November 25, 2019
 |
| In loving memory of my father Robert Louis (Bob) Padgett July 28, 1931-May 22, 2023 |
The Lord wants us to know His will more than we want to know His will. Toward that end He will shout at us if necessary; or He will use anything and everything to get our attention. Every principle with respect to our walk as Christian believers is repeated many times in the Bible in many different ways. One example of this is 1 Peter, Chapter 5. In a real sense, that chapter records almost everything we need to understand, know, and walk in as Christians.
1 The elders which are among you I exhort, who am also an elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed:2 Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind;3 Neither as being lords over God's heritage, but being ensamples to the flock.4 And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away.
Those first four verses are addressed to elders in the churches. Peter exhorts the elders and lays out both the function and motivation of elders. Peter also says that he is a witness or martyr of the sufferings of Christ. He says that he has already been through that process of suffering. In other words Peter is ministering from his experience, not from head knowledge. All elders in every church should carefully heed Verses 2 and 3. "To receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away" is conditional upon fulfilling Verses 2 and 3. A "crown" does not speak of a literal crown; it speaks of what we have become in Christ. Jesus wore a crown of thorns so that we might be able to wear a crown of rejoicing (1 Thessalonians 2:19), a crown of righteousness (2 Timothy 4:8), and a crown of life (James 1:12). For those elders who fulfill Verses 2 and 3 a crown of glory (1 Peter 5:4) and a crown of gold (Revelation 4:4).
5 Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble.6 Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time:7 Casting all your care upon Him; for He careth for you.8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:9 Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.
Verses 5 through 8 are addressed to every professing Christian, with special emphasis on humility, which includes the characteristic of submission worked within us. He says the younger should submit to the elder. Many verses speak of submission: to God (James 4:7); to every ordinance of man (1 Peter 2:13); to one another (Ephesians 5:21-22); to them that have the rule over you (Hebrews 13:17); and wives to their own husbands (Colossians 3:18). Why such emphasis on submission? because if we cannot submit to our fellow man, whom we can see, how can we submit to God, Whom we have not seen?
Verse 7 speaks of our trust and faith in the Lord. Jesus said, in
Matthew 10:29-31, "Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows."
Verses 8 and 9 are an exhortation to be aware of the wiles of the devil. That requires discernment, which is lacking within the Church community today.
James 4:7-8 says, "Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw nigh to God, and He will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded."
10 But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.
But the God of all grace:
The very first thing that we must understand is that the God of all grace is infinitely greater than the grace of God. "Who He is" is more important than what He does for us. The major theme of all of Scripture is about the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ ... Who He is ... His innate nature and character ... His glory. Many years ago I read a good illustration or analogy of the difference in importance of who someone IS as compared to what they DO. The man who has a wife in the home greatly appreciates her cooking, cleaning, washing, and ironing. But she, herself, is far more important to him than what she does! Actually, if the wife senses that her husband appreciates her primarily for her household chores, some rocky times are ahead for that couple (which in the natural realm frequently leads to divorce). It is the importance of the person that gives meaning to the work. Lord, give us a deeper revelation of Who You are!
In order to appropriate our Sure Foundation, we need to start with God and who He IS. Genesis 1:1 starts with, "In the beginning God ... " John 1:1 starts with "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." Hebrews 1:1 starts with "God ... ". The Old Testament and New Testament both agree that the true foundation of the Christian life is Jesus Christ Himself ... nothing else and no one else. The foundation is not a creed, not a doctrine, not a denomination, not a ritual or ceremony. Christ is THE foundation on which the church is built. Christ is the foundation of the covenant of grace made with the church and of all of the promises contained therein. He is a SURE foundation, on whom His people can safely and securely rest. He also has promised that He will never leave us nor forsake us; but that does not mean that we can never forsake Him. He is the corner stone that unites all parts of the building together. He is the tried stone that has never and will never crack nor shift underneath the structure built upon Him.
It is not a matter of knowing what the Bible says about the Lord; rather, it is about knowing Him! One way we can learn who Jesus Christ is is by coming up against situations in which He is the only One who can help us. If even Paul, after 30 years of ministry, could say, "that I may know Him," where does that leave us? Christianity is a walk ... an experience. Continuing in 1 Peter 5:10,
Who hath called us unto His eternal glory by ["in" is the correct translation] Christ Jesus:
Peter says that God has called us (past tense) by which he includes himself. Indeed, those called by God were called before the foundation of the world! Called to what? to His eternal glory in Christ Jesus. Note that the eternal glory is in Christ. What is eternal glory? It is the nature, the character, the essence of Christ Jesus. "Christ in you the hope of glory" (Colossians 1:27).
Hope is for the future, not the past or present.
Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall: 2 Peter 1:10
13 Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,14 I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.Philippians 3:13-14
For many are called, but few are chosen. Matthew 22:14
The reason that few are chosen is because few choose the way of the cross. Jesus said, in
Luke 9:23-24, "And He said to them all, If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for My sake, the same shall save it."
The content and purpose of the Book of Leviticus is the calling of God's people, in particular the calling of the Levites to minister before Him. Leviticus contains civil, ceremonial, and religious regulations for the nation of Israel. All of the offerings, as well as the ceremonies, feasts, and laws, constantly reminded Israel that God is imminently holy. God could be approached only by the priests, and then only in strict obedience to the detailed instructions for purification. The Hebrew name for the book of Leviticus means "and He called," which is the first word of the book in Leviticus 1:1, which says, "And the Lord called unto Moses." All of the types in Leviticus relate to worship, as those of Exodus relate to redemption. Only those whom God calls does He seek to worship Him. Under the Old Covenant, worship was in the natural realm, as detailed in Leviticus. Under the New Covenant, worship is in the realm of the Spirit.
Perhaps at this point I should share with you the definition of worship which I received from Genesis 22, the first time that worship is mentioned in the Bible. The definition comes from the account when the Lord told Abraham to go and sacrifice his only son, Isaac. Worship is our voluntary, unquestioning, obedience to the rhema word of the Lord through the Holy Ghost.
That is what Abraham "did" in Genesis 22 when he voluntarily, willingly, and without any questioning, was prepared to obey the word of the Lord to sacrifice his only son.
"... To obey is better than sacrifice ..." (1 Samuel 15:22).
Continuing in 1 Peter 5:10,
after that YE have suffered a while, make YOU perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle YOU:
Any man can put together a series of scripture verses and talk about them. But there will be NO anointing on that kind of ministry. Then Peter says "after that ye have suffered a while, make you ..." At that point in time Peter had suffered in various ways for 27 years. Peter is saying that just as he has already suffered, so must you and I and all professing Christians likewise suffer. That is part of the normal Christian life.
1 Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin;2 That he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God. 1 Peter 4:1-2
Note the four things that the God of all grace will do within us after we have suffered a little while: make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, and settle us. Each one of those makings tells us something about that which suffering is designed by God to do for us. Note that those four makings are in reverse order chronologically; i.e., the end product is listed first. It is also important to know that the suffering which God brings to us is for our own good and must be accepted in humility, trust, and love. It is hard for us to kick against the pricks.
The first making is that the Lord will settle us. Unfortunately that sure foundation frequently has not been laid by those in leadership positions. The Lord is going to shake everything that can be shaken (Haggai 2:6-7, 21; Hebrews 12:26-27); then we discover the things within us that cannot be shaken. It is in the trials of life that we discover the great Truth on which life is founded and which we cannot do without. But through all of our suffering, the grace of God is sufficient, provided we cooperate with the Holy Spirit.
The next step is to strengthen us. No one really knows what his faith means until that faith has been tried in the furnace of affliction. The wind will extinguish a weak flame but wind will also fan a strong flame to a still greater blaze.
That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ: 1 Peter 1:7
Jesus was put on trial by the Sanhedrin; so were Stephen, Paul, Peter and John, Martin Luther and many others. I have personally known four different men, solid ministers of the Lord, who were put on trial by a charismatic Sanhedrin; but Jesus counted it all joy; so did the apostles.
Through suffering God will establish a man. The word means to make as solid as granite, to steadfastly set, or to turn resolutely in a certain direction. Paul expressed that steadfastness. So did Jesus.
22 And now, behold, I [Paul] go bound in the spirit unto Jerusalem, not knowing the things that shall befall me there:23 Save that the Holy Ghost witnesseth in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions abide me.24 But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God. Acts 20:22-24
And it came to pass, when the time was come that He [Jesus] should be received up, He stedfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem, Luke 9:51
Suffering may come in different ways. It may be a physical, emotional, or spiritual suffering. When they crucified Jesus, I am sure that the nails that pierced His body hurt. When all of His disciples fled (Matthew 26:56) I am sure that was a deep emotional suffering. But the greatest suffering that Jesus endured was when He who knew no sin became sin on the cross and sin was crucified. At that point, Jesus had to be separated from His Father ... an experience that He had never known. Such suffering will either break or make us into that which the Lord desires. We have an opportunity to overcome. We have an opportunity to emerge like toughened steel that has been tempered in the fire. Years ago I heard a man say that he who is in the fiery furnace the longest comes out the purest. I heard another man say that it is in the quiet crucible of your personal, private sufferings that your noblest dreams are born and God's greatest gifts are given.
"Make you perfect" means "to supply that which is missing, to mend that which is broken, to restore that part which is lacking, or to complete thoroughly." It is the same Greek word used in Mark 1:19 for mending nets.
And when He had gone a little further thence, He saw James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, who also were in the ship mending their nets. Mark 1:19
When we mend nets we make them useful or usable again. For the true saint, the path of brokenness leads straight to the throne of grace. The one and only way to grow in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ is daily communion with the Father and the Son. Many believers have become blinded by the temporal until we can no longer see the eternal reality of the holiness of heaven and the horrors of hell. Lord, have mercy and bring us to brokenness!
God made everything for His pleasure, for Himself, for His rest and enjoyment. This world is not our home ... it is not our resting place ... it is not our center of gravity. The heavenly realm is unknown to us by nature. We can read about that heavenly realm in the Bible and we can hear about it through anointed preachers and teachers (if we are so blessed), but we can never know that heavenly realm until we experience it. There is nothing second-hand about the spiritual life in Christ.
The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit. Psalm 34:18
11 To Him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.
When God first created man, God gave man dominion over all the earth (Genesis 1:26). When Adam sinned, he lost that dominion to the devil. But Jesus reclaimed that dominion at Calvary. So now the resurrected Lord has both His original full glory and dominion.
12 By Silvanus, a faithful brother unto you, as I suppose, I have written briefly, exhorting, and testifying that this is the true grace of God wherein ye stand.
Silvanus is Silas, a prophet who suffered with Paul in prison (Acts 16) and who acted as a bearer of Peter's first Epistle.
13 The church that is at Babylon, elected together with you, saluteth you; and so doth Marcus my son.
Marcus is Mark, who wrote the Gospel according to Mark. We do not read about Mark preaching a single sermon or performing any miracle. All that is said about him is that he was a helper of others, specifically Peter, Paul, and Barnabas. Such service never fails to receive its reward.
14 Greet ye one another with a kiss of charity. Peace be with you all that are in Christ Jesus. Amen.
Not only is our Lord the God of all grace; He is also the God of all peace. But it is only after we walk in the grace of God that we experience both the peace of God and the God of all peace.
No comments:
Post a Comment