Fearlessly, Radically Righteous: Our Service

Introduction

We are continuing to look at Peter’s encouragement to this group of persecuted believers he is writing to continue to live fearlessly, radically righteous lives. We have read about their being a living testimony. We have looked at the example of Christ, and last week, we looked at some of the struggles of the Christian life.

When the Lord’s grace and mercy draws a person to recognize their sinfulness and their need to be forgiven and when they place their faith and trust in the redeeming work of Christ, we call that being saved. It is an extraordinarily awesome work. It is the beautiful exchange of God’s wrath that should have been unleashed on us, poured out on His Son in our place. The just for the unjust, the holy for the unholy, the infinite for the finite. It is the living One for those dead in their trespasses. Not only that glorious exchange, we have also become children of God! We receive the righteousness of Christ, we stand justified, forgiven, beyond any and all condemnation.

When a person is saved, our sins are forgiven, completely, totally, eternally forgiven, but the Lord loves us too much to allow us to continue as we were. The Holy Spirit begins to dwell within that person. He takes up a permanent residence and begins cleaning us up in the process of sanctification, making us more and more like Jesus. And it is a process, one that will take up the rest of the child of God’s life on earth.

We begin to have a distaste for the things we once liked to do. We start looking at things differently. We develop a sensitivity to when we do fail and feel a sense of deep regret knowing what we did was wrong. We become more aware of our attitudes and desire to live at peace with everyone.

I was talking a friend of mine recently. He’s a devout believer but in a different tradition than I am. However, we both agree that one of the greatest gifts God has given His children is the Church, capital “C”. God has not left us alone trying to figure out how to grow and mature in Christ to ourselves. He has graciously given us His Word. He has given us the Holy Spirit that leads and guides and cleanses us. And He has given us the Church and the fellowship of other sinners saved by the amazing grace of our great God.

In our gatherings at any given time we could have people that may not even know the Lord, or those that have known and walked with Him for decades. All are at different places on the road of sanctification, but every one of them is uniquely gifted to serve and we all need each other. No one should ever feel as though they don’t belong in this household of God.

A believer, healthy and growing in their faith and in the knowledge of the Lord, begins to develop new habits and desires. They want to gather with other believers, praising God, hearing from His Word. They have a desire to serve others, serve God and live lives wholly devoted to Him. It’s what we’ve been looking at in this series of living a fearlessly, radically righteous life. So, with that, lets look now at an urgency in how we ought to serve:

1 Peter 4:7–11 (NASB95)

The end of all things is near; therefore, be of sound judgment and sober spirit for the purpose of prayer.

Above all, keep fervent in your love for one another, because love covers a multitude of sins.

Be hospitable to one another without complaint.

As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.

Whoever speaks, is to do so as one who is speaking the utterances of God; whoever serves is to do so as one who is serving by the strength which God supplies; so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belongs the glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

Believers in Peter’s day thought that Jesus would be returning any time. “The end of all things is near,” Peter wrote this nearly 2,000 years ago. Now, some may suggest that it is simply untrue, the end is not near, there is no end, Jesus is not coming back. Liars and heretics need to say that, they need to believe that. And Peter’s original readers must have raised a question about it too, since Peter writes in his second letter, to ease their minds and to remind ours:

2 Peter 3:8–9 (NASB95)

But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day.

The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.

All we need to concern ourselves with is knowing that everything that needs to be in place for the Lord’s return is completed. The best way to look at this is to remember that whenever the Lord returns, after today, it is one less. It is one day less that Satan has to deceive the nations. It is one day less oppressive governments can trouble their people. It is one day less the persecuted need to suffer. It is one day less the lost have to call out to God and be saved. Look at this way, in 2019 (the latest data,) nearly 72,000 people slipped into eternity in Tennessee. That works out to about 8 in this hour or so we’ve spent together this morning. How many of those knew Jesus?

1 Peter 4:7 (NASB95)

The end of all things is near; therefore, be of sound judgment and sober spirit for the purpose of prayer.

As we pray, pray insightfully.

Compared to eternity and in view of the brevity of our own lives, time is short, the end is near. “Therefore...” he continues, expressing the most important things we are to be about as followers of Jesus, being “stewards of the manifold grace of God.”

One of the most powerful tools the Christian has is prayer. Prayer aligns our hearts to God’s will. It focuses our thoughts, allows us to speak with our God. It leads us to confess our total dependency on God for that we have and need. It also should lift up the challenges, trials, persecutions and hurt in the world all around us.

We are commanded throughout the New Testament especially, (on top of multiple examples in the Old Testament,) to pray. Some examples:

Luke 6:28 (NASB95)

[Jesus said] bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.

Ephesians 6:18 (NASB95)

With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints,

1 Thessalonians 5:17 (NASB95)

pray without ceasing;

1 Timothy 2:8 (NASB95)

Therefore I want the men in every place to pray, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and dissension.

Jude 20 (NASB95)

But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit,

James 5:16 (NASB95)

Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.

Our prayer is not mere repetition. It is certainly not some kind of magical incantation. No! Like how Peter describes it, let our prayer be made with sound judgment and sober spirits, that is, be serious minded. We must not be willfully ignorant of the events in our culture and around the world. If you feel as though you have little to pray about, turn on the news, subscribe to imb.org/pray, attend a prayer meeting, or simply observe people going about their day. You will quickly find, there is no shortage of things to lift before the Father.

Now, I get it. We are all perhaps a little fatigued with politics, disasters, controversies and the like. Perhaps we’re even a little discouraged, wondering if our prayers are even heard, or if the labor is even worth the struggle. We must press on.

The idea is to be mindful of needs. Sound judgment demands careful analysis. It means that we Christians are not ignoring the problems of this world — and make no mistake, there are many — but we are actively engaging the evils of this world and carrying these things into the very throne room of Almighty God. We do so with a seriousness that comes from a sober spirit.

Understand, many of the things we face are matters of life and death. We must be serious about the work of prayer. Let prayer be the last thoughts on our mind as we lay down to sleep. Let it be the first thoughts when we wake up. Let us pray for those that do not know the Lord, those that cut us off in traffic, those that make the workplace a little tougher, those that have greater challenges than we have, and the list literally can go on and on until Jesus returns.

On the other hand, we can choose to be distracted with everything else that demands our attention, or we can pretend everything is fine. We do so in a complacency that Satan is more than satisfied with. That kind of thinking keeps us ineffective and weak. We must pray insightfully, purposefully.

1 Peter 4:8 (NASB95)

Above all, keep fervent in your love for one another, because love covers a multitude of sins.

As we love, love intentionally

First and foremost, “Above all,” Peter writes, we must love one another intentionally, especially in times of suffering, like these believers Peter is writing to are experiencing. “Love” here is the that great Greek word, agape. It is an unconditional love, a love that does not expect anything in return. As Paul describes this kind of love in:

1 Corinthians 13:4–8 (NASB95)

Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant,

does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered,

does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth;

bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Love never fails…

This kind of love is active, not passive. This kind of love is different from every other kind of “love” this world can offer. The world in fact, should look and see that we are Christians because of the way we love each other. When we’re back-biting, criticizing, gossiping and such about our brothers and sisters, the world can look at that and rightly reject our witness. Why would any unbeliever want to be a part of that? And in that, Satan is more than delighted to see the Church ineffective.

But, when our love for another forgives and overlooks this “multitude of sins” Peter refers to, now we have something different to offer than the world’s illicit, sensual, erotic perversion of love. This doesn’t mean that we atone for sin by our love, or something. Only the blood of Jesus forgives sin. But it does suggest that when we practice the kind of love described in 1 Corinthians 13, we can easily overlook small things that ultimately do not matter, or have the willingness to address unrepentant sin in a brother or sister’s life.

When we see one of our household of faith in sin, how is it more loving to ignore it, letting them continue down a road of pain and destruction? Is it not far better, far more loving, to go to that person, tell them what they’re doing is wrong, all for the hope of restoring that one back to a right fellowship? Let that be the kind of love that describes us, active and intentional.

1 Peter 4:9 (NASB95)

Be hospitable to one another without complaint.

As we welcome others, welcome inclusively

Can I brag on you all for just a moment? During this season, you have made me feel like a real part of this church family. You have welcomed this novice, second year seminary student back each week with love, kindness and forbearing. It’s not easy to step into your pastor’s pulpit, he truly raises the bar in godly wisdom and faithfulness to the Scriptures. But you have patiently endured me these last several weeks with kindness. Now, if anyone is complaining, at least you are doing a great job keeping it to yourself. (Keep it up, please.)

Just an aside, The Didache was a sort of handbook used by the early church. It offered a lot of practical insight into areas the Scriptures didn’t really speak on. One of my favorites deals with itinerant preachers that would travel about. It says, Christians are to take these men in for the night, two if absolutely unavoidable. But if they stay three nights, they are a false prophet.

If anywhere should welcome people, it’s the Church. Again, because we are all at different places on this walk, we don’t know where anyone else is, but so long as we remain going the same way, let’s be diligent to ensure we leave no one behind. And, hear me, may God have mercy executing swift, righteous judgment against any church or any believer that would say a person cannot fellowship with them because of X, Y or Z.

I’ve heard people actually say things like, “I can’t go into a church, the building would collapse.” We can understand, maybe even appreciate, the sentiment, but what a profoundly ignorant thing to say! The person that says that either has no concept of grace or mercy, and that may be true. Maybe they have never seen grace and mercy demonstrated in the life of a believer. May that never be true.

1 Peter 4:10 (NASB95)

As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.

As we serve, serve insistently

You and me, we are the chosen people of God for this generation. We are not who we are or where we are by accident, but by the good and sovereign will of Almighty God. Furthermore, He has gifted each of us uniquely and accordingly with that will. God has blessed each one of us to be a blessing to others. Therefore, let us sever insistently. That is, with a relentless pursuit of engaging the work God has given to each of us. Let us be persistent in service, tenacious and unyielding. He has ordained the number of our days for the purposes that He has for each one of us. Paul talks about this in

Ephesians 2:10 (NASB95)

For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.

Have you ever considered yourself the workmanship of God? You are not created by some random, arbitrary accident. How demeaning to human life to believe anything else. You, me, every person that draws breath, is made in the glorious image of God. Not only that, but we are made for a purpose, with a reason that He has ordained, prepared well in advance to our ever being here. Those good works are our calling, the very works God has specifically equipped us to walk in.

God has given us one another to serve, to serve with, to cry with, to rejoice with, to grow with, to worship with. What an incredible joy it is to be in a body of believers so committed to following Christ, that they have little time to focus on things that simply do not matter. Every church body will have different needs at different times. Our God is more than able to direct the right resources in their due time. When there are needs, when there are challenges, we are to pray insightfully, after all, into those matters anyway.

1 Peter 4:11 (NASB95)

Whoever speaks, is to do so as one who is speaking the utterances of God; whoever serves is to do so as one who is serving by the strength which God supplies; so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belongs the glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

As we fulfill our calling and ministries, fulfill invisibly

Peter is continuing his theme of service here. Looking at examples of ministry, like preaching or service of one sort or another. The idea is that of the whole spectrum of Christian ministry. Whether you are at the front of a congregation unpacking the Word of God with application and exhortation, or the person in the background that quietly handles all the other things that go largely unnoticed. In whatever we do, let it be by God working through us for His glory. Let anyone that sees us serving, see God at work in our lives and give Him the praise He alone is due.

If we serve for our own recognition of some kind, we’ll have our reward in full. But when we serve with the only intention of doing so for the glory of God and service to others, that carries with it an eternal significance, one that pleases God and strengthens the Church and loudly proclaims to those outside the faith that our testimony is true.

To wrap all this up, consider your own ministries. In what ways are you actively serving the Lord?

Are you praying insightfully?

Are you loving one another intentionally?

Would you welcome anyone inclusively?

Do you serve insistently?

In that service do you fulfill your ministry invisibly?

Invitation

Closing Prayer