Satan’s Challenges

Though Bible critics have undergone crushing defeats during recent years as a result of archaeological discoveries, Satan has by no means given up his attempts to destroy confidence in the Scriptures. Now that their historicity has been established, he is willing that men should accept them as authentic as long as they are not impressed that Bible principles apply today as they did in years past. The deceiver would as soon have men question the binding nature of the Ten Commandments as he would have them reject the stories of Abraham and Moses as folklore. Either method accomplishes his purpose.APAY 466.1

Recognizing, as he does, what God intends to accomplish for the remnant church through the gift of prophecy, Satan is attempting and will continue to attempt to destroy confidence in that gift. In a letter written in 1890, Ellen White said, “Satan is ... constantly pressing in the spurious—to lead away from the truth. The very last deception of Satan will be to make of none effect the testimony of the Spirit of God. ‘Where there is no vision, the people perish.’ Satan will work ingeniously, in different ways, and through different agencies, to unsettle the confidence of God’s remnant people in the true testimony.” Ellen G. White Letter 12, 1890. If the enemy can achieve this objective he will turn men and women away from the last-day message to the church.APAY 466.2

The vital place of the gift of prophecy in the remnant church is emphasized by the fact that the Bible mentions it as one of the two major marks of identification of the church. Revelation 12:17; 19:10. It is a matter of grave importance. It is to occupy a place of prominence in the thinking of the members of the church. “As the end draws near and the work of giving the last warning to the world extends, it becomes more important for those who accept present truth to have a clear understanding of the nature and influence of the Testimonies, which God in His providence has linked with the work of the third angel’s message from its very rise.”Testimonies for the Church 5:654. In some cases, it will be a factor in determining one’s attitude toward the teachings of the Bible. “If you lose confidence in the Testimonies you will drift away from Bible truth.” Testimonies for the Church 5:674. It is not the Testimonies that are in danger of succumbing to the attacks of Satan, but the individuals who have not been fortified by those Testimonies and Bible truth.APAY 466.3