Friday – January 29, 2016
Thank you Jesus for the opportunity to partake of God’s Word, once again, to become more like you. Before we launch once again into our topic of Spiritual Warfare let us all be reminded to pray for the Church of Jesus Christ, both the delusional organized portion and the real but scattered disenfranchised portion. The church building pictured is Christ Church Cathedral established 1803 in New Orleans. Today this Church is the official seat of the Bishop for the Louisiana Episcopal Diocese. (From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)
Let’s review our primary text for Spiritual Warfare.
Colossians 2:1 (KJV)
1 For I would that ye knew what great conflict I have for you, and for them at Laodicea, and for as many as have not seen my face in the flesh;
Today I will continue on the topic of Spiritual Warfare and we will look at a passage written by the Apostle Peter by the unction of the Holy Spirit.
1 Peter 5:5-10 (KJV)
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.
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.
10 But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.
Our focal verses are 7 – 9 however I will review the whole passage for context and depth of understanding. You will notice that the section I have chosen for us to study starts with submission, of course everyone’s favorite topic (author sarcasm). The use of the words younger and elder in verse five is not just a reference to age differences but to a spiritual maturity difference. You can have an 80 year old that is a spiritual baby and a 25 year old that is a mature son in the Kingdom of God. The words submit and subject in this same verse have a variance of connotation being that the spiritually younger persons are to be subject to the more mature and the phrase “be subject one to another” has more to do with courtesy and giving deference one to the other. The Apostle Peter then says we are to “be clothed with humility” a topic I suspect he knows something about. We are to be clothed, covered, and protected by this attitude of humility (unpretentious, modest). And why do we honor our elders, defer one to another, and practice humility? The failure to submit, be subject, and be clothed with humility is pride. God Himself resists the proud but gives His Grace (Holy Spirit) to the humble. Guess which side of this deal I want to be on. When God resists a person what do you think the chances are of overcoming that resistance short of repentance? Zippo Zero! This brings us to verse six. Remember we are still talking about Spiritual Warfare. The enemy will try to get us in rebellion concerning the elders of our group or to be haughty with those who we consider to be lesser then ourselves. Resisting these fleshly urges avoids having God push back on us and the Holy Spirit (Grace) is loosed in our lives. Seems like a no brainer.
1 Peter 5:6 (KJV)
6 Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time:
We are to submit ourselves, be humble, and be respectful to the mighty hand of God who is the Holy Spirit. This has to do with being led of the Spirit of God not our fleshly lusts.
Romans 8:13-15 (KJV)
13 For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.
14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
15 For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.
As we read in 1 Peter 5:6 we are not to exalt or lift ourselves up but as we submit to those around us and to Him, He will exalt or lift us up. God enjoys showing off His kids just like we enjoy showing off our natural kids and bragging on them. We also are so very pleased to see our children promoted and so is our Heavenly Father pleased to promote us and trust us with increasing authority and power. Next week we will pick up with the rest of this passage in first Peter.
1 Peter 5:7-10 (KJV)
7 Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.
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.
10 But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.
Until Monday remember:
2 Peter 1:2 (KJV)
2 Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord,
By Pastor David R. Wood
