0769. Satan Drives Men to Their Ruin

Satan Drives Men to Their Ruin

"For oftentimes it had caught him: and he was kept bound with chains and in fetters; and he brake the bands, and was driven of the devil into the wilderness" (Luk_8:29).

There was a man in the tombs whom no man could bind. He was driven of the devil. He was a raving maniac, dwelling among the tombs. The picture before us suggests satan as the cruel despot, driving men into the darker and more hellish deeds of infamy and shame.

No taskmaster in the day of Pharaoh was more cruel, more heartless than is satan. Men who have followed satan’s quest, sooner or later come to the place where they are absolutely helpless under his hand.

1. There is the curse of drink. Many a man has been driven on by this terrible demon of drink. It will take eternity to reveal the bitterness, the sorrow, the heartaches, the curse caused by the intoxicating cup.

2. There is the curse of gambling. Men are absolutely lost to their nobler aspirations when they are driven by the demon of gambling. They seem to have no control of themselves. They will sit hour after hour, even night and day, over a deck of cards, madly shuffling their cards and placing the stakes. Surely the gambling hell has cast down many a strong man.

3. There is the curse of impurity. When once a man or woman has turned aside unto satan and entered the forbidden paths of unholy and immoral conduct, his downward course is swift and sure. The world is filled with sad tales of broken hearts and crushed hopes. The way of impurity is the way that leads down to death, and many strong men have been slain thereby.

This is an age wherein men boast of their freedom, and yet it is an age of most abject slavery. The Holy Spirit through Paul wrote these striking words: "I will not be a slave to anything." How few can boast a real freedom. Men are slaves to satan. He is their god, and he is their merciless demigogue.

The only freemen on earth are those whom the Son has set free–they are free indeed.

If a lost one chances to read these lines let him know that Jesus Christ came to undo the works of the devil. He came to open the prison bars and set men free; He came to turn men from the power of satan.

Let those who are driven of the devil cry unto the Lord, He will give a sure and complete deliverance.

Autor: R.E. NEIGHBOUR