040. Do you believe in a personal Devil?

Do you believe in a personal Devil?

Most assuredly I do. I could not believe in the Bible without believing in a personal Devil. I have conclusive proof that the Bible is the Word of God, therefore I believe what it teaches about the existence of a personal Devil. In the account of the temptation of our Lord recorded in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, we are distinctly told that the Devil (and the whole account evidently means a personal Devil) was the author of the temptations that came to our Lord (see Matthew 4:1-11; Luke 4:1-13). These accounts have no meaning if we try to make the Devil of the passage a mere figure of speech.

Furthermore, our Lord in the parable of the sower (Matthew 13:1-23) distinctly teaches that there is a personal Devil. The Devil does not appear in the parable, where it might be explained as being figurative, but in the interpretation of the parable: “Then cometh the wicked one . . .” Now in parables we have figures, and in the interpretation of parables we have the literal facts for which the figures stand, so we have a literal Devil in the interpretation of this parable. It is only one of the numerous instances in which Jesus teaches the existence of a personal Devil.

Paul teaches the same, as (for example) in Ephesians 6:11-12, R.V.: “Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the Devil. For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world-rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.” No rational interpretation of the Bible can interpret the Devil out of it. Any system of interpretation that does away with the Devil would do away with any doctrine which a man does not wish to believe. But I also believe that there is a personal Devil because my own experience and observation teach me the existence of an unseen, very subtle, very cunning spirit of evil, who has domination over men throughout human society wherever found. The more I come in contact with men, the more I study history, and the more men open their hearts to me, the more firmly convinced I become that there is such a Devil as the Bible teaches that there is.

It is not pleasant to believe that there is a personal Devil, but the question is not what is pleasant to believe but what is true.