No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other; or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.--Matthew 6:24
Either the evil angels or the angels of God are controlling the minds of men. Our minds are given to the control of God or to the control of the powers of darkness; and it will be well for us to inquire where we are standing today--whether under the blood-stained banner of Prince Emmanuel or under the black banner of the powers of darkness.
In the place of being doers of the word, in the place of receiving the Word of God into good and honest hearts, in the place of working with all their might in harmony with heaven, [men] have hugged their sins to themselves. And then what? The seal of God could not be upon them, and when calamities came, when placed in perilous positions, those very ones have gone down into the grave; and they will not come up in the first resurrection. They will not see the King in His beauty. They were lost simply because they took their own way. They broke away from the Spirit of God and kept venturing and venturing, and tasting and testing the wiles of the devil.
We are coming right upon the time when Satan is to work with all manner of bewitching influences, and those that are charmed with them now, or give them the least countenance now, will be all ready to be swept right in to act a part with the devil then. Evil angels are working all the time upon the hearts of men. Satan is working with everyone who is not under the control of the Spirit of God. It is the lying wonders of the devil that will take the world captive, and he will cause fire to come down from heaven in the sight of men. He is to work miracles; and this wonderful, miracle-working power is to sweep in the whole world. It is now just beginning. (Manuscript 1, February 1, 1890)
REFLECTION: Christians are to keep themselves distinct and separate from the world, its spirit, and its influences. God is fully able to keep us in the world, but we are not to be of the world. His love is not uncertain and fluctuating. Ever He watches over His children with a care that is measureless. But He requires undivided allegiance. (Prophets and Kings, 59)