Part 3

The lion presupposes that all the earth belongs to him; deer, antelopes, panthers, buffaloes, horses, cattle, etc., have no rights or possessions of which he feels under the slightest obligation to respect. The Devil does not come out _in person_: hoofs, horns, claws, bushy mane--the make-up of a lion, building up his kingdom by tearing down and destroying men and institutions opposed to him. He does these things, as a lion, by incarnating himself in men, evil combines, corrupt politics, vicious society, the liquor traffic, the White Slave system, etc. As he appropriates and embodies these institutions by entering in and possessing the men who are leaders, he no longer acts as a conjurer or snake, but a _Lion_. The fullness of the earth, and they that dwell therein, belong to him, to use, desecrate, prostitute, kill, devour, or destroy, just so he may best serve and satisfy his insatiable appetite. Cities are to be officered and governed, not for the peaceful protection of their citizens, but for plunder, boodle, and graft. Men who desire to be public servants in deed and in truth must fight "a roaring lion." The man who steps to the front with a desire to question and curtail the exploitations of the "officials," the "traffic," the "gang," places his life at once in imminent peril. Threats, black hand letters, pistols, poison, bombs, and torches are the instruments boldly used to destroy the man or men who do not believe that these human lions should be allowed to filch and devour the privileges and possessions of others.

We find our "adversary, the devil, as a roaring lion, walking about, seeking whom he may devour," has three methods which he uses according to the exigencies of the case. It is first a "roar," a bluff, or bulldoze: the threat of the "boss," whether he be a political boss, an ecclesiastical boss, or a liquor boss, accomplishes wonders in coercion; it frightens and cowers the weak-kneed and backboneless. The crack of the slave-driver's whip brought the obstreperous negro into humble submission. Men in office, in pulpits, in editorial rooms, have been awed into silence by the roar of men "higher up." Then truth, righteousness, justice, and conscience are crucified; and behind the scene leering devils hold a jubilee of triumph.

However, the bluff and bulldoze will not always succeed; and when these loud, but mild methods fail, the boycott is ordered. Those who can stand undaunted in the presence of roaring threats will quail before the prospects of financial ruin. Employees are discharged, patronage cut off, positions given to others, preachers asked to resign. Somehow evil is so compactly organized, wires of connection are so completely in touch with every nook and corner, that the "boss" sits quietly at the switchboard and issues orders. The "big stick" and boycott have carried many elections; municipal, state, and national; they have made merchandise of sovereignty, and bargain counters of conscience. "Your clerk must take his name off that petition, or we will withdraw our patronage;" "His wife is an active worker in the W. C. T. U.--you must discharge him," were the identical words overheard in a private office. Business and public men dread the boycott. Behind the boycott is our "adversary, the Devil."

But the bluff and boycott by no means mark the limit when the self-assumed rights and privileges of the lion are questioned. Few can rise above the threat and intimidation; but the roaring activities of the boss will not always suffice. The lion in corrupt politics, in evil traffics, in priestly bigotry and intolerance, will not hesitate to stab, shoot, or burn to get rid of an offensive opposer. It is not necessary to discuss facts so well known as these; but we are investigating the sources; we want to locate the bacilli rather than examine the pustule.

We wish to reiterate a previous statement; the "roaring lion" is never heard if the still fight, the oily snake methods serve to a better advantage. The Apostle's exhortation is timely: "Be vigilant, be sober"--be on the alert constantly, and be at your best, as an "adversary" who knows no boundary lines in his work of subjugation and destruction has declared war to the end.

IX

AN ANGEL OF LIGHT

"For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light."--_2 Corinthians xi. 13-14._

The Devil is a person, with a great personality; but like human beings, he is not equally endowed in all the attributes of his nature. However, the Book gives us no information as to his weaknesses. He is all superlative strength; but if at any point there is a special endowed faculty that would seem to overshadow the others, it is surely manifested when Satan is transformed into an _angel of light_. The reason for this is obvious; it is a return to his old office of "light bearer." When he can effectively serve his purpose by this startling transformation--darkness to light--he is at once in a realm where he is familiar with every inch of the territory.

A close observation of the signs of the times--the happenings in social and religious circles--will reveal the fact that _light_ is not only his most familiar rôle, but his favourite rôle. The world is attracted by things that are bright, beautiful, cheerful; anything that hides the sombre side of life, throws a mystic veil over its realities, and helps us to forget--whether it be books, music, lectures, or the nonentities of society--outweigh all else in the casting of accounts and in forming comparative estimates.

If Satan were allowed to pose for a full sized picture of himself, just as he wishes to be seen by the children of this generation, no portrait painter could produce a specimen of rarer beauty; it would grace the walls of the most exclusive parlour, and attract special attention in any great art gallery of the world. There would be no sharp angles, no coarse, sensuous lines, no out-of-date adornment--the traditional fiery-red would not appear, but rather the most delicate tints and shades of colour. The features would be the most graceful and artistic combination of curves and circles. The "hairy one," the jackal, the snake, the lion, the shadow, the spoiler at once become as "beautiful as a dream." Amazing transformation!

"The devil of to-day" is not only an apostle of sunshine, but of beauty. This world is full of beauty; and why should we not forever keep the ugly and distorted in the background? The development of the beautiful should be one of the fine arts. Think only of beauty; speak only of beauty; see only the _beautiful_; then the sinful and unlovely will disappear. An angel of light--how suggestive!

As an apostle of sunshine his mission is to flood the world with light, and he does it; but observe--it is _his_ light; it neither warms nor illuminates, but for spectacular purposes it answers every demand. It reveals new standards of duty; proves the wrathful things in the Word of God to be spurious, and the old plan of salvation obsolete and unsuited to the present day needs. Such words as self-denial, crucifixion, dead to sin, judgment day, cross bearing, etc., so prominent in the New Testament, must not be given a literal interpretation. Such truths cast an unnecessary gloom over the souls of otherwise happy people.

"The devil of to-day" believes that ethical culture should be the slogan, the watchword, the shibboleth of every pulpit and rostrum. Religion without refinement is absurd; the esthetic taste should be looked after more than belief in some abstract Bible doctrine; then the race would be free from the bondage of creed and fear. True religion is nothing more than a just appreciation of art, literature, science, philosophy, and nature. God is in all these things rather than some musty, stereotyped statement of faith.

He further believes it is a waste of energy for women to be organizing into societies to study and help conditions among the slums or heathen lands, and urging upon the hard worked people to pay a tenth of their income to support missionaries who are better fed and housed than themselves. Far better devote the time to social clubs, book circles, euchre and bridge parties, and dressing properly.

We want to call attention again to a truth often overlooked: the Devil and demons are never satisfied in a disembodied state; when they cannot enter the souls of men, they seek something else. They will enter a swine when there is nothing better available. We believe "the prince of the air" can wield a powerful influence, unincarnated, _in the air_, but he schemes and works best when he can possess and direct intelligent flesh and blood.

Just now the machinery of the Church and all the auxiliaries are devoting their energies to various branches of social service; this is good, Christlike, and necessary; the point we raise, germane to this subject, is not the work, but the abuse of the idea: social service and humanitarianism are not religion. They are the fruits of the Good Samaritan spirit in the world, but they cannot take the place of personal relationship to God. "Though I give my body to be burned, and all my goods to feed the poor," says Paul, "it profiteth me nothing" without love--divine love. The angel-of-light gospel places the emphasis on works without faith. Love the world, enjoy its lusts and allurements, disregard all Puritanic ideals of life, be a part of all worldliness--but be kind, cheerful, optimistic, generous, benevolent: help humanity. "Pay the fiddler," then dance as you please. Do penance when your conscience lashes you; but buy indulgences by works of supererogation. "On with the dance, let joy be unconfined."

A concrete example will illustrate the proposition before us, and also reveal the power of polished, cultured emissary of "sunshine and smiles." The little city had a population of about fifteen hundred people; there were four churches of nearly equal strength. Each congregation had a large flourishing organization of young people. Scarcely any worldliness obtained--dancing and card playing rarely ever. The pious, consecrated young people attracted no little attention. Finally there came to the place a young woman fresh from college and conservatory as teacher of music and delsarte. She was an adept at all the niceties of modern society; things took on new colour at once. The work began with a literary club, then cards, then the dance. She was beautiful and magnetic; in six months the "stupid meetin's" of the League and Christian Endeavour were abandoned for things more exhilarating. The religious foundation which had been crystallizing for years among the simple hearted boys and girls gave place to the gayeties imported from the classic circles of city and college life. She moved among them "an angel of light."

X

THE SOWER OF TARES

"The kingdom of heaven is like a man that sowed good seed in his field: but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went away."--_Matthew xiii. 24-25._

"The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one; the enemy that sowed them is the devil."--_Matthew xiii. 38-39._

The parable of the Sower is one of common-sense appeal; the sensible farmer sows only good seed. The growing of tares among the wheat is not in the original plan. Good seed were sown, but behold the tares! Whence came they? While the servants slept an Enemy came and sowed them. The Master gives us His own interpretation: He is the sower--the good seed are the children of the kingdom, men and women into whose hearts the Truth has entered--the converted part of the Church. The sleeping of the servants is the unwatchfulness of the Church: coldness, indifference, backslidden. The Enemy seizes the opportunity--the carelessness of Christ's servants--and sows _bad seed_. The enemy is the Devil--the Wicked One; the bad seed are the children of the Devil. Growing side by side in this world-field are the children of God and the children of the Devil.

The tare, or cheat, in appearance resembles the wheat; it grows exactly the same height, and viewed casually, or at a distance, cannot be detected from the genuine. Only the threshing and sifting bring out the difference. These tares are the propaganda of the Devil, but a perfect imitation of the children of the kingdom. They make a profession, adhere to the same rules and regulations, profess and maintain, outwardly, a standard of morality, wear all the regalia--even particular about details. We observe another striking resemblance: strange as it may seem, these tares--children of the Devil--seek as their guide no books of heathen philosophy, or twentieth century atheism; they make great capital of the Bible; the ceremonies and ordinances are carried out to the letter. On a day of dress parade and review they meekly grade A 1.

Such an inconsistency is so glaring as to be almost unthinkable; but the parable teaches it beyond a doubt. The Devil sows into the Church his children: _a corrupt profession of Jesus Christ_. In a former chapter we studied the Devil as a _destroyer_; and it will be remembered that in a preceding parable he came as a vulture devouring the seed; now he seeks to further weaken and hinder by adulteration. While continuing the battering-ram process from without, a reversed method is used; he scales the ramparts and places his cohorts on the inside, and, wherever possible, assumes leadership in a campaign of self-destruction. We are amazed at such audacity, but the Master, who is a rival in the field, has illuminated the parable for us.

There is a note of optimism ringing out in the land to the effect that the day of triumph is at hand; doors are opening, walls are crumbling, conservative nations are studying our religion, municipalities are being renovated, higher standards in public life are demanded, the Church is lifting the race out of superstition and prejudice--we are about to see a "nation born in a day." What does it mean? It means that Satan is being chained--defeated, etc. This sounds good and plausible; but a closer inspection will reveal, not a retreat, not an armistice, not a victory, but a _change of base_.

Twenty years ago a leading teacher said: "Unless the signs of the times fail, the true Church of Christ is about to enter upon the most serious struggle of her history. She is no longer called merely to fight an open foe without, but as Dr. Green, of Princeton, says, 'the battle rages around the citadel,' and she is forced to fight the traitors within. The real enemy is to be found on the inside." If such a condition were true then, what is it to-day, since the last two decades have been the most revolutionary in the history of the Church on the line of skepticism and advanced thought?

The _Free Thinkers' Magazine_ recently had this to say: "Tom Paine's work is now carried on by the descendants of his persecutors; all he said about the Bible is being said in substance by orthodox divines, and from chairs of theology." Another writer observes: "No need of Bridlaughs and Ingersols wasting time preaching against the early chapters of Genesis, sneering at the story of temptation, cavilling at the record of long lives, denying the confusion of tongues, doubting if not denying the deluge, when Christian ministers, on account of their official position, are doing the same work more effectually."

"Freedom of thought in religion," said an orthodox preacher at Tom Paine's one hundredth anniversary, "just what he stood for, is what most of us have come to. In his own day vilified as an atheist--to-day he is looked upon as a defender of just principles of faith." There is a wide range of opinions found in the growing crop of tares: some are literalists, touching Biblical interpretation, getting the minutia of husks, but rejecting the kernel--the envelope, but missing the message; others remain in the Church, preach a gospel shelter under her roof--eat her bread, but deny the supernatural _in toto_. Few, if any, are honest enough to step out.

The Devil prefers his _cheat_ to grow in the same soil prepared for the wheat. No place is so wholesome and convenient for the children of the Devil as inside the Church of God. Why is not the wrath of God poured out on the children of the Devil who have assumed place and power in His Church? The same processes used for the removal of the tares would injure and uproot some of the wheat. There is now no remedy; at an unguarded moment the harm was done. The Enemy continues to enter every available door, sowing, sowing, sowing--beside all waters. Not until the angelic reapers thrust in their sickles for the harvest will the children of the Devil cease to occupy, influence, and control.

XI

THE ARCH SLANDERER

"For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil."--_Genesis iii. 5._

"But put forth thine hand now and touch all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face."--_Job i. 11._

It is the first scene of the human drama; the staging is in an earthly Paradise; perfection is written on everything animate and inanimate. With but one restriction man roams through Edenic beauties, a being "good and very good," happy and holy. His communion with God is unbroken; fountains of love are opened in his heart as he beholds the beautiful mate at his side. Our wildest imaginations cannot estimate the glories of that life-morning; but behold the Serpent. He utters his first words in the scheme of ruin, and it is a slander against God. "Aha, He knows if you eat you will be like He is--knowing all things, be as gods; He is not treating you fairly; the case is misrepresented. You will not die, but you will be wise. Why does He keep back such privileges from you?" As a result of this slander, the Paradise is lost. Flowers, fruits, peace and plenty are exchanged for weeds, briers, toil, sweat, suffering, death.

Again we find his impudent presence on the day Job is offering sacrifices. Reading between the lines, we can imagine a conversation like this: "You here? You are looking for some pretense to discount My people; you say none are good--all hypocrites. What do you think of My servant Job? What have you to say about him?"

"Oh, of course," says the slanderer, "you have him hedged around--blessing him continually. It pays Job to be good; just take away your special care of his material welfare and see--he will curse Thee to Thy face."

An artist once painted a picture of the human tongue in a way to represent his conception of how the "tongue of slander" should appear. It was long, coiled like a serpent, tapering at the end into a barbed spear point; from each of the papilla, scarcely visible, was a needle point, from which oozed a green, slimy poison. The slandering tongue is "a fire, a world of iniquity--it defileth the whole body--it is set on fire of hell."

The slanderer is no respecter of persons; he rakes and scrapes the uttermost parts of the earth for victims: king and peasant, rich and poor, priest and prophet; living or dead suffer alike when once this vile, inhuman spirit touches them. Bacon said: "Calumny crosses oceans, scales mountains, and traverses deserts with greater ease than the Scythian Abaris, and, like him, rides on a poisoned arrow." The winds of the Arabian desert not only produce death, but rapid decomposition of the body; so doth slander destroy every virtue of human character. The cloven-hoof slanderer, like the filthy worm, leaves behind a trail of offal and stench though his pathway wind through a bower of earth's sweetest flowers. A writer has said: "So deep does the slanderer sink in the murky waters of degradation and infamy that, could an angel apply an Archimedian moral lever to him, with heaven as a fulcrum, he could not in a thousand years raise him to the grade of a convict felon."

"Whose edge is sharper than a sword; whose tongue Out-venoms all the worms of Nile; whose breath Rides on the posting winds, and doth belie All corners of the world; kings, queens, and states, Maids, matrons, nay, the secrets of the grave This viperous slander enter."

Iago is said to be the greatest villain in fiction or history; the revolting crimes of Herod--slaughtering the innocent--does not compare with Iago. Herod saw in the Man Child a possible rival, and blinded by jealousy and ambition, he becomes the most heartless murderer--of all times. But what was the crime of Iago? Slander! With no object in view, no advantage to gain, and too much of a coward to make an open charge, he slanders by insinuation the beautiful Desdemona until the enraged Othello strangles her to death.

How can we reconcile this base passion in human character, as slander has no other avenue of expression? It is unnatural, inhuman, and hellish. The wolf and tiger devour to satisfy hunger; the vulture eats and fattens on rotting carcases, but the slanderer does neither. With the blood cruelty of a savage beast, the degraded appetite of the scavenger, the destroyed victims of fiendish passion only intensify and burn, but never satisfy the slanderer. This spirit was never born among men; its origin is the region of the damned, where hunger gnaws, thirst fires, lust arouses, revenge consumes--but satisfaction is unknown. The hot breath of slander comes from a bourne where dead hopes spring up eternal.

The caption of the chapter denominates the Devil as the arch slanderer; we use it because there is no word of sufficient strength to convey the idea; "arch" fails to convey the whole truth in this case. Archangel is an intelligible term, as there are many of high order; there is, however, but One slanderer. Just as he is the "father of liars"--propagating all lies--his relation to liars does not admit of comparison. He slandered from the day of his fall; he is the father of slanderers. Whether it be circulated in the "submerged world," the quiet circles of church life, or among the "Four Hundred" of fashion--it is a deflected arrow from the one great quiver.

No being--holy men, angels, or the Son of God--can escape the tongues dripping the venom of slander through the subtle incarnation of that fountainhead of every evil suggestion or insinuation. Whatever destroys happiness, creates doubt and suspicion among the people, ending in litigation, divorces, and murders, fulfills the mission of slander. The caldron from which exudes this vile stench--filling all the earth--is seething and boiling in the Bottomless Pit, or wherever the throne of his majesty--the Devil--is located. The society of earth will never be free from the poison of evil-speaking until the Archslanderer is arrested, chained, and located in the penitentiary prepared for him from the foundation of the world.

XII

THE DOUBLE ACCUSER

"Hast not thou made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land."--_Job i. 10._

"Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night."--_Revelation xii. 10._