"Lucifer, son of the morning," an archangel, a great being, created in holiness, standing near the Throne of God. His name means " light bearer," indicative of his glorious office. We can scarcely imagine such honour, such power, such distinction. Just what the high-calling of " light bearer" was, as it was performed under the highest commission in the universe, the Book fails to tell us; but the office of Lucifer was surely the peer of Michael or Gabriel, if not above them in rank. Brilliancy and splendour radiated from his person.

May we dare, not altogether by the imagination, to venture into that remote, prehistoric time when the Second Person of the Trinity-the Anointed One-the Logos, a being of perfection, made in the image of the invisible God, became a Manifestation. That One of whom "the whole family in heaven and earth is named"; sharing the glory and honour equally with the Father, on a throne in the heavenlies. Milton and others believe that the presence of this Manifestation aroused in Lucifer a consuming spirit of ambition and envy; he at once aspired to the place and power which God reserved for His only begotten Son.

We get still another side-light on the personality of Lucifer, when we consider his gigantic scheme. Aaron Burr planned the overthrow of his country, and dreamed of rulership; such a vision were impossible in the mind of any but a master of assembliesan empire builder. Lucifer saw himself a ruler above that of a Creator, as "all things were made by Him." No wonder the inspired exclamation con

endless woe;

cerning him: "How art thou fallen, O Lucifer." When the climax of his overthrow came, he "fell like lightning out of heaven." The honourable cognomen is now lost forever; the glory of holiness has given place to the dishonour of despair. In the language of the poet, he "preferred to rule in hell rather than serve in heaven." This light bearer of Paradise is still a prince, but in the dark regions of "ruler of the darkness of this world," This archangel who felt himself capable of heavenly authority finds an easier task here below. Speaking to the Master, hear his presumption and audacity, "all these things (the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them) will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me." What was the condition named? The restoration of what he had lost that the Son of God pay him homage and obeisance. Baffled in this crowning stroke, he slunk away only to study the vantage more discreetly, reinforce, and reassert.

Let us keep in mind that intelligence and personality are not affected by the status of character; magnetic power and influence over others are not lost when the life is wholly given over to evil. Piety and holiness may be displaced by treachery and hate, but the force of personality remains. If any change takes place, the individual becomes more subtle and more insidious in schemes to further selfish interests. If a righteous man, endowed with unusual powers, fall into a life of sin, he carries over into his wickedness all his former gifts and faculties-nothing is lost.

This proposition enables us to further appreciate the marvellous capabilities of the fallen Lucifer. Besides the Trinity, there are none superior in the universe. God allows His enemies, both men and devils, to continue a proprietary control of their talents, whether they be one or ten. There will be no devestments until the last shifting of the scene. When we remember all the attributes, previous advantages, and present opportunities of the greatest of all apostates, the conundrum of human actions, individually and nationally, begins slowly to unravel. The fight is not alone with men in sin, but with the "prince of the powers of the air."

When Lucifer rebelled and met the just rebuke of God's wrath, all his glory, power, and brilliancy became demonized. Then, through all the millenniums there has been not one hour of relaxation; no armistice for the invisible warfare. Just as saints grow in faith, vision, and divine illumination, devils sink lower and lower; but at the same time develop in skill and efficiency by a continual application of their debased energies.

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It is therefore reasonable to believe that our mon Enemy" is far more formidable than the day he was cast into the earth. Our ability to encounter him successfully becomes a more hopeless struggle with the passing days. If, in the days of Paul, it were expedient to have on the "whole armour of God" to meet him, nothing short of "all the fullness of God" is the paramount need to-day.

IV

DEVIL-SATAN-SERPENT-DRAGON

“And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, and prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.”—Revelation xii. 7–9.

NAMES were significant in Bible times; they are given to-day at random, but then names were indicative of character. When character changed, the name changed: Jacob to Israel; Saul to Paul, etc. While the subject of these pages remained the holy, shining light bearer of heaven, he was Lucifer, but that name was lost to him forever. So varied were his passions, characteristics, and powers that must be known by appropriate names, and each, as given, designates some phase of his multiform personality.

Devil. Not only did Lucifer lose name and character; he exchanged a brilliant, glorious external appearance (to eyes that penetrate the invisible) for one ugly, loathsome, beastly. If language can be interpreted literally, the eye of inspiration and revelation sees him a Devil-sair in the Hebrew," hairy one," "he goat," etc. The he goat, in the Bible, stands for all that is low and base. Those who partake of the sair nature, in the Last Day, are called goats. He divided the sheep from the goats. God teaches us spiritual lessons in all nature, especially by the animal kingdom, and as the goat is a synonym

for the lowest instincts of the animal; we find a being created in the highest realm of spiritual life sinking to the lowest level of brute life. If no further delineation were given-no other name than Devilthe fall was from one extreme to the other.

This cognomen carried further has a second meaning: spoiler, one whose touch soils and besmirches, rearranges; bright spots are smeared with black soot; flowers with sweet odour, after his blight passes over them, send out a stench; hearts of purity are defiled and debauched; faces of beauty become marred and ugly. Whenever and wherever it serves his purpose, cosmos becomes chaos. He is a spoiler.

Satan. In this familiar title we see him in the character rôle which dominates all his actions. As Satan he is the hater. Of all the evil passions of the soul, hate is the most terrible. As manifested in human relationships, the hater is a murderer. Somehow hate seems to be a resultant of wrath, malice, envy, jealousy, and revenge. Hatred in the bosom of the weak or cowardly affects only its possessor; but hatred burning in the soul of one who is strong and courageous, nothing belonging to the object of his hatred is secure : life, personal property, or reputation.

We want carefully to note the full significance of hatred; then place beside it the one who hates—yes, as no other being in all the universe can hate. He is the father of haters; the tragedies of all kinds, filling the world with terror, because of murders, bomb explosions, incendiaries, poisonings, are but the scattered rays reflected and deflected from this full orb of hate as he revolves in his sphere of darkness.