05. Demonism

We are reading a great deal in these days about "Spiritualism," or the communication of the living with the dead. What is called "Spiritism" is DEMONISM, and is forbidden in the Scriptures. Lev. 20: 6, 27. Deu. 18: 10-11. Isa. 8: 19 (R. V.). The "Familiar Spirits" of the Old Testament are the same as the "Demons" and "Seducing Spirits" of the New Testament.

Of the revival of "Spiritism" in these days we have been fully warned in the New Testament. The Apostle Paul, writing to Timothy, says—

"Now the Spirit (Holy Spirit) speaketh expressly, that in the 'LATTER TIMES' (the last days of this Dispensation) some shall depart from the Faith (that is, give up the Christian Faith) giving heed to 'SEDUCING SPIRITS,' and 'DOCTRINES OF DEVILS' (Demons), * * * forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats." 1 Tim. 4: 1-3.

The phrase "forbidding to marry" does not refer to "celibacy," but to the abrogation of the marriage relation, the practice of "FREE LOVE" and the doctrine of "AFFINITIES," which Spiritism leads to. The phrase "Abstain From Meats" is not a reference to fasting, but the requirement of a "vegetable diet." It is a well-known fact that a "vegetable diet" renders the body more susceptible to spiritual forces than a meat diet.

The close connection of this warning of the Apostle with the words—"Refuse profane and 'OLD WIVES' FABLES," in verse seven, is doubtless a reference to some of the "ISMS" of these last days. For "Christian Science" is but an "OLD WIFE'S" Fable, for Mrs. Eddy was an "Old Wife" in the sense that she had been many times married. It is an indisputable fact that most of the "Witches" and "Mediums" of Scripture, and these "Lat-

DEMONISM ter Days," were and are women. It was through Eve and not Adam that Satan sought to destroy the race. The reason may be that the nervous and impressionable character of women is better adapted to demon influence.

The revival of "Spiritism," or "DEMONISM," is one of the "Signs of the Times," and should be a warning to every true child of God of the approaching end of the Age. The "Demons" belong to the "Powers of Darkness." They are not few in number, but are a great "Martialed Host," veterans in the service of Satan. Their central camp or abode is the "Bottomless Pit" from which they "sally forth" at the command of their leader. Rev. 9:1-11. They are not angels. Angels have bodies. But the fact that demons can enter in, and take possession of, and control human beings and animals (swine), is proof that they are "Disembodied Spirits." They are supposed by many to be the "spirits" of the inhabitants of the "Pre-Adamite Earth," whose sin caused its wreck, and whose bodies were destroyed in the catastrophe that overwhelmed it, and their desire and purpose in entering human bodies is to re-embody themselves again on the earth where they once lived. That the "Demons" have a personality is clear from the fact that Jesus conversed with them, asked them questions, and received answers. Luke 8:26-33. They are possessed of more than ordinary intelligence. They know that Jesus is the "Son of God," and that they are finally to be confined in a place of "Torment." Matt. 8:29.

THE POWER OF DEMONS OVER THE HUMAN BODY

They can cause DUMBNESS (Matt. 9:32-33), and BLINDNESS (Matt. 12:22), and INSANITY (Luke 8: 26-35), and the SUICIDAL MANIA (Mark 9:22), and PERSONAL INJURIES (Mark 9:18), and impart SUPERNATURAL STRENGTH (Luke 8:29) and inflict PHYSICAL DEFECTS AND DEFORMITIES. Luke 13:11-17. Once they have got control over a human body they can come and go at will. Luke 11:24-26.

The Devilish character of "Demons" is seen in the use they make of their victims. They use them as "instruments of unrighteousness," (Rom. 6:13), for the proclamation of the "DOCTRINES OF DEVILS," (1 Tim. 4:1), and the teaching of "DAMNABLE HERESIES." 2 Pet. 2:1. The effect of such use of the victim is not only unmoral, it is IMMORAL. It leads to vicious and inhuman conduct. The conduct of "demonized" men and women seems to indicate that the "Demon" takes possession of them for the purpose of physical sensual gratification, thus letting us into the secret of the cause of the wreck of the Pre-Adamite Earth, the SIN OF SENSUALITY. This accounts for the desire of the victim to live in a state of nudity; to have lustful and licentious thoughts. In these days of increasing tendency to yield to "Seducing Spirits" it may account for the immodesty of fashionable attire, and the craze of dancing. The purpose of the "Demon" is often to alienate husband and wife, and break up homes by preaching the doctrine of "FREE LOVE." In short, the "Demon," for personal gratification, has the power, once he is in control of his victim, to derange both mind and body, and wreck the victim's health, and if deliverance is not obtained by turning to Christ, who alone has power to cast out the Demon, the victim will be lost soul and body.

Demon-possession must not be confounded with diseases, such as "Epilepsy," which causes the victim to fall in convulsions, foam at the mouth and gnash the teeth, for the Scriptures make a clear distinction between them. Matt. 4:24.

In 1 Cor. 10:20-21 we read—

"But I say, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they SACRIFICE TO DEVILS (Demons), and not to God: and I would not that ye should have FELLOWSHIP WITH DEVILS (Demons). Ye cannot drink the 'Cup of the Lord' (Communion Cup), and the 'CUP OF DEVILS'; ye cannot be partakers of the 'Lord's Table,' and of the TABLE OF DEVILS (Demons)."

This passage proves that behind all heathen worship there is the "Spirit of Demonism," or "DEVIL WOR-

SHIP," and accounts for the "wild orgies" and voluptuous and licentious mode of worship of the heathen.

Satan's angels are spoken of as "Wandering Spirits," and "Lying," and "Wicked Spirits." They are invisible, and can enter homes and hear the secrets of the family. They can see every act of impurity. Thus through mediums they can give information known only to the individual himself. They can disclose the past, and to a limited extent have prescience enough to foretell the future. The "Demons" are different. They simply incarnate themselves in human beings, take possession of their personality, and use them for their own base and unclean purposes. The "Wandering Spirits" do not enter in and take possession of the person, they simply exercise an outward "control," as in Hypnotism. When the "Medium" has passed into the "hypnotic state" the "Control" (Wandering Spirit) directs her what to say. This is conveyed in the language of the Medium, and the character of the language is dependent on the education or mentality of the Medium, and accounts for messages purporting to come from scholarly persons being so unlike their language when alive.

THE SPIRIT OF SAMUEL

The story of Saul and the "Witch of Endor" stands by itself. It was put in the Bible to show how God punishes the "Sin of Witchcraft," and to expose the fraudulency of Spiritism. Samuel was dead, and Saul had put away those that had "Familiar Spirits," and the "Wizards," out of the land. 1 Sam. 28:3-25. But when the Philistines came up as a great host and pitched in Shunem Saul was afraid and greatly troubled, and enquired of the Lord, but the Lord answered him not, neither by dreams, nor by Urim, nor by prophets, and so Saul decided to consult a "Medium," that is, a woman under the "control" of a "Familiar Spirit." Upon inquiry he discovered that there was such a woman at Endor about seven or eight miles away. Waiting for the shelter of the night he went in disguise, accompanied by two attendants, to the Witch's cave in the

DEMONISM recesses of the mountains. Passing into the interior of the cave, dimly lighted, perhaps, by a fire of wood, King Saul accosted the woman in words that reveal the identity of her craft with that of the modern Medium, saying, "I pray thee, divine unto me by the 'Familiar Spirit,' and bring me him up, whom I shall name unto thee." The woman was at first suspicious, fearing that it was a snare set for her, and replied, that Saul had forbidden the practice of "Witchcraft," but being assured by Saul in a strange oath, in which he swore by the name of the Lord, that no harm should befall her for breaking the law of the Lord, she said—"Whom shall I bring up unto thee?" And he said, "Bring me up Samuel." The woman doubtless began to make her usual preparations, expecting to go into a trance-like condition and be used by her "Control" or "Familiar Spirit," who would impersonate the person called for. But the usual procedure was cut short by a "Spirit" rising, like a "wraith," out of the earth, and visible only to the woman. So unexpected and unusual was the appearance of the "Spirit," thus disclosing the fraudulency of Spiritism, that the woman shrieked in terror and affright and said to Saul, "Why hast thou deceived me? For thou art Saul." This doubtless was made known to her by the "Familiar Spirit," who saw through Saul's disguise. The king said unto her, "Be not afraid: for what sawest thou?" And the woman said, "I saw gods ascending out of the earth." To her terrified vision there were many, but when Saul asked, "What form is he of?" she replied, "An old man cometh up; and he is covered with a mantle." At once Saul perceived it was Samuel, and bowing himself waited for Samuel to speak, which Samuel did, saying in a reproachful way—"Why hast thou disquieted me, to bring me up"?

The woman's "Familiar Spirit" was not a factor in the bringing up of Samuel. God took the matter out of his hands. "Familiar" or "Evil Spirits" may impersonate the dead, but they cannot produce them. Only God can do that. And Samuel is the only one mentioned in the Scriptures that God so produced. The case of Samuel then is no proof that a "Medium," or her

"Control," can produce the "spirit" of the dead. The fact is that as soon as the "Spirit" of Samuel appeared the woman and her "Familiar Spirit" were sidetracked. They had nothing more to do with the proceedings. The conversation that followed was not between Saul and the "Familiar Spirit," but between Saul and Samuel. From Genesis to Revelation this is the only instance in the Scriptures where God permitted the dead to come back and hold communication with the living. While there are other cases where the "spirit" of the dead came back, as in the raising of the daughter of Jairus, the widow of Nain's son, and Lazarus, their mind was blank as to their experience while in the other world, it having faded away as a dream when the body awakes. They came not back as "spirits" but as raised persons. They did not receive their Resurrection bodies. They afterward died again. But Samuel's "spirit" was not re-embodied, and therefore he was not disqualified from telling what he knew of the other world.

But you ask how about those of whom it is said in Matt. 27:52-53, "That many bodies of the saints which slept arose, and came out of the graves after His Resurrection, and went into the Holy City, and appeared unto many," was not that Spiritism? No. Those were resurrected persons. They had their Resurrection bodies. With Jesus they made up the "First Fruits" of the "Resurrection Harvest," and ascended with Him to Heaven, and are now there, like Enoch, Moses, and Elijah, in their bodies. Their appearance in Jerusalem to those who were alive in the flesh, reveals not only the possibility, but the manner of communication between the risen saints and the people of the Millennial Earth, during the Millennium. The appearance of Moses and Elijah on the Mount of Transfiguration is no proof of Spiritism. They were present not as "spirits" but in their GLORIFIED BODIES.

If it be urged that God broke His own law against "Spiritism" by permitting the "Spirit" of Samuel to come back from the other world, the answer is that Samuel was sent back to rebuke those who resort to

DEMONISM

"Familiar Spirits," and to pronounce sentence on King Saul for breaking that law, for we read in 1 Chron. 10:13, that Saul died for his transgression in asking counsel of one who had a "Familiar Spirit."

There are some who stumble at the words of Samuel—"Tomorrow shalt thou and thy sons be with me" (1 Sam. 28:19), and say, how could that be? If Samuel was in Paradise, Saul and his sons being wicked could not go there. Therefore they reason it could not have been the "Spirit" of Samuel that appeared to Saul, but an "evil spirit" from the "Underworld." But we must not forget that in the time of Samuel Paradise was in the "Underworld," and was separated from the Hell section by an impassable Gulf, so that when Saul and his sons were slain their souls went to the "Hell" section of the "Underworld," and they were with Samuel in the sense that both they and Samuel were in the "Underworld," though one was in the "Paradise" section while the others were in the "Hell" section separated only by a gulf. This accounts for why Samuel's "spirit" came up out of the earth, and not down from Heaven.

As further confirmation that it was really Samuel who appeared we have his stinging rebuke to Saul. Most so-called communications from the dead are vague, cryptic, and couched in language intended to leave a favorable impression. But it was not so with Samuel. He spoke in the severest terms to Saul, and told him that the Lord had rent the Kingdom from him and given it to his neighbor, David, and was about to deliver Israel into the hands of the Philistines, and that tomorrow Saul and his sons would die. 1 Sam. 28:16-19.

Samuel disclosed nothing as to the state of those in the "Underworld," except as to the state of the Righteous dead, which he declared to be a state of rest and quietness, and that Saul had disturbed him by calling for him. In this statement we have a revelation of the state of the Righteous dead in Paradise between the death and resurrection of the body.

If it is forbidden in the Scriptures for a child of God to have recourse to a "Familiar Spirit," then it follows that it is equally wrong for the "spirits" of the Christian dead to try or consent to communicate with the living. By so doing both break the law of God. And what is true of the Righteous dead is true of the Wicked dead. If the persuasive pleading of the Rich Man in Hell could not secure the sending back of the "spirit" of Lazarus to the earth to warn his brethren, how can a "Medium" with the help of a "Familiar Spirit" prevail on the "spirits" of the dead to return? There is no need for us to resort to "Spiritism" to find out about the state of the dead, for we have a full revelation of the state of both the Christian and Christless dead given us in the Holy Scriptures. We have Moses and the Prophets, let us hear them. Luke 16:29-31, "When they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have 'Familiar Spirits,' and unto 'Wizards' that peep, and that mutter: should not a people seek unto their God? for the living to the dead? To the 'Law' and to the 'Testimony': if they speak not according to the 'Word,' it is because there is no light in them." Isa. 8:19-20. To tamper with "Spiritism" is to put one's-self on Satan's ground, and to throw one's-self open to invasion by a Demon, or to the "control" of an "Evil Spirit" from the "Dark Zone," whose power it may be impossible to break.

VI

The Underworld

To have a correct view of the other world, and of "Hell," it is necessary that we have a Scriptural understanding of—