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 armor.
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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