1 Peter #13
The Book of 1 Peter • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Transcript
Introduction:
Introduction:
Connection
Spiritual warfare: A topic often neglected, or wildly abused. But it is of such importance, because it is our daily battle. If we are not conscious of the battle—we are presently being deceived by the father of lies. We must walk in the truth, as children of the truth, in the armour of truth, by the grace of Christ who is the Truth. We must wear the armour of God humbly, oppose our adversary boldly, and prepare ourselves for eternity gracefully.
Theme:
Humility, Adversity, and Eternity
Need:
We need to be equipped to walk in humble prayer and dependence, to resist the evil one and his many wicked schemes, and to look beyond our temporary suffering to the everlasting and unsearchable riches of Christ and our inheritance in Him.
Purpose:
To comfort the humble saints in God’s care and timing; to exhort the saints to be holy in their spiritual warfare and adversity; and to leave the saints in awe before the eternal glory in Christ that we partake in by the true grace of God in the Gospel.
Read Text:
1 Peter 5:6-14 ESV
PRAY - PRAY - PRAY - PRAY
(1) We must Grow Downward while Leaning on God’s Mighty Care - v. 6-7
(1) We must Grow Downward while Leaning on God’s Mighty Care - v. 6-7
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.
6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you,
In the closing paragraph of this book, it pleased Peter and the Holy Spirit, to give a final call to these suffering and afflicted saints—and it begins with—humble yourselves. In light of everything we’ve just gone over, from the sovereign grace of God, to the sovereign will of God, from salvation to suffering, from witness to apologetics, from church relations to marriage, from government to the spiritual realm—humble yourselves therefore. What does it mean to humble ourselves under the might hand of God?
It means to grow small, to grow downward, to recognize God’s infinite and eternal and sovereign beauty and glory—and to compare Him to our finite and temporal weakness and frailty. It is to depend upon Him for life and breathe and being—and it is to trust in Him alone for grace and salvation. To humble oneself before the mighty hand of God—is to walk in the heart-posture similar to when we gaze upon the most beautiful sunset, or when we are caught up staring at the great mountains and valleys of this planet—it is to be filled with a reverence and a sense of our smallness—but it is also to trust in, and give glory to, the God of eternity, our God in Christ.
This heart posture should characterize our walk with God—and should overflow into our walk with each other. It is to stop acting like we are King—and to bend the knee in joyful service to our God—and to serve the saints in sacrificial love.
In light of God’s mighty hand of creation, providence, and redemption—we are called to delightfully serve Him for all of our days:
You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the Lord your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.
Jesus is the power of God and the wisdom of God. In Him we have true redemption, the forgiveness of sins. In Him we have a right standing with God, covered in his obedience. In Him we have adoption, brought into the family of God. In Him we have power, the presence of the Spirit for new life and service. In light of God’s mighty and gracious hand, his outstretched arm—let us serve Him, honour the Lord’s Day, lay our lives down for the saints, honour Him in our families, and witness for Him in the world. He is worthy.
But… this makes me afraid … I’m so small, how can I be used by God? Dear one—remember—He is the sovereign God, the Lord of heaven and earth—nothing is too hard for him, He is for you, He is in you, and He is with you. And it is God’s usual way of working to shame the strong with the weak. Are you weak? Are you lowly? Are you humble? Are you broken? Then let the mighty hand of God use you for His Kingdom and Righteousness. Don’t let fear overwhelm you—look to Jesus and know that He is pleased to use trembling saints who are walking in the Holy Fear of God. Thus, Peter says:
7 casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.
Whatever it is that gives you hesitancy in being bold for Jesus, whatever it is that makes you tremble when you count the cost of following Him, whatever it is that weighs heavy upon you with your family/friends, whatever it is that gives you uncertainties, whether your health, your job, your future, your family, your bills, your daily bread—Peter says—cast it all on Him, cast all your cares on Him, cast all your anxieties on Him—Because He cares for you.
You see, dear Christian, our God isn’t a cold-diety, He is our warm-Father—He is our Beloved, our Friend, our Redeemer, our Protector, our Healer, and our Shield and very great Reward. He created all things, sustains all things, and works all things for His glory. That is our God! His Kingdom endures forever—and He rules over all that He has made. There are no maverick molecules—there is nothing that escapes his guiding plan. Yes—the secret things belong to God and we don’t know all the complexities of the future, or even the present—but we do know the God who does. We know that He is Good, that He is faithful and true, that He is kind and merciful, that he is gracious and loving.
So what is it? What is it today that is bringing you anxiety? Run to the throne of grace and lay it on Immanuel’s shoulders. Let him bear the load—let him run His universe—let Him do his redeeming work. Don’t give in the the temptation of thinking that you are in control—you aren’t—King Jesus is. And if you are repenting of your sins and trusting in Him today—He is your King. The very one who rules over all is the very one who bled to save your soul. That is a great comfort for the church of God. Jesus says not to be anxious—because our souls are precious in God’s sight, as His beloved children. Thus we can, with the Psalmist:
Commit your way to the Lord;
trust in him, and he will act.
The word in the Greek for ‘casting your anxieties on Him’ literally means: to throw forcefully, or to hurl. Are you feeling anxious—throw it on your God with all your weight. Trust me, he can bear the load. This is the only way to press on in the strength that He supplies, walking in His love, submitting to our Father’s will, armed with the grace of God, and empowered by His Spirit.
And yes, Peter says, don’t worry little flock—at the proper time he will exalt you.
We can set our mind fully on the grace that will be brought to us when Jesus returns, at his 2nd coming, and we can humble ourselves before him now—not building our own kingdom, but seeking first His kingdom—not building our tower to heaven, but trusting in Jacob’s ladder—not climbing up Mount Sinai, but coming to Mount Zion—not cleaning up our own life, but coming to the fountain of life:
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
For with you is the fountain of life;
in your light do we see light.
“Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord:
though your sins are like scarlet,
they shall be as white as snow;
though they are red like crimson,
they shall become like wool.
Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
Such are they, blessed by the Christ of God and by the Spirit of God—they have humbled themselves under the might hand of God—they have come to the end of themselves, trusting in the Redeemer’s blood, in Calvary’s cross, repenting of their sins, having returned to their Creator—and by the sufficient grace of the Gospel, they are blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.
Is that you this morning? Then press on with your eyes fixed on King Jesus—waging war against the sin of your flesh, battling against the temptations of the evil one, walking in humble faith and submission—becuase your inheritance is secure and is coming your way! He will hold you fast. He will not break the bruised reed, and He will not quench the faintly burning wick. He is faithful and He is merciful to you dear saints.
But if that isn’t you this morning, then you must flee from the wrath to come, run to the Lord Jesus Christ and trust in His Person and Work, who came to save guilty sinners like you and I. Nothing bars you from coming—his only requirement is that you feel your need of Him, and thus, to trust in Him alone. Then out of love rise and baptized, as you live for Him, wait for Him, and glorify Him while we long for His return. Luke writes this in Acts 14;
When they had preached the gospel to that city and had made many disciples, they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch, strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.
Press on in the narrow way—your reward is great in heaven, the Lord is your portion—so be humble, trust in His mighty hand, cast your cares on him—knowing that in due time he will exalt you with King Jesus to reign with him in the new world, forever and ever. Hear the words of your God and Saviour:
Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.
(1) We must Grow Downward while Leaning on God’s Mighty Care - v. 6-7
This leads us to our second point:
(2) We must Fight Onward while Remaining Firm in Faith and Suffering - v. 8-9
(2) We must Fight Onward while Remaining Firm in Faith and Suffering - v. 8-9
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 kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world.
8 Be sober-minded; be watchful.
Here Peter once again repeats the command to be clear-minded, sober-minded: to think properly about reality in light of God’s Word—and to not be led astray by the winds of false doctrines. We must think rightly, in the fear of God, which is the beginning of knowledge and wisdom—which are both hid in Christ Jesus our Lord. To be sober minded is to be let the Word of Christ dwell richly in us—while holding the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience. But not only is this required of us—we are also required to be watchful, one of the most neglected of the spiritual disciplines.
Two other places where Jesus commands us to be watchful are in Luke 21 and Matt. 26. Luke 21:34-36
“But watch yourselves lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and cares of this life, and that day come upon you suddenly like a trap. For it will come upon all who dwell on the face of the whole earth. But stay awake at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are going to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.”
And he came to the disciples and found them sleeping. And he said to Peter, “So, could you not watch with me one hour? Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
Here we see the spiritual duty of watchfulness. Watching for what? Temptations to sin, snares of the evil one, desires of the flesh, fleeting pleasures, vain hopes, spiritual attacks, and spiritual slothfulness and lukewarmness. Those who are not mindful in watchfulness for such things—are those who are most prone to fall into them. Like the watchmen of old, we must never take our eyes off of the flaming darts of the evil one, always holding up the shield of faith to extinguish his sharp arrows. 1 Cor. 10:12
Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall.
Maybe you are in a season of spiritual slothfulness—maybe you are in a season of lukewarmness—the Lord this morning is calling you to repent, to be cleansed by Christ, and to walk with diligence and mindfulness, meditating on the Word, bathing in prayer, and watching for sinful snares. The worst that your spiritual state is, the best you think yourself to be. A great sign of spiritual decay and immaturity is a indifference to Christ and his Word, a neglect of prayer and walking in the Spirit, a cold heart that does not melt at the sight of our Father’s love. Oh how could we stay in such a deadly state? We must repent and return to our God. Those who have lost their first love must run back to the source—to the rivers of his delights in Christ Jesus our God and Saviour.
Oh how we should bewail our spiritual weakness. Crying out to God for strength. Pleading with God for more of his power and presence. Arguing with God based on his promises that He will grant us the Spirit of holiness, that we would walk in holiness just like our Saviour. Not to be saved—but because we have been saved. Guilt, Grace, Gratitude. The law condemns us, the gospel redeems us, and now the Spirit inflames us to fear God and keep his commandments out of love for His precious name. We must be watchful for our own precious communion with God. If we are giving into our flesh we are hindering our pleasures in Christ, we are snuffing out our joy in Christ, we are grieving the Spirit of Christ, and we are displeasing our Father in Christ. Our greatest joy in life is to walk as children of the light, putting on the Lord Jesus—because of all that He is done! We must strive to live in humble piety like the Psalmist of old:
Oh how I love your law!
It is my meditation all the day.
Your commandment makes me wiser than my enemies,
for it is ever with me.
I have more understanding than all my teachers,
for your testimonies are my meditation.
I understand more than the aged,
for I keep your precepts.
I hold back my feet from every evil way,
in order to keep your word.
I do not turn aside from your rules,
for you have taught me.
How sweet are your words to my taste,
sweeter than honey to my mouth!
Through your precepts I get understanding;
therefore I hate every false way.
We must, in the holy fear of God—not fearing hell, but fearing sin—not fearing wrath, but fearing displeasure; and in the holy love of God—not merely emotion—or merely devotion—but our whole soul devoted to the Lord—we must watch and pray, to abide in Christ, to glorify God, to walk in the Spirit, and to enjoy the eternal pleasures that are at his right hand. For the Christian—His holiness is our spiritual delight, and our holiness is our spiritual happiness. When Christ comes to the soul with his knocks of love and fellowship, but we turn Him away because it is inconvenient—we are grieving the heart of our Bridegroom and we are damaging our own enjoyment of His beauty and glory. Those who neglect his love often find that it takes much diligent prayer to be restored to the joy of our salvation. Our cry after such spiritual sloth is: Song 5:4-6
My beloved put his hand to the latch,
and my heart was thrilled within me.
I arose to open to my beloved,
and my hands dripped with myrrh,
my fingers with liquid myrrh,
on the handles of the bolt.
I opened to my beloved,
but my beloved had turned and gone.
My soul failed me when he spoke.
I sought him, but found him not;
I called him, but he gave no answer.
Let us be watchful, beloved—for the sake of our walk with Christ. Maybe you’ve been neglecting private prayer and communion with Christ. The only way back is to be sick with love, to plead his promises, to repent of your sins, and to seek Him until you find Him in the Word, in Prayer, and by the Spirit of God. Then you will be restored and you will cry out: “I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine” (Song. 6:3), and you will again enjoy His presence, His promises, and His Person—which is “altogether lovely—full of grace and truth”.
But there’s more reasons why we must be watchful… Peter also says:
Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
Our enemy is the father of lies. Earlier this week I had the opportunity from the Lord to witness to some of the youth from down the road about the Gospel of Jesus Christ—and then defend it against every accusation, honouring Christ the Lord as holy in my heart, while giving a reason for the hope that is in me, and destroying every lofty thought and argument brought up against the knowledge of God according to 1 Peter. 3:15 and 2 Cor. 10:5. Why? Because my hearts desire and prayer for them is that they might be saved by Jesus Christ and brought into the eternal Kingdom of God.
I saw the work of the evil one our adversary—with my own eyes. His goal in life is to fill as many people as he can with falsehood, with irrational beliefs, with immoral beliefs, and with unscientific beliefs. He wants to fill the world, who are children of the devil, with as many lies as possible in order to keep them from coming to the Light of Jesus Christ, and finding Him to be the Way, the Truth, and the Life. The devil will even use false-religion as a tactic to delude God’s creatures to a false-assurance of salvation based upon a false-way to salvation. And these temptations and snares are not foreign from the people of God as well.
In order to combat this we must first (a) be filled with the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ by His Word and Spirit, (b) be equipped to use our spiritual weapons of the Word and Prayer in order to tear down his spiritual strongholds, and therefore (c) to resist his wicked work while seeking first His kingdom and righteousness, labouring the good fight of love, for the salvation of the lost, the building up of the saints, and the destruction of spiritual forces.
Christianity is not an-anti-intellectual religion—it is the only religion of proper intellect.
Christianity is not an irrational religion—it is the only religion of proper reason.
Christianity is not an immoral religion—it is the only religion of proper morality.
Christianity is not an unscientific religion—it is the only religion of proper science.
The devil will come as an angel of light, convincing you of what might be 90% true, but 10% false—something that looks so good, so true, so beautiful—but inwardly is dead, corrupted, evil, false, and ugly. We need discernment by the Word and Spirit so that we are not duped into being led astray by the evil one.
so that we would not be outwitted by Satan; for we are not ignorant of his designs.
For I feel a divine jealousy for you, since I betrothed you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ. But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ.
We must know that the evil one is our great foe—his delight is to lead you astray—his joy is to make you miserable when you belong to Jesus, or to make you comfortable when you are still in your sins. How does he devour? Through twisting the word of God to the people of God—and if he can’t do that, then by tempting the people of God to doubt the word of God—hath God really said? To which we respond, with the Lord Jesus Christ, in His grace, and by His Spirit: “IT IS WRITTEN”.
For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete.
Oh to wield the Sword of the Spirit, the living and active Word of God—by it the forces of darkness flee—by it their spiritual strongholds are ripped apart with shrieks of fear and trembling. For the devil and his angels know that their time is short! Rev. 12:11-12
And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death. Therefore, rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath, because he knows that his time is short!”
As the evil one is roaring even know, as we are citizens of the kingdom and partakers of the end-times tribulation—the dragon and serpent is furious—he is firing all he has at us—but we are nourished in the wilderness, protected by the Cloud of God’s presence, as we are journeying to the promised land. He makes war on the seed of the women—but we have the promise of old in our lips:
I will put enmity between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and her offspring;
he shall bruise your head,
and you shall bruise his heel.”
The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.
In Christ, as we pray in the Spirit, and as we speak the written and sufficient word of God—we are able to:
9 Resist him, firm in your faith,
How do we resist the devil and his minions? How do we fight this spiritual battle? How do we remain firm in our faith? By unswerving obedience to the Word of God—presupposing it as our ultimate standard for all of life—by unswerving prayer in the Spirit of God—depending upon God to fill us with power in the inner man—and by unswerving meditation on the Scriptures, hiding the Word in our hearts that we might pull it out to slay those wicked spirits. This is nothing less than our Scripture reading from earlier from Eph 6. How do we resist Him—only in the armour of Christ, fitted by grace alone, through faith alone—and purposed to the glory of God alone.
So often Christians get bogged down with an over-obsession with the spiritual realm—this too we must watch against, but we must not undervalue the spiritual realm. We must remember that old hymn by Martin Luther:
“And though this world with devils filled, should threaten to undo us, we will not fear for God has willed, his truth to triumph through us. The prince of darkness grim, we tremble not for him; his rage we can endure, for lo his doom is sure; one little word shall fell him.”
What is that little word? It is the word of the Gospel, the song of the redeemed, the Word that only those who are born again can say in sincerity—Abba, Father. Calling upon the name of the Lord, through Christ, by the Spirit, to the Father—we resist the evil one, he falls, he flees, and he runs away. And guess what you do when he comes back? You send him flying again:
knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world.
You are not alone dear suffering saint. Your persecution, your spiritual attack, your health challenges, your mental health trials, your trying circumstances—you are one with Christ, and one with His Body, the Church—and when one rejoices, we all rejoice—and when one suffers, we all suffer.
Together, with the words of the faith on our lips, recited in the apostles creed—with the Spirit of Christ in our hearts, filled through prayer—and with the Sword of the Spirit in our hands, the Written Word of God—we press on as one Body, the elect from every nation tribe and tongue, whom we shall join on that blessed day as we praise the Lamb of God who was slain before the foundation of the world—by His blood we have been redeemed from the earth, from the wrath of God, and have been brought into his marvelous light—to sing the song of ages unto the Lamb—oh to look forward to that blessed day, when all things shall be made new.
(2) We must Fight Onward while Remaining Firm in Faith and Suffering - v. 8-9
This leads us to our third point:
(3) We must Look Upward while Waiting for the Eternal Glory in Christ - v. 10-11.
(3) We must Look Upward while Waiting for the Eternal Glory in Christ - v. 10-11.
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.
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.
Suffering, then Glory. Grace for Glory. Eternity, in Glory. Oh we must never lose sight of these precious truths. The evil one would have us waver concerning our living hope—or to make us fearful to claim the promises as our own. But the Lord desires that you would claim for your own, by His perfect grace, the full assurance of faith and salvation!
Though we speak in this way, yet in your case, beloved, we feel sure of better things—things that belong to salvation. For God is not unjust so as to overlook your work and the love that you have shown for his name in serving the saints, as you still do. And we desire each one of you to show the same earnestness to have the full assurance of hope until the end,
Full assurance of faith and hope for what? For our acceptance by grace alone on that day of judgment, as we pass through the judgement of God, by our union with Christ in his life, death, burial, and resurrection—for our final entrance into the New Jerusalem, when we shall dwell forever in the presence of God, by the mercies of God, gazing upon the beauty of the Lord in his temple for all of our days. Not only can we have this assurance of faith—it is open to all those who are in Christ. As you rest upon His promises, confirm your calling and election, and find the Spirit bearing witness with your spirit that you are a child of God—you can sing this verse with Paul: 2 Tim. 1:12
which is why I suffer as I do. But I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that day what has been entrusted to me.
On that blessed day, after we have suffered, all of God’s elect exiles, chosen by the Father, redeemed by the Son, regenerated by the Spirit—all those who are in Christ—by the God of all grace, effectually called to salvation, we shall share in the eternal glory in Christ—we shall reign with Him forever and ever! 1 Cor. 2:9-10
Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall. For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.
Samuel Rutherford says:
You have only these two shallow rivers, sickness and death, to pass through; and you have also a promise, that Christ shall do more than meet you, He shall even come himself, and go with you, foot for foot, yea and bear you in his arms. O then for the joy that is set before you, for the love of the Christ that is standing upon the shore to welcome you: run your race with patience.
Oh dear child of God—let your heart be warmed at the fire of his precious promises to you—foster the assurance of your salvation—persevere in the Spirit—and you will certainly find entrance into the everlasting Kingdom of Glory. On that day God in Christ will restore us perfectly to the image of Christ, he will confirm us in everlasting life, he will strengthen us in resurrected bodies, and he will establish us in the new creation. This is our destiny—all God’s people equally share in the glory of Christ as coheirs with Christ. I am my beloveds, and my beloved is mine. All that is his, is mine! Oh dear Christian, how can we not sing: “It is well with my soul”. Peter then exclaims in a God honouring doxology:
11 To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen.
Until then—stand firm beloved—strengthened and made immovable by the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Weeping lasts for the night, but joy comes in the morning. Surely God is good to the true Israel of God—the church of Jesus Christ. Take heart dear child of Abraham—your High Priest ever lives to make intercession for you, and is coming again to save you—you can rest secure. He will complete that which he began in you—Christ will lose none of his precious sheep.
For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.
(3) We must Look Upward while Waiting for the Eternal Glory in Christ - v. 10-11.
This takes us to our final conclusion:
(C) Growing Downward and Fighting Onward is the Path to our Glory in Christ that is Upward—by the God of all Grace.
(C) Growing Downward and Fighting Onward is the Path to our Glory in Christ that is Upward—by the God of all Grace.
This leads us to close off the book of 1 Peter with the Spirit-inspired benediction:
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. She who is at Babylon, who is likewise chosen, sends you greetings, and so does Mark, my son. Greet one another with the kiss of love.
Peace to all of you who are in Christ.
(C) Growing Downward and Fighting Onward is the Path to our Glory in Christ that is Upward—by the God of all Grace.
(C) Growing Downward and Fighting Onward is the Path to our Glory in Christ that is Upward—by the God of all Grace.
Amen, let’s pray.
