Open your Bibles, if you would,
to 1 Peter. 1 Peter. We'll be in Chapter
5 today. Chapter 5. We're almost done with this epistle.
I think we maybe have a couple more lessons left. But we're
getting near the end of this wonderful little epistle written
to God's suffering saints who are going through various
trials and tribulations. who are being tried for their
faith, and also going just through normal situations in life. And Peter brings before them
the suffering of Christ, as opposed to their own suffering as well.
And let's start though in verse 1, and we'll read the verse 7.
We've already studied verses 1 to 4, but today we'll be looking
at verses 5 to 7. It says, the elders which are
among you, I exhort who also am 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 care 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, you shall receive a crown
of glory that fadeth not away. Likewise, you younger, submit
yourself unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one
to another, and be clothed with humility. For God resisteth the
proud, and giveth grace to the humble. 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 last week we looked at verses 1 to 4, and we were studying
Paul's exhortation to the elders of the church, and this is the
preachers. And Paul, after giving general
exhortations in the previous chapters to all believers who
are suffering for the cause of Christ, he now in chapter 5,
in the first four verses, exhorts the elders or the preachers of
the church, preachers of the church, to not be taken away by money or
gain, and not to lord over God's sheep at all, but to lead in
the midst of them. And again, this is not those
who are older in age, but those who preach and proclaim the gospel
of the Lord Jesus Christ. And we noticed again how Peter
didn't lord over the elders, he brought himself right down
to their level. He said, look in verse 1, the
elders which are among you who also am an elder, I exhort who
also am an elder. So he doesn't lord himself over
them, he puts himself on the same level as them. And this
is the Apostle, this is the Apostle Peter. We have no Pope. We have no Pope. We have a chief
shepherd, the Lord Jesus Christ, in him alone, in him alone. And so this is the work of the
Holy Spirit. Notice here, in what Peter writes
here, this is a work of the Holy Spirit because what great humility
he shows when he says this, he says this. And again, this is
the apostle Peter. He could have, you know, he had
authority in the church, but he didn't exercise it. What great
humility is shown here. And again, that's the work of
the Holy Spirit of God, because by nature, what are we? We're
real proud. We're real proud. We are by nature. But the work of the Holy Spirit,
he works in us humility, doesn't he? He works in, and he doesn't
lord over his fellow elders. He comes beside them. And we
see that in verse one. In verse two, we looked at Peter's
charge to the elders and how we are to feed the sheep of God.
This is done by preaching of the gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ. And the Holy Spirit takes the
words of the preachers and he comforts God's people with those
words. And every preacher is amazed
at that. We are amazed at that. It's incredible. Pastor Scott
Richardson made a profound statement about preaching one time. He
said, preaching is getting a message from God's heart to my heart
and delivering it to your heart. Anything else is just filling
in time. Boy, there's so much truth to
that statement. I'll read it again. Preaching is getting the
message from God's heart to my heart and delivering it to your
heart. Anything else is just filling
in time. It's just a waste of time, absolute
waste of time. The Lord promised to give his
church pastors after his own heart, who should feed his people
with knowledge and understanding. He commands his preachers over
in Isaiah, speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her
that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned,
for she has received the Lord's hand double for all her sins.
Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem. The gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ brings great comfort to God's people. Great comfort.
And we looked at how preachers do not preach for gain or fame.
They do not lord over the sheep of God. They lead as an under-shepherd. In the church of God, the elect
are God's heritage. God's heritage. And the preacher
is a sheep of God, just as those he preaches to. And he's privileged
to preach the gospel to them. And last, we looked at how the
Lord Jesus Christ is the chief shepherd, and he alone is our
reward. And what a glorious time that will be when we get to see
him face to face. And he is coming back, beloved. He is coming back. We do not
know the hour or the day, but he is promised that he is coming
back. And think of this, you who are
the sheep of God. He will come back when he returns again. Or,
you know, he comes for us at our death, doesn't he? Wow, he
does. Oh man, we'll see him face to
face, won't we? We'll see him face to face, beloved.
He's coming back, and all believers look forward to this. So let's
consider verses five to seven. Likewise, ye 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, and giveth grace to the humble. Humble yourself, therefore,
unto 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
here in verse five, when I was studying this out, I found two
interpretations of this verse, one from preachers of old and
one from more modern preachers. So let's read the verse and I'll
give you the interpretation of the older preachers first, like
John Gale and John Brown and John Calvin and others who bring
forth that this verse is speaking not of younger church members,
but of all church members. in contrast to the elders. So
let's study this out first. Likewise, you younger, submit
yourself unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one
to another and be clothed with humility, for God resisteth the
proud and giveth grace to the humble. Now John Gill brings
forth here, likewise, you younger, not in office as if inferior
officers to bishops who were here intended, who ought to be
subject to them, for elders and pastors are the same with them.
Nor is there any office but that of deacons, nor younger pastors
and overseers, not younger brethren in the ministry or such, as the
only younger in years who ought to rise up and honor hoary hairs. This may be done where subjection
is not required, as here. nor such as are young in grace
and experience, since there are little children, young men, and
fathers in the church. But he says this, but all members
of the church in common are here intended, as distinguished from
their officers as pastors and overseers were. Now, when we
fall that vein of thinking, we see that this verse ties right
into what's being brought forth, as Peter has already exhorted
the elders of the church not to lord over the flock of God.
not the Lord over the flock of God, but to feed them, not to
worry about making money because God will take care of them, but
they are to preach the gospel to all the sheep. They are to
feed the sheep of God. And Peter here exhorts the believers
in the church to whom the elders preach to, to submit themselves
to the elder of the churches because he has oversight over
them. This same thought is brought out over in Hebrews chapter 13.
Turn, if you would, to Hebrews chapter 13. So God sovereignly,
by his decree and by his power, places preachers where he wants
to place them. And Peter here is exhorting the
believers to submit to those preachers. And look over here
in Hebrews chapter 13, verse 17. And so then think of this,
though, in the contrast to the elder. He's not the Lord over
the sheep. You see? So that's the exhortation
to the pastor, not to lord over the sheep who the Lord has put
them over. Look at this in Hebrews 13, 17,
though. Obey them that have rule over you and submit yourselves,
for they watch for your souls. They must give account that they
may do it with joy and not with grief, for that is unprofitable
for you. I, as your pastor, pray for you
all. Because I love you and the Lord's
brought me here and I'm to preach and I'm to pray for all of you.
And I care for you. And Jim feels the same way whenever
a preacher is anywhere. And trust me, Jim's relationship
with you all hasn't ended since he left. He still loves and cares
for you all. But now he's on another flock
that he's being placed in over. My love for the people that I
preach to in Oregon hasn't stopped. I actually got to see a few of
them when I was out there. And we had a sweet, wonderful
fellowship together again. But I'm here now. And I'm called
the pastor here, just as Jim's called the pastor down at 13th
Street. But don't ever think that the
affection that a preacher has the sheep that God puts them
over ever leaves. It never does. It never does. So in verse 17 here in Hebrews
it says, Obey them that have rule over you and submit yourselves
for they watch for your souls as they must give account that
they may do it with joy and not with grief. In that for that
is unprofitable for you. How's this done? How is this
submission done that even Peter writes about? Likewise, you younger
submit yourself unto the elder. Gil brings this forth, and I
thought this was absolutely wonderful. He says, by attending constantly
on the word, coming and hearing the word of God preached, coming
and hearing the word of God preached, and receiving it so far as it
agrees with the scriptures. So if a preacher ever says anything
wrong that's contrary to scriptures, I don't believe that. But if
we're preaching the gospel, we're faithfully proclaiming the word
of God, attend to the hearing. Attend to the hearing. That's
what's most important. We are all here for the furtherance
of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's how it is. So by coming and hearing the
word of God preached and proclaimed, Gil brings forth by joining with
them in the ordinance of the churches, so for us by having
the Lord's Supper and the administration of them, also by taking their
counsel and advice regarding and hearkening to their admirations
and reproofs. Now some of the more modern preachers,
Henry Mayhem brings forth that these are the younger in the
faith as well as in the age. Now the interesting part though
I found with both of these interpretations was this. And I thought this
was absolutely wonderful. Both brings forth that the believer
is to give due respect to spiritual leaders and to follow their teaching
and counsel as it is true to the scriptures. That's what they
both said. That's what they both said. And so Peter then brings
forth that we, and look, now look at what he, look what he
brings forth. And if we think of it as the body in general
too, likewise you younger submit yourselves unto the elder. May
all of you be subject one to another. That's the whole body.
We are subject one to another, beloved. And look at this, and
be clothed with humility. Be clothed with humility. Do
you put others before yourself in the body of Christ? Be clothed with humility, beloved.
Esteem others better than yourself. That's hard for us to do, isn't
it? Because the natural thing for us is we are proud creatures. We really are. But humble yourself. Be clothed with humility, for
God resists the proud and giveth grace to the humble. Look over
in Acts chapter 20. Paul brings forth this, just
like Peter does. Over in Acts chapter 20, when
Paul's addressing the elders at the church of Ephesus, look
what he says here in verse 19. Acts chapter 20 verses 19 and
21. Serving the Lord with all humility
of mind and with many tears and temptations which befell me by
the lying weight of the Jews, and how I kept back nothing that
was profitable unto you, but have showed you and have taught
you publicly from house to house, testifying both to the Jews and
also to the Greeks, repentance towards God and faith toward
our Lord Jesus Christ. Look at verse 19, though. Serving
the Lord with what? All humility of mind. being humble,
esteeming others better than yourself. Let's go back to Peter
again and read that in light of all that. Likewise, you younger,
submit yourself unto the elder gay. All of you be subject one
to another and be clothed with humility. For God resisted the
proud and giveth grace to the humble. Now Paul and Peter both
were very conscious of their own weakness and insufficiency
in their service to the Lord. And we notice there, Paul in
no way elated himself, did he? In no way, he did not elate himself
over there in Acts 20. And he's talking to the elders
of the Church of Ephesus. And he didn't talk about his
gifts that God gave him or even the gifts that God gave them.
All the glory and all the success of his ministry, he looked to
Christ and Christ alone. He did not boast about what he's
done. He did not boast about what he's done at all. And he
ascribes all his success and his power and his grace to the
Spirit of God. And all the gifts that we have
that are used in the church all come from God. We don't have
any room to boast in them. All the gifts that we have in
our normal life too, the things that we can do, the abilities
that we have. Some of you can do things I can't do, and I can
do some things that you all can't do. And those things are gifts
from God. I believe that, too. Even in
our vocation, the things that we do, the things that we're
able to do, are all gifts. Everything comes from the Lord.
Everything. Everything. And we give Him all
the glory. We don't boast in those things.
We don't boast in those things at all. We're to be humble, knowing
that it is the Lord who has given us all these things. Because
God resists the proud, and He gives grace to the humble. And
Paul, he treats no man with contempt and disdain. He does not lord
over the church. And we saw that in Acts 20 right
there. With all humility, serving the Lord with all humility of
mind and with many tears and temptations, which befell me
by lying in wait of the Jews. He doesn't seek richness. He doesn't seek dominion over
the many. He just doesn't say, well, I'm gonna exercise my authority
here and just hammer y'all. He doesn't do that at all. No,
he serves the Lord with humility. with humility. This is how we
are. This is how we are to serve the
Lord, even in the body here that we're in. We serve the Lord with
humility. Why? Because we're here for the
furtherance of the gospel. We're here for the furtherance
of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. And let us not forget
that we, as the body of Christ, are a family. And families get
along when we exercise humility one with another, don't we? That's
when we don't get along, we get a little proud. And that's in
everyone's family too, isn't it? It happens. It happens. But when we're humble with each
other, when we get along, we walk in peace. So believers are
to maintain the unity of the spirit, the bond of peace. And
let's read the latter part of this verse now. And be clothed
with humility, for God resists the proud and giveth grace to
the humble. I'd like you to turn to Proverbs chapter three, verse
34, where the scriptures proclaim very clearly that God gives grace
to the lowly and think of what we just read there. I'll read
it again and be clothed with humility for God resisted the
proud and give it grace to the humble. Give it grace to the
humble. Look at this in Proverbs three
34, surely he scorned at the scorners. but he giveth grace
unto who? The lowly. The lowly, and that's
those who are lowly in spirit. We're bankrupt sinners, aren't
we? When we're bought to Christ, he shows us that we're absolutely
bankrupt. He humbles us. Brother Scott
used to say, I love this, when the gospel is preached, it's
stripping grace. It just strips you down to nothing,
and it does. But what does the preaching of
the gospel do? It builds you right back up in
Christ. Because it's all about him, beloved. It's not about
us. It's not about us. So be cold with humility. For
God resisteth the proud and giveth grace to the humble. Again, by
nature, we're all proud creatures. We are. We're full of pride. I remember, I think it was Donny
Bell was preaching one time. I was listening to a message
to him. And he says, you've got enough pride in me to burn this
whole building down. Well, that's true for all of us, isn't it?
It's so true, beloved. We are so proud. We are so proud. Oh my. And this is our natural state.
We resist God, but the person who fights against God is truly
a fool because the scriptures proclaim, woe unto him that striveth
with his maker. Think of that in light of this
verse and be clothed with humility for God resists the proud and
giveth grace to the humble. Think upon this. If God Almighty
should so lift as much of a finger of his wrath against you or me,
it would instantly crush us. It would instantly crush us. By nature and our lost conditions,
we shake our fist at God. We defy his infinite holiness
and his infinite justice, and we defy his wrath in our natural
state and our lost condition. But note the last part of this
verse. We have the mercy of God on full display here. And be
clothed with humility, and we know that humility there, that
only comes from the Holy Spirit, too. We can't muster that up.
He works in us, humility. For God resists the proud, though,
and giveth grace to the humble. Look at that. Giveth grace to
the humble. The same God who resists the
proud gives grace to the humble. The same God who resists the
proud gives grace to the humble. And if God resists one, they
are damned forever. They are damned forever. But
if one receives grace, they are blessed forever. Blessed forever. How can a proud rebel's heart,
hard-hearted heart, a lost child of Adam, how can we ever hope
for grace? Well, God must do something for
us. He must do something for us.
He must be born again. You must be born again. You must
be granted faith and repentance to believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ. And this is all the work of God. Because notice that,
and He gives grace to the humble. He gives it, beloved. It's from
His hand. The same hand that resists the
proud. gives grace to the humble. And
if you're a receiver of that, it should fill us with humility,
shouldn't it? Because we know we didn't deserve
it. It should slay pride in us, shouldn't
it, when we think about that? Oh, my. Verse 6 ties right in
with this thought. He continues, humble yourself,
therefore, under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you
in due time. So let us ponder this, that God
gives grace to the humble. And we are here called to humble
ourselves before him, that we might obtain his grace. And we
know that no one will be humbled before God until they've been
humbled by God. No one will humble themselves
before God until they've been humbled by God. And that's what
happens. Think upon this. think upon what this would mean
to the suffering saints that Peter's writing to. He's telling
them to humble themselves under the mighty hand of God, to submit
themselves to his providence in their lives, to bow to his
sovereignty, and to bear every affliction which they're going
through. And these saints are suffering. And Peter's here telling them
to humble yourself under God's mighty hand. And let us not forget this, that
the Lord's people, no matter what you go through, you are
always in the hand of the Lord. Always. You're always in his
hand. Through good times and through
bad. through times of good health and through times of failing
health. We who are the sheep of God are kept by the power
of God, and therefore we humble ourselves, don't we, before our
great God, knowing this truth, knowing that we're in his hands.
It makes it easy for us to submit to him, doesn't it? It does. We labor for the Lord, not for
recognition or praise. We do these things because we
love the Lord. And again, we seek the furtherance
of his gospel. Beloved, sooner or later, the
truly humble and gracious will be exalted by God. You know when? When we see him face to face.
When we see him face to face. My, what a day that'll be. Turn,
if you would, to Matthew 23, and look at this. Look at this. And what a death blow these two verses
will look at is for those who think themselves proud of what
they do in the church or what they do and all these things. Do you know that we are to be
humble servants with God's people? Matthew 23 verses 11 and 12,
but he that is greatest among you, shall what? Shall be your
servant. What was the Lord? He put himself,
he washed the feet of the apostles. He spoke the world into existence. Oh my. And again, we don't labor
for the Lord for reward, do we? We're not gonna play with those
foolish things that religion plays with. Because Christ is
our reward. Christ is our reward. We labor
knowing the wonderful things that Christ has done for us. And whosoever shall exalt themselves
shall be what? Abased. That's what's going to
happen to the proud. They're going to be bought low.
Really low. They'll be abased. And he that
humble himself shall be what? Exalted. Exalted. That's exactly what Peter's been
writing to us about over there in chapter 5. He's writing to
them suffering saints, the same thought that Christ brings forth
here. Let's go back to our text and
we'll consider verse 7. I want to spend a little more
time on verse 7. I think we've got another 10 minutes, so we'll
look at this in verse 7. And I want us to consider this
verse. Look at this. Casting all your care upon him, that's
Christ, For he careth for you. Now remember what they're going
through. Peter's writing to suffering saints. And again, this is a
general epistle, so it's applicable to all the church age, even to
us today, right? Casting all your care upon who?
Christ. Why? Because he cares for you.
Let those words sink in. What comfort and confidence this
verse brings forth for the blood-bought child of God. This verse brings
forth before Peter, those who Peter are writing to, the suffering
saints. They've been ostracized for their faith by friends and
family and co-workers and some are suffering the loss of everything,
their livelihood and everything. Some are losing probably their
homes, some are losing their lives. We know that was happening
for the cause of Christ. And think of what comfort this
would bring them. And I want you to You and I as
the blood bond saints of God today to let this sink in. Think
of what comfort this would bring to them and it should bring to
we who are his people. That the almighty sovereign God
of the universe, the one who controls all things, the one
who watches over all things. Peter here by inspiration of
the Holy Spirit writes that he cares for you. that he cares for you, who are
his blood-bought people. Just let that sink in. The almighty,
sovereign God of the universe cares for every one of his sheep.
He cares for them. And I want you
to think about this for a moment. I want you to think about the
people that you care about the most. I want you to think about how
much you love them, and how much you cherish them, whether they
are still alive or whether they've passed. I want you to think about
how much you love and cherish them, and how blessed you were
to have them in your life, either if they're in your life now or
if they were in your life at one time. And I want you to think
about the amount, how much you love them, and how much you cherish them, and how much you cared for them.
And it does not even appear as a blip on a radar screen compared
to how much God loves and cares for you, who are his people. Casting all your care upon him,
for he, Christ, God, careth for you. And He careth so much for
you that He went to the cross of Calvary and died in your place. God incarnate Himself, we are
to cast all our care upon Him. Casting all your care upon Him
for He careth for you. Do you have concerns that you've
spoken to no one about? Cast all your care upon Him,
for He careth for you. Do you have worries? Cast all your care upon Him,
for He careth for you. Do you have fears? Cast all your care upon Him,
for He careth for you. Are you sometimes anxious? Cast all your care upon Him,
For He careth for you. Are you struggling with sin in
your life? We all do, don't we? Cast all your care upon Him.
For He careth for you. Are you struggling with someone
at work? Cast all your care upon Him. For He careth for you. Are you feeling stressed out
about life? Just life in general? circumstances that occur cast
all your care upon him for he cared for you. Do you have cares
which you're carrying around inside that are burdening you
very very heavy and again no one knows about them? Cast all your care upon him for
he cares for you. Are you enduring a fiery trial
at this time in your life like the Saints were that Peter was
writing to? Cast all your care upon him, for he careth for you. Are you dealing with health or
financial issues at this time? Cast all your care upon him,
for he careth for you. See, it covers everything, doesn't
it? Anything that can happen in our lives, anything. Nothing is too small to carry
to our great God. Nothing. Cast all your care upon
him, for he cares for you. God moves in mysterious ways
his wonders to perform. He plants his footsteps in the
sea and rides upon the storm. Deep in unfathomable minds of
never failing skill, he treasures up his bright designs and works
his sovereign will. Ye fearful saints, fresh courage
take that clouds you so much dread, are big with mercy and
will break in blessings on your head. Judge not the Lord by feeble
sense, but trust him for his grace. Behold, behind the frowning
providence he hides a smiling face. His purposes will ripen
fast, unfolding every hour. The bud may have a bitter taste,
but sweet will be the flower. Cast all your care upon him,
for he careth for you. So let us ponder this, that the
Lord did not start caring for you who are his blood-bought
people when you were born again. No, he's cared for you and loved
you from eternity, beloved, from eternity. Our great substitute loves us
so much that he came to redeem us from all our sins, all according
to the plan and purpose of God. Therefore, knowing this great
love that God has for us, we are to cast all our cares, all
our worries, our anxieties, our concerns, our fears, we're to
cast them all upon Christ. And this is something, beloved,
we continuously do, isn't it? We do. We continuously do it.
But he cares for you, beloved. The scripture declares that God
himself, almighty, cares for his sheep. And that's just, that's
not all, just all the sheep. That's every single one of his
sheep, beloved. Every single one. I lay down my life for the
what? Sheep. That's every one of them
that God gave him. Every single one that God gave
him. Turn, if you would, to Hebrews chapter 13, and we're closed
with this text here. He cares for you. He's loved
you with an everlasting love. He's loved you from the beginning.
And being the chief and good shepherd, He cares for you. He's ever watchful over you.
He gives his angels charge over you. Look at this in Hebrews chapter
13, verses 5 and 6. Let your conversation be without
covenants, and be content with such things as you have. Hebrews
13, 5. For he has said, I will never,
that word never there in the Greek is in the triple negative.
Never, not ever, never. It's incredible. Leave thee,
nor forsake thee. Look at this. So that we may
boldly say, the Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what men
shall do unto me. The Lord is my helper. Therefore,
cast all your care upon him, for he cares for you. Heavenly
Father, we thank thee for this wonderful time we've had together.
We pray that we would take these verses and oh Lord that you would
just let them sink deep into the soul of your people. The
fact that you care for your people, the fact that you are ever watchful
over us and that you love us with an everlasting unchanging
love. It will never change your love
for your people. We glorify thee and praise thee
and thank thee for redeeming us, for saving us from our sins. We love you and praise you in
Jesus name. Amen.