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
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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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