I'm going to ask you to take
your Bibles and turn with me to the book of 1 Peter, chapter
5. 1 Peter, chapter 5. While you're turning there, I
was thinking about that passage of Scripture that Brother Fred
read about a week or so ago. I brought a message on it entitled,
Selah. And after I preached on that
out of Psalm 62, if you remember, I guess, I don't know if it was
this group I preached in. I preached that subject to you
all, Selah. And I went back and I got to looking
at those passages where the Spirit of God was pleased to put that
word, Selah. which means to pause, to raise
the voice, it's a musical term, ponder, meditate on what I just
said. And the first time that that
word is found in the scriptures is in Psalm 3. And I prepared
a message out of Psalm 3. And three times in that short
psalm is that word selah. Lord willing, I'll bring that
message. When he read that, it made me think about that. In
the first service, I dealt with the first four verses of this
chapter, 1 Peter chapter 5, and I've entitled this message, as
I did the first one, part 1 and part 2, being examples to the flock,
being examples. The Spirit of God moved upon
the Apostle Peter to these words. I took the title out of the latter
part of the third verse. Being in samples is what it means,
but it does mean examples. And when you look at the heart
of that word, examples, it comes from a word, when you do this,
to take a die and hit something, impress something. It makes a
mark. It's a mark. This die makes a
mark. That's an example. A shape. And the Apostle Peter
exhorted the preachers is who he was talking to in the first
four verses. Verses 5 through 14 he's talking to the rest of
the congregation. But he said, and I'll just read
the first four verses. Like I said, if you want to hear
the message on it, that was just before. 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 of God 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 in samples to the flock, those
that are to be imitated. That's what it means. Examples.
In this particular, it means that impression, but it means
those that are to be imitated. And when the chief shepherd shall
appear, you shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away. Having exhorted the pastors,
those called of God, placed by God, taught of God, He said,
I want you to be examples. Be examples of love, of forgiveness,
of honesty, faithfulness. You be examples. You teach from
this Word, but you teach by your walk. And I'm telling you, as
I said in that first service, Anyone who's walk is inconsistent. Now, again, I said this. We all stumble. We all fall. But the tenor of our life, if
it doesn't reflect a walk of consistency to these scriptures,
we're sinners saved by the grace of God. And we know that. That's
consistent. Consistency is admitting how
inconsistent we are. That's consistent. But we're
brethren. We're brethren. That's what Abraham
told Lot. Had a squabble over some grass. And Abraham told him, he said,
we're brethren. Please, you take what you want. And he said, I'll take whatever
you don't take. Now there's a spirit of of kindness
and tender heartedness and mercy and compassion. Abraham trusted
God. Of course, you know the story,
a lot set his eyes toward Sodom. But Abraham told him, he said,
look, that's an example, being an example. And so now, starting
in verse 5, the Spirit of God is moved upon Peter to talk to
the rest of the congregation. And he says in verse 5, likewise,
Ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you
be subject one to another, be clothed with humility, for God
resisteth the proud and giveth grace to the humble. Now Peter
is speaking to the rest of the brethren and he's telling those,
he's called the younger, he's speaking to the younger He's
speaking to those, very possibly, that are younger in age, but
also younger in the faith. But it's those that are other
than the pastors that he has just exhorted. And he says, submit
yourselves unto the elder. Now he spoke to the elders, and
he's telling everybody else, he said, now listen, remember
Who put the elder where he is? No man called of God calls himself. That's the point. No man called
of God decides that he's going to be an elder. He's going to
be placed in a position of authority. No, God's preachers are called
of God. I will give you, pastors, after
mine own heart, But Peter is saying these men that have been
called of God and given the responsibility to study, to feed the sheep,
to attend to the sheep, to watch over the sheep, to watch for
the souls of the sheep, that care for the sheep because they're
following after the Lord. He said, submit yourselves unto
the elders. That is, attend to the message
that's being preached as it is found to be consistent with the
Scriptures. Have reverence for those that
have been placed where they are. Now, again, he's talking to the
younger, and I do admit, younger in age, younger in the faith,
but these that have been placed in positions of authority to
preach the gospel. And then even the age within
the congregation. He said, submit yourselves unto
the elder. The elder as the pastor and the
elders that are older in the faith. Believe me, those that
have been under the gospel and have been taught and have learned
through experience. Listen to those that have been
there. If you want to talk to somebody
about something and it's a good, legitimate question, it's not
about backbiting or anything like that, talk to somebody that
has been taught and sat under the gospel for a long time, proven
themselves to be faithful and has learned what they've learned
by experience, those that have been taught of God and have exhibited
faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and faithfulness before others. Yield yourself, Peter is saying,
to their scriptural and godly counsel and show respect unto
those for Christ's sake, for the Lord's sake. He said, and
be subject one to another. Being found in a state of being
subordinates, what he's saying. Esteeming others better than
yourselves. And remember, believers are brethren
under one head, the Lord Jesus Christ. We're all brethren. We're His body. And Peter is
saying in being subject one another, treat each other as his body. And for his sake, being one,
treat each other. Here's a body of Christ. And
you take the body of, you know, I've said this before, don't
you treat yourself, your hands Treat your ears, you know, with
respect. You know, my hand's not going
to be slapping my ear. Am I slapping my face? Being
disrespectful to it. Treat each other like you would
treat yourself, your own. Do it tenderly, you know, compassionately. Then he says, being clothed with
humility. Taking the position of being
girded about, clothed about with the attitude of a servant. Can
you imagine the peacefulness and settledness where everybody
truly has an attitude toward others? I am your servant for
Christ's sake. What can I do for you? You think and speak the best. of each other and be content
with the lowest place. The lowest place. Acknowledging your own unworthiness. This came to my mind just then.
This happened to me years ago. I was living in Franklin. Talking about being content with
the lowest place. I was in a little meeting three
at a little restaurant, just, you know, mom and pop type place.
And just, you know, getting some lunch and stuff like that. And
I got ready to go up and fill up my Coke again. And another
fellow was walking up and I just, you know, stopped and I looked
over and it was a guy that played for the Titans, Steve McNair.
quarterback. And I recognized him just from
TV. I didn't know him. And I told
him, I said, go ahead. He said, no, no, no, no, no.
He said, you go ahead. He said, you were here first.
He said, you go ahead. He said, I'll get it. And I thought,
that was such a kind, I mean, you know, what a kind thing to
do. He was just, you know, just a
nice, nice guy. And I thought, you know, clothed
with humility. That attitude right now of esteeming
others better than yourself. And there's nothing that's more
unlovely than pride, arrogance, heartiness, you know, humility is not setting forth the spirit
of weakness. It's not that. But it's a preserver
of peace. Having a spirit of humility at
home, at work, but especially in the assembly, in the assembly
of God. This is Peter moved by God's
spirit to just talk. He said, you know, he said, just
have that spirit of humility. You know, you younger, submit
yourselves unto the elder. All of you be subject to one
another, be clothed with humility, for God resisteth the proud and
giveth grace to the humble. He graciously blesses those that
He's made to be humble before Him. That's not a spirit that
we're born with. We're born selfish. That's just the way we are, you
know? Have you ever, as your kids were growing up, have you
ever noticed how as they grow up, how humble and unselfish
they are? You know, we're not born that
way. But the Lord, He says, He giveth grace to the humble, those
that He makes to be so, and He blesses them for it. I think
about that woman that had the issue of blood. And she touched
the hem of his garment. And the Lord turned around and
He said, Thy faith, what He gave, He blessed. Thy faith hath made
thee whole. So He gives a spirit. of humility,
humbleness, and blesses it. Verse 6, Humble yourselves, therefore,
under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due
time. Now, what it is, lower yourself
in your own estimation of you. Lower yourself. We're not as
important as we think we are. We're not as needful. Humble
yourself under the mighty hand of God. How is that? Acknowledge your own unworthiness
and be submissive to his providential will quietly. Bear under, bear under His mighty
hand with a heart that has been humbled before His sovereign
power without murmuring or replying against Him. Whenever we go through
anything, let's remember, He worketh all things after the
counsel of His own will. And whenever we start complaining
and murmuring and griping, you know, all we're doing is we're
saying, Lord, you don't know what's best. And obviously we
needed it. Hebrews 12, 5 and 6, My son,
despise not the chastening hand of the Lord, nor faint when thou
art rebuked of him for whom the Lord loveth. He chasteneth and
scourgeth every son whom he receiveth." I pray the Lord teach me this. I'm going through this. I needed
it. It's for my good. And it's because
He loves me. He loves me. And so He's allowed
me the blessing to be chastened, you know, whom the Lord loveth. If you be without chastisement,
you know what it means. If you be without correction,
If you be without, you know, the Lord's mighty hand, loving
hand of His chastening power and grace is because you're not
His. Lord, chasten me. Lord, please
don't leave me to myself. You know, His omnipotent hand,
it can't be stopped. It's not going to be thwarted.
His counsel is not going to be avoided. He's going to humble.
those that are His. He's going to take those that
He's everlastingly loved and held in His hand and He's going
to humble them in this life that in due time He'll exalt them. That's what He said. Humble yourselves
therefore unto the mighty hand of God that He may exalt you
in due time. In the time that's proper. In
the time that He sees fit. in the time now in regenerating
grace, but especially in that time of His coming and final
judgment. Here the Lord has revealed His
heart to do unto His people what He will, when He will. Verse
7, casting all your care upon Him, for He careth for you. I was reading over my notes here
just before We started here. Casting all your care, now look
at this, upon Him. That means casting it on Him,
but also it means and not on everybody else. Casting all your
care upon Him, for He careth for you. Now, we don't know. We don't know what's best in
the midst of trials. And while we're going through
what we're going through, the right thing to do in the midst
of these tribulations, in the midst of being humbled. He's
telling us, humble yourself. He's going to humble us. What
He's commanded, He performs. Casting all your care upon Him
because all these trials have been sent to humble us. And in the midst of them, throw
your care back upon Him. These cares are so cutting and
so distracting, which would wound our souls and pierce our hearts. Cast them back upon the wise
and gracious providence of God. He ordered it. for the purpose
that we would trust Him and cast ourselves upon Him and come to
Him. So trust Him with a composed mind because He cares. He cares. He knows just exactly
what to give us. You know, what loving parent
would drive his kids away if they came to him or her? They needed the parent. What
parent's going to do that? You know, the Lord said, if your
son comes and you ask him, you know, for a fish, you going to
give him a snake? You know, what are you going to... No! The Lord knows our needs. And so, therefore, He tries His
children for their good and for His glory. And casting all of
our care upon Him, He's going to providentially give us that
which He knows is best for us. So He orders all of our lives. He orders our steps, supports
us in everything that He sends, and does it in tenderness that
no eternal hurt come to us. His ways are so marvelous. Look
at 8 and 9. Be sober. Be vigilant. Because your adversary the devil,
as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour, whom
resist steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions
which are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world."
Now here the apostle warns us of an adversary that we would
know nothing about if God didn't tell us. He said there's an adversary
and his whole design, the adversary of the sheep, the devil, his
whole design and purpose is our destruction. That's his aim. He hates us because he hates
God. And his desire is to destroy,
devour our souls. And how are we instructed to
conduct ourselves against one whose end is our total demise. How do we handle that? Well he
says, be sober. That is from a base word that
means to be restrained, be sound in mind, and controlled. Be,
for the glory of God and for the good of our eternal souls,
be discreet. with a watchfulness. A watchfulness. Be aware. If I'm aware that I have an adversary,
if I'm aware that I have one whose total desire is my destruction,
be sober. Be alert. Be vigilant, he said. That's the next. Be vigilant.
Stay awake. He's talking about the same thing.
Be found in a spirit of seriousness of mind and carefulness to maintain
strictness to God's Word in our walk. When I was younger, I remember
one time my dad was out hunting and he was telling me, he said,
now I want you to be careful when you're walking. Be careful.
Be careful when you're stepping over something. Be careful. Watch out for poison ivy. Be
careful. Watch it. And man, I'm telling you, I just,
I was looking all over the place, you know, just watching where
I was walking, not stepping on watermarks. Just, you know, there's
always something out there that can hurt you. And he was saying,
just be alert. Be mindful. Don't go through,
you know, half cocked and not caring, looking up, not watching
where you're walking, be vigilant. Be on guard, what Peter is saying,
against the devil and his wives. For he's out as a roaring lion,
roaring, hungry, vicious, to destroy the souls of God's people. Destroy all men, but especially,
The souls of God's elect. Let me tell you something. He's
been around a long time. He's been around a long time.
And he knows just exactly what pushes our buttons. He knows. He knows. And be awake. Be awake to his tactics. Be alert. When something comes up, Recognize
where these things come from. Resist him, being found firm
in the faith. Resist him as we war against
error, being rooted, grounded in Christ. Be aware of our enemy,
because the scripture says the same afflictions are accomplished
in your brethren that are in the world. Hold your place. Turn
to 2 Timothy 3. 2 Timothy 3. 10 to 12. 2 Timothy 3. The Apostle Paul says, But thou hast
fully known my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, long-suffering,
charity, patience, persecutions, afflictions which came unto me
at Antioch, Iconium, Lystra, what persecutions I endured,
but out of them all the Lord delivered me. Yea, and all that
will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution." So
we all go through, we all suffer. It may not be the exact same
scenario, but we're all suffering. They're ordered by the Lord.
So be aware, be aware. Look at verse 10. But the God
of all grace, who hath called us unto His eternal glory by
Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make ye perfect,
establish, strengthen, and settle you. Now here, as he's closing
out this chapter, this book really, the Apostle Peter prays for God's
all, He's speaking to them and reminding them that the God of
all grace, who has loved us, who chose us in the Lord Jesus
Christ, redeemed us by the blood of His Son, and called us by
His Spirit. He said, after He has wisely
directed us to suffer for a while. You know what that means? It's
not going to last forever. It's not going to last forever.
For many of us here, we're getting close. We're getting close. I've
said before, the Lord has said the average would be 3 score
and 10. Some of us here is there and
after that. Right at that. That's no guarantee
though. That's no guarantee you'll ever
make it to that. It's appointed unto man who wants to die. Die,
be aware, listen to what I'm saying. Listen to what I'm saying. We're going to meet God. We're
going to meet God. And in that day, leave this world
without Christ. I read a passage of Scripture
this morning. Let's see, I want to read it
right now. Let me just look. It's in Revelation.
I think it's in Revelation 6. Yes. Turn with me. Revelation
6, 15-17. Revelation 6, 15-17. You've heard this. And the kings of the earth, Revelation
6, 15, kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men,
and the chief captains, the mighty men, and every bondman, every
free man, hid themselves in the dens, in the rocks of the mountains,
and said to the mountains, and rocks, fall on us. Hide us from
the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath
of the Lamb. For the great day of his wrath
is come, and who shall be able to stand. And I told the first
group, there is a sense, I know, in which that might refer to
the Day of Judgment, and I know it certainly could. But I tell
you, with the way it's being said, they're going to be hiding
in these rocks and dens and they're going to be crying for those
rocks and mountains and fall on us. I think it's more applicable
to end that day when One dies without Christ, without a substitute,
without a Savior. And they take that last breath
and they realize the rocks and the mountains of my false security,
what I trusted in, what I thought would sustain me, what I thought
I was well hidden in, All of a sudden I'm crying, fall on
me and hide me from the face of the Lamb that sits on the
throne. They've left this world without God and they realize
I have made an eternal, fatal error. And the day of God's grace,
the day of mercy, the day of compassion, the day in which
I'm still here is past and it's over. It's over. It's over. Listen to what I'm saying. We're
gonna leave this world. You leave this world without
Christ, and I'm telling you, I'm telling you, you're gonna
cry out, please hide me from his face. And hear the words,
depart from, I never knew you. I never knew you. But God, back
in 1 Peter 5, the God of all grace, who has called us unto
his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that you've suffered a
while, make you perfect, established, strengthened. and settle you.
Now, he's going to wrap this up in verses 11 to 14. He says, now to him be glory
and dominion forever and ever. Amen. Then he says by Silvanus,
a faithful brother unto you as I suppose I have written briefly
exhorting and testifying that this is the true grace of God
wherein you stand. The church that is at Babylon,
elected together with you, saluteth you, and so doth Marcus, my son. Greet ye one another with a kiss
of charity. Peace be with you all that are
in Christ Jesus. Amen. Now, after we've suffered
for a while, Peter says, the Lord make you perfect, establish,
strengthen you, settle you, complete you to be what He has everlastingly
willed and purposed for you to be. What is that? Holy and without
blame, before Him, in love, that is, in Christ. To Him be dignity
and honor and praise and worship and power and authority forever
and ever. Amen. And then the Spirit of
God was pleased to have Peter pen those last words. He said,
I want to say something about a man named Silvanus. Silas is
what most of them think it was. He said, now he's a faithful
brother unto you as I suppose. That is, he said, this is the
way I see him to be. You know how blessed we are to
be in the midst of faithful brethren. Don't you love being around God's
people? God's people that just, by the grace of God, are here,
we're here together. And he said, I want you to know,
this faithful brother, he's loyal, consistent, and he wrote down,
he's the one that wrote down the words that the Spirit of
God moved upon me to say. And he said, he wrote down those
things that are consistent with the grace of God, that grace
wherein God's people stand. And then he says now, and I looked
at this for quite a while, it says in verse 13, the church
that is at Babylon elected together with you, saluted you and so
does Marcus my son. Actually the one, it appears
as though to me it's this way, it's got some italics italicized
words there that are not in the original. The co-elect one in
Babylon is what? Now, it's probable that there
was a church in Babylon. Very well could have been, but
what he's talking about, he's talking about the co-elect ones
in Babylon. Send you greetings and so does
my son, that is in the faith, Mark. And then he closes with
these last words. Salute one another with a kiss
of love. Affectionately, all of you that
be in Christ Jesus, tell each other, acknowledge each other,
salute one another in the Lord. I pray that the Lord bless this
to our hearts. give us some comfort, some instruction
on the way that we're to treat and be treated. Let us love one
another. As God, for Christ's sake, loved
and forgiven us, let's do so to our brethren. And pray the
Lord keep us for His namesake and our eternal good. Amen.