1 Peter 5:9

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 the more steadfast, as ye know the same kind of afflictions are accomplished in - That is, suffered by, your brethren, till the measure allotted them is filled up.

Whom resist,....

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.

It is a sign of God's favor rather than displeasure, that Satan is allowed to harass you, as he did Job. Your fellow Christians have the same battle of faith and prayer against Satan. are--are being accomplished according to the appointment of God. in the world--lying in the wicked one, and therefore necessarily the scene of "tribulation" (Joh 16:33).

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.

Whom resist - Stand against him, αντιστητε. Though invulnerable, he is not unconquerable: the weakest follower of God can confound and overpower him, if he continue steadfast in the faith - believing on the Son of God, and walking uprightly before him. To a soul thus engaged he can do no damage. The same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren - It is the lot of all the disciples of Christ to suffer persecution. The brotherhood, αδελφοτης, the Christian Church, everywhere is exposed to the assaults of men and devils; you are persecuted by the heathen among whom ye live, and from among whom ye are gathered into the fold of Christ: but even those who profess the same faith with you, and who are resident among the Jews, (for so I think εν κοσμῳ, in the world, is here to be understood), are also persecuted, both heathens and Jews being equally opposed to the pure and holy doctrines of the Gospel. Any man who has read the Greek Testament with any attention must have observed a vast number of places in which the word κοσμος, which we translate world, means the Jewish people and the Jewish state, and nothing else.

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 …