Newport weekly independent., 1902-10-03
SATAN'S FOOTPRINTS
They Run Hither and Thither
 Through All the Earth.
Han DeRed and Defeated, But Christ Vanquishes the Foe of Humanity Sermon by the "HiEhway
 and Byway" Preacher.
(Copyright, 1902, by A. N. Kellogg News
 paper Col


 Text: "And the Lord said unto Satan, Whence comest thou? Then Satan answered the Lord and said: From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and doWn~in it.-Job. 1:7.
 A Remarkable Interview.-God's Word opens up to us in the story or Job most startling vision of the un- seen and spirit realm. Satan Is re- vealed to us standing in the presence of God and talking with Him regard ing events in the earth During the period antedating the creation of man Scripture intimates that one of the angels of Heaven, who was very high in the counsels of God and exercised great power in the spirit realm, re- belled against the authority of the triune God and was cast out with those who had joined him in his insurrection. Christ declares in Luke 10: IS that He ''beheld Satan as lightning fall from Heaven," so that limited as our knowl- edge is regarding this tremendous mystery of the spirit world we know there was portion of Gods universe from which Satan was forever ban- ished. But he seemed still to have ac- cess to a place where he could meet and talk with God, and our text repre- sents such an occasion.
 It may even be that Satan was obliged to appear at the will and com mand of God, to regularly give an ac- count of his activities in the earth to which he had been banished, for while his power was very great and he was in rebellion against God, it is but req sonable to suppose that the Supreme Ruler of the universe still exercised certain restrictive powers over him. The moment Satan rebelled against God his doom was sealed, but He Who is from everlasting to everlasting, Je hovah God, the great AM, works on gigantic plan, and the destruction of Satan was to be wrought out by a mar velous system of redemption in which sin was to be forever punished and the righteousness of God was to be glori ously triumphant.
 Satan's Activity.-The context from which our text is taken declares that Satan appeared before the Lord Who said unto him: "Whence comest thou" To which Satan, seemingly in an off hand and evasive way, replied: "From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it," intimat- ing that he had things pretty much his own way. He went to and fro in the earth exercising dominion and power and apparently meeting no opposition. He walked whither he would into the homes and into business, into pleas ures and human loves, into sorrows and afflictions and into death itself where he foreclosed the mortgage on the soul and held it to his eternal destruction. In the period of the worlds history during which Job lived Satan seems, as we have said, to have had things in the earth pretty much all his own way. The print of the cloven hoof could be traced hither and thither through the whole earth. What an indefatigable traveller he was and how unceasing and untiring in the oversight of his dominions! Back and forth, back and forth; up and down, up and down, un- til the hoofprints no longer marked a trail, but filled in urbroken confusion the fair face of the earth God had y has not ceased his travels or his activ- ity, but continues now, as then, in "go- ing to and fro in the earth and walk ing up and down in it."
 Wherever there is human soul there the hoofprints of the Devil lead. and he uses his best endeavor to lure that soul away from God. Peter holds up a roaring lion as picture of the way in which Satan goes about seeking whom he may devour. Unrelenting in the pursuit of his prey, displaying the utmost cunning in tracking and seiz- ing 1t, and fierce and cruel when once the prey is within his powerful jaws, what glimpse Scripture gives us of the Devil. And it is true and faith full picture, too. But you must not for get that he goes around in disguise and dons sheep's clothing or appears as an angel of light. But under the sheep's clothing and behind the angelic vision of light there is still the lion nature which is ready to tear to pieces and de- stroy as soon as the yawning jaws have safely closed upon the intended victim.
 By consummate patience and skill Satan has wormed his way into the lives of nations and individuals throughout the ages and wrought their destruction. There is no place on this earth that is free from the marks of the cloven hoof. The black stains stretch from the snowcapped icebound mountains of the north tC the regions of the antarctic. They girdle the earth from east to west ir