Exiles and Enduring

Intro

Read 1 Peter 5:6-14

1 Peter 5:6–14 ESV

6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, 7 casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. 8 Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. 9 Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. 10 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. 11 To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen. 12 By Silvanus, a faithful brother as I regard him, I have written briefly to you, exhorting and declaring that this is the true grace of God. Stand firm in it. 13 She who is at Babylon, who is likewise chosen, sends you greetings, and so does Mark, my son. 14 Greet one another with the kiss of love. Peace to all of you who are in Christ.

Here we are at the end of 1 Peter and he gives his final commendation to these elite exiles

The final sendoff starts with a continuation of last week

His final word to those elite exiles

Be confident in humility

1 Peter 5:6–7 ESV

6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, 7 casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.

Humble yourself

The lifestyle of an exile is one of humility

Looking back at verse 5 the humble are the one who will experience God’s grace

The Exiles who humble themselves before God will be the ones who can suffer well

They will be the ones who will endure in this life because they dont mix up their thinking

They understand who God is

Notice they humble themselves under the mighty hand of God

Remember in 1 Peter 4:2 “2 so as to live for the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for human passions but for the will of God.”

Living for the will of God no matter what they may be

knowing that at the proper time he may exalt you

Also trusting that God will be faithful

The exile can have this way of thinking because their trust is in the almighty powerful soveriegn God

Thats what peter is getting at here when he follows the humble yourselves with verse 7 casting your anxieties on him

Notice what Peter does here with setting up his sentence this way he is saying anxiety is pride

We wouldn’t normally say this right

Some of you may be like hold up a minute I have anxiety because I’m not prideful

I should be more confident then I wouldnt have so much anxiety

Ok Confidence in what???????

Confidence in yourself?

Or confidence in God????

This is at the heart of what Peter is saying here

Follow his logic

Since God opposes the proud yet give grace to the humble

We should humble ourselves

BY casting our anxieties on him

Because we know that he loves us

That he cares for those who call on him

And at the proper time he will exalt us

I say this to folks who are struggling with decision making

Are you really so arrogant as to think that you will choose to do something and God wont be able to work through it?

Be ready for opposition

1 Peter 5:8–9 ESV

8 Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. 9 Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world.

Be sober minded

Again this is a thought process the thought process of the exile

Is clear it has a right priority

It is not nieve about the realities of living as an exile in this world

As elders we see so many people caught in the snare the devil has set for them

And really the scariest thing is to realize in a moment of weakness I could be in that same spot

I’m not immune to sin

We must be continuously on gaurd

Our enemy prowls around

Waiting patiently for your moment of weakness

Arrogence

spit

bitterness

He is waiting on us and will pounce when the time is right

We must resist him with a clear mind

Not clouded by worldly things

but focused on the things of God

And the greatest hope we have is here

1 Peter 5:9 “9 Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world.”

We are not alone in our battle against the devil

The trials we endure

The hard times

The times of anxiety

The tempatation to take the easy way

The temptation to take a break from our battle against sin

Hebrews 4:15 ESV

15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.

We are not alone in this battle

The lord in his graciousness has given us each other to wage war against the enemy together

To suffer together

To encourage each other

The benediction

1 Peter 5:10–14 ESV

10 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. 11 To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen. 12 By Silvanus, a faithful brother as I regard him, I have written briefly to you, exhorting and declaring that this is the true grace of God. Stand firm in it. 13 She who is at Babylon, who is likewise chosen, sends you greetings, and so does Mark, my son. 14 Greet one another with the kiss of love. Peace to all of you who are in Christ.

The beautiful closing

1 Peter 5:10 ESV

10 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.