Elsie's Widowhood

by Martha Finley

  CHAPTER X.

  "To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them." --_Isaiah_ 8:20.

  Some years before this Elsie had built a little church on theplantation, entirely at her own expense, for the use of her dependentsand of her own family when sojourning at Viamede. The membership wascomposed principally of blacks.

  A few miles distant was another small church of the same denomination,attended by the better class of whites; planters and their families.

  To these two congregations conjointly Mr. Mason had ministered for along while, preaching to the one in the morning, to the other in theafternoon of each Sabbath.

  He had, however, been called to another field of labor, a few weeksprevious to the arrival of our friends, leaving the two congregationspastorless, and the pretty cottage built for him at Viamede without atenant.

  Still they were not entirely without the preaching of the word, now oneand now another coming to supply the pulpits for a Sunday or two.

  At present they were filled by a young minister who came as a candidate,and whose services had been engaged for several weeks.

  Elsie and her family were paying no visits now in this time of mourning,but nothing but sickness, or a very severe storm, ever kept them fromchurch. They attended both services, and in the evening the older onesgathered about the table in the library with their Bibles, and, withCruden's Concordance and other helps at hand, spent an hour or more inthe study of the word.

  "Mamma," said little Rosie, one Sunday as they were walking slowlyhomeward from the nearer church, "why don't we have a minister thatbelieves the Bible?"

  "My child, don't you think Mr. Jones believes it?"

  "No, mamma," most emphatically, "because he contradicts it; he saidthere's only one devil, and my Bible says Jesus cast out devils--sevenout of Mary Magdalen, and ever so many out of one man, besides otherones out of other folks."

  "And last Sunday, when he was preaching about Jonah, he said it was awicked and foolish practice to cast lots," remarked Harold, "while theBible tells us that the Lord commanded the Israelites to divide theirland by lot, and that the apostles cast lots to choose a successor toJudas."

  "Yes," said Violet, "and when Achan had sinned, didn't they cast lots tofind out who it was that troubled Israel?"

  "And to choose a king in the days of the prophet Samuel," added theirolder sister. "How strange that any one should say it was a foolish andwicked practice!"

  "I don't think his mother can have brought him up on the Bible as oursdoes us," remarked Herbert.

  "Mamma, which are we to believe," asked Rosie, "the minister or theBible?"

  "Bring everything to the test of scripture," answered the mother'sgentle voice. "'To the law and the testimony: if they speak notaccording to this word, it is because there is no light in them.' I wantyou to have great respect for the ministry, yet never to receive anyman's teachings when you find them opposed to those of God's holy word."

  When the Bibles were brought out that evening, Isa proposed that theyshould take up the question of the correctness of that assertion of Mr.Jones which had led Rosie to doubt his belief in the inspiration of theScriptures.

  "Yes, let us do so," said her uncle. "It is an interesting subject."

  "Yes, I think it is," said Molly; "but do you consider it a question ofany importance, uncle?"

  "I do; no Bible truth can be unimportant. 'All scripture is byinspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, forcorrection, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God maybe perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.' And if we havespiritual foes we surely need to know it, that we may be on our guardagainst them."

  "And we have not been left without warning against them," observed oldMr. Dinsmore. "'Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able tostand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against fleshand blood, but against principalities, against powers, against therulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness inhigh places.' How absurd the idea that principalities and powers canmean but one creature!"

  "David prays, 'Lead me in a plain path because of mine enemies'; andagain, 'Lead me, O Lord, in thy righteousness because of mine enemies,make thy way straight before my face,'" said Mrs. Travilla. "It seemsevident to me that it was spiritual foes he meant; that he feared to beleft a prey to their temptations, their deceit, the snares and trapsthey would set for his soul."

  "Undoubtedly," returned her father. "On any other supposition some ofthe psalms would seem to be very bloodthirsty and unchristian."

  "I rather took Mr. Jones to task about it as we came out of church,"said old Mr. Dinsmore, "and he maintained that he was in the right onthe ground that the name devil comes from the Greek Diabolos, which isapplied only to the prince of the devils."

  "And what of that?" said his son; "the Hebrew name, Satan, has the verysame signification--an adversary, an accuser, calumniator orslanderer--and Christ called the devils he had just cast out, Satan:'How can Satan cast out Satan? If Satan rise up against himself, and bedivided, he cannot stand.' If they are so like him, so entirely one withhim, as to be called himself--and that by Him who has all knowledge andwho is the Truth--I cannot see that there is any occasion to deny themthe name of devil, or anything to be gained by doing so; while on theother hand there is danger of positive harm, as it seems to throw doubtand discredit upon our English translation."

  "A very serious responsibility to assume, since the vast majority of thepeople must depend upon it," remarked Mrs. Travilla. "I think any onewho makes the assertion we are discussing should give a very fullexplanation and strong warning against the lesser evil spirits we calldevils. 'If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?'"

  "Yes," said her father, "and I have very strong faith in the learning,wisdom and piety of the translators."

  "Is Satan a real person? and were the devils whom Christ and hisdisciples cast out, real persons?" asked Isadore. "I have heard peopletalk of Satan as if he were an imaginary creature, a myth; and of theothers, with which persons were possessed in those days, as probablynothing more than bad tempers."

  "'To the law and to the testimony,'" replied her uncle, opening hisBible. "We will consider your questions in the order in which they wereasked. 'Is Satan a real person?' There can be no difficulty in provingit to any one who believes the Bible to be the inspired word of God; thedifficulty is rather in selecting from the multitude of texts that teachit."

  Some time was now spent in searching out, with the help of Bible TextBook and Concordance, a very long list of texts bearing on thequestion--giving the titles, the character and the doings of Satan;showing that he sinned against God, was cast out of heaven; down tohell; that he was the author of the fall; that he perverts scripture;opposes God's work; hinders the Gospel; works lying wonders; that hetempted Christ; is a liar and the father of lies; is a murderer; yetappears as an angel of light.

  "Here," said Mr. Dinsmore, "is a summing-up of what he is, by Cruden,who was without question a thorough Bible scholar; and remember, as Iread it, that the description applies not to Satan alone, but also tothose wicked spirits under him. 'He is surprisingly subtile; hisstrength is superior to ours, his malice is deadly; his activity anddiligence are equal to his malice; and he has a mighty number ofprincipalities and powers under his command!'"

  "Yes," said old Mr. Dinsmore, meditatively, "'the rulers of the darknessof this world,' the word is plural: it seems there must be severalorders of them, composing a mighty host."

  "I find both my queries already fully answered," said Isa.

  "Nevertheless, let us look a little farther into that second question,"her uncle answered. "I will give the references as before, while therest of you turn to and read them."

  When this had been done, "Now," said he, "let us sum up the evidence asto their personality, character, works, and right t
o the name of devil."

  "As to the first they sinned: hell is prepared for them: they believeand tremble: they spoke: knew Christ and testified to his divinity,'Jesus, thou son of God.' 'I know thee who thou art, the Holy One ofGod.' Wicked tempers could not do any of these things. As to the second,their character, they are called in the Bible 'unclean spirits,' foulspirits; and since Christ called them Satan himself, the description ofhis character, as I have before remarked, is a faithful description oftheirs also. This last proves also their right to the title of devil.The scripture--Christ himself--calls them the devil's angels, hismessengers; for that is the meaning of angel, they do Satan's behests,go on his errands and help him in the work of destroying souls andtempting and tormenting those whom they cannot destroy.--Well, Vi, whatis it?" For she had given him a perplexed, troubled look.

  "There is just one difficulty that I see, grandpa. Here in Jude we aretold, 'And the Angels which kept not their first estate, but left theirown habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darknessunto the judgment of the great day.' The apostle Peter says the samething. My difficulty is to reconcile this statement with the otherteaching--that they are going about the world on their wicked, cruelerrands."

  "To the law and to the testimony," repeated Mr. Dinsmore. "Since theinfallible word of God makes both statements, we must believe both,whether we can reconcile them or not; but I doubt not we shall be ableto do so if we diligently search the word with prayer for the teachingsof the Holy Spirit."

  He then offered a short, fervent petition to that end; after which theyresumed their investigation.

  "Let us remember," he said, "that the same word often has manysignifications, and that hell may be a state or condition rather than aplace--I mean that the word may be sometimes used in that sense: so withchains and with darkness."

  "We use the expression, 'the chains of habit,'" suggested his daughter;"a spirit could not be bound with a material chain; but in Proverbs weare told, 'His own iniquities shall take the wicked himself, and heshall be holden with the cords of his sins.' Think of the awfulwickedness and utter despair of those lost spirits--no space forrepentance, no hope or possibility of salvation--and I think we havechains on them of fearful weight and strength."

  "The cords of sin are the consequences of crimes and bad habits. Sinnever goes unpunished, and the bad habits contracted are, as it were,indissoluble bands from which it is impossible to get free," read Mr.Dinsmore from the Concordance, adding, "and to those lost spirits it is_utterly_ impossible; yes, here in their wicked tempers, malignantdesires and utter despair, we have, I think, the chains that bind them."

  "But the darkness, grandpa?" queried Harold.

  "We are coming to that. Cruden tells us here that darkness sometimessignifies great distress, perplexity and calamity; as in Isa. 8:22, Joel2:2. Sometimes sin or impurity, 1 John 1:5. The devil have all these;how great is their sin, how great must be their distress and anguish inthe sure prospect of eternal destruction from the presence of God,eternal torment! dense and fearful must it be beyond the power of wordsto express! They are darkness, for our Saviour calls the exercise ofSatan's power 'the power of darkness.' 'This is your hour and the powerof darkness.' By the gates of hell, Matt. 16:18, is meant the power andpolicy of the devil and his instruments. It would seem that they carrytheir chains, their darkness, their hell with them wherever they go. Andnow for the application, the lesson we should learn from all this: whatdo you think it is, Harold?"

  "That we should be constantly on our guard against the wiles of theseadversaries, is it not, sir?"

  "Yes, and ever looking to the captain of our salvation for strength andwisdom to do so effectually."

  "Putting on the whole armor of God," added old Mr. Dinsmore; "the shieldof faith, the helmet of salvation, the sword of the spirit which is theword of God. What else, Herbert?"

  "The breast-plate of righteousness, sir; and the loins are to be girtabout with truth, the feet shod with the preparation of the gospel ofpeace."

  "There is yet another lesson," said Mrs. Travilla, her face all aglowwith holy joy and love, "how it should quicken our zeal for the Master,our gratitude, our joy and love, when we think of his salvation offeredto us as his free gift the purchase of his own blood, when he mightjustly have left us in the same awful state of horror and despair thatis the portion of the angels that sinned. And how should we cling to himwho alone is able to keep us from falling into the traps and snares theyare constantly spreading for our unwary feet. Ah, my dear children,there is no safety but in keeping close to Christ!"

  "But there we are safe," added her father: "'he is able also to savethem to the uttermost that come unto God by him.' He says of his sheep,'I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neithershall any man pluck them out of my hand.' He saves his people from sin,from hell and destruction."

  "Can't we find some texts about the good angels?" asked little Rosie,who had been permitted to sit up beyond her usual bedtime to share inthe Bible lesson.

  "Yes," said her grandpa, "we may be thankful for them, because they arekind and good and loving, taking delight in our salvation and inministering to God's people, as they did to the Master when on earth.Which of you can name some instances given in the Bible?"

  "One fed Elijah when he fled from wicked Jezebel," answered Rosie,promptly.

  "They carried Lazarus to heaven," said Herbert.

  "And stopped the lions' mouths when they would have eaten Daniel," addedHarold.

  The others went on, "One comforted Paul when he was in danger ofshipwreck."

  "One delivered Peter from prison."

  "Now who can quote a promise or assurance that we, if the true childrenof God, shall have help or protection from them?"

  "'He shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thyways. They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy footagainst a stone!'" repeated the younger Elsie, and her mother added inlow, sweet tones, full of joy and thankfulness, "'The angel of the Lordencampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them.' Is itnot a sweet assurance?" she exclaimed: "he is not a transient visitor,but encamps as intending to remain; and not upon one side alone, leavingthe others exposed to the enemy, but round about. Blessed are they whohave the Lord of hosts for their Keeper!"

  They united in a song of praise, old Mr. Dinsmore led in prayer, thenwith an exchange of affectionate good-nights they separated.

  "Mamma," said the younger Elsie, lingering for a little in her mother'sboudoir, "to-night's study of the word has done me good. I want to livenearer to Jesus, to love him more, to serve him better."

  "I too," said Violet. "I want to give him the service of my whole heartand life, time, talents, money, everything!"

  "It rejoices my heart to hear it, my darlings," the mother answered,folding them in her arms, while glad tears shone in her eyes; "it iswhat I desire above all things for you, for all my dear ones, and formyself."