Testimonies for the Church, Volume 2 - Ellen G. White

saints. He does not exert his power upon those who
are all covered up with deception and walled in by
fables and error, and who make no effort to receive
and obey the truth. He knows he is sure of them;
but those who are seeking for truth, that they may
obey it in the love of it, are the ones who excite his
malice and stir his ire. He can never weaken them
while they keep close to Jesus; therefore he is
pleased when he can lead them in a course of
disobedience.
When we sin against God, there is a disposition
to fall behind Jesus a day's journey; we seek to
separate from His company because it is
distasteful, for every ray of light from His divine
presence points to the sin of which we have been
guilty. Satan exults over the sins which he has
induced souls to commit, and he makes the most of
all these failures and sins. He rehearses them to the
angels of God, and taunts them with these
weaknesses and failures. He is in every sense an
accuser of the brethren, and exults over every sin
and wrong which God's people are beguiled to
commit. You, Brother V, have been engaged in this
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