Scripture Reference: – l Peter 5:8 – Genesis 3:4-5
l Peter 5:8 “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a ROARING LION, seeking whom he may devour.”
Genesis 3:4-5 “Then the serpent said to the woman, ‘You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.’”
Tonight’s devotional is an expanded version of one I put together several years ago by the same title. I added a few more of Thomas Brooks Remedies against Satan’s tricks.
Book Reference: – Precious Remedies Against Satan’s Devices by Thomas Brooks. This book is a treasure for any Christian’s library. $10 on Amazon.
Satan’s #1 Strategy: The Ol’ Bait and Hook
Every believer needs to constantly be aware that Satan is not just out to get in our way, or to cause a little upset or harm, or even to take a little bite out of you. His intent is to devour you, to destroy you, and he will use any means possible to accomplish his task
One of his greatest tricks is to get you to fall in love with your sin, to take it lightly, and to get you to destroy yourself. He has a PhD in setting traps.”
He’s also the master of disguise. Satan presents sin as fun, satisfying, profitable, and pleasurable, while concealing the miseries and pain that always accompany sin.
Surely this is part of what Scripture calls “the deceitfulness of sin” (Hebrews 3:13). We are tempted to believe that our happiness and fulfillment require us to indulge some sin. “The passing pleasures of sin” (Hebrews 11:25) seem irresistible, in part because temptation presents to us only the alleged benefits of sin.
Far from conferring benefits, however, sin is the very thing that cripples us. When we commit sin, as Brooks puts it, wrath, misery, shame, and loss are always close behind (p. 29).
Sin is bad for many reasons; one of them is that it wreaks havoc in a man's soul. It promises satisfaction, but delivers emptiness. Sin leads to more and bigger sins. It either makes us feel guilty and ashamed (which is bad) or creates moral numbness in us so we no longer feel guilt and shame over our sin (which is worse). But Satan hides these hooks and presents only the bait.
Satan used this ploy successfully in the Garden of Eden. He told Eve that the forbidden fruit would open her eyes, thus causing her to be like God (Genesis 3:4-5). The serpent presented the bait and said nothing about the hook. Richard Sibbes, one of Brooks' contemporaries, wrote, "Satan gives Adam an apple, and takes away Paradise. “
Therefore, in all temptations let us consider not what he offers, but what we shall lose." Satan also tempted the Lord Jesus Christ in this manner: He offered Christ the largest bait imaginable, namely all the kingdoms of the world (Matthew 4:8-9).
Satan wants to help you – to help you sin. He is hell bent on taking you to hell with him. Thomas Brooks, in his book Precious Remedies Against Satan’s Devices, drew up a list of the devices Satan uses to draw you – yes you! – to sin. Here are five of them: (For 50 years I’ve been recommending this Puritan classic.)
1. He Presents The Bait And Hides The Hook
Satan shows you the pleasure and the profit that may flow out of yielding to sin but hides the wrath and misery that will inevitably result. You’re about to swallow the hook, without any idea of the trouble that lies ahead. This is, of course, exactly what he did with Adam and Eve: he displayed the benefit of eating that fruit, but hid from them the consequences of their sin.
“There is an opening of the mind to contemplation and joy, and there is an opening of the eyes of the body to shame and confusion. He promises them the former, but intends the latter, and so cheats them.”
2. He Peints Sin With The Colors Of Virtue
Satan knows that if he were to present sin accurately, you would run away from it rather than be attracted to it. Therefore, he conceals sin behind the camouflage of virtue so you can more easily be overcome by it and take more immediate pleasure in committing it.
When he does this, pride comes in the form of neatness, covetousness in the form of thrift, and drunkenness in the form of a good time. Whatever temptation you are prone to he will likewise dress up as a virtue.
3. He Convinces You This Is Only A Little Sin
Satan tries to convince you the temptation you face, the sin you are drawn to, is just a small and a harmless one. He wants you to believe this is a sin you may commit without any great danger to your soul.
He shows you that even noble men have sinned while hiding from you their sorrow and repentance.
Satan will let you see that greater men than you have fallen into this sin and still been loved by God. He will set before you the adultery of David, the pride of Hezekiah, the impatience of Job, the drunkenness of Noah and the blasphemy of Peter.
But as he does so, he will hide from you their tears and laments and he will hide from you that they repented of those very things and would plead with you not to succumb to the same temptation.
4. He Presents God As Only And Ever Merciful
Satan will convince you that you do not need to be afraid of this sin, that there is no real danger in this sin, for God is full of mercy, he delights in mercy, is ready to show mercy, never wearies of mercy and is more prone to pardon than to punish. And as he presents God’s mercy, he deliberately conceals God’s justice.
5. He Convinces You That Repentance Is Easy
As Satan presents a temptation before you, he will try to convince you that the work of repentance is an EASY work, that it is not at all difficult to turn, to confess, to be sorrowful and to beg the Lord’s pardon. And if all this is true, there is no urgent need to bother yourself with battling sin, for you can repent later just as easily as you now commit the sin.
Brooks has six more of Satan’s devices to go, which I hope to share in another devotion. Brooks includes this particularly thought-provoking prayer:
Ah Lord! this mercy I humbly beg, that whatever you give me up to, you will not give me up to the ways of my own heart; if you will give me up to be afflicted, or tempted, or reproached, I will patiently sit down, and say, It is the Lord; let him do with me what seems good in his own eyes.
Do anything with me, lay what burden you will upon me, so you do not give me up to the ways of my own heart. And here is a challenge to understand that every sin is an act of defiance against God.
Every sin strikes at the honor of God, the being of God, the glory of God, the heart of Christ, the joy of the Spirit, and the peace of a man’s conscience; and therefore, a soul truly penitent STRIKES at all, hates all, conflicts with all, and will labor to draw strength from a crucified Christ to crucify all sins. A true penitent knows neither father nor mother, neither right eye nor right hand—but will pluck out the one and cut off the other
Great Quotes From The Puritans
● Adversity hath slain her thousand, but prosperity her ten thousand.
● The best course to prevent falling into the pit is to keep at the greatest distance.
● Many eat that on earth that they digest in hell.
● Sin will kiss the soul, and pretend fair to the soul, and yet betray the soul forever.
● A man bewitched with sin had rather lose God, Christ, heaven, and his own soul than part with his sin.
● Sin will surely prove evil and bitter to the soul when its robes are taken off.
● There is no little sin, because no little God to sin against.
● There is more evil in the least sin than in the greatest affliction.
● You can easily sin as the saints, but can you repent with the saints?
● Many can sin with David and Peter, that cannot repent with David and Peter, and so must perish forever.
● He who turns not from every sin, turns not aright from any one sin.
● Those who do not burn now in zeal against sin must before long burn in hell for sin.
● True repentance is a continued spring, where the waters of godly sorrow are always flowing.
It is tragic that humans frequently expend their energy and resources fighting each other and forget who the real enemy is. This is one way the devil manages to destroy humans physically, mentally and emotionally. We forget that our most insidious and treacherous enemies are Satan and his demons, who are the unseen rulers of this world. The Christian life requires that we fight “the good fight,” finish the race and keep the faith to receive “the crown of righteousness” that God has promised to those “who have loved His appearing” (2 Timothy 4:7-8).
Part of finishing the race and receiving the crown of righteousness is standing firm and steadfastly facing our enemy, Satan the devil. It’s a fight well worth fighting, and one we cannot afford to lose! (Ephesians 6:10-18)
Final Thought
Why does Peter exhort us to be sober and vigilant
First Peter 5:8 reminds us to “be sober, be vigilant” (NKJV). The verse explains why Christians must live this way: “Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” Although the devil cannot take away our salvation, he attempts to damage our faith and ministry. His schemes seek to shake our trust in God, affect our submission to Him, and destroy our testimony. It is important to remain sober and focus on the truth as God makes us “strong, firm and steadfast” (1 Peter 5:10).
Our salvation is secure. John 6:39 tells us that Jesus will not lose a single person whom God has entrusted to Him. Although Satan cannot separate us from God’s love (Romans 8:38–39), he actively attempts to affect the rest of our lives. The Greek word for “devour” means to “destroy” or to “swallow.” The devil wants to shake our faith and make us ineffective followers of Christ, which is why it is important to be sober and vigilant.
Peter’s command for us to be sober and vigilant echoes Jesus’ command to him in the Garden of Gethsemane: “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak,” Jesus told the sleeping disciples just before His arrest (Mark 14:38). Satan desired to “sift” the disciples like wheat (Luke 22:31), prompting Jesus’ prayers on their behalf (verse 32) and the exhortation to watch and pray. Be sober. Be vigilant.
Being sober and being vigilant are closely connected. The call to be sober is found in multiple places (1 Corinthians 15:34; 2 Timothy 4:5; Titus 2:2, 6; 1 Peter 4:7) as is the call to be vigilant or alert (Mark 13:33; Ephesians 6:18; 1 Peter 1:13). The term sober literally means “free from intoxicating influences.” To be sober means to not allow ourselves to be influenced by anything that leads us away from God’s truth and sound judgment.
Sobriety is a state of being. To be vigilant means “to keep careful watch for possible danger or difficulties.” Vigilance requires action. A vigilant person actively pays attention to what is vying for his attention and what affects his heart and mind. We must keep a clear mind as we vigilantly keep watch over our lives and the world around us.
Ephesians 6 also reminds us to be sober and to be vigilant, “for our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” (Ephesians 6:10–18).
We must live aware that we have an enemy—yet we do not need to live in fear of him. Rather, the armor of God helps us stay alert and stand firm against the devil’s schemes. Our faith in the truth of the gospel protects us, and knowing and applying God’s Word give us what we need to combat our enemy.
God’s truth makes us stand firm in our faith and helps us carry on with a clear mind. Instead of allowing our thinking to be clouded with lies, foolishness, feelings, and empty pleasures, we should be sober and vigilant, keeping our mind on what is true and eternal. We can choose to abstain from practices that would lead into sin. Philippians 4:8 tells us to focus on “whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable . . . excellent or praiseworthy.” These things edify and strengthen us.
We have a spiritual enemy, likened to a rampaging lion, who continually seeks our destruction, but we do not have to live in fear. Instead, we can be sober and vigilant. We can live godly lives and experience the joy and peace of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22; Romans 14:17). We do not need to be tossed to and fro by deceit (Ephesians 4:14) but can remain firm in the promise that He who is in us is greater than the one who seeks our demise (1 John 4:4).
From: Fight the Good Fight of Faith/Life Journal: By Gregg Harris
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