Lesson 78
Study of
First Peter Chapter 5
5:8 Be
sober! Be Alert! Your adversary the
devil prowls around seeking someone to devour.
Observations:
11. He seeks to
obscure Divine Viewpoint and the believer's focus in life:
His method is to
turn our focus away from Christ and the Word:
a. Towards people. Jer 17:5
(get eyes on others)
b. Towards material things - $$. Heb 13:5-6; 1 Tim 6:9-10; 1 Cor
c. Towards yourself - become hedonistic - Heb 12:2-3
Peter - Mt 26:31-35
Elijah - 1 Kg 19:10 - came under
pressure - typical after all I've done for you God and you let this happen to
me
12.
His systems of Anti-Theistic thought are designed to dominate one's
thinking and therefore the life:
1. Atheism - which
says there is no God and leads to Nihilism, which is a lack of belief in anything,
no purpose for life. Hedonism is also an outgrowth of
this. 1 Cor
2. Agnosticism - which answers the question "Does God exist?" with "I don't
know or I don't think you can know."
3. Evolution: Uniformitarianism - all is the same today as
yesterday cf 2 Pet 3:3ff (takes a number of different forms)
a. Theistic evolution says God caused it to
begin. cf Gen
1
b. Atheistic evolution says nothing caused it,
it just happened.
c.
The
ultimate result of Atheistic evolution is "Materialism" which bases
their philosophy on reality of a material existence only;
4. Polytheism
claims that there are many gods with attributes and functions spread out among
them.
5. Idealism say that everything is getting better. PMA group - create your own reality.
6. Realism says
that everything that is in existence is made of material. If we can't feel it or touch it, it doesn't
really exist.
7. Pantheism says
that God equals everything and everything is God. Fail to understand the creator creature
distinction.
8. Deism says that
God created everything perfect, but at the fall ceased to have anything else to
do with His creation - does not act in or towards His creation.
9. Monism says that
there is one principle in the universe all reality is one substance, can be
either good or bad. They haven't decided
which it is.
10. Dualism. Yin/Yang philosophy. there is a
good/bad, light/darkness in everyone
even their pantheistic god.
11. Pluralism says
that there are as many worlds (as many realities) as there are minds to make
them. i.e. you
are basically a figment of your imagination, make your own reality.
12. Humanism says that man in essence is god and man can
solve all man's problems.
13. Some examples of believers who have handled
the roaring lion tests of life:
- Daniel and his three
buddies
- Peter (after the
ascension)
- Paul
- John the Baptist
- Apostle John
- Stephen
- Church age martyrs
(Fox's book of Martyrs)
How
are we to deal with the counterfeits of Satan, the false philosophies and
doctrine out there?
In
the beginning of verse 8 Peter began to give us the solution. That is to have
clear thinking consistent with the Word and to be alert exercising discernment
that will come from that clear thinking.
But resist him, another aorist act imperative - indicates the urgency of
application in life - (avnqi,sthmi) to stand up against, to
withstand, to resist
Basic principle of BD: NO
command or order is ever given to the believer without first making the means
to fulfill it available, that's grace!
But resist him, firm in your faith, gives us the how!
Your faith, that is what you have believed, your frame of
reference of truth applied is the means of resisting, of standing against the
slanderer, the accuser
Resist him, steadfast by means of faith
- your unbending related to the
Word of God, inflexible with the essentials of truth therefore your confident,
unyielding in the face of the roaring lion, that test your facing
knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished
by your brethren who are in the world.
- no matter how tough or dark
your situation seems at the moment know that your not alone, others have faced
and are facing the same kinds of tests