, where is thy sting? O grave, where
is thy victory?"[9]

So also is it with "the spirits of just men made perfect,"[10] who,
having been purged of all stain of sin, stand in the glory of the
Beatific Vision in Paradise. Satan thought by means of death to make
eternal life with God impossible; but by the divine overruling death is
made the gateway of everlasting life. He watches the progress of the
effect of sin; he sees the bodily weakness which he introduced into the
race when he induced our first parents to sin, increasing, only to
realize that the supreme result of evil in the world is to remove the
soul he has been pursuing with malignant hate, forever from the sphere
of his action.

Even with the lost the same holds good. With {22} infernal glee he
watches by the deathbed of a reprobate soul, of one that has yielded
himself to his rule. He sees the last hour approaching; the dread coma
of death settles down on the mind and heart where Satan's seat is; and
he watches for the rending of soul and body asunder which will seal for
eternity his claim to his possession of the sinner. The hour strikes;
the horrible spasm of death seizes the frame and passes; the Evil One
clutches with hellish eagerness the liberated spirit that is now his
forever. The lost soul with the swiftness of thought is judged,
Satan's claim is granted, and the lost wretch flees into outer
darkness, the eternal slave of hell. But what a difference now
transpires! for such a soul can no longer be used as the active
instrument of the divine dishonour, and Satan finds satisfaction in
possessing a soul only when he can use it as a co-worker with himself
in his warfare with God.

III. _The Limitations of the Tempter_

Our consideration of Satan's strength has shown us something of the
awful and malignant character of his office. We see that he is not a
foe to be despised, and the soul that thinks lightly of his antagonism
is marked by him as a sure {23} victim. Yet despite all this, to fear
Satan is to dishonour God. What would be thought of a soldier in the
armies of an earthly kingdom who was afraid of the enemy? He may be
far from despising him; he may recognize his power and skill, but to be
afraid of him would be the mark of the caitiff. How much more
dishonourable is it in the soldiers of Jesus Christ, our Captain, to
stand in fear when He is fighting for us, and has promised us certain
victory if only we be faithful.

This