1 Peter 5:8-9 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walks about, seeking whom he may devour:… I. SATAN'S PERPETUAL ACTIVITY. Only God can be omnipresent; hence, Satan can only be in one place at one time. Yet, if you consider how much mischief he doeth, you will easily gather that he must have an awful degree of activity. 1. We know that he is to be found in every place! Wherever the breath of life is inhaled, the poisonous miasma of temptation is a thing familiar. 2. Then, remember, that as he is found in all places, so you have often found him in all your duties. You have sought to serve God in your daily avocations, but strong temptations, furious suggestions of evil, hath followed you there. When we wished to be wrestling with the angel of God, we have had to contend with the fiend of hell. 3. We must observe also how ready Satan is to vent his spite against us in all frames of heart. When we are depressed in spirit — perhaps some bodily illness has brought us low, our animal spirits have ebbed and we feel ready to sink, then that old coward Satan is sure to attack us. On the other hand, if we are joyous and triumphant, then Satan knows how to tempt us to presumption — "My mountain standeth firm, I shall never be moved"; or else to carnal security — "Soul, take thine ease, thou hast much goods laid up for many years"; or else to self-righteousness — "My own power and goodness have exalted me." Or else, he will even attempt to poison our joys with the spleen of evil forebodings. 4. And ah! remember how well he knows how to turn all the events of Providence to our ill. Here comes Esau, hungry with hunting; there is a mess of pottage ready, that he may be tempted to sell his birthright. Here is Noah, glad to escape from his long confinement in the ark; he is merry, and there is the wine cup ready for him, that he may drink. Here is Peter; his faith is low, but his presumption is high; there is a maiden ready to say "Thou also wast with Jesus of Nazareth." There is Judas, and there are thirty pieces of silver in the priestly hand to tempt him, ay, and there is the rope afterwards for him to hang himself withal. II. SATAN'S ROARINGS. 1. Perhaps Peter here alluded to the roaring of persecution. How Satan roared with persecutions in Peter's days! There were racks and gibbets; there was the sword for beheading and the stake for burning; there was dragging at the heels of the wild horse; there was smearing over with pitch and then setting the body still alive to burn in Nero's garden. There was nothing for the Christian then but banishment and imprisonment; these were the lowest penalties. 2. But there is another kind of furious attack, the roaring of strong and vehement temptation. This some of us have felt. Do you know what it is to be caught hold of by some frightful temptation which you detest, grid yet the clutch of the hand is seconded by an arm so terrific in its strength that it drags you right on against your will. 3. Satan can roar also in the Christian's ears With blasphemies. Oh! the terrors which Satan has sometimes caused to God's people by saying, "Ah, you are not a child of God, or you would not have so vile a nature." Whereas you never thought it at all. It was his suggestion, not yours; and then, having laid his sin at your door, he has turned accuser of the brethren, and has sought to cast down your faith from its excellency, by making you imagine that you had committed the unpardonable sin. Now, if he roars against you, either with persecution or with temptation, or with diabolical insinuations, take the language of our apostle here — "Whom resist steadfast in the faith," etc. III. SATAN'S ULTIMATE AIM — "Seeking whom he may devour." Nothing short of the total destruction of a believer will ever satisfy our adversary. If the battle were between Satan and man, then, indeed, woe to us! We might quit ourselves like men and be strong, but before this giant all the host of Israel must flee. But the battle is not ours; it is the mighty God's. Yea, and Christ Himself must be defeated, the glory of His Cross must be dimmed, the crown of sovereignty must be snatched from His head, ere one of those for whom He died should ever be given up to the power of His adversary. IV. WHAT WE SHOULD DO IN ORDER THAT WE MAY OVERCOME THIS ADVERSARY. 1. "Whom resist, steadfast in the faith." But how resist him? "Steadfast in the faith." Seek to obtain a clear knowledge of the doctrines of the gospel, and then get a good grip of them. This will make you strong. Then take hold of the promises of God, which are yea and amen in Christ Jesus. 2. But there is another word added for our comfort "Knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world." This is well sketched by John Bunyan. "As Christian was going along the exceedingly narrow pathway, with a deep ditch on one side, and a dangerous quag upon the other, he came to a stand, and he had half a thought to go back; and then again he thought he might be half way through the valley; so he resolved to go on. And while he pondered and mused, he heard the voice of a man as going before him, saying, 'Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for Thou art with me.' Then he was glad, and that for these reasons. He gathered from thence that some who feared God were in this valley as well as himself; that God was with them, though they perceived Him not; that he hoped to have company by and by. So he went on, and called to him that was before, but he knew not what to answer for that he also thought himself to be alone." "I did not think that anybody ever felt as I feel." And though I tell you these things, and know that many of you have heard Satan roar, I am compelled to confess that I have frequently said in my own heart "I do not believe that any other man ever had this temptation before me." Well, this text stands to refute our supposition, "The same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world." (C. H. Spurgeon.) Parallel Verses KJV: Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: |
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