Stand Firm In the Battle (1 Peter 5:6-11)

Introduction

In 1692 in Salem Village in Massachusetts, there was an outbreak of witch hysteria, and as a result, nineteen people were executed by hanging and one other crushed to death. At one stage over 150 people were in prison awaiting trial for witchcraft, and nobody was safe from accusation. Evidence was assembled, including the testimony of those allegedly bewitched, that spirits came out of the bodies of the accused and tormented their victims. Almost 300 years later, and at the other extreme, an American television channel broadcasted an interview with a woman who claimed that the devil was haunting her toaster. She was, nevertheless, still using it because, “when all is said and done, she said, “it makes good toast!”

Very few today would accept her evaluation of the toaster, but many might attribute their own anger or adultery or any other sin to the influence of demons. The notion that our sins can be blamed on invisible spirits may find no support in the Bible but it does offer an easy absolution from guilt. “The devil made me do it.” Spiritual warfare is understood in many ways, ranging from hysterical paranoia to total farce.

If you’re wondering why I’m talking about spiritual warfare and not the Book of Genesis, here’s why: I have observed over the past several weeks that some of us have been under attack from the enemy. In fact, some of you have told me that you feel the enemy’s attack in your own life and in your family. That put me on the alert even more, and I have a sense that our church is under attack. And here’s why I think this is happening: We’re dangerous.

Any believer and any church that is focused on making disciples, being salt and light in their community, committed to living a life of integrity and holiness is a threat to Satan’s schemes to keep lost people in darkness and divide and conquer believers and churches. We are that kind of church. God is at work in our church. He has promised us that He is making things new and will continue to bring newness to our church. He is adding to our church those who are being saved and those who are waking up to their need to follow Jesus wholeheartedly and serve joyfully in Christ’s church. The devil doesn’t like that; so he attacks, trying to distract, divide, and destroy.

For that reason, the Holy Spirit led me this week to shift our attention today from our series in Genesis and focus our attention on spiritual warfare, something that every growing church and believer will experience.

Today, we dive into 1 Peter 5:6-11, a passage that encourages and instructs us how to stand in the reality of spiritual warfare, particularly against the unseen evil forces at play in our spiritual journeys. Let’s dig in.

First, we learn that in order to stand firm in the battle,

1. WE HUMBLE ourselves before God. (5:6)

This is tough stuff. Everything within us seems to rise up and resist such a thought. We are taught that glory comes to those who aggressively make their way in the world. In fact, we are taught at an early age that if we don’t get tough with people, stand up for our rights, don’t allow people to use us as a doormat, we will never be successful in this world.

But God’s Word teaches us otherwise:

Proverbs 13:10 declares, “Arrogance leads to nothing but strife.”

Proverbs 26:12 asks, “Do you see a person who is wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.”

James 4:6 informs us, “God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble.”

Isaiah 2:11 reminds us, “The pride of mankind will be humbled, and human loftiness will be brought low; the Lord alone will be exalted on that day.”

Peter reminds us that our humility is “under the mighty hand of God.” What does that mean? It means that we enter the battle, and even fight it, on our knees, bowing in worship of Almighty God.

The “hand” in Scripture is a metaphor for power. God’s hand is mighty powerful. This is especially encouraging for those who are being daily bombarded by Satan’s attack. He is powerful, second only to God. When we humble ourselves before God and bow before His almighty power, we can be assured of a fantastic promise. It’s right here in verse 6: “so that he may exalt you at the proper time.”

Spiritual warfare is a dark and powerful oppression on our entire being. It wears us out physically, emotionally, and spiritually. We cannot pretend to fight the enemy in our own strength. In fact, Ephesians 6:10 command us, “Be strengthened by the Lord and by his vast strength.”

But we cannot experience His vast strength lifting us up if we are prideful. Neither can we if we pretend it’s not really happening, or pretend that there’s not really a devil in the first place. Neither is humility hiding in a cave and hoping the enemy will go away.

Many believers live in denial of Satan’s interest in their lives. Somehow, they have convinced themselves that a decision to stay out of the battle will exempt them from being drawn into the war with the enemy. General Longstreet was the commanding officer of the Confederate Army, second only to Robert E. Lee. At the battle of Gettysburg, an officer reporting to the general reported that he could not bring his men up into the battle again. Longstreet answered sarcastically, “Very well; never mind, then; just let them stay where they are; the enemy’s going to advance, and that will spare you the trouble.”

Our spiritual enemy is always advancing. But we do not have to fear. In the crucible of hardship, persecution, and suffering—all weapons the enemy wields against us—we …

2. Cast our ANXIETIES on God. (5:7)

The believers of Peter’s day were suffering terrible persecution. They had been forced to flee for their lives, leaving everything behind: homes, jobs, and possessions. They had only what they could carry by hand, and they fled to whatever places they felt were safe. They were, so to speak, an underground people, having to live, work, and worship in secret, finding housing and food wherever they could. They never knew when they would be discovered and forced to flee again.

Imagine the anxiety, pressure, tension, and stress they experienced. Yet there was great help: God was available to help them. Note that the exhortation is not only clearly stated, it is a command: “cast all your cares on Him, because He cares about you.”

Is that not incredible?! Almighty God, Creator of all things, Sovereign ruler of the universe: He cares about you and me. That is mind-boggling when you think about it.

In the heat of the battle, it is good to know that God cares for us. Yes, anxiety and grief are present. But remember, God is near too. Peter encourages us to pour out our hearts before God in the light of the knowledge of his concern.

George MacDonald, the great nineteenth-century writer, had a mother who put this very idea into practice. Her written prayer, dated May 29, 1820, reads:

We come dear Jesus to thy Throne

To open all our grief;

Now send thy promised mercy down,

And grant us quick relief.

Though Satan rage and flesh rebel,

And unbelief arise,

We’ll wait around his footstool still,

For Jesus hears our cries.

We cast our anxieties upon one who hears our cries. That is Peter’s word of encouragement for a people called to a life marked by humility.

Jesus words in Matthew 11:28 come to mind. “Come to me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”

In the heat of anxiety and distress, marked by humility and surrender to a caring Savior, Peter also commands us to…

3. Remain SOBER-MINDED and ALERT to the enemy’s tactics. (5:8)

I’m wondering if these commands were embedded in Peter’s personal history. On the night that Jesus was betrayed and arrested, Peter had gone with him into the Garden of Gethsemane to pray. On that fateful night, with all the world hanging in the balance, Peter slept. His mind wasn’t ready for battle. His body wasn’t prepared to be watchful. And as a result, he was ill-equipped to resist temptation when it came to him.

To be sober is the opposite of being intoxicated or under the influence. I’m reminded of Paul's instruction in Ephesians 5:18. “And don’t get drunk with wine, which leads to reckless living, but be filled with the Spirit.”

Peter is reminding us to avoid getting intoxicated or under the influence of the flesh and the world. Earlier in Peter’s letter, he exhorts his readers: “Therefore, with your minds ready for action, be sober-minded and set your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, do not be conformed to the desires of your former ignorance. But as the one who called you as holy, you also are to be holy in all your conduct;” (1: 13-15)

In these verses. Peter connected sober-mindedness to spiritual transformation and holiness. He explained this means leaving behind a former way of life characterized by the desires of the flesh. It is a life of obedience, obedience to God’s Word. This teaches us that being sober-minded is not just a state of being -not at all passive -but a focused way of life.

Paul challenged the church in Thessalonica. “So then, let us not sleep, like the rest, but let us stay awake and be self-controlled. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night. But since we belong to the day. let us be self controlled and put on the armor of faith and love, and a helmet of the hope of salvation.” (1 Thessalonians 5: 6-8)

Both Paul and Peter are calling us to a life of vigilance.

What are we watching for? Why are we on the lookout?

We must bend in humility in submission to the Lord’s power, resting in His watch-care, free from the intoxication of the flesh and sin, wide awake and alert, because the devil, our enemy is on the prowl. The enemy is at work, constantly.

The roaring lion is a picture of anger, strength, fierceness, and cruelty. Satan is being pictured as angry (against God and all believers), strong, fierce, and cruel. But we’re not only to be aware of his powerful presence but also his tactics. What are they?

He is a liar, and twists the truth of God’s Word. John 8:44 “You are of your father the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he tells a lie, he speaks from his own nature, because he is a liar and the father of lies.”

He is an accuser. Romans 8:33–34 asks, “Who can bring an accusation against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies. Who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is the one who died, but even more, has been raised; he also is at the right hand of God and intercedes for us.” Who is the one who condemns. When the devil brings to mind old sins, accusing us of being unfit for Christ’s kingdom, we need to remember two Scriptures: Romans 8:1 “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus.” And also, Micah 7:19 “He will again have compassion on us; he will vanquish our iniquities. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.”

He is a tempter. He tempts us to give in to the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. 1 John 2:15–16 “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride in one’s possessions—is not from the Father, but is from the world.”

He uses people to hinder us. Matthew 16:23 are Jesus words of response to Peter’s claim that Jesus’ death on the cross would never happen. Jesus turned and told Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me because you’re not thinking about God’s concerns but human concerns.”

He is a deceiver. In 2 Corinthians 11:13–15, Paul explained that some people “are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. And no wonder! For Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. So it is no great surprise if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will be according to their works.”

If we look carefully at Peter’s description of the devil, it becomes very clear how clever and deceptive Satan is. Peter likens the devil to a lion on the prowl. In describing Satan as a lion, he chose as image that the Bible regularly uses to refer to the Messiah. Revelation 5:5 “Then one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep. Look, the Lion from the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered so that he is able to open the scroll and its seven seals.”

Satan is the great, powerful, but cheap imitation of Jesus, the true Lion of the tribe of Judah.

That is one of his primary tactic. He parades around in a cheap costume, presenting himself as an angel of light.

In C. S. Lewis’s The Last Battle, an Ape named Shift begins to take all earthly glory for himself. He enlists the assistance of a tired old donkey named Puzzle. Having come across an old lion’s skin, the Ape sews it into a cumbersome costume and parades the donkey around in it.

“Come and try on your beautiful new lion skin coat,” said Shift. “Oh, bother that old skin,” said Puzzle. “I’ll try it on in the morning. I’m too tired tonight.” “You are unkind, Puzzle,” said Shift.… “My dear Shift,” said Puzzle getting up at once. “I’m so sorry. I’ve been horrid. Of course. I’d love to try it on, and look, it looks simply splendid. Do try it on me at once. Please do.” “Well stand still then,” said the Ape. The skin was very heavy for him to lift, but in the end, with a lot of pulling and pushing and puffing and blowing he got it onto the donkey. He tied it underneath Puzzle’s body and he tied the legs to Puzzle’s legs and the tail to Puzzle’s tail. A good deal of Puzzle’s grey nose and face could be seen through the open mouth of the lion’s head.

No one who had ever seen a real lion would have been taken in for a moment. But if someone who had never seen a lion looked at Puzzle in his lion’s skin, he just might mistake him for a lion—if he didn’t come too close and if the light was not so good and if Puzzle did not let out a bray and did not make any noise with his hoofs.

“You look wonderful, wonderful,” said the Ape. “If anyone saw you now they’d think you were Aslan, the great lion himself.”

Later King Tirian, under the night sky, saw the pretend lion for who he really was. “Then the yellow thing turned clumsily round, and walked, you might almost say waddled, back into the stable. And the Ape shut the door behind it.”

Puzzle and Shift tried to pull off the impossible. And so it is with Satan. He is a cheap imitation of the Great Lion. So don’t be overcome by the fact that he “prowls around like a roaring lion.” The more we know the Truth, who the real Lion is, the quicker we will spot the deceiver. Remember his true self. He is nothing more than a stubborn and rebellious donkey living out his rebellion against God.

Therefore, take heart.

4. RESIST the enemy with FIRM faith. ( 5:9)

“Resist him.” Stand “firm in your faith.” Do not be overcome by this imitation ruler. The Great Lion, Jesus, demands all your allegiance.

The word resist means “to be hostile toward; oppose, rebel; to set one’s self against.

How do we do this against such a powerful and persistent foe?

In Ephesians 6:14–19, Paul tells us how. “Stand, therefore, with truth like a belt around your waist, righteousness like armor on your chest, and your feet sandaled with readiness for the gospel of peace. In every situation take up the shield of faith with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit—which is the word of God. Pray at all times in the Spirit with every prayer and request, and stay alert with all perseverance and intercession for all the saints. Pray also for me, that the message may be given to me when I open my mouth to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel.”

Paul took something that most in his day would be familiar with: Roman armor. He used the pieces of the Roman armor to describe the spiritual weapons that God gives us to fight our spiritual battles.

The belt of truth is Jesus. The soldier’s belt was very important for two reasons: it cinched up the tunic that he word underneath the armor; and every weapon he carried into battle was attached to the belt. This provided a “hands-free” entry into battle, so that he could wield the appropriate weapon at the appropriate time. All of our spiritual weaponry hangs on the belt of truth, which is Jesus. Jesus said, “I am the way, the TRUTH, and the life.” Jesus said, “If you know the truth, you will be set free.” When we go into spiritual battle, we need to know the truth of God’s Word and the truth that the power we have in Jesus is all we need. 

The breastplate is righteousness. The Roman soldier wore a thick, leather chest armor that protected his heart and lungs and other vital organs. Paul explained that our spiritual armor is righteousness; that is remaining in good standing with God. This means that we are obeying God’s Word and confessing our sin to God when we disobey. When we obey God’s word, we protect our spirits from guilt and shame. This gives us confidence.

The sandals are our commitment to the gospel. The gospel — the death, burial and resurrection — is a spiritual power that has already defeated Satan. When we take our commitment to the gospel message into the daily battles and struggles of life, we are reminded of Christ’s resurrection and the victory that is ours, in His power.

The shield is faith. Every soldier took a shield into battle. The shield was the size of the soldier, so that his whole body was protected from stones, arrows, javelins, or any other weapon thrown or shot at him. Notice that our faith extinguishes ALL the flaming arrows that Satan fires at us.

The helmet is our salvation. The Roman soldier’s helmet not only covered his head, but also his face, including his eyes and the bridge of his nose; and it also covered the sides and back of his neck. This protected him from decapitation, and protected his eyesight as well so that he could see the enemy. Our salvation gives us security. Satan cannot destroy us, cannot destroy our salvation, and our helmet gives us the proper perspective and vision not only to see the enemy but also to win the battle. 

The sword of the Spirit is God’s Word. Notice that this was the only offensive weapon that Paul identified. The Roman soldier had other weapons on his belt, but Paul only identified the sword. This was the short broadsword that the Roman soldier used in hand-to-hand combat. This implies that our spiritual battles are very personal: up close. And our weapon is God’s Word. This instructs us to read it, study it, memorize it, and most of all obey it. This was Jesus’ weapon when He was tempted in the wilderness. In response to every temptation that Satan threw at Him, Jesus quoted Scripture. We can do the same. God’s Word is our weapon against spiritual deceit, lies, doubts, and temptations that Satan puts before us. 

Not only do we enter the battle armored up with God’s spiritual weapons, we enter it prayed up. Paul instructs us to “pray at all times.” Prayer is where we receive God’s battle plan. Prayer is where we receive encouragement and instructions from our commanding officer. Prayer is a power tool that God has given us for every battle we face.

Now we come to verses 10-11 and see a great comfort and hope. Peter reminds us …

5. Trust the Lord to RESTORE and STRENGTHEN us in our suffering. (5:10-11)

He is the “God of all grace.” Grace is not only dispensed when we are saved, it is dispensed and poured out on our every need. Hebrews 4:16 commands us, “Therefore, let us approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in time of need.”

He is present and powerful in our suffering. Remember last week’s lesson: God is the God who sees and comes to our rescue. Christ Himself …

Restores us: He replenishes us, reforms what is broken. The word is used in other texts to describe mending what is broken.

Establishes us: He sets us on our feet, the feet of faith.

Strengthens us: The word speaks for itself. He empowers us with His strength.

Supports us: He not only sets us on our feet, He puts us on a firm foundation: He is our firm foundation.

What a comfort and hope, indeed, to know that throughout the battle, and when we come out on the other side, Jesus is present, powerful, provisional, and picks us up when we fall.

I’m reminded of the wilderness temptation that Jesus endured. In Matthew 4:11, we read that “(When) the devil left him … angels came and began to serve him.” Jesus Himself is present to minister to us during and after the battle.

Now let’s put this all together with four preparations, daily practices, to be victorious in our battles.

Application (putting God’s Word into practice)

Repent of PRIDE and SELF-sufficiency.

Trust God’s POWER.

Daily put on the armor of God through PRAYER, and GOD’S WORD

EVALUATE your heart daily for DISOBEDIENCE and PRIDE.