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Modern Spiritualism Briefly Tested by Scripture
and chief of the priests, which did so. And the evil spirit answered and said, Jesus I know and Paul I know; but who are ye? And the man, in whom the evil spirit was, leaped on them, and overcame them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of the house naked and wounded” (Acts 19:13-16). The contrast between these passages is deeply instructive. The damsel, possessed by the evil spirit, advertises Paul and his companions as “servants of the most high God, which show unto us the way of salvation.” Her conduct, very like that of modern mediums, who advise the reading of the Bible and prayer, did not deceive the Apostle. Observe how the Apostle uses the name of One whom he knew; whereas the exorcists, mere imitators, said, “We adjure thee by Jesus whom Paul preacheth,” that is, One of whom they knew nothing for themselves. The consequences were disastrous; for instead of resisting the devil, and the devil fleeing, as in Paul’s case of exorcism, the demon urged his victim to deeds of violence. “The things which the Gentiles [heathen] sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God” (1 Cor. 10:20, 21). This passage proves that behind heathendom, idol worship, sun worship, etc., there is demon power; that heathendom with its frightfully wicked, base, voluptuous customs, is a vast system of Spiritualism. Missionaries in India and heathen lands are able to confirm what I allude to here. “And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues, yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone and of wood. . . . neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornica tion, nor of their thefts” (Rev. 9: 20, 21). “They are the spirits of devils, working miracles” (Rev. 16:14). Rev. 9:20, 21 clearly identifies the worship of devils with
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