2 John 1-3

“The elder to the elect lady and her children, whom I love in truth, and not only I, but also all who know the truth, because of the truth that abides in us and will be with us forever: Grace, mercy, and peace will be with us, from God the Father and from Jesus Christ the Father's Son, in truth and love.”

The truth unites us in love. There is a bond of love that you have with Christians you know and even with Christians you don’t know. This bond exists because of the truth’s work in you and others. If you have the truth and you know what it has done for you, then the when you see, meet, or even hear of others who have the same truth, you are bound to them in love. Our relationship with other believers, as with all aspects of our lives, should flow out of the gospel. God, in love and truth, has worked in our lives, and that should bind us, in truth and love, to others who know Him.

1 Peter 5:8-11

“Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen.”

In our anxiety, in our time of need, in our time of suffering--we need to think rightly. It is easy to slump into a daze and allow the flood of difficult circumstances to wash over you, overwhelming you with sorrow. This does not mean that we make ourselves so callus that we don’t feel it when things should hurt. It means that we are sober-minded. Satan wants us to give into our circumstances, rebelling against God, denying God (as he had hoped that Job would). This type of reaction is due to a failure to think correctly and guard against our adversary. If we are not watchful, if we do not guard against these types of attacks, we will be devoured.

We need to be steadfast in trials. We are not the only Christians who have suffered, nor are we the only ones suffering right now. And our suffering is only temporary. God, “the God of all grace,” will lift us up and make us into something better than we were than when we began. He will make us stronger and more faithful to Him. He has this right, and when He does this, He does it in love and for our good. Satan wants us to rise up against God and cast off our faith, making us bitter, unhappy people. God wants to strengthen us and give us greater joy in Him. He can do it, and He will do it. We need to watch for it soberly, even in times of sadness.

1 Peter 5:6-7

“Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.”

God loves and cares for us, and yet we experience difficulties. This does not seem right. If God is so mighty, why would he let bad things happen to us? Many people have asked that question, and it has led some to reject God or at least reject God, as He is revealed in the Bible. They believe that they know better. They want to set the parameters of how God should best show them care. They refuse to humble themselves and accept God’s way.

We will experience things that can easily lead to anxiety. When this happens it is natural to cast all the blame on God. But we need to cast our anxieties on Him. He knows what we are going through, and He cares. We should look trustingly to the One who has allowed it to happen and trust that He will bring us through the difficulty. If you refuse, you have not humbled yourself.

1 Peter 5:4-5

“And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory. Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for ‘God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.’”

Our bosses often have bosses over them. Likewise, pastor/elders who shepherd the flock have a chief Shepherd over them. A pastor who abuses the flock, using the flock for his own benefit or dealing with people with heavy-handed tactics, will not be rewarded when the chief Shepherd comes. A shepherd should be like his master, loving God’s people. For a pastor/elder to do this, he must shepherd with humility.

But elders are not the only ones in need of humility. We who are under the elders need to humbly subject ourselves to the elders. Too often elders try to force people and the people under him refuse to follow him. Both parties have it wrong. The Bible shows us that the elder needs to lead by caring example, and the people need to put themselves under the elder’s leadership. If we do this, God will give us the grace to get along. But if we proudly elevate ourselves above each other, not only will we be resisted by each other, but we will be resisted by God.

Christ's Prayer for His Hardened Disciples

The following is from Pastor Stewart's series on the prayer life of Christ. The passage this week was Mark 6:45-52. The first paragraph contains some of my notes from the message.

"The Devil wants the Christian to look at the circumstances, even if they are good. He wants us to look at the circumstances and not at Christ. Right after the feeding of the thousands, Jesus takes His disciples to get in a boat without Him and tells them to leave. He then gets alone to pray. It is likely that He went to pray about the disciples' hardness concerning the working of Christ."

After the feeding of the 5,000, Jesus walks on water. The disciples reacted to Jesus' walking on water with fear and amazement. Mark 6:52 says that this was because "they did not understand about the loaves, but their hearts were hardened." At the reading of this verse my heart was pricked, knowing how I respond with fear, doubt, and even disbelief because the hardness of my own heart.

1 Peter 5:1-3

“So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed: shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly; not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock.”

The elders in in a church are to be pastors/shepherds. They are to fulfill their responsibilities not because they are being forced to serve but because they want to. Can you imagine being pastored by someone who was being forced to minister to you? How horrible that would be.

For those who do exercise oversight willingly, they also need to do it with the right motive. Personal gain is not the right motive. Pastors who are out to exploit the flock are shameful. They are not really interested in caring for people and are not true shepherds. Their desire to take as much as possible without concern for the individual they are taking from often leads to unethical or at least heavy-handed tactics. Greedy pastors bring disgrace upon the church. Instead of being motivated by gain we should be eager. Eager for what? Eager to exercise oversight “as God would have.”

Someone who is eager to be the kind of shepherd that Christ wants will lead by example rather than threat or intimidation. It is inappropriate and biblical to compel your church to do what you think is right. Instead, you should follow God and show people how to live a blessed life.

1 Peter 4:17-19

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

The previous verses have been discussing suffering for doing what is right. These verses say that “judgment” is coming to Christians. The context leads me to think that judgment must be referring to suffering in general rather than suffering for sins. The idea would seem to be that if we suffer for doing what is right, the suffering of those suffer who do what is wrong will be far greater. And if our suffering is so intense that it seems that we might not make it, then those who are in rebellion will suffer and be overwhelmed. They will not make it. Knowing the comparative ease of our intense suffering, we should entrust ourselves to God.

If I have entrusted my eternal soul to God, knowing that he is faithful and will deliver me, how can I fail to trust Him when I go through temporal difficulties.

1 Peter 4:14-16

“If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler. Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name.”

Insults given for the name of Christ are delivered because of the blessing of God. When a person’s actions are in harmony with God’s nature that person is displaying God’s holy attributes and the Spirit of glory rests on that person’s life. This brings brings glory to God and great blessing to you. But you will be attacked. There are those who are enemies of God, and when you are following the divine example, you make yourself a target. They attack you to attack God. When that happens to you, you should consider it to be a blessing, because you know that you are displaying Christ.

But while there is blessing for suffering for being like Christ, there is only shame for suffering for your sin. If you suffer because of sinful choices, you were not being like Christ and your choices are not blessed. You will live with the knowledge that your suffering was due to your sin and it did not glorify God. Unfortunately this is the suffering that we tend to experience most frequently. Thankfully, even these kind of choices can be repented of and forgiven.

We should not seek suffering. We need to try to be like Christ. And when we are mocked, we should face it without shame.

1 Peter 4:12-13

“Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.”

We are told not to be surprised when we encounter trials. But we usually are surprised. We want to know why we are facing the trial. It seems like it should not be happening, and we want to know what is going on that we are facing this unusually difficult circumstance. But trials are not something strange, and we should be ready for them.

The correct response to trials is joy. When we suffer as Christians, we are “shar[ing] Christ’s sufferings.” If we suffer with Him, we shall rejoice at the revelation of His glory. When it is clear to all that Christ is the King of glory, what honor shall be ours who suffered for Him.

1 Peter 4:10-11

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

We tend to view people who are different from ourselves as strange. And while we pay lip service to diversity, in truth, we often feel threatened by it. What we really hope will happen is that everyone simply do what we want, falling in line like ducks waddling after their mother. But God has not designed us to be that way. God, in His infinite creativity, has made us all different. We all have different strengths and weaknesses. We are stewards of these abilities, and God expects us to work together, using our unique abilities to help our brothers and sisters, all of whom have slightly (or greatly) differing abilities. They, in turn, are to use their abilities to help us, each strengthening the other, filling in weaknesses with strengths. This behavior brings glory to God.

1 Peter 4:9

“Show hospitality to one another without grumbling.”

One evidence of the love we have for each other is that we show hospitality to each other. We go out of our way to be inviting and accommodating to our fellow Christians. Unfortunately, those who we show hospitality to do not always respond with thankfulness. I have encountered several people who were rude to me while I was trying to accommodate them. I responded well publicly, but then grumbled about their behavior after they left. That was wrong of me. I am not only responsible to respond well publicly but privately as well. Even if they are rude, I should show hospitality with love.

1 Peter 4:7-8

“The end of all things is at hand; therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers. Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins.”

Both our time and time as a whole has limits. The end and our end will come. Knowing this, we should “be self-controlled and sober-minded.” Self-control--it seems so illusive at times. Often the things I desire to change in my life take years of failure before I see any success. Sober-mindedness would seem to be more easily attained. But perhaps our lack of self-control betrays the true lack of sobriety. If I would sober up to reality, I would live a controlled life. We should not be controlled by other people; we should be controlled by ourselves, behaving a certain way because of our perspective on life. Of course this is only accomplishable with the Spirit’s empowering.

But our mortality is not the only motivation to live self-controlled lives. If we fail to live with self-controlled sober-mindedness, it will interfere with our prayers. Earlier in the book we were warned that a husband’s failure to be understanding with his wife hinders his prayers. Here we are told that we should have these characteristics “for the sake of [our] prayers.” Perhaps this is a parallel idea, lacking these characteristics produces a hindered prayer life. But perhaps the hindrance is that you will not pray. If you are not sober-minded about what’s going on around you, why pray?

But as important as self-control and sober-mindedness are, there is something put in a position of importance above them. Love is more important. Love will certainly result in self-control and sober-mindedness. Because I love my wife, I seek to control my selfish impulses, live with the knowledge that I have the responsibility of providing for her at all times, and be careful to never hurt her. But in addition to love’s resulting in self-control and sobriety, the text states that love is important because it covers a multitude of sins. When people wrong or upset you, love takes care of it.

1 Peter 4:6

“For this is why the gospel was preached even to those who are dead, that though judged in the flesh the way people are, they might live in the spirit the way God does.”

The gospel changes lives. It is preached to spiritually dead people who are engaging in all forms of shameful lifestyles, and it changes them. It takes you the way you are and transforms you that you “might live in the spirit,” The gospel takes the fleshly and makes them into spiritual people whose character reflects God’s character.

1 Peter 4:3-5

“For the time that is past suffices for doing what the Gentiles want to do, living in sensuality, passions, drunkenness, orgies, drinking parties, and lawless idolatry. With respect to this they are surprised when you do not join them in the same flood of debauchery, and they malign you; but they will give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead.”

Those who live for the fulfillment of their fleshly desires are consumed with sensuality. Stimuli drive their actions, and they constantly crave more. This overwhelming desire leads them to all kinds of excess. When these people see Christians who abstain from such debauchery, they are shocked. And there shock quickly gives way to mockery and malicious lies. They will be held accountable for their words and actions.

Earlier in the book, we were told that our testimony could be used to bring someone to Christ. Here we see our testimony provoking people. But these reactions which seem so different may just be different parts of the same thing. Perhaps the negative reaction to our abstaining from debauchery stems from the person's guilt concerning his own sin. This may permanently inspire him to tear us down, trying to prove that we are really no different. But this wrath may eventually give way to recognition of personal sinfulness and acceptance of Christ.

1 Peter 4:1-2

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

I need to arm myself with the right mindset. I need to have a willingness to suffer, knowing that it will keep me from sin. Suffering or at least a mind that is willing to suffer keeps a person from being controlled by his natural desires and leads him to live for the will of God.

My mind in suffering is to be the same as Christ’s mind. There was a benefit to His suffering and He knew it. Likewise, there is a benefit to my suffering. Christ suffered and died to keep me from sin. I suffer to keep myself from sin. I am not directed to seek suffering out. I am directed to be ready for it and to face it knowing that God will use it in my life to keep me from sin.