Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, so that the proper time He may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on Him because He cares for you. Be sober-minded, be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. After you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. To Him be the dominion forever and ever.
Amen. This is God's Word.
Last week, Peter told us that God opposes the proud, but He gives grace to the humble. Obviously, pride is a big deal in God's eyes, and it's a big deal in our lives. Pride is the sin lying behind all prides, all sins, sorry. Pride is the sin that lies behind all sins. And pride is the reason why the devil was kicked out of heaven.
Jesus says in Luke chapter 10, verse 18, I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. What is pride? Pride is me first.
There's your working definition of pride, me first. And we subtly do this and demonstrate it in our language every day. You may have not caught yourself doing this recently. But when you say, me and my wife, me and my child, stop. It's not proper English, number one. Miss Hankel will tell you so. It's not proper English, so stop me, say me first, that's the other person. But the only time that someone can say me first is God. And God does this in His covenants. Genesis chapter 9 and 17, God says, I will establish my covenant between me and you. That's the only time when someone can say me first, because God is the supreme being.
God alone has a seity. He exists in and of himself. He is not contingent upon anyone. He did not have to go to sleep last night like you so you could be ready for church today. He did not have to wake up to eat any food. He did not have to drink anything. God needs nothing, zero. And he can say me first, but we can never say me first because that's pride.
Peter understood the power of pride. He was a little bit of a proud man. He was intoxicated with pride. When all people were deserting Jesus, leaving Him, he says in Mark chapter 14, verse 29, even though they all fall away, I will not. We know the other end of the story, don't we? He says, I'll never leave you. And then he denies Jesus three times and says, I did not know Him.
Pride swells up. And pride works in two different directions. I hope you understand this. Superiority and inferiority. Superiority, oh, I'm the best, I'm the greatest. Inferiority, I'm just not that great. It's still pride. It's still self-focus, either direction. So it's not humility to just act inferior toward everybody.
Now, you need to hear that because many of us try to say, oh, I'm going to humble myself. I'm just going to go into an inferior position, a posture. And that's having no confidence in Christ either. It's just focusing on self. So pride is me first. And pride is narcissism. It's humble brag.
We just read that pride, basically, is crouching at your door. Sin. Crouching at your door, its desire is to rule over you. It is sneaky. But how do we humble ourselves? Well, you can't just focus on humility because that's just pride again.
Last week, he said, clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another. Remember, in the context there was you tie on a white scarlet onto your outfit to identify the fact that you were a slave. And what Peter said last week was that Christians should have the humility scarf on them so that others can identify them. Are you walking in humility? Do you love God and love people supremely?
Jesus did this. Most notably, he did this. Paul talks about it in Philippians chapter 2. He was equal with God, but he did not grasp.
And he lowered himself. He made himself a little lower than the angels. He put God's will first, and then he sought to serve us. This is an outward focus, not focused on self. And the gospel of Jesus Christ is the only thing that can help us to walk in humility.
There's no other religion, there are no other principles, no other form of thought on the face of the earth that can help you walk in humility except for the gospel of Jesus Christ. Because Jesus says, I am the vine, you are the branches, whoever bides in me, and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit. You see, in Christ, we can bear much fruit. But then he says, apart from me, you can do what? Nothing.
Puts us right back in our place, doesn't it? And the gospel of Jesus Christ is the only thing that can say, you can bear much fruit. I can do all things through him who strengthens me, and yet, apart from him, I can do nothing.
Again, we can't check our brains out as Christians. We cannot fall to one side or the other. How many of you have been told repeatedly that you're nothing more than a worm? The gospel of Jesus Christ says I'm nothing more than a worm. I'm terrible, I'm horrible, I'm just a worm. Okay, well, you're corrupted by sin, you only got half of the gospel. Because the other half of the gospel says, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
It keeps you humble because you have to realize it's not about you, it's about Christ. And the only way that you're going to be able to complete anything in this life is through Jesus Christ and him alone. When we try to do anything outside of Christ, well, you will have no blessing on the work of your hands. I want us to see two things from this passage this morning. And the first thing I want you to see is what we can do.
This is what he starts with. He says something about us, what we can do, what we need to be doing. And number two is what God does. So number one, let's take a look at what we can do. Go back to the text, take a look at verses six through nine. He says, humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, so at the proper time he may exalt you. Casting all your anxieties on him because he cares for you. Stop there. What can we do? Well, first he says, humble yourselves. And that word humble means to bring yourself into a low condition. How do you humble yourself?
Well, Jesus said it this way in Matthew chapter 18 verse 4. He says, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Really to be humble is to have a new identity. And the identity is that you're a child. Now there are children in here. And the children in here rely upon their parents. They trust their parents. They understand that they don't have a full time job. They don't pay the mortgage. They don't have their own car. They can't most times pay for their own food, even though some of you in here can do that. I know my son's back there. He's got a job. He pays for his own food. When he goes out to eat, we're not totally cruel. We let him have the food in the house. He eats a lot of it. But a new identity.
Do you have this identity that God is your father and that you're his child, that you're totally reliant upon him? This is a good identity. It's a great identity. I mean, we all remember what it was like to be a child, to have a father, to rely upon your father because if dad doesn't go to work, money doesn't come in the house, we don't have anything to eat. God is our father. He has to supply. Some of us freak out when things are rocky in this life. We have to trust him. And the only way to do this is to get a new identity and embrace the fact that you're a child, a child of God. Now, I know some of you are like, that is so sophomoric, so belittling. No, it's an honor. It's an honor to know that he created me. He sustains me. He will provide for me. And all he does is say, trust me. Trust me, I've got you. I'm your dad. I care for you. This is why we hear the word Abba, father. He is our father. And so number one, you want to humble yourself, get a new identity. That you're a child, that you're no longer an adult, that you're not autonomous, that you're not self aggrandizing. You now have to say, he's my dad. I'm his child, and second way you can humble yourself is to serve. That's what the Lord Jesus Christ says in Matthew chapter 23, verses 11 and 12. He says, the greatest among you shall be your servant. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted. What's he saying? Serve.
I have been a part of enough churches and leadership to see that there are so many men who want the office of elder, but they never want the operation of an elder. They would love to say, look at me, I have a title. I sit in the high places and I make decisions. And all of those poor peasants in the church have to follow what I say. It's completely the opposite of what Jesus did. Jesus served. So fulfill the operation before you think you have an office. And that's one way we can humble ourselves is to stoop down and to even clean toilets at the church. Now, we don't have a church building. They have people who clean the toilets for us. But as an example, I know someone in here who cleans toilets at a church and doesn't get paid.
That's leadership. Nobody sees you scrubbing a toilet. Nobody sees you early in the morning setting up these chairs. But humble yourself under the mighty hand of God, so the proper time, he may exalt you. So that's one way we can humble ourselves.
In short, we have to submit, we gotta fall into rank underneath God.
John the Baptizer has the most profound words. It's one of my daughter's Bible verses. John 3.30, John says, he must increase, I must decrease. It's not me first, it's the first. It's on the way to humble ourselves. What else can we do to humble ourselves? Well, secondly, Peter is talking to Christians in the first century that are being persecuted, just like Paul Biak and our brothers and sisters across the world. And he says to them, cast all your anxieties upon him because he cares for you. What is anxiety? Well, the Greek word means to have a split mind, a split personality.
Anxiety comes from fear, and fear derives from being a coward or a lack of courage. Anxiety is a form of pride. How many of you deal with anxiety? I'll be the first to raise my hand. You ever try to lead a church before? Ugh, it's awful. You make a decision, somebody's gonna complain. You don't make a decision, somebody's gonna complain. But how many of you are dealing with anxiety today? Anxiety is sin. Because what is anxiety? It's saying, God, I don't know if you're gonna get it right. I'm questioning you, God. I'm not really sure that you really do have all power and all authority.
Is God omniscient? Does God know all things? Yes. Is God omnipotent? Does he have all power? Yes. Do you know what gives me anxiety? It's the same thing that gave Paul anxiety. He said he has anxiety over the churches. I'm thinking, we need a building. We've gotta get a building. And then I'm reminded through a conversation with my oldest son last Sunday. We're having a discussion about the fact that God is omniscient. He knows all things. And yet he's omnipotent. He has all power. Could God give us a church building today? Absolutely. He has that power. He has that authority. But yet in his omniscience, knowing all things, and perfectly knowing all things, he says, not yet.
What does that mean for us? Cuz if that's just an exercise in theology, then it's just an exercise in futility. What is that telling us? Trust your Father. He's got it. That's what they're saying here in this passage. Peter says, cast all your anxieties upon him. Stop sinning. You're sinning because you don't trust him. And anything you're having trouble with, cast it on him. Give it to him. Say, God, I can't figure this out. I need you to take it, because you're the only one who can carry these burdens. And it says here, he cares for you. Isn't that amazing? He cares for you. What happens when you start to cast your heaviest burdens, your biggest anxieties upon the Lord? Well, you'll no longer be a coward either. You won't worry about what man always has to say about what God says.
To be a Christian is to walk in a counter-cultural way. It's not walking with the crowd. It's usually a contrarian, walking against the crowd.
Revelation 2, 21, 8 says this, says, but as for the cowardly, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death. A coward is someone who does not look to Christ for all his needs, who does not trust Christ for everything that he might need for him, for his family, for his extended family. He looks to himself and his earthly ways, to the gifts that maybe God has given him, but not the grace that God is willing to extend.
This is convicting, isn't it? We're all sitting in this. But that's what these first century Christians are dealing with. They're dealing with anxiety. We're being persecuted. We might die at any given moment. Someone might barge through the door and mow us down. And he says, cast all your anxieties on the Lord.
You know, Peter basically is quoting Psalm 55, 22. I said it last week. I'll say it again for just repetition purpose. Cast your burden on the Lord. He will sustain you.
Psalm 55, 22.
Cast. How many of you like to go fishing? I like fishing. My oldest son loves to go fishing. Cast. You throw your bait out there, long way, falls, start reeling it in. He's using the same metaphor here. You've got some heavy stuff on your heart. Cast it. Throw it. Get rid of it. Give it to the Lord. Because you can't handle it. You can't fix it. You've tried seven ways to Sunday. You've tried to fix it, and it hasn't worked.
And this is insanity. You trying to fix all of your problems. And I've had to learn this first and foremost. And it usually happens through times of prayer. That's why Peter is quoting the Psalmist, because the Psalmist is praying. The Psalmist says, Lord, where are you? What's going on? Why are you not here? Why are you not present? I can't see you. You're not working all things the way it's supposed to be. Why are you letting the proud be exalted and the humble are being dethroned and put low? And then in that same prayer, he realizes, cast your burdens upon the Lord. Cast. Get rid of the burdens. Get rid of the anxiety. Stop having a split personality. Really trust the Lord. Give it to him. Don't think that you can figure out the best mode.
Proverbs, one of my favorite verses. Proverbs 2410 says, if you faint in the day of adversity, your strength is small. Now, I know someone who's a very strong man. And every single one of his children, when they were born, he fainted.
Hey, man, your wife is the one who's giving birth. What is your problem? It's a big deal, isn't it? I got a little lightheaded. I was thinking, wow, this is a big moment. I need a seat. And I didn't know I needed to take a seat until the nurse said, sir, you look a little white. Have a seat. Yeah. Yeah, well, if you faint in the day of adversity, your strength is small. I have small strength. But when I'm weak, he is strong. That's what we need to be. Not, we're proud. We're doing all things right. How many of you ever been to a church where they say, we're the one who are only doing the right things? We worship the right way. Everybody else does it the wrong way. You smell like a used car salesman. No offense if you're a used car salesman in here.
But we are to humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God so the proper time he may exalt us, casting all our anxieties upon him because he cares. He's the only one who really cares the most for you. Yes, your spouse cares. Yes, your family cares, by all means. But they do not care as much as your heavenly father. He cares for you. That's what Peter's telling Christians who are being persecuted. That's what we need to be telling Paul Biak and the Christians around the world. He cares for you. Cast your anxieties upon him. He does care for you and he will sustain you. But Peter goes on and says, be sober minded, be watchful. Now, what does he mean by sober minded? Does he mean you shouldn't drink alcohol? Well, the word sober minded should remind us of the ninth fruit of the spirit, self control. Are you getting puffed up? Or you keep your eyes upon Jesus, look full in his wonderful face.
You know, Paul at the end of Philippians says to think on these things. He just enumerated all the wonderful blessings of Christ and he says, think on these things. One of the greatest ways to be sober minded is to, yes, read the scripture. Yes, remember the gospel of Jesus Christ, but in prayer. Prayer is the greatest act of submission. To go into your closet, your prayer closet and close the door when no one else is watching and say, God, I don't have it figured out. I cannot make it happen. I need your help, yours alone. And I submit to you. And that's actually being sober minded because you're going to the only one who has all power, all authority, all knowledge and who is everywhere, who is eternal, who never starts and never finishes. He goes on and says, be watchful.
Jesus said in Matthew chapter 24 verse 42, therefore, stay awake for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. Be on guard. Be watchful. Why? Why should we be watchful? Why is Peter telling first century Christians that they should be watchful? Why should we be watchful today?
We'll go back to the text. He says, your adversary, the devil prowls around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour. We have an opponent and his secret weapon is to play on our pride. He is the liar. He lied to the woman in the garden. Did God actually say he likes to ask questions to confuse you? And then he outright provokes your pride.
He is a roaring lion. You know the difference between a roaring lion and a cheetah? There's a difference. The cheetah is a dainty eater. He will eat the meat off the bone. But a lion not only eats the meat, he eats the bone and the bone marrow because the bone marrow is the delicacy. He doesn't just eat a little. He eats all the way through. He is your adversary, the one who comes against us, and he uses fear to mess with our pride and lead us off the path from trusting the Lord.
Now, we're seeing this and have been seeing this for the last few years. Fear, fear is a tactic. The fear could be used by the society, which we're seeing every single day. If you turn on the news, fear. World's coming to an end. World's been coming to an end for thousands of years. Take a deep breath.
Fear. You need to do this or you'll miss out. Fear. Fear is even used in the church, by the way. Sinfully used in the church. Fear is not a fruit of the Spirit. Fear has no place in the heart of the Christian. Why? Because we have hope, and hope counters fear.
It steps on the head of fear. Hope. And Peter started this letter with a living hope from the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. We have the ultimate hope. We don't have to play along with the fear-based mongering that you see everywhere in this society in which we live. Fear. Fear will cause you to do some less than wise things.
So how do we combat against the adversary, the devil, who prowls around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour? How do we stop him? What can we do? Well, if you go back to the text, it says, resist him. Firm in your faith. Again, not fear, but faith and a hope, a living hope. Exodus chapter 14, Moses said to the people, fear not, stand firm, see the salvation of the Lord. He will work for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again.
The Lord will fight for you and you only have to be silent. Resist him. Firm in your faith. When Paul is talking about the adversary, the devil, he says, finally, be strong in the Lord and the strength of his might, the Lord Jesus Christ, put on the whole armor of God so you can withstand the schemes of the what?
It's okay. I was raised Pentecostal. You can say it. The devil. How about it? And I know. So we've been trained in Presbyterian churches. You can't talk, but you do reading a response. I'm confused by this.
Nevertheless, the devil.
James says in James four, seven, submit yourselves, therefore, to God. Fall in rank, resist the devil, and he will flee from you because of sin. Again, we go to one side of the other. It's just all devil. He's behind everything. You got that flat tire this morning because of the devil. He was trying to stop you to get from church. Probably not. You just ran over a nail. So it's not everything's the devil.
And yet then there's the other end of the spectrum where there's no devil at all. That's just a guy with horns and that's Halloween costume. That's funny. No, he's real. I mean, I've actually had Christians say God is love. God is great. And then you say, well, what about the devil? I don't believe in the devil. Really? Because the Bible says there's a devil. You just heard three texts say that there's a devil. I saw Satan fall from heaven.
Resist the devil. He is your adversary. He's a prowling lion. He's ferocious. He's the greatest anthropologist of all time. He's been watching humans from the very beginning. He knows our behavior and he knows how to subtly get us because of pride.
Our pride. And here, Peter says to humble yourself under the mighty hand of God.
So the proper time he may exalt you. Now, how else can we humble ourselves? How else can we resist the devil? Well, you're doing it this morning. Right now, by being in community with other believers. You know, I know men who tell me they're Christians and yet they never go to church because, well, this church, they just do this and that church does this. Yeah, there's no perfect church. And if you come to this church, you're going to screw it up, too. I'm here. I screwed it up this morning already. I'm a sinner. This is not a perfect church. There are no perfect churches. But the Bible tells us to get into the body, be a part of a body, get engaged with the body. You can't be the long ranger. And that's exactly what Peter says from the text to first century Christians. Go back to the text. He says, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. You're not alone. You don't need to be alone. If our God is a God of three and one who is in community from all time and he makes us in his image, then we, too, need to be in community with other believers.
Are you in community, not only coming to church on Sunday, on the Lord's Day to worship, but also through the week in Bible studies with other believers, having discussions about the Lord because it's inside the church and with other believers that we engage in the gospel enterprise.
Number one, for our own hearts, because we are sinful and we forget the good news, and most notably because we listen to the bad news on TV way more than we hear the good news of Jesus Christ. We need to be here on the Lord's Day. We need to worship him in community. And he promises to meet with us. Has the Lord already spoken to you this morning some way, somehow, even through a donkey who's standing behind this microphone? Has he spoken to you? Is there something he's saying to you? It happens when we come together on the Lord's Day. And here he says to them, you're not alone, you Christians in Asia Minor, because the Christians throughout the world are being persecuted. Know that they are gathering right now. There are churches that are gathering across the globe on the other side of the world right now doing the exact same thing, opening God's Word, reading God's Word, praying God's Word, singing praises to our God. And God takes the ordinary means of grace, Word, prayer, sacrament, nothing spectacular about it at all to the human eye, takes those three things and does something so extraordinary in our hearts and minds, and he does it week in and week out as we continue to meet on the Lord's Day and throughout the week in Bible study, because his Word will not return what? You're getting better at this. I like it. So humble yourselves. That's what we can do. You're a child, serve, get in community. Don't think that you have it all figured out, but what's God going to do? If we begin to take that posture, what will God do? Well, let's go back to the text and look at verses 10 and 11. He says, and after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you to him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen. If you humble yourself under the mighty hand of God, what will he do? Well, first, you'll need to be patient. Seems like a reoccurring theme of this church, doesn't it?
What's the fourth fruit of the Spirit? Patience. He says here, after you have suffered a little while, underline that, a little while. How long do these Christians suffer? Well, Christianity did not get on top until the third, fourth century. They're in the first century. Anybody do the math? It's a long time. Not just a little while, not just on our timetable. Sometimes it takes a while. God's working all things together for his eternal decree and glory. So humble yourself because it could take a while. Be patient.
Oh, you remember the sermon on James, James chapter 5, verses 7 through 8. James says, be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. Has the Lord come back yet? No. If he has, we have bad theology. It's called a rapture. We can talk about that later.
No, be patient until the coming of the Lord. We're still asked to be patient right now. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it until it receives the early and the late rains. You also be patient. God says, be patient. I'm working a great plan that you cannot see.
What's God going to do as we are suffering for a little while, as we're being patient? Well, here it says, the God of all grace who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ. Who is he? The God of all grace.
Peter knew about this, didn't he? He knew how God was so gracious. Peter denies Jesus three times. He goes out and weeps bitterly. And then they crucify Jesus. They bury Jesus.
Jesus rose from the grave. And as they're walking on the beach that morning, and he says, do you love me? Feed my sheep, feed my lambs. Three times, which counters the three times that Peter had denied Jesus.
Peter understood that we have a God of all grace. Maybe you have denied Christ. Maybe you have practically been denying Christ in your life. You're a Christian, but you have not trusted him for whatever it is on your heart, your soul, your mind, whatever is on your back right now, weighing you down. You have to carry that burden for a while until you remember he's the God of all grace. And Peter understood how Jesus is a God of all grace. God who will forgive. A God who will do some other things. What else will he do? Go back to the text. He will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.
God is our refuge and strength, a very help in a time of trouble. He'll strengthen you. He'll restore you. He'll confirm you. He'll establish you. It's what he does. We're called to be patient, to humble ourselves under his mighty hand.
Where should this lead us? Where does it lead Peter? Go back to the text. Look at verse 11. To him be the dominion forever and ever.
Amen. That's grace.
A God in Christ who was raised from the dead, who ascended, who sees the right hand of God, the Father, who indeed right now is ruling and reigning, who is in his heavenly session, who has given us his Holy Spirit to lead us and to guide us. And Isaiah 14, 27 says, For the Lord of hosts has purpose, and who will annul it? Therefore, humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, so at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties upon him because he cares for you. But what blocks God's grace? Our pride. Pride is anti-grace. Humility is being satisfied with what God is doing in Jesus Christ, even in our day, in our lives. And the only way we can begin to humble ourselves is to look at the one who humbled himself. He was so humble that he said his soul was sorrowful to death.
Your will be done, not my will. This is a second member of the Trinity. Who had everything, and yet he humbled himself by taking the form of a servant. And that's why Jesus can say, For my yoke is easy, my burden is light, because on the cross he took the burden. He took the greatest burden for you and for me. So we don't have to carry those burdens anymore. And we can go to him knowing that his yoke, which was a large, heavy object around the beast's neck. Well, his yoke is easy. And my burden is light.
Do you know what that means today? It means that Jesus was crushed under the ultimate burden so that we don't have to be crushed. And he gave us his Holy Spirit. And maybe today you need to ask the Holy Spirit how to apply this to your heart and your mind today in your situation, because maybe you have a split personality today. I believe God, I trust God. Oh, I don't think this is all going to work out. This is horrible. I got to figure out a way I got to do.
Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God. So that at the proper time, not your time, not my time, his time. At the proper time, he may exalt you. But you've got to cast all your anxieties upon him. Why? Because he cares for you.
Let's pray.