The Lion at the Door

“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.” 1 PETER 5:8

 

PONDER THIS

If you knew there was a ravenous, hungry lion somewhere on your property, wouldn’t you be careful when you walked out the door? You certainly would not walk out the door without being prepared. That is what God is saying to us in 1 Peter 5:8—“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary…” Not somebody else’s adversary . . . your adversary walks about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.

The bitterest enemy of God and His people is someone called the devil, the evil one. Have you ever thought about the names that are given to him in the Bible? He’s called the deceiver. He’s called the liar. He’s called the murderer. He’s called the accuser. He’s called the tempter. He’s called the destroyer. He is called the evil one.

The devil is not the figment of someone’s imagination. When we talk about the devil, that’s not a figure of speech. He is personal. He is aggressive. He is intelligent. He is cunning. He is destructive. And his cleverest method is to make people think he does not exist at all—that he’s just some sort of an idea we should make jokes about or view in a cartoonish way. And we laugh because that is a comic presentation and illustration of this one that the Bible tells us we are to beware of. The devil is not in Hell. He will be. But right now he walks about seeking whom he may devour.

What are some of the ways you have prepared yourself for the Enemy’s attacks? What are some ways you could grow in that?

What are some ways you have forgotten the urgency of the spiritual battle every day? What does it look like to be prepared for the spiritual battle?

PRACTICE THIS

Talk with another Christian and confess to one another how you have struggled against sin. Keep each other accountable to be ready for the daily spiritual battle.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Seven Ways God Reigns over Evil

1. Satan is just God’s lackey.

Satan is called “the ruler of this world” in John 12:31. However, other texts say things like this:

“The Most High rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whom he will.” (Daniel 4:17)

The Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nothing;

   he frustrates the plans of the peoples.

The counsel of the Lord stands forever,

   the plans of his heart to all generations. (Psalm 33:10–11)

From which I infer: Yes, Satan is the god of this world and the ruler of this age, but not ultimately. He is a lackey with a leash underneath this great God who decides who kings are and when they’re done.

2. Unclean spirits obey Jesus.

Although unclean spirits are everywhere in the world, doing deceptive and murderous things, Jesus Christ is described as having all authority in heaven and on earth. And then you get an amazing statement like this, clearly spoken as the truth about Jesus in Mark 1:27:

“He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.”

You should think a long time about that. When Jesus speaks with absolute authority, the Devil does what he is told. Period. Right? That’s what it says. There aren’t seasons when Jesus is not authoritative and seasons when he is authoritative. If it says in the Bible, “Jesus commands the unclean spirits, and they obey,” they obey whenever he speaks that way.

3. God determines our suffering.

Satan is described as a roaring lion, prowling and seeking to devour people. And Peter says in 1 Peter 5:9,

Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world.

In other words, the jaws of the lion are suffering. Resist. He’s prowling around like a lion, seeking to devour people. Resist him, firm in your faith, because you know that the same experience of suffering is being experienced by your brethren around the world. Therefore, the suffering of Christians is the jaws of the lion coming down on them. Satan is real. Don’t mess with him. But then you read these words in the same book (1 Peter 3:17):

It is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God’s will, than for doing evil.

If God should will, the jaws will close and not before. God will decide whether they get out — not the devil, ultimately.

4. Only God gives and takes life.

Satan is a murderer from beginning to end. He’s a murderer. Has the Devil, since his fall, taken out of the hand of the Almighty the gift of life and death? He has not. Deuteronomy 32:39:

“See now that I, even I, am he,

   and there is no god beside me;

I kill and I make alive;

   I wound and I heal;

and there is none that can deliver out of my hand.”

Do you remember James 4:13–15?

Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit” — yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.”

And if he doesn’t will, I won’t. If I make it home tonight, God got me home. If I have a heart attack on the way home, God took me home. So yes, Satan is a murderer, but he does not have ultimate say on whom he murders — God does.

5. Satan cannot harm anyone without God’s permission.

When Satan wants to destroy a saint, he must get permission before he touches him. So he comes to God and says, “Job only worships you because he’s rich. If I take his camels, donkeys, servants, he’ll curse you” (see Job 1:9–11). And God gives him permission, but he puts a limit. “Don’t you touch his body” (see Job 1:12). So he kills them all. Job falls on his face: “The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away” (Job 1:21). Satan has to get permission to go after his body, and he gets it. But God says, “Don’t you kill him” (see Job 2:6). Isn’t that remarkable? So Satan does harm to us, but not without God’s say.

6. Jesus is sovereign over Satan’s schemes.

Satan is a great tempter in your life. He’ll tempt you before you go to bed tonight. He wants you to sin more than he wants anything. He wants to get you sinning and sinning and sinning so you make shipwreck of your life. He was behind the three denials of Peter. The Bible says this clearly. However, somebody else was also there behind them. Let me read you these amazing words from Luke 22:31. Jesus says,

“Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat.”

It’s like Satan coming to God in the case of Job. He came to God in the case of Peter. What that means is he wants to take Peter and, through some kind of fear or sin, squish him through the grate so that Peter comes out here, and faith stays there. Then you have a faithless Peter, with faith sifted out. That’s what was going on that night. Satan wanted to make him really afraid — take all faith out of his life. That’s what Satan designed to do. Jesus continues in Luke 22:32,

“But I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.”

He did not say, “If you turn again, I hope you’ll be a strengthener.” He was sovereign over Satan’s designs right there. “I’m praying for you, Peter. I have interceded with the almighty God, and we have decided: you will deny me three times. You will cry, and when you cry, you will repent. And when you repent, you will become a rock. And on this rock, I will build my church.”

7. Satan can blind, but God causes us to see again.

Second Corinthians 4:4: “The god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers.” Satan is a great blinder. Some of you in this room right now are spiritually blind, meaning that you’re listening to me, and this message right now means nothing to you. You just want to get out of here because Satan has blinded your mind. You have no spiritual taste buds. Truth, like what I’m speaking here, doesn’t do anything. It might make you mad, but it doesn’t awaken worship or passion or zeal or love or resolve to obey. That’s a spiritual work of God, and Satan is a great blinder.

The question is, Is he ultimately powerful in his blinding, or does God have final say whether light breaks into your life? Two verses later, Paul says in 2 Corinthians 4:6:

God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

When God resolves to make lights go on in your heart, no devil can stop him.

So those are seven glimpses. I could multiply them over and over again. So here I am, back at my question about the origin of Satan’s sinfulness. Is God helpless before the will of his own angels? Is there power outside God himself that limits his rule over them? My conclusion is that, from cover to cover, the Bible presents God as governing Satan in all he does — no exceptions.

And therefore, I would never, ever biblically infer back into eternity and say, Satan got the upper hand or God was helpless. God couldn’t exert enough influence to win this guy’s allegiance. He could get yours, but he couldn’t get Satan’s? No, God holds sway over the wills of his angels. He commands evil spirits, and they obey him. Therefore, if they disobey, he ordained that they disobey — he permitted them to disobey. If God permits Satan’s fall, it isn’t because he’s helpless; it’s because he’s got a purpose for it.

John Piper

How Satan Serves God

Behold, we consider those blessed who remained steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful. (James 5:11)

Behind all disease and disability is the ultimate will of God. Not that Satan is not involved — he is probably always involved in one way or another with destructive purposes (Acts 10:38). But his power is not decisive. He cannot act without God’s permission.

That is one of the points of Job’s sickness. The text makes it plain that when disease came upon Job, “Satan . . . struck Job with loathsome sores” (Job 2:7). His wife urged him to curse God. But Job said, “Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?” (Job 2:10). And again the inspired author of the book (just as he did in 1:22) commends Job by saying, “In all this Job did not sin with his lips.”

In other words: This is a right view of God’s sovereignty over Satan. Satan is real and may have a hand in our calamities, but not the final hand, and not the decisive hand.

James makes clear that God had a good purpose in all Job’s afflictions: “You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful” (James 5:11).

So even though Satan was involved, the ultimate purpose was God’s, and it was “compassionate and merciful.”

This is the same lesson we learn from 2 Corinthians 12:7, where Paul says that his thorn in the flesh was a “messenger of Satan” and yet was given for the purpose of his own holiness — to keep him from becoming conceited. “Because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited!”

Now, humility is not Satan’s purpose in this affliction. Therefore, the purpose is God’s. Which means that here Satan is being used by God to accomplish his good purposes in Paul’s life. In fact, for God’s elect children, Satan cannot destroy us, and God turns all his attacks finally against him and for us.

John Piper 

Satan’s Strategy and Your Defense

Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith. (1 Peter 5:8–9)

The two great enemies of our souls are sin and Satan. And sin is the worst enemy, because the only way that Satan can destroy us is by getting us to sin, and keeping us from repenting. The only thing that damns us is unforgiven sin. Not Satan.

God may give him leash enough to rough us up, the way he did Job, or even to kill us, the way he did the saints in Smyrna (Revelation 2:10); but Satan cannot condemn us or rob us of eternal life. The only way he can do us ultimate harm is by influencing us to sin, and keep us from repentance. Which is exactly what he aims to do.

So, Satan’s main business is to advocate, promote, assist, titillate, and confirm our bent to sinning. And to keep us from faith and repentance.

We see this in Ephesians 2:1–2: “You were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked . . . according to the prince of the power of the air” (NASB). Sinning “accords” with Satan’s power in the world. When he brings about moral evil, it is through sin. When we sin, we move in his sphere. We come into accord with him. When we sin, we give place to the devil (Ephesians 4:27).

The only thing that will condemn us at the judgment day is unforgiven sin — not sickness or afflictions or persecutions or intimidations or apparitions or nightmares. Satan knows this. Therefore, his great focus is not primarily on how to scare Christians with weird phenomena (though there’s plenty of that), but on how to corrupt Christians with worthless fads and evil thoughts.

Satan wants to catch us at a time when our faith is not firm, when it is vulnerable. It makes sense that the very thing Satan wants to destroy would also be the means of our resisting his efforts. That’s why Peter says, “Resist him, firm in your faith” (1 Peter 5:9). It is also why Paul says that the “shield of faith” can “extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one” (Ephesians 6:16).

The way to thwart the devil is to strengthen the very thing he is trying most to destroy — your faith.

John Piper 

Satan’s Candy Store

Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same way of thinking, for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin. (1 Peter 4:1)

First it puzzles. Did Christ have to cease from sin? No! “He committed no sin” (1 Peter 2:22).

Then it clicks. When we arm ourselves with the thought that Christ suffered for us, we realize that we died with him. “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness” (1 Peter 2:24). When we die with him, we cease to sin.

It’s just like Romans 6. “We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin. . . . So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus” (Romans 6:6–7, 11).

Peter says, “Arm yourselves with this thought!”

Paul says, “Consider yourselves dead!”

The weapon for our warfare against sin is this thought — this consideration.

When the temptations of Satan come — to lust, to steal, to lie, to covet, to envy, to retaliate, to put down, to fear — arm yourself with this thought: When my Lord suffered and died to free me from sin, I died to sin!

When Satan says to you, Why deny yourself the pleasure of lust? Why deal with this mess, which you could avoid by lying? Why not go ahead and get that harmless luxury you covet? Why not seek justice by returning the same hurt you just received?

Answer him: The Son of God suffered (really suffered!) to deliver me from sinning. I cannot believe he suffered to make me miserable. Therefore, what he died to purchase must be more wonderful than the pleasures of sin. Since I trust him, my susceptibility to your allurements has shriveled up and died.

Satan, be gone! My mouth doesn’t drool any more when I walk by your candy store.

John Piper

Are You Easily Deceived by Enticing Words?

PRAY OVER THIS

“By covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words; for a long time their judgment has not been idle, and their destruction does not slumber.”

2 Peter 2:3

 

PONDER THIS

What is the predominant thing about most ads? Joy, fun, beauty, and youth. The advertisement is appealing because the product is presented alongside something else so that by association, you think the product is good and will bring you those things. The devil is very clever—he deceives people exactly the same way in the realm of religion as he does with deception in other areas of life. This verse says he uses deceptive words. In Greek, that word is plastos. It’s the word we get plastic from. False prophets use plastic words. Now what is plastic? Plastic is something you can mold to fit almost any situation. It is also something that can be made to look like the real thing. You can have plastic leather that looks like real leather. It looks valuable but over time you can clearly see it is not the real thing. That’s the kind of deceptive words these people used. They are words that sound appealing but are not the truth of God. They are words that sound enticing but will ultimately lead you to destruction. The lies of the enemy are disguised with plastic words. Oh, how we need to know the Word of God to combat these wicked schemes!

When have you needed to use discernment when something sounded enticing?

How does knowing God’s Word help you guard against deceptive words?

PRACTICE THIS

Spend time in God’s Word today to help you discern truth.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Partial Truths and Half Gospels

PRAY OVER THIS

“But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction.” 2 Peter 2:1

 

PONDER THIS

Look at the word secretly. In this case, the word has the idea of laying something alongside something else. Laying something good alongside something that is bad. Very few false teachers and false prophets will directly deny the whole scope of Christianity. In fact, some of them will affirm what you and I believe. They might say, “Yes, we believe Jesus Christ is the Son of God.” Or they may say, “Yes, we believe that the Bible is the Word of God.” Or they might say “Yes, we ought to live good, godly, Christ-filled lives and so forth.”

But then they will secretly lay their false doctrine alongside that. The devil is very clever. The Bible says he’s “more cunning than any beast of the field” (Genesis 3:1). We are called to be on guard so that we won’t be deceived by partial truths and half gospels.

What examples have you seen of false teaching being brought in alongside truthful teaching?

How are we to be on guard to ensure we are not deceived in this way?

PRACTICE THIS

Spend some time in prayer, asking God to give you discernment and wisdom to recognize false teachings, even when they are brought in next to the truth.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Satan’s Strategy and Your Defense

Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith. (1 Peter 5:8–9)

The two great enemies of our souls are sin and Satan. And sin is the worst enemy, because the only way that Satan can destroy us is by getting us to sin, and keeping us from repenting. The only thing that damns us is unforgiven sin. Not Satan.

God may give him leash enough to rough us up, the way he did Job, or even to kill us, the way he did the saints in Smyrna (Revelation 2:10); but Satan cannot condemn us or rob us of eternal life. The only way he can do us ultimate harm is by influencing us to sin, and keep us from repentance. Which is exactly what he aims to do.

So, Satan’s main business is to advocate, promote, assist, titillate, and confirm our bent to sinning. And to keep us from faith and repentance.

We see this in Ephesians 2:1–2: “You were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked . . . according to the prince of the power of the air” (NASB). Sinning “accords” with Satan’s power in the world. When he brings about moral evil, it is through sin. When we sin, we move in his sphere. We come into accord with him. When we sin, we give place to the devil (Ephesians 4:27).

The only thing that will condemn us at the judgment day is unforgiven sin — not sickness or afflictions or persecutions or intimidations or apparitions or nightmares. Satan knows this. Therefore, his great focus is not primarily on how to scare Christians with weird phenomena (though there’s plenty of that), but on how to corrupt Christians with worthless fads and evil thoughts.

Satan wants to catch us at a time when our faith is not firm, when it is vulnerable. It makes sense that the very thing Satan wants to destroy would also be the means of our resisting his efforts. That’s why Peter says, “Resist him, firm in your faith” (1 Peter 5:9). It is also why Paul says that the “shield of faith” can “extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one” (Ephesians 6:16).

The way to thwart the devil is to strengthen the very thing he is trying most to destroy — your faith.

John Piper 

Who Will Marvel at the Beast?

PRAY OVER THIS

“And I saw one of his heads as if it had been mortally wounded, and his deadly wound was healed. And all the world marveled and followed the beast.”

Revelation 13:3

 

PONDER THIS

The Antichrist will be an appealing man in the eyes of the world. When we call him a beast, don’t think of him as being hideous in appearance. The beast speaks of his nature. Remember that the devil himself appears as an angel of light. Doubtless, this beast will be handsome; he will be charming; he will be clever; he will be greatly intelligent; he will be a persuasive speaker; and he will be a global charmer. And one of the reasons the entire world will wonder after him is that he will have a deadly wound in his head that will be healed. This will be Satan’s counterfeit resurrection. Of course, it will be a resuscitation, because the devil does not have the power to give life, but this one who appears to be dead will be brought back to life, and at that time the world will greatly admire him.

How does the devil make ungodly temptations attractive today?

How does regularly denying yourself better prepare you to face the schemes of the devil?

PRACTICE THIS

Where do you need to deny yourself to reject the attractive schemes of the devil today? Take action in obedience to God.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

How Do You Deal with Guilt?

PRAY OVER THIS

“For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death.” 2 Corinthians 7:10

 

PONDER THIS

It is important to know the difference between accusation and conviction. The Holy Spirit is the convict-er; He will convict you of sin. The devil is the accuser; he will accuse you of sin. Accusation comes from Satan and causes you to feel hopeless and helpless. Judas was an example of this: he betrayed the Lord and was filled with remorse, which led him to suicide. His remorse did not draw him back to Jesus; it drove him from Jesus. True conviction draws you to the Lord. True conviction causes brokenness that leads you to be broken over your sin and to be broken from your sin. Simon Peter was convicted of his sin when he denied the Lord; he wept bitterly, and God restored him.

Satan accuses you not only before God, but he also accuses you to your face. He wants you to focus your attention on anything but Jesus. He wants you to live under the dark cloud of guilt and despair. When I teach about sin, I will not harp on guilt because that is not what brings true conviction and repentance. Guilt only brings remorse and beats people down; it becomes a tool of the devil.

When have you experienced conviction? How did you respond?

How have you seen the pain of guilt in your own life?

PRACTICE THIS

Consider the last time you beat yourself up for something God has forgiven you of. Talk to God in prayer about that now.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Satan Uses Guilt to Enslave You

PRAY OVER THIS

“Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.” Romans 3:19

 

PONDER THIS

What is guilt? Guilt is a reality; it’s the result of the filthiness of our sin. And guilt can cause all kinds of emotional and physical baggage. Guilt brings anxiety and depression. The soul becomes a window covered with the dirt and grime of guilt, and, therefore, everything we look at is colored or discolored by the guilt in us. And guilt can make you sick. If you carry around a load of guilt, it can make you physically ill. David said in Psalm 32:3, “When I kept silent, my bones grew old through my groaning all the day long.”

The man who is haunted by the ghost of guilt is not driven to God. You would think he would be. But the truth of the matter is that a person with unresolved guilt is driven further and further from God. So many people today, who are into things they ought not to be into, are there simply because of guilt. Satan is the accuser. He wants you to sin and then suffer the consequences. He wants to cripple you and then blame you for limping. He wants you to be doubly defeated. He is the accuser and also the enticer.

When have you been overwhelmed with guilt?

How do you typically respond when you are overwhelmed with guilt?

PRACTICE THIS

Confess your sins, turn from the sinful practices that are promoting guilt, and walk surrendered and free.

LWF Adrian Rogers 

Satan’s Candy Store

Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same way of thinking, for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin. (1 Peter 4:1)

First it puzzles. Did Christ have to cease from sin? No! “He committed no sin” (1 Peter 2:22).

Then it clicks. When we arm ourselves with the thought that Christ suffered for us, we realize that we died with him. “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness” (1 Peter 2:24). When we die with him, we cease to sin.

It’s just like Romans 6. “We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin. . . . So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus” (Romans 6:6–7, 11).

Peter says, “Arm yourselves with this thought!”

Paul says, “Consider yourselves dead!”

The weapon for our warfare against sin is this thought — this consideration.

When the temptations of Satan come — to lust, to steal, to lie, to covet, to envy, to retaliate, to put down, to fear — arm yourself with this thought: When my Lord suffered and died to free me from sin, I died to sin!

When Satan says to you, Why deny yourself the pleasure of lust? Why deal with this mess, which you could avoid by lying? Why not go ahead and get that harmless luxury you covet? Why not seek justice by returning the same hurt you just received?

Answer him: The Son of God suffered (really suffered!) to deliver me from sinning. I cannot believe he suffered to make me miserable. Therefore, what he died to purchase must be more wonderful than the pleasures of sin. Since I trust him, my susceptibility to your allurements has shriveled up and died.

Satan, be gone! My mouth doesn’t drool any more when I walk by your candy store.

John Piper 

Satan Blinds Our Hearts

“Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, ‘I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.’” John 8:12

Ponder This

If you visit Carlsbad Caverns, at one point the guide turns out all the lights and the darkness is so deep that you can almost slice it. Even if you have perfect vision, you can’t see in that dark cave because there’s no sight without light. There is no sight without light, but there can be light without sight. A man could be standing blind at high noon and still not see. Men need more than light to be saved.

In 2 Corinthians 4:3-4, Paul said, “But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them.” Satan cannot put out the light. So, what does he do? He blinds the heart; he blinds the mind. Once you have the light, you must learn to see. That’s the way people come to the Lord. God has to open their eyes. The Holy Spirit must give them spiritual insight, and then they begin to grow in knowledge.

Where do you need spiritual insight from God?

How have you pursued God’s truth in your life?

Practice This

Make a list of situations in which you have been struggling with discernment on what to do. Ask God to give you spiritual insight in these situations.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Sin, Satan, Sickness, or Sabotage

Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. (2 Corinthians 12:8–9)

Is the suffering that comes to the Christian because of persecution the same as the suffering that comes from cancer? Do the promises given to one apply to the other? My answer is yes. All of life, if it is lived earnestly by faith in the pursuit of God’s glory and the salvation of others, will meet with some kind of obstacle and suffering. The suffering that comes to the obedient Christian is part of the price of living where you are in obedience to the call of God.

In choosing to follow Christ in the way he directs, we choose all that this path includes under his sovereign providence. Thus, all suffering that comes in the path of obedience is suffering with Christ and for Christ — whether it is cancer at home or persecution far away.

And it is “chosen” — that is, we willingly take the path of obedience where the suffering befalls us, and we do not murmur against God. We may pray — as Paul did — that the suffering be removed (2 Corinthians 12:8); but if God wills, we embrace it as part of the cost of discipleship in the path of obedience on the way to heaven.

All experiences of suffering in the path of Christian obedience, whether from persecution or sickness or accident, have this in common: They all threaten our faith in the goodness of God, and tempt us to leave the path of obedience.

Therefore, every triumph of faith, and all perseverance in obedience, are testimonies to the goodness of God and the preciousness of Christ — whether the enemy is sickness, Satan, sin, or sabotage. Therefore, all suffering, of every kind, that we endure in the path of our Christian calling is a suffering “with Christ” and “for Christ.”

With him in the sense that the suffering comes to us as we are walking with him by faith, and in the sense that it is endured in the strength he supplies through his sympathizing high-priestly ministry to us (Hebrews 4:15).

And for him in the sense that the suffering tests and proves our allegiance to his goodness and power, and in the sense that it reveals his worth as an all-sufficient compensation and prize.

John Piper 

What Does Satan Want From You?

PRAY OVER THIS

“No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.” 1 Corinthians 10:13

 

PONDER THIS

What does the devil war against primarily? You may say the devil tries to get you to commit adultery. Not primarily. The devil tries to get you drunk. No, not primarily. The devil tries to get you on an ego trip. Not primarily.

Primarily, the devil wars against your spirit. What is your spirit? What is the difference between your spirit and your soul? Your soul is the sense of self-consciousness. Your spirit is the sense of God-consciousness. You know God through your spirit. Plants have a body, but they don’t have a soul. Animals have a body and a soul. That means they have self-consciousness, but no animal has a spirit. Only man has a spirit.

That’s what makes man more than an animal. Man can know God. And the Bible says, “God is Spirit, and they who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth” (John 4:24). God’s Spirit bears witness with our spirits that we are children of God (see Romans 8:16). The spirit in man is the vehicle of communication, worship, praise, and spiritual knowledge. What does the devil want to do? The devil wants to cut you off from God. He does this primarily by attacking your spirit.

Think about the temptations listed at the beginning of today’s devotion. How are these all symptoms of the devil attacking your spirit?

How does the condition of your spirit guide the way you think and act?

PRACTICE THIS

Have a conversation with another person today about the importance of a person’s spirit.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Satan’s Strategy and Your Defense

Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith. (1 Peter 5:8–9)

The two great enemies of our souls are sin and Satan. And sin is the worst enemy, because the only way that Satan can destroy us is by getting us to sin, and keeping us from repenting. The only thing that damns us is unforgiven sin. Not Satan.

God may give him leash enough to rough us up, the way he did Job, or even to kill us, the way he did the saints in Smyrna (Revelation 2:10); but Satan cannot condemn us or rob us of eternal life. The only way he can do us ultimate harm is by influencing us to sin, and keep us from repentance. Which is exactly what he aims to do.

So, Satan’s main business is to advocate, promote, assist, titillate, and confirm our bent to sinning. And to keep us from faith and repentance.

We see this in Ephesians 2:1–2: “You were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked . . . according to the prince of the power of the air” (NASB). Sinning “accords” with Satan’s power in the world. When he brings about moral evil, it is through sin. When we sin, we move in his sphere. We come into accord with him. When we sin, we give place to the devil (Ephesians 4:27).

The only thing that will condemn us at the judgment day is unforgiven sin — not sickness or afflictions or persecutions or intimidations or apparitions or nightmares. Satan knows this. Therefore, his great focus is not primarily on how to scare Christians with weird phenomena (though there’s plenty of that), but on how to corrupt Christians with worthless fads and evil thoughts.

Satan wants to catch us at a time when our faith is not firm, when it is vulnerable. It makes sense that the very thing Satan wants to destroy would also be the means of our resisting his efforts. That’s why Peter says, “Resist him, firm in your faith” (1 Peter 5:9). It is also why Paul says that the “shield of faith” can “extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one” (Ephesians 6:16).

The way to thwart the devil is to strengthen the very thing he is trying most to destroy — your faith.

John Piper 

Have You Seen Satan’s Strategies?

PRAY OVER THIS

“Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.” Ephesians 6:11

 

PONDER THIS

The Greek word for “wiles” is methodeia. It’s the word we get “methodical” and “methods” from. Satan is methodical. In warfare, he is strategic. He may even step back two steps to go forward three steps. He may let you think you’re getting away with your sin. He may even seem to bless you and help you along your way. But don’t be fooled. He has made a plan to sabotage your life and your home; the dynamite is in place, the fuse is laid, the match is struck, and Satan is working on you. He is wily, and he is subtle. Apart from the leadership of the Holy Spirit of God, Satan would deceive even the children of God.

When have you experienced the strategy of Satan working in your life?

How have you sought to stand guard against these methods of the devil?

PRACTICE THIS

Make a list of ways you’ve seen the schemes of the devil in your life. Write out a few times you relied on God and were enabled to stand firm. Note also any times you relied on another source of strength, or did little to resist, and were deceived by Satan.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Satan’s Candy Store

Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same way of thinking, for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin. (1 Peter 4:1)

First it puzzles. Did Christ have to cease from sin? No! “He committed no sin” (1 Peter 2:22).

Then it clicks. When we arm ourselves with the thought that Christ suffered for us, we realize that we died with him. “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness” (1 Peter 2:24). When we die with him, we cease to sin.

It’s just like Romans 6. “We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin. . . . So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus” (Romans 6:6–7, 11).

Peter says, “Arm yourselves with this thought!”

Paul says, “Consider yourselves dead!”

The weapon for our warfare against sin is this thought — this consideration.

When the temptations of Satan come — to lust, to steal, to lie, to covet, to envy, to retaliate, to put down, to fear — arm yourself with this thought: When my Lord suffered and died to free me from sin, I died to sin!

When Satan says to you, Why deny yourself the pleasure of lust? Why deal with this mess, which you could avoid by lying? Why not go ahead and get that harmless luxury you covet? Why not seek justice by returning the same hurt you just received?

Answer him: The Son of God suffered (really suffered!) to deliver me from sinning. I cannot believe he suffered to make me miserable. Therefore, what he died to purchase must be more wonderful than the pleasures of sin. Since I trust him, my susceptibility to your allurements has shriveled up and died.

Satan, be gone! My mouth doesn’t drool any more when I walk by your candy store.

John Piper 

Are You Acting Like Satan?

PRAY OVER THIS

“For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, He also has rejected you from being king.” 1 Samuel 15:23

 

PONDER THIS

Saul lost his kingship because he would not submit to spiritual authority. Who was Saul’s spiritual authority? Samuel the prophet. Samuel was a man of God and had told Saul, “Saul, this is what you are to do: you are to utterly destroy the Amalekites.” And rather than destroying all that God said to destroy, Saul spared King Agag and the best of the flocks. Saul said, “The reason I did that is I’m going to sacrifice those animals to the Lord.” Now I want you to notice what Samuel said to him. “Rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft…” What is the sin of witchcraft? The sin of witchcraft is following the devil. It is dabbling in the occult. But why did he say that rebellion is like witchcraft? You are never more like the devil than when you’re rebellious. The devil himself became the devil by rebelling against spiritual authority.

Based on today’s devotion, when are you most tempted to act like the rebellious devil?

How does this change your perspective on the seriousness of disobeying God?

PRACTICE THIS

Take time today to recommit yourself to the spiritual authority of the Lord.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers