His kingdom is forever. How I love that hymn. I know
you do too. Some of you know a little bit
about Martin Luther who wrote that. a man whom the Lord used
mightily, a man whom we owe a debt of gratitude to. By the grace
of God, the Lord used him greatly to bring light into this dark
world after the dark ages, so that we might have the Word
of God. We're going to look at something about our adversary
tonight here that we just read in 1 Peter 5, a very real but
unseen adversary, and one whom the world is in bondage to, though
they see him not, though they acknowledge, though they scoff
at this, yet it's so. Our Lord sets up. Martin Luther
knew something of his struggle. He stood alone. He stood, took
a great stand for the truth. And he pretty much stood alone.
But the Lord undergirded him. The Lord was with him, wasn't
he? Mightily. And these verses, I love these verses. He said,
did we in our own strength confide? Our striving would be losing.
We're going to look at how Peter tells us to resist him in the
faith. We're no match for Him in our
flesh, none whatsoever. But if we in our own strength
did confide, our striving would be losing. We're not the right
man, capital M, on our side, the man of God's own choosing.
Do you ask who that may be? Christ Jesus, it is He. Lord
Sabbath is His name, from age to age the same. He must win
the battle. And He went on to say one little
word. Just one little word from him will fail our administration. So we can't resist. And they
say, I haven't been there, but they say you can go over to Germany
where Martin Luther lived and his study, there's a great big
stain on the wall of his study. And he was sitting at his desk
studying the Word of God. And he was being assaulted by
the adversary. I know something about this.
You know a little bit about it when you try to read God's Word
and you can't. You can read anything else with
complete attention and enthusiasm. But if you start to read God's
Word, you're not wrestling merely with flesh and blood. But our
adversary, whose great design and hope and skill is spent in
keeping us from hearing God's Word, from hearing the truth,
which sets us free from him. It's true. But Luther was sitting
studying, preparing to preach, and he was assaulted, kept being
assaulted by Satan. And it says, the story has it,
that he picked up his inkwell. Back then they wrote with a quill
and an ink, and he says he threw it at the devil. And it broke
on the wall, and that stain is still there. Thank the Lord for
men like that. Martin Luther. 1 Peter 5, 1 Peter
5 begins this way. The elders, which are among you,
I exhort. I am also an elder. Elder sometimes
in Scripture means an older man. They generally were in the Old
Testament anyway. But in the New, according to
the prophecy of Joel, that your young men would start preaching. There were certainly young men
like Jeremiah in the Old Testament. Generally, elder speaks of older
men, but what it means in this text, this context, is teachers
of the Word. Paul told young Timothy that
elders that rule well are worthy of double honor, especially those
that labor in the Word, those that teach the Word. They're
worthy of double honor because they labor in the Word. So he's
writing here to me. He's writing to preachers, teachers. men, that is, of the Word. The
elders which are among you, I exhort, who am also an elder. Now, Peter
was an apostle. Simon Peter was an apostle, which
was a high calling. And those men had abilities. They had God-given abilities
and powers that no one has since then. We don't need them. But
those men, the Lord used those men to write the Word of God. Their words were inspired. Their
letters were inspired by God. The inspired Word of God. Those
men were given special power for it. But Peter here says he
associates himself with, or he gives great honor to, an elder,
a teacher of the Word. No higher calling, he said. I'm
an elder to this, Peter said. An elder. And he says, I'm a
witness of the sufferings of Christ and also a partaker of
the glory that shall be revealed. A witness of the sufferings of
Christ. Those who preach, you know, Scripture
says in Romans 10, how shall they believe in Him whom they've
not heard? How shall they hear without a preacher? And the same
is true of a preacher. How shall they preach of Him
whom they've not heard? My father used to say, you can't
tell what you don't know any more than you can come back where
you haven't been. Simon Peter and all the apostles
said, we can't help but speak the things we've seen and heard.
What's that, Simon? Christ. This is why they preach
Christ every time. Christ is all. In Him dwelleth
all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. In Him dwelleth all the
treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Christ is all. He's all the hope
of any sinner. He's all the salvation of God.
He's the way. He's the truth. He's the life.
He's all. All the fullness of God has been put in him, vested
in him. He's the prophet, he's the priest,
he's the king, he's the lord, he's the savior of his people.
He's their husband, he's their elder brother, and he even said,
you can call me father too, because I am the father of one. He's
all. Christ and him crucified. Christ
and him crucified. Simon Peter and all the apostles
were witnesses of Christ and him crucified. And after seeing
Christ and Him crucified, the sufferings of Christ, the substitute
for sinners, substitute for them. Oh, like Paul said, then God forbid
that we should glory in anything or preach anything or anyone
or take up your time with anything other than Christ and Him crucified.
This is why Paul said, I'm determined not to know anything about you
save Jesus Christ and Him crucified. One who beheld His glory, Christ and Him crucified, a witness
of the sufferings of Christ. And we've been looking at how
that those who truly have seen Christ and know Christ, they
too will suffer persecution at the hands of others who have
not seen His glory. And Peter certainly did that.
Simon Peter and all the apostles certainly were sufferers, weren't
they? And he said, I'm also a partaker of the glory. The glory that
shall be revealed. Go back to Romans 8 real quickly.
The partaker of the glory. Now Simon, Peter, James and John,
the Lord handpicked those three to go up on that mountain that
day to see our Lord glorify Him, to see His glory. to see His
glory revealed, uncovered, as it were, when the Lord peeled
back His flesh and they saw God who dwelleth in light that no
man can approach Him to. They beheld His glory. They were
there, up there. You know, all of God's people
are there. Look at this, Romans 8, it says in Romans 8 verse
29, for whom he did foreknow, that's forelove, that's know
before the world began, enter into a relationship and a covenant
concerning, set his love upon. He also did predestinate to be
conformed the image of his Son that he might be the firstborn
among many brethren. Moreover, whom he did predestinate,
them he also called. And whom he called, them he also
justified. And whom he justified, them he
also glorified." Glorify. If you have seen Christ and Him
crucified, with the eye of faith, none of us have seen these things
we're talking about. with the eye of faith, with the
understanding of it. But if you have seen Christ,
something of His glory, you have already been glorified. Like
Simon Peter and James and John, the Lord honored them greatly,
didn't He, by taking them up on the mountain to behold His
glory. And that's what our Lord prayed
in John 17, didn't He? Father, I will that they be with
Me where I am, that they might What? Behold my glory. You see, this is salvation, isn't
it? When the light of the knowledge of the glory of God, the glory
of God is seen in the person, in the face, the work of the
Lord Jesus Christ, you've been glorified. You've been honored.
infinitely more than if the President of the United States had called
you personally to his inauguration, or if the Queen of England had
called you to witness the coronation of Prince Charlie. This is much
higher calling. You'd be glorified if the Lord
has called you by His Gospel to see His Son's glory. You'd
already be glorified. And he talked about the glory
that shall be revealed. Look at Romans 8 verse 18. He says, I reckon that the sufferings
of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the
glory which shall be revealed in us. In us! It says in Colossians 3 verse
4, it says, When Christ our life shall appear, then shall we appear
with him in Glory! 1 Corinthians 15 says, this body
was sown in corruption, it's going to be raised in glory.
A glorified body, a glorified human, like Christ, bearing something
of His glory. Oh, it's not to the praise of
our glory, but His, He said. We'll be trophies of His grace. Creatures of His making for His
glory. Read on in Romans 8 verse 19.
The earnest expectation of the creature of creation waited for
the manifestation of the sons of God. The presentation, the
revelation, the transformation. Look at verse 21, because the
creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of
corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. Oh, we grovel. We're worms right
now, aren't we? We're worms. We're like worms. But our Lord says, Fear not thou
worm, Jacob. For when I appear, you'll be
glorified with me. You'll mount up on wings of eagle.
That worm's going to be metamorphosis, metamorphized, whatever, going
to be changed into His glorious person. And that's about all
I've got to say about that. So he says in verse 2, to the
elders, to me, And by the way, he saved us last for exhortations
to the elder. All of the letters to the churches
in the Revelation, seven letters to the churches, all begin, they're
all addressed first to who? The preacher, the pastor. Why? Because he has the greatest responsibility.
He has the greatest, greatest responsibility. He is one that
must give an account. That's what Paul said concerning
him and the apostles and those who preached the Word. Must give
an account. Whether or not they built on that foundation gold,
silver, precious stones, or wood, hay and stone. Because that's
going to be burned up. So this is to me first. These
first four verses are to me, and next he's going to speak
to you a little bit. And he says here, here's what
you're to do, Elder. Feed the flock of God, which
is among you. Feed the flock of God. Do you
not think of Simon Peter and so much that he went through
and learned from the Lord in all that he says? Do you not
think, you know, the first thing he said was stranger, to the
stranger scattered. changed him, John and James,
changed him from a rough fisherman into a meek, mild, Christ-like
preacher of the gospel and a servant of others. He became strange
to his own flesh, to his own people now, a stranger. And people were amazed by him
and the other Galileans. And then the next thing he says,
elect. Simon Peter says, I love the sound of that word. Elect,
where it all started. Simon Peter says, that's where
I started. That's where we started. When the Lord came and chose
us out from among all those fishermen out there, all those boats, He
looked straight at me because He chose me before the foundation
of the world. He said, Simon Peter, follow
me. Elect. Then he says, kept by
the power of God, didn't he? Oh, Simon Peter, at one time,
right before our Lord was crucified, he said, everybody else may leave,
not me. Oh, my. Our Lord said, Simon
Peter, you're going to deny me three times before the sun comes
up. And he realized. And the Lord didn't cast him
out. The sweetest words he ever heard were, Go tell my disciples
and Peter. And Peter came running, yea,
swimming, wasn't he, to get to the Lord, to get to the Lord. The Lord hadn't cast him out. The Lord had kept him. He said, Peter, I have prayed
for you. I'm going to keep you. I'll never cast you out. And
then, remember around the fire? Remember what the first thing
he told Simon Peter was? He asked him first, Pete, Simon,
son of Jonas, a reminder of what he was, a sinner saved by grace. Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou
me more than these nets and boats and this world and everything?
Do you? O Lord, yea, Lord, thou knowest. Feed my lambs. Feed my lambs. He asked him that three times,
didn't he? He told him three times. Feed my lambs. Feed my
sheep. Begin with the little lambs.
Feed, feed, feed, feed, feed. Our Lord said to them one time
over in Matthew's Gospel, he said, blessed is the steward,
the man whom the Lord comes, who gave a people to feed, a
sheep to feed, blessed is that man whom the Lord, when he returns,
finds him so doing, feeding his people. I come far short of so
many things in this office of pastor or whatever. But my conscience is clear right
here. And this grieves me great comfort and consolation, knowing
that I have been feeding you well. And that's a mark of a true elder
or pastor. Feed the flock of God which is
among you. Generally an elder pastor is
confined to or is in a local congregation as are members. There's a calling of members
to a local congregation. Paul said that every man abide
in the same calling where he is called. Stay there. Feed the
flock of God which is among you. Take into oversight thereof.
That means the rule thereof. Not by constraint, not being
coerced into it, not being forced into it. What kind of pastor
would that be? A man who says, oh, I don't want
to do this, but I guess I can. I guess I will. No, no, no. Not
by constraint, but willingly. Like Isaiah, in Isaiah 6, after
he saw his glory, the Lord said, whom shall we send? Whom shall
I send? He said, Jeremiah, send me. Jeremiah
said this, if I can find it, I think it's Jeremiah 17. He said, Lord, and now nobody,
no man feels worthy, no man feels able, no man feels capable. Moses
said, Lord, I can't speak. And the Lord said, who made man's
mouth? Who made the deaf? He said. Who made people can't
talk? Who made people talk a lot? I,
the Lord, who made the blind, who made the deaf, who made the
seeing. I, the Lord, do all these things. I'll be with your mouth.
And Moses was so meek and so humble and so self-effacing. He said, I can't speak. I'm not
eloquent now. I'm not eloquent since you've
been talking to me. And the Lord got angry with him. The Lord got angry with him.
And so he reprimanded him. He said, I'll send you. You're
going to be in my mouth. It's not going to be you at all.
Trust me. Jeremiah, I used to read this
all the time as a young preacher. I still think about it. Jeremiah,
when the Lord called him, he said, Lord, I'm just a child. He was 24. I can't speak. Those old men aren't going to
listen to me. Our Lord said, yes, they will. My men will. My sheep will. They're going to hear it as a
little child, from a child. That's how they'll know it's
of me. I'll take a child. I'll take this treasure and put
it in earthen vessels. Fishermen and shepherds and coal
miners and railroaders and construction workers. And they're going to
see clearly that this is not these men. This wisdom, this
ability is not from these men. It's from me. That's how they'll
know. Jeremiah later on in Jeremiah
17 says, he said, I have not run from being a pastor to father. Neither have I desired it. I
didn't desire it. He calls it the woeful day. Thou knowest, he said, that which
came out of my lips was right before thee. So, in our text, he says, feed
the flock of God, take the rule thereof. No one wants to lead. Oh, my. It's so much easier to
follow. But he says, do it. Do it. Someone
has to, don't they? Not for filthy lucre. That's
money. Oh, my. My conscience is so clear here.
The love of money is the root of all evil. We've been through
four treasures here. You ask every one of those men.
There's not a dime that's been misappropriated by this measure. And I have never asked for one
dime. Not one. Have I ever? No, sir. Not one dime that's been misappropriated. My conscience is so clear. It's
not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind, a willing mind. Neither, verse 3, as being lords
over God's heritage. Lords. Loving to have the authority. Oh my. But being examples to
the flock. Examples. He told, Paul told
young Timothy, he said, be an example to the believers in word,
that is, speech and conversation and life and charity and spirit
and faith and purity. Until I come, he said, give attendance
to reading, exhortation to doctrine, study to show thyself approved,
a workman that needeth not be ashamed, be an example to the
flock. And then verse 4, he says, when
the chief shepherd shall appear, the chief shepherd, pastors are
called the under shepherd. He's the chief shepherd. And
you know, a preacher, a pastor really doesn't work for the people.
He works for the Lord, doesn't he? That's what Paul said in
Galatians 1. He said, the gospel I receive
is not of men, not for men. He said, I'm not a hireling,
but I do serve the Lord. And that will regulate, that
will regulate what the man says and what he does, whereas being
a hireling, he'll be a man pleaser and he's not the servant of Christ
if he is. that the chief shepherd, when
he shall appear, you shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth
not away." Revelation 4. Go over there quickly. Revelation
chapter 4. A crown of glory. Does that mean
that preachers are going to wear little crowns of glory? No, not
at all. Our Lord's not going to have
a crown. It's symbolic. You know that notion. Why does
He need a crown? We know who He is. The greatest crown our Lord ever
wore, by the way, the most glorious crown He ever wore, and I believe
the only one He really will wear is that crown of thorns. What a glorious crown. Blood-stained. Oh, my. It's symbolic. You know,
this crown of glory is salvation that He that we're all crowned
with, all of God's people are crowned with this crown of glory.
We all receive the same thing. You know that? A preacher doesn't
receive something more than God's people. We all receive this one
honor, salvation, to be with Him, to behold His glory, to
be with Him. We're going to be sons, we are
sons of God, right now. And Revelation 4, this is what
we sang about in Holy, Holy, Holy. It says in verse 10, the
four and twenty elders fall down before Him that sat on the throne
and worship Him that liveth forever and ever and cast their crowns. before the throne, saying, Thou
art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power, for
Thou hast created all things, and for Thy pleasure they are
and were created. If there were crowns, they would
be only for the purpose of throwing them down, to show our utter disdain. for
self-glory, for vain glory, that no one deserves any honor, any
credit, any glory but Him. Crown Him with many crowns, every
crown of glory. It all belongs to Him. That fadeth
not away, you see. That fadeth not away. All right,
now verse 5, to you. Likewise, you younger, submit
yourselves unto the elder. Younger in the faith. Or just
all of us, he said, be subject one to another. Look at 1 Thessalonians
5. This is the responsibility of the people
to the elder. And I hate that many have been
under this elder rule and false religion and legal religion.
Let's sit two back there. And Ty and Barb used to be, and
others used to be under bondage to elder rule. And oh, they ruled
as lords, didn't they? Oh my, you had to give an account
to them and all that. That's evil. Those are not God's
men. And I hate that. But our Lord,
the word elder is a biblical office. It means teacher. Here it is, in 1 Thessalonians
5, he says in verse 12, We beseech you, brethren, to know them which
labor among you and are over you in the Lord, and admonish
you to esteem them very highly in love for their worksake, and
be at peace among yourselves. We beseech you, brethren, to
know them. Get to know them. Know them. as you would your
family member. Get to know them. Why? Why is
he saying that? You want to be sure you're following
a true man and not a fraud, not a fake. Know him. Our Lord said,
now you have this blessed comfort and blessed assurance in knowing.
Our Lord said of His sheep, I will give you pastors after my own
heart. A stranger you won't follow. He says, get to know them. That
way, when the adversary, whose chief aim is that man that preaches,
to keep you from hearing him, that way when he makes accusations
against him, if you know him, you'll say, that's not him. You understand that? Now, he's
a man like anybody. He's a sinner. He's capable of
sinning. But now, if he's God's man, he's not going to lead you
astray. And you can follow him. You have
that assurance from the Lord. But you need to know him. You
need to know him in such a way like, you know, your brothers
and sisters say, he's acting like that because he's had a
bad day. Or he's acting like that because I had a bad day. He loves me. He loves the truth. He loves the gospel. He's really
in it for the glory of God. Know Him. That way you will never
be suspicious of Him. He'll never be suspect to you.
You understand that? Look at Hebrews 13. This is necessary. This is so necessary. Because
if Satan can get you mad at the preacher, he's got you. If he
can bring up something and make you suspicious of him, he's got
you. You'll never hear another thing. You won't hear the gospel. Your children won't hear the
gospel. Hebrews 13, verse 7. Remember them which have the
rule of me. You have spoken unto you the word of God, whose faith
follow, considering the end of their conversation, purpose,
and so forth. Remember them. That means in
prayer. Paul said, Brethren, pray for us. Pray for us. Oh,
man, I am so thankful. for you. I hear you men. Some of you call me pastor, and
I'm still not comfortable with that, but you do. You mean well
by it. But here's how I know that you
really esteem me as such, when you thank the Lord for me in
your prayers. Some men do that. Thank you,
Lord, for our pastor. I can't tell you what that means
to me. I feel so unworthy of that, and yet that makes me known. that they really believed in.
And esteem me as a gift. I'm a nobody. If you know me,
you know that I know I'm a nothing. A big zero. And Christ is all. You know that.
Look at Hebrews 13, verse 5. And it's so uncomfortable dealing
with these things, but I've got to. Look at verse 17. Obey them that have the rule
of you. Submit yourselves. They watch for your soul. As
they that must give account, they may do it with joy, not
with grief. But that's unprofitable for you. Go back now to verse
5 in our text. So you submit yourselves to the
elder. Yea, all of you, be subject one
to another. Be clothed with humility. All
of you. Be subjects to, servants of. That's what we've been studying.
That's what Peter's been telling us. Wives, be subject to your
husband and all things. And servants, be subject unto
your masters and all things. Subject, subject, be servants. Let this mind be in you, Paul
wrote in Philippians 2, which was also in Christ Jesus. Who
thought it not, Robert, to be equal with God, but took upon
himself the form of a servant. Let this mind be anew. We're
servants, one of another. One time the Lord got angry with
His disciples when they all argued about who was going to be greatest
in the kingdom of heaven. And, oh boy, when they all left
Him, they all learned a painful lesson in it. If He doesn't keep
us, we won't be cared for. We don't deserve this calling.
So it humbled them, especially Simon Peter. Simon Peter was
really humbled by it. by that terrible fall he took.
And this is what he says, son, be clothed with humility. Be
clothed, wear the garment of humility. Be clothed with humility. Let everything you do be with
humility. Remember, you're nothing. Remember the pit from which you
were digged. Be clothed with humility, for God resisteth the
proud. There's a Scripture that says,
He that walketh in pride, he's able to abase. I love Hannah's prayer, don't you?
Talk no more so exceedingly proudly. God brings down. He's able to
bring you down, and He will. The lofty looks of man shall
be brought down. The haughtiness will every...
God had purposed it. To stain the pride of all glory
and to bring into contempt all the honorable of the earth. No
one is going to glory in His presence. And him that glorieth
is going to glory in the Lord. Humble yourself. He resisteth
the proud. If God be for you, oh, nothing
and no one can be against you. But if God resists you, nobody
can help you. He giveth grace to the humble.
Better to stay low. Better to take your low place. Read on, verse 6. Humble yourselves,
therefore, unto the mighty hand of God. Humble yourselves. How do we humble ourselves? It
shouldn't be a problem, except for because we're nothing. You
know what? It shouldn't be a problem. But
it is because of our flesh. This sinful flesh, isn't it,
is so prone to pride, the pride of life. This old man in us is full of
lust of the eyes, lust of the flesh, and the pride of life.
And we take pride in the least little thing. It wells up in
us, doesn't it? Well, God's going to bring it
down. I remember Dad telling this one time. Somebody met him
at the door after he was preaching. And the Lord really blessed him
to preach. And he's told me this, and I understand. He said, you
know when you preach. You know when the Lord blesses
you. You know when... And this man came back and was
just commending the message and commending him and just being
thankful and all that. And the man said, but I don't
want to puff you up. And that said, you don't have
to worry about that. Meaning, if I get puffed up,
the Lord will bring me down fast. In a very painful way. The same
is true of all of us. All of God's people. Humble yourselves. How? Well, the older I get, the less I want to look in the
mirror. Do you? When I was young, well, this
is vain pride. You want to tell you how proud
man is? He can't walk by a mirror without looking in it. Or a plate glass window. Can
you? Come on now. You will, won't
you? And when I was young, hey, Boy, oh boy. I told you about
that magnifying mirror. Oh, my. I needed to find the hair on
my head. But take a look in this mirror. Keep looking in this mirror,
beholding yourself in this glass, and you'll loathe yourself. You'll
see yourself for what you are. God's Word reveals us for what
we really are. You keep looking into this mirror
and you'll see yourself for what you really are. See what you
are, what you're capable of, that anything you've ever done,
He did it, gave it to you. It's all of grace. See that.
And then look at Christ hanging on that cross. You want to humble
yourself? You go to the foot of Calvary's
tree and you see Him I showed Brother Stephen a picture on
a cover. It's a famous painting by one
of these Italian masters, painting masters. It's called The Lamb
of God. And it shows a picture. I kind
of want all of you to have it. It shows a picture of a young
ram with his feet all tied together with a leather thong laying on
that altar. And it's got a look of just complete
abandonment and resignation It's touching, isn't it? Oh man, that's
Christ, our substitute. I bet you'd say
that we would actually see a lamb, just a lamb, killed like that
in front of us. An innocent, sweet lamb without
spot or blemish, tied up and hear its voice crying. and lay
it on an altar and slit its throat before our eyes and let blood
pour out. There wouldn't be a dry eye in here. Not sorry for the
lamb, but just, that's Christ, our substitute. You want to humble
yourself? Stay at the foot of the cross,
because He bore our sins in His own body on the trail. He was
made a curse for us. He who knew no sin was made sin
for us. He, like Isaac, bound himself,
and God plunged the knife of his wrath and justice into his
breast. The innocent died for the guilty.
And I'm talking about hell-deserving sinners. And boy, if that won't
keep you humble, nothing will. Nothing will. Humble yourself. Humble yourself under the mighty
hand of God. The mighty hand of God. Oh God,
if you're in God's hand, you're safe, isn't it? If He holds you
by His hand, you're safe, aren't you? You're kept. Our Lord said
that about His people. My Father is greater than all.
You're in His hands. No man will pluck you out of
His hand. Boy, if His hand comes down on you in judgment, you'll
feel it, won't you? The mighty hand of God. Humble
yourself. Casting all your care upon Him,
for He careth for you. Casting all your care, casting
your sins upon Him. Lay your sins on the head of
the sacrifice, on Christ our scapegoat. Confess your sins. He's able, just and righteous,
able to forgive. Cleanse us. Casting all your
care upon Him. Cast your soul upon Him. Cast
your family upon Him. Cast the care of this church
on Him. That's what I did. Cast all your care upon Him.
Your job, your home, your family, your provisions for your family. Don't worry about it. I know
we say this, but it's so. Cast all your care upon Him.
He careth for you. He is the one caring for you.
The birds, I love to feed the birds. Back when we had that
foot of snow, remember? Back when we had that snow? I thought, where do the birds go
in all of this? Who feeds the birds in all this?
Where do they go in these thunderstorms, in these hurricanes, in these
tornadoes? Who takes care of them? Our Lord
said He does. That not a sparrow even falls
to the ground. He said you're worth more than many sparrows.
He said not a hair of your head shall fall. Cast your care upon
Him. He really does care for you. He's caring for you. He's caring
for you. He cares for you. He loves you.
He sent His Son to die for you. I'm talking to God's people now,
the same. And He has all the care for you. Why try to bear
it? Also, why? You're not caring for your family.
You're not caring for your family. He is. You never have provided for them.
He has. He cares for you. As you see, he's a better provider
than you. Verse 8, be sober. You know, Peter began this in
the first chapter, and in the fourth chapter he said, Be sober,
and in the last chapter he says, Be sober. That means don't be intoxicated
with, don't be taken up with, don't be inebriated by, don't
be overcome by anything or anyone on this earth. It's all deceitful. It's all dangerous. It all will
take you away from Him. And be serious. That's what's
over me. Be serious. This is serious. The end of all
things is at hand, he said in chapter 4. Be ye therefore sober
and watch unto prayer." He said, be vigilant, watchful for the
wows, for the subtlety, for the traps, the pits, the snares of
your adversary, the devil who is a roaring lion. Peter knows
something about this, doesn't he? Oh my, Simon Peter was so
sure of himself. And our Lord said, Peter, Simon,
Simon. You know, he never did call him
Peter. He never did call him Peter. He named him that, but
he never called him that. He was always reminding him,
you're just Simon, son of Jonah. Without me, you could do nothing.
You're not a rock at all without me. And he said, Simon, Satan
hath desired thee to sift you like wheat. Oh, but they'll leave
you, not me. Okay. Okay. Remember before that, Simon Peter
came and said, Lord, don't go to the cross. And everybody said,
get behind me, Satan. Satan was entering them then,
was using him then. Can Satan use us? Oh, my. What's he use us for? What's
his grand design? What's he going to do? Cause division. Cause strife. to wreck this church, to keep
anybody from hearing the gospel. He knows what the power of God
is. He's seen the power of God, the gospel, take people out from
under His captivity. He knows when people are not
under His absolute rule. He knows that. He knows when
they are, and He knows when they've been taken from Him. He knows
when the Lord has His hedge about them. He knows that. He saw it
in Job, and He sees it in all of His people. He knows that.
He knows what they... live upon the Word of God. So
His chief design is He knows where the fold is. He knows where
the pin is. He knows where that safety is.
He knows where that refuge is. It's the church. And His great
design is to split that thing apart, and He'll use anybody
to do it. He'll do all He can with His
power. And He's so subtle. He's so crafty. He put a thought
in your head. He put a word of division in
your mind. He'll put this, He'll put that
in you, and He'll use you. Will He? Yes, He will. He's a powerful adversary. Seeking whom He made devour.
How do we resist? Verse 9. Resist steadfast in
the faith. I think it was Brother John Brown
got a commentary, a great commentary. John Brown, just now. He said,
resist in the faith, resist by calling upon the Lord Jesus Christ,
resist trusting in Christ, believing in Christ, looking to Christ,
calling on Christ, quoting His promises, pleading the blood
of Christ against the adversary. Like Joseph, I remember when
Joseph, the woman tempted him, he said, how can I do this against
my master? But John Brown said, resist Him
in these temptations against yourself. Have your eyes wide
open. Watch unto prayer. Resist these
temptations of sin to yourself. Resist Him in the faith by calling
on the Lord. Lord, help. You know I like that. You know I want to do that. You
know I'm tempted by that. Lord, help me. He said, resist
His Assaults against the truth. Against the gospel. And boy,
can he use somebody for that. Resist. Resist, he said, in his
accusations against your brethren. Resist him. Resist in his accusations
against your brethren. He's the accuser of the brethren. That's what he's called. And
you resist him and say, in the faith, that's one of God's children. That's one of my brethren Christ died for. Know in this, verse 9, all these
troubles, trials, sufferings, afflictions, Tribulations, temptations,
all of these same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren. Accomplished,
meaning sent by the Lord on purpose for His people, for His glory
and for their good. They're all the same. All of
God's people go through the same struggles, the same trials, the
same to a different degree, but the same. And they accomplish
something in your brethren, because all things work together for
good. To them. All of them. There's
a call to God. The call according to this verse.
Those that love God. All things. The same afflictions
are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world. And then
he's going to go on to say, the God of all grace. He's the God
of all grace. We were saved by grace. We're
kept by grace. We're taught by grace, aren't
we? Oh, thank God for true grace. True grace. All right, stand
up. Our Father in Heaven, thank You,
thank You, thank You. Thank You for Your Word. Calling
men such as Simon Peter to preach your Gospel, to write your Word,
to remind us, Simon Peter, a faithful man, if you may take them, said,
I will always have you in remembrance of these things. Stir up your pure minds by way
of remembrance, O Lord. Lord, let us not forget these
things. That adversary, even right now, The fowl of the air
come to steal it away. O Lord, let it be planted. Let
it fall on good ground. The thorns choke it out so quickly. O Lord, let us not be his palm. O Lord, let us not be used by
him. But O Lord, may we resist in
the faith. O Lord, keep us cleaving to Thyself
and still believing. Keep us of one mind, one accord,
striving together for the faith of the Gospel, endeavoring to
keep the unity of the Spirit, exhorting one another, loving
one another with a fervent love as brethren, for Christ's sake. Amen. Questioner 2 has a question.