John 1:1-18
There are many cheerful lights on at this time of year – they relieve the gloom. Jesus us described as the light of the world.
The world needs light.
It needs physical light. People need spiritual light, we do not understand spiritual truth. We do not think we are ignorant, we think we have knowledge and understanding but many basic things elude us, family breakdown and war abound as does terrorism and we cannot solve any of them. This is darkness – fear and misery. Just over 100 years ago missionaries went to Africa and called it Darkest Africa, it was full of superstition. In Darkest England and the way out by William Booth of the Salvation Army, Booth says that the way out of poverty was salvation, not soup or soap.
God is light.
God dwells in unapproachable light. Light stands for wisdom and understanding. Ephesus was a city of ignorance and superstition. People lived in darkness. When saved they lived in light and turned away from ignorance.
There was a witness to the true light – verse 6
John the Baptist told people about the light, he called attention to the Son of God and told people to believe in him.
There is only one true light – verses 8 and 9
People have been enlightened by some religious leaders but Jesus is the only true light. He personified God – see John 8, he said he was the light of the world. Jesus brought kindness and love into the world, he showed us how we can come to God, the only way is by faith in him.
The light was rejected – verses 10 to 11
He came to his own people and he was rejected. He controlled nature, he healed people, he raised people from the dead, he preached to people and defeated the work of Satan. People had been looking for him, when he came they did not recognize him. Jews still look for a messiah but he has come. The light came and they switched it off.
The light was received by some – verses 12 and 13.
Some believed and were changed. We came into the world by being born. We come into God’s family by being born again, by receiving the Lord Jesus and his teaching by faith. He rescues people by calling them out of darkness. If we have believed we have peace with God and grow in faith like a baby does.
The light is wonderful – verse 14.
He was full of grace and truth. John saw the glory of God in the Lord Jesus. When people needed help he helped them, when sick he healed them, when hungry he fed them, when ignorant he taught them. This was the glory of God who cared for them. Do we have cares and needs? we should go to him or are we so proud and ‘wise’ that we turn away from him and reject him or have we found light today and turn to him?
Sunday 30 December 2007
Different reactions to the Lord Jesus
Matthew 2:1-18
We would expect unqualified rejoicing when the Lord Jesus came into the world, but like today there are very mixed reactions. Believers greet him with joy, others have lost the message and meaning of Christmas.
One group here was pleased, one was disturbed and displeased by what happened. We enjoy this as a happy time to get together with family.
Those who rejoiced.
a) Joseph and Mary were filled with wonder – the end of 0 months waiting. They may have asked ‘why us?’ We believers can see it is God with us. The Christmas story should provoke joy as we enjoy peace with God.
b) The shepherds rejoiced at being at being the first witnesses called to Bethlehem and confirmed by the chorus of angels. The world was going to be a better place as hope came into it.
c) The magi were thrilled as well, they were the cream of the learned world, they still searched or more when they saw the star, they were overjoyed and they bowed down to worship the baby they knew was worthy of worship. They knew much but yearned to know more. They knew the new born son was special. This was relevant and meaningful to them as they sought him.
It did not bring joy to everyone.
a) When the magi reached Jerusalem Herod was disturbed as was everyone in Jerusalem. They were not full of joy. Herod was a capable ruler – he enlarged the temple and improved public works. But he was full of cunning and cruelty. He put to death his mother, wife, children and heir. He was suspicious of anyone and everyone. When the new king was announced he immediately attempted to destroy the new born king. When he knew he was thwarted he have merciless orders to kill all the baby boys under the age of two, but it was too late, he had fled to Egypt. The elders did not rejoice because they thought that Jesus was a threat. He was no threat to Herod. He grew up as a model citizen. If Herod has known what a blessing Jesus would be, he would not have sought to destroy him. People have many weird misconceptions of Jesus. They see him as a good example or a religious guru or a revolutionary or a kill joy. Why do people have these wrong ideas? They do not listen to Biblical teaching or read it for themselves. They end up jumping to the wrong conclusions like Herod. People’s minds are often closed. Jesus is the light of the world but if you keep the curtains drawn the light is kept out.
b) Ignorance – he thought he was only a political leader. He was actually a shepherd to guide people as they were like lost sheep. Sheep need a shepherd as they need guidance or they get into deep trouble or danger. The Lord Jesus had crowds of people following him, they were the sheep without a shepherd weighed down with guilt and trouble. We are all like sheep who have wandered from God. Herod had gone astray, he had fits of unrestrained anger and brutality, he gave into base instincts and lacked self control. None of us are perfect, we all sin in our lives, only the Lord Jesus has the cure for our hearts. Jesus says ‘I am the good shepherd.’ He lays down his life for them. Herod thought Jesus came to politicize people but he had come to bring peace to people. When we believe in the Lord Jesus we have returned to the shepherd of our souls and we now know his comforting as in Psalm 23 – the Lord is MY shepherd.
c) Herod was too proud to see his need of his Saviour. He did not want a rival but he was a bad man who was guilty before God. He tried to excuse his behaviour and did not want to change his ways. We cannot make ourselves good, we cannot save ourselves. We need a Saviour who can save us from our sins. A ship wrecked sailor is pleased to see the lifeboat, the crashed motorist is glad to see the AA man, the condemned man on death row is glad to be reprieved. Each person knows that they have a need for outside help.
Conclusion.
People find it hard to accept that they need to this Lord Jesus who rebukes wasted lives. We need to accept him into our lives and homes this Christmas. He will bring with hope and peace and joy this Christmas. If we don’t we will not know the way we should live and how we get to heaven.
Jonathan Aitken was disgraced, divorced, bankrupted and imprisoned. He found joy in forgiveness in the Lord Jesus and with it great joy and peace in the Lord Jesus. This is our greatest need.
Our greatest achievement as men is not that men stood on the moon but that God stood on the Earth. If we call on the Lord Jesus in repentance we shall know his peace this Christmas.
We would expect unqualified rejoicing when the Lord Jesus came into the world, but like today there are very mixed reactions. Believers greet him with joy, others have lost the message and meaning of Christmas.
One group here was pleased, one was disturbed and displeased by what happened. We enjoy this as a happy time to get together with family.
Those who rejoiced.
a) Joseph and Mary were filled with wonder – the end of 0 months waiting. They may have asked ‘why us?’ We believers can see it is God with us. The Christmas story should provoke joy as we enjoy peace with God.
b) The shepherds rejoiced at being at being the first witnesses called to Bethlehem and confirmed by the chorus of angels. The world was going to be a better place as hope came into it.
c) The magi were thrilled as well, they were the cream of the learned world, they still searched or more when they saw the star, they were overjoyed and they bowed down to worship the baby they knew was worthy of worship. They knew much but yearned to know more. They knew the new born son was special. This was relevant and meaningful to them as they sought him.
It did not bring joy to everyone.
a) When the magi reached Jerusalem Herod was disturbed as was everyone in Jerusalem. They were not full of joy. Herod was a capable ruler – he enlarged the temple and improved public works. But he was full of cunning and cruelty. He put to death his mother, wife, children and heir. He was suspicious of anyone and everyone. When the new king was announced he immediately attempted to destroy the new born king. When he knew he was thwarted he have merciless orders to kill all the baby boys under the age of two, but it was too late, he had fled to Egypt. The elders did not rejoice because they thought that Jesus was a threat. He was no threat to Herod. He grew up as a model citizen. If Herod has known what a blessing Jesus would be, he would not have sought to destroy him. People have many weird misconceptions of Jesus. They see him as a good example or a religious guru or a revolutionary or a kill joy. Why do people have these wrong ideas? They do not listen to Biblical teaching or read it for themselves. They end up jumping to the wrong conclusions like Herod. People’s minds are often closed. Jesus is the light of the world but if you keep the curtains drawn the light is kept out.
b) Ignorance – he thought he was only a political leader. He was actually a shepherd to guide people as they were like lost sheep. Sheep need a shepherd as they need guidance or they get into deep trouble or danger. The Lord Jesus had crowds of people following him, they were the sheep without a shepherd weighed down with guilt and trouble. We are all like sheep who have wandered from God. Herod had gone astray, he had fits of unrestrained anger and brutality, he gave into base instincts and lacked self control. None of us are perfect, we all sin in our lives, only the Lord Jesus has the cure for our hearts. Jesus says ‘I am the good shepherd.’ He lays down his life for them. Herod thought Jesus came to politicize people but he had come to bring peace to people. When we believe in the Lord Jesus we have returned to the shepherd of our souls and we now know his comforting as in Psalm 23 – the Lord is MY shepherd.
c) Herod was too proud to see his need of his Saviour. He did not want a rival but he was a bad man who was guilty before God. He tried to excuse his behaviour and did not want to change his ways. We cannot make ourselves good, we cannot save ourselves. We need a Saviour who can save us from our sins. A ship wrecked sailor is pleased to see the lifeboat, the crashed motorist is glad to see the AA man, the condemned man on death row is glad to be reprieved. Each person knows that they have a need for outside help.
Conclusion.
People find it hard to accept that they need to this Lord Jesus who rebukes wasted lives. We need to accept him into our lives and homes this Christmas. He will bring with hope and peace and joy this Christmas. If we don’t we will not know the way we should live and how we get to heaven.
Jonathan Aitken was disgraced, divorced, bankrupted and imprisoned. He found joy in forgiveness in the Lord Jesus and with it great joy and peace in the Lord Jesus. This is our greatest need.
Our greatest achievement as men is not that men stood on the moon but that God stood on the Earth. If we call on the Lord Jesus in repentance we shall know his peace this Christmas.
The Curiosity of angels
Luke 1:26-56 and 1 Peter 10-22
You cannot avoid the presence and power of angels when you read the Christmas story and how God communicates with people through them.
Are we curious? Do we enjoy the challenge of learning new things and information? Do we love going to libraries and finding things out? Children are very curious about the world – especially about presents at Christmas, what is in the parcels. It is wonderful to be curious about the world, about this life and especially about eternity, the world to come. Angels long to look into something, they do not have perfect knowledge. An increasing number of people do not go to church but they are curious about angels.
Angels are creatures that are spirit beings. They appear in human form and they have names that reflect their form. They are very active in the world. They are numerous – see Hebrews 12:1, they are in joyful assembly. They have different ranks. Michael and Gabriel are archangels. Gabriel appears in Luke. Hebrews 1:14 tells us that they serve believers. They are Heaven’s errand boys who carry messages for God and they intervene in human affairs. In the Old Testament the people often had messages via angels.
At the incarnation their role changes, they predicted Jesus’ birth, announced his arrival, comforted and attended him at his agony in Gethsemane. Angels minister to those who will inherit salvation. They are at the flight of the soul at death and they will be at the final judgment. God has they angels at his command.
When we look at the world around us, its wickedness and sin, it is a comfort to know they are protecting us if we are believers. They will bring us home to glory when we die.
Prophets and angels did not understand everything about Christ’s coming and our salvation. Prophets looked into it intently. Peter wrote about how wonderful their salvation was in the face of great opposition and difficulty.
Peter was thinking about the prophets such as Isaiah who predicted the virgin birth. He would have been mystified by this. The prophets such Isaiah, Malachi and Daniel lived years apart and could not understand how it all dovetailed together. Daniel knew it was all sealed up to the end time. Some predicted where he would be born, his suffering, his triumphal entry to Jerusalem, his suffering and his glory. He would be a prophet, priest and king. The central message of the Bible is he died for our sins according to the prophets. The men on the road to Emmaus were told what the prophets said were all linked and fulfilled in Christ. God has progressively revealed how he works in the world and about the Christ. The people in the New Testament saw their fulfillment – amazing, wonderful things. This is our good hope for the world.
Why did angels have an interest? They foretold his coming. Gabriel appeared to Daniel, Zechariah and Mary. They do not have a complete knowledge, they learn like we do as it is spoken. They are holy beings with great authority and power. They long to know these things – they bend over and peer into these things deeply and intently and long to learn of these things like when you drop your watch into a swimming pool and loom for it.
a) What are they concerned to see? The mystery of the incarnation for a start – how could God be contracted into a man, manifested in the flesh and living among men? There is no evidence this has happened on another planet or anywhere else in the world. God commands his angels to worship him for his great work. Jesus is no ordinary prophet or guru. He is unique among men. Angels marvelled at the son of God who came into the world and how he died for the sins of his people to save them from a lost eternity.
b) They marvelled at salvation – there are no saved angels. There are evil and holy angels. No offer of salvation was ever made to fallen angels. The angels marvelled at how God saved fallen men. They must have been appalled at the state of the world and how men were heading for hell. They must have wondered at how God could have planned to restore this broken relationship. This way of salvation was revealed to them – Christ was going to die, the innocent for the guilty, the just dying for the unjust. God would justify the guilty on the basis of the suffering of the Lord Jesus. Angels ministered at every part of Christ work. When men repent – Luke l5:l0 – angels rejoice in the presence of the Lord. They understand something of the joy of God when men repent. Have angels rejoiced over your salvation? Yes, if we have repent of our sins and confess our need of him. Has this turning point come? It did for the prodigal son who lived in defiance of God, he repented of his foolishness and the angels rejoiced when they saw it.
Summing up
a) Do we also yearn look into these things? Is nature fascinating , we continue to learn much about nature, we can see this on TV. It is not just our relationship with nature but our relationship with God our eternal future. We should be concerned about how we stand before God. Angels have never fallen into sin, like believers they are safe and happy. We are not unless we have repented of our sins in the name of the Lord Jesus. Angels do not know what we know. Hebrews 2:3 – how shall we escape if we ignore this salvation? We shall not. Angels must be astonished that there are people who are not concerned and interested about these things.
b) The angels act out of love for God, they serve the living. We cam become his servants this Christmas and have the best reward – eternal life. We have the message of the prophets, gospels and apostles. Be like the angels, look into these things and know the blessing of God in Christ Jesus.
You cannot avoid the presence and power of angels when you read the Christmas story and how God communicates with people through them.
Are we curious? Do we enjoy the challenge of learning new things and information? Do we love going to libraries and finding things out? Children are very curious about the world – especially about presents at Christmas, what is in the parcels. It is wonderful to be curious about the world, about this life and especially about eternity, the world to come. Angels long to look into something, they do not have perfect knowledge. An increasing number of people do not go to church but they are curious about angels.
Angels are creatures that are spirit beings. They appear in human form and they have names that reflect their form. They are very active in the world. They are numerous – see Hebrews 12:1, they are in joyful assembly. They have different ranks. Michael and Gabriel are archangels. Gabriel appears in Luke. Hebrews 1:14 tells us that they serve believers. They are Heaven’s errand boys who carry messages for God and they intervene in human affairs. In the Old Testament the people often had messages via angels.
At the incarnation their role changes, they predicted Jesus’ birth, announced his arrival, comforted and attended him at his agony in Gethsemane. Angels minister to those who will inherit salvation. They are at the flight of the soul at death and they will be at the final judgment. God has they angels at his command.
When we look at the world around us, its wickedness and sin, it is a comfort to know they are protecting us if we are believers. They will bring us home to glory when we die.
Prophets and angels did not understand everything about Christ’s coming and our salvation. Prophets looked into it intently. Peter wrote about how wonderful their salvation was in the face of great opposition and difficulty.
Peter was thinking about the prophets such as Isaiah who predicted the virgin birth. He would have been mystified by this. The prophets such Isaiah, Malachi and Daniel lived years apart and could not understand how it all dovetailed together. Daniel knew it was all sealed up to the end time. Some predicted where he would be born, his suffering, his triumphal entry to Jerusalem, his suffering and his glory. He would be a prophet, priest and king. The central message of the Bible is he died for our sins according to the prophets. The men on the road to Emmaus were told what the prophets said were all linked and fulfilled in Christ. God has progressively revealed how he works in the world and about the Christ. The people in the New Testament saw their fulfillment – amazing, wonderful things. This is our good hope for the world.
Why did angels have an interest? They foretold his coming. Gabriel appeared to Daniel, Zechariah and Mary. They do not have a complete knowledge, they learn like we do as it is spoken. They are holy beings with great authority and power. They long to know these things – they bend over and peer into these things deeply and intently and long to learn of these things like when you drop your watch into a swimming pool and loom for it.
a) What are they concerned to see? The mystery of the incarnation for a start – how could God be contracted into a man, manifested in the flesh and living among men? There is no evidence this has happened on another planet or anywhere else in the world. God commands his angels to worship him for his great work. Jesus is no ordinary prophet or guru. He is unique among men. Angels marvelled at the son of God who came into the world and how he died for the sins of his people to save them from a lost eternity.
b) They marvelled at salvation – there are no saved angels. There are evil and holy angels. No offer of salvation was ever made to fallen angels. The angels marvelled at how God saved fallen men. They must have been appalled at the state of the world and how men were heading for hell. They must have wondered at how God could have planned to restore this broken relationship. This way of salvation was revealed to them – Christ was going to die, the innocent for the guilty, the just dying for the unjust. God would justify the guilty on the basis of the suffering of the Lord Jesus. Angels ministered at every part of Christ work. When men repent – Luke l5:l0 – angels rejoice in the presence of the Lord. They understand something of the joy of God when men repent. Have angels rejoiced over your salvation? Yes, if we have repent of our sins and confess our need of him. Has this turning point come? It did for the prodigal son who lived in defiance of God, he repented of his foolishness and the angels rejoiced when they saw it.
Summing up
a) Do we also yearn look into these things? Is nature fascinating , we continue to learn much about nature, we can see this on TV. It is not just our relationship with nature but our relationship with God our eternal future. We should be concerned about how we stand before God. Angels have never fallen into sin, like believers they are safe and happy. We are not unless we have repented of our sins in the name of the Lord Jesus. Angels do not know what we know. Hebrews 2:3 – how shall we escape if we ignore this salvation? We shall not. Angels must be astonished that there are people who are not concerned and interested about these things.
b) The angels act out of love for God, they serve the living. We cam become his servants this Christmas and have the best reward – eternal life. We have the message of the prophets, gospels and apostles. Be like the angels, look into these things and know the blessing of God in Christ Jesus.
CHRIST VINDICATED
2Corinthians 4:6 to 5:10 and 1 Peter 4:1-6
The letter was written in the context of difficulties and that these will increase. We sense that difficulties will get worse for us today as we defend the truth of God. We all have a tendency to feel sorry for ourselves when trouble comes and everything seems to go wrong. The cure is to recall the suffering of our Saviour and think of the joy when he returns. Peter is very realistic, he tells them to look to Christ and others who have suffered for the sake of Christ. David Brainerd knew physical hardship and spiritual disappointments yet he knew God was close and was encouraged by this.
1. LIVING FOR THR WILL OF GOD – verse 1.
Peter presents a challenge as Christ has suffered arm yourself, it is a military metaphor, the cross had to come before the glory, see John 10. Jesus chose the cross and armed himself with the knowledge of the coming glory. Richard Wurmbrandt knew this comfort of being a partner with Jesus in his suffering while he was in prison for 14 years. Martyrs viewed death as an entrance to glory. Sin should be life behind, it is disobedience to God’s will. Wisdom lies in obeying God’s will, it is like a rock we can build on. Foolishness lies in disobeying God’s will and is like building on the sand. There is no more blessed life than obeying God’s will. People believe they can go their own way, Christians believe their way is God’s way. Peter’s argument is, since Christ gave Himself to deliver us from the sin which would destroy us, why go back to live in it? God’s will is good will. Life is God’s loan to man, and time man’s rent.
2. LEAVING THE PAST BEHIND – verse 3.
The world tells people to look back. Peter tells them that enough time has already been wasted. There is no way of making up for the past. Never, ever go back that way. Many Christians struggle with assurance despite being converted and walking with the Lord, but we need to remember that God keeps us and we can rest in Him. This passage is a vivid description of the tragic and devastating life pattern of the unconverted, which ends inevitably in judgment. This behaviour shows complete lack of concern for the consequences of actions. We may avoid the excess, but we live in a world where entertainment is shot through with violence and sexual innuendo, we need to be so watchful. Sin can leave its scars on ours and other people’s lives. We should not boast of our past, we should regret it and move on and leave it behind us. In Peter’s day people glorified immoral behaviour as our society does. Jesus enjoyed the good things of life but never to excess.
In Peter’s day people lived reckless lives and disregarded the consequences of their lives. People gravitated downwards as people do in our society especially in our university campuses where shameless behaviour goes on. We should leave this behind. Peter says to the people that they have spent enough time doing that. You believers have ‘tasted that the Lord is good’ what possible reason could they have for reverting to their old ways? We need to watch our lives that are laced with materialism.
3. EXPERIENCING VIDICTIVENESS – verse 4
They were being ridiculed for not joining in with the excesses. Pliny complained of the behaviour of Christians who refused to join in. They said: you are missing a lot of parties and you die just like everybody else. So, eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow we die. People blasphemed them, they heaped abuse upon them because they would not plunge into the same flood of dissipation – like a sewer of sin. This is a common experience of believers. However, sometimes people begin to respect us for our changed priorities. Unsaved people do not think it strange when people wreck their bodies, destroy their homes and ruin their lives by running form one sin to another. But let a drunkard become sober, or an immoral person pure and the family think he has lost his mind – see Mark 3:20. If our life changes then people think we are out of our minds they did of Jesus. When our family sees we put our hope in Jesus they will do the same to us. When we run the wrong way from the crowd they will laugh at us. The route that non-Christians choose may seem right, it may seem fun but it leads to eternal loss. We will get a crown.
4. EXPECTING VINDICATION – verse 5
Others judge us now. We should remember a day is coming when God will judge. No one escapes accountability to God. Those who are spiritually alive through trusting in the merits of Christ’s cross have nothing to fear at this judgment, for the judge appointed by God is Jesus Christ – 1 Corinthians 4:5. Living for Christ brings its own reward, but we’ll have to wait a while to see it completely. We are to so live that we encourage others to live this life too. Those who despise and mock believers will suffer the most awful judgment on the last day. To submit to the will of God will lead us to be vindicated.
The letter was written in the context of difficulties and that these will increase. We sense that difficulties will get worse for us today as we defend the truth of God. We all have a tendency to feel sorry for ourselves when trouble comes and everything seems to go wrong. The cure is to recall the suffering of our Saviour and think of the joy when he returns. Peter is very realistic, he tells them to look to Christ and others who have suffered for the sake of Christ. David Brainerd knew physical hardship and spiritual disappointments yet he knew God was close and was encouraged by this.
1. LIVING FOR THR WILL OF GOD – verse 1.
Peter presents a challenge as Christ has suffered arm yourself, it is a military metaphor, the cross had to come before the glory, see John 10. Jesus chose the cross and armed himself with the knowledge of the coming glory. Richard Wurmbrandt knew this comfort of being a partner with Jesus in his suffering while he was in prison for 14 years. Martyrs viewed death as an entrance to glory. Sin should be life behind, it is disobedience to God’s will. Wisdom lies in obeying God’s will, it is like a rock we can build on. Foolishness lies in disobeying God’s will and is like building on the sand. There is no more blessed life than obeying God’s will. People believe they can go their own way, Christians believe their way is God’s way. Peter’s argument is, since Christ gave Himself to deliver us from the sin which would destroy us, why go back to live in it? God’s will is good will. Life is God’s loan to man, and time man’s rent.
2. LEAVING THE PAST BEHIND – verse 3.
The world tells people to look back. Peter tells them that enough time has already been wasted. There is no way of making up for the past. Never, ever go back that way. Many Christians struggle with assurance despite being converted and walking with the Lord, but we need to remember that God keeps us and we can rest in Him. This passage is a vivid description of the tragic and devastating life pattern of the unconverted, which ends inevitably in judgment. This behaviour shows complete lack of concern for the consequences of actions. We may avoid the excess, but we live in a world where entertainment is shot through with violence and sexual innuendo, we need to be so watchful. Sin can leave its scars on ours and other people’s lives. We should not boast of our past, we should regret it and move on and leave it behind us. In Peter’s day people glorified immoral behaviour as our society does. Jesus enjoyed the good things of life but never to excess.
In Peter’s day people lived reckless lives and disregarded the consequences of their lives. People gravitated downwards as people do in our society especially in our university campuses where shameless behaviour goes on. We should leave this behind. Peter says to the people that they have spent enough time doing that. You believers have ‘tasted that the Lord is good’ what possible reason could they have for reverting to their old ways? We need to watch our lives that are laced with materialism.
3. EXPERIENCING VIDICTIVENESS – verse 4
They were being ridiculed for not joining in with the excesses. Pliny complained of the behaviour of Christians who refused to join in. They said: you are missing a lot of parties and you die just like everybody else. So, eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow we die. People blasphemed them, they heaped abuse upon them because they would not plunge into the same flood of dissipation – like a sewer of sin. This is a common experience of believers. However, sometimes people begin to respect us for our changed priorities. Unsaved people do not think it strange when people wreck their bodies, destroy their homes and ruin their lives by running form one sin to another. But let a drunkard become sober, or an immoral person pure and the family think he has lost his mind – see Mark 3:20. If our life changes then people think we are out of our minds they did of Jesus. When our family sees we put our hope in Jesus they will do the same to us. When we run the wrong way from the crowd they will laugh at us. The route that non-Christians choose may seem right, it may seem fun but it leads to eternal loss. We will get a crown.
4. EXPECTING VINDICATION – verse 5
Others judge us now. We should remember a day is coming when God will judge. No one escapes accountability to God. Those who are spiritually alive through trusting in the merits of Christ’s cross have nothing to fear at this judgment, for the judge appointed by God is Jesus Christ – 1 Corinthians 4:5. Living for Christ brings its own reward, but we’ll have to wait a while to see it completely. We are to so live that we encourage others to live this life too. Those who despise and mock believers will suffer the most awful judgment on the last day. To submit to the will of God will lead us to be vindicated.
Sunday 16 December 2007
New principles for a new world
Genesis 9:1-17
The ark grounded on the hills of Ararat. It is the exact day of the year when Jesus rose from the dead. It may yet be discovered, but our faith does not rest on sight. The whole world had changed. Now the flood is over, Noah and his family must start again. The world has changed, volcanoes have erupted, dead plants and animals are floating on the water or concealed in the mud. 99.75% of fossils are marine creatures, only 0.0375% are vertebrates which are mostly fish. Most mammals are represented by single bones, nearly all are buried out of sight.
Flood stories are found all around the world. 70% talk of survivors in a boat, 70% of a privileged family, 60% say that it was due to the actions of sinful men. 70% of the stories say that the boat was lodged on a mountain. Many say that birds were sent out. All confirm Noah’s account.
A NEW COMMISSION – PROCREATION
Noah has been in a secure environment. The world has changed, the were new landmarks etc. He faced an uncertain future as we often do. He had many unknowns in this new life.
a) God blessed Noah
God was going to be with him. Noah needed many things – the cooperation of his family, protection etc. We need God’s blessing – home, clothes, food etc. As God’s people we have the Bible, our sin’s forgiven and he comes to our aid. We have joy because we have a heavenly father. The Lord’s people have a multitude of divine blessings – pardon, adoption and greater still to come. Unbelievers have none of this. They do not know God. Geoff Thomas tells of the gospel of the Beatles – they rejected Christianity and tried drink, drugs, ‘spirituality’ etc. They formed Apple, an organisation that promoted the idea that man was ultimately good. The Apple shop closed because of staff pilfering, the Beatles split up at the height of their popularity, all of them divorced, one died of smoking, one became an alcoholic and another was shot dead. Was this ‘apple’ – perfection?, not at all. We need God’s blessing on us today, his peace, his joy, his hope. Nothing can take this away.
b) God commissioned them – verses 1 and 7
This meant spreading out and having children. Adam was head of the human race at the start, Noah is head of the reconstituted race after the flood. In all the trials and difficulties of life, God, to mitigate the effects of sin gives us intimate, fulfilling relationships. Christians in particular should rejoice in every child God adds to their family. The Bible says children are a blessing from the Lord. Today many people do not want children, they see children as a hindrance to their lives. Children cause us to become less selfish. Should we not all have very large families? We all limit God’s blessings – we limit the food we eat and our sleep etc. We limit our families as well so we can cope financially, emotionally and space wise. Are we playing God when we do this? No, we take medicine etc to keep well. Believers should have the number they can care for properly and bring them up to believe in the Lord. We should love and value them as God’s gifts. God commissioned Noah to pass on the knowledge of the old world and what happened in the ark, it was passed onto Moses who wrote it all down. The oral record passed on round the world. We must pass the knowledge on to succeeding generations.
A NEW PROVISION
Humans are given permission to eat animals. Before the flood animals and men lived in harmony. After the flood God gave animals the fear of men. Animals are given to men to meet our needs. We must not abuse them. It is a strange world where seals are saved and unborn babies destroyed and where sacred cows are fed alongside starving people. Vegetarianism is not commanded by Jesus. He ate meat. 1 Timothy 4:3-5.
A NEW PROHIBITION – verse 4
God says don’t drink blood. God says because there are all sorts of parasites and diseases in meat. This is for our good. God says don’t drink blood. Pagans drink blood to get the life force from it. All diseases are carried through the body by the blood. HIV can be passed on this way. He gave us fire and we can cook our food. We don’t have to eat uncooked food. Others think that this pointed ahead to the sacrificial system – Leviticus 17:10. The blood makes the atonement, it is drained and covered in earth. Blood = life = atonement, this is the connection. Life can be given as a substitute for another. Blood is symbolic of life. Blood is the pulse of life. Trapp says ‘blood, the organ of life, is holy to God, the author of life’. It speaks of God given life in the Old Testament and in the Jerusalem Council it is reiterated. The safest interpretation is to say that the prohibition still holds against blood being drunk but does not forbid transfusions. The Watchtower go far beyond what is written. Jehovah’s witnesses are not right – this prohibition does not cover transfusing human blood into our veins.
A NEW PROTECTION – verses 5 and 6
A life for a life is the golden rule because life is so precious. People are made in the image of God. The old world was so violent and life was so cheap that it is significant that one of the first things God confirmed to Noah was the sanctity of human life. We have here human accountability. God set this – a proper view of human life. We are rational beings with a mind, with a sense of right and wrong. God values human so highly that he orders its protection by human governments. This is not personal vengeance but lawful government and authority. Government does not develop morality but it expresses in its laws and powers the morality that is in its people, what most of us want. It needs the input of what God has revealed. Here God lays down the principle of what needs protecting so people fear to take a human life. If they do not make these laws they will have violence on the streets as we do today, abortion on demand, euthanasia etc. There is a drift away from the values set here in Genesis. When our legislators move away from these principles our society suffers.
a) Animals that take human life are to be put down – verse 5 and Exodus 21:28
b) Humans that deliberately take life are to face capital punishment. God delegates to human authority the right to take life in certain circumstances.
5. APPLICATION
a) God blessed Noah – it was in and for Noah. Many people had a deep and intense longing that God would bless them – such as Jacob, David etc. When we seek God’s blessing with all of our hearts we shall know God’s blessing. We must put God first. We cannot know God’s blessing if we do not put him first. If we do we will know his provision and blessing.
b) We must be aware of his blessing. We have woollen jumpers, leather shoes, silk ties. We have pets etc. We benefit from God’s enrichment of our world, so we can rejoice in him - see l Timothy 6, he provides us with everything for our enjoyment and well being. People have many good things but remain unhappy and depressed – they are not well inside and need inner healing. God fills our hearts with strength and hope when we put our hope in him, the Lord Jesus. He is the way, the truth and the life, we can know life as it should be. Romans 8:32, he gave his son and all things.
The ark grounded on the hills of Ararat. It is the exact day of the year when Jesus rose from the dead. It may yet be discovered, but our faith does not rest on sight. The whole world had changed. Now the flood is over, Noah and his family must start again. The world has changed, volcanoes have erupted, dead plants and animals are floating on the water or concealed in the mud. 99.75% of fossils are marine creatures, only 0.0375% are vertebrates which are mostly fish. Most mammals are represented by single bones, nearly all are buried out of sight.
Flood stories are found all around the world. 70% talk of survivors in a boat, 70% of a privileged family, 60% say that it was due to the actions of sinful men. 70% of the stories say that the boat was lodged on a mountain. Many say that birds were sent out. All confirm Noah’s account.
A NEW COMMISSION – PROCREATION
Noah has been in a secure environment. The world has changed, the were new landmarks etc. He faced an uncertain future as we often do. He had many unknowns in this new life.
a) God blessed Noah
God was going to be with him. Noah needed many things – the cooperation of his family, protection etc. We need God’s blessing – home, clothes, food etc. As God’s people we have the Bible, our sin’s forgiven and he comes to our aid. We have joy because we have a heavenly father. The Lord’s people have a multitude of divine blessings – pardon, adoption and greater still to come. Unbelievers have none of this. They do not know God. Geoff Thomas tells of the gospel of the Beatles – they rejected Christianity and tried drink, drugs, ‘spirituality’ etc. They formed Apple, an organisation that promoted the idea that man was ultimately good. The Apple shop closed because of staff pilfering, the Beatles split up at the height of their popularity, all of them divorced, one died of smoking, one became an alcoholic and another was shot dead. Was this ‘apple’ – perfection?, not at all. We need God’s blessing on us today, his peace, his joy, his hope. Nothing can take this away.
b) God commissioned them – verses 1 and 7
This meant spreading out and having children. Adam was head of the human race at the start, Noah is head of the reconstituted race after the flood. In all the trials and difficulties of life, God, to mitigate the effects of sin gives us intimate, fulfilling relationships. Christians in particular should rejoice in every child God adds to their family. The Bible says children are a blessing from the Lord. Today many people do not want children, they see children as a hindrance to their lives. Children cause us to become less selfish. Should we not all have very large families? We all limit God’s blessings – we limit the food we eat and our sleep etc. We limit our families as well so we can cope financially, emotionally and space wise. Are we playing God when we do this? No, we take medicine etc to keep well. Believers should have the number they can care for properly and bring them up to believe in the Lord. We should love and value them as God’s gifts. God commissioned Noah to pass on the knowledge of the old world and what happened in the ark, it was passed onto Moses who wrote it all down. The oral record passed on round the world. We must pass the knowledge on to succeeding generations.
A NEW PROVISION
Humans are given permission to eat animals. Before the flood animals and men lived in harmony. After the flood God gave animals the fear of men. Animals are given to men to meet our needs. We must not abuse them. It is a strange world where seals are saved and unborn babies destroyed and where sacred cows are fed alongside starving people. Vegetarianism is not commanded by Jesus. He ate meat. 1 Timothy 4:3-5.
A NEW PROHIBITION – verse 4
God says don’t drink blood. God says because there are all sorts of parasites and diseases in meat. This is for our good. God says don’t drink blood. Pagans drink blood to get the life force from it. All diseases are carried through the body by the blood. HIV can be passed on this way. He gave us fire and we can cook our food. We don’t have to eat uncooked food. Others think that this pointed ahead to the sacrificial system – Leviticus 17:10. The blood makes the atonement, it is drained and covered in earth. Blood = life = atonement, this is the connection. Life can be given as a substitute for another. Blood is symbolic of life. Blood is the pulse of life. Trapp says ‘blood, the organ of life, is holy to God, the author of life’. It speaks of God given life in the Old Testament and in the Jerusalem Council it is reiterated. The safest interpretation is to say that the prohibition still holds against blood being drunk but does not forbid transfusions. The Watchtower go far beyond what is written. Jehovah’s witnesses are not right – this prohibition does not cover transfusing human blood into our veins.
A NEW PROTECTION – verses 5 and 6
A life for a life is the golden rule because life is so precious. People are made in the image of God. The old world was so violent and life was so cheap that it is significant that one of the first things God confirmed to Noah was the sanctity of human life. We have here human accountability. God set this – a proper view of human life. We are rational beings with a mind, with a sense of right and wrong. God values human so highly that he orders its protection by human governments. This is not personal vengeance but lawful government and authority. Government does not develop morality but it expresses in its laws and powers the morality that is in its people, what most of us want. It needs the input of what God has revealed. Here God lays down the principle of what needs protecting so people fear to take a human life. If they do not make these laws they will have violence on the streets as we do today, abortion on demand, euthanasia etc. There is a drift away from the values set here in Genesis. When our legislators move away from these principles our society suffers.
a) Animals that take human life are to be put down – verse 5 and Exodus 21:28
b) Humans that deliberately take life are to face capital punishment. God delegates to human authority the right to take life in certain circumstances.
5. APPLICATION
a) God blessed Noah – it was in and for Noah. Many people had a deep and intense longing that God would bless them – such as Jacob, David etc. When we seek God’s blessing with all of our hearts we shall know God’s blessing. We must put God first. We cannot know God’s blessing if we do not put him first. If we do we will know his provision and blessing.
b) We must be aware of his blessing. We have woollen jumpers, leather shoes, silk ties. We have pets etc. We benefit from God’s enrichment of our world, so we can rejoice in him - see l Timothy 6, he provides us with everything for our enjoyment and well being. People have many good things but remain unhappy and depressed – they are not well inside and need inner healing. God fills our hearts with strength and hope when we put our hope in him, the Lord Jesus. He is the way, the truth and the life, we can know life as it should be. Romans 8:32, he gave his son and all things.
Sunday 9 December 2007
Christ's suffering vindicated
2 Peter 3:ll – l8, Romans l0:8 - l5 l Peter 3:l7 - 22
Christ’s sufferings were relevant to the people Peter was writing to. Christ’s unjust suffering resulted in witness and vindication through his resurrection and ascension, like Noah. Noah bore witness to a hostile world, he had to put up with ridicule. Peter told his readers to endure and witness by baptism. The detail is very complex. This is a hard passage to interpret and apply. Luther said he wasn’t sure what it meant. ‘we may not be able to determine with absolute certainty who these spirits in prison are, and when, and where, and how, and for what purpose, Christ went and preached to them, but whatever opinion we adopt as most probable, no Christian doctrine or duty is affected by it.
HOW DO WE FACE DIFFICULT PASSAGES?
a) Know we are in good company. 1 Peter 1:10, 2 Peter 3:14-16 The prophets searched eagerly and tried to understand. 2 Peter 3:ll – l8, Paul wrote things that Peter found hard to understand. His letters were often distorted.
b) We cannot have a satisfactory solution for all. The tough parts of the Bible remind us we cannot fathom the mind of God, that we are ignorant and fallible. We do not need to know everything.
c) Problem passages are not the basis for novelty. We must not use isolated passages for new teaching. We need matters supported by other passages. This can lead to bizarre doctrines if we do not follow this rule.
d) Difficult texts need broad historical acceptance. 2 Peter 2:20. The church developed over 2000 years. It is the result of godly learning and study. We must learn from this and ensure that teachings conform to all of God’s word.
e) We should not be overly assertive about conclusions. We must accept it when other believers do not accept what we say. We must never make isolated reading a test of orthodoxy.
f) It is foolish to be obsessed with the gnats of the texts and thus miss the camel. Some like solving problems and miss the main lessons. We are called to understand the great, basic, foundational teachings.
g) See if there are any parallel or similar passages. Do they give the key to the difficult passages.
h) Know the issues, the options and choose what be fits the context, the argument of the book and biblical theology.
CHRIST DIED AND SUFFERED.
The letter is about dealing with difficult times. Jesus the greatest, most loving, caring, truthful, holy man that ever lived suffered unjustly. He was vindicated and sat at God’s right hand. So we will be vindicated if we live as God says out of love for him and our brothers and sisters and we suffer for him. How did he suffer?
a) It was a horrible death, it was dreadful and brutal, he suffered in his soul.
b) It was sacrificial, it was for our sins.
c) It was unrepeatable, it was once for all time.
d) It was substitutionary, once for all the righteous substituted for the unrighteous. He died to take our punishment.
e) It was reconciling. It made the enemies of God the family of God and allowed us to experience God’s love. It was an unparalleled and purposeful suffering of one who was innocent.
CHRIST PREACHED AND WITNESSED Matthew 4:23
He preached in the Jews’ synagogues. He preached throughout his life. Peter takes this up. Who did he preach to? Who were these spirits in prison? There are a number of possibilities – let’s examine them in turn:
a) Christ descended into the abode of the dead where their spirits were imprisoned. There is a problem: why this group of unbelievers? They had 120 years of preaching from Noah. This idea is not acceptable.
b) Christ proclaimed His victory to the spirits, who cohabited with women in Noah’s day. This is supposedly supported from Genesis 6 and Jude 6. This is a very tentative interpretation of these passages. It is out of context – what is it to do with suffering?
c) Christ preached, at his death, in his human soul, in a place called ‘Limbus Patrum’. This is Roman Catholic teaching on purgatory, where else does Scripture support this teaching? It is downright dangerous, you can be prayed out of Hell.
d) Christ preached at Pentecost by his Spirit, he spoke to men bound by sin. Augustine, Edward Clowney and Norman Hopkins (this preacher) hold to this view. In the Spirit Jesus preached through Noah to the disobedient people of Noah’s day, they are now ‘on remand’ awaiting the judgement day. This fits the context of the passage. There were many ‘Christophenes’ – appearances of the pre-incarnate Christ – in the Old Testament. Many people refused to listen to Noah and they perished. Only 8 persons were saved – a tiny minority as believers were in Peter’s day. Today we are as today. We are to be witnesses as Noah was. Christ speaks through us.
e) Christ preached by His Spirit through Noah to the people of his day. This is the view of Augustine. This view assures us of the greatness of Christ. It is better to obey him and suffer than to disobey and be cast into the inescapable prison. This tells us it is no disadvantage to be a small rejected minority.
CHRIST ROSE FROM THE DEAD
Jesus rose to bring salvation. No one took Noah seriously. Noah and the ark explain the great salvation Christ brings. The water brought judgement, Noah’s family was saved through water which destroyed those not in the ark. The water only ‘saved’ them because they were already in the ark. Baptism by itself cannot literally save anyone. Baptism is pledging allegiance to Christ. It is crucially important. By a pledge he means the promise believers make to stay in the fellowship of the church all their lives. In Peter’s day people seem to have made a pledge before they were baptised. Peter may be referring to this. It was a sign. The act of baptism is seen in Islamic countries as a sign of becoming a Christian, it can bring persecution down on believers. As we obey like this we attain deeper peace with God. We can know dark times but we can know this peace as we obey him.
CHRIST ASCENDED – verse 22
The right hand is the place of honour and authority. Jesus stands at God the Father’s right hand. Believers and everyone else are lined up under him. We worship the victor. Jesus is the victor. Noah survived, Jesus ascended and was vindicated as we shall be. Christians need to remember both the humiliation and the exaltation of Christ. Under girding everything we do and suffer is the suffering and resurrection of Christ. We have all we need from Christ if we are believers if we trust him.
Christ’s sufferings were relevant to the people Peter was writing to. Christ’s unjust suffering resulted in witness and vindication through his resurrection and ascension, like Noah. Noah bore witness to a hostile world, he had to put up with ridicule. Peter told his readers to endure and witness by baptism. The detail is very complex. This is a hard passage to interpret and apply. Luther said he wasn’t sure what it meant. ‘we may not be able to determine with absolute certainty who these spirits in prison are, and when, and where, and how, and for what purpose, Christ went and preached to them, but whatever opinion we adopt as most probable, no Christian doctrine or duty is affected by it.
HOW DO WE FACE DIFFICULT PASSAGES?
a) Know we are in good company. 1 Peter 1:10, 2 Peter 3:14-16 The prophets searched eagerly and tried to understand. 2 Peter 3:ll – l8, Paul wrote things that Peter found hard to understand. His letters were often distorted.
b) We cannot have a satisfactory solution for all. The tough parts of the Bible remind us we cannot fathom the mind of God, that we are ignorant and fallible. We do not need to know everything.
c) Problem passages are not the basis for novelty. We must not use isolated passages for new teaching. We need matters supported by other passages. This can lead to bizarre doctrines if we do not follow this rule.
d) Difficult texts need broad historical acceptance. 2 Peter 2:20. The church developed over 2000 years. It is the result of godly learning and study. We must learn from this and ensure that teachings conform to all of God’s word.
e) We should not be overly assertive about conclusions. We must accept it when other believers do not accept what we say. We must never make isolated reading a test of orthodoxy.
f) It is foolish to be obsessed with the gnats of the texts and thus miss the camel. Some like solving problems and miss the main lessons. We are called to understand the great, basic, foundational teachings.
g) See if there are any parallel or similar passages. Do they give the key to the difficult passages.
h) Know the issues, the options and choose what be fits the context, the argument of the book and biblical theology.
CHRIST DIED AND SUFFERED.
The letter is about dealing with difficult times. Jesus the greatest, most loving, caring, truthful, holy man that ever lived suffered unjustly. He was vindicated and sat at God’s right hand. So we will be vindicated if we live as God says out of love for him and our brothers and sisters and we suffer for him. How did he suffer?
a) It was a horrible death, it was dreadful and brutal, he suffered in his soul.
b) It was sacrificial, it was for our sins.
c) It was unrepeatable, it was once for all time.
d) It was substitutionary, once for all the righteous substituted for the unrighteous. He died to take our punishment.
e) It was reconciling. It made the enemies of God the family of God and allowed us to experience God’s love. It was an unparalleled and purposeful suffering of one who was innocent.
CHRIST PREACHED AND WITNESSED Matthew 4:23
He preached in the Jews’ synagogues. He preached throughout his life. Peter takes this up. Who did he preach to? Who were these spirits in prison? There are a number of possibilities – let’s examine them in turn:
a) Christ descended into the abode of the dead where their spirits were imprisoned. There is a problem: why this group of unbelievers? They had 120 years of preaching from Noah. This idea is not acceptable.
b) Christ proclaimed His victory to the spirits, who cohabited with women in Noah’s day. This is supposedly supported from Genesis 6 and Jude 6. This is a very tentative interpretation of these passages. It is out of context – what is it to do with suffering?
c) Christ preached, at his death, in his human soul, in a place called ‘Limbus Patrum’. This is Roman Catholic teaching on purgatory, where else does Scripture support this teaching? It is downright dangerous, you can be prayed out of Hell.
d) Christ preached at Pentecost by his Spirit, he spoke to men bound by sin. Augustine, Edward Clowney and Norman Hopkins (this preacher) hold to this view. In the Spirit Jesus preached through Noah to the disobedient people of Noah’s day, they are now ‘on remand’ awaiting the judgement day. This fits the context of the passage. There were many ‘Christophenes’ – appearances of the pre-incarnate Christ – in the Old Testament. Many people refused to listen to Noah and they perished. Only 8 persons were saved – a tiny minority as believers were in Peter’s day. Today we are as today. We are to be witnesses as Noah was. Christ speaks through us.
e) Christ preached by His Spirit through Noah to the people of his day. This is the view of Augustine. This view assures us of the greatness of Christ. It is better to obey him and suffer than to disobey and be cast into the inescapable prison. This tells us it is no disadvantage to be a small rejected minority.
CHRIST ROSE FROM THE DEAD
Jesus rose to bring salvation. No one took Noah seriously. Noah and the ark explain the great salvation Christ brings. The water brought judgement, Noah’s family was saved through water which destroyed those not in the ark. The water only ‘saved’ them because they were already in the ark. Baptism by itself cannot literally save anyone. Baptism is pledging allegiance to Christ. It is crucially important. By a pledge he means the promise believers make to stay in the fellowship of the church all their lives. In Peter’s day people seem to have made a pledge before they were baptised. Peter may be referring to this. It was a sign. The act of baptism is seen in Islamic countries as a sign of becoming a Christian, it can bring persecution down on believers. As we obey like this we attain deeper peace with God. We can know dark times but we can know this peace as we obey him.
CHRIST ASCENDED – verse 22
The right hand is the place of honour and authority. Jesus stands at God the Father’s right hand. Believers and everyone else are lined up under him. We worship the victor. Jesus is the victor. Noah survived, Jesus ascended and was vindicated as we shall be. Christians need to remember both the humiliation and the exaltation of Christ. Under girding everything we do and suffer is the suffering and resurrection of Christ. We have all we need from Christ if we are believers if we trust him.
But God remembered Noah
It could not have been easy to be shut up inside the ark. Did Noah get anxious as the months went by? Do trials make you fret? The two most important things in our lives are that God remembers us and we must remember God constantly. The sea can be a very lonely place, drifting with no land in sight. The rain had stopped and Noah had heard nothing from God for months. He was shut up inside the ark with his menagerie.
THE LORD REMEMBERED NOAH
a) He kept his promise. Remembered is a charming way of saying God thought constantly about them. God is a covenant keeping God. God is a promise keeper. All through the Bible God makes and keeps promises - see Genesis 19:29. Genesis 30:22 – he made promises to the patriarchs. God is faithful and he will never let us down. We often fear being let down or being forgotten. Little children prod their parents to keep promises. God does need reminders. See Psalm 42:9 to 10. We can think he has forgotten us or he is not working quickly enough, but he will never take his love or fail to keep his promises. We may seem drifting on the sea of life. God will act on our behalf in His time. Nehemiah wanted God to remember him. Wang Ming-Dao, the Chinese pastor was imprisoned for over twenty years and he only came out when he was 80, he lived to see God’s blessings on the work he had done in his prime.
b) He sent a wind, Psalm 78:26. Psalm 135 tells us God is in control of the wind and rain. Men cannot control the climate, only God can. God ended the flooding, he turned off the rain and the underground flow. God will work in due time, he may work slowly but he will bring his will to pass in his chosen ways. He rescued Israel through the Red Sea by sending a wind to dry up th sea. God responds to our to our helplessness in ways we can scarcely imagine. The word for wind is the same as it is for Spirit. He can change minds and attitudes. God responds to our helplessness.
c) He gave Noah signs. Noah has to wait even after the ark has grounded. The raven and dove indicate the nature of Noah’s intelligence. The raven feeds on carrion and animals. The raven showed there was death. It was a useful dustman, it ate rotten flesh. It was considered unclean. The dove showed there was life when it brought the olive leaf (they survive underwater). When it did not return it showed there was food to eat. The dove was a little evangelist bringing the good news. It is an emblem of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit, by taking the form of a dove is the harbinger of good news, of a new creation. God still gives tokens of his grace today. He has ways of reassuring is that he remembers our distress, and is still working all things for good. The Spirit descended on Jesus at his baptism in the form of a dove. The birds were like signs to Noah. He wanted signs to show him what to do. God sends us signs to assure us he is with us. He can rebuke us through sermons or through reading his word, through a fellow believer or circumstances. These all reassure is about the way we should go. Some times our faith is weak and we wonder if he is with us – rest assured he is if we believe in him.
d) He spoke to Noah. It was probably the first time God had spoken to Noah audibly since this ordeal began. Noah had developed a pattern of obeying the Lord for 121 years, and he wasn’t about to change it. The Christian life is a pattern of obedience, a structured life, a life of obedience, a pattern of life. God had given Noah a job to do, his feelings did not matter. Do not doubt in the darkness what God has shown you in the light. Wait on the Lord and while you wait, obey what you know. Sometimes we have to venture without being 100% certain.
NOAH REMEMBERED GOD
God remembered Noah and Noah remembered God. Those that remember God, shall certainly be remembered by Him. Noah did not go into a new like Adam did, it was a world where death was in evidence. Noah needed to get his priorities right.
a) He built an altar thankfully. This was the first mention of an altar. An altar is a place of slaughter. He built an altar to the Lord. It spoke of propitiation, gratitude and dedication. Clean animals were fit for eating and sacrifice to God. He slaughtered 1/7 of the clean animals. Sometimes animals were shared – part eaten and part burned. A burnt offering was totally consumed, and it was symbolic of total devotion, total dedication to the Lord. Noah recognized that he owed everything to the Lord. Jesus healed ten lepers. Leprosy is a terribly isolating disease. Yet only one came back to say thankyou to Jesus. We can be so blessed and we forget to say thankyou to God and acknowledge how wonderful God is. Noah went through a solemn ceremony in the midst of disaster. Ecclesiastes 12:1. If we remember God in our youth, we are less likely to forget him when we are old. Jeremiah 51:50. Remember who you are and whose you are. We need to seek his blessing while we can, when we are young and also when we are in the midst of trouble. It should be our motto for life – I will remember the Lord in all of my life.
b) He worshipped acceptably. God was pleased with what Noah did – verses 20 to 22. It was genuine and appropriate. God promised a consistent rotation of the earth and annual cycles. Noah didn’t understand how it worked, all he knew was that order was imposed on creation by the power and intelligence of God. Such a God was worthy of worship and awe. There is evidence here that in part, the flood was caused by an interruption in the rotation of the earth.
We can draw near to God because of the sacrifice that Jesus made.
THE LORD REMEMBERED NOAH
a) He kept his promise. Remembered is a charming way of saying God thought constantly about them. God is a covenant keeping God. God is a promise keeper. All through the Bible God makes and keeps promises - see Genesis 19:29. Genesis 30:22 – he made promises to the patriarchs. God is faithful and he will never let us down. We often fear being let down or being forgotten. Little children prod their parents to keep promises. God does need reminders. See Psalm 42:9 to 10. We can think he has forgotten us or he is not working quickly enough, but he will never take his love or fail to keep his promises. We may seem drifting on the sea of life. God will act on our behalf in His time. Nehemiah wanted God to remember him. Wang Ming-Dao, the Chinese pastor was imprisoned for over twenty years and he only came out when he was 80, he lived to see God’s blessings on the work he had done in his prime.
b) He sent a wind, Psalm 78:26. Psalm 135 tells us God is in control of the wind and rain. Men cannot control the climate, only God can. God ended the flooding, he turned off the rain and the underground flow. God will work in due time, he may work slowly but he will bring his will to pass in his chosen ways. He rescued Israel through the Red Sea by sending a wind to dry up th sea. God responds to our to our helplessness in ways we can scarcely imagine. The word for wind is the same as it is for Spirit. He can change minds and attitudes. God responds to our helplessness.
c) He gave Noah signs. Noah has to wait even after the ark has grounded. The raven and dove indicate the nature of Noah’s intelligence. The raven feeds on carrion and animals. The raven showed there was death. It was a useful dustman, it ate rotten flesh. It was considered unclean. The dove showed there was life when it brought the olive leaf (they survive underwater). When it did not return it showed there was food to eat. The dove was a little evangelist bringing the good news. It is an emblem of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit, by taking the form of a dove is the harbinger of good news, of a new creation. God still gives tokens of his grace today. He has ways of reassuring is that he remembers our distress, and is still working all things for good. The Spirit descended on Jesus at his baptism in the form of a dove. The birds were like signs to Noah. He wanted signs to show him what to do. God sends us signs to assure us he is with us. He can rebuke us through sermons or through reading his word, through a fellow believer or circumstances. These all reassure is about the way we should go. Some times our faith is weak and we wonder if he is with us – rest assured he is if we believe in him.
d) He spoke to Noah. It was probably the first time God had spoken to Noah audibly since this ordeal began. Noah had developed a pattern of obeying the Lord for 121 years, and he wasn’t about to change it. The Christian life is a pattern of obedience, a structured life, a life of obedience, a pattern of life. God had given Noah a job to do, his feelings did not matter. Do not doubt in the darkness what God has shown you in the light. Wait on the Lord and while you wait, obey what you know. Sometimes we have to venture without being 100% certain.
NOAH REMEMBERED GOD
God remembered Noah and Noah remembered God. Those that remember God, shall certainly be remembered by Him. Noah did not go into a new like Adam did, it was a world where death was in evidence. Noah needed to get his priorities right.
a) He built an altar thankfully. This was the first mention of an altar. An altar is a place of slaughter. He built an altar to the Lord. It spoke of propitiation, gratitude and dedication. Clean animals were fit for eating and sacrifice to God. He slaughtered 1/7 of the clean animals. Sometimes animals were shared – part eaten and part burned. A burnt offering was totally consumed, and it was symbolic of total devotion, total dedication to the Lord. Noah recognized that he owed everything to the Lord. Jesus healed ten lepers. Leprosy is a terribly isolating disease. Yet only one came back to say thankyou to Jesus. We can be so blessed and we forget to say thankyou to God and acknowledge how wonderful God is. Noah went through a solemn ceremony in the midst of disaster. Ecclesiastes 12:1. If we remember God in our youth, we are less likely to forget him when we are old. Jeremiah 51:50. Remember who you are and whose you are. We need to seek his blessing while we can, when we are young and also when we are in the midst of trouble. It should be our motto for life – I will remember the Lord in all of my life.
b) He worshipped acceptably. God was pleased with what Noah did – verses 20 to 22. It was genuine and appropriate. God promised a consistent rotation of the earth and annual cycles. Noah didn’t understand how it worked, all he knew was that order was imposed on creation by the power and intelligence of God. Such a God was worthy of worship and awe. There is evidence here that in part, the flood was caused by an interruption in the rotation of the earth.
We can draw near to God because of the sacrifice that Jesus made.
Sunday 2 December 2007
When you suffer share your hope
The theme of this passage is the difficulties facing Christians in the Roman World of Peter’s time. Even though I and you have not suffered greatly for our faith, we all have faced the fear of witnessing to people about the Lord. For Christians of the past to suffer was not unusual. For the first 300 years no legal protection was available. Today in Iraq and the Islamic world, China and India, life for Christians is very difficult. For 200 million Christians, their lives are in serious difficulties, 500 million more face opposition. Where there is a great deal of opposition and hardship, very often people are converted. Why should this be? We all face the fear of witnessing.
A POSSIBLE OUTCOME WHEN WE DO GOOD.
All Christians are eager to do good. Few would normally harm a believer who does good. These believers are gracious and kind. This is a general principle, Proverbs 16:7. It does have exceptions but is a general maxim. An upright life is a peaceful life.
A SECOND OUTCOME WHEN WE DO GOOD.
A zeal for goodness isn’t a guarantee against persecution. When our life is above reproach we will still have critics. Jesus experienced this, he suffered hostility to the point of death.
WE OUGHT TO REMEMBER WE ARE BLESSED. Matthew 5:10
A life pleasing to God will receive an eternal reward. To be blessed is be privileged or honoured. Peter reminds us, don’t fear those who can only kill the body but fear him who can kill body and soul in hell/.
4. WE OUGHT NOT TO LET OPPOSITION ALARM US–Isaiah 8:12
God plus one is a majority – always. Hebrews 13:5-6. Isaiah spoke to a frightened people, Israel, who faced a vastly greater super power, Assyria. Isaiah said do not fear the mighty army before you. They had no allies. Isaiah was proved right. When we feel surrounded and afraid and do not seem to have a way to escape, we have God on our side. Nothing can separate us from the Love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Polycarp, Luther and others stood alone against tyranny knowing God was on their side. Opposition need not be personal, it can be on TV, the press etc.
WE OUGHT TO REVERENCE GOD ABOVE ALL Isaiah 8:12-3
Set apart = sanctify = hallowed. These are all the same word in Greek. It should be determined in our hearts. Fear Christ as God above anyone who threatens to harm us. If we belong to God we can entrust our future to him. He will return and crush all opposition.
WE OUGHT TO BE READY TO ANSWER QUESTIONS
‘Answer’ is the Greek, is where we get the English ‘apology’, this apologia, a legal defence in a court room. A lawyer presents facts in a court room. It implies a thoughtful, logical presentation of the facts.
a) Answer readily. The church has people who have gifts to reason and confirm the face, for example, C S Lewis, Josh McDowell etc. We use the term ‘apologist’ to describe people like John Blanchard. He exposes the folly of an unbelieving life. A believer should be ready to explain about why they hope in God and their faith. It is not just the more able presenters. We may speak informally to people we meet. Peter had become frightened in the court yard when challenged by a little girl, he remembered he had not been ready to answer and he answered with oaths and curses.
b) Answer those who ask. If people ask it implies they have noticed something, prompted by our own testimony, or issues in the news. We may have hope and joy, even when we are mistreated. They may ask ‘why are you different?’ we cannot have Christ living within us without some of him leaking out. We feel afraid of saying the wrong thing, of not getting it right or not having the right answers. We ought to not be afraid of admitting we need look things up. But the Lord will help us. We may need to prepare to do it. The gospel message is simple. Try the 3 Rs: RUIN – mankind has a bad heart. REDEMPTION – God sent his son into the world to save sinners. REGENERATION – we live a new life. People’s objections are often simply a diversion. We need to think carefully about how we approach others. Our answer may have to do with the trustworthiness of the New Testament; or the self-authenticating teaching of Jesus; or the evidence of Christ’s resurrection and the fact of changed lives, or what a wonderful difference the Lord Jesus has made to our lives, but be ready.
c) Answer wisely. Show gentleness and respect in our approach. Colossians 4:5-6 We must be winsome if would win some. We must be careful how we speak, we can win the argument but lose the person. We can never bully people into the kingdom. We must respect people so they will respect the message. We need to silently pray for the person as we speak. People may know we are a Christian, hear we are a Christian or see we are and they ask us.
WE NEED TO KEEP A GOOD CONSCIENCE.
A clear conscience is essential for effective witness. A conscience is not an infallible guide, it needs to be exposed to God’s word in order to be kept sharp. We need to live beyond reproach. We need to live carefully at all times and pray that we can overcome our sin.
8. PETER SAYS ACCEPT GOD’S WILL
If our life belongs to Christ, nothing can take God’s love away from you. It may be that we do what is right and it gets us into difficulties as people turn against us. If we experience opposition because of our faith, it is evidence that we belong to him and we will go to Heaven to be with him. Christ will be will be glorified if we live this way.
A POSSIBLE OUTCOME WHEN WE DO GOOD.
All Christians are eager to do good. Few would normally harm a believer who does good. These believers are gracious and kind. This is a general principle, Proverbs 16:7. It does have exceptions but is a general maxim. An upright life is a peaceful life.
A SECOND OUTCOME WHEN WE DO GOOD.
A zeal for goodness isn’t a guarantee against persecution. When our life is above reproach we will still have critics. Jesus experienced this, he suffered hostility to the point of death.
WE OUGHT TO REMEMBER WE ARE BLESSED. Matthew 5:10
A life pleasing to God will receive an eternal reward. To be blessed is be privileged or honoured. Peter reminds us, don’t fear those who can only kill the body but fear him who can kill body and soul in hell/.
4. WE OUGHT NOT TO LET OPPOSITION ALARM US–Isaiah 8:12
God plus one is a majority – always. Hebrews 13:5-6. Isaiah spoke to a frightened people, Israel, who faced a vastly greater super power, Assyria. Isaiah said do not fear the mighty army before you. They had no allies. Isaiah was proved right. When we feel surrounded and afraid and do not seem to have a way to escape, we have God on our side. Nothing can separate us from the Love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Polycarp, Luther and others stood alone against tyranny knowing God was on their side. Opposition need not be personal, it can be on TV, the press etc.
WE OUGHT TO REVERENCE GOD ABOVE ALL Isaiah 8:12-3
Set apart = sanctify = hallowed. These are all the same word in Greek. It should be determined in our hearts. Fear Christ as God above anyone who threatens to harm us. If we belong to God we can entrust our future to him. He will return and crush all opposition.
WE OUGHT TO BE READY TO ANSWER QUESTIONS
‘Answer’ is the Greek, is where we get the English ‘apology’, this apologia, a legal defence in a court room. A lawyer presents facts in a court room. It implies a thoughtful, logical presentation of the facts.
a) Answer readily. The church has people who have gifts to reason and confirm the face, for example, C S Lewis, Josh McDowell etc. We use the term ‘apologist’ to describe people like John Blanchard. He exposes the folly of an unbelieving life. A believer should be ready to explain about why they hope in God and their faith. It is not just the more able presenters. We may speak informally to people we meet. Peter had become frightened in the court yard when challenged by a little girl, he remembered he had not been ready to answer and he answered with oaths and curses.
b) Answer those who ask. If people ask it implies they have noticed something, prompted by our own testimony, or issues in the news. We may have hope and joy, even when we are mistreated. They may ask ‘why are you different?’ we cannot have Christ living within us without some of him leaking out. We feel afraid of saying the wrong thing, of not getting it right or not having the right answers. We ought to not be afraid of admitting we need look things up. But the Lord will help us. We may need to prepare to do it. The gospel message is simple. Try the 3 Rs: RUIN – mankind has a bad heart. REDEMPTION – God sent his son into the world to save sinners. REGENERATION – we live a new life. People’s objections are often simply a diversion. We need to think carefully about how we approach others. Our answer may have to do with the trustworthiness of the New Testament; or the self-authenticating teaching of Jesus; or the evidence of Christ’s resurrection and the fact of changed lives, or what a wonderful difference the Lord Jesus has made to our lives, but be ready.
c) Answer wisely. Show gentleness and respect in our approach. Colossians 4:5-6 We must be winsome if would win some. We must be careful how we speak, we can win the argument but lose the person. We can never bully people into the kingdom. We must respect people so they will respect the message. We need to silently pray for the person as we speak. People may know we are a Christian, hear we are a Christian or see we are and they ask us.
WE NEED TO KEEP A GOOD CONSCIENCE.
A clear conscience is essential for effective witness. A conscience is not an infallible guide, it needs to be exposed to God’s word in order to be kept sharp. We need to live beyond reproach. We need to live carefully at all times and pray that we can overcome our sin.
8. PETER SAYS ACCEPT GOD’S WILL
If our life belongs to Christ, nothing can take God’s love away from you. It may be that we do what is right and it gets us into difficulties as people turn against us. If we experience opposition because of our faith, it is evidence that we belong to him and we will go to Heaven to be with him. Christ will be will be glorified if we live this way.
The Ark in the flood
Genesis 6:11 to 7: 16
Many people know of the Flood, the Ark is a popular toy, but how did it happen and what are the spiritual lessons? Disasters capture the public imagination, blockbuster films are made like Titanic, Armageddon etc. There have been terrible tragedies all through history. 14 million died in a famine in China. There has been Pompeii, Krakatoa etc. we live in a world where there has been disasters. However, nothing compares to this. What is described in Genesis 6 to 9 is the greatest natural disaster in history.
1. WHY DID THE FLOOD COME? – verse 13
God declared something. He was horrified at what the world had become. God was going to cleanse the world, this is the language of a surgeon cleansing diseased flesh.
2. WHAT WAS THE ARK LIKE? - verse 14
It was just an enormous container. The word Ark is used twice, here and of the container Moses was put in. It was not a boat that needed power or that could be steered.
a) There is a patent design given – verse 15. It was long and narrow and stable. Studies show that it was incredibly stable and was difficult to capsize, it had 100,000 square feet of floor space. It was not until 1868 that a boat as big as this was built – the Great Eastern.
b) There is a promise given – verse 17. A solemn promise. Noah would be a new beginning, a second Adam.
c) There is a precise passenger’s roster – verse 19. It could hold 125,000 animals the size of a sheep. Large animals could be young or immature ones. People laugh at this, how could dinosaurs fit in. There are 18,000 species today, say 36,000 then allowing for extinctions. That is 72,000 creatures. Sheep are a good median size. Different breeds are often the results of intense inbreeding, like crossing dogs.
d) How could they all get on together on board? How do you catch wild animals? Animals migrate and sense danger. God can make animals obey his will, we do not know how. But animals do act in a particular way – like migration.
e) There is an explicit cargo list – verse 21 , eight people could have fed and watered 16,000 creatures. Many animals bodies shut down in winter, they hibernate due to fear sir get reduce the intake of food and water. Waste products could have accumulated beneath the animals. There are answers to how Noah dealt with the animals.
3. WHO WENT INTO THE ARK? – see Chapter 7.
Noah listened to God and obeyed him.
a) All who believed God. Christians are those who listen to God and obey him. Romans 10:17. Noah is a wonderful example of a believer. He trusted the invisible God more than what he saw, many people do not believe what God has said about the past and the future believe. People do not come to God for safety. Noah had the faith to swim against the stream. Our society is anti-Christian, it is against the Christian faith, it takes strength to swim against the tide.
b) Eight of Noah’s family close family – the number of the redeemed is going to be immeasurable, but only a minority at any one time. Christians may be a minority but they belong to the greatest kingdom on Earth.
4. HOW GREAT WAS THE FLOOD?
7: 11-12. It was universal, some say it was localised to the middle east. There are many ancient flood stories. Geologically, there is much evidence.
a) There was a release of the underground water. Possibly volcanic eruptions released water. The ocean floors moved up.
b) The other source of the water was ‘the windows of heaven’, it rained for 40 days and 40 nights continuously. The volcanic eruptions helped to cause this.
c) Where is the water now? In Psalm 104:4 we have a possible answer. The earth’s surface changed. If it were level, the world would be covered by water to a depth of 1.7 miles.
d) What is the evidence? On the tops of Everest are fossil layers. Mountains, landscape, fossil graveyards, coal seams, there is abundant global geological evidence for it. The Grand Canyon could have been formed in the floods. Animals entombed in ice, coal layers formed by compressed plants swept away by the flood. There are reasoned scientific evidences that confirm the Genesis account, that it is a sober account. Jesus and the Apostles testify to their belief in it.
5. HOW DOES THE BIBLE USE THIS EVENT TO TEACH?
Was it an extraordinary extravaganza of terror? No, we need to learn lessons from the man and the flood.
a) The Ark in the flood is a preview of the ultimate judgement when God sends Jesus as judge at the end of human history. Any humanitarian disaster should make us think one day we will all be judged. People tend to forget death is inevitable – Hebrews 9:27, this world decays – 2 Peter 3:7; judgement is coming to all – 2 Corinthians 5:10 and Matthew 25:3l-3, Acts l7:30. We like to see people receive justice and for people to be judged. The flood tells us God will act a judge on all people who have lived in the world. On the Titanic people thought they were on an unsinkable ship, they lived happy, carefree lives. The designers did not put enough life boats on and an iceberg did for them. Do we have a lifeboat.
b) The Ark in the flood is a figure of Christ. 1 Peter 3:20 speaks of Christ like an ark. Christ provides for our salvation. He is the only safety in judgement. We are secure in Him. We must come before it’s too late. We should be safe in Christ, our anchor will hold in the storms of life, in the moment of death and in the day of judgement. The only was we can be sure of getting to Heaven is to cling to the Lord Jesus, to enter his safe ark. God must deal with sin, he did it during the flood, he will do it on the day of judgement. Noah was safe in the ark. We can be safe in the Lord Jesus.
Many people know of the Flood, the Ark is a popular toy, but how did it happen and what are the spiritual lessons? Disasters capture the public imagination, blockbuster films are made like Titanic, Armageddon etc. There have been terrible tragedies all through history. 14 million died in a famine in China. There has been Pompeii, Krakatoa etc. we live in a world where there has been disasters. However, nothing compares to this. What is described in Genesis 6 to 9 is the greatest natural disaster in history.
1. WHY DID THE FLOOD COME? – verse 13
God declared something. He was horrified at what the world had become. God was going to cleanse the world, this is the language of a surgeon cleansing diseased flesh.
2. WHAT WAS THE ARK LIKE? - verse 14
It was just an enormous container. The word Ark is used twice, here and of the container Moses was put in. It was not a boat that needed power or that could be steered.
a) There is a patent design given – verse 15. It was long and narrow and stable. Studies show that it was incredibly stable and was difficult to capsize, it had 100,000 square feet of floor space. It was not until 1868 that a boat as big as this was built – the Great Eastern.
b) There is a promise given – verse 17. A solemn promise. Noah would be a new beginning, a second Adam.
c) There is a precise passenger’s roster – verse 19. It could hold 125,000 animals the size of a sheep. Large animals could be young or immature ones. People laugh at this, how could dinosaurs fit in. There are 18,000 species today, say 36,000 then allowing for extinctions. That is 72,000 creatures. Sheep are a good median size. Different breeds are often the results of intense inbreeding, like crossing dogs.
d) How could they all get on together on board? How do you catch wild animals? Animals migrate and sense danger. God can make animals obey his will, we do not know how. But animals do act in a particular way – like migration.
e) There is an explicit cargo list – verse 21 , eight people could have fed and watered 16,000 creatures. Many animals bodies shut down in winter, they hibernate due to fear sir get reduce the intake of food and water. Waste products could have accumulated beneath the animals. There are answers to how Noah dealt with the animals.
3. WHO WENT INTO THE ARK? – see Chapter 7.
Noah listened to God and obeyed him.
a) All who believed God. Christians are those who listen to God and obey him. Romans 10:17. Noah is a wonderful example of a believer. He trusted the invisible God more than what he saw, many people do not believe what God has said about the past and the future believe. People do not come to God for safety. Noah had the faith to swim against the stream. Our society is anti-Christian, it is against the Christian faith, it takes strength to swim against the tide.
b) Eight of Noah’s family close family – the number of the redeemed is going to be immeasurable, but only a minority at any one time. Christians may be a minority but they belong to the greatest kingdom on Earth.
4. HOW GREAT WAS THE FLOOD?
7: 11-12. It was universal, some say it was localised to the middle east. There are many ancient flood stories. Geologically, there is much evidence.
a) There was a release of the underground water. Possibly volcanic eruptions released water. The ocean floors moved up.
b) The other source of the water was ‘the windows of heaven’, it rained for 40 days and 40 nights continuously. The volcanic eruptions helped to cause this.
c) Where is the water now? In Psalm 104:4 we have a possible answer. The earth’s surface changed. If it were level, the world would be covered by water to a depth of 1.7 miles.
d) What is the evidence? On the tops of Everest are fossil layers. Mountains, landscape, fossil graveyards, coal seams, there is abundant global geological evidence for it. The Grand Canyon could have been formed in the floods. Animals entombed in ice, coal layers formed by compressed plants swept away by the flood. There are reasoned scientific evidences that confirm the Genesis account, that it is a sober account. Jesus and the Apostles testify to their belief in it.
5. HOW DOES THE BIBLE USE THIS EVENT TO TEACH?
Was it an extraordinary extravaganza of terror? No, we need to learn lessons from the man and the flood.
a) The Ark in the flood is a preview of the ultimate judgement when God sends Jesus as judge at the end of human history. Any humanitarian disaster should make us think one day we will all be judged. People tend to forget death is inevitable – Hebrews 9:27, this world decays – 2 Peter 3:7; judgement is coming to all – 2 Corinthians 5:10 and Matthew 25:3l-3, Acts l7:30. We like to see people receive justice and for people to be judged. The flood tells us God will act a judge on all people who have lived in the world. On the Titanic people thought they were on an unsinkable ship, they lived happy, carefree lives. The designers did not put enough life boats on and an iceberg did for them. Do we have a lifeboat.
b) The Ark in the flood is a figure of Christ. 1 Peter 3:20 speaks of Christ like an ark. Christ provides for our salvation. He is the only safety in judgement. We are secure in Him. We must come before it’s too late. We should be safe in Christ, our anchor will hold in the storms of life, in the moment of death and in the day of judgement. The only was we can be sure of getting to Heaven is to cling to the Lord Jesus, to enter his safe ark. God must deal with sin, he did it during the flood, he will do it on the day of judgement. Noah was safe in the ark. We can be safe in the Lord Jesus.
Sunday 25 November 2007
Living the Good Life, husbands and all
For most in today’s post-modern society, pursuit of the good life means primarily chasing after objects of self gratification. Peter here instructs husbands and then gives all believers a general exhortation, which will open them to the life of blessing.
A GOOD HUSBAND DESCRIBED – verse 7
There is six times as much said to wives as there is to husbands.
a) Show consideration – this speaks of being sensitive to the wife’s deepest physical and emotional needs, see Ephesians 5:25 – 28. He is to consider her spiritual well being. To know each other requires time, honesty, openness, patience, sensitivity and love.
b) Show courtesy. A wife is like a porcelain vase, which is of great value yet must be handled gently and with honour.
c) Show companionship. Intimate companionship in marriage, the richest blessing of this life, was a foreign concept in Peter’s day. Even richer is the privilege of those who have been called together into a joint partnership of fellowship with God and together enjoy the privileges of eternal life. Peter seems to assume that they will pray together. If all is not well in the relationship, then their prayer life will be affected. The thing that hinders prayers is sin, especially being unforgiving.
A GOOD LIFE DESCRIBED – verses 8 and 9
a) Show a good attitude, verse 8.
(i) Live in harmony with one another. Acts 2:1 and Ephesians 4:13. We are in tune with the Lord, we are in harmony with our family in Christ. When we are in disharmony, sin is present.
(ii) Live in sympathy for one another. There are always people who are hurting and who need our sympathy and compassion. 1 Corinthians 12:26, Romans 12:15 and Galatians 6:2. Like Christ, the sympathetic high priest, we must share in the feelings of others.
(iii) Live in love as brothers. We say ‘blood is thicker than water’, suggesting the tie which holds a family together. Believers have a similar link, but through blood which is far more precious.
(iv) Live in compassionate love. Our hearts need to be broken with the things that break the heart of our Lord. The root of the word is inner organs of the body. It speaks of innermost feelings. In this again our Lord set us a wonderful example – Matthew 9:36, Ephesians 4:32.
(v) Live in humility. This word means literally to be ‘friendly of mind’ or to be ‘courteous in our attitude’.
b) Show a good response – be a blessing, verse 9. We who belong to Christ and are possessed by Him should bring blessing wherever we go and through whatever we do. Our natural response is to retaliate – Luke 6:28. Peter says, don’t respond to abuse with more abuse, respond with kind words. The New English Bible translate thus: ‘retaliate with blessing’. What a marvellous ministry, God has entrusted to us. Peter reminds us that when we bring blessings to others, we are blessed ourselves. That is a wonderful way to live. This is how Christians ‘get even’.
A GOOD LIFE REWARDED – verses 10 to 12
Peter sums up the whole with a quote from Psalm 34. It enforces the truth that the path to the good life is practical godliness. It is turning form sinful inclinations to walking in fellowship with God. It concerns our tongues, it concerns our actions and it concerns our attitudes. Romans 12:18, 14:19. We are to take the initiative to do all we can to restore strained relationships. It’s always more of a hassle to that than it is to let it slide. We hope that time will heal and its humbling to admit wrongs. But healthy Christian-like relationships are important because prayers are hindered if we are not sensitive and obedient. There is a way to live that hinders and a way to live that helps prayers.
CONCLUSION
Our responsibility is to please the Lord by doing good in our walk and talk. He is responsible to protect us and to answer our prayers. The world’s view of ‘good times’ will be different to the view which God has. The joys of lives in Christ are maximised when believers are united in truth and life, peaceful, gracious, sensitive, compassionate and humble like their saviour.
A GOOD HUSBAND DESCRIBED – verse 7
There is six times as much said to wives as there is to husbands.
a) Show consideration – this speaks of being sensitive to the wife’s deepest physical and emotional needs, see Ephesians 5:25 – 28. He is to consider her spiritual well being. To know each other requires time, honesty, openness, patience, sensitivity and love.
b) Show courtesy. A wife is like a porcelain vase, which is of great value yet must be handled gently and with honour.
c) Show companionship. Intimate companionship in marriage, the richest blessing of this life, was a foreign concept in Peter’s day. Even richer is the privilege of those who have been called together into a joint partnership of fellowship with God and together enjoy the privileges of eternal life. Peter seems to assume that they will pray together. If all is not well in the relationship, then their prayer life will be affected. The thing that hinders prayers is sin, especially being unforgiving.
A GOOD LIFE DESCRIBED – verses 8 and 9
a) Show a good attitude, verse 8.
(i) Live in harmony with one another. Acts 2:1 and Ephesians 4:13. We are in tune with the Lord, we are in harmony with our family in Christ. When we are in disharmony, sin is present.
(ii) Live in sympathy for one another. There are always people who are hurting and who need our sympathy and compassion. 1 Corinthians 12:26, Romans 12:15 and Galatians 6:2. Like Christ, the sympathetic high priest, we must share in the feelings of others.
(iii) Live in love as brothers. We say ‘blood is thicker than water’, suggesting the tie which holds a family together. Believers have a similar link, but through blood which is far more precious.
(iv) Live in compassionate love. Our hearts need to be broken with the things that break the heart of our Lord. The root of the word is inner organs of the body. It speaks of innermost feelings. In this again our Lord set us a wonderful example – Matthew 9:36, Ephesians 4:32.
(v) Live in humility. This word means literally to be ‘friendly of mind’ or to be ‘courteous in our attitude’.
b) Show a good response – be a blessing, verse 9. We who belong to Christ and are possessed by Him should bring blessing wherever we go and through whatever we do. Our natural response is to retaliate – Luke 6:28. Peter says, don’t respond to abuse with more abuse, respond with kind words. The New English Bible translate thus: ‘retaliate with blessing’. What a marvellous ministry, God has entrusted to us. Peter reminds us that when we bring blessings to others, we are blessed ourselves. That is a wonderful way to live. This is how Christians ‘get even’.
A GOOD LIFE REWARDED – verses 10 to 12
Peter sums up the whole with a quote from Psalm 34. It enforces the truth that the path to the good life is practical godliness. It is turning form sinful inclinations to walking in fellowship with God. It concerns our tongues, it concerns our actions and it concerns our attitudes. Romans 12:18, 14:19. We are to take the initiative to do all we can to restore strained relationships. It’s always more of a hassle to that than it is to let it slide. We hope that time will heal and its humbling to admit wrongs. But healthy Christian-like relationships are important because prayers are hindered if we are not sensitive and obedient. There is a way to live that hinders and a way to live that helps prayers.
CONCLUSION
Our responsibility is to please the Lord by doing good in our walk and talk. He is responsible to protect us and to answer our prayers. The world’s view of ‘good times’ will be different to the view which God has. The joys of lives in Christ are maximised when believers are united in truth and life, peaceful, gracious, sensitive, compassionate and humble like their saviour.
The Local Church
Titus Chapter l
Can we give thanks for our local church? Do we care for it, are we involved in it or are we just spectators? Titus has 3 chapters. The first chapter concerned with congregational life, it leads to the second on the family and the third which is about social or public life. If we get the church life right everything will get right. A healthy local church life is vital..
Titus is first mentioned in Galatians 2 in the gentile controversy. He was loved by Paul as a fellow believer.
Paul gave him a 3 fold task:
l. To appoint reliable elders
2. To overcome oppositions
3. Teach sound doctrine.
In verse 5 he was told to straighten out what was left unfinished and appoint elders. What would Paul say we need straightening out? In verse lO we are told this is not easy. Paul got verbally and physically abused by the rebellious people. These people need silencing not tolerating. They need throwing out to stop people being ruined.
l. THE CHARACTER OF AN ELDER OR PASTOR. The word elder comes from the word for old age. They need experience but age is not a problem. Young and old should be equally valued.
l Timothy 3:6 - an overseer should not be a recent convert, it is the stage they are at that matters, they need experience. Lots of people are under pressure but a pastor has spiritual responsibilities. He is not the boss of the Church, Christ is, but the pastor is responsible for their oversight. The pastor must seek help from God - Hebrews l3:7. They must give account to God. Today authority figures are seen as figures to be shot at, ministers need to realise they can be lied to, rejected, derided, deceived, physically and verbally assaulted and much more. It is the greatest task in the church despite all of this. To know someone is saved causes the greatest euphoria, it is wonderful. To have people saved under your ministry mean we meet them in eternity. The elder must give account to God. What are their motives? Do we seek God's calling? Why do we seek to do it, for good motives or bad?
What if they sin or fail? It can affect the church and drag people down. Verse 6, the elder must be blameless (not sinless or there could never be any pastors or preachers), it means free of blame or blemishes. It is a great responsibility. Paul alludes to the present character - I Corinthians 6. What he is now not what he was. The glory of the Gospel is that sinners can be washed from their sin. Whatever lapses he had, the pastor must not have two wives. He must not put one of them away, he simply cannot be an elder.
A pastor should seek to be fruitful in his ministry. Titus is told to straighten out the church. The pastor's children should believe and not be open to the charge of being wild or disobedient. They do not have to be born again but be faithful - l Timothy 3:5 - the family should be well managed, the children should be managed in spite of their outward behaviour. Verse 7 - he is entrusted with God's word, he is trusted so he should be blameless, he should not be:
a) BOSSY or overbearing.
b) BAD TEMPERED. Proverbs l5:l8 - he must be patient and have plenty of it. A patient pastor waits long term.
c) NOT A BINGE DRINKER - or intoxicated.
d) NOT A BRUISER or violent - physically or verbally.
e) NOT TO BE BENT - after money or dishonest gain. They must not preach for dishonest gain.
Rather he should be:
a) HOSPITABLE - it costs time and money. It should not be abused by people. People can be greedy and hospitality can be abused by lots of people. Hospitality is being devoted to kindness.
b) SEEK THE GOOD - verse 8, personally and corporately. Not a lover of sin.
c) SELF CONTROLLED
d) HOLD FIRMLY TO THE TRUTH.
e) ENCOURAGE OTHERS - preach sound teaching.
2. THE CHALLENGE OF THE PASTOR
There are many rebellious people, including many religious people - see verse l0. They ruin whole households by advocating works of one sort or another without faith. It can be 'positive thinking' - hedonism, not the salvation of souls. Is the pastor motivated by saving people from hell? Jesus' message was the next life not this world. Titus had to rebuke the Cretans - verse l2 to l4, rebuking is very hard. It must be based on the word of God and applied by the Spirit. We must ask 'why is he saying this?' It is for my good in this life and my soul in eternity. The sheep need to be protected from the enemies of the church - verses l5 and l6. There are many of them. The pastor must hold firm to the word of truth.
3. IT IS A LIFE OF GREAT PRIVILEGE
No one is interested in our eternal destiny except the true church of God. The pastor needs to care for people's eternal souls. Pastors have this great work. It is what the office of pastor or elder is all about, they are ordained for our eternal well being. They oversee God's work, they work for eternal dividends, not for the money. They aim to work for God's flock. If we do this we will have a good family life. The shepherd of this flock is preparing us for works of service.
Can we give thanks for our local church? Do we care for it, are we involved in it or are we just spectators? Titus has 3 chapters. The first chapter concerned with congregational life, it leads to the second on the family and the third which is about social or public life. If we get the church life right everything will get right. A healthy local church life is vital..
Titus is first mentioned in Galatians 2 in the gentile controversy. He was loved by Paul as a fellow believer.
Paul gave him a 3 fold task:
l. To appoint reliable elders
2. To overcome oppositions
3. Teach sound doctrine.
In verse 5 he was told to straighten out what was left unfinished and appoint elders. What would Paul say we need straightening out? In verse lO we are told this is not easy. Paul got verbally and physically abused by the rebellious people. These people need silencing not tolerating. They need throwing out to stop people being ruined.
l. THE CHARACTER OF AN ELDER OR PASTOR. The word elder comes from the word for old age. They need experience but age is not a problem. Young and old should be equally valued.
l Timothy 3:6 - an overseer should not be a recent convert, it is the stage they are at that matters, they need experience. Lots of people are under pressure but a pastor has spiritual responsibilities. He is not the boss of the Church, Christ is, but the pastor is responsible for their oversight. The pastor must seek help from God - Hebrews l3:7. They must give account to God. Today authority figures are seen as figures to be shot at, ministers need to realise they can be lied to, rejected, derided, deceived, physically and verbally assaulted and much more. It is the greatest task in the church despite all of this. To know someone is saved causes the greatest euphoria, it is wonderful. To have people saved under your ministry mean we meet them in eternity. The elder must give account to God. What are their motives? Do we seek God's calling? Why do we seek to do it, for good motives or bad?
What if they sin or fail? It can affect the church and drag people down. Verse 6, the elder must be blameless (not sinless or there could never be any pastors or preachers), it means free of blame or blemishes. It is a great responsibility. Paul alludes to the present character - I Corinthians 6. What he is now not what he was. The glory of the Gospel is that sinners can be washed from their sin. Whatever lapses he had, the pastor must not have two wives. He must not put one of them away, he simply cannot be an elder.
A pastor should seek to be fruitful in his ministry. Titus is told to straighten out the church. The pastor's children should believe and not be open to the charge of being wild or disobedient. They do not have to be born again but be faithful - l Timothy 3:5 - the family should be well managed, the children should be managed in spite of their outward behaviour. Verse 7 - he is entrusted with God's word, he is trusted so he should be blameless, he should not be:
a) BOSSY or overbearing.
b) BAD TEMPERED. Proverbs l5:l8 - he must be patient and have plenty of it. A patient pastor waits long term.
c) NOT A BINGE DRINKER - or intoxicated.
d) NOT A BRUISER or violent - physically or verbally.
e) NOT TO BE BENT - after money or dishonest gain. They must not preach for dishonest gain.
Rather he should be:
a) HOSPITABLE - it costs time and money. It should not be abused by people. People can be greedy and hospitality can be abused by lots of people. Hospitality is being devoted to kindness.
b) SEEK THE GOOD - verse 8, personally and corporately. Not a lover of sin.
c) SELF CONTROLLED
d) HOLD FIRMLY TO THE TRUTH.
e) ENCOURAGE OTHERS - preach sound teaching.
2. THE CHALLENGE OF THE PASTOR
There are many rebellious people, including many religious people - see verse l0. They ruin whole households by advocating works of one sort or another without faith. It can be 'positive thinking' - hedonism, not the salvation of souls. Is the pastor motivated by saving people from hell? Jesus' message was the next life not this world. Titus had to rebuke the Cretans - verse l2 to l4, rebuking is very hard. It must be based on the word of God and applied by the Spirit. We must ask 'why is he saying this?' It is for my good in this life and my soul in eternity. The sheep need to be protected from the enemies of the church - verses l5 and l6. There are many of them. The pastor must hold firm to the word of truth.
3. IT IS A LIFE OF GREAT PRIVILEGE
No one is interested in our eternal destiny except the true church of God. The pastor needs to care for people's eternal souls. Pastors have this great work. It is what the office of pastor or elder is all about, they are ordained for our eternal well being. They oversee God's work, they work for eternal dividends, not for the money. They aim to work for God's flock. If we do this we will have a good family life. The shepherd of this flock is preparing us for works of service.
Monday 19 November 2007
Christ's power
Matthew 14: 22 – 36
This comes after the feeding of the 5000. Christ is revealed as wonderful then and now.
This is about Jesus walking on the water, verses 22 to 33. it demonstrated the deity of Christ. We can appreciate what he did. He came to people in conflict between faith and unbelief. The disciples were with Jesus and watched and listened to him. Yet they were terrified by a storm. Peter asked Jesus to call him out of the boat, yet asked Jesus to save him. The faith that buoyed him up marries up with the fear that sank him down. Every Christian learns that there is no success without threatened failure. There was a storm here, of fear and of faith.
Why were the disciples in the storm? The lake was prone to storms, they were men who were used to storms. The storm was no accident. In Christ all things hold together, the storm was in God’s hands. The disciples were obedient disciples. Jesus made them get in and go ahead of him across the lake, they found themselves in a violent storm. Some troubles come on us because we deserve it – we are disobedient as Jonah was. Some storms come because we are faithful – criticism or persecution. Some come because of illness, we suffer doubts and confusion. In l Peter 4 we know if we are loyal to the Lord Jesus we will suffer tests and trials. The disciples knew they would have to face the storm.
Where was Jesus? What was he doing while they were suffering? He was watching over them. He had gone into the hills to pray. In Mark 6 we see he was watching over them, he could see they were struggling. He was praying for them because he was aware of their needs. We have a great High Priest who is aware of our needs. He knows our every need and he gives us what we need to face the fears of life when we ask of him in faith. He watches over us and prays for us in our ‘little boat.’
Jesus needed to be alone to pay. He needed to talk to his father, to tell him of his concerns and talk of the needs of his people. He waits until he intervenes, he waist until the storm has served his purpose – they would learn he was watching over them, the best time to teach them dependence on him. It came in the 4th watch, from 3 to 6, they were in the dark. There was the night and the storm, they had to come to an end of themselves. Do we lean too much on our own understanding? We need to come to an end of ourselves. Paul knew this and he was delivered by God. He drew near to them – verse 26. He came not as a ghost but as the Lord of power in omnipotence an d compassion. This is how he comes – in omnipotence as a sovereign protector. He is not an equal of Mohammed or Buddha. He is the great God who is over all
Who is Jesus? He is not just a Spirit being. He is all powerful. This is a picture of Jesus who is never far from us. He draws near us. He moves in a mysterious way, he cares for his people.
In the school of faith we graduate when our faith is no longer needed – in Heaven. Faith is not a leap in the dark or a bold action, it is based and rests on what God says in his word. When Jesus says to Peter ‘come’ faith responds in a sensible way. Faith is a sensible response to what Jesus says. If we do not do as he says we are insulting him because we are rejecting God’s word and offending him by what we say and do. Our faith must reach out as Peter’s did.
Jesus says those who do come to me in faith I will save. We must respond to him in faith unquestioningly trusting him, we have faith in him. Peter walked on the water, this shows how it is meant to be for us. We want to be like Jesus as a saved person. Spurgeon said faith likes to deal in great things, great projects, not in what we can do on our own. Faith is for the deep sea and fixes its compass on the stars – on the Lord Jesus where no human hand can help. How is our faith? We can recall those who had a vision for the planting of a church right here. That all the details were firm and put in place for it to grow. These believers acted in faith.
Where there is a collapse in faith we can find comfort here because Peter is like us all. When we look away from Jesus our faith is destroyed. When we look at the author of our faith all is well. When we look around we say ‘how will it all work out?’ we can look to him and will keep us all in the darkest days, he stills the storm within us. There is a 3 fold remedy. A plea for help – Lord save me, a response – the Lord helped him, the pronouncement of his word – oh ye of little faith, not mockery.
We can call out and the Lord meets our need – sometimes a word of rebuke. It calls forth a right response, the worship of the disciples. This is the right way forward for us when we have a crisis of faith. What do we think of Christ? Our culture dishonours Christ – people despise or devalue Christ very often. Jesus is often diminished by being compared to others.
Our confession of Jesus as Lord is the cornerstone of our faith. Do we believe him, honour him and do as he commands? Are we a disciple of him, under his tuition? As a Christian we want his mind to be our mind.
Is our priest who reconciles us to God? We need him to do this for us because he hates our sin and it must be punished in him – he offered an atonement for our sin, his own body offered on the cross. He is our priest between God and man.
Is he our king? Christ had a 3 fold office, prophet, priest and king. Does he rule over our lives in everything – our family, job, everything. Do we say ‘Lord rule over me.’ Our confession should be ‘Lord we know who you are, be our prophet, priest and king’, so walk in him.
This comes after the feeding of the 5000. Christ is revealed as wonderful then and now.
This is about Jesus walking on the water, verses 22 to 33. it demonstrated the deity of Christ. We can appreciate what he did. He came to people in conflict between faith and unbelief. The disciples were with Jesus and watched and listened to him. Yet they were terrified by a storm. Peter asked Jesus to call him out of the boat, yet asked Jesus to save him. The faith that buoyed him up marries up with the fear that sank him down. Every Christian learns that there is no success without threatened failure. There was a storm here, of fear and of faith.
Why were the disciples in the storm? The lake was prone to storms, they were men who were used to storms. The storm was no accident. In Christ all things hold together, the storm was in God’s hands. The disciples were obedient disciples. Jesus made them get in and go ahead of him across the lake, they found themselves in a violent storm. Some troubles come on us because we deserve it – we are disobedient as Jonah was. Some storms come because we are faithful – criticism or persecution. Some come because of illness, we suffer doubts and confusion. In l Peter 4 we know if we are loyal to the Lord Jesus we will suffer tests and trials. The disciples knew they would have to face the storm.
Where was Jesus? What was he doing while they were suffering? He was watching over them. He had gone into the hills to pray. In Mark 6 we see he was watching over them, he could see they were struggling. He was praying for them because he was aware of their needs. We have a great High Priest who is aware of our needs. He knows our every need and he gives us what we need to face the fears of life when we ask of him in faith. He watches over us and prays for us in our ‘little boat.’
Jesus needed to be alone to pay. He needed to talk to his father, to tell him of his concerns and talk of the needs of his people. He waits until he intervenes, he waist until the storm has served his purpose – they would learn he was watching over them, the best time to teach them dependence on him. It came in the 4th watch, from 3 to 6, they were in the dark. There was the night and the storm, they had to come to an end of themselves. Do we lean too much on our own understanding? We need to come to an end of ourselves. Paul knew this and he was delivered by God. He drew near to them – verse 26. He came not as a ghost but as the Lord of power in omnipotence an d compassion. This is how he comes – in omnipotence as a sovereign protector. He is not an equal of Mohammed or Buddha. He is the great God who is over all
Who is Jesus? He is not just a Spirit being. He is all powerful. This is a picture of Jesus who is never far from us. He draws near us. He moves in a mysterious way, he cares for his people.
In the school of faith we graduate when our faith is no longer needed – in Heaven. Faith is not a leap in the dark or a bold action, it is based and rests on what God says in his word. When Jesus says to Peter ‘come’ faith responds in a sensible way. Faith is a sensible response to what Jesus says. If we do not do as he says we are insulting him because we are rejecting God’s word and offending him by what we say and do. Our faith must reach out as Peter’s did.
Jesus says those who do come to me in faith I will save. We must respond to him in faith unquestioningly trusting him, we have faith in him. Peter walked on the water, this shows how it is meant to be for us. We want to be like Jesus as a saved person. Spurgeon said faith likes to deal in great things, great projects, not in what we can do on our own. Faith is for the deep sea and fixes its compass on the stars – on the Lord Jesus where no human hand can help. How is our faith? We can recall those who had a vision for the planting of a church right here. That all the details were firm and put in place for it to grow. These believers acted in faith.
Where there is a collapse in faith we can find comfort here because Peter is like us all. When we look away from Jesus our faith is destroyed. When we look at the author of our faith all is well. When we look around we say ‘how will it all work out?’ we can look to him and will keep us all in the darkest days, he stills the storm within us. There is a 3 fold remedy. A plea for help – Lord save me, a response – the Lord helped him, the pronouncement of his word – oh ye of little faith, not mockery.
We can call out and the Lord meets our need – sometimes a word of rebuke. It calls forth a right response, the worship of the disciples. This is the right way forward for us when we have a crisis of faith. What do we think of Christ? Our culture dishonours Christ – people despise or devalue Christ very often. Jesus is often diminished by being compared to others.
Our confession of Jesus as Lord is the cornerstone of our faith. Do we believe him, honour him and do as he commands? Are we a disciple of him, under his tuition? As a Christian we want his mind to be our mind.
Is our priest who reconciles us to God? We need him to do this for us because he hates our sin and it must be punished in him – he offered an atonement for our sin, his own body offered on the cross. He is our priest between God and man.
Is he our king? Christ had a 3 fold office, prophet, priest and king. Does he rule over our lives in everything – our family, job, everything. Do we say ‘Lord rule over me.’ Our confession should be ‘Lord we know who you are, be our prophet, priest and king’, so walk in him.
Sunday 18 November 2007
A gifted church
1 Peter 4
A blessed church has a global vision. We need to look also at ourselves. In verse l0 we are told ‘each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms. This verse is packed with challenge and clear instruction. Our church preaches the doctrines of grace, we are a Grace Church. This affects what is preached and what happens between members. The text is clear, ‘faithfully administering God’s grace’ – the grace comes through us to others. Each of us has a gift from God, we must use to see others blessed, see 1
Corinthians 12:4 to 11, there is a diversity of gifting, the gifts are a manifestation of the work of the Spirit, each is as the Spirit determines. Every member has a gift, some have more than one. We need to all use them. The manifold grace of God is revealed by this. Romans 12:6 to 8 refers to a diversity of gifting again. It reveals a spirit filled church when the gifts are being used.
We do not all have the same gifts and all are equally valuable. The manifold gift of God is a manifestation of the Spirit. All gifts are important. We must not down play them. All parts of the body are important – see 1 Corinthians 12:12 – 31. If one suffers, all suffers. If one part of the body is injured it diminishes the whole body. Some are multi-gifted, but we must use ours for the church to be whole. The church is likened to a building or plant. Ephesians 4:6 likens the church to a body and how it is supported by Christ growing in love.
Gifts are for use and not self importance – verse 10. It is not self importance but usefulness. We must steward the gifts God has given us. We are not expected to exercise another person’s gifts, we can’t do what we are not gifted to do. Pastors, elders and deacons have a divine blue print and we can be guilty of putting square pegs in round holes, they fail because they are not suited to the work.
Are our gifts recognised by ourselves and others? What can I do to help build the church? Hospitality can be offered and we can speak when we have the opportunity. It is practical, what CAN I do? And communicating – what can I say? How can I help to build up the church of God? We can talk a lot but not at the deep level that is needed to help others. There is a therapy in this to help others.
Are the gifts recognised by other people? To avoid either square pegs in round holes or people’s gifts not being recognised we can follow the volunteer principle, who will volunteer to help meet need or will we observe the church and ask people to step up and help. Will you think you will help? There are 3 argument for a truly grace church:
a) Motivational – verse 7, the end of all things is near, we live on the edge of eternity, time is short. We won’t have our responsibilities for very long, destruction of Jerusalem or the second coming or a short life span. We have a short time, do we live like that? If we want someone else to do it. We don’t know what tomorrow will bring. The whole of life is lived with this awareness, we have today, tomorrow is unknown, we must use our opportunities. When we stand before God in the last day we may have one regret, we didn’t do all we could.
b) Relational. It is not easy to serve others, however sweet life can be we have the little foxes who can spoil things. Above all, love each other deeply in deed, word and truth. We discover faults in ourselves and others, love covers over a multitude of sins. We must not have an unforgiving spirit or we will do more harm than good. The church is a community of love. We should trust and love each other. Do we do this? By love, people know we are his disciples. 1 Corinthians 13, if we do not have love it is worth nothing.
c) Elevational – see verse 11. Everything is done to the praise and glory of God. We should tell each other the very words of God. It puts duties to the very highest levels. We do things with the strength of God. What we do is not ‘to the best of my ability’ but with God’s strength. We need to make ourselves available to God. We need to seek to do more in the church and seek to see all we can do in the church – in the strength God provides. This cancels all excuses. ‘So that in all things God will be praised.’ Why do we exist, what is our primary duty? So that God’s name can be glorified. It is not duty but privilege. God is not praised through neglect or laziness. Why are we Christians? Because Christ died for us. Everything should focus on him. We act in His strength, His gifting, His love. So he gets the glory. We must find our gift and act in his strength and God will bless.
A blessed church has a global vision. We need to look also at ourselves. In verse l0 we are told ‘each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms. This verse is packed with challenge and clear instruction. Our church preaches the doctrines of grace, we are a Grace Church. This affects what is preached and what happens between members. The text is clear, ‘faithfully administering God’s grace’ – the grace comes through us to others. Each of us has a gift from God, we must use to see others blessed, see 1
Corinthians 12:4 to 11, there is a diversity of gifting, the gifts are a manifestation of the work of the Spirit, each is as the Spirit determines. Every member has a gift, some have more than one. We need to all use them. The manifold grace of God is revealed by this. Romans 12:6 to 8 refers to a diversity of gifting again. It reveals a spirit filled church when the gifts are being used.
We do not all have the same gifts and all are equally valuable. The manifold gift of God is a manifestation of the Spirit. All gifts are important. We must not down play them. All parts of the body are important – see 1 Corinthians 12:12 – 31. If one suffers, all suffers. If one part of the body is injured it diminishes the whole body. Some are multi-gifted, but we must use ours for the church to be whole. The church is likened to a building or plant. Ephesians 4:6 likens the church to a body and how it is supported by Christ growing in love.
Gifts are for use and not self importance – verse 10. It is not self importance but usefulness. We must steward the gifts God has given us. We are not expected to exercise another person’s gifts, we can’t do what we are not gifted to do. Pastors, elders and deacons have a divine blue print and we can be guilty of putting square pegs in round holes, they fail because they are not suited to the work.
Are our gifts recognised by ourselves and others? What can I do to help build the church? Hospitality can be offered and we can speak when we have the opportunity. It is practical, what CAN I do? And communicating – what can I say? How can I help to build up the church of God? We can talk a lot but not at the deep level that is needed to help others. There is a therapy in this to help others.
Are the gifts recognised by other people? To avoid either square pegs in round holes or people’s gifts not being recognised we can follow the volunteer principle, who will volunteer to help meet need or will we observe the church and ask people to step up and help. Will you think you will help? There are 3 argument for a truly grace church:
a) Motivational – verse 7, the end of all things is near, we live on the edge of eternity, time is short. We won’t have our responsibilities for very long, destruction of Jerusalem or the second coming or a short life span. We have a short time, do we live like that? If we want someone else to do it. We don’t know what tomorrow will bring. The whole of life is lived with this awareness, we have today, tomorrow is unknown, we must use our opportunities. When we stand before God in the last day we may have one regret, we didn’t do all we could.
b) Relational. It is not easy to serve others, however sweet life can be we have the little foxes who can spoil things. Above all, love each other deeply in deed, word and truth. We discover faults in ourselves and others, love covers over a multitude of sins. We must not have an unforgiving spirit or we will do more harm than good. The church is a community of love. We should trust and love each other. Do we do this? By love, people know we are his disciples. 1 Corinthians 13, if we do not have love it is worth nothing.
c) Elevational – see verse 11. Everything is done to the praise and glory of God. We should tell each other the very words of God. It puts duties to the very highest levels. We do things with the strength of God. What we do is not ‘to the best of my ability’ but with God’s strength. We need to make ourselves available to God. We need to seek to do more in the church and seek to see all we can do in the church – in the strength God provides. This cancels all excuses. ‘So that in all things God will be praised.’ Why do we exist, what is our primary duty? So that God’s name can be glorified. It is not duty but privilege. God is not praised through neglect or laziness. Why are we Christians? Because Christ died for us. Everything should focus on him. We act in His strength, His gifting, His love. So he gets the glory. We must find our gift and act in his strength and God will bless.
Being good servants and citizens
Genesis 18:9-15, 21:1-7, 1 Peter 3:1-6
Christians should be good, obedient citizens and good workers. Wives should be compliant and submissive. It is hard to be a Christian when the government target you or a wife when you have an unbelieving husband. In the 1st century you were not following a husband’s spiritual lead. Peter is instructing them to live in a way so as to not compromise their faith or unnecessarily antagonise unbelieving husbands. He talks to those who were converted after marriage.
1. WHO ARE THE WIVES PETER IS WRITING TO?
a) These were women who lived hoping in God – Hebrews 11:11. Sarah received power to conceive because she hoped in God. She laughed at God because she was incredulous. God’s rebuke reminded Sarah that nothing was too hard for the Lord and caused her to trust and hope in God. She had no record of anyone else experiencing this. She realised God had blessed her. She said God had brought her laughter. A Christian puts their hope in God and looks away from this world. They have a living hope – Psalm 42:5, the psalmist rebukes his soul and says ‘hope in God’. Sarah did this. The hope drove out fear and we aim to please the Lord. If their husband’s spiritual leadership fails they get strength from the Lord. Have you put your hope in God for the future?
b) These were women whose hope drove out fear. People like Sarah fight anxiety in their hearts by holding the promises of God.
2. WHAT ARE THESE WIVES TO DO?
Peter assumed they would be faithful to their vows. Peter holds up Sarah’s obedience as an example of Biblical submission. Christians are called to live with an unbeliever regardless of whether they were easy or difficult. Sarah viewed Abraham as her master, she respected Abraham as the head of the home. This couple are a good example for Peter to use. Both made mistakes and Sarah was a very beautiful woman.
a) Both made mistakes – Sarah put Abraham up to having a child by Hagar.
b) She had inner and outer beauty.
c) She is not recorded as calling Abraham Lord, but she was respectful in the way she spoke, the respect should be inner and outer. It does not mean she has to agree or believe all he says. She can have her own mind.
3. WHAT DO WIVES DO IN DIFFICULT SITUATIONS?
He speaks in particular about disbelieving husbands. What about alcoholics etc?
a) What about submission to an abusive husband? You can call in the law or the elders to protect her life. She should not fear her husband more than she fears God.
b) What about submission when he asks her to do wrong? Abraham tried to pass Sarah off as his sister, he was lying. A wife has to do what is right, obey God. If she has to disobey her husband she should tell him that the love of God is more important.
c) What about being submissive and a husband’s persistent sin? She should confront persistent sin but with discretion so he knows she really cares. Persistent sin is not usually an excuse to leave a spouse. We should pray and stay faithful to our marriage vows.
4. WHAT IS THE ATTRACTIVENESS WIVES ARE TO SHOW SO AS TO WIN OVER THEIR HUSBANDS?
Our conduct is often more powerful a message than our words. The power of a Christ like life is better than pressure tactics, this is a principle rather than a promise. Peter’s hope is that husbands will notice attractive behaviour and through it see the source of it – a relationship with Christ.
a) Attractiveness involves purity – 1 Timothy 5:22, that is moral goodness.
b) Attractiveness involves reverence. That is, the fear of God.
c) Attractiveness involves not nagging – Proverbs 21:9. Solomon said a quarrelsome wife is awful. If he is not won by ‘words of truth’ he may be won by a ‘life of truth’. A husband once nicknamed his wife Peg after Pegasus who was an everlasting nag. He may become resistant to the truth or sullen and withdrawn to prevent nagging. He may be amazed at the change in his wife’s life and what has happened to her after conversion. Wives should pray for their husbands and look for opportunities to witness, but God will convert him. Augustine wrote of his mother Monica and how she witnessed to her husband by her behaviour. At the end of his life he was converted and they walked together in the Lord.
d) Attractiveness involves a gentle and quiet spirit. Gentleness is meekness, quiet means calm, not combative – see Proverbs 15:1. It is a heart that is not easily ruffled. She doesn’t yell back at her husband and keeps calm.
e) Attractiveness is the inner person over outward appearance – verses 3 to 5. Women should not neglect their outward appearance but should aim to win her husband over by the new person within. Peter emphasises inner beauty is attractive to everyone even with the wrinkles of old age. Let the beauty of Jesus be seen in me, All his wonderful passion and purity; O Thou Spirit divine, all my nature refine. Till the beauty of Jesus be seen in me. Beauty is meaningless unless it is inner beauty it is transitory unless it comes from God. Jesus was never more beautiful than when he suffered.
Christians should be good, obedient citizens and good workers. Wives should be compliant and submissive. It is hard to be a Christian when the government target you or a wife when you have an unbelieving husband. In the 1st century you were not following a husband’s spiritual lead. Peter is instructing them to live in a way so as to not compromise their faith or unnecessarily antagonise unbelieving husbands. He talks to those who were converted after marriage.
1. WHO ARE THE WIVES PETER IS WRITING TO?
a) These were women who lived hoping in God – Hebrews 11:11. Sarah received power to conceive because she hoped in God. She laughed at God because she was incredulous. God’s rebuke reminded Sarah that nothing was too hard for the Lord and caused her to trust and hope in God. She had no record of anyone else experiencing this. She realised God had blessed her. She said God had brought her laughter. A Christian puts their hope in God and looks away from this world. They have a living hope – Psalm 42:5, the psalmist rebukes his soul and says ‘hope in God’. Sarah did this. The hope drove out fear and we aim to please the Lord. If their husband’s spiritual leadership fails they get strength from the Lord. Have you put your hope in God for the future?
b) These were women whose hope drove out fear. People like Sarah fight anxiety in their hearts by holding the promises of God.
2. WHAT ARE THESE WIVES TO DO?
Peter assumed they would be faithful to their vows. Peter holds up Sarah’s obedience as an example of Biblical submission. Christians are called to live with an unbeliever regardless of whether they were easy or difficult. Sarah viewed Abraham as her master, she respected Abraham as the head of the home. This couple are a good example for Peter to use. Both made mistakes and Sarah was a very beautiful woman.
a) Both made mistakes – Sarah put Abraham up to having a child by Hagar.
b) She had inner and outer beauty.
c) She is not recorded as calling Abraham Lord, but she was respectful in the way she spoke, the respect should be inner and outer. It does not mean she has to agree or believe all he says. She can have her own mind.
3. WHAT DO WIVES DO IN DIFFICULT SITUATIONS?
He speaks in particular about disbelieving husbands. What about alcoholics etc?
a) What about submission to an abusive husband? You can call in the law or the elders to protect her life. She should not fear her husband more than she fears God.
b) What about submission when he asks her to do wrong? Abraham tried to pass Sarah off as his sister, he was lying. A wife has to do what is right, obey God. If she has to disobey her husband she should tell him that the love of God is more important.
c) What about being submissive and a husband’s persistent sin? She should confront persistent sin but with discretion so he knows she really cares. Persistent sin is not usually an excuse to leave a spouse. We should pray and stay faithful to our marriage vows.
4. WHAT IS THE ATTRACTIVENESS WIVES ARE TO SHOW SO AS TO WIN OVER THEIR HUSBANDS?
Our conduct is often more powerful a message than our words. The power of a Christ like life is better than pressure tactics, this is a principle rather than a promise. Peter’s hope is that husbands will notice attractive behaviour and through it see the source of it – a relationship with Christ.
a) Attractiveness involves purity – 1 Timothy 5:22, that is moral goodness.
b) Attractiveness involves reverence. That is, the fear of God.
c) Attractiveness involves not nagging – Proverbs 21:9. Solomon said a quarrelsome wife is awful. If he is not won by ‘words of truth’ he may be won by a ‘life of truth’. A husband once nicknamed his wife Peg after Pegasus who was an everlasting nag. He may become resistant to the truth or sullen and withdrawn to prevent nagging. He may be amazed at the change in his wife’s life and what has happened to her after conversion. Wives should pray for their husbands and look for opportunities to witness, but God will convert him. Augustine wrote of his mother Monica and how she witnessed to her husband by her behaviour. At the end of his life he was converted and they walked together in the Lord.
d) Attractiveness involves a gentle and quiet spirit. Gentleness is meekness, quiet means calm, not combative – see Proverbs 15:1. It is a heart that is not easily ruffled. She doesn’t yell back at her husband and keeps calm.
e) Attractiveness is the inner person over outward appearance – verses 3 to 5. Women should not neglect their outward appearance but should aim to win her husband over by the new person within. Peter emphasises inner beauty is attractive to everyone even with the wrinkles of old age. Let the beauty of Jesus be seen in me, All his wonderful passion and purity; O Thou Spirit divine, all my nature refine. Till the beauty of Jesus be seen in me. Beauty is meaningless unless it is inner beauty it is transitory unless it comes from God. Jesus was never more beautiful than when he suffered.
The family that survived
Genesis 6
This is the story of a family that survived. Why did Noah and his family not perish? We can experience the same blessing as Noah and be like him. Verse 8 tells us Noah found grace or favour with God. Grace is a very significant word – UNDESERVED kindness. Noah was born like everyone else, but he found grace.
NOAH FOUND GRACE FROM GOD.
Noah was willing to accept God’s view of his own sin and he turned from that sin to God, seeking His grace. Grace is God’s doing for us what we could never do for ourselves. It is God coming to our rescue. Grace found Noah and saved him and his family. All like him were saved by grace. He was aware of God’s grace in the darkest hour, there was life and hope when we fear for things. We can look to the Lord for forgiveness. It is like being in an impossibly dangerous situation like in a cave that is sealed and we are rescued by others. We chose to sin, God rescued us by his grace. We need to pray ‘God be merciful to me a sinner.’
NOAH WAS RIGHT WITH GOD.
Noah believed God and his faith was counted as righteousness. The grace given to him made him live a life that pleased God – Ezekiel l4:l4. Noah was not perfect but was free from obvious faults.
NOAH WALKED WITH GOD.
Only Noah and Enoch are described here as walking with God. He knew God personally and communicated with Him daily. He went in the same direction God went. He was in step with God. He went the same way as God and took his hand like a little child, you go at the same pace. It is a picture of intimacy and friendship. The Christian life is a growing intimacy with God. Amos 3:3 Ezekiel 5:8. Psalm l:l describes Noah. If you walk with God you will be blessed. If you don’t walk with God you will not stand as Noah did. You will lose everything.
NOAH LED HIS FAMILY GOD’S WAY.
He was the spiritual leader of his wife, sons and daughters-in-laws. It was a negative environment and Noah led them and this led to their salvation. The family had enough faith to follow the head. Noah had enough faith to inspire them to follow his example. It should encourage us to believe so deeply that others believe in God. We may save our families and others besides. The Taylor family – including Hudson Taylor of the China Inland Mission – show millions can be saved through the Christian witness of parents. It can be destroyed in one generation as happened to Earnest Hemingway, the novelist. He had an evangelical Christian upbringing but rebelled against and ended up killing himself when he was 6l.
NOAH WAS DIFFERENT FROM HIS CONTEMPORARIES
a) The state of things. God saw the world was corrupt.
Single acts can have unforeseen consequences.
(i) Adam and Eve fell from innocence into sin, slavery and death. The children shared this genetic-spiritual union in the fall with their parents. We call this sin of nature original, because everyone is born with this bias, and it is the actual source of sins – Romans 5:l8. The globalisation of sin is a consequence of Adam. Paul describes two men – Adam who brought sin by one act, Christ, the second Adam, brought righteousness.
(ii) Nobody has a perfectly good heart – Psalm 5l:5. No one is born righteous, we do not naturally want to love God.
(iii) What does the world say we can do? – educate, counsel, prozac. We try to set up a nanny state to cure sin. We also try to redefine sin to get rid of guilt. Everything is a lifestyle choice. We see the idea of sin a medieval. We can try to keep sinning so we don’t feel guilty any more, but people are guilty of sin. Everything is seen as an illness and not really sin at all. This thinking cuts off people from redemption.
(iv) What happens when a society thinks like this? The unthinkable became thinkable, then speak-able, then do-able, then praised. In a civilized society evil thoughts stay thoughts. In the days of the flood thoughts became words then deeds. Leading entertainers lives are often utterly immoral.
b) The state of Noah. Noah was a bright shining light in the prevailing moral darkness, distinguished from the world. Noah stood his ground. He was counter-cultural, as the lives of Christians should be in this age. Noah lived when the World was unprepared for judgement, as people are today.
NOAH WAS AN OBEDIENT MAN – Hebrews ll:7
God said it and that settled it for Noah. He did it simply because God said so. It was a remarkable faith. It had never even rained. All he had was God’s word, and he believed. He could not explain where the water would come from but he had the faith to answer people. Christians have reality present, but the future unseen. We know Heaven and Hell are going to be realities in the future.
NOAH WAS A COURAGEOUS MAN. 2 Peter 2:5
Noah preached righteousness, he warned, he invited them into the Ark. Hoah had places in the ark for people who were willing to repent. Jesus is like an ark. There is willingness to receive people so we can have a better life and hope. How do we react to this?
This is the story of a family that survived. Why did Noah and his family not perish? We can experience the same blessing as Noah and be like him. Verse 8 tells us Noah found grace or favour with God. Grace is a very significant word – UNDESERVED kindness. Noah was born like everyone else, but he found grace.
NOAH FOUND GRACE FROM GOD.
Noah was willing to accept God’s view of his own sin and he turned from that sin to God, seeking His grace. Grace is God’s doing for us what we could never do for ourselves. It is God coming to our rescue. Grace found Noah and saved him and his family. All like him were saved by grace. He was aware of God’s grace in the darkest hour, there was life and hope when we fear for things. We can look to the Lord for forgiveness. It is like being in an impossibly dangerous situation like in a cave that is sealed and we are rescued by others. We chose to sin, God rescued us by his grace. We need to pray ‘God be merciful to me a sinner.’
NOAH WAS RIGHT WITH GOD.
Noah believed God and his faith was counted as righteousness. The grace given to him made him live a life that pleased God – Ezekiel l4:l4. Noah was not perfect but was free from obvious faults.
NOAH WALKED WITH GOD.
Only Noah and Enoch are described here as walking with God. He knew God personally and communicated with Him daily. He went in the same direction God went. He was in step with God. He went the same way as God and took his hand like a little child, you go at the same pace. It is a picture of intimacy and friendship. The Christian life is a growing intimacy with God. Amos 3:3 Ezekiel 5:8. Psalm l:l describes Noah. If you walk with God you will be blessed. If you don’t walk with God you will not stand as Noah did. You will lose everything.
NOAH LED HIS FAMILY GOD’S WAY.
He was the spiritual leader of his wife, sons and daughters-in-laws. It was a negative environment and Noah led them and this led to their salvation. The family had enough faith to follow the head. Noah had enough faith to inspire them to follow his example. It should encourage us to believe so deeply that others believe in God. We may save our families and others besides. The Taylor family – including Hudson Taylor of the China Inland Mission – show millions can be saved through the Christian witness of parents. It can be destroyed in one generation as happened to Earnest Hemingway, the novelist. He had an evangelical Christian upbringing but rebelled against and ended up killing himself when he was 6l.
NOAH WAS DIFFERENT FROM HIS CONTEMPORARIES
a) The state of things. God saw the world was corrupt.
Single acts can have unforeseen consequences.
(i) Adam and Eve fell from innocence into sin, slavery and death. The children shared this genetic-spiritual union in the fall with their parents. We call this sin of nature original, because everyone is born with this bias, and it is the actual source of sins – Romans 5:l8. The globalisation of sin is a consequence of Adam. Paul describes two men – Adam who brought sin by one act, Christ, the second Adam, brought righteousness.
(ii) Nobody has a perfectly good heart – Psalm 5l:5. No one is born righteous, we do not naturally want to love God.
(iii) What does the world say we can do? – educate, counsel, prozac. We try to set up a nanny state to cure sin. We also try to redefine sin to get rid of guilt. Everything is a lifestyle choice. We see the idea of sin a medieval. We can try to keep sinning so we don’t feel guilty any more, but people are guilty of sin. Everything is seen as an illness and not really sin at all. This thinking cuts off people from redemption.
(iv) What happens when a society thinks like this? The unthinkable became thinkable, then speak-able, then do-able, then praised. In a civilized society evil thoughts stay thoughts. In the days of the flood thoughts became words then deeds. Leading entertainers lives are often utterly immoral.
b) The state of Noah. Noah was a bright shining light in the prevailing moral darkness, distinguished from the world. Noah stood his ground. He was counter-cultural, as the lives of Christians should be in this age. Noah lived when the World was unprepared for judgement, as people are today.
NOAH WAS AN OBEDIENT MAN – Hebrews ll:7
God said it and that settled it for Noah. He did it simply because God said so. It was a remarkable faith. It had never even rained. All he had was God’s word, and he believed. He could not explain where the water would come from but he had the faith to answer people. Christians have reality present, but the future unseen. We know Heaven and Hell are going to be realities in the future.
NOAH WAS A COURAGEOUS MAN. 2 Peter 2:5
Noah preached righteousness, he warned, he invited them into the Ark. Hoah had places in the ark for people who were willing to repent. Jesus is like an ark. There is willingness to receive people so we can have a better life and hope. How do we react to this?
Why Christ suffered.
John 10:11 – 30, 1 Peter 2: 24 to 25
Peter was writing to people in this section who were slaves. He told them to submit to the established order. For some with oppressive masters this was very hard. To not retaliate but to bear suffering graciously would bring glory to the Lord Jesus who died for them. We want to avoid suffering. Peter reminded them of why Christ suffered. Things are not fair. Sometimes we make bad decisions. Sometimes people are unfair, life is like that. Jesus suffered unfairly, he did no wrong or ever sinned yet he suffered. We should follow his example. What would Jesus do in our place. We should want to be like Christ especially when we suffer for righteousness sake. We suffer only a tiny fraction of what he suffered, he could have escaped his suffering but he silently endured so we could have our sins forgiven. He suffered out of choice – see John 10:11 – 30. To suffer is often the only right choice we can make. We learn the best lessons when we suffer with tears in our eyes. Jesus left judgement to God and did not retaliate. In China Christians suffer much
IN CHRIST’S SUFFERING WAS A PATTERN FOR US – verse 21
It was innocent, silent, a choice and in faith
HIS SUFFERING WAS PERSONAL
He did not make recompense by offering a victim, but was himself the sacrifice. He was the victim of sin, a sinless one who paid the penalty for the sin of his people. Only he could do it.
HIS SUFFERING WAS SUBSTITUTIONARY – Isaiah 53:4
This chapter is full of this sort of language. The Lord laid on him the iniquity of us all etc. In the Old Testament people’s sin were symbolically laid on the animal and it was killed. He was treated as if he had been a sinner, in order that we might be treated as if we had not sinned; as if we were righteous – 1 Corinthians 15:1. It was a legal transaction. God the father transferred to God the son the penalty due to our sin. We do not punish according to what people deserve today. Many think God will overlook their sin when they are compared to others. We are free of sin’s consequences if Christ took our place.
HIS SUFFERING WAS SEVERE – Deuteronomy 21:22, Galatians 3:13
He died on the tree, this term is deliberately chosen by Peter and not the cross. Deuteronomy 21:22 – the dead body on the tree meant he was under a curse. It was a symbol of shame. It was a warning to everyone. Jesus took God’s curse – see Galatians 3:13. Crucifixion was a Roman practice, not Jewish, to be hung on a tree was the maximum curse. Can we ever understand how the holy, harmless and undefiled Son of God felt as he was treated as if he were a vile criminal? He knew and did nothing but good in the world. He was naked and reviled for sins he had not committed.
HIS SUFFERING WAS REDEMPTIVE
The power of sin is so great that we can’t be delivered from it by promising to turn over a new leaf or by sheer will power. Sin has separated us from God. There had to be death of our old attitude to sin and a resurrection to new life in Jesus Christ. Romans 6 to 8. Your old self dies and we have a new life in Christ. The person who is now living is the new you. Colossians 3:l – 4, we have been changed, live like you have been saved.
HIS SUFFERING WAS CURATIVE.
Isaiah 53:5 – his wounds are a synonym for his death. The cross is the place where all the wounds of sin are healed. Sin has brought emotional problems, guilt and depression. If you suffer from emotional problems – guilt, anxiety, depression, anger or whatever – there is healing in the cross of Christ. There is the answer to answer for guilt, hopelessness and depression. Matthew 8:l6. Does it give us the right to expect physical healing because of the atonement? It is a wrong understanding. Jesus healed physically to demonstrate heavenly truths. Jesus healed people to illustrate the physical healing all believers will experience in the glory yet to come. Disease and death cannot be permanently removed until sin is permanently removed. We still see death and sin. We will only be delivered from it at the resurrection. Jesus conquered sin but his people sinned, Jesus conquered sickness but we still get ill. We can only be healed and delivered from death in the new world.
HIS SUFFERING WAS RECONCILING
a) It speaks of our past – you were. We were like sheep going astray. Sheep are silly, gullible, often dirty and defenceless. Domestic sheep need care of a shepherd. If they are not prevented they will constantly wander. Peter sees in these slaves who had been wandering but were now part of a flock. Why do they wander? They need a shepherd to guide them. The lost do not come back when it is lost. We are self willed like a silly lost sheep. Jesus seeks us today.
b) It speaks of our present and future – but now. We can know a bright future if we have his influence. There has been a turning around, a conversion. Luke 22:32.
(i) A coming to Christ the shepherd – Isaiah 40 and John l0. The Christians clung to this image of the Christ the good shepherd, he will never let us down.
(ii) A coming to Christ the overseer. We are under the care of the Good Shepherd. He uses a rod and staff when he must. If you’re seeking to follow Him, then it ought to be a comforting thought. Jesus oversees his sheep and makes sure they are all there and cares for them. Believers have returned to the overseer and shepherd of their souls. Christ is our overseer, it comforts us if we know this. If he is not our shepherd we will not go to Heaven, we will wander and be lost.
Peter was writing to people in this section who were slaves. He told them to submit to the established order. For some with oppressive masters this was very hard. To not retaliate but to bear suffering graciously would bring glory to the Lord Jesus who died for them. We want to avoid suffering. Peter reminded them of why Christ suffered. Things are not fair. Sometimes we make bad decisions. Sometimes people are unfair, life is like that. Jesus suffered unfairly, he did no wrong or ever sinned yet he suffered. We should follow his example. What would Jesus do in our place. We should want to be like Christ especially when we suffer for righteousness sake. We suffer only a tiny fraction of what he suffered, he could have escaped his suffering but he silently endured so we could have our sins forgiven. He suffered out of choice – see John 10:11 – 30. To suffer is often the only right choice we can make. We learn the best lessons when we suffer with tears in our eyes. Jesus left judgement to God and did not retaliate. In China Christians suffer much
IN CHRIST’S SUFFERING WAS A PATTERN FOR US – verse 21
It was innocent, silent, a choice and in faith
HIS SUFFERING WAS PERSONAL
He did not make recompense by offering a victim, but was himself the sacrifice. He was the victim of sin, a sinless one who paid the penalty for the sin of his people. Only he could do it.
HIS SUFFERING WAS SUBSTITUTIONARY – Isaiah 53:4
This chapter is full of this sort of language. The Lord laid on him the iniquity of us all etc. In the Old Testament people’s sin were symbolically laid on the animal and it was killed. He was treated as if he had been a sinner, in order that we might be treated as if we had not sinned; as if we were righteous – 1 Corinthians 15:1. It was a legal transaction. God the father transferred to God the son the penalty due to our sin. We do not punish according to what people deserve today. Many think God will overlook their sin when they are compared to others. We are free of sin’s consequences if Christ took our place.
HIS SUFFERING WAS SEVERE – Deuteronomy 21:22, Galatians 3:13
He died on the tree, this term is deliberately chosen by Peter and not the cross. Deuteronomy 21:22 – the dead body on the tree meant he was under a curse. It was a symbol of shame. It was a warning to everyone. Jesus took God’s curse – see Galatians 3:13. Crucifixion was a Roman practice, not Jewish, to be hung on a tree was the maximum curse. Can we ever understand how the holy, harmless and undefiled Son of God felt as he was treated as if he were a vile criminal? He knew and did nothing but good in the world. He was naked and reviled for sins he had not committed.
HIS SUFFERING WAS REDEMPTIVE
The power of sin is so great that we can’t be delivered from it by promising to turn over a new leaf or by sheer will power. Sin has separated us from God. There had to be death of our old attitude to sin and a resurrection to new life in Jesus Christ. Romans 6 to 8. Your old self dies and we have a new life in Christ. The person who is now living is the new you. Colossians 3:l – 4, we have been changed, live like you have been saved.
HIS SUFFERING WAS CURATIVE.
Isaiah 53:5 – his wounds are a synonym for his death. The cross is the place where all the wounds of sin are healed. Sin has brought emotional problems, guilt and depression. If you suffer from emotional problems – guilt, anxiety, depression, anger or whatever – there is healing in the cross of Christ. There is the answer to answer for guilt, hopelessness and depression. Matthew 8:l6. Does it give us the right to expect physical healing because of the atonement? It is a wrong understanding. Jesus healed physically to demonstrate heavenly truths. Jesus healed people to illustrate the physical healing all believers will experience in the glory yet to come. Disease and death cannot be permanently removed until sin is permanently removed. We still see death and sin. We will only be delivered from it at the resurrection. Jesus conquered sin but his people sinned, Jesus conquered sickness but we still get ill. We can only be healed and delivered from death in the new world.
HIS SUFFERING WAS RECONCILING
a) It speaks of our past – you were. We were like sheep going astray. Sheep are silly, gullible, often dirty and defenceless. Domestic sheep need care of a shepherd. If they are not prevented they will constantly wander. Peter sees in these slaves who had been wandering but were now part of a flock. Why do they wander? They need a shepherd to guide them. The lost do not come back when it is lost. We are self willed like a silly lost sheep. Jesus seeks us today.
b) It speaks of our present and future – but now. We can know a bright future if we have his influence. There has been a turning around, a conversion. Luke 22:32.
(i) A coming to Christ the shepherd – Isaiah 40 and John l0. The Christians clung to this image of the Christ the good shepherd, he will never let us down.
(ii) A coming to Christ the overseer. We are under the care of the Good Shepherd. He uses a rod and staff when he must. If you’re seeking to follow Him, then it ought to be a comforting thought. Jesus oversees his sheep and makes sure they are all there and cares for them. Believers have returned to the overseer and shepherd of their souls. Christ is our overseer, it comforts us if we know this. If he is not our shepherd we will not go to Heaven, we will wander and be lost.
The End of an Era
Matthew 24:32 – 44, Genesis 6:1 – 8
We go back to the early world. We now come to the end of this era. 3 men marked the genealogy, Adam – who was the first sinner; Enoch who shows that if we walk with God we will conquer death and Noah who tells us there will be a judgement. This chapter is intriguing – men had lost part of the likeness to God. This chapter builds up to the Flood.
1. THIS PERIOD IN HISTORY HAD DISTINCT FEATURES – Matthew 24:37.
This speaks of the days before the flood – what men did before the flood. The Bible speaks of ages and how they ended. A time of ignorance before Christ returns. The Dark ages were times of ignorance and moral uncertainty. In His Olivet discourse He speaks of how things will be immediately before he comes for a second time. He compares it to the time of Noah. These are Epochs in history with similar characteristics. The spiritual condition before the flood are the same as they will be before Christ’s return. The record of history has been the collapse of one civilization after another. The Bible speaks of times and seasons. If we are living in the days immediately preceding the return of Jesus Christ we shall find similar conditions to the days of Noah. It was business as usual – marriage, work and supporting family. It was a time of technological advancement. They knew so much but understood very little. Romans l – they professed to be wise but were fools. Today we have achieved so much but it is accompanied by much moral darkness and ignorance. Jesus said people in Noah’s time went about their business oblivious to what Noah was saying – of ‘crazy Noah’ who was building a boat when none was needed, apparently. He warned them of impending judgement but they went their own way. Perhaps they laughed at him, perhaps they got annoyed at him for making a ‘special claim’. None of them took any notice of what he said.
2. THIS PERIOD IN HISTORY SAW COMPROMISE – verse l
Who were the sons of God? There are several views, but the application os the same – men compromised.
a) Human rulers who were despots, striving for fame and fertility? The daughters of men were beautiful, but they were fallen women.
b) They were fallen angels in human bodies who married human women. There a lot of problems here – angels having sex with people, it sounds like Greek mythology – its not really tenable.
c) The best view is that they were the believing descendants if Seth who married the line of Cain. People who compromised. It was the intermarriage of believing men and unbelieving women. It was Satan seeking to turn a generation away from God. It was a sexually promiscuous age where men took the women they wanted. They ignored any character or spiritual traits. The rule is ‘think first and feel later’. The sexual drive is very strong and can neutralise or weaken faith. We can choose what is wrong. The Sethites compromised and chose a faith that led to sin. It contaminated a whole society. In Romans l Paul describes a fallen society, it began in Genesis 6.
3. THIS PERIOD WAS NOTED FOR CORRUPT MEN – verse 4
Who were the Nephalim? There is only one other mention in the Bible – Numbers l3 when the spies went into the land and saw these giant men, they called them Nephalim, they felt dispirited and alarmed by what they saw. The word Nephalim means ‘to fall upon’ and thus points to men of violence who had a reputation of falling upon their enemies. They were malicious and became notorious around the world. They were men who could sway multitudes to do what they wanted - see Genghis Khan, Hitler and Stalin etc, they led their people to kill millions. Al Qaeda will get their people to use dirty bombs. These people were notorious for their violence, they embodied the worst traits in men. They lived a long time – everyone did. They became very skilled in what they did. When good men live a long time it can be good, what if evil men live a long time and become skilled in evil and torture. Unchecked evil is an unimaginable horror. People lived like that in the old world. The Nephalim refined their violence over a long time. For the good of humanity such cancer needs cutting out, so God acts, he uncreates the world and washes away all vestiges of human wickedness that made life so miserable. He brings the Hitlers and Stalins of this world to a short end.
4. THIS PERIOD SAW GOD’S PATIENCE RUN OUT – verse 3.
God only permits wickedness a short reign. God will judge wickedness, he gives them a count down – one hundred and twenty years, then people face judgement. Noah was boat building for all that time. It was a warning. Noah was famous world wide and he was preaching a warning, why did they not listen? Romans l describes the breakdown of society, there have been occurrences of this before, but here it was everywhere. 2 Peter 2:5. Churchill warned politicians and society about the rise of Hitler, that he would be a danger to the world. People ignored him and did not want to listen or contemplate what he was saying. It was too late and Hitler did attack the world and cause harm. God warns us today, we are all accountable to God for what we do. We don’t like to think about this. We don’t like to listen to bad news. God is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. He postpones judgement to give us time to repent. God is calling us and is calling you, he wants you to hear good news, his son has been sent to die on the cross and to rise again so we have the hope of a better world. God’s patience will not last forever. Here a l20 years, is the time limit.
5. THIS PERIOD SAW GOD ANNOUNCE JUDGEMENT – verse 5
Grief is a mixture of love and anger at what causes pain. God’s grief is a sign of his great love. The Lord is not some unfeeling God who watches in benign disinterest while men and women destroy themselves. It grieves Him to see our rebellion and sin, and He only brings judgement after he has warned and appealed to us to turn from our sin. When He does judge, his judgement are always just. He has a right to judge man. Ezekiel 33:ll. He appeals to take account of unpalatable facts, we are accountable to Him. ‘I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn back, turn back from your evil ways. Why then will you die? We must put our trust in the Son of the Living God so we can live in Heaven with God. May God help us to do this.
We go back to the early world. We now come to the end of this era. 3 men marked the genealogy, Adam – who was the first sinner; Enoch who shows that if we walk with God we will conquer death and Noah who tells us there will be a judgement. This chapter is intriguing – men had lost part of the likeness to God. This chapter builds up to the Flood.
1. THIS PERIOD IN HISTORY HAD DISTINCT FEATURES – Matthew 24:37.
This speaks of the days before the flood – what men did before the flood. The Bible speaks of ages and how they ended. A time of ignorance before Christ returns. The Dark ages were times of ignorance and moral uncertainty. In His Olivet discourse He speaks of how things will be immediately before he comes for a second time. He compares it to the time of Noah. These are Epochs in history with similar characteristics. The spiritual condition before the flood are the same as they will be before Christ’s return. The record of history has been the collapse of one civilization after another. The Bible speaks of times and seasons. If we are living in the days immediately preceding the return of Jesus Christ we shall find similar conditions to the days of Noah. It was business as usual – marriage, work and supporting family. It was a time of technological advancement. They knew so much but understood very little. Romans l – they professed to be wise but were fools. Today we have achieved so much but it is accompanied by much moral darkness and ignorance. Jesus said people in Noah’s time went about their business oblivious to what Noah was saying – of ‘crazy Noah’ who was building a boat when none was needed, apparently. He warned them of impending judgement but they went their own way. Perhaps they laughed at him, perhaps they got annoyed at him for making a ‘special claim’. None of them took any notice of what he said.
2. THIS PERIOD IN HISTORY SAW COMPROMISE – verse l
Who were the sons of God? There are several views, but the application os the same – men compromised.
a) Human rulers who were despots, striving for fame and fertility? The daughters of men were beautiful, but they were fallen women.
b) They were fallen angels in human bodies who married human women. There a lot of problems here – angels having sex with people, it sounds like Greek mythology – its not really tenable.
c) The best view is that they were the believing descendants if Seth who married the line of Cain. People who compromised. It was the intermarriage of believing men and unbelieving women. It was Satan seeking to turn a generation away from God. It was a sexually promiscuous age where men took the women they wanted. They ignored any character or spiritual traits. The rule is ‘think first and feel later’. The sexual drive is very strong and can neutralise or weaken faith. We can choose what is wrong. The Sethites compromised and chose a faith that led to sin. It contaminated a whole society. In Romans l Paul describes a fallen society, it began in Genesis 6.
3. THIS PERIOD WAS NOTED FOR CORRUPT MEN – verse 4
Who were the Nephalim? There is only one other mention in the Bible – Numbers l3 when the spies went into the land and saw these giant men, they called them Nephalim, they felt dispirited and alarmed by what they saw. The word Nephalim means ‘to fall upon’ and thus points to men of violence who had a reputation of falling upon their enemies. They were malicious and became notorious around the world. They were men who could sway multitudes to do what they wanted - see Genghis Khan, Hitler and Stalin etc, they led their people to kill millions. Al Qaeda will get their people to use dirty bombs. These people were notorious for their violence, they embodied the worst traits in men. They lived a long time – everyone did. They became very skilled in what they did. When good men live a long time it can be good, what if evil men live a long time and become skilled in evil and torture. Unchecked evil is an unimaginable horror. People lived like that in the old world. The Nephalim refined their violence over a long time. For the good of humanity such cancer needs cutting out, so God acts, he uncreates the world and washes away all vestiges of human wickedness that made life so miserable. He brings the Hitlers and Stalins of this world to a short end.
4. THIS PERIOD SAW GOD’S PATIENCE RUN OUT – verse 3.
God only permits wickedness a short reign. God will judge wickedness, he gives them a count down – one hundred and twenty years, then people face judgement. Noah was boat building for all that time. It was a warning. Noah was famous world wide and he was preaching a warning, why did they not listen? Romans l describes the breakdown of society, there have been occurrences of this before, but here it was everywhere. 2 Peter 2:5. Churchill warned politicians and society about the rise of Hitler, that he would be a danger to the world. People ignored him and did not want to listen or contemplate what he was saying. It was too late and Hitler did attack the world and cause harm. God warns us today, we are all accountable to God for what we do. We don’t like to think about this. We don’t like to listen to bad news. God is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. He postpones judgement to give us time to repent. God is calling us and is calling you, he wants you to hear good news, his son has been sent to die on the cross and to rise again so we have the hope of a better world. God’s patience will not last forever. Here a l20 years, is the time limit.
5. THIS PERIOD SAW GOD ANNOUNCE JUDGEMENT – verse 5
Grief is a mixture of love and anger at what causes pain. God’s grief is a sign of his great love. The Lord is not some unfeeling God who watches in benign disinterest while men and women destroy themselves. It grieves Him to see our rebellion and sin, and He only brings judgement after he has warned and appealed to us to turn from our sin. When He does judge, his judgement are always just. He has a right to judge man. Ezekiel 33:ll. He appeals to take account of unpalatable facts, we are accountable to Him. ‘I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn back, turn back from your evil ways. Why then will you die? We must put our trust in the Son of the Living God so we can live in Heaven with God. May God help us to do this.
What to do when life isn’t fair
Reading - 1 Timothy 6:1-5; Colossians 3:22-4:1; Isaiah 50:4-9;
Peter’s theme in this portion is submission. Turning from submission to civil authorities, he now focuses on the submission of slaves to their earthly masters.
If you are a parent of children old enough to talk, you have heard them complain, “But that isn’t fair!” And you respond, “Life isn’t fair!”
We are born with a strong inner sense of fairness and a strong desire to fight for our rights when we have been treated unfairly.
Although we know that life isn’t fair, we don’t like being victims of unfairness.
The important question is, “How do you respond when you’re treated unfairly?” Is it wrong to defend yourself or to stand up for your rights? That is the question.
[1] WHAT IS THE CONTEXT OF THIS TEACHING– 1 Peter 2:18 Servants,
There is more written in the N T to slaves than to any other class. The reason there were so many slaves in the early church, is that there were some sixty million, in the Roman Empire at the time Peter wrote this.
They had come from all parts of the world as a result of Rome's conquests. They came from all classes, many had been governmental figures, doctors, lawyers, and teachers and they were pressed into service for Roman citizens. In fact, all the work of Rome was done by slaves.
The Romans were masters of the world. Why should they work when they had this labour force at their command, and at such little cost?
In the early days of the Empire, slaves had no rights at all. Aristotle said, “ a slave is simply a living tool.” They were treated like animals, even branded. They had no legal rights. They could only cohabit. Their children belonged to their master. Their masters had the right of life and death over them.
However by 1A.D. the slave had most of the legal rights which were granted to the free man. Many had money at their disposal and had rights to wife and family.
Many slaves were loved and trusted members of the family. There is evidence to suggest that the slaves usually lived on the top floor of their owner’s house. The slave was not inferior to the free man of similar skills in regard to food and clothing. Statistics show that the average free man lived no better than the slave. In fact, in time of economic hardship it was the slave and not the free man who was guaranteed the necessities of life for himself and his family."
Into this stratum of society the gospel came, and the question was raised at the very outset, "How should we, as slaves, now respond to our masters? Should we throw off the yoke of slavery? This was especially poignant in the case of a slave whose master was harsh and unreasonable. In most cases, freedom was not an option and escape was difficult. Peter, Paul, and others wrote to answer this question.
[2] WHO DOES THIS MESSAGE APPLY TO 1 Peter 2:18 Servants, be subject to your masters with all respect, At first glance Peter’s words, addressed to slaves may make us feel these words no longer apply to us since slaves and masters no longer exist today. The term Peter uses in our text refers to a broader group than just slaves. The word he uses here is a domestic, a house-slave.
However it is applicable to working and other Christians today, for Peter gives a general principle which applies to all believers. Though we may not be slaves, we may be subject to those with authority and thus face a condition similar to that of a slave. For instance, a low ranked soldier in the armed forces.
Also Our Lord and His apostles consistently taught that every Christian is Christ’s slave. Mark 10:44 “And whoever wishes to be first among you shall be slave of all”.
A] In the NT, slavery is not commended, but neither is it condemned as a social evil the Christian master should cease to practice or the Christian slave should seek to overthrow. Christian masters are instructed not to abuse their power over their slaves Col 4:1 Masters, provide your slaves with what is right and fair, because you know that you also have a Master in heaven. Col 3:22 Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to win their favour, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord., and they are especially not to abuse their status as Christians in relation to their believing masters 1 Timothy 6: 1 ¶ All who are under the yoke of slavery should consider their masters worthy of full respect, so that God’s name and our teaching may not be slandered 2 Those who have believing masters are not to show less respect for them because they are brothers. Instead, they are to serve them even better, because those who benefit from their service are believers, and dear to them.
Human government and slavery may both be viewed as “institutions” within society, but of the two, government alone has been divinely instituted for the purpose of executing God’s rule over men. Slavery is not given such a status. Societies function very well without slaves; but they collapse without established governing authority.
B] Christian slaves would especially be targeted for persecution by their unbelieving masters. There are heathen masters like Potiphar, who prospered greatly from the service of Joseph and therefore was delighted to have him as a slave. But it was also Joseph’s righteousness which eventually led to his unjust imprisonment by Potiphar. As Peter says in chap 4, the righteousness of the Christian is threatening to the lifestyle of heathen unbelievers.
The non-Christian master also could very well feel threatened, by the conversion of one of his slaves to faith in Christ, because the church where the slave attended would make the slave an equal with his master. The result was that within the Church the social barriers were broken down. It was quite possible that the slave should be a leader of the congregation and the master a member of it.
Callistus, one of the earliest bishops of Rome, was a slave; and Perpetua, the aristocrat, and Felicitas, the slave-girl, met martyrdom hand in hand.
As a result of his new identity in Christ, the Christian slave would now have moral scruples, and his obedience to his earthly master would always be subordinate to his obedience to Christ. The master no longer had first loyalty. He no longer had the same power to intimidate, because the believing slave’s hope was on heaven.
Slavery indeed provided the opportunity for abuse, but in the sovereign plan and purpose of God that abuse gave the opportunity to shine. If Christian slaves were defiant, critics could have accused Christianity of stirring up rebellion and undermining the whole fabric of the society.
In a similar way, our unjust suffering can reveal the character of Christ in us as we suffer. The attitude of fighting for our rights communicates to the world that we’re living for the things of this world. Submitting to unfair treatment and giving up our rights communicates the truth that we’re on our way to heaven.
Our society is preoccupied with demanding its rights. It campaigns for the rights of students, women, children, homosexuals, illegal immigrants, criminals, employees, and the homeless. When people believe their rights have been denied, they often react with strikes, protests and walk outs.
If believers yield rights in a Christian manner, people will notice and maybe get an opportunity to explain what it means to live under God’s authority, with a view to pleasing Him. Whether in the light of this Christians can belong to trade unions, is a matter of conscience.
[3] WHAT IS THE EXPERIENCE OF CHRISTIANS –1 Peter 2: 19 For this is a gracious thing, when, mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly. 20 For what credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? But if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God.
The fact of the matter is that all humanity suffers at some time and Christians have special sufferings at times.
A] Sometimes we suffer for no apparent reason.
By that I mean that sometimes things happen to us that aren’t connected to anything we do or don’t do. Because we live in a fallen world, bad things sometimes happen to people who don’t seem to deserve it. We don’t understand and we can’t explain why things work out the way they do. One of my sisters has never had good health the other four of us have.
B] Sometimes we suffer because of mistakes we have made. Peter would say it this way: If you break the law and find yourself in jail, don’t complain. You did the crime; now do the time. Bad decisions can be very costly and often irreversible. It may have been a relationship, a job or lack of concentration on the road that has left permanent scars.
C] Sometimes we suffer unjustly at the hands of others. That’s what Peter has in mind in here. We may do right and live by the rules but get in trouble anyway. Or we may work hard and be passed over for promotion. Peter knew from experience that sometimes Christians suffer even when they have done nothing wrong. David was an example under Saul of how we are to submit to injustice. As believers we are to follow David's example of respecting those in authority.
[4] THE CHRISTIANS RESPONSE TO UNFAIR TREATMENT – 1 Peter 2: 19 be subject, For this is a gracious thing, when, mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly. 20 For what credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? But if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God.
A] Suffer! Be subject not only to those who are good and considerate, but also to those who are harsh. God has ordained various spheres of authority. Rulers in government, men in the family, elders in the church, and employers in the work place. Peter says we are to submit to those who are harsh, not just to those who are kind to us. The word harsh translates a Greek word from which we get the English word scoliosis, curvature of the spine. Some people are so morally twisted that they intentionally hurt everyone around them. Even in those cases, we are to submit. That’s not the answer we would want to hear. He makes it clear that submission is not only required under favourable conditions but in painful and unpleasant circumstances as well. Christian servants are not only to submit to “good and gentle” masters but to those who are “unreasonable.” Tit 2:9 Teach slaves to be subject to their masters in everything, to try to please them, not to talk back to them.
Unreasonable masters may, like Laban, make promises they do not keep Genesis 31:36-42. They may be unfair in their accusations, punishments, or rewards. They are those against whom we would naturally rebel apart from the enabling power of the Holy Spirit.
B] Suffer graciously! this is a gracious thing, when, mindful of God, one endures sorrows How can anyone submit to unfair treatment graciously?
We endure unjust suffering for one reason only—because we are conscious or mindful of God. I am where I am right now by God’s appointment. When God wants me somewhere else, I’ll be somewhere else.
Because God is good, it must be for my good to be where I am right now. The fact that I can’t see any good in my present situation doesn’t mean it isn’t there. I don’t have to understand the big picture in order to believe there is a big picture. God’s promises cover the details of my life even when the details seem random and out of control. God sometimes allows things to happen to me that seem unfair and I won’t understand those things while I am going through them. I can endure because I believe God is right there with me every moment of every day.
H Hendricks tells the story of being on an airliner that was delayed. Passengers grew increasingly impatient. One obnoxious man kept venting his frustrations on the air hostess. But she responded graciously and courteously in spite of his abuse. After they finally got airborne and Hendricks called the woman over and said, “I want to get your name so that I can write a letter of commendation to your employer.” He was surprised when she responded, “Thank you, sir, but I don’t work for Airlines.” “I work for my Lord Jesus Christ.” She went on to explain that before each flight, she and her husband would pray together that she would be a good witness.
Do you believe God has you where you are for a purpose? If you answer yes, then you will endure suffering even though it is painful. When we forget God: We give in to despair or act hastily or retaliate. Paul remembered - 2Tim.1:12 That is why I am suffering as I am. Yet I am not ashamed, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day. His whole interests, his life, body, soul and spirit. He leaves all in God’s hands with perfect confidence.
When we endure patiently We demonstrate the power of Christ and prove our confidence in God’s justice. We are not sullen when we are mistreated, because we are conscious of God.
[5] WHO IS THE MODEL FOR CHRISTIANS IN – 21 For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. 22 He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. 23 When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly.
The second focus’s on the OT prophecy concerning the Lord Jesus as the Suffering Servant provides the motivation and the model for all suffering servants. The Suffering Servant is the example for Suffering Servants.
The word example is a school word, referring to how teachers lightly traced letters for students to copy. Christ is that kind of example for us. If we follow how He lived, we will form our lives correctly. Following “in His steps” means if we suffer as we follow Him and respond as He did, people will see Him in us.
Peter had walked with the Lord for three and a half years. He had seen him in every conceivable circumstance -- in the morning when he was tired from inadequate sleep, in the evening when he was weary from a hard day. He had seen him under pressure, under attack, and when people were indifferent to him. Yet he never heard from the Lord one word of complaint. He never did any of the things we would expect from a person who was unjustly treated.
A] Christ’s suffering was a pattern for us. We must suffer because we are called to suffer. This should come as no surprise to anyone familiar with the Scriptures, especially the teaching of our Lord and of the apostles: Acts 14:21-22 “Through many troubles we must enter the kingdom of God”. Philippians 1:29 For to you it has been granted for Christ’s sake, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake. How should we suffer?
B] Christ’s suffering was innocent, due to His righteousness. Peter uses the words of Isaiah 53:9 to express the fact that He “committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in His mouth”. Jesus did not sin in deed or in word, either before His crucifixion or during His suffering. What wrongs would be especially tempting for a servant? The first would be disobedience; another would be disrespect, and yet another laziness. How many people justify taking things because they believe they are not being paid well enough? Christian workers should not suffer because they are late or don’t pull their weight.
C] Christ’s suffering was silent, uncomplaining. When we can do nothing else, we can shout, threaten, and even curse. Jesus remained silent. He made no effort to resist or to retaliate. The silence of our Lord is evident in the words Peter used, and the Isaiah text has even more to say on that silence: Isaiah 53:7 He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He did not open His mouth; Like a lamb that is led to slaughter, And like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, So He did not open His mouth. He didn’t bend the facts. He was always truthful. He didn’t trade insults. He uttered no threats.
D] Christ’s suffering was a choice and not a tragic fate. Jesus frequently spoke of His suffering and death in advance of the events of Calvary. He chose to take up His cross, and so must we. A Christian boy who had an unbelieving father, asked if he could attend the mid week meeting one evening and the father reluctantly gave permission. As the boy walked home afterwards, a friend saw him and offered him a lift in his car. The father saw his son get out of the friend’s car and accused him of lying and beat him in spite of the boy’s protests of innocence. The boy quietly endured the beating and didn’t grow bitter. A few days later the father was shopping and met the pastor who knowing nothing said, “You sure have a fine son. Last week in prayer meeting, he gave a good word of testimony.” The father said, I thought he went out with his friends, his sons submission shamed him and he soon came to repentance.
E] Christ’s suffering was in faith He “kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously”. Our Lord therefore left judgment to God. He did not need to retaliate against His enemies. Jesus knew that He would be vindicated by being raised from the dead and enthroned at the right hand of the Majesty on high. He knew that His persecutors would be judged and dealt with according to their sins. God is the righteous Judge who will someday right every wrong and bring vengeance on those who resist His authority.
There is a proper place for respectful communication questioning those who mistreated us, through proper channels. Christians don’t always have to endure mistreatment in silence. Jesus in John 8 defended Himself as being sent from the Father. Paul defended his character and ministry. There is a time for moving from a bad employer. But if you move too quickly, you may miss what God is seeking to do in the difficult situation. He may want to teach you some hard lessons of being like Christ. He may want to bear witness
Peter’s theme in this portion is submission. Turning from submission to civil authorities, he now focuses on the submission of slaves to their earthly masters.
If you are a parent of children old enough to talk, you have heard them complain, “But that isn’t fair!” And you respond, “Life isn’t fair!”
We are born with a strong inner sense of fairness and a strong desire to fight for our rights when we have been treated unfairly.
Although we know that life isn’t fair, we don’t like being victims of unfairness.
The important question is, “How do you respond when you’re treated unfairly?” Is it wrong to defend yourself or to stand up for your rights? That is the question.
[1] WHAT IS THE CONTEXT OF THIS TEACHING– 1 Peter 2:18 Servants,
There is more written in the N T to slaves than to any other class. The reason there were so many slaves in the early church, is that there were some sixty million, in the Roman Empire at the time Peter wrote this.
They had come from all parts of the world as a result of Rome's conquests. They came from all classes, many had been governmental figures, doctors, lawyers, and teachers and they were pressed into service for Roman citizens. In fact, all the work of Rome was done by slaves.
The Romans were masters of the world. Why should they work when they had this labour force at their command, and at such little cost?
In the early days of the Empire, slaves had no rights at all. Aristotle said, “ a slave is simply a living tool.” They were treated like animals, even branded. They had no legal rights. They could only cohabit. Their children belonged to their master. Their masters had the right of life and death over them.
However by 1A.D. the slave had most of the legal rights which were granted to the free man. Many had money at their disposal and had rights to wife and family.
Many slaves were loved and trusted members of the family. There is evidence to suggest that the slaves usually lived on the top floor of their owner’s house. The slave was not inferior to the free man of similar skills in regard to food and clothing. Statistics show that the average free man lived no better than the slave. In fact, in time of economic hardship it was the slave and not the free man who was guaranteed the necessities of life for himself and his family."
Into this stratum of society the gospel came, and the question was raised at the very outset, "How should we, as slaves, now respond to our masters? Should we throw off the yoke of slavery? This was especially poignant in the case of a slave whose master was harsh and unreasonable. In most cases, freedom was not an option and escape was difficult. Peter, Paul, and others wrote to answer this question.
[2] WHO DOES THIS MESSAGE APPLY TO 1 Peter 2:18 Servants, be subject to your masters with all respect, At first glance Peter’s words, addressed to slaves may make us feel these words no longer apply to us since slaves and masters no longer exist today. The term Peter uses in our text refers to a broader group than just slaves. The word he uses here is a domestic, a house-slave.
However it is applicable to working and other Christians today, for Peter gives a general principle which applies to all believers. Though we may not be slaves, we may be subject to those with authority and thus face a condition similar to that of a slave. For instance, a low ranked soldier in the armed forces.
Also Our Lord and His apostles consistently taught that every Christian is Christ’s slave. Mark 10:44 “And whoever wishes to be first among you shall be slave of all”.
A] In the NT, slavery is not commended, but neither is it condemned as a social evil the Christian master should cease to practice or the Christian slave should seek to overthrow. Christian masters are instructed not to abuse their power over their slaves Col 4:1 Masters, provide your slaves with what is right and fair, because you know that you also have a Master in heaven. Col 3:22 Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to win their favour, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord., and they are especially not to abuse their status as Christians in relation to their believing masters 1 Timothy 6: 1 ¶ All who are under the yoke of slavery should consider their masters worthy of full respect, so that God’s name and our teaching may not be slandered 2 Those who have believing masters are not to show less respect for them because they are brothers. Instead, they are to serve them even better, because those who benefit from their service are believers, and dear to them.
Human government and slavery may both be viewed as “institutions” within society, but of the two, government alone has been divinely instituted for the purpose of executing God’s rule over men. Slavery is not given such a status. Societies function very well without slaves; but they collapse without established governing authority.
B] Christian slaves would especially be targeted for persecution by their unbelieving masters. There are heathen masters like Potiphar, who prospered greatly from the service of Joseph and therefore was delighted to have him as a slave. But it was also Joseph’s righteousness which eventually led to his unjust imprisonment by Potiphar. As Peter says in chap 4, the righteousness of the Christian is threatening to the lifestyle of heathen unbelievers.
The non-Christian master also could very well feel threatened, by the conversion of one of his slaves to faith in Christ, because the church where the slave attended would make the slave an equal with his master. The result was that within the Church the social barriers were broken down. It was quite possible that the slave should be a leader of the congregation and the master a member of it.
Callistus, one of the earliest bishops of Rome, was a slave; and Perpetua, the aristocrat, and Felicitas, the slave-girl, met martyrdom hand in hand.
As a result of his new identity in Christ, the Christian slave would now have moral scruples, and his obedience to his earthly master would always be subordinate to his obedience to Christ. The master no longer had first loyalty. He no longer had the same power to intimidate, because the believing slave’s hope was on heaven.
Slavery indeed provided the opportunity for abuse, but in the sovereign plan and purpose of God that abuse gave the opportunity to shine. If Christian slaves were defiant, critics could have accused Christianity of stirring up rebellion and undermining the whole fabric of the society.
In a similar way, our unjust suffering can reveal the character of Christ in us as we suffer. The attitude of fighting for our rights communicates to the world that we’re living for the things of this world. Submitting to unfair treatment and giving up our rights communicates the truth that we’re on our way to heaven.
Our society is preoccupied with demanding its rights. It campaigns for the rights of students, women, children, homosexuals, illegal immigrants, criminals, employees, and the homeless. When people believe their rights have been denied, they often react with strikes, protests and walk outs.
If believers yield rights in a Christian manner, people will notice and maybe get an opportunity to explain what it means to live under God’s authority, with a view to pleasing Him. Whether in the light of this Christians can belong to trade unions, is a matter of conscience.
[3] WHAT IS THE EXPERIENCE OF CHRISTIANS –1 Peter 2: 19 For this is a gracious thing, when, mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly. 20 For what credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? But if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God.
The fact of the matter is that all humanity suffers at some time and Christians have special sufferings at times.
A] Sometimes we suffer for no apparent reason.
By that I mean that sometimes things happen to us that aren’t connected to anything we do or don’t do. Because we live in a fallen world, bad things sometimes happen to people who don’t seem to deserve it. We don’t understand and we can’t explain why things work out the way they do. One of my sisters has never had good health the other four of us have.
B] Sometimes we suffer because of mistakes we have made. Peter would say it this way: If you break the law and find yourself in jail, don’t complain. You did the crime; now do the time. Bad decisions can be very costly and often irreversible. It may have been a relationship, a job or lack of concentration on the road that has left permanent scars.
C] Sometimes we suffer unjustly at the hands of others. That’s what Peter has in mind in here. We may do right and live by the rules but get in trouble anyway. Or we may work hard and be passed over for promotion. Peter knew from experience that sometimes Christians suffer even when they have done nothing wrong. David was an example under Saul of how we are to submit to injustice. As believers we are to follow David's example of respecting those in authority.
[4] THE CHRISTIANS RESPONSE TO UNFAIR TREATMENT – 1 Peter 2: 19 be subject, For this is a gracious thing, when, mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly. 20 For what credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? But if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God.
A] Suffer! Be subject not only to those who are good and considerate, but also to those who are harsh. God has ordained various spheres of authority. Rulers in government, men in the family, elders in the church, and employers in the work place. Peter says we are to submit to those who are harsh, not just to those who are kind to us. The word harsh translates a Greek word from which we get the English word scoliosis, curvature of the spine. Some people are so morally twisted that they intentionally hurt everyone around them. Even in those cases, we are to submit. That’s not the answer we would want to hear. He makes it clear that submission is not only required under favourable conditions but in painful and unpleasant circumstances as well. Christian servants are not only to submit to “good and gentle” masters but to those who are “unreasonable.” Tit 2:9 Teach slaves to be subject to their masters in everything, to try to please them, not to talk back to them.
Unreasonable masters may, like Laban, make promises they do not keep Genesis 31:36-42. They may be unfair in their accusations, punishments, or rewards. They are those against whom we would naturally rebel apart from the enabling power of the Holy Spirit.
B] Suffer graciously! this is a gracious thing, when, mindful of God, one endures sorrows How can anyone submit to unfair treatment graciously?
We endure unjust suffering for one reason only—because we are conscious or mindful of God. I am where I am right now by God’s appointment. When God wants me somewhere else, I’ll be somewhere else.
Because God is good, it must be for my good to be where I am right now. The fact that I can’t see any good in my present situation doesn’t mean it isn’t there. I don’t have to understand the big picture in order to believe there is a big picture. God’s promises cover the details of my life even when the details seem random and out of control. God sometimes allows things to happen to me that seem unfair and I won’t understand those things while I am going through them. I can endure because I believe God is right there with me every moment of every day.
H Hendricks tells the story of being on an airliner that was delayed. Passengers grew increasingly impatient. One obnoxious man kept venting his frustrations on the air hostess. But she responded graciously and courteously in spite of his abuse. After they finally got airborne and Hendricks called the woman over and said, “I want to get your name so that I can write a letter of commendation to your employer.” He was surprised when she responded, “Thank you, sir, but I don’t work for Airlines.” “I work for my Lord Jesus Christ.” She went on to explain that before each flight, she and her husband would pray together that she would be a good witness.
Do you believe God has you where you are for a purpose? If you answer yes, then you will endure suffering even though it is painful. When we forget God: We give in to despair or act hastily or retaliate. Paul remembered - 2Tim.1:12 That is why I am suffering as I am. Yet I am not ashamed, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day. His whole interests, his life, body, soul and spirit. He leaves all in God’s hands with perfect confidence.
When we endure patiently We demonstrate the power of Christ and prove our confidence in God’s justice. We are not sullen when we are mistreated, because we are conscious of God.
[5] WHO IS THE MODEL FOR CHRISTIANS IN – 21 For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. 22 He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. 23 When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly.
The second focus’s on the OT prophecy concerning the Lord Jesus as the Suffering Servant provides the motivation and the model for all suffering servants. The Suffering Servant is the example for Suffering Servants.
The word example is a school word, referring to how teachers lightly traced letters for students to copy. Christ is that kind of example for us. If we follow how He lived, we will form our lives correctly. Following “in His steps” means if we suffer as we follow Him and respond as He did, people will see Him in us.
Peter had walked with the Lord for three and a half years. He had seen him in every conceivable circumstance -- in the morning when he was tired from inadequate sleep, in the evening when he was weary from a hard day. He had seen him under pressure, under attack, and when people were indifferent to him. Yet he never heard from the Lord one word of complaint. He never did any of the things we would expect from a person who was unjustly treated.
A] Christ’s suffering was a pattern for us. We must suffer because we are called to suffer. This should come as no surprise to anyone familiar with the Scriptures, especially the teaching of our Lord and of the apostles: Acts 14:21-22 “Through many troubles we must enter the kingdom of God”. Philippians 1:29 For to you it has been granted for Christ’s sake, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake. How should we suffer?
B] Christ’s suffering was innocent, due to His righteousness. Peter uses the words of Isaiah 53:9 to express the fact that He “committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in His mouth”. Jesus did not sin in deed or in word, either before His crucifixion or during His suffering. What wrongs would be especially tempting for a servant? The first would be disobedience; another would be disrespect, and yet another laziness. How many people justify taking things because they believe they are not being paid well enough? Christian workers should not suffer because they are late or don’t pull their weight.
C] Christ’s suffering was silent, uncomplaining. When we can do nothing else, we can shout, threaten, and even curse. Jesus remained silent. He made no effort to resist or to retaliate. The silence of our Lord is evident in the words Peter used, and the Isaiah text has even more to say on that silence: Isaiah 53:7 He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He did not open His mouth; Like a lamb that is led to slaughter, And like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, So He did not open His mouth. He didn’t bend the facts. He was always truthful. He didn’t trade insults. He uttered no threats.
D] Christ’s suffering was a choice and not a tragic fate. Jesus frequently spoke of His suffering and death in advance of the events of Calvary. He chose to take up His cross, and so must we. A Christian boy who had an unbelieving father, asked if he could attend the mid week meeting one evening and the father reluctantly gave permission. As the boy walked home afterwards, a friend saw him and offered him a lift in his car. The father saw his son get out of the friend’s car and accused him of lying and beat him in spite of the boy’s protests of innocence. The boy quietly endured the beating and didn’t grow bitter. A few days later the father was shopping and met the pastor who knowing nothing said, “You sure have a fine son. Last week in prayer meeting, he gave a good word of testimony.” The father said, I thought he went out with his friends, his sons submission shamed him and he soon came to repentance.
E] Christ’s suffering was in faith He “kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously”. Our Lord therefore left judgment to God. He did not need to retaliate against His enemies. Jesus knew that He would be vindicated by being raised from the dead and enthroned at the right hand of the Majesty on high. He knew that His persecutors would be judged and dealt with according to their sins. God is the righteous Judge who will someday right every wrong and bring vengeance on those who resist His authority.
There is a proper place for respectful communication questioning those who mistreated us, through proper channels. Christians don’t always have to endure mistreatment in silence. Jesus in John 8 defended Himself as being sent from the Father. Paul defended his character and ministry. There is a time for moving from a bad employer. But if you move too quickly, you may miss what God is seeking to do in the difficult situation. He may want to teach you some hard lessons of being like Christ. He may want to bear witness
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