The Grenada sentinel. [volume] (Grenada, Miss.) 1868-1955, 1885-04-04

~
preached in two parts, March s, and %,
1856, by Rev. E. B. Miller, pastor of the
Baptist Church at Grenada and Duck
Hill.
.iNow the serpent was more crafty
than any beast OF the field which Je.
hovah, God made" Gen. 81. Or. Con-
ants Revision.)
The only apology for bringing before
YOU such an ugly character is that it will
better prepare you for other subjects in
our regular studies on Genesis.
/. The scripture account of the origin
Of the Devil.
/. The commonly received doctrine is
that satan u 'sfsllen angel" The scrip.
tures teach that there was 4 period in
which God existed salitarily.
God is revealed as the Creator of every
"living thing" and arguing from the
divine essence or nature Of God it would
be impossible for Him to create q being
whose nature should be essentially sinful
Then there must have been a period in
which the being now "called the Devil"
was pure and holy. He must have been
created as was Adam with the power of
of contrary choice. He was put on pro.
baton with host of other angels and
under the test whatever that was they
tell. Read Rev., 1928; .. Pet. "a Jude 6
and Liv. 10:18.
2. The cause of his fall seems to be
pride or an attempt to rival God. "Lest
being puffed up he fall into the con.
demnation of the devil" (Reyision of
1881 This view seems to be strength
ened by the crafty temptation brought
to bear on the minds Of the first pair.
"Ye shall be as gods."
II. The personality and peculiar ma
ture of the Devil.
The scriptures leave no more doubt as
to the real existence Of = personal Devil
than personal God. Aud the common
practice among the irreligious of treats
ing him as jest is one Of the results of
mis- deceiving craftiness.
Having supernatural power he can as
sumo different forms. In the text he ap-
pears as serpent. He could more suc>
cesstully influence Eve by assuming d
form familiar to her. There was no ani>
mostly between her and the serpent, be-
fore the fall. and perhaps serpents were
as friendly and as tsnderly fondled by
Eve as lap-dogs are by some of her
grand daughters. He sometimes takes
the form Of q dragon as in Rev. and
then the fashion of an "angel Of light"
as in 2. Cor, l1:14. The name "deviW
means slandersr while "Satsn" means
adversary. ...
His moral nature is the very opposite
of Gods moral nature. "Truth love and
purity or holiness" are the great moral
attributes OF God. The opposite of these
are talshood, hatred and impurity. He
is distinctly designated "liar and the
father Of it," There is constant refers
ence to unclean spirita and it is his fall
len nature to hate the good and holy.
His intellectual nature is set forth IN
the word "crafty" of the text
His sagacity is shown in his first at,
tack on the race. He made his assault
on the "weaker vessel" and that in the
absence of her husband.
Like threefold cord, not easily bro.
ken, his temptation had three strong in
ducements, the elusts of the flesh," the
slusts of the eyes," and the "pride of
life" No harm to look at and eat fruit
and surely every woman ought to ele.
vate herself in knowledge. You had
better be devil at once than to be
made God after the DEVILS fashion.
Also in the temptation of the Saviour
is shown his power and shrewdness of
mind. This trial is also threefold and re-
sembles the former just referred to, He
Just begged of Christ to show forth His
Messiahship. If thou be the Son of God
make bread of stones. Cast yourself
down from the pinnacle of the temple and
show all Jerusalem that you are the
Christ by this very feat. Alas! this is
his mode of attack still, He just leads
men on according to their own inclina-
tions and makes them think they are
free when in reality they are his slaves.
III. The power and authority of the
Devil over mankind.
1. The fact of his power is clearly
revealed. His influence for evil is the
experience of all; satanic influences
are exerted by external circumstances
which preachers call the "world" by IN
ternal inclinations called the, "fesh" and
by direct temptations called the "Devil."
His power is negatipe as shown in the
arabic of the sower and positive in the
arabic of tares. Paul claimed that his
mission was to turn men from darkness
to light and from the power of Satan
unto God" The evil one has power
over both mind and body. The source
of all mental error is the underworld.
The indictments for murder used to re-
fer to diabolical instigations as its cause.
Bodily affliction is also attributed to
him.
2. But his power is permitted and
limited by the inscrutable purposes OF
God. Christ in his incarnation showed
by direct expulsion Of demons that
Satan is under divine control.
In the book of Job it is constantly
implied that Satan is overruled. Man by
Gods help can "resist the devil and he
will flee from him."
8 He also has power among the laws
of nature. He is said to perform "living
wonders" The answers from heathen
oracles were the answers of the Devil.
Read Acts 16:10-1S,
Nv. The destiny and final Home Of
the old Serpent.