 First Peter 5, first Peter 5, and we're going to cover in this session, you know, as we think about being tested and found true, we want to make sure that we're not prideful and arrogant. And, you know, just because God has elected us before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless, and we are His children, we don't want to make that an area of pride for us. And so we're going to look in this session on four reasons to avoid pride. Let's switch gears a little bit and pray quickly and get into our time. Oh God, thank you so much for loving us, for choosing us, for giving us an inheritance with the saints. Thank you for drawing us out of darkness and transferring us into the kingdom of your marvelous light and in the kingdom of your dear son whom we love. And Lord, we do need listening grace because many of us have eaten and we're sleepy probably or distracted or minds are cloudy. I pray that you would overcome that in our bodies and that you would help us to be alert and Lord that you would give me speaking grace as well. And Father, I just thank you for these precious sisters and pray that you would bless them and Lord that they would not be afraid. We don't know what's coming. We don't know how soon it's coming or even if it's coming. But we do know how it's going to end. We can read the scriptures and we know it's going to get bad. We don't know what generation, but it's going to get bad. And so Lord, help us to be faithful and help us to teach our children the same and our grandchildren. We love you so much and we thank you for, again, this time in Christ's name. Amen. Well, Mary and Anderson, who has won worldwide acclaim as a concert soloist, was once asked by a reporter the following question. What was the greatest moment in your life? Now, she had many great moments. Great moments like the time she became the first African American to sing with the Metropolitan Opera in New York. She also had a great moment when she became a United States delegate to the United Nations. And then there was that great moment that it was reported that a voice like hers only comes once in a century. Not to mention the various medals she received from countries around the world, the time she gave a private concert at the White House, as well as numerous other great moments in this woman's life. Now which of those moments do you think Mary and Anderson chose as the greatest moment of her life? None of them. Mary and Anderson told the reporter that the greatest moment in her life was the day that she went home and told her mother that she would not have to take in washing anymore. Mary and Anderson had never forgotten that her roots reached back into poverty levels. No amount of public acclaim would ever cause her to forget that her mama took in washing to put food in Mary and Anderson's tummy. I imagine every time Mary and Anderson was tempted to have exaggerated ideas of herself, she looked back from whence she came, her humble beginnings, which would have obviously shot holes in any pride she might be tempted to have, pride. Pride is an awful, ugly sin. In fact, do you know at the root of every sin that you and I commit is the sin of pride? Every sin we commit at the root is pride. You might say, why do you say that, Susan? Because pride elevates us above others, even God. Pride says, I'm not going to do it your way, God. I'm not going to do what your word says I should do. I'm going to do it my way. And so I'm going to lie, I'm going to be fearful, I'm going to be anxious, I'm going to do this and I'm going to do that. I'm not going to do it your way, I'm going to do it my way. Ladies, pride has devastating effects if not repented of and it can lead you to destruction. In fact, we know, right? Pride can lead to destruction. And so in this lesson, we're going to consider verses 5 to 9 of 1 Peter 5 and discover four reasons why we should avoid this sin and they all begin with the letter R for your remembrance. So they'll all have R. Let's read together 1 Peter 5, 5 to 9. Likewise, you younger, submit yourselves to the older, yes, all of you be submissive to one another and be clothed with humility, for God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble. Therefore, humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God that he might exalt you and do time casting all your care upon him, for he cares for you. Be sober, be diligent because your adversary, the devil, like a roaring lion walking about seeking whom he made of our, whom resists steadfast in the faith knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are throughout the world. Now it's interesting, and I want to give just a little bit here. When Peter starts chapter 5, he's talking about the responsibility of the shepherd to the sheep, the elders to the sheep and then the responsibilities of the sheep, the lay people to the elders. And then he says, yes, in verse 5, all of you be submissive to one another. Now maybe you're thinking Peter's lost his mind. How can we all be submissive to each other? Well, the all here refers to all ages of people, both female and male. Because remember, if you know anything about 1 Peter, Peter's already admonished all of them to be submissive to government. He's already admonished the slaves to be submissive to the masters. He's already admonished the women who are married to unbelieving husbands to be submissive. He's admonished the husbands to be submissive to their wives in the sense of living with them in an understanding way considering they're the weaker vessel. And so in a sense, all of us as believers are submissive to one another in that sense. So when we put it all together, it's pretty easy. Because we all, every one of us in this room, should honor one another by putting others first and considering each other is more important than ourselves. That's submission. Submission to one another in this sense takes a lot of humility, which is Peter's next point. He says we're to clothe ourselves with humility. Ladies as we clothe ourselves with humility, then we will be subject to each other's needs. We won't be thinking about ourself at all. Now what does it mean to be clothe with humility? Well humility is an attitude of your mind. Humility is not demeaning yourself, it's just not thinking of yourself at all. You just don't even think of yourself. In fact, I like how one person defines humility by a story about some children who built a clubhouse. They had three rules for their clubhouse. Number one, nobody act big. Number two, nobody act small. Number three, everybody just act medium. Now that's good definition. Acting big is a puffed view of yourself, right? I'm better than you. You know acting small can sometimes show itself in false humility. Oh, I'm just not worth anything. Well that's just a focus on yourself, isn't it? It's false humility. It's like the false teachers Paul mentions in Colossians. These two appear worthless and wormy is a form of pride and it's a self-focus. Just act medium. Act medium with the view to look at others and seek to minister to others. Just act medium. Well, Peter says this attitude of humility is something we should be clothed with. Now what is that? Well the word cloth means to tie a knot or roll a cloth. In fact they would do that in biblical times before they got ready to run on a journey. They would roll up their garment and roll it up and tie it so that they didn't trip over it when they would go on a journey. In fact, Peter, as he's writing this, probably had in mind, remember the upper room? In John 13, when Jesus laid aside and his garments took a towel, girded himself, and then he began to do a humble act, right? To wash 24 dirty, ugly, stinky, callous feet. That is just gross to me. But he did it. He did it. And you know, Peter probably never forgot this, right? He was the one with all the objections, Lord, don't wash my feet. Jesus says, if I don't wash you, you won't be clean. Oh, okay, then wash all of me. Here, I am just, you know, give me a bath, Jesus. So he remembered this, be clothed with humility. I imagine this picture is in his mind as he's writing. In fact, slaves in the New Testaments would not a white scarf or an apron over their clothing to be distinguished from the free men. They were known as slaves by how they did their garments. And so Peter is suggesting here, Christians, tie humility to your conduct so everyone will recognize you. Now, ladies, that doesn't mean I wear a sign on my back. You know, you all have shirts that say, Test and True, and on the back says, I'm humble. That's not what Peter's saying, but everyone should know it without you even having to wear a sign that says you are. It's also interesting that the Greek word was used for a cloth that was another kind of garment, which was a long, stole-like garment, which was a sign of honor. This one, they did not tie up in a knot. And so when you marry these two ideas together, we, like Christ, must put on that apron of humility in serving others, and then that very apron of humility, so to speak, becomes the garment of honor for us. One man says, put on and wrap yourselves about with humility so that the covering of humility cannot possibly be stripped from you, end of quote. In fact, it's known in the early church, the Christian church, the New Testament times, that actually Christians would sell themselves into slavery so that they could preach the gospel to those who were also slaves. Now, ladies, that's humility. That's humility. Some of you might be saying, good, bring on the persecution so I can end up in jail, so I can preach the gospel to those that are in jail. Now, ladies, there's a reason we're to be clothed with humility. Peter says, because God resists the proud. This is the first reason you should avoid pride, resistance from God. Resistance from God. God resists the proud. He resists the proud. Now, what does that mean? The word resist means to range oneself against. In fact, it's a strong word which means that God himself sets himself up as an army against you, and he's ready for battle against you. You. He resists the proud. No wonder pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall. Ladies, you can't fight. If God's against you, you might as well hang it up. You're done. You're done. You're doomed. You don't have a chance. Second Chronicles 1312 says, if you fight against the Lord, you'll not prosper. You will not. In fact, the word for proud here means haughty appearing above others. God resists you if you like, if you're like that, ladies. It's the attitude that says, I'm superior to you. I'm the standard of excellence, and if you don't meet up to that standard, yeah, I don't want anything to do with you. A prideful person is self-centered, self-sufficient. They ignore their need of God. I remember several years ago, my husband's second church, he was pastoring. I was meeting people, they were coming in. This new family came in. I went up to this lady and I said, hi, my name is Susan Heck. I'm the pastor's wife. It's nice to have you. And she said, hi, I'm so-and-so, and I can't wait for you to get to know me. And I was like, okay, that's a little weird, but okay, nice to meet you anyway. And, but you know, that's an immediate red flag. And that truly was what it was for the next 10 years. I got to know her, and her, and her, and her lies, and her deceit. And she was eventually a part of a situation in our church that led to church discipline of a man that was a whole group of people that were, you know, very prideful and arrogant. Ladies, it's hard to be around a person who constantly thinks about themselves all the time. They're constantly talking about themselves. It's all about me. In fact, we had a conference recently in Tulsa, not at my church, but at ORU, which is one of the, you know, Oral Roberts. And the conference was, it's all about me. And I'm like, yeah, are you kidding me? It's not all about me. It's about him, right? It's about God. Ladies, God resists the proud. He, if you are prideful, he is not for you. He will come against you. He will come against you. But notice what Peter says next. He gives grace to the humble. He's against the proud, but he gives grace to the humble. Here's your second reason you should avoid pride. Receive God's grace in order that you can be a recipient of God's grace. Ladies, you don't want to be prideful. You want to be able to receive God's grace. In fact, he gives grace to the humble. Peter says, the word grace here means graciousness or favor. And God will only give you favor if you humble yourself. In fact, this is a word which comes from the picture of the Nile River when it was in its low stage. And so the word means not rising far from the ground. It describes a Christian who follows the humble steps of the Lord. They're aware that they're not worthy and they gladly acknowledge their dependence on God. And to this person and this person alone, Peter says, God is gracious. He gives grace to the humble. In fact, James says this in his epistle. He says he gives therefore more grace. Therefore, God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble. Therefore, submit to God, resists the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners. Purify your heart, you double-minded. Be afflicted and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. Humble yourself in the sight of the Lord. He will lift you up. Ladies, we should not have an exaggerated view. Who are we? And who do we think we are? If the nations are a drop in the bucket, who are we? Nothing. I mean, we're not even a dust, you know, a piece of dust. Micah 6a, he's shown you, oh man, what is good. What does the Lord require of you? To do justly, to do mercy, and to walk what? Arrogantly with your God? No. Humbly. Humbly. Well, Peter goes on with the seam of humility in verse 6, and he says, therefore, humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that he might exalt you in due time. Now, maybe you're wondering, well, how do I humble myself? Do I go around and go, self be humble? You know, humble yourself? No. To understand what Peter means, we need to look at the tense of this verb, okay? Which is in, it might not mean, mean anything, but in the passive voice in the Greek, it means an outside agent is acting upon the subject of the verb. In other words, what Peter is saying here to these readers, be passive in the hands of God, the outside agent, and allow him to humble you, allow him to humble you. Now, ladies, this doesn't mean you go through life forcing a false humility. That's not what it's meaning, but it is a voluntary acceptance of the circumstances that God allows in your life. Allow yourself to be humbled. Now, remember the circumstances of these readers, being killed for their faith, having their homes taken away from them, being persecuted, slandered. Peter says, be submissive to those circumstances that God's allowing. He's using these to humble you. You know, I've been in some situations where God has humbled me. It's good. It's hard at the time, but it's good. Ladies, it's allowing ourselves to be humbled is a precious thought as we consider what Peter says next, under the mighty hand of God. This means that the humbling that is happening is under his powerful hand. In fact, the thought of God's hand is the idea of hollowness for grasping. It's the idea that we see in Exodus chapter three where we see not a wrathful hand of God delivering the Israelites, but a hand of deliverance, the mighty power of God's hand. Ladies, he will bring you safely through just like he brought the Israelites if you will allow yourself to be humbled under his mighty hand. If you resist God's dealing in your life, whatever he's trying to do in your life today to humble you, to make you where he wants you to be, if you resist it, I promise you it will only cause a worse situation in your life. As a Christian, we should never resent the circumstances that God allows because we know the mighty hand of God is dealing those, right? Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God. And Peter says he will exalt us. He will exalt us in due time. Now, you can humble yourself willingly by the mighty hand of God and he will exalt you, or you can exalt yourself and watch him humble you. And I don't know about you. I would rather humble myself and then let him exalt me, okay? I don't want to exalt myself and allow him to humble me. I've done that lots. It's not fun. Well, this brings us to the third reason we should avoid pride. Notice what Peter says. Humble yourself under the mighty hand of God so he can exalt you in due time. The third reason you should avoid pride is so you can, you can be raised up by God. So he can exalt you. Not you, but you. He can raise you up. In fact, the word exalt means just that. Raise up, raise up, elevate. And Peter says in due time, the proper time. When God thinks it's the proper time, not when we say, okay, God, time's up. I'm done with this. Okay. I'm done with this humbling stuff. No. When he says it's time, you know, the writer to the Ecclesiast, he says he's made everything beautiful in what? His time, not your time in his time. And ladies, this should encourage you. It should encourage these readers that they would understand that God would not leave them in this low and depressed condition. He will raise them from their state of suffering, but only when it's his time, his time, not our time. It might be in this present life. And for these readers and first Peter, it was not in that present life, but in the life to come when he raised him from the dead, right? Resurrected. Paul says in Romans eight, 18, I consider the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory, which shall be revealed in us. I don't know about you, but this encourages me in trials when he's ready to release me. He will when it's when he's ready for it. But my responsibility is to allow myself to be humbled, to be humbled by whatever God thinks is best for Susan so that he can conform me to his will. As we allow God's mighty hand to humble us and deal with us, and we have a wonderful privilege found in verse seven, cast all your care upon him, for he cares for you. In fact, the psalmist has a similar idea in Psalm 55-22. And he says, cast your burden on the Lord and he will sustain you. He will never allow the righteous to be moved. Now when Peter says we're to cast our care upon him, it means we're to throw it on him. Just throw it on him, leave it there. In fact, the word is used in Luke 1935. Remember when Jesus came on Palm Sunday and into Jerusalem on a donkey? And it says that they took those, you know, garments and they threw them on the donkey, the claws and they threw them there. In fact, the heiress participle indicates this throwing our cares upon him is a deliberate act that we do once for all. We cast our cares upon him, we throw them there and we leave it there. We don't take them back up, which is what most of us do. You know, something comes into our lives. We go to our prayer closet and we pray and then we get out of the prayer closet and we carry our burdens with us. That's not what Peter's saying. Cast your care upon him. He cares for you. Now what is a care? Well, the care here means a state of being pulled apart in different directions. It has the idea of distraction, worry, anxiety, cast it there. Now, what would be some of their cares? Well, probably foremost on their mind would be the care, you know, am I going to die? Am I the next one to be torn from limb to limb? Am I going to be rolled up in tar and, you know, be set to fire for Nero's gardens? Am I going to have to watch my children be killed? Am I going to have to watch my husband be killed? Then there will be the concern for food and shelter. How am I going to get my next meal? How am I going to feed my baby? Where am I going to sleep tonight? I don't have any clothes. I don't have a pillow. Where am I going? That's where Jesus's words from the Sermon on the Mount would be encouraging, right? Don't worry about what you're going to eat, what you're going to drink, what you're going to wear. Don't worry about that. Now, ladies, their cares would be different from ours. But you know what? We have them too, don't we? Most of us in this room don't have to worry about where we're going to sleep tonight. You know, I might be sleeping in an airport. I've done that a few times. But at least maybe I'll have somewhere to sleep. You know, I don't have to worry about food. I've got some right there. I'm going to eat a little bit. Our cares seem to be different, don't they? They're more relational. Like, care is over a husband who doesn't lead us spiritually. That's a care a lot of women have. They don't have a husband who leads their home. Or a friend or a family member who's died. That's sometimes a care we have or financial burden. Like, how am I going to pay this month's bills or my mortgage payment? Or maybe a terminal illness. What am I going to do, Lord? All of a sudden, you've inflicted me with cancer or bad back. What am I going to do? Or children cares. Like, they don't make good grades or they're rebellious. I don't know. Appliances that don't work. You go to run your dishwasher and it's broken or do a load of laundry and all of a sudden you find out your washing machine doesn't work. Aging. That's a care for some of us, right? Husbands say, man, I'm just dying, you know? We're dying, right? Dying thou shall die. Regardless, if we lived now or then in First Peter Day, ladies, we must cast our care on him. Why? Because Peter says he cares for you. He cares for you. Interesting, that Greek word care is different than the first one. When it says he cares for you, it means in the Greek, he's concerned for you. He's concerned for you. He has a watchful interest and affection for you. He cares for you. Ladies, when you think about it, pride is at the root of most of our anxiety, isn't it? It wounds our pride. It's humiliating to cast everything upon another person and be cared for. I've met women over the years. Can I? No, I can't know. I don't want, I don't need anything. I said, that's prideful. You do need something. You need help, you need meals. Don't be prideful. But some of us won't humble ourselves and allow ourselves, allow for another to care. Well, that's what that's what Peter's saying here. Humble yourself, cast your care upon him, allow him to care for you. Anxiety is a contradiction to true humility. Why? Because we end up depending on ourselves, which is dangerous and we don't trust God. Ladies, everything's under his control, so why are we worried? Why are we worried? I've often talked to women recently, just the last few months, and it's a rough time. And I said, you know what? God birthed us at this time. He thought we could live in this time. And for such a time as this, I don't know why I'm living in 2015, but I am. I am, and I know God's in control. One man said, to be overwhelmed with anxiety is to be concerned with yourself rather than with him. Ladies, worry is condemned, but watchfulness is demanded, as seen in verse eight. Notice what Peter says, be sober, be villageant, because your adversary, the devil, like a roaring lion, walks about seeking whom he may devour. Now, the word sober here means to be watchful. Be mentally self-controlled. Someone asked me what to do to prepare your children for persecution. Here's the answer right here. Be sober, be watchful, be self-controlled, abstain from wine. Why would they need to be sober? Ladies, if they were not careful, the cares of this world would overtake them. Prepare your minds for battle. Be sober. In fact, Peter says they also must be vigilant, vigilant, which means stay awake. Watch. In fact, it has the idea that this watching should be done as if you're in some sort of danger, like walking alone in a parking lot. The night before last Debbie and I, we got to our room a little bit, kind of getting dark, and we'd been at Nicky's eating all day. I go, let's go for a walk. And so we walked, and it started getting little dark, and the area we were walking in, there was a few bars, and there was people out, and it was kind of getting creepy. And I said, let's go back to the hotel. You know, that's the idea. Be watchful. Be alert. Be vigilant. Be aware of your surroundings. The moment slothfulness begins, that moment danger stands thick about us. Ladies, you might say, well, what's the difference between these two words? Being sober, being vigilant. Well, being sober has to do with our ability to look at reality with a clear mind. Have your mind clear? And being vigilant has to do with the state of being watchful, being ready. In fact, the first adjective describes a person who controls his disposition. The second describes a person's readiness to respond to outside influences. One man said this sobriety and watchfulness are necessary virtue at all times, but especially in times of suffering and persecution. Now, why do these two things need to be in place? Ladies, why do we need to be sober? Why do we need to be vigilant? Because Peter says, you have an adversary, and it is the devil. And he's walking about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he can devour. Ladies, your adversary is not your husband. Okay? It's not your neighbor that gives you hard times. It is the devil. It is the devil. The Greek word for devil is diabolus, which literally means to throw over, to send over. Has the idea of slander or defaming, someone that brings a false accusation against another. Of course, the readers would know what this meant as their persecutors had slandered them, defamed them. Peter says the devil is walking around like a roaring lion, and he wants to devour you. Ladies, this is the fourth reason you better avoid pride. Roaring lion is after you. He's after you. The devil is after you. Think very carefully. If you remain in a state of pride, self-centeredness, arrogance, rebellion against God, I'm going to do it my way. Do you know you run a great risk of Satan devouring you? Remember, that's what got him in trouble. I'm going to be like the most high God, yes I am. He was cast down, right? Isaiah 14. Lady, a roaring lion pictures the howl of a beast in fierce hunger. In fact, you know they say when a lion roars, you know why he roars? Because he's extremely hungry. He's hungry. That's why he roars. So if you're ever, you know, around and you see a lion, he's roaring, get out of there real fast. And he's going to eat you. And you know what? These readers would understand many of them had seen lions come in to the arena there and pull apart Christians from limb to limb. This was a vivid picture to them. The devil is a roaring lion. He wants to eat your lunch. As one martyr said, I am God's wheat. May I be ground by the teeth of the wild beast until I become the fine white bread that belongs to Christ. End of quote. And Peter describes the devil here as walking around. He's treading all around. You can see that. Have you ever been to the zoo? I mean that's what they do. They kind of pace back and forth, back and forth. In fact, remember in Job when the Lord said to Satan, he said, from where do you come from? And Satan said, well, I'm walking around on the earth going to and fro. I'm walking back and forth. And the Lord said again, where do you come from, Satan? Satan said, going back and forth on the earth, I'm walking back and forth. What was he was trying to say? Who am I going to devour? Let me have Job. I want to get Job. Let me get him. Ladies in the physical realm, that's exactly what a lion does when they're walking back and forth, back and forth. They want to devour their prey. And my friend Satan is walking back and forth. And he's seeing which Christians he has the best chance of devouring. Are you aware of his devices? It's also interesting to note that lions often hunt at night because they can surprise their prey more easily in the dark. Likewise, Satan attacks us in the spiritual realm when we're walking in darkness and not in light. And Peter says he's seeking someone to devour. Seeking means to plot against your life, to devour, to drink, to swallow you down, to gulp you entirely. Ladies, Satan's desire is to kill, to steal and destroy. That's what Jesus says. He is constantly on the prowl looking for someone to devour. In fact, in church history, we read about a woman named Biblis and this almost happened to her. She denied the Lord while being tortured. She was on a rack and she was being tortured and she says, I'm not a Christian. Get me off this rack. I can't imagine what it'd be like to be stretched and pulled apart. But anyway, she got off the rack and then it says she was subject to further torture and so that she would denounce other Christians. But it says once that she was put back on the rack, she came to her senses. She awoke from a deep sleep and the story concludes that from then on she confessed that she was a Christian and she was counted among the number of the martyrs. Satan was trying to devour her. You know, Paul himself felt if he did not fight the faith that he would be a cast away, he feared going apostate as we've talked about. Ladies, Satan wants you. He wants me to shake in our faith and he wants us to stop believing. In fact, one man says the design of Satan and raising persecutions against faithful servants of God is to bring them to apostasy by reason of their sufferings and so to destroy their souls. End of quote. It's interesting in 2nd Timothy 4 17. Remember Paul talks about being delivered from the mouth of the lion. Delivered from the mouth of the lion could be Satan, could be Nero. We don't know because of Nero's association with lions, but he says the Lord stood with me and strengthened me and I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion. I don't know if that's literal or if he's talking about Satan, could be Satan. You know, Peter would have known first hand the seriousness of this admonition about the adversary Satan. Remember what Jesus said to Peter? Simon, Simon, I've prayed for you. Satan has asked for you. Satan wants you Peter, but I've prayed for you Peter and when you are strengthened go and convert your brethren Peter. My dear sister, he wants to sift you as wheat and we must be awake. We must be alert to his devices and schemes to attack us. Now there are many ways that Satan attacks us, but however one man helps us, the three attacks that I think he gets us the most, persecution, peer pressure, preoccupation. Persecution, peer pressure, preoccupation. Ladies, persecution should surprise us and we've been in this the last two sessions so I'm not going to go into it, but persecution is going to happen to us. In Jesus says in the parable of the soils that some receive the seed, but you know what happens? When persecution comes, they go, I'm out of here. I didn't bargain for this. I'm out of here. I'm out of here. They're false converts. I'm out of here. I'm not. I don't want this Christian stuff. When tribulation and persecution arises, they get out. Also, some are prone to peer pressure. So, well, great way that the enemy attacks. They don't want to lose their friends. I mean, I've heard so many people now. I've talked to well-meaning Christian friends. I don't know what they're thinking. I'm like, what are you thinking right now? I had a couple of Christian women tell me recently, my husband and I are trying to decide if we were invited to a gay wedding when we go. I'm like, what? What are you thinking? How can you go bless something that God says is an abomination to him? Peer pressure, peer pressure. Ladies, Peter, Paul warns of this, don't be deceived, evil company corrupts good morals. Preoccupation is also a big one that gets many of us. Preoccupation with the world can diminish our devotion to God. Things like redecorating our house, vacations, our kids eternal basketball, soccer games, practices, entertainment, the latest fashions. I had a lady tell me recently, you know, you need to be more trendy in your dress. I'm like, seriously? You know, I could care less. I'm sorry if I'm gonna wear something from the 1920s. Who cares? I'm not into trend. I'm not preoccupied with what I wear. I still got, in fact, when we just moved a year ago to downsize and a young man in our house named, in our church named Jermaine, he went in my clothes, he goes, Miss Hick, do you wear all these clothes? And I said, Jermaine, I said, you know, I have clothes when I got married 40 years ago. I mean, that's pretty bad. They'll come back in style anyway. But, you know, I have friends that, you know, they're buying all, I don't know what they're wearing anymore. You know, but it's where they're preoccupied with that. Jobs can be a preoccupation. You know, even Facebook, social network, all that can just distract you and take away. Ladies, we make it easy for Satan to attack us. To guard against these attacks, remember, God uses persecution to mature you and bring glory to himself. In regards to prayer pressure, we must please God over man. In regards to preoccupation with the world, evaluate your priorities and activities. Don't be preoccupied with things. Pay attention, wake up. Your opponent, the devil, is on the move like a roaring lion and he wants to eat your lunch. And he does it quickly and subtly. So what should be our response to the roaring lion? Do we review him? Do we bind him? Do we run from him? No. Peter says something a little bit different. Resist him. Resist him steadfast in the faith. Ladies in the physical realm, we obviously don't rebuke a lion, right? Have you ever tried? Lion? Just be gone now. You know, and you can't, you can't bind him, right? Can't bind him. Running is the cowardly thing to do. Resisting is the courageous thing to do, right? In fact, in Scripture, we're told to flee idolatry, but nowhere are we told to flee from the devil. That would be futile. You can't run from him, but you can resist him. Resist him. And what does it mean to resist him? It means to stand against him, oppose him, be firm, unyielding in his attacks. In fact, James says, resist the devil and he will flee from you. Resist him. In fact, remember how Christ resisted him in the wilderness? When he was being tempted four times, saying, hey, isn't it, you know, Jesus said, it is written, it is written, it is written, it is written four times. Every time Satan tempted him. Ladies, that's why you must know Scripture. You, how are you going to resist him? If you don't know the Word of God, if you don't have your armor on, you know, the sword, the truth, resist him, resist him. Ephesians 6 is a great, well, won't get into that now. I'm going through some of my notes here quickly just because of time, but Ephesians 6 is great for the believer's spiritual armor you must put on. Ladies, defend yourself with the truth, the Word, living right, steadfast faith, prayer. When you are fully equipped, the devil can't penetrate you. Cannot. Make sure all that armor is in place. Study, read Ephesians 6. If your armor isn't in place, you're vulnerable to the attacks of Satan. If you neglect prayer, Bible study, worship, accountability, and any other disciplines of faith, you cannot expect to withstand the devices of Satan. I was talking to a gal recently. We were going through my little booklet, the 20 tests of assurance. One of those is God answers prayer. And I said, let's talk about that. And she said, well, that's a problem. I said, what's the problem? She said, I don't pray. I said, that's a problem. That's a problem. You're in trouble. You're in trouble. Ladies, we must be involved in the means of grace or you are going to fall. And Peter goes on to say, we resist him steadfast in the faith, which means firm in place. In fact, steadfast is a military term of a body or a heavy armed infantry formed in ranks and files close and deep. They're not moving. They're like a rock. Be steadfast in the faith. As John says, for whoever is born of God overcomes the world, and this is a victory that overcomes the world, even our faith, our faith. Paul says in 2nd Corinthians, by faith we stand. Most of us want some magical formula to get rid of Satan. No, bind him, rebuke him and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. There is no magical formula. It is your faith, your faith. And ladies, this would be of great importance to the readers in 1 Peter because many of them could renounce their faith and live or confess their faith and die. We must not deny our faith, but confess it and stand firm. And of course Peter is talking here from experience. I'm sure he was grieved because he had denied his faith several times, three times. Well, Peter ends with this, knowing this, the same sufferings are experienced by your brothers in the world. Peter says, you guys aren't the only one suffering. Come on. There's people all around suffering. This is common. No temptation has taken you, such as is common to man. God is faithful. He will make a way of escape so that you can bear it. Ladies, you're not alone in your sufferings. Think of all of our brothers and sisters all over the world right now that are dying for their faith, many. I mean, you can get on the news and read about pastors that are in prison and in Syria and Iran and people that are being killed for their faith in Christ. We're not alone. And ladies, it's a sign of God's favor rather than displeasure that Satan is allowed to harass you as he did Job. In fact, it's a sign that you belong to the brotherhood. So in closing quickly, would you say you have a problem with pride? Of course you do. We all do. Don't lie because then you're prideful. Let me remind you of four reasons to avoid it. Number one, resistance from God. God resists the proud. Do you want God's army coming against you? If not, humble yourself under his mighty hand. Secondly, recipients of God's grace, recipient of God's grace. Do you want to receive his grace? Then remember next time you're going through difficulties. Remember, he gives grace to the humble. Number three, raised up by God. God will exalt you in his time. Do you desire for the Lord to lift you up at the proper time? Then allow him to use whatever he desires in your life to accomplish his purposes. Number four, the fourth reason to resist pride or avoid pride is the roaring lion is after you. The devil will try to devour you. Do you want Satan to eat your lunch? You might be saying, no, I already ate it, but you know what I mean. Do you want him to eat your lunch? Then resist him by being steadfast in your faith. Don't waver in your faith. If a reporter asked you the same question he asked Marion Anderson, what was the greatest moment in your life? What would your answer be? Would you think back to a time in your life when you achieved some great accomplishment or reward? Would it be a time when someone recognized you publicly and said some complimentary remarks about you? Would it be when you were the star in a play or a performance of some kind? What would be your answer? What was the greatest moment of your life? Only you can answer that. But the next time you're tempted to think more of yourself, then you should think. Think back from where you have come from, from the mirey pit from which the Lord lifted you out of. It does have a way of shooting a hole in our pride. Let's pray. Father, again, I thank you for arresting my own heart at the age of 30 when I was walking in sin and professing to be a Christian. Thank you for shooting a hole in my pharisaical pride, bringing me to the cross, humbling me and saving my soul from sin. I do pray, Lord, that we would examine ourselves, making sure that we are not resisting you in any way, and that we are not setting ourselves up as some authority against you. And, Lord, if there's sin in our life, I pray we would realize it's nothing but pride. That's it. It's pride. And that we need to stop, turn, Lord, and humble ourselves before you so that you can exalt us in your proper time. I pray for these ladies. I pray that none of them are playing with Satan and his devices. And I pray that they would resist him steadfast in their faith for the Savior's sake, that we might be strong women walking in the power of our precious God. And it's in his Son, Jesus, I pray. Amen.