Right living flows only from right being. The heart is the seat of character and the fountain of conduct. Can a fountain send forth sweet water and bitter at the same time? Do men gather grapes of thorns or figs of thistles? These questions answer themselves without a word of comment.
Now the Bible enforces it as essential truth, that in order to be right in conduct, in God’s sight, we must have a heart that is in harmony with God—and this means, as we very well know, that we must have a new heart, a heart new-created in us by the power of the Spirit of God. The ethical code of the Bible presupposes, in order to its practise, a new and spiritual life in the soul, by as clear a necessity as light implies an eye, as music implies an ear, as friends imply affections, and as science implies an understanding. Hence the doctrine of regeneration by the Holy Spirit, and the doctrine of the divine indwelling with the soul of the believer, pervades the whole Bible; and a special mission of the Christian religion is to help us into the experience of this new life, that our way may be pure in God’s sight.—C. T. Wilson in Preacher’s Helper.
XXXVII. A Redeemed Company
GOD, in His great goodness, anticipates for His children. He presents before them the trials through which they must pass. He does not in any wise minimize these; He does not belittle them. By every means of reaching human understanding, He reveals the secret and cruel designs of the enemy and the sufferings of His people. But He assures them of the grace sufficient to meet the trials, and anticipates for them the glorious outcome and the blessed inheritance beyond.
In Revelation 13 He has revealed to us the great world powers which the enemy has used against His children, with a special reference to their development in the last days. In the fourteenth chapter, verses 6 to 14, He has given us a message against these powers. But before the message is given, He wishes to assure us of the glorious triumph of those who are faithful to Him.
In the thirteenth chapter we have presented a class that have the mark of the beast and his image, that are his worshipers. In the fourteenth chapter we have another class, that bear the mark of God, and are HIS worshipers. These are they with whom our lesson to-day deals.
Questioning the Text
[The answers to the questions are from the American Revised Version. Omitting questions, and disregarding sometimes the capital at the beginning and the period at the close of an answer, the text may be read continuously. In notes and comments both versions are used without designation.]
1. After the vision of the beasts, what was shown John?
And I saw, and behold, the Lamb standing on the Mount Zion.
2. Who were with the Lamb on Mount Zion?
And with Him a hundred and forty and four thousand.
3. What special characteristic was noted of this company?
Having His name, and the name of His Father, written on their foreheads.
4. What did he hear?
And I heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of a great thunder.
5. From whom did this voice come?
And the voice which I heard was as the voice of harpers harping with their harps.
6. What did they sing?
And they sing as it were a new song before the throne, and before the four living creatures and the elders.
7. What particular characteristic is given of this song?
And no man could learn the song save the hundred and forty and four thousand, even they that had been purchased out of the earth.
8. What is further said of this one hundred and forty and four thousand?
These are they that were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These are they that follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth.
9. From what and for what purpose were they gathered?
These were purchased from among men, to be the first-fruits unto God and unto the Lamb.
10. What is said of their character?
And in their mouth was found no lie; they are without blemish.
Note and Comment
1. THE LAMB.—The term "the Lamb" evidently refers to Rev. 5: 6. John first saw the Lamb standing as tho it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God. Christ was there shown in His sacrificial work, His saving work for the sons of men. He is here shown in His triumph. The Lamb of sacrifice is the Lion of the tribe of Judah, and the Lion of the tribe of Judah has conquered through the sacrifice of the Lamb. He stands not on earthly Mount Zion, which has been ravaged by the enemy for centuries, but on the Mount Zion of the heavenly Jerusalem (Heb. 12: 22), where rests the city of the living God.
One would gather from the united evidence of the various scriptures treating upon the theme, that the garden of God planted in Eden in the beginning, guarded from sin by the flaming cherubim, was afterward removed from the earth. In this garden arose the city of God, not made with hands. That city is the new Jerusalem, the city of promise, even as God's children are the children of promise. That city will be the capital of the restored earth, and there Christ our King begins His eternal reign over the glorified children of men.
2. THE HUNDRED AND FORTY AND FOUR THOUSAND.—Twelve times twelve thousand—twelve thousand for every tribe. (See the article in this series on Revelation 7.)
The twelve thousand are sealed from each one of the twelve tribes. This is not the whole company of the redeemed. These are referred to in Revelation 7 as "a great multitude, which no man could number, out of every nation and of all tribes and peoples and tongues." But this company with the Lamb is a special company, as we will learn later.
The hundred and forty and four thousand may be representative simply, may be only the males. The Bible method of numbering is to number the males from a certain age to a certain age. Women and children and youth are always included; and so this representative number of a hundred and forty and four thousand may be so many representative characters of others. It need not be a matter of discussion or difference in any way. God has not expressly revealed it, and it is safe to leave it with Him. The one lesson that we can gather from it is that God cares so much for His children that every step in their redemption is remembered and recorded by Him with the exact number gathered out of every generation.
3. THE NAME.—The hundred and forty and four thousand bear the characteristic of having the name of the Father and the name of the Son shining from their foreheads. Name in the Bible signifies character. The name of the Father represents that character for which the Father stands; the name of the Son, that character for which the Son stands. The character of the Father and the meaning of His name are clearly set forth in Ex. 34: 5-7: "And Jehovah descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of Jehovah. And Jehovah passed by before him, and proclaimed, Jehovah, Jehovah, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abundant in loving-kindness and truth; keeping loving-kindness for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin; and that will by no means clear the guilty." This is the character of God, and this is the name, the character, the righteousness, which through faith in Christ is placed upon every repentant believer. It is imputed to him for the one which he formerly possessed. Therefore Jesus declares in His wonderful prayer, "I manifested THY NAME unto the men whom Thou gavest Me out of the world." John 17: 6. "Holy Father, keep them in Thy name which Thou hast given Me." Verse 11. Jesus Christ manifested to the world the character of the Father, and this character is the "righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ unto all them that believe; for there is no distinction."
The name of the Lamb, or of the Son of God, stands for absolute humiliation, for self-emptying in order that God may come in and fill the soul. "Have this mind in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: who, existing in the form of God, counted not the being on an equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men; and being found in fashion as7a man, He humbled Himself, becoming obedient even unto death, yea, the death of the cross. Wherefore also God highly exalted Him." Phil. 2: 5-9. Even so the hundred and forty and four thousand are those who have emptied themselves in order that God might fill them with the spirit of service. And therefore God has highly exalted them, placed upon them His own visible character and the character of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is written on their foreheads. The stamp of Godlike nobility is placed upon them. They are visible representatives of Him.
4. A VOICE.—How many times we read in the Scriptures of a voice, not a sound; there may be a sound without voice. That sound may be indeterminate, may not represent any kind of thing or character; but a voice represents something. This voice which John heard was from heaven. Sometimes we are told that God's children never go to heaven, that heaven is an utterly indefinite place; but John heard this voice from heaven. It came from somewhere. It sounded like the voice of many waters. Those who have stood by the great Niagara, and listened to the overpouring of its teeming, never-ending flow of waters, know something of the deep-toned fulness of music which the roar of the waters resembles. It was like the voice of a great thunder. There was power and fulness in the voice from heaven. The whole description indicates the fulness of God's power in the voice. Those from whom the voice came were willing to be God's voice here in this world. When the priests and Levites came to John the Baptist and asked him who he was, he did not tell his long priestly lineage, as did another of his generation—Josephus; he did not tell them of the great ancestry through which he had come; he did not tell them that his father, Zacharias, had been an honorable priest in the temple; he was content to say, "I am the VOICE of one crying in the wilderness," simply a voice, but a voice of God. So it is with these of whom John was the type. He preceded our Lord at His first advent; these have preceded our Lord at His second advent. They have been content, amid the multitude of this world's voices, to echo the truth of the wonderful prophecies of God's Word. What wonder is it that, in their triumph, there should come a voice from heaven filled with the fulness of the power of God, as well as the fulness of the music of heaven!
5. A VOICE OF HARPERS.—It was a voice of triumph. It was not a voice of those who were wailing or weeping, not a voice of trumpets of men preparing for battle, not a voice of jollity or glee or madness; it was the voice of triumphal melody which the prophet heard, the voices of harpers singing praise to Him through whom the victory had been won.
6. A NEW SONG.—There is an accompaniment to the harping, there is a song of joy with the playing. The voice of the harp indicates the joy, and the new song indicates a new and glorious triumph. It was not only a new song to them; it was a new song before the throne, and all those glorious beings represented by the four living creatures and the elders. It was a song that had never been heard before. Angels had sung there, but angels had never been bound and cursed and degraded and slain by sin. This song came from those who had been all this; they had been slaves of sin, they had been born in sin, they had had all the infirmities which sin could bring, but over all these they had triumphed gloriously, and stood before the throne.
We can imagine how the very endless archways of heaven would ring with the echoes of the new song, heard for the first time in the glorious temple of God above, and how from seraphim and cherubim would come back the echo of praise to God for the new note of triumph which they had heard for the first time, and how greater honor itself would be paid to the Lamb who had brought it all about by His sacrifice and death.
7. NO MAN COULD LEARN.—Why? It is not difficult to conjecture. The conclusion is almost absolutely necessary that the only reason why none could learn that song was because none others had gone through that experience. The Lamentations represent Jerusalem of old as saying, "Behold, and see if there is any sorrow like unto my sorrow." That is true of every individual on the face of the earth who has any sorrow at all. Each man has his own way of sinning, his own individual characteristics, his own special temptations, his own trials, his own weaknesses. He stands or falls by himself, alone; he is responsible alone to God. But here is a class that pass through certain temptations and trials which bring them together in a way which no other generation has ever met. They have been together in bearing these trials. They have had sorrows, overwhelming temptations, insupportable enemies without number, solicitations to sin which only divine grace enabled them to bear, and they have conquered them all. They have had an experience in the last generation upon which has culminated all the wrath of the enemy of God and His throne. They have passed through that time in which the devil worked with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness. In it all they have conquered. We shall hear of this song again, sung by those purchased out of the earth. We read in Hosea that God will redeem His people from the grave. This company seems to be those who have been redeemed while alive out of the earth. They are translated at the second coming of Christ.
8. THEY ARE VIRGINS.—In our common parlance this term would refer to unmarried females, but in its significance here it includes all who are pure before God, who have not mingled themselves with the spiritual fornicators of this world, who have stood clean and loyal before God, not compromising with the principles of the world. The believer, in Rom. 7: 4, is represented as a woman joined to Christ. So in 2 Cor. 11: 2, the apostle declares, "I espoused you to one husband, that I might present you as a pure virgin to Christ." And the hundred and forty and four thousand are those who have been espoused to Christ, cleansed by Him, and who have remained true to Him. They follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth. They followed Him here; they will follow Him in the eternal future. They walked with Him through all the paths of loyalty and self-denial in earth; they will follow Him through all the paths of glory by and by.
9. PURCHASED.—These were "purchased from the earth," we learn in verse 3; "purchased from among men," we learn in verse 4; that is, purchased out of the earth from among men. They were earthly, the same as all others. Their tendency was downward into sin, the same as all others; but they yielded themselves to the Purchaser; they admitted the purchase price. "Purchased from the earth" and "from among men" would indicate that they were taken out from among the men of the world. We read in Matt. 24: 31: "And He shall send forth His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other." They will be gathered out from among the last generation of living men when Christ shall appear.
They were purchased to be the "first-fruits" to God and to the Lamb. Not that they were the first ever saved, not that they were first in point of time. The ascension of Enoch and Elijah and the multitude that was taken up when Christ ascended, all preceded them; but "first-fruits" is used not simply in the sense of priority in time, but of pre-eminence in character, in station. So God has taken this hundred and forty and four thousand and made them the first, the very first in pre-eminence even as Christ is counted the "first-born;" even as Jacob was counted the first-born, altho Esau preceded him; even as Ephraim was counted the first-born, altho Manasseh was older. They were made first in pre-eminence. They are taken from the weakest and most tempted generation of men that the world ever knew; they therefore show the greatest triumphs of the grace of God through the Lamb.
10. WITHOUT BLEMISH.—They have developed perfection of character; they are those who have stood true to God, and through the fiercest temptations; they are those who are referred to in the third chapter and tenth verse: "Because thou didst keep the word of My patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of trial, that hour which is to come upon the whole world, to try them that dwell upon the earth." And in it all, and through it all, by the grace of the Lamb, they have triumphed, they have met every temptation which would reveal every weakness of character, and in the place of that weakness of character there has been substituted the strength of Jesus Christ. Consequently, they stand without fault before the throne. It is a wonderful company. It is not for us—sometimes it is almost needless that we speculate as to who they will be—to say whether we shall be among them or not. We may learn, however, this one lesson: By the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we may possess their characters. Possessing the character which is there set before us, we may be sure that God will place us in that glorious, everlasting apportionment just where we belong, and will give us that which is meet for us forever, and in which we shall render to Him everlasting praise.
1. And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the Mount Zion, and with Him an hundred forty and four thousand, having His Father's name written in their foreheads.
2. And I heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of a great thunder: and I heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps:
3. And they sang as it were a new song before the throne, and before the four beasts, and the elders: and no man could learn that song but the hundred and forty and four thousand, which were redeemed from the earth.
4. These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth. These were redeemed from among men, being the first-fruits unto God and to the Lamb.
5. And in their mouth was found no guile: for they are without fault before the throne of God.
Truth Shall Prevail
By Charles Mackay
But never a truth has been destroyed;
They may curse it and call it crime,
Pervert and betray, or slander and slay,
Its teachers for a time;
But the sunshine ay shall light the sky,
As round and round we run;
And the truth shall ever come uppermost,
And justice shall be done.
— Charles Mackay.
Universal Peace
By Lawrence R. Hunter
By Lawrence R. Hunter
"Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom." This prophecy, uttered by Christ on the Mount of Olives, stands out before us at the present time in striking force; now as never before does it seem near its fulfilment. The dove of peace seems to hover over the whole universe; commerce is making gigantic strides, trade is booming, sovereigns and rulers are meeting frequently in perfect friendliness. The lines so long drawn between the nations appear to be almost obliterated. Treaties, arbitrations, peace conferences, reciprocity agreements — all these seem at last to have broken down the international barriers, and placed the nations on an equal footing, united them all in the glorious purpose of the uplifting of humanity in general.
So it seems to the casual observer. But is this outside appearance all there is to be considered? Are these outward protestations and overtures to be taken in good faith without question? The world in general by its attitude answers "Yes." Politicians, public speakers, college professors, statesmen, financiers, all unite in the general cry for universal peace. Some of them insist that the dawn of that time when the nations will settle their troubles amicably, is right now at hand. The Japanese minister, at a banquet tendered him recently, said in part: "There have been wars of the cross and the crescent, of the red rose and the white; but the sun and the stars have never quarreled in their courses, neither shall the two flags which bear those celestial emblems ever be carried at the head of hostile armies." Beautiful language, it is true! The figures of speech are admirable; but are they to be taken as they were given? No; and the speaker never imagined they would be, and his distinguished hearers never imagined they would be. The gathering was ostensibly in the interests of peace; and the baron took advantage of the occasion for a display of some choice, flowery rhetoric, and that is the extent of it.
It is true there is no immediate prospect of war with Japan. This article is not intended in that line. In the time that the prophecy refers to, we will not speak of nations as individuals, but all collectively as actors in that great world drama soon to be enacted. What concerns one nation at this day, concerns them all; the interests of one are the interests of the others. Therefore is there anything marvelous in these gatherings, this joining of hands across the sea? Is it not but an event in the inevitable course of evolution?
There has been, in the past few months, considerable press comment on the proposed arbitration treaty between Great Britain and America. The American people were responsible for the suggestion, and the English press, populace, and statesmen welcomed it with open arms. On all sides were heard commendations of President Taft for his presenting the idea in such excellent form; of the British statesmen in equally excellent form accepting it. But in all this seemingly unselfish concern for the uplifting of the races, for the betterment of existing conditions, was there no personal motive? Was it all concern for the welfare of the world in general?
Let us look back a few generations, and find, if we can, what has caused this softening of heart, what has caused the desire and passion for world conquest, this insatiable greed for territorial acquisition, suddenly to smolder and die out. Can it possibly be weakness on the part of the British statesmen, so long noted for diplomacy and shrewdness? No; for just as ably as Britain has been represented in the past, so is she now, by her foreign minister, Sir Edward Grey. He it was who, in the House of Commons, announced the fact that negotiations were under way, who stamped the proceeding with his approval, and in so doing but voiced the sentiment of the English nation at large.
America has never been considered as having more than ordinary desire to extend her dominions, not because of lack of ambition, but because at the present time, when America is at the zenith of her glory, there is nothing more to acquire. Everything is divided between the nations, and a squabble between two of them over any particular portion would involve the world. And who knows this better than the English statesmen, those long-headed diplomats who in the past have always first grasped the meaning of all world problems, who, always comprehending the situation before their slower-witted rivals, have taken the initiative, and always triumphed in the concessions and treaties bound to follow? It is true America opened negotiations. President Taft proposed the idea. The enthusiasm with which all England hailed the prospect of an Anglo-American treaty was gratifying. This unusual display of hearty feeling will hardly be understood, unless one remembers the political isolation of the British Empire. A people whose great empire has reached its zenith of prosperity, with nothing to look forward to beyond holding on, as long as possible, to what they now have, the English see, in the prospect of closer ties with the United States, the promise of a new era of national importance. This is the long and short of it. And what could strengthen her more, render her more nearly impregnable, than alliance with the most powerful civilized nation on the globe, with the people so closely akin to hers?
Were the overtures all on the part of America? Was she first to grasp the wonderful idea? Possibly; but Sir Edward Grey and his associates, if they are not responsible for the suggestion, must smile to themselves when they consider how perfectly everything worked to their advantage; for it is England who has profited by the alliance. Separated by thousands of miles of water from her nearest rivals, backed up by the resources of a practically unopened country, having little foreign territory to defend, what has caused this change in American policy? So long free from European alliances, so long confident of the natural position of her natural defenses, what, we say, has caused this change? Ask the shrewd Mr. Grey; ask, if you could, King Edward, now in his grave; and there you will find the answer.
Europe at the present time is in the midst of the longest period of peace she has ever enjoyed. Not since the Franco-Prussian War has there been any disturbance of note; and those who in the faintest way doubt that peace has come to stay, are ridiculed, they are branded as fanatics, as trouble makers. Since the proposal of the Anglo-American treaty, France and Japan have made overtures. France stands in nearly the identical position of England; and as for Japan, any one desirous of getting deeper into this question, can ascertain Japan's purpose immediately by inquiring into the condition of Japan's finances. With hardly enough revenue to meet the interest on her enormous debt, what could suit the Japanese better than a defensive alliance with her powerful neighbors, who are not only her neighbors, but her bankers as well? Tho this action of the several nations may be called a movement in the interest of world peace, there is no denial, there can be no doubt, that it is the same old idea of defensive alliance under a false guise. If any one desires to question it, let him read the speech of Sir Edward Grey himself, delivered in the House of Commons. An extract of it follows:
It is true that the two nations might still be exposed to attack by a third nation not in the agreement. I think it would probably lead to their following it up by an agreement that they would join with each other in any case in which one only had a quarrel with a third power, in which arbitration was refused.
This, then, is the "peace" so proudly talked of — this enforcing by two powerful nations of some action on a third. And if the third power in question refuses to arbitrate, then what? Will it still be "peace"? It may to all appearances be peace; but is there no distinguishment between an armed truce and peace? Is this the nations' idea of peace, so long dreamed of, and equally long desired?9"I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that no wind should blow on the earth, or on the sea, or upon any tree. And I saw another angel ascend from the sunrising, having the seal of the living God: and he cried with a great voice to the four angels to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea, saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we shall have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads."
Let Us Be Kind
By W. Lomax Childers
Let us be kind.
The way is long and lonely,
And human hearts are asking for this blessing only —
Let us be kind.
We can not know the grief that men may borrow,
We can not see the souls storm-swept by sorrow;
But love can shine upon the way to-day, to-morrow.
Let us be kind.
Let us be kind.
Around the world the tears of time are falling,
And for the loved and lost these human hearts are calling.
Let us be kind.
To age and youth let gracious words be spoken,
Upon the wheel of pain so many weary lives are broken,
We live in vain who give no tender token.
Let us be kind.
Let us be kind.
The sunset tints will soon be in the west;
Too late the flowers are laid then on the quiet breast.
Let us be kind.
And when the angel guides have sought and found us,
Their hands shall link the broken ties of earth that bound us,
And heaven and home shall brighten all around us.
Let us be kind.
— W. Lomax Childers.
Bible Self-Perpetuating
By Bishop Thompson
It has a self-perpetuating and multiplying power. Infidels have written books; where are they? Where is Porphyry, Julian? Fragments of them there are; but we are indebted even for this to Christian criticism. Where is Hume, Voltaire, Bolingbroke? It requires the world's reprieve to bring a copy out of the prison of their darkness. Where is the Bible? Wherever there is light. Speaking the language of heaven in sevenscore and three of the tongues of earth, and giving the Word of God by forty millions of voices to five times as many million ears, and in tongues spoken by six hundred millions of men, and having swept its path of storm through all time, it still walks triumphant, despite earth's dying malice and hell's eternal wrath; and like the apocalyptic angel, tho it wraps its mantle of cloud around it, calmly looks out upon the world with a face as it were the sun encircled with the rainbow.—Bishop Thompson.
Spiritualism
1. What is Spiritualism defined to be?
A belief that departed spirits hold intercourse with mortals by means of physical phenomena, as by rapping, or during abnormal mental states, as in trances, or the like, commonly manifested through a medium.—Webster, latest revised edition.
The belief that the spirits of the dead in various ways communicate with and manifest their presence to men, usually through the agency of a person called a medium; also, the doctrines and practises of those so believing.—Standard Dictionary, edition 1906.
2. Is this belief of ancient origin?
Belief in the power of departed spirits to communicate with living men, and the attribution of various phenomena to it as a cause, date back many centuries.—Ib.
3. What reply should the believer make when asked to consult with these spirits said to come from the dead?
And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep, and that mutter: should not a people seek unto their God? for the living to the dead? To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them. Isa. 8:19, 20.
4. What is the testimony of the "Word" in regard to the dead?
For to him that is joined to all the living there is hope: for a living dog is better than a dead lion. For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not anything, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten. Also their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished; neither have they any more a portion forever in anything that is done under the sun. . . . Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest. Eccl. 9:4-6, 10.
5. What does the psalmist say of the thoughts of man in death?
Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help. His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish. Ps. 146:3, 4.
NOTE.—The foregoing texts affirm of the dead that "they know not anything;" "the memory of them is forgotten;" "their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished;" "there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest." Then how is it possible for the dead to communicate with the living? The very thought of it is absurd, and such plain Bible texts should forever settle the matter.
6. Did the Lord warn ancient Israel against those who had "familiar spirits"?
Regard not them that have familiar spirits, neither seek after wizards, to be defiled by them: I am the Lord your God. Lev. 19:31.
And the soul that turneth after such as have familiar spirits, and after wizards, to go a whoring after them, I will even set My face against that soul, and will cut him off from among his people. Lev. 20:6.
NOTE.—This law in regard to "familiar spirits" was given to Israel just after they left Egypt, thus showing that the effort to communicate with the dead was in vogue in that time, and that the people believed that it might be done. If this were not the case, God would not have made a law upon the subject.
7. May we safely believe every spirit that comes to us?
Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. 1 John 4:1.
NOTE.—The foregoing text indicates that there are spirits that "are of God," the angels; and also those that are not of God, messengers of evil. Hence the necessity of the injunction to "try the spirits." If all spirit manifestations were alike good, there would be no need of being exhorted to try the spirits that come to us. And contrariwise, if all spirits were evil, the injunction would necessarily have been to have nothing to do with any spirits. But as the matter stands we are to be on our guard, for both good and evil spirits are in the world.
8. What does the Bible say would take place particularly in the "latter times"?
Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils. 1 Tim. 4:1.
9. What is said in another text will be one of the occupations of these "seducing spirits"?
And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty. Rev. 16:13, 14.
