Sermons – Grace Evangelical Free Church // Wyoming, MN

Hosea 3:1-5 And the LORD said to me, “Go again, love a woman who is loved by another man and is an adulteress, even as the LORD loves the children of Israel, though they turn to other gods and love cakes of raisins.” 2 So I bought her for fifteen shekels of silver and a homer and a lethech of barley. 3 And I said to her, “You must dwell as mine for many days. You shall not play the whore, or belong to another man; so will I also be to you.” 4 For the children of Israel shall dwell many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or pillar, without ephod or household gods. 5 Afterward the children of Israel shall return and seek the LORD their God, and David their king, and they shall come in fear to the LORD and to his goodness in the latter days.

INTRODUCTION

If you’re just joining us, Hosea 1-3 is an “enacted prophecy”. That is, God called Hosea as a prophet and then commanded him to marry a prostitute as an example of how Israel was acting toward God. God also commanded Hosea to name his three children according to God’s imminent judgments upon Israel: Jezreel (which means bloodshed), No Mercy, and Not My People (those are some serious names/judgments). In other words, God commanded Hosea to act out God’s message to Israel in his marriage and family.

All of that happens in chapter 1. Chapter 2, however, waivers back and forth between Hosea and Gomer and God and Israel (it is at times difficult to tell who is really being addressed). Chapter 3, our text for this morning, includes some of the same wavering as in chapter 2. There are clear references to Hosea and Gomer and clear references to God and Israel.

The main point of all of this, once again, is that Israel had long been acting unfaithfully to God and, consequently, God sent Hosea to plead with Israel to understand that and repent from it.

This morning we’re going to wrap up the “enacted prophecy” section of Hosea by looking at all of chapter 3—a truly remarkable chapter. If you were listening carefully to chapter 2 (or last week’s sermon), you probably realized that it raises a very important question. In the first half of chapter 2 we saw the promised punishment that God would bring upon Israel. In the second half we saw the promised blessings that God would later (on “that day”) lavish upon a remnant of Israel. The important question this raises is: how do we get from promises of total destruction to unimaginable blessing? What made that shift possible? The main point of this text and sermon, one again, is answering that question. Let’s pray that God would grant us all the gratitude and repentance a right understanding of this passage requires.

GOMER’S REDEMPTION

Again, how do we get from the promised punishments of 2:2-13 to the promised blessings of 2:14-23? We find the answer immediately in chapter 3. Look at the first two verses.

Hosea 3:1-2 And the LORD said to me, “Go again, love a woman who is loved by another man and is an adulteress, even as the LORD loves the children of Israel, though they turn to other gods and love cakes of raisins.” 2 So I bought her for fifteen shekels of silver and a homer and a lethech of barley.

In these verses God commanded Hosea to continue (“go again”) to remain faithful to a woman (whom I believe to be Gomer), who was having an emotional and sexual affair with another man. We don’t know the details of the relationship—when or how or why it began or how she ended up in a place where she needed to be ransomed from it; we don’t even know for sure if this is Gomer or a different woman—but we do know three things:

*

First we know that God’s command to Hosea was not merely to refrain from handing her over for punishment (for her sin under Jewish law) or even to merely allow her to come back home or e...

Hosea 2:14-23 “Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak tenderly to her. 15 And there I will give her her vineyards and make the Valley of Achor a door of hope. And there she shall answer as in the days of her youth, as at the time when she came out of the land of Egypt.

16 “And in that day, declares the LORD, you will call me ‘My Husband,’ and no longer will you call me ‘My Baal.’ 17 For I will remove the names of the Baals from her mouth, and they shall be remembered by name no more. 18 And I will make for them a covenant on that day with the beasts of the field, the birds of the heavens, and the creeping things of the ground. And I will abolish the bow, the sword, and war from the land, and I will make you lie down in safety. 19 And I will betroth you to me forever. I will betroth you to me in righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love and in mercy. 20 I will betroth you to me in faithfulness. And you shall know the LORD.

21 “And in that day I will answer, declares the LORD, I will answer the heavens, and they shall answer the earth, 22 and the earth shall answer the grain, the wine, and the oil, and they shall answer Jezreel, 23 and I will sow her for myself in the land. And I will have mercy on No Mercy, and I will say to Not My People, ‘You are my people’; and he shall say, ‘You are my God.'”

INTRODUCTION

Welcome, good morning, and happy Easter. This is the day on which Christians around the world, for centuries, have celebrated Jesus’ resurrection and all that it means for those who hope in him. In his jealous love, God sent his one and only Son to die for those who had rejected his love. But not even death could hold him; for, on the third day after his crucifixion he rose from the dead, defeating death and winning life for all who would follow him. What an amazing story. What an amazing reality.

Our passage for this morning, Hosea 2:14-23, points to all of this without fully understanding it. Hosea knew that God would one day rescue his people. But he didn’t know when or how or through whom. The Apostle Peter worded it this way, “Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully, inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories. It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in the things that have now been announced to you through those who preached the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look” (1 Peter 1:10-12).

I didn’t anticipate continuing on in Hosea to convey this message, this morning. I imagined that some NT passage would be more suited for Easter. However, as I read over it, I couldn’t think of a better passage to stir us toward joy and praise at the means by which God would fulfill his Hosea promises—Jesus’s suffering, death, and resurrection. The simple message of this passage (and Easter) is this: God makes all things new in Christ. This morning, then, we’ll consider the new courtship, promise, covenant, relationship, and blessing that God promises, Jesus secured, and we now celebrate. Let’s pray that God would open our eyes to behold these and the still subsequent glories in Jesus—those things into which angels long to look.

ALL THINGS NEW

Last week, from Hosea 2:2-13, we saw another round of divine promises of punishment delivered to Israel for her unrepentant faithlessness. This morning we will see another round of God’s promise of resurrection and restoration of Israel after she receives her due punishment. That is, God would destroy Israel because she refused to turn from her sins and back to God.

Hosea 2:14-23 “Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak tenderly to her. 15 And there I will give her her vineyards and make the Valley of Achor a door of hope. And there she shall answer as in the days of her youth, as at the time when she came out of the land of Egypt.

16 “And in that day, declares the LORD, you will call me ‘My Husband,’ and no longer will you call me ‘My Baal.’ 17 For I will remove the names of the Baals from her mouth, and they shall be remembered by name no more. 18 And I will make for them a covenant on that day with the beasts of the field, the birds of the heavens, and the creeping things of the ground. And I will abolish the bow, the sword, and war from the land, and I will make you lie down in safety. 19 And I will betroth you to me forever. I will betroth you to me in righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love and in mercy. 20 I will betroth you to me in faithfulness. And you shall know the LORD.

21 “And in that day I will answer, declares the LORD, I will answer the heavens, and they shall answer the earth, 22 and the earth shall answer the grain, the wine, and the oil, and they shall answer Jezreel, 23 and I will sow her for myself in the land. And I will have mercy on No Mercy, and I will say to Not My People, ‘You are my people’; and he shall say, ‘You are my God.'”

INTRODUCTION

Welcome, good morning, and happy Easter. This is the day on which Christians around the world, for centuries, have celebrated Jesus’ resurrection and all that it means for those who hope in him. In his jealous love, God sent his one and only Son to die for those who had rejected his love. But not even death could hold him; for, on the third day after his crucifixion he rose from the dead, defeating death and winning life for all who would follow him. What an amazing story. What an amazing reality.

Our passage for this morning, Hosea 2:14-23, points to all of this without fully understanding it. Hosea knew that God would one day rescue his people. But he didn’t know when or how or through whom. The Apostle Peter worded it this way, “Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully, inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories. It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in the things that have now been announced to you through those who preached the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look” (1 Peter 1:10-12).

I didn’t anticipate continuing on in Hosea to convey this message, this morning. I imagined that some NT passage would be more suited for Easter. However, as I read over it, I couldn’t think of a better passage to stir us toward joy and praise at the means by which God would fulfill his Hosea promises—Jesus’s suffering, death, and resurrection. The simple message of this passage (and Easter) is this: God makes all things new in Christ. This morning, then, we’ll consider the new courtship, promise, covenant, relationship, and blessing that God promises, Jesus secured, and we now celebrate. Let’s pray that God would open our eyes to behold these and the still subsequent glories in Jesus—those things into which angels long to look.

ALL THINGS NEW

Last week, from Hosea 2:2-13, we saw another round of divine promises of punishment delivered to Israel for her unrepentant faithlessness. This morning we will see another round of God’s promise of resurrection and restoration of Israel after she receives her due punishment. That is, God would destroy Israel because she refused to turn from her sins and back to God.

Hosea 2:2-13 “Plead with your mother, plead- for she is not my wife, and I am not her husband- that she put away her whoring from her face, and her adultery from between her breasts; 3 lest I strip her naked and make her as in the day she was born, and make her like a wilderness, and make her like a parched land, and kill her with thirst. 4 Upon her children also I will have no mercy, because they are children of whoredom. 5 For their mother has played the whore; she who conceived them has acted shamefully. For she said, ‘I will go after my lovers, who give me my bread and my water, my wool and my flax, my oil and my drink.’ 6 Therefore I will hedge up her way with thorns, and I will build a wall against her, so that she cannot find her paths. 7 She shall pursue her lovers but not overtake them, and she shall seek them but shall not find them. Then she shall say, ‘I will go and return to my first husband, for it was better for me then than now.’ 8 And she did not know that it was I who gave her the grain, the wine, and the oil, and who lavished on her silver and gold, which they used for Baal. 9 Therefore I will take back my grain in its time, and my wine in its season, and I will take away my wool and my flax, which were to cover her nakedness. 10 Now I will uncover her lewdness in the sight of her lovers, and no one shall rescue her out of my hand. 11 And I will put an end to all her mirth, her feasts, her new moons, her Sabbaths, and all her appointed feasts. 12 And I will lay waste her vines and her fig trees, of which she said, ‘These are my wages, which my lovers have given me.’ I will make them a forest, and the beasts of the field shall devour them. 13 And I will punish her for the feast days of the Baals when she burned offerings to them and adorned herself with her ring and jewelry, and went after her lovers and forgot me, declares the LORD.

HOSEA INTRODUCTION

If you’re just joining us, welcome. Welcome to Holy Week and welcome to Hosea. Holy Week is the time from Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem to his resurrection. Hosea was a prophet of God. This book that bears his name is a collection of the prophecies he made to the Northern Kingdom of Israel. The overall message of the book concerns God’s fiercely jealous love, and its implications for unfaithful Israel. Consequently, the overall tone of the book is harsh, severe, and highly emotive. Nevertheless, as we saw last week, though Israel’s unfaithfulness has led to her impending destruction, there are glimpses of grace and mercy and hope sprinkled throughout.

In the first three chapters of the book all of this is portrayed through an enacted prophecy—a real-life physical representation—in Hosea’s marriage to Gomer. That is, God commanded Hosea to marry a prostitute, Gomer, to have kids with her, and to name them “Jezreel” (which was synonymous with Bloodshed), “No Mercy,” and “Not My People.” God did this as an unforgettable way of teaching Israel about the horrific nature of her disobedience, unfaithfulness, and idolatry. In other words, in chapters 1-3 Hosea represents God (in his faithfulness in the midst of unfaithfulness), Gomer represents Israel (who has given herself to spiritual adultery), and the kids represent God’s judgments on Israel (their blood will be shed, God will not show them mercy, and God will no longer accept them as his people).

In our passage for this morning, we find three sections: context, content, and consequences.. In the first (context), Hosea is pleading with his children. In the second section (content), we find the content of Hosea’s plea. And in the third section (consequences), we find the consequences of Gomer failing to do so.

Through Hosea’s words to his children for his wife, Gomer, we are really listening in on God’s perspective on and pla...

Hosea 1:7, 10-2:1 But I will have mercy on the house of Judah, and I will save them by the LORD their God. I will not save them by bow or by sword or by war or by horses or by horsemen.”

10 Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be like the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured or numbered. And in the place where it was said to them, “You are not my people,” it shall be said to them, “Children of the living God.” 11 And the children of Judah and the children of Israel shall be gathered together, and they shall appoint for themselves one head. And they shall go up from the land, for great shall be the day of Jezreel.

Hosea 2:1 Say to your brothers, “You are my people,” and to your sisters, “You have received mercy.”

INTRODUCTION

Last Sunday you may have noticed that I didn’t say anything about v.7. This week’s sermon is the reason for that. Last week we saw that Hosea is a book of dire warnings. “The land [Israel] commits great whoredom by forsaking the LORD.” “I will put an end to the house of Israel.” “I will no more have mercy on the house of Israel, to forgive them at all.” “You are not my people, and I am not your God.” It doesn’t get much more dire than that.

And yet, as we’ll see this morning, all hope was not lost. God would wipe out Israel—both the Northern and (eventually) Southern Kingdoms—for their unfaithfulness, but he still had a plan for them as well. “I will have mercy on the house of Judah, and I will save them by the LORD their God.” “The number of children of Israel shall be like the sand of the sea.” “It shall be said to them, ‘Children of the living God.'” “They shall go up from the land, for great shall be the day of Jezreel.” “You are my people…You have received mercy.”

The main point of this sermon is that while God’s jealousy would no longer tolerate Israel’s persistent idolatry, his love would not allow him to permanently destroy them. In Hosea, God’s promises of punishment are all for the present, while his promises for restoration—like the ones in this morning’s passage—are all for the future.

Let’s pray that God’s jealousy and love, his severity and his grace, his holiness and his imminence, would all be real and transformative to us.

JUDAH’S BRIEF STAY (1:7)

As I mentioned in the introduction, in Hosea 1:2-9 we find harsh words and deadly proclamations aimed at Israel. In the midst of this harshness and deadliness we find v.7.

“But I will have mercy on the house of Judah, and I will save them by the LORD their God. I will not save them by bow or by sword or by war or by horses or by horsemen.”

It is generally agreed that this verse was added by the compiler of Hosea’s prophecies after Israel had been destroyed and the survivors had fled to Judah. That is, it was written to highlight the fact that although Israel had been destroyed, Judah remained (temporarily) protected from God’s wrath. And yet, around 150 years later Judah (the Southern Kingdom) also fell, according to God’s judgment at the hand of the Babylonians.

The main points to understand here are: 1) God is jealous and will not long-tolerate unfaithfulness. Eventually he will always put it to an end. 2) Hosea’s promises of mercy are all, ultimately eschatological. That is, even the brief stay of execution that Judah received (you can read about it in 2 Kings 18-19 and Isaiah 36-37) was not the ultimate deliverance she needed. And 3) God is sovereign over all things and bound by nothing outside of himself. In 1:5 we read that God would break the bow of Israel so that she would no longer be able to fight off her enemies. Here, in 1:7,

Hosea 1:1-9 The word of the LORD that came to Hosea, the son of Beeri, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel.

2 When the LORD first spoke through Hosea, the LORD said to Hosea, “Go, take to yourself a wife of whoredom and have children of whoredom, for the land commits great whoredom by forsaking the LORD.” 3 So he went and took Gomer, the daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son.

4 And the LORD said to him, “Call his name Jezreel, for in just a little while I will punish the house of Jehu for the blood of Jezreel, and I will put an end to the kingdom of the house of Israel. 5 And on that day I will break the bow of Israel in the Valley of Jezreel.”

6 She conceived again and bore a daughter. And the LORD said to him, “Call her name No Mercy, for I will no more have mercy on the house of Israel, to forgive them at all. 7 But I will have mercy on the house of Judah, and I will save them by the LORD their God. I will not save them by bow or by sword or by war or by horses or by horsemen.”

8 When she had weaned No Mercy, she conceived and bore a son. 9 And the LORD said, “Call his name Not My People, for you are not my people, and I am not your God.”

INTRODUCTION

There are a number of questions that Hosea forces us to ask ourselves. To name just a few:

* Do you want to know God as he truly is or just as you’ve made him?

* Do you mean to submit yourself to God’s rule in all things or just the ones that you’re comfortable with?

* Does your understanding of sin fit with Hosea’s message?

* Is your understanding of love compatible with God’s actions in Hosea?

We’ll begin to encounter these types of questions this morning as we consider Hosea’s ministry and family. It is my prayer that the questions, answers, and implications would be clear and God’s glory would be our all.

HOSEA’S MINISTRY (1:1)

As I mentioned last week, the book of Hosea contains the prophecies of Hosea to the Northern Kingdom-variously referred to as Israel, Samaria (the capital), and Ephraim (the most prominent tribe).

A prophet, as the first verse of our passage makes clear, was one who spoke God’s words on God’s behalf. Hosea was not declaring his own thoughts or wisdom or morality to the Israelites. He wasn’t even merely declaring things God had said in the past (which is what I’m doing right now). He was declaring the very words of God, given to him directly by God for his hearers, “The word of the LORD that came to Hosea…”.

Grace, let me pause here for just a moment. One of the things that continually stands out to me about our current culture (outside the Church and, sadly, often within) is how often people simply declare things to be true. “Marriage is this…”, “Life is that…”, “This is right and that is wrong…”, “This is good and that is bad…”. We all act as if we are little sovereigns with the power to declare things to be whatever we want.

In a similar way, when making decisions we often act as if we are free to decide on whatever course of action sounds best or seems right or would be the most fun or least uncomfortable. Again, we act like little sovereigns.

The opening line of this book, however, reminds us that there is One Sovereign with the right to reign, One Voice with the power to declare, and One Guide with the wisdom to direct. That knowledge permeates all of Hosea and ought to permeate all of us. When it does we will tremble at our insolence and flippancy, we will recoil at our casual, selective obedience, and then we will truly be free to feel the amazingness of grace.

INTRODUCTION

Welcome to Hosea. In preparation for this sermon and this series, I read Hosea many times. I listened to Hosea many times. And I read a number of commentaries on Hosea. After having done so it seems to me that the primary message of Hosea (which I hope to clearly demonstrate and explain in this sermon and in all that follow) is this: God has a fiercely jealous love for his people.

This morning I’m going to give an introductory sermon on the overall background, structure, and message of Hosea. Then, beginning next week, I’ll work more slowly through the letter.

With that, let’s pray and then consider together: 1) The background of Hosea, 2) The structure of Hosea, and 3) The message of Hosea.

THE BACKGROUND OF HOSEA

When it comes to the books of prophecy, it is particularly important to have a solid grasp on the context in which the prophet wrote. Who is he writing to? Why is he writing? What’s going on around the prophet and his audience? What led up to his pronouncement? Since most people I know don’t spend a great deal of time in the minor prophets, I mean to give you a bit more background than I would for a different type of book. With that, let’s consider the background of Hosea in terms of its place in the bible and redemptive history.

Hosea’s Place in the Bible

Your bible has 66 books, spread out over two Testaments (Old and New). The Old Testament contains 39 of those books and covers the time period from Creation to around 400 years before Jesus was born. In broadest strokes, it describes God’s Creation of the universe, the Fall of mankind, and God’s promise of redemption.

The New Testament contains 27 books and covers around a 100 year span beginning just before Jesus’ birth and ending with his followers, approximately 70 years after his death. And in broadest strokes, it describes the fulfillment of God’s redemption promises in the sacrificial death of Jesus, and the coming consummation of the kingdom of God in the new heavens and earth.

Altogether, the bible is the story of God displaying his glory in the creation and salvation of his people. Under the Spirit’s inspiration, the bible tells this story over thousands of years, throughout many different cultures, by dozens of different people, in a remarkable number of different circumstances, and with several different styles.

Hosea, as you probably know, is in the OT. The first five books of the OT are known as the Pentateuch (the Law or the Torah). These books cover a lot of ground from the creation of the world to the death of Moses.

The next twelve books, beginning with Joshua and ending with Esther, are the historical books. They describe the history of God’s people before Jesus.

Then comes the five wisdom books. These books answer the big questions of how evil and God relate to one another (Job), how to properly express our emotions to God (Psalms), what it means to be wise (Proverbs), why life can seem so futile (Ecclesiastes), and how to honor God in marriage (Song).

Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, and Daniel are next. Collectively they are known as the Major Prophets. These books are “major” in that they are longer (not more important). They are the record of God-through his spokesmen (prophets)-calling his people to obey and enjoy fellowship with God. They are also the record of God calling his people to repent of their sin and warning of judgment when they do not.

Finally, the last 12 books of the Old Testament are known as the Minor Prophets (shorter, not lesser). Hosea is the first of the twelve Minor Prophets. Just like the Major Prophets, they are a record of God declaring blessing for obedience and punishment for disobedience through his prophets-which Hosea was.

This will be the fifth sermon I’ve preached on the Psalms. It started out with Psalm 23 in which I wanted to show that familiar Bible passages can be full of glory that we’ve never seen before, simply because we read over them too quickly. The other three sermons have been from Psalm 16, 42 and 130. I plan to continue preaching from the Psalms as much as I can for several reasons, but there is one compelling reason that rises to the top.

The Psalms are 150 poems that express a wide range of emotions in difficult circumstances, that are meant to help us conform our emotions to the truth of God. The Psalms don’t merely express emotion, they seek to help shape emotion. That goes very much against the worldly thinking of today that creeps into the church. That thinking being that if I feel it, it must be right and valid. No. There are bad emotions that result from bad thinking and bad responses.

Grace Church we are a people that love expository preaching. We love books and read them in our Discipleship Groups. We attend seminars and conferences. We are a church characterized by study of the Bible. This is all right and good and one of the reasons I came to this church in 2010. Yet I fear a disconnect.

I fear a disconnect happens from what we hear on Sunday morning and live and feel out on Monday morning. A disconnect from what we talk about and discuss during the week in our DGs and then live out and feel on Friday evening. It’s a disconnect I am increasingly aware of in my own heart and of Christians around me. It is a disconnect between what we know and what we feel. The disconnect occurs when we fail to press in to a sermon or book with the aim to have it shape our very emotions.

Husband, are you seeking to delight in loving your wife even the she’s hard to love? Wife, are you seeking to love to honor your husband even when he is not honorable? Children, are you seeking to delight to obey your parents even when it is hard? Mother, are you seeking to love to share the gospel with your kids even when you’d like to drop them off at the county jail? Father, are you striving to love to gather your family around God’s Word in the evening and lead them in worship? Employee, are you seeking to love to bear the reproach of Christ by opening your mouth to share the gospel and count the reproach of Christ greater treasure than the praise of man? Giver, do you love giving your money away to the church and to missions, choosing to have a smaller house and older car so you can free up more money for the spread of the gospel?

All these are commands we are given in the Bible, but we ought not to see them only as commands. We ought to see them as things we can delight in. The Psalms are a rubber-meets-the-road type of tool to help us when we don’t love God and his commands as should. This is where I live and where I want to see so much more growth.

A few weeks ago I had one of the worst days I’ve had in the past year. I was mad. I was sorrowful. I was frustrated. I wanted to have my emotions conform to great truths from the Bible but wrong emotions were raging against that. I opened up Psalm 18 and read through 50 verses of David praying to God to deliver him and to be his salvation, deliverer, rock and victor. My emotions didn’t change immediately, but over the next couple days, slowly they began to change and by God’s grace my heart was brought back into alignment. I had to apologize to Johanna. I had to repent to God. That is where the rubber meets the road in our life in applying the truths we hear on Sunday morning.

The book of Psalms is a tremendous gift from God to us as a church. The uniqueness of these 150 chapters is that it talks about a range of emotions that we experience as humans. The psalmists write about joy and sorrow, peace and turmoil, life and death, loneliness and friendship, anger and love, guilt and forgiveness, hope and being downcast, and on and on.

INTRODUCTION

Well, this is it. This is the last sermon on 1 Peter. Because it’s taken us so long to get through this relatively short letter, it seems like a good idea to wrap everything up with a simple, summary sermon. That’s what I mean to do this morning. In particular, I mean to answer the four main questions of 1 Peter: 1) Why were Peter’s readers suffering, 2) What were they to do about it, 3) How were they able to do what God required, and 4) What would happen to Peter’s readers if they do obey?

One remarkable part of this letter is that those same questions and the same answers apply to you and I (and all of God’s people) today. Let’s pray, therefore, that God would help us to see both these questions and answers plainly in the text and that they would provide comfort, direction, strength, and hope in our time of need.

WHY AM I SUFFERING LIKE THIS?

One burning question for Peter’s readers, once again, was why they were suffering as they were. God is Lord of all, his offer of salvation is an offer not just of forgiveness, but also of reconciliation and adoption into his family, and God has promised that everything he does for his people is for their good. Why, then, were they facing such persistent fiery trials? God’s promises seemed, on the surface at least, to contradict their present experience. In this letter Peter gives his readers several reasons why a loving, promise-fulfilling, sovereign God would allow such difficulties. I’ve divided his reasons into two categories: 1) direct causes, and 2) divine reasons.

Direct Causes of their Suffering

There is, of course, a difference between the thing that directly causes something and the reason behind it. For instance, while sitting at a traffic stop the car directly behind me might crash into my bumper. In this situation, the direct cause of my bumper’s dent is the car behind me. However, the reason the car hit me was because the driver of the car behind him was not paying attention and drove him into me.

In 1 Peter, there are four explicitly stated direct causes for Christian suffering. First we’ll look at them and then we’ll look at the reasons behind them.

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God’s people were suffering because of the sins of others. There were some who rejected Jesus as the Christ (2:6-8) and so rejected those who accepted Jesus as the Christ. There were some within the government who used their power to oppress Christians (2:13-7). There were some who used their superior social standing to abuse their Christian servants (2:18-20). There were husbands who disobeyed God and made their Christian wives suffer (3:1-6). There were even some within the church who did evil and caused other Christians to suffer (3:8-9). And some people made Christians suffer simply because they could not stand being in the presence of righteousness (3:13-17).

*

God’s people were also made to suffer because of their own sins (2:20; 3:17; 4:3). Some of Peter’s readers, evidentially, were still giving themselves over to the lusts of their flesh and were suffering because of it. That’s what sin does; it promises blessing but always, eventually results in suffering.

*

They suffered because the devil is real and continually working to destroy God, his work, and his people (5:8-9). He has real power to make Christians suffer. Indeed, he is constantly prowling around like a roaring lion seeking to devour Christians.

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They suffered at the hand of God. It is true that the sins of others, our own sins, and the devil are the direct causes of much Christian suffering. However, it is absolutely essential for us to recognize that ultimately all of our suffering is under the sovereign rule of God. There is no suffering in 1 Peter that is outside of God&#...

1 Peter 5:12-14 By Silvanus, a faithful brother as I regard him, I have written briefly to you, exhorting and declaring that this is the true grace of God. Stand firm in it. 13 She who is at Babylon, who is likewise chosen, sends you greetings, and so does Mark, my son. 14 Greet one another with the kiss of love. Peace to all of you who are in Christ.

INTRODUCTION

Believe it or not, we’re almost at the end of the 1 Peter road. I’m going to preach on this passage today, give a summary sermon next week, and then we’re done. I hope-if you’ve been here for any length of time-that you’ve found 1 Peter extremely helpful and continue to do so as you navigate the trials of this life.

It’s hard for me to overstate the significance of it in my own life and ministry. On Friday a gentlemen came into church needing help to process some of the trials that have come his way recently (his wife passed away, his church closed down, his company went bankrupt, his son is on drugs) and I was able to walk him through some of 1 Peter. I know many of you have had similar experiences as well.

With that, as you can see, we’re in an unusual text. What I mean is that this is a text of personal address, not deep theological communication. At the end of his letter, as you would expect, and as many of you have probably ended a letter yourselves, Peter offers some final remarks to his readers. And yet, as I hope to help you see, there is a good deal for us to learn and apply from this text.

In this sermon I mean to highlight four of the biggest truths assumed by and influencing these words of Peter: 1) A right view of God effects everything, 2) The importance of partnership in ministry, 3) The reality and shaping power of objective truth, and 4) The necessary connection between God, the gospel, and brotherly love. Let’s pray, then, that God would give us a right understanding of him, along with his commands, perspective, and priorities, and that we’d live our entire lives accordingly.

A GODWARD VIEW OF LIFE

More than likely you’ve never heard a sermon on this passage. More than likely, you never will again. And yet, it’s just as inspired by God as every other passage of the bible. What’s more, there’s much to be received from it and to praise God for in it.

Back in 1 Peter 1:3-4 we read these words, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you…”. If we have any understanding of this passage, we simply cannot help but to be awed by the profound, gracious, staggeringly relevant truths presented by it. Our hearts are immediately stirred and amazed.

Clearly, there is nothing quite like that in our passage. On the surface at least it appears pretty mundane. And yet, with even a little digging, we can unearth giant nuggets of grace and glory. What do I mean by that? I mean that the truths that Peter assumes in writing what he wrote here are absolutely awesome. His closing remarks are built entirely upon (largely) invisible convictions about God, his works, his Son, and his promises. That is, we simply cannot understand these simple words as Peter did if we do not understand the massive realities that it is built upon.

And that leads to the first thing I want to draw your attention to. This final paragraph is entirely based on Peter’s godward view of life. Let me give you a quick illustration of what I mean and then state my point even more clearly and directly.

Have you ever met someone with a really developed appreciation for a hobby? Hunting or fishing or sports or Apple products or whatever?