Sermonette for Saturday
Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble. 1 Peter 5:5
That great preacher of a past century, C.H. Spurgeon, was once quoted as saying that if the last enemy to be destroyed is death, the second to last enemy to be destroyed is pride. Oh, what a monstrous enemy pride is! It was pride that caused our first parents to fall in Eden. It was pride that led Cain to offer to God the works of his own hands instead of a blood sacrifice. It has been pride that has caused men and women to rise to great positions of authority and oppression. It has been pride that has been behind just about every sin and crime ever committed by mankind. It is pride that prevents sinners from obeying the Gospel. And it is pride that sows discord and animosity among the Lord’s people. Putting on a cloak of humility, as our text directs, is not part of our old sinful nature.
The previous two verses speak of the need for the elders among the Lord’s people to be submissive to the Chief Shepherd, and the first part of our text today speaks of the younger being submissive to the elder. That is God’s order, even though it is not the world’s order. Nor does it refer to the practice of the cults such as the Mormons who give the title ‘Elder’ to lads barely old enough to shave. For some people, submission is hard, because it is not natural, at least, not according to the old nature that was ours by virtue of our first birth. It takes the second birth, God’s salvation, to give to us the new nature that enables us to accept submission to God’s order for His people.
The term ‘clothed with humility’ is an interesting one. We are familiar with people in various occupations wearing a uniform or a type of suit or garment that is appropriate to their profession. Doctors wear white coats, for example, while firefighters wear protective gear, soldiers and police wear uniforms, and fishermen wear oilskins. They put these garments on to protect and help themselves at their jobs, and to identify themselves as being a member of their occupation. In the same way, when the world, or other Christians, see our godly humility, they will recognize us as Christians. Just as people would question the authority of a policeman out of uniform, so people are justified in questioning our Christianity if they don’t see us clothed with humility. It is the garment of humility that identifies us as Christians, and it is that same garment that preserves us from all of the fiery darts of pride that the devil will shoot at us every day.
The world makes much today of assertive self-confidence. The Lord makes much today of humility and submission to His holy order. – Jim MacIntosh