River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1915-05-13

they die they are really more alive
than when they were alive.
This is the fundamental doctrine of
the demons. Think how many false
doctrines that have troubled us are
based upon the thought that the dead
are alive. And remember what the
Bible says; namely, THE dead know
not anything" (Ecclesiastes $50; THE
wages of sin is death'-nOt eternal tor
ment anywhere Romans 6:23); and,
1.-The soul that sinneth, it shall die"
| ezekiel 1874, 20). If we had believed
the Bible, we would have been spared
the nonsense. the fear, the torture, the
decisions, which have troubled US.
But we neglected Gods Word and took
| the word of Satan. the Serpent.
These doctrines of demons include
| Purgatory and masses to get out of
| Purgatory. They include the work of
spirit mediums; for as bishops and
priests are deceived, so are mediums.
| They verify think that they are COM
/ municating with dead humans; where
as the Bible makes clear that they are
being deceived by the fallen angels
the demons, who know all about our
dead friends, and through these me-
diums try to impress upon US tnat our
friends are alive, thus giving the only
confirmation there is to Satan'S lie that
the dead are alive. Poor creatures
who come under the influence OF evil
spirits tell US distinctly that the spirits
who once claimed to be their dead
friends declare plainly, after getting
control Of these unfortunates, that they
are demons, and then proceed to terrify
their victims by telling that they will
soon have them in eternal torture.
Why Would Demons So Teach?
At first thought it would appear as
though Satan would not favor any
thing telling about future trouble; and
thus many are deceived into thinking
that whatever tells Of the goodness
and love of God must be a deception
Of the Devil. Let us notice carefully
the line of the Adversary'S attack. He
skillfully uses preachers, evangelists
and the profane-all-to tell about He'll
and devils, and the creeds to tell that
all that is Gods Plan. Thus effectual-
ly he puts a barrier between God and
the people, and drives them from God
and from the Bible.
Have not these doctrines of devils"
led thinking people away from God
and religion into social furrieS and
nonsense? Have not some men been
led to plunge into business, others into
novel reading. theater- going, drinking.
carousing, gaming-anything to keep
their minds off the most important
things. the things of God, the things
which the Bible teaches? Surely it is
so! And yet there are thousands of
ministers who are preaching Hell-fire
torment, but who do not believe word
of what they say, and who think they
are doing it to keep people from going
into sin. Do they think that they are
wiser than God? Do they expect to
hear the Masters "Well done. good
and faithful servant" for having SIAN
dered Gods name, His character and
Message, for having deceived the peo-
pie, when He plainly told them that
the Truth alone will sanctify?
l sympathize with the preachers:
they are in a terrible place, as the
Apostle describes in our text. Speak
ing lies in hypocrisy; having their con-
science scared with a hot iron" Only
a badly scared conscience could APP
! prove of the slandering of Almighty
God and the representing of Him as
being worse than the worst of all hui
man beings-Worse than the worst Of
devils we could possibly imagine. 1t
would be hard matter for these gen
tlemen. SO long looked up to as stand
ard bearers for God and the Truth. to
come humbly down from their pedes-
tails and tell the people plainly, We
have been deceiving you all. or at least
have been keeping you in ignorance of
the Truth, for the sake Of the salaries
we received. A few, we may surely
expect, will do this. They are coming
nearer and nearer to the point every
minute. But they will be few. The
majority will brazen the matter out,
adding falsehood to hypocrisy. How
sad! And every day that they delay
to step out on the side of Truth will
make their case the worse. The peo-
pie are becoming enlightened. and are
ahead of the preachers in knowledge of
God and honesty of thought and word
Quite recently 1 heard from young
man, who went to his pastor, saying,
do you really believe in He'll fire as
the punishment for SIM" The answer
was, Eyes, certainly, of course-we all
do" Then the young man told what
he had been thinking: and as he was
leaving the minister's study, the latter
put his hand on the young mans Shout