Prayer & Praise - 1 Peter 5:1-5
Notes
Transcript
5 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.” 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.
What does this passage tell us?
Well, it tells us a about an adversary that we face,
which is the Devil.
Which means,
he’s not just a made up story to scare us into being good!
He’s a real enemy that we face,
And if we fail to recognize this and live this way,
We are in some serious trouble!
A roaring lion looking for someone to devour
the great red dragon
the strong man
the god of this world
the prince of the power of the air
The Bible is very clear that the Devil is a supernatural personal force of tremendous evil & power
As one theologian put it,
He would pick up the mountains and throw them at you if God allowed it.
And he can,
But God doesn’t let him.
And yet, the idea of the devil is mocked in today’s age
It’s ridiculed!
And if we aren’t careful,
Even though we might not say that ourselves,
But we can easily live as if we are saying that ourselves.
And yet,
Jesus warned us numerous times about evil supernatural forces that are out to get us
And so we’d be foolish to think the Devil’s existence isn’t that big of a deal!
The devil works through our own heart’s sin
Pride = verses 6
Worry = verse 7
In Ephesians 4 Paul says: “Do not let the sun go down on your wrath.”
He says:
26 Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger,
In 1 Timothy 3:6 Paul says a new Christian shouldn’t be put into a position of church leadership,
Because he may fall into the trap of the devil.
6 He must not be a recent convert, or he may become puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil.
When it comes to supernatural forces,
We’ve said this before, but there’s always two ditches: and C. S. Lewis put it best, when he said:
“There are two equal and opposite errors into which our race can fall about the devils. One is to disbelieve in their existence. The other is to believe, and to feel an excessive and unhealthy interest in them.”
Today we see numerous churches and pastors saying that Christians need - not exorcism of demon spirits,
but deliverance from their oppressive control.
Which is why you can find tent revivals just down the road from us,
that claim to “SPECIALIZE” in deliverance ministries for CHRISTIANS.
And the way they say they deliver these Christians is by praying for over them,
And commanding the oppressive spirits to leave the Christian alone.
And it often involves making the Christian confess and own all of their major past sins from the time they were 7.
This is often called a DEMON TRIAL.
And they will try to figure out the demons name,
Because they believe that when you figure out the demon’s name - then you can cast it out -
Well, not cast it out with believers,
But command it to stop oppressing the Christian.
Now, this almost goes without saying,
But this NOT biblical in the slightest!
Not at all!
Because - yes, Christians cannot be possessed by demonic spirits,
But we can be oppressed,
BUT - the solution they are providing is not the Bible’s solution!
And in 1 Peter 5, we find the Bible’s solution.
Which is what?
Look at verses 6 and 7.
Humble ourselves
cast all our burdens and anxieties on Him - because He cares for us!
And do all of this sober mindedly,
Because the Devil prowls around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour.
In the book of Jude,
Here’s how the arch angel Michael handled spiritual warfare with Satan,
8 Yet in like manner these people also, relying on their dreams, defile the flesh, reject authority, and blaspheme the glorious ones. 9 But when the archangel Michael, contending with the devil, was disputing about the body of Moses, he did not presume to pronounce a blasphemous judgment, but said, “The Lord rebuke you.”
Look,
Michael is a thousand times - a million times - more powerful than you and I are as puny, weak Christians.
And yet, even the great archangel Michael wouldn’t dare try to go toe to toe with Satan.
He too had to rely on the Lord.
And so do we - lest we end up devoured!
9 Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world.
The Bible is clear,
The way we deal with the devil isn’t holy water,
or commanding him around - “as if he’d listen…”
It’s by getting RID of the footholds that he has in your life.
And by doing that, that’s how we resist him and STAND firm in our faith!
My good pastor friend Dave just preached a phenomenal sermon on Ephesians chapter 6,
Which mentions how we wrestle not against flesh and blood,
But against principalities,
against authorities and cosmic powers who rule over this present darkness!
And so we need to put on the armor of God
Let’s read it:
10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.
Notice those last 2 words,
“STAND FIRM!”
He doesn’t say we are to advance triumphantly,
He doesn’t say we are to conquer Satan’s strongholds!
Yeah right!
As if we could!
No,
Instead we are to simply STAND FIRM!
By putting on the armor of God
14 Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. 16 In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; 17 and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, 18 praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, 19 and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel,
All of this has to do with clinging to Christ and His Word,
And not ourselves!
Which is why verse 6 of 1 Peter 5 says we must HUMBLE OURSELVES!
And it is only when we do that that we can cast all our anxieties on the Lord,
Who - unlike Satan - actually loves and cares for us!
Practically, what this means then is this:
Run from your pride by rooting out your bitterness and anger towards others
Cast that burden upon the Lord!
Because if you don’t - The Devil will eat you alive!
Do you realize that when you hold a grudge against another person,
You’re not just destroying that relationship - which you certainly are,
But your’e opening yourself up to evil powers.
Your making yourself vulnerable to being devoured by a spiritual roaring lion!
So instead,
Humble yourself - repent - and by doing so you’ll shut down the Devil’s opportunities in your life!
It is the grudges that come from a proud spirit that gives Satan a foothold in our life.
And so we must kill our pride,
And instead, walk a worthy walk - as Paul defines in Ephesians chapter 4.
1 I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, 2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, 3 eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
What this means then, is a truth that my dad always reminds me of when it comes to problems in people’s lives.
And the truth is this:
Whenever there is relationship conflict,
THERE IS ALWAYS a demonic element at play!
Or as one pastor put it
There’s always a demonological element to it!
And yet,
We so easily forget this
Why?
What is Pride??
It is resistance to the grace of God.
It refuses the grace of God
It blocks the grace of God
Pride what blocks the grace of God in our life
Which is why Paul says in verse 5:
“God opposes the proud and gives grace to the humble.”
I like how one pastor puts it when he says:
the amount of grace you have in your life
is equivalent to the amount you’ve dealt with pride.
What are signs we are struggling with Pride?
We very easily have feelings.
We are always looking for sleights, even when they might not be there.
We don’t care about other people when they talk - and we dominate the conversation.
And yet, what’s the solution to this?
realizing we are lacking NOTHING because are clothed in the righteousness of Christ!
And so yeah, it would be nice to have that person’s respect - but I don’t need it!
it doesn’t effect my value and self worth!
But this is only possible by clothing yourself in humility
And you do that by clothing yourself in the gospel.
The same is true of worry and anxiety.
Because at it’s core,
It’s a rejection of God’s grace in our lives.
It’s forgetting what verse 9 says,
Where Peter says: “Cast all your anxities on Him,”
Why?
“Because He cares for you!”
That’s where worry comes from.
It comes from forgetting how loved and cared for we are by an all-power God Who loves us deeply!
And think about it.
If we truly lived in that reality,
What on earth would there ever be to worry about?
NOTHING!
So stop with your over confidence,
Stop with your worry about the future!
And instead humble yourself,
which leads to the grace God of God being poured out upon your life!
Which is why verses 10-11 show us what grace looks like when it’s finished its work!
It shows us the destination of where grace is bringing us!
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.