Sermon Tone Analysis

“Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.

Be sober-minded; be watchful.

Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.

Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world.

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.

To him be the dominion forever and ever.

Amen.” [1]

Civilised nations have drafted rules to guide their conduct, even in war.

In the aftermath of World War II, the first three treaties previously drafted in 1864, 1906 and 1929, were updated.

Nations bound themselves to abide by these protocols of war and further agreed to a set of rules for humanitarian treatment of prisoners of war, for treatment of the wounded and for handling civilian non-combatants.

These rules are commonly known as the Geneva Conventions of War.

Modern wars, often referred to as limited engagements, tend to disregard these conventions, though those warring against the western powers demand that their own people be treated in accordance with these protocols.

Christians are engaged in a protracted war with the ruler of this world.

Those dark powers aligned with the evil one are merciless and without pity.

They disregard all pleas from the wounded or those caught up in the war.

However, we who are identified with the King of kings and the Lord of lords are bound by His Word to conduct ourselves according to the rules of engagement that He has given us.

It will be to our benefit to know His will and to ensure that we do His will.

These, then, are the rules of engagement given by the Son of God.

CONTEXT —Believers are engaged in a conflict; this is not a brief conflict—it began before the fall of our first parents and has continued unabated since that time.

A powerful angel, once known as Day Star [see ISAIAH 14:12], rebelled against the True and Living God.

Because of His beauty, he grew proud and determined in his heart to displace the Lord God from His eternal throne [see ISAIAH 14:13, 14].

He was cast out of heaven and to the earth [see EZEKIEL 28:12-19]; there, he was instrumental in deceiving our first mother and plunging the world into its present condition of sin and ruin.

He is set in opposition to God and to all who seek to serve the Lord God of Heaven and earth.

He is the enemy of the soul, slandering the saints before the Most High [cf.

JOB 1:6-12; 2:1-7].

For the moment, he functions as “the ruler of this world” [JOHN 12:31] and “the god of this world” [2 CORINTHIANS 4:4], though his destiny is destruction when he shall at last be cast into the lake of fire [REVELATION 20:9, 10].

The American President may fight wars on a timetable; but this is a war that must be fought until victory is achieved.

We do believers no favour when we fail to inform them that because they are born from above, they will be thrust into battle the remainder of their lives.

They did not choose to fight; but they will be forced to fight.

Paul warns believers that “We do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” [EPHESIANS 6:12].

Moreover, the fight is not conducted with weapons of metal or explosives.

We are taught, “The weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds.

We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ” [2 CORINTHIANS 10:4, 5].

If we are Christians, we will fight.

Though we may attempt to absent ourselves from the battle, if we are children of the Living God, we cannot excuse ourselves from the conflict.

The battle will come to us; we cannot flee from it.

Consequently, the rules of engagement Peter will now deliver are directed to all believers.

I understand very well that he has been addressing the elders in the first four verses of this chapter.

However, listen to this fifth verse as he transitions to addressing all within the assembly.

“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’” [1 PETER 5:5].

Underscore the initial phrase of the final sentence of this verse.

“Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another.”

When Peter writes “all of you,” he ensures that none can avoid the application of what he is about to write.

The admonitions that follow are for all saints.

The plea is for each of us to submit to those who are wise, whom God has appointed to oversee the congregation.

Watch their lives; follow their example.

Accept their decisions; don’t attempt to second-guess them.

Respect their years of experience and honour their seasoned lives.

BE HUMBLE — “Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.”

What Peter has just enjoined, he now emphasises through repetition.

Humility is valued in those who would be great.

On one occasion, after the disciples had been arguing about who was the greatest among them, Jesus responded with what must have been a startling statement.

It is assuredly a statement that is foreign to much of modern Christendom!

“If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all” [MARK 9:35].

It was a teaching that would be repeated soon after.

“You know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them.

But it shall not be so among you.

But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all.

For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” [MARK 10:42-45].

In the midst of battle, it is distressingly easy to gain an inflated opinion of ones abilities.

The wicked one is a master at seizing the advantage over the saint that dares forget the maxim, “The battle is the Lord’s” [1 SAMUEL 17:47; see 2 CHRONICLES 20:15].

We must engage the enemy, struggling as though the Faith depends upon our success in the conflict, yet, always conscious that victory belongs to the Master.

To our modern minds, Peter’s words sound quaint, passé and even antiquated.

We have been trained, even within the congregation of the Lord, to value the independent mind or the entrepreneurial spirit as desirable.

God, however, esteems the humble soul that does not struggle to promote herself; rather, she accepts that it is God’s business to promote her.

Peter seeks to assure readers that if they will but humble themselves under God’s hand, He is responsible to promote them in His time.

Moreover, the humility revealed consists of casting all our cares on Him, knowing that He cares for us.

Humbling ourselves under His hand implies that we are prepared to accept whatever He gives—whether discipline or deliverance.

Humility before God implies that we allow Him to orchestrate our lives at His tempo, not ours.

The instruction does not conform to the world’s advice or expectation.

Frankly, it requires discipline—hard discipline—to put Peter’s command into practise.

To walk in dependence upon the Lord means that one throws himself onto His mercy.

It means that we are prepared to serve Him with radical abandon.

It means that we see the congregation as the Lord’s church, and not as our church.

We cast our cares and concerns on Him because we are convinced that He cares for us.

We believe that He is in control, and we refuse to wrest from His hand control of our lives or control of our congregation.

BE SOBER-MINDED — “Be sober-minded.”

Let me rephrase this rule: “Be clear-minded.”

Focus!

Twice before, Peter has issued this command in this same letter.

The verb that is translated into English as “Be sober-minded,” conveys the concept of maintaining self-control while others are being intoxicated.

It speaks of taking control of your response to the shifting tide of the conflict.

Let’s look at Peter’s use of this verb in each of the instances it is found in this letter.

First, he calls believers to be spiritually sober because they have assurance of God’s grace.

Here is how he says it, “Preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ” [1 PETER 1:13].

Believers are to fix their hope fully on the grace that awaits us at Christ’s return.

In short, Peter calls believers to think on the return of Christ the Lord.

Many of our fellow saints have begun to live for the moment; it’s easy to do so.

Here is the great tragedy—it is distressingly easy for any of us to become so caught up in the moment that we neglect the eternal.

In an earlier day, saints in the southern United States were wont to caution, “Don’t sacrifice the permanent on the altar of the temporary.”

They were cautioning that we must not become so focused on the daily grind that we neglect what truly matters.

Christ is coming again and we shall be caught up together with all the saints to meet Him in the air.

I’ve frequently cited the statement that John gives believers in his first missive.

“Little children, abide in him, so that when he appears we may have confidence and not shrink from him in shame at his coming.

If you know that he is righteous, you may be sure that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of him.

“See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are.

The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him.

Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.

And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure” [1 JOHN 2:28-3:3].