INTRODUCTION

Our subject in this chapter is The Devil. I have two texts—John 8:44: "The Devil....is."

The second text is 1 John 3:8: "The Devil Sinneth." The Bible doctrine concerning the Devil, his Existence, Nature, Character, Work and Destiny is a fundamental doctrine of the Christian faith, and is of vital importance. The teaching of the Bible on this subject is not a mere matter of theory or dogma. It is a matter of most practical every day importance. Experience shows that if men are in error in regard to this subject, they are pretty sure to be in error on other questions that are fundamental. When men and women begin to question the existence of a personal Devil it is pretty sure that before long they will be questioning a good many other things regarding which a true child of God should have no questions. Doubt of the existence of a personal Devil is widespread to-day. Many preachers in supposedly orthodox pulpits do not hesitate to say, "I do not believe in the existence of a personal Devil." Denial of the existence of a personal Devil is one of the main points in the system which is so widespread to-day, and which is doing so much evil, that with considerable reason it has been called "The Devil's Masterpiece"—Christian Science. A well-known and popular pastor in this city some months ago proclaimed to his people that he was going to preach to them a gospel "without an atonement of blood, without an infallible Bible, without hell, and without a personal Devil." If he does preach to them a system of doctrine without any of these he will preach some other system of doctrine than that which is contained in the book, which our Lord Jesus Christ has endorsed as the Word of God, i.e., the Bible.

I. THERE IS A DEVIL

The first point to make clear is that there is a Devil. This is plain from our first text, John 8:44: "The Devil....is." The whole verse reads: "Ye are of your father, the devil, and the lusts of your father it is your will to do: 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 thereof." These are the words of Jesus Christ. With any one who has any right to call himself a Christian, the words of Jesus Christ have infinitely more weight than the words of Mrs. Mary Baker Eddy or any one else, or all others together, and Jesus here says, "The Devil....is." But this is not the only passage by any means in which our Lord Jesus asserts in the most emphatic and most unmistakable terms the existence of the Devil. Turn to Matt. 13:19, and you will read these words: "When any one heareth the word of God, and understandeth it not, then cometh the evil one and snatcheth away that which has been sown in his heart." These words are found in the interpretation of a parable—the Parable of the Sower. It is impossible to say that these words are figurative. In parables we have figures, in the explanation of the parables we have the literal facts that the figures symbolise, and these words are not taken from the parable, but from our Lord's own explanation of the parable, and here we are distinctly told that there is a person, who is here called "The Evil One," whose business it is to snatch away the Word of God when it has been sown in hearts that do not understand and heed it. If evil is only impersonal and our Lord had only referred to impersonal influences, or human influences, as taking away the Word out of the hearts where it had been sown, these words of His would be utterly without meaning. That Jesus Christ believed that there was a person of whom He here speaks as "The Evil One" and of whom He elsewhere speaks, as we shall see directly, as "The Devil," admits of no doubt if we grant that the Lord Jesus was an honest man. We must, therefore, if we believe in the Lord Jesus, believe that there is a Devil. We can deny his existence only by questioning either the honesty or the intelligence of our Lord. He certainly taught that there was a Devil. It would be easy to show from the teachings of Peter (1 Pet. 5:8, 9; Acts 5:3) and from the teachings of John (John 13:2) and from the teachings of Paul (Eph. 6:10-12) also that there is a Devil; but that is unnecessary for any one who has any right to call himself a Christian, for if the Lord says so, that settles it, and the Lord Jesus does say "The devil....is." If there is no Devil, then our Lord Jesus was either a fool or a fraud. The question of believing in the personality of the Devil involves the honour of our Lord Jesus. If His teaching is not to be trusted on this point, it is not to be trusted on any other point, and the denial of a personal Devil involves the trustworthiness of the Lord Jesus as a Teacher and a Saviour at every point. So we see that the question of the existence of the Devil is fundamental and of vital importance.

II. THE NATURE OF THE DEVIL

Having settled it that there is a Devil, we now face the question as to the nature of the Devil.

1. First of all, the Bible teaches us that the Devil is a person. This comes out in our second text, 1 John 3:8: "The devil sinneth." Only a person can sin. When we say that the Devil is a person we do not mean that necessarily he has a body, certainly not such a body as he is pictured as having in various paintings and engravings that are supposed to represent the Devil. A person is any being who knows and feels and wills. When we say that the Devil is a person we mean that he is a being who has intelligence, feeling and will, that he is not a mere principle of evil. The personality of the Devil is taught over and over again in the Bible. Just a few illustrations in addition to our texts. Turn again to Matt. 13:19: "When any one heareth the word of God, and understandeth it not, then cometh the evil one, and snatcheth away that which hath been sown in his heart." The representation of this passage is the representation of a person. He is called "The Evil One," not merely "evil," but "The Evil One," which of course is the representation of a person. If evil is only impersonal, or if it only works through human beings, these words of our Lord Jesus would be without meaning. The personality of the Devil comes out again very clearly and very forcibly in Eph. 6:10-12: "Finally, brethren, be strong in the Lord and the strength of his might. (11) Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. (12) For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places." Here Paul distinctly tells us that the great reason why we need to be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might and why we need to put on the whole armour of God, is because there is a being of great cunning, subtlety and power, a person named "The Devil," and that this being has under him a multitude of other personalities of such dignity and power as to be called by the titles: "principalities," "powers," "world rulers," "spiritual hosts of wickedness." Beyond a question our Lord Jesus, and the Apostle Peter and the Apostle John and the Apostle Paul believed in and taught the existence of a personal Devil. If there is not a personal Devil we may as well give up our Bible, for in that case it is a book that is full of folly and of fraud. If there is not a personal Devil we must give up our belief in the inspired authority of the Apostle Paul, the Apostle Peter, the Apostle John, and we must give up our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. No intelligent student of the Bible can retain his faith in the inspiration and authority of that Book, or his faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, if he gives up belief in the existence of a personal Devil. As intelligent men and women, we must take our choice between believing in the existence of a personal Devil or giving up our faith in Jesus Christ and Christianity. Any system of doctrine that denies the existence of a personal Devil is radically unchristian whatever name it may arrogate to itself.

2. The second thing that the Bible teaches as to the nature of the Devil, is that, the Devil is a being of very great power and authority. This comes out in the verses we have just read, Eph. 6:10, 11: "Finally be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. (11) Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil." These words make it clear that the Devil is so mighty that the people of God cannot resist his cunning wiles without having on the whole armour of God, and it is also evident from the 10th verse that we cannot resist his power unless we are strengthened with the strength of God. And this is not all: in the 12th verse we read: (12) "For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places." These are tremendous words. If they mean anything, they certainly mean that there are beings of great authority and dignity who are under the leadership of the one supreme being of evil, the Devil. The conflict that we have on hand as believers in Christ is terrific. The conflict that the Allies have on hand with the mighty military forces of the Kaiser is nothing to the battle we have on hand with the Devil and his hosts. We are fools if we underestimate the battle. On the other hand, we must not over-estimate it. While our conflict is with the Devil, and while our wrestling is against "the principalities," against "the powers," against "the world-rulers," against "the spiritual hosts of wickedness," nevertheless He that is for us is far mightier than they. The Devil is mighty but our Saviour is almighty. It is quite possible for one to become morbid over this subject of the Devil, and to become utterly discouraged and even deranged. That is entirely unnecessary and unwarranted. While our conflict is with the Devil and his mighty hosts, God has provided for us a strength and an armour whereby we may "be able to quench all the fiery darts of the Evil One" and to "withstand in the evil day, and having done all to stand" (v. 13).

3. The third thing that the Bible teaches us as to the Nature of the Devil is that, the Devil is a being of great majesty and dignity of position. Turn to Jude 8, 9: "Yet in like manner these also in their dreamings defile the flesh, and set at nought dominion, and rail at dignities (the literal translation of the Greek word rendered dignities is "glories"). (9) But Michael the Archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing judgment, but said, The Lord rebuke thee." From these words it is evident that the position of the Devil was so exalted that even Michael the archangel did not dare to bring a railing judgment against him. The context seems to imply that the position of the Devil was more exalted than that of Michael the archangel himself. The Devil of the Bible is not at all the Devil of common thought. He is not a being hideous in appearance, with hoofs and horns and tail. He is not even the being pictured by Milton or Bunyan. He is a being of very great original majesty and dignity, a being of great wisdom and power. When people talk lightly and contemptuously about the Devil they display gross ignorance of what the Bible teaches about him. It is true that he is evil in character and therefore called "The Evil One" (John 5:19, R. V.). It is true he is a liar and a murderer (John 8:44), it is true that he is full of malignity (II Cor. 4:4): but he is a being of great dignity and majesty, so that even Michael the archangel durst not bring against him a railing accusation.

4. The Bible teaches furthermore that the Devil is "the prince of this world." Our Lord Jesus Himself taught this. He says in John 12:31: "Now is the judgment of this world; now shall the prince of this world be cast out." The Greek word translated "world" in this passage is kosmos, and the thought is of the present world order, and our Lord's teaching is that the Devil is the prince of this present world order. We have the same teaching of our Lord in John 14:30, where we read: "I will no more speak much with you, for the prince of the world cometh: and he hath nothing in me." These words of our Lord are found in what many regard as the most precious chapter in the Bible, the 14th chapter of John, and if we give up this teaching of our Lord regarding Satan we must give up, not merely the Bible as a whole, but this most precious chapter in the Bible. We find the Lord teaching the same thing again on that same night, the night before His crucifixion, in John 16:11 where he says: "The prince of this world is judged"—the evident reference being to Satan.

How the Devil came to be Prince of this world it may be impossible for us to say, but that he is so admits of no question, if we are to accept the teaching of Jesus Christ, and any one who will study the ruling principles of commercial life, of political life, of social life, and above all of international relations, to such an one it will become perfectly evident that the Devil is the one who is master of the present order of things. If we ever doubted before that there was a Devil, and just such a Devil as the Bible pictures, we can scarcely doubt it now, when we consider the action of the rulers of the earth in this present mad world war. How could beings so intelligent in matters of science and philosophy and economics as the present rulers of Germany are, ever be guilty of plunging the nations of the earth into this mad war? There is but one reasonable answer: because there is a Devil who rules the present Kosmos, or world order, and he controls the Kaisers and the Reichstags of the world and will until the true Prince comes, the Prince of Peace, our Lord Jesus Christ.

III. THE CHARACTER OF THE DEVIL

1. As to the character of the Devil, the Bible teaches us that he is a being absolutely wicked. In Matt. 13:19 he is called, "The Wicked One." That is to say, he is one who is the personal embodiment of absolute wickedness. In I John 5:19 R. V. also he is called "The Wicked One." God is "The Holy One," that is to say the One who is the personal embodiment of perfect holiness. The Devil is just His opposite, the personal embodiment of consummate wickedness.

2. The Devil is to evil what God is to good. In I John 3:8, we read: "He that doeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. To this end was the son of God manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil." This does not mean that the Devil sinned from the very origin of all things and that he was created sinful, for we learn from Ezek. 28:15 that the Devil was created upright. The verse does mean, however, that Satan is the original sinner. The expression "from the beginning" is characteristic of the epistle from which these words are taken and does not necessarily mean from the origin of things (see for example verse 11). In a similar way we are told in one of our texts—John 8:44—that the Devil was a murderer from the beginning and that he is "A liar and the father of it." There is absolutely "no truth in him." So much for the nature and character of the Devil.

IV. THE WORK OF THE DEVIL

We come now to the question of the Work of the Devil, or How the Devil Manifests Himself, and What He Does.

1. In the first place we are taught that the Devil tempts men to sin. We have a most striking illustration of this in his temptation of our Lord. We have in the Bible three accounts of this temptation. We will look at Matthew's account. Matt. 4:1-9: "Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. (2) And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he afterward hungered. (3) And the tempter came and said unto him, If thou art the son of God, command that these stones become bread. (4) But he answered and said, It is written, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. (5) Then the devil taketh him into the Holy City; and he set him on the pinnacle of the temple. (6) And saith unto Him, If thou art the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, he shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and, on their hands they shall bear thee up, lest haply thou dash thy foot against a stone. (7) Jesus said unto him, Again it is written, thou shalt not make trial of the Lord thy God. (8) Again, the devil taketh him unto an exceeding high mountain, and showeth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; (9) And He said unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me." Of course we have not time this morning to go into the whole question of our Lord's temptation, but this much is certainly plain, that the Devil is represented as the tempter, tempting our Lord. If there is no personal Devil, as so many would have us believe, or if he is not the tempter, there would be absolutely no reason for bringing him into this account. As the Devil tempted our Lord, so he tempts us to-day. And it is to be noticed that he does not tempt us merely to gross animal lusts and vile sins, but with subtle spiritual temptations, and above all he tempts us to doubt God's Word. It was with this form of temptation that he first assaulted our Lord. God had just said to the Lord Jesus at His baptism, "Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased" (Luke 3:22), and Satan came insinuating doubt of God's Word by beginning his temptation with these words: "If thou art the Son of God," and again further down in the temptation, he repeats the doubt, saying to the Lord Jesus again: "If thou art the Son of God." In just the same way Satan began his assault upon Eve in the Garden of Eden, by insinuating a doubt of God's Word and of God's goodness. He began by saying: "Yea, hath God said....?" (Gen. 3:2), and further on when Eve stated exactly what God had said, the Devil flatly contradicted and said: "Ye shall not surely die" (literally, Dying, thou shalt not die) when God had said: "Thou shalt surely die" (Dying, thou shalt die). This is Satan's favourite method of attack to-day. He gets us to doubt God's Word. Satan's most effective mode of work is by leading men into doubt and into error on fundamental points. The saloons and the gambling hells and the brothels are not the chief spheres of Satan's activities, but the schools and colleges and theological seminaries where he is inducing men and women, and callow youths and maidens, to doubt the truth of God's Word, and to reject the fundamental truths of God's word and accept Satan's errors in their place. Satan knows well; that, if he can get men to doubting God's Word, it is easy to lead them into the vilest sins. False doctrine has been a more prolific source of the vilest sins than even the saloons.

2. But Satan not merely tempts men to sin by insinuating doubts of God's Word, he also has his synagogues and ministers among men to do his work. Turn to Rev. 3:9: "Behold, I give of the synagogue of Satan, of them that say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee." What I wish you to notice here are the words, "The synagogue of Satan." In this case it was a Jewish synagogue, but now-a-days, it is often a so-called Christian church. In II Cor. 11:14, 15 we have an even more remarkable passage: "For even Satan fashioneth himself into an angel of light. (15) It is no great thing therefore if his ministers also fashion themselves as ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works." Here we are told that Satan has his ministers. They do not advertise themselves as ministers of Satan, oftentimes they are not even conscious that they are; but they put themselves forward as "ministers of righteousness." They advocate "ethical culture," a system of salvation without atoning blood. They are frequently men of very attractive personality and great intellectual brilliance and ability, but they are doing the Devil's work. Satan is never so dangerous as when he "Fashioneth himself into an angel of light," and no other ministers of his are so dangerous as the men and women of attractive personality and brilliant intellectual gifts who are undermining the faith of God's children, or who are teaching various forms of seductive and alluring error, "Christian Science," "New Thought," "Theosophy," "Occultism" (Spiritualism), and all that species of cults.

3. We have not time to speak here of Satan's work as the author of sickness (Acts 10:38; Luke 13:16), and as the one who has the power of death (Heb. 2:14).

4. But we must also speak of another work of the Devil. It is set forth in II Cor. 4:3, 4, R. V.: "And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled in them that perish: (4) In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of the unbelieving, that the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God should not dawn upon them." We read here that it is the work of Satan to blind the minds of unbelievers in order "That the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should not dawn upon them." It is evident then that the Devil is the author of false views, especially false views of the person of Christ. He is the author of Unitarianism, and the denial of the Deity of our Lord in all its forms. He so blinds the minds of men who submit to his blinding that the Divine "Glory of Christ," "who is the very image of God," is hidden from them. This explains why it is that Unitarianism in all its various forms persists even after its folly has been so often exposed. Satan's work along this line is to culminate at the appearing of the Anti-Christ, "Even he, whose coming is according to the working of Satan with all power, and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceit of unrighteousness for them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved." (II Thess. 2:9, 10, R. V.)

V. THE DEVIL'S DESTINY

We come now to the fifth general division of our subject—The Devil's Destiny.

1. Turn in the first place to Rev. 20:1-3: "And I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the keys of the abyss and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold of the dragon, the old serpent, which is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, and cast him into the abyss, and shut it, and sealed it over him, that he should deceive the nations no more, until the thousand years should be finished: After this he must be loosed for a little time." We are here taught that at the Second Coming of our Lord Jesus Christ Satan shall be bound with a great chain and cast into the abyss for a thousand years. The abyss, or as it is translated in the Authorised Version, "bottomless pit," does not mean hell. Satan, as we shall see further on, shall be cast into hell later.

2. Turn now to Rev. 20:7, 8: "And when the thousand years are finished, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, and shall come forth to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to the war: The number of whom is as the sand of the sea." We are here taught that at the end of the Millennium, the thousand years, Satan shall be loosed for a little season from the abyss into which he has been cast chained, and that he shall come forth to deceive the nations. But the time of his power then will be very brief.

3. In Rev. 20:10 we find the ultimate destiny of the Devil: "And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where are also the beast and the false prophet; and they shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever." Here is one of the points at which the theories of the "Reconciliation" people and "Universalists" generally break down. The argument of the Reconciliationists and Universalists, by which they attempt to prove that all men must ultimately be saved, carried to its logical issue, if it proved anything, would prove the salvation of Satan also, and this many of them do teach. They say plainly that the Devil will ultimately be brought to repentance and saved. Indeed that is what I believed and taught in my early ministry. But this passage which we have just read shows the impossibility of this being true. "The lake of fire" was "prepared for the Devil and his angels." Our Lord Himself says in Matt. 25:41 that when He comes back to judge this world He will say to those on His left hand: "Depart from me, ye cursed into the eternal fire, which is prepared for the devil and his angels." Hell was not prepared for men, but for the Devil and his angels. If any man goes there it will be because he has chosen to cast in his lot with the Devil rather than with God. Therefore they go where the Devil goes. Every one who rejects Jesus Christ is throwing in his lot with the Devil.

VI. HOW TO GET VICTORY OVER THE DEVIL

Now just for a few moments let me show you from the Word of God, how, in practical every day life, to get the victory over the Devil. There are four things to be borne in mind.

1. Read first, James 4:7, "Be subject therefore unto God: but resist the devil, and he will flee from you." This teaches us that, we are first of all to surrender to God and then to resist the Devil and that, if we do resist him, for all his cunning and power, he will flee from us. Although the Devil is strong, it is ours in God's strength to withstand him and overcome him.

2. Now turn to I John 2:14: "I have written unto you, fathers, because ye know him which is from the beginning. I have written unto you young men, because ye are strong, and the word of God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the evil one." This passage teaches us that, it is when we feed upon the Word of God and store the Word of God in our hearts, thus having it abiding in us, that we shall be able to overcome the Devil. If we neglect the study of the Bible for a single day, we leave an open door for the Devil to enter. I have been a Christian for forty-three years, but I would not dare to neglect the study of God's word for one single day. Why not? Because there is a Devil; and, if I neglect the study of the Word of God for a single day, I leave a window open for him to enter and leave myself too weak to cope with him and conquer him. But if we will feed upon the Word of God daily, and trust in God, we can resist the devil at every point. Though the Devil is cunning and strong, God is stronger, and God imparts His strength to us through His written word.

3. Turn now to Eph. 6:11: "Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil." Here we are taught that, in order "to stand against the wiles of the Devil" we must "Put on the whole armour of God." What that armour is, is found in the verses that immediately follow. This armour, this whole armour, this "panoply of God," is at our disposal. The fact that there is a Devil, that he is a being of such majesty, dignity, cunning, and power, that he is so incessantly plotting our ruin and to undermine our faith, is no reason for fear or discouragement. By taking "the shield of faith" we shall be "able to quench all the fiery darts of the evil one," by taking "the helmet of salvation," and the "sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God," and by "praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit," it is our privilege to have victory over the Devil every day of our lives, every hour of the day, and every minute of the hour.

4. The final step in the way to get victory over Satan is found in Eph. 6:10: "Finally, be strong in the Lord, and in the strength of his might." The way to get victory over Satan is to give up all confidence in our own strength and believe in the almighty strength of Jesus Christ and claim that strength for ourselves. It is in the strength of Jesus Christ's might that we shall get the victory over "the evil one." In the strength of His might, as we have already said, it is our privilege to have victory over the Devil every day of our lives, every hour of the day and every minute in the hour. Hallelujah!