Snares of Satan
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The great controversy
between Christ and Satan, that has
been carried forward for nearly six
thousand years, is soon to close; and
the wicked one redoubles his efforts
to defeat the work of Christ in
man’s behalf and to fasten souls
in his snares. To hold the people in
darkness and impenitence until the
Savior’s mediation is ended, and
there is no longer a sacrifice for
sin, is the object that he seeks to
accomplish.
When there is no
special effort made to resist his
power, when indifference prevails in
the church and the world, Satan is
not concerned; for he is in no danger
of losing those whom he is leading
captive at his will. However, when
the attention is called to eternal
things, and souls are inquiring,
“What must I do to be
saved?” he is on the ground,
seeking to match his power against
the power of Christ and to counteract
the influence of the Holy Spirit.
The Scriptures declare
that upon one occasion, when the
angels of God came to present
themselves before the Lord, Satan
came also among them (Job 1:6), not
to bow before the Eternal King, but
to further his own malicious designs
against the righteous. With the same
object, he is in attendance when men
assemble for the worship of God.
Though hidden from sight, he is
working with all diligence to control
the minds of the worshipers. Like a
skillful general, he lays his plans
beforehand. As he sees the messenger
of God searching the Scriptures, he
takes note of the subject to be
presented to the people. Then he
employs all his cunning and
shrewdness so to control
circumstances that the message may
not reach those whom he is deceiving
on that very point. The one who most
needs the warning will be urged into
some business transaction that
requires his presence, or will by
some other means be prevented from
hearing the words that might prove to
him a savor of life unto life.
Again, Satan sees the
Lord’s servants burdened because
of the spiritual darkness that
enshrouds the people. He hears their
earnest prayers for divine grace and
power to break the spell of
indifference, carelessness, and
indolence. Then with renewed zeal, he
plies his arts. He tempts men to the
indulgence of appetite or to some
other form of self-gratification, and
thus benumbs their sensibilities so
that they fail to hear the very
things that they most need to learn.
Satan well knows that
all whom he can lead to neglect
prayer and the searching of the
Scriptures, will be overcome by his
attacks. Therefore, he invents every
possible device to engross the mind.
There has ever been a class
professing godliness, who, instead of
following on to know the truth, make
it their religion to seek some fault
of character or error of faith in
those with whom they do not agree.
Such are Satan’s right-hand
helpers. Accusers of the brethren are
not few, and they are always active
when God is at work and His servants
are rendering Him true homage. They
will put a false coloring upon the
words and acts of those who love and
obey the truth. They will represent
the most earnest, zealous,
self-denying servants of Christ as
deceived or deceivers. It is their
work to misrepresent the motives of
every true and noble deed, to
circulate insinuations, and arouse
suspicion in the minds of the
inexperienced. In every
conceivable manner, they will seek to
cause that which is pure and
righteous to be regarded as foul and
deceptive. However, none need to be
deceived concerning them. It may be
readily seen whose children they are,
whose example they follow, and whose
work they do. “Ye shall know
them by their fruits.” Matthew
7:16. Their course resembles that of
Satan, the envenomed slanderer,
“the accuser of our
brethren.” Revelation 12:10.
The great deceiver has
many agents ready to present any and
every kind of error to ensnare souls
– heresies prepared to suit the
varied tastes and capacities of those
whom he would ruin. It is his plan to
bring into the church insincere,
unregenerate elements that will
encourage doubt and unbelief, and
hinder all who desire to see the work
of God advance and to advance with
it. Many who have no real faith in
God or in His word assent to some
principles of truth and pass as
Christians, and thus they are enabled
to introduce their errors as
Scriptural doctrines.
The position that it
is of no consequence what men believe
is one of Satan’s most
successful deceptions. He knows that
the truth, received in the love of
it, sanctifies the soul of the
receiver; therefore, he is constantly
seeking to substitute false theories,
fables, and another gospel. From the
beginning, the servants of God have
contended against false teachers, not
merely as vicious men, but as
inculcators of falsehoods that were
fatal to the soul. Elijah, Jeremiah,
Paul, firmly and fearlessly opposed
those who were turning men from the
word of God. That liberality which
regards a correct religious faith as
unimportant found no favor with these
holy defenders of the truth.
The vague and fanciful
interpretations of Scripture, and the
many conflicting theories concerning
religious faith, that are found in
the Christian world are the work of
our great adversary to confuse minds
so that they shall not discern the
truth. Moreover, the discord and
division that exists among the
churches of Christendom are in a
great measure due to the prevailing
custom of wresting the Scriptures to
support a favorite theory. Instead of
carefully studying God’s word
with humility of heart to obtain a
knowledge of His will, many seek only
to discover something odd or
original.
In order to sustain
erroneous doctrines or unchristian
practices, some will seize upon
passages of Scripture separated from
the context, perhaps quoting half
single verse as proving the point,
when the remaining portion would show
the meaning to be quite the opposite.
With the cunning of the serpent they
entrench themselves behind
disconnected utterances construed to
suit their carnal desires. Thus do
many willfully pervert the word of
God. Others, who have an active
imagination, seize upon the figures
and symbols of Holy Writ, interpret
them to suit their fancy, with little
regard to the testimony of Scripture
as its own interpreter, and then they
present their vagaries as the
teachings of the Bible.
Whenever the study of
the Scriptures is entered upon
without a prayerful, humble,
teachable spirit, the plainest and
simplest as well as the most
difficult passages will be wrested
from their true meaning. The papal
leaders select such portions of
Scriptures as best serve their
purpose, interpret to suit
themselves, and then present these to
the people, while they deny them the
privilege of studying the Bible and
understanding its sacred truths for
themselves. The whole Bible should be
given to the people just as it reads.
It would be better for them not to
have Bible instructions at all than
to have the teaching of the
Scriptures thus grossly
misrepresented.
The Bible was designed
to be a guide to all who wish to
become acquainted with the will of
their Maker. God gave to men the sure
word of prophecy; angels and even
Christ Himself came to make known to
Daniel and John the things that must
shortly come to pass. Those important
matters that concern our salvation
were not left involved in mystery.
They were not revealed in such a way
as to perplex and mislead the honest
seeker after truth. The Lord said by
the prophet Habakkuk: “Write the
vision, and make it plain, …
that he may run that readeth
it.” Habakkuk 2:2. The word of
God is plain to all who study it with
a prayerful heart. Every truly honest
soul will come to the light of truth.
“Light is sown for the
righteous.” Psalm 97:11.
Moreover, no church can advance in
holiness unless its members are
earnestly seeking for truth as for
hid treasure.
By the cry,
Liberality, men are blinded to the
devices of their adversary, while he
is all the time working steadily for
the accomplishment of his object. As
he succeeds in supplanting the Bible
by human speculations, the law of God
is set aside, and the churches are
under the bondage of sin while they
claim to be free.
To many, scientific
research has become a curse. God has
permitted a flood of light to be
poured upon the world in discoveries
in science and art; but even the
greatest minds, if not guided by the
word of God in their search, become
bewildered in their attempts to
investigate the relations of science
and revelation.
Human knowledge of
both material and spiritual things is
partial and imperfect; therefore,
many are unable to harmonize their
views of science with Scripture
statements. Many accept mere theories
and speculations as scientific facts,
and they think that God’s word
is to be tested by the teachings of
“science falsely so
called.” 1 Timothy 6:20. The
Creator and His works are beyond
their comprehension; and because they
cannot explain these by natural laws,
Bible history is regarded as
unreliable. Those who doubt the
reliability of the records of the Old
and New Testaments too often go a
step further and doubt the existence
of God and attribute infinite power
to nature. Having let go their
anchor, they are left to beat about
upon the rocks of infidelity.
Thus, many err from
the faith and are seduced by the
devil. Men have endeavored to be
wiser than their Creator; human
philosophy has attempted to search
out and explain mysteries, which will
never be revealed through the eternal
ages. If men would but search and
understand what God has made known of
Himself and His purposes, they would
obtain such a view of the glory,
majesty, and power of Jehovah that
they would realize their own
littleness and would be content with
that which has been revealed for
themselves and their children.
It is a masterpiece of
Satan’s deceptions to keep the
minds of men searching and
conjecturing in regard to that which
God has not made known and which He
does not intend that we shall
understand. It was thus that Lucifer
lost his place in heaven. He became
dissatisfied because all the secrets
of God’s purposes were not
confided to him, and he entirely
disregarded that which was revealed
concerning his own work in the lofty
position assigned to him. By
arousing the same discontent in the
angels under his command, he caused
their fall. Now he seeks to imbue the
minds of men with the same spirit and
to lead them also to disregard the
direct commands of God.
Those who are willing
to accept the plain, cutting truths
of the Bible are continually seeking
for pleasing fables that will quiet
the conscience. The less spiritual,
self-denying, and humiliating the
doctrines presented, the greater the
favor with which they are received.
These persons degrade the
intellectual powers to serve their
carnal desires. Too wise in their own
conceit to search the Scriptures with
contrition of soul and earnest prayer
for divine guidance, they have no
shield from delusion. Satan is ready
to supply the heart’s desire,
and he palms off his deceptions in
the place of truth. It was thus that
the papacy gained its power over the
minds of men; and by rejection of the
truth because it involves a cross,
Protestants are following the same
path. All who neglect the word of God
to study convenience and policy, that
they may not be at variance with the
world, will be left to receive
damnable heresy for religious truth.
Those who willfully reject the truth
will accept every conceivable error.
He who looks with horror upon one
deception will readily receive
another. The apostle Paul, speaking
of a class who “received not the
love of the truth, that they might be
saved,” declares: “For this
cause God shall send them a strong
delusion, that they should believe a
lie: that they all might be damned
who believed not the truth, but had
pleasure in unrighteousness.” 2
Thessalonians 2:10-12. With such a
warning before us, it behooves us to
be on guard as to what doctrines we
receive.
Among the most
successful agencies of the great
deceiver are the delusive teachings
and lying wonders of spiritualism.
Disguised as an angel of light, he
spreads his nets where least
suspected. If men were to study the
Book of God with earnest prayer that
they might understand it, they would
not be left in darkness to receive
false doctrines. However, as they
reject the truth they fall a prey to
deception.
Another dangerous
error is the doctrine that denies the
deity of Christ, claiming that He had
no existence before the advent to
this world. This theory is received
with favor by a large class who
profess to believe the bible; yet it
directly contradicts the plainest
statements of our Savior concerning
His relationship with the Father, His
divine character, and His
pre-existence. It cannot be
entertained without the most
unwarranted wresting of the
Scriptures. It not only lowers
man’s conceptions of the work of
redemption, but also undermines faith
in the Bible as a revelation from
God. While this renders it the more
dangerous, it makes it harder to
meet. If men reject the testimony of
the inspired Scriptures concerning
the deity of Christ, it is in vain to
argue the point with them; for no
argument, however conclusive, could
convince them. “The natural man
receiveth not the things of the
Spirit of God: for they are
foolishness unto him: neither can he
know them, because they are
spiritually discerned.” 1
Corinthians 2:14. None who hold this
error can have a true conception of
the character or the mission of
Christ, or of the great plan of God
for man’s redemption.
Still another subtle
and mischievous error is the
fast-spreading belief that Satan has
no existence as a personal being;
that the name is used in Scripture
merely to represent men’s evil
thoughts and desires.
The teaching so widely
echoed from popular pulpits, that the
second advent of Christ is His coming
to each individual at death, is a
device to divert the minds of men
from His personal coming in the
clouds of heaven. For years Satan has
thus been saying, “Behold, He is
in the secret chambers” (Matthew
24:23-26); and accepting this
deception has lost many souls.
Again, worldly wisdom
teaches that prayer is not essential.
Men of science claim that there can
be no real answer to prayer; that
this would be a violation of law, a
miracle, and miracles have no
existence. The universe, they say, is
governed by fixed laws, and God
Himself does nothing contrary to
these laws. Thus, they represent God
as bound by His own laws – as if
the operation of divine laws could
exclude divine freedom. Such teaching
is opposed to the testimonies of the
Scriptures. Did Christ and His
apostle’s work miracles? The
same compassionate Savior lives
today, and He is as willing to listen
to the prayer of faith as when He
walked visibly among men. The natural
co-operates with the supernatural. It
is a part of God’s plan to grant
us, in answer to the prayer of faith,
that which He would not bestow did we
not thus ask.
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