ught to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up
in victory."(982) As they are called forth from their deep slumber, they
begin to think just where they ceased. The last sensation was the pang of
death, the last thought that they were falling beneath the power of the
grave. When they arise from the tomb, their first glad thought will be
echoed in the triumphal shout, "O death, where is thy sting? O grave,
where is thy victory?"(983)

34. SPIRITUALISM.

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The ministration of holy angels, as presented in the Scriptures, is a
truth most comforting and precious to every follower of Christ. But the
Bible teaching upon this point has been obscured and perverted by the
errors of popular theology. The doctrine of natural immortality, first
borrowed from the pagan philosophy, and in the darkness of the great
apostasy incorporated into the Christian faith, has supplanted the truth,
so plainly taught in Scripture, that "the dead know not anything."
Multitudes have come to believe that it is the spirits of the dead who are
the "ministering spirits sent forth to minister for them who shall be
heirs of salvation." And this notwithstanding the testimony of Scripture
to the existence of heavenly angels, and their connection with the history
of man, before the death of a human being.

The doctrine of man's consciousness in death, especially the belief that
the spirits of the dead return to minister to the living, has prepared the
way for modern Spiritualism. If the dead are admitted to the presence of
God and holy angels, and privileged with knowledge far exceeding what they
before possessed, why should they not return to the earth to enlighten and
instruct the living? If, as taught by popular theologians, the spirits of
the dead are hovering about their friends on earth, why should they not be
permitted to communicate with them, to warn them against evil, or to
comfort them in sorrow? How can those who believe in man's consciousness
in death reject what comes to them as divine light communicated by
glorified spirits? Here is a channel regarded as sacred, through which
Satan works for the accomplishment of his purposes. The fallen angels who
do his bidding appear as messengers from the spirit world. While
professing to bring the living into communication with the dead, the
prince of evil exercises his bewitching influence upon their minds.

He has power to b