1 Peter 5:6-7
Notes
Transcript
Handout
This morning we are continuing our study of 1 Peter chapter 5. We have been looking specifically at the role of the shepherd and the relationship between the sheep and the shepherd or the pastor and the flock of God.
To ensure we don’t forget the theme of Peter’s letter what is the primary context of the book of 1 Peter?
It is hope that the church has in the gospel of Jesus Christ, even in the midst of suffering and persecution. There are three primary themes that Peter moves back and forth between in this letter to the scattered churches in Asia Minor, the first is the salvation that can only be recieved by grace through faith in the person and work of Christ, the hope we have in Him in the midst of suffering, and the sanctification of the believer as they prepare for glory!
These two verses we are looking at today, address the last two themes. Sanctification in verse 6 and Suffering in verse 7.
Let’s read the paragraph to set the context.
So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed: shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly; not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock. And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory. 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.” 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 Peter 5:1-
Last time we were together we considered the call of the younger in the church to be subject to the elders and for the rest of us to show humility toward one another. We considered the truth that God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble. You would think that would be a gracious plenty of ground for Peter to cover to convince the church to walk in humility.
However, he doesn’t stop there, he continues with this theme of humility in verses 6-7. He provides in these to verses the exhortation to humility and the encouragement to walk in humility.
We are going to break these verse into two main points this morning.
The first is addressing the larger theme in 1 Peter of sanctification. Peter is exhorting the church to,
I. Humility Under the Mighty Hand of God
I. Humility Under the Mighty Hand of God
Look with me at,
Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you,
Now how does Peter’s call to humility address the larger theme of sanctification in his letter to the churches?
What is the opposite of humility? Pride. If we are humble what then are we putting to death? our sin of pride.
Notice with me first of all,
A. The Call for Humility
A. The Call for Humility
Humble yourselves,
Here to be humble means to cause to be humble in attitude, humble, make humble (BDAG)
After Peter has written about God’s opposition to the proud and grace towards the humble, Peter writes, humble yourselves, therefore. Peter is saying put away your pride, put it to death, crucify it. Walk in humility, recognize the work of God in your life, understand that the Son of God suffered and died for you to reconcile you to God. This God who calls you to come to Him and redeemed you from the futile ways of your forefathers.
Why would these Christians in the exiled churches in Asia Minor need to be reminded of and exhorted to humility?
Peter started out the letter calling them sojourners, exiles, and pilgrims. Their name alone portrays humility.
Could it be?
In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials,
who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you,
But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
Maybe?
Could the call to be subject to government, husbands, and masters give us insight into the need for humility. If all the sudden our spiritual inheritance, possession, and position causes pride to well up in us, we must remember who works in us and for us.
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,
As believers we must remember even though we are sons and daughter of the King, and even though we have been chosen, justified, adopted, sanctified, and will be glorified it has nothing to do with our merit, our abilities, or our own wisdom or works.
Therefore we must humble ourselves!
The chief Shepherd is returning, and we will all recognize at the time the reason we are to be humble. If we are His we will be humbled how such a mighty God has saved and adopted us. If we do not belong to Him at that time we will understand that this mighty Savior is also a might Judge. This means we have a s choice we can humble ourselves now or we will be humbled when He appears!
Why,
B. The Reason for Humility
B. The Reason for Humility
Following Paul’s exhortation to be humble he say’s what?
Therefore,
The word order may throw us off a little because therefore comes after the imperative. The NASB reads this way,
New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update Chapter 5
6 Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time,
So Peter is pointing back to God’s opposition to the proud!
1. God’s opposition to the proud and grace to the humble.
1. God’s opposition to the proud and grace to the humble.
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.”
We must remember God’s hatred for and opposition to prided.
There are six things that the Lord hates, seven that are an abomination to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that make haste to run to evil, a false witness who breathes out lies, and one who sows discord among brothers.
The first thing the LORD says he hates is what? Haughty eyes, arrogant, prideful, disdainful eyes who look down on other and consider themselves more important than others.
What is the first sin that brought corrupted humanity? Pride, Eve and Adam, thought they knew better, they desired what the LORD had forbidden and they rebelled because of their own pride and selfishness.
So what must we do to battle this sin, Humble ourselves. Not only because of God’s opposition, but also because of,
2. God’s Mighty Hand
2. God’s Mighty Hand
Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God
Listen to these verses from 1 Kings as Solomon prays to the Lord upon completion of the temple. This is from a section when he is praying specifically for Israel and for the LORD’s forgiveness of their sins.
“Likewise, when a foreigner, who is not of your people Israel, comes from a far country for your name’s sake (for they shall hear of your great name and your mighty hand, and of your outstretched arm), when he comes and prays toward this house, hear in heaven your dwelling place and do according to all for which the foreigner calls to you, in order that all the peoples of the earth may know your name and fear you, as do your people Israel, and that they may know that this house that I have built is called by your name.
1 Kings 8:41-43
Consider this, the mighty hand of God
Flooded the earth and dried it up
Reigned down fire on Sodom and Gomorrah
Parted the Red Sea
Crushed Enemy armies
Crushed His own Son
Stilled the waters
Healed the blind
Cast out demons
Cursed a fig tree
Turned over tables in the temple
Crushed His own Son
Tore the vail of the temple from Top to Bottom
Caused the earth to quake
Caused the skies to go dark
Raised Up His own Son
This is the mighty hand of God in summary. How can we stand against His power, therefore we ought to bow ourselves in humility before this mighty God.
Think about the recipients of this letter. Who throughout Peter’s writing are encourage to remember their salvation by this Mighty God. They are encourage to look to their Savior the Lord Jesus Christ, and the way he suffered for them. They are to consider their sure salvation, their inheritance, and be holy because of the holiness of this Mighty God.
What then would this exhortation to be humble do for them? Would it encourage them in their suffering, would it cause them to entrust their souls to God? Would it cause them to rejoice in their weakness, and worship Him in humility?
I think so!
This is the mighty hand of God in summary. How can we stand against His power, therefore we ought to bow ourselves in humility before this mighty God.
Fear and awe of this Holy and Mighty God ought to bring us low, cause us to repent of pride knowing He is the sovereign God who rules and reigns over heaven and earth and has creator rights over His creation.
The fear of God is not the only truth in this passage that should encourage us to be humble. The eschatological truth in this text should drive humility in the life of the believer.
Notice next,
C. The Benefit of Humility
C. The Benefit of Humility
Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you.
Do you see it, at the proper time
This term can be used in a couple of ways.
Any time God seems fit. Which is true God may choose to exalt someone whenever he pleases. He may relieve someone from persecution and suffering today, tomorrow, in ten years, but whatever time he does it would be the proper time.
At the time of Christ return, at the time the sufferer is set free forever. That time when the captive of this world and the systems of this world is freed and brought into the presence of Jesus in the New world, the New Heavens and Earth. The time when tears are wiped away and sickness and death are defeated forever.
Tom Schreiner explains,
Peter was not promising vindication and exaltation in this life. The point is not, that such vindication occurs occasionally in this life. The time in view is the day of judgment and salvation, what Peter called “the last time.” (1, 2, Peter, Jude NAC Schreiner, 239)
This is the time I believe Peter is referring to. He uses this same idea in,
who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
Also, in the more immediate context Peter is pointing us to the time when, the chief Shepherd appears.
The mighty hand of God will ultimately be made visible in the last time, at the proper time. This is the eschatological truth the believers in Peter’s day should be looking to and that we should be looking to. This will ultimately keep us humble in the midst of suffering, in the midst of persecution. When the Christian understands that the time is coming when Christ will return and rescue us from this temporal suffering,
we will place ourselves in subjection to authority,
we will walk in humility toward one another,
we will humble ourselves due to the grace and power of God.
All this in recognition and appreciation for the fact that the suffering in this life is only a short time of preparation for our complete restoration in the next.
Therefore, Christians should be looking to the return of the Chief Shepherd along with the elders in order that we all might remember that even if we are being humiliated through suffering and persecution in this life it is not out from under the providential care of God and,
at the proper time he will exalt you,
Someone want to take a shot at what it means for God to exalt you?
The word exalt carries the idea of lifting someone up. To cause enhancement in honor, fame, position, power, and fortune.
What is happening to these believers Peter is writing to?
They are being afflicted
They are being persecuted
They are being reviled
They are being grieved by various trials
They are being mocked
Potentially losing loved ones, land, and positions.
Peter is seeking to encourage and exhort the church to keep their mind and heart set on the Lord. To keep looking to the exaltation and vindication that is to come. He wants them to stay humble don’t seek vengeance on your oppressors, don’t become vicious and vindictive towards those who may be persecuting you.
He is just continuing the teachings of Jesus here.
Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.
Matthew 23:
For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”
I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”
Luke 1
In the midst of all this Peter wants the church to remember to be humble! Don’t seek exaltation in this life, the Lord himself promises it in the next, in due time, at the proper time.
Peter now turns and addresses the doctrine of suffering by explaining how we are to humble ourselves before God.
Peter calls believers to humble themselves before God by,
II. Casting Your Anxieties on God who Cares for You.
II. Casting Your Anxieties on God who Cares for You.
casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.
Now in these two verses what do you see as the main verb or command?
Be humble,
casting is a participle which modifies the main verb or explains how we are to fulfill the call to be humble.
Peter is saying, Be humble by casting, throwing your anxieties on to someone else, cast all your cares on another.
Remember he is writing to a suffering church. He is calling for the church to subject themselves to the elders, and if we go further back in the letter Peter is calling the church to be subject to who?
The government
Their unbelieving husbands
To masters the gentle and unjust,
and here to the Elders.
In light of that what type of anxieties, worries, distress, or apprehension might the church have?
Which anxieties does Peter say to cast on God?
All of em!
If Christians refuse to cast or throw their anxieties, worries, distresses, afflictions, and sufferings on to God we are exhibiting pride. We are showing a lack of trust in the sovereign, providence, and wisdom of God. We are falling into the trap of thinking that we have the power, ability, and responsibility for fixing everyone of our problems. There may be some sin issues we do need to fix. However, when you consider the means God uses for our sanctification like suffering, persecution, and affliction how often can we change these things?
We cannot stop someone from reviling and mocking us.
We cannot stop someone form threatening us.
We cannot heal our own physical afflictions.
Spurgeon writes,
Spurgeon Commentary: 1 Peter Exposition
The very essence of anxious care is the imagining that we are wiser than God, and the thrusting of ourselves into His place to do for Him that which we dream He either cannot or will not do.
Do you see how not casting our cares upon God becomes an act of sinful pride?
Therefore when these things have been laid upon us instead of worrying and fretting over the potential pain, stress, and trial that we are going through we are to take it to God. We are to give to him in prayer, we are to cast it, throw it, and spread it out before Him.
Schreiner is helpful hear again he writes,
“When believers throw their worries upon God, they express their trust in his mighty hand, acknowledging that he is Lord and Sovereign over all of life.”
He goes on to quote Leonard Goppelt who says, “Affliction either drives one into the arms of God or severs one from God.”
Goppelt says, “Affliction either drives one into the arms of God or servers one from God.
Here is where it gets good. Now Peter has exhorted the church to be humble because the mighty hand of God opposes the proud and gives grace to the humble, then he says cast all of your anxieties on him and he follows that with a beautiful reason and promise, what is it?
because God cares for you! This mighty God who is standing against the proud, who gives unmerited favor to those who are willing to fall on their face before him with all humility, and recognize that we are nothing and Christ is everything, we are sinners and Christ is our only Savior!
How often do we meditate on God’s care for us. The fact that he has not only saved us by crushing His Son for us, but He also Adopts us into his family. If we have been born again, and blood bought, we are brothers and sisters theologically united to God Son, our elder brother the second person of the Trinity! How is that for care?
God loves us so much that he gave his one and only Son for us.
Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.
Matthew 10:20
How often do you consider God knows every hair of our head? If he knows us to that detail do you not think that he will bring us through the trials and afflictions of this life?
Cast your burden on the Lord, and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved.
We must remember it is by His grace we are sustained, under His mighty hand we are upheld therefore we are to humble ourselves before Him, casting all of our worries on to Him!
We cast our worries on to Him in prayer, but what is another way we can cast our anxieties and burdens on God?
By sharing them with a brother or sister in Christ. We may have burdens we cannot share with the entire body, some we can. But we must have that one or two brother or sisters we can trust with our life. We must have a person or two that we know we can share anything with them and they will help us bear that burden!
Bobby said it best as we were talking in our book study, I can’t help you bear it if I don’t know about it.
Here is a closing question,
How will you and I commit to Humbling ourselves and casting our care upon the God who cares for us?