when he is come, he finds this empty, swept, and garnished. Then goeth he, and taketh with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there and the last state of that man is worse than the first."1 We know an instance of his returning only to renew his attack with redoubled violence on those over whom he has no power, in the case of our Lord. We read, after the temptation of forty days in the wilderness, that "the devil departed from him ;" but it was only in that form, and but "for a season." He was still going about him, seeking an occasion to make an attack on him; and we find him in the hour of exhaustion and sorrow springing on his victim, and by his infernal assault drawing forth from the lips of him who was embodied patience and fortitude those awful words, as if all he had experienced of diabolical attacks hitherto was unworthy of notice, "Now is the hour and power of darkness."

§ 4. He is a cruel adversary.

Cruelty is another feature in the character of our great spiritual enemy, which the statement in the text brings before the mind. The lion is a stranger to pity. Like most ravenous beasts, he seems to have satisfaction in inflicting pain. The bleating of the lamb whom he is about to devour occasions in him no relentings, and he regards not the agonies he occasions to the bleeding, mangled sufferer. Equally ruthless is the great murderer from the beginning, the great destroyer of human souls. He appears to have a savage satisfaction in producing misery. The lion, when he tears to pieces the quivering limbs of the slaughtered kid, has an enjoyment altogether separate from the gratification of the desire to destroy. He satisfies the painful cravings of hunger, and obtains a nourishment for his body. But the destroyer of human innocence and peace, the devourer of souls, derives no advantage, can derive no advantage, knows

1 Matt. xii. 43.

2 Luke iv. 13.

that he can derive no advantage, from the miseries which he inflicts, the ruin which he occasions. On the contrary, every malignant act deepens his guilt, and will aggravate his future condemnation; and he cannot but be aware of this. Yet so deeply is the desire of diffusing misery rooted in his nature, that though conscious that in yielding to it, he is but rendering his miserable condition more miserable, treasuring up to himself wrath against the day of wrath, and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, he still, day and night, restlessly seeks for opportunities of making the good bad, and the bad worse, the happy miserable, and the miserable more miserable.

§ 5. He is a powerful adversary.

The only other idea suggested by the figurative description of our great spiritual enemy is, that he is a being of formidable power. Solomon informs us that the "lion is the strongest among beasts,"1 and, I believe modern naturalists hold that there is no animal of the same size which possesses so much muscular power. The devil belongs to an order, the angelic, which excels in strength; and though we know his powers are restrained by the Divine providence, we have no reason to think that his moral depravation produced any diminution of his physical energy. The tempest which overwhelmed the family of Job in the ruins of the house of their elder brother, and the fearful effects produced both on the bodies and the minds of those individuals who were the subjects of demoniac possession, prove both what he can do, and would do, if not restrained by a superior power. To what extent he can and does employ physical agents, what are commonly termed the powers of nature, in executing his malignant designs, we cannot tell. This we know, that the Scripture representations naturally lead us to think of Satan as not weak, but powerful. He is emblematized in the parable by "the strong man ;" and the Apostle obviously

1 Prov. xxx. 30.

estimates those unseen opponents, of whom the devil is the leader, as far more formidable foes than the most powerful human enemies.

We need, according to him, divine strength and heavenly armour to resist such enemies. "Be strong," says he, "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 of the devil: for we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places."1 So much for illustration of the Apostle's statement respecting the Christian's great spiritual enemy, so subtle, so active, so cruel, so powerful.

That part of our subject which we have attempted to illustrate, is replete with important practical instruction.

What a striking view does the contrast of the original and the present character and employment of the devil, give us of the malignant nature and tremendous power of moral evil! He who is now the worst and the most miserable of created beings, was once one of the best and the happiest. He who now prowls about the universe," a fugitive and a vagabond," restless and miserable every where, had his first abode in the region of perfect purity, near to the throne of the Eternal; and, instead of as now going about seeking how he can waste and destroy the best part of God's works, his constant employment and delight was to celebrate the praise and do the commandments of Jehovah, hearkening to the voice of his word. And what has effected the fearful change? What has converted the angel into the devil? It was sin; that only evil in God's universe in which there is no good; that evil, the depths of whose malignity no created mind can sound. Man in his fallen state, compared with man in his primæval state, earth in its present state compared with paradise, strikingly show that it is an evil and a bitter thing to depart from God; but

1 Matt. xii. 29. Eph. vi. 11-13.

still more striking is the illustration we have of this most important truth, when we contrast the accursed fiend with the holy angel, and the bottomless pit and the fiery lake with the palace of the great king, of the Lord of Hosts, and the rivers of pleasure that are at his right hand for

evermore.

How disgraceful and miserable must be the condition of those who are the slaves of this subtle, active, cruel, powerful, depraved intelligence, in turns the instruments of his detestable designs and the victims of his insatiable cruelty! And this is the situation of all unconverted men, whether they are aware of it or not. They are of their father the devil, and his lusts: the things he desires and delights in, they willingly abuse their powers and degrade their nature in doing. They are "taken captive of him at his will."1 He is their successful tempter now. He will be, if mercy prevent not, their unrelenting tormentor for ever. Oh, that they were aware of the horrors of their situation, that they saw its debasement, that they felt its wretchedness, that they realized its dangers!

How grateful should we be to HIM who came to destroy the works of the wicked one, and to deliver men from his usurped dominion and baleful power! The house of the strong man has been entered by one stronger than he. The prey has been taken from the mighty, and the captive of the terrible one delivered. The greatness of the blessing, apart from the manner in which it was procured, calls for lively gratitude; but the claims of our deliverer are felt to be tenfold strong, when we recollect that He, the only begotten, the Holy One, of God, submitted to be tempted of the devil, to have the moral sensibilities of his holy nature shocked and tortured by his loathsome suggestions, that we might be delivered from his power, and be taught, by the example of "the Captain of our salvation," how to conduct the conflict with the enemy, as to become more than conquerors through

12 Tim. ii. 26.

him who loved us. Blessed, ever blessed, be he who came in the name of the Lord to bruise the head of the old serpent; and who, through the merit of his atonement and the power of his Spirit, enables the most feeble and timid of his people to tread on the lion and the adder, and to trample the young lion and the dragon under foot.

1

Let Christians rejoice, that if a subtle, cruel, active, and powerful enemy is continually prowling about, the eye of infinite wisdom and love rests ever on them, the arm of never-tiring omnipotence is around them to protect and defend them. The lion of hell is a chained lion, a muzzled lion, to the Christian. He may alarm, but he shall never devour them. His chain is in the hand of his conqueror and their Lord. It was natural for Peter to put his brethren in mind of their great enemy. He must have often thought of the words of our Lord Jesus, "Simon, Simon, Satan hath desired to have thee, that he may sift thee as wheat; but I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not." His experience is full of warning and encouragement. It proves that if Christians are not cautious, though the Lion of Hell shall not be permitted to devour them, he may inflict wounds of which they will bear the marks till the close of life; and it finely illustrates our Lord's declaration,-"I give unto my sheep eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall any pluck them out of my hand." Neither their own heedlessness, nor the malignity of their infernal foe, will be able to accomplish their destruction. Let him, then, that is born of God, "keep himself, that the wicked one touch him not ;" and let his joy, that he has a better keeper than himself, even the keeper of Israel, who never slumbers nor sleeps, not produce security, but encourage vigilance. God keeps his people, not without, but through their own watchfulness.

Finally, let all of us who have reason to hope that we have been emancipated from the powers of the wicked one, in our humble station co-operate with our great deliverer in

'Luke xxii. 31.