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The Great Controversy 1888
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
master-mind to the work of deception, skillfully adapts his tempta-
tions to men of all classes and conditions. To persons of culture and
refinement he presents Spiritualism in its more refined and intellec-
[554]
tual aspects, and thus succeeds in drawing many into his snare. The
wisdom 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 concealment 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 affections 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