ESSAY IV. SATAN. Extent of his power--his angels and ministers-incredulity on all subject characteristic of the present age-witchcraft-the devil and hell sources of popular amusement-is Satan a fallen Angel? AMONG the doctrines of Scripture there seems to be none more clear, and, one might have supposed, more undeniable, than that there is a being of great power and malignity, who is the enemy of man; and who has under his command other beings of similar disposition. He is called in the Scriptures of the Old Testament, Satan.* It seems unnecessary (as I am not writing a system of divinity, or endeavouring to collect all that might be said on the subject,) to enter 1 Chron. xxi. 1.; Ps. cix. 6; and joen Zech. iii. 2; Job i. 6-12; ii. 1. שטן * F into any proof that it was through his temptation that our first parents ate the forbidden fruit; and that by that act man came into his present state; but it is of importance to observe that man in his present state is represented in the Scriptures as being in "the power of Satan." Our Lord's declaration to St. Paul, that it should be a part of his apostolic office" to turn men from the power of Satan unto God," clearly implies that those to whom he was sent were under the power of Satan.† How great this power may be in what mode, or by what means it is exercised, it is not my purpose to enquire; in the present day it is needful to call the attention of men (even of Christians,) to the fact, that this power is declared to exist, and is described, in terms of terrific interest in the Scriptures. Satan is called "the GOD of this world," (2 Cor. iv. 2.) "The PRINCE of this world," (John xiv. 30, xvi. 11.) "The PRINCE of the power of the air" (Eph. ii. 2.); and without pretending very accurately to determine the full meaning of these expressions, we may *See 2 Cor. xi. 3; Rev. xii. 9, xx. 2. + See Acts xxvi. 18. surely infer from them, that the power of Satan over this world, and its inhabitants, is fearfully great. It appears, moreover, that it is not until that power is destroyed, that man will be free. We are told (1 John iii. 8.) that the object of our Lord's manifestation was, that he might destroy the works of the Devil; and not only so we are told that he suffered death, in order that he might destroy the Devil himself; (Heb. ii. 14.) and when this shall have been completed, those kingdoms of the world which were once offered to him by Satan shall become his own. "There was war in "heaven: Michael and his angels fought against "the dragon; and the dragon fought and his "angels, and prevailed not; neither was their 66. place found any more in heaven. And the "great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, "called the DEVIL, and SATAN, which deceiveth "the WHOLE WORLD: he was cast out into the "earth, and his angels were cast out with him. "And I heard a loud voice, saying in heaven, "Now is come salvation, and strength, and "the kingdom of our God, and the power of "his Christ: FOR the ACCUSER of our brethren "is cast down, which accused them before our "God day and night." Rev. xii. 7—10. From the mention of angels in this passage, as well as from some other parts of Scripture, we learn that Satan has many spirits under his control, of whose power, number, and precise nature, we have not perhaps the means of forming an accurate judgment. In this enlightened age any allusion to witchcraft, or. sorcery, or any of the miserable superstitions of our deluded forefathers, may probably excite a sneer; still I shall venture to say something on the subject. The first act of fallen man was to fly from his Maker." I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid;" and it has been so ever since. As the march of intellect, and man's wisdom, has gone on, mankind have shewn an increasing anxiety to break the golden chain that unites heaven and earth, and this is peculiarly observable in the present day. The spirit of this age is peculiarly characterized by a propensity to incredulity, and this forms, perhaps, one of its most striking features. By incredulity, I do not mean merely all that is included under the names of infidelity, scepticism, as those words are popularly used. True it is, that of late years, infidelity of the broadest kind has assumed an unprecedented OF tone of defiance to all authority, human and divine, and has spread but too widely among all classes of society; and what is worst of all, and most characteristic of the times, it has received extraordinary assistance from those who have considered it liberal and enlightened, to give free course, if not direct encouragement, to what they professed to consider as false and mischievous. It is true, also, that neology, or rationalism, has in its various forms taken possession of most Protestant churches; and has left the greater part with scarcely a form of godliness. But I do not particularly refer to these things; I rather refer to a spirit of general incredulity, as opposed to simple and credulous belief on all subjects-a disposition which, until it has passed a certain line, is absolutely necessary to a healthy state of mind-which, while it only enables a man to form his opinions by a sound and reasonable judgment, uncontrolled by the fancies of his mind, or the frailties of his body, and keeps him in sober independence, from being the dupe of others, or of himself, is most salutary -but which, when it passes that line, and becomes the habitual and predominant feeling, is in some cases a worse evil than those which it prevents. |