Chapter 6 (continued, part 2)
6. An Adversary (1 Pet. 5:8).—He is the Church's great enemy, watching to destroy, like a beast of prey prowling round the fold in order to seize his victims. This enmity is what the first promise predicts: enmity between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent; yet limited enmity, enmity which God restrains, and which can go no further than the heel, either in the case of Christ or His Church.
7. He is an Accuser (Rev. 12:10).—His name, devil or διάβολος, signifies this, just as Satan signifies adversary. No doubt, after deceiving our first parents, he went straight and accused them to God, which he seems always to have had the power of doing, and hence he is called 'the accuser of the brethren.' Awfully true to his name has he proved himself to be! What evil reports has he not set on foot against the saints! what lies has he not invented! what slanders has he not heaped upon them! Both before God and man he has proved the truth of his name, 'the accuser of the brethren.'
8. He is the god of this world (2 Cor. 4:4).—This name seems to correspond with that which our Lord gives him, 'the prince of this world' (John 14:30), and to that which the apostle gives to the principalities and powers, 'the rulers of the darkness of this world.' He has got dominion over the earth. The world obeys him. He has covered it with darkness, and that darkness he rules or wields at pleasure. And hereafter he will induce the whole world to wonder after his representative, 'the beast;' nay, to have its name stamped upon their forehead; nay, to fall down and worship it.
Other similar names he has, such as Beelzebub, that old serpent, the dragon, the wicked one. All these indicate the same characteristics of utter wickedness and rebellion against God and His Christ.
These characteristics have been exemplified in each age and clime of this world. To trace his workings in the earth, would lead us into a larger field than we can at present occupy; this, however, we may say, that he has, without cessation, been working in our world from the
beginning hitherto. By his legions of evil angels he carries on his schemes in every kingdom and in every heart. He leaves no place unassailed, no heart untempted, in so far as he is permitted of Jehovah. For let us remember that he is not omnipotent, nor is he at liberty to do all he desires or plans, unrestrained. But in so far as this divine permission allows him, he works without ceasing everywhere.
Nor does he work at random. He has evidently had a regular and consistent plan all along to carry out. Possessed of vast wisdom, he does not fling away his efforts uselessly. He works out a consistent and considered scheme. He does not allow wrath to blind or malice to mislead him. He plans and he executes with all the superhuman skill with which he is gifted, as originally an angel of light, excelling in wisdom as in strength. All error comes from him, all apostasy, all idolatry, all denial of Christ. He is ever on the watch to ensnare and lead captive the unwary.
His greatest device is that of Antichrist. This he has been building up and maturing during past centuries; and this he is still occupied with in these last days. This is his main central scheme, on which he expends his utmost cunning and strength. And for a time he succeeds. He has led men into the entanglements and abominations of Popery; and he is yet to have more universal success in other ways, when he deceives the whole world, and makes it to wonder after and to worship the beast. (See Rev. 13)
Instead of losing, he gains ground in the course of ages. He comes down, having great wrath, because he knows he has but a short time. He persecutes the saints; he slays the witnesses; he makes war with the Lamb; he sets Antichrist upon the throne, and brings all the world to worship him. For just as he tempted Christ by offering Him all the world's kingdoms, so does he tempt Antichrist, and prevail. Antichrist worships him, and he in turn brings the whole world to worship Antichrist. Up to the last he is seen maintaining his old characteristics. He is the deceiver, the liar, the murderer, the god of this world, and the prince of the air, to the very last. His enmity to
the seed of the woman has lost none of its intensity or ferocity. His warfare continues as unrelenting and murderous as when he stirred up Cain to slay his brother. The battle of Armageddon is wholly of his organization. And the following passages describe his last act of enmity, Rev. 17:14, 19:19.
And what follows this last outburst of Satanic rage against the Lamb and His followers? Does he muster his routed forces for another conflict, and come forth for a second and more terrible Armageddon! No; the 20th chapter gives the result. He is not merely overpowered and his legions scattered, but he is seized and bound. A mighty angel descends, and his reign is over; the spoiler is spoiled; the destroyer is destroyed; he that led into captivity has gone into captivity; the imprisoner of the saints is led to prison, and bound in chains too strong for all hell to break.
And what follows this binding of Satan? The saints take their seats upon their long-promised thrones; the righteous reign of Christ begins; the earth is swept clean of its long pollution; the times of the restitution of all things now run their course; the 'darkness of this world' is exchanged for the light of the world to come; for the ruler of the long darkness has been expelled from his seat, and the glory of the Son of God takes possession of that air where Satan had dwelt, and where he had exercised his power on earth.
And what is the great event which ends the reign of Satan and begins the reign of the saints? The coming of the Lord! In proof of this, we have only to look at the concluding part of the preceding chapter. At the 11th verse a new scene unfolds itself. The saints have been caught up to the clouds to meet their Lord, and the marriage-supper of the Lamb is described as then taking place. Then the heaven opens; the Lord Himself appears. The beast is taken, and the false prophet, and cast into the lake of fire. Then follows the scene in the 20th chapter, of Satan's binding, and the reign of the saints during the period of his binding.
It is plain that, up till this period, Satan has had dominion on the earth. During that dominion there could be no millennium. To end this dominion of the Evil One, by destroying the beast whom Satan had set up, and binding Satan himself, the Lord comes in person. And now the glory is manifested. There can be no millennium before Christ comes. Immediately on His coming it commences.
Into the momentous question of Satan's power we have not entered. It is one which demands our most solemn attention, and it is one which will necessarily force itself upon the notice of the Church as the last days draw on. It must be evident to every reader of Scripture, that he has far greater power than we have usually ascribed to him, at least of late years. Our forefathers came much nearer the truth on this point than we do. Modern enlightenment has exploded the ancient ideas of Satanic operation. How far this enlightenment can claim to be scriptural, we do not now say.
A recently published work of Mr. Smith takes up the subject in a way such as few historians have ventured to do. The work is entitled The Gentile Nations, published some years ago, and forms the conclusion of his Sacred Annals. We cannot better conclude our remarks than by giving a few extracts, which may help our readers to pursue the subject at greater length.
The origin of idolatry is thus traced to Satan by Mr. Smith:—
'The origin of idolatry will never be understood while the investigation is confined to the character of the human mind or the history of the human race, without a distinct recognition of man's exposure to Satanic influence and aggression. It might as reasonably be attempted to write a history of England whilst ignoring the Norman Conquest, or a system of physics without reference to gravitation, as to give a consistent and rational account of the origin of idolatry in the absence of all reference to Satan, its real author and object. It may be said, "This is unscientific and unphilosophical." But is it not in perfect accordance with the purest science, and the
soundest philosophy, to apply all truth to useful purposes, and by the judicious adaptation of ascertained principles to cognate subjects, to solve apparent mysteries, unravel difficulties, and make that clear and plain which was before confused and obscure? Why, then, should this mode of proceeding be prohibited in respect of the truths of the Holy Scriptures by those who admit their divine origin? Sceptics and infidels may decline such a method: it is their consistent habit so to do. But why should those who make the undoubted verity of God's Holy Word the basis of their highest hopes and dearest interests, hesitate to apply its teaching to the great problems presented by all the aspects of the world's religion?
'In the investigation of the origin and character of idolatry, this aid is essential. The moment we enter on this study, we are met by such questions as these: "What were the origin and design of bloody sacrifices? Why were they universal, when the most profound sages were ignorant of their origin and object? Why was the form of the serpent, above every other, consecrated to supreme elevation and honour?" These and many other queries cannot be solved by any study of human nature or human history. No recondite researches into ancient mythology, no laboured exploration into the poetry or religion of the primitive nations, will afford a satisfactory answer. To understand the origin, object, and character of idolatry, we must pass beyond the twilight of mere human intelligence and induction, and, standing in the full glory of revealed truth, contemplate the primitive condition and early history of mankind. Here we learn our glorious origin, and the mighty agencies with which our nature, in the outset of its career, was brought into contact; mark the fearful change wrought in man's moral nature, and watch its terrible results until we see him turn away from the God of his life, and bow in profane adoration before the most filthy impersonations of his foul destroyer.
'In this light we see that the relentless foe of God and man did not quit his prey, when covered with guilt, and involved in condemnation. It may be fairly questioned whether any crisis in the affairs of the human race stands invested with more terrible
grandeur than this. Here we see, that as divine mercy interposed the scheme of redemption for the salvation of man, the arch-foe not only opposed its principles and its progress by a wide range of malignant effort; but, in a manner at once daring and insidious, he devised idolatry, and succeeded in introducing it into the world, as a means of wresting the spiritual dominion of mankind from the MediatorDeity, and establishing himself as "the god of this world." This was the agency under which idolatry was introduced, and rose into influence and power; and throughout its almost infinite range of development, the evil and debasing character of its author is legibly imprinted upon all its numerous deities, doctrines, rites, and religious observances.'
The origination of idolatry, in the perversion of divine truth by Satan, is thus stated:—
'Having thus ascertained by undoubted induction, confirmed as it is by Scripture proof, the period and place whence idolatry originated, we may proceed another step, and elicit from the great and common principles of all heathen mythology some notion of the ruling elements of unhallowed feeling and corrupt imagination, which generated the evil of which we speak. In this effort it will be of consequence for us to recognise the important fact, that in all ages Satanic error has been most successful when presented to the human mind as a perversion of truth. Faber justly observes, "The human mind rarely tolerates any great changes if they be violent and sudden, particularly in matters of religion. It seems natural to suppose that this great apostasy was not a violent and abrupt setting aside of true religion; that it was not a sudden plunge from the worship of Jehovah into the grossness of rank idolatry. I should rather apprehend, that it must have commenced with a specious perversion of sound doctrine, and with an affectedly devout adoption of authorized rites, and ceremonies, and phraseology." This judgment of an experienced and learned writer, who had carefully investigated the subject, may be safely admitted as a sound principle, of important use in the prosecution of this inquiry.'
Satan's object in these idolatrous systems—to defeat God's scheme of redemption—is then briefly noticed, along with the general overlooking of this awful fact in studying heathen mythology. Our youth are taught mythology, but not as they ought to be. They are not taught to look on it with abhorrence, as Satan's scheme for opposing redemption; they are rather made to regard it as a beautiful and wonderful exhibition of human intellect!
Then Satan's efforts to get himself worshipped under the form of a serpent, are thus sketched:—
'That the malign foe should repeat his assault on human happiness after the promise of redemption, is not wonderful. That he should have persevered in his aggression, might be inferred from his subtlety and malice. But it will scarcely be believed, that even Satan should not only have aimed so high as to supplant the adorable and eternal God as the object of human worship, but should also have aspired to put himself forth as the object of supreme worship, and challenge the adoration of the world under the precise form in which he had succeeded in effecting the ruin of the race. Yet so it was. The serpent form has in all probability approached nearer to universal adoration than any other.
'A learned author, who has investigated this subject with great labour and research, assures us that he has "traced the worship of the serpent from Babylonia, east and west, through Persia, Hindustan, China, Mexico, Britain, Scandinavia, Italy, Illyricum, Thrace, Greece, Asia Minor, and Phœnicia. Again, we have observed the same idolatry prevailing north and south, through Scythia on the one hand, and Africa on the other. THE WORSHIP OF THE SERPENT WAS THEREFORE UNIVERSAL. For not only did the sacred serpent enter into the symbolical and ritual service of every religion which recognised THE SUN, but we even find him in countries where solar worship was altogether unknown, as in Sarmatia, Scandinavia, and in the Gold Coast of Africa. In every known country of the ancient world, the serpent formed a prominent feature in the ordinary
worship, and made no inconsiderable figure in their Hagiographa, entering alike into legendary and astronomical mythology.
' "Whence, then, did this ONLY UNIVERSAL idolatry originate? That it preceded polytheism, is indicated by the attribution of the title OPS, and the consecration of the symbolical serpent, to so many of the heathen deities. The title OPS was conferred upon Terra, Vesta, Rhea, Cybele, Juno, Diana; and even Vulcan is called by Cicero, Opas.
' "In Grecian mythology, the symbolical serpent was sacred to Saturn, Jupiter, Apollo, Bacchus, Mars, Æsculapius, Rhea, Juno, Minerva, Diana, Ceres, and Proserpine; that is, the serpent was a sacred emblem of nearly all the gods and goddesses.
' "The same remark may be extended to the theogonies of Egypt, Hindustan, and Mexico, in all of which we find the serpent emblematic, not of one deity, but of many.
' "What, then, is the inference? That the serpent was the most ancient of the heathen gods." '
How curiously this serpent-worship, or rather, Satan-worship, was developed in different places, is thus adverted to:—
'So the great and terrible truth stands clearly attested, not only by the Word of God, but by authentic records of every ancient nation, that the old serpent the devil, who seduced our first parents from their allegiance, succeeded in establishing himself, under the very figure in which he wrought his first fatal triumph, as the almost universal object of human worship—"the god of this world." Yes, and as the corrupt fancy and bewildered speculations diversified modes of worship, and multiplied forms and objects of adoration, this malign spirit, as if to assert his universal supremacy, and perpetuate his name and influence over the wide world of human nature, stamped the serpent name on every deity, and the serpent form on every ritual. To use the eloquent language of the author already cited, "The
mystic serpent entered into the mythology of every nation; consecrated almost every temple; symbolized almost every deity; was imagined in the heavens, stamped upon the earth, and ruled in the realms of everlasting sorrow. His subtlety raised him into an emblem of wisdom; he was therefore pictured upon the ægis of Minerva, and crowned her helmet. The knowledge of futurity which he displayed in paradise exalted him into a symbol of vaticination; he was therefore oracular, and reigned at Delphi. The 'opening of the eyes' of our deluded first parents obtained him an altar in the temple of the god of healing; he is therefore the constant companion of Æsculapius. In the distribution of his qualities, the genius of mythology did not even gloss over his malignant attributes. The fascination with which he intoxicated the souls of the first sinners, depriving them at once of purity and immortality, of the image of God and of the life of angels, was symbolically remembered and fatally celebrated in the orgies of Bacchus, where serpents crowned the heads of the Bacchantes, and the poculum boni dœmonis circulated under the auspices of the ophite hierogram, chased upon the rim. But the most remarkable remembrance of the paradisaical serpent is displayed in the position which he retains in Tartarus. A cunodracontic Cerberus guards the gates; serpents are coiled about the chariot wheels of Proserpine; serpents pave the abyss of torment; and even serpents constitute the caduceus of Mercury, the talisman which he holds when he conveys the soul to Tartarus. The image of the serpent is stamped upon every mythological fable connected with the realms of Pluto."
'To such a fearful extent is the presence and image of Satan the destroyer impressed on the wide range of idolatry! Nor is the character with which he has imbued it less dubious than the symbolism under which it is exhibited to the world. The genius of heathen idolatry is throughout diabolical.'
In a subsequent page he comes to the question of how far Satan was really at work in the heathen oracles, and how far he was permitted to communicate supernatural knowledge to mankind:—
'The important question is then suggested, What was the real character of these oracles? Were they the result of combined fraud and ingenious contrivance? Or did they in any measure emanate from, and were sustained by, Satanic influence? In the solution of this question, the learned of our own as well as of other countries are much at variance with each other. Bishop Sherlock is so confident of the Satanic character of the heathen oracles, that he does not hesitate to state that he regards those who deny that the devil gave out the oracles to the heathen world, as evincing a "degree of unbelief" which deprives them of all right to debate questions of this kind; while, on the other hand, Dr. Middleton pleads guilty of this degree of unbelief, and maintains that these oracles were "all mere impostures, wholly invented and supported by human craft, without any supernatural aid or interposition whatever." When such divines stand thus opposed to each other, nothing can be hoped for in respect of authority. Our only resource is, therefore, to investigate the subject for ourselves, under the guidance of such aids as its nature affords.
'It may be observed, in limine, that an objection has been taken to supernatural interposition in respect of oracles, which appears to be most unsound and unreasonable. It has been asserted that numerous proofs exist of fraud, deceit, and corruption, in the agency by which they were administered: and hence it is argued, that they could not have emanated from diabolical influence. It is difficult to conceive of a more inconsequential conclusion. If it had been alleged that these oracles were the result of divine prescience, then the proof of positive guile and wickedness in the agents might be held sufficient to disprove the claim. But surely there is no such obvious antagonism between Satanic influence, and fraud, guile, and wickedness, that the presence of the one must necessarily prove the absence of the other. On the other hand, I am free to confess, that this asserted guile and fraud, instead of disproving the presence of Satanic influence, rather inclines me to infer the operation of such agency.'
Mr. Smith next comes to historical examples confirmatory of his statements. He adduces the following from Scripture:—
'Passing by other and more doubtful cases, I call attention here to a clear and indubitable instance of the communication of superhuman knowledge by diabolical agency. The case I refer to has been noticed for another purpose in a note; it is that of the Pythoness of Philippi. We have here (Acts 16:16–19) an unquestionable proof of such a communication of superhuman knowledge. It may be first observed, that the term used by the sacred writer to describe this woman's occupation, μαντεύομαι, and which our translators have rendered "soothsaying," signifies "to foretell, divine, prophesy, DELIVER AN ORACLE." It is precisely the same word which is used by Herodotus when referring to the divination of the Scythians, and which is also employed by him when speaking of the famous oracle at Delphi. The case is therefore strictly in point.
'In this instance, then, it is clear that an evil spirit gave to the woman the power of making superhuman, or oracular communications. The presence and power of this spirit were absolutely necessary to the production of these results: for when the demon was expelled, her masters "saw that the hope of their gains was gone," and their chagrin and rage led to a fierce persecution. It is vain to urge that this was a mere mercenary affair, and that it is not to be supposed that Satanic influence would be permitted in such a case. The Holy Ghost has declared it to be a fact. Whatever fraud or wickedness might have been employed in connection with this business, it is therefore an acknowledged truth by every believer in revelation, that oracular answers communicating superhuman knowledge were in this case given by diabolical agency.'
He then treats specially of the heathen oracles, taking up the question as to possibility of fraud and imposture:—
'It is important to consider the fact, that these oracles were sustained in high credit, and trusted with implicit confidence, by the wisest statesmen and sovereigns of the nations of antiquity most celebrated for their high state of civilisation. Not only did this continue under particular circumstances, and for a season or an age, but it lasted
throughout successive centuries. This is an argument which all candid minds have felt. Hence the learned Banier asks, "Is it then credible, that if the oracles had been nothing but the offspring of priestcraft, whatever artful methods they may be thought to have used, and however successful in pumping out the secrets and schemes of those who came to consult them; is it credible, I say, that those oracles would have lasted so long, and supported themselves with so much splendour and reputation, had they been merely owing to the forgery of the priests? Imposture betrays itself, falsehood never holds out. Besides, there were too many witnesses, too many curious spies, too many people whose interest it was not to be deluded. One may put a cheat for a time upon a few private persons, who are overrun with credulity, but by no means upon whole nations for several ages. Some princes who had been played upon by ambiguous responses,—a trick once discovered,—the bare curiosity of a freethinker,—any of these, in short, was sufficient to blow up the whole mystery, and at once to make the credit of the oracles fall to the ground. How many people, deluded by hateful responses, were concerned to examine, if it was really the priests by whom they were seduced! But why? Was it so hard a matter to find one of the priests themselves, capable of being bribed to betray the cause of his accomplices, by the fair promises and more substantial gifts of those who omitted no means of being thoroughly informed in a subject of such concern?"
'Lemprière echoes the same argument, and says, "Imposture and forgery cannot long flourish, and falsehood becomes its own destroyer." Yet it is an undeniable fact that, "during the best period of their history, the Greeks, generally speaking, had undoubtedly a sincere faith in the oracle, its counsels and directions." Hence Lucan, who wrote his Pharsalia scarcely thirty years after our Lord's crucifixion, laments, as one of the greatest evils of the age, that the Delphic oracle was become silent. From the general credit which the oracles maintained in an enlightened age, and during a very lengthened period, it is extremely improbable that they should have been nothing more than the base results of fraud and fiction.'
The following instance from heathen history is given as illustrative of the author's statements:—
'I refer to the case of Crœsus, king of Lydia, and the Pythian oracle. Herodotus informs us that this sovereign, alarmed at the growing power of Cyrus, king of Persia, and meditating an attack on his dominions, was anxious first to consult the most celebrated oracles as to the issue of such an important enterprise, before he committed himself to it. Prior, however, to his submitting to the oracle the important question upon which his fate depended, he was determined to propound one which should enable him, as he thought, to test the prescience of the oracle. He accordingly sent messengers to Delphi; and having carefully considered the period required for the journey, and allowed them ample time, he commanded them at the appointed hour to present themselves before the Pythoness, and propose this question: "What is Crœsus, son of Alyattes, now doing?" They were to write the answer carefully down, and send it to him. The answer was to this effect:—
"I count the sand, I measure out the sea;
The silent and the dumb are heard by me.
E'en now the odours to my sense that rise,
A tortoise boiling with a lamb supplies,
Where brass below and brass above it lies."
'The fact was, that Crœsus, determined to be occupied in the most unlikely and unkingly manner, was engaged at that time in boiling the flesh of a tortoise and a lamb together in a covered vessel of brass.'
The following conclusions are then deduced from the preceding statements. They are worth pondering:—
'First, then, it cannot be denied that the first answer, which referred to the strange occupation of Crœsus at the time, exhibits remarkable accuracy. We may think ourselves very wise in dismissing such a case with the cry of "jugglery and cheating;" but it is doubtful whether by such conduct we do not evince great folly. The king of Lydia was a man of great energy and intellectual power: he was therefore competent to judge of the chances of imposition, and to guard against them, much better than we can now imagine. Yet he, by the presentation of gifts to the value of nearly one million sterling, gave ample proof that he regarded the whole as a bonâ fide transaction. Is it not, then, reasonable to ask, "By what means could the Pythoness have given such a reply? By what means could the priestess at Delphi have ascertained what the king of Lydia was doing at a given hour, in his, palace at Sardis, hundreds of miles away, when he had determined to exercise his utmost care and ingenuity in order to test her ability?" Neither captious querulousness nor unmeaning sneering will meet the case. Here is an undoubted historical incident, which, I am bold to say, admits of no satisfactory solution, except on the principle of diabolical agency. But on this principle all is plain: the difficulty, otherwise insurmountable, immediately vanishes.
'But then it is asked in the most triumphant tone, "Why were not all the responses given in language equally distinct and intelligible? Why the double meaning and equivocation of the other replies?" It is truly astonishing to see the confidence with which this objection is urged, when it is open to a very simple and rational solution. It is easy to conceive that diabolical agency might enable the Pythoness to give a clear and distinct answer as to what was transpiring at the moment in a distant place, which to all merely human intelligence would have been wholly inscrutable. But it is far from certain that this agency could unravel the mystery of future contingent events. This is the exclusive attribute of Jehovah: He challenges this power to Himself alone: "I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning" (Isa. 46:9, 10); whilst to the idols and their worshippers He says, "Produce your cause, saith the Lord; bring forth your strong reasons, saith the
King of Jacob. Let them bring them forth, and show us what shall happen: let them show the former things what they be, that we may consider them, and know the latter end of them; or declare us things for to come. Show the things that are to come hereafter, that we may know that ye are gods" (Isa. 41:21–23). Diabolical aid, therefore, although it might give superhuman knowledge in respect of passing events, and afford a means of conjecture beyond all human wisdom as to the future, could not communicate the power of foretelling future contingencies. Obscure, conjectural, and enigmatical expressions, in the communication of oracles, would consequently be as necessary under this agency as without it.
'The result of our inquiry then is,—
'1. That we find the heathen oracles maintaining a high character and general confidence, to an extent, and for a period, beyond that which would be likely to result from continued and unaided human fraud and falsehood.
'2. The accredited declarations of these oracles exhibit a measure of knowledge respecting passing events, and a sagacity in respect of futurity, far above all that merely human ingenuity or contrivance could produce.
'3. Yet all this is found in such combined operation with wickedness, fraud, and corruption, as clearly to prove that if superhuman knowledge was connected with the oracles, it must have been diabolical.
'It is a certain fact, based on the authority of New Testament revelation, that diabolical agency was used in ancient times, for the purpose of giving forth superhuman oracular responses.
'From all these premises we conclude that the sagacity and general credit of heathen oracles was in some instances owing to diabolical agency.'
The whole subject of the personality and agency of Satan demands our most solemn study. It has been far too much overlooked,—in many cases evaded and denied. The Church's prospects in these last days call on her to weigh the matter. There is far more in it that concerns her than she seems aware of. Individually, we have a superhuman adversary to face; and so, collectively, has the Church. Let us know what God has revealed concerning his craft and power, that we may know with what weapons to contend, and in what strength we are to overcome.
The tendency of the age is to ignore the supernatural. The wisdom of this world rejects the idea of another race of beings, either good or evil, by which things are done for man and man's world, which man could not have done for himself or by his own power. This desire to throw out of the circle of agency all beings save man himself, and all laws save those of nature, is very startling. To centralize all action in himself, and all power of action in the visible and tangible instrumentalities which science has revealed,—this is man's aim. Thus God is shut out as a direct power, and all invisible beings are set aside as agents. Of these, and such as these, man refuses to know anything. In his wisdom, he is fast becoming either an atheist or a Sadducee, or both. Most imperative, then, is the duty, most urgent the necessity, for giving emphatic prominence to the revelations of Scripture concerning the beings and agencies belonging to that outer circle, which, surrounding man on every side and touching him at every point, do operate most influentially, though unseen and unheard, upon his physical constitution and his spiritual life. The Bible recognises, with awful explicitness, him who is 'the prince of the power of the air;' and it does indicate most sadly the selfsufficiency, the vain philosophy, the hardihood, the flippant Sadduceeism of the age, to scorn, or even to overlook, the revelations which God has made regarding the personality and the actings of a being whose malignant enmity against the Church is only equalled by his mysterious power; and whose strange proximity and presence in the midst of us render him the most successful of seducers, no less than the most dangerous of foes.
The annals of our world are the records of sin and its manifold developments. Our earth is not, in its spiritual aspects, like the sun, all over luminous, with a few dark spots, but rather a body all over dark, with a few broken streaks of light here and there.
But in this dark story there is a twofoldness, a duality throughout, which strikes us with a strange awe. It is not two sins or two sinners that are presented to us, but two kinds of sin and two kinds of sinners; one visible, the other invisible; one human, the other superhuman; the two acting mysteriously together, yet without open compact; the invisible and the superhuman operating upon the visible and the human, and both together working against God.
It would seem to be God's purpose to bring out the whole evil of sin in these two ways, and to develope it from these two centres,—to unroll the dark web of evil from these two instrumentalities, thereby indicating to us that without such a duality and such a combination or alliance, the whole frailty and corruptibility of creaturehood could not be brought out. For God's purpose during the present dispensation evidently is to evolve and exhibit, once for all, creatureimpotency for good, creature-potency for evil. He takes the two orders of intelligent creaturehood, first successively and then conjunctly, and places them in circumstances in which all the goodness and power and stability that are in them may be allowed full scope for development; and in which, on the other hand, also all the evil and feebleness and instability may be brought out.
The angels are created and placed in a condition the likeliest of all to draw out and to maintain all the good that was in them, and that their finite nature could contain. They kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, and that which should have been a manifestation of goodness became an unfolding of evil; not simply of non-goodness, but of positive evil, transgression, rebellion, hatred of God.
Man was next created and set here in a holy paradise, in circumstances best fitted to evolve and to mature all the excellences which had been deposited in his finite nature, with the fewest possible temptations, and the greatest amount of strength which his being was capable of. He let go his hold of God and His love, falling from his perfection, and bringing forth evil—only evil, from that hour to this;—evil which has deluged earth with crimes and horrors for six thousand years, and is to fill hell for eternity with weeping and wailing and woe.
But these two forms of creaturehood (and we know no third) successively and singly could not exhibit all the exceeding sinfulness of sin, and the power of the creature for evil. They must be brought together and permitted to work in combination. And it is this confederacy of evil, and revolt, and lawlessness, and enmity to the Creator, that has been exhibiting itself on earth during the whole period of its dark history. Not single evil, but double; not the evil of one sinner, but of millions; not the evil of millions merely, but the evil of two classes of sinners in alliance; each of these composed of millions; each bringing out the peculiar evil proper to his class and kind; yet also the still worse evil produced by their combination. This, all this, has been exhibited in the world's past history, and is to be exhibited yet more terribly in the closing scenes of its career of wickedness, when the alliance of the two classes will yet be closer and more intimate, and the fruits of that alliance, the darkest form or forms of evil that creaturehood has yet exhibited, or the world ever seen.
At the head of what I may call invisible or immaterial creaturehood is Satan, and behind him a host of fallen spirits, all of them ministers of evil. Scripture speaks of them as 'Satan and his angels.' It is chiefly, however, of Satan himself that we have now to speak. And first of all let us read his names as they are written in the word of God.
1. Satan (Job 1:6; 1 Chron. 21:1; Zech. 3:1; Matt. 4:10, 12:26). This means the Adversary. It is a name no doubt given by God; for who
could name him rightly but God. It is as the adversary of man and God that he first appears.
2. The Devil (Matt. 4:1, 25:41; Jude 9). The Greek word signifies accuser, and it is as such that he acts out his character.
3. Abaddon (Rev. 9:11). The Destroyer. In the Hebrew it is Abaddon; in the Greek Apollyon, but having the same meaning. He is the destroyer, the slaughterer of the race, the persecutor of the Church.
4. The Old Serpent (2 Cor. 11:3; Rev. 12:9, 20:2). That he is signified by the old serpent, is evident from the words of the last two passages, 'that old serpent, which is the devil and Satan.' And this name connects him with the first temptation of man in paradise.
5. The Dragon (Rev. 12:7, 20:2). This was some monstrous, mystic animal of the serpent kind, supposed by the ancients to be endued with destructive power. Thus the serpent and the dragon are distinguished; the former the emblem of cunning, the latter of power.
6. Belial (2 Cor. 6:15). This means worthlessness and malignity, but it came to be used as a name of Satan, as in the above passage, from his being the personification of all evil.
7. Beelzebub (Matt. 12:24). The name of a heathen god, but applied by the Jews to Satan, and recognised by our Lord as one of his names, when He asks, How can Satan cast out Satan?
8. The god of this world (2 Cor. 4:4). He whom this present world (age) worships and obeys; believing his temptation and his promise, 'All these things will I give Thee if Thou wilt fall down and worship me.'
9. Ruler of the darkness of this world (Eph. 6:12). He who inhabits the darkness; who produces the darkness; who sits as king over it;
ruling it for his own ends, in opposition to Him who is the light of the world.
10. Prince of the power of the air (Eph. 2:2). He is the dweller in high places, and as such he is the prince who has authority in the air, and who, from that seat of authority, works upon the inhabitants of earth.
11. The prince of this world (John 14:30). He who rules over this world (κόσμος), and is acknowledged by it as prince, in opposition to Him who is Prince of the kings of the earth, King of kings.
In addition to these great outstanding names, he is designated 'the wicked one' (Matt. 13:38); a 'murderer' (John 8:44); a 'liar,' the 'father of lies;' a persecutor, for it is written, 'The devil shall cast some of you into prison' (Rev. 2:10); a tempter; a deceiver; an accuser; the inflicter of disease (Job 2:7; Luke 4:6); he who has the power of death (Heb. 2:14): We read, too, of the seat or throne of Satan; the 'synagogue of Satan;' the dwelling of Satan; the 'depths of Satan' (Rev. 2:24); the 'wiles of the devil' (Eph. 6:11); the 'snare of the devil' (2 Tim. 2:26); 'the works of the devil' (1 John 3:8).
These various names and designations show the following:—
1. His personality. He is no mere ideal of sin, nor principle of evil, nor figure of human wickedness; as when we sometimes, for effect in writing or speaking, personify sin, or lust, or pride. He is thoroughly real and personal; as much so as we are. Men may scoff at him, and take their jest out of his doings, or point their oaths with his name, or mock at his hell, but he is real in spite of all their mockery.
2. His malignity against God, and Christ, and the saints. He hates these utterly, and takes revenge upon them. He bruises the woman's seed in the heel, and he is doing the same to all the saints. For cruelty he has no equal.
3. His cunning. He is the serpent, the liar, the tempter, the deceiver; and as such, with his angels, he is doing his daily work amongst the
sons of men. He is the master of all spells and wiles. There are no snares like his for subtlety and success.
How fearful is the battle of the Church; with such power, such malignity, such cunning, arrayed against her! What strength, what wisdom, what watchfulness do we need!—strength, wisdom, watchfulness, beyond what we ourselves possess. For we are but human, he superhuman; and how can feeble, fallen humanity do battle with the superhuman, the invisible; with angelic power and wisdom; save by the possession of that which is beyond the human and the superhuman,—beyond the angelic and the created,—the uncreated and the divine? 'Be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might.' 'Be filled with the Spirit.'
But let us proceed now more directly to his history.
What he was originally, where his first habitation was, when and how he fell, we do not know. All that is revealed concerning these points is contained in the following passages:—'He abode not in the truth' (John 8:44), implying that he once stood in the truth (vers. 32 and 36); 'the angels which kept not their first estate (or principality, lordship, ἀρχή), but left their own (proper or original) habitation' (Jude 6); 'God spared not the angels that sinned' (2 Pet. 2:4), or when they sinned, though what their sin was is not said. These passages refer (1) to an originally perfect state, both for Satan and these angels; (2) to a time when they fell; (3) to their fall as being from a rejection of 'the truth;' (4) to their loss of dignity and power— i.e. of that which constituted them the principalities and powers in heavenly places; (5) to their being cast down to hell (literally, Tartarus), in chains and darkness.
It has been supposed by some that there are two classes of fallen angels; the one headed by Satan, roaming widely over the earth and peopling the air; the other bound in chains, in the darkness of Tartarus. But though there is nothing positively adverse to this opinion in Scripture, it does not seem borne out by the passages cited
in support of it. They may be chained, or restrained, in comparison with the former liberty of their unfallen estate, and yet go to and fro on the earth; or the words may mean not reserved in (present) chains, but for future chains,—the chains or chain spoken of in the 20th of Revelation; and the darkness referred to may be the future darkness of the bottomless pit, or it may be that alluded to by the apostle when he speaks of 'the ruler of the darkness of this world.' We do not take up the question of there being two classes; but certainly, as to the opinion that one of these sections is referred to in the 6th of Genesis as 'the sons of God,' we may say this, that while on the one hand it is quite unproved, on the other it is connected with very great improbabilities.
In connection with Satan's early history we read the story of the temptation in paradise. We ask naturally, How came Satan to be there at all? and how came he to be there at the very time that man was created? We should not wonder at a good angel being there, sent on some errand of goodness to the new-created dweller; but Satan's presence is not so easily accounted for. We ask, with musing wonder, Was this Satan's world once? Was he its guardian angel or its sovereign? And do we find him, like Marius, sitting among the ruins of his former palace, or, like a beast of prey, prowling round the habitation of its new possessor? Is it because of his original connection with our earth that he is still prince of the power of the air; disenthroned, dispossessed, yet still allowed to work and plot here against God, against His Christ,—the second Adam,—against His Church, and to ally himself with man for carrying out his purposes of evil? Is it to him that reference is made in that marvellous and mysterious prediction of Ezekiel concerning Tyre, and 'the prince of Tyre,' 'the king of Tyre'? for certainly the personage here spoken of seems more than mortal; looks like a spirit or fallen angel, of which Tyre was the incarnation and habitation. The allusions in that passage to 'wisdom' indicates that he who is spoken of is the genius, or spirit, or possessor of all earthly wisdom; he who tempted man with the bait of proffered wisdom, with the hope of being wise as God; he who took possession of the serpent as the
wisest or most subtle of creatures. 'Say unto the prince of Tyrus, Thou art wiser than Daniel: … With thy wisdom thou hast gotten thee riches.… Thou hast set thine heart as the heart of God.… Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty. Thou hast been in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering: the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, the carbuncle, and gold.… Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire. Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee' (Ezek. 28, where the visible Tyre and some invisible being are mixed up together).
But whatever may be the cause of Satan's presence in paradise, or the link of his connection with Eden, we find him there at man's creation. He is there to plot against man. To act upon man, he requires to take possession of some fleshly being whose organs he can use in addressing man. He enters into the serpent as the wisest and most subtle of all the beasts of the field; and through him he commences his terrible work, as the murderer, the liar, the deceiver, the slanderer. He baits the hook of hell with 'wisdom,' and he succeeds. Ye shall be as 'God,' he says to man, and man believes him. He had begun by shaking his confidence in the goodness and truthfulness of God; and having succeeded in this, the rest followed inevitably. The promise of knowledge,—knowledge like God's,—was irresistible. For what will not man give for knowledge? Power, empire, fame, military glory, pomp, gold, lust, the beauty and love of woman,—all these have been the objects which man has coveted, and for which he has flung away the favour of God. But, beyond all these, knowledge has been his ambition—the ambition of his ambitions! What has he not given, what has he not ventured, what has he not flung away, in order to win knowledge? What mountain has he not climbed; into what cavern has he not penetrated; to the bottom of what sea has he not dived, in order to win knowledge? Through toil, through danger, through sin, and braving hell itself, he has pursued
it. And it is the knowledge of evil as well as good on which he has set his heart. The range and region of evil is to him strangely attractive, partly because it is so various and boundless, and partly because it is forbidden. To know beyond what man knows, or ought to know; what God knows; and, in pursuit of this, to beat down the barriers of goodness, or law, or benevolence, this has been his aim. To stand upon the highest pinnacle of earth, and gaze around on the boundlessness of the universe, this has been his ambition. The poison of the tree of knowledge is still in his veins, impelling him restlessly onward in the pursuit of knowledge, knowledge without God.
'The wish to know, that endless thirst,
Which even by quenching is awaked,
And which becomes or blest or cursed
As is the fount whereat 'tis slaked,
Still urged me onward, with desire
Insatiate to explore, inquire
Whate'er the wondrous things might be
That waked each new idolatry—
Their cause, aim, source, from whence they sprung,
Their inmost powers, as though for me
Existence on that knowledge hung.'
Of this knowledge Satan is the prince, the high priest, the archangel. As such he makes his first appearance to man,—his friend, his counsellor,—an angel of light, offering to lead him into light and freedom, and taking a profound and affectionate interest in his
welfare. But as Judas betrayed the second Adam, so he the first, with a kiss. He is permitted to succeed; man becomes his victim; there is a holiday in hell at creation's ruin.
The next glimpse we have of Satan's history is when we see him standing, along with the man and woman, to receive his sentence. He is silent now. His flatteries have ceased. His lies have been laid bare. 'The Lord God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle,' etc.; 'and I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.' This is his condemnation; a forewarning of the eternal curse, and of 'the fire prepared for the devil and his angels.' It is the divine intimation to heaven and earth, to angel and devil, as well as to man himself, that God has interposed between man and man's enemy, that Satan has only succeeded in part, and that his success will be his final ruin. It is the good news to man of God's free love; the good news of a coming deliverer, of one who is to bruise Satan under His feet, who is to cast out the prince of this world.
The third glimpse we have of Satan is in the history of Job, in the age of the patriarchs. Doubtless he was working in the world before this. It was he who, as the murderer, drew on Cain to murder. It was he who led on the old world in their sin, and lust, and vanity, and defiance of God, swelling the flood of evil till the flood of waters swept them away. But, in the beginning of the book of Job, God has given us a fuller insight into the doings of Satan than we had before. He is seen there, as permitted, in some mysterious way, to appear before God. He is seen as going to and fro in the earth, watching the saints, inflicting disease, and, if permitted, death; but all under restraint of God, and simply as one allowed by God, for a purpose and a season, to do on earth a little of the work of hell, specially against the Church of God.
For ages after this we hear nothing of him till, in the reign of David, we suddenly meet with him as the tempter. Indeed, it is only thus in
glimpses that we see anything of him in the Bible. He unexpectedly appears at some particular juncture, then disappears for ages; then reappears, brandishing the sword or spreading the snare of hell, and showing himself as the murderer, the liar, the deceiver, the tempter; then vanishes from our sight for a season to carry on his work in secret. We read (1 Chron. 21:1), 'And Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel.' It was in God's anger that he was permitted to do so (2 Sam. 24:1), yet none the less was it truly Satan's work; his work as the murderer, his work as the enemy of Israel and of the Church.
Again he appears before us in the remarkable scene, similar to that in Job, given us by Micaiah in the history of Ahab (2 Chron. 18:18–22). Jehovah is seen on His throne, and His hosts are all around Him; and the question is put, Who shall entice Ahab king of Israel, that he may go up and fall at Ramoth-Gilead? One speaks, and another, till at length one steps forward with the proposal, I will entice him. I will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. And who can this be but Satan?—he, the liar and the murderer from the beginning. Thus he rises up again, and then disappears for a season.
Again, in the remarkable scene depicted by Zechariah, he reappears. Joshua the high priest stands before the angel of the Lord, and Satan stands at his right hand to resist him (Zech. 3:1). Here it is Satan contending against a saint to tempt or oppose; but elsewhere it is against the traitor to destroy. Ps. 109:6, 'Let Satan stand at his right hand.'
Perhaps the most mysterious glimpse into Satan's position and operations is that in the book of Daniel. A corner of the veil that hides the world of the invisible is drawn aside, and we see him and his angels, or 'princes,' at work, in connection with the kingdoms of the earth. In the passage already quoted from Ezekiel, we have seen some ground for thinking that it is Satan, or one of his 'powers,' that is referred to as the prince of Tyre. Daniel, in the following passage, uses the same word prince in connection with Persia and Greece:
—'The prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days: but, lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me; and I remained there with the kings of Persia.… Knowest thou wherefore I come unto thee? and now will I return to fight with the prince of Persia: and when I am gone forth, lo, the prince of Grecia shall come. But I will show thee that which is noted in the Scripture of truth; and there is none that holdeth with me in these things, but Michael your prince.… At that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of Thy people' (Dan. 10:13–20, 12:1). From which passages we learn that Michael the archangel was the guardian angel of Judea and of the Jews; and that another, called the prince of Persia, is the guardian or presiding angel of that country; and that another, called the prince of Greece, is the presiding angel of that kingdom. These two latter, being opposed to and fighting with Michael, must be evil angels, some of the principalities and powers, the rulers of the darkness of this world. This is a solemn subject, of which little is revealed, and therefore I speak cautiously and reverently; but it would appear that not only are there good angels as ministering spirits for individual heirs of salvation, but some also, such as Michael, set over kingdoms; and who knows but that now, since his ministry in Judea has ceased for a season, it may have been transferred to Britain? It would appear also, that as there are evil spirits which possess individuals, so are there some of these (the greater and higher) which preside over, nay, possess kingdoms. And are not the four great empires of earth depicted by Daniel specially so ruled and inspired, so 'possessed;' the reins of empire in them held by invisible hands; the power, the genius, the literature, the art, the commerce of these nations wielded by infernal energies; the laws, the morals, the religion inspired by the agents of him who was a murderer, a liar, a deceiver from the beginning, and who boasted even to the Prince of the kings of the earth Himself, that he was lord of earth's kingdoms? And may we not truly speak of the devilpossessed empires of Babylon, and Persia, and Greece, and Rome? And need we wonder at their idolatries, and blasphemies, and persecutions; hatred of the light, and resistance to the cross? Need we read with incredulity the terrific picture which, in the 1st chapter
of Romans, the apostle draws of heathendom,—its true name is Satan-dom,—when we learn that the inspiration which guides it is from beneath; and that the invisible rulers and instructors of its peoples, the secret prompters and presidents of its courts and cabinets, are the princes of the blood-royal of hell?
These are the chief references to Satan in the Old Testament. The glimpses of his history and doings are brief and few; but they all bear testimony to his character as the Wicked one, the enemy of Christ and of the Church.
The notices of Satan in the New Testament are more frequent; and they grow darker and darker as the great crisis and close draw on. We meet with him, first of all, in the temptation of the Lord, where three times over he assails the Son of God, tempting Him to doubt His Father's love and His own Sonship; and three times over he is repelled by the sword of the Spirit, though with every advantage on his part, and every disadvantage on the part of this Second Adam, whom he sought to seduce in the wilderness as he had seduced the first in the garden. But what were wiles or fiery darts to One who knew so well how to wield the sword of the Spirit and the shield of Faith?
Again we meet him;—and now not alone, but with his legions;— dwelling in the bodies of men, and tormenting them with his hellish cruelty. We find him possessing some directly; we find him bowing down one with infirmity; we find him rending another; we find him with seven spirits in Mary Magdalene; we find him in the herd of swine; we find him wishing to sift Peter; we find him entering the heart of Judas. All these are proofs that the days of our Lord's ministry on earth were busy days with Satan, days of visible manifestation and more direct possession: the seed of the woman and that of the serpent being now brought face to face with each other; the armies of heaven and of hell being gathered, under their respective captains, to wage desperate battle. How frequent is the reference to Satan in the history of Christ on earth! and how striking
are Christ's own words, spoken either to him or concerning him! 'Get thee hence, Satan' (Matt. 4:10); 'If Satan cast out Satan, how shall then his kingdom stand?' (12:26); 'Get thee behind me, Satan' (16:23); 'Then cometh Satan, and taketh away the word' (Mark 4:15); 'I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven' (Luke 10:18); 'Whom Satan hath bound, lo, these eighteen years' (Luke 13:16); 'Simon, Simon, Satan hath desired to have thee, that he may sift thee as wheat' (Luke 22:31); 'The devil taketh Him up to the holy city' (Matt. 4:5); 'The devil taketh Him up to an high mountain' (4:8); 'The enemy that soweth them is the devil' (13:39); 'Jesus rebuked the devil' (17:18). From these allusions we learn how completely Satan was on the alert in the days of Christ; what large range was allowed him; and what striking opportunities he had of showing himself; what power to inflict disease; to take possession of men's bodies; to operate upon their minds; to make use of their organs of speech; to inflame their passions; to carry on, his purposes of evil through them, and in conjunction with them; in ways which, by himself, he could not have accomplished. We may not be very decided in affirming that he was allowed access to our Lord during His last hours, and that his 'messengers' were let loose to 'buffet' Him; but there are expressions in the psalms which seem to imply this. He surely is the roaring lion, and his legions the bulls of Bashan, of which the 22d Psalm speaks: 'Many bulls have compassed me; strong bulls of Bashan have beset me round; they gaped upon me with their mouths, as a ravening and a roaring lion.… Save me from the lion's mouth' (Ps. 22:12, 13, 21). If so, then it was not merely the rage of earth that surrounded His cross, but also that of hell; it was not only the shouts of the multitude that fell on His dying ear, and disturbed His dying hour; but the voice of the roaring lion, as he sprang upon his prey, and accomplished the last piece of malignity which the restraining purpose of God permitted him,—'Thou shalt bruise his heel.'
In the early Church we find Satan working. He filled the heart of Ananias to lie to the Holy Ghost; he gets power to chastise saints that are delivered by the Church to him for their sin (1 Cor. 5:5). 'Whom I
have delivered unto Satan, that they may learn not to blaspheme' (1 Tim. 1:20). He tempts the saints for incontinency (1 Cor. 7:5); he gets advantage over them (2 Cor. 2:11); he is transformed into an angel of light (2 Cor. 11:14); he sends messengers to buffet even apostles (2 Cor. 12:7); he has a synagogue upon earth (Rev. 2:9); he has a seat, or throne (Rev. 2:13); he exercises his wiles, and shoots his fiery darts (Eph. 6:11); he ensnares and assails us (2 Tim. 2:26; Jas. 4:7); he casts into prison (Rev. 2:10); he deceives the nations (Rev. 22:2). It is against his principalities and powers that we are to wrestle.
Such were his operations in and against the Church in apostolic times; such are his operations still. It is he who fought against the Son of God, that fights against the Church of God. Sometimes he is a persecutor and murderer; sometimes a deceiver and beguiler; sometimes a tempter into open sin; sometimes an allurer into fairseeming vanities; sometimes a persuader into error; sometimes an angel of light; sometimes the prince of darkness;—the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience.
Our Lord speaks of Satan falling from heaven like lightning; and, in the Revelation, we have the description of the great battle between the devil and his angels and Michael and his angels. Into the details of this battle we do not enter; but there is something awfully solemn about it, and something appalling about its results; the devil being cast down to earth, and brought into closer proximity with its nations; nay, and having great wrath because he knoweth that he has but a short time.
Then comes the great event to which the Church looks forward so eagerly,—the binding of Satan, at the second coming of the Lord. For ages he had wrought his works of evil against the Church; he had inspired the false religions of earth; he had raised up at last his greatest agent and instrument, his truest representative, Antichrist; he had animated the beast and the false prophet; he had glorified himself in Babylon the great. But now, all that is over. The Mighty
Angel descends with the chain, seizes, binds, casts him into the abyss or bottomless pit, for a thousand years, to deceive the nations no more till the thousand years are done.
Then the earth has rest; the old serpent is cast out; Antichrist has perished; Messiah reigns; the glory of the Lord covers the earth;—all things are made new. But earth is not done with Satan, nor Satan with earth. The thousand years roll by. Satan is loosed, and goes forth once more to deceive. He musters the nations, he brings them up as a cloud against the camp of the saints and the beloved city. But fire descends out of heaven, and devours the hosts of Satan. He himself is cast no longer into the bottomless pit, but into the more terrible place of torment, the lake of fire, where the beast and false prophet have been already a thousand years.
Thus ends the history of Satan as given in the Scripture; a history not given us for speculation or curiosity, but for warning. What watchfulness, what solemnity, what holy fear become us, with such an enemy on every side! We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
Let us mark how, in these days of ours, he works, and tempts, and rages:—
He comes as an angel of light, to mislead, yet pretending to lead; to blind, yet professing to open the eye; to obscure and bewilder, yet professing to illuminate and guide. He approaches us with fair words upon his lips: liberality, progress, culture, freedom, expansion, elevation, science, literature, benevolence,—nay, and religion too. He seeks to make his own out of all these; to give the world as much of these as suits his purpose, as much as will make them content without God, and without Christ, and without the Holy Ghost. Nay, he makes use of these,—even of religion itself,—to separate men from the living Jehovah. Nor is it merely images, crucifixes, pictures, statues, altars, and such like, which he substitutes for God, seducing
the heart and intoxicating the senses; but the true creed, and the true theology, and the true gospel, he makes use of to gratify the intellect, soothe the conscience, while the soul remains all the while a stranger to God and His Christ. For he does not care how near a man may come to Christ, provided he is not one with Him and in Him. It matters not to him how much of truth a man possess, if he can only make that truth a screen to separate, not a link to unite him and God; a non-conductor, not a conductor of the heavenly life. He knows how to employ the dim religious light of ritualism, the cold frosty rays of rationalism, yes, and even the bright warm light of evangelical sunshine, for drawing off the eye and heart from Him who is the light of the world, the bright and morning Star.
He sets himself against God and the things of God in every way. He can deny the gospel; or he can dilute the gospel; or he can obscure the gospel; or he can neutralize the gospel;—just as suits his purpose, or the persons with whom he has to do. His object in regard to the gospel is to take out of it all that makes it glad tidings to the sinner; and oftentimes this modified or mutilated gospel, which looks so like the real, serves his end best; for it throws men off their guard, making them suppose that they have received Christ's gospel, even though they have not found in it the good news which it contains.
He rages against the true God,—sometimes openly and coarsely, at other times calmly and politely,—making men believe that he is the friend of the truth, but an enemy to its perversion. Progress, progress, progress, is his watchword now, by means of which he hopes to allure men away from the old anchorages, under the pretext of giving them wider, fuller, more genial teachings. He bids them soar above creeds, catechisms, dogmas, as the dregs of an inferior age, and a lower mental status. He distinguishes, too, between theology and religion, warmly advocating the latter in order to induce men to abandon the former. He rages against the divine accuracy of the Bible, and cunningly subverts its inspiration by elevating every true poet and philosopher to the same inspired position. So successfully has he wrought in disintegrating and
undermining the truth, that there is hardly a portion of it left firm. The ground underneath us is hollow; and the crust on which we tread ready to give way, and precipitate us into the abyss of unbelief.
He rages against the Cross of Christ, yet with exceeding subtlety and persuasiveness, seeking to blind men to its true meaning and use. In his enmity against it he instigates some to cut it down, others so to bedaub it with such superstitious ornament that it is the genuine cross no longer. He assails the gospel too, mixing up grace and merit; adding to it or taking from it; persuading some that it is not free, and others that it is so free that none will be lost. He attacks propitiation and sacrifice, propagating the lie that sacrifice is merely self-denial, and that the death of Christ is a sacrifice solely because the highest example of self-abnegation ever exhibited. Thus we find him everywhere assailing truth and vitalizing error, working against the true religion, and inspiring and energizing the false. He is the very life and soul of all anti-Christian unbelief and lawlessness, raising up the many antichrists, and ripening the world for the last great Antichrist about to be revealed in the height of rebellion and pride; as if he would make good to man his promise to the first Adam, 'Ye shall be as God,' and to the second Adam, 'All these things will I give Thee if Thou wilt fall down and worship me;' for the Antichrist accepts what the Christ refused, and is crowned as Satan's king and vicegerent upon earth.