Resisting the Devil
Living Hope • Sermon • Submitted
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Dig a little deeper
Dig a little deeper
We typically like easy, accessible solutions to problems we face.
Quick fixes, simple explanations, list of steps we need to take, medication that will fix the problem.
My Dr. put me on a acid re-flux medication. I asked him if there is anything i could do to reverse the reflux.
He said if I lost weight it would likely help, but most people won’t do that so they just take the medicine.
I still take the medicine.
But we know problems we face and struggles we go through are not always solved quickly, easily, or through a set of simple to follow steps.
last week we talked about our battle with anxiety.
I had several people speak about the timeliness of the message, which is a testament to God’s sovereignty to speak the word we need to hear when we need to hear it.
With the world we are living in constantly in what seems like chaos, anxiety, worry and fear are deeply real struggles for many of us.
If things weren’t confusing and complicated enough, let’s talk about the role of Satan and the demonic in our everyday struggles.
8 Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. 9 Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. 10 And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. 11 To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen.
There is no transition between casting our anxieties on our caring king and being sober-minded and alert concerning Satan.
He is not saying that our struggles and problems all come from Satan, but that the battles we are fighting are not just physical or mental battles, there is a deeply influential spiritual component that we must be alert to and actively engaged with.
KNOW our ENEMY.
KNOW our ENEMY.
8 Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
“Be alert and vigilant” is perhaps another way of saying what Peter is saying here.
To be sober-minded is to be clear-headed about the danger that exists.
We be watchful means to remain aware of the threat that is very much at hand.
I think we are generally unclear or even altogether uninformed in regards to how Satan and the demonic influence our lives.
Maybe it is a conscious decision to ignore or minimize the topic, or it is just an unconscious avoidance that keeps us in the dark.
Either way, Peter’s agenda here is to wake us up to the reality that the devil is not only real, but he has an agenda and he is actively scheming against us.
He wants us to be “right-minded” and “looking around” for the ways and schemes
Satan is compared to a prowling lion looking for his next meal to kill and eat.
He is a roaring lion who is seeking to intimidate us into fear and cause us to succumb to his temptations.
Three Schemes of the Evil One
Three Schemes of the Evil One
1) TEMPTING us to Sin
1) TEMPTING us to Sin
31 “Simon, Simon, look out. Satan has asked to sift you like wheat. 32 But I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And you, when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.”
5 For this reason, when I could no longer stand it, I also sent him to find out about your faith, fearing that the tempter had tempted you and that our labor might be for nothing.
It is important for us to understand, Satan does not make us sin, so we cannot blame our sin on Satan and thus be free from the penalty of it.
He does not have that kind of power, but
What he lacks in power he makes up in knowledge and influence.
He knows our weakness and he exploits our weaknesses.
If it is drinking then he will tempt us in our weak moments toward alcohol.
If it is lust and pornography, then in stressful times or idle times he will tempt us to with our phones.
If it is money he will tempt us toward greed and stringiness.
If it is anxiety he will lead us to make concerns in our lives bigger than they are or tempt us to dwell on them until we are overwhelmed.
He knows where we are weak and if we are not aware, he will lead us further and further down the slippery path of sin.
2) ACCUSES us of Sin
2) ACCUSES us of Sin
10 And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God.
If it wasn’t enough that Satan and the demonic tempt us to sin, he is right there to meet us on the other side to heap guilt and shame on us because of our sin.
The bible causes Satan the accuser or the slander pointing to his evil scheme to
3) Speak LIES to us
3) Speak LIES to us
44 You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do 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 lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.
Satan is a liar, the language he speaks is lies and not truths.
His intention and purpose is to confuse and confound our minds so that we do not know what is true and what is right.
4 In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
He uses social media, political figures, entertainment, new media, friends, family, our own ignorance and misunderstanding.
He wants us to believe lies, he needs us to believe lies.
What a tool, what a resource. The bible clearly shows us the Schemes of the Evil one and we must know our enemy if we are to stand firm against him.
RESIST our ENEMY
RESIST our ENEMY
9 Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world.
1) Standing FIRM in our FAITH.
1) Standing FIRM in our FAITH.
Knowing what is true
How do we battle the temptation of the evil one?
13 No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.
Recognizing sin for what it is.
By trusting in the faithfulness of God WHO will not let us be tempted beyond our ability, but will provide a way out.
How do you battle the accusations of the evil one?
11 And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death.
The blood of the lamb- reminds us of the gospel, that even in our sin Christ’s blood makes us clean.
The Word- the word of God speaks the truth of our identity as sons and daughters of God.
We have rights and privilege as the children of God that Satan cannot take away, but he can question them.
How do we overcome the lies and confusion of the evil one?
5 For we are not proclaiming ourselves but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’s sake. 6 For God who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of God’s glory in the face of Jesus Christ.
Proclaim the truth of Jesus
Shining light into the darkness in order that the knowledge of God’s glory will shine in our hearts.
trusting in our faithful and mighty God
This is the foundation (using the analogy of a building withstanding strong winds or shaky ground)
2) UNITED by shared IDENTITY.
2) UNITED by shared IDENTITY.
We suffer with all Christians across time and geography who are living for Christ and according to His ways.
We are not isolated or seeking to stand on our own.
A lion will look for one who is isolated as easy prey.
This is the lateral support that keeps us standing firm and resisting the devil’s schemes (analogy)
ENTRUST ourselves to our GRACIOUS GOD.
ENTRUST ourselves to our GRACIOUS GOD.
Entrust means to give ourselves over to in full confidence. (SECURITY- like a 5 point harness)
The trials we face here and now are challenging, and there is no promise they will get better in this life, but there is a promise from our faithful God that they will one day end.
“After a little while” points to the brevity of life. What might seem like forever for us is only a blip on the radar in the eyes of God.
And once that “little while” is through, we can rest in the gracious, saving arms of our Father.
Who called us out of darkness and into marvelous light.
Who is faithful to all His promises
and Who cares for us
And He, Himself, will
restore us (temptation and sin),
confirm us (accusation),
strengthen us (lies and sin),
and establish us (free us)
Regardless of how challenging the circumstances or how loud the evil one seems to be, we must rest in the fact that our Gracious, faithful, and caring God has dominion forever and ever, AMEN!
1 I lift my eyes toward the mountains. Where will my help come from? 2 My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth. 3 He will not allow your foot to slip; your Protector will not slumber. 4 Indeed, the Protector of Israel does not slumber or sleep. 5 The Lord protects you; the Lord is a shelter right by your side. 6 The sun will not strike you by day or the moon by night. 7 The Lord will protect you from all harm; he will protect your life. 8 The Lord will protect your coming and going both now and forever.
Where are you look to for help?