THE SECOND PART: A BIRD’S-EYE VIEW OF THE NEW TESTAMENT
The Ministry of Peter
Message Two—The Christian Life and Its Sufferings
Scripture Reading: 1 Pet. 2:11-12, 18-25; 3:15; 4:1-4, 7, 12-16; 5:1-4.
I. The purpose of 1 Peter is to establish and strengthen the suffering believers; their sufferings are used to arm them with a mind against the flesh that they may live not in the lusts of men but in the will of God (4:1-2), that they may share the sufferings of Christ and rejoice at the revelation of His glory (vv. 12-19), that they may be witnesses of the sufferings of Christ (5:1), and that they may be perfected, established, strengthened, and grounded for the eternal glory into which God has called them (vv. 8-10).
II. Christ as the first God-man with His suffering life is a model for us; we need to live a life which is a copy, a reproduction, of the life of Christ that comes from enjoying Him as grace in our sufferings, so that He Himself as the indwelling Spirit, with all the riches of His life, reproduces Himself in us—2:18-25:
A. In His suffering life the Lord was a man of prayer—Matt. 14:23; Mark 1:35; Luke 5:16; 6:12; 9:28; cf. 1 Pet. 1:13; 4:7:
1. He was a man who lived in the presence of God without ceasing with God—John 10:30; 8:29; 16:32; Acts 10:38b.
2. He was a man who trusted in God and not in Himself, under any kind of suffering and persecution—1 Pet. 2:23b; Luke 23:46.
3. He was a man in whom Satan, the ruler of the world, had nothing (no ground, no chance, no hope, and no possibility in anything)—John 14:30b.
B. As the members of His Body, His mass reproduction and duplication, the believers copy the Lord in their spirit, learning from Him according to His model by taking His yoke (the Father’s will) and His burden (the work of carrying out the Father’s will); such a yoke is easy, not bitter, and such a burden is light, not heavy—Matt. 11:28-30; 1 Pet. 2:21; Eph. 4:20; 1 Cor. 16:10.
III. When the Lord offered up Himself as a sacrifice on the cross, He bore up our sins in His body on the cross, the true altar for propitiation; in His resurrection as the pneumatic Christ in our spirit, He is now the propitiation place where God meets and speaks with us and the Shepherd and Overseer of our souls to guide us to walk on the paths of righteousness, that is, to live to righteousness by walking according to our spirit—Rom. 3:25; 1 Pet. 2:24-25; Psa. 80:1; 23:3; Rom. 8:4:
A. Christ was our Redeemer in His death on the tree (1 Pet. 2:24), and now He is our soul’s Shepherd and Overseer in the resurrection life within us (v. 25); as such, He is able to guide us and supply us with life that we may follow in His steps according to the model of His suffering (v. 21).
B. It is by our holy and excellent manner of life as the reproduction of Christ’s life in the midst of trials that the unbelieving ones see our good works “with their own eyes” and “glorify God in the day of His visitation”—the day on which God will look upon His sojourning people, as a shepherd looking upon his wandering sheep, to become the Shepherd and Overseer of their souls; when God pays us a visit, that is the day of visitation—vv. 11-12, 25; Luke 1:68, 78; 19:44.
C. Christ is the Shepherd and Overseer of our souls, shepherding us by caring for the welfare of our inner being and by exercising His oversight over the condition of our real person—1 Pet. 2:25:
1. His shepherding directs our mind, comforts our emotion, and leads and guides our will; He leads us to the right place (just as He led His people to the good land—signifying the all-inclusive Christ) and guides us to the right spot (just as He guided His people to Mount Zion—signifying the overcomers as the reality of the Body of Christ)—Exo. 15:13, 17.
2. His shepherding causes us to love Him and love one another so that love prevails in the church life—1 Pet. 1:8, 22; 2:17; 3:8; 4:8; 2 Pet. 1:7.
3. Christ as the Elder, the Overseer, of our souls operates within the proper elders in the church, who are one with Christ to watch over the saints’ souls in cherishing and nourishing them—Heb. 13:17; Acts. 20:28-31; 1 Pet. 5:2.
IV. In order to follow the footsteps of Christ to live Christ in our sufferings of persecution (1:6-7; 2:18-25; 3:8-17; 4:12-19), we should arm ourselves with the same mind that Christ had in His suffering (v. 1; Phil. 2:5-11):
A. The word arm indicates that the Christian life is a battle; the mind of Christ is a weapon, a part of the armor needed in fighting the battle for God’s kingdom—1 Pet. 4:1-2; cf. Eph. 6:17-18.
B. To live a life that follows the footsteps of Christ, we need a renewed mind (Rom. 12:2; Eph. 4:23) to understand and realize the way Christ lived to fulfill God’s purpose (1 Pet. 2:21-23; 3:18-22).
C. Suffering responds to Christ’s redemption to deliver us from our vain manner of life by preserving us from a sinful manner of life, from the flood of dissoluteness (4:3-4); to undergo such suffering, mainly from persecution, is God’s discipline in His governmental dealing (vv. 6, 17).
D. We should rejoice in sharing the sufferings of Christ, not regarding our fiery ordeals as strange, as if a strange thing is happening to us—vv. 12-13.
E. In suffering persecution we must show others that we have Christ as Lord in our hearts, we must be constituted with the truth, and we must take care of our conscience—3:15-16; 1 John 3:19-20.
F. If we are reproached in the name of Christ, we are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon us—1 Pet. 4:14.
G. If we suffer as a Christian, we should not be ashamed but should be bold to magnify Christ in our confession by our holy and excellent manner of life to glorify (express) God in this name—vv. 15-16; 1 Cor. 10:31; 2 Cor. 4:7.
Ministry Excerpts:
SANCTIFYING THE LORD IN OUR HEARTS
Verses 14 and 15 say, “But even if you suffer because of righteousness, you are blessed; and do not be afraid with fear from them, nor be troubled, but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, being always ready for a defense to everyone who asks of you an account concerning the hope in you, but with meekness and fear.” If we are terrified and troubled by persecutors, it will appear that we do not have the Lord in our hearts. Therefore, in suffering persecution we should show others that we have Christ within us as Lord. This is to sanctify Him, to separate Him, from the false gods, not degrading Him to be as the lifeless idols.
The hope spoken of in verse 15 is the living hope of the inheritance of eternal life. This is a hope in our pilgrimage today for the future, not a hope of objective things, but a hope of life, even eternal life, with all the endless divine blessings. The fear mentioned by Peter in verse 15 is a pious fear, a holy fear. Peter speaks of fear a number of times in this Epistle because the teaching of this book concerns the government of God.
In sufferings that come from opposition and persecution, we should sanctify Christ as Lord in our hearts. The word “sanctify” in Greek means to set apart, to separate from things that are common. This is to make something particular and even outstanding. In our suffering of persecution, we should make Christ particular; we should show that He is magnificent, absolutely different from idols. Sanctifying Christ as Lord in our hearts is not a matter of outward activity to set Him apart from what is common. It is an inward matter. To sanctify Christ as Lord in our hearts means that when we are under persecution, we have the Lord in our hearts. If we allow the Lord to be the Lord in our hearts when we suffer persecution, we shall express Him. This expression spontaneously will sanctify Christ and set Him apart from idols.
If we are timid and fearful when suffering persecution, the Lord will not be sanctified in us. What a shame that would be to Him! It will appear as if we do not have the Lord in our hearts. Whenever we suffer persecution, others must realize that we have Christ within us as Lord. But if we are timid and fearful, others will think that we do not have anything within us. They will have the impression that we do not have the living Lord in us. But if we are bold, sanctifying the Lord in our hearts and expressing Him in our faces, others will realize that we do have something within us. This is to sanctify Christ as Lord in our hearts.
I have told you before of a story I heard concerning a young woman who was martyred during the Boxer Rebellion in China. This particular incident took place in Peking. Because of the Boxer movement, all the businesses in the city were closed. A young man who was learning a certain business did not dare to open the door of the building where he was. Peeking through a crack in the door, he saw the Boxers parading down the street. He heard the crying and shouting. He saw some of the Boxers, with swords in their hands, threatening a young woman. She was a Christian. She was sitting in a wagon that was carrying her to the place where she would be martyred. Although the Boxers surrounded her, shouting, crying, and threatening, she was not afraid. Her face was glowing, and she was rejoicing in the Lord and praising Him. That young man was deeply impressed by what he saw. An unbeliever at the time, he decided then that he would learn about the Christian faith. He thought to himself, “If this is nothing more than a Western religion, why is this young woman not frightened by the threatening and the shouting? Why is she not afraid of death? Why is her face glowing, and why is she rejoicing?” This young man did not then realize that she was praising the Lord. Later he believed in the Lord and became a preacher. Long after that, when he became old, I met him in my home town, and we enjoyed a pleasant conversation. He told me the story of what he experienced that day in Peking.
That young woman who was martyred during the Boxer Rebellion truly sanctified Christ as Lord in her heart. The glow on her face, the rejoicing, the praising—all this was an expression that the Lord was in her heart. Spontaneously, she sanctified Christ as Lord. Her sanctifying Christ in this way influenced that young man to believe in the Lord.
CARING FOR OUR CONSCIENCE
In verse 16 Peter goes on to say, “Having a good conscience, that wherein you are spoken against as evil-doers, those who revile your good manner of life in Christ may be put to shame.” Since the conscience is a part of our human spirit (Rom. 9:1; 8:16), to care for our conscience is to care for our spirit before God.
The Christian good manner of life should be one that is in Christ. It is a living, a daily life, in our spirit. This is higher than a life which is merely ethical and moral. If we would have a good manner of life and sanctify the Lord in our daily life, we must take care of our conscience. It is not sufficient for us to be justified by others. We need to be justified by our own conscience. We should not be satisfied that we are justified by the community, by the brothers, or even by the entire church. No one knows us as thoroughly as our conscience does. This is especially true of the enlightened conscience of the regenerated spirit. A renewed conscience enlightened by the indwelling Spirit is trustworthy in its testimony and accurate in its judgment. The judgment of our enlightened conscience is more accurate than someone else’s judgment of us.
The enlightened conscience of our regenerated spirit is an inner judge. This inner judge, our conscience, cooperates with the indwelling God. The reason the enlightened conscience of the regenerated spirit can be an inner judge is that it cooperates with the indwelling God. For this reason, the judgment of the enlightened conscience is thorough and accurate. Therefore, we must take care of our conscience.
A brother, for example, should take care of his conscience in his relationship with his wife. In the sight of man, it may appear that he is not wrong with his wife in any way. But his enlightened conscience may tell him that he has been wrong with her in many ways. Likewise, in the church life apparently we may be honest and faithful. However, our conscience may know that in certain things we have not been altogether honest and faithful to the church. Therefore, it is very important that we take care of our conscience.
SUFFERING FOR DOING GOOD
In verse 17 Peter continues, “For it is better to suffer for doing good, if the will of God should will it, than for doing evil.” Again Peter speaks concerning unjust suffering. He covered this point earlier in 2:18-21, where he says that Christ is a model to us of One who suffered unjustly and that we should follow in His steps.
CHRIST DYING TO BRING US TO GOD
Verse 18 says, “Because Christ also has once died concerning sins, the righteous on behalf of the unrighteous, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in flesh, but made alive in spirit.” Christ is the righteous One, and we are the unrighteous ones, yet He died for our sins. Christ died concerning our sins so that He might bring us to God. His death removed all the barriers, in particular the barriers of our sins and unrighteousness. Because His death has removed the barriers of sins and unrighteousness, we have a way to reach God. Christ died in order to bring us to God.
Sins in verse 18 and in 2:24, 1 Corinthians 15:3, and Hebrews 9:28 refer to sins we commit in our outward conduct. But sin in 2 Corinthians 5:21, John 1:29, and Hebrews 9:26 refers to sin by birth in our nature. Christ died for our sins, carrying up our sins on the cross, that our sins might be forgiven by God. But He became sin and took away the sin of the world that the problem of our sin might be solved. Peter does not deal first with sin in our nature, but with sins in our conduct, in our manner of life. In this book Christ’s death redeemed us from our inherited vain manner of life (1:18-19). (Life-Study of First Peter, msg. 24)