The First Letter Of Peter- 21

Subtitle: How Suffering Ties To Our Future Hope- Part 3

1 Peter 5:6-11.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on Sunday, April 26, 2026.

We ended our sermon last week at 1 Peter 5:5. Peter quoted Proverbs 3:34, “God is opposed to the proud but gives grace to the humble.”  He is not just passively opposed to the proud.  Just as He actively gives grace to the humble, so He actively opposes the proud.

Today, we are going to continue with this exhortation to stay humble in the humble circumstances of suffering.  As we do so, we will find that there is more than just suffering.  There is also the grace of Jesus.

Let’s look at our passage.

An Exhortation to all Christians (6-11)

The statement, even the revelation, of Proverbs 3:34 challenges us to trust God.  Do you really believe this?  If you do, then you will always choose the humble path because you do not want God to oppose you.

True humility is staying lowly in your attitude towards others, but at the same time, understanding that God has a purpose for you.  You can do what God has given you to do without becoming proud.  In fact, the humblest thing we can do is to say “yes” to God’s purpose even when we feel that we are not up to it.

In verse 6, Peter commands believers to humble themselves under the mighty hand of God so that He may exalt us at the proper time.

Depending on your attitude, the mighty hand of God can be viewed in two ways.  If you stay humble, then God’s hand will be mighty in assistance.  He gives grace that aids us mightily in the ways that He knows we need.  However, if you are not humble, then His mighty hand will come against you in discipline and judgment.

We should not lose sight of the reality that the Hand of the Lord is an Old Testament metaphor that points to the Messiah, Jesus.  Thus, we need to humble ourselves under the Mighty Jesus who was sent to lead us to God.  Humble yourself by trusting the way of Jesus, and his way leads through suffering.

Notice that exaltation is at the bottom of this.  The proud and arrogant of this world fight and claw in order to exalt themselves.  We can even exalt others as a way of “hitching our wagon” to theirs.  However, God only exalts “at the proper time.”  Have you ever thought that you might not be ready for exaltation?  Shouldn’t we trust God’s timing in this?  Shouldn’t we have faith in Him?

It is good for us to learn discipline in this time in which we deal with our own sin and the sin of others.  Much of the suffering of life is a result of sin.

Even though Peter is talking about the ultimate exaltation of the Kingdom of God led by His Messiah, King Jesus, it is also true on a smaller scale within this life.  Most times of suffering have a season or period.  When we are dealing with trials, we can know that God will bring us through it.  He does not intend to let us be tested forever.

In order to do this, Peter tells us to cast our worries upon Jesus because He cares for us.  Our true problem is not the theoretical question of whether or not God is for us.  It is all those worries and anxieties that that we have going on in our heart and mind.  I might not get what I want.  Someone else might get what I want instead.  It is this multitude of worries that divide our heart against an allegiance to God, if we are not careful.

We are told to cast our worries upon Him.  This is a picture of what happens in our heart as we talk with God in prayer.  We don’t cast our worries at Him as an accusation.  Rather, we cast them upon Him.  We put the heaviness of the worry upon Him and let Him figure it out for us. 

We can do this because He cares for us.  That is, we are His concern.  God knows what we need and will provide it at the proper time.  Will I live refusing, rejecting, and ignoring His care for me?  Or will I lean into His care and rest in it?

Psalm 55:22 reads, “Cast your burden upon the LORD, and He will sustain you; He will never allow the righteous to be shaken.”  Pride leads to wickedness which leads to being shaken by God’s judgments.  However, humility leads to righteousness which does not lead to being shaken by judgment.

It is important that we do this because of what Peter says next. We have an enemy, the devil, who is on the prowl, seeking someone to devour.  First of all, there is a contrast here.  The devil devours everyone that he can.  However, God is only opposed to the proud.  Second of all, it is pride that makes us vulnerable to the devil.

This picture of the devil like a prowling lion connects to Job 1 and 2. Satan appears before God and is asked what he has been doing.  Notice that he doesn’t say why he is traveling to and fro throughout the earth.  This gives us a fuller picture.  He wants to devour those who are not able to stand against him.  He wants to devour your soul, your life, your ability to image God.  He wants to devour God’s purpose for you and make you a captive to his self-serving purposes.

When we walk in humility before our fellow man and before God, we will find all the resources of God’s grace available to us in that time of need.

Peter then tells us to be sober in spirit.  Yes, God is for us, but the devil is really against us.  We need to be able to deal with this reality.  We need to be on the alert for his tactics and schemes.  We also need to be on the alert for how our foolishness can set us up for him.  Our envy, fears, and hunger for recognition, can open access points in our life for his devouring work.

Thus, in this sober and alert state, we are to resist him.  Resist here is the sense of taking our stand against the devil and his schemes.  We are to oppose what he is trying to do in our lives and in the lives of our family and friends.  We do this by firmly putting our faith in Christ, not letting ourselves be pulled into trusting the ways of pride and the ways of the world.

Peter reminds us about the reality that other Christians are going through these same things around the world.  In fact, some of them may be going through worse suffering than we are.  Yet, Peter does not simply say they are going through them.  It is often translated as “being accomplished” by them.  They are going through them victoriously in Christ.  Their faith is not being overwhelmed and extinguished.  They are more than conqueror through Jesus Christ who strengthen them.  Thus, so can we be strengthened to face our enemy.  This is nothing unique to me or you.  All who want to follow Christ will face these things.

Even though we have suffering in this life, remember that God gives grace to the humble.  He doesn’t just do this after we die.  He gives us grace in the midst of our trials.  He has purpose in us that He will accomplish as we trust Him.  This is important.  God is helping us in this life against our enemy.  We don’t have to be afraid and shrink back.  We can humbly step up and stand our ground in Jesus.

Verse 10 says that we have been called to His eternal glory in Christ.  Dwelling within the glory of God is our destiny.  Yet, it is “in Christ.”  Christ is the ground, or foundation, that gives us standing before God.  We are called to His eternal glory, but the way to this glory is through times of suffering on this earth.

Peter mentions that this time of glory is “after you have suffered for a little while…” We can contemplate this “little while” in a couple of ways.  Life is generally not suffering all the time.  It may come in seasons, now intense, and now not.  It is very common to see that God brings us through times of difficult testing and into times of rest.  Those difficult times always feel like they will never end, but this too shall pass.  Knowing this can help us to keep faith in times of testing.

Yet, our lives are also “for a little while.”  We are grass and our time fleeting.  Even if my life is lived suffering under the boot of a tyrant until the day I die, this cannot change God’s calling upon my life.  When the suffering is over. Then I will see how God has used it to do some things within me that are eternal.  This is true throughout our life, and it will be true at the end of our life.

Peter states that God will “perfect you.”  This is the idea of making you complete, lacking nothing.  We can think of being completely equipped with all that we need, but we should also think of His ability to heal our wounds and make us whole, complete.

This doesn’t mean we do nothing.  We are called to be perfect as He is perfect, but none of us can do this on our own.  In this life, He is perfecting us through imperfect things.  Yet, in the end, we will be like Him because of His grace.

Trials and sufferings are one of the ways that God builds His character and righteousness into us.

Not only will He make us complete, but He will firmly equip us.  The firm part of this phrase has the idea of being set in a way that is not easily moved.  We might picture how construction uses braces to keep a structure from falling over.  God is making us to be a people that the devil cannot defeat and devour.  He is making us into people who cannot be pulled onto foolish paths.

He will also strengthen you.  There is strength that comes from bracing (external), but there is also strength that is more internal.  The Spirit of God uses trials and suffering to strengthen our faith in Him.  This is a spiritual strengthening.

Lastly, Peter says that He will establish you.  This is the idea of having a firm foundation.  Of course, Jesus is our firm foundation.  However, God is working to firmly set us upon His foundation, unable to be toppled.

Think of it.  Each trial you go through will also see God doing these things within you until that day you stand before Him completed.

This leads to Peter’s celebratory declaration.  To Him be the glory and dominion forever and ever, amen.  Some versions don’t have the word glory.  Regardless, this is the language used of the Messiah’s Kingdom.  The Son of Man will be given dominion over all the nations of the earth.  Why should we remain humble at all times?  We should do so because the day is coming when Jesus will come in glory and take up his dominion.  The power, rule, and dominion are all his, even if he invites us into it and allows us to exercise it with him. 

This ties back to the earlier statement, “Let him who boasts boast in the lord!”

Peter does that here by declaring that all of this belongs to Jesus forever, Amen!

Suffering Future Hope 3 audio