The Bible Breakdown

1 Peter 05: The Devil is a Toothless Cat

• Brandon Cannon • Episode 650

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Speaker 1:

Well, everybody, welcome back to the Bible Breakdown podcast with your host, pastor Brandon, today. 1 Peter, chapter 5, and today's title is the Devil is a Toothless Cat. The devil is a toothless cat. I can't wait to make fun of cats with my brothers and sisters today. But before we get into that, as always, if you like what we're doing here, make sure you like, share and subscribe to the YouTube channel and the podcast. Make sure you leave us a five-star review on the podcast and make sure you're going to the Bible Breakdown Discussion on Facebook.

Speaker 1:

The more we dig, the more we find. If you have your Bible and want to open up with me to 1 Peter 5, don't forget that the overall goal that Peter is saying to all of us, inspired by the Holy Spirit, is that Christ is that eternal living hope and that it fills us with excitement and with joy and it gives us direction in our life. Because, since we know that's what's coming, we live throughout the day. It's almost like when you know that vacation is coming on Friday afternoon, it's like Monday, but vacation is coming and you got a long week ahead of you. And I don't know about you guys, but the week before vacation, to me it seems like it lasts forever. It seems like there's 99,000 things on the to-do list, but as it gets closer, man, I get more excited. If I can just make it to Friday, I can just make it to Friday. And that is what Peter is saying. He's saying, man, friday's coming. I don't know when, but it's coming, and he's just. He's talking about these different things and as he's finishing up his letter to these surrounding cities around Rome, he is finally telling them he's going to give vice to old men and young men and he's going to say stand against the devil. He's a lion, but he's toothless. He has a roar, but he has no bite. So we're going to, so we're going to read through this. We're going to make fun of cats. It's going to be great.

Speaker 1:

So if you're ready, let's dive into God's word. First Peter, chapter five, verse one says this and now he's finishing up, he's like he's landing the plane. And now a word to you who are elders in the churches. I too am an elder and a witness to the sufferings of Christ, and I too will share in his glory when he is revealed to the whole world. As a fellow elder, I appeal to you care for the flock that God has entrusted to you. Watch over it willingly, not grudgingly, for what you will get, not what you get. Let me try that again. Care for the flock that God has entrusted to you. Watch over it willingly, not grudgingly, not for what you will get out of it, but because you are eager to serve God. Don't lord over it and don't lord over the people assigned to your care, but lead them by your own good example, and when the great shepherd appears, you will receive a great crown of never ending glory and honor. By the way, pause real quick. That doesn't mean all you old folks out there Elders was a ministry leadership position, and so he's basically saying to all you pastors, all you who are leading the house churches, do these things Okay. So can I tell you I know we have people listening all over the world when you look for a good pastor now, I'm not in any way advocating you leave your church right now, but if you're moving to a new area, this is a really good criteria on what you're looking for in a pastor. Make sure they're caring for their flock, make sure they're watching over it willingly, not grudgingly, and make sure they are eager to serve, and then make sure they're not lording over the people but leading them by their own good example. That's powerful and that's really good. And it's hard to know that because you got to really get to know the pastor, to know those things. That's a really good way to look at things on, kind of figuring out hey, is this person worth following?

Speaker 1:

Right Verse five. In the same way, you who are younger must accept the authority of the elders and all of you dress yourselves in humility as you relate to one another, for God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and at the right time he will lift you up in honor. Wow, give all your worries and cares to God because he cares for you. Let me read that again Give all your worries and cares to God. Why, for he cares for you, and I love this Verse eight stay alert, watch out for your great enemy, the devil.

Speaker 1:

He prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Stand firm against him and be strong in your faith. Remember that your family of believers all over the world is going through the same kind of suffering that you are and, in his kindness, god has called you to share in his eternal glory by means of Christ Jesus. So, after you have suffered a little while, he will restore, support and strengthen you and he will place you on a firm foundation. All power to Him forever, amen. Well, before we finish this up, I want you to pause again and one more time.

Speaker 1:

Paul says something about suffering. Well, and he says stand firm against the devil and realize all of us are doing this In our life. We have three enemies that we have to face the world, the flesh and the devil. Now, I think most people would say they understand that Christianity, in God's words, stands opposed to modern culture and it always will, because we have that to fight. No one's doubting that. We have the flesh that we have to fight. We have these wills and desires that have to become submitted to the Word of God, but there's a lot of people nowadays that want to act like that.

Speaker 1:

The devil and demons and spiritual warfare is not a thing. Well, here's the deal. Spiritual warfare is happening and you're in a spiritual battle, whether you want to be or not. You just might be losing right now. And you're in a spiritual battle, whether you want to be or not. You just might be losing right now. But here's the amazing thing when Jesus rose again, the Bible says he took the keys of death, in other words, authority, to death, hell and the grave. The devil lost all authority and so he may be a lion and he may be roaring.

Speaker 1:

And I read a thing one time that says when a lion, when it roars in the plains of Africa, that you can hear it up to a mile away and that if you are close you can hear it. And they say it's one of the most awesome fearful sounding things. It's the sound of a predator and it is terrifying to hear. And that's what the enemy will do to us a lot of times. He will roar very loudly, he'll throw up every possible fear you can imagine and bombard your mind. But the thing you've got to remember it doesn't matter how close the lion is. He has no more teeth anymore. He can't do anything that God will not allow him to do. So you might be surrounded by lions, but don't forget there's a guy named Daniel who was surrounded by lions and none of them ate him, because the Bible says an angel closed their mouths so that he was safe all night long. So the enemy is just a toothless lion. He can roar all he wants to and sometimes he will act so big and bad, but because of Jesus and because we belong to him, not in our own authority but the authority of Jesus, we can walk through any lion's den and we're okay because of Christ. And so that's where he says one more time he says so then suffer well, because nothing's going to happen to you that God cannot overcome. And so we walk with that confidence. And he said then cast all your worries on God. You know why? Because he cares for you.

Speaker 1:

Let's finish it up, verse 12. I have written and sent this short letter to you with the help of Silas, whom I commend to you as a faithful brother. My purpose in writing is to encourage you and to assure you that what you're experiencing is truly part of God's grace for you. So stand firm in this grace. In other words, he's saying to realize that when you suffer, it doesn't mean you did anything wrong. It doesn't mean anything bad is happening. He's saying that is part of serving God. Your sister church here in Babylon or Rome sends you greetings, and so does my son, mark Remember Mark was his translator Greet each other with a kiss of love. No, thank you, and peace with all. Peace. Be with all of you in Christ.

Speaker 1:

Now he finishes up just saying I want to tell you one more time I know you're experiencing suffering, I know you're experiencing pain, and I know that maybe some of you think that because you're doing that, you're doing something wrong. No, now, it might be, you might, but not if you're serving God, if you're doing it for the sake of Christ. No, suffering doesn't mean you do anything wrong because we don't have enough faith. It just means that there's an enemy who's working against you. But God is greater. So, as we get ready to end this together, we're not just ending 1 Peter 5, but we're also ending 1 Peter. And I want to end with this encouraging idea that God is with us more than we realize. God wants to walk with us through any journey, and so my question for you is are you letting God into your suffering or are you keeping him on the outside?

Speaker 1:

Now, you might not be doing it on purpose. I know times when I've done that. I did it on purpose. It's just times when I'm suffering, when I'm hurting, it's times when I want to draw into myself, I want to isolate from other people. And if I'm not careful, I don't just isolate from people, I isolate from God. I find myself not reading my Bible because I just don't want to. I'm not praying because I just don't feel like it. And can I tell you, if you ever don't want to read your Bible or you don't feel like worshiping God, that's probably the time when you need God the most. And if you remember, we don't read our Bible and we don't pray so that we can gain God's favor. God already loves us.

Speaker 1:

These spiritual disciplines of reading our Bible and praying are vehicles to connect us to God. If you need to go to the store, you need to go to wherever it is. Go to some store. You can't just wish yourself and get there. You have to get in a car and you get in the car and you go to the store. Well, if you want to connect with God, you can't just wish yourself there and be there. You get in a car, get in a vehicle. The vehicle is reading God's word and praying.

Speaker 1:

But many times when we feel suffering, feel depression, feel anxious, feel all these things, those are the times we want to isolate from God. And if you notice, throughout 1 Peter, he's talking about various forms of suffering. And he's saying it's in that that we've got to keep our eyes clear on who God is. Well, how do we keep our eyes clear on who God is? By knowing him, by knowing his word, by spending time with our brothers and sisters in Christ and through prayer. And so are you inviting God into your suffering. So I want to tell you, christ is our living hope. He is our living hope. And I want to encourage you today as we finish up our walk through the first Peter and we're going to get into a new book tomorrow.

Speaker 1:

What if you finished off this particular book with just doing a little self-examination and kind of take a moment and do like what a doctor does. If you go to a doctor and you say, oh doctor, I'm hurting, where are you hurting, I don't know? Just all over. Well, that's not quite how that works. There may be something, whatever, but most of the time that's from somewhere. You know what they'll start doing. They'll start messing around, they'll start. They'll check your temperature, they'll look in your eyes, they'll check your ears, they'll look in your throat, they'll they'll kind of start, you know, seeing if there's any fluid in your lungs and kind of seeing if. And the thing is is they have to find the source of the pain before they can diagnose the problem.

Speaker 1:

And so I want to ask you this question what if you took some time today and you started examining maybe some of the pain in your life, some of the frustration, and see if the frustration isn't the coworker, isn't your spouse, isn't your kids, isn't the fear of something in your finances or fear in your health? Is there something deeper in that? Is that just the way it's manifesting? But really your fear goes deeper, the pain goes deeper. There's a wound, there's a rejection, there's something like like think about it for a moment and then invite God into that.

Speaker 1:

Talk to God about the deep things, invite him into your suffering. You know, maybe it's a fear you have because of a physical issue, or a loneliness because of a relational issue, or maybe you're experiencing suffering because of your relationship with God. Maybe you have family who disowned you, or something going on with your coworkers. It could be a thousand things. But instead of isolating yourself away from God, what if you invited him into your suffering? God, I'm afraid for my family, I'm afraid for my health, I'm worried about my finances. I'm doing everything I know to do, but it seems like it's never enough. Invite God into your suffering and watch what he will do. Let's pray together right now.

Speaker 1:

God, thank you so much for today. Thank you for 1 Peter, thank you that through your word, you teach us that, lord, suffering is not always bad. It always feels bad, but in all things you're working good for those who love you and are called according to your purpose. And so, God, we will never as we never want it to be there. We have faith and we trust you when we go through it. We have faith that you're with us and you're moving in more ways than we can imagine, and I pray that as we examine ourselves today, we'll invite you into our suffering, clear our eyes so we can see you more clearly and see that you are doing more than we can imagine. We thank you for that. Today, in Jesus name, we pray Amen. And one more time, god's word says in first Peter, chapter one all praise to God. It is by his great mercy that we have been born again. Now we live with great expectation and we have a priceless inheritance. I love you. I'll see you tomorrow. For Jeremiah 1.

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Brandon Cannon

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