I Peter 1:3-9
(A Bible Study Led
by Dr. Larry Reynolds)
May 2, 2013
1. You
may remember reading Charles Dicken's classic novel Tale of Two Cities when
you were in high school or college. At
the end of that novel is a very moving scene.
Carts are rumbling through streets Paris. The carts are carrying prisoners who had been
sentenced to death and they were moving toward the place of execution. In one cart were two prisoners--a brave man
and beside him a young girl. The girl
had watched him in prison and observed his gentleness and courage. Before the carts had left the prison yard to
take them to place of execution she had said to the man: "If I may
ride with you, will you let me hold your hand? I am not afraid, but I am little
and weak, and it will give me more courage." And
Dickens writes, “...[they] [COMMENT1]rode
together now, her hand was in his; and...there was no fear in her eyes. She looked at the quiet, composed face of the
man beside her, and said, 'I think you were sent to me by Heaven.”
2. I
like that scene because reminds me of how God has chosen relate to us, especially
times of adversity. It is not God
abandon us or to leave us on our own in difficult times. Instead, He stands beside us to strengthen,
encourage, and hold us up. That is a
principle can be seen throughout the Scripture:
·
In Psalm 23 the David testifies "I fear
no evil because thou art with me..."
·
Through the prophet Isaiah God says to us, "Fear
not because I am with you..."
·
In Hebrews 13 the Lord promises, "I
will never leave you or forsake you..."
·
The last thing Jesus told His disciples
before ascending into heaven is “I am with you always...”
All
that reminds us that it is not God’s way to leave us leave us alone and defenseless
in times of adversity. In this session
of our study of 1 Peter we are going to explore some of the great resources God
gives us to help us for such times in our lives. And if anyone ever needed to be reminded of
the resources God gives us for difficult times, it was the people to whom the
letter of 1 Peter was addressed. They
had heard about the brutal persecution of Christians that had begun in Rome
after Nero blamed the great fire of 64 A.D. on them. They could see the horrible persecution
heading their way. And they needed to
know that God would provide them the resources to withstand it.
3.
I Peter 1:3-12 is of the greatest paragraphs in the
entire Bible. These verses touch on many
of the major themes of the New Testament.
In this single paragraph are truths about mercy, the new birth, hope,
the resurrection of Jesus, heaven, God’s protection of His people, faith,
dealing with trials, joy, discovering spiritual truth, and much more. In the previous session we focused on what
verse 3 tells us about salvation. We saw
in that verse four foundational principles about salvation:
·
SALVATION
IS GOD’S WORK, NOT OURS
·
SALVATION
IS ROOTED IN THE MERCY OF GOD
·
SALVATION
INVOLVES A RADICAL CHANGE IN OUR LIVES
·
SALVATION
IS BASED ON THE WORK OF JESUS
4.
In this session we are going to focus on three of
the great words of the New Testament that are interspersed throughout verses
3-9 of this paragraph. They are the
words “hope” in verse 3, “faith” in verses 5 and 7, and “joy”
in verse 8. Each tells us something
significant about the resources we have in Christ for the difficult days of
life.
I. God
has given us the resource of HOPE for times of adversity
1.
Charles Allen begins book The Miracle of Hope
with story about submarine disabled off east coast of our nation...crew was
trapped inside and divers were sent down in an [COMMENT2]attempt
rescue them... the crew desperately clung life as their oxygen supply
dwindled... divers communicated with the crew inside by tapping in Morse code
on the side of the submarine...at one point, after long silence, someone on
inside tapped out question, "Is there any hope?"..
2.
More than likely, everyone us, at some time or
another have faced or we will face some situation in which we wonder if any
there is any hope...and the resounding answer to that question from this
passage is yes!...for those who belong to God there is always hope...
3. The
people to whom 1 Peter was originally addressed must have wondered “Is there any hope.” They were in a hostile environment which was
rapidly becoming more hostile toward them.
And it is noteworthy that one of first things Peter said was "Don't
despair, don’t give up...remember that you have a living hope in Jesus Christ.."..
1.
The word which is translated hope in v.3 is the
Greek word "elpis"...one of great words of NT...doesn't
mean exact same thing as our word hope...in our language hope carries idea of
desire or wishful thinking...if say, "I
hope the Texas Rangers win their baseball game” I’m really saying "I
desire for them to win..."...but "elpis" carries
idea of not so much wish or desire as confidence and expectation...
2.
Biblical emphasis concerning hope is not on what
hope for but whom we hope in...our hope is in Jesus...Peter calls it a “living
hope” because Jesus is a living Lord...and because our hope is in Jesus
and because He has promised to be with us always, we can face [COMMENT3]adversity
hoping (or, more correctly, expecting) to be victorious in it...
3.
The last part verse 3 and verse 4 tell there is
two‑fold basis for our hope/our assurance in face of adversity—
·
Our hope/assurance is based on the resurrection
of Jesus. The “living hope” is based on the living resurrected Christ (cf. 1
Peter 1:21). The Christian’s assurance in Christ is as certain and sure as the
fact that Christ is alive! Peter used the word “living” six times (1:3, 23;
2:4–5; 4:5–6). Here “living” means that the believer’s hope is sure, certain,
and real, as opposed to the deceptive, empty, false hope the world offers.[1]
·
Our hope/assurance is based on the inheritance
God holding for us in heaven (v.4)...
The sure hope is of a future inheritance
(klēronomian). This same word is used in the Septuagint to refer to Israel’s promised
possession of the land (cf. Num. 26:54, 56; 34:2; Josh. 11:23); it was her
possession, granted to her as a gift from God. A Christian’s inheritance cannot
be destroyed by hostile forces, and it will not spoil like overripened fruit or
fade in color. Peter used three words, each beginning with the same letter and
ending with the same syllable, to describe in a cumulative fashion this
inheritance’s permanence: can never
perish [imperishable] (aphtharton), spoil
[undefiled] (amianton), or fade [will not fade away] (amaranton). This
inheritance is as indestructible as God’s Word (cf. 1 Peter 1:23, where Peter
again used aphtharton). Each Christian’s inheritance of eternal life is kept in heaven [reserved in heaven] or
“kept watch on” by God so its ultimate possession is secure (cf. Gal. 5:5).[2]
4.
One resource we have for dealing with adversity
is hope...
II. God has given us the resource of FAITH for
times of adversity
1. Hope is the assurance
we will ultimately overcome adversity...after reading vv.3‑4 the recipients of
this letter must have thought, "Well, fine and good know out there in
future somewhere everything is going to be okay...but what do in meantime? How
deal with problems today?"...and so, in vv.5‑7 explains that in
meantime‑‑while waiting for hope become reality‑‑have resource of faith...
2.
Faith is one of the most misunderstood words in
the Scripture... faith is not an entity which stands alone...faith is always
tied to something...we don’t merely have faith...we have faith/
confidence/belief/trust in someone...and of course that someone is Jesus...He
is the object of our faith...
3.
These verses in 1 Peter tell us two things about
faith:
·
First, v.5 says we are "protected
by the power of God through faith"...word protected is borrowed by
Peter form the vocabulary of the military...used to describe an army which
would camp near gate of city in time of war for the purpose of protecting the
city...idea is that in times adversity God comes near us[COMMENT4]...and
comes not so much remove adversity, as to empower us to face it and get through
it...(Like Jesus came to His disciples in storm and got in boat with..)
·
Second, our faith is strengthened...v.7
says that just as fire refines (remove the impurities) from gold, so adversity
refines our faith...through adversity, the depth and genuineness of our faith
revealed...as difficulties increase, God increase our faith so we can be victorious
in them...
4.
In times of adversity, faith that is genuine is
strengthened... genuine faith doesn't crumble in face of adversity...it grows
and becomes stronger!!..
1. William Bathurst had that in mind when wrote:
O FOR A FAITH THAT WILL NOT SHRINK, THO' PRESSED BY EVERY
FOE,
THAT WILL NOT TREMBLE ON THE BRINK OF ANY EARTHLY WOE!
THAT WILL NOT MURMUR OR COMPLAIN BENEATH THE CHAST'NING
ROD,
BUT, IN THE HOUR OF GRIEF AND PAIN, WILL LEAN UPON ITS GOD.
2.
God gives us the resource of faith for dealing
with adversity...
III. God has given us the resource
of JOY for times of adversity
1.
Twice in this passage, once in verse 6 and again
in verse 8 Peter speaks of the joy that characterizes the lives of true
believers. Verse 6 says, “In
this you greatly rejoice…” and verse 8 ways Christians are able to “greatly
rejoice with joy inexpressible...”...may seem strange Peter would speak
of joy in same paragraph as trials and difficulties...however, the inevitable result of having a living hope
and growing faith is joy..
2.
“Joy” is another one of those
biblical words which is often misunderstood...if asked average person "What
comes to your mind when hear word joy?" more than likely would say “happiness”...in
our culture we've been indoctrinated with the idea that joy=happiness...
3.
And because of that indoctrination, very easy
for us misunderstand what Bible means by
word joy...joy not same thing as
happiness...happiness is that blissful feeling we sometimes get when the
outward circumstances of our lives are right...if I—
--am healthy...
--have no financial problems...
--my family is okay...
--have no major worries...
then
I might feel some happiness...
4.
On other hand, joy is state of being which is
independent of outward circumstances...joy is something that only God can
produce in us, and He can give us joy even though world around us may be in
turmoil...
5.
That’s because joy, in Christian sense, does not
depend on the external circumstances of our lives...not something we seek and
find...it is a divine gift which comes from being committed to God and doing
His will...in v.8 Peter says that if we’re convinced of the presence of the
Lord in our lives, in any and all circumstances we can “rejoice with joy
inexpressible...”
1.
Need remember no matter what our lot in
life...no matter what may come our way...no matter how great the disappointment
or pain...as children [COMMENT5]of
God we need never lose source of joy...OT prophet Habakkuk lived in time when people based
their joy squarely on prosperity (as in
our day!)...when God told Habakkuk an enemy was going to defeat/devastate his
nation, Habakkuk had big problem with that...but finally accepted it and was able to say...”Though
the fig tree should not blossom, and
there be no fruit on the vines, though
the yield of the olive should fail, and
the fields produce no food, though the flock should be cut off from the fold, and there be
no cattle in the stalls, yet I will
exult [joy] in the Lord, I will rejoice in the God of my salvation, the Lord God is my strength.” (Hab.3:17‑19a)..
2.
And it's the joy that comes from knowing that
God is our strength God that helps us in times of adversity...adversity is always temporary,
but joy in the Lord is eternal!..
CONCLUSION
1. On April 5th, 1943, Dietrich Bonhoeffer was arrested and
imprisoned by the Gestapo for his political activities against the German Nazi
regime. He had been speaking out against the Nazis, but eventually his words
caught up with him. He saw that the church of Jesus Christ was being persecuted
and that his country was heading toward the abyss and he decided to do
something about it
2.
Two years later he found himself facing the
death sentence. On the day when the sentence was to be carried out, a Sunday,
he led a service in the prison which housed men of various nationalities. One
prisoner, an English army officer who was also facing the death sentence but
was later set free, wrote these words describing the last day of Bonhoeffer's
life:
Bonhoeffer always seemed
to me to spread an atmosphere of happiness and joy over the [smallest] incident
and profound gratitude for the mere fact that he was alive . . .He was one of
the very few persons I have ever met for whom God was real and always near . .
. On Sunday, April 8, 1945, Pastor Bonhoeffer conducted a little service of
worship and spoke to us in a way that went to the heart of all of us. He found
just the right words to express the spirit of our imprisonment, the thoughts
and the resolutions it had brought us. He had hardly ended his last prayer when
the door opened and two civilians entered. They said, "Prisoner
Bonhoeffer, come with us." That had only one meaning for all
prisoners--the gallows. We said good-by to him. He took me aside: "This is
the end, but for me it is the beginning of life." The next day he was
hanged in Flossenburg.
3. What was it that so possessed this man that at the very moment of
his death he could say that? I think it
was because he had discovered the resources God has given us for times of
adversity...the resource of a living hope, a growing faith, and joy
inexpressible...
[1]
Raymer, R. M. (1985). 1 Peter. In J. F. Walvoord & R. B. Zuck (Eds.), The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An
Exposition of the Scriptures (J. F. Walvoord & R. B. Zuck, Ed.) (1 Pe
1:3). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
[2]
Raymer, R. M. (1985). 1 Peter. In J. F. Walvoord & R. B. Zuck (Eds.), The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An
Exposition of the Scriptures (J. F. Walvoord & R. B. Zuck, Ed.) (1 Pe
1:4). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
