Adventism vs. Mormonism, Testing the Spirits

1 John 4:1

Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.

There's more than one way to test a spirit. The first step is to suspect that a spirit is even communicating a message.

Mormonism and Seventh Day Adventism communicate various messages. Adventists believe in a doctrine called "The Great Controversy". This is their official position(fundamental belief #8):

"All humanity is now involved in a great controversy between Christ and Satan regarding the character of God, His law, and His sovereignty over the universe. This conflict originated in heaven when a created being, endowed with freedom of choice, in self-exaltation became Satan, God's adversary. He led into rebellion a portion of the angels. He introduced the spirit of rebellion into this world when he led Adam and Eve into sin. This human sin resulted in the distortion of the image of God in humanity, the disordering of the created world, and its eventual devastation at the time of the worldwide flood. Observed by the whole creation, this world became the arena of the universal conflict, out of which the God of love will ultimately be vindicated. To assist His people in this controversy, Christ sends the Holy Spirit and the loyal angels to guide, protect, and sustain them in the way of salvation."

I'll get to the Mormon counterpart to this belief shortly, but let's examine a fraction of the SDA concept of the "Great Controversy". I don't have time to explore it all. On the surface it sounds reasonable. Satan's bad, but God is vindicated in the end. What Christian would object to Satan losing and God winning? Let's dig beyond the surface.

The conflict between Satan and God originated in heaven? Genesis 3 says it began in the Garden of Eden on earth. Lucifer(Helel) was sinless in heaven. Ezekiel 28:14-15 places him in the Garden of Eden as the "anointed cherub that covereth". It would be impossible for him to be anointed of God in Eden, if he had been in conflict with Him in heaven before that. It would also be impossible to be an anointed sinner. Have you ever seen an anointed thief or an anointed murderer or an anointed destroyer? If read carefully, the Bible describes him as a servant to mankind. Essentially, Lucifer was a servant that got uppity and came to think of himself as better than he was. He didn't become Satan(the Adversary) until Genesis 3:1-7 when he tempted Eve in Eden, not in heaven.

Eve and Lucifer fell the same day. That's why Lucifer was still in Eden instead of being forbidden to go there. His thoughts had not produced sinful actions yet. Thinking of a sin is not the same as sinning. The Psalms describe perfection as not willfully sinning. I'll have to find the verses for that another day. Satan didn't sin until he physically acted in Eden(Ezekiel 28:15). Only afterward, and not before that, did a third of the angels follow him.

Not only is the the "Great Controversy" doctrine incorrect about Satan, it doesn't exist. There's no such thing as a great controversy between Jesus and Satan.

Colossians 2:14-15

Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross; And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it.
 

Messiah defeated Satan at the cross. The imagery in verse 15 is that of a Roman victory parade after conquering an enemy in war. The Romans would cut off the thumbs and big toes of the enemy leader and place him at the tail of the parade as the least important person. This demonstrated total and complete victory over him. Without thumbs or big toes, the enemy could not hold a sword or run. It was absolute devastation. Satan is defeated. He has no power left. All he has left now is a big mouth. There's no controversy much less a great one. Then why has there been such a delay getting rid of him?

Ezekiel 4:4-6

Lie thou also upon thy left side, and lay the iniquity of the house of Israel upon it: according to the number of the days that thou shalt lie upon it thou shalt bear their iniquity. For I have laid upon thee the years of their iniquity, according to the number of the days, three hundred and ninety days: so shalt thou bear the iniquity of the house of Israel. And when thou hast accomplished them, lie again on thy right side, and thou shalt bear the iniquity of the house of Judah forty days: I have appointed thee each day for a year.

Long story short, this prophecy wasn't fulfilled until May 15, 1948. In order to keep his word, God had to wait a long time to complete this prophecy. Now that it's finished, the end of days are here as can be easily discerned.

Now that we can see that the "Great Controversy" is a false doctrine, let's look at the thought behind it. What is the underlying foundation of it? What is the core assumption? At its simplest level, the "Great Controversy" can only be true if Messiah and Satan are equals. And if Messiah and Satan are equals, then God and Satan are equals. And if God is glorious and worthy of worship, then Satan, too, must be glorious and worthy of worship, even if it's an infernal glory and and infernal worship.

Isaiah 14:14

I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.

Satan doesn't want to be God. He wants to be like him. That is the underlying premise of the so-called "Great Controversy". The assumption is that Satan is like God. It assumes it without saying it directly. That is a slick deception. Adventists focus on the God is vindicated part and ignore the unspoken thoughts behind the words.(Does God need to be vindicated or vindicate himself to us? See God's response to Job.)

This premise is also found in Mormonism. Mormons believe that Jesus and Satan are spirit brothers. From Ensign, a Mormon publication, as quoted by equip.org:

On first hearing, the doctrine that Lucifer and our Lord, Jesus Christ, are brothers may seem surprising to some—especially to those unacquainted with latter-day revelations. But both the scriptures and the prophets affirm that Jesus Christ and Lucifer are indeed offspring of our Heavenly Father and, therefore, spirit brothers….But as the Firstborn of the Father, Jesus was Lucifer’s older brother. 

Brothers are equals. Like the "Great Controversy", this doctrine places Messiah and Satan on a level playing field, which leads to God and Satan being equals and thus Satan being like God.

By testing the spirit behind the "Great Controversy", we learned something incredibly insightful. The spirit behind Joseph Smith, the false prophet of Mormonism, is the exact same spirit behind Ellen G. White, the false prophet of Seventh Day Adventism. Both said Messiah was a created being, which is all we need to hear to know they were false Christians. The truth was not in them.