A Always Hungery Lion

ICCC

“The Always Hungry Lion?”

1 Peter 5:8-14

3-7-04

Any lion trainer will tell you that there is no such thing as a tame lion. The animal may be on his good behavior today and be a whirlwind of ferocity tomorrow. He may eat off your hand, or permit you to put your head in his mouth, but tomorrow he may tear you limb from limb if a sudden fury arises within his wild heart.

1. Satan (adversary), his most common name, used some 52 times.

2. The devil (slanderer), used 35 times.

3. The prince of the power of the air

4. The god of this age

5. The king of death

6. The prince of this world

7. The ruler of darkness

8. Leviathan (one who dwells in the sea of humanity)

9. Lucifer (light-bearer, shining one)

10. The dragon

11. The deceiver

12. Apollyon (destroyer)

13. Beelzebub (prince of demons)

14. Belial (vileness, ruthlessness)

15. The wicked one

16. The tempter

17. The accuser of the brethren

18. An angel of light

19. A liar

20. A murderer21. The Enemy

22. A roaring lion

The name we are going to focus on today is the last one on the list, the Lion. We tend to look at lions from the perspective of movies like the Lion King or The Wizard of Oz and think that lions are all cute and cudley. But this morning I want to give us a more accurate picture of the type of lion that Satan really is. He is not at all like cowardly lion portrayed in the Wizard of Oz, he is more like the lions you would see on Wild Kingdom, when there is a lonely wounded animal and a pack of lions swarm it and eventually lunge at it in full attack mode with only one thing on their mind, and that is to satisfy themselves by devouring the helpless animal.

1 Peter 5:8 says, “Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour ” When we are not connected to Jesus Christ and we are off all alone that is exactly when the lion chooses to swarm and attack us. Satan knows that when we are not connected to Jesus we too are vulnerable and in danger of being attacked and devoured.

Be Watchful (1 Peter 5:8–9)

One reason we have cares is because we have an enemy. As the serpent, Satan deceives (2 Cor. 11:3); and as the lion, Satan devours. The word “Satan” means “adversary,” and the word “devil” means “the accuser, the slanderer.” The recipients of this letter had already experienced the attacks of the slanderer (1 Peter 4:4, 14), and now they would meet “the lion” in their fiery trial. Peter gave them several practical instructions to help them get victory over their adversary. I believe that these instructions can also help us to have victory over our adversary.

I. Respect him—he is dangerous. I worked for my father for a couple of years and my dad is a Master Electrician. I remember in the beginning I was so careful not to touch any wires. I think dad knew how scared I was to get shocked so he went out and bought me some wire testers and with those things I was able to test everything before I touched it. But I remember watching dad back then and still today work around high voltage with no fear whatsoever, I asked, How do you do it?” And dad smiled and said, “Well, the first thing you have to do is respect it. Then you can handle it.

Satan is a dangerous enemy. He is a serpent who can bite us when we least expect it. He is a destroyer and an accuser. He has great power and intelligence, and a host of demons who assist him in his attacks against God’s people. He is a formidable enemy; we must never joke about him, ignore him, or underestimate his ability. We must “be sober” and have our minds under control when it comes to our conflict with Satan .

II. Recognize him—he is a great pretender. Because he is a subtle foe, we must “be vigilant” and always on guard. His strategy is to counterfeit whatever God does. According to the Parable of the Tares, wherever God plants a true Christian, Satan seeks to plant a counterfeit. He would deceive us were it not for the Word of God and the Spirit of God. The better we know God’s Word, the keener our spiritual senses will be to detect Satan at work. We must be able to “test the spirits” and know the true from the false (1 John 4:1–3) says, Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God