By Lewis Sperry Chafer
[Author’s Note: This, the last instalment in the series on Angelology, will be followed by a special article in the next issue, which is the Centennial Number. After that a new series begins on another division of Systematic Theology.]
Satan’s Motive
Whatever may have been the motive which has actuated Satan from the beginning of his career, there is a more fundamental problem which lies back of all the evil in the universe. It is the motive that has actuated God in permitting evil to be present at all. That He could have hindered it needs no defence; being, as He is, the Absolute On—-Creator and Promoter of all that the universe comprises. Various suggestions have been advanced as solutions of this problem. Doubtless there is truth in all of them, and when all are assembled and accepted it is even more probable that the aggregation is no more than a fraction of all that actuates God. One of the obvious motives of God which has been advanced has immediate application to the theme in hand, namely, that, as seen in the various dispensations and in instances of personal relation to God, He evidently, and as a general rule of procedure, puts the propositions which the creature proposes to an experimental test. This Jehovah did in the case of Satan’s assertion that Job, under sufficient stress, would repudiate Jehovah. This claim could have been denied, for Jehovah knew it to be untrue of Job. However, Satan was given authority to put the untruth to an experimental test. This method cost much indeed, but none will doubt that the victory gained was abundantly worth the price that was paid. It is possible that Job serves as a type or representation of the larger issues now being brought to consummation in the entire cosmos. This theme is extensive and proffers much light to the one who will follow it through the entire Bible.
Granting the truthfulness of the claim that God does put the creature’s assumptions to an experimental test, it becomes clear that Satan’s determination—which constituted his initial sin—to build a vast structure of independent relationships around himself as the center and wholly autonomous as to the Creator to whom all allegiance and obedience rightfully belong, was permitted of God to be experimentally tested to its tragic end. As to the wisdom of such a stupendous procedure on the part of God, no creature could ever be placed in a position wherein he could possess a sufficient number of related facts, or attain to a perspective from which he could sit in judgment. The observable actualities point in but one direction: Satan did propose such a course; God could have hindered him, but He rather allowed Satan to take the course he desired to follow, and to allow that course to become, in the end, the ground of its own universal condemnation. When Satan and his theory come up for final judgment and execution, “every mouth will be stopped” and all will be guilty—not alone in the light of God’s ideals, but as absolutely guilty in the light of the colossal failure of the whole enterprise. The lie will be conceded to be a lie. How could wilful, deluded, free moral agents be brought to such a recognition apart from a demonstration which left no room for as much as one voice to be heard which might claim that the lie would have been proven to be the truth had it been allowed to demonstrate its own philosophy? Even strong delusion must be imposed upon men, it is said, to the end that they will carry the lie to its final consummation (2 Thess 2:9–12). Not only will every mouth be stopped, but the whole world (cosmos) will become guilty before God (Rom 3:19). A guilty cosmos, proven to be such to the extent that every mouth is stopped—even that of Satan himself—is a stupendous achievement. What such a conclusion may contribute to the felicity of the universe in eternity to come, none would attempt to declare. The lie incorporates all forms of creature rebellion against God, and the complete disillusionment of all fallen creatures and their judgment cannot but be an achievement which will contribute much to the peace and blessedness of future ages. Of Christ it is said that “he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.” Even death, the penalty of the first human sin, will be destroyed, and to the end that “God may be all in all” (1 Cor 15:24–28). In one instance, at least, the end will justify the means, and no creature of time may wisely offer a judgment on the means, when he is, of necessity, wholly incapable of comprehending the end.
The presence of sin and suffering in the world are too often looked upon as though they were strange intrusions into God’s perfect order, and God is often challenged for these intrusions. McTaggart says, it is a “depressing and revolting belief that the destiny of the universe is at the mercy of a being, who, with the resources of omnipotence at his disposal, decides to make the universe no better than this.”[1] Over against this is the revelation that all that is in the cosmos is of satanic origin and that God intrudes only as a Restrainer until the day of His judgment arrives, to take out of the Κόσμος Διαβόλου those whom His sovereign elective purpose chooses to redeem. The presence of sin and suffering are not God’s failure. They are the inevitable default and bankruptcy of the lie. Though its ramifications seem to reach out to infinity, there is but one lie. God either rules over His universe, or He does not. The lie declares that He does not; the truth declares that He does. Such a prodigious issue could not be treated with indifference. Its judgments are sure.
In tracing through this one reason for the presence of sin and suffering in the cosmos, it is recognized that other reasons exist, which present even greater evidential value as to the righteousness of God in permitting sin to intrude. These cannot be included in this thesis.
Both the motive and the method of Satan are reflected precisely in the attitude and action of the Man of Sin, whom Satan will inspire, and through whom Satan expresses his own designs. In 2 Thessalonians 2:4 it is stated of the Man of Sin that he “opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God or that is worshipped.” Satan’s purpose is to thwart the divine undertakings—especially the divine purpose to save the lost—, and to exalt himself above God. It is implied that in his ambition Satan would attempt to seize upon the authority which belongs to God alone and that he would seek to be worshipped as God is, and should be, worshipped.
The central passage bearing on Satan’s motive is Isaiah 14:12–14. As has been observed, the five I will’s of Satan, though each has a specific objective, all converge in the last of the five, namely, ”I will be like the most High.” The other four assert Satan’s intention to exalt himself in various ways, but only to the one end that he may be like the most High. As before demonstrated, there is but one way in which any creature—angel or man—may attempt to be like God and that is to seek to be independent as God is independent. To do this, all divinely intended dependence of the creature on the Creator must be repudiated and the one who thus acts must be committed to a career which self has devised and which self must maintain in complete separation from God until the course of action is ended. In all such enterprises, self-exaltation is paramount and opposition to God is pursued only that the way may be clear for self to be glorified. Scripture distinctly states that it was self-esteem, or pride, which incited this greatest of all angels to launch out upon an independent course of action (Ezek 28:17; 1 Tim 3:6). It would seem to be indicated that he does not lose faith in his enterprise until that yet future time when he is cast out of heaven. Of Satan at that time it is written, “Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time” (Rev 12:12).
The enormous project which was born in Satan’s mind and inspired by his self-exalting pride was, of necessity, confined to heavenly spheres until the creation of man. In those previous ages, it may be believed, Satan “trafficked” (cf. Ezek 28:18) among the lesser angels to secure their allegiance to his philosophy of freedom from, and independence of, the Creator. Upon the creation of man, there was opened to Satan the possiblity of a vast demonstration in this new realm of his power to design and execute. The present cosmos is that which Satan proposed and God is permitting him to execute to its tragic end.
Four milestones mark the way of Satan’s course in wilfulness:
(a) He said, “I will be like the most High.” Of this, the origin of all wickedness, nothing further need be added at this point.
(b) He said to Adam and Eve, ”Ye shall be as Elohim” (Gen 3:5). How many angels had heard and heeded this suggestion none on earth may know. His advice was received and acted upon by the progenitors of the human race. By their own choice they incurred the penalty which the gracious warning of God had placed before them. He had said, In the day that thou eatest thereof, dying thou shalt die. No word of God can ever fail. Thus every form of death came upon these sinful creatures. Death in any form was an unknown intruder into this universe. It was not the divine penalty upon the sinful angels, but it fell upon man. A grievous aspect of this penalty is spiritual death which means separation of the human soul and spirit from God. This estate of the first parents has become the inheritance of all their children in all their generations. They belong to the Cosmos Diabolou. Until they are redeemed by infinite grace, they share not only the works of the cosmos, but its satanic spirit of independence of God. Should one of this degenerate race desire to be in right relations to God, the first step is not merely to evince a willingness to be obedient to God in a general way, it is required of him that he obey the gospel of divine salvation (Acts 5:32; Rom 2:8; 2 Thess 1:8; Heb 5:9; 1 Pet 4:17). Back of this requirement is the essential truth that a right relation to God is more than a repentance followed by divine forgiveness. Satisfaction to outraged holiness must be secured. This Christ has provided in His death, but it is not provided elsewhere and thus it is that Christ is the Way and the only Way to God from the hand of the evil one. The divinely provided cure is perfect beyond measure; for upon believing on Christ there is peace with God, forgiveness, regeneration with its imparted gift of eternal life, imputed righteousness, and justification. There is also the sure word of promise that the saved one will soon experience complete conformity to God the Son in glory. The satanic lie, Ye shall be as Elohim, is proven to be a hideous deception, while the offers of divine grace present the assurance of final and lasting oneness with God and complete correspondence to all that God is and all that He desires. The lie becomes the antipode of the truth to the last degree of reckoning. The lie ends in eternal ruin for those who pursue it; the truth ends in eternal felicity and rightness with God for the one who rests his all in Christ. It is a marvel of infinite grace that even one soul is translated out of the powers of darkness into the kingdom of the Son of His love (Col 1:13). How tragic, indeed, is the present life and destiny of any human being who, though born into the lost estate, refuses divine grace and wilfully continues to cast in his lot with the anti-God cosmos—Cosmos Diabolou—and goes on to share the doom of the enemy of God in the lake of fire!
But the plan of becoming as Elohim by merely assuming independence of God originated with Satan and its proposal to Adam marks the course of Satan’s unchanging purpose.
(c) When meeting the Last Adam in the wilderness, Satan did not say, as he did to the first Adam ”Ye shall be as Elohim”; for Satan knows with no uncertainty that Jesus Christ is God. However, his master passion to be himself like the most High was expressed in the words, ”worship me.” The wicked and presumptuous character of that request cannot be duplicated in the history of the universe, nor will it ever be duplicated in future ages. It is probable that at no place does the lie come into such manifestation of its false and wicked character as here where it addresses itself directly to the One who is Truth. It was audacious beyond measure for Satan to solicit the cooperation of angels and man; but who will estimate the wickedness of the one who suggests that God the Creator becomes a suppliant at the feet of a creature of His own hand? Pride had evidently befogged the mind of this being to the point of angelic insanity; yet not an insanity which bespeaks irresponsibility. Out of and above all the experiences of the threefold temptation in the wilderness, the one truth is disclosed, namely, that Satan purposes to be like the most High.
(d) It is far from accidental that the last manifestation of Satan’s lie is the Man of Sin—who is said to oppose and exalt himself above all that is called God or that is worshipped and who comes according to the energizing of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness—who is ever distinguished by the blasphemous assumption that he is God. In the first or earliest record of him he is described by these words: “Son of man, say unto the Prince of Tyrus, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thine heart is lifted up, and thou hast said, I am a God, I sit in the seat of God, in the midst of the seas; yet thou art a man, and not God, though thou set thine heart as the heart of God: ...Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD: Because thou hast set thine heart as the heart of God; Behold, therefore I will bring strangers upon thee, the terrible of the nations; and they shall draw their swords against the beauty of thy wisdom, and they shall defile thy brightness. They shall bring thee down to the pit, and thou shalt die the deaths of them that are slain in the midst of the seas. Wilt thou yet say before him that slayeth thee, I am God? but thou shalt be a man, and no God, in the hand of him that slayeth thee” (Ezek 28:2, 6–9). Twice this incarnation of Satan is referred to in Daniel (Dan 7:8; 9:27). In the former passage he is characterized as the one with “a mouth speaking great things,” and in the latter passage he is said to be the one who causes the sacrifices and ablations to cease. This is precisely the testimony of the Apostle who states of this one that “he sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God” (2 Thess 2:4). Evidently the worship of Jehovah is terminated by this Man of Sin in order that he himself may be worshipped. Of this same person John writes: “And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast. And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him? And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months. And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven. And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations. And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” (Rev 13:3–8). It is, therefore, to be expected that the blasphemous claim to be God and the demand that he be worshipped as God shall constitute the last chapter in the drama of iniquity; and it is that, according to the Apostle’s account recorded in 2 Thessalonians, chapter 2. It is equally as reasonable that Christ should indicate to the Jews that the appearance of this one “in the holy place” constitutes the sign of the end of their age and a signal to the Jews to flee for their safety (Matt 24:15–22).
It is no greater mystery that God allows Satan to pursue his lie to its full consummation with his Man of Sin—the federator of nations—blaspheming to the extent that he claims to be God and requires, on the penalty of death, the worship of himself, which worship belongs to God alone, than that He allows the lie to have its beginning at all.
In pursuing the deeper aspects of all that may enter into Satan’s motive, it is suggested that, as has been presented, he is moved, first, by pride which is the impelling cause of his unholy ambition. Second, Satan may be offended that a plan of salvation has been put into action by which his victims can be rescued and lifted to heights of glory to which no angel will ever attain. Dr. William Cooke quotes the following from Plutarch: ”‘It was a very ancient opinion, that there are certain wicked and malignant demons, who envy good men, and endeavor to hinder them in the pursuit of virtue, lest they should be partakers at least of greater happiness than they enjoy.’”[2] That there is no redemption for himself or any other fallen angel, cannot but create jealousy and offense, and engender hatred on Satan’s part toward God and His saints. And, third, Satan apparently cannot recognize any other basis of relationship on the part of the creature to God than that of personal merit, which basis was that upon which all creatures stood at the beginning. The issue of personal merit formed the very ground of Satan’s authority in his defense of the throne of God. The whole operation of divine grace became an intrusion into, if not an encroachment upon, that principle upon which Satan was originally appointed to act. That otherwise doomed creatures may, by faith in a crucified and risen Savior, be constituted righteous to the degree of the perfect righteousness of God, which Christ is, must be most disconcerting and obnoxious to Satan. His ideal is ever reflected in his ministers who are said to be “ministers of [personal] righteousness” (2 Cor 11:13–15). It is concerning this gospel of grace by which lost men may be saved that Satan has cast a veil over the minds of all unregenerate human beings “lest the light of the glorious gospel...should shine unto them” (2 Cor 4:4). Every observing soul-winner is sooner or later impressed with the more than natural inability of the unsaved to comprehend the offers of salvation apart from human merit and by faith alone. Writing specifically of the veil which Satan casts over the minds of men, F. C. Jennings states: “He so weaves the course of this age: its religious forms, ceremonies, external decencies, respectabilities, and conventionalities as to form a thick veil, that entirely hides ‘the glory of God in the face of Christ Jesus,’ which consists in righteous mercy to penitent sinners only. This veil is not formed by evil-living, depravity, or any form of what passes as evil amongst men; but by cold formality, heartless decency, proud self-complacency, highly esteemed external respectability, and we must add, church-membership—all without Christ. It is the most fatal of all delusions, the thickest of all veils, and the most common. It is the way that because it is religious, respectable, decent ‘seemeth right unto a man but the end thereof are the ways of death,’ for there is no Christ, no Lamb of God, no Blood of Atonement in it.”[3]
It yet remains to be seen more fully that, in his opposition to God, Satan enters into things religious.
Satan’s Method
At the beginning of this division of Satanology it should be restated with emphasis that Satan’s dominant purpose is not, as the popular impression supposes, one of attempting to be unlike God. Satan has explicitly asserted concerning himself, as recorded in Isaiah 14:14, that his transcendent objective is to be like the most High. In a previous phase of this discussion Satan’s design has been traced through history and prophecy and the conclusion of this record is that there can be no reasonable question but that, from his earliest intention to its last manifestation—when the Man of Sin, the son of perdition asserts that he is God—, Satan is impelled by but one intention. As to how essential in Satan’s estimation the worship of the Man of Sin will be, may be seen from the revelation that the Man of Sin will demand the worship of the people of the earth on the penalty of death (Rev 13:15).
The unregenerate masses of humanity are said to be deceived by Satan. Their delusion is both tragic and pitiable. They are imposed upon by Satan’s subterfuge, treachery, and fraud. There is no abiding substance in any objective upon which they set their hopes. With discriminating recognition the Scriptures declare that Satan’s deceptions affect merely the human element in the cosmos, and not the entire system of things which the cosmos embraces. Thus the word cosmos is not employed in connection with these deceptions. The term οἰκουμένη, meaning the inhabitants of the earth, or the designation, the nations, is used. It is written of the inhabited earth in Revelation 12:9, “And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world [inhabited earth]: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.” Likewise, in Revelation 13:14 the deceptions are said to reach “them that dwell on the earth.” Then also, in Revelation 20:3, 8, 10, Satan’s deceptions are said to reach to all nations—including all people of the earth—, excepting such individuals as are saved. To the same end it is written again of Satan’s power as exercised by the Man of Sin that it will be “with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them [all of them] that perish” (2 Thess 2:10). In this dark picture there is no hope within themselves of a fallen, Christ-rejecting race. Speaking of the future of fallen men, it is written: “Evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived” (2 Tim 3:13). In the light of all this disclosure, the dreams of religious guides who predict a transformed regenerated cosmos as a result of human effort in Christian service are seen to be without foundation. Satan’s deceptions continue until he is bound and consigned to the abyss. But who will bind Satan and place him in that prison? In the interest of divine righteousness, the dissolution of the cosmos and the disillusion of the lie must reach the ends predicted when all will be destroyed in the zenith of its wickedness. It is only then that the King shall reign and prosper. It is then, and only then, that righteousness and peace shall cover the earth as waters cover the face of the deep. What form of deception has seized good men that they should fail to see the uncomplicated teaching of the Bible as to the course and end of evil? The stupendous realities represented in the Cosmos Diabolou are not said to be transformable. When God declares, as He does, that the Cosmos Diabolou is to continue with increasing deception and to continue to be the embodiment of the lie until it is crushed by the infinite power of the returning King, there is little ground for any attempts to save it or to transform it. Indeed, Christians are exhorted to be instant in season and out of season in the saving of individuals; but that is far removed as an objective from the attempted rescue of that which God has doomed to destruction and that which by its very nature is anti-God.
Next to the lie itself, the greatest delusion Satan imposes—reaching to all unsaved and to a large proportion of the Christians—is the supposition that only such things as society considers evil could originate with the devil—if, indeed, there be any devil to originate anything. It is not the reason of man, but the revelation of God which points out that governments, morals, education, art, commercialism, vast enterprises and organizations, and much of religious activity is included in the Cosmos Diabolou. That is, the system which Satan has constructed includes all the good which he can incorporate into it and be consistent in the thing he aims to accomplish. A serious question arises as to whether the presence of gross evil in the world is due to Satan’s intention to have it so, or whether it indicates Satan’s inability to execute all he has designed. The probability is great that Satan’s ambition has led him to undertake more than any creature could ever administer. Revelation declares that the whole cosmos system must be annihilated—not the evil alone, but all that is in it, both good and bad. God will incorporate nothing of Satan’s failure into that kingdom which He will set up in the earth. The Cosmos Diabolou must be “broken in pieces” and become like the chaff of the summer threshing-floor which the wind carries away, and all this before the Smiting Stone—Christ in His return to earth—will set up a kingdom which shall fill the whole earth (Dan 2:34, 35, 44, 45). The New Testament predicts the same consummation, saying “And the world [cosmos] passeth away, and the lusts [desires, or purposes] thereof” (1 John 2:17). The one and only thing that will survive this great cataclysm, this text goes on to state, is “he that doeth the will of God,” he “abideth for ever.” The lie is expanded to the point where its manifestation embraces all that is in the cosmos, and is built on the one original idea which characterizes it all, namely, independence of God. To do the will of God is to do the truth; to act apart from God is to do the lie. The truth, which is the will of God, and those who do the truth, abide forever. There should be no surprise at this termination of the entire fabric of Satan’s weaving; yet those of the cosmos are influenced not at all by God’s Word, nor are cosmos-Christians much impressed with the solemn truth God has spoken. Such is the far-reaching effect of the satanic deception. Satan’s original independence of God which permeates the whole order, his deceptions as to himself, as to his purpose, as to the extent of his enterprise, constitute the primary aspects of Satan’s method in the cosmos.
Since in pursuing his determination to exalt himself above God Satan must oppose the divine undertakings, his opposition naturally will be exerted where God is acting at a given time. Since God has no present program which He is following along lines of reformation, education, or civilization (and any record that such undertakings are in God’s present purpose will be sought in vain), there is no conflict or satanic resistance in those spheres. The present relation of God to the cosmos, beyond His sovereign permission and restraint of it, is to save out of it an elect people for His heavenly glory. On the other hand, Satan’s two-fold objective—to exalt self, and to oppose God—is the key by which much may be known which otherwise would be unknown. It is still further disclosed that the enmity of Satan is not only toward the person of God from whom he has everything to fear, but also toward every true child of God. Too much emphasis cannot be placed on this fact. Satan has no controversy or warfare with his own unregenerate people, but there is abundant Scripture to prove that he makes unceasing effort to mar the life and service of the Christian. The motive for this effort is all-sufficient: they have “partaken of the divine nature” (2 Pet 1:4), and afford, therefore, a possible opportunity for Satan to thrust his fiery darts at the divine Person who indwells them. Thus the believer becomes a medium of connection between the divine Person and the satanic order, for it is also true that God literally loves the unsaved through the believer (Rom 5:5). On the other hand, the prince of the satanic system is seeking an opportunity for a thrust through the believer at the person of God. Several important passages on the latter point may be noted here: “These things have I spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33); “Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution” (2 Tim 3:12); “Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you” (1 John 3:13); “Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you. Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world” (1 Pet 5:7–9); “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles [artifices] of the devil. For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world-rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places” (Eph 6:10–12, R.V.). The teaching of these passages clearly indicates the satanic enmity toward the believer, and the believer’s utter helplessness apart from the divine sufficiency. They also reveal a degree of enmity which would result in the believer’s life being crushed out, were it not for the evident answer to the prayer of Christ: “I pray not that thou shouldest take them from the world [cosmos], but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil one” (John 17:15, R.V.). Certainly there is abundant reason for the believer to expect the fiercest opposition from Satan and his host in all his life and service, and faith alone insures his victory over the world (cosmos).
The believer is also the object of the satanic attack because of the fact that unto the child of God is committed the great ministry of reconciliation; that by his testimony both in life and word, and by his prayers, the truths of redemption may be given to the world. If Satan can cripple the believer’s service he accomplishes much in resisting the present purpose of God. No other explanation is adequate for the dark pages of church history, the appalling failure of the church in world-wide evangelism, her present sectarian divisions and selfish indifference, or her final estate as pictured in Revelation 3:15–17. This blighting satanic opposition may be detected in every effort for the salvation of the lost. It may be seen in the fact that no personal appeal is ever made to the vast majority even in this favored land; moreover, when an appeal is made, it is easily distracted or diverted into the discussion of unimportant themes. The faithful pastor or evangelist is most sorely assailed, every device of Satan being used to distort the one all-important message of grace into something which is not vital. The evangelist’s call for decisions is often cumbered with that which is misleading or is a positive misstatement of the terms of salvation; thus the appeal is lost and the whole effort fails. Again, the opposing power of Satan may be seen in the matter of Christian giving. Millions are given without solicitation for education, culture, and humanity’s physical comfort, but real world-wide evangelization must ever drag on with its shameful limitations and debts. This warfare of Satan is even more noticeable in the believer’s prayer life. This, being his place of greatest usefulness and power, is subject to the severest conflict. In this connection it may be stated safely that there is comparatively but little prevailing prayer today, yet the way is open and the promises are sure. If the believer cannot be beguiled into indifference or a denial of Christ, he is often tempted to place an undue emphasis upon some minor truth, and, in partial blindness, to sacrifice his whole influence for good through the apparent unbalance of his testimony.
Satan’s warfare against the purpose of God is still more evident in his direct hindering of the unsaved. Not only are they constantly blinded to the gospel, but, when the Spirit would draw them, their minds are often filled with strange fears and distorted visions. Their inability to cast themselves upon Christ is a mystery to themselves, and nothing but the direct illuminating power of the Spirit in conviction can open their eyes and deliver them from their gross darkness.
Satan has always adapted his methods to the times and conditions. If attention has been gained, a complete denial of the truth has been made; or, when some recognition of the truth is demanded, it has been granted on the condition that that which is vital in redemption should be omitted. This partial recognition of the truth is required by the world today. For, while the direct result of the believer’s testimony to the cosmos has been toward the gathering out of the Bride, there has been an indirect influence of this testimony upon the world which has led them to see that all that is good in their own ideals has been already stated in the Bible and exemplified in the life of Christ. Moreover, they have heard that every principle of humanitarian sympathy or righteous government has been revealed in the Scripture of Truth. Thus there has grown a more or less popular appreciation of the value of these moral precepts of the Scriptures and of the example which Christ presents. This condition has prevailed to such a degree that any new system or doctrine which secures a hearing today must base its claim upon the Bible, and include, to some extent, the Person and teachings of Christ. The fact that the world has thus partly acknowledged the value of the Scriptures is taken by many to be a glorious victory for God; while, on the contrary, fallen humanity is less inclined to accept God’s terms of salvation than in the generations past. It is evident that this partial concession of the world to the testimony of God has opened the way for counterfeit systems of truth, which, according to prophecy, are the last and most to be dreaded methods in the satanic warfare. In this connection it must be conceded that Satan has really granted nothing from his own position, even though he be forced to acknowledge every principle of truth save that upon which salvation depends. Rather is he advantaged by such a concession; for the value and delusion of a counterfeit are increased by the nearness of its likeness to the real. By advocating much truth, in the form of a counterfeit system of truth, Satan can satisfy all the external religious cravings of the world, and yet accomplish his own end by withholding that on which man’s only hope depends. It is, therefore, no longer safe to subscribe blindly to that which promises general good, simply because it is good and is garnished with the teachings of the Bible; for good has ceased to be all on one side and evil all on the other. In fact, that which is evil in purpose has gradually appropriated the good until but one issue distinguishes them. Part-truth-ism has come into final conflict with whole-truth-ism, and woe to the soul that does not discern between them. The first, though externally religious, is of Satan, and leaves its followers in the doom of everlasting banishment from the presence of God; while the latter is of God, “having the promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come.”
It is also noticeable that the term “infidel” has, within a generation, disappeared from common usage, and that manner of open denial of the truth has been almost wholly abandoned. Yet the real Church has by no means lost her foes, for they are now even more numerous, subtle, and terrible than ever before. These present enemies, however, like the unclean birds in the mustard tree, have taken shelter under her branches. They are officiating at her most sacred altars and conducting her institutions. These vultures are fed by a multitude, both in the church and out, who, in satanic blindness, are committed to the furtherance of any project or the acceptance of any theory that promises good to the world if it is apparently based upon Scripture, little realizing that they are often really supporting the enemy of God.
A counterfeit is Satan’s most natural method of resisting the purpose of God, since by it he can realize to that extent his desire to be like the most High. Every material is now at hand, as never before, for the setting up of those conditions which are predicted to appear only in the very end of the age. In 2 Timothy 3:1–5 one of these predictions may be found: “This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, truce-breakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof; from such turn away.” Every word of this prophecy is worthy of most careful study in the light of the present tendency of society. The fifth verse is especially important in connection with the subject of counterfeits of the truth: “Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.” Here it is stated that in these last days forms of godliness shall appear which, however, deny the power of God, and from such the believer is warned to turn away. The important element in the true faith which is to be omitted in this “form” is defined elsewhere in the Scriptures: “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek” (Rom 1:16); “But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness; but unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God” (1 Cor 1:23, 24). Therefore, that which is omitted so carefully from these forms is the salvation which is in Christ. This is most suggestive, for “there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved,” and it is by salvation alone that any deliverance can be had from the power of darkness. Without this salvation Satan can still claim all his own. It is perhaps necessary to add that, judging from all his writings, this salvation of which Paul confesses he was not ashamed was no less an undertaking than regeneration by the Spirit; and whatever other theories may be advanced, this is the teaching of the Spirit through the Apostle Paul. This prophecy concerning conditions in the “last days” ends with an injunction which is addressed only to the believers who are called upon to live and witness during those days. To them it is said: “from such [a form of godliness which denies the power thereof] turn away.” As certainly as the “last days” are now present, so certainly this injunction is now to be heeded, and the Lord’s people are called upon to separate from churches and institutions which deny the gospel of God’s saving grace through the substitutionary blood-redemption of the cross. To support institutions and ministries which “deny the power thereof,” is to lend aid to Satan-the enemy of God. With no less force it is stated in 2 Peter 2:1, “But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them and bring upon themselves swift destruction.” In the same manner, according to this passage, the denial falls not on the Person of Christ; but rather on His redeeming work—“the Lord that bought them.” It therefore follows that one feature of the last days will be a form of godliness which carefully denies the power of God in salvation.
Again, Satan is “in the latter times” to be the promoter of a system of truth or doctrine: “Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron” (1 Tim 4:1, 2). These predicted satanic systems are here accurately described. Their offers will be so attractive and externally so religious that into them will be drawn some “who shall depart from the faith”; they being enticed by seducing spirits. No reference is made here to personal faith by which one may be saved. It is “the faith”—a body of truth (cf. Jude 3) which is first seen to some extent, and then rejected. This a regenerate person will never do. These attractive systems are not only from Satan, but are themselves “lies in hypocrisy,” being presented by those whose conscience has been seared with a hot iron. No more illuminating terms could be used than these. A lie covered by hypocrisy means, evidently, that they are still attempting to be counted among the faithful; and the conscience seared would indicate that they can distort the testimony of God and blindly point other souls to perdition, without present remorse or regret. The “doctrines of devils” are again referred to in Revelation 2:24 as “the deep things of Satan,” and this is Satan’s counterfeit of “the deep things of God” which the Spirit reveals to them that love Him (1 Cor 2:10). Thus there are predicted for the last days of this age, both a form of godliness which denies the power of salvation that is in Christ, and a system known as “the deep things of Satan” or “doctrine of devils,” speaking of lies in hypocrisy. Can there be any doubt that these two Scriptures describe the same thing, since they also refer to the same time? The lies of one can but be the covered denial of salvation in the other.
Again, Satan has his assembly, or congregational meeting, which is his counterfeit of the visible church. This assembly is referred to, both in Revelation 2:9 and 3:9, as the “synagogue of Satan”; an organized assembly being relatively as important for the testimony in the deep things of Satan as it has been in the things of God. In Matthew 13 the tares appear among the wheat and their appearance is said to be after the sowing of the wheat. So, also, the “children of the wicked one” appear and are often included and even organized within the forms of the visible church. The assembly of Satan, calling itself a part of the visible church, is to have its ministers and teachers. This is stated in 2 Corinthians 11:13–15: “For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.” Here is a remarkable revelation of the possible extent of the satanic counterfeit—“false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ” and “ministers of righteousness”; yet these are shown to be only agents of the great deceiver, Satan, who is himself transformed into an angel of light. It is evident that the method of this deception is to imitate the real ministers of Christ. Certainly these false apostles cannot so appear unless they gather into their message every available “form of godliness” and cover their lies with the most subtle hypocrisy. Evil will not appear on the outside of these systems; but they will be announced as “another gospel” or as a larger understanding of the previously accepted truth, and will be all the more attractive and delusive since the are heralded by those who claim to be ministers of Christ, who reflect the beauty of an “angel of light,” and whose lives are undoubtedly free from great temptation. It should be noted, however, that these false ministers do not necessarily know the real mission they have. Being unregenerate persons of the cosmos, and thus blinded to the real gospel, they are sincere, preaching and teaching the best things the angel of light, their energizing power, is pleased to reveal unto them. Their gospel is one of human reason, and appeals to human resources. There can be no appreciation of divine revelation in them, for they have not come really to know God or His Son, Jesus Christ. They are ministers of righteousness, which message should never be confused with the gospel of grace. One is directed only at the reformation of the natural man, while the other aims at regeneration through the power of God. As all this is true, how perilous is the attitude of many who follow attractive ministers and religious guides only because they claim to be such and are sincere, and who are not awake to the one final test of doctrine by which alone the whole covered system of satanic lies may be distinguished from the truth of God. In this connection John writes the following warning: “If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed” (2 John 10).
False teachers are usually sincere and full of humanitarian zeal; but they are unregenerate. This judgment necessarily follows when it is understood that they deny the only ground of redemption. Being unregenerate, it is said of them: “But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned” (1 Cor 2:14). Such religious leaders may be highly educated and able to speak with authority on every aspect of human knowledge, but if they are not born again, their judgment in spiritual matters is worthless and misleading. All teachers are to be judged by their attitude toward the doctrine of the blood redemption of Christ, rather than by their winsome personalities, their education, or by their sincerity.
Since the blood redemption of the cross is the central truth and value of the true faith, it being the “power of God unto salvation” (Rom 1:16; 1 Cor 1:23, 24), any counterfeit system of doctrine which would omit this essential, must force some secondary truth into the place of prominence. Any of the great Scriptural subjects which are of universal interest to humanity, such as physical health, life after death, morality, unfulfilled prophecy, or religious forms, may be substituted in false systems for that which is vital. And while those subject are all found in their proper relations and importance in the true faith, the fact that people are universally inclined to give attention to them furnishes an opportunity for Satan to make a strong appeal to humanity through them; using these subjects as central truths in his false and counterfeit systems. Many are easily led to fix their attention upon the secondary things, and to neglect wholly the one primary thing. Especially is this true since the secondary things are tangible and seen; while the one essential thing is spiritual and unseen, and Satan has blinded their eyes toward that which is of eternal value. A system of doctrine may, then, be formed which includes every truth of the Scriptures save one; exalting the Person of Christ, but not His work, and emphasizing some secondary truth as its central value. This system will be readily accepted by blinded humanity, though the real power of God unto salvation has been carefully withdrawn. Naturally it would be supposed that such Satan-inspired systems would have no value or power, since there could be no divine favor upon them. Such a supposition would be possible only because of the prevailing misunderstanding as to the real power of Satan. If the description given of him in the Scriptures is accepted, he will be seen to be possessed with miraculous power; able to perform such marvels that the whole world is led to wonder and then to worship. He is free also to bestow this miraculous power upon others (Rev 13:2). So it is no marvel if his ministers, who appear as the ministers of righteousness, are able to exert superhuman power when it is directly in the interest of the satanic projects. The great power of Satan has doubtless been active along these lines during all the ages past; for it is impossible that humanity should have worshipped other gods blindly without some recompense, and it is Satan himself who has been thus worshipped (Lev 17:7; 2 Chron 11:15; Rev 9:20).
It is not final evidence, therefore, that a system of doctrine is of God simply because there are accompanying manifestations of superhuman power; nor is it final evidence that the Almighty has responded, simply because any form of supplication has been answered. The divine movements are, of necessity, limited by the laws of His own holiness, and access into His presence is by the blood of Christ alone, by a new and living Way which was consecrated for us through His flesh (Heb 10:19, 20). Assuming to come before God in prayer but ignoring this truth is but to insult with pollution Him who is infinitely holy and pure. Surely the Satan-ruled world does not come before God by the blood of Christ.
Churches sometime fall an easy prey to forms of doctrine—“deceivableness of unrighteousiiess”—which Satan originates. Sad is the spectacle of churches meeting week after week to be beguiled by the philosophy of men, and raising no voice in protest against the denial of their only foundation as a church, and the individual’s only hope for time and eternity! Far more honorable were the infidels of the past generation than these who minister in these churches. They were wholly outside the church. But now, behold the inconsistency! Men who are covered by the vesture of the church, ministering its sacraments, and supported by its benevolence, are making an open attack upon that wisdom of God which made Christ Jesus the only ground for all righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. The predictions for the last days are thus not only being fulfilled by false systems and doctrines, but they are found in the visible church itself. “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables” (2 Tim 4:3, 4). Great religious activities are possible without coming into complications with saving faith. It is possible to fight against sin and not present the Savior, or to urge the highest Scriptural ideals and yet offer no reasonable way of attainment. There is a strange fascination about these undertakings which are humanitarian, and are religious only in form and title. And there is a strange attractiveness in the leader who announces that he is not concerned with the doctrines of the Bible, because the helping of humanity is his one passion and care; yet all his passion is lost and his care is to no real end unless coupled with a very positive message of a particular way of salvation, the true understanding of which demands a series of most careful distinctions.
Who can be the god of these systems? the energizing power in these people? and the answerer of their prayers? Surely not the God of the Scriptures who cannot deny Himself, and whose Word cannot be made to pass away! Revelation sets forth but one other being who is capable of these undertakings; and it not only assigns to this being a great and sufficient motive for all such activity, but clearly predicts that he will thus “oppose” and “exalt himself” in this very day and age. Much of the secondary truth is the present inheritance of the child of God. However, if there is a choice to be made the deepest wisdom will perceive that all the combined secondary values which Satan can offer are but for a fleeting time, and are not worthy to be compared with the eternal riches of grace in Christ Jesus.
Certain religious systems which are in no way related to the Bible and have continued for millenniums—including the ancient pagan systems and spiritism—have held the devotions of uncounted millions and bear every evidence of being inspired by Satan. The moral problem, which is felt to some degree by every human being, is seized upon by almost every unscriptural system. The idea that man will stand on a basis of personal worthiness has been the chief heresy, opposing the central doctrine of grace, from the time of Christ’s death to the present hour. It so permeates the church that few who preach are able to exclude it from their attempts at gospel preaching. It is safe to say that wherever the element of human merit is allowed to intrude into the presentation of the plan of salvation, the message is satanic to that extent. The ministers of Satan proclaim personal righteousness as the ground of the individual’s right relations to God (2 Cor 11:13–15). No sphere of profession has been more confused and befogged by the intrusion of human merit than has the Church of Rome.
As has been observed, cults are now multiplying and their appearance is restricted to very recent times. These cults cover a variety of ideas all the way from Christian Science to Buchmanism. The latter as completely ignores the blood-redemption of Christ as the former. While the former substitutes bodily health for the salvation of the soul, the latter substitutes consecration to God for a new birth by the Spirit. No less misleading is the modern doctrine that salvation is through faith plus consecration. Probably no religious movement is more bold than the I AM cult of recent months. It unblushingly announces by its blasphemous name that it freely embraces all that belongs to the original lie. Its title would have been equally appropriate had it been, I will be like the Most High. Space cannot be claimed for an enumeration and analysis of all these systems ancient and modern. No one can anticipate the number that will yet appear or the confusion of doctrine they will engender; but for each and all there is but one acid test, namely, what place does it give to the redeeming grace of God made possible only through the death and shed blood of Christ?
Conclusion.
In the light of that which has been written in preceding divisions of Satanology, it may be concluded that, by creation, Satan is the highest of all angels and that he fell in sin, being befogged by the distortion of sanity which pride engenders. His sin took the form of an assumption to act in independence of the Creator—an undertaking which, of necessity, became a concrete embodiment of untruth as certainly as God is Truth. According to the divine method of dealing with creature assumption, as seen in all past history, Satan is allowed—if not required—to put his scheme of independent action to an experimental test, and its present development, though manifesting even now its corrupt nature, is yet incomplete. The inerrant prophetic Scriptures carry the stupendous enterprise on to the unavoidable, irrational, incomprehensible spiritual bankruptcy which characterizes the consummation of this gigantic experiment. During these terrible ages of trial, Light is pitted against darkness, and Truth against falsehood. Little attention can have been given to Scripture on the part of men who propose to account for the evil one as a mere influence in the world. Of such wicked inattention to revelation, Dr. Gerhart writes: “In the history of Jesus the fact of the deadly hatred of Evil to the ideal Good, of fiendlike wickedness toward spotless Virtue, no one can deny. Those who choose to ascribe such appalling inhumanity and diabolism exclusively to Jews and Gentiles (instead of referring it to a mighty personal evil spirit, as its background), do not get rid, as they suppose, of a devil. Then man is himself resolved into a devil; for he is invested with a kind and degree of malice which dehumanizes human nature, turns earth into a pandemonium, and history into an interminable war of incarnated fiends.”[4] Perhaps both things here stated are true. Not only are Satan and his angels to be seen in their true light as fiends of darkness, but humanity as allied with them is evidently seen by God to be wholly evil, if not diabolical. It is such who, having cast in their lot with the satanic lie, must, if not saved out of it, share the lake of fire which originally was prepared only for “the devil and his angels” (Matt 25:41; Rev 20:10). It is to these fallen, God-repudiating human beings that the gospel of eternal redemption and heavenly glory is to be preached. How matchless is the grace of God toward these enemies (Rom 5:10)! and how incomprehensibly blessed are the words of Christ, “should not perish, but have everlasting life”!
Dallas, Texas
Notes
- Some Dogmas on Religion, p. 220.
- Christian Theology, p. 628.
- Satan, pp. 29, 30.
- Institutes of the Christian Religion, Vol. I, p. 697.
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