not destroy Satan. Since only the service of love can be acceptable to God, the allegiance of His creatures must rest upon a conviction of His justice and benevolence. The inhabitants of heaven and of other worlds, being unprepared to comprehend the nature or consequences of sin, could not then have seen the justice of God in the de struction of Satan. Had he been immediately blotted out of existence, some would have served God from fear rather than from love. The influence of the deceiver would not have been fully destroyed, nor would the spirit of rebellion have been utterly eradicated. For the good of the entire universe through ceaseless ages, he must more fully develop his principles, that his charges against the divine government might be seen in their true light by all created beings, and that the justice and mercy of God and the immutability of His law might be forever placed beyond all question. "Satan's rebellion was to be a lesson to the uni verse through all coming ages,—a perpetual testimony to the nature of sin and its terrible results. The working out of Satan's rule, its effects upon both men and angels, would show what must be the fruit of setting aside the divine authority. It would testify that with the existence of God's government is bound up the well-being of all the creatures He has made. Thus the history of this terrible experiment of rebellion was to be a perpetual safeguard to all holy beings, to prevent them from being deceived as to the nature of transgression, to save them from committing sin, and suffering its penalty. NOT CREATED EVIL. "Because Satan harbored evil thoughts, was tempted, and fell, it does not follow that God created him with an evil inclination. The Bible contradicts such an idea, for the Lord says of him, 'Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.' Eze. 28:15. "All intelligent creatures, capable of reasoning concerning right and wrong, are free moral agents. It is impossible that God should confer a moral character on any of His creatures. He creates them perfect, endows them with full capacities to do His will, to walk in the way of righteousness, but He cannot so compel them to do right as to destroy their power of choice; for to deprive them of choice would be to destroy the moral quality of their actions. Deprived of choice, they would be mere passive machines, and machines cannot develop character. All acknowledge the force of this reasoning as applying to men, but it is equally applicable to angels and all created intelligences."-Ministration of Angels, pp. 67, 68. "He that ruleth in the heavens is the One who sees the end from the beginning,-the One before whom the mysteries of the past and the future are alike outspread, and who, beyond the woe and darkness and ruin that sin has wrought, beholds the accomplishment of His own purposes of love and blessing. Though 'clouds and darkness. are round about Him, righteousness and judgment are the foundation of His throne.' Ps. 97: 2, R. V. And this the inhabitants. of the universe, both loyal and disloyal, will one day understand. 'His work is perfect; for all His ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is He.' Deut. 32:4." -Patriarchs and Prophets, pp. 42,43. When Satan and his angels were cast out of heaven, their probation had ended, their doom was sealed. Their privileges had been so great and their rebellion so stubborn and wicked that they could never again be reinstated or trusted. They had passed the limit of divine forbearance. But with man in his sin the case was different. His opportunities had not been so great. He was led into sin through "Were it not that help divine was provided, and holy angels appointed to his aid, the condition of man would be hopeless." the temptations of one of the most powerful and subtle be ings, recent ly fallen from the very presence of God Himself. Infinite love and compassion opened a way by which man could have another opportunity to perfect a character which would reinstate him in the position which he had lost through sin. JUSTICE VINDICATED. "When God promised the land to Abraham and to his seed, He said that he could not then inherit it, because the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full.' Gen. 15:16. The Lord would give them an opportunity to fill up the cup of their iniquity. This proves the long-suffering of God. And no sin was He must now win back, while dwelling in the dominions governed by Satan, encompassed by all his evil and temptations, that which he had lost. Were it not that help divine was provided, and holy angels appointed to his aid, the condition of man would be hopeless. "In the banishment of Satan from heaven, God declared His ever so great but that it found justice, and maintained the honor sympathy somewhere. "Satan so wrought upon the sympathies of the angels that legions of them denied the jus tice of God, and took their stand by his side. Had the Lord then destroyed him, it is highly probable that myriads more in the universe might have doubted the wisdom or justice of the action. Perhaps they could not yet realize the enormity of his guilt. "But at the final judgment, when every cup is full, and Satan has fully convinced every creature that he is the only personification of malignity and all that is evil and hateful, all will approve the justice of God in his destruction. And no doubt Satan himself, seeing the issue of many generations of rebellion, and the causeless ruin he has wrought, will realize that of His throne. But when man "In the contest between Christ and Satan, during the Saviour's earthly ministry, the character of the great deceiver was unmasked. Nothing could so effectually have uprooted Satan from the affections of the heavenly angels and the whole loyal universe, as did his cruel warfare upon the world's Redeemer. The daring blasphemy of his demand that Christ should pay him homage, his presumptuous boldness in bearing Him to the mountain's summit and the pinnacle of the temple, the malicious intent betrayed in urging Him to cast Himself down from the dizzy height, the unsleeping malice that haunted Him from place to place, inspiring the heart of priests and people to reject His love, and at the last to cry, 'Crucify Him!'-all this excited the amazement and indignation of the universe. God is just, and that he was altogether wrong in his pride and ambition, and, above all, in instigating the murder of the meek and lowly Son of God. "When Satan sees the city of God descend from heaven, and the hosts of angels with whom he once worshiped in blessed union, and the glorious Son of God, their loved Commander, at their head, and the millions of glorified ones from this world, purchased by His blood, even he himself will be compelled to acknowledge the utter failure of his ambitious plan, the goodness of Jesus in dying for His creatures, and the wisdom and justice of God the Father in ex alting His Son over such a vicious spirit as he has proved himself to be. We verily believe that this will be the case, and that in this will be found the fulfilment of the words of inspiration: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.' Phil. 2: 10, II."— Ministration of Angels, pp. 67-71. "It was Satan that prompted the world's rejection of Christ. The prince of evil exerted all his power and cunning to destroy Jesus; for he saw that the Saviour's mercy and love, His compassion and pitying tenderness, were representing to the world the character of God. Satan contested every claim put forth by the Son of God, and employed men as his agents to fill the Saviour's life with suffering and sorrow. |