Absolutely, there are many christians who are masons and to my knowledge there are no restrictions in any masonic lodge for talking of Christ or Christianity. The name of Jesus is not used in any of the ceremonies. However, keep in mind that the ceremonies are based on the building of king Solomon's temple which was before Christ was born.
God Bless
Jim Larmore
Jim,
Please carefully consider the testimonies the spirit of prophesy gave concerning Christians associated with these secrete societies.
"....
As the Faulkhead family--Mrs. Faulkhead was a teacher in the public school system--accepted the third angel's message, his unusual ability was recognized, and he was employed as treasurer in the Echo Publishing Company. He served well at first, but as time advanced he became more and more engrossed in his lodge work, and his interests in the work of God began to wane. {4BIO 49.7}
This was his situation when Ellen White arrived in Australia in December, 1891. As matters involving the publishing house workers were opened up to her in a comprehensive vision a few days after her arrival, she wrote of conditions there in general; she also penned testimonies to a number of the individuals involved, including Mr. Faulkhead and his wife. The document addressed to them dealt with his connection with the publishing house and his affiliation with the Masonic Lodge, and filled fifty pages. When she thought to mail it to him, she was restrained from doing so. She said, "When I enclosed the communication all ready to mail, it seemed that a voice spoke to me saying, 'Not yet, not yet, they will not receive your testimony.'"--Letter 39, 1893. {4BIO 50.1}
Ellen White said nothing regarding the matter for almost twelve months, but maintained a deep interest in Mr. and Mrs. Faulkhead and their spiritual welfare. Some of his associates in the publishing house were very much concerned as they observed his growing infatuation with the work of the lodge and his waning spirituality and decreasing concern for the interests of the cause of God. They pleaded with him, urging him to consider the danger of his course. "But," as Mr. Faulkhead states, "my heart was full of those things; in fact, I thought more of them than I did of anything else."--DF 522a, N. D. Faulkhead letter, Oct. 5, 1908. {4BIO 50.2}
He defiantly met the appeals with the bold statement "that he would not give up his connection with the Freemasons for all that Starr or White or any other minister might say. He knew what he was about, and he was not going to be taught by them."--Letter 21b, 1892. It was clear to those in charge of the work that unless a marked change came in his attitude, he would soon have to find other employment. {4BIO 50.3}
Mrs. White wrote of this experience: "None could reach him in regard to Freemasonry. He was fastening himself more and more firmly in the meshes of the enemy, and the only thing we could see to be done was to leave him to himself."--Letter 46, 1892
His condition was shown to her to be like that of "a man about to lose his balance and fall over a precipice" (MS 4, 1893). {4BIO 50.4}
For a period of months. Mrs. White held messages for him and thought to send them, but was restrained. {4BIO 51.1}
In early December, 1892, J. H. Stockton, one of the first Seventh-day Adventists in Australia, was talking with Mr. Faulkhead. He asked him what he would do if Ellen White had a testimony for him in regard to his connection with the lodge. To this Faulkhead boldly retorted: "It would have to be mighty strong." Neither man was aware that almost a year before, the whole matter had been opened to her.--DF 522a, N. D. Faulkhead to EGW, Feb. 20, 1908. {4BIO 51.2}
It was shortly after this, on Saturday night, December 10, that Mr. Faulkhead dreamed that the Lord had shown his case to Ellen White, and that she had a message for him. This, with his defiant reply to Stockton in regard to what would be his attitude toward a message through her, led him to serious thought. At the time of this dream Mrs. White was at Ballarat, but on Monday, December 12, as noted earlier, she had returned to Melbourne. The next day she attended the closing exercises of the first term of the Australasian Bible School. {4BIO 51.3}
With this dream vividly in his mind, Faulkhead found Ellen White, who greeted him cordially. He asked her whether she had something for him. She replied that the burden of his case was upon her mind, and that she had a message for him from the Lord, which she wished him and his wife to hear. She called for a meeting in the near future, when she would present that message. Faulkhead eagerly asked, "Why not give me the message now?"--Letter 46, 1892. {4BIO 51.4}
Although she was weary from her journey and her work that morning, Ellen White went over to a stand and picked up a bundle of manuscripts. She told Faulkhead that several times she had prepared to send the message, but that she "had felt forbidden by the Spirit of the Lord to do so"
(ibid.), for the time had not fully come that he would accept it. {4BIO 51.5}
She then read and talked. A part of the fifty pages that were read that evening was of a general nature, relating to the work in the Echo Publishing Company and the experience of the workers employed there. But the major part dealt more particularly with Mr. Faulkhead's experience and his connection not only with the work in the office but also his affiliation with the Masonic Lodge. She pointed out that his involvement with Freemasonry had absorbed his time and blunted his spiritual perception. She read to him of his efforts to maintain high principles for which the lodge claimed to stand, often couching her message in Masonic language. She also told him where in the lodge hall she had seen him sitting and what he was endeavoring to do with his associates. She spoke of his increasing interest in the work of these organizations and of his waning interest in the cause of God; of her seeing in vision his dropping the small coins from his purse in the Sabbath offering plate and the larger coins into the coffers of the lodge. She heard him addressed as "Worshipful Master." She read of scenes of drinking and carousal that took place in the lodge meetings, especially after Mr. Faulkhead had left.--DF 522a, G. B. Starr," An Experience With Sister E. G. White in Australia." {4BIO 51.6}
"I thought this was getting pretty close home," he later wrote, "when she started to talk to me in reference to what I was doing in the lodges."--
Ibid., N. D. Faulkhead letter, Oct. 5, 1908. {4BIO 52.1}
Ellen White Gives the Secret Signs
She spoke most earnestly of the dangers of his connection with Freemasonry, warning that "unless he severed every tie that bound him to these associations, he would lose his soul." She repeated to him words spoken by her guide. Then, giving a certain movement with her hands that was made by her guide, she said, "I cannot relate all that was given to me."--Letter 46, 1892. {4BIO 52.2}
At this, Faulkhead started and turned pale. Recounting the incident, he wrote: {4BIO 52.3}
Immediately she gave me this sign. I touched her on the shoulder and asked her if she knew what she had done. She looked up surprised and said she did not do anything unusual. I told her that she had given me the sign of a Knight Templar. Well, she did not know anything about it.--DF 522a, N. D. Faulkhead letter, Oct. 5, 1908. {4BIO 52.4}
They talked on.
She spoke further of Freemasonry and the impossibility of a man being a freemason and a wholehearted Christian. Again she made a certain movement, which "my attending angel made to me" (MS 54, 1899). {4BIO 52.5}
Again Mr. Faulkhead started, and the blood left his face. A second time she had made a secret sign, one known only to the highest order of Masons. It was a sign that no woman could know, for it was held in the strictest secrecy--the place of meeting was guarded both inside and outside against strangers. "This convinced me that her testimony was from God," he stated.--
Ibid. {4BIO 53.1}"
Chap. 13 - Should Christians Be Members of Secret Societies?
"Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? and what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? and what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty" (2 Cor. 6:14-18). {2SM 121.1}
The Lord's injunction, "Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers" (2 Cor. 6:14), refers not only to the marriage of Christians with the ungodly, but to all alliances in which the parties are brought into intimate association, and in which there is need of harmony in spirit and action. The Lord gave special direction to Israel to keep themselves distinct from idolaters. They were not to intermarry with the heathen nor form any confederacy with them: "Take heed to thyself, lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land whither thou goest, lest it be for a snare in the midst of thee: but ye shall destroy their altars, break their images, and cut down their groves: for thou shalt worship no other god: for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God" (Ex. 34:12-14). {2SM 121.2}
"For thou art an holy people unto the Lord thy God: the Lord thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth. The Lord did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all people: but because the Lord loved you, and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers. . . . Know therefore that the Lord thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations" (Deut. 7:6-9). {2SM 122.1}
Again the Lord declares through the prophet Isaiah: {2SM 122.2}
"Associate yourselves, O ye people, and ye shall be broken in pieces; and give ear, all ye of far countries: gird yourselves, and ye shall be broken in pieces; ... Take counsel together, and it shall come to nought; speak the word, and it shall not stand: for God is with us. For the Lord spake thus to me with a strong hand, and instructed me that I should not walk in the way of this people, saying, Say ye not, A confederacy, to all them to whom this people shall say, A confederacy; neither fear ye their fear, nor be afraid. Sanctify the Lord of hosts himself; and let him be your fear, and let him be your dread" (Isa. 8:9-13). {2SM 122.3}
There are those who question whether it is right for Christians to belong to the Free Masons and other secret societies. Let all such consider the scriptures just quoted. If we are Christians at all, we must be Christians everywhere, and must consider and heed the counsel given to make us Christians according to the standard of God's Word. {2SM 122.4}
