by A. W. Pink
|
S |
ATAN
IS NOT AN INITIATOR but an imitator. God has an only begotten Son--the Lord
Jesus, and so has Satan--"the son of Perdition" (2 Thess. 2:3). There
is a Holy Trinity, and there is likewise a Trinity of Evil (Rev. 20: 10). Do we
read of the "children of God," so also we read of "the
children of the wicked one" (Matt.
Satan is the
arch-counterfeiter. The Devil is now busy at work in the same field in which
the Lord sowed the good seed. He is seeking to prevent the growth of the wheat
by another plant, the tares, which closely resembles the wheat in appearance.
In a word, by a process of imitation he is aiming to neutralize the Work
of Christ. Therefore, as Christ has a Gospel, Satan has a gospel too; the
latter being a clever counterfeit of the former. So closely does the gospel of
Satan resemble that which it parodies. Multitudes of the unsaved are deceived
by it.
It is to this gospel
of Satan the apostle refers when he says to the Galatians, "I marvel
that ye are so soon removed from Him that called you into the grace of Christ
unto another gospel: which is not another, but there be some that trouble you,
and would pervert the Gospel of Christ:" (1:6, 7). This false gospel
was being heralded even in the days of the apostle, and a most awful curse was
called down upon those who preached it. The apostle continues, "But
though we, or an angel from heaven preach any other gospel unto you than that
which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed." By the help of
God we shall now endeavor to expound, or rather, expose, this false gospel.
The gospel of Satan is
not a system of revolutionary principles, nor yet a program of anarchy. It does
not promote strife and war, but aims at peace and unity. It seeks not to set
the mother against her daughter nor the father against his son, but fosters the
fraternal spirit whereby the human race is regarded as one great
"brotherhood." It does not seek to drag down the natural man, but to
improve and uplift him. It advocates education and cultivation and appeals to
"the best that is within us." It aims to make this world such a
comfortable and congenial habitat that Christ's absence from it will not be
felt and God will not be needed. It endeavors to occupy man so much with this
world that he has no time or inclination to think of the world to come.
It propagates the principles of self-sacrifice, charity and benevolence, and
teaches us to live for the good of others, and to be kind to all. It appeals
strongly to the carnal mind and is popular with the masses, because it ignores
the solemn facts that by nature man is a fallen creature, alienated from the
life of God, and dead in trespasses and sins, and that his only hope lies in
being born again.
In contradistinction
to the Gospel of Christ, the gospel of Satan teaches salvation by works. It
inculcates justification before God on the ground of human merits. Its
sacramental phrase is "Be good and do good"; but it fails to
recognize that in the flesh there dwelleth no good thing. It announces
salvation by character, which reverses the order of God's Word--character by,
as the fruit of, salvation. Its various ramifications and organizations are
manifold. Temperance, Reform Movements, "Christian Socialist
Leagues." Ethical Culture Societies, "Peace Congresses" are all
employed (perhaps unconsciously) in proclaiming this gospel of Satan--salvation
by works. The pledge-card is substituted for Christ; social purity for
individual regeneration, and politics and philosophy, for doctrine and
godliness. The cultivation of the old man is considered more
"practical" than the creation of a new man in Christ Jesus: whilst
universal peace is looked for apart from the interposition and return of the
Prince of Peace.
The apostles of
Satan are not saloon-keepers and white-slave traffickers, but are for the
most part ordained ministers. Thousands of those who occupy our modern pulpits
are no longer engaged in presenting the fundamentals of the Christian Faith,
but have turned aside from the Truth and have given heed unto fables. Instead
of magnifying the enormity of sin and setting forth its eternal consequences,
they minimize it by declaring that sin is merely ignorance or the absence of
good. Instead of warning their hearers to "flee from the wrath to
come" they make God a liar by declaring that He is too loving and
merciful to send any of His own creatures to eternal torment. Instead of
declaring that "without shedding of blood is no remission,"
they merely hold up Christ as the great Exemplar and exhort their hearers to
"follow in His steps." Of them it must be said, "For they
being ignorant of God's righteousness and going about to establish their own
righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of
God" (
In addition to the
fact that today hundreds of churches are without a leader who faithfully
declares the whole counsel of God and presents His way of salvation, we
also have to face the additional fact that the majority of people in these
churches are very unlikely to learn the Truth for themselves. The family altar,
where a portion of God's Word was wont to be read daily is now, even in the
homes of nominal Christians, largely a thing of the past. The Bible is not
expounded in the pulpit and it is not read in the pew. The demands of this
rushing age are so numerous, that the multitudes have little time and still
less inclination to make preparation for the meeting with God. Hence the
majority who are too indolent to search for themselves, are left at the mercy
of those whom they pay to search for them; many of whom betray their trust by
studying and expounding economic and social problems rather than the Oracles of
God.
In Prov.
The success of an
illegitimate coiner depends largely upon how closely the counterfeit resembles
the genuine article. Heresy is not so much the total denial of the truth as a
perversion of it. That is why half a lie is always more dangerous than a
complete repudiation. Hence, when the Father of Lies enters the pulpit it is
not his custom to flatly deny the fundamental truths of Christianity, rather
does he tacitly acknowledge them, and then proceed to give an erroneous
interpretation and a false application. For example: he would not be so foolish
as to boldly announce his disbelief in a personal God; he takes His existence
for granted and then gives a false description of His character. He announces
that God is the spiritual Father of all men, when the Scriptures plainly tell
us that we are "the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus"
(Gal.
In 2 Cor. 4:3,4 we have a scripture which sheds much
light upon our present theme. There we are told, "if our Gospel be hid,
it is hid to them that are lost: In whom the god of this world (Satan)
hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the
glorious Gospel of Christ, who is the image of God should shine unto
them." He blinds the minds of unbelievers through hiding the light of
the Gospel of Christ, and he does this by substituting his own gospel.
Appropriately is he designated "The Devil and Satan which deceiveth the
whole world" (Rev. 12:9). In merely
appealing to "the best that is within man," and in simply exhorting
him to "lead a nobler life" there is afforded a general platform upon
which those of every shade of opinion can unite and proclaim this common
message.
Again we quote Prov. 14: 12--"There is a way which seemeth
right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death." It has
been said with considerable truth that the way to Hell is paved with good
intentions. There will be many in the Lake of Fire who commenced life with good
intentions, honest resolutions and exalted ideals--those who were just in their
dealings, fair in their transactions and charitable in all their ways; men who
prided themselves in their integrity, but who sought to justify themselves
before God by their own righteousness; men who were moral, merciful and
magnanimous, but who never saw themselves as guilty, lost, hell-deserving
sinners needing a Saviour. Such is the way which "seemeth
right." Such is the way that commends itself to the carnal mind and
recommends itself to multitudes of deluded ones today. The Devil's Delusion is
that we can be saved by our own works, and justified before God by our own
deeds; whereas, God tells us in His Word--"By grace are ye saved
through faith . . . , not of works lest any man should boast." And
again. "Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according
to His mercy He saved us."
A few years ago the
writer became acquainted with one who was a lay preacher and an enthusiastic
"Christian worker." For over seven years this friend had been engaged
in public preaching and religious activities, but from certain expressions and
phrases he used, the writer doubted whether his friend was a "born
again" man. When we began to question him, it was found that he was very
imperfectly acquainted with the Scriptures and had only the vaguest conception
of Christ's Work for sinners. For a time we sought to present the way of
salvation in a simple and impersonal manner and to encourage our friend to
study the Word for himself, in the hope that if he were still unsaved God would
be pleased to reveal the Saviour he needed. One night to our joy, the one who
had been preaching the Gospel(?) for seven years, confessed that he had found
Christ only the previous night. He acknowledged (to use his own words) that he
had been presenting "the Christ ideal" but not the Christ of the
Cross. The writer believes there are thousands like this preacher who, perhaps,
have been brought up in Sunday School, taught about the birth, life, and
teachings of Jesus Christ, who believe in the historicity of His person, who
spasmodically endeavor to practice His precepts, and who think that that
is all that is necessary for their salvation. Frequently, this class when they
reach manhood go out into the world. encounter the attacks of atheists and
infidels and are told that such a person as Jesus of
And now, where do you
stand? Are you in the way which "seemeth right," but which
ends in death; or, are you in the
Those who are trusting
to an outward form of godliness, such as baptism or "confirmation";
those who are religious because it is considered a mark of respectability;
those who attend some Church or Chapel because it is the fashion to do so; and,
those who unite with some Denomination because they suppose that such a step
will enable them to become Christians, are in the way which "ends
in death"--death spiritual and eternal. However pure our motives,
however noble our intentions, however well-meaning our purposes, however
sincere our endeavours, God will not accept us as His sons, until we accept His
Son.
A yet more specious
form of Satan's gospel is to move preachers to present the atoning sacrifice of
Christ and then tell their hearers that all God requires from them is to
"believe" in His Son. Thereby thousands of impenitent souls
are deluded into thinking they have been saved. But Christ said, "Except
ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish" (Luke
13:3). To "repent" is to hate sin, to sorrow over, to turn
from it. It is the result of the Spirit's making the heart contrite before God.
None except a broken heart can savingly believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ.
Again; thousands are
deceived into supposing that they have "accepted Christ" as their
"personal Saviour," who have not first received Him as their LORD.
The Son of God did not come here to save His people in their sin, but "from
their sins" (Matt. 1:21). To be saved from
sins, is to be saved from ignoring and despising the authority of God, it is to
abandon the course of self-will and self-pleasing, it is to "forsake
our way" (Isa. 55:7). It is to
surrender to God's authority, to yield to His dominion, to give
ourselves over to be ruled by Him. The one who has never taken Christ's
"yoke" upon him, who is not truly and diligently seeking to please
Him in all the details of his life, and yet supposes that he is
"resting on the Finished Work of Christ' is deluded by the Devil.
In the seventh chapter of Matthew there are two scriptures
which give us approximate results of Christ's Gospel and Satan's counterfeit.
First. in verses 13 and
14, "Enter ye in at the strait gate, for wide is the gate and
broad is the way that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in
thereat. Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto
life, and few there be that find it." Second; in verses 22 and 23, "Many will say to Me in that day,
Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied (preached) in Thy name? and in Thy
name have cast out demons, and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then
will I profess unto them, I never knew you; depart from Me, ye that work
iniquity." Yes, my reader, it is possible to work in the name of
Christ, and even to preach in His name, and though the world knows us,
and the Church knows us, yet to be unknown to the Lord! How necessary it
is then to find out where we really are; to examine ourselves and see whether
we be in the faith; to measure ourselves by the Word of God and see if we are
being deceived by our subtle Enemy; to find out whether we are building our
house upon the sand, or whether it is erected on the Rock which is Christ
Jesus. May the Holy Spirit search our hearts, break our wills, slay our enmity
against God; work in us a deep and true repentance, and direct our gaze to the
Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world.