Mansfield mirror. (Mansfield, Wright County, Mo.) 1908-1957, 1917-02-15

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some atmosphere or influence that
might contaminate him, and he is pray
ing that he might be delivered from
that contamination. The .revisers of
the Bible have rendered splendid serv.
ice in correcting the translation at that
point, and In the Petition we read, "de-
liver us from the evil one" Certainly
no scholarly Interpretation Of that
passage In the original language would
make 1t mean less than "deliver us
from the evil"-the definite article In
dlcating that Personality is in mind.
: and the translation Is therefore, al
we find 1t In the revised version, fully
justified.
If we would give any honor to the
Scriptures that give Us the Lords
Prayer, we must give honor to the
Scriptures also that teach most clearly
concerning the existence, the character,
the work and the destiny Of the devil.
In the scripture devils. or demons. are
spoken Of very frequently. We find
also that there Is q prince Of the de-
mons. who ls caAed the devil, or Sa-
tan, or, as in the Greek Of the New
Testament, dlabolos, the latter word
occurring 33 times. The use Of the
term devil. or Satan. is very frequent.
as IL there was no question of the real
ity and the personality referred to, as.
for instance. In the first chapter Of
Job, in the Gospels. In the Acts Of the
Apostles and 10 the Epistles.
While the field of operation Of the
devil rs largely In the heavenly or up
per regions, 1t is also OF this earth. as
is proved by Job III and l Peter 5:S,
the latter passage reading, "the devil,
as a roaring lion. walketh about, seek
ing whom he may devour." 1t Is ap-
propriate, therefore, that men pray.
deliver us from the evil one"
Granting that there Is such a being
on the earth. is he in a dormant or
active state2 The words just used,
inferring that he Is walking about
seeking whom be may devour, would
prove that he Is very alert. He is busy
every moment, and does not hesitate
to enter the most sacred places to do
his diabollcal work. If n nun Is not
stirred up to the commission Of some
God or man-Offending sin, the devil Is
just as busy when he keeps him from
being interested In sOme positively
righteous action. The present SUM-
her o. Gods people in all lands and
churches, Is just as much the work Of
the devil as his activities in countries
ravaged by war. The devil takes
myriad forms In his operation, now
binding the eyes of men lest the light
of the glory Of the gospel of Christ.
who is the image of God, should shine
unto them; or, when he sees the truth
drop into some needy heart, he at once
takes 1t up, az the bird takes up the
seed fallen ON the beaten pathway; or,
when he knows a man is receiving the
truth, he immediately to that
man and sOws the seeds Of error In
his heart, so that he cannot bear the
proper fruit or possibly, he finds one
Of Gods children, most active and eff
cient, and he gets in his way as he
did with Paul and his companions on
, more than one occasion.
While in many cases the mysteries
of the p%rovidences Of God cannot be
understood, It Is quite evident that the
devil has the power Of death as the
writer to the Hebrews said, and also
has power of expressing others. from
which oppression Jesus Christ while
on earth delivered many. It Is very
dlficult oftentimes to know whether 1t
Is God or Satan that is directly active
in certain experiences. but we have
the assurance that God tempts
with sin, for he tempts no man.
Few of those who r in the Bible
called the children of the devil appear
to recognize their father. They con-
stantly do his bidding and afterwards
reap the reward Of his deception and
malice. Those who have become the
children o. God by faith in Jesus
Christ, are aware Of the personality Of
the devil, aud : given certain spe.
ctfc instructions Is to how to deal
with him. They are told to be vigilant
and that they are to resist him when
he Expresses them sometimes very
hard In order to crush them, they, are
told, not to yield to him; and as he
sometimes appears before them In q
fighting attitude, they IRE told to fight
him. In all this contention with the
devil, they are told that II they re-
sist him that he will fly from them.
and all Christians on the face Of the
earth a testify to the latter fact.
Probably 1t may be well to consider
the devil as concerned In the affairs
of men generally. All the evil In the
world-war, cruelty, oppression, dis.
honesty, unkindness, graft, suspicion,
jealousy, etc.-directly come from the
devil. who is a powerful, personal be.
ing hating God aQd His chief
spite is vented against Jesus Christ.
1t Is most delightful to know that a
day Is coming when the devil will be
hound, when Jesus will reign on the
earth. After that day he will be ut.
terly cast out. and this world, now
cursed with the result Of mans sin,
will be IL place of delight, not only
with men hut with BEASTS of the field
and with all the creation AZ we, know
1t.