Sermon Tone Analysis
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Tone of specific sentences
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Anger
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*The Adversary*
*1 Peter 5:8, 9*
*3~/14~/99*
* *
Begin Slow, talk low.
Rise higher, take fire.
Introduction:
You may have read the Reader’s Digest article that talked about the dangers of road rage.
It told the story of a mini-war that took place on one of America’s roadways that had a very tragic ending.
One driver did something he shouldn’t have done, and another driver reacted very negatively (and no the driver was not Dr. Raiford from last week’s sermon!).
Before long, the two angry drivers were racing side by side down the interstate.
One of the drivers even pulled out a map, drove up next to the other vehicle, stuck his arm out the window and slapped the other car with it.
The end of the story is that a fatal accident took place which changed the lives of many innocent people forever.
I was very interested in how a state trooper responded in that Reader’s Digest article.
He mentioned that to get into a mini-war on the roadways violated one of the fundamental rules of warfare.
The rule is “know your enemy.”
Know what he has.
Know what he can do.
I believe the same principle applies in the Christian life.
We must know our enemy.
Big idea: Effective Christians are alert to the presence of the enemy.
* *
1 Peter 5:8, 9 (read it)
* *
I. The Identification of the Enemy (vs.
8a)
II.
The Strategy of the Enemy (vs.
8b)
III.
The Defense Against the Enemy (vs.
8,9)
I.
The Identification of the Enemy (8a)
A. Peter calls him our “adversary”
1.
The word is used at times of someone who is legally against another person.
Here it seems to refer to an opponent in general.
2. Satan is the sworn enemy of the believer.
a.
Let’s get one thing straight right from the start.
*Satan hates you! *Especially if you’re a believer.
His hatred runs deep for your Father, why shouldn’t it run deep for you?
Our Father banished Satan from heaven.
Our Father will one day sentence Satan to the lake of fire.
b.
It would only make sense that Satan would seek to strike out at God by striking out at believers.
Satan can’t touch God.
But he can touch us in a very limited sense.
c.
He see’s the children of the One Who has gotten him by the throat and he makes them a target.
B.
Our adversary has several titles in the Bible
1.
He is the “devil” (vs.
8) The name means false accuser or slanderer
a.
We see the devil in his prime as the accuser of Job. (Job 1:9-11)
b.
In the opening chapter of that book, Satan presents himself before God.
c.
God says to Satan, where have you been keeping yourself lately?
And Satan says, I’ve been roaming back and forth, up and down the earth.
d.
And God says, “well, have you seen my servant Job? Isn’t he a dandy?
He’s been faithful to Me!”
e. Satan’s response is somewhat of a scoff.
“Job isn’t such a great servant!
You’ve blessed him so much, how can he help but serve You?
I could get him to curse You! Let me have a whack at him, and he’ll turn his back on you so fast he won’t know what hit him!”
f.
And so God allowed Satan to do what he wanted.
g.
But notice a couple of things.
aa.
Satan was in God’s control
bb.
Satan accused Job of serving God for selfish gain.
That’s why he’s called the devil.
It means slander, the false accuser.
cc.
Revelation 12:10 says that Satan is the accuser of the brethren “which accused them [the brethren] before our God day and night.”
He’s the devil.
The great thing about it is that while Satan is accusing, we have an advocate before the Father which is Jesus Christ the Righteous.
(1 John 2:1)
2.
He’s called many other things than just the “devil”
a. He’s the Father of lies (John 8:44)
b. John 8:44 also tells us that “He was a murderer from the beginning.”
c. He’s called the tempter in 1 Thessalonians 3:5.
d. 2 Corinthians 11:14 states that he comes in disguise as an “angel of light.”
That’s a small wonder since one of his names-Lucifer- means “shining one” or “star of the morning.”
So we have a great enemy as believers.
He is powerful.
He should not be underestimated.
He is the devil, and he is a liar, a murderer and a deceiver.
II.
The Strategy of the Enemy (vs.
8b)
A. The comparison
1.
He hunts like a lion
2. “walks about”- prowls around.
Always on the move.
Going from place to place, and he’s looking, watching, observing.
3.
He knows the proper time to move in for the kill.
4. He’s a roaring lion- Peter is using some words here that would communicate volumes to his readers.
They undoubtedly had heard about the lions that the Romans used in their coliseum.
It may be that even as Peter wrote this, there were some readers who knew of Christians who had been torn to shreds by the lions of the Romans, because they stood for Christ.
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