John Edwards stepped in quickly. “It’s really not a joking matter, Lori. The devil—or Satan or Lucifer, as he is sometimes called—is the most powerful angel that God ever created. He was called Lucifer— the light one—because he was an angel of light. He was so close to God that he actually covered the very holiness of God Himself. Then Lucifer rebelled against God and took a third of the angels with him. Those rebellious angels became evil beyond comprehension. We call them demons. The demons and demon princes are responsible for the strange New Age religions that have been springing up in recent years. Demons are behind most of the unexplained cruelty and perversion that exist in our world today.”

Carl spoke up. “Wait a minute. Twenty-four hours ago I hardly believed in God. Now, you’re trying to get me to believe in a devil and fallen angels?”

Now it was the coach’s turn. “Carl and Lori, you’re asking us how the game comes out. We’re trying to tell you. It’s played in four quarters with no break for half-time. During the first half, God controls the action. In the first quarter, the good guys run up a score that you can’t believe. Then, the second quarter gets very physical, and a lot of players get hurt. In the third quarter, the opposing coach sends in a whole crew of hairy-legged, muscle-bound gorillas who beat up the good guys and then scare the socks off every fan in the bleachers. In the fourth quarter, God sends in a fresh team of special good guys with wings and halos. They round up the gorillas and lock ’em up. Finally, God’s team wins the trophy and gets to keep it for all time!”

They were all laughing by now. “Okay, coach,” Carl said, chuckling, “tell me about the hairy-legged gorillas.”

“Maybe I’d better take over at this point,” John Edwards said with a smile. “What the apostle was writing about here follows the terrible natural disasters that we all saw take place last night. That was the beginning. The inhabitants of earth who are still alive believe that it can’t possibly get any worse, but it can. And it will.

“Up to this time in history, Satan’s activity has been restrained by God’s Holy Spirit—by law and order—by the natural morality that exists in the heart of virtually every human being. Of course, there have been the Hitlers and Stalins, but the world has reacted against their conduct. But after the disasters that we will be experiencing, the restraining equilibrium will be removed. People will be so confused, so fearful, so desperate they will do anything to survive. In that spiritual vacuum, the devil will be revealed as Abaddon, the destroyer, and he will loose a flood of demon power on earth that has never been experienced in history.