infinite God , the true object of adoration ; in place of the perfect righteousness of His law , the true standard of human attainment , Satan has substituted the sinful , erring nature of man himself as the only object of adoration , the only rule of judgment , or standard of character . This is progress , not upward , but downward .
It is a law both of the intellectual and the spiritual nature that by beholding we become changed . The mind gradually adapts itself to the subjects upon which it is allowed to dwell . It becomes assimilated to that which it is accustomed to love and reverence . Man will never rise higher than his standard of purity or goodness or truth . If self is his loftiest ideal , he will never attain to anything more exalted . Rather , he will constantly sink lower and lower . The grace of God alone has power to exalt man . Left to himself , his course must inevitably be downward .
To the self-indulgent , the pleasure-loving , the sensual , spiritualism presents itself under a less subtle disguise than to the more refined and intellectual ; in its grosser forms they find that which is in harmony with their inclinations . 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 destroying thousands through the indulgence of the passions , thus brutalizing the entire nature of man . And to complete his work , he declares , through the spirits that “ true knowledge places man above all law ;” that “ whatever is , is right ;” that “ God doth not condemn ;” and that “ all sins which are committed are innocent .” When the people are thus 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
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