Fanning the Flames

Studies in First Peter Part 30

“¹⁰After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.  ¹¹To Him be dominion forever and ever.  Amen.  ¹²Through Silvanus, our faithful brother (for so I regard him), I have written to you briefly, exhorting and testifying that this is the true grace of God.  Stand firm in it!  ¹³She who is in Babylon, chosen together with you, sends you greetings, and so does my son, Mark.  ¹⁴Greet one another with a kiss of love.  Peace be to you all who are in Christ” (I Peter 5:10-14).

When you emerge from your suffering, when you are rescued from this particular pain, you will feel the full experience of God making you “perfect, confirmed, strengthened, and established.”

“The God of all grace who called you” will give this to you.  He is “the God of all grace.”  Grace is not an attribute of God.  Grace is His essence!

Now, because of Christ’s finished work on the cross and your belief in His gospel, you are already, “perfect, confirmed, strengthened, and established” no matter what circumstances you find yourself under.  But our experience of these things feels very far off in the middle of distressing times.  God knows this.  And though He does not cause our suffering, He does use it to produce good in our lives.  And we become stronger for it.

Peter’s final admonition in his letter is, “I am exhorting and testifying that this is the true grace of God.  Stand firm in it!”  This letter is grace from front to back, from beginning to end.

• “May grace and peace be yours in the fullest measure” (I Peter 1:2).
• “As to this salvation, the prophets who prophesied of the grace that would come to you made careful searches and inquiries” (I Peter 1:10).
• “Fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (I Peter 1:13).
• “Show her honor as a fellow heir of the grace of life” (I Peter 3:7).
• “Serve one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God” (I Peter 4:10)
• “God is opposed the proud, but gives grace to the humble” (I Peter 5:5).
• “The God of all grace … will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you” (I Peter 5:10).
• “I have written to you briefly, exhorting and testifying that this is the true grace of God. Stand firm in it!” (I Peter 5:12).

It is the grace of God in which we stand.  And standing firm is available to us by the glorious power of Christ’s Sprit living in us.  “The Spirit of glory and of God rests on you” (I Peter 4:14).

Studies in First Peter Part 29

“⁸Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.  ⁹But resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world” (I Peter 5:8-9).

How do we “resist our adversary, the devil?”  What does standing “firm in our faith” against the evil one look like?

First, we recognize Satan as a liar.  Jesus identified Satan this way in John chapter 8, “The devil was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him.  Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature; for he is a liar and the father of lies” (John 8:44).

At the heart of Satan’s attacks and temptations are lies.  Lies about Christ and His character.  Lies about Christ and His finished work on the cross.  Lies about Christ and His promised victory over sin in our lives.  Lies about Christ and His goodness.  Lies about Christ and His living inside us.  Lies about Christ and His love, acceptance, and forgiveness.  Lies about finding our satisfaction in Christ rather than Satan’s idols and ways.

So how do we overcome this dark enemy and the temptations that come through his lies?  We overcome the devil by faith.  This is standing “firm in our faith.”  This is not just some kind of religious answer.  It has tremendous practical application.  The Bible teaches that “greater is He who is in you (God Himself) than he who is in the world (Satan)” (I John 4:4), and “this is the victory that has overcome the world – our faith” (I John 5:4).  We overcome Satan – ruler of the world system – by faith.

What does this faith look like in practice?  It means that when Satan tempts us with his lies, we resist him by faith; our faith in Christ and our faith in His promises.  When Satan holds up a mirror to our failures and says “failure” is who you are, we rest in God’s promise that we are loved, accepted, and forgiven (Luke 7:36-50).  When Satan digs up our sinful past and says “sinner” is who you are, we believe God’s description of us as “holy and beloved saints” (Colossians 3:12).  When Satan puts his finger on a current sin challenge and says “go ahead and give in” since this is who you will always be, we trust in God’s promise that change is possible and sin will no longer be our master (Romans 6:6).

This resting, this believing, this trusting is done by faith.  We don’t try to outwork or outwit Satan.  We resist him and experience victory by believing God’s truth in place of Satan’s lies.  Yes, Satan is a defeated foe, an assured loser in the war with God.  But until that final battle, Satan is working to disrupt God’s rule upon the earth.  And he is quite adept at throwing accusations, reasons for discouragement, and temptations our way.  We defeat Satan by our faith, that is, by believing God’s promises in the face of Satan’s accusations.

The apostle Paul writes, “In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one“ (Ephesians 6:16).  The shield of faith – put into action by walking by faith – is our primary weapon in the fight with Satan.  The shield of faith will extinguish the arrows of Satan.

We see a connection here in our I Peter passage between suffering and the attacks of Satan as it affects us and our brothers and sisters around the world.  I believe that Satan is the dark power behind death and disease in this world.  But that is a long conversation for another day.

For today, may we wield the shield of faith firmly and courageously and thus “resist the evil one.”

Studies in First Peter Part 28

“⁵You younger men, likewise, be subject to your elders; and all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, for God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble.  ⁶Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, ⁷casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you” (I Peter 5:5-7).

The original words here are gender neutral.  So the admonition is for all of us to submit to our elders.  And in doing so, we show ourselves “clothed with humility toward one another.”  Humility in the body of Christ is a two-way street.  Elders are to serve with humility as we learned last time, and we are to respect our elders with humility.

“For God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble” takes us back to the words of Jesus.  In answering the Pharisee’s charge of “friend of sinners,” Jesus said, “I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance” (Luke 5:32).

The “righteous” that were left out of Jesus’ mission were the self-righteous.  High on their own perceived moral superiority, they were unable to see that they were sinners; sinners who needed to repent and believe the gospel message of Jesus, sinners who needed a Savior.  They were left out in the cold, not because they are righteous, but because they see themselves as righteous with no need of a Savior.

To the “righteous”, Jesus gave the cold shoulder of the Law.  To the “sinners”, He gave grace upon grace.  Grace was the reward of their humility.  Christ opposed the self-righteous.  And He gave grace to the humble.

Now humility is not seeing ourselves as worthless.  It is quite the opposite.  Your worth is tremendous.  Jesus, the God of the universe, came to redeem you; came to die for you!  And when you believe in Him, you become a born-again child of the King of Kings, indwelt by God Himself, a partaker of His divine nature, proclaimed righteous, blameless, holy, perfected, and glorious.  This is who you are!  Your worth is off the charts!

So how do we keep our pride in check in the midst of all the beautiful that we now are?  By recognizing that our worth is off the charts, and our merit is zero.  Our merit is zero.  We had nothing to contribute to our incredible worth.  It all was a pure gift of grace.  We did not earn any of it by our merit or good works.  There is no pride in our new and righteous identity; only gratitude and thanksgiving for the gift of His grace.

And as we practice humility before the Lord, before the church, before the world, God raises us up at the proper time.  It would be self-serving (especially in a post about humility) to share the numerous times when I have felt like I was in an obscure place and God swooped in to bring me to a situation where I could be a help to someone.  I am sure you could share similar stories.

Finally, any anxiety you have around your place in His plans; around the topics and feelings of humility, selfish ambition, patience, pride, grace, and exaltation; give those over to the Lord.  Literally, “cast all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.”

And it goes beyond just these topics.  “Cast ALL your anxiety on Him.”  God’s shoulders are broad enough.  He will carry it for you.  Your weight can be lifted.  God cares about you.  It is a consistent theme and promise throughout both the old covenant – “Cast your burden upon the Lord and He will sustain you” (Psalm 55:2).  And “Blessed be the Lord, who daily bears our burden, the God who is our salvation” (Psalm 68:19) – and new – “Casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.” (I Peter 5:7).  God cares and is caring for you!

Studies in First Peter Part 27

“¹Therefore, I exhort the elders among you, as your fellow elder and witness of the sufferings of Christ, and a partaker also of the glory that is to be revealed, ²shepherd the flock of God among you, exercising oversight not under compulsion, but voluntarily, according to the will of God; and not for sordid gain, but with eagerness; ³nor yet as lording it over those allotted to your charge, but proving to be examples to the flock.  ⁴And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory” (I Peter 5:1-4).

We learn from the opening verse in Peter’s letter that it is addressed to churches in Asia Minor.  These churches likely by this time had some structure to them including the appointment of elders.  These church leaders are exhorted to lead in the way of Jesus, “the Chief Shepherd.”  And what does leadership in this way look like?”

It is “exercising oversight; voluntarily, according to will of God, not for sordid gain, eagerly, not lording over” folks with your position, “but proving to be an example to the flock.”  Let’s break down this oversight by looking at these key words:

“Not under compulsion, but voluntarily.”  Eldership is a voluntary service.  We are not serving reluctantly or aloof and disinterested.

“According to the will of God.”  The will of God is not complicated.  In its simplest form, it is doing the right thing.  It is living righteously in keeping with our new righteous identity.  And elders are encouraged to serve in this way.

“Not for sordid gain.”  Serving as an elder is an exercise in service for ministry sake.  Not to gain a financial position or to boost one’s reputation.

“Eagerly.”  I love this.  Although I no longer serve as an elder in a formal church setting, I enjoyed the service and interaction that went with it.  I honestly did it “eagerly”.  Now I write books and posts “eagerly”.

“Not lording it over.”  This so aligns with the way of Jesus.  “Calling them to Himself, Jesus said to them, ‘You know that those who are recognized as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them; and their great men exercise authority over them.  But it is not this way among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant; and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be slave of all.  For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many’ ” (Mark 10:42-45).

We follow the way of “the Chief Shepherd” when we lead with humility.  We “prove to be examples to the flock” when we teach, when we serve, when we walk, in humility.

Peter also identifies himself as a “fellow elder.”  And he throws in a bit of his own history.  Peter was a “witness of the sufferings of Christ;” he was there and witnessed the death of Jesus first hand.  “And a partaker also of the glory that is to be revealed; he saw the glory of Jesus spectacularly displayed at His transfiguration (Mark 9:2-8).  A glory that will be revealed to us all at the end of the age.

Studies in First Peter Part 26

“¹⁷For it is time for judgment to begin with the household of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God?  ¹⁸And if it is with difficulty that the righteous is saved, what will become of the godless man and the sinner?  ¹⁹Therefore, those also who suffer according to the will of God shall entrust their souls to a faithful Creator in doing what is right” (I Peter 4:17-19).

In the early days of the church, persecution was primarily at the hands of religious Jews.  But by the time of Peter’s letters here in the first century, the Romans had become involved in persecuting the “household of God.”  And the persecution had become severe.  Working backwards in this passage, here is the message I believe the apostle is trying to get across.

First, “suffering according to the will of God” is not suffering because God has willed this for our lives.  It is suffering for DOING the will of God, suffering for “doing what is right.”  And when we find ourselves in this situation, we can rest assured that God is in this with us.  We “entrust our souls to a faithful Creator,” knowing that our souls are safe no matter what the world throws at us.  His promised presence can never be taken away.  Our souls are eternally safe.

Again, whatever persecution, even to the point of martyrdom, that we face, our souls are safe.  The same cannot be said for the unbeliever.  The “godless man, the sinner, those who do not obey the gospel of God” will face a more terrifying end than any persecution we face.  They will be lost.  Unless they repent and believe the gospel message of Jesus Christ, they will not be saved.  Their outcome is destruction.

To summarize, the righteous – those of us who have placed our faith in Jesus – are eternally safe even as we face storms, and challenges, and ridicule, or worse in this life.  The lost, however, regardless of what this life has brought them for good or for bad, will face an eternal judgment.

Or said another way by the apostle Paul, “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves; we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body … Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day.  For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison” (II Corinthians 4:7-10,16-17).

Our current afflictions, as painful as they are, are momentary in the big scheme of things, and will fade away in the light of our glory to come.