YOUR ADVERSARY THE DEVIL

 

I Peter 5:8-9—“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil,
as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: 
Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions
are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world."

 

Introduction: I Peter was written to help believers who were
going thru extreme persecution and suffering.

1. Chapter 5—Deals with suffering from the great persecutor-

   Satan.

2. Peter advises—“Be sober, be vigilant”

   a. Sobriety—A serious attitude of the mind—Don’t take the

      situation lightly

   b. Vigilance—Recognition of the presence of an enemy—

      Those who served in Vietnam or WWII, who saw a buddy

      killed by the enemy, knew how serious the situation was.

      They were serious-minded.

   c. A man would be an absolute idiot to go into combat with

      any other attitude or outlook. Yet some act like it is a

      Sunday School picnic.

I. THE STRATEGY OF SATAN—Vs. 8

   A. The Personality of Satan

      1. Adversary—Opponent, contestant, enemy, antagonist

         a. Time—When you got saved and delivered from sin,

            you incensed and antagonized Satan. As a believer, he is

            “your adversary”.

         b. Theme—opposition—contestant—Every time you do

            something for God, you will face opposition. You will

            be in a contest. Illustrate—In football you have an

            offense and a defense. Satan is the defense, the Church

            is the offense. He can’t keep the Church from scoring

            because the victory was won at Calvary! But Satan can

            make it tough, rough to cross the goal line.

      2. Accuser—“the devil”—He is a false accuser, a slanderer.

         a. He slanders God to us. He said to Eve, “God’s keeping

            something from you.”

         b. He slanders us to God. Job 1:9-10—“Then Satan

            answered the LORD, and said, Doth Job fear God for

            nought? Hast not thou made an hedge about him, and

            about his house, and about all that he hath on every

            side? thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his

            substance is increased in the land.” He accused Job of

            serving God only because God had blessed him and was

            good to him.

   B. The Plan of Satan

      1. Defiance—“as a roaring lion”—This is a roar of victory.

         a. A Lion “roars” after he kills his prey.

         b. A Lion “roars” to warn other animals to stay away.

         c. Satan has an “ego” problem. He is full of pride. This

            was the reason he was thrown out of Heaven. He will

            make you think, “There is no use to fight or flee”. All he

            wants is for you to surrender to him, just give in!

      2. Distinction—“walketh about”—Present tense—What is

         distinct about Satan is, that he is “constantly walking,

         constantly stalking.” Satan never relaxes, never leaves you

         alone. You could sue Satan for harassment.

      3. Devours—“seeking whom he may devour”—He pursues,

         and solicits.

         a. Solicit—peddle—trade—a door to door salesman

            (1) He solicited David through his feelings. He saw

               Bathseba bathing, and lusted after her.

            (2) He solicited Peter through his fear and he denied

               the Lord.

            (3) He solicited Ananias and Sapphira through

               finances and they lied about their giving. Satan will

               try to sell you a bill of goods, trade you out of

               your position, power, and property.

         b. Devour—katapino—“to eat down” not “to eat up.”—

            There is a difference. The purpose of Satan is to

            consume the believer by burying him in evil (depravity

            and its effects) or guilt (condemned), thus frustrating

            whatever usefulness he might have for the work of the

            Lord.

II. THE STRATEGY OF THE SAINT—Vs. 9

   A. Stand—“resist”—stand against or place against

      1. Illustrate—Water is a powerful force of nature but there

         is a structure that can stop water—It’s called a dam.

         a. A dam does not move forward or backward. It just

            stands.

         b. If a dam does move it cracks. The best thing is just to

            stand.

      2. Illustrate—The TVA was established in 1933 to control

         the rivers in Tennessee. They built 40 dams to control the

         water. What one dam could not control spilled over and

         another dam would catch it.

   B. “Steadfast”—Military term—Stand so close as not to

      allow a place for devil to enter the ranks. Ephesians 4:27—

      “Neither give place to the devil.”

      1. II Corinthians 2:11—“Lest Satan should get an

         advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices.”

         a. “Advantage”—means a toe hold

          b. In a military maneuver all that is needed is a

            beachhead. From the beachhead the army can launch a

            successful attack.

      2. “In the faith”—Sound Doctrine—Stand so close in the

         Word of God that Satan can’t get a toe hold.

      3. “Knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in

         your brethren in the world” It is good to know that we are

         not singled out, but every Christian has an adversary.

   C. Success—Vs. 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.”

      1. God has promised “grace” to help.

      2. “Make you perfect”—katartizo—means to “mend”

         usually mature

      3. “Stablish”—Sterizo—to set fast—to turn resolutely—to

         confirm

      4. “Strengthen”—Sthenoo—power—stamina—endurance

      5. “Settle”—Themelioo—to lay a foundation for