Participants: Tom Shepherd & Deyvy Rodriguez
Series Code: PBOTB
Program Code: PBOTB00018A
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00:21 Hello, friends and welcome to "Books of the Book."
00:23 My name is Deyvy Rodriguez and I'm very pleased 00:25 that you are able to join us in this Bible study. 00:28 We are studying the Books of 1st 00:30 and 2nd Peter with Dr. Tom Shepherd. 00:32 He comes from Andrews University, 00:34 and he is a professor at the Theological Seminary there. 00:39 And that today we are studying the last, 00:41 very last verses of Chapter 5 in 1 Peter. 00:45 Dr. Shepherd, how are you doing? 00:47 Good. How are you? 00:48 Doing good. Welcome back. 00:49 And today we will be talking about or discussing 00:51 the last few verses of Chapter 5. Yes. 00:55 Now how did this verse or these verses link up 00:59 with what Peter talked about the beginning of Chapter 5? 01:02 Okay, so we last time looked at Chapter 5:1-4 01:07 and now we are looking at Chapter 5:5-14. 01:10 And Peter in this section first talks to young people. 01:15 He had talked to the elders at the beginning 01:18 and now he turns to talk to the young people. 01:20 So that's the kind of a natural pair that go together, 01:23 the elders and young people. 01:26 So he talks with the elders in verses 1 to 4. 01:28 And then the young people in this passage. 01:31 But then he widens the idea, the concept out and speaks 01:36 to all Christians calling for humility before God. 01:39 And he is going to lay out just how gracious and caring God is 01:44 and how His great power can overcome the devil. 01:46 So we should read the passage verses 1 Peter 5:5-14. 01:52 Okay, "Likewise you younger people, 01:55 submit yourselves to your elders. 01:57 Yes, all of you be submissive to one another 02:00 and be clothed with humility. 02:02 For God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble. 02:07 Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, 02:10 that He may exalt you in due time, 02:12 casting all your care upon Him, 02:14 for He cares for you. Be sober. 02:17 Be vigilant because your adversary the devil 02:21 walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. 02:25 Resist him, steadfast in the faith, 02:28 knowing that the same sufferings are experienced 02:31 by your brotherhood in the world. 02:33 But may the God of all grace, 02:35 who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, 02:39 after you have suffered for a while perfect, 02:42 establish, strengthen, and settle you. 02:45 To Him be the glory and the dominion 02:47 forever and ever. Amen. 02:49 By Silvanus, our faithful brother as I consider him, 02:53 I have written to you briefly, exhorting and testifying 02:56 that this is the true grace of God in which you stand. 03:01 She who is in Babylon, elect together with you, 03:04 greets you and so does Mark, my son. 03:07 Greet one another with a kiss of love. 03:10 Peace to you all who are in Christ Jesus. Amen." 03:14 All right, So we start off 03:15 by looking at the young people in verse 4. 03:19 And in the pattern he has established 03:23 of the Christian relationship to those around him. 03:26 He tells the young people to submit to the elders. 03:29 We remember how he told the slaves 03:31 or the household servants to submit to the masters. 03:33 He tells wives to submit to their husbands. 03:36 He tells all the community to submit 03:38 to the governing authorities. 03:40 So it's not surprising here that he tells to young people 03:43 that they're supposed to submit to the elders. 03:45 There's some question that is raised. 03:48 Just who these young people were or who are the "young." 03:52 Some people want to say, well, these must be people 03:54 who are new, you know, new in the faith, 03:57 neophytes, new believers. 04:00 And that's a possibility, but that he has just 04:04 talked to the elders and they probably 04:07 were older men in the community. 04:10 It was a male dominant society at that time. 04:13 And so the elders would be these older men. 04:16 The natural pattern probably is that these are young people 04:20 who are told that they are supposed 04:24 to listen to what the elders say. 04:27 Now it's really interesting because the passage 04:33 we just studied before in verses 1-4. 04:36 That told us about the elders and what their role was to be. 04:40 How would you summarize that? 04:42 What we said about them? 04:43 Would you, what were those? 04:45 Remember those three antitheses that we had. 04:47 And they weren't supposed to do it for the gain 04:50 that they were supposed to get. They were supposed to do-- 04:51 not pushed into it but willingly. 04:53 Not to be masters, but to the examples to the flock. 04:57 What kind of idea, kind of summarizes all that? 05:00 Do you have any words that might come into your mind? 05:02 Well, in summary, I'd say that the elders 05:05 must be sincere in their work, in their-- 05:09 as we read willingly without any personal gain. 05:13 But as Jesus said that that the shepherd 05:17 should not wait to be paid or the one that is interested 05:22 in being paid will somehow 05:25 sometime will scatter when the wolf comes around. 05:28 Yes, all right. 05:30 And so they are supposed to have their focused on the flock. 05:34 Care and concern for the flock, 05:36 a deep concern from what we remember. 05:38 Peter's particular experience that he had with Jesus 05:40 that got him thinking along these lines of shepherding 05:43 and there the great characteristic 05:49 that made him ready for ministry was humility. 05:52 Where he would humbly, listen to Jesus 05:54 where he would humbly serve and do his will. 05:57 And so it's rather interesting that the young people 06:00 are to focus their attention on listening to the elders, 06:05 submitting to their leadership. 06:06 And the elders are to focus their attention 06:09 on service to the flock. 06:11 In both cases, there is something 06:13 that you're giving to the other. 06:15 You're giving either your service, or you are giving, 06:19 shall we say your ears to listen to them. 06:22 And both are in submission to God. 06:25 And how does Peter bring out 06:26 this sense of listening to one another? 06:29 Well, in verses 5 and 6, 06:31 he expands it beyond just the young people. 06:34 We'll just look at this verses here, 06:36 where he says, okay, he says, 06:38 "Younger to be subject to the elders." 06:40 And then he says, "Clothe yourselves 06:42 all of you with humility toward one another. 06:46 For God opposes the proud, 06:48 but gives grace to the humble." 06:50 It was interesting that humility was something 06:54 that Peter displayed in that story, 06:56 we read in John Chapter 21. 06:59 And humility is what Peter emphasizes here, 07:02 the need for humility. 07:04 He supports it with the text 07:05 from the Book of Proverbs, Proverbs 3:34. 07:07 And I like us to read the context 07:09 of that Proverbs 3:28-35. 07:16 Okay, so we are looking at Proverbs 3. 07:18 Proverbs Chapter 3. Proverbs 3:28-35. 07:25 "Do not say to your neighbor, 07:27 "Go, and come back, and tomorrow I will give it," 07:29 When you have it with you. 07:31 Do not devise evil against your neighbor, 07:34 for he dwells by you for safety's sake. 07:37 Do not strive with a man without a cause, 07:40 if he has done you no harm. 07:43 Do not envy the oppressor, and choose none of his ways, 07:47 for the perverse person is an abomination to the Lord, 07:51 but His secret counsel is within the upright. 07:55 The curse of the Lord is on the house of the wicked, 07:57 but He blesses the home of the just. 08:00 Surely He scorns the scornful, but gives grace to the humble." 08:05 And read verse 35 as well. 08:06 "The wise shall inherit glory, 08:08 but shame shall be the legacy of fools." 08:11 So this text that he quotes is verse 34. 08:14 "Toward the scorners, He is scornful, 08:15 but to the humble He gives favor. 08:17 And so all of these kind of concepts linking together. 08:21 There's a relationship to God which must influence 08:26 and change our relationship to other people around us. 08:29 See, so we have been talking about this consciousness of God 08:32 and that has to be expressed through our life 08:37 in how we treat other people. 08:39 I say sometimes that grace is a new set of glasses 08:45 that you are given to wear as a Christian. 08:47 You cannot look at people other people 08:49 the same way anymore. God has forgiven you. 08:53 Now you have to act differently 08:54 towards other people around you. 08:56 You have to have that humble attitude of care for them. 09:00 He returns to this command, He says, 09:02 "Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, 09:05 that He may lift you up in due time." 09:08 It's an interesting contrast. 09:10 Our humble attitude, our sense of our weakness before God. 09:16 And then His mighty hand we are weak but He is strong. 09:20 His mighty hand will lift us up. 09:23 Unless, we get the idea that God 09:24 is some kind of strong-armed bully. 09:27 It says that you are to cast all your cares on Him 09:30 because He cares about you. 09:34 Now where does Peter here go 09:36 with his last pair of antithesis? 09:39 All right, so let's take a look at that in verses 8 to 11. 09:45 "Be sober, be vigilant because your adversary the devil 09:49 walks about like a roaring lion, 09:51 seeking whom he may devour. 09:53 Resist him, steadfast in the faith, 09:55 knowing that the same sufferings are experienced 09:58 by your brotherhood in the world. 10:00 But may the God of all grace, 10:02 who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, 10:05 after you have suffered a while, 10:06 perfect, establish, 10:08 strengthen, and settle you. 10:10 To Him be the glory and the dominion 10:12 forever and ever. Amen." 10:15 All right, so it's interesting here 10:16 that the final set of contrasts in this book. 10:20 We've seen all kinds of contrasts 10:23 throughout the book. 10:24 You know, back and forth and back and forth 10:26 different ideas things that, you know, 10:29 seem to be against each other all the time. 10:32 The last set of antitheses is not a contrast of ideas. 10:38 It is a contrast of individuals. 10:40 It's a battle or a controversy between individuals. 10:44 And the two individuals are not human beings. 10:48 They are the devil and God. 10:51 We are fighting each other and he uses this phraseology, 10:56 He says that the devil 11:01 walks about like a roaring lion, 11:07 seeking someone to devour. 11:10 Now I lived in Africa for six years 11:14 and they have lions still on the loose. 11:17 It's surprising when you're out in the bush, 11:21 how you can't see a lion 11:23 because they just blend right into the grass, 11:26 that's, you know, going brown 11:28 and so forth in most of the different times of the year. 11:31 And they are hard to see, but I'll tell you what. 11:35 When you hear a lion's roar and you are out there 11:38 in the bush, it is scary. 11:40 Lions have an incredible power to roar. 11:45 Interestingly enough scientists' tell us that cats 11:48 all the cats in the world have you the ability 11:51 to purr or to roar not both. 11:55 Some lions don't purr, they roar. 11:57 And kitty cats don't roar, they purr. 12:00 But a lion is, you know, just a ravenous beast 12:04 that you just-- it's scary to think of, 12:08 that you would be in a place the devil goes about 12:11 like a roaring lion, seeking somebody to devour. 12:15 How do we respond to that because apparently, 12:17 this is a very scary picture of the devil-- 12:20 Just going around like a roaring lion. It is. 12:22 It is quite a scary picture of the devil. 12:25 And I like us to see a little bit 12:26 of where this picture comes from. 12:29 It comes from the Book of Psalms. 12:33 And there are numerous Psalms, 12:35 but this particular one is Psalm 22 12:38 which is a messianic Psalm. 12:41 And this Psalm is interesting because of the way 12:45 it goes back and forth and back and forth between, 12:51 you might say the highs of glory and the lows of despair. 12:56 So I want to take a look at the Psalm. 12:59 I think probably first before we read the Psalm, Psalm 22. 13:05 We will take a little break and then when we come back 13:08 we'll have time to read it all the way through 13:11 and not miss out on time. 13:13 So let's take a little break at this point 13:14 and then we'll come back after a few messages. |
Revised 2014-12-17