In the first epistle of Peter
in chapter 5 and verse 5 we read the following. Likewise ye younger
submit yourselves unto the elder, yea all of you be subject one
to another and be clothed with humility, for God resisteth the
proud and giveth grace to the humble. Humble yourselves therefore
under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due
time. Cast in all your care upon him,
for he careth for you. Be sober, be vigilant, because
your adversary the devil as a roaring lion walketh about, seeking whom
he may devour. Whom resist steadfast in the
faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished
in your brethren that are in the world. the God of all grace,
who have called us under his eternal glory by Christ Jesus. After that ye have suffered a
while, make you perfect, establish, strengthen, settle you. To him
be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. Cast in all your
care upon him, for he careth for you. Be sober, be vigilant,
because your adversary the devil as a roaring lion walketh about
seeking whom he may devour. The people of God walking through
this world on a pilgrimage through a barren land seeking a destination,
a country which is not of this earth but which is heavenly,
as Abraham, who was called out of Ur of the Chaldees to follow
his Lord to the promised land, sought a heavenly country and
journeyed on a pilgrimage, a pilgrimage of faith, looking under his Saviour,
the one who should die for him, the one who would wash him from
his sins. The children of God on such a
pilgrimage face many trials and much opposition. And most of
all, they are faced with an adversary, the devil. An adversary who is
malevolent, malicious, deadly, goes about as a roaring lion
seeking whom he may devour. A roaring lion, a deadly adversary,
a dreadful foe, one who is not to be trifled
with, one who has great power and can bring about much trouble Be sober, be vigilant because
of this adversary. Resist him steadfast in the faith
Peter exhorts. Stand fast for if he can he will
devour you. Paul says in 2 Timothy in chapter
4 that he was delivered out of the mouth of the lion Paul, in
his lifetime, knew what it was to have opposition. He knew what
it was to have men set against him for preaching the gospel.
He knew what it was to see the rage in people's faces. And he
knew what it was to suffer at their hands, both verbally and
physically. He knew what it was to be thrown
in jail and to be whipped and beaten. He knew what persecution
truly was. And he knew even what it was
to be cast to lions as the Romans sought to do with the Christians
at that time. And yet he could say that his
Lord and his God had delivered him out of the mouth. of the
lion. Well he may have written about
a physical lion, but surely behind his words there is the spiritual
application also. His God not only delivered him
out of the mouth of lions, the beasts of this earth, but he
was also delivered out of the mouth for that one. that adversary,
the devil, who goes about as a roaring lion, seeking whom
he may devour. Likewise, we read of others who,
like Paul, walk by faith. Hebrews 11, catalogues and number. who walked through this world
by faith and it is said of them of many things. But of some it
is said that by faith they stopped the mouths of lions. They stopped the mouths of lions.
Naturally speaking, both they and Paul could do nothing in
the face of lions. Lions are ferocious animals.
Thrown to the lions, you don't stand a chance. If the lions
are hungry and have a taste for meat, they'll rip you to shreds.
Then how did they stand? How was Paul delivered out of
the mouth of the lion? How were these to stop the mouths
of lions? By faith. By faith. It wasn't them who delivered
themselves out of the mouths of lions. They couldn't stop
the mouths of the lions. But they had one who watched
over them. One who cared for them. One upon
whom they could cast all their care for. He cares for them.
One who could deliver them. One who had delivered them. One
who had delivered them from their sins and the wrath to come. one
who saved them from judgment, one who washed them clean by
his own blood, one who delivered them from all their foes. Then
what are lions to him? By faith they stopped the mouths
of lions. We are of course reminded also
of Daniel of old, who because of his faith and because of his
stand in a wicked nation amongst an evil people, a godless people,
because he stood and walked a different way, because he loved the Lord
and would worship the Lord, and would rather serve God than serve
man. And when man set his laws against
him and demanded that he walked a certain way, he would say,
I cannot walk your way, I must serve my Lord. And because he
served God and not man, man threw him to the lions. And we know
what happened to Daniel. For to the consternation of the
people and the king, He was not ripped to shreds. He was not
devoured. But his God, like Paul's God,
like the God of those who walk by faith in Hebrews 11, his God
delivered him out of the mouths of the lions. Yes, Daniel walked
by faith. And we too are called here by
Peter to stand fast, to be steadfast in the faith, and to cast all
our care upon Him whom our faith looks unto, our Lord Jesus, He
who cares for us. Why? Because we have this adversary,
the devil, who goes about as a roaring lion, seeking whom
he may devour. We may not live in the days of
Rome, and we may not have those who would physically throw us
into the lion's pit, but we're in no less danger, and there
are no blunted teeth that would rip us to pieces, for we have
the same adversary today. Paul was not really bothered
about physical lions, though that would indeed not been something
nice, but his real foe was the same foe that we have. His real
adversary, the one who could really cause him harm if God
let him, was his adversary, the devil. And we have the same adversary
today as these of old who walked by faith did. and we have the
same who cares for us and watches over us and will protect us from
this adversary. Be sober, be vigilant because
your adversary the devil as a roaring lion walketh about seeking whom
he may devour. He's as a roaring lion. He roars
at the people of God. He'd eat them if he could. He'd
devour them if he could. He'd pull them from limb to limb. He'd shed their blood if he could. He hates them as he hates their
master. He's malevolent, malicious, deadly. He is as a roaring lion. Now this is very important to
note the words here. It does not say that our adversary
the devil is a roaring lion. Peter does not say that he is
a lion, but that he is as a roaring lion. He is likened to a lion. He appears like a lion. He walks
around as a lion. He tries to roar like a lion. He appears as a lion. But Peter
does not say that he is a lion, but that he is as a roaring lion. Now why? Why is this important
to note? Well it's important because we
read of lions elsewhere in the scriptures. We read of lions
in various places, but especially important because we read of
one particular lion in the scriptures. And the devil is not that lion,
though he might like to appear as that lion. We read, of course,
of Christ, who is said to be the lion of the tribe of Judah,
the lion of Judah. Christ is a lion. And Christ
is a lion in a way that the devil can only pretend to be. And the
devil goes about as a roaring lion because he hates Christ. And he hates those who follow
Christ. And he hates the authority and
the rule which Christ has over all this earth and over his people. And our adversary, the devil,
would seek to usurp that authority and usurp that position of rule
and usurp the position which Christ has in the hearts of his
people. The devil seeks to imitate Christ
and he seeks to have people follow him and be deceived by him because
of his appearance. So he wanders around, he walks
about this world as a roaring lion. He seeks to wander about
showing off his might and his power. making a great noise,
making a great display of strength and authority and having many follow him and
many be deceived by his roar, deceived by his voice, deceived
by what he says. He goes about as a roaring lion
the same creature that Christ is as the Lion of Judah, portraying
the same characteristics of strength, of rule, of being a king, of
power, authority, with a loud voice. The adversary seeks to
usurp Christ's place and usurp Christ's affections in the hearts
of the people. He goes about as a roaring lion,
masquerading as one. This is what he's like. And this
is why Peter says, be sober, be vigilant. Resist this adversary
steadfast in the faith, because he is a subtle adversary. It is not simply that he will
seek to devour you, it is not simply that he's a deadly foe,
but it's also because he is a deceptive foe. And he comes along masquerading
to be a lion, like your Lord and your Saviour, pretending
to be the one whom you follow. And he comes along in the eyes
of many in this world and pretends to be Christ. He comes with the
same name and the same titles and the same descriptions. He
comes along and he quotes the scriptures to many. And he says,
lo, here is Jesus. Lo, there is Jesus. And he speaks
of himself in this light. And he would have people follow
him. and he would say that I am a
saviour and I will save you and he roars and he shouts and he
deceives them with his message but he is not the lion who is
the lion of Judah and he is not the Christ whom he pretends to
be and he is not the Jesus whose name he steals And his message
which he roars is not the gospel which declares the Christ who
is the Lion of Judah. He brings with him a subtle deception
and a subtle difference. He is as a lion but he is not
the lion. He takes many of the lion's words
and many of the lion's descriptions He uses the scriptures. He describes
a Jesus that he leads the people to follow. But he's not the Jesus
who came to save his people from their sins. He's another Jesus
with another gospel. He's a Jesus that dies for everyone. He's a Jesus that makes salvation
possible if they will. He's a Jesus that puts the power
into man's hands to save himself. He's a lion, a Jesus that comes
and roars, but man must do the following. Man must decide to
follow him. Man must take his salvation. He's another Jesus, and yet he
looks like a lion, and he roars like a lion. And the people see
this lion and they're taken in by this lion and this lion eats
them up. He takes them and he devours
them and he takes their heart and he wins their heart and he
causes them to follow him. But they're following another
lion from the Lion of Judah. They're following one who would
seek to usurp the power and the throne of the Lion of Judah. Who would seek to steal his dominion
and his throne and his authority. He is as a lion, but he is not
the lion. He looks like him, he sounds
like him, but there are differences. For this lion steals. the authority
and the throne and the power of God. And he causes his followers
to steal the authority and the throne and the power of God. He puts the power in their hands. He says, you will be saved if
you decide to follow. You will be saved if you live
and walk like this. You will be saved if you will. And so the people hear the roaring
of this lion. And so they are devoured. And
most of today's religion is taken up by this lion. And this is
why Peter says, to be sober and to be vigilant. To resist him
steadfast in the faith. Because this lion is a lion you
will only find out if you are sober and vigilant and steadfast
in the faith. He is resisted by the truth. and he is found out by the truth. And you will only discover him
to be false. You will only discover his roar
to be a whimper. You will only discover that he
is not whom he pretends to be when you have the truth revealed
to you. And when you test his roar and
his claims and his message by that truth. For the gospel of
Christ The gospel which declares the lion of the tribe of Judah. This gospel differs from the
gospel of our adversary, the devil, who goes about as a roaring
lion. This gospel declares a king and
a savior who saves whom he wills, not who they will. a king and
a saviour, a lion who rules over all, a lion who is sovereign,
a king who is sovereign, one who does what he says he will
do, one who speaks and it is, one who declares and it is done,
one who knows the end from the beginning, One who from all time
and all eternity purposed to save a people and He came into
this world as the Son of God. He came as a man and He came
to save that people. He came as a man and He died
as a man. He went to the cross in the place
of that people. The Lion of Judah, the King,
the Son of God, went, he came for the salvation of his own,
he came to save sinners, he came to save his people from their
sins. He came carrying the names of
a multitude written upon his heart, names given to him by
his Father from all eternity. He came with those particular
names and He went to the cross and He was nailed to the cross
in the place of that people. And His Father poured out His
wrath and His judgment against the sins of that people that
He might save that people, His people, from their sins. And having died under that wrath,
having been judged under the outpouring of the wrath of his
father against the sins of that people, that wayward, that wicked,
that corrupt people. But a people whom he chose, a
people whom he loves, a people whom he set his love upon from
all eternity, whom he loves today, whom he will love forevermore,
that people Having died for that people, he saved that people. And there is not one of that
number, not one of those names which were engraved upon his
heart, who will ever be plucked out of his hands. This is the
lion that came to save his own. This is the Lion of Judah, this
is the Christ, the King, the Saviour, one who came to save
a people and one who saved everyone for whom he died. This is that
Saviour, a sovereign King, a sovereign King. He willed to save He chose
a people out of His good pleasure, elected from all eternity, elected
unto salvation, a people chosen for whom He would die, and everyone
for whom He died, He saved with an eternal salvation. He is sovereign,
and yet the one who would take His name and the one who masquerades
as a lion, the one who roars against him and against this
people and against this message. his message, his gospel, the
one who roars against his sovereignty and his rule and his will and
his right to work out his will and his right to save those whom
his father gave him and none other, his right to save some
and to damn some, his right to do what he pleases, the one who
roars against him, hates that message, and preaches another
message, another message, whom we must resist steadfast in the
faith. And it's because that one who
goes about as a roaring lion has another message that the
faith will find him out. for his message is not of this
sovereign king who dies for all whom the father gave him and
saved all whom the father gave him and who sends his spirit
to find all who the father gave him and brings them unto life
and brings them in surely to believe on his name and to live
forevermore. This roaring lion roars against
that message. And all who follow him roar against
that message. They say it is not fair. We want
the right to choose. We want to be in charge of our
destiny. Be sober. Be vigilant. Resist steadfast in the faith. Yes, there is another lion. Another
lion with another gospel. The gospel. For the gospel of
that lion is another. But the lion of Judah comes with
the gospel of grace. Yes, there's another lion. A
lion greater than any. A lion greater than this pretender. A lion upon whom we may cast
all our care. A lion who protects his own. A lion who protects his own from
every foe. A lion who will protect them
from him who goes about as a roaring lion. A lion who will protect
his own from him who would devour them. There's not one bite of
that adversary, the devil, which will cause one child of God to
die. That adversary, the devil, might
get his paw against them at times. He might draw blood at times.
He might set his teeth around their arms at times. He might
give them a scare. He might lead them left, right
and centre. He might confuse them with his
doctrines and his messages and his falsehoods. He might cause
them to doubt and to fear. He might roar with all his might
and cause them to cry out to their God to help them. He might
bring them into a desperate place. But they have a greater lion
who's got his hand around them. They have a greater lion upon
whom they may cast all their care. They have a lion whose
roar is louder and stronger. A lion who defeated the devil
upon the cross. A lion who crushed him underfoot. a lion who picks them up and
plucks his sheep out of the mouth of this roaring lion and eats
them safely into their eternal pasture. They're called to resist
in the faith and they will resist. because their lion will keep
them in the faith, he will lead them in the faith, he will speak
to them in the faith, he reveals his faith and his gospel to them,
he causes them to be steadfast, he grounds them in the truth,
he settles them in the truth, he establishes them For this
lion, their lion, is the God of all grace, who have called
them unto eternal glory by Christ Jesus. And though they may suffer
a while, He makes them perfect. He establishes them, strengthens
them, and settles them. And this is why to Him there
is glory and dominion forever and ever. Oh they have a lion
greater than any. That lion, the lion of Judah. We read of him in Revelation
of course. In chapter 5 we read, one of
the elders who said unto John, weep not, behold the lion of
the tribe of Judah, the root of David, hath prevailed to open
the book and to loose the seven seals thereof. that book declaring
the eternal purposes of God, of that number whom he should
save, of his purpose to save them. He's opened a book and
he's come to bring the purposes of that book to pass. This Lion
of Judah, he came and he saved them and he will not lose one
of them. That Lion who was prophesied
of old, In Genesis 49, the 12 tribes,
the 12 tribes having been delivered out of Egypt, the blessings are
described of them. And Judah, the tribe of Judah,
is described as a lion's whelp. And of the tribe of Judah, they
sprang by natural descent, Christ, born of Mary, The Son of God
made flesh, the promised seed, the Saviour promised of all time,
the One who would come to save His people from their sins. A lion's whelp, Christ the Lion
of Judah. Oh, he is a lion, a strong lion,
a majestic lion, a king, a mighty king, an almighty king, one who
rules, one who conquers all his enemies, one who roars and is
heard, one whose voice when he speaks cannot be ignored. When he roars, when he speaks
in his gospel, should he come unto you by his spirit in his
gospel, you will hear his roar. When he comes and declares unto
you what you are, a guilty, vile, wayward sinner, corrupt from
head to toe, over whom the wrath of God hangs if you are left
to yourself in such a state, when he roars you'll tremble,
when his voice comes you'll be brought to your knees and you'll
cry out unto him, cast me not away, have mercy upon me, save
O Lord. When he roars, you hear. When
he roars, you will hear not just of judgment. If he comes unto you in his gospel
and roars unto you through his gospel, that gospel will be one
of two things to you. It will either be a saver of
life unto life or of death unto death. you'll either reject it
and cast his words in his teeth, and his roar will be unto you
of judgment. But if he's merciful unto you
to open your ears to that gospel, and that gospel comes unto you
as words of life, as living words, as a savour of life unto life,
then that roar will be one that says that the judgment for you
is past, for I have taken the judgment away, and I have swallowed
up death in victory. I have taken your sins and put
them upon my back, and my Father has judged them in me. His roar
is a roar you will hear, and rather than a roar which brings
terror to your soul, It will be as words of peace, which bring
forgiveness into your heart. Oh, will you hear this lion?
Several times Hosea speaks of the Lord as a lion. He says,
I will be, the Lord says, I will be unto Ephraim as a lion and
as a young lion to the house of Judah. I, even I, will tear
and go away. I will take away and none shall
rescue him. He says in chapter 11, of the
people of the Lord, they shall walk after the Lord. He shall
roar like a lion. When he shall roar, then the
children shall tremble from the west. Oh yes, the people of God
have a lion. Have you heard his roar? Have
you heard his roar? Which lion are you going to follow? Which lion are you going to hear? There's one who looks like a
lion, but he isn't. And should you follow him, he'll
devour you. But there's one who is a lion,
a majestic, a mighty, a righteous, a perfect, a sovereign lion. And should you hear His roar,
His voice, you'll discover salvation and life and righteousness in
Him. Yes, there's a lion, an adversary. And there's a lion, the Lion
of Judah, who is a savior. And it is said of the Lord's
people that in Christ they are lions. There is a description
of a third lion in the scriptures. For the Lord's people, those
who have heard the roar of the lion of Judah, those who have
heard his voice in the gospel, those who have heard his pronouncement
of forgiveness to them in particular, those who have heard of his blood
shed upon the tree, those who have heard the spirit declaring
that that blood has washed them clean. Those who have felt that
blood sprinkled upon their hearts and know that they are no longer
guilty, no longer sinful, that their sins were no longer judged
them but that through His death in their place they have been
washed clean. They who were once corrupt and
sinful are now perfect and righteous in Him. Righteous, justified,
these in Christ are described in the book of Proverbs and chapter
28 and verse 1 as follows. The wicked flee when no man pursueth,
but the righteous are bold as a lion. The righteous are bold
as a lion. Well, what makes them bold? and
what makes them righteous? But the lion who died in their
place, their king and their savior, He made them righteous, and their
strength is in Him. They have no strength. They are
not bold by nature. They cannot resist dead fast
in the faith, except that one. save them, accept that one is
in them, accept that one is their strength in their weakness, they
are bold as a lion, their place is in him, in him they live in
him they have their beard in him they walk they cast all their
cares upon him for he cares for them he is their all in all he
is their lion they can be sober and vigilant they can stand when
their adversary the devil comes unto them roaring as a lion because
of the one in whom they live they are in Christ and He roars
for them. He fights their battles for them. He is their strength. Be not
cast down. Do not fear the adversary. Do not fear what man can do unto
you. If you're in Christ, He's your
strength, your lion, and in Him, as a righteous in him, you can
be bold as a lion. For he, when though a lion gave
himself to be delivered into the hands of men, those men and
that foe, that adversary sought to devour him, they came upon
him as lions. In Psalm 22 we read of course
his cries upon the cross. My God, my God, why hast thou
forsaken me? We read of his torment when men
would rip him asunder. We read that many bulls have
compassed me, strong bulls of Bashan have beset me round. They
gaped upon me with their mouths as a ravening and a roaring lion. I am poured out like water and
all my bones are out of joint. My heart is like wax, it is melted
in the midst of my bowels. My strength is dried up like
a pot's earth and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws and now has brought
me into the dust of death. Dogs have compassed me. The assembly
of the wicked have enclosed me. They pierced my hands and my
feet. I may tell all my bones. They
look and stare upon me. They part my garments among them
and cast lots upon my vesture. Be not thou far from me, O Lord. O my strength, haste thee to
help me. Deliver my soul from the sword,
my darling from the power of the dog. Save me from the lion's
mouth, for thou hast heard me. from the horns of the unicorns. Yes, this one, the Lion of Judah,
when nailed to the cross, felt to be surrounded by lions. And
that adversary came upon him and he sought to devour him. The adversary, the devil, sought
to devour Christ upon the cross. He saw the sins and he brought
down the condemnation. He said, he's guilty. And as
the Lord laid upon Christ the sins of his people, he was guilty. And the condemnation did come
down upon Christ. And yet, he had the power to
lay down his life, and the power to take it up again. And though
he died, and though the people round about roared upon him as
lions, and though the adversary had his hour, In that hour, Christ
crushed the adversary. In that hour, he delivered all
his people from the lion's grip. In that hour, he saved his people
with a mighty salvation. In that hour, he let his people
go. And it's because of what he did
in that hour that they can stand firm in the face of this adversary. being freed through His death,
being delivered from sin and delivered from death and delivered
from this enemy, their sins having been blotted out, Christ having
died for them, Christ rising again from the dead for them,
and they in Christ, they rose in power in Him. They rose in
power as mighty conquerors with this Lion who conquered his foes,
with this mighty King, this mighty Saviour, this mighty Sovereign
Ruler of the earth, this One who cares for them, this One,
this God of all grace, this Saviour, this One who will strengthen
and settle them, this One who will save them with an everlasting
salvation, this one who loves them with an everlasting love
they rose victorious in him and he rose victorious with them
having done all that he purposed all that he set out to do and
crushing their enemy underfoot that's satan that devil, that
serpent, that one who pretends to be a lion, but whose roar
in the face of this mighty saviour is but a whimper. Fear not, child
of God. Your king, your saviour, your
lion goes before you and he will lead you through whatever dangers
you may face in this world, he will lead you safely to that
safe haven above as a mighty king a mighty lion, your lion,
the Lion of Judah. Amen.