The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1910-09-17

Topic Resist the devil. How.-Jas. /,
Lilo. / Pet. V. :. .. Edited by Rev. Shef
man II. Doyle. y. D.
There are many references in thu
word of God TO the devil. The wor,
devil means ''slanderer," and in Thu
particular we see his name illustrates
in the book of Job. where he SANDER
Job before God The name Satan.
SO frequently applied to him. means
adversary" In the temptation of Eve
this is the word that Is used. simply
adversary" But Satan is particular
~ the adversary of the human soul
Having lost his own spiritual position
in relation to God, he Is everlastingls
engaged in leading the souls Of men
and women astray, that they may be
as he is. This is also characteristic
of those whom Satan has won to sin
and evil. We would imagine that
those who have fallen into sin and
have experienced its consequences
would strive to warn others and to
keep them from falling. But, alas. in
most cases they delight to draw them
down to their own level. 1t is a mon-
strous trait Of an evil one. yet 1t Is
true. The spirit of the devil in this re-
spect seems to possess them. How nee
essary, therefore, to resist the devil. .
not even for our own sakes, but to es-
cape such a doom as delighting in
running the eternal souls of others.
The origin Of the devil is not greatly
dwelt upon in the Scriptures. 1t Is,
however. distinctly taught that he Is
real spiritual being, once an angel
from heaven who was cast out of heav-
en- for some sin, probably the sin of
ambition. as Milton declares In para
disc Lost" The Bible does teach that
the devil is a spiritual being. pos
sessing Il power far above man and
possessing great skill and tact In at
lacking the weak places in mans spir-
itual character. Your adversary. the
devil. walketh about, seeking whom
he may devour." If he were a phys
ical foe we might not fear him so
much, but being a powerful, unseen
enemy. knowing just when and how to
attack us. we do indeed need to be
constantly on our guard against him
and his associates, the evil spirits of
sinful men.
How are we to resist the devil? We
should, that is sure, for James says.
Resist the devil and he will fee from
you" Evil in any form is usually
cowardly. Satan and sinful men seek
easy victims. but are afraid Of strong,
vigilant souls. We should therefore
resist him. a. By submitting our souls
to God. Then, with the armor of God
around us, God will fight our battles,
and God is more powerful than the
devid. e. By prayer. In temptation GO
to God in prayer. Draw night unto
God. and the nearer you go to Him the
farther you will go from the devil
81 Be on your guard at all times. BE
sober. be vigilant,' resisting the devil
In the faith. ~ Fill your life with
good thoughts and good deeds and the
devil will have no chance to success
fully tempt you. "Cease to do evil by
learning to do we'll" Humble your.
selves in the sight Of the Lord and He
will draw thee up" % Use the Scrip.
ture as a sword Of offense and de-
tense. 1t is double edged and can dc
great harm. Thus Christ beat OIL
Satan in the great temptation. Satan
used the Scripture. falsely interpret.
ed, as he and his associates so often
attempt today i'll the warfare against
Christ. But Christ understood the
Bible too we'll for him. In each in.
stance Christ used also the sword OF
the Spirit. the Bible. only He thrust II
little r"e"~,,; '..> the :1vf.spry. and