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Good. Alright. We'll sing them in. How about that? We'll sing em in from the vestibule.
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Would y'all stand with me? And Imma invite Scott to come on up forward since he's in town this weekend. And That's interesting. Here you go. Hymn number 43.
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All hail the power Amen. Don't you just love that song? That is so much. Great song. Yeah, I love it.
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Leaning on the everlasting arms. Hymn number five seventy five. Amen. Y'all can have a seat. Few announcements.
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We are still meeting and we are still eating every Monday night. This week, Samantha Compton is making the meal and Carl is preaching. Carl's preaching on what? Faith and deeds. The relationship between faith and deeds in James two.
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That's going be a good time. Meal, music, and a message, 06:00 on Monday nights. It happens at the same time that Awana happens. Awana starts out in this room, 05:45 to six right in there and bring in the kids and if you want to walk on down to Monday nights, it's going be a good message, good meal. Kids matter to God.
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So, we are pouring his word into their minds and they're memorizing scripture and a lot of it actually and that gets to our hearts. It's a deep well that the Holy Spirit has to draw out of at the right time. Oh my goodness. As weird as it is to get together at 06:00 in the morning, every Wednesday, I think that picture is a little weirder but men's fraternity happens 06:00 in the morning every Wednesday. It is out of this world.
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Alright. Sorry. November 8 was this past week where we had a packing party for the Operation Christmas Child boxes. The boxes that you took that were empty, those are due back by November 18. We're gonna take them over to the Regional Center in Idaho Falls on the eighteenth.
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So, or they need to be back here by the eighteenth so we can take them over. That is Operation Christmas Child. Y'all know what that is, right? Yes. Okay.
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I won't elaborate. You all know what it is. It's a great great ministry. Tanya took a couple of folks this week to go and buy things for those boxes and it's just great. It is better to give than to receive.
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This is a great it's organized through Samaritan's Purse. If you would look at your bulletins, there's a lot of information about Bible studies that are happening, times, dates. Also, if you're on for frontline team for the next two or three weeks, you will, it'll have a reminder in there so you can remember that and on the front cover this week, there's a poem that was written by Joan DeMar. So, Joni and Jean come in on Fridays. It has been the normal custom for a long time now.
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Since I've been here, the Jean and Joni come in and they fold these bulletins And the other night I was visiting Joan. She's in the hospital right now. She has a torn muscle that's torn away from the bone. It is not good. It's a hard, hard situation, and those of us who are who are church folk from here know Joni and we know that she struggles to walk and she struggles to balance and with a broken or torn muscle, it's just really, really difficult.
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She's in a tremendous amount of pain and so I'm going stop right here. We can announce all we announce and that's great but can we pray for her? Would you all all pray specifically right now for Joni? God, we thank you for our sister, Joni and we know that she's struggling. We know that she does not complain about pain.
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She almost never mentions it and her life has been full of pain and lord, I pray that she would be comforted by you with a peace that passes all understanding that her comprehension of her situation right now would not be one of dread or fear or doom. Lord, but it would be encouraging that she would find inexpressible joy and on the front of the bulletin, that poem touched my heart this week and I wanted everybody else to be able to read it. Would you remind us to care for our brothers and sisters who are hurting? And lord, I pray that as she is in the hospital this she would feel your presence and our support and our prayers and our love. In Jesus name, lord, we thank you for joining and for Jean and we pray that you'd bless them both lord with good health and with recovery from this.
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In Jesus name, lord, would you take them? Amen. And I think, oh, there's Veterans Day. Veterans Day is tomorrow and I would like for, in this service, I don't know how many we have here who have served, but would you all stand? If you've served in the military, would you stand, please?
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Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for serving. I mentioned from time to time that my dad served in Vietnam and though he did not sign up for this deal, he did when called upon Go. And he he mentions that a lot and he's got lifelong friends.
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They just got back from a reunion last couple weeks ago and that bond and that friendship that they made in the interest in the service of their country is something that's lifelong. I'm thankful for y'all and I appreciate you doing what you've done. So, that's our for all of our veterans. I know Memorial Day, we're remembering those who have passed but there are a lot of things that hang with you for the rest of your life if you're a veteran. Thank you for doing.
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If there are other announcements or other things that need to happen, they should be in the bulletin. If you didn't get one, get one and look at that poem. I love Johnny's poems already but I think that that one on the front is just beautiful and I think that we all it would help us all if we could kind of live that poem out. I think it's very very good and it'll remind us to pray for Jones. Thank you.
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Is there anything else that I've forgotten to announce? Nope. Would y'all stand and greet one another and I will, Judy and I and Scott, we'll call you back together with a song. Hymn number 504. Worshipful song here.
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Great worship song. Thank you. Alright. Amazing grace. Hymn number three forty three.
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It is amazing. Amen. Y'all can have a seat. Imma invite the frontline team to come forward. So, would y'all pray with me while we have them come forward for the offering.
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Lord, I thank you for what you have been doing, lord. In between Sundays, that you are always, always, always active. You show yourself to be active in the way that we love one another. You show yourself to be active in the way that we obey your word. God, I pray that you would take these offerings and that you would or multiply them to do your kingdom's work.
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I pray that you'd use humble and obedient servants, givers, that would give of their time and of their best strengths and resources that they would give all. Lord, of themselves to you but these resources financially that go into these plates, lord, I pray that you do your will and your way, not just here in Jackson but also the whole state of Wyoming that you would go beyond that state to this nation and to the uttermost parts, the ends of the earth. Would you effect a change, lord? Would you bring change and transformation by your good gospel? Good news that Jesus lived a perfect life, had no sin account on his account, and was able to turn that over at the cross sacrificially and give that perfect record to anyone who would receive it.
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In Jesus name, may the gospel ever be on our lips and in our minds and may it consume us. In Jesus name, for his sake and his great cause, we pray that you'd use these offerings. Amen. Amen. Thank you, Judy and Sue.
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We are up to first Peter five six through 11 in our study this week and this message, so last week's message was a very hard one to deliver and I was presenting it. It's to elders. Peter writes to the the elders as a fellow elder and instead of walking around as much as I usually do for one thing, there was only one screen to look at. So, I stayed right here and looked that way most of the time but it was just a hard one to deliver. This week actually is I think freeing in a lot of ways.
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Last week was kind of pointing out some things and we'll get to it but first Peter six through 11 starts off with a therefore and it goes back to what I said last week and actually last week starts with a therefore too which goes back. First Peter, as far as a cohesive book, the themes of suffering unjustly and eventual vindication and exaltation by God are that is the theme of the book of first Peter and we keep getting that over and over but it's in different little facets, different ways. When he says here, therefore, humble yourselves but therefore is based on what went before. But humble yourselves is a command. It's an imperative.
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So I'm a grammar word nerd, you know, grammar guy. Imperatives mean their commands. So we are commanded to humble ourselves. That's something that you do and you you can do, I should say. You can humble yourself.
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Now, if you don't humble yourself, you can also be humbled. Actually, maybe it's better put. You can be humiliated. If you don't humble yourself, then, God resist the proud, gives grace to the humble. Actually, let me go back and read those few verses that we went through last week.
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Therefore, humble yourselves as a command and it is possible. You can do this. In fact, your expectation, this is God's word. He is saying, humble yourselves but it's based on this. Therefore, I exhort the elders who are among you as your fellow elder and as a witness of the sufferings of Christ.
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So, the great apostle Peter, yes, he was Peter but he saw himself in the role of leadership under God's authority. He saw himself as a fellow elder. Therefore, I exhort the elders who are among you, those who would lead and last week, I said, I'm going to extend this to all of you who are leading in whatever way that you are leading. This is a good pattern for how you should be leading. So, therefore, I exalt you, I I exhort you, encourage you towards the right to the elders among you as your fellow elder.
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That's a humble statement by Peter. And as a witness of the sufferings of Christ, he was a witness physically to the sufferings of Christ. He saw how he was mistreated. He saw the passion. He saw crucifixion.
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He had seen the resurrection by this point too but he was a witness of the sufferings of Christ. Eyewitness whereas most of the people in the far flung reaches of the Roman Empire, this letter was written to, would not have seen Jesus. So, he says, I'm a fellow elder and I'm a witness of the suffering of Christ and I'm also a partaker of the glory that is to be revealed. He's looking forward to what he called in the first chapter, an incorruptible hope. This is something that absolutely certainly will come to pass eternity in heaven with God.
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I'm a partaker, a witness, an elder, and then he has the one command that we have from last week is shepherd. Shepherd, be tending the sheep. Shepherd, the flock of God that are among you, exercising oversight but not under compulsion but voluntarily according to the will of God. So, according to God's will, you are to be doing it of your own volition, aligning your will or yielding your will to God's will and not for sordid gain but with eagerness nor yet as lording it over those who are allotted to your charge. It's not a position of power.
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It is a position of service to others but proving to be examples to the flock and when the chief shepherd appears, this is when Jesus appears. You will receive an unfading crown of glory. That's the that's the incorruptible hope right there that we are suffering for a little while. He says a couple of different times throughout this book and in our suffering, when the chief shepherd appears, we'll receive an unfading crown of glory. He does have some instruction for those not just for those who are leading or being elders but for those also who should be following.
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So, you're either deliver or to follow but not resist. You, younger man, likewise, be subject to your elders and all of y'all, all y'all clothe yourself with humility toward one another. For God is opposed to the proud but gives grace to the humble. Therefore, humble yourselves, okay? Now, do you believe that God is almighty?
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Everybody, yes or no, right? Yes or no? Do you believe God is almighty? Yes. He says at least three times, once in Psalms, once in James, once in Peter that God is opposed to the proud or he resist the proud but he gives grace to the humble.
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He is almighty God. Do you want almighty God against you? Therefore, humble yourselves. It's possible. It's an imperative.
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Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God so that he may exalt you at the proper time. Peter's made example case after case of the suffering servant Jesus suffered but now he is glorified, seated at the right hand of the father, interceding for you. That he may exalt you at the proper time. Time there is not just chronological time but Kairos time at the appropriate moment and it's very hard for us to tell what the appropriate moment is but God knows the appropriate moment. Therefore, humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God that he may exalt you at the proper time.
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Jesus went to great lengths. Philippians two says that he humbled himself. He humbled himself unto obedience and obedience even to death and death even on a cross and therefore, God has exalted him so that his name is above every other name. In the name of Jesus, every knee should bow and every tongue confess that he to the glory of the law of God the father that Christ Jesus is lord and then, Peter, having heard that, having known that, he says, humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God. Imitate your master, Jesus and God will exalt.
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That he may exalt you in the proper time. Now, casting is the next word we see. Casting all your anxiety on him. Now, humble yourselves is an imperative casting. Word nerd is a participle.
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This participle is based on humbling yourselves. Humble yourselves, casting. This is the way in which you humble yourself. Casting all of your anxiety on him. Why?
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Because he because he cares for you. Are you anxious? Is there anything in your life right now that you're anxious about or filled with some sort of anxiety about it? Maybe a new decision to follow after God, to follow after the good, to seek to distance yourself from your past and your sin and it's causing you great anxiety and fear. Casting all of that on who?
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Capital H him. That's Jesus. Jesus because he cares for you. He is almighty God. He's seated at the right hand of the father and he is interceding for you to think that Jesus, thee, Jesus, the only one, God man, is attentive and that he does care for you.
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There's nothing going on in your life that God does not know about. Casting all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. Now, the word casting how do you, how do we use it? This came to me this week as I'm studying this passage and been studying it for a couple of weeks. I almost tried to put this last week and this week together into one sermon.
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They just wouldn't fit. How long should a sermon be, right? Long enough to do. Long enough to do honor to God's word and short enough to do honor to God's people. The word cast as I was riding in on Tuesday, I saw a lot of people standing on the side of the road and they had signs, placards, and signs that said, vote yes or vote no.
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Vote for this person or vote for that person and I thought, all of these people are doing something. They are casting a vote today. You know, that's what the hope is that people would cast a vote, to cast a vote. In the Old Testament, we saw when they had a decision that could've gone either way, you know, the rabbis are going, well, it could be like this but then again, it could be this. We got a choice between these two.
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We don't really know which way to go. They cast lots. It's normal in pagan cultures flipping a coin at the beginning of a football game is a form of casting a lot. You flip it, and then do you touch it after you flip it? No.
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If you do, it's a miss it doesn't count, right? So you cast lots. You cast a boat. It's Jackson Hole. There are plenty of fishermen here.
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You cast a line. Right? And so when you cast a line, you throw it out there. And a good cast, you throw it and it gets right where you want it to be and sits there and it comes on down. Now, this messes with my analogy just a little bit but I want to show I know something about fly fishing.
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What do you have to do after you have cast the line? You you mend it, right? Now, that, it doesn't really fit with my analogy very well but casting the line is throwing it out there. When you mending it, you're trying to fix how it is and I think that a lot of us actually, once we cast our cares on God, we're trying to mend them all the time and trying to monkey with it. Don't monkey with it.
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Don't be mending your line. It's good for fly fishing. It's not good in this context. Cast a boat. You cast lots.
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You cast the line. If someone is cast away, a castaway is someone who's been shipwrecked and it now is still alive but they are cast completely away, thrown away from society. It's the way we use this word in English. When you say the die has been cast, what does that mean? There is nothing that can be done about it now.
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The the die has been cast and when it goes out there, it lands where it lands and there's nothing that we can do about it now. If you try to manipulate our monkey with it, then it doesn't count. Right? It's not the same thing. The die has not been cast but once the die has been cast, it has.
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Now, biblically, you might think of the passage to cast your bread upon the waters and it will return to you in many days. It is throw that out there. Now, that one does follow with and it will return to you after many days. Like, he's saying, give generously. It'll come back to you.
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Might not be immediate, might not be right away and then Jesus said to the Pharisees, same word here, let him who is without sin, cast the first stone, throw it. Now, the word is Epi Ripto and Epi Ripto means to throw upon or to place upon, to throw but to throw it, to, it's like a projectile, the vulgate, Latin vulgate translation is progicetic which is a progicare which is to throw away or throw off. In this context, it means to cast upon, to throw it, to give it up to God and I know some people. I know one person in particular that she said years ago, she said, I know I'm supposed to put it in the big, mighty hands of God but I don't know how to do that. You can say it and it's easy for you to say like, give it up to God.
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Just give it up to God. Cast your cares upon him. It sounds so simple, sounds so easy but I can't do it. I'm having a real hard time doing that. I don't know how.
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Cast upon or give it up to God. Also, if you're reading Homer's Odyssey, I started rereading Homer's Odyssey this week with some folks and he uses this word in the fifth book three ten and it is about Poseidon, you know, God be God, Poseidon that hurled him, picked him up, and threw him and it is that. It's casting it off. Something that is on you, you can throw it off. Now, I wanna mention the voting again.
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So if you go and you cast your vote, you might stand by the side of the road with a sign or you might campaign for someone but really in an election as far as you can do anything about it, casting your vote and once you've put it in there, our system says, once you've cast your vote, one one person, one vote, right? You can't do anything else about it except for that. But if you don't do that, you haven't been a part of the process at all. Does that make sense? No matter how much you campaign or anything else, cast your vote.
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You take your responsibility and you cast it. You do what you can with it. So when he says, cast your cares or casting your cares, that's a participle. It's a good translation. Participle.
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Casting your cares. Humble yourself by casting your anxieties on him. If you think you're big and bad and you're able to handle it on your own, you are heading for pride and heading for a fall because God resists the proud but he gives grace to the humble. Humble recognition that we are not able is a really really good place to be and to stay. If you examine any 12 step program, recognizing you have a problem is the first step.
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I have a problem that I'm powerless over on my own. Second step is, but there is a higher power. Amen. Third step is and I'm going to submit to that higher power as I understand and that's a statement of humility too, right? What's interesting about this word casting, now that you know kind of the throw it off meaning of it, technically, the grammar of it is having cast like you already did this.
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At the moment when you trusted in Christ, you had hit a point in your life where you realized whether it was at 10 or 11 years old or at 30 or 40 years old or on your deathbed, you know, you realize that you couldn't and God could and I'm going to trust him. That's the third step right there is having cast my anxiety and my problem on him. Trust him that he is the one that can empower me to do rightly from here forward. Having cast all of your anxiety on him and why? Because he cares for you.
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He's seated at the right hand of the father interceding for you. So, that's five, six, and seven. Humble yourself. That's the imperative and then up in verse eight, we start off this. Be of sober spirit.
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So, be of sober spirit. You see that the word is italicized there. That word has been added in the New American Standard Version of the Bible. The the Greek word says be sober. It is an imperative.
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Be of sober spirit. Now, this is up under the imperative of command of humble yourself, cast in your cares upon him, be sober or be of sober spirit. That's a good translation. I'm going get through about five or six translations of this. Be of sober spirit is be sober first of all.
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Be circumspect. Like have your bearings, circumspect. Think about that which it is that you are doing. Be vigilant, always watchful so that you don't slip into something just because you're not paying attention. Be and the technical term is exactly this, un intoxicated.
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Not under the influence of any outside thing. Be temperate. That's one of the virtues they're studying. Paschal study in this They change in each month. They do a different virtue and temperance is the one she's on this week.
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Temperance is being self controlled. Having some awareness of your limitation. Have your wits about you. That's a good translation too. Be of sober spirit.
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It is an imperative. So, that's a command from God and he does not command us to do anything. He won't empower us to be able to do. Are you with me? Humble yourselves, be of sober spirit, be on the alert.
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Now, on the alert is also an imperative. It's there for him in this passage. These are the things that you can do about your anxiety. Humble yourselves, cast in your cares, that's part of humbling yourselves. Be of sober spirit.
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Be on the alert. That means to be watchful, always vigilant, like keeping watch, keeping guard, be vigilant. In the modern vernacular, this is to stay woke. Once you have realized that you, there was something that had you've just awakened to. It's to stay that way or to keep watching, to keep watch.
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It's not to grow weary and take a nap but to keep watchful. So, be of sober spirit and be on alert. Be watchful. Now, why would you want to do that? Well, he says, cast in all your cares.
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It's part of humbling yourself, casting your cares, be sober, and be watchful. Why? Because you do have an adversary. Your adversary. Scripture calls him our enemy, our adversary, the accuser of the brethren, the father of lies, and I might mention this, it's not a biblical quotation but it's a pretty good quote anyway that the best trick that the devil ever pulled is to convince the world that he didn't exist.
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We do have an enemy and he says it specifically. Now, this word is anti decas. Anti decas is properly. It's a prosecuting attorney and so, let's just internally, you don't have to raise your hand but are you guilty? Are you guilty of sin?
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Yeah. So, a prosecuting attorney that was going to punish or seek to punish you for sin, you're guilty. You go in. The prosecutor is naming the charges. He is arguing a case at law.
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He is your opponent at law and you've broken the law. James says, if you've broken it in one area, you've broken the whole law. So, an anti decos is an accuser, an adversary, your adversary. He is the prosecutor. He brings the formal charges as they are binding to exact a penalty, okay?
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Now, someone will suffer for your sin. It will either be you or it will be will have been Jesus. Does that make sense? That's what the Christian gospel is. Someone will suffer.
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Either you will justly be condemned for your own sin or you will be mercifully forgiven by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Those are the two options. There is no other option. Your adversary and just so we're clear, Peter uses an appositive and says, the devil, the devil. Satan acts as such an adversary.
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He's like a prosecuting attorney and you're like a guilty person. Satan acts as such an adversary and he brings the lawsuit of darkness against believers for their eternal damnation. Now, if you're a believer, does Satan have anything over you? No. No, he doesn't.
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Jesus has paid for that. I went to a high school. It was a concert by the I don't know what to call him. He's a Christian rapper, rocker. I don't know what Carmen in the eighties and when I went to see him, he he did pretty pretty good show.
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He had a T shirt that I like that I remembered that said, the next time that the devil tries to remind you of your past, you remind him of his future. He is a vanquished foe. He was defeated when Christ was crucified and resurrected. There is no doubt he's been overcome but he still tries to accuse you and make you look, listen, you're guilty. You remember that time you did so and so?
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You remember this? How could God ever forgive that? You're ridiculous if you think that he could gotten the Bible say, many will say, lord, lord, but I'll say, depart from me where I know. Ever you, he twists scripture. It's a lawyer's trick.
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Sorry. Be of sober spirit and be on alert, your adversary, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion. Now, this says he's like a roaring lion. It does say he is a roaring lion.
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This reminds me of a movie. I don't use this very often but your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour. Do you all remember this guy from The Lion King? Yeah. So, the Lion King.
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This is Scar, exactly. Scar is the guy's name and he is acting ferocious and he's bribing, actually, the hyenas in this case. He's he's bribing people to be on his side in his bid for power. He actually killed Mufasa, the rightful king and the lion king. So, Mufasa's death, he convinces Simba, the young lion, that it was his fault and then, he convinces him because he's bringing all of you, the one who killed him.
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That wasn't true by the way. You're the one who killed him. You need to go away from here. You don't have need to have anything. So, is trying to usurp power.
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He is an illegitimate authority. And he is trying to use all of his tricks and all of his bribes and all of his threats against the people in the pride or the animals in the pride lands. The devil tries to take an illegitimate authority. Does that make sense? God is king.
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He is king. There's no doubt about it. The devil is the prince of the power of the air. He's the prince of this world and so he will try to do everything he can to take others down with him. Be of sober spirit.
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Be on alert our adversary, your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion and he is seeking someone to devour. Maybe in this generation, maybe in this service, I might ought to mention the old Disney Robin Hood. Do you remember that one? Where Richard the Lionhearted is going off to war in the crusades and then there's a thumb sucking little John. Do you remember that?
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He's like, the kid. This thumb sucking little John is the one who is also reigning or trying to reign but he's doing so with an illegitimate authority and it's devilish and underhanded. He's taking advantage and that's what the devil does but resist him. That's an imperative. It's the fourth imperative in this passage.
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Resist him. Be of sober spirit. Be on alert. Resist him. All of this is part of humbling yourself.
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So, these are the imperatives so far. I've said this 10 times already but I want you to get this because this is the part that you can do something about. You've been commanded to do four things so far. As believers in Jesus, you have been commanded do four things and this is all you can do. Now, the next part of this message is going to be about what God does and what he will do.
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If you'll do this because God resists the proud but he gives grace to the humble, okay? He resists the proud. He gives grace to the humble. So, therefore, humble yourselves. Why would you want almighty God to be against you?
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Be of sober spirit. He's saying that because if your faculties are not all there, it might be tempting to do something stupid, okay? And to raise up in pride against him. So, be sober and watchful. Be on the alert or watchful, vigilant, taking care of paying attention to how things are going around you.
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Be on the alert. Be careful lest you fall, right? And resist and specifically, it's resist the devil. Resist the devil. Same word that God resists the proud but he gives grace to the humble.
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You are to resist the devil. Resist him. Now, on your own, in your own strength, you cannot resist for very long. You will fail. If it's just you.
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Therefore, firm in your faith follows on the heels of resisting him because as a human, you can stand up against a lot. Physically speaking. But resist him firm in your faith and that opens up all the same power that raised Jesus from the dead is at your disposal. If you will yield your will humbly, then God will progressively sanctify and move you into a place. Resist him firm in faith.
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That's not just any faith. It is faith in the gospel. Faith in Jesus who lived a perfect life and through the Holy Spirit, God can impress on you the next step to take and he will do it. Yield your will and humility and he will do it and if you raise up in pride, he will resist that. Are are you with me?
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I've said it 12 times now. Okay. Resist and firming your faith. This is Simba resisting scar right there. Simba ends up winning by the way.
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Spoiler alert. Yeah, James four seven says this, submit therefore to God and resist the devil and he will flee from you. It's part of submitting to God to resist the devil and the temptations around you. Resist and firm in your faith. Knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brothers and sisters who are in the world.
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Now, the ones who are in the world, the reason he signifies that here is because there are people who are dying under persecution all around Peter and all around these people in these Roman provinces and he says, no, that what you're going through, he already said, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal you're going through. He said that last chapter and now he says, knowing that the same experiences that you're suffering are being accomplished by your brothers and sisters who are still in the world. The ones who are still alive or suffering. So, my brother loves this saying and he says it all the time. Don't feel like the lone ranger, okay?
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Don't feel like you're the only one that is suffering unjustly and don't feel like the only one who is still fighting for the good. First Corinthians 10 says this, no temptation has overtaken you. Take this individually. Each one of us can take this individually. There is no temptation that has overtaken you but such as is common to man.
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Now, each one of us might have our own area of sin that is the most tempting for us in particular but don't be fooled that that you're the only one that's tempted. It's common to us to be tempted but God is faithful. God is faithful and he will not allow you to be tempted beyond that which you are able. I can't but God can and I trust him. I'm submitting my will to his in humility and he can restore me to sanity.
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With any temptation, God will also provide a way of escape so that you'll be able to endure under the pressure and every time that you endure under the pressure, it's like lifting weights and you get stronger. That make sense? Now, when you give into it, you go backwards. Sanctification falls off but God has a chance. Even at that point, you can start over.
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After a slip, you can start over. Knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brothers and sisters who are in the world. And after you have suffered for a little while, next to the last verse right here. After you've suffered for a little while, the God of all grace. What grace is?
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It's unmerited favor. Are we guilty? Yes. But God graciously by Jesus blood can take us out of the kingdom of darkness and place us into the kingdom of marvelous light and the God of all grace who called you past tense into his eternal glory in Christ, he will himself. Now, this is what God will do.
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If you humble yourself, your sober spirit, you're watchful, and you resist the devil. This is what God will do. He will perfect you. Is that scary? Does he immediately perfect you?
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He's at work though. When you submit your will to his, he is perfecting you. This is what perfecting looks like to mend, to put in order, to arrange, to adjust, or tune so as to render fit, to make sound, to complete, to make complete, to the point where it's lacking nothing. That's what God is busy doing. It's perfecting you.
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If you humble yourself, stay sober. Stay vigilant. Resist the devil. The way that you do that is allowing God to perfect. He will also confirm you.
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Carl, would you look up establish in first Peter five ten? If you look that up for me on Bible Hub, you know where I'm talking about. Little definition. So, after you've suffered for a little while, the God of all grace who called you to his eternal glory in Christ. He will himself perfect you and confirm you.
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Amen. Confirm means to fix or to set fast, to fasten something, to give support, and to secure, to firmly establish, to solidly plant, and eliminate all vacillation. Now in James, we see that a double minded man is unstable in all his ways. There's the, well, I would like to go this way, but then again, this is looking pretty good too. Maybe I should do this.
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This is what I know. This is what I'm comfortable with but that's not where God is leading. What should I do? If you will humble yourself, if you will stay vigilant, if you'll be of sober spirit, if you'll resist the devil, then God himself will confirm you. He'll fix or set you fast.
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He will give support and secure. He will firmly establish you. He will solidly plant and eliminate all vacillation. God himself will perfect, confirm, and strengthen you. Now, the definition of strength and this is really good.
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To make strong. He'll make you strong. Like we are weak people as people. Even if we're strong people, we're still pretty weak in the whole cosmos, right? Sir.
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First Peter five ten. Yep, that's right. So, perfect, confirm, and strengthen, make you strong. And he will establish you. You have that ready, Carl?
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Yep. It's lay all of the foundation. Now, he'll build you up from there but if you will humble yourself, I missed this slide. I'm humbling myself right now. I missed and I just did the same definition for confirm right there accidentally.
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So, that's why thank you Carl for looking that up but he will set the foundation. He will firmly establish you. He will solidly. He'll give you something upon which he is able to build. There are a lot of building metaphors in first Peter when he says that we're living stones being built up into a temple.
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God will be the one who establishes the firm foundation and then the very end, this is the close. Little doxology. To him be dominion forever and ever. That's great. Dominion is power and we are ascribing to him the power.
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All hail the power of Jesus name. Let angle angels prostrate fall. We're ascribing to him all the power. That's great. To him, be dominion forever and ever.
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Amen. That's the close of the passage. So, if y'all will do these, humble yourselves. Be of sober spirit. Be on alert.
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Resist the devil. Then, God will do the these and you have to let him because if you try to hurry it, if you try to hurry your spiritual growth by any other means besides humbly submitting, resisting the devil. If you try to speed the process, you're going to mess it up, okay? Just let God perfect you, mend you, put you in order, arrange, adjust, or tune in such a way as to make you fit and sound and complete lacking nothing. Let him confirm you to fix or set you fast.
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Instead of being a double minded man, let him just say, you know what? If you are really considering it, pride is what tells you to go backwards and humility is what lets you go forwards. God is going to resist you if you're proud. God is going to give grace if you're humble. Then, let's set that where we're always going to be defaulting towards that.
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You have to stay vigilant. It doesn't just happen. Perfect. Confirm. Strengthen.
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He will make you strong. Like I said a minute ago about lifting weights. Like, if you are resisting temptations and all the temptations are the same ones that are common to everybody. If you're resisting those temptations, you get stronger and stronger and it's less trouble for you to resist in the future. He will also establish you.
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He will set the foundation. Now, to him be dominion forever and ever. Amen. That sounds churchy, doesn't it? It sounds almost like, oh, to him be a friend.
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Sounds like a benediction. It is a benediction. It's also a doxological giving glory or power to God. But in Greek, as with a lot of languages, pronouns are tricky. So when you're translating pronoun sorry, prepositions are tricky.
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So when you are going to him, think about this. It's the same exact word as in him. Now, does that help? For me, that helps because union with Christ is what this whole Christian experience is about. Being united to Christ, the perfect one by his sacrificial death, his offer of abundant life.
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In him, be all of the power and all of the glory forever and ever. Right here it says, all of the power, Kratos, power. Be all of the dominion. In him, be dominion or power over whatever it is that makes you anxious, that hurts you, your sin. In him, there's power forever and ever from this age unto the next, from age unto age, literally.
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Jesus says, I will never leave you. I will never forsake you. How about with him? It's two in by and with. That's the translations for these prepositions.
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So, with him, with Jesus, remember the old song, kids sing with Jesus in my boat, I can smile in the storm, smile in the storm, smile in the storm with Jesus in my boat. With him, there's power forever and ever. You can't smile in the storm because with him, you will get through. How about by him? By him, by his name, by the name of Jesus, by his sacrifice, by his blood, by his perfect life well lived, by his example.
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There's power forever and ever and I'm submitting to God's will. To him be dominion forever and ever. Amen. So, do this. Humble yourselves.
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Be of sober spirit. Be on the alert. Resist the devil. And he will perfect, confirm, strengthen, and establish and doesn't it feel good to know that he's the one that has to do that because you can't perfect yourself. You're a terrible witness of who of confirming yourself.
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You can't confirm yourself. In fact, you can't really strengthen yourself without his influence and being established. Our lenses themselves are flawed. So, that's the end of the slides. Would y'all pray with me?
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In particular, I want to pray about one thing. It's pride versus humility because that is the thing that a lot hinges on here. In Peter and in James and in the Psalms and in Proverbs, it is obvious that God resist the proud but he gives grace to the humble but you know how hard it is to realize that you're proud when you are proud? That's the thing that's just mind blowing. So, would y'all pray with me that God would show us where we have taken a stance of pride.
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God, I'm praying to you. Would you show us where we've taken a stance that is proud and that you are resisting? Would you show us lord? Even if it has to be by that resistance, would you show us the places lord where we have been proud and insisting upon our own way? Looking through our flawed lenses.
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Maybe lord, under the influence of outside powers or spirits. God would show us the ways in which we are proud and would you give us lord the strength, the ability to humble ourselves. I know that you would command us to do something that we were not able to do. So, would you, lord, allow us the grace of letting us know where it is that we've raised up in pride against you. And lord, may we always be resisting that pride and humble ourselves.
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Would you show us your way, lord? And empower us to walk in it. You say that you will and we're trusting you at your work but God, the limiting factor in all of this is how well we do our part. So, God, would you give us where we're proud so that we may humble ourselves. Would you give us your power, the same power that raised Jesus from the dead?
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That's brought people into abundant life that's worked for so many people, for so many centuries that overcome in their sin. Would you, lord, free us from anything that intoxicates? Would you free us from anything that would put us to sleep and may we always be ever watchful. God would, you give us the grace of recognizing our our adversary and all of his tricks. The Bible says that when the devil lies, he speaks his native tongue.
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He raised himself up against you and he said, I will make myself like the most high and for that lord, he was thrown from heaven and we'll spend eternity heaven. God, would you protect us from that pride, that same temptation. In Jesus name, lord, would you show us where we fall and falter? Would you give us the strength to just go seeking after you, submitting our will, and go wherever you would be. Jesus name.
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Would y'all stand with me? We're going to sing. I think we're going to sing hymn number five ninety three, where he leads me. You may be leaving this week to go wherever he leads you and that's a great great thing. It might be an unknown adventure at this point.
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But would you just pay attention to these words and allow him to call you back into fellowship with God or to call you for the first time in the fellowship with God. If you feel like you need to walk an aisle and make a decision, make a public profession of that decision, you're welcome to do that every Sunday, anytime. The altar is always open for prayer and I'll catch you and Scott will sing it the melody for a change. I'll turn my microphone off if you want to meet me right down here in the front. Where he leads me, I will follow.
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For the benediction today, how about this from second Thessalonians two sixteen and seventeen. Now, may our Lord Jesus Christ himself and may God our father who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace is unmerited favor. May he comfort your hearts and establish them in every good work and word. May it be so. In the name of Jesus, amen.
