Be on Guard

1 Corinthians 16:13-14 says, "Be on guard. Stand firm in the faith. Act like men. Be strong. And do everything with love." In this post we'll focus on the first command.

1. Be on Guard

Paul was telling the Corinthians that they had a spiritual nemesis, named Satan, that they must guard themselves against.

After all...

• Who was working to cause the division Paul wrote about in chapters 1-4? 
• Who was encouraging the immorality Paul wrote about in chapters 5-6? 
• Who was working overtime to split up the marriages Paul referenced in chapter 7? 
• Who encouraged the selfish behavior Paul condemned in chapters 8-10? 
• Who enticed Christians to defy God’s divine order that Paul wrote about in chapter 11? 
• Who was celebrating as the young Christians at Corinth misused the spiritual gifts that Paul wrote about in chapters 12-14? 
• Who was behind the false doctrine that there was no resurrection of the dead that Paul wrote about in chapter 15? 

The answer is Satan! So Paul instructed the Corinthians to be on guard. Well, the same devil who was out to trip up the Corinthians, is out to destroy us as well. The apostle Peter put it this way in 1 Peter 5:8, “Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” When he says be alert and of sober mind, that's just another way of saying be on guard.

Now I want you to imagine you're in a war. How helpful do you think it would be if you knew your enemy's strategy and plan of attack? That would be helpful right?

Well spiritually speaking, we're at war. Ephesians 6:12 says "For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places." But we don't need to freak out because God has given us our enemy's strategy and plan of attack. It's found in 1 John 2:15-17 which says, “Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you. For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world.” 

When Satan tries to trip you up, he will attempt to appeal to you in one of these three areas. 

1. A craving for physical pleasure ( the lust of the flesh). This is called hedonism which says: pleasure will make you happy. 

2. A craving for everything we see (the lust of the eyes). This is called materialism which says: possessions will make you happy. 

3. Pride in our achievements and possessions (the pride of life). This is called secularism which says: position will make me happy. 

Paul said in 2 Corinthians 2:11, “For we are not unaware of his [Satan's] schemes”. Now you can say this too. And you can use this knowledge to "Be on guard..."