All right, open your Bibles with
me again to 1 Peter chapter 5. 1 Peter chapter 5. Let me give
you a few things that I think will be helpful to us from this
scripture. The first seven verses of 1 Peter
5. Simon Peter, the author of this
epistle, was an apostle of our Lord Jesus Christ, one of the
original twelve, and also a member of the inner circle. When our
Lord went to the Mount of Transfiguration, the Mount of Glory, some people
called it, he took with him Peter, James, and John. before our Lord
went to the cross of Calvary, when he went into the Garden
of Gethsemane, in that tremendous struggle, he took with him Peter,
James, and John. So this is an important servant
of the Lord, Simon Peter. But I want you to notice the
very first thing in this chapter 5, verse 1, I want you to notice
his gentleness. He says here, the elders which
are among you I exhort. He didn't say I command. He said
I exhort. There was a time when the Apostle
Peter would not have been so gentle. He was a boastful man
at one time. Told our Lord, he said, these
other fellows might deny you, but I never will. He was a brutal man at one time.
He cut a fellow's ear off with his sword. And the writers say
he wasn't aiming at the ear. He intended to cut his head off. He was a harsh man at one time. When our Lord told him how he
would die to glorify God, instead of just quietly submitting, he
turned and looked at John. Maybe a little jealousy here.
because John was called frequently the disciple whom Jesus loved.
He looked at John, he said, what's he going to do? Our Lord said,
if it's my will for him to remain till I come again, what's that
to you? So Peter hasn't always been gentle, but God brought
him down. There's nothing that'll make
a fellow gentle like a fall. That's right. And he says, I
exhort the elders. Paul gives us a definition of
gentle preaching over here in 1 Thessalonians 2. I have used this occasionally
to emphasize how we ought to preach. We don't always preach
this way, but we ought to when we're dealing with God's people.
In 1 Thessalonians 2, verse 7, Paul says, but we were gentle
among you. Even as a nurse cherished her
children. In other words, as a nurse, a
mother nurses her baby. That gentle. That gentle. As a nurse cherished her children. That's how gentle to handle God's
children. So being affectionately desirous
of you, we were willing to have imparted unto you not the gospel
of God only, it's not enough just to indoctrinate people, but also our own souls, because
you were so dear to us. You can't talk to people about
God unless you talk to God about the people. You just can't do it. I found
that out, and Peter found it out, but it has to be taught.
It has to be taught. And then the next thing I notice
about the apostle here, he was gentle. Notice his humility. The elders, 1 Peter 5 now, verse
1, which are among you I exhort who am also an elder. I'm one
of you. Oh, Peter was more than an elder.
Peter was an apostle. There weren't very many apostles,
just twelve, that's all. in the whole wide world. Never
been any since then. But he was an apostle. Yet he
doesn't lean on that high office. But he identifies himself with
the brethren. He said, I too am an elder. John, let's go to 2 John. Over here, the 2nd epistle of
John, and listen to it. Now here's that Here's another
of that trio, Peter, James, and John. But here's John, and he
says he calls himself an elder. He says in 2 John verse 1, The
elder unto the elect lady and her children whom I love in the
truth, and not I only, but also all they that have known the
truth love you too. Look down at 3 John verse 1. He calls himself an elder. Also, who was an awesome, auspicious
apostle, but he said, the elder unto the well-beloved Gaius,
whom I love in the truth. Beloved, this gentle humility,
isn't it? Beloved, I wish above all things
that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul
prospers. That was John's wish for Gaius. That was John's wish. I heard
a preacher on television recently that was trying to convince people
that if they weren't prosperous and healthy, they weren't safe.
And he used this verse. He said, Beloved, I wish above
all things. See there it says, God wishes
above all things that you be prosperous and out of dishonest. See there it says, you're not
prosperous and in hell. and your soul doesn't prosper.
That's unfair. That's dishonest. John is the
one that conveyed that wish to his bud. I wish it for you. I
wish it for every one of you. Don't you wish it for one another?
But that doesn't mean it's the will of God for me to be prosperous,
rich, healthy. Maybe it's the will of God for
me to be sick. But this is This is the only thing that loving
someone you can wish for, that they prosper and be in health
as their soul prospers. That's right. But that's dishonest
preaching, you see. That's what I try to warn people
against, that sort of thing. But now notice the next thing
he says here, 1 Peter 5. The elders which are among you
I exhort to am also an elder, and I'm a witness of the sufferings
of Christ. That has a threefold meaning.
I'm a witness of the sufferings of Christ. Peter was an eyewitness
of the agony and suffering of our Lord Jesus Christ. He was
an eyewitness. He was there. He was warming
his hands with a fire when he looked up and saw the Lord Jesus
in chains with a crown of thorns and blood streaming from his
head. He saw that. And I'm just sure
that somewhere in that crowd, maybe far off, but somewhere
in that crowd at the cross, Peter was there. He saw, he said, I'm
a witness of the sufferings of Christ on behalf of his people.
And then the second thing he means here is I'm a witness,
I'm a witness first to the sufferings of Christ, and I'm a witness
of the sufferings of Christ. Because our Lord gathered his
apostles about him before he ascended to heaven. And he said
to them, he said, the Holy Ghost will come upon you. The power
of God will overshadow you. And you shall be my witness in
Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the uttermost parts of the earth.
You are my witness. Peter said, I'm an eyewitness
to the sufferings of Christ. And we are too by faith. We've
seen His sufferings in the Word by faith. And like Peter, we
are witnesses of the sufferings of Christ. That's our message,
Christ and Him crucified. Paul says, that's the summary
of my message, Christ and Him crucified. I'm determined to
know nothing among you save Christ and Him crucified. God forbid
that I should glory save in the cross of Christ, by which the
world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world. But not only
is he an eyewitness to the sufferings of Christ, we're faith witnesses. Not only a continual witness
wherever God sends him to the sufferings of Christ, but he
says, I'm a partaker, look at here, of that glory that was
purchased by the sufferings of Christ and shall be revealed
in God's own time. I'm a partaker of the glory that
shall be revealed which at present, that glory, is hid from this
world. This world knows nothing of the
true glory of God. People sing that song, my eyes
have seen the glory, the coming of the Lord. Some people ask
that our gospel be hid, it's hid to them that are lost, in
whom the God of this world has blinded their minds. lest the
light of the glorious gospel of Christ should shine unto them,
and they should be saved. But God, who commanded the light
to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts to give
us a knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ Jesus."
So Peter said, I'm an eyewitness. I know who suffered, I know why
he suffered, I know how he suffered. And I'm a chosen witness. tell others about the sufferings
of Christ. But more than that, I'm a partaker
of the glory which he purchased by his suffering. Turn to John
17. This is what our Lord was referring to in John 17, the
glory which shall be revealed when he comes. It shall be revealed. In John 17, verse 22, Our Lord said to the Father,
he prayed to the Father, and the glory which you gave me. You know, he started this prayer
over here, and he said, verse 5, Oh, and now, Father, glorify
thou me. Verse 4 says, I've glorified
thee on the earth. I've finished the work, the sufferings
you gave me to do. Now, you glorify me with thine
own self, with the glory which I had with thee before the world
was. Now down in verse 22, and that glory which you gave me,
I've given them. I'm a partaker of that glory.
You understand what he's saying? That they may be one as we are,
I in them, thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one. And that the world may know,
they'll know someday, it'll be revealed someday. That's what
he said in our text, the glory that shall be revealed to everybody. And the world will know that
you sent me, and the world will know you love them as you love me." That's a tremendous
verse. I'm a partaker. He hath made
us, me, to be partakers of the glory of the inheritance of the
saints in the light of his kingdom and glory. feed the flock of God which is
among you." This is Peter talking now. He learned, Peter had this
impressed on him one morning, the side of fire. And I mean
impressed on him. The disciples had quit the ministry. Peter was the one that started
this thing. We all can identify with him so well, can't we? But
they were all in the upper room, the Lord Jesus had been crucified,
buried, and rose again, and they'd heard about it and all this sort
of thing, and they were in the upper room and waiting, I guess,
for him. And Peter said, well, I'm just
going fishing. Now, he wasn't just going out
for some recreation. Peter was going back to fishing.
That's what he had in mind. I really believe that. I believe
he had that in mind. That's what I made my living
doing for years and years and years, and this has all been
a traumatic upheaval for me and you, and I'm just going fishing.
They said, wait, we'll go with you, you know. So they all went
down. It was nighttime, and they all
went down, got the boat, went out to fish. Fished all night
long. All night. And the Lord wouldn't
let them catch a thing. All night long. And in the morning,
as the sun was coming up, Our Lord Jesus came out there on
the seashore. He looked out there and saw his
wayward disciples, his discouraged disciples, troubled disciples. He said, Children, have you caught
any fish? Peter said, It's the Lord. It's
the Lord. And I think he was so ashamed.
They were only a hundred yards out. 50, 75, 100 yards out. But he was so ashamed. He just
had a lawn cloth around him and he grabbed up his fish in his
coat and put it on and dove into the water and started swimming
to the shore. He was going to get there to the Lord before
the rest stopped, I guess. Somebody said, go explain what
he was doing out there, you know. But anyway, he was going to get
there before they got there. And the rest stopped. You know,
the Lord let him catch a bunch of fish. So he left the rest
of them and pulled that big old net full of fish in. They got
it all in. The Lord had picked supper for
them, breakfast for them, breakfast of boiled fish and honeycomb
and these things and bread. And they sat down. He took Peter
over to the side and he sat by the fire, reminiscent of that
fire where he denied he knew Christ just three days before. And he sat down and he said,
Peter, do you love me? Yeah, Lord. I loved him. Feed my sheep." Don't go fishing, feed my sheep.
That's what I called you to do, feed my sheep. Peter, do you
love me? Yeah, Lord, I love you. Feed
my sheep. He asked him the third time,
and Peter was grieved, the Scripture says, that he asked him that
third time, do you love me? Yeah, Lord, you know everything,
you know I love you. Feed my sheep. That was impressed upon him,
and now he's telling the other elders, you know what you fellas
supposed to do? You're supposed to feed the sheep.
That's what our Lord told us to do, feed the sheep. Feed them
what? The Word of God. Feed whom? The sheep. It was over at Rocky
Mount a few weeks ago. Some of us went to hear my son
Paul preach on Wednesday night. I don't remember where he was
preaching. Maybe it was this text here. I'm not certain. But he said, did you ever notice
that the sheep, whether they're one or five or ten, the word
is the same. It's sheep, never plural. The
singular and plural is the same. You're a sheep. This is a herd
of sheep. Flock of sheep. Feed the flock.
Not my flocks. My sheep. My sheep. Whether there's one or whether
there's ten. It's the sheep. Very simply. But all of the clean
animals are referred to that way. Sheep. Deer. Not deers. Deer. Fish. Not fishes. Fish. My church, not churches, my church. He loved the church. That's everybody
that's saying. He loved the church. He loved
the sheep. I make the fishers of men, and you'll catch what?
Fish. You may catch one, but it's still a fish. A hundred
of them are still fish. And another thing about sheep,
they're gregarious. Fish, I mean, well, fish are
too, and deer are. and cattle. They may be identified
by their sex, cows, bulls, and steers, but they're cattle. Not
cattles. Cattle. And they're gregarious. They live in a flock. They live
in a herd. They don't run around alone.
You have a school of fish. Clean animals. Gregarious is the word we get
our congregation from. They congregate. They're social
creatures. They have to have company. You
may walk through the woods and run into a lion, but you'll never
run into a sheep unless you run into a herd of sheep. They've
got to have each other. Isn't that beautiful? His sheep,
whether it's one or ten or a hundred, they're his sheep. My sheep. And another thing about sheep,
they don't feed on each other like animals do. Peter, well no, Paul over in
Galatians 5 rebuked those hypocrites. He said you bite and devour each
other, not sheep. Sheep eat what? Green pastures. That's where sheep love to feed. He leads me in green pastures. He leads me in green pastures.
That's what the sheep eat. They feed on the green pastures,
not on each other, not on blood and flesh. They just don't have
an appetite like that at all. The sheep of Christ feed on the
Word of God, and they depend on the Word of God. They depend
on the green pasture. They're not going to survive
without the green pasture. They're not going to survive
alone. I forget where I heard this, but somebody told me a
sheep won't last long alone. He can't survive. He's got to
have the others. And that's true of God's people. people say they're sheep and
they don't worship God, they don't congregate with the people
of God, I don't believe it. You don't run into a sheep by
himself. He needs the other sheep. That's right now. That's right,
they congregate. And the Word of God is what they
depend upon for life, faith, assurance, comfort, all great And then he says in verse 2,
feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight
thereof. Take the oversight of the church.
Now Christ is the head of the church. He just said Christ is
the head of the church and in all things he might have the
preeminence. That's understood. The Holy Spirit, Martin used
to say, is the president and Christ is the head of the church.
President of the church and the head of the church. Elders are
servants. But these elders are designated
leaders. That's right. The Lord God has
established leadership and authority, not only in the church, but in
the home. And in the civil government, he tells us to obey the magistrates,
the people who are ministers of God for our good. We are to
obey them. So he's telling the elders here
to take the oversight, take the leadership, take the leadership
of the church, because God's given it to you. Take the leadership. Now, he says, not by constraint,
but willingly, not by constraint, that is, not as a duty, a distasteful
duty. Well, I'll do my duty, and I'll
serve as an elder, not by constraint. And not a religious office or
a job. And not by constraint, that is,
pressed into it by a pastor. Or pressed into it by a relative.
Or pressed into it by a friend. You ought to be a preacher. You
got such a nice voice, you ought to be a preacher. Don't let them
do that. Don't let them constrain you. Don't do that. Or by acquaintances. But here it is. Take the oversight
willingly. Willing because Christ has called
you to the Word. Willing because Christ has furnished
you with the gifts. Willing because Christ has given
to you a keen understanding of his glory and gospel. And because
Christ has given you favor among the people. If God calls a man
to be a shepherd, the sheep will follow him. And if they don't,
he didn't call him to be a shepherd. Another voice they won't hear.
If God Almighty places a man in that position, he's going
to get a hearing. If he's a shepherd to feed sheep,
he's going to feed some sheep. The Lord is going to entrust
unto him some sheep. He's not going to talk to the
walls. God didn't send him to feed the walls. He sent him to
feed his sheep. And you do that not by constraint,
not as a duty, not as a job, not as an office, not pressed
into it by somebody who wants to make preachers, but willingly
because God Almighty has called you, furnished you with gifts,
given you understanding, and given you a hearing favor among
the people. If I didn't have any sheave,
I wouldn't be a shepherd. That's just so. And he says, not for
filthy lucre. Now watch this. Old John Gill
helped me on this. Usually when we say it's not
for filthy lucre, the first thing is money, and that is what it
is, filthy lucre. But to cover the subject effectively,
Gill suggested this word. Take the oversight, not from
a covetous disposition. That covers more than money.
Not from a covetous disposition. Well, what could a fellow have
in mind? Well, money, material gain, is
not the only temptation. But the work of the ministry
must not be sought for self-glory. That is a covetous disposition,
to covet the glory of the Lord. Not ours. Another thing, the
ministry must not be sought for applause. The ministry must not be sought
for recognition. He's a preacher. You the reverend? All these preachers are getting
these fancy titles, you know, doctor, bishop. That's recognition. Not for a place of prominence
in the Church. Not for name among ministers,
not for esteem or credit among men, but of a ready mind. What
is a ready mind? It's for the whole heart. When
the heart is in the ministry, it will make the mind ready. And that whole heart is with
a single concern for the glory of God, the glory of God, the
glory of God. Whatever you do in word or deed,
do it for the glory of God, with a single concern for the glory
of God. And secondly, with a sincere
desire for the good of the sheep, the good of the sheep. And thirdly, with a readiness
of mind to bear the reproach of Christ and the offense of the gospel.
The Apostle Paul in Romans 1 says, I am a debtor, I'm a debtor,
both to the wise and to the unwise. So much as in me is, I'm ready
to preach the gospel. I'm a debtor, a debtor to God
for his grace, a debtor to the apostles and prophets of the
past, a debtor to the men of God who stood for the gospel,
preserved the scriptures by the grace of God, a debtor to oh
so many. I'm a debtor. I'm just a debtor.
I'm in debt to so many folks, to God most of all. So as much
as in me is, I'm ready, of a ready mind, of a sincere heart, a single
concern for the glory of God, a desire for the good of the
sheep, I'm ready to preach the gospel, even down there in Caesar's
neighborhood in Rome. I'm ready to go there too. And
he did, and he wound up in prison, and then he cut his head off. kept back nothing profitable.
I'm now shunned to declare to you all the grace of God, the
gospel of God. I'm ready. Bring on the reproach
and bring on the offense, but I'm ready. And then he says down
here in verse 3, these pastors and elders are not lords over
God's heritage. They're not lords. That's not
how they lead, by force. I read you this from the lips
of our Lord a few days ago. I'll just turn to it and read
it again. In Matthew 20, he dealt with
this subject. He said in Matthew 20, verse
25, Jesus called unto him and said
in Matthew 20, 25, You know But the princes of the Gentiles
exercise dominion over them, and that they are great, they
that are great exercise authority upon them. But shall not be so
among you? Whosoever will be great among
you, let him be your servant. Whosoever will be cheap among
you, let him be your servant. That is where it is. We leave
by example. Look at verse 3 again in my text. over God's heritage, but being
examples to the flock. These elders and leaders, preachers,
are examples in doctrine and dedication to the word of God
and the gospel, to the Church. They're examples in honesty and
integrity. They're examples in love and
kindness. They're examples in faithfulness
and friendliness. hospitality. They are examples
in charity and in generosity, but in all things, they're examples. That's how they lead, by example. And he said in verse 4, and I'll
move quickly, and when the chief shepherd, who is that, the chief
shepherd? Well, it's the one who said,
I'm the good shepherd. I lay down my life for the sheep. It's the great shepherd. You
know, really and truly, elders are not shepherds. They're under-shepherds. We're shepherds. Yes, we are.
But we're under-shepherds. Christ is the chief shepherd.
He's the good shepherd. He's the great shepherd. And
when he shall appear, when he shall appear, you, pastors, elders,
faithful, believers, everybody who loves Christ will receive
a crown of glory that fadeth not away." You think that's everybody? Yes, sir, I do, and Paul did,
too. Paul thought it was every believer
will receive the same crown of glory. Turn to 2 Timothy, chapter
4, and let me show you where Paul said it's every believer. Every child of God will receive
a crown of glory, called a crown of righteousness. Paul said in
2 Timothy 4, verse 6, I am now ready to be offered. I'm ready
to preach the gospel, and now, he's writing this from Rome in
prison, I'm now ready to be offered. And the time of my departure
is at hand. I fought a good fight. I finished
my ministry. I kept the faith. Henceforth
is laid up for me a crown of glory, 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." All of them.
No degrees in glory. All are made like Christ in his
image. Everybody here can say with David,
I shall be satisfied when I wait. with his likeness, and that's
high as you can get, that's as beautiful as you can get, that's
as glorious as it gets, that's as perfect as it gets, that's
as holy as it gets to be made like him. Now, verse 5, likewise
ye younger, ye younger, and this is not talking
about age particularly, it's talking about you younger in
Christ, new believers, Submit yourselves unto the elder, unto
the elders, unto the older believers. Submit yourself to the elders
and to the older believers, spiritual leaders. Follow their teaching
and their counsel. Follow the counsel of those who
are more mature in the faith. Listen to them. Submit yourself
to the elders. Yea, all of you, be subject one
to another. and be clothed with humility. Charles Spurgeon preached from
this verse of scripture, and he said some things about pride
that I jotted down, I think just especially good. Listen to this.
This is Spurgeon's, be clothed with humility, not pride, because
it says here God resisted the pride. He gives grace to the
humble. I want to be humble, don't you?
I want God to humble me. He said pride is as natural to
the flesh. It grows in the heart of every
person like weeds in a garden, like leaves on a tree. Pride
is as hard to destroy as flies and mosquitoes. If you
kill it, it revives. If you bury it, it comes forth
from the tomb. No man has more pride than the
man who thinks he has no pride. You may hunt down pride in your
life and think you've killed it, but your very exultation
and feeling of victory over pride is pride. Pride has a thousand And by perpetual
change, it escapes captivity and destruction. Pride is found
in the poor and in the pure and in the present. Pride is found
in the old and the middle-aged and the young. Pride is found
in the rich and the poor. Pride is found in the educated
and the ignorant. Pride is found in the unbeliever
and the believer. Sometimes it even grows on the
medicine that ought to kill it. Isn't that something? Sometimes it even grows on the
medicine that should kill it. That's the reason one fellow
said one time there's four kinds of pride. There's pride of race. There's pride of face. There's
pride of place. But the worst pride of all is
the pride of grace. That's what Spurgeon meant by
sometimes it grows on that medicine which ought to kill it. But how
am I going to get some humility? It says here, listen, verse 6,
humble yourself. Now how am I going to do that? Humble myself. Here's the way.
Humble yourself therefore under the mighty hand of God. You see,
it says, God resists the proud, God giveth grace to the humble.
Humble yourself under the mighty hand of God, and God will exalt
you in due time. So this thing of humility has
to do with not buying a book on how to be humble. It's a relationship with God.
It's something that's settled between me and God. Humility
before men starts with humility before God. That's where it starts. That's where it's all done. Let
me show you. I'm going to show you about four
things, and then I'll quit. Humility can only be learned in the school
of grace, taught by the Holy Spirit through the Word of God. So here's four things about humility. It says, humble yourself. So
here's four things about First of all, humility is born in seeing
God as he is. And if I see God as he is, I'm
going to see myself as I am. To stand in awe of his majesty
and holiness and power will cause me to mourn over my sins as the
cause of my unworthiness. When the Pharisee looked at the
publican, he said, I'm glad I'm not like him. But when Isaiah
looked at God, he said, I'm just like them. I'm a man of unclean
lips. I've got a lot of people of unclean
lips. It's a difference in the way you look. You're not going
to gain any humility by looking at somebody lesser than we are. We're going to have to look at
somebody that's infinitely, indescribably holier than we are. He must increase, I must decrease. Secondly, humility is not only
to disclaim any personal holiness, but humility sees that the very
best that I do is filthy rags. Humility is not only regarding
my unrighteousness, but understanding that in the sight of God even
my righteousness is unrighteousness. There are three scriptures I'll
give you to show that. I'll quote them. Psalm 39 says, verse 5, man at
his best state, his best statement is altogether vanity. Just as Christ is altogether
loving, I am at my best state in God's sight altogether vanity. Isaiah 64, you're quite familiar
with this. He says, we all, Isaiah said,
we all fade as an unclean thing. And our righteousnesses in his
sight are filthy rags. That's our righteousness. And
then the Apostle Paul, I'm afraid I won't quote this right, so
I'll read. The Apostle Paul said, over here in Romans 7, he said,
I know that in me, that is, in my flesh dwelleth no good thing. The will is present with me.
How to perform that which is good, I found not. The good that I would, I do not.
The evil I would not, that I do. I found a law that when I would
do good, evil is present with me. I believe in the law of God
after the inward man. I see another law in my members
warring against the law of my mind, bringing me into captivity
to the law of sin which is in my members, O wretched man that
I am." That's pretty clear that at our best state, in God's sight,
we're nothing. Why would I be proud? Where is
boasting then? It's excluded. Thirdly, is to ascribe all that
I am, all that I am, all that I have, all that I know, and
all that I hope to be, to the grace of God in the Lord Jesus
Christ. Turn with me to 1 Corinthians
15. 1 Corinthians 15, verse 10. This
is the Apostle Paul speaking again. In 1 Corinthians 15, verse
9, I'm the least of the apostles. I'm the least of the apostles.
I'm not even fit, qualified, to be called an apostle. I persecuted
the Church of God. But by the grace of God, I am
what I am. That's our watchword. By the grace of God, I am what
I am. And His grace, which was bestowed upon me, was not in
vain. I must confess, I labored more
abundantly than they all, but here's the key, yet not I. I labored, yet not I, but the
grace of God which was with me." Grace of God, yet not. Here's
the key. Did you know repentance is a gift of God? It's the goodness
of God that leads us to repentance. You know, faith is a gift of
God? By grace are you saved through faith, that knowledge it says,
it's the gift of God. You know perseverance is the
gift of God? We're kept by the power of God. Kept by the, I tell you it's
all grace. Now how could we be lifted up
above anything or anybody? Well we are what we are by the
grace of God. Here's the last one, humility. is a willingness
to receive rebuke and instructions graciously, to receive the preached
word graciously. Somebody said one time, there
are not very many Nathans who have the courage to say, Thou
art the man. There are not many Nathans who
have the courage to say, Thou art the man. And even fewer Davids who will
receive the rebuke and say, I'm sorry, I've sinned. You see what he's saying? There
are very few Nathans that have the courage to tell people the
truth. But there are very few Davids
who will receive it. I'm the man, I've sinned against
God. Is there any hope for me? See, this is an age of super-sensitive
people, super-sensitive people, young and old. They must be pampered, doppered to, coddled, recognized. Don't ever correct them, not
even your children. Don't correct them. They'll be
offended. And they might run away from
home. They might leave. My quick church, don't offend
them. But you know what I find? Actually,
I find it's impossible to read the Word of God and not be rebuked. Can you read the Word of God
and not be rebuked? In some way, now, some way, somewhere
in your whole being, you're not, it judges you, doesn't it? Rebukes
you, but at the same time it teaches you. I've never read
the scripture that didn't rebuke me, and yet at the same time
teach me. It's impossible to read the Word
of God and not be corrected, and at the same time comforted.
That's what the Word of God does. It corrects, but it comforts.
It's impossible to read the Word of God and not be stripped, stripped
of your pride, stripped of your arrogance, stripped of your rebellion,
stripped of your ingratitude. And at the same time feel his
robe of righteousness put upon you. At the same time. It's impossible to preach the
word of God or read the word of God without being brought
down in the dust and at the same time lifted up. That's right. And a man can't
preach to people. if he's not willing to cut, and
rebuke, and reprove, and exhort, and comfort, and encourage. That's what the Word of God does.
It rebukes me, and it teaches me. It corrects me, and it comforts
me. It strips me, and it clothes me. It brings me down because
I'm not going to ever be lifted up till I am brought down." Humble
yourselves unto the mighty hand of God, and in due time he will
exalt you. And cast your care upon him,
he cares for you.