ring before men the appearance of their departed friends.
The counterfeit is perfect; the familiar look, the words, the tone, are
reproduced with marvelous distinctness. Many are comforted with the
assurance that their loved ones are enjoying the bliss of heaven; and
without suspicion of danger, they give ear to "seducing spirits, and
doctrines of devils."

When they have been led to believe that the dead actually return to
communicate with them, Satan causes those to appear who went into the
grave unprepared. They claim to be happy in heaven, and even to occupy
exalted positions there; and thus the error is widely taught, that no
difference is made between the righteous and the wicked. The pretended
visitants from the world of spirits sometimes utter cautions and warnings
which prove to be correct. Then, as confidence is gained, they present
doctrines that directly undermine faith in the Scriptures. With an
appearance of deep interest in the well-being of their friends on earth,
they insinuate the most dangerous errors. The fact that they state some
truths, and are able at times to foretell future events, gives to their
statements an appearance of reliability; and their false teachings are
accepted by the multitudes as readily, and believed as implicitly, as if
they were the most sacred truths of the Bible. The law of God is set
aside, the Spirit of grace despised, the blood of the covenant counted an
unholy thing. The spirits deny the deity of Christ, and place even the
Creator on a level with themselves. Thus under a new disguise the great
rebel still carries on his warfare against God, begun in heaven, and for
nearly six thousand years continued upon the earth.

Many endeavor to account for spiritual manifestations by attributing them
wholly to fraud and sleight of hand on the part of the medium. But while
it is true that the results of trickery have often been palmed off as
genuine manifestations, there have been, also, marked exhibitions of
supernatural power. 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, who thus introduced one of the most successful of
soul-destroying delusions. Many will be ensnared through the belief that
Spiritualism is a merely human imposture; when brought face to face with
manifestations which they cannot but regard as supernatural, they will be
deceived, and will be led to accept them as