The Gospel Herald -- Promoting the fundamentals of the 1888 message.

 

The Great Controversy


The Universe is Interested


Rebellion in Heaven


What Caused the Trouble?


Satan's Disaffection


Adam's Dominion


Adam's Dominion Usurped


On Which Side are We?


The World a Theatre


The Case of Job


Satan Before God


Job's Integrity


The Lesson


Christ's Gift


The Climax


God's Government Vindicated


Concluding Thoughts


Obey the Laws


A Special Message

        I think we can tell very easily by reading the experience of Christ with Satan when He was here on this earth. "Therefore when they were gathered together Pilate said unto them, Whom will ye that I release unto you? Barabbas, or Jesus which is called Christ? For he knew that for envy they had delivered Him." Matthew 27:17, 18.
        It was envy on the part of Satan against Christ that caused the war in heaven in the first place, and those who are opposed to Christ will have the same disposition today.
        Speaking of the experience of those who had been converted, and of what they had been before that, Paul says, "For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another." Titus 3:3.
        Envy is characteristic of the natural heart, as we see from Rom. 1:29: "Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy." It was envy that set up the opposition to Christ when He was here in the flesh,—simply the carrying forward of that same feeling that set up the strife in heaven. What is envy?—The desire of one to occupy a higher position than he does, a feeling of great self-worthiness. Love never feels like that; "love envieth not." [1 Corinthians 13:4].
        The Scripture points out very clearly that it was a feeling of envy on the part of Satan that led to all the trouble in heaven. "How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations? For thou hast said in thine heart, . . . ."
        Notice the next five statements, and see how everyone of them begins, "I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the Most High." Isaiah 14:12-14.
        Ezekiel also speaks of Satan, "Thus saith the Lord God, Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty; Thou hast been in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold; the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created. Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so; thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire. Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee. By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned; therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God; and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire, Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness; I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee." Ezekiel 28: 12-17.
        From these scriptures you will see that it was a feeling of envy on the part of Satan that led to the difficulty in heaven.
        Christ was begotten, not created; Satan was created, not begotten. As the only begotten Son, Christ could enter fully into the councils of God. Because he could not do this as Christ did, envy sprang up in the heart of Satan, and he began to determine, I will exalt myself. He began to stir up rebellion, to say, God is arbitrary, and he began also to get his sympathizers. "We are in slavery, and I have a better plan of government. Choose me as leader, exalt me, and then I will exalt you."
        Do you not see the same principle that has been in the world ever since the fall? You exalt me and I will exalt you,—perhaps.
 

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