Copyright, 1910, by Milton C. Wilcox. "Let the Revelation speak and tell what is truth. . . . Uplift Jesus as the center of all hope."
XX. Saracens and Turks
THE first four trumpets signify the events that broke in pieces the Roman Empire. For years, under the greatest corruption, the mighty machine outwardly moved on apparently irresistible and indestructible. Christianity seemed for a time to impart new vigor. It was not, however, received as a life, but a form; and hence the empire became weaker than before. Lardner, in his "Logical Outline of the Roman Empire," well delineates this phase of it:
Christianity, springing up in Judea in the first century of the empire, spread through and around it like an interlacing vine,—sweet and wholesome in its early fruits, strong as a bond, powerful as a regenerating influence. But when the ecclesiasticism of a political fashioned church had been grafted on the Christian vine, it bore then the evil seeds of new corruption, new discord, new maladies for the Roman world.
So there came at last a time when the long-enduring frame of Roman government could no longer bear the increasing dead-weight of social paralysis within and the increasing pressure of barbaric enemies from without. Of real vitality in the empire there had been little for half a century before its fall in the West.
The incursions of barbarians from the North and from the North through the South disclosed the weakness of the mighty shell and broke it in fragments. Alaric with his Goths and kindred tribes for a decade of years in the beginning of the fifth century beat upon the empire, and for the first time for over six centuries the conqueror of Rome trod in triumph the streets of the eternal city. The "terrible Genseric" with his hordes of Vandals captured first Roman Africa, and then from the South for a half century waged unremitting, devastating war. From the North and East rushed again another tidal wave, on the crest of which rode Attila, "the scourge of God." In 476 Odoacer, the Goth, abolished the empire of Western Rome, in the deposing of Romulus Augustulus, the last little ruler of the once proud mistress of the world. The empire of the East still continued in ever growing feebleness.
The Roman Empire became divided into ten kingdoms, according to the prophecies of God's Word; but the peoples heeded not the Word. The same prophet had declared "that the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever He will;" but the lesson had not been learned. The God of the prophet had enjoined, "Thou shalt have no other gods before Me," and in the same divine law and in numerous other scriptures had forbidden idolatry—image-worship. But the divisions of Rome, though Christian in name, were idolatrous in form and fact; and in a transformed heathen worship, images of angels and saints replaced the statues of the mythical gods and tutelary deities of the pagans of the past.
Scarcely had the broken empire settled into shape ere it exalted man as the vicar of Christ, as the visible representative of God upon earth, who assumed dominion over the faith and conscience of men. As apostasy was coming to its full bloom another power was arising to the southeast, another person was claiming spiritual rulership of the world. As Isham puts it:
Mohammed cried from the East, "Jesus is not the prophet-heir; I am he." The bishop of Rome answered from the Far West, "The throne is mine; I am the visible representative of the Lord Jesus on earth." The dispute was for the religious sovereignty of the earth, and during subsequent centuries both disputants used the sword unrestrainedly against all who did not support their pretentions. There is nothing to astonish us in the deeds of war performed by one who professed to supersede Jesus, but the same deeds in one who professed to represent Jesus are a wonderful and horrible thing.
How this power under a twofold phase was to scourge the apostate church, is the subject of the ninth chapter of the Revelation, our lesson for this week.
The Answer of the Text
1. What did John see when the fifth angel sounded?
And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star from heaven fallen unto the earth: and there was given to him the key of the pit of the abyss.
2. What did the fallen angel do?
And he opened the pit of the abyss.
3. What followed the opening of the abyss?
And there went up a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit. And out of the smoke came forth locusts upon the earth; and power was given them, as the scorpions of the earth have power.
4. What command was given these locusts?
And it was said unto them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree, but only such men as had not the seal of God on their foreheads.
5. How long would their special work of devastation last?
And it was given them that they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented five months: and their torment was as the torment of a scorpion, when it striketh a man.
6. How did their terror affect men?
And in those days men shall seek death, and shall in no wise find it; and they shall desire to die, and death fleeth from them.
7. What description is given of these locusts?
And the shapes of the locusts were like unto horses prepared for war; and upon their heads as it were crowns like unto gold, and their faces were as men's faces. And they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were as the teeth of lions. And they had breastplates, as it were breastplates of iron; and the sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots, of many horses rushing to war. And they have tails like unto scorpions, and stings; and in their tails is their power to hurt men five months.
8. Who is their king?
They have over them as king the angel of the abyss: his name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in the Greek tongue he hath the name Apollyon.
9. What announcement followed?
The first wo is past: behold, there come yet two woes hereafter.
10. What did the prophet hear when the sixth trumpet sounded?
And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the horns of the golden altar which is before God, one saying to the sixth angel that had the trumpet, Loose the four angels that are bound at the great river Euphrates.
11. What was the response to the voice?
And the four angels were loosed, that had been prepared for the hour and day and month and year, that they should kill the third part of men.
12. What was the number of the armies engaged in the war?
And the number of the armies of the horsemen was twice ten thousand times ten thousand: I heard the number of them.
13. What description is given of the warriors?
And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat on them, having breastplates as of fire and of hyacinth and of brimstone: and the heads of the horses are as the heads of lions; and out of their mouths proceedeth fire and smoke and brimstone.
14. What was wrought by these plagues?
By these three plagues was the third part of men killed, by the fire and the smoke and the brimstone, which proceeded out of their mouths. For the power of the horses is in their mouth, and in their tails: for their tails are like unto serpents, and have heads; and with them they hurt.
15. How were those not killed generally affected by these plagues?
And the rest of mankind, who were not killed with these plagues, repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship demons, and the idols of gold, and of silver, and of brass, and of stone, and of wood; which can neither see, nor hear, nor walk: and they repented not of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts.
Note and Comment
1. A star from heaven fallen.—Some have made this star represent the pope of Rome; some, Mohammed; some, like Keith, Chosroes; and other some give it other applications. In this it seems to us the language of the Scripture must decide. Who is the star fallen from heaven? Not that John saw it fall, but that it was already fallen in his day. Isaiah thus refers to the fallen angel: "How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning [day-star]!" Isa. 14:12-14. Jesus said, "I7beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven." Luke 10:18. "He [the devil and Satan] was cast down to the earth." Rev. 12:9. This is further confirmed by verse 11 of our lesson: "They have over them as king the angel of the abyss: his name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in the Greek tongue he hath the name Apollyon [margin, destroyer]."
2. The abyss.—The word "abyss" is transferred from the Greek. It means unmeasured depth. It is rendered "the deep" in Luke 8:31. In Rom. 10:7 it seems to refer to the abode of the dead. In Gen. 1:2 in the Septuagint it refers to the earth before the work of the six days was wrought, an empty, void waste. See also Rev. 11:7; 17:8; 20:1, 3. In the latter text it refers to this earth empty and desolate. The language here is symbolical. The picture is of a vast deep, having an opening, or well, or shaft, running down into it, but the pit closed until God permits this angel to open its great depths, just as He suffers the latter-day strong delusions to sweep over the world.
3. Smoke indicates obscurity. So Mohammed arose known neither to Jew nor Christian; he was the prophet of neither. Smoke fierce and black arose; the sun was obscured; the air was darkened. This is not the sun of Western Rome that was smitten. This sun can not be removed; it is only obscured. Jesus Christ is the "Light of the World." The sun is a symbol of the Sun of Righteousness. The air by which men breathe and by which they live is a fitting symbol of the Spirit. This symbolic smoke hid from the people Jesus the Sun of Righteousness; it shut them away from the light of the Spirit of God. This Mohammedanism does; it puts Mohammed in the place of Christ, leaves the world without a Saviour, and knows no Holy Spirit and its regenerating power. It has been aptly said that Mohammedanism consists of a great truth and a great lie: the truth, "There is but one God;" the lie, "Mohammed is His prophet." It exalted man in the place of God; so did the Papacy. But it worshiped no idols. Not knowing the Gospel, it pushed its conquests by the sword; and God used it to scourge an unrepentant and apostate church, "a terrible wo to those who do not love Christ, who are warned that since they will not be true to the true One they shall come under the rule of a deceiver."
4. Not hurt the grass.—A strange command to give to locusts. Again we would like to remind our readers that Bible figures and symbols are not used for the purpose of expressing harmony and beauty or consistency, but to present great facts and mighty moral truth. In God's sight, therefore (it ought to be in ours), this old world is sin-sick, a moral and physical wreck, utterly abnormal, and men are even more so. Isa. 60:2. It is because of man's sin that the curse rests upon all nature. Because of this abnormal condition God must use abnormal and inconsistent combinations to symbolize abnormal powers and conditions, and to represent inconsistent actions and nations. Hence a lion with eagle's wings represents Babylon. Hence a four-headed, four-winged leopard is used to represent Grecia. Hence a combination of locust, scorpion, horse, man, symbolizes the unique, devastating Saracen. Then, too, in the Scriptures we have combined both the symbolical and the literal; but the symbol, the representation, is always fitting and applicable. Therefore the command that these locusts should not hurt any green thing, only the men who have not the seal of God on their foreheads. Here is a command issued by Abubeker, the successor of Mohammed, the follower of the prophet. It will be seen that it is similar to the command God gave the children of Israel (Deut. 20:19), which may have suggested to Abubeker the decree he issued:
When you fight the battles of the Lord acquit yourselves like men without turning your backs; but let not your victories be stained by the blood of women and children. Destroy no palm-trees, nor burn any fields of corn [grain]. Cut down no fruit-trees, nor do mischief to cattle, only such as you kill to eat. When you make any covenant or article, stand to it and be as good as your word. As you go on you will find some religious persons who lived retired in monasteries, and propose to themselves to serve God that way; let them alone, and neither kill them nor destroy their monasteries. And you will find another sort of people that belong to the synagog of Satan, who have shaven crowns; be sure you cleave their skulls and give them no quarters till they either turn Mohammedans or pay tribute.
The seal of God, as we learned in our study of Rev. 7:1-3, is His Sabbath sealed home with all it means with the Spirit of God upon the heart and in the character of the true believer. There have been such through all the centuries. Some of these may have been in monasteries in those early centuries; others were scattered throughout the East. Not against such, not against the productions of nature, was this fearful scourging directed, but against the great apostate church, the priestly representatives of which are indicated in the command of Abubeker. Upon this matter of those sealed Isham remarks, "Those who are primarily noted under the sealing are the Christians of Jewish origin among whom or close to their territory the locusts first showed themselves." The prophecy declares that such a command should be given. History declares that it was given. Nor do we have any account that true, devoted people of God suffered from the fiery scenes of the scourge.
5. Five months.—This period of time is held to be prophetic time, thirty days to the month, a period of 150 years, beginning at a time when as an organized power the Mohammedans entered the Roman Empire and especially began their work of scourging the Eastern Empire of Rome. Under Othman, the founder of the Ottoman Empire, the Saracens entered Nicomedia, Greek territory, on their career of conquest July 27, 1299; nay, better, their career of spreading constant terror and torment for 150 years, and yet the lesson was not learned by those who received the scourging.
6. Locusts.—A borrowed and fitting figure of devastation, well known to those acquainted with the East. See Ex. 10:4, 15; Joel 1:2-7. "The land is as a Garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them." Chapter 2:3. But to these locusts, symbols of devastation, are added the speed and courage of the war-horse, the poison of the scorpion, the savage strength of a lion, the wisdom of man, clad in invulnerable armor. Scorpions generally cause severe suffering, but do not kill. Yet in Arabia, where the worst scorpions are found, there are those that do kill; hence the proviso in the prophecy, and hence also the Arabian source of the scorpion. This combination well represents the Saracenic hordes that swept up from Arabia and the mountain regions of Western Asia and fell upon a land once Christian.
7. A voice.—God rules in the kingdom of men. The golden altar before God is the altar of incense upon which are offered and are recorded the prayers of His people. Four angels.—Four is the world number, and these were messengers of judgment. The judgments were not to come from heaven or from a supernatural source, but earthly agencies were to be set in operation more fully to chastise the apostate people. Euphrates.—Bayley upon this passage remarks: "The great river Euphrates is the symbolized name for eastern empire, for Babylon on the Euphrates was the capital of three successive empires — Chaldean, Persian, and Greek. Bagdad, the Saracen capital, was not on the Euphrates. It was on the Tigris." The expression would seem to indicate that the wo of the sixth trumpet would come from the section named, where the four chief sultanies of the Mohammedan power were situated, Bagdad, Aleppo, Iconium, Damascus. The center of Mohammedan power was henceforth to be found in Byzantine territory, even in Constantinople itself; and the Eastern Empire of Rome would be left but a memory. Constantine XIII, the last of the Palæologi and the last Greek Emperor, came to the throne in 1449. He saw how hopeless it was to resist the Turks, and so obtained the consent of the Sultan Amurath, virtually yielding his independence to the Turkish power. It is true that shortly after that Constantine, urged on by ill-advisers, sought to throw off the Turkish yoke; but it was fastened more securely in the capture of Constantinople by Mohammed II, in 1453.
8. For the hour and day and month and year.—Prophetic time, as the five months; according to prophetic-time rule, a day for a year, equal to 391 years and 15 days, and which added to 150 years equals 541 years and 15 days, the period covered by the first two wo trumpets. This period began July 27, 1299, when Othman entered Nicomedia, and ended August 11, 1840, when by consent of the Sultan Turkey became a vassal power, ruling by sufferance of the great powers of Europe.
These calculations were made, prior to the ending of the prophetic period above noted, by Josiah Litch, and published in 1838 in the work entitled "Christ's Second Coming." In brief his closing is as follows: Prior to the last-named date there was war between Turkey and her vassal Mehemet Ali, the Pasha of Egypt. Turkey was getting decidedly the worst of the conflict. France seemed to be deciding with Egypt. Complications were such that the equilibrium of Europe was threatened. England took the initiative. Representatives of Prussia, Russia, and Austria met with the representatives of England, and decided to take the situation into their own hands. Turkey yielded to the situation. An ultimatum was drawn up which granted to Mehemet Ali the hereditary government of Egypt, with certain other possessions for life; while he in return was to restore the rest of the Sultan's dominion which he held, together with the fleet he had taken. Should Mehemet Ali refuse, the combined powers would assume responsibility and compel his acquiescence.
The conference of the powers was held in London. One messenger was despatched with the ultimatum to Amurath the Sultan, the other to Mehemet Ali of Egypt. This document was placed in the hands of the Sultan August 11, 1840. The messenger who proceeded to Egypt landed in Alexandria on the same day, but did not secure audience with Mehemet Ali till August 20. The crux of the matter rested with Turkey and with the powers rather than with Egypt. Egypt was but the incident. It is manifest that when the ultimatum was placed in the hands of the Sultan and accepted by him, the independence of Turkey was at an end, even as the independence of the Eastern Empire had been yielded to Turkey 391 years before. Mr. Litch's prediction that sometime in August, 1840, the independence of Turkey would cease, was watched with great interest; and the fact that it was met in history gave a mighty impetus to the great advent movement at that time.
9. The number of the armies, reckoned by some as 200,000,000, by others as less, by others still as a great indefinite number. Those who count the greater definite number hold it to include all engaged in the wars during the nearly four hundred years.
10. I saw.—The description given is of the Turkish soldiers, and their equipment, their mode of fighting. Turkish colors predominant were red and blue and yellow. Gunpowder had just come into military use. By its agency were men destroyed. The terms of the prophecy indicate boldness, fierceness. The tail of the horse is said to have been used as a standard by the Turks, and a sign of authority and power.
11. Repented not.—The sad and awful sequel is that the empire was not reformed, that the great apostasy, in either Latin or Greek Rome, would not return to God. Their ornate form, their adoration and worship of images, their worship of demons or deified or exalted dead, persecution to the death of those adjudged as heretics, sorceries, or communion with the dead, the fornications, or unlawful union between Church and State, seizing the honor that belonged to God alone, so robbing the people of the riches of His grace,—they "repented not." The only thing that saved Europe was the salt of the Reformation, sent in mercy by the Father to save all who would receive His mighty Gospel. The men and nations turn from God, He will not forsake the doomed earth as long as one soul longs for His salvation; but "behold, now is the acceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation."
The Baneful Character of Spiritualism
By George W. Rine
THE colossal structure of Spiritualism rests upon a lie. That lie is the satanic dogma that man can not die. I say satanic, because it was first uttered by the father of lies (the devil) in Eden. When God so graciously warned our first parents that if they should disobey Him by eating of the interdicted fruit, they should die, He virtually declared that they could die. Subsequently Satan thrust himself upon the attention of the mother of the race, and protested to her that, tho she and Adam deliberately disobeyed God, they should “not surely die.” Thus he flatly contradicted God. God, being God, “can not lie,” as the Scriptures declare. God pronounced man mortal; Satan declared him immortal. Who told the truth? The question answers itself.
Even the most rabid proponents of Spiritualism will admit that their cult has absolutely no standing-ground except on the dogma of inherent human immortality. If that dogma is from beneath and therefore false, Spiritualism is from beneath and therefore false. The uniform witness of the Word of God is to the effect that man in his present estate is mortal, altho in Christ he may be a candidate for immortality. Note the categorical declaration recorded in Ps. 146:3, 4: “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.” Remember this is DIVINE testimony and admits of no discount. God here dogmatically avers that when a man dies, his thoughts—his MIND—perish. The same divine Spirit declares through Solomon that “the dead know not anything.” Eccl. 9:5. Again, the inspired Job declares in respect to the man who has passed away, “His sons come to honor, and he knoweth it not; and they are brought low, but he perceiveth it not of them.” Chapter 14, verse 21. Is not this divine pronouncement in absolute contravention of the fundamental thesis of Spiritualism; namely, that the dead are acquainted with the affairs of their living friends? Spiritualists declare this thesis to be an essential truth; God declares it to be an unqualified lie. Whom shall we believe?
Let the reader turn to the New Testament, and read 1 Cor. 15:51-56. Here the Spirit of truth teaches in unmistakable language that corruptible man “shall put on incorruption,” and mortal man “shall put on immortality,” “at the last trump,” when “the dead shall be raised incorruptible.” These statements can not be true if man is now and unconditionally immortal. But these statements were uttered by the Spirit of the living God, and are therefore everlastingly true. Read also 1 Tim. 6:15, 16, where the Holy Spirit solemnly affirms that God “ONLY hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto.”
Scores of other scriptures might be given to stigmatize as false the basic dogma of Spiritualism—the dogma of inherent human immortality. God teaches that by faith in Christ man may ultimately attain immortality. The devil teaches that man is inherently and originally immortal. Spiritualism is founded upon the latter doctrine, and is therefore of the devil. The Gospel is founded upon the former doctrine, and is therefore of God. To believe and practise the teachings of the devil, can prove only a curse and issue in death; to believe and practise the teachings of God, can prove only a blessing and issue in life—life eternal.
It is therefore to be expected that the curse of Heaven rests upon the practise of Spiritualism; and so it unmistakably does. Does not every Spiritualistic “medium” or “psychic” avow that he is in intimate communion or touch with some one distinct spirit of the other world? This familiar spirit the medium calls his “control.” The word “control” thus used has become technical, and is found continually on the pages of Spiritualistic literature. In short, every medium admits that he has a “familiar spirit.” Now observe that every person who has a familiar spirit—that is, every medium—is under the divine anathema. Here is the evidence: “Regard not them that have FAMILIAR SPIRITS, . . . to be defiled by them: I am the Lord your God.” “And the soul that turneth after such as have FAMILIAR SPIRITS, . . . I will even set My face against that soul, and will cut him off from among his people.” “A man also or woman that hath a FAMILIAR SPIRIT, or that is a wizard, shall surely be put to death.” Lev. 19:31; 20:6, 27. Read further Deut. 18:9-12, where those who have familiar spirits are classed with enchanters, witches, necromancers, etc., all of whom are declared to be an abomination to the Lord. In 1 Chron. 10:13 it is divinely affirmed that King Saul died for disobeying God by “asking counsel of one that had a familiar spirit.” The story is found in 1 Samuel 28.
It is because the whole fabric of Spiritualism is of satanic origin, rests upon Satan’s primal lie, and is therefore defiling and ruinous, that God has in mercy to His children placed Spiritualism under so sweeping an interdict.
A Modern Revival of Ancient Spiritualism Predicted
That present-day Spiritualism had its origin about the middle of the nineteenth century is as well known as that Columbus discovered America in 1492. During the sixty years of its modern life, Spiritualism has grown and spread by titanic strides. (We shall refer to this fact later.) The votaries of the cult themselves admit that the modern movement is a recrudescence of ancient spiritistic occultism. The Bible abundantly bears them out in this contention. Note that “the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the LATTER TIMES some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to DECEIVING SPIRITS, and doctrines of DEMONS.”
1 Tim. 4:1, Greek. In holy vision the apostle John declares that he “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. According to verse 15, this manifestation of satanic power takes place just before the coming of Christ in glory, and hence, in the last days. Again, the apostle Paul foretold the ominous fact that immediately before the coming of Christ, Satan would work “with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness.” 2 Thess. 2:9, 10. Now it is expressly declared in 2 Cor. 11:14, that Satan is able to appear in the guise of an angel of light. In other words, he and his angels have the power to personate any human soul. As before stated, each medium or psychic has his familiar “control;” and this “control,” according to the overwhelming testimony of Holy Writ, is an “evil spirit,” or demon. These demons are able to personate the voice, manner, habits, and idiosyncrasies peculiar to any of the deceased before they died.
We must not forget that it is the distinctive office of the devil and his angels to DECEIVE. It is Satan who “deceiveth the whole world.” Rev. 12:9. Christ declared that the devil was “a liar, and the father of it” (lying). John 8:44. John, under the quickening of the Holy Spirit, foresaw that the devil would come down to the people of the world, “having great wrath, because he knoweth that HE HATH BUT A SHORT TIME.” Rev. 12:12. Of course, it can be only near the close of time that Satan will have “but a short time.” Can we not now see WHY, dear reader, that Spiritualism was literally reborn in these last days? “The Scriptures can not be broken.” Spiritualism is a momentous last-day deception, foisted upon society by the arch-deceiver, “that old serpent, called the devil, and Satan.”
Never since the awful tragedy of sin had its inception, did Satan inflict upon mankind a more terrible curse than that of Spiritualism. Its devotees necessarily assume that man can not die. As a necessary corollary, they assume that sin is a figment, an illusion. Denying the reality of sin and death, they of course deny the need of an expiatory sacrifice—of redemption by blood. The believer in Spiritualism simply CAN NOT believe the Gospel, the divine plan of salvation; for both can not be true, as they are utterly antagonistic to each other. If man can not sin, and, accordingly, can not die, he needs no redemption, no Saviour. But omniscient God declares with awful directness that salvation, or eternal life, is impossible outside of Christ. Acts 4:12.
Spiritualism therefore leads its followers away from Christ as “the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” To lead away from Christ is to lead away9from the fountain of life, and hence from the possibility of ever realizing immortality. “He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.” 1 John 5:12. Inevitably, then, the way of Spiritualism is the way of death and destruction. The fatal element in Spiritualism is its fundamental assumption that man is intrinsically deathless. If all men actually believed the witness of the divine Oracles as to the nature of man, Spiritualism would be a sheer impossibility. No one who is loyal to the Word of God can possibly fall a prey to the wiles of Spiritualism.
Deceiving the Very Elect
The prediction of our Lord that just before His coming in glory false prophets and false christs should arise, and show great signs and wonders, so that if it were possible, they would deceive the very elect, is being fulfilled to-day in unmistakable fashion.
In “The Widow’s Mite” Dr. Funk tells us that many eminent clergymen who are not regarded as Spiritualists believe that they receive spiritual counsel from their dead. He says that Joseph Parker, the famous London preacher, recently deceased, told him that he prayed every day to his wife after she had passed from earth. He declared that he never came into his pulpit without requesting her to come with him. Again Dr. Parker said: “I encourage a friend of mine whose wife had departed, to pray to her and to pray to God to ask her to come to help. She will be more to him than twelve legions of unknown angels.”
And General Booth, in the War Cry, November 27, 1897, writes:
I have a spiritual communion with the departed saints that is not without both satisfaction and service. . . . Among these one form, true to her mission, comes more frequently than all besides, assuring me of her continual partnership in my struggle for the temporal and eternal salvation of the multitudes — and that is my blessed, my beautiful wife.
Examples of this kind could easily be multiplied. Such instances are touchingly pathetic, and as sad as they are touching. By their assumption of a false theory as to the state of the dead, these zealously good men made themselves the dupes of the great deceiver. Recall the inspired affirmation that Satan himself is able to transform himself into an angel of light. These good men have thus been led to pray to the dead for help, an act unmistakably idolatrous. Note the insidious tendency of the immortality dogma to lead its devotees to the distinctively Roman practise of the “invocation of saints.” This practise is the warp and woof of the great heathen religions of China and Japan. It is only a few years since Protestants, through the insidious power of Spiritualism, could find it in their hearts to pray to the dead.
In January, 1909, a report was issued in England setting forth the results of certain experiments conducted by Sir Oliver Lodge and others of the Society for Psychical Research. These experiments constituted an attempt “to carry on definite, unmistakable communications with the spirits of the late F. W. H. Myers and Dr. Richard Hodgson. A despatch to the New York Times said that “the report had excited a tremendous commotion in scientific and religious circles in England.” These reports were conducted pursuant to an arrangement made by Myers and Hodgson during their lifetime, and were carried on with every precaution against dishonesty or self-deception on the part of the mediums. The report proceeds to give reasons from which the only possible inference is that, in the opinion of its writers, the communicators were none other than the discarnate spirits of Frederick Myers and Richard Hodgson. The report contains the actual messages received from the spirit world. It would be difficult to exaggerate the seriousness for evil to humanity of this alliance between eminent and respected men of science and this gross system of demonism. In the words of Philip Mauro, Esq., of New York City, “By means of this new engine of deception million upon millions may be lured into the comfortable belief that they may reject the Christ of God, and may yet be assured, upon the authority of ‘science,’ of a continued existence of blissfulness—‘a supernal heavenly calm’—after death.”
Again, on Nov. 10, 1910, Mr. Stead of London sent a despatch to Hearst papers in America to the effect that he had succeeded in getting into communication with the spirit of the late Mr. Gladstone. He gives long citations from what purports to have been a message from Gladstone, bearing upon current British politics. Untold millions of even cultured people implicitly believe these reports for what they purport to be.
How overwhelming the evidence that the enemy of all righteousness is, in these latter days, as the Master foretold, deceiving “the whole world”! It is only in the Word of God, which “abideth forever,” that man can find impregnable refuge from the over-mastering deceptions with which Satan is to-day filling the world.
Our Bible Reading
Our Great High Priest
1. What priests have ministered to men in past dispensations?
Who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things. Heb. 8: 5.
2. What service did the priests render?
Sacrifices which they offered year by year continually. Heb. 10: 1. They first offered for their own sins and then for the people's. See Heb. 8: 3.
3. Who is our High Priest?
We have such an High Priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens; a minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man. Heb. 8: 1, 2. This is our Lord Jesus Christ.
4. What types were met in Him?
First, the shadowy types of the Aaronic and Levitical priesthood. Every lamb which they offered was a type of the Lamb of God which taketh away the sins of the world, and every ministration which they made for sin was made in view of the greater sacrifice and the greater service of Jesus Christ our Lord.
5. Of what order was Christ?
Thou art a Priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. . . . Called of God an High Priest after the order of Melchizedek. Heb. 5: 6, 10.
6. For how long a time was our Lord able to put away sin?
As the great Melchizedek of the universe, even before sin entered, our Lord ministered before He came to this world. Just as long as He failed not in every test which He met, His everlasting priesthood held good. But when He became man He took upon Himself also the Melchizedek priesthood of this world lost by Adam, and became the antitype not only of the Aaronic priesthood, but became one who filled out to its fulness the Melchizedek priesthood of this world.
7. How much longer will He be Priest?
He "abideth a Priest CONTINUALLY." Heb. 7: 3. But this Man, because He continueth ever, hath an UNCHANGEABLE PRIESTHOOD. Heb. 7: 24.
8. Who will be associated with Him in His eternal priesthood?
And hath made us kings and priests unto God and His Father; to Him be glory and dominion forever. Rev. 1: 6. See also Rev. 5: 10.
9. Having such a Priest as this, to whom then can we come in confidence?
Seeing then that we have a great High Priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. For we have not an High Priest which can not be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need. Heb. 4: 14-16.
"There Is No Sin Here"
By Charles P. Bollman
About twenty-five years ago the editor of the SIGNS OF THE TIMES told me of a dream of his being in the new earth. In this dream the thought that most thrilled his soul was, "There's no sin here." These words have lived in my mind from that day to this, and have exerted a purifying, uplifting influence upon my life. Because of this, the little poem is affectionately dedicated by the author to M. C. Wilcox, my long-time friend and co-worker. It may be sung to the music of "Wonderful Peace," No. 210, "Christ in Song."
C. P. BOLLMAN.
I SLEPT, and I dreamed of that city of gold,
Of the home of the blessed, the saved;
And my fancy transported me out of this world
To the land that my soul has long craved.
CHORUS
Sweet, sweet, wondrously sweet
Was my dream of that city of gold;
And, O, how soul-cheering
The thoughts that up-spring
As oft as its story I'm told!
I walked upon streets that are paved with pure gold,
And I drank of the River of Life;
But the thought that most thrilled me, and filled me with joy,
Was the absence of sin and of strife.
Words fail me to tell of the bliss of that hour,
Of the joy that I felt in my heart,
As I thought, With the righteous I'll evermore dwell,
And ne'er from my Saviour depart.
O Lord, haste the day when my dream shall be sight,
When from strife I shall ever be free;
When I shall not fall under sin's dreadful power,
For with Jesus my Saviour I'll be.
