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are able at times to foretell future events, gives to their statements
an appearance of reliability; and their false teachings are accepted
by the multitudes as readily, and believed as implicitly, as if they
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were the most sacred truths of the Bible. The law of God is set aside,
the Spirit of grace despised, the blood of the covenant counted an
unholy thing. The spirits deny the divinity of Christ, and place even
the Creator on a level with themselves. Thus under a new disguise
the great rebel still carries forward his warfare against God, begun in
Heaven, and for nearly six thousand years continued upon the earth.
Many endeavor to account for spiritual manifestations by at-
tributing them wholly to fraud and sleight of hand on the part of
the medium. But while it is true that the results of trickery have
often been palmed off as genuine manifestations, there have been,
also, marked exhibitions of supernatural power. The mysterious
rapping with which modern Spiritualism began was not the result
of human trickery or cu
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who thus introduced one of the most successful of soul-destroying
delusions. Many will be ensnared through the belief that Spiritual-
ism is a merely human imposture; when brought face to face with
manifestations which they ca
will be deceived, and will be led to accept them as the great power
of God.
These persons overlook the testimony of the Scriptures concern-
ing the wonders wrought by Satan and his agents. It was by Satanic
aid that Pharaoh’s magicians were enabled to counterfeit the work
of God. 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 brought to view. Men are deceived by the miracles which Satan’s agents have power to do, not
which they pretend to do.
The very name of witchcraft is now held in contempt. The claim
that men can hold intercourse with evil spirits is regarded as a fable
of the Dark Ages. But Spiritualism, which numbers its converts
by hundreds of thousands, yea, by millions, which has made its
way into scientific circles, which has invaded churches, and has
found favor in legislative bodies, and even in the courts of kings—
this mammoth deception is but a revival in a new disguise of the
witchcraft condemned and prohibited of old.
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The Spirit of Prophecy, vol. 4
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Satan beguiles men now, as he beguiled Eve in Eden, by exciting
a desire to obtain forbidden knowledge. “Ye shall be as gods,” he de-
clares, “knowing good and evil.” But 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.]
The prince of darkness has a masterly mind, and he skillfully
adapts his temptations to men of every variety of condition and
culture. He works “with all deceivableness of unrighteousness” to
gain control of the children of men; but he can accomplish his object
only as they voluntarily yield to his temptations. Those who place
themselves in his power by indulging their evil traits of character,
little realize where their course will end. The tempter accomplishes
their ruin, and then employs them to ruin others.
To those who regard themselves as educated and refined, Satan
addresses himself by exciting the imagination to lofty flights in
forbidden fields, leading them to take so great pride in their superior
wisdom that in their hearts they despise the Eternal One. To this
class the great deceiver presents Spiritualism in its more refined
and intellectual aspects, and he thus succeeds in drawing many
into his snare. 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 ma
He appeals to the reason by the presentation of elevating themes,
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he delights the fancy with enrapturing scenes, and he enlists the
affections by his eloquent portrayals of love and charity. 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 ma
to pervert the senses of all who are not shielded by divine power.
To the self-indulgent, the pleasure-loving, the sensual, the
grosser forms of Spiritualism are adapted; and multitudes eagerly
accept teachings that leave them at liberty to follow the inclinations
of the carnal heart. Satan studies every indication of the frailty of
human nature, he marks the sins which each individual is inclined
to commit, and then he takes care that opportunities shall not be
wanting to gratify the tendency to evil. He tempts men to excess in
that which is in itself lawful, causing them through intemperance to
weaken physical, mental, and moral power. He has destroyed and is
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destroying thousands through the indulgence of the passions, thus
brutalizing the entire nature of man. When the people are led to
believe that desire is the highest law, that liberty is license, and that
man is accountable only to himself, who can wonder that corruption
and depravity teem on every hand? The reins of self-control are laid
upon the neck of lust, the powers of mind and soul are made subject
to the animal propensities, and Satan exultingly sweeps into his net
thousands who profess to be followers of Christ.
But none need be deceived by the lying claims of Spiritualism.
God has given the world sufficient light to enable them to discover
the snare. If there were no other evidence, it should be enough for the
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Christian that the spirits make no difference between righteousness
and sin, between the noblest and purest of the apostles of Christ
and the most corrupt of the servants of Satan. By representing the
basest of men as in Heaven, and highly exalted there, Satan virtually
declares to the world, No matter how wicked you are; no matter
whether you believe or disbelieve God and the Bible. Live as you
please; Heaven is your home.
Moreover, the apostles, as personated by these lying spirits, are
made to contradict what they wrote at the dictation of the Holy Spirit
when on earth. They deny the divine origin of the Bible, and thus
tear away the foundation of the Christian’s hope, and put out the