December 5, 1978, New York Times, Billy Graham, on Satan and Jonestown, by Edwin Clark,

December 5, 1978, New York Times, Billy Graham, on Satan and Jonestown, by Edwin Clark,

Singapore - The tragedy in Guyana that has shocked the world is a complicated and painful reminder of the words of the great Jewish Prophet Jeremiah, who said, "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?" (Jeremiah 17:9). And it is a reminder of the warning of Jesus: "For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ, and shall deceive many" (Mark 13:6).

The Bible is full of warnings about false prophets and false messiahs. These satanically inspired people have appeared in almost every generation of history. The Old Testament bears eloquent testimony to practices in early cultures that were similar to what happened in Guyana, including human sacrifice.

On Oct. 12, my wife and I laid a wreath at the Auschwitz concentration camp where more than four million men, women and children were tormented and executed in the most horrible example of a kind of religious insanity. Auschwitz stands as a tragic reminder of the terrible potential man has for violence and inhumanity.

But we have seen Auschwitz repeated again and again though on a vastly different scale--from the Manson murders to the Munich Olympic massacre to the Guyana mass killings and suicides.

And I fear there may be more to come.

As I travel throughout the world I can feel the tremors of more diabolical earthquakes.

God is at work in the hearts of millions--but so is the devil. As an editorial in a Bangkok newspaper said last week, "Satan is not dead."

Unfortunately, as long as man's heart remains unchanged, this type of tragedy will continue to occur- -whether in the cold-blooded murders that plague every American city, or the frightening terrorism that stalks so much of the world, or through the wholesale deception of false messiahs like Jim Jones.

As the nations of the world reach for new levels of affluence, social and economic prosperity, they are bewildered when these things do not bring personal peace or fulfillment. People are confused, but true inner peace never comes through possessions or "the better life." Perhaps this is why we are living in a time of such tremendous spiritual experimentation. Thousands are turning to gurus and cults of various sorts. Voodooism, satanism, witchcraft and other demonic forms have emerged from their closets to haunt us in our generation.

But only a transformation of the heart can give man a new sense of direction, a right purpose and meaning for living. This is why it is important for each of us to heed the words of the prophets and the disciples who continually warned people that they must repent of their sins and turn to God by faith--or suffer the consequences.

An individual's life can only be transformed by a personal experience with God that gives to each one moral guidelines and a new value system.

Unfortunately in that search for God it is all too easy to blunder into the arms of Satan instead.

This is what happened in Guyana.

One may speak of the Jones situation as that of a cult, but it would be a sad mistake to identify it in any way with Christianity.

It is true that he came from a religious background but what he did and how he thought have no relationship to the views and teachings of any legitimate form of historic Christianity.

We have witnessed a false messiah who used the cloak of religion to cover a confused mind filled with a mixture of pseudo-religion, political ambition, sensual lust, financial dishonesty and, apparently, even murder. None of this has anything to do with true faith in God.

A news magazine has called Mr. Jones's movement "a culture of death." Whenever men leave God they commit spiritual suicide, which ultimately bears its fruit in the death of a culture, including social, economic and political suicide when carried to the ultimate.

Our hearts go out to those left behind that have been hurt and confused by this terrifying tragedy.

Apparently Mr. Jones was a slave of a diabolical supernatural power from which he refused to be set free.

He was like a drug addict or an alcoholic who refuses to admit his need or seek help from the only one who cold have set him free--God!

Jesus said: "You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”

Billy Graham, the evangelist, is preaching in Singapore.