Humility: A Spiritual Weapon

1 Peter: Chosen • Sermon • Submitted 7 months ago • Presented 7 months ago

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5 Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”

6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, 7 casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. 8 Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. 9 Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. 10 And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. 11 To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen.

Final Greetings

12 By Silvanus, a faithful brother as I regard him, I have written briefly to you, exhorting and declaring that this is the true grace of God. Stand firm in it. 13 She who is at Babylon, who is likewise chosen, sends you greetings, and so does Mark, my son. 14 Greet one another with the kiss of love.

Peace to all of you who are in Christ.

PRAYER

A few weeks ago, we looked at elders and the instructions given to the elders in the Body of Christ.

And one thing that I didn’t emphasize, but I should have even though we were running out of time was this:

The thing that makes the position of an elder so....serious and weighty, and the reason that it needs to be treated so carefully is because of verse 4

There is a Chief Shepherd.

And that Chief Shepherd has a tremendous love for His flock.

And just like David put his life on the line for his flock of sheep, this Chief Shepherd already gave His life for His flock

And until the Chief Shepherd returns again, He has placed the care of His flock in the hands of some “undershepherds”.

He has selected some men to provide care for His flock in the way that we discussed previously

And He says to them, as He said to Peter, “Feed my sheep.”

They are to live among the flock

And while they are living among the flock, they are to

Shepherd

Care for

Serve

Protect

And they must do it willingly and eagerly and not for their own reputation or in order to get rich

Because they are answerable to the Chief Shepherd.

So Peter is pretty firm and explicit with the elders, and rightly so

But then he has just one sentence addressed to everyone else:

Likewise you who are younger, (or everyone else) Be subject to the elders

In the same way that the elders are to serve the flock, everyone else, Be subject

I don’t know what comes to mind when you hear this instruction.

Maybe you have been in some church experiences where you felt the leaders were really heavy handed

Or you’ve heard of stories where people felt really beat down by the elders

And this instruction to “be subject” to the elders brings up some negative pictures and thoughts

But here’s what this doesn’t mean:

This does NOT contradict the instructions given to the elders previously

This does NOT give an elder the right to be heavy-handed and abusive with his flock, and when they protest, to say to them, “The bible says be subject to me.”

This doesn’t mean to grovel at the feet of the elders

Rather, here is what I believe this instruction is talking about

Cooperation

Deferring your preferences

Lack of critical attitude

Not quarrelsome

Want to participate in the ministry that has been given to the elders

It means respectfully allowing the elders to shepherd the flock as God gives them insight and wisdom

Even when things are unpleasant

1 Thessalonians 5:12–13 “12 We ask you, brothers, to respect those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you, 13 and to esteem them very highly in love because of their work. Be at peace among yourselves.”

Admonish—to rebuke or reprimand

So, the exhortation, or the encouragement here is, to be in a spirit of cooperation with the elders.

What does this take? What does it take to be subject or submissive to someone who has been given authority?

And BTW, what does it take to live in the way that we have been instructed to live in this book?

What does it take for husbands and wives to love each other and have healthy marriages?

for a wife to respect her husband, even an unbelieving husband?

For a husband to cherish and care for his wife

What does it take for masters to treat their slaves with kindness?

What does it take for slaves to respect their masters, even the bad ones?

What does it take for elders to shepherd the flock that they live among?

Well, it takes HUMILITY

It takes, ALL of us being humble toward each other!

Peter says, in verse 5 “Clothe yourself, all of you, with humility”.

This idea of putting on or taking off is something that Paul uses quite a bit, especially when it comes to being in Christ

Romans 13:14 “14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.”

Galatians 3:27 “27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.”

It’s this idea of active participation.

In other words, we are not to be the kind of people who wait around for God to do something in our lives.

There are people who desperately want to see God work a miracle or do something amazing, and so prove Himself to be real and powerful again.

But Scripture would remind us, put on Christ. Actively participate in the life of Christ

And Peter says here in the same way, “PUT ON HUMILITY”

Put on Humility!

Folks, if there is any word or any quality, I believe, which should describe the chosen people of Jesus Christ, it should be this:

HUMILITY

The only word which might be more important than this word (if we dare rank words), would be LOVE

But this quality of humility is right up there with LOVE

Because this quality is what Jesus modeled for us so clearly

As described in that passage in Philippians 2 that we are so familiar with.

We are instructed to

Be of the same mind (be in agreement)

Have the same kind of love toward each other

Be in agreement with each other

Don’t be selfish or proud

But be humble enough to consider others as being more important than yourself

Philippians 2:3 “3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.”

That means, consider other people to be more important than you.

That means you value their opinions, feelings, experiences, above your own!

When you talk to them, you ask about them! You want to know about them.

You are reluctant to talk about yourself and put your opinions out there

This is the kind of life that Jesus modeled for us

Being God, he didn’t consider that position something to be flaunted, or defended, or hung on to.

Rather, he took on the form of a servant and became obedient

And this is the kind of attitude that I believe Peter is talking about in our passage today

We are to clothe ourselves with this kind of humility

Is this kind of humility easy? Does it come naturally to us?

Certainly not!

But it’s crucial that we as His people clothe ourselves in this way.

Why?

Because the opposite of humility is pride. And, serious note here.

God opposes the proud.

That word, “opposes” means to actively resist something or someone

If we are proud, we can expect that God will resist us

I don’t know what all this means, but I can imagine that at the very least, there will be discipline. God is going to deal with that pride in my life because

As we just mentioned, pride is the complete opposite of the character of Jesus

But on the other hand!

God gives grace to the humble

Have you clothed yourself with humility? Do you feel like this is going to be really hard?

Well, it is going to be hard!

It’s going to be hard because from the very beginning, pride has been the downfall of mankind

Adam and Eve falling to temptation because of their desire to be like God

the people building a tower in order to “reach the heavens and make a name for themselves”

On and on. Pride has been the downfall of many a person and many a government

And still, today, pride continues to be our battle. and it shows up in so many ways

Pride shows up

When we resist the work of God in our lives

Whether He is leading us out of a place of comfort and into the unknown

Or, He is convicting us of sin in our lives and we resist His voice

Pride shows up in our relationships

If there is someone with whom you have had a disagreement or some sort of a falling out, and you haven’t spoken to that person in a long time—pride is probably at work in there somewhere

When we are reluctant to ask for forgiveness or reluctant to extend forgiveness, pride is at work

When my preferences and opinions are more important than living in unity, then pride is at work

Any time that I am upset with someone or any time that my relationship with someone is suffering and broken, if I was honest, I wouldn’t be surprised to find some pride at work in my life

And when pride is at work in my life, I should expect to be opposed, or resisted, by God

That is, the all-powerful, all-knowing, God.

He knows what is in my heart, and His will, whether for me or against me, will be accomplished

But, on the other hand, if my desire is to dress myself with humility, and live humbly, as hard as this may be

As much as this goes against my humanness,

It says that God gives grace to the humble

God gives His grace to those who are humble

What is God’s grace?

I heard one preacher define it this way:

Grace simply means “God at work”

When you are experiencing God’s grace, that means that you are experiencing His work in your life.

So, when you clothe yourself with humility, God will work in your life to help you live it out on a daily basis

This humility is the work of God that we invite Him to do in our hearts.

We clothe ourselves with humility toward each other, and we humble ourselves under the might hand of God

“Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time, He may exalt you.”

Therefore: Because God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble

In light of this, humble yourself under the mighty hand of God

The more I read this passage, the more it is my impression that I have very little choice in this matter.

At least, it seems that there is only one good choice.

Peter reminds us to humble ourselves under His mighty hand

That is, come into submission.

Humble ourselves under His Lordship

Come under His mighty hand

This word “mighty” that’s used here reminds us

God is not one to be trifled with

This is a serious thing that we are talking about.

We can be opposed by the mighty hand of God, or we can be exalted by Him

It is HE that will do the exalting in our lives

Humble yourself under the mighty hand of God so that in the proper time, He may exalt you.

What does it look like to be exalted?

I don’t know exactly.

But one thing that I do know is that God knows both when and how to exalt those who have humbled themselves under Him

And what that allows me to do is

when things don’t seem fair

When it feels like I’m being misunderstood,

Or if someone has done something to hurt me

Or if I’m experiencing hardship for doing good

No matter what the case, I can rest knowing that God, the almighty God

Will exalt me when He knows that the time is right, whenever that may be.

And I can cast all my anxieties on Him because I know that He cares for me

Here’s the thing

Some of the things that bring me the most anxiety, again, if I delve down into them, at the heart, they are matters of pride

I feel anxious when

I don’t think that I am perfectly prepared for a sermon or for class—Ill get in there and look stupid and like I don’t know what I’m doing

When I have a bill coming up that I don’t know how I’m going to pay—people will think that I’m unprepared and unable to provide for my family

When you’ve got a heart of pride and you find it hard to lay down your agenda and all the things that are important to you, that causes a lot of anxiety and stress

There is a lot of anxiety that comes from a heart of pride

But it says, you can cast all your cares, your worries, your anxieties on Him.

Because, why? Because He cares for you. That’s why

And if He cares for you, that means, He’s got it under control

And here’s the really serious thing about this whole thing

Peter reminds us that everything he has been talking about is going to be tough because this is a spiritual battle.

Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion. He’s hungry and he’s looking for someone to devour

You are in a conflict and cannot afford to let your guard down

Be sober-minded—make sure that you are thinking clearly!

Be watchful! Like a defender on the football field sniffing out a trick play before it has time to develop

Your adversary is a trickster. He is a liar, a deceiver

There are a lot of scams out there

The reason that people are being deceived is because, well, they don’t know that they are being deceived

But they might keep from being deceived if they knew what to look out for…what kind of lanauge to guard against, etc.

Be watchful and alert. don’t let yourself be tricked by the deceiver.

Learn his tactics. Know how he gets to you and be on guard

One way that he has wreaked havoc in the lives of people, and in the life of the Church of Jesus Christ, is through this issue of pride

Lives and churches have been brought to ruin because of pride.

Because pride can be so subtle

Because we can think we are “standing up for the truth” or that our cause is noble

When, really, it is nothing more than just plain old pride

and the deceiver, the devil, is just standing by chuckling and egging us on as our lives and our relationships are being torn apart

And as people get out from under the might hand of God because their pride is taking over

And he’s done exactly what he set out to do. He’s devoured another person, or another church

We are to

be sober-minded

Be watchful

And we are to resist him

This is the second time we have read this word

The first time we read that God resists the proud

That was a very active word—God actively comes against those who are proud

But in this case, this Greek word (if I am interpreting things correctly) means “to stand there”. In other words, “stand firm”

Which would agree with what we read in Ephesians 6. where we are told in multiple places, “stand firm”. In fact, Peter uses the exact same Greek root word

The other day I read the story of Jehoshaphat to my students at school

Such a tremendous story

How Jehoshaphat and the the land of Judah was being threatened by a large army

And he cried out to the Lord and fasted and prayed,

And God sent a message to him

They were to go out and face the enemy

But then God said:

2 Chronicles 20:17 “17 You will not need to fight in this battle. Stand firm, hold your position, and see the salvation of the Lord on your behalf, O Judah and Jerusalem.’ Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed. Tomorrow go out against them, and the Lord will be with you.””

In other words, your job is not to go after the devil and try to defeat him. That’s God’s job. Your job is to stand firm with the weapons that you have been given

Stand firm in your faith

Because, look, the trials that you are experiencing,

The way that the deceiver is waging war against you

This is the same thing that your brothers and sisters all over the world are experiencing

You can stand firm because others are experiencing the same battles and they are standing firm. Be encouraged!

And we can be encouraged because...

1 Peter 5:10–11 “10 And after you have suffered a little while,

We’ve talked about this in the past.

But encouragement comes from knowing that the trials that we experience are, in the light of eternity, momentary. They are “for a little while”. Be encouraged! Stand firm!

And we can be encouraged because…

the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ,

And that glory of God that He has called us to, should be at work in our lives now

Through the Holy Spirit

You should be experiencing and seeing the glory of God even now

And that glory will do this

will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. 11 To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen.”

Those 4 words listed there, all have very close to the same meaning. It has the idea of being grounded, having a firm foundation

Which ties back to chapter 2 where it says that Jesus Christ is the Chief cornerstone, and we are being built on Him

This bring us to the end of our study in 1 Peter.

Peter includes some personal greetings, but this is where we will bring our study to an end

Folks, I don’t know how this study of 1 Peter has affected you

But for me, this study has been tremendous

This reminder that we have the privilege of being chosen by God to be Holy and called out

A royal priesthood

A temple built on the foundation of Jesus Christ

May these words and these thoughts penetrate deep into our hearts

Humility: A Spiritual Weapon

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