First Presbyterian Church, Jackson, Mississippi Morning Service

The Corinthians were asking, “What if the dead are not raised? Would it really make that much of a difference to us?” So Paul teases out the disastrous consequences of rejecting the doctrine of resurrection. And then in verses 20 through 28, he deals with an “In fact.” So, “What if?” -12 through 19; 20 through 28, “In fact.” In fact, Christ has been raised, and so he goes on to tease out for us the implications of that glorious fact.

Would you look at the passage with me again for a moment? First of all, Peter reminds us there is grace in the Word of God, verse 12. There’s grace for you in the Word. Secondly, he says there is love in the Church of Jesus Christ. That really comes out in all three verses, though it’s explicit in verse 14. There’s grace for you in the Word. There’s love for you in the Church. And finally in verse 14, there is peace in Jesus Christ. There is peace for you in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Well do please take your copy of God’s Word in hand and turn with me to 1 Peter. We’re working our way through 1 Peter on Sunday mornings. This is the penultimate message from 1 Peter, so we’re in chapter 5 and we’re looking at the second half of verse 5 through verse 11. Peter has said a few words to elders, to shepherds of the flock. We saw that last time in the first five verses. Now, he has a word for the whole congregation; how we are to treat one another and live under God’s hand in challenging days. 

We’re going to think about it under four headings. We’ll think first about the elder’s office. In our contemporary scene, not every church has elders. You may even never have been in a church that has elders before, so is this just a quirk of Presbyterian churches like ours or is it a Biblical office? So we’ll think briefly about the office of the elder. Then, we’ll think about the elder’s work. What is it that they are supposed to be doing? If this is a Biblical office, what is the task entrusted to our elders? Then thirdly, the elder’s reward. You’ll see that in verse 4. Peter offers some encouragement and some motivation to pursue the work in the way that he challenges us to do. And then finally in verse 5, the elder’s reception. How should we receive the ministry of our elders? The elder’s office, work, reward, and reception.

We could sum up the themes of our passage this way then. We could say it is first of all about responding to suffering. Responding to suffering. Then secondly, it’s about remembering sovereignty. Responding to suffering. Remembering sovereignty; the sovereignty of God amidst our trials. And thirdly, it’s about resting on the Savior. Responding to suffering. Remembering sovereignty. Resting on the Savior. Actually, I would argue those three themes together provide us a kind of tool kit to face down these dark days with bright hope and a resolve to love others well with the Gospel. Responding to suffering. Remembering sovereignty. Resting on the Savior. 

Well would you take your hymnals out and we’re going to turn to page 835 in our hymnals this morning. The Psalms are found in the back of our hymnals in a way that we can read them responsively. And this psalm has a refrain that runs throughout it and is actually the same refrain as a popular gospel song. It’s, “Lord, You are good and Your mercy endureth forever.” And so we’re going to turn to Psalm 136 today because we need these old truths. We need to remember that God is good and that His mercy endures forever as we seek to live out today and all of our lives for His worship and praise.

But McQuilken asks, “How do you measure how you’re doing in mission?” And his answer is - here are the metrics - “100, 50, 10 and 5.” They’re not drawn from specific verses in the Bible; they’re drawn from the whole sweep of New Testament teaching on the spread of the Gospel. One hundred is 100% of our people are praying faithfully for the spread of the Gospel around the world. Would that be you? Fifty, 50% of all the money that comes into this church goes right back out for the spread of the Gospel across the world; 50%. Ten, 10% of our people leave to take the Gospel to places that the rest of us don’t have access. And five, 5% growth every year of new people coming to faith in Christ by profession of faith and they are baptized because of the faithful witness of people in this church. 

We’re going to read this morning from Exodus chapter 3, and this is the story of the burning bush. It’s one of the great stories of the entire Bible, and especially the Old Testament. The question is, “Who is God?” and we learn two things from God here about who God is. And the first is that He is the God who comes down to find. And secondly, He is the God who comes and reveals Himself. 

Peter is offering a final word on a series of reflections we’ve been examining together for some time now on the reality of suffering in the Christian life. And as we study it together, I want to highlight four themes, really four apparent paradoxes, that describe in verses 12 through 19 the Christian’s response to and engagement with suffering in their lives. The first apparent paradox - joy in the midst of suffering. Joy in the midst of suffering. Secondly, verse 14 - blessing in the midst of insult. Thirdly, verses 15 and 16 - worship in the midst of stigma. And then 17 through 19 in the fourth place, the final apparent paradox - trust in the midst of judgment. So there’s the outline of the passage. Joy amidst suffering. Blessing amidst insult. Worship amidst stigma. And trust amidst judgment. 

Last time, in the first six verses, we noticed that Peter gives some instruction on how the church, Christians, are to relate to the world. And he brackets his instructions between two poles. In verse 1, he talks about Christ who suffered and provides an example that we are to imitate. But then in verse 5 and 6, he speaks about Christ’s return at the end of the age to judge. And between those two poles, here is how we are to relate to the world around us. And picking up on that note about the return of Jesus, Peter continues on in verses 7 through 11, our passage this morning, to speak to us about how we are to relate to one another within the fellowship of the church; in light of the end of all things with which he begins his discussion in verse 7, here is how we are to live. Jesus is coming. So what?