Final Instructions

Today, we conclude our study of 1 Peter. We called this series, Strangers Like Me, because Peter was writing to a group of Gentile Christians who were living in exile in Asia Minor, which is modern-day Turkey. They were interacting with people who were strangers, but at the same time, these strangers were just like them in the sense that they were all created in the image of God. Peter writes to encourage these churches and their pastors, and also teaches them how they can live as strangers in a world that is not their true home. We look at Peter’s final instructions to these churches today. He has unpacked so much throughout these five chapters, but he leaves these churches with some very practical advice to use as they move forward as followers of Jesus in a hostile world. The instructions that he leaves these churches are instructions for you and me as well. As we live as exiles in a world that is not our own, this is how we should live as well.

God Cares:

"casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you." — 1 Peter 5:7

Peter begins by reemphasizing what he told the church in verses 4-5. They should humble themselves. Peter had just referenced Proverbs 3:34, which says, God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. But Peter follows up that in verse 6 by adding that when we humble ourselves before God, he will exalt us. Peter would have learned this idea from Jesus himself, who said something very similar in Matthew 23:12. Jesus says, Who exalts himself will be humbled, but whoever humbles himself will be exalted. Peter is reminding these believers yet again that even though they are experiencing suffering, they will one day be exalted. The exalting that Peter is thinking of is the return of Christ when all Christians will be with Jesus.

But what happens until Christ returns? How are we supposed to get through this life? Christians experience pain, suffering, and heartache, just like everyone else. We are not immune to these feelings or experiences. Peter says, cast your anxieties on God because he cares. What anxieties would these Christians have been experiencing? Remember the persecution that these believers were experiencing? They probably lost relationships with others, job opportunities, and possibly even death threats. That’s a lot of reasons to be anxious about the future.

What gives you anxiety? Your job, the Saints, your family, your health? How do you handle that anxiety? Do you redirect your thoughts to something else? Do you fixate on those problems until they are resolved? The Anxiety and Depression Association of America reports that anxiety disorders affect 40 million adults in the U.S. ages 18 and older, which is 18.1% of the population. There are so many factors that go into anxiety, even for Christians. It isn’t merely a lack of faith for fear to creep up in believers. Brain chemistry, genetics, life experiences, and personality make up all contribute to one’s anxiety level. As someone who struggles with anxiety, it’s not always easy to say cast your anxiety on Jesus. That doesn’t necessarily mean the anxiety is going to go away, But I will say that even though the anxious feelings might not always go away when I do bring my anxieties to God, I am trusting that he is ministering to me and that he cares for me. God cares for you because it’s in his nature to do so. He loves you, and he cares about you so instead of holding in the anxious thoughts and feelings cast them upon the only one who can bear them.

Resist the Enemy:

"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

Peter mentions for the third time in this letter the importance of being sober-minded. This is not talking about avoiding wine as much as it is able to be in control of your thinking. Not allowing some external factor to take control of your mind. He also tells the believers to be watchful. Like a soldier who is on the watch for their enemies, a Christian should be on lookout for the enemy of the devil who desires to attack.

The image that Peter uses is that of a lion who is seeking someone to devour. The devil wants to destroy your life. He wanted the persecution that these believers were experiencing to cause them to leave the faith. He wants the suffering that you experience to cause you to doubt God’s love for you. There is not one redeemable quality in Satan. The verb Peter uses is "devour." We’re not talking about a scratch or a bite. No, Satan wants to take you down completely. The image is that of a beast swallowing its prey in one gulp.

Temptation is all around us. Sometimes we tend to downplay certain temptations and say “I’ll never give in to this temptation” or “this is not a sin that I struggle with.” That’s the type of mentality that Satan desires for us to have. That’s the type of statement that indicates we are not watchful. When a lion is on the prowl, there is no time for sleep because at any moment you could be its prey.

We are actively resist the devil. Making a conscious effort not allowing him to get even a foothold in our life, in our hearts, or our thinking. The temptations that are brought your way are from the Devil. He is using people, situations, technology, and any other instrument he possibly can to bring you down. Your enemy is not the people or the situations themselves. You are fighting a spiritual battle. The battle is not with flesh and blood.

Peter says the way that the devil is resisted is by being firm in your faith. Do we believe that God is sufficient for us? Is he all that we need? Almost all of our disobedience stems from a lack of trust in God. We don’t trust what he says. This is precisely the lesson that Genesis 3 is teaching us. When Eve partakes of the fruit, the serpent’s question to her is, Did God say that you could not eat this fruit? He got Eve to doubt God’s command to her. When we sin, we are saying we know better than God.

The suffering that these believers were experiencing even though difficult was also being experienced by other Christians around the Roman empire. It helps to know that other people have experienced the same thing you have experienced. Maybe that’s a loved one who has been given a cancer diagnosis, perhaps it's the loss of a job, or maybe it's dealing with persecution like in our passage today, but a brother or sister in Christ has already experienced the suffering that you will one day experience. You are not alone. In the same way, these believers in Asia Minor who were experiencing persecution were not alone as well.

Restoration is Coming:

"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." — 1 Peter 5:10

The suffering of these believers was not going to last forever. Your suffering does have an expiration date. It might not feel like it does, but it will pass. We have not been called to suffer eternally, but rather to eternal glory in Christ.

Peter mentions four verbs all in the future tense that will one day describe these believers. They are all describing life with Jesus one day, and they are all saying the same thing in nuanced ways:

1. Restore: Whatever physical, emotional, mental, or social suffering you endure while on earth you will one day be restored. You will be entirely adequate and sufficient in every way. Don’t we all long for the day when we will be completely restored? I know I do. It’s going to be awesome.
2. Confirmed: this verb carries with it the idea of being placed firmly in a location or fixed in a specific location. The suffering these believers were experiencing might have caused them to lose their position in society or their standing. Peter is saying you will be confirmed in your position in Christ.
3. Strengthened: the word for strengthened here is only used one time in the New Testament. Whatever these believers were experiencing that made them weak, one day, they will again be strong. Physical weakness, mental weakness, or even spiritual weakness when Jesus returns, they will be strengthened.

• I think of a man that I visit every week in the nursing home. A few years back, he lost his ability to walk, so he is confined to a wheelchair. He now has to have help getting in and out of bed every day. The wheelchair was causing him to have bedsores, and so right now, he has to spend a lot of his time in bed switching back and forth from one side of his body to the other. His body is physically breaking down. Those artificial hips and artificial knees that we walk around with will one day go away. Jesus will strengthen us.
  And then Peter says these believers will be 4) established: the believer will one day be settled and firm on the foundation of Christ. Build your life on the rock, not the sand.

These are descriptions of what will one day happen to all believers. We have to keep a heavenly perspective in our suffering because if we don’t, our earthly suffering will consume us. I want to encourage all of you today to hold on. Do not give up. You will be restored, confirmed, established, and strengthened because God’s word says you will.

Even though our suffering is difficult, we give praise to God in spite of it knowing that Jesus suffered on our behalf. Joni Eareckson Tada says this, “Jesus went without comfort so that you might have it. He postponed joy so that you might share in it. He willingly chose isolation so that you might never be alone in your hurt and sorrow. He had no real fellowship so that fellowship might be yours, this moment. This alone is enough cause for great gratitude!” We can still praise God in our suffering because of what he accomplished for us on the cross.

This is True: 

"By Silvanus, a faithful brother as I regard him, I have written briefly to you, exhorting and declaring that this is the true grace of God. Stand firm in it." — 1 Peter 5:12

Debate exists among scholars whether Peter is referring to Silvanus as the deliverer of Peter’s letter or did Silvanus write that the letter while Peter told him what to say. For our purposes, it doesn’t matter, but Silvanus himself is important, because this is the longhand form of Silas that we know from the letter of Acts. Paul chooses Silas to replace Barnabas on his second missionary journey.

Peter points out that this letter was brief. We have spent almost three months in this chipping away at smaller passages every Sunday, but to actually read this letter in one sitting wouldn’t take that long. In total, 1 Peter is only 105 verses, and considering the subject matter, he does pack a lot of essential theology into a small letter.

He wrote to exhort and declare to these churches scattered across Asia Minor that THIS is the true grace of God. What does Peter mean by THIS, though? Does he mean the suffering that believers in Christ will experience? Or does he mean the letter as a whole? I believe Peter is saying that the entire letter is the true grace of God. Everything I have told you about suffering, everything I have told you about relating to the world around you, everything I have told you about living as an exile in a world that is not your permanent home it is all TRUE.

I’d take what Peter says here one step further though. Everything in this book is true. What God says he does every single time without fail. Do we believe that? Hear me this morning, if you view this book as good moral teaching to make you a better person as you live in the world than you have missed it. This is much more than just a collection of stories to make us better human beings. This is a book that we should be willing to give our lives for because it contains the very words of God to us.

• Some of you know the name, William Tyndale. In 1525, he published his English New Testament. Unfortunately, he was burned alive in a small town in Belgium in 1536, and do you know why he was burned? His crime was translating the Bible into the English language. Tyndale believed that the teachings of church leaders were not always consistent with the Bible, and he also didn’t understand why all of the church readings were in Latin when many people of his day were speaking in English. Tyndale’s love for the word of God and making it accessible so that people could read it cost him his life. And according to a Barna research study released some years ago: 90% of Americans have a Bible in their home, and the average number of Bibles in an American household is 3. At the same time, the Joshua Project, which is an organization that focuses on taking the Gospel to unreached people groups projects that there are still over 7,000 unreached people groups, which means over 40% of the world’s people groups have no indigenous community of believing Christians. And if we're honest, many of the Bibles in our homes sit on bookshelves collecting dust because we never open them. The #1 indicator of spiritual maturity is not going to church, having Christian friends, sharing the Gospel, serving other people, or prayer, although all of those things are good and important. The #1 indicator of spiritual maturity is reading your Bible.

This letter is true, the entire word of God is true, and if we desire to be a church that reaches our city and the world with the Gospel of Jesus Christ than we must personally believe that what is contained in this book has the power to change lives.

As we wrap up this series here are some practical application points for you to consider: 1) Your past, present, and future suffering are not without cause. They are used to both refine your faith and increase your dependency on Jesus. 2) As you live in a world that is not your permanent home, live in such a way that people are attracted to the way you live your life. This means you have to provide hope to those that need it. There is no better hope than the salvation available through Jesus Christ. 3) Don’t run from the world in which you live but engage the world in which you live so that the Gospel might be made known. If people don’t hear the Gospel from us, who will they hear it from?