Lesson #284
We need to finish up the verse we started in the last
lesson, which was: “I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that
you keep them from the evil one” (John 17:15 ESV). Jesus did not ask his Father
to take Christians out of the world, but to leave us here because there was the
need for us to grow spiritually and we are needed to search the domain of
darkness, looking for loss sheep and when found we need to encourage them along
the path of growth to the point of being born again. After that comes the work
of discipleship to prepare them to keep the work Jesus started going until the
last loss sheep is found and the work of Christians on earth will be done.
This work we are left to do, that was assigned to us before
the foundation of the world, will meet with continuous opposition from the
powers of darkness. The head of these powers of darkness is the evil one, which
Jesus prays that we be kept or protected from. To help us understand what our
attitude should be and what we are to be kept from we will look at 1 Peter 5:8
(ESV): “Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around
like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” This verse identifies two
parties: Those under attack who are to be sober-minded and watchful and our
enemy who is intent on hindering or even removing us from advancing the kingdom
of God.
Searching the Scriptures for verses containing sober-minded
we can gain some insight on the meaning of being sober-minded. We find words or
expressions like: sound-mind, aware, minds prepared for action, alert,
self-controlled, dignified, and focused. Being at war is to be taken seriously,
requires proper preparation and continual training. Any engagement with an
opponent requires an understanding of that opponent and his ways of engagement.
James tells us in James 4:7 that we are to submit ourselves to God, resist the
devil and he will flee from you because greater is he who dwells in us than he
who is in the world.
In 1 Peter 5:8, consider the three descriptors of our enemy:
adversary, devil, and roaring lion. What do these descriptors tell us about the
evil one that Jesus is praying that we be kept from? An adversary is an
opponent in a court of justice; he contends against you as a plaintiff; an
accuser. The devil means slanderer, tempter, one who maligns or demeans one’s
character. A roaring lion presents a challenge because prowling and roaring don’t
go together. You can’t sneak up on your enemy if you are announcing that you
are coming; your roar would scare them away.
We know the evil one sets snares to trap us. Consider the
possibility of a group of believers who hears the roar of the enemy under
persecution and do not stand and resist him, but scatter and as they do they
get ensnared by his various traps. Consider Jesus and his disciples at the
garden of Gethsemane, located at the edge of the Kidron Valley, when Judas
comes with the soldiers and identifies Jesus with a kiss. Here the roar of the
lion might be when they bound Jesus. At that point the disciples left him and
fled except Peter and another disciple, thought to be John. “Since that
disciple was known to the high priest, he entered with Jesus into the courtyard
of the high priest, but Peter stood outside at the door. So the other disciple,
who was known to the high priest, went out and spoke to the servant girl who
kept watch at the door, and brought Peter in” (John 18:15 – 16 ESV). The lion
had set his trap and use the servants to ask Peter questions about his
relationship to Jesus. Peter, unlike the other disciple, denied he knew Jesus
three times and the roster crowed. The lion had his prey. Have we not heard the
roar of the enemy and fled only to be snared by his traps? We need to learn to
stand, even if it costs us our life, as it did Jesus, because God has the final
word and the victory is his.
Prayer
Father, this lesson is rather long, but it contains an
important concept. We must not fear what the evil one can do or say because
Jesus has prayed that we be kept from the evil one. He may destroy our flesh,
but he has no claim on us spiritually. I pray that the Holy Spirit will empower
us to stand in the face of evil and not deny Jesus because we have the final
victory in Jesus. How we stand determines the power of our witness for Jesus to
others. Father, help us not forget that.
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