4. But we must also speak of another work of the Devil. It is set forth
in II Cor. 4:3, 4, R. V.: +"And even if our gospel is veiled, it is
veiled in them that perish: (4) In whom the god of this world hath
blinded the minds of the unbelieving, that the light of the gospel
of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God should not dawn upon
them."+ We read here that it is the work of Satan to blind the
minds of unbelievers in order +"That the light of the gospel of
the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should not dawn upon
them."+ It is evident then that _the Devil is the author of false
views, especially false views of the person of Christ_. He is the
author of Unitarianism, and the denial of the Deity of our Lord in all
its forms. He so blinds the minds of men who submit to his blinding
that the Divine "Glory of Christ," "who is the very image of God," is
hidden from them. This explains why it is that Unitarianism in all its
various forms persists even after its folly has been so often exposed.
Satan's work along this line is to culminate at the appearing of the
Anti-Christ, +"Even he, whose coming is according to the working of
Satan with all power, and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceit
of unrighteousness for them that perish; because they received not the
love of the truth, that they might be saved."+ (II Thess. 2:9, 10,
R. V.)
V. THE DEVIL'S DESTINY
We come now to the fifth general division of our subject—_The Devil's
Destiny_.
1. Turn in the first place to Rev. 20:1-3: +"And I saw an angel
coming down out of heaven, having the keys of the abyss and a great
chain in his hand. And he laid hold of the dragon, the old serpent,
which is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, and
cast him into the abyss, and shut it, and sealed it over him, that he
should deceive the nations no more, until the thousand years should
be finished: After this he must be loosed for a little time."+ We
are here taught that _at the Second Coming of our Lord Jesus Christ
Satan shall be bound with a great chain and cast into the abyss for a
thousand years_. The abyss, or as it is translated in the Authorised
Version, "bottomless pit," does not mean hell. Satan, as we shall see
further on, shall be cast into hell later.
2. Turn now to Rev. 20:7, 8: +"And when the thousand years are
finished, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, and shall come forth
to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog
and Magog, to gather them together to the war: The number of whom is
as the sand of the sea."+ We are here taught that _at the end of
the Millennium, the thousand years, Satan shall be loosed for a little
season from the abyss into which he has been cast chained, and that he
shall come forth to deceive the nations_. But the time of his power
then will be very brief.
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