1 Peter 5:1-4; God’s Under-Shepherds

http://www.ephraimbible.org/Sermons/20090705_1peter5_1-4.mp3

0705 1 Peter 5:1-4 God’s Under-Shepherds

4:12 Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. 13 But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. 14 If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. 15 But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler. 16 Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name. 17 For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God? 18 And “If the righteous is scarcely saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?” 19 Therefore let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good. 5:1 So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed: 2 shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly; 3 not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock. 4 And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory. 5 Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders.

Peter is writing to the suffering saints in Asia Minor. He encourages us not to ‘be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you, but rejoice…’ He tells us that when we suffer for the name of Christ, we bring glory to God. And he tells us that God’s judgment is ready to be unleashed on the unbelieving world. But when God’s judgment comes, he begins by cleansing his own house; his own people. We saw this when we looked back at some Old Testament passages like Ezekiel 9

Ezekiel 9:5 And to the others he said in my hearing, “Pass through the city after him, and strike. Your eye shall not spare, and you shall show no pity. 6 Kill old men outright, young men and maidens, little children and women, but touch no one on whom is the mark. And begin at my sanctuary.” So they began with the elders who were before the house.

So Peter warns his readers that judgment is coming and exhorts us to self-examination.

1Corinthians 11:31 But if we judged ourselves truly, we would not be judged. 32 But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world.

God’s judgment is coming on the world, and God’s disciplinary judgment has already begun in the suffering of his people. If God’s judgment begins with his own house, particularly with the leaders of his people, that’s where Peter starts. Peter addresses the elders and exhorts them to shepherd in a godly way.

This is an awkward passage to teach from. As I teach God’s word, I am obliged to find truth that applies to every person who hears. But not every person is called to lead God’s people. So this morning you all get to listen in on a private exhortation to leaders in God’s church. And as a leader in God’s church, I am acutely aware of my own shortcomings and inadequacies and how desperately I am in need of God’s mercy and grace. I am deeply challenged by this passage to be a better shepherd of God’s people. So for me today, this is awkward and humbling, and I feel vulnerable. But that is meant to be. That is built in to the passage. God intended it to be so. Put yourself for a minute into a first century group of believers gathering in Asia Minor for worship, teaching, prayer, and communion. One of the elders addresses the group and announces that we have received correspondence from the Apostle Peter, who we have heard has been imprisoned in Rome under the emperor Nero. The letter is addressed ‘to those who are elect exiles of the dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bythinia’. This is a circular letter, intended to be read to all the believers in all the churches in this diverse geographic region. The letter would be read aloud to the entire group. There was no separate sealed envelope containing this paragraph to be read behind closed doors of a board meeting somewhere. If an elder was know in the congregation as pushy and domineering, he would have to read this aloud to the people he was lording it over; if a leader was living large at the expense of his people, he would be publicly rebuked by the Apostle Peter; if he was leading with a grudging heart rather than joyfully, he would be publicly exhorted to lead as God would lead. So from this passage we see that God has designed that there be godly leadership in his church. It is not anarchy and the church is not a democracy. Jesus Christ rules over his church. And he has appointed leadership under him to care for the church. But there is some healthy public accountability built in to that leadership.

Before we dive into the text, we need to have a Greek vocabulary lesson. There are some terms we need to be familiar with to help us understand this passage.

The first term is ‘elders’ (presbuterov) – it’s where we get our English word ‘presbyter’ – this is where the Presbyterian churches take their name. The word itself points to wisdom that comes from age and experience and maturity, hence the translation ‘elder’

The next term is ’shepherd’ (poimainw) ‘poimano’ – here it’s a verb, derived from the noun ’shepherd’ (poimhn) ‘poimen’. The Latin translation of this word is ‘pastor’ – which is where we get our word ‘pastor’. The task of the shepherd or pastor is primarily to lead the sheep to food and to guard the sheep from danger.

The third term we need to look at is (episkopew) translated here ‘exercising oversight’. It is the verb form of (episkopov) ‘episcopos’ which came to us through the Vulgar Latin ‘ebiscopos’ as ‘bishop’. This word is where Episcopalians or the Episcopal Church derives its name. The word means ‘to watch over’ or ‘to oversee’; hence our translation ‘exercising oversight’.

So in this one passage (and this is supported by a study of these words in the rest of the New Testament documents), we have lumped together pastors, bishops, and elders. The elders of the church are told to pastor and to bishop or oversee the flock of God that is under their care. Or, dropping the titles, those who have wisdom and maturity and experience are to feed, nurture and protect; they are to supervise, look after and watch over with vigilance and care, God’s sheep. Now, understanding the vocabulary, lets dive in to the passage:

5:1 So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed: 2 shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly; 3 not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock. 4 And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.

Peter comes along side the elders of the church to exhort and encourage them to do what God has called them to do. But Peter doesn’t appeal to his authority as Apostle of our Lord Jesus Christ, but rather he calls himself a ‘fellow-elder’. Addressing those who hold a leadership role in the church, the Apostle comes along side them as one who together with them also holds a leadership role in the church and will with them give account to the Chief Shepherd and Judge. He further designates himself as ‘a witness of the sufferings of Christ’. That., for Peter must be a vivid and humbling recollection. I was a witness of the sufferings of Christ. I was with him in the garden when he prayed to his Father and sweat great drops of blood. I fell asleep. I was with him there when he was arrested. I pulled out my little sword and mangled a man’s ear. After Jesus repaired the damage and rebuked me, I too ran away and abandoned him. I was there in the courtyard warming myself by the fire while he was being falsely accused and three times I denied that I even knew him. Yes, I am a witness of the sufferings of Christ. But I am also ‘a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed’. Peter claims to presently be a participant in the glory that will be revealed in the future. When Jesus returns in all his glory, Peter is assured fellowship with him in his glory. Peter, as a fellow-elder, as one who witnessed Christ’s sufferings, as one who participates in his future glory, exhorts the elders among the congregations. His exhortation is simple. Shepherd. Shepherd the flock of God. Peter had failed in his devotion to Christ. He didn’t live up to his own expectations. Jesus had called him to make him a fisher of men, but Peter went back to his fishing. Our resurrected Lord met him on the shore, fed him breakfast and spoke to him:

John 21:15 When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Feed my lambs.” 16 He said to him a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Tend my sheep.” 17 He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” and he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep. …19 … And after saying this he said to him, “Follow me.”

In three different phrases, Jesus commissioned Peter to shepherd his flock. Peter now passes on that exhortation to the elders in the churches – feed the sheep. Shepherd the flock. And we must always keep in mind whose flock it is. Consistently in the bible it is God’s flock, Jesus’ sheep. The lambs do not belong to the elders who are over them. They belong to the Good Shepherd. But what does it mean to shepherd the flock of God? Surely we are not to buy land and graze livestock! Martin Luther put it this way:

“Therefore to tend them is nothing else than to preach the Gospel, by which souls are nourished, made fat and fruitful – since the sheep thrive upon the Gospel and the Word of God. This only is the office of a bishop” [Luther, p.205]

Jeremiah confirms that he is on the right track:

Jeremiah 3:15 “‘And I will give you shepherds after my own heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding.

Turn to Ezekiel. God has an extended rebuke to the shepherds of Israel:

Ezekiel 34:1 The word of the LORD came to me: 2 “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel; prophesy, and say to them, even to the shepherds, Thus says the Lord GOD: Ah, shepherds of Israel who have been feeding yourselves! Should not shepherds feed the sheep? 3 You eat the fat, you clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the fat ones, but you do not feed the sheep. 4 The weak you have not strengthened, the sick you have not healed, the injured you have not bound up, the strayed you have not brought back, the lost you have not sought, and with force and harshness you have ruled them. 5 So they were scattered, because there was no shepherd, and they became food for all the wild beasts. 6 My sheep were scattered; they wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill. My sheep were scattered over all the face of the earth, with none to search or seek for them. 7 “Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the LORD: 8 As I live, declares the Lord GOD, surely because my sheep have become a prey, and my sheep have become food for all the wild beasts, since there was no shepherd, and because my shepherds have not searched for my sheep, but the shepherds have fed themselves, and have not fed my sheep, 9 therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the LORD: 10 Thus says the Lord GOD, Behold, I am against the shepherds, and I will require my sheep at their hand and put a stop to their feeding the sheep. No longer shall the shepherds feed themselves. I will rescue my sheep from their mouths, that they may not be food for them. 11 “For thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I, I myself will search for my sheep and will seek them out. 12 As a shepherd seeks out his flock when he is among his sheep that have been scattered, so will I seek out my sheep, and I will rescue them from all places where they have been scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness. 13 And I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries, and will bring them into their own land. And I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, by the ravines, and in all the inhabited places of the country. 14 I will feed them with good pasture, and on the mountain heights of Israel shall be their grazing land. There they shall lie down in good grazing land, and on rich pasture they shall feed on the mountains of Israel. 15 I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I myself will make them lie down, declares the Lord GOD. 16 I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak, and the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them in justice.

The shepherds of Israel are rebuked for not shepherding rightly. From this passage we get a clearer picture of what God expects from his shepherds. Shepherds are to feed the sheep, strengthen the weak, heal the sick, bind up the injured, bring back the strayed, seek the lost, protect from danger, keep the flock together. Peter gives the clear instruction; Shepherd the flock of God exercising oversight. That is the task. But successful completion of the task is not all that is required of elders. The attitude and motive with which they go about the task is also mandated. Motive matters to God. Attitude matters. Peter gives a list of three negative / positive contrasts to paint the picture of what is expected. Not this, but this; not this, but this; not this, but this.

The first contrast is ‘not under compulsion, but willingly’. We are not to have an attitude of grudging obligation and duty bound faithfulness. Instead, the service that God desires is willing voluntary service. Not because I must, but because I get to; not because I am required but because I choose to. What a supreme honor, to be entrusted by the Chief Shepherd with the oversight and care of his own sheep! The church of God is in need of happy pastors in glad service to the King. Peter qualifies this with the phrase ‘as God would have you’. In the original that is just two words ‘according to God; as God; or like God’. As God is not under compulsion to care for us, but rather willingly and freely chooses to shepherd us and serve us, so we must reflect his glad-hearted service as we care for his sheep.

The next contrast is ‘not for shameful gain, but eagerly’. The motive for service is questioned. Why go into pastoral ministry? It’s a respectable way to make a living. There’s money to be had selling books and videos and holy handkerchiefs. Send your money to me and God will bless you and cause you to prosper. Send lots of money and God will bless you more. Support my ministry and God will heal you.

The bible is clear that ‘the laborer deserves his wages’ (Lk.10:7; 1Tim5:17-18) ‘especially those who labor in preaching and teaching’, but this is why part of the qualification for leadership is ‘not greedy for gain’ (Titus 1:7). Money must not be the motive for service. The contrasting attitude to being motivated by shameful gain is ‘eagerly’ – with passion, fervor, enthusiasm, zeal. God would have passionate preachers not calculating preachers. The problem with calculating preachers is the content is controlled by the motive for money. Don’t teach that – that would offend the biggest givers. Passionate preachers, teachers who have a zeal for God and his truth will get themselves fired for speaking the truth – because they are more concerned about what God thinks than whether the paycheck keeps coming.

The third contrast is ‘not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock’. This is exactly what Jesus taught:

Mark 10:42-45 And Jesus called them to him and said to them, “You know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. 43 But it shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, 44 and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. 45 For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Shepherds do not drive the sheep. They walk ahead and call the sheep to follow. We are talking about leadership positions in the church – Pastors, elders, overseers. There is real authority in those offices. There is authority to direct and authority to discipline. But the authority to lead is authority to keep safe from danger and lead to green pastures. The authority to discipline is authority to serve the stray by bringing back into the fold. Jesus was the ultimate example of servant leadership. Peter tells us that we must model for the people what we would have them do. Leaders must serve the people so that the people will in turn serve one another.

Shepherd, exercising oversight not under compulsion, not for shameful gain, not domineering, but rather shepherd willingly, eagerly, living as an example for the flock to follow.

Now that Peter has given us the charge and clarified what it does and does not look like, he gives us the true motive for shepherding. Shepherding can be thankless, emotionally draining, painful, hard work. Overseeing a persecuted church can be dangerous, even life threatening. Peter tells us that it is time for judgment to begin with the household of God, and James tells us that ‘we who teach will be judged with greater strictness’ (James 3:1). So why do it? Who wants that? Here is the motive:

4 And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.

The motive for faithful shepherding is the appearance of the chief Shepherd. Jesus is coming, and he will reward faithful service. This is amazing, because any service that is faithful is because of his grace, which is why the crowns of glory we receive will go right back to his feet and redound to his glory. At the end of the day, every pastor has much more in common with the sheep than the Shepherd. Leaders by nature are sheep. And all we like sheep have gone astray. But by his grace, he gives some sheep the privilege of caring for and serving other sheep. And by his grace, he enables faithful service. And in the abundance of his grace, he rewards the service he enables.

Psalm 23:1 The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD forever.

Pastor Rodney Zedicher ~ Ephraim Church of the Bible ~ www.ephraimbible.org

Who Is Jesus?

http://www.ephraimbible.org/Sermons/20090628_who_is_jesus.mp3

Who is Jesus? I want to ask the question this morning because the answer to this question is absolutely central and has eternal implications. The identity of Jesus is not peripheral. What we think of Jesus will determine whether we admire him and delight in his presence for all eternity or whether we suffer under his wrath for all eternity. Jesus himself said:

John 8:23 He said to them, “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. 24 I told you that you would die in your sins, for unless you believe that I am [he] you will die in your sins.”.

Everyone has an opinion about Jesus. Some think he was just a good man, a great moral teacher, or a prophet. Some think he was crazy, his life was a failure and his death was a tragedy. Some think he was a blasphemer and the worst of criminals, deserving the punishment he received. Some even think he was demon possessed. Some think wasn’t really human, but only appeared to be human. Some think he was an angel. Some think he was one of God’s many spirit children. Jesus claims that what you think about his identity will impact your eternal destiny. Today we will focus not on the opinions of men but on the testimony of God concerning Jesus, on Jesus’ own testimony about himself, on the testimonies of those who walked with him and knew him. Jesus said ‘I am from above… I am not of this world …unless you believe that I AM you will die in your sins’. A few verses later he says:

John 8:31 So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

We must know the truth about him. Jesus warned his followers:

Matthew 24:24 For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. (cf. Mark 13:22)

Paul expressed the same concern this way:

2Corinthians 11:2 I feel a divine jealousy for you, for I betrothed you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ. 3 But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ. 4 For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or if you accept a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it readily enough.

Today we’re going to take a birds eye view of the biblical Jesus. We’ll move quickly over what should be most familiar; we’ll linger on those aspects that may be less familiar to us. We’ll see Jesus as God the eternal Son; the humble servant; the sinless substitute; our present mediator; the promised messiah; the conquering king and wrathful avenger of the righteous honor of God’s holy name. Any one facet of who he is without the whole picture is less than who he really is.

The goal of this sermon is not to fill your head with information, although that can be good and helpful. The goal is to fill our hearts with worship and admiration of Jesus in all the complexity and beauty of his nature and character. Seeing Jesus for who he is and savoring the beauty of his characteristics will be our pleasure for all eternity. Now we have only a short hour, so think of this as a table of contents or a rough outline pointing the direction of who we will enjoy for all eternity.

We’ll start with Jesus as God the eternal Son, equal with the Father. The Gospel of John starts by saying:

John 1:1-4 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men.

John affirms that the Word was with God in the beginning. He is eternal. And he identifies the Word as God – the Word was God. He identifies the Word as the Creator – everything was made through him. And he identifies the Word as the self-existent one or YHWH; the one who is, the one who has life in himself. Then, in verse 14, he makes it expressly clear who he is referring to:

John 1:14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

Jesus is the Word, the self-existent creator God YHWH, the all-glorious only Son from the Father. Look at John 8; Jesus said:

John 8:56-59 Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. He saw it and was glad.” So the Jews said to him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?” Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.” So they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple.

Jesus claimed to be a contemporary of Abraham – in fact to predate Abraham. But he changes the normal grammar – he doesn’t say ‘I was before Abraham; he says ‘I am’ – and the Jews understood what he was claiming – he was claiming to be the God of Abraham – the one who spoke to Moses from the burning bush in Exodus 3:14 –tell the people ‘I AM’ has sent you – the self-existent one. Then in John 10 Jesus said:

John 10:30 “I and the Father are one”

The Jews take great pains to make sure we get our theology straight. If Jesus’ words weren’t clear enough on their own, the Jews reaction shows exactly how Jesus was to be understood.

.John 10:31-33 The Jews picked up stones again to stone him. Jesus answered them, “I have shown you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you going to stone me?” The Jews answered him, “It is not for a good work that we are going to stone you but for blasphemy, because you, being a man, make yourself God.”

They accused him of blasphemy because he was claiming to be God. Now look at Jesus prayer in John 17:

John 17:5 And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.

Jesus in his prayer to the Father is claiming that he was with the Father before the world existed, and he is claiming that he possessed God’s glory – the magnificent display of the divine nature and character was his. Let’s look at Isaiah 42:8 so we don’t miss the significance of what Jesus is saying:

Isaiah 42:8 I am the LORD; that is my name; my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to carved idols.

YHWH is a jealous God who does not share his glory with another. Jesus is asking the Father to again put his nature and character as God on display so that he will be honored and worshiped as God. This is an audacious request unless his statement that he is one with the Father is also true.

Paul says:

Philippians 2:5-6 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,

He says that Jesus existed in the form of God. Jesus’ being is the very being of God. Equality with God would be something any created being could only unsuccessfully grasp at, but Jesus possessed it by nature and by right.

So Jesus is the self-existent YHWH, the all-glorious Creator-God who breathed the universe into existence, equal to and one with the Father. Paul goes on; he:

Philippians 2:6 …did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

Jesus, as God’s eternal Son, also became the humble servant. The creator of the universe entered into his creation as a helpless baby. God without ceasing to be God for a moment, took on an additional nature – he took upon himself a human nature. God who is spirit, took on a mortal body of flesh. Jesus made himself nothing!

And as the humble servant, he became our sinless substitute.

Philippians 2:8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

Isaiah 53:5 But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed. 6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

…12 …because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors.

1Peter 2:24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, …

1Peter 3:18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit,

2Corinthians 5:21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Not only is he the sinless substitute, but he is our present mediator.

1Timothy 2:5 For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time.

Jesus is the one who goes between God and man to work reconciliation. The author of Hebrews points to his better priesthood:

Hebrews 7:24 but he holds his priesthood permanently, because he continues forever. 25 Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.

In John 17, Jesus prayed for us:

John 17:20 “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word,…

24 Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.

Jesus prayed for us then, but the bible tells us he is still praying for us now. ‘he always lives to make intercession for them.’

Romans 8:34…Christ Jesus is the one who died––more than that, who was raised––who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.

Think of that – Jesus, right now is seated at the right hand of the Father and is constantly interceding for us, praying for us, mediating for us. At the cross, the work of redemption was finished, but Jesus continually applies his finished work to us in the presence of the Father. Jude 24-25 says:

Jude 24 Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, 25 to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.

Jesus can keep us from stumbling because he is right now talking to the Father on our behalf.
Jesus is the promised Messiah, the coming King. The wise men from the east came:

Matthew 2:2 saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”

When Jesus spoke with the woman at the well:

John 4:25 The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ). When he comes, he will tell us all things.” 26 Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am he.”

Matthew 16:16 Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

In Acts, Apollos:

Acts 18:28 for he powerfully refuted the Jews in public, showing by the Scriptures that the Christ was Jesus.

After the his resurrection, his disciples asked him:

Acts 1:6 So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?”

Jesus answered that it was not for them to know the times or seasons

that the Father has fixed by his own authority. So Jesus is the coming King, but what will he be like when he comes again? Jesus is the wrathful avenger of the righteous honor of God’s holy name.

We tend to have this Sunday school flannel graph image of Jesus, meek and mild. Long blond hair and blue eyes with fair complexion, slight build, wearing a long white dress and turning the other cheek. If that’s what we think of Jesus, we will be shocked when we read the gospels.

John 2:14 In the temple he found those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons, and the money–changers sitting there. 15 And making a whip of cords, he drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and oxen. And he poured out the coins of the money–changers and overturned their tables. 16 And he told those who sold the pigeons, “Take these things away; do not make my Father’s house a house of trade.”

We will be even more shocked when we see him as John saw him in his revelation; John hears a loud voice like a trumpet behind him:

Revelation 1:12 Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands, 13 and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest. 14 The hairs of his head were white like wool, as white as snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire, 15 his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters. 16 In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two–edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength. 17 When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, “Fear not, I am the first and the last, 18 and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.

Later in Revelation he is described again:

Revelation 19:11 Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. 12 His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. 13 He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. 14 And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. 15 From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. 16 On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords.

This is who Isaiah is talking about when he says

Isaiah 63:3 “I have trodden the winepress alone, and from the peoples no one was with me; I trod them in my anger and trampled them in my wrath; their lifeblood spattered on my garments, and stained all my apparel. 4 For the day of vengeance was in my heart, and my year of redemption had come.

Jesus is who the unbelievers fear when they say:

Revelation 6:16 calling to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, 17 for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?”

The wrath of the Lamb; this is Jesus:

2 Thessalonians 1:7 … when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels 8 in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 9 They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might, 10 when he comes on that day to be glorified in his saints, and to be marveled at among all who have believed, because our testimony to you was believed.

This is Jesus; God the eternal Son; the humble servant; our sinless substitute; our present mediator; the promised messiah; the conquering king and wrathful avenger of the righteous honor of God’s holy name. And the appropriate response is worship. We get a glimpse of the white hot holy affection for the Lord Jesus Christ in the heavenlies in:

Revelation 5:9 And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, 10 and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth.” 11 Then I looked, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, 12 saying with a loud voice, “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!” 13 And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying, “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!” 14 And the four living creatures said, “Amen!” and the elders fell down and worshiped.

Pastor Rodney Zedicher ~ Ephraim Church of the Bible ~ www.ephraimbible.org

The Terror and Beauty of God; 1 Peter 3:18

http://www.ephraimbible.org/Sermons/20090621_1peter3_18.mp3

1 Peter 3:18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God,

The goal of what Christ did was to bring us to God. But is that a good thing? Do we want to be brought to God? How many of you are sinners? The rest of you are lying, or you’re calling God a liar.

Romans 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

1John 1:10 If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

Let’s say you broke the window of the grumpy old man next door. You were hiding under the porch. Your mom grabs you by the ear and drags you over to his front door. Is that an enjoyable experience? If we recognize our massive guilt and offense toward God, being brought to God could feel just like that. Is this the ride in the police car to bring us before the judge for sentencing? What is this judge like; what is God like?

Nahum 1:2 The LORD is a jealous and avenging God; the LORD is avenging and wrathful; the LORD takes vengeance on his adversaries and keeps wrath for his enemies. 3 The LORD is slow to anger and great in power, and the LORD will by no means clear the guilty. His way is in whirlwind and storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet. 4 He rebukes the sea and makes it dry; he dries up all the rivers; Bashan and Carmel wither; the bloom of Lebanon withers. 5 The mountains quake before him; the hills melt; the earth heaves before him, the world and all who dwell in it. 6 Who can stand before his indignation? Who can endure the heat of his anger? His wrath is poured out like fire, and the rocks are broken into pieces by him.

If you’re a sinner like me and understand the absolute holiness and righteousness of God, being brought to him is a terrifying thought.

The question is asked ‘who can stand?’; ‘who can endure?’. This is a terrifying picture. Or consider what God says in Isaiah 33:

Isaiah 33:13 Hear, you who are far off, what I have done; and you who are near, acknowledge my might. 14 The sinners in Zion are afraid; trembling has seized the godless: “Who among us can dwell with the consuming fire? Who among us can dwell with everlasting burnings?”

Being brought into the presence of God is a paralyzing thought. In fact in the book of Revelation it says:

Revelation 6:15 Then the kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful, and everyone, slave and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, 16 calling to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, 17 for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?”

Everyone in the whole world, no exceptions, would rather be crushed and buried in an avalanche than to have to face up to their Creator. We desperately want to run and hide, whatever the cost. If we truly appreciate the gravity of our sin and the depth of our offense by our total disregard of our glorious Creator, we desperately want to avoid encountering him at all costs. Even the children of Israel, after God led them out of Egypt, were terrified.

Exodus 19:16 On the morning of the third day there were thunders and lightnings and a thick cloud on the mountain and a very loud trumpet blast, so that all the people in the camp trembled. 17 Then Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, and they took their stand at the foot of the mountain. 18 Now Mount Sinai was wrapped in smoke because the LORD had descended on it in fire. The smoke of it went up like the smoke of a kiln, and the whole mountain trembled greatly. 19 And as the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him in thunder. 20 The LORD came down on Mount Sinai, to the top of the mountain. And the LORD called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up.

Exodus 20:18 Now when all the people saw the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking, the people were afraid and trembled, and they stood far off 19 and said to Moses, “You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, lest we die.”

But as I studied, I observed a strange pattern in the Psalms. Those who fear the Lord do not run away from the Lord; rather they run to the him!

Psalm 115:11 You who fear the LORD, trust in the LORD! He is their help and their shield.

Those who fear him also trust in him for help. Psalm 119:120 says:

Psalm 119:120 My flesh trembles for fear of you, and I am afraid of your judgments.

But just a few verses earlier he said:

Psalm 119:114 You are my hiding place and my shield; I hope in your word.

I tremble for fear of you, so I run to you and hope in you. Revelation says it the same way:

Revelation 15:4 Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship you, for your righteous acts have been revealed.”

Those who fear you come to you and worship. Those who are afraid of you run to you for refuge and salvation. The passages we looked at earlier point to this also. The passage in Isaiah 33 asks:

Isaiah 33:14… “Who among us can dwell with the consuming fire? Who among us can dwell with everlasting burnings?”

And the answer is given:

Isaiah 33:15 He who walks righteously and speaks uprightly…

Now we know that none are righteous and no man can tame the tongue. So this has to be the righteousness apart from the law that comes through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. (Romans 3:21-22) In verse 24 he says

Isaiah 33:24 … the people who dwell there will be forgiven their iniquity.

The other passage we looked at in Nahum said:

Nahum 1:3 …the LORD will by no means clear the guilty. … 6 Who can stand before his indignation? Who can endure the heat of his anger?

But he goes on to say:

… 7 The LORD is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; he knows those who take refuge in him. 8 But with an overflowing flood he will make a complete end of the adversaries, and will pursue his enemies into darkness.

Who can stand? Who can endure? Those who take refuge in him. He is good, he is a stronghold to them. So if you fear God and run to him, if you trust in him and make him your hiding place, then you can endure the heat of his anger, you can stand before his indignation. If by faith you are clothed in the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ, you can dwell with everlasting burnings, you can dwell with the consuming fire!

But who would want to dwell with the consuming fire? Start a campfire and find out. You can’t keep kids away from the fire. They want to put sticks into it and carry it around and jump over it and get as close as they can to it. Even full grown kids like to play with fire. We all are drawn to danger and thrill and excitement and adventure. We like to admire the power and capacity to consume and destroy. He goes on in Isaiah 33:17-18 to say:

Isaiah 33:17 Your eyes will behold the king in his beauty; …18 Your heart will muse on the terror: “Where is he who counted, where is he who weighed the tribute? Where is he who counted the towers?”

So, although being brought to God is a terrifying thought because of our sins, we are irresistibly drawn to gaze on his beauty and to muse on his terror. The Psalmist says ‘one thing’. One thing I pursue. One thing I seek after. One thing I have asked the Lord for:

Psalm 27:4 One thing have I asked of the LORD, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to inquire in his temple.

One thing – to dwell with God, to gaze on the beauty of God.

Psalm 42:1 As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God. 2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God?

The desperate drive for God is compared to the drive to satisfy thirst in the desert. Our souls long to be satisfied in God.

Psalm 63:1 O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water. 2 So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary, beholding your power and glory.

Only God can satisfy our deepest longings, longings for truth, longings for justice, longings for relationship, longings for intimacy, longings for authenticity, longings for acceptance, longings for beauty, longings for life, longings for meaning and purpose. We crave intimacy with our creator.

Psalm 73:25 Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you. 26 My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. 27 For behold, those who are far from you shall perish; you put an end to everyone who is unfaithful to you. 28 But for me it is good to be near God; I have made the Lord GOD my refuge, that I may tell of all your works.

In Exodus 33, Moses was pleading with God that his presence would go with his people. He asked that they not move at all unless the presence of God would be with them. When God granted the request, Moses asked for one thing. One thing Moses wanted:

Exodus 33:18 Moses said, “Please show me your glory.”

Earlier in the chapter, we saw that the Lord would speak to Moses face to face, but this created in Moses a hunger for more. Moses had a craving for more of God. God responded that no man can see his face and live. But he granted him as much as he could handle. Paul draws a contrast between Moses and our present privilege.

2Corithians 3:18 And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.

This is the good news!

Isaiah 40:9 Get you up to a high mountain, O Zion, herald of good news; lift up your voice with strength, O Jerusalem, herald of good news; lift it up, fear not; say to the cities of Judah, “Behold your God!”

This is the same good news that the angel proclaims in Revelation.

Revelation 14:6 Then I saw another angel flying directly overhead, with an eternal gospel to proclaim to those who dwell on earth, to every nation and tribe and language and people. 7 And he said with a loud voice, “Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come, and worship him who made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of water.”

The content of the good news is ‘fear God and give him glory and worship him.’ ‘Behold your God!’ ‘dwell with the consuming fire’ This is our hope. But we must ask the question ‘how can we sinners be brought to an absolutely pure and holy God in such a way that we are hidden safely in him and not consumed by him?’ And this question brings us back to our verse in Peter:

1 Peter 3:18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God,

Christ, in order to bring us safely to God, suffered once, the righteous for the unrighteous. This is the great exchange. Christ took my place as a substitute. He being totally righteous and sinless, suffered in the stead of unrighteous sinners. I dishonored God and robbed him by not giving him the praise and glory that was his by right. Jesus took the punishment and wrath that was coming to me, and he replaced my sin with his perfect righteousness. Jesus paid my debt in full, then credited my account with his life of righteousness that was well pleasing to his Father. By his death and resurrection, Jesus brought me to God, not as a condemned criminal awaiting sentencing, but as one who has been hidden in Christ and made righteous in him, so that I can be accepted, and enjoy the ravishing beauty of embracing the one who is a consuming fire without being consumed.

Pastor Rodney Zedicher ~ Ephraim Church of the Bible ~ www.ephraimbible.org

1 Peter 4:17-19; The Reason for Suffering

http://www.ephraimbible.org/Sermons/20090614_1peter4_17-19.mp3

06/14 1 Peter 4:17-19 The Reason for Suffering

4:12 Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. 13 But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. 14 If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. 15 But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler. 16 Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name. 17 For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God? 18 And “If the righteous is scarcely saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?” 19 Therefore let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good.

Intro: Peter is writing to encourage the saints in suffering. The ultimate purpose of humanity is to bring glory to God, as Peter stated at the end of verse 11:

1 Peter 4:11… in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

And suffering is a stage on which we can most eloquently magnify our great God and Savior. In verse 16 he tells us ‘if anyone suffers as a Christian… let him glorify God in that name’.

Peter has warned us against a wrong response to suffering: don’t be surprised. We are not to be surprised because Jesus prepared us for suffering by his teaching, and because we know what suffering is for – just like precious metals need the impurities to be burned away in the furnace, so our faith must be tested in the furnace of affliction to prove its infinite worth. Martin Luther put it this way:

“When faith begins, God does not neglect it; he lays the holy cross upon our back in order to strengthen us and make our faith mighty.” Luther, p.192

We are warned against a wrong response: suffering is not unusual – expect it. Then he gives us the desired response: suffering is fellowship with Christ – delight in it! The weightiness of intimacy with a God who is glorious beyond our comprehension far outbalances any temporary pain that we must endure.

In verses 17-19, Peter gives us reason for our sufferings, and he brings us comfort by drawing inferences from our situation, and finally he concludes with a summary directive for how we are to live in light of this truth. He says:

17 For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God? 18 And “If the righteous is scarcely saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?” 19 Therefore let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good.

+The Reason for our Suffering

He starts with the word ‘For’: Peter is giving us reason for suffering. We might ask ‘what is going on in the world? Why are God’s people suffering and evildoers are going unpunished?’ Peter’s answer is that we suffer as Christians because it is time. Take courage and be faithful to endure, because even the timing of the trials is God’s own appointment and does not come from our enemies. We live in God’s appointed season for judgment. Judgment -(krima) is not necessarily condemnation (katakrima); this can be a judgment that results in good or bad evaluations. The results could be approval, or discipline, or condemnation.

Our God is described as a consuming fire:

Hebrews 12:28 Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, 29 for our God is a consuming fire.

And no one will be untouched by his consuming fire.

Isaiah 33:13 Hear, you who are far off, what I have done; and you who are near, acknowledge my might. 14 The sinners in Zion are afraid; trembling has seized the godless: “Who among us can dwell with the consuming fire? Who among us can dwell with everlasting burnings?”

When I read that, I assumed it was a rhetorical question, with the expected answer ‘no one!’. But then I read the next verse and found Isaiah’s inspired answer:

Isaiah 33:15 He who walks righteously and speaks uprightly, who despises the gain of oppressions, who shakes his hands, lest they hold a bribe, who stops his ears from hearing of bloodshed and shuts his eyes from looking on evil, 16 he will dwell on the heights; his place of defense will be the fortresses of rocks; his bread will be given him; his water will be sure. 17 Your eyes will behold the king in his beauty; they will see a land that stretches afar. 18 Your heart will muse on the terror: “Where is he who counted, where is he who weighed the tribute? Where is he who counted the towers?”

‘Who among us can dwell with the consuming fire? Who among us can dwell with everlasting burnings? He who walks righteously and speaks uprightly’; in a word, only he who is clothed in the perfect righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ! Our eyes will behold the king in his beauty! What a thought! And our heart will muse on the terror – where is he? Where is he? But for the grace of God, that is where I would also be.

Believers are strengthened and purified by God’s refining fire. Sins are being eliminated, holiness is being developed and trust in God increases.

It is time for judgment to begin from the household of God

Peter has told us that we as the church are:

1 Peter 2: 5 you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ

And although this is a privileged position, it is also a vulnerable position. We see in scripture a pattern for God’s judgment to begin within his own house There are three passages that Peter probably has in mind: Jeremiah 25, Ezekiel 9 and Malachi 3

In Jeremiah 25 – (God tells disobedient Judah that he is bringing Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon against them to judge them for 70 years. Then he will punish the king of Babylon for their iniquities.)

15 Thus the LORD, the God of Israel, said to me: “Take from my hand this cup of the wine of wrath, and make all the nations to whom I send you drink it. 16 They shall drink and stagger and be crazed because of the sword that I am sending among them.” 17 So I took the cup from the LORD’s hand, and made all the nations to whom the LORD sent me drink it: (notice where he starts) 18 Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, its kings and officials, to make them a desolation and a waste, a hissing and a curse, as at this day;

(then he goes on to list the other nations; Egypt, the Philistines; Arabia, and finally down the list to Babylon; he says:)

26… And after them the king of Babylon shall drink. 27 “Then you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Drink, be drunk and vomit, fall and rise no more, because of the sword that I am sending among you.’ 28 “And if they refuse to accept the cup from your hand to drink, then you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts: You must drink! 29 For behold, I begin to work disaster at the city that is called by my name, and shall you go unpunished? You shall not go unpunished, for I am summoning a sword against all the inhabitants of the earth, declares the LORD of hosts.’

30 “You, therefore, shall prophesy against them all these words, and say to them: “‘The LORD will roar from on high, and from his holy habitation utter his voice; he will roar mightily against his fold, and shout, like those who tread grapes, against all the inhabitants of the earth. 31 The clamor will resound to the ends of the earth, for the LORD has an indictment against the nations; he is entering into judgment with all flesh, and the wicked he will put to the sword, declares the LORD.’

God will judge the nations, and he begins with his own people. In Ezekiel 9, God is pouring out his wrath on the rebellious people of Israel and he commands

Ezekiel 9:5 And to the others he said in my hearing, “Pass through the city after him, and strike. Your eye shall not spare, and you shall show no pity. 6 Kill old men outright, young men and maidens, little children and women, but touch no one on whom is the mark. And begin at my sanctuary.” So they began with the elders who were before the house.

God being infinitely holy cannot condone sin; even his own family stands under his judgment. He proves himself impartially just in correcting the sins of his own. In Malachi

Malachi 3:1 “Behold, I send my messenger and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the LORD of hosts. 2 But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap. 3 He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, and they will bring offerings in righteousness to the LORD. 4 Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the LORD as in the days of old and as in former years. 5 “Then I will draw near to you for judgment. I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, against the adulterers, against those who swear falsely, against those who oppress the hired worker in his wages, the widow and the fatherless, against those who thrust aside the sojourner, and do not fear me, says the LORD of hosts. 6 “For I the LORD do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed….

God begins by purifying his house, then he moves to judge the evildoers. But there is a distinction; he goes on:

Malachi 3:16 Then those who feared the LORD spoke with one another. The LORD paid attention and heard them, and a book of remembrance was written before him of those who feared the LORD and esteemed his name. 17 “They shall be mine, says the LORD of hosts, in the day when I make up my treasured possession, and I will spare them as a man spares his son who serves him. 18 Then once more you shall see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve him.

4:1 “For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble. The day that is coming shall set them ablaze, says the LORD of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch. 2 But for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings. You shall go out leaping like calves from the stall. 3 And you shall tread down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet, on the day when I act, says the LORD of hosts.

Remember, the suffering of the Christian is not God’s vindictive wrath, but his fatherly discipline.

1 Corinthians11:32 But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world.

Romans 5:9 Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.

Romans 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

Hebrews makes this abundantly clear:

Hebrews 12:5 And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons? “My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him. 6 For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.”

He goes on to contrast the discipline of God with our physical parents:

Hebrews 12:10 For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. 11 For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. 12 Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, 13 and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed. 14 Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.

+Comfort and Caution from the Implications

17 For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God? 18 And “If the righteous is scarcely saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?”

This is an argument for fearful joy. It is fearful to think about the end of those that reject the good news of Jesus. It is fearful to think of the pain we experience in the refining fire and think of those for whom it is not redemptive but vindictive. And yet there is a sense of comfort and joy knowing that we will only endure the beginning of what will make an end of God’s enemies

He describes the ungodly as ‘those who do not obey the gospel of God’. Notice he does not say ‘those who do not believe’, but ‘those who do not obey’. The gospel is not only a set of facts to be believed. It is a God to be obeyed. We obey the gospel of God by coming to him on his terms and submitting to his authority. The good news is that there is one God, and there is one way for us to find favor with him – through the great exchange at the cross of our sin for the righteousness of Jesus Christ:

1Peter 3:18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God,

The good news is God himself; that we will be brought into the consuming fire of his absolute holiness and our eyes will behold the king in his beauty! That our senses will be ravished by the one who is ultimately satisfying and we will bask in the radiance of his glory and gladly worship at his feet.

Peter draws from the wording of Proverbs when he says:

18 And “If the righteous is scarcely saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?”

The righteous – no one is righteous on their own – he is speaking of those who are counted righteous in Jesus Christ, because their sins are washed away by his blood and they are given his perfect record of righteousness. These righteous, Peter says, are ’scarcely saved’. They are saved, but it is with extreme difficulty. This does not imply that there is a question as to the outcome – whether those who trust in Christ will be saved or not; all who trust Christ will be saved, but it will not be without persevering through great difficulty. The great reformer John Calvin described it this way:

“But when he says, that a righteous man is scarcely saved, he refers to the difficulties of the present life, for our course in the world is like a dangerous sailing between many rocks, and exposed to many storms and tempests; and thus no one arrives at the port, except he who has escaped from thousand deaths. It is in the meantime certain that we are guided by God’s hand, and that we are in no danger of shipwreck as long as we have him as our pilot.” ~John Calvin, Commentary on 1 Peter

Saving sinners is probably the most difficult and personally costly thing God has ever done. To overcome justice with mercy at the cost of his own beloved Son was infinitely more than we will ever be able to appreciate. Forgiving sinful man left a question mark on God’s righteousness that could only be removed by the blood of an infinite and holy sacrifice. If the righteous is scarcely saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?

Hebrews 10:29 How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has spurned the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace? 30 For we know him who said, “Vengeance is mine; I will repay.” And again, “The Lord will judge his people.” 31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

The author of Hebrews goes on to encourage his readers based on their joyful endurance of suffering

Hebrews 10:32 But recall the former days when, after you were enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings, 33 sometimes being publicly exposed to reproach and affliction, and sometimes being partners with those so treated. 34 For you had compassion on those in prison, and you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property, since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one.

+Concluding Directives

19 Therefore let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good.

A main theme of the entire letter summarized here – Christians do not suffer accidentally or because of the irresistible forces of blind fate, but we suffer according to God’s will. The world is not out of control; God is working out his plan in our lives. Peter explicitly states this because suffering is not normally perceived as God’s will. Because this is true, because we know that suffering is purifying for us, it must affect the way we suffer. We are commanded to ‘entrust our souls‘ to God. To entrust is to hand over something of value to the care of another. Paul said to Timothy

2 Timothy 1:12 which is why I suffer as I do. But I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that Day what has been entrusted to me.

Our future salvation is secure if we have placed it completely in the hand of him who is able to save, who made us and everything out of nothing, and has engaged his faithfulness in his promises to us! We have no ability in ourselves to preserve our souls. We place ourselves securely in his strong hands and relinquish control. Notice God’s name in this passage: ‘a faithful Creator’ God’s authority as universal judge rests on his role as creator of all people; the one who created the world is also sovereign over it. Not a ruthless sovereign, but a faithful Creator – God is faithful to his people and to his promises. He who created the universe out of nothing by his word surely knows how to care for those that he created. We can have confidence in his ability; and confidence in his faithfulness.

Our part is: ‘while doing good’ We trust God to care for our souls and we keep on doing what we know is right; living in such a way that ‘they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation’ 1 Peter 2:12; living to ‘proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light’ 1 Peter 2:9; serving ‘by the strength that God supplies – in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ’.

Pastor Rodney Zedicher ~ Ephraim Church of the Bible ~ www.ephraimbible.org

1 Peter 4:12-16; Delight in Suffering

http://www.ephraimbible.org/Sermons/20090607_1peter4_12-16.mp3

0607 1 Peter 4:12-16 Delight in Sufferings

4:12 Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. 13 But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. 14 If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. 15 But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler. 16 Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name. 17 For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God? 18 And “If the righteous is scarcely saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?” 19 Therefore let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good.

Intro: Peter is dealing with fiery trials in the life of the believer. He warns us of the thinking and attitude we are not to have toward our suffering, and then he tells us the attitude we are to have in the midst of our suffering, and he gives us weighty reasons for this kind of attitude. He has just finished giving us instructions in light of the imminent end; pray, love, practice hospitality, and user your gifts, and he burst into worship…

4:11… -in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

Now he begins a new section:

4:12 Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you.

Peter starts by prohibiting the wrong response to suffering. But he starts this new section by reminding us who we are. As he said in 2:11, he now repeats here – we are beloved. This is a term of affection, a term of endearment. And I’m sure Peter felt warmly toward his readers, but he is reminding us of God’s love toward us. We are beloved! Peter began this letter pointing us to God’s work in our salvation. We are the privileged recipients of God’s great mercy. He caused us to be born again to a living hope, the promise of resurrection and an imperishable inheritance, which he is keeping for us, and he is guarding us for it. Trials prove our faith genuine so that we indeed obtain the outcome of salvation. Our salvation was the focal point of the Old Testament prophets, it is the goal of the New Testament proclaimers of the good news, and the Holy Spirit who empowers their message, and the Father who sent the Spirit. Even angels are fixated on the great mercy and grace that has been extended to us sinners.

Sinners, beloved by God, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you.

We are not to let suffering take us by surprise. Back in 4:4, Peter used the same word to tell us that our old friends will be surprised when we no longer sin with them the way we used to. They are freaked out that we won’t do what we used to do. Now we are not to be freaked out by trials as if something freaky were happening. Why?

1. Jesus warned us suffering would come:

Matthew 10:34 “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.

Mark 13:9-13 “But be on your guard. For they will deliver you over to councils, and you will be beaten in synagogues, and you will stand before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness before them. 10 And the gospel must first be proclaimed to all nations. 11 And when they bring you to trial and deliver you over, do not be anxious beforehand what you are to say, but say whatever is given you in that hour, for it is not you who speak, but the Holy Spirit. 12 And brother will deliver brother over to death, and the father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death. 13 And you will be hated by all for my name’s sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.
John 15:18-20 “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. 19 If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. 20 Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours. 21 But all these things they will do to you on account of my name, because they do not know him who sent me.

Suffering should not take us by surprise because Jesus warned us that it would come. In fact, he promised us that it would come.

2. We should not be shocked and bewildered when suffering comes because we know what trials are for. Peter tells us right in this verse: the fiery trial is coming upon you to test you. Back in chapter 1 he told us:

1:6-8 In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, 7 so that the tested genuineness of your faith––more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire––may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

Trials are necessary to prove our faith genuine like the refining fire is necessary to purify precious metals. We should not be surprised by trials because we need the refining process so that our faith will shine. Peter has adopted this picture from the Old Testament:

Proverbs 27:21 The crucible is for silver, and the furnace is for gold, and a man is tested by his praise.

Psalms 66:10 For you, O God, have tested us; you have tried us as silver is tried.

Zechariah 13:9 And I will put this third into the fire, and refine them as one refines silver, and test them as gold is tested. They will call upon my name, and I will answer them. I will say, ‘They are my people’; and they will say, ‘The LORD is my God.”’

Malachi 3:2-3 But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap. 3 He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, and they will bring offerings in righteousness to the LORD.

The goal of the refining process is to create purity by burning off all the impurities. It is when the heat is turned up that we realize the limits of our own strength and we are forced to cling to God’s grace. And it is in the midst of the fire that we realize the strength of his grace to comfort and keep us. We have God’s promise:

1 Corinthians 10:13 No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.

That’s the negative – what we are not to do – we are not to think suffering is unnatural – because Jesus predicted our suffering, and we know that suffering produces a positive purifying effect.

Now let’s see what he does tell us to do:

13 But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.

Suffering is not unnatural; expect it. Now he tells us: suffering is fellowship with Christ; delight in it. This is a strange command. I can understand suffering is inevitable, so brace yourself, grit your teeth and get through it. I can even understand the motivation that future good will come out of the present suffering, so hang in there and focus on the light at the end of the tunnel. But what Peter tells us is shocking. He tells us not just to tough it out now so that we can enjoy future blessing, but he tells us to delight in the suffering right now as you go through it. That is completely unnatural. Only someone who has been through the deep waters of suffering with Jesus can really understand this. Do you believe that Jesus can meet your needs? Yes. Do you have any needs? No, not really. But those who are profoundly suffering will say ‘yes, Jesus is meeting my needs. I am clinging to him. He is all that I have.’ And in the middle of suffering, there is communion with Christ. The word translated ’share’ is the rich Greek word ‘koinonia’ – fellowship, intimacy, communion. When we suffer like Jesus suffered, we experience an intimacy with him that is sweet beyond degree. Listen how a woman who spent 10 months in Nazi concentration camps for hiding Jews puts it:

“Life in Ravensbruck took place on two separate levels, mutually impossible. One, the observable, external life, grew every day more horrible. The other, the life we lived with God, grew daily better, truth upon truth, glory upon glory.

“Sometimes I would slip the Bible from its little (sack) with hands that shook, so mysterious had it become to me. It was new; it had just been written. I marveled sometimes that the ink was dry…I had read a thousand times the story of Jesus’ arrest–how soldiers had slapped Him, laughed at Him, flogged Him. Now such happenings had faces and voices.” ~Corrie Ten Boom, The Hiding Place

‘Life (in the concentration camp) took place on two separate levels, mutually impossible. (as the daily life grew every day more horrible), the life we lived with God, grew daily better, truth upon truth, glory upon glory’ This is a woman who knew suffering – suffering for doing what was right. And in that suffering, she found an intimacy with God that grew daily better and richer and deeper and more glorious. Here’s what she said later:

“Looking back across the years of my life, I can see the working of a divine pattern which is the way of God with His children. When I was in a prison camp in Holland during the war, I often prayed, ‘Lord, never let the enemy put me in a German concentration camp.’ God answered no to that prayer. Yet in the German camp, with all its horror, I found many prisoners who had never heard of Jesus Christ. “If God had not used my sister Betsie and me to bring them to Him, they would never have heard of Him. Many died, or were killed, but many died with the name of Jesus on their lips. They were well worth all our suffering.

‘many died with the name of Jesus on their lips. They were well worth all our suffering.’ The horror was real. The suffering was unimaginable. But ‘they were well worth all our suffering’. That is an eternal perspective.

13 But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.

Rejoice now in sufferings so that later when his glory is revealed you may be overjoyed. Peter goes on to explain how it is possible to rejoice inside of and because of suffering.

14 If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you.

This is what Jesus taught about suffering:

Matthew 5:10-12 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11 “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.;

Luke 6:22 “Blessed are you when people hate you and when they exclude you and revile you and spurn your name as evil, on account of the Son of Man! 23 Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven; for so their fathers did to the prophets.

The apostolic verdict on those who suffer for the name of Christ is ‘you are blessed’ – you are fortunate, so rejoice. And this is why he can say that: ‘you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you.’ When you suffer, God’s Spirit and God’s glory rests upon you. Peter is borrowing language here from Isaiah:

Isaiah 11:1 There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit. 2 And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD.

The Spirit of the LORD was prophesied to rest upon Christ. When we suffer for the name of Christ, his Spirit also rests upon us.

It says ‘the Spirit of glory and of God’. The glory of God is an awesome thing in scripture. The word ‘glory’ (kabod) literally means weighty or heavy or dense – to have mass and substance – gravity. When Solomon completed the temple in Jerusalem, we are told that ‘the glory of the LORD filled the house of the LORD’ (1Ki.8:10-11) so that the priests could no longer enter the temple. But in Ezekiel 10-11, the glory of the LORD is seen withdrawing from the temple because of the sins of the people, and God sent them into captivity and allowed Jerusalem and the temple to be destroyed. But then, after the return of the Jews to Jerusalem from their captivity, God said to Zerubbabel who rebuilt the temple in Jerusalem:

Haggai 2:5 …My Spirit remains in your midst. Fear not. 6 For thus says the LORD of hosts: Yet once more, in a little while, I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land. 7 And I will shake all nations, so that the treasures of all nations shall come in, and I will fill this house with glory, says the LORD of hosts. … 9 The latter glory of this house shall be greater than the former, says the LORD of hosts. And in this place I will give peace, declares the LORD of hosts.”’

That was the promise, but the glory of the LORD never descended on that temple like he had on the first. At the end of the Old Testament, God promised:

Malachi 3:1 “Behold, I send my messenger and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the LORD of hosts.

For 400 years the Jews waited for the Lord to come to his temple. Then a young couple, Mary and Joseph brought their child to be dedicated at the temple, and Simeon recognized Jesus as the fulfillment of that prophecy. The presence of Jesus is the greater glory of the temple.

John 1:14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

Colossians 1:19 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell,

Hebrews 1:3 He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature…

That is truly awesome! Jesus is the glory of God – the weightiness of God. And in your suffering, Peter says, the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you! If we understand who God is – his reputation, his fame, his weightiness, there is nothing that we could experience that compares to having his glory and his Spirit resting on us. Fellowship with Jesus is true joy in the middle of suffering.

But Peter must clarify:

15 But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler.

Some might say ‘I’m in prison suffering for Jesus’ – no, you’re in prison because you’re an evildoer and you belong there. You put yourself there by your own stupidity. There’s no merit in that. I’ve got lung cancer – I’m suffering for Jesus. No, two packs a day, you did that to yourself. Your nose got bloodied because it was poking around in somebody else’s business. That’s nobody’s fault but your own. That is not the kind of suffering that Peter is talking about. That is not fellowship in his sufferings. Jesus didn’t suffer for any of his own sins – he didn’t have any!

16 Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name.

This is the third time in the whole bible that the name ‘Christian’ is used (Acts 11:26; 26:28). Every time, it is on the lips of unbelievers as slander toward those who are followers of Christ. There is no shame associated with suffering simply because you are a Christ-follower. You can be ashamed of yourself if you were stupid and are suffering for it. But if you are suffering because of your identification with Jesus, if you are suffering because in some small way you resemble Jesus, if you in your sufferings are faithful and joyful and meek like Jesus was, that brings glory to God. Peter ended the last section of his letter by saying:

4:11…-in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

If you suffer as a Christian, suffer in such a way that in your actions and in your attitudes and in your words God is honored. That in everything God may be glorified as you act in the name of Christ, as one who represents Jesus to others. That by your joy, even in the middle of suffering, those around you see your fellowship with God as all-satisfying and substantial, outweighing any pain.

Pastor Rodney Zedicher ~ Ephraim Church of the Bible ~ www.ephraimbible.org

1 Peter 4:10-11; The End is Near – Use Your Gift

http://www.ephraimbible.org/Sermons/20090531_1peter4_10-11.mp3

05/31 1 Peter 4:10-11 The End is Near: Use Your Gifts to Glorify God

10 ekastov kaywv elaben carisma eiv eautouv auto diakonountev wv kaloi oikonomoi poikilhv caritov yeou 11 ei tiv lalei wv logia yeou ei tiv diakonei wv ex iscuov hv corhgei o yeov ina en pasin doxazhtai o yeov dia ihsou cristou w estin h doxa kai to kratov eiv touv aiwnav twn aiwnwn amhn

4:7 The end of all things is at hand; therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers. 8 Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins. 9 Show hospitality to one another without grumbling. 10 As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace: 11 whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies–in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

Peter puts on his sandwich board sign that says ‘the end of all things is at hand’ and because the only thing holding back justice and the final judgment is the mercy of our longsuffering God, because the end could come at any moment, he gives us instruction; four things we should be devoted to in light of the end. The first was prayers – we must keep a level-headed vigilant attitude – we must organize our life and think clearly in order to pray more effectively. Highest on his priority list is love – love for one another – earnest unceasing love – because if we truly love each other the way Jesus loves his church, then we will be able to put up with a lot of things that would otherwise irritate and separate us. We will have the highest good of the other in mind and that will rule all our thoughts and feelings and words and actions. This love must extend to practical acts of generosity and hospitality – and without the complaining that would ordinarily accompany frequent and repeated guests and meals and cleaning and preparation and laundry and all the labor that goes into doing hospitality.

The end of all things is at hand; history is moving toward a fixed goal – the culmination of everything is right around the corner. Because the end is near, we must be disciplined in prayer, earnest in love, cheerful in hospitality, and Peter gives us one last instruction in light of the end; he moves from mutual love to mutual service; he says ‘make use of your gifts to serve one another’.

4:10 As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace: 11 whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies–in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

Peter is talking here about spiritual gifts. This is an essential passage to consider when looking at the gifts of the Spirit. Paul gives extensive lists of spiritual gifts in various places. Peter doesn’t give us a long list of specific gifts – he gives much more generalized instruction concerning the gifts. He gives us the big picture ultimate purpose of the gifts.

The Extent:

He starts by telling us:

4:10 As each has received a gift,

His basic assumption is that every Christian has been gifted by God. If you are a believer in Jesus Christ, you have at least a gift. Every member of Christ’s body has a function and a role. There are no useless members. There is not one of the Lord’s people who has not received some gifts from him that they can use to bring good to their fellow believers and glory and praise to God.

Each has received a gift. The word ‘gift’ is ‘charisma’ [carisma] and the root is ‘charis’ [cariv] ‘grace’. Gifts are exactly that – gifts; gracious undeserved outpourings of God’s goodness as the supreme giver. Free gifts flowing from the undeserved grace of Almighty God.

The Purpose – To Serve

His assumption is that we have all been gifted by God. His admonition is that we use our gifts, and that we use them properly.

4:10 As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace:

Our gifts are not for our own benefit. My gift is for your benefit; your gift is for my benefit. God does not give his gifts so that we can boast and gloat and promote and display or draw attention to ourselves – they are gifts that we did nothing to merit. Since all gifts are rooted in the free and sovereign grace of God, there is no room for pride in the one who has received. We must not overvalue ourselves as if we had earned God’s favor; and we must not undervalue our gift and hide it as if it were not important and did not exist. We are to use our gifts. The proper use of our gifts is to serve one another – as Paul puts it ‘for the building up of the body of Christ’

1 Corinthians 14:3-5 … so that the church may be built up.

Ephesians 4:12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ,

Peter calls us stewards – someone who manages the resources of their master. We have been entrusted with a responsibility to manage God’s resources. God’s gifts are a weighty responsibility. We are stewards; we can be good and faithful servants or wicked and slothful servants with what God entrusts to us. In Jesus’ parable in Matthew 25, the unfaithful servant buried his gift and returned the exact amount to his master. We are expected to take inventory of what we have been given and wisely invest and risk and creatively explore ways in which we can utilize our gift in such a way that the return is maximized for the glory of God.

We are to use our gifts as we have received them – ‘As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another’ – they were graciously and freely given to us out of the abundant generosity of our great God. We ought to use them freely, graciously, and with abundant generosity for the good of those around us.

Categories of Gifts:

We are to be good stewards of God’s varied grace. God’s gracious gifts are multi-faceted and infinitely variable. Paul in several places in his letters lists some of the various gifts (Rom.12:6-8; 1 Cor.12:8-10, 28-30; Eph.4:11). None of the lists is the same, and even within each gift, there are infinite variations and unique manifestations. Our God is a God who can craft each snowflake with an unique and distinct signature and pattern, and he can gift his people with an infinite diversity of degrees and styles and combinations of giftings. Peter here is not interested in specifying any of the different gifts; he lumps them into two broad categories and focuses our attention on the proper use and ultimate purpose of all the gifts.

11 whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies

His two major categories are speaking gifts and serving gifts. Speaking gifts would probably include apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, teachers, exhortation, wisdom, knowledge, tongues and interpretation. Serving gifts would probably include giving, leading, mercy, service, faith, healing, miracles, distinguishing spirits, helping and administration. [see chart]

Means of Using the Gifts

The one who employs a speaking gift is to use it as one who speaks oracles of God. This phrase is used in the LXX to refer to the words of the Lord revealed to the prophet Balaam:

Numbers 24:4,16 the oracle of him who hears the words of God, who sees the vision of the Almighty, falling down with his eyes uncovered:

It is used in the New Testament to refer to the OT scriptures

Acts 7:38 This is the one who was in the congregation in the wilderness with the angel who spoke to him at Mount Sinai, and with our fathers. He received living oracles to give to us.

Romans 3:2 Much in every way. To begin with, the Jews were entrusted with the oracles of God.

Hebrews 5:12 For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food,

It is an incredibly serious thing to say ‘thus saith the Lord’.

Ezekiel 13:6-8 They have seen false visions and lying divinations. They say, ‘Declares the LORD,’ when the LORD has not sent them, and yet they expect him to fulfill their word. 7 Have you not seen a false vision and uttered a lying divination, whenever you have said, ‘Declares the LORD,’ although I have not spoken?”8 Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: “Because you have uttered falsehood and seen lying visions, therefore behold, I am against you, declares the Lord GOD.

God is against the one who claims to speak for him when he has not spoken. James says:

James 3:1 Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.

This is a weighty responsibility, not to be taken lightly. Paul says:

2 Timothy 2:15 Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth

Paul tells young Timothy:

2 Timothy 4:2 preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.

He tells Titus:

Titus 2:15 Declare these things; exhort and rebuke with all authority. Let no one disregard you.

When the people heard Jesus teach:

Mark 1:22 And they were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one who had authority, and not as the scribes.

Luke 4:32 and they were astonished at his teaching, for his word possessed authority.

We have been entrusted with the gospel of Jesus Christ. We must authoritatively proclaim God’s truth. The authority is not inherent in the messenger, but in the message. In so far as the message is true to God’s word it carries the weight of God’s authority. The noble Bereans were praised as they listened to the apostle because:

Acts 17:11 Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.

God’s word is our authority. We must be faithful to his word.

2 Corinthians 4:5 For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake.

The one who serves is to serve not their own strength but in the strength that God supplies. God’s gifts must be operated with God’s strength that he abundantly supplies in order to be fruitful. Jesus said:

John 15:4-5 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. 5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.

Jesus told Paul:

2 Corinthians 12:9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” …

We must own our total inability apart from the power of God at work in us. And we recognize that when God’s power is working:

Philippians 4:13 I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

When you speak, speak with God’s voice and God’s authority (not your own); when you serve, serve with God’s strength and God’s supply (not your own).

The Goal

What is the goal? The ultimate purpose for our speaking and our serving is

–in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ.

‘When those who speak utter God’s words rather than their own and those who serve do so in God’s strength rather than their own, God through Jesus Christ receives the glory … the provider is always the one who is praised’ (Schreiner, p.215). This must be our motivation for everything we do – that we do it in such a way that it is evident that the words are divine words and the power is divine power so that the glory goes to the divine enabler and not to the channel through which the divine work flows. That’s the only way we can obey what Jesus is telling us in:

Matthew 5:16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

This is the ultimate purpose of everything:

1 Corinthians 10:31 So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

We exist to bring glory to God. We were created to bring him praise. But we can only bring glory to God through the person of Jesus Christ. We cannot come to God on our own.

Isaiah 64:6 We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.

We must have a mediator

1 Timothy 2:5 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;

Acts 4:12 And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

Jesus, fully God and fully man, was the only one capable of satisfying the wrath of God against our sin by his death as our substitute.

1 Peter 3:18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God

It is through Jesus that we are brought to a place where we can give the glory to God that is his due.

The Doxology

Peter is compelled to worship this great God:

To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

God owns the right to all glory. Whenever we glory in a lesser thing, we commit idolatry and treason and rob God of his due. He alone deserves our praise and he demands our worship.

Isaiah 42:8 I am the LORD; that is my name; my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to carved idols.

Isaiah 48:11 For my own sake, for my own sake, I do it, for how should my name be profaned? My glory I will not give to another.

God’s glory is eternal and his rule will never end. He alone is worthy of our undivided adoration and affection. Let’s give him the glory that he is due.

Romans 12:6-8	1 Corinthians 12:8-10	1 Corinthians 12:28-30	Ephesians 4:11	1 Peter 4:10
		apostles	apostles	speaking
prophecy	prophecy	prophets	prophets
			evangelists
			pastors
teaches		teachers	teachers
exhorts
	wisdom
	knowledge
	tongues	tongues
	interpretation	interpret
contributes				serving
leads
mercy
service
	faith
	healing	healing
	miracles	miracles
	distinguish spirits
		helping
		administrating

Pastor Rodney Zedicher ~ Ephraim Church of the Bible ~ www.ephraimbible.org

1 Peter 4:7-9; The End is Near!

http://www.ephraimbible.org/Sermons/20090524_1peter4_7-9.mp3

05/24 1 Peter 4:7-9 The End is Near: Prayer,Love, and Hospitality

4:7 pantwn de to telov hggiken swfronhsate oun kai nhqate eiv proseucav 8 pro pantwn thn eiv eautouv agaphn ektenh econtev oti agaph kaluptei plhyov amartiwn

-Intro:

Peter is writing to believers in Asia Minor who were undergoing persecution and suffering, or would soon be suffering for the the sake of Jesus. Because of their relationship with Jesus, they had become strangers, outsiders in their own communities. Peter gives clear direction that when suffering comes, and it will come (we have been called to suffer – 2:21), this is how we must respond; we are to follow the example of Jesus. Jesus did not suffer for any wrong that he had committed, so we must not bring suffering on ourselves by sinful action. While suffering, Jesus continued entrusting everything to his Father who judges justly. Jesus suffered for the good of others – ultimately in order to bring us to God. In Jesus’ suffering, he won the decisive victory over sin. Since he suffered in the flesh and conquered sin once for all, our battle with sin is a battle against a defeated foe. When suffering comes our way, we might be tempted to use it as an excuse for sin – we think we have a legitimate reason to indulge ourself because life is hard. Instead, we can fight against sin by arming ourselves with the attitude of Jesus toward suffering – we can resolve to face the suffering that comes to us knowing that it is the will of our loving Father and it is for our good. We know that it is temporary and will soon be replaced by inexpressible joy. For Jesus, and for us, suffering is the pathway to victory. We can be done with sin and instead passionately pursue the will of God. Jesus now is seated at the right hand of his Father, with angels, authorities and powers having been subjected to him. He now stands ready to judge the living and the dead. Everyone will give account to him, and those who have suffered for him will be richly rewarded. It is infinitely worth it to suffer in the service of Jesus. This thought of this final judgment leads Peter to give instruction in light of the end:

4:7 The end of all things is at hand; therefore be self–controlled and sober–minded for the sake of your prayers. 8 Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins. 9 Show hospitality to one another without grumbling. 10 As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace: 11 whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies––in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

Peter’s instructions are somewhat unexpected. The world is coming to an end! You are about to stand before your Maker! The Judge is ready! The end is near! I would anticipate …Doom and gloom. Fire and brimstone. Flee. Repent. Sell everything and look up in the sky. or Hurry and do something crazy to get everyone’s attention and tell them about Jesus before it’s too late.

He’s got a shaggy beard and unkempt hair and he just put on his sandwich board sign that says ‘the end of all things is at hand’ and he steps out into the busy street and this is what he says: “Be self controlled. Be sober minded. Pray. Love each other. Show hospitality. Make use of your God-given gifts for the glory of God.” That’s not what I would have expected. I would expect something more radical, more urgent than ‘keep your head so you can pray and love each other’. But that’s exactly what he says. Let’s look at what he says and why.

First, his statement ‘the end of all things is at hand’. The word ‘end’ indicates the goal or consummation. The goal of everything is near. Peter wrote these words some 2000 years ago. Was he wrong? What did he mean? This is the same word that both John the Baptist and Jesus used about the kingdom of heaven.

Matthew 3:2 “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

Matthew 4:17 From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

The same word is used in Luke 22:47 of Judas, who was near enough to kiss Jesus.

Luke 22:47 While he was still speaking, there came a crowd, and the man called Judas, one of the twelve, was leading them. He drew near to Jesus to kiss him,

The point is that there is time for action, but there is no time to waste. Peter said that he ‘is ready to judge’. James says it this way:

James 5:8 You also, be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand. 9 Do not grumble against one another, brothers, so that you may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing at the door.

Jesus made it clear that although no date could be set, the disciples were to be always ready for his return:

Matthew 24:42 Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. …44 Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.

Jesus promised to come quickly and he has not come back yet. Is that a problem for us? It was already for the early church, and Peter addressed this question in his second letter:

2Peter 3:4 They will say, “Where is the promise of his coming? … 9 The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.

Jesus is at the very door, ready to burst in at any moment. The fact that he has not yet is sheer undeserved mercy. Every moment he waits is another opportunity for repentance. Never in the bible is the end mentioned merely to satisfy our curiosity. It is always mentioned as a motivation for action and right living.

Because the consummation of all things is right around the corner, this is how you should live: He mentions four things: (1) prayer and the necessary mental attitude for prayer, (2) love toward one another, (3) hospitality, and (4) the use of our gifts for serving one another for the glory of God. We’ll look at the first three and save the last for next time.

First, because of the nearness of the end, he tells us to ‘be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers’. Our inclination in light of the soon return of Christ would be to lose our heads and act irrationally. Instead, we are to be sensible and alert. Peter has already told us to be sober-minded:

1:13 Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober–minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

Here he focuses our sober-minded self-controlled attention on the duty of prayer. We are to enhance our effectiveness in our prayers by clear thinking about the end. We should not be surprised or irrational in our praying, but rather enlightened by reality as seen from God’s perspective, calling on and submitting to his authority. We must recognize that the time is short and implore God to act in the time that still remains. Realizing that God is in control of these last few moments of history should cause us to focus our attention on him and lean on him more. We should be constantly looking to him for power and guidance to make our last moments here count. “It is only through clear communication with headquarters that a soldier can effectively stand guard” (Davids, p.157). We must stay connected with God and there are some things that we can practically do to maintain an effective prayer life; namely being self-controlled and sober-minded.

Next, and Peter says ‘above all, keep loving one another earnestly’. Second only to love for God, is the importance of loving his people. John tells us that this is the main evidence of our love for him.

1 John 5:1 … everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him.

Because of the nearness of the end, and the difficulties that will bring, we are reminded to keep on loving one another earnestly. When we face suffering, it is natural to turn our focus inward. My problems are big. Someone needs to help me and alleviate my suffering. Peter turns our focus outward. Even when you are suffering; especially when you are suffering, you need to care for the needs of others. In the middle of your trial, you need to know that because of what God has given you, you have something to give to those around you. Above all, keep loving one another earnestly. This is almost the same as what he said in:

1Peter 1:22 Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart,

The word ‘earnestly’ indicates stretching out to full capacity, like a horse at full gallop. Our love must be constant and enduring, not slacking off. Jesus predicted that in the end times, love would suffer:

Matthew 24:10 And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. 11 And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. 12 And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. 13 But the one who endures to the end will be saved.

Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins. Peter’s reason for our persistent intensity of love for one another is that love covers sins. Peter’s idea comes from:

Proverbs 10:12 Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all offenses.

The idea is not that we justify our sins or ignore each others faults. We are to ’stir up one another to love and good works’ (Heb.10:24) and to ‘reprove, rebuke, and exhort’ (2Tim.4:2) with all authority (Titus2:15). Jesus himself taught:

Luke 17:3 Pay attention to yourselves! If your brother sins, rebuke him, …

But he goes on:

…and if he repents, forgive him, 4 and if he sins against you seven times in the day, and turns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him.”

Love does not excuse or overlook sin, but love does not seek to destroy because of sin. We all know the difference between someone who has been watching us hoping that we would stumble and they are eager to kick us while we are down and wring every drop of juicy satisfaction out of our failure that they can, drag our name through the mud and put our sin on public display; and those that genuinely care for us and although they confront us about our sin, it is privately and for our own good, with the purpose of restoring us to fellowship both with God and with them. If we are truly in the last days as Peter says, we have a common enemy. We don’t need to be seeking occasion to destroy one another. Instead we should cover each other and care for each other with love – as we would like to be treated. Love is eager to forgive and will overlook the faults of others in the church so that together we can stand against the schemes of the devil (Eph6:11). In the face of persecution, this is an essential attitude of the community of faith. Above all, keep on loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins.

Peter goes on: ‘Show hospitality to one another without grumbling‘. Hospitality literally is being a friend to a stranger. It typically implied offering food and lodging. In a situation where people can barely meet their own needs, hospitality is a costly act of love. The word is plural – referring to repeated acts of hospitality. The early church did not often have public facilities available to them for meeting, so hospitality would be put to the test as the church would meet regularly in someone’s home. The persecuted church would also put hospitality to the test as Christians fleeing persecution would be in great need, but would also bring the threat of danger to the family who gave them shelter. Peter not only commands hospitality, but specifies the attitude that is to go along with it. Hospitality is to be cheerful, joyful hospitality. It is not to be grumbling hospitality.

2Corinthians 9:7 Each one must give as he has made up his mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

Because the time is short and the days are urgent, we are to extend practical love and hospitality with generosity to our brothers and sisters in need. We are to earnestly love and be eager to forgive. We are to think clearly in order to pray more appropriately and effectively. And we are to use our various gifts to serve one another in order to bring glory to God.

4:7 The end of all things is at hand; therefore be self–controlled and sober–minded for the sake of your prayers. 8 Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins. 9 Show hospitality to one another without grumbling. 10 As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace: 11 whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies––in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

Pastor Rodney Zedicher ~ Ephraim Church of the Bible ~ www.ephraimbible.org

1 Peter 4:1-6; Victory Through Suffering

http://www.ephraimbible.org/Sermons/20090510_1peter4_1-6.mp3

05/10 1 Peter 4:1-6 Victory through Suffering

1 cristou oun payontov sarki kai umeiv thn authn ennoian oplisasye oti o paywn sarki pepautai amartiaiv 2 eiv to mhketi anyrwpwn epiyumiaiv alla yelhmati yeou ton epiloipon en sarki biwsai cronon 3 arketov gar o parelhluywv cronov to boulhma twn eynwn kateirgasyai peporeumenouv en aselgeiaiv epiyumiaiv oinoflugiaiv kwmoiv potoiv kai ayemitoiv eidwlolatriaiv 4 en w xenizontai mh suntrecontwn umwn eiv thn authn thv aswtiav anacusin blasfhmountev 5 oi apodwsousin logon tw etoimwv krinonti zwntav kai nekrouv 6 eiv touto gar kai nekroiv euhggelisyh ina kriywsin men kata anyrwpouv sarki zwsin de kata yeon pneumati

Peter is encouraging suffering believers that it is worth it to suffer for Jesus’ sake. Suffering is the pathway to victory in the Christian life. There is no need to fear, because Jesus also suffered and he was ultimately victorious. He will ensure that we who are suffering for him will be brought victoriously to God. The rescue of Noah and his family illustrates the triumph of Christ and the preservation of his people. We looked at the goal of Jesus in his death as our substitute to bring us to God:

3:18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit, …

And we ended up last time with a view of Jesus seated at the right hand of the Father having conquered every spiritual power by his resurrection from the dead.

21 …through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, 22 who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him.

Peter now goes on to draw practical instruction for us:

1 Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same way of thinking, for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, 2 so as to live for the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for human passions but for the will of God. 3 The time that is past suffices for doing what the Gentiles want to do, living in sensuality, passions, drunkenness, orgies, drinking parties, and lawless idolatry. 4 With respect to this they are surprised when you do not join them in the same flood of debauchery, and they malign you; 5 but they will give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. 6 For this is why the gospel was preached even to those who are dead, that though judged in the flesh the way people are, they might live in the spirit the way God does.

We are at war. If you are a believer in Jesus Christ, then you are at war. You are in a war with sin. Happy Mother’s Day! Here’s how I’m going to tie this passage in with Mother’s Day. My mother recognized the battle that is raging for my soul and she engaged in the war. She wore out a pair of knees praying for me and my siblings. And during some critical years in my life when she saw the spiritual forces of temptation and sin that were seeking to destroy me, she did battle every morning. She would get up before school and fix my breakfast, and then, while I sat to eat, she would take up the Sword of the Spirit and read me a Proverb – whether I liked it or not. This passage deals with how to obtain victory in the war with sin. So, although this would probably not be my first choice of a passage for Mother’s Day, this is where we are in our study of 1 Peter, and I think that it has some important things that we need to know as we wage war for our souls and for the souls of our children.

Peter is drawing instruction from the example of Jesus, and he puts it in military terms.

1 Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same way of thinking, for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, 2 so as to live for the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for human passions but for the will of God.

The military metaphor for the Christian life is common in Paul’s letters:

Romans 13:12 The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light.

2Corinthians 6:7 by truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left;

2Corinthians 10:4 For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds.

Ephesians 6:11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil…

1Thessalonians 5:8 But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation.

Here, the weapon we are to take up in our spiritual battle is a mindset, a resolve or intention. Peter has given us a similar idea in:

1Peter 1:13 Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober–minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

This is something we decisively do. We are to arm ourselves with this way of thinking. That means that we need to study, to ask ‘what was the mindset of Jesus?’, and ‘how practically can I resolve to think the same way?’

Here, the mindset we are to have is the mindset of Jesus toward suffering.

Luke 9:44 “Let these words sink into your ears: The Son of Man is about to be delivered into the hands of men.”…51 When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem….53 But the people did not receive him, because his face was set toward Jerusalem.

Jesus was resolved to go and suffer.

Matthew 16:21 From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. 22 And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “Far be it from you, Lord! This shall never happen to you.”

23 But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”

Jesus knew that suffering was a necessity. He had his mind set on the things of God, in contrast to Peter, who was setting his mind on the things of man.

John 12:27 “Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour‘? But for this purpose I have come to this hour.

Jesus kept his purpose in mind.

Luke 22:42 saying, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.”

Jesus was willing to set aside his own preferences for the will of God.

Hebrews 12:2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

Jesus looked past the suffering to the ultimate goal.

1 Peter 3:18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit,

The suffering was once. It had a definite end, and there was a good purpose.

1 Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same way of thinking, for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, 2 so as to live for the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for human passions but for the will of God.

We arm ourselves with the resolve to suffer the way Jesus suffered, recognizing the purpose of God in our suffering, knowing that it is the plan of God and it is necessary, knowing that our suffering will be short, that it is the pathway to glory and it will result in victory over sin.

Peter gives us great encouragement here. He tells us that ‘whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin’. Peter is not holding out the possibility of sinless perfection; there are too many clear passages of scripture that rule that out (1Ki.8:46; Pr.20:9; Ecc.7:20; Jas.3:2; 1Jn.1:8). What he is saying is that someone who has resolved to obey God even when it means physical suffering is engaged in a mindset where obedience is even more important than our desire to avoid pain. We must abhor sin so much that we would willingly suffer for righteousness – like Jesus did. When we come to this place – where there is no more enjoyment left in sin – then we are done with sin. We will no longer live for sin. We will stumble. But we have made a clean break with sin. We live for a higher purpose. Peter draws the contrast in verse 2:

…whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, 2 so as to live for the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for human passions but for the will of God.

We are no longer driven by human passions. Peter has already told us:

1 Peter 1:14 As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance,

1 Peter 2:11 Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul.

We are no longer motivated by what motivates the rest of humanity. Our fleshly cravings lead us in many different directions to find satisfaction. We now have a single unifying goal. We live for a higher purpose. We live for the will of God. Our driving purpose and passion is what God wants, not what we want. Our desires fall in line with his desires.

…whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, 2 so as to live for the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for human passions but for the will of God.

The Psalmist expresses the thought well:

Psalm 119:65 <TETH> You have dealt well with your servant, O LORD, according to your word. 66 Teach me good judgment and knowledge, for I believe in your commandments. 67 Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep your word. 68 You are good and do good; teach me your statutes. 69 The insolent smear me with lies, but with my whole heart I keep your precepts; 70 their heart is unfeeling like fat, but I delight in your law. 71 It is good for me that I was afflicted, that I might learn your statutes. 72 The law of your mouth is better to me than thousands of gold and silver pieces.

Peter goes on to give us reasons for our willingness to suffer for righteousness.

3 The time that is past suffices for doing what the Gentiles want to do, living in sensuality, passions, drunkenness, orgies, drinking parties, and lawless idolatry.

Parties, alcohol and sex. A shameless lack of personal self-restraint; trying to satisfy the inward cravings in things that leave you empty. If I become a Christian, will I have to give up _______? I’d like to follow Jesus, but I’m not sure I’m ready to give up ______. Stop filling your mouth with gravel and come to the living water and drink, drink, drink. You’ve wasted enough time and energy and life in pursuit of worthless things. Don’t spend any more days building future regret. Social parties, drunkenness and sexual gratification – Peter concludes his list with ‘lawless idolatry’ – worshiping, pursuing, loving something that is not God, pouring out your affections on anything beside God. Stop wasting your life! Wherever you are today, the time that is past was more than enough. Don’t continue in it; don’t look back; don’t go back. It’s all idolatry.

4 With respect to this they are surprised when you do not join them in the same flood of debauchery, and they malign you;

Your old friends are shocked at the change in you. The community is offended that you no longer participate in the status quo. There has been a clean break from your old lifestyle. You no longer plunge with them into the torrent of pleasure seeking. This is the word that described the prodigal’s living in Luke 15:13. The word is ‘a-sotia’ [aswtiav] – the negative of saving. They plunge into everything that is devoid of any saving quality. When you refuse to join them, they defame you. The word here is literally ‘blaspheme’ – they slander your name, and insofar as you are following Christ, they are blaspheming God himself. No-one slanders God’s holy name and escapes punishment. Peter goes on:

5 but they will give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead.

Just as Peter has pictured our salvation as ‘ready to be revealed’…

1 Peter 1:5 who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

…So the One who is to be the Judge of all mankind stands ready to call all people to give account for every careless word:

Matthew 12:36 I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak,

The living and the dead is a way to say that no one is excluded. Those who slander and persecute the believers will give account to the Judge. Even the dead cannot escape the final judgment. Peter takes his phrase ‘the living and the dead’ and expands on it to give further encouragement to us to persevere.

5 but they will give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. 6 For this is why the gospel was preached even to those who are dead, that though judged in the flesh the way people are, they might live in the spirit the way God does.

Your former friends do not understand the change that has taken place. It is a continual surprise why you no longer join them in their fun. ‘Come party with us!’ From their perspective you are missing out on a great deal of enjoyment and you have nothing to show for it. Christians die just like everybody else and they end up as worm food pushing up dandelions just like everyone else. ‘You say you have received new life. What’s the great advantage of following Jesus? You give up all the fun and have nothing to show for it in the end.’ This is why the good news was preached (past) to those who are dead (present). People who heard the gospel and believed it, are now dead, and according to human judgment – in the flesh – they are just dead; they wasted their life; but according to God – in the spirit – they have real life – eternal life. Those who received the gospel are not just dead – they are the ones who have real life. Even though the immediate result of receiving the good news is condemnation and disapproval in the eyes of the world, the ultimate result is eternal salvation.

-summary

Jesus has suffered for sins once in order to bring us to God. He was put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit. Resurrected, he is now seated at the right hand of God with angels, authorities and powers having been subjected to him. Since he suffered in the flesh and conquered sin once for all, our battle with sin is a battle against a defeated foe. We can fight against sin by taking the attitude of Jesus toward suffering – we can resolve to face the suffering that comes to us knowing that it is the will of our loving father and it is for our good. We know that it is temporary and will soon be replaced by inexpressible joy. And we know that our suffering is the pathway to joy and will result in victory over our sins. We no longer live chasing our own desires; we live the rest of our few short days pursuing the will of God. We’ve wasted more than enough time already chasing pleasure in things that don’t satisfy. We are slandered by our old companions who feel condemned when we refuse to join them in wasting life. The judge stands ready and everyone will answer to him for how they spent their life. Believers who have died already and seem to have gotten nothing for their faith have been brought successfully to God and are enjoying their reward. It is worth it to suffer for Jesus’ sake! Life is our reward. Peter has quoted Psalm 34:

Psalm 34:8 Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him! 9 Oh, fear the Lord, you his saints, for those who fear him have no lack! 10 …those who seek the LORD lack no good thing.’ 11 Come, O children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the LORD. 12 What man is there who desires life and loves many days, that he may see good? 13 Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceit. 14 Turn away from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it. 15 The eyes of the LORD are toward the righteous and his ears toward their cry. 16 The face of the LORD is against those who do evil, to cut off the memory of them from the earth. [1 Peter 2:3; 3:10-12]

Pastor Rodney Zedicher ~ Ephraim Church of the Bible ~ www.ephraimbible.org

1 Peter 3:18-22; Christ Triumphant!

http://www.ephraimbible.org/Sermons/20090503_1peter3_18-22.mp3

05/03 1 Peter 3:18-22 Christ Triumphant!

18 oti kai cristov apax peri amartiwn apeyanen dikaiov uper adikwn ina umav prosagagh tw yew yanatwyeiv men sarki zwopoihyeiv de pneumati 19 en w kai toiv en fulakh pneumasin poreuyeiv ekhruxen 20 apeiyhsasin pote ote apexedeceto h tou yeou makroyumia en hmeraiv nwe kataskeuazomenhv kibwtou eiv hn oligoi tout estin oktw qucai dieswyhsan di udatov 21 o kai umav antitupon nun swzei baptisma ou sarkov apoyesiv rupou alla suneidhsewv agayhv eperwthma eiv yeon di anastasewv ihsou cristou 22 ov estin en dexia yeou poreuyeiv eiv ouranon upotagentwn autw aggelwn kai exousiwn kai dunamewn

18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit, 19 in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison, 20 because they formerly did not obey, when God’s patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water. 21 Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, 22 who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him.

Today we’re going to tackle a difficult passage. I Peter 3:19-21 is one of the most difficult texts to interpret in the bible. Martin Luther said “A wonderful text this is, and a more obscure passage perhaps than any other in the New Testament, so that I do not know for a certainty just what Peter means.” [Luther, p.166]; I have to say ‘Amen’ to Luther. In studying this passage I changed my own view at least four times. But I’m excited for the opportunity to study this text with you today. I’m excited because ‘All scripture is breathed out by God and profitable’ [2Tim3:16] so this text is profitable. All scripture is profitable, but not all scripture is equally clear. Peter himself said:

2 Peter 3:15-16 … as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, 16 as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures.

And I’ve got to ask ‘Peter, have you read your own stuff?’ Paul is sometimes hard to swallow, but most of it is not hard to understand. People don’t like what Paul says so they try to explain it away, but this passage is just plain difficult to understand.

But here’s where we can profit from a passage like this. It teaches us we don’t have to understand it all. I’m not 100% sure what Peter is talking about here, and that’s OK. I don’t need to understand everything the bible has to say. I will be helped the more I understand of the bible, and you should:

2 Timothy 2:15 Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.

Part of rightly handling the word of truth is being able to discern the primary teachings from the secondary teachings. The part of what Peter says here that is open to various interpretations is definitely secondary in importance – it doesn’t have anything to do with who Jesus is, the nature of God, or salvation by grace. We are free to hold different opinions on issues of secondary importance. I’m not going to call someone a heretic or question their salvation because they disagree over who ‘the spirits in prison’ in verse 19 are. I will raise serious questions if someone disagrees over verse 18 which teaches the substitutionary sacrifice of Christ on the cross paying the penalty for our sins to reconcile us to the Father. Another aspect of rightly handling the word of truth is the ability to discern the obscure from the clear. Maybe Peter’s readers knew exactly what he was talking about, but living 2000 years later, we have to piece together as best we can what he meant by what he said. But there are certain things this passage cannot mean, because there are clear teachings elsewhere in the bible that contradict that interpretation. Here’s an example: Some interpret this passage to mean that after Jesus died, he went and preached the gospel to people in hell, offering them a second chance for salvation. That interpretation contradicts the clear teaching of scripture.

Hebrews 9:27 And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment,

2 Corinthians 6:2 …Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.

Romans 2:4-5 Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? 5 But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.

John 3:18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.

Jesus described the rich man who was in torment in Hades

Luke 16:24 And he called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.’…

26 And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us.’

Jesus described hell:

Mark 9:48 ‘where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched.’

Matthew 25:41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels….46 And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

Revelation 14:11 And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever, and they have no rest, day or night, …

The clear teaching of the bible leaves no room for a second chance at salvation after death. We cannot take an obscure passage and make it say something that contradicts the clear teaching of the rest of the bible.

Here’s what we’re going to do today. I don’t want to miss the forest for the trees, so we’re going to look at the big picture of the context of this passage to see what Peter is doing. Although some of the details can be variously understood, the big picture is clear.

Then we will look at some of the different views and evaluate their strengths and weaknesses. And we’ll finish up by coming back around to the big picture and seeing how the details contribute to what Peter is saying.

The Big Picture

Peter is writing to encourage believers who are suffering because they are following Jesus. There is no need to fear, because Jesus also suffered and he was ultimately victorious. He will ensure that we who are suffering for him will be brought victoriously to God. The passage concludes with a view of Jesus seated at the right hand of the Father having conquered every spiritual power by his resurrection from the dead. He uses the situation in the days of Noah and the rescue of Noah’s family to illustrate the triumph of Christ and the preservation of his people. The questions come when we try to understand the details of the illustration.

The Different Views:

The main questions we have to answer are: Who are the spirits in prison? What did Christ preach? and When did he preach? There have been various answers to these questions. Here are some of the main ones:

1. Some understand the spirits in prison to be the evil angels who sinned in Genesis 6 before the flood, and Jesus after his resurrection made a proclamation of victory over them.

2. An old interpretation going back at least to Augustine is that Christ ‘in spirit’ was preaching repentance through Noah to the unbelievers who died in the flood and are now ’spirits in prison’ in hell.

3. Others have understood the spirits in prison to be Old Testament saints who were kept in a place of waiting until Jesus went and liberated them between his death and his resurrection.

3. The Descent into Hell

This last view finds support in the apostle’s creed, an early creed which gradually took shape from around 200 A.D to 750 A.D.

I believe in God, the Father Almighty, the Maker of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord:

Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; He descended into hell. The third day He arose again from the dead;

He ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead….

It is interesting to note that the earliest forms of the creed did not include the line ‘he descended into hell’. Even though this is very old, it is not infallible scripture. But some see support for this in passages like:

Ephesians 4:8 Therefore it says, “When he ascended on high he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men.” 9 (In saying, “He ascended,” what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower parts of the earth? 10 He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.)

But the descent mentioned in these verses most likely refers to the incarnation, not a descent into hell. Jesus told the thief on the cross:

Luke 23:43 And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”

Jesus died around 3pm. The two thieves died later, after their legs were broken. That day ended at sundown, about 6pm. If Jesus went to hell between his death and his resurrection, it was a very short trip!

The other two views are much more plausible.

2. Christ Preaching through Noah

We could paraphrase the passage to explain this view: ‘in the spiritual realm of existence Christ went and preached through Noah to those who are now spirits in the prison of hell. This happened when they formerly disobeyed, when the patience of God was waiting in the days of Noah while the ark was being built’ [Grudem, p.239]

In support of this view, 2 Peter 4:5 mentions Noah as a ‘herald of righteousness’, using the noun form of the same word we find here translated ‘proclaimed’. We find support for the idea that the pre-incarnate Christ could be seen as empowering Old Testament prophets in:

1 Peter 1:10-11 Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully,11 inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories.

But this doesn’t fit well with Peter’s phrase that Christ ‘went and proclaimed’. If he is talking merely about the spirit of Christ in Noah preaching, it would seem out of place to picture him as ‘going’.

Another major obstacle of this view is ’spirits in prison’ is not a normal way to refer to unbelieving people now in hell. ‘Spirits’ in the plural in the New Testament almost without exception refers to angelic beings, not human beings. The term used for ‘prison’ is used in scripture for evil angels, but it is never used to refer to the place of punishment for human beings after death.

1. Victory over Fallen Angels

Genesis 6 describes the time leading up to the judgment of the flood:

Genesis 6:1 When man began to multiply on the face of the land and daughters were born to them, 2 the sons of God saw that the daughters of man were attractive. And they took as their wives any they chose. 3 Then the LORD said, “My Spirit shall not abide in man forever, for he is flesh: his days shall be 120 years.” 4 The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of man and they bore children to them. These were the mighty men who were of old, the men of renown. 5 The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. 6 And the LORD was sorry that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart. 7 So the LORD said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens, for I am sorry that I have made them.” 8 But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD.

These ’sons of God’ could be the angels that Jude refers to:

Jude 6 And the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day––

Peter may also be referring to the same incident when he says:

2 Peter 2:4 For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to chains of gloomy darkness to be kept until the judgment; 5 if he did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a herald of righteousness, with seven others, when he brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly;…9 then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment,

This understanding fits the language ’spirits in prison’ much better. This view fits the time sequence well; Jesus

18 …put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit, 19 in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison,

And it fits the conclusion:

22 who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him.

The question with this view is ‘what did Jesus preach?’ This word is not the word ‘evangelize’ that is common to the New Testament. This is the word for a herald to make proclamation. It is also used of the preaching of the gospel in the New Testament. But this cannot be an invitation for the fallen angels to repent.

Hebrews 2:16 For surely it is not angels that he helps, but he helps the offspring of Abraham.

Rather, the same message – the message of good news of eternal life in Jesus – is a message of death to those who are perishing (2Cor.2:16). In this context, Jesus after his resurrection would herald his victory at the cross to these fallen angels imprisoned and awaiting their final condemnation.

Parallels between Noah and the Readers

Regardless of which view you take, the illustration Peter uses of the days of Noah would hit home with Peter’s readers. They, like Noah are a small minority of believers surrounded by hostile unbelievers. Noah witnessed boldly to those around him; Peter’s readers are encouraged to give reason for the hope that is in them, even suffering if necessary. In the days of Noah, God was patiently awaiting repentance; God is now patiently waiting for the repentance of unbelievers, but he will surely bring judgment on the unrepentant. Noah was finally saved with only a few others. Even if the majority does not convert, we will be saved because Christ has triumphed and we will share in his victory.

Baptism Now Saves You

Peter now draws a parallel between the waters of the flood and the waters of baptism. The flood waters represented God’s judgment and fury at sin. Noah and his family were rescued from the judgment of sin because of God’s grace. The waters of the flood brought death. Baptism pictures that immersion into the waters of death and judgment on sin. We have been crucified with Christ. Our sin nature has been put to death. But because we are united with Christ, in his resurrection we come safely through the waters of judgment. Because Jesus triumphed over death, we can now walk in newness of life.

Peter is careful to clarify so that he is not misunderstood to teach that the outward act of baptism has any saving effect. It is NOT the removal of dirt from the flesh. It is the appeal to God for a good conscience. Facing the waters of judgment and wrath against our sin we cry out to God as sinners in need of a savior and he wipes away our guilt through the substitution of Jesus for us. It is the spiritual reality that the outward act pictures that is significant. Because of our resurrection with Christ, we are empowered by the Spirit to live new lives. It is through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

But that is not all. Jesus suffered to bring us to God.

through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, 22 who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him.

Jesus is now at the right hand of his Father. He was victorious over everything. His work finished, he sat down:

Hebrews 10:12 But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God,

And yet he never tires of applying his work to us sinners day after day after day:

Romans 8:34 Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died––more than that, who was raised––who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.

And his victorious resurrection power is at work in us who believe:

Ephesians 1:19 And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us–ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, 20 that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, 21 far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. 22 And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, 23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.

Pastor Rodney Zedicher ~ Ephraim Church of the Bible ~ www.ephraimbible.org

1 Peter 3:18; The Goal of The Gospel

http://www.ephraimbible.org/Sermons/20090426_1peter3_18.mp3

04/26 1 Peter 3:18 The Goal of The Gospel

18 oti kai cristov apax peri amartiwn apeyanen dikaiov uper adikwn ina umav prosagagh tw yew yanatwyeiv men sarki zwopoihyeiv de pneumati

13 Now who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good? 14 But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, 15 but in your hearts regard Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; 16 yet do it with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame. 17 For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God’s will, than for doing evil. 18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit, 19 in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison, 20 because they formerly did not obey, when God’s patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water. 21 Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, 22 who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him.

Peter is writing to believers who are suffering, or will soon be suffering because of their faith in Jesus. He has told us that suffering, rather than a detour in the Christian life, is the pathway to blessing. Blessing comes to those who suffer for righteousness sake. Suffering should be met, not with fear and anxiety, but with a reckoning in your heart that Jesus is King. And our hope should be infectious, causing unbelievers to interrogate us. When that happens, we must be ready to answer; our answer should be filled with a humble meekness and fear of God, knowing that we too are undeserving sinners that have been shown mercy.

In the next paragraph, Peter gives us the reason why we should not fear suffering, but rather look at suffering as a pathway to blessing. Jesus is our hope, and in his suffering we find maximum reason to hope for a good outcome.

This verse is almost exactly parallel to 2:21. Peter had told slaves that it was grace in God’s sight when they suffer for doing good. The reason he holds out to them is Jesus in his suffering.

2:21 For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps.

And he goes on there to elaborate on the sinless example of Jesus’ suffering. In verse 24 he gives us the magnificent verse:

2:24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. 25 For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.

There he moved from Jesus’ behavior during his passion to his redemptive death on the cross, to our present experience of being returned to our Shepherd. Here in 3:18, he begins the same way:

18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit,

But here he moves from Jesus’ death and its redemptive effects to the resurrection and exaltation of Jesus, which have consequences for the readers and for the whole visible and invisible universe. Jesus’ suffering is followed by triumphant vindication, and we who suffer can have hope that we too will be vindicated.

This passage is challenging to understand. There is the issue of the proclamation to the spirits in prison who were disobedient in the days of Noah, and we have to answer the question ‘in what way can Peter say that baptism now saves you?’ after Peter has been abundantly clear that salvation is God’s work and we receive it by faith alone. And, Lord willing, we will attempt to carefully navigate those deep waters next week. But I don’t want for us to get all caught up in controversy about the secondary issues that are less clear and miss the big picture which is quite clear. And I don’t want for us to rush past the simple clarity of the good news in verse 18. This is the substance of the hope that is in us. So today, I’d like us to linger over and meditate on, even memorize this compact statement of the goal of Christ in the gospel

18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God,

Christ also suffered. We suffer; Christ also suffered. There are similarities. The context here is encouragement in suffering for doing good. In the rare event that we do good and suffer for it, our suffering is similar to Christ’s suffering. But that is where the similarities end. The rest of this statement details how different Christ’s suffering was from ours.

Christ suffered ‘once’. His suffering was a one-time event. We instantly think of the cross, and that is right. But Christ’s suffering began long before the cross. John 1 tells us:

John 1:1-4…the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made. In him was life…

14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us…

That was the beginning of the suffering of Christ. Being God, infinite, self-existent, omnipotent; who spoke the galaxies into being; to be born a fragile dependent human child who learned to roll over and crawl and make sounds and had to have his diaper changed; that was a bigger sacrifice than we will ever understand. He was misunderstood by many. Most that did understand rejected his claims and sought to put him to death. Even his closest friends deserted him in his hour of need. Justice was mocked as a notorious criminal was released and an innocent man was nailed to a tree, suspended between heaven and earth. The suffering of Christ began at his incarnation and found full expression on the cross as he cried out ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’

Mark 15:34 And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

But the suffering of Jesus was ‘once’. In contrast to the sacrifice made by the Jewish high priest on the Day of Atonement that was repeated year after year after year, the suffering of Jesus happened only once in history. Jesus cried out from the cross ‘It is finished’.

John 19:30 When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

And he spoke the truth. No other offering would ever be needed. His suffering was absolutely sufficient. The author of Hebrews expands on this thought:

Hebrews 9:24 For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf. 25 Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the holy places every year with blood not his own, 26 for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. 27 And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, 28 so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.

Christ suffered ‘for sins’. Peter uses language that is rooted in the sin offering of Leviticus, where an animal would die for the sin of a person. The wages of sin is death, and the death of the animal would take the place of the death of the person. Jesus fulfilled this role and paid the penalty for our sins. This language shows up in Isaiah 53:10

Isaiah 53:10 Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for sin, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.

Paul uses this language as the essence of his gospel message:

1 Corinthians 15:3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures,

Christ suffered as ‘the righteous for the unrighteous’. Peter does an interesting thing here; he takes his readers who are unjustly suffering for doing good and moves them to the category of unrighteous sinners in need of the righteousness of Christ. Jesus alone is in the category of ‘righteous’.

The sinless character of Jesus was so central that ‘The Righteous One’ became a title for the Lord Jesus in the early church:

Acts 3:14 But you denied the Holy and Righteous One, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, 15 and you killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses.

The contrast is striking, that the people killed the author of life, while God gives life to the dead. They substituted a murderer for the Righteous One, while God gives his Righteous One as the substitute for us unrighteous sinners. Jesus saw this as his own ministry:

Luke 5:32 I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.”

This language also comes out of Isaiah 53:

Isaiah 53:11 Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities.

Jesus came as to suffer, righteous for unrighteous. It is precisely because he had no guilt of his own to pay for that in his suffering he could carry our guilt and bear the punishment that we deserved. And it is because he was the infinite God-man that the value of his substitution was infinite. The concept of the substitutionary sacrifice of Jesus is inescapable. Jesus took my place. Paul says it this way:

2 Corinthians 5:21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

This is the great exchange. I am a sinner. He was perfectly righteous. He suffered as a sinner in my place. I enjoy the benefits of his righteousness in the presence of God. He takes my sin and gives me his righteousness!

Christ suffered ‘that he might bring us to God’. Now we come to the ultimate purpose of the suffering of Christ. We often look at the good news as a way to escape the fires of Hell. But he does not tell us that Christ suffered so that we can escape Hell. We think of the gospel as the way to get to Heaven when we die. But he doesn’t say Christ suffered to bring us to Heaven. We are told that Christ suffered ‘that he might bring us to God’. This is the core and the beauty of the gospel message. God is at the center of the good news. The greatest problem with our sin not that it sends us to hell or that it keeps us out of heaven; the greatest problem with our sin is that it causes a separation between us and God.

Isaiah 59:1 Behold, the LORD’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save, or his ear dull, that it cannot hear; 2 but your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear.

Sin is lethal because it severs our relationship with God. We cannot know and love and serve the one we were created for. Listen how Paul describes us:

Ephesians 2:12 remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

‘Brought near by the blood of Christ’; Christ suffered ‘that he might bring us to God’. The Psalmist said:

Psalms 73:28 But for me it is good to be near God;

God is the greatest good and God is our greatest need. We were created for relationship with God. This is the definition of eternal life that Jesus gives:

John 17:3 And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.

Do you want to avoid hell? Demons want to avoid hell. Do you want to go to heaven? Self-centered hedonists and pleasure seekers want to go to heaven. Do you long for God? Saints want to be with God.

Psalms 63:1 O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.

What a beautiful picture of Jesus:

Luke 19:10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”

1 Peter 2:25 For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.

The Shepherd of my soul, bringing me back to God to find the green pastures and still waters of intimacy with him, he restores my soul.

1 Peter 3:18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God…

Pastor Rodney Zedicher ~ Ephraim Church of the Bible ~ www.ephraimbible.org