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Now let's dive into today's teaching from Pastor Skip Heitzig. Even God Himself cannot sink this ship, so said those who built the Titanic. Strange words to hear, are they not? Even God Himself cannot sink this ship, the ship that was considered the strongest, most certainly most luxurious ship of its time, the largest man-made object of the day in water. Took twelve thousand men two years to build.
They were so confident that that ship was invincible that on Sunday morning, April fourteenth, nineteen twelve. When typically they have the drill for the lifeboats, they decided no lifeboat drill was necessary because, after all, the ship is invincible; it can't sink. Even God Himself cannot sink this ship. That night at eleven forty p.m., just minutes before midnight, when that ship struck that iceberg, we know the story; it went down. The ship was sunk, and those haunting words from Proverbs 16 come to mind: "Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall." Pride—we know something about that, do we not?
All of us do. Pride is the oldest sin in the universe, and it shows no signs of weakening with age. Seems to get stronger and stronger. It was pride that put Lucifer out of heaven. It was pride that put Adam and Eve out of the garden.
It is pride that ruins everything it touches. Pride, your greatest enemy. Humility, your greatest friend.
Sometimes humility is found in the strangest places. Thirty-three years ago, when Our then President Ronald Reagan was shot. He was placed in the hospital. The bullet grazed his shoulder and his rib, and he was recovering in the hospital. And a nurse walked in his room, and instead of finding President Reagan in the bed recovering, she found President Reagan on his knees wiping up water off the floor with a towel, and she was shocked.
She said, "Mr. President." We have people for that stuff, but but President Reagan explained that he didn't want a nurse or an aide getting in trouble for not cleaning up spilled water in the bathroom. Amazing. Very few people get to meet a standing president. Fewer people get to meet a kneeling president, one who shows that kind of humility.
D.L. Moody once said, "Be humble, or you'll stumble." With that in mind, let's discover how. Let's discover this attitude in verse five of First Peter chapter five. Likewise, you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you, be submissive to one another and be clothed with humility.
For God resists the proud, but He gives grace to the humble. Therefore, humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time. Casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.
Now, allow me to give my best shot at giving you the setting of these verses. These are the closing words of Peter in this letter. He has written to several groups. The group right before this were the elders of the church. That they are to feed the flock.
They are to shepherd the flock. They are to do so by example. They are to do so willingly, not by constraint. And after addressing the elders, he addresses those who are younger. And then everybody saying that we should be submissive and humble and humble ourselves before God.
So, so let me paint the scene as I can best see it. Peter's audience were a group of sufferers. Twenty-one times in this letter, he addresses that subject of suffering. And he has written to them already. Do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial, which is to try you.
So he's writing to a group of people who are feeling the pain of suffering. And when suffering is present, good leadership should also be present, especially those who will feed the flock. Those who feed God's suffering sheep will calm God's suffering sheep, give them the ability to make it through that suffering. But the church needs something else. Not only does it need good leaders, it needs good followers, because suffering will bring out the worst in people, the worst attitudes.
The tensions, and in suffering, people will often resort to baser behaviors. Tempers will flare, irritations will mount, accusations will fly, and pride will rear its ugly head. I've noticed that when churches go through times of difficulty, that the atmosphere can become very volatile. And there will arise those who, in the name of righteous indignation, will challenge leadership. It is often, not always, but often, the younger ones who will do that.
Why?
Well, they never trusted the older generation anyway, to begin with. Often times, and they have not learned the art of diplomacy or the virtue of humility. And that seems to be, at least in part, the setting that we have here in what we have just read. The pressures on the outside of the church have produced pressures on the inside of the church.
So what Peter writes now is to those who are younger, and then to everyone else. I've called this message the upright walk of a bowed down man. And I want to give you the three principles. You know, sometimes you go, "Boy, he does things in threes a lot." Well, there are three verses, and sometimes there are two points.
Sometimes there are five points.
Sometimes there are four. But there are here in these three verses three major principles. Can I call them compliant characteristics of those who are upright? I'm going to give them to you in sentence form. Number one.
Responding to authority helps leadership. Nothing is more helpful to those who are in authority than to find those who will compliantly respond to that authority. Notice what he writes. Likewise, you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Now, stop right there.
This is not an unfamiliar theme, is it not? Peter has written a lot about submission so far. It's been one of his themes. Back in chapter two, verse thirteen, he writes, "Submit yourself to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake." In chapter two, verse eighteen, servants, be submissive to your masters. In chapter three, verse one, wives submit to your husbands.
In chapter two or three, verse twenty-two, Peter writes about angelic beings being in subjection or submission submission to Christ. In other words, submission is a part of every single realm of life because submission is a foundational attitude for all of life. You can't be saved without submission. Did you know that? Because to be saved, you have to repent, turn from what you know is wrong, your own self-will, your own previous choices, and repent means to turn around and go in a new direction.
And therefore, you are now in submission to an alien will. You cannot follow Christ unless you are willing to submit to Christ as Savior and as Lord. But notice to whom He writes. Likewise, you younger people, I need to warn you that that's my translation, but more modern translations and a few of the older ones will say "young men" in particular, because the word is very, very distinct. It refers probably to young men.
Here it says younger people, but most translations say younger men.
Now you might ask, why would Peter single out young men? I can't be sure. I can only guess. I can only guess by saying that often young men are more impulsive, more aggressive, more headstrong, and they have a tougher time with submission. I can only speak from personal experience.
When I was growing up, I remember the tough time I had whenever my dad would say just about anything. I was headstrong. It's those who are young, especially young men, they feel like they've got the world by the tail. And how did the world even make it all these years without them? You know what I mean.
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Now let's return to today's teaching. It's actually a wonderful time. Youth is. It's a time of daring and creativity and feeling invincible, almost. But it can also be a dangerous time, because those who are younger often think themselves infinitely wiser than everybody else, especially the older generation.
And this can sometimes be catastrophic. Let me jog your memory a little bit.
Solomon, after he died, his son Rehoboam took over the kingdom. If you remember, Solomon had a tough time because he heavily taxed the people, almost to the point of breaking them.
So when Rehoboam got on the throne, he decided he would get advice from two groups of people because the people had come to Rehoboam and said, "Dude, you got to relax the tax structure. Your dad almost killed us." So he asked two groups of advisors. One was an older group. Who had advised his father? One was his contemporaries, a much younger group, an edgier group.
The old guy said, "You better listen to the people because they are on the brink of revolt." But he asked the younger people, and they said, "Don't listen to what the people want. Show them who's boss. Assert your own authority over them. In fact, you should say that your little finger will be heavier than your father's waist." And so he did that, and the people did revolt, and the kingdom split north and south, and never recovered from that.
So submission is necessary. Wayne Mackey said, "The error of youth is to believe that intelligence is a substitute for experience." All of society is built on submission, right? There are laws that you must keep, and if you don't keep them, there are policemen out there who will reinforce and enforce those laws to help you. Remember, not only is there government, there's submission at home to parents. You go to work, you have to submit to rules and regulations of the company or the vision and instruction of the boss.
In virtually every part of life, there is a structure, a chain of command for anything to work, and so it is in the church. In Hebrews thirteen verse seventeen, the writer says, "Obey your spiritual leaders and do what they say. Their work is to watch over your souls, and they know that they are accountable to God." Give them reason to do this joyfully and not with sorrow. That would certainly not be for your benefit.
Now I'm not bringing any of this up in some self-serving way, hoping that you will respond to my authority. It's simply part of the biblical text. He addresses elders, then he addresses those who are younger, in response to those who are older. And then he addresses all people in the congregation after that. But here's what I want you to know about submission: submission to any authority on earth is an act of faith.
Yes, you're submitting to a human, and that's a little scary because they may take advantage of you. And I say it's an act of faith because when you submit to a person as a believer, you are trusting that there is God behind them. Who is sovereign and in control, in spite of what boss you have, or what the issues are, or what the leaders are? It's an act of faith. I have a couple dogs at home.
I had one, but now we've gotten another one, and they're two different sizes. But the little one is very full of himself, and that big one could take it in its sleep. But they they tussle and they rumble and they look like they're fighting, but they're just playing. I've watched this when they play, and I've also seen it when dogs are really fighting. There is a signal that a dog gives when it submits.
It'll get on its back and expose the most vulnerable part, the neck, to the dog who has the neck in its teeth. And at any time, I watch it when they're playing. I think, man, that dog could just go kink, and it's over.
So that position of submission could destroy that dog. But in effect, in reality, that signal is how the dog is spared. And in any organization, in any group, in any structure at all, people are spared. The unit is spared when there is submission.
So the principle is responding to authority helps leadership. Here's the second: living in humility enhances fellowship. Living in humility enhances fellowship. Continue in verse five. Second sentence: Yes, says Peter, all of you be submissive to one another.
And be clothed with humility. For and he quotes Proverbs now. God resists the proud, but he gives grace to the humble. Peter was addressing the elders, chapter five, verse one, and following. We looked at that last week.
Then he addresses the youngers.
Now he's addressing allers. Everyone, all y'all, they would say in the South. Everyone in the flock, everyone in the fellowship. He speaks about the action of submission.
Now the attitude of humility. This is the attitude that lubricates relationships. Submission and humility; those are the lubricants. That's the oil when the gears get tight. They keep it flowing smoothly.
Notice what he writes: Be submissive to one another. Remember the word for submission. We've looked at it several times in this study over the weeks. Hupetasso means to line up under. It's a military term to line up under.
The idea is that you line up under somebody's authority. You get in line under their authority. You relinquish your rights.
So here he says, "Be submissive to one another." Let me offer a retranslation. Voluntarily adapt yourselves to each other, or blend with one another. Be willing to surrender your rights. You can't always be the dog on top with the teeth growling.
Sometimes you're going to have to assume the lower position. Humility.
So he says, clothe yourself with humility. The word humility means to get low or low lying. The word is sometimes translated lowliness of mind. Paul says, "With lowliness of mind," Philippians chapter two. Let each of you esteem others better than himself.
So, a low-minded person. Here's what's interesting to me. The culture in which this was written, the Greco-Roman culture, especially the Greek culture, despised the quality of humility. Did you know that they despised it? Much like today, our society despises it.
You know, you're a wimp. You show weakness. The Greeks believed there were only two types of people in the world: Greeks and everybody else. And everybody else, their term, they were barbarians.
So the Greeks said, self-confidence, self-aggressiveness; those are good qualities. The only people that were the humble people were their conquered enemies. When they would conquer someone, they would turn them into slaves. They would become the low-minded person or the humble person because they saw themselves as number one. We're superior.
I was reading an article about personalized license plates. It seems that when personalized license plates were first introduced to the state of Illinois, that the Department of Motor Vehicles had thousands of requests for the license plate that said "Number One," Number One. Thousands of them. There were so many of them that the official at the Department of Motor Vehicles, whose job it was to make the assignment, said, "I'm not going to assign this to someone and disappoint thousands of people." So he solved the problem, and he took the number one for his license plate. Number one, be submissive to one another," writes Peter.
And be clothed with humility. You know the Bible always sees humility as a virtue, not a vice. Doesn't say it's a wimpy, weak person, but a strong person. And you know why? Because Jesus was humble.
One of the chief characteristics of the Savior we follow is humility. According to the Apostle Paul, these words: "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, and thought it not robbery to be equal with God, he made himself of no reputation. He took on the form of a bond servant, and coming in the likeness of men, being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death, even death on the cross." So, taking Christ as our model, he says, "Now be clothed with humility." That's an interesting term. I think he's borrowing that from the slave market. There was an apron that slaves would tie around their waist.
And when he says "clothe yourself with humility," it's literally put on the clothing of a slave. J.B. Phillips translates it: "Put the overalls of humility on." That's the attitude. Thanks for joining us today on Connect with Skip Heitzig. Before we go, remember that your generosity helps more people discover the truth of God's Word and grow in their relationship with Jesus.
And this month, when you give fifty dollars or more, we'll thank you with two meaningful resources you can enjoy yourself or give this Christmas. The Daily God Journal will help you grow in Scripture and prayer throughout the coming year. Plus, Christmas Under the Tree is a beautifully illustrated story that points hearts toward Jesus from the cradle to the cross. Give a gift with eternal value while helping others encounter God's Word at ConnectWithGift.com/offer or by calling eight hundred nine two two eighteen eighty eight. We'll see you next time for more verse by verse teaching of God's Word here on Connect with Skip Heitzig Weekend Edition.
Connect with Skip Heitzig is a presentation of Connection Communications, connecting you to God's never changing truth in ever changing times. What is God doing in Israel today, and how does it connect to biblical prophecy? Discover the answer at the 2027 Episenter Summit in Jerusalem. Hear renowned Christian leaders, including Joel Rosenberg, Greg Laurie, and. Graham Lotts, Jack Graham, Mike Huckabee, and Skip Heitzig see the Bible come alive with Skip and Lenya Heitzig's tour of Israel, April 5 through 16, 2027.
Explore Jerusalem, Galilee, the Jordan River, and more. Visit Israel deep in your faith. Experience Scripture like never before. Learn more at connectwithskip.com/israel.
