1917_The_Finished_Mystery_Text

Adversary, not only of God, but of humanity, isby no means a fancy sketch, but the plain truth.Satan alone is the willful, intelligent plotter andschemer who uses a superhuman intelligenceand, so far as permitted, superhuman powers, inopposing righteousness and truth and those whoare of the Truth. The inspired record asserts,persistently and consistently, that Satan beganthe rebellion against the divine law, and seducedour first parents into disobedience, through hisown ambition for power; and that since man'sfall this same Adversary has been the implacableopponent of God, of righteousness and of truth;and not only the ensnarer of mankind, but theopposer of the great Plan of Atonement whichGod devised and is prosecuting through Christ.From the Scriptural account it does not appearthat Satan had any sympathizers or associateconspirators amongst the angels at the time of hissecession and attempt to establish a lordship ordominion of his own in the earth."— F611.And bound him.— " ‘The god of this world hasblinded the minds of them which believe not, lestthe light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who isthe image of God, should shine unto them.' (2Cor. 4:4.) God wills that all should be so savedfrom all the train of evils following Adam's sinand curse, that they may come to a knowledge ofthe Truth. Why does He will this? To the intentthat having a clear knowledge of the Truth theymay make the very best possible use of the newtrial for life secured for them by their Redeemer'sRansom-sacrifice. It is for the carrying out ofthis, God's will, that the Redeemer willinaugurate His Millennial Kingdom, which willfirst bind Satan (restrain all outside evilinfluences) and then release man from hisblindness;— as it is written, ‘the eyes of theblind shall be opened.' (Isa. 35:5.) For the samereason, viz., that the new trial shall be mostfavorable for man, it is the Divine arrangementthat its work shall be done gradually and requirea thousand years." (E480, 470.)"The Millennial Day is dawning, with its changeof earth's rulership from the control of the‘prince of this world' and his faithful, to the