1 PETER 5:8-142009 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: 1 Peter 5:8-14

As we finish off the book of Peter this morning,

I'd like to take a few moments and remember the life of Peter, a specific time frame in Peter's life. And so I'd like you to turn to a couple places with me and we'll come back to 1 Peter chapter 5 in a moment. But if you would turn with me to Luke chapter 22.

In Luke chapter 22 and the portions that we'll be looking at in various places here for a moment, we're looking at really the ending time or the last part of Jesus' life leading up to and right during his suffering and his crucifixion.

And there's the life of Peter in that time, well, I think really fits in and gives us some good context so that we can understand that Peter, as he's writing these things, he's really speaking from experience. And it's not hypothetical or theoretical. This is really practical stuff that he is sharing with us that he experienced in his own life. You remember in Jesus' time, as he was going to the crucifixion, he said,

tried to prepare his disciples. He shared with them what was going to be happening to him. And Peter at that time stood up and said, no, no, no, I'm going to be strong. Even if all this happens to you and even if all these other guys, they fall away. Peter tells the Lord that I'm going to be strong. And we find that in Luke chapter 22, look at verse 31. It says, and the Lord said, Simon, that's Peter, Peter said,

Simon, Simon, indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you that your faith should not fail, and when you have returned to me, strengthen your brethren. But he said to him, Lord, I am ready to go with you, both to prison and to death. Then he said, I tell you, Peter, the rooster shall not crow this day, before you will deny three times that you know me.

And so here Jesus is speaking to Peter and he is telling Peter that Satan has asked for Peter. Satan has asked to sift him as wheat. Really to rock his world is what the devil has asked for God to allow him to do in Peter's life. And Jesus says, but I have prayed for you and after Peter,

You have returned to me. He said, I've prayed for you that your faith should not fail. Peter, it's not going to be the end of you. It's not going to be the end of your faith. But it is going to be difficult. It is going to rock your world. And afterwards, after when you come back to me, then Jesus says, strengthen your brethren.

But Peter says, no, no, no, that's not going to happen to me, Jesus. You don't know what you're talking about. I'm really strong and I'm buff and I can handle it and I'm with you and I'm really committed to you and there's not going to be anything that would lead me astray or cause me any real trouble. But we do find that it did cause Peter some trouble. Turn with me now to Matthew chapter 26.

In Matthew chapter 26, we have the fulfillment of the things that Jesus was warning Peter about. It's a little bit later on from the passage we just saw in Luke chapter 22. Jesus is there in the Garden of Gethsemane with Peter, James, and John. He has asked them to pray with him, to watch, because the hour is at hand. And in chapter 26, verse 41...

Jesus tells Peter, watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. He had left Peter, James, and John to pray, and then Jesus went off by himself to pray. He told them, you guys stay here, watch and pray. He came back and he found them all sleeping. He woke up the disciples, and specifically he speaks to Peter, and he says, hey, you need to watch and pray with me because I'm

There's the danger of temptation that is going to be facing you. And your spirit is willing. You're there, yes. I'll be with you, Lord, to the end. But your flesh is weak, and so you need to be praying. You need to be prepared, Jesus is telling Peter. And he went away again and came back and found the disciples sleeping again. And Peter was not prepared for what was about to happen. A little bit later on, Jesus is saying,

Taken into custody. He's put into handcuffs. He's led astray. He's arrested and carried off to trial. And in verse 75, we have the conclusion of the denials of Jesus that Peter expressed. Peter was there following Jesus from a distance, wanting to see what was happening, but not wanting to be too close. And he's challenged Jesus.

by a couple of people who say, hey, aren't you with Jesus? Weren't you one of his disciples? And Peter did just as Jesus predicted. Peter said, I don't know that man. I never knew him. I don't know what you're talking about. And three times this happened to Peter. And the third time the rooster crowed. And in verse 75 it says, Peter remembered the word of Jesus who had said to him, before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times. So he went out and wept bitterly.

So he denies Jesus three times. It doesn't really bother him until the rooster crows and it reminds him, it triggers his memory. Jesus said ahead of time, before the rooster crows, you're going to deny me three times. And so it says that he went out and now he begins to weep bitterly. Now jump forward to John chapter 21. In John chapter 21, we have Jesus, we often call it recommissioning Peter. He's

Calling Peter to ministry. In John chapter 21, Jesus has resurrected. The disciples are still confused. In fact, in verse 3 of John chapter 21, Peter says, I'm going to go fishing. And so he just goes out. He's kind of going back to the old life. That was his trade. That was his life. That's what he knew. And so he goes out on the sea. He goes fishing. Of course, they don't catch anything. And Jesus comes to them.

And says, hey, have you caught anything? Oh, no, we haven't caught anything. Cast your nets on the other side. Then they get this great catch and they realize it's the Lord. And so Peter's all excited. He realizes it's the Lord. He jumps into the water and starts swimming to shore. He couldn't wait for the boat to get there. He wanted to get to Jesus as soon as possible. And so there he's with Jesus on the beach. He serves the disciples breakfast. And he asked Peter three times, do you love me?

Peter says, oh, you know that I love you. And so Jesus instructed him, well, then feed my sheep. We find it the third time in verse 17. Jesus said to him the third time, Simon, son of Jonah, do you love me? And Peter was grieved because he had said to him the third time, do you love me? And he said to him, Lord, you know all things. You know that I love you. Jesus said to him, feed my sheep. We find it fulfilled just as Jesus said. He warned Peter, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat and

But I've prayed for you that your faith will not fail. And when you have returned to me, strengthen the brethren. Here now Jesus completes that by calling him to feed the sheep and to tend to the flock of God. He reinstates him into ministry, into his role that God had given to him.

And it's with this context, it's with this background that I believe it's best understood what Peter is explaining to us in 1 Peter chapter 5. So you can turn back there with me. Because in 1 Peter chapter 5, Peter starts out here in verse 8. He says, We're talking about Satan.

Peter winds up the book, he closes out the book, dealing with the attacks of the enemy. There's four things I want to look at with you this morning in regard to the attacks of the enemy that Peter shares with us. The first one is that we need to watch. We need to watch. He says, "...be sober, be vigilant." "...be sober and be vigilant."

Because your adversary, the devil, walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Peter is speaking from experience. Satan had asked to sift Peter as wheat. He went through a very difficult time. His world was rocked. But just as Jesus said, his faith did not fail. He returned to Jesus. And he was called to strengthen then the brethren. And so Satan knew what it was like

to be attacked by the enemy. He knew the need to be sober and to be vigilant because of his own lack of vigilance, because of his own experience of what happens when the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak because, well, there wasn't watching, there wasn't praying, there wasn't preparation for the attack. And what Peter's explaining here is that the devil is not like a schoolyard bully, right?

The devil is not just trying to trip you up so he can laugh about it. What is Satan's objective? What is his goal? His goal is not just to cause you to fall into a little bit of sin. His goal is to devour you. He is seeking whom he may devour. You and I, we face temptation. Every day we face temptation. We have this desire, this craving. We have this opportunity.

to fall into sin or to jump into sin. And very often we, well, we relate that to, you know, the enemy is tempting us. Satan is coming against us and trying to cause us to stumble. But we also need to understand that that's not the ultimate objective of Satan. The real objective is to cause us to be devoured, to cause us to give up, to throw in the towel and walk away. You see, sin was paid for at the cross.

And so for the enemy to cause us to fall into sin, it's not good. Sin is destructive. It's harmful. It's disobedience to God. There's consequences for sin. But sin was paid for at the cross. And by faith in Jesus Christ, we're forgiven of sin. If we confess our sin, he's faithful and just to cleanse us of all unrighteousness.

Sin was paid for at the cross, and so it's not just getting us to fall into sin or to be involved in sin that Satan is seeking to do. He's seeking several steps beyond that to devour us completely. He desires to get us to forget that sin is paid for at the cross. He desires to get us to think that God is not for us any longer. He desires forgiveness.

to bring us to the point where we choose to walk away from God. That's his desire. And he'll use whatever tricks, whatever methods that might work. It's not a fair fight. He doesn't always speak the truth. Jesus said that when he lies, he uses his own resources. He's the father of lies. And so lies and deception, well, they're foremost in his toolbox in bringing us to the point and attempting to sift us as wheat out

seeking to devour us. For Peter, I would ask you to consider, when did the sifting as wheat happen? Jesus said, Satan has desired to sift you as wheat. Was it when the girl came and asked Peter, hey, aren't you one of his disciples? Or was it the second time someone asked him, hey, didn't you, weren't you with Jesus? Or was it the third time? I suggest to you that the sifting as wheat was

really didn't happen until Peter went away and wept bitterly. We don't have an account of what takes place really after that for Peter personally. But my own experience tells me the real sifting happens after we've fallen, after we've stumbled. That's when the enemy begins to really come in close for the kill. Denying the Lord was just the beginning. It's what Satan used to...

Start to sift him as wheat. And now Peter goes off weeping bitterly and the enemy is there speaking into his mind, speaking into his heart. You denied the Lord. What a loser you are. How could you be considered a friend of Jesus? What kind of disciple are you? Saying things that perhaps you're familiar with. You're the worst person to ever walk the earth. You're worthless. Your life is meaningless. You blew it. That's

You see, the devil tempts us. He lays before us, sets traps before us, but the trap is just to get us into that position so that he can really come in for the kill. He tempts us and then he beats us up for being tempted. Peter says, be sober, be vigilant because your adversary, the devil. Now, adversary and devil go hand in hand. The word adversary, it's an opponent, but it's specifically an opponent in a courtroom.

And the devil, well the word devil literally means accuser. He is an accuser. And so he's seeking those whom he may devour through accusation. He is seeking to convince us that his accusations are true, are right. So that we do not believe what God has said. And then instead we believe and fall into deception that he is speaking forth into our lives.

He doesn't just want to make you stumble and let out a curse word or stumble and fall into a little sin. He wants to then take that mistake, to take that failure, to take where you've stumbled and fallen and use that and beat you up over the head with it so that you come to the point where you say, I am worthless. What's the use in me trying to come to God anymore? What's the use in me trying to walk with God any longer? What's the use in me coming to church?

He is seeking those whom he may devour. In John chapter 10 verse 10, Jesus says, The thief does not come except to steal and to kill and to destroy. Jesus said, I've come that they may have life and have it more abundantly. The thief comes to steal and kill and destroy. That is Satan's objective. He's not satisfied until we're destroyed. He's compared to a roaring lion for a reason. He's vicious, ferocious,

And so we need to be sober and be vigilant. We need to wake up and be alert. The word vigilant, it means to watch and to refrain from sleep. We need to wake up to stop sleeping and understand and recognize we are in enemy territory. We're in dangerous ground. And the enemy is seeking to devour us, to cause us to turn from God. He is seeking to get us to turn from God immediately.

To spend eternity away from God. How many soldiers walk down the road in enemy territory whistling? How many? No living ones, right? But sometimes we do that. You know, Pastor Cisco and I, it was a couple months ago, we were at a restaurant having lunch together and this girl comes in the door. She's, I don't know, 14, 15 years old, something like that, and

She has this distressed look about her and she sits down kind of at a table near us. She's kind of looking out the window and I thought maybe someone might be following her. I wasn't sure, just something distressing about her situation. She came over to Cisco and I and she asked if she could use a phone. And so we allowed her to use one of our phones and she used it for a few moments and gave it back.

Went to the window, went to the door, went outside, came back in, asked for the phone again. This happened three or four times, this routine, asking for the phone, sitting down, looking out the window, going out, coming back in. We were like, man, this is strange. What's going on with this girl? So we began to talk to her a little bit, ask if she's okay, ask if she's waiting for someone, if someone is after her, if her family is nearby.

She's not very talkative. She doesn't really want to discuss what's going on. She just wants to use the phone here and then. Well, she sits down for a little bit and we go about our meal and continue to eat and we're just about finishing up and then she comes back over to us and she says, Hey, can you guys give me a ride to Fontana? It's funny if it wasn't so tragic because we were like, well, what went through my mind was, do you know what you are doing?

You're this young girl asking two guys you've never met, you don't know, to take you to Fontana. Innocence in a bad way. Naive. And you know, sometimes as Christians, we can be the same way. And that's why Peter says, be sober, be vigilant. Sometimes we go right into the enemy's camp and say, I'm really struggling with this. Can you tell me what this is all about?

We ask advice. We seek counsel from the enemy who says, all right, no problem. I'll share with you what's going on. Why? Well, he's wanting to lead us astray, to deceive us. We go up into the enemy's camp and we say, man, I'm really dealing with this issue. I really, I don't, I'm not fulfilled. I need this satisfied in my life. How can I satisfy this? How can I fulfill this?

The enemy is glad to give us a ride. I'll show you where. Come on, I'll take you there. I'll help you fulfill that. I'll satisfy you. I'll help you meet that need and quench that thirst. We need to wake up and be alert and realize that the enemy, the devil, our accuser, hates us and seeks to devour us. He hits below the belt, uses unfair tactics, kicks you while you're down, uses...

The circumstances, the difficulties of your life against you. Oh, you're in the middle of a divorce, huh? Okay, I'll go easy on you. No, he doesn't do that. You're going through this tragedy. You just lost a loved one. Okay, I'll back off for a little bit. No, he steps it up. He is seeking those who he may devour. He wants to take you out. And so we need to be sober. That's self-controlled. We need to be alert. We need to watch and to wake up.

Because the enemy is seeking to sift us as wheat, to devour us so that we turn away from God. His goal is not just to make us trip so he can sit back and laugh. He wants to keep you from eternity with God. And here we are, compromising a little bit, dabbling with sin, giggling a little bit, flirting with disaster, totally oblivious to the roaring lion that is looking to pounce upon us.

Peter says, be sober, be vigilant, watch, wake up. Satan wants to take you out. And so he then instructs us what we're to do. Verse 2. I'm sorry, verse 9. Point 2. Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world. And so Peter says, resist him. Here's what we're to do. He wants to devour you. You must resist him.

Resist the devil. James says, resist the devil and he will flee from you. Peter says, resist him steadfast in the faith. And notice that he uses the word sufferings here. He says, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world. What kind of attacks and accusations does the devil bring against you when you are suffering? When you're going through difficulty? When you're in pain? He comes against us.

And so Peter says, look, you're suffering. We've been dealing with that in the whole book of 1 Peter. The issue of suffering and the fact that we suffer. He says, resist the devil knowing that you're not the only one who is suffering. We're to resist him steadfast in the faith. Resisting the devil always requires faith. Because we have to believe God instead of the devil. It requires faith. Because what God has instructed us to do is

The life that God has called us to live. Well, the reward that God promises for that life is in eternity. The reward for the life that the world presents and that the enemy would like you to fall into, the reward is right then, but there's consequences for eternity. And so it requires faith to live now the way that God has called us to live, looking for, hoping for the eternal reward that is promised.

Last week as we began the Truth Project, I liked one of the things that Dr. Dell shared. He says, every sin that besets us can be traced back to a lie that we have believed. The sin that we get involved in can be traced back to lies that we have believed. You see, it requires faith to resist the devil. We have to be steadfast in the faith because what the enemy presents to us are lies, but they are deceptive.

And they sound good. And they seem true. And when we believe those lies, it leads us to sin. But to recognize them as lies and to believe what God has said and what God's word has said, well, that requires faith. We have to believe God at his word. And so Peter says, resist him steadfast in the faith. Now, how did Jesus resist the devil? I'm not going to turn there, but you can look it up in Matthew chapter 4 as well as Luke chapter 4.

There Satan came and tempted Jesus three specific ways. We always point out, we always note that Jesus, in response to the temptation, what did he do? He quoted Scripture, right? And so, you want to resist the devil? Then...

You just quote scripture. But is that all there is? Is it just kind of like magic words? You just say these magic words, quote the scripture, and then there's no more temptation? No, what's actually going on is Jesus is choosing to believe God's word over the devil's words, the things that the devil is speaking to him at that time. Jesus is saying, no, he's being steadfast in the faith. He's saying, I believe the word of God. God said...

Man shall not live by bread alone. Jesus is choosing to believe God at his word and thereby resisting the devil. Steadfast in the faith. The enemy comes and brings these lies to us saying, this will satisfy you when God has said, this will destroy you. The enemy comes and says, you're worthless. Your life is meaningless.

Where God has said, "I love you so much that I sent my son to die on the cross for you. You are my precious child." The enemy comes and tells us, "God doesn't care about you." God has said, "I know the very numbers of hair on your head. I know everything about you." As we saw last week, "Cast your cares upon him because he cares for you." The enemy comes and says, "Real Christians wouldn't act that way. You're probably not even saved."

God has said, it's by grace that you've been saved through faith. The enemy comes and says, this life is too hard. You should just give up. It's too hard to live this way. It's too hard to do what God's asked you to do. Jesus said, my yoke is easy and my burden is light. Don't believe the lies of the enemy. Resist the devil. Steadfast in the faith. Believe God at his word. Hold fast to his word.

The word steadfast means to be strong, firm, or immovable. Don't move, don't waver. Be steadfast in the faith. Hold firm to the faith. Believe God at His word. And he says, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in all the world. We can understand here as Peter is writing to these people who are suffering greatly,

they would be experiencing great temptation and difficulty and attack by the devil in the midst of their suffering. And one of the great attacks that Satan brings to us, a popular one that we experience so often, is really an attack of loneliness. Where he tells us, we're the only one. You're all alone. You're the only one who struggles like this. Everybody else, they have awesome Christian lives. You're the only one who struggles with this stuff.

You're the only one who stumbles this way. You're the only one who falls into this sin. You're the only one who suffers in this way. You're the only one who's persecuted like this. You're the only one who has a hard time sharing their faith. You're the only one. That's what the enemy tells us constantly. But Peter says, no, be strong in the faith, believe God at his word, and know, know that the Christians around you and the Christians worldwide are experiencing suffering.

the same type of difficulties and sufferings and temptation. You're not alone. There's many Christians just like you, just like me, struggling, wanting to be faithful, finding themselves tempted, finding themselves not as disciplined as they desire, finding themselves wavering in their faith. There's many of us. You're not alone. And most importantly, you're not alone because God is with you. Believe Him.

So we're to watch. We're to resist in faith. Thirdly, believing God at His word, we need to know that God will perfect you. He will perfect you. Look at verse 10. He says, So here's the enemy coming against us.

He seeks to devour us. But what does God seek? God seeks to perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle us. He is the God of all grace, and He has called us to His eternal glory. Consider that for a moment. You know who you are. You know what kind of person you are. You know what issues you struggle with. You know what God has brought you out of. You know what you still struggle with. And yet, God, knowing all those things about you,

called you to his eternal glory. He's called you by name. And he said, I want to spend eternity with you. I want you to experience heaven. I want you to experience glory through Jesus Christ. He called us to his eternal glory. This is a God who loves us, who wants what's best for us. Just the opposite, exactly the opposite of what the enemy wants for us.

The God of all grace. What is grace? Undeserved favor and kindness. It's God's goodness and blessings that we do not deserve. He is the God of all grace. He wants to give us everything that's good, even though we don't deserve it. And He's called us to His eternal glory, even though we cannot earn it. And we've disqualified ourselves a million times over. But He's the God of all grace. And He's called us to His eternal glory.

And so Peter says, May this God, the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you've suffered a while, after you've suffered for a while. You see, the suffering is an important part of the journey. We've dealt with this several times already through the book of 1 Peter, the importance of suffering, how God uses it to bring us to the place that we need to be. God uses it in our lives for good. He says, After you've suffered for a while...

It's just a little bit that we have to suffer. It's just a little while. Paul says it this way in 2 Corinthians 4.17, Our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. God has called you to His eternal glory. And the light affliction that we experience for just a moment is working for us a far more exceeding eternal weight of His glory.

It doesn't feel like just a moment, but that's why we have to believe God and His Word. That's where faith comes in. Be steadfast. Be firm. Be immovable in your faith. You are suffering, but it's just for a while. It's but for a moment. If you compare the moment of our suffering to eternity, then you recognize it is just a moment. It's a small piece of time, and the benefit is eternal. So we'll suffer for a while.

It's just a little bit. But then, what does God have in store? He says, may God perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you. God has called you to His eternal glory and you must know, you must understand that He is going to finish the work that He began in you. He called you

But He's not just going to leave you out there to try to figure it out for yourself. No, He's doing the work. In fact, He's using the suffering. That's part of the process. He's using it for good. And you can be confident of this very thing that He who began a good work in you will complete it until the day of Christ Jesus, Paul said in Philippians 1.6. He will perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you. The word perfect means to bring to completion.

Sometimes we struggle, we wrestle with the idea and the understanding that we're incomplete. Why do I still deal with these issues? Why do I still struggle in these areas? Why do I still have these doubts? Why am I incomplete? Peter says, listen, God is going. He called you to His eternal glory. He is the God of all grace. He will bring you to perfection. He will bring you to completion. He will establish you, which means to place firmly, to settle you, or to make stable rather.

Why am I wobbly? Why am I wishy-washy? Peter says, God's going to make you stable. He's going to strengthen you. He's going to establish you. To strengthen means to make strong, obviously. Why am I so weak? Why do I fall short? Why do I fail? We ask ourselves. Peter says, look, don't give up. He's the God of all grace. He is going to make you strong and settle you. It means to lay the foundation. Lay the foundation.

God is seeking to do a permanent, final work in your life. And He's bringing you to that place. He is the God of all grace.

It's His work. Verse 11, To Him be the glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. He does the work. He's doing this. He's bringing you to perfection and establishing you and strengthening you and settling you. He's going to do this work. And so to Him be the glory. He gets the glory. None of us will get to heaven and say, I perfected myself. Yay me. No, He is the one who does that. He's the God of all grace. We don't deserve it.

By any means. Not even a little bit. We're not worthy of His work. But He's called us to His eternal glory. And so He's going to do the work to get us there. To establish us there. To prepare us for eternity with Him. So to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. We should be able to say, Amen. God, You do the work. To You be the glory. Lord, You have dominion. You rule and reign. You're the God of all grace. Verse 12 says,

He says, Here we find the fourth point, and that is to stand in grace. Stand in grace. First of all, Peter throws out the note here that it's by Silvanus, or we also know him as Silas, Silvanus.

Peter calls him a faithful brother and it's by this faithful brother Silas that Peter has written to them. And so it's most likely that Silas is the one writing down the things that Peter is sharing. And that's the letter that is sent out. But he says, exhorting and testifying that this is the true grace of God in which you stand. This is the true grace of God. What is the true grace of God? God...

will perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you. It's in that truth that you stand in the grace of God. Stand in grace. The devil is a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. Don't try to stand in your strength. Because if you try to stand in your strength, you're going to find out how weak you really are. And then you're going to be disappointed at your weakness. And then you're going to think that God is disappointed at your weakness.

And you're going to think that God is surprised at your weakness because you were surprised at your weakness because you were trying to stand in your strength. No, stand in grace. God's favor and kindness towards us that we do not deserve. You do not stand in your righteousness. Many people attempt to do this. To stand in their good works, in their good behavior, in their keeping of the law. And that's how I'll stand.

We get confused and deceived and think that's how we are able to get to heaven because, well, yeah, Jesus died for me, but it's because I'm this good. Because I try so hard to be obedient to Him. I'm so disciplined. I don't do things like some of those other people around me. I mean, they go to these movies and watch these things. I would never do that. We sometimes try to stand in our own righteousness. But if we try to stand in our own righteousness, we will learn the truth.

at some point. But our righteousness is as filthy rags. They're worthless. Our righteousness doesn't begin to open for us the door of eternity. Our righteousness is worthless. Our goodness? Not going to happen. You don't stand in your faithfulness. Well, look how faithful I am. Listen, the enemy is seeking those whom he may devour.

And if you are standing in anything else except for the grace of God, you're going to find out that, well, He's stronger than you are. He's more clever than you are. We're subject to deception. We're subject to believing His lies. We are pretty easily tricked and convinced that what He's telling us is the truth. When we try to stand in our strength, in our righteousness, in our faithfulness, in our goodness, in our perfection...

Peter says, no, this is the true grace of God in which you stand, that God will perfect you and establish you and strengthen you and settle you. God will do the work. The enemy will come and try to pull our legs out from under us. You're standing on the rug of your strength and he'll just kind of pull that rug right out from you and watch you fall. And then he'll beat you up for falling. He wants to devour you, to destroy your life.

We must stand in the grace of God. So that when the enemy comes and says things to us like, you're weak, then we can agree with him. I say, you're right, but God's strong. You're worthless. You're right, on my own I am, but God values me greatly. But you're not worth that value. I know, but God is the God of all grace. It's amazing. I don't understand it, but He loves me dearly. So that the attacks of the enemy...

Now become a reminder for you of how good God is. Stand in the grace of God. The enemy says, ah, you're just a lousy Christian. I know, but listen, God's going to perfect me. That's amazing. He's going to strengthen me and establish me and settle me. He's going to do the work. He's not done with me yet. And he's faithful to complete it. Stand in the grace of God. If we try to stand in anything else, we will fail. We need to stand in the grace of God.

Peter closes the letter with this final greeting. He says, She who is in Babylon, it's probably a reference to Rome, elect together with you, greets you, and so does Mark my son. Verse 14, Greet one another with a kiss of love. Peace to you all who are in Christ Jesus. Amen. And as he closes this letter, he gives us these words, this exhortation to consider, to watch, because the devil is out seeking those whom he may devour.

And we need to resist in faith, being steadfast, immovable, knowing that God will perfect us and we need to stand in that grace, trust in, believe in, hold fast to the grace of God. It's how we were saved, not by our works, not by our goodness, but it's by the grace of God. And it's by the grace of God that we'll stand. And it's by the grace of God that He will complete the work that He began in us. In closing, let's just consider for a moment

The man named Job in the Old Testament. You can read about it in Job, well, the book of Job, specifically chapters 1 and 2. Satan comes before God and says, I want Job. Satan tells God, the only reason Job trusts you is because you're good to him. He's wealthy because you've given him wealth, and if you took that wealth away, well, he wouldn't trust you anymore, Lord, Satan says. He's blessed, and that's why he loves you. If you took those blessings away, he wouldn't love you anymore.

He'll curse you to your face, Satan said. And so God allows the enemy to sift him as wheat. Satan wasn't just wanting to make him cry or stumble a little bit. He was wanting to devour him. He wanted, he sought to bring him to the place that he would curse God, that he would turn from God, that he would sever his relationship with the Lord. That's what Satan wants. It's what he wanted for Job. It's what he wanted for Peter. It's what he wants for you.

He wants you to sever your relationship, to turn away, to harden your heart against God. Job suffered greatly, but he never accused God falsely. He struggled. He had some questions. He had some issues, but he never accused God falsely, foolishly. Jesus told Peter, Satan has asked to sift you like wheat, but I've prayed for you that your faith will not fail.

You can see here the encouragement that Peter gives us. Be steadfast in the faith. And then Jesus tells Peter, when you've returned to me, strengthen the brethren. You know, today, wherever you're at, perhaps in the middle of suffering, great suffering like Job, maybe you've just come through it. Maybe you've walked away from the Lord, but now you've come back. There's great opportunity for us. In all of these things, we need to watch. We need to resist in faith.

trusting that God will perfect us in His time, standing in the grace of God, but also strengthening one another, knowing that God is for us, that God is with us, that we're not alone. Strengthen one another. Encourage one another. Sometimes that involves things we're not really comfortable with, like sharing what we've gone through and sharing our own struggles, letting other people know, I've been through this. I've gone through that. I've experienced that. I go through that all the time.

that we can stand as brothers and sisters in the grace of God. So I want to encourage you. Wake up. Be alert. Satan wants to rip you off and destroy your life. Watch. Resist. Stand in the grace of God and strengthen the brothers and sisters that God has placed around you. Let's pray. God, I pray that you would help us to be alert, to be aware, to open our eyes and understand that we really are in a war.

The stakes are high. God, help us not to be deceived by the enemy, not to be playing around with sin or compromise. Lord, help us to be serious and watchful, resisting the attacks of the enemy by believing you at your word, God, trusting in you and holding fast to you, knowing that, Lord, yes, we fall. Yes, we fail. Yes, we stumble. But God, you will finish the work that you began in us. You're not done with us.

And Lord, we don't come to you on the basis of our strength or our merit. And Lord, that means that we don't stay away because we've fallen short. But Lord, we come to you on the basis of the grace that you've extended towards us. So God, help us to believe you at your word. Help us to stand in your grace, to fully accept, Lord, that you are good and wonderful to us, not because of us, but in spite of us.

Lord, that we might stand fast, knowing that you love us, knowing that you will finish the work. And God, I pray that you would help us. Even if we've fallen, Lord, like Peter, help us to return to you and to strengthen using what we've learned, even using our failures, using our experiences for your glory as we help others overcome, as we help others resist the enemy that seeks to devour us. Give us strength, Lord.

Help us to hold fast to you. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.