1 Peter 5:8

Therefore, beloved brethren, we must be on our guard, and strive with all our powers to repel, with solicitous and full watch-fulness, the enemy, raging and aiming his darts against every part of our body in which we can be stricken and wounded, in accordance with what the Apostle Peter, in his epistle, forewarns and teaches, saying, "Be sober, and watch; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, goeth about seeking any one to devour."

For indeed if virtue be absent, it is no advantage to be an angel by nature; and the Devil is a proof of this, who was an angel once: but if virtue be present, it is no loss to be a man by nature; and John is a proof of this, who was a man, and Elias who went up into heaven, and all those who are about to depart thither. For these indeed, though with bodies, were not prevented from dwelling in heaven: while those others, though without bodies, could not remain in heaven. Let no one then grieve or be vexed with his nature as if it were a hindrance to him, but with his will. He the Devil from being incorporeal became a lion: for lo! it saith, "Our adversary, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:" we from being corporeal, become angels.

"Be sober-minded; be watchful." On those who are spiritually asleep (this, however, is to aspire to vain things) and from this, the watchfulness of souls is weighed down, the evil and most savage beast of despair is accustomed to leap upon them. Therefore, Christ's disciple, …

The soul is disposed to the gift of fortitude through the unconquerable shield of faith. The devil draws man to the concupiscence of the flesh, to the concupiscence of the eyes, and to the pride of life. What is the means of resisting these? Through …

Be sober and vigilant, etc. In the exposition of this sentence, let us place not our own words, but those of the blessed Cyprian. "He (says he) circles around us individually, and like an enemy besieging enclosed walls, he inspects and tests to see if …

Probably, those to whom the Apostle Peter wrote this endured many sorrows for Christ; that is why he comforts them both at the beginning and at the end of the epistle — at the beginning by the fact that they become partakers in the sufferings …

Upon those who are accustomed to sleeping spiritually (which means being absorbed in vanity) and thereby burden the sobriety of the soul, the cunning beast of despair attacks. Warning against this, the disciple of Christ urges us to always be vigilant and to beware of …

Be sober, be vigilant,.... The apostle had exhorted to each of these before; see 1Pe 1:13 but thought fit to repeat them; sobriety and watchfulness being exceeding necessary and useful in the Christian life; and the one cannot well be without the other: unless a man is sober in body and mind, he will not be watchful, either over himself or others, or against the snares of sin, Satan, and the world; and if he is not on his watch and guard, he is liable to every sin and temptation.

But in the mean time watch. There is a close connection between this, and the duly casting our care upon him. How deeply had St. Peter himself suffered for want of watching!

Be sober - Avoid drunkenness of your senses, and drunkenness in your souls; be not overcharged with the concerns of the world. Be vigilant - Awake, and keep awake; be always watchful; never be off your guard; your enemies are alert, they are never off theirs. Your adversary the devil - This is the reason why ye should be sober and vigilant; ye have an ever active, implacable, subtle enemy to contend with.

SATAN, who is called by various names in the Scriptures, all descriptive of his bad qualities, was once an angel of God— perhaps one of the chief among the fiery ones— "Foremost of the sons of light, Midst the bright ones doubly bright." Sin, all-destroying sin, which has made an Aceldama out of Eden, soon found inhabitants for Hell in Heaven itself, plucking one of the brightest stars of the morning from its sphere and quenching it in blackest night.

Through man's sin he got God's justice on his side against us; but Christ, our Advocate, by fulfilling all the demands of justice for us, has made our redemption altogether consistent with justice. walketh about-- (Job 1:7; So the children of the wicked one cannot rest. Evil spirits are in 2Pe 2:4;

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens

SATAN, who is called by various names in the Scriptures, all descriptive of his bad qualities, was once an angel of God— perhaps one of the chief among the fiery ones— "Foremost of the sons of light, Midst the bright ones doubly bright." Sin, all-destroying sin, which has made an Aceldama out of Eden, soon found inhabitants for Hell in Heaven itself, plucking one of the brightest stars of the morning from its sphere and quenching it in blackest night. From that moment this evil spirit despairing of all restoration to his former glories and happiness has sworn perpetual hostility against the God of Heaven. He has had the audacity openly to attack the Creator in all His works. He stained creation. He pulled down man from the throne of Glory and rolled him in the mire of depravity. With the trail of the serpent he despoiled all Eden's beauty and left it a waste that brings forth thorns and briers—a land that must be tilled with the sweat of one's face. Not content with that—inasmuch as he had spoiled the first creation—he has incessantly attempted to despoil the second. Man once made in the image of God, he soon ruined. Now he uses all his devices, all his crafts, all the power of his skill and all the venom of his malice to destroy twice-made man created in the image of Christ Jesus. With ceaseless toil and untiring patience he is ever occupied in endeavoring to crush the Seed of the woman. There is no believer in Christ, no follower of that which is true and lovely and of good repute, who will not find himself, at some season or other, attacked by this foul fiend and the legions enlisted in his service. Now, behold your adversary. Yes, though you cannot see his face, or detect his form, believe that such a foe withstands you. It is not a myth, nor a dream, nor a superstitious imagination. He is as real a being as ourselves.

Be sober - While you cast your cares Upon God, and have no anxiety on that score, let your solicitude be directed to another point. Do not doubt that he is able and willing to support and befriend you, but be watchful against your foes. See the word used here fully explained in the notes at 1Th 5:6. Be vigilant - This word (γρηγορέω grēgoreō) is everywhere else in the New Testament rendered “watch.” See Mat 24:42-43; Mat 25:13; Mat 26:38, Mat 26:40-41. It means that we should exercise careful circumspection, as one does when he is in danger. In reference to the matter here referred to, it means that we are to be on our guard against the wiles and the power of the evil one. Your adversary the devil - Your enemy; he who is opposed to you. Satan opposes man in his best interests. He resists his efforts to do good; his purposes to return to God; his attempts to secure his own salvation. There is no more appropriate appellation that can be given to him than to say that he resists all our efforts to obey God and to secure the salvation of our own souls. As a roaring lion - Compare Rev 12:12. Sometimes Satan is represented as transforming himself into an angel of light, (see the notes at 2Co 11:14); and sometimes, as here, as a roaring lion: denoting the efforts which he makes to alarm and overpower us. The lion here is not the crouching lion - the lion stealthfully creeping toward his foe - but it is the raging monarch of the woods, who by his terrible roar would intimidate all so that they might become an easy prey. The particular thing referred to here, doubtless, is persecution, resembling in its terrors a roaring lion. […]

I looked at the strange cabman as he lessened in the distance and the mists. I do not know whether I was right in fancying that although his face had seemed so honest there was something unearthly and demoniac about him when seen from behind. …

For the first injustice, of which we have spoken, still recurs; and if we grant that the East has a right to its difference, it is not realised in what we differ. That nursery tale from nowhere about St. George and the Dragon really expresses …

And there is this real moral in the matter; that we have to remember that civilization as it goes on ought not perhaps to grow more fighting--but ought to grow more ready to fight. The more valuable and reposeful is the order we have to …