We are the clay and he is the potter, we are the work of his hand
1 Oh that you would tear the heavens, that you would come down, that the mountains might quake at your presence.
2 As when fire kindles the brushwood, and the fire causes the water to boil; Make your name known to your adversaries, that the nations may tremble at your presence!
3 When you did awesome things which we didn’t look for, you came down, and the mountains quaked at your presence.
4 For from of old men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, nor has the eye seen a God besides you, who works for him who waits for him.
5 You meet him who rejoices and does righteousness, those who remember you in your ways. Behold, you were angry, and we sinned. We have been in sin for a long time. Shall we be saved?
6 For we have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteousness is like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.
7 There is no one who calls on your name, who stirs himself up to take hold of you; for you have hidden your face from us, and have consumed us by means of our iniquities.
8 But now, Yahweh, you are our Father. We are the clay, and you our potter. We all are the work of your hand.
9 Don’t be furious, Yahweh, and don’t remember iniquity forever. Look and see, we beg you, we are all your people.
10 Your holy cities have become a wilderness. Zion has become a wilderness, Jerusalem a desolation.
11 Our holy and our beautiful house, where our fathers praised you, is burned with fire; and all our pleasant places are laid waste.
12 Will you hold yourself back for these things, Yahweh? Will you keep silent, and punish us very severely?
The main text of the sermon: humble yourselves, cast your anxiety, be sober, be on alert, resist the devil
6 Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time;
7 casting all your worries on him, because he cares for you.
8 Be sober and self-controlled. Be watchful. Your adversary, the devil, walks around like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.
9 Withstand him steadfast in your faith, knowing that your brothers who are in the world are undergoing the same sufferings.
10 But may the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a little while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you.
11 To him be the glory and the power forever and ever. Amen.
Wake O sleeper, arise from the dead, referenced as staying alert and not going back to sleep
1 Be therefore imitators of God, as beloved children.
2 Walk in love, even as Christ also loved you, and gave himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling fragrance.
3 But sexual immorality, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not even be mentioned among you, as becomes saints;
4 nor filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not appropriate; but rather giving of thanks.
5 Know this for sure, that no sexually immoral person, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the Kingdom of Christ and God.
6 Let no one deceive you with empty words. For because of these things, the wrath of God comes on the children of disobedience.
7 Therefore don’t be partakers with them.
8 For you were once darkness, but are now light in the Lord. Walk as children of light,
9 for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth,
10 proving what is well pleasing to the Lord.
11 Have no fellowship with the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but rather even reprove them.
12 For the things which are done by them in secret, it is a shame even to speak of.
13 But all things, when they are reproved, are revealed by the light, for everything that reveals is light.
14 Therefore he says, “Awake, you who sleep, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.”
15 Therefore watch carefully how you walk, not as unwise, but as wise;
16 redeeming the time, because the days are evil.
17 Therefore don’t be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.
18 Don’t be drunken with wine, in which is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit,
19 speaking to one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs; singing, and making melody in your heart to the Lord;
20 giving thanks always concerning all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to God, even the Father;
21 subjecting yourselves to one another in the fear of Christ.
22 Wives, be subject to your own husbands, as to the Lord.
23 For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the assembly, being himself the savior of the body.
24 But as the assembly is subject to Christ, so let the wives also be to their own husbands in everything.
25 Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the assembly, and gave himself up for it;
26 that he might sanctify it, having cleansed it by the washing of water with the word,
27 that he might present the assembly to himself gloriously, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without defect.
28 Even so husbands also ought to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself.
29 For no man ever hated his own flesh; but nourishes and cherishes it, even as the Lord also does the assembly;
30 because we are members of his body, of his flesh and bones.
31 “For this cause a man will leave his father and mother, and will be joined to his wife. The two will become one flesh.”
32 This mystery is great, but I speak concerning Christ and of the assembly.
33 Nevertheless each of you must also love his own wife even as himself; and let the wife see that she respects her husband.
No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; God will provide a way of escape
13 No temptation has taken you except what is common to man. God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted above what you are able, but will with the temptation also make the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.
The message in order, in a few minutes of reading.
This message came from 1 Peter 5:6-11, a single paragraph that Pastor Nathan said has stayed on his mind for two to three weeks and that he finds more useful than almost anything else when people come to him struggling to get out of their own way. He laid out four imperatives from the text and four things God promises to do in response. The sermon closed with communion, which he framed as the natural act of humbling ourselves before God together.
What was said
Before arriving at the main passage, Pastor Nathan walked backward through the verses that lead up to it. Peter writes as a fellow elder, not from a position above everyone else, and his instructions to elders apply more broadly than an official church office. Parents over their children, teachers over their students, anyone responsible for a "flock" that God has placed around them is included. The main theme running through that section is that leadership is a privilege you step into voluntarily, not a compulsion, and that your example carries more weight than your opinion.
What builds toward the four imperatives is this: clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because God is opposed to the proud but gives grace to the humble. That opposition is not unique to the New Testament, Pastor Nathan said. Read the Old Testament, and you will find that anyone who is proud appears to be getting ahead for a while but is eventually humiliated. You have the option to humble yourself before that happens.
The first imperative is "humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God." Casting your anxieties on Him is a part of that, not a separate command. Pastor Nathan spent time on what casting actually means. It is not fly fishing, where you throw the line out and reel it back. The Greek verb means to throw upon, to place upon, to give over. If you cast something on God and then lie awake turning it over again, you are not casting it. He connected this to confession of sin as well: God is faithful to forgive and cleanse, and once He has, He does not hold it. The anxiety or the sin has been dealt with, and recognizing that is what allows you to move forward.
The second imperative is to be sober, or in the most literal sense, to be un-intoxicated. Pastor Nathan made clear this is not only about alcohol or substances. Whatever besetting sin clouds your judgment and takes your wits away is what you are being told to be free from. He mentioned walking through the twelve steps with someone else as something that has helped him personally in the last several years, because it forces you to acknowledge there is a problem you cannot fix on your own and that God is able to restore you.
The third imperative is to be on the alert, to be watchful and paying attention. When he is doing well with his own habits, Pastor Nathan said, the difference is simply that he is paying attention. When he is not doing well, he is actively trying not to notice what he is doing. The preacher means staying awake to the light God has already given you and not drifting back.
The fourth imperative is to resist the devil, firm in the faith. He noted that you are not being asked to resist the adversary on your own strength. The word "adversary" is a legal term, a prosecuting attorney who brings charges and wants to convince you that you are still condemned. The cross has already won the war, but the adversary works to keep believers from believing that. Resistance is grounded in the faith, in what is actually true about Christ, not simply in whatever you happen to believe. Pastor Nathan also pressed against the feeling of fighting alone. The same suffering is being experienced by brothers and sisters throughout the world, and when believers band together they do considerably better.
After the four imperatives, Peter turns to what God does on His side: He will perfect, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. Pastor Nathan unpacked each word. To perfect is to mend and tune so that nothing is lacking. To confirm is to fix you fast and eliminate the vacillation, the being tossed between the things of God and the things of the world. To strengthen is to make you strong enough to endure. To establish is to lay the foundation of the new creation you already are in Christ. And to him be the dominion forever and ever, Pastor Nathan said, is not just a closing doxology. The same phrase can be read "in him," "with him," and "by him," which means that the almighty power behind all four of those promises is the same power available to us in union with Christ.
Doing a Bible study?
Here is a guide we have prepared for you: the passages
in order, questions for the group, and room to write.
Peter describes himself as a 'fellow elder' rather than speaking from a position above his readers. What does that kind of shared authority look like in practice, and where do you see it or miss it in your own relationships?
The pastor said that casting your cares on God is part of humbling yourself, and that reeling your anxieties back in after handing them over is the opposite of true casting. What makes it so hard to leave something with God once you have given it to Him?
Speaker 2Alright. Good morning, church. How are you? Good to see you. As people are coming in, what do you say we we worship together in song and warm up to the Lord?
Here's a good word from Psalm 136. And would you stand and and as I read this here, it's it says, give thanks to the Lord for he is good. His steadfast love endures forever. So true. God, we thank you for your steadfast love and we come to meet with you, to sing praise to you.
Amen. For you are worthy of it. In Jesus name, amen.
Speaker 1Amen. Y'all can have a seat. Got a few announcements and hey, we'll all discover what they are together. Home sweet home. Monday nights at first b.
What's happening tomorrow night?
Speaker 2We are on tomorrow. Meal, music, message beginning at six, and we're in the book of Colossians. And tomorrow is Colossians one fifteen through 23, and it's about the supremacy and sufficiency of Jesus that he is enough, but it shows us why he is enough, and it is so good and so rich. And I just want you to know you're invited. Six o'clock.
Speaker 106:00, and it's a soft start. If you can't be here right at six, come on anyway. It's fine. You'll just be further back in the line but six is meal, music, and a message in that order. Good time.
Prayer group meets on Wednesday mornings at seven: 3zero am in the church office. That's just kind of the heartbeat of the church. If you would like to, meet with us, seven: 3zero am in the church office is a good little group. Sunday school, that is children's church is going to take a break during the month of July. So that means they're welcome to stay up here and I'll try to keep that in mind and we'll, you know, I don't know.
We'll we'll try to do that. I'm not, I don't usually talk straight to the kids. I don't do the little sermon sack. I don't do that sort of stuff normally but if Sunday school's on a break for July, I think we're going to sit sit with mom and dad and we'll talk about things. Vacation Bible School is coming up.
End of June, beginning of July, June 27 to July 1, Christmas in July, nine to twelve. So, mornings, every morning for that week. If you want to sign up, you can do it on our website. If you want to volunteer, let us know. You can sign up on the website for that too but we'd love to talk to you about it.
Is there anything else? I saw the little symbol from the booth but that's it. Am I forgetting anything? Well, I'm glad y'all are here. I'm glad to be here.
This summertime in Jackson, right? It's gorgeous. It's beautiful. There's so much activity. I just don't know what all is going on with y'all but I'm having a ball.
Would you stand and join us?
Speaker 2Fall, there'll be those in the call of missnake. That's okay. God, the lyrics of that song are so true. God, thank you for a new identity and you. If we are in you, we are a new creation.
The old has gone and the new has come. And they will there will be days that we will lose the battle, but grace says truly that it doesn't matter. So, God, thank you for your Holy Spirit in us doing your good work to make us more like your son, Jesus. Amen. First Corinthians.
This isn't a wanniversary or probably long, long ago. For what I received, I passed on to you as first importance that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the scriptures. Wanna share just a couple of verses for you. One is Isaiah 64, and and it says that we are the clay, and he is the potter. We're the work of his hand.
Isn't that a good reminder? Yes. That he's the potter. We're the clay. We're the work of his hand.
And then Romans eight, it says, and we know that in all things, God works for the good of those who love him, who've been called according to his purpose. I'm gonna sing those couple of verses. You can have a a seat here for a moment. This is the worship through giving part of the the service. I'll invite the ushers to come on forward.
We're gonna sing. How great thou art from Psalm one forty seven. Sing out your thanks to the Lord. Sing praises to our God. Before we do, Ray, do you
Speaker 1Sure, Ray. God, thank you for this opportunity, lord, to give back. Some of what you've given us, Lord, to just say we trust you. We love you. We want to see your gospel go forward, Lord.
May we be a part of that, this church, Lord, this local little c church, may we be a part of the capital c church triumphant that is marching onward. In Jesus' name, Lord, we pray for our brothers and sisters throughout the world who are going through, some difficult times as the the text today will allude. Lord, we trust you and we love you and we want to be a part of what you're doing on earth. Would you take these offerings, Lord, and advance your good gospel? Would you give us a greater and deeper understanding of who we are without you so that we can understand who we are with you.
Lord, may we never forget what it is like to just not know, to be wandering like a ship without a sail or a rudder just tossed about every wind of doctrine. Lord, would you give us that anchor that holds? Would you give us that, Lord, so that we may have a foundation established in our lives to build upon. In Jesus name, Lord, we ask you that you do your will among us today, but Lord, through us into the future. Your will, Lord, done in your way.
Amen. Amen. And it's time for children's church downstairs. How are you all? How are you this morning?
You're keeping your distance today for some reason. I'm not sure why. Everybody's back there. Morning. So this morning, I I told y'all a few weeks ago what the norm is and everybody who comes to church here regularly knows.
I just go through expository in order. We're in the middle of the gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke all at the same time. And we're up to the place, if you're keeping up, where Jesus is on the other side of the Sea Of Galilee, runs into a demoniac, the Bible says. And we'll get to that. We're getting to it next week.
But first Peter five six through 11 has been so forefront of my mind for the past, actually, two or three weeks. We studied Habakkuk three weeks ago, the whole book, and then the just or the righteous shall live by faith the next week. Then Mike brought his message for the grads and seniors last week. And this one, I can't escape, so I'm gonna do it. Alright?
If you've been here for many years, I have preached this one other time here, but it's it keeps on falling fresh because I do a whole lot of counseling. Do you all do a whole lot of counseling? Do people come to you and say, I just don't know how to get out of my own way. I'm not sure what's going on. I'm struggling, and I know some of you do because I know some of you are counselors.
And I know some of you are teachers. And people say, it seems to be easier for other people than it is for me. Why is that? What's going on? And if I were to pick a paragraph from the New Testament that is just a straightforward sermon in itself, whether you're preaching it or not, you just read just that one paragraph.
I think it'd be this one. It's the most helpful to me for, you know, people say, let go and let God. Let go and let God. Well, how do I do that? I don't see Him.
I don't understand how that works. And I've had people say that specifically. I don't know how to do that. I can't do that. Well, this is four things that you can do.
Four actually, they're imperatives. So they're commands. So that you should do. And it's from Peter. Now Peter has been lifted up as the first pope, and you've heard that probably.
If you go through any Catholic training, that's what they'll point back to Peter as the first pope. I do believe that he had authority, but he speaks as a fellow elder among you from this. And it's so personal, and it's so pastoral, and it's, you know, pastoral epistle. Here we are. It's really good.
First Peter and James both kinda are speaking to the same type of group. It's people who have lived and have now been scattered. And they're under persecution and they're under a difficult time, a fiery trial, okay? They're living in the world but they're not to be of the world and they're trying to make their way. And Peter comes along with this letter that's an encouragement for those who are suffering unjustly.
And that's pretty good. Does that feel good? Like, are you with me? Is anybody with me? Is there anybody out there?
There are two faces looking back. Okay. Here we go. Therefore. Now anytime you see a therefore, you really ought to go backwards from there.
And I'm going to go backwards from there in just a second, but I'm going to hit the first imperative first. It says, Therefore, humble yourselves. Humble yourselves. That's a possibility. That is a possibility that we can do that.
We would not have been commanded to do that if it were not possible. Therefore, humble yourselves. But the therefore I'm thinking, well, what's immediately before that? Peter is closing out the book. It's been a lot of encouragement for those who are suffering unjustly, and he specifically says multiple times, don't suffer because you're a jerk.
Well, maybe that's a paraphrase. But if if people hate you because you love Jesus, that's to be expected and that's okay. If people hate Jesus because you're a jerk, that's not okay. Okay? Therefore, I exhort the elders among you.
So Peter is speaking to the church at large scattered. And he says, I'm exhorting the elders among you. As a fellow elder, I know what it's like. I know what it's like to be in that position. And I'm not just a fellow elder.
I'm a witness of the sufferings of Christ. I saw how he was treated. I saw how he was beaten towards the end. I saw how they wanted to take over. I saw how they wanted to put themselves above him theologically.
I know what it's like. Therefore, I exhort the elders among you as your fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ and also a partaker of the glory that's to be revealed. So elders, he said, just shepherd the flock of God that is among you. You're not in charge of everything worldwide all the time. But if you will just take care of the ones that God has put in your flock.
Now when I said, how many of y'all are counselors? There are a lot of y'all who are counselors. Maybe not be in an official capacity, but if you're parents, you're elders. Okay? If your parents, your elders over your kids, for sure.
If your teachers, your elders over your students, for sure. There are lots of things that we are not responsible for, but we are responsible for the flock of God that is among us. Right? Shepherd that flock of God. That's a that's an imperative, but it's an imperative to the elders.
Shepherd the flock of God among you. Exercise oversight, not under compulsion. You're not compelled to do this. You've ended up in this position because you've surrendered to Christ. Don't act don't act like you're it's a compulsion, like you must.
You get to do this. Okay? Voluntarily. Voluntarily and according to the will of God. Not for sordid gain, Unheard of sordid.
Unheard of lucrative riches. Oh boy, the prosperity gospel doesn't preach a whole lot from first Peter. Not for sordid gain, but with eagerness. Be eager to do this. Wow.
God, you've given me this little flock, and I want you to help me to shepherd them, Lord, with gentleness and compassion. Somebody texted me late in the week. They saw Mike's message from last week late in the week. And when he texted, he said, wow. That was just like a parent really caring for their kids.
Like a a mother actually, he said, caring for her kids from Thessalonians. Voluntarily, according to the will of God, not for sordid gain, but with eagerness, nor yet as lording it over those allotted to your charge. But proving to be examples to the flock. I have to say, your example is much more important than your opinion. And when the chief shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.
You younger men. So it's not just the elders at this point. You younger folks, it should probably say folks. You younger folks, it's men and women. You younger folks, let's likewise be subject to your elders.
It says to realize that there are people that are ahead of you. There are people who do have a measure of authority that has been given to them. But also it's because they're living out that example of Christ. All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another. Oh, here it comes.
This is what's building up to today's message. Humility towards one another. If you always think you're right all the time, first of all, you're not. If you always think you're right all the time and you don't leave some space for someone else to speak into your life, you're not going to grow. Clothe yourselves with humility towards one another for God is opposed do that.
We're that. To And Testament concept that is throughout. And if you so I defy you to read the Old Testament and see someone who is proud that is not opposed by God. It looks like they're getting ahead for a while, but eventually they will be humiliated. Now you have the option of humbling yourself.
God is opposed to the proud but gives grace to the humble. James says the same. This is James, not Peter anymore. He gives greater grace. God gives greater grace.
It says, He is opposed to the proud, but He gives grace to the humble. So submit to God. Resist the devil. He'll flee from you. We'll see this slide a couple more times probably.
Draw near to God. Come close to God. He'll come close to you. Cleanse your hands. There's the striving.
There it is. You can have something to do about this. Cleanse your hands, you sinners. Purify your hearts, double minded. Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord and He'll exalt you.
So in Peter, it's an imperative right here, starting right off the bat. This humble yourselves is possible and God is saying, Trust me. Just do this. Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God so that It's a henna clause in Greek. It's a so that, a purpose or result.
And in God's case, it's a purpose that gets a result. So so that He may exalt you at the proper time. If you will humble yourselves, God will lift you up. Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God so that He may exalt you at the proper time. James says the same thing, Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord and He will exalt you.
Casting all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you. I know you've got anxiety. I actually texted with somebody yesterday. Gift giving anxiety is my real I hate giving gifts. I'm glad I'm married to someone who doesn't mind.
But gift giving anxiety, I start to just clench up and go, oh, what do I if I do this, they won't think that, and I I just can't. Well, and then I forget about doing it altogether because it gives me so much struggle. But all of your anxiety that may be a trivial example, but it's one where I don't know why it is, I just know that it is. Some of you all are anxious about being around people. I'm glad you're here today.
Some of you all are anxious about other things. But whatever your anxiety is, particular to you, casting your anxiety on him because he cares for you. This is under the mighty hand of Almighty God. I've heard a lot of people say, I can't bother Jesus with that. I've been bothering Jesus.
I mean, I used to, but then I just think, I'm embarrassed to go back and say it again. If you are still having anxiety about it, God still cares about it. Okay? Casting all of your anxiety on Him because He cares for you. That's why.
It gives us the reason. So casting, the way that we think about casting around here are in English, let's just do, we cast a vote. Once you cast a vote, you throw it away. No, sorry, that didn't sound right, did it? Maybe I'll come back to that one.
No. No, if anything messes with it between you casting that vote and it being counted, that's a problem, right? You cast a vote. It's once you've done it, you've done it, it's out there, it's counted, that's it. Casting lots.
If you were in gambling hall, let's say, and you're throwing dice. If you try to monkey with that die to make it a seven, that's not valid. Right? You cast it. You throw it.
And once you throw it, the die is cast. It's been thrown. It's out there. There's nothing you can do about it. Are you with me?
I'm seeing confused faces. Castaway. We use castaway for someone who there's no hope of them ever getting returned, right? They're out. Cast your bread upon the waters.
We throw it out there. We live generously with open hands. I think that's what that verse is about. Now the close of that verse is, and it will return to you in many days, but that's not your concern. You should be living generously and casting it out there.
When Jesus said to the folks who are about to stone the lady who was caught in adultery, he said, let him who is without sin cast the first stone. That's something that would cause you to become pretty circumspect because you can't take back stoning someone. Right? You throw it and it's thrown. That is done.
Now around here, I put cast a line with a question mark. If you're casting a line, that's this action, right? You sling it out there or whatever you all do with the flower rod like that. But if you cast and it goes out there, this is a different action, Okay? That's a different verb.
Reeling it back in is a different verb. Mending your line, different verb. I think that the way that we cast cares on the Lord, a lot of times is more akin to fly fishing or throwing it out there and say, I'll bring it back. Here, Lord, take this. Oh, bring it back.
Bring it back. Bring it back. And we keep doing it. The casting here is the throwing it on God or placing it upon him. Actually, think I have a verb here.
Epidripto is to throw upon, to place upon, to sling it out there, to give up to, to give it over. Last week, Mike briefly mentioned it. The week before, briefly mentioned. I mentioned in counseling all the time that if you will confess your sins to God, he is faithful and just to be forgiving them and cleansing you of all unrighteousness. If you cast it upon him and say, Lord, forgive me for this, he throws that sin.
Far as the East is from the West, remember that no more. And if he's doing that, then the next day when you wake up and say, Lord, I can't believe I did that. Forgive me for this sin. Same thing again. He's like, what are you talking about?
Are are you with me there? Cast it upon him and trust him. He's almighty God. He can deal with it. Having cast.
Oh, word nerds. Strictly grammatically, the tense here is if you trust in Christ, you have already cast this. You know he's able. You know he's able. So be handing it over, having cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.
When you come to him humbly and say, Lord, save me. He does. When you say, Lord, take this, he does. You've already made this decision. If you can't get out of your own way, you're not doing this.
Okay? You've already made this decision. You've already done this. You're learning it again. Okay.
Having cast all your anxiety and it helps you to know that there is a point at which that sin has been dealt with. And you need to realize that to be able to walk forward. So that's the first imperative. Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God. Casting your cares upon him is a subset.
Okay? Casting your cares is part of humbling yourself. I can deal with this. I don't need to ask God about this. I can deal with this.
That's not humbling yourself. That's saying, I'm strong enough to do this. I don't need you, God. Thanks, but no thanks. Be of sober spirit.
Be of sober spirit is the next one. That is an imperative. Be of sober spirit. And actually, that's from the New American Standard. The spirit part there is added.
So it's in italics. That's why it's in italics. Be of sober spirit really says, Be sober. Okay? Be sober.
And I got a lot of others. Be circumspect. Be vigilant, maybe. Be un intoxicated. That's the most literal translation of it.
Don't be intoxicated. And it can be with anything, not just alcohol, not just drugs, not just substances. Be un intoxicated. Don't let the things that are your besetting sins stay in the way. Be un intoxicated.
And I think in the last five years, four years, the thing that's probably helped me spiritually most is walking through the 12 steps of A8 with somebody else. Walking through that with somebody else has been really helpful to say, there's a problem. Every single one of us have a problem we can't do anything about. And it and we have to acknowledge that and acknowledge that God is able to restore us to sanity. And we can say, you know what?
I'm gonna let him do that. Be temperate. That's good. Be self controlled, maybe. Have your wits about you because anything that intoxicates you just kind of takes your wits out of the question.
I talked to somebody this week that said they started drinking when they were 11 and they quit when they were 14 because they didn't have their wits about them and they realized it. And said, It was probably because I'm a control freak and I didn't want to have anybody else control me. And that's a good enough reason to stop. But have your wits about you. Be sober.
Be of sober spirit. Okay. Be of sober spirit. That's an imperative. So humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, casting your cares upon Him.
Be sober. Just for today, right? Living day by day is really important when you're struggling. Just for today. Be sober today.
Be on the alert. Be on the alert. That is an imperative. And that's probably better put as be vigilant. Be paying attention.
If people ask me, and they don't often, but when they do, about my diet, all I say, when I'm doing well, I'm paying attention. When I'm not doing well, I'm not paying attention. I'm trying to ignore how many times I've gone through the McDonald's drive through. I'm trying to ignore how many more times I want to go back this evening. Right?
But being on the alert is recognizing that that's not a good place for me. I'll probably avoid that. I should avoid that. I'm going to be on the alert. I'm going to be sober from that today.
So I need to be on the alert and watching for all the different ways. So be watchful. Paying attention. Be vigilant. I've got one in here that's going to make some people mad.
Oh, stay woke, bed it is. Talk on it. Wake, O sleeper. Arise, O sleeper from Ephesians. Right?
Pay attention. There's light to live in and once you have awakened to some new light that God has given you, don't go back to sleep in that area. Stay awake. Keep on watching. Be vigilant.
Be alert. Be on alert. That's good. Those are both imperatives, commands from God through Peter to us. Be of sober spirit.
Be on the alert. Why? Why should we? Well, you have an adversary. You do.
And I know that that's unpopular in the modern times that, oh, really? Is it some little demon? Really? That's what we're going to go with? A guy with red scales and tails and whatnot?
Well, I mean, that in itself was an accomplishment of the devil to get it kind of minimized down to that, but also convincing the world he doesn't exist at all that it's just you. You do have an adversary and scripturally that's what it says. Be sober and be on the alert. Why? Because your adversary, and by the way, adversary is anti dicas, properly it is a prosecuting attorney who's arguing a case at law.
He is an opponent at law, an accuser. He's called the accuser in multiple places, right? Accuser of the brethren specifically. Adversary, prosecutor. He brings the formal charges.
This guy did this and still does because I'm tempting him all the time to keep on breaking that. He wants to upset your relationship with your heavenly father. If you have any doubts about who the adversary is, it says it flatly the devil. Your adversary, the devil, Satan acts as an adversary. He's bringing the suit of darkness against believers for their eternal damnation.
That's what he's trying to do. The thing is, the cross has already won the war like we sang this morning. I think that we have a harder time believing that God can and does forgive us than just about anything else in Christianity. We feel still condemned and we've got an adversary that's trying to convince us of that. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion.
Wow. He's not the lion of Judah. Right? He prowls around like a roaring lion and he is seeking someone to devour. Resist him.
Now we saw that in James. In that slide from James, we already saw that resist the devil and he'll flee from you. Maybe it's right there. But this is an imperative. It says to resist the adversary, resist the devil.
Anybody I don't know why this never comes to mind, Carmen. Do you remember Carmen? Carmen, the Christian singer from the late eighties, early nineties, that guy? I had a t shirt, a black t shirt, somebody gave me from one of his concerts that says, The next time the devil reminds you of your past, remind him of his future. Resist him.
Resist him. That's the third right here, but it's the fourth overall. Resist him. Resist the devil, James says. Resist.
Don't be passive about things. So the imperative so far is this. Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God. Casting all your cares apart on Him is a part of that. Don't be mending your line.
Don't be reeling it back in. Humble yourselves. Cast your cares on the Lord and trust Almighty God to be Almighty in that situation. Be sober, be on alert, and resist the devil. Firm in your faith, it says.
That's got to be important. You are not equipped to just resist the devil on your own. That would be a foolish thing to do. Resist him firming your faith. Knowing scripture helps a lot.
Being grounded in scripture helps tremendously. There, like Mike said last week, is no new news. There's only old news happening to new people. He has the same schemes he's had since the beginning, and he is really good at putting them into use. Know which one's gonna work.
Resist him. How? Firm in your faith. Firm in see the italics? The faith would be a better translation.
It's not just your faith. It doesn't matter what you believe, what anybody believes unless it's true, but the faith is true. Christianity, Christ is true. So firm in the faith. Resist him.
Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. He cannot overpower Almighty God. Resist him. Firm in your faith.
This is an interesting part of the sentence to me. It seems a little out of place but it's not. Resist him firm in your faith. Knowing this, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brothers and sisters who are in the world. What you're going through is not foreign.
It's common to man. Your experience as a Christian being under persecution and under some sort of threat is not abnormal. It is normal. They did crucify Jesus for being Jesus. If we act like him, there may be those who will hate us.
So know this. The same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brothers and sisters who are in the world. We are not perfect people. We are forgiven people. Resist infirming your faith knowing the same experiences of suffering.
Don't feel like the lone ranger. Alright? You're not the only one fighting for good. There are lots of us. And if we band together, when we band together, we do a lot better.
We do a lot better because humble yourselves is not singular. It is good to think about humbling myself individually, but together we can see the grace of God and we can see that we together are the people, the royal priesthood, the mediators of Christ's covenant. I'm glad individually we're fighting for good and some of our individualistic American kind of wiring makes us feel like we're alone. But we're not alone. Don't feel like the lone ranger in that.
No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man. God's faithful. He won't allow you to be tempted beyond what you're able. But with that temptation, He will provide a way of escape. A lot of times that's in the form of calling a friend and saying, I'm struggling today.
I want to go back. I feel like jumping off this wagon. He'll provide you a way of escape so that you'll be able to endure it. You can stand up up under temptation with Christ. Firm in your faith.
Resist in the adversary. Staying vigilant. Staying sober. In humility, Peter also would remind us that, Be careful lest you fall. Pride goes before a fall.
He should know, I'll never do that. Before the rooster crowed three times, he had denied Christ. But you know what? Peter would have been worthless if he had not been humbled. He's saying you have the option ahead of time to humble yourselves rather than being humiliated.
I like this too. The same experiences of suffering are being accomplished. Isn't that a weird way to put that? Like, we think of suffering as something to be endured. It's an accomplishment to walk under suffering.
And after you have suffered for a little while, this is good. Cause we've turned from the four things that we need to do at this point. After you've suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, unmerited favor. The God of all grace who called you into his eternal glory in Christ Jesus. He will himself.
It's on him now. That is on him. He will himself perfect you. Oh, man. That's good news.
That's really, really good news. We do struggle and we do have an adversary and we are prone to wander, as the song says. But he will perfect us. So to perfect, straight up dictionary definition, to mend, to put in order, to arrange, to adjust, or to tune so as to render fit, sound, complete and lacking nothing. To perfect.
Wow. To tune us as an instrument or as an engine, to tune us so that it's lacking nothing. That's on God, and he'll do it if we will humble ourselves. He'll do it. After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace who called you into his eternal glory in Christ, he will himself perfect.
Confirm. He will confirm you. Confirm. He will fix or set you fast to give support and to secure, to firmly establish, to solidly plant and eliminate vacillation. Vacillation is the being tossed about by every wind of doctrine as James puts it or double mindedness where we were trying to hold on to the things of God at the same time as we're trying to hold on to the things of the world.
He will eliminate that vacillation if we will humble ourselves, stay sober, stay vigilant, resist the devil firm in our faith. After you have suffered for a little while, God of all grace who called you into his eternal glory and Christ will himself perfect, confirm, strengthen. Oh, strengthen. Look at the definition for this one, to make strong. Do you feel weak from time to time?
Maybe right now? Yeah. He'll make you strong. He will make you strong enough to endure and establish you. To establish is to found we're a new creation in Christ Jesus.
To found, to lay the foundation. Anybody who hears these words of mine and acts upon them is like a man who has built his house on the rock. To found, to lay the foundation both literally and metaphorically. So those are the four things that are up to God right there altogether. What he's asking of us is oh, I got more.
I forgot about this one. This is usually a throwaway and I almost did it myself right here. I studied this all week. To him be the dominion forever and ever. Doesn't that just sound like, okay, that's a good way to end the service.
We got to pray before we leave. To him be the dominion forever and ever. Okay. Dominion is power. It's power forever and ever.
It entails some authority, but not just authority, not just the being able to. It is all of that wrapped into one. Dominion. He is almighty. To him be dominion forever and ever.
And that's an attribution. We attribute to him all the power. Okay, that's good. To him. But the same exact word that is translated to him right here could just as well be translated in him, by him, with him.
So if you'll do these, humble yourselves, be of sober spirit. Have you all heard these enough yet? Okay. Be on alert, resist the devil. I'm saying it's one paragraph of scripture.
It gives four very clear things that are I wouldn't say they're easy to do, but if you know what they are, and I'm trying to drill them into your head. If you know what they are, it's it's easier to do once you know. Right? Humble yourselves, be of sober spirit, be on alert, resist the devil, and I'll perfect, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. That's a promise from almighty God through Peter.
So to him be the dominion forever and ever. To him. I attribute that to you, Lord. Yes. You are all powerful.
I give it to you. But think about this, in him. In him. So union with Christ is what it's all about and to know that I can resist the devil in him, firm in my faith. Though he was crucified, he was resurrected because he practiced this faith perfectly.
In him, there is that almighty power and it does not end. It's forever and ever unto the ages. Amen. With him. Okay.
It just helps me every once in a while to slow down and think, with you, Lord, I can do this. With you, I have a problem I can't do anything about, but there is a higher power who wants and can, has the dominion to be able to restore me to sanity. Lord, with you. I'm with you. I'm going to let you do that.
Now, in the steps, it's a fearless and searching moral inventory at that point to know where you stand. And that's really, really good. And when you do, it will make you anxious and you can cast that on Him because He cares for you. With Him, there's power forever and ever. By Him, by Your name, Lord, by your side.
That's where I want to be. By Him, there's power forever and ever. So, yes, Lord, we attribute that to you. To Him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen.
So if we'll be doing these and we're about to go into a time of communion, and to me, that's a that is a time that that asks us the question considering all the whole New Testament, all the epistles after the fact too. When when Carl read that this morning about I I delivered it to you as a matter of first importance, that Christ died according to the scriptures he was raised. You know, he lived and died and was buried and resurrected according to the scriptures. It's really important that we take that in. And when Jesus says, this is my body, this is the way he lived his life, and he's completely surrendered to the spirit of God at all times, and that's what we want.
This is my body, take this, and this is my blood sacrificially given for you. That's what we're going to celebrate here together. It is a humbling thing for us each time that we do this to go, I don't deserve this, Lord. But you've given it to me and you've asked me to take it in. You've asked for me to humbly accept your way, the new covenant, instead of trying and failing at living according to the old covenant.
I trust you, Lord. Humbling ourselves and allowing God to do these things. I think that's it, and I'm going ask the ushers if they'll come forward. We do practice an open table here. So there are some places where it's members only.
Just and I think out of a good effort to just know who's here and know why. But I'm saying right now, if you have ever trusted in Jesus and you're living that and you want to partake, it's like, oh, this is not the normal way we do the Eucharist. This is not the normal way we do whatever. It's an open table. Jesus has said, whosoever will may come.
Lord God, I pray that as we distribute this little representation, this little wafer and this little plastic cup of juice, Lord, that we would be considering how you emptied yourself, you humbled yourself, and you came and you lived out an example of us, for us for what we should live our lives according to your example. Lord, I pray that we would be able to empty ourselves right now and say, Lord, I accept that which you have given. Would you fill me up with all that is good? Would you direct my life in the way that only you know how? And would you give me the strength to walk in it?
In Jesus' name, I ask your blessing over this representation as we distribute it. Amen. Jesus said on the same night that he was betrayed, he said to his disciples that were assembled there after supper, after he had given thanks for the bread, he broke it and he said to his disciples who are there and his voice echoes and rings out to us, this is my body which is given for you. Take this and eat of it as often as you will in remembrance of me. Lord Jesus, I thank you for that life that you lived out in the flesh, in the body, that you're able to walk it out.
A perfect example and a perfect sacrifice. And Lord, for your blood, what we're going to celebrate right now, that you gave over that perfect record for us. Voluntarily, not under compulsion, but caring for this block. Amen. In the same manner that He had taken the bread, He also took the cup and He said to His disciples there, This is the new covenant in my blood.
Take this and drink it in deep and as often as you will in remembrance of me. Amen. Would you stand? I'm gonna ask the band to come back up and I was gonna ask him to go back to Living He Loved Me because it's such a gospel song that takes us through everything. But this one's just as good, and it's the same story told a different way.
King of kings, would you stand and sing and celebrate with us? Amen. In for benediction today, we've got this from Ephesians six ten and eleven. Finally then, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power, put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes, firm in your faith, firm in the faith. In Jesus name, lord, we pray that you would win the victory this week through and in us.
