First Great Deception
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His love, make void His law, and reject His mercy. While constantly
receiving His gifts, they dishonor the Giver; they hate God because
they know that He abhors their sins. The Lord bears long with their
perversity; but the decisive hour will come at last, when their destiny
is to be decided. Will He then chain these rebels to His side? Will He
force them to do His will?
Those who have chosen Satan as their leader and have been con-
trolled by his power are not prepared to enter the presence of God.
Pride, deception, licentiousness, cruelty, have become fixed in their
characters. Can they enter heaven to dwell forever with those whom
they despised and hated on earth? Truth will never be agreeable to
a liar; meekness will not satisfy self-esteem and pride; purity is not
acceptable to the corrupt; disinterested love does not appear attractive
to the selfish. What source of enjoyment could heaven offer to those
who are wholly absorbed in earthly and selfish interests?
Could those whose lives have been spent in rebellion against God
be suddenly transported to heaven and witness the high, the holy state
of perfection that ever exists there,—every soul filled with love, every
countenance beaming with joy, enrapturing music in melodious strains
rising in honor of God and the Lamb, and ceaseless streams of light
flowing upon the redeemed from the face of Him who sitteth upon
the throne,—could those whose hearts are filled with hatred of God,
of truth and holiness, mingle with the heavenly throng and join their
songs of praise? Could they endure the glory of God and the Lamb?
No, no; years of probation were granted them, that they might form
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characters for heaven; but they have never trained the mind to love
purity; they have never learned the language of heaven, and now it is
too late. A life of rebellion against God has unfitted them for heaven.
Its purity, holiness, and peace would be torture to them; the glory of
God would be a consuming fire. They would long to flee from that holy
place. They would welcome destruction, that they might be hidden
from the face of Him who died to redeem them. The destiny of the
wicked is fixed by their own choice. Their exclusion from heaven is
voluntary with themselves, and just and merciful on the part of God.
Like the waters of the Flood the fires of the great day declare God’s
verdict that the wicked are incurable. They have no disposition to
submit to divine authority. Their will has been exercised in revolt; and
when life is ended, it is too late to turn the current of their thoughts in