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36 - The Impending Conflict - The Great Controversy · Sacred Texts Archive

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Chapter thirty six, the impending conflict. From the very beginning of the great
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controversy in Heaven, it has been Satan's purpose to overthrow the Law of God.
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It was to accomplish this that he entered upon his rebellion against the Creator,
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And though he was cast out of Heaven, he has continued the same
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warfare upon the earth. To deceive men and thus lead them to transgress.
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God's Law is the object which he has steadfastly pursued. Whether this be accomplished
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by casting aside the law altogether or by rejecting one of its precepts, the
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result will be ultimately the same. He that offends in one point manifests contempt
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for the whole law. His influence and example are on the side of transgression.
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He becomes guilty of all. In seeking to cast contempt upon the divine
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statutes, Satan has perverted the doctrines of the Bible, and errors have thus
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become incorporated into the faith of thousands who profess to believe the scriptures. The
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last great conflict between truth and error is but the final struggle of the long
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standing controversy concerning the Law of God. Upon this battle we are now entering
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a battle between the laws of men and the precepts of Jehovah, between the
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religion of the Bible and the religion of fable and tradition. The agencies which
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will unite against truth and righteousness in this contest are now actively at work.
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God's Holy Word, which has been handed down to us at such a cost
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of suffering and blood, is but little valued. The Bible is within the
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reach of all, but there are few who really accept it as the guide
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of life. Infidelity prevails to an alarming extent, not in the world merely,
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but in the Church. Many have come to deny doctrines which are the
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very pillars of the Christian faith. The great facts of creation as presented by
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the inspired writers, the fall of Man, the atonement, and the perpetuity
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of the Law of God are practically rejected, either wholly or in part,
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by a large share of the professorbly Christian world. Thousands who pride themselves upon
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their wisdom and independence, regard it as an evidence of weakness to place implicit
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confidence in the Bible. They think it a proof of superior talent and learning
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to cavil at the scriptures and to spiritualize and explain away their most important truths.
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Many ministers are teaching their people, and many professors and teachers are instructing
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their students that the Law of God has been changed or abrogated, and those
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who regard its requirements as still valid to be literally obeyed are thought to be
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deserving only of ridicule or contempt. In rejecting the truth, men reject its
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author In trampling upon the Law of God, they deny the authority of the
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lawgiver. It is as easy to make an idol of false doctrines and theories
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as to fashion an idol of wooter Stone. By misrepresenting the attributes of God,
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Satan leads men to conceive of him in a false character, with many
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a philosophical Idolis enthroned in the place of Jehovah, While the living God,
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as he is revealed in his Word, in Christ and in the works of
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Creation, is worshiped by but few thousands deify nature, while they deny the
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God of Nature. Though in a different form, Idolatry exists in the Christian
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world today as barely as it existed among ancient Israel in the days of Elijah,
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the God of many professedly wise men of philosophers, poets, politicians,
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journalists. The God of polished, fashionable circles of many colleges and universities,
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even of some theological institutions, is little better than bail the Sun, God
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of Phoenicia. No error accepted by the Christian world strikes more boldly against the
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authority of Heaven. None is more directly opposed to the dictates of reason.
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None is more pernicious in its results than the modern doctrine so rapidly gaining ground
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that God's law is no laws longer binding upon men. Every nation has its
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laws which command respect and obedience. No government could exist without them. And
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can it be conceived that the creator of the heavens and the earth has no
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law to govern the beings he has made. Suppose that prominent ministers were publicly
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to teach that the statutes which govern their land and protect the rights of its
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citizens were not obligatory, that they restricted the liberties of the people, and
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therefore ought not to be obeyed. How long would such men be tolerated in
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the pulpit. But is it a graver offense to disregard the laws of states
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and nations than to trample upon those divine precepts which are the foundation of all
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government. It would be far more consistent for nations to abolish their statutes and
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permit the people to do as they please than for the ruler of the universe
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to annul his law and leave the world without a standard to condemn the guilty
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or justify the obedient. Would we know the result of making void the law
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of God The exper has been tried. Terrible were the scenes enacted in France
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when atheism became the controlling power. It was then demonstrated to the world that
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to throw off the restraints which God has imposed is to accept the rule of
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the cruelest of tyrants. When the standard of righteousness is set aside, the
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way is open for the prince of evil to establish his power in the earth.
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Wherever the divine precepts are rejected, sin ceases to appear sinful or righteousness
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desirable. Those who refuse to submit to the government of God are wholly unfitted
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to govern themselves. Through their pernicious teachings, the spirit of insubordination is implanted
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in the hearts of children and youth, who are naturally impatient of control,
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and a lawless, licentious state of society results. While scoffing at the credulity
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of those who obey the requirements of God. The multitudes eagerly accept the delusions
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of Satan. They give the rein to lust and practice the sins which have
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called down judgments upon the heathen. Those who teach the people to regard lightly
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the commandments of God, so disobedience to reap disobedience. Let the restraint imposed
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by the divine law be wholly cast aside, and human laws would soon be
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disregarded. Because God forbids dishonest practices, coveting, lying, and defrauding,
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men are ready to trample upon His statutes as a hindrance to their worldly prosperity.
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But the results of banishing these precepts would be such as they do not
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anticipate. If the law were not binding, why should any fear to transgress?
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Property would no longer be safe, Men would obtain their neighbor's possessions by
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violence, and the strongest would become richest. Life itself would not be respected.
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The marriage vow would no longer stand as a sacred bulwark to protect the
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family. He who had the power, would, if he desired, take
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his neighbor's wife by violence. The fifth commandment would be set aside with the
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fourth. Children would not from taking the life of their parents if by so
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doing they could obtain the desire of their corrupt hearts. The civilized world would
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become a horde of robbers and assassins, and peace, rest, and happiness
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would be banished from the earth. Already, the doctrine that men are released
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from obedience to God's requirements has weakened the force of moral obligation and opened the
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floodgates of iniquity upon the world. Lawlessness, dissipation, and corruption are sweeping
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in upon us like an overwhelming tide. In the family, Satan is at
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work his banner waves. Even in professedly Christian households, there is envy,
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evil, surmising, hypocrisy, estrangement, emulation, strife, betrayal of sacred
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trusts, indulgence of lust. The whole system of religious principles and doctrines,
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which should form the foundation and framework of social life, seems to be a
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tottering mass, ready to fall to ruin. The vilest of criminals, when
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thrown in to prison for their offenses, are often made the recipients of gifts
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and attentions, as if they had attained an enviable distinction. Great publicity is
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given to their character and crimes. The press publishes the revolting details of vice,
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thus initiating others into the practice of fraud, robbery, and murder,
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and Satan exults in the success of his hellish schemes. The infatuation of vice,
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the wanton taking of life, the terrible increase of intemperance and iniquity of
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every order and degree, should arouse all who fear God to inquire what can
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be done to stay the tide of evil. Courts of justice are corrupt,
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Rulers are actuated by desire for gain and love of sensual pleasure. Intemperance has
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beclouded the faculties of many, so that Satan has almost complete control of them.
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Jurists are perverted, bribed, diluted, drunkenness and revelry, passion,
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envy, dishonesty of every sort are represented among those who administer the laws.
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Justice standeth a far off, for truth is fallen in the street, and
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equity cannot enter. The iniquity and spiritual darkness that prevailed under the supremacy of
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Rome were the inevitable result of her suppression of the scriptures. But where is
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to be found the cause of the widespread infidelity, the rejection of the law
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of God, and the consequent corruption under the full blaze of gospel light in
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an age of religious freedom. Now that Satan can no longer keep the world
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under his control by withholding the scriptures, he resorts to other means to accomplish
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the same object. To destroy faith in the Bible serves his purpose as well
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as to destroy the Bible itself. By introducing the belief that God's law is
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not binding, he is effectually leads men to transgress as if they were wholly
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ignorant of its precepts, And now, as in former ages, he has
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worked through the church to further his designs. The religious organizations of the day
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have have refused to listen to unpopular truths plainly brought to view in the scriptures,
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and in combating them, they have adopted interpretations and taken positions which have
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soon broadcast the seeds of skepticism. Clinging to the papal error of natural immortality
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in man's consciousness and death, they have rejected the only defense against the delusions
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of spiritualism. The doctrine of eternal torment has led many to disbelieve the Bible.
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And as the claims of the Fourth Commandment are urged upon the people,
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it is found that the observance of the seventh day Sabbath is enjoined, and
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as the only way to free themselves from a duty which they are unwilling to
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perform. Many popular teachers declare that the law of God is no longer binding.
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Thus they cast away the law and the Sabbath together. As the work
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of Sabbath reform extends, this rejection of the divine law to avoid the claims
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of the Fourth Commandment will become well nigh universal. The teachings of religious teachers
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have opened the door to infidelity, to spiritualism and to contempt for God's Holy
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Law. And upon these leaders rests of fearful responsibility for the iniquity that exists
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in the Christian world. Yet this very class put forth the claim that the
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fast spreading corruption is largely attributable to the desecration of the so called Christian Sabbath,
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and that the enforcement of Sunday observances would greatly improve the morals of society.
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This claim is especially urged in America, where the doctrine of the True
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Sabbath has been most widely preached. Here. The Temperance Work, one of
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the most prominent and important of moral reforms, is often combined with the Sunday
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movement, and the advocates of the latter represent themselves as laboring to promote the
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highest interest of society, and those who refuse to unite with them are denounced
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as the enemies of temperance and reform. But the fact that a movement to
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establish error is connected with a work which is in itself good is not an
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argument in favor of the error. We may disguise poison by mingling it with
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wholesome food, but we do not change its nature. On the contrary,
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it is rendered more dangerous, as it is more likely to be taken unawares.
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It is one of Satan's devices to combine with falsehood just enough truth to
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give it plausibility. The leaders of the Sunday movement may advocate reforms which the
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people meet, principles which are in harmony with the Bible. Yet while there
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is with these a requirement which is contrary to God's law, his servants cannot
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unite with them. Nothing can justify them in setting aside the commandments of God
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for the precepts of men. Through the two great errors, the immortality of
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the soul and Sunday sacredness, Satan will bring the people under his deceptions.
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While the former lays the foundation of spiritualism, the latter creates a bond of
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sympathy with Rome. The Protestants of the United States will be foremost in stretching
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their hands across the gulf to grasp the hand of spiritualism. They will reach
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over the Abyss to clasp hands with the Roman power. And under the influence
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of this threefold union, this country will follow in the steps of Rome in
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trampling on the rights of conscience. As spiritualism more closely imitates the nominal Christianity
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of the day, it has greater power to deceive and ensnare. Satan himself
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is converted after the modern order of things, he will appear in the character
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of an angel of light. Through the agency of spiritualism, miracles will be
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wrought, the sick will be healed, and many undeniable wonders will be performed.
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And as the spirits will profess faith in the Bible and manifest respect for
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the institutions of the Church, their work will be accepted as a manifestation of
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divine power. The line of distinction between professed Christians and the ungodly is now
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hardly distinguishable. Church members love what the world loves and are ready to join
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with them, and Satan determines to unite them in one body, and thus
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strengthen his cause by sweeping all into the ranks of sad spiritualism. Papists who
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boast of miracles as a certain sign of the true Church will be readily deceived
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by this wonder working power, and Protestants, having cast away the shield of
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truth, will also be deluded. Papists, Protestants, and worldlings will alike
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except the form of godliness without the power, and they will see in this
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union a grand movement for the conversion of the world and the ushering in of
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the long expected millennium. Through spiritualism, Satan appears as a benefactor of the
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race, healing the diseases of the people and professing to present a new and
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more exalted system of religious faith. But at the same time he works as
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a destroyer. His temptations are leading multitudes to ruin in temperance dethrones reason,
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sensual indulgence, strife, and bloodshed follow Satan delights in war, for it
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excites the worst passions of the soul and then sweeps into eternity, its victims
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steeped in vice and blood. It is his object to incite the nations to
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war against one another, for he can thus divert the minds of the people
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from the work of preparation to stand in the day of God. Satan works
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through the elements also to garner his harvest of unprepared souls. He has studied
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the secrets of the laboratories of nature, and he uses all his power to
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control the elements as far as God allows. When he was suffered to afflict
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job, how quickly locks and herds, servants, houses, children were swept
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away, one trouble succeeding another, as in a moment. It is God
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that shields his creatures and hedges them in from the power of the destroyer.
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But the Christian world have shown contempt for the law of Jehovah, and the
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Lord will do just what he has declared that he would. He will withdraw
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his blessings from the earth and remove his protecting care from those who are rebelling
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against His law, and teaching and forcing others to do the same. Satan
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has control of all who God does not especially guard. He will favor and
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prosper some in order to further his own designs, and he will bring trouble
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upon others and lead men to believe that it is God who is afflicting them,
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while appearing to the children of men as a great physician who can heal
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all their maladies. He will bring disease and disaster, until populous cities are
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reduced to ruin and desolation. Even now, he is at work in accidents
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and calamities by sea and by land, in great conflagrations, in fierce tornadoes
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and terrific hill storms, in tempests, floods, cyclones, tidal waves,
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and earthquakes. In every place, and in a thousand forms, Satan is
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exercising his power. He sweeps away the ripening harvest, and famine and distress
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follow. He imparts to the air a deadly taint, and thousands perish by
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the pestilence. These visitations are to become more and more frequent, and disastrous
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destruction will be upon both man and beast. Earth mourneth and fadeth away,
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the haughty people do languish. The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof
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because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken, the everlasting
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covenant. And then the great Deceiver will persuade men that those who serve God
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are causing these evils. The class that have provoked the displeasure of heaven will
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charge all their troubles upon those whose obedience to God's commandments is a perpetual reproof
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to transgressors. It will be declared that men are offending God by the violation
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of the Sunday Sabbath, that this sin has brought calamities which will not cease
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until Sunday observants shall be strictly enforced, and that those who present the claims
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of the Fourth Commandment, thus destroying reverence for Sunday, are troublers of the
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people, preventing their restoration to divine favor and temporal prosperity. Thus the accusation
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urged of old against the servant of God will be repeated, and upon grounds
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equally well established. And it came to pass when Ahab saw Elijah, that
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Ahab said unto him, art thou he that troubleth Israel, and he answered,
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I have not troubled Israel, but thou and thy father's house in that
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ye have forsaken the commandments of the Lord, and thou hast followed Balien.
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As the wrath of the people shall be excited by false charges, they will
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pursue a course towards God's ambassadors very similar to that which Apostate Israel pursued toward
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Elijah. The miracle working power manifested through spiritualism will exert its influence against those
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who choose to obey God rather than men. Communications from the spirits will declare
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that God has sent them to convince the rejectors of Sunday of their error,
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affirming that the laws of the land should be obeyed as the law of God.
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They will lament the great wickedness of the world, and second the testimony
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of religious teachers that the degraded state of morals is caused by the desecration of
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Sunday. Great will be the indignation excited against all who reis to accept their
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testimony. Satan's policy in this final conflict with God's people is the same that
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he employed in the opening of the Great controversy in heaven. He professed to
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be seeking to promote the stability of the divine government, while secretly bending every
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effort to secure its overthrow, and the very work which he was thus endeavoring
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to accomplish he charged upon the loyal angels. The same policy of deception has
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marked the history of the Roman Church. It has professed to act as the
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vice cherrant of Heaven while seeking to exalt itself above God and to change his
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law. Under the rule of Rome, those who suffered death for their fidelity
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to the Gospel were denounced as evil doers. They were declared to be in
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league with Satan, and every possible means was employed to cover them with reproach,
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to cause them to appear in the eyes of the people and even to
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themselves, as the violist of criminals. So it will be now, while
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Satan seeks to destroy them those who honor God's law, he will cause them
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to be accused as law breakers, as men who are dishonoring God and bringing
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judgments upon the world. God never forces the will or the conscience, but
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Satan's constant resort to gain control of those whom he cannot otherwise seduce is compulsion
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by cruelty, through fear or force. He endeavors to rule the conscience and
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to secure homage to himself. To accomplish this, he works through both religious
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and secular authorities, moving them to the enforcement of human laws in defiance of
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the law of God. Those who honor the Bible Sabbath will be denounced as
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enemies of law and order, as breaking down the moral restraints of society,
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causing anarchy and corruption, and calling down the judgments of God upon the earth.
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Their conscientious scruples will be pronounced obstinacy, stubbornness, and contempt of authority.
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They will be accused of disaffection toward the government. Ministers who deny the
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obligation of the divine law will present from the pulpit the duty of yielding obedience
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to the civil authorities as ordained of God. In legislative halls and courts of
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justice. Commandment keepers will be misrepresented and condemned. A false coloring will be
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given to their words. The worst construction will be put upon their motives.
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As the Protestant churches reject the clear scriptural arguments in defense of God's law,
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they will long to silence those whose faith they cannot overthrow by the Bible,
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though they blind their own eyes to the fact they are now adopting a course
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which will lead to the persecution of those who conscientiously refuse to do what the
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rest of the Christian world are doing and acknowledge the claims of the papal Sabbath.
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The dignitaries of church and state will unite to bribe, persuade, or
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compel all classes to honor the Sunday. The lack of divine authority will be
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supplied by oppressive enactments. Political corruption is destroying love of justice and regard for
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truth, and even in free America, rulers and legislators, in order to
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secure public favor, will yield to the popular demand for a law enforcing Sunday
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observance. Liberty of conscience, which has cost so great a sacrifice, will
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no longer be respected. In the soon coming conflict, we shall see exemplified
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the prophet's words. The dragon was wroth with the woman and went to make
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war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God and
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have the testimony of Jesus Christ. End of Chapter thirty six