Published: August 16, 2026 | Speaker: Mark Freitag | Series: 1 Peter - Part 47 | Scripture: 1 Peter 5:6-8
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verses 6 through the first part of verse 8. I'm going to read uh to set the context starting at at verse 5. So 1 Peter 5 verse 5.
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You younger, likewise be subject to your elders, and all of you clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, for God is
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opposed to the proud, but give grace to the humble. Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you at the proper
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time, casting all your anxiety upon him because he cares for you. Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary,
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the devil, prowls about like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour, but resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering
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are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world. And 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,
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confirm, strengthen, and establish you. To him be dominion forever and ever. Amen. Let us pray. Father, we have had an opportunity to
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lift our voices and rejoice. Rejoice in you and what you have done. resource in your protection but also in the glory that is to come. And so now we ask that
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you by might by the power of the Holy Spirit you would speak to our hearts and minds of these things in the scriptures that we might have a heart of wisdom. We
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might have a heart to obey. We might have a heart to revel in the joy and comfort of knowing that you have kept us
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with your mighty right hand. We thank you for these things in Christ's name.
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Peter says, "Humble yourselves." He's in a section where he's addressing his readers with manners concerning their journey of faith. And he he hits us with four imperatives in this section
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beginning in verse six. Humble yourselves. Be of sober spirit. Be on the alert. Resist the devil. and these imperatives uh without looking
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at the surrounding context. Yeah, you you may think that Peter has gone legalistic on us that that he's requiring us now um humble yourselves.
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You be on the alert. You resist the devil. You be of sober spirit. Is this really a part of the gospel? Is God requiring a righteousness by the
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law? I think Peter is using these imperatives, using the gospel as motivation. Humble yourselves that he may lift you up.
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And when Peter says in verse 6, therefore humble of yourselves, it follows on verse 5 the humility that we ought to have within the church,
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within the community of believers. But he says, "Humble yourselves." How do we humble ourselves?
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Peter has said in chapter 4 verse 12, "Do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you which comes upon you for your
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testing." So he seems to be reminding them of the now the the proper response to the testing. It's not retaliation
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and not trying to defend what we think of as our rights nor complaining against God
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nor excessive worry for our safety. But when he says humble yourselves, it does imply a consent or a permission
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really of the action on the part of the subject. Allow yourselves to be humbled.
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To be humble does require a decision, I think on our part to remain faithful. remain faithful to Christ even when as
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we see in Peter and I think even today some of us face this rejection of who we are as Christians their social status was suffering
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and if their situation is made difficult because of their faith or because we declare a religion that is exclusive
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and not coexistent or their family rejects them because of Christianity. He is saying instead humble yourselves
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humble yourselves but not for yourselves. Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God. The mighty hand of God. I think to Peter
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um he's picturing the Exodus story. He's picturing God's display of his powerful hand to deliver Israel from the abuse at
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the hands of the Egyptians. His hand led them out of Egypt through the Red Sea and into the wilderness and through the
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wilderness to the promised land. In Exodus, we read, "The Egyptians shall know," he says, "that I am the Lord when I stretch out my hand on Egypt and bring
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out the sons of Israel from their midst. The Egyptians will know that I am the Lord. It is my mighty hand."
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But do you remember what the people did? Of course you do. Exodus 14.
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Is it because we are there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? Exodus 15. When they came to Mea, they could not drink the waters of Mea for they were bitter. So the people complained at Moses,
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saying, "What shall we drink?" Exodus 16, the whole congregation, Moses writes, grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. Would that we
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had died by the Lord's hand in the land of Egypt when we sat by the pots of
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But what does Peter want these people want us to do to replace that memory with already in chapter 3 said for it is better if God should will it so that you
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suffer for doing what is right rather than for doing what is wrong. In chapter four he says therefore those also who suffer according to the will of God
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shall entrust their souls to a faithful creator in doing what is right.
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It is awesome to be under the mighty hand of God, is it not? He does protect. He does deliver. He does reward.
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But he also disciplines. He also chasens. He also brings us things as Peter says for your testing.
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It brings you low at times, but it also lifts you up so that it may exalt you. exalt you. It brings us low so that we can understand that we cannot save
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Christ. It leads us to confess that we are sinners saved by grace with no hope except for God's mercy.
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But as the gospel brings us low, it is not a path that requires us to rail against God or raging against those who oppose us.
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Peter himself witnessed the mighty hand of God in his ministry in Jerusalem. In the early days of the Christian church, he was brought before Caiaphas and Annis. He was brought before those who
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wanted to beat him and throw him in jail. And in Acts chapter 4, he says, "And now, Lord, take note of their threats and grant that your bondervants may
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speak your word with all confidence while you extend your hand to heal and signs and wonders take place through the name of your holy servant Jesus."
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And what does the scripture say happened next? The place was shaken. The people were filled with the Holy Spirit. They were able to speak the word of God with
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boldness. And the people reacted with one heart and one mind. That's the mighty hand of
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And Peter says, "In due time, in due time or the proper time, that he may exalt you.
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For Peter, the proper time was right then when he needed it. Read Acts 5. He was in jail. At the proper time, God opened the jail. Even though they were doors were not unlocked. They were
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allowed to escape. But I believe what Peter has in mind most often here in his letter [snorts] is that it's the time of Christ's
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return. The time when this age ends and he will restore and exalt the
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humble. So the purpose is that me he may exalt you at the proper time [clears throat] when Jesus appears and the world sees the falling of those who reject Christ.
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His promise is his care for us. We do not dictate to God what his timing
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and what his schedule will be. But Isaiah 40 tells us those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength. They will mount up with wings like
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eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint. We can grumble and complain.
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Or we can humbly trust him who has promised to care for us because it is his mighty hand.
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God." And he And he cares because he cares for you. It's not a new command. It's not one of those four imperatives.
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It's uh telling us how we are to humble ourselves, how we all are to walk under the mighty hand of God. And Peter knows
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his readers have problems. Their resolve to follow Jesus Christ in a world hostile to their faith subjected
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them to loss. Losses loss of friends. loss of social status, loss of respect, loss of livelihood and in some cases as
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we know from history, those who follow Christ lost even their own lives.
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55 where David cries, "Cast your burden upon the Lord and he will sustain you." And in that psalm, what we see is David had losses, loss of respect. Listen to
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this. I am restless in my complaint and I am surely distracted because of the voice of the enemy, because of the pressure of the wicked, for they bring
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down trouble upon me, and in anger they bear a grudge against me. He loves the friend. This is a poignant
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passage. He says, "For it is not an enemy who reproaches me, but it is you, a man of my equal, my companion and my familiar friend. We who had sweet
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fellowship together." fellowship together." These losses occur to all believers. The losses can be big, they can be small. But I think in a world
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not dissimilar from that world that in which Peter wrote, we will face these types of losses and it will bring anxiety and it will bring worry.
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But note that the word that Peter uses cast all your anxiety upon him. The word anxiety there is singular not plural. He
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doesn't say cast all your anxieties. And we generally think I do anyway think about various anxieties, various things
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that are worries to me. Health, family, work, finances. work, finances. etc., etc., etc.
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And problems seem to come in clusters, don't they? don't they? The baby's calicky. The car won't start. The roof is
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leaking. And those stresses do mount. Whether they come from outside or there are things that things that are coming coming upon us to test us,
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schedule delays frustrate us. People disappoint us disappoint us and a simple three-word statement from
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the doctor shocks us. You have cancer.
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Is worry a sin? It seems to be a form of pride. And we know that Peter has already told us God opposes the proud. Worry denies God's sovereignty.
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It it it takes on us God's job. We actually write our own little declaration of independence from God
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telling him, "Well, I got this. I can deal with this myself." Worry appears as a lack of faith because we are convinced that we must
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solve our own problems ourselves.
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Do you remember the parable of that Jesus taught of the four soils? There was the seed that was being cast by the sewer and some of the seed falls
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on the road. a hard packed road and some falls on the rocks and some falls in the thorns and some on good soil.
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The seed that fell on the road, Satan snatches away. snatches away. The seed that falls on the rocks, it sprouts, but there's no root and it dies
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easily. But what does Jesus say about the seed that fell among the thorns? He says He says the worries, the worries, the anxieties
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the anxieties of the world enter in and choke the word and becomes unfruitful.
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Are you a thorny brown hearer where the cares, the anxieties, the worries of the world enter in and choke the word, the good word that says, "Cast all your anxiety upon him because he
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cares for you." Daniel Doriani in his commentary says, "It is possible to be anxious and yet
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not sin if we address it properly." In Psalm 55, David says, "As for me, I
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shall call upon God and the Lord will save me. evening and morning and noon. I will complain and murmur and he will hear my voice.
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[snorts] What about Paul? It seems like you read 2 Corinthians 11 and 12 where he's defending his ministry. He's got a lot of worries, a lot of
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anxieties. beaten with rods, stoned with rocks, shipwrecked, in danger from rivers, robbers, countrymen, Gentiles in the city and in the wilderness, on the sea
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among false brethren. The daily, and he uses this word, the daily pressure on me of concern, anxiety for all the churches.
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So, what did Paul do with this anxiety?
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He remembered that God said to him, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness." He says,"Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses so that
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the power of Christ may dwell in me." That's the mighty hand of God. And he submitted himself under it.
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So how do we become humble ourselves? Humbling ourselves under the mighty hand of God. of God. Being humble means accepting the
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suffering and hardships God has ordained instead of resisting and shaking against my circumstances. my circumstances. Peter says, "Cast, throw, if you wished,
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toss. I don't know. I thought sling would be a good [laughter] word equivalent to synonym for casting. Cast
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your anxiety upon Christ. No, he says cast all your anxiety upon
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Christ. I once I don't know discussion about worry and different things and how we pray to God for all things in life and
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one man boastfully said oh I I don't take that to God I just bring the big stuff to God he doesn't have to worry
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about the other but Jesus says all all your anxiety
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Peter gives us the pathway to humbling ourselves by casting our cares, our worries, our anxiety. Humbling ourselves is not a negative
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act. It's it's not a self grumbling, a self-denial, but it is a positive way of showing our active dependence upon
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God. It is, as we've already said, it is a way, as Peter explains, to entrust your soul to a faithful creator.
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We sang a hymn a couple weeks ago. It is well, it is well, it is well with my soul. Can you really
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truly sing it and mean it.
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I will admit over the past couple of weeks with all the anxiety mounting over cancer, over moving and selling the home and all these things.
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I had to realize that I could not actually sing that song in need without grasping what Peter declares, casting all your anxiety on him because
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he cares for you. See, he doesn't just again tell us do this action. He always tells us what the motivation is because he cares for you.
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Literally it is a care to him for you. So when we encounter those things when I hear those words
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you have cancer. I need to think it's hit me right here.
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But it is a care to him for me.
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He is concerned. He is bearing that burden. He cares for these things. He's not indifferent about our worries. our worries. And he doesn't cruy ignore our needs.
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And he's not the hireling of John chapter 10. Who pleased? Jesus says, because he is a hired hand and is not concerned about the sheep.
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Jesus declares, "I am the good shepherd." But the phrase that follows is the one that taught me and I know my own.
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I know them. I care for them. I'm not just the good shepherd just leading you and saying come on get after it. I know
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So the logic is Jesus or excuse me God resists the proud and pours his grace upon the humble. Therefore, humble yourselves and experience the grace he freely gives to
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those who acknowledge him and give their cares and anxiety to him.
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Now, some of you may be wondering why we're stopping at the first part of verse 8 and not going on to the second part. He says, "Be on be of sober spirit. be on the alert.
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And then he follows that with your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour.
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And there is a logic to think be on the alert and then look at, well, here's a roaring lion seeking who me may devour.
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And certainly some of you who are familiar with this situation, uh certainly a certain construction team who was at the Greenville Zoo on the
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23rd of July of this year were on the alert when a 4-year-old Amore leopard named
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Arena got out of her enclosure and began to prowl the premises of the Greenville Zoo. I am sure all of those people were on the alert.
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But without getting too technical, I see two reasons why be on the alert. Be of sober spirit looks back and not forward. One is that the Greek doesn't have a
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connective. It doesn't say be on the alert because the devil is roaring [snorts] and proud. And the other is because these two
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imperatives coming almost as a single thought as a as a unit form a what the scholars call an inclusio.
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an inclusio. It's a book end. So if you were to look at chapter 1 verse4 to chapter 5 verse 7 and think of every
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verse as a volume on the shelf. The book end on this end is 58a and the book end on the other end is
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chapter 1 verse 13. Therefore, Peter says, "Prepare your minds for action. Keep
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sober in spirit. Fix your hope completely on the grace that is brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ." All of these exhortations in
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the middle, he's grounded on the saving work of Christ. And he's reminding them of you are chosen exiles.
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You are [clears throat] resident aliens. And yet God has chosen you to be that priesthood of believers, that that church that's being built stone by
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living stone. And he's emphasizing what God has done for us in Christ. Again, that's our
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And of course, his reference is is to what we consider someone who's drunk or asleep. Losing reference reference to what is
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reality. You you see what you think is reality, but it is a deception.
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As the commentator Phil Meyer said, taken captive by the reality before its eyes that loses God from view. It means one who doesn't reckon with God
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or reckon on God
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sobermindedness, this watchfulness to avoid moral issues, to avoid these worries, to cast your anxiety on him. And what I see in Psalm 55 when when
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David says, "I am restless in my complaint and am surely distracted." To me, that word resonates with the idea
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of anxieties, our worry. We are distracted. We, as the commentator said, we we see what we think is reality and we're worried and we're trying to figure
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out how we are going to do that. and we're distracted from keeping our eyes on Jesus.
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Being clear-minded, self-controlled, in a mental state, free from confusion, from confusion, from driving, passion, from distraction, I think is what Peter wants us to be.
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But again, not based on our energies, our strength, but on the grace that is given to us in Jesus Christ.
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And so Peter, sorry, David can say at the end of that psalm where he has lost friends, he has lost status, lost respect.
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I am restless in my complaint and surely distracted. Cast your burden upon the Lord and he will sustain you. He will never allow
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the righteous to be shaken. Let us pray. Our father, Our father, thank you for these encouraging words. Thank you that our motivation is is not
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our own strength and energy, but we can put ourselves, humble ourselves under your mighty hand,
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casting all our anxiety upon you because we know that you care for us. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you in Christ's name.
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Amen. you please rise for the benediction from Romans chapter 8. Paul writes, "For I am convinced that
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neither death nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any created thing shall
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be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."