The Great Controversy The Great Controversy | Page 553
them in sorrow? How can those who believe in man’s consciousness
in death reject what comes to them as divine light communicated by
glorified spirits? Here is a channel regarded as sacred, through which
Satan works for the accomplishment of his purposes. The fallen angels
who do his bidding appear as messengers from the spirit world. While
professing to bring the living into communication with the dead, the
prince of evil exercises his bewitching influence upon their minds.
He has power to bring before men the appearance of their departed
friends. The counterfeit is perfect; the familiar look, the words, the
tone, are reproduced with marvelous distinctness. Many are comforted
with the assurance that their loved ones are enjoying the bliss of heaven,
and without suspicion of danger, they give ear “to seducing spirits, and
doctrines of devils.”
When they have been led to believe that the dead actually return to
communicate with them, Satan causes those to appear who went into
the grave unprepared. They claim to be happy in heaven and even
to occupy exalted positions there, and thus the error is widely taught
that no difference is made between the righteous and the wicked. The
pretended visitants from the world of spirits sometimes utter cautions
and warnings which prove to be correct. Then, as confidence is gained,
they present doctrines that directly undermine faith in the Scriptures.
With an appearance of deep interest in the well-being of their friends
on earth, they insinuate the most dangerous errors. The fact that they
state some truths, and 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 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 deity of Christ and place even the
Creator on a level with themselves. Thus under a new disguise the great
rebel
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