this morning to 1 Peter chapter
5. 1 Peter chapter 5. My text will be verses 6 and
7, but let's begin with the last sentence in verse 5. Here the Holy Spirit tells us,
God resisteth the proud. God resisteth the proud. Now this fact we must recognize. We are all very proud creatures,
all of us. We stoutly resist God by nature,
and as we resist him, he resists us. The battle that we fight
with God in our shameful, sinful pride Stoutly resisting him continually,
that battle is a foolish battle. Because you and I are not going
to resist God Almighty. We're not going to resist Him.
That man, that woman who resists God is a fool indeed. For he fights against God Almighty. The prophet says, will unto him
that striveth with his nature. You stand out against God? You
fight against God, you resist God, judgment awaits you. God
Almighty will soon crush you with the hand of his wrath and
judgment. If the Almighty should lift so much as the finger of
his wrath against us, he would dash us into hell forever immediately. And yet, we're such proud, foolish
creatures that by nature, we everyone live with our fists
shoved in God's face defying his dominion, defying his right
to be God, defying his right to rule over us and do with us
what he will. We defy his holiness, his justice,
his power, his dominion, and his wrath. We stand constantly
by nature defying God. You who are here this morning,
who refuse to bow to the Lord God, who refuse to believe on
the Lord Jesus Christ, who refuse to acknowledge and confess your
sin, you live this day in an utterly, utterly, utterly foolish
manner, for you live in defiance of God. If you had sense enough to understand
the position you're in, you would fall on your knees trembling
before him right now. What man dares defy God, and
yet every man does by nature? Our text gives this word of promise
to those who defy him, God resisteth the proud. Now if God resists you, you must
be forever undone. If God Almighty resists me, then
I'm altogether without hope. But notice the next part of the
sentence. God resists the proud and, I like that, the conjunction
is not but, the conjunction is and. God resists the proud, he
does this too. He giveth grace to the humble. The very same God who resists
the proud, who fights against those who fight against him,
gives grace to the humble. If God resists me, I'm damned
forever. If God gives grace to me, I'm
saved forever by his matchless grace. But how can a proud rebel,
a proud, stout-hearted sinner, a stiff-necked child of Adam
ever hope for grace? If God resists the proud, how
are we going to get grace? He gives grace to the humble. Grace must do something for me
and in me before I can ever humble myself and enjoy the acceptance
of his grace. Grace must do something in me
and for me before I can enjoy the experience of grace. Now
I'm not about to try to explain the mystery of God's gracious
operations in his people, but this much I know. No sinner will
ever be broken. No sinner will ever be humbled
and abased before God until God Almighty himself breaks the sinner's
proud rebellion and his proud heart. Grace operates on us and
grace operates in us long before we experience grace and receive
grace by the hand of God. That which breaks the heart is
the revelation of Jesus Christ in us. God comes in his grace
and in his providence and prepares the way for grace. Then God comes
by the grace of his spirit and regeneration and reveals Christ
in a man. And the sinner, he leaves bowing
to the Son of God. But the only way you'll ever
bow, the only way you'll ever bow, I can't, I can't make it
happen. I can't make it happen. I can,
I can terrify you. I can threaten you, I can hold
over you the terrors of God's law, and I can hold over you
the threat of God's wrath and eternal judgment. I can scare
you with scary stories about hell and judgment, but I can't
break your heart. I can't do it. Only the Spirit
of God can. Only the Spirit of God can bring
you down. Only the Spirit of God can make
you know your need of grace, and he does that by revealing
Jesus Christ crucified in you. Holy Spirit, come now and make
Christ known in the hearts of chosen sinners. Let me show you
this. Turn back to Isaiah chapter 6
for a minute. Isaiah chapter 6. The prophet Isaiah is telling
us how it is that his heart was humbled and abased. If you read
chapter 5, Isaiah is saying, woe unto them, woe unto them,
woe unto them, woe unto them, woe unto them. I just picked
those out and looking down through chapter 5 there. Woe, woe, woe
is unto you. But then something happened. Something happened that radically
changed the prophet. Something happened that radically
altered his outlook upon himself and upon others. In chapter 6,
verse 1, he says, In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw
also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train
filled the temple. And the angels, the seraphim,
cried, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord and host, the whole earth
is full of his glory. And then in verse 5, Then said
I, when I saw When I saw him, I said, oh, woe
is me. Woe is me. I've seen the Lord. Woe is me. I'm a man of unclean
lips. My heart's defiled, my lips are
the expression of the corruption of my heart, and I dwell in the
midst of a people of unclean lips. I'm not any different from
them. We're all unclean sinners. Woe
is unto me. Oh God help you this day to see
yourself before him as he is in his holiness. God help you
to see yourself in the light of the crucified substitute by
whom alone justice has been satisfied so that you understand something
about the holiness and the justice of God Almighty. You'll never
be saved till you do. Never. I was listening to Brother
Mahan preach a sermon on this chapter, Isaiah chapter 6, here
on my way up the road the other day. And he made an interesting
observation. You read through the Book of
Acts. The Book of Acts is the recorded, inspired history of
the early church. That's where the ministry of
the early church began. That's where we understand, by example,
what's to be done in the church. That's where we understand, by
example, what's to be preached in the church. And if you read
the Book of Acts, you'll read sermon after sermon after sermon
after sermon. But you know what's not even
mentioned in the Book of Acts? You know what's not mentioned one
time? The love of God's not even mentioned in the Book of Acts.
And yet this religious generation, all they know to say is, smile,
God loves you, God loves you, God loves you, God loves you.
That's not the message of God. That's not the message of this
book. That's not the message of the gospel. No man on this
earth has any right to suspect that God loves him until he bows
to Jesus Christ the Lord. I'm telling you, apart from Christ,
there's nothing in God for you but wrath and judgment and condemnation. God's holiness will not allow
him to look on you. God's holiness will not allow
him to glance your way apart from a substitute. Now you'll
never understand. You'll never understand your
need of Christ until you see God's holiness, God's justice
revealed in the sacrifice of his soul. But I know this too. God gives grace to the humble. is repeated over and over in
scripture. He says, to this man will I look,
to him that is of a broken and contrite spirit that trembleth
at my word. He gives grace to those who are
humbled. The sacrifices of God are a broken
spirit, a broken and contrite heart. O God, thou wilt not despise. Find me a truly broken soul.
I'm not talking about broken hearted because you lost a lover,
broken hearted because you lost your mama, broken hearted because
you lost your children. I'm talking about broken hearted.
Broken hearted because of sin, one who weeps over his sin before
God. Find me a broken hearted soul
and I'll find you a man, a woman to whom God Almighty has promised
to be gracious. He's gracious to the broken hearted.
And I know this too. All who are humbled by God's
grace, gladly, willingly, submissively, humble themselves before God
Almighty. They humble themselves and seek
his grace, looking to Christ alone. And all who seek the grace
of God by faith in Christ, trusting the blood atonement of the Lord
Jesus Christ, obtain his grace. And so the text reads, God resisteth,
God fights against, God opposes the proud, and giveth grace to
the humble. Now then, look at the text. Humble
yourselves, therefore. Humble yourselves, therefore.
You can't possibly stand up to resisting. Humble yourselves,
therefore, under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you
in due casting all your care upon him, for he careth for you."
God gives grace to the humble, saving grace, sanctifying grace,
satisfying grace, sustaining grace, all sufficient grace,
all grace God gives to the humble. So humble yourselves under the
hand of God. Now God, the Holy Spirit will
help If he'll enable me to deliver it, I've got a message today.
I've been working on it a little while. I've got a message for
everybody here. Saints and sinners, believers
and unbelievers, the upright and the fallen, the strong and
the weak. If you need grace, give me your attention and pray
that God will speak to you now by his word. I want to show you
three things in this passage of scripture. First, here is
a call to confession. Humble yourselves, therefore,
under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due
time. A call to confession, so contrary
to nature, is Mr. Jackson goes all over the
country rousing up folks in his political rallies. I am somebody. I am somebody. I am somebody. You need to find out you're nobody.
Nobody. Nothing. Nothing. A while back,
I was driving down the road, and one of these silly church
billboards had a sign that said, We Can't Spell Church. RCH had
to blank it. We Can't Spell Church Without
You. God was spent in church with that you a long time before
you came along. And he'll be spent in church with that you
a long time after you go. You're not anybody. I'm not anybody. God Almighty is everything. We're
nothing. Nothing but maggots in the dust
before Him. Nothing but sinners before a
holy God. Humble yourself therefore. Humble
yourself. God's going to fight against
you if you don't. And if God fights against you, Bobby, you
go. God's going to fight against the power, but he gives grace
to the humble. Humble yourselves, therefore,
under the mighty hand of God. Now, I know that nobody will
humble himself, as I've already told you, until he's been humbled
by God. And yet, it is our responsibility,
yours and mine, to humble ourselves before the Lord. So that all
who refuse to humble themselves, all who stand out sky-heartedly
and say, no, I'll have my way, I'll walk my way, I'll do my
thing, you'll be damned by your rebellion. And all who do humble
themselves before the Lord, humble themselves beneath the mighty
hand of God shall obtain his grace. First, I take these words
to be addressed to you who are yet without Christ, to you who
are yet unbelievers, to you who are yet under the wrath of God. You remember back in the days
of Isaiah, the prophet, he came to the king Hezekiah with a word
from God. Hezekiah had sinned against the
Lord and God said, Isaiah, go tell him I'm going to kill him.
Go tell Hezekiah I'm going to kill him. And Hezekiah was about
to die and he humbled himself. And because he humbled himself,
God said, Isaiah, go tell him I'll spare his life. Go tell
him I'll spare his life. Oh, if we do but humble ourselves
before him, God promises grace. This is what is written in the
scripture. He shall save the humble person. He forgiveth not
the cry of the humble. He giveth grace to the humble. Humble yourselves in the sight
of the Lord, and he shall lift you up. Turn back to Isaiah 57. Isaiah chapter 57. Listen to what the Lord God says.
Isaiah 57, verse 15. God describes himself, and in
describing himself, he describes his grace. Thus saith the High
and Lofty One, that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is full
name. Oh, what a description of God.
I dwell in the high and holy So that when the seraphim bow
before me, they cover their face, they cover their feet, they quickly,
quickly bow down before me. I dwell in the high and holy
place. Now look at what he says. I dwell
with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive
the spirit of the humble and to revive the heart of the contrite
ones. Now I hope Maybe somebody here
is asking, well, Pastor, what is it to humble myself in the
sight of God? How do I humble myself before him? Now, I know
that Moses is the meekest man who ever lived, and he was. The
scripture tells us he was. The only man more meek than Moses
is the God-man and our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. But Moses
is the example of meekness. And if Moses is the most meek
man who ever lived, humility has got nothing to do with what
most people think humility is. Most people somehow think humility
has something to do with a man's lack of confidence, or with a
man's lack of initiative, or with a man's lack of backbone,
and so he just sort of is a wilting plant before everybody else.
That's not humility at all. Moses was not a spying miscarriage.
Moses was not a man without confidence before God, without confidence
from God, and without confidence in God. Moses was not a man who
did not walk boldly before other men, not at all. But I'll tell
you what he was. Moses was a man who knew himself,
he knew God, and he knew God's salvation. Now that's what humility
is in its very essence. Look at the example given to
us by our Lord. Turn to Luke chapter 19. Luke
chapter 19. If ever a man exemplified humility, it is this man whom our Lord
Jesus holds before us as the example of humility in Luke 19. We don't know his name, but that's
not important. He's called the publican here.
Now read with me, beginning at verse 9. I said Luke 19, but I missed
it somewhere. Luke 18, verse 9. Luke 18, verse 9. He spake this parable unto certain
which trusted in themselves that they were righteous and despised
others. Now that's the antithesis of
humility. self-righteousness, trust yourself. He speaks this parable to those
who trusted in themselves that they were good. We've made some mistakes, but
we're not like other folks. Are we righteous? Two men went
up into the temple to pray, the one a Pharisee, the other a publican.
The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself. You could
almost read the thing, the Pharisee stood and played thus with himself. He just pretended to pray. He
didn't have anything like real prayer. He said, God, I thank
thee that I am not, as other men are, extortioners, unjust,
adulterers, or even like this fellow, the publican. I'm not
like him. I fast twice in the week. I give
tithes of all that I possess. And the publican Standing afar
off would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but
smote upon his breast, saying, God, be merciful to me, a sinner. I tell you that this man went
down to his house justified rather than the other. And here's the
lesson, for everyone that exalted himself shall be abased. and he that humbleth himself
shall be exalted." Humility, then, going by this
example and by this word of instruction, must involve at least these three
things. If you would humble yourself
before God, you must acknowledge who the Lord God is in his infinite,
unapproachable, sovereign holiness. The publican comes into the temple,
and he stands afar off. He wouldn't dare approach the
altar. He wouldn't dare come near to
the holy sanctuary. He says, way back in the outer
corner of the temple, standing afar off, because he understands,
I don't dare approach God. I don't dare come before him
who charges his angels with famine. I don't dare come before him
whose name is holy and reverent. I don't dare approach God as
I am. Don't dare come to him. I'm unworthy
of him. Unworthy that God should even
look my way. And he knew that the root of
the problem was in his heart. He's born on his breast. He's
been on his breast, that which covers his heart. As this being
the very root and essence of the evil, he says, I don't dare
come to God because this heart of mine's corrupt. You see, your
problem, my friend, is not your act. It's not your
deeds. No matter how vile your acts
and deeds may be, that's not the problem. Your problem is
not that you cheated on a task, or committed adultery, or committed
fornication, or committed murder. That's not the problem. The problem
is not what you do, though what you do is horribly evil. The
problem is your heart. Your heart. And you'll never learn that until
God teaches it to you. Brother Todd and I, when we first
started Church in Lexington, they started meeting over on
American Avenue. Some of you were down there. Kind of rough
section of town over there. He said, you know, I thought
going down here, we'd get away from self-righteous folks. But
he said these winos and street people just self-righteous as
anybody else. They walk up just as drunk as they can be and brag
about what they're not. I may be a drunk, but I'm not. I haven't done this, I haven't
done that. Because everybody vainly attempts to justify himself
by comparing himself with others. Quit comparing yourself with
me. I'm an easy target. You won't have any trouble measuring
up to me. If that's all you got, you don't have to crawl up very
high off your belly. But I'm telling you before God
Almighty, before God all my life. Your heart is evil. Your heart is evil. The seed
of every corruption imaginable in this world is in your heart
and in my heart. And until you like this public
and acknowledge it, you'll never come before God in humility.
You must acknowledge secondly and confess your utter sinfulness
before Him. Not only is God holy and unapproachable
by you, but you're utterly sinful, and God Almighty cannot properly,
in his justice and truth, even look upon you. Oh, God help you to cry out to
him like this public, God be merciful to me, the sinner. And quite literally, if you were
reading this in an exact translation The sentence would not read,
God be merciful to me, a sinner, with an indefinite article. As
if I'm just one among many. But that would be this fellow
standing before God and he says, God be merciful to me, I'm the
sinner. I'm the sinner. There's nobody
like me. There's no fallen son of Adam
like I am. There's nobody to compare with
me. I have seen myself before God. I'm the sinner. Now then, if
we confess our sin, what does the scripture say? He's faithful
and just to forgive us our sin and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Thirdly, you must see, acknowledge,
and confess that the only grounds upon which God can or will forgive
your sin is the blood atonement and perpetuatory sacrifice of
the Lord Jesus Christ. This word, God be merciful to
me is the word for pictures. You remember a few weeks ago
Brother Ron brought a message to us on the mercy seat. That's
what the word is here. God look on me through the blood
of atonement sprinkled yonder upon the mercy seat in the holy
of holies and be God, look on me through your
darling son, through his precious blood atonement. That's the only
way you can look on me. Look on me through the blood
of a sufficient sacrifice. That's the only way you can look
on me. God, look on me through Jesus Christ, the sinner's substitute,
and be merciful to me. That's the only grounds upon
which I've got any hope, and the only grounds upon which you
have any hope. Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand
of God, that he may exalt you in due time." Such humiliation
is the way to exaltation. As soon as you humble yourself,
the due time, the appointed time of your exaltation has come.
No sooner does a sinner cry from his heart, God be merciful to
me, than God the Holy Spirit speaks in his heart and enables
him to look at God in heaven and say, Abba, Father. Abba,
Father. As soon as you look to Christ
as your only experience with God, God looks on you and speaks
peace in your heart so that you can look at God and call Him
your Father. As soon as you look to Him in
mercy, God lifts you up, and I look to him in faith, God lifts
you up in his mercy and seats you among the sons of God so
that you're able to cry out with the Apostle John, behold, what
manner of love the Father hath bestowed on us. Such things as
we are, such sinners as we are, that we should be called the
sons of God. Oh, what mercy. More God's been
merciful to us. He's seen us today among the
sons of God. But this text is a call to confession
that is addressed to you and me as believers as well, as the
sons and daughters of God Almighty. Maybe you will remember last
Sunday evening, we looked at 2 Chronicles 7.14, where the
Lord God says, which are called by my name will humble themselves."
Will humble themselves. Then I will hear from heaven.
God calls for us to humble ourselves. Whenever the hand of God is upon
us in loving chastisement, we're to humble ourselves under his
hand. At times like this, let us humble
ourselves under his hand, knowing that in the hollow of his hand
we are perfectly safe and secure. So when trials and temptations
come, when troubles come your way, couch down under the head
of God Almighty and be at peace. That's the only way you can.
John Gill gives this interpretation of the exhortation here. He says,
quietly submit to his will. Patiently bear every affliction
without murmuring, repining, or replying against him. Be still
under the rod, and despise not the chastening of the Lord. Mourn
over sin as the cause. Acknowledge your violence and
unworthiness, and stand in awe of his majesty, considering yourselves
as under the hand, the mighty hand of God. And if we can, by
the grace of God, obey this call to contrition, we'll have little
problem with the next part of our test, which is a cure for terror. Look
at it. Humble yourselves, therefore,
under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due
time, casting all your care upon him. Let me tell you what got me started
studying this text, what ultimately led me to prepare this message.
Last week, a very dear friend of mine, a brother in the Lord,
was going through some real struggles and trials. Some of them he knows
are of his own making. He said to me, Don, I've been
singing that hymn to myself for weeks. Take your burden to the
Lord and leave it there. But no matter how I try, I just
can't leave it there. I wish I could, but I can't. I thought about that. And really,
I don't know that any of us can leave our burdens there. Quite
literally, our text, if it were translated literally, it means
cast all your care once and for all with finality upon the Lord. So that's the proper reading
of the text. But we can't do it. We ought to. We ought to. There's no question. We ought
to. If we believe God just has... With God, just a little bit like
I expect my wife and daughter to deal with me. If they got
difficulties, especially when faith was a little tight, man,
she got trouble, just come tell me, I'll take care of it. That
means you don't have to worry about it another time. You don't
have to think about this thing again. It's my birthday. It's
mine. And that's exactly what God did just to me. He said,
cast your care on me. And don't we care anymore. You don't need to concern yourself
about this anymore. Cast all your care upon me. So as to say,
you cast every care of your heart on me. And forget it. Just forget it. But I can't do
that. I can't do that. I don't have
that power. I don't have the ability. And
so our translators have given us this word in the present tense. Testing. Testing. Testing. Testing. And I think
they give us the proper sense in the whole context of Scripture.
For they're telling us that we must be constantly, constantly
testing our care upon the Lord. Constantly coming to Him with
renewed commitment, with renewed consecration, testing our care
upon Him. I read a very good sermon on
this text earlier in the week by Mr. Spurgeon. As you know,
I enjoy reading Mr. Spurgeon. The sermon was good.
It was very profitable, edifying, instructive, comforting. That's
one of the ways I get preached to. I read sermons from other
preachers. But in the introduction of his message, Spurgeon said,
there are some cares which we must not cast upon God. And I
read what he said. And what he said was in itself
all right, except that he said, there's some cares we must not
cast on God. Our text says, casting all your
care. All your care. Spurgeon's argument
was, some of our cares are sinful and ought not to be cast on him.
Well, that's where you begin. Cast all your care upon the Lord. Let me talk to you for a little
bit now about this care, this thing called care. First we need to realize that
all worry, all fretfulness, all anxious care is sin. It's sin. Now I want to be very careful.
I understand that there are many people who are under all kinds
of treatments for care and worry. And doctors and psychiatrists
and psychologists and foods make every excuse in the world for
it. I do understand there are chemical
changes in a person's life, or chemical imbalances in a person's
life. I understand those things. But I want you to understand
that the fretful care that disturbs our relationship with God, our
relationship with his people, our relationship with our own
families, and disrupts our lives, is not to be indulged in as though
we're not responsible for our behavior. Somehow this generation,
somehow this generation which we live, has gotten the idea
firmly planted in their minds that no matter what they do,
it's somebody else's fault. No matter how they behave, it's
not my responsibility. It's because my daddy, when I
came in from school, didn't brag on me enough, or because my mama,
she yelled at me too much, or because my mother was just this
way. No, if you're wicked, it's your
fault. If you do something wrong, it's your fault. If you behave
in a wrong manner, it's your fault and it's sin. It's your
responsibility. It's nobody else's responsibility.
It's my responsibility, what I do, and your responsibility,
what you do. Understand that clearly. This is something more
than a weakness of temperament. Something more than a mental
disorder. Its root is the essence of rebellion and unbelief. That's what it is. When I pace
the floor at night, and I do. God forgive me, but I do. When
I worry, I... I want not to. I want not to. But when I do,
I get things on my mind and I pray. And I'll tell you what it is
in sessions. It's unbelief, Rex, and it's rebellion. That's all
it is. That's all it is. Well, don't
you need to Go to the doctor and get some pills? No, I need
to go to God and pray. I'm telling you the truth. This thing of fret, worry, undue
care, anxious care, is an impertinent attempt to snatch from the hands
of God the guardianship of providence. You think about that. We pace the floor and pray it
and worry. And in doing so, we say, now
God, really, I'm convinced, I'm convinced if you'll just turn
this thing over to me, I can take better care of it than you can. Just put it in my hands,
I'll handle it all right. Let me have control of it. I
can handle it okay. It's a daring, impertinent attempt
to snatch from God's hands the rule and guardianship of providence. This worry, fret, anxiety is
calling into question the love, faithfulness, veracity, wisdom
of God Almighty, even His very Word. How dare we do so? How dare we
do so? call into question God's goodness?
Call into question God's wisdom? God's veracity? God's word? How dare we be so impertinent? Frankful, anxious care not only challenges and defies
God with unbelief and rebellion, but it fills the life of the
worrier with misery. We fret and worry, fret and worry,
fret and worry. And the more we do, the more
miserable we are, and the more miserable we act, and the more
miserable we are toward everybody else. So that we become constantly
downcast, constantly in a mood of foulness, constantly ugly. Just ugly. I'm sure you've
heard the story about the little boy who's out on Granddaddy's
farm and Granddaddy was all the time talking to him about religion.
And Granddaddy's a real religious fella. He asked him, he said,
Granddaddy, you reckon sadly the mule's a Christian? And he
kind of laughed at him. He said, why no, son, why do
you ask? And the boy said, well, he's got such a long face, I
thought he must be a Christian. And that's pretty near exactly
what worry does. Pretty near exactly what it does.
It makes long-faced folks out of us. It makes us kind of hard
to live with. Kind of hard to get along with.
If you can't live with yourself, imagine how it is to live with
you. If you can't stand yourself,
imagine what it's like for somebody else trying to stand you. But
we fill ourselves with worry needlessly. Our cares are a great
source of weakness which cripple our usefulness in the cause of
Christ. Let me see if I can illustrate it. Rex has got that cabinet
shop over there. Let's suppose he hired Ron to
come to work for him. Ron's job is to take the cabinets
when they're built and carry them out and load them up on
the trucks and deliver them and unload them when they get there.
And one day Ron comes to work carrying his coffee table. Then
he starts to pick up the cabinet and he takes this little thing
here, that little thing there and carries that coffee table
in his hand. Then he goes back and picks up
another little something and carries it outside and cuts the
coffee table in his hand. And Rex looks at him and says,
Ron, what's that in your hand? or it's just some of my household
stuff. Well, your household stuff's useless here. Your household
stuff won't do here. You can't be in my employment
and carry your coffee table around. I'm telling you, you can't serve
God carrying the load of your care. You can't do it. You're
utterly useless. Utterly useless. As I try to
carry my loads. I simply can't serve my God. Oh, but if I can cast my care
on him, Lord, here I am, you take care of me. Then I don't
have to fret about anything. I don't have to carry anything.
All I do is serve him. I want to be like Peter. You
remember Peter was a fisherman. But the Lord Jesus came along
and he needed a pulpit from which to preach the gospel to the multitudes
who were gathered around him. And so Peter said, here, take
my boat. And they went out to sea, launched out a little ways,
and the Lord stood on the bow of the ship and he preached to
the multitudes. Now that wasn't a good business. That wasn't
a good business. That wasn't a good business call. That just wasn't smart. After
all, you're a fisherman, boy, you've got to have your boat.
You're a fisherman. How do you want to catch fish
if you don't use your boat? Oh, but Peter was the master
servant. And buddy, just as soon as the
master got done with the sermon, he said, Peter, let's go fishing.
And he said, launch out here into the deep and cast down your
nets for a draft. And Peter caught more fish in
10 minutes than he could otherwise catch in 10 days. Because God
takes care of folks who serve you. God takes care of folks
who trust him. And I'll tell you who'll serve
you. Folks who trust him. That's who'll serve you. Folks
who trust him. Him that honoreth me, God
says, I will honor. What do you say? Well, but pastor, we have to
be practical. I just gave you the most practical
instruction in this world. Most practical instruction in
this world. Make his service your delight,
your wants shall be his care. Our Lord doesn't mean for us
to be slothful. He doesn't mean for us to be
negligent of duty. He doesn't mean that we should
be careless with regard to our responsibilities, but he does
mean that we cast upon him all our care, trust Him with all
the affairs of your life. Do what you're responsible to
do. Do what you're responsible to with regard to your personal
employment, with regard to your business, with regard to your
family. Do what you're responsible to do and cast your care on Him. Let me show you. Turn to Matthew
chapter 6. Matthew chapter 6. Verse 25. The Lord said, you can't serve me
in money. You can't serve God in mammon. You can't do it. You
can't do it. If you're going to try, you may
as well give it up. You can't serve God in mammon. Therefore,
he says in verse 25, I say unto you, take no thoughts for your
life. That is, no anxious care. Don't
worry. Stop worrying. Quit biting your
nails. Quit pacing the floor. Stop worrying. Take no thought for your life
what you shall eat or what you shall drink, nor yet for your
body what you shall put on, if not the life more than thee and
the body more than clothes. Look at the fowls of the air.
They're not a farmer among them. Not one of them owns a new John
Deere. They sow not, neither do they
reap, nor gather in the barns, yet your heavenly Father feedeth
them. You reckon God's in love with
sparrows? No, sir. No, sir. The environmentalists
have gone crazy. No, sir, God doesn't love sparrows.
But what's the lesson for them? Are not you much better than
they? God's concern's for you. Which
of you, by taking thought, can add one cubit to a statue? And
why take ye thought for clothing? Consider the lilies of the field,
how they grow, they toil not, neither do they spin. And yet
I say unto you, that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed
like one of these. Wherefore if God so clothed the
grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into
the earth, shall he not much more clothe
you? Therefore take no thought, saying,
What shall we eat, or what shall we drink, or wherewithal shall
we be clothed? For after all these things do
the Gentiles, the heathen, the unbelieving, the worldling, seek. That's what they live for. They
live to get and gain. The worldling lives to get all
he can and can't all he can get. The worldling lives for just
this mundane stuff that's going to pass away. But for your heavenly Father
knoweth that you have need of these things. He knows you need
to eat. He knows you need to be clothed.
He knows you need shelter. But seek ye first the kingdom
of God and his righteousness and all these things shall be
added unto you. But preacher, what about tomorrow? Don't worry about that either.
Don't fret about that either. That doesn't mean don't prepare
for tomorrow, but don't fret about it. It doesn't mean don't
consider your responsibilities tomorrow. It means don't fret
about it. Don't give uneasy care to it. Take no thought for tomorrow,
for tomorrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient
unto the day is the evil thereof. You've got enough to worry about
now. Why worry about tomorrow? You've got enough to take care
of now. High power moral. Not only is it an evil thing,
this worrying, this fretting, this care, this anxious, anxious,
anxious care. It's useless. It's useless. Now, you ladies show it more than
men do. I used to think You did more
worrying than me, and I don't think that's the case. I think
you just show it more. But let me ask you, let me ask you. What
good ever came from worrying? Anybody ever, ever gain anything
by it? What evil was ever prevented
by worrying? What mistake was ever corrected
by worrying? or what cares we make for ourselves,
we try to anticipate the future, and in doing so, we addle our
brains with terrible fears that we anticipate and refuse to believe
God, and thus dishonor him by our worry. Therefore, our text
calls for us to cast all our care upon the Lord. Now, I can imagine that as you
read this word from God, cast all your
care upon him, you think to yourself, now, there's got to be a limit
to this. There's got to be some boundary.
There's got to be some stopping place. Do not think that I'm
being careless with the word of God when I tell you that there's
no limit. No boundary, no line beyond which
you must not go. But you come daily, constantly,
moment by moment, hour by hour, day by day, week by week to the
throne of grace. Cast your care on him that you
may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Cast
upon him all your spiritual care, all your sins. Past, present, future. The blood
of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanses us from all sin. If I believe
God, there's no need for my sin ever to cause me fear before
Him. Cast on Him all your sin. Cast
upon Him the care of your personal weaknesses. But pastor, I'm so
weak. I'm so prone to error, me too.
I'm so prone to this thing, me too. But what do you do? Test it on him. Be confident
of this one thing that he which hath begun a good work in you
will perform it to the day of Jesus Christ. But my enemies
are so strong, mine too. But he says when you pass through
the fire, it'll not gentle upon you. When you pass through the
water, it will not overflow you. I will be with you. I will strengthen
you. I will uphold you with the right
hand of my righteousness. Cast upon him the care of your
present temptations, for there hath no temptation taken you
but such as is common to man. Cast on him all your future dangers,
for I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels,
nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things
to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other future shall be
able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ
Jesus the Lord. Cast upon this Son of God, the
Lord Jesus Christ your Savior, the God of Glory, your Heavenly
Father, and the Holy Spirit of Sanctification, all the care
of your immortal soul for all eternity. I know in my hand that
he's coming at you. I am persuaded, I'm persuaded
that he's able to take that which I've committed unto him against
that day. Don't be like Uzzah. You remember
Uzzah? The ark of God, he thought, was
about to fall, so he put his hand to it, and God killed him. Don't you put your hand to God's
work. Cast on Him all your care. Don't dare be like Uzziah, who
dared to sacrifice to the Lord, usurping the priest's office
that belongs to Christ alone. Don't you dare, dare, attempt
to somehow, by your hands, make yourself acceptable with God.
all your care. What more can he say than to
you he has sent? To you who for refuge to Jesus
have fled. If we cast upon him, truly cast
upon him all our care, spiritual and eternal, we ought not find
it difficult to cast upon him all our earthly carnal care. Again, let me say no more than
I know to be true, but I must speak the truth. If I trust Christ with my corruptions,
if I trust him with my corruptions, James Lee, I ought to be able
to trust him with my children. If I really trust him, easier
for him to take care of my children than take care of myself. If
I trust Christ with my transgressions, I ought to be able to trust him
with my troubles. if I really trust Him. Easier for Him to
take care of my trouble than my transgressions. If I trust
Christ with my wickedness, I ought to trust Him with my welfare.
It's a whole lot easier for Him to feed and clothe me and protect
me than it is for Him to remove my sin. He bids us cast all our
care on Him. Our care for daily bread. That
doesn't mean you shouldn't work. Work. I sold men won't work. He's something less than a man.
Work. If you can't earn your living
with the sweat of your brain, earn your living with the sweat
of your brow. If you can't be president of the bank, be a janitor,
but work. And yet at the same time, having
worked and having given yourself in responsible industry to your
responsibilities as a man. cast your care on him, your flesh.
I've been young and I've been old, getting that way anyhow,
but I've never seen the righteous forsaken. Never seen his seed
baking bread. I've seen him come down and not
to care. I've seen him lose a little, but I've never seen him forsaken.
I've never seen his seed baking bread. Cast on him all the care
of your earthly needs, both for yourself and for your families. All these wives, this wife and
these children that I have, how am I going to take care of them?
Give yourself with earnest industry and commitment to doing what
God's put you responsible to do and catch the care of your
family on here. Catch the care of your family
on here. Cast on him the care of your business. You exercise what wisdom you
can, what diligence you can. More man to go well in business,
especially the fellows who do business with things, commodities
overseas. I've just begun to learn a little
bit about it because we have to buy our books from overseas.
But if you open up the paper and realize that all of a sudden
the value of the American dollar has gone down, Let's suppose
you're in business and you've ordered $100,000 worth of stuff
in England that yesterday you could buy for a dollar apiece,
now it's fifty cents apiece. Boy, now you're in trouble. You're in trouble because you've
overpaid and you've got a load here you can't get rid of. You
can't get rid of them. But you've exercised all the
industry and care and diligence you can. Cast it on the Lord.
He cares for you. Cast it on him. I suppose for
most of us who are believers, our greatest care is for our
children. And I hope for care. Our greatest
care is for their souls. Cast it on him. Cast it on him. Train them. walk before them in an example
of commitment to Jesus Christ and cast the care of their souls. Lord, I had but one child. Long before you gave her to me,
I said she's yours. I've never taken it back. She's
still yours. there to you. I've taught her. Haven't taught her a lot to her,
but I've taught her best I knew how. I've walked before her. Raised her in the house of God.
Raised her under the sound of the gospel. I haven't been the kind of example
ought to be. And so I can't claim anything
I've done for her. But I cast her upon you. She's
yours. Now, whatever you do with her,
I'll not complain. She's yours. Cast your care,
all your care on Him. Now, let me give you just a minute
here. Give me just a minute. Let me
show you the cause for confidence. For He careth for you." Oh, what
a word of grace. He careth for you. Children of God, we may confidently
cast all our care upon the Lord our God, for he careth It's good
to know that his shoulders are broad and that he is strong and
that he can carry my load. But all that, that's meaningless
until I hear him declare, he careth for you. Now, now his
omnipotence, now his strength means something because he cares
for me. The Lord God has a special love
for you. He careth for you. Those words
would be meaningless If they ran, he'd tear it for everybody.
Oh no, he'd tear it for you. God's special love set upon you.
This is the very heart and essence of comfort. The Lord Jesus says
to every disciple, I have prayed for thee that thy faith fail
not. And when he comes to you across your troubled waters,
listen to him as he speaks. Fear not, it is I. Be not afraid. Be not afraid. Let not your heart be troubled.
You believe in God, believe also in me. The Lord is my shepherd. Therefore I'm convinced, I'm
convinced, since the Lord is my shepherd, I'm convinced, goodness
and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life. Because
he cares for me. He cares for me. The affairs of this world, are
under the dispensation of God's special providence. Oh, God's
universal providence, and his general providence, is directed
by his special love for his own, and the special designs of his
love for his elect. He cares for you. He cares for
you. Many may benefit for a while
from a father's good intentions for his child, but the father's
intentions are for the child. And many in this world benefit
from the rain and sunshine and the works of God's providence,
but God's purpose in providence is for you. He carries He's the Savior of all men in
providence, in a providential way. All men get their life and
breath from him. But he's especially the Savior
of those who believe. All things are yours for ye of
Christ and Christ is yours. 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. While
you're turning to Proverbs chapter 3, let me read you a hymn I wrote. We'll
sing it in a couple of weeks, Lord willing, while I was studying
for this message. Humble yourselves before the
Lord, bow to his sovereign will. Children of God, the way of peace
is bowing to his will. Casting your care upon him, you
will find him strong and true. His shoulders are broad to take
the load that now is crushing you.