Pilgrim Living in a Fallen World: War and Peace - I Peter 5:8-14

 

Pilgrim Living in a Fallen World: War and Peace

I Peter 5:8-14

Introduction: I chose the title for the message today not because this is going to be a very long sermon (it may be, but that is not why I chose the title!), but because this final passage in I Peter begins with war, but it ends with peace. War and Peace. Israel fought many battles against their enemies. Warfare is a theme in the Bible as surely as it is a reality today. As we read the Psalms, we frequently hear the psalmist lament the attacks of enemies, or pleading with God for deliverance from them. As Christians, in this age, we need to be reminded that we don’t wrestle against flesh and blood, i.e., our ultimate enemy is not human. People are our mission, not the ultimate enemy! Who then is that enemy? If we are at war, we need to correctly identify the enemy! Peter reminds us in this passage that our battle, at its core, is spiritual. He uses the metaphor of a lion on the prowl. People are not the enemy, Satan is. One of the tactics of our adversary is to confuse us about that very fact. Someone said that if believers don’t determine to engage their spiritual adversary, before long they will be fighting with each other! I’m sure that delights the enemy… and grieves the Lord.

The BIG Idea: We are at war, but be assured, we will have peace. So, be alert and stand firm. Know the enemy, resist him, and be encouraged, Jesus wins!

I. Who? Our Enemy - the devil – Our enemy is not flesh and blood (8b)! We are at war, and Peter sets it in context for us: “…Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” (8). 

       Peter identifies our “adversary” in 5:8b. We are in a war. That is very clear when you read through the book of Revelation.  There is a cosmic spiritual battle that is described, and the stakes could not be higher. The powers of darkness are engaged in open rebellion, against God, by attacking those who are His. It is all out spiritual warfare. That antipathy has continued throughout history, since the fall. We see it in Herod sending his soldiers into Bethlehem to kill every male child two years and under. It continued in the temptation of Christ and in his rejection and crucifixion. And it continues in the attacks, spiritual and physical, on God’s people as we carry out His mission in the world.

          He prowls about like a roaring lion… Lions are good at finding their prey and they are skilled at the take down and the kill. It’s a powerful illustration. We don’t want to push the illustration too far, but how do lions pick out their prey from a herd of animals? They look for the weak ones who fall apart from the herd, right? They’re the ones who don’t have the strength to keep up, or they’re simply not alert. And the lion just watches, waiting for the opportunity to pounce.  Could it be that our enemy the devil acts in the same way? Looking for the weak and unaware, waiting for his opportunity to pounce and kill. When we are not “eating” regularly, when we don’t avail ourselves of the spiritual disciplines God has provided. Does he look for those who are isolated when they don’t participate in the body of believers of which we are called to be a part? We’re stronger together. We need one another. Alone, isolated, we’re vulnerable.

       After all, God created us to be part of a community. The whole idea of spiritual gifts is that we minister to others and they minister to us. One of the branches of the service has used a recruitment motto, “Be all that you can be!” To be what we are designed and called to be we need to take seriously our calling as a part of the body.  You need a band of brothers and sisters to watch your back, and they need you! Friends, we are at war, so know the enemy, be alert, and stand firm. And be encouraged, Jesus wins! Peace is coming.

II. How? Our Activity: Peter gives us some imperatives in 8a and verse 9... We are at war, so we stand firm together resisting the enemy! (8a,9)

^8aBe sober-minded; be watchful… ⁹ Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world… 

        Stay awake and alert (8a) 1:13, 4:7. The word “sober” is often used in a literal sense to contrast drunkenness. Obviously on the field of battle we wouldn’t want a drunken pilot flying overhead preparing to drop his bombs on a nearby enemy! Warfare is serious work. Dr. John MacArthur suggests that on a spiritual level,

“It includes ordering and balancing life’s important issues which requires the disciplines of mind and body that avoids the intoxicating allurements of the world…”

       It’s been said, "Eternal vigilance is the price of freedom." With the benefit of hindsight, it may be that a lack of vigilance led to our nation’s vulnerability when Pearl Harbor was attacked. There was presumption, and a false sense of security, thinking that the Japanese would never launch a first attack against Hawaii.  As our country’s security depends on a ready defense – on being watchful so we are not surprised by a sneak attack and on being powerful so that we are prepared to fight when we have to. The same holds true in the spiritual realm. Don’t underestimate the enemy. He has been around a long time and is an expert on our weaknesses. He is deceptive, even disguising himself as an angel of light. If we belong to Christ, we are secure, but the enemy will do all he can to cut short our effectiveness as a witness and ambassador for Christ.

       We need to be watchful, vigilant, and we need to “resist Him, firm in your faith.” Mount your own “resistance movement”! How do we do that? How can humans, already weakened by sin, possibly resist the onslaughts of an enemy that succeeded in tempting Adam and Eve before the Fall, and who has been perfecting his tactics for all of human history? 

       First of all, God will give us the resources we need for the battle. God has already given us what we need (cf. Eph 6:1-18)! So, Stand firm in the faith! Do you keep your sword ready? Do you remember how Jesus responded to each of the temptations of the devil in the wilderness? He quoted Scripture. “It is written…” God’s word is truth, it silences the lion and sets us free. God said it, that settles it!

       Peter refers to “…your brothers throughout the world…” No temptation has overtaken us but what is common to man (cf. I Cor 10:12,13). Whatever we face, others have been there before. They made it, you can too! And remember, we have a High Priest who can sympathize with our weaknesses, who was tempted in all points like as we are, yet without sin.  He is our strength. We are at war, but we will have peace. So, be alert and stand firm. Know the enemy, resist him, and be encouraged, Jesus wins!

III. When? How long, O Lord? Our Hope: Jesus wins, He is Lord (10,11)! Alastair Begg preached a message on the Pattern, Power and Praise of God. I’ll use those points to quickly walk through these two verses.

¹⁰ 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.  ¹¹ To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen.

       The Pattern which God designed (10a). The contrast here is quite emphatic. “After you have suffered for a little while…” As Peter has stated before the suffering of this present age is transient, and at least from God’s perspective, from the perspective of eternity it is “a little while.” Near the start of the letter, he said in 1 Peter 1:6-7,

⁶ In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, as was necessary, you have been grieved by various trials,  ⁷ so that the tested genuineness of your faith- more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire- may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

Trials and suffering are “for a little while,” even though, when we are in the midst of it, we may not feel that way! War by nature is a time of intense conflict and it is seldom easy or quick. It won’t be easy, it would be quick. But for perspective, think about eternity. Think about that line in “Amazing Grace,” “When we’ve been there ten thousand years, bright shining as the Sun, we’ve no less days to sing God’s praise than when we first begun…” Here Peter reminds us that though we suffer for “a little while” we are called to eternal glory in Christ. We are His forever, and God will glorify himself in us and through us.

        The Power He displays (10b).  Notice the subject of the actions in v.10, “The God of all grace…”, the One who calls us in Christ, “He Himself” will restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.  Thinking back to the story of Job, he went through unimaginable pain and heartbreak. He came to the end of himself, he had nothing left. Yet we read at the end of the story that the LORD “restored” Job, and blessed him with twice as much as he had before (Job 42:10). God Himself did it. Jesus told his disciples that they would weep, but that their sorrow would be turned to joy (John 16:20).  The word “restore” is the word that was used to describe the sons of Zebedee “mending” their nets, repairing the tears and making it whole. The word appears a half dozen times in the LXX of Ezra 4,5, and 6, describing the “rebuilding” or “restoration” of the Temple and City which was in ruins. Here, as Peter writes to the scattered and persecuted believers in Asia Minor, he is encouraging them that their suffering will pass, and that ultimately God will lift them up. It is God’s work, He will do it. That root word appears twice in the conclusion to 2 Corinthians, as Paul exhorts the church there…

Your restoration is what we pray for.  ¹⁰ For this reason I write these things while I am away from you, that when I come I may not have to be severe in my use of the authority that the Lord has given me for building up and not for tearing down.  ¹¹ Finally, brothers, rejoice. Aim for restoration, comfort one another, agree with one another, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you (2 Cor 13:9-11).

Paul had started his first letter to that same church exhorting restoration and unity. We read in I Cor 1:10,

“I appeal to you, brothers… that all of you agree and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united [“restored”] in the same mind and the same judgment.”

These letters were written just a short time apart, and Paul makes it clear where his heart was, he longed for unity and restoration in the body. He wanted the nets to be mended, unity to be restored. One day the body will live in the reality of our “oneness” in Christ, forever. Let’s be people who reject bitterness and divisiveness and strive for peace. Let’s do it for the sake of the Gospel, for the glory of God.

       The Praise which God deserves (11).  The beautiful doxology in verse 11 is our fitting response: “To Him be the dominion [some manuscripts say, “glory and dominion”] forever and ever, AMEN.” He is Lord, and His kingdom is eternal. The battle is described throughout Scripture, Psalm 2 gives a poetic synopsis. This world system, under the deception of the Evil One, is in rebellion against God. The good news: JESUS WINS! So yes, we are at war, but peace will come. So, be alert and stand firm. Know the enemy, resist him, knowing, that in Christ, we are more than conquerors!

IV. What: Our promise – or better, God’s promise to us: Peace for the faithful (12-14). These verses could be a separate sermon, but I want to focus on the end of the passage, “Peace to all of you in Christ Jesus.”  

        In these final words Peter also points to the ideas of grace and love. It’s because of His grace and love we can have peace. Peter underscores the good news of the gracious salvation that is ours in Christ. He had opened the letter as an apostle, speaking to the scattered exiles, using language similar to these concluding verses: “...May grace and peace be multiplied to you...” (I Pet 1:2). He overtly connects grace and salvation starting back in 1:10,  “Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully...” In such cases, since we are saved by grace through faith, Peter has almost used “grace” as a synonym for “salvation.” Jesus paid it all. We were bought at a price: His shed blood. In fact, as he is calling his readers to adopt the attitude of a servant, Peter points to Jesus, he says in 2:24-25,

“He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.  ²⁵ For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.”

That is grace demonstrated in history. That is unconditional love. That is a message worth sharing. Because of Jesus we have a sure hope, and so we stand firm, constrained by His love, proclaiming the message of His grace. Our love for one another flows from His love for us. Here Peter says: “...Greet one another with a kiss of love (14)...” That doesn’t mean our greeters should give everyone a kiss as they come in the door!

       Peter’s concern is not the form, but rather a warm, culturally appropriate, expression of welcome when we greet one another.  Jesus said to love one another, and “brotherly love” comes through in every chapter of I Peter. We’ve seen...

   1:22  “Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart...”

   2:17  “Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God...”

   3:8  “Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind.”

   4:8  “Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins.”

And now here at the end of the letter. Peter mentions love in every chapter! Why is this so important to Peter as He writes? It’s God’s design for the church. We’re a family, and we choose to love.  It is essential to our survival as pilgrims in a fallen world. It’s vital to our mission. It demonstrates to those around us that we belong to Jesus. Because of Jesus we have a sure hope, and so we stand firm, constrained by His love, proclaiming the message of His grace.

       Finally he points to the Presence and Promise of Peace (14b). War, and peace! He says  “...Peace to all of you who are in Christ.”  We know “peace” was a common greeting among Jews generally and in the church particularly. But this common term, even as we saw it in 1:2 and again here, must reflect something deeper than a mere “hello” and “goodbye.”  For a believer we may think of at least three perspectives...

       First of all, a foundational truth, we have Peace with God. Because of Jesus, we have been reconciled to God through the blood of the cross (Rom 5:1). That is the Gospel.

      Secondly, we have the Peace of God: Even as pilgrims in a fallen world, sometimes hated and persecuted, we have peace even in the midst of chaos, peace that passes understanding. In the third Psalm, David says, “I lay down and sleep, I awake, for the LORD sustains me...” In Christ we can have peace that truly passes understanding. I read a story in a devotional...

...about a man who lost his wife, leaving him to be both mother and father to a six-year-old son. After her funeral father and son came home, both feeling so alone and grieved by their loss. That night as they prepared for bed, the boy asked, "Daddy, may I sleep in your room tonight, too?"

But neither one could seem to go to sleep. They both tossed and turned until late in the night. Finally, the little boy asked, "Daddy, are you looking at me? Because if you are, I think I can go to sleep." And the father answered, "Yes son, I’m looking at you."

The little boy started at last to rest and finally fell asleep. After he was asleep the father got out of bed, walked over to the window and pulled back the curtain. He looked up into the starry sky and said, "Father, are you looking at me? Because if you are, I think I can rest and be at peace.” [No Jesus, no peace. Know Jesus, know peace!].

       There is a third aspect of peace: One day we will have Peace on Earth, The future for which we were created – Shalom restored!  The day will come when every knee bows and every tongue confesses that Jesus is Lord! That is our hope! One day we’ll reign with Him (Thy kingdom come!). Now, as His ambassadors, we stay on mission, and urge people on behalf of Christ to be reconciled to God.

What is God saying to me in this passage? We are at war, but we will have peace! So, be alert and stand firm. Know the enemy, resist him, be encouraged, and rest assured, Jesus wins! There will be peace, and that is a promise from God.

What would God have me to do in response to this passage? Do you have any doubts that we are at war? Don’t forget who the enemy is.  Remember two things, 1) the battle is spiritual; and 2) the battle is the Lord’s, He will lift us up if our trust is in Him.

       God has us in the world, in all of its “fallenness,” as His ambassadors, as agents of reconciliation. We’re here to proclaim the gospel of peace. Part of our witness is our relationship with each other: “By this men will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”  What do the people in your oikos, your friends and family, co-workers and neighbors, what do they see and hear when you talk about the church?

      We don’t want to be deceptive and give the impression that we think we’re perfect people who belong to a perfect church. They know better! But, they ought to know, above all, that we love one another. That will attract them to the Lord of the church.  

      Let’s prepare now to celebrate His love as we share, together, in the Table.  AMEN.