God’s timing is perfect. God’s plan is perfect. Each of us believers is in full-time Christian service; on active duty in the angelic conflict. Our orders are to be studied up, prayed up and always on the alert for opportunity to witness to God’s grace plan of salvation. We are not to crow and brag and openly challenge authority, but be humble in our love for Jesus Christ and the brethren. In humility, we give our burdens to the Lord, Who knows and cares what we are anxious about. When the believer is prepared with the filling of the Holy Spirit and Bible doctrine resident in the soul, God will bring the opportunities. Some of those opportunities will be pleasant and personally fulfilling, such as when an unbeliever inquires about salvation, or a baby believer needs our support in learning, or prayer for guidance on his way to maturity.
Some of our opportunities in the devil’s world are decidedly
UNpleasant, such as when we come under attack for our belief in Jesus Christ,
or for our adherence to God’s standard of living; when we are falsely accused
of being bigoted haters because we insist on the gospel as Jesus Himself
presented it: “no one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6). These
days we are faced daily with those who reject God’s standards, and in their
rebellion against the Word of God, they accuse anyone who disapproves of their
lifestyle of being “UNChristian.” This always begs the question, of course: how
do they know what is unchristian, since they themselves have rejected Christ? “The
natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them
because they are spiritually discerned” (I Corinthians 2:14). It is the devil’s
own distortion of God’s grace teaching of unconditional love. We are taught to
love our fellow-man, and especially the Christian brethren. We are NOT taught
to accept as right and normal whatever rebellion they choose to flaunt.
In God’s “proper time,” His perfect time, He will use our
opportunity for witness to give us success and reward. There is no greater
reward for the believer in time than to see his witness received and believed,
and even shared, by one who desperately needs salvation, renewal to the faith,
or spiritual guidance. That was Jesus’ “food that ye know not of,” as He told
His disciples in John chapter 4. It is the elixir of the believer’s life.
The devil and his hordes stay busy, prowling the earth in
search of Christians to harass and neutralize; in search of unbelievers to hinder
from hearing our truth. He wants to devour us and sabotage the plan of God;
though actually, he cannot if we are confident of our faith in the perfect
provision of Jesus Christ. We know there is nothing the devil can do to
interfere with our position IN CHRIST. We stand firm on that knowledge,
realizing also that there are Christians throughout the globe at any given
time, who are enduring the same sufferings and pressures we are, and depending
on the same Lord to strengthen and secure their faith. It is God Who restores
my depleted energy, confirms my permanent position IN CHRIST, strengthens my
resolve and establishes my sense of purpose and destiny. It is God Who stabilizes
us in our faith as we grow to maturity, resisting all the evil trickery that
Satan can throw our way. It is God, the Sovereign of the universe, who remains
in charge of history and of our daily lives, yesterday, today and forever.
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. She who is at Babylon, who is likewise chosen, sends you greetings, and
so does Mark, my son. Greet one another
with the kiss of love. Peace to all of you who are in Christ. I Peter 5:12-14
Peter apparently dictated this letter to Silvanus and
confirms his own authorship: “This is the true grace of God. Stand firm in it.”
He states that he and some fellow believers are in Babylon. There has been some
speculation that Peter was referring to Rome as Babylon, but J. Vernon McGee
points out that Peter wasn’t cryptic by nature, and that if he said it was
Babylon, that is where he was. I tend to believe that, too. The kiss of love
was common greeting between like-minded brethren. Peter advised his flock to
continue that practice.
I have great respect and admiration for this former
boisterous fisherman who became such a stalwart leader of the Church. He had
failed most miserably, at the arrest of Jesus, and was consumed by shame. Jesus
had warned Peter in Luke 22:31-32 that Satan would try to ensnare him. It had
soon become a reality in Peter’s experience, and now he was warning the Church
about it. Jesus didn’t ever count him
out, however, and gave him that wonderful opportunity to declare his love for
the Lord three times—the same number of times he had previously denied the Lord
(John 21:16-18). From that time, he never looked back again, but dedicated his
life to obeying the command of Jesus to “feed my sheep.” What a magnificent teacher!
J. C. Metcalfe faithfully writes: "It is more than comforting to realize that it is those who have plumbed the depths of failure to whom God invariably gives the call to shepherd others. This is not a call given to the gifted, the highly trained, or the polished as such.
"Without a bitter experience of their own inadequacy and poverty they are quite unfitted to bear the burden of spiritual ministry. It takes a man who has discovered something of the measures of his own weakness to be patient with the foibles of others. Such a man also has a first-hand knowledge of the loving care of the Chief Shepherd, and His ability to heal one who has come humbly to trust in Him and Him alone. Therefore he does not easily despair of others, but looks beyond sinfulness, willfulness, and stupidity, to the might of unchanging love. The Lord Jesus does not give the charge, 'Be a shepherd to My lambs ... to My sheep,' on hearing Peter's self-confident affirmation of undying loyalty, but He gives it after he has utterly failed to keep his vows and has wept bitterly in the streets of Jerusalem."--from The Green Letters--Preparation
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