id 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." Isa.
14:12-14.

Lucifer, his powers now perverted to evil, deceived many of the angels,
persuading them to join him in rebellion against the government of God;
with the result that Satan and all his host were cast out. Christ said,
"I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven." Luke 10:18.

"Him the Almighty Power
Hurled headlong flaming from the ethereal sky."

The Earth as the Battle Ground

Then the great controversy which began in heaven was transferred to this
earth, and now centers around man. For "that old serpent," the leader of
the fallen angels, deceived man, and persuaded him to distrust God and
to choose his own way in preference to God's way. Thus came sin and
death into the world. And Satan, who had overcome man at the forbidden
tree, became by his own usurpation and by man's perfidy, "the prince of
this world."

But Christ gave himself to save man, to deliver him from the bondage of
sin, and to restore him to the glorious liberty of the sons of God. The
same mighty power that overcame Satan and his angels in heaven is able
to overcome his power in human hearts and lives. The controversy is
still between Christ and Satan, and man's salvation or destruction is
the aim of the contending forces.

[Illustration: THE REDEMPTION PRICE

"That through death He might destroy him that had the power of death,
that is, the devil." Heb. 2:14.]

There is no neutral ground. Every soul must choose as to which side he
will yield allegiance. In this choice lies his eternal destiny.

"Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his
servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of
obedience unto righteousness?" Rom. 6:16.

Therefore the Lord pleads with men, "Choose life." Every soul that
chooses life has the promise of it, for Christ "is able ... to save them
to the uttermost that come unto God by Him." Heb. 7:25.

The Judgment upon Satan

From the time of Satan's rebellion it was assured, by the very
omnipotence of God, that there would come a last judgment when evil
would be destroyed from the universe. This execution of judgment upon
the fallen angels is thus referred to by Jude:

"The angels which kept not the