The Grace of God in the Face of Your Adversary

It is good to be with you this morning, this Memorial Day.

Today is the final day of our study in 1 Peter. Our series this year has been Hope for Everyday Life.

We have been looking at the book of 1 Peter after examining the life of Peter and seeing how the truths in this book can give us the hope that we need for each and every day.

We are doing that because we don’t believe that the Bible is some old and dusty book…but rather has the very words of life contained in them.

And now, we are coming to the very end of our series.

I hope and pray that this series has been a blessing to you.

Last week, we heard from Pastor Birk on the role of the elders/pastors of the church. For some, you may have been familiar with those concepts, but for others, considering the role of the pastors in the church may have been quite new.

You could sum up the reason that pastors are so needed and vital to all of us…the sheep…well, by watching this now famous video of the life of a sheep.

Today we are not talking about the roles of a pastor anymore, but something that we saw at the end of our time last week, but we did not get time to really address.

Peter wrote at the end of 5:5

“You younger men, likewise, be subject to your elders; and all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, for GOD IS OPPOSED TO THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE.” (1 Peter 5:5, NASB95)

He called for us to clothe ourselves with humility…because God is opposed to the proud…but gives grace to the humble.

Now, when you think about the things that God opposes…the fact that he is actively working against you when you are proud should give us all—including myself—pause.

I hoe that we do not rush past what we just read…God is opposing the proud.

Our pride comes in all sorts of ways and expressions. For each one of us it will be very unique…but we each need to consider what it looks like to receive the Grace of God by walking in humility.

So, this morning we are going to consider the remainder of this book by considering The Grace of God in the Face of Your Adversary

What I hope will happen is that with our time remaining we will see 3 actions to take in time of difficulty.

I. Humble Yourself Under the Hand of God

“Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.” (1 Peter 5:6–7, NASB95)

All over the Bible, we see the concept of the mighty hand of God coming up. We see it in the Exodus where the power of God that brough the Israelites out of Egypt is described as God’s mighty hand.

We are told that we need to humble ourselves under that power of God in a very particular way:

By Casting your anxiety on him.

Now, depending on how you might have learned this verse or even how your Bible translates it, it may make it more or less clear that the means by which you humble yourself is by casting your cares on him.

Meaning, there are not two commands in this passage: one to humble yourself, the other to cast your anxiety on him.

There is one command: humble yourself…and the way in which you do this…is by casting your cares on God.

Think for a moment about a child who is being proud and stubborn. They are having a hard time at a particular task and they are insisting that they can do it.

As you watch them time and time again, you see that they are failing…and perhaps only making things worse.

You as the parent just want one thing: ask for my help. Just admit you need me to solve this problem…and I’ll do it. I have the knowledge and the strength to solve this problem…but I need you to ask for help.

That is a bit like the dynamic that we see here.

It should remind you of the Old Hymn: What a Friend we have in Jesus in the first verse it says:

O what peace we often forfeit,

O what needless pain we bear,

All because we do not carry

Everything to God in prayer!

Beloved, there are many things that no doubt trouble your soul: how are you doing at humbling yourself…admitting to God that you cannot do this on your own…and taking it to him in prayer?

We often only do this when we are totally overwhelmed with life and see no other choice…but is that how God wants us to function?

Is the motto of Christianity: God helps those who help themselves??? Or is it, “I need thee every hour”

But in order to cry out…I need thee every hour…you must truly change your hearts disposition. You must humble yourself…by casting your anxiety.

Now, the irony is often we tend to correlate that idea of independence with amazingness.

Meaning, when you see a person who is self-sufficient, who does not need anyone for anything…we tend to almost stand in awe of that person.

That type of wrong thinking seems dangerously into our own lives…and this passage turns that on its head. This passages helps us see that there is a direct connection between our humbling ourselves…by being needy to God…and

The result of doing this…

That he might exalt you.

This is where Christianity is so very counter-cultural and counter to our normal ways of thinking.

In our minds we do not naturally link our humility, being our path to exaltation. We tend to think the more we can do, the more independence we can show, then we will then be great.

This was not the path with Christ. We see that in Philippians 2 clearly articulated…

“Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name,” (Philippians 2:8–9, NASB95)

Christ humbled himself, and it was in doing that…that is how he was exalted.

But notice that this exaltation comes, “at the proper time.”

To understand that we must see two things very clearly:

• We must admit in our humility that God is working everything for his plan…not ours. Meaning, there is a level of humility that will require us to admit we are not God…and our plan is not great.
  
  it is easy to admit this plan in theory…but living it in practice is a totally different thing.
  
  

• We must see that during this delay between now and the proper time…we must be OK with suffering. That is part of what God is doing in his plan. He is brining suffering into our lives as part of the refining process and how God is being glorified.

God promises that he will exalt us after our own volitional humiliation, but he did not tell us when that would be.

And it is during this needing to be something that you must wait for …the proper time that God reminds you of something very dear and important:

Because he cares for you.

I wonder how often we take for granted sentences like this.

How often do we read that God loves us, he cares for us…and we just keep moving?

God is telling us that he wants us to cast our anxiety on us…because he loves you…because he cares for you.

That should really take our breath away this morning.

God isn’t saying:

• cast your anxiety on me because I’m amazing and you are not (although that is true.)

• Cast your anxiety on me because then I get all the glory and you will look like the foolish and weak creature that you are (although that is true)

• Cast your anxiety on me because well…I’ll solve it, I guess, with some sort of annoyed tone in his voice.

No, he is saying, humble yourself, cast your anxiety on me…because I care for you.

I think that is an important time for us to consider what is your own internal narrative on a regular basis…and does it need any correcting this morning?

• Some of us think we are all that…we are amazing…and that narrative needs changing.

• Some of us think we are useless and that no one cares for me.

• Some of us think too high about ourselves…and others too low.

My point is: we can ground the reason to humble ourselves and case our cares on God…because he loves us.

That should just take our breath away….God didn’t have to be that kind of God.

It’s not like God had to care for us…and like a parent stuck with a child it didn’t really want…God is sort of stuck with you.

God wants to care for you….it is his joy to have you cast your anxiety on him…for you to humble yourself and admit you are in need of him.

One of the most important ways that we humble ourselves is in our Spiritual Battles that we will face…and the text we are studying this morning warns us to:

II. Be Alert of the Devil’s scheme

“Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. But resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world.” (1 Peter 5:8–9, NASB95)

The text is drawing our attention to the fact that our battle, as Paul would put it elsewhere, is not against flesh and blood.

And what the text is telling us is that the Devil…he is a bit like a lion…walking around seeking someone to devour…

When a lion is hunting, and I think we all know this…it seeks to find the stragglers…the one that is not in the pack...and that is how the Devil works too.

He knows that he will be much more successful at going after those who are on the edge and not with the group…than those who are tightly packed in with the congregation.

Now, sometimes when folks think about the Devil and his work…they land in one of two ditches:

1. They overplay the role that Satan has in temptation and our lives. Everything gets chalked up to Satan….Satan….Satan.
   
   
   

• Why did you have a bad morning? Satan.
  
  

• Why did you get angry at your spouse? Satan
  
  

• Why did you not finish your homework? Satan
  
  

• Why did the price of groceries go up? Satan
  
  So, we can fall into the ditch…Satan is to blame for everything.

1. ON the other hand, some have a worldview that Satan just is not part of anything that happens. That worldview would be equally wrong and equally problematic.

Satan is no doubt real…he is no doubt alive and active…and he is no doubt seeking Christians to devour.

We don’t stand up to him and resist him by saying magical words in Greek…or casting some sort of spell of protection…rather our text gives us three ways that we respond to Satan in our lives.

First by….

By Resisting Him, Firm in your Faith

“Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” (James 4:7)

Where there is a connection in that very passage to humbling yourself and resisting Satan.

Many would argue that is the case because the pride is the anti-god mindset.

Satan wants you and I to live in a state of pride…where we exalt ourselves…and when we do that…there is no room for God to be exalted.

Pride is Satan working in our hearts…just like he did in Genesis 3 to get us to a place where we ignore God and his precepts.

What does it mean to stand firm in your faith…resisting him?

I think it means that you are going to believe what it is the God and his word have to say, and you are not going to focus on what anything else has to say.

Meaning, there are so many different voices that we can hear on a daily or weekly basis that come from without and from within. The solution to that is to listen to what God has to say and believe that.

In order for that to work you would need two things:

• Saving Faith

• A deep knowledge of God’s word.

If you do not know Christ as your Lord and Savior…meaning you can point to a specific time in your life when you have trusted in the D\B\R of Jesus…then you may not have any faith to stand firm in.

One of the greatest tools to stand up to the Devil and his schemes is to remind yourself of who you are in Christ—to cling to your identity.

But there are some here who have not done that…and to you I would say that you would never be able to resist the devil and his attacks because you have nothing firm to stand in.

The first step for you today is to place your trust in God.

For those who have done that…then the way in which you will stand firm is by knowing the promises of God from the Bible.

When Satan seeks to go after you…if you have nothing to cling to…nothing to say back to him…then how can you hope to stand firm if you have entered the battle without a weapon?

The text also tells us that we will prevail by…

By taking Temptation seriously.

One of the joys in my job is I get to do a lot of counseling with folks. People come to counseling for all sorts of reasons: many times of suffering and they just want to know how to navigate the present situation that they are in.

But there are also many times when folks come to counseling, and they are really struggling with sin. It might even be a sin that they have been dealing with for a long time.

One of the most common patterns that I see is that we tend to not take temptation seriously.

Meaning, temptation often starts off pretty small…on a 10 point scale, let’s say it stats off as a 1.

Many times, when that happens, folks just usually ignore it…a fleeting through or desire comes into their minds…and…just as fast as it was in…it is out.

It’s a bit like a seed that gets planted on the many farms right now. Such a small thing….goes into the ground and is not even noticed again for a while…that is until it starts to sprout.

So many times, we just don’t take the temptations in our life seriously, then only later to find out that our strategy is not working…but it is too late.

God’s word is encouraging us to take temptation very seriously…

Think of it a bit like this:

I’m a social eater…when I eat with folks…I like to talk…I love to enjoy my food with people.

So, it’s a bit of a joke around my wife that…I’m just going to make a mess at some point…

Imagine for a moment that I am going to perform a wedding ceremony and spaghetti is for lunch…

Now, we are not saying that I should skip lunch and not eat…but if I have a nice white shirt on…and I have a wedding latter in the day…you better take seriously that the opportunity for you to spill is very high.

If I was just not paying attention…eating like I normally eat…I’ll probably make a mess.

Church family…take the temptations in your life seriously when they come to you this week…. don’t believe the lie that you won’t have any or that they will not be serious.

There is a saying in poker, if after 30 minutes of playing cards you can’t spot the sucker at the table…you are the sucker…they are playing you.

If you have a week where you say, “I didn’t really experience temptation” they you probably didn’t even know how you gave into sin….and ask God to reveal it to you.

My hope and prayer is that we would take temptation very seriously as a congregation…

Lastly, we resists the Devil according to the text by….

Finding Hope in the Universal Sufferings of the Church (v. 9)

““But resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world.” (1 Peter 5:9)

Now, translation of the Bible is a very tricky thing…and the NASB…which is the primarily translation that we use here at Faith…seeks to preserve as much of the form of the original text as is possible.

And that is for good reason. I think there is a lot of value in studying the Bible even in the order in which the words appeared in the text.

However, from time to time that does lead to some confusion to our modern ears…and this is one such time where other translations may help us see what the author is trying to say…take for example the ESV

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

I think that this helps us see that what Peter is talking about is that there are brothers and sisters in Christ…all over the world who are going through the same thing you are…that is what the NASB means by “being accomplished”

One of the ways that we resist the Devil is that we are to find hope in the sufferings of others around the world.

This bring us hope because it helps us see that we are not alone in our suffering.

No doubt you have heard the saying, “misery loves company” and there is no doubt to that being true…but I think we could almost redeem that sentiment for a moment….

No one wants to suffer alone.

I remember during my freshmen year at college I rushed what is now known as BYX but was called Fairway cooperative back then.

Part of the college rush experience is just to make your life miserable as possible.

They want you to do all these things that…well are pretty ridiculous…and honestly if you had to do them on your own…you probably would just quit.

However, part of what comes out of this intense time of “suffering” is that a communal bond with these guys if formed.

You were closer with them men you went through pledgeship with than any of the other men in the house…

You had common stories together about how you went through this or that…and it gave you a lot of hope together for sure.

The same is true of the Universal Church…one of the ways that we should find hope when we feel that Satan is tempting us to remember---we are not along in this.

Satan is trying to destroy the world and the church at large…and that we can find hope that he is doing this all over the world.

One of the reasons that we introduced here at Faith West the missionary of the month to be praying for us to help ground us in the sufferings and hardships that the Christian Church experiences around the world.

It is so easy for us to complain and wail about our own problems…but when we look at what is happening in China…Iran…Russia and so on…that should actually bring us great hope

I hope that we would be a people that is ever increasing in our love for not only the local church, but the church of Christ around the world.

The text is telling us that we must be aware of the schemes of the Devil…and that we must resist him…we do that by standing firm in our faith, taking his attacks seriously, and finding hope that we are not alone in this…

We are also to…

III. Remember your Promised Reward from God’s Grace

“After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you.” (1 Peter 5:10, NASB95)

There is a connection between the suffering that we experience and the concept of suffering.

Often when the Bible talks about suffering, it will frame the time as “a little while.” And the reason for that is…in light of eternity…the suffering that you are undergoing right now is just a momentary and light thing.

In the midst of this temptation and suffering, there is a call to remember that there will be a promised reward.

But the text also lists what this trial and temptations will do here in this life: it will perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you.

As we complete our time today, let’s look a bit more closely at these words and some supporting passages that help us understand them.

First, what will this suffering that God allows us to go through…these temptations…they will.

Perfect

Now, many times when we see that word, we are not thinking too closely about what does it mean to be made perfect…you can see a bit more of how the Bible things about the word perfect here in this verse.

“Now I exhort you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all agree and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be made complete in the same mind and in the same judgment.” (1 Corinthians 1:10, NASB95)

Being perfect has to do with the concept of wholeness.

Ever sense the garden—mankind has not been whole…he has not been complete. He is lacking something is another way to say it.

You have probably experiences this lack of wholeness in the world….you went to visit the home of your grandparents after they died…and it just wasn’t the same without them.

Pain, suffering and death often leave “holes” in us

We have a hole in our spirit because we have not yet been fully united with God.

The text also says that suffering will…

Confirm

When you think about confirming something…I tend to navigate toward “confirming my reservation”

That actually can be a helpful concept when you think about your salvation for a moment…and how the text is describing it.

Often in scripture, the suffering and hard times that you are going through are proof…it is showing you and the world…this is a Christian.

Sometimes we get in our mind that suffering=I may not be saved, but quite often, the Bible tells us just the opposite.

Your suffering indicates that you are a Christian…against,

Satan is not interested in going after those who are living for God…he is interested in those who are living for Christ…

Lastly the text says….God will

Strengthen

—to make more able is the idea (hapax legomenon)

Establish—to lay or construct a foundation

Brothers and sisters…it is my hope and prayer that you would remember the reward that is laid up for you and that you would be strengthened by your hard trials.

I would hope and pray that you would take temptation seriously and handle it right away…

I pray that you would humble yourself by casting your anxiety on God…knowing that he cares for you.

[concluding remarks] (5:12-14)