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The Great Controversy
to be preceded by “the working of Satan with all power and signs
and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness.”
2
Thessalonians 2:9, 10
. And the apostle John, describing the miracle-
working power that will be manifested in the last days, declares: “He
doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven
on the earth in the sight of men, and deceiveth them that dwell on
the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do.”
Revelation 13:13, 14
. No mere impostures are here foretold. Men are
deceived by the miracles which Satan’s agents have power to do, not
which they pretend to do.
The prince of darkness, who has so long bent the powers of his
mastermind to the work of deception, skillfully adapts his temptations
to men of all classes and conditions. To persons of culture and re-
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finement he presents spiritualism in its more refined and intellectual
aspects, and thus succeeds in drawing many into his snare. The wis-
dom which spiritualism imparts is that described by the apostle James,
which “descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish.”
James 3:15
. This, however, the great deceiver conceals when conceal-
ment will best suit his purpose. He who could appear clothed with the
brightness of the heavenly seraphs before Christ in the wilderness of
temptation, comes to men in the most attractive manner as an angel of
light. He appeals to the reason by the presentation of elevating themes;
he delights the fancy with enrapturing scenes; and he enlists the af-
fections by his eloquent portrayals of love and charity. He excites the
imagination to lofty flights, leading men to take so great pride in their
own wisdom that in their hearts they despise the Eternal One. That
mighty being who could take the world’s Redeemer to an exceedingly
high mountain and bring before Him all the kingdoms of the earth and
the glory of them, will present his temptations to men in a manner to
pervert the senses of all who are not shielded by divine power.
Satan beguiles men now as he beguiled Eve in Eden by flattery, by
kindling a desire to obtain forbidden knowledge, by exciting ambition
for self-exaltation. It was cherishing these evils that caused his fall,
and through them he aims to compass the ruin of men. “Ye shall be as
gods,” he declares, “knowing good and evil.”
Genesis 3:5
. Spiritualism
teaches “that man is the creature of progression; that it is his destiny
from his birth to progress, even to eternity, toward the Godhead.” And
again: “Each mind will judge itself and not another.” “The judgment