By LORELEI RHINES

This story is about the evil one ‑ Satan. If you have no interest in his disguise, this isn't for you. If you have no curiosity about a subject that some consider controversial, you might as well stop now.

Satan is not the underground man, busily heaping coals into an eternal furnace. He is the pace‑setter, and he knows where it's at. He's "right on" with the latest scene. When God asked Satan, "Where do you come?" Satan answered with outrageous arrogance, "From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it." (Job 2:2)

Just imagine that! Satan is trucking around earth, doing his thing all over. He's working in our world system through government, business, education and culture. Hal Linsey once wrote, "You name it ‑ he'll tame it.''

"The Devil's cleverest ruse is to make believe that he does not exist," writes Barnhouse. That is the reason why we see these "far out" pictures of a horny little creature in a red suit, displaying a tail and an evil grin. If he were a comic figure or a mythical rascal, he could only do us the harm of an occasional nightmare.

Satan's incognitos are more intelligible than an actor's disguise. He conceals himself behind religion, poetry, art, psychology, intellectualism, and even our human self. The Bible says, "The whole world lies in the power of the evil one." (I John 5:19)

Modern thoughts reject the idea that Satan is the origin of evil and has the world in control. Man has an explanation for everything that goes wrong: poverty, pollution, police, parents, politics, racial prejudice ‑ name your cause! Put the blame on someone, man says, but please don't talk about Satan. That's negative ‑ disagreeable.

Christians are not excluded from this inability to understand how Satan works. Since his doctrines have been denied they are perhaps the most discerning of all in understanding the world system. Francis Schaffer has said, "We have left the next generation naked in the face of the twentieth century thought by which they are surrounded."

What do politicians say? "We have the solution to your problems. Elect us and we'll prove it." It truly is important to elect honest men for leadership, but are they able to answer us?

There are many other places men are searching for answers: science, meditation, philosphy. Please don't misunderstand. All of this is necessary and good, if used properly. But why don't we be completely honest, if we are to use our intellect to its fullest extent, why don't we step aside and give God a chance.