The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1913-05-22

anu lndC IneV may Sdlely neglect IL LOT
manyiyears, and when the last hours of
their probation are expiring. he will
come upon his victims with overwhelm-
ing power, telling them it is too late,
and drive them to despair by repeating
the history of their sins, until perhaps
they take their lives with their own
hands.
But in Christ these evil spirits found
their master, many times he met them
on their own ground and compelled them
to relinquish their grasp upon the
suffering victims. Often these con-
flicts would happen when Jesus was
teaching in the synagogues and other
places. In every instance the poor
sufferer was rescued from satan control,
raised his voice in thanksgiving and
praise for restored manhood. At the
presence of Jesus the demons would
acknowledge Him as their master, for
it is written before Him, and cried.
saying, thou art the Son of God, >"
See Mark Bill. Now when Christ sent
out the apostles He delegated to them
the same authority, for we read, and
He called unto him the twelve, and
began to send them forth by two and
two, and gave them power over unclean
spirits. See Mark 81. In Luke 81, we
read that He gave them power and
authority over all devils. Only by
earnest devotion and sincere service can
humanity expect to be entrusted with
these miraculous gifts. Notice that at
one time even the disciples failed, and
that, too, in case of distress father
in Israel came to them, presenting the
pltiful case of his son, the devil possess
ing him, veXed him sore, sometimes it
cast him into the fire, and sometimes in
to the water. Relating the circum-
stance to Jesus. the father said
brought him to thy diciples, and they
could not cure him, Matt. 17:14-21. 1t
was the sin of unbehef in the disciples
that caused their failure. Earnest
conservation, constant prayer, and
nearness to God. could alone prevail
over the powers of darkness. Jesus
told the sOrrowful disciples that this
kind goeth not out but by prayer and
fasting. This evidence that unbehef
is, in our day keeping these gifts away
from the church. When spirits begin
to speak with man, he must beware
that he believes nothing that they say,
for nearly everything they say is
fabricated by them, and they lie; for if
they are permitted to narrate any thing,
as to what Heaven is, and how things
in the Heavens are to be understood,
they will tell SO many lies that man
would be astOnished Christ came to
this earth to redeem man and to bring
this lost world back into allegiance to
God. This could be accomplished only
through the Selfdenial, suffering, and
death of the Son of God Satan,
however, presents another plan by
which he promises to abdicate, and turn
over the dominion to Christ, thus re-
turning to him the possession of the
earth without the necessity of giving
the awful price which he came to pay
for it. Divinity flashed through the
humanity of our Savior as He sternly
rebuked the enemy, with the words,
get thee hence, satan: for it is written,
thou shalt wol ship the Lord thy God,
and him only shalt thou serve See
Matt. 4:10. At this command satan
was compelled to leave the master,
and angels came and ministered unto
Him. The trial with the prince of
this world had been long and severe,
and His human frame had become so
exhausted that the ministering angles
were sent to strengthen and restore
Him. Satan is a hard master, a cruel
ruler in his own kingdom. He holds
out tlattering words to all who will
accept him. AS he did to the Saviour,
he offers the good things of this world
to those who will receive his word. He
offers to give man his own way and a
good time, but when the bargain is
made, lit becomes a bondage and
servitude of the most cruel nature. 1t
may be claimed that our statements re-
garding spiritualism do not represent it
as it is at the present time. | answer,
any religion, or any system of spiritual
life, must be judged by its public
teachings and its published literature.
They ridicule the idea of the Creator
raising up again the same particles
composing human bodies, after they
have been dissolved and scattered, and
yet they teach that the soul of man is
composed of particles like condensed
steam, particles and that it resurrects
itself. God pity father or mother who
will take their children out of the Sun
day school, and dress them up for the
ballroom or the spiritualists hall. Mr..
West claims there are four bibles, if
this statement be true, one of them
belongs to God, and the other three
belong to the devil, and his agents. |
do not think Mr.. West is crazy, he is a
a right good fellow after all, only he
has got over into the wrong pew, that
is all.
And so, in His own way, God teaches
US, leads US, and reveals to US the true
mysteries of this life and of the great
beyond. By His word he has bridged
the chasm between this sinful earth and
the glorious home of the blest, which
our Saviour has gone to prepare. And