1 Peter 5:8

1 Peter 5:8 ‘Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls about like. roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.'

‘Be of sober spirit' -‘temperate, circumspect' (Thayer p. 425). ‘Well balanced, self-controlled' (Arndt p. 538). 1. God will care for us, but we must exercise some spiritual alertness. 2. ‘If one is successfully to deal with the Devil and his efforts to lead astray, one must be wholly rational and self-possessed, keeping all mental and spiritual factors calm and collected.' (Hamilton p. 316) 3. Giving into. distracting care, demanding the right to worry about something, automatically places us in. vulnerable position 4. ‘clear-headedness that comes from. freedom from mental confusion or passion.' (Davids p. 189) 5. The Christian who is distracted by. care needs to realize that their faith is under attack! 6. ‘The opposite of this sober watchfulness is. kind of spiritual drowsiness in which one sees and responds to situations no differently than unbelievers, and God's perspective on each event is seldom if ever considered.' (Grudem p. 196)

‘be on the alert' -Jesus often stressed the same truth (Matthew 24:42; Matthew 25:13; Matthew 26:38; Matthew 26:40). 1. ‘The Greek verbs translated “be of sober spirit” and “be on the alert” are both aorist imperatives, indicating sharp commands to be heeded at once.' (Oberst p. 238) 2. We can become careless in our relationship with God (Hebrews 2:1). 3. Such alertness is also needed because we are up against. real opponent who is out to destroy us.

‘Your adversary' -Notice the word “Your”. The Devil isn't merely God's opponent, he is also “your”opponent. He doesn't like you, he hates you, he wants you to be miserable forever! ‘Adversary'-‘firstly, an opponent in. lawsuit, an adversary..'(Vine p. 34). ‘and so it is. translation of the Hebrew word ‘satan' (P.P. Comm. p. 208) (Job 2:6; Revelation 12:10; Zechariah 2:1). The devil is like. spiritual crooked lawyer who is out to sue you for everything that you have. We cannot afford to pretend that he doesn't exist, or that his beef is with God and not us. We can't say, ‘This isn't our fight', or, ‘I don't want to get involved'.

‘the devil' -‘false accuser, slanderer' (Thayer p. 135). He makes false accusations about God (Genesis 3:1); and makes false accusations about us to God (Job 2:6; Job 2:1; Revelation 12:9). He is. liar! (John 8:44) Notice the contrast: ‘Jesus is our Friend, and Advocate (John 15:12; 1 John 2:1). His love and actions for us are precisely the opposite of Satan's. All that He does to or for us, He does out of. heart of true caring..and for our good. Not so with the devil. He has nothing but harm, danger, and ultimately our ruin in mind!' (Oberst p. 238)

‘prowls about like. roaring lion' -1. ‘a prowling lion attacks suddenly, viciously, and often when its unsuspecting victim is engaged in routine activities.' (Grudem p. 196) 2. The devil is always working, always seeking and looking for. weakness in someone. He is. relentless foe. He never suffers from burn out! ‘it forms an ample basis for alertness, for when. lion is on the prowl it is not time to sleep.' (Davids p. 191) ‘the words express the restless energy of the wicked one.' (P.P. Comm. p. 208)

‘seeking' -Always seeking to tempt someone. Constantly looking for someone who is becoming careless, apathetic, selfish, etc….

‘someone' -He is not intimidated by any mortal.

‘to devour' -‘swallow down' (Thayer p. 335). ‘to gulp down, or swallow, thus utterly destroy.' (Woods p. 130). ‘implies utter destruction' (P.P. Comm. p. 208) His goal is to destroy! The devil just isn't out to hurt us or hinder us slightly. ‘Satan would divide and distract our minds from Christ---perhaps with cares; perhaps with riches and pleasures, or in other ways, just so long as it is us from Christ; whatever hinders our doing his will or encourages not doing it is of the devil. His deal is simple: give him. place in you now and he'll give you. place with him in eternity (Matthew 25:41).' (Plain Talk 12/8/3)