From the writings of the Rev. Billy Graham

Three times Christ designated Satan as the prince of this world. The Bible is clear that either the world’s inhabitants are under the influence of this world with its cunning, deception, and spell; or they are in Christ and under the direction of the Spirit of God. There is no neutral ground. The lines are drawn by the Bible.

The Bible teaches that worldliness is a force, a spirit, an atmosphere of the cosmos that is in opposition and in contradiction to all that is godly and Christian. Its goal is selfish pleasure, material success, and the pride of life. It is ambitious and self-centered. God is not necessarily denied; He is just ignored and forgotten.

Paul wrote to the Ephesians reminding them that in times past they had walked according the course of the world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that works in the children of disobedience (Ephesians 2:2-3).

Now the words “course of this world” carry the meaning of current or flow. There is an undertow, a subtle current, which runs against and in contradiction to the will and the way of God. Satan employs every device at his command to harass, tempt, thwart, and hurt the people of God.

Paul reminds us, “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age” (Ephesians 6:12). The Christian is not left defenseless in this conflict. God provides the power to give us victory over Satan. Paul said, “We are more than conquerors through Him who loved us” (Romans 8:37). This is why Jesus proclaimed: “I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly” (John 10:10).

(This column is based on the words and writings of the late Rev. Billy Graham.)

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