Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not.
When anyone claims that Christ has appeared in some particular local place, in the desert or in hidden rooms, it is not to be believed, trusted or followed. His return will not be secret or confined to one spot, but open, public and unmistakable to all, like lightning shining across the sky from east to west when He comes in the clouds with power and great glory. The warning is given because false christs and false prophets will arise showing such great signs and wonders that, if possible, even the very elect would be deceived. In the final deception Satan himself will personally impersonate Christ, appearing as a majestic glorious being claiming to be the Son of God returned to earth, performing supernatural lying wonders. Safety requires holding to the Bible and the Bible alone as the foundation of faith, searching the Scriptures, standing for the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus, and giving no ear or sympathy to such heresy.
Place in Prophecy
The warning belongs to Christ's description in Matthew 24 and 25 of His second coming to the world, when the Son of man comes in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory and sends His angels with a trumpet to gather His elect, at a day and hour known only to the Father as in the days of Noah, joined to the calls to watch and be ready and to be a faithful and wise servant, portraying the condition of the church at His coming. It stands in a great prophecy that sketches the history of the present dispensation to the complete restitution of all things, dwelling especially on the thrilling and momentous closing scenes of this world's history. That prophecy follows the church through warfare and sufferings to promised redemption, and on to the final triumph of God's people, the destruction of Satan and all his followers, the total and eternal extirpation of evil from the universe, and the renovation of the earth as the everlasting inheritance of the saints.
The answer blends two settings that the disciples did not fully understand: the dangers surrounding Jerusalem's overthrow and the dangers before the second advent. His coming will not be a hidden or localized appearance in a particular place, but unmistakable like lightning visible from east to west. The destruction of Jerusalem in that prophecy also serves as a type of the world's final destruction by fire. The general warning therefore applies to those living in this age of the second coming as well as to the disciples, and must be applied to its proper time.
The chapter is used to teach that Christ's second advent is still future and not an event already fulfilled at Jerusalem's destruction, distinguishing His future coming from the claim that He had already come then. It belongs to the signs and waymarks He gave concerning His second coming, and prophetic waymarks show that what was foretold there will surely come to pass. It is part of His teaching about the signs and events preceding His revelation in the clouds of heaven, including judgments coming upon cities whose inhabitants dishonor God and call people to take warning and prepare because the end is near. The same prophecy foretells that His followers will face humiliation, reproach, and persecution from the time He is taken from them until His return in power and glory to deliver them, treading the path of suffering their Master trod, amid increasing impostures from many directions announcing that Christ is here or there in the final struggle before the man of sin is exposed.
Meaning of Warning
If anyone says Christ is here or there in a particular local place, the word is not to be believed, accepted, trusted, or followed. The caution belongs to the alert against false christs and false prophets who will perform great signs and wonders seeking to deceive even the elect. Those who have received the truth of God's Word are therefore to stay guided by that Word and not be turned from the truth by such claims. Claims put forward as new truth locating Him here or there are not to be heeded. Between Christ's death and Jerusalem's siege false messiahs, some claiming to work miracles and promising deliverance to the Jewish nation, misled many in this way, and the same deceptions apply through the ages and recur in the last days.
The rejection is made specific: reports that He is in the desert are not to be followed, and reports that He is in the secret chambers or hidden rooms are not to be believed. False christs and false prophets will arise showing great signs and wonders so convincing as to threaten to seduce disciples and, if possible, even the very elect. Thousands going forth into the desert hoping to find Christ, and gatherings professing communion with departed spirits, are forms of this same localized claim, the latter being Spiritualism presenting Christ in the secret chambers. Reports of hidden-chamber presence are therefore false and are not to divert expectation from His personal return.
The reason is that His return will not be secret, hidden, or localized, but open, public, and unmistakable to all. Like lightning shining from east to west across the sky, it will be visible to all and seen in the clouds with power and great glory. The warning blends the dangers surrounding Jerusalem's overthrow with the dangers before the second advent, and it stands for those living in this age as well as for the disciples. These deceptions will increase as the end approaches, even threatening God's chosen people, yet the brightness and universality of His coming exposes every secret or localized appearance.
The warning also guards against treating the second coming as merely His coming to each person at death, which distracts from expecting His personal return in the clouds of heaven. It stands contrary to the expectation of an invisible coming to take the saints away without anyone knowing and later return with them to Jerusalem, where the Jews would have another opportunity to repent and be saved. Such claims of here or there are put forward to draw people away from what is true toward what is false, so God's Word must guide and Christ alone is the safe leader.
Agents and Forms
The verse foretells that false christs and false prophets will arise showing great signs and wonders so convincing that if possible even the very elect, God's chosen people, would be deceived. These deceptions will increase and multiply in the last days into deceptions of every degree and kind, with lords many and gods many and voices on every side crying Lo here and Lo there. They arise through Satan and his agencies working through human beings who can be controlled by his power, with the same subtle power he used in plotting rebellion among holy beings in heaven before the fall, to introduce strange and forbidden things among God's people. At the same time a power working from beneath sets Satan's agencies in operation over all who submit to his control, revealing his deep plotting everywhere to divert men and women from present duty and to counterwork good in the church and in the world, accompanied by signs and wonders.
In the final deception Satan himself will personally impersonate Christ, appearing as a majestic, glorious being speaking gently and pleasantly and claiming to be the Son of God returned to earth. He will resemble Christ in every outward detail and transform himself as an angel of light, appearing in every way like Christ yet not being Christ. He will perform real supernatural acts and lying wonders where he has power, including miracles and apparent works of Christ, and where he lacks power he will use deception and counterfeit God's work. This counterfeit belongs to the very near end, when transgression has almost reached its limit, confusion fills the world, confederacies and secret societies bind themselves together to gain their ends, and great terror is soon to break upon human beings as an overwhelming surprise. It will deceive only those who rejected the love of truth and delighted in unrighteousness or resisted the truth, who will mistake the false appearance for Christ's return and celebrate it. A claim must not be accepted merely because the claimant looks and acts like Him, and pretensions to His identity, even when backed by threats against questioners, do not prove character or authority.
The secret-chambers deception includes Spiritualism professing communion with departed spirits, and gatherings claiming such fellowship are a fulfillment of the warning. The deception also includes false teachers who wrest the Scriptures and pervert the Word to delude and lead astray many souls. They draw away disciples after them with wonderfully pleasing, fanciful, scientific problems and doctrinal errors so specious that, if possible, the very elect would be deceived. Their claims are human notions that people want others to accept and believe, and foreign tests not given in the Word of God that call attention away from the true test of keeping the commandments of God and having the faith of Jesus. In the last days multitudes of varied faith will arise crying Lo here and Lo there because they have found some way for the sinner other than the Bible way, which is repentance toward God for transgression of His law and faith in Jesus Christ the world's Redeemer as the only door through which the sinner may enter.
The deception includes claims presented as new truth, new theories, new light, or messages said to come from God, including claims that Christ or truth is present in a particular message or place and must be carefully examined rather than accepted without question. It includes the claim that a particular message locates Christ and the claim that the church is Babylon so that God's people must come out of her, put forward by those who run without being sent; their sincerity and honesty do not make their message true or fit to be trusted, and all reasons presented carry no weight against decided light to the contrary. It includes the day-line theory as a snare devised by Satan to bewitch the senses and confuse minds, just like false claims about where Christ is. There will be every fiction and devising of Satan to lead persons astray and to discourage believers and to make the history of Sabbathkeepers a fallacy.
These false cries arise amid widespread confusion, intense evil activity, and deceptive messages claiming divine authority and great light from God. They arise amid efforts to remove the landmarks and pillars of faith, to unsettle the foundation, to tear down truth, and to attack from within and draw believers away from their distinctive stand. At the same time a more decided effort is made to exalt and enforce a false sabbath by oppressive law in place of the day God blessed and sanctified, with Satan and his angels working wide-awake and intensely active through human agents with lying wonders to obliterate the knowledge of God. This belongs to the time when Babylon's fall is proclaimed and God's people are called to leave her, after the truth has been proclaimed as a witness to all nations. The danger from these deceivers and seducing spirits is greater than persecution, is repeated several times, and requires believers to guard more carefully against seducers and seductive spirits than any other peril. Satan ingeniously prepares specious errors to dim the spiritual perceptions of those with little experience of the Holy Spirit and those satisfied with limited spiritual knowledge, to undermine confidence in the truth of God until it is impossible to distinguish truth from error, and unless believers are on guard the enemy disguised as an angel of light will lead the unwary into false paths.
Fulfillment Through History
Between Christ's death and the siege of Jerusalem the warning had a fulfillment when false messiahs arose, some claiming miraculous power and promising deliverance to the Jewish nation, misleading many and leading crowds out into the desert and mountain solitudes. After the work for the world closed in October 1844, competing cries of lo here and lo there perplexed God's people and made conflicting Bible texts difficult to understand. The warning applies through the ages but still more to the last days as a sign of the second advent. Then thousands go forth into the desert hoping to find Christ, and Satan-inspired groups form to deceive and delude.
Its predictions are fulfilling today, and their unmistakable fulfillment shows that Christ's coming is at hand. They stand among the waymarks given concerning the second coming, showing what was foretold will surely come to pass.
Safeguard and Response
Matthew 24:23 is part of the predictions of Matthew 24 to be studied and brought to the attention of all, for its fulfillment is taking place today with unmistakable evidence that Christ's coming is at hand. It is sure prophecy and truth that decides the eternal destiny of souls, and ministers and teachers must explain it by leaving out matters of minor consequence to present its soul-saving truths in connection with Jesus as the Lamb of God who takes away sin. Its call is to arouse the church.
Because Christ told these things beforehand, believers must be on guard that no one deceives them, wide-awake to the signs of the times, watchful and ready for His coming. The warning gives decided instruction on what to do to be prepared for coming events, instruction coming down through the centuries to the present time and belonging especially to those faithful to the truth specified in Revelation who live in this time of peril. It requires discerning the signs to reach a higher standard and using entrusted means to help proclaim the final message of mercy and save those perishing in sin. The danger from deceivers and seducing spirits is greater than persecution and is repeated several times, requiring more careful guard than any other peril, because Satan ingeniously prepares specious errors to dim the spiritual perceptions of those with little experience of the Holy Spirit and those satisfied with limited knowledge, to undermine confidence in truth until truth cannot be distinguished from error, and unless believers are on guard the enemy disguised as an angel of light will lead the unwary into false paths.
Safety requires taking the Bible and the Bible alone as textbook and foundation of faith, searching the Scriptures, clinging to a plain Thus saith the Lord, and remaining guided by that Word rather than turned from truth by claims that Christ is in a particular place. It requires standing fast for the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus and holding the testimony of Jesus, keeping the certain Seventh-day Sabbath marked by the sun, and refusing to rest faith on uncertain things or place confidence in the human agent. In these last days the false takes the field with the true and the spurious with the genuine, so no professed revelation, production, or move is to be accepted without great certainty and positive evidence that God chose the speaker and that it is from the Lord, and every move must be made carefully because Satan works where least expected to weave snares for feet. This holds even when what is presented comes from a trusted teacher, for nothing without positive evidence that it is from the Lord is to be mingled with the solemn message of truth.
Claims locating Christ or truth here or there must not be believed but must be carefully examined rather than accepted without question, for falsehoods and deceptive voices claiming Christ or truth is present in a particular message are widespread. Believers must stay alert and carefully discern every message said to come from God and discern the spirit behind those who make such claims, relying on God's Word rather than human claims of divine authority. A claim that Christ is there cannot be trusted when those making it trample God's commandments, for obedience to the commandments which remain in force is the test; breaking even one of its least commandments makes a person of no esteem in heaven, for the Father gave the law and the Son died to magnify and honor it.
The command to believe not means to give no credence, no ear, and no sympathy to such heresy, to not go forth after it, and to treat it as a trap to discourage and to make the history of Sabbathkeepers a fallacy. It means to refuse in the least degree to unite sympathies and interests with advocates of false theories, to hold firmly to faith and remain confident in God's Word without being shaken, and to hold to the timely message of truth. The truth for the time is to be received, believed, and acted upon, distinct from fanciful ideas, seductive errors, and spiritualistic interpretations which are to be rejected.
Those who know the truth must earnestly warn neighbors and friends against this deception of the enemy, offer earnest prayer for perishing souls, and make simple plain appeals from the Bible, for ignorance of the Scriptures will be charged largely to them. They must labor earnestly and unceasingly to counterwork evil in the church and in the world, while Christ waits for human agencies to communicate His Word as the bread of life to hungry souls. While the day of retribution still lingers the gospel must be preached to the unsaved with its saving messages brought home to their hearts, God cooperating with those who proclaim His truth to the unenlightened and unwarned, with appointed heavenly agencies ministering so that even the ignorant can understand the Scriptures. The eye of faith discerns in all these manifestations of lords many and gods many with the cry that Christ is here or there, wrought through consecrated human agents on the one side and through a power working from beneath over all who submit to his control on the other with signs and wonders, harbingers of the grand and awful future and of the triumphs awaiting God's people, rather than being diverted from present duty or awakened to delusive and deceptive hopes.
Humble seekers for truth escape the confusion of many voices on every side claiming Christ is here or there by heeding God's servants giving His messages with a certain sound and gathering under the banner of Jesus Christ. Ministers who meet claims that Christ is here or there when there is no Christ at all, being human notions and foreign tests not given in the Word that call attention away from the true test of keeping the commandments of God and having the faith of Jesus, must have a discerning mind and give no credence to any false doctrine. The general warning applies both to the dangers surrounding Jerusalem's overthrow and to the dangers before the second advent, which Christ blended in His answer though the disciples did not fully understand the connection, and it is for people living in this age of the second coming as well as for the disciples and should be applied to its proper time, for its coming will not be hidden or localized but unmistakable like lightning visible from east to west.
When anyone claims that Christ has appeared in some particular local place, in the desert or in hidden rooms, it is not to be believed, trusted or followed. His return will not be secret or confined to one spot, but open, public and unmistakable to all, like lightning shining across the sky from east to west when He comes in the clouds with power and great glory. The warning is given because false christs and false prophets will arise showing such great signs and wonders that, if possible, even the very elect would be deceived. In the final deception Satan himself will personally impersonate Christ, appearing as a majestic glorious being claiming to be the Son of God returned to earth, performing supernatural lying wonders. Safety requires holding to the Bible and the Bible alone as the foundation of faith, searching the Scriptures, standing for the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus, and giving no ear or sympathy to such heresy.
Place in Prophecy
The warning belongs to Christ's description in Matthew 24 and 25 of His second coming to the world, when the Son of man comes in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory and sends His angels with a trumpet to gather His elect, at a day and hour known only to the Father as in the days of Noah, joined to the calls to watch and be ready and to be a faithful and wise servant, portraying the condition of the church at His coming. It stands in a great prophecy that sketches the history of the present dispensation to the complete restitution of all things, dwelling especially on the thrilling and momentous closing scenes of this world's history. That prophecy follows the church through warfare and sufferings to promised redemption, and on to the final triumph of God's people, the destruction of Satan and all his followers, the total and eternal extirpation of evil from the universe, and the renovation of the earth as the everlasting inheritance of the saints.
The answer blends two settings that the disciples did not fully understand: the dangers surrounding Jerusalem's overthrow and the dangers before the second advent. His coming will not be a hidden or localized appearance in a particular place, but unmistakable like lightning visible from east to west. The destruction of Jerusalem in that prophecy also serves as a type of the world's final destruction by fire. The general warning therefore applies to those living in this age of the second coming as well as to the disciples, and must be applied to its proper time.
The chapter is used to teach that Christ's second advent is still future and not an event already fulfilled at Jerusalem's destruction, distinguishing His future coming from the claim that He had already come then. It belongs to the signs and waymarks He gave concerning His second coming, and prophetic waymarks show that what was foretold there will surely come to pass. It is part of His teaching about the signs and events preceding His revelation in the clouds of heaven, including judgments coming upon cities whose inhabitants dishonor God and call people to take warning and prepare because the end is near. The same prophecy foretells that His followers will face humiliation, reproach, and persecution from the time He is taken from them until His return in power and glory to deliver them, treading the path of suffering their Master trod, amid increasing impostures from many directions announcing that Christ is here or there in the final struggle before the man of sin is exposed.
Meaning of Warning
If anyone says Christ is here or there in a particular local place, the word is not to be believed, accepted, trusted, or followed. The caution belongs to the alert against false christs and false prophets who will perform great signs and wonders seeking to deceive even the elect. Those who have received the truth of God's Word are therefore to stay guided by that Word and not be turned from the truth by such claims. Claims put forward as new truth locating Him here or there are not to be heeded. Between Christ's death and Jerusalem's siege false messiahs, some claiming to work miracles and promising deliverance to the Jewish nation, misled many in this way, and the same deceptions apply through the ages and recur in the last days.
The rejection is made specific: reports that He is in the desert are not to be followed, and reports that He is in the secret chambers or hidden rooms are not to be believed. False christs and false prophets will arise showing great signs and wonders so convincing as to threaten to seduce disciples and, if possible, even the very elect. Thousands going forth into the desert hoping to find Christ, and gatherings professing communion with departed spirits, are forms of this same localized claim, the latter being Spiritualism presenting Christ in the secret chambers. Reports of hidden-chamber presence are therefore false and are not to divert expectation from His personal return.
The reason is that His return will not be secret, hidden, or localized, but open, public, and unmistakable to all. Like lightning shining from east to west across the sky, it will be visible to all and seen in the clouds with power and great glory. The warning blends the dangers surrounding Jerusalem's overthrow with the dangers before the second advent, and it stands for those living in this age as well as for the disciples. These deceptions will increase as the end approaches, even threatening God's chosen people, yet the brightness and universality of His coming exposes every secret or localized appearance.
The warning also guards against treating the second coming as merely His coming to each person at death, which distracts from expecting His personal return in the clouds of heaven. It stands contrary to the expectation of an invisible coming to take the saints away without anyone knowing and later return with them to Jerusalem, where the Jews would have another opportunity to repent and be saved. Such claims of here or there are put forward to draw people away from what is true toward what is false, so God's Word must guide and Christ alone is the safe leader.
Agents and Forms
The verse foretells that false christs and false prophets will arise showing great signs and wonders so convincing that if possible even the very elect, God's chosen people, would be deceived. These deceptions will increase and multiply in the last days into deceptions of every degree and kind, with lords many and gods many and voices on every side crying Lo here and Lo there. They arise through Satan and his agencies working through human beings who can be controlled by his power, with the same subtle power he used in plotting rebellion among holy beings in heaven before the fall, to introduce strange and forbidden things among God's people. At the same time a power working from beneath sets Satan's agencies in operation over all who submit to his control, revealing his deep plotting everywhere to divert men and women from present duty and to counterwork good in the church and in the world, accompanied by signs and wonders.
In the final deception Satan himself will personally impersonate Christ, appearing as a majestic, glorious being speaking gently and pleasantly and claiming to be the Son of God returned to earth. He will resemble Christ in every outward detail and transform himself as an angel of light, appearing in every way like Christ yet not being Christ. He will perform real supernatural acts and lying wonders where he has power, including miracles and apparent works of Christ, and where he lacks power he will use deception and counterfeit God's work. This counterfeit belongs to the very near end, when transgression has almost reached its limit, confusion fills the world, confederacies and secret societies bind themselves together to gain their ends, and great terror is soon to break upon human beings as an overwhelming surprise. It will deceive only those who rejected the love of truth and delighted in unrighteousness or resisted the truth, who will mistake the false appearance for Christ's return and celebrate it. A claim must not be accepted merely because the claimant looks and acts like Him, and pretensions to His identity, even when backed by threats against questioners, do not prove character or authority.
The secret-chambers deception includes Spiritualism professing communion with departed spirits, and gatherings claiming such fellowship are a fulfillment of the warning. The deception also includes false teachers who wrest the Scriptures and pervert the Word to delude and lead astray many souls. They draw away disciples after them with wonderfully pleasing, fanciful, scientific problems and doctrinal errors so specious that, if possible, the very elect would be deceived. Their claims are human notions that people want others to accept and believe, and foreign tests not given in the Word of God that call attention away from the true test of keeping the commandments of God and having the faith of Jesus. In the last days multitudes of varied faith will arise crying Lo here and Lo there because they have found some way for the sinner other than the Bible way, which is repentance toward God for transgression of His law and faith in Jesus Christ the world's Redeemer as the only door through which the sinner may enter.
The deception includes claims presented as new truth, new theories, new light, or messages said to come from God, including claims that Christ or truth is present in a particular message or place and must be carefully examined rather than accepted without question. It includes the claim that a particular message locates Christ and the claim that the church is Babylon so that God's people must come out of her, put forward by those who run without being sent; their sincerity and honesty do not make their message true or fit to be trusted, and all reasons presented carry no weight against decided light to the contrary. It includes the day-line theory as a snare devised by Satan to bewitch the senses and confuse minds, just like false claims about where Christ is. There will be every fiction and devising of Satan to lead persons astray and to discourage believers and to make the history of Sabbathkeepers a fallacy.
These false cries arise amid widespread confusion, intense evil activity, and deceptive messages claiming divine authority and great light from God. They arise amid efforts to remove the landmarks and pillars of faith, to unsettle the foundation, to tear down truth, and to attack from within and draw believers away from their distinctive stand. At the same time a more decided effort is made to exalt and enforce a false sabbath by oppressive law in place of the day God blessed and sanctified, with Satan and his angels working wide-awake and intensely active through human agents with lying wonders to obliterate the knowledge of God. This belongs to the time when Babylon's fall is proclaimed and God's people are called to leave her, after the truth has been proclaimed as a witness to all nations. The danger from these deceivers and seducing spirits is greater than persecution, is repeated several times, and requires believers to guard more carefully against seducers and seductive spirits than any other peril. Satan ingeniously prepares specious errors to dim the spiritual perceptions of those with little experience of the Holy Spirit and those satisfied with limited spiritual knowledge, to undermine confidence in the truth of God until it is impossible to distinguish truth from error, and unless believers are on guard the enemy disguised as an angel of light will lead the unwary into false paths.
Fulfillment Through History
Between Christ's death and the siege of Jerusalem the warning had a fulfillment when false messiahs arose, some claiming miraculous power and promising deliverance to the Jewish nation, misleading many and leading crowds out into the desert and mountain solitudes. After the work for the world closed in October 1844, competing cries of lo here and lo there perplexed God's people and made conflicting Bible texts difficult to understand. The warning applies through the ages but still more to the last days as a sign of the second advent. Then thousands go forth into the desert hoping to find Christ, and Satan-inspired groups form to deceive and delude.
Its predictions are fulfilling today, and their unmistakable fulfillment shows that Christ's coming is at hand. They stand among the waymarks given concerning the second coming, showing what was foretold will surely come to pass.
Safeguard and Response
Matthew 24:23 is part of the predictions of Matthew 24 to be studied and brought to the attention of all, for its fulfillment is taking place today with unmistakable evidence that Christ's coming is at hand. It is sure prophecy and truth that decides the eternal destiny of souls, and ministers and teachers must explain it by leaving out matters of minor consequence to present its soul-saving truths in connection with Jesus as the Lamb of God who takes away sin. Its call is to arouse the church.
Because Christ told these things beforehand, believers must be on guard that no one deceives them, wide-awake to the signs of the times, watchful and ready for His coming. The warning gives decided instruction on what to do to be prepared for coming events, instruction coming down through the centuries to the present time and belonging especially to those faithful to the truth specified in Revelation who live in this time of peril. It requires discerning the signs to reach a higher standard and using entrusted means to help proclaim the final message of mercy and save those perishing in sin. The danger from deceivers and seducing spirits is greater than persecution and is repeated several times, requiring more careful guard than any other peril, because Satan ingeniously prepares specious errors to dim the spiritual perceptions of those with little experience of the Holy Spirit and those satisfied with limited knowledge, to undermine confidence in truth until truth cannot be distinguished from error, and unless believers are on guard the enemy disguised as an angel of light will lead the unwary into false paths.
Safety requires taking the Bible and the Bible alone as textbook and foundation of faith, searching the Scriptures, clinging to a plain Thus saith the Lord, and remaining guided by that Word rather than turned from truth by claims that Christ is in a particular place. It requires standing fast for the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus and holding the testimony of Jesus, keeping the certain Seventh-day Sabbath marked by the sun, and refusing to rest faith on uncertain things or place confidence in the human agent. In these last days the false takes the field with the true and the spurious with the genuine, so no professed revelation, production, or move is to be accepted without great certainty and positive evidence that God chose the speaker and that it is from the Lord, and every move must be made carefully because Satan works where least expected to weave snares for feet. This holds even when what is presented comes from a trusted teacher, for nothing without positive evidence that it is from the Lord is to be mingled with the solemn message of truth.
Claims locating Christ or truth here or there must not be believed but must be carefully examined rather than accepted without question, for falsehoods and deceptive voices claiming Christ or truth is present in a particular message are widespread. Believers must stay alert and carefully discern every message said to come from God and discern the spirit behind those who make such claims, relying on God's Word rather than human claims of divine authority. A claim that Christ is there cannot be trusted when those making it trample God's commandments, for obedience to the commandments which remain in force is the test; breaking even one of its least commandments makes a person of no esteem in heaven, for the Father gave the law and the Son died to magnify and honor it.
The command to believe not means to give no credence, no ear, and no sympathy to such heresy, to not go forth after it, and to treat it as a trap to discourage and to make the history of Sabbathkeepers a fallacy. It means to refuse in the least degree to unite sympathies and interests with advocates of false theories, to hold firmly to faith and remain confident in God's Word without being shaken, and to hold to the timely message of truth. The truth for the time is to be received, believed, and acted upon, distinct from fanciful ideas, seductive errors, and spiritualistic interpretations which are to be rejected.
Those who know the truth must earnestly warn neighbors and friends against this deception of the enemy, offer earnest prayer for perishing souls, and make simple plain appeals from the Bible, for ignorance of the Scriptures will be charged largely to them. They must labor earnestly and unceasingly to counterwork evil in the church and in the world, while Christ waits for human agencies to communicate His Word as the bread of life to hungry souls. While the day of retribution still lingers the gospel must be preached to the unsaved with its saving messages brought home to their hearts, God cooperating with those who proclaim His truth to the unenlightened and unwarned, with appointed heavenly agencies ministering so that even the ignorant can understand the Scriptures. The eye of faith discerns in all these manifestations of lords many and gods many with the cry that Christ is here or there, wrought through consecrated human agents on the one side and through a power working from beneath over all who submit to his control on the other with signs and wonders, harbingers of the grand and awful future and of the triumphs awaiting God's people, rather than being diverted from present duty or awakened to delusive and deceptive hopes.
Humble seekers for truth escape the confusion of many voices on every side claiming Christ is here or there by heeding God's servants giving His messages with a certain sound and gathering under the banner of Jesus Christ. Ministers who meet claims that Christ is here or there when there is no Christ at all, being human notions and foreign tests not given in the Word that call attention away from the true test of keeping the commandments of God and having the faith of Jesus, must have a discerning mind and give no credence to any false doctrine. The general warning applies both to the dangers surrounding Jerusalem's overthrow and to the dangers before the second advent, which Christ blended in His answer though the disciples did not fully understand the connection, and it is for people living in this age of the second coming as well as for the disciples and should be applied to its proper time, for its coming will not be hidden or localized but unmistakable like lightning visible from east to west.