Beware the Counterfeits
43
be ensnared and taken? By departing from the plain precepts and
commandments of God, and giving heed to fables, the minds of many
are preparing to receive these lying wonders. We must all now seek to
arm ourselves for the contest in which we must soon engage. Faith in
God’s word, prayerfully studied and practically applied, will be our
shield from Satan’s power and will bring us off conquerors through
the blood of Christ. [
Testimonies for the Church 1:302
.]
Healing Can Be From the Devil
I am instructed to say that in the future great watchfulness will be
needed. There is to be among God’s people no spiritual stupidity. Evil
spirits are actively engaged in seeking to control the minds of human
beings. Men are binding up in bundles, ready to be consumed by the
fires of the last days. Those who discard Christ and His righteousness
will accept the sophistry that is flooding the world. Christians are to
be sober and vigilant, steadfastly resisting their adversary the devil,
who is going about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.
Men under the influence of evil spirits will work miracles....
We need not be deceived. Wonderful scenes, with which Satan
will be closely connected, will soon take place. God’s Word declares
that Satan will work miracles. He will make people sick, and then
will suddenly remove from them his satanic power. They will then
be regarded as healed. These works of apparent healing will bring
[48]
Seventh-day Adventists to the test. Many who have had great light
will fail to walk in the light, because they have not become one with
Christ. [
Selected Messages 2:53
.]
If those through whom cures are performed, are disposed, on
account of these manifestations, to excuse their neglect of the law of
God, and continue in disobedience, though they have power to any and
every extent, it does not follow that they have the great power of God.
On the contrary, it is the miracle-working power of the great deceiver.
He is a transgressor of the moral law, and employs every device that
he can master to blind men to its true character. We are warned that in
the last days he will work with signs and lying wonders. And he will
continue these wonders until the close of probation, that he may point
to them as evidence that he is an angel of light and not of darkness.
[
Selected Messages 2:50, 51
.]