"If he be the spirit of a just man made perfect, he will come in his glory; for that is the only way he can appear.
"Ask him to shake hands with you, but he will not move, because it is contrary to the order of heaven for a just man to deceive; but he will still deliver his message.
"If it be the Devil as an angel of light, when you ask him to shake hands, he will offer you his hand, and you will not feel anything [he also being without a body]. You may therefore detect him."[[8]]
In another place, the Prophet says: "Wicked spirits have their bounds, limits and laws, by which they are governed; and it is very evident that they possess a power that none but those who have the Priesthood can control."[[9]] To his declaration that "a man is saved no faster than he gets knowledge," he adds that if men do not get knowledge, including the knowledge of how to control evil spirits, the latter will have more power than the former, and thus be able to dominate them. This is precisely the condition of "the spirits in prison." They are dominated by a power which they cannot control. They are in Hell, and Satan sways the scepter over his own dominion.
Seek Knowledge Aright.—To those in quest of spiritual light, this word of counsel: Seek it only in the Lord's appointed way. Follow the advice of the Apostle James and the example of Joseph the Prophet.[[10]] Never go upon the Devil's ground. Keep away from all deceptive influence. One may believe in hypnotism, without being a hypnotist, without surrendering one's will to the will of the person exercising that power—a very dangerous power when wielded by an unprincipled possessor. In like manner, one may believe spiritualism real, without becoming a spiritualist, without attending "seances," without consulting "mediums," without putting trust in planchettes, ouija boards, automatic pencils, false impersonations, or in any way encouraging the advances of designing spirits, who thus gain an ascendancy over their victims, leading them into mazes of delusion, and often into depths of despair. Go not after them; and if they come to you, put them to the test. "Try the spirits."[[11]] If they speak not according to revealed truth, if they conform not to divine standards, "it is because there is no light in them."[[12]]
The Great Return.—Yes, the dead, or the departed, do return. They are no more dead than we are. Nay, not so much. The Savior's reappearance after death to his amazed and incredulous disciples—what was that but a return, a real return, from the realm of the departed, where in the interim between his crucifixion and resurrection, he "preached to the spirits in prison?" Moreover, the ascended Lord promised another return, or his angel promised it for him, when the "men of Galilee" stood "gazing up into heaven," after "a cloud" had "received him out of their sight."[[13]] That glorious return is nigh. All the signs so indicate. May the kingly Traveler from heaven to earth meet a royal welcome when he appears!
Footnotes
[1]. Luke 24:36-39.
[2]. 1 Peter 3:18-20.
[3]. 1 Cor. 12:4-11.