Olney Hymns · Chapter
Satan Returning explained
This poem warns of the danger of superficial reformation without true grace.
What happens
This poem warns of the danger of superficial reformation without true grace. When Jesus claims a sinner's heart, Satan departs, but if the heart is not filled with the Savior's presence, the evil spirit returns with greater force, leading to a worse state than before. The speaker pleads for the Lord to drive away the fiend and save from this dreadful end.
Themes in this chapter
Spiritual Warfare
The poem depicts the conflict between Christ and Satan for the sinner's heart, emphasizing the need for divine indwelling to resist evil.
Grace and Unmerited Favor
The poem contrasts a house 'destitute of grace' with the necessity of Christ's reign, highlighting that only grace can secure the heart.
Characters to notice
- Jesus Christ
Claims the sinner's heart and must dwell and reign within the mind to prevent Satan's return.
- Satan
The evil spirit who departs but returns with sevenfold rage if the heart is empty of grace.
- The Narrator
The speaker who pleads for deliverance from the fiend and from a heart that may harbor him.
Key passages
“When Jesus claims the sinner’s heart, Where Satan ruled before, The evil spirit must depart, And dares return no more.”
When Christ takes possession of a sinner's heart, the devil who once ruled there is forced to leave and cannot come back.
The initial victory of Christ over Satan in the believer's life.
“But when he goes without constraint, And wanders from his home, Although withdrawn, ’tis but a feint— He means again to come.”
If the evil spirit leaves on his own accord, it is only a trick; he intends to return.
The deceptive nature of superficial change.
“Some outward change perhaps is seen If Satan quit the place; But though the house seem swept and clean. ’Tis destitute of grace.”
There may be an external improvement when Satan leaves, but without grace, the heart remains empty and vulnerable.
The insufficiency of moral reformation without divine grace.
“Except the Saviour dwell and reign Within the sinner’s mind, Satan, when he returns again, Will easy entrance find.”
Unless Christ lives and rules in the mind, Satan will easily re-enter when he comes back.
The necessity of Christ's indwelling presence.
“With rage and malice sevenfold He then resumes his sway; No more by checks to be control’d, No more to go away.”
He returns with seven times more fury and takes control, no longer restrained or forced to leave.
The worsened condition of the person who falls back into sin.
“The sinner’s former state was bad, But worse the latter far; He lives possessed, blind, and mad, And dies in dark despair.”
The sinner's previous condition was bad, but his final state is far worse; he lives in spiritual blindness and madness, and dies in despair.
The tragic outcome of rejecting grace.