The Gospel Herald - Promoting the fundamentals of the 1888 message.
Hatred

Lucifer was once an honored angel, a cherub. He was perfect in beauty, full of wisdom, and was admitted to the holy mountain of God, where he walked in the midst of the stones of fire. He was in Eden, the garden of God, of which the one on earth was evidently a copy. His ways were perfect, and God gave him the work of "covering," and also anointed him.

But Lucifer was not satisfied.

He was envious of God, he became lifted up because of his beauty; he corrupted his wisdom because of his brightness, and decided upon a course which he hoped would make him equal to God. He went so far that he said, "I am a God, I sit in the seat of God."

Christ stated that Satan was a murderer from the beginning and also a liar and the father of lies. (John 8:44.) This places these two sins as primary sins. Murder has its beginning in the heart, in hatred and anger. (Matthew 5:21-23.) It is the heart, therefore, that needs to be guarded, lest evil and wicked thoughts, anger and hatred, creep in.

It is informative to be told by Christ that Satan was a murderer from the beginning. We doubt that the angels understood this when Lucifer first made his advances to them and tried to persuade them to join him in rebellion. From Christ's statement it appears that Satan had thought the matter through and was willing to go to any length that promised success, even murder. That such thoughts really possessed him, Satan showed at Calvary. There he hanged the Son of God on the tree, after cruelly scourging Him. This demonstrates how far sin will carry an individual after he begins to yield. The end is not always predictable from the beginning.

Satan "abode not in the truth." God is truth, and Lucifer was with God. But he did not abide in the truth. He was not honest. He said and did that which was not true. He was deceitful. On this ground God could not meet him, for God cannot lie. Satan could use weapons which God could not.

Thus it has always been and always will be, till sin shall be no more. It is marvelous how untruth can be made to appear as truth by those who are expert in falsification. How often we have heard stories told that sounded plausible, whereas we knew that there was hardly a word of truth in them. And apparently some can tell a story often enough to believe it themselves, and to appear hurt when others do not. (2 Thessalonians 2: 11.) This illustrates the deceitfulness of lying, and constitutes a mighty argument for truth.

It is well not only to tell and to live the truth but to abide in it. It is of little use to have a profession of religion if those who know us best are not convinced of our honesty of intention. Abiding in the truth is not merely telling the truth. It is living in an atmosphere of honesty that will not permit of any pretense, hypocrisy, or extravagance. God wants His people to be honest. Nothing else will do.

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