SATAN. 199
8. What are their employments ?
1st. They behold the face of G-od in heaven, adore the divine perfections, study every revelation he makes of himself in provi- dence and redemption, and are perfectly blessed in his presence and service. — Matt, xviii., 10 ; Kev. v., 11 ; 1 Pet. i., 12.
2d. God employs them as his instruments in administering the affairs of his providence, Gen. xxviii., 12 ; Dan. x., 13. (1.) The laAv " was ordained by angels," Gal. iii., 19 ; Acts vii., 53 ; Heb. ii., 2. (2.) They are instruments of good to God's people, Heb. i., 14 ; Acts xii., 7 ; Ps. xci., 10-12. (3.) They execute judgment upon God's enemies, Acts xii., 23 ; 2 Kings xix., 35 ; 1 Chron. xxi., 16. (4.) They will officiate in the final judgment, in separating the good from the bad, in gathering the elect, and in bearing them up to meet the Lord in the air, Matt, xiii., 30-39 ; xxiv., 31 ; 1 Thess. iv., 17.
9. How are apparitions of angels to be accounted for ?
See Num. xxii., 31, etc. What was apparent to the senses were doubtless miraculously constituted bodies assumed for the occasion for the purpose of holding intercourse with man through his bodily senses, and then laid aside.
10. What are the names by which Satan is distinguished, and what is their import ?
Satan, which signifies adversary, Luke x., 18. The Devil (6id!3oXog always occurs in the singular) signifying slanderer, Rev. xx., 2 ; Apollyon, which means destroyer, and Abbadon, Rev. ix., 11 ; Beelzebub, the prince of devils, from the god of the Ekronites, chief among the heathen divinities, all of which the Jews regarded as devils, 2 Kings, i., 2 ; Matt, xii., 24 ; Angel of the Bottomless Pit, Rev., ix., 11 ; Prince of the World, John xii., 31 ; Prince of Darkness, Eph. vi., 12 ; A Roaring Lion, 1 Pet. v., 8 ; a Sinner from the Beginning, 1 John iii., 8 ; Accuser, Rev. xii., 10 ; Belial, 2 Cor., vi., 15 ; Deceiver, Rev. xx., 10 ; Dragon, Rev. xii., 7 ; Liar and Murderer, John viii., 44 ; Levia- than, Is., xxvii., 1 ; Lucifer, Is. xiv., 12 ; Serpent, Is. xxvii., 1 ; Tormentor, Matt, xviii., 34 ; God of this World, 2 Cor. iv., 4 ; he that hath the Power of Death, Heb. ii., 14. — See Cruden's Concordance.
200 ANGELS.
11. How may it be proved that Satan is a personal being, and not a mere personification of evil ?
Throughout all the various hooks of Scripture Satan is always consistently spoken of as a person, and personal attributes are predicated of him. Such passages as Matt, iv., 1-11, and John viii., 44, are decisive.
12. What do the Scriptures teach concerning the relation of Satan to other evil spirits and to our world ?
Other evil spirits are called "his angels," Matt, xxv., 41 ; and he is called " Prince of Devils/' Matt, ix., 34 ; and " Prince of the powers of the Air," and " Prince of Darkness," Eph. vi., 12. This indicates that he is the master spirit of evil.
His relation to this world is indicated by the history of the Fall, 2 Cor. xi., 3 ; Kev. xii., 9, and by such expressions as "God of this World," 2 Cor. iv., 4 ; and " Spirit that worketh in the children of disobedience," Eph. ii., 2 ; wicked men are said to be his children, 1 John iii., 10 ; he blinds the minds of those that believe not and leads them captive at his will, 2 Tim. ii., 26 ; he also pains, harasses and tempts God's true people as far as is per- mitted for their ultimate good, Luke xxii., 31 ; 2 Cor. xii., 7 ; 1 Thess. ii., 18.
13. What are the terms by which fallen spirits are desig- nated ?
The Greek word 6 didSoXog , the devil, is in the original applied only to Beelzebub. Other evil spirits are called dal^oveg, daemons, Mark v., 12 (translated devils) ; unclean spirits, Mark v., 13 ; angels of the devil, Matt, xxv., 41 ; principalities, powers, rulers of the darkness of this world, Eph. vi., 12 ; angels that sinned, 2 Pet. ii., 4 ; angels that kept not then first estate, but left their own habitation, Jude vi ; lying spirits, 2 Chron. xviii. 22.
14. What power or agency over the bodies and souls of men is ascribed to them ?
Satan, like all other finite beings, can only be in one place at a time ; yet all that is done by his agents being attributed to him, he appears to be practically ubiquitous.
FALLEN ANGELS. 201
It is certain that at times at least they nave exercised an in- explicable influence over the bodies of men, yet that influence is entirely subject to God's control, Job. ii., 7 ; Luke xiii., 16 ; Acts x., 38. They have caused and aggravated diseases, and ex- cited appetites and passions, 1 Cor. v., 5. Satan, in some sense, has the power of death, Heb. ii., 14.