but to the priests, the sons of , that are consecrated to burn in-
cense. Go out of the sanctuary for though hast trespassed; neither shall
it be for thine honor from the Lord God. Then was wroth and had
a censor in his hand to burn incense. And while he was wroth with the
priests, the leprosy even rose up in his forehead before the priests in
the house of the Lord, from beside the incense altar. And the
chief priest and all the priests looked upon him, and behold he was
leprous in his forehead, and they thrust him out from thence, yea, him-
self hasted also to go out because the Lord had smitten him. And Uzziah
the King was a leper unto the day of his death." [2 Chronicles 26:16-21] Such a terrible
penalty, it would seem, should have been a warning to all succeeding
generations to refrain from interfering with sacred things without
authority. But another single instance is recorded before God gave them
up to a reprobate mind, and this was during the days of the Apostles, and
is contained in the following quotation: "Then certain of the vagabond
Jews, exorcists, took upon them to call over them which had evil spirits
the name of the Lord Jesus, saying; We abjure you by Jesus whom
preacheth. And there were seven sons of one Sceva, a Jew and chief of
the priests, who did so. And the evil spirit answered and said; Jesus
I know and Paul I know, but who are ye? And the man in whom the evil
spirit was, leaped on them and prevailed against them, so that they fled
out of that house, naked and wounded. And this was known to all the
Jews and Greeks also, dwelling at Ephesus, andfear fell on them all,
and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified." [Acts 19:13-17]
It would seem that the Christian world have learned a lesson from
the reading of the foregoing passages, as they no longer attempt to
cast out devils or heal the sick by the laying on of hands in the name
of Jesus, knowing only too well that they have no authority to do so,
and fearing the consequences as dire to themselves, either by receiving
such punishment as was meted out to the sons of Sceva or by thus reveal-
ing the fact that they were unauthorized of God, expose themselves to
the just resentment of their deceived and misguided followers.
SALVATION FOR THE DEAD.
In this age of religious freedom when every man is at liberty to
worship how, where or what he pleases, when the Christian Church is
split and divided into innumerable sects and creedsand is still divid-
ing and subdividing; where the opinions of men, crystalized into creeds,
pass current as systems of theological truths; while spiritualism in all
its various forms is rampant upon the earth, and its younger and more
delicately molded brother, theosophy, is just bursting forth as a
wonderful revelation from the unseen world, while darkness covers the
eatrth and gross darkness the people, and the men are continually seek-
ing for that which borders upon the sensational, the word of God comes
forth proclaiming the principles of salvation for the dead as well as
for the living. That there is but one faith, one hope, one baptism, one
way to obtain eternal life, either for the living or for the dead, is
clearly shown by the Scriptures. "To the law and to the testimony; if
they speak not according to this word it is because there is no light
in them." (Isaiah 8, 20). This shall be our guide, by this divine
but to the priests, the sons of , that are consecrated to burn incense. Go out of the sanctuary for though hast trespassed; neither shall
it be for thine honor from the Lord God. Then was wroth and had
a censor in his hand to burn incense. And while he was wroth with the
priests, the leprosy even rose up in his forehead before the priests in
the house of the Lord, from beside the incense altar. And the
chief priest and all the priests looked upon him, and behold he was
leprous in his forehead, and they thrust him out from thence, yea, himself hasted also to go out because the Lord had smitten him. And Uzziah
the King was a leper unto the day of his death." Such a terrible
penalty, it would seem, should have been a warning to all succeeding
generations to refrain from interfering with sacred things without
authority. But another single instance is recorded before God gave them
up to a reprobate mind, and this was during the days of the Apostles, and
is contained in the following quotation: "Then certain of the vagabond
Jews, exorcists, took upon them to call over them which had evil spirits
the name of the Lord Jesus, saying; We abjure you by Jesus whom
preacheth. And there were seven sons of one Sceva, a Jew and chief of
the priests, who did so. And the evil spirit answered and said; Jesus
I know and Paul I know, but who are ye? And the man in whom the evil
spirit was, leaped on them and prevailed against them, so that they fled
out of that house, naked and wounded. And this was known to all the
Jews and Greeks also, dwelling at Ephesus, andfear fell on them all,
and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified."
It would seem that the Christian world have learned a lesson from
the reading of the foregoing passages, as they no longer attempt to
cast out devils or heal the sick by the laying on of hands in the name
of Jesus, knowing only too well that they have no authority to do so,
and fearing the consequences as dire to themselves, either by receiving
such punishment as was meted out to the sons of Sceva or by thus revealing the fact that they were unauthorized of God, expose themselves to
the just resentment of their deceived and misguided followers.
SALVATION FOR THE DEAD.
In this age of religious freedom when every man is at liberty to
worship how, where or what he pleases, when the Christian Church is
split and divided into innumerable sects and creedsand is still dividing and subdividing; where the opinions of men, crystalized into creeds,
pass current as systems of theological truths; while spiritualism in all
its various forms is rampant upon the earth, and its younger and more
delicately molded brother, theosophy, is just bursting forth as a
wonderful revelation from the unseen world, while darkness covers the
earth and gross darkness the people, and men are continually seeking for that which borders upon the sensational, the word of God comes
forth proclaiming the principles of salvation for the dead as well as
for the living. That there is but one faith, one hope, one baptism, one
way to obtain eternal life, either for the living or for the dead, is
clearly shown by the Scriptures. "To the law and to the testimony; if
they speak not according to this word it is because there is no light
in them." (Isaiah 8, 20). This shall be our guide, by this divine