MUZZLING THE LION’S ROAR
“Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion…” (1 Peter 5:8).
Our cat epitomizes evil. Twice in the last week or so he has appeared at the patio doors with a bird in his mouth. He’s trying to impress us but I find it revolting to see this poor bird in the jaws of death. It truly makes me wonder if cats are not the spawn of Satan, the invention of Hell. One cannot ignore, however, the amazing ability of a cat like ours to be able to sneak up on a bird and snatch it.
Cats are not evil, just as lions are not evil, but it is easy to see why the Bible at times will portray evil as a lion. David speaks of his enemies as roaring lions opening their mouths wide against him (Ps 22:13). Paul might have been speaking metaphorically about being saved from the lion’s mouth in his letter to Timothy (2 Tim 4:17). In the book of Job the LORD asks Satan where he’s been and he answered, “From roaming through the earth and going back and forth in it” (Job 1:7). There is an illusion here to prowling like a lion.
Lions are very large cats, second in size only to the tiger. They weigh up to 500 pounds and can take down prey up to three times their size. For such a large animal they are incredibly stealthy. And did you know that a lion’s roar can be heard up to five miles away? Lions are a picture of strength and ferocity, a great adversary of the animal kingdom. So it makes sense to picture Satan as a prowling lion.
One thing about our passage today stands out as quite peculiar. Our enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion…he’s not sneaking up on us. He’s roaring and trying to scare us with his tongue, not his teeth. He’s trying to destroy the church by speaking his lies from beyond the hedge. He’s trying to make you tremble with deceptive words that sound like truth and fear the veracity of your faith. And you know he’s lyin’, that’s why the lion analogy fits.
Let’s identify 6 roars of the devil and what you can do about it. Share with me the truth of 1 Peter 5:6-11.
1. “You don’t need anyone”
The first roar of the devil we can identify is that “you don’t need anyone.” The church has disappointed many individuals who were looking for care and compassion. These folks are hurting or have been hurting and no one knew or cared to ask. So in a reaction of pride or self-sufficiency they proclaim that they don’t need anyone, especially the church.
Satan would like nothing better than to cut you off from the flock and get you alone. When we are alone he can fill our heads with more of his poison. He can feed that feeling of alienation you get from people in the church.
What does Peter say to this roar? “Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time” (v. 6). Humble yourself? Yes because while we are waiting for others to serve us, others are waiting for us to serve them. You are not the only one hurting. In your hurt God may be training you to comfort others where others have failed you. Peter used a meaningful metaphor in v. 5 when he tells everyone in the church to clothe themselves with humility. The picture is of putting on an apron to serve. An apron set apart a slave from a free person. Put on Christ and serve as he served.
Yes you do need others, if not to be served, then to serve.
2. “Prayer doesn’t help”
The second roar is that “prayer doesn’t help.” Oh how Satan would love for you to believe this one. When you pray he convinces us that our words are vain, that they just bounce off the ceiling. You never get what you ask for anyways. You ask and ask, pray and pray, and nothing changes. Or that’s what the devil would like you think. He wins if you believe his lie that prayer is about asking and getting, or not getting.
Peter wants us to focus on God, not on the words of our prayers. He wrote, “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you” (v. 7). The focus is clearly God. When we pray we certainly want to tell the Lord all our troubles. But the focus is not our troubles so much as it is the Lord who knows our troubles and who is able to care for us in those hard times. Anxiety is a paralyzing experience. It is fear out of control. When you hear the lion’s roar it is intended to stop you in your tracks. Paul too said, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God” (Phil 4:6).
3. “Pursue your own interests”
The third roar we often hear is “pursue your own interests.” There is nothing wrong with pursuing personal interests per se, unless they become a distraction to you in your spiritual growth. “Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour” (v. 8). It is easy to be gulped down by the many distractions of pleasure and personal ambition.
Peter’s response is to “Be self-controlled and alert” (v. 8). The meaning of this warning is to be clear-headed, that is, to be free from mental confusion. Don’t crowd the brain with too many activities. Lion tamers will often use a stool when they go into a lion’s cage. He holds the chair with the legs sticking out towards the lion. Apparently the lion cannot focus on all four legs at once and he is paralyzed. In a turnabout the devil would like to paralyze our faith with too many things. We have to turn the chair on him and heed Paul’s words: “Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others” (Phil 2:4).
4. “You don’t need God”
Another roar of the devil is “you don’t need God.” This is different from not needing anyone. Some folks think that if the church has abandoned them then they will just lone ranger it with God. But those who listen to this lie come to believe that they don’t need God either. If the church has disappointed you, then your faith can be disillusioned too. How can we trust God with our hurts when we continue to hurt without relief?
Peter charges us concerning this tactic of the devil, “Resist him, standing firm in the faith…” (v. 9). We are to renew our trust in God especially in these difficult times. James wrote, “Resist the devil and he will flee from you,” but he first said, “Submit yourselves to God” (Js 4:7). Put yourself under God and his plans for you. Trust in God’s ability to care for you, then stand and rebuke the devil with the truth. God will stand with you and the devil will not remain where there is truth.
5. “No one knows what you are going through”
When it comes to pain or suffering it often feels like no one could possibly know what you are feeling. The devil would love for you to believe that no one knows what you are going through. You are all alone and your suffering is unique to you. For the church in Peter’s time it was outright persecution for their faith which they experienced. But even they thought that they were the only ones experiencing this.
Peter replied, “…you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings” (v. 9). Look around. You know that your family issues are not unique, your health issues are comparable to the misery of others, and your other problems have been shared by many people. Suffering is universal. What we need to keep in mind is the plan. The devil’s plan is to break us through suffering. God’s plan is to shape us and mold us into Christ’s image through suffering. Pain is the crucible for faith’s power.
6. “God has forgotten you”
The last roar you will hear in your despair is “God has forgotten you.” Or have you forgotten God? Our forsakenness is Satan’s lure for the final pounce. To believe that God has forgotten us is a deception rooted in our ignorance of God himself.
Peter reminds us, “And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore and make you strong, firm and steadfast. To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen” (10-11). God has not forgotten us and the battle is only temporary. The God of all grace who has given us so much will not abandon us now at the moment of his final victory. After we have suffered a little while he will restore us. In the midst of our trial we must have faith that God is working all things out for his glory. And we are an important component of his glory. No he will not forget us.
Muzzle the lion. Tell him to put a sock in it. Whatever lie the devil is telling you, tell him the truth. Martin Luther struggled with depression and doubt during his lifetime but he battled on in the faith. This is what he wrote about 1 Peter 5:
Peter would, with his admonition, make Christians bold and confident to resisting the temptations of the devil and defending themselves. He would not have us feel terrified or despair before Satan, even though that wicked one press us hard through the instrumentality of the world and of our flesh, as well as by his direct onslaughts. We are not to fear though he seems too strong for us and though surrender to his prowess seems inevitable. We are to have a manly heart and fight valiantly through faith. We must be assured that if we remain firm in the faith we shall have strength and final victory. The devil shall not defeat us. We shall prove superior to him. We have been called of God and made Christians to the end that we renounce the devil and contend against him and thus maintain God’s name, God’s word and God’s kingdom against him. Christ our head has already in himself smitten and destroyed for us the devil and his power. In addition, he gives us faith and the Holy Spirit whereby we can wholly defeat Satan’s further wickedness and his attempts to overthrow us. A Christian should bear all this in mind, I say, and learn to experience the strength and power of faith, so will he not yield to temptation and enticement from the evil one. (Martin Luther)
And in his hymn, A Mighty Fortress is our God, he wrote this victorious line:
And though this world, with devils filled, should threaten to undo us, we will not fear, for God hath willed his truth to triumph through us: The prince of darkness grim, we tremble not for him; his rage we can endure, For Lo! His doom is sure – one little word will fell him.
