Open your Bibles, please, to
1 Peter 5. the elders which are among you
I exhort, who am also an elder and a witness of the sufferings
of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed. Feed the flock which is among
you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly,
not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind, neither as being
lords over God's heritage, but being examples to the flock. And when the chief shepherd shall
appear, our Lord Jesus Christ, ye shall receive a crown of glory
that fadeth not away, Likewise, you 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, but giveth grace to the humble. Humble yourselves, therefore,
under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due
time, casting all of your care upon him, where he careth for you. Be sober,
serious, vigilant, earnest, Because your adversary the devil is a
roaring lion, walketh about seeking whom he may devour. Whom resist steadfast in the
faith, knowing that the same afflictions
are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world. But the
God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory, by
Christ Jesus, after that you have suffered a while, make you
perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you. To him be glory
and dominion forever and ever. Amen. There are some things that need
to be brought to our attention often, because the people of
God, the true people of God, they have trials, they have troubles,
they have cares, and especially so in the context of being Christians. And so, I want to bring to your
attention this morning this glorious Word, casting all your cares
upon Him, because He cares for you. I don't know what would
be better for me to try to say a few words about this or just
read that again and all of us go home and think about it. You
have any cares? Casting them all upon Him. He cares about health. You have cares about monetary
cares? Your home life? Your work? Cast
them all upon Him. And the reason we do so, because
He cares for you. And He has infinite, infinite
power to help and all the resources of the universe. Just cast your
cares upon Him. He cares for you. What glorious
words. That's the title of my message,
Ray. Glorious word. A glorious word. Casting all
your cares, and we have them. Just cast them on Him. Because
He cares for you. I want you to look with me at
this this morning. looking to God, first of all, that He might
be pleased to speak to our hearts, make the word alive, make it
real, make it the living word in our hearts. Now, our Lord says in the scriptures
to unbelievers, He said, are you weary and heavy laden, burdened
with sin? You feel your guilt, you carry
it around with you, your condemnation before God. He said, come to
me, I'll give you rest. And the problem is that men can't
come, they won't come until He reveals Himself to them. And
then they come. You can't come to an unrevealed
Christ. He has to be revealed. He has
to be unveiled. Our hearts have to have that
ovale removed so that we can see the glory of God in the face
of Jesus Christ. And so that's an invitation He
gives out to all men everywhere who labor and are heavy laden
under the burden of sin. Come to me, I'll give you rest.
That's a promise from God who cannot lie. Who doesn't play
games with the souls of men? Come to me if there's one here
this morning. And you know the burden of guilt
of sin. He says to you, come to me, I'll
give you rest. Why do you carry that burden
around? Come to me. Come to me, I'll give you rest.
Now this passage here is written to believers. And we find it
so hard and so difficult to cast all of our cares upon Him. We like to take care of them
ourselves, but we can't do it. We can't
do it. This is a reading in the original,
as best as I can make it out. Casting on Him, God, all of the anxiety of you, Whatever
you're anxious about, who cares? Because it matters concerning
you to Him. It matters. What matters? Everything
about you. It matters concerning you to
Him. It's amazing. It's amazing. Not in the light of what He's
done for us, but it's just amazing. He spared not His own Son, but
delivered Him up for us all. Hath shall He not also with Him
freely, freely, freely give us all things? You have cares, He's
your Father. He made you His children. Gave
you His Spirit, the Spirit of adoption. Cast your cares upon
Him. He really, truly, and forever
cares for you. Cast your cares upon Him. Whatever
your cares may be, cast them upon Him. Transfer to Him. Lay upon Him. Now listen to this. In faith,
trust, and confidence, Cast upon Him, lay upon Him in faith, trust,
and confidence all of your cares and concerns and anxieties, because He cares for you, and
He can take care of them. He can take care of them. He cares about you, everything
about you, Everything that concerns you, large things, small things,
all things. Betty, He cares that much about
us. He cares about us. We're never out of His sight.
He never sleeps. He never slumbers. And His eyes
are always upon us. And His heart is always upon
us. And we're always in His almighty
hand. What a comfort! What a glorious
word. Our Father says, cast all your
cares upon me. I care about you. He said, not
a bird falls from the earth, falls from the air without your
Father. And you're worth a lot more than
those birds. Cast your cares upon Him. Trust Him. Have confidence in Him. Oh, what
a glorious word indeed. I wish I could read these words
with the faith and the trust and the confidence that I ought
to have, but I can't. And you can't either unless God
enables. The only way we can is when He
makes the cares so heavy that we cry out to Him. That's the
way it works. That's the way it works. Romans
8.28. Turn there just a moment, please. Romans 8.28. Look what it says. And I'm not going to read all
this, but I want to read some to show you that He cares for
us. He cares for us. Verse 28, Romans 8, 28. We know. We know. It's not something we
speculate about. It's something we know. If you're
born again and you know God, you know that all things work
together for good. to them that love God, to them
who are the called according to His purpose. Everything that
happens in this world is under the sovereign rule and reign
of God for the salvation of His people, subservient to that one
purpose, the salvation of His people. Everything. Everything. For whom He did forego, He also
did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son, that
He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Christ came into
this world to redeem His people from all iniquity and bring those
many sons unto glory. That's what He's about today.
bringing many sons unto glory. Listen now. Moreover, whom He
did predestinate, Him He also called. Whom He called, Him He
also justified. Whom He justified, Him He also
glorified. What shall we then say to these
things? If God be for us, who can be against us? The chief
word here is for us. Do you ever sit and think about
that a while? You might have people that are
against you in this world. But what does it matter if God
is for us? For us. For us. If God's for us, who can be against
us? And what does it matter? I see old Moses now standing
at the Red Sea. Pharaoh's chariots and mighty
army coming up to crush them and to annihilate them. Moses, at the command of God,
held out his rod over the sea and told the people, stand still,
stand still, wait on God, and see the salvation
of the Lord. And you'll never see these people
again. And they stood still until Moses told them to march. And
they marched across that sea that their enemies tried to.
And they were destroyed. And they never saw them again. Just like God said. Stand still
and see the salvation of the world. If God be for us, who
can be against us? The Bible said Moses fled out
of Egypt not fearing the king. He didn't fear Pharaoh, the greatest
king in all of the world at that time. Greatest, most powerful,
most wealthy. And he said he led the people
out not fearing the king. Because he saw God who is invisible. If we've seen God, we've seen
that He's for us, we say, who can be against us? Who can be
against us? He that spared not His own Son,
but delivered Him up for us all, How shall He not with Him also
freely give us all things? All things. He cares for you. Cast your cares upon Him. He
gave His Son for you. Cast your cares upon Him. He
loves you with the same love wherewith He loves His Son. Cast
your cares upon Him. You don't have to bear them.
You bear them because you feel full of unbelief. You won't take
your burden to the Lord and leave it there. Carry it around with
you. I want you to look with me at
two Psalms. Everybody ought to have one of
those. I think everybody does have one. Look at Psalm 46. I'm just going to read these.
It doesn't need any explanation. God, the first three words are
wonderful. God is our refuge. Men take refuge, try to in so
many things, but the writer here says God is my refuge and strength. A very present help. He's always
there. Always there. Therefore will
not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains
be carried into the midst of the sea? God is our refuge. He's in charge of the mountains.
He's in charge of the sea. And though the waters thereof
roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the
swelling thereof, stop and think about it." That's what that word
Selah means, pause and consider it. Though these things all happen,
yet There is a river, the streams thereof shall make glad the city
of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the Most High."
God's in the midst of her. She shall not be moved. God shall
help her. And that right early. The heathen
raged, the kingdoms were moved. God uttered His voice and the
earth melted. The Lord of hosts is with us. The Lord of Hosts is
here this morning. The Lord of Hosts is with His
people. The Lord of Hosts dwells in His
people. And the Lord of Hosts is for
His people. The God of Jacob, again it says,
is our refuge. Think about that a while. Come behold the works of the
Lord, what desolations he hath made in the earth. He maketh
wars to cease unto the end of the earth, he breaketh the bow,
he cutteth the spear in thunder, he burneth the chariot in the
fire. Be still, just sit still, and
know that I'm God. Not a would-be God, I'm really
God. I'll be exalted among the heathen,
I'll be exalted in the earth." And again it says, the Lord of
hosts is with us. And the God of Jacob is our refuge. Look at chapter 56, division
56. Be merciful unto me, O God, for
man would swallow me up. He, fighting daily, oppresseth
me. Mine enemies would daily swallow
me up, for there are many that fight against me. O Thou Most
High, what time I'm afraid, if there's a time when I become
fearful. I trust in Thee. The fear goes
away. In God, I will praise His Word. In God, I have put my trust. I will not fear what flesh can
do unto me. Listen, turn on over just a little
bit. I want to get to a couple more verses. Verse 9. When I
cry unto Thee, then shall mine enemies turn back. This I know. How do you know that? Because
God's with me. God is for me. In God will I
praise His Word. In the Lord will I praise His
Word. In God have I put my trust. I will not be afraid what man
can do unto me. God is our refuge. God is with
us. God is for us. God is our Father. He says, cast all your cares
upon me, and I'll take care of you. He cares for us. He knows what's in us. He knows
every evil thought that we ever had, every evil word that we
ever spoke. He knows everything about us,
inside, outside, upside down. And yet, He still loves His people. These evil things about us, they
trouble us. But He said, "...cast your cares
upon Me." What a God. He cares for us. You know, I pastored a church one time,
and the main men, I kind of got cross ways with what they believed.
And the money quit coming in, and one week I got $5. One week I didn't get anything. And do you know during that time,
in one week, I was called upon to do two funerals, two One over in Arlington, one in
Marion, Kentucky. And I was asked to come over
there, take Brother Faust's place, a little money. And then that
same week, I was called to go to Ashland, Kentucky for the
first time in my life. God took care of me. God took
care. He always has and he always will.
I remember one time when I was in Sioux and I had Clarksville,
two kids and no job as of yet. Just gotten there and the rent came due and didn't
have the money, Betty, didn't have the money. And so I said,
I'm just going to wait on the Lord. I could have called brothers
and sisters and father. Got the money right through the
mail. I'm going to wait on the Lord.
And a day or two before that rent was due, I got a check in
the mail for the exact amount from a man I'd never heard from
before and haven't heard from him since. The Lord is great. He knew everything
about me. He knew my situation. Everything. And he said, what did he say?
Cast your cares on me? I'll care for you. I'll take care of you. I'll take
care of you. Amazing, amazing, amazing. Nothing about you here, you believers,
nothing about you is too small. Now listen to these words. I
wrote them down. They're written. Nothing about
you is too small, apparently insignificant. Nothing! And nothing
about you is too great. Nothing about you is too hard
for the God who cares for you. Your Father can handle it quite
easily. Quite easily. Quite easily. And He says, cast all your care
upon Me, because I care for you. Cast your cares upon Him. But
if and when you do, the only way you can do it is leave it
with Him how He works it out. You can't tell Him how to take
care of it. If you cast your cares upon Him, if and when you
do, it is to trust Him to work according to His own wisdom in
His own time. And He promises He'll do it.
Cast your cares upon Him. You know, such encouragement.
Look at Hebrews 4 just a moment. Such encouragement here. Hebrews chapter 4. Verse 14, believers, seeing then
that we have a great high priest that has passed into the heavens,
Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. Oh,
you can trust Him. He'll save you. He'll take care
of you. For you have not an high priest that cannot be touched
with the feeling of our infirmities, But in all points, he was in
all points tempted, like as we are, yet without sin. He knows what it is to have cares,
trials, temptations. Let us, therefore, since that's
the kind of high priest we have, one who understands, one who's
touched with the feeling of our infirmities, as one who who has
been tempted and tried and tested. Let us, therefore, let us, therefore,
come boldly unto the throne of grace. And it's a throne of grace,
not just a place of grace. That we may find grace, obtain
mercy, and find grace to help in time of need. He tells us
to do that. Cast your cares upon me. Come
to me as a throne of grace. I know your infirmities. I know
your feelings. What a God, what a Savior. Let us come boldly, freely. That's what that word means,
boldly. It means freely and without any
reluctance. Arthur Pink said it means freely
telling it all. Just let it out. What's bothering
you? Let it out. He knows anyway. Let it out.
Tell God. He knows what's bothering you.
He knows every thought you've ever had before you ever thought
it. Cast your cares upon Him freely
without reluctance. Freely telling it all. Because
you need grace to help. You have needs and you have cares. He cares for you. He cares for
you. You know, turn to Matthew 13
just a moment. Matthew chapter 13. The parable of the sower. I'm just going to deal with one
of these plots of ground. Brother Mahan preached this last
Thursday on TV. Verse 18, now verse 21. Yet hath he not rooted in himself,
and dried dearth for a while? That's one fellow on the rock.
He also that received seed among the thorns is he that hears the
word of God, and the cares of this world," that's the same
word as in 1 Peter 5, 7, the cares of this world, and the
deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful,
the cares of this world. the cares of this world. What
cares do we take to Him? All of them. He knows what we have need of
before we ever ask Him. But He tells us to ask Him. And
if we're His people, we will ask Him. And that's the way He
blesses us. What is meant by the care of
this world? Same thing in both passages.
The cares of this world choked out the word. It means cares,
family cares. You all have family cares. Things
you don't know what to do about. Just lay it out before the Lord. You know, I have said it here
some time ago. Other than preaching the gospel,
the greatest responsibility ever put upon me was raising, trying
to raise three children. And if I had to raise them all
over again, I still wouldn't know how to do it. I did the
best I could. That's all I could do. But I
spent a lot of time crying and praying. And somehow they all
came out fine. Because the Lord did it. The
Lord did. Family cares. have bills, jobs, all totally
legitimate. And yet, they can choke out the
Word of God. So why don't you leave them with
the Lord? Leave them with the Lord. Talk
to God about it. And the first thing He'll tell
you is this. Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. All these things shall be added
to you. He'll take care of you. David
said, I used to be a young fellow, and now I'm old. And I have never
seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread. He'll
take care of you. They may not live in a palace
in the valley, But a shack on the back of the hill would be
alright if you know the Lord. If God dwells with you. Wonderful
place to live. Cast these cares upon the Lord.
And the reason He gives is this. Because I care for you. I care
about you. Why do you carry your burdens
when God said He would? Take your burdens to the Lord
and leave them there. He cares about you. How much
does He care? Delivered up His own Son for
you. Spared Him not, but delivered Him up. Delivered Him up to become
a man. One of no reputation. A servant. A substitute. and a propitiation
for our sins. A sacrifice. When we were dead,
He passed by and gave us life. He came by and said, Live! And we've been living ever since.
Look into Him. When we were walking away, He
converted us, turned us around. When we had no heart to love
him, he gave us a new heart that does love him. What a God. What a God. He called us out of darkness
into his marvelous light. He snatched us out of the kingdom
of darkness and translated us into the kingdom of His dear
Son. He justified us freely through
the work of His Son, the Lord Jesus. And He keeps us by faith. We're
kept by the power of God through faith. God's power, our faith. My faith, but it's God's power. And as we pass through this world,
He makes all things work together for our good. We don't see it, but we know
it. We know that all things work together for good to them that
love God. Cast all your cares upon Him
because He cares for you. He is able He is willing to do
all for us that needs to be done by our good and His glory. He is able and willing to give
us grace and strength in time of need. And He Himself tells
us to do it. Cast your cares upon Me. Because He cares for us. What
a God, what a Savior, what a Father. He cares for us. Let me find a little place here
in my Bible. Zephaniah, if you will. I think I like reading this better
every time. Zephaniah 3.14. Sing, O daughter of Zion. You've got something to sing
about. Shout, O Israel. Be glad and rejoice with all
your heart. O daughter of Jerusalem, the
Lord hath taken away your judgments. He hath cast out thine enemy.
The King of Israel, even the Lord, is in the midst of thee,
and thou shalt not see evil any more. Does God care for us? Gave His Son for us? And listen
to this next verse. In that day it shall be said to Jerusalem,
Don't be afraid, fear thou not. And to Zion, let not thine hands
be slack. Get to work. Go about your business. Serve the Lord. the Lord thy God in the midst
of thee this morning here in Madisonville, Kentucky is mighty,
almighty, omnipotent, and he's right here
this morning. That's not all. He will save He doesn't try to
save anybody. He will save His people. You trust Him, you shall be saved. He will rejoice over thee. We
rejoice in the Lord, but He rejoices in us. He will rejoice over thee
with joy and take pleasure, delight, rest in His love. He rejoices over thee with singing. We meet and try our best to sing
praises to our God, rejoice in our Lord, and He rejoices in
us. He sings over us with joy. What a Father I remind you again, in closing,
that he says to those who are yet without forgiveness, he says,
come to me. I'll give you rest. If your sins
are a burden to you, Come to me, I'll give you rest. If you've been saved for 50 years,
you still need rest. Come to me, learn of me, you'll
find rest. Ask, and it shall be given you. You shall find. Seek, and you
shall find. Knock, and it shall be opened
unto you." Matthew 7, 7. Ask, and He might give you what
you want, what you need. That's not the way it reads.
Ask, and it shall be given you. Seek, and you shall find. Knock,
And it shall be opened unto you. The problem that so many have
in our day, they believe that prayer, when a factual prayer,
a fervent effectual prayer is when a man has enough tears and
is so broken hearted and has a strong feeling. Prayer is when
you believe! There used to be a man in England. And I rejoiced in that old man.
He started an orphanage. He had a lot of poverty. Started an orphanage. Had a bunch
of children. One night he got ready to go
to bed and there was no food for those children. And this
happened not just once, but many times. And as he was walking
through the house, he said, Lord God, You know who's here. You brought
them here. You know what the need is. We
trust you." And the next morning, on the doorstep was all the food
they needed for their breakfast. Prayer has something to do with
faith, believing, believing God. and it shall be given you. Seek,
and it shall be found. Knock, and it shall be opened
unto you. Now listen. For every one that asketh receiveth,
he that seeketh findeth, to him that knocketh it shall be opened.
Or what man is there of you, whom if his son asked bread,
would he give him a stone? None of us fathers are that foolish.
Or if he asked fish, would he give him a serpent? We wouldn't
do that. If you then, some man once wrote
this as the greatest contrast in the Bible, if you then, being
evil, may us father. Know how to give good gifts to
your children. How much more shall your Father,
which is in heaven, give good things to them that ask Him?
And good things, in the book of Luke, this corresponding passage,
is the Holy Spirit. He'll give the Holy Spirit to
them that ask Him. And that's all we need. The Holy
Spirit. Sweep over my soul. Sweep over
my soul. Ask and seek and not. You remember what happened to
the prodigal, don't you? The prodigal son, he'd been off
and sinned and wasted all of his substance. Got in a bad shape,
eating with the pigs. One day he came to his senses.
He said, I'm going home. And however my father received
me, I'd be fine. Not even, if he doesn't even
see me as a son, that'd be fine. But I want to live in my father's
house. House of plenty." And when he got there, he was walking
down the road, and his father went out, as he did every day. He looked down that road, waiting
for the son to come home. And there he came. And he ran
out to meet him, hugged his neck, kissed him, ordered a banquet,
a feast, new clothing, everything. Didn't wait for his apology,
didn't wait for his words, didn't wait for what he had planned
to tell his father. He just fell on his neck and
kissed him. Kill the fatted calf, we're going
to have a feast. My son who was once lost is found. He's home. What a God we have. What infinite, infinite, amazing
love and grace. Backed up and supported by all
the power that God had. May God have mercy on our souls. I want to, this was played at
the first of the service, I want us to sing and play Psalm 361,
David. This is the same thing that I've
been talking about. Let me read you some of these
words. The second verse especially. Sweet hour of prayer, sweet hour
of prayer, Thy wings shall my petition bear, To Him whose truth
and faithfulness Engage the waiting soul to bless. Engage to bless
us! And since He bids me seek His face,
He tells us, He bids us. Since He bids me seek His face,
believe His Word, and trust His grace, I'm going to cast on Him
my every care, every care, and wait for Thee, sweet hour of
prayer.