Today's Word of Encouragement

HUMBLED AND EXALTED

Sunday, April 19,2020

     Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt y ou at the proper time, casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you (1 Peter 5:6-7).

     These words are a powerful encouragement to Christians because they so parallel the experience of Jesus Christ Himself.

     Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father (Philippians 2:8-11).

     There is a great truth in Peter’s words and in Jesus’ example. To ‘exalt’ is to ‘lift up’. It is to take what is in a lowly position and raise it to a position of honor. So many examples are given in the Bible: Samuel, David, Moses, Jeremiah, all of the disciples (except Judas), Jesus Himself. The great truth is this – it is God who lifts us up when we humble ourselves before Him. People today manufacture all kinds of ways and means to exalt themselves into positions of recognition, power, and influence, which is here today and gone tomorrow. But when God lifts us up, it is not to one’s own honor, or even to the honor of the nation, but to the honor and glory of Jesus Christ – and that remains forever.

     Peter said when we yield to the authority of Jesus Christ as Lord, He will lift us up at the proper time – not in our time, but in the best time, in His time. This may happen in the present time of crisis o r sometime in our future. It will certainly happen in the life to come in His kingdom. What a great thing to look forward to.

     We can be assured the Lord will not leave us in this current lowly and powerless state. He will raise us up to a position of honor which will far surpass all that we suffer now and for the rest of our temporal life. Albert Barnes said it this way, “He may well afford to be humble here who is to be exalted to a throne in heaven.” Again, what a great thing to look forward to!

Pastor Martin

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