Chestnut Drive Church of Christ

“Coach, I don’t know if I can do it. Those guys are big! They hit hard. They run fast. Beating them is going to be hard and it’s going to hurt.” “Son,” says the coach, “I know they are big. I know they hit hard and that they run fast. No, it’s not going to be easy and it is going to hurt. But son, that’s why we’ve been training all these months. You can run fast and hit hard, too. We can win this game because we’ve trained for it. Now, you pull yourself together; get out there and do what you’ve been trained to do.” Actually, if a kid comes up to his coach and says those things, the coach will sit him on the bench and put in another, more willing player.
The coach’s words are similar to what Peter says in 1 Peter 1:13. He is speaking to people who are being challenged by the size and viciousness of their opponent. He’s speaking to people who are going to go through or have been through a fiery trial. There will be pain. There will be suffering. It will be hard. “So,” Peter says, “here’s what you’ve gotta do. You’ve gotta ready yourself (your mind) for a fight.” We need to understand along with the apostle Paul that we are dealing with principalities and spiritual powers of darkness (Ephesians 6:10-12). They don’t play fair and they don’t go by the book. They “play” to kill. They are not concerned about whether you live or die physically. They seek the death of your soul. All they want is a little compromise, a little yielding … just a little, it doesn’t have to be anything big … just enough to bring a little darkness into that soul that God has purified with the blood of Christ. Prepare your mind for a fight, friend, for you will be fighting the devil himself.
The devil is so subtle. He doesn’t show up in flames of fire bellowing threats and blasphemies. He comes in the form of our society. Sometimes in he’s in the form of our family, maybe a girl friend or boy friend. Sometimes he shows up dressed like our employer or our next door neighbor. Every once in a while he looks like our enemy, but that is fairly seldom (usually only when it looks like he is losing the battle). Typically, however, he just puts little pressures here and there to encourage you to give in. “You don’t want to stick out like a sore thumb, do you? Come on, it’s not that bad. Everybody’s doing it and it is acceptable in your culture now.” Peter says, “You better stay awake! Don’t be blind like a drunk. If you do he will blind-side you and before you know it you will be in mire so thick you can’t get out.” You see, Satan has been at his game for a long time. He has met with success with every opponent he has ever met but One. His record is 40,000,000,000 and 1 but, oh, how that One messed him up! That’s another story that I’ll tell you about later. Friend, if you’re going to beat the devil, you’re going to have to keep your head in the game.
Peter then tells us how the victory is won. Yes, you must prepare your mind for a fight, and you must keep your eyes wide open for the most subtle beast of the field. Beyond that, however, it is by the grace of God that you are going to win. Remember, your foe is invincible if you fight him by yourself. He is a great veteran in this warfare. It’s like David fighting Goliath. David was beaten before he began if he only has a sling and a rock. But David had more than that. He had God. David knew of the power of God … he’d seen it before. David told the old giant, “You come to me with a sword, with a spear, and with a javelin. But I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the LORD will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you and take your head from you. And this day I will give the carcasses of the camp of the Philistines to the birds of the air and the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. Then all this assembly shall know that the LORD does not save with sword and spear; for the battle is the LORD’S, and He will give you into our hands” (1 Samuel 17:45-47). That old giant didn’t have a chance. He was as good as dead before David picked up the first stone. Why? Because David’s hope lay, not in rocks or swords or spears, but in the God of all grace.
Christian friend, if you will prepare your mind for a fight and keep your head in the game, by the power of God almighty in Jesus Christ, you’ve already won the battle. If you lose that hope, you’ve lost everything. If your strength is in your church attendance or your Bible knowledge alone, you’ve lost the battle. Satan has been to church a lot more than you and he can probably quote you the Bible. But Satan has no power over Jesus Christ. If you will cloak yourself in His righteousness and walk in His light, the battle, by the grace of God, is yours.