28
The Truth About Angels
he worked in so deceptive a way that many of the angels were won to
his allegiance before his purposes were fully known.—
The Review
and Herald, January 28, 1909
.
Satan ... had been ambitious for the more exalted honors which
God had bestowed upon His Son. He became envious of Christ, and
represented to the angels who honored him as covering cherub that he
had not the honor conferred upon him which his position demanded.—
The Review and Herald, February 24, 1874
.
By sly insinuations, by which he made it appear that Christ had
assumed the place that belonged to himself, Lucifer sowed the seeds
[35]
of doubt in the minds of many of the angels.—
The Educational Mes-
senger, September 11, 1908, par.1
.
His [Lucifer’s] work of deception was done in so great secrecy that
the angels in less exalted positions supposed that he was the Ruler of
heaven.—
This Day With God, 256
.
Angels that were loyal and true sought to reconcile this mighty,
rebellious angel to the will of his Creator. They justified the act of God
in conferring honor upon Jesus Christ, and with forcible reasoning
sought to convince Satan that no less honor was his now than before
the Father had proclaimed the honor which He had conferred upon His
Son. They clearly set forth that Jesus was the Son of God, existing with
Him before the angels were created; and that He had ever stood at the
right hand of God, and His mild, loving authority had not heretofore
been questioned; and that He had given no commands but what it was
joy for the heavenly host to execute. They urged that Christ’s receiving
special honor from the Father, in the presence of the angels, did not
detract from the honor that he [Satan] had heretofore received.—
The
Spirit of Prophecy 1:19
.
He [Lucifer] gained the sympathy of some of his associates by
suggesting thoughts of criticism regarding the government of God.
This evil seed was scattered in a most seducing manner; and after
it had sprung up and taken root in the minds of many, he gathered
the ideas that he himself had first implanted in the minds of others,
and brought them before the highest order of angels as the thoughts
[36]
of other minds against the government of God.—
The S.D.A. Bible
Commentary 4:1143
.
Lucifer ... at first so conducted his temptations that he himself stood
uncommitted. The angels whom he could not bring fully to his side, he