Welcome Suffering as a Part of Life: The Suffering and Glory of Resistance - 1 Peter 5:8-11

2:01There were certain fears of the persecution, fears, intimidations. There were certain being disheveled in life. And so there was a lot of anxiety involved in that. And in his appeal, in his exhortation to hand all your cares over to Christ, hand them over to God, he doesn't mean just throw them on there and act as if you don't care anymore. In other words, I'm not going to think about them. I don't care. He's not talking about coming up with indifference, but to still be concerned, but to give them over to God. And that is clear in the following command because he calls them to be alert. Even though they are to give their cares over to God, they are to still be alert. Look at verse 8: Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Alert. He gives two commands. Two commands. The first is to be sober. Be sober. You've seen this command before in 1 Peter 1:3, therefore prepare your minds for action and keep sober in spirit. Fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. And then again in 4:7, he says, The end of all things is near. Therefore, be of sound judgment and sober spirit for the purpose of prayer. So the end is near. And because of that, set your hope. Don't be anxious about standing before God in your own, but set your hope on the grace that's going to be brought to you. And be sober for the purpose of prayer. Keep in tune. Stay spiritually alert.

3:51In both contexts, he's talking about the need for alertness because the end is impending. Same here. To be sober physically means we all understand that, right? Be free from intoxication. Don't let anything affect your mind to where you cannot make sound judgment. Well, in a spiritual sense, we can get all wigged out and intoxicated or inebriated over allurements of the world or fears or anxieties. They can affect your judgment. They can wig you out. And so what he's saying is, be vigilant, stay spiritually alert.

4:30Be sober. And what it means is to order your priorities and balance your life on those important issues so that you're not drawn in by the intoxicating allurements or the anxieties that perplex your soul. Be alert. Be sober and then be alert. Be alert means to watch, to be on guard, a continual surveillance. It's what Jesus told the disciples in the garden: keep watching and praying that you may not come into temptation. The Spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. Understand, be engaged, watched, continually surveilling things because your flesh is weak. When you put them together, be sober. Be alert.

5:17It speaks of a continual vigilance. In light of everything that Peter has said in the book, be alert. Vigilance, spiritual sharpness. Because spiritual assaults will come against you from many different angles, many different settings. Some will be open and direct, and some will be very stealth and very subtle. And that is why you need to pay attention. Keep your wits. We are not to be lulled into spiritual indifference by the intoxicating effects of sin and worldly indulgence. And at the same time, we are not to become paralyzed with fear because of those hostile.

6:00To the gospel. And we are going to live in a culture that is growing more and more hostile, it seems, to the gospel. But as a believer, you are to keep your wits, stay alert, and live carefully because, look back at the text, you have an adversary. Look at 1 Peter 5:8 again. Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary. Very personal, right? You see that? Your adversary. You have an enemy of soul, the devil. And he prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Word for adversary, technical term meaning legal opponent. Generally, somebody who would meet you in a court of law and would use the legal networks and connections to assault you or to harm you. But it became, it's an opponent of any kind, somebody who is against you, aggressively and even hostile to you. He is called, look back, the devil. The word for devil literally means slanderer. In the Old Testament, the equivalent word is accuser. He is slanderous. And in 1 Timothy 3, 2 Timothy 3, and Titus 2, it all speaks of the malicious God. Gossips, the same word. When you use words to bring somebody else down or to cast a slur, to defame, to discredit, you are in league with the devil because that is his name.

7:48And even truth can be misused to cast a slur. And friends, we've got to be very careful of this. Do not give party to those who would bring somebody else down and slander someone's character through the words they choose. I mean, sometimes I hear it in the face of a friend. Sometimes I hear it in a prayer request. Sometimes I hear it coming out my own mouth in the way I say things. That's spiritual war. Be careful that you don't be party to it in using your words to bring somebody else down.

8:41It's the word devil, diabos, a slanderer. And he is likened to a lion on the hunt. Look back at verse 8. Be of sober spirit. Be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour you. He is continually prowling. He is continually walking about. He is on a continual hunt. He's like a roaring lion. His roar is intimidating. The intent is to wig you out. Certainly in context. This could have been edicts. This could have been all kinds of threatening language that these would have experienced. These early churches would have experienced. But it's intimidating. It's intimidating.

9:35He's seeking someone to devour. And the imagery there, the language there is very similar to that in Revelation 12:12, where the dragon is thrown down and he is furious. And then he throws out this flood of water to take down the woman. But the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened up its mouth and drank up the river which the dragon poured out of his mouth. That's the idea of devour, to gulp, to take down.

10:03And that is the goal of the devil. He is a lion, a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour, and he's going to do it through trying to bury you in a grave of shame, to discredit you. But understand this: he is a roaring lion seeking someone to devour, and you are on the menu. You and your family. Fellow believers are on the menu. Listen, your brothers and sisters do not need another accuser. They have one, and that one wants to devour them. So be careful in building up, serving, strengthening your brothers and sisters.

10:52This is nothing new. This is the nature of spiritual battle and has been from the very beginning. You remember Job, right? You remember Job? I'm going to just read to you a few verses from Job chapter 1. There was a day in verse 6 when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them, the accuser. The Lord said to Satan, From where do you come? Then Satan answered the Lord and said, From roaming about the earth and walking around on it. And the Lord said to Satan, Have you considered my servant Job? There is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, fearing God and turning away from evil.

11:43God's boasting about Job. And then Satan said, Does Job fear God for nothing? Have you not made a hedge about him and his house and all that he has on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands and And his possessions have increased in the land, but put forth your hand now and touch all that he has. He will surely curse you to your face. So, what Satan comes in, the accuser says, You know what? Job doesn't like you at all. He's not an upright man. And the reason that he is blessed like this is because you have blessed him. But you now take away all that material possession, and I guarantee you, he will curse you to your face. In other words, Satan is saying, God, you have bought his love. That's what it's about. So, what does God say? Go ahead. All that he has. And this is spiritual war, spiritual battle, the objective, the goal.

12:48The Lord said to Satan, Behold, all that he has is in your power, only do not put forth your hand on him. So Satan departed from the presence of the Lord. The rest of the chapter speaks about how Satan came and God allowed all this to come upon Job. And then, as he has lost all his wealth and family, then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head, and he fell to the ground and worshipped. He said, Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I shall return there. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. Through all this, Job did not sin, nor did he blame God.

13:31Then, round two, round two. Okay, come back. And Satan says, What do you think about Job now? And Satan says, Yes, skin for skin, all that a man is, he will give for his life. You put forth your hand now and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse you to your face. So the Lord said to Satan, Behold, he is in your power, only spare his life. In other words, go do whatever you want to his body, inflict it, pain it, do whatever you want, but don't touch his life. And the promise that Satan gives is he will curse you to your face. And then, a verse later, two verses later, we have his accomplice. Then his wife said to him, Do you still hold fast to your integrity? Curse God and die.

14:24So it moved from the spiritual realm into the physical realm. And his wife became that adversary that provoked Job to do exactly what Satan was trying to do: curse God and die. But in all this, Job did not sin. Well, that's the nature of spiritual war. Satan uses physical accomplices to accomplish what he wants. And here in this verse, back in 1 Peter, Verse 8. The opposition to Christianity, to the Christian, is personified as a single opponent. Throughout the book, that's been plural adversaries in the physical realm. There have been the disobedient, those who are disobedient to the gospel in chapter 2 and verses 7 and 8. There are the slandering Gentiles of chapter 2 and 12. There is the ignorance of the foolish in 2:15. There are the cruel masters of 2.18. There are the unbelieving husbands of 3.1. And there are the revilers of their good conduct in chapter 3, verse 16. There are the blasphemers or those who malign your character in chapter 4 and 4. But that's the mission field.

15:51There's a single opponent, and that is the devil. He is the one who stirs up suffering. This is the nature of spiritual war. He is the one who stirs up suffering and persecution in order to test and, if possible, destroy the faith of God's children. It's a very personal one. He wants you to think God doesn't care about him. God has just said, cast all your cares and anxieties on him, and the enemy of your soul says, Don't do it. And he will bring about and stir up issues. In your life to force you or to tempt you to curse God and die. That's the nature of spiritual war.

16:43Elsewhere, Satan is compared to a serpent because of his craftiness, but here in verse 8, he is compared to a roaring lion because of his cruelty, to emphasize his boldness and his power and his lust to harm. Your adversary is cruel. He is armed with cruelty and brutality like that of a savage lion. He is powerful, he is bold, and he is ruthless. And his goal is the same, whether he's called the serpent, whether he's called the accuser, or whether he's called a lion. He wants to destroy your faith in God. He wants to shred it to pieces. He wants to completely consume it. And he wants you to curse God and die.

17:40To say, God, enough. And the weapon of his warfare is speech. He uses words to slander, accuse, and defame. He slanders God, and he slanders you. And through his malicious slander, what he wants to do is discredit the nations or discredit. The proclaimers of the gospel bury the church in shame so that the nations will not hear. And so, this has been the war from the beginning. Even going back to Eve, Eve, you know why he doesn't want you taking any of that fruit? It's because God is a tyrant, and he doesn't want you to be like him.

18:28Be careful of that voice, that internal disposition to question God, to accuse God, because he is the great shepherd, he is the good shepherd, and he is not the enemy of your soul, but he is the lover of your soul. And don't let this profane, blasphemous, ravenous enemy turn you away from God. For this reason, a life of spiritual vigilance is necessary. You have an enemy of your soul, and he wants to malign you. And this is what was going on in the whole book. In chapter 2 and verse 12, Peter is saying, Keep your behavior excellent among the Gentiles, so that in the thing that they slander you as evildoers, they may, because of your good deeds, as they observe. Them, glorify God in the day of visitation. Satan is actively maligning God's people. Chapter 4, verse 4, and all this, they are surprised that you do not run with them in the same excesses of dissipation, and they malign you. But God has, through this activity, purpose that the true gospel, that which is true, will be seen, so that even your enemies or those who are at enmity with you will see your good deeds and glorify God in the day of visitation. Your duty. Look back at your duty. You have an enemy. He's real. He's the enemy of your soul. Resist him. See that, verse 9? Resist him.

20:21Word means to oppose. Set yourself in resistance, to withstand. Paul says the same thing in Ephesians 6:13, to take up the full armor of God so that you will be able to resist in the evil day and having done everything to stand firm. In other words, do everything. Because you have a real adversary, do everything possible to stand firm. His attacks are coming. Some will be open. Some will be stealth. But they are coming. And the idea here is that resistance is not.

21:00Passive exercise, but it is an active engagement against a foe. You're not going to be triumphant over the devil if you remain passive. And so he gives three specific ways in which the devil is to be resisted. Three specific ways that the devil is to be resisted in your own life. And I want you to know how to resist the devil so that you will do so. Three ways to resist the devil. First, stand firm in the faith. Verse 9, look, but resist him. Firm in your faith.

21:41Word for firm means solid, strong, unmovable. Be unmovable in your faith. And that faith is that firm belief in God. Firm belief in God, what he has said, is your weapon against the devil. Truth. The faith. Firm in it. And the first thing you need to know about your belief in God is that God is, Christ is your chief shepherd. And he is certainly not going to give one of his sheep over to be devoured by a lion. That's why they call him the great shepherd. Because a great shepherd doesn't let lions come in and take his sheep. He is ruthless. He is vigilant. He knows how to protect them. And he is constantly caring for them. He is constantly watching them, constantly caring.

22:51And so, the believers, you will overcome the devil by faith. Faith that is based in the reality that God does care for you. That you can cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you. And no matter what happens in life, no matter what may come against you, set your life upon this principle forever. Settle it right now, no matter what happens. You may not know. I don't think Job ever really knew what was taking place.

23:27But I can say this: God's Word is sure. He cares for you. Faith. Probably the last time we'll talk about faith as it is revealed in Mark. And you remember Peter's letter? It's kind of a follow-up to that whole gospel of Mark. Remember, there were three expressions of faith that got called out in the text. You remember in chapter 2, there was the faith of the paralytic. In chapter 3, there was, or in chapter 5, there was the faith of the unclean. Woman. And then in chapter 10, there was the faith of the blind man. Those three, and all of them kept on pressing. They could not be discouraged or dissuaded. They believed that Christ cared. They believed that Christ had power. And they kept going, kept going, kept going. And each time Christ stops and says, Here is faith. Look at it. Take note. And here is Peter, many, many years later, saying the same thing. Stay firm in your faith.

24:39Keep going to God. Keep trusting in God. He cares for you. I like how Schreiner says that the call to resistance does not summon believers to do Herculean acts on God's behalf. In other words, we don't have to take out Satan by ourselves. Believers are not encouraged to gather all their resources to do great works for God. No, resisting the devil means that believers remain firm in their faith. That is, in their trust in God. Believers triumph over the devil as they continue to trust in God, believing that He truly cares for them and will sustain them to the end. Perseverance until the last day is accomplished from first to last by faith. You see, faith. Faith is that which connects us to Christ. It puts us in union with Him. And I can tell you, the lion from the tribe of Judah is far more powerful than this mangy, ravenous lion that wants to destroy. In fact, he won't even, he will crush him.

25:53And you are united to Christ through faith. And the imagery here is that of a chief shepherd. He's not going to let your adversary of soul destroy you. So stand firm in this faith. Second way to resist the devil is to know that he can be resisted. Pretty simple. He can be resisted. Verse 9: Knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world. Knowing that the same kinds of sufferings are common to everyone who are in Christ. It's common. The word accomplished, that these experiences of suffering are being accomplished. That is, they are being finished up. They are being brought to completion. There are people who have gone through this before. Are going through it, who are currently finishing it up, and they routinely finish up such sufferings with their faith intact.

27:11And that's encouraging. He can be resisted. Others are doing it all around us. And what this knowledge does is it rules out the pride of self-pity. We might be tempted to think, I am alone in this. I am the only one in the world that's ever experienced anything like this. That's the pride of self-pity. No, I think some of the most humbling times in my life are coming up here on Wednesday nights and listening to the prayer requests of others. Knowing what others are going through seems to bring a humbling flavor to my life. But this knowledge also rules out the pride of thinking you're a superhero saint. Well, I'm just singled out for my great piety, and that's why it's all coming after me.

28:06No, no, there's others out there. It's coming after others, too. It's not because you're a superhero saint. But this knowledge also rules out the pride of thinking that you are a superhero sinner. We might be tempted to think, my sin is so extraordinary that even God has abandoned me despite his promises. I outdid the grace of God. My sin is so great that God has abandoned me during this difficult time, despite his promises. I pushed God beyond the limit. Well, that's pride, too.

28:45You see, the reality is that you are a part of a vast Confederate army that will not bow to the ruler of this age. And because of that, his rage is against you. For millenniums, the faithful have stood in the face of the lion's roar. Some have felt the brutality and his cruelty, and some have experienced the full force of his fury, yet with their faith intact, they stood firm. Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I shall return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. He cares for me, and I entrust my soul to him. Period.

29:38I want to read to you a description from an unknown author somewhere around 100 to 150 during the first half of the second century. Not too long after this letter was written. This is an unknown author, and he's writing about Christians. He's describing them. The Christians are not distinguished from other men by country, by language, nor by civil institutions, for they neither dwell in cities by themselves, nor use a peculiar tongue, nor lead a singular mode of life. They dwell in the Grecian or barbarian cities, as the case may be. They follow the usage of the country in dress, food, and the other affairs of life. Yet they present a wonderful and confessedly paradoxical conduct. They dwell in their own native lands, but as strangers. They take part in all things as citizens, and they suffer all things as foreigners. Every foreign country is a fatherland to them, and every native land is a foreign. They marry like all others, they have children, but they do not cast away their offspring. They have the table in common, but not wives. They are in the flesh, but do not live after the flesh. They live upon the earth, but are citizens of heaven. They obey the existing laws and excel the laws by their lives. They love all and are persecuted by all.

31:24They are unknown, and yet they are condemned. They are killed. And made alive. They are poor and make many rich. They lack all things and in all things abound. They are reproached and glory in their reproaches. They are cursed and they bless. They receive scorn and they give honor. They do good and are punished as evildoers. When punished, they rejoice as being made alive. By the Jews, they are attacked as aliens, and by the Greeks, persecuted. And the cause of the enmity, their enemies cannot tell.

32:13They don't know why they hate these Christians, but they do. Because you have an adversary. And this is what true grace accomplishes in a person's life. And that is why we are to stand firm in it and know that the devil can be resisted. But I asked the question, why does he rage anyway? Anyway, why does he care? Why does he rage? Why does it irritate him? Why does he have to persecute? Why does he feel like he has to shake us loose?

32:53Because he's afraid. His roar is that of unsettled fear. So there are three ways to resist. Number one, stand firm in the faith. Number two, know that he can be resisted. And number three, know that eternal glory will follow momentary suffering. Your suffering will be momentary. Look back at verse 10. After you have suffered for a little while. Now, this encouragement echoes what he first said in chapter 1 and verse 6. The very first thing, one of the very first things he says is: In this you greatly rejoice, speaking about the salvation, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials. And here he is at the end of the book, again talking about for a little while. This suffering that you're going through, this life that you are going through, is soon going to be over. Stay true. Hold on. You can endure. That's Peter's message. And that's why he picked up the pen to write to these scattered churches in the first place.

34:11It's important to understand that suffering is going to come in various shapes and sizes throughout your life. Some of your trials will be lifelong. They never will go away. Some of them will be relatively brief. But regardless, Regardless, the short time is all we have here on earth. And in light of eternity, these sufferings, whatever you go through, is going to seem as just a little while, a fleeting memory compared to the eternal glory that's coming. So know that eternal glory is going to follow momentary suffering.

34:59Because your glory will be eternal. Look back. Verse 10. He gives three reasons why your glory will be eternal. After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace. First reason that glory is eternal is because the God of all grace is eternal. What a title. The God of all grace. He is the source, the possessor, and the dispenser of all grace. Every good thing, as James 1:17 says, is from above and comes down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow. He doesn't stop being the God of all grace just because we step into heaven. He is the God of all grace indefinitely forever. This is who He is. He is eternal, and His favor is eternal.

35:57God's grace is rich, it is very. As 4.10 says, it is given to those who are humble, and that for eternity. Your glory will be eternal. If you are in Christ, you can put up with anything that this world has because it will soon be over. There's a second reason why you're, so the first reason is that your glory will be eternal is because the God of all grace is eternal. But the second reason is because He has called you to eternal glory and will make sure you get there.

36:36Back at verse 10, after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace who called you to His eternal glory in Christ will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. There is an inseparable relationship between grace and glory. Grace is glory begun, and glory is grace finished. You say it another way, grace is the beginning of glory, and glory is the goal of grace. There is a connection. The very act of calling us to glory contains the earnest and everything that is necessary that's going to bring it to pass.

37:21You see, the same fountain of grace is where the first calling comes from and where the ultimate consummation comes. Glory comes from. It's the same fountain of the God of all grace. Your calling and your future glorification all come from the same fountain. And notice, eternal glory is in Jesus Christ, only in Jesus Christ. They're the only ones who are going to partake of his glory. Peter says in verse 1 of this chapter, I exhort the elders among you as your fellow elder and witness of the sufferings of Christ and a partaker also of the glory that is to be revealed. Those who are in Christ will partake of his glory, but only those in Christ will partake of his glory.

38:16And Jesus said, he is the only way. And friends, if he said he was the only way, guess what? He is the only way, or he is a liar, a slanderer, a defamer, and that he is not. But those are your options. He is the only way, and that is not going to be well received in our culture that loves a plurality of many ways. It wasn't popular then either. But this world has yet to see Jesus Christ glorified, and it will happen.

39:00And when the full number of Gentiles are brought in, it will happen. And he called you, and he called me, and the God who called us will complete the task. Paul said, I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. So your glory will be eternal because the God of grace is eternal, because he has called you to his eternal glory, and because he himself will glorify you. Look back at verse 10. Four beautiful, wonderful descriptions of your future state. He himself will perfect, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. Now, the word for perfect refers to the complete removal of defects. It's like a medical term that was used for the resetting of bones so that the bones that were broken could be usable again. It's also used about mending nets, nets that didn't work or were broken. In Matthew 4:21, they were mending their nets to make them usable again. And that's what perfect is: to get rid of all those defects, make you usable again.

40:22You see, God Himself is going to perfect you so that you can be restored to your original purpose. You know what that is? To bear the glorious image of your Creator with glorious perfection. That's your purpose. And listen, your perfection is necessary. Otherwise, you'd be nothing more than an unfinished project, a grand dream that never came to completion. Now, I've got several daughters, as you know, four. My two youngest ones, six and eight, love pretty things. They love dresses. They love ballet slippers. They love stuff like that. And they also love tea parties. Love tea parties. Now, what would you think of me if I told my daughters, you know what? I'm going to put on a grand tea party for you. You can invite all your friends. We're going to rent the best place in town. It's going to be all out. You can invite all of your friends. I'm going to make everybody serve you wear tuxedos. It's going to be grand. It's going to be beautiful. In fact, I'm going to have limousines come by and pick you up and all your friends, and you're going to go over there. Now, how would you feel as if the party day comes and I'd say, you know what? Can't afford the limos. I really can't afford all this. This stuff isn't going to work out. And this, let's just scrap the whole idea. How cruel do you think that is? Cruel, right?

41:56It would be fatherly cruelty to get. Their hopes that high, and then to just dash him to pieces. What's your view of God? He who began a work in you is going to perfect it. It would be omnipotent cruelty if he gave me a glimpse of heaven and he started the work within me to leave me there abandoned. Hell would be a lot worse if he had never mentioned heaven to me at all than to give me a taste and a thirst and a love for it and then to not see it through. That would be omnipotent cruelty. But he himself is going to perfect. Your perfection is necessary. The hopes that he has awakened, he is going to deliver on them. That's what glory is about. Glory is grace completed. So your perfection is necessary.

42:55God himself will perfect so that there will be no threat of internal defects. But there's a second, he will confirm you. That is, this idea is that he will support that which is tottering, that which can fall over. I mean, the idea is: what good is perfection if it doesn't last forever? Right? We see it every spring, right? We go out, we see the beautiful flowers come up, and I tell you, they are beautiful, they are numerous, perfect in beauty. I mean, Solomon and all of his glory isn't arrayed like the smallest little flower, and they are all over the place, but then they're gone. Such would be you if he brought you to perfection and then just let you fade away, let you fall over and fall out of perfection. Then it would be like the days of Zerubbabel, and he built the new temple. And remember, the older generation that saw Zerubbabel's temple, they saw it and they began to weep because it was nothing like Solomon's. That would be us, a memory, a grand memory, if he did not confirm you, but he will perfect you and he will confirm you so that there's no threat of falling out of perfection. Then the third, he will strengthen you. That is to impart strength, to make mighty. It's like fortifying a castle. It's a picture of invincibility. God himself will strengthen you so that no threat of being overtaken by external forces exists. So not only will he perfect you, but he will keep you from falling out of perfection, but he will keep you from being overtaken by outside forces.

44:48And fourth, he will establish you. And this means to found, to found upon, to fasten to the ground, to be an intricate. Part of the structure. You remember in Matthew 7, 25, Jesus says, talks about those who founded their lives upon the rock by obeying Jesus's word. That's the idea here: that the rains fell, the floods came, the winds blew, but it was founded upon the rock. It was an integral part of the structure. It was immovable. And that's the idea of permanence in Christ, forever in Christ. Eternal glory is forever in Christ, and you are forever founded upon, cemented in, together with, in Christ, forever.

45:44Anchored. Well, there's two pictures here, two images, that of a chief shepherd and that of a roaring lion. You see, your adversary is very different from the chief shepherd. 1 Peter 2:25 speaks about the shepherd and guardian of your souls. Return to Him. You see, very different. God tenderly cares. He invites you to bring your worries to Him. He sustains. He promises to perfect, to protect, perfect His flock. The devil's aim is to terrify, to destroy, to bring you down, to bury you. You, to destroy you.

46:34God gives, the devil takes, God exalts, the devil will exploit. You see, God shares His glory, and He wants you to share it. The devil wants all the glory for Himself. So, who are you going to serve? You have a real adversary of your soul. But then there is the Chief Shepherd. And He calls you today to come to Him and to keep coming to Him and to cast all your cares on Him, whatever shape, size, variety they are, because He cares for you. So, how do we respond to this? Look in verse 11: To Him be dominion forever and ever. Amen.

47:22We are to give Him first place in our life. That is how you respond. Give Him first place in your life. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, thank you for your word. Thank you for this letter. Thank you for the encouragement. And thank you for the promise. Father, we know that you have called us to cast all our cares upon you. And Father, we just take your word at face value and know that represents and reflects your heart and the relationship you want to have with us. As sheep, you know, we are no beasts of burden. We cannot carry burdens, and that is why you carry them. So, Father, we come before you today, asking you to have your complete way in us. Father, help us to put down that which is not of you, and to give you first place as you deserve. In Christ's name, amen.