Evening Republican, Volume 17, Number 119, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 19 May 1913 — SATAN’S GREAT LIE WHAT HARM IT DID [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

SATAN’S GREAT LIE WHAT HARM IT DID

Pastor Russell, Quoting Jesus, Says Satan Is Father of Lies. Th* First Li*—Where It Wae Told. Why It Wae Told—To Whom It Was ■ Told—lts Result—lts Repetition—The Disastrous Results—All Manner of Crimea Are Its Fruitage—The Only Remedy—Why?—When?—How?

Harrisburg, Pa., May 18. Pastor Russell’s address today on Satan’s great lie was remarkable. He really told his audience tliat they had all been believing Satan’s lie. He really told spirit mediums that they were mediums, not between dead and living humans, but

between humans and demons the fallen angels. Yet the Pastor said all this so kindly that none could possibly take offense. — _ He opened his address by declaring that the common conception respecting Satan’s appearance and whereabouts is wholly false, built not upon Scripture, but upon human imagination, handed down from a darker day. The Pastor believes in a personal Satan, who Is Beelzebub, prince of demons. He believes the Bible to teach that Satan Is an angel of high rank, possessed of superior powers, outranking his associates, and hence th^r leader. That Satan is not in soqß far-off place with his fallen angels, torturing millions of humanity, the Pastor made very clear. He showed that the Scriptures teach, on the contrary, that since the Deluge Satan and his associates are under restraint, confined in Tartarus—our atmosphere. Satan is very literally “the prince of the power of the air,” and his demon host are members of this aerial power, malevolent respecting God and righteousness, and especially foes of Jesus' followers.

The Lie and Where Told. The lie was told In Eden. The serpent was Satan’s tool. Satan was the original rebel. The fallen angels rebelled long afterward. The Pastor would hot shy that the serpent could not speak under Satanic obsession, but inclined to believe that It spoke by its actions. By eating the forbidden fruit and not dying, the serpent seemed to give the He to God’s Word. Through the serpent Satan declared to the woman, “Ye shall not surely die,” and suggested that God was trying to keep herself and Adam ignorant, and that they should assert their rights, by eating the forbidden fruit. The Pastor made very clear Satan’s object in telling this lie. Satan was ambitious to have dominion, to manifest his superior ability as a sovereign. When man was created, with power to propagate his species, Satan saw his opportunity. By alienating the first pair, he would eventually capture a race, and become spiritual ruler of earth. To carry out this program, he started his first lie.

Satan's Plane Changed. When Satan perceived that mankind were perishing, he thought to circumvent God by introducing fresh life Into humanity. This he did by seducing some of the angels to materialize and rear human families. The Pastor pointed out Scriptures describing this deflection. Thus was produced a race of giants, born in opposition to the Divine will, and therefore devilish. Soon the earth was filled with violence. Mankind were rapidly becoming demonized. Apparently, Noah and his family alone remained uncontaminated. Then the Deluge, which God had foreknown and withheld until this time, swept away both giants and humanity. None who received their life from angels were of Adamic stock, and hence will-have no resurrection. Satan, Thwarted, Tries Again. The fallen angels and Satan were then restrained from materialization. Thus Satan’s second plan for empire failed. Still rebellious, he took up a new scheme. He would Imbltter humanity against God, and thus defeat God’s plans. He must deceive them into thinking God to be a monster. He must keep them in ignorance. As a basis for this scheme, he used his original lie. For 4000 years, Satan has Instilled that lie into the minds of humanity. How wonderfully he has succeeded the whole world is witness. Notwithstanding the fact that man’s five senses tell him that the dead are dead, the masseq believe that the dead are more alivO than before they died. Notwithstanding the consistency of God’s Word, “Thou shalt surely die,” the whole world is enslaved by Satan’s lie, “Ye shall not surely die.” Spiritism, Obsession, Possession. While acknowledging that some me dlums are frauds, the Pastor believes the majority of them are sincere, but deceived. Many of them thoroughly believe that they communicate with the dead. Only the Bible can save them from that delusion. It alone shows that a demon host Is cooperating with Satan, to uphold his lie. All should accept the Scriptural tes-. tlmony that the dead are defad, that Jesus’ death is the Redemption-price, and that the resurrection is the Blbli cal salvation. The truth will keep us. free from Satan’s snares.