The Devil is a person, with a great personality; but like human beings, he is not equally endowed in all the attributes of his nature. However, the Book gives us no information as to his weaknesses. He is all superlative strength; but if at any point there is a special endowed faculty that would seem to overshadow the others, it is surely manifested when Satan is transformed into an _angel of light_. The reason for this is obvious; it is a return to his old office of "light bearer." When he can effectively serve his purpose by this startling transformation--darkness to light--he is at once in a realm where he is familiar with every inch of the territory. A close observation of the signs of the times--the happenings in social and religious circles--will reveal the fact that _light_ is not only his most familiar rôle, but his favourite rôle. The world is attracted by things that are bright, beautiful, cheerful; anything that hides the sombre side of life, throws a mystic veil over its realities, and helps us to forget--whether it be books, music, lectures, or the nonentities of society--outweigh all else in the casting of accounts and in forming comparative estimates. If Satan were allowed to pose for a full sized picture of himself, just as he wishes to be seen by the children of this generation, no portrait painter could produce a specimen of rarer beauty; it would grace the walls of the most exclusive parlour, and attract special attention in any great art gallery of the world. There would be no sharp angles, no coarse, sensuous lines, no out-of-date adornment--the traditional fiery-red would not appear, but rather the most delicate tints and shades of colour. The features would be the most graceful and artistic combination of curves and circles. The "hairy one," the jackal, the snake, the lion, the shadow, the spoiler at once become as "beautiful as a dream." Amazing transformation! "The devil of to-day" is not only an apostle of sunshine, but of beauty. This world is full of beauty; and why should we not forever keep the ugly and distorted in the background? The development of the beautiful should be one of the fine arts. Think only of beauty; speak only of beauty; see only the _beautiful_; then the sinful and unlovely will disappear. An angel of light--how suggestive! As an apostle of sunshine his mission is to flood the world with light, and he does it; but observe--it is _his_ light; it neither warms nor illuminates, but for spectacular purposes it answers every demand. It reveals new standards of duty; proves the wrathful things in the Word of God to be spurious, and the old plan of salvation obsolete and unsuited to the present day needs. Such words as self-denial, crucifixion, dead to sin, judgment day, cross bearing, etc., so prominent in the New Testament, must not be given a literal interpretation. Such truths cast an unnecessary gloom over the souls of otherwise happy people.