Beware The Snare
“THE INVISIBLE WORLD OF SPIRITS”
The connection of the visible with the invisible world, the compassionate service of heavenly angels, and the agency of evil spirits, are plainly revealed in the Scriptures, and are inseparably intertwined with human history. With too many there is a tendency to disbelieve in the existence of evil spirits, while the holy angels, loyal to God, are believed to be the spirits of the dead. The Scriptures not only teach the existence of angels, both good and evil, but present unquestionable proof that angels are not the disembodied spirits of dead men. Before the creation of man, angels were in existence; for when the foundations of the earth were laid, “the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy.” Job 38:7. After the fall of man, angels were sent to guard the tree of life, and this before a human being had died. Angels are superior in nature to men.
The Psalmist says that man was made “a little lower than the angels.” Psalm 8:5. Heavenly angels are sent on errands of mercy to those who fear God—to Abraham, with promises of blessing; to the gates of Sodom, to rescue Lot from its fiery doom; to Elijah, as he was about to perish from weariness and hunger in the desert; to Elisha, with chariots of fire surrounding the little town where he was shut in by his foes; to Daniel, while seeking divine wisdom in the court of a heathen king, or abandoned to become the lions’ prey; to Peter, doomed to death in Herod’s dungeon; to Paul and his companions in the night of tempest on the sea; to open the mind of Cornelius to receive the gospel; to dispatch Peter, with the message of salvation to the Gentile stranger—in like manner holy angels have, in all ages, ministered to God’s people. Evil spirits, in the beginning created sinless, were equal in nature, power and glory with the holy beings that are now God’s messengers.
Fallen through sinful rebellion, they are leagued together for the dishonor of God and the destruction of men. United with Satan, the enemy of God and man, in his rebellion, and cast out from heaven with him, they have through the ages cooperated with him in his warfare against the Divine authority. We are told in Scripture of their confederacy and government, of their various orders, of their intelligence and deceitfulness, and of their malicious designs against the peace and happiness of men. ith the earliest history of man, Satan began his efforts to deceive and enslave our race. After inciting rebellion in heaven, he desired to convince the inhabitants of the earth to unite with him in his warfare against the government of God. Through deception he sought to gain possession of the earth, and establish his kingdom here in opposition to the Most High. Employing the serpent as his medium, he addressed himself to Eve, “Hath God said, ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?” Genesis 3:1.
“The woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die; 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 3:2-5.
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But what did our first parents, after their sin, find to be the meaning of the words, “In the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die”? Did they find them to mean, as Satan led them to believe, they were to be ushered into a more exalted state of existence? Sadly, they did not find this to be the meaning of the divine sentence. As a consequence of sin, God declared that man should return to the ground whence he was taken: “Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.” Genesis 3:19. The divine sentence, “Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return,” points to the utter extinction of life. Immortality, promised to man on condition of obedience, had been forfeited by transgression. There would have been no hope for the fallen race had not God, by the sacrifice of His Son, brought immortality within their reach. While “death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned,” Christ “hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.” Romans 5:12; 2 Timothy 1:10.
