Missions Paul

I have experienced the best of humanity in the worst of scenarios. In places of persecution; with people who face inevitable early death from treatable diseases; so many tragic situations have re-focused the minds so that every moment becomes a gift to either squander or use for God’s glory.

If you knew Jesus Christ would return in 2023 would it matter?

If you believed the end of all things was near: How would you pray? (v7)

If you believed the end of all things was near: Which person that hurt you would you love more? (v8)

If you believed the end of all things was near: Would you stop complaining? (v9)

If you believed the end of all things was near: How would you be generous with what you have been given? (v10)

If you believed the end of all things was near: Would what comes out of your mouth change? (v11)

If you believed the end of all things was near: Who would you help today? (v11)

If you believed the end of all things was near: Would you waste time analysing your life? (v12)

If you believed the end of all things was near: How would you view your suffering? (v13)

If you believed the end of all things was near: Would you be less worried about what people think of you? (v14)

If you believed the end of all things was near: Would your behaviour change? (v15)

If you believed the end of all things was near: What would success then look like for you? (v16)

If you believed the end of all things was near: Would you be ready to meet God? (v17)

If you believed the end of all things was near: How would you view those who do not know Christ? (v18)

If you believed the end of all things was near: How would this impact your trust of God? (v19)

Depending on the answers it could suggest that there are ‘Christians’ who do not believe the end of all things is near.

“The end of all things is near. Therefore be alert and of sober mind so that you may pray. ⁸ Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. ⁹ Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. ¹⁰ Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. ¹¹ If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen. ¹² Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. ¹³ But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. ¹⁴ If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. ¹⁵ If you suffer, it should not be as a murderer or thief or any other kind of criminal, or even as a meddler. ¹⁶ However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name. ¹⁷ For it is time for judgment to begin with God’s household; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God? ¹⁸ And, “If it is hard for the righteous to be saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?’ ¹⁹ So then, those who suffer according to God’s will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good.” (1 Peter 4 v 7-19)

What you are going through here on earth isn’t everything. It is temporary. Get an eternal perspective. Live with this mind-set. That is what Peter tells the suffering Church.

“The end of all things is near.” (1 Peter 4:7) Live out of that truth:-

1. Get hold of your thinking, “The end of all things is near. Therefore be alert and of sober mind so that you may pray” v7.
2. Love others practically, “Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling” v8-9. 
3. Serve others, “Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen” v10-11.
4. Glorify God in your life, “… so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen”v11.
5. Don’t be ashamed but rejoice, “Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed” v 12-13.
6. If insulted be blessed, “If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you” v14.
7. Do good through the suffering, “If you suffer, it should not be as a murderer or thief or any other kind of criminal, or even as a meddler. However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name. For it is time for judgment to begin with God’s household; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God? And, “If it is hard for the righteous to be saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?” So then, those who suffer according to God’s will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good” v16-19.  v15-19.

 (1 Peter 4 v 7-19)

Now go back and apply those 7 keys to your life as you think with an eternal perspective.

You don’t have to make it worse. You don’t have to fall apart. You are still in the hands of God even in a bad day. In fact your bad day can reveal more of Christ in you than any other day.

So how?

“Therefore, since Christ suffered in his body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude, because whoever suffers in the body is done with sin. ² As a result, they do not live the rest of their earthly lives for evil human desires, but rather for the will of God. ³ For you have spent enough time in the past doing what pagans choose to do—living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing and detestable idolatry. ⁴ They are surprised that you do not join them in their reckless, wild living, and they heap abuse on you. ⁵ But they will have to give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. ⁶ For this is the reason the gospel was preached even to those who are now dead, so that they might be judged according to human standards in regard to the body, but live according to God in regard to the spirit.” (1 Peter 4 v 1-6)

You have dealt with sin. How? Through the suffering you have endured.

Just as Jesus who without sin suffered for our sin fully dealing with its power we have the same attitude and approach to life. This suffering we go through teaches us to make sure the important comes to the surface of our lives and that is we become like Jesus. Peter has compared our suffering with the obedience of Noah who had to build an ark and face slander. When we put our faith in Jesus in baptism (akin to Noah’s flood) we gave ourselves to the same road that Jesus went on through suffering into glory.

You don’t live like those in Noah’s day. How? Through the reaction to your suffering.

We do not react like the world, think selfishly, living for ourselves, but we focus on His will and what He wants for our lives through this suffering, we live for Him. Though Noah isn’t mentioned these verses are continuing from what Peter has already spoken and he then brings a list of vices that Noah’s generation was involved in. As with Noah, as in Peter’s day, here today you may be that one who is receiving further abuse simply because you are not responding like the way of the world does in dealing with the difficulties of life.

You live in such a way that even the ‘dead’ can live. How? There is an accounting to come. God will judge the living and the dead. But because you have chosen to live through the suffering, to proclaim Christ despite the attacks on your life then it is possible that those who were ‘dead’ will also come to life. You can still see the impact of the gospel because of the way you live your life.

Happy Pentecost Sunday!

“For Christ … having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the Spirit; in which He also went and made proclamation…” (1 Peter 3 v 18-19)

The Spirit who empowered Jesus to rise is the same Spirit that is then outpoured on Pentecost.

What might seem dead today or finished isn’t necessarily so!

What you cannot do the Spirit can!

The Spirit works in you to work out from you to tell others!

Have a great Sunday everyone!

Ever find yourself in a situation when you ask yourself how did we get here? When you simply, do not understand, there’s no rhyme or reason to it, it feels deeply spiritual, outside of common sense, irrational, beyond you. It feels like there’s another agenda, a hidden one, something is taking place that you cannot see right now, it feels like a battle that is being played out right in front of you but you don’t really know who the characters are.

Peter speaks right into this situation to a people who like us at times feel the onslaught of the situation, maybe the malicious talk, perhaps the persecution is actually not flesh and blood but demonic.

¹⁹ After being made alive, he went and made proclamation to the imprisoned spirits— ²⁰ to those who were disobedient long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water, ²¹ and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also—not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a clear conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, ²² who has gone into heaven and is at God’s right hand—with angels, authorities and powers in submission to him.” (1 Peter 3 v 19-22)

Here’s the encouragement:

1. VICTORY. Christ has proclaimed (not evangelised) victory over the unseen world. The demonic are triumphed by the cross (numerous passages in the NT support this).
2. Wait. God waits. He waited patiently for Noah’s generation to believe and He thus is waiting patiently for the persecutors of His church to repent.
3. INADEQUACY. In the flood only a few were saved and at times when facing our enemy we also feel inadequate, few in number compared to the Goliath’s.
4. CLEAR CONSCIENCE. The flood symbolised the water baptism to come but not that it saves us but is the sign of a new relationship with the risen Christ who gives us a powerful clear conscience before God because of His forgiveness.
5. VINDICATION. Christ has gone, ascended, into heaven, at God’s right hand and the whole cosmos and underneath the cosmos are under His rule. It means this: Christ is vindicated. And because Christ is our Lord so we will also be vindicated.

Yesterday I watched an appeal for prayer from Archbishop Ben Kwashi for his fellow Christian Nigerians who are once again being killed in their own villages by wicked people. It seems so evil it is almost as if demons are amongst them. We believe attacks on Gods people for doing right comes from spiritual forces. It was the case for the Christians Peter is writing to. This is more than just a bad day. This is how to survive an evil demonic attack on your life.

We move into what is a difficult passage to understand but it starts off with ‘For Christ also suffered’.

“For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit. ¹⁹ After being made alive, he went and made proclamation to the imprisoned spirits— ²⁰ to those who were disobedient long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water, ²¹ and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also—not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a clear conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, ²² who has gone into heaven and is at God’s right hand—with angels, authorities and powers in submission to him.” (1 Peter 3 v 18-22)

So how do you survive an evil demonic attack on your life? As you walk in the way of Christ:

1. Acknowledge the attack will hurt you. ‘For Christ also suffered’
2. The Spirit will come to your help and will bring new life. ‘made alive in the Spirit’
3. Know you will testify and be a proclaimer of your victory. ‘made proclamation’ (to the fallen angels)
4. Your commitment to Christ will save you. ‘baptism that now saves you also’
5. Evil will not have victory over you rather it will be in submission to you. ‘powers in submission to him’.

We move into a new section within the letter and Peter becomes really clear in addressing the problem of struggling because of who comes against you. Having telling us to be a good person in the previous verses he opens the new section with a rhetorical question. The answer is of course ‘no one’.

 ^“Who is going to harm you if you are eager to do good?” (v13)

However I know some of the most faithful and ‘good’ Christians who suffer through malicious gossip and from people who should know better who want to bring them down.

Peter gives instruction in how to respond when you are spoken against.

^“But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. “Do not fear their threats; do not be frightened.” But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behaviour in Christ may be ashamed of their slander. For it is better, if it is God’s will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil.” (1 Peter 3 v 13-17)

Here are 6 responses:

1. I am blessed. Why? Perhaps it is simply the fact that we receive what Jesus Christ received. He was spoken against and so will we. We walk His walk.
2. I will not be afraid. Why? Because to fear is only a choice equal to obedience being a choice too.
3. I will fear Christ. Why? Because He is the Lord of your life not those who speak against you.
4. I will be prepared with my answers. Why? Because courage in the midst of suffering needs to be able to also challenge that what is making you suffer.
5. I will be gentle and respectful. Why? Because we are not called to fight flesh and blood. We choose a higher ground of vocabulary.
6. I will have a clear conscience. Why? Because holding onto your integrity so that you are not also being malicious is the basis for your victory.

People will speak against you and it might be today that they do. You might be in the middle of this malicious season. Choose these 6 responses.

Having given instructions to how to live under authority, slaves with masters and living in marriage, Peter now closes off his household code with the wide-ranging ‘how to live within community’.

“Finally, all of you, be like-minded, be sympathetic, love one another, be compassionate and humble. ⁹ Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult. On the contrary, repay evil with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing. ¹⁰ For, “Whoever would love life and see good days must keep their tongue from evil and their lips from deceitful speech. ¹¹ They must turn from evil and do good; they must seek peace and pursue it. ¹² For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.” (1 Peter 3 v 8-12)

Here are 6 qualities that we all should strive for. They should be in the centre of all our decisions and our responses and our ambitions. The Church is a body of sinners saved by grace. I accept that. But we must all do far more to be a good person as the Spirit helps us.

1. Be like-minded: if the Church is divided what will happen when the world attacks the church?
2. Be sympathetic: if the Church cannot think less of themselves and stand in the place of the pain of another how will the world ever see what Christ has done?
3. Be loving: if the Church does not show love then how will the world know love?
4. Be compassionate: if the Church cannot weep over the predicament of others then how will the world know the tender heart of the Father?
5. Be humble: if the ego of the Church drives it to humiliate others instead of humbling itself then how is it any different to the world?
6. Be a blessing: if the Church retaliates and cannot be gracious to those who hurt them then how will the world see the blessing of God on the Church?

Whether this applies to you or not you will know this passage has caused much arguments and sadly pain as Christians take Peter’s counsel and apply it to suit their desires.

Peter didn’t write it for the purpose or intent for harm at all.

He is writing a section teaching essentially about what to do with the freedom Christ has given the believer. Firstly under human authority, finding the right attitude in life and then being a slave. He then moves onto another illustration of our relationships in life.

He uses the imagery of a wife who becomes a believer but the husband doesn’t. How should the wife live with someone who doesn’t share her faith?

He then speaks to the Christian husband who is wanting his prayers to be answered and says how he lives with his wife (whether she is Christian or not) is key to that prayer life.

So here is the passage:

“Wives, in the same way submit yourselves to your own husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behaviour of their wives, ² when they see the purity and reverence of your lives. ³ Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewellery or fine clothes. ⁴ Rather, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight. ⁵ For this is the way the holy women of the past who put their hope in God used to adorn themselves. They submitted themselves to their own husbands, ⁶ like Sarah, who obeyed Abraham and called him her lord. You are her daughters if you do what is right and do not give way to fear. ⁷ Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers.” (1 Peter 3 v 1-7)

Some observations …

To the Christian wife

1. There isn’t any encouragement to leave.
2. There isn’t instruction to speak the gospel to them.
3. There isn’t any command to view their marriage as less important to God.
4. There isn’t justification to not participate and give into the marriage.
5. There isn’t a need to fear.

To the Christian husband

1. If you want God to listen to you then make sure you listen to your wife, think of her when you make decisions, have her at the centre of how you live.
2. If you want God to listen to you then treat her differently to how the world objectifies women.
3. If you want God to listen to your prayers then view her as your equal for that is what she is according to Christ.

As an explanation for how slaves should respond to harsh treatment Peter then uses the example of Jesus.

This is not a call to simply put up with abuse, that is not the focus, but it is to highlight the importance of trusting God on those bad days ‘who judges justly’. It is to be like Jesus.

“He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth.” When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly. “He himself bore our sins” in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; “by his wounds you have been healed.” For “you were like sheep going astray,” but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.” (1 Peter 2 v 22-25)

We know that the Bible tells us not only does God ‘judge justly’ but that there is a day of reckoning, a vindication day, a judgment day. But what of today? What of now, this next 24 hours? How do I handle this bad day better?

Peter gives us the example of Jesus.

Here is The Message: “He suffered everything that came his way so you would know that it could be done, and also know how to do it, step-by-step. He never did one thing wrong, Not once said anything amiss. They called him every name in the book and he said nothing back. He suffered in silence, content to let God set things right.”

He didn’t do wrong to get out of the bad situation.

He didn’t twist the truth.

He didn’t retaliate.

He didn’t threaten.

He let God sort it out. He knew He would.

But there is more. This was not just some passive example to us. Trusting his Father was far more than that. It was to produce something incredible for all of us.

Drawing from Isaiah 53 and the Suffering Servant, we are reminded of the beauty of what Jesus did for us.

“He himself bore our sins” in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; “by his wounds you have been healed.” For “you were like sheep going astray,” but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.

Peter is then saying look what Jesus accomplished through His suffering.

Today? Are you going through some tough stuff? How do we handle the bad days better? We look to Jesus and we try and do what He did.

• He trusted God the Father and so should we.
• His suffering accomplished the amazing work of God and so can our bad day be used of God as we handle it better.