1st Peter chapter 5 verse number 6 once again humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God that he may exalt you in due time casting all your care upon him for he careth for you we ask Heavenly Father that you would remind us of the love and the benefits that we have as children of God. We thank you for bringing us into your family. We thank you, Lord, for the opportunities that we have to serve you and to glorify you. We pray that you'd be glorified in this place tonight. We ask in Jesus' name, amen. You may be seated. 20 years ago, 25 years ago, something like that, Judy and I began to set aside a few dollars every month in the hopes of having something to leave for our children when we leave this world, assuming the Lord does not come back before then. We established an account with a well-known investment company. And other than meeting with our financial advisor once a year, I hardly ever give that account a second thought. It doesn't mean anything to me. I hope there's a little there for the kids at some point in time. The tiny deposits are made automatically, so it's not something that I contribute to directly and actually think about. Well, a week ago Monday was our yearly meeting with that advisor, and he mentioned that we hadn't even spoken on the phone during the last year. He said that a lot of investors are worried over the economy, so they're worried about their money, and they regularly call him to give him their advice about the old fields. Judy and I don't do that. I shrugged and I told him that I don't know anything about investments. Why should I try to give him advice? He's supposed to be the expert. So I just let him do his thing. And if there's money at the end, there's money at the end. If there's not, there won't be. It was just not a problem for me. If I may so say, I think Peter is telling me and telling us to do that sort of thing in every area of our lives, not just our retirement fund. Casting all your care upon God, for he careth for you. The Lord knows how to manage our lives better than we do. and he is able to manage our lives better than we can manage our lives. He knows the markets, so to speak, and he has access to all the fiscal projections of our lives, even to the controlling of all the circumstances in the future. You might say that Jehovah is the perfect inside trader. He's got it all worked out. and he is concerned enough about his children to manage our investments on our behalf. He cares, casting all your care upon him, for he careth for you. This evening, let's consider a few things about care casting. First, what are those cares to which Peter refers? Well, there shouldn't be any doubt that he's talking about worry and all the euphemisms that we use to hide our worry. Peter's talking about our anxieties. He's talking about our fretting, our concerns, our apprehensions, our misgivings about things. There are a lot of people who are concerned about the government. They are anxious about the economy. They are worried about the future, about icy roads, about slippery sidewalks, about just about everything. What's that next virus that's going to come down the pike from China? How dangerous is that going to be? So they fret about these things. We could make a list that would go on almost to infinity. But we notice here that Peter doesn't mention anything specific. He doesn't say it. Cast this worry upon the Savior. Don't worry about your health, I'll take care of it. He doesn't talk about finances here. He doesn't mention anything in particular. He lumps them all together and tells us to cast them all on the omnipotent, loving, heavenly Father that we children of God have. The word which Peter uses and which is translated care in the first part of this verse is always used in a negative way or maybe almost always used in a negative way. Three times the Lord Jesus in his parable of the soils described the cares of the world choking out the seed of the gospel. He also said, take heed to yourselves lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting and drunkenness and the cares of this life. Don't let the cares of this life come over you so that that day come unawares. Luke 24, 34. What day is that Lord? The context tells us we're talking about the establishment of that future kingdom. Christ Jesus is returning soon, but so many Christians are so preoccupied with their worries about life, they will be shocked when they find themselves standing in the presence of the Savior. Ought not to be. The only time this word is used in a semi-positive sense, and I'll stress that, maybe it's positive, maybe it's not, is in 2 Corinthians 11, 28. And even there, as I say, I'm not so sure that there isn't a hint of sinful flesh in it. The context of 2 Corinthians 11 is Paul's listing of a great many things that he has endured for the sake of the gospel. He talks about stonings, he talks about beatings, he talks about shipwrecks, and so on. And then he adds, beside those things that are without, that which cometh upon me daily, the care of the churches." I think this may be more than the management of the churches because he's not managing these churches. Paul was worried about what was going on in Corinth. He was concerned about the persecutions that were falling on the brethren in Macedonia. He cared about these things. Should he have been worried about them? Although completely understanding what he was saying, I'm not sure that worry about the brethren is not actually a part of the flesh. Should he have been worried? The Greek word for care is myrmina. And I share that with you only because I want you to understand the root of that word. It is meridzo. And that particular word is most often, the root word is most often translated to divide. To have this kind of care is to divide these things or take these things away from the Lord and keep them for ourselves. Something we're not supposed to do. Here Lord, I don't want you to have to take care of this particular problem. Let me deal with it and you take care of the important things. I'll take care of this one. This word means that we think our divine investment agent isn't concerned about our problem. or sufficiently capable of taking care of our problem, perhaps. As we saw in our last lesson, verse number six is an exhortation to humility. Notice that your King James Bible, and I'm making an assumption here because my King James Bible, does not end, verse number six, with a period. It's a colon. In other words, the thought is going on. Why didn't our translators put a full stop after verse number six, before going on? Isn't it because at the root of our anxieties lies the sin of pride? Pride is basically, almost always, somewhere involved in every sin. And if we are struggling with worry, pride has a part of that. Let me explain. It's not always so, but we often worry refusing to give the Lord our power of attorney in this matter. Because deep down in our hearts, we think we can handle it. I can take care of this. Lord, you have more important things to do. I'll fix this. We have a certain degree of confidence in ourselves that we should not have. Pride is at the root of many of our sins, and as a result, pride is at the root of many of our problems. Additionally, in the backs of our minds, We aren't too sure that the Lord is willing to expend his omnipotence on our needs. As I say, he's awfully busy, and we're just little folk. He needs to work on the big things. I'll take care of these little things. So the exhortation takes on a little different context when we remember that we're talking about humility here. Humble yourselves therefore unto the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time. Isn't that what we want? The Lord's blessing? Peter tells us to cast those cares upon the Lord. It isn't particularly important to our study, but this word cast, is only found in this verse and one other. When the Lord Jesus was being escorted into Jerusalem on his last official visit, he sent a couple of the disciples into town to find a particular donkey's colt to bring to Christ. And then that would begin the triumphal entry. Well, they did get that ass's coat and brought it to Christ, and they took off their coats and cast their coats on the back of the donkey. There was some degree of sacrifice. There was some degree, perhaps, of embarrassment. They're no longer wearing whatever their outer garment was. They sacrificed and they humbled themselves in order to be a blessing to the Lord. The same principles apply here. There isn't anything particularly important about the word to cast, but there is something in the way it is used in this verse. Casting all your care is in the Greek aorst. which means that it's supposed to be done once for all. Once for all. Cast your care once and for all upon the Lord. I'll come back to that. I don't need to call my investment advisor every other day to tell him, I am giving you authority to handle my retirement funds. I gave him that authority when I signed that agreement and gave him the initial funds. And the same should be true with our care casting upon the Lord. We gave him authority to save our souls. We don't contribute to the salvation of our souls. We're not looking to anyone but Christ to save us. We're not trying to assist the Lord in saving us. We're not trying to add our works to our salvation. We can't advise him on the best way to redeem us. It's all up to him. We don't even have to plead with him continually. Lord, save me. Lord, save me. Lord, save me. We trusted him, we gave him authority to do that, so to speak, and he's done it perfectly. In the same way that we cast ourselves upon his mercy to save us, we are supposed to have cast our earthly lives into the hands of his sovereignty and omnipotence. Lord, I trust you to meet my needs. Gear on out. And by the way, the word all continues that train of thought. We tend to break our lives apart into bits and pieces. And we can handle some of those pieces, and some of them were too big for us, so we passed them on. Oh, Lord, I have to fly to Tennessee, and when I get in that airplane, I have no control over things, so I'm praying that you will make sure the flight goes smoothly. And when I land in Knoxville and I rent that car, then I'll take control again, if that's all right with you. That's ridiculous. The roads are a little icy right now, aren't they? And they're going to get worse. It's going to start snowing again tomorrow and on into Friday. So we need a little angelic assistance when we get on the icy roads. But when the roads are smooth, no problem. I'll take it from here, Lord. Uh-uh. Uh-uh. Yes, we trust the Lord for eternity, but for the rest of our earthly lives, we want to maintain some degree of control. And when things aren't in our control, that's when we worry. That's when we fret about things. No wonder we worry far too much. It's a problem of a lack of faith, a lack of trust. Peter's exhortation, casting all your care upon him, suggests a one-time casting of everything upon God. I'm not suggesting that it is a sin for you to wake up in the morning and tell the Lord once again, I'm trusting you to care for me throughout the day. There's nothing evil with that. There's no sin in that. The hour. Reiteration of our surrender and dependence upon God is probably good for our souls. It reminds us how weak and tiny we are and how much we need the Lord. It's good for us. But it should be recognized that initially our care-casting has been done, or at least it should be done. Upon whom should we cast our cares? We're simply told Cast them on the one who cares for you. The care with which the Lord blesses his children is a different word than our care. The two Greek words are very different. And it's obvious that there is no sin in what God does. What an understatement. What an understated word it is. God careth for you. We understand, it's a good word, but it lacks some punch. Our Savior not only cares for us, but the Bible says that he loves us with a love that is inexpressible. He cares for us. Humanly speaking, there are a number of levels of love. There's friendship, there's affection. There is family love. There's romantic love. There may be more than that. Some person might say that he cares about another person. I care for you. That is not the same thing as I love you. Unless my wife knows I'm kidding, it would be a dangerous thing for me to say, I care for you. But Peter is talking about the infinite God. And with him, everything is taken to a higher and heavenly level. God careth for you so much as to send his only begotten son to die for you. That is care to the utmost. That is care to the extreme. Paraphrasing Romans 8 just a bit, if God careth for us, who can be against us? He despaired not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all. How shall He not with Him freely give us all things? Casting all your care upon Him, for He careth for you. David said in Psalm 55, cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he shall sustain thee. He shall never suffer the righteous to be moved. Why, David? Because he careth for you. Remember that the Lord made those people righteous. The righteous he shall bless. He made them righteous, they didn't do it themselves. How can he care enough to save them and then not be interested in the condition of their earthly lives? He does care, even when we think things aren't going very well. The Lord Jesus dealt with this theme during his Sermon on the Mount. Turn to Matthew chapter 6. Matthew chapter 6. Verse number 25. Therefore I say unto you, take no thought of your life. Don't worry about your life, what you shall eat or what you shall drink, nor yet for your body what you shall put on. Is not the life more than meat and the body than raiment? Behold the fowls of the air, they sow not, neither do they reap. nor gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? Which of you, by taking thought, can add one cubit unto his stature? And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow. They toil not, neither do they spin, and yet I say unto you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if God so clothed the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you? O ye of little faith. Therefore, take no thought, saying, what shall we eat? Or what shall we drink? Wherewithal shall we be clothed? For after these things do the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. but seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you. Perhaps my application of the illustration isn't precise, isn't on point in all its details, but the lilies and the sparrows have cast their cares upon the creator. I know that it's their nature. I know they have no other choice, nevertheless. And yes, the grass and the flowers may bloom and grow only for a short time, but they are entirely within the will of the Lord. And Christ is saying, that's where we're supposed to be as well. Why don't we human beings want to live like that? Isn't the Lord Jesus telling us to cast all our cares upon the same God in whom the sparrows trust? Doesn't He say to all of us, O ye of little faith, why can't you rely on the Lord to meet your needs as He sees fit? Doesn't He say that it is the unsaved Gentile who lives under the worry of, what shall we eat? What shall we drink? What shall we wear? Your heavenly father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. Going back to the context. Relief from anxiety and care comes with faith and submission to our omnipotent, loving Heavenly Father. God giveth grace to the humble, and since we need daily grace, we must humble ourselves before Him and trust His care. Humble yourselves, therefore, unto the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time. Not only do we look forward to that future exaltation, but we need constant day-to-day, down-to-earth, divine care as well. Not just that future stuff. And when we refuse to cast our cares upon Him, we should not expect to receive His care. How can we obey the principle of this verse? What are the mechanics of care casting? It is by faith we throw our problems onto the Lord. With that, I'll close with words from Paul to the Philippians. Rejoice in the Lord always. And again I say, rejoice, be careful for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God.