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Review and Herald, Vol. 8, No. 9.

PERSONALITY OF THE DEVIL

Review and Herald

Jun 26, 1856

Publishing Committee · Battle Creek, Mich. · Jun 26, 1856

PERSONALITY OF THE DEVIL.

"Resist the Devil, and he will flee from you." Jas iv, 7.
UNIVERSALISTS deny in toto, that there is now, or ever was such a spiritual being as the devil, either real or personal; and contend, that all the idea designed to be conveyed by that word, is a personification of the principle of evil, in its various forms. It is applied in a metaphorical sense, they tell us, to various objects, such as human nature, the Roman government, wicked men, such as Judas, the lusts of the flesh, &c., &c., but in every case it is to be understood as a figure of speech, and nothing more.
This figure was known, in days of old, and designated by many titles, expressing his character, attributes, and offices. He was called "Abaddon," "Apolion," "Belial," "Accuser," "The Beast," "The Angel of the bottomless pit," "The great Dragon," "Beelzebub," "Deceiver," "The Evil One," "The God of this world," "A Murderer," "A Liar," "The Prince of this world," "The Prince of the power of the air," "The Old Serpent," "The Devil," "The Father of lies," "The Tempter," "Satan," and "The Prince of Devils!" Rev. ix, 11; xii, 10; xix, 19, 20; xii, 7, 9; 1 Pet. v, 8; Matt. xii, 24; John xvii, 15; 2 Cor. iv, 4; John viii, 44; 2 Cor. vi, 15; 1 John iii, 8; Eph. ii, 2; Eph. vi, 12; Matt. iv, 3.
He must truly have been an extraordinary metaphor, possessing doubly as many names as the Almighty himself! And I will disprove the existence of God, as a real personal being, upon the same principle precisely, that Universalists make out the devil nothing but a figure of speech—a personification of a mere principle of evil! If because Judas was called "a devil," [John vi, 70,] and Peter "Satan," [Matt. xvi, 23,] there is therefore no other devil, except Judas and Peter; then, according to the same logic, because Moses was called "a god," [Ex. vii, 1,] and Abraham lord, [Gen. xviii, 12,] there is therefore no other Lord God except Abraham and Moses! If, because God is said to perform many wonderful and mighty works, he is therefore a real being, and not a personification of a good principle; then, according to the same logic, the devil must be a real being, and not a mere personification of an evil principle, for many wonderful works, in the Scriptures, are ascribed to him. He appeared in the presence of God, and they held a conversation together concerning Job. Mark the fact: they both conversed together; and if it be consistent to say that one was a mere principle of evil, the other was nothing but a mere principle of good!
Again: He caused a wind to blow down the house on Job's children, and kill them; brought the Sabeans upon Job's oxen, who took them all away; caused the fire of God to fall from heaven, and burn up all Job's sheep: and finally, he smote Job with sore boiles, from the crown of his head, to the soles of his feet. If this was all done by a figure of speech, they must have had rather a savage sort of metaphors in Job's time!! This same figure of speech conveyed the Saviour around from place to place, conversed with him, quoted scripture, fell from heaven like lightning, broke chains and fetters, had power to cast men into prison, to walk about as a roaring lion, to work miracles, to overcome seven sons of one Sceva, a Jew, to bind a woman eighteen years, to possess a herd of two thousand swine, and drive them down into the sea, and drown them, is in possession of a kingdom, is to be judged at the last day, was conscious that there was a time coming, when he had to be punished, confessed Jesus Christ to be the Son of God, is finally to be tormented in the lake of fire and brimstone, which is the second death: and strange to tell, all this is spoken of with reference to an eastern metaphor, a figure of speech; and not any real being, visible or invisible, neither in heaven above, earth beneath, or the waters under the earth! Job i; ii; Matt. iv, 6; Rev. xiii, 13; Rev. ii, 10; 1 Pet. v, 8; Acts xix, 16; Luke x, 18; Luke xiii, 16; Mark v, 12, 13; Matt. xii, 26; Mark v, 4; 2 Pet. ii, 4; Rev. xx, 10; Matt. viii, 29.
If the devil, possessing all the foregoing characteristics, and performing all these wonderful exploits, be nothing but a metaphor, a mere principle of evil, then, I defy a Universalist to prove, that God is any thing more than a mere principle of good, the opposite of evil; and that the Bible is any thing more than a mere principle of humbuggery!
God and the devil are always spoken of in the scriptures as exact opposites, just as much so, as are the principles of good and evil. God is the author of truth, and the devil is the father of lies. God is the Father of light, and the devil is the Prince of darkness. Hence we read: "Ye cannot serve God and mammon;" "In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil." "The things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God." "What concord hath Christ with Belial?" "He that committeth sin is of the devil,—whosoever doth not righteousness is not of God." "If God were your Father, ye would love me—ye are of your father the devil." Matt. vi, 24; 1 John iii, 8-10; 1 Cor. x, 20; 2 Cor. vi, 15; John viii, 42-44.
All good, as the reader can discover from the foregoing quotations, is ascribed to God; whilst the devil is spoken of as the author of all evil. Now as God is not merely that good principle, of which he is the author, neither is the devil that evil principle of which he is the author. Is the principle of evil the author of itself? If so, then the principle of good is the author of itself, and consequently all the God there is in the universe! Just as certain as God, the author of good, is a real being, just so certain is Satan, the author of evil, a real being, and not that evil principle of which he is the author. Thus, upon the same principle, that the devil can be philosophized into a figure of speech, or a personification of a bad principle, can the Almighty Jehovah be figured out of existence as a real being, and proved to be nothing more than an Eastern metaphor, or rhetorical flourish.
But let us try some of the real significations of the devil, according to Universalism, such as the wicked Jews, the Roman government, Judas, Peter, human nature, the lusts of the flesh, the carnal mind, &c.
The best plan of testing a doctrine, is to substitute the definition for the word itself, and see what kind of sense it makes. We shall thus give the Universalist theory of no-devil-logic a fair trial. "And his fame went throughout all Syria, and they brought unto him all sick people that were taken with divers diseases and torments, and those that were possessed with Roman governments, and he healed them." Matt. iv, 24. "Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, depart from me ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the Roman government and his angels." Matt. xxv, 41. "And when he had dipped the sop, he gave to Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon: and after the sop, Peter entered into him." John xiii, 26, 27. Or perhaps Judas entered into himself, since he was as much of a devil as Peter was! and of course before that he was out of himself! "Resist Peter, and he will flee from you." James iv, 7. "Be sober, be vigilant, for your adversary, Peter, as a roaring lion walketh about, seeking whom he may devour." 1 Pet. v, 8. "And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold Peter hath desired to have you, that he might sift you as wheat." Luke xxii, 31. "And the God of peace shall bruise Judas under your feet shortly." Rom. xvi, 20. "There was given me a thorn in the flesh, the messanger of Judas to buffet me." 2 Cor. xii, 7. "And he was casting out a Judas, and it was dumb: and it came to pass, when Judas was gone out, the dumb spake, and the people wondered. But some of them said: he casteth out Judas through Peter, the prince of Judas." Luke xi, 14, 15. "Ye are of your father Peter, and the lusts of Peter will ye do. He was a murderer from the beginning and abode not in the truth, because there was no truth in him." John viii, 44. "And he asked him, what is thy name? And the human nature answered, my name is legion, for we are many: and all the human natures besought him saying, Send us into the swine, that we may enter into them. And forthwith Jesus gave them leave, and the human natures went out and entered into the swine, and the herd ran violently down a steep place into the sea, and were choked." Mark v, 9-13. "As they went, behold they brought to him a dumb man possessed of a human nature: and when the human nature was cast out, the dumb spake, and the multitude marveled, saying, it was never so seen in Israel." Matt. ix, 33.
No wonder the people would marvel, that a man could speak, after his human nature was cast out of him! "Now when Jesus was risen early the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalen, out of whom he had cast seven human natures." Mark xvi, 9. I wonder how many she had left!! "And the Lord God said unto the carnal mind, because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field, upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life." Gen. iii, 14. The carnal mind must surely have a singular mode of traveling, and live upon extraordinary diet!! "And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit, and a great chain in his hand; and he laid hold on the lusts of the flesh, that old carnal mind, which is Judas and Peter, and bound them a thousand years." Rev. xx, 1-3. "Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the lusts of the flesh: and when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterwards an hungred: and when the lusts of the flesh came to him, they said unto him, if thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. But he answered the lusts of the flesh, and said: It is written, man shall not live by bread alone; but by every word of God. Then the lusts of the flesh taketh him into the holy city, and placeth him on the pinnacle of the temple, and saith unto him: If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down, for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee, and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. Jesus answered the lusts of the flesh. It is written, thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. Again, the lusts of the flesh taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and showeth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them, and said unto him, all these things will I give unto thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. Then said Jesus: get behind me, thou lusts of the flesh, for it is written: thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. Then the lusts of the flesh leaveth him, and behold, angels came and ministered unto him." Matt. iv, 1-11. Had Christ no lusts of the flesh before the devil came to him? And after the devil left him, had he no more lusts of the flesh? "If his own lusts, or his own carnal mind, was the devil that tempted, was he not sinful? He certainly was; "Because the carnal mind is enmity against God." Rom. viii, 7. His lusts were most unquestionably sinful, if they were the devil that tempted him; for that which is holy, will not try to tempt any one into wickedness! When the Pharisees told Christ he had a devil, it was looked upon then, and has always been, by professed Christians, in all ages, as sheer blasphemy, until Universalists have recently made the discovery that the Pharisees told the truth, and that Christ had just as big a devil as any body! If the devil which came to Christ, and went away from him, was not a real being—nothing but a figure of speech; then what were the angels, which came to him after the devil left him? If they were nothing but metaphors, then how can any man on earth prove that Christ was a real being? He cannot do it, as we have two metaphors against the idea, and there is just as much reason in supposing that Christ was a metaphor, as either of the others! But if the angels were real beings, and Christ a real being, how can it be supposed, that the devil was nothing but a figure of speech, when he had fully as much to do in the performance as any of them?
"Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the lusts of his flesh, he disputed about the body of Moses." Jude 9. Thus, according to Universalism, a spirit had a contention with the lusts of his flesh, and the Saviour teaches that "a spirit hath not flesh and bones." Luke xxiv, 39. If Universalists, to avoid this absurdity, should prefer the ground, that the archangel did not contend with his own lusts, but with the lusts of Moses dead body; still it will not help them, for they teach that when the body dies, the lusts of the flesh become extinct; and thus the archangel was found combating some thing that had no existence, and fighting, as Paul says, like one that beats the air!
"And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought, and his angels." Rev. xii, 7. As the dragon and his angels were nothing but figures of speech, it is not likely that Michael and his angels were real beings! Thus, we have two mighty armies of figures, meeting in battle array on the plains of heaven, with two great metaphors at their head as commanders in chief!
"And the seventy returned again with joy, saying, even the lusts of the flesh are subject unto us through thy name. And he said unto them, I beheld the lusts of the flesh, as lightning, fall from heaven." Luke x, 17, 18. "And no marvel, for the lusts of the flesh is transformed into an angel of light." 2 Cor. xi, 14. "And when the thousand years are expired, the lusts of the flesh shall be loosed out of his prison." Rev. xx, 7.
From the foregoing, we discover that the lusts of the flesh does not suit exactly, as a definition for the devil; but we shall turn the matter, and try it the other way. If the devil means lust, of course then lust means the devil.
"Now these things were our examples, to the intent that we should not devil after evil things, as they also deviled." 1 Cor. x, 6. "When the devil has conceived, he bringeth forth sin." James i, 15. "You ask and receive not, because you ask amiss, that you may consume it upon your devils." James iv, 3. "Abstain from fleshly devils, which war against the soul." 1 Pet. ii, 11. "All that are in the world, the devil of the flesh, the devil of the eye, and the devil of life, are not of the Father." 1 John ii, 16. "The world passeth away, and the devil thereof; but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever." 1 John ii, 17. "The flesh devils against the Spirit, and the Spirit devils against the flesh, and these are contrary, the one to the other." Gal. v, 17. "But they that will be rich, fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful devils, which drown men in destruction and perdition." 1 Tim. vi, 9. "That ye put off, concerning the former conversation, the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful devils." Eph. iv, 22. "For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women, laden with sins, led away with divers devils." 2 Tim. iii, 6. "The time will come, when they will not endure sound doctrine, but after their own devils shall they heap to themselves teachers having itching ears." 2 Tim. iv, 3. "How that they told you, that there should be mockers in the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly devils." Jude 18. "Flee also youthful devils." 2 Tim. ii, 22. "And they slew of Moab at that time about ten thousand men, all devilish, and all men of valor." Judg. iii, 29. Thus, according to Universalism, we have divers kinds of devils, such as "foolish devils," "ungodly devils," "deceitful devils," "fleshly devils," "hurtful devils," "youthful devils," and as all positive adjectives imply their opposites, we must also have another class, such as "wise devils," "godly devils," "spiritual devils," "peaceable devils," "old devils," &c., &c., and the Lord only knows how many more kinds of devils there are, if Universalism be true! Thus Universalists defeat their own object; for in trying to oppose the existence of ONE devil, they make out almost as many devils as there were frogs in Egypt! They thus out orthodox old orthodoxy herself!
I wish here to answer a very common objection, which Universalists almost universally urge upon this subject. "Every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lusts, and enticed." "Christ was tempted in all points, like as we are." James i, 14; Heb. iv, 15. Hence, the conclusion is, that the devil which tempted Christ was his own lusts. But we have examined Christ's temptation, and have found that the devil which tempted him, could not possibly have been his lusts; for it is most absurd to suppose that his lusts were away from him forty days, came to him, and before him, got behind him, and finally left him for good and all!! Hence this objection cannot be well founded. But, save one, how will you dispose of it? Easily enough! "Every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lusts and enticed." But who is the tempter? Who is the enticer? Not his own lusts, certainly; for they are the principle by which he is induced to partake of the temptation, after it is presented!
But who presents it? That's the point. The answer is, the devil! Is he who presents the temptation, and that principle, which leads you to partake of it, after presented, one and the same thing? Not exactly! James does not say, that a man's lust is the tempter. Here is where Universalists mistake the whole matter. Let us illustrate it. Suppose, reader, a worthless and abandoned spendthrift comes to you, and lays every possible inducement before you, to entice or tempt you to leave your work, and go with him to the "grog-shop." You resist at first, knowing that such a course of conduct is utterly repugnant to your profession as a Christian. But "your adversary, the devil," through that wicked agent, (as all wicked men are agents for the devil,) still persists in his devices, and taxes the last coffer of his sagacity, in order to lure you from the path of duty. Your old contracted love for ardent spirits—that lust of the flesh, which you had once overcome, is now excited and roused, and finally you yield the point, and are led away captive by the devil at his will! Now any man, with half an ounce of perception, can see that lust is not the tempter, or enticer; yet, when the temptation is presented by the devil, either personally, or by human agency, and we give way to it, then is the time that we are "drawn away of our own lusts and enticed." Thus would the Saviour have been tempted, had he yielded to the proposals of the adversary—he would have been "drawn away [not tempted] of his own lusts;" but "tempted of the devil!!" The fact that Christ had all the lusts of the flesh before the devil came to him that he ever had, and that he retained them all after the adversary left him, ought to be of itself sufficient to convince any man, that the devil which tempted him was not his lusts; and this being so, it follows that the scriptural doctrine of the devil is against Universalism; although the devil himself may be in favor of it!!
In conclusion we remark, that there is not a text in the Bible, which speaks of the devil as being the lusts of the flesh; no, not one! But suppose there were a text, which figuratively applied the term devil to the lusts of the flesh, if this proves that there is no real personal devil, and that the lusts of the flesh is all the devil there is, then it follows, according to the same logic, because Paul says concerning some fellows, who were the enemies of the cross of Christ, "Whose god is their belly," [Phil. iii, 19,] that there is therefore no other God in the universe except the belly! If this was all the God the Bible held out, methinks that Atheists among Universalists, would be scared—Universalism against Itself pp. 252-261.

ETERNAL DAY.

By H. L. H.

Break, break eternal day, Bid darkness flee away, Pour on our sight— Light from the world of joy, Bliss pure without alloy, Then ne'er shall gloom annoy, All shall be bright.
Rise, rise thou glorious sun, Hasten thy race to run, At God's command, Extend thy healing wings, Open joy's long sealed springs, Reign, O thou King of kings In this dark land.
Come, come thou conquering one, Reign thou upon thy throne, In glory bright. Then shall the ransomed raise, Unceasing songs of praise, Throughout eternal days In realms of light.
H. L. H.—[Cross & Crown.

Increase of Crime.

It is a lamentable fact that crime throughout the country is on the increase. Murders for the mere purpose of plunder, highway robberies, and burglaries, are much more common now than they were forty years ago, and have increased in a ratio greater than the increase in the number of inhabitants. Without commenting upon the insecurity of life, there can be no doubt that the criminal attacks on property have multiplied of late. Once, it was hardly thought necessary to fasten the doors of a house in the night time—now, the common locks and bars are no security. There is hardly a week passes without hearing of some burglarious attempt in our city, and great care must be nightly taken to secure not only the doors but the windows.
One of the causes of the increase of crime may be owing to the relaxation of parental discipline. There are those in the community who endeavor to do their duty by their boys, to keep them from bad company, to make home so pleasant to them that they do not desire to wander in the night around the streets. But all are not so faithful. We fear that in many families, religious instruction, proper moral training, and effective parental influence, are all wanting. We judge so from the number of rude, profane, and rowdy boys that frequent our streets. Let any one go through the city and have his mind turned towards the subject, and he will be shocked at hearing the profanity which is uttered by even the small boys. He will see, from their oaths, their vulgarity, the cigars which even the little ones are sucking, their rude, rough conduct, that they are preparing, not for a life of labor and usefulness, but for a reckless, rowdy existence, to swell the number of the inmates of the grogshop and the brothel, and to increase the ranks of crime.
This mode of early life shows that the consideration of principle, of right, of duty, and of conscience, never enters into their education. As soon, therefore, as want presses, or ungratified desires stimulate, these boys will be ready for plunder, for there will be no checks of early instruction to restrain them. The parents of such children have much to answer for, both to society and to God, for the consequences of their neglect. Many a crime will be traced back in its origin to the want of that early control and discipline which all parents are bound to exert over their children. To reform, then, the coming age, we should commence with the children and impress upon them early the feeling of responsibility, of duty and right. We should likewise exhibit to parents, in the most vivid colors, the importance of a greater control over their household, and the restraint of all those evil tempers, desires and habits which they ascertain are budding in the soul.
As long as our streets are filled with these incipient rowdies, the less our sons are in them, the better. We can at least keep them clear from these contaminations, and endeavor to prevent the early influence of evil example from rotting away the principles of right.
We need not wonder at the prevalence of crime when we see boys growing up in the reckless and vile manner in which too many are training themselves in the midst of us. A youth of rowdyism will be succeeded by a manhood of crime, before which the State prison or the gallows stands as the closing scene.—Conn. Courant.

The Grace of Life.

By Mrs. O. Annette Harris

BY MRS. O. ANNETTE HARRIS.
[The following article we take from the Northern Christian Advocate, of August 22. There is too much truth in it to be overlooked, and we are glad to find such an article in the same paper where Mr. Slaughter and others have made such an effort to annihilate the great truth of “no eternal life, or immortality out of Christ.” “Dead churches” and their “dandyish” ministers, with plenty of “tinsil garnish” and theatrical “essays”—called sermons—have received a just rebuke in this article. Bible Examiner.]
THIS is the great preservative principle, which holds a renovated heart steady to a previously formed purpose to meet the demands of Christianity. It was this that disposed the soul to the undertaking, and imparted the requisite energy, for the beginning of that life from the dead, so mysterious, and, yet so real, that we never doubted its nature; even when the mists of temptation obscured our spirit-vision with a gloom akin to what the world calls despair; that desolation, from which unaided humanity seeks deliverance in suicide. That calm, unembarrassed faith that stood the test—that proved God true when all else was untrue—that always opened an azure sky and a meridian sun, after the terrible tempest-cloud—for it was only a cloud—at each additional triumph, cemented a new layer in the rock-foundation of our hope.
The grace of life is always near, even when total abandonment seems inevitable; its facilities and unearthly fortitude unsecured, only because the simple conditions were unmet. O, to be hearty in our confidence—to be clear in our apprehension of what God is, and of his proposition for us, and then to be childlike in our ventures upon him!
How pre-eminent is this grace in its inate, unchanging purity. It is unlike any other principle we know of—only like God. Creeds and dogmas, philosophic and finely arranged systems of theology, may become corrupt—may assimilate to the errors of their time, but this grace never. It is a vital element always, everywhere, though sometimes rendered inoperative. Pretended religions have in every age arisen, tower-like, seeming pharoses in the benighted world; but there was no clear, unflickering illumination, only a sort of meteoric, dazzler wave, and a deep night would have been, if truth had not been in the world; but the glow-worm’s lamp went out and the sun shone still. The pulsating immortality embossomed in the system of Jesus of Nazareth was wanting; there was no soul, no healthful organization, no element of success.
Even truly Christian organizations, that is, those based upon the holy doctrines of the Cross, which hold this grace an inoperative principle, existing merely in a doctrinal recognition, so far as regards their legitimate, paramount object, are but a nullity. No, they are not so harmless as a cypher; not passive merely. There is no such innocence attaches to their character. It is nothing less than a selfish appropriation—a mocking monopoly of a grand channel of influence—sacred to truth—belonging exclusively to Jehovah. Were the question open for debate at the Judgment, What made Infidelity so rife in the world, from what invisible fount it derived its sustenance—its force, the answer might once come welling up from the abode of damned millions, “Dead churches”? professions heartless as the last smiling kiss of Judas! Life and energy they have, but it is the terrible stirring force which comes with the decomposing process; which turns over, distorts, and throws from side to side, the dead in the channel! It is the Lucifer exaltation, which invites worldly patronage to magnificent forms—that gild the rude cross with garnish tinsel of earthly splendor, and decks its bleeding Christ with the gorgeous butterfly paraphernalia of the mode! The world—the intelligent manhood of a lost race, looks at the caricature and shakes its head. The enlightened atheist smiles sarcastically, and passes on to the hell he would have believed in, and shunned, had he seen the Bible proposition a practical thing. He sought a demonstration of Christianity, in its popular phase in the great world; just where he should have found it, but never did. He knew not that its Divinity was enshrined in rude sanctuaries of rustic villas and forest glades, away from the fine, pretty-fashion world—where, perchance, a simple worship might be tolerated, if it was “down town”—That its flame burned on heart-altars, in simple, unlettered souls—here, because unembarrassed by adventitious false aid. That here dwelt the holy Ark of the Covenant, and here the Mercy Seat, where might be solved the wondrous problem of the Divine forbearance, That stays the avenging sword, And holds a reckless world in life, That here existed a true representation of Jesus—that MODEL CHARACTER—but so awkwardly, so grotesquely stage-acted beneath the massive, heaven-towering dome, where “The rich-toned organ echoes peal on peal—” its soft worship attempting to ascend to the dizzy height of the eagle’s eyrie, but is lost in the dim grandeur of fluted columns, frescoes, and crimson cushions—where delicately slippered feet, press yielding cushions, and beautifully jeweled, snowy hands, twirl with a modest sacrilege, the Book of Life. Just here, hell-bound gentlemen and ladies may, in romantic leisure, give ear to a “portion in due season” of an elaborate essay upon the Progress of the Age, or some other progress—say a dry disquisition upon matters and things in general—by a dandyish, titled emanation from a modern school of doubtful divinity. The grace of life dwells here only in bound books and in the yellow-covered catechisms in the basement—the only place where incipient fashionable church-goers ever learn who made them, and who died for them; for if the finished, upper-ten metropolitan declaimer—I will not call him preacher—ever attempts an impartation of intelligence in this direction, it is so splendidly metamorphosed, that the hearer was only dazzled by the fixings—and never got at the simple truth, what he must do to be saved, which brings the Grace of Life.

Obstacles to the Truth.

By Charleston Observer

Among the obstacles to the prevalence of truth we may enumerate the following:
1. Prejudice.—The judgment is often formed without light:—without evidence. And should the truth be presented to a mind thus pre-occupied before it can obtain a lodgment there, it has an obstacle to encounter and remove, of a very formidable magnitude. The strength of prejudice is amazing. Though assailed by reason, and argument, and revelation, it often remains as deeply rooted and vigorous as ever. Nay it is frequently nourished by the very efforts which are made for its destruction.
2. Pride of opinion.—When a man has formed an opinion and committed himself to its support, his mind is fortified against the reception of evidence showing that his opinion is false. Though he may feel himself unable to answer the objections which are urged against his views, he still clings to them with the most obstinate tenacity. His pride of opinion revolts at the thought of a change. It would be to him a weakness—a degradation to which he cannot submit.
3. Authority.—There are but few minds which think for themselves, and form their judgment independent of others. Whether they will acknowledge it or not, almost every man has his Magnus Appello, to whom he listens as to an oracle. And whatever changes the responses of his oracle may undergo, he changes with it, and echoes its latest dicta.
4. Education.—When the mind is in its forming state it takes readily the impressions which are made upon it, and retains them through after-life, in all their distinctness and vigor. Hence erroneous impressions early made are apt to be enduring. And it is here that truth meets the firmest resistance.
5. Interest.—What multitudes are governed by calculations of profit or loss in forming their opinions! And by habitually acting upon these sordid principles, are given over to believe a lie!
6. Personal Attachments.—Man is a social being and has his favorites, who insensibly exercise a control in the formation of his opinions.
7. Personal Aversions.—When truth comes from the lips of those we hate, the resistance to it is far greater than if it proceeded from a different source. Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?
8. Consciousness of Error.—This often prevents men from coming to the light lest their deeds should be reproved. They love darkness rather than light, because their deeds are evil. And though conscious of their error, they are not willing to confess and forsake it.
9. The Dread of Ridicule.—How many are prevented from entertaining the truth, because it will expose them to the ridicule of their companions! They had rather endure the pangs of a wounded conscience than the scoffs of the wicked.
10. Example.—Have any of the Pharisees believed on him? The force of example is great. And truth has often to make its way in the face of the opposing multitude. From these obstacles to its prevalence—and many, very many more could be given, is it marvelous that so few embrace it? The wonder is rather that it should make any progress amid such opposition. Nor would it, so far as the gospel is concerned, but for the accompanying influences of the Holy Spirit. This shows at once the source of our dependence, and urges us to supplication for the greatest of all the gifts which flow through the gospel—the gift of the Spirit.—Charleston Observer.

Christian Practice as Evidence

“Christian practice is the most decisive evidence of the gracious sincerity of professors, both to themselves and to others. The saints may have other exercises of grace besides these, which are very satisfying to themselves; but still this is the chief and most decisive evidence. There may be several circumstances which show that a certain tree is a fig-tree, but the most decisive evidence is that it actually bears figs.”—Edwards.

The Wisdom of Obedience

By Thomas A'Kempis

“No man can safely go abroad, that does not love to stay at home; no man can safely speak, that does not willingly hold his tongue; no man can safely govern, that would not cheerfully become a subject; no man can safely command, that has not truly learned to obey; and no man can safely rejoice, but he that has the testimony of a good conscience.”—Thomas A'Kempis.
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