“The Devil Is Real” sermon (1 Peter 5:8-9)

“The Devil Is Real” is a sermon preached from 1 Peter 5:8-9 by Noah Olguin, pastor of Covenant Baptist Church in New Berlin, Wisconsin – a confessional Reformed Baptist church subscribing to the 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith.

---

 

As we begin, let us consider the reality of the devil and focus on our first point this morning: Remaining Prepared. Look with me at 1 Peter 5:8, where Peter instructs us:

“Be sober-minded; be watchful.”

These two commands form the foundation of how we are to remain prepared to withstand the devil’s schemes. Notice that Peter emphasizes the necessity of both qualities—they are essential for keeping the enemy’s attacks at bay and rendering his efforts fruitless against us.

Let us take these two commands one by one.

1. Be Sober-Minded

Is this the first time Peter has called for sobriety of mind? No. He has given this instruction twice before—1 Peter 1:13 and 1 Peter 4:7. Now, for the third time, he reiterates it, underscoring its importance. Clearly, Peter regards sober-mindedness as essential for the believer, and so should we.

To understand what it means to be sober-minded, let us consider the opposite—intoxication. When one is intoxicated:

• Judgment is impaired. The intoxicated person does things they would never do when in their right mind.
• Control is lost. They lack mastery over their faculties.
• Vulnerability increases. They become an easy target for enemies.

In contrast, to be sober-minded means to exercise self-control. It is the ability to judge all things rightly, always being under control and ready to defend against the devil’s attacks.

But there’s more to sober-mindedness. It also involves the way we view the world—not becoming intoxicated by earthly pleasures, riches, or honors, which can draw us away from God and leave us vulnerable to temptation. Consider these examples:

• A person intoxicated with riches may resort to stealing, disregarding God’s command because their desire for wealth has overtaken their ability to think rightly.
• A person intoxicated with earthly pleasures may prioritize momentary gratification over eternal joy in Christ.

The sober-minded person, however, values eternal things over temporal ones. They treasure heaven more than earth, conformity to Christ more than worldly gains, and eternity more than fleeting pleasures. Such a person is spiritually alert, discerning the devil’s arrows and resisting his temptations because their heart belongs to Christ, not to the world.

2. Be Watchful

The second command is to be watchful, meaning to stay awake, alert, and vigilant. This does not refer to physical wakefulness but to spiritual alertness. The spiritually watchful person recognizes the reality described in Ephesians 6:12:

“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.”

The watchful believer is ready to detect the enemy in all his forms and to rebuff his deceptions.

Yet, being watchful is not just about recognizing the devil’s attacks; it also involves actively using spiritual means to stay alert. Jesus Himself warned against spiritual drowsiness in Luke 21:34–36, where He said:

“But watch yourselves lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and cares of this life, and that day come upon you suddenly like a trap… Stay awake at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are going to take place and to stand before the Son of Man.”

Peter echoes this call. He warns us to guard our hearts against the intoxication of worldly cares and pleasures that dull our spiritual senses. The devil, like a thief, is waiting for an opportune moment to strike, and spiritual drowsiness gives him the opening he seeks.

Living Prepared

So how do we remain sober-minded and watchful? The answer lies in daily dependence on the Word of God and prayer. Peter implies that spiritual alertness is sustained through:

• Meditation on Scripture. Letting the Word dwell richly in our hearts.
• Prayer. Bringing our needs before God and seeking His grace to resist the enemy.

Jesus Himself prayed for His disciples in John 17:15:

“I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one.”

We can trust that God hears and answers this prayer, as it aligns with His will. Thus, we should echo it, asking Him to help us stay sober-minded and watchful so that we might resist the evil one.

In the second half of 1 Peter 5:8, Peter explains why such preparation is necessary, describing the devil and his plans in greater detail. Let us turn to that next.

Point Two: The Great Adversary

It’s this devil and his plan that we are going to consider in our second point, which we’ll call The Great Adversary.

Your Adversary

Look at the second half of verse 8 with me again: “Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.”

What is the first thing Peter says here? “Your adversary.”

Sometimes, we might think the devil is just God’s adversary, or perhaps the adversary of the holy angels. But Peter says the devil is your adversary and mine. This is because, although Satan is not omnipresent—he is a creature and not divine, as we said earlier—he is the father of lies, a murderer from the beginning, the one who rebelled against God and was cast down to earth. Every sin and all misery in its various forms ultimately have his hand in them.

When we sin, we are doing the will of the devil, not of God. His desires are completely opposed to God’s desires. This is why Peter calls him an adversary. The word adversary means opponent—someone on the opposing side, belonging to the opposing army. We are not on the same side.

An Invisible Enemy

What makes the devil such a great adversary is that he cannot be seen. Isn’t it easier to fight an enemy you can see, where you can observe his weapons, his movements, and whether he’s attacking or retreating? The devil, however, is like a sniper a mile away, shooting from a hidden location. When you’re hit, you have no idea where it’s coming from—you might not even know if it’s enemy fire or friendly fire.

The devil is a spirit, noncorporeal, and he uses this advantage to assail us in a variety of ways.

An Active Opponent

Peter reminds us that the devil is not a relic of the past. He is still active today. It’s not as if the devil was only active in the Garden of Eden, with Job, or in the wilderness with Jesus. Even after Christ’s exaltation, Peter writes, the devil is still prowling, seeking someone to devour.

Why a Lion?

Why does Peter describe the devil as a lion? Let’s consider the lion:

• Formidable Strength: A lion is one of the most formidable beasts on earth. Likewise, Satan is the most formidable enemy Christians face.
• Instilling Fear: A lion inspires fear in its prey. Similarly, the devil seeks to instill fear in believers.
• Appetite for Destruction: The devil, like a lion, has an appetite for blood—not literally, but figuratively. He desires to inflict pain and suffering upon believers.
• No Pity: Like a lion tearing its prey apart without remorse, the devil destroys without sorrow. He watches believers fall apart and die with ease, without pity or regret.

The Devil’s Intelligence

In heaven, before his rebellion, the devil was not our adversary. He was a morally pure angel endowed with wisdom. Though he lost his moral purity due to rebellion, he retained his intelligence.

He used this intelligence to deceive Adam and Eve in the Garden, and he continues to use it today to deceive us. He knows how to paint sin in the light of virtue. In the Garden, Eve knew eating the forbidden fruit was wrong because God had told her so. Yet the serpent suggested sin as something desirable and good, saying, “You will be like God.”

Satan presents sin in a way that makes it seem less serious. He told Eve, “You will not surely die,” implying that disobedience was not a big deal and that God would not be so displeased.

Exploiting Weakness

The devil does not have direct access to our hearts or minds, but he is a skilled observer. With centuries of practice, he draws conclusions from our actions and exploits our weaknesses.

For instance, he knows when someone is with a particular crowd and weak in a specific area. He suggests thoughts or situations that may lead to sin. He watches, waits, and pounces at the opportune time.

Short on Time

The devil knows his time is short and his works will come to an end. Until that day, he aims to inflict as much damage as possible on believers. Psalm 10:8-10 describes him well:

“He sits in ambush in the villages; in hiding places he murders the innocent. His eyes stealthily watch for the helpless; he lurks in ambush like a lion in the thicket. He lurks that he may seize the poor; he seizes the poor when he draws him into his net. The helpless are crushed, sink down, and fall by his might.”

Doesn’t that sound like the devil? He is mightier and stronger than us, but he operates under the authority of God.

God’s Restraining Power

The devil’s power is derived from God, the source of all power. It is God’s restraining hand that prevents Satan from utterly destroying us. Without God’s restraint, Satan would do to us what he did to Job—and worse.

This should teach us how desperately we need Christ.

Christ: Our Defense Against the Devil

As the devil prowls like a lion, seeking to devour, those who belong to Christ are under His watchful eye. The devil may surprise us, but he can never surprise God. The devil may overpower us, but he can never overpower God.

We need more than mere human strength to fight the devil. We need divine power. We need the heavenly armor that Christ first wore for us and now gives to us. Without Christ, we are defenseless—like someone thrown into a lion’s den without sword, shield, or spear.

But for those clothed in Christ’s righteousness, take courage. You are not alone. Christ stands by your side, and His Spirit is always with you. Though we face many battles, the war has already been won.

As 1 John 3:8 tells us: “The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.” And that is exactly what He has done. He has bound the strong man, and the day will come when Christ will cast our adversary into the lake of fire forever.

But until that day, brothers and sisters, as believers, we must keep doing something. Look at verse 9 with me. What does Peter say there? He says, “Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of sufferings are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world.”

This leads us to our third and final point this morning as we consider the reality of the devil. We’ll call this third point Our Response to His Inevitable Attacks.

Resisting the Devil

What does Peter say starting in verse 9? “Resist him.” That is to say, don’t comply with the devil’s solicitations. But how can we resist him? How should we resist him? Is it left up to each individual Christian to devise a plan for resisting the devil? Absolutely not.

What does Peter say? He says, “Resist him, firm in your faith.” Those who resist him are only those who first believe the truth and who stand firm in the truth they believe. What do they believe? They believe they are impotent against the devil and his schemes. They have learned to distrust themselves and their ability to fight and ward off the devil.

They know they are sinners, so they desire to abandon their own will and to follow after the will of God. They are those who believe that Jesus is their great Deliverer and that through Jesus Christ’s work, they have been set free from the devil. Because of what Christ has done for them, He will protect and guide them, never allowing them to fall back into the arms of the devil and become captives to him again.

It is this truth that we are to stand firm in—continually and habitually keeping it before the believer’s mind. We are sanctified by the truth. If we want to grow in sanctification, we need to constantly be enveloped in the truth. We must always hold fast to the truth in Christ.

Standing Firm in the Truth

It is that truth that helps us to resist the devil. It is only faith that makes us strong for combat—nothing else. This also teaches us that the more we grow in faith, the stronger we will be to fight against the devil.

This ought to be an exhortation for us all: to continue leaning upon God’s Word and upon God in prayer, asking Him to purge us of all unbelief. We must pray that we might continue to be sanctified by truth, growing in the knowledge of Christ so that we might be better combatants against the devil.

We must never lose sight of the truth but take it up every moment of every day. What does Paul say in Ephesians 6:14? “Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth.” And in verse 16, “In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one.”

The way that we resist the devil and stand firm in the faith is the same way Jesus did: with these three words: “It is written.” That’s how you begin to resist the devil and stand firm in the faith. In response to his darts: “It is written.” We resist what is false and evil by holding fast to what is true and good. We resist the devil’s lies by holding on to Scripture’s truths.

Enduring Battles and Failures

Sadly, the reality is that we will not win every battle in this life. The devil will sometimes gain the upper hand. There will be times when we fall, even when it is not our desire to do so.

At those times, perhaps most of all, we need to stand firm in the faith and resist the devil’s accusations and suggestions against us. When you fall, the devil will come to you and say, “Look how bad you are. God is done with you. He wants nothing to do with a sinner like you.”

Our response must be:
“Devil, I know that all is not lost because of Jesus. All is not lost. When I fall, I will not remain fallen, for Christ is my Redeemer. He is my Shepherd. He is my Rock. He is my salvation. He Himself, by the power of His strength, will lift me up again.”

Why? Because the truth is, devil, although you hate me, Christ loves me. He demonstrated that love by coming to die for me, so that you, devil, will never again have a grasp on me. You will never hold me captive again. I will not perish, but instead, I will be with my loving Savior for all eternity.

The next time you fall and your adversary accuses you, saying that because of your sin, Christ has abandoned you and is ashamed of you, you say to the devil:
“Scripture tells me that Christ is not ashamed to call us His brothers.”
Tell that fallen angel, “It is written.” Romans 8:38-39 declares, “Neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus.”

Shared Suffering and Hope in Heaven

Peter gives one last encouragement, saying, “Knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world.” He reminds us that as Christians, we are destined to endure suffering in this world.

At the same time, Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 10:13, “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man.” All Christians are attacked. All Christians must endure. But through these trials, all who belong to Christ are being made fit for heaven, being prepared for glory.

Ultimately, Peter seeks to fix our eyes on heaven. He is saying this: Right now, you are in the devil’s reach, enduring suffering and temptation. But a time is coming when you will no longer be within his reach.

Once we exit this land, where we are exiles, we will never again have to deal with the devil, suffering, or temptation. When we reach our heavenly homeland, all fighting will end. All wrestling will cease.

Exhortation to Fix Our Eyes on Christ

Let us see this life and its struggles as a mercy from God. It is only for a short time that we endure evil, and only in this world. After this world, it is finished.

Brothers and sisters, I exhort us all to look to heaven and to Christ. When we are called home, something incredible will happen. Christ will welcome us there, remove our helmets of war, and place upon us the crown of glory.