The Sabbath Day

http://charityministries.org/audio/3994.mp3

Endure Hardness

http://www.charityministries.org/audio/3882.mp3

2 Peter 1:1-4

This second epistle of Peter was again written to the Jews who had become Christians. It also has some similar teachings. It is a reminder that we all need to be taught "line upon line." We often tend to forget or grow lax in our Christian life if we are not reminded of the things which we have learned.

 
 

In verse 1, Peter introduces himself as a servant and an apostle. He could have been proud to be one of only a few apostles and part of an even more exclusive group that had seen Christ's transfigurations. Rather, he is a servant and that is his glory. He is writing to those who have obtained like precious faith. They have obtained this faith through the righteousness of God and not through any goodness of their own.

 
 

He wishes them grace and peace multiplied. Grace had already been given them when they had been converted. However, Christians need a continual supply. In order to receive it, they must stay close to God. He also asks peace for them: peace from persecution, peace in the church, and peace of mind and security in Christ.

 
 

God's amazing power has given us everything that we need to succeed in our Christian life. We can receive these gifts through the knowledge of God. This is not only a head knowledge, but also an experiential knowledge. We can only know it be experiencing it.

 
 

God has also given us amazing promises. Because of this, we can partake of God's nature. We can be holy before God. We can escape the corruption of the world. This doesn't come in our own strength or by our own good works. It only comes through the power of God in our lives.

What About Here and Now

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1 Peter 5:7-14 Relating to Difficulty and Temptation

Verse 7 gives a very good piece of advice: Cast all your cares on the Lord because He cares for you. He understands how we feel because He made us. He experienced life as we know it on this earth. He died to save us from our sins. What a wonderful person to go to with our cares! Next, Peter tells us to be sober and vigilant because the devil would like to devour us and our faith. This life is know time to be careless. One careless move on our part could be all the Devil needs to ensnare us. We need to be ever on the lookout. We must always be suspicious lest he catch us unawares. We must resist temptation steadfastly. We may not become weary in well-doing. Peter comforts us with the fact that God will perfect, establish and strengthen us. What a comfort!

 
 

Peter then closes his letter by telling us that Sylvanus was the letter bearer. He also includes greetings from the church at Babylon were he was at the time as well as from Marcus, his spiritual son in the faith. He also advises them to greet each other with a kiss of charity. This is one of the scriptures that we base the our practice on today.

 
 

1 Peter 5:1-6 Authority and Relationships

Peter speaks first to the elders of the church. He himself was an elder. So, he understood the difficulties and challenges that they faced. He admonished them to oversee the church with humility. They were to rule with the consent of the people, not by force. They weren't to be lords over the flock. Rather, they were to lead by example. Peter knew that people are much more willing to follow a leader if he practices what he preaches. No one likes being commanded from a pedestal. Leaders should be on the same level as their people. They should live among them and be part of them. That way they can understand the struggles their people face. Peter tells the elders that when the chief Shepherd appears, they will receive an everlasting crown in reward for their labors.

 
 

Next, Peter speaks to those that are younger. He commands them to submit to their elders. And, all should be subject to each other. In this way, church life can flow smoothly. If everyone humbly submits to each other, God's blessing will be on the church. Because, God resists the proud, but He gives grace to the humble. We must also humble ourselves under the hand of God. If we do so, He will exalt us in eternity. I can't wait!

1 Peter 4:12-19

Here Peter speaks to them about enduring persecution. This is something that we know very little about in America. Satan uses different tactics to get us to give up the Christian life. He distracts us from serving God by wealth, work, family, culture and many other things. However, we still need to resist these things much as Christians did in Peter's day. Satan made life very difficult for those Christians. They often had to suffer or even die for their faith. Today, Satan makes life very easy for us. We must LIVE for our faith. Sometimes, that can be even more difficult than dying for our faith.

 
 

Peter tells the Christians that they should never need to suffer as an evildoer. But, rather, they should suffer as Christians. If they suffered as Christians, they were not to be ashamed. Instead, they should glorify God. Sometimes, we as Christians can be ostracized by those around us. We don't need to be ashamed. We should be glad to be bearing reproach for the name of Christ. Peter tells us that God sometimes judges Christians when they sin. How much more will there be judgment on those who are not Christians. We should, therefore, be glad to suffer for the name of Christ and not be ashamed of the Gospel.

1 Peter 4:7-11

Peter warns us that the end of time is getting near. We, of course, do not know when that will be. Peter thought it was near then. It must be so much nearer now. Because the end of time is near, we should be living soberly and prayerfully. This is no time for procrastination or laxness in our Christian life. Jesus could come anytime. We also should be working hard to relate to each other with love and courtesy. We should be hospitable and generous. We also need to be exercising our gifts. God has not given them to us to lie dormant. Rather, He wants us to use them to encourage saints and warn sinners so that all might be saved. He also wants us to use our gifts for His glory. We dare not selfishly use our gifts for the praise of men. Let's always be living for God and for His glory.

1 Peter 4:4-6

We have now been cleansed. We are living a new life! We are free from the bondage of sin. We are happy in the Lord, but what about our old friends: the ones that encouraged us in our sinful pleasures, the ones that got us into the bondage of sin? They can't understand us. They think that we have gone insane. We are no longer interested in the excesses and vices that we once were. They even go so far as to speak against us. They don't like to have us condemning their lives by our changed way of life and actions. They know that what they are doing is not right, but they aren't willing to take the leap of faith and join us in the Christian life. We must not become discouraged. We must remain faithful no matter what anyone else says about us. If God is for us, who can be against us. Finally, He is the one that will judge our actions. We really don't need to worry about the opinion of our old, evil friends. God's opinion is the only thing that really matters. And, at the end of our life, we will receive a reward for living faithfully.

1 Peter 4:1-3

Peter tells us that just as Christ suffered to free us from sin, we must cause our flesh (evil nature) to suffer and die. We must crucify our sinful desires. It is not a once and done issue like the death of Christ, but, rather, it is a daily process. Our sinful nature never totally dies as long as we live here on this earth. So, it is a continual process to resist temptation and live for Christ. When we crucify the flesh, we no longer live after the lust of the flesh but after the will of the Holy Spirit who lives within us. This brings about a complete change in our lives. This is not only an inward experience. This is a revolution! We no abstain from all the things that tend toward evil. We become temperate in many areas of life. We leave behind all the vices and excesses of our old life. And, we don't do it grudgingly. It is a joy to be free of the bondage of a sinful life. May God help us as we live for Him with His help

1 Peter 3:8 Relations with Others

With the brotherhood: Peter advises us to be all of the same mind. Of course, it is impossible to be of all exactly the same mind, but in the important issues and in our general practice of the Christian life, we must think and act alike. We must love each other and have compassion on each other. We should be helping each other in need. We should show common courtesy. This will help us to have good relationships and also be a testimony to the world.

 
 

With our enemies: While it may sometimes be hard to relate to our brothers and sisters in the church, it is often harder to relate to our enemies. But, if we ever have any questions, Christ is an amazing example. He was treated terribly. Yet, he prayed for those that crucified Him. We should do the same. We should not return evil for evil. Rather, we should return blessing for railing. We should guard our lips to keep from speaking evil. We should look for peaceful resolutions to difficulties that arise. If we live this kind of life, God will watch over us and protect us. He is always listening to our prayers and working for us against evil. We can trust completely that He has the situation in control because He is all powerful! No one can harm us without God's permission. However, sometimes God does allow us to suffer. If that is the case, we should take it patiently. We must remember that all things work together for good to them that love the Lord. God has a reason for everything. We may only understand when we get to heaven. Let's live here so that we can live with God in eternity.

Pleasing God

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1 Peter 3:1-7 Duties of Husbands and Wives

Today, this is not a very popular subject. Likely, this is due to husbands who have abused their positions and their wives, but God knows best. He designed this relationship and it works best if we do not tamper with it. Everyone will be the happiest when following God's plan. He commands women to be subject to their husbands even if they are not Christians. The lifestyle that they live is an extremely powerful witness to an unbelieving spouse. Peter also gives instruction about wearing ornaments: the only ornaments that should be worn are in our heart. A meek, quiet spirit will do more for any woman's beauty than all the jewelry or clothes that money can buy. He mentions that the holy women of old also adorned themselves in this way. They lived in subjection to their husbands. To many woman, this may seem like a life of drudgery, but it is God's way. And, if their husbands follow the directives in the next verses, it will make it much easier for them.

 
 

Next, we see listed the duties of a husband. He is to dwell with his wife. There should not be unnecessary separation. "According to knowledge" not according to lust or passion, but rather giving their wives due honor and respect . Even though it is their responsibility to rule, it does not give them the right to be tyrants. They should rather consider the opinions and feelings of their wives and remember that they are generally of a weaker constitution. This does not, however, make a wife worth any less or lower her status in God's eyes. They are "heirs together" of God's grace. Finally, he mentions that all this should be done "that your prayers be not hindered." A man's relationship with his wife affects his relationship with God and vice versa. God has designed this wonderful relationship and all the supposed "improvements" that men have conceived only ruin it. God's way is best.

1 Peter 2

Peter tells us that we are a chosen generation. We are a special people that God has called out to be his own. We were once in darkness, but now we are in His light. We were worthless, but, through God's mercy we can be His children. Because of this, we need to live as strangers and pilgrims. We are not part of this world. We are honest and faithful. When people see our good works, they will glorify God.

 
 

Next, Peter moves on to talk about submission. While we are not to be involved with government, we must obey them as long as that does not cause us to disobey God. Servants should also be subject to their masters whether the are kind or unkind. It is a tremendous testimony to those around us if we suffer wrongly and still take it patiently. Jesus was an amazing example of this. He was completely sinless. Yet, He suffered patiently and was eventually killed. Because of this, we can be saved from our sins. How wonderful! Let's be willing to suffer for him. It is a small thing compared to what He has done for us.

1 Peter 1

Peter is one of my favorite apostles. Maybe it's because he was so much like me. He was impulsive, outspoken, hasty, and bold. But, he was by times afraid to be identified with Christ and afraid of the opinions of others. Yet, when the Holy Spirit came upon him, he became a powerful speaker and a steadfast believer that would not surrender his faith until death. In this first of his two books, he writes to Christians scattered around Asia Minor.

 
 

They were apparently experiencing temptations and persecutions. Yet, they were rejoicing. These people had never seen Christ, but they were faithfully serving and loving Him. Peter encourages them to be faithful, holy, and obedient in their Christian lives. We also live in times that can make it difficult to remain faithful and holy. There is so much sin and evil all around us. We must be sure to stay separate and holy in our Christian lives. May God help us.

James 5

In the beginning of the chapter, James speaks against the rich Jews who were persecuting and defrauding those who were doing right and those who were less wealthy. He does not speak this directly to them but rather to the Christians who were the object of this injustice. He then encourages the Christians to stand firm and be patient in the face of persecution. He reminds them that if they wait, they will receive the fruit of their good works. When the Lord comes back it will be worth it all. If we doubt that, we can look at the prophets. The endured much, but now they are enjoying their eternal reward in heaven.

 
 

Next, James reiterates a command of Christ given in Matthew 5:34, "Swear not at all." As Christians , we should always be completely honest. So, there will be no need for us to swear in any case. When we say "yes," we mean yes. Anyone who knows us will not need to doubt our word, because we are always as good as our word.

 
 

Then, he gives instructions for people in various situations:

Are you merry? Sing

Are you afflicted? Pray.

Are you sick? Call for the elders of the church and they will anoint you and pray for you.

Have you sinned? Confess your faults to each other. This is very valuable in overcoming sin in your life. If we are responsible to someone else, it can be a great help in having victory over sin. James also tells us that prayer can accomplish much. Elisha prayed and it didn't rain for three and one half years. Then, he prayed again and rain returned. What a powerful resource we have at our disposal! Let's use it.