1 Peter: Resist the Devil
Notes
Transcript
This sermon, or parts thereof, may be used with attribution.
Introduction
Introduction
What would you do if faced with a hungry lion?
Now, he continues on the theme of handing out clear and firm instructions. His letter is coming to an end, so he’s making the most of these last few lines.
I’m sumarising our last portion of the letter with 3 things for Christians to be ready for:
Ready to Resist
Ready for Restoration,
and,
Ready to Remain in Grace.
Ready to Resist v8-9
Ready to Resist v8-9
Continuing on from the last verse, Peter has told the churches to humble themselves before God, and cast their anxieties upon Him.
Now, one could take this encouragement to humble themselves before God, and to give over our anxieties as some how relieving us from being active parties in what is going on around us.
I have problems? I come before God and tell him about them and then just leave the resolution up to him.
“Let go, and let God” is the trite saying.
To be sure there is a time and place for that saying, but believers must be sure that they let go what God wants them to let go, and to take hold of what he wants them to take hold of.
God asks us to throw our anxieties on him, because He cares for his children, but that does not mean that we’re now just passive wallflowers, at the mercy of divine providence. We do not let go of our wills and our abilities an our calling to stand, and in this case, we are told to be ready to stand against our greatest spiritual enemy:
He says:
Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.
Peter wants Christians to be prepared, and aware. Not asleep on the job.
Christians must be aware and sober minded.
It’s clear imagery - drunk vs sober. In drunkenness you can’t think straight, you can’t control your body and your mind. Your judgment is clouded - so much so that you might not remember the next day.
In sobriety, there is clear mind, control and order. There is awareness and true judgment.
So, the Christian must be on-task, ready for what might come. This kind of language is connected to the idea of watchmen, back in the day you would have watchmen on guard over a city, looking out for enemy attacks.
One of the most shameful things to do was to fall asleep on the watch, or be under the influence, because you were leaving the city open to attack.
Christians must be on guard; Alert and sober minded.
But what are believers on guard for?
We find out next: “Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.”
We’re on guard against our spiritual enemy. The Devil!
Kids, if you’ve got a piece of paper, maybe you could draw a picture of a roaring lion!
So that we can talk sensibly about this character, lets put some context around this figure “the Devil”
If you watched much more than a few hours of cartoons or maybe a b-grade horror flick, you might get the impression that there are two warring factions in the spiritual realm - the light side led by God (old white man in a robe with a beard), and the dark side led by Satan or the devil - as a red, goat-horned man with a pitchfork. They’re portrayed in pop-culture as being somewhat evenly matched.
Satan is usually billed as the king of hell, and God as the king of Heaven, and they’re battling it out over earth.
It may come as a surprise to you, that this has little foundation in Christianity. To be sure, there have been some wild and fantastical attempts by Christians to explain the spiritual world, but the truth of it is - we don’t know alot. But what we do know is laid out in the Bible. So here’s some facts about Satan to get it straight in our head...
Satan is not his name, neither is Devil or Lucifer. All of these are titles. Satan comes from Hebrew and means “adversary or accuser” like someone who would take you to court and make a case against you. Devil is our translation of the Greek word “diabolos,” which means “slanderer,” which is someone who makes false-accusations and tries to tear people down. Lucifer is much more weird and wonderful in that it doesn’t come from the Bible, but comes from a Latin translation of a Bible passage that appears to describe Satan as “morning star”. Even though these words are titles and descriptions, like the word “God” they have come to be used to refer to specific entities. We say “God” for shorthand meaning “The God”, God of gods, Most High God, LORD God, even though there are other entities who are called “gods” in the Bible. So to there maybe other devils and satans, but there is one particular figure who is so representative of those titles that he has become “The Satan” and “The Devil”. He is an embodiment of those qualities. He is also described as a serpent and a dragon.
Satan is not king of Hell. Hell is a place of punishment that was made for Satan and his helpers (Matthew 25:41). Hell is so awful, that even Satan doesn’t want to go there. Instead, Satan is described as a prince of this world, the one we’re living in - but he’s an usurper, he is trying to establish his rule and reign here, but it has been thwarted and he has been deposed by Jesus (Matthew 4:8–10, John 12:30–33).
Satan is not omnipresent. To be sure, the Devil is a powerful spiritual being, but he does not have God’s characteristics - he can’t be everywhere and once and know everything. Chances are he is not paying special attention to you specifically.
Satan may not look like a bad guy. Just like when you walk around the streets, you won’t find people wearing a uniform that says “I’m a criminal” or “I’m out to hurt people” - your learn to trust people based on their actions, not their appearance. Although Satan is one of the wonderful spiritual beings that God created, he was rebellious and turned against God. But he can still look the part of a “good guy”, he look like an “angel of light” (2 Corinthians 11:14). The way to suss him out is by his actions.
Satan is not evenly matched with God. Satan against God is "like a kid with a super-soaker trying to conquer Spain!” (Shai Linne - “Our God is in the Heavens”) It’s no match. God has been long-suffering with Satan, and used his evil schemes to bring about good, but there’s not some concern that maybe Satan will win out in the end. “For lo, his doom is sure” (Martin Luther - “A Might Fortress”).
Ok - so we’ve put to bed some common misconceptions about this evil figure called Satan. We can get back to the passage...
“Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.”
So, he’s out and about. He’s active. He’s looking for God-fearers to chew up.
He is utterly opposed to God’s kingdom, so he’s looking for ways to undermine it.
If I could be so bold as to make a Lord of The Rings reference - After the great and powerful wizard Saruman is defeated by the Ents, he is brought low. Isenguard is defeated and Saruman’s power is greatly diminished. The great tools used to evil effect are confiscated or destroyed - but he is left alive to wander in the world a while, and he goes to wreak havoc in the homeland of the Hobbits, the Shire. Although his power is greatly reduced, and his servants are severely diminished, he is still able to cause great hurt to the servants of Good. Although the great battles had been won, they still needed to be alert and ready to defend against the enemy diminished as he was, in their home town.
Jesus has defeated Satan: he has been hamstrung - but he’s still out and about. Hebrews says: “[Jesus] shared in [our] humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil - and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.” (Heb 2:14–15). And John writes “The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work.” 1 Jn 3:8.
So Jesus has come, and destroyed the devils work, he has broken the power of death by first dying himself, on a cross, and then by rising from the dead.
He now gives the gift of resurrection to anyone who would ask him for it, anyone who would put their trusting faith in Him!
For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.”
So, Satan holds less power over the Christian - even when threatened with death they can scoff - “pah, who cares! Where is Death’s sting”? “To me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.” (Php 1:21).
But, we can still be tricked and seduced by the Devil’s schemes. We can give way to his enticements and be drawn away from truth - so we are told:
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.
Kids, if you’ve got that piece of paper, maybe you could draw a picture of someone standing fast against the devil! Defending their position.
There is still real danger with regard to the Devil. There is still resisting to be done - defending to be done. He is an enemy looking for chinks in the amour to take advantage so we must stand our ground - alert and sober.
Be ready for his schemes that will drift into the church as strange teaching that is at odds with the Gospel of Jesus. There will be deceptive teachers; the Devil’s “servants also masquerad[ing] as servants of righteousness” 2 Co 11:15.
SO much of the world is already under the Devil’s sway; worshiping false gods, being self serving, loathing the God of the Bible, even though they don’t think he exists. So Satan doesn’t need to focus his attention there - the trouble for him is the Church, the bastion of truth and love in this present evil age. This is where he needs to deploy his forces and schemes to try and make headway.
We share this with believers everywhere. It’s not a localized bombardment, but other Christians are suffering in a similar way. Knowing that we’re not alone in this, it bolsters our resolve. It’s not just us, we’re in this together with churches around the globe. We can have a united front, knowing that Christ promised that his Church would always stand.
So we need to be ready to resist the Devil - as watchmen expecting an enemy rather than being distracted and drunk on the cares of this life.
A great place to start is the Armour of God. Kids, if you’re still doodling, you draw a picture of the Armour of God on your person standing fast against the devil!
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 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. 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. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, 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.
Ready to Resist
Ready for Restoration v10-11
Ready for Restoration v10-11
Now Peter turns to comforting words - almost a prayer. A reminder that it’s not just a hard slog in the mists of sufferings and trials - but that we have a caring and loving God. Peter says:
And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen.
Peter reminds Christians of the hope that they have. It’s tough in the suffering, but it will end. Soon enough the God of all grace will step in to set things right.
We’ve already discussed in former weeks how suffering can be to our benefit, so there is good reasons for God to allow our suffering for a time. But it’s only ever temporary. One way or another, the suffering comes to an end with God there to heal our wounds and restore us.
He does this in this life - when periods of difficulty and trials come to an end we have our resolve strengthened, and our faith confirmed. We find that we are grounded in our identity as Christians and strengthened for what lies ahead. The Holy Spirit too, operates in our trials, giving us the words we need to say, and enabling us up to endure by God’s power.
But, not all trials come to an end in this life. God does not promise a “happy ever after” for Christians in this life, in fact we are told that before following Jesus you should count the cost - because it is a hard road to Heaven. You will have to give up much of what you thought you loved, and endure great difficulty to reach the goal. “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it." (Mt 7:13–14).
Some will have especially hard roads to Glory - dying for the name of Jesus. Some on Roman crosses, some by literal lions in the ring, some by the hands of rioters in the streets, some by exposure after being turfed out of their homes, some by starvation, some at the hands of offended family members who think they are bringing their family honor, some are killed corrupt governments even to this day.
And yet, even for their suffering in this life, they will still feel the warm balm of this passage - “the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.”
Having passed through death, they are now untouchable, and they will rise again on the last day! They will have their bodies restored, they will have resurrection bodies; the fullness of embodied humanity, so that they might stand firm and steadfast in the Hew Heavens and the New Earth.
When Satan and his cronies are fully and finally dealt with, cast into the lake of fire,
When God judges the living and the dead,
When this world is consumed, burned up,
…then those who have suffered “a little while” will be restored to reign with Christ for a hundred-thousand-million years!
Christ is King, and his reign shall never come to and end! With the prince of this world deposed, God’s people will thrive in the light of his Eternal Glory!
This is what we are called for! For something so much more than the trifles of this life! And the “little” suffering that we may endure on the way there? A pittance! It is not worth comparing to the Glory this is being revealed!
The sacrifices that we make in the name of Christ? insignificant! The ROI on this is astronomical - lay down your worthless life now and get an eternal life in Glory!
But friends, eternal Glory with God is only going to be enjoyable for people who want to be there. God will give you what you ask for - ask for eternity with him, and he will grant it. Ask for eternity without him, and he will grant it.
If you heed the call, and come to God the Father, through the saving work of Jesus Christ, he will save you from the consequences of your sin (death), he will save you from the power of the Devil, and he will grant you eternal life. It’s a pretty sweet deal - so come and humble yourself under God’s mighty hand: confess your sins, repent of your cosmic rebellion, fall on God’s mercy. Put your faith and hope and loyalty in Jesus Christ - God in the flesh, who opened the way to God in Glory.
To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen.
Ready to Resist,
Ready for Restoration,
Ready to Remain in Grace v12-14
Ready to Remain in Grace v12-14
Peter has come now to close off the letter. It’s time for the final pleasantries, dealing with some practical matters and a final exhortation:
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.
So Peter mentions Silas, who maybe to those who took this letter around and read it out in all the ancient churches in what is now modern Turkey. He may have also had a hand in writing it, if it was dictated or something.
But Peter sums up what he has written about, summarizing his whole letter as “encouraging you and testifying that this is the true grace of God”. We have mentioned that suffering is one of the big themes in this letter, so it is no surprise here to see that he has been trying to encourage them who have suffered or will yet suffer.
But, as we know, this letter wasn’t just a big opportunity to give soppy epithets to his listeners and tell them, “there, there, she’ll be right” - he has couched everything he said in light of God’s gracious work through Jesus Christ. This letter then is summed up as “the true grace of God.” Despite all the stuff about suffering, this letter is truly Gospel - Good News - because it speaks of the wonder and work of God’s grace, even in the midst of circumstances that don’t feel all that “gracious”.
But that’s the thing - Peter is preparing them for that. He wants them well grounded in truth, so that they are not moved. So that they don’t fail when the going gets tough.
“Stand fast in the true grace of God”
This is for you too brothers and sisters - stand fast in this true Grace of God. Do not wander from it because of the devil’s schemes. Do not wander from it because of the sufferings you endure.
Live in this Grace, soak in it, stand fast.
This is why week in and week out we gather here, reading big chunks of the bible and giving so much attention to these lecture-type things we call sermons, so that we are taught and reminded about this grace in which we stand. It is easy to forget, and to be distracted, so we are sharpened each week, to be alert and sober for this time of exile before coming home to Jesus Christ.
Lastly, Peter signs off. He appears to use a coded refrence:
She who is in Babylon, chosen together with you, sends you her greetings, and so does my son Mark. Greet one another with a kiss of love.
Peace to all of you who are in Christ.
It seems he is writing from Rome, but he calls it “Babylon” as a metaphorical name, conjuring up the imagery of a great and powerful empire who was evil, and attacked God’s people.
The “she” he refers to is probably the Church there, and they send their greetings, Mark, the author of the Gospel of Mark, and companion to Paul & Barnabus gets a mention then the close:
“Peace to all of you who are in Christ.”
What now?
What now?
Ready to Resist the Devil,
Ready for Restoration in Christ
Ready to remain in true Grace of God.
Move on to 2 Peter in a couple weeks.