Turn to 1 Peter chapter 5, and
we will wind this chapter up tonight. True grace. True grace. Peter speaking to the church,
those scattered abroad because of affliction and heartaches.
He tells them, may not look like it, may not
feel like it, but this is the true grace of God. Speaking to
that afflicted church that was going under such trials that
we can't even really conceive of, and he assures them, this
is the true grace of God. Even though right now you're
going through such heavy trials and heartaches, this is the true
grace of God. Now he writes here in this last
chapter, he's going to write and instruct the elders first
of all. He writes to the elders or the
pastors. And I'm sure, I'm sure they really
needed some encouragement at this time. Could you imagine,
I can't imagine being the pastor here and going through the afflictions
that they were going through. So he writes and he encourages
them. God's preachers need encouragement.
They need encouragement. It encourages us that you're
listening. That you're listening. You'd
be surprised when people come up and they say, you know, you
said this. and just go right on with it.
I'm thinking, you know, I can put that in my notes the next
time. That's a good point. I didn't even think of it. Listening. So God's preachers need encouraged.
Now, Peter here, I want you to notice, Peter identifies himself
as an elder. As an elder. Not above the elders
to whom he's writing. Not above them. But as one of
them, God knows how to keep a man down,
doesn't He? Peter never got over that fall. He never got over
denying the Lord. That's why I read to you what
Paul wrote, I am what I am by the grace of God. I am the least
of the apostles. I am one born out of due time. And Peter says here, I am an
elder, not above one, but as one of them. You know, Satan's
greatest, one of his greatest tools is pride. That's why Paul said, not a novice
lest he be lifted up with pride like the devil. That's one of
his greatest tools is pride. Pride goes before a fall and
the Holy Spirit before destruction. I tell you what, and pride will
grow in any ground. It'll grow on concrete. It will
grow anywhere. The fall that our Lord allowed
Peter to go through made him a compassionate preacher. Made him a compassionate elder. He understood. This man in writing
this epistle understood where they were. He understood where
the church was that he was writing to. Their condition, their pain,
and their suffering. He says, who also am an elder. And he was also a witness. I'm an elder, but I'm also a
witness. I know what I'm writing to you about. We are witnesses
of the sufferings of Christ Through the Word of God, by the Word
of God. I was not there. I did not see it. But I believe
God. I believe the Scriptures. But
now Peter was there. Peter was there. Peter watched
him. Peter watched what they did to
him. He watched them mock his Lord. He saw him tormented. He saw that mutilated man nailed
to a cross. He watched it. He watched it. He said, I am a witness of the
sufferings of Christ. And I witnessed. I was there
and I was a witness of his glory. You remember the Mount of Transfiguration?
Peter, James and John was taken up there. And Peter said, I witnessed
the glory of this man. This is the Son of God. I heard
a voice speak from heaven saying, this is my beloved Son. Hear
ye Him. And then He was a witness of
His resurrection. He saw with His eyes the Lord
Jesus Christ after He rose from the dead. After He came out of
that grave. He saw Him. He saw Him. So he says here, the elders which
are among you I exhort, I encourage, I instruct, who am also an elder
and a witness of the sufferings of Christ. I was there, I saw
it, and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed.
And I tell you what this, this glory that Peter saw, that glory
on the Mount of Transfiguration, the glory of his person after
resurrection from the dead, you and I someday are going to see
it too. Someday when He is revealed from heaven, we are going to
see the glory of this Man, Jesus Christ. We are going to see it. And then He instructs them, the
elders here, and He tells them, feed the flock of God. Don't
get sidetracked. And I think this may be going
back to Peter here. You know, when the Lord said
to Peter, Peter, if you love Me, If you love me, feed my sheep. You know, he asked him, Peter,
do you love me? He said, you know, Peter, do
you love me? Feed my sheep, feed my sheep, feed my lambs. Peter,
don't get sidetracked fighting these Pharisees, fighting these
unbelievers. Don't get sidetracked with that. Feed the sheep. Study. You know, there's a lot of things
and I tell him when Victor's talking about this, you know,
I haven't been out to the shop now for two, three months. But
I said, man, I never stood. There's so many distractions
that come along. It's amazing. It is amazing how many distractions
come along that that would take me from the study. And he's saying
here, feed the flock, don't get sidetracked. Peter, if you love
me, feed my sheep. Don't fight these men and fight
these unbelievers. Just feed my sheep. Take care
of the sheep. That's your business. That's
my business. To stand here and feed the sheep.
Feed the flock of God which is among you. That God has made
you the over, the under shepherd. I was going to say give you the
oversight, but made you an under shepherd. What a privilege. Now, listen, I do count this
a privilege to be your pastor, but what a great responsibility.
I did go out to the shop one day last week because she's still
out there. And when I went out there for
some reason and I walked in, I said, boy, this was this was
a lot easier. This was a lot easier. It's just
the responsibility of it. I'm telling you, I'm telling
you this, the word of God. and preaching carries with it
a real genuine burden. Now, I'm not going to act like
I'm some kind of martyr and, you know, my job is harder than
yours. That's not what I mean. But it carries with it a burden
that I didn't even have in the machine shop world, the business
world. I didn't have this kind of burden. I handled death and
life and judgment and eternity and God's glory. the glory of
His Son every time I step in this pulpit. Every time I step
in this pulpit, I open the Word of God and I preach from it.
It has a real effect on you one way or the other. One way or the other. And that's
a burden. It's a privilege, but it's a
burden. Look over in Acts chapter 20. Acts chapter 20. Now those who don't take it serious,
it's not a burden. But now if God's called a man
and He's given him a heart as a pastor, it's a burden. Paul
said in Acts 20, verse 26, Wherefore I take you to record this day,
that I am pure from the blood of all men. For I have not shunned
to declare unto you all the counsel of God. I haven't shunned to
declare it. I haven't held back. I have made
known to you everything that God has revealed to me concerning
the gospel. Now take heed, take heed therefore unto yourselves
and to all the flock over the which the Holy Ghost hath made
you overseers," that's the word I was trying to think of a minute
ago, overseers, to feed the church of God which he hath purchased
with his own blood. Here's a responsibility. Here's
a burden which he hath purchased. with His own blood. I'm preaching
to a purchased people. I'm preaching to a people for
whom the Son of God suffered. I mean, He suffered the hell
of God's wrath, ascended on high, and intercedes for it. And I'm
preaching to you every week. Every week. Charles Spurgeon
said this, He that does not find the Word of God to be a burden
here will find it to be one at the judgment. Now what makes
God's Word a burden? Well, first of all, the glory
of it. This is the gospel of God's glory. That's what Paul says to Timothy
in 1 Timothy chapter 1 verse 11. This is the gospel of God's
glory. And that's no light matter. That's no light matter. When
you handle the God's chief glory is the redemptive glory of Christ.
And I'm handling that every week, every week. And then secondly,
the care of it. Paul said he entrusted the gospel
to me. You know, if I took one of my
grandchildren and I wanted you to take care of him, you know,
I'll come back later, but I want you to take care of him today.
I'm telling you, I'm telling you, you'd be somebody I trust. If I'm going to leave one of
my grandkids with you, you can be sure you're somebody I trust.
And he says here, God has entrusted me with the gospel. That's a
burden. That's a burden. And then the
subject of it, the Lord Jesus Christ and his redemptive glory. And then this, I've been said
here as a watchman. God said over in Ezekiel, now
if you don't warn the wicked of their wickedness when they
die, I'm going to require their blood at your hands. That's so. The Word is the sheep's food. This Word right here. And it's
my responsibility to be in the study, to read and pray and read
and pray and give it to you. To feed you. Scripture says over
in Ezekiel again, it said to feed them with knowledge, knowledge
of Christ, knowledge of God, knowledge of redemption. It's my responsibility to feed
you with knowledge, spiritual knowledge. To feed you out of the word of
God, taking the oversight thereof. Not by constraint, not because
you felt like, well, I do not feel like I have to do this.
I feel like, well, nobody else is going to do it, so I'm going
to have to. No, not by constraint, but willing. Willingly, there
in verse 2, ready to feed, ready to serve, ready to study, ready
to sacrifice, ready to give things up, ready, ready, taking it willingly,
willing to do this. I tell you this, for a man to
do this, He better be willing. He better be willing. If he's
called to God, he will be willing. He will be willing. He'll be
willing to sit in the study. He'll be willing to pray. He'll
be willing to sacrifice. He'll be willing to labor. Willing. Willing. He said not by constraint,
but willing. And not for money's sake, he
says here, but not by Thereof, not by constraint, but willingly,
not for money, not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind."
Ready to do it. Ready to do it. Willingly. You know, a ready mind is a submissive
mind. As in Isaiah, he said, Here am
I, Lord, send me. Submissive to whatever his will
is. And not doing it for money or
for filthy lucre he calls it. When Abraham melt, whenever Abraham,
you know, he went and got Lot. Lot was captured and he went
and brought him back. And then that king was going to give him
all the spoils. Abraham said, no, lest you say
you make Abraham rich. I didn't do this for money. I
didn't do this for money. Same attitude, same attitude. And neither as being lords over
God's heritage. Don't be abusive to the Lord's
sheep. Is there anything more gentle
than sheep? I was watching a flock of sheep on TV the other day.
Nothing more gentle than sheep. And nothing can be taken more
advantage of than sheep. Nothing. He said, don't you be lords over
God's heritage. You're abusive to the she. They
are God's heritage. You are God's heritage. Isn't
that something? You are His heritage. You are
the redeemed of the Lord. Yes, you are. He's telling him here, what he's
saying is, don't be a dictator. You're a pastor. Peter's saying,
you're pastors, you're elders, you're not a dictator. You're
under shepherds, not arrogant. You know, you all have to listen
to me. I'm the pastor. Not that kind of attitude. Not that kind
of attitude at all, but humble, humble servants of the great
shepherd of the sheep. Who am I? Who am I? That's truly to be our attitude.
He said, here instead, you be examples to the flock. And you
be examples to the flock in all things. This is what he's writing
to the elders here of the church. And when the chief shepherd,
the Lord Jesus Christ, when he shall appear, the Word of God
is very clear on the return of Christ. The chief shepherd, the
good shepherd, he shall appear. He's coming again. He's coming
back. And we will see him. in His power
and great glory. He shall appear. And when He appears, you shall
receive a crown of glory that fades not away. Now, he's not
talking here about a crown that you wear on your head. That's
not something you want, is it? You don't want to go around with
just a crown on your head. He said in one place, talking
about what we eat, drink and wear, is not life more than these?
Do we have such a dim view of eternity that we think all this
has to do with just a crown of sticks on our head? It's more
than that. Oh, it's much more than that. This crown of glory here is the
eternal glory of God. It's the eternal happiness that
the redeemed have with God Almighty. Look over in 2 Timothy. Over here in 2 Timothy chapter
4. Paul says in verse 6, For I am
now ready to be offered And the time of my departure
is at hand. I have fought a good fight. I
have finished my course. I have kept the faith. Henceforth,
there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord,
the righteous judge, shall give me at that day. And not to me
only, but unto all them also that love his appearing. We all
will wear the same crown, his righteousness. It's a crown of
righteousness. Oh, that's better than anything
you just wear on your head, isn't it? It's a crown of righteousness.
And it fades not away. This glory that we're going to
have with God, this crown of righteousness, this crown of
happiness, this crown of glory that we will have with Him will
not fade away. Oh, it'll just be brighter and brighter. It'll just be brighter and brighter.
Now likewise, he's going to turn down, he's dealt with the elders.
Now he's going to deal with the congregation. Likewise, in the
same manner, you that are younger, not only in age here, but in
grace, but I think it has a double application. You that are younger,
respect your elders. Boy, I wish that could be taught
again. I wish that the young people of our day would literally
really be taught to respect their elders, those that are older
than them, those who are wiser than them, those who've been
around and has some experience. Respect their counsel. Respect
their experience. Respect it. But also those who
are younger in grace, even though they may be older in age, Respect
your elder, your pastor is what he's saying also. Respect your
pastor. Submit to God's pastor. Submit
to his authority. Submit to his counsel. You know,
when we counsel, and untruly, when we counsel, we counsel in
awe. That's the reason I wrote that
little article in the bulletin. When we counsel, we counsel with
the Word of God. I'm not counseling with just
off-the-wall stuff. You take the word of God and
you counsel with the word of God. And it's amazing, just as
we read through this chapter, how the word of God directs our
steps. It's just so simple. The counsel
of God, I tell you this, the counsel of God is simple. It's
never complicated. And I have learned that wisdom
is never complicated. And the more wise it is, the
more uncomplicated it is. He said here to these elders,
feed the flock. Feed the flock, take care of them, do it willingly.
And you that are younger, submit to them. Now, what's complicated
about that? What's complicated about when you tell your kid,
go mow the yard? You don't have to have a textbook
for that. You don't have to have this long, drawn out thesis for
that. Just mow the yard. And he says
here, you know, humble yourselves. We're going down through here.
He says, well, go back up to verse five. Likewise, you younger. Submit yourselves unto the elder,
unto his counsel. And then all of you be subject
one to another. There's nothing complicated about
that. You know. What is there about that that's
hard to understand? Nothing, that's what I'm saying. Here's
what I'm saying, that God's counsel is always simple. It's always
simple. All of you be subject one to
another. Nothing keeps down strife. Nothing keeps down strife like
a submissive spirit. Nothing. Nothing. If you think better, if you always
think better of the one sitting beside of you, you'd be surprised
you'll never get in an argument. It just keeps it down. And be clothed here, listen,
and be clothed with humility. When we dress up, when we dress
up and we've come here, we come here together, don't forget to
put on humility. When we put on all our duds and
all our garb and we've done all that stuff, the last thing you
want to put on is make sure you put on humility. Humility. Be clothed with humility. Let
me give you Probably one of the best definitions for humility
that I've heard. Humility is a just estimate of
oneself. That's true humility. Is a just
estimate of oneself. True humility. Wrap yourselves
up in this blanket. Just wrap yourself up in it.
Why? Why? Why do that? He says here,
for God resisteth the proud. God resisteth the proud, but
He gives grace to the humble. Those who are of a humble spirit,
He gives grace. We need not think that God will
be with us if we do not have a humble spirit about us. God hates, you know, Scripture
said God hates even a proud look. We do, too. We hate a proud look. You like to slap it off somebody's
face when you see it. You hate a proud look. You know, how many times have
you seen somebody and you think, what in the world do you have
to be proud of? Of course, that's pride right
there. It just crawls everywhere. God resisteth the proud. Now
you want grace? You want more grace? Here it
is. This is so simple it just goes
right over our heads. He giveth grace to the humble.
There it is. You want it? There it is. There's
the recipe. There it is. Humble yourselves. Listen. This is good. Humble yourselves under the mighty
hand of God. There in verse 6. Humble yourselves
Now, this is not a false humility. This is not acting like I'm humble.
This is truly a broken heart and a contrite spirit. But humble
yourselves under the, listen, mighty hand of God. Mighty hand, what a hand. What
a hand. Mighty hand of God, that hand
can carry you through all trouble. Humble yourselves under it. Humble
yourselves under. That hand can subdue all our
enemies, inwardly and outwardly. Humble yourselves under the mighty.
This is not a weak hand that we are talking about. The mighty
hand of God. Humble yourselves. Don't think
you can ever do this alone. I look this up today, the mighty,
mighty hand of God. Sometimes take your concordance. And look that up, and you'll
see many times, especially in Deuteronomy, it has reference
every time to God bringing Israel out of Egypt with a mighty hand
and a stretched out arm. That is repeated over and over
and over. And over in Deuteronomy, if I
mark that or not, Deuteronomy chapter 6, let me read this to you. Deuteronomy chapter 6, verse 20, And when thy son asketh
thee in time to come, saying, What mean the testimonies, and
the statutes, and the judgments which the Lord our God hath commanded
you? Then thou shalt say unto thy son, We were Pharaoh's bondmen
in Egypt, and the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty
hand. That's all the way through the
book of Deuteronomy. He brought us out. You tell your son God
brought you out with a mighty hand. A mighty hand. And you humble yourselves under
that mighty hand. Humble yourselves under the mighty
hand of God. That He may exalt you in due
time. He may! You know, Solomon says,
don't let your own mouth brag on yourself. I paraphrase him. That's what he says. He says,
don't let your own mouth boast. He says, in due time, you humble
yourselves under the mighty hand of God. In due time, He'll lift
you up. He'll encourage you. He'll strengthen
you. In due time, which is, when is
due time? His time. His time. And His time is when it's best
for His glory and your good, my good, our eternal good. That's
when due time is. And cast all your care upon Him,
for He careth for you. Didn't look like it at the time. The ones to whom Peter is writing
are under great affliction. He says you cast all your care,
all your care upon Him, for He careth He careth for you. Cast all your daily care, your
home, your family, your job, you cast all that upon Him. Now, if you're going to cast
something upon somebody, you're going to take it all and just
put it in her lap. He says take all your care. It
doesn't matter if it's a care that big or that big. You lay
it all in His lap. You put it all at the feet of
the Lord Jesus Christ. You cast it. If you cast something, I'm going
to cast something. You cast all your care upon Him. You cast all your anxious care.
Death? Judgment? Cast all of your eternal care.
Cast it all upon Him. He cares for you more than you
know. He cares for you more than you
care for those children. More than you and I care for
our children. There's no comparison. Honestly, there is no comparison
to God's care of me and my care of my children. That's just a small example. His thoughts to usward cannot
be reckoned up in order. You don't think of your children
24-7. You don't do it. It's not possible. You think
of yourself. What am I going to wear today? Things like that.
What am I going to eat? What's for dinner? And then you
think of the kids. Well, what are they going to
do? Seriously, God's thoughts upon
every one of His children never have a break. There's never a
break in His thoughts. with us. I can't, I wish I could,
I can't find, I'm struggling, I'm struggling for the words
to try to express this. He careth for you. Paul said
this in one place, all things are for the elect's sake. He careth for you. Now you cast
all your cares upon him. Believe me, I can tell you this
too, all our cares is not going to burden him. I'm not going
to weigh him down. I'm not going to frustrate him.
I'm not going to run out his mercy and wear out his mercy
and power. No. Cast all your care upon him. And be sober. Be sober. Be vigilant. Be on guard. You
know, this word vigilant means this. After much consideration,
make your judgments. That's what he means when he
says, be vigilant. After much consideration, after
much prayer, after much considerations, make your judgments. He's sober,
sober minded. Be vigilant. We have an enemy,
the devil. It says there, he walks about. He walketh about seeking whom
he may devour. Isn't that something? Seeking
whom he may take down. It's like Job. He went before
God and said, let me have Job. I bet I can break him. I bet
I can get him to deny. Let me have him. Seeking whom
he may devour. We have an enemy. He's powerful. He's a roaring lion. He said
to be a roaring lion. Be on guard. Be vigilant. Be
protective. Be protective of one another.
Protective of this fellowship. Protective of your family. Protective.
Sober-minded and vigilant. Whom resist steadfast in the
faith. Resist in Christ. This is the best that came to
my mind. The best way to resist this roaring
lion is stay away from his den. That's the best time. You don't
want to get ate up? Just don't go there. Stay away
from his den. Now, if I'm going to play on
the hole of an adder or an ass, I'm going to get stunned. If I'm going to go play out in
the African jungle and go tease the lions, I'm going to get in
big, big trouble. Stay away from his den. Paul
said this, and this is Scriptural, you see, this is what I'm talking
about, scriptural counsel. You know, the word of God is
the only thing we have to counsel with. And the word of God is
the power of the preacher, of the pastor. I don't have any
power. You know what power, the power
that I have is right here. What the word says. God's not
going to use just things that I say, he's going to use his
word. And Paul said this, shun every appearance of evil. Shun it. Run. Run. Get away from it. I remember one time, when
I was a boy, I was probably, I was old enough to know better,
I know that. I was probably about ten years
old, twelve. I was walking down the road from
my grandmother's and there was a hornet's nest hanging right
down by the road. Well, I took a rock. I picked
up the hammer full of rocks and I started throwing it at that
hornet's nest, thinking I was going to knock it down. Well,
next thing I knew, I felt something hit me inside the head like someone
threw a rock. And then I got hit again inside
the head. Those hornets were nailing me.
Of course, I took off running down the road. Stay away from the den. Shun
every appearance of evil. Don't throw rocks at the hornet's
nest. You're going to get stung. You're going to get it. And then in verse 10, in verse
10, But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal
glory by Christ Jesus, after that you have suffered a while,
make you perfect, establish, strengthen and settle you. The
God of all grace. All grace comes from Him. All
grace comes from God through the Lord Jesus Christ. And He's
called us by His grace unto His eternal glory. We are going to
see that. We are going to experience. Father,
I will that they be with me where I am, that they may behold my
glory someday in a little while. For any of us, really, it's just
a little while. We're going to behold His glory. We've been called, and listen,
we've been called to eternal glory. We're not going to go
in and get a sight of it just like you go to walk, go around
the park, you know, you get in line with all those cars and
drive around the park and see the lights and then go home.
We are going to be partakers of that glory. We are going to
see that glory. And it's never, ever, ever going
to end. After you have suffered a while,
there's still some more suffering to do. This church is suffering. It's suffering. She's under hard
conflict. And then Peter says, after you've
suffered a while, there's more suffering to do. You mean this
is not it? No, there's something else coming. As long as you are
alive, something else is coming. After you've suffered a while,
after you've done that for a while, let me get back to my verse here. After that, you have suffered
a while, make you perfect. And this is what suffering does.
This is what trials do. They make you mature. They make
you grow up. And you quit being such a crybaby.
Quit whining and say, why me? Why, why? Finally, it says, listen,
you're established in the faith. A man stands here and preaches
the gospel, you know whether he's preaching the gospel or not. When he preaches,
God has a people that he chose in Christ. Christ loved them,
redeemed them, died for them. You say, Amen, that's the gospel.
You've been established. I know this congregation for
years sitting under Henry has been established. You've been
established in the faith. But now listen, strengthen you
as you go through these trials. And here's what we all want to
come to. Settle you. You're not so anxious. When things come along and your
house is tore up, you're not so anxious and ready to fall
apart. You're settled. You know this
is under the hand of your Lord. You understand that all things
are of God. And you've got some peace in
the midst of turmoil. Settle you. Settle you. To Him be glory and
dominion forever and ever. Then he says this in verse 12,
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. This is. Yes, you're going through
trials, heartaches, disappointments, but this is the true grace of
God wherein you stand. True grace gives God all the
glory and a center of all the hope that he'll ever need. True grace will not admit of
any works, any way, shape, or form in salvation. It's all of
grace. And true grace brings a sinner
to Christ in faith and gives him rest, settles him, settles
him. This is, even though you're under
hardships and trials and heartaches, this is the gospel I've preached
to you concerning the Lord Jesus Christ, redemption by His blood,
Righteousness by His obedience. This is the true grace of God
wherein you stand and don't leave it. Don't leave
it and don't doubt it. This is the true grace of God.