Tuesday, January 19, 2016

1Peter 5:5-9 comments: humility


5 ¶  Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble. 6  Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: 7  Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.

Here, Peter calls for the younger Christian to be respectful of the older. Then, going on he tells all of them to subject themselves to each other, in humility. God opposes the proud but gives the humble person grace. Paul also expresses this command from the Holy Spirit.

Romans 12:3  For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.

Ephesians 5:21 ¶  Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.

Our submission to each other is therefore voluntary in submission to Christ, in an orderly fashion that does not violate God’s restrictions on the proper nature of our relationships with each other. We must keep in mind that in the church Christ has eliminated all distinctions of ethnicity or race, social class, and gender regarding whether or not one is more important than the other to God.  

Galatians 3:28  There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.

So, for those men in the church whose pride will not let them assist a woman who has been given a task to complete I would ask, would you humble yourself if Paul asked you directly?

Romans 16:1 ¶  I commend unto you Phebe our sister, which is a servant of the church which is at Cenchrea: 2  That ye receive her in the Lord, as becometh saints, and that ye assist her in whatsoever business she hath need of you: for she hath been a succourer of many, and of myself also.

We humble ourselves under God’s authority and, in due time, we will be exalted or lifted up.

James 4:10  Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.

We put our cares and concerns and worries on Him, because He cares for us. This also allows us to empathize with the sufferings of others.

2Corinthians 1:3 ¶  Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; 4  Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.

    8 ¶  Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: 9  Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.

It is important that the Christian be alert to Satan’s presence and not fall into the traps he lays. He, like a lion on the prowl, seeking his prey, is a real, ever-present threat, although limited by God’s permission, as we saw in the book of Job. Here is an interesting verse about where an actual lion receives its prey. In the narrative God is asking rhetorical questions of Job that teach us a great deal about the reality we experience. In the following verse it is implicit that God provides a lion’s prey, and it is not accident.

Job 38:39  Wilt thou hunt the prey for the lion? or fill the appetite of the young lions, 40  When they couch in their dens, and abide in the covert to lie in wait?

Satan is like the lion that roars for its prey, but who, as a careful reading of Job shows, only obtain its prey with God’s permission.

Psalm 104:21  The young lions roar after their prey, and seek their meat from God.

We are told to beware and to resist Satan in the faith given to us. God permits Satan to attack and gives us the power to resist. Remember, the faith given to us is given to us by God and we did not generate it ourselves. Every person has the capacity to believe and once they believe faith is a gift from God.

Romans 3:22  Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:

Ephesians 2:8  For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9  Not of works, lest any man should boast.

We need that faith from God for without the faith God gives us we cannot please Him.

Hebrews 11:6  But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

Paul tells us how to resist the Devil.

Ephesians 6:10 ¶  Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. 11  Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12  For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. 13  Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. 14  Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; 15  And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16  Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. 17  And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: 18  Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;

Peter tells these Christians that what they are up against is not something unique to them alone. The troubles they face are problems all Christians, and indeed, all people face in this world.

1Corinthians 10:13  There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.

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