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Profitable Bonfire, December 3
Acts 19:1-20
And many that believed came, and confessed, and shewed their deeds.
Many of them also which used curious arts brought their books together,
and burned them before all men.
Acts 19:18, 19
.
By burning their books on magic, the Ephesian converts showed that the
things in which they had once delighted they now abhorred. It was by and
through magic that they had especially offended God and imperiled their souls;
and it was against magic that they showed such indignation.... By retaining
these books the disciples would have exposed themselves to temptation; by
selling them they would have placed temptation in the way of others. They
had renounced the kingdom of darkness, and to destroy its power they did not
hesitate at any sacrifice. Thus truth triumphed over men’s prejudices and their
love of money.... The influence of what had taken place was more widespread
than even Paul realized. From Ephesus the news was widely circulated, and a
strong impetus was given to the cause of Christ. Long after the apostle himself
had finished his course, these scenes lived in the memory of men and were the
means of winning converts to the gospel.
It is fondly supposed that heathen superstitions have disappeared before the
civilization of the twentieth century. But the word of God and the stern testimony
of facts declare that sorcery is practiced in this age as verily as in the days of the
old-time magicians. The ancient system of magic is, in reality, the same as what
is now known as modern spiritualism. Satan is finding access to thousands of
minds by presenting himself under the guise of departed friends....
The magicians of heathen times have their counterpart in the spiritualistic
mediums, the clairvoyants, and the fortunetellers of today.... Could the veil be
lifted from before our eyes, we should see evil angels employing all their arts to
deceive and to destroy. Wherever an influence is exerted to cause men to forget
God, there Satan is exercising his bewitching power.... The apostle’s admonition
to the Ephesian church should be heeded by the people of God today: “Have no
fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.
[344]
6
Ibid., 288-290
.
358