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TOPIC: Gordon, Samuel Dickey - Quiet Talks About the Tempter (Other Topics in this Collection)
SUBJECT: 010. Three Sorts of Evidence
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Three Sorts of Evidence
I want to bring you now to a brief sketch of the tempter's career. And in doing that I shall not touch any of the speculative legends and myths that are so common. We want to gather up simply some of what God's own Word tells of him.
Will you notice keenly before we turn to the Book itself that there are three distinct ways of proving the personality of Satan: First of all is the Biblical. We shall be referring to that constantly in these talks. For those who are willing to accept the plain teaching of Scripture there is no need of going further. For this Book plainly teaches both his personal existence, and his great activity and power.
But for those who are not content to accept these teachings there are two other independent sources of evidence. And each of them is quite conclusive in itself, to the earnest, seeking man.
There is the philosophical evidence. That is to say, there is no power apart from personality. That can be put down as a purely philosophical proposition. There may be manifestations of power without the personality being seen or recognized. That is very common. There cannot be power apart from an intelligence originating and directing it. And certainly there is an evil power in the world. That is plainly felt and recognized everywhere. Now that presence of an evil power argues plainly the personality of an evil being actively at work behind the scenes.
There is still a third line of approach quite distinct from these two, and as irresistible in itself. That is the experimental, or the evidence that comes through experience. Let a man who has been yielding to temptation try to quit; let a man try to cut with the sin he has been indulging; and he will at once become aware that he has a real fight on his hands. He will become conscious of a real power attacking him with terrific force. About that the man himself will have no doubt. It will come with peculiar force, and drive, and cunning subtlety. It will hang on with great tenacity and persistence.
Thousands of men to-day are in the thick of that fight. As long as a man yields to evil there is no fight. But when he pulls away then the fight is on. And even though he trusts in the great Name above every name, and finds victory through that Name, as he always may and will, it is still a victory through fighting, real intense fighting, with jaw locked, and fist clenched, brow moist, and incessant praying. That man will not be troubled any more about the keen, intelligent, persistent personality of the evil one. And his undoubting consciousness will only grow more positive as long as he persists in the fight against evil and compromise in his own life, even though he may be blessedly conscious of the greater One who is within. The victory always comes through fighting.
In these talks together the reference will be almost wholly to the Biblical evidence as being quite conclusive and satisfactory.