‘‘YOUR FATHER, THE DEVIL’’

INSANITY IN HEAVEN

THE FIRST SIN IN THE UNIVERSE?

EVIL IS GOOD!

THE GREATEST LIE EVER TOLD

THE OLDEST SINNER ALIVE TODAY

WHO HOLDS THE RECORD FOR SIN?

‘‘HE OPENED NOT THE HOUSE OF HISPRISONERS,’’ ISAIAH 14:17

Buddy Dano, Pastor

Divine Viewpoint

www.divineviewpoint.com

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SATANOLOGY

Whether holy or unholy, the spirit beingsare all designated as angels. Revela-

tion 12:7, ‘‘And there was war in heaven: Mi-chael and his angels fought against thedragon; and the dragon fought and his an-gels.’’ The unholy angels are usually referredto as DIAMONES, or DIAMONIA, being prop-erly translated ‘‘demons.’’ There is but oneDIABALOS, or devil. As there is one archan-gel among angels that are holy, so there isone archangel among the angels that are un-holy.

The chief of the fallen angels appearsunder at least 40 appellations. Of thesesome are descriptive titles and some areproper names. When he is styled ‘‘the ac-cuser of our brethren,’’ Revelation 12:10, adescriptive title appears.

There is much revealed, also, in theproper names. These are ‘‘serpent,’’ OPHIS,which implies his guile; ‘‘Lucifer, son of themorning,’’ which is his title in heaven beforehis fall, Isaiah 14:12; ‘‘Devil,’’ DIABOLOS,which means accuser, or slanderer, is Greekin origin; APPOLLYON, which means de-stroyer; ‘‘Satan,’’ SATANAS, which means re-sister, and is Hebrew in origin; ‘‘dragon,’’DRAKON, which implies his power; ‘‘theprince of this world,’’ ‘‘the prince of the powerof the air,’’ ‘‘the god of this world.’’

Four of these personal titles appear inone verse, Revelation 12:9, ‘‘And the greatdragon was cast out, that old serpent, calledthe Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth thewhole world: he was cast out into the Earth,and his angels were cast out with him.’’

The designation ‘‘Belial’’ may be appliedto the chief of the unholy angels only by im-plication, though the apostle assigns to thisname a personal and definite character whenhe inquires, ‘‘What concord hath Christ withBelial?’’ 2 Corinthians 6:15. That term is ageneral reference to Satan, much like PON-EROS, ‘‘the evil one.’’

Matthew 6:13, ‘‘But lead us not into temp-tation, but deliver us from evil.’’ John 17:15,‘‘I pray not that Thou shouldest take them outof the world, but that Thou shouldest keepthem from the evil.’’ 2 Thessalonians 3:3,‘‘But the Lord is faithful, who shall stablishyou, and keep you from evil.’’ 1 John 5:19,‘‘And we know that we are of God, and thewhole world lieth in wickedness.’’

It is evident that from Matthew 12:24, cfverse 27, that the Jews did not want to referto this great being by the name ‘‘Beelzebub,’’cf 2 Kings 1:2, 3, 6, 16, which implies that heis ‘‘prince of the demons.’’

As DIABOLOS he stands alone, the in-fernal agent who is in command of all de-mons, DIAMONIA. This mighty angel ap-pears in the Bible with prominent importance,and power second only to the Godheadthree. He is often mentioned in the text ofthe Scriptures as all of the angels together.He is drawn into human history from its firstpage to its last and is always presented as amost vital factor in the ongoings of men, ofangels, and of the universe itself.

Satan, in the influence of demons on hu-man affairs, assumed grotesque forms duringthe Middle Ages. These mistaken interpreta-tions of diabolical possessions have led goodmen to commit deeds of horror. But doesthe abuse of the facts of Scripture prove thatthere is no truth in their representations, re-specting the power of the devil over bad menand over nature? Is it superstition to holdthat Satan is that ‘‘evil one,’’ who is the‘‘prince of this world,’’ because some theologi-ans and scholars have in other ages misun-derstood and misapplied some of our Lord’smiracles? If this principle of reasoning wereapplied to real superstitions, would not themonstrous errors of polytheism prove thatthere is no God? Would not the Oracles ofDelphi prove that Isaiah cannot be a genuineprophet? Or the fetish worship of Africa

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prove that no worship is worthy of man? Orthe ‘‘totem pole’’ of our American Indiansprove that there is no Divine providence?

As fully as any person in the Bible, everyelement of personality is predicated of Satan.By the contriving method which would de-prive Satan of personality, the Lord JesusChrist Himself and the Holy Spirit, could thusalso be deprived, and by such torturing of theBible, that Book then becomes one adaptedonly to mislead those who read it. The worldstrangely retains the Biblical terminology rela-tive to Satan, though every vestige of thatterminology is emptied of its true meaning.Without reference to revelation, the world hasimagined a grotesque being, fitted withstrange trappings, who has been made thecentral character in fiction and theatrical per-formances and then, being convinced that nosuch being as they portray exists, they haveconsigned the whole body of revealed Truthto the limbo of myths of a bygone age.

Unfortunately, the real being set forthin the Bible is not dismissed by such pu-erile and wicked disregard of God’s sol-emn Truth. There is no want of evidence forthe personality either of Satan or the de-mons. The record of their doings, like theirdestiny, forms the darkest pages of the Wordof God. The Lake of Fire is prepared, not formen, but ‘‘for the Devil and his angels,’’ Mat-thew 25:41. Characters of fiction and meta-phors are not judged by the death of Christ,nor are they consigned to the Lake of Fire.

The fall of this mighty angel was not acompromise between good and evil. Hebecame the embodiment of evil andwholly void of good. The essential wicked-ness of this being could not be estimated bythe finite mind. His wickedness, however, isconstructive and in line with vast undertak-ings and ideals which are evil because oftheir opposition to God.

Further consideration of the consummatesin of this being will be seen as this studyadvances. It need only be added here thatSatan is a living personification of decep-tion. Most revealing are the words of Christ

addressed to the Jews, ‘‘YE ARE OF YOURFATHER THE DEVIL, AND THE LUSTS OFYOUR FATHER YE WILL DO. HE WAS AMURDERER FROM THE BEGINNING, ANDABODE NOT IN THE TRUTH, BECAUSETHERE IS NO TRUTH IN HIM. WHEN HESPEAKETH A LIE, HE SPEAKETH OF HISOWN: FOR HE IS A LIAR, AND THE FA-THER OF IT,’’ John 8:44.

He is designated as a ‘‘father.’’ Hehas a lust pattern. He was a murderer,abode not in the Truth, speaks lies, for heis a liar, and the father of lies.

Thus also a three-fold testimony is givenin the Revelation. In 12:9 it is declared thatSATAN IS THE DECEIVER OF THEWHOLE WORLD. In 20:2-5 it is predictedthat he will be cast into the abyss and shutup and sealed, to the end that he shall ‘‘DE-CEIVE THE NATIONS NO MORE till thethousand years should be fulfilled.’’

Similarly, when released, he is said, ‘‘Togo out to deceive the nations which are inthe four quarters of the Earth,’’ Revelation20:7, 8. Thus, also in the Tribulation, theMan of Sin will cause the people to ‘‘believethe lie,’’ which lie is instigated by the deviland received by the people because of‘‘strong delusion.’’

With all this before the mind, it is notdifficult to account for the present decep-tions which are so general, that modernteachers disbelieve in the personality ofSatan, that the unregenerate give no con-sideration to his reality, and that Chris-tians everywhere are misinformed abouthis devices. Few indeed would knowinglymarch under Satan’s banner. Yet, it will beseen that there are but few who do not tosome degree give allegiance to him.

Since the whole Truth regarding the an-gels is strangely unread to human minds, it isperhaps somewhat to be expected that therewill be little actuality in the thinking of manypeople concerning Satan and the demons.However restricted the natural mind may bein this direction, there is no excuse for an

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open denial of revelation, which revelation isboth clear and extensive.

He who would be found faithful and use-ful as a worthy opponent of the Scripturesand a guide to human souls, should compre-hend, next to knowing the Triune God andthe positive values of His redeemingGRACE, the Truth relative to the enemy ofGod, who ‘‘as a roaring lion, walketh about,seeking whom he may devour,’’ 1 Peter 5:8.The Christian’s conflicts and trials are whollyaccounted for within the three realities: theworld, the flesh, and the devil.

But this mighty angel is ‘‘the god of thisworld.’’ The evil nature which dominates theflesh was born of Satan’s lie in the Garden ofEden. He is himself a living contenderagainst the believer, not alone in thesphere of flesh and blood, but in therealms of spiritual life and activity. If thetext of Scripture is observed, it will be foundthat this greatest of foes is held before theChristian’s contemplation next only to the Fa-ther, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Should theknowledge of this foe be wanting, as it mustbe so far as the usual theological studies areconcerned, the results can be no less thantragic, reaching into eternity. If this subject isgiven the corresponding attention in a courseof study which it sustains in the Bible, manypages must be assigned to it with no apologyfor so doing.

Above all, let it not be deemed supersti-tion when attention is given to such extendedand explicit revelation and when this portionof Scripture is taken in its natural and literalmeaning. Utterly unscriptural and fanaticalnotions are easily engendered relative to evilspirits among those less instructed in theWord of God, but so much the more is it im-portant that care shall be exercised to con-form to that which has been revealed.

The heathen have even been torturedby their unfounded imaginations aboutthe presence and influence of evil spirits,and gratitude becomes the Christian inview of the clear revelation on which Godhas given. Belief in the malign influence of

evil spirits antedates the Bible and extends toregions into which the Bible has never pene-trated. Plutarch states, ‘‘It was a very ancientopinion that there are certain wicked and ma-lignant demons, who envy good men, andendeavor to hinder them in the pursuit of vir-tue, lest they should be partakers at least ofgreater happiness than they enjoy.’’

The devil worship of Africa, Burma, Cey-lon, Persia, and Chaldea is a developmentwhich is evidently a perversion of the earlierDivine revelation at the beginning of the race.The International Standard Bible Encyclope-dia states, ‘‘There are, no doubt, serious diffi-culties in the way of accepting the doctrine ofa personal, superhuman, evil power such asSatan is described to be. It is doubtful, how-ever, whether these difficulties may not bedue, at least in part, to a misunderstanding ofthe doctrine of certain of its implications. Inaddition, it must be acknowledged, that what-ever difficulties there may be in the teaching,they are exaggerated and, at the same time,not fairly met by the vague and irrationalskepticism which denies without investiga-tion. There are difficulties involved in anyview of the world. To say the least, someproblems are met by the view of a superhu-man, evil world power.’’ Volume IV, page2695.

By many it is believed that the Earthwas, in its first order, like other planets, theabode of spirit beings, that Satan was inauthority over this realm, and that the chaoswhich is indicated in Genesis 1:2 was the di-rect result of Satan’s sin. Little may beknown of these matters and again the si-lence of God should be respected.

Three general objections have beenraised against the Biblical doctrine of Satan:

1. It is asserted that it has its origin inmythology. This conception cannot be sus-tained. The Bible does not systematize thisdivision of doctrine more than any other. Allthat is set forth is with that saneness and re-straint which characterizes the Divine world-conception as a whole.

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2. The second objection is that the doc-trine of Satan conforms to the dualism ofZoroastrianism. To this it may be replied thatthe whole doctrine of evil, apart from theeternal Divine anticipation of it, had its begin-ning, and will as definitely come to its end.All evil will not only exist by Divine permis-sion, but is under Divine restraint.

3. It is yet said that the doctrine of Satandestroys the unity of God, but the creation byGod of other wills than His own, since, in theend, they are accountable to Him, in no way

militates against the unity of God. In the end,as from the beginning, ‘‘GOD IS ALL IN ALL.’’

The main divisions of satanology are:

1. Satan’s career.

2. Satan’s evil character.

3. The satanic cosmos.

4. Satan’s motives.

5. Satan’s methods.

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THE CAREER OF SATAN

At the opening of this study of satanologyit is fitting to pause in thanksgiving to

God for the Bible He has prepared, pre-served, and presented to His people, whichBook discloses Truth with infinite accuracyrelative to the dwellers in spirit realms andpoints out the nature of these beings withspecific reference to the relation they sustainto humanity. The Word of God dwells atgreat length on the Truth concerning onemighty angel. Extended revelation is givenabout his creation, his original estate, his fall,the development and manifestation of hisauthority, his various judgments and his finalconsignment to the Lake of Fire.

The revealed career of Satan is a longstory reaching back into the dateless pastand on into eternity to come, and is full ofimportant interesting details.

1. SATAN’S CREATION, ORIGINAL ES-TATE, AND FALL.

These three features of the history of thisgreat angel are so interrelated that they canhardly be treated separately. The central pas-sage bearing specifically on these aspects ofSatan’s career is Ezekiel 28:11-19. A consid-erable portion of this immediate context is tobe taken up verse by verse, but in prepara-tion for that undertaking, it may be observedthat revelation concerning Satan begins withthe dateless period between creation of theheavens and the Earth in that perfect form inwhich they first appeared found in Genesis1:1, and the desolating judgments whichended that period, when the Earth becamewaste and empty.

‘‘And the Earth became without form andvoid, and darkness was upon the face of thedeep.’’ ‘‘Behold the Lord maketh the Earthempty, and maketh it waste, and turneth isupside down, and scattereth abroad the in-habitants thereof.’’ ‘‘I beheld the Earth, and lo,it was without form, and void, and the heav-ens, and they had no light, ... and lo, I behold

the mountains, and lo they trembled and allthe hills moved lightly. I beheld and lo therewas no man, and all the birds of the heavenswere fled. I beheld and lo the fruitful placewas a wilderness, and all the cities thereofwere broken down at the presence of theLord and by His fierce anger. ’’

This extended passage from Ezekiel,which will be seen, is a delineation of themightiest of the angels. Most significant in-deed is the fact that more is said of this oneangel than any other and more than is saidof all other angels together, of the Earth’s pri-mal glory, and of the initial angelic sin.

It is reasonable to expect that the Biblewill provide information on history so vital anddetermining as this, and it does. The immedi-ate surrounding context of Ezekiel’s prophecypresents a record of Divine judgments uponIsrael’s enemies, and according to 1 Chron-icles 21:1, Satan belongs to that group.

1 Chronicles 21:1, ‘‘And Satan stood upagainst Israel, and proved David to numberIsrael.’’ The portion which presents Truth re-garding Satan is somewhat concealing sinceit is couched in oriental imagery. This is as alegitimate means of Divine expression as anyform of literature, but it yields its message tothose only who pursue its deeper meaningwith worthy attention.

In the right understanding of this so vitaldisclosure concerning Satan, it is of no littleimportance to note that the preceding versesof this chapter, Ezekiel 28:1-10, though ad-dressed to ‘‘the prince of Tyrus,’’ are asclearly a word to the Man of Sin, Satan’s finalembodiment and masterpiece, as in thatwhich follows a word to Satan himself. Thereis a notable significance in the manner inwhich these two addresses are related andplaced in sequence. The Man of Sin is identi-fied through the Word of God by his blasphe-mous assumption to be God. This, indeed, is

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the substance of the resemblance betweenAntiochus Epiphanes and the Man of Sin.

Daniel 8:9 with 7:8, ‘‘And out of one ofthem came forth a little horn, which waxedexceeding great, toward the south, and to-ward the east, and toward the pleasant land.’’‘‘I considered the horns, and, behold, therecame up among them another little horn, be-fore whom there were three of the first hornsplucked up by the roots: and, behold, in thishorn were eyes like the eyes of man, and amouth speaking great things.’’

Note also, on the Man of Sin, Matthew24:15, ‘‘When ye therefore shall see theabomination of desolation, spoken of byDaniel the prophet, stand in the Holy Place,(whoso readeth, let him understand).’’ 2Thessalonians 2:3, 4, ‘‘Let no man deceiveyou by any means: for that day shall notcome, except there come a falling away first,and that Man of Sin be revealed, the Son ofPerdition; Who opposeth and exalteth himselfabove all that is called God, or that is wor-shipped; so that he as God sitteth in the tem-ple of God, shewing himself that he is God.’’Revelation 13:6, ‘‘And he opened his mouthin blasphemy against God, to blaspheme HisName, and His tabernacle, and them thatdwell in heaven.’’ Ezekiel 28:1-10.

Ezekiel 20:1-10 asserts this characteristicwith peculiar emphasis. As a prince is inferiorand subject to a king, thus it is that the Manof Sin is subject to Satan.

Preceding this address to a ‘‘prince’’ anda ‘‘King’’ in Tyrus, allusion is made to four na-tions, Ammon, Moab, Edom, and Philistia.The message to these are compressed into17 verses, while the message to the one city,Tyrus, occupies 83 verses. This proportion isarresting, suggesting as it does, the symbolicimportance of this one city. Tyre was themerchant city of the world, as was Babylonthe Great. By this emphasis is intimated thepromotion of the world’s idea of success.As in the world today, to leave everythinghere and take nothing into the next world isdeemed ‘‘success,’’ but to leave nothing hereand take all into the next world is ‘‘failure.’’

Tyre is the symbol of a mammon-lovingworld.

This address to the ‘‘King of Tyrus’’ iden-tified the person in view by one of the 40 ti-tles by which he is designated in the Bible.As David’s greater Son is distinguished in theMessianic Psalms from David by the super-natural features set forth, in like manner theperson saluted in this Scripture as ‘‘Kingof Tyrus’’ is discovered to be the highestof the angels . It could not be a mortal.Some of the important features of this Scrip-ture are here studied.

Ezekiel 28:11, 12, ‘‘Moreover the Word ofthe Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man,take up a lamentation upon the King ofTyrus, and say unto him, THUS SAITH THELORD GOD, THOU SEALEST UP THESUM, FULL OF WISDOM, AND PERFECTIN BEAUTY.’’ Surpassing importance will beassigned to this Scripture when it is recog-nized that this is the Word of the Lord to the‘‘King of Tyrus,’’ and not the word of theprophet. A lamentation, which means intenseanguish accompanied with beating of thebreast, is a more impressive term when it de-scribes the Lord’s sorrow poured out over theerring, and is it not ever so? Does the Lordever fail to lament over His erring creatures?

If it were conceded that there might be asecondary application of this lament to someKing in Tyrus, such a conjecture would be oflittle value or meaning in view of the super-natural features which are immediately intro-duced for ‘‘THUS SAITH THE LORD GOD,THOU SEALEST UP THE SUM, FULL OFWISDOM, AND PERFECT IN BEAUTY.’’

Such an expression is superlative evenaccording to Divine standards. The intima-tion is that all Divine creative power alongthe two lines of ‘‘wisdom’’ and ‘‘beauty’’are represented in this being. Such termi-nology has no place in the mouth of the Lordconcerning a fallen man who, at best, is buta heathen king. The expression, however, isaccording to Truth when seen to be a mes-sage to the greatest of angels in his unfallenstate.

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Ezekiel 28:13, ‘‘THOU HAST BEEN INEDEN THE GARDEN OF GOD; EVERYPRECIOUS STONE WAS THY COVERING,THE SARDIUS, TOPAZ, AND THE DIA-MOND, THE BERYL, THE ONYX, AND THEJASPER, THE SAPPHIRE, THE EMERALD,AND THE CARBUNCLE, AND GOLD: THEWORKMANSHIP OF THY TABRETS ANDOF THY PIPES WAS PREPARED IN THEEIN THE DAY THAT THOU WAST CRE-ATED.’’ It makes little difference whether thisis a reference to a primal Eden or the Edenof Genesis 3. Satan has been in both, but noone will assert that any King of Tyrus was sofavored. The bedecking with jewels sug-gests his great importance and the lusterof his appearance. Thus in splendor was heexhibited in the Garden of Eden, for hisname, NAHASH, translated ‘‘serpent’’ means‘‘the shining one.’’

The apostle states that he is even nowtransformed into an ‘‘angel of light,’’ 2 Corin-thians 11:14. These precious stones are dis-played but three times as recorded in the Bi-ble:

1. In the high priest’s breastplate, andwere a manifestation of Divine GRACE.

2. In the New Jerusalem, which reflectsthe glory of God.

3. As the covering of this great angel,which signalizes the highest in creation.

No distinction could be imposed on anycreature more exalting than is imposed bythese covering stones. Similarly, this imagerypresents this angel as created to have beena diadem of praise to his Creator. ‘‘Tabretsand pipes’’ were prepared in him. He did notneed an instrument of praise to glorify hisCreator. He was a diadem of praise.

But by far the most revealing declarationin this verse is the affirmation that he is a‘‘created being.’’ This essential truth is an-nounced again in verse 15 where it is said hewas ‘‘perfect’’ in all his ways from the day inwhich he was created. The power and wis-dom of this being are so vast that not a fewhave supposed him to be as eternal as God

Himself. Being a creature, he must, regard-less of his estate, be subject, in the end,to his Creator, and account to Him. Andthis Satan will do.

Ezekiel 28:14, ‘‘THOU ART THEANOINTED CHERUB THAT COVERETH;AND I HAVE SET THEE SO: THOU WASTUPON THE HOLY MOUNTAIN OF GOD;THOU HAST WALKED UP AND DOWN INTHE MIDST OF THE STONES OF FIRE.’’That being belongs to the order of the cheru-bim is arresting.

As we know, this group of angels wererelated to the throne of God as protectorsand defenders of His holiness. The proofs ofthis contention are found the first appearanceof them at the gate of the Garden of Eden,after man has been expelled and as protec-tors lest man return to pollute the holy pres-ence of God. They appear again as protec-tors, though in golden images, over the ark ofthe covenant where God was pleased todwell. The curtain of the tabernacle, whichseparated between the Divine presence andthe unholy people, was embroidered with fig-ures of cherubim. Exodus 26:1, ‘‘Moreoverthou shalt make the tabernacle with ten cur-tains of fine twined linen, and blue, and pur-ple, and scarlet: with cherubims of cunningwork shalt thou make them.’’

Ezekiel refers to these beings under thistitle 19 times and the Truth concerning themis to be derived from these passages. Hepresents them as having four appearances:the face of a lion, the face of an ox, the faceof a man, and the face of an eagle. Ezekiel1:3-28, 10:1-22. This symbolism relates themat once to the living creatures of John’s vi-sion, Revelation 4:6, 5:14, etc.

Now the Lord expresses and addressesa special word at this point to this angel. ‘‘Ihave set thee so.’’ This is followed by the re-vealing words, ‘‘Thou wast upon the holymountain of God.’’ This specific service ascherub, or protector, was over the verythrone of God, since the phrase, ‘‘the moun-tain of God’’ is, in its Old Testament usage,the seat of God’s authority.

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Exodus 4:27, ‘‘And the Lord said toAaron, Go into the wilderness to meetMoses. And he went, and met him in themount of God, and kissed him.’’ Psalm 2:6,3:4, 43:3, 68:15, ‘‘Yet have I set my kingupon my holy hill of Zion.’’ ‘‘I cried unto theLord with my voice, and He heard me out ofHis holy hill.’’ ‘‘O send out Thy light and ThyTruth: let them lead me; let them bring meunto Thy holy hill, and to Thy tabernacles.’’‘‘The hill of God is as the hill of Bashan; anhigh hill as the hill of Bashan.’’ Isaiah 2:2,11:9, ‘‘And it shall come to pass in the lastdays, that the mountain of the Lord’s houseshall be established in the top of the moun-tains, and shall be exalted above the hills;and all nations shall flow unto it.’’ ‘‘They shallnot hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain:for the Earth shall be full of the knowledge ofthe Lord, as the waters cover the sea.’’

From these disclosures it may be con-cluded that His great angel was createdabove all angels and to be a defender ofthe throne of God. If it be suggested thatGod, being the Almighty, would not needsuch defense, it may be said that it is not aquestion about what God needs, butrather a revelation about what God haschosen to arrange. He doubtless did notneed the cherubim at the gate of Eden, yetHe placed them there.

The remaining phrase, ‘‘Thou hastwalked up and down in the midst of thestones of fire’’ is somewhat obscure. It mightrefer to a primal glory of the Earth. The stoneof fire may be the manifestation of the con-suming fire which the Lord is. In such a case,this declaration would suggest that the firstestate of this angel was one in which hewalked in unbroken relation to the Divineholiness.

Returning for the moment to the identifi-cation of this being, it will be acknowledgedthat no King of Tyrus answers to this ex-alted description. No such fallen man wasever a diadem of praise, nor was he directlycreated of God, nor did he belong to thecherubim, nor had he been placed on the

holy mountain of God, nor walked amidst thestones of fire, nor was he perfect in all hisways from creation. Ezekiel 28:15, ‘‘THOUWAS PERFECT IN THY WAYS FROM THEDAY THAT THOU WAS CREATED, TILLINIQUITY WAS FOUND IN THEE.’’

The description now changes and thefact of the first sin of this angel is disclosed.Iniquity was found in him. The intimationis that a secret sin was uncovered. Theomniscience of God cannot be deceived, nordoes it fail to know all things. If our secretsins are in the light of His countenance(Psalm 90:8) it would be equally true of se-cret sins of angels. ‘‘Thou hast set our iniqui-ties before Thee, our secret sins in the lightof Thy countenance.’’

Ezekiel 28:16, ‘‘BY THE MULTITUDE OFTHY MERCHANDISE THEY HAVE FILLEDTHE MIDST OF THEE WITH VIOLENCE,AND THOU HAST SINNED: THEREFORE IWILL CAST THEE AS PROFANE OUT OFTHE MOUNTAIN OF GOD: AND I WILL DE-STROY THEE, O COVERING CHERUB,FROM THE MIDST OF THE STONES OFFIRE.’’

The word ‘‘merchandise’’ is full of sugges-tion. The same thought occurs respectingthe Man of Sin as expressed by the word‘‘traffic’’ in verse 5. The thought here sug-gests that which is expressed is far removedfrom the barter and trade in merchandise byhuman beings. The meaning of the term is‘‘to go about,’’ literally, which is a matter ofslander. It may indicate going about amongthe angels which was necessary to securetheir allegiance to his program of rebel-lion against God.

The direct accusation, ‘‘Thou hastsinned,’’ and the casting out, are impor-tant features in the career of Satan andthese will be considered in more detailpresently.

Ezekiel 28:17, ‘‘THINE HEART WASLIFTED UP BECAUSE OF THY BEAUTY,THOU HAST CORRUPTED THE WISDOMBY REASON OF THY BRIGHTNESS: I WILL

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CAST THEE TO THE GROUND, I WILL LAYTHEE BEFORE KINGS, THAT THEY MAYBEHOLD THEE.’’ The sin of Satan is hereintimated, which sin is described more fully inother portions of Scripture. The self-cen-tered nature of all sin is evident in this in-stance. It is, however, a long step from ‘‘thestones of fire,’’ with all the exalted honor andglory that such language expresses, to theLake of Fire, to which Satan’s career is tend-ing.

Ezekiel 28:18, 19, ‘‘THOU HAST DE-FILED THY SANCTUARIES BY THE MULTI-TUDE OF THINE INIQUITIES, BY THEINIQUITY OF THY TRAFFIC; THEREFOREWILL I BRING FORTH A FIRE FROM THEMIDST OF THEE, IT SHALL DEVOURTHEE, AND I WILL BRING THEE TOASHES UPON THE EARTH IN THE SIGHTOF ALL THEM THAT BEHOLD THEE. ALLTHEY THAT KNOW THEE AMONG THEPEOPLE SHALL BE ASTONISHED ATTHEE: THOU SHALT BE A TERROR, ANDNEVER SHALT THOU BE ANY MORE.’’

It is obvious that these verses point outthe immediate, future, and final judgment ofGod upon this mighty angel, all of which ismore completely described in other parts ofthe Bible.

In this one context God records the ori-gin, estate, character, and sin of the greatestof angels. The importance of this revelationas it bears upon the doctrine of the angelsand on the doctrine of man generally cannotbe overestimated. God did not create Satanas such. He created an angel who was per-fect in all his ways, and that angel sinnedby opposing the will of God. By this act hebecame Satan the resister, and all else thatall his titles imply.

The ancient question raised by the skep-tics of the past with respect to who made thedevil has been answered in this passage just

considered. There it is seen that God cre-ated a holy angel possessing the power ofchoice between good and evil, and hechose to do evil. Through the degeneratingpower of sin, Satan, as did Adam, becamean entirely different being from that whichGod created. When God creates a being tofill a purpose, that being must be a per-fect fulfillment of that Divine ideal.

It is, therefore, well, when seeking to dis-cover the measurements of this great angelto identify the purpose for which Satan wascreated and evaluate the qualities whichwere in his view of that purpose. By his sinhe lost his original holiness and heavenlystanding, but he retains his wisdom, andhe has turned his surpassing abilities intoways of evil and his understanding hasbeen prostituted to the level of lies, de-ceptions, snares, and wiles. The extent ofthese evil undertakings, their exalted charac-ter, his motives and methods, constitute aportion of this vast theme which will yet bepursued.

Summing up this passage in Ezekiel wesee:

A. By its setting and language it can applyto no child of fallen man. That is impossible.

B. It must therefore necessarily refer toa spirit or an angel.

C. This angel or spirit, whoever it was,was personally the topstone of that primalcreation.

D. His office was to protect the throne ofGod, to forbid the approach of evil, or anyunrighteousness.

E. Iniquity was found in him and thatiniquity was self-exaltation.

F. Sentence of expulsion from his placeis pronounced, although not actually, or atleast fully, executed.

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SATAN’S SIN

Now with the same clarity and extendeddetail the precise sin of Satan is deline-

ated in the Bible, and in one central passage,namely, Isaiah 14:12-17. It is true, from thebeginning, Satan has not ceased sinning, butinterest is focused specifically upon his initialsin, which sin, SO FAR AS GOD HAS BEENPLEASED TO REVEAL, WAS THE FIRSTSIN TO BE COMMITTED IN THE UNI-VERSE. The first sinner was an angel. Sa-tan. A partial exposition of this momentouspassage, the first sin to be committed, notonly bears much on our understanding of theone who commits it, but is the nature, thenorm, or pattern of all sin, demonstrating,as it does, the element in sin whichmakes it what it is.

Romans 7:13, ‘‘Exceeding sinful.’’ By ref-erence to a fall from heaven, this passage,Isaiah 14:12-17, raises the weighty questionwhether Satan is now with respect to hisabode veritably cast out of heaven, or stilldwelling in the sphere into which he wasplaced when created. A popular notion,which obtains quite apart from revelation, as-sumes that Satan is swelling in the lower re-gions, if not in Hell itself. In this connection,it is essential to consider again the Truth thatthere are three heavens in view of the Bible:

A. That of the atmosphere in which ‘‘thebirds of the heaven’’ move, and in which the‘‘Prince of the power of the air’’ has authorityand is active.

B. The stellar spaces which, as beforeindicated, are the abode of angelic beings.

C. The third heaven, which is the abodeof the Triune God, the location of which can-not be determined.

The question at issue is whether Satan,and with him the fallen angels, are cast outof their original habitation. Certain passagesshed light on this problem. Of Jesus Christ itis written, ‘‘He said unto them, I beheld Satan

as lightning fall from heaven,’’ Luke 10:18.Whether this was history or prophecy mustbe determined by the verdict of other Scrip-tures.

Revelation 12:7-9 relates a casting out ofSatan, from heaven to the earth, and asthere described, is evidently future. The pas-sage states, ‘‘And there was war in heaven:Michael and his angels fought against thedragon; and the dragon fought and his an-gels, And prevailed not; neither was theirplace found any more in heaven. And thegreat dragon was cast out, that old serpent,called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveththe whole world: he was cast out into theEarth, and his angels were cast out withhim.’’

The prophet Ezekiel foresees a castingout of Satan. He writes of Satan, ‘‘Thou hastsinned, therefore I will cast thee as profaneout of the mountain of God,’’ Ezekiel 28:16-19. This word does not disclose the timewhich that promise will be fulfilled, beyondthe fact that it is in these verses associatedwith the final judgments that are to comeupon Satan.

Certain passages assume that Satanis now in that heaven to which he had titleby creation. In Job 1:6 and 2:1 it is as-serted that Satan was then present inheaven. It is written, ‘‘Now there was a daywhen the sons of God came to present them-selves before the Lord, and Satan came alsoamong them,’’ Job 1:6. Apparently there wasnothing unusual in Satan’s presence in thatplace, or on that occasion. He is called uponto report on his activities, and he does so. Inthat report he incidentally discloses the truthwhich he has sufficient freedom and latitudeto go ‘‘to and fro in the earth,’’ as well as ap-pear in the very presence of God on high.Christ gave to Peter this warning, ‘‘Simon, Si-mon, behold, Satan hath desired,’’ literally de-manded by asking, ‘‘to have you, that he may

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sift you as wheat,’’ Luke 22:31. The implica-tion is that Satan appeared personally beforeGod with this request.

Again the apostle enjoins, ‘‘Put on thewhole armour of God, that ye may be able tostand against the wiles of the Devil. For ourwrestling is not against flesh and blood, butagainst principalities, and against the powers,against the world rulers of this darkness,against the spiritual hosts of wickedness inthe heavenly places,’’ Ephesians 6:1-12.

To the same end this passage declaresthat the evil powers are yet in heavenlyspheres. The evidence which this body ofScripture represents, and apparently there isno counter testimony, is that Satan is yet inhis original abode, and will be until, accordingto Revelation 12:7-9, he will be, as a part ofthe Tribulation experience, cast out into theEarth. It is important, as well, if the two greatpassages, Ezekiel 28:11-19 and Isaiah14:12-17, which contribute most to the mak-ing known of Satan’s early history, are to beinterpreted according to the Truth, to distin-guish between the different viewpoints ofthese human authors of Scripture.

Ezekiel, in his prophetic vision, stood atthe end of this history and saw ‘‘in retrospect’’what he records. The Truth that Isaiah thuslooked backwards from the end time ac-counts for the opening sentence of his proph-ecy, which assumes that this mighty angelwill have then fallen from heaven. Much thatis found in this prediction is yet unfulfilled inits complete measure. The colossal under-takings of this angel, as Isaiah saw them, arenot yet concluded.

Yet again, extreme contrasts are em-ployed by these two prophets in the titlesthey apply to this angel. When entering uponhis description of the high and holy estate ofthis angel as first created, Ezekiel addresseshim speaking for the Lord by the earthly title,‘‘King of Tyrus,’’ while Isaiah, setting forth thedegradation of this being, addresses him byhis heavenly title, ‘‘Lucifer, son of the morn-ing.’’ It would seem that these titles arethus purposely employed to the end that

these two estates, that which is of thehighest of all creative power, and thatwhich is the lowest debasement of an an-gel, may be brought into startling juxtapo-sition.

The title ‘‘Lucifer, son of the morning,’’ isthe glorious heavenly designation of thisgreat angel before his moral fall. ‘‘Lucifer’’means ‘‘bright, or shining one.’’ And it is al-most identical with the Hebrew word, NA-HASH, meaning serpent, which means the‘‘shining one.’’

Now our Lord Jesus Christ bears the ti-tles, ‘‘Bright and morning Star’’ and ‘‘the Sonof righteousness.’’ The titles ‘‘Lucifer, son ofthe morning,’’ and ‘‘Bright and shining star,’’are much the same. Jesus Christ is calledthe ‘‘Last Adam,’’ as a successor to the FirstAdam who fell. It is not possible that, insome unrevealed manner, He, Christ, is ‘‘theBright and morning Star’’ as a successor tothe fallen ‘‘Lucifer, son of the morning.’’

This is but one of may parallels and con-trasts between Christ and Satan, betweenChrist and Adam, and between Satan andAdam.

The prophecy of Isaiah is as follows:‘‘How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer,son of the morning! how art thou cut down tothe ground, which didst weaken the nations!For thou hast said in thine heart, I will as-cend into heaven, I will exalt my throneabove the stars of God: I will sit also uponthe mount of the congregation, in the sides ofthe north. I will ascend above the heights ofthe clouds; I will be like the most High. Yetthou shalt be brought down to Hell, to thesides of the pit. They that see thee shall nar-rowly look upon thee, and consider thee, say-ing, Is this the man that made the Earth totremble, that did shake kingdoms; That madethe world as a wilderness, and destroyed thecities thereof; that opened not the house ofhis prisoners?’’ Isaiah 14:12-17.

Thus the prophet announces the fall ofthis angel, the occasion of the fall, and some-thing of his stupendous power. Of the latter,

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it is said that he was the one who ‘‘didstweaken the nations,’’ ‘‘that made the Earth totremble,’’ ‘‘that did shake kingdoms,’’ ‘‘thatmade the world as a wilderness,’’ ‘‘and de-stroyed the cities thereof,’’ ‘‘and opened notthe house of his prisoners.’’ Most of this vastprogram is yet unaccomplished, and theauthority and power which it connotes be-longs to a later discussion.

Again it is emphasized that Satan’ssin was intended to be a secret. This isthe meaning of the words, ‘‘Thou hast said inthine heart.’’ Likewise, it is stated in this pas-sage that Lucifer’s sin consisted in five lawful‘‘I will’s’’ against the ‘‘will of God.’’

Feeble indeed is the power of humanimagination to picture the crisis in this uni-verse at the moment when the first repudia-tion of God took place in heaven. Thesefive ‘‘I wills’’ of Satan are evidently vari-ous aspects of one sin. Writing of the ac-ceptable officer of the Church and referring tohis character, the apostle states that hemight not be a novice, ‘‘LEST BEING LIFTEDUP WITH PRIDE, HE FALL INTO CONDEM-NATION, CRIME, OF THE DEVIL,’’ 1 Timo-thy 3:6.

Christ stated that Satan ‘‘abode not in theTruth, that he was dominated with an unholydesire, and that he was a murderer from thebeginning,’’ John 8:44. All these disclosuresare, no doubt, but various ways of describingone sin, that of seeking to rise above thesphere in which he was created, andabove the purpose and service assignedto him. This, it will be observed, is theessential character of human sin, as it isof the angels.

1. ‘‘I WILL ASCEND INTO HEAVEN.’’

In this, the first aspect of Satan’s sin, heapparently proposed to take up his abode inthe third, or highest heaven where God andthe redeemed abide. 2 Corinthians 12:1-4.The abode of the angels is evidently on alower plane, for, when returning to the high-est heaven after His resurrection, Christ issaid to have been seated ‘‘far above all prin-

cipalities and powers and might and domin-ion,’’ Ephesians 1:20, 21. But Satan, whoseabode is that of the angels, even though hisduties give him access to both Earth and thehigher spheres, Job 1:6, Ezekiel 28:14, inunholy self-promotion determined that hisabode should be higher than that sphereto which he had been appointed by hisCreator. ‘‘Now there was a day when thesons of God came to present themselves be-fore the Lord, and Satan came also amongthem.’’ ‘‘Thou art the anointed cherub thatcovereth; and I have set thee so: thou wastupon the holy mountain of God; thou hastwalked up and down in the midst of thestones of fire.’’

The redeeming GRACE of God will notbe satisfied until some among men, who byoriginal position are lower than the an-gels, Psalm 8:4-6, Hebrews 2:6-8, are liftedto eternal citizenship in the highestsphere. ‘‘What is man, that Thou art mindfulof him? and the Son of man, that Thouvisitest Him? For Thou hast made Him a lit-tle lower than the angels, and hast crownedHim with glory and honour. Thou madestHim to have dominion over the works of Thyhands; Thou hast put all things under Hisfeet.’’ ‘‘But one in a certain place testified,saying, What is man, that Thou art mindful ofhim? or the Son of man, that Thou visitestHim? Thou madest Him a little lower thanthe angels; Thou crownedst Him with gloryand honour, and didst set Him over theworks of Thy hands: Thou hast put all thingsin subjection under His feet. For in that Heput all in subjection under Him, He left noth-ing that is not put under Him. But now wesee not yet all things put under Him.’’

John 14:3, ‘‘And if I go and prepare aplace for you, I will come again, and receiveyou unto Myself; that where I am, there yemay be also.’’ John 17:21-24, ‘‘That they allmay be one; as Thou, Father, art in Me, andI in Thee, that they also may be one in Us:that the world may believe that Thou hastsent Me. And the glory which Thou gavestMe I have given them; that they may be one,even as We are One: I in them, and Thou in

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Me, that they may be made perfect in one;and that the world may know that Thou hastsent Me, and hast loved them, as Thou hastloved Me. Father, I will that they also, whomThou hast given Me, be with Me where I am;that they may behold My glory, which Thouhast given Me: for Thou lovedst Me beforethe foundation of the world.’’

Colossians 3:3, 4, ‘‘For ye are dead, andyour life is hid with Christ in God. WhenChrist, who is our life, shall appear, thenshall ye also appear with Him in glory.’’ He-brews 2:10, ‘‘For it became Him, for whomare all things, and by Whom are all things, inbringing many sons unto glory, to make thecaptain of their salvation perfect through suf-ferings.’’ Hebrews 10:19, 20, ‘‘Having there-fore, brethren, boldness to enter into the Holi-est by the blood of Jesus, By a new and liv-ing way, which He hath consecrated for us,through the veil, that is to say, His flesh.’’

But Satan has no right either by posi-tion or redemption to claim that sphere asthe place of his abode. His self-seekingintention as disclosed in this declarationis an outrage against the Creator’s planand purpose.

2. ‘‘I WILL EXALT MY THRONE ABOVETHE STARS OF GOD.’’

By this statement is revealed that Sa-tan, though appointed to the guardianshipof the throne of God, aspired to the pos-session of a throne of his own and to ruleover ‘‘the stars of God,’’ which are the an-gelic beings rather than the stellar system,which are in view here as in Job 38:7, Jude13, Revelation 12:3, 4, 22:16. ‘‘When themorning stars sang together, and all the sonsof God shouted for joy.’’ ‘‘Raging waves ofthe sea, foaming out their own shame; wan-dering stars, to whom is reserved the black-ness of darkness for ever.’’ ‘‘And there ap-peared another wonder in heaven; and be-hold a great red dragon, having seven headsand ten horns, and seven crowns upon hisheads. And his tail drew the third part of thestars of heaven, and did cast them to the

Earth: and the dragon stood before thewoman which was ready to be delivered, forto devour her child as soon as it was born.’’‘‘I Jesus have sent Mine angel to testify untoyou these things in the churches. I am theroot and the offspring of David, and the brightand morning Star.’’

Evidently very much of Satan’s unholyambition to possess a throne has beenpermitted, for it is revealed that he is now arecognized, though judged, king with throneand authority both in the heavenlyrealm.... Matthew 12:26, ‘‘And if Satan castout Satan, he is divided against himself; howshall then his kingdom stand?’’ Ephesians2:2, ‘‘Wherein in time past ye walked accord-ing to the course of this world, according tothe prince of the power of the air, the spiritthat now worketh in the children of wrath,even as others.’’

Colossians 2:13-15, ‘‘And you, beingdead in your sins and the uncircumcision ofyour flesh, hath He quickened together withHim, having forgiven you all trespasses;Blotting out the handwriting of ordinancesthat was against us, which was contrary tous, and took it out of the way, nailing it to Hiscross. And having spoiled principalities andpowers, He made a shew of them openly, tri-umphing over them in it.’’

...And in the earthly sphere, Luke 4:5, 6,‘‘And the devil, taking Him up into an highmountain, shewed unto Him all the kingdomsof the world in a moment of time. And thedevil said unto Him, All this power will I giveThee, and the glory of them: for that is deliv-ered unto me; and to whomsoever I will Igive it.’’ 2 Corinthians 4:4, ‘‘In whom the godof this world hath blinded the minds of themwhich believe not, lest the light of the glori-ous Gospel of Christ, who is the image ofGod, should shine unto them.’’

Revelation 2:13, ‘‘I know thy works, andwhere thou dwellest, even where Satan’sseat is: and thou holdest fast My Name, andhast not denied My faith, even in those dayswherein Antipas was my faithful martyr, whowas slain among you, where Satan dwelleth.’’

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In this last verse ‘‘seat’’ is an inadequatetranslation for ‘‘throne.’’ The sinful characterof Satan’s purpose to secure a throne is ap-parent.

3. ‘‘I WILL SIT ALSO UPON THE MOUNTOF THE CONGREGATION, IN THE SIDESOF THE NORTH.’’

As has been stated, ‘‘the mount’’ is aphrase which evidently refers to the seat ofDivine government in the Earth. Isaiah 2:1-4,‘‘The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz sawconcerning Judah and Jerusalem. And itshall come to pass in the last days, that themountain of the Lord’s house shall be estab-lished in the top of the mountains, and shallbe exalted above the hills; and all nationsshall flow unto it. And many people shall goand say, Come ye, and let us go up to themountain of the Lord, to the house of theGod of Jacob; and He will teach us of Hisways, and we will walk in His paths: for outof Zion shall go forth the law, and the Wordof the Lord from Jerusalem. And He shalljudge among the nations, and shall rebukemany people: and they shall beat theirswords into plowshares, and their spears intopruninghooks: nation shall not lift up swordagainst nation, neither shall they learn warany more.’’

The reference to ‘‘congregation’’ is clearlyof Israel. Thus this specific assumptionseems to aim at a share at least, note theword ‘‘also’’ in the earthly Messianic rule.That rule is to be from Jerusalem, the city ofthe Great King. The Messiah, we are told inPsalm 48:2, ‘‘will reign from Mount Zion,’’ ‘‘onthe sides of the north.’’ It is also disclosedthat in the cross, which was set up on thenorth side of Jerusalem, Christ judged andspoiled principalities and powers.

Colossians 2:15, ‘‘And having spoiledprincipalities and powers, He made a shew ofthem openly, triumphing over them in it.’’ It ispossible that when thus judged, Satan’s un-holy designs upon the Messianic rule werethwarted forever.

4. ‘‘I WILL ASCEND ABOVE THEHEIGHTS OF THE CLOUDS.’’

The meaning of this assumption willprobably be discovered in the use of theword ‘‘clouds.’’ Of the upwards of 150 refer-ences in the Bible to clouds, fully 100 are re-lated to the Divine presence and glory.The Lord appeared in a cloud. Exodus16:10, ‘‘And it came to pass, as Aaron spakeunto the whole congregation of the childrenof Israel, that they looked toward the wilder-ness, and, behold, the glory of the Lord ap-peared in the cloud.’’ The cloud was termed‘‘the cloud of Jehovah’’ in Exodus 40:38, ‘‘Forthe cloud of the Lord was upon the taberna-cle by day, and fire was on it by night, in thesight of all the house of Israel, throughout alltheir journeys.’’

When the Lord was present, the cloudfilled the house, 1 Kings 8:10, ‘‘And it cameto pass, when the priests were come out ofthe Holy place, that the cloud filled the houseof the Lord.’’ ‘‘The Lord rideth upon a swiftcloud,’’ Isaiah 19:1, ‘‘The burden of Egypt.Behold, the Lord rideth upon a swift cloud,and shall come into Egypt: and the idols ofEgypt shall be moved at His presence, andthe heart of Egypt shall melt in the midst ofit.’’

Psalm 104:3, ‘‘Who layeth the beams ofHis chambers in the waters: who maketh theclouds His chariot: who walketh upon thewings of the wind.’’ Christ is to come, as Hewent, upon the clouds of heaven. Matthew24:30, ‘‘And then shall appear the sign of theSon of man in heaven: and then shall all thetribes of the Earth mourn, and they shall seethe Son of man coming in the clouds ofheaven with power and great glory.’’ Acts1:9, ‘‘And when He had spoken these things,while they beheld, He was taken up: and acloud received Him out of their sight.’’ Reve-lation 1:7, ‘‘Behold, He cometh with clouds;and every eye shall see Him, and they alsowhich pierced Him: and all kindreds of theEarth shall wail because of Him. Even so.Amen.’’

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So the ransomed appear, Israel, Isaiah60:8, and the Church, 1 Thessalonians 4:17.‘‘Who are these that fly as a cloud, and asthe doves to their windows?’’ ‘‘Then wewhich are alive and remain shall be caughtup together with them in the clouds, to meetthe Lord in the air: and so shall be ever bewith the Lord.’’

Satan’s man of sin will exalt himselfabove all that is called God, or that is wor-shipped, 2 Thessalonians 2:4, ‘‘Who op-poseth and exalteth himself above all that iscalled God, or that is worshipped; so that heas God sitteth in the temple of God, shewinghimself that he is God.’’ And by this assump-tion, Satan is evidently seeking to secure forhimself some of the glory which belongs toGod alone.

5. ‘‘I WILL BE LIKE THE MOST HIGH.’’

This is the fifth and last of Satan’s ‘‘Iwill’s’’ against the will of God. This may beconsidered as a key to the understandingand tracing of his motives and methods . In spite of an almost universal impres-sion that Satan’s ideal for himself is to be‘‘unlike’’ God, he is there revealed as be-ing actuated with the purpose to be ‘‘like’’God. However, this ambition is not to be likeJehovah, the self-existing One, while no cre-ated being could ever be, but to be like the‘‘Most High,’’ which title signifies the‘‘possessor of heaven and Earth,’’ Genesis14:19, 22, ‘‘And He blessed him, and said,Blessed be Abram of the Most High God,Possessor of heaven and Earth.’’ ‘‘AndAbram said to the king of Sodom, I have liftup mine hand unto the Lord, the Most HighGod, the Possessor of heaven and Earth.’’

THE ESSENTIAL EVIL CHARACTEROF SIN HERE, AS EVERYWHERE, IS ANUNWILLINGNESS ON THE PART OF THECREATURE TO ABIDE IN THE PRECISEPOSITION IN WHICH HE HAS BEENPLACED BY THE CREATOR.

In pursuing this life-purpose as imitator ofGod, and counterfeiter of God’s undertakings,Satan apparently with sincerity, recom-

mended to Adam and Eve that they too ‘‘beas gods.’’ The original word here translated‘‘gods’’ is ELOHIM, and the plural form ofELOHIM evidently accounts for the pluraltranslation ‘‘gods.’’ What Satan said was, ‘‘Yeshall be as ELOHIM.’’

In response to that suggestion, whichonly reflected Satan’s own supreme ambitionto be like the Most High, Adam entered uponthe same course of unholy repudiation of theDivine purpose. So universal has this formof sin become, that man thinks he has ac-complished much when, if ever, he, throughDivine GRACE, reaches the place where hiswill is surrendered to God, the place indeed,from which men should never have departed.

In the strange, inexplicable permissionof God, Satan’s ideal man, the man of sin,will declare himself to be God, sitting inthe temple of God, 2 Thessalonians 2:4,‘‘Who opposeth and exalteth himself aboveall that is called God, or that is worshipped,so that he as God sitteth in the temple ofGod, shewing himself that he is God.’’

But this appears to be the climax ofman’s unholy assumption and constitutes thesign of the end of the age. Matthew 24:15,‘‘When ye therefore shall see the abominationof desolation, spoken of by Daniel theprophet, stand in the Holy place...’’

Satan’s sin may thus be summarizedas a purpose to secure:

1. The highest heavenly position.

2. Regal rights both in heaven and onEarth.

3. Messianic recognition.

4. Glory which belongs to God alone.

5. A likeness to the Most High, ‘‘thePossessor of heaven and Earth.’’

He wants to rule the whole universeand have sovereignty over all of it. Therecan be no adequate estimation of the imme-diate effect of Satan’s initial sin, first uponhimself, and then upon that vast host of spiritbeings who, in allegiance to Satan, ‘‘kept not

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their first estate,’’ or the final effect of that sinupon the entire human race, whose federalhead adopted the same satanic repudiationof God. ‘‘In Adam all die.’’

SATAN ACCORDING TO THEOLD TESTAMENT

Satan is presented in the Old Testamentunder various characterizations, but he ap-pears only four times in the Old Testamentunder the Hebrew appellation ‘‘Satan.’’ In 1Chronicles 21:1 a record is made of the Truththat Satan moved David to number Israel,contrary to the will of God. This act on Sa-tan’s part well illustrates his purpose andcharacter.

Both Psalm 109:6 and Zechariah 3:1, 2disclose the same satanic design. ‘‘Set thoua wicked man over him: and let Satan standat his right hand.’’ ‘‘And he shewed meJoshua the high priest standing before theangel of the Lord, and Satan standing at hisright hand to resist him. And the Lord saidunto Satan, The Lord rebuke thee, O Satan;even the Lord that hath chosen Jerusalemrebuke thee: is not this a brand plucked outof the fire?’’

In the former of these two passages, Sa-tan’s presence is involved as a judgment onthe enemies of the Lord. While in the sec-ond, Satan is seen standing in an attitude ofreadiness to resist the Divine purpose in be-half of Joshua, the high priest. It is the Lordwho directly rebukes Satan, which Truthhas its parallel in Jude 9, where it is said thatMichael calls on the Lord to rebuke Satan forhis opposition.

The remaining Old Testament referenceto Satan is the illuminating account of theLord’s controversy with Satan over Job. Asthis Scripture makes claim to an extendedconsideration under the next division of sa-tanology, no further attention will be given itat this point beyond the recognition that Sa-

tan, here, as always, appears as the op-poser of God.

The whole revelation of Satan’s rebel-lious world-power is not found in the Old Tes-tament, but is reserved for the New Testa-ment. Such a disclosure doubtless withheldas being too demanding upon those of theOld Testament to whom a fuller revelation ofTruth had not come. There is a progressionof doctrine concerning things evil as there isconcerning things good, and these two devel-opments could not lose their interrelation andbalance.

In the Old Testament the Lord is Him-self presented as permitting that whichoccurs, which is always the basic fact.Exodus 10:20, ‘‘But the Lord hardened Phar-aoh’s heart, so that he would not let the chil-dren of Israel go.’’ 1 Samuel 16:14, ‘‘But theSpirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and anevil spirit from the Lord troubled him.’’ Isaiah45:7, ‘‘I form the light, and create darkness: Imake peace, and create evil: I the Lord do allthese things.’’ Amos 3:6, ‘‘Shall a trumpet beblown in the city, and the people not beafraid? shall there be evil in a city, and theLord hath not done it?’’

The Divine permission here, as ever,in no way relieves those who sin of theresponsibility for their sin. The very firsttitle which this great angel is introduced inthe Bible is not fully clarified with respect toits meaning until as late as Revelation 12:9,cf 2 Corinthians 11:3. ‘‘And the great dragonwas cast out, that old serpent, called theDevil, and Satan, which deceiveth the wholeworld: he was cast out into the Earth, and hisangels with him.’’ ‘‘But I fear, lest by anymeans, as the serpent beguiled Eve throughhis subtlety, so your minds should be cor-rupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.’’

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SATAN ACCORDING TO THENEW TESTAMENT

At the opening of the New Testament thestudent is confronted with the extreme activ-ity of Satan and the demons. It would seemthat all possible opposition resident in thefallen angels was marshalled for the encoun-ter. As certainly as the eternal purpose ofGod in redemption was about to be actual-ized, the more violent contrariety is set up bythe powers of darkness. Such utmost efforton Satan’s part is according to revealedTruth, but also is according to reason.

There is but one situation to comparewith this, namely, the period that will immedi-ately precede the Second Advent of Christwhen, as announced in Revelation 16:13, 14,‘‘the spirits of devils,’’ demons, ‘‘working mir-acles, go forth unto the kings of the Earthand the whole world to gather them to thebattle of that great day of God Almighty.’’This situation is more clearly portrayed in thesecond Psalm, as also in Revelation 19:17-21. ‘‘And I saw an angel standing in the sun;and he cried with a loud voice, saying to allthe fowls that fly in the midst of heaven,Come and gather yourselves together untothe supper of the great God; That ye may eatthe flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains,and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh ofhorses, and of them that sit on them, and theflesh of all men, both free and bond, bothsmall and great. And I saw the beast, andthe kings of the Earth, and their armies, gath-ered together to make war against Him thatsat on the horse, and against His army. Andthe beast was taken, and with him the falseprophet that wrought miracles before him,with which he deceived them that had re-ceived the mark of the beast, and them thatworshipped his image. These both were castalive into a lake of fire burning with brim-stone. And the remnant were slain with thesword of Him that sat upon the horse, whichsword proceeded out of His mouth: and allthe fowls were filled with their flesh.’’

The true character of that coming conflictis divulged when it is thus observed thatthese warring kings will be demon-pos-sessed. Satan’s activity as described inthe New Testament may be given a two-fold classification, that which arisesthrough his authority as a king over evilspirits, and that which arises through hisworld dominion. In reply to those who ac-cused Christ of casting out Satan by thepower of Satan, Christ said that a house thatis divided against itself cannot stand, andasked the question, ‘‘If Satan cast out Satan,how shall his kingdom stand?’’

This passage is mentioned only to bringforward the Truth that Satan has a kingdomof evil spirits. This statement by Christ ismore than an implication. It is a direct asser-tion and its reality must be heeded. So,also, Satan is said to be ‘‘the god of thisworld,’’ 2 Corinthians 4:4, and in authorityover this world to the extent that he givesits kingdoms to whomsoever he will , Luke4:6. It is probable that every activity of Satanwill be found to be related to one or the otherof these spheres of authority.

At the threshold of Christ’s ministry onEarth, Satan met Him in the wilderness.There is mystery concealed in this encounterwhich, it is probable, extends to realms of an-gelic reality. It also penetrates into the hy-postatic union of the two natures of JesusChrist. The temptation is apparently withinthe sphere of Christ’s humanity and suggeststhe exercise of the human features: body,soul and spirit, in their adjustment to thepresence and exactings of His Deity. Intothe sphere of relationship the human mindcannot enter, yet the clear statement whichthe Bible sets forth should be accepted. Without doubt these supernatural issuesare within the range of Satan’s under-standings, and afford a wide field for con-flict which human experience cannot par-allel. The features of the situation are faith-fully presented. Christ being filled with theSpirit, He is led of the Spirit into the wilder-ness and there undergoes a testing whichconstituted 40 days and nights.

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As a climax to this testing, Satan pre-sents a three-fold suggestion: The first in-volved the breaking down of that separa-tion which Christ faithfully preserved be-tween His Deity and His humanity. If thecommon demands of food and drink were su-pernaturally supplied by His Deity, He wouldnot be in all points tested as are His follow-ers in this world. The second test involveda short cut, apart from sacrifice, to thepossession of the kingdoms of this world.These are covenanted to the Son by the Fa-ther and the securing of them with respect totitle formed a part of His triumph in the cross.Psalm 2:8, 9, ‘‘Ask of Me, and I shall giveThee the heathen for Thine inheritance, andthe uttermost parts of the Earth for Thy pos-session. Thou shalt break them with a rod ofiron; Thou shalt dash them in pieces like apotter’s vessel.’’

To some degree Satan has personal in-terests to serve, for there is a wide differencebetween exchanging the kingdoms of thisworld for the worship of the Son of God ascompared with going to a doom which de-prives him of everything but the Lake of Fire.

In the third instance, there is offered toChrist the securing of a recognition fromthe people apart from the path of suffer-ing and shame.

In all three testings, Christ met Sa-tan’s proposals with the Word of God anddemonstrated the fact that the actionwhich Satan suggests is not the will ofGod delineated in the Word of God.

The first Adam was overcome by Satan.The last Adam drove Satan from the field.As Son of God with His Deity in view, theoutcome could not be otherwise, as a manwith His humanity in view, the victory ismeasureless and forms a pattern for all hu-manity of believers in all ages.

What may be suggested about Satan’slater attacks upon Christ by the words, ‘‘Andwhen the devil had ended all the temptation,he departed from Him for a season,’’ Luke4:13. Other temptations were made, whichmay have characterized much of the life andwork of Christ in all the days before thecross, and that is certain.

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SATAN WAS JUDGED AT THE CROSS‘‘And I will put enmity between thee and

the woman and between thy seed and herSeed. It shall bruise thy head, and thou shaltbruise His heel.’’

When tracing Satan’s career, the crossas a judgment of Satan and all his

hosts of spirits is the next event in order.Again the theme reaches out into the largerrealms where the life and service of angelsare situated. Issues are involved which lieoutside the earthly sphere. For this reasonthe subject should be approached with cau-tion. That which is to be revealed is to bereceived as God’s revelation and from this,certain general conclusions may be drawn.

In His death Christ dealt with sin as aprinciple, or as a whole, and while it is thejoyous privilege of a human being toknow that his personal sin is met to thesatisfaction of God in the death of Christ,it is evident that the thing achieved byChrist is as boundless as the universeand as timeless as eternity . The Colossianepistle contains two notable passages whichenunciate the limitless character of Christ’swork upon the cross.

In Colossians 1:15-18 is the assignmentof Christ to the Creatorship of all things andthe pre-eminence above all His creation.‘‘Who is the image of the invisible God, theFirstborn of every creature: For by Him wereall things created, that are in heaven, andthat are in Earth, visible and invisible,whether they be thrones, or dominions, orprincipalities, or powers: all things were cre-ated by Him, and for Him: And He is beforeall things, and by Him all things consist. AndHe is the Head of the body, the Church: whois the beginning, the Firstborn from the dead;that in all things He might have the preemi-nence.’’

The epistle goes on to state in verses19-22, ‘‘For it pleased the Father that in Himshould all fulness dwell; And, having madepeace through the blood of His cross, by Himto reconcile all things unto Himself; by Him, Isay, whether they be things in Earth, orthings in heaven. And you, that were some-time alienated and enemies in your mind bywicked works, yet now hath He reconciled Inthe body of His flesh through death, to pre-sent you whole and unblameable and unre-proveable in His sight.’’

The scope of this reconciliation which thecross provides is as limitless as that realmwhich includes both heaven and Earth. Theterm ‘‘reconciliation’’ is not the equivalent of‘‘restoration’’ or ‘‘salvation.’’ Its precise mean-ing is to ‘‘change thoroughly’’ and its achieve-ment is seen in the fact that the Divine esti-mation of all things has been changedcompletely by the cross.

When it is said in 2 Corinthians 5:19 thatGod has reconciled the world unto Himself, itis not by so much declared that all men aresaved, or that all will be saved. And with asimilar statement and a similar meaning, thereconciliation of ‘‘all things’’ as asserted inColossians 1:20 does not intimate that allthings in heaven and on Earth are now per-fected in the sight of God, or that they neces-sarily ever will be. The reconciliation whichis now wrought by the cross has provideda ground for the redemption of those be-fore chosen of God and a ground for thejudgment of those who reject His provi-sions for them. The Scriptures do not evenhint that fallen men who continue in their un-belief, or that fallen angels will be rescuedfrom their doom.

Matthew 25:41, ‘‘Then shall He say alsounto them on the left hand, Depart from Me,ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared forthe devil and his angels. ’’ Revelation 20:12-15, ‘‘And I saw the dead, small and great,

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stand before God; and the books wereopened: and another book was opened,which is the book of life: and the dead werejudged out of those things which were writtenin the books, according to their works .And the sea gave up the dead which were init; and death and hell delivered up the deadwhich were in them: and they were judgedevery man according to their works. Anddeath and hell were cast into the lake of fire.This is the second death. And whosoeverwas not found written in the book of life wascast into the lake of fire.’’

It is probable that what is thus involvedcannot be reduced to the level of human un-derstanding but the truth that Christ’s deathextends a benefit to things in heaven andto things on Earth is made clear. Satanand his hosts are judged. The fallen beingsand their evil deeds have come up for Divinejudgement, and are now judged, though theexecution of that judgment is yet future.Though the heel of the Judge of all thingswas bruised, it is also as certain that thehead of the ‘‘serpent’’ has been bruised. It isimpossible that one shall be bruised with-out the bruising of the other.

The second passage in Colossians is ex-ceedingly explicit, though all that it an-nounces may not be understood by dwellersin this sphere. It reads, ‘‘Blotting out thehandwriting of ordinances that was againstus, which was contrary to us, and took it outof the way, nailing it to His cross.; And hav-ing spoiled principalities and powers, hemade a shew of them openly, triumphingover them in it,’’ Colossians 2:14, 15.

Here, as before, the value of the crossis seen to extend into two realms: thatwhich is human, verse 14, and that whichis angelic, verse 15. That which extends tohuman realms is not now being considered,but within the realms of that which is angelic,stupendous accomplishments are indicatedby the disclosure that Christ in His death‘‘spoiled’’ principalities and powers and madea shew of them openly, and ‘‘triumphed overthem.’’

The human mind might picture all this asbeing brought to pass in a final aside, buthere it is taught that its achievement throughthe cross of Christ is a present reality. Sincethe theme is as vast as the sphere and des-tiny of angels, it is the part of wisdom thatthe student shall approach its considerationwith due humility.

The truth that Satan was judged in thecross of Christ is confirmed by two re-corded statements by Christ. ‘‘Now is thejudgment of this world: now shall the princeof this world be cast out,’’ John 12:31. ‘‘Ofjudgment, because the prince of this world isjudged,’’ John 16:11. These were made im-mediately before the crucifixion and relateSatan’s judgment to Christ’s anticipationof His death. To these statements may beadded Hebrews 2:14, which declares, ‘‘Foras-much then as the children are partakers offlesh and blood, He also Himself likewisetook part of the same, that through death Hemight destroy Him that had the power ofdeath, that is, the devil.’’

Thus by explicit teaching, the Bible re-iterates the truth that Satan and his hostscame to judgment, even being spoiled,unveiled, triumphed over, judged, andcast out by Christ in His death. Such, in-deed, is the historical fact, though it yet re-mains to discover something of the issues ofthat judgment with its immediate and futureresults.

Of the immediate results, it may be re-peated that a distinction must be drawn be-tween a judgment gained, which is in the na-ture of a legal sentence and not yet exer-cised, and the final administering of the pen-alty. The evidence is conclusive that thesentence is not yet executed since through-out this age following the cross, Satan is, byDivine authority, given the designations,‘‘The prince of the power of the air, ’’ Ephe-sians 2:2, and ‘‘the god of this world,’’ 2Corinthians 4:4. He evidently is permittedto continue as a usurper until the time ofhis execution.

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An illustration of Satan’s present relationto this world may be taken from the history ofSaul and David. It is natural that David, thefirst to occupy the Davidic throne, should bea type of Christ predicted to be the last andmost glorious occupant of that throne.

Luke 1:31-33, ‘‘And, behold, thou shaltconceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son,and shalt call His Name Jesus. He shall begreat, and shall be called the Son of theHighest: and the Lord God shall give untoHim the throne of his father David: And Heshall reign over the house of Jacob for ever;and of His kingdom there shall be no end.’’As there was a period between the anointingof David and the final banishment of Saul, inwhich Saul reigned as a usurper, though un-der Divine sentence, and David was the God-appointed king, in like manner there is now asimilar period in which Satan rules asusurper, though under sentence, and the ac-tual occupation of Christ’s throne is still fu-ture.

In this period Satan, the rejected mon-arch, still rules, hunting to the death allthose who have allied themselves withChrist, the God-anointed king. In this soimportant period of Satan’s career, and thepeculiar character of it as typified in Saul.You remember that God permitted Israel tochoose their first king, and they chose Saul,as to whom we are told, ‘‘from his shoulders,and upward he was higher than any of thepeople.’’ Why are we told this? Have we ex-hausted its significance when we picture toourselves the towering height of that humanking? I am sure not, but rather, would be theSpirit of God, provide a perfect figure or typeof him, who, exactly in the same way, tow-ered over ‘‘his fellows.’’ In other words, was,as the other Scriptures we have studiedshow, the most exalted of all created spiritualintelligences.

But Saul disobeys, or, to use languagethat shall suggest the parallel I desire to keepbefore us, ‘‘iniquity was found in him,’’ Ezekiel28:15. And he was set aside from his kinglyoffice. The kingdom was rent from him. 1

Samuel 15:27, 28, ‘‘And as Samuel turnedabout to go away, he laid hold upon the skirtof his mantle, and it rent. And Samuel saidunto him, The Lord hath rent the kingdom ofIsrael from thee this day, and hath given it toa neighbor of thine, that is better than thou.’’

And then God anointed another king ofHis own choice, a ‘‘shepherd king,’’ David.Now no one questions David being a type ofthe beloved Son of God. Why should notSaul afford us also a type of his oppo-nent? He surely does. But, and this is thepoint that must be carefully noted andweighed, ‘‘Saul retains the throne of Israel,and is still recognized as the king, longafter he is Divinely rejected.’’ The sen-tence is pronounced but the judgment is notat once executed. While David, the trueking, is ‘‘hunted like a partridge upon themountains, or finds his refuge in the cave ofAdullam.’’

God does not at once intervene by powerand take the dignities of the kingdom fromSaul, although he has lost all his ‘‘title’’ tothem and put them in David’s hands. Thepower is Saul’s and the title is David’s.The later is king ‘‘de jure.’’ The former is ‘‘defacto.’’ You can now see the marvelous andclear analogy.

Satan too, whilst he may have forfeitedall ‘‘title’’ to the throne of the Earth, we shallconsider this more carefully directly, willcleave as did Saul, to its power and dignityclaims, as did Saul, and all the power of itsgovernment, whilst the true, David, to whomall belongs in title, is, as it were, in the cavesof Adullum, where a few ‘‘discontented ones,’’those who are not satisfied with the condi-tions of things, have found their way to him,and own him, even in the day of his rejection,as rightful lord of all.

Therefore, whilst Satan is the prince ofthis world at the present time, we are lead bythe analogy of the inspired history, as byevery clear Scripture, to regard him as its‘‘usurping prince,’’ a prince of power, but notin title. Yet whilst now an usurper, as Saulwas, still since he was, also as Saul, Divinely

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anointed as king, the dignity of the anointingstill lingers on him, so that Michael recog-nized that dignity, not speaking evil, but rev-erently, even as David spake of Saul ever as‘‘the Lord’s anointed,’’ and saying, ‘‘the Lordrebuke thee.’’

Now in Colossians 2:15 it will be remem-bered that the specific crime which causedSatan’s fall, the fall of the angelic hosts,and the fall of man, was through beingprompted by pride. 1 Timothy 3:6, ‘‘Not anovice, lest being lifted up with pride he fallinto the condemnation of the devil.’’ Ezekiel28:16, 17, ‘‘By the multitude of thy merchan-dise they have filled the midst of thee withviolence, and thou hast sinned: therefore Iwill cast thee as profane out of the mountainof God: and I will destroy thee, O coveringcherub, from the midst of the stones of fire.Thine heart was lifted up because of thybeauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom byreason of thy brightness: I will cast thee tothe ground, I will lay thee before kings, thatthey may behold thee.’’ Leading on to careerof iniquity is that this mighty angel as-sumed to oppose the plan and purpose ofGod for himself and other creatures. Heintroduced a philosophy of life, a mode ofprocedure, which is directly opposed tothe revealed will of God. It is a lie in thesense that it contradicts that which is infi-nitely true. What form of judgment a holyGod must impose upon such as immeasur-able offense is not for men to determine.The judgment properly has in view the crimeitself. Such, indeed, is the reason for an un-ending confinement in the lake of fire.

Satan declared, ‘‘I will exalt my throneabove the stars of God.’’ ‘‘I will be like theMost High.’’ This is evident, and is the es-sential feature of Satan’s program. In linewith that purpose, he wrested the scepterfrom Adam and has held sway over thevast majority of human family throughoutall its generations. They being separatedfrom God, as described in Ephesians 2:12,possessed no way to God until the sacrificeof Calvary was made. It is true that to thesmall company of people, Israel, as to the

patriarchs, was extended the cure of sin byblood sacrifice, but the great mass of human-ity remained without God in the world.

It would seem therefore, that the basis ofSatan’s dominion over humanity was largelythe fact that they were not eligible to anyhigher relationship. On this basis, had Godapproached any fallen human beings, Sa-tan would have pleaded God’s own holi-ness as the reason why God should notso act. Satan is committed to his infernalphilosophy and to the defense of thosewho have embraced it. At least he will notsurrender them apart from the most drasticresistance within his power. As long asman’s unholiness was not yet taken to thecross, the conflict was largely in Satan’sfavor. In Isaiah 17:17 it is written of Satan,‘‘He opened not the house of his prisoners.’’The statement is illuminating. However,when referring to what Christ would do byHis sacrifice, the same prophet goes on tosay that Christ would come to ‘‘proclaim lib-erty to the captives, and the opening of theprison to them that are bound,’’ Isaiah 61:1,cf Luke 4:16-21.

The incarceration to which theseScriptures refer is more serious and ex-tensive than anything that obtains in hu-man governments. No suggestion will befound here that those justly in prison forcrime are to be released from that judgment.The bondage came with the repudiation ofGod on the part of the responsible head ofthe race. These prisoners are not onlybondslaves to sin, but are in bondage tothe Evil One. He it is who energizes all thesons of disobedience.

Ephesians 2:2, ‘‘Wherein in time past yewalked according to the course of this world,according to the prince of the power of theair, the spirit that now worketh in the childrenof disobedience.’’ Satan has bound in physi-cal distress a ‘‘daughter of Abraham.’’ Luke13:16, ‘‘And ought not this woman, being adaughter of Abraham, whom Satan hathbound, lo, these eighteen years, be loosedfrom this bond on the Sabbath day?’’

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By him had been exercised the ‘‘power ofdeath.’’ Hebrews 2:14, 15, ‘‘Forasmuch thenas the children are partakers of flesh andblood, He also Himself likewise took part ofthe same; that through death He might de-stroy him that had the power of death, that is,the devil; And deliver them who through fearof death were all their lifetime subject tobondage.’’

The apostle witnesses frequently to theactivities of Satan. 1 Corinthians 5:5, 7:5,‘‘To deliver such an one unto Satan for thedestruction of the flesh, that the spirit may besaved in the day of the Lord Jesus.’’ ‘‘De-fraud ye not one the other, except it be withconsent for a time, that ye may give your-selves to fasting and prayer; and come to-gether again, that Satan tempt you not foryour incontinency.’’ 2 Corinthians 12:7, ‘‘Andlest I should be exalted above measurethrough the abundance of the revelations,there was given to me a thorn in the flesh,the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I

should be exalted above measure.’’ 1 Thes-salonians 2:18, ‘‘Wherefore we would havecome unto you, even I Paul, once and again;but Satan hindered us.’’

The incomparable invitations ‘‘come,’’‘‘whosoever will,’’ ‘‘him that cometh to MeI will in no wise cast out,’’ are possibleonly through the redemption which Christhas wrought. The door is open wide. TheGospel is to be preached to every crea-ture.

Thus it is seen that Christ’s judgmentof Satan, which was wrought through thecross, had primarily to do with Satan’soriginal crime, and with the God-repudiat-ing philosophy which that crime repre-sents.

The principle of evil was judged. Thecross-judgment reaches out to a lostworld for whom Christ died and becomesthe basis of the Gospel of salvation.

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A HOLY WAR IN HEAVENTHE EXECUTION OF SATAN’S JUDGMENT

The execution of those judgments whichwere secured against Satan by Christ

through the cross is anticipated in the Wordof God in three stages or successive events.These are to be considered quite apart fromthree judgments already passed, namely:

A. The moral degradation and corre-sponding loss of standing which was due tothat fall.

B. The sentence pronounced against himin the Garden of Eden.

C. The judgment of the cross.

THE FUTURE THREE-FOLD EXECUTIONOF JUDGMENT UPON SATAN IS NOWSTATED.

1. SATAN CAST OUT OF HEAVEN:

The casting of Satan out of heaven andthe confining of him with his angels to therestricted sphere of the Earth is described inRevelation 12:7-12. The passage reads,‘‘AND THERE WAS WAR IN HEAVEN: MI-CHAEL AND HIS ANGELS FOUGHTAGAINST THE DRAGON; AND THEDRAGON FOUGHT AND HIS ANGELS,AND PREVAILED NOT; neither was theirplace found any more in heaven. And thegreat dragon was cast out, that old serpent,called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveththe whole world: he was cast out into theEarth, and his angels were cast out with him.And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven,Now is come salvation, and strength, and thekingdom of our God, and the power of HisChrist: for the accuser of our brethren is castdown, which accused them before our Godday and night. And they overcame him bythe blood of the Lamb, and by the word oftheir testimony; and they loved not their livesunto the death. Therefore rejoice, ye heav-

ens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to theinhabiters of the Earth and of the seal for thedevil is come down unto you, having greatwrath, because he knoweth that he hath buta short time.’’

Beyond the disclosure of the central truththat Satan and his angels will be cast out ofheaven, this passage unfolds much vitalrevelation. The means that will be em-ployed to cast Satan and his angels downis none other than the authority andpower of holy angels under the leadershipof Michael. ANGELS FIGHTING ANGELS...NOT A HOLY WAR, BUT A HOLY ANGELICWAR IN HEAVEN.

These fallen angels being overcome, areas exiles from their native spheres, confinedto the Earth. A song of rejoicing ascends inheaven because of the relief which the ab-sence of these fallen angels secures. All thisis most suggestive. Likewise a woe is ad-dressed to the Earth in view of the calamitywhich their presence imposes upon thedwellers of Earth. Notice men will stilldwell on the Earth in the middle of theTribulation.

It is in connection with this exile thatSatan’s great wrath is stirred, and it isthen, apparently, that he becomes awarethat the cause which has engaged himfrom the first has been lost forever. Thepresence of Satan and his hosts restricted tothe Earth and in measureless wrath couldhardly be cause for joy on Earth, nor peaceon Earth. On the contrary, this situation isone of the most essential contributing factorsin that Great Tribulation, which is predictedfor those very days.

Matthew 24:21, ‘‘For then shall be greattribulation, such as was not since the begin-ning of the world to this time, no, nor ever

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shall be.’’ Daniel 12:1, ‘‘And at that time shallMichael stand up, the great prince whichstandeth for the children of Thy people: andthere shall be a time of trouble, such asnever was since there was a nation even tothat same time: and at that time Thy peopleshall be delivered, every one that shall befound written in the book.’’

That this tribulation falls heaviest uponthe nation Israel is asserted here. Revelation12:13-17, ‘‘And when the dragon saw that hewas cast unto the Earth, he persecuted thewoman which brought forth the man child.And to the woman were given two wings of agreat eagle, that she might fly into the wilder-ness, into her place, where she is nourishedfor a time, and times, and half a time, fromthe face of the serpent. And the serpent castout of his mouth water as a flood after thewoman, that he might cause her to be carriedaway of the flood. And the Earth helped thewoman, and the Earth opened her mouth,and swallowed up the flood which the dragoncast out of his mouth. And the dragon waswroth with the woman, and went to make warwith the remnant of her seed, which keep thecommandments of God, and have the testi-mony of Jesus Christ. ’’ And as in all Scrip-tures.

The casting out of the satanic host fromheaven means much, also, to the ‘‘brethren,’’whom Satan has not ceased to accuse be-fore God night and day. And it is a most vitaltruth which is added in the words, ‘‘And theyovercame him by the blood of the Lamb, andby the word of their testimony.’’

The question may be raised at this pointabout what it is that constitutes Satan’s oppo-sition to God’s ways with men. No little re-sentment may exist against the truth thatredemption has not been extended tofallen angels as it is extended to fallenmen. It would seem that Satan still exer-cises some of his original responsibility, asthe defender and promoter of righteousnesson which the throne of God must ever rest.

SATAN’S MINISTERS POSE AS ‘‘MIN-ISTERS OF RIGHTEOUSNESS,’’ 2 Corin-

thians 11:15. But, reference is made in thetext to ‘‘personal’’ or ‘‘self-righteousness,’’ orself-promoted righteousness. The redemp-tive plan purposes to constitute sinnersrighteous before God through the merit ofChrist which is released and provided forthe lost in Christ’s death. The constitut-ing of sinners to be righteous through thesaving work of Christ is easily believed tobe a point of satanic opposition againstGod. There is nothing else about the Gospelwhich Satan would resist, or concerningwhich he would ‘‘blind the minds’’ of thosewho are lost. 2 Corinthians 4:3, 4, ‘‘But if ourGospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost:In whom the god of this world hath blindedthe minds of them which believe not, lest thelight of the glorious Gospel of Christ, who isthe image of God, should shine unto them.’’

The one who specializes in self-pro-moted righteousness has always been theleast able to comprehend and the greatestobjector to the doctrine of imputed right-eousness. Certainly it is not to be countedas strange if Satan himself is, like thoseamong men who are energized by him, op-posed to that which is the abiding fruit of re-deeming GRACE. The accusations whichSatan has hurled against the brethrenhave no doubt been concerning actual sinand unrighteousness on their part. It is in-conceivable that he would charge them withthat which is wholly untrue. Such a coursewould fall by its own strength. It is ratherthat Satan is as offended by the arrange-ment whereby saints are preserved inspite of their unworthiness as he is by theimputing of righteousness to meritlesssinners in the first place. The Scripturesoffer an illustration of this unassailable posi-tion of those who are redeemed.

God said to Balak through the unwillingprophet Balaam, ‘‘I have not beheld iniquity inJacob,’’ or ‘‘perverseness in Israel.’’ Therewas evil in this people, but, when attacked bythe foe of Divine GRACE, the Lord de-lighted to declare that He did not ‘‘see’’ or‘‘behold’’ that on which the enemy basedhis accusations. God does not assert that

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these wicked things do not exist. Hestates that He, having covered them withredemption, does not see or behold whatthe enemy points out. However whendealing with these whom He has re-deemed, the Lord is tireless in His effortto separate them from all their evil ways.

Of this great Truth the Psalmist writes,‘‘If, Thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquities,Lord, who shall stand?’’ Psalm 130:3. ThatHe does not mark iniquity is possible onlythrough redemption and is never a matter ofmere graciousness. The wrathful attitude ofBalak is a reflection of the attitude of Satanwho energized him. In like manner, the evilwhich was condemned in Cain is not immor-tality, but rather the satanic ideal of self-wor-thiness as a basis of Divine acceptance. Theblood sacrifice of Abel, looking on to thefruits of redemption, provided a perfect rela-tionship to God to which no fallen beingcould ever attain by works of personal right-eousness.

The saints are to be rewarded beforethe judgment seat of Christ in heaven. Atthat time no mention is to be made of sinsalready washed away by the blood of theLamb. Such silence with respect to can-celled sin could not be in heaven until theAccuser is cast out. Great joy will be theportion of those who thus enter into thefull realization of Divine forgiveness andacceptance.

2. SATAN’S JUDGMENT AT THE SEC-OND ADVENT OF CHRIST:

As a part of that which transpires at theglorious return of Christ, which coming termi-nates the Great Tribulation, Matthew 24:30,and ends the reign of the Man of Sin, 2Thessalonians 2:8-10, Satan is bound by agreat chain and cast into the abyss.

‘‘And then shall appear the sign of theSon of man in heaven: and then shall all thetribes of the Earth mourn, and they shall seethe Son of man coming in the clouds ofheaven with power and great glory.’’ ‘‘Andthen shall that Wicked be revealed, whom

the Lord shall consume with the Spirit of Hismouth, and shall destroy with the brightnessof His coming: Even him, whose coming isafter the working of Satan with all power andsigns and lying wonders, And with all deceiv-ableness of unrighteousness in them thatperish; because they received not the Truth,that they might be saved.’’

This event is described by these words:‘‘And I saw an angel come down fromheaven, having the key of the bottomless pitand a great chain in his hand. And he laidhold on the dragon, that old serpent, which isthe Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thou-sand years, and cast him into the bottomlesspit, and shut him up, and set a seal uponhim, that he should deceive the nations nomore, till the thousand years should be ful-filled: and after that he must be loosed a littleseason,’’ Revelation 20:1-3.

In this passage, as in that previouslycited, there is much revealed beyond the factthat Satan is bound and cast into the abyssand sealed. It is asserted that Satan is thedeceiver of the whole world, and assuranceis given that the Earth will be free from thesedeceptions for a period said to be ‘‘a thou-sand years.’’ His wrathful presence in theEarth during a preceding period has contrib-uted much to the agony of the Great Tribula-tion, called Jacob’s Trouble. Thus, also, hisrestraints from all activity contributesmuch to the peace and righteousness onthe Earth for the thousand years. The hu-man mind could not comprehend all that isinvolved in these disclosures. Further on inthis context it is revealed that, at the end of athousand years, Satan will be loosed for ‘‘alittle season.’’

It is written, ‘‘and when the thousandyears are expired, Satan shall be loosed outof his prison, and shall go out to deceive thenations which are in the four quarters of theEarth, Gog and Magog, to gather them to-gether to battle: the number of whom is asthe sand of the sea. And when they went upon the breadth of the Earth, and compassedthe camp of the saints about, and the be-

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loved city: and fire came down from God outof heaven, and devoured them,’’ Revelation20:7-9.

The nations are said to be deceivedagain and that deception plunges them oncemore, and for the last time, into war. ‘‘Warsand rumors of war until I come,’’ says theLord.

It is predicted that war shall cease duringthe Kingdom Age of Peace. Isaiah 2:1-4,‘‘The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz sawconcerning Judah and Jerusalem. And itshall come to pass in the last days, that themountain of the Lord’s house shall be estab-lished in the top of the mountains, and shallbe exalted above the hills; and all nationsshall flow unto it. And many people shall goand say, Come ye, and let us go up to themountain of the Lord, to the house of theGod of Jacob; and He will teach us of Hisways, and we will walk in His paths: for outof Zion shall go forth the law, and the Wordof the Lord from Jerusalem. And He shalljudge among the nations, and shall rebukemany people: and they shall beat theirswords into plowshares, and their spears intopruninghooks: nation shall not lift up swordagainst nations, neither shall they learn warany more.’’ And that it is immediately re-sorted to upon the release of Satan from theabyss.

This two-fold truth that there is no waron Earth when Satan’s power and decep-tion are withdrawn and that it is immedi-ately revived as soon as these deceptionsare again cast over the Earth, demon-strates clearly the cause of all war in theEarth. It is the last war, for God Himself in-tervenes with supernatural judgments anddestruction.

A corresponding Old Testament predic-tion adds much to the disclosure that Satanwill be in the abyss. It is said in Isaiah24:21-23, ‘‘And it shall come to pass in thatday, that the Lord shall punish the host of thehigh ones that are on high, and the kings ofthe Earth upon the Earth. And they shall begathered in the pit, and shall be shut up in

the prison, and after many days shall they bevisited. Then the moon shall be confounded,and the sun ashamed, when the Lord ofhosts shall reign in mount Zion, and in Jeru-salem, and before His ancients gloriously.’’

If, as seems justified, the ‘‘high ones thatare on high, and the kings of the Earth thatare then upon Earth,’’ is a reference to fallenangels, along with their chief, who are alsoplaced in the abyss, where else could theybe at such a time? It is generally true thatin the Scriptures a king and his kingdomare closely related and whatever befallsone, befalls the other. Cf Daniel 2:37-38,‘‘Thou, O king, art a king of kings: for theGod of heaven hath given thee a kingdom,power, and strength, and glory. And where-soever the children of men dwell, the beastsof the field and the fowls of the heaven hathHe given into thine hand, and hath madethee ruler over them all. Thou art this headof gold.’’

On this principle of interpretation, it maybe assumed that these fallen angels ac-company Satan on to the end of his ca-reer. It will be observed that some of theseare already in chains awaiting the final judg-ment which shall come upon all evil spirits.

Jude 6, ‘‘And the angels which kept nottheir first estate, but left their own habitation,He hath reserved in everlasting chains underdarkness unto the judgment of the greatday.’’ 2 Peter 2:4, ‘‘For if God spared not theangels that sinned, but cast them down tohell, and delivered them into chains of dark-ness, to be reserved unto judgment...’’

And it is of great satisfaction that, as wit-nesses at least, the saints will be associ-ated with Christ in His judgment. 1 Corin-thians 6:3, ‘‘Know ye not that we shall judgeangels? how much more things that pertainto this life?’’

3. SATAN’S FINAL JUDGMENT.

Three falls to a finish. The Scripture willitself best describe the last step in the execu-tion of Satan’s judgment. ‘‘And the devil thatdeceiveth them was cast into the lake of fire

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and brimstone, where the beast and the falseprophet are, and shall be tormented day andnight forever and ever,’’ Revelation 20:10.‘‘Hell is prepared for Satan and his angels,’’Matthew 25:41.

In the middle of the Tribulation Satan willbe cast out on the Earth, and then he will beimprisoned at the Second Advent of Christ.

Then after the Millennium he will be releasedand then finally thrown into the lake of fire forever and ever. So much for the pride, thenumber one sin in the universe, and somuch for religion and self-righteousnessand all the sacrifices apart from the sacri-fice of Christ.

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THE CHARACTER OF SATAN

In approaching this difficult and intricatesubject, a certain iniquity is in order,

namely, what latitude is accorded angels inthe exercise of their powers in the directionof evil? The implications of Scripture and thedeductions of reason contend, in answer tothis question, that much that is possible assin with men is impossible with angelsand is foreign to them. There is no evi-dence that angels are tempted in the realmsof those sins which find expression throughthe human body; immoral relations, gluttony,and the perversion of normal bodily functions.It is equally certain that there is no occasionfor avarice, parsimoniousness, or thieveryamong the angels since, so far as it isknown, they are not burdened with posses-sions of any description whatever.

In truth, it is easier to discover the sinswhich are predicted of the angels than to listthose which they, for obvious reasons, do notpractice. Angelic sin is along the lines oftwo closely related evils, ‘‘ambitiouspride’’ and ‘‘untruth,’’ as they may bemanifested within the range of the angelexistence. Within the scope of these twosins, the evil character of Satan must becomputed.

The sinfulness of Satan’s sin is not to bediscovered by comparing it with wickednessin human spheres, but rather by a due com-parison of it with the holiness of God, and inthe light of that which God has required ofthe angels.

As God is the embodiment of good,so Satan, in his restricted sphere, is theembodiment of evil. God, being infinite, isinfinitely good. Satan, being finite, is evil tothe extent of his resources and means.Since he is the highest of all creation, Satanis the one of all creatures to assume the po-sition of ‘‘anti-God.’’ It is recognized thatSatan will yet introduce and exalt the anti-Christ, but it is clear, from the beginning he

has arrogated to himself the function of anti-God.

This assumption is the supreme con-ception which actuates his ambitiouspride. To a like degree he is ‘‘anti-Truth,’’but in realms and ways which challengethe closest attention of every student ofBible doctrine. To the same extent to whichthis great angel surpasses human under-standing, his evil nature undertakings reachbeyond human comprehension. However, itis anticipated that the Spirit-taught believersshall pursue these vast themes with somediscernment and to a large degree of profit.

Popular impressions of the characterof Satan are erroneous. Doubtless, if calledto face the truth of the precise nature of Sa-tan’s sin, the man of the world would find lit-tle fault in him. It could not be otherwisesince the worldling has himself adoptedas his prototype the very evil ideals of Sa-tan. The world could not be expected tosit thus in judgment upon itself, and this isespecially true in view of the fact that Satanhas blinded the minds of those who believenot that which is of God. The evil characterof Satan will be found embraced in thetwo-fold wickedness... ambitious pride,and untruth, which is charged againsthim.

TWO-FOLD WICKEDNESS1. Ambitious Pride.

Through the entire career of Satan thereis but an unbroken manifestation of his pride.There are three passages of Scripture whichdirectly indict Satan with respect to this spe-cific sin.

1 Timothy 3:6, ‘‘Not a novice, lest beinglifted up with pride he fall into the condemna-tion of the devil.’’ This notable passageurges the unwisdom of appointing a youngand inexperienced convert to the office ofbishop or elder in the church. Such an office

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should not be ‘‘A NOVICE LEST BEINGLIFTED UP WITH PRIDE HE FALL INTOTHE CONDEMNATION,’’ JUDGMENT, ‘‘OFTHE DEVIL.’’ This is not a judgment to beimposed by the devil, but the judgment Godimposes on the devil for the same sin ofpride.

The next verse asserts that there is a‘‘reproach of the devil.’’ Cf Jude 9, ‘‘Yet Mi-chael the archangel, when contending withthe devil he disputed about the body ofMoses, durst not bring against him a railingaccusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee.’’2 Peter 2:11, ‘‘Whereas angels, which aregreater in power and might, bring not railingaccusation against them before the Lord.’’ Italso speaks of ‘‘a snare of the devil,’’ cf 2Timothy 2:26, ‘‘And that they may recoverthemselves out of the snare of the devil, whoare taken captive by him at his will.’’

But the text in question warns against theexperience of Satan’s judgment which followsthe enacting of Satan’s sin, ambitious pride.Citation of this passage at this point is for thepurpose of enforcing the Truth that Satan’snotable sin was pride.

The effect upon the novice would be,as it was upon Satan, a beclouding of themind with respect to real values. The verbtranslated ‘‘lifted up’’ means to ‘‘make asmoke,’’ and by it blinded, 1 Timothy 6:4, ‘‘Heis proud, knowing nothing, but doting aboutquestions and strifes of words, whereofcometh envy, strife, railings, evil surmisings.’’2 Timothy 3:4, ‘‘Traitors, heady, highminded,lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God.’’

It is of interest to observe that the inti-mation is that Satan himself experienceda besetting of the mind which to some ex-tent made his sinful course a possibility.

Ezekiel 28:17. Reference must be madeto this passage again because of its clearrevelation relative to Satan’s sinful, self-pro-moting pride. To quote, ‘‘Thine heart waslifted up because of thy beauty, thou hastcorrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy bright-ness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay

thee before kings, that they may beholdthee.’’

He who had been created for the highestposition and service, before described, hasbecome conscious and proud of his wisdomand beauty. It will be seen from verse 12that the wisdom is ‘‘full’’ and the beauty is‘‘perfect.’’ The meaning of such terms, de-scribing as they do the mind of the Lord inHis appreciation of this angel, cannot betraced by man. Doubtless there were thesequalities in this angel which made pride anatural consequence. With that befoggingof mind which pride engenders, it is pos-sible to be misguided as to undertake thevery opposite line of action from thatwhich infinite wisdom has dictated.

Isaiah 14:12-14, ‘‘How art thou fallenfrom heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning!how art thou cut down to the ground, whichdidst weaken the nations! For thou hast saidin thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I willexalt my throne above the stars of God: I willsit also upon the mount of the congregation,in the sides of the north: I will ascend abovethe heights of the clouds; I will be like theMost High.’’ Though quoted and expoundedbefore, this illuminating passage is citedagain.

Pride is here seen to prompt this greatangel to unholy ambition. With a be-clouded mind, he easily repudiates theCreator and displays dissatisfaction withthe estate into which he was Divinelyplaced. He proposes by ambition andself-promotion to advance his estate tothe highest heaven and into the likenessof the Most High.

Thus it is set forth by Divine authoritythat Satan’s career of evil began withpride and that, through its power to con-fuse the mind, it has led him on into allthe ways of evil which are recorded ofhim. The important fruit of Satan’s prideis the fact that ‘‘He abode not in theTruth.’’

2. The second wickedness...Untruth.

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An extended list of indictments againstSatan is to be presented shortly and it wouldseem impossible that all that is chargedagainst this evil angel could originate fromthe one sin of untruth which was engenderedby pride.

Christ’s own words in reference to Sa-tan’s first procedure in the way of sin is bothrevealing and final. He said, ‘‘Ye are of yourfather the devil, and the lust of your father yewill do. He was a murderer from the begin-ning, and abode not in the Truth, becausethere is no Truth in him. When he speaketha lie, he speaketh of his own, for he is a liar,and the father of it,’’ John 8:44. And this maybe added, ‘‘He that committeth sin is of thedevil, for the devil sinneth from the beginning.For this purpose the Son of God was mani-fested that He might destroy the works of thedevil,’’ 1 John 3:8.

The charge that these Jews, to whomChrist spoke, were of their father the devil isa serious one, and has provoked perplexityand controversy. There being a spiritual birthin which the one who believes in Christ is therecipient of the Divine nature, that which isforeign to normal human life, thus there issuch a thing as a reception of Satanic ide-als to the end that the life which receivesthem is, to a marked degree, the child ofthe one who originates the manner of lifewhich is embraced.

The designation three times employed bythe apostle, ‘‘children of disobedience,’’ inEphesians 2:2, 5:6, Colossians 3:6, and Pe-ter’s phrase, ‘‘cursed children,’’ in 2 Peter2:14, cf ‘‘obedient children’’ of 1 Peter 1:14,are all most significant, the context of whichpassages invites the student’s most carefulexegesis to the end that the exact import ofthese appellations may be apprehended.

The characterizing disobedience to whichreference is made is federal, as is the char-acterizing obedience of Romans 5:19, thedisobedience of Adam and the obedience ofChrist. By natural birth all are subject toDivine wrath which is due to the disobedi-ence of the federal head of the race and

by which the race fell. Yet children, withrespect to their personal childlikeness and in-nocence, portray citizenship in the kingdomof heaven. Matthew 18:1-4, ‘‘At the sametime came the disciples unto Jesus, saying,Who is the greatest in the kingdom ofheaven? And Jesus called a little child untoHim, and set him in the midst of them, Andsaid, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be con-verted, and become as little children, ye shallnot enter into the kingdom of heaven. Who-soever therefore shall humble himself as thislittle child, the same is greatest in the king-dom of heaven.’’

Since federal and not personal disobedi-ence is in view, the implications of the titleare as applicable to one unregenerate personas to another and without regard to personalsubservience. So, also, it is right to con-clude that all unregenerate persons arealike in need of the provisions of DivineGRACE.

All of this substantiates the truth thatthere is a solemn reality in Christ’s words,‘‘Ye are of your father the devil,’’ and it is onthe ground of this affiliation and the unavoid-able expression of its inner qualities that hegoes on to say, ‘‘and the lusts of your father,your will is to do.’’

With unquestionable authority Christ re-lates the parentage which sin generates, notat all to Adam, who is only a link in the chain,Romans 5:12, ‘‘Wherefore, as by one mansin entered into the world, and death by sin;and so death passed upon all men, for thatall have sinned,’’ but to the originator of evil,Satan. ‘‘Children of Adam’’ is a mild designa-tion compared with ‘‘children of the devil.’’ Christ asserts the reality of the latter.

The statement that ‘‘Satan was a mur-derer from the beginning’’ seems to bethe result of Satan’s influence upon othercreatures. Whether there is any sense inwhich this charge might apply to Satan’s in-jury to other angels or not, it is easily trace-able that he seduced men into sin which sub-jected them to death.

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It is reasonable to assume, and notwithout Scripture warrant, that the onewho caused man to sin also caused thelesser angels to sin. The origin of sin is notdistributed among various individuals. It isinvariably assigned to the one who must,therefore, have degraded angels as he hasdegraded men. The satanic principle mani-fested in Cain moved Cain to slay Abel, who,in turn, manifested departure from God is im-possible.

God is either everything or nothing inthese relationships. All untruth as seen inmisguided lives partakes of and growsout of Satan’s lie in disowning the Truthwhich God is.

Satan is a ‘‘liar and the father of it.’’ Ro-mans 1:25, ‘‘WHO CHANGED THE TRUTHOF GOD INTO A LIE, AND WORSHIPPEDAND SERVED THE CREATURE MORETHAN THE CREATOR, who is blessed for-ever more.’’ Ephesians 4:25, ‘‘WHEREFOREPUTTING AWAY LYING, SPEAK EVERYMAN TRUTH with his neighbour: for we aremembers one of another.’’ 2 Thessalonians2:11, ‘‘And for this cause God shall sendthem strong delusion, THAT THEYSHOULD BELIEVE THE LIE.’’

It is not without specific meaning thatChrist goes on in this context to say thatHe Himself tells the Truth, that none mightconvince Him of sin, and that those whoare of God hear God’s Words. Similarly,since Christ came forth from God, it is im-possible that one should be of God and atthe same time reject the One whom Godhas sent into the world.

How very much is declared when Christsaid, ‘‘I am... the Truth...’’ He was not onlyGod, the Truth, manifest in the flesh, but asthe perfect man, He abode in the Truth in thesense that He did always and only thosethings which were well pleasing to His Fa-ther. In the most drastic testing which Sa-tan could impose upon Him, He did notsin by departing from the precise purposeof His Father for Him.

The Satanic lie was imported into theGarden of Eden and was there adopted bythe first parents of the race. Satan said tothem, ‘‘Be as ELOHIM,’’ in Genesis 3:5. Theuntruth did not, in this instance, consist in themere fact that they would not really be asELOHIM, though Satan said they would. Itconsisted in rejecting God and His pur-pose for them.

The philosophy represented by thesewords is diabolical in all its parts. Its hellishcharacter is not mitigated by the fact that it iswell nigh universal, or by the Truth that thosewho are under its curse are unaware thatthere is any other and better philosophy ex-tant.

The apostle records of those who em-brace the devilish philosophy, ‘‘Becausewhen they knew God, they glorified Him notas God, neither were thankful; but becamevain in their imaginations, and their foolishmind was darkened. Professing themselvesto be wise, they became fools... Whochanged the Truth of God into THE LIE, andworshipped and served the creature morethan the Creator, who is blessed for ever.Amen.’’ ‘‘And even as they did not like to re-tain God in their knowledge, God gave themover to a reprobate mind, to do those thingswhich are not convenient; Being filled withall unrighteousness, fornication, deceit, malig-nity, whispers, backbiters, haters of God, de-spiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evilthings, disobedient to parents, without under-standing, covenant-breakers, without naturalaffection, implacable, unmerciful,’’ Romans1:21-31.

The lamentable sins which follow therepudiation of God are but the innumer-able lies which are the legitimate offspringof the first lie. THE WHOLE PRESENTWORLD SYSTEM IS A PRODUCT ANDMANIFESTATION OF THE LIE. The specta-cle of a world in open rebellion against Jeho-vah and His Messiah is pictured in Psalm2:1-2 which reads, ‘‘Why do the heathen,’’ na-tions, ‘‘rage, and the people imagine a vainthing? The kings of the Earth set them-

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selves, and the rulers take counsel together,against the Lord, and against His Anointed,saying, Let us break their bands asunder,and cast away their cords from us.’’

It is evident that this Scripture is to befulfilled at the end of time, when the lie isin its fullest manifestation. The course ofevil moves on to its determined end, andslight indeed has been the adjustment of the-ology to the Scriptures when theology sogenerally anticipates a converted world be-fore the King returns. The lie is not pre-dicted to become the Truth by any proc-ess whatsoever. It develops its own evilcourse and is terminated at the zenith of itswickedness by the One into whose hands alljudgment has been committed and in the pro-gram of His Second Advent. No more deter-mining passage of the Bible may be contem-plated relative to the final manifestation of thelie than 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12, in which allthe forces of lawlessness are seen to con-centrate in the ‘‘Lawless One.’’ Assurance isadvanced also that all will be judged ofGod on the sole ground that they believe‘‘the lie.’’ The passage being central and fi-nal on this theme is quoted in full and ac-cording to an accurate translation.

Below are 11 Principles of ‘‘the lie’’ vs.‘‘the Truth’’:

1. ‘‘But we entreat you, brethren, in re-gard of the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ,and our gathering together in Him.’’

2. ‘‘In order that ye should not be lightlyshaken from your mind nor troubled, neitherby spirit, nor by word, not by epistle as fromus, to the effect that the day of the Lord ispresent.’’

3. ‘‘Let no man deceive you in any man-ner, for, that day shall not come, unless therehave come the apostasy first and there havebeen revealed the Man of Sin, the son ofperdition.’’

4. ‘‘He that withstands and EXALTSHIMSELF ABOVE EVERY ONE THAT ISCALLED GOD or an object of adoration, so

that HE SITS IN THE TEMPLE OF GOD,SHOWING HIMSELF THAT HE IS GOD.’’

5. ‘‘And now ye know that which hinders,in order that he may be revealed in his owntime.’’

6. ‘‘For MYSTERY ALREADY IS WORK-ING OF LAWLESSNESS, only until he thatnow HINDERS BE REMOVED.’’

7. ‘‘And then shall be REVEALED THELAWLESS ONE, whom the Lord Jesus willdestroy by the breath of His mouth, and anni-hilate by the appearance of His coming.’’

8. ‘‘Whose coming is according to theWORKING OF SATAN in all power and signsand wonders of FALSEHOOD.’’

9. ‘‘And in all deceit of unrighteousness,for those who are perishing, because THEYDID NOT RECEIVE THE LOVE OF THETRUTH IN ORDER TO THEIR BEINGSAVED.’’

10. ‘‘And on this account God is sendingto them THE WORKING OF ERROR, in or-der THAT THEY SHOULD BELIEVE THEFALSEHOOD.’’

11. ‘‘That all might be judged who didnot BELIEVE THE TRUTH, but found plea-sure IN INIQUITY.’’

A temptation at once arises to enter fullyinto this context. However, three forces mustbe identified in the interest of even a tenta-tive contemplation of all that is here dis-closed: 1). The force of the man of sin. 2).The force of the Restrainer. 3). The force ofthe Destroyer.

THREE FORCES: 1). The force of the man of sin.

With unequivocal language the apostlepredicts that before the day of the Lord, notthe day of Christ, as in the Authorized Ver-sion, can come the Man of Sin must appear. The title is specific and doubtless theMan of Sin is anti-Christ with respect todoctrine and practice. In fact, he appearsas the supreme satanic counterfeit ofChrist. He is Satan’s last and most mis-

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leading deception after whom the world isdestined to follow.

Revelation 13:4-8, ‘‘And they worshippedthe dragon which gave power unto the beast:and they worshipped the beast, saying, Whois like unto the beast? who is able to makewar with him? And there was given unto hima mouth speaking great things and blasphe-mies; and power was given unto him to con-tinue forty and two months. And he openedhis mouth in blasphemy against God, to blas-pheme His Name, and His tabernacle, andthem that dwell in heaven. And it was givenunto him to make war with the saints, and toovercome them: and power was given himover all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.And all that dwell upon the Earth shall wor-ship him, whose names are not written in thebook of life of the Lamb slain from the foun-dation of the world.’’

In spite of the added titles given here tothis person, ‘‘son of perdition,’’ and ‘‘lawlessone,’’ with all that they imply, the church ofRome has professed to see this person real-ized in Martin Luther and all that follow him,and not a few of the protestants return thedoubtful compliment by professing to see thisone fulfilled in the Pope, and the system herepresents. In respect to the latter belief,which has had wide favor, it may be said thatalthough much stress may be laid on the as-sumption of the Pope to be the vicar of Christand that he sits in a place of ecclesiasticalpower, he could not under any worthy inter-pretation of the text be made to correspondto the one who ‘‘withstands and exalts him-self above every one that is called God.’’ Inlike manner, if the papacy is the Man ofSin, then all has been fulfilled 15 centu-ries ago, even the destruction of this oneby the return of Christ.

Though a superman because of satanicpower, the Man of Sin nevertheless is a‘‘man’’ and his predicted appearance andappearing and career are still as yet unful-filled. Any departure from this conclusionmust involve doubts with regard to the inspi-ration of the text itself. After 1900 years, this

prophecy still stands unfulfilled. The apostlecould not change his terminology were he towrite today of this expectation.

The Man of Sin has not appeared, norhas the day of the Lord begun. The mysteryof lawlessness is yet working as it was inPaul’s day. Whatever may be conjured up toresemble anti-Christ, it must be requiredagain that the present issue pertains to aperson styled, the Man of Sin, the son of per-dition, and the lawless one.

The last designation, ‘‘the lawless one,’’relates him directly to the satanic lie, and theconsummator of all that he holds in store.Disagreement has been recorded with re-spect to the identification of the temple inwhich this lawless one is to be seated. Earlywriters contended that it is a church of somedescription. Later writers are more agreedthat it is a restored Jewish temple. It may beno more than a temporary tabernacle whichwill be serving for the Jewish worship of Je-hovah, which will be in progress at that time.

Daniel 9:27, ‘‘And he shall confirm thecovenant with many for one week: and in themidst of the week he shall cause the sacrificeand the oblation to cease, and for the over-spreading of abominations he shall make itdesolate, even until the consummation, andthat determined shall be poured upon thedesolate.’’ Revelation 13:6, ‘‘And he openedhis mouth in blasphemy against God, to blas-pheme His Name, and His tabernacle, andthem that dwell in heaven.’’ This is the Tribu-lational temple.

2). The force of the Restrainer.

Having identified the anticipated Man ofSin, the apostle precedes to assert that thesatanic consummation will not be allowedits realization until the time God has de-termined. Doubtless, Satan would hastenthis consummation, but it awaits God’s ap-pointed time. ‘‘The Restrainer be taken outof the way.’’ The anti-God philosophy isworking and none could be able or worthyto restrain evil on so vast a scale otherthan a Person in the Godhead. And since

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the Holy Spirit is the resident active power ofGod in the world during this Age, it is reason-able to conclude that He thus restrains. Of noother force could it be said that it will be at agiven time removed in order that the climaxof all evil maybe realized in the appearingand power of the man of sin.

In His resident presence as One whotabernacles in the Church, and not as merelyan omnipresent One, the Holy Spirit will beremove from the world at the time the Churchis translated to heaven. 1 Thessalonians4:13-18. What the corruption of the worldreally is will be demonstrated in those fewterrible years following the removal of re-straint, in which the lawless one prospers.

3). The force of the Destroyer.

The returning Christ destroys the lawlessone. Just as a fire, when it is approaching,merely causes the lesser insects to shrivelup, and consumes them, so shall Christ, withHis Word alone and His appearing consumethe Man of Sin. It is enough that the Lord iscome forth with anti-Christ, and all belongingto him which have perished. The coming onthe scene of the Man of Sin is said to be‘‘according to the working,’’ energizing, ‘‘ofSatan and in all power and signs and won-ders of falsehood, and in all deceit of un-righteousness for those who are perishing,’’HAVING REJECTED THE LOVE OF THETRUTH, THE OPPOSITION TO SATAN’SFALSEHOOD.

God is Himself sending a working oferror in order that they should believe‘‘the lie,’’ to the end that all may be judgedwho rejected the Truth and found pleas-

ure in that which is opposed to Truth. Ro-mans 1:18-31.

What is latent evil in these Christ rejec-tors is brought out into a place of obviousrecognition, that there may be none to ques-tion the righteousness of God and His judg-ment which comes upon them. His judg-ment is said to be due directly to the factthat they ‘‘believed the lie.’’ The originallie, which repudiates the God of all Truth,and rejects His gracious purposes. Thislie becomes the ‘‘I will’’ of the creatureagainst the will of the Creator, to whom allobedience, deference, and submission be-long.

These two possible courses of action,agreement or disagreement with God, arepresented by John. When writing on thegeneral theme of the cure of the Christian’ssins, he said in these words, ‘‘If we say thatwe have fellowship with Him, and walk indarkness, WE LIE, AND DO NOT THETRUTH,’’ 1 John 1:6.

The Truth is something to be done, andto fail to do the Truth is to perform, or commita lie by action. In its mad adjustment toSatan’s philosophy of life and purposeapart from God, the whole world is enact-ing ‘‘the lie,’’ and their judgment must bethat which falls on Satan and all who re-pudiate God. Christ said, ‘‘My Word isTruth.’’ And ‘‘the Truth shall set you free,’’from Satan, and living a lie.

As an unbeliever you live a lie, and asa believer you may or may not live a lie.It is according to whether or not you are adoer of the Word.

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SATAN SINSSATAN THE SINNER

In this universe there are ‘‘heights anddepths,’’ which might hinder the believer

in the Lord Jesus Christ. Romans 8:39, ‘‘Norheight, nor depth, nor any other creature,shall be able to separate us from the love ofGod, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.’’

In relation to wisdom and knowledgeconcerning God, there are ‘‘depths.’’ Romans11:36, ‘‘For of Him, and through Him, and toHim, are all things: to whom be glory forever. Amen.’’ 1 Corinthians 2:10, ‘‘But Godhath revealed them unto us by His Spirit: forthe Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deepthings of God.’’

In the love of God there are both ‘‘heightand depths.’’ Ephesians 3:18, ‘‘May be ableto comprehend with all saints what is thebreadth, and length, and depth, and height.’’

The term ‘‘depths’’ is most suggestiveand is used, with but one exception, to re-present the realities which are hidden in God,the exception being found in Revelation 2:24,where there is reference to ‘‘the deep thingsof Satan.’’ Satanic doctrine is in view as in 1Timothy 4:1 where ‘‘doctrines of demons’’ arementioned. ‘‘Now the Spirit speaketh ex-pressly, that in the latter times some shall de-part from the faith, giving heed to seducingspirits, and doctrines of devils.’’

Naturally, Satan’s doctrine does notrun in the way of redemption throughChrist’s death or the exalted position se-cured by believing in the resurrectedChrist. Satan’s doctrine exalts self anddirects in the way of Cain.

Cain was a works man, but the fruit wasof his own hands. Cain was the first manwho rejected the Truth and believed a lie,and became religious. Cain was a child ofSatan, and a liar like his father (Satan), andthe lusts of his father he did... murder. Satan

is a liar and a murderer and Cain killed hisbrother Abel, a keeper of the flock, becausehe, Cain, was a ‘‘tiller of the soil.’’ He killedhim with a sacrificial knife that Abel used toproclaim salvation by a blood sacrifice.

So, Satan’s doctrine exalts self and di-rects in the way of Cain, or self-promotedrighteousness. It is a way of life whollyindependent of God whatever elements ofTruth it may borrow or incorporate. Sa-tan’s original God-rejecting sin has spawnedinto the dimensions which embrace the fallenangels and the whole family of humans in itshundreds of generations. For the fallen an-gels there is no hope, but for fallen hu-manity, a Gospel of Divine GRACE, madepossible through the blood of Christ, isprovided. By the GRACE of God thesaved one is returned to right relationswith God.

Satan holds the unenviable title ofchief of all sinners. He is the original sin-ner. Paul said he was the chiefest among hu-mans because he imitated his father at thattime, Satan. Satan was the original sinner.He has wrought the most injury. He has prac-ticed sin longer than any other. He is theoldest sinner alive today. He has sinnedagainst the greatest light. Only God cancompute the extent and hideous characterof Satan’s sinfulness. Yet this very sin is ofsuch a nature that the so-called self-mademan of the world would extol it. It is thething which the unregenerate claim to betheir personal right, when they live on inthe independence of God. A partial recordof the indictments which God brings againstSatan is here appended:

1. He repudiated God in the begin-ning. Isaiah 14:12-14, ‘‘How art thou fallenfrom heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning!how art thou cut down to the ground, which

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didst weaken the nations! For thou hast saidin thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I willexalt my throne above the stars of God: I willsit also upon the mount of the congregation,in the sides of the north: I will ascend abovethe heights of the clouds; I will be like theMost High.’’

2. He drew a third part of the stars ofheaven after him. Revelation 12:4, ‘‘And histail drew the third part of the stars of heaven,and did cast them to the Earth: and thedragon stood before the woman which wasready to be delivered, for to devour her childas soon as it was born.’’

3. He sinned from the beginning. 1John 3:8, ‘‘He that committeth sin is of thedevil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning.For this purpose the Son of God was mani-fested, that He might destroy the works ofthe devil.’’

4. He is a liar from the beginning.John 8:44, ‘‘Ye are of your father the devil,and the lusts of your father ye will do. Hewas a murderer from the beginning, andabode not in the Truth, because there is noTruth in him. When he speaketh a lie, hespeaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and thefather of it.’’

5. In the Garden of Eden he belittledGod and advised the first parents to repu-diate God. Genesis 3:1-6, ‘‘Now the serpentwas more subtil than any beast of the fieldwhich the Lord God had made. And he saidunto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Yeshall not eat of every tree of the garden?And the woman said unto the serpent, Wemay eat of the fruit of the trees of the gar-den: But of the fruit of the tree which is in themidst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shallnot eat of it, neither shall ye touch it lest yedie. And the serpent said unto the woman,Ye shall not surely die: For God doth knowthat in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyesshall be opened, and ye shall be as gods,knowing good and evil. And when thewoman saw the tree was good for food, andthat it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree tobe desired to make one wise, she took of the

fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also untoher husband with her; and he did eat.’’

6. He insinuated to the Lord that Jobloved and served Him only as he washired to do so. Job 1:9, ‘‘Then Satan an-swered the Lord, and said, Doth Job fearGod for nought?’’

No greater insult could be addressedto the Lord than that He is not actually re-ally to be loved on the ground of His ownworthiness, but, being rich, He is able tohire men like Job to pretend that they loveHim. Like God has to buy his love, or has topay you to love Him.

7. When permitted to act his ownpart, Satan brought five terrible calamitieson Job. Job 1:13-2:7.

8. He stood up against Israel. 1Chronicles 21:1 ff. Psalm 109:6, ‘‘Set thou awicked man over him: and let Satan stand athis right hand.’’ Zechariah 3:1, 2, ‘‘And heshewed me Joshua the high priest standingbefore the angel of the Lord, and Satanstanding at his right hand to resist him. Andthe Lord said unto Satan, The Lord rebukethee, O Satan; even the Lord that hath cho-sen Jerusalem rebuke thee: is not this abrand plucked out of the fire?’’

9. He weakens the nations. Isaiah14:12, ‘‘How art thou fallen from heaven, OLucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cutdown to the ground, which didst weaken thenations!’’

10. He made the Earth to tremble.Isaiah 14:16, ‘‘They that see thee shall nar-rowly look upon thee, and consider thee, say-ing, Is this the man that made the Earth totremble, that did shake kingdoms?’’

11. He did shake kingdoms. Isaiah14:16.

12. He makes the world a wilderness.Isaiah 14:17, ‘‘That made the world as a wil-derness, and destroyed the cities thereof;that opened not the house of his prisoners.’’

13. He destroys the cities thereof.Isaiah 14:17.

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14. He opened not the house of hisprisoners. Isaiah 14:17.

15. He causes war on Earth with allits horrors, or when bound, war ceases,and when loosed, war is resumed. Reve-lation 20:2, 7, 8, ‘‘And he laid hold on thedragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil,and Satan, and bound him a thousandyears.’’ ‘‘And when the thousand years areexpired, Satan shall be loosed out of hisprison. And shall go out to deceive the na-tions which are in the four quarters of theEarth, Gog and Magog, to gather them to-gether to battle: the number of whom is asthe sand of the sea.’’

16. He tempted the Son of God 40days and then left Him but for a season.He proposed to Christ that He forsake Hismission, that He distrust His Father’sgoodness, and the He worship the Devil.Luke 4:1-13.

17. He bound a daughter of Abraham18 years. Luke 13:16, ‘‘And ought not thiswoman, being a daughter of Abraham, whomSatan hath bound, lo, these eighteen years,be loosed from this bond on the sabbathday?’’ cf Acts 10:38, ‘‘How God anointed Je-sus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and withpower: who went about doing good, andhealing all that were oppressed of the devil;for God was with Him.’’

18. He entered Judas and promptedhim to betray the Son of God. John 13:2,‘‘And supper being ended, the devil havingnow put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Si-mon’s son, to betray Him.’’

19. He blinds the minds of those whoare lost. 2 Corinthians 4:3, 4, ‘‘But if ourGospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost:In whom the god of this world hath blindedthe minds of them which believe not, lest thelight of the glorious Gospel of Christ, who isin the image of God, should shine untothem.’’

20. He takes away the Word out ofthe hearts of the unsaved, lest theyshould believe and be saved. Luke 8:12,

‘‘Those by the way side are they that hear;then cometh the devil, and taketh away theWord out of their hearts, lest they should be-lieve and be saved.’’

21. He deals with saints with wilesand snares. Ephesians 6:11, ‘‘Put on thewhole armour of God, that ye may be able tostand against the wiles of the devil.’’ 2 Timo-thy 2:26, ‘‘And that they may recover them-selves out of the snare of the devil, who aretaken captive by him at his will.’’

22. He has exercised and abused thepower of death. Hebrews 2:14, ‘‘Forasmuchthen as the children are partakers of fleshand blood, He also Himself likewise took partof the same; that through death He might de-stroy him that had the power of death, that is,the devil.’’ cf Revelation 1:18, ‘‘I am He thatliveth, and was dead; and, behold I am alivefor evermore. Amen; and have the keys ofhell and of death.’’

23. He, an adversary, as a roaring liongoeth about seeking whom he may de-vour. 1 Peter 5:8, ‘‘Be sober, be vigilant; be-cause your adversary the devil, as a roaringlion, walketh about, seeking whom he maydevour.’’

24. He is opposed to God, is the per-secutor of the saints, and the ‘‘father oflies.’’ Through his emissaries he de-thrones reason, tortures human beings,and moves them to superstition and idola-try.

The law of dependency is universalbecause God alone is the fountain of allbeing and of all good. Every creature,however high in the scale of existence isdependent on God. Not only for its being,but for its goodness, and therefore its good-ness or holiness can be perpetuated only byunion with Him.

Sin severs the soul from God, andsevered from Him, the soul is deprived ofHis favour, and of His strength to upholdit in virtue and goodness, and deprived ofHis favour and sustaining power, it isthrown upon itself, and becomes actuated

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by its own selfish instinct. And as self-ishness becomes intensified, there is nosin, however deep in guilt and malignity,that may not grow out of it.

Such has been the direct effect of all theapostasy of angels. The selfishness whichengendered the first sin has, during the lapseof ages, produced and developed every ma-lignant principle which now so darkly stainstheir condition. Hatred of good produceshatred of all good, of all good in itself,and of all beings that are good, and ofenvy of their happiness. From hatred andenvy springs the desire to corrupt what-ever is good, and destroy whatever ishappy. This desire seeks its end by strata-gem, deceit, and all available means withinreach.

The archfiend is called Satan, whichmeans adversary. The old serpent, be-cause of his guile, is a liar and a liar from thebeginning, ‘‘the father of lies.’’ And ‘‘when hespeaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own.’’ Heis called Appollyon, which means de-stroyer, because he delights in destroyingthe souls of men and ‘‘goeth about as aroaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.’’

Not only is he a destroyer, but a ‘‘mur-derer,’’ a murderer of both bodies andsouls. All of his arts of seduction havemurder as their ultimate object. All thesin and misery of our world for thousandsof years, and all the sin and misery of fu-ture history, and all the misery of hell, isnot only the result of his agency and in-fluence, but results in which he and hisminions find their gratification.

The power of Satan and his fallen an-gels is limited. They are but finite crea-tures who can do nothing outside the per-missive will of God. Satan could do noth-ing against Job, and this was his complaint,until Divinely permitted to do so. Satan andhis angels are in possession of greatknowledge, but they are not omniscient. They have vast power, when permitted toemploy it, but they are not omnipotent.They cover the world by their delegatedresponsibility, but they are not omnipres-ent. They can suggest evil, but cannotcoerce the will of another creature. Theymay spread snares and devices to ruin thechildren of God, but they cannot compel anyother being to comply with their designs. They have power over nature, when per-mitted to use it, but they can ‘‘create noth-ing,’’ nor can they employ God’s creationother than as He declares.

They never defeated God. In truth,God uses Satan as an instrument to chas-ten and correct the erring believer. Luke22:31, 32, ‘‘And the Lord said, Simon, Simon,behold, Satan hath desired to have you, thathe may sift you as wheat: But I have prayedfor thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thouart converted, strengthen thy brethren.’’ 1Corinthians 5:5, ‘‘To deliver such an one untoSatan fro the destruction of the flesh, that theSpirit maybe saved in the day of the Lord.’’ 1Timothy 1:20, ‘‘O whom is Hymenaeus andAlexander; whom I have delivered unto Sa-tan, that they may learn not to blaspheme.’’

The knowledge of these limitationscannot but be a comfort to those Chris-tians who take seriously their conflict withthe powers of darkness.

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COSMOS DIABOLICUS

This portion of our study is vast in itscomprehension. It is totally unrecog-

nized and unidentified. It is like UFO, butis Unidentified Fallen Objects. To the extentto which seems to have no parallel in the Bi-ble, this great body of Truth is represented inone word, which word is COSMOS.

It is found in the New Testament 187times and is translated in every instance butone by our English word ‘‘world.’’ The Englishword ‘‘world’’ is also a translation of two otherGreek terms: AION, in its various forms andhaving a time meaning 41 times, and OIK-OUMEIA, meaning the inhabited district 14times. Of these two additional words, the lat-ter has no bearing upon the present consid-eration, but the former, when referring to thepresent age, carries with it the important dis-closure that this age is ‘‘evil’’ in character.

It was the reprehensible sin of Demas, 2Timothy 4:10, ‘‘For Demas hath forsaken me,having loved this present world, and is de-parted unto Thessalonica,’’ not only that heforsook the apostle, but that he loved the agethat now is. His love was not going out to aperiod of time as such, but to the evil whichcharacterizes that time.

Galatians 1:4, ‘‘Who gave Himself for oursins, that He might deliver us from this pre-sent evil world, according to the will of Godand our Father.’’ Romans 12:2, ‘‘And be notconformed to this world: but be ye trans-formed by the renewing of your mind, that yemay prove what is that good, and acceptable,and perfect, will of God.’’ 2 Corinthians 4:4,‘‘In whom the god of this world hath blindedthe minds of them which believe not, lest thelight of the glorious Gospel of Christ, who isthe image of God, should shine unto them.’’Ephesians 2:2, ‘‘Wherein in time past yewalked according to the course of this world,according to the prince of the power of theair, the spirit that now worketh in the childrenof disobedience.’’ Ephesians 6:12, ‘‘For we

wrestle not against flesh and blood, butagainst principalities, against powers, againstthe rulers of the darkness of this world,against spiritual wickedness in high places.’’

In his second epistle, the apostle Petermentions three phases of the world, or Earth:

A. The world before the flood, or that‘‘world that then was.’’ 2 Peter 3:5, 6.

B. ‘‘The heavens and the earth, whichare now.’’ 2 Peter 3:7.

C. ‘‘The new heavens and a new Earththat are yet to come.’’ 2 Peter 3:13.

The COSMOS of the New Testamentconcerns only the world that now is. Lexi-cographers agree that COSMOS means or-der, regularity, disposition, and arrange-ment, and that, as Exodus 33:4-6 and Isaiah49:18, etc. are translated by the Septuagint,the meaning is extended to imply ornamen-tation. The idea of order and arrangementinheres in the Hebrews text of Genesis 1:1.God having created a ‘‘perfect order or COS-MOS,’’ which became a ‘‘chaos,’’ the oppositeto COSMOS.

Isaiah 45:18, ‘‘For thus saith the Lord thatcreated the heavens; God Himself thatformed the Earth and made it; He hath estab-lished it, He created it not in vain, He formedit to be inhabited: I am the Lord; and there isnone else.’’ Jeremiah 4:23, ‘‘I beheld theEarth, and, lo, it was without form, and void;and the heavens, and they had no light. ’’ In-vestigation will prove that the Septuagint,though employing COSMOS as a translationof the idea of ornamentation, and once in theNew Testament, in 1 Peter 3:3, never usesCOSMOS to translate the thought of‘‘world.’’ The translation of ‘‘world’’ byCOSMOS is peculiar to the New Testa-ment and presents a wholly new revela-tion in the progress of doctrine.

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The etymological development is fromthat which represents ‘‘order,’’ in the arrange-ment of things to the contemplation of hu-manity in its relation to those things, and, fol-lowing the fall, as separate from, and foreignto, God, being under authority which is anti-God. AN ATTENTIVE CONSIDERATION OFTHE 186 USES OF ‘‘COSMOS,’’ WHERE ITIS TRANSLATED ‘‘WORLD,’’ WILL REVEALTHAT IN EVERY INSTANCE WHEREMORAL VALUES ARE INVOLVED, THESPHERE OF SATANIC INFLUENCE ANDAUTHORITY IS INDICATED.

The New Testament conception of‘‘the world’’ is that it is opposed to God asworldliness is opposed to spirituality.Though he may have a vague notion that so-called worldliness is contrary to God, the in-attentive Bible student apparently thinks ofthe world as mentioned in the Scriptures, asmerely a place of abode, a planet whereonboth good and evil are equally at home. TheTruth that the great portion of instanceswhere COSMOS is used in the New Testa-ment invests that which the term representswith an anti-God character, cannot but be asurprise to many. They, as are all theworld, being under the delusion of Satan’sdeception, are unaware of the revelationwhich the word COSMOS conveys.

The darkness of the COSMOS is impliedwhen Christ said, ‘‘I am come a light into theCOSMOS, world,’’ John 12:46. Thus likewiseis promised of the Spirit that He would, ‘‘Re-prove the COSMOS, world,’’ John 16:8. Tothe believer it is said, ‘‘In the COSMOS,world, ye will have tribulation,’’ John 16:33.And again, ‘‘They are not of the COSMOS,world, even as I am not of the COSMOS,world,’’ John 17:14. Thus equally defined isthe Word of Christ. ‘‘The world, COSMOS,hath not known Thee,’’ the Father, John17:25. Similarly, ‘‘My kingdom is not of thisCOSMOS, world,’’ John 18:36.

Certain other short passages are mostexpressive. ‘‘Sin entered into the COSMOS,’’Romans 5:12. ‘‘That all the COSMOS maybecome guilty,’’ Romans 3:19. ‘‘The COS-

MOS by wisdom knew not God,’’ 1Corinthians 1:21. ‘‘The fornicators of thisCOSMOS,’’ 1 Corinthians 5:10. ‘‘WithoutGod in the COSMOS,’’ Ephesians 2:12.‘‘Keep himself unspotted from the COSMOS,’’2 Peter 1:4. ‘‘Escaped the pollution of theCOSMOS,’’ 2 Peter 2:20. ‘‘Be not conformedto this COSMOS, world, but be ye trans-formed by the renewing of your mind,’’ Ro-mans 12:2.

The COSMOS is a vast order or sys-tem that Satan has promoted, which con-forms to his ideals, systems, and meth-ods. It is civilization now functioningapart from God, a civilization in whichnone of its promoters really expect God toshare, who assign to God no considera-tion in respect to their projects, nor dothey ascribe any causativity to Him. THISSYSTEM EMBRACES ITS GODLESS, GOV-ERNMENTS, CONFLICTS, ARMAMENTS,JEALOUSIES, ITS EDUCATION, CULTURE,RELIGIONS OF MORALITY, AND PRIDE. Itis the sphere in which man lives. It iswhat he sees, what he employs. To theuncounted multitude it is all they everknow so long as they live on this Earth. Itis properly styled ‘‘the satanic system,’’ whichphrase is in many instances a justified inter-pretation of the so-meaningful word ‘‘COS-MOS.’’ It is literally COSMOS DIABOLICUS.

A vital revelation is presented by thewords ‘‘In this was manifested the love ofGod toward us, because God sent His onlybegotten Son into the COSMOS, that wemight live through Him,’’ 1 John 4:9. It is fur-ther revealed that this great mission on thepart of the Son is due to the Truth that ‘‘Godso loved the COSMOS, that He gave Hisonly begotten Son, that whosoever believethin Him should not perish, but have everlast-ing life,’’ John 3:16.

In this passage, as almost no other, a re-stricted use of the term COSMOS is pre-sented. Not restricted, as limited redemptiondemands, to the elect of this age, but re-stricted to humanity itself apart from its evilinstitutions, practices, and relationships. God

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loved the lost people who make up theCOSMOS and this love was great enoughto move Him to give His only begottenSon, in providing a way of salvationthrough Him so complete, that by believ-ing on the Son as Saviour, the lost of thisCOSMOS might not perish, but have ever-lasting life.

It is also true that the spiritual Christianwill experience this Divine compassion for alost COSMOS in so far as, by the Spirit, thelove of God is shed abroad in his heart.Pulling brands out of the fire, pulling brandsout of the COSMOS heading for fire.

Over this revelation concerning a worthyDivine love for the COSMOS is the instruc-tion given to Christians relative to their loveof the COSMOS. It is written, ‘‘LOVE NOTTHE COSMOS, NEITHER THE THINGSTHAT ARE IN THE COSMOS. IF ANY MANLOVE THE COSMOS, THE LOVE OF THEFATHER IS NOT IN HIM. FOR ALL THAT ISIN THE COSMOS, THE LUST OF THEFLESH, AND THE LUST OF THE EYES,AND THE PRIDE OF LIFE, IS NOT OF THEFATHER, BUT IS OF THE COSMOS,’’ 1John 2:15, 16.

A disagreement is apparent. God lovesthe COSMOS, yet if the believer loves theCOSMOS, the love of the Father is not repro-duced in him. Naturally, the solution of theproblem is found in the precise meaning ofthe word ‘‘COSMOS’’ as thus employed.While, as has been stated, God’s love isfor humanity apart from its evil institu-tions, the believer is warned not to lovethe institutions which are wholly evil inGod’s estimation and are not thereforeloved by Him. This evil COSMOS is thevery thing from which the Christian hasbeen saved. No restriction is imposed in 1John 2:15, 16. That would preclude the childof God from loving nature, or that which hasnot come under the satanic authority. ‘‘Lovenot the world, neither the things that are inthe world. If any man love the world, the loveof the Father is not in him. For all that is inthe world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of

the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of theFather, but is of the world.’’

James writes most clearly when he says,‘‘YE ADULTERERS AND ADULTERESSES,KNOW YE NOT THAT THE FRIENDSHIPOF THE COSMOS IS ENMITY WITH GOD?WHOSOEVER THEREFORE WILL BE AFRIEND OF THE COSMOS, IS THE ENEMYOF GOD,’’ James 4:4.

Satan has created nothing. The orderand system of God’s material creation areinvolved in the COSMOS only as Satanhas been permitted to assume authorityand is misdirecting it.

The COSMOS manifestations are al-most wholly those which arise from mis-guided, Satan-governed, humanity in theirblind subscription to principles of life andaction which are outworkings of the‘‘original lie.’’ Creation itself is affected bythe fall.

Romans 8:18-23, ‘‘For I reckon that thesufferings of this present time are not worthyto be compared with the glory which shall berevealed in us. For the earnest expectationof the creature waiteth for the manifestationof the sons of God. For the creature wasmade subject to vanity, not willingly, but byreason of him who hath subjected the samein hope, Because the creature itself also shallbe delivered from the bondage of corruptioninto the glorious liberty of the children ofGod. For we know that the whole creationgroaneth and travaileth in pain together untilnow. And not only they, but ourselves also,which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, evenwe ourselves groan within ourselves, waitingfor the adoption, to wit, the redemption of ourbody.’’

But it retains the character which Godgave it and is never the property of another.In this same connection, it is noteworthy thatthe present age, as referred to in Matthew13:11, is the kingdom in its ‘‘mystery’’ form.Any rule of God at any time is ‘‘kingdom’’in its character. He is now ruling only to theextent that those things which are termed

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‘‘mysteries’’ and which constitute the peculiarfeatures of His own purpose in this age arebeing realized.

It is significant that of the 187 uses ofCOSMOS in the New Testament, Christ em-ployed the term more than all others to-gether. The word occurs 68 times in John’sGospel, and 23 times in John’s first epistle.Christ used the word ‘‘COSMOS’’ 41 times inHis Upper Room Discourse, and 19 times inHis priestly prayer as recorded in John 17. IT IS AS THOUGH THE REALITY OF THEESSENTIAL CHARACTER OF THE COS-MOS IS MADE EMPHATIC IN RELATIONTO THE EXALTED POINT FROM WHICH ITIS VIEWED AND BY THE HOLY CHARAC-TER OF THE ONE, CHRIST, WHO VIEWSIT.

CHRIST’S VIEW OF COSMOSDIABOLICUS

If you can see the Upper Room Dis-course corresponding to the Holy Place inthe temple, and the priestly prayer to theHoly of Holies, it is not only noticeable thatthe Holy One is conscious of the real mean-ing of the word ‘‘COSMOS,’’ but as the reve-lation of Truth is intensified, the disclosuresconcerning the opposition, the opposing sa-tanic system, are multiplied. To Christianswho are taught of God and who, to some ex-tent, have the mind of Christ, the ‘‘COSMOSDIABOLICUS’’ should appear in its essen-tial, evil character to be the outworking ofthat lie which moves in independence ofGod and is opposed to the purposes andplan of God. The whole Truth regarding thenature and extent of this satanic COSMOS,or system, is found in the Scriptures whereinthis system is mentioned.

THIS REVELATION IS SUBJECT TOCERTAIN DIVISIONS.

1. Satan’s authority over the COS-MOS.

Startling and almost incredible state-ments are made in the New Testament

relative to Satan’s rights, and control overthe COSMOS. Satan has his civil rights???This disclosure is foreign to the popular mind.Even the believer who is amenable to theScriptures finds himself confronted with state-ments which seem impossible, were they notwritten down by the hand of God. It may beassumed that Satan will do all in his powerto avoid a worthy understanding of thesestupendous truths on the part of any hu-man being.

Certain major passages should be exam-ined with due attention. Luke 4:5-7. Thispassage, taken from the record of the three-fold temptation of Christ by Satan, reads likethis: ‘‘And the devil, taking Him up into anhigh mountain, shewed unto Him all the king-doms of the world in a moment of time. Andthe devil said unto Him, All this power will Igive Thee, and the glory of them: for that isdelivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will Igive it. If Thou therefore wilt worship me, allshall be Thine,’’ DIABOLOS said, the ac-cuser, slanderer.

The method Satan employed in bringingthe panorama of the earthly kingdoms in amoment of time before Christ is most arrest-ing. At once the entire procedure advancesbeyond the realms of humanity’s experiencesand resources, and functions in anothersphere. Seeing all the kingdoms of the worldfrom one mountain and in a moment of timeconnotes things supernatural. There is roomfor thought, also, in the assertion that Satantook the Lord anywhere and for any reason.

THERE ARE FORCES AT WORK HEREWHICH THE MIND OF MAN CANNOTCOMPREHEND. Yet the amazing feature ofthis revelation is the declaration by Satan,which declaration Christ did not brand as anuntruth, that the kingdoms of this COS-MOS, cf Matthew 4:8, for the specific useof COSMOS, are delivered unto Satan andto whomsoever he wills he gives them.They are his to give. ‘‘Again, the deviltaketh Him up into an exceeding high moun-tain, and sheweth Him all the kingdoms ofthe world, and the glory of them.’’ It is pre-

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dicted that at some future time the world-rulewill be conferred by Satan on the ‘‘Man ofSin,’’ which fact tends, to strengthen Satan’sclaim to the disposition of these kingdoms.

It has been common for many to claimwhen dealing with this Scripture to say thatSatan presented to Christ no more than theterritory of Palestine, but at that time Pales-tine was a very minor portion of the govern-ment of Rome, and could not itself answer tothe kingdoms of this world. Likewise, it hasbeen assumed that this offer on Satan’s partis but one of Satan’s falsehoods, but had itbeen an untruth, there would have beenno temptation in the offer to Christ, theOne from whom no deception could everbe hidden. Nor, had it been an untruth,would the answer of the Son of God beenconfined to Satan’s shocking request thatworship be given by the Son of God to acreature of His own hand. The Creatorbowing down to the creature.

It should not be forgotten in this connec-tion that all authorities and powers in spiritrealms were created by the very One towhom Satan was speaking. Colossians 1:16,‘‘For by Him were all things created, that arein heaven, and that are in Earth, visible andinvisible, whether they be thrones, or domin-ions, or principalities, or powers: all thingswere created by Him, and for Him.’’

Whether it be consonant with humanreason or not, the plain word of inspiredTruth lends full support to the idea thatearthly governments are in the hands ofSatan. History records many instanceswhere it is not difficult to believe that Satanwas guiding the action and the destiny of cer-tain governments. It is more of a problemhow to accept this satanic claim in connec-tion with governments which are commend-able in the eyes of men, but Satan’s meth-ods are not one of eliminating all that isgood. It is evidently true that all humangovernments, however they appear tomen, are run in independence of God. In-dependence Day, independent of God.

Satan’s assertion in this passage is two-fold: A. The dominion of the whole COS-MOS is delivered unto him, which must meanthat Divine permission is given to this end,and, B. Satan gives the kingdoms to whom-soever he wills.

Doubtless, this last assertion is true fromSatan’s own point of view, but it is as certain,also, that every such bestowment is withinthe sovereign purpose of God. It still re-mains true, ‘‘There is no power but of God,the powers that be are ordained of God,’’ Ro-mans 13:1. As elsewhere, God is seen tobe sovereign over all, and yet the creatureis permitted to go on in willful and evilways and to become guilty thereby.

The next passages are John 12:31,14:30, and 16:11. The revelation that Satanis an authority over the COSMOS does notrest alone upon his own claim. Christ re-ferred to Satan as the ‘‘prince of the COS-MOS.’’ The record reads, ‘‘Now this is thejudgment of this COSMOS, NOW SHALLTHE PRINCE OF THIS COSMOS BE CASTOUT,’’ John 12:31. ‘‘Hereafter I will not talkmuch with you, FOR THE PRINCE OF THISCOSMOS COMETH, and hath nothing inMe,’’ John 14:30. ‘‘Of judgment, because thePRINCE OF THIS COSMOS IS JUDGED,’’John 16:11.

Again, by the authority which belongs toall Scripture, the apostle writes of Satan, ‘‘Asthe prince of the power of the air,’’ Ephesians2:2. And, ‘‘as the god of this age,’’ literally, 2Corinthians 4:4. To the same end, the apos-tle, when writing of the Corinthian conflictagainst evil powers, Ephesians 6:12, statesthat this warfare is against, not ‘‘as the rulersof the darkness of this world,’’ as in theAuthorized Version, which statement wouldconfine them only to such darkness as exists,but literally, ‘‘age-rulers of darkness,’’ imply-ing that this age is all darkness in itselfand has over it specific evil rulers .

Thus faithfully the inspired Word ofGod directs all its testimony to the oneTruth that the COSMOS is ruled by evilpowers. Bearing the same message, the as-

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cended Lord spoke to the church inPergamos. ‘‘I know thy works, and wherethou dwellest, even where Satan’s seat,’’ liter-ally throne, ‘‘is,’’ Revelation 2:13. While theextent of Satan’s authority is not defined inthis passage, it does state that Satan occu-pies an earthly throne.

Lastly, when magnifying the Supreme,superior power of the Holy Spirit who ind-wells every believer, as in contrast to Satan’spower, the apostle John declares, ‘‘Ye are ofGod, little children, and have overcome them,because greater is He that is in you, than hethat is in the COSMOS,’’ 1 John 4:4. Thespecific phrase ‘‘in the COSMOS’’ identifiesthe sphere of the exercise of Satan’s power.Much added light as to the relationship be-tween Satan and the COSMOS is alsogained from the following passage:

1 John 5:19, ‘‘And we know that we areof God, and the whole COSMOS lieth inwickedness.’’ The word here mentioned‘‘world,’’ is COSMOS, the entire COSMOS.The two members of this sentence compre-hend the whole human family. ‘‘We are ofGod,’’ is a recognition of the Truth that Chris-tians are in the COSMOS, but not a part ofthat which pertains to it. The point in view,however, is discovered in the second avert-ment, namely, ‘‘THE WHOLE COSMOS.’’‘‘THE WHOLE COSMOS LIETH IN THEWICKED ONE.’’ The translation, PONEROS,for ‘‘wickedness,’’ as in the Authorized Ver-sion, is unsatisfactory. The translation of thisword is used in 1 John 2:13, 14, 5:18, anddemands the same in 5:19. The same cor-rection is demanded in John 17:15. Theidentity is clear, being none other than DI-ABOLOS, to whom direct reference is madein 1 John 3:8, 10.

That the ‘‘ENTIRE COSMOS LIETH INTHE WICKED ONE’’ is both located in andunder the power of the Evil One, the PON-EROS One. The ‘‘Wicked One’’ is, as itwere, the inclusive abiding place and repre-sentative of all his, as, in the expression ‘‘inthe Lord,’’ in Christ, in Christ Jesus. We arein the True One. We are in Christ. The un-

believer is in the Wicked One. God is ourFather in Christ. And Satan is their fatherin religion. He is their god and their fa-ther. The whole COSMOS lieth in theWicked One, remains where it was, and inthe power of, the Wicked One.

Now, had not Christ become a propi-tiation for the sins of the whole COSMOS,were He not the Saviour of the wholeworld, none could ever come out of theCOSMOS and believe on Him. But, as it is,they do not believe on Him, come out and beseparated from the COSMOS, so that ourpropitiation here remains strictly true. TheCOSMOS is the negation of faith in Christ,and as such lies in the Wicked One, Hisadversary.

This Wicked One holds the entireworld, so far as the new life has not trans-formed it, in his power. It is not said here,that the world is of the Wicked One. Themen of the world are in ‘‘him that isfalse,’’ but the ‘‘in’’ is not used in its baresimplicity, but ‘‘lieth in’’ is a phrase nowhereelse occurring, and to be interpreted accord-ing to the tenor of the epistle. The ‘‘wholeworld’’ is not, however, the men of theworld only, but its entire constitution, itsentire economy, its lusts and principlesand motives, and course and end. All thisis ‘‘not of God,’’ but lies in the power andbondage of this Wicked One. Thus the apos-tle adds as an old truth, never so fearfullyexpressed as here. The conclusion in thispassage, as in all others bearing on the rela-tionship indicated, is that the whole COS-MOS, from which some have been saved,is located in, and under the power of DI-ABOLOS.

Next we look at Isaiah 14:1, 2, 16, 17and Job 1:13-19, 2:7. Turning to the six-foldindictment against Satan recorded in Isaiahand the five-fold record chronicled in Job,concerning Satan’s influence upon, and as-cendancy over, mundane things, it will beseen that the Divinely permitted exerciseof his power results in accomplishmentstoo vast for the human mind to grasp.

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These 11 stupendous achievements of Satanare to be considered apart from those moreremote manifestations of Satan’s power re-corded in Revelation 12:4, 15, and of the ex-ercise of his power through the Man of Sin in2 Thessalonians 2:9, 10. And through thetwo beasts or Revelation 13:1-17.

It is written in Isaiah 14 that Satan, underthe title of ‘‘Lucifer,’’ son of the morning, andwith reference to a yet future time, his mightydeeds will have been accomplished.

1. DID WEAKEN THE NATIONS. Inthe Word of God, the nations as such, areseen to be opposed to God. Psalm 2:1-3,and especially as in contradistinction to theone elect nation, Israel. These nations formthe essential factor in the COSMOS. Whatthey might have been, had they not em-braced the satanic ideals, none can estimatebut God alone. Whatever their brute strengthmay be as self-measured, they are beforeGod ‘‘as a drop in a bucket, and are countedas the small dust of the balance,’’ to beblown away. ‘‘ALL NATIONS BEFORE HIMARE AS NOTHING, AND THEY ARECOUNTED TO HIM AS LESS THAN NOTH-ING, AND VANITY,’’ Isaiah 40:15,17, i.e., theUnited Nations.

Thus also it is written in Isaiah 14:16, 17,

2. That Satan, at the end of his evilcareer, will have made ‘‘the Earth to trem-ble.’’

3. He will have shaken kingdoms.

4. He will have made the world a wil-derness.

5. He will have destroyed the citiesthereof.

6. He will have hindered the benefitsof humanity to the extent that he has ‘‘notopened the house of his prisoners.’’

Imagination fails to follow these undertak-ings and can add nothing to what is here setforth. The sum total of all the evil Satanwill have wrought is beyond estimation.With the same disclosure in view, it is writtenthat, when having secured the permission ofthe Lord concerning Job, Satan displayed afive-fold power over creation in the exer-cise of his evil purposes.

7. He caused the raiding Sabeans todestroy Job’s oxen and asses. And to killJob’s servants with the sword.

8. He caused fire to descend fromheaven and to burn up the sheep and theservants who tended them.

9. He caused the Chaldeans to robJob of his camels and to kill the servants.

10. He caused the death of Job’s chil-dren by a wind from the wilderness whichcrushed the house in which they were as-sembled.

11. And he smote Job with the mostgrievous bodily suffering he could im-pose. To this he doubtless would haveadded death for Job, had not the Lord re-strained him. That he was told by the Lordnot to destroy Job, is evidence that he bothcould have done so, and would have done sohad this restraint been lifted. At this point,the entire field of revelation with respect toSatan’s power over physical welfare of hu-man beings is naturally introduced, whichtheme cannot be pursued here entirely.

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COSMOS DIABOLICUS IS EVIL

This is a hard saying, though it is true, itcalls for elucidation. SATAN DOES IN-

CORPORATE INTO HIS VAST SYSTEMCERTAIN THINGS WHICH ARE GOOD INTHEMSELVES. Many humanitarian ideals,morals, and aspects of culture are consonantwith spiritual realities, though resident in theCOSMOS.

The root evil in the COSMOS is that init there is an all comprehensive order orsystem which is methodized on a basis ofcomplete independence of God. It is amanifestation of all that Satan can pro-duce as a complete exhibition of thatwhich enters into the original lie. It is theconsummating display of that which the crea-ture, both angelic and human, can produce,having embarked on an autonomous career.

THE COSMOS IS NOT A BATTLE-GROUND WHEREON GOD IS CONTEND-ING WITH SATAN FOR SUPREMACY. ITIS A THING WHICH GOD HAS PERMITTEDAND THAT THE LIE MAY HAVE ITS FULL-EST UNVEILING. It is reasonable to sup-pose that the COSMOS represents the su-preme effort of the supreme creature, andthat as it began with the repudiation of God,it has maintained its intended segregationfrom the will and purpose and plan of God.

THAT THINGS GOOD IN THEMSELVESARE INCLUDED IN THIS GREAT SYSTEMIS DOUBTLESS THE OCCASION FORMANY DECEPTIONS. The fundamentaltruth is that ‘‘Whatsoever is not of faith is sin,’’Romans 14:23, cf Hebrews 11:6, ‘‘But withoutfaith it is impossible to please Him: for hethat cometh to God must believe that He is,and that He is a rewarder of them that dili-gently seek Him.’’

‘‘Without faith it is impossible toplease God,’’ is not believed or recog-nized in the COSMOS. ‘‘The lie’’ must runits course that it may be judged, not as amere hypothesis or incipient venture, but,

in the complete and final exhibition of itsanti-God character.

It began with the repudiation of God byan angel and man and maintains that distinc-tive trait until anti-Christ appears and is de-stroyed. THE HUMANITARIAN ENTER-PRISES, THE CULTURE, THE LAWS, ANDRELIGIOUS FORMS OF THE COSMOSCONSTITUTE NO EVIDENCE THAT GODIS RECOGNIZED IN HIS TRUE POSITIONAND/ OR HONORED. This is a Christ re-jecting COSMOS. Its princes ‘‘crucified theLord of glory,’’ 1 Corinthians 2:8, and apartfrom the restraining power of God, theywould crucify Him again and destroy Hiswitnesses. They evince no penitence fortheir climactic racial crime. The Saviour, assuch, is still disowned and rejected.

Social ideals are borrowed from Histeachings. His purity and His GRACE areheld up as a pattern of life, but salvationthrough His blood is spurned. The inde-pendent, self-centered, self-satisfied,autono-mous, COSMOS asks for no re-demption since it recognizes no need. Itis the embodiment of the philosophy of whichgain is the archetype.

What God sees on the human side of theCOSMOS is described in Romans 3:9-18.Here the Divine charge against fallen man isinfinitely accurate and decisive. ‘‘As it is writ-ten, there is none righteous, no, not one:There is none that understandeth, there isnone that seeketh after God.’’ ‘‘They are allgone out of the way, they are altogether be-come unprofitable; there is none that doethgood, no, not one,’’ Romans 3:10-12.

Certainly God is not deceived as toSatan’s purposes. Did He not uncoverthose secrets at the beginning? Isaiah14:13, ‘‘For thou hast said in thine heart, Iwill ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throneabove the stars of God: I will sit also uponthe mount of the congregation, in the sides of

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the north.’’ Ezekiel 28:15, ‘‘Thou wast perfectin all thy ways from the day that thou wastcreated, till iniquity was found in thee.’’

A COSMOS which crucifies its Re-deemer and Creator hates those who areredeemed as it hates the Saviour. John15:18, 19, ‘‘If the world hate you, ye knowthat it hated Me before it hated you. If yewere of the world, the world would love hisown: but because ye are not of the world, butI have chosen you out of the world, thereforethe world hateth you.’’ An example would beCain. The COSMOS which loves darknessrather than light, will hardly delude or outwitthe Almighty. It is to be judged and de-stroyed completely. No attempt will bemade to salvage anything out of it whenits day of demolition arrives.

The following passages are sufficient tes-timony to the evil character of the COSMOS:‘‘Whereby are given unto us exceeding greatand precious promises: that by these yemight be partakers of the Divine nature, hav-ing escaped the corruption that is in theCOSMOS,’’ 2 Peter 1:4. ‘‘For if after theyhave escaped the pollutions of the COS-MOS, through the knowledge of the Lord andSaviour Jesus Christ, they are again entan-gled therein, and overcome, the latter end isworse with them than the beginning,’’ 2 Peter2:20. ‘‘Pure religion and undefiled before

God and the Father is this, To visit the fa-therless and widows in their affliction, and tokeep himself unspotted from the COSMOS,’’

James 1:27. ‘‘Ye adulterers and adulter-esses, know ye not that the friendship of theCOSMOS is enmity with God? Whosoevertherefore will be a friend of the COSMOS isthe enemy of God,’’ James 4:4. ‘‘For whatso-ever is born of God overcometh the COS-MOS,’’ 1 John 5:4. ‘‘Hereafter I will not talkmuch with you: for the prince of this COS-MOS cometh, and hath nothing in Me,’’ John14:30. ‘‘And every spirit that confesseth notthat Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is notof God: and this is that spirit of anti-Christ,whereof ye have heard that it should come;and even now already is it in the COSMOS,’’1 John 4:3.

In like manner, the believer is said to bedelivered from the present evil age, Galatians1:4, ‘‘Who gave Himself for our sins, that Hemight deliver us from this present evil world,according to the will of God and our Father.’’And ‘‘delivered’’ from the power of darkness,Colossians 1:13, ‘‘Who hath delivered usfrom the power of darkness, and hath trans-lated us into the kingdom of His dear Son.’’And is not to be conformed to in this age,Romans 12:2, ‘‘And be not conformed to thisCOSMOS: but be ye transformed by the re-newing of your mind.’’

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SATAN’S UNDERTAKING IS COSMOSDIABOLICUS

He who began with the purpose ‘‘to belike the Most High’’ has never aban-

doned that ideal. That in some respects Sa-tan attempts the works of God becomes butone more feature of his great deception. Theworks of the satanic order are clearly outlinedin several descriptive passages, which alsopresent that which is highest in ideal anddeepest in motive in the Satan-energizedmass of humanity.

One passage only graciously containsthe entire revelation. ‘‘For all that is in theCOSMOS, the lust of the flesh, and the lustof the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of theFather, but is of the COSMOS,’’ 1 John 2:16.

The satisfactions of these same cravingswas the temptation placed before Eve in theGarden. ‘‘AND WHEN THE WOMAN SAWTHAT THE TREE WAS GOOD FOR FOOD,and that it WAS PLEASANT TO THE EYES,

and A TREE TO BE DESIRED TO MAKEONE WISE, she took of the fruit thereof, anddid eat, and gave also unto her husband withher, and he did eat,’’ Genesis 3:6.

Now, all ‘‘wars and fightings,’’ James4:1, among men are only a natural resultof the evil qualities of this great federa-tion.

Jesus Christ said to Pontius Pilate, ‘‘Mykingdom is not of this COSMOS: if My king-dom were of this COSMOS, then would Myservants fight, that I should not be deliveredto the Jews: but now is My kingdom not fromhere,’’ John 18:36. It is a noticeable fact,that the governments of the world dependupon physical power and a display of ar-mament to maintain their position andauthority, and the superior law of love isnot adapted to, or understood by, the ele-ments that make up the COSMOS.

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THE THINGS OF THE COSMOS

All earthly property is of the satanicorder, which property the believer

may use, but must not abuse. ‘‘But whoso-ever hath this world’s good, COSMOS, andseeth his brother have need, and shutteth uphis bowels of compassion from him, howdwelleth the love of God in him?’’ 1 John3:17. ‘‘And the cares of this world, age, liter-ally, and the deceitfulness of riches, and thelusts of other things entering in, choke theWord, and it becometh unfruitful,’’ Mark 4:19.‘‘But this I say, brethren, the time is short: itremaineth, that both they that have wives beas though they had none; And they thatweep, as though they wept not; and they thatrejoice, as though they rejoiced not; and theythat buy, as though they possessed not; And

they that use this COSMOS, as not abusingit,’’ 1 Corinthians 7:29-31.

James writes, ‘‘Hearken, my belovedbrethren, hath not God chosen the poor ofthis world (COSMOS) rich in faith, and heirsof the kingdom which He hath promised tothem that love Him?’’ James 2:5.

Here a needed change in translation re-veals much. James did not say, ‘‘The poor ofthis COSMOS,’’ but rather, ‘‘The poor as re-gards the COSMOS,’’ all and whatever con-stitutes the COSMOS, or that which it has tooffer. Now, this poverty is most honorableand should be the estate of every believerin the Lord Jesus Christ.

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THOUGH DETAINED HERE, WE ARE NOTOF THE COSMOS

Twice in His priestly prayer, Christ as-serts of His redeemed ones, ‘‘They are

not of the COSMOS, even as I am not of theCOSMOS,’’ John 17:14, 16. Thus He de-clares again, ‘‘If the COSMOS hate you, yeknow that it hated Me before it hated you. Ifye were of the COSMOS, the COSMOSwould love his own, but because ye are notof the COSMOS, but I have chosen you outof the COSMOS, therefore the COSMOShateth you,’’ John 15:18, 19.

Now Christians are sent into the COS-MOS, John 17:18, as those who have norelation to it other than to be His witnessto it. ‘‘As Thou hast sent Me into the COS-MOS, even so have I also sent them into theCOSMOS.’’ We are ambassadors, 2 Corin-thians 5:20, ‘‘Now then we are ambassadorsfor Christ, as though God did beseech you byus: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye rec-onciled to God.’’ We are strangers and pil-grims, 1 Peter 2:11, ‘‘Dearly beloved, I be-seech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstainfrom fleshly lusts, which war against thesoul.’’ And we are citizens of heaven,Philippians 3:20, ‘‘For our citizenship is inheaven; from whence also we look for theSaviour, the Lord Jesus Christ.’’ These de-scriptions of believers are all with respect tothe COSMOS system. Thus it is that Godsees the Christian in relation to the COS-MOS.

Though Job belonged to a remote age,his experience presents a vivid illustrationof the Lord’s care over His own in respectto the attacks of Satan. In this narrative,Job is represented not as one who needs tobe punished for evil. That conception consti-tuted the error of Job’s three friends, whicherror the Lord so severely condemned at theend of Job’s trial. But as one who three

times is declared to be, by the Lord, perfectand upright. Job 1:1, ‘‘There was a man inthe land of Uz, whose name was Job; andthat man was perfect and upright, and onethat feared God, and eschewed evil.’’ Job1:8, ‘‘And the Lord said unto Satan, Hast thouconsidered My servant Job, that there isnone like him in the Earth, a perfect and anupright man, one that feareth God, and es-cheweth evil?’’ Job 2:3, ‘‘And the Lord saidunto Satan, Hast thou considered My servantJob, that there is none like him in the Earth,a perfect and an upright man, one thatfeareth God, and escheweth evil? and still heholdeth fast his integrity, although thoumovedst Me against him, to destroy him with-out cause?’’

Satan’s complaint regarding Job is two-fold: A. Job is so completely protected thatSatan cannot reach him. B. Job does not re-ally love the Lord, a salary is paid Job by theLord. Satan asserts that the Lord hashired Job to pretend that he loves theLord. Putting this challenge to an experi-mental test, the Lord releases Job to thepower of Satan. Until that time, as pointedout by Satan, Job is safe in the Lord’s hands.The transfer from the Lord’s hand to Satan’shand is not without drastic limitations, whichhe can in no wise overstep.

To Job was given the privilege andhonor of proving that the Lord is worthyof all adoration, apart from His benefits.The lie of Satan was completely exposed,to the glory of the Lord, and the latter endof Job was greater than the beginning.He had twice as much at the end thanwhat he started with.

How many times has it been said, ‘‘Youare only in the ministry for the money?’’

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THE IMPOTENCY OF THE COSMOS

The impotency and limitations of theworld-order are most evident. Its leader,

though mighty, is inferior to Jesus Christ.‘‘Ye are of God, little children, and have over-come, because greater is He that is in you,than he that is in the COSMOS,’’ 1 John 4:4.

Its knowledge and understanding are lim-ited. ‘‘Behold what manner of love the Fatherhath bestowed upon us, that should be calledthe children of God, and such we are. Forthis cause the COSMOS knoweth us not, be-cause it knew Him not,’’ 1 John 3:1. ‘‘Nowthe natural man receiveth not the things ofthe Spirit of God: for they are foolishnessunto him: and he cannot know them, be-cause they are spiritually judged. But he thatis spiritual judgeth all things, and he himselfis judged of no man,’’ 1 Corinthians 2:14, 15.‘‘There is none that understandeth, there isnone that seeketh after God,’’ Romans 3:11.‘‘And if our Gospel is veiled, it is veiled inthem that perish: In whom the god of thisworld, literally ’’age," hath blinded the mindsof the unbelieving, that the light of the Gospelof the glory of Christ, who is the image ofGod, should not dawn upon them," 2 Corin-thians 4:3, 4. ‘‘They are of the world, COS-MOS, therefore speak they as of the COS-MOS, and the COSMOS heareth them,’’ 1John 4:5.

THE END OF THE COSMOSThis specific subject pertains to eschatol-

ogy and will come in the future. The fact thatthe COSMOS comes to a complete termina-tion and destruction is the testimony of bothTestaments.

Psalm 2. In the prediction which thePsalm presents, the nations are seen in theirlast and diabolical rejection of the Lord, theMessiah, cf Revelation 16:13, 14, ‘‘And I sawthree unclean spirits like frogs come out of

the mouth of the dragon, and out of themouth of the beast, and out of the mouth ofthe false prophet. For they are the spirits ofdevils, working miracles, which go forth untokings of the Earth and of the whole world, togather them to battle of that great day of GodAlmighty.’’

Yet, in spite of their combined resistance,the Lord places His King upon David’s thronein Jerusalem, for such is the ‘‘Holy Hill ofZion.’’ The Son takes the government fromthe Father’s hand and dashes the nationsin pieces like a potters vessel and with arod of iron. Kings and rulers are admon-ished to secure right relations with Christbefore His awful judgments begin.

Daniel, Chapters 2 and 7. In theseprophecies concerning the course and end ofthe Gentile nations, God reveals the truththat they will be crushed and blown awayas ‘‘the chaff of the summer threshingfloors,’’and the King of Kings will then reign over allthe Earth.

Matthew 25:31-46. The nations, whollyunable to resist the sovereign power ofthe King are seen to assemble before Him,at which time He determines their destiny,one part to enter His earthly kingdom and theother consigned to the lake of fire preparedfor the devil and his angels.

2 Thessalonians 1:7-10. The distinctivemessage of this passage is the utter de-struction of all that enters into the COS-MOS.

Revelation Chapters 14-22. The rightunderstanding of this extensive Scripture isimperative. Nothing here recorded couldhave been fulfilled in past history. The de-scription enters more into detail as it setsforth, not a new theme, but that previouslyintroduced in the Word of God. False relig-ious pretense and apostasy from theTruth of God along with the COSMOS it-

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self must come into final judgment, beforethe King takes His throne to reign in right-eousness over the whole Earth.

Revelation 18:24 alone serves to identifythis final destruction as the judgment of Godon the whole COSMOS and all it has everwrought. Most assuredly, then, that whichGod now tolerates for wise purposes isdoomed to complete destruction. This isdirectly asserted. ‘‘For the fashion of thisCOSMOS is passing away,’’ 1 Corinthians7:31. ‘‘And the COSMOS passeth away, andthe lust thereof, but he that doeth the will ofGod abideth forever,’’ 1 John 2:17. ‘‘But theday of the Lord will come as a thief in thenight, in the which the heavens shall pass

away with a great noise, and the elementsshall melt with fervent heat, the Earth alsoand the works that are therein shall beburned up,’’ 2 Peter 3:10.

‘‘And the devil that deceiveth them wascast 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.’’ ‘‘And I saw a great whitethrone, and Him that sat on it, from whoseface the Earth and the heaven fled away,and there was found no place for them,’’Revelation 20:10, 11.

Good bye sweet prince...

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SATAN’S MOTIVESWHAT IS INSANTIY? ---- RELIGION

RELIGION IS ANGELIC INSANITY!!

What ever may have been the motivewhich has actuated Satan from the be-

ginning of his career, there is a more funda-mental problem which lies back of all the evilin the universe. It is the motive that hasactuated God in permitting evil to be pre-sent at all. That He could have hindered itneeds no defense, being, as He is, the Abso-lute One, Creator and Promoter of all that theuniverse comprises.

Various suggestions have been ad-vanced as solutions to this problem. Doubt-less there is truth in all of them, and when allare assembled and accepted, it is even moreprobable that the aggregation is no morethan a fraction of all that actuates God. Oneof the obvious motives of God which hasbeen advanced has immediate application tothe subject in hand, namely, that, as seen inthe various dispensations and in instances ofpersonal relation to God, He evidently, andas a general rule of procedure, puts thepropositions which the creature proposesto an experimental test.

This the Lord did in the case of Satan’sassertion that Job, under sufficient stress,would repudiate the Lord. This claim couldhave been denied, for the Lord knew it to beuntrue of Job. However, Satan was givenauthority to put the untruth to an experi-mental test. This method cost much in-deed, but none will doubt that the victorygained was abundantly worth the pricethat was paid. It is possible that Job servesas a type or representation of the larger is-sues now being brought to consummation inthe entire COSMOS. This subject is exten-

sive and offers much light to the one who willfollow it through the entire Bible.

Granting the truthfulness of the claim thatGod does put the creatures’ assumptions toan experimental test, it becomes clear thatSatan’s determination, which constitutedhis initial sin, to build a vast structure ofindependent relationships around himselfas the center and wholly autonomous withrespect to the Creator, to whom all alle-giance and obedience rightfully belong,was permitted of God to be tested experi-mentally to its bitter end. As for the wis-dom of such a stupendous procedure on thepart of God, no creature could ever beplaced in a position where he could possessa sufficient number of related facts, or attainto a perspective, on the basis of which hecould sit in judgment.

The observable actualities point in butone direction. Satan did propose such acourse, God could have hindered him, but Herather allowed Satan to take the course hedesired to follow, and to allow that courseto become, in the end, the ground of itsown universal condemnation. When Satanand his theory come up for final judgmentand execution, ‘‘Every mouth will be stopped’’and all will be guilty, not a one in the light ofGod’s ideals, but as those who are abso-lutely guilty in the light of the colossalfailure of the whole enterprise.

The lie will be conceded to be a lie. Howcould willful, deluded, free moral agents bebrought to such a recognition apart from ademonstration which left no room for asmuch as one voice to be heard which mightclaim that the lie would have been proved to

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be the truth and had it been allowed to dem-onstrate its own philosophy? Even strongdelusion must be imposed upon men, it issaid, to the end that they will carry the lieto its final consummation. 2 Thessaloni-ans 2:9-12, ‘‘Even him, whose coming is afterthe working of Satan with all power and signsand lying wonders, And with all deceivable-ness of unrighteousness in them that perish;because they received not the love of theTruth, that they should believe a lie: Thatthey all might be damned who believed notthe Truth, but had pleasure in unrighteous-ness.’’

Not only will every mouth be stopped,but the whole COSMOS will become guiltybefore God. Romans 3:19, ‘‘Now we knowthat what things soever the law saith, it saithto them who are under the law: that everymouth may be stopped, and all the COSMOSmay become guilty before God.’’ A guiltyCOSMOS, proved to be such to the extentthat every mouth is stopped, even that of Sa-tan himself, is a stupendous achievement.What such a conclusion may contribute tothe felicity of the universe in eternity to come,none would attempt to declare.

The lie incorporates all forms of fallencreatures and their rebellion against God,and the complete disillusionment of allfallen creatures and their judgment cannotbut be an achievement which will contrib-ute much to the peace and blessedness ofthe future ages.

Of Christ it is said, ‘‘He must reign, till Hehath put all enemies under His feet.’’ Evendeath, the penalty of the first human sin, willbe destroyed, and to the end that God ‘‘maybe all in all,’’ 1 Corinthians 15:24-28. In oneinstance, at least, the end will justify themeans, and no creature of time may wiselyoffer a judgment on the ‘‘means’’ when he is,of necessity, wholly incapable of compre-hending the ‘‘end.’’

The presence of sin and suffering in theworld too often looks upon as though herewere strange intrusions into God’s perfect or-der, and God is often challenged for these

intrusions. It is a depressing and revoltingbelief that the destiny of the universe is atthe mercy of a Being who, with the re-sources of omnipotence at His disposal,decides to make the universe no betterthan this.

Over and over again this is the revela-tion, that all that is in the COSMOS is ofsatanic origin, and that God intrudes onlyas Restrainer until the day of His judg-ment arrives, to take out of the COSMOSDIABOLICUS those whom His sovereignGRACE redeems. THE PRESENCE OFSIN AND SUFFERING IS NOT GOD’S FAIL-URE. They are the inevitable default andbankruptcy of the lie. Though its ramifica-tions seem to reach out to infinity, there isbut one lie. God either rules over His uni-verse, or He does not. The lie declares thatHe does not. The TRUTH declares that Hedoes. Such a prodigious issue could not betreated with indifference. Its judgments aresure.

In tracing through this one reason for thepresence of sin and suffering in the COS-MOS, it is recognized that other reasons ex-ist, which present even greater evidentialvalue with respect to the righteousness ofGod in permitting sin to intrude. These aredue to be attended under hamartiology.

Both the motive and the method ofSatan is reflected precisely in the attitudeand action of the Man of Sin, whom Satanwill inspire, and through whom Satan ex-presses His own designs. In 2 Thessaloni-ans 2:4 it is stated of the Man of Sin that he‘‘opposeth and exalteth himself above all thatis called God, or that is worshipped.’’

SATAN’S PURPOSE IS TO THWARTTHE DIVINE UNDERTAKING, ESPECIALLYTHE DIVINE PURPOSE TO SAVE THELOST, AND TO EXALT HIMSELF ABOVEGOD. It is implied that in His ambition Sa-tan would attempt to seize upon theauthority which belongs to God alone andthat he would seek to be worshipped asGod is, and should be, worshipped.

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The central passage bearing on Sa-tan’s motive is Isaiah 14:12-14. As hasbeen observed, the five ‘‘I wills’’ of Satan,though each has a specific objective, allconverge in the last of the five, namely, ‘‘IWILL BE LIKE THE MOST HIGH.’’

The other four assert Satan’s intention toexalt himself in various ways, but only to theone end that he may be like the Most High.As before demonstrated, there is but oneway in which any creature, angel or man,may attempt to be like God, and that is toseek to be independent as God is inde-pendent. To do this, all Divinely intendeddependence of the creature on the Creatormust be repudiated, and the one who thusacts must be committed to a career whichself has devised and which self mustmaintain in complete separation from Goduntil that course of action is ended. In allsuch enterprise, self-exaltation is para-mount, and opposition to God is pursuedonly that the way may be clear for self tobe glorified.

Scripture distinctly states that it wasself-esteem, or pride, which incited thisgreatest of all angels to launch out uponan independent course of action. Ezekiel28:17, ‘‘Thine heart was lifted up because ofthy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdomby reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee tothe ground, I will lay thee before kings, thatthey may behold thee.’’ 1 Timothy 3:6, ‘‘Nota novice, lest being lifted up with pride he fallinto the condemnation of the devil.’’

It would seem to be indicated that hedoes not have faith in his enterprise until thatyet future time when he is cast out ofheaven. Of Satan at that time it is written,‘‘Woe to the inhabiters of the Earth and of thesea, for the devil is come down to you, hav-ing great wrath, because he knoweth that hehath but a short time,’’ Revelation 12:12.

The enormous project which was bornin Satan’s mind and inspired by his self-exalting pride was, of necessity, confinedto heavenly spheres until the creation ofman. In those previous ages, it may be be-

lieved, Satan ‘‘trafficked,’’ cf Ezekiel 28:18,‘‘Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries by themultitude of thine iniquities, by the iniquity ofthy traffick; therefore will I bring forth a firefrom the midst of thee, it shall devour thee,and I will bring thee to ashes upon the Earthin the sight of all them that behold thee.’’ Heapparently ‘‘trafficked’’ among the lesser an-gels to secure their allegiance to his philoso-phy of freedom from, and independence of,the Creator. Upon the creation of man, therewas opened to Satan the possibility of a vastdemonstration in this new realm of his powerto design and execute. The present COS-MOS is that which Satan proposed andwhich God is permitting him to execute toits tragic end.

THERE ARE FOURMILESTONES WHICH MARKSATAN’S COURSE INWILLFULNESS:

A. He said, ‘‘I will be like the Most High.’’Of this, the origin of all wickedness, nothingfurther need be added here.

B. He said to Adam and Eve, ‘‘be asgods,’’ Genesis 3:5, ELOHIM. How many an-gels had heard and heeded this suggestionnone on Earth may know. His advice wasreceived and acted upon by the progenitorsof the human race. By their own choice theyincurred the penalty which the gracious warn-ing of God has placed before them. He hadsaid, ‘‘IN THE DAY THAT THOU EATESTTHEREOF, THOU SHALT SURELY DIE.’’This was literally, ‘‘DYING THOU SHALTDIE.’’ NO WORD OF GOD CAN EVERFAIL.

Thus, every form of death came uponthese sinful creatures. Death in any formwas an unknown intruder into this universe.It was not a Divine penalty upon the sinfulangels, but it fell upon man. A grievous

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aspect of this penalty is spiritual death,which means separation of the humansoul and spirit from God.

This estate of the first parents has be-come the inheritance of all their children in alltheir generations. They belong to the COS-MOS DIABOLICUS. Until they are re-deemed by infinite GRACE, they share notonly the works of the COSMOS, but its sa-tanic spirit of independence of God.Should one of this degenerate race desire tobe in right relation to God, the first step is notmerely to evince a willingness to be obedientto God in a general way. But it is required ofHim that he ‘‘obey’’ the Gospel of Divine sal-vation.

Acts 5:32, ‘‘And we are His witnesses ofthese things, and so is also the Holy Spirit,whom God hath given to them THAT OBEYHIM.’’ Romans 2:8, ‘‘But unto them that arecontentious, AND DO NOT OBEY THETRUTH, but obey unrighteousness, indigna-tion and wrath.’’ Hebrews 5:9, ‘‘And beingmade perfect, He became the Author of eter-nal salvation UNTO ALL THEM THAT OBEYHIM.’’

Back of this requirement is the essentialtruth that a right relation to God is more thana repentance followed by a Divine forgive-ness. Satisfaction to outraged holinessmust be secured. This Christ has pro-vided in His death, but it is not providedelsewhere and thus it is that Christ is theway and the only way to God from thehand of the Evil One.

The Divinely provided cure is perfectbeyond measure, for upon believing onChrist, there is peace with God, forgive-ness, regeneration with its imparted gift ofeternal life, imputed righteousness, andjustification. There is also the sure Word ofpromise that the saved ones will soon experi-ence complete conformity to God the Son inglory.

The satanic lie, ‘‘Ye shall be as gods,ELOHIM,’’ is proved to be a hideous de-ception, while the offers of Divine GRACE

present the assurance of final and lastingoneness with God and complete corre-spondence to all that God is and all thatHe desires.

The lie becomes the antipodes of theTruth to the last degree of reckoning. Thelie ends in eternal ruin for those who pursueit. The Truth ends in eternal felicity andrightness with God for the one who restshis all in Christ. It is a marvel of infiniteGRACE that even one soul is translated ‘‘outof the power of darkness into the kingdom ofthe Son of His love,’’ Colossians 1:13. Howtragic, indeed, is the present life and des-tiny of any human being who, thoughborn into the lost estate, refuses DivineGRACE and willfully continues to cast inhis lot with the anti-God COSMOS. COS-MOS DIABOLICUS. And goes on to sharethe doom of the enemy of God in the lake offire.

But the plan of becoming as ELOHIM bymerely assuming independence of God origi-nated with Satan, and its proposal to Adammarks the course of Satan’s unchanging pur-pose.

C. When meeting the Last Adam in thewilderness, Satan did not say, as he did tothe first Adam, ‘‘YE SHALL BE LIKE ELO-HIM,’’ FOR SATAN KNOWS WITH NO UN-CERTAINTY, THAT JESUS CHRIST IS GOD(ELOHIM). However, his master passion tobe himself ‘‘like the Most High’’ was ex-pressed in the words to Christ, ‘‘worship me.’’The wicked and presumptuous character ofthat request cannot be duplicated in the his-tory of the universe, nor will it ever be dupli-cated in future ages. It is probably that at noplace does the lie come into such manifesta-tion of its false and wicked character as here,where it addresses itself directly to the Onewho is the Truth. It was audacious beyondmeasure for Satan to solicit the coopera-tion of angels and man, but who will esti-mate the wickedness of the one who sug-gests that God the Creator became a sup-pliant at the feet of a creature of His ownhand?

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Pride had evidently befogged the mind ofthis being to the point of angelic insanity,yet not an insanity which bespeaks irrespon-sibility. Out of and above all the experiencesof the three-fold temptation in the wilder-ness, the one truth is disclosed, namelythat Satan purposes to be ‘‘like the MostHigh.’’

D. It is far from accidental that the lastmanifestation of Satan’s lie is the Man of Sin,the lawless one, who is said to oppose andexalt himself above all that is called God orthat is worshipped, and who is ever distin-guished by the blasphemous assumption thathe is God. In the first or earliest record ofhim, he is described by these words, ‘‘Son ofman, say unto the prince of Tyrus, Thus saiththe Lord God; Because thine heart was liftedup, and thou hast said, I am a God, I sit inthe seat of God, in the midst of the seas; yetthou art a man, and not God, though thou setthine heart as the heart of God.’’ ‘‘Thereforethus saith the Lord God; Because thou hastset thine heart as the heart of God; Behold,therefore I will bring strangers upon thee, theterrible of the nations: and they shall drawtheir swords against the beauty of thy wis-dom, and they shall defile thy brightness.They shall bring thee down to the pit, andthou shalt die the deaths of them that areslain in the midst of the seas. Wilt thou yetsay before Him that slayeth thee, I am God?But thou shalt be a man, and no God, in thehand of Him that slayeth thee,’’ Ezekiel 28:2,6-9.

Twice this incarnation of Satan is re-ferred to in Daniel 7:8, 9:27. In the formerpassage he is characterized as the one whowith a ‘‘mouth speaketh great things,’’ and inthe latter passage he is said to be the onewho causes the sacrifice and oblation tocease. ‘‘I considered the horns, and, behold,there came up among them another littlehorn, before whom there were three of thefirst horns plucked up by the roots: and, be-hold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes ofman, and a mouth speaking great things.’’‘‘And he shall confirm the covenant withmany for one week: and in the midst of the

week he shall cause the sacrifice and the ob-lation to cease, and for the overspreading ofabominations he shall make it desolate, evenuntil the consummation, and that determinedshall be poured upon the desolate.’’

Now this is precisely the testimony of theapostle, who states of this one that he ‘‘sittethin the temple of God, showing himself that heis God,’’ 2 Thessalonians 2:4. Evidently theworship of the Lord is terminated by thisMan of Sin in order that he himself maybe worshipped.

Of this same person John writes, ‘‘And Isaw one of his heads, as it were, wounded todeath; and his deadly wound was healed:and all the world wondered after the beast.And they worshipped the dragon which gavepower unto the beast: and they worshippedthe beast saying, ’’Who is like unto thebeast? Who is able to make war with him?"And there was given unto him a mouthspeaking great things and blasphemies; andpower was given unto him to continue fortyand two months. And he opened his mouthin blasphemy against God, to blaspheme HisName, and His tabernacle, and them thatdwell in heaven. And it was given unto himto make war with the saints, and to overcomethem: and power was given him over all kin-dreds, and tongues, and nations. And allthat dwell upon the Earth shall worship him,whose names are not written in the book oflife of the Lamb slain from the foundation ofthe world," Revelation 13:3-8.

It is therefore expected that the blasphe-mous claim to be God and the demand thathe be worshipped as God shall constitute thelast chapter in the drama of iniquity, and it isthat, according to the apostle’s account re-corded in 2 Thessalonians 2.

It is equally reasonable that Christ shouldindicate to the Jews that the appearance ofthis one ‘‘in the Holy Place’’ constitutes thesign of the end of their age and signal to theJews to flee for their safety, Matthew 24:15-22.

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It is no greater mystery that God allowsSatan to pursue his lie to its full consumma-tion with his Man of Sin, the federator of na-tions, blaspheming to the extent that heclaims to be God and requires, on the pen-alty of death, the worship of himself, whichworship belongs to God alone, than that Heallows the lie to have its beginning at all.

In pursuing deeper aspects of all thatmay enter into Satan’s motive, it is suggestedthat, as has been presented, he is moved,first by pride, which is the impelling causeof his unholy ambition. Second, Satanmay be offended that a plan of salvationhas been put into action by which his vic-tims will be rescued and lifted to heightsof glory to which no angel will ever attain.

Plutarch said this, ‘‘It was a very ancientopinion, that there are certain wicked andmalignant demons, who envy good men, andendeavor to hinder them to the pursuit of vir-tue, lest they should be partakers at least ofgreater happiness than they enjoy.’’ Thatthere is no redemption for himself or anyother fallen angels cannot but create jeal-ousy and offense, and engender hatred onSatan’s part toward God and His saints.

And thirdly, Satan apparently cannotrecognize any other basis of relationshipon the part of the creature to God thanthat of personal merit, which basis was thatupon which all creatures stood at the begin-ning. The issue of personal merit, formedthe very ground of Satan’s authority in hisdefense of the throne of God.

The whole operation of Divine GRACEbecame an intrusion into, if not an encroach-ment upon, that principle upon which Satanwas originally appointed to act. That other-wise doomed creatures may, by faith in acrucified and risen Saviour, be constitutedrighteous to the degree of the perfectrighteousness of God, which Christ is,must be most disconcerting and obnox-ious to Satan.

His ideal is ever reflected in his ministerswho are said to be ‘‘ministers of righteous-

ness,’’ personal. 2 Corinthians 11:13-15, ‘‘Forsuch are false apostles, deceitful workers,transforming themselves into the apostles ofChrist. And no marvel; for Satan himself istransformed into an angel of light. Thereforeit is no great thing if his ministers also betransformed as the ministers of righteous-ness; whose end shall be according to theirworks.’’

It is concerning the Gospel of GRACEby which lost men may be saved, that Sa-tan has cast a veil over the minds of allunregenerate human beings ‘‘Lest the lightof the glorious Gospel should shine untothem,’’ 2 Corinthians 4:4. Every observingsoul winner is sooner or later impressed withthe more than natural inability of the un-saved to comprehend the offer of salva-tion apart from human merit and by faithalone. When thinking about and writingabout the veil that Satan cast over the mindsof men, blinds the mind lest they believe theglorious Gospel in Christ, you must realizethat Satan weaves the course of this age,with all its religious forms, ceremonies,external decencies, respectabilities andconventionalities as to from a thick veil,that entirely hides ‘‘the glory of God in theface of Christ Jesus,’’ which consists inrighteous mercy to those who are lost.The veil is not formed by evil living, de-pravity, or any form of what passes asevil among men, but cold formality, heart-less decency, proud self-complacency, highlyesteemed external respectability. And wemust add, church membership, all withoutChrist.

It is the most fatal of all delusions, thethickest of all veils, and the most com-mon. It is the path because it is religious,respectable, descent, seems right unto aman but the end thereof is death, for thereis no Christ, no Lamb of God, no blood ofatonement in it. It yet remains to be seenmore full that, in the opposition to God,Satan enters into things religious. ‘‘Ye areof your father the devil.’’ He was a liar fromthe beginning. RELIGION IS HIS LIE.

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SATAN’S METHODSATAN’S INDEPENDENCE DAY AND COSMOS CHRISTIANS

We must remember as we have statedbefore, that Satan’s dominant pur-

pose is not, as the popular impressionsupposes, one of attempting to be ‘‘unlikeGod.’’ Satan has explicitly asserted himself,as recorded in Isaiah 14:14, that his tran-scendent objective is to be ‘‘like the MostHigh.’’ In discussing Satan’s design wehave traced through history and prophecyand have come to the conclusion of this re-cord that there can be no reasonable ques-tion but that, from the earliest intention to itslast manifestation, when the Man of Sin, theson of perdition, asserts that he is God, Sa-tan is impelled by but one intention. How es-sential is Satan’s estimation the worship ofthe Man of Sin will be, may be seen from therevelation that the Man of Sin will demandthe worship of the people of the Earth onthe penalty of death. Revelation 13:15,‘‘And he had power to give life unto the im-age of the beast, that the image of the beastshould both speak, and cause that as manyas would not worship the image of the beastshould be killed.’’

The unregenerate masses of humanityare said to be deceived by Satan. Their de-lusion is both tragic and pitiable. They areimposed upon by Satan’s subterfuge,treachery, and fraud. There is no abidingsubstance in any objective upon whichthey set their hopes. With discriminatingrecognition the Scriptures declare that Sa-tan’s deceptions affect merely the human ele-ment in the COSMOS, and not the entiresystem of things which the COSMOS em-braces. Thus the word COSMOS is not em-ployed in connection with these deceptions.

The term OIKODOMIA, translated‘‘world,’’ means the inhabitants of the Earth,or the designation, the nations, is used. It iswritten of the inhabited Earth in Revelation

12:9. ‘‘And the great dragon was cast out,that old serpent, called the devil, and Satan,which deceiveth the whole world ,’’ literally ‘‘in-habited Earth.’’ He was cast out into theEarth, and his angels were cast out with him.

Likewise in Revelation 13:14 the decep-tions are said to reach ‘‘them that dwell onthe Earth.’’ Then also in Revelation 20: 3, 8,10 Satan’s deceptions are said to reach to allnations, including all people of the Earth, ex-cepting such individuals as are saved.

To the same end it is written again of Sa-tan’s power as exercised by the Man of Sin,that it will be ‘‘with all deceivableness of un-righteousness in them,’’ all of them, ‘‘that per-ish,’’ 2 Thessalonians 2:10. In this dark pic-ture there is no hope within themselves,for a fallen, Christ-rejecting race. Speak-ing of the future of fallen men, it is written,‘‘Evil men and seducers shall wax worse andworse, deceiving, and being deceived,’’ 2Timothy 3:13.

In the light of all this disclosure, THEDREAMS OF RELIGIOUS GUIDES whopredict a transformed, regenerated COS-MOS as a result of human effort in Chris-tian service are seen to be without foun-dation. Satan’s deceptions continue until heis bound and consigned to the abyss.

But who will bind Satan and place him inthat prison? In the interest of Divine right-eousness, the dissolution of the COSMOSand the disillusion of the lie must reach theends predicted when all will be destroyed inthe zenith of its wickedness. It is only thenthat the King shall reign and prosper. It isthen, and only then, that righteousness andpeace shall cover the Earth as waters coverthe face of the deep.

What form of deception has seizedgood men that they should fail to see the

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uncomplicated teaching of the Bible withrespect to the course and end of evil?The stupendous realities represented in theCOSMOS DIABOLICUS are not said to betransformable. When God declares, as Hedoes, that the COSMOS DIABOLICUS is tocontinue with increasing deception and tocontinue to the embodiment of the lie until itis crushed by the infinite power of the return-ing King, there is little ground for any at-tempts to save it or to transform it. In-deed, Christians are exhorted to be instant inseason and out of season, in the saving ofthe ‘‘individuals,’’ but that is far removed asan objective from the attempted rescue ofthat which God has doomed to destructionand that which by its very nature is anti-God.

Next to the lie itself, the greatest delusionSatan imposes, reaching to all unsaved andto a large portion of Christians, is the suppo-sition that only such things as societyconsiders evil could originate with thedevil, if, indeed, there be any devil tooriginate anything. It is not the reason ofman, but the revelation of God, whichpoints out that governments, morals, edu-cation, art, commercialism, vast enter-prises and organizations, and much of re-ligious activity are included in this COS-MOS DIABOLICUS. That is, the systemwhich Satan has constructed includes all theGOOD which he can incorporate into it andbe consistent in the thing he aims to accom-plish.

A SERIOUS QUESTION ARISESWHETHER THE PRESENCE OF GROSSEVIL IN THE WORLD IS DUE TO SATAN’SINTENTION TO HAVE IT SO, ORWHETHER IT INDICATES SATAN’S INABIL-ITY TO EXECUTE ALL HE HAS DESIGNED.

The probability is great that Satan’sambition has led him to undertake morethan any creature could ever administer.Revelation declares that the ‘‘whole COS-MOS system’’ must be annihilated; not itsevil alone, but all that is in it, both goodand bad. God will incorporate nothing ofSatan’s failures into that kingdom which

He will set up in the Earth. The COSMOSDIABOLICUS must be broken in pieces andbecome like the chaff of the summer thresh-ingfloors which the wind carries away, and allthis before ‘‘the smiting Stone,’’ Christ, in Hisreturn to Earth, will set up a kingdom whichshall fill the whole Earth.

Daniel 2:34, 35, ‘‘Thou sawest till that astone was cut out without hands, whichsmote the image upon his feet that were ofiron and clay, and brake them to pieces.Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, thesilver, and the gold, broken to pieces to-gether, and became like the chaff of the sum-mer threshingfloors; and the wind carriedthem away, that no place was found forthem: and the stone that smote the imagebecame a great mountain, and filled thewhole Earth.’’

The New Testament predicts the sameconsummation, saying, ‘‘All the world (COS-MOS) passeth away, and the lust (desire), orpurpose, thereof,’’ 1 John 2:17. The oneand only thing that will survive this greatcataclysm, this text goes on to say, ‘‘Hethat doeth the will of God abideth for-ever.’’ The lie is expanded to the pointwhere its manifestation embraces all that isin the COSMOS, and is built on the one origi-nal idea which characterizes it all, namely IN-DEPENDENCE OF GOD.

To do the will of God is to do theTruth. To act apart from God is to do the lie.This is the Spirit of Truth vs. the spirit of er-ror. The Truth, which is the will of God,and those who do the Truth, abide for-ever. There should be no surprise at thistermination of the entire fabric of Satan’sweaving, yet those of the COSMOS are in-fluenced not at all by God’s Word, NORARE ‘‘COSMOS-CHRISTIANS’’ much im-pressed with the solemn Truth God has spo-ken.

Such is the far reaching effect of the sa-tanic deception. Satan’s original inde-pendence of God which permeates the wholeorder, his deceptions about himself, about hispurpose, and about the extent of his enter-

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prise, constitute the primary aspect of Sa-tan’s ‘‘method in the COSMOS.’’

Since in pursuing his determination to ex-alt himself above God, Satan must opposethe Divine undertakings. His oppositionnaturally will be exerted where God is act-ing at a given time. Since God has nopresent program which He is followingalong a line of reformation, education, orcivilization, and any such record that suchundertakings are in God’s present pur-pose will be sought in vain, there is there-fore no conflict or satanic resistance inthose spheres.

THERE IS NO RESTRAINT ON RELIG-ION, ONLY ON THE GOSPEL. The presentrelation of God to the COSMOS, beyond Hissovereign permission and restraint of it, is tosave out of it a people for His heavenlyglory. On the other hand, Satan’s two-foldobjective is to exalt Himself and to op-pose God. That is the key by which muchmay be known, that otherwise would beunknown.

It is still further disclosed that the en-mity of Satan is not only toward the Per-son of God from whom he has everythingto fear, but also toward every child ofGod. Too much emphasis cannot be placedon this fact. Satan has no controversy orwarfare with his own unregenerate people,but there is abundant Scripture to prove thathe makes unceasing effort to mar the lifeand service of the Christian.

The motive for this effort is all sufficient.They have partaken ‘‘of the Divine nature,’’ 2Peter 1:4, and afford, therefore, a possibleopportunity for Satan to thrust his fierydarts at the Divine Person who indwellsthem. Thus, the believer becomes a me-dium of connection between the Divine Per-son and the satanic order, for it is also truethat God literally loves the unsaved throughthe believer. Romans 5:5, ‘‘And hope makethnot ashamed; because the love of God isshed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spiritwhich is given unto us.’’

On the other hand, the prince of the sa-tanic system is seeking an opportunity for athrust through the believer at the Personof God.

Several important passages on the latterpoint may here be noted. ‘‘These things Ihave spoken unto you, that in Me ye mighthave peace. In the world ye shall have tribu-lation: but be of good cheer; I have overcomethe world,’’ John 16:33. ‘‘Yea, and all that willlive godly in Christ shall suffer persecution,’’ 2Timothy 3:12. ‘‘Marvel not, my brethren, ifthe world hate you,’’ 1 John 3:13. ‘‘Castingall your care upon Him; for He careth for you.Be sober, be vigilant; because your adver-sary the devil, as a roaring lion, walkethabout, seeking whom he may devour: Whomresist steadfast in the faith, knowing that thesame afflictions are accomplished in yourbrethren that are in the world,’’ 1 Peter 5:7-9.‘‘Finally, be strong in the Lord, and in thestrength of His might. Put on the whole ar-mour of God, that ye may be able to standagainst the wiles,’’ literally, artifices, ‘‘of thedevil. For our wrestling is not against fleshand blood, but against the spiritual hosts ofwickedness in the heavenly places,’’ Ephe-sians 6:10-12.

The teachings of these passagesclearly indicate the satanic enmity towardthe believer, and the believer’s utter help-lessness apart from the Divine suffi-ciency. They also reveal a degree of enmitywhich would result in the believer’s life be-ing crushed out, were it not for the evi-dent answer to the prayer of the Lord Je-sus Christ. ‘‘I pray not that Thou shouldesttake them from the COSMOS, but that Thoushouldest keep them from the Evil One,’’John 17:15. Literally, ‘‘guard them from theEvil One.’’

Certainly there is abundant reason forthe believer to expect the fiercest oppositionfrom Satan and Satan’s host in all his life andservice, and faith alone in the Word of Godapplied insures victory over the COSMOS.‘‘Faith that overcometh the COSMOS.’’

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The believer is also the object of thesatanic attack because of the fact thatunto the child of God is committed thegreat mystery of reconciliation, that by histestimony both in life and word, and byhis prayers, the Truths of redemption maybe given to the world. If Satan can cripplethe believer’s service, he accomplishes muchin resisting the present purpose of the Lord.

No other explanation is adequate for thedark pages of Church history, the appallingfailure of the Church in world-wide evangel-ism, her present sectarian, division and self-ish indifference, or her final estate as pic-tured in Revelation 3:15-19. ‘‘I KNOW THYWORKS, that thou art neither cold nor hot: Iwould thou wert cold or hot. So then be-cause thou art lukewarm, AND INCREASEDWITH GOODS, AND HAVE NEED OFNOTHING, AND KNOWEST NOT THATTHOU ART WRETCHED, AND MISERABLE,AND POOR, AND BLIND, AND NAKED: Icounsel thee to buy of Me gold tried in thefire, that thou mayest be rich; and white rai-ment that thou mayest be clothed, and thatthe shame of thy nakedness do not appear;and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, thatthou mayest see.’’

This blighting satanic oppositionmaybe detected in every effort for the sal-vation of the lost. It may be seen in thefact that no personal appeal is ever made tothe vast majority even in this favored land,more over, when an appeal is made, it iseasily distracted or diverted into the dis-cussion of unimportant themes.

The faithful pastor or evangelist is mostsorely assailed, every device of Satan be-ing used to distort the one all importantmessage of GRACE into something whichis not vital. The evangelist’s call for deci-sions is often cumbered with that which ismisleading or is a positive misstatement ofthe terms of salvation. Thus the appeal islost and the whole effort fails.

Again, the opposing power of Satanmay be seen in the matter of Christiangiving. Millions are given without solicitation

for education, for culture, and humanity’sphysical comfort, but real worldwide evan-gelization must ever drag on with itsshameful limitations and debts.

This, being even more noticed in thebeliever’s prayer life, this warfare of Sa-tan, this is his place of greatest useful-ness and power, and it is subject to theseverest conflict. In this connection it maybe stated safely that there is comparativelylittle prevailing prayer today. Yet the way isopen and the promises are sure. If the be-liever cannot be beguiled into indifferenceor a denial of Christ, he is often temptedto place an undue emphasis upon someminor Truth, and, in partial blindness, tosacrifice his whole influence for goodthrough the apparent unbalance of histestimony.

Satan’s warfare against the plan ofGod is still more evident in his direct hin-dering of the unsaved. Not only are theyconstantly blinded to the Gospel, but, whenthe Spirit would draw them, their minds areoften filled with strange fears and distorted vi-sions. Their inability to cast themselves uponChrist is a mystery to themselves, and noth-ing but the direct illuminating power ofthe Holy Spirit in conviction can open theireyes and deliver them from their gross dark-ness.

Satan has always adapted his meth-ods to the times and conditions. If atten-tion has been gained, a complete denial ofthe Truth has been made, or, when somerecognition of the Truth is demanded, it hasbeen granted on the condition that thatwhich is vital in redemption should beomitted. This partial recognition of theTruth is required by the world today. Forthe direct result of the believer’s testimony tothe COSMOS has been toward the gatheringout of the Bride, which has been alreadystated in the Bible and exemplified in the lifeof Christ. Moreover, they have heard thatevery principle of humanitarian sympathy orrighteous government has been revealed inthe Scriptures of Truth. Thus there has

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grown a more or less popular appreciation ofthe value of these moral precepts of theScriptures and of the example which Christpresents. This condition has prevailed tosuch a degree that any new system of doc-trine which secures a hearing today mustbase its claim upon the Bible, and include, tosome extent, the Person and teachings ofChrist.

The fact that the world has thus partlyacknowledged the value of the Scripturesis taken by many to be a glorious victoryfor the Lord, while, on the contrary, fallenhumanity is less inclined to accept God’sterms of salvation than in the generationspast. It is evident that this partial conces-sion of the world to the testimony of Godhas opened the way for counterfeit sys-tems of Truth, which according to proph-ecy, are the last and most to be dreadedmethods in the satanic warfare.

In this connection it must be concededthat Satan has really granted nothing fromhis own position, even though he be forcedto acknowledge every principle of Truth savethat upon which salvation depends. Ratheris he advantaged by such a concession, FORTHE VALUE AND DELUSION OF A COUN-TERFEIT ARE INCREASED BY THE NEAR-NESS OF ITS LIKENESS TO THE REAL.BY ADVOCATING MUCH TRUTH, IN THEFORM OF A COUNTERFEIT SYSTEM OFTRUTH, SATAN CAN SATISFY ALL THEEXTERNAL RELIGIOUS CRAVINGS OFTHE WORLD, AND YET ACCOMPLISH HISOWN END BY WITHHOLDING THAT ONWHICH MAN’S ONLY HOPE DEPENDS.He even quotes Scripture.

IT IS THEREFORE NO LONGER SAVETO SUBSCRIBE BLINDLY TO THAT WHICHPROMISES GENERAL GOOD, SIMPLY BE-CAUSE IT IS GOOD AND IS GARNISHEDWITH THE TEACHINGS OF THE BIBLE,FOR GOOD HAS CEASED TO BE ALL ONTHE ONE SIDE AND EVIL ON THE OTHER. We have good on both sides and youmust distinguish between good and good.Human, satanic good vs. Divine Good.

That is the issue. In fact, that which is evil inpurpose has gradually appropriated the gooduntil but one issue distinguishes them.

Part-truthism has come into final conflictwith whole-truthism, and woe to the soul thatdoes not discern between them. The first,though externally religious, is of Satan, andleaves its followers in the doom of everlastingbanishment from the presence of God. Whilethe latter is of God, ‘‘having promise of thelife that now is and of that which is to come.’’

It is also noticeable that the term ‘‘infidel’’has, within a generation, disappeared fromcommon usage, and that the manner ofopen denial of the Truth has been almostwholly abandoned. Yet the real Churchhas by no means lost her foes, for theyare now even more numerous, subtle, andterrible than ever before. These presentenemies, however, like the unclean birds inthe mustard tree, have taken shelter underthe Church’s branches. THEY ARE OFFI-CIATING AT HER MOST SACRED ALTARSAND CONDUCTING HER INSTITUTIONS.These vultures are fed by a multitude, both inthe Church and out, who in satanic blind-ness, are committed to the furtherance of anyproject or the acceptance of any theory thatpromises good to the world if it is appar-ently based upon Scripture, LITTLE REAL-IZING THAT THEY ARE OFTEN REALLYSUPPORTING THE ENEMIES OF GOD.

A counterfeit is Satan’s most naturalmethod of resisting the purpose of God,since by it he can realize to that extent hisdesire to be ‘‘like the Most High.’’ Everymaterial is in hand, as never before, for thesetting up of those conditions which are pre-dicted to appear only in the very end of theAge. In 2 Timothy 3:1-5 one of these predic-tions may be found. ‘‘This know also, that inthe last days perilous times shall come. Formen shall be lovers of their own selves, cov-etous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobe-dient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Withoutnatural affection, trucebreakers, false accus-ers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of them thatare good, Traitors, heady, highminded, lov-

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ers of pleasures more than lovers of God;Having the form of godliness, but denying thepower thereof: from such turn away.’’

Every word of this prophecy is worthy ofmost careful study in the light of the presenttendency of society. The fifth verse is espe-cially important in connection with the subjectof counterfeits of the Truth. ‘‘HAVING AFORM OF GODLINESS, BUT DENYINGTHE POWER THEREOF: FROM SUCHTURN AWAY.’’ The important element is thetrue faith which is to be omitted is this.‘‘Form’’ is defined elsewhere in the Scriptures.‘‘For I am not ashamed of the Gospel ofChrist: for it is the power of God unto salva-tion to everyone that believeth; to the Jewfirst, and also to the Greek.’’

‘‘But we preach Christ crucified, unto theJews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeksfoolishness; But unto them which are called,but Jews and Greeks, Christ the power ofGod, and the wisdom of God,’’ 1 Corinthians1:23, 24. Therefore that which is omittedso carefully from these forms is the salva-tion which is in Christ. Having a form, de-nying the power. The power of salvationwhich is in Christ is what they deny.

Now this is most suggestive because,‘‘There is none other Name under heavengiven unto men, whereby we must be saved,’’and it is by salvation alone that any deliver-ance can be had from the power of darkness. Without this salvation Satan can stillclaim all his own. It is perhaps necessaryto add that, judging from all his writings, thissalvation of which Paul confesses he was notashamed was no less an undertaking thanregeneration by the Spirit, and whateverother theories may be advanced, this is theteaching of the Holy Spirit through the apos-tle Paul.

This prophecy concerning conditions inthe ‘‘last days’’ ends with an injunction whichis addressed only to the believers who arecalled upon to live and witness during thosedays. To them it is said, ‘‘FROM SUCH,’’ aform of godliness which denies the powerthereof, ‘‘TURN AWAY.’’ As certainly as the

‘‘last days’’ are now present, so certainly thisinjunction is now to be heeded, and theLord’s people are called upon to separatefrom churches and institutions whichdeny the Gospel of God’s saving GRACEthrough the substitutionary blood redemp-tion of the cross. To support institutionsor ministries which ‘‘deny the powerthereof,’’ is to lend aid to Satan, the en-emy of God.

With no less force it is stated in 2 Peter2:1, ‘‘But there were false prophets alsoamong the people, even as there shall befalse teachers among you, who privily bringin damnable heresies, even denying the Lordthat bought them, and bring upon themselvesswift destruction.’’ In the same manner ac-cording to this passage, the denial falls noton the Person of Christ, but rather on His re-deeming work. ‘‘The Lord that bought them.’’ It therefore follows that one feature of thelast days will be a form of godlinesswhich carefully denies the power of Godin salvation.

Again Satan is ‘‘in the latter times’’ tobe the promoter of a system of truth ofdoctrine. ‘‘Now the Spirit speaketh ex-pressly, that in the latter times some shall de-part from the faith, giving heed to seducingspirits, and doctrines of demons; Speakinglies in hypocrisy; having their conscienceseared with a hot iron,’’ 1 Timothy 4:1, 2.These predicted satanic systems are hereaccurately described. Their offers will beso attractive and externally so religiousthat into them will be drawn some who‘‘shall depart from the faith,’’ they beingenticed by seducing spirits. No reference ismade here to personal faith by which onemay be saved. It is ‘‘the faith,’’ a body ofTruth, which is first seen to some extent, andthen rejected.

Jude 3, ‘‘Beloved, when I gave all dili-gence to write unto you of the common sal-vation, it was needful for me to write untoyou, and exhort you that ye should earnestlycontend for the faith which was once deliv-ered unto the saints.’’

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These attractive systems are not onlyfrom Satan, but are themselves ‘‘lies in hy-pocrisy’’ being presented by those whoseconscience has been seared with a hot iron.No more illuminating terms could be usedthan these. A lie covered by hypocrisymeans, evidently, that they are still at-tempting to be counted among the faith-ful, and the conscience seared would indi-cate that they can destroy the testimonyof God and blindly point other souls toperdition, without present remorse or re-gret.

The doctrines of demons are again re-ferred to in Revelation 2:24 as ‘‘the deepthings of Satan,’’ and this is Satan’s counter-feit of ‘‘the deep things of God,’’ which theHoly Spirit reveals to them that love Him. 1Corinthians 2:10, ‘‘But God hath revealedthem unto us by His Spirit: for the Spiritsearched all things, yea, the deep things ofGod.’’

Thus there are predicted for the last daysof this Age, both a form of godliness whichdenies the power of salvation that is inChrist, and a system known as ‘‘the deepthings of Satan,’’ or ‘‘doctrines of demons’’speaking ‘‘lies in hypocrisy.’’ Can there beany doubt that these two Scriptures describethe same thing, since they also refer to thesame time? The lies of one can be but thecovered denial of salvation in the other.

Again Satan has his assembly, or con-gregational meeting, which is his counterfeitof the visible Church. This assembly is re-ferred to, both in Revelation 2:9 and Revela-tion 3:9, as ‘‘the synagogue of Satan,’’ an or-ganized assembly being relatively as impor-tant for testimony in the deep things of Satanas it has been in the deep things of God.

In Matthew 15 the tares appear ‘‘among’’the wheat and the appearance is said to beafter the sowing of the wheat. So also, the‘‘children of the Wicked One’’ appear andare often included and even organizedwithin the forms of the visible Church.

The assembly of Satan, calling itself apart of the visible Church, is to have its min-isters and teachers. This is stated in 2Corinthians 11:13-15. ‘‘For such are falseapostles, deceitful workers, transformingthemselves into apostles of Christ. And nomarvel; for Satan himself is transformed intoan angel of light. Therefore it is no greatthing if his ministers of righteousness; whoseend shall be according to their works.’’

Now here is a remarkable revelation ofthe possible extent of the satanic counterfeit:‘‘false apostles,’’ ‘‘deceitful workers,’’ ‘‘trans-forming themselves into apostles of Christ, ’’and ‘‘ministers of righteousness.’’ Falseapostles, compared with apostles of Christ.Deceitful workers, compared with ministers ofrighteousness. Yet they are only seen hereto be agents of the great deceiver, Satan,who himself is transformed into an angel,minister, with a message of light, HISLIGHT. It is evident that the method ofthis deception is to imitate the real minis-ters of Christ. Certainly these false apos-tles cannot so appear unless they gatherinto their message every available ‘‘formof godliness’’ and cover their lies with themost subtle hypocrisy.

Evil will never appear on the outside ofthese systems, but it will be announced as‘‘another gospel,’’ or as a larger under-standing of the previously accepted truth,and will be all the more attractive and de-lusive since it is heralded by those whoclaim to be ministers of Christ, who re-flect the beauty of the ‘‘angel of light,’’ Lu-cifer, the son of the morning, and whoselives are undoubtedly free from greattemptation. It should be noted however,that these false ministers do not necessar-ily know the real mission they have. Be-ing unregenerate persons of the COSMOS,and thus blinded to the real Gospel, they aresincere, preaching and teaching the bestthings the angel of light, their energizingpower, is pleased to reveal unto them. Thespirit of error.

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Their gospel is one of human reason,and appeals to human resources. Therecan be no appreciation of Divine revela-tion in them, for they have not come reallyto know God or His Son Jesus Christ.They are ministers of righteousness, whichmessage should never be confused with theGospel of GRACE. One is directed only atthe reformation of the natural man, whilethe other aims at regeneration through thepower of God.

All this is true, how perilous is the atti-tude of many who follow attractive minis-ters and religious guides only becausethey claim to be such and are sincere,and who are not awake to the one finaltest of doctrine by which alone the wholecovert system of satanic lies may be dis-tinguished from the Truth of God. In thisconnection, John writes the following, ‘‘Ifthere come any unto you, and bring not thisdoctrine, receive him not into your house,neither bid him God speed,’’ 2 John 1:10.

False teachers are usually sincere andfull of humanitarian zeal, but they are ‘‘un-regenerate.’’ This judgment necessarily fol-lows when it is understood that they denythe only ground of redemption. Being un-regenerate, it is said of them, ‘‘But the naturalman receiveth not the things of the Spirit ofGod, for they are foolishness unto him, nei-ther can he know them, because they arespiritually discerned,’’ 1 Corinthians 2:14.Such religious leaders may be highly edu-cated and able to speak with authority onevery aspect of human knowledge, but ifthey are not born again, their judgementin spiritual matters is worthless and mis-leading. All teachers are to be judged bytheir attitude toward the doctrine of theblood redemption of Christ, rather than bytheir winsome personalities, their educa-tion, or their sincerity.

Since the blood redemption of thecross is the central Truth and value of thetrue faith, it being ‘‘the power of God untosalvation,’’ Romans 1:16, 1 Corinthians 1:23,24, any counterfeit system of doctrine which

would omit this essential fact, must forcesome secondary truth into the place ofprominence. Any of the great scriptural sub-jects which are of universal interest to hu-manity, such as physical health, life afterdeath, morality, unfulfilled prophecy, orreligious forms, may be substituted in thefalse systems for that which is vital. Andwhile those subjects are all found in theirproper relations and importance to the truefaith, the fact that people are universally in-clined to give attention to them furnishesan opportunity for Satan to make a strongappeal to humanity through them, and us-ing these subjects as central truths in hisfalse and counterfeit systems.

Many are easily led to fix their atten-tion upon the secondary things, and toneglect wholly the primary thing. Espe-cially is this true since the secondarythings are tangible and seen, while theone essential thing is spiritual and un-seen, and Satan has blinded their eyes to-ward that which is of eternal value.

A system of doctrine may be formed,then, which includes every truth of theScriptures save one, exalting the Personof Christ, but not His work, and therebyemphasizing some secondary truth as itscentral value. This system will be readilyaccepted by blinded humanity, though thereal power of God unto salvation hasbeen carefully withdrawn. Naturally itwould be supposed that such Satan-inspiredsystems would have no value or power, sincethere could be no Divine favor upon them.Such a supposition would be possibleonly because of the prevailing misunder-standing with respect to the real power ofSatan.

If the description given of him in theScriptures is accepted, he will be seen to bepossessed with miraculous power, able toperform such marvels that the wholeworld is led to wonder and then to wor-ship. He is free also to bestow this mi-raculous power upon others. Revelation13:2, ‘‘And the beast which I saw was like

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unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feetof a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of alion: AND THE DRAGON GAVE HIM HISPOWER, AND HIS SEAT, AND GREATAUTHORITY.’’

So it is no marvel if his ministers, whoappear as the ministers of righteousness, areable to exert superhuman power when itis directly in the interest of the satanicprojects. The great power of Satan hasdoubtless been active along these lines dur-ing all the ages past, for it is impossible thathumanity should have worshipped other godsblindly, without some recompense, and it isSatan himself who has been thus wor-shipped.

Leviticus 17:7, ‘‘And they shall no moreoffer their sacrifices unto devils, after whomthey have gone a whoring. This shall be astatute for ever unto them throughout theirgenerations.’’ 2 Chronicles 11:15, ‘‘And heordained him priests for the high places, andfor the devils, and for the calves which hehad made.’’ Revelation 9:20, ‘‘And the rest ofthe men which were not killed by theseplagues yet repented not of the works of theirhands, that they should not worship devils,and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, andstone, and of wood: which neither can see,nor hear, nor walk.’’

It is not final evidence, therefore, thata system of doctrine is of God simply be-cause there are accompanying manifesta-tions of superhuman power, nor is it finalevidence that the Almighty has respondedsimply because any form of supplicationhas been answered. The Divine move-ments are, of necessity, limited by thelaws of the Lord’s own holiness, and ac-cess into His presence is by the blood ofChrist alone, by a new and living waywhich was consecrated for us through Hisflesh. Hebrews 10:19, 20, ‘‘Having therefore,brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest bythe blood of Jesus, By a new and living way,which He hath consecrated for us, throughthe veil, that is to say, His flesh.’’

Assuming to come before God inprayer but ignoring this Truth is but to in-sult with pollution Him who is infinitelyholy and pure. Surely, the Satan-ruledworld does not come before God by theblood of Christ. Churches sometimes fall aneasy prey to forms of doctrine, ‘‘deceivable-ness of unrighteousness,’’ which Satan origi-nated. Sad is the spectacle of churchesmeeting week after week to be beguiledby the philosophy of men, and raising novoice in protest against the denial of theironly foundation as a church, and the indi-viduals only hope for time and eternity.

Far more honorable were the infidels ofthe past generation than those who ministerin these churches. They were wholly outsideof the church. But now, behold the inconsis-tency. Men who are covered by the ves-ture of the Church, ministering its sacra-ments, and supported by benevolence,are making an open attack upon that wis-dom of God which made Christ Jesus theonly ground for all righteousness, sancti-fication, and redemption.

The predictions of the last days are thusnot only being fulfilled by the false systemsand doctrines, but they are found in thevisible Church itself. ‘‘For the time willcome when they will not endure sound doc-trine; but after their own lusts shall they heapto themselves teachers, having itching ears;And they shall turn away their ears from theTruth, and shall be turned into fables,’’ 2Timothy 4:3, 4.

Great religious activities are possiblewithout coming into complication withsaving faith. IT IS POSSIBLE TO FIGHTAGAINST SIN AND NOT PRESENT THESAVIOUR, OR TO URGE THE HIGHESTSCRIPTURAL IDEALS AND YET OFFERNO REASONABLE WAY OF ATTAINMENT.

There is a strange fascination aboutthese undertakings which are humanitarian,and are religious only in form and title. Andthere is a strange attractiveness in theleader who announces that he is not con-cerned with the doctrine of the Bible, be-

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cause the helping of humanity is his onepassion and care, yet all his passion islost and his care is to no real end unlesscoupled with a very positive message of aparticular way of salvation, the true under-standing of which demands a series of mostcareful distinctions.

Who can be the god of these systems?The energizing power in these people? Andthe answers of their prayers? Surely notGod, not the God of the Scriptures whocannot deny Himself, and whose Wordcannot be made to pass away. Revelationsets forth one being, only one other beingwho is capable of these undertakings, and itnot only assigns to this being a great andsufficient motive for all such activity, butclearly predicts that he will thus ‘‘oppose’’ and‘‘exalt himself’’ in this very day and age.Much of the secondary truth is the presentinheritance of the child of God. However, ifthere is a choice to be made, the deepestwisdom will perceive that all the com-bined secondary values which Satan canoffer are but for a fleeting time, and notworthy to be compared with the eternalriches of GRACE in Christ Jesus.

Certain religious systems which are in noway related to the Bible and have continuedfor millenniums, including the ancient pagansystems and spiritism, and have held the de-votion of uncounted millions and bear evi-dence of being inspired by Satan. The moralproblems, which are felt to some degree byevery human being, are seized upon by al-most every unscriptural system. The ideathat man will stand on a basis of personalworthiness has been the chief heresy, op-posing the central doctrine of GRACE,from the time of Christ’s death to the pre-sent hour. It so permeates the Church thatfew who preach are able to seclude it fromtheir attempts at Gospel preaching. It issafe to say that wherever the element ofhuman merit is allowed to intrude into thepresentation of the plan of salvation, themessage is satanic to that extent.

The ministers of Satan proclaim per-sonal righteousness as the ground of theindividuals right relations to God. 2 Corin-thians 11:13-15. No sphere of professionhas been more confused and befogged bythe intrusion of human merit than the churchof Rome. As has been observed, cults arenow multiplying and their appearance is re-stricted to very recent times. These cultscover a variety of ideas, all the way fromChristian Science to Buchmanism. The latteras completely ignores the blood redemptionof Christ as the former. While the formersubstitutes bodily health for the salvation ofthe soul, the latter substitutes consecration toGod for a new birth by the Spirit.

No less misleading is the modern doc-trine that salvation is through faith plus con-secration. Probably no religious movement ismore bold than the ‘‘I am’’ cult of recentyears. It unblushingly announces by its blas-phemous name that it freely embraces allthat belongs to the original life. Its title wouldhave been equally appropriate had it been ‘‘Iwill be like the Most High.’’

Space cannot be claimed for an enu-meration and analysis of all these systems,ancient and modern. No one can anticipatethe number that will yet appear or the confu-sion of doctrines they will engender, but foreach and all there is but one acid test,namely, what place does it give to the re-deeming GRACE of God made possibleonly through the death and shed blood ofthe Lord Jesus Christ?

In light of which we have studied, it maybe concluded that, by creation, Satan is thehighest of all angels and that he fell into sin,being befogged by the distortion of insanitywhich pride engenders. His sin took the formof an assumption to act in independence ofthe Creator, an undertaking which, of neces-sity, became a concrete embodiment of ‘‘un-truth’’ as certainly as God is Truth. Accordingto Divine method of dealing with creature as-sumption, as seen in all past history, Satan isallowed, if not required, to put his scheme of

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independent action to an experimental test,and its present development, though mani-festing even now its corrupt nature, is yet in-complete.

The inerrant, prophetic Scripturescarry the stupendous enterprise on to theunavoidable, irrational, incomprehensiblespiritual bankruptcy which characterizesthe consummation of this gigantic experi-ment. During these terrible ages of trial, lightis pitted against darkness, and Truth againstfalsehood. Little attention can have beengiven to Scripture on the part of men whopropose to account for the Evil One as amere influence in the world.

Of such wicked inattention to revelationwe must say, in the history of Jesus Christthe fact of the deadly hatred of evil to theideal of good, of fiendlike wickedness towardspotless virtue, no one can deny. Those whochoose to ascribe such appalling inhumanityand diabolism exclusively to Jews and Gen-tiles, instead of referring it to a mighty per-sonal evil spirit as its background, do not getrid, as they suppose, of a devil. Then man ishimself resolved into a devil, for he is in-vested with a kind and degree of malicewhich dehumanizes human nature, turnsEarth into pandemonium, and history into aninterminable war of incarnate fiends.

Maybe both things here stated are true.Not only are Satan and his angels to be seenin their true light as fiends of darkness, buthumanity as allied with them is evidently

seen by God to be wholly evil, if not diabol-ical. It is such who, having cast in their lotwith the satanic lie, must, if not be saved outof it, share the lake of fire which originallywas prepared for ‘‘the devil and his angels.’’Matthew 25:41, ‘‘Then shall He say also untothem on the left hand, Depart from Me, yecursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for thedevil and his angels.’’ Revelation 20:10, ‘‘Andthe devil that deceived them was cast intothe lake of fire and brimstone, where thebeast and the false prophet are, and shall betormented day and night for ever and ever.’’

It is to these fallen, God-repudiatinghuman beings that the Gospel of eternalredemption and heavenly glory is to bepreached. How matchless is the GRACEof God toward these enemies. Romans5:10, ‘‘For if, when we were enemies, wewere reconciled to God by the death of HisSon, much more, being reconciled, we shallbe saved by His life.’’ And how incompre-hensibly blessed are the words of JesusChrist, ‘‘I give unto them eternal life and theyshall never perish, but have everlasting life.’’

Buddy Dano, Pastor

Divine Viewpointwww.divineviewpoint.com

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