Today we are wrapping up 1 Peter. So if you have your Bibles, please turn with me to chapter 5; I wasn’t going to do this, but I just couldn’t help myself–if you have a bookmark, I’m going to read a lengthy passage from James 4. So if you want to follow along, you can put a bookmark there. We’ll be going to that a little later on.
I’m sure you’ve been keeping track of the news. There is a lot going on at The White House, and it’s not only a lot, but it seems as if our politicians and news media outlets have a hard time keeping up. While our president is doing one thing, those on the Right are cheering and applauding and those on the Left are begging for mercy.
It seems as if there is this dichotomy of great hope and great fear in the United States. And I don’t know about you, but I don’t have either. I have peace.
Where do hope, fear, and peace come from? Well, it comes from innate thoughts and feelings that are natural to us, but we also have to be aware of spiritual entities that, whether we are Christians or not, can heighten those senses within us.
I think that those who place their faith in government are either hopeful or scared right now, and those who place their faith in the Lord are at peace right now.
Scripture: Let’s take a look at our main scripture first. 1 Peter 5, verses 6-11.
6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. 7 Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.
8 Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 9 Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings.
10 And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. 11 To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen.
I’m going to go back through this again, a little out of order, but you notice three ideas that Peter is saying to his audience and to us–First, the devil prowls around looking for someone to devour (notice there’s no exception, Christian or unchristian); second, if and when the devil comes for us (notice I say us, including myself in here), then we should cast all our anxieties on the Lord; and third, the God of all grace will himself restore us and make us strong, firm and steadfast.
So let’s look at it again, in that order.
The Amplified Bible puts verse 8 like this: Be well balanced (temperate, sober of mind), be vigilant and cautious at all times; for that enemy of yours, the devil, roams around like a lion roaring [in fierce hunger], seeking someone to seize upon and devour.
From safarisafricana.com, Lions are generalist hypercarnivores. What does that mean? It means what it sounds like it means. It says, Lions just want meat and aren’t picky at choosing their prey to hunt or scavenge.
The devil is exactly like that. But in what ways does the devil devour us? What are his schemes? We can look at things that may seem more obvious, but the craftiness of Satan is that he doesn’t always work so obviously. It may be a small seed of deceit, doubt, or defiance that in time will grow–if you remember Veggie Tales–into a huge ‘rumor weed.’
At about the time of Esther, Nebuchadnezzar, and Daniel, there was a book written many miles East in China called, The Art of War. This book, written 2,500 years ago, is still used in warfare strategies today; and we can glean our own spiritual warfare strategies from it as well.
You may have heard this quote from it which says, “If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles.”
That particular quote emphasizes the importance of understanding our strengths and weaknesses as well as those of our adversaries. Another variation states, “Know the enemy and know yourself; in a hundred battles you will never be in peril.”
The Bible warns us against our enemy, our adversary, the devil, and his tricks. In fact, his tricks are in his very name–devil. “Your adversary, the devil” is a little bit redundant, which might not be so out of character for Peter; but the word, ‘adversary,’ was used first as an opponent in a lawsuit, and then came to mean one who is actively and continuously hostile toward someone.
But taking that lead, of an opponent in a lawsuit, ‘devil’ means a false accuser, slanderer (one who utters false charges or misrepresentations which defame and damage another’s reputation), backbiting, one given to malicious gossip.
But, we all probably know that with every great lie, there is some bit of truth. The Latin form for Devil, Diabolos, describes not only those who bring a false charge against someone, but also those who disseminate the truth, but do so maliciously, insidiously, and with hostility.
Revelation 12:10 says that Satan accuses, not just the unjust, but the just–ourselves–before our God day and night. “Look what they did–look what they’re doing.” And of course, God tells Satan to shut up, they’re mine. They’re covered by my son’s blood.
Speaking politically again, you can see it in those devils in the media, and those devils who are unfortunately elected over and over again. And as Jesus said, “a house divided among itself cannot stand.” Abraham Lincoln famously said that about the United States during a time of great division, and I think we may be the most divided we’ve been since that time.
Again, I have a strange peace about it, and I hope God has given that to you as well because our hope is in Him.
But getting back to 1 Peter, what do we do about this devil? Peter says, “Resist him, standing firm in the faith.”
If you have your Bibles bookmarked, please turn with me to James, chapter 4. We’ll read the first 12 verses, and you can see how this parallels what Peter is saying, only Peter packs a punch in just a few sentences; James really lets ‘em have it.
1 What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? 2 You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God. 3 When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.
4 You adulterous people,[meaning adulterous with God] don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. 5 Or do you think Scripture says without reason that he jealously longs for the spirit he has caused to dwell in us? 6 But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.”
7 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.
11 Brothers and sisters, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against a brother or sister or judges them speaks against the law and judges it. When you judge the law, you are not keeping it, but sitting in judgment on it. 12 There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you—who are you to judge your neighbor?
Do you see the parallel here between what James and Peter are saying? Do you see how the devil works to stir dissension? But notice what they both also say–in James’ words: “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you; Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.”
Notice the importance of humbling ourselves first, then God will come near to us. James and Peter both mention this. Going back to the Greek again, the particular word that Peter uses urges us to humble ourselves immediately. In other words, it is an imperative priority to humble ourselves now, before we do anything else. That’s how important humility is in spiritual warfare.
Grant Richison said, “Humility is an attitude toward God that gives Him the credit for who we are and what we do.”
Precept Austin says that humility is having the proper estimate of oneself in relationship to God.
And Rick Warren said that “Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it’s thinking of yourself less.” I thought that was by CS Lewis, but apparently not. But CS Lewis did say something similar, he did say that a humble person, “…will not be thinking about humility: he will not be thinking about himself at all.”
So in other words, we can look at ourselves, and recognize where we need to repent but rely completely on God. We must humble ourselves, realize our incapabilities of holiness, and place our reliance on God to save us. If we walk alone, thinking we can do this Christian life by ourselves, that’s when we fall victim to the devil–in fact, that alone is phase 1 of the devil’s scheme. He knows we can’t walk this narrow Christian road alone.
John Piper, in a book called, The Handbook of Enemy Strategies, said, “The truth is that God is God and we are not. It is humbling. The only way to rebel against the lowliness of creaturehood is to be a liar. Humility under God is the great devil’s resistance.”
I had to stop and think about that middle sentence there, “The only way to rebel against the lowliness of creaturehood is to be a liar.” If we really examine ourselves, how can we be anything but humble? What do we humans really have to be proud of? Our weaknesses, our sinful state? Pride can sometimes be an issue of lack of self-worth. So sometimes, it’s a lie. People overcompensate their insecurities, and by doing so, they become prideful.
But to recognize who we really are compared to Christ, and who we are in Christ, is humbling.
There’s a website called, theology of work, and it is a devotional website regarding how we are to be as Christians in the workplace. And it said this, “The more we accept the truth of salvation by grace alone, the more we will be unable to bask in pride, whether expressed or not. Rather, we will be humbly grateful for what God has given us and humbly eager to share it with others.”
Isn’t it interesting, though, the juxtaposition of being prideful–boasting and puffing ourselves up; humility–seeing ourselves for who we really are, especially when comparing ourselves to the holiness of God; and then this next statement in 1 Peter 5, verse 6: “Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.”
In other words, we have to recognize pride and humble ourselves, and then God lifts us back up again–but in His way and in His time.
Now let’s not get too excited, that doesn’t mean God is going to elevate us like a rock star. Speaking of rock stars, Jars of Clay, who was a Christian rock band predominantly in the mid-90s through just a few years ago has songs about this–their most famous one called, “Flood,”
But if I can’t swim after 40 days
And my mind is crushed by the crashing waves
Lift me up so high that I cannot fall
Lift me oh
(Lift me up) When I’m falling
(Lift me up) I’m weak and I’m dying
(Lift me up) I need you to hold me
(Lift me up) Keep me from drowning again
And another one titled, “God Will Lift Up Your Head.”
Give to the wind, your fear
Hope and be undismayed
God hears your sighs and counts your tears
God will lift up, God will lift up
Lift up your head
He will lift up, He’ll lift up your head
Leave to His sovereign sway
To choose and to command
Then shall we wandering on His way
Know how wise, how strong
How strong is His hand
Yeah, He’ll lift up your head
Through waves and clouds and storms
He gently clears the way
Wait, ’cause in His time, so shall this night
Soon end in joy
Going back to Precept Austin again:
Mary in her exaltation of the Lord said “He has brought down rulers from their thrones, and has exalted those who were humble.” (Lk 1:52)
Think of how humble Mary was. And how much her pregnancy continually humbled her. Think of Moses, who was the most humble man on earth, and what God did through him. You can name any great Bible character, and they were all either humble–or were humbled by God.
Humbling ourselves in order to be exalted is one of those great paradoxes of Christianity. If you want to go up, you must go down. John the Baptist understood this important but basic spiritual principle declaring of Christ that “He must (continually) increase, but I must (continually) decrease.” (Jn 3:30–note)
Paul had the “mighty hand of God” upon him in the form of a “thorn” (whatever that was) in his side and thereby came to understand that Christ’s “… grace is sufficient… , for power is perfected in weakness.”
As a result Paul went on to exclaim “Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.”
A moment ago, I said that the great Bible characters were not always humble in the beginning. Now, I can’t quite say for sure who was and who wasn’t, but we can draw some educated guesses. Paul might not have been; Joseph–maybe, maybe not; Samson–probably not. The disciples? Who knows?
It’s easier to see those who were proud and not humbled. And look what happened to them.
I say that because we may have to go through a process to be humbled. And we may have to go through stage one for a few years–then, stage two for another few years–and then, stage three…
Whatever God has to do, just know, that it is a type of discipline for our own good.
I almost did it again–I almost went the whole sermon without gotquestions.org.
Here’s what they had to say about God’s discipline:
In the Bible, discipline refers to moral training, instruction, and correction that leads to spiritual growth, character development, and Christian maturity. The book of Proverbs stresses the wisdom of accepting discipline with humility to experience a fulfilling and successful life (Proverbs 1:1–6; 5:23; 12:1; 13:24; 16:32; 21:23; 29:15). Sometimes God’s discipline comes to us in the form of punishment or difficult experiences, but it is always motivated by His love and concern for our well-being (Proverbs 3:11–12; Hebrews 12:6; Revelation 3:19).
The Hebrew and Greek words translated as “discipline” in the Bible mean “instruction, training, rebuke, reproof, warning, and correction.” Discipline is a vital aspect of the spiritual life of the church and every follower of Jesus Christ. Christian discipleship is a lifelong learning process of following Jesus and His way of life.
…Scripture encourages believers to love God’s discipline (Proverbs 12:1; Psalm 141:5) and expect it: “If you are not disciplined—and everyone undergoes discipline—then you are not legitimate, not true sons and daughters at all” (Hebrews 12:8). Those who accept the Lord’s discipline are blessed with joy and wholeness (Psalm 94:12; James 1:12). According to Proverbs 6:23, “Corrective discipline is the way to life” (NLT).
As God’s children, he corrects us and disciplines us as a loving father would.
Why am I talking about God’s discipline right now? Because of verse 10:
“10 And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.”
I came across this, and it was an interesting thought, tying in with Satan’s schemes and God’s restoration–sometimes both can happen at the same time. You probably know Romans 8:28 which says, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”
Bob Diffenbaugh, a pastor and teacher in Richardson Texas said,
“The very trials which may appear to be the means Satan employs for our destruction are the means God employs for our deliverance and development. Behind the opposition of unbelievers stands Satan seeking to devour us, and behind Satan stands God, sure to perfect and purify us.”
One last quote from Precept Austin and then we’ll close:
“When we are in the “Refiner’s fire” the trials and/or suffering do not feel short, but long. Peter…wants us to think of our trials and suffering in the context of eternity. Trials and suffering will end one day soon, but eternity and glory will continue forever and ever!”
So again, not if, but when the devil comes for us, we should resist the devil, cast all our anxieties on the Lord; and the God of all grace will himself restore us and make us strong, firm and steadfast.
Featured Image by Priscilla Du Preez on Unsplash
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