A STANDING ADMONITION

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Sep 3, 1901

A STANDING ADMONITION.

“AND Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.” Matt. 24:4.

Such was the admonition that the Saviour solemnly impressed upon the minds of His disciples. They had addressed to Him a question of the most weighty concern, “What shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?” He did not tell them that that was not a subject for them to inquire into, that no one could know anything about it, and therefore they should not trouble their minds in reference to it; but, on the other hand, He gave them most important instruction in the words quoted, “Take heed that no man deceive you.” Through these first disciples, these words were spoken to His latest disciples upon the earth; for they must apply especially to the last generation, the ones on whom the end of the world is to come.

The same admonition is repeated by the apostle Paul in reference to the same question. In 2 Thess. 2:3 he says: “Let no man deceive you by any means,”—as if various means would be resorted to, to mislead the people,—“for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition.”

The mind of the reader is called to these plain texts in view of the many efforts put forth by religious teachers, both in the pulpit and through the press, to turn the attention of the people away from this subject, by declaring that the end will not come in their day, and that no man can know anything about it, anyway, and therefore they should not trouble themselves with it. If this is so, how can these admonitions by Christ and the apostles be heeded? The very language itself makes it certain that the subject will be agitated, and wrong views will be set forth, calculated to deceive and lead astray the people concerning the great question of the end of the world, the very question above all others on which all should be very careful not to be misled.

And how can we escape being deceived by such teaching? We can escape only in one way, and that is by being, ourselves, thoroughly acquainted with the true teaching of the word of God on this subject, so that we can detect everything which does not agree therewith. Thus it is evident that the language puts every one upon his sacred honor to study carefully this question.

How can we detect a counterfeit bill unless we are acquainted with all the points and features of the genuine? If one should tell us, Let no man deceive you in reference to counterfeit money, how could we heed and profit by that admonition only by carefully studying and acquainting ourselves with true money, till we knew all its features, and could detect any variation from them? And when Christ says, “Take heed that no man deceive you,” in reference to the important doctrine of the coming of Christ and the end of the world, it is the same as saying that the Lord has fully set forth the truth in His word on this subject, and that we must make ourselves so thoroughly acquainted with that, that we can detect any variation from it, and so not be deceived by the false.

Men may say, “Give no attention to these subjects; do not trouble your minds with them, for you can know nothing about them.” But Christ says, Study this question carefully, acquaint yourself with every feature of it; know all the truth upon it so that you can detect all wrong teaching concerning it. Then only can you be safe against deception. Which will you follow? “Take heed that no man deceive you.”