Our safeguard in all business transactions is the love and fear of God.
There are in our world today the same dishonest practices that preiled before the Flood swept the world of its pollution, and that prevailed in Sodom before the wicked inhabitants of this city were consumed by fire from heaven. Satan will devise dream-like prospects of great gain. Thus he seeks to enlist men in his service and to engross their attention with the things of the world. Representations are made that are positively untrue. . . .
By the exaggerated accounts presented to the people, money that ought to flow into the treasury of God just when it is needed is diverted to other purposes. Investments in mines and land are described as a sure unfailing source of gain; and to obtain means for the cause is the plea. The glowing descriptions have led God-loving, God-fearing men to invest thousands of dollars in mines. They were told that thus they would be enabled to assist the cause. But what does the after-sight show? They lost all they invested, getting nothing for their money.
The intoxicating craze for these investments originates with Satan. Thus he seeks to absorb the revenue which should be used to good advantage in God's work. We are safe only as our souls are sanctified by the truth. If the truth is planted in the heart by the Holy Spirit, God will make the discernment clear as to what is right and what is wrong. . . .
If Satan paves the way for further evil by making the speculation successful, how terrible is the result. The man's ambition is aroused. He wants money to spend as he desires. The means he obtains so easily he spends unwisely and unlawfully. --Manuscript 26, Diary entry, January 7, 1890. 15MR 69
For in vain is the net spread in the sight of any bird! But, when these men set a trap for others, they are lying in wait for their own blood; they set an ambush for their own lives. So are the ways of everyone who is greedy of gain; such greed for plunder takes away the lives of its possessors. Proverbs 1:17-19 (Amplified Bible)