Submit to God, Resist the Devil Part 3
1 Peter 5:8-9 Be sober, 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 🌎. KJV Note: NKJV=New King 👑 James Version
Having all of our spiritual and physical care cast upon our Abba/God in Heaven, even so, the Apostle Peter now warns and exhorts us as good sons and daughters and as good soldiers and pilgrims to be always on our guard both spiritually and physically because we all who belong to Christ Jesus our Lord have a vile, vicious, and violent enemy the devil 👿. Peter first tells us "Be sober, be vigilant;" and this first little English word 'sober' is translated by the Greek word nepho which simply means to watch or be watchful and discreet. The second little English word 'vigilant' is translated by the Greek word gregoreuo which means to be awake spiritually and to keep awake. In other words, the Apostle Peter wants us to stay in the Word of God and to yield our whole self to the power of the Holy Spirit by staying constantly in prayer 🙏 as the Apostle Paul told the Thessalonians with these words, "Pray 🙏 without ceasing," (1 Thessalonians 5:17) (NKJV) and likewise as he Paul told the Ephesians with these words, "Praying always with all prayer 🙏 and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints" (Ephesians 6:18) (NKJV). The Apostle Peter had just told these early brothers and sisters in the very last Chapter this very same mindset they must have and so must we, as it is written, "But the end of all things is at hand; therefore be serious and watchful in your prayers." (1 Peter 4:7) (NKJV). We can see what urgency are in these warnings and exhortations from our brother Peter as certainly he was recounting, recalling, and remembering the words spoken to him and the other Apostles when they were with Christ Jesus our Lord in the Garden of Gethsemane when He said to them, "What! Could you not watch with Me one hour? Watch and pray 🙏, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.'" (Matthew 26:40-41) (NKJV). This is exactly 💯 where the devil 👿 wants to find any of us being slack, or slothful, or slow in our alertness in prayer 🙏 and supplication and in bathing 🧼 ourselves in the Word of God daily, for then we are vulnerable to his attacks. The Apostle Peter in this passage of Scripture 1 Peter 5:8 calls the devil 👿 our 'adversary' and this little English word is translated by the Greek word antidikos which means an opponent; specifically Satan (as the arch enemy): adversary. The Apostle Peter warns us to watch and be vigilant because our enemy/adversary "as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour" and this description of the devil 👿 is on point 👉, for just as a lion 🦁 in the wild is always looking for an opportunity to find unsuspecting prey to make a meal out of them, so is our enemy always seeking to find us sleeping 😴 spiritually so that he can cause us harm physically or spiritually. The devil 👿 wants to push 🫸 us into walking/living in the flesh and not in the spirit but our Lord Jesus wants us always awake and sober walking/living in the spirit and by the power of the Holy Spirit that we not fulfill the lust of the flesh (Romans 13:14) & (Galatians 5:16). Being watchful in prayer 🙏 and continuing in the Word of God by yielding to the Spirit of God we can and will defeat our enemy/adversary. Here is what Matthew Henry had to say of 1 Peter 5:8, "He shows them their danger from an enemy more cruel and restless than even the worst of men, whom he describes, 1. By his characters and names. (1) He is an adversary: 'That adversary of yours; not a common adversary, but an enemy that impleads you, and litigates against you in your grand depending cause, and aims at your very souls.' (2) The devil, the grand accuser of all the brethren; this title is derived from a word which signifies to strike through, or to stab. He would strike malignity into our natures and poison into our souls. If he could have struck these people with passion and murmuring in their sufferings, perhaps he might have drawn them to apostasy and ruin. (3) He is a roaring lion 🦁, hungry, fierce, strong, and cruel, the fierce and greedy pursuer of souls. By his business: He walks about, seeking whom he may devour; his whole design is to devour and destroy souls. To this end he is unwearied and restless in his malicious endeavours; for he always, night and day, goes about studying and contriving whom he may ensnare 🪝 to their eternal ruin. Hence he infers that it is their duty, (1) To be sober, and to govern both the outward and the inward man 👞 by the rules of temperance/self-control, modesty, and mortification. (2) To be vigilant; not secure or careless, but rather suspicious of constant danger from this spiritual enemy, and under that apprehension, to be watchful and diligent to prevent his designs and save our souls."
Now it must be our duty, our diligence, and our desire to 'resist' the devil 👿 and this little English word in 1 Peter 5:9 is translated by the Greek word anthistemi which means to stand against, that is, oppose: resist and withstand. Not only are we to oppose our enemy but we are to be 'stedfast' in so doing and this little English word is translated by the Greek word stereos which means stiff, that is, solid, stable (literally or figuratively): stedfast, strong, and sure. In other words, our withstanding and opposing and fighting against our enemy the devil 👿 must be strong and solid and sure resistance, but that can only be accomplished by what we have declared earlier and that being what Peter has already exhorted and encouraged us into and that is submitting to God/Abba/Jesus always and at all times, for our strength is in Him alone because He has already told us this, as it is written, "'I am the Vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in Him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.'" (John 15:5) (NKJV). We must remember that our Lord Jesus Christ has come and by His death, burial, and resurrection from the dead He has destroyed him/the devil 👿 who had the power of death (Hebrews 2:14) and He has destroyed all the works of the devil (1 John 3:8), therefore, as we are 'in Christ' we have His power within us to defeat our adversary (1 John 4:4) always when we abide in Him. We know that all of our brothers and sisters who are 'in Christ' are fighting the same warfare and we all can be confident in this reality and wage a good warfare knowing as the Apostle Paul declared to the Corinthian believers (who were themselves under attack from the enemy trying to get them to believe lies and live in lies and not the truth) but Paul reminded them and us of what our weapons are against the enemy, as it is written, "For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down 👇 strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought 💭🤔 into captivity to the obedience of Christ, and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled." (2 Corinthians 10:4-6) (NKJV). Let us who belong to Christ Jesus our Lord do this, Amen !!! Here also is what Matthew Henry had to say of 1 Peter 5:9, "It was the faith of these people that Satan aimed at; if he could overturn their faith, and draw them into apostasy, then he knew he should gain his point, and ruin their souls; therefore, to destroy their faith, he raises bitter persecutions, and sets the grand potentates of the world 🌍 against them. This strong trial and temptation they must resist, by being well-grounded, resolute, and stedfast in the faith: to encourage them to this, he tells them that their care was not singular, for they knew that the like afflictions befell their brethren in all parts of the world 🌎, and that all the people of God were their fellow-soldiers in this warfare. Learn, (1) All the great persecutions that ever were in the world 🌍 were raised, spirited up, and conducted, by the devil 👿; he is the grand persecutor, as well as the deceiver and accuser, of the brethren; men are his willing spiteful instruments, but he is the chief adversary that wars against Christ and His people, Genesis 3:15; Revelation 12:12. (2) The design of Satan in raising persecutions against the faithful servants of God is to bring them to apostasy, by reason of their sufferings, and so to destroy their souls. (3) Sobriety and watchfulness are necessary virtues at all times, but especially in times of suffering and persecution. 'You must moderate your affection to worldly things, or else Satan will soon overcome you.' (4) If you would overcome Satan, as a tempter, an accuser, or a persecutor, you must resist him stedfast in the faith; if your faith give way, you are gone; therefore, above all, take the shield 🛡️ of faith,' Ephesians 6:16. (5) The consideration of what others suffer is proper to encourage us to bear our own share in any affliction: The same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren."
If you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ and His amazing healing power, pray 🙏 this from your heart ❤️ to the Lord Jesus Christ (you speaking 🗣️ directly to Him) Dear Lord Jesus, I confess to You that I am a sinner and I need Your forgiveness. I believe You shed Your Blood and died for my sins. I want to turn 🛞 from my sins. I ask You Dear Lord Jesus to come into my heart ❤️ and take control of my life. I want You to be my Lord, Savior, and my God. Amen!!!
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