10 Shepherds, Sheep, and Lions (1 Peter 5)

Krisan Marotta: Welcome to the Wednesday in the Word podcast. The podcast that not only explains what scripture means but teaches you how to figure it out. I'm Krisan Marotta. Today we'll be looking at 1 Peter chapter 5. This is the 10th top and the final one in our series on the book of 1 Peter. To find lecture notes for today's talk, please go to the website. You'll find those at wednesdayintheword.com slash 1 Peter 10. Thanks so much for listening. So as we finish the book of 1 Peter today, I want to restart with a little review. I have argued that Peter is writing to give his readers the right perspective on life. That his primary goal is to inspire them and us by extension with the big picture, and that big picture is the gospel. He explains the gospel in chapter one, and then in the first part of chapter two, he encourages us to long for a deeper and increasing understanding of the gospel the way a newborn longs for milk. Then in chapter two, verse eleven, he begins the second major section of the book, and in this section he talks about how the gospel makes a difference in the way we live, particularly when we're being treated unfairly and unjustly. He gives three examples of situations believers find themselves in where they're in this socially binding situation, one they can't easily leave, and they're facing injustice. So his examples are citizens under an unjust government, slaves with unjust masters, and then wives with unbelieving husbands. In each case, his advice is the same. Live out your faith. Let the gospel make a difference in your life and communicate with your behavior that you love God and respect the person that is treating you unjustly. That section takes us through to chapter four where he begins wrapping up the letter. He returns to his two main themes, how you deal with fellow believers, and how you deal with hostile non-believers. And his advice again is you need to maintain the right perspective, the perspective that the gospel gives you. Now in chapter five, as he wraps things up, he turns to the leaders. First Peter five one begins, so I exhort the elders among you. And before we look at what he says, we have to figure out who is he addressing. Who are the elders among you? Now over the history of the church, there have been many different types of leadership and structures, and most all of them are based on this word and this concept of elders. Elder is one of the translations of the Greek word presbyteros, which is where we get our English word presbytery and presbyters and that whole concept. And that's just one example of a form of church leadership that's based on this concept. Some churches have a very tight, formal, structured form of leadership. Others have a much looser grassroots kind of leadership structure, but most all of them say their structure is dictated in one way or another by Scripture and they tie it back to this word. Well, for our purposes, we're not going to wade into that debate of who's right and who's wrong and what's the best structure and what's okay or whatnot. Rather, as Bible students, we want to look at Peter's letter and ask the question, who did Peter think he was talking to? Who is he addressing when he says, I exhort the elders among you? And that concept is pretty simple. Basically, I think it comes from the Jewish synagogue, and it was a concept that was carried over into the New Testament church. The root idea is fairly simple. He's addressing a group of people who worship together. So a religious congregation, a church, they're gathered together to worship God, they believe roughly the same things, and they want to encourage each other in that belief. So in that community, you have both individual lives and a corporate life. Individuals are responsible for their own lives, families are responsible for their family lives, and then there is this congregational life. When are we going to meet? How often do we meet? What are we going to do with our meeting time? Who has responsibility for that? Who decides what we're going to do, how we're going to do it, when we're going to do it, and who is it that's going to guide the life of the community and ensure that their time together is used wisely and well and for the edification of all? Well, it only makes sense that you would want the mature, the most mature, the wisest believers in charge. So you want the people who are farthest along this journey of faith and therefore have gained the most understanding and wisdom, and you want them to be the ones overseeing the flock or the congregation and making those kinds of decisions. Basically, you want the people who've been around the block a few times. And typically, those are usually the people who are the oldest chronologically. They've been walking with the Lord a long time, and hence they are the elders. Obviously, it's not always those who are the oldest chronologically who are the wisest, but that tends to be the case. So in general, the elders are those who have a track record of faith. They've been tested, they've grown and matured in faith as a result of that testing, and they are the farthest along on the journey toward maturity and faith. Since that growth and maturity takes time, typically the leadership of the congregation then would be drawn from those who are also the oldest, the oldest members who've who've been through the fires and learned a measure of wisdom. In his letters, Paul gives pretty specific descriptions of what he's looking for in elders or overseers. Essentially, he describes people whose life demonstrates that they are committed to faith in the gospel and they have demonstrated experience in living out. So they are people for whom life has forced them to face into the questions of do I really trust God or not? Do I really want the promises of the gospel? And they have been shown to have genuine faith and maturity through those struggles and that testing. And Paul encourages the churches in his letters to pull elders from those people who've been through that process and learned well and grown in the faith. And that makes sense because this is the curriculum that God has in mind for all of us. He takes all of us through testing, which strengthens and matures our faith. And so we should want the people in charge to be the people who have been through that process and who are farther into their journey of faith than the rest of us. That testing is designed to give them a measure of wisdom, and that wisdom makes for good leadership. So as I understand it, when the New Testament addresses elders, they're talking to the people who have accepted responsibility for the life of the congregation. And these should be the people who have gained a decent measure of maturity in the faith and are typically the older members of the congregation. The task of an elder is basically to encourage others to faithfully persevere as disciples of Christ, and that encouragement often comes in the form of teaching. Now, personally, I think church leadership can take a lot of different forms and be considered biblical. I don't think structure and the organizational chart is the main issue in the New Testament. Rather, the New Testament places much more emphasis on the character of those chosen for leadership. They are to be people who have demonstrated faith and maturity. And it seems to me we modern churches would do well to emphasize that idea. Because in my experience, I've been in a lot of churches where we just got too blinded by business experience or career success or educational pedigrees. And in the end, those things are secondary to a life of faith. Ultimately, what we're looking for in our church leaders is maturity of faith and a demonstrated understanding of and commitment to the gospel. And that may have nothing to do with business experience, career success, and education. We can see then why Peter would address the elders as he closes this letter. Remember, this letter is addressed to believers who are facing widespread persecution under Nero. They're also facing hostility from fellow unbelievers in their community, and on top of that, they're struggling to figure out how to live together as a mixed Jew and Gentile community of faith. The elders among them are called to encourage them to stay faithful, to live out the implications of their faith. Once this letter has been read and circulated and passed on to the next church, the elders are the people who are going to need to encourage the group. They're going to need to encourage the group to take this letter to heart and encourage them in the same things that Peter has encouraged them in the letter. So it makes sense that he would speak to them because they have this extra responsibility for the life of the congregation. I don't think he's really talking shop. The elders aren't different than anyone else in the congregation. They have the same struggles, the same issues as everyone else. They're living through the same situations and trials and tribulations. But hopefully, because of their extra maturity and wisdom, they have enough maturity to have weathered this kind of storm before and then are able to use that experience to encourage others who are facing it maybe for the first time. But as leaders, all leaders face this additional temptation of power. They face all the temptations that come with having your way. When you're in a position of leadership, it is very, very easy and tempting to grow arrogant or prideful or neglectful of the people under your leadership, the members of your flock. So I don't see this as talking shop, but more as a personal encouragement to the elders to be faithful to their responsibility, not only for the sake of the church community, but also for their own sake. And as we'll see, what he says to elders, I think, can apply to all of us in one way or another. You don't have to be a church elder or leader to profit from this. Alright, so now that we know who he's talking to, let's look at the first four verses. This is first Peter chapter five verses one through four. So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed, shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you, not for shameful gain, but eagerly, not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock, and when the chief shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory. So he starts this section with a personal appeal to the elders. Basically he's answering why listen to me, why listen to Peter? And he gives three reasons why they should pay attention to what he's about to say. First, he's an elder like them. He's been tested and been shown faithful, and he is responsible for encouraging a large group of Christians to stay faithful. That's why he's writing this letter. He's appealing to them with the idea, look, I know what you're going through, I face the same challenges, I share the same responsibilities, I am an elder too. Secondly, he refers to his unique status as a witness to the earthly life and ministry of Jesus Christ. Peter was one of the very first apostles called, and he was with Jesus through the cross and the resurrection. He was there basically from the beginning to the end of Jesus' earthly ministry. And he has firsthand experience with Christ. He was an eyewitness to his teachings, his life, his death, and his resurrection. Given that experience, Peter could testify to all sorts of things about Jesus Christ. It's interesting that he says here he was an eyewitness to the sufferings of Christ. Suffering is one of the main themes of this letter, and he's been saying, if you're going to follow Christ, you're going to suffer like he did. You're going to face persecution and treatment from un from hostile non-believers and unjust governments and so on. And now he's appealing to them, saying, I saw the way Jesus suffered. Now he's appealing to them as an eyewitness to the way Jesus handled suffering. He's saying, Listen to me because I saw how Jesus lived his life. I saw how he was reviled and how he handled it when he was. I saw him suffering unjustly, and I watched how he responded to it, and I have first hand experience with learning how to face into the very kinds of suffering you're facing now. And then third, he reminds them that he shares in the glory to be revealed with them. He started the letter talking about this living hope that believers have, and he reminds them, I share the same hope, this glory that is about to be revealed. We have the same destiny, we have the same living hope that's coming and will be revealed eventually. And he says, look, I'm living life on that same basis as you. I'm facing the same kinds of struggles, the same sufferings, and I face them with the same anchor of hope of the glory to come. So what I encourage you to find hope in is what I am finding hope in. Then he pictures their job as shepherding a flock. And you may remember that after the resurrection, Jesus appeared to Peter personally. And in that breakfast on the beach, Jesus asks Peter three times, Do you love me? And Peter says three times, Yes, Lord, I love you. And each time Jesus responds, Then shepherd my sheep or feed my lambs. Essentially Jesus says to him, Okay, you love me, then I want you to love and care for my people. And it's interesting that Peter uses that same language here. He's talking to the leaders of the church and he says, You need to love and care for the people. The shepherd gave his life to the care of the flock, even being willing to lay down his life to protect them. I think that's the picture Peter wants to paint with this metaphor. He wants them to have a self-sacrificial concern for the people in the congregation. Now, if you've been in any kind of organization, especially if you've been a leader in any organization, you know that being in leadership is a spiritual temptation. Because we're all sinners, we all tend to get focused on what's in this for me? What can I get out of this situation? I have needs, I have wants, I want a certain level of security and respect and belonging from this group. And so we face the temptation of using our roles selfishly to satisfy those needs and wants. Especially when and if the needs of the congregation conflict with your own personal needs, then we leaders face this great temptation to indulge ourselves first. That usually goes very badly. So in light of this temptation of leadership, he gives three warnings to the elders. His first warning is serve not under compulsion, but willingly. And I think the idea here is that sometimes responsibility feels like a burden. I have this responsibility, and that responsibility takes time, it takes effort and energy. The people I'm serving, maybe they're a pain, they want things from me, they need things, and it's easy to slip into this attitude that okay, I'll do it if I have to, and then do the minimum required and do a slip shot job because you know this responsibility is such a burden. Peter's warning is check your attitude. Being in leadership is an opportunity to serve, and you want to do it not because you have to, not under compulsion, but willingly. To do it under compulsion is to serve grudgingly, to begrudge or resent the time it takes, the effort it takes for leadership. Paul uses the same term when he talks about giving cheerfully, not under compulsion. It's this attitude that I'm being put out or being put upon or being taken advantage of. And I think it arises from losing the vision for what the opportunity to lead is. It's losing the vision for how important and significant it is to be able to encourage each other. And especially if we're encouraging each other to stand firm and be strong in the gospel. Even if it costs us time or effort or resources, we should want to take that service on and we should want to take it on willingly because we know it's important and it's valuable. So that's his first warning. Serve not under compulsion but but willingly. His second warning is not for sorted gain but with eagerness. Now, this is one of those warnings that we barely need to explain. Even in the church, it's easy to see how leadership can be used for sorted gain. Being in a position of leadership is obviously a temptation to make myself great. In any group of people organized around a cause or a creed, the leaders will be tempted to use their position to advance themselves. It doesn't have to be the church, it can be any organization. But when you're up front and people listen to you and you have some measure of authority to dictate what goes on, there's this great temptation to shine that light of glory on yourself and use people for your own personal and financial gain. It's just a temptation every leader everywhere faces to use that position for their own gain. And Peter says, resist. He's speaking to the elders, to those in that position of leadership, because leaders have to ask the question, well, how am I going to conduct myself in this role? And he's warning them not to expect or demand or manipulate those who are supporting them. He's warning them against that temptation of feeding their own greed or puffing up their own pride or expecting that because I'm a leader, that I now have a right to the generosity of others. And that's the attitude he's addressing. He's saying, You don't don't go there. You don't have that right. His third warning then is that they should separate the flock, not as lording it over, but it by being an example. And I would argue that these warnings apply to all of us in whatever roles we have, not just to elders and church leaders. Because all of us have this profound desire as fallen creatures to have and hold and wield the power. We all want to get our way, and we all want to be in a position where it's my will and what I say that goes and carries the most weight. We all want to be the decision maker and we all want to be the one in charge who says this is what goes. And being in leadership in any form is a great temptation, whether it's a leader in a family or a church or an organization or a community club or whatever. Being in church leadership is a great temptation. And we can look at verses in the Bible that encourage giving to leaders and honoring and respecting those who have responsibility, and we can use those as a rod to beat the sheep, to say, okay, see, you have to listen to me, you have to respect me, you have to submit to what I have to say. Look at this verse right here. And it's easy to claim that I have scriptural support for getting my way. And being in charge gives you the ability, in a sense, to say, my way goes, and the temptation is to fall in love with being the person everyone else has to listen to. And Peter's saying, This is a huge trap waiting to snare your every step. What's even more scary is you can fall into this trap and not even realize you've done it. And I think Peter's acknowledging here how easy it is to trip up, and he's reminding them you're called to lead not as a dictator, but as an example, a servant leader. And I think Peter gives what is exactly the right antidote to the trap. Be an example. Be an example of gracious self-sacrifice, of forgiving each other, of loving each other, of encouraging each other, of recognizing the other person is important and putting their needs first. The job of a leader or an elder is not to lord it over people, but to be an example to them. Elders ought to encourage others to the Word of God. They ought to give up their time and resources to encourage the flock. That's what the gospel encourages each and every one of us to do for each other, and that's what elders ought to be about. Striving to be an example of that kind of giving and self sacrifice, to be an example of respecting hosts. Hostile unbelievers in your life, of forgiving and forbearing with your fellow believers, and of loving others regardless of how they treat you in return. It's hard to be a dictator when you're striving to be an example of self-sacrifice. And Peter's saying, Your job as an elder is this kind of gracious self-sacrifice. It's to live out a faithful, self-sacrificing life while exercising your responsibility. It's not to be the boss, but to take on a life of trusting God, seeking the welfare of his people, and acting in the best interest of those under your oversight. Then he concludes in verse 4, and when the chief shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory. I see this verse as both an encouragement and a warning. He's saying, Yes, you are a leader, but you have a boss. You may be a shepherd, but there is a chief shepherd. And it's a subtle reminder that you may be a shepherd over a flock, but remember there is a chief shepherd, he is coming back, and he is the person you must answer to, and he will hold you accountable. So if you want the chief shepherd to welcome you with an unfading crown of glory, you need to live a faithful life. So it's both a warning and an encouragement that yes, there is this unfading crown of glory coming, but there is a chief shepherd who is going to be handing it out. While Peter is speaking specifically to elders, I think his words are relevant to all of us because each of us have areas in life where we have responsibility. Each of us has a group of people that we serve in one way or another, and each of us have a place where we're the leader and we have a choice about how we're going to treat others when we exercise those responsibilities. So we can take on our responsibilities and our service grudgingly and arrogantly as a stepping stone to greatness, or we can see those responsibilities as a service with the vision that there is value and dignity and worth in serving cheerfully and willingly. So this is not just good advice on how to be a nice person. The real underlying issue is what do my actions reveal about my faith? What's the point of being a leader? Why am I even taking on this responsibility? I ought to want it because I think encouraging the flock is a worthwhile and important thing to do. I'm not striving to lead this way because it makes me a nice person. I'm striving to lead with self-sacrificing service because I believe in the promises of the gospel. Then he goes on in verses five through seven. Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him because he cares for you. So now he turns and he speaks to the younger, and by younger I assume he means those who are not elders, those who are not in a position of responsibility. It's possible that he's addressing the elders on the one hand, then he turns to the youngsters, leaving the folks in the middle unaddressed, but I think it's more likely that he just means everyone else, you who are not in a position of leadership. Now we talked a lot about submission in chapters two and three, so I'll just remind you that submission here is limited because the authority of the elder is limited. Elders don't have responsibilities over individuals' lives and choices. They do not have the ability or the responsibility to dictate who marries who, for example, or who has what job or where they give their money or so forth. Their authority, their responsibility is limited to matters of congregational life. And I think that groups that have an inner circle which holds that kind of power over the lives of individual members, I think they have overstepped their bounds. I think that's a profound misunderstanding of the kind of responsibility elders have. Peter's just described the authority of an elder, and it's to be an example of self-sacrificing encouragement to the flock, to remain faithful to the gospel. It is not to be running the lives of members of their congregation. So elders in a group of Christians have a limited responsibility for the life of the congregation, and those younger, those without that responsibility, are to acknowledge that responsibility and respect them and let them exercise it. However, the main point of this section, I think, is the warning, the real danger that each and every one of us face, which is arrogance and pride and self-centeredness. He's calling them to humility. What is humility? Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it's thinking of yourself less. So it's not being self-deprecating. Notice the contrast here is between humility and pride. And he adds this idea of waiting for God to exalt you. So to lack humility is to be self-promoting. It's to make sure that my worth is recognized, that my needs get met, that my desires get taken care of first, and that the way I want things is the way they happen. To be humble toward each other, at least in this context, is to recognize that I don't have to get my way, my needs are not the most important, and it's recognizing the importance of the needs and desires of others, and then to wait for God to raise me up in his timing. So the contrast is not to exalt yourself, but to wait for God to exalt you. I don't want to be pushing myself forward and squashing everyone else on my way up the ladder. Rather, I am waiting for God to exalt me in whatever way he sees fit and whatever timing he sees fit. So I can let go of self-promotion because I'm trusting in God and waiting for him. And ultimately it is his honor and approval that I want. And really the fundamental issue here, the one that we all face is who do I trust to take care of me? Do I believe that I am in the hands of a creator who loves me and has a plan and a purpose for all the ups and downs of my life? Or do I think that I am left on my own and I need to take care of myself? Do I believe I have to grab and scratch and claw and put you down in order to get what I need? Or do I believe that there is a God who is going to take care of us both? Do I need to be anxious and worried about my life looking out for myself? Or do I trust that God is in control of my life? That's the fundamental issue. And if I trust that God is ultimately in control, then I can be humble. I don't have to put myself first. The solution to these temptations and to the anxiety of stressing over my needs is waiting for God. One day at the proper time, God is going to raise me up and hopefully say, Well done, good and faithful servant. He's going to give me a place among his people and an existence free from sin and death that is glorious and honorable and fulfill all the living hope and the inheritance we talked about in chapter one. And if I believe that, then everything I would like out of life, everything I would like to be and know and become, the security I long for, the holiness, the joy, the fulfillment I long for, all of that God has promised, and He has promised that He will grant it in His time and in His way. The only question is, do I trust Him or not? Do I trust that He does in fact care for me and is in in control and am I willing to wait for Him to exalt me at the proper time? It is so easy to get caught up in the cares and worries of this life and to start believing, oh, I'm alone in this. I have to look out for myself. God's taking too long. God's delayed. He's not listening. He's not going to fulfill these promises. And it's so easy to slip back into self-reliance because I want to be exalted. And I want to be exalted now. I get tired of waiting. And I think this is why Peter has said in this letter and is about to say again, stay awake, be sober-minded, don't forget the promises of the gospel. Because if I lose sight of the promises of God and I stop trusting him, then I'm I'm going to very quickly start living my life in competition, in competition with you, with the members of the flock, with the congregation, in subtle ways and maybe not so subtle ways, because I start believing that if I can just get you to do things my way, then life will be fulfilling. But if I trust that God is the one taking care of me, that the promises of the gospel are true, and that I can wait for Him, then that frees me from that anxiety such that I can serve humbly and graciously without puffing myself up. Now here is final words of encouragement. This is eight through eleven. Be sober minded, be watchful. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion seeking to devour someone. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. And after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen. Let me start with two points of clarification. His final words of encouragement focus on suffering at the hands of hostile non-believers. All spiritual challenges involve some suffering, but I think the kind of suffering he's focusing in on here is the kind that that results from persecution because that's what his readers were about to face. He talks about suffering being experienced by your brothers in the world, and I think he's referring to the kinds of suffering he's been discussing throughout this letter, particularly what we saw in chapter two, suffering at the hands of hostile non-believers. And you'll remember as Peter writes this, the persecution of the church under Nero is beginning. So I think he's he's referring to the sufferings being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world is this government-organized persecution under Nero. But I think we can extend his words to all kinds of suffering, all the different kinds of suffering that we face. Because living in a fallen, sinful world among fallen, sinful creatures, being sinful ourselves, we're going to to bring all kinds of suffering and challenges into life. It's just the way life is in a fallen world. And what he says about suffering under persecution can apply to those other sufferings as as well. Then in 510, he talks about God restoring, confirming, strengthening, and establishing you, and we have to decide when does that happen? When is Peter talking about? He could mean if you persevere now, someday in the future, like when Christ returns, God will establish you in heaven, or he could mean something in our present experience. If you look at the way each of these four words are used in the New Testament, they are usually found in contexts that talk about God establishing us in the faith now. That is, in our weakness and foolishness, God is taking us through these various experiences of life such that our faith becomes grounded and solid and stronger and more mature, and then we are able to resist future temptations precisely because God is at work in us. This is a very common theme in the New Testament. On the one hand, we're called to stand firm, to be strong and resist temptation, and on the other hand, the only reason we're able to do so is because God, through his spirit at work in us, is making us the kind of people who can stand firm and resist. And I think that's what he's getting at here. He will confirm, establish, and strengthen your faith and your maturity such that you will get to that finish line. So putting all this together then, this is the third time that Peter has warned us to be sober and awake. It's easy to be distracted from the truth of who God is and what he's about and what our real problem is. Our day-to-day concerns overwhelm us and claim all our attention, and we just forget the promises of the gospel. To make matters worse, not only are we easily distracted by our own lives, we have this adversary. We have an enemy who wants to keep us drunk and distracted. Satan, the enemy of God, wants to keep us focused on anything but the truth of the gospel, and that's why we have to fight to stay awake and stay strong. It's easy to start thinking that my real problems are what's going to happen by Friday, or financial concerns, or health, or wealth, or the problems of this life, and forget that ultimately the biggest problem I faith is being a sinful creature before a holy God, and that that is the problem I most need solved, and everything else is secondary. And Peter's saying, resist, stay strong, stay firm, but we are not alone in this fight. God who has saved us by his grace and called us to his glory is not going to abandon us to the fight. He's in the middle of that fight with us, he's in the middle of the trials and the sufferings, the and he is strengthening, encouraging, confirming, and establishing your faith. And this truth is precisely the kind of thing we are called to encourage each other with, especially when we see each other becoming drowsy or distracted. This is the encouragement the elders are to offer the flock. This is the kind of encouragement we are to offer each other. Ultimately, we're counting on God in his spirit to confirm and establish our faith. Let me just read the conclusion of the letter. By Sylvanus, a faithful brother, as I regard him, I have written briefly to you, exhorting and declaring that this is the true grace of God, stand firm in it. She who is at Babylon, who is likewise chosen, sends you greetings, so does Mark, my son. Greet one another with a kiss of love, peace to all of you who are in Christ. Salvanus is probably the man we know as Silas. He is the man who accompanied Paul on some of his missionary journeys. There's some debate whether Peter dictated this letter to Silas or whether Silas was just the one the emissary, the one carrying in it to the various churches. Babylon is a way to refer to Rome. Peter is writing from Rome, and he's probably referring to the church at Rome, is sending her greetings, and Mark is probably John Mark, the author of the gospel. But notice that 512 is a really great summary of the entire purpose of the letter. I have written briefly to you, exhorting and declaring that this is the true grace of God, stand firm in it. In his own words, that's what he's trying to do in this letter. As I mentioned in the very first talk, the word that sums up 1 Peter for me is perspective. He wants you to understand the true grace of God and stand firm in it and let that perspective influence every moment of your day. And while he does make a number of moral exhortations in this letter, he's not a moralist. He's not saying be nice, be good, love each other, respect each other because these are good things to do. He's trying to give us the right perspective on life, the big picture. That our actions, our reactions, our thoughts, our choices, all of those arise out of what we think the big picture is and what we believe to be true. If we think the world works a certain way, then we act accordingly. If we think we're on our own, if we think we have to look out for number one, then we're going to act accordingly. But if we think there is a God who is looking out for us, that there is a gospel, and God has made promises in the gospel, and those are true, then we will act differently. And Peter's trying to make sure we have that picture of the gospel, the right big picture, so that we live consistently with what we claim to believe. Christ came into the world to call his people, he's calling a people for himself and for the Father. He brought us mercy and forgiveness, and he died in our place to pay the penalty for our sins so that we could be reconciled to God and restored to life with him. He is coming again to complete and fulfill the promises God made to his people, and that gives us a great hope. In the meantime, we live in this world as aliens and strangers, as the people of God in a hostile world, and so we have three relationships we have to deal with. We have to deal with our relationship with other believers who are also sinful like us. We have to deal with our relationship with non-believers who are hostile toward us and disagree with everything we stand for, and we have to deal with our relationship with God Himself. And as Peter's shown through this letter, the gospel has implications for each of those relationships. That's the perspective, that's the big picture. If I believe the gospel, then it affects my relationship with God, my fellow believers, and the world at large. And Peter's urging us to remember to stay sober, to stay awake, and remember that God is the one who cares for us and He will raise us up at the proper time. That's the foundation for all the words in this letter. How are we able to submit to those who treat us unjustly or unfairly? How can we self-sacrificingly serve others in the church? How can we let go of our rights and be willing not to get our way? We can only do that because we have the right perspective, because we trust and believe that God Himself cares for us and will exalt us at the proper time. Thank you for joining me today for Wednesday in the Word, the podcast that explains not only what a passage means, but also shows you how to figure it out. I hope this podcast has blessed you, and if it has, please share this podcast with someone else that you think will benefit from it, and take a moment to leave a positive rating on Apple Podcasts or iTunes. If you leave a good rating, it really does help others find a podcast more easily. And of course, the simple act of telling a friend is the most effective method. So please tell a friend. You can subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, or however you get your podcast, and you can find hundreds of episodes on the website so you can browse for another book or a topic or passage that you're interested in. Thanks for listening today, and I hope you'll join me next week for Wednesday in the World.