EVERY expression which God has given of Himself, and of His mind, placing man thereby in a special relation to Himself, is the object of Satan's attack. The evil spirit must, because of his nature, oppose every manifestation of good, and hinder in every way he can the reception of it by those to whom it is made.
Every revelation which God makes of His mind places man to whom it is given in relation to Himself according to it, and, therefore, in increased blessing because God is good; so that each new revelation improves the position of man (to whom it is committed) in his relation to God. Hence, the more God is revealed, the more is Satan provoked to hinder the effect of it, and to deprive man of it, because it is good and is of God. Hence, that which is the highest and fullest revelation at any given time, is necessarily the one which he most opposes, and against which he exerts his malice. I propose to trace from Scripture how Satan opposes every truth-every declaration which God gives of His mind -and the manner and way in which he (through man) opposes it.
Evil is roused to action by the manifestation of good; and it has recourse to malice in order to contravene its object and nullify its effects. Satan does not practice the same order of opposition against every truth; the nature of the opposition varies according to the nature of the revelation and the effects flowing from it. He has malicious skill in opposing each in the most effectual way; because he has in man a weak and an evil nature to work on; a nature which is, because of its qualities, supremely instrumental, when wielded against itself, to effect its own ruin. The mode of opposition lie adopts to hinder or frustrate any given truth is the same, and the surest to succeed; he need never exchange it for another; ' it is the wickedest and most relentless that can be found. Therefore, when any mode of opposition is in activity against any one, he may thereby know the special line of truth which is opposed, and of which Satan seeks to deprive him.
When Adam was set in the garden of Eden in the midst of a display of God's care and provision for him, Satan entered and represented to Eve, that in spite of the rich ample exhibition of God's thoughtfulness which surrounded her, yet that He withheld the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, because of His unwillingness to promote man's interest; but that she could help herself to that which God thus, from want of true interest in her, denied her. Nay, more; that God's word about it was untrue, and only a subterfuge to conceal the narrowness of His heart. In short, that He had no heart for man, for that what was within their power to possess and be enriched by, God had interdicted. Satan's object is to set aside and frustrate the word of God which He, in His wisdom and love, had given to man as the sole guide and authority for all his actions. Here the mode of opposition employed is setting before the mind the gain which will accrue from disobedience; and this is the evil spirit working in the children of disobedience. Eve is beguiled. God's word is despised and disobeyed because of an expected advantage. God had given man counsel. All His works and ways towards Him pronounced His care and thought for him. Man ought to have believed that God's counsel or injunction was of the same order. This natural faith Satan undermines in the soul, and the force and influence by which he effects this is, as we have seen, by engrossing the heart with a gain which it seems can only be obtained by walking contrary to the counsel of God. This then is the force which Satan thinks the surest and most effectual in leading a soul into disobedience, and it is after this mariner that the evil spirit works in the children of disobedience. It is of value to us to acquire the knowledge of the particular force which the enemy will use to inflict injury. To induce us to disbelieve God and despise His counsel, Satan always proposes some direct advantage, of which we should be deprived by obedience. True, in the end we shall find out that our misery is in proportion to our disobedience; and that the only way by which we could have escaped it was by simply adhering to the truth of God. This force of Satan, this form of his opposition to any and every truth of God, we should be prepared for, when the temptation is simply to disbelieve and disobey it; for disobedience is the practical proof of unbelief.
Now, in the case of Cain, who was of the wicked one, and slew his brother, I find another force working. God's counsel to him was despised and disregarded. But more than this; Satan urges and empowers Cain to kill his brother, who was accepted of God; to get rid of the one who had supplanted and surpassed him; so greedy of gain, that he taketh away the life of the owners of it. The force, the mode, by which Satan leads Cain to reject the counsel of God, is by provoking him to get rid of the owner of that which he desired to possess; not to seek for the desired possession in the legitimate way, the way given of God; but, on the contrary, to destroy his brother who had rightly obtained it. Satan's object is to set aside the counsel of God, and to use the one to whom God commits it, to reject it, and act contrary to it; and in order to effect this he urges Cain on to a dreadful expedient. Instead of hearkening to God's word, and offering suitably for himself; he must needs relieve himself by slaying his brother. Satan's way is preferred to God's way. Cain not only practically denies the truth of God's word for himself, but he will not allow that there should be any living witness of it. Here is brought in the evil principle of seeking to get rid of every one who surpasses me. It is not merely seeking to acquire more, as in Eve's case; but in the most determined and violent way, it seeks to get rid of the one who possesses what I do not. With Eve it is to grasp what is interdicted; with Cain, to get rid of the approved one. God makes good His own truth before there is departure from it, and the one who believes and maintains it is the one opposed, and, if possible, overwhelmed by Satan.
Fearful wickedness and departure. from God followed on Cain's crime; but I pass on from it to Noah on the purged earth (Gen. 9), first noticing the terms on which God now sets him on the earth; and then showing the nature of the influence and lusts which led man entirely aside from the word and covenant of God. The terms are, that man is to rule over everything, and that he is to observe the bow in the cloud as the sign of God's covenant with him on the earth. To frustrate and nullify these terms and covenant, is the sole aim and purpose of Satan. Truth triumphed for a while; but now a new force is urged against Noah, in order that in him the testimony to the mind and purpose of God may be marred. He is enticed to indulge himself to excess; to lose all sense of his own position and dignity by intoxication; so that instead of ruling over everything, he is subdued by his own self-gratification, and his younger son exhibits a want of respect, indicative of the utter break up of all rule and government; which eventually comes to openly declared independence of God. Babel is substituted for the sign of the covenant, and finally devils are worshipped and not God. How sad and striking it is to see the gracious truth and counsel of God, which for one short moment conferred such blessing so long as it was adhered to, so effectually contravened, that everything the very opposite to the condition to which it would have raised man, is now the infliction on him. We see, and it is deeply important, how Satan varies his mode of opposition according to the nature of the truth committed to man; bringing in a new order of wickedness, in order to frustrate each new truth, and deprive man of the knowledge of God. *How wicked the subtlety which entices a man to disqualify himself for rule, by leading him to indulge himself to excess!
One who allows his own self to get beyond his control," cannot expect to control others to do well. The Lord help us thereto, and keep before our souls the devices of Satan, by which he would turn us aside from the truth and leave us without its help and counsel. Are we sufficiently aware of the various activities of the prince of the power of the air, each of which is suited to accomplish its end?
We pass on to Abram. A new truth; a further disclosure of the mind of God is communicated to him. To set aside and render it ineffective is the simple and constant effort of Satan. It is not with truths already revealed-past revelations-that the-enemy is occupied with to frustrate them; it is the truth which especially testifies of God at the time given, which chiefly calls forth his malice and opposition; and against it, he mainly directs his power in order to subvert it. The word of God to Abram is, " Get thee out of thy country and from thy kindred; and from thy father's house into a land that I will. show thee." To hinder and render abortive this promise and purpose of God, is the unceasing effort of Satan. What Abram might know of other truths, he may enjoy to a certain extent, if he will but renounce and act contrary to this new counsel and promise of God. Thus, he is first balked and checked by his father taking the lead. The very relationship which Satan. led the son of Noah to despise, is the one which he makes now an occasion of stumbling to Abram. Faith in God's word was now the call of God: and to divert and distract Abram from this by any means, was Satan's object. No way seemed more effectual to his evil mind than to put the respect due to a father against the word of God. When bewildered as to which path we ought to observe, how easily we can be persuaded to follow that of nature, and thus to neglect and disregard God's path. This hindrance being after some delay overcome (for Gad causes His truth to triumph), Abram is no sooner in the land, than seeing a famine, which was a test for his faith, he yields to nature again and its suggestions, and goes down into Egypt. True, he returns from Egypt, but Lot is entirely carried away from the path of faith; the green fields of Sodom allure him from it. Satan succeeds in. warping and smothering the truth and word of God in his soul.
But I need not pursue this through all the history of Abram and his descendants, while holding the land. by faith. It will suffice for all practical purposes to note that every difficulty to which Abram was exposed, was a trial of faith, and every case of failure in his life and in the lives of his descendants, until Jacob finally left the land, was simply a departure from the path of faith to which they were called. If A brain has an Ishmael, it is because of failure in faith. If Isaac prefers Esau to Jacob, it is simply that he is of faith. If Jacob deceives to get the blessing, it is because he has not faith. If Joseph is sold and got rid of, it is because his brethren have entirely departed from faith in God; and they drop' into the wickedness of the most ignorant, as the better instructed when they fall always do. When the whole family finally left the land, Satan had succeeded in his opposition; but we should thankfully bear in mind the heights and fullness of blessing, which any of those who walked in faith, and while they did so, were led into. Misery and sorrow were unknown until they wandered away from the path of truth; the only path which could preserve them, and the only one in which they could find restoration.
In the day of Moses, the mind and purpose of God was to deliver His people out of the land of Egypt, and lead them into Canaan. The power and stratagem by which Satan opposed and circumvented this purpose is terrible, and humbling lest in any way we should fall under it. I cannot notice all the varied forces which he practiced for this end. The first was to harass and overwhelm the people of God by the exactions of Pharaoh, so oppressing them with care and anguish of heart, that they loathed both the idea and the object of Moses' mission, and denied the truth of God which they had believed and rejoiced in. See all the efforts of Pharaoh; mark the undying nature of the opposition; take into account the people's unbelief, saying to Moses, before they had crossed the Red Sea, " Is not this the word we did tell thee in Egypt,. saying, Let us alone that we may serve the Egyptians." Again at Marah, even though
Satan's hosts had been overthrown; so that we see how man in his nature subsidizes Satan, and follows up his will as now his own, even after Satan has ceased actively to work. After they had accepted the law, the first thing they did was most glaringly and openly to break it, by setting up a golden calf; and eventually in the face of all the remonstrance and exhortation of Caleb, they almost with one voice declared against the counsel of God, because they were afraid of the children of Anak, whom Caleb afterward slew (Josh. 15, Judg. 1). Satan had at this juncture brought into play the force which would effectually tell on their unbelieving hearts, by filling them with fear of the giants and walled cities. The force and order of opposition brought against God's people, to divert them from accepting and obeying the counsel of God, as to entering and possessing the land, differs from that employed to detain them in Egypt. Each special truth has its own special opposition. Here it is fear of man, and consequent distrust of God. Coming out of Egypt, it was the pressure of the power by which they were surrounded.
Now when they have entered the land, under Joshua, when the counsel of God is triumphant, Satan introduces a new order of opposition. Here it is by Achan's taking of the accursed thing (Josh. 7). The people being in possession, and God in their midst in full power, it was the aim of Satan to introduce an element which must lead either to God's withdrawing from his people, or His going on with them in unholiness. This is the worst form of evil; so secret and so damaging is it, that though only perpetrated by an individual, the damage is universal. There is practical unholiness, unequivocal departure from the terms on which God succors and is present with His people.
In 'Principle it is the same as the intention and effort to obtain place and distinction for oneself in Divine things, appropriating what should be devoted to God (see Josh. 6:1919But all the silver, and gold, and vessels of brass and iron, are consecrated unto the Lord: they shall come into the treasury of the Lord. (Joshua 6:19)) to our own selfish ends, in order to obtain distinction for ourselves. It is the unholiness of self intruding, into the sanctuary of God, and intrinsically losing sight of the place we are set in by God. It is the introduction of unholiness where God is acting, in order to defeat the purpose of God, and mar all the success. Where 'unholiness has come in, God must with.. draw from His people. What an apparently small act to be the parent of such disastrous consequences I And how terrible is the malice of Satan thus to devise and employ that force which will most effectually deprive us of the best of our privileges; for the very best we have is what he first aims at, and what we in our wretched nature first lose. It is of all importance that we should see what is God's great and distinct line of purpose at any given time, and having ascertained that, to be prepared to resist Satan's attempts to divert and hinder us from it. At this juncture God was with His people, leading them on in victory; and hence Satan secretly works that element which must disturb His presence, and cause Him to withdraw; and the element must be discovered, and the particular force encountered, ere God can again make known His presence, and the faithful find the blessing of it.
The next question is (the land having been divided by lot to the children of Israel), will they maintain themselves there as God's people. The simple counsel with which they are charged is, "That ye come not among these nations that remain among you, neither Make mention of the name of their gods," etc., etc. (Josh. 23:77That ye come not among these nations, these that remain among you; neither make mention of the name of their gods, nor cause to swear by them, neither serve them, nor bow yourselves unto them: (Joshua 23:7); also Deut. 7) " Thou shalt smite them and utterly destroy them, thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor show mercy unto them." Yet in a little time we find that they not only had made league with the inhabitants of the land, but that they " forsook the Lord God of their fathers which brought them out of Egypt, and followed other gods-the gods of the people that were round about them, and bowed themselves unto them and provoked the Lord to anger." (Judg. 2:2,122And ye shall make no league with the inhabitants of this land; ye shall throw down their altars: but ye have not obeyed my voice: why have ye done this? (Judges 2:2)
12And they forsook the Lord God of their fathers, which brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods, of the gods of the people that were round about them, and bowed themselves unto them, and provoked the Lord to anger. (Judges 2:12)). One could hardly suppose that' they could have acted so diametrically opposite to the counsel of God. This was Satan's, aim, and no doubt effected by representing how much more useful the nations would be to them as tributaries. The snare he laid here was association with the people of the land. To confess weakness as to expelling
their enemies was one thing; to agree to dwell with' them quite another. Be it fear or advantage, it is plain they were thinking of themselves, and refusing the counsel of God. The result is, that they sink into idolatry and fearful immorality, as recorded in the closing chapters of Judges; a sad, appalling picture of what man descends to, when he despises the counsel of God. Surely no thoughtful soul can follow the history of God's people and their departure from Him, without being impressed with the fearful and effective nature of Satan's opposition to the will of God. I do not attempt to pursue their history further, and shall only call attention to the fact, that the captivity of Judah in Babylon was the retributive consequence of their neglecting for 490 years to keep the seventh or Sabbath year, according as the Lord commanded. That which would have been to the truly grateful, a wondrous and blessed celebration of Divine favor, they deliberately neglected, urged to do so by the hope of gain. God's year is appropriated to their own purposes; and the end is, the sin of modifying the truth. of God to suit their own state, spreads over 490 years.
Having partially examined the way and manner of Satan's opposition to the mind of God, as recorded in the Old Testament, I now propose to trace and note the way in which the greater and fuller truth set forth in the New has been opposed. We see, from all we have glanced at, how entirely the will of man is opposed to the mind of God. We can hardly truly estimate the positive antagonism there is in our minds to God's mind. The more it is pressed on it, the more repugnance to it is betrayed. Satan, of course, takes advantage of this evil disposition, and thus we, as the worst enemies to ourselves, surrender the citadel to our direst foe.
If we glance through the gospel of Matthew, we-shall see how varied and desperate are the efforts of Satan, acting on the evil and will of man, to set aside and frustrate the testimony of the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the truth, the living expression of all truth, and who carne into the world to bear witness to the truth; setting forth what God is in Himself, and thus distinctly exhibiting how contrary everything here is to Him. It may not appear of importance to notice all the varieties of opposition recorded in this gospel, but a brief summary of them may have a most salutary effect on us, as it must impress us with the sense of the incessant and apparently inexhaustible modes of' attack made on Christ in order to set aside the truth as in Him; and therefore consequently resorted to in this day in like manner, whenever He is simply the object of attack.
At the very outset then (Matt. 2); we find Herod acting as the tool of Satan in the direst enmity against that which is the fullest expression of God, as. He is in His own blessed self. He first attempts by hypocrisy to gain over the wise men of the East who came to do homage to the new-born king; and failing in that, the opposition breaks out more openly into violence, and he sends forth to slay all the young children in Bethlehem.
The next scene in which we find Satan in direct opposition to Christ is in the wilderness (chap. 4.); and this was immediately consequent on. His being announced from heaven as " This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." Now as God's Son in fashion as a man He is not only prepared to meet the fiercest antagonism, but He is led by the Spirit into the wilderness to encounter the 'enemy: He assumes or seeks no human advantage; on the contrary, He is an hungred, sensible of need, and where nothing is provided for Him, and thus it is that He receives the assault of Satan;-First, to take thought for Himself in the circumstances in which He is; to use His own power for His own benefit. Satan cared not that. He should be provided for, but he did care that the Blessed One should, if possible, be diverted from walking here as God's man on earth, in simple dependence on His Father. This assault the Lord combats by the word," Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the Mouth of God." Secondly, to cast Himself down from the pinnacle of the temple in order that he may be assured of God's 'protecting care, and the truth of the promises, which would have been as much as to say that He did not believe them, without putting. Himself in circumstances in which He could test the truth of them,
Thirdly, to accept what he was justly entitled to, but at the hands of Satan. The art and malice of all this it is needless to say is unsurpassed, as indicating the wiles and working of the devil. All his assault can be classified under these three heads. As a man here for God and acceptable to God, Satan assaulted Him; and as such a man ought to have acted, so the Lord replied to him, and in the power of divine counsel overcame him. What a scene! Satan arraying himself in undisguised conflict against God manifest in the flesh, and getting completely baffled at every point.
We next read (chap. 4. 12), that " Now (i.e. in the beginning of His ministry) when Jesus heard that John was cast into prison, He departed into Galilee," for the rejection of John foreshadowed His own rejection. And passing on to chap. 8: 20, we get from His own lips a description of His position on earth: " The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of man hath not where to lay His head; while in ver. 24-26, we find the winds and waves blow and rage as if He were not there at all. He heeds not, He sleeps though the ship be covered with waves, but on the exposure of unbelief He rebukes the waves; and on coming to land expels the devils from the possessed ones. But this calls forth the opposition of the "people" (ver. 34), for the whole city beseech Him to depart out of their coasts.
Next (in chap. 9: 3), the opposition is from the " Scribes," who accuse Him of blasphemy, because He had announced forgiveness of sins to the palsied man.
Then the "Pharisees" come forward (ver. 11). Amid the multiplicity of their attacks on Him, we may only note a few as we pass on. Here they accuse Him of associating with publicans and sinners; in ver. 34, of casting out devils through the prince of the devils; in chap. 12: 2, of profaning the sabbath; in. ver. 14, they held a " council ' how they may destroy Him because He healed the withered hand,. symbolical of the utter incapacity of Israel at that time; in ver. 38, they seek a sign, which was as much as to say that there was nothing moral or personal in our blessed Lord which would carry weight without a sign from heaven; and therefore calling on Him to do something to meet the corrupt tastes of an evil and adulterous generation. In chap. 14. John the Baptist is beheaded; in chap. 15: 1, they accuse Him of transgressing the tradition of the elders. In chap. 16: 1, " the Sadducees" act in confederacy with their opponents the Pharisees, and oppose God's faithful and true witness on earth, by tempting Him to ignore all His life and ways which He had observed here according to God; and by showing them a sign from heaven, to assert virtually that He had not hitherto displayed to faith what would assure the heart that He was the Son of God. In ver. 22, the opposition to this Blessed One in carrying out the counsel of God, comes from a friend. Satan instigates Peter, by acting on his natural affections, to turn Him from the cross, but the Lord immediately discovers the adversary and rebukes him. In chap. 19. we find fresh instances and varieties of this ever-increasing opposition. It becomes more direct and more open as He moves onward in His course; its virulence increases among His enemies; while even the amiability of nature retires from Him "sorrowful," as we see in the young man of chap. 19: 16; and His own disciples openly express their dissent.
In chap. 21: 16, " the chief priests" bear their part in the opposition, and in chap. 22. the combined efforts of the Pharisees, Herodians, and Sadducees is to find a cause against Him. Thus the wave of opposition goes on swelling and gaining strength until (in chap. 26.) all combine, the chief priests, scribes, and elders of the people, to kill and extirpate Him. Whence comes all this relentless fury? Because the nature of God Himself was displayed here in all its grace and beauty in a man on earth. What a determination is evinced to exterminate the true witness of God from the earth! All force, art and influence are used for this end. All power on earth will now conspire to crucify the Son of God. What a scene! What a disclosure of the wickedness which here works against God! Why did the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing; even the disciples can have indignation when the alabaster
box of precious ointment was broken and' poured on His head, and say, " To what purpose was this waste?"
And now the Lord's hour has come: All moral resistance to the opposition is removed, and Satan knows his opportunity, even as the Lord had foretold,-" the prince of this world cometh and bath nothing in me." Satan puts it in to the heart of Judas to betray Him, and at the feast Jesus announces that one of that select company who had accompanied Him in His walk here, should become the tool of Satan for this purpose. He further tells His disciples, " All ye shall be offended because of me this night, for it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad;" and further on He tells Peter that that night He should deny Him thrice. How Satan seems to be carrying, as one may say, all before him! how he presses every one on every side into the great struggle for the suppression and annihilation of all truth on earth I Here we find, on the one hand, the summoning of all the resources within the compass of Satan's evil influence, to perpetrate the extermination of the Lord of life and power from the earth; and on the other (ver. 37-39), the deep exercises of soul to which He was subjected Himself', no doubt now in the presence of the prince of this world, because as His hour was come, Satan concentrated all his power and arrayed it against Him. Thus " He is led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so He opened not His mouth." When brought before Caiaphas, the high priest, the malignant opposition takes the garb of righteous indignation, while they falsely accuse him. Accuse as they may, He will not answer them or vindicate Himself, until He is called to bear witness to the truth by the question, "Art thou the Christ, the Son of the Blessed? ' Then as the One who came to bear witness to the truth, He replies, " Thou hast said; hereafter ye shall see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power and coming in the clouds of heaven." This "good confession " calls forth all their latent wrath. "Arid the high priest rent his clothes, saying, He hath spoken blasphemy; what further need have we of witnesses. What think ye?
They answered, " He is guilty of death. Then did they spit in His face and buffet Him," etc., etc.
After this He is led to Pilate; and a new phase of the relentless -nature of the opposition is exposed. The governor proposes to release Jesus, for he knew that for envy they had delivered Him; but in order to gratify their envy, he swerves from his own sense of what is right; and in spite of direct warnings from his wife, who sent unto him, saying, " Have thou nothing to do with that just man, for I have suffered many things this day in a dream because of Him," he delivers Him up to be crucified, though, at the same time, he took water and washed his hands, saying, " I am innocent of the blood of this just person." Oh! how the heart is shocked at the thorough weakness; the imbecility of any right motive when in the presence of the combined purpose of man and Satan to extirpate from the earth the brightness of the Father's glory and the express image of His person; to expel ignominiously from His own earth the Creator, who had come as its Savior!
Christ being crucified, the spirit of evil is still unsatisfied. The chief priests and Pharisees seal the sepulcher and set a watch; and when they are baffled by the Lord's resurrection, they give large money to the soldiers in order to bribe them to say that He was stolen by His disciples, while the watch slept. Sad and terrible is the obduracy of heart against conviction when it becomes a tool of Satan in opposition to the truth!
The Lord being now risen, the truth to be maintained is, that He is risen, and that He will come again. Against this truth, and against those who maintain it, the opposition, as we shall see, is now directed. As soon as the apostles are endued with power from on high as soon as the Holy Ghost has descended, they witness and declare the resurrection of Christ (Acts 2:3232This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses. (Acts 2:32)). " This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses." The opposition to this testimony begins with the populace, like the heavy sighing of the wind before a hurricane (see Acts 2:12,1312And they were all amazed, and were in doubt, saying one to another, What meaneth this? 13Others mocking said, These men are full of new wine. (Acts 2:12‑13).) But soon it rises to its height (chap. 4.„1, 2, 3); and Peter and John are laid hands on for preaching " through Jesus, the resurrection from
the dead." Opposition, when once allowed a place, grows in daring violence (see chap. 5: 4, 9). In chap. 5., in the case of Ananias, it is from within. As Satan worked in the days of Jericho, so did he now work in the Church to drive away the presence of God from His people.
In chaps. 6. and 7. it is directed against Stephen; the opposition to the truth for that day is now at its height. Stephen is brought before the council (chap. 6: 12), and the result is, after hearing his testimony to the resurrection and glory of Christ, " They (chap. 7: 57-59) cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran on him with one accord and cast him out of the city and stoned him," and this is followed up by persecution against the whole Church at Jerusalem (chap. 8: 1). Again, in this same chapter, (ver. 18,) we get another variety of opposition evincing the subtlety of Satan, as in other cases his violence. Simon Magus in one form from within, and Ananias in another, both show the wiles of Satan to hinder and corrupt the truth.
In chap. 9. Saul, the persecutor of the Church, is " called to be a chosen vessel to bear my name before the Gentiles and kings, and the children of Israel." Jesus in the glory is now the testimony; and against this and those who testify of it, the opposition will be directed. It soon breaks forth. The Jews lie in wait and the Grecians go about to slay the witness of it (ver. 23, 29). In chap. 12. the temporal power, in the person of Herod, stretches forth his hands to vex the Church; but from henceforth, Paul, as the chosen vessel of the testimony, is peculiarly before us as an object of Satan's malice. The opposition to him is principally from the Jews, because Christ in glory is now offered as above everything here, and apart from all that is Jewish, to every one who calls on Him. Thus as soon almost as he enters on his course, he is opposed by a false prophet, a Jew, Elymas the Sorcerer (chap. 12: 6).
We shall not obtain a view of the opposition to the testimony committed to Paul in any degree commensurate with its magnitude if we do not see how widespread it is, and how it springs up from every quarter; -from within and from without,-from Jew and from Gentile; from the human mind, and from the flesh in all its varied activities energized in by Satan to withstand or corrupt the testimony of Christ in glory. In looking through the Acts of the Apostles we cannot fail to observe this; and also, that while there is distinct moral gain and a brighter testimony as each opposition is surmounted, the very defeat sustained by the latter only exasperates it the more. Thus at Antioch and Iconium, Thessalonica and Berea, etc., open assault is made on Paul and his yoke-fellows by the Jews, who were moved with envy, while at Athens (chap. 17: 16) it is the human intellect,-the cultivated mind,-which withstands the truth of God. In chap. 15. the opposition is from within. Judaizing teachers are sent forth by Satan to leaven the truth of the gospel; and though they are withstood, one painful consequence of the controversy appears from Gal. 2, even that Barnabas was carried away by Peter's dissimulation and separated from Paul. At Philippi the evil spirit takes the subtle form of flattery. A woman possessed by the spirit of divination, gives verbal support to the testimony, which Paul would not accept because the source was corrupt; he would not accept countenance from Satan; and as this occurred on his first visit to Europe, it is important to note how the adversary proposed to gain him over. But this being refused by God's faithful servant, the hostility becomes open and violent. All that follows, and the bitter opposition evoked against him at Corinth, Ephesus, etc., I need not here enter into. I would refer my readers to the chapters themselves. Chapter 21, to the end of the book, details the opposition to Paul from the Jews; how he is rescued out of their hands by the Roman governor, but is there detained a prisoner from the most corrupt motives; how, after being most unrighteously dealt with, he appeals unto Caesar, and eventually, after perils by land and sea, we find him a close prisoner in Rome, the fourth gentile power! Opposition to the truth of God has so far succeeded that the chosen witness of it is in the hands of the great head of earthly power; but as God will cause His truth to triumph, it is from thence, from his prison at Rome, that Paul writes his Epistles to the Ephesians, Philippians, and Colossians, as well as his 2nd Epistle to Timothy, which being his last, especially and particularly sets before the servant of Christ the difficulties then current and those of the last days. The effort and success of the opposition to bar and choke up the testimony is noticed in this Epistle, while its consummation is foreshown by John in the Apocalypse.. I would now briefly refer to 2 Timothy, because in it the apostle, as a father to a son, presents the varied opposing elements which the servant of Christ has to encounter, and this, not merely by enumerating them or exposing them, but by Divine counsel instructing and furnishing him with strength to encounter and resist them successfully. In the former part of this paper. I have endeavored to trace the opposition to the truth, not the way in which it has been divinely encountered. My desire in referring to this Epistle is rather to examine and set forth how the apostle prepares and furnishes. Timothy with respect to the things and characters which would oppose and hinder him.
First, it must be noted that all the opposition for which he prepares him is from within; there is none of it properly from without; except, indeed, as far as Paul's imprisonment might affect himself. Hence,
He says, God has not given us the spirit of fear (cowardice)." " Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, or of me. His prisoner." The first opposition then to be prepared for is the power and hostility of the world. But this is nothing if the servant be not a coward, i.e., a foe to himself. Hence, the real danger is from within; for if he can calmly face the world's power there is no danger. But while Timothy is to be brave he must also keep his mind well disciplined in truth. " Hold fast the form of sound words which thou hast heard of me." Again, " keep by the Holy Ghost which dwells in us, the good deposit entrusted unto thee." All this. was necessary to preserve him from the tide of opposition which was running against him. And then. the apostle mentions the defection of all that are in Asia, of whom is Phygellus and Hermogenes. Who would have expected it? Fear and shame because of Paul's imprisonment had caused this widespread defection. It is well known how a panic works in a- once brave and well disciplined army; and the inexpressible disorder that ensues, because perhaps only one or two trusted ones have faltered or turned aside: Paul not-only prepares Timothy against this evil influence by pressing on him the spirit which God had given; but he says, " Be strong in the grace which is in Christ Jesus; and if he would be Christ's servant in this emergency, he must beware of entanglement with the affairs of this life. In a word, Timothy must see that he is master of his own circumstances, and be, through the grace of Christ, prepared to enter into conflict with the opposing forces.
Cowardice, and the defection of the trusted ones, are the two forms of opposition already noticed; the next for which the apostle prepares him, is "profane and vain babbling." False teachers in the assembly, " of whom is Hymenæus and Philetus, who as to the truth have gone astray, saying that the resurrection has taken place already, and overthrow the faith of smile." For this the apostle first, by the truth, fortifies Timothy in his own soul; bidding him " remember how Jesus Christ was raised out of the dead." And next he tells him how to act when these babblings occur, even by purging himself from the vessel to dishonor; and uniting with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.' Not that he escapes opposition by separation, but, on the contrary, he is directed how to treat those who oppose themselves; in meekness instructing them, if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledgment of the truth, though they are in the snare of the devil, and led captive by him.
In chap. 3. Timothy is instructed and prepared for other forms of opposition, even those developed in the " last days." These are two-fold. One from the professing mass and their teachers; the other, from the saints themselves. In the first, it is after the manner of Jannes and Jambres. As they resisted Moses, so do these withstand the truth. Men corrupted in mind and reprobate as to faith. Wicked men will wax worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived." This is the nature of the opposition for which Timothy is here prepared and forewarned. Secondly, the time will come when they will not endure sound teaching, but, according to their lusts, shall heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears, and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and be turned to fables." Paul had warned the Ephesian elders (Acts 20) how of their "own selves men should arise speaking perverse things, seeking to draw away disciples after them." We have seen how, in every case, the opposition was directed against the truth which the Spirit of God was insisting on, and maintaining, so that from the opposition itself, we may form an idea of the truth which is opposed. It was after open persecution and the force of the world's power were found ineffectual to exterminate the truth of God, that another form of opposition was resorted to; even that from within. And this it is that has had the most damaging effect. The object is to set aside and baffle everything purely divine by the imitation of it, and the substitution of the human; and to reduce what cannot be annihilated, to a mere human system, built and supported by human means, ability, and resources; and surely this is what historically the Church comes to in the end. If man is acknowledged in the place of God, the mischief is complete, and this decidedly is the aim. While the Spirit of God was still honored, the Church bore up against all the opposition of the world; but as the saints grew careless, the enemy was able to effect his purposes in a surer way from within; from their own selves. While men slept the tares were sown. " As there were false prophets among the people, even so there shall be false teachers among you, who privily bring in damnable heresies." " Spots they are, blemishes, sporting themselves with their own deceivings while they feast with you." And as Jude says, " Spots in your feasts of charity;"-" they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying, of Core." The simple unmistakable clue to their state and ways is that they are "sensual, having not the Spirit."
Do we not well to ask ourselves here what is the object of all this varied relentless opposition? It is simply directed against the truth revealed by God. From Paul's time onward, the effort of the opposing power was, as we have seen, first, to intimidate; then to weaken by defection; and thirdly, to raise up amongst us, teachers of false doctrine, from whom we must separate, and by whom we are opposed; and finally, the closing order of opposition is detailed in chaps. 3., 4., where we find associated and mixed up with the profession of godliness, the boldest forms of selfishness; until the saints come to such a pass that they will not endure sound teaching, but according to their lusts heap up for themselves teachers, having itching ears; the congregations choose their teachers instead of submitting to be taught. One form of opposition is the imitation of the real thing by a false spirit, of which John, Peter, and Jude speak. John speaks of them as being " of the world, and, therefore, the world heareth them;"
Peter, as "false teachers privily bringing in damnable heresies;" Jude, as "sensual, having not the Spirit." The other form is still more grievous; it is the saints turning away their ears from the truth, and turning after fables. It is a painful thing to be opposed by an evil spirit imitating the ways and thoughts of Christ; but then nothing better could be expected from the quarter whence it comes (when the elements of. it are taken into account). But when I find that the saints, from whom I expected help and countenance, are turning from the truth unto fables, I am reduced to the position in which the apostle speaks of himself, when he said " all men forsook me."
And what I repeat is the aim of all this opposition? It is to set aside that Christ, risen and Head over all things to the Church, His body, maintains it by the Holy Ghost down here, in His own life and power as a heavenly witness of Himself., That the saints should not set forth and maintain this testimony is the one entire aim and effort of Satan; an aim which he uses every art and power to accomplish. For this end he empowers some to imitate divine sentiments and corrupt the minds of the saints with fables (myths) instead of truth, all to effect and bring about a state of things which is detailed in the history of the seven churches (Rev. 2;3). So that in the end, in Laodicea, everything is quite prosperous and satisfactory without Christ. Christ is outside, and the Church is pluming itself on its prosperous condition; a sort of lighting up before death; a certain vividness of appearance only indicative of its impending dissolution. Satan's aim has succeeded; Christ is lost as Head; and the heavenly testimony is entirely ignored and overlooked.
I may now close the review, though we have not by any means reached the finale of Satan's opposition to the truth. On the same principles, though against a different order of testimony, he will carry it on when the Church is removed from the scene, and the earthly people are God's witnesses; as we see in the Revelation. But my object is to direct the minds of saints to the aim and intention of the adversary up to and in our own days; and especially with regard to the faith for which we are now called " earnestly to contend;" that they may not be ignorant of his devices; but, on the contrary, be prepared to encounter and rise above them. In order to do this, we must be sensible of two things; first, that we expose, ourselves to the direful hate of the enemy the more faithful we are; and secondly, the more we do, the more distinctly do we know our resources in Christ. The supply is not merely equal to the demand, but much more than equal; and of a measure that we shall only know as we draw upon it. If in the strength of Christ we are greater than the opposition, and if our ability to encounter it increases at a greater ratio than it increases, we need not fear it. And this we shall be (and have been) according as we are " strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus." God has always maintained a testimony to the power and reality of His truth; but whether it be verbally communicated, or personally manifested, as in our blessed Lord, the opposition is untiring to baffle it and set it aside. S.