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Unseen Forces in Conflict, September 4
He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth,
because there is no truth in him.... He is a liar, and the father of it.
John 8:44
.
We are all to understand that there is a fallen angel who was once next to
Christ in honor among the heavenly host. His work of deception was done in
so great secrecy that the angels in less exalted positions supposed that he was
the Ruler of heaven. Satan made the representation that all wrong insinuations
existing in heaven originated among the angels, while he himself had made
suggestions which would never have been entertained by the angels, had he
not created them. He artfully presented these things to God, as having come
from the angels, while they all originated with Satan himself....
Because he was not able to insinuate his deceptions upon Christ, he
determined to undermine Him by false statements and reports. War in heaven
was the result, and Satan was expelled. He became Christ’s most deadly foe.
His constant effort was to counteract, in every possible way, His great work
of saving souls.
Christ had worked in the heavenly courts to convince Satan of his terrible
error, till at last the evil one and his sympathizers were found in open rebellion
against God Himself. Then he claimed a right to take a position above Christ
as covering cherub. Expelled from heaven, he came to this earth, determined
to work against Christ. He is in no danger of losing the angels that he deceived.
He has them under his banner, enlisted to fight against the Son of God.
When Christ came to this world, Satan was constantly on His track,
striving to make His work of no avail. When Christ was healing the sick and
afflicted, Satan was on the ground, making His work of saving souls as hard
as possible....
When souls, convicted, and aroused to their danger, began to inquire,
“What shall I do that I may have eternal life?” Satan was present, to stir up
the minds of the priests and rulers to oppose the Saviour’s work, to hedge
up His way. But Christ ever proved Himself superior to Satan. Rebuking the
Satanic agencies, He set free the poor souls who were bound by his chains,
and bade them go free.—
Letter 292, September 4, 1906
, to Dr. and Mrs. D.
H. Kress, at the Sydney Sanitarium in Australia.
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