The Great Controversy The Great Controversy | Page 562
are those making a covenant with death and an agreement with hell,
who renounce the truths which Heaven has provided as a defense for the
righteous in the day of trouble, and accept the refuge of lies offered by
Satan in its stead—the delusive pretensions of spiritualism.
Marvelous beyond expression is the blindness of the people of this
generation. Thousands reject the word of God as unworthy of belief
and with eager confidence receive the deceptions of Satan. Skeptics
and scoffers denounce the bigotry of those who contend for the faith
of prophets and apostles, and they divert themselves by holding up
to ridicule the solemn declarations of the Scriptures concerning Christ
and the plan of salvation, and the retribution to be visited upon the
rejecters of the truth. They affect great pity for minds so narrow,
weak, and superstitious as to acknowledge the claims of God and obey
the requirements of His law. They manifest as much assurance as if,
indeed, they had made a covenant with death and an agreement with
hell—as if they had erected an impassable, impenetrable barrier between
themselves and the vengeance of God. Nothing can arouse their fears.
So fully have they yielded to the tempter, so closely are they united with
him, and so thoroughly imbued with his spirit, that they have no power
and no inclination to break away from his snare.
Satan has long been preparing for his final effort to deceive the
world. The foundation of his work was laid by the assurance given to
Eve in Eden: “Ye shall not surely die.” “In the day ye eat thereof, then
your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and
evil.” Genesis 3:4, 5. Little by little he has prepared the way for his
masterpiece of deception in the development of spiritualism. He has not
yet reached the full accomplishment of his designs; but it will be reached
in the last remnant of time. Says the prophet: “I saw three unclean spirits
like frogs; ... they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go
forth
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