WWUTT 338 Cast All Your Anxieties On Him?

If you don't pray to the Lord, and the reason why you don't pray is because you know I can handle this problem by myself. I don't need to bother God with this. You're not actually doing God any favors.

You're being proud and boastful when we understand the text.

Humility Before God and the Danger of Pride

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Here's our host, Pastor Gabe.

Thank you, Becky. And today, finally, we continue with 1 Peter 5. On into verse 6. And we'll, in fact, read from here to the very end of the letter. This is our final day in our study of 1 Peter. Peter says, Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, so that at the proper time He may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on Him because He cares for you.

Be sober-minded, be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world.

And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. To Him be the dominion forever and ever.

Amen. By Silvanus, a faithful brother, as I regard him, I have written briefly to you, exhorting and declaring that this is the true grace of God. Stand firm in it. She who is at Babylon, who is likewise chosen, sends you greetings, and so does Mark, my son.

Greet one another with the kiss of love. Peace to all of you who are in Christ. So we come back to verse 6, and this might have sounded a little familiar to you. Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, so that at the proper time He may exalt you.

Now, where else have we heard that? We heard that in James 4, verse 10, Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will exalt you. But this is straight from the teachings of Christ. We have it said to us in Matthew 23, 12, Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.

Also in the Song of Mary in Luke 1 .52, I was reminded of this one because I read it to my congregation on Saturday night at our Christmas Eve service. In Mary's song, she says that God has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate.

We also read the story of the Pharisee and the tax collector in Luke 18, verse 9. Jesus told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and treated others with contempt. Jesus gave this parable.

Two men went into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed, God, I thank you that I'm not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.

I fast twice a week. I give tithes of all that I get. But the tax collector, standing far off, he would not even lift up his eyes to heaven. He beat his breast saying, God, be merciful to me, a sinner.

Jesus said, I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted. In the Sermon on the Mount where Jesus talks about giving to the Lord, he says, give to the Father in secret and the Lord will reward you.

For those who give and seek the praise of men, I tell you that they have received their reward. So, in other words, if what they wanted for what it was that they did, whether it was giving to God an excessive amount or praying in public so that others would hear their lavish prayers or just doing works that would be seen by men, if their purpose was to do those things so that they would receive the praise of others, well, then I tell you that they have received their reward.

But God says, give to him in secret and the Father will reward you. He discerns not only the things that we do, but the very reason why we do them. When Jesus says in the book of Revelation, I am he who searches mind and heart and will give to everyone according to their deeds.

What he's saying there is not just he knows what it is that everybody does. He doesn't just know all of the thoughts that we think, and he does know what they are. He also knows the reason behind why we do those things or why we think the thoughts that we think.

So we might do something before people that looks absolutely fantastic. That is truly praiseworthy. Look at that guy and the way that he's behaving and the way that he's acting. Look at how giving he is of other people.

And it might truly be a genuinely loving gesture that you observe, but it could be that he's just doing that to get recognition from other people. The Lord truly knows. It's not necessarily for us to judge that if we cannot, because we cannot discern the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

The Lord knows that. And he will judge everyone and give according to their deeds. But there are some people who do charitable things just because they want the recognition for it. And if that's the reason why they do it, then they've received their reward.

What they will receive eternally is not the kingdom of God, but judgment because they were out to do things for themselves instead of giving glory to God. That's how Christ discerns the thoughts and the intentions of the heart and how he will give to each one according to their deeds.

So be sure that the things that you do are genuine for the glory of God and not for the glory of yourself. As Peter says here, humble yourselves. Therefore, under the mighty hand of God. And again, that therefore comes back to the things that we've been talking about on Monday and Tuesday.

How a shepherd is caring for the flock for their benefit and how those who are members of the flock, of the body of Christ, under the authority of those elders, are subject to their teaching. And Peter says in verse 5,.

Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another. So the shepherd toward the layperson and the layperson toward the elder. For God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. And then that charge again, Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God.

And this reference to the mighty hand of God, this actually goes back to Exodus. The idea of God bringing his people out of Egypt, out of slavery, by his mighty hand. Daniel 9 .15,. And now, O Lord our God, who brought your people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand and have made a name for yourself.

So that's the reference. Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God. It is God who has brought you to salvation. It is God who has appointed you to the position that you have, whether you are an elder in the church or whether you are somebody that is subject to that elder's teaching.

It is God who has apportioned to each one the measure of grace that they have, which is Romans 12 .3. So humble yourself under the mighty hand of God, so that at the proper time, he may exalt you. Not looking for your own recognition.

Why isn't anybody giving me my due? Okay, I guess I'm going to have to take matters into my own hands since nobody else has given me the credit that I deserve. You don't deserve any credit. God deserves all the credit, which is why you have the saints gathered around the thrones, the 24 elders taking their crowns and throwing them down before the throne of God, because it's not even theirs to begin with.

It's what was given to them by the Lord. At the proper hand, he will exalt you. Verse 7, casting all your anxieties on him because he cares for you. Now, that's a little bit different than casting your crowns before the Lord.

Casting your anxieties on him because he cares for you. So the way that that verse is most often taken is by itself. You'll hear somebody quote 1 Peter 5, 7, cast all your anxieties on him because he cares for you.

But this goes with a context that begins in verse 6 about humbling yourself before the Lord. Whatever cares and concerns you have, it is for you to submit these things before God. You cannot handle these things on your own.

No matter what your stresses are, no matter how difficult this is for you, this is not for you to handle. And for you to think that I can do it on my own, I don't need to pray to God. I don't really need his help right now.

That's arrogant. It's proud and it's boastful when you think that you don't need God's help to get you through this trial. Cast your anxieties on him. These things that are stressing you out, your struggles, the weight that you feel, you must give this up to the Lord.

Your reluctance to come before God in prayer and give this up to him is out of a prideful and a boastful heart. Humble yourself before God under his mighty hand as he delivered his people out of slavery in Egypt so he can deliver you out of this trial.

Casting all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. We can trust in God as our Father. Adopted into his family through the Son, Jesus Christ, he is our loving Father who cares for our hearts and for our needs.

He cares for you. So cast your anxieties on him. One, because you are supposed to be humble and not prideful. Worry comes from a prideful heart, and so not worrying about your circumstances, but giving them to the Lord, knowing, secondly, that he cares for you.

Because you should be humble and because you know that God cares for you, cast your anxieties on him. Verse 8, another reason why we need to cast our anxieties on the Lord, be sober-minded, be watchful, because your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour.

So if you are proud and if you're trying to tough it out and do things on your own, then you are going to be devoured by Satan. All of this, the context of this is very similar to the same context that James put his thought in when he said, humble yourselves before the Lord and he will exalt you.

He says that God gives more grace, therefore it says God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble, which is Proverbs 3 .34. Submit yourselves, therefore, to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.

Draw near to God and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom.

Humble yourselves before the Lord and he will exalt you. So here Peter says that we need to humble ourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him because he cares for you.

Be sober-minded, be watchful. So this is another way of Peter saying that we need to be in sound mind and sound judgment, focused on God and filled up with his word, which is the same way that James says it, he just words it a little bit different.

He says that we need to not be double-minded and to purify our hearts. So being sober-minded and not being double-minded is the same thing. That we would not be of two minds, we have the mind of Christ.

We don't have one foot in the world and try to put another foot in heaven. We have our gaze fixed heavenward entirely on God, casting all of our cares upon him because the devil is seeking to devour us and he will do so in our pride if we do not focus ourselves entirely on Christ and have the mind of Christ.

Resist him, Peter says, once again, just like James does, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. And after you have suffered a little while, suffered a little while, this is temporary, it's not going to be going on, it's not going to be something that you are going to experience for all eternity.

You are experiencing this trial for a little while. And after you have endured and have made it through these sufferings that you are enduring in this time, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ.

So comparing the suffering that we are in for a little while with the eternal glory that we have in Christ Jesus, he will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you to him be the dominion forever and ever.

Same way that we concluded the previous section in chapter 4, verse 11. Listen to what Paul says to the Corinthians here. This is 2 Corinthians 4, and I was thinking about this because just this past Sunday I preached out of 2 Corinthians 4.

I was in verses 1 through 6, and this is a little bit further down. I'm going to start in verse 7. But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.

We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed. Perplexed, but not driven to despair. Persecuted, but not forsaken. Struck down, but not destroyed. Always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies.

That's sanctification right there, growing in holiness, love for God and his word and for his people as well. For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh.

So death is at work in us, but life in you. Since we have the same spirit of faith according to what has been written, I believed and so I spoke, we also believe and so we also speak, knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us with you into his presence.

For it is all for your sake, so that as grace extends to more and more people, it may increase thanksgiving to the glory of God. So here's the part that I'm tying in with 1 Peter 5 here. Paul says, So we do not lose heart, though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day.

For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison. As we look not to the things that are seen, but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.

Now let me give a little bit more context to this that I've just read for you in 2 Corinthians 4. I don't know what it is that you're going through, and I don't know what kind of afflictions you have.

I don't know what kinds of anxieties that you face on a daily basis. You know, there are probably certain trials that you face that you don't handle as well as somebody else. There may be somebody in their physiology.

They can go through the same trial that you're going through and it not bother them as much. But with the physiology that you have your body and your chemistry, you just don't deal with that same situation as well.

And so it's a greater stress for you than it seems to be for other people. That does not delegitimize the circumstance as you experience it. It is going to be a different experience for you than it will be for anybody else.

So again, like I said, I don't know what you're going through, but there could be something by which you feel a great anxiety. Let me give to you a greater context of what Paul is saying here in 2 Corinthians 4.

At the start of the letter, he said to the Corinthians this, We do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself.

Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves, but on God, who raises the dead. He delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us.

On him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again. You also must help us by prayer so that many will give thanks on our behalf for the blessing granted us through the prayers of many. So the trials and the circumstance that Paul and his missionary team were facing, they felt like they had been put under the sentence of death.

They were in such despair, they didn't feel like they could even keep going. But they said that this was to help them rely on God, who raises the dead. So then with that in mind, that Paul was experiencing such a stress and such an anxiety that he felt like he had been given a sentence of death, yet he gets here to 2 Corinthians 4 where he describes it in verse 17 as a light, momentary affliction.

Such a weight and such an anxiety that Paul felt like he was going to die, and yet he calls it a light, momentary affliction, preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison. So this anxiety and this struggle that you're going through right now, God has a purpose for it.

It is for you to give glory to him for this experience, that you would glorify God, that you would cast your anxieties on him, that you would pray to him, that you would cry out to him, that he would be glorified in the midst of your circumstance because where you are weak, there he is strong.

It is for you to rely fully on God who raises the dead. Nothing in this world, nothing seen or unseen, can separate you from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. So praise God for the salvation that you have in Christ, delivered from death and into his life.

Do not be proud, do not be boastful, do not think so highly of yourself that you think you can handle this problem on your own and I don't need to bring God into the picture. Because again, as it says in Proverbs 3 .34, God opposes the proud, but he gives grace to the humble.

So cry out to the Lord, God have mercy on me, a sinner. We have this treasure in jars of clay that has been given to us by Christ Jesus our Lord. So let us praise him for his wonderful grace. To him be the dominion forever and ever.

Amen.

Closing Exhortation and Program Sign-Off

You've been listening to When We Understand the Text with Pastor Gabe Hughes. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, Gabe will be going through a New Testament study. Then on Thursday we look at an Old Testament book.

On Friday we take questions from the listeners and viewers. Tomorrow we'll pick up on an Old Testament study, When We Understand the Text.