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34 - Spiritualism - The Great Controversy · Philosophy and Faith

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Speaker 1: Chapter thirty four. Spiritualism. The ministration of Holy angels, as
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Speaker 1: presented in the scriptures, is a truth most comforting and
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Speaker 1: precious to every follower of Christ. But the Bible teaching
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Speaker 1: upon this point has been obscured and perverted by the
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Speaker 1: errors of popular theology. The doctrine of natural immortality, first
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Speaker 1: borrowed from the Pagan philosophy, and in the darkness of
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Speaker 1: the Great Apostasy, incorporated into the Christian faith, has supplanted
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Speaker 1: the truth so plainly taught in Scripture that the dead
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Speaker 1: know not anything. Multitudes have come to believe that it
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Speaker 1: is the spirits of the dead who are the ministering
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Speaker 1: spirits sent forth to minister for them who shall be
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Speaker 1: heirs of salvation, and this notwithstanding the testimony of Scripture
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Speaker 1: to the existence of heavenly angels and their connection with
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Speaker 1: the history of man before the death of a human being.
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Speaker 1: The doctrine of man's consciousness and death, especially the belief
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Speaker 1: that the spirits of the dead returned to minister to
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Speaker 1: the living, has prepared the way for modern spiritualism. If
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Speaker 1: the dead are admitted to the presence of God and
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Speaker 1: holy Angels, and privileged with knowledge far exceeding what they
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Speaker 1: before possessed. Why should they not return to the earth
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Speaker 1: to enlighten and instruct the living. If, as taught by
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Speaker 1: popular theologians, the spirits of the dead are hovering about
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Speaker 1: their friends on earth, why should they not be permitted
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Speaker 1: to communicate with them, to warn them against evil, or
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Speaker 1: to comfort them in sorrow? How can those who believe
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Speaker 1: in man's consciousness and death reject what comes to them
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Speaker 1: as divine light communicated by glorified spirits. Here is a
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Speaker 1: channel regarded as sacred, through which Satan works for the
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Speaker 1: accomplishment of his purposes. The fallen angels who do his
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Speaker 1: bidding appear as messengers from the spirit world. While professing
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Speaker 1: to bring the living into communication with the dead, the
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Speaker 1: prince of Evil exercises his bewitching influence upon their minds.
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Speaker 1: He has power to bring before men the appearance of
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Speaker 1: their departed friends. The counterfeit is perfect. The familiar look,
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Speaker 1: the words, the tone are reproduced with marvelous distinctness. Many
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Speaker 1: are comforted with the assurance that their loved ones are
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Speaker 1: enjoying the bliss of heaven, and without suspicion of danger.
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Speaker 1: They give ear to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils.
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Speaker 1: When they have been led to believe that the dead
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Speaker 1: actually return to communicate with them, Satan causes those to
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Speaker 1: appear who went into the grave unprepared. They claim to
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Speaker 1: be happy in heaven and even to occupy exalted positions there,
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Speaker 1: and thus the error is widely taught that no difference
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Speaker 1: is made between the righteous and the wicked. The pretended
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Speaker 1: visitants from the world of spirits sometimes utter cautions and
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Speaker 1: warnings which prove to be correct. Then, as confidence is gained,
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Speaker 1: they present doctrines that directly undermine faith in the scriptures.
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Speaker 1: With an appearance of deep interest in the well being
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Speaker 1: of their friends on earth, they insinuate the most dangerous errors.
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Speaker 1: The fact that they state some truths and are able
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Speaker 1: at times to foretell future events gives to their statements
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Speaker 1: an appearance of reliability, and their false teachings are accepted
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Speaker 1: by the multitudes as readily and believed as implicitly as
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Speaker 1: if they were the most sacred truths of the Bible.
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Speaker 1: The law of godess set aside, the spirit of Grace despised,
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Speaker 1: the blood of the Covenant counted an unholy thing. The
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Speaker 1: spirits deny the deity of Christ, and place even the
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Speaker 1: Creator on a level with themselves. Thus, under a new disguise,
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Speaker 1: the great Rebel still carries on his warfare against God,
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Speaker 1: begun in heaven and for nearly six thousand years continued
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Speaker 1: upon the earth. Many endeavor to account for spiritual manifestations
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Speaker 1: by attributing them wholly to fraud and slight of hand
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Speaker 1: on the part of the medium. But while it is
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Speaker 1: true that the results of trickery have often been palmed
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Speaker 1: off as genuine manifestations, there have been also marked exhibitions
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Speaker 1: of supernatural power. The mysterious wrapping with which modern spiritus
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Speaker 1: began was not the result of human trickery or cunning,
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Speaker 1: but was the direct work of evil angels, who thus
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Speaker 1: introduced one of the most successful of soul destroying delusions.
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Speaker 1: Many will be ensnared through the belief that spiritualism is
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Speaker 1: a merely human imposture. When brought face to face with
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Speaker 1: manifestations which they cannot but regard as supernatural, they will
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Speaker 1: be deceived and will be led to accept them as
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Speaker 1: the great power of God. These persons overlook the testimony
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Speaker 1: of the scriptures concerning the wonders wrought by Satan and
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Speaker 1: his agents. It was by Satanic aid that Pharaoh's magicians
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Speaker 1: were enabled to counterfeit the work of God. Paul testifies
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Speaker 1: that before the Second Advent of Christ, there will be
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Speaker 1: similar manifestations of Satanic power. The coming of the Lord
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Speaker 1: is to be preceded by the working of Satan with
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Speaker 1: all power and signs, and lying wonders, and with all
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Speaker 1: deceivableness of unrighteousness. And the apostle John, describing the miracle
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Speaker 1: working power that will be manifested in the life last days, declares,
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Speaker 1: he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come
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Speaker 1: down from Heaven on the earth in the sight of men,
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Speaker 1: and deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the
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Speaker 1: means of those miracles which he had power to do.
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Speaker 1: No mere impostures are herefore told. Men are deceived by
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Speaker 1: the miracles which Satan's agents have power to do, not
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Speaker 1: which they pretend to do. The Prince of Darkness, who
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Speaker 1: has so long bent the powers of his master mind
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Speaker 1: to the work of deception, skillfully adapts his temptations to
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Speaker 1: men of all classes and conditions, to persons of culture
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Speaker 1: and refinement. He presents spiritualism in its more refined and
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Speaker 1: intellectual aspects, and thus succeeds in drawing many into his snare.
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Speaker 1: The wisdom which spiritualism imparts is that described by the
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Speaker 1: apostle James, which descendeth not from above, but is earthly,
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Speaker 1: sensual devilish. This, however, the great deceiver conceals when concealment
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Speaker 1: will best suit his purpose. He who could appear clothed
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Speaker 1: with the brightness of the heavenly seraphs before Christ in
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Speaker 1: the wilderness of temptation, comes to men in the most
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Speaker 1: attractive manner as an angel of light. He appeals to
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Speaker 1: the reason by the presentation of elevating themes. He delights
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Speaker 1: the fancy with enrapturing scenes, and he enlists the affections
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Speaker 1: by his eloquent portrayals of love and charity. He excites
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Speaker 1: the imagination to lofty flights, leading men to take so
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Speaker 1: great pride in their own wisdom that in their hearts
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Speaker 1: they despise the eternal One. That mighty being who could
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Speaker 1: take the world's redeemer to an exceedingly high mountain and
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Speaker 1: bring before him all the kingdoms of the earth and
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Speaker 1: the glory of them, will present his temptations to men
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Speaker 1: in a manner to pervert the senses of all who
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Speaker 1: are not shielded by divine power. Satan beguiles men now
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Speaker 1: as he beguiled even Eden, by flattery, by kindling a
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Speaker 1: desire to obtain forbidden knowledge, by exciting ambition for self exaltation.
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Speaker 1: It was cherishing these evils that caused his fall, and
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Speaker 1: through them he aims to compass the ruin of men.
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Speaker 1: Ye shall be as gods, he declares, knowing good and evil.
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Speaker 1: Spiritualism teaches that man is the creature of progression, that
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Speaker 1: it is his destiny from his birth to progress even
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Speaker 1: to eternity, toward the Godhead. And again, each mind will
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Speaker 1: judge itself and not another. The judgment will be right
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Speaker 1: because it is the judgment of self. The throne is
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Speaker 1: within you. Set a spiritualistic teacher as the spiritual consciousness
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Speaker 1: awoke within him. My fellow men, all were unfallen demigods.
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Speaker 1: And another declares, any just and perfect being is Christ. Thus,
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Speaker 1: in place of the righteousness and perfection of the infinite God,
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Speaker 1: the true object of adoration, in place of the perfect
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Speaker 1: righteousness of His law, the true standard of human attainment,
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Speaker 1: Satan has substituted the sinful, erring nature of man himself
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Speaker 1: as the only object of adoration, the only rule of
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Speaker 1: judgment or standard of character. This is progress, not upward,
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Speaker 1: but downward. It is a law both of the intellectual
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Speaker 1: and the spiritual nature, that by beholding we become changed.
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Speaker 1: The mind gradually adapts itself to the subjects upon which
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Speaker 1: it is allowed to dwell. It becomes assimilated to that
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Speaker 1: which it is accustomed to love and reverence. Man will
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Speaker 1: never rise higher than his standard of purity, or goodness
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Speaker 1: or truth. If self is his loftiest ideal, he will
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Speaker 1: never attain to anything more exalted. Rather, he will constantly
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Speaker 1: sink lower and lower. The grace of God alone has
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Speaker 1: power to exalt man. Left to himself, his course must
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Speaker 1: inevitably be downward. To the self indulgent, the pleasure loving,
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Speaker 1: the sensual spiritualism presents itself under a less subtle disguise
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Speaker 1: than to the more refined and intellectual. In its grosser forms,
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Speaker 1: they find that which is in harmony with their inclines nations.
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Speaker 1: Satan studies every indication of the frailty of human nature.
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Speaker 1: He marks the sins which each individual is inclined to commit,
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Speaker 1: and then he takes care that opportunities shall not be
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Speaker 1: Wanting to gratify the tendency to evil, he tempts men
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Speaker 1: to access in that which is in itself lawful, causing them,
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Speaker 1: through intemperance to weaken physical, mental, and moral power. He
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Speaker 1: has destroyed and is destroying thousands through the indulgence of
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Speaker 1: the passions, thus brutalizing the entire nature of man. And
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Speaker 1: to complete his work, he declares through the spirits that
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Speaker 1: true knowledge places man above all law, that whatever is
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Speaker 1: is right, that God does not condemn, and that all
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Speaker 1: sins which are committed are innocent. When the people are
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Speaker 1: thus led to believe that desire is the highest law,
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Speaker 1: that liberty is licensed, and that man is accountable only
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Speaker 1: to himself, who can wonder that corruption and depravity team
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Speaker 1: on every hand, Multitudes eagerly accept teachings that leave them
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Speaker 1: at liberty to obey the promptings of the carnal heart.
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Speaker 1: The reigns of self control are laid upon the neck
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Speaker 1: of lust, the powers of mind and soul are made
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Speaker 1: subject to the animal propensities, and Satan exultingly sweeps into
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Speaker 1: his net thousands who profess to be followers of Christ,
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Speaker 1: but none need be deceived by the lying claims of spiritualism.
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Speaker 1: God has given the world sufficient light to enable them
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Speaker 1: to discover the snare as already shown. The theory which
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Speaker 1: forms the very foundation of spiritualism is at war with
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Speaker 1: the plainest statements of scripture. The Bible declares that the
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Speaker 1: dead know not anything that their thoughts have perished. They
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Speaker 1: have no part in anything that is done under the sun.
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Speaker 1: They know nothing of the joys or sorrows of those
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Speaker 1: who were dearest to them on earth. Furthermore, God has
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Speaker 1: expressly forbidden all pretended communication with departed spirits. In the
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Speaker 1: days of the Hebrews, there was a class of people
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Speaker 1: who claimed, as do the spiritualists of to day, to
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Speaker 1: hold communion with the dead. But the familiar spirits, as
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Speaker 1: these visitants from other worlds were called, are declared by
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Speaker 1: the Bible to be the spirits of devils. The work
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Speaker 1: of dealing with familiar spirits was pronounced an abomination to
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Speaker 1: the Lord, and was solemnly forbidden under penalty of death.
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Speaker 1: The very name of witchcraft is now held in contempt.
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Speaker 1: The claim that men can hold intercourse with evil spirits
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Speaker 1: is regarded as a fable of the dark ages. But spiritualism,
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Speaker 1: which numbers its converts by hundreds of thousands, yea by millions,
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Speaker 1: which has made its way into scientific circles, which has
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Speaker 1: invaded churches, and has found favor in legislative bodies and
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Speaker 1: even in the courts of kings. This mammoth deception is
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Speaker 1: but a revival in a new disguise of the witchcraft
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Speaker 1: condemned and prohibited of old. If there were no other
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Speaker 1: evidence of the real character of spiritualism, it should be
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Speaker 1: enough for the Christian that the spirits make no difference
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Speaker 1: between righteousness and sin, between the noblest and purest of
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Speaker 1: the apostles of Christ and the most corrupt of the
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Speaker 1: servants of Satan. By representing the basest of men as
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Speaker 1: in Heaven and highly exalted there, Satan says to the world,
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Speaker 1: no matter how wicked you are, no matter whether you
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Speaker 1: believe or disbelieve God in the Bible, live as you please.
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Speaker 1: Heaven is your home. The spiritualist teachers virtually declare, every
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Speaker 1: one that doeth evil is good in the sight of
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Speaker 1: the Lord, and He delighteth in them. Or where is
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Speaker 1: the God of judgment saith the word of God? Woe
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Speaker 1: unto them that call evil good and good evil, that
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Speaker 1: put darkness for light and light for darkness. The apostles,
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Speaker 1: as personated by these lying spirits, are made to contradict
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Speaker 1: what they wrote at the dictation of the Holy Spirit.
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Speaker 1: When on earth, they deny the divine origin of the Bible,
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Speaker 1: and thus tear away the foundation of the Christian's hope
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Speaker 1: and put out the light that reveals the way to heaven.
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Speaker 1: Satan is making the world believe that the Bible is
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Speaker 1: a mere fiction, or at least a book suited to
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Speaker 1: the infancy of the race, but now to be lightly
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Speaker 1: regarded or cast aside as obsolete, and to take the
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Speaker 1: place of the Word of God, he holds out spiritual manifestations.
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Speaker 1: Here is a channel wholly under his control. By this
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Speaker 1: means he can make the world believe what he will.
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Speaker 1: The book that is to judge him and his followers
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Speaker 1: he puts in the shade just where he wants it.
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Speaker 1: The Savior of the world he makes to be no
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Speaker 1: more than a common man. And as the Roman guard
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Speaker 1: that watched the tomb of Jesus spread the lying report
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Speaker 1: which the priests and elders put into their mouths to
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Speaker 1: disprove his resurrection. So do the believers in spiritual manifestations
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Speaker 1: try to make it appear that there is nothing miraculous
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Speaker 1: in the circumstances of our Saviour's life. After thus seeking
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Speaker 1: to put Jesus in the background, they call attention to
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Speaker 1: their own miracles, declaring that these far exceed the works
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Speaker 1: of Christ. It is true that spiritualism is now changing
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Speaker 1: its form and failing some of its more objections features,
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Speaker 1: is assuming a Christian guise, But its utterances from the
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Speaker 1: platform and the press have been before the public for
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Speaker 1: many years, and in these its real character stands revealed.
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Speaker 1: These teachings cannot be denied or hidden even in its
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Speaker 1: present form. So, far from being more worthy of toleration
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Speaker 1: than formerly, it is really a more dangerous because a
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Speaker 1: more subtile deception. While it formerly denounced Christ in the Bible,
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Speaker 1: it now professes to accept both. But the Bible is
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Speaker 1: interpreted in a manner that is pleasing to the unrenewed heart,
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Speaker 1: while its solemn and vital truths are made of no effect.
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Speaker 1: Love is dwelt upon us, the chief attribute of God,
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Speaker 1: but it is degraded to a weak sentimentalism, making little
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Speaker 1: distinction between good and evil. God's justice, his denunciations of sin,
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Speaker 1: the requirements of His Holy Law are all kept out
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Speaker 1: of sight. The people are taught to regard the Decalogue
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Speaker 1: as a dead letter please. Bewitching fables captivate the senses
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Speaker 1: and lead men to reject the Bible as the foundation
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Speaker 1: of their faith. Christ is as verily denied as before,
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Speaker 1: But Satan has so blinded the eyes of the people
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Speaker 1: that the deception is not discerned. There are few who
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Speaker 1: have any just conception of the deceptive power of spiritualism
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Speaker 1: and the danger of coming under its influence. Many tamper
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Speaker 1: with it merely to gratify their curiosity. They have no
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Speaker 1: real faith in it, and would be filled with horror
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Speaker 1: at the thought of yielding themselves to the spirit's control.
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Speaker 1: But they venture upon the forbidden ground, and the mighty
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Speaker 1: destroyer exercises his power upon them against their will. Let
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Speaker 1: them once be induced to submit their minds to his direction,
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Speaker 1: and he holds some captive. It is impossible in their
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Speaker 1: own strength to break away from the bewitching, alluring spell.
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Speaker 1: Nothing but the power of God, granted an answer to
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Speaker 1: the earnest prayer of faith, can deliver these ensnared souls.
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Speaker 1: All who indulge sinful traits of care, or wilfully cherish
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Speaker 1: a known sin, are inviting the temptations of Satan. They
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Speaker 1: separate themselves from God and from the watch care of
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Speaker 1: his angels. As the evil One presents his deceptions, they
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Speaker 1: are without defense and fall an easy prey. Those who
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Speaker 1: thus place themselves in his power little realize where their
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Speaker 1: course will end. Having achieved their overthrow, the tempter will
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Speaker 1: employ them as his agents to lure others to ruin,
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Speaker 1: says the prophet Isaiah. When they shall say, unto you,
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Speaker 1: seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards,
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Speaker 1: that pete and that mutter. Should not a people seek
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Speaker 1: unto their God for the living, to the dead, to
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Speaker 1: the law, and to the testimony. If they speak not
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Speaker 1: according to this word, it is because there is no
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Speaker 1: light in them. If men had been willing to receive
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Speaker 1: the truths so plainly stated in the scriptures concerning the
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Speaker 1: nature of man and the state of the dead, they
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Speaker 1: would see in the claims and manifestations of spiritualism, the
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Speaker 1: working of Satan with power and signs and lying wonders.
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Speaker 1: But rather than yield the liberty so agreeable to the
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Speaker 1: carnal heart and renounce the sins which they love. Multitudes
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Speaker 1: close their eyes to the light and walk straight on,
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Speaker 1: regardless of warnings, while Satan weaves his snares about them
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Speaker 1: and may become his prey. Because they receive not the
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Speaker 1: love of the truth that they might be saved. Therefore
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Speaker 1: God shall send them strong delusion that they should believe
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Speaker 1: a lie. Those who oppose the teachings of spiritualism are
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Speaker 1: assailing not men alone, but Satan and his angels. They
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Speaker 1: have entered upon a contest against principalities and powers and
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Speaker 1: wicked spirits in high places. Satan will not yield one
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Speaker 1: inch of ground, except as he is driven back by
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Speaker 1: the power of heavenly messengers. The people of God should
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Speaker 1: be able to meet him, as did our Savior with
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Speaker 1: the words. It is written. Satan can quote Scripture now
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Speaker 1: as in the days of Christ, and he will pervert
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Speaker 1: its teachings to sustain his delusions. Those who would stand
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Speaker 1: in this time of peril must understand for themselves the
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Speaker 1: testimony of the scriptures. Many will be confronted by the
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Speaker 1: spirits of devils, personating beloved relatives or friends and declaring
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Speaker 1: the most dangerous heresies. These visitants will appeal to our
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Speaker 1: tenderest sympathies and will work miracles to sustain their pretensions.
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Speaker 1: We must be prepared to withstand them with the Bible
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Speaker 1: truth that the dead know not anything, and that they
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Speaker 1: who thus appear are the spirits of devils. Just before
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Speaker 1: us is the hour of temptation which shall come upon
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Speaker 1: all the world to try them that dwell upon the earth.
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Speaker 1: All whose faith is not firmly established upon the word
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Speaker 1: of God will be deceived and overcome. Satan works with
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Speaker 1: all deceivableness of unrighteousness to gain control of the children
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Speaker 1: of men, and his deceptions will continually increase. But he
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Speaker 1: can gain his object only as men voluntarily yield to
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Speaker 1: his temptations. Those who are earnestly seeking a knowledge of
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Speaker 1: the truth and are striving to purify their souls through obedience,
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Speaker 1: thus doing what they can to prepare for the conflict,
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Speaker 1: will find in the God of Truth a sure defense.
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Speaker 1: Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I
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Speaker 1: also will keep thee as the Saviour's promise he would
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Speaker 1: sooner send every angel out of heaven to protect his
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Speaker 1: people than leave one soul that trusts in him to
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Speaker 1: be overcome by Satan. The prophet Isaiah brings to view
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Speaker 1: the fearful deception which will come upon the wicked, causing
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Speaker 1: them to count themselves secure from the judgments of God.
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Speaker 1: We have made a covenant with death and with Hell.
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Speaker 1: Are we at agreement. When the overflowing scourge shall pass through,
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Speaker 1: it shall not come unto us, For we have made
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Speaker 1: lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves.
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Speaker 1: In the class here described are included those who, in
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Speaker 1: their stubborn impenitence, comfort themselves with the assurance that there
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Speaker 1: is to be no punishment for the sinner, that all mankind,
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Speaker 1: it matters not how corrupt are to be exalted to Heaven,
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Speaker 1: to become as the angels of God. But still more
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Speaker 1: emphatically are those making a covenant with death and an
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Speaker 1: agreement with Hell, who renounce the truths which Heaven has
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Speaker 1: provided as a defense for the righteous in the day
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Speaker 1: of trouble, and accept the refuge of lies offered by
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Speaker 1: Satan in its stead. The delusive pretensions of spiritualism marvelous
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Speaker 1: beyond expression is the blindness of the people of this generation.
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Speaker 1: Thousands reject the word of God as unworthy of belief,
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Speaker 1: and with eager confidence receive the deceptions of Satan. Skeptics
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Speaker 1: and scoffers denounce the bigotry of those who contend for
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Speaker 1: the faith of prophets and apostles, and they divert themselves
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Speaker 1: by holding up to ridicule the solemn declarations of the
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Speaker 1: scriptures concerning Christ and the plan of salvation, and the
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Speaker 1: retribution to be visited upon the rejectors of the truth.
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Speaker 1: They affect great pity for minds so narrow, weak, and
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Speaker 1: superstitious as to acknowledge the claims of God and obey
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Speaker 1: the requires of His law. They manifest as much assurance
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Speaker 1: as if indeed they had made a covenant with death
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Speaker 1: and an agreement with Hell, as if they had erected
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Speaker 1: an impassable, impenetrable barrier between themselves and the vengeance of God.
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Speaker 1: Nothing can arouse their fears. So fully have they yielded
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Speaker 1: to the Tempter, So closely are they united with him,
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Speaker 1: and so thoroughly imbued with his spirit, that they have
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Speaker 1: no power and no inclination to break away from his sneer.
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Speaker 1: Satan has long been preparing for his final effort to
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Speaker 1: deceive the world. The foundation of his work was laid
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Speaker 1: by the assurance given to Eve and Eden. Ye shall
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Speaker 1: not surely die in the day ye eat thereof. Then
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Speaker 1: your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods,
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Speaker 1: knowing good and evil. Little by little he has prepared
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Speaker 1: the way for his masterpiece of deception in the development
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Speaker 1: of spiritualism. He has not yet reached the full accomplishment
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Speaker 1: of his designs, but it will be reached in the
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Speaker 1: last remnant of time. Says the Price, I saw three
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Speaker 1: unclean spirits, like frogs. They are the spirits of devils,
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Speaker 1: working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the
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Speaker 1: earth and of the whole world, to gather them to
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Speaker 1: the battle of that great day of God Almighty. Except
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Speaker 1: those who are kept by the power of God through
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Speaker 1: faith in His word, the whole world will be swept
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Speaker 1: into the ranks of this delusion. The people are fast
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Speaker 1: being lulled to a fatal security, to be awakened only
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Speaker 1: by the outpouring of the wrath of God. Saith the
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Speaker 1: Lord God Judgment. Also will I lay to the line,
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Speaker 1: and righteousness to the plummet, and the hail shall sweep
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Speaker 1: away the refuge of lies and the waters shall overflow
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Speaker 1: the hiding place, and your covenant with Death shall be disannulled,
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Speaker 1: and your agreement with Hell shall not stand. When the
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Speaker 1: overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden
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Speaker 1: down by it. End of Chapter thirty four