Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them.
Paul warned that from among the church itself, even its own leaders, men would arise speaking twisted and perverse things to draw disciples away to follow themselves instead of Christ. He spoke this at Miletus in his farewell to the elders of Ephesus when he knew they would see his face no more, after three years of warning everyone night and day with tears, joining it to the warning that savage wolves would enter from outside not sparing the flock. The danger comes both from without and from within, so those made overseers by the Holy Spirit must take heed to themselves and feed the church purchased with God's own blood and hold to God and the word of His grace able to build them up. They work by mingling error with truth and teaching heresies as truth, claiming new light that is only a side issue and entering wedge to divert minds from the true work for this time and to undermine confidence in those God has used. This apostasy from within was to continue and multiply to the very end, when false prophets arising inside will be so deceptive that if possible even the elect would be deceived, and safety lies only in vigilant guarding, testing every doctrine by Scripture, and remaining faithful to God's counsel.
Words and Original Setting
Also of your own selves points to men arising from inside the church itself, even from among its own leaders and elders, who speak perverse or distorted things. Their aim is to draw away disciples after themselves, gathering followers for themselves as their own party instead of directing believers to Christ. Such distorted teaching corrupts faith, so believers must be strengthened against it.
The words were spoken by Paul at Miletus in his farewell to the elders of the Ephesian church, when he knew they would see his face no more. He reminded them that for three years he had not ceased to warn everyone night and day with tears. That long, tearful, night-and-day warning shows the seriousness and care with which the danger must be addressed.
The danger is twofold, for after his departing grievous wolves would enter in not sparing the flock, and also from among themselves men would arise speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them. The mystery of iniquity was already at work, making the time after the apostles a time of greater danger from apostasy. Therefore overseers made by the Holy Ghost must take heed to themselves and to the flock and feed the church of God purchased with His own blood. They must watch and remember Paul's example, and hold to God and the word of His grace which is able to build them up and give them an inheritance among the sanctified.
That warning came from a ministry that served with humility and tears and endurance under opposition. It kept back nothing profitable, but taught publicly and from house to house repentance toward God and faith toward the Lord Jesus Christ. It declared all the counsel of God and was therefore pure from the blood of all men. It coveted no man's silver or gold or apparel, and it supported itself by manual labor, as his own hands ministered to his necessities and to those with him.
Character of the Deceivers
Trials and disappointments from apostasy arising inside the church are to be expected, and the disagreeable experience is gone over again and again when those who went out from among believers turn aside into apostasy. Recent apostasy fulfills this, bringing great trial, hurting the soul, and largely increasing burdens and writing, yet requiring doing all and then standing. This warning belongs with Christ's warnings about false teachings, false prophets, false doctrines and deceivers, and its prophecies are being fulfilled through the church's religious experience.
Their apostasy does not move any principle of faith and does not turn truth into error, for truth remains truth even when individuals turn from the precious light that has come to the world. God still calls for confidence in the faith once delivered to the saints while professed believers apostatize as others have done before. Safety requires sleepless vigilance, receiving the warnings and entreaties of the Spirit of God, and falling on the Rock and being broken in contrite humility rather than joining that party.
They are men in all ages who think they have a work for the Lord, show no respect for those God is using, wrest the Scriptures to sustain their own ideas, and draw away from the body to proclaim theories of their own invention. Such claims, whatever they are, are in Satan's service to invent some new device to divert souls from the truth for this time. Therefore the call is to watch, remembering the three years of warning everyone night and day with tears.
They are not satisfied to dwell upon the lessons given by Jesus Christ but are always seeking for something strange and odd to present as new light which other men have overlooked. Serious difficulties will come into the church from within itself through its own members speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after themselves. As a people God's church will have to meet all classes of professed Christians on this account.
Such deception appears when people fail to recognize essential truths needed for safety and salvation while magnifying minor matters that contain little truth. Human wisdom without spiritual discernment mistakes error for truth and truth for error, and people within God's own people teach distorted ideas to draw followers after themselves.
In all ages the church has been cursed with men of this kind who hold the truth in unrighteousness while wounding it by inconsistent, iniquitous lives in service to Satan. They profess purity, Sabbath light and holiness to gain sympathy, faith and confidence as holy men and special messengers of God, then draw souls from the path of rectitude. They mingle error with truth and teach heresies for truth.
They make void the law of God, labor to make adultery and licentiousness appear harmless and cover it with the cloak of Christianity, practicing secret licentiousness as virtue. They fill minds with fanciful follies, unfitting them for high and holy thought, and exercise a bewitching sorcery that holds mental powers as under a spell, paralyzes reason and leads from purity. Cases of this kind multiply as the end draws near, deceiving souls not rooted and grounded in all Bible truth with a living connection with God.
The warning is fulfilled when fallen angels mingle with men all over the world, instructing them in the mysteries of evil and talking with them to set forth principles as false as can be, leading souls into paths of deception and drawing away disciples after them. It is fulfilled when those who have not perfected Christian character and have not been made pure and undefiled through sanctification of the truth bring their imperfections into the church, deny the faith, and pick up strange theories to advance as truth. Against this Satan uses all his science in playing the game of life for human souls, presenting wonderful things that will soon appear in a more decided light, while Jesus Christ is the dependence and God's people must gain an understanding of the mystery of godliness and beware of following a course that would rob them of their usefulness.
Methods That Draw Away
The drawing away works by mingling error with truth and teaching heresies as truth, mixing false theories into every phase of experience and pressing them with satanic earnestness to captivate every mind not rooted and grounded in full knowledge of the Word. This is done creeping in unawares with flattering words, skilful misrepresentations, and seductive tact. Those who do it profess purity, Sabbath light, and holiness in order to gain sympathy, faith, and confidence as holy men and special messengers.
They give heed to seducing spirits and teach doctrines of satanic origin in order to pull disciples away after themselves. From within they claim new light that is only a side issue and an entering wedge, bringing new theories and false interpretations of Scripture to divert minds from the true work and genuine message for this time, the third angel's message. As soon as these ideas are accepted, minds doubt and withdraw from the leaders God has used, on the plea that God has laid them aside and chosen more humble men, until the wedge widens into a breach between those who accept the new views and those who hold the message. Satan stirs up this spurious and counterfeit loud cry so the real message will not have its effect when it comes, yet the very arising of such diverting theories is evidence that the true loud cry will soon be heard and the earth lightened with glory.
They attempt to tear down the foundations of the truth that made God's people what they are, truth established step by step under a plain Thus saith the Lord amid pitfalls of error and proved by standing the test of trial, and they must be met with truths tried as by fire and not allowed to enter upon that work. They divide by dissension, contention, and removal of the old landmarks of truth, including the sanctuary truth, making it appear as if the Lord contradicts Himself. They deceive by appearing as an angel of light, adorning fallacies and pleasing fables, misapplying many scriptures and using beautiful scriptures given to adorn the truth as a robe to cover false and dangerous theories.
Those who leave the body and exalt themselves and claim new light or revelation contrary to the faith held by the church cause great harm and bring the way of truth into disrepute. Their teachings fail the test of Scripture and unsettle established faith, while false reports and repeated rumors foster unbelief. Rejecting God's messages of warning and reproof prepares people to be misled by such perverse teaching, and the warning applies to those who abandon established Christian truth and try to undermine confidence in it.
Such speech is joined with secretly cherishing bitterness and dissension in a spirit unlike Christ's, which fosters division and turns believers from the right way. It brings God's frown and displeasure and leaves men unfit to receive the latter rain. Like wolves they tear and scatter the sheep and lead them into unreasonable fanaticism. Men arise speaking perverse things to counterwork the very movements the Lord is leading His servants to make, and in face of this it must be reasoned from cause to effect that it is too late to establish large business firms in the cities and too late to call young people from the country to the city.
Prophecy Through the Ages
The warning looks beyond the apostles to a worsening condition of the church, not to a transition into perfection. The perfection at which spiritual gifts cease belongs to the second coming of Christ and the eternal state of glory. The gifts of the Spirit were placed in the church to guard against these very evils, with grievous wolves entering in not sparing the flock and men arising from within to speak perverse things and draw away disciples, while the mystery of iniquity was already at work. Their presence and help would be needed more after the apostles left the stage of action than while the apostles themselves were present, so they could not pass away just when that greater danger came. If they were needed in the apostolic age they are certainly needed now, for the coming age was not an age of perfect light and knowledge but an age of greater danger from false teachers.
Its prophecies about false teachings, false prophets, false doctrines, false christs and deceivers belong with Christ’s warnings and are being fulfilled through the church’s religious experience. Great delusions arise from within God’s own people, with men from among believers speaking perverse and false things to draw away disciples after themselves. Those prophecies continue to the very end, even to Satan disguising himself and appearing as Christ. In the latter days, in the very last stage of earth’s history, false prophets arise from within to draw away disciples after them. That arising includes men who claim to be taught of God and even some once honored who depart from the truth to advocate misleading theories.
Their work divides God’s people by dissension, contention and removal of the old landmarks of truth, including the sanctuary truth, making it appear as if the Lord contradicts Himself. They deceive by appearing as an angel of light, adorning fallacies and pleasing fables, misapplying many scriptures and using beautiful scriptures given to adorn the truth as a robe to cover false and dangerous theories and substantiate error. Those who stand faithful in this time of peril to the truth specified in Revelation must meet these false prophets and their specious doctrinal errors, which are so deceptive that if possible the very elect would be deceived. When the law of God is made void the church is sifted by fiery trials that try all who dwell on the earth. At that time a great proportion of those supposed to be genuine will give heed to seducing spirits, turn traitors, betray sacred trusts and prove the worst persecutors of the faithful.
Cases of this kind multiply as the end draws near, deceiving souls not rooted and grounded in all Bible truth with a living connection with God. In all ages the church has been cursed with men of this kind who hold the truth in unrighteousness while wounding it by inconsistent, iniquitous lives in Satan’s service. They mingle error with truth and teach heresies for truth, professing purity, Sabbath light and holiness to gain sympathy, faith and confidence as holy men and special messengers of God, then draw souls from rectitude by making void the law of God. They labor to make adultery and licentiousness appear harmless and cover it with the cloak of Christianity, practicing secret licentiousness as virtue, filling minds with fanciful follies, unfitting them for high and holy thought, and exercising a bewitching sorcery that holds mental powers as under a spell, paralyzes reason and leads from purity.
Guarding the Flock
The danger comes both from grievous wolves entering from outside not sparing the flock and from men arising from within its own ranks, even from among its own elders and overseers, speaking distorted and perverse things to draw disciples away after themselves, so those entrusted with the flock must guard it vigilantly. They must watch and remember the three years of warning everyone night and day with tears, take heed to themselves and to the flock over which the Holy Ghost made them overseers to feed the church of God purchased with His own blood, and hold to God and the word of His grace which is able to build them up and give an inheritance among the sanctified. They must remain faithful to God's counsel, remember Christ's warnings, and test every faith and doctrine by Scripture, since trials come from within as well as from outside. That faithful guarding belongs to a ministry that serves with humility, tears and endurance under opposition, keeps back nothing profitable, teaches publicly and from house to house repentance toward God and faith toward the Lord Jesus Christ, declares all the counsel of God and is therefore pure from the blood of all men, covets no man's silver or gold or apparel, and supports itself by manual labor.
The shepherd's and watchman's office is to watch for every such danger, to be wide-awake to perceive evil, to discern it and reason from cause to effect, and to prevent its sure result. He must give decided warning before the evil develops and stand out of the way so that God's warning can reach the flock. A shepherd who sees the sheep torn and scattered like wolves devouring the flock and leading them into unreasonable fanaticism, and gives no warning, who waits for the evil to develop and is offended at decided handling of it, is unfaithful and bears the guilt and blood of the scattered flock. Blaming the weak sheep for leading him astray is no excuse but only proves him unfit to watch over, reclaim and keep the sheep in the true pasture. Ministers of the gospel as guardians are bound to be most faithful in the discharge of duty, not afraid of men yet beware of them, guarding the church against entering into business transactions that would possibly place them in the power of men.
Safety requires sleepless vigilance, receiving the warnings and entreaties of the Spirit of God, keeping confidence in the faith once delivered to the saints, and falling on the Rock and being broken in contrite humility rather than joining the apostate party, for apostasy does not change truth into error since truth remains truth even when individuals turn from precious light. For this time the interests of those who believe the truth must be guarded by guarding publishing houses and books against imaginary theories, wresting of Scripture and impostors, lest tares be sown broadcast and erroneous theories be nourished into dissension and discord, for great delusions arise from within with false doctrines, false prophets and false christs deceiving many even to Satan appearing as Christ. Claims of special light that would draw believers after themselves must be brought to experienced leaders who bear the church's message, and those making them must learn Christ's meekness and humility, lest division undermine unity. Those firm in principle should help believers weak in faith rather than stumble with them, for misleading speech and secretly cherished bitterness foster dissension, turn believers from the right way and bring God's displeasure.
Recent apostasy fulfills the warning that such disagreeable experience with internal departure is gone over again and again and is to be expected. It brings great trial, hurts the soul, and largely increases burdens and writing, yet requires doing all and then standing, and holding to God and the word of His grace able to build up and give an inheritance among the sanctified.
Paul warned that from among the church itself, even its own leaders, men would arise speaking twisted and perverse things to draw disciples away to follow themselves instead of Christ. He spoke this at Miletus in his farewell to the elders of Ephesus when he knew they would see his face no more, after three years of warning everyone night and day with tears, joining it to the warning that savage wolves would enter from outside not sparing the flock. The danger comes both from without and from within, so those made overseers by the Holy Spirit must take heed to themselves and feed the church purchased with God's own blood and hold to God and the word of His grace able to build them up. They work by mingling error with truth and teaching heresies as truth, claiming new light that is only a side issue and entering wedge to divert minds from the true work for this time and to undermine confidence in those God has used. This apostasy from within was to continue and multiply to the very end, when false prophets arising inside will be so deceptive that if possible even the elect would be deceived, and safety lies only in vigilant guarding, testing every doctrine by Scripture, and remaining faithful to God's counsel.
Words and Original Setting
Also of your own selves points to men arising from inside the church itself, even from among its own leaders and elders, who speak perverse or distorted things. Their aim is to draw away disciples after themselves, gathering followers for themselves as their own party instead of directing believers to Christ. Such distorted teaching corrupts faith, so believers must be strengthened against it.
The words were spoken by Paul at Miletus in his farewell to the elders of the Ephesian church, when he knew they would see his face no more. He reminded them that for three years he had not ceased to warn everyone night and day with tears. That long, tearful, night-and-day warning shows the seriousness and care with which the danger must be addressed.
The danger is twofold, for after his departing grievous wolves would enter in not sparing the flock, and also from among themselves men would arise speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them. The mystery of iniquity was already at work, making the time after the apostles a time of greater danger from apostasy. Therefore overseers made by the Holy Ghost must take heed to themselves and to the flock and feed the church of God purchased with His own blood. They must watch and remember Paul's example, and hold to God and the word of His grace which is able to build them up and give them an inheritance among the sanctified.
That warning came from a ministry that served with humility and tears and endurance under opposition. It kept back nothing profitable, but taught publicly and from house to house repentance toward God and faith toward the Lord Jesus Christ. It declared all the counsel of God and was therefore pure from the blood of all men. It coveted no man's silver or gold or apparel, and it supported itself by manual labor, as his own hands ministered to his necessities and to those with him.
Character of the Deceivers
Trials and disappointments from apostasy arising inside the church are to be expected, and the disagreeable experience is gone over again and again when those who went out from among believers turn aside into apostasy. Recent apostasy fulfills this, bringing great trial, hurting the soul, and largely increasing burdens and writing, yet requiring doing all and then standing. This warning belongs with Christ's warnings about false teachings, false prophets, false doctrines and deceivers, and its prophecies are being fulfilled through the church's religious experience.
Their apostasy does not move any principle of faith and does not turn truth into error, for truth remains truth even when individuals turn from the precious light that has come to the world. God still calls for confidence in the faith once delivered to the saints while professed believers apostatize as others have done before. Safety requires sleepless vigilance, receiving the warnings and entreaties of the Spirit of God, and falling on the Rock and being broken in contrite humility rather than joining that party.
They are men in all ages who think they have a work for the Lord, show no respect for those God is using, wrest the Scriptures to sustain their own ideas, and draw away from the body to proclaim theories of their own invention. Such claims, whatever they are, are in Satan's service to invent some new device to divert souls from the truth for this time. Therefore the call is to watch, remembering the three years of warning everyone night and day with tears.
They are not satisfied to dwell upon the lessons given by Jesus Christ but are always seeking for something strange and odd to present as new light which other men have overlooked. Serious difficulties will come into the church from within itself through its own members speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after themselves. As a people God's church will have to meet all classes of professed Christians on this account.
Such deception appears when people fail to recognize essential truths needed for safety and salvation while magnifying minor matters that contain little truth. Human wisdom without spiritual discernment mistakes error for truth and truth for error, and people within God's own people teach distorted ideas to draw followers after themselves.
In all ages the church has been cursed with men of this kind who hold the truth in unrighteousness while wounding it by inconsistent, iniquitous lives in service to Satan. They profess purity, Sabbath light and holiness to gain sympathy, faith and confidence as holy men and special messengers of God, then draw souls from the path of rectitude. They mingle error with truth and teach heresies for truth.
They make void the law of God, labor to make adultery and licentiousness appear harmless and cover it with the cloak of Christianity, practicing secret licentiousness as virtue. They fill minds with fanciful follies, unfitting them for high and holy thought, and exercise a bewitching sorcery that holds mental powers as under a spell, paralyzes reason and leads from purity. Cases of this kind multiply as the end draws near, deceiving souls not rooted and grounded in all Bible truth with a living connection with God.
The warning is fulfilled when fallen angels mingle with men all over the world, instructing them in the mysteries of evil and talking with them to set forth principles as false as can be, leading souls into paths of deception and drawing away disciples after them. It is fulfilled when those who have not perfected Christian character and have not been made pure and undefiled through sanctification of the truth bring their imperfections into the church, deny the faith, and pick up strange theories to advance as truth. Against this Satan uses all his science in playing the game of life for human souls, presenting wonderful things that will soon appear in a more decided light, while Jesus Christ is the dependence and God's people must gain an understanding of the mystery of godliness and beware of following a course that would rob them of their usefulness.
Methods That Draw Away
The drawing away works by mingling error with truth and teaching heresies as truth, mixing false theories into every phase of experience and pressing them with satanic earnestness to captivate every mind not rooted and grounded in full knowledge of the Word. This is done creeping in unawares with flattering words, skilful misrepresentations, and seductive tact. Those who do it profess purity, Sabbath light, and holiness in order to gain sympathy, faith, and confidence as holy men and special messengers.
They give heed to seducing spirits and teach doctrines of satanic origin in order to pull disciples away after themselves. From within they claim new light that is only a side issue and an entering wedge, bringing new theories and false interpretations of Scripture to divert minds from the true work and genuine message for this time, the third angel's message. As soon as these ideas are accepted, minds doubt and withdraw from the leaders God has used, on the plea that God has laid them aside and chosen more humble men, until the wedge widens into a breach between those who accept the new views and those who hold the message. Satan stirs up this spurious and counterfeit loud cry so the real message will not have its effect when it comes, yet the very arising of such diverting theories is evidence that the true loud cry will soon be heard and the earth lightened with glory.
They attempt to tear down the foundations of the truth that made God's people what they are, truth established step by step under a plain Thus saith the Lord amid pitfalls of error and proved by standing the test of trial, and they must be met with truths tried as by fire and not allowed to enter upon that work. They divide by dissension, contention, and removal of the old landmarks of truth, including the sanctuary truth, making it appear as if the Lord contradicts Himself. They deceive by appearing as an angel of light, adorning fallacies and pleasing fables, misapplying many scriptures and using beautiful scriptures given to adorn the truth as a robe to cover false and dangerous theories.
Those who leave the body and exalt themselves and claim new light or revelation contrary to the faith held by the church cause great harm and bring the way of truth into disrepute. Their teachings fail the test of Scripture and unsettle established faith, while false reports and repeated rumors foster unbelief. Rejecting God's messages of warning and reproof prepares people to be misled by such perverse teaching, and the warning applies to those who abandon established Christian truth and try to undermine confidence in it.
Such speech is joined with secretly cherishing bitterness and dissension in a spirit unlike Christ's, which fosters division and turns believers from the right way. It brings God's frown and displeasure and leaves men unfit to receive the latter rain. Like wolves they tear and scatter the sheep and lead them into unreasonable fanaticism. Men arise speaking perverse things to counterwork the very movements the Lord is leading His servants to make, and in face of this it must be reasoned from cause to effect that it is too late to establish large business firms in the cities and too late to call young people from the country to the city.
Prophecy Through the Ages
The warning looks beyond the apostles to a worsening condition of the church, not to a transition into perfection. The perfection at which spiritual gifts cease belongs to the second coming of Christ and the eternal state of glory. The gifts of the Spirit were placed in the church to guard against these very evils, with grievous wolves entering in not sparing the flock and men arising from within to speak perverse things and draw away disciples, while the mystery of iniquity was already at work. Their presence and help would be needed more after the apostles left the stage of action than while the apostles themselves were present, so they could not pass away just when that greater danger came. If they were needed in the apostolic age they are certainly needed now, for the coming age was not an age of perfect light and knowledge but an age of greater danger from false teachers.
Its prophecies about false teachings, false prophets, false doctrines, false christs and deceivers belong with Christ’s warnings and are being fulfilled through the church’s religious experience. Great delusions arise from within God’s own people, with men from among believers speaking perverse and false things to draw away disciples after themselves. Those prophecies continue to the very end, even to Satan disguising himself and appearing as Christ. In the latter days, in the very last stage of earth’s history, false prophets arise from within to draw away disciples after them. That arising includes men who claim to be taught of God and even some once honored who depart from the truth to advocate misleading theories.
Their work divides God’s people by dissension, contention and removal of the old landmarks of truth, including the sanctuary truth, making it appear as if the Lord contradicts Himself. They deceive by appearing as an angel of light, adorning fallacies and pleasing fables, misapplying many scriptures and using beautiful scriptures given to adorn the truth as a robe to cover false and dangerous theories and substantiate error. Those who stand faithful in this time of peril to the truth specified in Revelation must meet these false prophets and their specious doctrinal errors, which are so deceptive that if possible the very elect would be deceived. When the law of God is made void the church is sifted by fiery trials that try all who dwell on the earth. At that time a great proportion of those supposed to be genuine will give heed to seducing spirits, turn traitors, betray sacred trusts and prove the worst persecutors of the faithful.
Cases of this kind multiply as the end draws near, deceiving souls not rooted and grounded in all Bible truth with a living connection with God. In all ages the church has been cursed with men of this kind who hold the truth in unrighteousness while wounding it by inconsistent, iniquitous lives in Satan’s service. They mingle error with truth and teach heresies for truth, professing purity, Sabbath light and holiness to gain sympathy, faith and confidence as holy men and special messengers of God, then draw souls from rectitude by making void the law of God. They labor to make adultery and licentiousness appear harmless and cover it with the cloak of Christianity, practicing secret licentiousness as virtue, filling minds with fanciful follies, unfitting them for high and holy thought, and exercising a bewitching sorcery that holds mental powers as under a spell, paralyzes reason and leads from purity.
Guarding the Flock
The danger comes both from grievous wolves entering from outside not sparing the flock and from men arising from within its own ranks, even from among its own elders and overseers, speaking distorted and perverse things to draw disciples away after themselves, so those entrusted with the flock must guard it vigilantly. They must watch and remember the three years of warning everyone night and day with tears, take heed to themselves and to the flock over which the Holy Ghost made them overseers to feed the church of God purchased with His own blood, and hold to God and the word of His grace which is able to build them up and give an inheritance among the sanctified. They must remain faithful to God's counsel, remember Christ's warnings, and test every faith and doctrine by Scripture, since trials come from within as well as from outside. That faithful guarding belongs to a ministry that serves with humility, tears and endurance under opposition, keeps back nothing profitable, teaches publicly and from house to house repentance toward God and faith toward the Lord Jesus Christ, declares all the counsel of God and is therefore pure from the blood of all men, covets no man's silver or gold or apparel, and supports itself by manual labor.
The shepherd's and watchman's office is to watch for every such danger, to be wide-awake to perceive evil, to discern it and reason from cause to effect, and to prevent its sure result. He must give decided warning before the evil develops and stand out of the way so that God's warning can reach the flock. A shepherd who sees the sheep torn and scattered like wolves devouring the flock and leading them into unreasonable fanaticism, and gives no warning, who waits for the evil to develop and is offended at decided handling of it, is unfaithful and bears the guilt and blood of the scattered flock. Blaming the weak sheep for leading him astray is no excuse but only proves him unfit to watch over, reclaim and keep the sheep in the true pasture. Ministers of the gospel as guardians are bound to be most faithful in the discharge of duty, not afraid of men yet beware of them, guarding the church against entering into business transactions that would possibly place them in the power of men.
Safety requires sleepless vigilance, receiving the warnings and entreaties of the Spirit of God, keeping confidence in the faith once delivered to the saints, and falling on the Rock and being broken in contrite humility rather than joining the apostate party, for apostasy does not change truth into error since truth remains truth even when individuals turn from precious light. For this time the interests of those who believe the truth must be guarded by guarding publishing houses and books against imaginary theories, wresting of Scripture and impostors, lest tares be sown broadcast and erroneous theories be nourished into dissension and discord, for great delusions arise from within with false doctrines, false prophets and false christs deceiving many even to Satan appearing as Christ. Claims of special light that would draw believers after themselves must be brought to experienced leaders who bear the church's message, and those making them must learn Christ's meekness and humility, lest division undermine unity. Those firm in principle should help believers weak in faith rather than stumble with them, for misleading speech and secretly cherished bitterness foster dissension, turn believers from the right way and bring God's displeasure.
Recent apostasy fulfills the warning that such disagreeable experience with internal departure is gone over again and again and is to be expected. It brings great trial, hurts the soul, and largely increases burdens and writing, yet requires doing all and then standing, and holding to God and the word of His grace able to build up and give an inheritance among the sanctified.