Preached Sunday, October 13, 2013 from 1 Peter 5:8-9
Theme: When it comes to the devil’s threats, we are to be alert and be steadfast.
(Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture references are taken from The Holy Bible, New King James Version; copyright 1982, Thomas Nelson, Inc.)
We come this morning to a very important passage of Scripture that deals with a very serious subject—the great enemy of our souls, the devil.
* * * * * * * * * *
I received an interesting note many years ago. Someone was considering coming to our church; but one of the questions that they wanted answered was whether or not I—as the pastor—believed that the devil was a literal being. It struck me as very sad that someone had to write and ask. But that’s the kind of world we live in today. Many dismiss the idea of a literal devil as out-dated and superstitious.
Well; for the record, I wrote back and explained that I very much do believe that the devil is a literal being. I believe that I’m in very good company too. The Lord Jesus Himself also believed that the devil was a literal being. The Bible tells us that He experienced literal temptation from the literal the devil in the wilderness. It tells us that it was the devil who had put it into Judas’ heart to betray our Lord. Jesus treated the devil as a literal being in His teaching—speaking of how the devil is “the enemy” who sows the tares with the good seed (Matthew 13:39). He spoke of the “everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels” (Matthew 25:41). He told those who opposed His teaching that they were ‘of their father the devil’; saying “He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is not truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it” (Matthew 8:44).
I told the person who wrote to me that—whatever else someone may think that it takes to be a “Christian”—it certainly must include the idea that we believe as our Lord believed and taught. And Jesus clearly believed and taught that the devil was a real being. Therefore, so should we.
In fact, I think it’s a very dangerous thing to deny that the devil exists. Over the past hundred years or so, it’s been popular to say that ‘the devil’ is simply a ‘rhetorical’ and ‘literary’ device—merely a symbolic personification of evil that was never meant to be thought of or taken as literal. But the way that the Bible speaks of him leads me to believe that we would be putting ourselves in great danger if we were to deny his literal existence. In the Scriptures, we’re told that the devil is the real enemy behind all our struggles for the faith. Paul wrote;
Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand (Ephesians 6:11-13).
The Bible teaches us that he is “the ruler of this world”. Thanks to our Lord Jesus, he is a “cast out” ruler (John 12:31), and a “judged” ruler (John 16:11). But he is still its ruler. And as the apostle John says, “the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one” (1 John 5:19). As the apostle Paul puts it, he is the “god of this age”—that is, of this whole, present, unbelieving world system that sets itself in opposition to the gospel of God’s Son Jesus Christ. Paul wrote;
But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them (2 Corinthians 4:3-4).
The devil is described in the Book of Revelation as the one “who deceives the whole world” (Revelation 12:9). He will ultimately deceive fallen humanity through the coming of his greatest ‘masterpiece’—the Antichrist; the ‘lawless one’. As Paul wrote;
The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved (2 Thessalonians 2:9-10).
How the devil loves it, then, when people deny his existence! How dangerous it is to do so! He is the most powerful of all the created beings that God has made; but he is also fallen, and is wicked, and is roaming this planet as a psychopathic murderer along with a host of fallen angels who are under his bidding. His is the hand behind the fall of mankind; and he is the mastermind of every murderous, wicked, hateful, deceitful, malicious, sinful action that has been committed among men ever since.
People who mock and ridicule the idea that the devil exists truly do so to their own eternal peril.
* * * * * * * * * *
Now; having said all that, I’m grateful that the devil—as powerful as he is—is a limited enemy. The Bible makes it clear in several places that he can only do what God permits him to do. And praise God!—He who is in us is greater than he that is in the world! (1 John 4:4). We don’t need to fear the devil. But we do need to remember that he truly is in this world—and so long as we are followers of Jesus in this world, we must take his presence in it very seriously.
And that brings us to this morning’s passage in 1 Peter 5. The apostle Peter had been writing to his brothers and sisters in Christ who were suffering persecution for their faith. He had been urging them to take a faithful stand for the Lord Jesus—even while in the midst of an environment in which it was culturally hard to be a follower of Jesus.
And near the end of his instructions to them about remaining faithful while undergoing opposition to the faith, he adds this final warning regarding the one from whom that opposition ultimately originates:
Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world (1 Peter 5:8-9).
I believe that it would be hard to find a more practical word for us who seek to be faithful followers of Jesus—living as we do in hostile times. And you can boil down what Peter has to tell us into two main appeals: “Be alert”—which is the appeal of verse 8; and “Be steadfast”—which is the appeal of verse 9.
* * * * * * * * * *
Let’s begin, then, by considering what is to be our ‘defensive response’ to the devil’s presence in this world; and that’s that we . . .
1. BE ALERT! (v. 8).
Peter writes; “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.”
When I read those words, I often think of the story of something that happened around a century and a quarter ago. I first learned about this actual event from a movie that was based on it. In the late 1800’s, the British began to build a railway bridge over the Tsavo River in Kenya. But the project was being severely and tragically hampered by repeated attacks from what turned out to be two very ferocious, man-eating lions. The lions would stalk the worker’s campsites at night, and drag helpless and terrified workers off to their lair—or sometimes simply kill the workers a short distance from the camp. Hundreds of workers began fleeing from the work site, and the project was being brought to a standstill.
The British authorities tried building fires to scare off the lions, and even construct traps to catch them. But nothing they did was working. The lions kept on attacking—dragging victims off in the darkness of night. Nearly a half a year after the lion attacks began, the project leader, Lt. Col. John Henry Patterson, successfully shot and killed one of the lions; but the attacks from the other surviving lion continued until it was captured and killed nearly three weeks later. Once it was determined to be safe, the workers began to inch their way back to the work site; and the work on the bridge resumed until it was completed. But all in all, Lt. Col. Patterson estimated that 135 human beings had been slain by the two “man-eaters of Tsavo”.
Now; I wonder; what would happen if it were announced over the radio that a lion had escaped from the local zoo; and was somewhere in the Forest Park area of greater Portland. Or what if—as actually happened in Southern California not long ago—a collector of exotic animals had lost control of some lions on his own personal compound? There would be minute-by-minute reports on the news! There would be several helicopters flying overhead! We would be told to stay in our homes and call the authorities immediately if we saw or heard anything! We would check to make sure our children were safe. We would take measures to make our homes secure. We would do our best to make sure that none of us were wandering around alone or in a state of vulnerability. We would be careful to stay together and look out for each other. We would all be on a state of alert.
Well; Peter is calling us to a state of alert in the household of faith. There is someone roaming this earth that is immeasurably more dangerous than a literal lion. We’re told that the devil “walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour”. One translation has it that he ‘prowls around’. How foolish and dangerous it would be to behave as if he really wasn’t there or to ignore his presence!
* * * * * * * * * *
Notice how Peter speaks of him. He refers to the devil as “your adversary”. The word “adversary” is one that refers to an opponent in a court of law. An adversary is in the fight to win. And that’s what the devil is. He’s an adversary who’s in it to win. What’s at stake for him is an eternity in the lake of fire; and so he is desperate and determined to make himself a winner in this cosmic battle—and to make all those aligned with Jesus Christ the losers. And note very carefully that Peter doesn’t generalize the existence of the devil in such a way as to merely say that he is a ‘vague’ threat. Take it, fellow believer, as specific as Peter puts it—the devil is “your adversary”.
And of course notice that he also calls him “the devil”. The word “devil” basically means “accuser” or “slanderer”. And that’s what the devil is. He is the accuser of God’s people. He speaks evil of them. He was the one who slandered the righteous man Job—telling God, “Does Job fear God for nothing? . . . stretch out Your hand and touch all that he has, and he will surely curse You to your face!” (Job 1:10). Revelation 12:10 tells us that he is “the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night . . .” Whenever you hear unbelieving people slandering believers, just know that such slander originates from the devil himself. (And by the way; let’s make very sure, dear brothers and sisters, that you and I never slander each other! When we do, we’re falling in with the devil in his own work!)
Peter tells us that the devil “walks about”. Back in the book of Job, we’re told that God asked Satan “From where do you come? And Satan answered, “From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking back and forth on it” (Job 1:7). When Peter tells us that the devil ‘walks about’ on the earth, I take it that he truly does so. The fact that he ‘walks about’ suggests that he is not ‘everywhere-present’, of course. He is limited to one place at one time—just as any created being would be. But he is, nevertheless, ‘walking about’—very much involved in the events that happen in various places on planet earth.
Peter tells us that he is walking about like a “roaring lion”. Now; I don’t know if you’ve ever been to the zoo when a lion roar can be heard, but I think it’s kind of fun—at the zoo! Whenever that happens, all the people visiting the zoo look around and laugh. It’s really cool. But if you heard that roar, and you weren’t in a zoo, it wouldn’t be so cool. Apparently, one of the reasons a lion on the prowl roars is in order to strike terror in the heart of his prey. They sneak up on their intended victim; and at just the right moment, let out a deafening roar that puts their victim into utter confusion—paralyzing it with fear. And I’m sure that’s what the devil does—capitalizing on fear and confusion in order to make us his victims.
And finally, Peter tells us why he walks around—’roaring’ as he goes. He is seeking who he may devour. The devil has no interest whatsoever in making us into his little ‘pets’. People often deceive themselves when they think that the devil simply wants ‘devoted followers’—that he simply wants “sympathy”, as the Rolling Stones like to put it. Literally, the devil is seeking who he may swallow up. His aim is our complete destruction.
* * * * * * * * * *
So; with all of that in mind, we need to pay careful attention to what Peter says at the beginning of verse 8. When it comes to the threats of the devil, our ‘defensive response’ is to be twofold.
First, Peter says that we are to “be sober”—or “self-controlled”. If you read that word “sober”, and are thinking about not being ‘intoxicated’, you’re understanding that word rightly. But it means more than simply not being ‘drunk’ with alcohol. It means that we not let anything fog-up our thinking; that we be ‘clear-headed’ and sound of mind. I believe this speaks to what is to be our inner state of being. An awareness that the devil is roaming about as a dangerous adversary—roaring like a lion that is seeking to throw us into panic and confusion—means that we ourselves ought to be walking on this earth in a state of clear-headededness. We should keep our wits about us.
And second, Peter says that we should “be vigilant” or “watchful”. The word that Peter uses happens to be favorite of mine, because it’s the one that my own name comes from. Grēgoreō means “to be awake” or “to watch”. We have to be on guard against the subtle ways that the devil attacks God’s people. His attacks wont come in obvious ways—but in deceitful ways that we aren’t necessarily anticipating. The apostle Paul once wrote to the Corinthian believers and urged them to forgive a sinner in their midst; “lest Satan should take advantage of us; for we are not ignorant of his devices” (2 Corinthians 2:11). Paul urged that potential leaders in the church not live double lives—that they “must have a good testimony among those who are outside, lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil” (1 Timothy 3:7). Someone once said that the devil knows how to spring a trap on a righteous man forty-years after that man thinks it’s safe. Pride, bitterness, a condemning spirit, discouragement, lust, division, greed, laziness—there are lots of ways that the enemy uniquely attacks God’s people.
You might say that these two words combine together to emphasize the fullness of what it means to “be alert”. Inwardly, we are to be clear-headed; and actively, we’re to be constantly on the guard. Our enemy is on the prowl. He is very powerful, very dangerous, and very present. We don’t need to hide in fear of him; but we do need to be on the alert against him—always being sober, and always being watchful for his subtle attacks.
* * * * * * * * * *
So; that’s what we would call our ‘defensive response’ to the threats of the devil. And then, in verse 9, Peter goes on to tell us what our ‘offensive response’ should be. Having told us to “be alert”, Peter goes on to tell us to hold our ground and . . .
2. BE STEADFAST (v. 9).
“Resist him,” Peter says; “steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world.”
When Peter tells us to “resist”, he doesn’t mean for us to “resist” the people who persecute us. Jesus is our example; “who”, as Peter told us earlier, “when He was reviled, did into revile in return; when He suffered, did not threaten, but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously . . .” (1 Peter 2:23). Jesus even taught us, “But I tell you not to resist an evil person. But whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also” (Matthew 5:39). Our warfare is not with flesh and blood. And very often, when we turn on our ‘flesh and blood’ persecutors in resistance, we actually end up playing right into the devil’s hands. Rather, who it is that Peter means for us to resist is the devil himself. As James put it, “Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you” (James 4:7).
But note very carefully how Peter says we are to resist the devil. Peter says, “Resist him, steadfast in the faith . . .” In other words, we resist the devil by not giving any ground to his threats, but remaining steadfast and unmoved from our stand on ‘the faith’—that is, to remain true to our confidence in the gospel of Jesus Christ. I believe we are to follow the example of our Lord, when He was tempted by the devil in the wilderness. Three times, we’re told that the devil sought to sway our Lord from His faithful obedience to the Father’s will. And each time, our Lord—as it were—pulled out the sword of the word, and thrust it forward with the phrase, “It is written . . .!” He quoted back to the devil what God had said, and refused to be moved from it. And that’s how we are to resist the devil. We are to be “steadfast in the faith”.
I believe that this is extremely important to remember when we’re living—as we are—in times of cultural hostility to our faith. The great temptation at such times is to compromise in our profession of faith, deny the authority of God’s word, and just go along with the flow of this world. But that’s exactly what the devil is seeking to make us do. And we resist him by refusing to do so. The Bible tells us, in the book of Revelation, that—during the most intense times of persecution—the saints will prove to have overcome the devil “by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death” (Revelation 12:11). The devil has everything at stake in making Christians ‘give in’ during a time of persecution. But we must not give in! “Resist him, steadfast in the faith . . .”
One of the ways that Peter says we’re to remain steadfast in the faith is through a deep union and solidarity with each other in the body of Christ. Peter says that we’re to be steadfast, “knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world”. Knowing that others of our brothers and sisters in Christ are experiencing the same sorts of attacks from the enemy and the challenges to deny their Lord—suffering brothers and sisters who are, nevertheless, standing faithful and strong; and who are resisting the devil, “steadfast in the faith”—encourages us to stand strong with them. Perhaps this is why the writer of Hebrews tells us, “Remember the prisoners as if chained with them—those who are mistreated—since you yourselves are in the body also” (Hebrews 13:3). Perhaps knowing about their sufferings, and remembering them in prayer regularly, helps to encourage and embolden us too!
And may I add one more implication from this? Don’t ever think that, as a believer in Jesus Christ, you can stand against the devil’s attacks on your own. When a roaring lion is walking about, seeking who it may devour, the most vulnerable condition to be in is on your own. For your own sake, don’t abandon regular fellowship with your brothers and sisters in the body of Christ—no matter how great the cultural pressure may be to do so! A key part of our resisting the devil is our union together in Christ!
* * * * * * * * * *
This warning about the devil is the last exhortation that the apostle Peter gives about being faithful to our Lord in a time of persecution. And in a way, it’s perhaps the most important exhortation of all. If we try to stay true to the faith in every other way, but end up forgetting to watch out for the great enemy of our souls— if we fail to understand that he is real; and if we fail to keep on guard against his attacks—we may easily become his victim, and lose much of what our Savior wants us to gain.
Have you ever seen that great movie, “To Kill a Mockingbird”? Do you remember that horribly disturbing scene in the movie when the rabid dog came loping down the main street of town? And do you remember how the boy’s father, Atticus, shot the dog? That rabid dog, of course, was now dead. But the father turned to his son and sternly told him to stay away from that dog until the authorities had come and taken it away. He warned his son, “He’s just as dangerous dead as alive!”
In a way, that’s how I feel we should view Satan. We don’t have to fear him in an ultimate sense. He is a conquered enemy. Jesus has defeated him for us once and for all. His destiny is now certain. He’s doomed to the lake of fire. But until the time when he is finally cast into the lake of fire, he’s still just as dangerous ‘conquered’ as ever; and we need to watch out for him so long as we are in this world.
So; let’s remember these two great exhortations from the apostle Peter when it comes to the threats of our already-defeated enemy, the devil: “be alert”; and “be steadfast”.