Diabolos      

                                         1 Peter 4: 12-14,  5: 6-11

 

         

          Do you know him? He was probably at your wedding, though you didn’t invite him. He never misses funerals.  He’s in foxholes and classrooms, bedrooms and kitchens, seats of government and government housing. He was with Jesus in the desert and at Caesarea-Philippi where Jesus named Simon the Rock. He really gets around. Chances are you have never been formerly introduced, but I’m betting that you know him. There are probably times in your past, and maybe even today, when you know him more than you mean to.

          He goes by many names. Satan is a popular one. It means adversary. That’s his nature. He’s an adversary. He’s an enemy of God. Another is the devil. That means false accuser or slanderer, which is what he attempted to do to Job’s character. The Jews referred to him in the book of Matthew as Beelzebul, a false god. He has also been called tempter (1 Thess. 3), wicked one (Matt. 13), and accuser (Rev. 12).

          Are you beginning to recall him? Remember, I didn’t ask if you like him or if you would call him a friend. I just asked if you know him. He has titles too. Jesus himself called him the ruler of this world (John 12). Peter called him the god of this world (2 Cor. 4) and also the prince of the power of the air (Eph. 2).  These titles refer to his authority in this world, and they make it clear that he has plenty.

          The Bible also speaks of him metaphorically. In a parable where different kinds of soil are used to explain how the word of God is sown, Jesus compares Satan to the birds that snatch the seed off hardened ground (Matt. 13). In the parable of the sower, Satan is sowing weeds among a crop of wheat (Matt. 13). Animals are also used to describe his character. He is a wolf in John 10, a great dragon and a serpent in Revelation 12, and a roaring lion in 1 Peter 5, our text for today. So he has names. He has titles—and he has power, lots of it.

          This character is all over the Bible. We see him in Genesis 3, right after God has finished creation. There he is referred to as a serpent, “more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord had made.” Now this is some interesting information. In Luke’s gospel, we are told that he is a spiritual being who led an uprising against God and subsequently was cast out of heaven. But here, we are told in the first pages of the Bible that the serpent, another name for Satan, was craftier than any other beast. The translation seems to say that in some way if not all ways, Satan was indeed a beast. The stories are not inconsistent. They are descriptive of Satan. This is one formidable character.

          The passage in 1 Peter 4 is a tough pill to swallow. Here’s a 21^st century paraphrase. Don’t be surprised at fiery trials. They will come. They are sent to test your mettle. Don’t think of it as strange, because it isn’t. And if you are sharing suffering in the name of Christ, that’s a good thing. Be happy in it. If you get insulted doing Christ’s work, you’re blessed. That means the Spirit of God and his glory rest on you.    

          Well, the compliments are nice, but the trials can be really tough. Sometimes people die, to us prematurely, for no apparent reason but bad luck. Sometimes our dreams come crashing down upon us and there seems to be no relief from toil and frustration and grief. Those are some of the times we need to cling to the promises of Scripture. Jesus said in John 15: “If the world hates you, keep in mind it hated me first.” When he spoke those words, he was hours from his crucifixion. Do you really think he wanted that! Do you really think he wanted to go to the cross? He went willingly, but not because he wanted to. He just loved us way more than we hated him. Sometimes that kind of commitment is what is required of a Christian, to love through the hate, to care through the indifference.

         Satan knows that and he knows how to use that to his advantage. When we are in doubt, when we are in despair, in grief, at the edge of our endurance, that is where we most often will find Satan. Wouldn’t it be nice if he would just introduce himself? Say something like Hi. My name is Diabolos. That’s the Greek word (διάβολος) for Satan in Hebrew. It means slanderer and accuser. I’m the biggest, baddest, most untrustworthy piece of garbage you will ever meet and I am here to separate you from God, ruin your life and claim you as my prey, my food.

          But he doesn’t do that, does he? He lies. He lies all the time. Here’s the way Jesus described him in John 8: “He was a murderer from the beginning, and has nothing to do with the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.”  When you want to dig in to Scripture, he might suggest to you that it’s time to eat. When you think about visiting that neighbor who is in such need, he sees to it you get a phone call.  When you feel like raising your hand in praise in a worship service, he is there to remind you that you shouldn’t call attention to yourself. He is the master of distraction, diversion and deception.

          Wouldn’t it be nice if Satan would present like Hitler or Mussolini or Stalin? But he doesn’t. He presents like a next door neighbor or a lonely co-worker…or even a fellow session member. In his famous book The Screwtape Letters, author/theologian C. S. Lewis  offers a fictional, but highly relevant dialogue between a high ranking official in the army of Satan and one of the many soldiers in that army. Lewis offers these pearls to help us understand the insipid character of the devil. Screwtape, one of Satan’s leaders, says this:

It does not matter how small the sins are

provided that their cumulative effect is to edge

the man away from the Light and out into

the Nothing. Murder is no better than cards if

cards can do the trick. Indeed the safest road to

Hell is the gradual one--the gentle slope, soft

underfoot, without sudden turnings, without

milestones, without signposts,...

and this:

A moderated religion is as good for us as no

religion at all—and more amusing.

 

          How do we deal with this incredible power, this incessant, unrelenting march of this roaring lion, always seeking to devour us? How can we handle this cunning beast?

          The first thing we need to do is acknowledge his reality. Yes, we are selfish all by ourselves. Yes, we can sin and sin mightily with no help whatsoever from anyone. But there is evil in the world. There is evil in the world and it is powerful. How strong is evil? No one in all of history except Christ himself has overcome it. Evil will not be completely overcome until Christ comes again.  The gospels and Jesus himself attest to his reality. Shirley Guthrie says that “some of the worst injustice and suffering in the world is the result of ‘good’ people simply refusing to acknowledge that evil exists and therefore doing nothing about it.” Acknowledge his reality.

          Secondly, we need to discern his presence.  He is subtle, but he is not invisible. He can be seen in the way we handle our selfishness, our temptations. He can be heard in our responses to situations. He can be felt, sometimes as simply as when the hair on the back of your neck rises, or you get a sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach, and you realize that something is not right. Discern his presence.

          Third, we need to resist his advances.  Peter reminds us of this. He tells us to resist him, firm in our faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by Christians throughout the world. We are not alone. All believers are tempted by evil. We should expect that. The question is whether we will be prepared when those moments come at us. As believers, we know that we have choices. We can do something about the evil, about Satan, by working for God’s kingdom. Resist his advances.

            We can’t resist Satan by ourselves. We just don’t have the firepower or the staying power. But when we invoke the power of Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit that resides within us, Satan doesn’t stand a chance. Satan cannot challenge Jesus. Every time Jesus tells Satan to leave, he leaves. The Scriptures are full of examples, from casting out demons to dismissing Satan himself.

          Diabolos. He is real. He is powerful. He is capable of great evil and he is personal enough to attack each of us one by one. Until Christ comes again, this battle between good and evil will not cease. We need to understand that to be a Christian is to be called not only to grace, but for now; we also must recognize that suffering is part of that calling.

          Christians the world over share in this mission. And we have tools. We can acknowledge Satan’s reality. We can discern his presence. And we can, with God’s help, resist everything he has in his bag of tricks. We can, in the words of Peter, cast all our anxieties on God, because he cares for us. When we do, says Peter, “the God of all grace…will himself restore, confirm, strengthen and establish you.”  Satan has no weapon to combat a humble Christian obedient to the Spirit of God.