Spiritualism in

Adventism
“Satan beguiles men now as he
beguiled Eve in Eden by flattery,
by kindling a desire to obtain
forbidden knowledge, by
exciting ambition for self-
exaltation. It was cherishing
these evils that caused his fall,
and through them he aims to
compass the ruin of men. "Ye
shall be as gods," he declares,
"knowing good and evil."
Genesis 3:5. Spiritualism teaches
"that man is the creature of
progression; that it is his destiny
from his birth to progress, even
to eternity, toward the
Godhead." And again: "Each
mind will judge itself and not
another." " {GC 555}
“Unto Adam
also and to his
wife did the
LORD God
make coats of
skins, and
clothed them”
{Genesis 3:21}
Satan has long been preparing for his final effort to deceive the world.
The foundation of his work was laid by the assurance given to Eve in
Eden: "Ye shall not surely die." "In the day ye eat thereof, then your
eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and
evil." Genesis 3:4, 5. Little by little he has prepared the way for his
masterpiece of deception in the development of spiritualism. He has
not yet reached the full accomplishment of his designs; but it will be
reached in the last remnant of time. Says the prophet: "I saw three
unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and
out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false
prophet.; . . . they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which
go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather
them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty." Revelation
16:13, 14. {GC 562}
And there appeared
another wonder in heaven;
and behold a great red
dragon, having seven
heads and ten horns, and
seven crowns upon his
heads. And his tail drew
the third part of the stars
of heaven, and did cast
them to the earth: and the
dragon stood before the
woman which was ready to
be delivered, for to devour
her child as soon as it was
born. {Rev 12:3-4}
BABYLON 608-538 BC MEDIA AND PERSIA 538-331 BC

GRECIAN 331-168 BC ROME 168 BC-476 AD

“While the council was at the height of its perplexity, Caiaphas the
high priest arose. Caiaphas was a proud and cruel man, overbearing
and intolerant. Among his family connections were Sadducees,
proud, bold, reckless, full of ambition and cruelty, which they hid
under a cloak of pretended righteousness. Caiaphas had studied
the prophecies, and although ignorant of their true meaning, he
spoke with great authority and assurance: “Ye know nothing at all,
nor consider that it is expedient for us, that one man should die for
the people, and that the whole nation perish not.” Even if Jesus
were innocent, urged the high priest, He must be put out of the
way. He was troublesome, drawing the people to Himself, …. – {DA
539.3}
and lessening the authority of the rulers. He was only one; it was
better that He should die than that the authority of the rulers
should be weakened. If the people were to lose confidence in
their rulers, the national power would be destroyed. Caiaphas
urged that after this miracle the followers of Jesus would likely
rise in revolt. The Romans will then come, he said, and will close
our temple, and abolish our laws, destroying us as a nation.
What is the life of this Galilean worth in comparison with the life
of the nation? If He stands in the way of Israel’s well-being, is it
not doing God a service to remove Him? Better that one man
perish than that the whole nation be destroyed”. – {DA 539.3}
Beast Power
nd
{2 Phase}
The spirit of compromise and
conformity was restrained for a time
by the fierce persecutions which the
church endured under paganism. But
as persecution ceased, and
Christianity entered the courts and
palaces of kings, she laid aside the
humble simplicity of Christ and his
apostles for the pomp and pride of
pagan priests and rulers; and in place
of the requirements of God, she
substituted human theories and
traditions. The nominal
conversion of Constantine, in the early
part of the fourth century, caused
great rejoicing; and the world, cloaked
with a form of righteousness, walked
into the church…
Now the work of corruption rapidly
progressed. Paganism, while appearing
to be vanquished, became the
conqueror. Her spirit controlled the
church. Her doctrines, ceremonies, and
superstitions were incorporated into
the faith and worship of the professed
followers of Christ. {GC88 49.2}
This compromise between paganism
and Christianity resulted in the
development of the “man of sin”foretold
in prophecy as opposing and exalting
himself above God. That gigantic
system of false religion is a masterpiece
of Satan's power,—a monument of his
efforts to seat himself upon the throne
to rule the earth according to his will.
{GC88 50.1}
Rev 19:20 And the beast was taken, and with him the false
prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he
deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and
them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive
into a lake of fire burning with brimstone”

Rev 13:14 And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth

by the means of those miracles which he had power to
do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on
the earth, that they should make an image to the beast,
which had the wound by a sword, and did live”
The first persecuting power is represented by
the dragon itself; in heathenism there was open
alliance with Satan, and open defiance of god. in
the second persecuting power, the dragon is
masked; but the spirit of Satan actuates it,--the
dragon supplies the motive power. In the third
persecuting power, all traces of the dragon are
absent, and a lamb-like beast appears; but when
it speaks, its dragon voice betrays the satanic
power concealed under a fair exterior, and
shows it to be of the same family as the two
preceding powers. in all the opposition to Christ
and his pure religion, "that old serpent, called
the devil, and Satan,"--"the god of this world,"--
is the moving power; earthly persecuting
powers are simply instruments in his hands.
Great Controversy 1888 p681
 The Seed of the Serpent

Dragon Beast False

Prophet
“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. These teachings
cannot be denied or hidden.
Even in its present form, so far
from being more worthy of
toleration than formerly, it is really
a more dangerous, because a more
subtle, deception. While it formerly
denounced Christ and the Bible, it
now professes to accept both….
But the Bible is interpreted in a manner
that is pleasing to the unrenewed heart,
while its solemn and vital truths are
made of no effect. Love is dwelt upon
as the chief attribute of God, but it is
degraded to a weak sentimentalism,
making little distinction between good
and evil. God's justice, His
denunciations of sin, the requirements
of His holy law, are all kept out of sight.
The people are taught to regard the
Decalogue as a dead letter. Pleasing,
bewitching fables captivate the senses
and lead men to reject the Bible as the
foundation of their faith. Christ is as
verily denied as before; but Satan has
so blinded the eyes of the people that
the deception is not discerned.”
Page 558
Willow Creek
“Willow Creek was started in 1975 after Bill Hybels and his friends
completed a door-to-door survey asking people why they didn't come to
church. As a result, he started Willow Creek as a "church" that would have
no cross, little or no mention of sin, an emphasis on "felt needs" rather
than holiness, a drama or self-help talk instead of preaching, popular
music instead of hymns, and intentionally programming the service so
that the audience would never feel guilty. I would say that in order to
accomplish all of this they removed all of the offensive elements of the
gospel. (see Willow Creek Seeker Services, p. 55)
http://www.hourofpower.org/powerlines/09.03.2004/robertschulle
rinstitute.cfm

2004 Robert H Schuller institute Monday January 26 through

Thursday 29th 2004

Is your church all God wants it to be? Send your pastors and key church leaders
to the 34th Robert Schuller institute and successful church leadership which
brings together the most prominent pastors who make faith come alive in some
of the countries largest churches like Bill Hybels of Willow Creek Community
Church and Rick Warren of Saddleback church both graduates of the institute.
The church's problem is that it has
had a God-centered theology for
centuries, when it needs a man-
centered one; (2) we're not bad,
merely badly informed about how
good we are; (3) it would be an insult
to the integrity of any human being
to call him a sinner; and (4) "Jesus
knew His worth; His success fed His
self-esteem. He suffered the cross to
sanctify His self-esteem and He bore
the cross to sanctify your self-
esteem. The cross will sanctify the
ego trip" (p. 115 Self esteem – the new
reformation)
I found myself immediately attracted to Pope John Paul II when
upon his election to the papacy. His published speeches invariably
called attention to the need of recognizing the dignity of human
beings as a child of God.
Robert Schuller – Self Esteem P17
“On Wednesday April 17, 21 Seventh-day Adventist pastors
joined four hundred Anglicans, Pentecostals, Salvation Army,
Methodists and other denominations for an "Adventures in
Evangelism" seminar sponsored by the Willow Creek
Association, Chicago, USA. The main speakers, Lee Strobel and
Mark Mittelberg are leaders in the organisation that has
become famous in Christian circles around the world, for its
"Seeker Services" and reaching the secular mind……..
Whatever the views of the participating Adventist pastors,
two things can be said about the seminar: it was very well
organised, and Willow Creek have a clear vision for
meaningful and relevant contemporary evangelism. Certainly
the day offered useful pointers and stimulated the mind to
evaluate our own evangelistic methods and styles” (Entered
from Dalbert Elias delias@adventist.org.uk in BUC news April
24, 1999) [http://www.tagnet.org/adventist.fm/lnews.htm
lnews.html]
 Observing Lent

Pastor
Todd
Leonard
Samir Selmanovic … has some interesting and
alarming views on Christianity. He states:
The emerging church movement has come to believe
that the ultimate context of the spiritual aspirations
of a follower of Jesus Christ is not Christianity but
rather the kingdom of God…. to believe that God is
limited to it [Christianity] would be an attempt to
manage God. If one holds that Christ is confined to
Christianity, one has chosen a god that is not
sovereign. Soren Kierkegaard argued that the
moment one decides to become a Christian, one is
liable to idolatry.1

On Selmanovic’s website, Faith House project, he

presents an interfaith vision that will “…seek to
bring progressive Jews, Christians, Muslims, and
spiritual seekers of no faith to become an
interfaith community for the good of the world.
We have one world and one God.”2
You don’t have a God in you, you are one.
Kenneth Copeland The force of love audiotape 1987
Benny Hin
Don’t tell me you have Jesus, you are everything he was and everything he is
and ever shall be…Don’t say I have, say I AM I AM I AM I AM
Our position in Christ #2 the word made flesh audiotape side 2 1991
TB Joshua: “I
was sent to
earth to save
the world”
A Critique of Prophet
TB Joshua. Prof Tom
Gouws, Beeld 02-05-
01
"As the storm approaches, a large class who have
professed faith in the third angel’s message, but have not
been sanctified through obedience to the truth, abandon
their position, and join the ranks of the opposition. By
uniting with the world and partaking of its spirit, they
have come to view matters in nearly the same light." The
Great Controversy, 608
"Men of talent and pleasing address, who once rejoiced
in the truth, employ their powers to deceive and mislead
souls. They become the most bitter enemies of their
former brethren. When Sabbath-keepers are brought
before the courts to answer for their faith, these
apostates are the most efficient agents of Satan to
misrepresent and accuse them, and by false reports and
insinuations to stir up the rulers against them."
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. – {GC 588.2} The line of distinction between
professed Christians and the ungodly is now hardly distinguishable.
Church members love what the world loves and are ready to join
with them, and Satan determines to unite them in one body and
thus strengthen his cause by sweeping all into the ranks of
spiritualism. GC 588
Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which
are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of
meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be
tempted. {Galatians 6:1}
 The Work of the Third Angel
Several have written to me, inquiring if the message of justification by
faith is the third angel's message, and I have answered, "It is the third
angel's message, in verity."-- The Review and Herald, April 1, 1890.
{1SM 372.2}

What is justification by faith? It is the

work of God in laying the glory of man in
the dust, and doing for man that which it
is not in his power to do for himself.
When men see their own nothingness,
they are prepared to be clothed with the
righteousness of Christ. {FLB 111.2}
Luke 14:11
For Whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself
shall be exalted.

Luke 9:48
He that is least among you all, the same shall be great

Matthew 19:30
But many that are first shall be last; and the last shall be first.

Luke 9:23
And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and
take up his cross daily, and follow me.