The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser., 1915-08-20

VI Selldl ulSpOSlClOIl, 0Hl1n6Itly proper
in his conduct, and to the world seem
to be deeply spiritual, but at the same
time be utterly devoid of power.
Satan's Modern Tactics.
But there is an application of the
words other than to the individual
man. Satan, the malicious adversary
of man since his creation, is working
today as vigorously as ever and he
makes use Of the best methods with
in his power. In the earlier days of
ignorance and superstition he worked
through terror. He threatened men
who would not follow him with death,
oftentimes in its most painful and re-
voting form, and as long as this
method worked, for Satan is a prag-
matist of the finest type, he employed
It.
This method prevailed through
many centuries with varying success.
At the close of the middle ages Satan
used this method through the corrupt
Christian church because into that
church ignorance and superstition had
crept and were dominant, so that autos
da-fe, wheels of torture and other
horrible physical torments were used
to make men yield the truth in Christ
Jesus. The method of force was not
entered the intellectual field and has
tried, by force of human wisdom, to
compel men to give up the truth, so
we had the days of deists, skeptics
and inf1dels of various kinds. These,
however, are rarely before us now
and anyone that would pose as an
open inf1del and an opposer of the
essentials of Christianity, would have
a small following.
The Form Of GodIiness.
Satan has changed his method. but
has the same malice and Is deter
mined to ruin the souls of men and
women. He does this through ennis
saries on the earth who have taken
on them the form of godliness. Never
in the history Of the world have there
been so many men and societies pro.
Tossing to be the teachers Of the
truths Of the Bible as today. and yet
many of these are simply the ennis
saries Of Satan. Paul tells in 2 Cor.
II: 1915: For such are false apos-
ties, deceitful workers, Transforming
And no marvel; for Satan himself is
transformed into an angel of light.
Therefore 1t Is no great thing If his
ministers also be transformed as the
ministers of righteousness; whose
end shall be according to their
works"
These men, and sometimes women,
pose as teachers of the Word and
take to themselves great virtue be-
cause they denounce other professed
teachers of the Word as insincere, and
thus secure very large following
in many cases. Many of these seem
to be very sincere themselves and at
tract many from churches where pos
sibly the pastors are not true to the
Word of God and are merely preach
ers of ethics, or possibly are casting
doubts on the authority and integrity
OF the HOLY scriptures.
Suggested Remedies.
What is the remedy for this evil?
We must first test the systems wheth-
er they possess the power of God or
not. This, in its last analysis, means
a holy life and an equally holy spirit,
and here the acid test must be well
coined. OF the modern Satanic de-
lusions there is hardly one but breaks
down at this point. In all cases the
founders Of these delusions are not
right with God, and are soon known
not to be right with man.
From the days of the apostles to
the present time there has been a
faith once for all delivered to the
saints that has not changed.
If person has been reared in the
Baptist, Episcopalian, Methodist, Pres
byterian, Lutheran, or, indeed, in any
one of several other communions, he
has certain great truths on which
these bodies agree. He may be unfor.
tunate enough not to have a faithful
pastor, but he has the teachings of
his church, often in printed form,
which is substantially true to the COS.
pei. Let him hold to these whatever
may be the issue.
Of course, the best answer to these
delusions is a comprehensive knowl.
edge of the Bible, but many Chris.
tians who do not have this knowl-
edge. and consequently cannot use it,
are deluded by these teachers. When
these false systems are presented to
the Christian he should steady him.
self little. He may not be able to
meet the arguments that are hurled
against him, and they are sometimes
from the Bible standpoint. Standing
firm and asking God for help, he will
soon get his feet and be on safe
ground.