1 Peter 5:6-14
Notes
Transcript
Background
1 Peter is the first letter that we have from the Apostle Peter in the New Testament. The overall theme of the book is that believers should follow Christ’s example by joyfully enduring persecution.
6 Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time,
7 casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.
8 Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
9 But resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world.
10 After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you.
11 To Him be dominion forever and ever. Amen.
Last week we focused primarily on the example that elders are for the church, shepherding the flock according to Christ’s example.
Peter also gave instruction, specifically to the younger men to be subject to the elders in the church, and generally that everyone should clothe themselves with humility towards one another.
5 You younger men, likewise, be subject to your elders; and all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, for God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble.
“Therefore,” with these things in mind, we humble ourselves towards God.
“To humble” is to press low to the ground, make lowly. In modern culture, to do such a thing is the cultural equivalent to heresy.
The world wants us to be proud of ourselves and our accomplishments.
Yet, this is why God desires that we humble ourselves, because when we think highly of ourselves, we remove the need for Him.
23 A man’s pride will bring him low, But a humble spirit will obtain honor.
15 For thus says the high and exalted One Who lives forever, whose name is Holy, “I dwell on a high and holy place, And also with the contrite and lowly of spirit In order to revive the spirit of the lowly And to revive the heart of the contrite.
God alone is worthy of exaltation. All that we have and are able to do is because of Him. It is man’s place to recognize this and humble himself.
Man places himself on the throne when he refuses to humble himself before God.
Man places himself on the throne when he refuses to humble himself before God.
Humility is tied directly to salvation - either you submit to God, or you put yourself in His place and must save yourself.
9 And He also told this parable to some people who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and viewed others with contempt:
10 “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.
11 “The Pharisee stood and was praying this to himself: ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other people: swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.
12 ‘I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get.’
13 “But the tax collector, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, the sinner!’
14 “I tell you, this man went to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted.”
Humility is supposed to be a part of the Christian lifestyle.
8 He has told you, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of you But to do justice, to love kindness, And to walk humbly with your God?
God will exalt us when the time is right - at the end of this age, at the resurrection.
42 So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown a perishable body, it is raised an imperishable body;
43 it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power;
44 it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.
49 Just as we have borne the image of the earthy, we will also bear the image of the heavenly.
4 Then I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony of Jesus and because of the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received the mark on their forehead and on their hand; and they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.
5 The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were completed. This is the first resurrection.
6 Blessed and holy is the one who has a part in the first resurrection; over these the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with Him for a thousand years.
Notice that in our resurrected state, we will be like Christ, perfect and sinless.
It is in this context, and the context of persecution, that we are told to cast our anxieties on Him.
David experienced great hardship, and yet trusted God.
13 I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord In the land of the living.
14 Wait for the Lord; Be strong and let your heart take courage; Yes, wait for the Lord.
3 When I am afraid, I will put my trust in You.
4 In God, whose word I praise, In God I have put my trust; I shall not be afraid. What can mere man do to me?
Jesus also commands us not to worry (in the context of loving earthly wealth):
25 “For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?
26 “Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they?
27 “And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life?
28 “And why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin,
29 yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these.
30 “But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith!
31 “Do not worry then, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear for clothing?’
32 “For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.
33 “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
34 “So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
Why do we worry? It has to do with humility. If we place ourselves on the throne, then we have to provide for ourselves.
But if God is on the throne, then we humble ourselves before Him and trust that He will take care of us.
Peter warns believers to be alert and recognize we have an enemy, looking to devour us.
The greatest way to resist the devil is to live in humility, the opposite of pride and our enemy’s greatest weapon against us.
6 But He gives a greater grace. Therefore it says, “God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”
7 Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.
8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
9 Be miserable and mourn and weep; let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy to gloom.
10 Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you.
We also know from previous sections that believers all around the world are suffering for their faith, greater than we are.
6 In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials,
7 so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ;
Suffering for Christ on earth is incomparable to eternity with Him in His glory.
Suffering for Christ on earth is incomparable to eternity with Him in His glory.
12 Through Silvanus, our faithful brother (for so I regard him), I have written to you briefly, exhorting and testifying that this is the true grace of God. Stand firm in it!
13 She who is in Babylon, chosen together with you, sends you greetings, and so does my son, Mark.
14 Greet one another with a kiss of love. Peace be to you all who are in Christ.
Peter writes through an amanuensis or secretary, Silvanus, to affirm the true gospel.
Silvanus was a faithful brother who was with Paul in Thessalonica and Corinth. He is apparently with Peter now.
“Babylon” is the “spiritual” name for where Peter currently is - Rome.
21 Then a strong angel took up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying, “So will Babylon, the great city, be thrown down with violence, and will not be found any longer.
This does not necessarily mean that Rome will be the city mentioned in Revelation - it is analagous.
The “she” is the Church, in Rome. They greet Peter’s recipients, as does John Mark, the author of the Gospel of Mark.
This is another reason why it is assumed Mark’s primary source for his gospel is Peter.
Peter’s final greeting is a blessing of peace. We will talk about peace next week!
APPLICATION
APPLICATION
Man places himself on the throne when he refuses to humble himself before God.
Suffering for Christ on earth is incomparable to eternity with Him in His glory.
Next week, we will begin our Advent season.