Your Adversary The Devil

Your Adversary, The Devil, The Satan and that Old Serpent

How many people would sincerely and whole-heartedly turn to the Lord if they only knew Satan was real? If they really understood, there is a spiritual entity hell bent on destroying you and all you hold dear. Is it so easy for us to accept and believe our neighbor, Joe Schmo, down the block can be our mortal enemy, and we take that seriously, but the spiritual being that rebelled against god, that’s just asking too much? The Bible tells us because we have an adversary we need to be ready and vigilant at all times. In order for Christians to be vigilant, we have to first identify Satan’s workings.

1 Peter 5:8-9 

Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.  Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings. 

I think most would agree if there was a person constantly tormenting you, bringing chaos and discord to your home, calling you up to harrass you, and constantly putting you down; you would take action of some kind whether this be by calling the authorities, or handling it “your own way”. Nevertheless, action would be taken. So why isn’t that same methodology applied to our spiritual enemy.? Whom by the way is the one causing your neighbor down the block, Joe Schmo, to make your life unbearable. It’s best to go right to the source of your troubles. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood. So we do not wrestle with the person whom is being used as a tool, or vessel for Satan to bring forth his will. 

 John 10:10 

10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life and have it to the full. 

Get Behind Me Satan 

Matthew 16:23 

 Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.” 

So where is it that people get hung up on? Aside from the fact that Hollywood has illustrated Satan as a red-horned beast, carrying a pitchfork. Wake up, people!!!! That is not Satan, that is a calculated psychological play. It’s hard to take Satan seriously when your only knowledge of him is meant to be a stumbling block for you. 

Maybe people get hung up on seeing the real life connection between Satan and the wrong in their lives. Think about every awful story you’ve ever heard on the news, the most vile atrocities known to man. Events like the Holocaust, bloody wars, and 9/11. These come from one and one source only, Satan.  

Charles Baudelaire said it best, 

“The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn’t exist,”. 

 

Since the beginning of 2020, I have witnessed a shift in all things, a surge forward towards the state of the world spoken of in the Bible. This reminded me of something I came across a few years ago. I wanted to take a minute to share this with you guys.

Below is an essay written by Paul Harvey, a well-known national radio commentator. On April 3, 1965, Paul read his essay titled, If I were the Devil, live on air. Paul’s essay describes the blueprints Satan has been using to bring forth his plan for America and the entire world. 

This is a sobering essay, and it reveals who Satan is and what his agenda is. It also bears witness to the truth. Written in the 1960s, yet it paints an accurate picture of the future world to come, the world we live in NOW. 

By reading Paul Harvey’s direct and detailed writings, we can make that real-life connection between Satan and this physical world.  This essay gives us a glimpse behind the curtain where we find the puppet master (The Satan), pulling strings as he orchestrates the destruction of our current world. So we as Christians need to remain guarded and separate. Paul’s essay reveals how Satan has been able to get his hands into every aspect of our lives, to distort and destroy everything God has created.

Because Paul wrote this essay in the 1960s, I changed a few words in order to modernize it and make it easier to understand. Here is the link to the YouTube channel, ChristiansEDGE, where you can listen to the audio recording of Paul Harvey’s, If I were the Devil.

If I were the Devil … I mean, if I were the Prince of Darkness, I would, of course, want to engulf the whole earth in darkness.

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

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.” “Do as you please.”

To the young, I would whisper, “The Bible is a myth.”

I would convince them that man created God instead of the other way around.

I would confide that what is bad is good, and what is good is bad.

In the ears of the young married, I would whisper that work is debasing, that cocktail parties are good for you.

I would caution them not to be extreme in religion, in patriotism, or in moral conduct.

And the old, I would teach to pray. I would teach them to say after me: “Our Father, which art in Washington” …

If I were the devil, I’d educate authors on how to make lurid literature exciting so that anything else would appear dull and uninteresting. I’d threaten T.V. with dirtier movies and vice versa.

And then, if I were the devil, I’d get organized. I’d infiltrate unions and urge more laziness and distraction and less work, because idle hands usually work for me.

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

If I were the devil, I would encourage schools to refine young intellects but neglect to discipline emotions… let those run wild.

I would designate an atheist to front for me before the highest courts in the land, and I would get preachers to say “she’s right.”

With flattery and promises of power, I could get the courts to rule what I want them to. Rule against God and in favor of pornography, and thus, I would evict God from the courthouse, and then from the schoolhouse, and then from the houses of Congress, and then in His own churches.

I would substitute psychology for religion, and I would deify science because that way men would become smart enough to create super weapons but not wise enough to control them.

If I were Satan, I’d make the symbol of Easter an egg, and the symbol of Christmas, a bottle.

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

And then, my police state would force everybody back to work. Then, I could separate families, putting children in uniform, women in coal mines, and objectors in slave camps.

In other words, if I were Satan, I’d just keep on doing what he’s doing.

Paul Harvey, Good Day.

Ephesians 6:11-16 

Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.  For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.  Therefore, put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.  Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place,  and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.