Lesson 25

Satanic Attack

I Peter 5:8

Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:

I believe that from time to time, we must all simply be reminded that we have an enemy, that he is not passive but aggressive and that we should be on the constant lookout for him. That's the simple, straightforward message of I Peter 5:8.

Notice, Satan is referred to here as "your adversary". He is indeed your enemy (actually arch -enemy). He is your opponent. He is against you. He is not on your side. He opposes you. Satan is also referred to here as "the devil" - the Greek word is "diabolos" from which we get diabolic. It has to do with slander and false accusation. The point is that Satan is a liar (John 8:44). He does not deal with you honestly and truthfully and fairly. He defeats by lying and cheating. He cannot be trusted.

The text tells us that Satan is "seeking whom he may devour". Satan is not some passive force. He is actively and aggressively seeking someone to prey upon. He isn't waiting for you to come to him, he is looking for you. In fact, Peter compare Satan to "a lion". ILLUSTRATION: Cats are always looking for their next meal. Selecting the most vulnerable.

That's what Satan is like. Finding the vulnerable and devouring him/her. Lions eat eleven pounds of meat per day in order to sustain themselves! Peter says not just a lion, but a "roaring lion". When do lions roar? A lion's roar can be heard up to a distance of 5 miles and is believed by zoologists to have a territorial function. In other words, it is intended to intimidate.

And so the command in this passage is that Christians are to "be sober, be vigilant". Peter uses two words to say the same thing. Both of these Greek words mean watchful, on the lookout, alert.

Tonight, I just wanted to tell you to be on the lookout for Satan.

One thing that we can helps us is that God's Word reveals his strategies against us. II Corinthians 2:11 Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices.

What are His devices? When and where and how does He attack.

Satan's attack may come against your body. So it was with Job. Satan sought to render Job physically incapable of doing God's will. (There is not one simple explanation for illness or injury. It might be sin. It might be simply our human fraility. It might be a testing from God. It might be Satanic attack.) James tells that the "prayer of faith shall save the sick."

Satan's attack may come against your home. There is a sense in which Satan's first attack was against the home. Satan led Adam and Eve into disobedience. (This does not mean that all marital or family problems are Satan's faults. The flesh has a lot to do with it.)

We know from Scripture that Satan comes at us at our weakest point. In the Garden of Eden, he got to Adam through Eve. In the case of Jesus' temptation, he attacked after a forty day fast and first tempted Jesus to make stones into bread. Satan seeks to capitalize on your weakest area.

What is your weakest area? What is your besetting sin?

Sins of the tongue?

Sins of the mind?

Sins of the eyes?

Sins of the hands?

Sins of the feet?

Sins of the ears?

Sins of the heart?

Sins of the will?

Please be aware also that Satan attacks the church. There is one person who has perfect attendance at church. That is the devil and his demons.

Satan will work in the pulpit. When error and untruth is taught, it the work of Satan. He raises up "false teachers". When a pastor falls into sin (immorality / financial) it brings a stain upon Christ, upon Christianity and upon the church. Pray always for the personal purity of pastors. (Personal illustrations).

Satan also has his agents in the pews. Remember Annanias and Sapphira! Those who threaten the purity (I Corinthians 5) and the unity of the church (Proverbs 22:10).

It isn't just the fellowship of the church that can be disrupted, it is also the worship. We must be sensitive to the little things that affect worship. Most of us would bristle at dead formal form of worship but the opposite extreme is also threatening to the church. I would urge you to be here and in place early enough to be ready to worship when the hour has come. Be ready to worship. I Thessalonians 5:19-21.