Introduction:
A. I like the story told of the 5-year old boy who was in the kitchen as his mother was making supper.
1. His mother asked him to go into the pantry and get her a can of tomato soup, but he didn’t want to go in alone.
2. “It’s dark in there and I’m scared.” He said.
3. She asked him again, and he persisted in his resistance.
4. Finally she said, “It will be OK--Jesus will be in there with you.”
5. The boy walked hesitantly to the door and slowly opened it.
6. He peeked inside, saw it was dark, and started to leave when all at once an idea came, and he said: “Jesus, if you’re in there, would you hand me that can of tomato soup?”
B. Life certainly can be scary.
1. The spiritual battle we are in is scary.
2. The hostile world we live in can be scary.
3. Nevertheless, God is with us. He will never leave us or abandon us.
4. We can certainly find comfort and strength in that fact.
C. As we come to the close of Peter’s first letter, we see him bring to conclusion this important message to the saints of God who are strangers in the world and are scattered in the provinces of Asia Minor.
1. They are suffering persecution for their faith, and an even greater fiery trial is about to come.
2. Peter concludes his message by pointing them to a few attitudes and actions that will insure their victory over the enemy and the persecution he brings.
3. These attitudes and actions are vital to our survival in our present circumstances as we seek to serve and glorify the Lord.
4. These attitudes and actions will insure that we stand firm and remain faithful, which is the victory of our faith.
5. Dwight Eisenhower said, “There are no victories at discount prices.” How true that is when it comes to the spiritual battle.
6. Let’s look at this final section and be sure that we are developing these attitudes and actions with the help of the Holy Spirit.
I. Be Humble (5:5-7)
A. Peter wrote: Young men, in the same way be submissive to those who are older. All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because,
“God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”
Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.
1. Humility and submission are attitudes and actions that are inseparably linked.
2. We all are to live in humble submission to God.
3. Back in the earlier chapters of this letter, we have witnessed Peter’s command for Christians to be submissive to government authorities, and slaves to their masters, and wives to their husbands.
4. Last week we looked at the verses that precede this section that talk about elders and their leadership.
5. So now Peter turns his attention toward the younger believers and lets them know that they must be submissive to the older believers.
6. As shepherds submit to the Chief Shepherd, so the flock should submit to their shepherds.
B. Although no one is exempt from Peter’s exhortation that everyone is to be submissive to their elders, Peter targets specifically the younger men.
1. Though it is not stated in the context why he singled them out, probably he did so because younger men are often more aggressive and headstrong than other members of the church.
2. I can certainly remember my younger years as a Christian man and minister – I often struggled with pride and arrogance.
3. Sometimes I though t I knew better than the older ones, but I was usually wrong.
4. Hebrews 13:17 is a helpful passage on submission and cooperation with leadership: Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. They keep watch over you as men who must give an account. Obey them so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no advantage to you.
C. Peter suggests that we should “Clothe ourselves with humility.”
1. The Greek word literally means “to tie something on oneself,” such as a work apron worn by servants.
2. I wonder if when Peter wrote this verse he recalled the occasion when Jesus did just that – Jesus tied a towel around him and washed his disciples’ feet. (Jn. 13)
3. If we want to be like Jesus, then we need to clothe ourselves with humility.
D. To reinforce the point he was making, Peter quoted from Proverbs 3:34, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”
1. God hates the sin of pride (Prov. 6:16-17).
2. It looks like it was pride that caused Satan to rebel and become the enemy of God and of us.
3. So without question, God is opposed to the proud.
4. Pride sets a person against God and God against that person.
5. But humility is something that is attractive to God and something that God blesses.
E. Based on this, Peter concludes this point saying: Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.
1. Submission and humility are an act of faith.
2. God’s mighty, sovereign “hand” is descriptive of God’s will and God’s activity.
3. Peter wanted the people to whom he was writing to understand that the persecution they were suffering was something they needed to endure humbly and submissively.
4. He wanted them to trust that God would lift them up in God’s own wisely determined time.
5. And as they humbly summited to God’s will, they could find their strength in God’s purpose and care.
6. Peter said to cast all their anxiety on God – we can cast on God all our discontentment, all our discouragement, all our questioning, all our pain, or whatever trial we encounter.
7. We can cast it on God because we trust in God’s love, faithfulness, power and wisdom.
F. The first important attitude and action that will insure victory is humility – we must be humble.
II. Be Watchful (5:8-9)
A. Peter continued: Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings.
1. This command to be watchful includes two commands – be self-controlled and alert.
2. Another translation of self-controlled is sober minded.
3. The basic idea has to do with godly, clear thinking, rather than intoxication.
4. We need to have our minds disciplined and alert.
B. And why should we be self-controlled and alert? Because we have a dangerous enemy and he is at war with us.
1. The realities of the spiritual war call for vigilance.
2. We must not be caught “off guard” or “asleep.”
3. Peter identifies Satan as “your adversary.” Satan is not only the adversary of God and of God’s holy angels, but he is also my enemy and yours.
C. We certainly need to respect Satan and realize just how dangerous he is.
1. Peter says: Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Satan is a dangerous enemy.
2. He has great power and intelligence, and he has a host of demons who assist him in his attacks.
3. He is a formidable enemy and we must never joke about him, ignore him or underestimate him.
4. By using the imagery of a lion, Peter has chosen an animal that is ferocious and terrifying.
5. Few animals terrify people in the wild more than the lion.
6. I wonder if Peter might also be alluding to the spectacle of lions slaughtering victims for the entertainment of the Romans in the coliseum.
7. A fate that was soon going to befall many Christians as a terrible form of persecution.
8. When Peter says that the devil is like a prowling lion it is easy to envision the way lions search for their victim – they often look for the weak one, or the one that is isolated from the pack, and they often roar just before they attack in order to cause their prey to freeze in fear.
D. Peter’s command in the face of Satan’s attack is: Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings.
1. We resist Satan by being firm in our faith.
2. Such resistance causes the devil to “flee from us.” (James 4:7).
3. Since Satan is a liar and a deceiver, the only sure way to stand up against him is by faithful obedience to biblical truth.
4. We must resist him as Jesus did, with the Word of God.
5. And we must never forget that others are facing the same attacks as we are – we are not alone and we must be faithful like others and for the sake of others.
E. Had Peter obeyed these instructions the night Jesus was arrested, he would not have gone to sleep in the Garden, he would not have attacked Malchus, or denied the Lord later that night.
1. We must be watchful, being self-controlled and alert.
2. We must bow before God, so that we can take our stand against Satan.
III. Be Hopeful (5:10-14)
A. Peter concluded the letter: And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen.
With the help of Silas, whom I regard as a faithful brother, I have written to you briefly, encouraging you and testifying that this is the true grace of God. Stand fast in it.
She who is in Babylon, chosen together with you, sends you her greetings, and so does my son Mark. Greet one another with a kiss of love. Peace to all of you who are in Christ.
1. Peter closed his letter on a positive note and reminded his readers that God knew what He was doing and was in complete control.
2. No matter how difficult the fiery trial may become, a Christian always has hope.
3. Peter gave several reasons for this hopeful attitude.
B. First, We should be hopeful because of God’s grace.
1. Peter calls God “the God of all grace,” which is reminiscent of Paul’s title the “God of all comfort.”
2. Peter encourages us to stand fast in the grace of God.
3. How wonderful to know that we are saved by grace through faith. (Eph. 2:8)
4. How wonderful to know that God has grace to help us in our time of need. (Heb. 4:16)
5. How wonderful to know that God is a God of all grace.
6. All this should give us hope.
C. Second, We should be hopeful because our suffering will end.
1. Our various trials are only for a season (1 Pet. 1:6).
2. Peter wrote: after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast (vs. 10).
3. In many respects, we can endure anything if we know it will not be forever.
4. Whatever trial or persecution we suffer for Christ sake, we can rest assured that it is temporary.
D. Finally, We should be hopeful because we know that we are going on to glory.
1. Peter said that God has “called you to his eternal glory in Christ” (vs. 10).
2. Earlier in the letter, Peter wrote that we have: an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade – kept in heaven for you.” (1:4)
3. In 2 Cor. 4:17, Paul wrote: For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.”
4. If we depend on God’s grace when we suffer, then that suffering will result in glory (4:13-16).
5. The road may be difficult, but it leads to glory, and that is all that really counts.
Conclusion:
A. Paul always ended his letters with a benediction of grace.
1. Peter opened the letter with a greeting of peace and he closed with a benediction of peace.
2. So from beginning to end, Peter wants us to know God’s peace – something especially necessary in a letter about suffering and persecution.
B. Peter has given us a precious letter that encourages us to hope in the Lord no matter how trying the times may be.
1. We have been given a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus (1:3).
2. Down through the centuries, the church has experienced various fiery trials, and yet Satan has not been able to destroy it.
3. The church today is facing a fiery trial and we must be prepared.
4. The Christian life is not an easy one. Overcoming the attacks of our enemy is not easy.
5. Faithful service is Jesus name can be challenging and exhausting.
6. David Livingston went to the darkest part of Africa as a missionary.
a. After some time, his missions committee wrote him saying, “Some people would like to join you. What’s the easiest road to get where you are?”
b. He replied, “If they’re looking for the easiest road, tell them to stay in England. I want people who will come, even if there is no road at all!”
7. The way is hard, but Peter is still saying to each of us – be hopeful – glory is on the way.
Resources:
The MacArthur New Testament Commentary, 1 Peter, by John MacArthur, Moody Publishing, 2004
The Bible Exposition Commentary, 1 Peter, by Warren Wiersbe, Victor Books, 1989
1 Peter, The NIV Application Commentary, Scot McKnight, Zondervan, 1996
Climbing Higher, Sermon by Ajai Prakash, SermonCentral.com
