rom His personal coming in the clouds of heaven. For
years Satan has thus been saying, "Behold, He is in the secret
chambers,"(922) and many souls have been lost by accepting this deception.

Again, worldly wisdom teaches that prayer is not essential. Men of science
claim that there can be no real answer to prayer; that this would be a
violation of law, a miracle, and that miracles have no existence. The
universe, say they, is governed by fixed laws, and God Himself does
nothing contrary to these laws. Thus they represent God as bound by His
own laws--as if the operation of divine laws could exclude divine freedom.
Such teaching is opposed to the testimony of the Scriptures. Were not
miracles wrought by Christ and His apostles? The same compassionate
Saviour lives to-day, and He is as willing to listen to the prayer of
faith as when He walked visibly among men. The natural co-operates with
the supernatural. It is a part of God's plan to grant us, in answer to the
prayer of faith, that which He would not bestow did we not thus ask.

Innumerable are the erroneous doctrines and fanciful ideas that are
obtaining among the churches of Christendom. It is impossible to estimate
the evil results of removing one of the landmarks fixed by the word of
God. Few who venture to do this stop with the rejection of a single truth.
The majority continue to set aside one after another of the principles of
truth, until they become actual infidels.

The errors of popular theology have driven many a soul to skepticism, who
might otherwise have been a believer in the Scriptures. It is impossible
for him to accept doctrines which outrage his sense of justice, mercy, and
benevolence: and since these are represented as the teaching of the Bible,
he refuses to receive it as the word of God.

And this is the object which Satan seeks to accomplish. There is nothing
that he desires more than to destroy confidence in God and in His word.
Satan stands at the head of the great army of doubters, and he works to
the utmost of his power to beguile souls into his ranks. It is becoming
fashionable to doubt. There is a large class by whom the word of God is
looked upon with distrust for the same reason as was its Author,--because
it reproves and condemns sin. Those who are unwilling to obey its
requirements, endeavor to overthrow its authority. They read the Bible, or
listen to its teachings as presented from the sacred desk, merely to find
fault with the