Today, if you have your Bible, I’m going to go to 1 Peter, chapter 5, and we’re going to look at a couple of familiar verses, 8 and 9. So as you’re turning there, I just thought that I would point out that this is in the middle of a bigger, fuller thought that Peter is saying to his audience. In fact, this is the end of his letter, and he’s giving a final charge, which is common for a lot of New Testament letters.
First, he gives an appeal to the elders of the church and then to the youth. He talks about casting our care on God, and then he says this at the end, in verse 12: “With the help of Silas, whom I regard as a faithful brother, I have written to you briefly, encouraging you and testifying that this is the true grace of God. Stand fast in it.”
Last week, when I didn’t have my upload, I tried to give you my sermon as best as I could through memory…which wasn’t half bad, considering I hadn’t tried to memorize it. But it was called “Sit, Walk, Stand.” And I put up the whole sermon on our website if you want to read what it was supposed to have been. But I’m going to touch on the idea of Standing more today.
Scripture: So let’s go up a few more verses to 8 and 9. By the way, I’m going to be referencing a lot of scripture today, but this is the only scripture I’ll have you turn to.
Here’s what 1 Peter 5:8-9 say: Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 9 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.
Let me just briefly read you a second set of scriptures from James, which is very similar to this. In fact, I wonder if one sort of borrowed from the other because even the way this leads in is the same. Both Peter and James lead in by talking about being humble, then James says, “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.”
And I talked about double-mindedness not too long ago. That’s something I struggle with. But what do I want to say this week?
Satan isn’t a cartoon who is red with horns, a tail, and a pitchfork. But most importantly, he isn’t something we should be too frightened of.
But he is our enemy. Often, the Bible calls Satan our enemy, and there are times when I think people who are only a little familiar with The Bible understand the difference between “our enemies” plural and “the enemy” singular. I’ve seen it in articles in major liberal news magazines where people show their ignorance on that.
Our enemies––plural––are people we don’t get along with or even those who persecute us. We’re called to love them, even pray for them. The enemy––singular––is The Devil. We are called to resist him. How do we resist him? By standing firm in the faith. And then, he will flee from us. Isn’t that amazing? We think of the devil as something to be afraid of, but how often do we think of the devil as someone who is afraid of us?
I want to go to another passage briefly. This is something Jesus said in the Gospel of John: “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. 19 I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you. 20 However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”
This was after the disciples had come to him, rejoicing that they had cast out demons. And the point is to rejoice that we have the authority, not because we are mightier, but that we are His.
We have this authority because we are His. So we rejoice not because we have the power but because we have our names written in the Book of Life. Because our names are written in the Book of Life, we have authority over Satan. Because we are children of God and have the inheritance of The Kingdom, we, therefore, also have authority over Satan.
There’s a story in the book of Acts where some who were not actual Christians, but who were apparently scammers––or who wanted this authority or attention or wanted to make money off of this––were trying to cast out demons in the name of Jesus, but the demons recognized that they didn’t have the authority from Christ to do so. And so the demon-possessed man overtook them.
I told you last week that because we have two TVs and three of us, I’m kind of relegated to Youtube quite often, and I came across something interesting recently. I found some videos on the true stories of what inspired some exorcist-type movies––including The Exorcist and a few others. They were based on actual experiences, to a degree. But one of them intrigued me because it didn’t have a happy ending. And priests were involved. Eventually, the demon-possessed girl died. And you have to wonder, how did this happen?
And I’m going to have to come to the conclusion that even though they were priests, they did not have the power and authority of The Holy Spirit to “overcome all the power of the enemy.”
It kind of reminds me of the first episode of The Chosen, where Nicodemus was asked to perform an exorcism, but he couldn’t. And he said, “only God himself could do this.”
Just because someone calls themselves a Christian does not mean that they are and therefore have this authority––even priests.
Now, this is a more extreme case, and I’m not expecting us to go about and perform exorcisms, but think about the kind of authority we have in Christ. If we have that kind of authority over demons in other peoples’ lives, think about the authority we have over Satan in our own lives if Christ lives within us.
Going back to the gospel of John again, Jesus said:
43 Why is my language not clear to you? Because you are unable to hear what I say. 44 You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies. 45 Yet because I tell the truth, you do not believe me!
And I could go on a whole other sermon about that, and maybe someday I will, and it goes to explain the ignorance I talked about earlier when I said I’ve read articles in secular magazines that botch their understanding of scripture. Christ’s language isn’t clear to those who don’t know him. The Holy Spirit opens up our ears and understanding.
But notice what else Jesus says, Satan has no truth in him. “When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.”
Knowing this is step one in defeating Satan.
How was Jesus able to resist Satan in the wilderness? He knew that Satan is a liar and that there is no truth in him.
I recently posted something on our church’s Facebook page; it’s a list of how to be deceived in seven easy steps. Listen and see if this seems like where we are in our culture today:
- Question what God actually said. In the Garden, the snake asked, “Did God really say that you would die?”
- Second, twist what God said. “Surely you won’t die.”
- Paint God like the mean bully in the sky who uses fear tactics to keep you from having any fun. We can think of basically every rebellious thing in our society to put in that blank.
- Catapult your life into chaos and darkness, which basically means go ahead and do those rebellious things like the prodigal son did.
- Convince you that chaos and darkness are actually good things. A lot of the turmoil in our society today has to do with that.
- Lastly, rinse, cycle, and repeat. In other words, just listen to a second lie. How did we get so sexually deviant in our society today? How is it that there are churches that have drag-queen storytime for kids? Well, we listened to the first lie of free love back in the sixties, and here we are 50-some years later.
How is it that we have not been deceived? How can we keep from being deceived from here on out? I mean, when you have practically every TV show, news show, magazine article, entertainer, school district, and college trying to sway us to their way of thinking, how do we do it? Their arguments sound convincing…to a degree.
Peter says, “Be alert and of sober mind.” I’ve used this in a sermon as well, but let’s dive into it again. How do we keep from being swayed by Satan’s evil schemes? We have to be alert.
We have to do as Jesus did. Be aware that Satan’s native language is lies. If we look at what the secular world is believing and notice that it’s contrary to the Word of God, and there’s this certain something in our spirit telling us it’s not right, we have to conclude that it’s The Holy Spirit within us telling us that Satan is up to his old tricks again.
Asbury Bible Commentary says: “Having recognized the true enemy, they must alertly, steadfastly, and unitedly resist that enemy by their faith.”
We often think about resisting the devil when it comes to temptation, but there’s more to it. There’s more that we have to resist than temptation. The devil prowls around like a lion seeking whom he may devour. He is no respecter of persons. He’ll find any way he can to deceive in any way possible. That may mean tempting you, as he did Jesus, and that may mean leading you astray in the foundation of the Word of God.
Satan’s tactics are pretty obvious the more alert we become. I’ve seen a meme on Facebook that says, “We live in a world where Satan doesn’t even hide anymore, and yet people still can’t see him.”
We see his deceptiveness. We see how he’s leading so many people astray. But there are those who are so far gone they can’t even recognize him.
Why is that? Well, because the world is no longer alert. Not only does Satan prowl around as a lion, but when he does show up, he doesn’t show up like an angry lion; he shows up masquerading as an angel of light.
Satan is always dressed in disguise. He knows that people will not be thrown off course if he shows himself as he truly is, so he must disguise himself and his temptations as something good. Even the Bible says that sin is fun but for a season. I can’t tell you how many passengers I take who have fallen for Satan’s lies. Their lives have been messed up by drugs and alcohol, thinking it’s the way to go. And even though many have gone through rehab, some are going to methadone clinics; you should hear their conversations. Their lives are still messed up, and they don’t even realize it.
I’ve heard one passenger––I’ve mentioned her before, she’s the one that I think will eventually go to church––say that the devil will tell you 100 truths to get you to believe one lie.
It’s true. He’s crafty, and the Bible tells us that.
Gotquestions.org says: How can we discern which light is of God and which light is of Satan? Our minds and hearts are easily confused by conflicting messages. How can we make sure we are on the right path? Psalm 119 says, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path” (verse 105) and “The unfolding of your words gives light; it imparts understanding to the simple” (verse 130). The words of God have power. Just as God’s voice spoke physical light into existence, it can speak spiritual light into our hearts. Exposure to His voice – in His Word – will help us recognize the difference between the good light of God and that which is counterfeit.
It goes on to say that:
Darkness is a result of attempting to find truth without the Word of God. Sadly, as Isaiah says, when people do not have the “dawn,” they wander in darkness and often become angry at God, refusing to come to Him for help. This is why Satan’s masquerade as an angel of light is so effective. It turns white to black and black to white and gets us believing that God is the liar, that God is the source of darkness. Then, in our distress, we focus our hatred towards the only One who can save us.
Here’s another thing I’ve said recently. Paul warns Timothy that in the last days, people will be lovers of themselves and lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God. He goes on to say a whole lot more, but he also says that they will have a form of godliness but deny its power. They will always be learning but never able to acknowledge the truth.
Do you see how this all fits in? God wants us to “Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 9 Resist him, standing firm in the faith,”
Peter is telling Christians to resist the devil and to stand firm in the faith. He’s not saying, “the Devil prowls around for those people over there.” He’s including Christians in this. Like I said, the devil is no respecter of persons. He tempted Jesus, he gave him all he got, and so he’ll tempt us with all he’s got. Another passenger, whose life is still pretty messed up, at least recognizes the devil comes for everyone. And I said yes, sometimes he hits pastors harder because he wants to not only bring us down but discredit us, too.
And I have unfortunately seen that happen on more than one occasion.
So we must stand firm in the faith and resist the devil. And like James said, “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you.”
So, how do we resist the devil? By coming near to God. This is a promise. If we draw near to God, then God will draw near to us. There’s no wonder why we sense the Spirit of God here in this church. We come here to draw near to God. But you don’t have to come to church to draw near to God. Because of the temple veil that was torn in two, we can draw near to God wherever we are.
The writer of Hebrews put it like this: Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, [in other words, the veil that was torn in two] 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, [that is, Jesus] 22 let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith,
Because of the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross, the invitation to draw near is all throughout The Book of Hebrews.
Here are a few more scriptures:
- Hebrews 4:16 – Let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and may find grace to help in time of need.
- Hebrews 7:25 – He is able to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.
- Hebrews 11:6 – Without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who draws near to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.
This is a pretty lengthy quote, but I think it’s worth reading. John Piper, in a Palm Sunday sermon 25 years ago, said:
The great passion of this writer is that we draw near to God. That we come to his throne to find all the help we need. That we come to him confident that he will reward us with all that he is for us in Jesus. And this is clearly what he means here in Hebrews 10:22 because verse 19 says that we have confidence “to enter the holy place,” that is, the new heavenly “holy of holies” like that inner room in the old tabernacle of the Old Testament where the high priest met with God once a year, and where his glory descended on the ark of the covenant.
So the one command, the one exhortation, that we are given in Hebrews 10:19-22 is to draw near to God. The great aim of this writer is that we get near God, that we have fellowship with him, that we not settle for a Christian life at a distance from God, that God not be a distant thought, but a near and present reality, that we experience what the old Puritans called communion with God.
Drawing near is not a physical act. It’s not building a tower of Babel, by your achievements, to get to heaven. It’s not necessarily going to a church building. Or walking to an altar at the front. It is an invisible act of the heart. You can do it while standing absolutely still, or while lying in a hospital bed, or while sitting in a pew listening to a sermon.
Drawing near is not moving from one place to another. It is a directing of the heart into the presence of God who is as distant as the holy of holies in heaven, and yet as near as the door of faith. He is commanding us to come. To approach him. To draw near to him.
Lastly, this drawing near to God enables us to stand. Last week, I said that it was necessary to stand in the faith. And like last week, we need to think of the full armor of God in order to stand.
Ephesians 6: 10-13 says:
“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 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. 13 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.”
Everything that we do to resist the devil has to do with getting close to God, putting on our armor and standing. It’s a battle, and it takes intentionality on our part. It requires us to be sober, to be alert, and firmly plant our feet on the ground and stand. Whether it’s our own personal temptations that we have to resist doubt, fear, discouragement, or the “angel of light” lies of the culture that surrounds us. We have to draw close to God when we sense an attack, put on our armor and stand.
I’m going to let you read and study Ephesians 6 to be reminded again of what our weapons of warfare are, and you can go to our website and read through my sermon series on that this week if you’d like. Just because I’ve preached on it a couple of times doesn’t mean you can’t read it again. I think it’s important that we constantly remind ourselves of those things that are easy to forget. And unfortunately, scripture can be easy to forget.
Let’s immerse ourselves in God’s word and in his promises so that we will constantly know how to stand because the angel of light who prowls around like a lion is going to constantly bombard us from every angle with something.
This is an updated edition of a post originally published on First Baptist Church of Watkins Glen
Featured Image by James Wheeler from Pixabay
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