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The Spirit of Prophecy Volume 4
Abel to our own time, such is the spirit which has been displayed
toward those who dare to condemn sin.
Satan had excited sympathy in his favor by representing that
God had dealt unjustly with him in bestowing supreme honor upon
Christ. Before he was sentenced to banishment from Heaven, his
course was with convincing clearness shown to be wrong, and he
was granted an opportunity to confess his sin, and submit to God’s
authority as just and righteous. But he chose to carry his points at
all hazards. To sustain his charge of God’s injustice toward him,
he resorted to misrepresentation, even of the words and acts of the
Creator.
Here, for a time, Satan had the advantage; and he exulted in his
arrogated superiority, in this one respect, to the angels of Heaven,
and even to God himself. While Satan can employ fraud and
sophistry to accomplish his objects, God cannot lie; while Lucifer,
like the serpent, can choose a tortuous course, turning, twisting, glid-
ing, to conceal himself, God moves only in a direct, straight-forward
line. Satan had disguised himself in a cloak of falsehood, and for a
time it was impossible to tear off the covering, so that the hideous
deformity of his character could be seen. He must be left to reveal
himself in his cruel, artful, wicked works.
He was not immediately dethroned when he first ventured to in-
dulge the spirit of discontent and insubordination, nor even when he
began to present his false claim and lying representations before the
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loyal angels. Long was he retained in Heaven. Again and again was
he offered pardon on condition of repentance and submission. Such
efforts as God alone could make, were made to convince him of his
error, and restore him to the path of rectitude. God would preserve
the order of the heavens, and had Lucifer been willing to return to his
allegiance, humble and obedient, he would have been re-established
in his office as covering cherub. But as he stubbornly justified his
course, and maintained that he had no need of repentance, it became
necessary for the Lord of Heaven to vindicate his justice and the
honor of his throne; and Satan and all who sympathized with him
were cast out.
By the same misrepresentation of the character of God as he
had practiced in Heaven, causing him to be regarded as severe and
tyrannical, Satan induced man to sin. And having succeeded thus