Satan, Demons, and World Chaos (4)
William Ward Ayer
Few people believe in a personal devil. However, they readily accept the horned, spear-tailed, hoofed caricature which Satan has created to deceive mankind. There is in our day a world-wide surge in satanic activity. Aware that his time is short and his ultimate defeat certain, the Prince of this world has mobilized his forces for what may be his final campaign.
This is Part Four • Part One • Part Two • Part Three
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What follows is part 4 of 4.
In Part 1, William Ward Ayre introduces the theme and begins presenting Satan as the ruler of this world. We pick up the same theme now.
Part 2 presented teaching concerning the personality and person of Satan as revealed in Scripture. We continue with a look at demons and demonic activity.
Part 3 continued the discussion of demonic activity including the involvement of some people in the near past, current at the time this article was written. The article concludes with more discussion of modern demonic activity.
Students of world history who also know the Word take cognizance of the fact that for millenniums the eastern hemisphere has been the residence of pagan, 
Christless religion. Idolatry and demon worship are ingrained in the nature of the Orient’s millions. Missionaries tell startling stories of demon activity and human suffering. It is a fact of history that Western peoples have known the Gospel and have been visited by divine power throughout the Christian era, and have been largely protected from major demon activities. It should be noted that in the prophecy of Revelation 16:12-16, where the kings of the east start their march toward Armageddon and divine judgment, John saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouths of the dragon, the beast and the false prophet, and “they are the spirits of demons, working miracles, that go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them together to the battle of the great day of God Almighty.”
Satanic wisdom is the wisdom which “descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, (and) devilish” (James 3:15). Many (this writer among them) feel that the diplomatic journey of our well-meaning President to Red China, the major country of the Orient which for centuries has been infected with demon worship, was fraught with spiritual dangers. When this extending of his hand of friendship to governmental leaders whose hands are perhaps the bloodiest of all history (at least 60 millions of their own people have been slaughtered in the revolution), it must have been an act that displeased God. And when a similar rapprochement was made to Godless Russia, we feel that the President was trifling with divine judgment.
Let us pause here to quote the following from American Mercury (Winter, 1972), page 5: “Many believe that Satan and demons have two forces working for them today: (1) Philosophical Communism, destructive of faith in God; and (2) Narcotics, destructive of mind and body. It seems satanically significant that our President while in China made no mention of China’s corrupting our youth in, Vietnam and at home with a deluge of drugs that is destroying our health and security. This was a “missing item” not discussed by Nixon and the Chinese leaders. It is estimated that Red China produces annually 10,000 tons of opium, the source material of heroin, and a substantial part ends up in the United States to supply its 600,000 heroin addicts.”
Those who do not see that supernatural forces are at work in the world must be blinded by the Devil. So much evil is taking place everywhere that many feel that what Christ foretold — “the beginning of sorrows” — is upon us. Satan and his minions seem to be in a vengeful mood and are resolved to tolerate no opposition till Satan’s Godless regime takes over. In the meantime, Daniel 9:26 seems to move in on the scene, declaring, “even to the end, war and desolations are determined.”
That which should challenge all God’s people, should send us to our knees and then to our feet in a Spirit-guided ministry is the rapid and disastrous growth of Satanism in America. A recent Christian publication reveals the growth and spread of Satanism as a cult. A book, entitled The Second Coming of Satan in America, by Arthur Lyons, declares that the United States harbors the fastest-growing and most highly organized body of Satanists in the world. More than 20,000 Satanists have been added to the cult in five years. Religious News Service startled its readers with a report from London that there are 30,000 practicing witches in England with a half-million customers.
The members of this cult openly worship the Devil. In the Church of Satan in San Francisco, “Black Mass” is practiced with accompanying sex orgies and perversities. This, of course, is not new; as early as 600 A.D., Satanism was practiced. Even before that, Paul faced it when he denounced Elymas, the sorcerer, as a child of the Devil (Acts 13:10). But Satan worship’s widespread growth in America, the world’s most influential nation, is alarming.
An article by Jacquin Sanders of Newsweek Service (Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, July 28, 1970) tells the story of Anton La Vey: “Satanism is the dark side of the Occult. It involves a reversal of all moral values. It is evil incarnate and unending …
“One occultist is the leader of the Church of Satan, Anton Szandor LaVey — the ‘Black Pope,’ the ‘Exarch of Hell,’ ‘Satan’s Emissary on Earth.’ The titles are self-made; so is the churchly decor. LaVey has set up in an old Victorian house in San Francisco …
“Before a congregation of black-robed men and women, the star (LaVey, shaven-headed and cowled) conducts a worship hour before the ‘nude altar’, a hunched-over professional model. Other nudes bounce in and out of the picture, a girl writhes about with a 6-foot boa constrictor, and a man, bare from the waist down, is whipped.
“The ritual centers on three emotions: lust, vengeance and something called ‘compassion for one’s self.’
“‘May all your lustful thoughts reach fruition,’ he declares. ‘Lust shall reign supreme,’ he adds. ‘Shem-ham-forash, hail Satan,’ he sums up,
“‘Shem-ham-forash, hail Satan,’ intone the worshippers.
“In just a few years he has enlisted a 7,000-member congregation. Members pay $10 per year to receive his newsletter The Cloven Hoof and to attend services at 25 functioning ‘grottoes.’ “
Many affairs of this kind are held over our land, but they are not the most dangerous to our youth — the generation that in a few years will control America. Schools and colleges, we are told, seem to be mixing a deadly devil’s brew of dope, witchcraft, and demonism. Dr. Martello, author of Weird Way of Witchcraft, writes of Dr. Sidney’ Birnbaum, Mathematics Department, University of South Carolina, who teaches a non-credited course in the history of witchcraft at the University. Not only does the University of South Carolina conduct classes dealing with witchcraft, but New York University and the University of Alabama have offered courses in the subject as well. It is reported that the ‘course in “Witchcraft, Magic and Sorcery” at New York University was so large that it had to be moved to one of the school’s largest lecture halls.
Demon-worshippers and witchcraft practitioners declare that there are “covens” (meetings) in Boston, New York, -Washington, D.C., Cincinnati, Baltimore, Memphis, and in many places in California.
The most atrocious crimes of young people are attributed to Satanism. White youths and black youths have spilled the blood of entire families without cause. We are all a ware of the crimes of the murderous “Manson family.” The black (American) Mau Mau movement has brutally slaughtered whole families for no other reason than their white skin.
All these happenings are unmistakable signs of the “end time.” The might of Satanic sin is fast closing in. But God’s people are not children of the night but of the day; and if we stay close to Christ, we are protected by the Holy Spirit. We must have no part in the occultism of our time, but must walk in the light as He is in the light and overcome Satan and his emissaries by the word of our testimony and by the blood of the Lamb.
This article was originally published in Faith for the Family, May/June 1973. Used by permission.
The original Faith for the Family bio:
Dr. William Ward Ayer is a well-known evangelist, broadcaster, and author. For 36 years Dr. Ayer has pastored important Baptist churches in Illinois, Indiana, Ontario (Canada), and New York City. His best-known ministry was a 14-year pastorate at the internationally known Calvary Baptist Church of New York City. During the latter days of his New York pastorate a radio poll voted Dr. Ayer to be one of the city’s most influential citizens, Dr. Ayer carries on an evangelistic and Bible-teaching ministry in many churches in this country as well as abroad.