The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1902-10-10
A SERMON FOR SUNDAY
AN ELOQUENT DISCOURSE ENTITLED
THE DEVIL"
The Rev. DIR. j. wilbur Chapman Treats
Forbidden subject In - Novel Manner
why Men Are Disposed tn Laugh al
the Prince of Darkness.

j. Wilbur Chapman. the best known evan
gellst IN the country and one OF the most
popular pulpit orators OF New YORK. IL
Is entitled The Devil" and was preached
from the text And the Lord said unto
Satan. Whence comest thous Then Satan
answered the Lord and said. From going 20
and fro in the earth. and from walking up
and down in it Job /: !.
This is a forbidden subject We gener-
ally speak OF him who Is the subject OF my
sermon with a smile, and vet II Is sub
lect with which one ought certainly 10 be
perfectly familiar We have all had some
experience with him who Is the author Of
our distress. and who Is responsible for
every cloud though il be no larger than
mans hand that has cast itself upon the
sky OF our life. and yet | doubt not that
there are very many Of us that could not
give a very accurate explanation OF our
views. There are very many who scout
the idea OF personal devil az all, and this
view is much more general than we think.
| can quite understand how II should be
20, for Satan's master stroke of Policy Is
20 direct our minds from inquiry concern
ing his true character and the methods by
which he governs his kingdom. Some
times for the unregenerate he employs the
vehicle of darkness that he may blind the
minds of those who do not believe lest the
light of the Gospel of the glory of Christ
should dawn upon them and they should
believe. "In whom the God of this world
hath blinded the minds of them which be-
lieve not, lest the light of the glorious Cos
pei of Christ who is the image of God,
should shine unto them" Corinthians
4: 4 And sometimes 20 those who do be-
heye he transforms himself into an. angel
OF hight that he may delude them by his
snares. "And no marvel for Satan him.
self is transformed into an angel of light"
Corinthians IL IL.
The late DR. James II Brooks. of st.
Louis, one OF the greatest Bible teachers
in our country, said that it used TO be his
custom in his family worship 10 read the
New Testament through consecutively un-
I'll he came TO Revelation, and then he
would always turn back 20 Matthew and
read again 10 the Revelation, and then
back 10 Matthew once more until one day
sitting alone in his study he began 20 ques-
tion himself as TO why this was his habit,
and il occurred 10 him as he read the Rev
elation through that il must be because
this is the only book I'm the New Testa-
ment which tells of the doom of Satan.
and 1t is quite easy 10 understand why he
would turn the mind away from that book
which tells of his defeat.
Men don't believe in a devil now,
As their fathers used 10 do;
They've forced the door Of the broadest
creed,
To let hls form pass through,
There isn't a print of his cloven foot,
Or a fiery dart from his bow,
To be found IN earth or air to-day,
For the world has voted so.
"gut who is mixing the fatal draught
That palsies heart and brain,
And loads the bier of each passing wear
With ten hundred thousand slain?
Who bhghts the bloom of the land to-day
With ha 6arv hvoatb Of hal1p
II the devil isn't. and never was,
Won't somebody rise and tell?
"Who clogs the steps of the toiling saint
And digs the pits for his feet?
Who sows the tares in the fields OF time,
Wherever God sows His wheat?
The devil is voted not 20 be,
And, of course, the thing is true;
But who Is doing the kind of work
The devil alone should do?
I'VE are told he does not go around
Like a roaring hon now;
But whom shall we hold responsible
For the everlasting row
To be heard in home, in church and state,
To the earth's remotest bound,
II the devil, by a unanimous vote,
Is nowhere TO be found?
Wont somebody step to the front forth
And make his bow, and show
How the frauds and crimes OF a single day
Spring up? We want TO know.
The devil is fairly voted out
And of course the devils gone,
But simple folks would like TO know
Who carries his business on
Men are disposed to laugh about the
devil, but one might as well Jest concern
ing a cunning foe who continually tracks
his steps and waits 90 thrust his knife into
his heart lust as well lest about the one
who Is vile slanderer, and who waits 10
blast his reputation and cover his good
name with infamy
The other day in Brooklyn n woman
threw herself out OF the window Of five.
story building 70 escape the brutal tor
tures OF her drunken husband. She left
her little boy motherless and worse than
latherless That husba~ was in the clutch
of the one of whom ] speak at this time.
Would you make light OF such a foe as
this. The opening chapters OF Genesis
give US picture of happy pair IN Eden,
peace, purity, perfection and beauty every
where prevailed God looked upon il and
sad that IL was very good when suddenly
all was changed There - a marvellous
transformation; sin appears; the curse Is
everywhere; trouble begins and rolls high
like the mighty waves OF the sea, until the
world is engulfed IN the blackness of the
darkness OF despair. No wonder that we
feel like crying out again and again IN the
words Of the text, And the Lord said
unto Satan, Whence comest thouy Then
Satan answered the Lord and said, From
going 20 and fro IN the earth, and from
walking up and down IN it," II Is OF such
an adversary that ! speak, and he - not a
subject for Jestng. ! have TO- the past
ten years been laboring IN the interests Of
men, but somehow during the past three
months they have been upon me as spe-
cial burden ! have listened 90 their heart
breaking crjcs and their sobs Of despair,
and It Is with the memory Cf these tears
that have run like rivers, and the cry OF
many a man who feels himself 20 be lost
AZ he said, "Is there any hope" that /
bring 10 my readers this message
The devil is certainly not a myth. ]
shall give his names IN a little while and
call your attention % the fact that they
are all found IN the New Testament, so
this Is not an Old Testament delusion car.
ried down 20 the present time a. some
would have us believe, for a.mOs. OIL the
information concerning him we are de.
pendent upon the New Testament Scrip
tufes. The Old Testament is strangely ~.
lent. ] call your attention 20 this fact that
IL you read in the Old Testament the &C.
count Of the temptation and fall in Eden,
then the trouble Of job. then the number.
ing OF Israel BY David. and finally the Wis
ion Of Joshua. the high priest, and Satan
contending with him, you have the four
places where Satan is definitely mentioned
and his work particularly described The
evidences Of his existence are everywhere
% be seen IN the Old Testament. but these
are not IN direct statements. This does
away with the position of many people
who are disposed % say a good deal abOnt
the Satan myth, which had it. rise in the