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Darkness Before Dawn
straight on, regardless of warnings, while Satan weaves his snares
about them, and they become his prey. “Because they received not the
love of the truth, that they might be saved,” therefore “God shall send
them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie.”
2 Thessalonians
2:10, 11
.
Those who oppose the teachings of spiritualism are assailing, not
men alone, but Satan and his angels. They have entered upon a contest
against principalities and powers and wicked spirits in high places.
Satan will not yield one inch of ground except as he is driven back
by the power of heavenly messengers. The people of God should be
able to meet him, as did our Saviour, with the words: “It is written.”
Satan can quote Scripture now as in the days of Christ, and he will
pervert its teachings to sustain his delusions. Those who would stand
in this time of peril must understand for themselves the testimony of
the Scriptures....
The Blindness of the Age
Marvelous beyond expression is the blindness of the people of this
generation. Thousands reject the word of God as unworthy of belief
and with eager confidence receive the deceptions of Satan. Skeptics
and scoffers denounce the bigotry of those who contend for the faith
of prophets and apostles, and they divert themselves by holding up to
ridicule the solemn declarations of the Scriptures concerning Christ
and the plan of salvation....
Satan has long been preparing for his final effort to deceive the
world. The foundation of his work was laid by the assurance given
to Eve in Eden: “Ye shall not surely die.” “In the day ye eat thereof,
then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good
and evil.”
Genesis 3:4, 5
. Little by little he has prepared the way for
his masterpiece of deception in the development of spiritualism. He
has not yet reached the full accomplishment of his designs; but it will
be reached in the last remnant of time. Says the prophet: “I saw three
unclean spirits like frogs; ... they are the spirits of devils, working
miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole
world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.”
Revelation 16:13, 14
. Except those who are kept by the power of God,
through faith in His word, the whole world will be swept into the ranks