"Farewell Warnings to Church"

1 Peter 5:8-11

Rev. Min J. Chung

(Sunday Worship, May 9, 1999)

"Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of s ufferings. And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen." 1 Peter 5:8-11 .

  1. Introduction
  2. Last week we talked about Peters final address to the church. He exhorted the elders to sacrifice and serve and give to the sheep, not because they have to, but because they cannot help but to, by the grace and power and love of God. He told the young men to be submissive to their spiritual leaders, which he himself had learned before. He told them to be humble to everyone in the church, because God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. If youre humble before the Lord, you will cast your worries on Him and trust in Him. Thats so applicable this week and the next as you take finals and face different kinds of trials. Are you worried and does it control you and you cant do other things, like pray or spend time with Him? Those things are gone, because your worries dominate you. It shows that you are proud. "Cast your cares on Him for He cares for you."
  3. Starting with verse 8, Peter gives some final warnings to the church. After he talks to the church he tells them to be ready for persecution and difficulties. The Devil prowls around like a lion, looking for someone to devour. We need to know our enemy. Dwight Pentecost wrote inYour Adversary the Devil, of the need to know our enemy. "No military commander could expect to be victorious in battle unless he understood his enemy. Should he prepare for an attack by land but ignore the possibility that the enemy might approach by air or by sea, he would open the way to defeat. Or should he prepare for a land or sea attack, and ignore the possibility of an attack through the air, he would certainly jeopardize the campaign. No individual can be victorious against the adversary of our souls unless he understands his philosophy, his methods of operation, his methods of temptation." We need to know our enemies. C. S. Lewis in the book,The Screwtape Letters, a fascinating book about a devil discipling his nephew on how to tempt people, said, "There are two equal and opposite errors into which our ways can fall about the devil. Disbelief in their existence the other is to believe and have an unhealthy, excessive interest in them." The Bible warns us against Satan and demons, but it cannot be in an unhealthy manner, focusing on them. They are strong and powerful but we cant be obsessed by their presence. There are two ways he can attack. He can attack with his power or with scheming, subtle ways. Hes a great discipler. "Like all young tempters you are anxious to be able to report spectacular wickedness. But do remember, the only thing that matters is the extent to which you separate the man from the Enemy [God, since its from the Devils perspective]. It does not matter how small the sins are, provided that their cumulative effect is to edge the man away from the Light and out into the Nothing. Murder is no better than cards if cards can do the trick. Indeed, the safest road to Hell is the gradual one€the gentle slope, soft underfoot without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts." Isnt that fascinating? Satan at times attacks withpowerbut at other times withschemes. You start to compromise a little bit. You might not murder, but you hate people. Slowly but surely you are being separated from God. You fall asleep to death. This text warns about the first method€the powerful attacks of Satan! Satan roams like a roaring lion and Peter amply experienced it himself. First, well talk about who to be aware of. Second, how to fight. Third, what to hold on to.
  4. Body
  5. Who to Be Aware Of
    Verse 8, "Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour."
  6. The Devil Is the Enemy
  7. Heisthe enemy. He wants to devour you. Dont fool around with Satan. He wants to devour you, to eat you alive. Devour is the same word used in the OT when the big fishswallowedJonah. He wants to swallow you, to capture you. R ev. 12:12 says that he is filled with fury, because he knows his time is short. Peter is painting a picture of Satan. Hes like an animal, with smoke coming out of his nose. He knows that the end and his destruction is near for him and he wants everyone to go along with him. He wants to devour you, to eat you alive, to destroy you. That is his goal.
  8. What animal is he compared to in this text? A lion. In Gen. 3 Satan comes as asnake. Snakes are subtle, cunning, and scheming. He has a scheme. Hes smart. He comes in subtle ways. Hes like that, too, but here hes a lion. He attacks with power. Hes hungry, fearful, and he directly attacks, especially using persecution. Hes like a lion.
  9. Who are we as compared to the lion? Last week, Peter talked to the shepherds. We aresheep€dumb, idiotic, ignorant sheep. Hes a hungry lion who wants to devour us. People at that time knew what Peter meant.
  10. Many times we wonder, "Is Satan real?" Have you ever seen Satan or a demon? If you had, your prayer lives would be changed. You would come to morning prayer. If you saw a demon in your bathroom, youd pray. Sometimes we dont really believe the demonic world is real. Its just an abstract concept to many of us. Is Satan real? The Bible says so. What the world says and what your mind says versus what the Bible says is different, but its the Bible that is reality. The Bible, which sees history and all kinds of realms and layers, is reality. We dont really live like that, do we? You are living ina dream world, if you dont really believe it. If you dont believe in Satan and the spiritual battle, you are living in a dream world. Are you living in a dream world or in reality? We are soldiers in a battle. We are to fight, or demons and Satan and his followers will eat you alive. Do not make the mistake ofno Satan. Also, do not make the mistake ofall Satan. Just be aware. Hes the enemy.
  11. The Devil is the Accuser
  12. Verse 8, "Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour." Rev. 12 again gives insight into what the Devil is like. Rev. 12:10 says, "Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: "Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ. For theaccuserof our brothers, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down." How does he accuse? He accusesthemand also before God. Thats his characteristic whether before God or inside the minds of men.
  13. How does he accuse us? He accuses usin our minds. He can cause thoughts to occur. He can speak in non-verbal ways. He can influence our minds unless we are careful. Peter didnt know that Satan was speaking through him when he said, "Jesus, dont go to the cross." Satan didntcome and laugh hysterically and say, "Muhahahaha, tell Jesus to go to the cross!" and tempt Peter. Peter didnt know, but those thoughts were the thoughts of Satan. He can accuse us with:
  14. Past guilt
  15. Our unhealthy guilt can cripple us. Be careful that its not an excuse for lack of repentance. If youre not repentant enough, guilt comes to cause us to truly repent. However, Demons can use guilt to accuse us to hinder our spiritual effectiveness.
  16. Failures
  17. You failed in this manner. If I didnt believe in the blood of Jesus Christ, there would be no way I could stand on this pulpit.
  18. Depression
  19. Satan makes you think that something is reality when it is not. He makes you think that you are not useful€he can depress you that way. What you really believe causes the emotions that come out. You need to get those thoughts out of your mind, and your emotions will follow. You need to fight that with the truth of the Scripture.
  20. False Reality
  21. He may accuse you in order to discourage you with false reality.
  22. Doubts
  23. Sometimes we will have doubts, but if we focus on those doubts, itll cause us to be weak.
  24. Pessimism
  25. What is the proper reaction to these accusations?Always turn to Christ.They may be false thoughts or true ones. Whether they are true thoughts from the Holy Spirit or false thoughts from Satan (hes the false accuser), whatever accusations come, turn to Christ. Trust Him. Hold onto Him. Turn to Christ.
  26. There are improper reactions to accusations.We can accuse God.You blame Him. Its just like Adam and Eve. Adam said, "The womanyougave me" Some of you are angry with God. Some of you might say, "God did this", while you did it with your sin.Sometimes you accuse yourself, saying negative things about yourself and what youvedone.Sometimes you can accuse others€you blame them. "Its not reallymyfault." When you accuse God , self, and others, you are more like theAccuserthan theDefender. Are you more like the Accuser or the Defender? How do you react when accusations come? When you accuse God, yourself, or others, not really turning to Christ, you are like the Accuser, youre going right along with Satans temptations, while Scripture says you need to be like Christ, the Defender. Ask Him to clothe you and cleanse you, strengthen you and empower you. We need to be aware of the Accuser. Always turn to Christ.
  27. The Devil is the Prowler
    "Heprowlsaround like a roaring lion." What does that mean? Hes actively and angrily seeking someone to devour. Thats why hes working even now. His followers pray more than Christians at times. Who does the Prowler attack?
  28. The intoxicated ones
  29. Thats what that verse means.Be self-controlledliterally meansdont be intoxicated,be sober. Of course we can be intoxicated with wine. But we can also be intoxicated with the world, worldliness. When something consumes your mind, it hinders your spiritual life. When you have an unhealthy emotional attachment to someone, you keep thinking about him or her and it hinders your spiritual life. When you have hatred toward someone, it hinders your spiritual life. When you have an addiction to something, it hinders your spiritual life. When you try to pray, those things come and hinder our prayers. Satan attacks the intoxicated ones. Thats why it says to be sober. Demons come and use these things. You are intoxicated with those things; they bother you so that you cannot get closer to the Lord. In order for you to think straight and get closer the Lord, you need to change your life by the power of the Spirit.
  30. The sick ones
  31. Those who are overdosed on the world.
  32. The young ones
  33. Those who are ignorant of the word.
  34. Alone, wandering sheep
  35. Not alert
  36. The ones who are sleeping in their lives.The world intoxicates you, but the Word awakens you.When the Word of God goes in, it attacks the cancerous things in our lives, but the Prowler attacks the intoxicated ones.
  37. Why are they intoxicated and on the drugs of this world?Because they are proud.God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. We absolutely need the grace of God to overcome the awesome and powerful enemy. In order to receive that grace, you need to be humble. Humble yourself under the mighty hand of God. When we say that the Prowler attacks the intoxicated ones, we are talking about the ones who get down on themselves and worried and then think that they can take care of their anxieties and worries. Thats pride, thinking you can handle your problems, not going to the One who can help you. They are the ones who think, "I can handle it." He or she is anI-will-never-fall-away person. There are alsoI-have-no-problem-people. "Its not my fault. I dont have a problem. Im misunderstood. Its-because-of-person. Why are you always blaming me?" A why-didnt-you-person. Are you an I-have-no-problem-person? Most problems in the church or family are caused by these types of people. Satan is looking for these kinds of people to attack.
  38. How to Fight
  39. Remember that you are not alone
  40. Verse 9 says, "Because you know that your brothers and sisters are undergoing the same kind of suffering." You are not alone. Throughout the world there is a war going on. You arent alone. Something about knowing this strengthens us. When I watch talk shows on TV, dumb kinds of guests come out and when they share their dumb stories, the audience cheers them on and then what happens? They come alive. They know they are not alone. Then the other half of the guests argue with them and half the audience cheersthemon and thentheycome alive. Theres something aboutwhen you know you arent alone, that you are supported. Whats the big deal abouthome-court advantage? Its the same court, the same field, the same size. Everything is the same whether youre playing a game away or at home. But theres something about forty, fifty, sixty-thousand people making animalistic noises that strengthens you. Theres something about people encouraging us that strengthens us. Why? Because we are spiritual beings and when they say those things, its a spiritual thing. What we say is spiritual and it either helps or discourages people.Remember that you are not alone. Heb. 11 talks about all the people of faith whove gone ahead of us. Then chapter 12 talks about the cloud of witnesses cheering us on. Moses and Abraham are cheering us on. We have home-court advantage. We have a crowd on our side. All the saints that have passed before us and who are still fighting are on our side. All the angelic beings and God are on our side. We are on the right side. You are not alone. Your soul receives strengthwhen you know you are not alone.
  41. I remember talking to Burundian pastors who were going through a war. At a national pastors conference, about five hundred pastors gathered together in the midst of the war zone and I was saying, "Do not forsake your sheep but put your life on the line. I dont know if Id be able to do that if I were in your shoes, but thats what the Bible says to do." Afterward, the five hundred pastors stood together and prayed for each other to be able to give their lives for their sheep. Im sure many of them have passed away since then. But many of them were so encouraged as they realized thatthey were not alone.
  42. When I get discouraged I talk to other ministers in the States. Just talking to each another, we get strengthened becausewe know we are not alone. To the ones who are leaving, youll get discouraged and have difficulties. At least for a few years itll be hard as you adjust. But you are not alone. Well be with you in our prayers. We promise that.Remember that you are not alone.
  43. Resist him
  44. Isnt it discouraging when you have a tough question and the person youre talking to responds, "Pray." "Just do it." Youre crying and saying, "Im having a hard time. How can I get through it?" They say, "Overcome." [Its frustrating.] Peter says, "Resist him." Do you know what youre talking about, Peter? Yes, you know this saint, with white hair and wrinkles, knows what hes talking about.
  45. When youre a father, there are times to tell your kids, "Youcantdo it." Joshua asks, "Can I drive that car?" I have to tell them, "You cant drive when youre eight years old." "You cant do it." However, there are times you need to tell them, "Youcando it." I remember the first time I put Joshua on a slide. I got him up there and it wasnt that high. But he was lingering on the top. I said, "You can do it!" He was about three or four years old. The reason I knew he could do it was because right before him there was a two year old girl who had gone down that slide! So I was thinking, "My boy can do this!" "You can do it!" Yet he would not come down.