Successful Suffering

be seated. At this time, we'll go ahead and dismiss our uh medium-sized kids, I guess you would say, to little district uh and they will head downstairs and continue learning about Jesus. Uh for the rest of us, let's go ahead and grab our Bibles. Uh we are going to be in First Peter. Uh we are going to be actually wrapping it up this week. So, we're going to be looking at the last few verses, uh specifically um 1 Peter 5, looking at verses 8 through 14.

And I titled this message uh successful suffering uh because there is a way in which we can suffer well. There's a way in which God has allowed and used the suffering that we experience in this world uh for our good and for the glory of God. And so we're going to be looking at what that looks like, but we're also going to be looking at really the source of suffering. Kind of where it comes from, where where do we why do bad things happen? uh and what is God doing behind the scenes when a lot of these bad things are happening primarily and specifically uh to Christians that are in and around the world. And so the big idea here is how the God of all grace how the God of all grace gives you victory from suffering sin and Satan.

How the God of all grace gives you victory from suffering sin and Satan. Or as the kids today would say, it's it's giving victory. All right? Like that's that's what uh that's what they would say. I wouldn't say that, but that's what they would say. Uh let's look at First Peter 5.

I'm going to read the verses for us today. Starting in verse 8, Peter says this, "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. knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world.

And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ Jesus, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen. And then he finishes off with a greeting here by Sylvanus, who is also Silas, a faithful brother as I regard him. I've written briefly to you, exhorting and declaring that this is the true grace of God. Stand firm in it.

She who is at Babylon. And most biblical scholars and theologians agree that this is the church. She being the church that is in Babylon. And that's just another code word for Rome. Who is likewise chosen. And he's kind of referencing there what he first started teaching them in chapters 1 and two that we are the chosen people of God.

Send you greetings and so does Mark. Again, this is the same Mark that parted ways with the Apostle Paul. Also recorded the Gospel of Mark. He refers to him as my son. Again, not a biological son, but a spiritual son. Kind of like a Paul and Timothy relationship.

And he finishes this with saying, "Greet one another with the kiss of love." That's kind of like a modern-day handshake or a hug for us in our context. And because money and riches are not the pursuit of Christians, Peter finishes with this. Peace to all of you who are in Christ. Peace to all of you who are in Christ. So, as I've sort of broken down verses 12 through 14 there, what I want to really spend the majority of our time with is looking at verses 8 through 11.

because really these four verses are the summary of this entire book that we've been looking at since February. Um it's really the entire summary of it and really the crescendo of it. I mean this is where Peter comes together and he says this is the main idea. This is the main point. This is what I've been preaching and proclaiming and writing to you this entire time. And so in other words, Peter is saying,"I want you to have peace regardless of the circumstances that you're experiencing, regardless of the suffering that you're experiencing.

I want you to have peace." And the process by which you enter into peace is understanding what God is doing in these four verses. Understanding the will of God and all of the happenings of your life. the happenings of your life and how God is using them again for your good and for his glory. For your good and for his glory. And so the first thing that I want you to see today, and I'm going to do these a little bit out of order as we look at verses 8 through 11.

I want you to see that the source of suffering comes from sin and Satan. The source of suffering comes from sin and Satan. Look at verses 8 and N again. He says, "Be sober minded and be watchful." And we'll get to that in just a moment. But look at this particular point right here.

Your adversary, the devil, he prowls around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour. Look at verse nine. Resist him firm in your faith. And then right here, look at this. knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. So the devil that is prowling around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour is producing sufferings that all of the brotherhood, all of the Christians are experiencing throughout the world.

So there we got to do something with that. We got to be able to categorize what Satan is doing and and what he's ultimately seeking to accomplish in his prowling around like a roaring lion. And so really there's three primary causes that I wanted to show us this morning in regards to what sin is accomplishing or really where suffering in the world actually comes from. And these will kind of work their way up to the idea of this prowing prowling uh lion, this devil that is roaring. The first thing I want you to see where where where suffering comes from is just general sin. General sin in the world.

This could be things like bad weather. General sin in the world. Um diseases and illnesses like we suffer because of weather. We suffer because of disease. We suffer because of illnesses. These are results because we live in a broken and fractured world.

And so if you're wondering, well, how did it get broken and fractured? We go all the way back to the beginning. Genesis 1 and 2, God created everything. God created everything and it was good. There was uh shalom. There was peace.

and everything worked together as it should. But then something entered in to the scene after he fell out of heaven because he he wanted the throne of God. That devil of old, that serpent, that uh angel fell to earth because he sinned in heaven. And when Satan came down, he then entered into the garden and he came to Adam and Eve and he essentially said he so hates God that he does not want humans to experience relationship with God. And so his idea is let me figure out how I can fracture this. Let me get them to start trusting me instead of trusting their creator.

And as soon as they did that, as soon as they bought into the lie and trusted in Satan and themselves rather than trusting their creator, sin entered into the world. And the effects of sin is death and destruction. And so when we look at everything that has been happening ever since Genesis 3, thousands upon thousands of years at this point, anything that is bad in the world is because we rebelled against a good creator. Period. And all of creation, I'm hearing some like wrestling here, so I'm going to try to fix that. All of creation has been fractured because of that.

And even Romans 8 tells us that creation itself, not just humans, but creation itself is groaning for a day in which all things will be restored again. It's longing for a day that we no longer have sin and a fractured creation. And so generally speaking, sin is in the world and suffering happens. So if a tornado hits your house, it's because we brought sin into the world. If a hurricane comes through, it's because we brought sin into the world. Creation is fractured.

It's broken. The world is not as it should be. But the second thing, and this is a little bit more personal for us, the reason why there's suffering in the world is because of human sin. Because of human sin. And there's really two categories here. Both the sin that you specifically commit can bring suffering in your life.

But then also the sin that others commit against you can bring suffering in your life. Both cause suffering. This is why Peter covered this in the last chapter in chapter 4. He said, "If people sin against you and it causes you to suffer, Peter actually says you're blessed." You're blessed in regards to that. But if you sin or you're suffering because you murdered someone and therefore they're throwing you in the in in in a jail cell and you're going to spend the rest of your life there and that's a form of suffering.

Well, that's on you. If you've committed adultery, that's on you. If you gambled your mortgage payment on the FIFA World Cup in Argentina winning, that suffering is on you. And what Peter is ultimately telling them is don't do that. Don't cause the suffering in your life by the sin that you commit. But if by doing the right thing and by living out a life that is honoring to God and that is spreading his good news and that is telling other people how good Jesus is and all of the beautiful blessings that we receive in Christ and they uh revile you because of it or they malign you because of it or they persecute you because you are living a life contrary to what the world would say.

Then he actually says that type of suffering that comes upon you is a blessing. Is a blessing. He even says don't be surprised in chapter 4 when that type of suffering comes upon you by living out your faith in a world that does not live by faith. So human sin is also going to be a cause for our suffering. But specifically in what we're looking at in this part of the passage, there's a third category that oftentimes, at least in an atheistic world, they're not going to look at this type of suffering. And it's the suffering of demonic sin.

The suffering of demonic sin, spiritual warfare that's going on. I think about when Jesus is having a conversation with Peter at the last supper and tells him, "Satan's actually had a conversation with me and he's asked to sift you as wheat." That doesn't sound like a pleasant experience. That sounds like a an experience that would be considered suffering. Also like that when you look at that conversation, um, if I was Peter, I would say, "What' you what' you say to him? And Jesus says, "Actually, don't worry about it.

I've prayed for you." It's like, "Well, hold up a second. Keep him from sifting me as wheat." And Jesus is like, "No, no. I prayed for you." That's what you need when you experience this type of suffering that comes upon you.

I think about the book of Job. You've got a guy who for 40 chapters, well, first in the beginning of the chapters, again, you have Satan who shows up to God and he says, "Let me have a go at Job. You say this is a godly man. Let me have a go at him and see whether or not he curses you." And God grants him permission to be able to have a go at Job. And it's awful what Job experiences.

First, it starts off with just I mean every successful business venture is out the door. Then he comes after his family and removes his family, leaves his wife, the one who said curse your God and die. I think maybe there for a moment she was on team Satan and Satan's like we'll leave her alone. Now I do believe that she, this is conjecture, I believe that she was corrected as Job, you know, spent time with her and said, "No, no, no, no, no." Because then for the next rest of Job, we don't ever hear of any rebuke that would be necessary. I think she comes back around.

But for 40 chapters, you have these friends of Job who only have categories one and two. They're looking at this idea of yes, bad things can happen, but they're looking at this idea of human sin and they're saying, "Job, all of this stuff that's happening to you has to be because there's got to be some sin in your life. Did you gamble the mortgage payment? Did you do something wrong that you shouldn't have been doing behind closed doors?" Like, why are why are all these bad things happening? It has to be because of human sin.

and they weren't aware of the third category that there is demonic sin that is coming upon the people of God. And that's exactly what Peter is looking at here, telling us in this passage that there is real demonic sin that is happening against us. That there are demons, that there is a devil that is prowling around looking for Christians to devour. this week. Um I believe it was on Thursday, I saw a headline come through from a zoo in Greenville, South Carolina that basically the the the the headline was be on alert, leopard on the prowl. And so I was like, I'm clicking on that.

I got to see what that's about. And essentially what happened was there was an an amore I don't know if I'm saying that right. am and a more leopard that actually got out of its enclosure and was wandering around the zoo. And so the the to which then it also said uh due to human error to which I was like if that doesn't preach the relationship between human sin and the what the devil is trying to accomplish, I don't know what will. But that's what's going on in this zoo. And so they were sending out all these alarms to the the the the people who are attending the zoo to take cover.

Be on alert. Be watchful. There's a leopard on the prow. So if there was ever a time for the pastors in Greenville to preach this passage, they should be preaching it this Sunday. There might be some people in their churches that experience this personally. We don't necessarily see it physically but it is happening spiritually.

This is happening behind the scenes. And what he is doing is he wants to ruin you. He wants to ruin you. So, the way in which the devil tries to ruin you is either getting you to sin against God and to sin against your fellow man. And if you don't do that, because again, you're being sober minded, as we'll see here in a moment, then the only other way is to get you to be fearful of man by having them come and persecute you. by having all these bad things happen to you in order to try to silence you because you don't want bad things to happen to you.

And so Satan wants to either ruin us by getting us to sin or ruin us by keeping us from continuing to share the good news of Jesus by rendering us essentially ineffective because of fear. Because if he can't get you to sin, the next best thing is to get you to be silenced. If he can't get you to sin, he's going to try to get you to be silenced. Satan wants to ruin you by silencing you through fear t fear tactics in relation to suffering. Again, this could look like as it was in their context, they were being maligned. They were being ridiculed as we later see just in church history with Nero as he starts just gathering up Christians and just torturing them, literally using them as human torches in his own gardens.

I mean, it's not exactly the best way you would want to represent to a world around you. Hey, come follow Jesus. it's going to make your life go really well. When they're saying, "Wait a minute. The ones who follow Jesus are being hung up and lit on fire and you want me to come and join that?" Again, sometimes in our current modern day, unfortunately, what we do as Christians is we say, and I understand what we're trying to say, but what we say is, "Come and follow Jesus and everything in your life improves.

Now we know that spiritually speaking 100%. Everything in our life improves. We begin to have a peace that we used to not have. We begin to have a contentment that we used to not have. We begin to have a steadied soul that no longer is anxious. We begin to steward rightly all of the things that God has blessed us with.

There are things that absolutely improve in our life by following Jesus and living out a design that he has designed for us. Absolutely things improve at the same time. At the same time, circumstances around you can get way worse, way worse than what they were when you weren't a believer. Because all of a sudden now when you get on team Jesus, [snorts] there's a lion looking for you. Wasn't looking for you before, but now is looking for you to hopefully get you to go back into the sin that you once committed before you became a Christian or to render you silenced by fear of man because they're also coming after you to malign you and ridicule you. And so what Peter's ultimately telling them here is again going back to what he said in chapter 4:12.

Beloved, do not be surprised. Do not be surprised by this at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you as though something strange were happening to you. He's actually saying, "Hey, beloved Christians, don't be surprised. It's actually normal for suffering to happen to you by way of following Jesus. Because what happened to Jesus? Was Jesus just a great teacher who amassed an incredible following and then wrote some books and started touring, signing those books in all these different towns and then built an incredible wealth from his book sales and then said, "You know what?

I'd love to have just a really nice lakehouse and some nice vehicles and then let me just ride off into the sunset just enjoying the work of my labor like the the the fruit of my labor. No, he came in and absolutely he's a great teacher and he's teaching things even as a 12-year-old that was surprising adults in the synagogue. Who teaches with this type of authority? But as they started continuing to ask questions about this wonderful teacher, where does the source of your authority come from? And what really got him in trouble was when he finally said, "I'm God." Well, hold up a second.

the God we're expecting to come and be the Messiah for us, that's going to deliver us from our enslavement to whether at that time the Roman Empire, to restore Israel to its rightful place, to have Jerusalem be theirs and no one else's. You're not fitting the bill of what we expect and what we designed for ourselves. You're not the earthly king that we actually want. you're born in Bethlehem. You're from Nazareth. Is anything good come from Nazareth?

So, he's not fitting the picture of what they want. And so, immediately they reject him and they then be uh start causing suffering on him to the point in which they take him and publicly crucify him on a cross. And so Peter's saying, if that happened to him, why should you expect anything else to be different for you, to be different for you? But when it does happen to you, here's the second thing I want you to see here. He tells us what to do when that suffering comes. Again, don't worry about the the general sin.

Like if a tree falls on your house, look guys, we live in a broken and fallen world. You don't need to overspiritualize that and say the devil's out to get you. A tree fell on your house. It happens. Okay? Human sin.

When you commit a human sin, don't say the devil made me do it. Own it. You sinned. But third category here, we need to realize that there is a devil on the prowl and he is seeking us to devour. So what do we do when we encounter the schemes of Satan? Well, he tells us, look at verse 8 and N again, be sober minded and be watchful.

Verse N tells us, resist him firm in your faith. be sober minded and be watchful. Notice two things he mentions there. Sobermindedness and watchfulness. They relate to the three different categories for suffering. Again, not general sin necessarily, um, but they do relate to the other two, human sin and the devil.

Be soberminded. That's how you avoid human sin. be soberminded. Again, drawing back on and this is why I said this is a summary of the the whole book. Drawing back on what Peter said in chapter 4:es 1-7. This is what he looked this is what he said to them.

Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, again, he's always drawn it back to because it happened to him, it's going to happen to you. Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, look at this. Arm yourselves with the same way of thinking. Be sober minded with the same way of thinking. For whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin. Verse two.

So as to live for the rest of the time now that you're Christians, for the rest of the time in the flesh, no longer for human passions, but for the will of God. So have the same way of thinking that we are no longer living for human passions. What makes me feel good? What's going to give me happiness today? We we don't think that way anymore. Instead, we think with the mind of Christ, we think sobermindedly.

We think, what is the will of God and how should I live in that today? How can I think that way today? How can I act that way today? Verse three, for the time that is passed suffices for doing what the Gentiles want to do. And again, to the Gentiles, that's just a junk drawer term for everyone that's not Jewish and primarily everyone that's not God-fearing. And so therefore, these are people who do not know the design of God, not living in the will of God.

And so essentially they only are living for human passions. They don't know any difference. So they wake up every single day and they think there are things that I do that hurt. So like don't touch that stove, but there are other things that I do that make me feel good and so I just want to do more of that stuff. And so those things look like, well sex was fun. Let's do as much of that as possible and let's do it with anybody and everybody as possible because this is fun.

This is enjoyable. But they don't understand that God has a design for it that actually provides more fulfillment that's not with anybody and everybody and as often as we want. Same thing with food. Hey, food tastes good. What's le it's eat as much as we can and let's eat anything that we can not realizing that God has a design for it. Enjoy it but not too much.

That's called gluttony. Words. Words are great. We like words. We want to speak words. But some words are bad and some words are good.

and they don't realize that there are words that actually build up rather than tear down people. And so what he's saying is as you have become a Christian now the time has passed. You're done with that stuff. Now you are to live this way. Not living in sensuality or passions or drunkenness or orgies or drinking parties and lawless idolatry. You're like, "That sounds like our day and age."

Correct. There's nothing new under the sun. The sins we commit today are the sins they committed 2,000 years ago. And in their day, it had been going on for thousands of years at that point as well. But look at what he says in verse four. With respect to this, they're surprised when you do not join them in the same flood of debauchery and they do what?

They malign you. That's suffering. You'll experience suffering when you stop doing what the world does. You start doing what God wants you to do. And they say they don't understand it. And they start ridiculing you, maligning you.

And where it really goes a step further is when you then engage with them and you start saying things like, "Hey, you don't know this, but what you're doing is actually sinning against the creator who made you." And because you're sinning against the creator who made you, and life comes from him, because you're rejecting him, what you're actually saying is is, "I want death. I want to be separated from the source of life." So, you're actually on your way to an eternal death that is in hell. Well, hold up a second. How dare you judge me.

How dare you say these bad things about me? And so then it no longer is it now just ridicule and maligning. It's weird that you're doing these things. Now it then turns into, well, if you think I'm going to die, well, I'm going to kill you first. and they start rounding them up and off with their heads. This is actively going on in places around the world right now in Nigeria.

Christians are being slaughtered weekly, weekly beheaded. And so he says down in verse 7, the end of all things is at hand. Therefore, be self-controlled and soberminded for the sake of your prayers. So this idea of being soberminded is in the context of human sin. He's saying be self-controlled because, and here's the thing, that doesn't mean that you have to try to figure out, muster up the strength whenever you walk out on a day, you know, a daily basis. Say you're a man who struggles with lust and you leave the house and you see an attractive woman and you start sweating, you know, whatever whatever whatever you feel.

What he's not saying is be self-control. Get yourself together, man. Pull it together. Bounce the eyes. Look the other way. It's not what he's saying.

He's saying remember who you are. Remember who's purchased you. Remember who I'm sure there were attractive women in first century. Remember who saw attractive women and never sinned, never lusted. Remember who Christ is and what he's earned for you and what he's imputed to you. That means he lived a perfect life and he never sinned.

And when he saved you, he gave you his identity. He uploaded it into your life and he said, "Guess what? You God gets to look at you like he looks at me." in which you have never sinned before. And he says, "Now live out this new identity that you have." So you're not trying to train and muster up your old self.

Rather, you're believing who you are in Christ, and you're now becoming who you are in Christ. And so now you're saying, "Yeah, you're right. Actually, I no longer lust. I'm a child of God. I am in Christ. Christ never lusted.

And therefore, I'm going to believe that and I'm going to trust that. And I now have the ability and the power to say no to this and say yes to Jesus and worship him. And we could plug it in, fill in any of the blanks. Whatever the sins were that were your habitual habits, what whatever the things were that your habitual sins, the things that you're like, I don't ever know if I'm ever going to get any sort of relief from this. I just always continue to do the same thing over and over and over. And he's saying there is one greater in you than what is in the world.

and you trust in Jesus to continue um helping you say no to sin and yes to him. And here's one of the great things when you look at all the lists throughout the epistles when it comes to what we receive in Christ in every single one of the lists of fruit of the spirit that is in all of them is self-control. self-control, which means in Christ, I have the ability to say no to this sin and to say yes to Jesus. Before Christ, no self-control. There's no self-control. There's no ability for someone who is not in Jesus to be able to control the habits of sin.

We have no other choice. We give ourselves over to it every single time. There might be moments where in in in our humanity, we lock in and we're like, I'm not going to do that anymore. I'm going to be sober. I'm going to be, you know, I'm not going to commit adultery anymore. I'm not like, there are worldly people who will go that route, but they just replace it with something else.

We don't ultimately have self-control unless it's coming from the spirit who created it, and that's the Holy Spirit. It comes from him. That's why it's one of the fruit of the spirits in Galatians 5. And so, yeah, if you want to lock in, we lock in to the spirit of God and we live it out. So, that's what it means to be sober minded. Lock your mind into Christ.

Have the same way of thinking as him. And you're like, "Well, what did he think?" He told you. He told you. We get into this and we know the mind of Christ. Everything we need to know about who God is and what he wants to communicate to us is in the word of God.

If there's anybody who ever speaks to you and says, "I have a word from the Lord." Say, "Show me where it's at." Show me where it's at. Because he's already said everything he needs to say. He's already communicated. This doesn't have everything that represents who God is.

We will be learning God for eternity. But what we need to know about God and what we need for the fullness and sufficiency of salvation is in the text. for us to have a wonderful, beautiful, abiding relationship with God here and now before we get to eternity. Everything we need is in the text. He's already communicated to us. So when people tell me, "Hey, I just man, I feel like God's distant.

I feel like I haven't, you know, I haven't heard from him in a while." I'll say, "When was the last time you read your Bible?" Because I heard from God this morning when I read the Bible. I mean like it's it's it's it's we we we we make it over complicated. The reality is is like if if I did not have the ability to speak, but I could write and all I did was just write letters to Kelsey in order to communicate with her. If she never reads them, she'll be like, she could be mad at me.

I just feel like you don't ever talk to me. You don't ever communicate with me. You don't ever tell me what you're thinking. Well, did you read the letters? He's written to us and he's communicated to us what we need to know so that we can be soberminded. We can know what's right and wrong.

The second thing he says is to be watchful so that you can recognize recognize the schemes of Satan and can resist him by standing firm in your faith. Be alert. Be aware. Be able to recognize when a comment is backed by scripture or backed by Satan. This is what gets people in trouble, especially those who profess to be Christians. The ones who are not soberminded and do not know the mind of Christ, do not know the word of God.

They don't know the difference between whether or not God's speaking or Satan's telling them a lie. They can't tell the difference between truth or a lie. I mean, you go back to Adam and Eve. I mean, they it wasn't this. They had him communing with him in the garden and still thought that this created being that's wandering around the garden is telling them something that God maybe said because that's what Satan did. Satan came in and he didn't say, "Hey, God's dumb."

Actually, let me show you something better. when he came in is he just reinterpreted what God said. Did God really say? Actually, I have inside scoop on what God says. And this is what God says. Actually, what God says to you is that you can eat of this and you can become like him.

Sounds like a preacher to me. That's all he was doing. The New Testament authors refer to that as a wolf in sheep's clothing. A wolf in sheep's clothing. And unfortunately, right now, I'll be honest with you, I think the the primary schemes of Satan is through leadership in churches. I really do.

I think that's why so many of the warnings that we get in the letters to the churches are to watch out for wolves in sheep's clothing who come in and preach a gospel contrary to the one that God revealed to us. And so much right now in order to get Christians off base, to get them to either sin or to silence them is to get them to believe a false gospel thinking that it's the true gospel. Because here's the reality. Like if we really think about it, like play this out in our culture right now. Satan's scheme is not just to come in and say, "Hey, you know what would be awesome? Let's just go kill this person over here."

No, we're at least knowledgeable enough to say, "Well, God told us not to murder." So, Satan's not dumb. He's crafty. Instead, he's going to come in and he's going to say, "Hey, you know what? God is love." And so therefore, anybody can love anybody.

So let's just redefine. Did God really say that only a man and a woman can get married? Maybe anybody can get married. And at what point does that then end? There's no He's redefining everything at that point. Did God really say these are the schemes of Satan?

And unfortunately, what we have now is we have what the New Testament authors would refer to as synagogues of Satan. Synagogues of Satan that are masquerading around as churches. But in all reality, behind the scenes, Satan's pulling the strings and he's got leaders involved that are teaching people things that are contrary to true doctrine. And that's why so many times now he's saying be aware, be watchful. And the two things you need to be watchful about are the schemes of Satan, what he's creeping into the church in order to distort it, pervert it, and muddy the water. You need to be watchful about that.

But you also, this is what this is what Paul tells Timothy, you need to watch your doctrine. So, just as much as you need to watch the schemes of Satan, you need to make sure that you're continuing to watch what you believe about God. Because what did Satan do with Adam and Eve? He came and he attacked doctrine. Did God really say? And so sometimes we think that the roaring lion, the devil that's prowling around, we picture the devil that we see in horror movies, the demons that we see in horror movies.

[snorts] And actually, I would say even though that's there's reality of that around the world, that's not the Satan we are going to encounter. The Satan we are going to encounter that's prowling around like a roaring lion looking to devour you might be someone who comes into the church and says I'd like to aspire to leadership here. Now I'm saying if you're like we have an elder candidacy that's starting in September and right now we have guys that are wanting to aspire to leadership. I'm not calling you Satan but I'm cautious. I am cautious. We got to be alert.

We got to be aware of what God has said and what Satan is trying to distort and pervert and twist. And I believe that's why the Apostle John spent wonderful time with Jesus. He says this in 1 John 4 1-4. Beloved, do not believe every spirit. That's just a good word, guys. Just because some just because it's a real on social media doesn't make it right.

Just because they say they're a Christian doesn't mean what they say is right. Sometimes that's what we actually have to be more alert on is just what we say to one another. And I'm even talking about us in this room, guys. There are sermons that I used to preach 15 years ago that I would go back and say, "Could we please get those off the internet?" Because it just you grow, you mature, you understand better what he actually said. Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God.

That's why anytime someone I got a word from the Lord, show me where it is. That's how I'm going to test it. Where where's the chapter and verse? Show me where it is. Because if it's a word from the Lord, he's already said it. And you're not the first one that's going to say it.

If you're the first one that's going to say it in the last 2,000 years, well, that's how you get a Joseph Smith. That's how you get new cults. God doesn't operate with hidden knowledge buried in a tree somewhere in Vermont. God's already revealed everything to us and it's in his word that's been tried and tested by this. You know, I'm sorry. Let me just start it over.

Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God. For many false prophets have gone out into the world. I wonder who's leading them. His name is Satan. By this, you know the spirit of God. Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God.

So if they keep pointing you back to Jesus, that's a good brother. If they start adding things to it, not a good brother. Every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist. Satan is antirist. Period.

And so therefore, his schemes are going to be antirist. This is the spirit of the antichrist which you heard was coming and now is in the world already. And then he says this to them, ' Little children, you are from God and have overcome them. For he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. How do we have sober minds? We know the spirit of God and what the spirit of God is teaching us in the word of God.

And then we be watchful for what speaks against the spirit of God or speaks contrary to the word of God and we resist it. We resist it. We stand firm in what we know is right and good doctrine and we resist and stand against what is not. Here's what I've seen play out again just in society. Satan wants to convince Christians to believe a lie and label it Christianity. That's that's his primary strategy right now.

It's his primary strategy. is to get us to believe a lie and label it Christianity. And when he can't get them to come to his side, the next best thing he can do is scare them into silence by having the world malign you, call you a bunch of names, persecute you, and as we're seeing across the world, even behead you. And if he can't get you to believe the wrong thing, he'll do whatever he can to keep you from sharing the right thing. That's the scheme. That's the scheme.

Fear then becomes the tactic that's employed. If I can't get them to sin against God, then I'll just get them to be afraid of man. I'll get them to be afraid of man. And I love what John said here. Greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world. Notice what he said though.

He didn't say greater are you than he that is in the world. Because that's another scheme. Let's just be honest with with ourselves right now. Satan, if you're looking at just creation, Satan's smarter than you. Satan knows more scripture than you. Satan can probably do some magical things greater than you can do.

Satan's pretty great in that regard. And that's why he says you're not trying to fight off and resist Satan in your own strength. Not greater is you than he that is in the world, but greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world. When it's time to resist and stand firm and go to war against Satan, let's make sure that we're tapping on Jesus' shoulder and saying, "Hey, you're up. You're up, bud. That's it.

This is your battle. This is your battle. Stand firm in Christ because he is greater than Satan every single time. That was one of the things I grew up watching this show called Celebrity Death Match. I'm glad if you know what that is. It's great.

It also just shows my childhood. Um but it was this like clay figurines that I mean it it was not they were not developed well. It was like taking those old um Christmas shows uh that had Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, like the little claymations or whatever. It was like that but demonic. Okay. And so it was it was just played out kind of South Parkesque, but it always had Satan versus Jesus.

And so you had Jesus looked like what are those statues we have in the house? Those like the the mom and dad and the baby little statues. willow tree. Jesus looks like this little willow tree in the corner. And then on the other corner of the ring, you've got Satan that just looks like what horror movies would depict Satan as. This massive big red devil with the wings, the horns, the whole nine yards.

And he would taunt and he would do the whole things. And it's like the one time that they actually got things right. Satan comes out, throws some blows, and then Jesus just speaks, and Satan is pinned to the ground and defeated. When we look at a verse like Philippians 4:13 that says, "I can do all things," we want to be quick to puff up our chest and say, "Yes, I can do all things." But we always forget that it's through Christ who strengthens me. Through Christ who strengthens me.

So when we're met with the schemes of this devil that's prowling around, we need to remember who's the one that's in us that actually puts him in his place. And the last thing that I want to close out with here is verse the end of verse 10 and 11. Salvation victory ultimately comes from the God of all grace. [snorts] The God of all grace. Yes, you are to be sober minded and you are to be alert and be watchful. But you need to remember that even in those things, success or victory and salvation, it comes from the God of all grace.

after you have suffered a little while, which I just love that we need to remember that when you go to a cemetery and you look at headstones and you see the date in which they were born and the date in which they died, that little dash in the middle, scripture refers to it as a vapor, a mist in the air. in regards to eternity, which if you remember is a long time. 10,000 years from now, nothing. 10 million years from now, it's nothing. What we are suffering here is I just love it's almost like he's saying it tongue and cheek. after you suffered.

It's just a little while, guys. It's not a big deal. But it's true. It's a little while in comparison to eternity. That's why the Apostle Paul would say, "When I look at eternity and I compare it to the sufferings of this world," he's like, "Man, bring it on. Bring it on.

Look how long we get to have no pain. No more tears, no more sorrow, no more sin. Look how long we get to have. And so if for now by doing the right thing and following Jesus and proclaiming Christ and spreading the glory of God over the earth as the waters cover the sea, if that is what we are called to do and in worshiping him and enjoying him in this life right now and it brings difficulty and trials and tribulations on us and suffering on us, what he's ultimately saying is, hey, it's just going to be for a little while. It's not a big deal. It really is not a big deal.

like create a doctrine in your mind right now that says suffering is not a big deal because of what eternity provides for us. And so when it happens to you, man, the the early church fathers, they saw it as a badge of honor to be able to experience suffering and to even go to the point of martyrdom, death, like to be able to suffer in the exact same way that Christ suffered. like being killed for what you're proclaiming. They're like, "Man, that's the good stuff. That's the good stuff. We're actually finally getting to live the good life God wanted for us if we are worshiping him and the world hates us because of it."

So much right now, we as Christians, we want to follow Jesus and we want the world to love us for it. And those two things are incompatible. If the world loves you because of the Jesus you follow, you do not follow the Jesus of the Bible. You're following whatever Jesus Satan convinced you to follow. And I'll be honest, it's the Antichrist. It is not the one that testifies to the glory of God.

If after you've suffered a little while, the God of all grace who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ will himself and just let this just let this fill up your soul with hope. Regardless what happens to you in this world, the God of all grace himself. So he's not passing this on to anyone else. Himself will restore you, confirm you, strengthen you, and establish you. And I think that's why Peter gets to this point where he knowing see when he's writing this it's sometime between 62 64 AD as he's recording this in a cell in Rome imprisoned. And as he's recording this he dies within the season.

and the way he dies is he doesn't seem or he doesn't see fit to die in the same way Jesus died. But they're looking at him and they're saying, "No, buddy. We're crucifying you the same way." And he says, "Well, if you're going to do that, at least crucify me upside down because I'm not worthy to die the same way." I think him knowing what's about to happen, he hears as the Holy Spirit is inspiring him to write these words on paper, parchment, if you will. Peter, as you suffer for a little while, the God of all grace, who's called you to his eternal glory in Christ, Peter, he's going to restore you, confirm you, strengthen you, and establish you.

And Peter can't help but to move into a doxology and to declare to him, be the dominion forever and ever. He has my heart for all eternity. He has my allegiance for all eternity. He has my worship for all eternity because there's nothing greater. There's nothing greater than Jesus. Let's pray together.

Father, we thank you so much for your good news to us. We thank you for this book that you inspired Peter to author. We thank you God that that it has continued to edify your church that it helps us see more of who your son Jesus is. That it also just gives us awareness of what we're going to experience in this life. that following you is not going to be always easy, but has the ability to be incredibly difficult. Not just because of general sin that we experience, but also because of human sin, the sin we do that causes our own suffering, but also the sin that others commit against us that causes suffering.

And then we also know just that Satan has a plan and he wants to render us ineffective. He wants us to get us to go back to the way we used to live and the way we used to [music] think. And if we're not willing to do that, then he's going to make life incredibly, incredibly hard for us and hope that it would create in us some fear of man and therefore silence us because we want to keep our life easy, safe. But I'm mindful that what does it profit a man to gain the whole world yet forfeit [music] his soul? I pray we are just willing to just [music] give up everything in this life even our lives physically to just follow Jesus [music] and treasure him above all above everything else. I pray we take that seriously.

I I [music] pray that every single day when we wake up, we wake up sober minded and on alert, understanding that there's something competing for our minds and our hearts and our allegiance. And we just wake up and we say yes to Jesus and no to [music] everything else. But we can't [music] do that without the help of you. I can do all things only through Christ who strengthens [music] me. May that be our anthem every single morning, every single midday, every single [music] afternoon, every single evening, and even before we lay our head on our pillow at night, may [music] we say we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us. It's in his name that we beautifully [music] pray.

Amen.