Victorious Suffering & Stewarding

Preview The Text

Today, we’re going to pick back up with our break-off series in 1 Peter. Back in August, we began this series as I walked us through the first half of chapter 1. And then a little over a month ago, Kevin spent 3 sermons taking us through the rest of chapter 1 all the way through the near-end of chapter 3, which is where we’ll pick back up this morning.

And starting by way of illustration this morning, I’d like for us to reacquaint ourselves a bit in terms of where we’ve been in Peter’s letter and where we’re at today.

As you know, during this season of our lives, Kaylee and I are navigating the early stages of parenthood. And one of the joyous challenges we currently face is the task of starting out on the right foot in terms of raising our children to live rightly as members of this family. You see, unlike any other children, Jordan & Jesse have specifically been set-apart as Merrick children. Without doing a thing, they’ve been brought to life and have been born into this special status as members of this family. And with this special status comes the special call to live how Merrick children are expected to live.

In somewhat similar fashion…we as Christians…without doing a thing, by the grace of God alone…have been brought to spiritual life & faith. Though we were once spiritually dead and in separated-rebellion against God in our natural-born state, we’ve been born again unto the special status of being members of God’s family as His redeemed children. And with this special status comes the special call to live how God’s redeemed children are expected to live.

Having been set free from our sinful state, as we now strive to live holy lives in this world, we possess a living hope that one day Christ will return & bestow our promised inheritance upon us. By faith, this is the glorious future that we look forward to as God’s children. This is the ultimate joy that our Father has set before us. And yet, the sober reality is that we haven’t entered into that ultimate joy yet. We’re still like pilgrims making our way home. And not only that, but as we make our way home, we journey in a world full of trial, suffering, and evil. We find ourselves in this “already, not yet” season…one where, as Paul tells us, we’ve already been raised up and are seated with Christ in the heavenly places…and yet our feet are still planted in a place that often feels like Babylon…living as God’s people, in exile, away from our promised land.

So beloved: as redeemed children of God…with the time that we have remaining in this “already, not yet” life…how should we then live? This is the question we’ve been considering since the back half of chapter 1, and is what we’ll continue to consider in our time today. And just like God’s beloved children in the 1st century, we also need ears to hear these Spirit-inspired words from Peter…in order that Christ would be exalted as we stand more firmly in His glorious grace.

Today, Lord-willing we’ll make our way from chapter 3 verse 18 all the way through chapter 4 verse 11. With that said, if you’re able at this time, please stand for the reading of God’s Word.

Read The Text

1 Peter 3:18–4:11 (ESV)

18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit, 19 in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison, 20 because they formerly did not obey, when God’s patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water. 21 Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, 22 who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him. 

Stewards of God’s Grace

4 Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same way of thinking, for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, 2 so as to live for the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for human passions but for the will of God. 3 For the time that is past suffices for doing what the Gentiles want to do, living in sensuality, passions, drunkenness, orgies, drinking parties, and lawless idolatry. 4 With respect to this they are surprised when you do not join them in the same flood of debauchery, and they malign you; 5 but they will give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. 6 For this is why the gospel was preached even to those who are dead, that though judged in the flesh the way people are, they might live in the spirit the way God does. 

7 The end of all things is at hand; therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers. 8 Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins. 9 Show hospitality to one another without grumbling. 10 As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace: 11 whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

PRAY. Thank you. You can be seated at this time.

Explain & Apply The Text

Looking To The Victorious Sufferer (3:18-22)

This morning, we’ll consider our passage under 2 basic headings. And our 1st Heading is this: Looking To The Victorious Sufferer.

In this letter, Peter was addressing scattered believers across Asia Minor who were suffering in various ways. We know this because suffering is a major theme throughout his writing. Earlier in chapter 1, Peter encouraged these believers to rejoice amid their various trials. In chapter 2, at one point he narrowed his focus on household Christian servants, encouraging them to suffer faithfully, even in their submission to unjust masters. And then more specifically for our context today, directly preceding verse 18 here in chapter 3, Peter again turns his attention to all believers. And he reminds them that amid their suffering, they are to live and suffer righteously…and that if they’re going to suffer in this life, may it be as a result of doing good, rather than evil.

Back in chapter 1, as he began to address the question “how should we then live?”, Peter writes that redeemed children of God are to be holy in all of our conduct. And this was to be the case in all surroundings and all circumstances. Even in the face of trial, evil, and suffering…our call is to be holy as God is holy.

Here in today’s passage, Peter is continuing to exhort these believers to be holy in the face of their pagan surroundings and painful suffering. And to start with…in these last 5 verses of chapter 3, how does he go about doing this? Well in part, the same way that he does throughout his letter: by pointing these sufferers outside of themselves…by pointing them outside of their painful circumstances….and unto Jesus Christ Himself. Unto the Person of Jesus Christ. Unto the Work of Jesus Christ. Unto the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and on the wonderful implications of this gospel that flow directly from Christ to the suffering believer.

And what is it about the Person & the Work of Christ that Peter wants suffering Christians to remember here? That Christ is our Victorious Sufferer! In Verse 18, he writes this: “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit.”

In this Advent season, we specifically celebrate the incarnate arrival of the 2nd Person of the Trinity. God the Son taking on human flesh, being conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary. Jesus Christ. Truly God, Truly Man.

And Christ came in the flesh in order to ultimately suffer in the flesh. ”We do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are.” And yet…He was without sin. He was the long-awaited Righteous One. And though He was without sin, it was the will of God for Him to suffer to the point of death, even death on a cross. Why? To bear the penalty of sin…to make atonement for sin…in order to bring unrighteous sinners like us into restored fellowship with the One True & Holy God. One sacrifice…sufficiently offered up…for the redemption of God’s elect people.

And the sufficiency of this one sacrifice? The legitimacy of this one sacrifice? It was fully vindicated when, although Christ was put to death in the flesh, He was made alive in Victory! Jesus Christ was, and is, the Victorious Sufferer. And in the face of our own forms of suffering as Christians…as we strive to be holy in the face of this world, our flesh, and the devil…we must keep our Victor close in view.

In our holy suffering, may we remember that victory has been declared by our Suffering Savior! Let’s take a look at Verse 19-20. After writing that Jesus was “put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit,” Peter goes on to write that, “alive in the spirit” Jesus “went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison, because they formerly did not obey, when God’s patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water.”

I’ve got to admit: this is a pretty difficult passage. I found comfort knowing that people a lot of smarter that me have disagreed on this interpretation throughout history. I especially found comfort from the reformer Martin Luther, who wrote this in his commentary: “a wonderful text is this, and a more obscure passage perhaps than any other in the New Testament, so that I do not know for a certainty just what Peter means.”

Well, like Martin Luther, I do not know for certain what Peter means here, but I’m going to present what I do believe the basic meaning of this passage is. If you’re interested in studying the differing views on this section, Edmund Clowney has a great commentary on 1 Peter that I highly recommend.

What I believe Peter specifically has in view here is Christ’s descent into hell…which we confessed together earlier in the apostles creed. This was the time between Jesus’ death & bodily resurrection….a time in which, alive in the spirit as a living soul, Christ descended into hell…not for Him to suffer in hell…not for him to proclaim a “2nd chance gospel” to unbelievers in hell…but to proclaim victory & vindication in hell to those who had rejected Him. And pointedly for Peter’s purposes in this section, this was a proclamation of victory & vindication to those who had rejected Him in the days of Noah. A proclamation to those spirits who were now justly imprisoned in hell because of their disobedience and their rejection of Christ…Christ, Who had formerly preached to them by His Spirit through Noah, who was a herald of righteousness in those days before the flood.

Well, Christ not only displayed His victory over suffering by means of His descent into Hell…but also by His ensuing bodily resurrection, which Peter highlights at the end of Verse 21. On the 3rd Day, Christ rose from the dead ones. And after being raised bodily, among other things, for a period of time on this very earth, He declared victory to Peter himself and the other apostles. Luke writes in Acts 1 that “after His suffering”, Jesus “presented himself alive to” His chosen apostles “by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God.”

Well lastly in this section, Peter shows us 2 other displays of Christ’ victory over suffering. In Verse 22, he writes that the resurrected Christ “has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to Him.” What Peter is alluding to here is the ascension and the session of Christ. King Jesus, the Lamb Who was slain…He has ascended into heaven…and He has sat down at the right hand of the Father…where He is ruling and reigning over all.

Beloved: Christ is our Victorious Sufferer. He suffered once for sins: the Righteous for the unrighteous. And though He was put to death in the flesh, He was made alive in the spirit. He descended to declare victory within a hell that we will never have to see, and where we will never have to suffer. He was raised bodily and declared victory for 40 days in this sin-cursed world. And He ascended in glory to His Heavenly Throne, where He is now ruling and reigning over all. Thanks be to God through our Lord and our King, Jesus Christ. In our endeavor to be holy…whether we’re facing pleasant times or times of suffering…may we keep closely in view, our Victorious Sufferer.

As we’ve seen from these 5 verses, Peter goes to great lengths to encourage us toward holy living, by pointing us outside of ourselves and unto Christ.

And yet in the midst of this…while keeping Him close in view for us…Peter takes a moment to also point us back to a pivotal moment in our own lives…a moment that we can look back to for comfort and for encouragement: our baptism. He writes this in Verse 21: “Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.”

At first glance, it might seem as if Peter is saying that the very act of baptism itself effects for us salvation, and effects for us a good conscience before God. But we know that from the whole counsel of Scripture, this can’t be what Peter means. Earlier in this same letter, he himself writes that it is according to God’s great mercy that we are saved. And the Apostle Paul reminds us in Ephesians 2 that it’s by God’s grace that we have been saved, lest we should boast.

As important as baptism is, baptism as a work of ours in itself does not save. It is not something that we can simply look to and say “because I have been baptized, I am saved and stand in good conscience before the Lord.” Sadly, there are scores of baptized people throughout history who will spend eternity in hell.

So what does Peter mean then when he says that “baptism now saves you”? Well first, Peter says that our baptism “corresponds to this.” What is the “this” that it corresponds to? Well as we can see from the prior verse, our baptism corresponds to the account of Noah and the flood. But in what sense?

In this sense: that just as there was a group of people who passed through the judgment waters safe in the Ark, arriving at salvation…so also with baptism, all who are united to Christ in His passage through the judgment waters, all of us arrive at salvation.

So it’s not that baptism is simply a picture of Noah’s flood. It’s that both baptism and Noah’s flood correspond and picture the work of Jesus Christ.

Our baptism is a God-ordained sign of our union with Jesus Christ, and the work that He has accomplished on our behalf. And we see in Scripture that baptism is intimately tied to faith…which is largely why we practice believer’s baptism here. Faith is the instrument that unites us to Jesus Christ. By God’s grace, through faith, we are “in Christ.” He is the Ark of our salvation. He has passed through the judgment waters for us. He has “suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit.” He has resurrected from the dead and has gone into heaven, where He is ruling and reigning at the Father’s right hand. And because, by faith, we are united to this Victorious Sufferer, “in Him” we too pass through those judgment waters!

Beloved: it is in this sense that baptism saves you…because it points to your union with Jesus Christ. And so if you’re here today and your faith is in Christ alone…but, for whatever reason you haven’t do so yet…receive your baptism! Please talk to one of us elders. And then for those of you today who are baptized believers of Jesus Christ…by faith, remember your baptism. If you begin to doubt your status as God’s beloved children, may you look back to your baptism and be reminded that Christ has paid the penalty for your sins. If you’re feeling disheartened by your imperfect pursuit of holiness, first, join the club…and then second, look back to your baptism with bolstered assurance, knowing that your conscience has been cleansed by the One Who has brought you to God. And lastly, if you happen to be navigating waves of trial in your life right now…remember your baptism, and be comforted by the reality that amid these waves of suffering, you are safe in Christ…and that one day He’ll see to it that your present suffering gives way to eternal glory.

Living As Victorious Stewards (4:1-11)

Well brothers & Sisters: what great comfort that throughout this difficult life, we can look back to our baptism & ultimately heavenward to Christ Himself. What great comfort the indicatives of the gospel are to us. And yet in the face of suffering, not only should these indicatives comfort us, but they should also propel us for the imperatives of holy living. The reality of Christ’s victory over suffering, and the reality of our status, in Him, as redeemed people? This should motivate and propel us to live like who we are now. This should empower us to live victoriously before a world that is much like the days of Noah: our world that is full of sin, full of lawlessness, and full of unrighteous people who are under the pending judgment of God, lest they repent & safely enter into the Ark that is Christ.

This brings us to our 2nd and last Heading for the morning, which is this: Living As Victorious Stewards.

At the beginning of Chapter 4, as Peter continues to exhort these believers toward holy living, he starts to shift his emphasis from the indicatives that we’ve been considering, to now giving more emphasis to some imperatives for holy living. We see this shift right away in the first part of Verse 1. He writes this: “Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh [indicative], arm yourselves with the same way of thinking [imperative].

Right Thinking

What does Peter mean when he tells these believers to “arm themselves with the same way of thinking”? He’s imploring them to arm themselves with the indicative! To remember that Christ already suffered in the flesh! And because they’re united to Him by faith, they need to remember that in a very real sense, they too have already suffered in the flesh! Their sin has been paid for! Sin has “ceased” for them…not in the sense that they literally no longer sin, but in the sense that they’re no longer under the power nor penalty of sin. Sin has ceased for them because Christ has suffered for them! The resurrected Christ already suffered once for their sins, the righteous for the unrighteous! In Christ, they’ve already been brought through the judgment waters, unto fellowship with God, with a cleansed conscience before Him! And with this good conscience before the Lord, they’re being exhorted by Peter to think in good conscience! To arm themselves with the right mindset!

The Apostle Paul beautifully puts it this way in Romans 6: “For one who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.”

Beloved: like these believers of Peter’s day…in order for us to live holy and obedient lives, we must first and foremost arm ourselves with the right way of thinking. And this has to start by knowing and trusting that by God’s grace, through faith, we’ve been united to Jesus Christ! The work has been done. The power and penalty of sin has ceased for us. Christ has victoriously suffered in the flesh. Our redemption isn’t “out there somewhere” for us to shape up enough in order to earn or maintain it. No! Christ has already accomplished our redemption. By faith..we continue to accept, we continue to receive, we continue to rest upon Him alone, and upon the work that He has accomplished for us. With renewed minds, we embrace the new nature that we’ve been given, and the new heavenly family that we’ve been re-birthed into.

And so in Christ, as members of God’s family, we now strive to live like who we are now. “Identity forward” living. Again, this starts by arming ourselves with the right mindset. And not only are we to think rightly about who we now are in Christ, but we are to think rightly about who we no longer are. We’re no longer separated from Christ. We’re no longer without hope and without God. We’ve been brought near by the blood of Jesus. We’ve been baptized into Him. So why would we move forward in life thinking & acting in accord with our former separation from Him? As Peter writes in Verse 3, that horrible time that is past? It suffices! Enough of that old, dead life! A new day has dawned…one of true life! And so…in terms of thinking rightly about our identity, for the sake of fostering holiness, it’s also good for us to think rightly about who we are no more.

But our identity isn’t the only thing that Peter calls on us to think rightly about. With renewed minds, we’re also to think rightly about time itself. First, we need sober minds regarding the time that we have left in these fleshly bodies…which Peter alludes to in Verse 2. Brother or Sister: How much time do you have left in this life? It would be foolish to think that you have all the time in the world. None of us are even guaranteed our next breath.

20 years ago, the Lord soberly opened my eyes to this reality in the span of just a few months. Sitting in my dorm room one day as a student at Taylor University, I received a phone call from my mom telling me that my ex-girlfriend had just died in a plane crash here just south of Wabash. 21 years old…gone just like that. That was the first time that I had lost someone that I had known so well. Several months later, sitting in that same dorm room, a friend walked in and notified me that there had just been a bad school van accident involving a number of our fellow students. It turned out that 4 of them tragically passed away, along with a staff member. Just like that.

Beloved: the Lord has numbered each of our days. So may we learn to wisely number them. May we think rightly about the unknown time that we have left here. And may this sober-mindedness help us to live rightly with the time that God does graciously bless us with…however long that is.

Well as it pertains again to thinking rightly about time, Peter also implores us in another way. And that’s for us to be sober-minded about where we’re at in the redemptive timeline…where we’re at in the course of redemptive history. In Verse 7, Peter writes that “the end of all things is at hand.” At hand for what? Well earlier in chapter 1 of this letter, Peter reminds us that Christ is “ready” to reveal our salvation in the last time. But that’s not all that He’s ready to reveal. Here in Verse 5, Peter writes that He’s also “ready to judge the living and the dead.”

Friends: Christ is ready. Are you? On that Day…will you still be alive here in the flesh? Will you have already been judged in the flesh by means of a physical death that all people normatively experience? I don’t know. But regardless of whether you will be living or dead on that Day, are you ready right now? Are you ready for Christ’s coming judgment? Are you sober-minded? Are you awake? As Jesus was made alive in the spirit, are you alive in His Spirit? Have you responded in faith, and are you continuing to respond in faith, to the gospel that has been preached to you? Are you abiding in the Ark that is Christ?

We must think rightly about where we’re at in God’s redemptive timeline. May we not have the same scoffing mindset as Noah’s generation, or as so many damned sinners in our world today.

And as Paul warns us elsewhere, may we not simply “presume on the riches of God’s kindness.” It is His very kindness that is meant to lead us to repentance. So may our minds be sober…may our hearts not grow hard nor impenitent…lest our faith be ultimately proven counterfeit, and lest we store up wrath for ourselves on the day of wrath, when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.

This is some heavy stuff for us to contemplate, isn’t it? May it serve as a sober warning for us, and may it sober us up for how we ought to live here and now, with the time we have remaining in these last days prior to His coming. Sin is very real and has very real consequences that must be dealt with by a Holy and Just God.

But again…for the repentant believer, the wonderful news is this: He who is the Coming Judge? He’s also Our Savior and Great High Priest. Christ has dealt with our sins by literally dying for our sins. He has offered up Himself as the perfect sacrifice. He has passed through the judgment waters for us. Abide in Him.

And thats not the only wonderful news. So also, with the time that we have remaining, we haven’t been left to steward this new life in our own strength. This is the last thing that I want to highlight in terms of having a holy mindset. Not only should we think rightly about our identity, or about time itself. But we should think rightly about the source of our living strength.

We’ll talk more about Verse 11 in a bit, but specifically from a mindset standpoint, listen to what Peter has to say here. He reminds us that we serve “by the strength that God supplies.”

Beloved: with this new life that we’ve been given…with the time we have remaining…we don’t abide, and we don’t pursue holiness in our own strength…we pursue it in His strength. He is the Fountainhead of Holiness. He doesn’t break bruised reeds, nor does He quench faintly burning wicks. In the face of suffering, He will continue to renew our minds…He will continue to draw us back to Him in sober-minded dependency. He will continue to strengthen our inner desire to be holy in all of our conduct. So may we arm ourselves with this right way of thinking, by remembering that Christ is the source of our strength.

Right Living

Well we’ve spent time laying a foundation for what holy living looks like by means of stressing the importance of right thinking. But that’s obviously not where it stops. Right thinking must lead to right living. A holy mindset must manifest into holy conduct.

And what does holy conduct look like for the holy and set-apart child of God? Peter shows us throughout this section in chapter 4. In Verse 2, first and foremost, He shows us that holy conduct accords with the will of God. He writes that with our remaining time in these fleshly bodies, we are to live “no longer for human passions, but for the will of God.”

You see, with our new birth, we’ve not only been given new minds, but new wills. And by the power of Christ’s Spirit in us…our wills are in the process of being sanctified & renewed, in order that we would have increasing willpower to live according to God’s perfect will.

And so what does His perfect will look like, which we are to pursue and live in accordance with? Well Peter first addresses this in a negative way…not by showing us what to pursue, but actually what to “put off” and flee from. In Verse 3, he shows us what living for human passions looks like rather than living for God’s will. He writes this: “For the time that is past suffices for doing what the Gentiles want to do, living in sensuality, passions, drunkenness, orgies, drinking parties, and lawless idolatry.”

Peter was likely writing to many Gentile Christians who were not only living in the face of increased Roman persecution, but also in the face of their former Gentile culture. There’s no doubt that this surrounding culture presented them with some level of frustration. But there’s also no doubt that it presented them with some level of temptation as well. There were likely certain things from this surrounding culture—things from their old way of living—that appealed to their remaining flesh. But as new creatures in Christ now, Peter was calling on them to leave that life in the past for sake of holy living unto the Lord.

Think about the surrounding culture of our own day. Is there anything that our world is promoting that is in clear opposition to God’s will, and yet it tends to appeal to your remaining flesh? Is it sexual promiscuity? Is it an over-abundance of alcohol? Is it something else?

Whatever it is…as appealing as it may seem, or as good as it might even feel in the moment…it’s not worth it. Indulging the sinful passions of your flesh will have consequences. Younger people, please especially hear this. At the very least: it dishonors God, it will harm others, and it will cause you to walk with a limp later in life. Unfortunately, I can testify to this myself.

But even worse: if you’re indulging of the flesh comes from a place of persistent hard-heartedness and stubborn impenitence, then you need to know that the eternal condition of your soul might very well be in jeopardy.

Beloved: the time that is past suffices for doing what this world around us does! Enough of that old way of life! May we put off our old way of living in enslavement to the passions of our flesh, and may we live like who we are now in Christ, according to the will of God.

And may we do this even in the face of potential surprise, scorn, & mockery from others…even from people we’ve known well and have considered friends. This is part of us being ready to make a defense to “anyone” for the hope that is in us. In Verse 4, Peter actually encourages these largely Gentile believers to press on in the face of Gentile unbelievers , who were apparently mocking and maligning them for not joining them in their flood of sin.

Brothers & Sisters: may we stay the course by fleeing from our old way of life.

And then positively-speaking…as we flee from evil, what good are we called to pursue according to God’s will? What does it positively look like to victoriously steward our new lives in Christ?

Well in this section of chapter 4, Peter gives several good imperatives that we’ll briefly look at. In Verse 7, we see that we are to “be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of our prayers.” Again, we must arm ourselves with sober, Christ-centered thinking and curb our fleshly desires. Our ability to do this has such a bearing on all aspects of our life, including a prayer life that we must remain diligent in.

In Verse 8, we’re charged to “above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins.” This is our highest call. God’s holy law is fulfilled when we demonstrate our love for Him by loving one another in Christ. Now obviously, our love itself does not pay the price of sin. Only Christ’s love does that. But our love, modeled on Christ’s love, can also cover sins in His Holy Name. We can imitate Christ’s love. We are to extend grace and mercy to one another. We are to forgive one another, which always pays a price.

In Verse 9, Peter implores us to “show hospitality to one another without grumbling.” Hospitality is one of the beautiful ways for us to love one another and imitate the love of God, Who has Himself shown us immeasurable hospitality. This can come by way of the hospitable posture that we display toward one another here on the Lord’s Day…as well as outside of these walls in one another’s homes. May we pursue this in increasing measure as a local body, and may we do so joyfully!

Finally in Verses 10-11, Peter commissions us to be good stewards by employing the gifts that God has blessed us with to serve one another. In part, he writes this: “As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace: whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—“

Here, Peter breaks God’s varied gifts down into 2 basic categories: speaking and serving.

In terms of those whom God has graciously gifted for speaking, they are to speak “oracles of God.” Just a handful of verses later in chapter 5, Peter will specifically exhort the church elders . And so it seems as if he already has them in view here. Elsewhere, Scripture says that one crucial elder qualification is that he must be able to teach sound doctrine. And Scripture also warns that not many should become teachers, for teachers will be judged with greater strictness. God does not gift, nor qualify, everyone to officially speak for the edification of His children.

And so here, I believe that Peter most pointedly has elders in view, as well as likely other men who have been gifted for speaking and teaching fellow believers…especially in the assembly of believers. Rather than proclaiming the oracles of man—and the human passions that come with it—men who are gifted for speaking should rightly proclaim the edifying oracles of God to fellow believers. That is our call here as elders. And needless to say, we must seek the strength that God supplies in order to be good stewards of this gift and calling that He has entrusted us with.

While I believe this most-pointedly addresses elders who are gifted for speaking, this should also be a reminder to all believers in their speech. We must all handle the word of God with reverence and seek the help of the Spirit to make His Word known to others.

Well what about the gift of “serving” that Peter also highlights? He writes that “whoever serves” must “serve by the strength that God supplies.” The same Greek root word used here for “serving” also appears in our word for “deacon.” It could describe those who wait on tables or perform other routine, physical tasks. Quite possibly, since Peter likely just exhorted elders to speak oracles of God, he could now be turning his attention to the other Christ-ordained officers…to the deacons of the church. It’s also possible that he could still have in view the general service of hospitality, which he had just addressed.

Regardless, this specific kind of serving is to be stewarded well by gifted believers. And the reality is that, in some way, we’re all given opportunities to serve in this kind of manner. And we must not do this in our own strength. Whether it be you deacons who officially serve this church, or whether it be any of us who are serving one another in more routine, physical ways…the temptation could be to think that this is somehow a “less than important” task that can be done in our own strength. Not so! This too is to be done by faith, in the Spirit of Christ, by the strength that God supplies.

Right Purpose

Beloved: every aspect of our new lives must be done in this way! Our pursuit of being holy in all of our conduct..our pursuit of being holy in all circumstances, even in suffering…our pursuit of living for the will of God with the time that we have left…our pursuit of being faithful stewards with the gifts that God has entrusted us with…it must be done by faith, in the Spirit of Christ, by the strength that God supplies!

To what end? This holy pursuit is for our own good…and it’s for the good of one another.

And yet, this is isn’t the ultimate end. This isn’t the ultimate purpose of our holy pursuit.

What is? Peter shows us loud & clear in the last part of verse 11. Our pursuit of holiness, and our pursuit of victoriously stewarding our new redeemed lives? It’s not just for our own edification, as good as that is. It’s not just for the edification of one another, as good as that is. It’s for the exaltation of God our Father, through our Lord Jesus Christ. It’s “in order that in everything God may be glorified through our Victorious Sufferer. To Him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.” CLOSING PRAYER

Benediction Text

Please stand to receive the closing benediction. From 1 Thessalonians 3:12–13

English Standard Version Chapter 3

May the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, as we do for you, 13 so that he may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.