The Marion daily mirror. (Marion, Ohio) 1892-1912, 1911-01-30

| Dibt Ntiio hN 'NNlitNAihk oulhn y hN
Election. aud The book of Revelation
written more than three thousand
years later. tells us of his binding fol
a thousand years. of Messlah's reign
and Satan's ultimate destruction. lsa.
iah and Ezekiel tell us of his at one
time being 10 full harmony with God,
and that then he was the covering
cherub." glorious. grand. beautiful,
and that his name was Lucifer, which
signifies the Morning Star.
All of the angelic heavenly hosts
are termed stars. bright ones: but Lu
cifer, being of higher order, was
styled the Morning Star, the Brightest
Star. 1t was at that time. while in
Divine favor. that Satan permitted the
lodgment in his mind of disloyal
thought respecting his Creator. He
thought Of how. indirectly, by being
In higher responsibility, he could work
some wonders and do some things bet.
ter than the Almighty. He craved the
| opportunity to make a demonstration
of what he could do. But the Scrip.
lures declared that first of all he said
this merely In his heart and uttered 1t
not He said In his heart, | will us
cend into heaven; | will exalt my
throne above the stars of God Istil
farther above his angelic associates.
] will he ms the Most High"-a ruler.
The Opportune limo Came.
Never had there been sin in heaven
Satan was the first of all Its nhab.
tants to cherish. to entertain n rebel
llous thought and TO bring It to a con.
summation. He held the thought In
abeyance until the opportunity afford
cd. and God himself afforded the op
portnnlty. with full knowledge of the
consequences. and with the desire that
this test OF the entire heavenly host
and of human race as WELL should
be effected because God seeketh not
the worship of constralnt. but seek
eth such for worshlpcrs as worship
him in spirit and In truth" vountar
lily, Ioyfully.
II was when Satan behcld our first
parents. in the image and likeness Of
God. yet not spirit but flesh. earthly.
that he perceived the opportunity OF
gaining the coveted power for an EN-
pirc. separate from that Of jehovah
In the first pair the Adversary beheld
new thing. creature of Godlike
qualities and possessed of the power
a. 80 q, GaNo
realized dat the Conquest of this pair
and the bringing of them into subicc-
ton to himself would signify the cap.
turc of world full of people eventual
ly-that the enslavement of the par
cnts would signify the enslavement
eventually of the race.
Satan's Methods Wero Successful.
We cannot deny that Satan's plans
were logical ana that he has carried
them out with great success-so that
the Scriptures declare him "the Prince
Of this world Gohn xiv, 30J; and again.
the God of this world" QI Corinthians
iv, ~. Nevertheless, his victory was
not so great n one as he doubtless eX..
pected IL to be. No doubt he expected
that he was capturing an immortal
race. Quite probably he believed the
falsehood hc told mother Eve, when
he contradicted the Word of God-that
sin, that disobedlence In eating the
forbidden fruit, would bring upon them
the penalty of death. dying thou shalt
die"
Sntan's charge was that God had
misrepresented the facts for the pur.
pose of holding his creatures In mental
slavery to himself: that he did not
wish them TO be wise. therefore he for.
bade the eating of this particular kind
of fruit and declared the penalty of
death for the transgression of his law
IL. Satan. assure you that you need
not be afraid OF the fruit; assure you
that II will do you good, and that you
Will not surely die from the eating
Of It," Alas! Mother Eve believed the
Adversary and dlsbelleved her God,
and then entlced her husband, still
thinking. no doubt, that she would not
die and that the serpent had told her
the truth and that God had been the
deceiver. st. Paul tells us that father
Adam knew better and ate the fruit.
knowing that 1t would cause his death,
willing thus to disobey in order 70
maintain the fellowship OF his wife.
whose life, he realized. was already
forfeited.
When the Divine sentence began to
90 into eVecutlon; when our first par
ents were driven out of Eden to bat
tie with the thorns and thistles until
they should return TO the dust no
doubt Satan was disappointed. He
had rather he the Prince of n noble
living family OF angels or Of humans
than the Emperor of weak and dying
race. However, from that day to the
present time he has been fighting upon
the same line; he has been contending
with mankind that the Word OF God
Is false when 1t declares that "the
wages of sin Is DEATH" and that "the
soul that slnneth 1t shall die" From
that day to this he has been using this
falsehood TO the injury of our race, and
surely he has succeeded wonderfully
Today. not only In heather lands,
but amongst the most civilized A IL