Exodus 15:22-27; Bitter Waters Sweet

http://www.ephraimbible.org/Sermons/20110327_exodus15_22-27.mp3

03/27 Exodus 15:22-27 Bitter Waters Sweet

From Worship to Discontent

Last time we watched as the Lord saved his people. They saw his great power, they feared the Lord, they believed in the Lord, and they sang his praises. God is victorious; he is the source of strength; the theme of worship; he is rescuer; proven faithful; warrior, fighting for us; he is self-existent; all powerful; conqueror; he is rightly proud; he is justly angry; he is unrivaled; incomparable; totally set apart; awe-inspiring; he is active in power; he is our faithful lover; our purchaser/ redeemer; our caring guide; he dwells with his people; he is the perpetual king. 72 hours after they see their enemy crushed by God at the Red Sea, after they had praised his awesome attributes in song, now they are grumbling. It did not take God very long to get his people out of Egypt. As we will see, it takes much longer to get Egypt out of his people. But God is faithful. God saved his people by sheer undeserved grace. Now they must learn to walk by faith in that same grace. Here we see an amazing example of his grace toward undeserving people.

15:22 Then Moses made Israel set out from the Red Sea, and they went into the wilderness of Shur. They went three days in the wilderness and found no water. 23 When they came to Marah, they could not drink the water of Marah because it was bitter; therefore it was named Marah. 24 And the people grumbled against Moses, saying, “What shall we drink?” 25 And he cried to the LORD, and the LORD showed him a log, and he threw it into the water, and the water became sweet. There the LORD made for them a statute and a rule, and there he tested them, 26 saying, “If you will diligently listen to the voice of the LORD your God, and do that which is right in his eyes, and give ear to his commandments and keep all his statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you that I put on the Egyptians, for I am the LORD, your healer.” 27 Then they came to Elim, where there were twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees, and they encamped there by the water.

The first observation we can make in this passage, is that Moses made the people set out from the Red Sea. They had just seen great victory, and we often want to camp out in the place of victory. But God was guiding by fire and cloud. And he was guiding into the wilderness. The people were understandably reluctant to follow. But God’s purpose was that they move from bondage to Pharaoh into glad service to their true King. They must learn what it is to walk with God and serve him, and that is a lesson that must be learned in the desert. God’s aim was that his people know him, that they know the LORD, and some of God’s attributes are only taught through difficult circumstances. This day they will learn a new name for their God.

We must not be too quick to judge the Israelites. Three days in the desert with no source of water would be disconcerting. They were traveling with families and flocks to water, and a three day supply would be a lot to carry. When water came into sight, they would drink whatever remained and prepare to refill. When they discovered that this water was undrinkable, they panicked. They targeted Moses, the visible representative of God, and they grumbled. They complained. They murmured. The root of this word means ‘to stay the night, to remain, abide, or dwell’. They camped out on their problem. They focused on their situation. They dwelt on their lack and it consumed them. All they could talk about was what they didn’t have.

Ruth and Naomi

The place was named Marah because the water was bitter. Marah is the Hebrew word for bitter. And bitter circumstances made bitter Israelites. There is another naming in the Old Testament, not of a place, but of a person who named herself ‘Mara’

Ruth 1:19 …And the women said, “Is this Naomi?” 20 She said to them, “Do not call me Naomi; call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. 21 I went away full, and the LORD has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi, when the LORD has testified against me and the Almighty has brought calamity upon me?”

Naomi’s name meant – ‘my delight, beauty, or pleasantness’. She asked that her name be changed from ‘delight’ to ‘bitterness’. She said:

Ruth 1:13 … for it is exceedingly bitter to me for your sake that the hand of the LORD has gone out against me.”

Ruth and her family had moved from Bethlehem in Judah to Moab because of famine. They remained in Moab for about ten years. Her husband and both her married sons died. Her life was bitter, and she blamed God. ‘The Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. The LORD has brought me back empty. The LORD has testified against me, the Almighty has brought calamity upon me. The hand of the LORD has gone out against me’. She dwelt on her painful circumstances and delight was changed to bitterness. But this was not the end of her story. When she began to see the big picture, she exclaimed ‘…the LORD, whose kindness has not forsaken the living or the dead!’ (Ruth 2:20). Out of Naomi’s bitter circumstances comes the most beautiful picture of redemption we have in all of the Old Testament. The women whom she asked to call her ‘bitter’, by the end of the story say to her “Blessed be the LORD, who has not left you this day without a redeemer, and may his name be renowned in Israel! He shall be to you a restorer of life and a nourisher of your old age, for your daughter-in-law who loves you, who is more to you than seven sons, has given birth to him.’ (Ruth 4:14-15). Bitterness was turned to beauty again as Naomi became the great great grandmother to David the King.

Hebrews and James

The author of Hebrews argues that God’s discipline is evidence of his love toward us, and that ‘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.’ (Heb.12:11) He goes on to say:

Hebrews 12:15 See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no “root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled;

Bitterness is a highly infectious cancer that spreads rapidly and brings death. God provides bitter circumstances to train us in his grace. We can be teachable and allow it to blossom into righteousness, or we can allow bitterness to fester and erupt in a rottenness that contaminates those around us. Painful circumstances are evidence of God’s grace, an undeserved kindness to keep us looking to him, trusting in him, depending on him. Bitter circumstances can keep us from becoming self-sufficient and complacent and unbelieving. This is how James can write:

James 1:2 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, 3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.

Will you look at your bitter circumstances, or will you look through you bitter circumstances? God provides us with circumstances to train us, to test us, to prove us. We can be patient and teachable, keeping our eyes on God and believing that he loves us and has good in store, or we can focus on the circumstances and putrefy in our own bitterness to the harm of those around us. Bitter circumstances do not cause bitterness. They only bring the bitterness that is already in our hearts to the surface so that we can see it and deal with it. Amy Carmichael, missionary to India (1867-1951) wrote:

“For a cup brimful of sweet water cannot spill even one drop of bitter water, however suddenly jolted.” (Amy Carmichael, If p.46 cited in Jim Wilson, How To Be Free From Bitterness, p.15)

This is what Jesus told us:

Luke 6:45 The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.

This was a test

God had saved them and they had seen and believed in him, but now he was sending them into the wilderness, sending them a test to shake them, to see what was really in them.

15:25 …There the LORD made for them a statute and a rule, and there he tested them, 26 saying, “If you will diligently listen to the voice of the LORD your God, and do that which is right in his eyes, and give ear to his commandments and keep all his statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you that I put on the Egyptians, for I am the LORD, your healer.”

This was a test. You just sang that God is victorious, that God is sovereign over his enemies, that God is sovereign over the waters. Now will you live like you sing? Will your deeds and your attitudes match your words? They were self-centered, and focused on their own needs and what they could see. They had been three days in the desert with no source of water and they began to fear. They saw water and put their hope in what they saw. The water was bitter and they lost all hope and grumbled. God is gently lifting their eyes to look at him. Get your eyes off yourself and your problems and look to me! Your problems are simply a stage for me to show myself strong on your behalf. Listen listeningly to YHWH your God, do what is right in his eyes, give ear to his commandments, keep all his statutes. Get your focus off of you and your perceived needs and get your focus on God and what he wants. Become God-centered in your thinking and feeling. God allows our needs to go unmet to teach us that what we really need is him. He gives us wants to teach us to want him more.

Amazing Grace

God gives his people a promise. If you remain in relationship with me, I will not judge you like I judged the Egyptians. I will not give you what you deserve. I will deal with you out of my grace.

God’s grace is amazing in this passage. So quickly after God’s sovereign rescue of his people at the sea, they are grumbling and complaining, hearts filled with bitterness rather than praise. There is not a word of rebuke here from God. God met their grumbling with provision, with promise and with revelation. God provided for their immediate need. God showed Moses what to do and the bitter water was made sweet. God met their grumbling with a promise. He promised escape from judgment based on relationship. He met their grumbling with self-revelation. He responded by teaching them a new name for himself. He said ‘I am YHWH-Rapha or Jehovah-Rapha, the self-existent one, our Healer; our Physician. This is not the name I would expect in this context. God provided them with a basic need. I would expect ‘Jehovah-Jireh’, the Lord our provider. He is promising exemption from judgment; I would expect YHWH-El-Rakhoom, the Lord our merciful God. Instead we have Jehovah-Rapha – the Lord our healer, our doctor. In Ezekiel 47 this same word ‘rapha’ ‘heal’ is used to describe bitter water becoming fresh. The water is healed of its bitterness. God promises to put none of the diseases on the people in relationship with him that he put on the Egyptians. When we look at the ten mighty acts God unleashed against the Egyptians, most of them would not be described as diseases. Only the sixth plague, boils, and possibly the tenth, the death of the firstborn, could be described as sicknesses or diseases. But what God said he would do throughout the narrative was to cause their hearts to become hard. This fits well with the bitterness we see in this passage. God is the healer of bitter waters, and he is the one who heals our sick hearts that are callous toward God and are consumed so easily with bitterness and self-centeredness. Praise God he is a physician of sin-sick souls! He has the wisdom to properly diagnose my condition, and he has the power to apply the cure. We see this so beautifully in Jesus, the Great Physician.

When some people carried a paralyzed man on his bed to Jesus, Jesus responded ‘Take heart, my son; your sins are forgiven’ (Mt.9:2). When a religious leader in Israel came to him under cover of darkness impressed by his miracles, Jesus saw his heart and said to him ‘you must be born again’ (Jn.3:7). When a disreputable sinner came to a well to get water, Jesus pointed her to himself as the source of living water that would satisfy her deepest longings (Jn.4). He confronted the unbelieving Jews who refused to hear him, to honor him, to come to him, to believe in him, to set their hope in him so they can have life (Jn.5). Jesus confronted the crowds who were following him for a free lunch “do not labor for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you.” (Jn.6:27). To the Jews who boasted in Abraham he said “everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin… if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed” (Jn.8:34-36). To a woman grieving the death of her brother, Jesus said “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die” (Jn.11:25-26). When a condemned criminal who was being executed confessed his own sins and recognized the sinlessness of Jesus and cried out to him, Jesus said “Today you will be with me” (Lk.23:43). When Thomas was wrestling with doubts about the resurrection, Jesus said to him “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe” (Jn.20:27). Jesus, the Great Physician, can see right into the sin-sick condition of our heart and give us himself as the cure.

The Tree

Did you notice how the bitter waters were made sweet?

15:24 And the people grumbled against Moses, saying, “What shall we drink?” 25 And he cried to the LORD, and the LORD showed him a log, and he threw it into the water, and the water became sweet.

The Lord showed Moses a log. In Deuteronomy 21:22-23, this same word is translated ‘tree’ and it is a means for execution of someone convicted of a capital crime. This verse is quoted by Paul in Galatians:

Galatians 3:13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us––for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”––

Moses threw a tree into the bitter waters and they were made sweet. Jesus became a curse for us by being nailed to a piece of wood. He redeemed us from the curse of the law by paying the death penalty we deserve with the price of his own perfect life. He turned God’s curse into a blessing for us. Peter puts it this way:

1 Peter 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.

The tree that brings healing to hearts bitter with the guilt of sin is the cross. Jesus, the Great Physician, bore our sins, sins of hard heartedness, bitterness, self-centeredness, pride. He bore our sins in his body on the tree. Because of his wounds he is YHWH-Rapha, the Lord our Healer. When the cross is applied to us, it brings death to the bitter bondage of sin, and makes us alive to God in his righteousness.

Galatians 2:19 For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. 20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

Oh, let Christ the Great Physician cure your heart today!

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

Exodus 6:9-30; …we’ll be right back after these messages…

http://www.ephraimbible.org/Sermons/20101003_exodus06_9-30.mp3

10/3 Exodus 6:9-30 …we’ll be right back after these important messages…

Introduction:

So far everything has gone terribly wrong in the exodus. Moses is reluctant to go in the first place, and when he finally goes, things go from bad to worse. Pharaoh doesn’t budge and turns up the heat on the Israelite foremen. The Israelites feel that Moses must have flubbed up in his role as deliverer and so they call down God’s curse on him. Moses, more concerned about how he is doing in the popularity polls than with what God has said he would do, turns to God and hurls accusations his way. ‘Why have you done evil to this people? Why did you ever send me? I spoke to Pharaoh in your name, but you have not delivered your people at all.’ God patiently and mercifully responds with a fresh revelation of who he is. He sends Moses to the people with a fresh message of hope; a message of who God is and what God will do. I am YHWH. I will bring you out; I will deliver you; I will redeem you; I will take you to be my own and I will be yours; I will bring you into; I will give it to you. I am YHWH.

6:6 Say therefore to the people of Israel, ‘I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from slavery to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great acts of judgment. 7 I will take you to be my people, and I will be your God, and you shall know that I am the LORD your God, who has brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. 8 I will bring you into the land that I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. I will give it to you for a possession. I am the LORD.”’

Moses Speaks to the People

So Moses, renewed with this fresh revelation, goes to the people and gives them the message. This should cheer their weary souls.

9 Moses spoke thus to the people of Israel, but they did not listen to Moses, because of their broken spirit and harsh slavery.

Is there ever a time in your own life where you can’t see past the end of your own nose? You allow what is possible to be determined by your circumstances, and you can’t see anything but more problems. The difficulties loom so large that you can’t imagine that God cares or is involved at all. Remember, Jesus said:

Matthew 10:29 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. 30 But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. 31 Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.

But things are clearly not going the way they should go, and God’s encouragements to you fall on deaf ears. That is what is happening here. According to outward appearances everything that could possibly go wrong has gone wrong. God has a word for you and is speaking into the situation, but your problems drown out his still small voice. God is about to show up like never before in history and demonstrate his absolute supremacy over every created thing, to show his unfailing passionate commitment and love toward his people and triumph over their enemies, and his people don’t even have ears to hear him. They don’t listen because of their broken spirit and harsh slavery. This could be better translated ‘because of their impatience and harsh slavery’. Do you ever have a schedule and God doesn’t seem to be the least concerned with what you have written in your day planner? God had promised deliverance and instead things got worse. ‘You said you’d rescue me and I want you to do it right now!’

God’s Commission and Moses’ Complaint

10 So the LORD said to Moses, 11 “Go in, tell Pharaoh king of Egypt to let the people of Israel go out of his land.”

This seems contrary to all semblances of common sense. Moses spoke to the people – God’s people – the people who should be on his side – and they did not listen. So the Lord sends him off to the enemy who has no motivation to listen or care and has in the past been stubbornly resistant. God sends you off to do the easy thing, the thing that you could reasonably expect to be successful at, the thing that seems like there is great probability of success, and you fail miserably. You meet resistance and apathy where there should be hope and joy and excitement. You go away with your tail between your legs feeling like a pathetic excuse of a failure and God says ‘good, now that you’ve totally failed at the easy thing, I’m going to send you off to do the hard thing – the impossible thing. Now that our people won’t even listen to you, go tell our enemy the king of Egypt to let all his slaves go. This is Moses’ objection:

12 But Moses said to the LORD, “Behold, the people of Israel have not listened to me. How then shall Pharaoh listen to me, for I am of uncircumcised lips?”

Moses ties his objection back to the incident in chapter 4 at the lodging place on the way. God met him and threatened to kill him for his failure to keep the covenant of circumcision in his own family. How can you be God’s representative when you don’t even have your own family in order? Moses is reminding God of his own past moral failure. I’ve failed to keep your commandments. You can’t send a man who is a moral failure on mission for you. Maybe Moses is feeling guilt over his recent outburst toward God. He accused God of evil, of foolishness, and of failure to come through in the moment of greatest need. Now Moses asks ‘how can someone who said those things to you be fit to carry your message to the king?’ Moses, too, cannot see past the end of his own nose. He is so consumed with his own failures and rejection, that he cannot see the patient, forgiving, redeeming, loving, passionate covenant keeping character of the great God he is supposed to be representing.

13 But the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron and gave them a charge about the people of Israel and about Pharaoh king of Egypt: to bring the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt.

God responds to the objections with a command. This is not a discussion. I am not looking for your advice on how to handle the exodus problem. There is a time for patient encouragement and gentle reminders. And there comes a time for command. God is God. I am in authority here and you will do this. I am giving you a charge. I demand obedience. Bring the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt.

The Genealogy

And now for a message from our sponsors. We interrupt this broadcast to bring you a genealogy. Reuben, Simeon, Levi, blah blah blah. Names, names, names. We have an interruption in the story of 12 verses of some 44 names. Our eyes glaze over and our brain disengages as we think ‘why is this here?’ and ‘I can’t pronounce these anyway’ and ‘who really cares who begat who?’ and ‘why would anyone ever name their son that!?’

So why is this here? Why should we care? Who are these guys? This genealogy is inserted carefully at this point in the narrative, not only to give a dramatic suspenseful pause just preceding the climax of the story, but also to give us some important details and answer some pressing questions.

God commanded Moses and Aaron to be the leaders who would bring the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt. Who are these guys anyway? Who do they think they are taking it upon themselves to march into the presence of the king and speak on behalf of the people? We didn’t vote for them! We don’t like how things are going. We don’t like how they are handling the situation. We certainly don’t like the results they are getting. This genealogy gives us a historical anchor for the story. The exodus is not the result of some ancient creative writing class, a theological fiction that begins ‘once upon a time in a land far far away…’ It doesn’t end with ‘and they all lived happily ever after.’ This is a real historical narrative. The events described really happened. The names have not been changed to protect the innocent.

This genealogy connects the narrative all the way back to Israel, the patriarch we know better as Jacob, (Abraham, Isaac and Jacob) from whom come the twelve tribes. This also connects the narrative forward all the way to Aaron’s grandson, who lived at the time of the book of Judges, and gives future generations a way to identify with the story.

It helps me to see this laid out visually, so I’ve attempted to diagram it in a way that we can see the connections and trace the paths of the genealogy. I’d invite you to try to follow along on the screen as I read from the text:

14 These are the heads of their fathers’ houses: the sons of Reuben, the firstborn of Israel: Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi; these are the clans of Reuben. 15 The sons of Simeon: Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin, Zohar, and Shaul, the son of a Canaanite woman; these are the clans of Simeon. 16 These are the names of the sons of Levi according to their generations: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari, the years of the life of Levi being 137 years.

Up to this point in the genealogy it follows what we would expect of a typical list of the descendants of Israel. It starts with the firstborn Reuben, then Simeon, then Levi. But rather than going on with Judah and the rest of the 12, it breaks off here and the focus is all on the descendants of Levi with Aaron right in the middle of it.

17 The sons of Gershon: Libni and Shimei, by their clans. 18 The sons of Kohath: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel, the years of the life of Kohath being 133 years. 19 The sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi. These are the clans of the Levites according to their generations. 20 Amram took as his wife Jochebed his father’s sister, and she bore him Aaron and Moses, the years of the life of Amram being 137 years. 21 The sons of Izhar: Korah, Nepheg, and Zichri. 22 The sons of Uzziel: Mishael, Elzaphan, and Sithri. 23 Aaron took as his wife Elisheba, the daughter of Amminadab and the sister of Nahshon, and she bore him Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. 24 The sons of Korah: Assir, Elkanah, and Abiasaph; these are the clans of the Korahites. 25 Eleazar, Aaron’s son, took as his wife one of the daughters of Putiel, and she bore him Phinehas. These are the heads of the fathers’ houses of the Levites by their clans.

A few things we can learn from this listing of names:

Aaron is shown to be in the priestly tribe of Levi, but not from the branch of the tree that produced the rebellion of Korah in the wilderness (Numbers 16). Phinehas his grandson had a prominent role in ending the cultic prostitution scandal at Baal-Peor in Numbers 25 and was rewarded with the “covenant of perpetual priesthood, because he was jealous for his God and made atonement for the people of Israel” (Numbers 25:12-13). There are four women mentioned in the genealogy, the first highlighting the fact that the Israelite nation was not ethnically pure, by including Simeon’s Canaanite wife. The next three women center around Aaron, demonstrating that the focus of the genealogy is the legitimacy of Aaron as a leader. His mother, his wife and his daughter-in-law are named. Aaron’s father married his aunt, which at the time was prior to the giving of the law abolishing this practice. This makes Moses and Aaron’s parentage on both sides from the tribe of Levi. Aaron married a woman from the tribe of Judah, who if we trace her family connections, we find both her father and brother in the lineage of Jesus the Christ (Matthew 1:4)

The Conclusion:

The genealogy is concluded by this statement:

26 These are the Aaron and Moses to whom the LORD said: “Bring out the people of Israel from the land of Egypt by their hosts.” 27 It was they who spoke to Pharaoh king of Egypt about bringing out the people of Israel from Egypt, this Moses and this Aaron. 28 On the day when the LORD spoke to Moses in the land of Egypt, 29 the LORD said to Moses, “I am the LORD; tell Pharaoh king of Egypt all that I say to you.” 30 But Moses said to the LORD, “Behold, I am of uncircumcised lips. How will Pharaoh listen to me?”

This is a restatement of the main concepts from verses 10-13, which provides a frame for the genealogy. This is the family background and historical anchor of the Aaron and Moses whom God called to lead his people out of Egypt. They were the human instruments. But the focus is again on the Lord. The Lord said to Moses ‘I am YHWH’; tell Pharaoh king of Egypt all that I say to you. We have this contrast between the Lord who is the true hero of the story, and Moses, who lacked confidence in his own character and doubted his ability to carry out God’s orders. Moses needed God’s constant reassurance and strength throughout the process. YHWH was the one who called him to do the impossible, and YHWH was the one who sustained him from beginning to end.

God says I am YHWH. I will bring you out, like a captive out of prison. I will deliver you out of the hands of your enemy. I will redeem you – as a close relative who fights for the honor of the family. I will take you to be my own with deep covenant commitment; you will be mine and I will be yours. I will bring you into a relationship with me. I will give to you exceeding, abundantly, beyond what you could ask or imagine. And I will sustain you from beginning to end.

1 Corinthians 1:4 I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus, …8 who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

1 Thessalonians 5:23 Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24 He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.

Numbers 23:19 God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?

Philippians 1:6 And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.

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.

This is the message of the cross, where God showed up like never before in history bringing us out of captivity, delivering us out of the hand of the enemy, redeeming us with his own blood, taking us to be his own, bringing us to himself and giving us graciously what we do not deserve. At the cross, God demonstrated his absolute supremacy over every created thing, showing his unfailing passionate commitment and love toward his people and triumph over their enemies. God will sustain us guiltless to the end. He is faithful, he will do it. He will finish his work and bring us to completion and present us blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy through the finished work of Jesus on the cross.

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

Exodus 1:15-22; Hebrew Midwives and the Fear of the Lord

http://www.ephraimbible.org/Sermons/20100425_exodus01_15-22.mp3

4/25 Exodus 1:15-22 The Hebrew Midwives and The Fear of the Lord

1 These are the names of the sons of Israel who came to Egypt with Jacob, each with his household: 2 Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah, 3 Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin, 4 Dan and Naphtali, Gad and Asher. 5 All the descendants of Jacob were seventy persons; Joseph was already in Egypt. 6 Then Joseph died, and all his brothers and all that generation. 7 But the people of Israel were fruitful and increased greatly; they multiplied and grew exceedingly strong, so that the land was filled with them.

8 Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. 9 And he said to his people, “Behold, the people of Israel are too many and too mighty for us. 10 Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, lest they multiply, and, if war breaks out, they join our enemies and fight against us and escape from the land.” 11 Therefore they set taskmasters over them to afflict them with heavy burdens. They built for Pharaoh store cities, Pithom and Raamses. 12 But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and the more they spread abroad. And the Egyptians were in dread of the people of Israel. 13 So they ruthlessly made the people of Israel work as slaves 14 and made their lives bitter with hard service, in mortar and brick, and in all kinds of work in the field. In all their work they ruthlessly made them work as slaves.

15 Then the king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shiphrah and the other Puah, 16 “When you serve as midwife to the Hebrew women and see them on the birthstool, if it is a son, you shall kill him, but if it is a daughter, she shall live.” 17 But the midwives feared God and did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but let the male children live. 18 So the king of Egypt called the midwives and said to them, “Why have you done this, and let the male children live?” 19 The midwives said to Pharaoh, “Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women, for they are vigorous and give birth before the midwife comes to them.” 20 So God dealt well with the midwives. And the people multiplied and grew very strong. 21 And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families. 22 Then Pharaoh commanded all his people, “Every son that is born to the Hebrews you shall cast into the Nile, but you shall let every daughter live.”

We’ve seen that God has made promises to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob; promises to bless them and cause them to be fruitful and multiply and through them to bless all the peoples of the earth. We’ve seen the faith of God’s people tested as they have had to wait for what seems like inordinately long periods of time and endure painful adversity and trials as they waited for the fulfillment of God’s promises. God promised to make Abraham into an innumerable multitude and he was childless until he was almost a hundred years old. When he attempted to help God keep his promise by having a son with his servant girl, God said no, his barren wife would be the one to give him the promised son. After Isaac was born, God told Abraham to kill him as a sacrifice on the mountain. Abraham learned that nothing could prevent God from keeping his promise, so he set out in faith to obey, but God prevented him. God chose Isaac’s younger twin Jacob to be the heir of his promises. Jacob was a schemer and bargained for the birthright and stole his father’s blessing, so God kept his promises to Jacob through the scheming trickery of his wily uncle Laban, who swapped the older ugly sister for the younger one that Jacob loved on his wedding night. Jacob was in hard service to Laban for many years, but it was during this time that God increased his family. Jacob’s sons hated Joseph and sold him into Egypt, but it was through this hardship that God intended to save the family of Israel. God put Joseph in charge of Egypt, and brought the family together in Egypt. Now, 400 years later, they are increasing in number as God had promised, but they are slaves in Egypt under a cruel Pharaoh who wanted to reduce their population.

God was blessing his people. The Pharaoh had tried plan A and it had failed. He ruthlessly oppressed the nation of Israel and made them work as slaves. He made their lives bitter with hard service, but the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied. Now the Pharaoh is moving to plan B. He calls the Hebrew midwives into his confidence. If ruthless oppression was not effective in controlling the population, he would add to their affliction the selective secret murder of all the male infants. The picture we have here of Pharaoh is desperate – desperate because in that culture, the monarch of the most powerful country of his day would never hold audience with women, especially women of an inferior race.

15 Then the king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shiphrah and the other Puah, 16 “When you serve as midwife to the Hebrew women and see them on the birthstool, if it is a son, you shall kill him, but if it is a daughter, she shall live.”

We see how depraved and black the heart of this Pharaoh was. Pharaoh’s command is completely contrary to nature. Women are the carriers and givers of life, and he was calling on them to become destroyers of life. The role of a midwife was to assist in the life giving process of birth. And he is asking them to slaughter the ones they are bringing into the world.

It is not hard to make application of this today. Doctors and nurses, who have taken an oath to preserve life are called on to become executioners and mercenaries to kill the elderly and the unborn. Brothers and sisters, this ought not to be. We each must do what we can to protect the lives of those who cannot protect themselves.

It is interesting that we have the names of these two midwives. Shiphrah and Puah. Shiphrah means something like ‘Dawn’ or ‘Fair’; Puah means ‘Fragrant’ or ‘Splendid’ [Stewart, p.75, cf. Strongs]. They are introduced in a way that carefully identifies them as prominent characters in the events that unfold. This is a striking contrast to the Pharaoh. Pharaoh is not a name but a title, like ‘king’, and good scholars continue to debate and work hard to identify which Pharaoh this refers to. There have been some good guesses, and some seem to make more sense than others, but the bottom line is that although we know much about ancient Egypt and we know the names and history of many of the Pharaohs, we don’t know for sure which Pharaoh this was. Moses could have given his name, but he didn’t. It is deep irony that we have carefully preserved for us the names of these two Hebrew midwives, but we don’t know the name of the most important and powerful monarch of his day. To cause someone’s name to be forgotten is the utmost dishonor. To remember someone’s name forever is extreme honor. God tells Moses how his own name is to be remembered:

Exodus 3:15 God also said to Moses, “Say this to the people of Israel, ‘The LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is my name forever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations.

All those who seek to make a name for themselves will not be remembered:

Isaiah 2:17 And the haughtiness of man shall be humbled, and the lofty pride of men shall be brought low, and the LORD alone will be exalted in that day.

This is a principle we see in scripture:

James 4:6 But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” (c.f. 1 Peter 5:5)

In the context of another birth – the birth of the promised deliverer:

Luke 1:46 And Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord, 47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, 48 for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant. For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed; 49 for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name. 50 And his mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation. 51 He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts; 52 he has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate; 53 he has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent empty away. 54 He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, 55 as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his offspring forever.”

God moved the mighty Pharaoh off his throne and caused him to not be remembered, but the names of two humble midwives have been remembered for almost 4000 years! Why? Look at what is written of them:

17 But the midwives feared God and did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but let the male children live.

This is the first time God is explicitly mentioned in the book of Exodus. Genesis opens with ‘In the beginning God’, but in Exodus, God is strangely absent in the opening chapters. God is certainly there and certainly at work, as we have seen, keeping his promises and moving sovereignly and providentially in the lives of his people, but he is unmentioned, behind the scenes. This is the first thing said directly about God, and the fear of God is commended. As the Psalms and Proverb says:

Psalm 111:10 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; all those who practice it have a good understanding. His praise endures forever!

Psalm 112:1 Praise the LORD! Blessed is the man who fears the LORD, who greatly delights in his commandments!

Proverbs 1:7 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.

Proverbs 9:10 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.

Proverbs 15:33 The fear of the LORD is instruction in wisdom, and humility comes before honor.

Lest we think that this is merely an obsolete Old Testament principle, we see it again as foundational in the New Testament:

Acts 9:31 So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was being built up. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it multiplied.

If we’re looking for a biblical New Testament church growth model, here it is: walk in the fear of the Lord. The result: the church multiplied.

In the Proverbs, there is a promise connected to fear of the Lord:

Proverbs 10:27 The fear of the LORD prolongs life, but the years of the wicked will be short.

Proverbs 14:27 The fear of the LORD is a fountain of life, that one may turn away from the snares of death.

Proverbs 19:23 The fear of the LORD leads to life, and whoever has it rests satisfied; he will not be visited by harm.

The fear of the Lord results in life. Life, satisfaction, rescue. But what is the fear of the Lord?

Proverbs 8:13 The fear of the LORD is hatred of evil. Pride and arrogance and the way of evil and perverted speech I hate.

The fear of the Lord is hatred of evil, learning to hate what God hates. The fear of the Lord is knowing that God rules all things and will bring a just reward to each person. The fear of the Lord presupposes life after death. The implied threat if the midwives disobeyed the Pharaoh would be physical death. But instead of fearing the king of Egypt, Shiphrah and Puah feared God. They knew that one day they would stand before the God of the universe and give an account. It was more important to them what God thought of their action than what any man thought, no matter how powerful he was. Their chief aim was to please God, even if it had severe temporary consequences.

The fear of the Lord is not theoretical. It has direct practical implications on life. The text doesn’t say that they feared the Lord so they did not fear Pharaoh. That is implied, but what it says is that they feared the Lord so they did not do as the King of Egypt had commanded them. Their fear led to action, and their action had consequences. In their case, fear of the Lord meant direct disobedience to the dictator of the land. Rather than killing the male Israelite infants, they helped them to thrive. As this was an undercover plan with the midwives, it would have taken some time for their obedience or disobedience to his command to become evident. But it would inevitably be known.

18 So the king of Egypt called the midwives and said to them, “Why have you done this, and let the male children live?”

This is the interrogation that precedes execution. When the sovereign king of all the land summons you before his royal court and says ‘why have you done this? Why have you disobeyed my command?’ there is good reason to believe that your life is quickly coming to a close. This would be akin to asking for any last words.

19 The midwives said to Pharaoh, “Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women, for they are vigorous and give birth before the midwife comes to them.”

This sounds like a bold slap in the face to the king and his culture. This is like saying ‘your women are weak. The Hebrew women are strong’. This may have been similar to the prevailing opinion in our culture that you can’t have a baby without a doctor, an anesthesiologist and an epidural. The high society Egyptian women have to be pampered and babied and they were so out of it that they wouldn’t know if their babies were stillborn. These Hebrew women are tough – they deliver their own babies without any help.

Even if these two women hadn’t been habitually and consistently disobeying the king’s command, saying this sort of thing would be the kind of thing that would get you killed for sure. But with the Pharaoh’s plan being an undercover one, this story may have had just enough reality to it that the Pharaoh couldn’t rightly condemn them. Apparently, his plan was for them to deliver the baby, check the gender, and strangle it if it was a boy before he had the chance to cry, so the mother would think it was stillborn. The Pharaoh couldn’t expect these midwives to show up after the mother was holding her baby, take it out of her arms and kill it without blowing the secrecy of the whole operation. Remember, the Pharaoh had said ‘the people of Israel are too many and too mighty for us. Come, let us deal shrewdly with them…’ (v.9-10)

20 So God dealt well with the midwives. And the people multiplied and grew very strong. 21 And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families.

This is the first action God takes in the story of Exodus, action on behalf of Shiphrah and Puah. Because of their fear of the Lord as the giver of life, God dealt well with them. Again it is re-affirmed that God was keeping his covenant promises. The people multiplied and grew very strong. Pharaoh’s plan B had also failed. In fact, even the Hebrew midwives, who were probably midwives because they couldn’t have any children, now had families of their own. So rather than a successful reduction of the Israelite population, now even the barren women are bearing their own children and the population is exploding. But the story does not end here with ‘and they all lived happily ever after’. Pharaoh moved on to plan C. As I said before, God’s blessing is not always sweet to the taste. God’s blessing does not make everything pleasant. God’s blessing is fruitfulness in the midst of affliction with the hope of future redemption. God’s blessing was on the Hebrew midwives and God was multiplying his people and making them strong, but opposition intensified.

22 Then Pharaoh commanded all his people, “Every son that is born to the Hebrews you shall cast into the Nile, but you shall let every daughter live.”

Pharaoh moves here from undercover operations to overt hostility. He calls on all the Egyptians to take action against the Israelites. First taskmasters, then God-fearing Hebrew midwives, now all his people. In the midst of God’s blessing, persecution intensifies.

This is but another chapter in the drama of redemption. Ever since Genesis 3:15, when God said:

Genesis 3:15 I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”

Satan has been seeking to destroy the promised offspring of the woman. From Cain and Abel, to Pharaoh and the male children, to Herod and all boys under 2, culminating at the cross of our Lord Jesus.

Revelation 12:4 His tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven and cast them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she bore her child he might devour it.

Satan continues today to try to swallow up God’s people:

1 Peter 5:8 Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.

But we have the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!

9 Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. 10 And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. 11 To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen.

We can persevere under affliction because this is not all there is! We have been called to his eternal glory in Christ!

Romans 8:18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.

Jesus prayed:

John 17:24 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.

The fear of the Lord for us today is humbly recognizing what we justly deserve from a holy and righteous God:

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,

Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death…

And embracing with joy what we have been given in Jesus Christ!

Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,

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

2 Peter 3:17-18; Grow in Grace, Knowledge, Glorify Jesus

http://www.ephraimbible.org/Sermons/20100328_2peter3_17-18.mp3

03/28 2 Peter 3:17-18 Grow in Grace and Knowledge and Glorify Jesus

Today we conclude our study through the New Testament letters of 1 & 2 Peter. Jesus, when he appeared on the shores of the lake after his resurrection, told Peter to ‘feed my lambs; tend my sheep; feed my sheep’ (Jn.21:15-17). Peter was faithful, and now we hold in our hands among the books of the New Testament, these two God saturated grace filled truth packed letters from the pen of the apostle Peter. We’ve spent some time unpacking what Peter has given us by way of instruction and warning and encouragement, and as we come to the end, I’d like to look back over some of the highlights of these weighty documents.

Peter wrote his first letter to churches who were suffering fiery trials and persecution from those outside. He writes the second letter because these churches are being attacked by scoffers from within who question the return of Christ and undermine the need for moral integrity.

Peter says:

3:1 This is now the second letter that I am writing to you, beloved. In both of them I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder, 2 that you should remember the predictions of the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior through your apostles,

So Peter wrote primarily to stir us up by way of reminder. As believers we all know some things about God and his grace toward sinners. Peter assumes that we know some things. Peter’s stated purpose in both his letters is to stir us up by way of reminder. The truth of God’s word can settle out at the bottom of our hearts and minds and we can go on and live as if it were not there at all. Peter aims to agitate our hearts and minds to bring the truth that we know up to where we will do something about it and live in light of it. In his first letter, he reminds us of our identity as elect or chosen by God, but aliens or strangers in this world (1:1). He prays for us that grace and peace would be multiplied to us (1:2) and then his heart erupts in worship God who is rich in mercy (1:3). Peter spends the beginning paragraphs of his letter unfolding the truth of God’s gracious purposes toward us in salvation (1:3-12), and then he exhorts us to set our hope fully on God’s grace that is still to come (1:13) as transforming power for holy life. Our life is to be a life lived in light of the facts of who God is and what he’s done for us (1:17-19). We are to live life in light of the cross. And we are to live lives that put God on display. The purpose of our existence is to ‘proclaim the excellencies of him who called you’ (2:9). Our lives are to be such that ‘they may see your good deeds and glorify God’ (2:12). Peter has given us practical instruction on how to glorify God by our conduct in relation to gossips, to government, to evil employers, and to unbelieving spouses (2:12-3:7). He encourages us when we find ourselves suffering unjustly, because this is grace in God’s sight, and we are called to put God on display through how we face suffering (2:20-21). Jesus is the ultimate example of redemptive suffering – through his suffering in our place, we have been brought near to God (3:18) and through our suffering, we have an opportunity to display the good news of the total sufficiency of God for hopeless sinners. Because God uses suffering to refine us, we should humble ourselves under his mighty hand, so that at the proper time he will lift us up (5:6). We have an adversary that would like to swallow us whole, so we must be on our guard and keep our faith firmly fixed on God (5:8). God is ‘the God of all grace’ (5:10), and he ‘will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you’ so that all power is seen to be his (5:11). Peter concludes that ‘this is the true grace of God’ and he tells us to ‘stand firm in it’ (5:12)

Throughout the letter, he points us to Jesus, Jesus who sprinkles us with his blood (1:2); Jesus who gives us a living hope through his resurrection (1:3); Jesus who will reward us at his coming (1:7). The Old Testament prophets pointed to the sufferings and glories of Jesus (1:11). The precious blood of Jesus is our ransom (1:19); Jesus bore our sins in his body on the tree (2:24); Jesus suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God (3:18). This is the true grace of God. Stand firm in it (5:12).

In his second letter, Peter tells us that we have obtained faith as a gift by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ (1:1). He asks that grace and peace be multiplied to us in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord (1:2). He reminds us of his divine power that has given us everything we need for life and godliness through the knowledge of him who called us (1:3) and he wants us to be effective and fruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ (1:8). He wants us to be diligent to make our calling and election sure by growing in godly qualities so that we will be given entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ (1:11). Peter knows his death will be soon, so he is making every effort to leave a permanent written reminder to stir us up and establish us in the truth (1:12-15). He warns us of the danger of those who secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them (2:1). These false teachers are characterized by arrogance, sensuality and greed, and he warns that it would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness then to have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and then later to become entangled in them again (2:20-21). Peter re-interprets the perceived delay in the fulfillment of God’s promises as the abundant mercy of God toward sinners, patiently giving them multiplied opportunities to repent. But Peter’s warning is clear – judgment is coming and the ungodly will be destroyed. He implores us to diligence – to be found by him without spot or blemish and at peace. And he concludes the letter this way:

17 You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability. 18 But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.

This is the fourth time Peter addresses us as his ‘beloved’. He deeply cares about the flock of God and wants to prepare us and protect us from the dangers at hand.

The ‘you’ in this verse is personal and it is emphatic; ‘you therefore – you!’ You, in contrast to the ignorant and unstable who twist the scriptures to their own destruction.

You, knowing this beforehand. Knowing that scripture twisters would come, knowing that it was predicted that scoffers would come following their own lusts; knowing that the judgment of God is coming and all the works done on the earth will be laid bare, knowing that God is

Exodus 34:6 … “The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, 7 keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.”

Because we know this beforehand, take care. Be on guard. Watch out! This is the first of two imperatives that Peter gives to keep us from falling. Watch out!

Proverbs 16:18 Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.

1Corinthians 10:12 Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall.

You! Do not think you are exempt from this! Most people do not say ‘I think today I will embrace a destructive heresy and deny the Master who bought me’. It is a gradual, almost imperceptible slide down a slippery slope.

When Paul had to confront Peter publicly about his actions that were inconsistent with his beliefs, he says:

Galatians 2:13 And the rest of the Jews acted hypocritically along with him, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy.

Even Barnabas was carried away by their hypocrisy. This is that same word that is used here – carried away. Enormous social pressure is often applied to individuals. Even Barnabas was carried away. Barnabas, the son of encouragement, who introduced the newly converted Paul to the rest of the Apostles who were afraid (Acts 9:27); Barnabas, who was a trusted messenger sent on several important assignments in the early church; Barnabas, who accompanied Paul on much of his missionary work, even Barnabas, who had the guts to stand up to Paul in their dispute over taking John Mark along on another missionary journey, this Barnabas lost his own stability and was carried away by the hypocrisy of the Jews in undermining justification by faith alone with his actions.

Peter knew first hand what this was like. Peter bowed to the social pressure of the Jews from James who came to Antioch. Peter, who told Jesus he would die with him (Lk.22:33; Mt.26:33,35), even after he was warned that Satan desired to sift him like wheat (Lk.22:31); even after Jesus told him to watch and pray that he might not enter temptation (Mk.14:37); even after Jesus explicitly predicted that he would fail three times, when he was asked by a servant girl, he denied three times with oaths that he even knew Jesus (Lk.22:55-61).

We are all in danger of losing our own stability. In 1 Peter 5:6-9, he cautions us toward humility and sober-minded watchfulness, because ‘Your adversary, the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.’ And he tells us to ‘resist him, firm in your faith, knowing …’ We gain the victory through humility – not thinking we can handle it, but knowing that we can’t and depending on the God of all grace, who will himself restore, confirm, strengthen and establish you.

17 You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability. 18 But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Peter’s second imperative to keep us from being carried away ultimately to our own destruction is to grow. Grow in grace. Grow in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Grow!

But how do we grow? Growth seems to be something that happens to us, yet here Peter commands us to grow and he expects us to heed the warning and obey. How do we grow? Peter told us in his first letter.

1 Peter 2:2 Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up to salvation– 3 if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.

Plants grow and produce fruit. Babies grow. Growth is natural, almost a passive process. But for growth to happen, the proper nutrients need to be ingested. When Hannah was born at 2lbs 15oz, she needed to grow. They put a tube through her nose into her stomach, and we would pour nutrient rich milk down that tube, and she grew. When I hold Isaiah, he opens his mouth and grunts and roots around looking for food. Then he gets mad and cries because he can’t find what he’s looking for. He has an insatiable appetite for milk. Peter tells us that we are to be like that – with spiritual milk – the pure milk of the word. The milk of the word is the God-given means for growth. And ultimately it is God who produces the growth:

1 Corinthians 3:6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth.

But how do we grow in grace if grace is an undeserved gift? Peter told us this in his first letter too – God gives grace to the humble. We grow in grace by acknowledging our dependence on God for everything. Jesus invited us to become like little children – ask, seek, knock. Ask.

Peter has prayed for us in both letters that grace would be multiplied to us. He told us that all things necessary for our life and godliness have been given to us by God’s divine power. God’s precious and very great promises have been given to us. We are to appropriate and enjoy the benefits of God’s favor toward us. We must grow in God’s free gift of grace.

We are also to grow in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. In Peter’s prayer, we see that grace and peace are multiplied to us ‘in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord’ (1:2). And Peter told us that God’s supernatural power gives to us everything we need for life and godliness ‘through the knowledge of him who called us’ (1:3). This knowledge of Jesus we are commanded to grow in, but this knowledge is also a gift.

2 Corinthians 4:6 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

We grow by coming to him needy and hungry and thirsty and we ask. We use the God-appointed means for getting to know him – God’s word. We know Jesus as our King and our Redeemer, our one Authority that must be obeyed, and our Rescuer. Our Lord and Savior

17 You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability. 18 But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.

And as we grow as recipients of more and more grace, and as we grow in our knowledge and appreciation of who Jesus is and what he does for us, the natural expression will be doxology – an outpouring of praise to him. To him be glory. To Jesus be all the glory. God said:

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

And Jesus said:

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

Peter started this letter out by pointing to the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is our God and he is our Savior. And as God, he alone deserves to be glorified as God. Most New Testament doxologies attribute glory to God the Father (Rom.16:25-27; Phil.4:20-23; 1 Pet.5:10-14; Jude 24-25) , but there are a few (2Tim.4:18; Heb.13:21; Rev.1:5-6) like this one, that give the glory to Jesus. To Jesus be glory now. The false teachers were denying the Master who bought them. The antidote for this is to become recipients of his grace and grow in his knowledge and overflow with praise to him. Knowledge that does not result in worship and love will only puff up and destroy. Knowledge here is not information but an ever deepening relationship with a person. The Christian life must be defined as continual movement toward Jesus through the means he has given us to know him. That is Jesus’ description of what eternal life consists in:

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

Experiencing his grace, increasing in intimacy, exploding with worship. Glory belongs to Jesus right now. Right now from us today! And glory belongs to Jesus to the day of eternity. When we receive his grace and grow in our relationship with him, we will never throughout eternity tire of giving him our adoration and affection and admiration and worship and honor and praise.

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

2 Peter 2:17-22; The True Nature of False Teachers

http://www.ephraimbible.org/Sermons/20100214_2peter2_17-22.mp3

02/14 2 Peter 2:17-22 The True Nature of False Teachers

Peter has written this short but fiery letter to warn believers that there are false teachers on the loose who have chosen a path to hell and are enticing everyone they can to join them on it. He has prayed for us that God’s grace and peace would be multiplied to us in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. He has encouraged us that God’s sovereign power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through the knowledge of him who called us. He has pointed us to the promises of God, to our participation in God’s holy character, and our escape from sinful desires that would destroy us. He has encouraged us in the path of godliness and virtue which testifies to our transformed character and new identity. Peter writes to establish us in the truth so that we will not be shaken when the false teachers come. In chapter 2, he lays in to the false teachers with all the vengeance of a loving father whose innocent daughter is being seduced by a sexual predator. He rips the disguise off their true motivation; greed, out of control lust, and a total disregard for proper authority. He lays out the biblical historical examples of angels who sinned, the ancient world destroyed by the flood, and Sodom and Gomorrah, to demonstrate that

9 …the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment,

He compares these false teachers to irrational animals so out of control that they must be destroyed. He describes them as blots and blemishes, like contagious leprosy that destroys whatever it comes in contact with, with eyes that can’t stop lusting after everyone they look at. They have an insatiable appetite for sin, they are experts in greed and manipulation. They prey on weak believers who are not well established in the truth and entice them to go astray to their own destruction. He compares them to Balaam from the Old Testament, who for money told the enemies of God’s people how to seduce them into immorality and idolatry. Balaam was rebuked by his own donkey but didn’t even listen. He ended up being killed along with the enemies of God’s people.

Peter is a good shepherd, lovingly feeding and caring for the needs of the sheep, but fierce and merciless when protecting them from the wolves. He goes on in the rest of the chapter to demonstrate the emptiness of their promises, the method of their madness, and the true character of these false teachers.

17 These are waterless springs and mists driven by a storm. For them the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved. 18 For, speaking loud boasts of folly, they entice by sensual passions of the flesh those who are barely escaping from those who live in error. 19 They promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption. For whatever overcomes a person, to that he is enslaved. 20 For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first. 21 For it would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than after knowing it to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them. 22 What the true proverb says has happened to them: “The dog returns to its own vomit, and the sow, after washing herself, returns to wallow in the mire.”

Peter reveals the empty nature of their promises. Imagine hiking in the arid desert, your water has run out, you are becoming dehydrated, and you see a sign that says ‘fresh water spring – 2 miles’. You take the detour and with every step anticipate the refreshment that the fresh cool water will bring. The anticipation motivates you to push on toward the spring. Your thirst drives you to keep going even when you feel like you can’t take another step. You round the final bend, and there you see the decomposing carcasses of the other travelers who took the same detour. The spring that promised hope has no water. The empty promise leads to death. Proverbs says:

Proverbs 13:13 Whoever despises the word brings destruction on himself, but he who reveres the commandment will be rewarded. 14 The teaching of the wise is a fountain of life, that one may turn away from the snares of death.

The teaching of the wise is said to be a fountain of life. This is teaching that honors God’s word and pays attention to his commandment. Teaching that gives life is teaching that points people to the true source of life. Jeremiah said:

Jeremiah 2:13 for my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water.

The first and greatest sin is abandoning God as the all satisfying source of everything we need. The Psalmist knew God is the only one that can quench our soul’s deepest thirst.

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.

Jesus said to the woman at the well

John 4:13 Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty forever. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

In John 6 he said:

John 6:35 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.

In John 7 he said

John 7:37 On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.”’ 39 Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.

Jesus promised that those who come to him to be satisfied in him will have their deepest thirst quenched, will be indwelt by his Holy Spirit, and will overflow with living water for those around. Are we water for the thirsty? Do our words point people to Jesus and give life to those around us? Or are we waterless springs?

He calls the false teachers waterless springs and mists driven by a storm. The image is a cloud that promises rain for a parched land but turns out to be only a haze that brings hot weather. Mist has no stability and comes and goes with the changing breezes of fashion and popular opinion. These false teachers are not neutral; they are not harmless, and they will be held accountable for their actions. He says ‘for them the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved.’ Their judgment is firmly fixed. They have reserved seats in the blackest darkness. This destiny of the false teachers stands in stark contrast to the future that is reserved for us:

1 Peter 1:3 … he has caused us to be born again to a living hope …4 to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, 5 who by God’s power are being guarded though faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

There is an inheritance reserved in heaven for all genuine believers. The gloom of utter darkness has been reserved for false teachers who lead sheep away from the Shepherd. Peter goes on to describe how they do what they do, so we will be on guard.

18 For, speaking loud boasts of folly, they entice by sensual passions of the flesh those who are barely escaping from those who live in error.

They were waterless in that their words did not bring life, but they were by no means silent. Just the opposite. They would talk anybody under the table with their volume, their forcefulness, and their arrogance. They would look down on anyone who disagreed as ignorant, uneducated, or uninformed. They speak loud boasts of folly. The word here speaks of inflated arrogant high sounding speech. They were impressive to listen to. They were able to use big words and convincing arguments. They made great promises for those who would attend their seminars and follow their advice, but their teaching was full of truth that was distorted and would lead to destruction.

Their impressive sounding speech was the PR campaign for their real agenda: they entice by sensual passions of the flesh those who are barely escaping from those who live in error. Sex sells. Lust and greed and appetite are powerful tools, and sensual passions are intensely difficult to resist. The drives for food and drink and sex and escape from pain are all necessary God given drives that are not sinful. But when these drives become the controlling principle in life, they become destructive.

The false teachers go after those who are not established in the faith. That’s why Peter is writing this letter! He wants us all to be established, with our feet firmly planted on the solid rock of the substitutionary death of the Lord Jesus Christ, our mind informed by reliable biblical truth, and our heart transformed to love God more than anything else. There is no excuse for someone who has been a believer for many years to not be established in the truth. But growing in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ does take time, and those who have only recently been introduced to Jesus are by nature more vulnerable. We all need to be on our guard, and watching out for one another. We all have a common enemy who constantly seeks to steal, kill and destroy. The devil is after those who are barely escaping from those who live in error. When someone comes to Christ, there must be a break with the old lifestyle. That is an especially vulnerable time for a new believer who will be barraged with temptation to return to what is familiar. We need to help each other, to confront each other, to pray with each other, to encourage each other to stay in the path of righteousness.

Here’s what the false teachers promise: They promise them freedom. Freedom is the glorious message of the cross. Jesus said “if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed” (John 8:36). Paul taught that “the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death” (Romans 8:2); “For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to the yoke of slavery” (Galatians 5:1). These false teachers would take up the cry “Freedom! – Christ set us free for freedom! stand firm in your freedom and do not submit to the legalism of those who impose their rigid puritanical morals on you to restrict your freedom in Christ. Christ died to set us free from the law! We are free! We can live any way we choose because we are free!” Freedom is a powerful word. FREEDOM! The cry of freedom can rally the troops. The idea of freedom can bring us to tears. It is an emotionally charged word. But what does it mean? What is freedom? What kind of freedom are we talking about? Peter has already addressed this danger head on in his first letter:

1 Peter 2:16 Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God.

We are free! That is true. Peter encourages us to embrace our freedom. Live as people who are free. But the danger is that we would use freedom as a cover-up for evil. We are free, but we are freed to be the glad servants of God. Here’s how Paul describes our freedom:

Romans 6:7 For one who has died has been set free from sin… 18 and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness. … 22 But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life.

Freedom in Christ is not freedom to live any way we please. The blood-bought freedom that we are given is freedom to live a life free from slavery to sin. Our freedom in Christ can be described as slavery to God or slavery to righteousness. This is slavery to a master who loves us so much that he paid with his own blood to free us from the consequences of our own sin – death, hell, an eternity of the righteous wrath of God; and to promise us sanctification, cleansing that leads to eternal life and joy in his presence. Jesus said

Matthew 5:17 Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.

—

19 They promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption. For whatever overcomes a person, to that he is enslaved.

The loud boastful word ‘freedom’ for the false teachers really means that they are still enslaved to their own corruption. They are overcome by their own passions. They are not master of their desires, they are ruled by their desires. Their cry of freedom rings empty when we look at their slavish existence that eats away at the very flesh they worship. The next thing Peter says is downright scary.

20 For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first. 21 For it would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than after knowing it to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them. 22 What the true proverb says has happened to them: “The dog returns to its own vomit, and the sow, after washing herself, returns to wallow in the mire.”

Peter tells us that it is possible to escape the defilements of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and be re-entangled and overcome. Peter doesn’t talk like many Christians in our day talk. “Well, I know he’s gone back to his old ways, but at least he prayed the sinner’s prayer when he was in jail. What she’s doing right now isn’t right, but she asked Jesus into her heart when she was young. They were baptized and went to church regularly for a while. They’ve returned to their old lifestyle, but at least they made a decision for Christ at that concert.” Sometimes our evangelism reflects this; if we can get someone to pray to receive Christ we can rejoice with the angels and go on our merry way. Peter does not think or talk like this. He says “it would have been better for them never to have know the way of righteousness than after knowing it to turn back from the holy commandment”. Better never to have known, than to know and walk away. Better to never hear the gospel, than to hear, understand, and reject it. This echoes what Jesus said

Matthew 11:24 But I tell you that it will be more tolerable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom than for you.

“If…they are again entangled in them and overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first.” This is almost an exact quote from the words of Jesus:

Luke 11:24 “When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and finding none it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ 25 And when it comes, it finds the house swept and put in order. 26 Then it goes and brings seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and dwell there. And the last state of that person is worse than the first.” (cf. Matthew 12:43-45)

According to Peter, it would be better if someone had never heard of Jesus than for them to understand clearly the substitutionary death of Jesus on the cross for our sins, to embrace him for a time, and then to walk away.

Jesus did not tell us to go get as many people as you can to pray a prayer. Jesus told us to

Matthew 28:19-20 Go …and make disciples… teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you

Salvation is described in verse 21 as “the way of righteousness”; it is not the way of self-gratification. Righteousness is to define the character and way of life of a Christian. He describes it as “the holy commandment delivered to them”. The gospel is not a recommendation. It is not a suggestion or an offer. The good news is a holy commandment. The gospel makes demands on me.

Acts 17:30 The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, 31 because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.”

Paul reminds us of the gospel in 1 Corinthians

1 Corinthians 15:1 Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, 2 and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you–unless you believed in vain.

We must turn from our dead works, embrace Christ as our only hope, and abide in him.

I do not believe this passage teaches that a true believer can lose his salvation. The final phrase makes this clear. “The dog returns to its own vomit, and the sow, after washing herself, returns to wallow in the mire.” Dogs and pigs were both unclean animals according to the Old Testament, and they were both considered filthy and despised. Dogs have a habit of vomiting and then eating what they have vomited up. People for a time can seem to purge themselves of the sin inside, but if their nature is not changed, they will go swallow it back down. Pigs wallow in mud. You can give a pig a bath, but it is still a pig and it will wallow in the mud as soon as the opportunity presents itself. Washing the outside does nothing to effect change on the inside. A dog is still a dog and a pig is still a pig. They are not sheep. Their true nature will become evident with time. This is what John tells us :

1 John 2:19 They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us.

People can be very convincing. We have a tendency to want to clean the outside of the cup and whitewash the outside of the tomb. But the new birth results in new life – transformed life – sheep that follow the shepherd. Those that turn from the shepherd to eat their own vomit or wallow in their own filth are not sheep but pigs and dogs.

Jesus illustrated this truth in the parable of the soils:

Luke 8:11 Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. 12 The ones along the path are those who have heard. Then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. 13 And the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy. But these have no root; they believe for a while, and in time of testing fall away. 14 And as for what fell among the thorns, they are those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature. 15 As for that in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patience.

False teachers, and those who follow them, are thorny ground; choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life. The do not hold fast to the word of truth but forsake it.

Peter is writing to warn those whom he believes to be true believers. These are strong words of warning from the loving heart of a protective father. Understand the method of the false teachers; they use bold sophisticated sounding language to persuade. Understand the bait of the false teachers; they seduce unsteady souls with indulgence of the flesh. Understand the theology of the false teachers – they preach a freedom from biblical moral restraints by distorting the meaning of Christian freedom. Understand the end of the false teachers; they are slaves to their own corruption, they are worse off than someone who has never heard the good news, and the gloom of utter darkness is reserved for them.

2 Peter 3:17 You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability.18 But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.

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

2 Peter 1:12-15; Reminding the Established

http://www.ephraimbible.org/Sermons/20091101_2peter1_12-15.mp3

11/01 2 Peter 1:12-15 Reminding the Established

2Peter 1:1 Simeon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have obtained a faith of equal standing with ours by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ: 2 May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. 3 His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, 4 by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. 5 For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, 6 and knowledge with self–control, and self–control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, 7 and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. 8 For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins. 10 Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to make your calling and election sure, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall. 11 For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 12 Therefore I intend always to remind you of these qualities, though you know them and are established in the truth that you have. 13 I think it right, as long as I am in this body, to stir you up by way of reminder, 14 since I know that the putting off of my body will be soon, as our Lord Jesus Christ made clear to me. 15 And I will make every effort so that after my departure you may be able at any time to recall these things.

Intro:

Peter knows he is going to die soon. Jesus told Peter:

John 21:18 Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were young, you used to dress yourself and walk wherever you wanted, but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go.” 19 (This he said to show by what kind of death he was to glorify God.) And after saying this he said to him, “Follow me.”

Peter, now an old man (60′s), is in prison in Rome under the maniacal emperor Nero, awaiting his execution. Peter knows he has little time left in this world, so he evaluates how best to spend his remaining days to the glory of God. It’s interesting what Peter doesn’t do – he doesn’t pick a new pope or call a council to appoint a new apostle. He doesn’t say ‘I’ve worked long and hard and now I am going to rest and retire, take a break and enjoy my last few moments. Instead he takes pen and parchment and drafts the document that we now today, 2000 years later hold in our hands. And we can say ‘thank you Peter for running the race with endurance to the very end and leaving us a legacy that we can learn from and be blessed and encouraged by’.

Purpose:

Us studying this letter 2000 years later is no accident. This is exactly what Peter intended to do; he says ‘I intend always to remind you of these qualities; to stir you up by way of reminder; I will make every effort so that after my departure you may be able at any time to recall these things.’ Peter intended that this document be a reminder long after he was gone to stir us up and to keep us from straying. And the issue is urgent. Peter’s concern was not peripheral. Peter doesn’t waste his last words on some side issue of the Christian faith. He is talking about the main thing – entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ; and the alternative of non-entrance or access denied. As Jesus taught:

Matthew 7:21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’

The issue on Peter’s heart is our final rescue from God’s righteous wrath forever. He wants to remind us and stir us up by way of reminder. At the end of his letter he expresses his concern:

2 Peter 3:17 You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability.

Paul said the same thing about his writings:

Philippians 3:1 Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things to you is no trouble to me and is safe for you.

The apostle John also talks this way in his writings:

1 John 2:21 I write to you, not because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, …24 Let what you heard from the beginning abide in you. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, then you too will abide in the Son and in the Father. 25 And this is the promise that he made to us – eternal life. 26 I write these things to you about those who are trying to deceive you.

I write, not because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, to encourage you to abide in it and to warn you about those who are trying to deceive you. To write the same things to you is safe for you. We need to be reminded so that we will stand firm and not stray.

Paul wanted to preach the gospel to the believers in Rome:

Romans 1:15 So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome. …for it is the power of God for salvation to believers.

Romans 1:12 that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith, both yours and mine.

Who, Me?

Notice who Peter is addressing so you don’t tune this out and think ‘I don’t need this’. He is not writing only to brand new believers that do not yet have their feet firmly planted in the truth of the gospel. He is not writing to flaky Christians who don’t have a firm grasp of basic bible doctrine. He says ‘though you know them and are established in the truth that you have’. Peter thinks that established people, people with a good understanding of theology and biblical truth need to be reminded. I can think of a few people that really need to hear this message. My inclination is to think that these truths are great for people who are immature in the faith and don’t yet know all the things that I know. I was in a good Christian church the week after I was born and attended bible camp before I was one year old. I learned to read out of the King James Bible. My parents taught me the truths of the bible from day one. I was learning bible stories from the flannel-graph every Sunday of my life. I embraced Jesus as my Savior when I was seven years old. I went on a mission trip to Europe and I’ve done lots of evangelism. I went to bible college. I’ve served in churches for some 15 years. I even pastor this church! Certainly I of all people am established in the truth that I have and don’t need any reminders. Peter says, ‘No, you’re the one I’m talking to. You who are established in the truth you already have – you need to be stirred up by way of reminder so that you don’t lose your stability and make shipwreck of your faith. You must make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, knowledge, self-control, steadfastness, godliness, brotherly affection and love. You must be all the more diligent to make your calling and election sure. IF you practice these qualities you will never fall. You must never become so blind that you forget that you were cleansed from your former sins.’ This is why we gather as the church every Sunday. This is why we must stay connected throughout each week. This is why every one of us must be daily reading and studying our bibles, spending time in meditation and prayer. ‘Yeah, but I’ve heard it all before.’ If I have any degree of spiritual maturity, I will recognize that I need regular reminders from my brothers and sisters to spur me on in my walk with Jesus. To say that I can do it on my own is evidence of arrogance, foolishness, rebellion and immaturity. John says ‘I write to you …because you know the truth’ Paul says ‘to write the same things.. is safe for you’. That means that it would be unsafe to live without constant reminders. None of us have outgrown the need for reminders.

Salvation by Works?

Peter reminds us to make every effort; to supplement our faith with virtue, knowledge, self-control, steadfastness, godliness, brotherly affection and love; to constantly increase in these qualities; to be all the more diligent; to never forget; to be effective and fruitful; to practice these qualities; to make your calling and election sure. How is this not salvation by works? That all sounds like we are the ones making it happen. If we fail to do all this work, we don’t gain entrance into the eternal kingdom. That certainly sounds like we are earning our own salvation.

But it only sounds that way if we dislodge these verses from their context. In the context of the chapter, our effort is the required response to what God has already done. He granted us the faith, he poured out grace and peace on us, he has given us everything we need for life and godliness, he called us and he has given us great and precious promises that he must fulfill. We have in this chapter a beautiful interplay between divine sovereignty and human responsibility. God is the main actor and the initiator, we are the recipient and the responder, but our response is not optional. He calls; we must answer that call. He creates new life in us, but we must walk in the newness of that life. He overcomes our hard rebellious hearts and gives us a new heart that is inclined toward God, but we must love God with that heart. He removes our blindness and gives us eyes to see him for who he is, but we must look with amazement and affection on him who loved us and gave himself up for us. He gives us everything we need for life and godliness and we must make every effort to live a godly life. In this way, our response, our effort, is essential, but it is not to our credit. I can’t do what is required of me and then say ‘there, I did it.’ That’s not how the bible talks. Here’s how Paul puts it:

Colossians 1:29 For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me.

1 Corinthians 15:10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me.

We do not work in order to earn God’s favor; we work because we have been given God’s favor. We do not attempt to reflect God’s nature so that he will want to adopt us; he has caused us to be born again so that we naturally reflect his character. I must make every effort with all diligence, but I am only able to make that effort because he has already given me everything I need for life and godliness. I must supplement faith with fruit, because God’s Spirit is bearing his fruit in my life. I must toil; I must struggle; I must work, yet it is not I, but the grace of God that he powerfully works within me.

We are to make our calling and election sure, but it is

1 Peter 5:10 …the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. 11 To him be the dominion for ever and ever. Amen.

Peter’s departure

Peter knew what it meant to be a recipient of undeserved grace and to have his faith upheld by the sovereign hand of God:

Luke 22:32 but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.”

So Peter is at the end of his life, and he pictures his body as a tent – a temporary dwelling place that he is about to take off like an old winter coat and put away. Peter is practicing what he preaches. He has told us to make every effort to supplement our faith with love, and now he is making every effort to do what he knows is right, what he knows to be the highest good for us whom he loves – to stir us up, to slap us awake by way of reminder. And he will make every effort to put down a permanent record so that even long after his departure, or literally his exodus, we today may be able to recall with accuracy these things.

The Truth

He refers to the content of the message as ‘the truth that you have’. Peter believes that there is such a thing as truth – real objective factual information – true truth – that we must know, and that we must embrace and remember. The truth is simply the gospel message

Ephesians 1:13 In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit,

Colossians 1:5 because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel, 6 which has come to you, as indeed in the whole world it is bearing fruit and growing–as it also does among you, since the day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth,

The truth of the gospel is not only to be known and understood, but obeyed:

Galatians 5:7 You were running well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth?

The truth is not only to be believed and obeyed, but loved and embraced

2 Thessalonians 2:10 and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. …12 in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness. 13 But we ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the firstfruits to be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth.

Our manner of life is to be shaped by what we believe; the truth of the gospel must transform our attitudes and actions:

2 John 1:4 I rejoiced greatly to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as we were commanded by the Father.

What is the word of truth, the gospel?

1 Corinthians 1:18 For the word of the cross …is the power of God.

1 John 4:10 In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

Romans 5:8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

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,

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.

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, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures

And this is what Peter is devoted to seeing in us. He wants us to remember what we know and be what we are. He wants us to see and remember and love and embrace and reflect on and live out the truth of the gospel.

12 Therefore I intend always to remind you of these qualities, though you know them and are established in the truth that you have. 13 I think it right, as long as I am in this body, to stir you up by way of reminder, 14 since I know that the putting off of my body will be soon, as our Lord Jesus Christ made clear to me. 15 And I will make every effort so that after my departure you may be able at any time to recall these things.

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

2 Peter 1:5-9; The Fruitful Life of Divine Effort

http://www.ephraimbible.org/Sermons/20091018_2peter1_5-9.mp3

10/18 2 Peter 1:5-9 The Fruitful Life of Divine Effort

2Peter 1:1 Simeon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have obtained a faith of equal standing with ours by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ: 2 May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. 3 His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, 4 by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.

5 ¶ For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, 6 and knowledge with self–control, and self–control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, 7 and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. 8 For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins. 10 Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to make your calling and election sure, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall. 11 For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Intro/connection:

Peter is going to lay out for us a description of the fruitful Christian life, and the dangerous consequences of a fruitless life. But first, he’s taken great care to lay for us the theological foundation for our good works. Faith is a precious gift originating in the righteousness of God. Grace and peace are multiplied to us as gifts of divine favor. The omnipotent power of Jesus richly imparts to us everything we need for life and godliness. We have been called to enjoy his own glory and excellence. Very great and precious promises have been richly supplied to us. It is through promises, not effort, that we become participants in the divine nature and escape from the sinful desires that lead to moral decay.

For this very reason

Peter now goes on to draw the connection between the root of God’s unmerited grace and the fruit of our transformed lives. He is going to call on us to exert every effort. But this effort is not conjured up from the recesses of our own resourcefulness. This effort is ‘for this very reason’; because of this; our effort comes because we are the recipients of his very great and precious promises, recipients of his grace, recipients of faith, recipients of knowledge, recipients of the divine nature, recipients of everything we need. Because we have escaped from corruption, because we participate in the divine nature; because we have been given promises yet to be fulfilled, we must grow in these graces. It is essential that we see the connection between verses 5-7 and verses 1-4. We sin greatly if we hack down the tree from its theological root structure in the rich soil of divine grace and expect a dead tree to bear good fruit. The life that Peter describes is produced ‘for this very reason’.

Make every effort

Some have falsely taught that because God by his grace has done everything to secure for us our eternal salvation, we can stop swimming and drift with the currents of life and still reach the goal. Not so! Peter commands us to ‘make every effort’. ‘We cannot expect to escape the consequences due to sin unless we avoid sin and make moral progress using the spiritual resources that are available to every Christian through the knowledge of Christ’ [Baucham, p.184]. We are called to make every effort – our diligence must not be half-hearted or selective.

God created the bird with wings. He supplies the bird with life and wings and food and metabolism and energy and atmosphere and wind currents. But that bird must will to move its wings in order to lift off the ground and soar.

God created the eye. He gave us the optic nerve and the cerebral cortex and the capacity to translate patterns of light into visual perceptions of our surroundings. God gave us a visually stimulating world of shapes and textures and colors, mountain ranges and oceans and sunrises, but we must choose to open our eyes and enjoy it.

make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue

Faith is not the first virtue in the list. Faith is the starting point without which we have no Christian life. And we learned from verse 1 our faith is allotted to us by God. In verse 3 he said that we have been given everything we need for a godly life through the knowledge of him who called us, and that knowledge of Christ is received by faith. Trust in God is the root from which the Christian life grows. Those who rely on God begin to live life in a new way.

We are to take the faith that we have been given, and by God’s divine power we are to supplement it with virtue. Literally, the original reads something like ‘make abundant provision with all effort, bringing in alongside, ‘ The abundant provision is usually attributed to God as it is in verse 11. Here we are called to reflect the character of God in making great investments in moral virtue [G.Green, p.190]. We are called to great expense and effort in the pursuit of these graces. We must contribute what God rightly demands of us. But what we contribute is brought in alongside what God has already done, and is subordinate and dependent on it.

‘Virtue’ means excellence – the proper fulfillment of anything. The excellence of a knife is to cut; the excellence of a horse is to run; the excellence of a man is to reflect the attractive character of his Creator. [M.Green, p.67]. In verse 3, we have been called to his own glory and excellence’; that does not only mean that we are to admire his excellence. We are also called to display his glory and excellence in our own lives [G.Green, p.189];

Virtue does not merely refer to the inner character of the heart; virtue will be demonstrated socially in excellence of character, in generosity toward others, surpassing the normal constraints of what duty demands [Danker, cited G.Green, p.192];

And virtue with knowledge

This knowledge is not the theoretical knowledge of philosophers nor the esoteric knowledge of hidden mysteries; it is the personal knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ which results in salvation. This will contrast with the ignorance and irrationality of the heretics, whose error led to immorality (2:12, 3:16). The cure for false knowledge is not less knowledge but a knowledge characterized by moral insight. ‘Knowing right does not mean doing right, but knowing God results in righteous conduct’ [G.Green, p.193]

6 And knowledge with self-control

Self-control is the grace whereby passions and affections are held under the dominion of sanctified reason. This refers specifically to self-control in the consumption of food, in sexual desire, and in the use of the tongue. Self control is the grace, guided by knowledge, which disciplines desire to make it the servant instead of the master of life. [Barnett, in Hiebert, p.53]

The false teachers that Peter writes against were characterized by sensuality (2:2), inflamed by sinful desires (2:10), they never stop thinking of adultery (2:14), and are enslaved to corruption (2:19). Self-control was clearly not something they indulged in.

and self-control with steadfastness

Steadfastness is the ability to hold out or bear up in the face of difficulty. This is a military virtue – endurance in battle; but in this context it refers to moral endurance amid the pressures of temptation. The heretics were seeking to draw the church in to their error and immorality, This is the grace needed to stand firm in one’s commitment to Jesus over the long haul in the face of the enticements of the false teachers. Steadfastness is rooted in the believer’s trust in God and hope for fulfillment of God’s promises, in the knowledge of Christ and experience of his divine power. Peter warns that some who began in the way of the gospel had since abandoned it (2:2, 20-22)

and steadfastness with godliness

Godliness is a demonstration of due reverence and loyalty to God; an attitude of reverence that seeks to please God in all things. It is a practical awareness of God in all of life. Verse 3 told us that everything necessary for godliness has been provided to us by God’s grace.

7 and godliness with brotherly affection

Brotherly affection stresses solidarity and collaboration between siblings. Families share goods, bear one another’s burdens, and forgive shortcomings and failures. We have become siblings through the new birth;

1 Peter 1:22-23 Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, 23 since you have been born again,…

So this exclusive family love is now extended to the whole Christian family.

and brotherly affection with love

Love is the climax of all Christian virtue. Christian love finds its source and model in the love that God demonstrated to humanity, even in their hostility against him;

Matthew 5:43-45 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven…

Romans 5:6-8 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For one will scarcely die for a righteous person––though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die–– 8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

1 John 4:19 We love because he first loved us.

This kind of love has its origin not in the desirability of the object but in the character of the one who loves. God’s agape is evoked not by what we are but by what he is. It is not that we are loveable, but that he is love. This love is a deliberate desire for the highest good of the one loved, which shows itself in sacrificial action for that person’s good [M.Green, p.71]

8 For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

We should have these graces evident in our lives. Virtue, knowledge, self-control, steadfastness, godliness, brotherly affection, and love. They should be there, and they should be abounding; increasing to a point of excess. The assumption is that they are ours and they are abounding in our lives.

A reason for desiring to pursue these qualities is preventative. They keep us from being ineffective or unfruitful. ‘Ineffective’ or ‘idle’ refers to those who are lazy and do not work. In James 2:20 it describes faith without works as without effect or useless.

James 2:20 Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless?

‘Unfruitful’ is uselessness in an agricultural metaphor – the tree that does not bear fruit is cursed or cut down.

John 15: 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. 6 If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned.

We must abide in Jesus in order to bear fruit; apart from him we can do nothing. Peter tells us that grace comes to us in the knowledge of God. Power for life and godliness comes through the knowledge of him. A personal relationship with Christ is the foundation of salvation, and this results in a participation in the moral character of God; But here Peter tells us that pursuit of moral virtue results in an increasing knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

9 For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins.

‘whoever lacks’ stands in contrast to ‘are yours and are increasing’ in verse 8. If possession and abundance of these characteristics cause effectiveness and fruitfulness, a lack of these qualities is evidence of blindness. Those who reject Christian virtue become spiritually blind. The cause is the disease and the effect is blindness. Someone who is shortsighted is so focused on the present and their present desires that they cannot see the past and are blind to future judgment. They are blind in that they fail to see what they should see. They have forgotten the most important reality of all. They have forgotten that they have been cleansed from former sins. This is a reference to baptism as a picture of the cleansing that we receive when we place our trust in Jesus. Baptism is a decisive and public identification with Jesus, a commitment to follow Jesus, and a picture of our cleansing from sin. It should be a memorable event – not that it accomplishes anything itself, but that it points to what Jesus does when we come to him. Someone who has forgotten their forgiveness has forgotten that they are sinners in need of God’s grace. They have forgotten the main thing, and if they no longer feel the need for God’s grace in forgiveness, they will not pursue God’s grace to supply what they need for a godly life. Peter is as clear as he can be here. If you are not growing in virtue, in knowledge, self-control, steadfastness, godliness, brotherly affection, and love, then your faith was a sham and you are still in your sins. Growth in these qualities is evidence of a genuine God-given faith that is alive and effective.

Conclusion:

Peter commands us to make every effort to abound in the godly life. Is Peter teaching salvation by works? He concludes this section by saying that in this way we will have entrance into the eternal kingdom. Peter is definitely talking about salvation and our eternal destiny, and he is telling us that it is necessary that we make every effort. But Peter is not telling us to make every effort in order to merit eternal life. Instead he is telling us to make every effort because God has already multiplied undeserved grace to us and granted to us divine power and unalterable promises. We have been given grace; we must be active and diligent to utilize and exercise that grace. The difference is that of a husband who is unsure of his wife’s love for him and does everything within his power to try to earn and win her love compared with a husband who is confident of his wife’s unconditional love for him and does everything within his power to act consistently with that love. We cannot earn God’s love. It is freely given. But we must stand confidently in that love and strive to act in a manner consistent with that unconditional love.

Philippians 2:12 Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, 13 for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

We must cling to his promises like:

Philippians 1:6 And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.

And take up the life giving divine resurrection power that has been richly provided for us:

Romans 8:11 If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.

And we must:

1Timothy 6:12 Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.

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

2Peter1:3; The Divine Supply

http://www.ephraimbible.org/Sermons/20091004_2peter1_3.mp3

10/04 2 Peter 1:3 The Divine Supply

2Peter 1:1 Simeon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have obtained a faith of equal standing with ours by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ: 2 May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. 3 His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, 4 by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.

Intro

Peter is writing to churches that were in danger of leaving the truth. False teachers had secretly come in among them. These false teachers emphasized secret knowledge, so Peter points to Christ, who calls us, who is the true object of Christian knowledge. The false teachers encouraged freedom from moral restraint, so Peter chooses words unfamiliar to the New Testament, words that were common in pagan circles that point to moral effort – godliness and excellence or virtue and stresses that morality or what elsewhere in the New Testament is called holiness is inextricably tied to eternal life. The false teachers would seem to teach that holy living is impossible (2:19-20) – at least if you don’t have their secret knowledge, so Peter points us to the divine power that has already supplied everything we need. The false teachers would deny the providential care of God; Peter holds out to us God’s work on our behalf as our only hope. Peter is laying a firm foundation of sound doctrine right at the outset to strengthen and establish us in the truth.

Overview

He began by telling us that our response to the gospel, our belief, is a gift – it is equally valuable and gives us the same standing before God as the apostles themselves. This comes to us through the righteousness of God – God’s unwavering commitment to uphold the integrity of his character. Because of the cross a righteous God can consider sinners righteous – my guilt was transferred to Christ, and his perfect righteousness was credited to me. He continues by saying that grace - or God’s unmerited kindness – and peace – the end of war with God and the resulting enjoyment of him – are multiplied to us in and through our relationship with God and with Jesus Christ.

Peter will go on in verses 5-7 to give us instruction and commands on how we must live. But in order to understand those verses properly, we must understand these verses that come first. Peter does not give us a list of hopeless requirements and the moral duty of living up to the divine standard. Peter’s call to godliness is rooted in and secured by God’s grace. God’s divine power supplies everything that God’s righteousness demands of us. [Schreiner, p.290]

Peter here unfolds to us the resources we have because we know God. We have been given rich spiritual blessings and he wants us to know the ‘priceless treasure that is at stake in our conflict with false teachers. We have much to lose through laziness or defection. Safety lies in spiritual growth and maturity.’ [Hiebert, p.41]. Lets work our way through the text to see what Peter says, then we’ll come back to ask what we should do about it.

3 His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence,

In the original, ‘all things’ is placed at the front of the sentence to emphasize the comprehensive provision made for the security of believers. We have everything we need to resist the lies of the false teachers. Nothing is lacking.

3 His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence,

All things to us – Peter links himself with us. The apostle is in the same position as the recipients of his letter. We have been allotted a faith of equal value and on top of that, we have been provided with all things.

3 His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence,

Next, Peter moves to the source. The source of the ‘all things’ that are ‘to us’ is ‘his divine power’. Peter is using language that will connect with his audience. The only other place in the New Testament that this word ‘divine’ is used is in Acts 17:29, where Paul is addressing the idolatrous philosophers in Athens. Divine power is God’s power, and God’s power is limitless. Divine power is omnipotent power.

Jeremiah 32:17 ‘Ah, Lord GOD! It is you who has made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm! Nothing is too hard for you.

Psalm 135:6 Whatever the LORD pleases, he does, in heaven and on earth, in the seas and all deeps.

3 His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence,

‘His’ refers back to ‘Jesus our Lord’ in verse 2, who is described in verse 1 as ‘our God and Savior Jesus Christ’. The divine power of our God and Savior Jesus Christ is the direct source of everything we need.

3 His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence,

Peter then specifies what kind of things are at our disposal – things that pertain to life and godliness. This is not a genie in the bottle anything you wish for kind of promise. Jesus’ divine power is at work to secure for us the things that move us toward life and godliness. Life is the new spiritual life of the believer that results from God causing us to be born again (1Pet.1:3). Godliness refers to a Godward attitude that brings pleasure to him. The order of the terms is significant. We cannot live a life that brings God pleasure until we have received the new life that comes from God. On the other hand, the two are inseparable. You cannot say ‘Oh, that eternal life thing sounds pretty good, but I’ll pass on the godliness for now. I’ve still got some sinning to do.’ No, eternal life involves transformation so that believers are morally perfected and made like God.

2Corinthians 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.

The new birth produces a life that pleases God. If your life is not characterized by godliness, you have reason to question whether you have experienced the new birth.

3 His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence,

Peter stresses that this is a gift. ‘His divine power has granted to us’. The word translated ‘granted’ occurs only here, in verse 4 and in Mark 15:45. It is a stronger form than the usual word ‘give’, and indicates a royal act of lavish generosity. This is a gift that should stagger the imagination. That Jesus by his divine power would freely give us everything related to eternal life and living a life that brings pleasure to God is more than we would think to ask or imagine. Our prayers are typically focused on getting us through this present financial difficulty or physical ailment or relational difficulty. God says ‘look, I’m freely giving you everything – everything that has to do with sustaining your soul for eternity in a way that brings supreme pleasure to my heart’. Listen to some of these astonishing promises:

Romans 8:32 He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?

2Corinthians 9:8 And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.

Ephesians 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places,

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

3 His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence,

Peter has laid out the ‘what’ of the gift – Jesus freely gives us all things having to do with the well-being of our eternal soul. Now he moves to the ‘how’ of the gift. This all sounds great – but how do we get it? Peter tells us it comes ‘through the knowledge of him who called us’. In verse 2 he prays that grace and peace be multiplied to us in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. Now he tells us that the supernatural power to secure all things necessary for life and godliness come through the knowledge of him who called us. Knowledge is key. The personal knowledge of the Caller is the means of communicating the gift. We worship a God “who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist” [Rom.4:17].

Jesus said:

Matthew 9:13 “…For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”

Paul said:

1 Thessalonians 5:23 Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24 He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.

Peter said:

1 Peter 2:9 You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

This knowledge is not the result of personal investigation or curiosity, but a result of the divine initiative. Jesus himself called us. His call brought us out of darkness into his marvelous light.

3 His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence,

We are called by his own glory and virtue, the manifestation of his divine nature and his inner moral excellence. ‘His own’ is emphatic in contrast to ‘us’. When Christ calls people to himself , they perceive the beauty of his moral character and respond in faith. When Jesus called Peter, his response to Jesus’ divine power over nature was ‘Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord’ [Luke 5:8]. Being in the presence of the divine power revealed his own unworthiness. But at Jesus call, Peter left everything and followed him.

John says:

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.

The glory and excellence of Christ is attractive and compelling. It is by this compelling vision of his glory that we are called to him.

2Corinthians 4:6 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

In verse 5, we are called to manifest this moral excellence or virtue in our own lives, in contrast to the sensuality and greed of the false teachers. But the foundation of our moral transformation is not our moral effort, but God’s unmerited grace.

3 His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence,

Application

So what? What should our response be to the truth that Peter has laid out for us? Here’s a few suggestions:

1. Fight for your life and for your godliness

Peter has laid out life and godliness side by side as an inseparable pair. The gift of the new birth will result in a transformed life. As the author of Hebrews says:

Hebrews 12:14 Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.

Please understand, we cannot earn our salvation. But neither should we take it out of gear and coast. God has given us everything necessary, so we should take what he has given and put it to good use!

We fight from a position of victory – the outcome is not uncertain! We have everything we need supplied by the divine power to secure our life and godliness. So…

2. Resolve to know him better

Peter tells us that the divine power comes through the knowledge of him who called us. If that’s where the divine power for godly living comes from, I want to immerse myself in the person and work of Jesus, to become a student and a disciple of him, to deepen in my walk with him and grow in intimacy and communion with him. We should take deliberate steps to increase in our intellectual and relational knowledge of him. [Phil.3:10]

3. Worship the Divine Giver

We should stand in awe of the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us [Eph.2:7]. Revel in the unmerited sunshine of his love. Thank him that he has called us and given us all things to secure our eternal joy in him. Delight in his own glory and excellence.

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

1 Peter 5:12-14; Stand Firm in the True Grace of God

http://www.ephraimbible.org/Sermons/20090823_1peter5_12-14.mp3

08/23 1 Peter 5:12-14 Stand Firm in the True Grace of God

5:5 …Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” 6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, 7 casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. 8 Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. 9 Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. 10 And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. 11 To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen. 12 By Silvanus, a faithful brother as I regard him, I have written briefly to you, exhorting and declaring that this is the true grace of God. Stand firm in it. 13 She who is at Babylon, who is likewise chosen, sends you greetings, and so does Mark, my son. 14 Greet one another with the kiss of love. Peace to all of you who are in Christ.

Intro:

Peter is closing his God-centered, grace-saturated letter to the saints in Asia Minor. But these are not trite phrases following the rules of polite etiquette, but genuine heart felt sentences packed with rich significance. He mentions some people and places, and we will see what we can learn from them. He packs the main thrust of his entire letter into one phrase, to make sure we didn’t miss the main point. He sends personal greetings, and encourages us to warmly greet one another. And he concludes by speaking a blessing over us.

Silvanus

Who is Silvanus, and why should we care? Here’s why I want to know who he is: I want to know because the Apostle Peter here counts him a ‘faithful brother’, and I want to be counted a faithful brother. That’s high praise for anyone, and even higher to hear it from the apostle himself. The only thing higher would be to hear it from the Lord Jesus himself: “Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.” (Matt.25:21). That’s what I long to hear. So who was this Silvanus, and how did he do it?

Peter says he wrote the letter ‘through Silvanus’. Some have thought that this means Silvanus was Peter’s amanuensis, or scribe who took down Peter’s dictation of the letter. Some have even thought that Peter delegated the task of writing a letter in his name to the believers in Asia Minor. Most likely, this means that Silvanus was to be the one to hand deliver the letter to each of the churches scattered throughout Asia Minor, probably reading it to them and explaining it to them. This is not the first piece of critical correspondence that Silvanus was trusted to deliver. After the stoning of Stephen, believers were scattered because of the persecution and the gospel spread into Gentile territory (to the Hellenists – Jews who had adopted the Greek culture). A church was planted in Syrian Antioch and news came to Jerusalem so they sent Barnabas to investigate. Barnabas saw the hand of God at work and went and found Paul and brought him to teach there a whole year. He and Barnabas were sent out to preach the gospel and when they returned to Antioch, they reported that God had opened a door of faith to the Gentiles. But men came from Judea teaching that no one can be saved without being circumcised according to the law of Moses. Paul and Barnabas were appointed to bring the question before the church in Jerusalem. The first church council determined that it was not right to burden the Gentiles who were coming to God with additional laws, because ‘we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will.” (Acts 15:11) so they drafted a letter and chose Silas and Judas to accompany Barnabas and Paul to deliver the letter.

Acts 15:22 Then it seemed good to the apostles and the elders, with the whole church, to choose men from among them and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. They sent Judas called Barsabbas, and Silas, leading men among the brothers…

Silas and Judas were considered ‘leading men among the brothers’. In verse 32, we find they were prophets in the early church:

Acts 15:32 And Judas and Silas, who were themselves prophets, encouraged and strengthened the brothers with many words.

Not only did they deliver the message and the letter, but they used their gifts to strengthen and encourage the brothers there in Antioch. Silas is the shortened form of the name Silvanus, likely the same man Peter now uses to deliver this letter to the churches in Asia.

Later, when Barnabas and Paul were going to strengthen the churches they had planted, they disagreed sharply over bringing John Mark with them, who had deserted them on their first journey. Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed for Cyprus, and Silas became Paul’s co-worker. When they were thrown in jail in Philippi and their feet put in the stocks, these two were singing praises to God even in chains.

Acts 16:25 About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them, 26 and suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken. And immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone’s bonds were unfastened.

And Paul and Silas had the opportunity to lead the Philippian jailer to faith in Christ. Silas along with Timothy accompanied Paul on much of that journey, and was with Paul when he authored 1 and 2 Thessalonians.

Silas or Silvanus was a faithful brother. He stood by Paul even in the darkest hours and brought encouragement and hope. He suffered injury along side Paul, and rejoiced in the advance of the gospel. He faithfully delivered the message of the Jerusalem council, and brought encouragement to the church and strengthened them. Now we find him alongside Peter, willing to undertake a major journey into northern Asia Minor to become a vehicle of God’s grace to them. Silvanus could be counted on to accomplish the task at hand. He stood firm in the grace of God and was counted a faithful brother along with men like Timothy (1Cor.4:17) and Epaphras (Col.1:7), Tychicus (Col.4:7; Eph.6:21) and Onesimus (Col.4:9). Even men like Demas and Crescens and Titus deserted Paul in his time of need (2Tim4:10). What was the difference? Silvanus was faithful – full of faith in God and humbly dependent on God’s grace.

John Mark

It’s interesting that Peter also mentions Mark as sending a greeting. It is thought that John Mark was the young man who fled naked at Jesus’ arrest in the garden (Mk.14:51-52). Mark was Mary’s son, whose house the early church used to meet in (Acts 12:12). Mark and Barnabas were cousins (Col.4:10). Mark returned to Antioch with Barnabas and Paul after they delivered the gift to the saints in Judea. He accompanied Barnabas and Paul on their first missionary journey, but deserted them when things became difficult in Pamphylia (Acts15:37-39) . He was the center of the disagreement that led to the parting of ways between his cousin Barnabas and Paul. Mark became associated with Peter, and Mark’s gospel is derived from Peter’s preaching and teaching. Paul commended Mark in his letter to Colossae (Col.4:10), considered Mark a fellow-worker in Philemon 24, and even called for Mark to be brought to him in prison because he said ‘he is very useful to me for ministry’ (2Tim.4:11). Apparently Mark was with Peter in Rome when he wrote this letter, and he sent his personal greetings to the churches in Asia Minor.

Peter gets to the point of his letter when he says ‘I have written to you briefly, exhorting and declaring that this is the true grace of God. Stand firm in it’

Exhorting and Declaring

Peter has used this word ‘exhort’ twice already in this short letter:

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

1Peter 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:

And the letter has been full of exhortation. But the exhortation does not stand alone. All his exhortation is based on declaration. These are the facts. I attest to the facts. Based on the facts, I urge you to take appropriate action. The first exhortation appears in 1:13 and it is based on the truth he has unfolded in 1:1-12. He has unfolded the truth of God’s gracious purposes toward us, and in verse 13 he tells us “therefore… set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” Here I testify to the riches of God’s grace. Therefore hope in that grace. Every moral exhortation that Peter has given is founded on a theological truth. Do this because of that. Act in this way because this is true. We see this pattern even in Peter’s first sermon recorded in Acts:

Acts 2:40 And with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation.”

The True Grace of God

Peter has written about grace. This is the true grace of God. This is not a cheap counterfeit. This is the real thing. The message of salvation we received is the true grace of God – it is for real. Grace is the objective message of salvation in Christ. As he said in:

1:18-19 …you were ransomed… with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.

2:24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness…

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

This is God’s grace toward sinners – those who humbly acknowledge that they are in need of God’s undeserved favor. God is the God of all grace; electing grace, saving grace, sustaining grace, sovereign grace; it was God’s grace that chose us and called us; it is God’s grace that keeps us; eternity will be an enjoyment of the riches of God’s grace that is coming to us.

1 Peter 5:10…the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.

This is God’s restoring grace, his confirming grace, his strengthening grace, his establishing grace. Peter testifies that this is the true grace of God.

Stand Firm

And he exhorts us one last time; stand firm in it. Set your hope fully on God’s grace to you, highlight the priority of God in your actions and attitudes; fear treating the infinitely precious sacrifice of Jesus as something worthless; love one another as members of the family that God has caused us to be born into. Crave the milk that causes you to grow up to salvation. Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor. Set Christ apart as Lord. Be self controlled and sober minded toward prayers. Rejoice. Glorify God. Shepherd the flock. Humble yourself. Be sober; be watchful. Resist the temptation to shift your faith to yourself in pride. Stand firm in the grace of God.

Plant the feet of your faith firmly on the character and promises of the God of all grace. Anchor your life in the objective truth of God’s word. Find safe harbor in the shelter of his unconditional love. Sink your roots down deep into the rich soil of a God who gives grace to the humble. He called you and he will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. Your are being guarded by God’s power through faith for salvation (1:5). So stand firm!

Romans 5:2 Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

Romans 11:20 …They were broken off because of their unbelief, but you stand fast through faith. So do not become proud, but stand in awe.

Romans 14:4 Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand.

1Corinthians 10:12 Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall.

1Corinthians 15:1-2 Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, 2 and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you––unless you believed in vain.

Ephesians 6:10-14 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil…13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.14 Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness,…

Colossians 4:12 Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ Jesus, greets you, always struggling on your behalf in his prayers, that you may stand mature and fully assured in all the will of God.

Jude 1:24 Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you (cause you to stand) blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy,

12 By Silvanus, a faithful brother as I regard him, I have written briefly to you, exhorting and declaring that this is the true grace of God. Stand firm in it. 13 She who is at Babylon, who is likewise chosen, sends you greetings, and so does Mark, my son. 14 Greet one another with the kiss of love. Peace to all of you who are in Christ.

Babylon

Babylon is the place of exile for those whose natural home is Jerusalem; Peter is identifying with his readers who are ‘elect exiles of the dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia’ (1:1). In Jewish and Christian writing in the first century, Rome was referred to as Babylon – the contemporary parallel of the center of world power and opposition to God’s people. Peter has credibility to give instruction because he and his church are facing the same types of situations that his readers are facing.

Co-Elect

The elect of Rome send greetings – those who are strangers in Roman society because Christ Jesus plucked them out of their bondage to sin, opened their eyes to the realities of God and birthed in them new life. Peter began his letter by calling the saints in Asia Minor ‘elect’ , those chosen out from among the rest. Now he ends the letter by referring to the believers in Rome as those that are literally ‘co-elect’. The church in Rome was chosen by God just as you and I are chosen by God. Men and women are co-heirs of the grace of life(3:7); Peter considers himself a co-elder (5:1) with the elders in Asia Minor; and the church in Rome is co-elect with the elect exiles of the dispersion. The brotherhood around the globe stands alongside one another. Warm greetings come to you from your brothers in Rome. And as he is writing to churches scattered across a geographic region, he exhorts them to greet one another. In 1:22, he has told us to love one another earnestly from a pure heart because we have now been born again into the same family, and here he tells us to express that love in a tangible way. The kiss of love was exchanged between family members and between rabbis and their disciples. This is a strong affirmation in the face of a threat that we are on the same team. A holy hug will encourage and strengthen in a way that mere words cannot.

Peter concludes his letter with these words: ‘Peace to all of you who are in Christ.’ He began the letter with the prayer ‘May grace and peace be multiplied to you.’, and he spent the bulk of the letter unfolding God’s varied grace even in the face of a hostile society. Now he concludes by pointing us to the God of all grace and speaking peace to us. There is no real peace outside of the peace with God that we find through our Lord Jesus Christ. Because we are recipients of God’s undeserved grace, we can have true inner peace. We have been reconciled to God and our sins have been dealt with decisively and finally at the cross, and we can stand righteous before a holy God on the basis of Christ’s righteousness imputed to us.

Romans 5:1-5 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 3 More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

12 By Silvanus, a faithful brother as I regard him, I have written briefly to you, exhorting and declaring that this is the true grace of God. Stand firm in it. 13 She who is at Babylon, who is likewise chosen, sends you greetings, and so does Mark, my son. 14 Greet one another with the kiss of love. Peace to all of you who are in Christ.

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

1 Peter 5:10-11; The God of All Grace

http://www.ephraimbible.org/Sermons/20090816_1peter5_10-11.mp3

08/16 1 Peter 5:10-11 The God of All Grace

5:5 Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” 6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, 7 casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. 8 Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. 9 Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world.10 And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. 11 To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen.

Connection with preceding verses:

Before we dive into these verses, let’s take a moment to see how these verses fit into the section. He’s been pointing us toward humility. We are to keep humility as close to us as the shirt on our back because God aggressively engages himself in pouring out his great grace on sinners who are acutely aware of their desperate, helpless and humble position before him. True humility means not even feeling like we can handle our own problems. We humble ourselves by casting all our anxieties on God. But we have an enemy. He would like to see our allegiances subtly shift so that our confidence is in ourselves and not in our compassionate Creator. If he can puff us up with pride, then God himself will oppose us. We must be on our guard and keep our faith firmly in the God who cares. If we do, then God promises that the devil will flee from us. We can take courage to persevere from the fact that our circumstances are not unique. Our brotherhood through history and around the globe are experiencing the same kinds of suffering that we face.

Suffering in 1 Peter

And with that, Peter brings us back to a main theme of his message: suffering. He began the letter by addressing us as exiles – outcasts and aliens because of our new identity (1:1). He’s told us that our various trials are necessary because they prove the genuineness of our faith (1:6). He’s given encouragement and instruction on how to bring glory to God by our attitude and our action as outcasts in society (1:13). He’s told us how to relate to gossips, to good government, to evil employers, and to unbelieving spouses (2:12-3:7). He encourages us when, for the Lord’s sake we suffer unjustly, because this is grace in his sight (2:20). In fact, unjust suffering for doing good is what we have been called to (2:21). Often it is God’s will that we suffer (3:18; 4:19). And he’s held out to us the ultimate example of Jesus, whose unjust suffering purchased our redemption (2:21). We are not to fear when we suffer for righteousness sake, because we serve King Jesus and we will be blessed (3:14). Suffering in the flesh has a purifying affect on us (4:1). We are not to be suprised at the fiery trial, but rather we are to rejoice (4:12). Suffering as a Christian is a primary way in which our lives can put the greatness of God on display (4:16). Because God uses suffering to refine us, we should humble ourselves under his mighty hand, so that at the proper time he will lift us up (5:6). We have an adversary that would like to swallow us whole, so we must be on our guard and keep our faith firmly fixed on God (5:8). But our suffering is not unique; our brotherhood throughout the world experiences the same kind of suffering (5:9). And our suffering is not permanent but will last only for a short season compared to the eternal glory that we will enjoy (5:10).

5:10 And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. 11 To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen.

Paul said the same thing about our suffering:

Romans 8:18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.

2 Corinthians 4:17 For this slight momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison,

His Eternal Glory

What we have to look forward to is ‘his eternal glory’. The glory is his – all glory belongs to him.

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.

The glory of man is like the flower of grass that withers and falls, Peter says (1:25), but God’s glory is timeless and constant. We exist to bring him praise. As recipients of God’s great mercy you are:

1Peter 2:9 …a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

I love that! Proclaim the excellencies of him! It’s all about him! To delight in the radiance of his marvelous light! This is the one thing the Psalmist pursued:

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.

Psalm 63:1-4 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. 3 Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you. 4 So I will bless you as long as I live; in your name I will lift up my hands.

Psalm 96:5-9 … but the LORD made the heavens. 6 Splendor and majesty are before him; strength and beauty are in his sanctuary. 7 Ascribe to the LORD, O families of the peoples, ascribe to the LORD glory and strength! 8 Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name; bring an offering, and come into his courts! 9 Worship the LORD in the splendor of holiness; tremble before him, all the earth!

Isaiah 33:17 Your eyes will behold the king in his beauty;

2Corinthians 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.

1John 3:2 Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.

The Westminster Catechism puts it this way: ‘Man’s chief end is to glorify God and enjoy him forever.’ This is what we are called to – to enjoy God; to revel in the beauty of his character and nature; to be overwhelmed by his justice and his mercy and his costly undeserved love; to bask in the radiance of his face as he shines on us freely with favor. Day by day for eternity to discover hidden facets of the depths of his personality, growing in our admiration for the most perfect of all beings and to declare his infinite worth; satisfying all our holy cravings in his undiminished fullness.

The God of All Grace

Look at his name in this verse: ‘the God of all grace’. What a name! All grace! All grace is his; all grace comes from him. Grace is undeserved goodness poured out on us.

Romans 3:23-24 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,

Romans 4:4-5 Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. And to the one who does not work but trusts him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness,

Romans 5:1-2 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

Romans 11:6 But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace.

Grace by definition is unearned undeserved favor and kindness. Our God is the God of all grace. The only one who is worthy pouring out undeserved kindness on sinners. All grace originates in God himself, and apart from him there is no grace. God is the source of all grace. God is God over all grace. God is free to give grace as he pleases, and no grace comes to us apart from his sovereign good pleasure. And the bible tells us that God is ‘rich in mercy’ (Eph.2:4) and loves to pour out blessing on unworthy sinners. God is God of all grace of every kind, grace in every form and expression; grace for salvation, grace for suffering, grace for service, even the hope of promised future grace.

Peter as he closes his letter is choosing words that will spark in our memory of what he has taught us already. He prayed that grace and peace would be multiplied to us in 1:2; he pointed us to God’s great mercy in causing us to be born again in 1:3; in 1:10 he reminds us of the prophets who prophesied of the grace that is to be ours in salvation. In his first command in the book (1:13), he insists that we fix our hope fully on this future grace. Anything other than grace is justice. And sinners who demand justice get wrath. Our hope is grace. He says in 2:10 ‘once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy’. He tells us in 2:19 & 20 that it is the grace of God when for God’s sake we suffer for doing good. In 3:7 he reminds us that husbands and wives together are heirs of the grace of life. In 4:10 he commissions us that we are stewards entrusted with dispensing God’s varied grace to one another, showing favor where it is not deserved. In 5:5, he quotes the Old Testament scriptures which say that God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. He concludes the letter (5:12) pointing to the true grace of God in which we are commanded to stand.

Who has called you in Christ

In this verse he is explaining what it means for God to give grace to the humble and lift us up. The first expression of grace is God’s grace in election. This most gracious God called you! Peter is again reminding his readers of what he has taught. In the very first verse of the letter, he pointed us to the fact that God chose us. We are elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father. In 1:15 the holy character of the one who called us is highlighted as a pattern which we must follow. Our relation to him as children to the Father is a result of his calling, electing love. It is through Jesus, he tells us in 1:21, that we are believers in God, and God’s call that creates new life in us comes to us through the living word, the proclamation of the good news (1:23-25). In 2:4-5 he compares us to Christ, who was rejected by men but is chosen by God and precious to him. In 2:9 he calls us ‘a chosen race’, chosen by ‘him who called you’, and our being called is parallel to receiving mercy. In 2:21, we have been called to do good and suffer for it, following the example of Jesus. In 3:9 we are called to bless those who are evil and hostile toward us. He ends the letter (5:13) with a greeting from others who have been chosen in the same way.

Will himself restore, confirm, strengthen and establish you

God has graciously called you to his eternal glory in Christ, but his grace does not end there. God ‘has caused us to be born again’ (1:3)…

Philippians 1:6 And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.

We ‘by God’s power are being guarded through faith for salvation’ (1:5). Here he describes in more detail how he gives us the grace to persevere. It is emphatic that God is the one at work here. God himself, personally, is the one who does this. Four verbs describe God’s work. God promises to do four things; he will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. Restore means to set right what has gone wrong, to repair what is damaged. God himself will set right what has gone wrong in our lives and repair the damage. Confirm means to stabilize or support, to come alongside to make firm and immovable. Strengthen means to impart the needed strength, to make strong. Establish means to lay the foundation or place on a firm foundation. This is how God gives grace to the humble. It is God’s grace in repairing what has been damaged, supporting what is shaky, making strong what is weak, and anchoring on a firm foundation that enables us to ‘resist the devil, firm in your faith’. We can cast all our anxieties on him because he is caring for us by restoring, confirming, strengthening and establishing us.

Perseverance of the Saints

How does this fit with our eternal security and our responsibility to believe? I believe that once God has justified a person, declaring them righteous by the merit of Jesus Christ, God will never unjustify that person. God will not go back on his word.

2Timothy 2:11 The saying is trustworthy, for: If we have died with him, we will also live with him; 12 if we endure, we will also reign with him; if we deny him, he also will deny us; 13 if we are faithless, he remains faithful–– for he cannot deny himself.

And yet Paul says in 1 Corinthians:

1Corinthians 15:1 Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, 2 and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you––unless you believed in vain.

We must endure, but we are safe. Paul says in Romans:

Romans 8:33 Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? 37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

So we are inseparable from the love of Christ, yet we must persevere and stand firm in our faith to the end or our faith is worthless and will not save. How does this work? How are we safe if it is ultimately up to us? Jude helps us here:

Jude 1:24 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.

Our faith must not fail, but God is able to keep us from stumbling. Paul looks at the two sides in Philippians:

Philippians 2:12 Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, 13 for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

So we must work out our own salvation with fear and trembling. But we are incapable of doing anything to accomplish our own salvation. The only way we can work out our own salvation is because it is God who works in us both to will and to work for his good pleasure. God’s enabling power is what causes us to stand firm in our faith to the end. This is what Peter said in chapter 1:

1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, 5 who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

We are being guarded by the omnipotent power of God, but God does not guard us apart from our faith, but rather through our faith. He does that, Peter says, by himself repairing what has been damaged, supporting what is shaky, making strong what is weak, and anchoring us securely on a firm foundation

Doxology

The emphasis is on God who does these things himself. So it is right to ascribe to him the power. Peter naturally flows from truth and promises into praise. ‘To him be the dominion forever and ever’. He has purposed to extend grace to us. He has every ability to carry out his plan. He is able to make us stand firm in our faith. We do well to humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God because he will indeed be able to lift us up. He knows how to pour out grace on sinners. This is the second time Peter has burst into worship in response to the truth. In 4:11 he responds to service that is done in a way that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, and he says ‘To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. Here he responds to the declaration of God’s preserving persevering grace. To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen.

5:10 And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. 11 To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen.

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