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Testimonies for the Church Volume 1
Commander of the hosts of heaven, sent His angel to close the mouths
of those hungry lions that they should not hurt the praying man of
God; and all was peace in that terrible den. The king witnessed his
preservation and brought him out with honors. Satan and his angels
were defeated and enraged. The agents he had employed were doomed
to perish in the same terrible manner in which they had plotted to
destroy Daniel.
The prayer of faith is the great strength of the Christian and will
assuredly prevail against Satan. This is why he insinuates that we
have no need of prayer. The name of Jesus, our Advocate, he detests;
and when we earnestly come to Him for help, Satan’s host is alarmed.
It serves his purpose well if we neglect the exercise of prayer, for
then his lying wonders are more readily received. That which he
failed to accomplish in tempting Christ, he accomplishes by setting
his deceitful temptations before man. He sometimes comes in the
form of a lovely young person, or of a beautiful shadow. He works
cures, and is worshiped by deceived mortals as a benefactor of our
race. Phrenology and mesmerism are very much exalted. They are
good in their place, but they are seized upon by Satan as his most
powerful agents to deceive and destroy souls. His arts and devices
are received as from heaven, and faith in the detector, the Bible, is
destroyed in the minds of thousands. Satan here receives the worship
which suits his Satanic majesty. Thousands are conversing with, and
receiving instructions from, this demon-God and acting according to
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his teachings. The world which is supposed to be benefited so much
by phrenology and animal magnetism, never was so corrupt. Satan
uses these very things to destroy virtue and lay the foundation of
spiritualism.
I was directed to this scripture as especially applying to modern
spiritualism:
Colossians 2:8
: “Beware lest any man spoil you through
philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudi-
ments of the world, and not after Christ.” Thousands, I was shown,
have been spoiled through the philosophy of phrenology and animal
magnetism, and have been driven into infidelity. If the mind com-
mences to run in this channel, it is almost sure to lose its balance
and be controlled by a demon. “Vain deceit” fills the minds of poor
mortals. They think there is such power in themselves to accomplish
great works that they realize no necessity of a higher power. Their