he should demonstrate the nature of his claims , and show the working out of his proposed changes in the divine law . His own work must condemn him . Satan had claimed from the first that he was not in rebellion . The whole universe must see the deceiver unmasked . Even when it was decided that he could no longer remain in heaven , Infinite Wisdom did not destroy Satan . Since the service of love can alone be acceptable to God , the allegiance of His creatures must rest upon a conviction of His justice and benevolence . The inhabitants of heaven and of other worlds , being unprepared to comprehend the nature or consequences of sin , could not then have seen the justice and mercy of God in the destruction of Satan . Had he been immediately blotted from existence , they would have served God from fear rather than from love . The influence of the deceiver would not have been fully destroyed , nor would the spirit of rebellion have been utterly eradicated . Evil must be permitted to come to maturity . For the good of the entire universe through ceaseless ages Satan must more fully develop his principles , that his charges against the divine government might be seen in their true light by all created beings , that the justice and mercy of God and the immutability of His law might forever be placed beyond all question .
Satan ' s rebellion was to be a lesson to the universe through all coming ages , a perpetual testimony to the nature and terrible results of sin . The working out of Satan ' s rule , its effects upon both men and angels , would show what must be the fruit of setting aside the divine authority . It would testify that with the existence of God ' s government and His law is bound up the well-being of all the creatures He has made . Thus the history of this terrible experiment of rebellion was to be perpetual safeguard to all holy intelligences , to prevent them from being deceived as to the nature of transgression , to save them from committing sin and suffering its punishments .
To the very close of the controversy in heaven the great usurper continued to justify himself . When it was announced that with all his sympathizers he must be expelled from the abodes of bliss , then the rebel leader boldly avowed his contempt for the Creator ' s law . He reiterated his claim that angels needed no control , but should be left to follow their own will , which would ever guide them right . He denounced the divine statutes as a restriction of their liberty and declared that it was his purpose to secure the abolition of law ; that , freed from this restraint , the hosts of heaven might enter upon a more exalted , more glorious state of existence .
With one accord , Satan and his host threw the blame of their rebellion wholly upon Christ , declaring that if they had not been reproved , they would never have rebelled . Thus stubborn and defiant in their disloyalty , seeking vainly to overthrow the government of God , yet blasphemously claiming to be themselves the innocent victims of oppressive power , the archrebel and all his sympathizers were at last banished from heaven . The same spirit that prompted rebellion in heaven still inspires rebellion on earth . Satan has continued with men the same policy which he pursued with the angels . His spirit now reigns in the children of disobedience . Like him they seek to break down the restraints of the law of God and promise men liberty through transgression of its precepts .
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