Delivered Just Lot

 

and delivered righteous Lot, who was oppressed by the filthy conduct of the wicked (for that righteous man, dwelling among them, tormented his righteous soul from day to day by seeing and hearing their lawless deeds)— 2 Peter 2.7-8

 

God delivered righteous Lot.

Righteous Lot?

 

What? Wait a sec, righteous Lot? The guy or offered to give up his daughters to the mob? The guy who had to be dragged out of the city? The guy was wife was turned to a pillar of salt for looking back to Sodom?

 

Righteous Lot?

 

Nobody watching Lot would ever have guessed that he was righteous. He looked to Sodom, he moved to Sodom, and then he sat among the leaders of the city. He was totally absorbed and eventually he offered up his daughters to placate the sexual desires of the men of the city.

 

The lesson here is that no matter how hard we try we cannot tell who is saved and who is not. Lot lingered in Sodom vexed by the sins of Sodom. He was tormented and eventually God had to drag him out.

 

Let’s pray for vexed righteous Lots in our lives. Let’s pray that they come to their senses and walk away for the things that vex them. We don’t know who they are, but God does.

By covetousness

 

By covetousness they [false teachers] will exploit you with deceptive words; for a long time their judgment has not been idle, and their destruction does not slumber. – 2 Peter 2.3

 

Discontent is a terrible problem. Our flesh always always, always, always wants more.

 

Covetousness is a definite weak point. It is something false teachers can use to make us think we are missing some and try to deceive us to turn away from our faith. They use trickery and deceit to play on our discontent and covering spirit to draw us into their lies. What they say sounds good of else it would not appeal.

 

Covetousness brings discontent. Discount means I am not happy with where God has out me or what He has given me. If I am not happy with God I am going to look elsewhere and that’s where the false teachers come in. They have the answers our flesh desires and if we are not careful, we will be drawn away. The false teachers are deceitful. They are destructive. They want to destroy our walk with God.

 

So we need to be on guard. We need to watch out for their trickery.

 

And we need to learn to be content.

A more sure word

 

And so we have a more sure word of prophecy, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts; knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. - 2 Peter 1:19-21

 

This in one of my favourite passages of scripture. It reminds me that even though Peter, James, and John saw Jesus in all His glory, heard God’s voice, and saw Moses and Elijah there was a more sure, or a confirming word, than even that vision.

 

We have a more sure word because we have a written record that does not change. Dreams and visions can be forgotten or misremembered, but the word of God we have in our hands and it does not ever change.

 

Not only that, it does not come from and human source. It was penned by men only as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. If you could read Greek you could go to the Chester Beatty Library in Dublin and we the same Bible words that we read in English. The words he wrote here were not of his own mind, but he wrote words he was moved to write by the Holy Spirit.

 

I didn’t get to see the full glory of Jesus. I didn’t get to hear God’s voice. But I do have the written word of God stored up in heaven. It never changes. It is secure and I can trust it.

As a light in a dark place

 

And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts; knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. - 2 Peter 1:19-21

 

We do well, Peter writes, if we give heed to the light hat shines in a dark place until he morning star rises in our hearts bearing light to the world around us. When he wrote that the vision of Jesus magnified in glory was fresh in his mind. He had the perfect picture of Jesus in all His glory as the Light of the World. As a Light shining in a dark place.

 

Jesus shone as a light from the glory of God. He was Light of the world coming in a world totally lost and locked in darkness. Men reject that Light because they love the darkness more.

 

Then He calls us to be lights in this world. We must apply His light to our lives so that we can reflect that light into the world. Now we are those lights in dark places and the darker the place the brighter out lights shine.

 

Let your lights so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father I heaven. Jesus let His light shine on the Mount of Transfiguration. We are to let His light shine in us today.

Transfiguration

 

For we did not follow cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of His majesty. For He received from God the Father honor and glory when such a voice came to Him from the Excellent Glory: “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” And we heard this voice which came from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain. – 2 Peter 1.16-18

 

This is an interesting account of a unique situation.  Jesus took Peter, James, and John up to a mountain. There Jesus was transfigured into a reflection of the light of God’s glory. Moses and Elijah appeared and the voice of God booms down from heaven.

 

Peter, James, and John had the honour to see Jesus in all of His power and glory and majesty. They heard to voice of God day, ‘this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.’

 

This is a powerful moment. Not every believer on earth was going to see this because Jesus ministry on earth was just about to draw to a close.

 

There are a couple of things to note here for the next couple of days, but for Peter, James, and John here was the motivation and impetus for the work they were about to embark. The saw their Teacher magnified in all His glory. The saw two prophets signifying that that the prophecies on the Old Testament were being fulfilled in Christ, and they saw God’s seal of approval in the work.

 

They had all they needed to carry on. You would think that they would have no more problems following Him.

The fact that they did is a reminder what we need to take heed. Peter remembered how he had betrayed Jesus even after this and he is going to remind us of the need for us to pay attention. We need to remember just who Jesus is.

 

We think how easy that would be if we saw the same vision. Peter is going to go on to show that what we have is even better.

Encouraging

 

For this reason I will not be negligent to remind you always of these things, though you know and are established in the present truth. Yes, I think it is right, as long as I am in this tent, to stir you up by reminding you,  knowing that shortly I must put off my tent, just as our Lord Jesus Christ showed me.  Moreover I will be careful to ensure that you always have a reminder of these things after my decease. – 2 Peter 1.12-15

 

Peter knew the importance of constantly reminding the saints of the importance of the things he had taught them and was teaching them.

 

Though his task was an apostolic task I think we can learn from the importance of reminding each other and encouraging each other in the word of God. It can be discouraging to try to live godly this present age. Sometimes we can feel like we are all alone in trying to do it.

 

That’s why we need each other to remind each other why we do it.

 

Recently I had this happen. I had been posting some frustrations about the lockdown and limitations and how must it was bothering me.

 

A dear sister in Christ from our very earliest days in sent me a message. To remind and encourage me. She reminded of how when Paul was in prison things were not going the way he planned. He could have easily been angered and frustrated. Instead though he wrote that the things that had happened had been for the furtherance of the gospel. She remined me that while we are still locked down God has used this to expand our ministry through the internet in ways we could not imagine. He gentle, sweet encouragement was what I needed to remind me to focus on God and not on me.

 

That’s just the kind of thing that we all should be doing for each other. As I was working on this my brother-in-law sent his daily encouragement in our WhatsApp chat.

 

We need all this we can get and all we can give.

 

Saturday 27 March 2021

Entrance to glory

 

Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble;  for so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. 2 Peter 1.10-11

 

This is a fascinating concept. If we do these things we give ourselves assurance of our salvation, we will not stumble, and we will have an abundant entrance into heaven.

 

It’s that abundant entrance into heaven that fascinates me.

 

Somehow living the virtuous life is going to have an impact on my entrance into heaven. Maybe its as simple as going and knowing that I have done my best for Him and have no regrets.

 

I know that our thoughts and emotions and all will be sorted out in heaven one day. But I think I would like to approach knowing that by the grace of God I have done my best to live a life that honours Him.

 

What a day that will be. What a joy even now to walk in sweet fellowship with Him. It is sad when we choose to walk in a way that does not please Him after all He has done for us.

Don't forget who you are

 

For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.  For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins. – 2 Peter 1.8-9

 

There are certain blessings promised as we add the thing we just talked about. Those virtues will not let us be barren or unfruitful in our desire to know Jesus better.

 

On the other hand there are issues if we don’t live the virtuous life. We will be short-sighted and blind and may even forget that we were cleansed from our sins. 

 

If our lives don’t match up to our faith we are not going to have confidence in our salvation. That’s bad enough, but we may even get to the point where we forget that we were ever even saved.

 

That’s an amazing and mystifying thought. Can it get so bad that we can live and wander to the point that our salvation gets put on the back burner?

 

I have a friend who is in the position. We were raised in a Christian home, and yet is not loving for Christ now. He knows he is saved, but he has gotten out of the habit of living of. He knows it is true but he forgets to live it on a daily basis. 

 

That’s what happens if we do not add by and live these virtues. We know we are saved to stop and think about, but we forget it in our daily walk.

 

Let’s keep our salvation sure. Let’s keep it real and live and making an impact. Let’s not forget who we are.

Add love

 

But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. - 2 Peter 1:5-7

 

At the end of the list, to top it all off, we have add love. Love makes the list almost every time we have a description of Christian virtues. A lot of times it is at the end of the list to top it all off. Paul wrote in a similar context that above all else we must put on love. It is the sure sign of maturity.

 

I think love is at the end because it wraps everything else up and because it is the thing we must remember the most. Love is the ultimate test of Christian virtues.

 

So how are we doing? How well do we love? Does our love reflect the love of Christ.

 

We never get to cease adding love. It is a lifetime commitment. Love sets us apart. It is how people know we follow Christ. If we can’t love others we really don’t love God.

 

Love wraps it all up and love it what makes all the rest fall into place.

 

Add love, add more love, and more love. Do everything in love. Above all else put on love.

Add brotherly kindness

 

But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. - 2 Peter 1:5-7

 

I like that love and brotherly kindness are listed as two separate virtues. Brotherly kindness sounds so small compared to love, but here it is in a list of virtues that mark our entrance into the heavenly kingdom.

 

A lot of our Christian walk is simply not being a jerk. I wish had learned that younger. I wasted too many years being unkind and thoughtless toward people. I have many moments where I was just not a nice guy. I can still be a real jerk sometimes,

 

Being nice is probably the best way to make a good first impression with others, be they Christian or not. First impressions are lasting and can set a pattern for what people think about us. It is something we can do whenever we meet people that will people to see Christ in us.

 

And that kindness must continue. Being a jerk makes us look like hypocrites and that we really are no better than the rest of the world.

 

Before my dad got saved he was not generally and very nice man. He wasn’t ugly about it, its just that kindness was not at the top of his character traits.

 

Once he got saved though everything changed. He became the most kind and gentle man you could imagine. His personality drew people to him and along with that drew people to Christ.

 

A little kindness goes a long way. Let’s look for random acts of kindness we can perform as we go through the day.

Add godliness

 

But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. - 2 Peter 1:5-7

 

Of course a key virtue for us to keep is that of living a goldy life that truly reflects Jesus in my life. Though living a godly life may not be complicated it may be one of the greatest challenges. It simply means that our lives must reflect the character and the nature of God to a world that needs Him even when they think they don’t.

 

Living a godly life is not popular in this world. There many have been a time when it was tolerated and maybe even acceptable, but not people who have always claimed to be tolerant are becoming intolerant of godliness. Us living godly lives only magnifies the depths of their ungodly living.

 

But no one can argue with a consistently godly living. When Jesus told us how to live godly lives He said, to put it briefly, love God and love others.  God is love after all. We can strive to be godly when we strive for holiness and kindness and graciousness and pure. Godliness is seen in how we treat others.

 

Godliness is the opposite of worldliness and how often do we seek the worldly fleshly options instead of godly ones?

 

It doesn’t come naturally. That’s why we must add it to our lives daily.

Add self control

 

But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. - 2 Peter 1:5-7

 

How many times do we tell our children that they are out of control of tell them to get it under control? Of course it happens a lot because they are children and self control is a trait that takes some maturity to develop. It can always be a battle to keep it under control.  

 

Me, I hate it when I lose control. There is no quicker way to ruin a friendship or destroy a home or ruin our testimony than to lose our heads and get out of control. I used to be terrible about this. Somebody would set me off and I would rant and roar and end up embarrassing myself.

 

I hate that. Over and over again I had to go back and aplologise for my miserable behaviour. Folks graciously forgave me and eventually I learned it was easier to just get control and save myself the trouble of getting embarrassed and then saying ‘I’m sorry.’ When I did that I was no better than a baby and I had just had to learn how important that was.

 

Adding self-control is a key virtue for the servant of God. I can undo years of testimony with seconds of losing control.

 

There is a lot more we could talk about with self-control, anger is only one aspect. But if we are going to be an effective witness it is vital that we keep the head no matter what comes our way. That come as we add virtue to our faith and as we add the superknowledge of Christ to our virtue.

Add self-control

 

But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. - 2 Peter 1:5-7

 

How many times do we tell our children that they are out of control of tell them to get it under control? Of course it happens a lot because they are children and self control is a trait that takes some maturity to develop. It can always be a battle to keep it under control.  

 

Me, I hate it when I lose control. There is no quicker way to ruin a friendship or destroy a home or ruin our testimony than to lose our heads and get out of control. I used to be terrible about this. Somebody would set me off and I would rant and roar and end up embarrassing myself.

 

I hate that. Over and over again I had to go back and aplologise for my miserable behaviour. Folks graciously forgave me and eventually I learned it was easier to just get control and save myself the trouble of getting embarrassed and then saying ‘I’m sorry.’ When I did that I was no better than a baby and I had just had to learn how important that was.

 

Adding self-control is a key virtue for the servant of God. I can undo years of testimony with seconds of losing control.

 

There is a lot more we could talk about with self-control, anger is only one aspect. But if we are going to be an effective witness it is vital that we keep the head no matter what comes our way. That come as we add virtue to our faith and as we add the superknowledge of Christ to our virtue.

Add knowledge

 But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. - 2 Peter 1:5-7

 

Add knowledge.  As a teacher I love this part. One thing we can never stop doing is learning. Learning should be a life long task.

 

The same is true for our Christian growth. We must keep gaining knowledge for the rest of our lives.

 

There is a lot that we need to get to know. We need to know the word of God. We need to know the will of God. We need to know about a proper walk with God.

 

But the greatest knowledge we need is to know Jesus better. Not to only know about Him but to have a superknoweldge of Him. We need to know Him and His love for us and the sacrifice of His life for us. Paul wrote about the need of bearing fruit and always growing in our knowledge of God. He also wrote to the Colossians that all of wisdom and knowledge are found in God.

 

How do I grow in this knowledge?  How do I get to that superknowledge?  I spend time in the word of God. I pray and worship and honour Him. I prioritise Him above all else and I seek the knowledge of Him more than any other knowledge.

 

Let us strive for superknowledge of Jesus.

Add virtue

 

But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. - 2 Peter 1:5-7

 

As Peter begins his second letter, he introduces the importance of growing in our Christian lives.

 

We lays the foundation of faith for us to build on and he tells us things that we need to give ourselves diligently to as we build on that foundation.

 

The first thing he mentions, which seems a little strange, is virtue. Virtue is one of those that we are told to think about and put into action in Philippians 4. The Greek word used here means ‘moral excellency, perfection, goodness of action.’

 

This both a heart attitude and outward action. The word virtue is originally tied to godliness. That makes sense. Godliness and goodness are tied together.

 

I think this comes early in the list because all of the rest of the list could be seen as virtues on their own. True faith is going to involve a change. True faith works.

 

If virtue is my standard of my faith, how much faith do I really have. 

 

Lord, help me live that virtuous life.

Partakers of Divine Nature

 

by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. – 2 Peter 1.4

 

This is just about a mind-boggling truth! God has given us exceedingly great and precious promises. That very statement boggles the mind on the surface. But then we see this promise.

 

Ready for this?

 

God will take our corrupt, lust filled human nature and make us part of His divine nature.

 

Wait – we people can have a part in God’s divine nature? Really?

 

How do we get to take part in God’s diving nature?

 

We accept the atoning power of Christ on the cross when He takes on place and takes on our sin for us. When He does that He makes us joint heirs with Him and He gives us access to share in His divine nature while we are here on earth.

 

Twice in this context the divine nature is associated with the word virtue, which we will look at tomorrow.

 

Without being partakers of the divine nature we could not do any of the things we are called on the add in the next few verses. The divine nature lifts us up out of our carnal nature. Becoming partakers of His divine nature is only possible because Jesus came to earth to be a partaker of human nature and in that nature, loaded down with our sins, take our place on the cross.

 

This is the greatness of the atonement. Jesus took our place so that we could have a place with Him.

 

Who could imagine a man partaking of a divine nature, but that’s what Jesus did for us.

Settled

 But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you. – 1 Peter 5.10

 

Tied into the previous thoughts is this great and precious promise about God will do S we learn to cast our cares on Him. He is the God of all grace calling us to eternal glory and the day is coming when He will bring us into that glory.

 

 But in the meantime, He wants to do something for us. God wants use to be mature and established and strong and settled while we are. We get that way as we learn through these struggles and learning to cast our cares on the One who cares for us.

 

God tells us that if we ever let swallow our pride and cast our cares on Him instead of trying to do it and we resist the devil’s attempts to keep us from trusting God that He will

 

Perfect us

Stabalise us

Strengthen us

Settle us down to live for Him

 

We have a God of promise who is greater than the devil. The question we must ask is whether we are going believe the great deceiver or if we are going to believe the God of all grace.

 

God says He cares for us. The deceiver tells us that we need to do it ourselves and too often we need to carry our own carking cares because really God couldn’t be bothered.

 

Who loves us and who hates us? Who does good and who does evil?

 

We can live in care-filled turmoil or we can live mature, stable, strong, and stable lives casting our cares on the One who can do something about it.

 

He does care – and He will give us all we need if we can trust that He cares.

Like a roaring lion

 

Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world. – 1 Peter 5.8-9

 

It’s interesting that this verse follows right on the verse about ‘casting all your cares on Him’ and the pride that prevents us from doing that. In the same context Peter writes that we need to be aware of these things because Satan is walking about seeking whom he may devour and pride is just the thing he could use to do it.

 

We must resist him. We must stay steadfast in the faith. We must remember that the whole world suffers the attacks of the devil and so much of the world suffers so much more than we. We are not alone in being attacked. He looks for us in our times of weakness to try and devour use and the key way he can do that it to try and convicted us that we can do a better job than God so we went cast our cares on Him and instead try to bear them ourselves.

 

We can’t let down our guard. We must always be vigilant. If he keeps from casting my cares on Jesus I am going to be powerless. Its time to be sober and vigilant resisting and strong in the faith.

Casting all your cares on Him

 

Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you. – 1 Peter 5.6-7

 

Cares and concerns and the carkings of this world are a constant problem. These are the things that keep us awake at night and stress us out and hurt our walk with God. I hate it and I hate to admit it but these are the things that I still struggle with. I read ‘be careful for nothing’ but I still find myself full of cares.

 

Why is this an issue? I with I had a better excuse, but the answer is right here in this verse.

 

Ouch! I hate to even type it.

 

‘Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God.’

 

We I can’t be ‘careful for nothing’ and I can’t ‘cast all my cares in Him’ it is really because I think I could do it better. I think that I am the one who can solve my own problems. I think that I have to be the one to sort it all out.

 

That leaves no room for God to work. And because I realise that I can’t do it I worry about. In the process I ignore the God who says ‘I care for you.’

 

Came up with an outline seeing the whole section in context.

 

I was reading in 1 Peter 5 this morning and saw that wonderful wonderful phrase ‘casting all you cares on Him because He cares for you.’

I got to wondering why then is it so hard to do and discovered a couple of things in the context.

Casting our cares on Him means a humbling of self (v6)
Casting our cares on Him means recognizing that Satan wants to rob our joy and peace (v7-8)

Casting our cares means relying on the God who cares about us and will give us victory (v9-10)

It’s not just a matter of saying, ‘okay God here’s my cares’ and walking away. It means I need to humble myself to say that I can’t sort out those cares and that Satan will do all He can to convince me I can

Lead by example

 

Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers, not by compulsion but willingly, not for dishonest gain but eagerly; nor as being lords over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock; - 1 Peter 5.2-3

 

This part of 1 Peter is addressed to pastors and how they are to treat their flocks. We are to watch over them. We do it because we love them and want to care for them. We don’t do it for our own twin, but eagerly. We don’t lord authority over them.

 

We lead by example.

 

This verse has application for all of us. We ought to live our lives as an example to the world around us, but it is specifically addresses to pastors because as teachers and undershepherds people are going to watch us.

 

I’ve seen pastors who try to lead as ‘lords over those entrusted to them.’ They usually get conformity and they can bully people into doing things their way, but they are getting ‘doing’ without a change of heart. All they get is obedient sheep prone to wander when they get the chance.  

If we want hearts to change we lead by example. We don’t expect people to do what we wouldn’t do ourselves.

One of the best examples I have ever seen was a pastor named Bobby Lehn in August, Georgia in the US. I was preaching at his church one and got there a few hours early. The church appeared empty so I kind of wandered around looking for him. I saw the toilet (restroom) door open and though I’d ask the person cleaning the toilet where Pastor was. I hollered in and Pastor Lehn came to the door in shirt and tie and rubber gloves and a toilet brush in his hands. He was very nonchalant about is and took his glove off to welcome me and shake my hand.

 

To be was the example of servant leadership. I thought about Jesus doing another dirty job when He washed the disciples’ feet. He set the example of humility that his people could follow.

 

My life needs to be an example. That should make me extra careful about the things I do and the words I say.

Faithful Creator

 Therefore let those who suffer according to the will of God commit their souls to Him in doing good, as to a faithful Creator. – 1 Peter 4.19

 

If we needed a reminder of just how powerful our God is to help us I tough times we certainly have it here. When we commit our lives and our souls to Him we do so to the faithful Creator.

 

Think about it for a second. If God is indeed the faithful Creator He is the one who said ‘Let there be light.’ He is the one who created heaven and earth and all that is in it. He is the one who is in absolute control. If He made it all it is certain to be able to take care of it.

 

And that means He can take care of me. There is nothing beyond His power. Nothing is impossible with Him.

 

Don’t only does He have the power, but we know that He is faithful to do.

 

He said ‘let there be light’ and there was light.

 

What a mighty God we serve.

 

Surely I can trust Him.

He is glorified

 

If you are reproached for the name of Christ, blessed are you, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. On their part He is blasphemed, but on your part He is glorified. – 1 Peter 4.14

 

If we are allowed to be reproached for the cause of Christ because it is evidence that Spirit of God and His glory is resting on us those who reproach us are trying to blaspheme God fail because if our testimony is right He will be glorified.

 

No one relishes persecution. Not even Jesus wanted to be crucified. The reality although that the enemies of God will do all they can to destroy the cause of Christ. Their lives are committed to blaspheme Him and when they attack His church they think they can do it.

 

But we rejoice. We are honoured to follow Jesus and when we are attacked and go though it the cause of Christ is glorified.  In Revelation 12 we read of the Tribulation saints who did not love their lives to the point where they avoided dying for Jesus to be glorified.

 

Our purpose on earth is to bring glory to the One who will one day bring us to glory. We are to glorify Him in all that we say and do. When the enemies of God think they hurt the cause of Christ through persecution it always brings glory to God and His church prospers.

 

We don’t have to wait till we are persecuted to glorify Him – we can do it now by the way we live.

 

Let’s glorify the One who is leading many sons to glory.

Don't think it strange

 

Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you; but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy. – 1 Peter 4.12-13

 

A lot of folks think it strange that the world is not as friendly to Christians as it once was. We think it strange that new laws and regulations are much more friendly to sins and less tolerant of disagreement.

 

Christians think that this is something exceptional or unexpected or that this shouldn’t be happened. A lot of us in the west have grown up and spent most of our lives when society and culture and even governments have been on our side. It has been great. Laws have been on our side. Our Bible standards have been the basis for society.

 

But sadly that is changing at an amazing pace. We never know what the next days new is going to bring. Our views have gone being the norm, to being acceptable, and now to being an aberration and considered a threat to society.

 

Again, why are we surprised? Doesn’t God’s world tell us that those who live godly will suffer persecution? Are we told what to do when it happens, not if it happens?

 

Most of the world has known this by experience for a long, long time. They know that following Christ has a cost. We about to learn what the rest of the Christian world already knows.

Speak and serve

 

But the end of all things is at hand; therefore be serious and watchful in your prayers. And above all things have fervent love for one another, for “love will cover a multitude of sins.” Be hospitable to one another without grumbling. As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. If anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God. If anyone ministers, let him do it as with the ability which God supplies, that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen. – 1 Peter 4.7-11

 

There is a lot of practical advice in these few verses. If we could learn to apply these things we are going to able to continue to make a difference no matter how bad things get.

 

Here are a couple practical things to do.

 

Speak the word of God

Serve with the ability He gives

 

There is plenty of temptation to use our own wisdom and our own methods to carry out God’s work in these days.  Church growth and ministry is often seen as kind of marketing the gospel. We can really complicate when it is all so simple.

 

When we do it God’s way and don’t rely on our way than God is going to be glorified when His work is accomplished. God’s  word has the answers. He has chosen us to minister it to the world. All we have to do is to be faithful.

Stewards of God's grace

 

But the end of all things is at hand; therefore be serious and watchful in your prayers. And above all things have fervent love for one another, for “love will cover a multitude of sins.” Be hospitable to one another without grumbling. As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. If anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God. If anyone ministers, let him do it as with the ability which God supplies, that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen. – 1 Peter 4.7-11

 

Amazing grace how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. It’s always because of God’s amazing grace. Grace is greater than all our sins. Wonderful grace of our loving Lord freely bestowed on all who believe.

 

There is no doubt that God’s grace is our most precious of gifts. Without it we would still be caught up in our sins and without hope in this world. It indeed saved a wretch like me.

 

Okay, great, but what do we do with that grace now?

 

God has called us all to steward His grace to a world that needs it so badly. We are to show God’s grace in our lives and we need to share His grace with others around us. Without His amazing grace there is no hope for a world trapped in sin.

 

We were saved by grace. We live by grace. We trust God’s grace to see us through. Grace delivered us. Grace delivers us day by day by day. Grace will deliver us to glory.

 

And God has entrusted us not only to keep it and enjoy it. We have a whole big world around us that needs God’s grace. Let’s be wise stewards of the grace of God so that others may share it  too.

Sharing

 

But the end of all things is at hand; therefore be serious and watchful in your prayers. And above all things have fervent love for one another, for “love will cover a multitude of sins.” Be hospitable to one another without grumbling. As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. If anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God. If anyone ministers, let him do it as with the ability which God supplies, that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen. – 1 Peter  4.7-11

 

As the world gets worse and worse and as animosity toward believers grows we are going to need each other more and more. We are going to need to open up and share and not grumble about it when we do. We are not going to be able to depend on the world. Already in some parts of the world Christians are being left out and excluded because they won’t adopt certain views.

 

So we are going to need each other more and more and more. Peter uses the phrase ‘be hospitable to each other without grumbling.’

 

Its really as easy as it sounds. It doesn’t take a lot of word study to figure it out. This kind of hospitality comes out a heart of love that puts others first. It doesn’t worry about how my hospitality is going to be an inconvenience. The only way to be hospital and to share with others if our hearts are right and we are committed to giving up the right to call the things and the homes wea have ours. God is the rightful owner of it all. When we see our possessions as His and us as stewards of them we stop clinging on to them. We are willing to share them with others because we know that is what the owner wants us to do with them.

 

As things get harder we are going to need each other even more. Let’s get our hearts right and start practicing now.