REALITY CHECK !
TEXT: 1 Peter 5:8
Every once and while when it comes to my walk and relationship with God
I need what I am going to call a “Reality Check !”
And what I mean by that, is that I need to be snaped out of my complacency,
I need to be shaken out of my own personal delusion...
And set back on the right course - with a healthy dose of reality.
And in my view – our text this morning does exactly that,
It stands as a Spiritual Reality Check for us all.
Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:
You know, I don’t tend to teach alot about the Devil in my preaching
And most of us don’t tend to think about the Devil in our daily life and living,
But he is real – and the declaration of that here in God’s Word...
Should stand as a “Reality Check” to us all.
INTRODUCTION
Have you ever had a Reality Check? Because life is full of them.
Now my general experience is that,
No one really wants to receive a Reality Check…
But they can actually serve a useful purpose.
For example, there was the time back in school where I decided
I didn’t need to study before a Maths test - and I got 25%!
Reality Check – You need to study before you sit an exam.
Who would of thought - right?
For me, Reality Checks are usually represented by life lessons learnt the hard way.
They are really a lightbulb moment so to speak
Outlined by leaning and discovery.
I guess it goes without saying then, that all of us at some point,
Have received a Reality Check in our everyday lives.
But let me ask you this – why should our spiritual lives be any different?
I don’t know about you…
But I probably receive more Reality Checks from God’s Word
Than I do from anywhere else.
And for good reason – Because I need them.
Sometimes I think we are really good at
Being encouraged in the Word…
At coming to Worship and Praising and glorifying God for who He is…
At praying to the Lord for strength and help in lives…
And all of that stuff is of paramount importance to every Child of God.
Psalms 1:2 tells us to:
Delight in the law of the LORD; and in His law… meditate day and night.
Likewise Colossians 3:1-2 declares:
1 Seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.
2 Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.
It’s good that we focus so intently on the Lord - because God is real !
His Love is real… His Grace is real…His Salvation is real.
But Reality Check…
If God is real – and we all believe whole heartedly that He is,
Then Satan is real too.
And guys we cannot afford to lose sight of this reality.
Satan is the enemy of the Saint.
In fact, the name Satan itself means: "adversary."
Satan represents everything that is diametrically opposed to you
And your right relationship with God.
The Holy Scriptures actually talk a lot about Satan.
The “Devil” as most of us know him,
Is also called by a number of other names including Lucifer.
And lest not forget who Lucifer was…
He was an Angel of Light the Scriptures teach and his name means: “Shinning One”
He is seen as "the anointed cherub" in Ezekiel 28:14,
And this is what the Lord has to say about Him:
15 Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity [or sin] was found in thee. (Eze :28:15)
So Lucifer was made perfect. He is not perfect now because sin has corrupted him,
But he was created perfect by God.
The Lord then goes onto say:
17 Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness:
Guys – Lucifer was beautiful to look upon ok - but he became proud.
In fact, we are told that his wisdom became corrupted,
Or rather his thinking became warped...by reason of his brightness.
Reference made there to his brightness really speaks of his “shinning splendour”.
So guys, the Bible says that Satan was something rather impressive to look upon.
Sorry to burst your bubble people
But Satan is not red, with two horns, a long tale and a pitch fork.
Reality Check…
He was made perfect by God, beautiful to look upon, and was an Angel of light.
So that was Satan then...
And the Scriptures go onto teach us about Satan now declaring him to be:
“The chief of the devils" (Luke 11:15),
"The prince of this world" (John 16:11),
"The prince of the power of the air" (Eph 2:2).
And "The god of this world" (2 Cor. 4:4),
He is identified as a great dragon in the book of Revelation (Rev 12&13),
The Tempter, (Mat 4:3 / 1 Thes 3:5)
And the Accuser. (Rev 12:10)
He is twisted, cunning, and deceitful
He operates in stealth, always behind the scenes,
And somehow manages to manipulate every situation so that he never gets the blame.
Have you noticed that?
But why would we ever be surprised…
After all, he is: “a murder and father of all lies” (Jn 8:44).
Make no mistake Satan is formidable, He is powerful…
And most importantly - he is real.
Let that be an important Reality Check to us all!
THE LION
Look a perfect Angel of Light - may have been how Satan started out,
But his sinful destructive, malicious intent makes him something altogether different now.
How’s this for another Reality Check:
Take another look at our text in verse 8
…The devil, [is] as a roaring lion, walking about, seeking whom he may devour:
Lions are predators – and they are wonderfully adapted to bringing down game.
There was a movie made in Hollywood called: “Ghost In The Darkness”?
It stared Michael Douglas and Val Kilmer?
Based on true historic account the movie tells the true story of two Lions
Accredited to the attack and slaughter of 135 workers
During the building of the Uganda-Mombasa Railway in East Africa in the late 1800’s.
Interestingly, these Lions are now on display in a Chicago Museum.
Lions are strong and tenacious predators - and they eat meat.
A lion drinks it’s victims blood to help satisfy its thirst.
A lion consumes flesh to appease it’s insatiable hunger.
And a lion crushes bone between its jaws as a means to its end.
Now here’s a scary thought for you…
You are made entirely of Flesh, Blood and Bone.
And Bible tells us that its Satan’s whole purpose and intent
Is to devour you just like a Lion.
In fact, he is on the hunt right now.
He has been stalking you for quite some time
And he is only too willing to chew you up, and to spit you out.
That’s what you call a Reality Check.
THE DEVIL’S DEVICES
The Apostle Paul actually wrote to the Church at Corinth in the book of 2 Corinthians
Providing the brethren there a strong warning saying:
Lest Satan should get an advantage of us:
…we are not ignorant of his devices (2 Cor 2:11).
Your see, he realised Satan was able to wreck havoc for God’s people
And his challenge to them, remains the same challenge to us,
And to every other Scriptural Church Assembly today:
“Be aware of Satan’s devices and be alert to his subtlety’s.”
The term Devices used there actually refers to all his:
“Plans, tricks, techniques and strategies”,
Strategies which at the end of the day – he wants to use to destroy us.
So Reality Check – Satan wants nothing more than to render
Each of our lives and personal ministries useless in service for the Lord.
Because in doing that, he can render the ministries
Of entire Church Assembly ineffective.
One of the best advantages Satan has over us,
Is based upon our inability to see his methods or understand the subtly of his devices.
And since Paul said we are not to be ignorant of these tricks
I think we need to talk about them a little bit today.
“What are some of Satan’s devices?”
What techniques does the Devil use in order
To deceive God’s Children, and seek to destroy the Lord’s Churches?
Well for the purposes of this message I think it is worth while touching on 3.
And they are: 1) Distraction, 2) Discouragement, and 3) Division.
These are for all intensive purposes – some of Satan’s devices.
1) DISTRACTION
So lets talk about the art of distraction - shall we.
Creating a distraction has long been a well-practiced and proven war technique.
In fact, we can even see the Israelites and God’s very own people,
Using the art of distraction during their own military campaigns
Because it was a highly effective fighting technique.
Draw the enemies attention over here – then they drop their guard over there.
Make the enemy believe that something important is happening right in front of them,
Then they have no idea of the danger looming right behind them.
Can you see how this works?
And if God’s own people used this battle strategy to great effect…
In their conquest of the Promised Land - Why wouldn’t the Devil?
In fact, I can tell you that one of the biggest distractions
The Devil has at his disposal today - is the physical world around us.
And what’s more, is that the Scriptures actually warn about this.
Turn with me to 1 John 2:15-17:
Understanding who Satan is, and what Satan is about - we are told this in verse 15:
15 Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
Don’t be distracted by the world around you…verse16
16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
Let’s just be clear – there is a big difference between the physical things of this world
And the Spiritual things of God. Verse 17:
17 And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.
Satan is really good at distracting us from the things of God
With all the things of this World.
And this is perhaps the best distraction of them all,
Because its happening all the time – and we don’t even think it’s going on.
But here’s the Reality Check – Satan loves to distract us with physical things...
So that we forget about Spiritual things.
And has been since the dawn of time.
The Distraction of Eve
Remember when Satan first tempted Eve in the Garden of Eden – what did he do?
Well he distracted Eve didn’t he...
And He used the the Lust of the Flesh, the Lust of the Eyes, and the Pride of Life to do it
He used things of the world – to distract from the things of God.
He got Eve focusing on the physical rather than the spiritual.
Let’s see this together in Genesis Chapter 3.
Here we see Satan appearing before Eve taking on the form a serpent.
Let’s begin our reading in verse number 1
1 Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, Hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
Now there is actually quite a bit of Distraction going on already - isn’t there,
Because Satan subtly changes his appearance and disguises his motive.
And what’s the first thing he implies?
“Gee it must be tough following God – has He said you can’t eat of all these trees?”
Verse 2 - And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: 3 But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.
Now what Satan does here - is come out with a half-truth.
And a half truth - is really just the manipulation of a whole lie.
Hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
Well no that is not what God said – and Eve knew it.
And what’s more is she sets the record straight.
She says: We can eat of every tree... all except for one,
And for good reason too - lest ye die.
Verse 4: And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.
Wow – he’s good isn’t he.
The fruit’s not poison – your not going to drop dead
In fact, you yourselves will be like God’s - because your eyes will be opened.
Now what exactly their eyes were going to be opened to,
And the ultimate long-term consequences to their actions – the Devil didn’t comment on,
He just distracted them with some more half-truths.
And with devastating affect too!
Notice what happens next in verse 6:
6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food
This is the Lust of the flesh
…and that it was pleasant to the eyes,
This is the Lust of the Eyes
…and a tree to be desired to make one wise,
This is the Pride of Life
…she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.
So Satan succeeded in his distraction – he got them desiring the physical,
And the consequences were dire – look at verse 7:
7 And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.
Yeah their eyes were opened alright – but they were opened to sin.
They gained a first-hand wisdom and knowledge...
But it was a knowledge and understanding of wrong.
And as the Bible teaches – sin always has a consequence.
In fact, Romans 3:23 declares to us that The wages of sin is death
Furthermore, Romans 5:12 declares:
12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:
That all stems back to the actions of Adam and Eve in the garden.
In all of this Satan stood as the master deceiver.
He masked the truth, used half lies, and...
Ultimately distracted Adam and Eve from what was most important.
You see, Satan got them more focused on the things of the world,
Rather than on the things of God.
It’s really hard to stand against what is wrong or stand for what is right...
When you are distracted
2 Timothy 2:4 declares to us that:
4 No man that warreth - entangleth himself with the affairs of this life;
that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.
Now here’s the reality - Satan is actively seeking
To distract us from the real war that’s going on...
And ultimately it’s a war for people’s souls.
And make no mistake – you and I are in this war.
Turn with me to Ephesians 6:12:
What does this war look like?
Well its not a physical war – but a spiritual one...
And that’s why Satan is so intent on distracting us with Physical things.
12 For we wrestle [war, combat, fight] not against flesh and blood [this isn’t a physical struggle], but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
This is the reality of what is taking place right now.
And Satan seeks to distract us from it.
John 12:40 simply says this: He hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart; that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be converted,…
To which Paul declares 2 Corinthians Chapter 4:
3 But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost:
4 In whom the god of this world [Satan] hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. (2 Cor 4:3-4).
Satan just loves to blind our minds through distraction.
Focus on the physical – forget about the spiritual.
Pursue only that which is temporal – and forget about that which is eternal.
Tell me, have you ever heard of a little thing called Covid 19?
I mean how is that for a distraction?
I know that our Church was closed for a period of seven weeks due to the Pandemic,
And that countless other Churches – many with whom we directly fellowship with
In India, Pakistan and Africa have been in the exact same position.
Now It’s hard to remain focused on the needs of the Spiritual world...
When all of our daily focus and energy is drawn to our plight in the Physical World.
Now I want you guys to take this for what it is – It’s a Reality Check!
Satan is a cunning adversary and loves to use distraction...
In order to gain advantage over us.
2) DISCOURAGEMENT
But that is not the only weapon in Satan’s arsenal because he others.
In fact, another weapon he loves to employ in this spiritual war of ours...
Is called Discouragement.
Discouragement results when we lose sight of the hope we have.
Discouragement brings with it a heavy heart.
Discouragement robs its victim of a desire to fight
And ultimately, it’s this same feeling of discouragement
That will in the end - get you to give up the good fight entirely.
The Devil wants you to believe that things are bad all of the time
That you are the only one struggling,
And that you are the only one who cares,
And that there is really no point in going on.
And Satan has used his weapon of discouragement on many, many of Gods Children.
Remember how Elijah felt after his victory on Mt Carmel?
Do you remember what he said there while under that Juniper tree?
It is enough; now, O LORD, take away my life; for I am not better than my fathers.
God I’ve failed, I’ve had enough, so Just kill me now Lord.
Those are the words of a man who is seriously discouraged.
And they are music to Satan’s ears.
This is his game because he just loves to discourage God’s people.
And Elijah was not alone – oh no, not by a long shot.
Turn with me now to the book of Numbers – chapter 11.
Now if anyone had things all sorted – surely it was Moses.
If ever there was going to be a leader who would be unfaltering …
Surely he was the guy – right?
Moses never got discouraged – or did he?
Read with me Numbers 11:14:
14 I am not able to bear all this people alone, because it is too heavy for me.
15 And if thou deal thus with me, kill me, I pray thee, out of hand, if I have found favour in thy sight; and let me not see my wretchedness.
Moses said – you know what, this is all too much for me…I can’t do this anymore.
I don’t want to see the wretchedness of another day.
Lord if I have found favour in your sight - just kill me now.
Now why would Moses ever say such a thing?
Well Moses was incredibly discouraged.
Turn with me to Job Chapter 3
We always consider Job in a positive light
Because of his great faithfulness towards God.
And Job’s faithfulness to the Lord is without question…
In fact, the Scriptures tell us that:
There is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil? - Job 1:8.
But guys - Job got to the point where he was ready to quit.
He had a great beginning and a greater ending,
But right there in the middle of Jobs life,
He hit rock bottom and became incredibly discouraged.
Read with me now Job 3:3-5 – and notice what he says:
3 Let the day perish wherein I was born, and the night in which it was said, There is a man child conceived.
4 Let that day be darkness; let not God regard it from above, neither let the light shine upon it.
5 Let darkness and the shadow of death stain it; let a cloud dwell upon it; let the blackness of the day terrify it.
Job said “I curse the day I was born”.
“It would have been better to never have existed,
Than to have experienced all of this hurt and heartache in my life.”
I wonder can you hear and relate at all to what Job was saying?
Because it sounds an awful lot like he was saying “I quit”.
I don’t want to do this anymore...
And knowing and reading Job’s story - we know why,
Because Satan - was doing what he does best,
He seeking to discourage a great man of God...
And the Bible is very clear on that.
Tools To Discourage
Now here’s the Reality Check...
The Scriptures teach us that even the greatest hero’s of the faith got discouraged,
And Elijah, Moses and Job all just got to the point where they wanted to quit.
And guys we have to wake up to this...
Because discouragement can lead to disaster in a Child of God’s life,
And if the heroes of the faith can be discouraged by Satan – so can you.
In fact, let’s all take this a step further...
And see if we can better understand how Satan will seek to discourage us,
Because he will do so in two main ways:
1) he will use people, and 2) he will use your circumstances – if he can
a) Discouragement of People
Turn with me to Deuteronomy chapter 1 because I want you to see a few things
And that is that - firstly…
Satan loves discourage others, and then watch, as they in turn discourage us.
Now the immediate context here finds
The Children of Israel preparing to enter the Promised Land.
Only as it turns out, it was the poor report of just 10 spies…
That discouraged an entire nation from following the Lord.
Take a look with me at verse number 28 because they respond:
28 Whither shall we go up? [how can we go into the land now] our brethren have discouraged our heart, saying, The people is greater and taller than we; the cities are great and walled up to heaven; and moreover we have seen the sons of the Anakims there. (Deuteronomy 1:28)
Isn’t it true, that one of the greatest sources of personal discouragement...
Comes from other people – Strangers, Friends...Family...
Heck Israel became discouraged by her own Brethren,
That she chose not to enter the promised land...
And remain in the wilderness for another 40 years.
Is that a Reality Check or what?
b) Discouragement of Circumstances
Turn with me now to Numbers Chapter 21.
Sometimes people can discourage us,
But sometimes it’s our circumstances that discourage us more.
When Israel first left Egypt and journeyed towards
Their promised inheritance the road was tough.
In fact, Numbers 21:4-5 says:
4 And they journeyed from mount Hor by the way of the Red sea, to compass the land of Edom: and the soul of the people was much discouraged… because of the way.
5 And the people spake against God, and against Moses, Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? for there is no bread, neither is there any water; and our soul loatheth this light bread.
When things got difficult – God people got discouraged.
When as the road got hard – and the way ahead got tough
It didn’t take long for the people begin to blame their circumstances on God.
Reality Check…
It doesn’t matter if Satan manages to discourage you through other people
Or if he manages to discourage you through your circumstances…
Because it’s all the same to him.
Discouragement is one of Satan’s devices.
3) DISSASSOCIATION
Distraction and Discouragement are two techniques the Devil loves to employ against us
And I guess they make sense - but how about Disassociation?
We don’t tend to think so much about this one,
And yet it’s one of Satan’s favourites.
You know what it means when you disassociate something - don’t you?
It means to detach, disconnect and disengage
And it means to alienate and estrange.
Of course, we all know how alien we feel sometimes to the rest of the world around us,
Especially when we are following the Lord in our lives.
In fact, isn’t it true, that sometimes,
We end up feeling so estranged to everybody else around us
That we feel desperately alone?
Whether at school, at work, or even with our own families and friends,
Satan loves to alienate us.
That’s why Jesus said:
You are in the world, but you are not of the world…
Because you will never quite fit in as long as you are seeking to follow God in your life.
The truth is that we are all just strangers in this place,
And Satan just loves to remind us of that every chance he gets.
However, the feeling of being estranged to this world is not the real danger – is it.
It’s that we would embrace the world and be estranged to God.
And there is a couple of ways Satan looks to do this…
One is to create conflict and division in the Church.
Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 12:25:
That there should be no schism [or rather division] in the [Church] body; but that the members should have the same care one for another.
That’s what God’s Word says – there is no place for division amongst God’s people,
But we don’t always listen do we.
In fact, more people probably leave the Church
Because of hurt feelings than anything else.
Reality Check – a lone gazelle makes for an easy meal for any Lion on the prowl.
What do you think Satan will do to any Child of God who leaves the Church?
The German philosopher Schopenhauer compared the human race
To a bunch of porcupines huddling together on a cold winter’s night.
He said, "The colder it gets outside, the more we huddle together for warmth;
But the closer we get to one another, the more we hurt one another with our sharp quills. And in the lonely night of earth’s perpetual winter (he says)
Eventually we begin to drift apart and wander out on our own
To freeze to death in our loneliness.”
Christ however has given us an alternative…
He teaches that we can learn to forgive each other
For the pokes we receive - so that God’s people can remain unified together.
Again Paul wrote the the Church at Corinth about unity saying:
10 Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. (1 Cor 1:10)
You see this is how it all works…
If Satan can sufficiently “distract” and “discourage” us in our daily walk
The more he can wound and mame,
Then he just might be able to disassociate us from the Lord altogether.
And the more you disconnect and disassociate yourself from God,
The less important things like the Bible, Prayer and Worship will become.
It becomes a case of “One, Two, Miss A Few…” – doesn’t it.
You go from reading your Bible everyday…
To reading your Bible once a week – so what right.
You go from Praying all the time…
To Praying once in awhile, when you really need something - Is that a problem?
Then you go from Worshiping faithfully…
To not Worshipping at all.
And let me tell you something,
This kind of Spiritual decline and erosion in your walk with the Lord
Is so subtle most of the time we don’t even know it’s happening.
We don’t even realise that we are the ones disassociating ourselves from God.
And you might say – “Well look, I would never be in danger of that”.
Well that actually outlines another deice and tool Satan has at his disposal
And it’s called “Delusion”.
We don’t have time to get into that one…
But this is what the Bible says:
From that time many of His disciples went back, and walked no more with Him.
(Jn 6:66)
CONCLUSION
Turn back with me to our text and we will close - 1 Peter 5:8:
Be sober, be vigilant [be alert and of a sound mind]; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walks about, seeking whom he may devour:
This morning we have all received a Reality Check.
There is simply no other way to put it.
Satan is real – and his attack on all of our lives is as real.
The spiritual battle we are all engaged in
Is as real as the Lord’s desire is for us to be equipped and prepared for the onslaught.
A big part to our position in this battle however is understanding Satan’s devices.
You see, we can’t afford to be ignorant of the subtle traps and techniques
He intentionally employs against us.
We discussed just 3 such devices this morning (but there are more):
1) Distraction
2) Discouragement
a) People b) Circumstances
3) Disassociation
a) The world b) Brethren c) The Lord
James 4 :7-8
7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
8 Draw nigh to God, and He will draw nigh to you.
Reality Check – we may be in a spiritual war with the devil
But we are on the winning team!
There is victory in the Lord over the devil and over all of his devices.
