5. But even yet, I can quite suppose; that there may still be some, who may think that the marvellous light, strength, intellectual vigour, apparent wisdom, and even, what they suppose to be, heavenly consolation, which have sometimes flowed into their spirits, through this influence, could not possibly have proceeded from evil spirits; but must, of necessity, have emanated from good spirits; and must, therefore, be of God! To "cut off" all" occasion," therefore, "from them which," I might so say, "desire occasion "1 thus to delude themselves; I will fully meet, and reply to, this objection likewise.

The Rev. A. R. Fausset, in the "Silver Morn" for September, 1885, remarks, “I have letters from a pious London lady who has found, she thinks, great comfort from Spiritualistic communications with her beloved mother deceased, and who firmly believes they come from the Lord!" And he rightly replied to her, "God's commandment is (Deut. xviii. 11), 'There shall not be found among you a consulter with familiar spirits nor a necromancer,' i.e., a consulter of the dead. You do consult the dead. You are not on God's ground, but on Satan's. You put yourself in Satan's power. Your prayer is a self-deceiving mockery; when you fly in GOD's face in the very act of praying to GOD, GOD gives you up to your own delusion, as GOD gave up Ahab to the lying demon who undertook to persuade him to go to his own Kingdom (Old Testament lesson). So GOD saith to all who 'set up

1 2 Cor. xi. 12.

idols in their hearts, and put the stumbling block of their iniquity before their face,' 'I the LORD will answer him that cometh to Me according to the multitude of his idols.' When once Satan has beguiled religious professors into forbidden practices by religious masks, HAVING GOTTEN THEM INTO HIS POWER, he will soon throw off the mask"!

It is against such delusions as these, that the Holy Ghost has expressly warned us, when he tells us that as "false apostles" and "deceitful workers," can "transform themselves into the apostles of Christ:" SO "Satan himself is" ofttimes" transformed into AN ANGEL OF LIGHT"; and so appears, in this form, to the deluded children of men, who put their trust in him. And as my subject would be incomplete, without an unmasking, and exposure, of this device also; I shall now proceed to expose it accordingly.

The late Dean Goode several years ago, published a very valuable work, entitled, "The modern claims to the possession of the extraordinary gifts of the Spirit, stated and examined;" in which he gives many instances, both ancient and modern, of Satan having deluded even Christian men, as well as others, by assuming the character of "an angel of light:" some few of which I shall now transcribe.

"In the year 1625, Comenius," who was then travelling as one of a deputation from the United Brethren in Moravia, to some of their brethren in

1 2 Cor. xi. 13-15.

Poland," relates how, "on his way back," he paid a visit to "one Christopher Kotter, a pious man, an inhabitant of Sprottau in Silesia," who was reputed to be a prophet; and "he says, he cannot but mention, to the praise of God, what delightful emotions his mind experienced," while he was translating his prophecies into Bohemian. And yet the event shewed, that he was utterly deceived: for the prophecies were proved to be false; and "Kotter" himself "was banished from his country as a false prophet! "1

Again in the spring of 1688, there arose in Dauphiny, in France, "the Camisars," who laid claim to the gift of prophecy; "one of the first" of whom was "a poor shepherd's daughter of 14 or 15 years old, as ignorant and untaught as one could imagine." A Mr. Lacy, an Englishman, who investigated their claims, and who seems to have completely believed in them, and actually became "one of their principal supporters and prophets in this country," published a book about them in 1707; from which the following is an extract-" When I came to the Assembly, there was a girl preached with an eloquence and fluency to me most admirable.

The spirit fell upon her, and she made a long prayer: methought I heard an angel, so charming were the words that came from her mouth! After prayer she set a psalm, and tuned it melodiously; then she gave us a discourse so excellent, so pathetic, so well digested, with that holy gracefulness and ardent zeal, that we

1 "Modern Claims," &c., pp. 162-164.

could not but believe it was more than human that spoke in her. She quoted many texts of the

Old and New Testament as if she had the whole Bible by heart, affected us strangely.

and she applied them so aptly that

She promised also

after a manner very powerful, exact, and pressing, that religion in its purity should be re-established in the kingdom! "1

And then, after having entered into several other particulars, he continues:-" Everything was done by inspiration. It was in fact by the spirit's express direction that they took up arms against the King's troops. 'It was only,' says Elias Marion, by the inspirations and their repeated orders, that we began the war for the enjoyment of our holy religion.* And yet, notwithstanding these injunctions, interferences, and revelations of the spirit, as they supposed"-a great many of which he particularly enumerates-both prophets and people, "were in a few years miserably exterminated by the King's troops, and ALL their prophecies respecting the speedy downfall of Babylon, by which they meant the Romish Church, and the establishment of Christ's kingdom, left to the present hour unaccomplished!" 2

Another company of prophets also arose in England in 1707, who were so gifted by the spirits, that they deceived many. "Sir Richard Bulkley informs us, that he heard one of them, who did not know one

1 "Modern Claims," &c., pp. 169-172. 2 Ib., p. 181.

Hebrew letter from another, utter with great readiness and freedom complete discourses in Hebrew, for near a quarter of an hour together, and sometimes much longer.' He seems himself to have been completely deceived by them; but Dr. Josiah Woodward, who thoroughly tested their pretensions to Divine inspiration, came to a very different conclusion: for in a tract he wrote on the subject, he says:-"The Holy Scriptures inform us, that the devil sometimes transformeth himself into the likeness of an angel of light: and perhaps he scarce ever acted that part more exquisitely than in this case! Persons are brought to put up prayers and make exhortations, which are in most points very good and pious; humility, meekness, and charity, are recommended, and many other parts of religion duly represented."2 How then were they discovered to be false prophets? "We may see," says Mr. Henry Nicholson, in his "Falsehood of the new prophets manifested," "and all the world may be satisfied, that these new prophets are not from God, by their contradicting one another in ecstasies by turns; in which, also, they upbraid and condemn one another as FALSE and SELF-EXALTING

! 3

"Another still more remarkable case is that of Joanna Southcott, which lasted for many years, and whose followers, at the time of her death in 1814, amounted to about 20,000, pervading every county in England, and numbering among them many persons

1 "Modern Claims," &c., p. 188. 2 Ib., p. 193. 3 Ib., p. 196.