Chapter II.
Devils.

The Nature and History of Devils.—These formidable and hateful beings are described as "spirits;" we therefore conclude, that in their nature they are, like angels and the souls of men, possessed of that intelligence by which rational and accountable creatures are distinguished from the classes below them. They are also denominated "angels," which leads us to suppose that, like the present inhabitants of heaven, they far excel the sons of men in the original vigour and extent of their mental powers. We are told that they are fallen, and naturally conclude that their fall has impaired the faculties of their soul, at the same time that it has perverted its affections. Still, however, the fearful might of our spiritual foes is so often referred to in Scripture, that we cannot doubt that their intellectual powers far surpass the faculties of man.

They do not seem to be permanently clothed in any bodily frame, and there is no account of their ever assuming a visible form, excepting when Satan came, under the figure of a serpent, to tempt our first parents in paradise. We are, no doubt, told of the devil coming to our Saviour in the wilderness; but though the words of his addresses are recorded, no mention is made of the form which he assumed, nor is it said that an outward appearance was assumed at all.

In regard to the classes and numbers of fallen spirits, very little is made known. We find special reference made to one, who is spoken of as the leader and chief. To him the name Devil, in Greek Diabolos, in Hebrew Satan, that is, the "Accuser," is in Scripture exclusively applied. His associates in evil are in the original language, termed demons—a word which the authors of our English version have translated devils, and which, in Scripture, is always employed to denote spirits of evil, but which originally denoted, among the Greeks, spirits of any kind, whether good or bad. We read frequently of "the Devil and his angels;" we are also told of the Christian being called on to "wrestle against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places." (Eph. vi. 12.) From these statements we are led to understand that there are diversities of rank and influence among them, as there are among angels and men. These expressions also indicate numbers; but the terms are too indefinite to afford any ground for determinate conclusions. The same remark is applicable to the passage in which the demoniac, who had taken up his abode in the tombs, is described as saying that his name was "Legion," because many devils had entered into him. The description given in the Apocalypse, of the great red dragon casting to the earth the third part of the stars of heaven, (Rev. xii. 4,) has led some to suppose that a third part of the angelic host shared in Satan's apostasy. A very little reflection, however, is sufficient to shew that this passage is an allegorical representation of the assaults made on the Christian Church by Satan and the powers of the world. It refers to events occurring on earth, and affecting the condition of men, and has no reference whatever to events that occurred before man entered upon the scene. We cannot, therefore, tell whether the numbers of fallen angels be many or few.

Of the great revolt which led to their fall, no detailed account is given, and the references made to it in Scripture are very brief. The same names and titles are employed to designate the spirits of darkness that are given to those which still stand before the throne. They are called "spirits," "angels," "principalities and powers;" this naturally induces us to conclude that, originally, they were their equals and companions, engaged in the same employments, and enjoying the same felicity. But we are told, "they kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation." The office which God had assigned to them they neglected, and the habitation provided for them they deserted, preferring their own counsel and pleasure to the will and commandment of God. In this revolt they seem to have been led by him who still retains a dark supremacy over them. But further particulars are not given; unless we consider the words of the Apostle, when speaking of the appointment of bishops, he says, "Not a novice, lest being lifted up with pride he fall into the condemnation of the devil," as pointing out the motive which led to their first transgression, and indicating that, in their case, as in the case of erring man, "Pride went before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall."

The Character and Employment of Devils.—If little is told us of the previous history of evil spirits, the intimations of Scripture in regard to their present character and occupation are abundantly plain. They are full of subtlety and wickedness; they are unceasingly engaged in opposing the counsel of God, and in seeking the destruction of man. Their wisdom is exerted only to deceive, and their power is employed only to destroy.

Throughout the sacred writings we find Satan uniformly repre­sented as full of deceit, tempting men to sin, and unwearied in his efforts to lure them into destruction. We are told, "He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own, for he is a liar, and the father of it." (John viii. 44.) The coming of Antichrist is said to be "after the working of Satan, with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness." (2 Thess. ii. 9.) We read of "the depths of Satan," "the wiles of the devil," "the snare of the devil," of "his devices," and of the "seducing spirits" whom he sends forth.

We are further informed, that his activity is equal to his deceit, and that, though he cannot be always present, he is continu­ally assailing us. He has other spirits, as wicked as himself, at this command, and they, like him, are ingenious in devising, and dexterous in executing their evil designs, and are ever going about, preparing snares and temptations for the human race. We know not when they work nor how they work, for they are too cunning to let their working be known; but we have the authority of God's own word for saying, that they are ever on the watch to deceive. And we may be assured, that there is no company so holy that they will not enter, and no retirement so peaceful and pure that they will not intrude on and pollute.

Such is the tortuous course which the enemy pursues. The impelling motives that urge him on are equally detestable. They are intense and inveterate opposition to God, and unceasing and unrelenting hatred of his fellow-creatures.

Some have spoken of Satan and his associates as if they were instigated by passions and feelings like those that influence men. They have described their character as if it resembled, in all essential particulars, that of the human race, only more ener­getic, more deceitful, and more avowedly hostile to the Creator. Thus, for example, in "Paradise Lost," which is generally reckoned the noblest poem of modern times, Satan is pictured as addressing his angels in language exactly similar to that which an earthly general might be expected to employ in haranguing his troops; he is represented as if in every respect he possessed the feelings of a man; he is spoken of as feeling pity for our first parents, and as reluctant to injure them, till impelled to do so by the galling thought that they had usurped the place in the favour of God which he had formerly possessed. But all these delineations of the character of Satan, however beautiful they may be as objects of fancy, have not only no foundation in the Word of God, but are in direct opposition to the truth therein revealed. Satan is never described there as having human feelings; he is never spoken of as possessing one spark of generous emotion, or experiencing the slightest sentiment of pity. He is described as going about seeking to destroy, incapable of feeling compassion, and only requiring to be witness of another's happiness to be irresistibly impelled to seek its destruction.

As the subject is of high importance, we shall endeavour to point out some of the great and essential distinctions that are to be drawn between the character of fallen man and that of fallen spirits. In man there is, in the first place, the mere animal nature, the faculties and instincts, the feelings and appetites, which he has in common with the irrational creatures; and there is, in the next place, the soul, with its peculiar faculties of reason and conscience, and the emotions associated with them, i.e., love of that which is right, devotion, and benevolence. In fallen, unregenerate man, the nobler feelings peculiar to the soul are as it were asleep. In place of conscientious regard to the interests of others, we find selfishness and cupidity. In place of devotion to God, there are forgetfulness and indifference, or it may be, the slavish fear of a superior power; and in place of true benevolence, which is the expansive charity of Scripture, there is that coldness of heart which looks with a regardless eye on all that are beyond the narrow bounds of our own immediate circle. The affections of the rational soul are therefore said to be "dead," "dead in trespasses and sins," the "conscience is seared as with a hot iron;" and of men in this condition we are told that "there is no fear of God before their eyes," but "what they know naturally, as brute beasts, in those things they corrupt them­selves." In this condition the prevailing motives that excite to exertion are the appetites and emotions of the mere animal part of our frame. Love of our own enjoyment, the fear of our fellow-creatures, a regard to their approbation, and other feelings which we share with the irrational creatures, occupy the place which the love of God should hold. The faculties of the soul, which should regulate every appetite and emotion, are made subservient to the gratification of the mere animal desires. The monarch of the mind is enslaved by the menials of his household; and man, forgetful alike of his own best interests, and of the duty he owes to his Maker, gives himself up to "do the will of the flesh." Unmindful of God and of eternity, he lives as if he were one of the brute creation.

This condition is abundantly deplorable, and the effects that result from it are most disastrous. Fallen man, however, is not to be regarded as brought into the same condition as that of the demons below. His fall is very great; but while he remains in a state of probation, the principle of evil is restrained, and another and yet more fearful descent must be made before he reaches the level of apostate spirits. In man, the animal affections reign supreme; but, though these affections have been impaired and disordered by the Fall, the effects which they produce are not wholly evil. In the worst of men some of "the milk of human kindness" remains, and the feelings of pity and sympathy are not altogether extinct. But devils have no material frame, and no mere animal nature. They are spirits, and have no actuating motive but the emotions that are peculiar to rational beings. And in them these emotions are not dead, as they may generally be regarded in fallen man; they are alive, but they are perverted. In consequence of sin and rebellion against God, their nature has been altogether changed, or rather, we should say, it has been entirely reversed. Love of righteousness has been transformed into love of iniquity; love of God into determined hatred of His perfections; and love of their fellow-creatures into cruel delight in doing them harm. The spirits of darkness are not merely "dead in sin," but, if we may so express it, they are alive in sin. Their activity remains, their intellectual power remains, but the objects which they pursue are the very opposite of those which they pursued before; they are occupied in undoing what they formerly would have done, and in opposing that which they formerly upheld.

It is extremely difficult for us to conceive the nature of beings who are possessed of a constitution so very different from our own. Satan not only has no love of God, but he is actuated by the keenest and most intense hatred of the Divine perfections; he has not only no pleasure in beholding the works of Jehovah, and the happiness of His creatures, but he burns with a constant desire to mar and to destroy them. Satan is not only in his actings "the adversary" and enemy of God, but in his character he is diametrically opposed to Him. "God is true:" the devil is "a liar, and the father of it," full of "all deceivableness" and "subtlety." God is holy; He is filled with a supreme regard for that law which regulates the universe, and secures the bliss of His creatures: Satan is "the evil one," and that just and holy law he hates, and seeks to subvert. "The Lord is good to all, and His tender mercies are over all His works:" Satan is full of "all malice," and "goeth about continually seeking whom he may devour." Man on earth, however depraved, is not wholly under the influence of evil desire; he may be roused to fury, and may breathe out threatenings and slaughter against his fellow-men, but pity has some influence remaining; or, if pity should fail, a fear of personal. suffering, and dread of after consequences, will restrain his rage. Man, while here, is influenced more or less by the original feelings of his nature. There are few who will deliberately commit sin without hoping to gain some advantage by it; and none, however hardened, will perpetrate a crime, from the unmixed desire of sinning, if he knows that his crime will bring misery on himself without any hope of advantage or enjoyment. This determined, irresistible impulse to that which is evil, actuates only the inhabitants of hell. "They believe," says St. James, "and tremble." They know that all they do will promote the glory of God, and further the purposes of the foe whom they abhor; they have no pleasure or enjoyment in their evil deeds, for all to them is suffering and pain; they know that, by continuing to fight against God, they are only bringing greater vengeance upon themselves, but they are impelled to persevere. They cannot resist their desire of inflicting pain upon others, and of opposing the God of love, though they see that they are thereby sinking themselves deeper and deeper into perdition.

The power and subtlety of the devil and his associates, their malice and their hatred of God, are most strikingly shewn in the actions, which they commit. If we refer to the temptation of Adam and Eve, it is very evident that nothing but the unmingled love of doing evil could have led Satan to enter into the abode of peace and tranquility, in order to ruin creatures that had never done harm to him or to any one else. Nothing but malice unmixed could have prompted him to destroy a world, merely because he saw that it was happy. Yet more evidently is this character shewn in his warfare against the Redeemer. The Saviour appears arrayed in all the glory that belongs to the Creator, and in all the beauty that can pertain to the creature; He comes to exhibit in its fulness the riches of infinite love, and to put forth the most wonderful exertion of almighty power for promoting the happiness of His creatures; and it is when He thus manifests himself that Satan assails Him with the inveteracy of rage. It is against this exhibition of boundless goodness that he lets loose his legions; it is against this, the noblest proof of Jehovah's love, that he directs his most daring and unwearied attacks. While the benevolence of God shewn forth in creation stirs up his wrath, it is the grace of the Lord, as manifested in redemption, that rouses him to fury.

If this be the character of the fallen angels, it is perhaps natural for us to ask, Why does God permit such hateful beings to live; why does he not issue the stern decree and rid creation of their presence? We must remember, however, that it does not become us to divine the secret counsels of the Eternal. Hereafter, when the purposes of God are fully made known, we may rest assured that the Lord will justify all His doings. We may meanwhile remark, that one object seems very plain. Satan is preserved, vile and hateful as his character appears, to be a beacon and warning to others, and to shew to all the nature and consequences of sin. "We see the amazing evil of sin manifested in the conduct of the tempter. What a disposition was that which was exhibited in the seduction of our first parents from their obedience! From what a state of innocence and happiness did it plunge them and their posterity! At the same time, no personal resentment operated, no revenge burned in his breast against them, for between him and them there had never been a controversy, nor even a connexion. They were ignorant that such a being as himself existed, and had never done nor wished him any evil whatever.

"But he envied, he hated, their virtue, their happiness, and their prospects. Under the influence of these infernal feelings he laboured to destroy them, and a world with them; and voluntarily entailed on countless millions of intelligent beings, sin, and wrath, and ruin. How vast, how wonderful, how dreadful is this malice! How hateful is he in whom it resided! Such is the true nature of all sin. In degree it may differ, in kind it is the same."*

in man we see sin in its embryo and bud, in Satan we see it mature. Sin in its infancy, like the cub of the tiger, conceals the innate depravity of its nature beneath a pleasing and playful exterior; it is not till it has reached its stature and full development that it manifests the lineaments of the ferocious destroyer. But its nature, in every condition, is essentially the same, and an increase in evil, a growth in all that is hateful to the creature and detestable to the Creator, is its peculiar characteristic and unvarying mark.