Click here for the audio message of 1 Peter 5:1-11
As we finish up our look at First Peter this morning, we find Peter is addressing the Church. He addresses the issue of suffering from the perspective of an elder and that of a member of the church.
We have found so far in Peter’s letter that we are to expect suffering in our lives as we follow Christ. God uses that suffering to make us the kind of people He wants us to be. Our suffering produces service, hope, humility, and patience. It strengthens us as followers of Jesus Christ.
During these times of suffering, we as sheep, as members of the church, as members of the body of Christ need faithful leaders. Peter refers to these leaders as elders. The term elder simply refers to the spiritual maturity of the person.
Each elder of the Church must be able to teach, to explain the gospel of Jesus Christ. They must also demonstrate a faithful lifestyle, meaning practice what they preach. We need to also keep in mind though, that the flock belongs to God, not the pastor or elders of the Church. Those people are just put in place by God to lead and care for them.
Being an elder or leader in the Church means more than just teaching the word of God though. It involves providing for the needs of the people. It involves protection from harmful things and that may include discipline if needed.
This ministry is to be performed in a positive manner. You are to be a leader in the Church for the right reason and in the right spirit. You should not be a leader in the church if you are coerced or forced into the position. You must be willing to do it because you feel God calling you to lead.
When you do accept a position of leadership you must do it faithfully. You cannot be lazy in your work for God. You cannot want the position just for the title or for the money or for the power. You must have the right attitude. You must truly want to serve God joyfully.
False leaders are almost always interested in the money or the power of the position. This is nothing new to us today. You can turn the television or the radio on and hear people saying send me money and God will solve all your problems.
Peter saw the same thing almost 2000 years ago. It is nothing new. Satan is still at work in this world. Don’t fall into his trap. Don’t let the title get to you. When you are a leader of the Church you certainly do have a responsibility to lead the people of God, but remember they are God’s people and you too are still a follower of Him as well.
We as leaders, as ministers of God, will be judged for our faithfulness when Christ returns. Many people forget that. They think, I am saved so therefore since God no longer holds my sins against my I will escape judgment.
While that is true that God forgives sins, as believers going on to eternal life with Christ, we still have a job to do on this earth. God gave us that great commission to go into all the world and proclaim the gospel.
Finally, Peter addresses the members of the Church. He says the younger are to submit to the elders. The members are to submit to the leaders of the Church. The members of the church are to respect the leaders and give honor to them.
Submission is a key aspect of the Christian life. We submit to authority with the government, at work, at home, and in the church. We are to humble ourselves and serve others. This is how God is honored and glorified.
It is during these times when we are submitting to others and humbling ourselves, that we will suffer. It is challenging to have this mindset today, but we must. We must trust God to truly live in peace.
God not only allows us but encourages and even commands us to cast all of our anxiety onto Him. He knows this life won’t be easy. He knows we will struggle. He knows we will suffer. But He cares for us.
He wants to take all of the bad stuff from us. He will take our discontentment. He will take our discouragement. He will take our despair. He will lift us up when we fall. He does it because He loves us.
God knows and allows Satan to continue to operate in this world today at least for now. Satan and his forces are always active and looking for opportunities to attack the believer. It might start as a minor temptation and then grow from there, but Satan will continue to attack us, Peter says, like a roaring lion.
We are told to resist Satan. How do we do that? By standing firm in our faith. This means to continue to live according to the Word of God. Satan’s goal is to separate us from fellowship with God and out of the service to God.
When we stand firm, we are not by ourselves. Not only do we have the rest of the body of Christ standing with us, but we have God Himself right there too.
And that is the point of Peter’s letter. We will struggle and suffer with all kinds of things in this world. But always remember that when we stand firm in our faith, we stand together with each other and with Christ.
Closing Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank you for these encouraging words from your servant Peter. We thank you for standing with us and seeing us through our trials and temptations. Help us to be the people you want us to be.
Help our elders of this church to lead according to your Word. Guide them in their service to you and to the other members of your body.
In Jesus Precious name, AMEN.
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Trusting God Through Trials
Click here for the audio message of 1 Peter 4:12-19
Peter returns to the main theme of his letter in our Scripture reading this morning. That is the idea of trials that come about in the Christian’s life. When Peter wrote this letter, Christians were just starting to be persecuted. This horrible persecution and attack of Christians would last another 200 years or so.
Persecution against Christians has never really stopped and continues to this very day around the world. So in this letter Peter gives four attitudes that are necessary to persevere through persecution.
The first thing Peter says, is to expect it. He says, “do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you.” We must not be surprised by the suffering that will come our way because we follow Christ.
This suffering is not accidental. That is not the way God works. There is no chance or luck with Him. He controls all and He allows suffering to test, purge, and cleanse the believer.
Think about suffering in general for a moment. When something “bad” happens, most people think, “Why me!” Or they get so down and out depressed saying, “Why do these things always happen to me.”
We feel as if nobody understands, as if nobody else has ever gone through what we are going through. I don’t mean to belittle anyone’s pain here this morning. There is something unique to each of our own experiences, but whatever you are suffering through I am sure there are others out there who have gone through the same thing or at least something very similar.
Feeling alone? Feeling depressed? Have you lost a loved one? Trouble with your job, marriage, or children? Trouble with the law or the IRS?
You are not alone in this world. Even when you feel like the world is against you, God is still there waiting with open arms for you. Suffering is a normal Christian experience. God has a purpose in our suffering.
The second attitude to have regarding suffering is to rejoice in it. “Rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s suffering.” Why are we to rejoice through our trials? Because the Christian who suffers FOR Christ suffers WITH Christ.
Suffering prepares us for the coming of Christ. When we are persecuted for righteousness in this life, we can rejoice knowing that our rewards await us in Heaven. There is no shortcut when living for Christ. There is no easy way.
Suffering is a part of the Christian’s life, it develops us. We should rejoice in our sufferings for righteousness sake. When you endure through suffering God “rests on you.”
This means that when a believer is suffering for Christ, God is there with them, strengthening them and enabling them to endure the suffering. The greatest proof that you are a true believer is your God given ability to endure through suffering. And that is something to rejoice over.
But sometimes we suffer because we did wrong and that is the third attitude toward suffering that we are to have. Peter tells us we are to evaluate the reason why we are suffering.
If we sin and suffer for it we cannot glorify God for our suffering. But we can glorify God through our witness during our suffering. For example, a Christian sins and kills someone. They are sent to prison and will no doubt suffer the consequences of their actions in prison.
This is not suffering for Christ. God is not gloried because they are suffering for their sin. However, if the person lives out their faith in prison and witnesses to the other inmates, then God can be glorified through that person’s life.
You see the difference and the distinction there. We should take responsibility for our actions and suffer the consequences when we do wrong. When we suffer for Christ, God will get the glory He rightly deserves and we will be rewarded eternally.
Notice some of the sins Peter lists there: murder, theft, crimes, or troublesome meddler. When you murder someone, steal something, or commit any type of crime you should be prepared to suffer the consequences of your sin. But notice that last item, the troublesome meddler, the busy body, the gossiper.
Peter makes no distinction between that and murder. Sure, you probably won’t go to prison for gossiping, but it is still sin and you should be prepared to suffer for your actions.
The final attitude of godly suffering is trusting it all to God. God is the creator of all. When we commit our lives to God, we are simply giving back to Him that which He already created and owned.
As the Creator, God knows what His creation needs, better than we do. When you entrust your life to God, He will take care of you and will supply all your needs according to His riches.
Think about your sufferings this week. Have you suffered because of your sin, probably. Have you suffered for Christ, possibly.
Although, most of us have probably never really experience violent physical persecution for Christ, but we should still expect it and rejoice in it and entrust God with our lives.
Maybe the suffering for Christ that we have experienced is simply being excluded from the crowd, maybe we were called names, or ridiculed for our beliefs. Whatever our suffering may be, we need to simple trust God and ask Him for the strength to persevere through it all.
Closing Prayer
Lord, you never said this life will be easy for us. Yes, we will all be invited to that Heavenly feast one day, but life is no picnic. We ask for your strength through the troubles and trials that come our way.
Teach us to rely on You so that we may persevere through to the end, all so that you may be honored and glorified.
AMEN
Peter returns to the main theme of his letter in our Scripture reading this morning. That is the idea of trials that come about in the Christian’s life. When Peter wrote this letter, Christians were just starting to be persecuted. This horrible persecution and attack of Christians would last another 200 years or so.
Persecution against Christians has never really stopped and continues to this very day around the world. So in this letter Peter gives four attitudes that are necessary to persevere through persecution.
The first thing Peter says, is to expect it. He says, “do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you.” We must not be surprised by the suffering that will come our way because we follow Christ.
This suffering is not accidental. That is not the way God works. There is no chance or luck with Him. He controls all and He allows suffering to test, purge, and cleanse the believer.
Think about suffering in general for a moment. When something “bad” happens, most people think, “Why me!” Or they get so down and out depressed saying, “Why do these things always happen to me.”
We feel as if nobody understands, as if nobody else has ever gone through what we are going through. I don’t mean to belittle anyone’s pain here this morning. There is something unique to each of our own experiences, but whatever you are suffering through I am sure there are others out there who have gone through the same thing or at least something very similar.
Feeling alone? Feeling depressed? Have you lost a loved one? Trouble with your job, marriage, or children? Trouble with the law or the IRS?
You are not alone in this world. Even when you feel like the world is against you, God is still there waiting with open arms for you. Suffering is a normal Christian experience. God has a purpose in our suffering.
The second attitude to have regarding suffering is to rejoice in it. “Rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s suffering.” Why are we to rejoice through our trials? Because the Christian who suffers FOR Christ suffers WITH Christ.
Suffering prepares us for the coming of Christ. When we are persecuted for righteousness in this life, we can rejoice knowing that our rewards await us in Heaven. There is no shortcut when living for Christ. There is no easy way.
Suffering is a part of the Christian’s life, it develops us. We should rejoice in our sufferings for righteousness sake. When you endure through suffering God “rests on you.”
This means that when a believer is suffering for Christ, God is there with them, strengthening them and enabling them to endure the suffering. The greatest proof that you are a true believer is your God given ability to endure through suffering. And that is something to rejoice over.
But sometimes we suffer because we did wrong and that is the third attitude toward suffering that we are to have. Peter tells us we are to evaluate the reason why we are suffering.
If we sin and suffer for it we cannot glorify God for our suffering. But we can glorify God through our witness during our suffering. For example, a Christian sins and kills someone. They are sent to prison and will no doubt suffer the consequences of their actions in prison.
This is not suffering for Christ. God is not gloried because they are suffering for their sin. However, if the person lives out their faith in prison and witnesses to the other inmates, then God can be glorified through that person’s life.
You see the difference and the distinction there. We should take responsibility for our actions and suffer the consequences when we do wrong. When we suffer for Christ, God will get the glory He rightly deserves and we will be rewarded eternally.
Notice some of the sins Peter lists there: murder, theft, crimes, or troublesome meddler. When you murder someone, steal something, or commit any type of crime you should be prepared to suffer the consequences of your sin. But notice that last item, the troublesome meddler, the busy body, the gossiper.
Peter makes no distinction between that and murder. Sure, you probably won’t go to prison for gossiping, but it is still sin and you should be prepared to suffer for your actions.
The final attitude of godly suffering is trusting it all to God. God is the creator of all. When we commit our lives to God, we are simply giving back to Him that which He already created and owned.
As the Creator, God knows what His creation needs, better than we do. When you entrust your life to God, He will take care of you and will supply all your needs according to His riches.
Think about your sufferings this week. Have you suffered because of your sin, probably. Have you suffered for Christ, possibly.
Although, most of us have probably never really experience violent physical persecution for Christ, but we should still expect it and rejoice in it and entrust God with our lives.
Maybe the suffering for Christ that we have experienced is simply being excluded from the crowd, maybe we were called names, or ridiculed for our beliefs. Whatever our suffering may be, we need to simple trust God and ask Him for the strength to persevere through it all.
Closing Prayer
Lord, you never said this life will be easy for us. Yes, we will all be invited to that Heavenly feast one day, but life is no picnic. We ask for your strength through the troubles and trials that come our way.
Teach us to rely on You so that we may persevere through to the end, all so that you may be honored and glorified.
AMEN
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Joyful Service
Click here for the audio message of 1 Peter 4:1-11
The end of all things is near says Peter about 2000 years ago. The idea of near means that the end is imminent. It is the next big thing or major event that God is going to do. The return of Jesus Christ could be at any moment, so we need to be ready and that is what Peter is telling his readers.
We are to maintain our eternal perspective on life. We are not to be carried away with the cares, desires, fears or emotions of the world. On the other hand, we are not to be so focused on our future heavenly life that with miss out on the opportunities to do what God wants us to do while on earth.
While here on earth we are given certain things to do, such as proclaiming the gospel, because we won’t have that opportunity when we are in Heaven. We are to pursue holiness.
Yes, we are citizens of Heaven, but our current travels are on earth. One day we will need to given an account of the things that we have done for God while on this earth.
God has given each of us certain spiritual gifts to use for His glory. As we use these gifts they will bring glory to God, but also joy to use and for those around us. 1 Corinthians 12 goes into more details about Spiritual gifts, but for today we can simply say that all Christians, all members of the body of Christ have certain God given gifts that they can use to building up the Church.
How do you know what your Spiritual gift is? Well today there are many computer programs that will ask you a bunch of questions and help you identify which gift or gifts you may have.
However, I think there is an easier way to figure it out. Simply identify what you enjoy doing the most to serve God, based upon the Spiritual gifts that are identified through the bible! That’s it. That’s your gift.
You should enjoy using your gift while glorifying God. You will look forward to the opportunity to use your gift to serve God. If you haven’t figured out your gift yet, get involved in a variety of ministries and you will eventually figure out what you like and what you don’t particular care for.
You should enjoy using your gift and it should bear fruit. We are to be fruitful. The Holy Spirit wants you to know your gift. Follow His lead.
In order to strengthen ourselves and our gifts we need to use them at every opportunity. In order to do this, we truly need to know God’s Word. We get our strength from Him to do everything that we do, so we need to align our will with His and focus our lives on Him to serve Him.
Part of serving Him means serving others. We do this out of love, not just for God, but love for others as well. Peter tells us to “keep fervent in your love for one another.” This kind of love requires a believer to put another person’s spiritual health ahead of their own desires.
This is true even if they are being treat poorly and especially during times of trouble and persecution as many of Peter’s readers were. Why do we do this? Peter continues, “because love covers a multitude of sins.”
This is one of those scripture that people get a little confused about sometimes. They think it is ok for a person to sin as long as they show love.
For example, lets say there is someone who really loves the church and serving the body of Christ. Let’s say their service is taking care of the lawn. He takes pride in the work that he does and he does it to glorify God.
Now, lets say some kids are out riding their bikes and decide to take a shortcut through the Church lawn. This man sees this and starts running after the kids yelling and screaming at them for riding on the lawn. And maybe he used a few choice words and really lost his temper because these kids were messing up his lawn.
People would say, oh that is just the way he is. He is passionate about his work and gets angry when somebody comes along and messes it up. His love covers that sin.
This is not the point of this scripture. Yes, love does cover sins, but not like this. We as believers cannot overlook sin in our lives. It must be confronted and removed. The meaning of this scripture is that if you love someone it will “cover” their sins against you.
In other words, if that guy was yelling and screaming at you for walking across his lawn, you won’t hold that against him. You will always be ready to forgive insults and unkind acts against you.
When we do show this type of love we are at peace with others. We do not seek revenge. We seek love and peace. As Peter says, we will be hospitable toward one another. We will open our homes to one another and care for the needy.
Think about your service to God this week. What motivates you to serve Him. What gives you joy while serving Him. Think about the blessings that you have received and will receive for your service to Him.
Rely on God to strengthen you and express your thanksgiving for the many things that He has done for you, is doing for you, and will do for you in the future. We need to radiate God’s love for us.
Closing Prayer
Lord, we thank you for our spiritual gifts. Help us to use them for your glory. Help us to show our loves for others. Give us the strength, the wisdom, and the perseverance we need to carry out your will for our lives.
Help us to serve You joyfully today and every day, “so that in all things You may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belongs the glory and dominion for ever and ever. AMEN
The end of all things is near says Peter about 2000 years ago. The idea of near means that the end is imminent. It is the next big thing or major event that God is going to do. The return of Jesus Christ could be at any moment, so we need to be ready and that is what Peter is telling his readers.
We are to maintain our eternal perspective on life. We are not to be carried away with the cares, desires, fears or emotions of the world. On the other hand, we are not to be so focused on our future heavenly life that with miss out on the opportunities to do what God wants us to do while on earth.
While here on earth we are given certain things to do, such as proclaiming the gospel, because we won’t have that opportunity when we are in Heaven. We are to pursue holiness.
Yes, we are citizens of Heaven, but our current travels are on earth. One day we will need to given an account of the things that we have done for God while on this earth.
God has given each of us certain spiritual gifts to use for His glory. As we use these gifts they will bring glory to God, but also joy to use and for those around us. 1 Corinthians 12 goes into more details about Spiritual gifts, but for today we can simply say that all Christians, all members of the body of Christ have certain God given gifts that they can use to building up the Church.
How do you know what your Spiritual gift is? Well today there are many computer programs that will ask you a bunch of questions and help you identify which gift or gifts you may have.
However, I think there is an easier way to figure it out. Simply identify what you enjoy doing the most to serve God, based upon the Spiritual gifts that are identified through the bible! That’s it. That’s your gift.
You should enjoy using your gift while glorifying God. You will look forward to the opportunity to use your gift to serve God. If you haven’t figured out your gift yet, get involved in a variety of ministries and you will eventually figure out what you like and what you don’t particular care for.
You should enjoy using your gift and it should bear fruit. We are to be fruitful. The Holy Spirit wants you to know your gift. Follow His lead.
In order to strengthen ourselves and our gifts we need to use them at every opportunity. In order to do this, we truly need to know God’s Word. We get our strength from Him to do everything that we do, so we need to align our will with His and focus our lives on Him to serve Him.
Part of serving Him means serving others. We do this out of love, not just for God, but love for others as well. Peter tells us to “keep fervent in your love for one another.” This kind of love requires a believer to put another person’s spiritual health ahead of their own desires.
This is true even if they are being treat poorly and especially during times of trouble and persecution as many of Peter’s readers were. Why do we do this? Peter continues, “because love covers a multitude of sins.”
This is one of those scripture that people get a little confused about sometimes. They think it is ok for a person to sin as long as they show love.
For example, lets say there is someone who really loves the church and serving the body of Christ. Let’s say their service is taking care of the lawn. He takes pride in the work that he does and he does it to glorify God.
Now, lets say some kids are out riding their bikes and decide to take a shortcut through the Church lawn. This man sees this and starts running after the kids yelling and screaming at them for riding on the lawn. And maybe he used a few choice words and really lost his temper because these kids were messing up his lawn.
People would say, oh that is just the way he is. He is passionate about his work and gets angry when somebody comes along and messes it up. His love covers that sin.
This is not the point of this scripture. Yes, love does cover sins, but not like this. We as believers cannot overlook sin in our lives. It must be confronted and removed. The meaning of this scripture is that if you love someone it will “cover” their sins against you.
In other words, if that guy was yelling and screaming at you for walking across his lawn, you won’t hold that against him. You will always be ready to forgive insults and unkind acts against you.
When we do show this type of love we are at peace with others. We do not seek revenge. We seek love and peace. As Peter says, we will be hospitable toward one another. We will open our homes to one another and care for the needy.
Think about your service to God this week. What motivates you to serve Him. What gives you joy while serving Him. Think about the blessings that you have received and will receive for your service to Him.
Rely on God to strengthen you and express your thanksgiving for the many things that He has done for you, is doing for you, and will do for you in the future. We need to radiate God’s love for us.
Closing Prayer
Lord, we thank you for our spiritual gifts. Help us to use them for your glory. Help us to show our loves for others. Give us the strength, the wisdom, and the perseverance we need to carry out your will for our lives.
Help us to serve You joyfully today and every day, “so that in all things You may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belongs the glory and dominion for ever and ever. AMEN
Sunday, August 8, 2010
Loving People
Click here for the audio message of 1 Peter 3:8-17
Peter has wrote about how Christians should act toward the government or other authorities. Peter has wrote about how Christians should act with their spouses. In both cases we are to submit to those over charge of us.
Finally, this morning we see Peter writing about our conduct with other believers. He says we are to be like-minded. We are to be sympathetic, tenderhearted and courteous toward each other. We are to be united with each other through Christ. This should not only be our attitude but our actions as well.
No doubt there are times when this is difficult for us to do. Believers are still human and at times fall prey to the ways of the world. But we are to turn the other cheek when someone is saying or doing something evil to you.
We should return good to them for their evilness. We can try to find ways to serve that person. We can pray for them, maybe for their salvation or just their spiritual growth. We can express our thankfulness to that person. Or we can simply speak well of them and honestly desire their well being.
This is how we are to live. We are indeed to enjoy our lives. God put us here for a reason and we should live life to its fullest, but we can only do that as we are living the life God wants us to live.
Peter tells us in no uncertain terms how to enjoy life here, even while living in a dark world that is out to get you. We have already seen in verse 8-9 that he says to have a humble loving attitude toward everyone. Do not seek revenge against those that hurt you.
In verse 10, he continues and says, quoting from Psalm 34:12-16, refrain from speaking evil, use pure and honest speak only. We are to hate sin and pursue peace as much as possible. We are to have a right motive to seek righteousness and please God with our lives.
That is the type of life God wants for us. When we are living like that then we will truly be able to enjoy our lives, even when our situation looks pretty bad from a world perspective.
That is what Peter delves into next. He says when people do good, the world is slow to attack those people.
Look at politicians for example. When they are routinely doing good for their constituents, bringing money and jobs into the area or whatever the people are happy. If the politician does something a little bad, the people are willing to over look it because of all the good stuff that they have done.
But it can happen and Christians should expect it and be ready for it. We as Christians should be focused on being and doing good. Then when we do speak out against sin, the world won’t attack us immediately. Peter does go on to say, that it will happen though.
He uses the example of Christ to show suffering. Suffering for doing good should bring us joy. When you suffer for doing wrong it should be expected that you will be punished and suffer. But God knows when we are being persecuted for doing good.
When the world is attacking us we should be ready to given a defense of our actions. That means we should know the Word of God. We should have it locked in our hearts. As we live in submission to God, loving and obeying Him, we will have no fear of what will happen.
You must understand what you believe. You should understand why you are a believer and be able to given an explanation to others in a dignified and respectful way.
You must also have a clear conscience. If someone is speaking evil of you and what they say is true, then you do not have a clear conscience. You need to clean up your act. You need to eliminate any ongoing sin in your life and confess them to God. Ask for the strength to remove those thoughts or actions from your life.
We must always remember who we are. We belong to Christ and we represent Christ in this world. We need to remember the life of Christ and mimic His actions.
Jesus was always there for others, even when He wanted to be alone. If someone was in need, He was there for them. Why? Because He loved them. He was compassionate toward them.
The next time you are feeling overwhelmed. Everybody wants a piece of your time and attention and you have a million other things to do. You heart is starting to race because you just can’t handle it.
Think about the life of Christ. He gave Himself to others because He loved them. We should do the same. Whether we are giving ourselves to family members, friends, or strangers, it doesn’t matter. We are to love them all and give ourselves to them.
After all Christ gave His entire self to this world. “Christ died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit.” (1 Peter 18)
Closing Prayer
Lord, help us to love others as You have loved us. Even when we are exhausted and feel as though we have nothing else to give, strengthen us and fill us with your grace and mercy.
Help us to demonstrate that love of Yours in this world. Enable us to be like Christ, compassionate, caring, and merciful. Use us to be an example to the people of this world and help us to bring sinners to You.
AMEN
Peter has wrote about how Christians should act toward the government or other authorities. Peter has wrote about how Christians should act with their spouses. In both cases we are to submit to those over charge of us.
Finally, this morning we see Peter writing about our conduct with other believers. He says we are to be like-minded. We are to be sympathetic, tenderhearted and courteous toward each other. We are to be united with each other through Christ. This should not only be our attitude but our actions as well.
No doubt there are times when this is difficult for us to do. Believers are still human and at times fall prey to the ways of the world. But we are to turn the other cheek when someone is saying or doing something evil to you.
We should return good to them for their evilness. We can try to find ways to serve that person. We can pray for them, maybe for their salvation or just their spiritual growth. We can express our thankfulness to that person. Or we can simply speak well of them and honestly desire their well being.
This is how we are to live. We are indeed to enjoy our lives. God put us here for a reason and we should live life to its fullest, but we can only do that as we are living the life God wants us to live.
Peter tells us in no uncertain terms how to enjoy life here, even while living in a dark world that is out to get you. We have already seen in verse 8-9 that he says to have a humble loving attitude toward everyone. Do not seek revenge against those that hurt you.
In verse 10, he continues and says, quoting from Psalm 34:12-16, refrain from speaking evil, use pure and honest speak only. We are to hate sin and pursue peace as much as possible. We are to have a right motive to seek righteousness and please God with our lives.
That is the type of life God wants for us. When we are living like that then we will truly be able to enjoy our lives, even when our situation looks pretty bad from a world perspective.
That is what Peter delves into next. He says when people do good, the world is slow to attack those people.
Look at politicians for example. When they are routinely doing good for their constituents, bringing money and jobs into the area or whatever the people are happy. If the politician does something a little bad, the people are willing to over look it because of all the good stuff that they have done.
But it can happen and Christians should expect it and be ready for it. We as Christians should be focused on being and doing good. Then when we do speak out against sin, the world won’t attack us immediately. Peter does go on to say, that it will happen though.
He uses the example of Christ to show suffering. Suffering for doing good should bring us joy. When you suffer for doing wrong it should be expected that you will be punished and suffer. But God knows when we are being persecuted for doing good.
When the world is attacking us we should be ready to given a defense of our actions. That means we should know the Word of God. We should have it locked in our hearts. As we live in submission to God, loving and obeying Him, we will have no fear of what will happen.
You must understand what you believe. You should understand why you are a believer and be able to given an explanation to others in a dignified and respectful way.
You must also have a clear conscience. If someone is speaking evil of you and what they say is true, then you do not have a clear conscience. You need to clean up your act. You need to eliminate any ongoing sin in your life and confess them to God. Ask for the strength to remove those thoughts or actions from your life.
We must always remember who we are. We belong to Christ and we represent Christ in this world. We need to remember the life of Christ and mimic His actions.
Jesus was always there for others, even when He wanted to be alone. If someone was in need, He was there for them. Why? Because He loved them. He was compassionate toward them.
The next time you are feeling overwhelmed. Everybody wants a piece of your time and attention and you have a million other things to do. You heart is starting to race because you just can’t handle it.
Think about the life of Christ. He gave Himself to others because He loved them. We should do the same. Whether we are giving ourselves to family members, friends, or strangers, it doesn’t matter. We are to love them all and give ourselves to them.
After all Christ gave His entire self to this world. “Christ died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit.” (1 Peter 18)
Closing Prayer
Lord, help us to love others as You have loved us. Even when we are exhausted and feel as though we have nothing else to give, strengthen us and fill us with your grace and mercy.
Help us to demonstrate that love of Yours in this world. Enable us to be like Christ, compassionate, caring, and merciful. Use us to be an example to the people of this world and help us to bring sinners to You.
AMEN
Sunday, August 1, 2010
Holy Living
Click here for the audio message of 1 Peter 3:1-7
Last week we started to look at some obligations that Christians have to this world. When we make Jesus the cornerstone of our life, we live for Him and we live like Him. So we get these examples from they way He lived His life.
As we have said, Christ is the perfect example of life. He did not seek revenge when He was wronged. In fact, He loved His enemies and prayed for them. We too should do the same.
Christ endured the suffering that came to Him to carry out God’s will. That too is something that each of us should be prepared to do. Christ also submitted to the authorities of this world so far as their laws didn’t violate God’s laws.
In our Scripture this morning, Peter continues the theme of holy living. Now he switches from the perspective of citizen, to that of a family nature.
First, he says, “Wives, submit to your husbands.” No doubt this is one of those Scriptures that has been abused throughout the centuries. Notice it doesn’t say, “Wives, let your husbands beat and abuse you.” It doesn’t say that nor does it mean that nor does it imply that at all.
Women are not inferior to men in any way. So how are women to be submissive to their husbands. That is an easy answer, but sometimes tough to do. You are to love them, even and especially if they are not Christians.
In fact, Peter even says, you can win your unbelieving husbands over to Christ by simply submitting yourself to him. Submission is tough for all of us, because we all want to be in charge, but part of being a Christian is submission to others.
Submitting yourself to another person means serving them. I know it sounds kind of sexist these days, but you know what. When you have a kind, loving, caring, and compassionate spouse, serving them is a wonderful thing.
If your spouse isn’t so kind, caring, or compassionate, then serving them will show them what holy living is like. A Christian brings the blessings of Christ to their entire household.
Peter then tells the women to focus on their inner beauty. Inner beauty is precious to God. It shows your heart to others. It is having a gentle, kind, meek, humble spirit. These are some of the characteristics of Christ.
It is challenging today to develop that inner beauty. The world pulls us in all kinds of directions and we rarely make time to focus on growing in our faith and changing our lifestyles to reflect our Christianity.
Think about your morning routine of getting ready for your day. It probably takes most of us about an hour to get ready to do whatever is on our agenda. We shower, shave, fix our hair, pick out our outfits and so on.
Now think about the amount of time you spend on God and focusing on your inner beauty each day.
There are many examples of this inner family throughout the Bible. We have studied Ruth who definitely showed that inner beauty. She was submissive, she was faithful, she was loyal. We’ve looked at Esther as well. She too was submissive and faithful. She stood up for what was right, not just for her or her family, but for her entire race.
These people were examples to others of a holy life. A holy pure life, doesn’t simply benefit us, but the blessing pour from us to others. The people around us get to see an example of life that isn’t focused on worldly stuff. It lets them know and see that there is something more to life.
Becoming holy is a process. It takes a lifetime to become holy and even at that we won’t know perfect holiness until we are with our Lord. We are not perfect and will never be while on this earth, but like Paul, we press on toward the mark.
God sanctifies us. He sets us apart from sin. He forgives our sin. But we have a responsibility too. We must flee from the temptations that try to trap us. Of course, we can only do this consistently by relying on the strength that God gives us.
Our actions speak louder than our words and we seem to learn this at a very young age. Children can sense when something is wrong, maybe by the tone of our voice, or the look on our face and we don’t even realize what we are doing.
Our lifestyle and our love for others can open the eyes of others to see that there is more to life than just stuff.
So Peter gives the first six verses to women, but it applies to men and all Christians as well. Finally, in verse seven Peter gives the men, the husbands some advice.
He says, “You husbands in the same way live with your wives.” In other words, husbands you too are submitting to your wives. You must love your wife. You must be sensitive to her needs, to her fears, to her feelings.
Husbands, you are to make her needs your needs. Marriage is the best earthly relationship that life has to offer. Our wives are our companions and we are to cultivate that relationship.
Not only is it what God wants, but Peter tells us this so that our prayers are not hindered. How about that? Husbands, if you are not treating your wife right, do you think God is going to listen and answer your prayers?
Submission is a requirement for all Christians. We are to submit to the authorities over us. We are to submit to each other. Next time we will see our submission requirements in the Church.
Of course, above all of this we are to submit to God. We are to make His will our will. We are to live the life that He wants us to live and He gave us that example of life through our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
Closing Prayer
Lord, we thank you for that perfect example of life that you have given to us to model our lives after. We want to be holy and we want to live that life, but we are weak and we fall into temptation in this dark world.
Make your presence known to us so that we may live the holy life you have for us. Help us to give up our selfish desires and focus our attention on others. Help us to live by your spirit and not by our flesh.
Use us to bring others to you.
AMEN.
Last week we started to look at some obligations that Christians have to this world. When we make Jesus the cornerstone of our life, we live for Him and we live like Him. So we get these examples from they way He lived His life.
As we have said, Christ is the perfect example of life. He did not seek revenge when He was wronged. In fact, He loved His enemies and prayed for them. We too should do the same.
Christ endured the suffering that came to Him to carry out God’s will. That too is something that each of us should be prepared to do. Christ also submitted to the authorities of this world so far as their laws didn’t violate God’s laws.
In our Scripture this morning, Peter continues the theme of holy living. Now he switches from the perspective of citizen, to that of a family nature.
First, he says, “Wives, submit to your husbands.” No doubt this is one of those Scriptures that has been abused throughout the centuries. Notice it doesn’t say, “Wives, let your husbands beat and abuse you.” It doesn’t say that nor does it mean that nor does it imply that at all.
Women are not inferior to men in any way. So how are women to be submissive to their husbands. That is an easy answer, but sometimes tough to do. You are to love them, even and especially if they are not Christians.
In fact, Peter even says, you can win your unbelieving husbands over to Christ by simply submitting yourself to him. Submission is tough for all of us, because we all want to be in charge, but part of being a Christian is submission to others.
Submitting yourself to another person means serving them. I know it sounds kind of sexist these days, but you know what. When you have a kind, loving, caring, and compassionate spouse, serving them is a wonderful thing.
If your spouse isn’t so kind, caring, or compassionate, then serving them will show them what holy living is like. A Christian brings the blessings of Christ to their entire household.
Peter then tells the women to focus on their inner beauty. Inner beauty is precious to God. It shows your heart to others. It is having a gentle, kind, meek, humble spirit. These are some of the characteristics of Christ.
It is challenging today to develop that inner beauty. The world pulls us in all kinds of directions and we rarely make time to focus on growing in our faith and changing our lifestyles to reflect our Christianity.
Think about your morning routine of getting ready for your day. It probably takes most of us about an hour to get ready to do whatever is on our agenda. We shower, shave, fix our hair, pick out our outfits and so on.
Now think about the amount of time you spend on God and focusing on your inner beauty each day.
There are many examples of this inner family throughout the Bible. We have studied Ruth who definitely showed that inner beauty. She was submissive, she was faithful, she was loyal. We’ve looked at Esther as well. She too was submissive and faithful. She stood up for what was right, not just for her or her family, but for her entire race.
These people were examples to others of a holy life. A holy pure life, doesn’t simply benefit us, but the blessing pour from us to others. The people around us get to see an example of life that isn’t focused on worldly stuff. It lets them know and see that there is something more to life.
Becoming holy is a process. It takes a lifetime to become holy and even at that we won’t know perfect holiness until we are with our Lord. We are not perfect and will never be while on this earth, but like Paul, we press on toward the mark.
God sanctifies us. He sets us apart from sin. He forgives our sin. But we have a responsibility too. We must flee from the temptations that try to trap us. Of course, we can only do this consistently by relying on the strength that God gives us.
Our actions speak louder than our words and we seem to learn this at a very young age. Children can sense when something is wrong, maybe by the tone of our voice, or the look on our face and we don’t even realize what we are doing.
Our lifestyle and our love for others can open the eyes of others to see that there is more to life than just stuff.
So Peter gives the first six verses to women, but it applies to men and all Christians as well. Finally, in verse seven Peter gives the men, the husbands some advice.
He says, “You husbands in the same way live with your wives.” In other words, husbands you too are submitting to your wives. You must love your wife. You must be sensitive to her needs, to her fears, to her feelings.
Husbands, you are to make her needs your needs. Marriage is the best earthly relationship that life has to offer. Our wives are our companions and we are to cultivate that relationship.
Not only is it what God wants, but Peter tells us this so that our prayers are not hindered. How about that? Husbands, if you are not treating your wife right, do you think God is going to listen and answer your prayers?
Submission is a requirement for all Christians. We are to submit to the authorities over us. We are to submit to each other. Next time we will see our submission requirements in the Church.
Of course, above all of this we are to submit to God. We are to make His will our will. We are to live the life that He wants us to live and He gave us that example of life through our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
Closing Prayer
Lord, we thank you for that perfect example of life that you have given to us to model our lives after. We want to be holy and we want to live that life, but we are weak and we fall into temptation in this dark world.
Make your presence known to us so that we may live the holy life you have for us. Help us to give up our selfish desires and focus our attention on others. Help us to live by your spirit and not by our flesh.
Use us to bring others to you.
AMEN.
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Following Jesus’ Example
Click here for the audio message of 1 Peter 2:11-25
The first portion of 1 Peter chapter 2 deals with Christ as being the Cornerstone of the Christian’s life. He is the perfect example of life. All Christians should model their life after His.
With Christ we can come into the presence of God. We are the priests. We are the Holy Nation. We are God’s chosen people. We are His children. We should read, study, and apply His Word in our life.
Peter begins our portion of Scripture today by continuing that theme of following the example of Jesus. We are to live a righteous life in this fallen, hostile world. We are foreigners here, our true home, our true citizenship is in Heaven.
This earth is just a temporary place for us to carry out God’s work until we are all called to our eternal home. While we are here, however, we do have some obligations if you will.
First, Christians have an obligation to strangers. In verse 11, Peter tells us to abstain from fleshly lusts. We are to not only abstain from them but we are to stay away from them completely.
In order to have an impact on the world we, as Christians, must show that we are indeed different. We must avoid the desires of this world, not only from an external standpoint, but internally as well.
Fleshly desires are all encompassing. These things, these desires, these lusts literally wage war against the Christian. It is a desire for health, wealth, beauty, fun, and so on. These desires, especially when taken to the extreme, will destroy the Christian’s joy, peace, and ultimately their usefulness to God.
Our behavior should not follow after the lusts of the world. Instead it should be excellent, pure, noble. The world should recognize that we are different. The world saw Christ was different, some believed and some persecuted Him. We should expect the same.
Our second obligation in this world is to the government. We are to submit ourselves to the government. We are under the civil law and authority. God has placed these governments in charge to protect the good people and punish the evildoers.
Therefore, when we live obediently and submit to the authorities we are honoring God and He is glorified through our conduct. The only time a Christian should disobey the government is when it tries to force a Christian to do what is against the law of God explicitly state in Scripture.
Christ submitted Himself to the governing authorities. He paid His taxes and obeyed and submitted to the government with regards to worldly, civil activities.
Our third obligation is to our masters. Today we would say, “Employees, be subject to your bosses.” Just because we are Christians doesn’t make us any better than anybody else. We are all still sinners in need of a Savior.
There are certain social structure in place in society, such as the employee / employer relationship. We are not to rebel against that structure no matter how unfair it may be. This is a difficult thing for most of us to deal with.
Luckily, here in the United States and especially in Pennsylvania, we are considered “at will” employees. Meaning, I can leave my job any time and my employer could fire me at any time too. It is at will employment. I willing work for my employer and they willingly employ me.
Some places around the world are not like that. Some places still have a caste system in place that says if you are born into a farming family you will be a farmer. There is no choice.
Either way, we are to submit to our masters. Again, the same holds true as with the government. If our boss asks us to do something against the word of God we should not do it. Furthermore, if our boss asks us to do something that is against the law of the land we are not to do it either.
Whenever we submit ourselves, we do it voluntarily. We do this for our testimony for Christ. Especially when we are treated unfairly. We are to take our treatment knowing that God sees and knows all and we are under His care.
That is certainly what Christ did. As a human person, He didn’t want to be persecuted and be nailed to the cross. His prayer in the garden shows that. He prays, if there is another way, lets do that instead, but not what I want, but your will be done.
Christ was and is the perfect example of patient endurance in unjust suffering because He was sinless. Christ suffered not simply as the Christian’s pattern, but far more importantly as the Christian’s substitute. To bear the sins of His people.
Christ bore the punishment and the penalty for believers and satisfied our Holy God. This is the heart of the Gospel. Christ died for you.
We are to honor all people. We are to have a respect for human life and treat people accordingly. We are to love other believers. We are to fear God. We are to receive Christ into our lives as the perfect example to follow.
Think about how you act in this world. Do you act in a Godly manner? Or do you seek revenge when others try to hurt you or your family.
Make no mistake about it, if you are living a Christ like life, you will be mistreated. Just remember that God sees and knows all. Pray for the strength to resist the temptation to seek your own revenge.
Pray for the person offending you. Pray that God will open their eyes and their hearts to see the error of their ways and to receive Christ into their life. We are to love our enemies.
Are you following Jesus’ example?
Closing Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank you for giving us your Word and not just Your Word on paper, but Your Word in the flesh. Help us to truly live as you would have us to live. Strengthen us to be submissive to those in charge, ruling over us.
Help us to extend that great mercy and love that you gave us to others. Help us to resist the temptation to seek revenge on our own. Guide us in our journey as we strive to follow Christ closer and closer each day.
AMEN.
The first portion of 1 Peter chapter 2 deals with Christ as being the Cornerstone of the Christian’s life. He is the perfect example of life. All Christians should model their life after His.
With Christ we can come into the presence of God. We are the priests. We are the Holy Nation. We are God’s chosen people. We are His children. We should read, study, and apply His Word in our life.
Peter begins our portion of Scripture today by continuing that theme of following the example of Jesus. We are to live a righteous life in this fallen, hostile world. We are foreigners here, our true home, our true citizenship is in Heaven.
This earth is just a temporary place for us to carry out God’s work until we are all called to our eternal home. While we are here, however, we do have some obligations if you will.
First, Christians have an obligation to strangers. In verse 11, Peter tells us to abstain from fleshly lusts. We are to not only abstain from them but we are to stay away from them completely.
In order to have an impact on the world we, as Christians, must show that we are indeed different. We must avoid the desires of this world, not only from an external standpoint, but internally as well.
Fleshly desires are all encompassing. These things, these desires, these lusts literally wage war against the Christian. It is a desire for health, wealth, beauty, fun, and so on. These desires, especially when taken to the extreme, will destroy the Christian’s joy, peace, and ultimately their usefulness to God.
Our behavior should not follow after the lusts of the world. Instead it should be excellent, pure, noble. The world should recognize that we are different. The world saw Christ was different, some believed and some persecuted Him. We should expect the same.
Our second obligation in this world is to the government. We are to submit ourselves to the government. We are under the civil law and authority. God has placed these governments in charge to protect the good people and punish the evildoers.
Therefore, when we live obediently and submit to the authorities we are honoring God and He is glorified through our conduct. The only time a Christian should disobey the government is when it tries to force a Christian to do what is against the law of God explicitly state in Scripture.
Christ submitted Himself to the governing authorities. He paid His taxes and obeyed and submitted to the government with regards to worldly, civil activities.
Our third obligation is to our masters. Today we would say, “Employees, be subject to your bosses.” Just because we are Christians doesn’t make us any better than anybody else. We are all still sinners in need of a Savior.
There are certain social structure in place in society, such as the employee / employer relationship. We are not to rebel against that structure no matter how unfair it may be. This is a difficult thing for most of us to deal with.
Luckily, here in the United States and especially in Pennsylvania, we are considered “at will” employees. Meaning, I can leave my job any time and my employer could fire me at any time too. It is at will employment. I willing work for my employer and they willingly employ me.
Some places around the world are not like that. Some places still have a caste system in place that says if you are born into a farming family you will be a farmer. There is no choice.
Either way, we are to submit to our masters. Again, the same holds true as with the government. If our boss asks us to do something against the word of God we should not do it. Furthermore, if our boss asks us to do something that is against the law of the land we are not to do it either.
Whenever we submit ourselves, we do it voluntarily. We do this for our testimony for Christ. Especially when we are treated unfairly. We are to take our treatment knowing that God sees and knows all and we are under His care.
That is certainly what Christ did. As a human person, He didn’t want to be persecuted and be nailed to the cross. His prayer in the garden shows that. He prays, if there is another way, lets do that instead, but not what I want, but your will be done.
Christ was and is the perfect example of patient endurance in unjust suffering because He was sinless. Christ suffered not simply as the Christian’s pattern, but far more importantly as the Christian’s substitute. To bear the sins of His people.
Christ bore the punishment and the penalty for believers and satisfied our Holy God. This is the heart of the Gospel. Christ died for you.
We are to honor all people. We are to have a respect for human life and treat people accordingly. We are to love other believers. We are to fear God. We are to receive Christ into our lives as the perfect example to follow.
Think about how you act in this world. Do you act in a Godly manner? Or do you seek revenge when others try to hurt you or your family.
Make no mistake about it, if you are living a Christ like life, you will be mistreated. Just remember that God sees and knows all. Pray for the strength to resist the temptation to seek your own revenge.
Pray for the person offending you. Pray that God will open their eyes and their hearts to see the error of their ways and to receive Christ into their life. We are to love our enemies.
Are you following Jesus’ example?
Closing Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank you for giving us your Word and not just Your Word on paper, but Your Word in the flesh. Help us to truly live as you would have us to live. Strengthen us to be submissive to those in charge, ruling over us.
Help us to extend that great mercy and love that you gave us to others. Help us to resist the temptation to seek revenge on our own. Guide us in our journey as we strive to follow Christ closer and closer each day.
AMEN.
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Jesus Christ the Cornerstone
Click here for the audio message of 1 Peter 2:1-10
Our Scripture this morning really focuses on Christ and the role He plays in our life. Last time we saw that we are a new creation in Christ. The Christians new life cannot grow unless we get rid of the sin in our life.
So we need to get rid of all malice, that is evil stuff that comes from inside our hearts. We get rid of hypocrisy. We get rid of envy. We get rid of slander. So we get rid of all that stuff.
But we don’t just leave that area of our heart empty. No. We fill it with the Word of God. To grow in our faith we must have a desire for God’s Word like a baby desires milk.
We read the bible. We study His Word. We apply what we learn from Him to our life everyday. And we grow, from babes to mature men and women.
We eliminate sin, desire God’s Word and grow in our faith. We need to remember the life God has given to us, not just our earthly physical life, but out eternal spiritual life as well. We ask God to help us remove that sin in our life and give us the strength to resist the temptations of this world.
When we are saved we get a taste of God’s grace in realizing what Christ did for us on the cross. And we can come to Him as a living stone. When we come to Him, we come with the intention or desire of staying with Him.
We don’t come to Him just to help us through a certain situation and then once everything works out we go back to our old lifestyles. That is not the case at all. We come to Christ and desire to follow Him for the rest of our lives. We remain in His presence.
As we know Christ is to be the Cornerstone of our lives. When building a house you spend a lot of time on the foundation so the rest of your house will stand. Our Spiritual houses our built on Christ.
We are called living stones. We are so closely united with Christ that the characteristics of His life should be evident in our lives. We build our life on Him. Christians are little Christ’s. When people look at us and our lives they should see Christ.
Christ is the perfect model or example of a life to follow. He is perfect. He lived like us, yet without sin. Even though we will never reach perfection in our earthly life, we are to still strive toward that goal.
Then why does Scripture tell us that Christ can be a stumbling block and a rock of offense? How can this be? How can Christ cause someone to stumble?
Christ is the way to our salvation and eternal life. But when someone rejects Christ, then they are rejecting the Gospel and Christ will be a stumbling block to them. They will either trip over the rock or the rock will crush them. Either way they will be judged for their rejection of Christ.
Peter tells us that, as believers, God has given us a special role to play. We are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation. We are God’s own people so that we may tell others about His grace, His mercy, and His love.
We know that God chose the nation of Israel to be His chosen people during the Old Testament times. But they rejected Him so God chose us, followers of Jesus Christ to be His chosen people. We are to carry out His work in this world now.
We are a royal priesthood. Again Peter draws from the Old Testament priests. Only the priests were allowed into the Holy of Holies, which represented the presence of God. When Israel rejected their Messiah, they temporarily forfeited this privilege. I do believe they will get this privilege back again during the tribulation, however.
Today, the Church, the body of Christ is a royal priesthood. We all have access to the presence of God. We serve God and one day will rule with Christ.
God calls us His own. We are children of God. He hears our prayers. He cares for us. He watches over us. He calls us His own. We belong to Him and He wants us! We are the people of God.
God usually spreads His grace and mercy on everybody. The sun shines and the rain falls on believers and non-believers alike in this world. But we as believers have experienced His unique and saving mercy and grace at our salvation.
What a wonderful thought that is. And I think sometimes we forget about it or maybe even take it for granted. Maybe because many of us received Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior so long ago.
Maybe we have lost some of that enthusiasm and commitment you had when you first became a follower of Christ. And I think part of that has to do with our society today. Everything seems so complicated. We are in such a rush.
There are so many demands placed upon us. We run out of time. We get tired. And usually it is God’s work that gets shoved aside. We need to rekindle that love, that enthusiasm, that commitment for Christ.
We need to spend time in God’s Word. We need to spend time in prayer. We need to eliminate or at least minimize the worldly distractions. We need to constantly evaluate our life from God’s perspective.
Ask yourself, Is what I am doing glorifying God? Is there something else that I can do that would glorify God more?
Look at your priorities and make sure your life is built on that Cornerstone.
Closing Prayer
Lord, we thank you for sending us Jesus Christ and making Him the Cornerstone of our lives. Help us to grow and pattern our life after His. We thank you for making us your special people.
Help us to carry out Your will here on earth. Strengthen us and guide us as we journey in our faith.
AMEN.
Our Scripture this morning really focuses on Christ and the role He plays in our life. Last time we saw that we are a new creation in Christ. The Christians new life cannot grow unless we get rid of the sin in our life.
So we need to get rid of all malice, that is evil stuff that comes from inside our hearts. We get rid of hypocrisy. We get rid of envy. We get rid of slander. So we get rid of all that stuff.
But we don’t just leave that area of our heart empty. No. We fill it with the Word of God. To grow in our faith we must have a desire for God’s Word like a baby desires milk.
We read the bible. We study His Word. We apply what we learn from Him to our life everyday. And we grow, from babes to mature men and women.
We eliminate sin, desire God’s Word and grow in our faith. We need to remember the life God has given to us, not just our earthly physical life, but out eternal spiritual life as well. We ask God to help us remove that sin in our life and give us the strength to resist the temptations of this world.
When we are saved we get a taste of God’s grace in realizing what Christ did for us on the cross. And we can come to Him as a living stone. When we come to Him, we come with the intention or desire of staying with Him.
We don’t come to Him just to help us through a certain situation and then once everything works out we go back to our old lifestyles. That is not the case at all. We come to Christ and desire to follow Him for the rest of our lives. We remain in His presence.
As we know Christ is to be the Cornerstone of our lives. When building a house you spend a lot of time on the foundation so the rest of your house will stand. Our Spiritual houses our built on Christ.
We are called living stones. We are so closely united with Christ that the characteristics of His life should be evident in our lives. We build our life on Him. Christians are little Christ’s. When people look at us and our lives they should see Christ.
Christ is the perfect model or example of a life to follow. He is perfect. He lived like us, yet without sin. Even though we will never reach perfection in our earthly life, we are to still strive toward that goal.
Then why does Scripture tell us that Christ can be a stumbling block and a rock of offense? How can this be? How can Christ cause someone to stumble?
Christ is the way to our salvation and eternal life. But when someone rejects Christ, then they are rejecting the Gospel and Christ will be a stumbling block to them. They will either trip over the rock or the rock will crush them. Either way they will be judged for their rejection of Christ.
Peter tells us that, as believers, God has given us a special role to play. We are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation. We are God’s own people so that we may tell others about His grace, His mercy, and His love.
We know that God chose the nation of Israel to be His chosen people during the Old Testament times. But they rejected Him so God chose us, followers of Jesus Christ to be His chosen people. We are to carry out His work in this world now.
We are a royal priesthood. Again Peter draws from the Old Testament priests. Only the priests were allowed into the Holy of Holies, which represented the presence of God. When Israel rejected their Messiah, they temporarily forfeited this privilege. I do believe they will get this privilege back again during the tribulation, however.
Today, the Church, the body of Christ is a royal priesthood. We all have access to the presence of God. We serve God and one day will rule with Christ.
God calls us His own. We are children of God. He hears our prayers. He cares for us. He watches over us. He calls us His own. We belong to Him and He wants us! We are the people of God.
God usually spreads His grace and mercy on everybody. The sun shines and the rain falls on believers and non-believers alike in this world. But we as believers have experienced His unique and saving mercy and grace at our salvation.
What a wonderful thought that is. And I think sometimes we forget about it or maybe even take it for granted. Maybe because many of us received Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior so long ago.
Maybe we have lost some of that enthusiasm and commitment you had when you first became a follower of Christ. And I think part of that has to do with our society today. Everything seems so complicated. We are in such a rush.
There are so many demands placed upon us. We run out of time. We get tired. And usually it is God’s work that gets shoved aside. We need to rekindle that love, that enthusiasm, that commitment for Christ.
We need to spend time in God’s Word. We need to spend time in prayer. We need to eliminate or at least minimize the worldly distractions. We need to constantly evaluate our life from God’s perspective.
Ask yourself, Is what I am doing glorifying God? Is there something else that I can do that would glorify God more?
Look at your priorities and make sure your life is built on that Cornerstone.
Closing Prayer
Lord, we thank you for sending us Jesus Christ and making Him the Cornerstone of our lives. Help us to grow and pattern our life after His. We thank you for making us your special people.
Help us to carry out Your will here on earth. Strengthen us and guide us as we journey in our faith.
AMEN.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
Sola Scriptura 
Posts
