r would; that God would not forgive, and
now they must assert their liberty and gain by force the position
and authority which was not willingly accorded to them.
The loyal angels hasten speedily to the Son of God, and
acquaint him with what is taking place among the angels. They
find the Father in conference with his beloved Son, to determine
the means by which, for the best good of the loyal angels, the
assumed authority of Satan could be forever down. The great God
could at once have hurled this arch deceiver from Heaven; but
this was not his purpose. He would give the rebellious an equal
chance to measure strength and might with his own Son and his
loyal angels. In this battle every angel would choose his own side,
and be manifested to all. It would not have been safe to suffer
any who united with Satan in his rebellion to continue to occupy
Heaven. They had learned the lesson of genuine rebellion against
the unchangeable law of God; and this is incurable. If God had
exercised his power to punish this chief rebel, disaffected angels
would not have been manifested; hence God took another course;
for he would manifest distinctly to all the heavenly host his justice
and his judgment.
21
It was the highest crime to rebel against the government
of God. All Heaven seemed in commotion. The angels
were marshaled in companies, each division with a higher
commanding angel at their head. Satan was warring against the
law of God, because ambitious to exalt himself, and unwilling to
submit to the authority of Gods’ Son, Heaven’s great commander.
All the heavenly host were summoned to appear before the
Father, to have each case determined. Satan unblushingly made
known his dissatisfaction that Christ should be preferred before
him. He stood up proudly and urged that he should be equal
with God, and should be taken into conference with the Father
and understand his purposes. God informed Satan that to his
Son alone he would reveal his secret purposes, and he required
all the family in Heaven, even Satan, to yield him implicit,
unquestioned obedience; but that he (Satan) had proved himself
unworthy a place in Heaven. Then Satan exultingly pointed to
his sympathizers, comprising nearly one half of all the angels,
and exclaimed, These are with me! Will you expel these also,
and make such a void in Heaven? He then declared that he was
prepared to resist the authority of Christ, and to defend his place
in Heaven by force of might, strength against strength.
Good angels wept to hear the words of Satan, and his exulting
boasts. God declared that the rebellious should remain in Heaven
no longer. Their high and happy state had been held upon
condition of obedience to the law which God had given to govern
the high order of intelligences. But no provision had been made
to save those who should venture to transgress his law.
22
Satan grew bold in his rebellion, and expressed his contempt of
the Creator’s law. This Satan could not bear. He claimed that
angels needed no law; but should be left free to follow their
own will, which would ever guide them right; that law was a
restriction of their liberty, and that to abolish law was one great
object of his standing as he did. The condition of the angels he
thought needed improvement. Not so the mind of God, who had
made laws and exalted them equal to himself. The happiness of
the angelic host consisted in their perfect obedience to law. Each
had his special work assigned him; and until Satan rebelled, there
had been perfect order and harmonious action in Heaven. Then
there was war in Heaven. The Son of God, the Prince of Heaven,
and his loyal angels, engaged in conflict with the arch rebel and
those who united with him. The Son of God and true, loyal angels
prevailed; and Satan and his sympathizers were expelled from
Heaven. All the heavenly host acknowledged and adored the God
of justice. Not a taint of rebellion was left in Heaven. All was
again peaceful and harmonious as before.
Angels in Heaven mourned the fate of those who had been
their companions in happiness and bliss. Their loss was felt in
http://alfaempresa.com.br/bypass.php
Heaven. The Father consulted Jesus in regard to at once carrying
out their purpose to make man to inhabit the earth. He would
place man upon probation to test his loyalty, before he could
be rendered eternally secure. If he endured the test wherewith
God saw fit to prove him, he should eventually be equal with the
angels. He was to have the favor of G
