As we look around today and see how evil abounds, it is hard to wrap our minds around the status and circumstances of where we are as a nation, as a church and as individual believers. I believe that God is sounding an alarm to us today as Paul did to the church in Ephesus: “Wake up, O sleeper, rise from the dead.” (Ephesians 5: 14) He then brought to my attention the words of wisdom from two men from the past, Paul Harvey (1918-2009) and A.W. Tozer (1897-1963), that help us to assess how we got to this place and God’s call for action in 2023.
In the transcript below, Paul Harvey in 1965 aired one of the most astonishing monologues ever recorded. Now nearly 58 years later everything that Paul Harvey said the Devil would have to do to rule the world, has come to pass. Paul Harvey was not a prophet nor were his words prophetic. How then did 100% of what he said in 1965 come true? Perhaps the Devil himself listened to the broadcast…what you are about to read will, without doubt, raise a few eyebrows and goosebumps. Enjoy…or rather, be appalled, with the rest of the story!
If I were the Devil, if I were the Prince of Darkness, I’d want to engulf the whole world in darkness and I would have a third of its real estate and four-fifths of its population, but I wouldn’t 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. I’d 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 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 “square.” And the old, I would teach to pray after me: “Our Father which art in Washington.” And 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 make TV look worse than movies and then make movies look worse than TV in a vicious cycle that just gets worse and worse. I’d peddle narcotics to whomever [sic] 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 intellects but neglect to discipline emotions; just let those run wild until, before you knew it, you’d have to have drug-sniffing dogs and metal detectors at every schoolhouse door. Within a decade, I’d have prisons overflowing. I’d have judges promoting pornography. Soon I could evict God from the courthouse, and then from the schoolhouse, and then from the houses of Congress. And in His own churches I would substitute psychology for religion and deify science. I would lure priests and pastors into misusing boys and girls and church money. If I were the Devil, 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 give to those who wanted, until I had killed the incentive of the ambitious. And what will you bet I couldn’t get whole states to promote gambling as the way to get rich. I would caution against extremes in hard work, in patriotism, in moral conduct. I would convince the young that marriage is old-fashioned, that swinging is more fun, that what you see on TV is the way to be and thus I could undress you in public and I could lure you into bed with diseases for which there is no cure.
Now, let’s gain insight and inspiration from A.W. Tozer on Ephesians 5: 14: "Wake up, O sleeper, rise from the dead." This verse is often spoken to sinners, but it was not written to sinners. Ephesians was never written to sinners. It is not a message to sinners at all, but a message to one of the best churches in the New Testament. Yet the writer says, "Wake up, O sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you." Some of the Ephesians were in a somnolent condition; that is, they were morally good but unenlightened. They were religious but unanointed. It is perfectly possible for a good, faithful, loyal church member to be spiritually asleep—being in a spiritual state that parallels natural sleep. When your husband, your wife, your child, your relative, your friend or you go to sleep tonight, the fact that you are unconscious and out of the running for a while is not bothering you. You know that normally you will wake up again. You are not dead, but you are cut off from your environment, all but that which is reflex—breathing and a few other things. Likewise it is possible to be a Christian, to be in the church and yet be asleep spiritually. Then you have to be wakened suddenly. You will probably be ashamed of yourself, angry with yourself, frustrated and disconcerted and say, "What's the matter with me? All this time I was almost awake, but not quite."
As I processed this information, I personally connected with the descent we have made in my generation as I witnessed all of these events and realized that we were like the frog that swam gleefully around in a pot of nice fresh water, but the stove was turned on and slowly without notice the temperature of the water cooked the frog! I believe that God is shouting to us in 2023: “It’s time to wake up. If we don’t wake up now, it will soon be too late.” We are familiar with the term RINO (Republicans in name only) but the most alarming term is CINO (Christian in name only). Vance Havner said: “If the church would only be the church—if Christians would only be Christians—nothing could halt our onward march.” God gave us our marching orders in Acts 13: 47 as born-again believers: “For so the Lord has commanded us, I have placed you as a light to the nations, so that you may bring salvation to the end of the earth.” We must harken to God’s voice, be filled with His Spirit and “Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD rises upon you.” (Isaiah 60:1) O God, Your Light has come. Your glory shines. Father, help us to get up today and live in that Light and be salt and light in the darkness of this world!