If I Were The Devil

IF I WERE THE DEVIL

Matt. 16:18, And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

John 8:44, Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

2 Cor. 2:11, Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices.

Satan is a murderer. He came to steal, to kill and destroy. He is the first murderer, from the beginning. Peter warned us to be sober, be vigilant, for our adversary the devil, walks about, as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. He is our adversary, our enemy. He is seeking to destroy. He is seeking to kill. He is a criminal against every law of God and godliness.

Today we live in a world very much accustomed to horrific crimes. We hear about murders every day in the news. We are all too familiar with stories of men and even some women who are serial killers, murderers, surely possessed by demons, who are driven to kill.

Murderers who will not stop killing, until stopped by an outside force. Law enforcement agencies are very much acquainted with the techniques and psyche of such killers. Modern day law enforcement agencies have developed techniques to capture these killers. A new breed of investigator is on the scene today. Detectives are trained specifically in hunting the habitual killer.

These investigators use several methods in tracking a killer. Using Crime Scene Forensics, they look at the crime scene, searching for any clues as to how the crime was committed, what the motive of the killer was. They try to understand the killer, to understand why he does what he does. They look at several crime scenes, looking for patterns the killer might adhere to. What makes him tick? Why does he do what he does? How does he stalk his victims, how does he kill? They understand that if they are not ignorant of the devices of the killer, they may be able to stop him. They may be able to save his next victim. The investigators are taught to answer the question, “If I were the killer, what would I do?”

Let me warn you, the devil is far more heinous than any murderer, serial or otherwise that has ever walked upon the Earth. He was the first murderer, the first habitual destroyer of human life. He is a skilled adversary, an efficient predator, a hunter of human life without equal. He has made trophies of great men over the centuries, from King Saul, whose head was caught off, and whose body was pinned to the walls of the false gods of the Philistines, to Judas, who betrayed the Lord for thirty pieces of silver. He is evil beyond comprehension. Void of love and compassion, full of hatred for humankind.

Like all killers, however, he has left clues to his motives and tactics. He has left his fingerprints on several crime scenes. If we were to examine the scenes of his unspeakable crimes, what would we discover? Would a pattern develop? Would we discover a method to his madness? Where does the devil seek his victims? What are his favorite victims to hunt? What are his tools and devices? How can he be stopped?

The best among the criminal investigators are the ones with the uncanny ability to get into the mind of the killer, to understand him. The ones who have learned to answer the question, “If I were the killer, what would be my next move? What type of victim would I choose? If I were the killer…

If I may be so presumptuous, I will take time tonight to examine the devil’s scenes of crime that are recorded in the Word of God. I want to uncover clues to his motives. I want to discover any patterns among his many crimes. I will ask the question tonight, “If I were the devil, what would I do?”

We find a clue to the devil’s personality in the twenty-eighth chapter of Ezekiel, the first crime scene of the devil.

Ezekiel 28:12, Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty.13 Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created.14 Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire.15 Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.16 By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire.17 Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee.