Whatsayscripturesspiritism_07
PART VII
AN EX-SPIRITUALIST AUTHOR'S EXPERIENCES
In a book recently published, entitled The Powers of the Air, the author, formerly a medium, relates some strange experiences with spirits. We give his account of his experiences with a spirit which professed to be the Lord, and which gave him to understand that he, the medium, was to be greatly used in converting the world; and that he would occupy a very similar position to that of the Lord at his first advent, except that he would be blessed with marvelous and miraculous success. We quote: -
"I felt happy, very happy, with Jesus at my side, as I verily believed. As the writing progressed, I felt the more certain that it was true, because the style and diction indicated a pure mind and heart." Later on the spirit said, "I am your Father and your God....I am the Almighty, the Creator of all things. In this manner I spake to the patriarchs of old - to Adam, to Noah, to Abraham, Moses and others." This communication caused the medium to tremble with fear. The spirit then said, "Be not afraid, ...I am your Maker and your Father, and you are my child - my very dear child; child by creation and also by redemption; therefore you need not fear." The spirit then went on to say, "I have chosen you to be my second Christ; I have appointed Jesus, my son, to instruct you and make you wise in all things - to do my will in the great work of man's salvation."
The spirit then instructed his medium to become associated with a certain clerical friend as an assistant in the great work of saving souls; and said, "As the Anglo-Saxon and German races have grown so sensitive that spirits can impress their minds, and in many instances control their bodies, so I have determined to introduce a new dispensation, and for this purpose I have called you and your friend to open and prepare the way for its introduction. Be humble, prayerful and faithful, and all will be well. Let me say to you again, be humble - humble as a child before God." The evil spirit endeavored to make him believe in "the conversion of the world to God," through his instrumentality, and at once, himself being the representative of Christ to do the second advent work of saving the world. To throw him off his guard it cautioned him, saying: -
"The evil spirits are all around you. Their abidingplace, until the judgment, is the air, or atmosphere of the earth; and they work in the children of disobedience by impressing, or infusing, into their minds thoughts and desires which are wicked and selfish; and also by inflaming their passions, thus leading them often to commit the most atrocious deeds....There is in this world a continual conflict, as you are aware, between the powers of darkness, so-called, and the powers of light....The slow progress made by my Gospel in the world since my ascension may be inferred from what has been said....My beloved servant Judson spent many years in heathen lands before a single convert was rescued and brought to God."
The medium thought that none but a good being would talk in this way; hence the spirit must be what it claimed to be, or else it would be a great deceiver, and a very bad being. Still he was troubled with doubts about the remarkable communications that he was receiving. The spirit then went on to say: -
"You seem to be in doubt about your calling; you need not be for a moment. Launch your little barque into the broad ocean of God's infinite love, and you will find aid and comfort. The true secret of success in any enterprise is to be fired with zeal. You need not fear to commence. You now understand the law of control in reference to moral forces, which may be brought to bear on the children of men.
"In conclusion, I will say that I design, first, to call in the Jews; then afterward the Gentiles. So you will first proceed to New York. There you will be aided by Mr. Beecher and others, and then proceed to Palestine, where I will meet you and give you success.
"While meditating on these things that 'still small voice' came to me again, saying, 'I am the lord your God, and have a work for you to perform. I must call in my people, the Jews, preparatory to that great event which is soon to transpire, and I have arranged for you to go to New York, and there meet Mr. Beecher, who will greatly aid you in your work of assembling my ancient people at Jerusalem, preparatory to their being converted and made meet for the kingdom of heaven. You will leave your home unknown to your family, and proceed to a place that I will direct you to.'
"'I am the Judge of all the earth; I, the Lord, have called you to warn all men to flee from the wrath which is to come. The judgment day is approaching, when all men, small and great, shall stand before my throne. Therefore be diligent, be faithful, and do as I command you, and great shall be your reward. You have left those you loved, many of whom are in the bonds of iniquity. Now, therefore, fix your mind upon those whose conversion you so desire, and while you pray I will seal conviction upon their hearts, and they shall be converted for your sake, even while you are speaking.'
"With emotion deep and overwhelming, I fixed my mind upon one for whom I had felt unusual interest. I prayed until sobs and tears choked my utterance, when that still, small, solemn whisper came to me with distinctness again, saying, 'Your prayer is answered: your friend is converted, and is now rejoicing with joy unspeakable and full of glory.'
"'My child,' said the solemn voice again, 'fix your mind upon another, and I will bless again even for your sake. I commenced then again with the same childlike simplicity of prayer as before, fixing my mind distinctly on the person I desired converted, and after a few moments of earnest pleading I heard again the voice, saying, 'Child, thy prayer is heard, and thy friend is now happy in my love.'"Thus I continued for many hours, my heart becoming more and more interested in the work, and swelling with the love of God, as I continued to fix my mind on one after another of those whose souls' salvation was near and dear to me. At length the solemn voice said, 'Have you no other relations and friends on whom you can fix your mind in prayer?' I replied by saying, 'I can think of no more.' 'Then,' said the voice, 'fix your mind upon any ungodly man you choose, and I will hear and bless him for your sake.'
"With tearful eyes I then renewed my prayer, fixing my mind upon one and then another of those whom I knew to be worst in wickedness. At the end of each petition the answer came: 'Your petition is heard, and he for whom you supplicated is among the redeemed. This continued perhaps an hour longer, when, growing weary from exhaustion and fatigue, I retired and slept as sweetly as a child upon the bosom of its mother.
"As the soft light of morn stole into my window, I heard again the still, small voice, saying, 'Arise, my child, and hear the good news. Those for whom you prayed are happy in my love, are rejoicing in hope and have heard of your mission, and are coming to rejoice with you and bid you God-speed.'
"Having arranged my toilet and kindled the fire, I ordered breakfast to be served in my room. When seated at the table, and about to commence my repast, the voice said in the kindest and sweetest manner, 'You need feel no embarrassment in my presence; have I not always been present with you? do I not know your every thought, your every word, and your every deed? Ask the blessing on your repast in your usual way, just as if I were not personally present, for tho I am not present everywhere in person, yet I am present everywhere in my omnipotent power and wisdom.'
"The repast being over, the voice of the Almighty, as I believed, said 'This day will be a day to this place such as they never experienced before. God is in this place, and they know it not. I will now whisper to every man's mind, as I whispered to you in the still small voice, saying, 'Prepare to meet thy God in judgment,' and, hearing this, they will assemble in two different churches for prayer; at the same time the converted ones for whom you prayed in the night will have arrived in the place, and will join in the general rejoicing, and crying for mercy, and thus the wave of salvation, so astonishingly begun in this place, shall roll over the whole earth, because that day is approaching, that great and terrible day, when all men shall receive according to the deeds done in the body. In the meantime you may go up and call on Mr. A—, who is my servant, and a godly man. You will find him at his church preparatory to the great assembling of people.'
"I was so moved by this good news, and the promise of salvation to such multitudes of perishing souls that tears flowed freely from my eyes. In this condition of mind, I passed down the main entrance of the hotel to the street. Looking around, I saw no unusual stir; but, thinking that God worked silently with every heart, I passed on with the certain expectation that I should find the minister at the church designated, and many assembled for worship.
"On arriving at the church, I found, to my astonishment, the doors closed, and not a single person in or about the building. I soon found the minister at his residence, and to my still greater astonishment he informed me that there was to be no meeting there that day. I returned to the hotel, expecting that by this time those for whom I prayed, and who, I believed, were rejoicing in a conscious hope of sins forgiven, had arrived, but in that, again, was sorely disappointed.
"Passing up to my room, I inquired of the Lord why this strange failure. To which the voice replied in the same distinct and well-defined whisper, 'The failure is caused by the mischievous conduct of wicked spirits, who have of late been whispering in the ears of the people, which has confused them, and they do not recognize in my whisper the still small voice of the Almighty.'
"'But,' said I, 'what will become of thy great name?'
"The voice replied by saying, 'I will take all remembrance of this failure from their minds; and they shall know that I am the Lord; that with me there is no variableness or shadow of turning. But you, my child, will proceed on your mission of calling in the Jews, the same as though this seeming failure had not occurred.'
"'But,' said I, in reply, 'I have not the wherewithal to convey me to New York.'
"'Yes, my child, but I have provided against all contingencies of that kind by impressing a wealthy man in the city of New York to telegraph the bank in this place to furnish you all necessary funds. Be therefore not faithless, but believe.'
"This calmed my mind, reassured my confidence, and I immediately left for the bank. Stepping up to the counter, I inquired if a certain man, calling him by name, now living in New York, had telegraphed to this bank to place money to my credit. The banker assured me that no telegram had been received.
"Again I inquired the cause of the failure. The same mysterious voice replied by saying, 'The cause of this failure is the same that produced the others; but,' continued the voice, 'I am the Almighty. I have power to kill and make alive, and those who have interfered with my purposes I will judge; therefore rest in hope, and all shall be made right.'
"I yet had confidences in my senses. I was certain that I had heard the voice, and i could not force myself to believe that any creature above or beneath could be found who would dare to personify or assume to be the Almighty himself. I also thought back over the communications I had received. I reminded myself of the deep-toned piety which pervaded them, and of the kind assurances given me; and, summing it all up, I felt deeply impressed that I could not be deceived.
"While thus meditating, the voice uttered these words, 'Return to your home and all will be well.' Obedient to the command, I immediately set out for the place of my former residence.
"My sudden disappearance from home had caused no small stir among the friends and relatives, but my presence soon reassured them. How little, thought I, did they understand the real cause of my absence."
The medium finally reached the conclusion that he had been deceived by evil spirits. He continues: -
"The reader might suppose that the would-be Divine intelligence who had followed me so long and had so grossly deceived me would, upon having been discovered to be but devils clothed as angels of light, have left me, never to appear again. But this was not the case. So far as ability to impress my mind with their thought was concerned, I found that they possessed even more power, and that it was every day increasing.
[This is a part of the danger: the will which at first is strong and well able to resist such approaches gradually loses its power and becomes weaker each time it yields.]
"As soon as it was really apparent that I had been deceived, I sank into the very grave of disappointment. My hopes, which had been raised up to the seventh heaven, were dashed down to the lowest pit. My invisible deceiver for several days continued to flatter me at times that all was well - that God was as really in the darkness of this disappointment as in the light of the brightest hopes of former days."
At last becoming fully convinced of the deceitfulness of these communicating spirits, he refused to be under their control any longer. They then, in answer to the subjoined questions, made the following confession and admissions: -
"You were first led into a belief that Spiritualism was but the harbinger of the Millennial glory by the few first communications. They were certainly grand, and were given with the express design of leading you to believe they were from Jesus Christ and God himself. You ought to have suspected this. All hooks are baited with a very gilded bait.
"Question: Are not the doctrines taught generally by Spiritualists denominated in the Scripture the doctrines of devils or demons?
"Answer: Yes, they are, in very deed, the doctrines of devils or demons, because they generally reject the teachings of Jesus Christ and his apostles and followers. A. J. D. was inspired to my certain knowledge by the prince of demons, or, in other words, the most intellectual demon belonging to the powers of the air. His 'Harmonial Philosophy' was all written under inspiration of demoniac influence. There is no Jesus Christ or any other doctrines taught by Jesus in his works - they are Christless or Antichrist....Spiritualism was conceived in sin and brought forth in iniquity. It is a dead carcass - a carcass that will be a stench to the good of the whole earth.
"Q.: But do you never expect to be better?
"A.: Never. We are the debris of God's moral creation, cast off as far as we know only to be destroyed.
"Q.: But do not the pious dead surround those who are still in the body as guardians from the influences of evil?
"A.: They are never seen by us, if they do. We see nothing around the pious, any more than around the wicked. But we are often around them ourselves, infusing into their minds some infidel or atheistic thought, to see how they will receive it. We take delight in disturbing and irritating them, just as we do you.
"Q.: How do the inhabitants of your world mostly spend their time?
"A.: We spend the time mostly, since the discovery of the mediumistic communications, in developing mediums; in making psychological experiments with them, and in communicating through them.
"Q.: Do you not think that good spirits develop mediums and communicate through them as well as yourselves?
"A.: I think not: we think we are warranted in the conclusion that no pious dead, nor the spirits of just men made perfect, nor angels have anything to do with controlling mediums at the present day.
"These spirit manifestations are clearly prophesied of by the Apostle Paul in 2 Thessalonians: 'And then shall that wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming; even him whose coming is after the working of Satan, with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie; that they might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.' This passage sets forth the signs of these times so clearly that all the righteous or pious can clearly understand.
"We have been provoked to reveal to you the fact that all the revelations through mediums to the effect that all men are progressing to a state of holiness and happiness are false, totally and absolutely false. We have as good an opportunity to know the facts connected with all the modern revelations as any spirits can know in this world, and we certainly know that they are not of God, but from spirits, some of them guilty of greater abuses, if it were possible to inflict any greater, than we have inflicted upon you.
"You ask us how we know that modern spiritual demonstrations are not of God? We answer that we know it from the following reasons: These spirit demonstrations are made by spirits who hate God, and have no fellowship with that which is good,...they universally reject the Bible as the Word of God, denouncing it as a fable and unworthy of belief. All the revelations yet made by spirit manifestations have not so much Gospel truth in them as has yet resulted in the regeneration of one soul, in the sense that Jesus Christ taught regeneration. The revelations of these spirits are just what you might expect from beings who have not the love of God in them.
[Here we have an exemplification of our Lord's words, "If Satan cast out Satan he is divided against himself; how shall then his kingdom stand?" (Matt. 12:26; Mark 3:23-27) Similarly the cures done by Spiritists, Theosophists and Christian Scientists we believe are evidences that Satan's kingdom is being hard pressed and is soon to fall before our King Immanuel.]
"Q.: The Bible speaks of the prince of the power of the air, or in the air; what may we understand by this?
"Spirit: You will understand that the prince is the name of the ruling spirit of evil. There are many spirits in the air who are rulers, just as Indian chiefs rule the tribes to which they belong.
"Q.: To what extent have the powers of the air dominion and rule over the children of men?"
"A.: They have the power to produce lifelike images in the minds of impressible mediums. This is often understood by them to be an actual sight of a real object. This leads to a great variety of delusions.
"Those who are called leaders of Spiritualism, and who know the fallacy of those impressions, allow the deceptions to go on, and are therefore participators in the swindle. This stamps them with infamy. The spirits have the power of using the human body, with all its organs and faculties. This is done in the case of trance speakers and personating mediums. Perhaps they enter the body by means of electrical and galvanic influences, and, having entered, they use the vocal organs.
"They also possess power to move ponderous objects, such as tables, chairs, etc. This is generally accomplished by the agency of scores and hundreds of the invisible workers."
This writer further explains: -
"They could imitate the manner of speech peculiar to my relatives and acquaintances, and so exactly did they give the particular intonation and inflections of voice, that I would have been compelled to believe the imitation to be the real had they not also imitated the voices of some whom I knew to be living. Upon one occasion that occurs particularly to my mind, the voice, style of address, and intonation were so exactly personified that for the moment I felt positive that the gentleman and lady represented had deceased, and that their disembodied spirits were before me. But when I knew by the evidences of my physical senses that it was not the case, I was then convinced that the spirits were presenting assumed characters.
"That the reader may be fortified at every point, and never be drawn into the belief that any communication from the spirit world can in any sense be from God (though it may breathe what seems like heaven itself, and be characterized by lofty sentiment, and the most elegant phraseology, and classic purity of style), let him remember that if such are given through yourself as a medium, or through any other medium, it will only be but the prelude or introduction to something monstrous and absurd. All my experiences with these beings who surround us in the air sum up this distinct conclusion: that they delight in evil as their chief object, and especially that branch of evil called deception. If any one thing pleases them more than any other, it is to make those in the earth-life believe the most monstrous and absurd theories. I would exhort the reader, as did the Apostle Paul, in these words: 'Though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you, let him be accursed.'
"The most subtle method which these powers of the air use to induce belief in their monstrous absurdities consists in making friendly allusions to Jesus Christ and his gospel, and in speaking very highly of its doctrines; they may even give a grand dissertation upon one of them, and in the meantime weave into the framework of this dissertation a subtle philosophy which would undermine the consistency of the whole, and render it delusive."
How evident it is from the foregoing that God's people need more and more to rely upon their Father's Word, and not upon feelings and impressions and "voices" which generally, if not always, deceive. While the spirit of the Truth is to be sought, and not merely its letter, yet the careful study of the letter of God's Word is needful, together with an honesty of heart that delights to know and do the will of the Lord, - at any cost, at any sacrifice of prejudice, human preference, etc.
The Word of God is sufficient that the man of God may be thoroughly furnished. - 2 Tim. 3:16,17
"Sanctify them through thy truth: thy Word is truth." - John 17:17