink Reply by Deven on June 6, 2011 at 8:51pm

 

Actually we cannot defense the Truth but we can present the Truth. When we present the Truth the Truth will defense us, because the True is Jesus. “And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.” Matthew 28:18

"When the shaking comes {in the Seventh-day Adventist church}, by the introduction of false theories {error}, these surface readers, anchored nowhere, are like shifting sand. They slide into any position to suit the tenor of their feelings of bitterness {against the truth}."---Testimonies to Ministers, pg. 112:1 (bold emphasis, braces added).

"False prophets will arise and will deceive many {by their errors}. Everything is to be shaken that can be shaken. Then does it not become everyone {in the Seventh-day Adventist church} to understand the reasons of our faith?"--2 Selected Messages, pg. 392:2 (bold emphasis, braces added).

Errors and "false theories" will be introduced among Seventh-day Adventists to arouse us from our slumber, which will shake us. These errors will force us to study the Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy in order to refute them, and this is what shakes us. If we will not investigate and study, then the shaking will cause us to fall out of the truth; but if we will study, then the shaking strengthens us and we "remain" (9 Test. 15,16) in the truth.

"God will arouse His people {in the Seventh-day Adventist church}; if other means fail, heresies {errors} will come in among them, which will sift them, separating the chaff from the wheat. The Lord calls upon all who believe His word to awake out of sleep."--5 Testimonies, pg. 707:3; Gospel Workers, pg. 299:1 (bold emphasis, braces added).

Seventh-day Adventists must "awake out of sleep;" we must be aroused. But other means have failed, so "heresies will come in among them" to shake us. In Gospel Workers, a whole chapter entitled "A WARNING AGAINST FALSE TEACHING" is written to help Seventh-day Adventists beware of false prophets and heresies. This and all the other similar writings of the Spirit of Prophecy have caused Seventh-day Adventists to be on guard for any kind of strange teachings, and especially any new doctrines.

But such warnings will not help us recognize the heresies if we do not study and believe the Spirit of Prophecy. In this chapter of warning it says: "We must follow the directions given through the Spirit of Prophecy. We must love and obey the truth for this time. This will save us from accepting strong delusions." (G.W. 308). But a "warning" is valueless if we cannot "recognize" the source from which the heresy will come--either from "without" the church or from "within" the church, or both. Most Seventh-day Adventists look for heresy to come from "without" the church (not from the General Conference or ministers, or church officials); but if it did come from "within" the church, most would not be looking for it, and thus they would not recognize it as heresy.

"We have far more to fear from within than from without. The hindrances to strength and success are far greater from the {Seventh-day Adventist} church itself than from the world."--1 Selected Messages, pg. 122:3 (bold emphasis, braces added).

Permalink Reply by christiaan vermeer on June 9, 2011 at 7:46pm

Do we as Adventist have not come to the full understanding of thew Gospel .

It is good to know about end times .But to know Him who has redeemed me (us ) ,and that is not working to trying to keep the law ,when it is works then it is not grace. When we know that all is paid we do not have to go again to be in bondage.we are free in Christ who set us free and then the commandments is not a mean to go to heaven but a result of being redeemed from falling in sin .When Christ set you free we are free indeed.

But God does not use His grace to make His law of none effect, or to take the place of His law. . . . God's grace and the law of His kingdom are in perfect harmony; they walk hand in hand. His grace makes it possible for us to draw nigh to Him by faith.

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