Verse number six, humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God that he may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon him for he careth for you. Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary, the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about seeking whom he may devour. Whom resist, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world. We ask, Heavenly Father, that you would direct us through some of these verses. May we glean things here that we need to apply. And with your strength and your blessing, we pray that the Lord might be glorified, not just in this hour's service, this half hour message, but also in our lives as we endeavor to serve Christ and deal with our enemies. Use us for your glory, we pray in Jesus' name. Amen. You may be seated. Peter, in the midst of some instruction to the saints in Asia, uses a simile to punctuate his lesson. Your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about seeking whom he may devour. We'll get back to that illustration of the lion in a moment, but first As always, it is helpful, if not absolutely essential, that we recognize the context of the important verses that we are looking at. In this particular case, these are important verses. Other than the book of Proverbs, which is primarily a collection of pithy statements, most of the rest of the Bible, most of the rest of the scriptures flow from one point to another point to another, whether we're talking about history or theology. And that often includes the practical exhortations of the epistles, such as what we have right here. So taking a step back, Peter encourages us to cast all our care upon the Lord, because he cares for us. And then it is in the next breath that he says, be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary the devil is a roaring lion walking about seeking whom he may devour. I hope that you can see the relationship between casting our cares and the reason for this casting. We have enemies out there. One of the important reasons to practice care casting is the roaring and the assaults of the devil. Many of the problems of our lives come indirectly from Satan. I don't think Satan is personally interested in any of us. We're not important enough. But he has a great many of his fallen angels to deal with us. And of course he controls a great deal in this world. So many of the problems that we have do come from him indirectly one way or another. And he is striving hard to keep us from casting those worries that we have, casting those cares that we have upon the Lord. He would like us to live in terror. He would like us to hear his growl and hide ourselves in our little caves doing nothing for the Lord. He'd be delighted if our lives were cut short and rendered useless. I believe that Satan likes to see fear in our eyes, so to speak. as we hear another of his tremendous roars. He wants us to be so intent on the controversies and the conspiracies and the problems of this world that we are kept from serving the Lord as we should. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Satan is the primary adversary of the children of God. As I said this morning, while the devil may be our adversary, he is not actually the adversary of the unbeliever. Metaphorically speaking, Satan is the father. He is the spiritual parent of the unsaved soul. And that relationship, Satan and the unsaved, Satan and the child of God, creates the different approaches that he has toward us. To us, he is an adversary. To others, he is a friend, a parent, a guide. You could say that he's not interested in disturbing the opinions of the unsaved person. He doesn't want his own child to realize how wretched and how spiritually destroyed he is. Sure, the life of the lost person sometimes is miserable, but as a rule, he doesn't realize how miserable he really is and what danger he is in. Satan doesn't want to disturb that. He wants that to continue. If he did disturb that, well, that member of the lion's pride may decide he'd rather leave and maybe become a sheep. So Satan just allows the wicked to go on in their way. He doesn't disturb them very much. I'm not saying that he never bothers them, but doesn't bother them very much. So Satan encourages. He doesn't discourage his children in their crimes against God. He blesses them. sometimes with euphoria, like the drunkard or the addict. He is feeling so good that he just gets more entrenched and more entrenched and more entrenched into his sins. And it's not just that sort of thing. It's in other areas of sin as well. Generally speaking, Satan is not the adversary of his own people, but he is the adversary of the children of God. And by the way, the Old Testament word translated Satan actually means adversary. So those Jews who might have been reading Peter's epistle, when they heard the word adversary would know exactly who it was. Makes sense to them. And what exactly is it to be an adversary? What is an adversary? What is it to be adversarial. An adversary is more than an enemy. He is an opponent. He's a challenger. He is an enemy combatant. He doesn't just disagree with his enemies. The adversary doesn't just disagree with people. He engages them. He fights them. He is an adversary. not just a general enemy. The original Greek word refers to a lawyer, an adversary, perhaps a prosecuting attorney, someone with accusations and charges against someone else. And in this case, it's you who are the children of God. At times, as we see in Job, he stands before the Lord arguing against God's child. And at other times, he may fill or direct the prosecuting attorney in an earthly case. against the people of God, such as these who over the last half decade have been fighting for their rights because they will not cater to homosexuals. So he whispers in the ear of the prosecuting attorney trying to direct them. The prophet Zechariah paints a picture in chapter three of God's high priest standing before the angel of the Lord with, and I quote, Satan standing at his right hand to resist him, to resist the high priest. Like a corrupt government agent, Satan was there to oppose whatever it was this priest was trying to do. He might have been whispering in his ear, you're not worthy of serving the Holy God. He might have tried to say that the details of your service are not as precise as they need to be in order to please the Lord. He could have had a dozen, objection, objection, that he shouted toward the righteous judge on the throne. But the Lord overruled them all. And the angel of the Lord said unto Satan, The Lord rebuke thee. That was it. In Job chapter 1, we see the devil arguing with Jehovah over the character of that righteous man. Doth Job fear God for naught? Hast thou not made a hedge about him? Hast thou not blessed the work of his hands as well as the state of his heart? Then in Job 2, Satan roared once again, Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life. He was essentially saying that Job, like all the rest of God's people, are hypocrites. They'll turn against God when the pressure's too much. They're not really sincere. God defended his servant, but he allowed Satan to touch him as an adversary. Satan tried his best to devour or destroy godly Job using just about every weapon in his demonic arsenal. Revelation 12 speaks about the devil, describing him with several uncomplimentary words. Verse nine says, and the great dragon was cast out. that old serpent called the devil and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world. He was cast out into the earth and his angels were cast out with him. And then someone in heaven, we don't really know who it was, someone there in heaven added a bit more information about Satan without actually naming him. Just a little description. And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, now has come salvation and strength and the kingdom of our God and the power of his Christ for the accuser of the brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night. The scripture calls the devil the accuser of the brethren. doesn't name him, just describes him as if this was so common or perhaps so precise a description of Satan that everyone knew exactly who it was, the accuser of the brethren. Accusing the brethren is one of Satan's priorities, shall we say, since he cannot attack the Lord himself. Tried that, as we saw this morning, that was another failure. So he goes after the people of God. Satan delights in roaring against the people of God, accusing them of every tiny failure in their service and every major sin. I'm talking about little sins that are actually large in the sight of God. But it's all to none effect. because there is salvation and strength in our Redeemer. Verse number 10 of 1 Peter 5. So, Peter says, cast all your care upon him. Upon the Lord, that is. Cast your care upon him, for he careth for you. Trust in the Lord. Lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him. He'll take you through this. Don't listen to the roaring of the king of beasts. Don't let his roaring disturb you other than to encourage you to get closer to the Lord for his protection. In the midst of his adversarial roaring, the Bible depicts the devil as an inveterate, perpetual, consummate liar. He was there with our first parents. Yeah, hath God said, you shall not die. It was deception, it was a lie. He's been lying ever since. We move on into the New Testament. We could spend other, look at other examples in the Old Testament. Peter said to Ananias that it was Satan who prompted him to lie to the church and lie to the Holy Spirit. Satan is a liar. Paul confronted a false prophet in Acts 13 and bluntly told him, O full of all subtlety and all mischief, thou child of the devil, the enemy of all righteousness, wilt thou not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lord? You pervert the right ways of the Lord because you are a child of the deceiver. The child of the devil. The book of Revelation, over and over and over again, describes Satan as the deceiver of men. 12, nine, 13, 14, 20, two and three, 20, verse 10, the deceiver of the world is Satan. The devil is the most corrupt lawyer in the history of jurisprudence. earthly or spiritual. He's not only the accuser of the brethren, but he delights in slandering them. Usually the judge tells that lawyer to mind his P's and Q's if he starts to slander the witness, but this is what the devil does. The word devil actually is translated several times in the New Testament as false accuser and slanderer. He is a slanderer. And the Lord Jesus said as well, he is a murderer. John 8 verse 44. Satan would like to see your life cut short. He will use slander to get that done. He would like to see your service for God come to an end. There's a sense in which if he can get us to poison ourselves with cares and worries, we will become effectively dead to our service of God. Cast those cares upon the Lord. Get rid of them. They're part of Satan's attack. So Peter goes on and he says, now here's what you need to do. Be sober, be vigilant, resisting the devil and the strength of the Lord. Austin has told us a couple of times in recent weeks that there's a narrow road and two deep ditches on either side. Well, we have another one of those right here. There are a few Christians who imagine Satan behind every rock and around every corner. He's everywhere. And that fear turns them from being useful servants of God into spiritual sloths. To quote, the slothful man saith, there's a lion in the way. There's a lion in the streets. Proverbs 26, 13. The devil is a roaring lion, walks about seeking whom he may devour. Generally speaking, that's not our problem. We're not feared of Satan, generally speaking. No, we're falling on the other side of the road into perhaps a deeper ditch. We don't consciously put on the whole armor of God because we're not sufficiently aware of the spiritual world in which we live. We're not aware of what Peter is telling us here. There is an enemy. There is an adversary out there. And we're not preparing ourselves for that. We must stand against the wiles of the devil or be devoured by him in some fashion. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood. but against principalities and powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. This is the context of Paul's instruction for us to put on the whole armor of God. Peter tells us to be sober. The word might be appropriately used in talking about drunkenness. Be sober. But we can't confine it to that. And the word is not forbidding us from laughing, smiling, and enjoying our Christian lives. The word sober does not mean somber. It doesn't mean grave. In this case, it is a spiritual equivalent to defensive driving. There's trouble out there. Keep your eyes open. Stay alert. Watch out. In the Bible, this word is often tied to another. Watch. And in fact, this Greek word is sometimes translated to watch. 2 Timothy 4, 5, for example. Watch thou in all things. Admittedly, Christians sometimes sin with their eyes wide open. They know exactly what they're doing. Shame on them. Shame on us. At that point, their service for God becomes ineffectual. Their worship of God becomes worthless. But if they are truly the children of God, if they're truly worthy of the name of the Lord, this is not something that's going to be common to their lives. They will be disturbed when they find, or when they're convicted of their deliberacy, and as was David. Far more often, those Christians, we, sin because we are surprised and caught off guard by this temptation or that temptation. Their jealousy, their pride, their anger overcomes them when they're least expecting it, not prepared for it. Peter's exhortation is about that kind of spiritual attack. Be sober, be vigilant. First Thessalonians 5, 6 says, therefore let us not sleep as do others. Let us watch, be sober, don't fall asleep. We have lions in the streets. The word vigilant is related to being sober, but it carries a different kind of attitude, if I can put it this way, a different approach. While to be sober suggests watching for danger, to be vigilant carries the idea of watching with expectation. In other words, it's talking about watching for something that could be good. Let me show you. Several times the Lord Jesus said in different contexts, wherefore, excuse me, watch therefore, using the word vigilant, be vigilant for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of Man cometh. The Lord Jesus is coming again. We are to be vigilant in watching for him, expecting him. In Gethsemane, Christ told the disciples, my soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death, tarry ye here and watch with me. But later he cometh to the disciples and findeth them asleep and saith unto Peter, could ye not watch with me one hour? Paul uses the same word in writing to the Corinthians and the Colossians. Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit ye like men, be strong, and continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving. Why do we pray? We pray for the glory of God. We pray that the Lord might be pleased to glorify himself in this miracle or this event. After beseeching the Lord for his blessings, we're supposed to watch and be expecting the Lord to answer that prayer. That's the meaning of the word. which is sometimes translated watch, is also used by Paul in another interesting way. And I don't know if I can explain this very well. In 1 Thessalonians 5... Why don't you turn to 1 Thessalonians? Chapter 5. We'll come to verse number 10 in a minute. Verse number six. Therefore, let us not sleep as do others, but let us watch and be sober. Let us be vigilant and sober. For what should we watch, Paul? Why should we be so diligent? They that sleep in the night, they that sleep, sleep in the night. They that be drunken are drunken in the night. But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and for an helmet, the hope of salvation. For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him. an expectation of the Savior. Verse number 10, however, says, who died for us that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him. Whether we are alive or dead, we will be with him. And the word wake in this verse is the same word that Peter uses for vigilant. In other words, The person who is awake should be vigilant. They should go hand in hand. Someone who is awake is watchful, vigilant, expectant. We're expecting the Lord. And going back to what Peter says, I think he is telling us, in addition to watching for the lion that goeth about seeking whom he may devour, in other words, be sober in regard to the lion out there. At the same time, be vigilant for the lion of the tribe of Judah. And then finally, he says in regard to the devil, resist him. Whom resist steadfast in the faith. Looking for scriptures where this word resist is found, I went back to Ephesians chapter six. Turn to Ephesians six. You're familiar with these words. Verse number 10. Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and the power of his might. Put on the whole armor of God. that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. Resist, in Peter, is stand here. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore, take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to Resist, withstand in the evil day, and having done all to stand. Where Peter says, resist the devil, Paul says, withstand his devilish wiles. How can we withstand the devil? We begin by putting on the whole armor of God. In order to resist Satan, we have to live with the expectation We're going to need this armor. We're going to meet him in battle. If we go through life in a fog, if we go through life blind or bedazzled by the things of the world, we're not even going to know how defeated we are. We need to put on the armor of light with the expectation of going into battle today. He's going to come. in one form or another. Be aware, watch and pray, because your adversary, the devil, as a roaring lion walks about, seeking whom he may devour. And then James adds another element to all of this in chapter four. Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw nigh unto God, and he will draw nigh unto you. Humble yourselves, therefore, in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up." It's not enough to put on the girdle of truth, the breastplate of righteousness. We need the whole uniform. from the helmet of salvation down to the preparation of the gospel of peace on our feet. We need the whole armor of God. And that includes the shield of faith to protect and cover everything else. Peter says, resist steadfast in the faith. How can we drive Satan away from our hearts? I'll tell you point blank, we can't do it. We're incapable, but the Lord can. We need God's blessings in order to be victorious over this lion. So we have to cling to the Lord by faith. How can we successfully cast all our care upon the Lord? We do it by faith. Ordinarily, we're going to cling to our worries and our problems. That is the way our fallen natures are wired. We like to take care of things ourselves. Our pride kicks in and so on and so forth. We don't want to humble ourselves and say that we need help. But as long as we encumber ourselves with the cares of this life, we are going to be devoured to some degree. We need the strength of the Holy Spirit. Lord, we believe unto salvation. Help us with our unbelief in order to live a victorious Christian life. Help. Peter concludes his thoughts on the subject with an encouragement that you're not alone in all of this. The struggles that you have, other people have, And in fact, the struggles that you have don't touch the hem of the garment of the struggles that others have. Some people, it just seems that there's one problem on top of another problem on top of another problem. Your brethren in the world suffer from these things. It may appear that things could not possibly get worse, but they do for others. Maybe they won't for you. Look at the lives of Job. We've touched on him several times. How about Joseph? Things didn't go very well for him initially. Jeremiah, there's another we haven't looked at for quite some time. Boy, he had a tough time. Wasn't great for them. Your problems have not yet reached the degree that each of these suffered. I said, Look at Job, Joseph, and Jeremiah, but perhaps I should withdraw that and say there's somebody else you need to look to. Look to the God of all grace who has called you unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus. Verse number 10. Our light affliction endured for a little while has been designed by the Lord to make you perfect. strengthened, settled. Verse number 11. To Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. Verse number 12. We have a very strong adversary. We have a much stronger divine mediator. Praise the Lord for that. Amen, yes.