Build This House part 7

Built This House Week 9

⁶ Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, so that he may exalt you at the proper time, ⁷ casting all your cares on him, because he cares about you. ⁸ Be sober-minded, be alert. Your adversary the devil is prowling around like a roaring lion, looking for anyone, he can devour. ⁹ Resist him, firm in the faith, knowing that the same kind of sufferings are being experienced by your fellow believers throughout the world.

¹⁰ The God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, establish, strengthen, and support you after you have suffered a little while. ¹¹ To him be dominion forever. Amen. ^[1]

Biblical overview of 1 Peter and Snapshot of Week 8

We are in week 8 of Build This House and throughout the last 7 weeks Pastor Phil has led us through 1^st Peter and how God is helping us to build our spiritual houses. Also Pastor has emphasized how we are living stones that God continues to use to build up the body of Christ. Throughout this series we have been taught us about foundations, alignment, and led us through a stress test.

Last week, we learned that:

• Personal suffering test faith
• That some suffering is persecution and that some is prosecution
• Suffering is participation with Christ
• Suffering marks us as a believer
• That in the midst of suffering Judgement will start in the household of God

If you haven’t caught the theme of 1^st Peter within the last 7 weeks, Peter is encouraging believers in Asia Minor to stand in the midst of suffering. That God is calling us to be a spiritual house so they you can stand in difficult seasons. But it doesn’t jump stop with standing also God building us into a spiritual house so we can have a celestial view, a heavenly view and biblical framework regarding suffering. Suffering doesn’t always mean you’ve done something wrong. (Pastor said last week that much of our suffering is either persecution or prosecution)

I’ve also come to realize that most of the time God uses difficult seasons to inspect perspective, not of the situation but our perspective of Him. This is important because we can become so satisfied with comfort today that we fail to allow suffering to create a yearning for the Lord Jesus tomorrow.

But see suffering doesn’t just inspect perspective but also inspects hope.

Interesting statement Brandon. What does that mean? (I’m glad you asked you’re your eyes) Because often we find satisfaction in that things we can comprehend: the restoration of relationships, or finding peace and comfort, or finding your purpose/calling in the life we live today, or material wealth, or freedom from pain and sickness. We don’t suffer well because we place our hope in things we can comprehend. “Let me just go through because God is obligated to come through” so my healing is on the way, provision is on the way, restoration is on the way, peace is on the way, joy is on the way and God is obligated to meet my request because he is the God of breakthrough”

And because we don’t truly understand biblical suffering

we allow out of context interpretation turn into us out of context expectations. God absolutely can do anything but what if I told you that as a believer often your suffering is not a setup for a miracle but most times suffering is fuel for your surrender.

1^st Peter 3:18

For Christ [the Messiah Himself] died for sins once for all, the Righteous for the unrighteous (the Just for the unjust, the Innocent for the guilty), that He might bring us to God.^[2]

1^st Peter is clear that God didn’t just die to comfort you. Because of God’s love he effectually meets our needs but this is not the central pursuits in the believer’s life. Those are not the main things that Jesus died for. Jesus didn’t die to bring your happiness and comfort. Jesus died to bring you to Him.

Which leads us into Chapter 5:

I exhort the elders among you as a fellow elder and witness to the sufferings of Christ, as well as one who shares in the glory about to be revealed: ² Shepherd God’s flock among you, not overseeing out of compulsion but willingly, as God would have you; not out of greed for money but eagerly; ³ not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock. ⁴ And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory. ⁵ In the same way, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. All of you clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because

God resists the proud

but gives grace to the humble.^,

⁶ Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, so that he may exalt you at the proper time, ⁷ casting all your cares on him, because he cares about you. ⁸ Be sober-minded, be alert. Your adversary the devil is prowling around like a roaring lion, looking for anyone he can devour. ⁹ Resist him, firm in the faith, knowing that the same kind of sufferings are being experienced by your fellow believers throughout the world.

¹⁰ The God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, establish, strengthen, and support you after you have suffered a little while. ¹¹ To him be dominion forever. Amen.

¹² Through Silvanus,^, a faithful brother (as I consider him), I have written to you briefly in order to encourage you and to testify that this is the true grace of God. Stand firm in it! ¹³ She who is in Babylon, chosen together with you, sends you greetings, as does Mark, my son. ¹⁴ Greet one another with a kiss of love. Peace to all of you who are in Christ. ^[3]

So we shouldn’t be surprise that the two threads that weaves this chapter together is building a house with the mindset of serving and suffering while hoping Christ. In layman terms, Peter is giving us special insight on on how to handle difficult seasons well.

As we look at Chapter 5, Peters sets up his final exhortation in 3 sections. He addresses the elders in v 1-4, then he addresses the youth in verse 5, and the he addresses everyone else from v5-14

V1-4 – Peter encourages the elders to lead in the face of hardships, to shepherd God’s people well not under compulsion and greed. Peter is challenging christian leaders to be leaders focused not only on doctrine but on conduct and character for they will be rewarded by The Chief Sheperd.

5- 7: All of you clothe yourselves with humility toward one another because God resists the proud but gives grace to the HUMBLE. HUMBLE yourselves under the might hand of God, so that he may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your cares on him.

Here Peter transitions back to developing our framework of living and suffering. Peter is saying while you are navigating hardship, while you are suffering, while you are going through difficulty, DO IT WITH HUMILITY. It’s our culture, it’s our society that indoctrinates us with the intense necessity to feel vindicated, to feel in control, to find our satisfaction and to find our comfort in things that brings us counterfeit joy. And comfort doesn’t just create familiarity but also creates false confidence

Teen Night Club. Football Team. Lil Jon Music. McDonalds. Peas on my Eye

Peter says “All of you clothe yourselves with humility toward one another because God resists the proud but gives grace to the HUMBLE. HUMBLE yourselves under the might hand of God, so that he may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your cares on him.

Or in the words of the urban poet Kendrick Lamar Duckworth “ Be Humble, Sit down”

But why Brandon? Why should I walk with HUMILITY especially when people can use it against me?

• Because Humility isn’t weakness , humility is strength under control
• God opposes the Proud but give grace to the humble
• Because pride dishonor/ opposes his might (false confidence in self)
• Because pride destroys people (the opposite of exalting is destruction and Pride always come before the fall)
• Because pride ruins people peace

The main verb in v 6-7 is Humble yourselves, the support participle verb is CASTING. One of the main expression of Humility is with all the pain, will all the hurt, with all the disappointment, with all the discouragement, with tear in your eyes…. CASTING your care on Jesus.

Humility says I need God help, I can’t do this by myself, I can’t bear this alone, it’s too overwhelming, it’s too painful, HELP!!!!

Pride says I got this, I don’t need God’s help, I’m not a charity case, I help people not receive help , I rather just hold on to anxiety and figure it out. PRIDE RUINS PEACE

• Because Pride robs us of experiencing God’s care

Peter reminds of us these realities because suffering has a tendency to isolate our proximity and isolate our practicalities.

Another way we handle difficult seasons well is here is verse 8:

Be sober-minded, be alert. Your adversary the devil is prowling around like a roaring lion, looking for anyone he can devour.^[4]

Soberminded and alertness are expression of humility. What does Peter mean by soberminded and alertness?

When your drunk you’re under the influence of something and you’re out of touch with reality. So Sober minded means not being under the influence of something and seeing things for what they really are. The opposite of alertness is careless, sleep. When you’re under the influence or your careless , you lose your sensibility. So Peter is saying when your suffering don’t lose spiritual sensibility. WAKE UP and LIVE ALERT. BE CLEAR MINDED. Allow your awareness to be sharpened.

Start discerning and asking yourself: What do I do to escape when I’m suffering?

Who do I talk to and what do I talk about it when I’m having a difficult season?

Where do I go to find comfort when I’m in a difficult season?

WHY?

Because “Your adversary the devil is prowling around like a roaring lion, looking for anyone he can devour.^[5]”

Now I want to spend a minute talking about this adversary as there is a major concern in how the church views Satan. Much of our Satanology has been saturated with falsehoods that drives us to fear.

Satan is not trinitarian. Satan is not equal to God. Satan was created by God

Satan is not omnipotent. Satan is not all powerful

Satan is not omnipresent. Based on scripture, Satan can only roam the earth.

Satan does not have ultimate authority. He must ask God for permission to execute

Satan can not take life away.

Satan know this things so he doesn’t want to attack you. He wants to set up system for you to attack God. If Satan can nurture In you a sense of unbelief he will plant a philosophy of God in you heart that is completely against who God truly is. Because of Satan can get you to entertain unbelief in God , he can get you to question God’s integrity. “ Is he really who he says He is ; Is he really going to do what he says He will?” and when you LIVE in questioning, you open up doors for strongholds in your life.

^[1] Christian Standard Bible (1 Pe 5:6–11). (2020). Holman Bible Publishers.

^[2] The Amplified Bible (1 Pe 3:18). (1987). The Lockman Foundation.

^[3] Christian Standard Bible (1 Pe 5:1–14). (2020). Holman Bible Publishers.

^[4] Christian Standard Bible (1 Pe 5:8). (2020). Holman Bible Publishers.

^[5] Christian Standard Bible (1 Pe 5:8). (2020). Holman Bible Publishers.