Lion On The Loose

Go ahead and take your Bible and turn to one Peter chapter five. And last week I felt like we were coming in a little too hot here on the close of this letter. And so I decided to pump the brakes a little bit and slow down so that we could not miss some of these fundamental foundational passages or verses that many of us know so well that we even have them memorized because it's really practical truth that we are constantly applying in our lives. And so last week we looked at verses six and seven about casting all of our cares on the Lord because he cares for us. And this morning we're going to look at verses eight, nine. So go ahead and read them with me first Peter, chapter five, verse eight. Peter said, be of sober spirit. Be on the alert, your adversary, the devil prowls around like a roaring line seeking someone to devour but resist him firm in your faith knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world.

God, I know that Satan hates it when we talk about him, when a preacher exposes him for who he is and what he does. And so I pray what Paul prayed in two Timothy that you would stand with me and strengthen me so that through the proclamation of your word that your will would be fully accomplished and that you would rescue me out of the lion's mouth for your glory and for the good of this body. Today we pray this in Christ's name, amen. Well see us Lewis, the illustrious professor who served at not just Oxford, but also Cambridge was one of the intellectual giants of the 20th century, one of the most influential writers of his day, who's more than 30 books has attracted a vast audience. His book, mere Christianity is a classic. I'm sure many of you have read that he's best known for his children's series, the Chronicles of Narnia.

But one of his most genius novels, not as well known, is called the Screw Tape Letters. Anybody ever read the screw tape letters? Okay, good. It's a collection of letters written by Satan's senior assistant screw tape to educate a novice demon named Wormwood in the strategies that he should use to damn the soul of a young man who he had been assigned. And this is what CS Lewis said at the beginning of the screw tape letters. And I quote, he says, there are two equal and opposite errors into which our race can fall about. The Devils one is to disbelieve in their existence. The other is to believe and to feel excessive and unhealthy interest in them. They themselves, the demons or the devils are equally pleased by both errors. And so when talking about the devil and demons and thinking about the devil and demons, we need to avoid two extremes. The first is disbelief. Some people think that the devil and demons make believe, and they're an idea that parents made up to scare us or that Hollywood use this to entertain us. And the devil is often depicted as this cute little character with horns and a pointy little tail and a little pitchfork. And I'm reminded of this every time I go to torchy's tacos.

The second extreme is belief. Some people are overly obsessed with the devil and demons to the point that they live in fear and confusion and they think that the devil and demons are behind everything that happens and they act like Satan is omnipresent and omniscient and omnipotent, which he is not. And we need to be careful not to give Satan too much credit and over exaggerate his capabilities, but at the same time, we need to be careful that we not give him enough credit and underestimate his capabilities. All that to say it's crucial for our lives as Christians, that we have a clear, accurate understanding of who Satan is and how Satan works if we stand any chance of surviving his attacks. And so we had before us one of the key passages in the entire Bible about the devil and how to deal with him. And Peter was simply passing along what he had learned through his own personal experience with the devil, specifically in regards to the sufferings of Christ. And you remember when Jesus first announced to the disciples that he was going to suffer and die, Peter took him aside and rebuked him, to which Jesus said, get behind me Satan.

He just called Peter Satan on that night that Jesus was finally betrayed and arrested. He told Peter, in the upper room, Satan has demanded permission to sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail Later. That same night in the Garden of Gethsemane after finding Peter along with James and John sleeping when he had asked them to pray, Jesus said, so you men could not keep watching me for one hour, keep watching and praying that you may not enter into temptation. And as we know, Peter failed to heed Jesus's warning. He went right back to sleep along with James and John. And before that night was over, he had brutally hacked someone's ear off with a sword and it adamantly denied that he even knew Jesus.

Peter May have had some idea that Satan was stalking him that night based on the warnings that Jesus had given him, but he was totally unprepared. When Satan attacked by the grace of God, he was not devoured by Satan. But from that moment on, he became well aware of how dangerous the devil really is. It's no wonder that Peter portrayed Satan as this ferocious lion prowling around looking for easy prey. He knew it was only a matter of time before his readers would be attacked by Satan and he wanted them to know what to do, what had happened.

And that's the first thing I hope you realize that it's not if you're attacked by Satan, it's when you're attacked by Satan. You've already been attacked by Satan multiple times. Some of you are being attacked by Satan right now. Some of you will be attacked by Satan in the future. The question is, are you prepared for it? Do you know what to do? And so here in these two verses, Peter laid out three strategies for surviving Satanic attacks. Three strategies for surviving Satanic attacks. I've got an interesting book in my office. It's not a theological book, it's just more of a fun reading book. It's called The Worst Case Scenario Survival Handbook, expert Advice for Extreme Situations. Some of you are familiar with that. Probably there's a game I think as well. But this book provides step-by-step instructions on how to escape quicksand, how to land a plane if the pilot dies, and you got to land that sucker yourself, how to survive a shark attack, and of course how to survive a lion attack. And the point of the book is knowing what to do if we ever encounter one of these situations could save our life.

For example, in order to escape from a lion, they recommend that you establish yourself as a threat and not potential prey, and this is how you do it. Number one, don't panic. Yeah, that's easy not to do. Number two, don't run away. Number three, don't crouch down. Number four, make yourself as big as possible. I wanted to call this sermon How to survive a line attack, but Kyle already used that a few years ago when he preached this text and that was genius and every time I read this text, now I think of that title, how to Survive a Line Attack. So I had to come up with something else. It's not as good lying on the loose, but kudos for Kyle. Well, let's look at the steps Peter gave to survive a line attack. Number one is vigilance. We need to stay alert. Verse eight. Number two is resistance. We need to stand firm. That's the first part of verse nine. And then finally is remembrance. We need to stick together and that's the last phrase of verse nine. So let's look first of all at this first strategy for surviving satanic attacks and that is vigilance. We must stay alert.

Notice what he says in verse eight. Be of sober spirit, be on the alert, which by the way, if you were here last week, that is a abrupt transition to say the least because we were just in a very calming mode here. Peter was in a very calming mode telling us to cast all our anxiety on him because he cares for us. And then all of a sudden he says, Hey, wake up, be of sober spirit. Stay on the alert, be on the alert. So while we can rest in God, we cannot rest. Peter encouraged us to cast our burdens and concerns in the Lord, but that doesn't mean we can be careless and complacent in the way that we live our lives. He wanted us to realize that we are in a life and death conflict with the devil, and while we have a caring God, a concerned Father, we have a formidable foe who is constantly lurking and looking for an opportunity to pounce on us.

And so consequently, we must be vigilant, which Peter described in two ways, number one, as sober mindedness and number two as watchfulness. So he says, be of sober spirit, which is a term we have already heard him use twice already. One Peter chapter one verse, therefore, prepare your minds for action. Keep sober in spirit. Chapter four, verse seven, the end of all things is near therefore be of sound, judgment and sober spirit for the purpose of prayer. That word sober literally means to not get drunk. But Peter here in this letter was using it metaphorically to refer to mental sobriety, and I think in this context here in chapter five verse eight, he's saying that we are to be clearheaded and serious minded when it comes to the subject of Satan. We shouldn't treat him flippantly. He's not someone to be trifled with. We shouldn't be afraid of him, but we should respect him like an electrician respects the power of electricity.

Satan is the most powerful and most intelligent creature God ever made. He is way stronger and way smarter than any of us, and he is a host of minions to aid him in his devious work. Paul gave us a portal into the spirit realm in Ephesians chapter six, verse 12, he says, for our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the rural forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. And so he marches in front of us, all of Satan's army of demons, a third of the angels that were cast out of heaven along with the devil and his rebellion against the Lord are now at his beck and call.

It's a sobering thought. It's common to hear stories about lion tamers in the circus or zookeepers who get too comfortable around their big cats and they end up getting mauled or lions and tigers breaking out of their enclosures and attacking visitors who were teasing them and taunting them and they just had enough. And again, we should be sober minded when it comes to thinking about Satan. And this first command along with the second one, beyond the alert are a call for immediate and continual action. This is something we need to do right now. Right now you got to do this sober up, wake up, be on your guard. And this is not something that we can just do momentarily or from time to time, but this is something that we have to do constantly round the clock 24 7, 365 days a year. We need to be on the alert.

We need to remain on high alert at all times. We need to always stay awake. We need to be watchful. We can't ever slack off. We can never let our guard down. We need to constantly be vigilant. And so Peter was encouraging here an attitude of alertness and readiness just like Jesus had exhorted him and James and John in the garden of Gethsemane when he said, watch and pray. Why are we to be of sober spirit? Why are we to be on the alert? Peter goes on, he says, your adversary, the devil prowls around like a roaring line seeking someone to devour.

He uses two titles here for Satan, your adversary, which was used to describe a legal opponent in a lawsuit. The second title, the Devil, is how the Hebrew word for Satan is most often translated in the Greek diaas, which means slander or accuser. And so Peter combine these two titles of Satan in order to reveal who he is and what he does. And we know that according to the apostle Paul, Satan is first and foremost a deceiver who disguises himself and seeks to counterfeit everything God is and everything that God does. And Paul chose to use the analogy of a snake to describe Satan two Corinthians chapter 11 verse three, but I'm afraid as the serpent deceived eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ. And then he goes on later to say this, that Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.

So Satan is a snake, a crafty, deceptive serpent. Peter chose a different analogy. He chose the analogy of a lion and emphasized that Satan is an accuser who scours the earth collecting evidence against God's people and seeks to bring false charges against us and slander us and discredit us before God in the courtroom of heaven. We see this very clearly in the Book of Job. I encourage you to turn back there with me. Job right before the Book of Psalms, if you're wondering where that is. Job chapter one, verse six. Now, there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord and Satan also came among them. The Lord said to Satan, from where do you come? Then it Satan answered the Lord and said, from roaming about on the earth and walking around on it, the Lord said to Satan, have you considered my servant job for there is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man fearing God and turning away from evil.

Then Satan answered, Lord, does job fear God for nothing? Have you not made a hedge about him and his house and all that he has and every side you have blessed the work of his hands and his possessions have increased in the land, but put forth your hand now and touch all that he has. He surely curse you to your face. In other words, he was accusing Job who God viewed as his premier servant, the godliest man on the planet. He says, oh, he just worships you because you give him a lot of stuff. Take it all away. He'll curse you, but we know how that went.

Job responded to Satan's destroying his family and his livestock and his home and everything took it all away naked. I came from my mother's womb, naked I shall return, the Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. Guess what? He's still worshiping. God's like, Hey Satan, he's still worshiping. So Satan's like, okay, round two, let's go verse two, chapter two again, there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord and Satan also came among them to present himself before the Lord. The Lord said to Satan, where have you come from? The Satan answered the Lord and said, from roaming about on the earth and walking around on it, the Lord said to Satan, have you considered my servant job for there is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man fearing God and turning away from evil and he still holds fast his integrity, although you incited me against him to ruin him without cause.

Satan answered the Lord and said, skin for skin, yes, all that a man has, he will give for his life. However, put forth your hand now and touch his bone and his flesh, he will curse you to your face. Satan is again accusing job of having impure motives for worshiping the Lord. And so again, after he was afflicted with boils and even his own wife said, why don't you just curse God and die? Job continued to worship the Lord and he never sinned. It says with his mouth. Another great example is in Zacharia chapter three. If you wonder when that is, go to Matthew and then just hit reverse and go a few books to the left there, Zachariah chapter three, verse one. We find an interesting account of Joshua, the high priest standing before the Lord and Satan accusing him of his sin and impurity. Zachariah chapter three verse one. 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. 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? Is this not someone I rescued?

Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments and standing before the angel, he spoke and said to those who were standing before him saying, remove the filthy garments from him again, he said to him, see, I've taken your nicoti away from you and we'll clo you with al robes. Then I said, let them put a clean turban on his head so they put a clean tur on his head and clothed him with garments while the angel Lord was standing by him. It's a beautiful picture of how we as sinful beings who Satan has every reason to accuse. He's got plenty of trash that he can bring before the Lord. He's got plenty of stuff on us if you will, and yet Christ says to the Father, look, they're clothed in my righteousness.

This whole idea comes to a crescendo in the book of Revelation, revelation chapter 12 verse nine. It says, the great dragon was thrown down the serpent of old who was called the devil in Satan who deceives the whole world. He was thrown down to the earth and his angels were thrown down with him. 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 God day and night, and they overcame him because of the blood of the lamb.

Every time Satan accuses us before God, we have a defense attorney who sits at the right hand of God and represents us and pleads our case before God. There's that old saying, it's not what you know, it's who you know having friends in high places that applies to our elder brother, right? Jesus Christ. One John chapter two verse one, my little children, I'm writing these things to you that you may not sin, and if anyone sins, we have an advocate with the Father Jesus Christ, the righteous, and he himself is the propitiation for our sins. In other words, Christ's death on the cross satisfied God's wrath and he can now forgive us when we confess our sin and he cleanses us from all unrighteousness and our advocate is the one who makes it all possible.

So Peter says, be of sober spirit, be on the alert, your adversary, the devil prowls around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour. In other words, Satan is always on the prowl. He's constantly stalking us. You know that cute little song in the Lion King that Ooba and timon sing about? Then the jungle, the mighty jungle, the lion sleeps tonight ain't true. The lion never sleeps, okay? Satan never sleeps. He's, he is restlessly and stealthily roaming around, searching for unsuspecting victims to be his next prey. We are continuously being hunted and he is drooling as it were for the chance to make a meal out of us. That word devour pictures and animals swallowing or gulping down its prey hole. It's the word that was used in Jonah chapter one when Jonah was swallowed whole by the whale.

I think it's interesting that Peter had never seen pictures of lions. He never watched movies about lions. They didn't have National Geographic back then, right? Nor he'd never gone to the zoo. He never observed lions in the zoo. And see that's kind of our vantage point of lions. Like we've seen pictures of them, we've watched movies or documentaries about them. We maybe haven't gone to the zoo and maybe right here in the glass we stood face to face, but there's big glass in between us, and so it doesn't feel very scary. It doesn't feel very intimidating. You don't feel like you're in danger.

Peter, on the other hand, his only exposure to lions was likely seeing Christians being torn to pieces and eaten alive by them in the Colosseum for the entertainment of the Romans. And so when Peter dictated this sentence to savannas, he may have had in his mind the image of a vicious lion with human blood dripping from his chops, all the more reason why he said, be of sober spirit, be on the alert. What if someone rushed in here and announced that there was a lion loose in the church? How would you react? Well, guess what? We just received a report from the apostle Peter that there was a lion loose in our church and we must take the appropriate precautions. We must be vigilant. We must stay alert.

Well, there's a second strategy that Peter lays out here and that is resistance. Resistance. We need to stand firm. Verse nine, he says, but resist him firm in your faith. That word resist. There is a military term meaning to take a stand or to stand your ground, hold your ground rather than cowering before the devil or running away from the devil. We are to courageously stand up against him. Turn over just a few pages to the left to James chapter four. James says the same exact thing, but he adds something very encouraging. James, chapter four, verse seven, submit therefore to God. Here it is. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.

There's many times in scripture that we're commanded to flee ourselves from evils like immorality or idolatry or greed or youthful lust, but nowhere are we ever advised to flee from the devil. James says, if we resist the devil, he'll flee from us. And you think about how Satan stalked Jesus in the wilderness for those 40 days, looking for just the right moment to attack. But when Jesus resisted him and stood firm on the word of God, he eventually fled. Matthew chapter four, verse 11 says it very simply, then the devil left him, but then it says, for until another opportune time.

So don't think oh one and done. Glad that's over with. No, that was practice for the next time. I think it's also important that we realize the Bible never tells us to attack Satan. The spiritual warfare movement in the church today tells us crazy things like we need to rebuke Satan, we need to bind Satan. It's not what the Bible says. It says that we're simply to take a defensive posture against him. You don't have to go looking for a fight with Satan. He will find you. We see this very clearly in Ephesians chapter six. Ephesians chapter six, turn there with me. Ephesians chapter six verses 10 through 14, and this is the classic text on the armor of God. We should be familiar with it. We covered it this past summer in detail, but I just want to remind you of what Paul said here.

Ephesians chapter six, verse 10. Finally be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might put on the full armor of God so that you'll be able to what stand firm against the schemes of the devil for our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world, forces of this darkness against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the full armor of God so that you'll be able to resist. There it is in the evil day and having done everything to stand firm. And one more time for the hat trick, verse 14, stand firm three times he tells us to stand firm and Peter and James don't tell us specifically how to resist Satan, but Paul did. And I think the following verse is about putting on the armor of God I think serves as a good commentary on what it looks like to resist Satan to stand firm against him.

And so really resisting the devil involves putting into practice the basic biblical principles for living the Christian life. And if you remember, that's what we learned as we studied this passage and we went through each piece of armor individually one at a time, that really they simply represent all the biblical principles in the scriptures for living the Christian life that we need to apply, that we need to put into practice to resist Satan and to stand our ground against Satan. So I encourage you perhaps to go back and listen to that series. It's called Battle Ready and it's on our website, especially if you've never heard it before, it would really fill in the gaps for this message today. But back in Peter notice he says that we are to resist him Firm in your faith remain solid, stable, steadfast, like an immovable boulder. Be rock solid in your faith no matter what Satan throws at you. Don't question the faith or deny the faith or fall away from your faith or as so many seem to be doing today, deconstruct your faith. Don't do it. Don't go there.

The word faith there is probably better translated the faith be firm in the faith referring to the Christian faith that the body of revealed truth contained in scripture that we as Christians believe and have fully committed our lives to follow and obey. Jude mentions it in verse three, Jude three, beloved, while I was making every effort to write to you about our common salvation, I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith, which was once for all handed down to the saints. Peter in verse 12 and just three verses later says through Sylvanus, our faithful brother for so I regard him, I have written to you briefly exhorting and testifying that this is the true grace of God. Stand firm in it, stand firm in what? Stand first in the true grace of God. What's the true grace of God? It's everything he's been talking about since chapter one verse one. So the book of ones, Peter, we talked about it's a pocket guide for pilgrims. It's like this little compendium, this little compressed concise handbook or guide for living the Christian life. And he describes it here. He summarizes it by simply calling it what you've just heard. What you just got done. Reading is the true grace of God stand firm in it.

And so we need to have an unwavering unyielding commitment to all the great truths about who God is and what he has done for us in Christ that Peter described throughout this letter. And most of all, we must firmly believe that Christ disarmed and defeated the devil through his death and resurrection. Now, that doesn't mean that the battle is over, but now we are warring against a vanquished foe who no longer has power over us and we need to believe that one. John chapter five, verse four, the apostle John says, this is the victory that has overcome the world, our faith.

Peter says, but resist him firm in your faith. I mentioned last week about this daunting commentary that I have on one peter that I don't often get to because it's so thick and the writing is so small a lot to pour through, but it's filled with nuggets. This is what Robert Leighton said this week. He said, faith is our victory. Faith sets the stronger lion of the tribe of Judah against this roaring lying of the bottomless pit that delivering lion against this devouring lion. He says, when the soul is surrounded with enemies on all sides so that there is no way of escape, faith flies above them and carries up the soul to take refuge in Christ, that is the power of faith. He says, when the floods of temptation rise and gather so great and so many that the soul is even ready to be swallowed up, then by faith it says, Lord Jesus, you are my strength. I look to you for deliverance now appear for my help and thus faith overcomes. That's good stuff.

So we need to be vigilant, we need to be resistant. And then finally, we need to remember, we need to remember, remember what? Remember to stick together. Notice verse nine, but resist him firm in your faith knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world. I think one of the ways that Satan tries to discourage us and defeat us is getting us to think that we are the only ones who struggle with a particular temptation or sin or our trials and suffering are worse than everyone else's. I mean, nobody has it bad as I do. That's the thinking.

But Peter blows that up. He wanted us to know that plenty of our brothers and sisters in Christ have struggled with and are struggling with the same sins we do and they have endured and are enduring the same kinds of suffering we are. And I think this phrase, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world could be applied both historically and globally. Then and now turn back just a couple pages to Hebrews. Hebrews chapter 12 verse one, familiar text. Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us lay aside every encumbrance and the sin, which so easily entangles us and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us. This is the climax of everything that was said in chapter 11, which is the roster of all the great men and women of the faith who have already finished the race. We refer to it as the Hall of Faith chapter 11. And the writer says, therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, since we have such a huge crowd of saints from past generations, and the picture that naturally may come to our mind is all the Old Testament saints sitting in the stands of this great stadium cheering us on as we run our race.

Which sounds good, makes for a good illustration, but I don't think that's what the writer is communicating here. The word witness doesn't mean spectator, but example. And so in the words of war and weby, these people are not witnessing what we're doing. Rather they are bearing witness to us that God can see us through. In other words, these people aren't looking at us. We should be looking at them to gain encouragement and strength to keep on running ourselves. So let's look at them for a moment. Look at chapter 11, verse 32, and what more shall I say for time will fail me if I tell of Gideon Barrick, s Samson, Jeff of David and Samuel and prophets, and seems like the writer's feeling pinched for time here and he's got to wrap things up. And so he just kind in a flurry of words, gives this amazing description of all the experiences that these people had, who by faith, verse 33, conquered kingdoms performed acts of righteousness, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions, quenched the power of sin, escape the edge of the sword from weakness were made strong, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight.

Women received back their dead by resurrection and others were tortured, not accepted, accepting their release so that they might obtain a better resurrection. And others experienced mockings and surgings, yes, also chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sa in two, they were tempted, they were put to death with a sword they went about in sheepskins. And goatskins being destitute, afflicted, ill-treated men of whom the world was not worthy, wandering in deserts and mountains and caves and holes in the ground.

So perhaps we don't have it so bad, and when we read about these heroes of the faith, it should have the same effect on us as when we walk through a hall of fame of sorts. If you've ever been to a hall of fame and you're like, whoa, wow, there's that guy's jersey, and whoa, there's those guys cleats and oh, well, that guy's helmet and it's awe inspiring. And so when we consider all the incredible things that these people from the past experience, all the things they had to endure, all the ways that God protected them and provided for them all the ways that God used them, we should be inspired that no matter how long or lonely the road may seem as Swindoll put it, it is a road beaten hard by the footsteps of saints, apostles, prophets, and martyrs.

Many have traveled this road before us and many are now traveling this road with us. One Corinthians 10 13, I think one of the most encouraging verses in the whole Bible. One Corinthians 10 13, Paul said, no temptation or trial, the word paramus there is interchangeable. So let's get the full bang for our buck here. No temptation or trial has overtaken you, but such as is common to man. Paul promised that God will never single out and allow us to experience some kind of special or unique temptation or trial that no one else has ever had to deal with in life.

But we should never think that we're the only ones in the entire world who are going through what we're going through. I'm sure if we went around the room this morning and just kind of shared some of our struggles, maybe some of the things that we're suffering right now, maybe some of the temptations that we're struggling with, we would be amazed at the similarities. Like, whoa, I didn't know you struggled with that. I struggled with that. I didn't know you went through that or that happened to you. That's what I'm going through right now. I mean, I don't know about you, but it's encouraging for me to know that others deal with the same trials and temptations that I do, and I try to leverage that at times in counseling. For example, I'll sit for a half hour, 45 minutes if I've got an hour with someone and I'll let them just talk and tell me why you're here. Tell me what is concerning you, what is the problem that you'd like some help with? And I just let them talk and so they tell me. And so when they're kind of done sharing all that, typically my first response is, you know what? I'm encouraged. And I often get a strange look a furrowed brow. Have you not been listening for the last 45 minutes? Where were you when I was dumping all this garbage out about our marriage or about whatever?

I'm saying, well, you know what? I haven't heard anything today that I haven't heard before. There's nothing new or different about your situation. And in fact, I've struggled with the same thing. In fact, Kelly and I were just dealing with that same thing last night. Then again, what is the point? Hey, there's hope. There's hope for you. You're not alone in this, no matter how bad it may seem or how hard it might be. And what's most encouraging is knowing that Jesus experienced every temptation and every trial that we will ever face. Again, turn back to Hebrews. We're right there in the neighborhood, same neighborhood. Hebrews chapter two, verse 14, love this. Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, he himself Jesus, likewise, also partook of the same. He became a man like us that through death he might render powerless him who had the power of death that is the devil and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives.

Verse 17. Therefore, he had to be made like his brethren in all things so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest and things pertaining to God to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For since he himself was tempted in that which he has suffered, he is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted. And then just two chapters later, the writer goes on in chapter four, verse 15. We do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in all things as we are yet without sin. Therefore, let us draw near with confidence in the throne of grace so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Listen, Jesus knows what it's like to live on this sin curse earth. He knows what it's like to be relentlessly, ruthlessly stalked by Satan. He's been there, he's been here, done that.

And so he's able to empathize with whatever we're going through, which should give us the confidence to approach him, to find mercy and grace, to help in our ongoing struggle with Satan and sin and temptation. And again, the fact that other Christians throughout the world from both the past and in the present face the same temptations and under the same trials as we do and have experienced victory over them should strengthen our resolve to continue to resist the devil and stand firm in our faith. And in fact, to give into Satan or to give up in our battle against Satan is to fail our fellow believers all over the world who remain faithful in the midst of far worse suffering and persecution.

Suffering and persecution is part of our calling as Christians get used to it. Paul said it this way in Philippians chapter one, verse 29, for to you it has been granted for Christ's sake, not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for his sake, experiencing the same conflict which you saw in me and now here to be in me. Do you see that there's solidarity and suffering? I guess you could think about it this way. No one likes to pay taxes, but it helps to know that everyone else has to pay 'em too, right? So similarly, no one likes to suffer, but it helps to know that all of us have to suffer. We're all in this thing together, and there's something wonderfully comforting and encouraging knowing we are not alone in our battle against the devil.

You are not a single soldier lost in a jungle trying to find your way out. We are a platoon of pilgrims, carefully navigating our way through enemy territory. And the key to surviving an attack is to stick together. We need to stay connected to the body of Christ. We should let others in on our struggles so that they can encourage us and help us and hold us accountable. That's the point of grow groups. By the way, if you haven't figured that out yet, right? It's helping break this big group up into smaller groups when you really get to know one another and you can get involved in each other's lives and get connected. And that sticking together is critical to us surviving a lion attack. I mean this. You've seen this. You've watched it. Lions love to separate their prey from the rest of the herd, don't they? And that's when they make the kill.

Don't let Satan do the same to you. Ecclesiastes 4, 9 2 are better than one because they have a good return for their labor, for if either of them falls, the one who will lift up his companion, but woe to the one who falls when there's not another to lift him up. And if one can overpower him who is alone, two can resist him. If you're a lone wolf, guess what? You're a sitting duck. I dunno what a wolf and a duck have to do in common, but you understand if you're just going it alone, you are a sitting duck. You are an accident waiting to happen.

But two, find a battle buddy. Find an accountability partner, a discipler stick together. There is a lion on the loose, but we need not fear because that lion is chained. The reformers like to say that about the devil god's. He's God's devil. And that was their way of saying that God keeps Satan on a short leash in order to protect us from his ruthless, relentless attacks. And he has divine limitations. He can't just do whatever he wants to, whatever he wants, whenever he wants, he needs to ask God's permission. We saw that in Job. We also saw that with Peter as I was meditating on this text this week, I was reminded of a section in the pilgrims progress by John Bunion. You may remember this if you've read this. As Christian was approaching the beautiful palace, he had to pass through this narrow passageway and he saw two ferocious lions standing on either side of the path, and he got scared and he thought about turning around and rather than getting eaten alive by these lions, but the porter of the palace, whose name was you, ready for this? Watchful. You got to love bunion man. Watchful said, quote, fear not the lions, for they are chained and are placed, therefore, trial of faith and for discovery of those that have none, keep in the midst of the path and no hurt shall come unto thee. They're simply there to test your faith in bunion. So he continued on trembling for fear of the lions, but taking good heed to the directions of the porter. He heard them roar, but they did him no harm.

You may hear Satan snarl and roar, but he can never devour you or any pilgrim for that matter, who stays on the proper path and who heeds the directions of our porter. Peter, let's pray. Father, thank you that Satan is a defeated foe, that we have an advocate at your right hand right now who defends us against Satan's accusations. Forgive us for not always staying alert and remaining vigilant and falling prey to the devil. I pray that you would help us resist the devil and remain firm in our faith in total dependence on Jesus Christ. We pray this in His name. Amen.