In this sermon on 1 Peter 5:9, Pastor Babij teaches on the Christian’s obligation to resist Satan’s attacks. Christians need to know that the mind is Satan’s target and that his weapons are lies disguised as truth.
Full Transcript:
As we continue to look through this great book, let’s turn to 1 Peter 5-9:
You younger men, likewise, be subject to your elders; and all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, for GOD IS OPPOSED TO THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE. 6Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, 7casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you. 8Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. 9But resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world.
Let’s pray:
As we look at Your word, and as we think about it, I pray, Lord, that we would be thankful, and that our ears can hear it because this is the word of the King. When the King speaks, the people should be ready to listen. I pray, Lord, as we do look at the word of God, we realize that suffering is a difficult part of life. It’s something that we cannot escape from, and in one way or another, we will enter it. I pray, Lord, that when we do, we would be ready because we know, Lord, that part of suffering is an attack of the enemy against us. We know, Lord, You are sovereign over all things, and that You even ordained it for us in this world of sin. Lord, it’s all around us, so I pray as it comes into our life for our testing, let us be ready. Let us be able to stand and resist in the proper attitude and in a proper way in which we maintain our integrity, holiness, and advance in our godliness. I ask You this in Christ’s name, Amen.
In this last area of 1 Peter 5, we have been considering three exhortations. The first exhortation is that of humility. The second exhortation is that of vigilance. The third exhortation, which we will be looking at, is the Christian’s obligation for resistance. The first one was given in light of God’s constant care. The second one was given in light of Satan’s dubious character. As the Scripture tells us he’s walking about, he is like a roaring lion, and he is seeking to devour, so we need to be ready for all of them, especially since he is relentless, he’s restless, and he wants to come against those who are specifically Christians.
He already has the world, who he has blinded, and they are on his side. For those who’ve been rescued from his dark kingdom into the kingdom of light, he is against us, and the Bible warns us about that. The Scripture doesn’t want us to be ignorant of his motive to keep unbelievers blind so that they do not understand or receive the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Then, to keep believers ignorant, sleepy, and scared, so that they fall away from being soldiers and witnesses of Jesus Christ.
In this third exhortation, if it is understood and practiced, it enables us to carry out the first two exhortations, which enables us to carry out this third exhortation. This third one is one is the exhortation for resistance. If you grasp the logic of the first and second exhortations, which is that of humility and vigilance, then stability and victory over Satan strategies, his tactics, himself, and his minions are achievable. Scripture is telling us that we can resist what he’s throwing at us, and we have to be ready for that.
Last time, I started giving you three examples and situations where Satan will take advantage of anyone, and we’re going to look at each one where the Bible specifically says Satan’s involved with that. He’s ready to manipulate, he’s ready to exploit the situation, and our job is to not let him do that. We have the power because of the spirit of God, in the word of God, and us being in Christ. He cannot have our soul anymore. In our life, we are to be aware of his devices, and don’t let him take the advantage. In other words, we’re in the battle.
It was a hot summer day in Iraq. Staff Sergeant Tichenor was on a routine mission standing by his Humvee. He had his helmet on, flak jacket on, and all his gear on to go into a mission. On a mission that day, he was standing there by his Humvee, not knowing that he was in the crosshairs of a sniper. Just in a second, he felt this incredible force on his chest while the sniper shot his round right into the center mass of his body. He went down to the ground because of the force of the round. Because it was so hot, he was always sweating, so he thought it wasn’t sweat. It was blood, so he crawled around to the other side of his Humvee, opened up his black jacket, and saw that the round was lodged in a metal plate on his jacket. On that day, he understood more than ever that the enemy has his crosshairs on him. Thank the Lord he did not die that day because of his armor.
Remember, the Christian has both offensive and defensive equipment to resist the enemy. You have to use both the black jacket with the metal plate to stop that bullet. On that day, he was able to walk away, but I’m sure after that day, he was way more aware of what was going on of what he could not see, and he made himself ready for it. That is very much like what a Christian should do.
Every day when Christian’s wake up, they need to be ready and understand that they are in a spiritual battle. It is a battle that we cannot get out of, but it is a battle that’s already won in Christ Jesus. However, it still needs to be fought because we need to learn some things in that battle. As we look at the Scripture, let us consider arming ourselves with the word of God, so that we are not ignorant of the devices of the enemy, especially since he does have his crosshairs on you.
Last time, the first one we looked at was that we are to be ready because the enemy will exploit. In 2 Corinthians 2:11, we’re not to be ignorant of his schemes because the enemy is on the attack against the church community and its unity:
so that no advantage would be taken of us by Satan, for we are not ignorant of his schemes.
If Satan can suggest ideas to the Christian’s mind and inflame the believer’s affections with desires that stand in opposition to godliness, holiness, and to spiritual growth, then the Christian, while taking the devil seriously, must understand what parts of their own lives they need to spend special attention on such their weaknesses and their vulnerabilities. Though Christian’s do not know when the devil will strike, they can be ready for his attacks.
In 2 Corinthians 2:11, the device Satan was planting was the thought that Christian’s don’t really need to forgive each other. It’s the enemy’s desire to introduce hatred and animosity to the church, which in turn would destroy relationships and further damage the church’s organic unity. The term take advantage or don’t be ignorant suggests that the devil’s target is the believer’s mind, and his weapons are lies disguised as the truth.
It goes way back to the Garden when Satan said to Eve, “Did God say that?” Just a little twist of the truth, and it becomes a lie. Thus, Satan’s work on believers is to get the better of them. The devil wants to destroy the power and testimony of the church by planting stumbling blocks in the believer’s way that keeps them ignorant of God’s word and stifled in their spiritual growth. If the church is to accomplish its mission, Christian’s must resist.
For the second example, let’s look at Ephesians 4:25-27. In this passage, we are not to be ignorant of his schemes. The enemy’s scheme or attack is on our obedience and relationships:
Therefore, laying aside falsehood, SPEAK TRUTH EACH ONE of you WITH HIS NEIGHBOR, for we are members of one another. 26BE ANGRY, AND yet DO NOT SIN; do not let the sun go down on your anger, 27and do not give the devil an opportunity.
In this passage of Scripture, obedience is for us to speak the truth, which is what God commands us to do. When conversing with one another, tell the truth on things, and don’t be hedging against the truth. There’s no such thing as little lies or pink lies. No matter what you call it, a lie is a lie. God wants us to speak the truth.
Then, you and I need to be angry about our own sins and get rid of them, put them off, and put them away from us. We are to have a moral indignation against sin. Yes, we are to be angry, but we are not to sin. The Bible doesn’t say to not be angry. Rather, it says be angry and sin not, so it is a righteous kind of anger.
Of course, that anger can quickly slip into an unrighteous, unlawful anger that is very detrimental to relationships, which goes against our obedience to tell the truth. Thus, anger is a very dangerous state of mind, especially for weak, infallible, and imperfect people like us. In most cases, it becomes an occasion for sin.
For the Christian, the Scripture emphasizes that whenever the feelings of resentment and anger rises up in us, we are not the sin. Under the old self and the old ways, this was often misunderstood and abused. In the new self and in Christ, we are to be controlled. We are to be able to harness that anger in the right way and use it righteously. God’s given us the strength and the power to do that in the word of God. In this passage, Paul’s council is simply to practice being controlled. We are able to have a handle on that anger, so that we’re not allowing it to go where it would normally go.
A second thing he gives in the council is to keep it current where he says, “do not let the sun go down on your anger.” The picture of the sun going down is allowing your anger to go past that day into the next day. Then, the sun rises and sets the next day and it goes into the next day. When those things take place and we don’t do anything about it, then there’s a fine line between righteous anger and sinful anger. When you cross the line, we are to deal with anger within current time, so the Christian should never allow the sun to go down upon their anger.
Anger cannot be nursed. Righteous anger is to be controlled. It is not to be prolonged beyond sunset. Anger is not to be harbored beyond the day in which it began. When you’re able to harness that, you are going to do something else. You’re going to be able to stand up against the enemy so that he doesn’t take advantage of you, and you don’t deny the doctrine and cause the gospel to look ugly. Anger definitely looks ugly, and evil conduct is a denial of the very foundation of the Gospel. One man says:
It may not always be possible to straighten out the problem with the other person before nightfall. At the very least, one can settle the matter in his own heart and attitude before retiring and before putting your head on the pillow. Of course, in a short time, resolve the matter.
Instead, we are not to sin, but take measures to prepare to seek reconciliation. We are to bear the likeness of God’s image by doing to others what God has done to us. In Ephesians 4:32, it simply says:
Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.
In other words, be like God. We must forgive one another in spite of his or her being against me because of how God has forgiven all of my sins, transgressions, and iniquities. We are to hate sin in ourselves and in others, but we are not to hate them. Instead, we are to forgive the sinner, love the sinner, and then we are to help the sinner forsake their sin each day.
We must never put our heads on our pillow to rest and sleep for that night while the spirit of bitterness, hatred, or lack of forgiveness lurks in our heart and mind. You are not to rest until you settle the matter. Don’t rest until you forgive like the Father forgave you in Christ Jesus.
Immediately, Scripture adds that if anger is permitted to continue in your heart, then you give the adversary opportunity to act against you. So, why would we want to give him that opportunity? We don’t want to give him that opportunity, so that’s a way in which Christians resist the enemy. They know the Scripture and they understand the Scripture. When a situation comes into their life, they practice the Scripture, they put it into play, and then they find out that the Scripture is definitely reliable in dealing with problems.
We are to practice being cunning. Do not give the devil an opportunity. According to the Webster’s New Dictionary, cunning means to know, to show skill, and to be clever. It is something done with ingenuity, so I’m using it in the original sense of the word. You have a knowledge and skill to be able to deny the devil the opportunity to get you, keep you in anger, and you do so by keeping the door closed to his diabolical influence. You don’t give the devil an opportunity of leading you into his opened irrational influence that he places over people.
The devil needs only the slightest place to begin operations, which leads us to outbursts of passion. Angry feelings so easily result in simple words and in actions of hatred and malice. Thus, we are to use our skill and understanding of the truth so that the devil cannot do as he would like to do. The devil would like to keep your anger going. He likes the fuel it, and sometimes it’s very easy for some people to have their anger get fueled. All you have to do is wake up on the wrong side of the bed, or if it’s not a sunny day, the coffee isn’t the way you like, or someone gives you a hard time, then you are ready to jump down their throat. See, he wants to lead us to nurse grievances. He wants to lead us to desire revenge against someone. He wants to lead us to slander with our tongue, and if we can’t do it face-to-face, then we will do it on Facebook.
A lot of people take Facebook as a place to vent. Christian, you better watch what you write on Facebook. It tells a lot about what’s going on in your heart. Be very careful that you don’t use these cowardly avenues to get out of your heart all the garbage. We ought to be doing that kind of stuff before God in confession of our sin.
The evil one will help you feed your anger with sinful thoughts and ideas until the sun goes down and rises the next morning. Then, the devil will help your anger simmer day after day until you have no self-control, until you grieve the Holy Spirit, until you set aside the power that God has given to you to put and resist the enemy, and until you cannot put off the sin, renew your mind, and put on righteousness. You’ll be out of control, unforgiving, unholy, unmoved, and diminishing any Christ-likeness that could have appeared in your life at that point. At the same time, you deceive yourself in your self-righteousness and that somehow your anger is justified.
When any counsellor deals with somebody who has anger issues or a couple who has anger issues, it is always the case. Somehow, they want to justify why they have the right to dig in against this person, not realizing they have been trapped by Satan, especially if they’re believers.
You can’t let him trap you, which is the point the Scriptures. Don’t let him lead you down this path in which you are doing the opposite of what the word of God says. When you lay aside the word of God, you’re up to your own thoughts and whatever the world impresses upon you as to what you ought to be doing. Notice, in the passage, how clear the Bible is about not giving the devil an opportunity, and this third example is about the enemies attack on our devotion to God and marriage. In 1 Corinthians 7:4-5, it says:
The wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does; and likewise also the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does. 5Stop depriving one another, except by agreement for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer, and come together again so that Satan will not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.
In the context of this passage of Scripture, Paul is dealing with the responsibilities of marriage. Specifically, the conjugal rights of each partner. Each render to the other what is due once a person does get married. It is the marital obligation of mutual self-giving of each other to the other. The conjugal rights are to be practice throughout the continuation of a marriage relationship.
This particular thought is coming from the Old Testament in Exodus where the law of Moses was given concerning slaves. Remember, masters used to have slaves, and if the slaves got married or were married when they became slaves, they were to stay that way, and the master of that couple was to make sure they did stay that way. It says in Exodus 21:10-11:
“If he takes to himself another woman, he may not reduce her food, her clothing, or her conjugal rights. 11“If he will not do these three things for her, then she shall go out for nothing, without payment of money.
In fact, if you don’t do this for your female slave, who’s now married, then let her go free. Thus, the Biblical principle is clearly stated in 1 Corinthians 7:4:
The wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does; and likewise also the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does.
Here, he is saying that the wife has surrendered the right to rule over her own body and given that right to her husband. Likewise, the husband has surrendered his right over his own body and has given that to his wife. Thus, the husband and the wife equally transfer their rights over their bodies to the other in marriage.
Separate ownership of the body ceases, and that’s why you become one flesh. This becomes very important, especially in the marriage bond. However, some were neglecting their conjugal responsibilities under a false notion. They were thinking, in the context of the Scripture, if remaining unmarried, one is able to give oneself more completely to the service of God without distraction.
Remember, Paul was talking about being single here. He was single, so he was saying to be as He was, and he was giving the responsibilities between those who were single or married. So, the person started thinking that if a single person has more time and opportunity to be able to give God devotion, then practicing abstinence while being married will free one up and provide less distraction in the service of God.
Although this thinking was fostered with a good desire to give more time to the service of God, this thinking was completely wrong and unbiblical. How much worse is it when married partners use the marriage bed as an instrument of punishment in which the dog house is a real place?
Don’t misunderstand, marital intimacy is often complicated by the bad treatment of husbands toward wives and wives towards husbands. Whatever the reason marital couples decide to deprive each other of their conjugal rights, they should reexamine what they’re doing by Scripture. They should have their thinking readjusted by the word of God. A believer should be ready to be able to change their mind on something if they have been wrong. In thinking about that, what is Paul’s advice in this passage of Scripture? It says very clearly in 1 Corinthians. 7:5:
Stop depriving one another
Sometimes, “stop it” is good counsel, but he undergirds that counsel with something else. The word deprive means to refuse or defraud what the other has the right to. In this case, they have the right to the sexual relationship between a husband and wife, which God has given them. They have no right to manipulate that because there’s a problem if they do. The Apostle Paul is saying to stop depriving one another in an unlawful manner. Then, he goes on to lay down a kind of test, and here are four things to evaluate lawful abstinence in marriage. Number one, it must be mutual consent. Paul says:
stop depriving one another except by agreement.
Meaning, the husband and the wife have to agree. It’s not a one-sided abstinence. For one partner to insist on abstinence without agreement of the other is to rob the other of his or her right. He is saying that you cannot do that, and that it must be mutual between the husband and the wife. It must be by agreement. Secondly, it must be for a short time:
stop depriving one another except by agreements for a time
Thus, it will be for a short season. It’s by duration because they may feel such abstinence will add intensity to their supplication, or even their fasting if that is included. However, it is to be agreed upon between husband and wife and it must be for a short time, which should be agreed upon too. Thirdly, Paul says that it must be for a spiritual purpose:
stop depriving one another except by agreement for time so that you may devote yourself to prayer.
It cannot be for any purpose such as using the marriage bed as a tool against your spouse. According to Paul, it would be completely wrong and something against what God is communicating to us in the word of God. Then, he says that it must be with spiritual discernment:
stop depriving one another except for agreement for time so that you may devote yourself to prayer and come together again that Satan will not tempt you because of your lack of self-control
To give themselves to prayer in relation to some weighty or pressing matter is definitely important, but we are to do it with spiritual discernment. Meaning, in the passage of Scripture, they understand the sinful human nature, they understand that there’s a weakness in the flesh when it comes to sexual things, they understand the power of temptation and the power of sexual temptation, and they also understand that Satan will take advantage if they leave his foot in the door on this matter. He will want to destroy that marriage relationship, that family and weaken the church.
This is a very serious matter, so Scripture gives a word of warning where the couple must come together again, or Satan will take advantage of any lack of self-control in either party. If any action taken, even for a spiritual purpose, continues beyond the limits of natural endurance, it could lead to a breakdown in self-control leading to other sinful practices and even adultery, which concludes in ultimate spiritual shipwreck.
Satan’s goal is to wreck and destroy your life, and if you give him that advantage, he will do it. Here, we are talking about believers. We’re talking about people in the church. We’re talking about those who believe the word of God is the final ruler of authority for life and godliness. Thus, Satan and his minions would be quick to take advantage of such weakness in Christians.
Christians must not give the enemy an advantage. Christians, you cannot let the enemy put his foot in the door, and you don’t have to do that because God has given us everything. If it were not for the believer’s union with the Lord, Jesus Christ, the indwelling Holy Spirit, and the word of God, then there would be no standing firm against such a dominant enemy, who is a two-faced dubious character.
One must not forget that Satan has had thousands of years of hands-on experience dealing with falling humanity. He has seen what works, so he has many cleverly conceived strategies and deceptions to use against us. Just as a fisherman knows the seasons and times fish are most likely to bite after the bait, Satan knows that some people are readier for temptation when they are distressed and downcast while others are more vulnerable when they are happy and full of joy. He will always tempt a person with what is agreeable in his or her nature, so that sooner or later he may draw that person into his debilitating net.
Steven Lawson, concerned about the Christian faith under Satan’s relentless fire, rightly cautions believers by saying this:
Mark it down: every Christian has a real enemy. Satan hates you and has a terrible plan for your life. He is constantly attacking and accusing you with the intent of destroying your life. Spiritual warfare is a fact of life as long as the enemy is alive and well on planet earth.
Christian, how would we know that if it wasn’t for the Bible? We would not know one thing about the enemy if it wasn’t for the Bible. Remember, his tactics are that he is not there. He’s just a fairy tale character. He is not alive and well. However, we know, from Scripture, that he has a mission.
His goals in that mission is to destroy us because we bear God’s image, overthrow the kingdom of God to retain control of what he still possesses, and to regain his lost territory. His strategies are to entice to sin, to hinder our spiritual disciplines, to misrepresent God and Truth, and to oppose our sanctification. He uses the same strategy but different devices and methods for each person.
The Bible says that we are not ignorant of his schemes such as his thoughts and actions involved in deceiving someone. He is attacking the Believers mind and he wants to inject into their mind something other than what God says, and even make what He says sound truer than truth itself. Thus, the church has to know it’s enemy, and not be ignorant of the unseen spiritual realm that we have entered into as believers.
Remember, Satan is not all-knowing, and he cannot be present everywhere. Satan is stronger than we are and is a formidable enemy, but he is not God or even equivalent to God. He is nowhere near who God even though he wants to present himself as that. He’s a created being in which God has full authority over. He has been cast out of the presence of God. He is under God’s judgment, and he’s awaiting his final judgment where he will be cast into the lake of fire with all those who do not believe, the Antichrist, and the false prophet. The Bible tells us in 1 John 4:4:
because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.
Don’t forget, Satan is looking upon his various plans to carry out his dominion in the world. He has his sights on anything and anyone who will give him an advantage. Anyone who honors God most and is serious about serving God, Satan will struggle with them most unsympathetically. In other words, Satan views God’s people as a hindrance to his reign, so he will try his methods by which he may remove them out of his way, get them to work on his behalf, or some other thing. He and his whole host of inferior spirits, who are under his control, are trying to get the faithful ones to fail. Therefore, all the servants of God will more or less come under the direct or indirect assault of the enemy at some time in their Christian walk.
Remember, the devil is a slanderer, who deliberately advances false charges against God and his people. So, what are Christians to do with such a formidable enemy? In looking back at 1 Peter 5:9, are we to cast him out? Are we to rebuke him? Are we to exercise him? Are we to bind him?
In our text, the believers are not exhorted to do any of these things in this passage. However, they are exhorted, in Scripture, to do one thing, which is to resist him and be firm in your faith. James 4:7 says:
Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.
He’ll be back, but he will flee. He’ll be back when you’re at your strongest, at your weakest or anywhere in between. Meaning, we always need to be ready. As Christians, we are exhorted to resist him, and how are we to resist him? In our passage, we are to resist him in our faith. 1 Peter 5:9 says:
But resist him, firm in your faith
If you noticed, your is italicized, which means that in the original, the your is not there. Actually, it reads:
resist him firm in faith.
Some have added the article the meaning to resist him in the faith, which I believe is the better translation. In other words, God has given believers a detection system making it possible for them to be aware of Satan’s evil methods, and that alarm system is called the faith, which is the Christians personal confidence in God and the system of teaching given to them by God in the Scriptures. Many Scriptures support the idea of using the faith to resist the enemy. In other words, the body of truth delivered to the church, which is the Bible. When we talk about the faith, were talking about everything contained in Scripture. This is how we resist them.
When Jesus was tempted in the beginning of His ministry, He did not perform miracles even though He was tempted but quoted back to Satan the word of God. As he resisted Satan with the truth, Satan left him. Thus, we are do the same thing. Our example is to use the word of God to come against him. Jude 1:3, it says:
Beloved, while I was making every effort to write you about our common salvation, I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints.
There’s the idea of this body of truth given to the church through the word of God. From Genesis to Revelation, that is what are weapon is and that is how we are to resist. Then, Philippians 1:27 says:
Only conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or remain absent, I will hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel.
In all these passages of Scripture, there’s a struggle going on and some kind of resistance going on. Then, Colossians 1:23 says:
if indeed you continue in the faith firmly established and steadfast, and not moved away from the hope of the gospel that you have heard, which was proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, was made a minister.
Then, 1 Timothy 4:7 says:
I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith;
The faith applies to one’s convictions, which must be well grounded in the Scriptures and able to make one strong and solid like an impenetrable wall. Truly, as Christians learn Scriptural truth, they become strong in the faith and in the conviction that God will never leave or forsake them. God’s truth, which is light, will expose Satan’s dark mixture of lies and half-truths. Because Satan is the master Scripture twister, the Christian must fill his mind with the word of God, so that it bends his thinking away from the world’s thinking, away from the thinking of their old fleshly days, and toward God’s thinking and God’s will. Paul told the Romans in Romans 12:2:
And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.
By developing convictions based on the correct study of the word of God, the believer is able to cling to the faith. In the face of spiritual attack, they’re able to stand firm. Because they had their armor on, they are able to get up like Staff Sergeant Tichenor and live another day until God takes them. I want to end with a quote from Johnny Mac:
The devil’s alternative credo, a doctrinal statement, often has a few carefully chosen elements of truth in the mix, but always diluted and thoroughly blended with falsehoods, contradictions, misrepresentations, distortions, and every other imaginable perversion of reality. Add it all up and the bottom line is it’s a big lie.
If he can get you to the place where you’re ignorant of the truth, then a lie may very much sound like the truth. If you are in Scripture, you are going to detect his twist of the truth, you are going to detect when things come into your life that you know God would not be pleased since that goes against this passage, principle, and doctrine. You won’t go there, and you will resist them by doing what God wants to do according to the word of God. Then, you will be able to stand and resist him in this battle. Let’s pray:
Lord, as we look at the word of God, we see, Lord, the examples of the truth. We see how in the word of God, You have given us very clear examples on how Satan works and what we’re to do. Lord, I pray that we would be skilled and growing in our skill of Scripture to the point that we would be able to everyday become a keener soldier in the battle. That our minds would be transformed by Your word, that we would understand what the world is saying, what we used to do in the past in our old sinful life, and what You want us to do in this new life. Lord, when he comes against us, his lies will become evident, and situations that he manipulates will become clear on what we’re to do. However, it won’t become clear if we’re ignorant of the Word. It will only be clear if we’re not ignorant of the word of God. Lord, every time the doors of the church are open for the study of Scripture, I pray that we would be here simply for the reason of not being ignorant and to hear another lesson. Lord, You can build this body of truth in our mind, so we know how to hold to it and use it against him as our weapon. For we know, Lord, it is a sharp weapon, it is a very Pointed weapon, it’s a two-edged sword that pierces on both sides, and it cuts very deeply even our own Hearts. At the same time, Lord, it will expose the enemy’s attacks against us. Lord, I pray that You would make us Christians that understand the battle knowing that the battle has been won. However, we have a responsibility to put our armor on and stand against the enemy. I pray You would enable us to do that today. In Christ’s name, Amen.