Grace for the Battle | 1 Peter 5:1-14 | Standing Firm in the Living Hope of Christ

The final chapter of 1 Peter is both realistic and hope-filled. In Grace for the Battle, we hear Peter’s final exhortations: shepherd God’s people with care, walk in humility, resist the enemy, and rest in God’s grace. He reminds us that after we have suffered a little while, the God of all grace will restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish us. This is the Living Hope we’ve explored all summer—a hope that cannot be drowned by storms, devoured by the enemy, or destroyed by death.

You can find five days of devotions related to this sermon here.

📖 Click to Show the Transcript of this Sermon

Thank you for joining us for this week's sermon from First Reformed Church in Edgerton, Minnesota. Each week, we dig into God's word, trusting that the Holy spirit will continue the good work of sanctification in us. When a natural disaster occurs, like a hurricane, we receive images that are captured by news cameras that are on the scene. They bring scenes of devastation to our televisions, computer screens, and phones that are hard to believe. Homes are flooded as the streets surrounding them have become rivers. Those who were unable to evacuate find themselves stranded in their homes with no way out. Their only hope of rescue is that a boat or a helicopter is coming to bring them to safety. Now, generally, we see videos of these rescues, the point at which they're taken out. But imagine what they were going through as they waited for the rescuers. I can't even begin to fathom the fear of being on your roof hoping for someone to come and save you as you see the water rising and there's no indication that the waters have reached their peak yet. Your only refuge is a few square feet of roof. There's nowhere to go to get away from your fears.

Nothing to distract yourself from the only question that matters in that moment. Will you be carried away in the flood? Or will you be lifted from the danger? And watching footage of circumstances like this can be hard to watch, but there is also great joy and relief when the helicopter or the boat arrives. The presence of rescuers changes everything. Those stranded suddenly have hope because they know that they have not been forgotten. So as we come to the end of 1 Peter this we see it close up with a similar hope. We have seen that this book is very honest about the Christian life. It is clear that suffering is going to happen and that the The acts of the enemy are real. But Peter closes up with the living hope that we have in Jesus. That after you have suffered a little while, he says, the God of all grace will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. And so the storms we face in this life do not get the last word. God gets the last word because he is the one who is the rescuer of his people. And we've seen this idea throughout this letter.

But as Peter closes up, he strikes a really strong note to make sure that the message he is giving is clear. Peter does not deny the storms. They are real, they are difficult. But he wants us to understand that we can have confidence in the trials because we know the God who rescues. In this closing chapter, we're not just left with this comforting thought. He speaks to us about how elders are to shepherd and how the church can walk in humility trust. And he also lets us know how we resist the devil and how we rest in the grace of God. So let's get into this chapter and take a look at Peter's charge to elders in verses one through four here. So as he closes up, he makes sure that we understand that he is coming from the perspective of someone who's on the journey with those he is writing to. Throughout this letter, we get the idea that while Peter has the authority of an apostle, one who walked with Jesus and was discipled by him directly, he isn't the type of guy who uses this as a means to have power over others.

He speaks to the elders receiving this letter as one who is going through the same things, who is experiencing the same afflictions. He is shepherding the flock and is suffering as he it, just like they are. In his speaking about this, he says that he is a fellow partaker of the glory that is going to be revealed. Peter shows them that their hope is the same as theirs. He is resting on the glory that is coming right along with them. This isn't just something that he's telling them to do. He is doing it as well. In light of this truth, he is telling the elders to shepherd the flock. This charge to shepherd is important because it paints for us an image. Our natural inclination is to see positions of authority as an opportunity for power, as being above people for our benefit. But here, Peter calls them shepherds, and that does away with that idea very quickly. Being a shepherd is not a glamorous job. It's dirty. It's dangerous work that requires constant attention to the flock. Shepherds lead, they protect, they feed, they care for the sheep, and it requires great personal cost to the shepherd.

They don't get into the job for the title. There's no glory in being a shepherd. The concern is for the sheep. And that's the picture painted by Peter about what service to God's people looks like. Elders are not to use the office as a means to be in charge or to gain personal advantage. Instead, they're called to humbly care for the people of God. Their authority is in service, not self-interest. We see in the fact that Peter points to Jesus as the chief shepherd. Jesus is the model of caring for the people of God, and he is the one who laid down his life for the sheep. It is sacrificial service that Peter points to when he talks about the office of elder. We see that when he appears, when Jesus appears, they will receive the unfading crown of glory. The reward for service to Christ's church is not an earthly one. It's not power here. It's not possessions here. It's none of that. Their reward is a heavenly reward. Just like those who are stranded in a natural disaster and need people who are willing to risk themselves to get people to safety, the idea here is that the people of God need shepherds who care about the flock more than themselves.

They're willing to sacrifice for the people of God. In the storms of life, elders are called to be those who are steady and to be watchful as they guide and protect the people of God and point them to Christ. But the instructions here in this closing chapter of 1 Peter are not just for those who are called to the office of elder. We see that the church is called to walk in humility as well. Servanhood isn't just for the office elder. We see here a trust that God is caring for all people, and he's doing it through the elders that he has provided for the people of God. We find this idea here that everyone is to walk in humility. As the children of God, rescued by his grace and not by our own doing, this should be our natural posture. Because we didn't do anything to earn the favor of God. We were all rescued from the mire of our sin. Now, it looks different for each and every child of God, but none of us are in a position to boast. And so when we see our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, our posture towards each other shouldn't be seeking status or power, but instead seeking to serve because God has first served us in the Lord Jesus.

The fact that we've been rescued from sin, death, and hell by his mighty hand puts us all on even ground. We are all at a level position in the Kingdom of God, and we should be humbled by that great truth. But this humility is not the only part of the story here. We humble ourselves under his mighty hand. But it's not just humility that we are to have. We see that he will exalt us. Everything else we've seen in this Book of 1 Peter, this isn't to be seen as a formula for cashing in on faith. We don't pursue humility. Then after a little while of us being great and humble, God is going to give us earthly possessions or success. This formulaic. The exaltation that Peter is speaking of here isn't a glorification in the Kingdom of this world. Instead, it's a glorification in the Kingdom of God. He does this in his timing, and we can be assured that this will take place because God keeps his promises. Now, our human nature responds to difficulties in a very predictable way, doesn't it? Sure, it looks different for everybody, but generally speaking, hardship comes, and we have anxieties that come from those things.

These are not only thoughts that are triggered in us, But these anxieties can also affect us physically. It can get deep down to us at our core. Peter knows those feelings as well as anyone. Think about what he endured in his life. And what does he call us to do? He calls us to cast those anxieties on God because we have a God who cares for us. And we know this truth because he has saved us. And we know this truth because we read that he will glorify us at the proper time. And so humbling ourselves and trusting God through the trials of life is an essential part of the Christian life. But Peter doesn't give the idea here that he thinks it's easy or that moving into a sheltered bubble is an option, that we can somehow avoid this. We see as the passage continues, an acknowledgement that we reside in a real world with real spiritual threats. So this is why, after telling us to rest in the care that God has for us, he also tells us to stay alert because the enemy he is on the prowl. What we read here that we're to be sober-minded and watchful.

In other words, we need to be in touch with reality. We don't deny what is happening in the world or we don't put our heads in the clouds. He tells us we need to be on watch because the devil is on the prowl. This is a really sobering statement by Peter here. He says that the devil is like a roaring lion. Now, I had this passage on my mind all week. As I was out, we were out for a walk with our dog on a nature trail just the other day. We were walking through an area where there were trees and there was tall grass. And as we walked through that landscape, I had this passage ruminating in my head and I thought, what if there was a lion on its prowl after me right now. We would have been dead to rights. A lion would have been careful to hide itself in its surroundings. And when it was time to back, I would have had no chance. I would have been lunch, straight up. I would have had no hope. That was a humbling thought as I related it to this passage. It is really a hopeless thought to think that the devil is a lion on the prowel.

But Peter doesn't give us this image and then tell us that the situation is hopeless. He calls us to resist and to be firm in the faith. So to go back to our walk the other afternoon, if I would have known that it was possible that a lion could devour me on that walk, that I was being hunted, I would have prepared myself for such a possibility, right? I would have equipped myself. I would have been aware of what was going on. I would have likely plotted my walk in such a way that I would have a opportunity to be able to observe the adversary and to protect myself. The same holds for the Christian life. We know that the devil is a roaring lion. We need to be aware. Peter doesn't just tell us to let ourselves be devoured. He calls us to resist. We have to be ready, and that means that we equip ourselves with the word of God, and we make sure that we are not putting ourselves in locations where the enemy has the upper hand. We're called to have a posture of awareness while being equipped for the fight.

And so we need to be mindful that we are not giving the devil easy openings to attack. Peter closes up this thought by reminding us that we are not the only ones who are facing the enemy. We have help in this journey. Once again, there is no such thing as a lone ranger Christian. We are not out in the wilderness on a journey by ourselves through dangerous terrain in a one-on-one conflict with a prowling lion. The enemy is not just prowling after you, but all of your brothers and sisters in Christ, all over the world. Like you and me, they are called to stand firm by the grace of God. And this is not only meant to encourage us in the fight, but it's meant to connect us as we resist and as we persevere in our Christian faith together. And as the enemy prowls, we know that we are under the care of the chief shepherd. And as we close up this book, we aren't left with an unresolved plot of us as believers staring down the daunting task of fighting off a lion that wishes to devour us. That's not how this ends.

Instead, Peter moves our gaze from the battle to the living hope that we have in the Lord Jesus Christ. First Peter has had us continually acknowledging the reality of suffering, but not without continually pointing us to Christ and without pointing us to the victory that he has accomplished for his people. And this benediction of this book here is what we need to have ringing in our ears as we traverse the difficult landscape of the Christian life. What we will face isn't easy, but our destination is certain. Our suffering is for a moment, but the promised glory is eternal. This is guaranteed because it isn't you that's going to do it. You aren't going to accomplish this on your own. God in Christ has secured this for us. He suffered to take on the wrath of God for your sin, and he was victorious over the grade. And now he reigns in glory at the right-hand of the Father. And he is serving you in this moment by interceding on your behalf at the right-hand of the Father. This is a fact. And because of this, you can be confident that at the end of this earthly journey, the chief shepherd will restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.

This is good news that we can trust as we face the hardships of this life. And that's where the Book of 1 Peter leaves us. Our eyes are not fixed on the storms. They're not fixed on the lion. They're not even fixed on ourselves. Instead, we fix our eyes on the grace of God, the God who has saved us, the God who has secured eternal glory for us in Christ. This is the living hope that we have seen on our journey through 1 Peter all summer. It's not wishful thinking, and it's not clueless optimism. It's a sure hope. We can have confidence that because of the death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus, each and every promise of God is certain. So when the floodwaters of life rise, when you can sense the enemy stalking you in the grass, and when it feels feel like your struggles will never end, you can be confident that you're not abandoned. You have a rescuer who does not fail. He comes to his people in his grace, and he lifts them from disaster. The chief shepherd does not forget his sheep. That is certain. And in the end, when you are glorified, you will understand that the shepherd was leading you all the way.

Through it all, he was restoring you, he was confirming you, he was strengthening you, and he was establishing you until the very end. So don't give up. Don't lose sight of him. Live each day knowing that you have living hope in Christ, a hope that can't be drowned by the storm or devoured by the enemy. It can't even be destroyed by death. So live with this hope that Christ might be glorified in the lives of the people that he came to save. Amen. Let us pray. Great and merciful God, we thank you for this message that we have. That you are the one who comes and restores your people. You confirm your people. You strengthen us and you establish us. All to the end that we will be glorified. We pray, oh Lord, that we would have patience on this journey, that we would trust you and that we would prepare ourselves for the battle. Bless us with faithfulness to your word and a trust in your promises. It's in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ that we pray. Amen. Thank you for joining us for this week's sermon. For more information about First Reformed Church, head to our Facebook page or website, edgertonfrc.org