“If I Were the Devil”



“If I Were the Devil”

1 Thessalonians 2:18

INTRO. The Scripture tells us that Satan is the prince of the power of the air. And

he is alive and active in our world today. He opposes and hinders every

work of God. He is the force behind every Church problem, family prob-

lem, and marriage problem. The Scriptures warn us to “be sober, be

vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh

about, seeking whom he may devour.” (1 Peter 5:8) Paul, in our text,

had a desire to go to Thessalonica, but Satan hindered him. Paul wanted

to return to provide additional spiritual help for the new converts in

Thessalonica. As you recall, the Church at Thessalonica was comprised of

new converts who had “turned to God from idols to serve the living

and true God..” (1 Thessalonians 1:9) But every time Paul tried to

return, Satan hindered him. Notice Paul tried to return “once and again.”

Whether this hindrance was from a human source or not is irrelevant, the

ultimate leader of the opposition was Satan himself. John Calvin wrote:

“Whenever the ungodly cause us trouble, they are fighting under the ban-

ner of Satan, and are his instruments for harassing us” (The Epistles of Paul

the Apostle to the Romans and to the Thessalonians, p. 351). Satan is still today

hindering the work of God in this world. He uses People, problems, and

personalities. Satan’s methods have not changed in the slightest. And until

the Church is raptured from the world he will continue to hinder, thwart,

and try to prevent the spread of the Gospel in this world.

I’d like to speak on this subject this morning, “If I Were the Devil.” If I

were the devil I would not change a thing. I would do exactly what he is

doing. A pastor announced to his congregation that he was going to speak

on the Devil next LORD’S day. One of the husbands in the Church was

unable to attend the next Sunday because of his work. However his family

was able to attend. When they arrived home from Church the husband

asked how the pastor did on the Devil? She responded, “I’ll say one thing,

he was full of his subject today.” My prayer today is that through this

message today, I might paint for you an accurate portrait of the Devil, his

method and mission that we might not be “ignorant of his devices.”

“Lest Satan should get an advantage of us..” (2 Corinthians 2:11).

IF I WERE THE DEVIL:

(1) I Would Go To Church

A. You might find this rather shocking, but did you know that the devil

is religious?

1. I believe Satan attends every time the Church doors are open.

He did in Job’s day. Job 1:6—“Now there was a day when

the sons of God came to present themselves before the

LORD, and satan came also among them.” He did in

in Zechariah’s day. Zechariah 3:1—“And he shewed me

Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the

LORD, and Satan standing at his right hand to resist

him.” And he does in our day! Satan’s mission is ominous-

to resist (oppose, accuse, hate).

2. I believe Satan even calls preachers, and places members in

members in Churches. 2 Corinthians 11:13-15—“For such

are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming them-

selves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for

Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.

Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be trans-

formed as the ministers of righteousness.” These false

preachers and false workers are like whitewashed tombs who

appear righteous but inside them is only death and decay!

B. Why would Satan go to Church? Two reasons:

1. To destroy the work of God. How does he accomplish this?:

Discouragement. Discouragement is one of the greatest

tools that Satan uses today to destroy the work of God. We want to see God move and we want Him to move when we want Him to. But God encourages us to

“…be not weary in well doing: for in due season we

shall reap, if we faint not.” Paul was saying in Galatians 6:9, “Stop getting discouraged and tired of doing good, i.e., sowing to the Spirit” (1).

b. Disinterest. There seems to be more disinterest in the

work of God today than ever before. Why? Because

Satan has seen to it that our lives our filled with every-

thing but God! We have gotten our eyes off the LORD

and on ourselves. We are backslidden and don’t even

realize it!

C. S. Lewis said, “It is since Christians have largely

ceased to think of the other world that they became so

ineffective in this world” (2)

2. To disrupt the fellowship of God’s People. When Satan can-

not destroy God’s work, he still wins his point by disrupting

fellowship of the Church. He does this in two ways:

An Unbridled Tongue. James 1:26 tells us, “If any man among you seemeth to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man’s religion is vain.” An uncontrolled tongue exposes a spiritual problem (3). The vain James uses there means “without profit, producing no results.” Satan goes to Church to try and get us to use our tongues to destroy the fellowship and love we enjoy in Christ Jesus!

An Unforgiving spirit. Luke 17:3-4—“Take heed to yourselfs: if thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him. And if he trespass against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day turn again to thee, saying, I repent; thou shalt forgiven him.” The words seven times in a day denote completeness-as often as it happens (4). Satan goes to Church to disrupt the fellowship by causing us to harbor bitterness and bad feelings one toward another which cause us to be unforgiving.

ILLUS. A little boy was sitting on a park bench in

obvious pain. A man walking by asked him

what was wrong. The young boy said, “I’m

sitting on a bumble bee.” The man urgently

asked, “Then why don’t you get up?” The

boy replied, “Because I figure I’m hurting

him more than he is hurting me!” How many

of us handle forgiveness like this little boy? We

endure pain for the sadistic satisfaction of be-

lieving we are hurting them more than us.

When we get off the bench of unforgiveness

both parties can begin to realize from their

pain (5).

ILLUS. A little over 50 years ago a man named Karl

Marx said, “we must get inside the United

States for we cannot destroy her from without,

we’ve got to do it from within.” The same is

true about the church Satan cannot destroy it

from without but he surely can from within!

(2) I Would Conceal My Identity

ILLUS. Years ago, when Billy Graham’s children were small, their

family were enjoying a meal together when someone began

singing the little chorus, “I’ve got the joy, joy, joy, joy down

in my heart.” The rest of the family chimed in on the song.

The young choir director concluded their impromptu anthem

with that famous verse, “And if the devil doesn’t like it he can

sit on a tack. (Ouch!)” When they had finished, Dr. Graham

sternly looked at his children and said, “I don’t want you to

sing that verse anymore.” The children quickly asked, “Why?”

The famous evangelist replied, “Because the devil is a good

devil.” They looked confused so he explained further. “The

devil does a very good job being the devil. He is real and

powerful, and he is no joking matter.” That counsel from the

1950’s is more relevant today than we can image, especially

after reading the following information. When the Barna

Research Group asked Americans about Satan, they discovered

62% of the adult population believe Satan “is not a living being

but a symbol of evil.” The angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:14)

has masterfully disguised himself among the America populace

(6).

I would be a master deceiver just like he did it in the Garden to Eve. I would twist and pervert the Scripture by raising up men who say, “The KJV Bible is outdated and full of errors and we must have a new version that is updated and easier to understand.”

I would make sin appear beautiful and attractive, but raising up men

say, “You’re your own person and you can do your own thing. A

thing is bad only if you believe it to be.” I would show the glamorous side of sin, but not the end, which is death. I would ap-

peal to the eye, and show people how thrilling to drink, do dope,

have illicit sex, and I would even show the boys how manly it is to

smoke, and show the girls how old fogy it is to remain pure and

chaste to marriage. But one thing I would not do is show them the

other side of sin. I would not let them see that “the wages of sin is

death.” I would not let them see the broken hearts, the suicides, the

tragic diseases, the guilt feelings one has to live with.

C. I would be a master hypocrite, just like the people to whom Jesus

preached (Matthew 23:27). I would work through false teachers

who preach a false gospel and make false disciples.

(3) I Would Do Everything In My Power To Keep God’s People From Serving

God

A. In our text, Paul was wanting to get to Thessalonica but Satan put

obstacles in his way. Satan always tries to stand in our way when we

are trying to live for the LORD and follow His will.

I would disperse my little imps into every situation to keep the

Christians down. I would have little things happen that people

would not even suspect were my devices:

1. When a Christian lady started to pray or read her Bible, I

would cause the phone to ring, the beans to burn, the baby

to start crying, or have someone knock at the door.

2. When a family decided to go to Church I would send company

to see them, cause the tires on the car to be flat, or the motor

to not start. Here is my best little shenanigan to pull. I would

cause the husband and wife to get into a fight just as they were

getting ready to go to the House of God, and if they insisted

on going to Church after that, they would surely hinder the

Spirit’s work when they got there.

You just can’t believe some of the things I would do. One

time I figured out a way to let these people’s dog out of the

house, and this happened just as they were ready to leave for

Church. They could not catch that dog for nothing, and

would you know it was past 12:00 o’clock before they caught

him. Boy did I have a ball that Sunday. I had the preacher in

a stew because both the husband and wife were Sunday School

teachers, but they just couldn’t leave that dog.

I Would Persuade The Lost To Put Off The Matter Of Salvation Until

Some Other Time

I would tell people, “There is plenty of time.” They may die before

next Sunday, but I don’t want them to know that. I would tell people they always can do it tomorrow, even though the Scripture

declare, “Boast not thyself of to morrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.” (Proverbs 27:1) Friend, “God has promised forgiveness to your repentance, but he has not promised

tomorrow to your procrastination”-Augustine (7).

CLOSING: If I were the devil I would go to Church every time the doors were open

to destroy the work of God and disrupt the fellowship of God’s people. I would

conceal my identity by being a master deceiver making sin look beautiful

and enticing, by raising up corrupt men who deny the truth of the Bible and

twist it to deceive the hearts of men. I would do everything in my power to keep

God’s people from serving Him. I would persuade the lost to put off salvation

until it was too late. If I were the devil I wouldn’t change a thing, I’d

keep doing the same things he is doing today!

Friend, the question today is “Are you saved? or are you allowing Satan

to persuade you to procrastinate yourself into hell?” Child of God,

Are you being an instrument of Satan to disrupt the fellowship of God’s

people by gossip and unforgiveness Or are you resisting him so he will

flee from you?

NOTES: 1. Edward G. Dobson, Charles L. Feinberg, Edward E. Hinson, Woodrow

Michael Kroll, Harold L. Wilmington. The Complete Bible Commentary. Pg. 1557.

2. Albert M. Wells, Jr. Inspiring Quotations-Contemporary & Classical.

Pg. 9.

IBID. Pg. 1718.

John F. Walvoord & Roy B. Zuck. The Bible Knowledge Commentary

of The New Testament. Pg. 248.

5. Raymond McHenry. In Other Words. Volume 7. Issue 3. Summer

Quarter 1997. Pg. 7.

6. McHenry. In Other Words. Volume 9. Issue 2. Spring Quarter 1999.

PP. 14-15.

7. Wells. Pg. 166.

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