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STANDING ON A SOLID FOUNDATION
The Sermon Text, 1 Peter 5:6-11. 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.
Lord, this is Your Word and these are Your words. Sanctify us by the truth. Your Word is truth. Lord, keep us steadfast in Your Word. Because the devil rages like a roaring lion so that throughout the earth no rest is found from his lies and deceit, send Your Holy Spirit to protect our faith and give us courage so that we can’t be moved off the solid foundation of Your Word. Amen.
Dear fellow redeemed in Christ, in whose death God cares for you: I bring you grace and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
At 3 o’clock on June 25, 1530, a layman named Christian Beyer stepped before the most powerful man in the world, Emperor Charles V, and began to read. At the end of his opening comments, he read in a loud voice: “This is our confession and that of our people, article by article, as follows.” When he finished reading almost 2 hours later, another Lutheran layman placed two copies of the Augsburg Confession into the emperor’s hands.
It was signed by Lutheran laymen, local rulers who followed Luther’s teaching. Emperor Charles had summoned Luther’s followers to Augsburg because he wanted no more departures from Roman Catholic teaching. Now they had written, signed, and made public a confession of faith that declared they were rejecting Roman Catholic teaching, where it strayed from the Bible. They needed constant encouragement to remain firm, for the emperor threatened to confiscate their lands and torture their subjects. Afterward one of the Lutherans responded to the emperor’s threats saying: “Before I let anyone take from me the Word of God and ask me to deny my God, I will kneel and let them strike off my head.”
Today we say this confession of faith. In doing so we say it’s our confession too, it’s our faith. But as soon as you believe the Gospel, and confess the truth as your own, you can count on attacks from the devil.
That’s what this reading from 1 Peter is about. It has one of the most calming verses: “Casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.” It’s a promise of God’s caring love that produces calm in me every time I hear it. It’s a nice verse for those who struggle with anxiety and depression.
But that verse is followed immediately by one of the most disturbing verses: “Be sober, be vigilant” – “constantly watching” – “because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.” This is disturbing. It says the devil is always hunting you, you can’t ever let down your guard.
Also, Peter doesn’t picture the lion silently sneaking up on its prey. Here the lion roars. Won’t the one that the lion is after get away? But the picture Peter chooses for the devil is that he roars at you, produces such fear in you, so you’re paralyzed by fear, can’t run away, and are totally in his control and power. It seems to undo all the calm.
This verse helps clue us in to the fact that this promise about taking all your care and anxiety, and casting it all upon the Lord for Him to take up, while it does have a broad application – it says “all your care” – also has a specific context related to the purpose of this first epistle of Peter.
Peter was divinely inspired to write this while he was in prison in Rome, not long before his death as a martyr under the Caesar of that time, Nero. His original readers were scattered Christians being persecuted for their faith. In fact, we hear that they knew others who were already being persecuted and martyred. Peter refers to “the same sufferings experienced by your brotherhood in the world.”
The whole letter, consisting of 5 chapters and a grand total of 105 verses, is one of comfort and encouragement for Christians who face suffering. That’s true of the words to “cast all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.” This is a comforting verse for Christians who want to be strong and steadfast, but like Peter have learned the hard way they’re not such a rock.
This is for your doubts and fears. This is for your weakness of faith. This is for when your actions don’t show others that you’re a Christian. This is for when you give in to the temptation to hide your faith. This is for your wrong priorities. This is for when your beliefs clash with the world, and you give in so you won’t be rejected by the world. This is for when you compromise or change your faith, out of a desire to be accepted or considered respectable by others. This is for the times you don’t repent. This is for when you’re afraid you’ll lose your salvation. This is for the accusations you hear in your conscience. This is for when you won’t listen to the forgiveness God speaks to you. This is for when every thought of God is silenced in your mind and heart. This is for when you can’t think a good thought about yourself, and can only accuse yourself.
But in this disturbing verse about the devil, God is revealing who’s behind all this, silencing every thought of God, making it so you can’t hear the Gospel, God’s loving words, but only the Law that condemns you.
Who’s behind it? We say in our Augsburg Confession that we need God to send the Holy Spirit into our hearts “to rule … and to defend against the devil and the power of sin.” This roaring lion, the devil, who’s always after you and is unrelenting in his attacks. His attack isn’t just getting you to sin, but that after you’ve sinned, he accuses you constantly. In fact, his accusations are like a lion’s roar.
Do you think that God thinks you should’ve done better? What does He think you should do against this roaring lion? Well, God knows what’s real; He draws this picture for you so you don’t get arrogant. So you don’t think you’re smart or clever enough to avoid the devil’s traps yourself. This is a picture of a helpless lamb whose only hope is in a mighty Shepherd.
So now hear those comforting words: “Casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.”Where do you see that He cares for you completely and perfectly? On the cross. There God cared for all your needs for eternity. Jesus took all your sin onto Himself, all the burden, but also all the sins done against you, and even all anxiety, depression, any kind of unwellness mentally and emotionally, all that’s wrong. He Himself entered into your fear and anguish. He became the guilty one and the helpless Lamb, led to the slaughter. In His resurrection He became the Lion who devoured death and all the devil’s kingdom. He cared for you – cares about you – this much! He cares for you by bringing you what He won for you on the cross – forgiveness for all sin, which He gives you in Baptism and His Supper.
God cares for you! If you ever doubt this, look to His cross. We also confess in the Augsburg Confession, that when you know you have a Father, who is “reconciled” to you, that you have peace with Him, the peace of sins forgiven, through Christ, you know that God cares for you.
The point of all this is not only to comfort you, remove your anxiety, and produce a great calm in you by giving you peace with God and with yourself. But God is also preparing you. It’s a gift He doesn’t just want to give you once, or in a moment of crisis, but He wants to keep giving it to you, perpetually. He isn’t creating a momentary calm. He gives you a solid foundation to stand on. He does it not only for you but for us His Church.
First Peter pictures Christians as pilgrims journeying through the world on the way to our heavenly destination. As we travel through this world, at times we can’t see our destination, we don’t see ourselves as citizens of heaven, and everything around us in this world makes us discouraged, disheartened, pessimistic. What we need is perseverance.
You won’t get it from the world. Or by calling on your own resources. It comes from His Word, His promises, which all come true in Christ. When Peter writes, in response to the warning about the devil’s unrelenting attack: “Resist him, steadfast [firm] in the faith,” it’s not only saying “no” to temptation. But when you fail to do that, you sin and you’re guilty, then the resisting of the devil comes through God’s forgiveness. The sin doesn’t hurt you because you repent and believe that in Christ God forgives you.
This forgiveness is something you receive. You receive it from God Himself in His Word. If you’re cut off – or cut yourself off – from hearing His Word regularly, you’re cut off from the forgiveness that protects you and helps you to resist the devil’s roaring of accusation. Hearing His absolution drowns the devil’s roar.
He also makes sure that you don’t hear it in solitude. We don’t travel as lone rangers. You hear it with all those – “your brotherhood in the world” – who experience “the same sufferings” as you. We stand together on the foundation of Christ and His Word. We hear His truth together. We repent together. We hear the forgiveness together. We confess Him together.
This is how God keeps His promise to “perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you.” You’re “settled,” standing on a solid foundation, solid ground, not intimidated by the devil, not paralyzed or cowering in fear, but in Jesus’ word and by His blood you are given the confidence that “He cares for you,” always. Amen!
On Jun 20, 2026, at 4:08 PM, Jerome Gernander <pastorgernander@gmail.com> wrote:
6-21-26, Trinity 3/Presentation of the Augsburg Confession, Hope-Leander TX
STANDING ON A SOLID FOUNDATION
The Sermon Text, 1 Peter 5:6-11. 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.
Lord, this is Your Word and these are Your words. Sanctify us by the truth. Your Word is truth. Lord, keep us steadfast in Your Word. Because the devil rages like a roaring lion so that throughout the earth no rest is found from his lies and deceit, send Your Holy Spirit to protect our faith and give us courage so that we can’t be moved off the solid foundation of Your Word. Amen.
Dear fellow redeemed in Christ, in whose death God cares for you: I bring you grace and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
At 3 o’clock on June 25, 1530, a layman named Christian Beyer stepped before the most powerful man in the world, Emperor Charles V, and began to read. At the end of his opening comments, he read in a loud voice: “This is our confession and that of our people, article by article, as follows.” When he finished reading almost 2 hours later, another Lutheran layman placed two copies of the Augsburg Confession into the emperor’s hands.
It was signed by Lutheran laymen, local rulers who followed Luther’s teaching. Emperor Charles had summoned Luther’s followers to Augsburg because he wanted no more departures from Roman Catholic teaching. Now they had written, signed, and made public a confession of faith that declared they were rejecting Roman Catholic teaching, where it strayed from the Bible. They needed constant encouragement to remain firm, for the emperor threatened to confiscate their lands and torture their subjects. Afterward one of the Lutherans responded to the emperor’s threats saying: “Before I let anyone take from me the Word of God and ask me to deny my God, I will kneel and let them strike off my head.”
Today we say this confession of faith. In doing so we say it’s our confession too, it’s our faith. But as soon as you believe the Gospel, and confess the truth as your own, you can count on attacks from the devil.
That’s what this reading from 1 Peter is about. It has one of the most calming verses: “Casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.” It’s a promise of God’s caring love that produces calm in me every time I hear it. It’s a nice verse for those who struggle with anxiety and depression.
But that verse is followed immediately by one of the most disturbing verses: “Be sober, be vigilant” – “constantly watching” – “because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.” This is disturbing. It says the devil is always hunting you, you can’t ever let down your guard.
Also, Peter doesn’t picture the lion silently sneaking up on its prey. Here the lion roars. Won’t the one that the lion is after get away? But the picture Peter chooses for the devil is that he roars at you, produces such fear in you, so you’re paralyzed by fear, can’t run away, and are totally in his control and power. It seems to undo all the calm.
This verse helps clue us in to the fact that this promise about taking all your care and anxiety, and casting it all upon the Lord for Him to take up, while it does have a broad application – it says “allyour care” – also has a specific context related to the purpose of this first epistle of Peter.
Peter was divinely inspired to write this while he was in prison in Rome, not long before his death as a martyr under the Caesar of that time, Nero. His original readers were scattered Christians being persecuted for their faith. In fact, we hear that they knew others who already being persecuted and martyred. Peter refers to “the same sufferings experienced by your brotherhood in the world.”
The whole letter, consisting of 5 chapters and a grand total of 105 verses, is one of comfort and encouragement for Christians who face suffering. That’s true of the words to “cast all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.” This is a comforting verse for Christians who want to be strong and steadfast, but like Peter have learned the hard way they’re not such a rock.
This is for your doubts and fears. This is for your weakness of faith. This is for when your actions don’t show others that you’re a Christian. This is for when you give in to the temptation to hide your faith. This is for your wrong priorities. This is for when your beliefs clash with the world, and you give in so you won’t be rejected by the world. This is for when you compromise or change your faith, out of a desire to be accepted or considered respectable by others. This is for the times you don’t repent. This is for when you’re afraid you’ll lose your salvation. This is for the accusations you hear in your conscience. This is for when you won’t listen to the forgiveness God speaks to you. This is for when every thought of God is silenced in your mind and heart. This is for when you can’t think a good thought about yourself, and can only accuse yourself.
But in this disturbing verse about the devil, God is revealing who’s behind all this, silencing every thought of God, making it so you can’t hear the Gospel, God’s loving words, but only the Law that condemns you.
Who’s behind it? We say in our Augsburg Confession that we need God to send the Holy Spirit into our hearts “to rule … and to defend against the devil and the power of sin.” This roaring lion, the devil, who’s always after you and is unrelenting in his attacks. His attack isn’t just getting you to sin, but that after you’ve sinned, he accuses you constantly. In fact, his accusations are like a lion’s roar.
Do you think that God thinks you should’ve done better? What does He think you should do against this roaring lion? Well, God knows what’s real; He draws this picture for you so you don’t get arrogant. So you don’t think you’re smart or clever enough to avoid the devil’s traps yourself. This is a picture of a helpless lamb whose only hope is in a mighty Shepherd.
So now hear those comforting words: “Casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.”Where do you see that He cares for you completely and perfectly? On the cross. There God cared for all your needs for eternity. Jesus took all your sin onto Himself, all the burden, but also all the sins done against you, and even all anxiety, depression, any kind of unwellness mentally and emotionally, all that’s wrong. He Himself entered into your fear and anguish. He became the guilty one and the helpless Lamb, led to the slaughter. In His resurrection He became the Lion who devoured death and all the devil’s kingdom. He cared for you – cares about you – this much! He cares for you by bringing you what He won for you on the cross – forgiveness for all sin, which He gives you in Baptism and His Supper.
God cares for you! If you ever doubt this, look to His cross. We also confess in the Augsburg Confession, that when you know you have a Father, who is “reconciled” to you, that you have peace with Him, the peace of sins forgiven, through Christ, you know that God cares for you.
The point of all this is not only to comfort you, remove your anxiety, and produce a great calm in you by giving you peace with God and with yourself. But God is also preparing you. It’s a gift He doesn’t just want to give you once, or in a moment of crisis, but He wants to keep giving it to you, perpetually. He isn’t creating a momentary calm. He gives you a solid foundation to stand on. He does it not only for you but for us His Church.
First Peter pictures Christians as pilgrims journeying through the world on the way to our heavenly destination. As we travel through this world, at times we can’t see our destination, we don’t see ourselves as citizens of heaven, and everything around us in this world makes us discouraged, disheartened, pessimistic. What we need is perseverance.
You won’t get it from the world. Or by calling on your own resources. It comes from His Word, His promises, which all come true in Christ. When Peter writes, in response to the warning about the devil’s unrelenting attack: “Resist him, steadfast [firm] in the faith,” it’s not only saying “no” to temptation. But when you fail to do that, you sin and you’re guilty, then the resisting of the devil comes through God’s forgiveness. The sin doesn’t hurt you because you repent and believe that in Christ God forgives you.
This forgiveness is something you receive. You receive it from God Himself in His Word. If you’re cut off – or cut yourself off – from hearing His Word regularly, you’re cut off from the forgiveness that protects you and helps you to resist the devil’s roaring of accusation. Hearing His absolution drowns the devil’s roar.
He also makes sure that you don’t hear it in solitude. We don’t travel as lone rangers. You hear it with all those – “your brotherhood in the world” – who experience “the same sufferings” as you. We stand together on the foundation of Christ and His Word. We hear His truth together. We repent together. We hear the forgiveness together. We confess Him together.
This is how God keeps His promise to “perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you.” You’re “settled,” standing on a solid foundation, solid ground, not intimidated by the devil, not paralyzed or cowering in fear, but you in Jesus’ word and by His blood you are given the confidence that “He cares for you,” always. Amen!