"I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ." In speaking of the deceptive practices of false apostles, he thus alludes to infernal power--"No marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light." And in writing to the Ephesians, Paul exhorts--" Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil." Antichrist is described by a similar allusion: "Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan, with all power, and signs, and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness." "And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit, and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, and cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled; and after that he must be loosed a little season."
Satan doubtless attacks mankind by diversified modes of operation, and deceives them on various occasions and by different means. In the parabolical representations of our Lord, he is described as "sowing tares in the field," and as "coming immediately" where the word is sown, "to take away the word that was sown in their hearts." This is indeed a figurative statement, but nevertheless descriptive of a fact. The essence of the representation is real, though decked out in the attractive garb of imagery, to win attention and to excite inquiry. To suppose otherwise in this or in other cases, would be to reduce Scripture to the standard of Tales for Children, or Arabian Nights' Entertainments. What, then, is the truth intended to be conveyed here? It is that Satan possesses some mode of access to the human mind, that he is peculiarly attentive to the impression which the ministry of the word is producing, and that he uses his utmost skill to neutralize its effect: probably, by tempting the hearer to doubt its truth, to dispute its importance, or to defer immediate regard to its holy requisitions. And in the human heart there is such an ample supply of materials upon which to work--such a tendency to evil--such depravity of spirit--such corruption of nature--such love of the world--such enmity against God, that he soon succeeds in erecting an edifice of delusory hope, in which the deluded soul takes shelter from the sharp-pointed arrows of ministerial fidelity and scriptural appeal.
"Your adversary the devil," is represented as walking "about, seeking whom he may devour;" which intimates the settled enmity of this spirit. He is your adversary--at once the most malignant, most subtle, most invisible, and often least suspected of all others. This passage describes his powerful superiority; he is a roaring lion--remarkable for fury, strength, and zeal. It represents his incessant activity, secrecy, and watchfulness; "he walketh about." It proclaims his destructive purpose--"to devour." He is not, it seems, confined to place, but fixed in torment, and destined in all ages to suffer a perpetual aggravation of his misery, in consequence of the increase of his guilt, and the frequent discomfiture of his devices.
The severest contests of the Christian are with this adversary, who, being possessed of insinuating subtlety, powerful resources, constant vigilance, distinguished sagacity, and invisible means of operation, combined with infernal malignity, must be acknowledged to be a most formidable foe. It is both needless and unscriptural to assign ubiquity to Satan, but by himself and his emissaries he undoubtedly possesses a very extensive range in this lower world, and his favourite employment is to cherish the rebellious principle, to perpetuate the backsliding character, and thus to form the finished apostate. He observes with a vigilant inspection every tree planted in the garden of the Lord, and provided there be no real fruits of righteousness, he is not displeased at the leaves of profession. He knows this will never prevent the decree, "Cut it down, why cumbereth it the ground?"
Pregnant with horrors as this subject appears to be, the Scriptures supply two most desirable sources of consolation, with the mention of which I shall hasten to conclude it.
1. While considering the terrific facts of the existence and works of the devil, recollect the limitation of his agency. If no kind of restraint were imposed upon his efforts, if his untractable malice were allowed to act with all its diabolical force, and were absolutely under no restrictions, the idea of his being and of his malignity would be unutterably appalling: but the giant foe is held in the mighty grasp of Omnipotence. His power is only permitted to operate to a certain extent, and under the regulations of certain laws ordained by the eternal mind. He who says to the raging ocean, "Here shall thy proud waves be stayed," assigns the sphere of infernal influence, and places impassable barriers of a moral nature to his further encroachment. Evil of every description, and evil beings of every order, are under divine superintendence and control. The lion is chained--the dragon cannot add one cubit to his stature--a point to his tongue--or a drop to his venom. The serpent may hiss, but he cannot devour.
The influence of Satan resembles every other test that Divine Wisdom sees fit to apply to human character. It is probationary. The people of God are put to the proof, and their principles subjected to fiery trials. But gold will endure the furnace, and real piety will "resist the devil, and he will flee." He could tempt the Son of God, and he can torment his followers; but he possesses no compulsory power. His attacks can never be successful, unless we give them efficacy by our criminal negligence and compliance.
Nor is it just to suppose, as many good people do to their inexpressible but useless alarm, that every individual is under his constant power, or every moment exposed to his incessant attacks. This would be to assign him a degree of omnipresence wholly incompatible with his nature and the economy of providence. Like other evil beings he walketh about. His movements may be more rapid as a spirit, and his capacities more extended and certainly his malignity more violent, than those of other wicked beings; still he is hut a creature--he has his appointed sphere of exertion--his capacities are finite--and he is observed by the unsleeping eye of God. He may prowl around the sheepfold of Christ, but the guard is too strong for him; and if he seize, or attempt the feeblest of the flock, Omnipotence will ultimately rescue the prey from the hand of the terrible.
2. Let us realize with holy satisfaction the destruction of Satanic power. "For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil." The apostle John, in his Revelation, describes "the devil" as "cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night forever and ever."
In conceiving of the destruction of this hateful dominion, we may realize it as certain. Although the issue of the war between good and evil, Christ and Belial, heaven and hell, be deferred to a distant age, it is not doubtful or precarious. It is ever present in the eye of God, and forms a part of that irresistible destiny which infernal power cannot avert. There is no escape from the chains of darkness which Omnipotence will finally rivet on; and this irreversible doom of fallen spirits is essential to the final arrangements of that wonderful period, which will develope "the consummation of all things."