Humility in Suffering

You guys have all probably been in a situation where you kind of have to react quickly to a disaster that's about to happen.

So maybe something's falling over your head and you have a bodily instinct to immediately put your hands up to protect your head.

And those are good, but sometimes our bodily instincts are not good.

So for example, when you're falling from a building or you're about to get hit by a car, the human body often tenses up, become rigid.

And that actually makes, if your body's rigid and not relaxed, when you're hit, the impact actually is far more likely to damage your vital organs.

So you suffer more as a result.

And in a similar way, our spiritual instincts often lead us astray.

They mislead us as well.

And especially when it comes to suffering.

And Peter has been talking so far throughout these passages that we've been going through in 1 Peter,

that Christians should expect to suffer.

And that suffering comes upon us not because God's abandoned us, because we are God's people.

Because we belong to Him and not to this world, that it's normal and it's for us to experience suffering and persecution in this life.

But when we suffer, sometimes our instinct is not good.

Because when we are encountering hardship, often we'll try to seize control of it ourselves and take things into our own hands,

rather than letting God take control and submitting to Him and what He's trying to do, as this passage tells us to do.

And sometimes we would try to escape the pain and suffering that we're experiencing by numbing ourselves with distractions,

no matter what form that could take, instead of being alert and sober-minded and watchful, as this passage teaches us to.

And finally, in suffering, we can often think that we're suffering alone.

We have such an exaggerated or aggrandized view of our own suffering that we say,

no one else can understand, no one else knows what I'm going through, they can't relate.

So because of that, we isolate ourselves from community.

And all of these things are what we might be prone to do because of our sinful condition,

but they are not what this passage teaches us to do.

In short, if you look at 1 Peter 5, 5-11,

it tells us that we ought to keep the glory of Christ in view,

and that would enable us to endure suffering with humility and watchfulness.

Keeping the glory of Christ in view enables us to endure suffering with humility and watchfulness.

And first, I'm going to talk about the humility in suffering,

and then I'll talk about watchfulness in battle.

And then third, I'm going to talk about the glory in Christ that finally motivates us to be humble in suffering and watchful in battle.

So if you look with me at verse 6 and 7,

and keep your Bibles open, follow along with me because I'll be going back and forth throughout.

First, it says,

Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God,

so that at the proper time He may exalt you,

casting all your anxieties on Him because He cares for you.

So He had already told us in just the preceding verse in verse 5,

clothe yourselves with humility toward one another,

for God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.

And we talked last week in the sermon about how pride is the total anti-God state of mind

because it doesn't let God be sovereign.

Instead, He wants to be God Himself, the prideful person,

and therefore renders God irrelevant and unnecessary.

And in contrast, humility is the quintessential Christian virtue, right?

Because it encapsulates the idea of faith.

Because we're saying we are at an end of ourselves.

We can't save ourselves, but only God can save us.

And that's the humility that God calls us to.

But unfortunately, when we're facing suffering,

our tendency more often is to let pride rear its ugly head

rather than humbling ourselves in suffering.

And this is what I mean is that we will often replay the mistakes that we made

to get into this situation over and over again in our heads,

maybe thinking that perhaps by doing so we can somehow change the situation,

make it better.

Or we will go to the other direction and our minds would race

with all the possible worst-case scenarios

and try to come up with contingency plans

and get anxious and worked up and edgy as a result.

And we lose sleep.

But you might be asking then, how is that a sign of pride, right?

Because that kind of looks like weakness.

That looks like that person's helpless, not prideful.

But that's where this passage is so insightful.

I think it's very counterintuitive,

but it teaches us something that's very insightful into the human condition.

And namely, what it teaches us is that anxiety is not an admission of weakness

when you become anxious.

It's a boasting in your strength when you become anxious.

That anxiety is not a sign of humility, but a sign of pride.

How so?

How is anxiety a sign of pride?

Because in any given moment, the sense of control that we have is an illusion.

Because your vital organs can suddenly fail, right?

At this very moment, you could get bit by a mosquito

that's been infected with the Zika virus, right?

And at this very moment, your loved one can get into a car accident somewhere.

At this very moment, or later, as you're going home,

you're getting on the subway, a terrorist can detonate a bomb

and you could die in the midst of a crowd of people.

In fact, Acts 17, 28 teaches us that in God we live and move and have our being.

In other words, everything that we do now,

we're walking around breathing and moving and thinking.

Everything that we do, we don't have ultimate control over it, right?

We are able to do those things because God sustains us and God enables us.

We don't have ultimate control over anything that happens in our lives.

And at any given moment, a million things can get out of control, right?

So when this is the case, even that idea of losing control is an illusion

because we never had control to begin with.

So how can we lose control over a situation, over our lives?

And so it's exceedingly prideful than when we think

and presume that we have both the ability and the power

to control our lives and the situations around us.

And that's why we become anxious,

is that we want to take control of things.

We want to make sure everything's going okay.

And we think that we have the power and the ability

to make sure that that happens.

That's why it's prideful, he's saying.

And this is why the first exhortation here in verse 6,

humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God,

is modified by the phrase in verse 7,

casting all your anxieties on Him.

It's only those who have humbled themselves before God

and have acknowledged that it is only God

who ultimately has control over all things

that can really cast all anxieties on Him.

Because if you do not humble yourself like that,

then you will be wrecked with anxiety.

And sometimes we might mistakenly think

that it's people who are pridefully confident in themselves

who have things under control.

But it's really, if you look below the surface

and when push comes to shove,

the most prideful people are really the most insecure people.

And when things are not going as they planned or as they wish,

that they become more irritable and edgy and sensitive and defensive

than people who have humbled themselves before God.

That those people have the rock solid foundation to be stable

even when the storms of life come upon them.

And then Peter,

so Peter tells us to be humble,

to humble ourselves,

and then he concludes his exhortation

by giving us the reason

why we ought to humble ourselves

and cast all our anxieties on God.

And that's at the end of verse 7.

He says,

Because He cares for you.

If God were just an all-powerful God,

a being,

then He could do anything that He wanted to do,

but He could also just be a really powerful tyrant, right?

That revels in messing with our lives

and making our lives miserable, right?

But that's why it's not enough that God is simply powerful,

but that this powerful God also cares for us, right?

As the Bible consistently tells us,

this all-powerful, sovereign God is not just powerful,

but that He's also good, right?

And He loves us and He cares for us.

And that's what this passage reminds us of.

This mighty God,

the God with the mighty hand,

He cares for us.

And it's when we get those two things together,

the might of God and the care of God,

that we can live freely and fearlessly in this life.

And to illustrate that,

the person that's the most brutally honest in my life

is my wife, right?

So when it comes to how the ministry is going,

how my sermon was,

or how my character, my parenting,

or my function and role as a husband, right?

So she could tell me things

that no one else would dare tell me, right?

And that's because,

and she also has my ear more than anybody else.

And that's not just because

she knows me better than everybody else,

which she does,

but also, even more importantly,

because she loves me more than anybody else, right?

Because I know she cares for me, right?

And so I'm willing to put up with the harsh criticism

and the painful things that we have to deal with

because I know she cares for me, right?

In the same way,

when we understand that this all-powerful God,

almighty God who rules the universe,

really cares for us, right?

That he's not just strong and powerful,

but he cares for us,

and that really will relieve the sense of burden

and the fear and the anxiety that we have about life

and about the things that are happening to us.

So when you feel burdened, overwhelmed

with what's happening at work

or with the difficult relationship that you have,

remember that God cares for you in those situations.

Or if a tragedy hits

and then you're starting to wonder,

how can God let this happen to me?

Remember that God in that moment still cares for you.

And as Peter has been telling us,

even if you're mocked or unfairly treated

for your faith in Christ,

you're persecuted,

remember that God is not unaware

and he's not unconcerned about what is happening.

He cares for you.

And so he says,

verse 6-7,

Humble yourselves, therefore,

under the mighty hand of God,

so that at the proper time he may exalt you,

casting all your anxieties on him

because he cares for you.

When suffering and persecution come,

and as they will for believers,

we have to humble ourselves

under the mighty hand of God.

That's Peter's first exhortation.

And his second exhortation follows

in verses 8 and 9.

It 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.

There's really three exhortations here.

So it's just be sober-minded,

be watchful,

and then resist the devil.

But all of those are really getting at the same idea.

And Peter,

if you've been here with us

throughout this series in 1 Peter,

you know that Peter likes to tell us

to be sober-minded.

This is, in fact,

his third time telling us

to be sober-minded.

Again, getting back to the idea

that a drunken man,

someone that is in a spiritual stupor,

he's not able to,

he's not prepared

and he's not ready

to respond to the trials that come in life.

You have to be sober-minded and watchful.

And the reason that Peter gives

is that your adversary,

the devil,

prowls around like a roaring lion,

seeking someone to devour.

And this is continuing that motif

of the sheep and the shepherd

that Peter was just using

in chapter,

earlier in chapter 5,

because he told us

that the church is the flock of God

and then the elders are called

to shepherd the people, right?

But when the lion is prowling

around the flock,

the shepherd and the sheep

are not sleeping, right?

I mean, they know danger is out there.

They're not sleeping.

They're alert.

They're vigilant.

That's the image here

of the church.

That's what Christians are called

to be watchful,

as if we are a flock of sheep

and there's a lion prowling around.

And the word that's used here

of the devil to describe him,

the adversary,

it's the language of court and battle.

So you could think of it

like the devil is prosecuting you,

accusing you,

trying to get us locked up in jail

for something.

Or you could imagine

the adversary,

him being in battle array,

trying to destroy us,

in battle against us.

This is our adversary,

our enemy.

And if you pay attention

to politics

or you listen to the radio

or things like that,

a lot of the doomsayers today

say that

the World War III

is not far in the horizon.

So they will warn us of that.

Now that may or may not be true,

but this I know is true,

and that's that already,

presently,

we are in a spiritual battle

of eternal significance

that far outweighs

and overshadows

any imaginable

nuclear World War III.

And that's what

the Bible teaches us.

It's that Satan

is a more potent

and pernicious enemy

than Nazism,

Communism,

or even militant Islam.

And yet,

and this battle,

this war is happening

not just in a distant country

somewhere that we find out

about on TV,

but it's happening

in our country.

It's happening in our city,

our neighborhood,

and even in our own minds

and hearts.

This battle is being waged

all around us.

And the casualties

of this war,

it's not just,

you know,

bodily limbs

or earthly lives,

but it's eternal

perdition in hell.

That's what the casualties

of this war are.

Yet,

so many of us

live as if

this is not the case.

We live as if

we're living in the peace times,

right?

Not war times.

And in war,

like if you look at history,

read in history books

or textbooks about

World War II,

World War I,

there's no room

for dilly-dallying

or, you know,

wasting time

and money,

right?

Because the whole

energy of the nation,

all the human resources,

economic resources

are concentrated

and expended

in order to win

this single war

because they know

that the luxuries

and the leisures

have their place

at another time

because if you don't

win this war,

you're going to have

no luxury

or no leisure,

right?

I mean,

it's time for war,

right?

And so in a similar way,

then if we lose

this spiritual war,

we lose everything,

right?

If we are lost

without Christ,

apart from Christ,

if the people

that God is calling us

to reach in mission,

if they're lost

apart from Christ,

they're lost forever.

They're lost in eternal perdition.

And as Mark 8.36 says,

what does it profit a man

to gain the whole world

and forfeit his soul?

Right?

Following Christ

is not a hobby

that we devote

just a part of our

leisure time to,

but it's a life

or death warfare

because the adversary

that of all of us,

of all believers,

the devil is prowling

around like a roaring lion

seeking someone

to devour.

And that's what we're called

to resist him

firm in our faith.

So then we have

to ask ourselves,

you know,

in what ways

are we living as group

if we're living

in the peace times

and not in wartime,

right?

What are the things

that we indulge in

that intoxicate us

or numb us

and distract us

from the battle at hand,

right?

And that could be

a number of things.

It could be things

that seem as innocent

as, you know,

playing, you know,

Pokemon Go too much,

right?

Or it could be things

as seemingly innocent

as eating too much,

you know,

and becoming slothful

as a result,

gluttony, right?

Or it could be

something like,

you know,

binge watching

on weekends

on Netflix

as a way

to evacuate,

as a way

to escape

from the burdens

and the realities

of life,

right?

Or it could be

something that

seems seemingly

more serious

like addiction

to pornography

or drugs

or alcohol.

All of these things

from seemingly trivial

to the serious,

they can all

distract us

and take us away

from this wartime

mindset

so that we are not

sober-minded,

so that we're not

watchful.

And I'm not,

I don't know,

I don't say this

as a way to condemn

you as a church.

This is something

that I battle with

every day as well,

right?

And I repent of it

on a regular basis,

you know,

I don't know how many

times,

you know,

I lie in bed

and then I think of

what if I spent

those times

that I did this

and this

or I was surfing

too much online,

what if I pray

during that time

for the brother

that's struggling

with a certain sin,

maybe then that brother

would see more victory

in his life,

right?

Maybe

this,

the people

that are struggling

or suffering

around us

and if those people

that maybe I could

have been reaching

out to those people,

if I could have been

reading this book

instead of doing this,

then maybe my sermon

could be more compelling

and powerful

and that people could

and it could really

serve people,

right?

Those are all things

that I struggle

with as well.

but it's something,

but God's calling us

as our church

to be sober-minded

and watchful

because this is

a serious business.

We're in a wartime

and in this,

the culture

that Peter is writing

in especially,

Christians can be

persecuted

for a number of things

but because they

possess,

they claim

exclusive allegiance

to God,

in a polytheistic culture.

They were at the risk

of losing their status

in their family

but also in their society

at large

and of losing

their livelihood

and potentially

their life

and to these people,

Peter is telling them,

when you're suffering

this way,

when you're suffering

be mindful,

be sober-minded,

be watchful,

stay firm

in your faith

knowing that the same

kinds of suffering

are being experienced

by our brotherhood

throughout the world,

right?

And that's again

a huge source

of comfort as well

because if you have

gone through suffering,

if you've gone through

a particular tragedy

in your life,

you know that it could be

an isolating experience

because when you're suffering

you feel like

other people

just don't understand

because they haven't

gone through that

or they just don't know

what's going on

but this is hugely comforting

because he's telling us,

no,

we're not alone

when we suffer

as believers.

We're not alone

when we undergo suffering

for being Christians

because Christians

all throughout the world

he's saying

is undergoing

the same kind of suffering

and this is the reason

why when you're getting

counsel from someone

and someone who has

gone through the same experience

comes alongside

to help you

and to pray with you

it matters a lot more

it's more impactful

it's because you know

that that person understands

that person knows

and so in a similar way

this could be

a tremendous comfort

for us

knowing that we're

not alone in this

but the church

throughout the world

is experiencing

this kind of suffering.

So Peter exhorts us

to endure suffering

with humility

and watchfulness

humility and suffering

and watchfulness

in battle

and Peter finally offers us

the motivation

for this fight

how we can persevere

in this way

and he says

in verses 10 to 11

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

to him be the dominion

forever and ever

amen

it's the glory in Christ

that Peter is ultimately

pointing us to

because if you

if we admit

you know

people never voluntarily

subject themselves

to suffering

right

they have to have

a reason for it

so the Olympics

have been going on

so if you look

at those athletes

you know

they did not

you know

subject their body

to so much pain

and daily rigor

and discipline

over the last four years

or eight years

for some people

just for the sake

of doing it

right

just because they

like the pain

or discipline

no they're not

doing that

they did that

they subjected

subjected themselves

to that suffering

that pain

and rigor

with the goal in mind

knowing that

they're going to win

the gold medal

that they're going

to break the world record

that they're going

to be remembered

for what they did

right

so they strove

that goal

in the same way

Christians

we don't suffer

in vain

we don't suffer

for the sake

of suffering

saying oh no

this is just

we're just going

to suffer

because we like

suffering

suffering is good

in and of itself

no rather

we suffer

knowing that

that points

to our future glory

knowing that

our alienation

in this world

is a sign

of our reconciliation

with God

it's because

we are with God

and belong to Him

that we don't belong

in this world

the fact that

when we're rejected

by this world

that's a sign

that we're accepted

by God

right

that we're

His elect

that He elected us

He chose us

that's why

we're able

to suffer

and endure

because of the glory

that we foresee

that is coming

in Christ

and the word

glory

Peter uses it

throughout his epistles

to refer to what

Christ has accomplished

and what awaits us

in the future life

to come

when Christ

comes to judge the world

and to redeem

all creation

and you hear

an echo of this

even earlier

in verse

verse 6

it says

humble yourselves

therefore under

the mighty hand

of God

now that's not

simply referring

to the fact

that God is mighty

but the mighty hand

of God

is a phrase

that occurs

repeatedly

in the context

of the Exodus

right

so if you look

read throughout Exodus

it will say

by the mighty hand

of God

God delivered

Israel from Egypt

mighty hand of God

God led Israel

through the wilderness

right

and so the mighty hand

of God

is a phrase

that hearkens

back to

people

to Israel's

history of redemption

the fact that

God one time

redeemed you

from slavery

and if you look

at the New Testament

New Testament

takes that metaphor

and then applies

it to Christ

and describes

the redemption

that Christ accomplished

as a second Exodus

right

so the first Exodus

God sent Moses

to deliver his people

from slavery

Egypt

in the second Exodus

God sends his own son

Jesus Christ

to deliver his people

from slavery

to sin

right

and Christ

pays the ransom

price

for sin

he dies

lays on his own life

so that we might be saved

so that we can partake

and bask in this

eternal glory

that belongs to Christ

that Christ won for us

and it's that glory

in Christ

that enables us

to be humble

in suffering

and watchful

in battle

right

because we know

because of what Christ

has done

that we will be vindicated

just as Christ suffered

and now he's in glory

we too

we suffer now

we'll be vindicated

and we'll be delivered

as it says

the God of all grace

says

has called us

to his eternal glory

in Christ

and he will himself

restore

confirm

strengthen

and establish

us

so

those all

those four words

it's kind of like

a crescendo of assurance

that God will one day

make all things right

he's going to restore

confirm

strengthen

and establish us

as a household of God

right

and

and compared to

this eternal glory

that we anticipate

the suffering

that we experience

is going to be

only for a little while

it says

right

the suffering

seems interminable

sometimes

but it says

it's just for

a little while

and compared to

the eternal glory

that we're going

to experience

if you

have

please don't mind

my daughter

it's the second time

this has happened

that if you have

not yet made up

your mind

about whether or not

to follow Christ

these promises

obviously are not

for you

that God will himself

restore

confirm

strengthen

and establish

because those promises

are for those

whom he has called

to his eternal glory

in Christ

so if you have not

repented

of sin

and if you have not

trusted in Christ

for salvation

then we invite you

to do that today

right

don't forfeit

the eternal glory

that you have

that you could have

in Christ

for the temporal glory

of this world

don't ignore

the spiritual warfare

that's going on

all around you

simply because

you don't see

the devil

right

it's kind of like

if you look at

the modern

modern warfare

the warfare

is not waged

any longer

it's simply

in the brick and mortar

spaces

but it's in

cyberspace now

right

in the same way

the fact that

we don't see it

doesn't mean

that it's not happening

right

spiritual battle

is waging

all around us

and it's even more

insidious

because we don't

see it

don't ignore it

you will ignore it

at your own peril

but if you are a Christian

then I want to join you

to remember the glory

that is in Christ

that is yours in Christ

that is ours in Christ

because that's what's

going to ultimately

enable us to persevere

through the suffering

and to be watchful

to remain watchful

in battle

and that we are

children of God

cared for and guided

by the mighty hand of God

that we are the soldiers

of God

that are supposed

to be part

of this battle

and to battle

against the adversary

who is out

to get us

and I love how

this passage closes

this is really

the main

the end of the body

before he goes

into the greeting

and to conclude

his letter

it says

to him

to God

be the dominion

forever

and ever

amen

because

Peter's writing

in the Roman Empire

and Christians

are facing persecution

and soon

you know

statewide persecution

under Nero

and in this

climate

it would surely

have seemed

to all the believers

that dominion

belongs to the Rome

dominion belongs

to the emperor

not to themselves

not to God

but yet

in this context

Peter writes

to God

be the dominion

forever and ever

amen

and he concludes

this letter

and then we see

2,000 years later

the Roman Empire

is just the page

in the history books

now

but the church

has endured

God's people

has endured

and the kingdom

of God

continues to advance

dominion does

belong to God

and God alone

so then when

it seems to us

that power

glory and dominion

is not ours

but it belongs

to the world

when it seems

that way

say it along

with Peter

and the believers

who have been saying

this over the centuries

to God

be the dominion

forever and ever

amen

and it will be so

in eternity

with that

let's respond

in prayer