"Resist the Devil"
[I Peter 5:6-11]
October 7, 2007 Second Reformed Church
Ministers are to care and love the congregation as a shepherd loves the sheep, as Jesus loves us -- the Church. And the sheep are to love the shepherd and care for him, following after his good guidance. Just as we, the Church, follow Christ. And all of us, ministers, congregants, are called to be humble -- to live lives of humility before Christ and each other. So Peter explained to the Christians running from the armies of Nero, and us.
If the Lord is willing, we will look at the end of Peter's letter this morning and next week, and we will see what it means to live our lives clothed with humility. Peter tells his fellow Christians -- and that includes us -- that if we follow his argument up to this point -- that the Christian life is a life of suffering for Christ, and it is a life that we can endure in joy as we hope for the Promises of Jesus to come to pass, and it is a hope that we are to live out through holiness and obedience to our Savior, and also human authorities, insofar as they do not contradict the clear Word of God -- then we ought to live lives clothed with humility. We ought to humble ourselves. We ought not to be filled with vain pride. We ought not to place ourselves up on pedestals.
Why? Peter gives us two reasons:
First, we are to be humble because God is powerful. We live under God's Mighty Hand -- the Hand that flung out all of everything that exists, which He created out of nothing. This is the God Who tells us that we are to live lives of humility with each other and before Him. In awe of His Power, we ought to find ourselves submitting.
Second, Peter tells us that God exalts the humble. If we are truly humble, God will lift us up at the right time. Because we now belong to Jesus, God will raise us up and lift us up in the heavenly places to His Glory when the time is right.
The Pharisees didn't understand this. They thought that since they were the religious leaders, since they were the ones called to preach and teach the Word of God, they were better than everyone else. They wanted the "common people" to bow before them and kiss their rings. They wanted "oohing and aahing" as they walked through the room. But God will have none of that. If we make much of ourselves on earth, then we have received our reward.
Luke records, "Now [Jesus] told a parable to those who were invited, when he noticed how they chose the places of honor, saying to them, 'When you are invited by someone to a wedding feast, do not sit down in the place of honor, lest someone more distinguished that you be invited by him, and he who invited you both will come and say to you, "Give your place to this person," and then you will begin with shame to take the lowest place. But when you are invited, go and sit at the lowest place, so that when your host comes he may say to you, "Friend, move up higher." Then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at table with you. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted'" (Luke 14:7-11).
Now, let's not be confused -- Jesus is not saying that we should adopt a false humility. What he is saying is that we ought to recognize our place -- we may not each be the be-all and end-all of humanity. Let us find ourselves in a place fitting to who we are, and if the master of the feast desires to move us to a better seat, he will. Just as God will lift up those who have been saved by Jesus for the sake of His Son.
The Christians on the run from Nero could have gotten big heads. They could have thought, "These pagan Romans are trying to kill us, which proves how much better we are then they. God is lucky to have us to make Him look so good -- He wouldn't look so beautiful if the Romans were His people." Peter wanted them to understand that they are not better than the pagan Romans; you and I are not better than non-Christians. When Peter was finally caught and sentenced to death, he asked that he be crucified upside-down, because to be crucified right-side up, like Jesus, was too high an honor. We are all equally sinners, in need of the One Savior. God has shown us mercy and grace; He has not given us a reward for picking Him.
Then Peter says, if we are living lives of humility, we will cast our anxieties, our cares, upon God. If we are living lives of humility, we will understand that our worry can not save us from Nero. Our worrying cannot make things turn out the way we desire them to. When we worry, we are not trusting, we are putting our hope and faith and trust in ourselves or in some other fallible thing. Peter tells us to cast them all upon God.
We may remember what Jesus said, "'Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to the span of his life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore, do not be anxious saying, "What shall we eat?" or "What shall we wear?" For the Gentiles seek after these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all things will be added to you.
"'Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for the itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble'" (Matthew 6:25-34).
And Paul wrote, "And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. To our God and Father be glory forever and ever. Amen" (Philippians 4:19-20).
Jesus says that we ought to look at the world around us, to see that God provides for all of the needs of the created order, so we who have received His Very Son, should not be anxious but rely on Him, confidently, humbly knowing that He will provide us with everything we need for this day. Paul says the same thing: God will provide us with everything that we need for today out of the riches of the Glory of Jesus. Why? So He will receive the Glory!
Do we believe Him? Do you believe Him, Second Reformed Church? Do you believe that God is telling the truth when He promises to provide us with every one of our needs? Do we trust Him? Are we saying, "I don't know how this can work out, but I trust in You, Lord. You are my God. You have never lied. So I am going to humble myself before You in love and follow after You, confident that my joy will be filled in You"?
Peter says to be sober-minded and watchful. That makes sense. The Romans were hot on their trail. They should be clear-headed, keeping watch, lest they be caught and killed. Jesus criticized the Pharisees for not being able to understand the simplest of signs: "And the Pharisees and Sadducees came, and to test him they asked him to show them a sign from heaven. He answered them, 'When it is evening, you say, "It will be fair weather, for the sky is red." And in the morning, "It will be stormy weather, for the sky is red and threatening." You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times. An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah.' So he left them and departed" (Matthew 16:1-4).
But it wasn't the Romans Peter had in mind, was it? No, Peter said to be sober-minded and watchful because "your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour." We need to be clear-headed and alert because the devil is seeking to disrupt our unity and our worship. The devil is seeking to get us to fight with each other, to whisper about each other, to speak poorly of one another. The devil wants us to look around and think that the Word of God is not enough -- we need games and toys and sparkly things to suck people into the church.
Here's what we need to understand: the devil is real. He is not a myth; he is a real being. And the devil is powerful. The devil is not to be fooled with. He is more powerful that you and I -- on our own. But we also need to understand that the devil is a creature. He is a created being just like we are. He is not a god, and he cannot do anything without permission from God -- just read the book of Job. The devil is a creature. He can only be in one place at a time, and his knowledge is limited. That's why he gathered an army to fight against God -- those angels who became demons.
But there's one more thing we need to understand: the devil has already lost. He is defeated. His doom is sure. Jesus said, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven" (Luke 10:18b). Jesus said that there is "an eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels" (Matthew 25:41b). Jesus said that when He returns the devil will be "thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet [will be], and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever" (Revelation 20:10b).
The devil and his demons are at work in this church. They want us to bicker with each other. They want us to doubt the Word of God. They want us to look at our circumstances and believe that providing for us is just too much for Jesus to handle. They want us to pull the sheets over our heads and wait for the end to come.
But Peter says, "resist him, stand firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world." James says, "Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you" (James 4:7).
The story is told of Martin Luther, when he was working on his lectures, he would become overwhelmed and feel like giving up. And then he would see what this is -- nothing more that the devil preying on him -- and he would yell at the devil, "Be gone! I have been baptized into Christ Jesus!"
What he meant is this -- we could all look at our circumstances and say that there is no way we can carry on -- we’re too old, we're too poor, everyone else in the congregation besides me is a pain. But this is the Work of our God, Jesus Christ, Who is victorious over being murdered by the Romans, He is victorious over death and hell and the grave and the Wrath of God coming down upon Him. He is alive and victorious and He has claimed us for His Own.
Peter says to "resist the devil" -- he may be powerful, but he is a liar and a loser -- our Jesus has won -- so "stand firm in the faith." Why?
Because what we're going through is nothing unusual -- it's not unique. Our brothers and sisters throughout the world have suffered the same as we suffer, and more in some places. Now Peter is not saying we should be Stoics. He's not saying we should just say "whatever will be, will be." No, he is saying that we need to understand that suffering is part of the life of the Christian -- we ought not be surprised. Paul wrote, "Therefore when we could bear it no longer, we were willing to be left behind at Athens alone, and we sent Timothy, our beloved brother and God’s co-worker in the gospel of Christ, to establish and exhort you in your faith, that no one should be moved by these afflictions. For you yourselves know that we are destined for this" (I Thessalonians 3:1-3).
Hear again the promise: "Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived" (II Timothy 3:12-13).
If the devil and the Romans and the Reformed Church in America should make war against the Gospel of Jesus Christ and us, it shouldn't surprise us. And in love and humility, we ought to work with each other, support each other, and rely on Jesus Christ for all things, as He is glorified through us.
Because we have been "called...to his eternal glory in Christ." We have been talking about this idea in our Saturday afternoon study: not matter what happens to us on earth, even if we are put to death, that's the worst that any human can do to us, but then, that is gain, because we shall be received into the glory that Jesus has prepared for us. That's what Peter has been saying all along -- we can live for Jesus, suffer for Jesus, love in Jesus' Name, because what is coming is so much greater than we can ever imagine. Do you have that hope this morning?
Peter says that Jesus "will himself, restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you." We have absolutely nothing to lose and everything to gain in Jesus. Listen to Paul: "Therefore, I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory. The saying is trustworthy, for: if we have died with him, we will also live with him; if we endure, we will also reign with him; if we deny him, he will also deny us; if we are faithless, he remains faithful -- for he cannot deny himself" (II Timothy 2:10-13).
God can and will keep His Promises, because He is eternally Sovereign. The devil is a lot of pomp and show. He is cunning and persuasive. But he can't back up his words. Hear this description of our Sovereign God: "At the end of days I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven, and my reason returned to me, and I blessed the Most High, and praised and honored him who lives forever, for his dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom endures from generation to generation; all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, and he does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand or say to him, 'What have you done?'" (Daniel 4:34-35).
That's the God I serve. That's the God Peter served. That is the God of Christianity. That is the God Who tells us to resist the devil -- don't buy his arguments; don't believe his lies. Instead, let us humble ourselves. Let us love each other. Let us get over ourselves and get beyond our disbelief. Our God rose from the dead, and He will raise us up, when the time is right. "To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen."
Let us pray:
Almighty and Sovereign God, we bow before You this morning, humbled as we consider the times we have doubted You. Make us to be humble among each other. Cause us to work together to Your Glory. Help us to remember that the devil is a defeated foe, and in You, we can resist him and his devilish words, and he will flee from us. As we receive the bread and the cup this morning, we ask that You would again give us Your Grace. Strengthen us through this communion, and give us Your Wisdom. For it is in Jesus' Name we pray, Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment