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Controversy Ended
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Memory recalls the home of his innocence and purity, the peace
and content that were his until he indulged in murmuring against
God, and envy of Christ. His accusations, his rebellion, his decep-
tions to gain the sympathy and support of the angels, his stubborn
persistence in making no effort for self-recovery when God would
have granted him forgiveness,—all come vividly before him. He
reviews his work among men and its results,—the enmity of man
toward his fellow-man, the terrible destruction of life, the rise and
fall of kingdoms, the overturning of thrones, the long succession of
tumults, conflicts, and revolutions. He recalls his constant efforts to
oppose the work of Christ and to sink man lower and lower. He sees
that his hellish plots have been powerless to destroy those who have
put their trust in Jesus. As Satan looks upon his kingdom, the fruit
of his toil, he sees only failure and ruin. He has led the multitudes to
believe that the city of God would be an easy prey; but he knows that
this is false. Again and again in the progress of the great controversy
has he been defeated and compelled to yield. He knows too well the
power and majesty of the Eternal.
The aim of the great rebel has ever been to justify himself, and
to prove the divine government responsible for the rebellion. To this
end he has bent all the power of his giant intellect. He has worked
deliberately and systematically, and with marvelous success, leading
vast multitudes to accept his version of the great controversy which
has been so long in progress. For thousands of years this chief of
conspiracy has palmed off falsehood for truth. But the time has now
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come when the rebellion is to be finally defeated, and the history
and character of Satan disclosed. In his last great effort to dethrone
Christ, destroy his people, and take possession of the city of God,
the arch-deceiver has been fully unmasked. Those who have united
with him see the total failure of his cause. Christ’s followers and the
loyal angels behold the full extent of his machinations against the
government of God. He is the object of universal abhorrence.
Satan sees that his voluntary rebellion has unfitted him for
Heaven. He has trained his powers to war against God; the purity,
peace, and harmony of Heaven would be to him supreme torture. His
accusations against the mercy and justice of God are now silenced.
The reproach which he has endeavored to cast upon Jehovah rests