p. 1 | Who Are the False Teachers? by Dudley Marvin Canright

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Nov 23, 1876

Who Are the False Teachers?

By Dudley Marvin Canright

BY ELD. D. M. CANRIGHT.

(Concluded.)

TEXT: “Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.” 2 Tim. 3:12.

Another thing they did not like of Christ,—he condemned their feasting. “And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers’ money, and overthrew the tables; and said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father’s house a house of merchandise.” John 2:15, 16. At this they became angry; and no wonder they did. They wanted to make money out of the cause of God. To do this they had turned God’s house into a place of feasting, and of buying and selling. If Christ did these things there, turning them out, and whipping them as they went, what would he do in the modern churches with their feasting, eating, and drinking? How do they now make God’s house a place of merchandise, with their festivals and various entertainments to call in the young and frivolous, the proud, and the lovers of pleasure! This they do, that they may gather in a little money, perhaps to pay their preacher, or to raise the debt of the church, which, of their own means, they are too stingy to pay.

About another thing they found fault with Christ, which objection is strongly urged against our work. They said he made division. “And they were the more fierce, saying, He stirreth up the people, teaching throughout all Jewry, beginning from Galilee to this place.” Luke 23:5. Said they, This man stirs up the people. Before his coming we were a quiet people; now see how we are divided, and what an uproar there is. One believes one thing, another something else. We cannot have such confusion. We will put him out. The great trouble then, as now, was not that the truth was not preached, but that men were drawn away from their church. Hear what the chief priests and Pharisees said: “If we let him thus alone, all men will believe on him; and the Romans shall come and take away both our place and nation.” John 11:48. What did they say? If we let him alone, said they, all men will believe on him, and our cause and our craft, yes, that will go, and our church will go. What were they so zealous about? It was our church, our church; our temple, our temple. They said, If we let him go, he will ruin our Society. There is the point. When men depart from God, it is, our church, and not God nor his truth. These men deceive their souls thinking because they love their church so much, of course they must love God a good deal. But what is it a man wants to love? It is the truth of God and men’s souls that one must love.

Another thing concerning Christ’s work was said: “Are you also deceived? Have any of the rulers and Pharisees believed?” Said they, We never heard such words before. Yes; they acknowledged that what they heard was wonderful, but they must first look around and see who were believing these things; and if the rulers and the Pharisees, or in other words, if the rich people, the church members, and their ministers, accepted the doctrine, they would; but if not, they would follow them in opposition to it. Dear friends, do not hang your souls upon some other man’s sleeve. Hang them upon truth, and God, and righteousness, and you may rest securely. Of these spiritual teachers, Paul says, “For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge.” Rom. 10:2. Then there would not be safety in following such guides, for they are blind leaders of the blind, and both would fall into the ditch.

Take the case of the young man born blind, to further illustrate the point. He was a poor young man, not educated for the ministry, but he could tell more about Christ than any of them knew. But in answer to his narrative they said, “Thou wast altogether born in sins, and dost thou teach us? And they cast him out.” John 9:34. Said they, How is it that you, a poor sinner, dare to get up here and teach us that we are all wrong? Turn him out; and so they put him out. These men were so proud, and knew so much, they could not learn anything from that humble man. This gives us the reason why so many great men have never accepted the truth of God. Here is a man who has graduated, and is really a learned man. Now because a humble man making no pretensions to an education comes along and presents the simple truths of the Bible, he is not going to learn of him. This is simply from their pride of opinion. They will not bow down to the preaching of the simple word of God. They want something of greater pretensions. The truth of God is too plain and simple. Remember, it is always the humble, the poor, whom God has chosen for his instruments. Paul says, “For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: but God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; and base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to naught things that are.” 1 Cor. 1:26–28.

Notice the characters in the Bible who stand out prominent in reforms, such as Elijah, John the Baptist, Christ, &c. They were men who talked in strong language, and dared to call sin by its right name. They were fearless in reproving wrong; and believing they were right, they boldly declared the truth of God. The man of God who sees sin in the midst of his people will not smooth it over. Christ did not do it. A true prophet will not cry peace and safety, nor is it in the Bible.

See what they said of Paul (and I never read it but what I am reminded of modern accusations), “For we have found this man a pestilent fellow, and a mover of sedition among all the Jews throughout the world, and a ring-leader of the sect of the Nazarenes, who also hath gone about to profane the temple; whom we took, and would have judged according to our law.” Acts 24:5, 6. Yes; they called Paul a “pestilent” fellow. That was a pretty bad name. Hear his reply: “And they neither found me in the temple disputing with any man, neither raising up the people, neither in the synagogues, nor in the city: neither can they prove the things whereof they now accuse me. But this I confess unto thee, that after the way which they call heresy, so worship I the God of my fathers, believing all things which are written in the law and in the prophets.” Acts 24:12–14. That is the way God’s servants can always say. To our accusers we can boldly say, Neither can you prove the things whereof you now accuse us. But this we confess, that after the way which you call heresy, so worship we the God of our fathers, believing all things which are written in the law and the prophets. God is our judge, and there we stand.

I propose now to come to what the Bible says about false prophets in the last days, for there are to be plenty of them. Let us first see if we are the ones. “Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season? Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing. Verily I say unto you, That he shall make him ruler over all his goods. But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; and shall begin to smite his fellow-servants, and to eat and drink with the drunken; the lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of.” Matt. 24:45–50.

The faithful and wise servant is compared to a householder giving meat in due season to his household. What is it to give meat in due season? Is it only to furnish his table with those articles which are suitable merely for the winter months, or as regular supplies, such as bread, meat, potatoes, coffee, &c.? This would hardly be giving meat in season. But rather, when the fruits of the season are in market he provides for the table such fruits as are seasonable. If it is strawberry season, or peach or pear season, it would not be seasonable to have dried apple sauce, or something else adapted to the winter season, though it would be well and proper enough for that time. Giving meat in due season, then, is for the householder to furnish his guests with the fruits as they come along, each in its season. So it is with the faithful and wise servant. He gives to the people those truths applicable to the time. It is truth for to-day, it is present truth.

The meat in due season spoken of in our text is the truth of our Lord’s second coming. It would not be meat in due season simply to talk about the first advent or the flood. In the verses quoted above, there are two classes brought to view down here,—the wise servants and the evil servants. The wise servant says, The Lord is coming, get ready for him; and the evil servant says, My Lord delayeth his coming; and he begins to smite his fellow-servant who is talking of the Lord’s coming. He also eats and drinks with the drunken. I can never read this description without thinking of the modern festivals. How is this? A church festival is proposed. The advertisement goes out something like this: CHURCH FESTIVAL! Everything good to eat! Come old, come young, come all. The table is set in the house of God, loaded with everything to eat, rich and abundant, to tempt the appetite after they have already eaten three square meals. Now who is it that comes? See, that young man who loves fun, that young lady who cares nothing about the church or religion, are there. That drunkard comes, and the minister is there. No one is excluded. There they eat, and feast, and have fun, together in the house of God. In Michigan, at one of these festivals in the house of God, a minister killed himself by feasting thus. This is a fact; and I say that these things are a shame, and they ought not to be allowed anywhere. We read, “And they shall begin to eat and drink with the drunken.” Brethren, whether the last days have come or not, that picture will be fulfilled when they do come.

In the following from Paul, we have a still farther description of the last-day teachers: “But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness.” 1 Thess. 5:1–5. Here is a sign given of the last days: “When they shall say, Peace and safety, then sudden destruction cometh.” This is the first class spoken of. What about the brethren at that time? “But ye, brethren, are not in darkness that that day should overtake you as a thief.” Those who are saying, Peace and safety, will be overtaken as a thief in the night; and they are among those we read about in Matthew, who say, “My Lord delayeth his coming.”

In 2 Peter 3, we read of the same class of men: “Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, and saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation. For this they willingly are ignorant of,” &c. 2 Pet. 3:3–5.

A scoffer is one making fun and ridicule. One man steps up and says, I don’t see any more signs of Christ’s coming or the end of the world, than at any previous time; and they will argue that all things continue as they were from the beginning. Peter tells us they are willingly ignorant. Even ministers will scoff, and ridicule the idea of the end of the world, and shut their eyes to all the plain testimony of the Bible, saying, Peace and safety, a good time coming, a millennium is before us, when all shall know the Lord. The minister and the people are agreed; and so that day comes upon them unawares, in a day when they look not for him.

Who, then, are going to be the false prophets in the last days? Are they those who are warning the people, telling them that the Lord is coming, that the end is near, and that they are to prepare for it? No; it is those who oppose it. Says the prophet Jeremiah: “They have belied the Lord, and said, It is not he; neither shall evil come upon us; neither shall we see

sword nor famine.” Jer. 5:12. As a man of God, I must warn this people. Be careful that you are not deceived with this cry of peace and safety. There is wrath coming, for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it, and it will burst upon this people. By heeding the warning voice all may escape it; but alas! but few will give ear: the mass will rush on, giving heed only to fables, and the day of God will come upon them unprepared. They will be taken as a thief in the night. The prophet speaks further: “They are waxen fat, they shine: yea, they overpass the deeds of the wicked: they judge not the cause, the cause of the fatherless, yet they prosper: and the right of the needy do they not judge. Shall I not visit for these things? saith the Lord; shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this? A wonderful and horrible thing is committed in the land; the prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means; and my people love to have it so: and what will ye do in the end thereof?” Jer. 5:28–31.

Here it is: Like people, like priests. The priests study to please the people; they speak smooth words; they say, “Neither shall evil come upon us; neither shall we see sword nor famine,” and the people love to have it so. I tell you the truth, my friends, when I say that there is many a man who stands in the desk to-day whose mouth is muzzled; for he knows if he speaks out against the sins of the church they will not have him any longer to preach for them. He will lose his place with a good salary. To be retained by them he must smooth down the truth, for they will not bear it. Does not everybody know this to be so? Of course they do. The ministers themselves know it.

Again, in 2 Timothy 3, we have a full description of how it shall be in the last days, among those having a form of godliness. “This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, truce-breakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.” 2 Tim. 3:1–5. This may be called an age of feasting and of amusement. There seems to be a strife to see who can make the most pleasure and fun. How is it to be in the last days? Says the apostle, “Lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God, having a form of godliness.” The word of God says it will be so. Brethren, there is where we are now. Not this feature only, but all the above-mentioned sins we see prevailing among professors and in our modern churches. From such we are exhorted to turn away.

False teachers, then, as we have seen, always teach to suit the people, and practice that which is popular. But those really sent of God always have an unwelcome message of reproof and warning, not only for the common sinner, but for the church. Hence persecution is always sure to be their lot.