THE WAR AGAINST THE SOUL- - 1 PETER 2:9-12

THE WAR AGAINST THE SOUL

1 PETER 2:9-12

Key verse: v. 11, “Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul;”

Introduction:

There is a war going on around us with the purpose of destroying God’s people. Christians are blessed people and Satan doesn’t like that. He wants to destroy the testimony of every faithful Believer. He has literally declared war against them.

I. BLESSED IS THE NATION WHOSE GOD IS THE LORD

Psalm 33:12, “Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD; and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance.”

A. A CHOSEN people, Deuteronomy 10:15, “Only the LORD had a delight in thy fathers to love them, and he chose their seed after them, even you above all people, as it is this day.”

1. Because He loved your fathers (Abraham, Isaac, Jacob), Deuteronomy 4:37, “And because he loved thy fathers, therefore he chose their seed after them, and brought thee out in his sight with his mighty power out of Egypt;”

2. The LORD delights in His people, Deuteronomy 10:15, “Only the LORD had a delight in thy fathers to love them, and he chose their seed after them, even you above all people, as it is this day.”

B. A PURCHASED people, Ephesians 1:14, “Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.”

1. Be NOT the servants of men, 1 Corinthians 7:23, “Ye are bought with a price; be not ye the servants of men.”

2. Therefore Glorify God, 1 Corinthians 6:20, “For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.”

II. ABSTAIN FROM FLESHLY LUSTS THAT WARS AGAINST THE SOUL

A. Even the best of men and women need an exhortation to abstain from sin…

1. Because Satan is seeking the weak Christian, 1 Peter 5:8, “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:”

2. He is always on the move in the earth, Job 1:7, “And the LORD said unto Satan, Whence comest thou? Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.”

3. He is the accuser of the Believer, Revelation 12:10, “And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.”

B. Keep from the very appearance of evil, 1 Thessalonians 5:22, “Abstain from all appearance of evil.”

1. Hating sin and its effects, Jude 23, “And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh.”

2. Stop becoming idolaters, 1 Corinthians 10:7, “Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them; as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.”

a. Rebellion against God’s Word is idolatry, 1 Samuel 15:23a, “For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry.”

b. Some teach rebellion against the Lord, Jeremiah 29:32, “Therefore thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will punish Shemaiah the Nehelamite, and his seed: he shall not have a man to dwell among this people; neither shall he behold the good that I will do for my people, saith the LORD; because he hath taught rebellion against the LORD.”

C. Don’t be a CASTAWAY Christian, 1 Corinthians 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.”

1. Learn to fight the GOOD FIGHT OF FAITH, 1 Timothy 6:12, “Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses.”

2. Learn to keep our SPIRITUAL BODY in shape by bringing our physical bodies under subjection, 1 Corinthians 9:26-27, “I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air: 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.”

III. WE ARE STRANGERS AND PILGRIMS HERE

Hebrews 11:13, “These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.”

A. The Old Testament Saints have left us with a good example of faithfulness, 1 Corinthians 4:1-2, “Let a man so account of us, as of the ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God. 2-Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful.”

1. We are in this world, but not a part of it, 2 Corinthians 6:17, “Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,”

2. The faithful believer of the past did not love the world, 1 John 2:15, “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.”

B. Those saints faithfully looked for a city as did Abraham, Hebrews 11:10, “For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.”

CONCLUSION

We are in this war whether we want to be or not. The only way to win is God’s way. Then He will fight our battles and never be defeated.

This requires discipline on our part. Most Christians are beating the air as the Apostle Paul said in 1 Corinthians 9:26. In verse 27 he said, “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.”

Let’s not be a CASTAWAY before our Lord.