The Rev’d Quintin Morrow
St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church
Fort Worth, Texas
www.st-andrew.com
The Text Outline:
I. The Christian’s Attitudes (vv.5-8a).
A. Submission (v. 5a).
B. Humility (vv. 5b-6).
C. Complete trust in the Lord (v. 7).
D. Self-control (v. 8a).
E. Spiritual attentiveness (v. 8a).
II. The Christian’s Adversary (vv. 8b-9).
A. The Devil’s description (v. 8b).
1. He is like a roaring lion.
2. He is looking for easily captured victims.
B. The Devil’s defeat (v. 9).
1. Resist him in faith.
2. Resist him mindful of his defeats elsewhere.
III. The Christian’s Advancement (vv. 10-11).
A. Eternal life.
B. Restoration.
C. Strength.
D. Establishment.
Related verses
I Pet. 2:13; I Cor. 16:15; Eph. 5:21; Heb. 13:7, 17; James 4:6; Pro. 3:34, 6:16, 8:13; Mic. 6:9; Tit. 1:3
The Apostle Peter is writing to Christians spread out over a wide area of the Roman Empire. These believers share a common faith, and face common problems. As the Apostle writes, Christianity, initially considered a sect within Judaism, is beginning to sheer off into a distinct religion. The Romans had granted the Jews a special dispensation from the annual obligation to worship the divinity of Caesar, and as a part of Judaism the first generation of Christians enjoyed the peace and security this loophole brought them. But as Gentiles began to be converted in significant numbers, and as the first Jerusalem Council of elders in Acts chapter 15 concluded that Gentile converts should not be required to submit to circumcision and keeping the Mosaic Law, a distinction was being made between ethnic Jews practicing the religion of the fathers and followers of Jesus of Nazareth. Thus Christians, in the mid-first century A.D., began being singled out for persecution—both by the pagan Romans and the leaders of the Jewish synagogues.
Peter’s letter is especially germane for us. He writes to a diverse group of believers trying to live for God in a society ignorant of God. We share with the Apostle’s original recipients the experience of being misunderstood because we claim the name of Christ. In this letter, Peter informs his readers that they will be subject to ever increasing conflict with the world. But the good news is that their—and our—suffering is temporary, that our firmness will be rewarded, that our Lord Jesus left us an example of godly suffering to imitate, and that the virtues of patience, faith, and humility, which according to Peter are more precious than gold, are the results of suffering for Christ’s sake.
In his brief letter Peter uses the Greek word anastrophe, meaning conduct, behavior, or way life, 6 times; the word pascho, meaning to suffer, 12 times, and the word hypotasso, meaning to subject or to subordinate to, 6 times. Taken together, we get from Peter’s letter an emphasis on the godly life being one lived in submission and humility in the midst of suffering.
I have titled the message on I Peter 5:5-11 this morning “Every Pilgrim’s Progress” not only because these 7 verses in many ways recapitulate the epistle has a whole, kind of like a reprise, but also because they synthesize the basics of every Christian life. Peter will admonish us to the Christian’s attitudes of submission, humility, and trust; he will reintroduce us to the Christian’s adversary Satan, described as a roaring lion looking for easy prey; and he concludes with the Christian’s advancement, or the rewards that await us for continued faithfulness.
V
erses 5 through the beginning of verse 8 include a series of imperatives, or commands. Peter is exhorting us to adopt certain attitudes that are essential to the Christian life and our growth in holiness. He is not exhorting us to actions, but to the right attitudes which if adopted will motivate us to right actions.
There are 5 I need you to notice.
The first is submission to spiritual leaders. Submit to your elders, Peter says, and submit to one another. It is always uncomfortable for me to preach on the necessity of believers to submit to the authority of their spiritual leaders, firstly because I am younger than most of the men who do this job, and secondly because it feels a little self-serving.
We must remember that the Christian life is nothing if not a series of submissions. We submit to the Gospel, submit to the Lordship of Jesus Christ, submit to the authority of the Scriptures and the local church, and on and on it goes. Peter mentions submission 12 times in this letter. The word he uses hupotasso is a military term meaning “to line up under the commander.” We can’t be Christians without the virtue of submission. And submission to spiritual leaders is vital. We will not, despite what we say, submit to our invisible Lord if we refuse to submit to His visible representatives. Submission is not blind obedience, but thoughtful, joyful, willing yielding. The health of the local church depends upon godly leadership and Christians willing to submit to and follow their appointed spiritual elders.
The next virtue we are exhorted to adopt is humility. “Be clothed with humility” the Apostle says. Peter uses a rare word in the original which refers to a slave putting on an apron before serving. Remember the example of our Lord Jesus, who on the night before He suffered, set aside His outer garment, wrapped a towel around His waist, and knelt down to wash the 24 filthy feet of His disciples.
Our English word “humble” derives from the Latin word humus, meaning dirt. Our most colorful founding father, Benjamin Franklin, struggled to acquire humility his whole life. He said near the end of his life, “I cannot boast of much success in acquiring the reality of this virtue, but I had a good deal with regard to the appearance of it.” Humility requires that we lower ourselves, and that isn’t easy.
The great 16th century Protestant Reformer Martin Luther, in one of his sermons, exhorts his congregation to goat sense. He then illustrates his point by telling of two goats meeting on a path on a mountain ledge. Neither could go past the other. But instead of butting each other, one goat laid down to allow the other to walk over him. Christians can be humble because we know that as we abase ourselves, God will exalt us. Peter quotes Proverbs 3:34 to remind us that God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble. Remember the point of the Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector in Luke chapter 18? Those who exalt themselves will be humbled, but those who humble themselves will be exalted. Remember, the branch that bears the most fruit bows lowest to the ground, while the branch with little or no fruit stands highest.
Thirdly, we are to acquire the virtue of trust in the Lord. Verse 7: Cast all your cares upon Him, for He cares about you. How precious a word of promise to the believer. You can carry your burdens or you can cast your burdens. Carrying your burdens results in tired shoulders, ulcers, fear, and spiritual torpor. Casting your burdens on the Lord results in peace, joy, trust, love, and increased faith as you see the Lord receive and then resolve your personal loads of care. Casting your burdens upon God requires that you let go of the pretended control you think you have over the circumstances of your life, and beginning a difficulty with prayer and confident surrender instead of manipulation and reliance upon your own wits.
Lastly, Peter commands us to self-control and spiritual vigilance in verse 8. “Be sober, be diligent.” Both of these virtues are self-explanatory and related. Spiritual vigilance means seeing and responding to the world with the eyes of faith, accompanied by a desire to please God in all that you do, think, and say. Self-control demands the conclusion that there are certain things we as Christians may not do or have in this life, coupled with the strategies to avoid sinful situations and escapes routes for temptation.
Secondly, in verses 8 and 9 St. Peter reintroduces us to our hated adversary: The Devil. Throughout Scripture our enemy is referred to by different names—all describing a different aspect of his character: The deceiver, the slanderer, the old serpent, the dragon, the father of lies, the accuser of the brethren, and Lucifer. Here he is called our enemy, but the Apostle uses a word in the original meaning the opponent in a lawsuit. Here, Peter likens him to a roaring lion looking for easy prey. Peter knew of whom he spoke. He was sifted by Satan in Luke 22:31, and he failed to watch with his Lord one hour in the garden before His betrayal. “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.”
You’ve no doubt heard the one about the pastor who went to visit a marginal parishioner on his deathbed. The minister asked the dying man if he was willing to turn his life over to God and renounce the devil. “I’d love to give my life to God,” the man said, “but I don’t know about renouncing the devil, a man in my condition shouldn’t be making any enemies.” You don’t have to “make” the devil your enemy. If you are a believer he already is. He will do everything in his power to keep you from the new birth. Having failed there, he will tempt you, accuse you, remind you of your past, threaten you, and do all in his power to sideline you and keep you from prayer, the Word, and victorious, confident Christian living. Peter likens the devil to a roaring lion. You must keep two things in mind: Firstly, lions will go for the weakest, slowest, least protected animal for their prey; and secondly, lions only roar when their prey is trapped and there is no escape. Likewise, Satan picks on Christians when they are sick or discouraged. He is a coward, and will hunt after you when you have been away from church, been too tired to pray, or immediately after your succumbing to temptation.
But while the devil is real and his power is great, his tricks are not a secret, and God’s power—and the His power working in and through obedient believers—is greater.
Here the Apostle exhorts us to 3 responses to the wiles and assaults of the devil.
The first is resistance. If you are a fan of the show Star Trek: The Next Generation you recall that the mantra of the Borg was “Resistance is futile.” Resistence is not futile in our warfare with the devil; in fact, it is essential. Paul reminds us in Ephesians 6 that as believers we are engaged in spiritual warfare. But practically, we are not in the heat of battle all the time. Our warfare is usually a series of skirmishes. And we are to resist the devil. We are to say “no.” Resisting the devil causes him to flee from us.
Our second response to the devil involves firmness of faith. This involves a boldness borne from a certainty of God’s promises. We are told in Revelation 12:10-11 about the saints that will overcome Satan during the last days, and the promises and demands apply to us:
Then I heard a voice saying in heaven, “Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.”
Our third response to the devil’s attacks is awareness of his defeats elsewhere. When we are in the heat of battle it sometimes feels as if we are the only one under assault, but we’re not. Paul says every temptation we suffer is common to man. And the author of Hebrews encourages us to run the race of faith with our eyes on Jesus, but mindful of the great cloud of witnesses who have run it before us and are running it now. Satan is getting licked elsewhere. And when he reminds you of our past, be sure to remind him of his future.
Finally, having adopted the above attitudes and responded to our adversary in the aforementioned ways, the Christian can look forward to his or her certain and sure advancement. Peter ends in verses 10-11 with a doxology about the glory, grace, and power of God the Father and God the Son, as well as with a partial list of graces awaiting faithful believers in this world and the next. There are 4 verbs. All 4 promise divine aid and supply.
The first involves God “restoring” you. This is translated into the NKJV with the word “perfect.” It means that God will make you complete and set everything in order. What we can’t do because of the weakness of our natures, God can and will do.
The second promise is that God will establish you. This means God will empower you, or strengthen you, in order that you may stand firm against persecution. This strength is grace and gift.
The third promise is God strengthening you. This grace is related to the former and entails God making you firm. In other words, the Lord gives you the ability to do what He requires of you. I say, “I can’t fight with the devil, remain faithful during persecution, and joyful during trials.” Right. In of ourselves we can’t. But in Him we can. “I can do all things through Christ who strengtheneth me,” Paul could say. We are just called to do it, and He supplies the power to do it.
The last promise is that God will settle you. This means He will put you on a firm foundation.
Finally, it is as Proverbs says: As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he. Peter is exhorting us to these virtues because once they are adopted they will alter forever the way we live. And as a pebble in the pond, how we live will influence and affect those in our home, those in our businesses, those in our church. A thought becomes a habit; a habit becomes a character; a character becomes a destiny. And whether you are new to the faith, or have been a saint for many years, what Peter encourages us to applies to you. Destiny, after all, is what God is after.
AMEN.
