Dress Well

Introduction

Scripture Introduction

1 Peter 5:1-11 “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 kind 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.

Sermon Introduction

1. Clothe Yourselves with Humility (vs 5b).

The second part of verse 5 gives the main command of this passage.

Peter says that both elders and members of the church…everyone…must clothe themselves with humility.

Also notice that this humility must be towards one another. Believers must seek to put others needs before their own and see others needs as more important than their own.

It would be easy for Peter’s readers to only be concerned about their suffering and trials, but they are commanded to care for the needs of others first.

We are called to do the same.

The imagery Peter uses with the command to “clothe” oneself with humility communicates the act of putting or tying something on oneself.

One can think of Jesus, who took off his outer garment and tied the towel around his waist to demonstrate his humility in washing the disciple’s feet.

Our example for humility is Jesus himself, and we should have his same mind and attitude in seeking to place the needs of others over our own (Phil. 2:3-8).

Would you ever leave your house for the day in your pajamas? Or worse, without any clothes on at all??

Of course not!

Just as we would never appear naked in public, so too we must always be dressed or wrapped in humility in our relationships with one another.

Peter gives the reason why we must clothe ourselves with humility…for God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble (Prov 3:34; James 4:6, 10).

Those who are proud cannot and will not see other’s needs as more important than their own.

The Bible makes clear that God opposes and is against this kind of person.

However, to those who humble themselves, God will lavish his grace and favor upon them. To those who are meek, God will allow them to inherit the earth.

This grace is not referring to saving grace but rather refers to the sanctifying and empowering grace of the Spirit.

Let us think about it in terms of a bucket…if the bucket of our lives is filled up with ourselves, we will have no room for the empowerment and enabling presence of the Spirit of God.

Therefore, we must continually empty ourselves in humility so that we can continually be filled with the grace of God.

2. In Humility, Elders are Called to Shepherd the Flock of God (vs 1-4a).

The elders would be on the front lines and likely be the first to suffer persecution in the church.

Elder is another term that is synonymous with pastor in the Bible.

Therefore, Peter addresses them first to help them understand what is required of them as elders, especially when their sheep are being harassed.

After listing his credentials to help the elders know he can relate to his readers, Peter gives the main command and responsibility elders have: Shepherd the flock of God.

A shepherd for Peter’s readers would recount images of a just king, a benevolent provider, and a powerful defender.

As a verb, to shepherd someone means to pastor them, to love and care for someone and protect them from enemies.

Throughout the Old Testament, God is described as a faithful shepherd, feeding, leading, protecting, and bringing back his scattered sheep.

Gen. 48:15; Ps. 77:20; Ps. 74:1; Ezek. 34:12-15.

In the New Testament, Jesus is described as the Good Shepherd who sacrifices his own life for the sake of his flock (John 10:11).

The elders then, are called to imitate Christ in loving, providing for, and protecting their sheep just as God has done for his people.

Verse 4 makes clear that Jesus is the chief Shepherd, therefore all elders are “undershepherds” and must in humility submit themselves to Christ.

Peter spells out three ways they should and should not care for their people. Each one of these characteristics stems from humility.

First, elders should not serve others as a burden or grudgingly but willingly and joyfully.

Elders should not care for their people because they are motivated by the praise of other people but the desire to serve should come from their heart in wanting to please God.

It must be according to God’s will, which means that they should shepherd the flock as God himself would shepherd his people.

Second, elders should not shepherd their people out of love of profit or personal gain, but rather out of an eagerness to seek to meet the needs of others.

Going back to the definition of humility, elders should serve their people in counting their sheep’s needs above their own.

Third, elders should not dominate and boss people around out of love of power, but rather seek to teach, guide, and lead their people by example.

Faithful shepherds must not just tell their sheep what to do, but call them to imitate their lives as they go before them to provide an example for them to follow.

Give an illustration of leading by example and imitation and tie it into how Jesus calls us to follow him in leading us by example. Jesus never calls us to do something that he has not already done himself when he was on earth.

3. In Humility, Members are Called to Submit to God and Resist the Devil (vs 6-9).

Since God opposes the proud and gives grace to the humble, if we are going to have the grace and strength we need to endure suffering, we must humble ourselves before God.

To humble oneself before God implies being lowly in heart and submitting oneself to his will.

The only way to place oneself under something is to lower oneself and entrust oneself to something (i.e. God).

Peter says that this humility is lived out when we “cast all our anxieties on the Lord.”

“cast” refers to putting something on something else with great energy and force.

Example: “the die has been cast” when Julius Caesar crossed the Rubicon and invaded Italy....the act is irrevocable and cannot be changed.

We must throw ALL our anxiety on the Lord and release total control of our lives....trusting in him fully.

Not giving our anxieties to God is to be prideful and arrogant.

But here is the question....why should we humble ourselves and cast our cares upon God?

If we humble ourselves before the Lord, he will exalt us at the proper time.

We can cast our cares on the Lord because He is strong and mighty to support and help us.

But we cannot miss the truth that we should cast our cares upon the Lord because HE CARES FOR US!!

We can trust God and give our worries to him because he is good…because he is strong....because he is faithful....and most of all because he loves us.

In humility, verses 8-9 say we must resist the Devil.

We must have a single-minded devotion to Christ and be watchful knowing Satan is wanting to devour us like a lion.

Peter uses two words to describe Satan

Adversary: means accuser.

Devil: means slanderer.

Peter is probably playing off these words as his readers’ persecutors were accusing and slandering them.

Satan often accuses us as hypocrites when we sin, he slanders our name saying we will never be good enough for God....or he slanders God’s name and makes us think that God is not good…that he does not love us…and we should not trust in him.

The temptation Satan baits us with is that we are strong enough to take matters into our own hands instead of giving our anxieties to God.

But we must resist him being firm in our faith.

To do this, we must remain steadfast in our faith in God, that he is good and that he does love us and will care for us.

We must also put on the full armor of God.

Again though…the only way we can put on God’s armor is by humbling ourselves and admitting we cannot defeat the devil in our own strength.

We must admit that we need the breast plate of righteousness, we need the sword of the Spirit, we need to belt of truth, we need the shield of faith, we need the helmet of salvation…or we will be helpless to defend ourselves.

Another encouragement we have in resisting the devil is the encouragement from brothers and sisters who are experiencing the same sufferings and temptations.

I love this because it shows that we are not alone in our suffering.

This shows the importance of the church, to stand together, so that they can stand against the devil together in the strength of the Lord!

For those of you that enjoy team sports…why do you play them?

4. The Promise to Those who Endure: The Unfading Crown of Glory (vs 4b, 10-11).

In verse 4b, Peter gives a wonderful promise that those who endure suffering will receive the unfading crown of glory.

In verse 10-11, he then compares the temporary suffering with the eternal glory all believers will experience when Christ returns.

Peter describes his reader’s suffering as “a bit” or “a little while” emphasizing that even if they suffer the rest of their life on earth for Jesus, compared to eternity, it is only “a little while.”

God is the God of all grace and it is by his grace that he has called Peter’s readers to his eternal glory. Notice too that this eternal glory is “in Christ.”

It is only by the grace of God that we are saved.

“eternal glory” is contrasted with “suffering for a little while.”

God will do four things after believers suffer (He himself provides emphasis that he will do it and not Peter’s readers). These verbs are all in the future tense.

Restore: means to perfect or complete something; to put in proper condition. Maybe to restore believers back to the way God originally created all mankind to be...for this is their glorified state.

referred to the setting of a bone back to where it needed to be...restoring it to its proper place.

Confirm: means to strengthen

Strengthen: means to establish or make someone more firm in their commitment.

Establish: to strengthen by a foundation.

Implies that God has established believers and he is the foundation that has provided for them and to whom their salvation is built upon.

The idea behind these four similar verbs is that God will make everything right beyond our wildest dreams.

Peter ends this promise with a line of praise emphasizing God’s sovereignty and ruling ability (dominion) just as he did in 1 Peter 4:11.

The emphasis on God’s sovereignty encouraged and reminded Peter’s readers that even in the midst of their persecution and suffering, God is in control.

It demonstrates that God has the power to do what he just promised to do in verse. 10.

Satan does not have dominion...God alone does!

Response

There are two ways we must respond tonight…but they both can be summed up in one phrase...

We must repent of our pride and clothe ourselves with the humility of Christ...

Luke 18:9-14 “He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ 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.””