Jump Start # 119

1 Peter 5:8 “Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.”

  Reading Peter’s first letter a person will quickly get the idea that it is tough out there. Throughout this book he has talked about suffering that follows the believers. Persecution is strong. Peter talked about fleshly lusts which war against our souls. It’s tough out there. And now, he introduces a third threat we face, Satan. The devil, our adversary, our enemy, is seeking to devour one of us. He is likened to a roaring lion. The lion is hungry. The lion is on the prowl. You’ve seen the nature shows, whenever the lion is near, all the animals run. He is the king of the forest. He is a real threat. This is the choice God made to compare Satan with. He is like the lion.

  Peter’s words are serious. He says be sober, be alert. Those that aren’t get eaten by the lion. You ever notice on those nature shows, the lion doesn’t just walk down the middle of a field. He’s hiding in the tall grass. He creeps closer. He watches. He waits. The antelope are grazing near by. They don’t notice. The herd moves slowly and one is by himself. Careless. Indifferent. Not alert. The lion springs. He’s fast. He catches and kills the antelope. He was successful. He knew what he was doing. The antelope didn’t.

  We learn from this. By ourselves we are vulnerable. There is strength in numbers. Surrounded with righteous people, I have others who are watching and helping us be safe. Shepherds do that. Preachers do that. Parents do that. It is the alone times that I get in trouble. When I’m alone, I am not reminded of righteous people and righteous ways. Temptation is strongest when alone. Jesus was tempted in the wilderness. He was alone. The same goes for us. The lion knows. We think we can out run the lion, how foolish. We think we know where he is. Wrong. He is clever. He is cunning. He has one goal, kill us.

  Church services are times not only to praise God, but they put us in the midst of the flock. It’s our refuge, our safety. The lion is less likely to get us then. We pray, we read, we strengthen our souls, we learn more about that wicked lion. There is a connection between strong Christians and church attendance. You will find a connection between strong Christians and reading the Bible and prayer. Strong Christians stay connected with God. The lion is out there and he can wait. He has enormous patience. He’ll wait until you are tired. He’ll wait until you are having a bad day. He’s just watching and waiting. He is just finding a time when you are not watching, when you are not alert, when you have let your guard down. He’ll come fast and quick. And the result is destructive and deadly. The carnage of destroyed marriages, broken families and lights that ought to shine for God that have gone dark. A moment of indiscretion, a lapse of judgment, a sorry attitude, an invitation to do wrong and behind all these, lurking in the tall grass is the lion.

  Peter adds in the next verse, “resist him, firm in your faith.” That is how you deal with Satan. You don’t catch this lion. You don’t hunt the lion. You don’t tame the lion. You resist. James said, “resist and the devil will flee from you.”

  Someone is watching you today. You don’t see him. He’s in the tall grass. He’s hoping you’ll give him an opportunity. DON’T.

Roger

Jump Start # 118

1 Peter 2:11 “Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul.”

  Peter here identifies both our relationship with the world and the present condition of things. This is good to know. We forget. We think things aren’t all that bad. They are. First, Peter tells the brethren that they are “aliens and strangers.” They are not residents. This world is not our home. We don’t fit in. We are traveling upstream in a downstream world. Don’t think of space creatures when you see the world “alien.” That thought would have never crossed Peter’s mind. An alien was a foreigner. Most of Peter’s world understood that. The Romans had conquered the world. They were a part of the “empire” but they didn’t want to be. Their national identities had been merged in with the Romans. Many uprising took place to gain independence. Peter borrows this concept to define the relationship the righteous have with the world. We don’t fit in. It’s as if we are overseas visiting a new land. Things are different. This isn’t home.

  When the church and more so individual families and brethren try to blend in with the world and soften the lines of distinction, tragedy results. The thinking of the world is different than the righteous. How the world defines success is different than how God does. What the world is after and what drives the world is so different than the righteous. It is indeed as if we are “strangers” in this world. Peter said earlier in this chapter that God had called “you out of darkness into His marvelous light” (2:9). We are different. In words, in attitudes, in motivation, in love, in dress, in music, in thinking and in behavior.

  The second thing we notice here is the effect “fleshly lusts” has upon our soul—it is a war. War is never pretty. Some of us guys like war movies, but in the end, it is a movie. In recent times there have been some movies done about World War II. The movies were violent and bloody. They tried to show what it was like. My Dad was there. He didn’t like the movies. He said it wasn’t like it at all. War is dangerous. War is costly. War kills. Fleshly lusts war against our soul. Do we get it? Lust of the eyes, lusts of the flesh and the pride of life as John would write are some of the areas that come to our mind. There is an appeal because they are “fleshly” but it is forbidden fruit. The price you pay is your soul. Remember the words of Jesus, “what will you give in exchange for your soul? What if you inherit the entire world and lose your soul…”

 Temptation is not a gentle walk through the park, it is a treacherous, dangerous journey in which you may not come out alive. Peter’s words are a warning. Don’t play with fire, you’ll get burned.

  Peter’s solution to this dilemma is one word: Abstain. Abstain from fleshy lusts. Do not participate. Sit this one out. Go the other way. It is war. It’s nasty, costly and you’ll likely get hurt. Abstain because God wants you to. Abstain because you are the captain of your soul. It means not doing what the world is doing. While they are laughing at the immoral, inhaling the sinful, becoming drunk on the wrong, the righteous abstain. They refuse to get involved.

  Do you feel like you don’t fit in sometimes? Actually, that is a good thing. We need to be concerned when we don’t sense that. Good words for dangerous times.

Roger

Jump Start # 117

1 Peter 2:20 “For what credit is there if, when you sin and are harshly treated, you endure it with patience? But if when you do what is right and suffer for it you patiently endure it, this finds favor with God.”

  One of the themes found in Peter’s writings is suffering. This book was written late in the first century when Roman persecution of Christians was beginning. Jesus had told His disciples that they would be hated because of Him. Now the reality of those words was being felt by these Christians.

  Peter said that their faith would be tested by fire (1:7). He told servants to be submissive to masters, even when they were unreasonable (2:18). Peter reminded his readers of the example of the suffering Christ, “leaving you an example to follow in His steps” (2:21). In the third chapter Peter tells them that they will be slandered and reviled (3:16) and that it is better to suffer for doing what is right than what is wrong (3:17). In the next chapter Peter says, “if anyone suffers as a Christian, he is not to be ashamed, but is to glorify God in his name” (4:16).

  In theory we understand this because the Bible tells us these things. But when it happens it is one of the hardest things to make sense. Why are people mean when all I’ve done is try to be good? Our verse today brings up two concepts of righteous suffering. First, our response is to endure it. That is hard! Very hard! We want to retaliate, defend and make the offenders get justice. When we attempt that, we have just lost our credibility and our purpose. In the garden when the soldiers came to arrest Jesus, it was Peter who drew the sword. It was Peter who used the sword to defend Jesus. It was Peter who was rebuked by Jesus, saying “put away your sword.” Before Pilate, Jesus said my kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight. Disciples of Jesus act differently. The world shoves us so we will either run away crying or else leap to our feet and start a fight. Peter says, endure. While we are enduring, we ought to pray. Pray for strength. Pray for the heart of those who are hostile.

  The other concept that our verse shows is how God views us when we endure hostility, it pleases God. Peter uses the expression, “finds favor with God.” That is what we want. We want God to be pleased. We want God to find favor with us. In this setting, the way to do that is to endure.

  We don’t face a wicked and murderous government like Rome today. But don’t think hostilities are limited to overseas nations either. Rejection and harshness comes in many forms. It comes from families who do not accept the teachings of the N.T. Family gatherings can be tense and an invitation for wicked hearts to condemn God’s church and people. You may be excluded from parties because people do not want you there. You have be the source of office whispers. People may do wrong and try to pin it on you. You may be overlooked for advancement. You may be the heart of jokes and offending comments. Some may try to steal the credit for the work you have done. You may be kicked out of your family. All of these things happen everyday in America. Is it right? No. What should we do? Endure. Peter reminds us that Jesus was reviled, but did not reviled in return. While suffering, he uttered no threats. He kept entrusting Himself to God. He endured.

  Someday God will take care of all this. It is not our place nor right to do that. Enduring wicked people is hard. It would be so much easier if we could just smack them once in awhile, but we can’t. We won’t. We endure. This is God’s way. This is what our Lord did.

  All this just makes us want to get through with this stuff and get to Heaven. But until then, this is what we must do!

Roger