I once watched a robbery take place (on t.v.) in which a young man walked into a cafe, pulled a gun and made everyone leave, including the manager so that he could get the money out of the cash register.  What he did not realize was that the manager had taken the door key with him and, before leaving, had locked the door.  All went well for the thief until he tried to leave.  Then, finding himself locked inside the place he was trying to rob, he panicked, AND BEGAN TO PRAY, ASKING GOD TO HELP HIM.  The would-be thief with a cross tattooed on his forehead got a long jail sentence and I got a good story line.

The “Christian” criminal proved once again that when the going gets tough, religious people get religion, as do many non-religious people.  As you might recall, King Saul waxed religious when Samuel showed up after he (Saul) had defied God.  His religiousness remained strong until the prophet told him that God had taken the kingship from him.  The same thing would happen to King David when, after his affair with Bathsheba which produced Solomon, everything was going good and he was feeling very good about his relationship with God, until, that is, the Prophet Nathan nailed him about his sins, which included having Bathsheba’s husband killed.  David got right in a hurry.  A few years ago a famous football player got caught holding dog fights, which was illegal.  Upon his arrest I predicted that he would get religion.  Sure enough, the first three words out of his mouth upon facing the press were: “I FOUND JESUS.”  The thief, Saul, David and the dog fighter all exhibited the same religious reaction when the jig was up–they got religion.   Was their remorse and repentance genuine?  We know that David’s was.  We know that Saul’s was not.  We do not know about the other two.  My guess is that their “salvation” disappeared when the problem passed.  These men, along with most people who have ever lived, proved correct what God said in Jeremiah 17:9: “The heart is deceitful above all things, who can know it?”  This truth had been noted earlier when Moses wrote in Genesis 6:5 that  God “saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart were continually on evil.”

God’s people have to fight off the forces of evil just as do those in the world, including the church world.  True saints are in a constant warring situation in which Satan is constantly searching for a chink in a saint’s armor.  And if he finds one he will attack it and, if a crack appears, enter and go to work.  This is what happened to the Apostle Peter as recorded in Matthew 16:13-17.

Even someone as close to Jesus as Peter had to work continuously to conquer self–man’s most tenacious and powerful enemy.  The episode begins with Jesus asking the disciples a crucial question: “Whom do men say that I, the Son of man, am?”  The disciple did not know.  Some said one thing while others said something else.  But Peter knew exactly who He was–the prophesied Son of God.  This was not knowledge generated by Peter himself; God had revealed that fact to him.

After hearing Peter’s response and reminding him of its origin, Jesus began to speak about His soon-coming death and resurrection.  Recall Peter’s response to Christ’s question.  Now, notice his response to His statements only moments later.  “Then Peter took him and began to REBUKE HIM, saying, ‘Remove such thoughts from your mind, Lord; this cannot be true'” (vss 21,22).  Peter actually rebuked the One he had just identified as “… the Christ, the Son of the living God,” the same Christ to Whom he had confessed: “You have the Words of eternal life” (Jn. 6:68).  In a moment of self-exaltation Peter thought he knew more than the creator of the universe.  No one is immune to those types of moments.  We must keep ourselves spiritually on guard through Bible study, prayer and fasting so that a chink will not appear in our armor, which is an open invitation for an attack from the king of evil.

Jesus, knowing from whence Peter’s rebuke came, acted quickly: “He turned and spoke to the devil who had prompted Peter’s heresy: “Get behind Me, Satan, you are an offence to me, for you are not interested in the things of God, but the things of man” (vs 23).  We must be vigilant at all times for “Satan walks about seeking whom he may devour”(1 Pet. 5:8).  Like a lion, he stalks his prey looking for a weakness.  Sighting one, he attacks.  His attacks come in the form of idolatry–man’s worship of self.

Peter had actually spoken a good thing–that Christ should not suffer and die.  However, the words had come straight from Satan.  Even quoting Scripture can be sinful if done in the wrong context (Lk. 4:10-12).  Peter’s rebuke had undoubtedly come shortly after his identification of Jesus as God’s Son, even as he was talking with Him.  Satan had found Peter’s weakness–pride–and had exploited it.  In a moment of weakness, Peter was convinced that he knew more about what Jesus should do than the Lord Himself.  Sound familiar?  Read the Introduction to this website to see a number of church “truths” that the Lord condemns as lies.  Evil men in high religious places, yielding to an attack of self-importance, had in the past declared them to have come directly from God Himself.  When their “truths” are proved to be Bible-proven lies, God loses and Satan wins.  I find this to be the case in 99.99% of the time when I expose the numerous discrepancies between what the church believes and does and what is written in the Book everyone proclaims as God’s truth.

Peter undoubtedly overcame his pride problem in that he spent the rest of his life in Christ’s service.  For certain it was only through continuous vigilance that he was able to do what he did with such perfection that Satan’s people killed him for doing it.  And let us not forget, Jesus of Nazareth had to exhibit great vigilance in order to remain holy throughout His earthly life.

Satan is constantly throwing spiritual leaven at man, particularly God’s saints, hoping that a little of it will get through their armor.  When that happens, a battle ensues.  We must be diligent in our examination of our armor so as to find and repair any chink that might have develop.  Those who do so will sit with Christ on His throne from whence he and His Lord will rule and reign over the universe forever.  Read God’s Very Elect: Future Caretakers of the Universe.  Key word–Caretakers.  L.J.