The Great Controversy The Great Controversy | Page 524

they would realize their own littleness and would be content with that
which has been revealed for themselves and their children.
It is a masterpiece of Satan’s deceptions to keep the minds of men
searching and conjecturing in regard to that which God has not made
known and which He does not intend that we shall understand. It was
thus that Lucifer lost his place in heaven. He became dissatisfied because
all the secrets of God’s purposes were not confided to him, and he
entirely disregarded that which was revealed concerning his own work in
the lofty position assigned him. By arousing the same discontent in the
angels under his command, he caused their fall. Now he seeks to imbue
the minds of men with the same spirit and to lead them also to disregard
the direct commands of God.
Those who are unwilling to accept the plain, cutting truths of
the Bible are continually seeking for pleasing fables that will quiet
the conscience. The less spiritual, self-denying, and humiliating the
doctrines presented, the greater the favor with which they are received.
These persons degrade the intellectual powers to serve their carnal
desires. Too wise in their own conceit to search the Scriptures with
contrition of soul and earnest prayer for divine guidance, they have no
shield from delusion. Satan is ready to supply the heart’s desire, and
he palms off his deceptions in the place of truth. It was thus that the
papacy gained its power over the minds of men; and by rejection of
the truth because it involves a cross, Protestants are following the same
path. All who neglect the word of God to study convenience and policy,
that they may not be at variance with the world, will be left to receive
damnable heresy for religious truth. Every conceivable form of error
will be accepted by those who willfully reject the truth. He who looks
with horror upon one deception will readily receive another. The apostle
Paul, speaking of a class who “received not the love of the truth, that they
might be saved,” declares: “For this cause God shall send them strong
delusion, that they should believe a lie: that they

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