Life-Giving Community - 1 Peter 5:6-11
As we continue to revisit the mission and vision of Good Shepherd, we’re looking today at 1 Peter chapter 5, verses 6-11. Please turn there in your Bible or on your electronic device, or it’s printed for you on page 6 of the worship guide. We’re taking a short break from our verse-by-verse exposition of Matthew to remember why Good Shepherd exists (in other words, our Mission) and how we go about fulfilling God’s purpose for us (our Vision).
I chose this passage as I thought about the last part of the Vision statement, which you can see printed on page 6. We want to be a congregation “introducing more people to the life-giving community of the local church.” We join God on mission by “introducing more people to the life-giving community of the local church.”
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I was asked once why is it that we say that the community of the local church is life-giving. After all, isn’t Jesus the life-giver? Absolutely he is. And for that reason, His church is His life-giving people and place. Last Sunday, we saw in Ephesians 4 that the Old and New Testament Scriptures were given to us by Jesus, and the leadership of His church was designed and established by Jesus, and Paul is clear that only through Jesus’ Word and alongside Jesus’ people can we grow into mature and equipped followers of Jesus.
Within the local church, Paul says, is where we are to be “speaking the truth in love,” and where “we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body (that is, the local congregation), joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part (in other words, each member, each person) is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.” Jesus’ church should absolutely be life-giving, because “when each part is working properly,” each member growing up into Him, the church is where Jesus gives life.
Certainly, Jesus can reach you and save your dead soul anywhere, anytime, but you need the healthy local church, or else you will remain mired in spiritual immaturity. So, more people need the church. 1 Peter 5 tells us why. But before we look there, let’s bow together in prayer once more and ask God to speak to us: How precious is your steadfast love, O God! We take refuge in the shadow of your wings. We feast on the abundance of your house, and you give us drink from the river of your delights. Because with you is the fountain of life; in your light, we see light. O triune God, continue your steadfast love to those who know you, and your righteousness to the upright of heart! And in the name of Jesus Christ we pray, amen.
1 Peter 5, beginning with verse 6: [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. [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. [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. [11] To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen.
This is God’s Word, and may he write his eternal truth on each of our hearts today. Why do we need to concern ourselves with introducing others to the local church and, ultimately, in doing so, introducing them to Jesus? Should we back off and just let people find their own way?
Jesus didn’t take that approach during his earthly ministry. He was very concerned with this. Matthew 28 states his final instructions before returning to heaven. He told his disciples, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.” What Jesus is describing is not just an individualistic movement. It is the local church. And so his disciples after him were very concerned with it.
In fact, the previous 5 verses in 1 Peter 5 address the elders and members of churches. Peter says, [1] I (urge) the elders among you...[2] shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly; [3] not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock. [4] And when the chief Shepherd (Jesus) appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory. [5] Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another.”
That is the local church, the local body of Christ. But why do more people need the life-giving community of Jesus' church? Does Jesus just want people to have a place to belong, or somewhere to socialize? Is the church just for making business contacts or reinforcing morality in our children? Well, those are not the reasons Peter gives. Peter gives three very different reasons, which you can see stated on pages 6-7. More people need Jesus’ life-giving community because (1) there is trouble stirring inside everyone, (2) there is trouble lurking around everyone, and (3) Jesus is the only hope in our trouble.
Now, look again at verse [6] Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God.” Just before this, Peter says humble yourselves toward each other. But here, toward God, under His hand. Does God have a hand? This is figurative language, with an OT flavor. In Exodus 6, God says he will lead Israel out of Egypt “with a strong hand.” He says, “I will deliver you from slavery...with an outstretched arm.”
These are symbolic of his power. God made us and everything else. We should stand with humility before Him. This is in perfect alignment with what it means to follow Jesus: He determines the destination and the route; we accept and humbly follow. We trust God’s time-table; notice the rest of verse 6: so that at the proper time he may exalt you.
In due time, when He thinks the time is right. We can get discouraged as we wait on God. But God will honor those who humble trust Him. Trusting Him is the great challenge in this life, because as we wait on God, all sorts of anxieties come at us. We get nervous, uneasy, sad; we worry, fear, doubt. So you should humble ourselves, notice verse [7], by “casting all your anxieties on him,” because he cares for you.
It is one thing to believe that God exists. It is entirely another to believe that he cares about what troubles you. It’s common to suffer and ask, “Does God care?” It can appear that God does not care. For example, as Jesus hung on the cross, the chief priests, with the scribes and elders of Israel mocked him, and said, “He trusts in God; let God deliver him now, if he desires him. For he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’”
Someone could have easily seen the cross and said, “Jesus it looks like your God doesn’t care.” The idea behind the word “anxieties” is to be drawn or pulled in different directions. We’re torn inside over things. We’re torn between how things are and how we want them to be. Life is difficult for everyone; troubles well up within the hearts and minds of everyone. Everyone needs a worthy place to cast their cares, to throw down their anxieties. And people without God find all sorts of ways to cope with life, because they must find something to take God’s place as the receiver of their worries and fears.
Where do you cast your anxieties? Do you have some make-shift gods to get you through because the God of the Scriptures is taking too long? That’s not good. That is what folks are doing folks outside of Jesus’ life-giving community. They have make-shift gods. They don’t humble themselves under God’s powerful hand; they take things into their own hands.
Do you? Do you reject obedience to God’s Word in your private life or at our jobs or in your marriage because you’re too anxious to wait on God? You bet you do. All of us are prone to that. But we can humble ourselves before the God of grace. We can submit to the life-giving Christ. We can be built up and strengthened in his life-giving community. We can band together, support one another, and speak the truth in love to each other. More people need this, because trouble stirs inside us. Every race and social class.
But not only is trouble stirring inside us; it’s lurking around us. Notice verse [8] Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Peter says have a clear mind and be alert, be aware. Don’t stick your head in the sand. You have an enemy within, which is your sinful nature; you also have an enemy without, which is Satan and the demonic beings in the spiritual realm.
You cannot take the Scriptures seriously without coming to grips with the reality of the spiritual forces of evil that surround us. Jesus, Peter, John, Paul, and James all warned the church of Satan’s schemes against us.
But Satan is not only out for the church. In 2 Corinthians 4, Paul says that Satan “has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ.” As we close worship today, we will sing these words: “Jesus, shine Your light.” Those without Christ cannot see. Are you content for them to be devoured by Satan?
Is that real to you? It was so real to Jesus that in what we call “the Lord’s Prayer,” where we commonly say, “deliver us from evil,” the language in the Greek manuscript is essentially “the evil one.” Not just evil in this vague, impersonal sense, but rather, deliver us from the enemy lurking around us. Deliver us from the schemes of the devil.
Do you pray for those around you who are outside of Jesus’ life-giving community? Do you need to meet some new people, so you can then begin to pray for them? It’s bad enough to see a follower of Jesus hit by an attack of the enemy, but to see a non-believer, someone who has yet to repent and turn to Jesus, just manipulated and run over by Satan -- it’s a sad thing.
If you have eyes to see, if you’re willing to look, you’ll see it everywhere. But look at [9] Resist him, firm in your faith.” Satan can be withstood. He can be opposed. But we resist him not with confidence in our own faith, but in the faith, in the unchanging reality of God’s power over all things and our salvation in Jesus Christ. We stand firm knowing what is true and unchangeable. The people of God have power from on high. God’s Holy Spirit dwells within us.
We have what Paul calls “the armor of God.” He says, [11] Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. [12] For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. [13] Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.
Paul describes the armor. We do, of course, have to proactively use it. But make no mistake: those apart from Christ have none of it. They don’t have the belt of truth fastened around their waste. They don’t have the breastplate of Jesus’ righteousness protecting their core. They don’t have the shield of faith to take shelter behind. They don’t have the helmet of salvation. And they don’t have the sword of the Holy Spirit, which is God’s living Word. More people need Jesus’ life-giving community because trouble lurks.
And finally, more people need it, and we should long desperately for more folks to come in, because the Founder of this life-giving community He is the only hope in our trouble. In the rest of verse 9, Peter says stand firm in our faith, “knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world.”
Often the circumstances are different, but the enemy and the troubles are very much the same. Trouble stirs inside and lurks around believers all over the planet, in all people everywhere. Don’t you find that it comforting when you discover that others are going through or have been through what troubles you? Doesn’t it feel good to know you’re not alone and to receive guidance and encouragement? What a brilliant reason to establish the local church!
I’ve heard it said by folks: “I don’t know how people make it through without the church.” Well, people cope, no doubt. They have their methods. But do they suffer with the quiet confidence that God cares for them? They don’t have the hope of verse [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. This is a lasting hope, to know that all Satan intends for evil, the one true God intends for good.
God works all things together for good for those who love him and are called according to his purpose. He works through our suffering, through our troubles. And we can have this connection to God and status with Him because of Christ. Jesus is our hope. That is why verse [11] says, “To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen.” He has dominion, in other words, control. Sovereignty. He reigns over all things. He is all-powerful, and so we can trust and be confident in Him.
Do you feel undone? Keep walking by faith, and in due time, God will restore you. Do you feel shaky? Keep trusting, and in due time,God will make you firm. Do you feel weak in your trouble? Keep being faithful, and God will make you strong. Do you feel unstable? Embrace His life-giving community, and God will make you like a rock, with peace inside that you can’t explain or understand. God has called us to this in Christ.
Sing with me if you know the tune the words from this old song of the church printed on page 7.
My hope is built on nothing less / Than Jesus' blood and righteousness
I dare not trust the sweetest frame / But wholly lean on Jesus' name
When darkness veils His lovely face / I rest on His unchanging grace
In ev'ry high and stormy gale / My anchor holds within the veil
His oath His covenant His blood / Support me in the whelming flood
When all around my soul gives way / He then is all my hope and stay
When He shall come with trumpet sound / O may I then in Him be found
Dressed in His righteousness alone / Faultless to stand before the throne
On Christ the solid rock I stand / All other ground is sinking sand
All other ground is sinking sand
Our mission is to join God as He brings people to the Life-giver. Our vision is to see more people come to the Life-giver. And so we pray for this and we labor with God. Have you come to the Life-giver? Turn from your sin, trust in the Life-giver, and find your place in his life-giving community.
Let’s pray together.