Keep Growing
2 Peter 3:14-18
Keep growing
2 Peter 3:14-18
Main Idea: God’s people overcome laziness and resist liars in order to keep growing up in Christ.
I. Why God’s People Pursue Personal Christian Maturity (3:10-14)
2 Peter 3:10-14: But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed. Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn! But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace.
The simple answer is that Christians are waiting for something better than this body and this age can offer. The orientation of their life has shifted from combustible things to indestructible things, from dissolvable assets to enduring rewards. They no longer follow their sensuality, but rather lean into the precious and very great promise that they have been made partners in the divine nature. They have a Day marked on the calendar of their hearts, like a bride with her wedding day A Day that rushes forward into every day of their lives as they anticipate the great Day of their Lord.
II. How God’s People Pursue Personal Christian Maturity (3:14-18a)
2 Peter 3:14-18: Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace. And count the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures. You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability. But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Peter uses three different couplets to describe what he is getting at in our text.
In v. 11 he describes personal Christian maturity as “lives of godliness and holiness.”
In v. 14 he describes it as “being found by him without spot or blemish and at peace.”
In v. 18 he describes it as growing “in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”
For Peter and the other apostles, Christian maturity is a lifetime pursuit more than a daily checklist. It focuses on the end objective more than on the means of getting there.
For the Christian, living to grow up into Jesus is what life is all about.
1. God’s people pursue personal Christian maturity DILIGENTLY.
This is the fourth time in this letter that Peter has hit this concept. (2 Pet 1:5, 10, 15; 3:14) . Diligence is a big deal to both Peter and Paul.
Diligence means persistence.
Diligence implies effort.
Diligence requires focus.
2. God’s people pursue personal Christian maturity OBEDIENTLY
We do not have the prerogative to make the Scriptures say what we want them to say. Our responsibility is to understand what the holy prophets and the apostles of the Lord Jesus said and to orient our lives in obedience to “the Lord’s” predictions and commands.
3. God’s people pursue personal Christian maturity VIGILANTLY.
Because there are hard things to be worked through in the Scriptures and because there are “lawless people” who are being carried away in their own errors, those pursuing personal Christian maturity must “take care” to not be carried away in those twisted errors and thus “lose your own stability.”
III. Who God’s People Pursue Personal Maturity For (3:18b)
2 Peter 3:18: But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.
God’s people pursue personal Christian maturity to magnify the name of Jesus.
A Savior to Stand On
2 Peter 3:14-18
A Savior to Stand On
2 Peter 3:14-18
Main Idea: Christ is both the means and the end of our waiting.
I. A Simple Summary (3:14)
1. Be diligent
“make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue” (1:5)
“be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election” (1:10)
2. Without spot or blemish
“blots and blemishes, reveling in their deceptions while they feast with you” (2:13)
3. At peace
“Where is the promise of his coming?” (3:4)
“The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you” (3:9)
II. Slippery Slopes (3:15-17)
Slippery Slope #1: We begin to perceive the Lord’s delay as dismissal.
Stable Christian Response: We receive the Lord’s delay as an invitation to active patience.
“We commonly associate patience with lying down.… Yet there is a patience that I believe is harder — the patience that can run.… It is the power to work under stress, to continue under hardship, to have anguish in your spirit and still perform daily talks. This is a Christian thing. The hardest thing is that most of us are called to exercise patience, not in the sickbed but in the street.”
- George Matheson
Two observations about Peter’s reference to Paul:
1. Paul wrote to these believers.
"Do you presume upon the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience? Do you not know that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?" (Rom. 2:4)
“Behold, now is the acceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” (2 Cor. 6:2)
2. Peter viewed both he and Paul’s writings as Scripture.
Slippery Slope #2: Instead of remaining tethered to God’s Word in our waiting, we twist the Scriptures when we don’t understand or agree with them.
Stable Christian Response: As we wait on the return of God’s saving Word, Jesus, we cling to God’s written Word, the Bible, as our instructions for endurance.
“To bend Scripture to our will is to make ourselves sovereign. The interpreter’s first duty is to bow.”
- B.B. Warfield, On Inspiration.
III. A Stable Savior (3:18)
Colossians 2:6-7: Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.
John 14:1-3: Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.
Waiting for Our Patient God
2 Peter 3:1-13
Waiting for Our Patient God
2 Peter 3:1-13
Main Idea: Though he feels delayed, God is patiently keeping his promises for those waiting in repentance, holiness, and godliness.
I. A World of Transcendence (3:1-7)
Peter once more (cf. 1:12-15) urges his readers to remember the predictions of the holy prophets (Old Testament) and the commandment of the Lord and Savior, through the apostles (New Testament).
We must hold fast to the Word of God because “scoffers will come in the last days,” sarcastically asking “Where is the promise of his [Jesus’] coming?” These scoffers essentially make the same secular argument prevalent today, claiming “all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation” with no divine intervention or judgment to come.
Peter says these “scoffers” and false teachers are deliberately overlooking three realities:
God’s sovereign act of creating and sustaining the world (3:5; cf. Ps. 19:1; Rom. 1:19-20; Heb. 1:3)
God’s divine intervention in judgment with the flood (3:6; cf. 2:5)
God’s certain and promised future judgment (3:7)
Matthew 24:37–39: For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.
“Do you believe in divine judgment? Do you believe in a God who acts as our judge? Many, it seems, do not. Speak to them of God as a Father, a friend, a helper, one who loves us despite all our weaknesses and folly and sin, and their faces light up; you are on their wavelength at once. But speak to them of God as Judge and they frown and shake their heads. Their minds recoil from such an idea. They find it repellent and unworthy. But there are few things stressed more strongly in the Bible than the reality of God’s work as Judge.”
~ J.I. Packer, Knowing God
II. A God of Patience (3:8-10)
In response to these “scoffers,” Peter points out three realities about the perceived delay of God’s return:
1. The Lord is not like us (3:8)
God does not have the same relationship with time as we do; for him “one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day” (cf. Ps. 90:4). “We are servants of time, but God is its sovereign Master.” ~ Charles Spurgeon
“You cannot judge God by your calendar. God may appear to be slow, but he never forgets his promises. He may seem to be working slowly or even to be forgetting his promises, but when his promises come true (and they will come true), they always burst the banks of what you imagined… God’s grace virtually never operates on our time frame, on a schedule we consider reasonable.”
~ Tim Keller, Hidden Christmas
2. The Lord is patient toward us (3:9)
The Lord’s seeming “delay” is not due to slowness but grace, allowing more time for repentance. Romans 2:4: Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?
3. The Lord’s return will surprise us (3:10; cf. Mt. 24:43-44; 1 Thess. 5:2)
Peter uses symbolic language to describe what the prophets have promised. One day, the “skies will roll up like a scroll” (Isa. 34:4; Rev. 6:14) and reveal all that has been hidden. The language of “burning up” is describing the purifying fire often associated with the “Day of the Lord.” (cf. Mal. 3:2-3; 4:1-2; 1 Cor. 3:11-15). The Lord will use this “fire” to cleanse and purify the earth from sin and its effects to usher in the new heavens and the new earth.
III. A People of Repentance (3:11-13)
As we wait for the new heavens and the new earth, Peter says we ought to be a people of “holiness and godliness.” Good and proper eschatology ought to lead to beautiful ethics in the Christian life.
In addition to holiness and godliness, Peter urges us to embrace the paradox of “waiting” and “hastening” the coming Day of God. “Waiting” reminds us that we are not the ones who usher in the Kingdom of God, while “hastening” invites us to participate in bearing witness to what will be by declaring and displaying the gospel.
“Waiting in the New Testament is not a passive word. The idea is an intentional effort to look for something. Don’t think of this word as being like watching a baseball game. It’s more like a guard scanning the horizon. There’s a sense of anticipation implied in the word… Peter is encouraging suffering Christians to direct their attention and be alert to the future. The idea is to live with a posture of spiritual watchfulness. Waiting in this context isn’t something that happens to you; it’s an intentional way of life as a Christian."
~ Mark Vroegop, Waiting Isn’t a Waste
James 5:7–8: Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and the late rains. You also, be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.
Psalm 25:1-3: “Indeed, none who wait for you shall be put to shame.”
The Rise and Fall of False Prophets
2 Peter 2:1-22
The Rise and Fall of False Prophets
2 Peter 2:1-22
Main Idea: Beware of destructive deception. Trust God’s divine discipline. Retrain your desires by delighting in Christ.
I. Destructive Deception (2:1–3)
2 Peter 2:1a: “But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you…”
“Did God really say you shall not eat from any tree in the garden?” (Gen 3:1)
“You will not surely die.” (Gen 3:4)
“God knows that when you eat, your eyes will be opened.” (Gen 3:5)
The false teacher playbook is established:
Distort the Word
Deny the judgment
Doubt the goodness of God
2 Peter 2:1b: “They secretly bring in destructive heresies…”
2 Corinthians 11:13–15: …for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. So it is no surprise if his servants, also, disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their deeds.
2 Timothy 3:1–5: But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people.
2 Peter 2:3b: “Their condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.”
II. Divine Discipline (2:4–9)
“For if God did not spare angels when they sinned… if He did not spare the ancient world… if He condemned Sodom and Gomorrah… then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly and to keep the unrighteous under punishment.”
Case Study #1: The Rebellious Angels (2:4): “For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell…”
Case Study #2: The Days of Noah (2:5): “If He did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a herald of righteousness…”
Case Study #3: Sodom and Gomorrah (2:6–8): “If by turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes He condemned them to extinction…“Then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment.”
III. Deficient Desires (2:10–22)
The Vices of False Teachers (2:10-16)
The Arrogance of the False Teachers (2:10b–13a): “[They] indulge in the lust of defiling passion and despise authority. Bold and willful, they do not tremble as they blaspheme the glorious ones…”
The Appetites of the False Teachers (2:13b–14): “They count it pleasure to revel in the daytime…They have eyes full of adultery, insatiable for sin. They entice unsteady souls.”
The Avarice of the False Teachers (2:15–16): “...They have hearts trained in greed…
The Effect of False Teachers (2:17–19)
Spiritual Drought (2:17): “These are waterless springs and mists driven by a storm.”
Enslavement Under Sin (2:18–19): “They promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption.”
The Danger of Apostasy (2:20–22)
2 Peter 2:20: “For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first.”
“It does not matter how small the sins are provided that their cumulative effect is to edge the man away from the Light and out into the Nothing. Murder is no better than cards if cards can do the trick. Indeed the safest road to Hell is the gradual one—the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts.”
~ C.S. Lewis, Screwtape Letters
2 Peter 2:22: The dog returns to its own vomit, and the sow, after washing herself, returns to wallow in the mire.
John 6:66–69: After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him. So Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you want to go away as well?” Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.
Warning! Warning! Warning!
2 Peter 2:1-22
Remember & Pay Attention
2 Peter 2:1-22
Main Idea: Do not be led astray by those who falsely say there is another way!
“It now becomes evident why the readers needed to be reminded about the importance of a godly life and why they needed to maintain the truth of Jesus’ future coming. False teachers had arisen within the church who denied the former and questioned the latter. If there is no future coming of the Lord, the foundation for ethics vanishes, and the way is opened for a dissolute lifestyle. The words in chapter 1 do not represent an abstract thesis on Christian growth. Peter urgently responded to a threat to the churches, to false teaching that was inevitably accompanied by an evil lifestyle.” ~ Thomas Schreiner, 1, 2 Peter, Jude
I. Recognize their Pattern (2:1-3)
Deuteronomy 13:1-5: “If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign or a wonder, and the sign or wonder that he tells you comes to pass, and if he says, ‘Let us go after other gods,’ which you have not known, ‘and let us serve them,’ you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams. For the Lord your God is testing you, to know whether you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. You shall walk after the Lord your God and fear him and keep his commandments and obey his voice, and you shall serve him and hold fast to him. But that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death, because he has taught rebellion against the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you out of the house of slavery, to make you leave the way in which the Lord your God commanded you to walk. So you shall purge the evil from your midst.
II. Remember God’s Judgment (2:4-10a)
III. Remember God’s Judgment (2:4-10a)
“The words of 1 John apply well to what has happened in 2 Peter: “They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us” (1 John 2:19). Peter pointed in the same direction in the illustration of the dog and pig. In the final analysis, those who fell away never really changed their nature. They remained dogs and pigs inside. They may have washed up on the outside and appeared to be different, but fundamentally they were dogs and pigs. In other words, they were always unclean; they only seemed to have changed. Perseverance, therefore, is the test of authenticity.”
~ Thomas Schreiner, 1, 2 Peter, Jude
Remember & Pay Attention
2 Peter 1:12-21
Remember & Pay Attention
2 Peter 1:12-21
Main Idea: We must remember God’s grace and pay attention to God’s Word until Christ’s promised return.
I. Remembering God’s Grace (1:12-15)
Since God has “granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness” (1:3), Peter writes to “remind” us of these qualities that are ours in Christ. Though we “know them and are established in the truth,” we are prone to forget (cf. 1:9; Deut. 5:15; 16:3; 1 Cor. 15:1; 2 Tim. 2:8)
Peter’s urgency in this reminder is connected to his impending death (1:13-14; cf. Jn. 21:18-19). Finishing our race well and “confirming our calling and election” (1:10) means we must return and hold fast to the things we have already learned (cf. 2:20). Peter’s reminders are to ‘stir us up’ from any slumbers of indifference or tendencies to drift.
“The business of the church and of preaching is not to present us with new and interesting ideas, it is rather to go on reminding us of certain fundamental and eternal truths… the primary business of the Christian church and of her message and her preaching is not to indulge in vague general statements. It is to repeat the centralities of the Christian Gospel, to remind men and women of the truth of God as it is in Christ Jesus. The world is more liable to forget this than anything else. The world is interested in the general situation, politics, economics, social conditions, the possibilities of another war, and other similar things. The world, therefore, rather delights in these vague general statements that never lead to anything. But the business of the Christian church is constantly to remind men and women of certain things which they constantly tend to forget.”
~ Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Expository Sermons on 2 Peter
II. Standing Firm in the Grace of God (5:5b-14)
False teachers were claiming that Peter was devising or following “myths” regarding the “power and (second) coming” of Christ (cf. 3:3-4). False teaching about the return of Christ was a persistent issue in the early church (cf. 2 Tim. 2:18), and these false teachers denied Christ’s promised return in glory to “judge the living and the dead.”
To combat this false teaching, Peter refers back to the transfiguration of Christ (cf. Mk. 9:2-13). He draws attention to this moment for at least three reasons:
The transfiguration prefigures and anticipates the promised, glorious return of Christ (cf. Mk. 8:38)
Peter, James, and John were “eyewitnesses of his [Jesus’] majesty,” not receiving information second-hand
The transfiguration is the fulfillment of multiple OT Scriptures (cf. Deut. 18:15; Ps. 2:7, Isa. 42:1); it is “the Bible on display”
Peter is indicating to the recipients of this letter that we can listen to him because he has listened to Jesus: “this is my beloved Son; listen to him.” (Mk. 9:7)
III. Paying Attention to God’s Word (1:19-21)
We have the “prophetic word more fully confirmed” because of the finished work of Jesus Christ. Since he is the fulfillment and the center of all Scripture (cf. John 5:39; Lk. 24:44; 1 Pet. 1:11), we “do well to pay attention” to the Word of God.
Peter gives two pictures for the role of the Word of God in our lives:
A lamp shining in a dark place (cf. Ps. 119:105)
The morning star rising in our hearts, when the day dawns (cf. Num. 24:17; Rev. 22:16)
Until that glorious day arrives, Peter reminds us that “no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation,” meaning that the Word of God cannot be interpreted however we desire. This is the activity and impulse of the false teachers Peter is combatting (cf. Jer. 14:14).
“Today, Western culture is dominated by expressive individualism, the idea that we are defined by our inner feelings, that our relationships with others place no natural or necessary obligations upon us, and that we can pick and choose them as they serve our emotional needs. This idea plays into the general cultural assertion of individual autonomy and rejection of external authority — or at least of traditional external authority — that requires some sacrifice of ourselves for others. Whether it is a child rebelling against the parent or the individual rebelling against the sex of his or her own body, today autonomy and personal desire are king; and these press against anything from outside that tells us who we are, what we should believe, or how we should live.”
~ Carl Trueman, The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self
Instead, the Scriptures have come about because “men spoke from God, as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit” (1:21). We must pay attention to the Scriptures because they are the very words of God for the people of God to remember until the day Christ returns.
“The reason we may not fill the words of Scripture with our ideas is that God intends that they carry his ideas. The meaning of Scripture is not like putty that we can mold according to our desires. It is the work of the Holy Spirit and carries a solid, firm, divine intention. The glorious truth of this verse is that in Scripture God has spoken, and not merely man, and therefore our aim must be to hear God’s meaning, not merely our own.”
~ John Piper, “Men Moved by the Holy Spirit Spoke From God”
2 Corinthians 4:4–6: “… the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”
Forward, in Faith!
2 Peter 1:1-11
Forward, in Faith!
2 peter 1:1-11
Main Idea: Genuine faith in Christ unites, conforms, and compels us to glorify Him in all areas of our lives.
I. Know Your Faith (1:1-4)
2 Peter 1:1-2: Simeon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have obtained a faith of equal standing with ours by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ: May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.
1 Corinthians 1:18 (NIV): "For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God."
2 Peter 1:3-4: His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.
“What were we made for? To know God. What aim should we set ourselves in life? To know God. What is the eternal life that Jesus gives? Knowledge of God. “This is life eternal, that they may know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent” (John 17:3). What is the best thing in life, bringing more joy, delight, and contentment than anything else? Knowledge of God. “Thus saith the LORD, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let not the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches; but let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me” (Jeremiah 9:23). What, of all the states God ever sees man in, gives him most pleasure? Knowledge of himself. “I desire … the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings,” says God (Hosea 6:6).… Once you have become aware that the main business that you are here for is to know God, most of life’s problems fall into place of their own accord.”
~ J.I. Packer, Knowing God
II. Supplement Your Faith (1:5-9).
2 Peter 1:5-7: For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love.
1 John 4:7-8: Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.
2 Peter 1:8-9: For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins.
“Peter basically says that the believer’s re-creation into the image of Christ comes about by way of active participation in the pursuit of knowing him more and more. Many believers limit their knowledge of God to their conversion. “I came to know Christ” or “I believed in Christ” are frequent confessions, as if knowing him was a one-time deal tied to conversion. But knowing God, Peter says, is a lifetime pursuit. And it’s the avenue through which God’s children access all the powerful resources he’s provided to make them look more like Jesus.”
~ James Shaddix and Daniel L. Akin, Exalting Jesus in 2 Peter, Jude
III. Confirm Your Faith (1:10-11)
2 Peter 1:10-11: Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall. For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Confirming is different than earning in several ways. In this sense, Peter urges us that no one has been saved by simply a profession of faith. You must possess it as well as profess it. This faith is graciously given from God alone and unites us to him. It never lulls us to sleep but compels us toward Christ and His kingdom.
Luke 22:31-32: Simon, Simon behold Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail, and when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.
“With his own death imminent, Peter is set to strengthen those of us who follow in his train centuries later. It is as if by this letter, he lives today and can still be found preaching on how to move from falling to finishing well. Second Peter is his road map to Heaven. It confirms that we can also possess a faith that will not fail. On that fateful night long ago, Jesus told Peter that he had been praying for him—especially that his faith would not fail. That same Jesus stands today at the right hand of God interceding in like manner for you and for me.”
~ David Helm, 1 & 2 Peter and Jude
Shepherds, Sheep, & Standing Firm
1 Peter 5:1-14
Shepherds, Sheep, & Standing Firm
1 peter 5:1-14
“The vocation of pastor has been replaced [in North American culture] by the strategies of religious entrepreneurs with business plans… I wonder if at the root of the defection is a cultural assumption that leaders are people who “get things done,” and “make things happen.” That is certainly true of the primary leadership models that seep into our awareness from the culture—politicians, businessmen, advertisers, publicists, celebrities and athletes. But while being a pastor certainly has some of those components, the pervasive element in our 2,000-year pastoral tradition is not someone who “gets things done” but rather the person placed in the community to pay attention and call attention to “what is going on right now” between men and women, with one another and with God—this kingdom of God that is primarily local, relentlessly personal, and prayerful “without ceasing.”
~ Eugene Peterson, The Pastor: A Memoir
Main Idea: Elders shepherd the church toward humility and endurance so we might stand firm in grace.
I. Shepherding the Flock of God (5:1-5a)
Peter discusses four aspects of pastoral ministry:
1. The Task of Elders (5:2): “Shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight”
Shepherding the flock involves knowing, feeding, leading, and protecting the church “among” them (cf. John 21:15-17).
Acts 20:28: Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood.
2. The Calling of Elders (5:3): “... not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly” (cf. Titus 1:11; 1 Tim. 6:5)
3. The Manner of Elders (5:3): “... not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock.”
2 Corinthians 1:24: Not that we lord it over your faith, but we work with you for your joy, for you stand firm in your faith.
4. The Goal of Elders (5:4): “And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory” (cf. 2:25)
John 10:11–14: “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me”
In response to Godly leadership from elders over the flock, the congregation should “be subject to the elders” in humility (5:5).
Hebrews 13:17: Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.
II. Standing Firm in the Grace of God (5:5b-14)
Peter urges the church to “stand firm in the grace of God” (5:12), evidenced by two pursuits:
1. Humility (5:5b-7)
All in the church ought to “clothe yourselves with humility toward one another.” This humble posture toward each other is rooted in Christ (Phil. 2:3-5) and prepares us to receive grace from the “mighty hand of God.” A prideful, envious, and competitive spirit is fundamentally “anti-grace.”
Practically, Peter urges us to “cast all our anxieties on God” as an expression of humility (cf. 4:19).
“Worry is a form of pride because when believers are filled with anxiety, they are convinced that they must solve all the problems in their lives in their own strength. The only god they trust in is themselves. When believers throw their worries upon God, they express their trust in his mighty hand, acknowledging that he is Lord and Sovereign over all of life.”
~ Tom Schreiner, 1, 2 Peter, Jude
2. Endurance (5:8-14)
For the first time in his letter, Peter identifies Satan - our “adversary” and ancient foe - who “prowls like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” Though Satan is a defeated foe (because of the finished work of Christ), he nevertheless rages on against the Lord and his people “because his time is short” (cf. Rev. 12:12).
We “resist” Satan (cf. Jas. 4:7) by applying what Peter has been consistently exhorting throughout his letter:
Living with sober-mindedness and watchfulness (5:8a)
Standing firm in our faith (5:9a)
Expecting suffering (5:9b)
Looking forward to our glorious future (5:10)
In all of these exhortations, Peter reminds these “elect exiles” that they are not alone, but have been given the gift of one another in the community of faith. Those who have been saved by Jesus are to “stand firm” together in the grace of God in solidarity and strength alongside our brothers and sisters in Christ.
Expect, Embrace, Entrust
1 Peter 4:12-19
Expect, Embrace, Entrust
1 peter 4:12-19
Main Idea: We rejoice when we suffer as Christians by entrusting our souls to God while doing good.
I. Expect the Fire (4:12-14)
1 Peter 4:12-19: Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you.
John 16:33: I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”
1 Peter 4:13: But rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.
James 1:2-4: Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
Acts 5:41: Then they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name.
1 Peter 4:14: If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you.
Isaiah 11:2: And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him,
the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
the Spirit of counsel and might,
the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.
II. Embrace the Cross (4:15-18)
1 Peter 4:15: But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler.
1 Peter 4:16: Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name.
If you suffer for the name of Christ, bearing that name, you glorify God.
1 Peter 4:17-18: For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God? And
“If the righteous is scarcely saved,
what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?”
The fire that purifies the Church will consume everyone outside the Church.
“It is God’s nature to make something out of nothing. Hence one who is not yet nothing, out of him God cannot make anything.”
~ Martin Luther
The best is yet to come for those in Christ, but for all those who are not in Christ, the worst is yet to come.
III. Entrust the Future (4:19)
1 Peter 4:19: Therefore let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good.
God is your Creator — He is sovereign over everything.
And He is faithful — He never fails His people.
Psalm 31:5: Into your hand I commit my spirit;
you have redeemed me, O Lord, faithful God
Acts 7:59: And as they were stoning Stephen, he called out, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.”
Luke 23:46: “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!”
Heidelberg Catechism Q & A
Q: What is your only comfort in life and in death?
A: That I am not my own, but belong— body and soul, in life and in death— to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ. He has fully paid for all my sins with his precious blood, and has set me free from the tyranny of the devil. He also watches over me in such a way that not a hair can fall from my head without the will of my Father in heaven; in fact, all things must work together for my salvation. Because I belong to him, Christ, by his Holy Spirit, assures me of eternal life and makes me wholeheartedly willing and ready from now on to live for him.
When the Going Gets Tough
1 Peter 4:12-19
When the Going Gets Tough
1 peter 4:12-19
Main Idea: God’s sons and daughters refuse to let suffering stop them from “blessing” and “doing good.”
I. By Resisting the Lies Suffering Stirs Up in Us (4:12, 16)
1 Peter 4:12,16: Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you… Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name.
Two lies are embedded in the two prohibitions Peter makes in this passage:
Suffering tends to “surprise” us, stirring us to think “This should not be happening to me!”
Suffering tends to provoke us to be “ashamed” thinking “I must be a failure that this is happening to me.”
II. By Resting in the Truth Suffering Opens Up to Us (4:13-15)
1 Peter 4:13-16: But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler. Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name
a. Rejoice, because you belong to Jesus
On the surface, suffering and rejoicing seem opposed to one another. But that is only if you put the accent on the suffering and fail to rest in what is behind it. Peter is talking about the kind of suffering that befalls us because we belong to Jesus. And that is the truth in which we “greatly rejoice” that we belong to Jesus! (cf. 1 Peter 1:3-6)
b. Glorify God in that name
We have been called to bless earth, like salt does, by retaining our “saltiness,” which is the holy, noble lives Peter has described all through this letter.
We have been tasked with lighting up the world, like cities on hills and lamps on lamp stands. We do this through ”good works” that direct everyone’s attention to “our Father who is in heaven.”
II. By Remembering the Outcome Suffering Points Us To (4:17-18)
1 Peter 4:17-18: “For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God? And “If the righteous is scarcely saved,
what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?”
a. Saints are being “refined” for the glory that awaits them
The fiery trials that come upon us to ”test” us are not permitted with the intent of destroying us, but “so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” (1:7)
The “judgment” that God allows to fall upon the “elect exiles” distinguishes the false from the true, the fake from the real, the wheat from the weeds.
b. Sides are being drawn before the end of the world
Peter contends that those who “malign” the saints “will give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead.” (4:5) As Peter puts it rhetorically here, “If the righteous is scarcely saved - as evidenced by the ordeals inflicted upon them and currently allowed by Heaven’s just Judge - “what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?” In other words, if the glory that awaits the saint is so surpassingly magnificent as to defy words, the wrath that awaits those who “disobey the gospel” shall be distressingly severe.
Conclusion: What are we to do with this exhortation?
If you are a saint, a Christian, an elect exile subject to the fiery trials and insults that are a part of this current season: “Let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good.” (1 Peter 4:19)
If you are among “those who do not (yet) obey the gospel of God,” one of the “ungodly and sinners” maligning Christians and Christianity, facing a guilty verdict at the Judgment, repent!