church

INI
The Sixth Sunday after Trinity
July 11, 2010
Ascension Lutheran Church, Tacoma WA
Paul Naumann, Pastor

GOD’S INTENDED CONSEQUENCES
I Peter 5:6-11

Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus
our Lord, Amen. Today we turn to the 42nd chapter of the Prophet Isaiah,
beginning with the first verse, as follows:

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. Be sober,
be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion,
seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that
the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world. But may
the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you
have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you. To Him be
the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.. These are the Words.

In Christ Jesus, Who has promised, I will never leave you nor forsake you, Dear
Fellow Redeemed,

Actions often have unintended consequences. This is especially true of big,
important actions. In his book, “Last Call – the Rise and Fall of Prohibition,”
author Daniel Okrent tells the interesting story of how Prohibition, intended to
rid the country of the scourge of alcoholism, never came close to fulfilling that
goal. What it did do was usher in a host of huge changes that none of the
supporters of Prohibition ever envisioned. The author shows how it really was
Prohibition that eventually gave us a national income tax, the Mafia, plea
bargaining, the city of Las Vegas, the sport of NASCAR the right to privacy,
and even Roe v. Wade. Talk about unintended consequences! It a person feel
kind of nervous about some of the sweeping changes being enacted by our
current government!

Is it possible to make plans for the future and get all the intended
consequences and none of the unintended? It might seem impossible, but it’s
not. Not for Christians! For us, the results are guaranteed. If you’ve been
perplexed by suffering in your life lately, if you’ve felt like the devil is assaulting
you with temptation, if your life has just been generally unsettled and you need
some stabilizing, then our text for this morning will be a big encouragement for
you. Our theme today is:

GOD’S INTENDED CONSEQUENCES

I. Humble yourself and God will exalt you.
II. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
III. Endure the suffering and God will establish you.

Our text begins with the word, “therefore.” A seminary professor once said, “If
you see the word ‘therefore,’ you’d better find out what it’s there for.” Peter is
referring back to the previous verses, where he’d been talking about the
persecution and suffering that the Christians were going through at the time,
and which by the way was about to get worse. He says, Beloved, do not think it
strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange
thing happened to you; 13 but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ's
sufferings. – I Pet 4:12-13. The believers were headed into a period of marked
suffering. They should expect it and not be surprised by it. God would get them
through it. The Lord, as always, would provide.

“THEREFORE” – since you already know what’s going to happen – what
kind of attitude should you take? Peter first points out one obvious and simple
thing you can do that will always have intended and beneficial consequences:
humble yourself. Humble yourself and God will exalt you. No question. Do
this, and that will happen. Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God,
that He may exalt you in due time.

I hardly need mention that this runs exactly against the common philosophy of
our time. Humility doesn’t rank very high on Americans’ list of desirable
qualities. Rather, today’s society teaches us to be proud and assertive, to stand
up for our rights and demand what’s coming to us. If injury or suffering has
come into your life, you don’t need to take it, you need to hire a lawyer and
make somebody pay. The consequences to our country from this attitude were
certainly unintended: we’re becoming a nation of victims. Also, with only 5% of
the world’s population, we now have over 80% of the world’s lawyers!

Let me ask you this: can you always say that you have adopted an appropriate
attitude of humility in your life? I certainly can’t. I frequently feel the effects –
and the guilt – of spiritual pride. But one Person who suffered greatly and had
no spiritual pride was our Lord Jesus: Who, being found in appearance as a man,
humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of
the cross. 9 Therefore God also has highly exalted Him. – Phil 2:8-9. Peter
urges you to humble yourself under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt
you in due time. He urges you to say, “Thy will be done,” and to recognize with
an appropriate sense of humility that the Lord knows what He’s doing in your
life.

Casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you. This passage has
comforted believers for centuries. The word “casting” is the same word used on
Palm Sunday, when the disciples were “casting” their garments on the back of
the donkey on which Jesus rode into Jerusalem. What a graphic picture!
Everything you’ve got that gives you sorrow in life – cast it on the Lord! This is
not a suggestion, by the way, it is a command. Trouble in your marriage? Cast it
on the Lord. Anxiety about how you’re going to pay your bills? Cast it on the
Lord. Guilt over the sins you’ve committed? Cast it on the Lord. The Psalmist
said, Cast your burden on the LORD, And He shall sustain you; He shall never
permit the righteous to be moved. – Ps 55:22. Offload those burdens! Don’t try
to proudly carry them yourself. Humble yourself under God’s hand, and He will
lift you up at just the right time.

The second action Peter mentions that will definitely have beneficial intended
consequences in your life is this: resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Be
sober, be vigilant, the Apostle says, because your adversary the devil walks
about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in
the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood
in the world.

Have you ever heard a lion’s roar? For real, I mean, and not just on television?
Male lions can roar at 115 decibels, approximately as loud as a jet engine. You
can hear a lion’s roar from six miles away, and people familiar with Africa say it
can be one of the most terrifying sounds you will ever hear. Why does the Holy
Spirit choose this expression in particular here in our text? Because our
adversary the devil is not to be taken lightly. We’d be fools to take him lightly.
Peter tells us what his INTENDED CONSEQUENCES are: The devil walks
about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour, seeking victims that he
can “gulp down.” We know the experience, don’t we? We feel the devil’s
temptations. And yet very often, when we see the devil coming, we do nothing.
We stand there like a deer in the headlights. You feel the temptation to sin, you
know it’s the devil attacking you, and you do nothing to resist him. In fact,
don’t you sometimes even go halfway out to meet him? Are you ever guilty of
that sin? I know I am.

By the way, “adversary” is an interesting word. It means the accuser, the one
who speaks against you. And that’s the main thing the devil does, isn’t it? He
speaks against you. He whispers in your ear, “Remember those sins you
committed? How can you call yourself a Christian? You’ll never make it to
heaven, not with the things you’ve done. Other people, maybe, but not you.”
He batters at your conscience. He tries to strip you of your faith in Christ. He
attempts to make you despair. But take courage: You haven’t always resisted
the devil as you should, but there’s one person who did! Jesus resisted and
overcame Satan, on your behalf. He overcame every temptation that the devil
presented Him with. The writer to the Hebrews reminds us, For we do not have
a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points
tempted as we are, yet without sin. – Heb 4:15. Jesus knows your every
temptation. He knows how hard it is. He defeated the devil for you, so that you
could share in His eternal victory. He gave His life on that skull-shaped hill of
Golgotha, so that you could be redeemed forever. So that you could be God’s
holy child, bound for an everlasting glory!

Your victory over Satan is one of God’s intended consequences. It has already
been assured by Christ, so resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Resist the
devil like Jesus did in the wilderness – by using the powerful Word of God.
When you feel the tug of temptation you should go immediately to your Bible,
though the devil will make that very difficult. When you feel your faith is weak,
you should by any means possible come to God’s house to hear the Word and
get strength from your fellow Christians, though the devil will give you a
thousand excuses to skip church. Writing on this passage Martin Luther said,
“You must be sober and vigilant, but in order that the body may be ready. But
this does not yet vanquish the devil. It is done only in order that you may give
the body less reason to sin. The true sword is your strong and firm faith. If you
take hold of God’s Word in your heart and cling to it with faith, the devil
cannot win but must flee.” Encouraging words, from someone who knew the
meaning of temptation.

Finally comes the part of Peter’s message that may be the hardest for us to
take: endure the suffering and God will establish you. Peter says, But may the
God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you
have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you. That’s
probably not exactly what we want to hear when we’re going through suffering
in our lives, is it? Imagine if you were sick and someone sent you a card that
said, I hope you get better, but not before you suffer a while. Our prayer is
always that the Lord would remove suffering immediately, isn’t it? But that’s
not always the best thing for us spiritually, and the Lord knows that. “Don’t act
like this is something strange,” Peter said earlier. This is an intended
consequence. This is what the Christian life is – it’s challenges, and trials, and
difficulties, and yes, suffering. We must through much tribulation enter into the
kingdom of heaven. Sometimes the Lord allows suffering in our lives to
discipline us and strengthen our faith, to draw us closer to Him. The Bible says,
Whom the Lord loves he chastens, and disciplines every son whom He receives.

Peter says, “Hang in there!” When suffering comes, endure it in patient hope.
For this is another of God’s intended consequences. After you have been
disciplined by the hard times, God promises to perfect, establish, strengthen,
and settle you. The picture is of the foundation of a building, firmly laid down,
established, that won’t be shaken but will endure forever. Though, of course,
you won’t have to endure forever. The Apostle Paul says, For our light
affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and
eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but
at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary,
but the things which are not seen are eternal. Our true life – our eternal life – is
hidden in heaven with our Savior.

It was the poet Robert Burns who said, “The best-laid plans of mice and men
often go awry.” We’re frail humans, and our actions – well-intentioned though
they may be – often have unintended consequences. Our plans often fail. How
comforting to know that God’s plans never do. What a relief it is to realize that
the big things in our life, the really important things, can’t go awry. For the
consequences that God’s wills for your life are all intended, and they’re all
good. Peter has taught you a few of them this morning: Humble yourself and
God will exalt you; resist the devil, and he will flee from you; endure the
suffering and God will establish you. But perhaps the greatest intended
consequence of them all lies in the simple words of Paul to the Jailor at Philippi:
“Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your
household.”—Acts 16:31. AMEN.