Bible Study Fellowship | Christians, Anxieties & Satan
5 In the same way, you who are younger, submit yourselves to your elders. All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.”
- Proverbs 3:34 – He mocks proud mockers but shows favor to the humble and oppressed.
- Bible Study Fellowship Note|5:5 – Christians both young and old can benefit from Peter’s instructions. Pride often keeps older people from trying to understand young people and keeps young people from listening to those who are older. Peter told both young and old to be humble and to serve each other. Young men (and women) should follow the leadership of older men (and women), who should lead by example. Respect those who are older than you, listen to those younger than you, and be humble enough to admit that you can learn from each other. Iron sharpens iron. In our Christian walk we can all learn from each other
- Proverbs 27:17 – As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.
6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.
- Bible Study Fellowship Note|5:6 – We often worry about our position and status, hoping to get proper recognition for what we do. But Peter advises us to remember that God’s recognition counts more than human praise. God is able and willing to bless us according to his timing. Humbly obey God regardless of present circumstances, and in his good time (either in this life or in the next) he will honor you.
7 Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.
- Bible Study Fellowship Note|5:7 – We need to present all our worries and anxieties and problems to God in order to let Him handle them. Carrying our worries, stresses, and daily struggles by ourselves demonstrate that we have not trusted God fully with our life. It takes humility, however, to recognize that God cares, to admit your need, and to let others in God’s family help you. Sometimes we think that struggles caused by our own sin and foolishness are not God’s concern. But when we turn to God in repentance he will bear the weight even of those struggles. Letting God have your anxieties calls for action, not passivity. Don’t submit to circumstances but to the Lord, who controls circumstances.
8. Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 9. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings.
- Bible Study Fellowship Note|5:8,9 – Lions attack sick, young, or straggling animals: they choose victims who are alone or not alert. Peter warns us to watch out for Satan when we are suffering or being persecuted. He starts verse 8 with “be alert and of sober mind”. Not only should we be focused and not distracted, our thoughts should be clear. Feeling alone, weak, helpless, and cut off from other believers, so focused on our troubles that we forget to watch for danger, we are especially vulnerable to Satan’s attacks. During times of suffering, seek other Christians for support. Keep your eyes on Christ, and resist the devil. then says James, “he will flee from you” (James 4:7).
- James 4:7 –Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
10 And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. 11 To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen.
- Bible Study Fellowship Note|5:10 – When we are suffering, we often feel as though our pain will never end. Peter gave these faithful Christians a broader perspective. In comparison with eternity, this suffering would last only “a little while”. Some of Peter’s readers would be strengthened and delivered in their own lifetimes. Others would be released from their suffering through death. All of God’s faithful followers are assured of an eternal life with Christ, where there will be no suffering (Revelations 21:4).
- Revelations 21:4 –He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”
- Isaiah 25:8 – he will swallow up death forever. The Sovereign Lord will wipe away the tears from all faces; he will remove his people’s disgrace from all the earth. The Lord has spoken
