SOUL WARS

1 Peter 2:11

Victor M. Eskew

 

INTRODUCTION

 

A.   The Bible is clear in its revelation that Christians are fighting in a war.

1.    Paul refers to it as “the good fight of faith” (1 Tim. 6:12).

2.    He himself had engaged in this fight during his lifetime (2 Tim. 4:7).

 

I have fought a good fight…

 

B.   It is difficult for us to imagine that warfare is going on all around us (1 Tim. 1:18).

It is difficult for us to comprehend that we are soldiers on a battlefield (2 Tim. 2:3).

It is difficult for us to realize that there is an enemy out to destroy us (1 Pet. 5:6).

 

C.   The reason is because the battle is not physical, but spiritual (2 Cor. 10:3).

 

For thou we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh.

 

D.   The enemy is not out to take our lives.  The enemy is set on destroying our souls.

 

E.   One of his methods of operation involves something that is within us. 

1.    Satan knows that we have lusts, affections, and desires that are deep within us.

a.    Some of the lusts are natural lusts (Ex., Jesus hungered, Matt. 4:4)

b.    Some of the lusts are exceeding sinful lusts (Ex., pride, Prov. 16:18).

2.    Therefore, he entices those lusts (James 1:14-15).

 

But every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.  Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin; and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.

 

a.    OUR OWN lusts

1)    These are longings that we have within us.

2)    When individuals have desires and cravings, they have a tendency to want to fulfill them.

3)    Often, we are not satisfied until the longings are satiated.

b.    Satan knows this, and he entices the lusts.

1)    Entice

a)    Strong (1185):  to entrap, (figuratively) delude           :- allure

b)    Thayer:  to bait, to catch by bait, beguile by blandishments (something that tends to flatter, coax, or entice)

c)    Vine:  to lure by bait

d)    NOTE:  Artificial fishing baits are called lures.  We lure fish with a lure.  This is what Satan does to us (Ex., Eve, Gen. 3:6).

2)    When our lusts engage with Satan’s enticements, then sin is committed. 

3)    NOTE:  Temptation is not sin.  It is the yielding to the enticement that brings sin.

 

F.    This is why Peter set forth his admonition that is the verse we will be studying in this lesson (1 Pet. 2:11).

 

Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul.

 

 

I.             AFFECTION

 

Dearly beloved…

 

A.   Peter begins this verse with words of deep affection:  “Dearly beloved.”

1.    The two words are just one word in the Greek language.

2.    They come from the word “agape,” that is, supreme love or a divine type of love.

 

B.   Peter knew these individuals well.

1.    He may have converted some of them.

2.    He may have worked with some of them.

3.    He may have been persecuted with some of them.

 

C.   It was this love that caused him to issue this warning to his readers.

 

D.   LESSON:  Most preachers of the gospel love those to whom they speak. 

1.    Their words may be bold. 

Their words may be piercing. 

Their words may involve rebuke. 

Their words may be a stern warning. 

But, remember, they spring from a heart of love. 

2.    As you hear the preacher speak, ask yourself:  “Why is he saying this to me?”  Then remember the answer:  “It is because he loves me.”

 

II.           APPEAL

 

I beseech you…

 

A.   Beseech

1.    Strong (3870):  parakaleo, to call near

2.    Thayer:  to call to one’s side…to beg, entreat, beseech

3.    Vine:  to call to one’s side

 

B.   The picture is that of someone who loves another and has something very important to tell them.

1.    The individual is invited to a private place.

2.    The person sits the individual down and pulls up a chair close to him.

3.    The words that he speaks to the person can take a variety of meanings:  to comfort, to warn, to exhort, to invoke.

 

C.   This is a plea from a person who loves these individuals dearly and seeks to warn them.

 

III.         ALIENS

 

…as strangers and pilgrims…

 

A.   Peter reminds his readers of who they are.

1.    Strangers:

a.    Definition:

1)    Strong (3941):  having a home that is near, by-dweller (alien resident)

2)    Thayer:  a stranger, a foreigner, one who lives in a place without the right of citizenship

b.    LESSON:  A Christian is a foreigner on earth. 

1)    Our citizenship is not here; it is in heaven (Phil. 3:20).

 

For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for a Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

2)    Song:  This Word Is Not My Home

2.    Pilgrims

a.    Definition

1)    Strong (3927):  an alien alongside, a resident foreigner

2)    Thayer:  one who comes from a foreign country into a city or land to reside there by the side of the natives

3)    Vine:  sojourning in a strange place away from one’s own people

b.    Heaven was their real country.  They were just sojourners, travelers on the earth.

 

B.   When we go to a foreign land, we might meet some of the people, eat the food, and visit some of the sites, but the place is not our home.

1.    Our affections are not in that land.

2.    We do not desire to make that land our home.

3.    We do not want to be governed by its laws and regulations.

4.    Our longing is for our home country.  We eagerly anticipate getting back to the land of our citizenship.

 

C.   Spiritually, we must develop this mentality. 

1.    Heaven is our country of residence.

2.    This is difficult for two reasons:

a.    Earth is the only place where we have lived.

b.    We have never lived in heaven.

3.    If this world is not my home, it makes it easier to shun the things that are found here, especially those things that could be detrimental to me.

 

IV.         ABSTAIN

 

…abstain from fleshly lusts…

 

A.   Peter is telling these individuals NOT to do something.

1.    This is why he reminds them of his relationship with them.

2.    This is why he calls them near to him to plead with them.

3.    This is why he reminds them that they are strangers and pilgrims.

 

B.   Abstain

1.    Definitions

a.    Strong (567):  to hold oneself off, to refrain

b.    Thayer:  to hold oneself off, to refrain, abstain

c.    Vine:  to keep oneself from

2.    LESSON:  Abstinence is taught in the Bible.

a.    We are not helpless over our desires.

b.    We have control that can be exerted over our lusts.

c.    We do not have to yield to every passion.

d.    We want to have our cake and eat it too, that is, we want to fulfill our desires and have no consequences that must be faced (Ex., birth-control, no prosecution for crimes)

e.    The Bible praises those who have “rule” over their spirit (Prov. 16:32).

 

He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city.

 

C.   We are to abstain from “fleshly lusts.”

1.    Fleshly lusts are those “longings” that are “bodily, temporal, animal, unregenerate.”

2.    Some of the “fleshly lusts” that tempt today are:

a.    The desire to belong

b.    The desire of pride

c.    The desire for sex

d.    The desire of materialism

e.    The desire of pleasure

f.     The desire to conform to the world

 

V.           AFFECT

 

…which war against the soul.

 

A.   It is here that we return to our introduction. 

1.    We are in a war on this earth.

2.    Satan, our archenemy, seeks the destruction of our souls (1 Pet. 5:8).

 

Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary, the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.

 

B.   The soul is the spiritual component of man.

The soul is the part that is like unto God.

The soul is the part that does not die.

The soul involves the mind of man:  personality, thoughts, will, and emotions.

 

C.   LESSON:  The soul of the Christian can be eternally lost (2 Pet. 2:20).

 

For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end if worse with them than the beginning.

 

1.    Remember who you are: a stranger and pilgrim who desires his eternal home.

2.    Do all you can to abstain, that is, refrain from the fleshly lusts (Ex., Paul, 1 Cor. 9:27).

 

But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection:  lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.

 

CONCLUSION

 

A.   As Christians, we must always be alert to the fact that a war is going on, and each one of us is one of the soldiers in that war.

 

B.   To conquer the evil one, we must abstain from fleshly lusts, that is worldly desires that we have.

 

C.   This battle is being fought over our soul.

1.    If we are victorious, our soul will possess eternal life.

2.    If we are defeated, our soul will suffer eternal condemnation.

 

D.   NOTE:  This is why we beg and plead with you to give ear to God’s holy Word.