This is a sermon that continues in our Devotional: Becoming a People of Overflow, SURPRISE! 1 Peter You can watch more here.
Shepherd
This morning we are going to close off our series in 1 Peter. Hasn’t this letter
been wonderfully applicable to life?
Last Sunday was particularly challenging. But, in the context of 1 Peter, this
letter is written to a people who would have been in a culture that is
incredibly superstitious and religious in their beliefs.
The assumption was that you could look at someone’s life, their career, their
family, and you could tell by the quality of their life to see if they were in favor
with the gods, or not.
But then, these men and women turn from the pagan gods of their day, come
to faith in Jesus, God in the flesh, Creator of all things, and yet, when you look
at their life, they are experiencing fiery trials, loss of work, mistreatment by
those in power, therefore, the natural question is, “Does this faith in Jesus
work?”
Maybe some of us have had those questions throughout our faith journey? We
are trying to put Jesus first in all things, and life is just as hard or harder than
it was before. What’s up with that?
Therefore, our passage this morning is going to close out the letter with all
those internal questions and says, “Stand firm in the faith!” This isn’t God’s
Word being tone deaf to our pain or our questions.
The Apostle Peter has been arrested for his faith in Jesus, hunted in Jerusalem,
thrown out of synagogues, life threatened, and yet throughout the letter the
Apostle Peter writes about genuine joy, because He knows the grace of God is
greater than any challenge on earth, so in love the Apostle Peter writes, “Stand
firm.”
Those two words are really powerful words. The word stand implies that we
haven’t given up yet. We are still fighting. The word “firm” is a connotation of
strength, power, and fortitude.
Therefore, God’s Word is going to give us 6 practical areas to help us, in the
midst of challenges, in the midst of discouragement and doubts, how to stand
firm in our faith in Jesus. Here’s the big picture:
1. Place yourself under godly shepherding.
2. Take ownership of your faith.
3. Grow in awe of God’s character.
4. Stay alert to your enemy.
5. Lock arms with the people of God.
6. See suffering through a biblical lens.
Let’s look at 1 Peter 5:1:
1 Peter 5:1, “1 Therefore, I exhort the elders among you, as your fellow elder and witness of the sufferings of
Christ, and a partaker also of the glory that is to be revealed.”
If you remember, 1 Peter is written to a collection of churches who are
scattered around a large region and as we come to the end of the letter the
Apostle Peter addresses the leaders of those churches as “elders.”
Many of us come from a variety of spiritual / church backgrounds so we need
to begin by describing who elders are and what they do. Elders are the
spiritual leaders of a local church. 1 Timothy 3 gives us a description of what
elders look like; an elder is above reproach in his character, he is the husband
of one wife, temperate, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not addicted to
wine, gentle, peaceable, free from the love of money, and when you look at the
elders of North Village Church we should see these characteristics.
In our church family, we have 3 elders; myself, Roberto Moctezuma, and Jac
Greene. When you talk to me, you’re talking to these three men. These men
are the ones that carry the spiritual weight of our church family in Austin. You
might see me on the stage, but this isn’t my church. This is Jesus’ church, and
based on Scripture, Jesus has entrusted this church to these men to be
responsible. Look at verses 2-3:
1 Peter 5:2-3, “2 shepherd the flock of God among you, exercising oversight not under compulsion, but
voluntarily, according to the will of God; and not for sordid gain, but with eagerness; 3 nor yet as lording it over
those allotted to your charge, but proving to be examples to the flock.”
In verses 2-3 we see a description of what elders do that help us as a local
church family stand firm in the faith. This is our first practical area of
application. Do you see it? We are taking steps toward standing firm in our
faith when we are placing ourselves under spiritual leaders, elders, who live
out these characteristics and embody these responsibilities.
First, we need elders who are shepherding the local church in Austin like a
shepherd would care for sheep. This means our elders are constantly looking
for ways to help us grow in our faith to be well fed through God’s Word. It is
all to help us stand firm in the faith.
We teach verse by verse on a Sunday morning to help us understand God’s
Word, read it on our own, and stand firm. We provide devotionals to study
the passage on our own throughout the week to help us stand firm. You don’t
want to rely on a sermon from Sunday morning. You want to stand firm!
Next, we want to be under elders who are practicing “oversight.” Do you see
that in verse 2? We don’t want elders bossing us around under compulsion,
but elders who are creating structure for a local church to be healthy.
As the elders of the church, we are thinking about our finances. We are
creating short-term goals and long-term goals. We are praying for
opportunities to serve the community. It is all through the lens of creating
structure for our church family to stand firm in the faith as a whole!
The last description of the elder is that our elders are to be an “example to the
church.” This doesn’t mean elders are perfect, but that elders are modeling
what we teach as a church family in our faith, marriage, finances, parenting,
and all areas of life, so that when we are discouraged and not sure what to do,
we can look for examples of “standing firm in the faith.”
What a blessing it is for us to have the spiritual leaders we have in our church
family! I am the only one who gets paid in this role, but Jac and Roberto serve
our church family, because they love Jesus. What a gift!
It is common in our church family to hear people say things like, “This church
just looks like people like each other. This church feels like people are having
fun. I can sense the presence of God.” That is God’s grace being poured out in
and through the lives of our elders, so that as a church, we might collectively
stand firm in the faith! Amen?
No matter what non-denominational church in Austin you end up in life, if you
want to stand firm in the faith we don’t want to float around spiritually. We
want to find a church with elders who have a high affection for Scripture and
Jesus.
When we do, lock in! Introduce yourself to people. Get involved in a group.
Go through Newcomers Lunch. Get involved on a ministry team. Let the
elders know who you are, and lock in! Look at verse 4-5:
1 Peter 5:4-5, “4 And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory. 5 You
younger men, likewise, be subject to your elders; and all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one
another, for God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”
The “Chief Shepherd” is Jesus! Yes, we have elders, but the purpose of the
elders are to serve on behalf of the “chief shepherd” who will return and when
Jesus returns, verses 4-5 teach when Jesus returns He will come with crowns
to be given to those who stand firm. Do you see that in verses 4-5?
The “crown of glory” is given as an honor for those who are faithful followers
of Jesus when He returns. This might be weird to think about the God’s Word
is acknowledging the hardships are hard. The pain is hard. The ups and
downs of life are hard, and He will come to reward those who persevere in the
hard. Amen?
There are crowns of life and righteousness that all followers of Jesus will
receive, but the crown of glory are for those who are faithful in standing firm,
therefore, in verse 5 we see a charge to young men and young women, “Now,
is the time to take ownership of our faith in Jesus!”
First, if we are going to stand firm, we want to commit to a local church.
Second, we want to take ownership of our faith in Jesus. Gone are the days of
following Jesus because of mom and dad. Gone are the days of following Jesus
because it is socially popular like in the 1950’s. Instead, we want to reflect on
our faith in Jesus and lean in!
One of the most important parts of taking ownership of our faith is to expect
hardship in this life. Nowhere in God’s Word does it tell us following Jesus is
going to be easy. In fact, it is just the opposite. God’s Word makes it clear, in
this life there will be trouble, therefore, as followers of Jesus, let us expect
trouble.
Throughout all of history, there is persecution for the follower of Jesus, but
recently we have lived in a world of comfort and affluence, which is great. We
don’t want hardship. We want peace. We want healing. We want His Spirit to
be poured out in powerful ways, but I think because if we have born into a
point in history and a part of the world with comfort and affluence we have
this assumption, “Suffering and hardship is bad.”
But, God’s Word is calling us to take ownership of our faith by trusting in the
Lord in all things. God’s Word is calling out to young men and young women,
don’t be surprised by difficulty and challenges.
Especially in our faith in Jesus. Let’s not be ashamed of God’s Word. Get into
God’s Word every day! Commit to committing to a family church in Austin
when it isn’t easy. Find one of these groups and reach out to a leader. Show
up to pray next Sunday evening at 6pm!
Maybe it’s not popular? That’s okay! Let’s not be surprised that our friends
aren’t always interested in Jesus. Let’s not be surprised that people will call us
names for being followers of Jesus, so that we might stand firm in our faith!
Amen? Look at verses 6-7:
1 Peter 5:6-7, “6 Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper
time, 7 casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.”
Most of the time when we think of the word humility it has the opposite
connotation of “standing firm”. We see humility as looking down, shuffling
our feet, slow our rate of speech, because I am just a humble guy.
However, humility in Scripture doesn’t mean being reserved in our behavior,
but humility in Scripture begins with a biblical understanding of God’s glory.
Humility isn’t thinking less of ourselves. Humility is thinking much of God’s
glory, so that the result of being in awe of God we are able to rightly see
ourselves. Does that make sense?
It is the glory of God that empowers us to “stand firm in the faith!” Look at
those two phrases “mighty hand of God” and in verse 7 “because He cares for
you”. Those two phrases capture His power and His compassion. Do you see
that?
We’re not standing firm in our strength. We’re standing firm in God’s power!
He is the creator of all things. Genesis 1, He spoke creation into existence. He
doesn’t need tools to create. He doesn’t need a workbench. He doesn’t need
instructions. He spoke the Milky Way into existence which is 100,000 light
years wide, and yet He hears those whispered prayers while we are in traffic.
He is powerful!
But He is also compassionate! There’s no one like Him! He exists outside of
time and space, and at the same time He is intimately involved in every detail.
He knows about the phone call that has pain on the other end. He knows
about the diagnosis before you go to the doctor. He knows about that secret
sin and when it will come to the surface, so that He knows the best way to
walk us through that discipline.
He knows the hardened heart of your 15-year-old when they are 3. He knows
about the budget cuts. Nothing catches Him by surprise. He doesn’t have to
pull together an emergency meeting. It’s because He is powerful and
compassionate, therefore, we need to ask ourselves, “Do we know of His
power and His compassion?”
If we are struggling to stand firm in the faith, if we are starting to waffle in our
faith, the best response is to put ourselves in a local church with elders who
are growing in Christ, taking ownership of our faith, and placing ourselves in a
position where we can grow in knowledge and wonder of God’s power and
compassion, so that we might stand firm in Him!
We can’t stand firm in our faith if we don’t know the heights and breadth and
depth of our faith, right? Sometimes we will do a class called Theological
Training where we take a book a month to read, write a paper on and discuss,
because learning about the glory of God is one of the best ways to stand firm
in our faith.
It is why verse 7 is teaching us that we can cast all our anxiety on Him! Do you
see that in verse 7? The more we know the One who is able to carry our
anxieties the more likely we are to cast those anxieties upon Him. Amen? We
would never “stand firm” if we have to carried all that weight. It’s too much!
Therefore, God’s Word is inviting us to turn to Him! Look at verse 8:
1 Peter 5:8, “8 Be of sober spirit, be on the alert Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion,
seeking someone to devour.”
In verses 8-9 we see that standing firm not only starts committed to a local
church, taking ownership of our faith, biblical understanding of God, but also a
biblical understanding of our enemy. Do you see the devil in verse 8?
I know that can be uncomfortable, but the devil is real. It’s not a movie. It’s
not a story. It’s not a myth. God’s Word clearly talks about the devil as a
supernatural, personal force of tremendous evil and power, therefore, we
would do well to consider his schemes!
If you want to know the tactics of our adversary, then read Genesis 3, because
the same doubts whispered into the ears of Adam and Eve are still being
whispered into our ears today.
He whispered doubts like, “You can’t trust God. He is trying to hold you back.
You can do better without Him. You should do what you want.” And instead
of listening to God, we see in Genesis 3, Adam and Eve, listened to Satan and
they exchanged the truth of God for a lie and instead of worshipping God they
worshipped themselves. That’s still happening today!
The good news is that God looked upon our rebellion, and being motivated by
His glory, He pursues us to rescue us out of darkness and into His Marvelous
Light. Satan whispered lies, but God brings truth. Satan tried to bring death.
Jesus came to bring life! Satan has His ways, but Jesus has defeated Him and
disarmed Him, so that through faith in Jesus we can most definitely stand
firm!
If I can be direct with you this morning, verse 8 describes Satan as a roaring
lion seeking someone to devour but sometimes, self included, we play with
Him like a kitten. He’s not Garfield! He’s a lion!
We say things to ourselves like, “I am not angry, I am just hungry.” I am not
yelling, I am just Italian. I am not gossiping, I am just keeping people
informed. In those moments, sin is crouching at our door and its desire is to
kill us!
When we play with sin, we need to remember, we are playing with Satan, and
Scripture isn’t writing these things to bring condemnation, but verse 8 is
calling out to our soul, “Open your eyes!” Get in a church with elders who are
spiritually fighting for you! Lean into your faith. Take it seriously. Stop
playing around. Learn about God’s glory. You’re going to have to read or
listen to audio books. Sunday morning isn’t enough. There is an enemy who
wants to devour you!
And, I don’t bring this up to bring fear. We don’t need to be afraid. We need to
be alert, but not afraid. Jesus and Satan aren’t wrestling to see who wins. The
adversary has been defeated. Jesus is victorious, but Scripture is calling us to
stand firm in Jesus, and learn the schemes of the adversary! Look at verse 9:
1 Peter 5:9, “9 But resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being
accomplished by your brethren who are in the world.”
I love verse 9, because verse 9 reminds us we are not alone in this call to
“stand firm in Jesus.” Do you see that in verse 9? The enemy is saying, “Give
up, give in, God doesn’t care” and God’s Word says, “In Christ, you have
brothers and sisters around the world who are in this fight with you.”
This is our next application. Commit to a local church, take ownership of your
faith, develop an awe for His glory, learn the schemes of your enemy, and
don’t try to stand firm in the faith alone.
When we are discouraged we feel isolated. We feel alone. We feel like we’re
the only one wrestling with these things. Those are all characteristics of the
enemy! But God’s Word shouts out to our soul, “You’re not alone!” There are
followers of Jesus in Turkey, Columbia, and Japan who are in the fight with
you, right now! Isn’t that awesome?
We need people in our life, especially men. Women are important, but men
are so quick to go alone. We need people in our life who are in the fight with
us! Every one of us in here should have someone fighting for us and with us.
Therefore, take a hard look in the mirror and ask yourself, “Am I taking steps
to find these people?”
Our groups are one of the easiest ways to begin this process. Showing up on
Sunday morning is a great step. But take time to get phone numbers. Find the
courage to ask someone to get coffee or share a meal. Find the courage to
meet and pray with one another.
Get someone’s phone number today! Pick one person this month to talk to
every Sunday and pray for them!
The stakes are too high! We need people to lock arms with in the fight to
stand firm! We need people who will speak truth to us to help us stand firm!
We need people who will point us to Jesus to stand firm!
And we need to be those people to someone else! Let us not always be waiting
for someone to reach out to us, but let us reach out to someone. It doesn’t
matter your age. It doesn’t matter how long you have been walking with Jesus
or be in this church. The Spirit of God is looking for men and women who
want to stand firm in Him! Look at verses 10-11:
1 Peter 5:10-11, “10 After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal
glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you. 11 To Him be dominion forever and
ever. Amen.”
I want you to focus on those two words “little while.” We see these same two
words in chapter 1, verse 6, “Even though now for a little while, we have been
distressed by various trials.” It means, life on this earth, compared to eternity,
is just a little while.
This brings us to our last principle to stand firm in the faith. We commit to a
local church, take ownership of our faith, develop an awe for His glory, learn
the schemes of your enemy, don’t try to stand firm in the faith alone, and
lastly, we are developing a biblical understanding of suffering. In the span of
eternity, suffering in this life, in Christ, is just a little while. Does that make
sense?
I remember when my daughter was a little girl, maybe 5-years old, we took a
trip to California and my wife and I were so excited because we were going to
show our little girl Hollywood, the beach, and best of all, we were going to
take the kids to Disneyland.
The only problem, on the day we got up to go to Disneyland my daughter
decided she didn’t want to go. In the moment, my daughter wanted to stay
home. She wanted to play with her toys. She wanted to watch her shows,
which were made by Disney, but she couldn’t imagine any place being any
better than what she was doing in that moment.
All my daughter had to do was to wait a little while, a short drive, and in a few
traffic lights, forever for a kid, but soon she would be perfect, confirmed and
established in the glory of Disneyland, but it’s hard to imagine for a 5-year old,
and the waiting is so hard for a 5-year old, isn’t it?
Therefore, in a similar way, the whole of 1 Peter is written to a people who are
pretty swept up in doing what they are already doing. They were working a
job, they were building relationships, they were pursuing interest, they come
to faith in Jesus, they are excited about Jesus, but they were most interested in
Jesus joining them in what they were already doing.
God’s Word calls out to our soul, “This time on earth, in the span of eternity,
it’s just a little while.” When eternity is the destination, even decades of
hardship are ‘a little while.
You need to know we are going to suffer while we are on earth. We are going
to share in the sufferings of Christ. It isn’t the absence of His presence. It is an
invitation into His presence, because He knows in a little while, I get it, in our
perspective, this pain on earth feels like forever, but God’s Word is reminding
us, in a little while, the God of all grace will come to perfect, confirm and
establish you with Him forever.
If I only had a few days with a new follower of Jesus, I would try so hard to let
them know, challenges are going to come, but in the span of eternity, those
challenges are just a little while, so stand firm in the faith!
Yes, right now, others will mock us for our faith, but the mockery is just for a
little while. Yes, there is discomfort, but the discomfort is just a little while.
Yes, there is going to be deep sorrow, but that deep sorrow is just a little
while.
I am sure it’s possible for someone to say, “How’s this a good invitation?” Why
would anyone believe in Jesus?” Can you imagine, “Hey friend, want a life of
challenges and mockery? Follow Jesus!”
It is a horrible invitation if none of this is true. It is a horrible invitation if all
of God’s Word is a lie. But if God’s Word is true, if Jesus did conquer death,
then suffering for a little while doesn’t compare to the suffering that is to
come for eternity, right? Eternity is a really long time. The average life span is
90 years. 90 years of pleasure is just a little while. But eternity with Jesus is
far greater!
Our culture gets it backwards. Our culture calls us to live for the 90 years.
They’ll say, “You only live once. YOLO! Got to make it count.” Scripture
teaches us we weren’t created to live for the 90 years. Scripture teaches us we
were created to be eternal. Scripture teaches life on earth isn’t our home. We
are strangers in a strange land, because life on earth is just a little while.
North Village Church
This sermon is brought to you by North Village Church, a non-denominational church in Austin. established in 2009 and built around Jesus and Bible teaching.
Are you looking for a church in Austin? At North Village Church we put Jesus at the center of our church family. We worship together every Sunday at 10:30am, encourage Christ centered fellowship through groups, and host special events such as Bible studies and Theological Training, to ensure that we are rooted in in God’s Word. We also serve our local community in association with several Austin based organizations.
North Village Church is made up of professionals, married couples, singles, and families who are wanting to experience the life-transforming power of Jesus. If you are a family with children or teens, we can support you with either or both our Kids Ministry and Youth Ministry.
You are welcome to contact us if you would like more information.
NVC Online
Unable to attend this Christian Church in Austin? Don’t worry, because, through God’s provision, we have created NVC online, an Online Church streaming a worship service every Sunday from 10:30am Central Time. You can also watch our short, powerful sermons on demand and follow us on Instagram for daily Christ centered content.