Spiritual Foes

For the past few weeks, in our
consideration of Romans 12, we’ve been reminded of the believer’s
response to our earthly enemies. And even when I penned that title,
looking at Romans 12, earthly enemies, I did so because The
way that we respond to and treat our earthly enemies is vastly
different in the manner that we are to treat our spiritual
enemies. And so, for this morning and
for next Lord’s Day, I decided that we should take a look at
two passages in particular that focus on our spiritual enemies,
namely Satan, and his henchmen, the demons. While we saw last
week that we are to bless our earthly enemies, bless those
who persecute, that was Paul’s initial and overarching command
for that entire section in Romans 12. And it was tough to swallow,
wasn’t it? Pray, ask God’s positive good
even on our earthly enemies. even for those who hate us. In
life’s inevitable conflicts with others, we are to honor our God-ordained
rules of engagement in dealing with those who are contrary to
us. In Romans 12, we saw even last
Lord’s Day that there were five principles for this inevitable
conflict with others. There’s the principle of restraint,
never pay back evil for evil to anyone. There’s the principle
of civility, respect what is right in the sight of all men.
There’s the principle of diplomacy, that we are to be at peace with
all men. There was the principle of reckoning,
that we are to leave room for the wrath of God. Judgment is
God’s and it is coming. And there’s the principle of
kindness, that we are to overcome evil with good. And those principles
are good and right and noble. They’re God’s prescribed way
of dealing with those who designate us as enemies. But those principles
cannot be the response of the Christian with regard to our
spiritual foes. We can’t show restraint with
regards to the devil, or civility, or diplomacy, or reckoning, or
kindness. We cannot negotiate with the
devil. We cannot do kindnesses to demons. We cannot befriend our spiritual
enemies. We cannot seek to win them. There are completely different
rules of engagement for the Christian’s spiritual foes. Now I suppose
that the best way to begin this discussion this morning is to
come to a place of agreement that we even have such a thing
as spiritual enemies. That kind of thinking resides
at one end of the realm with regard to spiritual foes. People,
even Christians, may have a complete disregard, even a disbelief in
spiritual enemies like the devil. That leaves the individual completely
indifferent about such foes. I love the way that my brother
Kevin said it a few weeks ago from the pulpit. We are not on
a cruise ship. We’re on a battleship. I’ve said
it similar this way before. We are not on a playground. We’re
on a battlefield. Anyway, many people, I dare say,
think that the whole spiritual realm of evil is imaginary, made
up. And we see this all the time,
especially this time of year. In the weeks to come, you’ll
likely see young children dressed up, in all kinds of costumes,
witches, ghosts, even the devil, as if he’s a myth or a fantasy. I know people in this world who
live in such a way that so as not to be an enemy to anyone.
It’s a good way to live. They never ruffle any feathers.
They never confront anyone. They never upset anyone or offend
anyone. They live in such a way that
there is never any friction between them and anyone else. And that
is one thing, and in a sense even commendable to a degree.
But that type of arrangement is just not possible in the spiritual
realm. Like it or not, you have spiritual
enemies. To live as if there is no devil,
To live as if there are no demons, to live as if you have no spiritual
adversaries, is naive, it’s uninformed, and it’s just plain dangerous.
At the opposite end of the spectrum, there are those who are morbidly
obsessed with the subject. preoccupied with these enemies
so much so that they see and blame the devil for any possible
event in life. If they burn their toast, or
they run out of gas, or they stub their toe, the devil had
to have been directly involved. That kind of thinking is petty
and it’s inaccurate, I remember back in the 80s, there was this immense popularity
with Frank Peretti and his books. The funny thing is, Frank Peretti
was writing fiction, but it was all taken as almost new revelation
about the spiritual realm. And since he wrote about spiritual
things, almost overnight, those things, the devil, demons, the
spiritual realm, they became so many believers’ unhealthy
fascination. And if our level of interest
in those things were not enough, Christians have stooped to employing
all kinds of methods in dealing with the devil, one that has been popularized
by TV preachers for years as the whole idea of binding Satan. That’s a practice that is never
outlined or sanctioned in scripture. We, even as believers, indwelled
by the Spirit of God, do not have, we are not given that kind
of power. And so to employ it is foolhardy,
really. Think that you’re gonna go stand
toe-to-toe with the devil and rebuke him? I remember as a young
believer, an older godly Christian remarked to me, I’ve never believed
that it was good practice to talk with the devil. And you
know what? He was right. No good can come out of that,
just ask Eve. Well, those are the extremes.
Denial. of the existence of a spiritual
realm or preoccupation with the devil and the demons. And God
would have us to know that the devil is not to be our constant
center of attention. That’s God’s place. The spiritual
realm, the spiritual realm of spiritual evil, it is real. There
is a devil. There are demons. There is indeed
a great spiritual war underway. I love the way, the balanced way
that one godly pastor put it. Would you just listen for a moment?
The Christian conflict is not only real, it is difficult and
dangerous. It is one in which true believers
are often grievously wounded. and multitudes of reputed believers
entirely succumb. It is one also in which great
mistakes are often committed and serious loss incurred from
ignorance of its nature. And of the appropriate response, many are apt to regard it as
a mere moral conflict between reason and conscience on the
one side, and evil passions on the other. They therefore rely
on their own strength and upon the resources of nature for success. The source of strength is not
in nature. As we have superhuman enemies
with which to contend, we need not only superhuman strength,
we need divine armor and arms. The weapons of our warfare are
not natural. They are divine. And so for helpful,
beneficial, spiritual instruction on the subject, we have to look
to Scripture. And this morning I would like
God’s people, please, to turn to 1 Peter chapter five. 1 Peter chapter five, a relatively
short passage. If you get to chapter five, just
scroll down, if you would, to verse eight. Follow along as I read. Be of
sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls
about like a roaring lion 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. And after you have suffered for a little while, the God of
all grace, who called you into his eternal glory in Christ,
will himself perfect, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. To him be dominion forever and
ever. Amen. As we have not been in
this epistle for many years, may I remind you of just a few
things. Peter, yes, that same individual
that we first see in the gospels, impetuous, outspoken, unpredictable,
that same Peter is the author of this tremendous epistle, but
he’s different. He’s been transformed by the
grace of God. And here in this letter, he is
writing to Christians that are scattered throughout Asia Minor.
And these Christians are experiencing a great outbreak, pardon me,
a great outbreak of persecution. Emperor Nero had initiated a
violent season of persecution against Christians that spread
really throughout the entire Roman Empire. At times, Roman
officials invented reasons to harass Christians. They assigned
blame on believers for horrible crimes, which only justified
their brutalization of Christians before the populace. So we might
even say that the overarching theme of 1 Peter is suffering
as a Christian. How do we as believers respond
in the midst of intense trial? And so Peter’s epistle is designed
to be a letter of encouragement. But he is addressing trials,
he is addressing suffering. First Peter 1.6 says, he notes
that these believers are in the midst of manifold trials, all
kinds of different difficulties. In 3.14, he says that they may
have to suffer for righteousness sake. In 3.16, he points out
the likelihood, really, that they will be falsely accused
of evil or as evildoers. In 4.12, a fiery trial is going
to come upon them. In 419, he counsels them that
when they suffer, not if, when they suffer, they are to entrust
their souls to a faithful creator. In 5-9, he reminds them that
they are not alone, as other faithful Christians are enduring
the same experiences of suffering. That’s our verse. Here in 1 Peter
5, Peter tells the Christians what his or her response to spiritual
evil should be. This is the believer’s battle
plan in the realm of the devil. And with regard to the devil
and his minions, these are our rules of engagement. He gives
us our mindset and directions for our conduct as his great
army of spiritual soldiers. He gives us three urgent instructions
for dealing with the devil. Would you back up to verse eight
and just note that verse briefly? The first thing that he tells
us is we have to be watchful, knowing that the enemy is out
there. Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary,
the devil, prowls about like a roaring lion seeking someone
to devour. I love the way that Peter does
this. I don’t know if I would do things the same way, frankly.
I might be inclined to wave my arms and jump up and down and
frantically cry out, the devil is lurking. That’s not what Peter
does. Instead, before he even tells
them why, he calls them to a serious alertness. Be of sober spirit. Be on the alert. We usually think
of this word sober as just the opposite of drunkenness. That’s
not it at all. By the way, the word spirit there
in verse eight, it’s not in the Greek text. That’s a device by
our translators to articulate in English what Paul is saying
there. Sober in spirit. And Paul uses
this word three times in his epistles. None of them can bear
the translation of the opposite of drunkenness. Listen to 1 Thessalonians
5, 6, let us not sleep as others do, but let us be alert and sober. Not calling us to the opposite
of drunkenness there, nor in verse eight, since we are of
the day, let us be sober. having put on the breastplate
of faith and love, and as a helmet, the hope of salvation. He’s calling
us to a serious-mindedness, not merely the opposite of drunkenness. He uses the same word in 2 Timothy
4-5, but you be sober in all things. Endure hardship. I mean, can we even imagine Paul
having to tell Timothy, don’t go around being drunken? Drunkenness,
no doubt, is a sin. But none of those places, in
none of those places is Paul addressing the sin of drunkenness.
And neither is Peter here. He’s talking about a mental seriousness
that is vigilant, watchful. And the second caution clarifies
that first, be on the alert. This word is a very plentifully
used word in the New Testament, 22 times in fact, This word is
used by our Savior in instructing his disciples to be on the alert
for Christ’s return. That day, Jesus says, will come
just like a thief in the night. Paul used this word to call the
Ephesian elders to watch for those wolves among them, false
teachers that were surely coming. Keep your eyes open is essentially
what he says. Paul provides the Colossian believers
the beneficial means of spiritual watchfulness in Colossians 4.2. It’s prayer. Devote yourselves
to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving.
And so in all four verses, it’s alertness, spiritual alertness
for which these writers call. It’s a kind of spiritual version
of man your battle stations. Look out, be watchful. We may be saved. We may have
the word of God in our hand, the Holy Spirit indwelling us,
but we cannot justify slackness We cannot justify indolence. As believers, we cannot be preoccupied
or muddled in our thinking. We have to be watchful. There’s
too much at stake in this spiritual battle. We’re not only watchful
for our own sake, we’re watchful for our brothers and sisters
in Christ. We need to be watchful for even
the little sprouts of sin in our midst. We need to be watchful
for our own sinful tendencies. We need to be watchful for even
the whisperings of division in our midst. And we need to watch
for the devil’s meddling among us. It’s there. We need to watch. And now, only now does Peter
tell us why. Would you look at the verse,
verse 8? Your adversary, the devil, prowls about like a roaring
lion seeking someone to devour. And now it all makes sense. Now
we know why we’re supposed to be sober and watchful. This is
why Peter called us to a serious-minded watchfulness. Great danger is
lurking. It’s behind every corner. This is vital information. Peter
tells us a number of things about this spiritual enemy. He identifies
him first as our adversary. I’ve met people before that think
that they can somehow befriend, even coerce, convince, convert
the devil. He’s your sworn enemy. He’s your adversary. He’s not
for us in any way. He never will be. He’s only against
us. And he explicitly says that he
is your adversary. He’s my adversary. The devil
is every believer’s sworn and vicious enemy. The devil is your
enemy. Satan is against God, he’s against
Christ, he’s against the church, and he’s against you. Peter identifies him further
as the devil. He’s your adversary, the devil.
And suddenly we’re reminded that we’re in a mortal conflict. We
are at war. And you see the Greek word for
devil is diabolos, from which we get our word diabolical. The verb form of this word means
to throw over, to capitulate. And so we can understand that
in his activity as a slanderer, the accuser, the malicious false
accuser of Christians, he accuses people before God, he accuses
people to each other, He even accuses people to themselves.
What are you doing here? He’s hostile to everything about
us. He would love nothing more than to throw every one of us
over to apostasy, a complete denial of Christ. Now, some people might wonder,
they might be sitting there reasoning, I’m a Christian. I’m indwelled
by the Spirit of God. What concern is the devil to
me? Plenty. This is the same devil
who deceived the crown of God’s creation, Adam and Eve in the
garden. This is the same evil operator
who stirred King Saul’s hatred of King David. Let’s explore
this a little bit. What is the devil’s track record?
Just listen. The Jewish leaders of Jesus’
day, John 8, 44, Jesus said, you are of your father, the devil,
and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer
from the beginning. He does not stand in the truth
because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie,
he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father
of lies. The devil was operating even
in Jesus’ midst among these religious leaders. You know that the devil
even stirred Peter’s heart? Peter rebukes Jesus for his plan
to go to the cross to suffer for sinners. Jesus rebuked him. He turned and said to Peter,
get behind me, Satan. You are a stumbling block to
me, for you are not setting your mind on God’s interests, but
man’s. Jesus Christ had to come and
suffer on the cross. We know that the devil got to
Judas. John 13 declares as such, during
supper, the devil already having put into the heart of Judas Iscariot,
the son of Simon, to betray him. The devil got to Judas. Ananias
and Sapphira, Acts chapter five, their deceitfulness to the church
over money. Peter rebuked them and said,
Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy
Spirit and to keep back some of the price of the land? The
devil got to Ananias and Sapphira The devil was making inroads
in the Corinthian church. Paul said, I’m afraid that as
the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be
led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ. The devil was making inroads
in Corinth. We know that some physical sickness,
the book of Acts tells us some physical sickness is a result
of the devil’s activity. They were going about healing
all who were oppressed by the devil, whether that was just
demon possession or some kind of sickness. We are, as believers,
cautioned from lingering in our anger, holding fast, keeping
a grudge. Ephesians 4.26, be angry and
do not sin. Do not let the sun go down on
your anger. Do not give the devil an opportunity. The devil can come working his
way into your own family. He cautions those without spiritual
armor. In Ephesians 6, Paul says, put
on the full armor of God so that you will be able to stand firm
against the schemes of the devil. He’s coming after you. He’s your
adversary. In fact, he even cautions the
pride of unwary young elders. He cautions us from making a
new convert into an elder so that he will not become conceited
and fall into the condemnation incurred by the devil. He cautions us about doctrinal
ignorance in 2 Timothy 2. He says that we should be going
about correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God
may grant them repentance, leading to the knowledge of the truth,
and that they may come to their senses and escape from the snare
of the devil, having been held captive by him to do his will.
A false doctrine is the devil’s tool. And he holds people captive
thereby. I think you get the point, the
devil’s out there. The devil has pernicious tricks up his
sleeve for every individual, rich or poor, regardless of your
background, your upbringing, regardless of your age, young
or old, regardless of your gender, of which there are two. Regardless
of your nationality, your skin color, your language, the devil
has a particular set of lures for each one of us. So Peter
tells us who he is, the devil. He tells us his intent, fighting
against us as an adversary, but note the terrible image that
Peter puts in front of us. He prowls about like a roaring
lion seeking someone to devour. This is frightful. He uses the
image of a hungry lion, stalking about in the underbrush as we
walk naively through the jungle of life. The devil is likened
to a lion, but he’s worse by far. Note the differences between
a real lion and the devil. A real lion is earthly. The devil
is spiritual. A real lion is a night predator
almost exclusively. In fact, one of the ways they
can tell that a lion is sick is that he’ll be out wandering
around in the daytime looking to scavenge. A real lion is a night predator.
The devil can come any time. He can even visit you in the
night. The devil is never satisfied,
whereas a lion, once he has a full tummy, he will lay down and just
sleep. An earthly lion is visible. The
devil is invisible. An earthly lion is violent. The devil comes in secret, subtly. An earthly lion is in the flesh
and able to devour flesh. The devil is able to devour flesh
and soul. There’s an interesting line in
one of the Messianic Psalms, Psalm 22. It says, they open
wide their mouth at me as a ravening and roaring lion. The simple
point to be derived from that statement is that ultimately
the devil himself is the cause of all persecution against Christ. The devil indeed is actively
involved in suffering. John 10.10 says that the devil,
a thief, comes only to steal, kill, and destroy. Did you get
that? That’s the only thing he does.
Every broken relationship, every divorce, every battle, every
war, every division in society, racial, economic, religious,
sexism, politics, it’s all directly tied to the devil and his activity. And nothing, no moment, however
delicate, however special, No relationship, no event, no union,
no cause, no purpose, no matter how noble is immune to the devil’s
meddling. All the devil wants to do is
steal, kill, and destroy. The devil likes nothing more
than to produce chaos, strife, suffering. He is the author of
doubt, doubt of God, doubt of God’s ability, doubt of God’s
power, doubt of God’s word. He is the source of all temptation,
the cause of persecution, the author of all false teaching,
the promoter of self-sufficiency, the source of discouragement.
He sows discord in the church. He makes chaos of social mores
and political attitudes. If he can cause one sheep to
wander from the fold, he has won a victory because that person
is soon a victim. Well, Peter, of all men, knew
this tactic of the devil, didn’t he? Faithful commentator and shepherd
J.C. O’Reill addressed the devil this way. He said, true Christianity
admits of no breathing time, no armistice, no truce, on weekdays
as well as Sundays, in private as well as public, at home, by
the family fireside, as well as in public, in little things
like management of the tongue and temper, as well as great
ones like government of kingdoms, the Christian’s warfare must
unceasingly continue. The foe we have to do keeps no
holidays. He never slumbers. He never sleeps.
So long as we have breath in our bodies, we must keep our
armor and remember that we are on the enemy’s ground. You’re
on his turf. No wonder Peter so faithfully
warns us. Be on the alert. Told you there were three encouraging
reminders for dealing with the devil. Not only be watchful,
but secondly, be steadfast. For this one, look at verse nine,
if you would be steadfast, knowing that you’re not alone. 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 want you to observe
what it is that Peter recommends with regard to the most pernicious
of enemies. He’s already likened him to a
roaring lion. Peter just says, resist him.
Resist him firm in your faith. Resistance is a military term
and really it just speaks of strong opposition to the influence
of another. We cannot hope to conquer the
devil in a battle, and it’s a good thing that we don’t have to do
that, but we can, by God’s sustaining grace, we can resist him. This
is the consistent counsel in the New Testament. Paul says
it, take up the full armor of God so that you will be able
to resist in the evil day, Ephesians 6.13. James says it, Resist the devil and he will
flee from you. This is sure fire, James 4, 7.
This is the Bible’s great antidote to the evil one. Resistance by
means of our steadfastness in faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.
It’s in that objective truth that we have placed our faith
in Christ, in the finished work of Christ on the cross, And it’s
not just faith, but that we are firm in our faith. We’re confident
in what it is we believe. We’re strong, resilient, solid,
determined. He says, do not be moved from
your position, from your fundamental position and ground as a believer
in Christ. Don’t be moved. Resistance is
the key of every broken relationship, every divorce, every church split,
every skirmish, can be traced up to the devil and his activities,
then this watchfulness must be about a watchfulness of any thought,
any method, any argument, any action that falls short of God’s
standard. Because if it isn’t of God, it’s
the devil’s method. I’m sure the devil is laughing
his fool head off when people stand to rebuke him. Please note what Peter says at
the end of the verse here. Basically that we are not alone
in this battle. Knowing that the same experiences
of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the
world. What he says is we’re not alone. This is nothing new. And just as our brothers in Christ
are laboring in Christ, standing firm against Satan, as an encouragement
to us, we too are to be steadfast in Christ for them. We do not face anything that
others haven’t faced, even that are not currently facing.
And so we cannot, must not give in to the devil’s temptations. We have to be steadfast. The third encouraging reminder
for Christ in dealing with the devil, be watchful, be steadfast,
be hopeful. There’s an end to this suffering,
this trial. We find it in verse 10. Be watchful,
be steadfast, and thirdly, be hopeful. And after you have suffered
for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you into
his eternal glory in Christ, will himself perfect, confirm,
strengthen, and establish you. To him be the dominion forever
and ever. Amen. It’s here in verse 10 that Peter
issues the message of hope. In verse 8, it was a warning.
In verse 9, it was a strategy. But in verse 10, it’s a message
of hope. And what a powerful message of
hope it is. Peter makes no attempt to gloss over life’s difficulties
after you have suffered for a little while. Suffering, he says, is
going to come. We’re all going to face it. Trials
will come. Temptations will come. Suffering
is part of life. But would you please acknowledge
after, that little word after, after it all, comfort will come.
After it all, victory will come. After it all, relief will come.
And we can be assured of that because of the one we serve. He is the God of all grace. I love that. Throughout much
of this epistle, Peter’s idea of grace has referred primarily
to salvation. But Peter says that God is the
God of all grace, not just the God of the grace of salvation. He’s the God of sustaining grace
as well. He will get you through. He will
undergird you. He will see you in the end. He and he alone is the one who
is able to sustain us. He is the one that is able to
make us stand, able to grant us victory in the midst of this
trial. And we know Paul. Paul was one
who endured unspeakable difficulties in this life. Listen to this. This is Paul’s own account of
his trial, 2 Corinthians 11, just listen. I’ve been in far
more labors, far more imprisonment, beaten times without number,
often in danger of death. Five times I received from the
Jews 39 lashes. Three times I was beaten with
rods. Once I was stoned. Three times
I was shipwrecked. A night in the day I’ve spent
in the deep. I’ve been on frequent journeys, dangers from rivers,
dangers from robbers, dangers from my countrymen, dangers from
the Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the wilderness,
dangers on the sea. dangers among false brethren.
I’ve been in labor and hardship through many sleepless nights,
hunger and thirst, often without food and cold and exposure. Apart
from such external things, there is the daily pressure on me of
concern for all the churches. And yet, almost inexplicably,
Paul refers to the heartaches and difficulties of life as Momentary
light affliction. This is nothing, Paul says. How can he say that? Perspective. He knows that eternity is in
view. He knows that eternal glory is infinitely greater than all
earthly challenges combined. We can endure this. We can endure
whatever the world has to dish out. We can endure whatever trial
the devil brings our way. We can endure this because of
heaven. You see, the context for this
whole thing is vital. Peter speaks of it here in verse
10. He says that this God of sustaining grace is the same
one who called you to his eternal glory in Christ. This reads like a divine summons. He’s called you. You are required
to appear. You know what this reminds me
of? Remember in the gospels, Jesus and the disciples are going
to take a boat ride. And Jesus said at the outset,
let us go to the other side. And remember, Jesus falls asleep,
takes a little siesta. And the disciples go all to pieces
because of the storm. And Jesus wakes up and rebukes
them. Is God going to allow the Messiah, the Savior of the world,
to drown on a silly boat ride? I’ve already told you, let us
go to the other side. And that’s exactly what God has
told us. Shall we allow you to be misdirected
or lost or captured? Is that what God’s going to do?
Our salvation is sure. He’s accomplished it already.
And that same God of all grace, Peter says, will himself. He takes personal responsibility
for seeing you through. He will accomplish these four
things quickly. First of all, He will perfect
us. The word originally referred to mending a hole in a fishing
net or to repair what was broken. God will, in time, make us, you
and I, complete. One day, He will glorify us. He will do away with all inclination
to sin in our life. As Paul says it, he has begun
a good work in you and he will perfect it. He will see it through. Secondly, he will confirm us.
He’ll make us stable, unshakable in the face of difficulty and
uncertainty. As Paul uses this word in his
epistles, he will establish you. He’ll establish you as his children
and make you immovable. Thirdly, it almost goes without
saying, He will strengthen us. I like the way one translation
had it, He will invigorate us. He’s going to give us the grace
and give us the enthusiasm and give us the power to endure.
He will undergird us spiritually and morally, not just make us
physically strong. And finally, He will establish
us, a similar word. He will firm up our very foundation,
the core of our being. He will establish on the rock
that is the Jesus Christ of the scriptures. Now, if all of those
terms overlap and seem roughly similar to one another, it’s
for good reason. They all refer to the same final
state of a Christian. He or she will not be scattered
and wandering and weak and vacillating. Instead, we will be made solid
and steadfast for eternity in our standing in Christ. Well, what else can Peter do?
To give this kind of a message to a troubled church? What else
can Peter do but worship God at such glorious news? And this
is exactly what he does in the culmination of this passage.
Would you just glance at verse 11? It’s a doxology. It’s a praise,
similar to our own utterance at the news of answered prayer.
Praise the Lord, right? Peter proclaims the Lord’s goodness
and glory in this way. to him be dominion forever and
ever, amen. He hereby directs believers to
rest in the sovereign majesty and the power of almighty God. God has given us not only the
Holy Spirit and the word of God in one another, but he has given
us clear instruction on how to face the devil. He’s out there. The first thing we have to do
is acknowledge that and be watchful. And we have to be steadfast.
We have to be sure in what it is we believe. And only then
will we truly be hopeful in Christ. Would you humble yourself before
Him?