They Are Spirits of Devils.

2Ti_2:15  Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

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CHAPTER XIII. THE BEAST WITH TWO HORNS

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Now it is a fact clearly taught by Jesus and his holy apostles, that wicked spirits, professing to be sent of God to enlighten the world, will work signs and wonders to deceive. They profess to be the spirits of the dead, but the Bible says that the dead know not anything, and therefore they cannot communicate with us. What, then, are these spirits in fact? On this the divine word informs us:--

"For they are the spirits of devils [Greek, demons], working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty." Rev. 16:14.

And just at this time Jesus says: "Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth." Verse 15.

Spiritualism is built upon the assumption that man is immortal in his nature, which is contrary to the Scriptures. In Rom. 2:7 we are told that if we would have immortality we must seek for it; and 2 Tim. 1:10 informs us that Jesus Christ our Saviour has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. In 1 Cor. 15:51-54, we learn that immortality will be put on by the saints in the resurrection. In this present state man is mortal, corruptible. Rom. 1:23. The Scriptures do not say, in any manner, that man is immortal in his present state; they do not speak of the finally wicked, the lost, as ever becoming immortal, because they fail to seek for immortality where it can only be found,--in the gospel of Christ. In the resurrection the righteous put on immortality; but again the apostle writes:--

"He that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting." Gal. 6:8.

In the beginning, as we have before noticed, when man was created, he was placed on probation. Life and death were set before him, and he was a probationer for life. But he sinned, and was shut away from the tree of life, lest he should eat and live forever in sin. Gen. 3:22-24. But God had regard to the work of his own hands, and would not leave him to perish utterly. He provided a way, through the seed of the woman, to recover man from the ruin that he had brought upon himself. "God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." John 3:16. Jesus, our only Redeemer, said: "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me; and I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand." John 10:27, 28. 

Jesus brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, because he is the only Saviour from sin. Matt. 1:21. "The wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." Rom. 6:23. Wherever sin prevails, there death must follow. The only way to escape the penalty of sin, which is death, is to be saved from sin; and as Jesus alone can save from sin, he is the only way of eternal life. Hence he is called our life. Col. 3:4. And of this the Father bears most emphatic witness as follows:-- "He that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son. And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son." 1 John 5:10, 11.

Eternal life is not in our nature. Adam did not bequeath it to his posterity. By his sin he was shut away from the tree of life, and returned unto the ground out of which he was taken. And in Adam all die. 1 Cor. 15:22. Death has passed upon all men. Rom. 5:12. The seed of the woman, the second Adam, came to seek and to save the lost. He came to bring life and immortality to light in the gospel, and to give life to as many as will believe and follow him. John 6:40. But we must turn to him with all our hearts, for Christ hath no concord with Belial; he will not divide honors with his great enemy. To say that we have immortality without his gospel, is to rob him of the highest glory of his mission. To submit to the deceptions of Satan and his angels, is to reject the Saviour. The result of these wonder-workings is just what would be expected from such a deception as this has proved to be. Satan has always shown a greater desire to pervert worship than to destroy it. Man has a natural inclination to worship; he has also a natural aversion to purity of heart--to humility and selfdenial. Therefore an effort of Satan to destroy worship would meet with the opposition of even the carnal heart, for only the lowest tribes of earth have no system of worship. But perversion of worship is pleasing to the carnal mind. False worship satisfies the hardened conscience, and lulls the sinner to sleep. It is the most fatal of all delusions. 

Rev. 13:14 says that the object of these deceitful miracles is to induce them that dwell upon the earth to make an image to the beast, which had a wound by a sword and did live. We have seen that it was the papacy that was wounded to death, and had its deadly wound healed. The papal church system was a worldly church, a State or national church, a base perversion of Christianity. We have also seen that the beast with two horns, where these modern miracles took their rise, is the United States of America. Within the dominion of this beast, an image or likeness will be made to the first or papal beast. That is, the government will be turned into a State church government--a likeness of the religious system established by Constantine and his successors in the throne of the Roman Empire. So plainly is this fact indicated by this prophecy that there have been those who have preached and published, for the last forty years, that Church and State would be united in this government. Nay, they even pointed out the very religious questions that would be put forward to bring about such a result. But as there has always been a strong aversion to the very name of Church and State in this nation, these expositors of the prophecy were laughed to scorn for preaching that such a state of things would ever be in America. But now what do we behold?--Some years since, an organization was formed called the "National Reform Association," the object of which is to nationalize Christianity, or what they may call Christianity; for, as a matter of fact, there can be no national Christianity in any nation in a wicked world. Christianity is a matter of conscience. The moment it is put under restraint of civil law it becomes a worldly religion, and ceases to be Christianity.

We do not mean that there can be no Christians under legalized religion; for individual Christians can live under unfavorable conditions. But just as far as an individual's religion is governed and moulded by civil law, just so far it is worldly, and not heavenly--not the religion of Christ. Over the conscience no government can hold rightful control. The worst usurpation is that of exercising power over the consciences of men, for it is usurping the place of God; it is setting aside the authority of the Most High. 

This so-called National Reform Association has become very strong and influential; and it has secured the interest of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union,--an organization as widespread as the nation, which has pledged its influence towards securing a religious amendment to the national Constitution, by means of which such Christianity as the dominant party may happen to favor, may be enforced by law. Whenever this object is accomplished, and the prospects are favorable to its speedy accomplishment, then the United States Government will have become a perfect image of the first beast, which had the wound by the sword and did live. 

To be continued…

(From Eden to Eden-A Historic and Prophetic Study. By J. H. Waggoner. 1890.)