When Satan Gains The Victory
(Adapted from an article by Kent E. Heaton Sr.)

Peter describes the danger of Satan when he writes, "Be sober, be vigilant;
because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking
whom he may devour." (1 Peter 5:9). The devil is not sitting down nor is he
idle. As a constant threat, the devil will always be about seeking to fill
his hungry stomach. His appetite is never filled even though he feeds on
millions of souls each day.

What Peter warns is that children of God are the special delight of the
devil. Through sufferings and trials, Satan presses the battle for the soul
of the righteous. With strong temptations and allurements, he dangles the
proverbial carrot before God's people to lure them to his den. And he has
been successful with even some of God's most faithful servants.

David was a man of great faith and devotion to God. However, Satan sought to
have him with the wiles of sexual temptation. Peter himself was told by the
Lord that Satan desired to have him (Luke 22:13).

Today, Satan still destroys the live of God's people. Men and women who have
named the name of Christ still bear up under the temptation that Satan puts
before us. Peter's admonition in 1 Peter 5 is to be sober and to be vigilant.
Sobriety is needed to have a clear head and discern what is right and what is
wrong. (Hebrews 5:14) The vigilance of spirit shows how constant the threat
of Satan's influence is. With wakefulness and sleepless eyes, we must always
look for the sound of the roaring lion in our lives and flee from him.

Satan gains the victory from time to time and we must always be sober,
vigilant, resisting his allurements and remaining steadfast in the faith. The
final victory belongs to God, and He has assured us of this by raising Jesus f
rom the grave. The final victory for you is to be obedient to God. "... to
Him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen." (1 Peter 5:11)