Peter's Principles for Sheep, Part 1

Tonight we're going to talk about Peter's principles for shepherds, for sheep. Excuse me. Last week it was for the shepherds. This week it's for the sheep. And I guess if I could have everybody in the church listen to this sermon, I'd want them to hear it. I think it's very important. No, I think that all Serm out of the word of the Lord are important. But this one is very unique to people in how they understand what God wants to do in their lives. And I hope that. Tonight, you'll see that, and you'll want to make sure that a friend of yours, a family member of yours, hears the word of the Lord and is able to respond because we're going to answer many questions that people might have concerning why things happen the way they do.

Before we get to Peter's exhortation, turn with me in the book of Proverbs to Proverbs chapter 14. Proverbs chapter 14 will set the tone for our time together. It says this in verse number 12, a very familiar verse. You know it well: There is a way which seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death. We'll stop right there. There is a way which seems right to us, to man. It seems logical. It seems the right way. It might even seem to us the best way. But the end does not lead us closer to God.

It leads us further from God. Death, of course, is defined as separation. And so that which seems right unto a man. Only finds at its end, it doesn't bring him closer to God, it brings him further from God. Next verse. Even in laughter, the heart may be in pain, and the end of joy may be grief. Even in laughter, there is a way which seems right into a man, and that way may seem really good for a while, so much so it causes there to be laughter. It causes there to be. A semblance of joy in my life.

But Proverbs is very clear: even in laughter, the heart may be in pain, and the end. Of that surface, shallow joy is only going to bring you grief. Now, those are some powerful words. You know, people come to church and they come in laughing and, you know, smiling and looking good on the outside, but on the inside they are ripped apart. Their hearts are broken. They're devastated. They look good on the outside and they put up a good front for a while. But even in laughter, the heart is in pain. It's in pain.

And it doesn't make any difference how many pills you take when the num wears off, you're still in pain. It doesn 't make any difference how many counsel you see. Or, how long you see that counselor, the void, the emptiness is still there. You know anybody like that? Maybe that's you. You know, people go through all kinds of difficulties. And when we look at people, things are not always as they appear to be.

We can't see inside your heart. We don't know what's going on inside there. But the Lord knows, right? The Lord knows. And the writer of Proverbs chapter 14 would say this in verse number 14, the backslider in heart will have His fill of his own ways. There is a way which seemeth right into a man. That way may bring laughter on the outside, but pain on the inside. That person is a backslider in heart and will have the fill of his own ways. Listen to this. A good man will be satisfied from above or from above himself.

A good man is satisfied not by what he does, but by what God does. You see, God wants to do a work in your life. He wants to do a work in my life. And a lot of times, that work involves hardship, suffering, pain, difficulty, distress. Because God has a fabulous pl. Whether it's physical affliction or Some kind of emotional distress or some kind of relational difficulty or financial setback, God is moving in and among His people to bring about a greater purpose. Peter, Peter speaks to people who are in great pain.

We've told you that several times throughout our study of these five chapters. And as he speaks to them, he never gives them a way around the pain. He always helps them understand what God is doing in the midst of the pain. Because Peter speaks from experience. He knows God's method. He knows how God wants to operate. You see, we want to be able to find a detour around the pain. We want to get around it. We don want to go through it. We don't want to face it. But Peter's objective is not to get us to find a way to escape the hardship, but to face it squarely.

And watch God work in and through that hardship. Knowing that, knowing that suffering is Inevitable, you must understand that misery is optional. Misery is optional. Suffering is going to be inevitable. Pain, hardship, difficulty. However, you want to coin the term. It's inevitable, but misery is optional. In fact, I'm going to be so bold as to say that if you are experiencing misery today, you have chosen misery. Over mercy. You've chosen to experience misery than to en the mercy of God. And I'm going to explain that to you in a moment.

Psalm 103 says that the Lord is merciful. Psalm 90, excuse me, Psalm 119 says that the earth Is full of the Lord's mercy. So if the earth is filled with the Lord's mercy and our Lord is merciful, then why are we miserable? And not experiencing his mercy. It's because misery is optional, and we've chosen to go that route. You say, well, I don't quite believe that. That's okay. You don't have to believe that. It's true, but you don't have to believe it. You go to the doctor, the doctor says, Look, here's what we got.

Here's what we got. We got a scenario here that's really painful, really, really hard. But if we operate and we take you through extended time of therapy, you can make it through this. Now, your response can be, great, let's do it. I want to get better. I want to feel better. I want things to happen. Or you can sit back and say, well, you know, I'm not sure I want to do that. I don't want to go through the operation. I don want to pay for what it's going to cost. I want to go through long-extended theory.

I just don't want to do that. So you choose your misery. When the doctor has offered you the opportunity to be set free from your pain, your difficulty. Peter says, 1 Peter 4, 13, But to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing, so that also at the revelation of his glory you may rejoice with exaltation. There's coming a time where there'll be no more pain. There'll be no more sorrow. There'll be no more hardship. Everything will be comfortable. One day, that's at the revelation of Jesus Christ our Lord, when He comes back to take us home to be with Him.

Until that time, our Lord wants us to be able to fight the battle. We're engaged in. He wants us to finish the race that we have entered in. He wants us to reap the harvest. He wants us to enjoy. And so we choose mercy or we choose misery. When we choose mercy, we see the hand of God working. And let me explain to you how that happens.

And Peter gives us those principles. Are you ready? Here they are. Verse number 5 of 1 Peter chapter 5. You younger men, likewise, be subject to your elders, and all of you clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, for God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace. To the humble. Here's point number one: Peter's principles for sheep, for sheep everywhere, for Christians everywhere.

Number one, be clothed. Be cl with humility. That's number one. Be clothed with Humility. He starts by saying, You younger men, likewise, and then he extends it and says, Now, all of you, every one of you, every one of you experiencing difficulty, hardship, pain, persecution. I want every one of you to do something. I want you to clothe yourself with humility. Now, the word to clothe is a unique word, it means to tie in a knot. It's only used one time in the New Testament, right here. 1 Peter 5, verse number 5.

And it was used in reference to a slave's apron to tie in a knot. Now you can already begin to think in your mind what Peter is remembering in his mind as he writes 1 Peter 5, verse number 5. On the eve of the crucifixion, there was one who would take a slave's apron, wrap it around his waist, and tie it in a knot. Who was that? That was the Lord Jesus Christ, right? Sure. And Peter says, I want you to clothe yourself with humility. I want you to clothe yourself with lowliness of mind. I want you to clothe yourself with self-abase.

I want you to wrap yourself in humility. Clothe yourself with it. Be wrapped up in it. And you can begin to think already. That Peter, in his mind, having been through a situation where our Lord Jesus Christ, on the eve of the crucifixion, sitting around with his men, around the That Lord's table, having that last supper, all of them beginning to argue one last time who was going to be the greatest in the kingdom. It wasn't about humility, it was about authority in their minds. And they began to argue once again about who was going to be the greatest.

And the Lord just got up from the table, he wrapped himself, he clothed himself in the slave's apron, wrapped it around, filled the wash bas, and began to wash the disciples' feet. You know the story. And our Lord would say these words in John 13: Do you know what I have done to you? You call me teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. If I then, the Lord, and the teacher, washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. If I gave you an example, That you also should do as I did to you.

Truly, I say to you, a slave is not greater than his master, neither is one who is sent greater than the one who sent him. If you know these things, you are blessed. If you do them, if you know what things, if you know the principle behind what I've just done, if you understand that That whenever adversity is present, humility must be primary. And if humility is primary, ministry then becomes powerful. If you understand that, you'll be a blessed man. And here was our Lord in the midst of loneliness, in the midst of isolation.

In the midst of his greatest pain on the eve of the crucifixion, it would be that night where he would sweat great drops of blood in the garden of Gethsemane. It was that night which was the culmination of all that he came to do. He spent his evening expending himself for the sake of his men. He clothed himself with humility. And Peter says, you younger men, oh, erase that. All of you. All of you. Clothe yourself. With humility. And really says this because God Opp the arrogant, but he gives grace.

To the humble. That, my friend, is the answer to why in your mind you say what Paul said. My grace is sufficient for thee. And you say that doesn't mean anything to me. We go around and we say what Paul says, and Paul could say that God's grace was perfected in him. And that God's grace was sufficient. And we go around saying that, but it doesn't really ring true for us. It doesn't mean the same as it did for the Apostle Paul. And the answer is very simple. God's grace is not enough for you because you're arrogant.

You're proud. You're concerned about you. God resists the proud. It's a quote from Proverbs chapter 3 where it says these words: God scoffs. At the scoffer. The proud man, the arrogant man, God scoffs at him. And we go around wondering why God's grace isn't sufficient for us. And the answer is, it is sufficient. But the reason is not sufficient for you or for me is because our arrogance and our pride gets in the way. We don't want to clothe ourselves with humility. We don't want to regard others as more important than ourselves, as Paul would say in Philippians chapter 2.

Highly esteem others above ourselves. We want to be highly esteemed. We want the recognition. We want to be put on display. And Peter says, in the midst of all your adversity, in the midst of all your pain, clothe yourself with humility. Wrap yourself in a slave's apron. Do the work of a servant. Because if you don't, God will oppose you. And you won't experience his grace in your time of need. That is so clear in Scripture. Yet we just run right over it. We expect God to come to us in our need. And like rubbing an Aladdin's lamp and hoping that Genie comes out and gives us three great wishes that we can partake of and enjoy great freedom.

That's just not the way God works. God opposes the arrogant. He scoffs at the scoffer. You know, arrogance manifests itself in all kinds of ways. Whenever we say, I don't deserve this. is a statement of arrogance. Who are you to think you don't deserve something? Or to say, I don't need this, really? Who said? You or God? If you have it, evidently you need it. Therefore God gave it to you. But you see, we tend to think very highly of ourselves. That we are so good and so wonderful and so great, and God is so lucky to have us in his kingdom that he can use us in a great and mighty way because we're wonderful people.

And we expect God to look at us the same way. But God doesn't. He looks at us all the same. Amen. We are sinners in desperate need of a Savior. Without His grace and mercy, there is no salvation. Without His work, there is no work. And God opposes the arrogant and the proud. But he gives grace to the humble. See, some just says, take it from me. I 've been there. I know what it's like to be arrogant. I know what it's like to be prideful. And God had to humble me. And I've learned got to submit ourselves.

That's the whole theme of his book. Galatians, I mean, 1 Peter chapter 3, in the same way you wives, be submissive to your own husbands. Verse number 5. Of chapter 3. Adorn yourselves, being submissive to your own husbands. Verse number 7: You husbands likewise, like what? You like the wives. You too be submissive. And this is how you are submissive. Verse number 8: to sum it all up. Let all be harmonious, sympathetic, brotherly, kind-hearted, and humble in spirit. Chapter 2, verse number 13. Submit yourselves to the Lord's sake to every human institution.

It's all about giving up that which you think you deserve in your rights. Because you're slaves. You're servants in the kingdom of God. Be clothed with humility. But you know what? It gets so much better than this. This is so good. Listen to this. Point number two.

Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at proper time. You see, we all want to be exalted. But we want to be exalted at our time, in our way. Don't hear me say that God's not going to exalt you, or God wants you just to push you down and keep you. That's not the way God works. God wants to exalt you. Do you get that? He wants to exalt you, but it's got to be his way and it's got to be in his time. So here it is. Number one: be clothed with humility.

Point number two. Be cons to God's mighty hand of destiny. Be cons to God's mighty hand of destiny. This, point number two, is why you are not Humble or want to clothe yourself with humility.

Peter says, You need to humble yourself, you need to consent. To what God is doing in your life. We don't want to do that. And Peter says, you need to humble yourself under the mighty hand of God. Now, that phrase is so good, it's an Old Testament phrase. Used in two ways in the Old Testament. It speaks of God's hand of destiny in two areas. Number one, the discipline of Israel and the deliverance of Israel.

Number two. You with me so far? Remember Exodus chapter 3, Moses in the burning bush, verse number 18. God says, and they will pay heed to what you say, and you with the elders of Israel will come to the king of Egypt.

And you will say to him, The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us. So now please let us go three days' journey into the wilderness that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God. But I know that the king of Egypt will not permit you to go, except. under comp or except by a might ha. The mighty hand of God is used in the Old Testament to speak of how God delivered Israel From its enslavement. You want God to deliver you from your problems? You want God to deliver you from your bondage? It's only under the mighty hand of God that it happens.

That's it. Go over to chapter six. Then the Lord said to Moses. Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh. For under compulsion or under a mighty hand, he shall let them go, and under that same mighty hand, he shall drive them out of his land. How is it Pharaoh is going to let the people go? By the mighty hand of God. Exodus chapter 13, verse number 9. For with a powerful hand the Lord brought you out of Egypt. Then again, in verse number 14, and it shall be when your sons ask you in time to come, saying, What is this?

Then you will say to him, With a powerful hand and with a mighty hand, the Lord brought us out of Egypt from the house of slavery. It's all about the mighty hand of God. You can read it over and over again in Deuteronomy chapter 3 verse number 24: As Moses goes back and appeals to God, based on his mighty hand, that somehow Moses would be able to enter. The land of Canaan, and God says no, because the only way Moses gets into the land of Canaan is by the mighty hand of God, nor the way.

And God said no to Moses. Took him up into a mountain so he could see the land, but he wouldn't let him go into the land. You can read about it again in Deuteronomy chapter 9, verse number 26. It's about the hand of deliverance. That's the mighty hand. It's the hand of God's destiny. God has a plan. He has a perfect plan. And the mighty hand of God moves us. From here to there, exactly where he wants us to go. It's the hand of deliverance as well as the hand of discipline. Listen to what David says.

For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me my vitality was drained away as with the fever heat of summer. The hand of God. The mighty hand of God was on David because he had not confessed his sin with Bathsheba. And it was like a weight on his shoulders pressing against him that caused him to fill his couch with tears. The mighty hand of God's discipline. All that to say this, Peter's saying, look, you got to be consenting. You got to consent. You got to give in to God's mighty and don't resist him.

Don't buck against him. Don't fight against God. Cons to the mighty hand of God's destiny. Listen, when you humble yourselves under God's mighty hand, you will graciously accept his discipline and gratefully acknowledge his deliverance. When you're submitting yourself under the mighty hand of God, you will graciously accept his discipline and you will gratefully acknowledge his deliverance. That's what the man of God, the woman of God, the people of God, the sheep need to understand. That's why he said earlier in chapter 4, verse number:.

Therefore, let those also who suffer according to the will of God. If you're suffering for righteousness' sake, there is persecution coming your way, it's of the will of God. Entrust yourself, therefore, give yourself over, make a deposit. To a faithful creator and do what is right. Deposit your soul. Commit your soul to God. Okay, God, I'm in your hands. You have the mighty hand of deliverance. You have the mighty hand of discipline because that mighty hand controls my destiny. Therefore, Lord, I commit myself to you.

I deposit myself in your hands because I have nowhere else to go. I have nothing else to say. I have no more power. You rule over all. That's the way it works. Be clothed with humility. Be consenting to God's mighty hand of destiny.