“To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.” Isaiah 8:20.
The people of God are directed to the Scriptures as their safeguard
against the influence of false teachers and the delusive power of
spirits of darkness. Satan employs every possible device to prevent men
from obtaining a knowledge of the Bible; for its plain utterances reveal
his deceptions. 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. By their testimony every statement and every
miracle must be tested.
Those
who endeavor to obey all the commandments of God will be opposed and
derided. They can stand only in God. In order to endure the trial before
them, they must understand the will of God as revealed in His word;
they can honor Him only as they have a right conception of His
character, government, and purposes, and act in accordance with them.
None but those who have fortified the mind with the truths of the Bible
will stand through the last great conflict. To every soul will come the
searching test: Shall I obey God rather than men? The decisive hour is
even now at hand. Are our feet planted on the rock of God's immutable
word? Are we prepared to stand firm in defense of the commandments of
God and the faith of Jesus?
Before
His crucifixion the Savior explained to His disciples that He was to
be put to death and to rise again from the tomb, and angels were present
to impress His words on minds and hearts. But the disciples were
looking for temporal deliverance from the Roman yoke, and they could not
tolerate the thought that He in whom all their hopes centered should
suffer an ignominious death. The words which they needed to remember
were banished from their minds; and when the time of trial came, it
found them unprepared. The death of Jesus as fully destroyed their hopes
as if He had not forewarned them. So in the prophecies the future is
opened before us as plainly as it was opened to the disciples by the
words of Christ. The events connected with the close of probation and
the work of preparation for the time of trouble, are clearly presented.
But multitudes have no more understanding of these important truths than
if they had never been revealed. Satan watches to catch away every
impression that would make them wise unto salvation, and the time of
trouble will find them unready.
When
God sends to men warnings so important that they are represented as
proclaimed by holy angels flying in the midst of heaven, He requires
every person endowed with reasoning powers to heed the message. The
fearful judgments denounced against the worship of the beast and his
image (Revelation 14:9-11),
should lead all to a diligent study of the prophecies to learn what the
mark of the beast is, and how they are to avoid receiving it. But the
masses of the people turn away their ears from hearing the truth and are
turned unto fables. The apostle Paul declared, looking down to the last
days: “The time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine.” 2 Timothy 4:3.
That time has fully come. The multitudes do not want Bible truth,
because it interferes with the desires of the sinful, world-loving
heart; and Satan supplies the deceptions which they love.
But
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.
Satan
is constantly endeavoring to attract attention to man in the place of
God. He leads the people to look to bishops, to pastors, to professors
of theology, as their guides, instead of searching the Scriptures to
learn their duty for themselves. Then, by controlling the minds of these
leaders, he can influence the multitudes according to his will. Great Controversy pp. 593-595
