SCRIPTURE
1 Peter 5:8-14
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. 10 And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. 11 To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen. 12 By Silvanus, a faithful brother as I regard him, I have written briefly to you, exhorting and declaring that this is the true grace of God. Stand firm in it. 13 She who is at Babylon, who is likewise chosen, sends you greetings, and so does Mark, my son. 14 Greet one another with the kiss of love. Peace to all of you who are in Christ.
OBSERVATIONS
We have an enemy.
We have a brotherhood.
We have a calling from the God of all grace.
When we study God’s Word, it should lead us to both rejoicing and repenting.
- What stands out to you from the text?
- What questions or comments do you have about it?
- In what ways did you find yourself encouraged and/or rejoicing when you heard the message?
- In what ways were you challenged to repent or change when you heard the message?
- How did the teacher connect this passage to Christ? What other connections do you see between this message and the redemptive work of Christ?
CONCLUSION
- What is one thing that you want to remember from this sermon?
- Why is that important to you?
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
33.307 φωνέωa; καλέωc: to communicate directly or indirectly to someone who is presumably at a distance, in order to tell such a person to come—‘to call, to summon.’
φωνέωa: φωνήσας αὐτὸν εἶπεν αὐτῷ, Τί τοῦτο ἀκούω περὶ σοῦ; ‘(his master) called him in and said to him, What is this I hear about you?’ Lk 16:2.
καλέωc: ἄνθρωπος ἀποδημῶν ἐκάλεσεν τοὺς ἰδίους δούλους ‘a man who was about to leave home on a trip called his servants’ Mt 25:14.
Louw, J. P., & Nida, E. A. (1996). Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament: based on semantic domains (electronic ed. of the 2nd edition., Vol. 1, p. 422). New York: United Bible Societies.
Call, Calling. This prominent biblical term is used with particular theological significance in three ways: in connection with worship, with election, and with vocation.
Motyer, S. (1996). Call, Calling. In Evangelical dictionary of biblical theology (electronic ed., p. 80). Grand Rapids: Baker Book House.
Adversary
39.9 ἀντίδικοςb, ου m: one who is actively and continuously hostile toward someone—‘adversary, enemy.’ ὁ ἀντίδικος ὑμῶν διάβολος ὡς λέων ὠρυόμενος περιπατεῖ ‘your adversary, the Devil, roams around like a roaring lion’ 1 Pe 5:8.
Louw, J. P., & Nida, E. A. (1996). Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament: based on semantic domains (electronic ed. of the 2nd edition., Vol. 1, p. 492). New York: United Bible Societies.
The Devil
33.397 διάβολοςc, ου m and f: (derivative of διαβάλλω ‘to slander,’ not occurring in the NT) one who engages in slander—‘slanderer.’ γυναῖκας ὡσαύτως σεμνάς, μὴ διαβόλους ‘their wives also must be of good character and not slanderers’ 1 Tm 3:11. In 1 Tm 3:11 it may be appropriate to render διαβόλους as ‘gossipers.’
Louw, J. P., & Nida, E. A. (1996). Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament: based on semantic domains (electronic ed. of the 2nd edition., Vol. 1, p. 433). New York: United Bible Societies.
The NT does have a developed doctrine of Satan, and he comes with a whole list of names: Satan (Hebrew for “accuser”), devil (the Greek translation of Satan), Beliar, Beelzebul, the Adversary, the Dragon, the Enemy, the Serpent, the Tester, and the Wicked One. Satan is pictured as the ruler of a host of angels (Mt 25:41) and the controller of the world (Lk 4:6; Acts 26:18; 2 Cor 4:4), who especially governs all who are not Christians (Mk 4:15; Jn 8:44; Acts 13:10; Col 1:13). He is opposed to God and seeks to alienate all men from God; therefore he is a specially dangerous foe of Christians (Lk 8:33; 1 Cor 7:5; 1 Pt 5:8) who must steadfastly resist him and see through his cunning (2 Cor 2:11; Eph 6:11; Jas 4:7). Satan works his evil will by tempting persons (Jn 13:2; Acts 5:3), by hindering God’s workers (1 Thes 2:18), by accusing Christians before God (Rv 12:10), and by controlling the evil persons who resist the gospel, (Rv 2:9, 13 esp. the anti-Christ, 2 Thes 2:9; Rv 13:2).
Most importantly, however, the NT teaches us that this being who has been evil from the beginning (1 Jn 3:8) has now been bound and cast out of heaven through the ministry of Jesus (Lk 10:18; Rv 12). While Satan is still a dangerous enemy, Jesus himself prays for us and has given us the powerful weapons of prayer, faith, and his blood. Satan can still cause physical illness when allowed by God (2 Cor 12:7) and persons can be delivered over to him for chastening (1 Cor 5:5; 1 Tm 1:20), but that can be for our good in God’s providence. Satan’s end is sure (Rom 16:20; Rv 20:10).
Elwell, W. A., & Beitzel, B. J. (1988). Satan. In Baker encyclopedia of the Bible (Vol. 2, p. 1908). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House.
The NT embodies and develops the later Jewish teaching on the devil. He tempts the Lord at the beginning of His public ministry (Mk. 1:13, Mt. 4:1–11, Lk. 4:1–13), presenting himself as the master of the world (Mt. 4:8–9), and Christ shows by His teaching and example his powerlessness over those who resist him. Later Satan renews his attacks in the persons of the demoniacs, thus manifesting the enmity between his kingdom and the kingdom of God, which is also taught in several parables, e.g. that of the tares among the wheat (Mt. 13:24–30). He has wanted the disciples, esp. St *Peter, but the Lord has prayed for him, that his faith might not fail (Lk. 22:31–2); for the power of Satan, whom Jesus saw ‘fallen as lightning from heaven’ (Lk. 10:18), is already broken. Being ‘a murderer from the beginning’ (Jn. 8:44), he is the ‘prince of the world’ but has no power over Christ (Jn. 14:30), for he is already judged (Jn. 16:11), and at the Last Judgement he and all those who belong to him will depart into eternal fire (Mt. 25:41). St *Paul and the other Apostles follow this teaching. 1 Peter recommends sobriety and vigilance as the chief means of resisting him (5:8–9), and in Jude we find a brief allusion to the fall of the angels (1:6; cf. 2 Pet. 2:4). A fuller account of the angels’ fall is given in Rev. 12:7–9, which chapter also contains a detailed description of the devil’s persecution of the Church under the figure of the Woman clothed with the sun.
Cross, F. L., & Livingstone, E. A. (Eds.). (2005). In The Oxford dictionary of the Christian Church (3rd ed. rev., pp. 477–478). Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press.
Genesis 3:1–13 (ESV): Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made.
He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” 2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, 3 but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’ ” 4 But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. 7 Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.
8 And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” 10 And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.” 11 He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” 12 The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” 13 Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
John 8:34–47 (ESV): Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. 35 The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. 36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. 37 I know that you are offspring of Abraham; yet you seek to kill me because my word finds no place in you. 38 I speak of what I have seen with my Father, and you do what you have heard from your father.”
You Are of Your Father the Devil
39 They answered him, “Abraham is our father.” Jesus said to them, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would be doing the works Abraham did, 40 but now you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. This is not what Abraham did. 41 You are doing the works your father did.” They said to him, “We were not born of sexual immorality. We have one Father—even God.” 42 Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and I am here. I came not of my own accord, but he sent me. 43 Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to hear my word. 44 You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies. 45 But because I tell the truth, you do not believe me. 46 Which one of you convicts me of sin? If I tell the truth, why do you not believe me? 47 Whoever is of God hears the words of God. The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God.”
Revelation 12:7–12 (ESV): Now war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon. And the dragon and his angels fought back, 8 but he was defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. 9 And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. 10 And 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 brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God. 11 And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death. 12 Therefore, rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath, because he knows that his time is short!”