[0:00] You're listening to the sermon podcast of Grace Reformed Church in Spring Hill, Tennessee. To learn more about us, visit our website at gracereformed.org.
[0:11] And now, today's sermon. I think it's safe to say that everyone in this room has felt anxiety or fear at some point in your life, if not at this very moment.
[0:25] But telling someone to simply not be anxious or giving them all the reasons they have to not be anxious doesn't permanently remove the cause for anxiety.
[0:41] Trust me, I wish it did. I can remember when my children were little, and they were afraid of the dark, like most children are.
[0:52] It's normal. And the conversation I wish I had was this. Hey, Dad, can you leave the hall light on? Why? Well, I don't like being here alone in the dark.
[1:07] You'll be fine. There's no reason to worry. Okay, thanks, Dad. No problem, son. And at 1 a.m., I have a new visitor in my bed.
[1:21] Because the darkness is a fearful thing. Well, Peter, thankfully, doesn't just tell the church, stop being anxious.
[1:33] Just stop it. There's nothing for you to worry about. Don't you know that God's in control? No, he himself experienced the anxiety of his own life.
[1:44] How often he had failed and turned against his God. And so as a precious and tender pastor, as we have seen in this book, Peter's entire letter is designed to help the church endure suffering and hardship without falling into anxiety and walking through the hardship with the opposite of anxiety, which is anticipating joy and hopefulness.
[2:11] I want to show this morning how Peter is breaking down this letter. Some of you are visiting for the first time this morning, and this is a good refreshment as we come to the end of the letter, to understand that you can't just take these few verses and apply them without the context behind them.
[2:30] And so I want to quickly show you how Peter gets to the point where he can look at the congregation in his letter and say, here's why you can humble yourself.
[2:42] And here's why you don't have to be anxious. He creates a foundation for them. So here are the four comforts that Peter provides to the church as preparation for this instructions that they can lay down their anxiety.
[2:57] So I'm going to go ahead and give them to you up front, and then we'll work through them. So Peter comforts the church in their status. He says, your status is forever fixed. Then he comforts them in their purpose, which is to be the proclaimers of Christ.
[3:14] Then he talks about their circumstances. Because of your status and because of your purpose, your circumstances change. You're going to now be one who suffers for Christ.
[3:27] And then this is where we find ourselves. He finally gets to what kind of attitude do we have? In light of these three, our status, our purpose, and circumstance, what kind of attitude do we have? And Peter says, we don't have one that is anxious, but one that is humble.
[3:41] So let's start with our status. We always have to have something we can point back to that removes the anxiety and the fear.
[3:52] I know that there are many here who struggle with anxiety. I do. There are times there's much to worry about. There's much to fret over. It's a natural thing for our flesh to want to be in control.
[4:05] And the moment we feel that we don't have control, that's when anxiety comes in. So how does Peter start his letter? It's beautiful. Turn with me to 1 Peter chapter 1.
[4:16] We're just going to work through the book here quickly. But 1 Peter chapter 1, he wants to make sure they understand how they stand before their God, the one to whom they're supposed to trust.
[4:29] So 1 Peter 1, 3. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead to an inheritance that is imperishable and defiled and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last times.
[4:56] In this you rejoice. Sometimes we forget that the letters were read all at once. This was months ago, because we take a long time to go through books. This is months ago that we covered this.
[5:07] But I want to refresh our minds that Peter has the introduction very much as the foundation of his command to not be anxious. There is, when you read this, there is nothing left but the celebration of joy because when you realize what you have been given, you have nothing left to add to it.
[5:31] It's complete. There's no oil changes. There's no maintenance costs. There's no insurance policies. He says everything that you could ever possibly need is given to you.
[5:46] Even better, even better, he says, it's kept by God's power. By God's power. We are safe.
[5:58] And this is important because the contrast would be our ability to maintain or add or prove ourselves in some way to the Father. But he says, in this you rejoice because there's nothing left for you to do as to the relationship that you have with God.
[6:12] Be careful of any teaching or theology that you come across that tells you that your level of obedience determines your destination. This is becoming very popular again.
[6:30] Your power in keeping or your position in keeping this relationship with God is based upon your response and obedience.
[6:40] And might I ask you a question? Does God ever tell you just how much obedience is required of you for you to prove you are worthy?
[6:51] For you to earn the status of secure? That would mean you are keeping your inheritance and this relationship you have in your power, which is the exact opposite of what Peter says.
[7:03] But this is what we're being told, that we are saved by grace through faith, but if you're going to make it to the end, it is your faithfulness, it's your perseverance, it's your obedience.
[7:14] We'll use words like a living faith versus a dead faith. That a living faith is one that will produce fruit, which I agree with. It is the outflow and the outcome of our life, but it is not the obligation of our salvation.
[7:30] This is why he says, if you go back and look at verse six again, he says, in this you rejoice. Remember the rejoicing is connected to what we have received.
[7:42] It's not connected to your circumstance because, look at the next portion of the verse, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials.
[7:55] I've been pastoring this church for seven years. There's, everyone in here, I know your name and your face except for the visitors and I got to know your name, some of you this morning. I know the trials.
[8:07] I know the weight. I know the various kinds of things that you struggle with, that I struggle with, and yet Peter separates that from our reasons for rejoicing.
[8:21] This is so important to understand. The trials are not the results of something we've done wrong or others have done wrong and that God needs to come and correct you and say, if you would have done this, the trial would have never happened.
[8:35] He says, oh no, it's necessary for you to go through some of these trials, but the reasons for your rejoicing are static because it's past tense. It's what's been done.
[8:47] This is so important. We always think about the potential of what could be or we have presently what we want and the potential of what could not be, which is losing it.
[8:59] And yet Peter says, you have every reason to rejoice, every morning because you have been secured in the power of God and nothing can change that. But that doesn't mean that our situations are going to change.
[9:12] They are. So this is why Peter tells the church, if you look at verse 13, 1 Peter 1, 13, that we have to look past the present world and find that our joy remains not in how we experience life, but in what is to come.
[9:30] So look at verse 13. Therefore, preparing your minds for action and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you when? At the revelation of Jesus Christ.
[9:44] Well, when's that? Well, that's when everything is done. Everything's over. That's not now. That's later. This is, to be frank, this is hard for even me.
[9:59] I know that some of you think that I have this special gift for the Spirit because, well, I'm one of the elders and the Spirit comes and resides on me in supernatural, powerful ways. Some of you may never come back after hearing this, but I'm a sheep just like you.
[10:14] I have sin and problems. And I look at this and go, really, Jesus? It's not getting better until you come back? Kind of.
[10:26] Not excited about that. But when your focus is on the wrong perspective of life, it's easy to find this.
[10:37] This is why I think Peter, so many times, next week we're really going to dive into this, what's this concept of being sober-minded, being watchful? But he's like, look, you've got to prepare your mind for this. You're about to go into a mind warfare, the attack of the heart and the soul through the mind.
[10:53] He says, look, there is so much joy and relief coming, but it's when he returns. Please keep your hope there. Set your hope fully on the grace that is to come, not in the current circumstances you find yourself in.
[11:08] So you have a reason to rejoice and you have a reason to be hopeful, but it has nothing to do with your current status. And this is so hard, right? We want our current status to be that which determines whether we can be in charge of the joy or the hope.
[11:24] And Jesus says, or Peter through Jesus says, no, your joy is resting in Christ and your hope is resting in Christ and neither one of those are connected to you.
[11:35] So then what about life now? Do we just kind of hunker down, go buy some canned food and wait for him to return? No, absolutely not. This leads us to our purpose, point number two.
[11:48] So the status, our status is forever fixed. And now we talk about our purpose, which is to proclaim Christ. Look at chapter two with me in verse nine. He's getting past their identity and now moving on to, okay, here's what you're going to do.
[12:08] First Peter two, nine. But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession that you might proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
[12:26] To have this perspective requires a new mindset. You have to set your mind to think in a new way. The world around us lives to satisfy their every passion.
[12:43] And yet, Peter calls the church to live with a different purpose. Look at verse 11. He says, 1 Peter 2, 11. Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles, he's saying, you don't belong in this mindset or in this world as if it's a place of home where you rest.
[13:05] I recently took my daughter to school and dropped her off. We stayed two nights in a hotel. Did not rest those two nights in that hotel. And when I finally laid my head down on my bed, there was this moment of like, okay, I can relax.
[13:23] This is home. This is my place. And Peter's like, I know you want that, but it's not there. You're going to live in that constant state of uncomfortable because you're in exile.
[13:37] You've been put out. You're a sojourner. You're traveling. There's no place for you to call home yet because it's, well, it's the hope of the grace that is to come. So he says, beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh which wage war against the soul.
[13:55] This is what people are doing in their home today. And those who embrace the world as their home, the only way to feel comfortable in this home is to give in to the indulgings of your flesh to sinfully live.
[14:09] Then you fit in here. This is why Jesus says, you will never fit in in the world because the world pursues the passions of their flesh and they hate me because I'm here to rescue them from it. So therefore, if they hate me, they're going to hate you.
[14:21] Look at verse 21. 1 Peter 2, 21. For to this you have been called because Christ also suffered for you leaving you an example so that you might follow in his steps.
[14:34] For those of us who say, I am a follower of Jesus. I want to be saved by him. I loved him. But this whole suffering thing, I'm good with that. You, John, you have fun with that.
[14:45] I'm going to do my own thing. Peter's like, you don't understand. If you've been called by his name, you've been called to suffer. This is a very unpopular sermon to preach in these type of days because no one wants to be told to follow Jesus leads to a life of suffering.
[15:01] I grew up in an era where we enticed people, is your life horrible? Is your life a wreck? Is your life got all kinds of problems? Come to Jesus and it'll get better. And I'm like, man, I got the wrong Jesus because it's not getting better, dude.
[15:16] This is horrible. And I saw a lot of people turned away from the church because they were given a prosperity Jesus, a prosperity gospel. They were pitched the idea that life got better.
[15:30] Oh, it does. There's real joy and there's real hope. I thought someone was attacking me there for a moment. Anyways, what was I talking about?
[15:44] Fear? I'm just going to move this up a little bit. I won't fall off. But we were pitching them a lie. You see, when you show someone you're going to be freed from the prison of your soul.
[16:03] You're going to be set free from sin. You're going to have a God who loves you. He will provide everything that you need to accomplish this life. But the moment you stand up and say, Jesus is king.
[16:17] He is the savior of sinners. The world is going to attack you. And therefore, it requires that you suffer. So he says, for this you have been called because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example so that you might follow in his steps.
[16:37] This is what the church has been dealing with for 2,000 years. It just seems like in modern days we want to change the perspective and say, nah, I think they were ignorant and unwise. There's a better way of doing this. But turn with me to chapter 3 now.
[16:52] No matter what situation you find yourself in, some people think, well, there's the missionaries will suffer or the pastor will suffer. But that's not necessarily true. The occupation that we have as the proclaimers of Christ that no matter what occupation you find yourself in, the purpose remains the same.
[17:09] My hope is in the grace that is to come and not in the pleasures of this world. So therefore, when I stand against the pleasures of this world, no matter which situation I'm in, I'm going to be faced with opposition.
[17:21] So how do we handle the opposition? As ambassadors, those who are proclaiming the excellencies of Christ, Peter tells us in chapter 3 and verse 13, he's dealing with the church that's now living for the king, what happens?
[17:35] Now, who is there to harm you? So 1 Peter 3, 13. Now, who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good? But even if you should suffer for righteousness' sake, you will be blessed.
[17:47] Have no fear of them, nor be troubled. But in your hearts, honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who has asked you for a reason for the hope that is in you.
[18:02] Yet do it with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience so that when you are slandered, those who revile you are good, revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame.
[18:16] See, there's a purpose and meaning in your suffering according to Peter. You don't know who God is leading you to. When they finally look at you and say, you know, I've mocked you, I've made fun of you, I've hurt you, and yet you just treat me with gentleness.
[18:32] What do you have that I do not? This is what Peter is saying. So we live a different life, a different way. It's really hard to respond with gentleness and hope when we're launching attacks back.
[18:51] This is what's really complicated about this time of year or this time of the seasons because people's ideologies about things become so prominent in our thinking that we lose track that we're talking to other humans who are the image bearers of God and who will also need the truth to set them free.
[19:13] Peter says, listen, the weapons of our warfare are words, therefore they come out of our mouth. And in today's world, they come out of our thumbs. By the way, it's probably a healthy thing to tell your spouse what you're thinking about to comment and say it out loud because sometimes when you say it out loud, you realize, well, that's not nice, is it?
[19:35] It's like, no, it's not. Look at chapter four and verse one. Peter says this, since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with this same way of thinking.
[19:52] Whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin so as to live for the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for human passions but for the will of God. This is the point, the vital point to our journey as we are proclaiming Christ until our death.
[20:11] But somewhere along the way, Christianity became about, as I mentioned before, but it became about victory and success in personal life. And we've lost sight of what the king calls us to.
[20:25] And when this happens, trials become almost unbearable for us because we have to connect it to some kind of faulty, either on God's part, which we have a hard time blaming God, but some people do, that we connect it to ourselves.
[20:43] But we don't live in a world where Christ's name is celebrated, not in its purity, but it's hated. For the very things that we call evil and that we need to be rescued from, the world now celebrates and calls good.
[21:01] And it's becoming more dominant, not only in the world, but also here even in the United States. The whole world is under the curse. They're blinded by the evil one.
[21:12] This is why Paul is going to warn us in the next verses that Satan is a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. Why? Because he only wants to destroy. And if you embrace the life of the world, you will be a part of self-destruction and the destruction of others.
[21:29] This is why it's so powerful what comes out of our mouths. It can either be for life or it could be to tear people down. But this is what we try and do. And this is, I do this.
[21:41] Trust me, I do this as well. I don't want our world to be a place of a battle zone and I don't want it to be under a curse. It's a beautiful place, honestly.
[21:52] There's a lot of beautiful art and people and there's lots to enjoy because God's handprint is still here. But he warns us, this is but an appetizer.
[22:03] This is but an introduction. It's corrupted and corroding. But what do we try and do to our world? We put a new fresh coat of paint on it and we add some air freshener.
[22:17] But the decaying of the world starts to bleed through. Enough time and the mold is eaten at the paint. But we as Christians are told this is how we are to live in light of the corruption of our world.
[22:34] We don't allow ourselves to fall back into the passions of it and the corruption of it but we can find our joy in what Christ is doing and the hope for our life and what is to come and we're leading others including our families towards this.
[22:51] This is why we're called to suffer because we're going to face people, beings, and spiritual entities that hate our king. So Peter's saying, please don't be shocked by this.
[23:03] Don't be surprised by the trials. And so this is where Peter turns to suffering. So he's covered our status so we understand where our foundation is, what we should be focused on, not trying to get out of the trials, trying to get out of the suffering.
[23:20] Most of our life is spent trying to get rid of the suffering and Peter is saying, embrace it. This is part of what you have been called to which then now leads us to the circumstances. Let's talk a little bit more about these circumstances of suffering for Christ.
[23:34] This is chapter 4 in verse 12. He says this, Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you as though something strange were happening to you.
[23:48] This is probably the hardest verse in the Bible to comprehend. He's like, it's strange for you not to go through a trial if we're going to reverse this.
[23:59] It's strange for you if you're not suffering. I've met people who it seems they've got no problems in life at all. They're happy, everything's good, no problems, nothing can knock them off.
[24:16] And I'm like, what drug are you on? Can you share please? What's going on here? And Peter's like, hey look, you shouldn't be surprised. The reason why I'm trying to harbor down on this so much is that it's going to make sense once we get to the anxiety section of Peter's instructions.
[24:34] So let's read 12 and 13. He says, beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you as though something strange were happening to you but rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.
[24:51] This is the same thing James says, count it all joy when you face various trials. This is so strange. crunch. And I backed into somebody the other day and as soon as I heard the crunch, you know, it came out of my mouth.
[25:08] Oh, great. Like this, this is not how I wanted to start my week. And it's funny because I'm, this is in the back of my head and I'm like, Peter, rejoice.
[25:20] Rejoice trials. Rejoice. Whatever, Peter. Ain't nobody going to rejoice by me slamming into somebody else. And I knew I was at fault because, well, I was in reverse, so.
[25:34] Don't you judge me. I've seen some of your cars in the parking lot. I think there's a rejoicing because we, we've missed why we suffer.
[25:49] we're suffering because we're actually effectively pushing the darkness back and the light is showing and when the light shows, that's when the suffering comes.
[26:02] And he goes, that's something to be excited about. You actually are being effective in your life. If you're suffering, you're being effective in your life. But also, if you're rejoicing, even if you're not being persecuted for your faith, but you're just suffering in general.
[26:21] Suffering because of the curse in our bodies. There's many in this room who are suffering under the curse of their bodies. They're fighting against the cancers of life. It applies because he says various trials in James because you can smile and say, ah, this is but temporary.
[26:39] this will not last. Peter wrote this because it is something that we're all going to struggle with and it's a good reminder to have.
[26:52] We often want life that's the opposite of what God has promised because we think we're wise and we think we understand. But there is an essence.
[27:07] If you turn with 1 Peter 4, 16, Peter, 1 Peter 4, 16, Peter says something that is fascinating and at times I was really wrestling through trying to explain this this week and he says this, yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, okay, so now he's talking the difference between like suffering because I don't have any money and my family's starving and now I'm suffering from my faith.
[27:30] So he points directly at this now, yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed but let him glorify God in that name. The idea here is when you're suffering for the sake of what you're standing for, it's because we're not winning in the eyes of the world.
[27:54] We're being mocked and ridiculed. This is very hard. The disciples thought there was going to be a victorious overflow. The angels were coming and boom, domination once again by Israel and Jesus looks at Peter and says, put your sword away, Peter, you misunderstood.
[28:11] The way to glory and the fighting of this war is through death. It's not through life. You pick up a cross, not a sword. You use words, not fists.
[28:24] And as we watch our brothers and sisters die, this is what's happening in the first century church. It seems humiliating. And he says, don't be ashamed of this. Don't be ashamed.
[28:37] For this is advancing the very way in which God wants it to be advanced. Today there is a movement that's called Christian nationalism. Some of you may have even heard of it called theonomy.
[28:48] In which we want to restore the nation, in our view, the United States, to that which is a God-fearing nation back underneath the Old Testament law. The laws that are in our courthouses.
[29:00] And we get really angry with those who do not agree with us or do not abide by the law. And so much so, we say things that are terrifying to the extreme nature of God's justice and wrath coming upon the United States.
[29:20] And instead of, with gentleness and meekness, being ready to answer the hope that we have, it seems these movements are offering the judgment only unless they repent and stop acting in ways that are ungodly.
[29:38] You see, no one in this room was ever saved for your repentance from ungodliness to godliness. You were saved because a God reached down and brought you out of death into life.
[29:49] And then He put upon you His Spirit and the joy of His Son. And He says, now live in light of this. And yet, in these movements we come very angry.
[29:59] The Olympics is a great example of this. What I saw Christians do towards sinners who are blind and being led by the kingdom of darkness. This is an important phrase.
[30:11] Remember this. Such were some of you. Paul writes to the Ephesians, such were some of you, but you were bought, but you were cleansed.
[30:23] So when we look at the world and their evil and what they are doing, we never condone it, we never promote it, we never applaud it, but we never attack them. They are our mission field.
[30:36] They are the very purpose of our existence. And so yes, we suffer as we proclaim Jesus that He can free you and set you free.
[30:47] And it could be just by the way that we love and care for our neighbor or even maybe at times our own family or our coworkers. We show them the kindness of Jesus and they respond in anger.
[31:00] Jesus says, it's okay. Peter says, rejoice in that. You don't know how God is going to use it. Paul is a great example of one who persecuted Christians and then became one of the supreme Christians of our day.
[31:14] Not our day. I'm not that old. I'm not that old. I love this. 1 Peter 4, 19 if you're still in chapter 4.
[31:24] Look at verse 19. Therefore, let those who suffer according to God's will entrust their souls to a faithful creator while doing good.
[31:35] So you're not trusting in your obedience. You're entrusting your soul to the creator who holds on to you. There's a difference. Not mocking as we said.
[31:48] You'll notice I'm not going to go back but chapter 3 verses 14 and following. While we're being mocked we are pointing to the hope that we have.
[31:59] Now we turn to chapter 5. That's the backdrop. So if you want to understand humility and anxiety you have to have this first perspective of life. Because often what we are anxious about is not connected to our life and our purpose.
[32:16] We have the wrong perspective. We all have the wrong purpose. Therefore, you're going to be anxious about pretty much everything. And it's really hard to get rid of the anxiety. So let's fix our foundation and the existence of our life our purpose our status our purpose then we'll understand our circumstances then we'll understand this attitude to be humble.
[32:37] So this is 1 Peter chapter 5 in verse 6 he says this humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you.
[32:51] Spurgeon said that humility is to make a right assessment of oneself. Do you understand the comparison? You get under God's hand.
[33:06] This it's like your power against his power. Yeah, he wins. That's why Peter uses this phrase. Spurgeon is correct. The proper assessment is I am nothing.
[33:19] I have no capacity to control anything compared to a phrase we don't really are aware with. We'll talk about this in a moment. The hand of God. So to humble is to hand over to to assume control to place oneself at the submission of another.
[33:40] Peter puts these instructions at the end of his letter after preparing us with the status. Right? So he's like the God to whom you are going to entrust yourself with this is the God that saved you.
[33:52] The God that loves you. The God that is in control of all things. And the world will mock us because it appears we are weak and meaningless. But that is not our concern.
[34:05] You see they're blind. What they call wise God says is foolish. So our focus is on the king's power and his ability. But it's really hard to hand over and to humble yourself if you're not convinced that it's for your benefit.
[34:23] It's for your good. I am so thankful God does not love me and care for me as I parent my children. you're going to do this because I said so and I'm bigger than you.
[34:38] Yet God says I love you and I care for you and I've protected you and how many times you have failed me I'll never turn against you and I will always always do what is right.
[34:53] And you can either enjoy this love and this power and protection while in this world and cast your anxiety on me or you can hold on to your anxiety and have no joy and have no hope.
[35:04] See this is very different than a long finger pointed in your face don't be scared. I find this commentator helpful he says this Peter's inference is that we are not to fight the sovereign hand of God even or especially when his hand brings us into times of testing.
[35:26] We need to remember that because he is sovereign whatever we experience must first be filtered through his strong omnipotent hand of everlasting love.
[35:39] This is what Peter is saying it has been your call it's been your it's part of the plan we're not supposed to be surprised that we're under his love and because we're under his love we're going to be under suffering and Peter says submit to that humble yourself don't try and get outside of God's plan and do it your way see the status of who you are and humble yourself if our life mission is to bring others into the hope we have in Christ enduring suffering becomes our joy for we know what it ends in so suffering becomes a problem though when our purpose of life is anything that brings suffering well that causes complications so I'll go ahead and refrain from that we will then resist God and turn away from him maybe not fully in our faith but in our actions I want you to turn back just a moment and look at what's called there's this phrase the hand of God it's called an anthropomorphism it's a big word but what it means is it attributes to God some kind of physical human attribute see God is a spirit he's not a man so God does not have hands but yet these are used as pictures to help us understand and relate to our
[37:01] God and Peter tells us that we are to submit not just to God but he says under the mighty hand of God all throughout the Old Testament this is a picture that is used that when something was moved and nature was changed and power was displayed it said it was under his hand as if one who controls something you can write these down just for the sake of time this is Exodus chapter 3 and verse 19 you know this story he's dealing with the children of Israel being in Egypt and he tells Moses this but I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless compelled by a mighty hand so I will stretch out my hand and strike Egypt with all the wonders that I will do in it after that he will let you go see this is a part of the theology that Peter is talking about submit your hand to the God who dealt with Egypt those who enslaved Israel Deuteronomy 324 oh
[38:03] Lord God you have only begun to show your servant your greatness and your mighty hand for what God is there in heaven or on earth who can do such works and mighty acts as yours this is the theme these Israelites understood that it was this metaphor that God's hand was that which guided them and protected them over 35 times in the Psalms you will read them singing about the mighty hand of God who moved in creation and guided and protected and led them so we're not humbling ourselves under defeat or under suffering just because well there is no other option we're not throwing up a white flag in defeat saying we lost the world won Peter is saying let God do it his way stop fighting him stop fighting him I love how Jesus uses this concept of a mighty hand this is John 10 28 probably one of my favorite passages to comfort my heart and for those of you that struggle wondering can
[39:08] God save me you need to ask yourself can you get out of the hand of God who has shown his power through all the Old Testament that's the hand you're put in look at John 10 28 I give them eternal life you didn't earn it you received it and they will never perish and no one will snatch them out of my hand my father who has given them to me is greater than all and no one is able to snatch them out of my father's hand your entire existence is held by the hand of the creator so we're placing ourselves out of control out of our will out of our ideas I had someone ask me this week why did God choose to save someone not others I said I don't know ask him he's never told anybody we can't always make sense of what God does but what I can see is his power and his promises and he's never failed and so I may not always understand what he does but
[40:09] I know that in the end it is for my good and his glory but that doesn't mean that our entire life of submitting and being mocked and criticized is the entire outcome of our life Peter tells us that the end there is a madness there's an end to the madness so that at the proper time he may exalt you there will be a time where we'll go from bearing a cross and suffering for the name of Christ where we will sit with him in his glory and his honor and we will see the wonder and experience the pleasure this is what it means to be exalted to be with him no longer we will have the body to which he has this glorified body and so that is the hope that we're longing for that's the backdrop to this verse here seven he says casting all your anxieties on him because he cares for you this is what humility looks like that's the outcome if you want to know what humility is it's casting your anxieties on him to take what we worry about and hand them over to the king because he's powerful enough to handle them in ways we are not he can see the futures in ways we cannot
[41:40] I love how Oswald Chamber wrote he said that fretfulness springs from a determination to get my own way when the moment you humble yourself and say God your way is the best way I know it's through suffering and I know it's through pain but I have joy and have hope and so I'm going to humble myself and I'm going to embrace your way and you have every reason at that moment to say well then I've got nothing more to be anxious about because I'm not trying to control it another commentator wrote this the word anxiety comes from the same root as anger and it suggests the idea of choking worry chokes the life of faith it does not help us to overcome our difficulties but unfits us for dealing with them some of you know that that's exactly how it feels right anxiety feels as if something's around your throat and sitting on your chest and you just can't seem to take a breath and Peter walks over and goes
[42:47] I know a man who suffered from anxiety Spurgeon wrote this he says anxiety does not empty tomorrow of its sorrows but only empties today of its strength this is so true right we can we can feel exhausted it's true that anxiety affects our health and yet we continue to ignore the very hope that we have but then there's this time where we'll like all right lord I'm gonna trust you with this but we're gonna do like a test period here you can probably tell I've been reading a lot of Spurgeon this is a funny story that Spurgeon said in one of his sermons I heard of a man who was walking along the high road with a pack on his back he was growing weary and was therefore glad when a gentleman came along in a carriage and asked him to take a seat with him the gentleman noticed that he kept his pack strapped to his shoulders and he said why do you not put your pack down why sir said the traveler
[44:06] I do not venture to impose it was very kind of you to take me up and I would not expect you to carry my pack as well why said his friend do you not see that whatever whether your pack is on your back or off of your back I have to carry it too my hearer it is so with your trouble whether you worry or do not worry it is the Lord who must carry for you God's going to carry it no matter what which means you don't have to and that's hard because we have a hard time trusting does he really gonna do what I want him to do and I love this Peter says no he's not gonna do what you want him to do he's gonna do what's best why because he cares for you we do this with our own children our children tell us what they want we know that's not good for them but what do we tell them
[45:14] I love you I'm gonna do what's best for you probably a verse that always brings me to tears he's not in anger telling me John stop worrying when are you gonna get smart and realize I win I mean have you ever read Revelation have you seen the war it's a great book I win when are you gonna get it John no no he says oh John dear son do you see all that I've done for you what I am doing for you what I will do come here give that to me I care that you're carrying it I don't want you I'll care it for you I care for you it's a whole different kind of perspective write this down first John 4 18 and 19 John the way he described himself the apostle to whom
[46:17] Jesus loved first John 4 18 there is no fear in love but perfect love cast out fear for fear has to do with punishment and whoever fears has not been perfected in love where does the root of our love come for each other and our world it says we love because he first loved us so church all of us as we woke up this morning maybe not even knowing we're going to be talking about anxiety my encouragement to you is go back and see what your father has done see how he loves you see how he's given you not only your future but your purpose your purpose in this life and in doing your purpose you will have joy and you will have hope ignoring it you will only be left with anxiety and so does our God not only takes care of the reasons for anxiety but then calls us to cast them on him and you know what
[47:22] I love about the way this word is phrased it's not a one time act he doesn't say you got one shot bucko don't miss he says casting present tense casting every day wake up and give over to me let me be in control give your life your future all of the things that you think it should be this way humble yourself under my hand and I promise you it will work out for your good and my glory but church if you remove who you are in Christ your status if you remove what your purpose in this life is if you maintain the purpose that your life is to fulfill your desires and satisfaction then you are going to suffer differently you're going to suffer from the calamities of your own sin and no one has helped and no one is set free and so this morning as church may we all look to the confidence that we have in
[48:27] Christ read this one last quote from Dr. Martin Lowe Jones he says this I sometimes think that the very essence of the whole Christian position and the secret of a successful spiritual life is to realize two things I must have complete absolute confidence in God and no confidence in myself and that's what it means to humble and you'll have every reason to give up your anxieties let's pray our father I'm so thankful that you not require me to be anxious free to preach this sermon but lord you come to me and your kindness and your mercy and your patience and you love me a wicked sinner lord may we take these truths and encourage one another this week may we daily think of who you are for us in the gospel may we be reminded that our purpose is not to gain the attraction of this world or to gain their applause we we we don't need their power or strength we have the mighty hand of you
[49:36] Lord encourage us all this morning in Christ's name amen thanks for listening to the sermon podcast of Grace Reformed Church in Spring Hill Tennessee where everyone is in equal need of grace to plan a visit or to learn more about us visit our website at gracereformed.org