1 Peter 5:6-14: Stand Firm I. Base Text: 1 Peter 5:6-14 II. Understanding the Text A. Background 1. 1 Peter 1: great encouragement based in rebirth through resurrection and hope of salvation; value of salvation; imperatives to holiness, love 2. 1 Peter 2: sustained by God's message; Christians as Temple, spiritual Israel; honorable conduct before all people; call to suffer for doing right, as Christ has set forth as an example 3. 1 Peter 3: appropriate conduct of husbands and wives; Christians as living representatives of Christ, doing good and suffering for it if necessary; defending the faith with gentleness and respect; saved through baptism 4. 1 Peter 4: suffer and cease from sin, no matter what Gentiles say; end, judgment near, must show love and serve God through trial 5. 1 Peter 5:1-5: exhortation to elders; exhortation to the young men; exhortation for all to be clothed with humility B. Humility and its benefits (1 Peter 5:6-7) 1. 1 Peter 5:6 a conclusion to what is written in verse 5 2. We are to be humble, not just toward one another, but also to God 3. Similar thought in James 4:10 4. Also goes back to consistent message of Jesus-- the humble will be exalted, exalted will be humbled (e.g. Matthew 23:12) 5. Thus, if we are looking for future exaltation, we must humble ourselves! 6. We are not just to humble ourselves under God's hand, but cast our anxieties upon Him 7. Vehicle to do so: prayer 8. Reason why we are to cast our anxieties upon Him: He cares for us (cf. Romans 8:31-39) 9. It also speaks to a recognition of humility-- we often hold onto our worries or anxieties out of a desire to maintain control 10. If we humble ourselves under God's hand, we depend upon Him and not ourselves, and we will be able to more freely give up those anxieties to the One who really can do something about them 11. Also important for the first century Christians as they suffer through trials-- we can only imagine the level of anxiety they experienced! C. Resist the Devil (1 Peter 5:8-9) 1. Peter then returns to a thought similar to 1 Peter 4:7 2. Need for sober-mindedness, vigilance 3. Free of intoxicants, always on the watch-- used before to describe how we should conduct ourselves because the end is near (1 Peter 4:7; cf. 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11) 4. But here it is not a reference to the end of time-- a reference to a very real and present force! 5. We must be vigilant because the Devil is on the prowl! 6. Your "adversary" (Hebrew satan) the "devil" (Greek diabolos, "accuser") 7. Peter indicates that both terms refer to the same person, the one who tested Jesus (Matthew 4:1-11), the one who led to our downfall (cf. Revelation 12) 8. Image: Devil as roaring lion, seeking whom he will devour 9. Really a conflation of images: lions do not roar when hunting prey 10. Roar instills fear, apprehension-- may stop someone from doing what is right 11. Lion seeking prey acts as stealthily as possible, overcoming when least expected 12. Lions also tend to go after the young, the weak, and the isolated 13. A challenge for the once saved, always saved doctrine-- why would Satan bother worrying about Christians if they could not lose their salvation? 14. Yet we are told quite strongly to be watchful for him! 15. We are also challenged to resist him (cf. 1 Peter 5:9, Ephesians 6:10-18) 16. The means by which we resist him: remain firm in the faith (cf. Revelation 12:11) 17. The Christians are also to remember that the same types of suffering are being experienced around the world-- a reminder that they are not alone lest they develop an "Elijah complex" (cf. 1 Kings 19) 18. We are not that special-- but we can overcome (1 Corinthians 10:13)! D. Comfort in Suffering (1 Peter 5:10-11) 1. Peter does not want to leave Christians despairing about their condition! 2. After indicating the commonality of suffering, Peter then indicates how God's comfort will benefit them 3. The suffering will last "a little while" (cf. 1 Peter 1:6)-- even if "long" by human standards, not by eternity's standard! 4. "God of all grace"-- emphasis on God's gifts (cf. Ephesians 1:3) 5. Believers as called to eternal glory in Christ (Romans 8:17-18, 2 Corinthians 4:17-18) 6. God will restore, confirm, strengthen, establish Christians 7. Wonderfully encouraging message, referring to either the blessings of God after the suffering or in eternity or both (cf. Romans 8:31-39, 2 Corinthians 1:3-7) 8. A fitting end to the substance of the letter! E. Concluding remarks (1 Peter 5:12-14) 1. Peter then makes some concluding remarks to his letter 2. Indicates that he has written it, given it to Silvanus (Silas) 3. Regarded as a faithful brother-- most likely the companion of Paul in Acts 15:40 and onward, participant in the greeting and/or writing of 1 and 2 Thessalonians 4. Indicates connection between Paul and Peter 5. Writing considered brief, designed to exhort Christians and to declare the true grace of God 6. He encourages them to stand firm in it (cf. 1 Peter 5:9, Ephesians 6:10-18) 7. Peter makes cryptic reference to "she who is in Babylon" a. Some take it literally, presume that Peter is in Babylon in modern-day Iraq b. A difficult proposition: Babylon by this time eclipsed by Seleucia, barely inhabited if inhabited at all c. Many persuaded by the 70 CE theory for Revelation see it as Jerusalem, but such an interpretation suffers the same problems as in Revelation-- no good evidence or reason for accepting it d. Best understanding: reference to Rome e. It will be so understood in Revelation 12-19 f. All strands of tradition, history indicate that Peter ends up in Rome g. Thus, Peter speaks about how Christians in Rome greet the Christians of Asia Minor 8. Also speaks of Mark, called his "son" a. Most likely the same John called Mark (Acts 12:12, 12:25) b. He abandoned Paul and Barnabas in Antioch of Pisidia (Acts 13:13), and Paul thus did not want to take him with him and Barnabas on the second journey (Acts 15:37-38) c. Mark went with Barnabas his cousin to Cyprus (Acts 15:39) d. Eventually redeemed himself in the eyes of Paul (Colossians 4:10, 2 Timothy 4:11, Philemon 1:24) e. Considered author of the Gospel of Mark; tradition says that Mark's material really comes from Peter 9. Final benedictions: greet each other with kiss of love, peace to all of them 10. Holy kiss considered a custom of affection akin to our handshake or hug (Romans 16:16, 1 Corinthians 16:20, 2 Corinthians 13:12, 1 Thessalonians 5:26) 11. A message of peace often seen at the conclusion of a letter in some way or another (Romans 15:33, 16:20, Galatians 6:16, Ephesians 6:23, 1 Thessalonians 5:23, 2 Thessalonians 3:16, Hebrews 13:20, 3 John 1:14), but especially important for the Christians who are experiencing persecution and thus strife F. Thus we have the conclusion to Peter's first letter-- a wonderful exhortation for Christians to be encouraged by what God has done for them so as to stand firm, endure, and continue to obey! III. Conclusion A. Thus we have seen 1 Peter 5:6-14 B. Encouragement to be humble, depend on God, stand firm against the evil one, and to endure suffering C. Let us stand firm in the faith and glorify God! D. Invitation/songbook