SATAN-- OR SPIRITISM AT ITS SOURCE

I

SATAN is the source of Spiritism, and since the Bible is the only place in which we can learn anything reliable about him, we now open its pages for that purpose.

As we are writing for Christians chiefly, it is assumed that the Bible is the revelation of God and not only credible as to its statements of fact but an inspired record of them. The evidence of this is convincing and never more so than in the twentieth century, as could easily be demonstrated if circumstances permitted or required it.

Even the casual reader of the Bible will recall the outstanding occasions when Satan appears on its scenes. First, as the "serpent" in the Garden of Eden tempting and overcoming our first parents, for twice in the New Testament the serpent is identified with the devil and Satan (Rev. XII. 9; XX. 2). Next, in the history of Job (chapters I and II); then, later, in vision, in the Old Testament as the accuser of Israel after their return from Babylon (Zech. III).

In the New Testament he first comes before us as Christ's tempter in the wilderness (Matthew IV and its parallels); he entered into Judas to betray Christ (John XIII. 27), and into Ananias and Sapphira to lie to the Holy Ghost (Acts V. 3). He hindered Paul in his missionary work (I Thess. II. 18); he is said to walk about as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour (I Pet. V. 8), and in the end of this age he will give his power to the Lawless one to deceive, if possible, the very elect (Matthew XXIV. 24; 2 Thess. II. 8-10); Rev. XIII. 1, 2).

Satan has many names in Scripture, each of which reveals some feature of his character. "Satan" itself means the Adversary; "devil, " (slanderer); "Apollyon," (destroyer); "Beelzebub," (prince of the demons); "Belial," (low, abject); "the wicked one"; "the god of this world"; "the prince of darkness"; "the dragon," "tormentor," "accuser," "deceiver," "liar," "murderer," "he that hath the power of death." This sufficiently reveals the kind of being he is and furnishes a reason why we should beware of him.

II

As to the origin of Satan, those who class the cherubim as angels, think he was one of them, and anointed probably for a position of great authority. This authority may have been over primitive creation, i.e., heaven and earth as at first created, and before the earth became without form and void (Gen. I. 1).

He fell through pride (Isa. XIV. 12-14). Some think he was then cast out of heaven according to Christ's words in Luke X. 18, on which supposition, he then made the earth and the air the scene of his activity (Eph. II. 2; I. Pet. V. 8).

A scriptural basis for this conjecture is in Ezekiel XXVIII. n-15. The chapter is a rebuke of the King of Tyre, but at the verses named the language goes beyond him to Satan described in his unfallen state.

If this interpretation is correct, the chapter teaches much about Satan, which is summed up by Dr. R. A. Torrey in "What the Bible Teaches," thus:

1. He was the sum of created perfection, v. 12.

2. He was in the garden of God, v. 13. This does not mean the Eden of Adam, but an earlier one. The Eden of Adam was remarkable for its vegetable glory, but this for its mineral glory. Cf. Revelation XXI. 10-21.

3. He was the anointed cherub that covereth, v. 14. First, he was a "cherub", the highest rank in the angelic world. Second, "the anointed" cherub, i.e., one who was set apart for a formal work. Third, the anointed cherub that "covereth." The meaning of this word is not given, though it suggests Exodus XXXVII. 9.

4. He was upon the holy mountain of God, v. 14, which may mean the place where God manifested His personal glory.

5. He walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire, v. 14. This suggests Exodus XXIV.

10, 17, R.V., and Ezekiel I. 15, 22, 25, 26, R.V. In the former the seventy elders saw the Lord of Israel, and "there was under His feet as it were a paved walk of sapphire stone", and "the appearance of the glory of the Lord was like devouring fire on the top of the mount." This may afford an idea of what the "stones of fire" were, and indicate how near Satan may have been to God.

6. His heart was lifted up because of his beauty, v. 17. Cf. I Timothy III. 6 R.V.

7. He was cast out of the mountain of God, and destroyed from the midst of the stones of fire, v. 16.

8. He shall be cast to the earth and be made a spectacle, vv. 17, 18. Cf. with 2 Thessalonians 11. 8; Revelation XII. 9, 10, and XIX. 20.

III

To go a little further into the nature and character of Satan:

(1) He is a person, i.e., he possesses self-consciousness and free-will, because the facts stated in the preceding paragraphs could not be predicted of an influence or a principle of evil.

(2) He has great dignity, since he is styled the "prince," "the god of this world," and "prince of the power of the air," and it is said that Michael the Archangel "durst not bring against him a railing judgment," (John XII. 3152 Cor. IV. 4; Eph. II. 2; Jude 8, 9, R.V.).

(3) He has great power, since he is able to control the forces of nature, human property and life, demons, the world-rulers of darkness, and the whole world of men out of Christ, (Job I. 10-12; Luke XL 14-1S; I John V. 19 R.V.; Acts XXVI. 18; Eph. VI. 11, 12).

(4) He has great cunning and deceit, since he transforms himself into an angel of light, uses wiles and devices, signs and lying wonders (Matthew XXIV. 24; 2 Cor. II. 11; 2 Cor. XL 14; Eph. VI. 11, 12 R.V.; 2 Thess. II. 9, R.V.)-

(5) He has great malignity, being called the evil one, a liar, a murderer, and a sinner from the beginning (Matthew V. 37; Luke VIII. 12; John VIII. 44; 2 Cor. IV. 4; I John III. 8).

(6) He has great fear, for if we resist him he will flee from us (James IV. 7).

IV

As to Satan's present location and his work, he is referred to as being in the heavenly places, and also as going to and fro in the earth. As in the age to come, Christ and His Church, though abiding in the heavenly places, will rule an earthly people, so now Satan and his hosts abiding in the heavenly places are ruling an earthly people. (Job I. 6, 7; Eph. VI. 11, 12; I Peter V. 8; Rev. XII. 9).

As to his work:

( 1 ) He is the author of sin and tempts to sin (Gen. III. 1-6; I Chron. XXI. 1; Matt. IV);

(2) He produces sickness and has the power of death (Luke XIII. 16; Acts X. 38; Heb. II. 14);

(3) He lays snares for men (I Tim. III. 7);

(4) He takes the Word of God out of their hearts (Matt. XIII. 19);

(5) He puts wicked purposes into their hearts (Eph. IV. 27);

(6) He blinds their minds (2 Cor. IV. 4, R.V.);

(7) He harasses and accuses them (2 Cor. XII. 7; Rev. XIII. 9, 10);

(8) He enters into them (John XIII. 27);

(9) He does all this and more by means of the angelic messengers who carry on his work (2 Cor. XL 14, 15; Rev. III. 9).

Happily however, there are certain limitations of his work and power. For example, being a finite and created being he can be only in one place at one time, though what is done by his agents being attributed to him, he is practically ubiquitous.

In the second place, it is reassuring to know that his influence over the bodies of men is entirely subject to God's control (Job II. 7; Luke XIII. 16; Acts X. 38), and that his influence over the souls of men is simply moral. That is to say, he may offer suggestions and deceive or persuade men, but he is absolutely unable to change their hearts or coerce their wills. "Every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed" (Jas. I. 14).

Our responsibility in regard to Satan therefore, is threefold: We are to watch against him (I Peter V. 8); to give no place to him (Eph. IV. 27 ); and to resist him (Jas. IV. 7 ).

We watch against him as the context of the passage shows, by humbling ourselves under the mighty hand of God and casting all our anxiety upon Him. We give no place to him by restraining wrath and eschewing falsehood; and we resist him by the Sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God.

V

It remains to say that there are two ways in which Satan is particularly manifesting himself today in the lives and affairs of men. The Sunday School Times recently called it "the devil's worldwide revival." One is in the form of demonism and the other spiritism, though the two are closely allied.

1. By demonism is meant just now the Worship of demons and human possession by demons. We learn from the Bible that the apostate Israelites sacrificed to demons, and that the gods of the heathen were demons. Paul charged the Athenians with being too much addicted to demon worship, which is the real meaning of the word "superstitious" in Acts XVII. 22. He also adds that the things which the Gentiles sacrificed they sacrificed to demons and not to God.

It is true that the Bible teaching about demoniacal possession has been denied by some, who explain the symptoms referred to as those of physical disease simply. They admit that Christ taught the contrary, but meet this by saying that He conformed His language to the vulgar notions of the times, the same argument as they use with reference to other subjects of His teaching, the Mosaic authorship of the Pentateuch, for example.

Nevertheless, the New Testament puts it beyond question that demoniacs were possessed by demons. For example:

( 1 ) They evinced superhuman strength and knowledge, even recognizing Jesus as the Son of God, as well as His power and purpose to punish the ungodly.

(2) In addressing Him, the demons distinguished themselves from the persons they tormented, saying in the case of the Gadarenes, "What have we to do with Thee, Jesus?" and "If Thou cast us out, suffer us to go away into the deep" (Matt. VIII. 28-31).

(3) In delivering those who were possessed, Christ spoke not to the persons themselves, but to their tormentors, saying to the latter, "Go" or "Come out". In other instances also the demons are expressly distinguished from the diseases they created, as when we read of Christ that they brought unto Him all sick people, and those that were possessed with demons, and those that were lunatic.

Nor is demoniacal possession limited to the time of Christ. It existed before Christ came, because the Jews of His day professed to cast out demons, showing that the phenomenon was not new to them; and it existed after He departed, because He commissioned His disciples to cast out demons, a commission upon which they acted.

Early church fathers testify to the casting out of demons in their day, and the Reformation fathers do the same. It exists now as seen in our Missionary annals, especially that recent volume, Demons and Demon Possession, by Dr. Nevius, and in current discussions on Theosophy and Spiritism and Speaking with Tongues.

Finally, demoniacal possession will constitute one of the awful features of the tribulation at the end of this age, as is clearly indicated, in the book of Revelation. The battle of Armageddon for example, is to be brought about by the spirits of demons working miracles (Rev. XVI. 14).

VI

2. The other way in which Satan is manifesting himself and is likely to do so until the end of the age is in Spiritism. The dictionary defines it as the belief that the spirits of the dead communicate with and manifest their presence to men. It is supposed that they usually do this through the agency of a human person called a medium. As was stated before, we deny that the spirits of the dead do this, but we affirm that there is a counterfeit materialization of the dead by demons. That is, demons assume a material and bodily form to deceive the living into the belief that they are communicating with the dead.

In other words, we believe that certain facts of Spiritism are true. There are some things which pass for facts that are not facts, for Satan has no desire that his work should become too apparent, but nevertheless there is a basis of fact underlying the pretensions of Spiritism, which we must not only admit but insist upon as a testimony against it.

The scientists bear witness that while there is a large element of fraud in Spiritism, there is still a residuum of facts demanding explanation. They would refer some of these to the powers of the human mind, the "subliminal consciousness," just below the level of the normal waking life, but there are still other manifestations for which that explanation will not suffice, and to which such men testify as Alfred Russell Wallace, Sir Wm. Crookes, Sir Oliver Lodge and the late Professor William James of Harvard. It is Sir Wm. Crookes who, in his Evidences of Spiritualism, said "that certain phenomena occur under circumstances in which they can not be explained by any physical law at present known, is a fact of which I am as certain as I am of the most elementary fact in chemistry."

Coming to the Bible however, and it is upon that we stand, v/e find God legislating for Israel, and saying, "A man also, or woman, that hath a familiar spirit, or one that is a wizard, shall surely be put to death (Lev. XX. 27)." This means those who are instructed in the art of intercourse with demons, and the warning it expresses is repeated in one form or another in the Old Testament very frequently as we shall see.

Moreover, take such illustrations as the story of Saul and the Witch of Endor, or that of Paul and the Philippian damsel. The latter was what is now called a medium, and according to the Greek was possessed by the spirit of Pytho, the same that guided the Delphic oracle. Her testimony to Paul and his companions proves that the messengers of Satan sometimes speak truth, when it is to their advantage to do so, but more of this later.