Verses teaching
"Christian Life & Worship"
Part 71 - PETER'S FIRST LETTER
Much of 1 Peter is here; |
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71.1 WORLDLINESS
1 Peter 2:11 - I (Paul) beg you, as those whom I love, to live in this world as strangers and "temporary residents", to keep clear of the desires of your lower natures, for they are always at war with your souls.
71.2 WITNESSES TO CHRIST
1 Peter 2:12 - Your conduct among the surrounding peoples in your different countries should always be good and right, so that although they may in the usual way slander you as evil-doers yet when disasters come, they may glorify God when they see how well you conduct yourselves.
71.3 GOVERNMENT
1 Peter 2:13-17 - Obey every man-made authority for the Lord's sake - whether it is the emperor, as the supreme ruler, or the governors whom he has appointed to punish evil-doers and reward those who do good service. It is the will of God that you may thus silence the ill-informed criticisms of the foolish. As free men you should never use your freedom as an excuse for doing something that is wrong, for you are at all times the servants of God. You should have respect for everyone, you should love our brotherhood, fear God and honour the emperor.
71.4 EMPLOYEES
1 Peter 2:18-20 - You who are servants (employees) should submit to your masters (employers) with proper respect - not only to the good and kind, but also to the difficult. A man does something valuable when he endures pain, as in the sight of God, though he knows he is suffering unjustly. After all, it is no credit to you if you are patient in bearing a punishment which you have richly deserved! But if you do your duty and are punished for it and can still accept it patiently, you are doing something worthwhile in God's sight.
71.5 TRIALS OF LIFE
1 Peter 2:21-25 - .... this (being punished even when in the right) is part of your calling. For Christ suffered for you and left you a personal example, and wants you to follow in his steps. 'Who committed no sin, nor was guile found in his mouth'. Yet when he was insulted he offered no insult in return. When he suffered he made no threats of revenge. He simply committed his cause to the one (God) who judges fairly. And he personally bore our sins in his own body on the cross, so that we might be dead to sin and be alive to all that is good. It was the suffering that he bore which has healed you. You had wandered away like so many sheep, but now you have returned to the shepherd and guardian of your souls.
71.6 WIVES
1 Peter 3:1-6 - In the same spirit (as Christ) you married women should adapt yourselves to your husbands, so that even if they do not obey the Word of God they may be won to God without any word being spoken, simply by seeing the pure and reverent behaviour of you, their wives. Your beauty should not be dependent on an elaborate coiffure, or on the wearing of jewellery or fine clothes, but on the inner personality - the unfading loveliness of a calm and gentle spirit, a thing very precious in the eyes of God. This was the secret of the beauty of the holy women of ancient times who trusted in God and were submissive to their husbands. Sara (or Sarah - Genesis chapters 12-23), you will remember, obeyed Abraham and called him her lord. And you have become, as it were, her true descendants today as long as you too live good lives and do not give way to hysterical fears.
71.7 HUSBANDS, also PRAYER
1 Peter 3:7 - Similarly, (as wives should honour their husbands, so ....) you husbands should try to understand the wives you live with, honouring them as physically weaker yet equally heirs with you of the grace of eternal life. If you don't do this, you will find it impossible to pray properly.
71.8 CHRISTIAN CONDUCT
1 Peter 3:8-12 - To sum up, you should all be of one mind living like brothers with true love and sympathy for each other, generous and courteous at all times. Never pay back a bad turn with a bad turn or an insult with another insult, but on the contrary pay back with good. For this is your calling - to do good and one day to inherit all the goodness of God. For: 'He who would love life and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips from speaking guile: let him turn away from evil and do good; let him seek peace and pursue it. For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayers; but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil'.
71.9 MATURITY
1 Peter 4:7 - We are near the end of all things now, and you should therefore be calm, self-controlled men of prayer.
71.10 LOVE
1 Peter 4:8 - Above everything else be sure that you have real deep love for each other, remembering how 'love will cover a multitude of sins'.
71.11 HOSPITALITY
1 Peter 4:9 - Be hospitable to each other without secretly wishing you hadn't got to be!
71.12 TALENTS AND ABILITIES
1 Peter 4:10-11 - Serve one another with the particular gifts God has given each of you, as faithful dispensers of the magnificently varied grace of God. If any of you is a preacher then he should preach his message as from God. And in whatever way a man serves the Church he should do it recognising the fact that God gives him his ability, so that God may be glorified in everything through Jesus Christ. To him belong praise and power for ever, amen!
71.13 CHRISTIAN LEADERS
1 Peter 5:1-4 - Now may I (the apostle Peter) who am myself an elder say a word to you my fellow-elders? I speak as one who actually saw Christ suffer, and as one who will share with you the glories that are to be unfolded to us. I urge you then to see that your "flock of God" is properly fed and cared for. Accept the responsibility of looking after them willingly and not because you feel you can't get out of it, doing your work not for what you can make, but because you are really concerned for their well-being. You should aim not at being "little tin gods" but as examples of Christian living in the eyes of the flock committed to your charge. And then, when the chief shepherd reveals himself, you will receive that crown of glory which cannot fade.
71.14 YOUTH
1 Peter 5:5 - You younger members must ... submit to the elders. Indeed all of you should defer to one another and wear (or clothe yourself with) the "overall" of humility in serving each other. 'God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble'.
71.15 WORRY
1 Peter 5:6-7 - So, humble yourselves under God's strong hand, and in his own good time he will lift you up. You can throw the whole weight of your anxieties upon him, for you are his personal concern.
71.16 SPIRITUAL WARFARE
1 Peter 5:8-11 - Be self-controlled and vigilant always, for your enemy the devil is always about, prowling like a lion roaring for its prey. Resist him, standing firm in your faith and remember that the strain is the same for all your fellow-Christians in other parts of the world. And after you have borne these sufferings a very little while, God himself (from whom we receive all grace and who has called you to share his eternal splendour through Christ) will make you whole and secure and strong. All power is his for ever and ever, amen!
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J.B.Phillips, "The New Testament in Modern English", 1962 edition, published by HarperCollins, is presented here with the kind permission of Mrs Vera Phillips and the J.B.Phillips estate
Maps by Gordon Smith can be used without further permission. Please quote http://www.ccel.org/bible/phillips/JBPhillips.htm