Posted: Sat Jun 03, 2006 8:06 pm Post subject: Graham Maxwell and Spiritualism
I have been pondering something since I recently heard a recorded interview with Graham Maxwell where he admits that God kills people. I was surprised to hear him admit that; but he did put in a qualifier that left me puzzled. He says that God only kills when it comes to the first death, but not in the second death. Maxwell's stance seems a bit inconsistent. First he says that God killed the wicked preflood inhabitants by drowning them, but yet the claim is made that God will not directly bring about their (the wicked) final destruction in the second death.
Here is where I have a problem: If when He killed the wicked in the flood, knowing that their ultimate fate would be their final destruction in the second death, why would the concept that God also brings about the actual destruction resulting in the second death be so hard to swallow? Maxwell thinks that if God had a direct hand in the destruction of the wicked, it would make Him appear as a tyrant and vengeful. Am I missing something here? Does God kill wicked people in the first death and then not finish the job after the wicked are resurrected? Maxwell wishes to portray God as someone who just wants to be our friend. Even God's enemies have no reason to fear God, Maxwell asserts. But Ellen White presented two sides of our God--He who will give His only Son for the redemption of the human race, and He who will bring about the final destruction of those who prove themselves to be beyond redemption.
Quote:
Today Christ is looking with sadness upon those whose characters He must at last refuse to acknowledge. Inflated with self-sufficiency, they hope that it will be well with their souls. But at the last great day, the mirror of detection reveals to them the evil that their hearts have practiced, and shows them at the same time the impossibility of reform. Every effort was made to bring them to repentance. But they refused to humble their hearts...What a scene is this! I pass over the ground again and again, bowed down in an agony that no tongue can express, as I see the end of the many, many who have refused to receive their Saviour. Justice will take the throne, and the arm strong to save will show itself strong to smite and destroy the enemies of the kingdom of God. The Upward Look, p. 301.
God, smiting and destroying his enemies?
If I understand Maxwell correctly, he is saying that if God kills the wicked after they have been judged to be beyond salvation, then He would be seen as a tyrant and as arbitrary. I don't see it that way. If we take in the whole scene and see that the wicked have been given ample opportunity to repent, that they have joined in with Satan in warring against the government of God, that they in some cases have caused others untold sorrow and suffering, that they refused to have Christ rule over them, and that every one of them will, just before their final destruction, bow and acknowledge that Christ is indeed King and that they deserve what they are about to get, then I say that God would be derelict if He did not bring about their final destruction--not out of a heart of revenge (as Maxwell asserts) but out of love; for heaven to them would be torture, and they would destroy the peace and harmony of paradise. God will stand fully justified by raining fire down from heaven and destroying the wicked. Maxwell makes a big deal of what the fire is that destroys the finally impenitent. Is it a literal fire, or just God's presence that is to the wicked a consuming fire? What's the difference? The wicked will as surely die whether it is from God's presence as a consuming fire or whether the fire is a literal fire sent down upon the wicked by God.
Why does God allow controversial subjects like this to come into the church? Because His people have not seen particular truths as they should have, and the Maxwells and Desmond Fords and Canrights that bring in messages of their own interpretation serve to arouse the people of God to a deeper study of topics important to their day. Yes, much of the Christian world has seen God in the wrong light. They do see Him as arbitrary, vengeful, unforgiving, and just waiting to lower the boom on anyone who does not walk the chalk line. But I think that Maxwell and others who have strayed from traditional Adventist theology have swung the pendulum too far over to the other side. The truth on this subject most likely lies somewhere in the middle. Maxwell makes some good points, but I get the impression that his approach is too one-sided. Ellen White wrote that the "Justice AND mercy are the foundation of the law and government of God" (GC 503). I reject any "model" of salvation that lopsidedly focuses on either justice or mercy, and especially when they cast the other side of the foundation in a negative light.
Regarding the spiritualistic influence and overtones of Maxwell's teachings, with the eye-opening help of some of Eugene Shubert's articles and by doing a lot of research on my own, I am seeing more clearly how the so-called Moral Influence Theory and the healing model of salvation do contains subtle elements of spiritualism. I am trying to see this from all angles possible, many of which are very subtle but there if we look closely.
Quote:
If there were no other evidence of the real character of spiritualism, it should be enough for the Christian that the spirits make no difference between righteousness and sin...The spiritualist teachers virtually declare: "Everyone that doeth evil is good in the sight of the Lord, and He delighteth in them; or, Where is the God of judgment?" Malachi 2:17. Saith the word of God: "Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness." Isaiah 5:20. The Great Controversy, 556, 557.
Here is one thing to look for to spot spiritualism--putting darkness for light and light for darkness. I recently reviewed a Bible study written by an Adventist minister promoting the "healing model" of salvation, and he made it sound as if any reference to terms like justification, Christ paying our debt, the blood of Christ cleansing us from sin, or any other word or terminology that had even the slightest legal implication, was a bad thing. This is putting darkness for light, which makes that man's so-called Bible studies akin to spiritualism. He actually plans to get those studies published and thinks he can win souls using them. The studies make no reference to the Ten Commandments as the unchangeable law of God and the standard by which we will be judged. He does not mention at all the Three Angels' messages, which of course would require a discussion of the Judgement (a term that these people would rather not address, except to explain it using their own peculiar interpretation). This "minister" in his Bible study series sought to cast a negative light on any idea that Jesus' death on the cross had legal implications of any importance, such as paying our debt for sins. In fact, he bragged that his studies completely leaves out any legal aspects of salvation, for legal terms are "dark" words. (Again, making light out to be darkness, a fundamental characteristic of spiritualism.)
Maxwell, in his recorded interview conducted by a leader at the General Conference, stated that the "legal" view of salvation is a "narrow" view; he does not completely rule out discussing salvation in legal terms, but he much more prefers the more expanded and exalted view that focuses on the nature of God's character and of His government. Maxwell claims that everything he talks about and that all 66 books of the Bible centers around the atonement; but he does not like to discuss the atonement in such narrow legal terms as used all throughout the Bible and the writings of Ellen White. He comes off the starting blocks asserting that he has a better way to explain salvation, as if implying that it is not good enough for the average person to pick up the writings of Ellen White and believe her clear, precise statements about the atonement. It is wrong to view salvation totally from a legalistic perspective, but equally wrong to leave out the legal aspects and focus mostly on the so-called moral influence or healing method view. Maxwell flatly denies that he teaches the moral influence theory, but there is a lot of common ground between his views and what people generally label as the moral influence theory. Maxwell chides his critics as not even knowing what the moral influence theory is. There are articles all over the Internet on this subject. Go read them and then compare what you read with what Maxwell and his followers teach. If it looks like a duck, and walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it probably is a duck.
Spiritualism (and the dark spirit behind all manifestations of spiritualism) has also been manifested in the way that some people who oppose the moral influence and healing model have been treated. Somewhere I recall reading where Ellen White predicted that the day would come when anyone who spoke against spiritualism would be considered a heretic. I believe she initially was referring to the "rapping", but she said that particular spiritualistic phenomenon would grow (and probably morph) and become a major snare to God's people in the very last days. Eugene's case of being handed over to the civil authorities and thrown in jail for the heretical sin of speaking out against the teachings of Maxwell is a good case in point of how these people can so easily bypass clear, inspired counsel to the church, and resort to the use of force. Without allowing Eugene any opportunity to state his case before the Richardson church body, he was forced off the church property in handcuffs and hit with a lawsuit seeking to keep him from entering any SDA church in Texas. Was Eugene some wide-eyed fanatic disrupting Sabbath services? No. Did the pastor have to resort to force to remove Eugene from the church property? Absolutely not! Was Maxwell ever made aware of what happened to Eugene? If so, he should have raised his voice in protest when his own followers resorted to such unchristlike methods of dealing with someone who had the nerve to question the Maxwell theology being promoted at the Richardson Seventh-day Adventist Church. If Maxwell knew of Eugene's case but remained silent, that made him complicit to the crime. And the real crime was not in what Eugene did, but in how the pastor in the Richardson church and at the Texas Conference treated him. Eugene's "crime" is that he has put the teachings found in the New Age, spiritualistic book titled "A Course In Miracles" side-by-side with some of Maxwell's teachings, showing the common themes that run through both, and then drawn the logical conclusion that Maxwell's teachings have spiritualistic overtones. Eugene has done the same side-by-side comparison with the teachings of Socinus and Abelard and revealed the common themes to also be found in Maxwell's teachings. For this, I am sure Maxwell's followers would consider Eugene the heretic. Yes, the day has arrived that to speak out against spiritualism in the church will get one labeled as a heretic, and to be treated as such. Spiritualism contains the very essence of the Satanic spirit, which is deception and the use of force. There is no force in God's government. This case in the Richardson, Texas church is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to leaders seeking to silence and remove dissenting voices. No wonder Ellen White wept as she saw what would arise within the church to vex and oppress the hearts of God's people.
Ellen White predicted that the Omega of apostasy would be more alarming than the Alpha of apostasy (which was akin to Pantheism--one of many ways that spiritualism is manifested). Yes, the Omega apostasy will be alarming. I find it alarming that what Maxwell and his many followers are promoting is so deeply entrenched within Adventism, and how it came in with almost no warning from the ministry or church leadership. It's like one day I never heard of these things, then the next I discover it is all over the place. And I find it extremely alarming that Maxwell's followers would stoop so low as to seek through the civil courts to keep a church member barred from entering any SDA church in the whole state of Texas. Surely they consider him to be a heretic. And all he did was speak out against what simple logic led him to believe was a cleverly veiled manifestation of spiritualism in his church. If they thought him to be wrong, why not give him a chance to express his concerns and prove him wrong (if he is wrong)? What happened to Eugene is very alarming. And it is tied to the teachings of Maxwell, which are tied to the utterances of a spiritualist who supposedly channeled Jesus (resulting in the book "A Course In Miracles"). Connect the dots and it leads from some of what Maxwell teaches directly to veiled spiritualism.
I recall reading somewhere that someone asked Mrs. White if she had read the Kellogg book titled "The Living Temple," and she replied that she had not, for she feared it might poison her mind. That reveals the spiritualistic (in this case Pantheistic) nature of Kellogg's beliefs. I have discovered that any persons who have "sat at Maxwell's feet" will not see any spiritualistic overtones in his teachings, and I believe that is because spiritualism is Satan's enchanted ground, and once caught in the snare, the senses are benumbed to the point where it is almost impossible to discern light from darkness in areas that contain spiritualistic deceptions. I think that explains why the leaders in Texas dealt with Eugene in the way they did. They would rather resort to force than follow clear Christian guidelines for dealing with their situation, and the spirit they revealed far more resembled the spirit of Satan than that of Christ. Woven throughout the third angel's message is how the beast powers spoken of in Revelation 13 will resort to force to gain allegiance to their dogmas and to deal with all who resist their "wisdom"; and yet here we see the very people who should be preaching that message against the use of force resorting to force to accomplish their ends. That, my friends, is alarming (one of the key identifying characteristics of the Omega apostasy).
I have much more to study on this subject. And I will be posting more later on what I believe is the key weakness in the moral influence theory and the healing model of salvation.
God help His people. God bless Eugene Shubert for having the courage to stand by his convictions and seek to arouse the Richardson church from its lethargy and protect it from cleverly devised fables. Let us pick up the Spirit of Prophecy books and sit at the feet of our inspired prophet, and not at the feet of Graham Maxwell.
Posted: Sun Jun 04, 2006 7:28 pm Post subject: More About Maxwell and Spiritualism
Please forgive my long posts, but exposing deceptions in the church cannot be done in a paragraph or two. Thank you for your patience and close attention to what I have written here.
With all of the fanciful theories of salvation being promoted within our beloved Seventh-day Adventist Church, there seems to be a common denominator that, if understood, can help God’s people discern that these theories were not generated in the mind of God. Each of the groups and individuals promoting these new models (they don’t all fully agree with each other) all essentially claim that they have found a better way to explain the plan of salvation.
Ellen White, our prophet, in a clear and distinct narrative, describes the plan that God has implemented in order to turn sinners into saints. She outlines God’s plan in the book Patriarchs and Prophets. I urge all of my fellow Adventists to take that book and read the narrative, underlining the key points, and then comparing what they have read to the basic tenets of the salvation models that are sweeping through the Adventist Church like wildfire.
The EG White narrative I speak of is found in her description of the experience of the ancient Israelites while in the Sinai Desert. Here are pertinent statements of the narrative beginning on page 370:
Quote:
“As the Bible presents two laws, one changeless and eternal, the other provisional and temporary, so there are two covenants. The covenant of grace was first made with man in Eden, when after the Fall there was given a divine promise that the seed of the woman should bruise the serpent’s head…Thus the patriarchs received the hope of salvation.
“This same covenant was renewed to Abraham in the promise, ‘In thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed.’ Genesis 22:18. This promise pointed to Christ…The covenant with Abraham also maintained the authority of God’s law….
“Another compact—called in Scripture the ‘old’ covenant—was formed between God and Israel at Sinai, and was then ratified by the blood of a sacrifice. The Abrahamic covenant was ratified by the blood of Christ, and it is called the ‘second,’ or ‘new’ covenant, because the blood by which it was sealed was shed after the blood of the first covenant.
“But if the Abrahamic covenant contained the promise of redemption, why was another covenant formed at Sinai? [Please pay close attention to what follows, for in it is the undoing of the modern, non-traditional models of salvation.] In their bondage the people had to a great extent lost the knowledge of God and the principles of the Abrahamic covenant. In delivering them from Egypt, God sought to reveal to them His power and His mercy, that they might be led to love and trust Him. He brought them down to the Red Sea—where, pursued by the Egyptians, escape seemed impossible—that that they might realize their utter helplessness, their need of divine aid; and then He wrought deliverance for them. Thus they were filled with love and gratitude to God and with confidence in His power to help them.
“But there was still a greater truth to be impressed upon their minds. Living in the midst of idolatry and corruption, they had no true conception of the holiness of God, of the exceeding sinfulness of their own hearts, their utter inability in themselves to render obedience to God’s law, and their need of a Saviour. All this they must be taught.”
In these few words is to be seen the wisdom of God. What Ellen White is doing is describing a sequence whereby God leads sinners to repentance and ultimately to the new covenant experience (referred to here as the “Abrahamic covenant”). Follow carefully this sequence and you will discover that certain fanciful theories of salvation being promoted in Adventism today bear little resemblance to what was taught by that little old lady who knew God so well.
The narrative continues, which takes the sequence further:
Quote:
“God brought them to Sinai; He manifested His glory, He gave them His law, with the promise of great blessings on condition of obedience...The people did not realize the sinfulness of their own hearts, and that without Christ it was impossible for them to keep God’s law; and they readily entered into covenant with God. Feeling that they were able to establish their own righteousness, they declared, ‘All that the Lord hath said will we do, and be obedient.’ Exodus 24:7. They had witnessed the proclamation of the law in awful majesty, and had trembled with terror before the mount; and yet only a few weeks passed before they broke their covenant with God, and bowed down to worship a graven image. They could not hope for the favor of God through a covenant which they had broken; and now, seeing their sinfulness and their need of pardon, they were brought to feel their need of the Saviour revealed in the Abrahamic covenant and shadowed forth in the sacrificial offerings. Now by faith and love they were bound to God as their deliverer from the bondage of sin. Now they were prepared to appreciate the blessings of the new covenant.”
Does this sound like what we hear from Maxwell and at heavenlysanctuary.com and other places that promote models of salvation which are supposedly better than what the church has been teaching in the past?
Let’s put the sequence in outline form so we can grasp each detail of how God led the Israelites through the conversion process to the salvation promised in the new covenant.
God gave the people His law “in awful majesty,” and the people “trembled with terror before the mount.” Oh, but I thought God wants to take away our fear. He does ultimately, but that does not come first.
Remember that “The people did not realize the sinfulness of their own hearts, and that without Christ it was impossible for them to keep God’s law; and they readily entered into covenant with God.”
Then, “only a few weeks passed before they broke their covenant with God, and bowed down to worship a graven image.”
That experience of vowing to obey, then falling flat on their faces, was needed to prepare the people to receiver the blessings of the new covenant.
Does all of this sound slightly familiar to your own experience when you first joined the church? It’s exactly what I experienced. I attended an evangelistic series where Elder Rainy Hooper presented the Ten Commandment law and how violating that law made me a sinner. I did not “tremble before the mount” quite to the degree that the Israelites did (they were in the very presence of God); but I did acknowledge the holiness of the law and that obedience to it was required to enter heaven. So I stood up in front of the church congregation after being baptized and verbally affirmed my commitment to keep God’s law. (That practice of verbally confirming your “baptismal vows is not practiced much any more in the church.) And then, like the Israelites, who “did not realize the sinfulness of their own hearts…” I “readily entered into covenant with God.” But guess what? “…only a few weeks passed before” I broke my “covenant with God.” Looking back, I remember that there I was, a healthy young man of 29 sitting in church and lusting in my heart at some of the more shapely young ladies in the congregation. I discovered that I still had the same sins as before I was baptized.
Just like with the Israelites, the Lord had to lead me through that old covenant experience in order to teach me the same lessons that He had to teach them. Once I realized that I was powerless to obey the holy law of God, I could not hope for the favor of God through a covenant which I had broken; and now, seeing [my] sinfulness and my need of pardon, I was brought to feel my need of the Saviour revealed in the Abrahamic covenant and shadowed forth in the sacrificial offerings. Now by faith and love I was bound to God as my deliverer from the bondage of sin. Now I was prepared to appreciate the blessings of the new covenant.
With this foundation, the outlining of the process through which God, in His great wisdom, has established for the conversion of sinners, let me reveal the great flaw in the many deceptive theories of salvation we see in the church today. I am going to use all capital letters for a while, which in the written language denotes that the writer might be shouting those words…and you can mentally picture me standing on the rooftop shouting this to all of my fellow Adventists who have not already been taken captive in the snare of the omega apostasy. Here is the Achilles heel of Maxwell and those who think they have found a better plan of salvation than that which God Himself established: THESE NEW FANGLED THEORIES ATTEMPT TO BYPASS THE OLD COVENANT EXPERIENCE AND TAKE SINNERS DIRECTLY TO THE NEW COVENANT EXPERIENCE, and they think they can bring people there by pleasant words of how God only wants them to trust Him and how He wants to be their friend.
The “healing model” proponents, especially, don’t want to deal with the law, and people feeling the fear of God, and seeing themselves as lawbreakers (and thus hopeless to stand in the Judgment without a Savior). The “legal” terminology found all throughout the Bible and Spirit of Prophecy are said to be “dark words.” One of spiritualism’s defining characteristics is calling light darkness and darkness light. If the healing model is not spiritualism, then what is?!
So just how many people can be expected to be converted in evangelistic series (such as the one conducted by Graham Maxwell at Andrews University) and through Bible studies that totally leave out anything that would bring potential converts through the old covenant experience outlined above? Are people today any different than the Israelites whom God had to bring through the old covenant experience to teach them and prepare them to accept the new covenant? If any person or group comes to you proposing that they have found a better way than that old “narrow legal” way of converting sinners, then you should simply say, “The Lord rebuke you.” Don’t debate with them. They have fallen under the charms of the enemy and a mountain of evidence will not convince them of the truth.
I tell you, my friends, from what I have read of some things that Maxwell has said, I believe his goal in conducting evangelistic series at Adventist universities is not the conversion of sinners, but to promote his unique version of the moral influence theory to pliable young minds. He has been doing that for forty years, and an entire generation of young students have left our colleges and taken those false theories out into Adventism, and the leaven of that deception has spread far and wide. I just learned yesterday that the pastor in the former church I belonged to in Florida before I relocated to Utah is a Maxwell fan. There is no telling how far and wide this thing has spread.
Can these deceptive theories of salvation be the omega of apostasy that our prophet predicted would come into the church in the closing days of the work? Ask yourself, “How would the devil bring in such an alarming apostasy?” Would he present his false theories through some of those whacked out fanatics out on the fringe of Adventism—men who only have an axe to grind or who are so far out in left field that they are out of the ballpark?—men who think they have taken on the mantle of the gift of prophecy from Ellen White and men like Mike Clute who has gone completely insane with his theory that God will save everyone, even Lucifer, because he is just such a nice guy that He can’t bear to have anyone die eternally?
No, if I were conjuring a master plan to deceive the very elect, I would not use men out on the fringes of the church. Here is how I would expect Satan to bring in the omega apostasy: First, I would find someone with a brilliant mind who is respected in high places and would never be suspected of promoting heresy. That was Satan’s game plan for enlisting Dr. Kellogg to head up the alpha of apostasy back in Ellen White’s day.
Then I would place that person in one or more of our major educational institutions, and have him begin to spread the leaven of deception to the young, unsuspecting minds who go there looking for spiritual knowledge. Then I would send those young people into the work of the church to promote my false theories. I might even entice that person to seek a higher degree at a non-Adventist university. I may be wrong on this, but I have read where Maxwell received his PhD from a non-Adventist “Divinity” school, where he no doubt picked up some strange ideas and brought them back into the SDA Church, just like Desmond Ford did when he got his PhD from a university that promotes Calvinism. No wonder that Ford’s theology contains so many Calvinistic principles. Those non-SDA institutes of higher learning are part of what we have termed “Babylon,” so why would Adventists want to go to spiritual Babylon to earn higher degrees in the area of theology?
I would also instill the very spirit of Satan in the minds of church leaders and ministers that I could control, so they would seek to silence, by force if necessary, any who would challenge the established deceptions.
I would keep the top leadership of the church so busy with all manner of crises that they would not have the time or inclination to speak out against what some might perceive as false theories being introduced at our institutions of higher learning, and being promoted right on down to the local church level. I would keep the grass roots Adventist working so hard to make a living that these deceptions can become established in the church without them ever realizing what was happening.
Finally, in order to deceive even if possible the very elect, I would select a few choice quotes and predictions of Ellen White that I could pervert and charm people into believing that my deceptive theories were the fulfillment of. And I believe that these following quotes are some of the ones he would choose: “God destroys no man. Everyone who is destroyed will have destroyed himself.” The Faith I Live By, 155. “God’s people must give to the world a representation of the character of God in Jesus Christ. The Christian churches are fast losing their knowledge of God. His character has been misunderstood and misinterpreted. But a message has come from God which must be proclaimed.” The Signs of the Times, 12-23-1897. “The last rays of merciful light, the last message of mercy to be given to the world, is a revelation of His character of love.” Christ's Object Lessons, p. 415. I imagine that Maxwell truly believes he is fulfilling that last prediction but he has totally missed the method by which that message will go out to the world, which is found in the very next two sentences where Ellen White wrote:
Quote:
“The children of God are to manifest His glory. In their own life and character they are to reveal what the grace of God has done for them.”
This is how that last message of God’s character will go out, and not by Maxwell preaching smooth things about how much God wants us to be His friends.
Here’s the plan in a nutshell: Pick people with brilliant minds, well respected in the church. Send them to Babylon for a “higher” education. Establish them in our educational institutes. Have them indoctrinate the youth and send them out to the conferences and churches to promote the deceptive theories they have learned. Keep the leadership overwhelmed with cares and perplexities to keep them from sounding the alarm at the approaching enemy. Keep the members so busy with television and making a living that the deceptions can become firmly rooted within our church culture without them even noticing what happened. Pervert Ellen White statements and predictions and claim that your message is fulfilling the will of God. I tell you, that sounds like a workable plan to me. And I think that is the very plan that Satan conceived to bring in the omega of apostasy. The omega of apostasy is here, my fellow Adventists, and has come in while most of us were fast asleep at the wheel.
People can present Ellen White quotes as proof that their theories are supported in the Spirit of Prophecy. Kellogg did that, and so does Maxwell. But in what I have concluded from Maxwell’s message is that he leaves out another significant message that is to be preached in the final days.
Quote:
“The last message of warning to the world is to lead men to see the importance that God attaches to His law.” Evangelism, 225.
Many who think they are revealing God’s true character are in fact failing to establish the “importance that God attaches to His law.”
Indeed, the legal model folk almost brag that it is better to seek to win converts without burdening people with those legalistic things like the law. Trying to present the true character of God apart from the fact that He is the great Lawgiver (and all that implies) is absurd. Presenting the fact that God wants us to trust Him, but barely touching on the requirements of His holy law, is presenting a false Christ. “It [the law] is a revelation of the will and the character of its Author.” Reflecting Christ, p. 46. But the healing model proponents would not want to scare people by presenting the law in a way that might make them feel like guilty sinners. No, it is best to present only that which “heals” us and restores us to relationship with God. How subtle the deceptions.
Satan has ever been seeking to deceive people about the true character of God. He can take statements like the above and pervert them, twisting the truth in such a way as to charm the people into believing his own message demonstrates God in His true character. “Come on over here. No need to fear Me. I won’t hurt you. Just trust me.”
Maxwell has said that he prefers to present salvation in the light of God’s character; but I believe his concept of God’s character is perverted. He pushes to no end the idea that God wants us to trust Him and not fear Him to any degree. He even said, “You know, even God’s enemies have no need to be afraid of Him.” Really? When Jesus returns to this earth, the wicked will be so filled with fear that they will cry for the rocks and mountains to fall upon them.
As you read the following Maxwell quotes which are excepts from a compilation titled “The Serpent Speaks,” ask yourself if this doesn’t sound like a spider coaxing his prey into the web, and listen to see if it has overtones that one might expect to read in bilge that spews from the pages of New Age “theology.”
“I can hear God saying, I want more than anything else freedom in My family. I want peace and joy and love and freedom from fear. Children, I want you all to be My friends.” “What a price Thou hast paid to make it clear that Thou art our friend, and just want us to be friends. What an exalted position that seems to be. But how Thou hast humbled Thyself to come down and be like a human being among us, to make it clear Thou doest not want us to be afraid. And so we thank Thee for making this evidence so clear, and we thank Thee most of all for what it cost. We get the message. We want to be your friends.”
This to me reeks of sentimentalism, and Ellen White tied the messages of spiritualists to sentimentalism. All this business about “I want peace and joy and love and freedom from fear,” and “We want to be your friend” is an attempt to get those who have no knowledge of the holiness of our God and the exceeding sinfulness of their own hearts to bypass the old covenant experience and jump right into the new covenant. Ain’t gonna happen, Maxwell.
Adventists have failed to realize that God’s law is love. “God is love, and His law is love. Its two great principles are love to God and love to man. ‘Love is the fulfilling of the law’ (Rom. 13:10). The character of God is righteousness and truth; such is the nature of His law.” Reflecting Christ, p. 46.
“As a people, we have preached the law until we are as dry as the hills of Gilboa that had neither dew nor rain.” Advent Review and Herald, 3-11-1890. It is because Adventists have been mostly content with preaching the law as revealed on cold, lifeless stone tablets, and for making the mistake of thinking that God DEMANDS that we keep His law (love and demanding obedience cannot coexist), that the door has been opened for smooth messages like that presented by Maxwell, where little connection is made between God’s love and His law, and where God’s love is reduced to mere sentimentalism. The remedy for our law preaching becoming as dry as the hills is found in the sentence that follows the above quote: “We must preach Christ in the law.” God revealed the law in two ways: on stone tablets, and in the life of Christ. We must preach the law in stone to potential converts as part of God’s plan for preparing us for the new covenant. That’s how they come to see themselves as sinners in need of salvation. But we often do not go far enough and present the law as revealed in the life and teachings of Jesus. What high thoughts are presented in this next EGW quote:
Quote:
“The Lord Jesus gave to men a representation of the character of God in his life and example. The law of God is the transcript of the character of God. And in Christ they had its precepts exemplified, and example was far more effective than the precept had been. Christ founded his kingdom upon the law of God, and those who followed Christ, imitating his life and character, were pronounced loyal and true to all God's commandments. Jesus was a living illustration of the fulfillment of the law.” The Signs of the Times, 3-14-1895.
Jesus was the law walking, talking, breathing, and loving. If Adventists would start preaching Christ in the law, many in the Protestant world would stop hating God's law and come to accept all of its principles, including the Sabbath.
Maxwell can stand in front of potential converts all day every day with his “God wants you to trust Him because He is a loving God,” but that is not the way God intended for His people to rightly portray His character to a dying world. The world will see God’s character when His people go out and minister to those around them who are suffering want and daily going to Christless graves by the thousands. They will see His character in us as we live out the principles of Christianity and reveal the graces of the Spirit to those we come in contact with. This is how God wants us to reveal His character of love to the world; not by messages that charm people into a false sense of security that all can be well between God and us if we would just learn to trust Him.
Here is a quote my son recently sent to me where Ellen White was shown the connection between Dr. John Harvey Kellogg and the alpha of apostasy. Read it and see if you think it can be applied to Dr. Maxwell and those who are so enamored with his theory of salvation.
Quote:
“Before leaving Washington for Berrien Springs, I was instructed upon some points regarding the work at Battle Creek. In the night season I was in a large meeting. The one who has stood for many years as the leader in our medical work was speaking, and he was filled with enthusiasm regarding his subject. His associate physicians and ministers of the gospel were present. The subject upon which he was speaking was life, and the relation of God to all living things. In his presentations he cloaked the matter somewhat, but in reality he was presenting as of the highest value, scientific theories which are akin to pantheism. After looking upon the pleased, interested countenances of those who were listening, One by my side told me that the evil angels had taken captive the mind of the speaker. He said that we were to stand as guardians of the churches, but that we were on no account to enter into discussion with those who hold pantheistic theories, on these subjects. He said that just as surely as the angels who fell were seduced and deceived by Satan, so surely was the speaker under the spiritualistic education of evil angels.” SpTB06 41.
Notice how those who were listening to Kellogg had "pleased, interested countenances." I can only imagine how many young Adventists have sat at the feet of Maxwell with pleased, interested countenances; and yet they were hearing and accepting a form of spiritualism as surely as that which Kellogg once taught.
The thing that bothers me the most about these new models of salvation is that I believe it has caused many Adventists to no longer have a thirst to gain a true understanding of justification by faith. Ellen White said that justification by faith is “the third angel’s message in verity.” The Adventist Church was established primarily to preach the third angel’s message to the world, and yet the doctrine of justification by faith has been swept up under the rug and one almost never hears this most crucial doctrine preached from our pulpits today. Could this be tied to these false theories that have gained so much ground in Adventism? I think there is a definite connection.
God in His wisdom has established a sequence whereby sinners may come to repentance and gain salvation. His method bears little resemblance to what Maxwell and other are teaching in hopes of winning souls. They leave out the old covenant experience that God saw as necessary to lead sinners to turn to their Savior for pardon and to save them from the consequences of their sins. Please be on your guard when anyone says they have found a better model of salvation, for they have substituted their own wisdom in the place of God’s wisdom.
I am indebted to Eugene Shubert for opening my eyes to this subtle deception. God bless Him, and God bless the Seventh-day Adventist Church. For those interested in reading or hearing a series of spirit filled sermons on justification by faith, please visit the website www.sdabeaconlight.org.
Posted: Mon Jun 05, 2006 5:31 pm Post subject: Maxwell's Message: Genuine or Counterfeit
In my previous post, I stated that Satan has a master plan to deceive the very elect, and that one strategy he will use is to have his agents claim they are fulfilling Ellen White predictions regarding messages that are to be proclaimed in the last days. I would like to expand on one quote I used in my previous post that Maxwell and his supporters can use to "prove" that their message is the fulfillment of what Ellen White wrote. Here is the quote:
Quote:
"It is the darkness of misapprehension of God that is enshrouding the world. Men are losing their knowledge of His character. It has been misunderstood and misinterpreted. At this time a message from God is to be proclaimed, a message illuminating in its influence and saving in its power. His character is to be made known. Into the darkness of the world is to be shed the light of His glory, the light of His goodness, mercy, and truth...The last rays of merciful light, the last message of mercy to be given to the world, is a revelation of His character of love." Christ's Object Lessons, p. 415.
I can talk about God's love and mery, but my message may not be from God. The message Ellen White refers to in the above quote is a "message from God." That message will illuminate the world, and go to the ends of the earth rapidly and in great power, saving many souls who now live in darkness.
Would the devil ever try to introduce a counterfeit "character of God" message? You bet he would! The devil knows about how the last message to the world will involve the truth about God's character, and he fears that message greatly; for in the above quote, Ellen White is talking about the Loud Cry, a time when God will move in a mighty way to expose Satan and the lies he has perpetuated for centuries.
We need to learn more about how and why Satan introduces counterfeits. It has been said that before God moves in a mighty way, the devil will get in there first with his counterfeit. This can be illustrated in many ways. For example, before God endowed Ellen White with the gift of prophecy, Satan raised up other prophets who were counterfeits. Joseph Smith, the "prophet" of Mormanism, is a case in point. It is important to know that Satan's method of introducing a counterfeit is to get in there first, before the genuine can be presented.
Satan's counterfeit will contain elements of both truth and error. And the closer we get to the end of time, the more difficult it will become to distinguish the truth from the error. I think this is one reason why so many Adventists are enamored with Maxwell. His character of God message seems, on the surface, to be so filled with truth. He can offer many Spirit of Prophecy statements to support his theories. The youth, especially, seem to be easily smitten with Maxwell. They are charmed by his wonderful thoughts of how God wants to be our friend and take away our fear of Him.
Counterfeits are designed to deceive. If the errors were blatant, no one would be deceived. But there is another, more sinister reason that Satan brings in counterfeits. Ellen White in the following quote provides great insight as to a major motive that Satan has by the introduction of counterfeits:
Quote:
"Satan's hand was in all this, to disgust people, and cause them to spurn everything in the nature of visions. Thus the false and the true would be rejected together." 2SM, 77.
Here she was referring to messages being brought in by Adventists claiming to be prophets, but who did not hold the divine credentials as a prophet. But note the principle involved by the introduction of false messages. The devil will, in his counterfeit, introduce things that disgust people, so much so that when God's true prophets bring in genuine messages, those who have been disgusted by false prophets will tend to reject the true messenger. They will throw the baby out with the wash water. They will reject the very truth that God wants them to accept.
This has happened in our church over and over again. In the 1980s, the devil introduced a false deliverance ministry and false messenger movement into the Adventist Church. Adventists who supposedly had the power to cast out demons were running all around the country holding marathon deliverance sessions lasting all night long where they were conversing with demons and supposedly casting out devils with names like "M&M candy" and "headache," and "aspirin". Adventists who saw what was going on turned away in disgust at those fanatics, many of whom were once trusted and life-long Adventist pastors and leaders.
During the Loud Cry, God's genuine disciples will cast out demons (not through all night sessions where conversations are held with demons, but through an immediate dismissal of the possessing demons). But many Adventist will recall that false deliverance movement and how it disgusted them, and they will reject any genuine deliverances done by God's true servants.
Closely associated with the deliverance movement was the messenger movement, where dozens of Seventh-day Adventists claimed to be receiving "thought messages" from God to give to the church. Their messages were worded with flowery, sentimental nonsense, and much flattery. It was an obvious deception to many onlookers; but many Adventists were caught up in the deception and never let go of it; and some Adventists have gone to their graves as lost souls because of that Satanic deception. Satan introduced that counterfeit messenger movement into the Adventist Church because he knows that before the close of time, God will "pour out My Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams." Acts 2:17. That will be a major thing that God will do in the last days; and don't think that the devil won't try to counterfeit it before it happens. He already HAS! And if you saw what was going on back when those "special messengers" were passing around their messages to gullible Adventists, you would know why Satan will use that to cause some to reject God's true messengers when that prophecy in Acts 2 will take place.
Knowing how Satan works to introduce a counterfeit--that it will come before the genuine, and will contain not only truth but elements that will disgust some people--I ask the question: Is Maxwell's message genuinely from God, or is it a counterfeit? If we don't ask that question, and if we with eyes wide open take in Maxwell's theories like so many gullibly took in Kellogg's theories, then we run the risk of opening ourselves up to accepting a counterfeit message from the devil. If Maxwell's theories are true, then they can bear up under examination.
If it is true that Satan's counterfeits come before the genuine, when did a counterfeit "character of God" message show up in Adventism? And who brought it into the church? Was it Mike Clute with his message that God will ultimately save everyone (even Lucifer)? Or was it Frank Wright who had a similar message? The overwhelming, vast majority of Adventists have never head of those two fringe "Adventists."
Other questions that need to be asked are: How is the Maxwell message being promoted and spread throughout the SDA Church? Has his message, preached by him for over 40 years, mostly been confined within Adventism, or has it been "a message illuminating [throughout the world] in its influence and saving in its power." I never heard of Maxwell until a few weeks ago. He has been teaching his "God's character" message for several decades, but how many souls have been saved worldwide by his "better" method of presenting the plan of salvation? Does preaching smooth sermons about how sweet God is and how He wants peace and joy and harmony for all of His children the way that this message will circle the globe in great power? Is Maxwell's message dispelling the spiritual darkness that the majority of the people of the world live in? The genuine character of God message will do that, and that genuine message will rapidly spread throughout the world.
It is only because God's people have failed to see the truth in regards to the message of justification by faith, which is the third angel's message in verity, that so many Adventists have become suckers for a counterfeit "character of God" message. The genuine message will go throughout the world in a short time and with great power. And the last day character of God message will be intertwined with the message of justification by faith. Is Maxwell promoting justification by faith? He thinks he is. And he thinks we can dispel the spiritual darkness in the world with great saving power by preaching sermons on how God wants to be our friend. Is that the way God will accomplish the final work?
I don't think that sermonizing will do it. How will that last message be brought to the world in great glory and power? Jesus taught, "Ye are the light of the world." Matt 5:14. It will not be sermons preaching smooth words about a God who wants to be our friend and how He wants peace and joy and love that will lighten the earth with the glory of God's character. It will be you and I. "YE" are the light of the world. It will be God's consecrated people that, who in their Christian demeanor and deeds of mercy to a dying world, will reveal the true character of God. Are God's people doing that in a mighty way today? No, most are sound asleep. But I assure you that a day is coming when God's people will take the final message, which includes justification by faith in light of the truth about God's character, to the world in great power and glory. Notice I said "God's people" and not Adventists. The SDA Church is God's organized work, but we know from our inspired prophet that the majority of Adventists will be shaken out, and many will come in to take their place. There are many consecrated Christians in other denominations who are living up to the light that they have, and Ellen White calls them "Eleventh hour workers." During the Loud Cry, they will come in and take the place of Adventists who live for worldly pleasures and are comfortably sitting around waiting to either die or for the Sunday law to be passed (at which time most will panic for they won't know what to do). Yes, God will accomplish the spreading of His last message through people who reflect His own character. If sermonizing with smooth words about God's character will finish the work, then one might expect that it wouldn't take 40 years to do so.
Is there anything in Maxwell's character of God message that would disgust people so that when the genuine message comes, they will reject the genuine message? Talk to people who have not already been charmed by Maxwell and see what their reaction is when you tell them what he is teaching. I have heard people say that some of the things Maxwell promotes is absurd, crazy, nuts. They literally sound disgusted. Sure they can see truth there, but there are elements that people find to be disgusting and even insulting to their sovereign God. People hear Maxwell say that God will kill the wicked in the first death, but not in the second death. They see this as an attack on God's authority. Maxwell questions whether it will be literal fire from God that brings about the final destruction of His enemies. Maxwell says that God would be seen as a vengeful tyrant and arbitrary if He directly brings the final destruction to the wicked. Some react against that, and say that God will be fully justified in destroying the wicked, even with the use of literal fire, because He has a right to bring about the final destruction of His own enemies (not just their first death). Some hear Maxwell's constant harping that "God just wants you to be His friend," and "God only wants peace and joy and love" as weak sentimentalism. The "God is such a sweet, nice person and He doesn't want you to be afraid of Him" message is so often repeated by Maxwell that people sit and wonder when He is going to get to the meat of the gospel.
Yes, both the counterfeit and the genuine "character of God" message will talk about God's goodness and His desire to take away our fear; but I have seen some Adventists turn away in disgust from what they are hearing from Maxwell. Maxwell might argue, "Well, these people haven't heard everything I have been teaching." True; but do I have to drink a whole gallon of tainted water to know that I don't like it? The genuine message of God's loving character will melt hearts. They will crave it. It will make people want to be like Jesus, who was loving, kind, helpful, and always ready to place the needs of others before His own needs. Are Maxwell's followers like that? Or do some of the more devout ones resort to force to silence any who would dare dissent from what Maxwell teaches?
It is not only the world in general that has misunderstood God's true character. Many in our own church have wrong ideas about God. One reason the Lord allows false theories to gain ground in the church is because His own people need to come to a wiser understanding of the truth on the subject. This was seen when Desmond Ford brought a counterfeit sanctuary message into the church in the late 1970s and early 80s. Ford took many Adventist souls to perdition with his false theories; but the result was that the church aroused and dug deep into our theology on the sanctuary subject, and we gained a better understanding than we ever before had of it.
Unfortunately, I don't see the same interest in openly examining Maxwell's theories. Many Adventists have never heard of him. And I am discovering that if I can get to Adventists who are my family and friends before they hear anything about Maxwell, and tell them what I have discovered about his subtle sophistries, they will immediately see the error in what he is teaching. But I have also discovered that once taken in, it is close to impossible to get people to see the error in his teachings. There must be some reason for that; and I believe it is because of the veiled spiritualism to be found in his theories.
Ellen White was shown how Kellogg would charm his listeners with his fanciful, pantheistic theories. They did not discern the spiritualistic nature of what he was saying because as he spoke, "he cloaked the matter somewhat, but in reality he was presenting as of the highest value, scientific theories which are akin to pantheism." SpTB06 41. Maxwell is not consciously a spiritualist out to deceive us all with New Age gibberish. But he speaks in such a way as to "cloak the matter," and like Kellogg, he is presenting theories that can be tied to elements to be found in spiritualism.
Whether Maxwell is teaching the genuine character of God message or a counterfeit conceived in the brilliant mind of Satan must also be examined in light of what Eugene Shubert has been saying in this forum. Eugene has shown quite clearly that deeply imbedded with Maxwell's message are shades of spiritualism, and more specifically pantheism. You have to look closely, but it is there. Kellogg's hearers did not discern the pantheism in his theories, but the prophet said it was there. Please go read everything Eugene has written about the pantheism of Kellogg and Maxwell. Find out how there are common themes between Maxwell's version of God's character message and concepts found in the writings of a spiritualist who claims that Jesus channeled messages through her (those messages became a popular New Age book). Look at what I wrote in a previous post about how there are subtle similarities between many key charactistics of spiritualism and what is being observed relating to Maxwell and his supporters; such as the use of force to silence dissenters and calling light darkness. Look closely at Eugene's thesis of how the omega of apostasy is the perfect complement, or completion, of the alpha of apostasy.
Maxwell says he presents a message that illuminates God in His true character. I have been sharing a message for years with my fellow Adventists that also is an illumination of God's character, but presented in a way that is somewhat different from how Maxwell presents it. The late Bill Lehman preached a 32-sermon series on the righteousness of Christ, and woven into that message is a revelation of Christ as I have never heard him presented before. I invite anyone reading this to hear at least the first sermon in that message. The chapter 1 sermon sheds more light on this subject I have presented here--on how God will bring to the world the message of God's true character. You will be blessed if you take the time to hear it. You will find the list of sermons at www.sdabeaconlight.org/CORsermons.htm.
Posted: Mon Jun 12, 2006 9:54 am Post subject: Maxwell and his army is desecrating the sanctuary
Looking Upward wrote:
Graham Maxwell ... says that God only kills when it comes to the first death, but not in the second death.
Yes, that's what that false teacher says. But don't waste your time trying to rationalize how Maxwell could be right when the Bible clearly proves him wrong.
Quote:
"The LORD preserves all who love Him,
But all the wicked He will destroy."
Psalm 145:20.
"And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell." Matthew 10:28.
"The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works. Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire." Revelation 20:13-15.
Looking Upward wrote:
Somewhere I recall reading where Ellen White predicted that the day would come when anyone who spoke against spiritualism would be considered a heretic. I believe she initially was referring to the "rapping", but she said that particular spiritualistic phenomenon would grow (and probably morph) and become a major snare to God's people in the very last days.
You remember well. Ellen White wrote that the enemy would "come in like a flood" and "soon it would be considered blasphemy to speak against the rapping [spiritualism]" (Early Writings, p. 60, 59). Satan's objective in this is "to deceive God's people and overthrow them" (ibid, p. 60).
Did the Spirit of prophecy ever suggest that spiritualism would morph?
Ellen White wrote:
It is true that spiritualism is now changing its form and, veiling some of its more objectionable features, is assuming a Christian guise. ... While it formerly denounced Christ and the Bible, it now professes to accept both. But the Bible is interpreted in a manner that is pleasing to the unrenewed heart, while its solemn and vital truths are made of no effect. Love is dwelt upon as the chief attribute of God, but it is degraded to a weak sentimentalism, making little distinction between good and evil. God's justice, His denunciations of sin, the requirements of His holy law, are all kept out of sight. —The Great Controversy, pp. 557-558.
This quote among others, Bible prophecy and Ellen White's characterizations of the final alpha and omega deception, exposes the spiritualistic teachings of A. Graham Maxwell.
I find it alarming that what Maxwell and his many followers are promoting is so deeply entrenched within Adventism, and how it came in with almost no warning from the ministry or church leadership. It's like one day I never heard of these things, then the next I discover it is all over the place.
In other words, you are saying that prophecy has been fulfilled!
"False theories will be mingled with every phase of experience and advocated with satanic earnestness in order to captivate the mind of every soul who is not rooted and grounded in a full knowledge of the sacred principles of the Word. In the very midst of us will arise false teachers, giving heed to seducing spirits whose doctrines are of satanic origin. These teachers will draw away disciples after themselves. Creeping in unawares, they will use flattering words and make skillful misrepresentations with seductive tact." —Manuscript Releases Volume Eleven, p. 205.
Looking Upward wrote:
The door has been opened for smooth messages like that presented by Maxwell, where little connection is made between God’s love and His law, and where God’s love is reduced to mere sentimentalism.
This to me reeks of sentimentalism, and Ellen White tied the messages of spiritualists to sentimentalism.
Maxwell's theology goes beyond sentimentalism. "Darkness is its element, sensuality its sphere." —The Ministry of Healing, p 428.
Looking Upward wrote:
I am discovering that if I can get to Adventists who are my family and friends before they hear anything about Maxwell, and tell them what I have discovered about his subtle sophistries, they will immediately see the error in what he is teaching. But I have also discovered that once taken in, it is close to impossible to get people to see the error in his teachings. There must be some reason for that; and I believe it is because of the veiled spiritualism to be found in his theories.
It's amazing to me how prominent leaders in the Church hierarchy could not have encountered any of the fanatical followers of Maxwell and, if they did, not recognize the supernatural darkness of the power that controls them.
Ellen G. White wrote:
As I am shown these special things of Satan's science, and how he deceived the holy angels, I am afraid of the men who have entered into the study of the science that Satan carried into the warfare in heaven. Oh, how I have longed to be where I should not be compelled to see the same science practiced on this earth by medical practitioners. How my heart has been agonized as I have seen souls accepting the inducements held out to them to unite with those who were warring against God. When they once accept the bait it seems impossible to break the spell that Satan casts over them, because the enemy works out the science of deception as he worked it out in the heavenly courts. He uses human agencies to carry on his work with other human beings. He has worked so diligently with men in our day that he has won the game again and again. —Manuscript Releases Volume Eleven, pp. 212-213.
Looking Upward wrote:
The Adventist Church was established primarily to preach the third angel’s message to the world, and yet the doctrine of justification by faith has been swept up under the rug and one almost never hears this most crucial doctrine preached from our pulpits today. Could this be tied to these false theories that have gained so much ground in Adventism?
Yes. Consider the following Spirit of prophecy statement:
Quote:
We have no time to lose. Troublous times are before us. The world is stirred with the spirit of war. Soon the scenes of trouble spoken of in the prophecies will take place. The prophecy in the eleventh of Daniel has nearly reached its complete fulfillment. Much of the history that has taken place in fulfillment of this prophecy will be repeated. In the thirtieth verse a power is spoken of that "shall be grieved, and return, and have indignation against the holy covenant: so shall he do; he shall even return, and have intelligence with them that forsake the holy covenant." [Verses 31-36, quoted.]
The very next paragraph says,
Quote:
Scenes similar to those described in these words will take place. We see evidence that Satan is fast obtaining the control of human minds who have not the fear of God before them. Let all read and understand the prophecies of this book, for we are now entering upon the time of trouble spoken of: [Dan. 12:1-4, quoted.] —Manuscript Releases Volume Thirteen, p. 394.
Please study Daniel 11:31. Its fulfillment is now. It describes an attack on the sanctuary. It's a two-pronged attack. There is no other way to interpret it. A power does away with the fundamental truths of the sanctuary and sets up, in its place, an idol abomination. "His armed forces will rise up to desecrate the sanctuary fortress, and will do away with the regular sacrifice. Then they will set up the abomination that causes desolation."
Consider the end result of the omega:
"There is in it [pantheism] the beginning of theories which, carried to their logical conclusion, would destroy faith in the sanctuary question and in the atonement." 2MR 243.
"These theories, followed to their logical conclusion, sweep away the whole Christian economy. They do away with the necessity for the atonement and make man his own savior. These theories regarding God make His word of no effect, and those who accept them are in great danger of being led finally to look upon the whole Bible as a fiction." 8T 291.
We are to look for a power that removes Christ's substitutionary atonement, justification by faith, Christ's High Priestly intercession and gives us in its place, spiritualistic sophistries akin to pantheism. All this is fulfilled in the demonic philosophy of A. Graham Maxwell.
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