Lord again said, He is in thine hand. By the expression, He is in thine hand, are we to understand the same as be it unto you as you desire, or let it be so done. This was a very severe trial, and though Job cursed the day of his birth, and wished he had died in his infancy, yet he did not curse God. He still maintained his integrity with Him.

I will here hazard an opinion that this Satan, or adver sary, was Job's wife. The object of Satan was to make Job if possible curse God, and give up his trust in Him. And if this Satan is some individual person, as I have stated he must be, to harmonize with the scriptural doctrine of the devil, then we may look for this individual to identify him or herself as his personal adversary, and directly influence him to commit this act, and sin against God. When Job was in the greatest distress, and the disease lay heavy upon him, and when it was thought he would be the most likely to give up in despair, his wife said unto him, Dost thou still retain thine integrity? Just as though this was all she had been watching for, and was interested in-curse God and die. Now is not this Satan right out, bold? Was it not Satan in the beginning that talked of Job's integrity, and of cursing God, and was not the trial for this very object-to test Job's integrity, and see whether he would do it or not? How can we mistake, then, who the Satan is? Satan shows himself in the person of Job's wife, precisely. Are you still obstinate? Do you still maintain your integrity? I tell you to curse God and die. If Peter was called Satan for what he said to Christ, how much more Job's wife, who wishes to destroy him. Job, though in great weakness, and suffering intense pain, resists the horrid temptation and says, Thou speakest as one of the foolish women. What? shall we only receive good at the hand of God, shall we not receive evil? Shall we never suffer any adversity and chastisement? In all this did not Job sin with his lips. He did not yield to

the temptation. Satan, or his wife, did not get the advantage and triumph over him.

It was all a lie about the destruction and loss of his property-a mere farce. She had so arranged it as to have the messengers enter, and relate their respective stories, one upon the heel of the other, each one strengthening the other's testimony. This was received by the pious old man as a positive reality, and it was so sudden, afflictive, and overwhelming a bereavement, that Satan, or his wife, thought he would certainly give up his trust in God, and curse him to his face.

wife, in this first She had evidentthou still retain

It is plain that this Satan was Job's trial, from her expression in the second. ly been disappointed, for she says, Dost thine integrity? Are you not going to give up in this second trial? No. The good man, to please his wicked. wife, would not let go his hold on God, or blaspheme his name. So after the trial God showed him the whole matter-and blessed him-and turned the captivity of Job and gave him back his sons and daughters, and all his cattle, which, during his long confinement and trial had doubled. His wife was the Satan, and his great adversary, and there is no mention of her only to show who she is and exhibit her in her true character.

Let us all profit by this allegorical lesson, and though our nearest friend should prove to be our adversary, and, in the time of our trials and adversity, should tempt us to give up our faith and trust in God, and curse him, we may never yield, knowing that all things shall work together for good to them that love God. There is no evidence, then, in this account in Job, of an abstract, literal, personal devil.

And now, reader, let us not be deceived; let us not be looking to some wicked angelic agency, and charging our temptations and the cause of our fall in sin to such a being,

when the root of the evil is in ourselves, and all that is de nominated Satan and devil. To resist the devil, is to resist the evil propensities of our own hearts, and that of others, and overcome evil with good, and obey the truth of God, and keep ourselves sanctified through its divine influence. The enemy, the devil, is within us, and within others, and we need look for no development of his Satanic majesty, from any other source. We have never met him, or seen him, only in the character of depraved men and women; and we never can, for the very good reason that he has no literal, abstract existence.

I have now presented to you what appears to me to be the true doctrine of the devil, and you will judge for yourselves of the soundness and validity of my position. You can but discover that it is an important matter. That as the devil and Satan are spoken of so frequently, and figure so largely, especially in the New Testament, that we ought to have clear and correct views of this subject. If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God. When we speak of the devil, let us understand the true scriptural doctrine of the devil, and speak intelligently, and teach it to our children. Being instructed when we were young, that the devil was a literal being, and that he was lurking about in the hidden and dark places, seeking to devour us, what convulsions of fear used to seize us, and how our hearts would palpitate when forced to go alone, or left by ourselves.

This belief of a literal devil is the foundation of all the witch and hobgoblin stories that have ever excited the ignorant and superstitious, and destroyed at times the peace of neighborhoods, and the happiness of thousands. It is time that we were emancipated from such heathenish su perstition, and stood corrected of euch an absurd doctrine. Let the pictures be taken down from our walls, and tor: from our books, that feign to give the figure of this super

stition, and never allow ourselves, or our children, to foster and perpetuate the dogma of a personal devil.

The old theory of the devil is a stigma upon reason, a reproach to the Christian system, a slander upon the Word of God, and a high insult to heaven. Therefore let us abandon it, as an old garment of filthy rags, and clothe ourselves with a garment of righteousness, reason, and Revelation.

CHAPTER VII.

THE HOLY SPIRIT.

We come next to notice the doctrine of the Holy Spirit, or Spirit of God. Popular theology teaches us that there are three distinct persons in the Godhead, viz., the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. The Scriptures, however, as we have seen, teach us that there is but one God, and one Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Christ is the Son of God. And the reason why he is Son of God, is given by the angel Gabriel, Luke 1: 35. And the angel answered and said unto her: The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee; therefore, also, that holy thing which shall be born of thee, shall be called the Son of God. This Son is now exalted to his Father's throne, and is acting in the office of Mighty God, as we have before shown, till all things are put under his feet, and he has created the new heavens and earth.

The revelation, therefore, of Father and Son, has been clearly set forth, and we have now only to consider that