By Pastor Roger Feenstra
We tend to think of the New Testament as a book when in fact it is comprised primarily of letters to churches or individuals. It is interesting how the letters in the New Testament were circulated among the churches. Today, if we want to send a letterto someone, we might compose a short text message or maybe a little longer e-mail. For example, many of you know that we have a church in Riverside, California that has helped support our church financially. Grace Community Church in Riverside provided both of our church vans for us; they paid for this carpeting in our building, they installed our sound system, and every month they send us some financial support to help us continue our ministry here. What a blessing they are to our church.
Last week I sent the pastor, Brian Smith, an e-mail giving him an update on what is happening in our church. I told him about our communion service; I shared with him the stories of some of the people in our church we have helped in times of crisis; and I thanked his church for their faithful support. When Brian received the e-mail, he forwarded it to hundreds of people on their church e-mail list so that they could read it and rejoice along with him and could pray for us, here in Fresno.
Well in verse 12, the letter of First Peter was delivered and distributed in somewhat the same fashion--except rather than being e-mailed, it was hand delivered to churches by "Silvanus", (or Silas as he is called in other passages). Those churches also sent it out, to other churches, and it began to circulate all over the world, and 2,000 years later, it made its way to Fresno and you are holding it in your hands this afternoon.
And Peter gives some final words of encouragement in this letter:
verse 12: "Stand firm" in the grace of God.
And then, in verse 13, Peter sends greetings from another church. In this case he calls the church "She who is in Babylon" and he most likely means the church in Rome -- he also mentions Mark. Mark was the writer of the gospel of Mark and he traveled with Peter and learned about Jesus Christ more fully from him. And finally, he asks us to "Greet one another with the kiss of love" and he imparts peace to "all of you who are in Christ."
I think it is no mistake that he ends his letter by naming the name of Christ--
Jesus Christ, the second person of the trinity, who is himself God, came to earth as a human being--to experience everything you and I experience. Like you, Jesus faced temptations, emotions, and loss, and yet he did not sin. And because of that, he is able to sympathize with your weaknesses. He knows exactly what you are going through. He understands your temptations, your feelings, and he weeps with you in your losses.
And when Jesus died and rose again, he ascended in bodily form into heaven where he is right now, sitting next to the Father, making intercession for you when you sin and after he ascended, he sent his Holy Spirit to indwell believers and his Holy Spirit is here with us now.
And there is coming a day when Jesus is coming back. He is going to suddenly appear as the chief Shepherd and he will ultimately take his flock of sheep, the church, out of this world. I love Paul's passage in 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18 where he writes,
"For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of the archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore encourage one another with these words."
And while we are waiting for his return, Peter tells us to be subject to one another and, verse 5,
"Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another."
Notice Peter's continuous back and forth message throughout this letter: Suffering, submission, suffering, submission. He knows first hand that these are two very difficult things for us to deal with in our lives.
When it comes to submission, it takes great humility. The natural tendency for man is to try and exalt himself. Humility doesn't come natural. We all like to be recognized. Everyone likes to see their name in print. People like to exalt themselves or have others do it for them. Just watch a sporting event or news program on television where there are people in the background. What are they doing? They're waving at the camera and acting in a manner that they would probably never act anywhere else, but because the camera has panned to them, they want to be recognized, and exalted.
Why? Why is that in our nature to want to exalt ourselves? It's because, as Paul says in Ephesians 2:3 we are "By nature, children of wrath." And part of that nature means we're proud--in the bad sense of the word. Our natural inclination is to build ourselves up rather than Jesus Christ. Just listen to some testimonies of Christians. There are times when you wonder if those who are sharing ever met Christ. His name is not even mentioned in their testimony. It's all about I used to do that and now I do this--or maybe they'll end their testimony with an Amen! We're proud by nature, we're children of wrath. It doesn't matter what you've accomplished in your life--Only Christ, only Christ.
No, our nature is filled with wrath and pride. Proverbs says, "Pride comes before destruction." Peter says in verse 5 that "God opposes the proud". The only way we can overcome pride in our lives is to "Clothe ourselves with humility, toward each other" (vs. 5), and do it "Under the mighty hand of God."
And when you "Clothe [yourself] with humility", God, in his timing, "at the proper time", the Scripture says, "will exalt you." Peter instructs that rather than exalting yourself in pride, be subject to everyone and be humble -- and when you do those things, God is going to lift you up.
We get the wrong idea about what humility is. Some may think that it's a bad thing. But humility is what causes you to grow as a Christian.
1. Humility keeps the focus off of your own suffering and turned to God.
2. Humility allows you to trust God, rather than yourself.
3. Humility allows you to love others, even when they are unlovable.
4. Humility strengthens marriages.
5. Humility allows a father to put his family before his own recreation.
6. Humility helps you listen to your boss and do your work gladly.
7. Humility means you are satisfied with your wages.
8. Humility puts Jesus Christ first in your life.
But, humility can also cause suffering. When you submit to God, suffering will follow. Remember what Peter said in 2:21? You have been called to suffering--because Christ was humble and he suffered. What may happen when you are "Clothed with humility"?
1. People may think you are weak.
2. You may be opposed by the world.
3. Friends and family may mock you.
4. People you thought were your friends may try to sabotage you by spreading false rumors about you because they are feeling guilty that you are not acting like them.
5. You may not always get your way.
6. You might even get cheated out of something.
7. Your boss may take advantage of you and pile more and more work on you because you are not complaining.
8. And because of your humility and because you are a weak human being, the natural inclination may to become anxious when all of these things happen to you.
Even though we are promised that by being humble, God will exalt us, Peter recognized that it is easy to become anxious.
And so, in verse 7 he writes these wonderful and comforting words,
"Casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you."
What anxieties do you face in your life? What worries you? What makes you nervous or uneasy?
Is it,
- Lack of finances?
- Lack of security?
- Family troubles?
- Trouble with your children?
- Car problems?
- Housing problems?
- Illness?
- Fear of death of yourself or a loved one?
- Fear of losing your job?
- Fear that you will never meet the right soul-mate?
- Guilt over a hidden sin habit you can't seem to break?
What worries you right now? Right where you are sitting this afternoon? Whatever it is, God says this, "Cast them all on me." Give them to him. Can you even image what he is asking you to do? You may not fully grasp what he is asking you to do because you tend to hold on to your problems--you try to solve them yourself. But whatever you have that makes you anxious, God is offering to take it from you.
It would be like this (if it were medically possible): If one of my grandchildren had cancer or a terrible disease and they could reach down inside of themselves and grab it, I would tell them, "Please, do it quickly. Grab that cancer that is eating away at you and I will take it and put it into me. I love you, I don't want you to die."
And that's exactly what God wants you to do with your anxieties. Whatever they are. Take a deep breath and hand them over to him. And because he cares for you he promises to take them from you.
You may be embarrassed to give your worries and troubles to Jesus. You think, how could I ever give these troubles to him. I'm so messed up I don't even want to tell him my problems. But the Bible says that God already knows your cares. In Psalm 139:23, King David wrote,
"Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts."
The Hebrew word for "thoughts" can mean "anxious thoughts" or "cares".
How is this possible, that God knows your cares? King David again gives us the answer in Psalm 139:13-16,
"For you formed my inward parts;
you knitted me together in my mother's womb.
I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Wonderful are your works;
my soul knows it very well.
My frame was not hidden from you,
when I was being made in secret,
intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
Your eyes saw my unformed substance;
in your book were written, every one of them,
the days that were formed for me,
when as yet there was none of them."
No, there is nothing hidden from God. He knew you, even before you were born. Whatever it is in your life right now that concerns you, he knows. But because he made you with the ability to exercise free choice, he allows you to either hang on to your cares, or cast them on him.
And so, the Holy Spirit, this morning is urging you to cast them on to Jesus.
But what hinders you from doing that? It's your adversary--he is part of the problem. Verse 8 says,
"Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world."
The devil hates you. He is a liar and the father of all lies. He is a murderer and his goal is to keep you from serving Jesus Christ. He wants you to be non submissive and he wants you to suffer. His desire is for you to keep your cares and anxieties to yourself and never turn them over to God.
He wants to feast on you--gorge himself on you--engulf, envelope, destroy, demolish, lay waste, devastate, gut, ravage, ruin, wreck, trouble, wrack, consume, overpower, overwhelm and "devour" your life. And God has given him permission to try and do these things in order to someday separate the sheep from the goats.
Therefore, Peter says you better be sober-minded, you better be watchful.
And sadly, the devil has some of you in his jaws right now. Some of you are so consumed by sin that you've allowed Satan to grab you and hold you his mouth. You're not devoured, because you're here today, but you've got some bite marks on you.
You may ask, why does the devil attack me? The apostle Peter gives two reasons:
1. You're not being sober-minded.
and,
2. You are not being watchful.
To be sober-minded means to have an unclouded mind, to be clear headed. The opposite of that is being drunk. The Greek word kraipalē means literally, "drunken headache." To be sober-minded is to be the opposite of that. You can think clearly. You can keep your mind focused on the Lord Jesus Christ.
Do you know most crimes are committed when a person is high or drunk. Most pregnancies outside of marriage happen when one or both of the parties are high or drunk. And after the stupor wears off you say, "What in the world did I do last night." You did something you would never have done had you been sober-minded...
...And Satan rips at your spiritual flesh...
The second reason you get attacked by the devil is because you are not watchful. Being watchful means to be alert and vigilant--You are ready for anything--you can see it coming and can avoid a potentially bad situation because you were watchful.
Are you being watchful for the things the devil will use to bring you down? Maybe it is the movies you watch, or the music you listen to, or the friends or family members you hang around with.
Be sober-minded, be watchful.
And if you do that, Peter says that you will be able to "Resist him." How? By being firm in your faith.
If you are "firm in your faith" it means that you are immovable. Nothing can make you budge.
How can you have firm or immovable faith? Well, it takes work on your part. There is no work required to obtain salvation--it is a free gift from God--Righteousness through faith. But once you are saved, and assured of heaven, Paul says to "work out your salvation" (Philippians 3:12), and James, the brother of Jesus says, "So faith by itself, if it doesn't have works, is dead." (James 2:17).
Therefore, it's imperative that in order to "Stand firm in your faith", it takes some work on your part--and that might include:
1. Read God's Word often (Hebrews 4:12) (Get your own Bible that you can highlight and underline and write in it).
2. Pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17) (And beginning next Tuesday evening, we are going to give you the opportunity to come and pray with us, as a church, and cry out to God.)
3. Don't neglect going to church (Hebrews 10:24)
4. When you sin, confess it right away (1 John 1:9)
You know, you're not alone in your problems. Christians all over the world are facing the same kinds of suffering that you are, and probably even worse (1 Peter 5:9).
So, this letter from the Apostle Peter is instructing you and me to hang in there. Work hard, don't give up, stand firm in your faith because the "God of all grace" (5:10), who has given you eternal life through Jesus Christ has not forgotten you. You are not running the race alone--and while things are difficult and you suffer and "now for a little while...you have been grieved by various trials" (1:6). You can "rejoice" (1:6), because God has a great promise for you.
God promises to do four things, and they are amazing.
1. He is going to "Restore" you. The Greek word used here is the same word that is used when the disciples "mended" or fixed the holes in their nets. In the same way, Jesus Christ, will mend you. Do you have holes in your life right now that need mending? Then cast your cares on to Jesus and he will restore you.
2. He is going to "Confirm" you. The idea here is that Jesus is going to strengthen your soul. Deep down within yourself--the depths of your soul you will be confirmed and strengthened. When you go through those trials you will have peace, deep within your soul that the "God of all grace" keeps you safe.
3. He is going to "Strengthen" you. This means, if you trust him; cast your anxieties on him; trust him, he will give you the strength to keep facing what is good. The things of earth will be tasteless to you. The things you used to do just don't taste good anymore. That movie you used to watch--it's tasteless. That "High" you used to crave--it's tasteless. The way you used to cheat to come up on some money--it's tasteless. You have the strength of Jesus working in your life.
and finally,
4. He promises to "Establish" you (5:10). To be established means that your "house is built upon the rock." In other words, when the trials come (and they will) and the storms of life and temptations threaten to you (and they will), you are established, you cannot be moved. When the hurricane is over; your house is the one on the block that is still standing. When the fires sweep through your life, your house is unscathed. When the cars of life pile up in the fog of despair, you are able to avoid the carnage.
Why? Because you have endured through the suffering. You have disciplined yourself to submit and humble yourself under the mighty hand of God. You have learned to forget trying to solve your problems on your own and have cast them all to Jesus. And, you have, through the strength of Jesus Christ remained sober minded and watchful so that the devil has no influence over you.
And this is all because Jesus Christ has "dominion forever and ever." He has all strength, all power, all might.
And...he loves you.
But today, you know that you are not living your life for Jesus Christ. Some of you, are caught in the jaws of Satan, who prowls around like a lion seeking to devour you, and he is ripping at your spiritual flesh. Some of you are at the end of your rope--you have no where to turn.
Then why not turn to Jesus today--why not "Cast all of your cares, your anxieties, your sins and your burdens on him?
"Peace to all you who are in Christ."
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