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*Title: Standing on the rock!*
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*Context: Total dependence on God leads to victory*
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*Text: 1 Peter 5 v 5-9*
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*@ Nelson Road on 13th July 2008*
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*Introduction *
During the building of the Golden Gate Bridge over San Francisco Bay, construction fell badly behind schedule because several workers had accidentally fallen from the scaffolding to their deaths.
Engineers and administrators could find no solution to the costly delays.
Finally, someone suggested a gigantic net be hung under the bridge to catch any who fell.
Finally in spite of the enormous cost, the engineers opted for the net.
After it was installed, progress was hardly interrupted.
A worker or two fell into the net but all were saved.
Ultimately, the time lost to fear was regained by replacing fear with faith in the net.
God has given us a safety net to work over as we cross the bridge of life.
You started your journey of faith by God’s grace and you will finish it that way.
Throw yourself on God and He will lift you up.
That is our safety net.
That’s the kind of message Peters is passing on here….don’t
rely on ourselves…rely on God…don’t think we are clever enough to make it though ….humble yourself and rely on God….and he will help you to be all he wants you to be
He is are safety net
*A) Be humble!
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In Peter’s conclusion of his letter, Peter has been calling his hearers *to stand fast *in the faith he has declared to them, and to do so in the midst of the sufferings they must expect.
His calls for two attitudes that he has been describing throughout his letter: on the one hand, humility toward others; on the other, bold resistance to evil.
These attitudes *are essential* for Christian living in this present world.
And they are by no means contradictory, as Jesus showed by his example.
These verses we are looking at this morning confirm the fact that *mutual submission *is the essential ingredient of Christ’s church
The *young men mention here *could be young in years or young in the faith, but in practice it means less mature in leadership.
Those who are older may not have had such a good education as those who are younger; they may not have traveled as widely, but they have what the young cannot have — *experience.*
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For good order to exist in the church there must be an *acknowledgment of authority,* and we reveal *a lack of maturity* if we are not able to accept this.
But it is sometimes hard for young people to take this on board …”*for it rarely occurs to teenagers that day will come when they’ll know as little as there parents”*
Because they still believe that ….”
The best substitute for experience is being 16”
A new bible collage graduate had just preached his first sermon, and he was certain that others were as impressed with his effort as he was.
In the car on the way home, he asked his wife, “Darling, how many great preachers do you think there are in the world today?”
She smiled lovingly, put her hand on his shoulder, replied "fewer than you think dear"
But Peter’s call to humility is not just for the young.
We all are to ‘*tie on humility’* in our relations to one another
And we know we have a greatest example of *tying on humility* in Jesus Christ Himself …as we are reminded in Philippians 2….
Spurgeon put it this way "Never was there a poorer man than Christ; he was the prince of poverty.
Look at his dress; it is woven from the top throughout, the garment of the poor!
As for his food, he was often hungry; and always was dependent upon the charity of others for the relief of his wants!
He who scattered the harvest o'er the broad acres of the world, had not sometimes the resources to stay the pangs of hunger?
He, who dug the springs of the ocean, sat upon a well and said to a Samaritan woman, 'Give me to drink' (John 4:7).
He rode in no chariot; he walked in his weary way, foot sore, o'er the flints of Galilee!
He had not where to lay his head.
He looked upon the fox as it hurried to its resting-place, and he said, 'Foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but I, the Son of man, have not where to lay my head.'
He who had once been waited on by angels, becomes the servant of servants, takes a towel, girds himself, and washes his disciples' feet!
He, who was once honored with the hallelujahs of ages, is now spit upon and despised!
He who was loved by his Father, and had abundance of wealth of affection, could say, 'He that eats bread with me hath lifted up his heel against me' (John 13:18).
Now that is an example of true humility…he knew who he really was…but didn’t force it upon others but walked in our shoes for the glory of God
The verb here suggests the tying on *of a servant’s apron.*
A garment commonly worn by slaves, and thus a badge of servitude
Pride doesn't serve anybody but itself, whereas humility is fundamentally a willingness to serve others.
All of this is in the present tense which indicates that it is an ongoing process.
*It is a lifestyle.*
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Peter now quotes from Proverbs 3:34:* *and says *God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble*.
*Pride is a characteristic of opposition to God.*
But humility recognizes that all that *we are and all that we have is by the grace of God*.
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And therefore expresses absolute dependence upon God and so *is the direct opposite of pride.
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And all of this is powerful evidence of *the work of God in our lives*.
James pursues the same truth when he states that ‘the Scripture says: “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble” ’ (James 4:6).
*Grace is given to the humble, not to the proud.*
God hates pride!
Indeed, says Peter, he *opposes* it.
This conveys the image of God lining up his forces against it.
Clowney expresses it like this: ‘God opposes the proud … not only because pride despises our fellow creatures, but because pride rebels against him.
The proud person sets himself against God, and God, in turn, sets himself against the proud.
*B) Be Patient *
So from his heart Peter says: *Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time (v.
6)*.
The exaltation *in due time* will be */God's good time/.*
It may not be as quickly as we would like, but it will be as one translation renders it *‘at the proper time’ (NASB),* and if that is God's time, it is obviously the right time.
Peter introduces this thought to save his readers, and us, from being over anxious in their circumstances.
They were not to despair.
*Not to trust in God is to trust in ourselves and that is pride!*
* *
We are not to try to make things happen
We are not to try to move God along.
For this too is an open door to frustration and disappointment.
Not least because we may activate something which is outside of God's will for us.
But we are to wait for him to do the lifting up.
It will come *in due time*….in
his perfect time
And in his good time maybe either in this life or in the next *but he will lift you up*
And Peter clarifies in the next verse as he says: *Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you (v.
7)*.
Peter is quoting David from Psalm 55:22: ‘Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous fall.’
This term “cast” indicates a definite and decisive act in *handing over* our worries to God.
*Excessive anxiety,* which is what Peter has in mind, will wear us down.
The word for *anxiety* suggests a pulling apart, which well describes how we feel when we \\ are anxious and weary.
To truly cast our care on him will mean that we have *a peace of heart *which the world cannot give.
That in turn may help us to *quietly determine* what action we need to perform in that situation and then trust enough to *leave the rest with God.*
The very act of casting our cares upon the Lord *often changes them.*
Releases us from the burden so we can see what s really happening around us
I hared about a program on TV which featured a celebrity learning to be a Sherpa and escorting a walking party in Nepal.
He had to carry sixty pounds of kitchen equipment and soon realized he was short of the kind of fitness needed for such heavy work.
The strain on his back and neck were incredible, added to which, the load meant that he wasn't able to see anything except the ground he walked on.
When they arrived at the place where they were to take a lunch break you shared with him in the bliss of allowing that heavy burden simply to drop from his back.
*But not only was the weight removed, for the first time he was able to look around at the beauty of his surroundings*.
That is something of the idea conveyed here.
Peter says release your burden and lift up your head.
And why should we place such peaceful trust in the Lord?
Because, says Peter,* he cares for you*.
We have a God *who really cares for us* really wants the best for us….and use us to glorify his name and will give all we need to do that….
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