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29 - The Origin of Evil - The Great Controversy · Philosophy and Faith

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Speaker 1: Chapter twenty nine, The Origin of evil. To many minds,
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Speaker 1: the origin of sin and the reason for its existence
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Speaker 1: are a source of great perplexity. They see the work
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Speaker 1: of evil, with its terrible results of woe and desolation,
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Speaker 1: and they question how all this can exist under the
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Speaker 1: sovereignty of one who is infinite in wisdom, in power,
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Speaker 1: and in love. Here is a mystery of which they
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Speaker 1: find no explanation, and in their uncertainty and doubt they
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Speaker 1: are blinded to truths plainly revealed in God's word and
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Speaker 1: essential to salvation. There are those who, in their inquiries
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Speaker 1: concerning the existence of sin, endeavor to search into that
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Speaker 1: which God has never revealed. Hence they find no solution
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Speaker 1: of their difficulties, and such as are actuated by a
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Speaker 1: disposition to doubt. And Cavil sees upon this as an
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Speaker 1: excuse for rejecting the words of holy writ. Others, however,
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Speaker 1: fail of a satisfactory understanding of the great problem of evil.
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Speaker 1: From the fact that tradition and misinterpretation have obscured the
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Speaker 1: teaching of the Bible concerning the character of God, the
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Speaker 1: nature of his government, and the principles of his dealing
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Speaker 1: with sin, it is impossible to explain the origin of sin,
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Speaker 1: so as to give a reason for its existence. Yet
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Speaker 1: enough may be understood concerning both the origin and the
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Speaker 1: final disposition of sin, to make fully manifest the justice
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Speaker 1: and benevolence of God in all his dealings with evil.
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Speaker 1: Nothing is more plainly taught in scripture than that God
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Speaker 1: was in no wise responsible for the entrance of sin,
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Speaker 1: that there was no arbitrary withdrawal of divine grace, no
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Speaker 1: deficiency in the divine government that gave occasion for the
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Speaker 1: uprising of rebellion. Sin is an intruder for whose presence
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Speaker 1: no reason can be given. It is mysterious, unaccountable to
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Speaker 1: excuse it as to defend it. Could excuse for it
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Speaker 1: be found, or cause be shown for its existence, it
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Speaker 1: would cease to be sin. Our only definition of sin
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Speaker 1: is that given in the Word of God. It is
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Speaker 1: the transgression of the law. It is the outworking of
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Speaker 1: a principle at war with the great law of Love,
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Speaker 1: which is the foundation of the divine government. Before the
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Speaker 1: entrance of evil, there was peace and joy throughout the universe.
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Speaker 1: All was in perfect harmony with the Creator's will. Love
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Speaker 1: for God was supreme love for one another. Impartial Christ,
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Speaker 1: the Word, the only begotten of God, was one with
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Speaker 1: the eternal Father, one in nature, in character, and in purpose,
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Speaker 1: the only being in all the universe that could enter
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Speaker 1: into all the counsels and purposes of God. By Christ,
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Speaker 1: the Father wrought in the creation of all heavenly beings.
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Speaker 1: By him were all things created that are in heaven,
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Speaker 1: whether they be thrones or dominions, or principalities or powers.
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Speaker 1: And to Christ, equally with the Father, all Heaven gave allegiance,
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Speaker 1: the law of Love being the foundation of the government
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Speaker 1: of God. The happiness of all created beings depended upon
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Speaker 1: their perfect accord with its great principles of righteousness. God
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Speaker 1: desires from all his creatures the service of love, homage
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Speaker 1: that springs from an intelligent appreciation of his character. He
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Speaker 1: takes no pleasure in a forced allegiance, and to all
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Speaker 1: he grants freedom of will, that they may render him
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Speaker 1: voluntary service. But there was one that chose to pervert
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Speaker 1: this freedom. Sin originated with him, who, next to Christ,
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Speaker 1: had been most honored of God, and who stood highest
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Speaker 1: in power and glory among the inhabitants of heaven before
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Speaker 1: his fall. Lucifer was first of the covering cherips holy
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Speaker 1: and undefiled. Thus saith the Lord God, thou sealest up
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Speaker 1: the sun, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. Thou
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Speaker 1: hast been in Eden, the garden of God. Every precious
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Speaker 1: stone was thy covering. Thou art the anointed cherup that
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Speaker 1: coverth and I have set thee so thoust upon the
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Speaker 1: holy mountain of God. Thou hast walked up and down
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Speaker 1: in the midst of the stones of fire. Thou hast
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Speaker 1: perfect in thy ways from the day that thou hast
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Speaker 1: created till iniquity was found in me. Lucifer might have
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Speaker 1: remained in favor with God, beloved and honored by all
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Speaker 1: the angelic hoast, exercising his noble powers to bless others
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Speaker 1: and to glorify his maker. But says the prophet, thine
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Speaker 1: heart was lifted up because of thy beauty. Thou hast
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Speaker 1: corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness. Little by
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Speaker 1: little Lucifer came to indulge a desire for self exaltation.
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Speaker 1: Thou hast set thine heart as the heart of God.
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Speaker 1: Thou hast said, I will exalt my throne above the
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Speaker 1: stars of God. I will sit also upon the mount
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Speaker 1: of the congregation, I will ascend above the heights of
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Speaker 1: the clouds. I will be like the most High. Instead
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Speaker 1: of seeking to make God's supreme in the affections and
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Speaker 1: allegiance of his creatures, it was Lucifer's endeavor to win
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Speaker 1: their service and homage to himself. And coveting the honor
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Speaker 1: which the infinite Father had bestowed upon his son, this
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Speaker 1: prince of angels aspired to power which it was the
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Speaker 1: prerogative of Christ alone to wield. All heaven had rejoiced
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Speaker 1: to reflect the Creator's glory and to show forth his praise.
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Speaker 1: And while God was thus honored, all had been peace
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Speaker 1: and gladness. But a note of discord now marred the
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Speaker 1: celestial harmonies. The service and exultation of Self, contrary to
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Speaker 1: the Creator's plan, awakened forebodings of evil and minds, to
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Speaker 1: whom God's glory was supreme. The heavenly counsels pleaded with Lucifer,
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Speaker 1: the son of God, presented before him the greatness, the goodness,
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Speaker 1: and the justice of the Creator, and the sacred, unchanging
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Speaker 1: nature of his law. God himself had established the order
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Speaker 1: of heaven, and in departing from it, Lucifer would dishonor
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Speaker 1: his maker and bring ruin upon himself. But the warning
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Speaker 1: given in infinite love and mercy only aroused a spirit
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Speaker 1: of resistance. Lucifer allowed jealousy of Christ to prevail, and
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Speaker 1: he became the more determined pride in his own glory
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Speaker 1: nourished the desire for supremacy. The high honors conferred upon
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Speaker 1: Lucifer were not appreciated as a gift of God, and
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Speaker 1: called forth no gratitude to the Creator. He gloried in
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Speaker 1: his brightness and exultation, and aspired to be equal with God.
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Speaker 1: He was beloved and reverenced by the heavenly host angels,
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Speaker 1: delighted to execute his commands, and he was clothed with
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Speaker 1: wisdom and glory above them all. Yet the Son of
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Speaker 1: God was the acknowledged sovereign of Heaven, one in power
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Speaker 1: and authority with the Father. In all the counsels of God,
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Speaker 1: Christ was a participant, while Lucifer was not permitted thus
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Speaker 1: to enter into the divine purposes. Why question the mighty Angel,
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Speaker 1: should Christ have the supremacy? Why is he thus honored
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Speaker 1: about Lucifer leaving his place in the immediate presence of
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Speaker 1: God Lucifer went forth to diffuse the spirit of discontent
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Speaker 1: among the angels, working with mysterious secrecy and for a
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Speaker 1: time concealing his real purpose. Under an appearance of reverence
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Speaker 1: for God, he endeavored to excite dissatisfaction concerning the laws
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Speaker 1: that governed heavenly beings, intimating that they imposed an unnecessary
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Speaker 1: restraint since their natures were holy, He urged that the
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Speaker 1: angels should obey the dictates of their own will. He
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Speaker 1: sought to create sympathy for himself by representing that God
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Speaker 1: had dealt unjustly with him in bestowing supreme honor upon Christ.
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Speaker 1: He claimed that in aspiring to greater power and honor,
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Speaker 1: he was not aiming at self exaltation, but was seeking
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Speaker 1: to secure liberty for all the inhabitants of heaven, that
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Speaker 1: by this means they might attain to a higher state
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Speaker 1: of existence. God, in his great mercy, bore long with Lucifer.
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Speaker 1: He was not immediately degraded from his exalted station when
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Speaker 1: he first indulged the spirit of discontent, nor even when
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Speaker 1: he began to present his false claims before the loyal angels.
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Speaker 1: Long was he retained in heaven. Again and again he
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Speaker 1: was offered pardon on condition of repentance and submission. Such
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Speaker 1: efforts as only infinite love and wisdom could devise, were
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Speaker 1: made to convince him of his error. The spirit of
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Speaker 1: discontent had never before been known in heaven. Lucifer himself
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Speaker 1: did not at first see whether he was drifting. He
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Speaker 1: did not understand the real nature of his feelings. But
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Speaker 1: as his dissatisfaction was proved to be without cause, Lucifer
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Speaker 1: was convinced that he was in the wrong, that the
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Speaker 1: divine claims were just, and that he ought to acknowledge
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Speaker 1: them as such before all heaven. Had he done this,
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Speaker 1: he might have saved himself in many angels. He had
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Speaker 1: not at this time thought cast off his allegiance to God,
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Speaker 1: though he had forsaken his position as covering Cherub. Yet,
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Speaker 1: if he had been willing to return to God, acknowledging
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Speaker 1: the creator's wisdom and satisfied to fill the place appointed
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Speaker 1: him in God's great plan, he would have been reinstated
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Speaker 1: in his office. But pride forbade him to submit. He
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Speaker 1: persistently defended his own course, maintained that he had no
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Speaker 1: need of repentance, and fully committed himself in the Great
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Speaker 1: controversy against his maker. All the powers of his master
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Speaker 1: mind were now bent to the work of deception to
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Speaker 1: secure the sympathy of the angels that had been under
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Speaker 1: his command. Even the fact that Christ had warned and
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Speaker 1: counseled him was perverted to serve as traitorous designs to
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Speaker 1: those whose loving trust bound them most closely to him.
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Speaker 1: Satan had represented that he was wrongly judged, that his
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Speaker 1: position was not respected, and that his liberty was to
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Speaker 1: be abridged. From misrepresentation of the words of Christ. He
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Speaker 1: passed to prevarication and direct falsehood, accusing the son of
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Speaker 1: God of a design to humiliate him before the inhabitants
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Speaker 1: of heaven. He sought also to make a false issue
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Speaker 1: between himself and the loyal angels, all whom he could
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Speaker 1: not subvert and bring fully to his side. He accused
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Speaker 1: of indifference to the interests of heavenly beings. The very
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Speaker 1: work which he himself was doing. He charged upon those
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Speaker 1: who remained true to God, and to sustain his charge
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Speaker 1: of God's injustice toward him, he resorted to misrepresentation of
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Speaker 1: the words and acts of the Creator. It was his
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Speaker 1: policy to perplex the angels with subtle arguments concerning the
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Speaker 1: purposes of God. Everything that was simple he shrouded in mystery,
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Speaker 1: and by artful perversion, cast doubt upon the plainest statements
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Speaker 1: of Jehovah. His high position in such close connection with
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Speaker 1: the divine administration gave greater force to his representations, and
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Speaker 1: many were induced to unite with him in rebellion against
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Speaker 1: Heaven's authority. God and his wisdom permitted Satan to carry
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Speaker 1: forward his work until the spirit of disaffection ripened into
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Speaker 1: active revolt. It was necessary for his plans to be
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Speaker 1: fully developed that their true nature and tendency might be
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Speaker 1: seen by all lucifer As the anointed Cherub had been
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Speaker 1: highly exalted. He was greatly loved by the heavenly beings,
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Speaker 1: and his influence over them was strong. God's government included
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Speaker 1: not only the inhabitants of Heaven, but of all the
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Speaker 1: worlds that he had created, and Satan thought that if
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Speaker 1: he could carry the angels of Heaven with him in rebellion,
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Speaker 1: he could carry also the other worlds. He had artfully
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Speaker 1: presented his side of the question, employing sophistry and fraud
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Speaker 1: to secure his objects. His power to deceive was very great,
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Speaker 1: and by disguising himself in a cloak of falsehood, he
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Speaker 1: had gained an advantage. Even the loyal angels could not
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Speaker 1: fully discern his character or see to what his work
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Speaker 1: was leading. Satan had been so highly honored, and all
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Speaker 1: his acts were so clothed with mystery, that it was
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Speaker 1: difficult to disclose to the angels the true nature of
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Speaker 1: his work. Until fully developed, Sin would not appear the
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Speaker 1: evil thing it was Heretofore it had had no place
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Speaker 1: in the universe of God, and holy beings had no
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Speaker 1: conception of its nature and malignity. They could not discern
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Speaker 1: the terrible consequences it would result from setting aside the
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Speaker 1: divine law. Satan had at first concealed his work under
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Speaker 1: a specious profession of loyalty to God. He claimed to
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Speaker 1: be seeking to promote the honor of God, the stability
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Speaker 1: of his government, and the good of all the inhabitants
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Speaker 1: of heaven, while instilling discontent into the minds of the
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Speaker 1: angels under him. He had artfully made it a peer
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Speaker 1: that he was seeking to remove dissatisfaction. When he urged
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Speaker 1: that changes be made in the order and laws of
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Speaker 1: God's government, it was under the pretense that these were
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Speaker 1: necessary in order to presume of harmony in heaven. In
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Speaker 1: his dealing with sin, God could employ only righteousness and truth.
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Speaker 1: Satan could use what God could not, flattery and deceit.
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Speaker 1: He had sought to falsify the word of God and
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Speaker 1: had misrepresented his plan of government before the angels, claiming
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Speaker 1: that God was not just in laying laws and rules
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Speaker 1: upon the inhabitants of heaven, that in requiring submission and
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Speaker 1: obedience from his creatures, he was seeking merely the exaltation
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Speaker 1: of himself. Therefore, it must be demonstrated before the inhabitants
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Speaker 1: of Heaven, as well as of all the worlds, that
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Speaker 1: God's government was just his law perfect. Satan had made
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Speaker 1: it a peer that he himself was seeking to promote
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Speaker 1: the good of the universe. The true character of the
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Speaker 1: usurper and his real object must be understood by all.
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Speaker 1: He must have time to manifest himself by his wicked
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Speaker 1: works the discord which his own course had caused in heaven.
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Speaker 1: Satan charged upon the lawlaw, and government of God. All
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Speaker 1: evil he declared to be the result of the divine administration.
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Speaker 1: He claimed that it was his own object to improve
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Speaker 1: upon the statutes of Jehovah. Therefore, it was necessary that
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Speaker 1: he should demonstrate the nature of his claims and show
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Speaker 1: the working out of his proposed changes in the divine law.
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Speaker 1: His own work must condemn him. Satan had claimed from
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Speaker 1: the first that he was not in rebellion. The whole
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Speaker 1: universe must see the deceiver unmasked. Even when it was
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Speaker 1: decided that he could no longer remain in heaven, infinite
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Speaker 1: wisdom did not destroy Satan. Since the service of love
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Speaker 1: can alone be acceptable to God, the allegiance of his
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Speaker 1: creatures must rest upon a conviction of His justice and benevolence.
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Speaker 1: The inhabitants of heaven and of other worlds, being unprepared
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Speaker 1: to comprehend the nature or consequences of sin, could not
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Speaker 1: then have seen the justice and mercy of God in
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Speaker 1: the destruction of Satan. Had he been immediately blotted from existence,
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Speaker 1: they would have served God from fear rather than from love.
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Speaker 1: The influence of the deceiver would not have been fully destroyed,
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Speaker 1: nor would the spirit of rebellion have been utterly eradicated.
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Speaker 1: Evil must be permitted to come to maturity for the
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Speaker 1: good of the entire universe through ceaseless ages, Satan must
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Speaker 1: more fully develop his principles, that his charges against the
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Speaker 1: divine government might be seen in their true light by
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Speaker 1: all created beings, that the justice and mercy of God
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Speaker 1: and the immutability of his law might forever be placed
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Speaker 1: beyond all question. Satan's rebellion was to be a lesson
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Speaker 1: to the universe through all coming ages, a perpetual testimony
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Speaker 1: to the nature and terrible results of sin. The working
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Speaker 1: out of Satan's rule, its effects upon both men and
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Speaker 1: angels would show what must be the fruit of setting
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Speaker 1: aside the divine authority. It would testify that with the
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Speaker 1: existence of God's government in his law is bound up
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Speaker 1: the well being of all the creatures he has made. Thus,
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Speaker 1: the history of this terrible experiment of rebellion was to
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Speaker 1: be a perpetual safeguard to all holy intelligences, to prevent
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Speaker 1: them from being deceived as to the nature of transgression,
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Speaker 1: to save them from committing sin and suffering its punishment.
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Speaker 1: To the very close of the controversy in Heaven, the
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Speaker 1: great Usurper continued to justify himself when it was announced that,
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Speaker 1: with all his sympathizers, he must be expelled from the
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Speaker 1: abodes of bliss. Then, the rebel leader boldly avowed his
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Speaker 1: contempt for the Creator's law. He reiterated his claim that
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Speaker 1: angels needed no control, but should be left to follow
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Speaker 1: their own will, which would ever guide them right. He
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Speaker 1: denounced the divine statutes as a restriction of their liberty,
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Speaker 1: and declared that it was his purpose to secure the
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Speaker 1: abolition of law, that, freed from this restraint, the hosts
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Speaker 1: of heaven might enter upon a more exalted, more glorious
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Speaker 1: state of existence. With one accord, Satan and his host
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Speaker 1: threw the blame of their rebellion wholly of upon Christ,
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Speaker 1: declaring that if they had not been reproved, they would
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Speaker 1: never have rebelled. Thus, stubborn and defiant in their disloyalty,
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Speaker 1: seeking vainly to overthrow the government of God, yet blasphemously
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Speaker 1: claiming to be themselves the innocent victims of oppressive power,
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Speaker 1: the ark Reuble and all his sympathizers were at last
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Speaker 1: banished from heaven. The same spirit that prompted rebellion in
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Speaker 1: heaven still inspires rebellion on earth. Satan has continued with
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Speaker 1: men the same policy which he pursued with the angels.
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Speaker 1: His spirit now reigns in the children of disobedience. Like him,
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Speaker 1: they seek to break down the restraints of the law
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Speaker 1: of God and promise men liberty through transgression of its precepts.
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Speaker 1: Reproof of sin still arouses the spirit of hatred and resistance.
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Speaker 1: When God's messages of warning are brought home to the conscience.
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Speaker 1: Satan leads men to justify themselves and to seek the
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Speaker 1: sympathy of others in their course of sin. Instead of
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Speaker 1: correcting their errors, they excite indignation against the reprover, as
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Speaker 1: if he were the sole cause of difficulty from the
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Speaker 1: days of righteous able to our own time, such as
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Speaker 1: the spirit which has been displayed toward those who dare
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Speaker 1: to condemn sin by the same misrepresentation of the character
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Speaker 1: of God as he had practiced in heaven, causing him
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Speaker 1: to be regarded as severe and tyrannical. Satan induced man
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Speaker 1: to sin, and having succeeded thus far, he declared that
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Speaker 1: God's unjust restrictions had led to man's fall, as they
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Speaker 1: had led to his own rebellion. But the Eternal One
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Speaker 1: himself proclaims his character the Lord God, merciful and gracious,
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Speaker 1: long suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy
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Speaker 1: for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that
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Speaker 1: will by no means clear the guilty. In the banishment
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Speaker 1: of Satan from heaven, God declared his justice and maintained
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Speaker 1: the honour of his throne. But when man had sinned,
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Speaker 1: and through yielding to the deceptions of this apostate spirit,
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Speaker 1: God gave an evidence of his love by yielding up
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Speaker 1: his only begotten son to die for the fallen race.
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Speaker 1: In the Atonement, the character of God is revealed. The
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Speaker 1: mighty argument of the Cross demonstrates to the whole universe
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Speaker 1: that the course of sin which Lucifer had chosen was
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Speaker 1: in no wise chargeable upon the government of God. In
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Speaker 1: the contest between Christ and Satan during the Saviour's earthly ministry,
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Speaker 1: the character of the great deceiver was unmasked. Nothing could
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Speaker 1: so effectually have uprooted Satan from the affections of the
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Speaker 1: heavenly angels and the whole loyal universe as did his
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Speaker 1: cruel warfare upon the world's redeemer, the daring blasphemy of
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Speaker 1: his demand that Christ should pay him homage, his presumptuous
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Speaker 1: boldness in bearing him to the mountain, summit, and the
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Speaker 1: pinnacle of the temple. The malicious intent betrayed in urging
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Speaker 1: him to cast himself down from the dizzy height, the
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Speaker 1: unsleeping malice that hunted him from place to place, inspiring
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Speaker 1: the hearts of priests and people to reject his love,
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Speaker 1: and at the last to cry crucify him, crucify him.
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Speaker 1: All this excited the amazement and indignation of the universe.
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Speaker 1: It was Satan that prompted the world's rejection of Christ.
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Speaker 1: The prince of evil exerted all his power and cunning
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Speaker 1: to destroy Jesus, for he saw that the Saviour's mercy
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Speaker 1: and love, his compassion and pitying tenderness, were representing to
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Speaker 1: the world the character of God. Satan contested every claim
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Speaker 1: put forth by the Son of God, and employed men
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Speaker 1: as his agents to fill the Saviour's life with suffering
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Speaker 1: and sorrow. The sophistry and falsehood by which he had
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Speaker 1: sought to hinder the work of Jesus. The hatred manifested
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Speaker 1: through the children of disobedience, his cruel accusations against him,
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Speaker 1: whose life was one of unexampled goodness, All sprung from
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Speaker 1: deep seated revenge. The pent up fires of envy and malice,
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Speaker 1: hatred and revenge burst forth on Cavy against the son
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Speaker 1: of God, while all heaven gazed upon the scene in
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Speaker 1: silent horror. When the great sacrifice had been consummated, Christ
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Speaker 1: ascended on high, refusing the adoration of angels until he
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Speaker 1: had presented the request, I will that they also whom
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Speaker 1: thou hast given me be with me where I am. Then,
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Speaker 1: with inexpressible love and power, came forth the answer from
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Speaker 1: the Father's throne. Let all the angels of God worship him.
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Speaker 1: Not a stain rested upon Jesus. His humiliation ended, his
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Speaker 1: sacrifice completed, there was given unto him a name that
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Speaker 1: is above every name. Now the guilt of Satan stood
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Speaker 1: forth without excuse. He had revealed his true character as
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Speaker 1: a liar and a murderer. It was seen that the
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Speaker 1: very same spirit with which he ruled the children of
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Speaker 1: men who were under his power, he would have manifested
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Speaker 1: had he been permitted to control the inhabitants of heaven.
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Speaker 1: He had claimed that the transgression of God's law would
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Speaker 1: bring thee liberty and exaltation, but it was seen to
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Speaker 1: result in bondage and degradation. Satan's lying charges against the
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Speaker 1: divine character and government appeared in their true light. He
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Speaker 1: had accused God of seeking merely the exaltation of himself
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Speaker 1: in requiring submission and obedience from his creatures, and had
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Speaker 1: declared that while the Creator exacted self denial from all others,
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Speaker 1: he himself practiced no self denial and made no sacrifice.
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Speaker 1: Now it was seen that for the salvation of a
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Speaker 1: fallen and sinful race, the ruler of the universe, had
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Speaker 1: made the greatest sacrifice which love could make, for God
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Speaker 1: was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself. It was
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Speaker 1: seen also that while Lucifer had opened the door for
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Speaker 1: the entrance of sin by his desire for honor and supremacy,
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Speaker 1: Christ had, in order to destroy sin, humbled himself and
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Speaker 1: become obedient unto death. God had manifested his abhorrence of
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Speaker 1: the principles of rebellion. All heaven saw his justice revealed
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Speaker 1: both in the condemnation of Satan and in the redemption
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Speaker 1: of man. Lucifer had declared that if the law of
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Speaker 1: God was changeless and its penalty could not be remitted,
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Speaker 1: every transgressor must be forever debarred. From the Creator's favor.
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Speaker 1: He had claimed that the sinful race were placed beyond
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Speaker 1: redemption and were therefore his rightful pray. But the death
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Speaker 1: of Christ was an argument in man's behalf that could
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Speaker 1: not be overthrown. The penalty of the law fell upon
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Speaker 1: him who was equal with God, and man was free
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Speaker 1: to accept the righteousness of Christ, and by a life
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Speaker 1: of penitence and humiliation, to triumph as the son of
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Speaker 1: God had triumphed over the power of Satan. Thus God
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Speaker 1: is just and yet the justifier of all who believe
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Speaker 1: in Jesus. But it was not merely to accomplish the
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Speaker 1: redemption of man that Christ came to the earth to
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Speaker 1: suffer and to die. He came to magnify the law
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Speaker 1: and to make it honorable. Not alone that the inhabitants
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Speaker 1: of this world might regard the law as it should
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Speaker 1: be regarded, but it was to demonstrate to all the
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Speaker 1: worlds of the universe that God's Law is unchangeable. Could
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Speaker 1: its claims have been set aside, then the son of
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Speaker 1: God need not have yielded up his life to atone
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Speaker 1: for its transgression. The death of Christ proves it immutable,
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Speaker 1: and the sacrifice to which infinite love impelled the Father
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Speaker 1: and the Son that sinners might be redeemed. Demonstrates to
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Speaker 1: all the universe what nothing less than this plan of
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Speaker 1: atonement could have sufficed to do. That justice and mercy
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Speaker 1: are the foundation of the law and government of God.
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Speaker 1: In the final execution of the judgment, it will be
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Speaker 1: seen that no cause for sin exists. When the judge
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Speaker 1: of all the earth shall demand of Satan, why hast
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Speaker 1: thou rebelled against me and robbed me of the subjects
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Speaker 1: of my kingdom, The originator of evil can render no excuse.
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Speaker 1: Every mouth will be stopped, and all the hosts of
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Speaker 1: rebellion will be speechless. The Cross of Calvary, while it
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Speaker 1: declares the law immutable, proclaims to the universe that the
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Speaker 1: wages of sin is death. In the Saviour's expiring cry,
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Speaker 1: it is finished. The death knell of Satan was wrung.
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Speaker 1: The great controversy, which had been so long in progress,
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Speaker 1: was then decided, and the final eradication of evil was
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Speaker 1: made certain. The Son of God passed through the portals
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Speaker 1: of the tomb, that through death he might destroy him
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Speaker 1: that had the power of death, that is the devil
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Speaker 1: Lucifer's desire for self exaltation had led him to say,
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Speaker 1: I will exalt my throne above the stars of God.
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Speaker 1: I will be like the most high God declares, I
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Speaker 1: will bring thee to ashes upon the earth, And never
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Speaker 1: shalt thou be any more. When the day cometh that
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Speaker 1: shall burn is an oven. All the proud yea and
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Speaker 1: all that do wickedly shall be stubble, And the day
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Speaker 1: that cometh shall burn them up. Saith the Lord of Hosts,
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Speaker 1: that it shall leave them neither root nor branch. The
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Speaker 1: whole universe will have become witnesses to the nature and
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Speaker 1: results of sin and its utter extermination, which in the
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Speaker 1: beginning would have brought fear to angels and dishonor to God,
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Speaker 1: will now vindicate his love and establish his honor before
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Speaker 1: the universe of beings who delight to do his will
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Speaker 1: and in whose heart is his law. Never will evil
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Speaker 1: again be manifest, says the Word of God. Affliction shall
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Speaker 1: not rise up the second time. The law of God,
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Speaker 1: which Satan has reproached as the yoke of bondage, will
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Speaker 1: be honored as the law of liberty. A tested and
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Speaker 1: proved creation will never again be turned from allegiance to
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Speaker 1: him whose character has been fully manifested before them as
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Speaker 1: fathomless love and infinite wisdom. End of Chapter twenty nine,