66. Final Exhortations to the Church pt4_Congr

1Pe 5:1-11 The elders who are among you I exhort, I who am a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that will be revealed: (2) Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers, not by compulsion but willingly, not for dishonest gain but eagerly; (3) nor as being lords over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock; (4) and when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that does not fade away. (5) Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for "GOD RESISTS THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE." (6) Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, (7) casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you. (8) Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. (9) Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world. (10) But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you. (11) To Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.

In the first 7 verses there has been an emphasis on humbling and submitting. By implication elders and shepherds are to submit to the Chief Shepherd in fulfilling their duties and responsibilities in the church. Younger Christians are to submit to the elders, everyone is to clothe themselves in humility toward one another and in verse 6 we are commanded to humble ourselves before God.

I. The Foundation of the Command.

This harkens back to the quote form the Septuagint ‘for God is opposed to the proud but gives grace to the humble’. Last time we saw that the word opposed means arrayed against in battle. It is important to remember who is arrayed against the proud. God, the infinite, unchangeable Creator of the heavens and the universe who is all knowing, all wise, all powerful, perfect in infinite righteousness, perfect in infinite justice, and all clothed in holiness majesty and glory. In Whose hand holds our very life breath, in Whom we live and move and have our being. The Father of lights and glory in whom there is variation or shifting shadow. It is He who created the heavens and the earth and all that is in them and He who holds all things together by the word of His power. It is He who established the sun, moon, and stars in their courses above and established His created order and His moral law for all the creation. It is this order which creation yearns for renewal. For the creation itself was subjected to futility, not of its own will, but because of Him who subjected it in hope that the creation itself will also be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the sons of God. It is in the Triune God alone that love, justice, goodness, kindness, righteous are all defined in their most perfect sense.

And we see the proud. The proud are those finite, created beings, with a sin depraved understanding. Who shake the fist in the face of their Creator, who rebel at His authority, who throw off His established order, reject His moral law, despise and reject the Chief Cornerstone, the author and perfecter of our faith. It is just as Paul said. Rom 8:7 because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so. Do you see the absolute insanity of the position of the proud? Do they not know? Do they not understand who it is they despise? He holds their life breath in His hand. In Him they live and move and have their being. He who spoke life into being with but a word can also remove it with the same. But even in this we see the mercy of God in His long suffering toward them. Granting them time for them to consider their ways, to repent. Jesus said in Matt 5:44 that He causes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. And Paul says in Rom 2:4 Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?

But unfortunately, it is not just the lost that are or can be proud. We, ourselves, can be proud. This is seen in the command to humble yourself. How is pride manifested in the believer? It can be seen in several different ways. 1) That we deserve better. We don’t deserve to be treated badly or persecuted or suffer in any way.

There is the second part of the text, ‘but He gives grace to the humble’. The word ‘but’ stands as the contrast to the previous verse. As terrifying as the first phrase is the second floods us with relief. For we know that grace is God’s unmerited favor. It cannot be purchased, and it cannot be earned in good works. Grace is needed for our salvation, and grace is given now for perseverance and preservation. This same God who is infinite in every way is also the infinite source and giver of grace. Summer is coming upon us and as many of us know what the heat can do when we have doing strenuous activity in it. We are covered in sweat as our bodies seek to keep us from over-heating, we are hot, our faces are red, our mouths and tongues are dry. That parched feeling extends down our throats. Then someone hands us a glass of ice water. So cold that the moisture in the air condenses and runs down the sides of it. We take that first drink and literally feel the refreshing cold work its way from cotton mouth, to parched throat. We drink enough and we feel our body temperature going down and after enough has been drunk we feel refreshed. When we are humble in the fire of affliction God gives grace in the fullest measure.

II. The Command

What does it mean to humble yourself? Humble literally means to place in a low position. This is a passive verb meaning that the subject is the focus of the action. How does this make sense? How can we be passive in humbling ourselves? The implication of this is that we allow the trials, sufferings, and persecutions to work what they will in us. In the previous chapter we read 1Pe 4:17 For it is time for judgment to begin with the household of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God? But we know that this judgement is not unto condemnation but is for the purpose of sanctification. We have the blessed assurance of the Word of God that God causes all things to work together for the good to those that love God, to those called according to His purpose. What is His purpose? Those who He foreknew, these He predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the first born among many brethren. What is the purpose of trials and affliction in the believer? Sanctification, to make us like Christ. So to humble ourselves in the passive sense is quietly submit to His will, patiently bear every affliction, to be still under the rod of discipline. If we confess that Scripture is the only rule of our faith and practice, then we must live in submission to it. Living in submission to the word of God as the rule of our faith and practice is not limited only to our behavior but also in our duties and responsibilities as a covenant community of believers in Jesus Christ.

III. Under the Mighty Hand of God

Under is preposition that indicates spatial relationship of two nouns. For example: if I were to say I dropped my fork under the table I am saying where the fork is in relation to the table. Here it indicates where humbling ourselves takes us. It takes us under the mighty hand of God. There are several aspects of this to be noted.

1) It is humbling ourselves under the rightful authority of our Creator.

2) It is the humbling ourselves under the rightful authority of our Father. In 1 Peter 1:14 we are called obedient children; the Greek literally says children of obedience. It is the defining characteristic of child of God. It is right that we should be so because of the cost of the gift of Christ. We are children of obedience in two ways. 1. Because our determination is to be obedient to the commands of God, though imperfectly, and 2. we are children (of obedience), brought forth because of Christ’s obedience to His Father. Heb 10:9 Behold, I come to do Thy will. And taking up those decrees held against us having nailed to them to the cross.

3) It is humbling ourselves under the mighty hand of God that we find our refuge and our protection. This phrase ‘mighty hand’ is only used once here in the NT. But it is used 14 times in the OT. Most of them reference God’s salvation primarily.

Deu_5:15 'And you shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God brought you out of there by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm; therefore the LORD your God commanded you to observe the sabbath day.

Deu_6:21 then you shall say to your son, 'We were slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt; and the LORD brought us from Egypt with a mighty hand.

Deu_7:8 but because the LORD loved you and kept the oath which He swore to your forefathers, the LORD brought you out by a mighty hand, and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.

Deu_7:19 the great trials which your eyes saw and the signs and the wonders and the mighty hand and the outstretched arm by which the LORD your God brought you out. So shall the LORD your God do to all the peoples of whom you are afraid.

Deu_9:26 "And I prayed to the LORD, and said, 'O Lord GOD, do not destroy Thy people, even Thine inheritance, whom Thou hast redeemed through Thy greatness, whom Thou hast brought out of Egypt with a mighty hand.

Deu_26:8 and the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm and with great terror and with signs and wonders;

It reminds me of chicks gathering themselves under their mothers wing when danger approaches. Jesus uses this same analogy. Luk 13:34 "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, but you were not willing!

Will we take shelter, find refuge in the temporal things of this world, which are destined to be burned in the fires of judgement or will we find our peace, our solace in the shelter of the Almighty?

Psa 91:1-16 He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. (2) I will say of the LORD, "He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in Him I will trust." (3) Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler And from the perilous pestilence. (4) He shall cover you with His feathers, And under His wings you shall take refuge; His truth shall be your shield and buckler. (5) You shall not be afraid of the terror by night, Nor of the arrow that flies by day, (6) Nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness, Nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday. (7) A thousand may fall at your side, And ten thousand at your right hand; But it shall not come near you. (8) Only with your eyes shall you look, And see the reward of the wicked. (9) Because you have made the LORD, who is my refuge, Even the Most High, your dwelling place, (10) No evil shall befall you, Nor shall any plague come near your dwelling; (11) For He shall give His angels charge over you, To keep you in all your ways. (12) In their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone. (13) You shall tread upon the lion and the cobra, The young lion and the serpent you shall trample underfoot. (14) "Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him on high, because he has known My name. (15) He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honor him. (16) With long life I will satisfy him, And show him My salvation."

Result of the Fulfillment of the Command – that He may exalt you in due time. The word exalt literally means to lift up. He will lift us up from our present trials, our sufferings and persecutions and remove them from us. He will lift us up from the power of remaining sin and even the presence of it. He will lift us up to see the final destruction of sin and of the devil and the demons that followed him. Our Father will lift us up to Himself and thus we will always be with the Lord. The time of His lifting us up is in His hands. Let us have this attitude which Paul also had ‘for I consider the sufferings of this present time not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us. The pattern throughout 1 Peter has been first suffering, then glory. Then we will hear the words of our Lord, ‘well done, enter into your rest’.

IV. How we are to humble ourselves.

We have seen that humbling ourselves is a willing submission to God as our Creator and our Father. But there is another way we humble ourselves and that is by casting all our cares upon Him. Peter has not been giving stern advice to grit your teeth and bear on your own all the hardships of this life. There are some who will say that God does not give us more than we can bear. But that is not a true statement. There are many things in life that we cannot bear in our own strength. Humility is admitting that we can’t bear it all on our own. Pride demands there be no confession of need or weakness. Being humble admits our weakness, our deep and abiding need for strength, for grace, and mercy, for wisdom and discernment in this world which has ceased to make any logical sense at all. It admits our need for God’s provision for our daily bread for both our body and our souls.

So we cast ALL our cares upon Him. No some or most but all, without exception and it is continuous casting of all of our needs all of the time, multiple times for the same needs. We come before our God who knows our hearts and we can pour out all the anguish, the turmoil of our hearts to Him. Php 4:6-8 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. (7) And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, shall guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (8) Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, let your mind dwell on these things.

Eph 3:20-21 Now to Him who is able to do exceeding abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, (21) to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.

V. Why cast all our anxiety and cares? Because He cares for you

In the past you have heard from this pulpit if you need proof of God’s love for you, He has displayed it. Rom 5:8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us in that while we were yet sinners Christ dies for us.

There is that event in time past as proof, but this text says cares. It is present tense, it is active now, as we speak, it has been active in the past and His caring for you continues on. How do I know this? Because it says so right here? Because God has gifted us His Spirit to dwell in us as a sign and seal that we are His. Paul says in Rom 8:26 And in the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. With Groanings, brethren. Indicating the emotion and effort poured into His prayers for us. God groaning in His intercession for the saints.

Rom 8:33-34 Who will bring a charge against God's elect? God is the one who justifies; (34) who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us.

How great it is to humble ourselves under God’s mighty hand to save and gentle hand to preserve. Isa 42:3 "A bruised reed He will not break, And a dimly burning wick He will not extinguish; He will faithfully bring forth justice.

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