The Spirit of Apostasy by F. M. W.

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D.C. · Aug 17, 1911

The Spirit of Apostasy

By F. M. W.

The church of God has had to battle with foes without and within. This has been its experience in every age, and as a rule the hardest conflicts have been those inside of its own membership, with men and women who professed love and loyalty for the truth, but in their lives denied its holy power, and by their works brought discredit to its fair name. The church of Christ must continue to bear this double burden of conflict until the close of time.

In looking over the controversies of the past which at times have threatened to disrupt the church of God, one is impressed with the close resemblance which disorganizing elements in every age have borne to one another. Certain general characteristics have given them one classification:—

1. They have been opposed to leadership.

2. This opposition has sprung largely from envy and jealousy.

3. They have demanded larger liberty, contending for a broader sphere of belief and operation.

4. They have put forth the claim of being the genuine supporters of truth, and therefore the really loyal ones, charging upon those who differed from them departure from the faith.

5. They have posed as the champions of popular rights, contending that they were standing, not for personal interests, but for the good of the cause and the liberty of the whole people.

6. Their operations have been subtle and insidious. Covertly they have sought to carry forward their work.

7. They have claimed to possess the spirit of divine leading.

8. They have sought out the disaffected ones, rallied them around their standard, and united them in a common cause against the truth.

Perhaps not every apostasy from the truth of God has borne all these earmarks, but for the most part they are the common characteristics belonging to these disorganizing elements. This was emphatically true of the first great apostasy in heaven. The heart of Satan was lifted up in pride. He became jealous because he was not given more glory than he possessed. He charged the government of God with being tyrannical and subversive of liberty. He sought to establish a government of his own on what he considered a broader and more liberal basis. By suggestion, by insinuation, secretly, subtly, and maliciously, he carried forward his work of disorganization. Those who refused to acknowledge his claims he charged with disloyalty, posing himself as the one above all others who was true to God and to the principles of right.

The same principles operated also in the apostasy of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. Jealous of Moses and Aaron, Korah and his associates charged them with taking too much authority upon themselves and of exalting themselves above the congregation. They charged Moses and Aaron with assuming authority which had never been given them by God. They claimed to be the real loyalists, charging the others with departing from God and subverting his plans and purposes; they felt that upon them rested the responsibility of reforming Israel, of standing for the downtrodden rights of the people. They claimed that the spirit of prophecy was not confined to a few chosen ones, but that the whole congregation was holy, and therefore the mouthpieces of divine revelation. Around their standard every discordant element in the camp of Israel congregated; although having different grievances, they could all unite in their opposition to Moses and his leadership. No matter if they had even quarreled among themselves in the past, like Pilate and Herod, they were made friends by the common cause which now engaged their attention.

When we come to consider the spirit of apostasy in every age, we find precisely the same principles at work. These same characteristics in a greater or lesser degree have characterized the several movements of opposition against the third angel's message. If every reader will study the question carefully and take time for investigation, he will find that, under the outward guise of pretended loyalty to the truth and zeal for the right, these selfish elements and principles are the real animus and life of the opposition. But the truth to-day, the same as in the ages of the past, will stand unmoved amid it all. The church of God at times may tremble with the impact of contending forces, but it will react; it will recover itself and go forward with new power because released from the incubus which has held it back.

We need not fear regarding the triumph of this work. Our chief concern should be that we ourselves keep pace with the message, that we do not allow ourselves to be shaken out. Only the true and tried will triumph. By God's grace we may be among that number. F. M. W.