in 1 Peter chapter 5. Let's begin in verse 1 and read
just a few verses. 1 Peter chapter 5 and verse 1. The elders which are among you
I exhort, who am also an elder and a partaker of the sufferings
of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory which shall be revealed. Feed the flock of God which is
among you, taken the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but
willingly, not for filthy lucre, not for money, dishonest gain,
but of a ready mind, neither as being lords over God's heritage,
but being examples to the flock. And when the chief shepherds
shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth
not away. Likewise, you younger, submit
yourselves to the older. 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
season. Cast in all your care upon him,
for he careth for you. Be sober, be vigilant, because
your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walking about
seeking whom he may devour, whom resist steadfast in the faith,
knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren
that are in the world. But the God of all grace, who
hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after
that ye have suffered of all, make you perfect, establish,
strengthen, and settle you. To Him be glory and dominion
forever and ever. Amen. My text is found here in verse
5. God resists the proud and giveth
grace to the humble. Pride and humility. That's our
subject this afternoon. Pride and humility. God resists the proud. He opposes
the proud heart, but He gives grace unto the humble. First
of all, I want to consider some things about pride with you for
just a few minutes, what an awful sin pride is. And the most awful thing it is
about it, it's in our hearts by nature. It's born with us
and it lives with us. The Lord Jesus, when He was talking
about the sins of the heart, He said, Out of the heart proceed
evil thoughts, abominations, hate, fornication, pride. Pride. It's in our hearts, isn't
it? It's listed in the Scriptures
as one of those seven abominations in the eyes of the Lord. One
of the things that He hates. Listen to this category of things
that God hates. A lying tongue. hands that shed
innocent blood, a heart that deviseth wicked imaginations,
feet that be swift in running to mischief, a false witness
that speaks lies, he that sows discord among his brethren. But
the first one of this list is this, a proud look. A proud look. I want to give
you some examples, some reasons why pride is such an awful, awful
sin. And we can see it demonstrated
in these passages. First of all, pride shows itself
in this. It will bring the highest angel
down from heaven into hell. It already did that. Satan fell
by pride. I want you to hold, 1 Peter,
and I want you to look over in Isaiah chapter 14 with me in
verse 12. Isaiah chapter 14 in verse 12. Satan was a mighty angel. He
was a created being. And it seemed like he was one
of the chief angels. And he had been very, very exalted
in his creation. And he fell. The Lord Jesus said,
I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven. And the book of
revelations teaches us that when he fell out of heaven, he took
one third of the angels with him. How could such a great being
fall? Look what he says in Isaiah 14,
look in verse 12. Now art thou fallen from heaven,
O Lucifer, son of the morning. Now art thou cast down to the
ground, which did weaken the nations. For thou hast said in
thy heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne
above the stars of God. I will set also upon the mount
of the congregations in the sides of the north. I will ascend above
the heights of the clouds. I will be like the Most High. That's pride, ain't it? That's
pride. We talk about free will. Use
your free will. I will. I will. I will. Yet thou shalt be brought down
to hell by the sides of the pit. What was it that brought Satan
down? Pride. Pride. And those angels with
him were cast down into chains of darkness. And they're reserved
now, without any atonement being made for their sins, they're
reserved into everlasting punishment against the day of judgment.
There's no escape for them. They're sentenced to that. Pride.
Pride's an awful thing, isn't it? Number two, it was this same
sin that Satan tempted our first parents with. Pride. They fell
through pride. Listen to this. Here's what he
told Eve and Adam. Your eyes shall be opened and
you shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. You shall be as
gods. That's what he wanted to be.
God. And he said, you can be as gods. And that's where sin
entered. And what sin was it? Pride. Pride. And you know, brothers and sisters,
pride has been in this world ever since. And James says it's
one of the three characteristics. All that's in the world right
now is the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the
pride of life. The pride. Everybody's proud
about something, I think. Everybody's proud. Our first
parents fell through I think it's very telling when
the Son of God came to recover us from our fall. He humbled
Himself. The first thing He did. If there's
anybody that had a right to be proud and exalt Himself, it was
Him. But what was said about Him?
Though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor. Though
he was in the farm of God, and thought robbery to be equal with
God, he made himself of no reputation, took upon him the farm of a servant,
and humbled himself, and became obedient unto death. Boy, there's
our example, isn't it? We talk about humility. There's
our example. Jesus stooped low to save us. He left the heights of heaven
and the heights of glory and came to this lowly and sinful
world. He laid aside His majesty. He
laid aside His glory for a while and took upon Him our poor natures
to redeem us from this fall. But to do that, He had to humble
Himself and become obedient to death, even the death of the
cross. What an example! And what was
said of him? He's meek and lowly in his heart. Thirdly, something else that's
said about pride. With pride cometh shame. Isaiah
11, 2. When pride cometh, then cometh
shame. But with the lowly is wisdom. With pride comes shame. Boy, there's been a lot of people.
Haven't there been a lot of people? that has fallen because of pride. You see them and they're so proud
and not long, shame follows them. They get exalted in pride. They
lose a promotion at work because of it. They lose a job because
of it. They lose a wife or a husband
because of it. Pride. Pride is a dreadful thing. After pride is lived in and it
rules, then cometh shame. How many men have gone and hid
themselves in shame, refusing to show their faces, because
pride has entered. A man's pride shall bring him
low, Solomon said. It's an awful sin, isn't it?
Fourthly, pride bars a man from drawing near to God, and it will
bar God from drawing near to him. He was said in our text,
while God gives grace to the humble, He resists the proud. He opposes the proud. The wicked,
through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God. A proud
man will not repent. He will not believe. And if pride
reigns in his heart, he cannot believe. And God will not draw
near to him to hear his prayer. until pride is humbled. A proud
man will never be saved. God will never save a proud man
until He first humbles him, because a man cannot be saved in his
pride. Fifthly, and lastly, pride goeth
before destruction, and a hearty spirit before a fall. Boy, you see somebody lifted
up in pride, you know what's going to follow. If God don't
have mercy and break him and deliver him from his pride, you
know what's going to follow. Destruction. Pride goeth before
destruction and a haughty spirit before fall. I want you while
you're there, turn back here to the second chapter of Isaiah. Look at this. You know there's
coming a time and a day and an hour in which the Lord Jesus
Christ alone is going to be exalted. He is going to put everybody
else down. The pride of everything is going
to be put down. And He alone is going to be exalted. He hates pride and pride is such
a sin that He is going to put it all down someday. Look what
He says here in chapter 2 and verse 11. Isaiah chapter 2 and
verse 11. The lofty looks of man shall
be humbled. And the haughtiness of men shall
be bowed down, and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day. For the day of the Lord of hosts
shall be upon everyone that is proud and lofty, and everyone
that is lifted up, and he shall be brought low. And upon all
the cedars of Lebanon that are high and lifted up, and upon
all the oaks of Bashan, and upon all the high mountains, and upon
all the hills that are lifted up, and upon every high tower,
and upon every fenced city, and upon all the ships of Tarsus,
and upon all pleasant pictures. And the loftiness of man shall
be bowed down, and the haughtiness of men shall be made low, and
the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day." There is coming
a day when Christ alone will get all the glory and all pride
will be humbled. God has given him a name which
is above every name and at that name every knee is going to bow. Every knee is going to bow. Secondly,
I want you to think of pride this way. Pride is the most unreasonable
sin. I don't say that any sin is reasonable,
but isn't pride the most unreasonable sin that there is in all the
world? And I say that for this reason.
How could one man be lifted up in pride over another man? Every man is born of a woman,
and every man dies at God's appointed day. If we have improved our
situation in this life, it's owing to God's providence that
rules over everything. Wayne told us that this morning.
It could be said of all men without exception, what we have is only
what we receive. We brought nothing into this
world and we'll carry nothing out of this world. We were all
born the same way. The only thing that makes the
distinction between us is the providence of God and we'll all
die the same way. Why would one man, therefore,
be lifted up in pride over another? What's the difference between
Donald Trump and a poor lady I saw in Africa just the other
day that weighed 70 pounds and she was starving to death? What's
the difference between those two people? Nothing. One lives enriches and He fares
sumptuously every day. One lives in starvation and in
a most deplorable state. But there is essentially no difference
in them, and time will prove it. Time will prove it. Both came into this world naked,
and they both will leave this world naked, and the grave will
be the great leveler. The great leveler. So how could
anybody be proud? There is a sense also in which
man is no better than a beast. And in some sense, he's below
the beast. There are beasts that are stronger
than man. We're not stronger than an elephant,
are we? There are beasts that's more beautiful than men. Think
of the peacock. There are beasts that's more
wise than men. Go to the Ankh-Val slugger and
consider her ways and be wise. There are beasts that are more
moral than man. You don't find any beast filling
their body with drugs and alcohol, do you? You don't find any beast
ripping their bellies up or aborting their little unborn babies, do
you? Do we find any beast plotting
and making weapons of war to slaughter one another? There
is a sense which beast is more fit than man. How could anybody be pride? Pride is unreasonable when we
remember that before God, in and of ourselves, we are all
guilty sinners. Who is that man that can say
before God, I haven't committed a sin? Who can say before God,
I have cleansed myself from my sin? Nobody can say that. There
is not a just man upon this earth in and of himself that doeth
good and sinneth not. The Pharisee is no better than
the harlot. The scribe is no better than
that publica. Before God there is no difference,
is there? Pride is the most unreasonable
thing in the world. If you locked a man up in a cave
from society and let him see no evil and hear no evil, he
would be just as sinful as those folks who ran free in society
because sin comes from the heart where God looks. Pride is the
most unreasonable thing. Pride is most unreasonable when
we remember that all the lost go to the same hell, and they suffer equally because
they merit it. How could one tormented sinner
boast against another? And those who go to heaven go
there through the merit and grace of another, and on no other grounds
will they boast. On what grounds can pride be
entertained? On no reasonable grounds. The only way that we can entertain
pride is out of unreasonableness. It is unreasonable for any of
us to be proud in the least sense. God resisteth the proud. He resisteth the proud. I never
find in the Scriptures where the Lord Jesus resisted an adulterer
that came to Him. I read where He saved them. Never
read where He resisted a publican that came to Him. But He resists the proud. He
resists the proud. God resists the proud, and justly
so. Secondly, He giveth grace to
the humble. What a wonderful thing. He giveth
grace to the humble. And Peter gives us a reason for
it, doesn't he? He giveth grace to the humble.
And he says in verse 6, Humble yourself therefore under the
mighty hand of God. Since God gives grace to the
humble, that's a good reason to humble yourself. under the
mighty hand of God. What is genuine humility? Is it not humbling ourselves
under the mighty hand of God? Is it not recognition of the
difference between us and God? Why would we humble ourselves
under Him? It is because we recognize He
is over us. We are under Him. He's brought
us to recognize that. Some people are naturally humble,
but we're not speaking of nature. We're speaking of a humble spirit
and a humble heart. There are some people who have
a meek and lowly nature, but they never humble themselves
under the mighty hand of God. If God exposes their heart, you
would see pride there. You would see self-righteousness
there. You would see awful sin and rebellion there. When a man
humbles himself under the mighty hand of God, it's because he
is persuaded that he is a sinner, and he has no merit of his own. He feels himself to be vile and
sinful, and he is convinced that he deserves nothing but eternal
death. It is this man who humbles himself
under God, and it's this man whom the Scripture says here,
God exalts. God exalts. It's only this man who has humbled
himself under the mighty hand of God that is convinced that
he deserves nothing but eternal death and ruin. Look with me at this example
over in Luke chapter 18. A very familiar example. Luke chapter 18. Here is a good
example of true humility. God resisteth the proud, but
giveth grace to the humble. Humble yourself therefore. Look
what he says in Luke chapter 18. And look what the Lord says
in verse 10. Two men went up into the temple
to pray, the one a Pharisee, the other a publican. And the
Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank you
that I am not like other men. I'm not an extortioner. I'm not
unjust. I'm not an adulterer, or even
as this publican. I lived so much better. I fasted
twice during the week. I gave tithes of all that I possessed.
And the publican, standing afar off, and would not lift up so
much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying,
God be merciful to me, a sinner." This word mercy is only used
twice in the whole New Testament, right here and in Hebrews. Chapter 2 and verse 17. And listen
to this, Wherefore in all things it behooved him to be made like
unto his brother, that he might be a merciful and faithful high
priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation. That's what that word mercy means.
To make reconciliation. To be a propitiation. What was
this publican saying? He was saying, God, be perpetuation
to me. Be a perpetuator. Perpetuate. The word means to be an atoning
victim, to cleanse, to wash. What did this man recognize?
Oh, he recognized that he was an awful sinner, didn't he? And
what did he do? He humbled himself under the
mighty hand of God. And what did God do? He propitiated
for us. Jesus Christ is the propitiation
for our sin. And look in verse 14. I tell
you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the
other. For every one that exalteth himself
shall be abased, and he that humbles himself shall be exalted. That's a good reason to humble
yourself, isn't it? That's a good reason to help
me. One fellow said one time, he said, you fellows are seeing
Christ in these Scriptures where Christ is not there. He said, you're saying, wash
me. David said, wash me and I shall
be clean. Purge me. And he said, you can't
say that that's talking about the blood of Christ. What's it talking about? Who's it talking about? I actually
read a commentary sometimes, and he just can't find Christ
hardly in the Old Testament at all. He says you can imply that,
but you can't state plainly that that's Christ. This publican
was looking to the Son of God. He was looking to His blood.
Wash me! Be merciful! Cleanse me! He had
humbled himself before God, realizing he was a vile sinner. David,
when he said, ìLord, purge me with this,î he was looking to
the blood of the Son of God, his Lord. He knew Him. He knew
Him. He humbled himself, and he was
washed. Itís only those who humble themselves
under the mighty hand of God who can love Godís free grace and value a Savior. This man
valued the Savior, didn't he? Because God had humbled him.
Those who humble themselves unto the mighty hand of God, only
those can know the grace of God. He gives grace to who? The humble! The humble! When He gives grace
to you, you know it! You'll recognize it and you'll
love it! When He washes you, you'll know what He washed you
in! And the Savior will be so precious. I don't have to ask
you this evening if the Savior is precious to you. I know He
is. If you've come and humbled yourself
under the mighty hand of God, He's become precious to you. This is where God begins with
us, isn't it? This is where Jesus and His blood
becomes precious to our faith, to you who believe He is Have you ever regretted humbling
yourself under the mighty hand of God? No, you haven't. Because there is where He lifts
you up, under His mighty hand. Back over in our text again,
here's another mark. Peter gives it here of true humility. The first mark of humility is
here that they humble themselves under the mighty hand of God.
That's not natural, is it? That's supernatural, man. That's
a work of God in the heart. But look what he says here. Here's
another mark that he gives. In verse 5, when he says this,
"...Likewise, you young, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea,
all of you, be subject one to another, and be clothed with
humility." What is the mark of true humility? A subjection? one to another. Those who are
truly humble do not exalt themselves over others. They do not think
they are better than their brothers or their sisters. They submit
one to another. Why? They are humble. That is
the mark of true humility. A man who humbles himself under
the mighty hand of God will not exalt himself over his brothers
or over his sisters. The way you can tell that a man
is humbled himself under the mighty hand of God is because
he then humbles himself before men. Paul said, Let nothing be done
through strife or vainglory, but in lowliness of mind let
each esteem other better than themselves. The mark of true
humility is to think better of your brother and your sister
than you do of yourself. That's true humility. That's
grace, isn't it? He gives grace to the humble. When you see a person, they take
every opportunity to put somebody down, mark it down. That is a proud person. And he
puts them down so he can exalt himself. A proud person. True humility is anxious to hide
the faults and failings of others. He has been under the mighty
hand of God Himself, and he feels like that nobody is so defective
as himself. Boy, when you humble yourself
under the mighty hand of God, you see yourself as you've never
seen yourself. I tell young preachers all the
time, some young preacher will ask me, do you have any advice
for me? And this is the piece of advice I always give them.
Stay low before God. Stay low before God. That's the best advice that I
can give them. A young preacher is so susceptible
to pride than anybody else. They get a little knowledge of
religious subjects, and Satan puffs them up. They'll preach
a good message, and people will begin to tell them what a good
message is, and pride enters in, and they're puffed up. Spurgeon
said one time when he left the pulpit, some man met him and
said, that's the best message I've ever heard in my life. He
said, somebody's already told me that. And he said, who told
you that? I just met you. He said, the
devil told me that while I was preaching. Isn't that so? That's so. I've experienced that.
I've preached some bad messages. And he told me, man, that was
great. That was great. Pride goeth before destruction,
doesn't it? Paul said, don't call on all
of us. Don't let a young preacher, don't give him too much authority
and liberty, lest being lifted up in pride, he fall into the
condemnation of the devil. And these poor young preachers
sometimes, bless their hearts. Brother Wayne Walker said, when
the Lord calls a man to preach, a young man, the first thing
we need to do is put him in the cage for about two years. Keep
him in a cage. Don't give him so much liberty.
because he's going to get lifted up in pride. They begin to think
that God has called them to guide the ignorant and to teach the foolish, because
who knows better than they do? And Satan fills their hearts,
and they're always trying to rule over others, and they forget
to rule their own heart. Oh, we're constantly having to
watch, aren't we? We're constantly having to watch. Having to watch. Look how pride afflicted the
young apostles of our Lord. Even the apostles of our Lord
was afflicted with pride. What would make James and John
say, let's call them far out of heaven and destroy these people?
Is that not pride? What would make James and John
say, Lord, let us set one on your right hand and one on your
left, and let us be exalted over everybody? Is that not pride? What would make John forbid a
poor man who was preaching Christ and say, you stop it because
he's not following me? That's pride, isn't it? That's
pride. The mark of humility is this,
we submit ourselves one to another. We esteem our brother more highly
than ourselves. But it goes much deeper than
that, even deeper than that, true humility, true humility. Not only will not exalt himself
over his brother, but get this, he's willing to be thought of
by his brother. I was nothing. Now there's a
little bit of difference between me thinking I'm nothing and you
thinking I'm nothing. But true humility is willing
to have you to think of me. I'm nothing. I'm nothing. I think lowly of myself. I debase
myself. But I'm not too happy when you
debase me. I say I'm a poor sinner and nothing
at all, and I'm full of faults and failings. But don't you tell
me that. Why? Maybe I've got a little
bit of pride. Some people are more concerned
with having the praise of men and being spoken of more highly
of men and approved of men rather than God. There's two snares
we fall into. One is the fear of man. And that
brings a snare. But another is craving the praises
of men and the approval of men instead of God. Better to be
thought of as nothing and stay low than to be praised and lifted
up in pride. Listen to John the Baptist. He
must increase. I must decrease. And you know
he wasn't just talking about his own personal self. He was
talking about his reputation, his work among the people. They come to him and they said,
John, you used to baptize so many people, and now they've
quit coming to you and they're going to Christ. How do you feel
about that, John? I rejoice. I rejoice. And he basically lost his ministry,
didn't he? They put him in jail and finally
cut his head off. And what did he say? I rejoice.
I've heard the bridegroom's voice and I rejoice. I rejoice in this,
that he must increase and I must decrease, even in the eyes of
the people. And that's where true humility
will bring us. I don't care about me. It's not
about me. It's not about what you think
of me. It's about what you think of Him. To Him be the glory. It's about the prosperity of
His people, His church. It's not about you, is it? It's
not about me. The mark of true humility is
to be nothing in our own eyes. and to be willing to be thought
of as nothing in the eyes of others. Fifthly, and consider this, Peter tells us here some time
when we should humble ourselves before the Lord under His mighty
hand. When is a good time to humble yourself under the mighty
hand of God? Always. Always. We begin that way, brothers and
sisters, and I tell you, the only place of safety is under
the mighty hand of God. And you don't have to be afraid
of humbling yourself under that mighty hand. He won't hurt you. That hand will not hurt those
who humble themselves underneath it. It's heavy. It's mighty. The mighty hand. But it won't
crush you. He's promised that a broken reed,
a bruised reed, He won't break it. And smoking flax, He won't
quench. But you know what He does when
we humble ourselves under His mighty hand? You know what He
does? He exalts us. He lifts us up. You know what
He said in the book of Isaiah? He said, I dwell in the high
and holy place." That's me, he said. I dwell there in the high
and holy place. But he said, I don't dwell there
alone. I dwell there with Him that is of a meek and humble
spirit. Why? To revive the spirit of
the contrite ones. To revive the heart of the humble
ones. Ain't it amazing that God breaks
our hearts? Then He turns right around and
heals our hearts. He tells us to humble ourselves under His
mighty hand, and then He lifts us up by His mighty hand. When
should we humble ourselves? All the time. All the time. I'll tell you this much. I'd
rather humble myself than have Him to humble me. Wouldn't you? Paul said if we judge ourselves,
we wouldn't be judged of the Lord. Boy, I tell you what, I
recommend to myself and you, come and humble yourself. Don't
wait until He humbles you. Because His hand is mighty. His
hand is sovereign. And boy, when He humbles, what
did that great King say? Those who walk in pride, He is
able to amaze. Peter gives us three places here
in which we ought to humble ourselves for mercy and for help. He says
in verse 7, Humble yourself in this time when you are loaded
down with cares, casting all your cares upon Him, for He careth
for you. When you are loaded down with
cares, humble yourself under the mighty hand of God. Do you
have any cares? As long as we're in this world,
we're going to have cares of some kind, aren't we? You've
got cares. Man, sometimes they burden us,
don't they? Just cares of living. Day-to-day cares. Cares about
your work. Cares about going to school.
Cares about family. Cares about your mental state.
Cares about your physical state. Cares about your spiritual state.
We have cares, don't we? Then come and humble yourself
under the mighty hand of God, and He'll lift you up. He'll
bury you and your cares. He's able, isn't He? Casting
all your care upon Him. Secondly, look at this in verse
8. Here's when we should humble
ourselves under the mighty hand of God. Be sober, be vigilant,
because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about,
seeking whom he may Devour. Boy, this is a good time to humble
yourself. We've got an enemy, haven't we?
And look what he did to Job. When God gives you permission,
we're no match for him, are we? Look what he did to David. Look
what he did to Peter. We're no match for him. Come
and humble yourself under the mighty hand of God. That's the
only safe place from Satan. He don't pay any attention to
my hand, but I tell you one hand He will pay attention to, and
that's God's hand. God's got a mighty hand. I give
unto them eternal life. They shall never perish, neither
shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father which gave
them me is greater than all. And no man or devils or circumstances
is able to pluck them out of my Father's hands. That's a place
of security, isn't it? From temptations and the fiery
darts of Satan. And lastly in verse 10, in the
time of sufferings, in the time of sufferings, The God of all
grace, who hath called us into His eternal glory by Jesus Christ,
after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, establish,
strengthen, and settle you." Sufferings. Somebody, maybe it
was Brother Larry, when he was teaching through this book, every
chapter in this book talks about the sufferings of God's people. You know a good time to come
and humble yourself? It's when you're in trouble.
When you're suffering. Some people get discouraged when
they're suffering. They quit coming to service. They quit
praying. They quit reading their Bible.
They get so discouraged they almost get in despair. When you
suffer, do this. Do what Peter said. Come and
humble yourself under the mighty hand of God. And what will He
do? I'm not saying He'll rid you of all your sufferings. But
I'm telling you, when He exalts you, He'll give you grace to
bear your suffering. But you can't bear it without
Him. Oh, pride, it's an awful thing,
isn't it? It's an awful thing. What will it do to us? Oh, my.
Just to think about it. Humility is a wonderful grace. Come and humble yourselves. under
the mighty hand of God, and here's the promise, in His own time
and in His own way, He will exalt you. Fr. Larry, would you dismiss
us?