tonight's sermon

for a few years now, we've been having thursday night revivals in august.

tonight, we heard from a pastor at Mansfield Baptist, and his sermon was so wonderful....

it was based on the verse talking about -be sober, be vigillant, for your adversary the devil walketh about seeking whom he may devour. 1 Peter.

he gave some interesting info about the actual lion and how he hunts, and it's a lot like how the devil works.

the lion doesn't chase after the fastest, the ones in best health... he looks for the young, the weak, the sickly, he attacks and shows no mercy...

Satan is walking around looking at us and working to find our weaknesses.
... when we're prideful (from an earlier verse about being humble), when we let our guard down (arent' vigilant) or don't take the things of God seriously (aren't sober) Satan is waiting to attack us.

he used cool opposing illustrations...
-saul and his pride vs. Paul and his humility
-samson and his not taking seriously the serious things of God, vs. Joseph in potifer's house (taking it very seriously and fleeing temptation)
and
-david and his fall with Bathsheeba vs. daniel not letting his guard down at all (still praying to the true God), and getting thrown into the lion's den because of it.

the first people in the illustrations were destroyed by satan. he attacked and showed no mercy. (david didn't die, but sometimes wished he had with all the trouble afterward)

we need to be on guard, humble, and take the things of God seriously... and the Lord will stop Satan's mouth, like he did the lions' mouths in Daniel's den.

i know i needed this message. my besetting sin, is that i'm too prideful, and constantly have to repent of it. i'm going to order this sermon so i can listen to it again.