May the Lord be pleased to bless
us together this evening as we meditate in his word. Let us
turn to the first epistle of Peter, chapter five, and we'll
read verses eight and nine. The first epistle of Peter, chapter
five, reading verses eight and nine. Be sober, be vigilant,
because your adversary, the devil, as a roaring lion walketh about
seeking whom he may devour, whom resist steadfast in the faith,
knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren
that are in the world. The Apostle Peter in his epistles
gives us very many words of exhortation and instruction as we journey
on through this world with all the difficulties and all the
temptations that we face. And we should be very aware that
these words are true, that we do have an adversary, the devil. That means an enemy. We always
have had an enemy. Ever since the Garden of Eden,
when Adam and Eve lived there, the enemy, the devil, in the
form or guise of a serpent, came there and tempted Eve and Adam
to sin and to disobey the Word of God. And of course, the devil's
tactics have never changed. and we should recognise that
he is a great deceiver. He endeavours to deceive us with
regards to our faith, to deceive us with regard indeed to our
belief in the Godhead, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. He does
everything he can to destroy our soul. we read together that second
chapter in Job because that was of course the second not the
first chapter but the first chapter was on the same theme only showing
more how evil Satan was and what he was permitted to do in order
to try and destroy the faith of Job We're thankful that we
have such an example, an example for us today, because we're told
about Job. He was perfect and upright and
one that feared God and eschewed evil. And we're told the blessings
that he had and enjoyed. But then we're told, now, there
was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before
the Lord, and Satan came also among them. The Lord said unto
Satan, whence comest thou? Then Satan answered the Lord
and said, from going to and fro in the earth, and from walking
up and down in it, The Lord said unto Satan, Hast thou considered
my servant Job? For there is none like him in
the earth, a perfect and upright man, one that feareth God, and
escheweth evil. And Satan said to the Lord, Doth
Job fear God for naught? Hast thou not 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. But put forth thine hand now,
and touch all that he hath, And he will curse thee to thy face. And the Lord said unto Satan,
Behold, all that he hath is in thy power only upon himself. Put not forth thine hand. So
Satan went forth from the presence of the Lord. If you're familiar
with the book of Job, you will know that Satan was able to destroy
all Job's family and all his possessions, so that he came
down to that position and stated, naked came I out of my mother's
womb, and naked shall I return nither. The Lord gave, and the
Lord hath taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.
In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly. Well, we're thankful that we
have an example like Job, and the chapter we read together
furthers that position. But we know that if you read
through the book of Job, you will know that his three friends
who came to encouraged him, often criticized him for the things
that he had and the things that he did and the way he was reacting. And Job didn't always answer
graciously, but sometimes he did. But there came that time
in Job's life when he realized his true position and his true
condition before God. It took a lot to bring him there
and perhaps it may take a lot to bring us to realise what we
are really like in the eyes of Almighty God. We tend to think
that God is like ourselves but in actual fact God is very high
and lifted up and we read, we come towards the end of Job chapter
40 and moreover the Lord answered Job and said and then he speaks
to Job and then Job answered the Lord and this is what Job
said he's listening to the Lord speaking to him his friends spoke
to him and a man called Elihu also spoke to him but it didn't
really have an effect but now we're told the Lord spoke to
Job And then Job answered the Lord, and this is what he said,
Behold, I am vile. What shall I answer thee? I would
lay my hand upon my mouth, once have I spoken, but I will not
answer, twice, but I will proceed no further. And then the Lord
continued to address Job and show to him his great power and
what Job was. We go on to the 42nd chapter
and we're told, and Job answered the Lord and said, I know that
thou canst do everything and that no thought can be withholden
from thee. Who is he that hideth counsel
without knowledge? Therefore have I uttered that
I understood not, things too wonderful for me which I knew
not. And sometimes we do the same. We utter things which we don't
really understand. And when I mean that, I mean
in a spiritual sense. But he says, here I beseech thee,
and I will speak, I would demand of thee, and declare that unto
me. I have heard of thee by the hearing
of the ear. But now mine eye saith thee. That's the eye of faith. And
he says, wherefore I abhor myself and repent in dust and ashes. He didn't try to justify himself
anymore. He was in the presence of Almighty
God. And he realised that Satan had
been allowed to tempt him and to take many things away. But now he comes and says, I
bore myself and repent in dust and ashes. And we're told, And
it was so after that the Lord had spoken these words unto Job.
The Lord said to Eliphaz the Timanite, My wrath is kindled
against thee, and against thy two friends, for ye have not
spoken of me, the thing that is right, as my servant Job has. And so Job was then instructed
to pray for his friends, and we're told, And the Lord turned
the captivity of Job when he prayed for his friends. Also
the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before. So the end
of Job he had far more than he had when Satan came and took
so many things away from him. Now I believe the Lord has graciously
given us the account of Job as an example and to realise that
none of us have to or have had to or will have to suffer in
the same way that Job did. And as we see that as a testimony
of God's goodness to Job, so we should realise his goodness
to us today. and realise that he hasn't dealt
with us as we deserve. And so we have these words spoken
by Peter that you and I should be sober and vigilant because
our adversary the devil as a roaring lion walketh about seeking whom
he may devour. His great desire is to destroy
us. Destroy our soul. Destroy us
so we will never be found amongst the saints in glory. Bring upon
us an evil mind. Bring upon us agreement to listen
to the many temptations that Satan brings into our lives. My friends, the devil, as we
read here, goes about as a roaring lion, walketh about He's going
all about us. He's looking for opportunities
to deceive us. It's one of the ploys that Satan
uses so effectively. It was a ploy he used back in
the Garden of Eden to deceive Adam and Eve. And he used very
simple language. He asked Eve and he said, hath
God said? He asked Eve a question and when
he answered it he counted it and explained why she shouldn't
believe what God had said. Now God has given us today his
word and you young people tonight you may sometimes think well
can I do this? Am I allowed to do this? Well
if you're not sure you can read the Bible and you will find the
answers in the Bible as to what you can do and as to what you
can't do the devil will say well you needn't worry about looking
in the Bible for direction because it's alright you can carry on
doing it and how easy it is to fall under such a temptation
because we are sinners of the earth and we often go after the
things of this world and we try and justify them and we say well
I can do that, that's alright we don't really understand what
God is speaking to us we don't want to understand what God is
speaking to us because we want to please ourselves we want to
do that which we want to do that we like to do and turn away from
the things of God. And that's why we have words
like this, to be sober and to be vigilant. To be sober means
to consider carefully whether the temptations that Satan puts
before us are things that we can involve ourselves in or whether
we should turn away from them. And it does need sometimes sober
consideration. We can quickly jump to conclusions,
especially if we want to do something. But here we're told then to be
sober and to be vigilant. You see, the devil is a very
clever individual. He's more clever than we are.
And he knows how he can tempt us. He knows what your weaknesses
and my weaknesses. You know, we have different weaknesses,
different weaknesses, but the devil knows precisely what those
weaknesses are. And he homes in on those weaknesses
and endeavours to turn us away from the way of God. and to his
way the way of sinfulness the way which is attractive to our
nature to our flesh but it's good when faced with such a situation
like that do you just remember that King Solomon in his day
was told to try and find happiness in this world he was a very wealthy
man He was a man of great wisdom, had all these things to use to
try and find happiness in this world. Well, you can read the
Song of Solomon, I think it's 12 chapters, and you will find
that as he endeavours to find happiness in this thing and that
thing, he comes and he draws this conclusion. On a number
of occasions, He says, all is vanity of vanity and vexation
of spirit. He never really found true happiness
in all the things that he spent his time and money and study
on. They were really not satisfactory. And we should be very thankful
that God has given us such a good example before us in the Bible
to read and to understand. And so we recognize how God is
gracious. And just to carry on with the
life of Solomon, we're told he was a good man, no doubt about
that, but he was left to himself in his old age and he committed
many sins. many sins against God we won't
go through them but he did you see he was tempted tempted and
he succumbed to temptation that's why we're told we are to be vigilant
vigilant and to Be careful that we're not sucked in by the devil's
carefully laid traps for us. He's very cunning. He's very
skillful. And don't think you're a match
for him. Don't think that you can stand
against the devil. Don't think, well, I can do that
and it won't affect me. If you do something which is
wrong in accordance with the word of God, be sure it will
harm you. You won't get away. scot-free
it will harm you that's why we have the word of God to guide
and direct us that's why we're warned and that's what we're
told here that we are to be sober and to be vigilant and the reason
because your adversary your adversary in mind the adversary of mankind
the devil as a roaring lion walketh about, seeking whom he may devour. And so, faced with that, the
Lord then tells us, through Peter, what we should do, whom resist
steadfast in the faith. To be steadfast means that we
don't change our view, that we don't change the Word of God
to suit our position. But we're steadfast in holding
to the truth of God. And we're steadfast in obeying
His commands and obeying His words. To be steadfast in the
faith. In the faith. The faith of God's
people. The faith that God gives us. the wonderful blessing and the
wonderful secret of this faith is to cast all our care upon
the Lord. In the previous verses Peter the Apostle says humble
yourselves under the mighty hand of God that he may exhort you
in due time casting all your care upon him for he careth for
you. You see we have a mighty God
who is on our side and sometimes, perhaps very often, we forget
to cast our care upon the Lord, to pray that he will strengthen
us against the vials of the devil, that we may not give in to his
approaches, casting all your care upon him, for he cares for
you. This great, kind and gracious
God cares for us. But we are told, I will be inquired
of by the house of Israel to do these things for them. So
if we are faced with temptations, what should we do? Commit our
way unto the Lord. That's what we should do. Pray
for guidance. Pray to God. Is there something
I can do? Or is there something I should
not do? Will this bring honour and glory
to thy great and holy name? Or will it not? Now we have to
come to God with an open mind. Often we don't have an open mind,
a mindset on what we're going to do, what we're going to say. The reality is we're walking
contrary to God. What a blessing it is when God
gives us faith to come to him with an open mind, praying for
guidance as to whether we can do this or do that. Now, God is faithful. And if you and I come in a right
way, we can believe that he will therefore answer our requests. Whom resists steadfast in the
faith What a blessing it is, then, when we can come to our
God, steadfastly praying that He will keep us, just as Peter
said in the earlier chapter, when he tells us, kept by the
power of God, through faith, unto salvation, ready to be revealed
at the last time. You and I perhaps think we're
strong, And we can think, well, I shall never do that. Peter
is an outstanding example. The Lord God told Peter that
he would deny Him. Peter said he never would. He
said, in fact, he would die for the Lord. And it was only a few hours later
that Peter denied the Lord with oaths and curses that he did
not know the Lord Jesus Christ. So we have such an example in
the Word of God to guide us and direct us that we should never
think that we have any ability ourselves to actually stand fast
against the devil or to resist him. never think that you have
ability to risk the devil I've told you the devil is a very
very cunning adversary and he knows your weaknesses better
than you know them yourself and he would endeavour therefore
to make you sin to turn you away from the things of God we should
be thankful that God has given us his word with many words of
exhortation likeness to direct us And then of course he also
gives us in the sixth chapter to the Ephesians the wonderful
armour that he has provided for us to use. And of course we are
to use it. And the Apostle Paul when he
wrote to the Ephesians he tells us, finally my brethren So you
come towards the end of this letter. Finally, my brethren,
be strong in the Lord. Again, remember, strong in the
Lord. And just to remind you, another
word in the Philippians, the fourth chapter to the Philippians
in the 13th verse, the apostle Paul says, I can do all things. Really, Peter? I mean, really,
Paul? Through Christ. which strengtheneth
me. And there is the blessed secret. I can do all things through Christ
which strengtheneth me. And so he goes on and addresses
the Ephesians like this. Finally, my brethren, be strong
in the Lord and in the power of his might. Put on the whole
armor of God. that you may be able to stand,
listen now, against the wiles of the devil. That's why God
has given us the armour to put on. And remember, he says here,
to put it on, to put on the whole armour of God, not one item,
which you think is quite nice and easy. you have to put on
the whole armour he tells us because we cannot stand otherwise
against the wiles of the devil and it is for we wrestle you
know what wrestling is I'm sure we wrestle not against flesh
and blood not that which we can physically see and grasp and
can work out how we can cope with that situation not against
flesh and blood but against principalities against powers against the rulers
of the darkness of this world against spiritual wickedness
in high places and we are surrounded in the day and age in which we
live with many things like this many opportunities with all the
technology which exists today to find very easily we're sidetracked
and the final statement is against spiritual wickedness in higher
places spiritual wickedness you need to ponder those words and
faced with difficulties faced with temptations just ask yourselves
this question is it spiritual wickedness? your conscience will
answer very clearly You'll know then whether it's right or wrong,
but you will still need the support of God to be able to carry it
out. Otherwise you will succumb. Don't
think you have strength in this time of opposition and this time
of temptation. And so the apostle reiterates
again, wherefore, having told us to take on the whole armour
of God, He reiterates it to make it very clear. Wherefore, take
unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand
in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. And just remember,
here is a statement. We are to stand. We're not to
sit down and take it easy. We're not to lie down and go
to sleep. It's a battle, it's a warfare. We are to stand figuratively. Stand therefore, having your
loins girt about with truth and having on the breastplate of
righteousness the truth of God's Word. Having your loins girt
about with truth, that means to have a good knowledge of the
Word of God. If you don't know the Word of
God, if you don't study the Word of God, if you don't read the
Word of God, you won't have a knowledge. And you won't be able to have
your loins girt about with truth. No, you'll miss out straight
away. The very first part of this armour,
the truth of God. God's given us the truth. What a mercy it is that we endeavour
to know it, having your loins girt about with truth, and having
on the breastplate of righteousness. The breastplate is that which
is in the forefront, that which is seen, that which is observed. And if God gives us that breastplate
of righteousness, what a wonderful blessing it is, so the devil
can see then he tries to attack us that we desire to follow the
righteous word of God. And your feet shod with the preparation
of the gospel of peace. We walk, we run, we need something
on our feet. And so we're told here, your
feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. It's quite simple, isn't it?
The gospel of peace. That's what we are to have on
our feet. The gospel. It's good, you know,
if you and I really understand the gospel. You may say, well of course I
understand the gospel. Well, it's good to just meditate
on that as to whether you do understand the Gospel. Because
if you really understand the Gospel, you will understand what
the blessed Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, did on your behalf
to redeem your soul. The great cost of your salvation. The Gospel of Peace. Remember,
the hymn writer has it, Peace by His Cross. as Jesus made. There's a place for meditation. There's a place to consider. And you think, if we understand
that rightly, it is indeed the preparation of the gospel of
peace. And our feet are shod with that,
so that we walk in the gospel way. We don't walk in the ways
of the devil. We walk in the gospel way. The
gospel of peace. The gospel is peace to our souls. Above all, taking the shield
of faith, wherein ye shall be able to quench all the fiery
darts of the wicked. The devil uses every means he
can And the Lord uses this expression of fiery darts because he will
thrust and throw fiery darts at us which are painful to bear
when perhaps we're trying to stand firm for the truth of God. We're trying to walk in the way
of God. And we find the devil uses people
to throw fiery darts at us, to mock our religion, to mock the
things of God. And it's painful to bear these
things. And that's why the Lord gives
us the shield of faith. And remember the shield we have
in our front before us. and to think of this the shield
of faith. It is of course God-given faith
indeed as we read in the second chapter of this same epistle
in the eighth verse for by grace are you saved through faith and
that not of yourselves it is the gift of God So what a blessing
if we know and have the evidence that we do possess this great
gift of grace through faith. Remember, it's not of ourselves,
it is the gift of God. What a mercy it is to possess
then this faith, this shield of faith. He says, above all,
all else, take it, take it. You can't leave it on the ground.
You've got to take it. Assured of faith, wherewith ye
shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. It's
good, isn't it, to understand the words of God. The words of
God are very accurate. and we are told here, and ye
shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked that
means they go out they won't have any effect and take the
helmet of salvation that's a spiritual understanding of the great work
of salvation the helmet obviously is that which protects our head
and how good it is when we are protected in our mind with this
great and glorious salvation and salvation of God, that which
Christ wrought out when he came into this sinful world to give
his life a ransom price for many, to redeem us from all our sins
to shed his most precious and glorious blood upon that cross
at Calvary. And so, my friends, the helmet
of salvation. What a blessing it is. Oh, rejoice
in it. You see the armour here. It is
very comprehensive. And it's very wonderful. And
our problem is, we don't take it on, we don't put it on. Take
the helmet of salvation and The sword of the Spirit, which is
the Word of God. The sword of the Spirit, which
is the Word of God. I remember, I do tell you sometimes,
the illustration in the Pilgrim's Progress. When Christian was going along
and Satan, in the form of Apollyon as he was described, confronted
him and Christian slipped, and he lost his sword. It fell away. And Apollon, or the devil, said,
ah, now will I spill thy blood. And he stood over him to thrust
him through. But Christian was able to stretch
out his arm and to grasp again his sword, and to thrust at the
devil, thrust at the devil, so that he went away from him. I just forget the text that it
refers to, but it's a very wonderful text that it refers to. If you've
got The Pilgrim's Progress, you can go home and you can find
that little account. It's very telling. What we have here, this
word confirming the word of God. And then not forget, this great
blessing. Praying, always. Always. There's no time in our life when
we can't pray. No time when we can't pray. You may remember the occasion
of Nehemiah. He was the king's cupbearer. And he was, he'd heard the news
of his homeland, of Jerusalem all burnt down and ruined and
he was very sad and the king said, what's the problem? he
said he could tell by his face there was a problem and in that
couple of seconds before Nehemiah answered the king we're told
He said, so I prayed to the God of heaven. And you may know the result.
The king was very gracious and granted Nehemiah what he needed. So really I'm saying there's
no time in your life or my life when there isn't time to pray
to God. Praying always with all prayer
and supplication in the spirit and watching and watching thereunto
with all perseverance and supplication for the saints. We should watch
and pray. We shouldn't pray and not watch.
We should watch for answers. And if you really prayed, you
will be watching for answers, and you'll rejoice when those
answers come. That with all perseverance, and
it is to persevere, The Christian life is one of perseverance. Yes, perseverance. They that
do persevere and come to the end of their journey shall be
saved. Well then, this word here tonight. Humble yourselves under the mighty
hand of God, that he may exhort you in due time, casting all
your care upon him, for he cared for you. Be sober. Be vigilant
because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about. The devil never sleeps. He's
always alert as well. He's always looking for an opportunity
when you're off your guard. seeking whom he may devour, whom
resist steadfast in the faith. And again it is steadfast in
the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ and do not forget to consider
him. That's a wonderful exhortation
isn't it that the Apostle Paul again gives us when he wrote
to the Hebrews and when we come to the the 12th chapter, he tells
us and encourages us, wherefore seeing we also are encompassed
about with so great a cloud of witnesses, he's talking about
all those who've gone before with faith, let us lay aside
every weight and the sin which does so easily beset us. He spells
it out, doesn't he? There are sins which easily beset
us. lay aside every weight and the
sin which does so easily beset us and let us run with patience
the race that is set before us. There is a race. Looking unto
Jesus. It's the only way. Looking unto
Jesus. The author, the one who gives
us life so that we begin the race and the finisher of our
faith. who for the joy that was set
before him, wonderful words, who for the joy that was set
before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set
down at the right hand of the throne of God. Oh, a conqueror. Glorious truth, isn't it? Good
to meditate upon. That's why the apostle now comes
and say, for, consider him, the blessed saviour, that endured
such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied
and faint in your minds. Now don't forget, the devil never
gives up. Never gives up. You may be thankful
that you gain a victory through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ.
On one occasion, don't sit back. Remember the devil's always watching
and always alert for every opportunity. So don't forget to consider him,
his work, the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. This will put things
in a grand and glorious perspective And you will rejoice from your
heart in what Christ has done and the victory that he's gained.
And you will then desire to go in the strength of the Lord God
to make mention of his righteousness, even of his only. And so consider
him that endured The Lord endured, we are called to endure. Look
to him, such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest
ye be wearied. and faint in your minds. And don't forget the life of
the Saviour. Nowhere to lay his head. Yes, praying to his Father, night
spent praying to his Father. A glorious example we have. Let us not turn away from it.
So, as we consider these words tonight, may we indeed be given
grace to resist steadfast in the faith knowing that the same
afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in
the world. We're not alone. Our brothers
and sisters in Christ suffer the same way. We all fight this
great battle but what a mercy to know indeed that by the grace
of God we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. Amen.