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1 Peter |
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| Chapter 1 | Prayer | Devotional | Chapter 4 | Prayer | Devotional | |
| Chapter 2 | Prayer | Devotional | Chapter 5 | Prayer | Devotional | |
| Chapter 3 | Prayer | Devotional |
Prayers
Glorious Lord, we thank You that You have sent out apostles to bring to us a message of Your Son, and to proclaim the hope in which we now rejoice. Grant to us a faith that is more precious than gold. Fill us with inexpressible joy in the salvation that is coming at the full revelation of Christ. Your Son has suffered for us. He has also been glorified. We look to the coming of the fullness of Your grace. Help us to pursue holiness day by day, for we have been ransomed from our futile ways by the precious blood of Christ. Our faith and hope are in You. We have been born again from above through the living and abiding Word that shall remain forever.
Almighty God, We long for the pure spiritual milk of Your Word. Build us up as living stones in Your temple. Your Son is the Cornerstone in a new Zion. Rejected by the leading men in Old Testament Israel, He has called us out of darkness into His marvelous light. Keep us from the foolish passions of the flesh. Help us to live respectfully within the societies of this world. Help us to move forward in holiness as free men who do not use our freedom as a cloak for evil. Thank You for the path that Your Son has traveled for us. It is a way of life, even though it leads through suffering. By His wounds we have been healed. We return again to Him, the Shepherd and Overseer of our souls.
Lord God, show us the way of following Your Son in our families. We no longer want to run our lives by our own understanding. We dedicate ourselves to a new way of love and submission. We need to have humility and tenderness that can only come from You. Show us how to love the truth, and to pursue peace and goodness. You will bless us, even if we have to face some suffering for a time. Teach us to sanctify Christ in our hearts, and to be ready to give a reason for the hope that we possess by faith. Put our enemies to shame, and convict their hearts, so that they too may find life. Bring us safely through this world, as those who have been baptized and are kept within the ark of safety which is Your church.
Sovereign Lord, Your Son suffered in the flesh for us. May we see the benefits of trials in our own lives, that we might make true progress in turning away from sin. Father, we can not simply join in with the debauchery of the world. May we live in the Spirit, as those who know communion with You. Grant us hearts that are willing to serve You and others through the use of every gift from Your hand. Why should we be surprised when we share in the sufferings of Jesus? May Your Spirit rest upon us. Grant us a godly response to persecution, for we know that You are working out Your good purposes.
Great God and King, be with those among us who have the special responsibility of shepherding Your flock. Clothe them with Your gracious humility. Help us all to humble ourselves under Your almighty hand day by day. We turn from sin, and rest in Your Son. To Him be all dominion forever. Grant that we will stand firm in the grace that is ours in Christ Jesus.
Devotionals
Nobody makes “What would Peter do” bracelets. Peter's confusion and misplaced boldness are well known. After all, he confessed that Jesus of Nazareth was the Christ, the Son of the living God, and almost immediately he spoke out against the Lord's revelation of His coming cross, saying “May it never be!” Even several years after the pouring out of the Holy Spirit, Paul writes for all the church to read that he had to oppose Peter to his face because of his duplicitous behavior concerning Gentiles. Under some pressure from outsiders, Peter seemed to forget yet again that Gentile believers were fully accepted in Christ, and therefore worthy of table fellowship with Jewish Christians.
Yet throughout the history of the church, many would want to trace their spiritual lineage somehow to this one apostle. Though people use Peter's name as their justification for any number of practices, few have bothered to study his two letters contained in the New Testament. Instead of “What would Peter do” trinkets, perhaps we should promote a new slogan: “What did Peter write?”
The apostle begins his first letter by using Jewish terminology to refer to the whole church of both Jewish and Gentile believers. In this inspired letter the church is said to be the new chosen people of God. They are scattered across several provinces of the Roman empire, but they are all God's children. God knew them long before they were born, He declared them to be clean through the work of the Holy Spirit, and He destined them to a life of heavenly obedience as those who have been marked as set apart from the world. They are sanctified through the blood of the One Sacrifice which has cleansed us from our sins.
The church should always be full of praise for the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. We have received amazing mercy through the work of our Lord. That mercy includes not only a declaration of our hope, but something more: a happy invasion of living hope into our current lives, since we have received a new birth from above by the Holy Spirit. The experience that we have of heavenly life now is intimately connected to the fact of Jesus' resurrection life in that blessed place where our future inheritance is entirely secure.
Even here on earth, this world of obvious danger and opportunity, God is guarding us and keeping us in the life of faith as we move toward the ultimate Promised Land. By this living hope we experience a surprisingly robust spiritual joy, despite the fact that in the mysterious providence of Almighty God, we must for a little while face a measure of suffering.
The trials that we experience here have a purpose, though those who pretend they understand all of God's mysteries at the present are really only guessing. We can say this: The testing of our faith is connected to events that will be more finally revealed at the grand finale of God's eternal purpose in the revelation of Jesus and His church at His second coming. Wait for it... It is going to be worth it, and God will get all the glory. Keep on loving the Jesus of the Scriptures, though you have not yet seen Him. Keep on believing in Him, and keep on rejoicing with whatever measure of joy you have been given.
Isn't it wonderful enough that our lives have been saved for an eternal and bountiful existence with God? This is what the prophets were writing about, and we who have believed, Jews and Gentiles, have become partakers of a new world that we will certainly enter into more fully in just a little while. Now we can listen to the prophets and we read of a coming Suffering Servant of God. But we also hear of a life that does not fit the history of Israel or the story of the New Testament church. It is too big, too good, too uncompromising, and too heavenly. This was hard for the prophets themselves to understand, though they inquired carefully concerning the person who would be the key figure of our salvation, and the timing of the events that would come. It was revealed to them that these blessings were not just for the faithful remnant of the Israelites or for the whole Jewish nation. The resurrection age that has already begun in Christ was for those who would be united in faith from all the nations of the world through the preaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Now we enjoy truths that even angels want to know more about.
We have been granted an amazing clarity in the revelation of Jesus, His death, His resurrection, the pouring out of the Holy Spirit through the writings and preaching of the apostles and prophets of the New Testament era. Since, by the precious blood of Christ, we have this clarity of hope guaranteed for us in the perfect work of Christ, there is no good excuse for us to continue in a pattern of life from our former days of ignorance. It is time to be holy, different from the world. The One that the prophets longed for has come. He has redeemed us by His blood, and He is risen.
The good Word of Christ has now been preached to us, and we have heard it and embraced it. This truth of grace can be obeyed. We need not wait to leave this earth in order to begin to live the heavenly life more fully. The imperishable seed of God has been planted within us. That seed will live forever, and it will most certainly grow and bear good fruit for eternity.
If we have tasted that the Lord is good, then we have experienced heaven's best gift. The God of the Jews has called a chosen people for eternity. We are to be His holy resurrection temple. He dwells within us even now. Christ is the Cornerstone of this temple, and we are being built up as living stones in this great house of God.
These are wondrous hints of the perfect life that is reserved for us now in the heavens. Since we have this life as a certain hope through the death and resurrection of Jesus, we should live now in the heavenly manner of life that Christ has set for us an example worthy of our complete emulation. We cannot die for anyone's sins, but we can turn away from all that displeases God, and we can offer up our lives in the pattern of Christ-like love.
Since we have such extraordinary blessings guaranteed to us in Jesus, there is really no need for us to have a heart of hatred, a life of pretense, or habits of worldliness that are only insults against our Savior who already rules from heavenly realms. If we are alive in Christ and have some measure of desire for His Word, by this nourishment we will grow as Christians and be further prepared for the destiny that is ours in Christ. The Lord is good to us. He is more than able to work all good within us. The manner of life that Jesus lived for us on earth was powerful for our salvation and an example for our own lives. The life that He lives now in heaven has become the source of any good that can come from our lives now and forever. Christ is the Rock of our salvation in every way that can be imagined, and it is through Him that we offer all of our praise and obedience to God as the temple of the Holy Spirit and the priesthood of all the faithful.
The Old Testament prepared us for a Messiah who would be the Rock of our salvation. Because Jesus was chosen and most highly valued by God, according to the eternal arrangement between the Father and the Son, all who trust in Him will not be put to shame. In fact, we will be valued by God just as the Father esteems His own Son, for we are together with the Lord Jesus as the temple of which He is the Cornerstone.
This same Stone that is the key to all our happiness is for some a rejected stone, and a stone over which men have stumbled, to their own destruction. May the Lord keep us and our families from such a horrible destiny.
The church is to be the chosen Israel of God. Our Head is both King and Priest, and we are a royal priesthood in Him. We will reign with Christ, and in Him we represent one another for mercy's sake before the throne of God. What the prophets wrote of so long ago has now happened. We are proclaiming the excellencies of the One who has won for us realms of heavenly light. We were once not the people of God, but now we belong to the Lord. We were once objects of God's wrath, but now we have received His full mercy. Yet we do not yet live as resurrected beings in the Lord's final Promised Land. Heaven is our home, and Jesus does maintain our citizenship there, but like others before us, we are exiles who must live faithfully in the countries where God has brought us here below. Though we live in Adam's world, we want to live here by the Word of heaven's God. We will not be most fruitful by trying to be just like everyone else in the world around us. We need to turn away from “passions of the flesh,” which refers to anything displeasing to God, whether immoral affections or showy religion. Though some may promote these passions as strategies for spiritual success, they are instead weapons against us and against true Christian spirituality, which is quiet, patient, and kind. We want to be honorable in all that we do, and full of gentle acts that can be genuinely appreciated by those who we want to serve. Maybe some will speak against us as evildoers. We may not be able to change that. A crowd of Jews shouted “Crucify Him!” at our Lord.
That has not happened to us yet. We need to avoid self-justification, defensive thoughts, and any trumpeting of our own achievements. Be more and more engaged in those deeds that will remain entirely unnoticed by those your flesh wants to impress, and give it all up to God as an offering dedicated to His Son's greatness. This is the only safe way of life. Of course, people will see your good deeds, but let that be of no consequence to you.
Daniel lived in exile, and he managed to be very fruitful there. Joseph served Pharaoh and did good things as a stranger in a land where he was honored. Some of the governments we live under are not the best, but we are not secret revolutionaries or noisy partisans. We are citizens of the kingdom of heaven trying to live respectfully during our brief years in a world that is in such great need of renewal.
God has put rulers in place. Wherever possible we should focus on quiet submission and worthy living. Noisy Christians who get tangled in a web of immorality or insurrection greatly harm the cause of the kingdom, though they may insist that they are the only ones in the church living boldly for Jesus. We are servants of the King who died on a cross. We could live in an unjust system where people are bought and sold and still do good with all respect.
If we suffer for doing good, so did Jesus. It is an opportunity for gospel grace if you are mindful of the death of Jesus when you endure sorrows while suffering unjustly. God sees this. He knows what you want now and forever. Our King is powerful. Come back home again to Him every day. He will help you to live the life of faith.
While our hearts yearn for God and His heaven, we live here now. That means that we are often living under rulers who are less than perfect. Even worse, there are times and places throughout history where a human being might actually be the property of another human being. In even the very worst situations, men of faith can show the grace of God by the way they live submissively and honorably through situations of lamentable injustice.
Sadly, even within families where Christ is worshiped, men have not loved their wives as Christ loved the church. Some marriages become so gravely dangerous that it may become necessary for the church or state to see that a spouse is protected from an abuser. Even if her life is not in danger, the relationship between husband and wife may be very far from displaying the love of God for His church. It is especially in unpleasant situations that a wife may find an opportunity to put her faith into action as she respects a man who has offended her. The same can be said for husbands. Love your wife even if she will never respect you. And wives, follow your husbands as conscience permits, without a word of objection, letting your quiet godly conduct speak for itself. Are you impressed with your own looks? Your outward physical beauty is a wonderful gift, but better still is the quiet heart that has learned contentment through trials. Old Testament Sarah is an example of this, though she surprises us with her boldness. But she was committed to her God and to her husband, and her heart was trained through waiting for the promises of God, through doing good, and through the habits of faith, submissive speech, and perseverance in service which she cultivated in her relationship with her husband.
This Sarah had about all that she could take. Consider her life. It would be an understatement to say that it was a trial. How many years did she wait on the Lord following this man who heard from God? She was a weaker vessel, but an heir with her husband Abraham of the grace of heavenly life. For his part, Abraham was not so foolish as to treat her as less than himself or to ignore her concerns. Men who mistreat their wives in that way surely suffer for their pride. The Lord tells us that the prayers of men who do not honor their wives may certainly be hindered. Is that what you want?
The way of gentle faithfulness with submission to lawful authority is not only the pattern for a few specific relationships in state and family. This is the Lord's example and directive for the life of every heavenly worshiper living faithfully during these moments of exile on an earth that will one day be renewed. Men and women, young and old, high and low, everyone who loves the Lord, needs to seek in the church a unity of mind, a sympathy of heart, and a pattern of life that fits with our King's humble suffering for our sake. He faced pain so that we would have blessing. We need to be people who are quick to bless, and who turn away from vengeance. God is not far from us. He will not be mocked. We cannot treat others in a way that is a denial of the mercy that we have received from Him. Why should we cheat ourselves of the joy that He is capable of bringing to us even now? Keep your tongue from evil and lies. Don't you want to love life and see good days? Are you aware of evil patterns in your heart? Address them now. Is there something good in front of you? Do it today. The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil. Don't just think about all this. Do the obvious. Do it today.
If you end up getting in trouble for sincerely and quietly dedicating yourself to gentleness and goodness, you will still be blessed. Don't focus on your enemies, and don't give in to playing the Christian victim. Sanctify Christ the Lord in your hearts. He is your refuge and your salvation. Be ready to answer the honest question from the persecutor who may wonder why you have joy despite your troubles. Don't be overly loud about your witness, or you risk being unnecessarily proud or annoying. Normally you should wait for the question, and don't imagine that there is an open ear, when there is none. Live and speak with gentleness and respect for everyone.
Do you know in your heart that you have been guilty of self-promotion or of following some agenda of your flesh. Give it up now. It is an unnecessary burden that you were not meant to carry. Keep a good conscience. Be quick to give an honest apology when you have wandered from the right way, and quietly pursue the King, knowing that you are forgiven, and useful for His purposes.
This is the good life. If you suffer unjustly in it, remember that Jesus Himself led the way for you. He gave everything in life and death, and now look at what He has accomplished! Trust Him to do great things with you. The people of Christ have faced suffering ever since sin entered the world. People like Noah, who simply obeyed the Lord, could not readily be ignored by those around them. When you build an ark in faithfulness to the Word, people will notice.
Even your baptism will be noticed if you live it out. It says to the world that there is a place of safety in Christ and in the Kingdom of heaven. Everyone should enter the ark of Christ, but many refuse. Some will make the people of God suffer. If you suffer or even die, you still live through the resurrection of Jesus. You may feel like you are on the hurting end of power now, but Your resurrection King is the Ruler in heavenly realms. Take great joy in Him whatever may befall you. You are on the winning team. Quiet and gentle confidence in Christ always makes good sense and is consistent with the greatest eternal happiness.
We are recipients of all the benefits of the sufferings of Jesus our Lord. In particular, the church has become a partaker in His death and resurrection. This is not only the ground of our heavenly hope, it has also become for us a pattern for our life in this world. We die daily, yet we live. We die to self and sin, and we live to righteousness. But think of the life of faith for a moment from the perspective of the one who does not believe. To lose a friend or a relative to faith in Christ can be an amazingly jarring experience. Someone who used to think and act one way, is suddenly not doing some things he used to do, and is dedicating himself to activities that he used to ignore or laugh at. It is very reasonable for people to say, or at least wonder, “What in the world happened to you?”
We in the church don't have time, or maybe even the inclination, to keep up with all the old amusements, some of which we now may look on as outright sin, or too close to sin to be anything but foolish for us. We want to love the people that God has placed in our lives, and we should, but they may be wondering why we don't care to participate in what they think is fun. Are we saying that they are bad people? The point is unmistakable, and they get it, no matter how much we say something about our own sin and what Jesus has done for us. But what are we supposed to do? We didn't exactly want this conversation, but then we can't run away from it that easily when it happens. And there is no way that we're participating in orgies just so other people feel more comfortable with who we are. We have been granted life from the dead. Our hope is that many who are currently dead in their trespasses and sins will find new life in Christ through the preaching of the Word.
No one should think that the Lord's judgment of the earth is so far away. For us, the time for loose living is now over. The life of faith working itself out through love is right in front of us. Reach for it every day in Christ, and know the real freedom that comes from the joy of the Lord.
The Lord is not calling us to a life of monkish detachment from all that is enjoyable. No, we should enjoy the good gifts that God gives to all men, and cultivate a love for people. We can bring them food, we can invite them into our homes, we can give them secret gifts. The opportunities abound for these good works, and we can enjoy the experience all the more when we consider that this is what Jesus wants His church to do, especially in serving and loving one another. Do you know yourself well enough to know what you are good at? Then use your gift to bless others without expecting anything in return. Some teach well, some lead others in service, some come alongside people in need with great resources of sympathy, some have the strength to move heavy things... If you have it, use it. Needs abound. Be the answer to someone's prayers, and in all that you do, give God the glory through Jesus Christ.
All of this sounds simple, but it can become hard fast, because people are difficult, and so are we. Are you surprised when you face some fiery trial? Who can understand the mysteries of the Lord's providence? But don't be astonished when you find yourself in the midst of very serious disappointments and difficulties. This is not some strange occurrence that needs to distract you from a life of sincere devotion to the Lord.
Think of the way that our Savior approached the trial of the cross. He did ask God if there was any other way, yet even as He asked, He submitted Himself body and soul to the will of His heavenly Father. You can ask the Lord for ease, prosperity, health, family blessings, and relief from all kinds of difficulties. There is no sin in asking, but are you settled on the truth that whatever God wants is the best? Have you yielded yourself to the will of God? If you have, then you can find happiness in a time of severely disappointing providences. We share in the sufferings of Jesus, and we will share in the joy of His glory.
Even now, the heavenly Spirit of the glory and power of God rests upon you. You can take a lot of abuse if you can remember what you have been given. Don't use all this grace you have been given as a pretext for license. Christ did not die so that you can explore just how bad you can be and still be bound for heaven. That's a great story, but too many people are telling it. You live out the story of how Jesus saves in the battle we have today to reject the flesh and to enjoy a life of love.
Does it have to be said? Don't be a murderer, a thief, or an annoying and self-justifying busybody. If you have to suffer as a result of that kind of evil living, what can anyone say about it? But if you suffer patiently just for believing in Christ and quietly doing good, this is commendable to the Lord, and He knows what good really is. Judgment begins with the household of God. The Lord is disciplining us. Why should we ignore Him? We know that a life of faithful kindness is the indisputable pattern that Jesus has for us. Any questions?
O the judgment that is coming upon those who do not obey the gospel of God. Who can stand it? Christ is our strong shield, and sometimes we feel that we are just barely saved. What will become of those who have no time for Jesus? It's too sad to think about. Lord, have mercy. Yes, have mercy on us too. So if we suffer for a little while according to God's will, let's entrust our bodies and souls to our faithful Creator while doing good. May the Lord be our help.
What did Peter write about church government? His teaching here is consistent with his instructions concerning servant leadership in every relationship of true authority established by God. What kind of husband does Peter tell a Christian man to be? What kind of civil ruler, or what kind of church leader? All of our understanding about being in charge of anything starts with the cross.
Peter is not sitting on an earthly throne of royal privilege as he writes this letter. He is a fellow elder writing to elders, those who are to provide spiritual nurture from above for the Lord's people. All that we are as servants of Christ should be informed by the sufferings of our Redeemer, of which Peter was an eyewitness. We add to this a consideration of the glory that is going to be revealed, knowing that heavenly life is better than earthly power.
Therefore we shepherd the flock of God in the church with a strong belief that a willing people will come to the Lord in the day of His power. See Psalm 110:3. The idea of becoming a church leader as a way of getting money should be far from us.
We are not to be pushy people who insist on our own way in everything, but humble examples to others. This is the way to shepherd the flock of God. Elders should be examples of steadfast love who can be safely followed by others as they follow Christ.
When the Chief Shepherd, Jesus, returns again, He has an unfading crown of glory made especially for you, a trophy appropriate to the life of good works that He has given you. All of us need to put away anything that feels and looks like pride or self-preoccupation, and take up this good life of service.
Do you want God to oppose you? No one who is thinking sensibly could have that kind of desire. But He tells us that He opposes the proud. Do you need God's grace? Of course you do. We all have sin, and we need the Lord's blessing. The grace of God is the only way for us. Here is the way to receive that grace. “He gives grace to the humble.” It is that simple. In the humility of true faith recognize your faults and ask God for His forgiveness and help. How can we follow the Lord's instruction that we humble ourselves? Don't meditate on the honors that men give to men. Set your heart on giving glory to God in heaven, now and forever. He will exalt you at the proper time. Until that day, you know that there are many troubles in this life. How do you battle your fears? Take all your anxiety that will only crushing you, and cast it on the Man who can bear the burden of our sin: Jesus Christ. He cares for you, and He will not cast you away. There is a being of horrible evil, the devil, who once wanted to sift Peter as wheat. But the Lord Jesus prayed for him, that his faith would not fail. And when he came back, surely he did what Jesus instructed him to do. He strengthened His brothers in the faith.
The devil is looking for people to devour and to destroy. Why should you be one of them? Yes, we trust the Lord concerning our fate, but why should we grant our adversary an easy target for his mischief?
There is no reason for you to be devoured by spiritual enemies of the church. Stay alert. Recognize every temptation of immoral living or faithless grumbling, and resist what is evil. No matter how attractive the wrapping paper may look, the “present” inside may be your downfall. God will never give up on any of His elect. He will keep you. Yet His warnings are given so that we can hear them, and save ourselves from unnecessary trauma. If the devil is looking for someone to devour, I think it should be someone else and not you. Don't you agree?
Stay firm in your faith. Don't split yourself off from the assembly of those who worship the Lord. Listen to God's Word. Be there at the Lord's table, knowing that Jesus gave Himself for you, and do everything He says.
If you do suffer, remember that you are not alone. People all over the world in every century since the days of the resurrection of Jesus, have felt the hand of God, who disciplines those He loves. The Lord will not give you trouble forever. After a little while, the help of God will come to you, one way or another. It may happen today! Before this day is over you may hear the news you long for.
Perhaps you will not be freed from some fiery furnace today, but the Lord will undoubtedly pick you up from your current trouble at just the right time. He knows about every Joseph in prison, just as He knew about Jesus in the grave. He will restore you, confirm you, strengthen you, and establish you. He is not lacking in the power to do all these good things. He is the God of eternal dominion. Do you love this great Savior and Chief Shepherd of the church? So many years ago the Lord Jesus asked His friend Peter this question three times. “Do you love Me?” His care for others in the church was to be an expression of His love for Christ.
Peter was kept in the grace of God. He was blessed through his years in this earthly Babylon, and he is now in that Jerusalem above. On earth He had the kiss of Christ's love through the lips of men who worshiped the Lord. Now He is in the place where the Savior's lips give the glorified brothers and sisters in the faith a better kiss of eternal peace. This blessing is for you and for all who are in Christ. Wait for the glory that will be revealed, and lead others in the light of the love of the cross.