The Truth About Angels
Lucifer Begins His Campaign Against Christ
Satan ... began his work of rebellion with the angels under his command, seeking to diffuse among them the spirit of discontent. And he worked in so deceptive a way that many of the angels were won to his allegiance before his purposes were fully known.—The Review and Herald, January 28, 1909. TA 34.2
Satan ... had been ambitious for the more exalted honors which God had bestowed upon His Son. He became envious of Christ, and represented to the angels who honored him as covering cherub that he had not the honor conferred upon him which his position demanded.—The Review and Herald, February 24, 1874. TA 34.3
By sly insinuations, by which he made it appear that Christ had assumed the place that belonged to himself, Lucifer sowed the seeds of doubt in the minds of many of the angels.—The Educational Messenger, September 11, 1908, par.1. TA 34.4
His [Lucifer's] work of deception was done in so great secrecy that the angels in less exalted positions supposed that he was the Ruler of heaven.—This Day With God, 256. TA 35.1
Angels that were loyal and true sought to reconcile this mighty, rebellious angel to the will of his Creator. They justified the act of God in conferring honor upon Jesus Christ, and with forcible reasoning sought to convince Satan that no less honor was his now than before the Father had proclaimed the honor which He had conferred upon His Son. They clearly set forth that Jesus was the Son of God, existing with Him before the angels were created; and that He had ever stood at the right hand of God, and His mild, loving authority had not heretofore been questioned; and that He had given no commands but what it was joy for the heavenly host to execute. They urged that Christ's receiving special honor from the Father, in the presence of the angels, did not detract from the honor that he [Satan] had heretofore received.—The Spirit of Prophecy 1:19. TA 35.2
He [Lucifer] gained the sympathy of some of his associates by suggesting thoughts of criticism regarding the government of God. This evil seed was scattered in a most seducing manner; and after it had sprung up and taken root in the minds of many, he gathered the ideas that he himself had first implanted in the minds of others, and brought them before the highest order of angels as the thoughts of other minds against the government of God.—The S.D.A. Bible Commentary 4:1143. TA 35.3
Lucifer ... at first so conducted his temptations that he himself stood uncommitted. The angels whom he could not bring fully to his side, he accused of indifference to the interests of heavenly beings. The very work which he himself was doing, he charged upon the loyal angels. It was his policy to perplex with subtle arguments concerning the purposes of God. Everything that was simple he shrouded in mystery, and by artful perversion cast doubt upon the plainest statements of Jehovah. And his high position, so closely connected with the divine government, gave greater force to his representations.—Patriarchs and Prophets, 41. TA 36.1
The very first effort of Satan to overthrow God's law—undertaken among the sinless inhabitants of heaven—seemed for a time to be crowned with success. A vast number of the angels were seduced.—Patriarchs and Prophets, 331. TA 36.2
God's government included not only the inhabitants of heaven but of all the created worlds; and Satan thought that if he could carry the intelligences of heaven with him in rebellion, he could also carry with him the other worlds.—The Review and Herald, March 9, 1886. TA 36.3
Here, for a time, Satan had the advantage; and he exulted in his arrogated superiority, in this one respect, to the angels of heaven, and even to God himself.... [Lucifer] had disguised himself in a cloak of falsehood, and for a time it was impossible to tear off the covering, so that the hideous deformity of his character could be seen. He must be left to reveal himself in his cruel, artful, wicked works.—The Spirit of Prophecy 4:319. TA 36.4