1 Peter 5:8-11

1 Peter 5:8–11 KJV (WS)

8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: 9 Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world. 10 But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you. 11 To him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.

Introduction - SLIDE #2

This is really the last word of teaching that Peter has for his readers. PT #1

Much of this letter has dealt with the matter of doing right even in the midst of persecution and suffering.

When the wickedness of the world is glaring in our eyes, it can be easy forget Paul’s words that we wrestle not against flesh and blood.

The people that afflict and mock God’s children are not really our enemies.

Not even the deep state or the European elites that run the world from behind closed doors.

We have an enemy that is greater than all of these. PT #2

Peter sounds the warning for this enemy.

He gives us directions for defeating him.

And he gives us encouragement for the battle.

We have an enemy. vss 8-9 - SLIDE #3

It is so important for believers of all ages to remember that there is a very real enemy that opposes everything that God does.

Satan, the devil, hates God and seeks to thwart any of God’s plans. PT #1

He will do anything he can to disrupt what God is doing or to strike what God loves.

We are made in God’s image so Satan hates all of humanity.

If you are a child of God then the devil hates you even more.

Satan would love to see every Christian waste their life in useless pursuits or embarrassed by habitual sin.

Because his time is short, Satan is always active and always looking for an opportunity to overwhelm us.

We think about our church and other churches, his aim is to sow discord and break fellowship by malicious suggestion.

This thing, the church is God’s best plan for reaching the world with the gospel.

Satan hates that.

He opposes it.

Especially a church that is seeking to do something for the kingdom.

His name means adversary.

It is the same word as an opponent in a lawsuit.

Satan demands respect because of the danger he poses.

He has great power, intelligence and a host of demons.

He is a formidable enemy.

We must never joke about him, ignore him, or underestimate his ability.

The good thing is, though, we have an advantage.

We know his plan.

God uses Peter to reveal it to us here in this passage.

We know that, as the serpent, Satan deceives.

Now, as the lion, we see that Satan devours. PT #2

A missionary to Africa once gave three keys for surviving an encounter with a lion.

Never run - the lion is faster than you - you will die.

Try to look very brave.

Stare straight into the lions eyes.

He may back down and leave you alone.

Be prepared for him to attack.

He wants to attach because of who you are. PT #3

Hold up your spear.

That way, if he jumps on you, he will impale himself.

The devil lion is not silent, stealthily prowling around.

He is letting his frightful roar sound forth.

If you are going to traipse through lion territory, you best keep a clear mind and stay alert. PT #4

We must not despair, but we also need to be realistic about the threat.

Satan has already slandered them, now he would attempt to consume them.

The word for devour is illustrative of a lion licking up the blood of his victim after tearing them open.

We must stand our ground and raise our weapons. PT #5

God has given us a strategy for standing against Satan. - SLIDE #4

His presence demands that we remain sober.

We must maintain control of our minds.

Part of this soberness requires us to stop blaming everything on the devil.

People see a demon behind every bush.

They blame Satan for headaches, flat tires, and bills.

We know Satan can inflict physical sickness and pain.

These are only tools to accomplish his true goal which is to make our lives a reproach to the name of God, which we bear.

Sobriety of mind for the Christian has to with what we think about.

What occupies your mind throughout your days?

I would dare say that most of us, probably don’t give the devil much thought.

We seldom consider how this relationship, or this media, or this decision could be a ploy of Satan to devour us.

We must be vigilant or always on guard.

Vigilant means to be awake.

If you’re going to be woke as a Christian, i would submit to you that you should be woke in regards to the dangers and devices of Satan.

It does us know good to bury our heads or distract ourselves from reality.

The reality is that in addition to your own flesh, and the natural attacks of the world, there is a devil that is trying to lure you away from a close relationship with your God.

The sooner we admit this, the sooner we can address it.

We must resist the devil. PT#1

Remember the advice of the missionary for facing off with a lion.

Peter agrees with him here when he says we must not flee, but stand fast in our faith.

Do not allow fear or deceit cause you to abandon what you know in your spirit to be right

You have been trained and taught what the Lord expects of us.

Do a search on your Bible for the words “will of” and you will see some of the most plain verses telling us what God desires for us.

Let me give you just two examples.

1 Thessalonians 4:3 “3 For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication:”

1 Thessalonians 5:18 “18 In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.”

If God’s will is for us to abstain fornication and be thankful is it any wonder that Satan invests so much effort to make us ungrateful and immoral?

Stand fast against Satan’s attacks.

Stand your ground, but also, don’t forget to raise your weapon.

By ourselves, we are no match for either a lion or for Satan.

We would all be deceived by Satan were it not for the weapons God has gifted us.

Holy Spirit and the word of God.

We must withstand him the way Jesus withstood him, with the word of God.

We resist him by being unmoveable.

Victory is promised if we will resist him.

James 4:7 “7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”

I don’t know about that…

We should gain strength from knowing that our brethren are standing against the same attacks throughout the world. PT #2

Chinese Christians

Iranian Christians

The 40 Roman soldiers of Sebaste.

Renounce Christ or freeze to death.

Warm baths and campfires set up on the shore.

One renounced; he was replaced by one of the guards.

In the morning the survivors were killed.

These all face fiery trials without fleeing.

They find that in those trials, they not only have the weapons to resist Satan, but they also have an ally. Pt #3

We have an ally. vss 10-11 - SLIDE #5

Our ally never slumbers or sleeps.- SLIDE #6

As active and unceasing as our enemy is, our ally is even more.

What’s tragic is that so many people view God not as more of an adversary than an ally.

Those who come to him in humility as we learned about last week find that rather than an adversary, he is a friend and advocate..

The adversary is the one that opposes you in court.

Jesus wants to be our defense against the accuser.

He does this by making his grace available to us. PT# 1

God in the wealth of his grace can be trusted.

He is the God of of all grace.

This means that He has the grace that covers every need and is available to every member of Christ’s family.

Part of his grace, is the confidence we can have that we are headed for glory.

This is certain and so, any suffering we experience here is only temporary. PT# 2

With this end in sight, Peter shares how God intends to get us there.

We don’t just know Satan’s plan, we also know our God’s plan for us..

The verbs that we are about to see are describing God’s future work and constitute a promise. PT# 3

What that means is that even if you don’t feel like these things are true for you yet, they will be.

This is part of the fulfillment of verse 5.

This is the grace that God gives to those that are humble.

Those that say, I can’t stand against this lion on my own, I need help.

Here’s what God gives us.

Confidence that He has called us to glory.

So much of this life is messy and ugly.

This is true for all humans, saved or not.

No matter how fiery a trial may become, the Christian always has hope.

Suffering is for awhile.

It is temporary.

When we leave this life, we go to our glory.

For the lost, this is not true.

For the saved, we stand on this truth that the only suffering we will ever face will be in this life and is temporary.

Glory is forever.

Next Peter says that He will make us perfect. PT #4

To be made perfect means that God will equip you with what you need.

If there are pieces missing, He will make you fit together.

The word most commonly is used to communicate the act of mending.

Perfect is the word used for the fisherman’s chore of mending nets.

Have you ever seen what someone else has been able to do and thought, I could never do that?

This verse says that if God brings you to a similar situation He will fill in any gaps in your armor with exactly what you need.

Thirdly, Peter says that God will stablish us. PT #5

To fix firmly.

Have you ever watched Animal Planet, or Jurassic Park?

These lions or velociraptors are tricky.

One predator will draw the attention of the prey.

He will distract the potential meal while other hunters come up from behind where the prey is not looking.

It can be unsettling when you are being hunted and you don’t know where your enemy might pop out and attack you.

The greek word that is used to communicate God’s help here, means to turn resolutely in a certain direction.

We don’t know where every attack will come from.

We may not know where all of our weak points are.

But God does.

He will point us in the right direction as we yield to him.

Next, He will strengthen us. PT #6

This means he gives vigor to those lacking energy.

Vigilance is needed for this conflict.

Vigilance takes energy and strength.

Energy and strength that you and I cannot produce enough of.

That’s why God is able to give us strength beyond our ability for the battles we face.

Finally, He will settle us. PT #7

This sounds like stablish, but it’s different.

Stablish has to do with the direction of our defenses.

Settle means to lay a foundation.

By settling us, God gives us a firm foundation for us to work off of.

Whether you are a martial artist, a football player, or a construction worker, you know how important it is to operate off of a firm foundation.

It is the difference between victory and defeat.

What is our firm foundation?

I believe it’s Jesus.

His love and care for us.

When we firmly settled in Jesus, Satan can not knock us off balance

Why does God do all this for us?

When we stand in his strength against Satan, and we win, He gets the glory. PT #8

Our victory is never our victory.

It belongs to him because without Him, we are nothing.

Dominion has to do with His reign over His kingdom.

He is sovereign over all things.

When we submit to Him, His power is manifested to to others.

Who does your life prove you are a servant to?

Do you yield your life to the will of Satan or to God?

Satan will devour you.

God will lead you to glory.

Application

We have to take this passage and realize that we are in a constant standoff with Satan.

You cannot run away from this.

Your status as a human made you a part of this battle.

If you are a Christian, though, you have a duty to stand against our enemy.

You are not alone, though, you stand shoulder to shoulder with your brethren who are in the same fight.

We all have an ally in our heavenly Father.

He will guide us safely to our home in glory.

He has never lost a single one of his children.

He has equipped us with everything we need to withstand the devil.

We still have a responsibility to do our part.

Be sober.

Be vigilant.

Accept that we have an enemy.

Keep your eyes peeled for his advances.

Conclusion - SLIDE #7

We can have victory over the lion devil.

If we resist, he will flee.

Will you resist?

You are not alone.

You have everything you need to fight and win. PT #1

Give glory to God in your fight against Satan.