January 13, 2019pm Ne w Hope R oad Joelton, TN READ 1 Peter 5:8-14

Transcription

1 1 Peter 5:8-14 The Resistance January 13, 2019pm Ne w Hope R oad Joelton, TN READ 1 Peter 5:8-14 As much as we would benefit from it, there is no way for us to go back and see Christianity through the eyes of Peter. For a year now, on Sunday evenings, we have studied his small, five chaptered epistle to the Christians of his day and ours. He writes (more than likely) just before the Roman emperor Nero begins his persecution of Christians in the summer of 64 AD. I have said it several times, but I believe that this epistle is Peter s attempt at rallying the Christians to prepare for persecution. It had in some small ways already begun, but it seems as though Peter expected it to intensify, and he is right. He reminds the Early Believers who find their political identity in some nation or empire that they are merely sojourners. They are travelers through this world, and they are like the Israelites of the Old Testament looking for the Promised Land. Corey M. Minter Page 1 of 10

2 This group of Christians will soon have to resort to meeting in secret because they refuse to pay homage to Caesar and sacrifice in his name. Eventually, the church in Rome (where we believe Peter is writing from) will have to take their worship literally underground as they meet in the catacombs. Dr. Stephen Nichols hosts an excellent podcast called 5 Minutes in Church History, where he (in short snippets as the 5 minutes denotes) makes the modern-day Christian aware of some of the rich heritage that few realize. He produced an episode on the catacombs, and I would like to read an excerpt from it. Under the city of Rome lies a vast system of catacombs. The ancient Romans built these catacombs because they simply didn t like death they feared it and didn t want to think about it. They wanted to push death out onto the margins, even out of sight, so they buried their dead underground. These catacombs play an interesting role in the history of Christianity. In the first few centuries after Christ, Christianity was at odds with the empire and Christians were marginalized, ostracized, and persecuted. Despite the opposition they faced, they found that they could worship freely in the catacombs. The Romans wouldn t go down there but would send slaves to dig out the catacombs and bury their dead. So, the Christians were relatively free to worship there. They even sometimes built seats into the walls of these catacombs and also left behind paintings on the walls. After Christianity was legalized and as it spread through the empire, catacombs became not only a place where Christians Corey M. Minter Page 2 of 10

3 could meet; they also became the place were Christians would bury their dead. We can learn about the lives of early Christians from the epitaphs that were left at a number of these catacombs. One of them simply says, Here lies Quintilian, a man of God, a firm believer in the trinity, who loved chastity and rejected the allurements of the world. Another epitaph belongs to someone named Domitilla. It says, Who believed in Jesus Christ, together with the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Many of these early catacomb epitaphs reference Christians belief in the Trinity. It shows how important that doctrine was to the early church. Another of these epitaphs reads, Here I rest, free from all anxiety, what I awaited has happened, when the coming of Christ occurs I shall rise in peace. This is a wonderful testimony to resting in Christ. One of these epitaphs addresses the person directly. Her name was Aproniana, and she was only five years and five months old when she died. Her epitaph says, Aproniana you believed in God, you will live in Christ. This is a beautiful testimony to the hope of our salvation and the eternal life that we have in Christ. Another of these epitaphs reads, Now that I have received divine grace I shall be welcomed in peace. This particular text is preceded by the early Christian symbol, the fish. One last epitaph simply says, This person was a servant of the Lord Jesus Christ. 1 How good are those epitaphs?! 1 The Catacombs. Dr. Stephen Nichols. August 19, minutesinchurchhistory.com/the-catacombs/ Corey M. Minter Page 3 of 10

4 Really, in reading through 1 Peter, you get this picture of these Christians who are remaining here to do God s will. They are the remnant. They are The Resistance, a title worthy of any doomsday apocalyptic piece of literature, meeting in secret (soon to be underground), even using what some scholars would deem code in order to communicate. Nichols alluded to it earlier in the transcript of his podcast where the early Christians would use the ixthus, the fish, to identify themselves. They also used the anchor, the cross and several more. Peter even writes in a bit of code, himself, in the final portion of this letter when he pens 1 Peter 5:13 She who is in Babylon, elect together with you, greets you; and so does Mark my son. Most believe that Peter is writing on behalf of the church (She) in Rome (Babylon). It would be very unlikely that Peter, Mark and Silvanus (all mentioned in the text) would be together in the Mesopotamian city of Babylon. We know they spent some time in Rome; so it seems that Peter is bridging the Old Testament ungodly empire of Babylon with Rome with all of its idolatry and paganism. So it seems that even Peter is now in hiding, not wanting to disclose his actual location lest Roman officials intercept his letter. That s why I ll call them The Resistance, but do not think that their battle is against Rome or any other political system. As Paul reminds us in Ephesians 6:12 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of Corey M. Minter Page 4 of 10

5 this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Peter is not writing for them to keep their heads down until its time to take up arms against Caesar. In fact, he has gone the absolute total opposite way. He tells them submit to the government. Honor the emperor. 1 Peter 2:13 Therefore submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord s sake, whether to the king as supreme, 14 or to governors, as to those who are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and for the praise of those who do good. 15 For this is the will of God, that by doing good you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men 16 as free, yet not using liberty as a cloak for vice, but as bondservants of God. 17 Honor all people. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king. So if these people are The Resistance, who are they resisting? Their fight isn t with Rome or Nero, and ours is not against any political system or philosophy either. Peter states the enemy plainly for them and us. 1 Peter 5:8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. 9 Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world. Your adversary the devil. In his parable The Screwtape Letters, C.S. Lewis points out that humanity is divided into two unhealthy camps concerning Satan. There are those who think too much of him, crediting Corey M. Minter Page 5 of 10

6 him for every single thing that they perceive as bad in their life, and there are the who think too little of him, denying even his existence. Both can be detrimental to the extreme. In these short two verses, Peter balances the scale crediting Satan with the ability to devour, but he also points out that he can be resisted and ultimately defeated by the God of all grace. 10 But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you. 11 To Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen. Before we get into the meat of this final thought from 1 Peter, I want us to spend a minute thinking about the voracity of Satan which Peter describes. What does he call him? A roaring, hunting, devouring lion. Now, I know that lions are mentioned elsewhere in the Bible; so it is possible that Peter is referencing the animal that was found in the Middle East, the kind that David the shepherd boy killed. But I tend to think that Peter s allusion has a little more bite to it. MacArthur points out that Rome was familiar with lions not because they were native to the Italian hillside but because the of the Roman practice of Damnatio ad Bestias, or condemnation to beasts. We align it most often to the gladiatorial games that came a bit later with the building of the colosseum, but the practice had been long-standing before then as a means of capital punishment since the second century BC. The Christians of Rome would have been very familiar with this form of punishment since it was used most common among the lower classes as a Corey M. Minter Page 6 of 10

7 means to strike terror into those who might be most convinced to start and uprising. It was very effective, too. 23 So Peter s analogy of Satan being a lion was not just a reference to the devil s strength or menace but the real threat that they lived under as those who would not bow to Caesar. But the thrust of Peter s comments deal with the true resistance or better how Satan can be resisted. I believe that Peter outlines three distinct helps in this resisting the old lion. They all start with C s to help you remember: Christian characteristics, Christ Himself and the Church. I will be jumping around a little in the text. Christian Characteristics 8 Be sober. Be vigilant. The sobriety that Peter is referencing is not solely concerning alcohol, although I think it is safe to say that it does include it. This sobriety deals more with the way we view life. The Christian is to live with selfcontrol, not running after everything that makes him feel good. Not always concerned with Does this make me happy? But instead, Is this pleasing and acceptable to the Lord? I cannot read about the vigilance that Peter writes without thinking of one of his final interactions with Jesus before His arrest. There they are in the Garden, and for some reason, Jesus finds it important to include some of His disciples in His prayers. 2 3 The MacArthur New Testament Commentary: 1 Peter. John MacArthur. P. 281 Damnatio ad bestias Corey M. Minter Page 7 of 10

8 Matthew 26:36 Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and said to the disciples, Sit here while I go and pray over there. 37 And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and He began to be sorrowful and deeply distressed. 38 Then He said to them, My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch with Me. 40 Then He came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, What! Could you not watch with Me one hour? 41 Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. Watch and Pray! Essentially, pray with one eye opened, to be on guard in this world but also to see how God is working and adjust your prayer accordingly. A Christian does not stick his head in the ground. He does not move to a monastery. He does not retreat from culture. He knows culture. He has his eye on it, praying all the while. So we have these two Christian Characteristics to resist Satan: self-control (sober) and vigilance (watch and pray). Christ Himself 10 But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you. Ultimately, we have Christ Himself here in the text who will not just give you the grace needed to endure the fight, but He will (after you have suffered a while) perfect, establish, strengthen and settle you. It is Corey M. Minter Page 8 of 10

9 important to note that I do not think that Peter is writing about Jesus as if He were some kind of sadist who enjoys seeing others suffer. I think Peter is writing in more generic terms. For the Christian, all of life is suffering. It is the birth pains that lead to new life; so Peter is essentially saying that after you have lived (and suffered by living in this world) Jesus will perfect, establish, strengthen and settle you. I don t know about you, but I cannot wait for that day. Not that my life is so morbid and full of suffering right now, but I am so tired of being IMperfect, UNestablished, weak and UNsettled. So we have ultimate rescuing in this resistance and Peter writes this doxology: 11 To Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen. Meanwhile, Christ gave us one more gift a tool to resist Satan. The Church 9 Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world. This brotherhood in the world the Church is a means by which the Christian can (and should) resist Satan. In Scripture, The Church never denotes a building but a gathering of called out ones in this world. Peter closes by giving us two excellent examples of those serving alongside him in the church: Silvanus (Silas) and Mark. We do not really have too much time to get into a deep study of their backgrounds. Mark s you most likely know better than Silvanus s. Silvanus was most popular as Paul s companion. We know him best in the story of the Philippian jailor where Paul and Silvanus sparked a midnight hymn sing and the doors of their prison and the shackles off of the wrists loosened after a miraculous Corey M. Minter Page 9 of 10

10 earthquake. Silas is known as a Roman citizen and Acts records that he was also a prophet. Peter calls him 12 By Silvanus, our faithful brother as I consider him, I have written to you briefly, exhorting and testifying that this is the true grace of God in which you stand. So it is understood that Silvanus is both Peter s secretary/scribe who helped him pen this epistle and a faithful brother. Finally, Peter drops one more name: Mark. John Mark, who years earlier had caused the split between Paul and Barnabas over whether or not he could cut it on the mission field after having left them high and dry in an earlier trip, he is right there beside Peter. 13 She who is in Babylon, elect together with you, greets you; and so does Mark my son. Peter, who once betrayed Jesus three times in one evening Peter, who once gave up the work of the ministry to go back to fishing Peter restores John Mark, and we have a perfect example of the local church: Silas (faithful brother, never a bad word spoken against him) and John Mark (a Christian with a past) both working alongside the Apostle Peter to proclaim the Word of God to us Sojourners living in this world yet not of this world. These three Christ has given us to resist the evil one: Christian Characteristics, Christ Himself and the Church. 14 Greet one another with a kiss of love. Peace to you all who are in Christ Jesus. Amen. Corey M. Minter Page 10 of 10