1892 



(JLKANlNiiS IN HEE CULTURE. 



517 



quostidti woiilii imply ihat Satiiii was. aiui Uiicw 

 iu> was. within i-<>rtaiii liniils ami uiidcr ('(Mlain 

 n>siraiiits: foi- tlic Lord sa\s, " Satan, wliciirc 

 roincst thou ? ■■ Wo (.-an imagine Satan sneak- 

 ing hack a little in ihe rear, perhaps fearing he 

 slionld he ordered away entirely, lint iiiste:id 

 of that. th(> Lord seems to see lit to speak to him 

 in what we might almost eonsider a friendly oi" 

 neighhorly way: and this vi'ry incident makes 

 it soom to me us though this must be a parable. 

 It is well to recognize that we can not expect a 

 parable or fable to teach truth in rrcri/ direc- 

 tion. 1 have heard our friends of the cli-rgy 

 express it by saying. " No pai-able can walk oii 

 all fours." l'arabl(>s are generally expected to 

 leach some principle or truth, or. may be. sever- 

 al truths: but a good deal must be a sort of till- 

 ing-in to make the story consistent, and to make 

 it read smootlily. I am inclined to think that 

 this conversation between (lod and Satan is 

 somewhat of a tilling-in. Humanity comes on 

 the stage just now in this wonderful poetic 

 drama, as it has sometimes been called, and Ood 

 and Sdtim discuss a (jnod man. Satan, as you 

 will notice, continually bi'Jittles Irumanity and 

 mankind. He has no love for them. On the 

 contrary, we know that for ages he lias been 

 actuated only by hatred of human kind. His 

 whole office and mission is to make out human- 

 ity just as bad and selfish, and mean and low 

 and animal, as he can: and when he can 

 whisper to some poor troubled soul that he is 

 only a miserable bungle that has always dis- 

 figured the face of the earth as a hideous blot, 

 then he is in his element. If he can suggest, so 

 as to have it put in practice. *• Better end your 

 miserable life the quickest and shortest way 

 you can before going further," he has finished 

 the job with that individual, and is ready for 

 another. What we know of .Satan seems to indi- 

 cate clearly that this is the great ultimatum he 

 is working for. H' lie can get the poor victim to 

 murder his best friends before he kills himself, 

 he is better pleased still. Every little while we 

 read of some such awful tragedy. In fact, you 

 may find records of such things every day if you 

 choose to look at them. And not a community 

 escapes — I had almost said not a family con- 

 nection but that, sooner or later, has to pass 

 and meet something of the sort. 



In the parable. Job is represented as a model 

 man— the best, perhaps, that anybody could 

 pick out in any nation or clime. The Lord 

 points him out. What does Satan answer? 

 Something that is characteiistic of him. for all 

 the world. It is short, but it is .Satanlike: 

 '• Doth Job serve God for naught?" How often 

 do we hear such things said of a good man! 

 "Oh. yesl who wouldn't be good when he has 

 every thing that heart can wish? Just hst him 

 stand in imj shoes, and see where his piety 

 would go." I have heard this a great many 

 times. My impression is, could this good man 

 stand rigiit square in the shoes of thi; one who 

 is having so much trouble, he would, as a rule, 

 begin to mend things right and left, from the 

 very moment, tiecanse of the little text I have 

 so recently used: " No good thing will he with- 

 hold from them that walk uprightly." But 

 this book of Job puts another phase on that 

 text. It gives us an extreme case, no doubt. A 

 good man may sometinus be called upon to 

 meet disaster. "and sorrow and death; and he 

 may meet them again and again for a very long 

 time, (iod remembers, however, and, in his 

 own good time, rewards. Well, in the parable 

 Ciod and .Satan together plan to test this good 

 man. Will he hold out. or will he not. under 

 trials the most severe that can be ptit upon a 

 child of God? If you pick out the best Chris- 

 tian we have in the State of Ohio, or in any 

 other State, and send him to Congress, give him 



a big salary. exiKise hiin lo bribes and all the 

 femptations that usually meet a good man, 

 how long will he hold nut? Will his religion 

 liear the test ? .Satan says there is no man and 

 no religion that will hold out very long. He 

 says it is only a question of time. Did yon ever 

 hear ))Ciiiilc as well as Satan talk in thiit way ? 

 Satan and these jieople say. " \Ve read in books 

 alxtut men who would die tiefort- they would do 

 a dishonorable thing; but don't you believe any 

 thing of the sort. It is all stuff and nonsense. 

 I'eojile are much alike, and sooner or later it 

 crops out." These people '?o not say. but they 

 might add. "It is a nice thing to talk about 

 (iod and the influences of the Holy Spiiit. etc.; 

 but the ti'uth of it is, there is no God about it. 

 It is just religious cant and i)retense. You just 

 bring the right sort of temptation to bear, ana 

 down goes your godly man, or woman either, 

 for that matter."' My friend, when you feel 

 like talking in that way. remember yoii are in 

 Satan's service, and a follower of Satan. If you 

 are a professing Christian, you are awfully out 

 of the track. 



Well, the bargain is made. Humanity is to 

 be tried, and Satan is given all the liberty that 

 either he or any other devil could ask for. He 

 goes to work. But, mind you. not a hint of the 

 awful trial our poor friend Job is to be subject- 

 ed to is given to him. That would not do. 

 That would spoil the whole of it. He must be 

 human, just as we are. He is to have no as- 

 sistance from on high. For the time being his 

 Creator is to turn his back upon him, and Satan 

 has full swing. The Devil says, very confident- 

 ly, " Put forth thy hand now and touch all that 

 he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face." 

 Poor Job I Suppose it were you or I: how would 

 we stand the ordeal? Are you sure, my friend, 

 that out of the depths of trouble and despair 

 you would say, as did Job, "I know that my 

 redeemer liveth "? or. '" Though he slay me, yet 

 will I trust in him"? or, " My righteousness I 

 hold fast, and will not let it go"? 



"What good comes from believing in the ex- 

 istence of Satan ? " some may ask. " Why not, 

 in place of Satan, say ' evil impulses ' ? " Well, 

 friends, my conviction is that, the sooner we 

 believe in Satan exactly as we are taught of 

 him of God's holy word, the better for humani- 

 ty. A man has a quarrel with his neighbor. 

 It waxes more and more bitter; and if it is not 

 stopped it often ends in murder. Suppose you 

 talk to one or both of the parties — may be you 

 have tried to. Each one is so absorbed in 

 dwelling on the mean traits of the other that 

 he can not think or talk of any think else. 

 Suppose, however, you suggest that the offend- 

 ing one is deluded— that is. fallen intcj the power 

 of Satan, and is really to be pitied. Or suppose 

 you say to lioth of them. '• Dear friends, you are 

 both making a great mistake. You magnify 

 the wrong that each one of you has done the 

 other. You are not yourselves. Satan has got 

 between you; in fact, he has found a lodging- 

 place in both of youi- hearts, I fear, and he is 

 the one to blame. Fight him; but for God's 

 sake do not fight each other. Just say to him, 

 each of you, 'Get thee behind me, Satan.' and 

 by so doing recognize the real sourc(> of the 

 whole trouble, and see how quick you will be 

 on friendly terms as you used lo be.'" If you 

 can get them to recognize this, and assent to it, 

 the quarrel is over. Here you see a real belief 

 in a devil is helpful. Suppose a boy in some 

 community has done a great amount of mischief 

 — in fact, so much that the whole neighborhood 

 rises up against him. demanding that he be 

 sent to a reform farm or prison. Suppose, how- 

 ever, it turns out a little later that some older 

 person has been persistently putting him up to 

 all these things — how quickly public sentiment 



