God-Willed Suffering! (A Study of I Peter 4:12-19)

I. Our Attitude Toward Suffering (vv. 12-13)

A. Don’t Be Surprised (v. 12)

B. Rejoice! (v. 13)

II. Positive and Negative Suffering (vv. 13-15)

A. Positive Suffering (vv. 13-14)

> It is a participation in the sufferings of Christ! (v. 13)

> It is an evidence of God’s Spirit resting on you (v. 14)

B. Negative Suffering (v. 15)

> Not as a criminal — or a meddler

!III. No Reason for Shame (vv. 16-19)

A. Suffering for the Name “Christian”

B. God’s Right Judgment of His Household (v. 17)

C. Judgment on Those Who Don’t Obey the Gospel (vv. 17-18)

D. A Reason to Commit Oneself to Our Creator and to Continue to Do Good (v. 19)

 

The Forgotten Third: Developing a Relationship with God the Holy Spirit — The GIFTS of God the Holy Spirit! (Part 4)

Some Christians seem to overemphasize the Holy Spirit, while many of us overlook Him. We need to biblically relate to Him. We can speak to Him because He is personal and, because He is God, we can (and should) worship Him. Neither of these actions are intended to minimize the primacy of the Lord Jesus, for the Spirit of God’s primary job is to glorify the Lord Jesus.

The various ministries in the church are not all to be performed by professional clergy, because every believer is given gifts by the Holy Spirit to be used to build up the Body of Christ and to serve a broken and needy world. The four major passages on spiritual gifts are Romans 12, I Corinthians 12, Ephesians 4, and I Peter 4. Let’s look at the last of our four passages, I Peter 4 —

⁷ 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.

What do we learn here about God the Holy Spirit? Actually He is not specifically mentioned in this last text on spiritual gifts, but we may infer several truths:

1. We are told to “use whatever gift you have received to serve others” (v. 10). And we know from our other texts that the Spirit is the Giver of the gifts.

2. We are to be “faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms” (v. 10). It is the Spirit of God who is the grace-giver, “grace” referring to the gifts themselves.

3. One question would be: Who is the “God” being referred to in verse 11? We read, 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.

Could “God” in this verse be referring to the Third Member of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit? If so, the one who has the gift of speaking should do so as one “who speaks the very words of God” (the Holy Spirit). After all, it is the Spirit who led the Apostles to write the New Testament. Now, it does not appear that verse 11 is saying that new revelation is being given or that it should be added to the divine canon of Scripture.

Further, the one who serves should serve “with the strength God [the Holy Spirit?] provides.” Why? “So that in all things God [the Holy Spirit?] may be praised through Jesus Christ.” Could this be another reference to the Third Member of the Trinity? He is worthy to be praised and to receive “glory and power for ever and ever.”

The Challenge: In all four of these texts on the spiritual gifts, it appears that much of the work which the Spirit of God is doing in the church and in the world is through God’s gifted-people. What enablement or gifting do you have to serve the Lord?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Servants of the Servant” — A Sermon in Preparation — Part 4 (Conclusion)

The normal Christian life involves knowing and using my spiritual gifts to build up the Body of Christ.  And — watching a lot of episodes of “Little House on the Prairie”!  Just kidding about that last one.  Although I will be staying with my 92-year-old mother-in-law as I preach for two Sundays at Cedarcroft Bible Chapel in New Jersey (their website is here).

On September 30th I will be speaking on our responsibility to the poor (the message is entitled “The Poor You Have with You Always”).  On October 7th, the message will be “Servants of the Servant” and will focus on the four primary passages about the Christian’s spiritual gifts (Romans 12, I Corinthians 12, Ephesians 4, and I Peter 4).

We’ve looked at the first three texts — Let’s look at I Peter 4 this morning and draw some final conclusions to this brief series of posts.  Here’s our text:

 

 

STUCK! Ten Areas That Will Bury You as a Believer and How to Dig Your Way Out! (Area #5- SERVICE!) (con’t)

Would you say that sometimes you get BOGGED DOWN in your SERVICE in the local church?  You find too many other Chrsitians doing very little — and you’re exhausted with all that you do?  Or, you’re not sure where or how to SERVE, and you’re becoming increasingly frustrated?

This is my last series of sermons for Crossroads Fellowship Church in Augusta.  They have found their next senior pastor and he will begin his SERVICE in several weeks.

But we want to continue our study on spiritual gifts.  We’ve looked at  Romans 12 and Ephesians 4.  Let’s look at the third (of four) passage on this critical area: I Peter 4.  There we read:

⁷ 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.

What a powerful paragraph!  As Peter anticipates the “end of all things,” he advises the believers to be alert, “be of sober mind so that you may pray.”  The highest challenge is to “love each other deeply.”  Why?  Because “love covers over a multitude of sins.”  All believers are to “offer hospitality to one another without grumbling.”  And each believer should use their gift to serve others because we are to be “faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.”

What “form” has God’s grace taken in your life?  How are you to SERVE?  Two specific gifts are mentioned here: SPEAKING and SERVING.  For those with the gift of speech, they are to speak “as one who speaks the very words of God”!  For those who SERVE, “they should do so with the strength God provides.”  And why do we SERVE God with the various forms of God’s grace that He has given us?  So that “in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ.”  That’s why we SERVE!  (to be continued)