Chapter 8: Satan's Miracles




Was spiritism a problem in Bible times?
          Exodus 22: 18- "Do not allow a sorceress to live.
          Deuteronomy 18: 9-12- "When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving
      you, do not learn to imitate the detestable ways of the nations there.  Let no one be
      found among you who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination
      or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, or casts spells, or who is a 
      medium or spiritist or who consults the dead.  Anyone who does these things is detestable
      to the Lord, and because of these detestable practices the Lord your God will drive out
      those nations before you.
          Acts 16: 16-18- "Once when we were going to the place of prayer, we were met 
      by a slave girl who had a spirit by which she predicted the future.  She earned a great
      deal of money for her owners by fortune-telling.  This girl followed Paul and the rest
      of us, shouting, "These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the
      way to be saved."  She kept this up for many days.  Finally Paul became so troubled 
      that he turned around and said to the spirit, "In the name of Jesus Christ I command
      you to come out of her!"  At that moment the spirit left her.
          
How did Satan at times impersonate something or someone
more attractive than himself?
          Genesis 3: 1-5- "Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals
      the Lord God had made.  He said to the woman, "Did God really say, 'You must not eat
      from any tree in the garden'?"  The woman said to the serpent, "We may eat fruit from
      the trees in the garden, but God did say, 'You must not eat fruit from the tree that
      is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.'"  "You
      will not surely die," the serpent said to the woman.  "For God knows that when you
      eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."
          
          1 Samuel 28: 6-14- "He inquired of the Lord, but the Lord did not answer
      him by dreams or Urim or prophets.  Saul then said to his attendants, "Find me a 
      woman who is a medium, so I may go and inquire of her."  "There is one in Endor,"
      they said.  So Saul disguised himself, putting on other clothes, and at night he
      and two men went to the woman.  "Consult a spirit for me," he said, "and bring up
      for me the one I name."  But the woman said to him, "Surely you know what Saul has
      done.  He has cut off the mediums and spiritists from the land.  Why have you set
      a trap for my life to bring about my death?"  Saul swore to her by the Lord, "As 
      surely as the Lord lives, you will not be punished for this."  Then the woman asked,
      "Whom shall I bring up for you?"  "Bring up Samuel," he said.  When the woman saw
      Samuel, she cried out at the top of her voice and said to Saul, "Why have you 
      deceived me? You are Saul!"  The king said to her, "Don't be afraid.  What do
      you see?"  The woman said, "I see a spirit coming up out of the ground."  "What
      does he look like?" he asked.  "An old man wearing a robe is coming up," she said. 
      Then Saul knew it was Samuel, and he bowed down and prostrated himself with his
      face to the ground.
          
Is he still capable of transforming himself into 
that which is desirable?
          2 Corinthians 11: 13-15- "For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen,
      masquerading as apostles of Christ.  And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades
      as an angel of light.  It is not surprising, then, if his servants masquerade as
      servants of righteousness.  Their end will be what their actions deserve.

For what purpose will Satan perform miracles in the very
last days of earth's history?
          Revelation 16: 13-14- "Then I saw three evil spirits that looked like
      frogs; they came out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast
      and out of the mouth of the false prophet.  They are spirits of demons performing
      miraculous signs, and they go out to the kings of the whole world, to gather 
      them for the battle on the great day of God Almighty.
          2 Thessalonians 2: 9-10- "The coming of the lawless one will be in 
      accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles,
      signs and wonders, and in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing.
      They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.
          Matthew 24: 4, 24- "Jesus answered: "Watch out that no one deceives you.
      For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles
      to deceive even the elect--if that were possible.

Where did modern spiritualism begin?
          "I saw that the mysterious knocking in New York [Hydesville, New York,
      in 1848] and other places was the power of Satan, and that such things 
      would be more and more common, clothed in a religious garb so as to lull
      the deceived to greater security and to draw the minds of God's people,
      if possible, to those things and cause them to doubt the teachings and
      power of the Holy Ghost." (EW 43).
          "The mysterious rapping with which modern spiritualism began was not
      the result of human trickery or cunning, but was the direct work of evil
      angels" (GC 553).

In what way is spiritualism now changing its form?
          "Spiritualism is now changing its form and, veiling some of its more objectionable
       features, is assuming a Christian guise...While it formerly denounced Christ
       and the Bible, it now professes to accept both" (ibid. 557, 558).

What is Satan now making special preparation for?
          "Satan has long been preparing for his final effort to deceive the world...Little
       by little he has prepared the way for his masterpiece of deception in the
       development of spiritualism" (ibid. 561).

After what event can we expect a special manifestation
of his marvelous workings?
          "By the decree enforcing the institution of the papacy in violation of the law
       of God, our nation will disconnect herself fully from righteousness.  When 
       Protestantism shall stretch her hand across the gulf to grasp the hand of the Roman
       power, when she shall reach over the abyss to clasp hands with spiritualsim, when,
       under the influence of this threefold union, our country shall repudiate every 
       principle of its Constitution as a Protestant and republican government, and shall
       make provision for the progagation of papal falsehoods and delusions, then we may 
       know that the time ahs come for the marvelous working of Satan and that the end is
       near" (5T 451).

Will the evil spirits advocate the keeping of the Sabbath or Sunday?
          "The miracle-working power manifested through spritualism will exert its influence
       against those who choose to obey God rather than men.  Communications from the
       spirits will declare that God has sent them to convince the rejecters of Sunday
       of their error, affirming the laws of the land should be obeyed as the law of
       God" (GC 590, 591).