Rugged Individualism and Faith
(I Peter 5:10-14)
1. A man came up with a great list of titles for future country music songs.
Country Music Song Titles:
1. If You Can’t Live Without Me, Why Aren’t You Dead?
2. I Went Back to My Fourth Wife for the Third Time and Gave Her a Second Chance to Make a First Class Fool Out of Me
3. I’m Ashamed to Be Here, but Not Ashamed Enough to Leave
4. If My Nose Was Running Money, Honey, I’d Blow It All On You
5. You Were Only A Splinter As I Slid Down The Banister Of Life
6. I Would Kiss You Through the Screen door but It’d Strain Our Love
2. Okay, I admit these titles must have been invented by a loser. But, in God’s eyes, the real losers are not those who have been less than perfect, but those who do not think they need God or other people.
3. In previous verses, we saw how important humility is, and how real our battle with the devil is. And the worse part is that pride and demonic influences are great allies. Since the original sin of Satan was pride, and since man, in his pride, will not confess his dependence upon God, the two embolden each other.
Main Idea: Human arrogance and demonic spirits ally themselves in opposition to even the most elementary spiritual truths. WE NEED GOD AND WE NEED OTHER BELIEVERS
I. We Need GOD (10-11)
• this text (vs. 10 and 11) is considered a "benediction" – a closing prayer/blessing
A. We are dependent upon His GRACE (10a)
* Sign seen in a textile mill, “When your thread becomes tangled, call the foreman.” A young woman was new on the job. Her thread became tangled and she thought, “I’ll just straighten this out myself.” She tried, but the situation only worsened. Finally she called the foreman.
“I did the best I could,” she said.
“No you didn’t. To do the best, you should have called me.”
(Donnie Martin, Sermoncentral)
* God is the source of all grace
* Grace means undeserved generosity and favor
* The first sin in Eden was about control and dependence; rather than depend upon God, Eve and then Adam sought to be like God and dependent upon themselves…
Whereas taking responsibility is a good thing, trying to be God is not.
1. COMMON Grace
Matthew 5:45b, "He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous."
2. SAVING Grace
Ephesians 2:8-9, "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast."
B. We are lost without His CALLING (10b)
"a divine summons" (Hendricksen)
Eph. 1:4, "For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight…"
Romans 8:30, "And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified."
C. To receive the blessing of HEAVEN (10c)
• we are not in the dark when it comes to eternal life
• "saved" is not only what we shall be; if we know Christ, it is what now are!
• I John 5:13, “I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.”
• Psalm 73:24, “You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will take me into glory.”
D. To help us face SUFFERING (10d)
1. Right now our sufferings seem slow, tedious, and major; in light of eternity they are short and momentary; soon God will restore what has been taken or lost…
2. Military field dentistry (WWI); foot pedal pumped drill…
3. Sometimes in this life; sometimes not until heaven
4. God will eventually deliver us…
5. We are to stand firmly against Satan’s attacks, but sometimes we are wounded and knocked down; we become battle weary and traumatized…but we will not remain that way…
E. To properly satisfy our need to WORSHIP (11)
1. Peter breaks into praise and worship; this is natural when we complete our God
2. Human beings were created to worship. Because of how sin has corrupted the human soul, we are tempted to worship false gods, money, or a host of substitutes, things that in themselves are not necessarily bad, but when put in place of God become bad.
3. The worship instinct is not unique to believers; the difference is that believers can worship in spirit and in truth…
WE NEED GOD AND WE NEED OTHER BELIEVERS
II. We Need Other BELIEVERS (12-14)
A. Peter needed SILAS (12a)
“Silvanus was associated with Paul in his mission to the Greek cities of Philippi (Acts 16:19, 25, 29), Thessalonica (17:4), Berea (17:10, 14), and Corinth (18:5: cf. 2 Cor 1:19), but was known to the churches to which 1 Peter is written only by reputation…” (Word Biblical Commentary)
1. It’s okay if you can’t do everything; your weaknesses help you include others…and to be included
2. Peter was a Hebrew-speaking Jew, so his Greek may not have been eloquent enough to write this letter to his Greek-speaking audience
3. Silas, who had traveled with Paul to evangelize the Greeks and was a Roman citizen, would have been very fluent and probably helped Peter along the way
4. Some people have trouble letting others help them; they think they have to do everything themselves and that it is imposing on others…
5. But the church is like a body…we combine our strengths and produce something better…if Peter needed Silas, why are you embarrassed that you need others to help?
B. The church needed PETER (12b)
1. They needed his encouragements, the motivation he could provide
2. They needed his eye-witness testimony that the salvation Jesus provided is received by God’s grace, and that the atonement is God’s gracious way to save sinners…
3. They needed someone with direction and at least some answers; so today the modern church needs Biblically-immersed leadership; we don’t need CEO’s, we need leaders with shepherds’ hearts...
C. The CHURCHES needed one another (13)
“She who is in Babylon, chosen together with you, sends you her greetings.”
1. Is “she” Peter’s wife, or a church?
• Peter had a wife and she usually traveled with him
• We are all familiar with the concept of a “pastor’s wife.” Think of being an “apostle’s wife.”
• Speaking of pastor’s wife, this is a true story:
• Jim Dunn was serving as the pastor of the First Baptist Church, and his wife, Gladys, was very friendly and welcoming to people.
One particular Sunday when the sermon seemed to go on forever, many in the congregation fell asleep.
After the service, to be sociable, she walked up to a very sleepy looking gentleman. In an attempt to revive him from his stupor, she extended her hand in greeting, and said, "Hello, I’m Gladys Dunn."
To which the gentleman replied, "You’re not the only one!"
Contributed by: Paul Decker , Sermoncentral
2. But “she” probably refers to a church (the bride of Christ)
3. Babylon: literal Babylon or Rome? Probably literal Babylon
• Peter, the apostle to the Jews
• Large Jewish population in Babylon (Hillah) -- Iraq
• No need to use a code word
4. Like-minded churches need to work together (Yes We Can)
D. Mark needed MENTORS (14a)
1. Peter calls Mark his son in the same way Paul names Timothy his son (I Tim. 1:2; II Tim. 1:2).
2. Acts 15:37-39a: "Barnabas wanted to take John, also called Mark, with them, but Paul did not think it wise to take him, because he had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not continued with them in the work. They had such a sharp disagreement that they parted company."
3. Barnabas originally mentored him, but then Peter got a hold of him
4. Near the end of his life, Paul instructs Timothy to bring Mark down: “Get Mark and bring him with you, because he is helpful to me in my ministry.”
5. Mark went on to write the second Gospel…the early church believe he received most of his information from Peter…
6. What about you? Have you messed up in life? Do you need to learn, to develop? That’s part of what church is about. As we connect, mentoring takes place – not necessarily structured. The early church had few programs…
E. Believers in a church need ONE ANOTHER (14b)
1. Signified by a ritual kiss the early church used (part of their culture), a sign of affection. Do you have affection for some of our church folks? Have you gotten attached?
2. But they were comfortable with one another (like family), knew one another, prayed together, and shared their talents and abilities with one another.
3. This is why things like cookouts and food contests and talent nights and flock groups serve an important function.
4. Part of the mission of HPC is to connect believers to one another and to God…
WE NEED GOD AND WE NEED OTHER BELIEVERS
CONCLUSION
1. Are you embarrassed that you need God? That you need other people?
2. Is John Wayne your role model? He was a great cowboy and soldier, but I wouldn’t want my daughter marrying someone like him…
3. Is pride keeping you from accepting Jesus Christ? From jumping in with both feet?
