Ministration of Angels

THE word Satan means an adversary, an accuser. It is one part of his business to accuse God's people. Says John, speaking of Satan's being cast out of Heaven, "The accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night." Rev. 12:10. God sends his angels to watch over the saints for good. Satan sends his angels to watch them for evil. Now if a Christian does a wrong action, or speaks a wrong word, probably the evil angels note it down and immediately accuse the person to the holy angels. Sin, unless repented of and abandoned, places the sinner in the hands of the devil, and debars him from the protection of the good angels. This is just what Satan wants. Hence he is watching "day and night" to find some accusation against God's servants, that he may get them into his power.

Wicked men always greatly delight in finding any wrong in the people of God. In this they only manifest the spirit of their father the devil. Christ said to them, "Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do." John 8:44. The case of Jeremiah well illustrates how Satan and his children watch God's servants to find and report some wrong in them. "For I heard the defaming of many, fear on every side. Report, say they, and we will report it. All my familiars watched for my halting, saying, Peradventure he will be enticed, and we shall prevail against him, and we shall take our revenge on him." Jer. 20:10.

How careful, then, ought the child of God to be that he may not please Satan and get into his hands. Jesus tells us that there is joy in Heaven among the angels when one sinner repents. So we may be sure also that there is joy among the devils when one saint sins against the Lord, or deviates from his word.

MAN IN PRISON.

"Sinful man is Satan's lawful captive." When Satan has used him as long as he can, has worn him out, he does not give him a discharge, but shuts him up in prison (the grave), there intending to keep him forever. This we will now prove. "Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned." Rom. 5:12. All die and go into the grave. "All are of the dust, and all turn to dust again." Eccl. 3:20. "The heart of the sons of men is full of evil, and madness is in their heart while they live, and after that they go to the dead." "Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest." Eccl. 9:3,10. It is a sad truth with which we are all familiar, that every man must go into the grave, "the house appointed for all living." Job 30:23.

Now, we ask, By whose will does he go there? Not by his own, certainly. All are ready to testify that death is the "king of terrors," and that they will give everything, and suffer anything, rather than go into the grave. Job 2:4. It is evident that he does not go there willingly. Then who sends him there? Does God? No; for death is the consequence of sin, Rom. 5:12, and God is not the author of sin. The devil introduced sin into the world. Gen. 3:14. "He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning." 1 John 3:8.

Satan was the author of sin and of death; he, by deception, lead man into sin. Then death and the grave followed as the result. By this we see that Satan is the one who sends man into the grave. That the grave is the prison-house of the devil for the dead, we will now prove. Says Job, chap. 17:13, "I wait, the grave is mine house." Again, in speaking of the grave, he says, "There the wicked cease from troubling; and there the weary be at rest. There the prisoners rest together." Chap. 3:17,18. The grave is called a "house for the dead," and they are said to be "prisoners" there; hence it must be a prison-house for the dead. As declared by the prophet, one part of Christ's mission was "to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison-house." Isa. 42:7. Again, speaking of those who are slain, the Lord says, "And they shall be gathered together as prisoners are gathered in the pit, and shall be shut up in the prison, and after many days shall they be visited" (margin, found wanting). Isa. 24:22.

We have seen that Isa. 14 applies to Satan. Of him it is there said that he "opened not the house of his prisoners!" Verse 17. Here it is. Satan is the one who puts man into the grave and keeps him there. He is the prison-keeper. In Heb. 2:14, it said that Christ died "that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil." This is another testimony to the point, showing that the devil is the one who holds men in the grave. All who go into the grave go into the land of the enemy. Jeremiah teaches that the children slain by Herod went into "the land of the enemy," i. e., the grave. See Jer. 31:16,17, and Matt. 2:16-18. Paul calls death an enemy. "The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death." 1 Cor. 15:26. Death came upon man, not as a blessing, but as a curse, Gen. 2:16,17; 3:17-19, and men go into the grave, the same as men are sent to prison, for their crimes.

Now, as we have learned that all men go into the grave, the prison-house of Satan, unless there is some way devised to bring man from this prison, there is no hope for him in the future. So Paul thought, "If Christ be not raised, your faith is vain, ye are yet in your sins. Then they also which are fallen asleep [dead] in Christ are perished." "If after the manner of men I have fought with beasts at Ephesus, what advantageth it me if the dead rise not? let us eat and drink; for tomorrow we die." 1 Cor. 15:17,18,32. By this we see that Paul rests all upon the hope of the resurrection of the dead. If that does not take place, all is lost; there is not a ray of hope for man. This shows the importance which Paul attaches to the resurrection of the dead.

I do not wonder at this; for Satan has robbed man of all his possessions and shut him in the dark prison, the grave. Where now is his hope? None can fail to see that his only hope is that he may be rescued from this prison. Nothing can be of any use to him as long he remains there. Can man himself alone break the mighty bars of death and throw open the gates of the grave and deliver himself? Can he overpower Satan and the hosts of evil angels, and regain his lost possessions? No; he can do neither. He is a helpless captive in the land of the enemy. Unless some one stronger than man comes to his aid, Satan can reign triumphant, and man is forever doomed! Now we eagerly cast our eyes around, and ask, Is there no hope? is there no help? must man forever perish? must Satan forever triumph?

THE MISSION OF JESUS.

Paul, after noticing the high position which man occupied when he was created, next speaks of his fall, his present abject condition, and then introduces the plan of salvation. He says, "But now we see not yet all things put under him." Heb. 2:8. Why is this? Because Satan has been at work; has lied to him; has cheated him; has got all his possessions from him; has made him a servant; and at last has shut him up in prison. Now does Paul see any hope for man? Hear him: "But now we see not yet all things put under him. But we see Jesus"—Ah! yes; there is hope yet. After looking at man's sad state, his ruined and lost condition, after looking in all directions for help, the apostle at last exclaims, "But we see Jesus!" Yes, blessed be God; he so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. God says, "I have laid help upon one that is mighty; I have exalted one chosen out of the people." Ps. 89:19. Jesus Christ, the Holy One of Israel, the Son of the living God, leaves Heaven and comes to the rescue. The poor, perishing sinner looks from his dying bed, the verge of his dark prison, and shouts, "Glory to God, there is yet hope, there is yet salvation for me."

But what did Jesus accomplish by his coming? What did he come to do? How extensive was the plan of salvation? Did it not cover all that was lost? We think that it did. He says himself, "For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost." Luke 19:10. To illustrate: Suppose that a wealthy Lord in England has three sons. The oldest one, by the law, inherits all of his father's estate. But the father, wishing to do something for the other two, comes over to America with them and buys for them a farm. He furnishes it with houses, barns, stock, tools, ect., and gives them possession of it. He then leaves them to work out their own destiny. But the two brothers manage very badly. They squander their property, get in debt, mortgage and lose their farm, and are finally cast into prison for debt. Their brother in England hears of their sad condition. He pities them. So he asks leave of his father to come and see what he can do for them. The father tells him to go. So he comes and redeems the farm, and takes the deed in his own name. He then says to his brothers who are in prison, "I will pay the debt for which you are cast in here, and you may go back on the farm again to work. I will put you on trial for five years. At the end of that time, if you have been industrious, have taken good care of everything, and have kept out of debt, so that I can safely trust you with the farm again, I will give you a clear deed of the farm and all that is on it. But if you have been idle and shiftless, and have done no better than you did before, I will keep the farm myself and let you pay your own debts. Now all depends on your own actions."

All must say that this would be kind, just, and reasonable. This would be all that he ought to do for them. Here we see that he saved the brothers from prison, but whether they will have the farm or not must be determined by their own deeds. Although this parable cannot be pressed too closely, we think the general features of it will illustrate the plan of salvation.

God created the earth and put everything on it that would be useful to man, and gave it to him as his home, his farm. He then left him to work out his own destiny. Man failed, lost his possesssion, and got into prison. Now Jesus, his elder brother, pities him, and offers to come and help him. The Father loves man, and is grieved at his sad condition. So he sends his Son to do all he can for him. Jesus now comes to the earth "to seek and to save that which was lost." Luke 19:10. To save that which, was lost, not simply those who are lost, as it would read if it meant that his mission was only to save man.

"That which was lost" embraces more than man. It includes his lost dominion also. Was not the earth lost as well man? It certainly was. Jesus came to save that which was lost; then how do you make it appear that it was only man, a part of that which was lost, that Jesus came to save? If nothing but man had been lost by the transgression in the garden, God might have destroyed Adam, might have left him to perish alone, and thus have put a stop to all the misery that has been entailed upon the world. Then he could have created a new race of beings to inhabit the earth. But we see that the earth also was lost by Adam's fall. A plan must be devised by which this can be redeemed from the power of the usurper—the devil. Unless this can be done, it would be useless to place another race on the earth to live. Besides this, Satan's kingdom would be forever secure. Would God leave things thus? No; the plan of salvation embraced the lost earth, as well as lost man. Jesus came to save them both.