"Your Adversary The Devil" (1 Peter 5.8)

by Jones, A. H. | Category: Your Adversary The Devil (1 Peter 5.8) | Jul 1956

(1 Peter 5.8).

The words of the Lord Jesus to Peter on the night of the betrayal give further light on the adversary's activities. He said, " Satan asked to have you, that he might sift you as wheat: but I made supplication for thee, that thy faith fail not" (Luke 22.31, 32). Peter is seen here as the special object of the adversary's attack and of the Lord's help. Earthly circumstances and human agency were used by Satan to bring Peter down. Years later, perhaps with this occasion in his mind, he wrote, "Be sober, be watchful: your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour" (1 Peter 5.8).

The Jewish opposition to the work of God recorded in the early chapters of the Acts was no doubt due to Satanic influence, but in chapter 5, we see the adversary working in those in the church of God in Jerusalem. Ananias and his wife, Sapphira, appear to have craved the approbation of men and so they became Satan's easy prey. Peter's question to the husband revealed who was behind the deception "Why," said he, "hath Satan filled thy heart to lie to the Holy Spirit? " Whilst to the wife, he said, "How is it that ye have agreed together to tempt the Spirit of the Lord ? " Both suffered immediate judgement at the hand of God. May this solemn warning not be lost upon us! Let us beware lest pride and the desire to be thought well of by men give opportunity to Satan to lead us further astray and bring our usefulness to God to an end. Let our service and sacrifice be rendered in love and humility, awaiting that day when the Lord "will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and make manifest the counsels of the hearts; and then shall each man have his praise from God" (1 'Corinthians 4.5).

In considering the teaching of the Holy Scriptures we should always seek to apply the instructions to our own lives. Paul warned the Corinthians that Satan might gain an advantage over them, even in their zeal for judgement. (See 2 Corinthians 2.11). In agreement with his first epistle they had put away the wicked man (1 Corinthians 5.13), and the execution of the judgement had the desired effect. Broken down with sorrow the repentant one now sought the forgiveness of the assembly,' and this they seemed slow to bestow, so the apostle urged them not only to forgive him but to comfort him, "lest by any means such a one should be swallowed up by his overmuch sorrow." This was enjoined upon them" that no advantage may be gained over us by Satan: for we are not ignorant of his devices." There is constant need to search the heart as to whether actions we deem to be righteous do not really spring from a root of pride. The Corinthians, though sincere, were by their hesitancy to forgive in danger of giving Satan an advantage.

Another of the evil one's traits is revealed in 2 Corinthians 11 which reads, "Even Satan fashioneth himself into an angel of light."

He has ministers, deceitful workers who fashion themselves into apostles of Christ and fashion themselves as ministers of righteousness. Their end, like Satan's own, will be according to their works. So we need to be alert lest such ministers delude and unsettle us. Agencies abound on every hand today, propagating heresy, though they have the Scriptures to guide them as to the truth. Let us beware lest we be beguiled by Satan, as was Eve.

The activity of Satan in connexion with human suffering is mentioned in Luke 13.16. There are many causes of human suffering and it is dangerous to generalize as to these. In this case the Lord revealed the trouble to be the work of Satan. Suffering calls for personal exercise before God that there may be an "afterward" when the peaceable fruit of righteousness will be yielded. Further evidence of the work of Satan in this field is furnished in Paul's own experience, as recorded in 2 Corinthians 12.7. The affliction from which he suffered he described as "a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to buffet me." In this experience he cried to the Lord that it depart from him, but in the answer he learned that in such circumstances opportunity is afforded to prove the sufficiency of the Lord's grace and power. Those two instances show the sovereignty of God. What Satan meant for evil, God meant for good, as in the case of Joseph's brethren.

Leaving the realm of human experience we turn again to scenes only made known by the word of God. In Revelation 12.7 we read of war in heaven, where the opposing leaders are Michael, the archangel, and the dragon. This will result in the dragon and his followers being cast down to the earth. Then a great voice in heaven will be heard, saying, "Now is come the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of His Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accuseth them before our God day and night." Never again will that voice be heard in heaven that accused Job in those early days and continues his evil work till this great event takes place which will cause the heavens to rejoice and they that dwell therein, but will bring woe to the earth and the sea. The devil will come down, having great wrath, knowing that he hath but a short time (see verses 9-12). Satan's activities in the subsequent period are confined to the earth (Revelation 12. 15, 17). His power finds expression in the excesses of the beast and the false prophet, which mercifully will only continue for a short time. Revelation 19.19 shows they will be cast alive into the lake of fire.

It is important that we should not confuse Sheol (Hades or Hell) with the Lake of fire. The Scriptures show that prior to the death and resurrection of the Lord the souls of all men went down to Sheol to await God's ultimate dealings with them. The lost in this place knew "anguish" while the redeemed were "comforted." They were separated from each other by a great gulf (see Luke 16). At the final judgement at the Great White Throne, those whose names are not found in the book of life will be consigned to the lake of fire to be there eternally (Revelation 20.1345). The devil does not share the doom of the beast and the false prophet at the same time. Before the thousand years' reign of Christ begins he is east into the abyss. After the devil is released from the abyss he will find a number, as numerous as the sand of the sea, who will readily yield to his deceit and will be led by him against the camp of the saints. Immediate doom will be their portion. The devil will be cast into the Lake of fire to endure eternal torment with the beast and the false prophet who have, by that time, been suffering for a thousand years. What a dreadful doom, but surely a vindication of the holy judgement of God!

"The judgements of the LORD are true, and righteous altogether"

(Psalm i9. 9).

Alas! that so many will have allied themselves with the devil. They are destined to share the same eternal doom. At the Great White Throne judgement of the dead, the great and the' small, stand before it, and they will be judged according to the things written in the books, according to their works, and "if any was not found written in the book of life he was cast into the lake of fire" (Revelation 20.15).

Meanwhile we should hear and heed the words, "Resist the devil, and he will flee from you" (James 4.7), and also, "Neither give place to the devil" (Ephesians 4.27).

Jones, A. H. | Jul 1956
Your Adversary The Devil (1 Peter 5.8)