In the most dest.i.tute circ.u.mstances, however, the promises of our Father in heaven, and the examples which we find upon sacred record, are encouraging. "I have never seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread"--"He causeth the gra.s.s to grow for the cattle, and herb for the service of man: that he may bring forth food out of the earth; and wine that maketh glad the heart of man, and oil to make his face to shine, and bread which strengtheneth man"s heart." Of Zion it is a.s.serted, "I will abundantly bless her provision; I will satisfy her poor with bread:"
and "He that walketh righteously, and speaketh uprightly; he that despiseth the gain of oppressions, that shaketh his hands from holding of bribery, that stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood, and shutteth his eyes from seeing evil; he shall dwell on high: his place of defence shall be the munitions of rocks: bread shall be given him; his waters shall be sure."
Remember the interpositions of G.o.d to supply the necessities of the dest.i.tute. Go to _Egypt_ and _Canaan_, and trace the wonderful appointments of that providence which supplied the famished household of Jacob! Go into the wilderness of _Sin_, and behold an extraordinary kind of dew covering the camp of Israel and sparkling in the morning sun, in fulfilment of the prediction, "I will rain bread from heaven for you!"
Observe the famished prophet at "the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan," and see the ravens of heaven descending with bread and flesh to supply Elijah! Follow Jesus into a desert place, where five thousand weary, wayworn strangers, besides women and children, are fed by his liberal hand and his miraculous power! "Behold the fowls of the air; for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? and why take, ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: and yet I say unto you, that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if G.o.d so clothe the gra.s.s of the field, which to-day is, and to-morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?
Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or What shall we drink? or Wherewithal shall we he clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things."
O, how sweetly does that spirit rest which reclines upon the lap of providence, and feeds contentedly on "daily bread!" The storms may rise and the winds may blow--the clamours of human compet.i.tion may fill the air; but nothing can disturb his repose. "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee." When Solomon was about to ascend his throne, how earnestly did he implore superior wisdom, and how readily leave the disposal of earthly good to his G.o.d and Father! And what was the consequence? "G.o.d said unto him, Because thou hast asked this thing, and hast not asked for thyself long life; neither hast asked riches for thyself, nor hast asked the life of thine enemies; but hast asked for thyself understanding to discern judgment; behold, I have done according to thy Words: lo, I have given thee a wise and an understanding heart; so that there was none like thee before, neither after thee shall any arise like unto thee. And I have also given thee that which thou hast not asked, both riches and honour: so that there shall not be any among the kings like unto thee all thy days."
Finally, let us deduce motives for consolation under the pressure of sorrow, and for the limitation of our wishes to the necessary subsistence of life, from "a greater than Solomon." Who was it that stooped to a manger and a cross? Who fasted forty days and forty nights in the desert, refusing to employ his power in furnishing a miraculous table? Who had not "where to lay his head?" Who lived on the scanty fare of a small purse in common with the family of his disciples? Who withdrew from the entertainments of Jerusalem to the humble cottage of Mary and Martha, cheerfully subsisting on the most homely and casual provision?--HE, who has taught us to limit our desires of temporal good within the narrow circle of _one short_ request--"GIVE US THIS DAY OUR DAILY BREAD."
Sapphira.
Chapter IX.
Mixed Const.i.tution of the Church of Christ--benevolent Spirit of the primitive Believers at Jerusalem--Anxiety of Ananias and Sapphira to appear as zealous and liberal as others--Ananias repairs to the Apostles to deposit the price of his Possessions--is detected in Deception and dies--similar Deceit and Death of Sapphira--Nature and Progress of Apostasy--peculiar Guilt of Sapphira--Agency of Satan distinctly marked--diabolical influence ascertained--consolatory Sentiments suggested to Christians.
"The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field: but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way. But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also. So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst thou not sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares? He said unto them, An enemy hath done this.... The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one; the enemy that sowed them is the devil."
This parable, so descriptive of the mixed const.i.tution of the church of Christ, from the primitive times down to the present age, is strikingly exemplified in the history of Ananias and Sapphira. These were some of the first tares that appeared in the apostolic field of labour; and we should feel grateful that their names and characters are transmitted to us upon whom the ends of the world are come, for the purpose of salutary warning.
Their singular atrocity was but a more full development of the very same evil principles that exist in embryo in the hearts of mankind in general; and their signal and immediate punishment, which was some deviation from the more ordinary methods of Providence, which permits the tares and the wheat to grow together till the harvest or "end of the world," was, under all the circ.u.mstances, a necessary expression of divine displeasure.
During the first age of Christianity, when it was propagated by apostles and their holy coadjutors, and when Jesus Christ, having so recently departed from the world, had left an unusual glow of ardor and affection in their minds, it seems natural to antic.i.p.ate not only extensive success in the establishment of Christian churches, but a peculiar purity in the sentiments and conduct of their members. And where shall we find such union, such fervour, such simplicity, such energy, as prevailed in that golden age? Persecution separated them indeed, but could not dissolve their attachment either to the cause or to each other; it could not extinguish their ever-burning zeal. But in vain should we hope for perfection even in the purest societies on earth. If a Judas insinuated himself amongst the apostles during the personal residence of Christ on earth, and under his immediate eye, it is not surprising that an Ananias and a Sapphira intruded into the earliest and best of his churches; nor should it prove unduly discouraging to his ministers or people at any period, when they witness similar instances of deceit and impiety. The more valuable the coin, the greater is the reason to apprehend its being counterfeited; and the more excellent religion appears, and the more highly it is esteemed, the greater will be the probable number of hypocritical professors.
The history of these two offenders is intimately blended. Their sin and punishment were similar; but there, were some circ.u.mstances connected with the transaction which exhibit the guilt of Sapphira in characters of more conspicuous enormity. While reviewing the inspired narrative, let us not cherish the feeling of Hazael, who indignantly demanded of the prophet, "Is thy servant a dog, that he should do this!" but, deeply aware of our inward propensities and our moral dangers, let us unite fervent prayer with sleepless circ.u.mspection, "lest we enter into temptation."
The church at Jerusalem possessed one peculiarity, resulting from the remarkable exercise of a pure, exalted, disinterested benevolence. Rising superior to every selfish interest, and, in the spirit of unbounded love and liberality, concurring in every measure that was devised to promote the general good; "as many as were possessors of lands or houses, sold them, and brought the prices of the things that were sold, and laid them down at the apostles" feet; and distribution was made to every man according as he had need." The great proportion of converts were probably indigent, for in no age have "the mighty and the n.o.ble" been attracted by the unostentatious simplicity of the religion of Jesus; but some were persons of property. They had lands and houses, with which, however, they willingly parted to supply the necessities of their poorer fellow-Christians. This was a generosity which could not fail of exciting the admiration of the whole society, and of acquiring for them considerable influence. While the apostles approved their disinterestedness, the widows, the orphans, and the indigent of every cla.s.s, would pour their best benedictions upon their heads, and look up lo them as the ministering angels of Providence. Too often, indeed, the supplies of benevolence are received with a coldness which is truly repulsive, and which bespeaks a secret conviction in the minds of the wretched, that they have a right to expect, and that the opulent are bound to bestow them; but these were _Christian poor_, and were influenced, we should hope, by a grat.i.tude which such benefactions were calculated to inspire. At the same time, even the unthankfulness of the recipient ought not to shut up our "bowels of compa.s.sion."
Ananias and Sapphira were anxious, amidst such fine specimens of disinterested goodness, not to appear backward. They might be conscious that the respectability of their situation, and the zeal of their profession, excited expectations amongst the other disciples; and though they were certainly under no obligation to practise this profuse charity, they seemed unwilling to lose the opportunity of enhancing their fame: We may justly suspect, that a long struggle was maintained between the love of money and the love of applause. They consulted together;--they were anxious to devise an expedient by which they might gratify their vanity, and yet retain at least the princ.i.p.al part of their property. Ambition and avarice were to be alike gratified, but they were to contrive the concealment of their hypocrisy. With this view, they agreed upon a course of meanness and dissimulation, which involved the most tragical consequences. Ananias seems to have proposed, and Sapphira to have abetted, the transaction. With her consent, which he chose to obtain, and which might have been legally necessary, their estate was sold; and _part_ only of the purchase-money was laid at the apostles" feet, as if it were the whole, and as if Christian charity had dictated this liberal distribution of it.
Hypocrites, we perceive, are frequently very much influenced by example and popular applause. How many ostentatious charities may be traced to this polluted source! It is not to do good, to a.s.sist the needy, to promote the cause of Jesus Christ; but to escape censure, or to purchase renown, that men often unite in pious contributions. They will slot be outshone by others, or submit to the dishonor of being reputed n.i.g.g.ardly and ungenerous. But however such persons abound in _visible_ acts of benevolence, their charity does not resemble the subterraneous rivulet, that revives the drooping flower, and refreshes the languishing herb, wherever it directs its _secret_ and _silent_ course.
What a fine opportunity was afforded on this occasion to Sapphira, for fulfilling the high but difficult duties of her situation! How would she have immortalized her name, had she suggested proper advice to her husband, and acted with an upright firmness herself! If, instead of coinciding with his impious plan, she had objected to the proposal, and warned him of the probable consequences of his dissimulation, a strong remonstrance from so dear a relative might have produced the happiest effect upon his mind; and had he still persisted, would at least have vindicated her refusal. Wives are indeed required to "submit to their husbands," but there are cases in which resistance is a virtue of the n.o.blest cla.s.s. If, transgressing the proper bounds of civil dominion, he attempts to lord it over her conscience, and urges, however authoritatively, her concurrence in iniquity, she must steadfastly oppose temptation. However painful the contest, it is honourable. It will be owned in heaven as a war of duty and necessity.
In some cases, the woman proves the first instigator to evil, or the prime coadjutor in mischief; but, in others, her sentiments may be sought with advantage. A wise man will seldom engage in an affair of considerable importance without soliciting advice, for "in the mult.i.tude of counsellors there 5s safety;" but who so naturally expects, or who so much deserves to be consulted, as the wife of the bosom? Her opinion is likely to be the most disinterested and the most affectionate of any that can be obtained; and if we could obtain a faithful history of domestic life, it would appear that a consultation so natural and proper, has often proved the means of guiding in perplexity and rescuing from error.
In the full confidence that their scheme had been concerted with the utmost privacy, Ananias, after the sale of his possessions, hastened to deposit a part of the price in the hands of the apostles. He, no doubt, expected to be welcomed in the warmest terms of commendation. With what astonishment and horror, therefore, must be have heard the terrible appeal of Peter, "Why bath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land? Whiles it remained, was it not thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? Why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? Thou hast not lied unto men, but unto G.o.d!" Instantaneous as the lightning of heaven, Almighty vengeance descended upon the unhappy criminal, and withered him in a moment.
"Ananias hearing these words, fell down and gave up the ghost; and great fear came on all them that heard these things." He was immediately buried, and about three hours afterward, his wife, totally unacquainted with the melancholy fate of her infatuated husband, and glowing with expectation of sharing the praises which the a.s.sembled disciples, as she supposed, were bestowing upon their generosity, presented herself to the apostles. Peter immediately demanded an explicit answer to the question, whether the sum which Ananias had subscribed were the real purchase-money of their estate?
To this she deliberately replied in the affirmative. "How is it," said Peter, excited to holy indignation, "how is it that ye have agreed together to tempt the Spirit of the Lord? Behold, the feet of them which have buried thy husband are at the door, and shall carry thee out."
Immediately, to the universal astonishment and terror of all the spectators, "she fell down at his feet and yielded up the ghost; and the young men came in and found her dead, and carrying her forth, buried her by her husband."
The apostle, by representing the atrocious sin of these offenders as "lying unto G.o.d," and "tempting the Spirit of the Lord," intended to intimate that as the amba.s.sadors of heaven, and endowed with miraculous powers and discernment, they who attempted to deceive them, virtually offered an insult to that Holy Spirit that resided in them. They were his representatives and agents, acting by his authority and under his influence. G.o.d was present with the apostles in a manner totally different from the mode of his manifestation to any other persons; and in attempting to deceive them, they virtually denied the agency of the Omniscient Spirit, in communicating to them a capacity to discern the inmost motives of the mind.
It is not with a view to extenuate the guilt of Ananias or Sapphira, but merely to detect character and ill.u.s.trate the progress of sin, that we suggest the probability that when they first determined upon the sale of their estate, it might be under the impulse of a momentary benevolence, and that the device of retaining a part of the price was a subsequent consideration. Hypocrites are not profoundly acquainted with their own hearts, or with all the secret operations of a spirit of self-delusion. A sinner does not always, nor perhaps often, imagine the extreme lengths of impiety to which one erroneous step may ultimately conduct him. If he could be brought to see at the period of first indulgence the odious outline, not to say the finished picture, of his _future self_, he would start with instinctive horror, and blush with unutterable confusion.
Secret wickedness is frequently long concealed from all but the eyes of G.o.d, by a religious deportment. It remains buried deep in the recesses of the soul till occasion exhibits it, as the needle continues at rest till the magnetic influence approaches. Hence the church of Christ is sometimes astonished and alarmed by the misconduct of a character in whom, perhaps, it had reposed the utmost confidence, or placed the warmest affection; and which, though immediately produced by some sudden temptation, was really the result, the natural, easy, and almost necessary result of a previous course of secret iniquity. The train had been long preparing, but it required some kindling touch to produce the explosion.
The progress to apostacy is, indeed, usually gradual, though rapid, resembling the irresistible haste of persons travelling down a precipitous path, or the descent of a heavy body towards the earth, whose velocity is accelerated in proportion as it approaches its destination. The first compliance with temptation is accompanied with misgivings--trembling-- restlessness--the very thought of sin is admitted with difficulty, and the determination to practise it, is formed amidst a thousand relentings and p.r.i.c.kings of conscience. Still the mind lingers with the object--still the fancy plays about the forbidden fruit, till the hand is stretched forth to gather it--an increased appet.i.te is superinduced, accompanied with a diminished resolution. How many youthful persons, deterred for a time by a religious education and sedate habits, have paused--and paused--and paused on the brink of danger; like Caesar ere he crossed the Rubicon; their pa.s.sions and their conscience have held a warm debate--till induced in some fatal hour of illusion to comply, they have progressively advanced to a state of confirmation in guilt, and have made a covenant with h.e.l.l!
The character of Sapphira seems marked with even a deeper stain of guilt than that of her husband. She had more time for reflection, and received a salutary premonition by the question of Peter. Not to advert to the period in which she might probably be left alone during the various transactions of the sale of the estate, three hours elapsed between the infliction of judgment upon Ananias, and her coming to the apostolic a.s.sembly. If her concurrence in this base action had resulted in any degree from mistake, from momentary illusion, or from mere persuasion, she had time to correct her error by immediate repentance: or if she had hitherto sinned with deliberation, it was a time in which conscience might hive been heard, and the wretched backslider have yet been reclaimed. This was the golden moment, the period of long-suffering and mercy, the "accepted time!"
Repentance was not yet too late--return to reason and duty was not even now impossible--she might still have retracted her steps, though her worthless husband had suffered for his iniquity, and had pa.s.sed the boundaries of time, the sacred enclosure, the hallowed ground where celestial mercy dispenses her pardons. Every thing was favourable to penitence. She was alone, and solitude has sometimes shaken the purpose of the sinner, and opened his eyes to an awful perception of the atrociousness of guilt. But Sapphira was "hardened through the deceitfulness of sin." Long since she had dismissed every compunctious feeling, and was hurried on to perdition by the fiends of avarice and vanity, to whom she had resigned the dominion of her soul. The inquiry of Peter, pointed and abrupt--"Tell me whether ye sold the land for so much?"
Would have startled an ordinary transgressor, and produced those sensations of shame and confusion which a consciousness of detection is calculated to excite--O, if she had even then trembled, confessed her iniquity, and sought forgiveness through the blood which cleanseth from all sin, who will affirm that she could not have obtained mercy, and perhaps escaped both temporal and eternal punishment! But she was obdurate. The falsehood which Ananias had _acted_, she deliberately _affirmed_, and justice instantly dismissed her to the society of her kindred transgressor in a state of condemnation. Here, then, we read in characters too legible to be mistaken, that "it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living G.o.d."
If we pursue this subject, it will conduct us far beyond the sight of mere temporal punishment. Sin not only incurs present misery, but has opened the gates of despair, and kindled inextinguishable flames. That wrath which must have inevitably consumed the whole of Adam"s posterity, but for the Redeemer"s interposition, will rage forever against the impenitent and the apostate. "Thine hand shall find out all thine enemies; thy right hand shall find out those that hate thee. Thou shall make them as a fiery oven in the time of thine anger; the Lord shall swallow them up in his wrath, and the fire shall devour them." "Upon the wicked he shall rain snares, fire and brimstone, and a horrible tempest; this shall be the portion of their cup."
It is surely wonderful to holy angels, that by persevering acts of impiety and rebellion, men should voluntarily reduce themselves to a state in which it "had been good for them if they had never been born." Can there be a more important gift than life, or a more valuable quality attached to it than immortality? Yet apostates, by their degeneracy, convert this greatest of blessings into a curse--this n.o.blest good into an infinite evil. "As righteousness tendeth to life, so he that pursueth evil, pursueth it to his own death." Who can paint the horror of that moment, when the final, the irrevocable sentence will be pa.s.sed upon a guilty race--when INFINITE LOVE will denounce INFINITE WO--when every word proceeding from the mouth of eternal justice will prove a poisoned arrow, struck into the destiny of transgressors--when that face which has always illuminated the regions of glory with smiles of ineffable grace, will gather blackness and look despair! O what a crush!--what a ruin!--what a wreck!--How many human temples, defiled by intolerable abominations, will in a moment fall into the gulf of perdition to supply its everlasting fires!--What lightnings will accompany the "thunder of his power!"--What fervid heat will melt these elements--what terror shake the lowest abyss of h.e.l.l! O, could we descend to the regions of despair, whence "the smoke of their torment ascendeth up forever and ever;" or, transported on a seraph"s wing, rise to listen only for a single moment, to those rapturous sounds which warble from immortal harps, and bespeak infinite felicity--with what feelings should we return to this probationary state!
How should we be alarmed and allured--terrified and enraptured--deterred by "sights of wo," excited by scenes of glory! but, "if we hear not Moses and the prophets," Christ and the apostles: if "G.o.d who at sundry times, and in divers manners spake in times past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son," to no purpose: "neither should we be persuaded though one rose from the dead."
This dreadful history ought not to excite despondency in trembling saints.
Ministerial anxieties are princ.i.p.ally excited by a presumptuous state of mind. It is not the timid, the diffident, the cautious, that awaken apprehensions, but the forward, the fearless, the bold. That solicitude which agitates the pious mind, is an effectual antidote against the evil it dreads, while that confidence which possesses the hypocrite, prevents the good it antic.i.p.ates. The one obtains through fear, the other loses through presumption. The one is victorious, by maintaining a constant petty warfare with all his corruptions; the other is over-thrown through rushing fearlessly forward, and falling into the ambuscade which Satan has prepared for him. Hypocrisy is contriving, full of artifice, and arrogant--sincerity is quite the reverse, aiming to be right--fearing mistake--avoiding even trifling deviations and slight compliances-- "sitting at the feet of Jesus"--"clothed with humility,"--and in a "right mind!"
Let us adore the grace which has. .h.i.therto prevented our falling, and humbly depend upon it for future preservation. Conscious of our infantine weakness, let us lean upon the arm of Omnipotence. Under the conduct of him who directed the march of ancient Israel by the pillar of cloud by day and of fire by night, wo may hope to be upheld, protected, and guided in our journey to Canaan. Hail, happy hour, which shall put us in possession of our rest! Hail, celestial morning, whose bright beams shall disperse the shadows of death, and diffuse the splendours of immortal day upon our inheritance!
In the account of the crime by which Ananias and Sapphira have acquired such an awful celebrity, the agency of SATAN is distinctly marked--"Why,"
said Peter, hath _Satan_ filled thine heart?--This a subject so seldom treated, and yet of such great importance, that it seems proper to avail ourselves of this statement, in order to examine it with some attention, and to suggest some consolatory reflections to the timid Christian.
The earliest mention we have of Satanic influence is at the fall. a.s.suming the body of a serpent, this evil spirit attacked the first woman and seduced her into a transgression which "brought death into the world, and all our wo." If Satan were permitted to practise his detestable machinations in the earthly paradise, who will presume to say that it is improbable he may yet be able to tempt man in the wilderness? He knew the position of human affairs, he manifested extraordinary skill in the adaptation of the means which he employed to promote his purposes, and in the incidental conversation, which he contrived with our first parent; and although Christians have run into great extremes in their estimate of his powers, he unquestionably possesses superior knowledge and capacity. His talents like those of other wicked beings, are probably not impaired by his fall, but even sharpened and invigorated by malignant practice. In the aspect of this creation, and in the character of a degenerate world, we may perceive the infernal fiend. We may see his dark hand in the strifes of society, supplying the burning fuel to intemperate pa.s.sions and discordant societies. We may mark his detestable footsteps in the field of death, staining provinces with blood, where human brothers are polluted with the guilty spirit of a.s.sa.s.sination, and sacrifice to the glory of war, the hopes of nations, the comforts of life, and the earthly existence of infuriated millions, unprepared to enter an eternal state. In these mighty tempests and desolating whirlwinds, we may hear the hissing breath of his malice, and the yell of his infernal joy. If he seduced our parent in innocency, is it incredible he should seduce her race in their apostasy? if he were the chief agent in the _first_ of sins, is it improbable that he should instigate other crimes peculiarly connected with human misery and degradation?
Scripture, which we take as the "lamp to our feet, and light to our path," represents _delusion_ as the appropriate work of the arch-fiend. It is not for us to inquire by what means he operates upon the mind, because we know so little of the economy of the spiritual world, of the manner in which spirit can operate on spirit, and consequently of the nature of that influence which superior beings are capable of exercising upon others in this world, that we could at best only make a vague conjecture. It is sufficient for all moral purposes to ascertain the fact, that such an influence is possible to evil spirits, and permitted by Providence, that it forms a part of the trial of good men in this state of existence, and often tends to accelerate the too rapid progress of human impiety.
Satan then is possessed of great subtlety, and addicted to _wiles, snares_, and _devices_, for the purpose of deluding mankind. He is thus described by Christ: "He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the _truth_, because there is no _truth_ in him. When he speaketh a _lie_, he speaketh of his own; for he is a _liar_, and the father of it."
Peter, in addressing Ananias said, "Why hath _Satan_ filled thine heart to _lie_ to the Holy Ghost?" "We are not ignorant," says the same apostle, "of Satan"s _devices_." "If our Gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: in whom the G.o.d of this world _hath blinded the minds_ of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious Gospel of Christ, who is the image of G.o.d, should shine unto them."
"I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent _beguiled_ Eve through his subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ." In speaking of the deceptive practices of false apostles, he thus alludes to infernal power--"No marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light." And in writing to the Ephesians, Paul exhorts--"
Put on the whole armour of G.o.d, that ye may be able to stand against the _wiles_ of the devil." Antichrist is described by a similar allusion: "Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan, with all power, and signs, and _lying wonders_, and with all _deceivableness_ of unrighteousness." "And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit, and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, and cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should _deceive_ the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled; and after that he must be loosed a little season."
Satan doubtless attacks mankind by diversified modes of operation, and deceives them on various occasions and by different means. In the parabolical representations of our Lord, he is described as "_sowing tares_ in the field," and as "coming immediately" where the _word is sown_, "to take away the word that was sown in their hearts." This is indeed a _figurative_ statement, but nevertheless descriptive of a fact.
The essence of the representation is _real_, though decked out in the attractive garb of imagery, to win attention and to excite inquiry. To suppose otherwise in this or in other cases, would be to reduce Scripture to the standard of Tales for Children, or Arabian Nights" Entertainments.
What, then, is the truth intended to be conveyed here? It is that Satan possesses some mode of access to the human mind, that he is peculiarly attentive to the impression which the ministry of the word is producing, and that he uses his utmost skill to neutralize its effect: probably, by tempting the hearer to doubt its truth, to dispute its importance, or to defer immediate regard to its holy requisitions. And in the human heart there is such an ample supply of materials upon which to work--such a tendency to evil--such depravity of spirit--such corruption of nature--such love of the world--such enmity against G.o.d, that he soon succeeds in erecting an edifice of delusory hope, in which the deluded soul takes shelter from the sharp-pointed arrows of ministerial fidelity and scriptural appeal.
"Your adversary the devil," is represented as walking "about, seeking whom he may devour;" which intimates the _settled enmity_ of this spirit. He is your _adversary_--at once the most malignant, most subtle, most invisible, and often least suspected of all others. This pa.s.sage describes his _powerful superiority_; he is a _roaring lion_--remarkable for fury, strength, and zeal. It represents his _incessant activity, secrecy, and watchfulness_; "he _walketh about_." It proclaims his _destructive purpose_--"to _devour_." He is not, it seems, confined to place, but fixed in torment, and destined in all ages to suffer a perpetual aggravation of his misery, in consequence of the increase of his guilt, and the frequent discomfiture of his devices.
The severest contests of the Christian are with this adversary, who, being possessed of insinuating subtlety, powerful resources, constant vigilance, distinguished sagacity, and invisible means of operation, combined with infernal malignity, must be acknowledged to be a most formidable foe. It is both needless and unscriptural to a.s.sign ubiquity to Satan, but by himself and his emissaries he undoubtedly possesses a very extensive range in this lower world, and his favourite employment is to cherish the rebellious principle, to perpetuate the backsliding character, and thus to form the finished apostate. He observes with a vigilant inspection every tree planted in the garden of the Lord, and provided there be no real fruits of righteousness, he is not displeased at the leaves of profession. He knows this will never prevent the decree, "Cut it down, why c.u.mbereth it the ground?"
Pregnant with horrors as this subject appears to be, the Scriptures supply two most desirable sources of consolation, with the mention of which I shall hasten to conclude it.
1. While considering the terrific facts of the existence and works of the devil, recollect the _limitation of his agency_. If no kind of restraint were imposed upon his efforts, if his untractable malice were allowed to act with all its diabolical force, and were absolutely under no restrictions, the idea of his being and of his malignity would be unutterably appalling: but the giant foe is held in the mighty grasp of Omnipotence. His power is only permitted to operate to a certain extent, and under the regulations of certain laws ordained by the eternal mind. He who says to the raging ocean, "Here shall thy proud waves be stayed,"
a.s.signs the sphere of infernal influence, and places impa.s.sable barriers of a moral nature to his further encroachment. Evil of every description, and evil beings of every order, are under divine superintendence and control. The lion is chained--the dragon cannot add one cubit to his stature--a point to his tongue--or a drop to his venom. The serpent may hiss, but he cannot devour.
The influence of Satan resembles every other test that Divine Wisdom sees fit to apply to human character. It is probationary. The people of G.o.d are put to the proof, and their principles subjected to fiery trials. But gold will endure the furnace, and real piety will "resist the devil, and he will flee." He could tempt the Son of G.o.d, and he can torment his followers; but he possesses no compulsory power. His attacks can never be successful, unless _we_ give them efficacy by our criminal negligence and compliance.
Nor is it just to suppose, as many good people do to their inexpressible but useless alarm, that every individual is under his constant power, or every moment exposed to his incessant attacks. This would be to a.s.sign him a degree of omnipresence wholly incompatible with his nature and the economy of providence. Like other evil beings he _walketh about_. His movements may be more rapid as a spirit, and his capacities more extended and certainly his malignity more violent, than those of other wicked beings; still he is hut a creature--he has his appointed sphere of exertion--his capacities are finite--and he is observed by the unsleeping eye of G.o.d. He may prowl around the sheepfold of Christ, but the guard is too strong for him; and if he seize, or attempt the feeblest of the flock, Omnipotence will ultimately rescue the prey from the hand of the terrible.
2. Let us realize with holy satisfaction the _destruction of Satanic power_. "For this purpose the Son of G.o.d was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil." The apostle John, in his Revelation, describes "the devil" as "cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night forever and ever."