Pride and Temptation
Sermon Recording
Sermon Outline
Speaker: Rev. Scott Strickman
Sermon Series: Spiritual Vitality
1 Peter 5:5b-11 (ESV)
5 Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”
6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, 7 casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. 8 Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. 9 Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. 10 And after you have suffered 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. 11 To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen.
Sermon Outline
Because pride will be exploited, your best strategy in difficult periods is to humbly lean on God.
1. Pride Exploited
v5 “God opposes the proud”
v8 “your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour”
v6 “humble yourselves, therefore…”
v8 “be sober minded; be watchful”
2. Humility Displayed
v6 “humble yourselves… at the proper time he may exalt you”
v7 “because he cares for you” “casting all your anxieties on him”
3. Faith Grounded
v9 “resist him, firm in your faith”
God is mighty (v6, v11)
God is a God of all grace (v10, 5)
He cares for you (v7)
God’s beloved people have suffered and are suffering (v9)
God will restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you (v10)
Prayer of Confession
Almighty God, God of all grace, we humble ourselves before you. We have not stood firm in our faith. We have given in to temptation. We have not resisted our adversary. In pride we have been deceived. We have turned against you and one another. Forgive every sin, whether in thought, word or deed. We know it is folly to try to exalt ourselves, so we turn to you, asking for grace. We look to you to restore, confirm, strengthen and establish us. To you be dominion, forever and ever. Amen.
Questions for Reflection
How does pride make us vulnerable? How does it affect our ability to discern? How can someone looking to manipulate someone else take advantage of their pride?
How does temptation show up in difficult periods of life? What kinds of temptations do you experience when things aren’t going well?
What does it look like to humble yourself? What are you to do? What should you not do?
From what you know of how Jesus faced temptation, what kinds of things do we learn about his character from what we can see (in reading about those moments in the Gospels)?
How does the suffering and death of Jesus communicate God’s care for you?
Why is it important to be firm in your faith when going through a difficult period of life? What particular teachings of the Bible are important to hold on to? What are hardest for you to believe?
How can confidence in God’s goodness and a firm ability to trust Him provide a foundation to help you in all of life? What possibilities does such a perspective create for how you experience life, and what decisions you make?