^ H. J. C. Knight ST. MARK — 4
50 THE GREAT TEXTS OF THE BIBLE
might sift you as wheat." Jesus said this from His own experience of the subtlety and covetousness of evil. In the earthly life of our Lord there are no moments so intense as those in which He felt the attempts of evil upon Himself. And it was out of this horror that, in spite of all His illustra- tions of the necessity and Divine uses of temptation, He bade His disciples pray not to be led into it.^
iv. His Pkesence and Work.
1. Consider some of the evidences that any one may recognise as proofs of Satan's presence and work.
(1) Think of that mystery of iniquity, so to speak, in the sudden injection of evil thoughts, when no point of connection can be traced, no unguarded talk, or want of watch over the eyes. Yet horrid thoughts of blasphemy and unbelief, of impurity and rebellion and hatred, assail the soul at some sacred time, perhaps of prayer or Communion, when we would give anything to be free therefrom. " An enemy hath done this."
(2) Think of the mystery of iniquity in the stirring up of curiosity, that so fruitful cause of evil, in a child's mind, the invention of evil in a heart that was fenced against its entrance. Why should that book, that column in the newspaper, exert such a fascinating attraction ? Whence this passionate desire to know both good and evil ? Again, " an enemy hath done this."
(3) Think of that further and more awful mystery of iniquity in the propagation of evil, when men and women, knowing in their own experience the misery of sin, of scepticism, it may be, or drink, or lust, seek to spread its influence and to blight others' lives. Do you believe they do this simply of their own accord ? Is it not at least as reasonable to suppose that they are used as instruments by one to whom they have sold themselves, that, having yielded to powers of evil, those powers claim their service ? The tempted and fallen are used in turn to tempt others.
(4) Consider the chains of ignorance, the bonds of prejudice, in which not only heathen nations are fettered, but which keep back BO many of our own countrymen from recognising the
* Principal George Adam Smith.
ST. MARK 51
truth, 80 that, while rejectiDg the sweet reasonableness of the Christian faith as a badge of credulity, they take up with silly superstitions like those of Mormonism or Spiritualism. Is it not reasonable to recognise here the working of a lying spirit propagating error, instilling prejudices and misunderstanding, blinding the mind to the truth ?
(5) Once more, the experience of those who are earnest in the service of God bears the mark of the intervention of an enemy who carefully and persistently manipulates temptation, and adjusts it to the special weakness of each person, to his circumstances and environment, to his disposition and tempera- ment. We do not catch a sin as we catch a fever ; there is an adjustment and dexterous arrangement of temptation that tells to the thoughtful mind of a personal spiritual foe who is constantly on the watch to ruin souls, seeking to mar God's handiwork and thwart His purposes.^
IT It was cleverly said by a French priest to a young man who accosted him in a patronising tone with the question, "Surely, sir, you don't believe in the devil ? " " Thank God I do, for otherwise I should have to believe myself to be a devil."
We all know the despair which successive submissions to temptation fasten upon the soul ; and how, yielding to sin, men fall into a state of mind in which evil feels not only real and powerful, but indeed more real than anything else : the only possibility for them, the only thing with any reality left in it. One who had fallen very far into sin wrote thus of it : —
They say that poison-sprinkled flowers
Are sweeter in perfume. Than when, untouched by deadly dew,
They glowed in early bloom.
They say that men condemned to die Have quaffed the sweetened wine
With higher relish than the juice Of the untampered vine.
And I believe the devil's voice
Sinks deeper in our ear Thau any whisper sent from Heaven,
However sweet and clear.
1 A. 0. A. HalL
52 THE GREAT TEXTS OF THE BIBLE
2. All through the New Testament Satan is spoken of as an agent of evil to the body as well as to the soul. Our trials and tribulations, as well as our enticements to sin, are attributed to his malice. Our Lord Himself employs language which at least implies His acquiescence in this behef of His day : " And ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan hath bound, lo, these eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath day ? " (Luke xiii. 16). St. Paul uses similar language to describe his "thorn in the flesh," doubtless a bodily ailment (2 Cor. xii. 7) : " And lest I should be exalted above measure . . . there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure." This idea is equally implied in the same Apostle's language (1 Cor. v. 5) in speaking of excom- munication : " To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus." Here " to deliver up to Satan " means to expose them to the peril of physical hurt and misfortune, unhelped and unprotected by the prayers and sacraments of the Church, so that by fear and chastisement they may be brought to repentance. And this further explains 1 Tim. L 20: "Of whom is Hymenaeus and Alexander ; whom I have delivered unto Satan " (i.e. have excommunicated) " that they may learn not to blaspheme." Even plainer still is the same meaning in 1 Thess. ii. 18, where St. Paul is excusing his delay in revisiting Thessalonica : " Wherefore we would have come unto you, even I Paul, once and again ; but Satan hindered us." The hindrances that occurred, whether they arose out of sickness or other external circumstances, are set down to the malice of Satan, who was always for obstructing so good a cause.^