Pastor's Paragraph
Our Adversary, the Devil
"Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour" (I Peter 5:8)
This grave warning concerning the devil was given not only to young Christians, easily subject to temptations, but also to "the elders who are among you" (v. 1). It often seems, in fact, that Satan's greatest victories are won when he can cause the fall of a Christian leader, thereby not only destroying that leader's influence for Christ, but also giving "great occasion to the enemies of the LORD to blaspheme" (2 Samuel 12:14). The devil is a roaring lion, but he doesn't initially present himself as such. If he did, the intended victim would most assuredly flee.
He is, above all, the one "who deceives the whole world" (Rev. 12:9), "transformed into an angel of light" (2 Cor. 11:14). As he did with Eve in the Garden of Eden, the "subtle" one will insidiously appeal to our pride, our sense of external beauty, our appetite, or our desire for material things.
Peter could speak from bitter experience. Satan had desired to "sift you as wheat," Jesus told him, but he foolishly boasted that he would stand true (Luke 22:31-34).
No wonder Peter could warn with such urgency: "Be sober, be vigilant." Note particularly that, in the context, he is especially warning against greed (I Peter 5:2) and pride (v. 5-6). We must not allow Satan to "get an advantage of us," Paul says, "for we are not ignorant of his devices" (2 Cor. 2:11). Though Satan is deceptive and powerful, we need never fall to his tempting if we simply--along with staying sober and vigilant--"Submit yourselves therefore to God; resist the devil and he will flee from you (James 4:7)