SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR
6/1/2012 9:59:08 AM
My Worship Time Focus: Be Watchful
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: 1Peter 5:8-9
Message of the verses: We will continue looking at 1Peter in Today’s Spiritual Diary, looking at verses eight and nine of chapter five which is very near the end of 1Peter. Dr. Wiersbe entitles this section “Be Watchful” as he is famous for using the word “Be,” as he uses this word in all of his Bible Commentaries. “Be Hopeful” is the title of his work on 1Peter and will be the subject tomorrows Spiritual Diary as I attempt to finish this book.
Be Watchful: In yesterday’s SD we looked at the word cares which is in verse seven of chapter five. We said that the word “cares” is from the AV, but in the NASB it is translated “anxieties.” Why do we have anxieties? Well for one reason we have an enemy who has many different names, but Satan and Devil are the most prominent of his names. The word Satan means “adversary” and the word “Devil” means “the accuser.” We know from the first book of the Bible that Satan is a deceiver, for he deceived Eve in the garden. “But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ.” (2Cor. 11:3) We will learn in the verses that we study today that Satan can be a roaring lion. It is in 1Peter 4:1 & 14 that Peter spoke to those whom he was writing to about attacks coming on them in slanderous ways, so we see the accuser side of Satan. In the near future the recipients of this letter would see the fiery trials of the evil one. Dr. Wiersbe writes “Peter gave them several practical instructions to help them get victory over their adversary.”
Before going into these instructions given by Peter I want to say that there are times when we as believers have a hard time determining which enemy is being used to tempt or attack us. We have three enemies, the world, the flesh, and the Devil, and although we know that they have been defeated at the cross they still have power. Kind of like a chicken whose head has been cut off but doesn’t realize he is dead and still walks around. Sorry that is the best I can do to try and make understanding of a difficult point. It was many years ago that I read a series of books on the activities of Satan and as I struggled with a certain temptation and sometimes sin in my life I called the author on the phone to discuss coming to see him. He told me that the enemy that attacking me was the flesh, and not the devil. Satan can use our flesh as a “beach head” to bring attacks against us. Dr. Wiersbe has written a book about Satan that may be helpful. “The Strategy of Satan” “How to Detect and Defeat Him:” This is the title and sub-title of his book which is a rather short paperback book of less than 160 pages. Charles Stanley has also written a book about Satan “When the Enemy Strikes.” Both are helpful books. My point in writing this paragraph is to make sure that we as believers know our enemies and to realize that they are defeated foes. My advice is to follow what Paul writes in Ephesians 6:10-18, putting on your spiritual armour.
Respect him—he is dangerous: “8 ¶ Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. 9 Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world.”
“8 ¶ Be self-controlled and vigilant always, for your enemy the devil is always about, prowling like a lion roaring for its prey. 9 Resist him, standing firm in your faith, remembering that the strain is the same for all your fellow-Christians in other parts of the world.” (Philips)
For almost 35 years I worked at a very large foundry, one of the largest ones in the world. If you have never been around molten metal you won’t know how dangerous it is. We melted an average of 3000 tons of cast iron every day. Molten iron and water when mixed can cause a huge explosion and I have seen and heard these explosions from time to time. One of my jobs there was to begin the process of melting the iron in what is called a cupola. It was very dangerous and I never began the process without prayer. The point in all of this is that I have to respect the iron, for it could harm you or kill you in a moment when you let your guard down. Satan is like that and although I believe that according to Psalm 139 God numbers our days we are still told to be on guard against the wiles of the evil one and so respect is something we have to have.
Satan is a destroyer (“Re 9:11 They have as king over them, the angel of the abyss; his name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in the Greek he has the name Apollyon.”) Abaddon and Apollyon mean “destruction.” “9 And the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. 10 Then I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, "Now the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, he who accuses them before our God day and night. 11 "And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even when faced with death.” (Rev. 12:9-11) Satan is a deceiver and an accuser according to these verses. 1 ¶ Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him. 2 The LORD said to Satan, "The LORD rebuke you, Satan! Indeed, the LORD who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is this not a brand plucked from the fire?’” Zech. 3:1-3)
1Peter 5:8 tells us to be “sober,” we are to be in our right minds. Dr. Wiersbe writes “A part of soberness includes not blaming everything on the devil. Some people see a demon behind every bush and blame Satan for their headaches, flat tires, and high rent. While it is true that Satan can inflict physical pain and sickness (Luke 13:16; and the Book of Job), we have no biblical authority for casting out ‘demons of headache’ or ‘demons of backache.’ One lady phoned me long distance to inform me that Satan had caused her to shrink seven and a half inches. While I have great respect for the wiles and powers of the devil, I still feel we must get our information about him from the Bible and not from our own interpretation of experiences.” This is what I wanted to say, but I am glad that Dr. Wiersbe said it, for he said it better.
Recognize him—he is a great pretender (John 8:44; 2Cor. 11:13-15): “44 "You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” (John 8:44)
“13 For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. 14 No wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. 15 Therefore it is not surprising if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness, whose end will be according to their deeds.” (2Cor. 11:13-15)
John 8:44 is one verse that I just love to read, and the reason that I love to read it is because Jesus shows power and strength to these Pharisees, and has no problem telling them the truth. I suppose it is fair to say that Jesus was a bit angry with them because of their leading many astray with their false teaching. John 8:44 takes place in time right after the last SD that was done from Mark 6, for Jesus had just feed the 5000 and then after that these Pharisees came to Him arguing about Moses giving manna to those Jews in the wilderness.
Satan is a counterfeiter; he tries to do what God does but always fails. In the tribulation period, which is the last seven years of history before the physical return of Jesus Christ we see an unholy trinity, Satan, Antichrist, and the false prophet. This is done to counterfeit the real Trinity. We see in the passage from 2Cor. that Satan has men in churches who are not believers. We see in the parable of the wheat and the Tares (Darnel) (A plant that looks like wheat until it does not produce any fruit), that Satan seeks to plant a counterfeit. Matthew 13:24-30 & 36-43 is where the parable is found.
When a person works in a bank they learn everything there is to know about what the bills look like so that they can spot a counterfeit bill. As believers in Jesus Christ we are to learn about the truth of God’s Word so we can spot something that is not true, something that is counterfeit. I have named my blog “2Timothy 2:15,” “Study to show yourself approved to God, a workman that needs not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” I suppose that it could have been named 2Timothy 3:16, “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.” They go together very well.
Resist him: I have already mentioned Ephesians 6:10-18 as a way to resist the Devil by putting on our Spiritual Armour. When studying this I have learned that this is written in a tense of the Greek verb that means we only have to do this one time. Since we all are forgetful I believe that it is good to do this often to remind ourselves about what these pieces of armour are.
The word stand is used at different times in the Ephesian passage and Dr. Wiersbe says that unless we stand we cannot withstand. Of all the things that protect us when using the Spiritual Armor there are only two offensive weapons, the Word of God and prayer: “The sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God.” This is a short sword, not the long one and what we do with this is like what Jesus did when He resisted the Devil in Matthew chapter four, for Jesus resisted the Devil using the Word of God as He quoted God’s Word at each attack from the book of Deuteronomy. Since He is our example we can do the same if we know the Word of God and hide it in our hearts.
Dr. Wiersbe writes: “A word of caution here: never discuss things with Satan or his associates. Eve made this mistake, and we all know the sad consequences. Also, never try to fight Satan in your own way.” “Never get the idea that you are the only one going through these battles, because ‘your brethren that are in the world’ are facing the same trials. We must pray for one another and encourage each other in the Lord. And we must remember that our personal victories will help others, just as their victories will help us.”
If Peter would have followed the things that he writes about here he would not have fallen to the ploys of Satan the night that Jesus was crucified.
Dr. Wiersbe finishes his commentary with these helpful words, “Before we can stand before Satan, we must bow before God. Peter resisted the Lord and ended up submitting to Satan.” (He is speaking of the night of Jesus was crucified).
Spiritual meaning for my life today: Continue to study and put into practice the things that I have learned from the Scriptures so that I can be effective through the power of the Holy Spirit and the Word of God against the wiles of the evil one.
My Steps of Faith for Today: I want to remember to “abide or remain” in the Vine so that I can be used of the Lord through the power of the Holy Spirit.
6/1/2012 11:53:09 AM
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