If there is a God, it is certain that the present order of nature must be a manifestation of His will. So must be the energy of its forces in conformity with invariable law. Whatever power He has delegated to subordinate agents, must form a portion of this universal order, and be exercised in conformity with the divine purposes. It is inconceivable that subordinate agents can be allowed to break in upon it at their will and pleasure, for the general permanence of its order forms an essential condition for the exercise of moral agency. If they are allowed to do so, it must be only within clear and definite limits, which ultimately effectuate the purposes of the Creator. Such is the nature of the power which man can exert over material nature. It can only modify results, by giving a new direction to its forces. In the case of man this power is limited to the world in which he lives. In a similar manner, if beings superior to him in power and intelligence exist, their interference must be subject to definite limitations. Such is the uniform affirmation of the writers of the New Testament. Even if we take their language in the most literal sense, the supernatural interventions which they attribute to Satan, are confined to a very definite order of phenomena. In one word, the sacred writers have described Satanic intervention as limited to the world of mind; and as capable, through its action on the mind, of producing certain results on the bodily organization. To this there is one exception, the apparent ascription of a few diseases to Satanic agency. This I shall consider hereafter. It is a remarkable fact, and one worthy of particular attention, that the supernatural action attributed to Satan in the New Testament, with the exception above referred to, is a mental one. It is through the action on men’s minds alone, that demoniacal agency produces any results on their bodily frame. No direct action on the material forces of nature is ever attributed to it. We find nothing in the smallest degree resembling the act of a demon overturning a pitcher of water. The kind of influence attributed to Satan is of a similar character, though much higher in degree, to that which one man can exert over another. One man of superior mental power is capable of exerting an influence over a weaker mind to such a degree, as almost to enthral it. We call this a species of fascination. In the New Testament the similar but mightier Satanic influence is Possession. One mind, by getting a powerful hold on another, can exert an influence on the body, as in mesmerism. The Satanic influence exerted in possession is only a more powerful one.