the main passage of the sermon, covering humility, sobriety, vigilance, resisting the devil, and God's restoring work
1 Therefore I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and who will also share in the glory that will be revealed.
2 Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, exercising the oversight, not under compulsion, but voluntarily, not for dishonest gain, but willingly;
3 neither as lording it over those entrusted to you, but making yourselves examples to the flock.
4 When the chief Shepherd is revealed, you will receive the crown of glory that doesn’t fade away.
5 Likewise, you younger ones, be subject to the elder. Yes, all of you clothe yourselves with humility, to subject yourselves to one another; for “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”
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.
referenced for 'wake up, oh sleeper, and let Christ shine upon you' and the generation being evil
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 mankind, God provides 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.
quoted as 'not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit says the Lord'
6 Then he answered and spoke to me, saying, “This is Yahweh’s word to Zerubbabel, saying, ‘Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says Yahweh of Armies.
words of institution for communion, the night Jesus was betrayed he took bread and the cup
23 For I received from the Lord that which also I delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night in which he was betrayed took bread.
24 When he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “Take, eat. This is my body, which is broken for you. Do this in memory of me.”
25 In the same way he also took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink, in memory of me.”
The message in order, in a few minutes of reading.
Pastor Nathan opened the second Sunday service with announcements, including a memorial service for Grant and Marilyn Larson and a send-off prayer for Ray and Suzanne, a couple beloved to the congregation who were moving away. He then preached from 1 Peter 5, a passage he described as one he would choose above almost anything else if asked to teach something genuinely useful for daily life. The sermon traced four things believers are responsible for and four things God promises to do in response.
What was said
Peter identifies himself not as a pope or a distant authority but as a fellow elder and a firsthand witness to the sufferings of Christ. That grounds everything he is about to ask. He addresses elders first, calling them to shepherd voluntarily and by example rather than by compulsion or for financial gain, and then turns to younger believers, urging them to learn from those who have walked longer. The common command to both groups is to clothe themselves in humility toward one another, because, as Peter and James both put it, God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.
The first imperative is "humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God," and Pastor Nathan was careful to call it exactly that: an imperative, a command, not a suggestion. Peter has personal history with pride, having declared he would never deny Jesus and then doing so three times before the rooster crowed. That context gives the command weight. Humbling yourself is also, Pastor Nathan noted, something you can do together, and the plural form of the command in the text is intentional.
Attached to that humbling is the act of casting anxiety on God. Pastor Nathan spent time on the word "casting" itself: a cast vote, a cast die, a line thrown out on the water. In every case, once the thing is cast, you do not meddle with it. To keep pulling the anxiety back, rehearsing it, asking God again as though He had not heard, is to treat the almighty as insufficient. The aorist participle in the Greek suggests the casting is something that, for a believer, has already been addressed at the cross. The hard part, he said from his counseling experience, is not naming the sin, grieving it, or handing it over. The hard part is receiving the forgiveness God actually gives.
The second and third imperatives are to be sober and to be on the alert. Pastor Nathan broadened "sober" past its common meaning: it is about having your wits about you, not being under the influence of anything that dulls your awareness or your self-control. Being on the alert is paired with it because there is a reason for the vigilance. The adversary, the word translated as a prosecuting attorney in Greek, is prowling like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. Pastor Nathan mentioned a line from an old concert t-shirt: the next time the devil reminds you of your past, remind him of his future.
The fourth imperative is to resist the devil, firm in the faith. Here Pastor Nathan drew on his experience walking through the 12 steps alongside someone who needed them, noting that the structure of those steps reflects something true about how humility, acknowledgment, and surrender actually work. To resist firm in the faith means knowing that every charge the adversary brings, though the facts may be real, does not stand because it has been dealt with at the cross. James and Peter agree: resist him and he will flee.
If believers will do those four things, Peter says God himself will do four things in return: perfect, confirm, strengthen, and establish. Pastor Nathan worked through each one carefully. To perfect is to mend and tune, to make complete and lacking nothing, the way an acorn is perfect and the oak is also perfect, each at its stage. To confirm is to eliminate vacillation, the double-mindedness that James warns against. To strengthen is to make strong, the way repeated faithfulness in the face of temptation builds a muscle. To establish is to lay a foundation, pointing back to Jesus' parable about the man who built on rock by actually acting on the words he heard.
Pastor Nathan closed by noting that what sounds like a benediction at the end of the passage, "to him be dominion forever and ever," is not a throwaway line. It is the whole point. God has the authority and the ability. The believer's four responsibilities and God's four responses all rest on that. He moved from there into communion, reading the words of institution from the Last Supper and inviting anyone who trusts Christ to participate, before closing with the armor of God passage from Ephesians 6 as a benediction.
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.
Pastor Carl talked about humbling yourself versus being humbled by circumstance, and pointed to Peter as someone who learned the hard way. Where have you seen that difference play out in your own life?
The sermon described casting anxiety on God the way you cast a vote or cast lots: once it is thrown, you do not monkey with it. What makes it so hard to leave something with God after you have handed it over, and what has helped you resist pulling it back?
Speaker 2Just a closer walk with you. Grant that Jesus is my plea.
Speaker 1All right. Hey, can you hear me now? Would you stand with me? We're going to sing a few songs here to start off. We're starting with To God Be the Glory.
Between the first service and the second, one of the Sunday school teachers came up to me and said, had four different kids that said, I want Jesus this morning. I'm like and then we we were just starting to practice starting to practice this morning. The first line is, to God be the glory, great things he has done. Would you celebrate with us?
Speaker 2Great things he had taught us great things he had done and great how rejoicing through Jesus the son but
Speaker 1Amen. Thank you, Florine on the piano over there. We're gonna sing blessed assurance. How about that? Blessed assurance.
We're by the way, can we wait just a second? So this service, some of y'all who've been here for a long time knew and knew very well, Grant and Marilyn Larson. If you have not seen it in the paper yet, I wanted to announce to you that this week on Wednesday at 11AM, we're going have a memorial for both of them at the same time. We did small funerals for each of them during COVID at the time when they passed. But we want to celebrate that couple that's left such a lasting legacy in the Valley.
So Marilyn and Grant Larson's service will be eleven a. M. And blessed assurance certainly applies right there. So hit it.
Speaker 2Blessed born of his spirit washed in his blood this is my song raising my savior all the day long This is my song. Is my song. Praising my savior all the day long. Descending, bring from above. Echoes of mercy, whispers of love.
This is my story. This is my song. Raising my savior all the day long. This is my story this is my song raising my savior watching and waiting looking above filled with his goodness lost in his love this is my story this is my song. Praising my savior all the day long.
This is my story. This is my song. Praising my savior all the day long Amen.
Speaker 1I'm glad to have these fellows up here with me. Thank you, Scott and Florine. Y'all can have a seat for a minute. We'll get back to a couple more songs but we have some announcements and hey, they're not there. So, that's alright.
I just announced the memorial service that is happening on Wednesday morning which was not an announcement. Monday nights at first B is happening. We are in the book of Colossians. Now, we just left behind the book of James which all of the wisdom of the book of James and then looking into Colossians for the sufficiency of Christ. What a beautiful, beautiful book.
So, Carl is going into that. Home Sweet Home, Monday night, 06:00, meal, music, and a message down the hall. Tomorrow night, we have a prayer group that meets at 07:30AM on Wednesday mornings in the first office down the hall right there. The church office at seven: 3zero am. That is a great little group that gets together and we love it.
If we get to grow to a place where we need to split up, we will but it's an amazing group. I'm looking around for the Richards but I'm not seeing them. They're here. They're here. They're here somewhere.
Oh, there they are. You're not in your right place. What in the world are you doing? Yeah. Are you trying to hide from me?
Okay. That I figured you were. Let me make two more announcements and then I'm going to invite you all up here whether you want to or not. Sunday school or children's church is going on a break for the month of July. So, children's church will be on a break during the month of July.
I saw her get up and going. I thought that was you running from me. Sorry. Vacation Bible School. Yes?
The high school in junior
Speaker 2high is not.
Speaker 1Okay. High school and junior high Sunday school will not take a break in July. That's going to just carry right on through July. Vacation Bible School Christmas in July. This is June 27 through July 1, 9AM to noon.
We have a lot of volunteers who've already signed up. If you want to sign up to be a volunteer or to get a child signed up, you can do it on the website at firstbjackson.org. I think that might be the last announcement that I have up there. But I do want to ask Ray and Suzanne if they will come forward. And may I borrow your mic there, Scott?
You don't have to say anything if you don't want to because I don't think you're going to be able to, but I'm bringing the mic over for Carl. We love y'all. And y'all have been here for a long time. And they're heading out. If y'all hadn't heard, they have sold their house and they're moving on.
And we just love them dearly. And there's not been a more encouraging pair of people in our ministry lives than these two and so we just want to pray for them before they go and a blessing on the way out and if y'all would bless them on the way out too.
Speaker 3I'll try to make it through crying too. God, so thankful. So thankful for this dear, sweet family. And all these years of loving and loving service, devotion to you, and love for your people and for this church. Lord, I think of smiles and and really true acts of service down the hall, Monday night, and serving food and and Ray being out here always his head on the swivel, always looking not to be served, but to serve others.
And that has been their MO, and it will continue to be always. I thank you for the encouragement that they have brought to this church family, And we pray, God, that you would bless them as they go. Give them a soft landing and a church that would receive them just just like we have. So grateful for them, God. Bless them as they go in Jesus' name.
Amen. Amen. Thank you. We
Speaker 2love y'all. I can't do it either. That's
Speaker 1y'all have heard my my stance on this. Moving is the worst of all human experiences. But I I pray that that the church has been a help to you and that there'll be a receiving family of God where you where you land. Amen. Alright.
Would y'all stand and we'll we'll muddle through this next one. Hold on just a second. We'll try to clear that slide, clear that queue so y'all can see what's going on And at the cross, do you know this one? Alas and did my savior bleed. Oh, what a song.
Amen. We go. The next one is nothing but the blood. I can't tell you how often I use this song. Almost every week in counseling, I get a chance to say, you know, when you do something wrong and you recognize it, it makes you feel terrible, right?
It does. It just makes you feel terrible. So if you are trying to get something under the blood of Jesus, you need to realize that that's the only way out of it, okay? So this is like when I'm speaking to premarital couple and I'm talking about how to forgive one another. First, you need to know what you did.
And second, you need to grieve that. And the third thing is, God forgive me, right? If you don't know what you did, it does no good to ask him. But I know what I did, and I know it makes me feel terrible, Lord. I know it's against what you have for me.
Will you forgive me? He does. He does. That's so good to know. And I'll say usually, say it and I can tell the people's background whether or not they're in church.
I'll say, so what do you do when you know what you've done? And you can't do anything about it because you really can't. I said, what can wash away your sins? And I can hear them go, nothing but the blood of Jesus. Right?
This is it. Nothing but the blood of Jesus. Let's sing it like we mean it. Amen. Amen.
Y'all can have a seat. I don't run on protocol. Have you all noticed that? I'm so sorry. If I don't have it written down for me, I just flat can't remember it.
I think this is offering time. I'm a Baptist preacher. I should be able to remember that. Should I not? Let me invite the ushers to come forward.
And, God, I'm just so thankful. I'm overwhelmed by it, formal or informal, the way that you move among us. I heard a liturgy this week that I thought was absolutely beautiful, and I heard somebody in between services to say, that meant so much to me. And the response was, isn't it just fun? Isn't it just fun?
God, that we can we can we can humble ourselves before you by acknowledging who you are, almighty, the almighty God, the ever powerful one. And we, Lord, are feeble, and we tend to wander. In Jesus' name, Lord, I pray that we would just have a closer walk with you, that we would just walk by your side, Lord. In Jesus' name, we ask that you'd take these offerings, Lord, that we're about to give, and that you'd take a portion of what you've given to us and that you would advance your good gospel. We pray that you'd do it in the way that we use our time and our lives and our words, Lord, that it would be direct, but also indirectly that you'd use these funds to extend your good gospel in this community and beyond to the very uttermost parts.
Lord, we want for you to do your will and your way among us this morning and into the future. In Jesus' name, Lord, may we live and move and have our being. Amen. Hello? Can you hear me now?
Yes. Okay. I feel like I have to give a little explanatory note every single week. We have been going through a New Testament series, really, expository series, paragraph to paragraph, the whole time that I've been here virtually, ten years. Actually, it's ten years this week, ten years on the ninth.
And for for ten years, we've been going through this, and we've picked up a minor prophet here and there in Ecclesiastes and a few of the wisdom literature books. But we've primarily been focused on the New Testament, and we'll get back to our study of the gospels next week. That's the plan. Next week is picking up with Jesus over on the other side of the Lake Of Galilee where he has encountered the Gadarene demoniac. If you wanna look ahead from the guy Gadara Ogesara, the guy who was among the stones and cutting himself naked.
That's what we're gonna get back to next week. But this week, I'm gonna take us to first Peter five. I went to Habakkuk three weeks ago and did the whole book of Habakkuk, just the three chapters there. Went back and picked up the, middle portion of that as Habakkuk two four, which says, you know, behold the proud one, his soul is not upright within him, but the righteous shall live by faith, or the just shall live by faith. That's what I picked up two weeks ago.
Mike preached last week, and his message dovetailed very nicely with that, I thought. And then this week, this week, I couldn't get away from this one. I think that this is one that God wants us to hear right now. I have preached it one time in the past, but, you know, in Jackson, if you do something every five years, you got a whole different crowd. So it's been five years, literally.
If I am ever asked to teach a class on something that I think is really helpful, profound, and makes a difference in our lives today, I usually choose one Peter five I mean, one Peter, the book of one Peter. So this is at the end of that book. It's the last chapter. And Peter is writing to those who have been scattered. They're believers who have been scattered, and they're living under an oppressive regime, and they've got a lot of suffering that's going on.
There's a lot of fiery trial going on at the time. And so he speaks to them about the fellowship of the sufferings of Christ, which is really good. To suffer unjustly is one of the themes of the book of first Peter. And the incorruptible hope that we have is another one of those themes. But as we get to the end, he's getting down to practical application to your everyday life, and he's got a paragraph, and that's what I'm going to cover today.
Now, I'll back back up and hit the paragraph above it in just a second. But, God, would you help us to internalize this paragraph of your word so that we may live at peace with you, that we may be content with the times, Lord, that we live in, knowing that all that we do in the Lord is never in vain. Lord, may our lives not be pointless. May we go forward and allow you to imbue them with righteousness and faith and peace and hope and mercy and love, and may that just transfer through us to others. Amen.
So here we are. First Peter five starts off this section starts off therefore. So I usually like to go back and see exactly why that's there. It's one paragraph above it, but the main focus of today's sermon is gonna be right there. Therefore, humble yourselves.
This is an option. It is an option. You can humble yourself before God. Therefore, yourselves. It's also plural, so it's not just individual.
Humble yourself is great, but humble yourselves is even greater. Humble yourselves is an option. There are people who come to Jesus because of a humiliation that was not them humbling themselves. But there are others like those kids this morning that just said, you know what? My way is not the best way, and I realized that.
I accept what God has given. Humble yourselves. That's a way. So humble yourselves is an imperative. It's a command.
So and it's from Peter. And Peter has been variously reported. It depends on who you listen to as to what Peter was. He was the leader of the disciples. We're sure of that.
He's been put up to be the first pope, although he never claimed that. He tells who he is, and I'm gonna let him tell you who he is in just a second. But that therefore refers back to the first paragraph of chapter five verses one. Verse one of chapter five says this, therefore, and that's the rest of the book. All four chapters ahead of that or that therefore, read that on your own time.
You can go back and look it up on the Internet if you want to. Therefore, I exhort the elders among you. So those who have been in the faith for a while, who have matured, and who understand how to walk in righteousness, the just shall live by faith. Those folks, the elders who have been around a while and matured, I exhort those elders among you as your fellow elder. I'm one of you.
I'm also a witness of the sufferings of Christ. I saw it firsthand. I know how he was treated. I know how he was berated. I know how he was rejected.
I know how people tried to set their theology above his theology. I know how at the end, he was beaten and abused and crucified. I'm a witness to the sufferings of Christ, and I'm also a partaker of the glory that is to be revealed. I'm looking forward to the incorruptible hope that I've just been telling you all about. This is what I'm asking of you elders.
And if you're if you're saying, well, I've never been an elder of a church. I've never been a part of a church where I was a leader. Are you a part of a family where you're a leader? Are you a teacher where you lead a flock of students? Are you, in any way, is your example before others?
Are you a part of a board on which you're leading? I think if so, you can take this as elders. Shepherd the flock of God that's among you. Take care to take care of them. Exercise an oversight, not under compulsion, not because you're compelled to, not because you have to, but because you get to.
It's not under compulsion, but voluntarily. I mean, Jesus sacrificed his life voluntarily. And we are to be giving ourselves for others voluntarily. Not because we have to, but because we get to and we want to and according to the will of God, not for sordid gain. If you hear prosperity preachers preaching, you're not gonna hear them preaching from first Peter very often.
Not for sordid gain, not for unheard of wealth. It's not for lucrative purposes that we do this. Not for sordid gain, but with eagerness. I am eager to be an example. And I might just say this, your example is much more important than your opinion.
Can I say that again? Your example is more important than your opinion. With eagerness. Nor yet as lording it over those allotted to your charge. If you are in leadership, you know what it's like to have somebody that just does not want to do what you think they ought to do.
Don't lord it over them. It's a harsh taskmaster. But prove to be examples to the flock. Your example is more important than your opinion. When the chief shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.
It goes from elders to you younger folks also. Men can be men and women if it's not differentiated. So you younger folks also, be subject to your elders. They've been through a lot. They know what it's like.
They have been through things and they have learned lessons you have not yet come to know. And it's a wise person who can learn from the example of others. You younger men, likewise, be subject to your elders and all of you, all of you, elders and youngers, all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another. Humility is very important. Clothe yourselves with humility toward one another.
Why? And this is a quote, for God is opposed to the proud, but he gives grace to the humble. That's not the only place in the New Testament we see it. I mentioned the righteous shall live by faith two weeks ago as quoted three times in the New Testament. It's an Old Testament passage quoted three times.
This is quoted twice, and it's in two very similar books. One of them is first Peter and the other one's James, and this is the James passage. It says, he gives greater grace. When you're going through hard times, God gives you the grace that is required to be able to get you through those times. And therefore, it says, God's opposed to the proud, but he gives grace to the humble.
Okay. Thank you, James, for restating that. God opposes the proud. And I defy you to read the Old Testament and see anywhere where anybody is proud and doesn't receive a little opposition from God. It happens.
But I also ask for you to look and see if you see someone who is humble before God and see what mighty things he's able to accomplish through those people. James says, submit therefore to God. Submit, meaning humble yourself before God. Resist the devil, he'll flee from you. Come close to God, he'll come close to you.
You don't have to do this all on your own. In fact, you can't do it all on your own. You can do some of it. It says so. Cleanse your hands, you sinners.
Purify your hearts, you double minded. Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord and he will lift you up, exalt you. That's James. Back to our passage in first Peter. Here it is.
Therefore, humble yourselves. It's an imperative. It's a command form. So Peter is saying with the authority God has given him and the example that he's given him, he already recognizes what it's like to not humble yourself. I will never deny you even though they may not me.
That's a proud statement, is it not? And three times before the rooster crowed, he had denied him. And honestly, Peter would have been worthless had he not been humbled. But he he had the choice of humbling himself when Jesus said, Peter, man, come on. This book even says that first and second Peter all testify to the be careful lest ye fall.
Be careful because pride goes before a fall. So humble yourselves is an imperative under the mighty hand of God. If God is almighty I use this one a lot in marriage counseling too. If God is almighty, and he is. If God is almighty, and you believe he's put you together, do you?
Yes. Alright. Then can he keep you together? He's almighty God. He's got all the resources.
Therefore, humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God so that he may exalt you at the proper time. I love a good henna clause. The word in Greek is henna. That is for a purpose or a result. And what God purposes is what he's gonna get in results so that he may exalt you at the proper time.
If you will humble yourselves, then God will exalt you. The first is on you. The second is on him. Actually, James just said the same thing, humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord and he will exalt you. It's a sort of a promise that if you will be listening humbly before God, he will exalt you at the proper time.
That's not just an immediate thing. It's at the proper time. And then we have kind of a clause that's underneath humbling yourself. It is a part of humbling yourself. Humbling yourself under the mighty hand of God that he may exalt you at the proper time requires this.
Casting all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. It gives us the why too, which is awesome. Casting all of your anxiety on him. The word casting I did a I did a Mexican renewal of vows, a wedding yesterday, but it was a renewal of vows for people who've been married for forty years. And there's a word in Spanish that's is to cast, to throw this, to put It's used for other things too, but it's a it's to to take this off of yourself and cast it, throw it on, in this case, God.
Casting on your anxiety on God because he cares for you. Casting. So the way that we use it in English, casting is like this. Cast a boat, cast lots, cast away. Someone who's been alone on an island because they just were thrown off of a boat usually.
They wash up on shore and there's we don't express the he's a rescued one, not a castaway anymore. As long as he's on that island by himself, he's a castaway. He's thrown out there. To cast a vote, if anything messes with it from the time that you cast your vote until the time that it's counted, that's not that's funny business. Right?
That's not cool. Casting lots. Can you imagine being in a gambling hall and shaking up the dice and throwing them down there and getting a five and then switching it to a seven? No. That's cheating.
That's not allowed. It's not casting if you monkey with it. Okay? Are y'all with me? I went from dining hall I mean, went from the ballot box to the to the gambling hall.
This is a weird place or to a desert island somewhere. Okay. Think about this. The die has been cast. That means once it's thrown, don't monkey with it.
You don't change it. It's it's been cast. It's whatever comes, let the chips fall where they may. Right? That's just the way it is.
I love this one. I think of this one all the time. So if we are to live lives of righteousness, occasionally, we're gonna need to be generous at a time when we can't be or feel like we can't be. And it it says, it's an old testament proverb, cast your bread upon the waters. Just throw it out there.
Do it as God leads. Cast your bread upon the waters and it'll return to you in many days. But that's not up to you. Your responsibility is to do the casting, to put it out there. I also think this is another way that this word is used in the New Testament.
Let him who is without sin. Remember that? The lady caught in adultery. They caught her red handed. The law says they can stone her.
They've all got their stones in their hands, and they bring her to Jesus. They're trying to trick him. They're trying to get him to be complicit and evil. And they have their stones in their hand. He says, let him who is without sin, which honestly, that's Jesus.
Cast the first stone, throw it. Stoning someone's a hard thing to take back, is it not? If you if you throw that stone, you've thrown that stone. Casting a line. I put a question mark on that one.
This is proper and this is the way that we use it. But if you cast a line, you're deep sea fishing and you kinda throw it out there. That's casting the line. That's throwing it out there. Now this, or pushing the button and bringing it back.
Bringing it back. That's a different thing. The casting is the throwing it out there and leaving it and letting it do what happens. And then if you gotta bring it back in, gotta bring wait a second. No.
Casting it's throwing it out there. Around here, it's not this. It's not that. Y'all do this kind of thing with the line where you're throwing it and bringing it back and throwing it and bringing back. And when it gets to be absolutely perfect, you sling it out there.
And then you mend your line. And you're constantly mending the line, touching. Gotta get that line mended. If you're casting all of your anxiety on God, the casting it is the throwing it on him, to put it on him, to cast it on him. Don't be mending the line.
Don't be trying to fix it. Oh, that cast wasn't quite good enough. Gotta do it again. I gotta do it again. I gotta do it again.
Let me reel that one back. Let me ask him again tomorrow. I mean, honest before God is a good thing. But to believe that almighty God has not heard you and cannot do something about what you're worried about, that's a lack of faith. He's telling you in this paragraph, humble yourself and recognize I'm almighty.
I got it. So to throw upon or to place upon, it's the aorist active participle of epiripto. And epiripto means to give up to or to cast upon, to throw away, to throw it off. Give him your anxieties. Now, strictly grammatically because it's that aorist participle, having cast on him.
Now, you're a believer in Jesus and he's saved you and he's sanctifying you, it's good to know this. At the cross, at the cross is where your sin has been dealt with. At the cross, at the cross is where your anxieties were dealt with. So having cast all your anxiety on him, he cares for you. Trust him.
One of the hardest things that I mentioned in my little prologue in between songs that knowing what you did that was sinful, words, actions, and thoughts were important for bringing you to a place of grief about a sin you can do nothing about. You got a problem you can't do anything about. If you know that what can wash away my sin, nothing but the blood of Jesus. God, forgive me. Put this guilt away from me.
Lord, I cast this on you and trust you to deal with it. The hardest thing for Christians in my experience in all counseling that I've done is not those first three steps. The first three steps of knowing what it was, knowing how it makes you feel, and handing it over to God. That's not the hard part. The hard part is receiving the forgiveness that God gives.
If you are confessing, he is forgiving. That's what he does. And he promises to go beyond that and cleanse you from all unrighteousness. So having cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you is important. Right now, we've only got one imperative under our belt.
We're going for four. So humble yourselves. Casting your anxiety on him is one thing. Casting is a part of humbling. Be of sober spirit.
The next one, next imperative is be of sober spirit. And honestly, the italics there means it's been added in the New American Standard Version. Why they added it? I'm not sure. Maybe.
Because our word sober has come to mean mostly just alcohol. And it's not just that. Or just drugs. And it's not just that. But be of sober spirit.
Maybe a better straight up translation is be sober. Be circumspect, like able, have your wits about you. Be vigilant. Be un intoxicated, quite literally. Not altered when they say you're driving under the influence, right?
Don't be under the influence of some intoxication. And it can be pretty much any thing. Be temperate. Don't be overly reliant upon anything else to take away your pain. Be temperate.
Be self controlled. All those are decent translations. Have your wits about you. I heard somebody came to the office for counsel and said that they had quit drinking at 14. They started at 11.
Very difficult childhood. And at 14 realized that I can't keep on going like this because I don't have any control of myself. And people take advantage of that. So have your wits about you. Be of sober spirit.
Be sober. The next, that's an imperative. So that's the second one. Humble yourselves into the mighty hand of God and be sober and be on the alert. Be on the alert is just that.
Paying attention. I know people ask me about, well, how's it going with your diet?
Speaker 2You look like you've lost weight. And I say, well, I do all right as long
Speaker 1as I'm paying attention. If I'm on the alert and I can keep myself out of the McDonald's drive through, I'm doing all right. Right? Be on the alert. I know what works, and I know what doesn't work.
And if I'm paying attention, in my case it's by writing down everything that I eat just so I'm honest with myself about what I've eaten that day, be on the alert. It helps. Be sober. Don't go for that intoxication. And be on the alert.
Now, there are other translations for that. That's an imperative. Two, it's a command. So humble yourselves, casting your cares, be sober, and be on alert. Now, be watchful.
That's a good translation. Be vigilant is a good one. I think there's one in here that's going to hurt your feelings. Yep. That's the one.
Sorry. Stay woke. Alright. That one that one has been co opted a little bit. But but consider this.
Ephesians five. Right? Ephesians five, he says, wake up, oh sleeper. Wake up, oh sleeper, and let Christ shine upon you, and don't just go back to sleep. Once God reveals something to you that is a problem area in your life and he gives you the victory over it, don't go backwards.
Okay? Keep watching. Stay intently focused and alert. Be sober. Be on the alert.
So why? Why? Why? Why? Because you're adversary.
That's nice to know we have an adversary. It's not just us. It's not just gray matter between our ears. We have an actual adversary. And it's been said that the best trick that the devil ever did was to convince the world he didn't exist.
Your adversary, antidicas is the word. Antidicas is properly a prosecuting attorney. It's the guy who's got the list of the charges. He's got all the evidence against you, and he is arguing the case against you. He is your opponent at law.
He's an accuser, an adversary, a prosecutor, bringing the formal charges, trying to exact the penalty. If you're unclear about who the adversary, the prosecuting attorney, or the accuser of the brethren is, it's the devil. Says so very clearly. Your adversary, the devil, Satan, he acts as an adversary. He's bringing the suit of darkness against believers for their eternal damnation.
Now he does have the facts, but he will twist them in any way that he can. This says that he's like a roaring lion. He is prowling like a roaring lion. I I mentioned in the first service, don't know how many of y'all remember the Christian singer Carmen. Do you remember that from the eighties and nineties?
I went to a concert and I ended up with a t shirt. I don't remember buying the t shirt. I hope I didn't steal the t shirt. But it says it was a black t shirt and it said the next time the devil reminds you of your past, remind him of his future. Ain't that good?
Prowls around like a roaring lion. And he's seeking someone to devour. But resist him. Now James has already said resist him and he'll flee from you. But this one says resist him in a specific way.
Resist him. And it's an imperative. This is the fourth imperative. It's the last one. These are the things we're responsible for.
Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, casting your cares. Be sober. Be vigilant. Resist the devil. Those are the imperatives.
James has told us too. The imperatives so far, you've already gotten them. I've said them 12 times. I'm really playing the teacher today, repeating myself. Humble yourself.
Be of sober spirit. Be on alert. Resist the devil. Resist him though specifically firming your faith. In the last five years, the thing that's probably been the most significant in my own spiritual life is really taking the 12 steps seriously.
I didn't have a problem with alcohol, but I was helping someone through who did. And so I said, if you're going go through the steps, I'm going through the steps. We all have a problem we can't do anything about. So walking that out. It's been really helpful.
Firm in your faith. Firm in your faith is important. Actually, you notice the italics, your up there is in italics. That was added in. It helps it flow in English, and it's good, especially if you're considering it for your own self.
But it says firm in the faith, the actual faith. The faithfulness of God and the faith that I discussed two weeks ago. Be firm in the faith because Christ conquers. Christ is victorious, and we can be firm in the faith. Resist the devil.
Firm in your faith knowing that all of those charges, though they be true, do not stand because they've been dealt with at the cross. At the cross, where I first saw the light. Right? Be resistant. Firm in the faith.
James says, submit therefore to God. Resist the devil. He'll flee from you. You can, firm in the faith, resist the devil and win. That goes on from there.
It kinda turns a corner here. I love this. It says, knowing this. Knowing this. Resist the devil.
Knowing this. Knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brothers and sisters who are in the world. I like that. To know that you're not the only one who's struggling is helpful. That's another reason why the 12 steps works.
If you work them together with other people. If you work them together with other people, you'll see other people's suffering and it will help ease your own. Don't feel like the lone ranger. Okay? You're not the only one who's doing good.
You're not the only one. You're not the only one out there. It is an evil world. The generation is evil. It says it in Ephesians five.
It says it multiple times in first Peter, but you're not the only one. And when we band together and we will humble ourselves before God and with one another, when we will help each other to stay sober and vigilant and resist the devil, it helps. No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to the human experience, to mankind. God is faithful. He won't allow you to be tempted behind what you're able, but with that temptation, he'll also provide you a way of escape so that you will be able to endure it.
Amen. I I like this too, and I highlighted it for myself. We don't think of suffering as something to be accomplished. We think of it as something to be endured. But the same experiences of suffering, and much of first Peter is about suffering for righteousness sake or to be experiencing unjust suffering like Christ.
He says specifically, don't don't don't suffer because you're a murderer or an evildoer or a gossip, a thief. If you do that, then that's on you. But if you are suffering because of your following after Christ, that's to be expected. That's actually an accomplishment.
Speaker 2It's tough,
Speaker 1but it's true. Okay. Right here, this is a little quip too. The example is more important than your opinion. That's one to write down, I think.
But there's another one. If people hate you because you love Jesus, that's to be expected. But if people hate Jesus because you're a jerk, that's on you. That's not cool. That's not okay.
The same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brothers and sisters who are in the world. And here, we've really turned the corner. And after you have suffered for a little while, this life is but a blip in eternity. After you have suffered for a little while. The God of all grace.
Amen. The God of all grace, unmerited favor, who called you into his eternal glory in Christ, he will himself perfect you. That's good. Actually, are four things. There are four things that we can do, and there are four things that God will do.
If you count that if you humble yourselves, he exalts you. There are five things God's gonna do, but there are four of them that fit perfectly in this paragraph into the sermon. He will himself perfect you. And to perfect means to mend or put in order, to arrange, to adjust, or to tune so as to render fit. To make sound complete, lacking nothing.
Amen. We sang in the first service about God being the the artist, the potter, and we are the clay. Ephesians mentions, we are his workmanship. He is doing the perfecting. And I might say again too that an acorn is perfect, and the little sprout is perfect, and the sapling is perfect, and the oak tree is perfect.
It's a process. This is as mature as you can be at this point. God will do the maturing if you'll humble yourself. After you've suffered for a little while, the God of all grace who called you into his eternal glory in Christ Jesus will himself perfect and confirm you. To confirm means to fix or set fast, to give support and secure.
To firmly establish, to solidly plant, and to eliminate vacillation. In both Peter and James, especially in James, he talks about double mindedness and that vacillation between the things of the world and the things of God, and trying to keep a foot in both camps, he's saying, God will, if you'll humble yourself, if you'll stay sober, if you'll stay vigilant, if you'll resist the devil, he will eliminate the vacillation. He'll perfect. He'll confirm. He'll strengthen you.
Strengthen look at this definition, to make strong. That's on God. When you walk past the temptation and you don't go for it, it is like flexing a muscle. But God is the one who is helping to make you strong. And the last one right there is to establish you.
He will perfect, confirm, strengthen, and establish, and the definition for that one is to found. To lay the foundation as to go back to Mike's message last week is those of you who will take these words of mine, Jesus says, all the parables, take these words of mine and act on them will be like a man who has built his house on a solid foundation on the solid rock. To found, to lay the foundation, both literally and metaphorically, it's a construction term. Perfect, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. So those, there they are.
Now the last one, it it almost seems like a throwaway. I'll come back to it. To him be the glory forever and ever. To him be the dominion forever and ever. That sounds like just a a way to end the service, doesn't it?
It's like the benediction at the end. Ah, yeah. But it's not. I'll come back to that. If y'all will do these, I've said them a thousand times, God will be doing these.
And let's let him. Your your desire for perfection, for confirmation, for strengthening, for establishing, it really has steps that that you can do. Humbling yourself is one of And I like that it's plural because we can do it together. One of the reasons why 12 step programs work is that we go to meetings. Right?
And we are doing that too. We're going to a meeting right here to band together. Be sober, be on alert, resist the devil. He'll do those. Now, to him be dominion forever and ever.
Dominion is not just the ability to do something, but also the authority to do it. Not just the authority, but the ability. So almighty God. It's an attribution if you say to him. To him be all of the power and authority forever and ever.
That's good. But it like I said, it sounds like a throwaway benediction, like we just do that before we end things, and we are about to end things. In him, oh, union with Christ is what it's all about. In Christ, there is power forever and ever. I have a problem I can't do anything about.
There is a higher power power who can restore me to sanity. Third step is I'm gonna let him. So you look and say, he's all powerful. He's more powerful than me. In him, I can resist the temptation.
In him be dominion forever and ever. With him. With him on my side. Nobody can win. Though if Christ is for us, who can be against us?
Paul says. With him, there's power forever and ever. Amen. By him, by your name, Lord. Not by might nor by power, but by your spirit says the Lord.
By him, there's power forever and ever. Amen. So to him be the glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. If y'all do these, he'll do these.
And I think there's one more slide maybe. It's the the ideas go together. I'm gonna use this slide to go into a transition into communion. This also sounds just like a little blessing benediction. Would I get the ushers?
Can I get the ushers to come forward? Ray, thank you for doing this. And now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God, our father, who loved us and he who gave us eternal comfort and good hope through his unmerited favor, may he comfort your hearts and establish them in every good work and every good word. I'm gonna pray right now. God, would you would you take what we will give over to you, Lord?
We wanna cast them and leave them with you. If we do that, Lord, I'm sure you'll reveal something new to us that we need to cast on you. But may we be over those things that you've taught us. May we be able to let go of the anxiety and give it over to you and walk in your peace and your hope and your comfort. And as we celebrate this time, Lord, we practice an open table here.
Anybody who has ever put their faith in Christ is welcome to lay their burden down and receive. A representative little wafer that represents the body of Christ that he walked out with perfect submission to the will and the spirit of God, and the sacrificial death that he shed his blood represented by this little plastic cup of grape juice. Lord God, I pray that we would be recognizing that we can lay down our lives before your spirit. And Lord, we can live lives of true sacrifice that make a difference in the lives of others and in our own. And all of that we can do humbly before you with great joy.
In Jesus' name, we ask your blessing on these elements as we distribute them. Amen. As I mentioned in the prayer, we do practice an open table. So, it's not a denominational thing or a local church thing. If you trust Jesus, please feel free to partake as a disciple of Christ.
Scripture tells that on the same night that Jesus was betrayed, he took bread after supper and after he had given thanks, he said to his disciples who were there and his voice is still ringing in echoes. This is my body which was given for you. He lived his life serving others. This is my body which is given for you. Take this, take it in, eat of it, and do it as often as you will in remembrance of me.
It also says that he took the cup in the same manner that he had taken the bread with complete humility, I think. And he was explaining something that there's no way they could understand then, but they remembered it and they understood it thereafter. It's been reported back to us and we can get a fuller picture of it here today. He said to them, this is the new covenant in my blood. Trust me, humble yourselves.
This is the new covenant in my blood. Take this and drink of it and do it as often as you will in remembrance of me. Amen. We're gonna sing a closing song, Just a Closer Walk With Thee. Would you stand with us and consider the words as we sing them?
Amen. And as a benediction today, let's go to this from Ephesians six. Finally then, be strong in the Lord. Be strong in the Lord. Humbling yourself before him.
Be strong in him and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take a stand against the devil's schemes. Resist him. He'll flee from you. Resist him.
Firm in the faith. Take a stand against his schemes by doing the things that we can do and allow God to do what he does. In Jesus name, amen. Amen.
