If I Were the Devil

"And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him." Revelations 12:9

The late Paul Harvey was a radio broadcaster for the ABC Radio Networks. He passed away in 2009. However, some 50 plus years ago (circa 1965), you would have thought him to be a prophet with what he had to say about the times he was living in. If you didn't know better, you would have thought he was talking about today when he wrote the following essay, titled, "If I Were the Devil."

"If I Were the Devil

If I were the prince of darkness, I would want to engulf the whole world in darkness.

I’d have a third of its real estate and four-fifths of its population, but I would not be happy until I had seized the ripest apple on the tree — thee.

So, I would set about, however, necessary to take over the United States.

I’d subvert the churches first, and I would begin with a campaign of whispers.

With the wisdom of a serpent, I would whisper to you as I whispered to Eve: “Do as you please.”

To the young, I would whisper that the Bible is a myth. I would convince the children that man created God instead of the other way around. I’d confide that what’s bad is good and what’s good is square.

And the old, I would teach to pray after me, “Our Father, which are in Washington …”

Then, I’d get organized, I’d educate authors in how to make lurid literature exciting so that anything else would appear dull and uninteresting.

I'd peddle narcotics to whom I could. I’d sell alcohol to ladies and gentlemen of distinction. I’d tranquilize the rest with pills.

If I were the devil, I’d soon have families at war with themselves, churches at war with themselves and nations at war with themselves until each, in its turn, was consumed.

And with promises of higher ratings, I’d have mesmerizing media fanning the flames.

If I were the devil, I would encourage schools to refine young intellect but neglect to discipline emotions. I’d tell teachers to let those students run wild. And before you knew it, you’d have drug-sniffing dogs and metal detectors at every schoolhouse door.

Within a decade, I’d have prisons overflowing and judges promoting pornography. Soon, I would evict God from the courthouse and the schoolhouse and them from the houses of Congress.

In his own churches, I would substitute psychology for religion and deify science. I’d lure priests and pastors into misusing boys and girls and church money.

If I were the devil, I’d take from those who have and give to those who wanted until I had killed the incentive of the ambitious.

What’ll you bet I couldn’t get whole states to promote gambling as the way to get rich?

I’d convince the young that marriage is old-fashioned, that swinging is more fun and that what you see on television is the way to be.

And thus, I could undress you in public and lure you into bed with diseases for which there are no cures.

In other words, if I were the devil, I’d just keep right on doing what he’s doing."

There are slightly different versions of this essay floating around, but his point is spot on. With what is going on in the world today, has much changed? As a Christian, it is not difficult to notice the scandals that have plagued the so-called Church, whether it be sexual misconduct, mismanagement of a churches money, false teachings or an entire array of other problems. It was around the time that Paul Harvey wrote this essay that the Supreme Court ruled to remove the Bible and prayer out of public schools. As one person recently said, "One can argue, and some have, that the decision by the Supreme Court – in a series of three decisions back in 1962 and 1963 – to remove the Bible and prayer from our public schools, may be the most spiritually significant event in our nation's history over the course of the last 55 years.” In Judges 17:6, it says, "In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes." Are we any different now then Israel was then?  Without a biblical foundation to fall back on, we see a world everyone is doing as they please. Where sinful behavior, once taboo, is accepted and promoted as normal; gay marriage, legalized drugs, open borders, acceptance of false religions and so on. Add to this the terrible plagues of abortion, mass shootings, global terrorism, civil unrest and it seems the only answer people have is more laws. Yet, as has been asked, "Will more laws prevent lawbreakers from breaking the law?" Of course not! It is this idea of the continual passage of laws that leads people to put faith in their fellow man instead of in God. Thus, the constant reliance on our elected leaders in Washington to tell us how to live and what to do with our time, treasure and talents. What has this gotten us? Endless partisanship, fake news, bickering among the masses, further in debt, and kicking our problems down the road. When all of this is going on people will turn to leisure as a form of escape. And given the fallen nature of mankind, this usually reveals itself in the form sensual indulgence; i.e things like pornography (sexual sin), substance abuse, gambling or whatever else serves the flesh. Furthermore, without God and a biblical foundation to guide us, we end up putting faith in things like science. While true science supports the Bible, usually what ends up happening is people believing in things like evolution; which is just another religious belief. The sad byproduct of this is that people believe that we are all just an accident and are not accountable to anything or anybody other than ourselves. Is it any wonder that it appears life is disposable to so many? When there is no God who created you, there is nothing special about life and nobody to be accountable to when you take a life. When everybody is only out for themselves, you will have other problems like the break down of families, increased criminal activity, which leads to overflowing prisons and, eventually, the break down in society. It is a mess!

The devil is the "deceiver of the whole world," according to Revelation 12:9. Jesus Christ called him, "the father of lies," in John 8:44. In Genesis 3:5, the devil deceived Eve by saying, "For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." Here we are thousands of years later still being deceived by the devil. Instead of looking to God, through faith in Jesus Christ, and allowing Him to show us how to live, we are trying to be like Him by deciding for ourselves what is good and evil; both for ourselves personally and as a society. The byproduct is a world in utter chaos with no hope of being fixed. Relying on our own understanding will not fix the world. Forming alliances between groups of people from around the world won't fix the problem. There is no leader, no treaty, no scientific discovery, no law, nothing in this world, that can fix the problems of mankind. Only through faith in Jesus Christ will people have their eyes opened to the truth; that man is spiritually dead in their sins and in need of the life of God restored to them. In turn, their focus will be on telling others about Jesus Christ so they will come to a saving faith in Him. Eventually, the more people are depending on God in Christ, the less dependent they will be on themselves or the things in this world and the problems of this world will begin to work themselves out to a greater degree. But, even if they don't, God has promised His children, "a new heaven and a new earth (Revelation 21:1)." In this new heaven and new earth,  God says, "He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away (Revelation 21:4).” There will also be no devil to worry about because he will no longer be on earth with his angels, but in Hell where they will be, "tormented day and night forever and ever (Revelation 20:10)." The devil may keep on doing what he is doing now to deceive the world, but praise God, he won't be doing it forever.

Reach Across the Aisle

Compromise means an agreement or a settlement of a dispute that is reached by each side making concessions. To concede is to surrender or yield. Recently, JetBlu Airlines conducted an experiment called, "Reach Across the Aisle," to try and make a point about compromising. The account of the experiment is as follows: "Passengers of flight 603 probably weren't expecting a surprise of a lifetime when they boarded their plane — but they got one. In a video called, "Reach Across the Aisle" by JetBlue Airways, a fun social experiment was conducted in which one free round trip was promised to those willing to participate. The catch? All 150 people on the plane had to unanimously agree on the destination ... About an hour and a half later, 150 total strangers were able to set aside their differences and agree on a trip to Costa Rica. Moral of the story? "If people compromise and work together, all parties can win."" This is great when a free round trip ticket is involved. People do this every day of their lives. We compromise on what movie to watch. We compromise on where to go for dinner. We compromise on where to take the family on vacation. The examples are endless. However, in cases like JetBlu's experiment and our daily lives, there is really no winners and losers. If the passengers would not have reached an agreement they really didn't miss out on much. Missing out on a free trip most likely would not have changed their lives much, if at all. Where we eat dinner, what movie we watch or where we go on vacation may not have much affect on our lives either way. However, since when did reaching a conclusion through compromise automatically mean the best decision was reached on a subject? Compromising, by definition, means that each side did not fully get what they wanted. I guess that is fine when it comes to free trips and many of the other tasks of daily life. But, what about when it comes to matters of faith?

As a Christian, where do you compromise on the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the truth of the Bible? Truth is, you do not compromise? When people talk about there being other paths to heaven apart from faith in Jesus Christ, where do you compromise? When people say the Bible is not God's Word, what do you concede? What parts of God's Truth are we willing to set aside in order to agree with the others? The Bible is clear about what God thinks.

Ephesians 6:11:
"Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil."

1 Corinthians 16:13:
"Be on the alert, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong."

2 Thessalonians 2:15:
"So then, brethren, stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught, whether by word of mouth or by letter from us."

1 Corinthians 15:58:
"Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain."

Galatians 5:1:
"It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery."

James 5:8:
"You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord’s coming is near."

We are to stand firm when it comes to God's truth, Jesus Christ and the plan of salvation. If we are to "reach across the aisle," it is to bring people to a saving faith in Jesus Christ. The Bible says, "If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone (Romans 12:18)." The key phrase is, "If it is possible." If being at peace means that you compromise the truth, you may have avoided conflict or come to an agreement, but you may have also prevented someone from hearing the most important message in the world; the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Stand firm, don't compromise, reach across the aisle, present the Gospel and trust the Lord to do the convincing.