Their number also renders them a terror to the children of men; and although under restraint, they are permitted to unite their counsels and force against us. If, in the days of our Lord, seven had en tered the person of one unhappy sufferer, and legions into another, we may conclude the gross number greatly exceeds that of the human race.
The devil and his angels are represented as a king and his subjects; whence we may infer that they act in concert, and that, whilst they sow discord among men, there is an awful concentration of power and of policy amongst themselves.
Their usurped dominion, and constant employment, are often referred to in the holy Scriptures; and not an instance of extraordinary degradation of character, of disaster of condition, but is traced to the influence of the wicked one, who is emphatically called the "ruler of the dark ages of this world." He blinds the mind—hardens the heart—leads captive at his will—resists the prayers of the saints—stifles the cry of the sinner—and (as in the case of Job) puts forth a dreadful power by the destructive elements of nature: and were it not for the restraints of divine Providence, and the operations of grace, the history of man would be a record of continual crime, and consequent misery.
We are here particularly admonished to "stand against the wiles of the devil." Open violence might excite alarm, especially were it understood from whence it proceeded; but secret stratagem has proved more successful, both in drawing men into sin, and preventing their return to God.
In presenting temptation, he diligently studies human character, and, observing the weakest side, and waiting the unguarded moment, obtains advantage over us without awakening suspicion.
Thus, in the case of Eve, the only thing she could desire in Paradise was more knowledge; of Judas, more money; and of Ananias, more honour; and for these objects, Satan, by his wily representation, induced the first to eat the forbidden fruit; the second, to betray the Lord of glory; and the third, to lie unto the Holy Ghost.
Hence the proud, the passionate, the polluted, the timid, and the melancholy, are easily approached through the medium of some common failing, or constitutional infirmity; and no one suspects that a devil is near them, till the iniquity is committed: and the deed once done, the tempter laughs at their calamity, and becomes their tormentor. The same policy may be observed in the seasons selected by him to ensnare and overthrow the unwary. As a cunning adversary considers when the troops are fatigued, scattered, asleep, or intoxicated; so the devil assaulted the Saviour when alone, after fasting forty days, and just before his crucifixion. As the pirate and the robber pass by and spare the empty vessels, and the poor, but watch for those that return laden with treasure; so this malignant foe resisted Joshua at the throne of grace, sifted Peter as he descended from the mount, and sent his messenger to buffet Paul when he had been caught up into the third heavens. His wiles may be also seen in the instruments employed: they are such as have authority, influence, or reputation; so that a man's deceiver shall be among his friends, "and his foes those of his own house."
The artifice of this great adversary is not less manifest in the means employed to prevent our return to God. Like a strong man armed, he keeps his palace, and his goods are in peace; and to secure the captive, he more frequently has recourse to fraud than to force, and succeeds rather by stratagem than by strength.
To prevent alarm, he will suggest every mitigating circumstance respecting their guilt; represent that it is an easy matter to repent and obtain mercy at the last moment of life; or, if he cannot compose the alarmed conscience with such opiates, he will change his course, and represent their sins as peculiarly aggravated; their case as singular and desperate; their day of grace as past; and that, having committed the sin against the Holy Ghost, it is in vain for them to repent, or expect forgiveness! Thus, from the pinnacle of presumption, he will precipitate them into the gulf of despondency. Were it in his power to prevent it, there would be no more joy in heaven at the repentance of a sinner, and the light of hope, on earth, would be extinguished for ever.
Nor does he rest with having misrepresented the character and condition of the sinner to himself; he will distort and conceal the true character of God: at one time representing him as too merciful to punish any one eternally for such faults as theirs; at another, that the insulted Majesty of heaven meditates vengeance, and his holiness and justice would be dishonoured if their multiplied and heinous offences were forgiven; diverting their attention from the peculiar discoveries of the gospel, he will, as in the conflict of our blessed Lord, bring the Scriptures themselves to confirm his wicked suggestions, and, by a false application of difficult and detached passages, hide from us the divine perfections, as harmonizing and glorified in our redemption by Jesus Christ.