IT is a well-known fact that some of the finest institutions England boasts of owe their existence and success to public liberality, including even “The Seaman’s Hospital” floating on the river Thames, which could easily be distinguished at one time by means of a wide streak along her broad side with bold letters as follows: “SUPPORTED BY VOLUNTARY CONTRIBUTIONS.” The value of the above institution is best known to those who have benefited by its means, to whom also the privilege belongs of proclaiming its worth to others. We have simply referred to the same as an illustration, and to contrast it with what we read in the book of Exodus. (Chapter 32).
“The golden calf” was evidently one of Satan’s inventions for the purpose of turning away the hearts of the Israelites from God, and was raised “by voluntary contributions,” as the following verses prove: “And all the people brake off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them unto Aaron. And he received them at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had made it a molten calf.” (vv. 3, 4). It then became an object of worship, and dancing for joy at their success they said one to another, “These be thy gods, O Israel, which have brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.” (v. 8). They acknowledged their deliverance from Egypt, and attributed the power to Satan, and not to God, like the religious sinners in the gospels, who, when they saw the Lord casting out devils, said, “He casteth out devils by Beelzebub, the prince of the devils.” The Israelites were so happy in their new occupation that after having “sat down to eat and to drink, they rose up to play.” (v. 6). Happiness, however, that is gained apart from God, and at the expense of His honor, is not likely to last long, and will most surely be followed by grief and shame.
The contributions towards the golden calf were only small, and the contributors but few compared with what we see around us at the present time.
The kingdom of Satan is a system of wickedness which has existed ever since the reign of sin began, and will continue until Christ comes in judgment, after which both the deceiver and the deceived will be cast into the lake of fire forever and ever. (Rev. 20:1515And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. (Revelation 20:15)). The gospel is preached in the meantime, and by its blessed means sinners are “delivered from the power of darkness, and translated into the kingdom of God’s dear Son.” (Col. 1:1313Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: (Colossians 1:13)).
Satan’s kingdom is “supported by voluntary contributions,” and its extension and prosperity is owing to the hard earnings and willing offerings of the captives of sin.
There will be found among Satan’s contributors those who are earnest enough to afflict both mind and body to do his will, and others who are covetous enough to worship gods of gold for the glory of their greatest enemy, while others, alas, sacrifice their time and talents to enrich the one that is seeking their eternal ruin. All persons are not worshippers of gold, it is true; all are not equally greedy of earthly gain or guilty of terrible crimes, but “all have sinned and come short of the glory of God,” and each of us has also contributed our part to Satan’s kingdom. Satan’s contributors, let us remember, dwell in Christian countries as well as in heathen lands, and the religious sinner that resists the strivings of the Spirit of God as regularly as he attends what he calls a place of worship, if he dies unrepentant will find himself as great a contributor to Satan’s kingdom as the ignorant idolater who sacrifices his life in order to do homage to a false God. “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.”
There is nothing on earth so degrading as the service of sin, or so dearly earned as its short-lived pleasures; and perhaps none are so devoted as those who lend their support to Satan’s kingdom. Neither is anything so desirable, on the other hand, as the salvation of God which grace has brought, or so delightful as the portion of those who love the Lord Jesus Christ, and whose privilege it is to offer the sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving to God continually, and thereby glorify Him.
If the foregoing remarks should be objected to by any who deny the personality of Satan altogether, and therefore ask first of all for “a proof of his existence,” allow me to say, no objection could be more easily met, supposing there is, on the part of the reader, a readiness to submit to the best authority, which is the word of God, and accept its most substantial evidence. The one whose very existence is called in question bears the most distinct witness before the face of God Himself.
In the first chapter of Job God questioned Satan as follows: “Whence comest thou?” And Satan speaks for himself, without any attempt to disown what some men dare to deny. “Then Satan answered the Lord, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.” (v. 7).
If by means of the above Satan is easily identified by those whose eyes have been opened, the following passage proves how much the wicked resemble him in their ways: “Like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt. There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked.” (Isa. 57:20, 2120But the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt. 21There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked. (Isaiah 57:20‑21)). “Turn ye, turn ye, for why will ye die?”
Satan is, be assured, a real person, and his restless activity in ruining sinners a solemn reality. May the reader be led to look to God for deliverance from his power.
“He will save you just now.”
H. H.