Funeral Sermon for the Rev. J. J. Janeway

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BY THE REV. CHARLES HODGE, D.D. 283This is a subject in which we are all interested.We are not the mere spectators of this conflict. Weare all combatants. We were born on the field ofbattle. By the necessity of the case we belong toone or to the other of the contending hosts. In thiswarfare there can be no neutrality. In the languageof the Apocalypse there is war in heaven. Michaeland his angels fight against Satan and his angels.This war extends to our earth. It is the conflict betweengood and evil, between light and darkness,between truth and error, between Christ and Belial.In this conflict we are all engaged. No man is neutral—everyone belongs to one or the other of theseconflicting armies. He that is not for me is against me.We are either the followers of Satan engaged consciouslyor unconsciously in fighting in his ranksand promoting his kingdom, or we are the followersof Christ, warring a good warfare, and enduringhardness for his sake. There is this important differencebetween these two cases. Thousands are thesoldiers of Satan without knowing or intending it;whereas no man is a soldier of Christ who does notconsciously and voluntarily enlist in his service andarray himself on his side. The reason of this differencelies in the nature of the conflict. It is notmerely a struggle between truth and error, betweenlight and darkness, between good and evil, betweenthe things seen and the things unseen; it is all this,but it has a higher character. It is a personal conflict.It is a conflict between God and Satan, betweenChrist and Belial. This is the light in which
284FUNERAL SERMONit is always presented in the Bible, and that notmerely in the way of allegory. Satan is no more apersonification of evil, than God or Christ is a personificationof good. As Christ is a real person withwhom we can and do sustain personal relations, soalso is Satan. He is the god of this world. He isthe ruler of the spirits of darkness, the prince of thepowers of the air. He is an intelligent personalagent who musters and controls all evil spirits andevil men, and directs all their energies to counteractthe purposes of God and to resist the progress ofthe Redeemer’s kingdom. We cannot therefore beevil without being his servants. We cannot in anyway promote either sin or error without advancinghis cause and furthering his aims. We cannot refuseto serve God without thereby serving Satan. Itmatters not what our intentions may be. The manwho takes poison destroys himself, whether he intendsit or not. The man who extinguishes thelight, produces darkness, whatever his purpose maybe, so the man who opposes truth or holinessserves Satan, although Satan may never enter histhoughts. Hence the Bible represents idolatry asthe worship of devils; all sin as obedience to theprince of darkness, and all unrenewed men as hiswilling subjects. It is on the same principle thatthe Scriptures often speak of wicked men as servingGod when they accomplish his purposes. “O Assyrian,the rod of mine anger, and the staff in theirhand is mine indignation. I will send him againstan hypocritical nation, and against the people of my
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Funeral Sermon for the Rev. J. J. Janeway

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