Reproof of sin still arouses the spirit of hatred and resistance . When God ' s messages of warning are brought home to the conscience , Satan leads men to justify themselves and to seek the sympathy of others in their course of sin . Instead of correcting their errors , they excite indignation against the reprover , as if he were the sole cause of difficulty . From the days of righteous Abel to our own time such is the spirit which has been displayed toward those who dare to condemn sin .
By the same misrepresentation of the character of God as he had practiced in heaven , causing Him to be regarded as severe and tyrannical , Satan induced man to sin . And having succeeded thus far , he declared that God ' s unjust restrictions had led to man ' s fall , as they had led to his own rebellion . But the Eternal One Himself proclaims His character : " The Lord God , merciful and gracious , longsuffering , and abundant in goodness and truth , keeping mercy for thousands , forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin , and that will by no means clear the guilty ." Exodus 34:6 , 7 . In the banishment of Satan from heaven , God declared His justice and maintained the honour of His throne . But when man had sinned through yielding to the deceptions of this apostate spirit , God gave an evidence of His love by yielding up His only-begotten Son to die for the fallen race .
In the atonement the character of God is revealed . The mighty argument of the cross demonstrates to the whole universe that the course of sin which Lucifer had chosen was in no wise chargeable upon the government of God . In the contest between Christ and Satan , during the Saviour ' s earthly ministry , the character of the great deceiver was unmasked . Nothing could so effectually have uprooted Satan from the affections of the heavenly angels and the whole loyal universe as did his cruel warfare upon the world ' s Redeemer . The daring blasphemy of his demand that Christ should pay him homage , his presumptuous boldness in bearing Him to the mountain summit and the pinnacle of the temple , the malicious intent betrayed in urging Him to cast Himself down from the dizzy height , the unsleeping malice that hunted Him from place to place , inspiring the hearts of priests and people to reject His love , and at the last to cry , " Crucify Him ! crucify Him ! - -all this excited the amazement and indignation of the universe .
It was Satan that prompted the world ' s rejection of Christ . The prince of evil exerted all his power and cunning to destroy Jesus ; for he saw that the Saviour ' s mercy and love , His compassion and pitying tenderness , were representing to the world the character of God . Satan contested every claim put forth by the Son of God and employed men as his agents to fill the Saviour ' s life with suffering and sorrow . The sophistry and falsehood by which he had sought to hinder the work of Jesus , the hatred manifested through the children of disobedience , his cruel accusations against Him whose life was one of unexampled goodness , all sprang from deep-seated revenge . The pent-up fires of envy and malice , hatred and revenge , burst forth on Calvary against the Son of God , while all heaven gazed upon the scene in silent horror . When the great sacrifice had been consummated , Christ ascended on high , refusing the adoration of angels until He had presented the request : " I will that they also , whom Thou hast given Me , be with Me where I am ." John 17:24 . Then with
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