1 Peter 5:5-7
The Exaltation of Humility (part 2)

1. Humble yourselves with respect to each other
   1. "Younger ones" submit to "Older ones"
      1. The word "elders" can either mean those ordained to care for the flock (as in 5:1)
      2. Or it can simply mean those who are older (as in 1 Timothy 5:1)
      3. The instruction "submit" argues for the narrower sense, elders who guard the flock
         1. If he'd said "respect" or "honor", then the broader sense might be appropriate
         2. But this is same thing Peter told slaves to do to masters and wives to husbands
         3. Clearly, he is not urging this sort of submission to anyone in the church who is advanced in years
         4. Rather, he urges it toward the "elders", even toward those who, like Timothy, are young in years
      4. And, therefore, the "younger ones" are not those who are younger in years necessarily
         1. They are all those under the authority of the "older ones"
         2. It's like John's device of calling his audience "little children"
         3. However, the men must remember that it is a good thing to desire the office and to hope that as one advances in years he also advances in wisdom and spiritual maturity and thus may attain to the office of elder eventually.
      5. So Peter has exhorted the elders at length to set an example as servants of the flock rather than lords over them
      6. To the congregation, then, he urges you not to take advantage of the elders' humility in this regard
         1. How easy, when a man does not assert authority and bully the flock, to assume he has no real authority
         2. Peter warns against this, requiring the congregation to submit to their elders and to follow their example in serving one another.
      7. You must understand that the elders rule the church according to the word of God
         1. To submit to the elders is not to become subject to men
         2. but it is to submit to the word of God, ministered to you by those ordained by God and recognized as wise and able
         3. Therefore, for the Lord's sake, submit to what the elders require as though it is God himself who requires it
         4. For we cannot require the precepts of men; but what God desires, that is what we desire for you to do and think and be
      8. As the author of Hebrews says, "Obey those who rule over you, and be submissive, for they watch out for your souls, as those who must give account. Let them do so with joy and not with grief, for that would be unprofitable for you." (Hebrews 13:17)
   2. All of you clothe yourselves with humility (I made a change in the NKJV in your bulletin insert)
      1. From the particular to the general
         1. not addressing a subset of the congregation now
         2. But the entire congregation, elders and younger ones alike, ought to be humble toward one another.
      2. He urges the congregation to clothe themselves with humility
         1. he uses an unusual word, one that refers to the smock or apron worn by slaves
         2. He thus recalls Jesus' words, Don't jockey for position at the table, but he who would be great among you....
         3. And Jesus' example. For did not his own Lord clothe himself with a towel like a common serving maid and wash the feet of his disciples?
         4. So they ought to put on the slave's apron toward one another, considering each other's needs and position more important than their own
      3. Peter urges humility a distinctly Christian virtue
         1. The world of the Greeks and the Romans had no use for it
         2. Humility was lowliness, subservience, a trait fit only for slaves, servants, and wives.
      4. Yet this is how Christ behaved toward us
         1. He considered our needs more important than his heavenly glory
         2. He came not as a king born in a palace but as a babe in a manger, born to poor, working class parents
         3. He did not demand the service of those who followed him but labored day and night to instruct and care for them
         4. He called to all to come to him because he was meek and humble in heart
      5. There is our prime example of what it means to be humble
         1. to lay aside the things we want in favor of what our brothers need
         2. to not seek exalted position in the church, but to glory in simple tasks if by them we may serve the people of God
         3. to take instructions from one another and cheerfully offer to do more than we are asked
         4. This is what your elders ought to exemplify to you; follow them in this example
2. Because God opposes proud and gives grace to humble
   1. God opposes the proud
      1. God opposes the proud because they oppose him.
      2. Pride is Cain killing Abel because Abel's offering found favor with God
      3. Pride is men building the Tower of Babel that will reach to heaven and earn a name for themselves
      4. Pride is Joseph's brothers who cannot stand his dream that they will serve him, so they sell him into slavery and lie to their father, saying a wild beast killed him.
      5. Pride is Nebuchadnezzar in the book of Daniel. A king of Babylon blessed by God with a mighty kingdom and he boasts, my hand has done all this.
      6. Did not God bring all these men down?
      7. And will he not bring us down as well when we
         1. are jealous of God's gifts to our brothers
         2. attempt to gain a reputation in the church so that people will look up to us rather than glorifying God
         3. decline to submit to the elders because we sit in judgment on their wisdom and find it lacking
         4. point to any good work wrought in us by the Holy Spirit and say, I have done this in my own strength. And we use that to look with contempt upon our brother who has not produced such wonderful works.
      8. Pride is self-reliance. It spits in the face of God and says, I have no need of you
      9. God opposes this in the most appropriate manner, he humbles those who so exalt themselves
      10. This comes not only as a warning and exhortation to the congregation
      11. It comes as a promise
          1. They are surrounded by those who exalt themselves against the knowledge of Christ
          2. Unbelieving masters mock and beat their slaves
          3. Unbelieving husbands ridicule their wives and make them miserable and hamper their pursuit of the grace of God
          4. Unbelieving society and gov't attacks the church and takes advantage of her humility in response.
             1. Since we do not forcibly resist them, they gladly take what belongs to us
             2. When we offer them the other cheek, they gladly strike it as well
          5. Peter says God opposes all this and that means he'll put it right
      12. After all, wasn't Joseph exalted and his brothers humbled before him
   2. God gives grace to the humble
      1. Remember, Peter has a slightly different emphasis on this word than Paul
         1. He exhorts us to rest our hope fully on the grace that is coming when Christ is revealed (1:13)
         2. Grace is the favor of God which is hidden to the sight now (but known and partaken of by faith)
         3. That grace will be revealed when Christ comes to those who wait for it and do not trust in their own merits
      2. You begin to see that humility is not a work but an aspect of faith
         1. By it we assess ourselves rightly as having nothing and deserving nothing
         2. And thus we are not too proud to serve those upon whom God has set his love
         3. And thus we look to God to provide everything for us
         4. Humility is the tax collector who cries out "God have mercy on me, a sinner." He does not overestimate his value and neither should we.
         5. It is like the elders of the Jews coming to Jesus to ask him to heal the Centurion's servant. They said, "he deserves to have you do this for him." But the centurion said, "I am not deserving. I'm not even worthy to have you under my roof." It is this humble confession that elicits amazement from Jesus who had not found such faith in all of Israel.
      3. So those who do not trust themselves but humbly look to God for everything are promised they will receive all they need.
      4. This quotation from Proverbs functions as a hinge
         1. It looks back to the command that we be humble to one another
         2. and forward to the command to be humble with respect to God
      5. So we ought to clothe ourselves with humility to one another because God gives grace to the humble
         1. I.e. we should remember that we have nothing but what God has given us
         2. We were sinners and deserved only wrath
         3. Yet God forgave us so we may humbly forgive our brother
         4. Yet Christ served us so we may humbly serve our brother
      6. So, as well. . . .
3. So humble yourselves with respect to God
   1. Humble yourselves under God's mighty hand
      1. The mighty hand of God brought the children of Israel out of Egypt
      2. The mighty hand of God redeemed your life from the pit by the blood of his Son and his rising again from the dead.
      3. Yet the children of Israel grumbled because God took them out into a wilderness. In their ignorance they did not fear lest the mighty hand that saved them should turn in anger against them. And so God swore in his wrath they would not enter the promised land. Their bodies littered the wildernes and it was their children who believed and entered in.
      4. So the people in Peter's time might be tempted to grumble
         1. What kind of salvation is this?
         2. My master beats me
         3. My husband ridicules me
         4. Society mocks me and seeks to destroy my possessions and my livelihood
         5. My government turns a blind eye to this at best or at worst gives aid to my enemies
         6. Am I supposed to just take this? It's time for an armed revolt! God helps those who help themselves
      5. But Peter says that judgment has begun with the house of God
      6. This is the mighty hand of God refining the faith of his people by teaching them to forsake the world and cling to him alone
      7. Let us not question God's judgment but humbly accept everything that happens as according to his providence and for his glory and our good.
      8. The mighty hand that disciplines and refines us for a time has already saved us and will one day consummate that salvation in the return of Christ
   2. That he may exalt you
      1. In due time
         1. Too often, people wrench these verse out of context and get the wrong sort of comfort out of them
         2. They expect to see the exaltation come during their lifetime (or at least during the liftetime of the church)
         3. I hope by now you've got the hang of Peter's thought by now
            1. first suffering
            2. then glory
            3. The glory comes when Christ appears
      2. The "time" Peter refers to is that last time when the Son of Man appears in glory to judge the living and the dead
      3. Humble yourselves under his mighty hand now by abhoring yourself and denying anything good dwells in you except by his grace
      4. And in the day of salvation you will not be ashamed
         1. Christ will ask why you should be allowed into eternal glory
         2. And you will point to nothing you've done or are
         3. but you will point to him and only to him
         4. and he will exalt you to heven itself and give you a crown and set you on a throne in glory.
   3. Humble yourself by casting all your cares on him
      1. Peter then turns the advice around
      2. Suddenly "humbling yourself" is not this stern advice to grit your teeth and bear up under unimaginable duress
      3. But it is admitting that you can't grit your teeth and bear up
      4. So you cast your cares on him (with prayer and supplication Philippians 4:6)
      5. All the burdens of this life that worry you, you commend them to him as the one who can supply all your needs
      6. Do you fear that the world will tempt or bully you into unbelief? Take that to Jesus and let him bear it
      7. Do you worry that God won't even provide food and clothing and shelter for you? That is his burden to bear.
      8. All the problems and hardships of this life
         1. losing jobs
         2. losing family to death or divorce or unbelief
         3. needing money, transportation, electricity
         4. These all belong to Christ who can bear them.
      9. Like Martha we are worried and distracted by many things, but all we need is Christ.
      10. This is why his yoke is easy and his burden is light.
   4. Knowing that he cares for you.
      1. None of the sufferings of this present life can deny this truth.
      2. Our Savior died for us and now he lives for us.
      3. His thoughts concerning us are as countless as the grains of sand
      4. What greater delight than to humble ourselves under one who not only has a mighty hand that is powerful to save, but a delicate hand that tenderly guides his lambs?
      5. Do not fear to be humble to each other or before God. He will never take advantage of that but will always feed you with the words of eternal life and bring you home at last as his beloved child.

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