The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser., 1916-11-24
The Usurper.

prince of this world is 1.-The god OF
this age" He is none other than Sa-
tan himself who is also called "the
prince of the power of the air, the
spirit that now worketh in the chill
dren of disobedience." (Ephes. 2:2.)
Our ideas of Satan have been gain
ed largely from the way in which man
has depicted him. According to the
Scriptures, Satan the usurper is not
that hideous monster man so often
portrays him to be. On the contrary,
he is being of great dignity, so lofty
that when Michael the Archangel
disputed with him about the body of
Moses. he burst not bring against him
a railing accusation, but said, the Lord
power, wisdom and subtlety, and is
himself transformed into an angel Of
light" UI Cor. IL ~
This Age.
Now we should expect, if he is the
god of this age, that the age will in
character be like its god. This is
precisely what it is, for he is 'the
evil one' and the age over which he
reigns is called an "evil age" (Gal.
1 a r. W To say this, as the Scrip
lures do, does not necessarily imply
that the age is grossly immoral. In
fact, we believe it is the most ethical
age the world has ever seen, and that
it suits the god of this age to hide as
far as possible it's vice and crime. Do
we not read that "his ministers also
are transformed rs the ministers of
Righteousness, whose end shall be ac-
cording to thier works?" I'll Cor. IL:
15.)
Its Progress.
To prove the evil character of the
age, it is not necessary to deny its
progress, its achievements, it's civili-
zation. In these the world has made
giant strides, but they do not, of them
selves, indicate that the world is near
er God. Indeed, to these q self-satiS-
fed, self-centered, goddess world points
with pride. and they are the very
things with which the god of this age
would have US occupied. He hates the
cross and the crown, the atonement
of our Lord and his coming glory, and
nothing suits his purpose better than
to obscure them both. He knows that
if he can only lead men to believe in
their own self-righteousneSs, then they
will feel no need of the cross; and if
he can only lead men to believe in
their own power to adjust the ills of
the world, then they will see no need
of the crown.
Blinded Eyes.
We are told that "the god of this
age hath blinded the minds of them
which believe not, lest the light of the
glorious Gospel of Christ should shine
unto them" And it does seem as if
he were succeeding very well; for we
hear in these days less and less of the
cross, and very little of the crown. The
age, like it's god, is utterly and abso-
lutely opposed to the purpose and plan
OF God to redeem mankind by the
blood of his cross, and the world by
with its own self-righteousness and it's
own f-sufficiency.
Christ Not Enthroned.
Whatever we may think of the char
acter of this age, it is very evident
from the facts as they are, that our
Lord is not now reigning over the
earth as the Scriptures predict he
shall reign. "All kings do not fall
down before him ~ "all nations do not
serve him :" "all enemies are not under
his feet;' she does not execute judg-
ment and justice in the earth" ''the
kingdoms of this world have not be-
come his ;" she does not have dominion
unto the end of the earth" 1t is also
true that wrongs are still unrighted !;
that poverty and riches dwell side by
toll are the lot of many; the earth is
not free of famine, pestilence, and
earthquake; Europe is wet with blood
and there are wars and rumOrS of war
on every hand for swords are not
beaten into plowshares, nor spears in
to pruning hooks; iniquity and vice
abound; the love of many wakes cold !;
many are departing from the faith,
giving heed to seducing spirits and
doctrines of demons, and many false
teachers are bringing in damnable
heresies, even denying the Lord that
bought them. These facts are so pal
pable no one can deny them; they
are present day conditions.
A Ray of Light.
But in the midst Of all this dark
ness there is q ray of light, for Christ
is coming to the earth to reign and
rule. The earth which was the scene
of his humiliation is to be the place
of his exaltation; here where he was
crucified, he is to be crowned. The
usurper has only short time to reign
for yet 4 little while and he that shall
come will come and will not tarry."
(Heb. :37.) Then "the god of this
age" shall be dethroned, and the world
shall have its rightful and lawful king
20 reign over it.