Final Exhortations and Encouragements

Intro

Have you ever been in the middle of something and said “Man, this is a lot harder than I expected?”

Maybe it was a test in school that ended up being really challenging, or a hike that was way steeper than you thought it would be, or a job that was really difficult, or a marriage that is really a grind.

When we go into something thinking it will be easy and it turns out to be way harder than we expected, it can be pretty overwhelming and discouraging. And in those moments when reality catches up with us, we either just grin and bear it, trying to get through, or we give up.

So far in his letter, Peter has painted a realistic picture of our lives as sojourners and exiles in this world. He has made it abundantly clear that the Christian life on earth is hard. Every chapter talks about trials and suffering.

1 Peter 1:6 “6 In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials,”

1 Peter 2:21 “21 For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps.”

1 Peter 3:17 “17 For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God’s will, than for doing evil.”

1 Peter 4:12 “12 Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you.”

Peter wants to make sure that our expectations of the Christian life are accurate, and so he reminds us over and over again that suffering and trials are part of the normal experience for sojourners and exiles.

But he doesn’t just correct our expectations, as he closes out his letter, he leaves us with some exhortations and encouragements that I believe will help us to not just get through the hard times, to not just grin and bear it until it is over, to not just survive the trials and suffering, but to thrive as sojourners and exiles in all circumstances, to flourish in this life, as we await the glory that is to be revealed.

Let’s look at it together…

Humbly Cast Your Cares on God

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.

We finished last week with Peter’s call for everyone in the church to clothe themselves in humility, to put the humility of Christ on display. The reason Peter gave for that is that “God opposes the proud but give grace to the humble.”

Peter continues that thought in our passage by drawing a conclusion from it, saying “Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God.” Because God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble, humble yourselves under His mighty hand.

What is his mighty hand? Throughout scripture we see God’s metaphorical hand at work in creation:

The LORD’s hand laid the foundation of the earth and spread out the heavens (Is 48:13)

It was by a strong hand that the Lord delivered Israel from slavery in Egypt (Ex 13:3)

God’s righteous right hand strengthens, helps, and upholds his people (Is 41:10)

God is the Potter and we are the clay - the work of His hand (Is 64:8)

He opens up His hand and satisfies the desire of every living thing (Ps 145:16)

Our lives and breath are in His hands (Job 12:10)

Pulling all this together we see that God’s mighty hand represents His power, both in delivering, and providing for His people.

So Peter is saying “humble yourselves under this powerful hand which is at work for your deliverance and provision.”

But suffering doesn’t feel like deliverance and provision, does it?

One would think that God’s mighty hand of deliverance and provision could keep us out of hardships and trials of various kinds, couldn’t it?

Couldn’t the Author of our salvation write a better Story than this?

Maybe cross out the persecution

Erase the financial hardships

Re-write the part where things just got really hard and things started going south

I mean, He laid the foundations of the earth, in this story could he not have laid an easier path for me and my family?

Peter knew this line of thinking because he had done the same thing. But he didn’t just let it sit and fester in his heart like we often do. He blurted it out after Jesus said he must suffer, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.

Peter took Jesus aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “Far be it from you, Lord! This shall never happen to you! That is a horrible story. Let me have the pen, I’ll write a better one for you! One without suffering, without pain, without a cross!”

Jesus said, “Get behind me, Satan! You are setting your mind on things of man, not of God!”

You see, Peter knew all too well that when we are experiencing trials, we are tempted to set our minds on things of man, and to pridefully judge God’s ability to write a good story.

And so he calls us to humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God, even if in this line, or this paragraph, or this chapter of the story it seems like that hand is not working for our deliverance or provision.

It takes humility to say, “God I don’t understand, this really hurts. This doesn’t make sense, and I’ve got a lot of questions. But I submit myself to your hand which makes no mistakes. And I trust that somehow, at the proper time - not necessarily in my time, but in your timing - you will lift me up, and the story will be good.”

Humility doesn’t reject the hand that blesses, even if those blessings don’t come how we want or when we want them to.

1 Peter 5:6 “6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you,”

[Illustration: Joseph] This verse really summarizes the life of Joseph in Genesis. Joseph was sold into slavery by his brothers and then unjustly thrown into prison after things seemed to be improving for him. He had everything taken away from him. Once beloved by his father, now wasting away in a prison. The text says, however, that “the Lord was with Joseph and showed him steadfast love” while he was in prison.

Joseph seemingly found a way out when he helped some prisoners by interpreting their dreams - surely a painful reminder of the dreams he had many years before. But when the cupbearer he helped got out, he didn’t uphold his end of the deal and so Joseph was stuck in prison.

Chapter 40:1 says “After two whole years.” Two whole years. Two Long, painful, God what in the world are you doing years. Then Pharaoh had a dream, the cupbearer remembered Joseph’s dream interpreting skills, and that was his way out.

Eventually he gets exalted to the right hand of Pharaoh and the rest is history. But imagine how humbled Joseph must have been when God’s mighty hand led him to prison. That seemed like a bad plan, didn’t it? Yet God was doing far more than Joseph could ever ask or imagine, and in proper time, in God’s time, he was exalted, and what others meant for evil, God meant for good. [end Joseph Illustration]

Humbling ourselves under God’s mighty hand means trusting his deliverance even when it doesn’t seem possible, and that is what Peter exhorts us to here.

1 Peter 5:6 ESV

6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you,

But how do we do that?

How?

The key to that is in the relationship between verses 6-7

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.

“casting all your anxieties on him” is a participle that is subordinate to the main verb, “humble yourselves” in verse 6. That means this is not a separate thought, it’s connected. What Peter is saying is this: we are to humble themselves by casting our cares on God.

We humbly cast our cares on the Lord, rather than pridefully carrying them.

It is natural for us to have anxieties, cares and worries in this world when we face suffering and trials of various kinds.

The question is not if we will worry or have cares, but when we do, what will we do with them?

[Rock illustration]

Each day we wake up, we put our feet on the floor, and there are numerous cares waiting for us beside the bed.

Things have gotten weird with my family since I became a Christian. My siblings treat me differently and I just miss how our relationship used to be.

Is today going to be the day that I’m pushed out at work because my faith doesn’t allow me to subscribe to their liberal agenda

The bills are piling up, and I don’t know what I’m going to do

I can’t shake this sickness, and no doctor really knows what’s going on and I feel it this morning

My adult child has wandered away from the faith and now I’m second-guessing how I parented them, and I don’t know how to relate to him now

My friend of many years is pulling away and headed in a bad direction. Our relationship is different and it hurts, I miss them

We’ve moved across the country, and my family isn’t adjusting well. Did we make a mistake? Is my wife going to resent me because of this?

And then there are others we don’t even take the time to notice that are also weighing our souls down

This is life in a fallen world.

Often, if you are like me, you might say, “God help me with these things”…and then you pick up the bag, and go through the day with these burdens weighing on you.

[walking around] What am I going to do next? How am I going to fix this? What happens if this doesn’t change? These questions swirl around in our minds, creating a storm of worry and anxiety as we try to control the outcomes of each burden in our own wisdom and strength.

We walk around with these worries and they weigh us down.

The invitation here is to not pridefully carry these worries, but to humbly caste our cares on God, which is Peter’s first exhortation to us. Humbly cast your cares on God.

Entrust them to Him. Not to just pull one out, and say “Ok God, I need your help with this…” [put on table, wait impatiently] and then because God is taking too long or he is not answering the way you want him to, you put it back in the bag and go on with your day.

No, we entrust them to him. “We “cast” our anxieties, throwing them on God. The same verb is used in Luke 19:35 when the disciples “threw their cloaks” on a colt, and the colt carried them. We are invited to throw our cares on Him, deliberately entrusting our worries to God, and let Him carry them.

Why? Because He has a mighty hand and a caring heart.

He has a mighty hand, as we saw. He is in control. He is powerful. He is able. But that would not be good news if he didn’t care for us.

Or, if he was caring, but had no power to do anything about it, that would not be to our benefit. He has a mighty hand and a caring heart.

So “cast your anxieties on him because he cares for you.”

Oh, church. He cares for you! Think of the person or people in your life that you love the most. Maybe a parent. Maybe your children. Maybe a friend or a spouse. You would do anything for them, wouldn’t you?

Jesus says if you who are evil know how to give good gifts to your children, or whoever you love, how much more will your heavenly Father, who isn’t sinful, who has a mighty hand and a caring heart, how much more will He give good things to those who ask him.

When we ask for bread and fish, He doesn’t give us stones or snakes, but that also doesn’t mean we are going to be eating a fish sandwich for dinner that evening, right. He gives good things in His good timing, not ours.

We entrust the things we can’t control to the Lord, and then we trust the Lord to be who He is and do what is best. We humbly cast our cares on Him, and then we trust Him to be powerful and caring.

What does that look like?

[Palms up, palms down] with backpack & rocks

Hold your palms up as if you are carrying something. What are you carrying—[rocks]. Feel their weight and acknowledge your inability.

Hold your palms down, “dropping” each one, entrusting it to Jesus.

I entrust this to you. And I trust you to do what is best.

Hold your palms up again, this time empty of burdens, ready to receive what God has for you.

Humbly cast your cares on God, church.

Next, Carefully resist the Devil.

Carefully Resist the Devil

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.

[Illustration Levi Lions] My son Levi, loves to pretend to be animals. He’ll ask me to play “lion” with him, where we crawl around, roaring at people and then pouncing on them. There’s a reason he doesn’t say “dada, let’s play koala bear. Or let’s play “chinchilla”. As cute as they are, they aren’t ferocious. They don’t instill fear. And so we play lions. [end Illustration Lions]

The imagery Peter uses is pretty clear. Satan isn’t scooting around like a chinchilla, looking for someone to snuggle. He’s like a roaring lion, on the prowl, looking for someone to devour.

In the context, Satan’s hunting tactic would be to take advantage of people when they are going through suffering and trials. He hopes that believers will be terrified and cower in fear, turning away from God, or that they will be deceived and fall into sin, or just give up all together.

So, Peter says to “resist him.”

How do we do that?

By being sober-minded and watchful

This has been a repeated throughout the letter. We must think clearly. To have a spiritual sobriety. When you are drunk, you are numb to what’s really going on and your ability to act decisively is reduced. We, however, are to be self-controlled and on alert, knowing that Satan is crafty!

He uses persecution

He brings strong temptations

He accuses and deceives.

He wants to distract you, to discourage you, and ultimately destroy you.

Resist him by being sober-minded and watchful.

Resist him By being firm in your faith

Verse 9, “resist him, firm in your faith.”

Giving in to the societal pressures that were surely increasing because of their faith was the only way to truly avoid persecution. If they gave up, things would get easier, but then the Enemy would win.

We resist him when we cling to Jesus, the One who conquered sin, Satan, and death on our behalf. We trust that He will sustain us until the end. We put on the whole armor of God each day, leaning on His strength, knowing that He produces perseverance in us.

Resist him By knowing you aren't alone

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.”

Satan loves for us to feel isolated, to feel alone, as if we are the only ones going through hardships. When we think that way, we think “No one understands. No one gets me. No one can help because they just don’t get it.”

Peter says no, believers throughout the world are going through similar things. People in church own church are as well. Know this, and don’t be tricked into thinking you are unique.

Carefully resist the devil, church.

What is the encouragement here?

You are to carefully resist the devil…Because you belong to the Lord

You once belonged to the domain of darkness, dead in your sins, "following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience"

Like the Pharisees in John 8:44, the devil was once your father.

But you have been delivered from the domain of darkness, and transferred to the Kingdom of His beloved son in whom you have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. You now belong to the Lord.

And now, the devil is your Adversary because you have been united by faith with Jesus, the King, whom he hates.

This is an encouragement because if we have an Adversary in the Devil, that means we have a friend in God. We belong to Him, and nothing can separate us from the Lord of God in Christ Jesus.

As James 4 says if you resist the Devil, he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you.

Carefully resist the devil, church, because you belong to the Lord.

Next exhortation…

Patiently Wait on God

1 Peter 5:10

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.

[Illustration: Americans waiting] As Americans, we don’t like to wait. We cut to the shortest line in traffic. We roll through stop signs. We find the shortest line at the grocery store, or we just have them drop it off on our porches. But even then we get impatient then when the Kroger delivery is late. We just don’t wait well. [end illustrations Americans]

But that is a problem because the life of faith is not one of instant gratification. We have to patiently wait on God.

Peter says “After you have suffered a little while…”

Like 5-10 minutes max, right?

No. As he said back in chapter 1, sojourners and exiles are not home yet, and on this side of glory, in this fallen world, until Christ returns, life will be hard.

This “for a little while” is more eschatological than existential. Meaning, in comparison to eternity, these are light, momentary afflictions. 2 Corinthians 4:17 “17 For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison,”

But in the mean time, in this life, we must patiently wait on God because in His timing, He he’s not done yet.

Why: he will make all things right.

Peter says He is the God of all grace. Not a little grace. Not some grace. All grace. A limitless supply to help in time of need.

This God of all grace has called us, and He doesn’t give up on those whom He calls to his eternal glory in Christ. He doesn’t fail. He finishes the good work He begins in us.

He will himself - not someone else or something else - He “will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.”

We are all works in progress, being conformed into the image of Christ, be transformed from one degree of glory to another. And God has committed Himself to that project in you. This rhetorical crescendo of verbs points to the complete act of God in the consummation of all things - from beginning to end God is at work in you both to will and to work for His good pleasure.

We suffer now, we go through trials for a little while, but this is not the world as God created it. And one day, when Christ returns, He will wipe every tear from our eyes and sin and death and suffering will be no more. He himself will make all things right.

Until then, we patiently wait on God.

Isaiah 64:4 “4 From of old no one has heard or perceived by the ear, no eye has seen a God besides you, who acts for those who wait for him.”

Praise God, that’s all you can do in response to that. And that is what Peter does in verse 11:

1 Peter 5:11 “11 To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen.”

Patiently wait on God, church, for he will make all things right.

Lastly…

Faithfully Stand Firm

1 Peter 5:12–14 (ESV)

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.

Peter wraps up his letter by acknowledging Silvanus, or Silas, as either the secretary who helped compose the letter, or as the delivery man.

And then he sums up his entire letter by referring to it as “the true grace of God.” All of his exhortations and teachings can be summed up in this phrase: the true grace of God.

They are elect exiles by the grace of God.

They were born again to a living hope by the grace of God

They have an imperishable, undefiled, and unfading inheritance awaiting them by the grace of God.

They are to set their hope fully on the grace of God and live as obedient children by the grace of God.

By the grace of God the good news of the gospel came to them, and by the grace of God the word will continue to nourish and strengthen them unto maturity

They are to abstain from the passions of the flesh by the grace of God

They are to be obedient citizens and household members by the grace of God

They are to suffer for righteousness sake like Jesus by the grace of God

Elders must depend on the grace of God to lead like Jesus, and members submit to leadership by the grace of God

We put humility on display by the grace of God,

and we humbly cast our cares, carefully resist the devil, patiently wait on God, and stand firm in the faith by the grace of God

From the beginning to end the Christian life is standing firm in grace.

This is the true grace of God, church. Stand firm in it because his grace is sufficient.

This is hope we have to not just survive, but thrive during our time as exiles:The grace of God.

Conclusion

1 Peter 5:13–14 ESV

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.

Kiss of love: Riley says “this verse is literal and should be applied during greeting times.

Peace to all of you who are in Christ.