Lesson 12: “Dealing with False Teachers”
COLLEEN TINKER | Editor, Proclamation! |
What if Seventh-day Adventism teaches a false gospel? How would you know? How can you tell if Ellen White is a false prophet? If everything you believe as an Adventist is a lie—would you want to know?
Looking At Truth and Lying
The hubris of Lesson 12 is astonishing. In fact, this lesson is one of the most blatant examples in the entire quarterly of Adventism’s appropriation of Scripture as a tool for its own defense. 1 Corinthians 11, the core passage of this week’s lesson, is one of Paul’s most overt condemnations of false prophets and false teachers. He echoes his anger expressed in the book of Galatians where he called for false teachers who demanded the circumcision of gentiles to go ahead and completely emasculate themselves for putting believers under bondage that led them away from the true gospel.
As expected, this lesson does not directly deal with Paul’s pointed teaching about false teachers and angels of light. Instead, it take the stance of Adventism being the the true church teaching the pure gospel, and it warns the Adventist readers against listening to “false teaching” from anyone who would attempt to lead them astray from their own religion.
Indeed, the average Adventist reader would approach this lesson firmly shaped by the Adventist great controversy paradigm built on the underlying false view of physicalism: the belief that man has no immaterial spirit that must be born again, the belief that God has physical qualities, and the belief that the Adventist “message” of Sabbath-keeping and healthy eating are the marks of the true gospel. In fact, Saturday’s lesson launches the week’s studies with these words:
When it comes to false teachings, the church is supposed to act with love but firmness, based on the authority of Scripture. The gospel message must be conserved, unspoiled and pure, in order to give souls the hope of eternity.
As an Adventist, how would YOU understand those words? You would understand the lesson to be reminding you to hold firmly to Adventism, to refuse to compromise or alter any detail of Adventism’s Sabbath, pre-advent judgment, healthy eating, or the eternality of the Ten Commandments. Right out of the gate, so to speak, the reader is reminded—we might even say WARNED—against any spurious thought that Adventism itself might be untrue. The reader is exhorted to protect and conserve Adventism and its Sabbath message and its message that Jesus is coming for those who keep the Ten Commandments—especially the fourth.
Of course, the lesson doesn’t overtly state these details, but it warns the reader to conserve, to keep “the gospel message” unspoiled and pure in order to to give others the hope of eternity. This “gospel message” the lesson claims to conserve IS Adventism. It absolutely includes the Law, the Sabbath, and the call to leave Christian churches that meet on Sunday to avoid the mark of the beast!
Once again, Adventism proclaims its gospel to be the “Three Angels’ Messages” of Revelation 14. The angel who flies through heaven during the Tribulation is represented as Adventists themselves carrying the Sabbath messages to the world, carrying the message of God’s pre-advent judgment to the world, and carrying the call to leave Babylon.
Yet Paul has clearly identified the gospel—and it is NOT the Three Angels’ Messages. Paul, the one who warns Christians against false prophets and false gospels in 2 Corinthians 11, is the one who said in 1 Corinthians 15:3–5 exactly what the gospel is:
For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.— Corinthians 15:3–5 LSB
This pure, simple gospel of Jesus’ finished work of atonement and His resurrection which shatters our human death sentence by the power of His own blood IS the gospel that must be preserved. It is this gospel that must be “conserved, unspoiled and pure”.
Their Own Words Condemn Them
Tuesday’s lesson asks the reader to read 2 Corinthians 11:1–15, the passage that contains Paul’s details warning against false prophets and teachers, but the lesson sails over these verses by assuming the reader IS ADVENTIST and by assuming that any teaching other than Adventism is condemned. These words are from Tuesday’s lesson:
Like Satan in the Garden of Eden, the false teachers in Corinth are characterized by deceit and corruption (2 Cor. 11:3, 4, NKJV)…
The intruders preached a different message than Paul preached—a different Jesus and a different gospel (2 Cor. 11:4). This shows that not everyone who preaches Jesus is a God-commissioned instrument. In that regard, Jesus Himself said, “‘Not everyone who says to Me, “Lord, Lord,” shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven’ ” (Matt. 7:21, NKJV). In Galatians 1:6–9, Paul says that whoever preaches a different gospel brings a curse upon himself, but some in Corinth tolerated this kind of error.
Paul exposes the false apostles by saying that they are “deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ” (2 Cor. 11:13, NKJV). They disguise themselves as apostles of Christ, just as “Satan disguises himself as an angel of light” and “his [Satan’s] servants, also, disguise themselves as servants of righteousness”(2 Cor. 11:14, 15, ESV). What a tragic situation: professing servants of Christ working as agents of Satan.
And in these very words, the Sabbath School lesson condemns Adventism. Adventism’s prophetic voice, Ellen White, wrote often of her guiding angel who showed her things no one else could see. For example:
In the vision given me in Battle Creek, October 25, 1861, I was shown this earth, dark and gloomy. Said the angel, “Look carefully!” Then I was shown the people upon the earth: some were surrounded with angels of God, others were in total darkness, surrounded by evil angels. I saw an arm reached down from Heaven, holding a golden scepter. On the top of the scepter was a crown studded with diamonds. Every diamond emitted light, bright, clear, and beautiful. Inscribed upon the crown were these words, “All who win me are happy, and shall have everlasting life.”—Spiritual Gifts vol. 4, 106.4
As we see in this quote Ellen was supposedly shown, by her guiding angel, people on earth, either surrounded by God’s angels or by evil angels. She also claimed to have been shown Satan himself with details about his appearance:
I was shown Satan as he once was, a happy, exalted angel. Then I was shown him as he now is. He still bears a kingly form. His features are still noble, for he is an angel fallen. But the expression of his countenance is full of anxiety, care, unhappiness, malice, hate, mischief, deceit, and every evil. That brow which was once so noble, I particularly noticed. His forehead commenced from his eyes to recede. I saw that he had so long bent himself to evil that every good quality was debased, and every evil trait was developed. His eyes were cunning, sly, and showed great penetration. His frame was large, but the flesh hung loosely about his hands and face. As I beheld him, his chin was resting upon his left hand. He appeared to be in deep thought. A smile was upon his countenance, which made me tremble, it was so full of evil and satanic slyness. This smile is the one he wears just before he makes sure of his victim, and as he fastens the victim in his snare, this smile grows horrible.—Early Writings, 152.3
Ellen also claimed she was shown insights into people’s sins and God’s judgment of their sin, issuing warnings and creepy personal relations she attributed to being shown by her angel from heaven. For example, here’s one quote about a family in which the mother had recently died:
Before I left that place I was shown in vision that God had taken the mother away in anger, and unless the father and daughter submitted to God, unless they cut loose from this world and had their affections weaned from it, God would step over the threshold again in judgment. I was astonished at what was shown me in vision. I saw that this brother loved this world more than he ever thought he did, and that it was a snare to him, it deceived him. I saw that he was so close and snug in deal, it really carried him beyond the bounds of strict truth and honesty. Said the angel, The deceitfulness of riches causes many, many of its possessors to stumble over their riches to perdition, while only a few with the unrighteous mammon will make friends, and finally be received into everlasting habitations.—Review ad Herald, April 15, 1858, par. 8.
Notice that not only was Ellen “shown” these personal details of other people’s lives by an angel, but she PUBLISHED them in books and magazines!
Let’s look at what Paul actually says in 2 Corinthians 11:12–15—the section which he lesson glosses over and applies to false teachers who lead people away from Adventism:
But what I am doing I will continue to do, so that I may cut off opportunity from those who desire an opportunity to be found just as we are in the matter about which they are boasting. For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. Therefore it is not surprising if his ministers also disguise themselves as ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their deeds.—2 Corinthians 11:12–15 LSB
Adventism is condemned by these words of Paul—and also by the Sabbath School’s own lesson! Ellen White received her visions and views from an ANGEL—but it was not an angel of God. God has revealed to us all we need to know about Satan in God’s own word. He does not gives us details because we do not need to ponder them. We are to look to our sovereign Savior who sent His Son Jesus to propitiate for our sins. We are to pray for His protection against evil, to stay anchored in His armor of truth, of gospel reality that protects our hearts and gives us life, that protects our minds from our own doubts. We are to stand in the faith that He gives us to wield off the arrows of the enemy, and we are to use our only offensive weapon, God’s word, to rebuke deception. We are to equip ourselves with the gospel—the TRUE gospel—to bring life and peace and reconciliation to those who need to be freed from the spiritual oppression and death of there natural state!
Adventism IS a false gospel. Ellen White IS a false prophet, and Adventist preachers and evangelists are false teachers.
Adventism is a false religion derived from the revelations of an “angel of light” that is Satan is disguise, and as Paul said in the passage, “his ministers also disguise themselves as ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their deeds.”
This Sabbath School lesson condemns Adventism, and Adventists who hide behind their pre-suppositions and false worldview in order to defend their religion and their prophet are evil agents in disguise.
Now, I want to clarify that some Adventist preachers and teachers are deceived; they do not know that they are following a false prophet and the deceptions, literally of Satan. If you are one such Adventist, know this: God’s word is His revelation to you of the truth of your religion, the truth of Himself, and the truth of your own need for Him.
One more thing…
There is one more point from the passage this lesson covers that I want to make. In 2 Corinthians 12, Paul tells us about his mystical experience of being taken to the third heaven where he saw revelations he was not permitted to tell. Notice what Paul describes:
I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago–whether in the body I do not know, or out of the body I do not know, God knows–such a man was caught up to the third heaven. And I know how such a man–whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, God knows– was caught up into Paradise and heard inexpressible words, which a man is not permitted to speak. On behalf of such a man I will boast, but on my own behalf I will not boast, except in weaknesses.—2 Corinthians 12:2–5 LSB
Notice that Paul says this rapture to heaven occurred “fourteen years ago”. Scholars agree that Paul wrote 2 Corinthians about 55 AD. This fact would place Paul’s trip to heaven around 41 AD. Also significantly, Paul’s first epistle, Galatians, was likely written between 48–49 AD. In other words, before Paul ever wrote any of his works contained in the New Testament, the Lord took him to heaven and showed him things and told him things which he was never permitted to tell us. He was shown and told mysteries of eternity and mysteries of God that he was not permitted to explain to us.
Yet this experience was part of the Lord’s teaching and preparation of Paul and his ministry. What CAN we know because of this unique visit to heaven?
First, if the Lord’s apostle was not permitted to describe or reveal what heaven looks like or what people in heaven see and do, we certainly must not believe the stories of people who purport to relate their near-death experiences in heaven or hell. The apostle Paul was not permitted to tell us these details; people who claim their own authority must not be believed to be telling us the truth.
Second, if Paul was not permitted to reveal what He saw, we absolutely can know that Ellen White’s claims to have seen “the lovely Jesus” and to have been toured around not only heaven but the solar system where she reported to have seen “good old Enoch” alive on an unnamed planet commonly understood to be Jupiter—these stories must not be believed. God did not give Ellen permission to tell her “little band” of Adventists the truth about heaven that He did not permit His own apostle to tell.
Third, we know that this trip to the “third heaven” preceded Paul’s writing 2 Corinthians—as well as all of his epistles. We can KNOW, therefore, that when he wrote 2 Corinthians 5:1–9 in which he explained that “we” live in mortal tents and long for our heavenly dwellings, that to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord—a situation which He tells us in Philippians 1:23 is “very much better” than it is to remain here in this body—we can KNOW that Paul tells us these things on the basis of his own eyewitness.
While the Lord did not permit Paul to explain all that he saw and heard, what he wrote in his epistles was informed by what God taught him on his trip to heaven. Paul SAW what it means to be absent from the body and present with the Lord. He SAW personally that this presence of our spirits with the Lord, separate from our bodies, is “very much better” than it is to be here inside our bodies. He also saw that this intermediate period is only temporary, that ultimately the Lord “will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus” (1 Thessalonians 4:14), and the dead in Christ will rise first.
Paul isn’t misunderstanding or reflecting Greek dualism. Paul isn’t saying things that are a little off because he didn’t fully understand. He has told us absolute truth that God revealed to him.
Paul is no Ellen White who claimed to be shown the secrets of the universe by an “angel” who described Satan in detail and gave Satan a sympathetic role in the story of salvation!
Ellen is clearly revealed to be a false prophet on then basis of 2 Corinthians 11 and 12, and Paul is revealed to be Christ’s own apostle whom He equipped to teach us the truth God wants us to know. We can trust the words of Paul!
I appeal to you, Adventist: turn to the Lord. Ask Him to teach you to read His word without the false worldview that is your legacy from Ellen White. Ask Him to show you your true need of Jesus’ atoning blood. Thank Jesus for taking your sins in His body on the cross, and thank Him for releasing you from your eternal death sentence.
Trust and believe Jesus today, and live in the glorious freedom of knowing the One who not only created you but who also saved you! Trust Jesus and pass today from death to life!
This weekly feature is dedicated to Adventists who are looking for biblical insights into the topics discussed in the Sabbath School lesson quarterly. We post articles which address each lesson as presented in the Sabbath School Bible Study Guide, including biblical commentary on them. We hope you find this material helpful and that you will come to know Jesus and His revelation of Himself in His word in profound biblical ways.
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