1 Peter 5:8,9

This is the third time that Peter has urged his readers to be "alert and of sober mind", the other occasions being 1:13 and 4:7. Peter knew how important this was because of his own past failings. We should think ahead, being aware of what situations we might face and how we should react in them. If we are prepared, then we are more likely to make the right response. Just think how many times you have said or done something you later regret? We would have avoided many of these failures if we had thought ahead.

The devil is looking for opportunities to trip us up, in fact looking for a chance to devour us. Some have made a lot of the fact that it says he prowls "like" a lion, saying that he is actually toothless and cannot really do any damage. I am not convinced by this. The whole tenor of Peter's teaching is that we need to take the devil seriously.

Our response is to resist the devil and stand firm in the faith. We are to take the devil seriously, but we are not to run from him or to fear him. If we stand firm then it is the devil who will do the fleeing (James 4:7). We are not alone in the battle, for all believers face the same battle. One of the devil's tricks is to convince us that we are the only one undergoing this particular trial. It is not true.

1 Peter 5:5-7

In the same way, this phrase is repeated often. No matter whether we are male or female, young or old, leader or not, we are all to have the same attitude, the attitude of Christ. This is the most important thing. If you look in the New Testament it is actually impossible to find a single comprehensive model of church structure. Now I know many dominations or groups may claim to be based on the NT. In many cases they are right in saying that their model is consistent with Scripture, but there is no one single model presented. The reason is that the model is not crucial, it is the attitude we have. If we have the mind of Christ then we will be "successful", if we do not have the attitude of Christ it makes not a blind bit of difference what system we have, we will fail.

We are all to clothe ourselves with humility, because, as Proverbs 3:34 says, God opposes the proud but favours the humble. If we adopt a proud attitude then God is our enemy and we cannot expect to get very far. Just as we make sure we put normal clothes on in the morning, we should take care to clothe ourselves with humility for the day as well.

If we do humble ourselves before God, then He will lift us up at the right time and in the right way. Sometimes we adopt a proud or forceful attitude because of insecurities or fears, instead we should cast our cares upon the Lord, being confident that He will look after us.

1 Peter 5:1-4

Peter now addresses the elders of the church. Peter is speaking specifically to the leaders. Peter writes as one who saw Christ suffer and know he will share in Christ's glory. These two facts should colour our attitude to life. We serve a Lord who suffered for all, so we should not consider anything to menial for ourselves, or be full of self-importance. Conversely, we should also be full of joy and hope, having no resentment or bitterness, because we know we too will share in His glory.

Leaders are to lead as servants. We are to do the tasks we have as willing servants, not doing them because we have to, and definitely not in order to get lots of money. Nor are we to use positions of authority to lord it over others, ie emphasising the fact that we are leaders and they are not. A leader is a servant, and we are above all else to lead as examples, as examples of people who are imitating Christ. Then we can be confident that when Christ appears we will receive a true crown of glory.

1 Peter 4:12-19

Again Peter speaks about going through trials, indeed this is a continual emphasis in the letter. Our natural reaction is to want to avoid trials, and sometimes we see Christ as a means of avoiding trials, but this is not the message that the Bible gives. The message of the Bible, and 1 Peter in particular, about trials has many aspects, but two of the key ones are:

• We are sharing in Christ's suffering
• God uses them to make us more Christlike.

Peter tells them that there is nothing unusual about going through trials, instead they are to rejoice that they are sharing in Christ's sufferings. This implies that the trials were a direct result of their faith in Christ. If we share in His sufferings, we will also share in His glory (Romans 8:17).

Jesus Himself taught that we are blessed if we suffer for His sake (Matthew 5:11).

Everyone suffers, we might as well suffer for something worthwhile! We can suffer for doing things that are plainly wrong, such as murder or theft, or we can suffer for just being a nuisance, a meddler as Peter puts it here. We need to distinguish between suffering which is our fault, and which can be avoided by changing our ways, and suffering for Christ's sake. Needless suffering is nothing to be proud of, but if we do suffer for Christ's sake we should rejoice, rather than being ashamed, for it shows that we are identified with Christ.

Peter then talks about judgement. Now it might seem a little odd to do so here, for he has been talking about suffering as a Christian, and how this is good. The truth is that when we suffer there will usually be a mixture of good and bad things. As well as making us more Christlike, it will also bring to the surface the unChristlike features of us. God uses trials to purify and refine us.

So suffering is not something to be avoided at all costs, instead we are to commit ourselves to God and do good.

1 Peter 4:7-11

This was written almost two thousand years ago, so saying the end of all things is near seems removed from the truth. But viewed in eternity the end is near, and for each one if us the end is at most about 70 years away (and a lot closer in some cases!) as far as we are concerned. Our time in this life is time limited. Our response should be to be alert and sober minded, being careful how we live. Isaiah refers to the attitude of his day as "eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die". This was an attitude of hopelessness, but we have hope, we have a purpose, therefore we live well.

The primary practical outworking of this is to love one another. "Love covers a multitude of sins". This does not mean we can get away with sin, it does mean that love is essential. We can have all the laws and rules we want, but without love things will not work. Conversely, if love is the driving force, then all sorts of imperfections and failings can be overcome.

We are to be hospitable to each other. Peter's words about doing this without grumbling may indicate that his hearers were not particularly hospitable by nature. We need to have a generous attitude. We are to serve each other with our gifts. We are all given gifts and abilities by God. They are not given for self-promotion, but so that we can serve others. This also means that we should serve with confidence. If we have the gift of speaking then we should speak as if we are speaking the very words of God, not so that we can puff ourselves up, but so that we can build others up.

1 Peter 4:1-6

We are to arm ourselves with the same attitude that Christ had. What attitude did He have? Jesus was prepared to obey God whatever the cost, whatever the suffering demanded of Him, even if this suffering was grossly "unfair". We need to arm ourselves with this attitude. Remember again that it is Peter writing here. he knew how easy it was to give in to our weak desires if were not prepared, as he found out when he denied Jesus. Our natural reaction is to consider it unfair or unreasonable to suffer, we naturally want the easy way. But if we are to conquer sin then we need to be prepared to suffer.

The overriding driving force in our life is to be doing the will of God, not living by earthly desires. Peter's teaching here is very similar of Paul's teaching about living by the flesh and the spirit in Romans 8. Peter here is speaking primarily about overtly sinful actions, such as various forms of debauchery. The world considers it strange that we do not want to join in with its ways, and its ideas of "fun". They may even heap abuse on us because we choose to live differently.

The truth is that at the end all of us will have to give an account to God for how we have lived.

Verse 6 is another difficult verse. Some have seen it as referring to a chance to hear the gospel being given to those who have died. There is not a lot to support this view, and it is out of context with the rest of the letter (not to mention the rest of the Bible). Another view is that it is referring to preaching to the spiritually dead, bringing them to life when they believe. While this is true, again it does not fit in with the current context. The best view seems to be to take it as Peter dealing with what has happened to those who have died in the faith. They died physically, as we all will, because of sin, but they will be raised to new life at the last day.

1 Peter 3:19-22

Verse 19,20 contain one of the most enigmatic statements in the Bible. There are several explanations that have been advanced. These include:

• This refers to Christ going to Hades between His death and resurrection to preach to people who died at the flood and give them a second chance. There is no Scriptual support for this view.
• Christ went to hell to proclaim His victory to the imprisoned fallen angels. However, the context seems to be referring to men rather than angels.

There are others. All these ones seem to be fixated on the view that "in that state" refers to Christ's state between death and resurrection. The best view seems to be that "in that state" is referring to the risen Christ. Peter is the using the time of Noah as an example. Noah patiently went about doing what God had commanded him to do, but the rest of humanity refused to listen. The risen Christ is the ultimate proof that Noah was right. This does seem to fit the context much better. Also, we have a bad habit of think "in the spirit" is opposed to our physical existence. This is not so. The complete human being is a physical being whose life is motivated by the Spirit. When we are raised to new life we will have physical bodies.

In Noah's day only a few were saved, so we should not be disheartened if not many believe. For we have been cleanses of our guilt. We have been baptised into Christ's death and resurrection, we share in His victory. And our saviour is seated at the right hand of God,with everything else is submission to Him.