Sketches from the Life of Paul (1883) — PDF Scan 145
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138 LIFE OF PAUL . means of convertingmany to the gospel, long aftertheapostlehimselfhad finishedhiscourse. When the Ephesian convertsburned their bookson magic,theyshowed thatthe thingsin which they had once most delightedwere now the most abhorred. It was by and through magicthattheyhad especiallyoffendedGod and imperiledtheirsouls,and itwas againstmagic thatthey showed such indignation. Here was giventhebestevidenceof trueconversion. Those treatiseson divination contained rules and forms of communicationwith evilspirits. They were the regulationsof the worship of Satan, directionsforsolicitinghishelpand obtaininginformationfrom him. By retaining thesebooks, the discipleswould have exposed themselvesto temptation; by sellingthem they would have placed temptationin the way of others. They had renouncedthe kingdom of darkness,and theydid not hesitateat any sac-rificeto destroyits power. Thus the truth triumphedover men's prejudices, theirfavorite pursuits,and theirloveof money . Itisfondlysupposedthatheathensuperstitions have disappearedbeforethe civilizationof the nineteenthcentury. But theword of God and thesterntestimonyof factsdeclarethatsorcery ispracticedin thisChristianage and Christian nationas verilyas by theold-timemagicians. The ancientsystem of magic is, in reality,the same as that which is now known as modern Spiritualism. Satan is findingaccessto thousandsof minds by presentinghimselfunder theguiseof departedfriends. The Scripturesof truth declare that " the dead know not anything." Theirthoughts,theirlove,theirhatred,