SATAN’S STRONGEST AGENCY

Now it has been the purpose of Satan all these centuries to put something else in the place of Christ, himself if possible,-at all events, to turn away the minds of men from the worship of God as manifested in Jesus Christ. By reading two prophecies, and putting them together, we shall see the force of this working of Satan, through an agency through which his work has been carried on more successfully and for a longer time than through any other agency in the history of the world.CAS 31.1

“How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! now art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north. I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the Most High.” Isaiah 14:12-14. This scripture evidently speaks of the fall of Satan and the reason for it; for Lucifer, “the light bearer,” by his own course of rebellion became Satan, “the adversary.” “Let no man deceive you by any means; for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshiped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.” 2 Thessalonians 2:3, 4. Every one knows that this prophecy refers to the papacy, and every one who puts those two scriptures together can see that they represent exactly the same spirit,-I will exalt myself above God.CAS 31.2

In the papacy we have, in organized form, the greatest manifestation of the working of Satan that this world has ever seen; and the whole principle of the papacy is self-exaltation, the very principle that characterized Satan at the beginning, the very principle which led to his downfall. And this organized power steps forth and claims just what this prophecy says that it should claim,-that it stands in the place of God. The pope, the head of this church, is called the vicar of Christ, or the vicegerent of Christ, that is, he is the one who rules in the place of Christ. Or, in other words, he has put himself in the place of Christ. He poses as the substitute of Christ. That is simply the same old scheme of the devil. He wanted Christ’s place, he wanted the honor and worship that belong to Christ; and this organized manifestation of the spirit and the working of Satan is the same thing over again. It is putting some one else in the place of Christ. And not only that, but the papacy claims to control the saving power of God, that is, his creative power.CAS 31.3