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XLI.-THE PINNACLE OF THE TEMPLE; OR, SATAN NOT A FICTION

"With names of virtue he deceives

The aged and the young;

And while the heedless soul believes,
He makes his fetters strong."

CHRIST was crucified on Calvary, that "he might destroy him that had the power of death-that is, the devil." "For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.” The existence, power, and talent of the devil is a doctrine of revelation, which teaches that in this world are two antagonistic powers-Christ and Satan. Around these personages center the angels of light and the angels of darkness. The aim of the one is to lead souls to heaven; the purpose of the other, to lead souls to hell. The success of the one gives joy to heaven; the triumph of the other, shoutings in hell. We are not responsible for what men have written or poets sung about the devil. All we know about this personage the Bible tells us. Its account is brief, decisive, clear.

In the Book of God we are told that spirits exist, good and bad; that above us are celestial beings, below us are fiends; that the fiends are legion, and are led by a chief, who has many names, among them the "Prince of this World." His concentration, power, and deadly hate justify the Bible term,

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your Adversary." His resolute will, determined opposition, cunning, vast resources, and fatal success in peopling his dark domain, justify his ancient title of "old Serpent," "the Devil." Jesus pronounced him "a liar from the beginning." Paul affirms that he deceived and beguiled Eve by his subtlety, and the Church is in danger from the same wiles that brought woe on Eden. Jude tells that he kept not his first estate in heaven, but was cast down to hell. We are assured that when he will he can "transform himself into an angel of light," and almost deceive the very elect." He is called a spirit, and works the works of horror, crime, and woe, in the children of disobedience. He is the most industrious of beings, "going up and down the earth" continually, "seeking whom he may destroy." The brief story in the Bible about this satanic being is this: He was an "angel of light" in heaven, the "Son of the Morning," and "Lucifer" was his name. Pride was the sin through which he fell, for St. Paul states that "pride was the condemnation of the devil." He was in Eden, and brought death into the world, and all our woe. He tempted Job and David. He took the Son of God into his power for a moment, and led him into the Mount of Temptation. He laid his hand on Peter, and made him speak the devil's own language. He entered into Judas, guided him as he made the bargain of blood, and he betrayed his Lord, and hastened him to confession, suicide, and hell. He is a spirit. He can assume any garb-that of an angel of light—a man—or a reptile. He is finally to be cast into hell, with whom and his angels wicked

men are to dwell, when assigned to the left hand by the final Judge. Because we have such an adversary, who is omnipotent, seeking our ruin when least expected, like a venomous serpent in a bed of roses, we are exhorted to sobriety and vigilance, commanded to put on the whole armor of God, that we may escape the wiles of the devil, and evade him who goeth about seeking our ruin like a roaring lion.

This view of the devil is philosophical. There are good spirits; there may be bad. We can not grasp the great mystery of the being of God, as a spirit, without revelation. As plainly the existence of the devil is taught. There are beings above us, there may be beings below us. There are good men and bad. Bad men tempt the good and seek to destroy them. So may it be with bad spirits. We can not see the devil; we can not hear his footfall; we can not look on his awful deformity. But all this makes him more terrible, and our souls an easier prey.

The Bible view of the devil is reasonable. It contradicts no law. It conforms to our reasoning of God. We trace all good to one great agent, why not all bad? We can not grasp the omnipotence and omnipresence of God, nor can we those attributes found in the devil. Reason demands a God as the author of all good; so a devil, as the author of all evil. God has a home in heaven; Satan, one in hell. Make the devil a figure of speech, and the same reasoning will remove the being of God from the universe, and give the world up to atheism.

Reference made in the Bible to Satan must be to a person, and not a principle. That a principle

could beguile Eve through his subtlety-talk with God and with Job-go up and down the earth-lead Christ into the wilderness, and tempt one who knew no sin-is simply absurd, and turns the truth of God into a lie. Nor can we escape the truth by calling the devil a disease, for disease could not ask the Son of God, who knew him when men did not, permission to go out into the swine.

A denial of the existence of the devil impeaches the mission and integrity of the Son of God. He came on a mission that was mythical, if there be no devil; for he came to destroy the devil, and bind and overthrow him that had the power of death. He found the faith in evil spirits universal. Demoniacal possessions were as firmly held as faith in the Divine Being. One who could cast out devils, was allowed by the Jews to act by the power of God. He met those demons in the public presence. He talked with them, commanded them, cast them out, and appealed to this power to do so to prove that he was divine. "If I, by Beelzebub, cast out devils, by whom do your sons cast them out? They shall be your judges." When his Apostles said to him, "Lord, even devils are subject to us through thy name,” he replied, "In this rejoice not that spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven." He did cast out devils and control evil spirits as the Son of God, or he did not. If he only accommodated himself to the age, and seemed to do what he did not, he was simply a charlatan, a necromancer, a juggler, and, like Jannes and Jam

bres, who withstood Moses, he was, what his enemies claimed for him, a "deceiver of the people."

Could we see the devil-know how terrible he is— look on his demoniacal glare-his awful radiance— we should be appalled. Few would be taken captive by him at his will. But his terrible secrecy-his power to transform himself into a being of holiness -his knowledge of the human heart, make him the great enemy of souls. He strews the path of sin with roses. He gilds the ways that lead to death with fascinating brightness. He is around us and within us. For our feet he lays snares, with which he seduces the race. He laughs away our fears. He makes the fatal glass red with beauty. He writes over the doors that lead to hell: “Ye shall not surely die." He promises men good in sin. He stifles conviction, catches away the Word of God from the soul, drives away serious thought, and allures men into the broad road of death. "Be not ignorant of his devices," is the caution of inspiration.

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