has wielded with phenomenal
skill and success in furthering his ambitious purposes.

And he is not chained yet. I remember a conversation with a young
clergyman one Monday morning in the reading-room of a Young Men's
Christian Association. It was in a certain mining town in the southwest,
which is as full of evil resorts as such places usually are. The day
before, Sunday, had been one of special services, and we had both been
busy and were a bit weary. We were slowing down and chatting leisurely. I
remarked to my friend, "What a glad day it will be when the millennium
comes!" He quickly replied, "I think this is the millennium." "But," I
said, "I thought Satan was to be chained during that time. Doesn't it say
something of that sort in the Book?" "Yes," he replied, "it does. But I
think he is chained now." And I could not resist the answer that came
blurting its way out, "Well, if he is chained, he must have a fairly long
chain: it seems to permit much freedom of action." From all that can be
gathered regarding this mighty prince he is not chained yet. We would do
well to learn more about him. The old military maxim, "Study the enemy,"
should be followed more closely here.

It is striking that the oldest of the Bible books, and the latest, Job and
Revelation, the first word and the last, give such definite information
concerning him. These coupled with the gospel records supply most of the
information available though not all. Those three and a half years of
Jesus' public work is the period of greatest Satanic and demoniac
activity of which any record has been made. Jesus' own allusions to him
are frequent and in unmistakable language. There are four particular
passages to which I want to turn your attention now. Let it not be
supposed, however, that this phase of prayer rests upon a few isolated
passages. Such a serious truth does not hinge upon selected proof texts.
It is woven into the very texture of this Book throughout.

There are two facts that run through the Bible from one end to the other.
They are like two threads ever crossing in the warp and woof of a finely
woven fabric. Anywhere you run your shears into the web of this Book you
will find these two threads. They run crosswise and are woven inextricably
in. One is a black thread, inky black, pot-black. The other is a bright
thread, like a bit of glory light streaming across. These two threads
everywhere. The one is this--the black thread--there is an enemy