May 29, 1899

“Satan’s Ambition” The Bible Echo 14, 22.

E. J. Waggoner

“I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation in the sides of the north.” Literally, “in the uttermost north.” Everybody knows that the farther north he goes, the higher the north star appears. From this each can learn that if he stood at the north pole, north would be directly overhead. North, therefore, is up. God is “the Most High,” and therefore He dwells “in the uttermost north.” His dwelling-place is “the high and holy place.” Isaiah 57:15. “Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised in the city of our God, in the mountain of His holiness. Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth, is mount Zion, on the sides of the north [literally, “the uttermost north”], the city of the great King. God is known in her palaces for a refuge.” Psalm 48:1-3. BEST May 29, 1899, par. 1

“Promotion cometh neither form the east, nor from the west, nor from the south. But God is the Judge; He putteth down one, and setteth up another.” Psalm 75:6, 7. Promotion comes not from the east, the west, nor the south; therefore it must come from the north; and since God alone is Judge, to lift up and to put down, it follows that He dwells in the north. There alone is where promotion comes from. Therefore when Lucifer thought to occupy the north, he meditated an impossibility, for he could not get there without being drawn up by the Lord of hosts.BEST May 29, 1899, par. 2

There is a mystery about the north. This is true even of this earth. The Hebrew word rendered “north” signifies secret, hidden. What is this attraction—this drawing power? It is God. Every manifestation of force is but the working of God. Christ said of His crucifixion, “I, if I be lifted up, will draw all men unto Me.” John 12:32. By the cross of shame and humiliation He was lifted up to the right hand of God,—up to “the uttermost north.” The power therefore by which God draws all things, by which the worlds are kept in their places, is the power of the cross. All creation, the whole universe, preaches the cross. Every manifestation of attractive energy tells us of the power of the cross to save us from sin. The way to the Highest is the way of the cross. If we humble ourselves to the death of the cross, we may even now dwell in the “secret place of the Most High,” and “abide under the shadow of the Almighty.” For “the secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him.”BEST May 29, 1899, par. 3

“How art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!” Righteousness is strength; sin is weakness. Satan, the adversary, once Lucifer, the light-bearer, brought sin into the world, and all sinned. By sin man lost his dominion. It was not arbitrarily taken from him, but he could not hold it any longer. He lost his power to rule. He could not rule himself, and so could rule nothing. Then “when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.” Romans 5:6. Satan weakens us, but it is our glorious privilege to “be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might.” Ephesians 6:10. Christ, the meek and lowly One, is given to us, and He is “the power of God.” He has conquered, and in Him we have “power and authority over all devils.” Luke 9:1. One of the most blessed of all the words of comfort is the assurance that by faith we may be “made strong” “out of weakness.” Hebrews 11:34.BEST May 29, 1899, par. 4

E. J. WAGGONER.