I'm gonna ask you to take your
Bibles, turn with me to the book of 1 Peter chapter five. 1 Peter chapter five. I'd like to read verses six and
seven. 1 Peter five. Humble yourselves. therefore,
under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due
time, casting all your care upon him, for he careth for you. Now, there's a blessed promise
set forth to the people of God that we would do well to consider
again and again and again. Humble yourselves, humble yourselves
under the mighty hand of God that he may do something, that he may exalt you in due
times. Listen to this one. casting all
your care upon him. Why? For he careth for you. Oh, is that not a blessed word
of comfort to a weary soul? Does it not give us some hope
and encouragement? Oh, it does, it surely does.
But with those words, as I was reading them again, those words
of promise from the Lord, do we still not admit the weakness
that we see in ourselves? Do we not see the frailty concerning
that which the Spirit of God has commanded us to do? Do we
still not say with the Apostle Paul, Here in Romans 7, verse
18, for to will is present with me. I want to do this. What do you
want to do, Marvin? I want to humble myself under
the mighty hand of God. I want to. I want to cast all
my care upon him. For according to his word, he
cares for his people. He cares for me. If I believe
him, he cares for me. I want to do that. Oh, how frail I find myself to be. Oh, but thanks be unto God. He's
got a promise that he's given us. This is what he said. And
do I ever need that this morning? He has promised to never leave
us. That's a wonderful word, never. Never leave us or never forsake
us. Is that not our foundation of
hope? He has promised, I'm never gonna leave you. I'm never gonna
forsake you. We have needs in this world.
We have needs this morning that just gonna be with us until we
leave this world. We have to be sustained. We have
to be kept. I want you to turn with me to
Matthew chapter six. Hold your place there. I'll be
right back, Lord willing. But I want you to look at Matthew
chapter six. And listen to these words of
promise. Oh, in the midst of uncertainty.
Matthew chapter six, verse 34. No man can serve two masters,
for either he will hate the one, love the other, or he'll hold
to the one, despise the other. You cannot serve God and man.
Therefore, I say unto you, take no thought for your life,
what you shall eat, what you shall drink, nor yet for your
body, what you should put on, what
you, Is your life, I'm sorry, is your body, let me read verse
25 again. Therefore I say unto you, take
no thought for your life, what you shall eat, what you shall
drink, or yet for your body, what you shall put on, is not
the life more than meat, and the body more than raiment. Behold
the fowls of the air, they sow not, neither do they reap, nor
gather in barns, yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. You're not
much better than they, Which of you, by taking thought, can
add one cubit to your stature? Why take you thought for raiment?
Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow. They toil not,
neither do they spin, and yet I say unto you that even Solomon,
in all of his glory, was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore,
if God so clothed the grass of the field, which today is, and
tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe
you, O ye of little faith? Therefore, take no thought saying,
what shall we eat, what shall we drink, or wherewithal shall
we be clothed? For after all these things do
the Gentiles say, come believers, for your heavenly Father knoweth
that you have need of all these things. But seek ye first the
kingdom of God and his righteousness. All these things shall be added
unto you. Take therefore no thought, for the morrow. For the morrow
shall take thought of the things of itself. Sufficient unto the
day is the evil thereof. Now we know these things. The
Lord has promised these things. And while we know, according
to his word of promise, he's going to provide for us. He's
going to provide our temporal needs, I'll tell you this, has
he ever failed to provide for our eternal needs? Or you consider
this word of command that's given unto the sheep, the sheep of
his pasture. Listen to these words. Listen
back in 1 Peter chapter 5, verse 6 again. Humble yourselves therefore
unto the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due
time. Humble yourself, bring yourself
down. Now which of us has done that?
Which of us has abased ourself before the mighty hand of almighty
God? But here's the promise. Humble
yourself that He may exalt you in due time, that He may lift
you high, raise you up, raise you to the summit, exalt you
to the highest dignity. Oh, let me just say it one more
time. Lord, if I could just do that. Here's the promise, here's
the reward. Humble yourself. He may exalt
you. But believer, I got some good
news. In the midst of this frailty, we've got one that's done that
on our behalf. We've got one. I myself, I've
never humbled myself before God that I might be exalted in due
time. Oh, but Lord, thank you that you've done something for
me that I could not do. Humble yourself. But let me tell
you what the Lord Jesus Christ has done. He who humbled himself
on the behalf of his people that they might be exalted, exalted
in him in due time as the servant of Jehovah, The Lord Jesus Christ
humbled himself as the God-man mediator, humbled himself under
the mighty hand of God, abased himself as our representative
before God, and therefore, before the Father, has been exalted,
exalted, and is worthy of all I want you to turn with me to
Philippians 2. Philippians chapter 2. Philippians
chapter 2, and listen to these verses, verses 5 to 11. Philippians
chapter 2, verse 5. Let this mind be in you, let
this mind be in you, which also was in Christ Jesus. who, being
in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal to God,
but made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of
a servant, and was made in the likeness of men, and being found,
fashioned as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient
unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore, God hath
highly exalted him and given him a name which is above every
name, that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow, things
in heaven, things in earth, things under the earth, and that every
tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of
God the Father. Let this mind be in you. Let
this spirit of humility be found in you, bowing unto him. There's
one that has done that which almighty God has commanded his
people to do. Humble yourself. Lord, I can't.
But thanks be to God, you have for your people. You've humbled
yourself. And that which he did has been
charged to the account of his people. Faithful is he that calleth
you will also do it. Lord, if you don't do this for
me, I don't have a chance. I have no hope. Whatsoever. Listen, let's do this. Psalm
55. Turn with me to Psalm 55. Psalm 55. Psalm 55 verse 22 is where I'm
going. Cast thy burden upon the Lord. Cast thy burden upon the Lord,
and he shall sustain thee. He shall never suffer the righteous
to be moved. Cast thy burden. Now, that word burden right there
was an interesting word to me. I looked it up, my burden. Here's
what it means, your lot. Cast your lot upon the Lord. Everybody in this congregation,
those that know God, realize something. The Lord orders all
the steps of his people. And he has absolutely given his
people, and they're calling, a lot. A lot, it's a burden. It's something that we're gonna
have to go through this world bearing. I'm having to bear my
burden. This is my lot. This is where
God's called me. And you that know Him, you got
a lot. You have a burden that you're gonna bear. Well, what am I doing? Lord,
this is too much for me. Lord, this is hard. Lord, I've
never been here before. This is trying on my flesh. Lord,
I need some help. Cast thy burden, cast thy lot
upon the Lord. And listen to this, and he shall
sustain thee. He shall never suffer the righteous
to be moved. Lord, thank you. Because Lord,
if you don't sustain me, I'm gonna be moved. I'm going to
be. Every believer has a calling. Every believer has a burden.
Every believer has a lot. A lot that has been assigned
to Him, given to Him by the Father. It's the lot that God's choosing.
He's ordering our steps. And I'll tell you this, in whatever
lot He's called you to, whatever lot He's called you to, He's
gonna sustain you in it, and He's gonna be glorified in
it. We don't choose our lots. God
does. We don't choose our way, the
way we're gonna go through this life. I want you to turn to John
21. John chapter 21. We don't choose
the course that we're gonna follow. God does. John chapter 21. I'd like to
read verses 15 to 19. The Lord has been risen, John
21, verse 15. And when they had dined, Jesus
saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me
more than these? He saith unto him, yea, Lord,
thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, feed my lambs. I read that scripture. again
this morning and I thought, John was called to be a preacher. He was called to be a preacher
of the gospel. One of the greatest of all callings. But I will tell you this, there's a high cost for being
called by God and there's a high responsibility Peter, do you
love me more than these? Lord, you know I do. Feed my lambs. I'm standing before
you this morning, a frail creature of dust, called of God, and every
word that's coming out of my mouth right now, let me just
share my heart with you. I'm thinking right now, Fred,
if God don't keep me right now, I ain't gonna make it. Verse
16, he saith to him again, second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest
thou me? He saith unto him, yea, Lord,
thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, feed my sheep. He saith unto him the third time,
Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved, because
he saith him the third time, lovest thou me? And he said unto
him, Lord, thou knowest all things, thou knowest that I love thee.
Jesus saith unto him, feed my sheep. Verily, verily, I say
unto thee, when thou wast young, thou girdest thyself, walkest
whither thou wouldest, When thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch
forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry thee,
whether thou wouldst not. This spake he signifying by what
death he would glorify God. And when he had spoken this,
he saith unto him, follow me, you follow me. cast all your burden. You cast your lot, wherever God's
called you, whatever he's called you to do. You cast your lot,
and he shall sustain thee. But let me set forth something
that's beautifully known by God's people. We have a lot, we have a calling,
and it's particular. Particularly, he told Peter,
this is what's gonna happen to you, that you might glorify me. This is where you're gonna be.
This is the way it's gonna be. But let me tell you something
as I begin to pull this together, wrap this up. Likewise, the Lord
of glory himself had a calling. God has called his people, but
he had a calling. And all of the merit All of the
merit, all the honor, all the glory is due unto Him for that
which He has accomplished for His people in their calling. Likewise, He
had a calling. Turn with me to Isaiah, Isaiah
chapter 42. Isaiah 42. The Lord Jesus Christ, I think
about the burden of being called. Cast your burden upon the Lord.
Cast your lot. Cast that where he's put you.
You cast that upon him. He's going to sustain you. Lord,
thank you. Thank you. But listen to his
lot. Isaiah 42, one to four. Behold
my servant, whom I uphold, mine elect and
whom my soul delighteth. I put my spirit upon him. He
shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. He shall not cry nor lift up
nor cause his voice to be heard in the street. A bruised reed
shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench. He
shall bring forth judgment to truth. He shall not fail nor
be discouraged till he has set judgment in the earth. and the
isles shall wait for his law. He had a calling. God called
him as a servant, a servant of Jehovah. His calling demanded
a perfect sacrifice. This is what his lot was. This
was the lot of the Lord, a perfect lot, a perfect calling to a perfect
savior. Isaiah 43, I'm sorry. Yeah, I'm
sorry, yes. Isaiah 43, turn over. Isaiah
43. I'll get it right in a minute,
53. I knew it didn't sound right. Isaiah 53, verse four. Concerning his lot, concerning
his calling, Surely he hath borne our griefs
and carried our sorrows, yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten
of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions.
He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace
was upon him, and with his stripes we're healed. What was his lot? What was his calling? Perfect
sacrifice. Demanded, demanded him. All we
like sheep gone astray, we've turned everyone to his own way.
And the Lord laid on him, because of what we did, the iniquity
of us all. You talk about mercy, you talk
about grace. He was oppressed, he was afflicted, yet he opened
not his mouth. I think of the silliness of all
of us. We were called to go through
some things, and we just complained. What'd he do? He didn't say anything. He's brought as a lamb to the
slaughter, as a sheep before a shearer's is done. So he opened
on his mouth. He was taken from prison, from
judgment. Who shall declare his generation?
For he was cut off out of the land of the living. For the transgression
of my people. Who transgressed? his people. For the transgression of my people.
You talk about mercy. You talk about compassion. You
talk about a hope. He was stricken and he made his
grave with the wicked and with the rich and his death because
he had done no violence. Neither was any deceit found
in his mouth. Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise
him. It put him to grief. When thou shalt make his soul
an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong
his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his
hand. He shall see the travail of his soul, he shall be satisfied. By his knowledge shall my righteous
servant justify many, for he shall bear their iniquities. Oh, Lord, teach me that again.
Teach me that you've borne my, you've borne my burden. Lord,
the burden that I had to honor God, you bore it. Verse 11, again, he shall see
the travail of his soul, shall be satisfied by his knowledge,
shall my righteous servant justify many for he who bear their iniquities.
Therefore, will he divide him a portion with a great, he shall
divide the spoil with a strong because he hath poured out his
soul unto death. He was numbered with the transgressors
and he bear the sin of many. and made intercession for the
transgressors. This was a sacrifice. It was a lot. It was the demand
of Almighty God to give Himself completely, completely, perfectly,
willingly, willingly unto Him. I want you to turn with me to
Luke 22. Luke 22. I'll be done, Luke 22. Luke chapter 22, verse 39. Scripture says, verse 39, Luke
22, and he came out and went as he was want to the Mount of
Olives and his disciples also followed him. And when he was
at the place, he said unto them, pray that you enter not into
temptation. I'm gonna show you what that
temptation, Lord willing, was. I'm gonna show you what it was
in just a second. We're gonna read it. Pray that you enter
not into temptation. And he was withdrawn from them
about a stone's cast. and kneeling down and prayed.
Now I want you to listen to these words. I've read them again just
a moment ago and I just, I thought to myself, Lord, if you didn't
say these in your scriptures, how could we ever know this? This is God praying. This is God who has submitted
to the lot of His Father. This is God as the obedient servant
of Jehovah. Verse 41, again, He was withdrawn
from them about a stone's cast and kneeled down, praying, Father,
saying, Father, if Thou be willing, He knew what his lot was. He
knew the lot. He's getting ready to be made
sin. He's getting ready to be sacrificed. Yeah, I know that. But he's getting
ready to be made sin. And with that lot upon him, he's
praying these words. I read them again and I cannot
enter into the depth of them. but I can tell you they're so.
If I'll be willing, remove this cup from me, but here's submission
as we've never seen submission before, nevertheless. Not my
will, but thine. And there appeared an angel unto
him from heaven, strengthening him, and being in agony, He prayed,
I told you a moment ago, I said this, you know, he had told his
disciples, he said, you pray that you enter not into temptation.
And they couldn't even do that. He was telling them, you pray
that you don't go to sleep. Pray that you don't enter into
the temptation to let these things pass you by and not consider
the depth of what you're witnessing right now. Verse 43, again, there
appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him. And
being in agony, he prayed more earnestly. His sweat was as it
were great drops of blood falling down the ground. And when he
rose up from prayer and was come to his disciples, he found them sleeping beside
him. I pray that you enter not into
temptation. To succumb to the flesh, go to
sleep in the midst of it. Pray for me. Pray for me. He gave himself alone. He went to the cross alone. He gave of himself alone. Died as a servant of Jehovah. He humbled himself. Now, this
is our command. Humble yourself. Humble yourself. I'll read it again. Humble yourselves,
therefore, under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you
in due time, casting all your care upon him, for he cares for
you. Aren't you glad that there is
one that did what this book commands, that there was one that answered
for us. Humble yourself. Lord, I can't. He did. And God Almighty charged
that to our account. Cast all your burden, cast all
your care, cast all of your lot, whatever your lot is, wherever
he's called you, you cast it upon him. He bore the sins of
his people in his own body. He earned the righteousness of
God, which is imputed to everyone that believes. He watches over us, keeps us,
sustains us. And one day, he's coming back
to receive his own unto himself. Lord, help me today to hear these
words. Teach me with power. Teach me,
give me understanding that you might be honored in the midst
of my lot for your glory and the good of your people.