Blinded by Sin
[
Testimonies for the Church 5:141-147
(1882).]
Satan rejoices to have sinners enter the church as professed Sab-
bathkeepers, while they allow him to control their minds and affections,
using them to deceive and corrupt others.
In this degenerate age many will be found who are so blinded to
the sinfulness of sin that they choose a licentious life, because it suits
the natural and perverse inclination of the heart. Instead of facing the
mirror, the law of God, and bringing their hearts and characters up to
God’s standard, they allow Satan’s agents to erect his standard in their
hearts. Corrupt men think it easier to misinterpret the Scriptures to
sustain them in their iniquity, than to yield up their corruption and sin
and be pure in heart and life.
There are more men of this stamp than many have imagined, and
they will multiply as we draw near the end of time. Unless they
are rooted and grounded in the truth of the Bible and have a living
connection with God, many will be infatuated and deceived. Dangers
unseen beset our path. Our only safety is in constant watchfulness and
prayer. The nearer we live to Jesus, the more will we partake of His
pure and holy character; and the more offensive sin appears to us, the
more exalted and desirable will appear the purity and brightness of
Christ....
There is always a bewitching power in heresies and in licentious-
ness. The mind is so deluded that it cannot reason intelligently, and
an illusion is continually leading it from purity. The spiritual eyesight
becomes blurred, and persons of hitherto untainted morals become
confused under the delusive sophistry of those agents of Satan who
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profess to be messengers of light. It is this delusion which gives these
agents power. Should they come out boldly and make their advances
openly, they would be repulsed without a moment’s hesitation; but
they work first to gain sympathy and secure confidence in them as
holy, self-sacrificing men of God. As his special messengers, they
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