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THEREFORE,
LET THOSE ALSO WHO SUFFER ACCORDING TO THE WILL OF GOD: hoste kai oi
paschontes (PAPMPN) kata to thelema tou theou:
(1Peter 3:17; Acts 21:11, 12, 13, 14)
Therefore - Term of conclusion. Here the therefore sums
up the thought of the entire paragraph and specifically the effect
this somber truth should have on the attitude of believers.
Suffer (3958)
(pascho
[word study]) means to experience a sensation, to suffer pain or
experience something that falls to one's lot (good or ill). Note the
present tense.
= suffer as a lifestyle. Not just one bout of suffering but a
"lifestyle" of suffering. The cross always precedes the crown in God's
economy.
Disciple's
Study Bible notes that...
The Creator permitted suffering in
His world when people sinned. Now sufferers tend to feel suffering
indicates God has forsaken them. Peter teaches us God is true to
Himself, to His people, and to His promises. Suffering simply calls us
to new commitment to Him and His way of life.
Though God made a good world, evil has become a part of it because of
sin. The works of wicked people sometimes cause good people to suffer.
Peter instructed his suffering readers to refrain from doubting God's
interest in or His ability to help them. A willingness to do God's
will, whatever the cost, is the only ultimate way to face the problem
of unexplained suffering. That will is not something new. It is the
Creator's eternal purpose. (Disciple's
Study Bible)
Will (2307)(thelema
from thelo = to will with
the "-ma" suffix indicating the result of the will = "a thing
willed") generally speaks of the result of what one has decided. One sees
this root word in the feminine name "Thelma." In its most basic form,
thelema refers to a wish, a strong desire, and the willing of some
event. (Note: See also the discussion of the preceding word
boule
for comments relating to thelema).
Zodhiates
says that thelema is the...
Will, not to be conceived as a
demand, but as an expression or inclination of pleasure towards that
which is liked, that which pleases and creates joy. When it denotes
God's will, it signifies His gracious disposition toward something.
Used to designate what God Himself does of His own good pleasure.
(Zodhiates,
S. The Complete Word Study Dictionary: New Testament. AMG
or
Logos)
Thelema
has both an objective meaning (“what one wishes to happen” or what is
willed) and a subjective connotation (“the act of willing or
desiring”). The word conveys the idea of desire, even a heart’s
desire, for the word primarily expresses emotion instead of volition.
Thus God’s will is not so much God’s intention, as it is His heart’s
desire.
Thelema -
62x in 58v - Mt 6:10; 7:21; 12:50; 18:14; 21:31; 26:42; Mark 3:35; Luke
12:47; 22:42; 23:25; Jn 1:13; 4:34; 5:30; 6:38, 39, 40; 7:17; 9:31;
Acts 13:22; 21:14; 22:14; Ro 1:10-note;
Ro 2:18-note;
Ro 12:2-note;
Ro 15:32-note;
1Cor 1:1; 7:37; 16:12; 2Cor 1:1; 8:5; Gal 1:4; Ep 1:1-note,
Ep 1:5-note,
Ep 1:9-note,
Ep 1:11-note;
Ep 2:3-note;
Ep 5:17-note;
Ep 6:6-note; Col
1:1-note,
Col 1:9-note;
Col 4:12-note; 1Th 4:3-note;
1Th 5:18-note; 2Ti 1:1-note;
2Ti 2:26-note; He 10:7-note,
He 10:9-note,
He 10:10-note,
He 10:36-note;
He 13:21-note; 1Pe 2:15-note;
1Pe 3:17-note;
1Pe 4:2-note,
1Pe 4:19-note; 2Pe 1:21-note; 1Jn 2:17; 5:14; Rev
4:11-note. NAS = desire(1), desires(1), will(57).
On September 15,
1732, the first two Moravian missionaries arrived in Copenhagen,
seeking a ship to the Danish West Indies. They found nothing but
opposition and discouragement. Even if they found a ship to take them
to St. Thomas, they were told, they would never be allowed to preach
to the slaves there. Leonard Dober and David Nitschmann replied they
would be willing to become slaves themselves if necessary. Their
suffering according to the will of God paved the way for the
Protestant era of world missions.
Oswald Chambers...
To choose to suffer means that
there is something wrong; to choose God’s will even if it means
suffering is a very different thing. No healthy saint ever chooses
suffering; he chooses God’s will, as Jesus did, whether it means
suffering or not. Be merciful to God’s reputation. It is easy to
blacken God’s character because God never answers back, He never
vindicates Himself. Beware of the thought that Jesus needed sympathy
in His earthly life; He refused sympathy from others because He knew
far too wisely that no one on earth understood what He was going
through. Notice God’s ‘waste’ of saints, according to the judgment of
the world. God plants His saints in some of the most useless places.
We say, ‘God intends me to be here because I am so useful.’ Jesus
never estimated His life along the line of the greatest use. God puts
His saints where they will glorify Him most, and we are no judges at
all of where that is.
ENTRUST
THEIR SOULS TO A FAITHFUL CREATOR: pisto ktiste paratithesthosan
(3PPMM): (Ps 31:5;
37:5; Lk 23:46; Acts 7:59; 2Ti 1:12) (faithful: Ps 138:8; 146:5,6; Isa
40:27,28; 43:7,21; 51:12,13; 54:16,17; Col 1:16, 17, 18, 19, 20; Heb
1:2,3; Rev 4:10,11; 5:9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
Edwards
notes that...
Josh Billings once wrote, "Life is
a grindstone, and whether it grinds a man down or polishes him up
depends on the stuff he's made of." I think this accurately portrays
the path of each man or woman's life. As the grinding edge of
undeserved suffering makes close contact with our lives, our response
will cause us to become either a more polished vessel (i.e.,
Christlike), or else it will mar us with a deeper root of bitterness.
In short we will either become holy or bitter, depending on our
response to undeserved suffering. And so we are told that those who
suffer "according to the will of God" are not to be resentful but
rather are to "commit the keeping of their souls to Him in well doing,
as unto a faithful Creator."
Entrust
their souls - Entrust as
explained below is a banking term. The idea is they have "deposited"
their souls in God's trustworthy bank. Have you made your deposit, my
friend? Have you committed your soul unto Him?
Entrust
(3908)
(paratithemi from para = near + tithemi = place)
literally means to place something beside, to set alongside or place
before someone. It was used in Greek meaning (a banking term) to give
someone something in trust and so to "deposit" with another. It
conveys the picture of a precious treasure being deposited as a trust
into the hands of other persons.
Note the
present imperative
which is a command calling for this attitude of entrusting to be one's
lifestyle.
The TDNT
has the following note regarding paratithemi writing that...
In the ancient Greek and Jewish
sphere, as well as the ancient Roman, one finds the legal device
whereby an object can be entrusted to another’s keeping for a specific
period. This object was to be kept free, unused and undamaged until
restoration. The trustworthiness of the trustee was thus most
important. But there was, too, a stringent penalty for embezzlement,
and the special wrath of the gods was also invoked. The legal formulae
soon came to be used in a transferred sense, e.g., “to entrust
someone to the care or protection of someone,” Diod. S., 17, 23, 5;
"to submit words as entrusted goods" (Ed note: as here in 2
Timothy)...(In the Septuagint paratithemi is used 42 times including
use as...) "a term in commercial law “to give money to someone for
safekeeping,”...The responsibility of the trustee for the money handed
to him is regulated in Exodus 22:7-13... When the psalmist in Psalm
31:5 prays "into Thy hands I commit [Lxx = paratithemi] my spirit", as
one who is persecuted, though innocent, he sets himself under the protection of the faithful
God." (Ed note: And of course our Lord Jesus quoted these very words
from the Cross as noted below)...(the Jewish Historian in using
paratithemi...) lays special emphasis on the honesty which, grounded
on fear of God and the conscience, must hold sway in trusts." The TDNT
appropriately adds that "All that man is and has he should regard as
something entrusted to him by God" (Kittel, G., Friedrich, G., &
Bromiley, G. W.
Theological Dictionary of the New Testament.
Eerdmans) (Bolding
added)
Paratithemi
means to entrust or commit for safekeeping with the
implication that one was committing to another with confidence. It can
convey the idea of investing or charging someone with a duty or
responsibility. It can convey the idea of putting something into the
care or protection of someone. This is very similar to use of
paratithemi in classical Greek to describe anything being
deposited with a friend for the purpose of safekeeping.
Why would you deposit your "life savings" so to speak in
any bank? It's because you trust the bank...it's been around a long
time and has a record of faithfulness. How much more than should we be
willing to deposit our very lives with our faithful Creator (we are
His possession anyway!). We are willing to do so because we know Whom
we have believed (see note
2 Timothy 1:12). Be diligent to study God's Word to truly know His character
and then you are less likely to be surprised at the fiery ordeal which is in His
sovereign will
and has a holy purpose. Let me suggest a painless way to become
familiar with God's attributes - Study the
Names of the LORD
, for inherent in His glorious Names is the progressive, relatively
easily "digested" revelation of His character.
Warren
Wiersbe explains that the idea of leaving our deposit with God for
safekeeping ties in...
beautifully with the “gold”
illustration in 1Peter 1:7 (note).
God sends the fiery trial to burn away the dross, and we commit
ourselves to Him for safekeeping, knowing that He cannot fail us. We
can be sure that God will “pay interest” on our deposit. But note that
we commit ourselves in doing good; that is, we commit ourselves to God
as we obey His Word. This is a daily and hourly surrender, living to
please Him and serving others. Christians will go through fiery trials
before Christ returns. The world situation will not get better.
Attitudes toward Christians will not improve. The world has always
hated the name of Christ and will continue to hate it. If we identify
ourselves with the name of Christ, the world will hate us (John
15:18-21). If we compromise, we will escape persecution, but we will
also miss the blessing and glory of sharing Christ’s sufferings.
(Wiersbe,
W. W. Wiersbe's Expository Outlines on the New Testament. Wheaton,
Ill.: Victor Books)
John Piper agrees with this reasoning writing that
"The purpose of good theology is to
build and sustain great trust in God. In all Christian suffering Satan
is seeking to devour faith (1Peter 5:8; 5:9see notes
1 Peter 5:8;
5:9). God is seeking to test and
refine faith (1Peter 4:12-note). God's great purpose in all our suffering will be
accomplished when we do what Jesus did in the agony of the cross when
he cried out (Lk 23:46, cp 1Peter 2:23-
note),
"Father, into your hands I entrust my spirit." He entrusted himself to
a faithful Creator. According to 2 Cor 1:9 God's purpose in suffering
is to cause us to rely no longer on ourselves but utterly on him who
raises the dead. (See full sermon
The Holy Spirit will Help You Die - 1 Peter
4:12-19)
Faithful () (4103)
(pistos
[word study])
from peítho = to
persuade - induce one by words to believe, have confidence) is
something or someone who is worthy of faith or keeps promises and is
applied to God, humans, His Word, etc
Here pistos has its passive meaning
= trustworthy or faithful where the basic idea is that of
trustworthiness. In this sense pistos describes God, Christ, servants,
His Word as faithful, reliable, worthy of belief or trust,
dependable. Marvin Vincent adds that pistos used of God describes Him
as "True to his own nature and promises; keeping faith with Himself
and with man."
Vincent also gives a nice
summary (expanded in the discussion that follows) of the meaning of
pistos, faithful, writing that it is used
"(1), of one who shows Himself
faithful in the discharge of a duty or the administration of a trust (Mt
24:45). Hence, trustworthy (2Ti
2:2). Of things that can be relied upon (2Ti
2:11). (2), Confiding; trusting; a believer (Gal
3:9;
Acts16:1; 2Cor 6:15; 1Ti 5:16)" (Word
Studies in the New Testament)
Webster says that "Faithful"
means firm in adherence to whatever one owes allegiance and implies
unswerving adherence to a person or thing or to the oath or promise by
which a tie was contracted.
A faithful Creator -
Faithfulness is God's attribute of utter dependability, the antithesis
of everything fickle and fluctuating in the world around us. In 2
Timothy 2:13
(note)
Paul says that faithfulness is a corollary of His self-consistency.
Because God is faithful, His promises are infallibly reliable (Hebrews
10:23-note).
Faithful is He Who calls
you, and He also will bring it to pass. (see note
1Thessalonians 5:24)
Spurgeon offers a few
thoughts (from various of his sermons, devotionals and expositional
comments) on our faithful Creator...
We must be tried or we cannot
magnify the faithful God, who will not leave His people.
In life and death we prove the
attributes of God’s righteousness. We find that He does not lie but is
faithful to His Word.
Tested believer, the Lord
will be as faithful to you as He has been to me. The Lord
will
not fail you. Do not be discouraged,
the eternal God is your
refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms (Dt 32:27).
The heavenly sun shines on in
eternal brightness. You have a possession that is
unfading,
a promise that is unfailing, and a Protector who is unchanging. Though
you live in a faithless world, you dwell in a faithful
God.
There is love, immortal and
unchanging love, in heaven toward you, which will never grow cold. You
will be helped. God would sooner cease to be than cease to be
faithful. Be of good courage, for today He will strengthen your
heart.
Eternal faithfulness performs what
eternal wisdom declares. Shall God lie? Is he a man as thou art? Will
he deceive? Will he falsely promise, and then run from his word? That
be far from him, and let it be far from us thus to blaspheme his name
by such a thought. Come, then, child of God, thou who knowest him, if
he has said, “I will help thee,” he will help thee. If he says, “I
will strengthen thee,” he will strengthen thee. Believe God, without
the trace of doubt; and “be of good courage, and he shall strengthen
your heart, all ye that hope in the Lord.”
“Great is Your faithfulness,”
(Lam 3:23, cp La 3:21, 22, 23, 24)
- So great that there has never been an exception. Through the ages,
our God has had billions of people to deal with. Yet there does not
stand under heaven’s cover, or above the stars, or in hell itself a
single soul who can say that God is not absolutely faithful. No item
in the list of our divine promises is unfulfilled. God remembers every
promise that He ever made, and He honors each in the experience of
those who believe in Him. They who trust in the Lord will find Him
faithful, not only in great things, but also in little things. His
faintest word will stand firm and steadfast. His least truth will
never grow dim. The glory of God’s faithfulness is that no sin of ours
has ever made Him unfaithful. Unbelief is a damning thing, yet even
when we do not believe, God is faithful. His children might rebel.
They might wander far from His statutes and be chastened with many
stripes. Nevertheless, He says,
My lovingkindness I will not
utterly take from him, nor allow My faithfulness to fail. My
covenant
I will not break, nor alter the word that has gone out of My lips”
(Psalm. 89:33, 34).
GREAT IS THY FAITHFULNESS
(play
hymn)
Great is Thy faithfulness, O
God my Father;
There is no shadow of turning with Thee;
Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not;
As Thou hast been, Thou forever will be.
Refrain
Refrain
Great is Thy faithfulness!
Great is Thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see.
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided;
Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!
Summer and winter and
springtime and harvest,
Sun, moon and stars in their courses above
Join with all nature in manifold witness
To Thy great faithfulness, mercy and love.
Refrain
Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth
Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide;
Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow,
Blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside!
Refrain
How has God
shown Himself to be faithful to you and your family in the past? How
can you make sure you'll remember? With whom can you talk about it
today? Precious memories
of yesterday can be precious moments today
Trusting God's faithfulness dispels
our fearfulness.
IN DOING
WHAT IS RIGHT: tas psuchas auton en agathopoiia (1Peter
2:15; Esther 4:16; Jer 26:11, 12, 13, 14, 15; Da 3:16, 17, 18;
6:10,11,22; Ro 2:7)
F B Meyer
(in Our Daily Walk) in a devotional on 1Peter 4:19 wrote that...
The more one ponders these words,
the more wonderful they appear! That God is faithful is as clear as
noonday. He is faithful in the return of the seasons and the
orbit-order of the stars; faithful in holding back the flood, that it
should not overflow the world and destroy the homes of men; faithful
to every living creature that He has made, providing for its exact
sustenance. Even the odd sparrow, which Christ must have seen thrown
in by the dealer, when His Mother bought four others, does not fall to
the ground without His notice. God is the Faithful Creator in the
heavens above and in the earth beneath. We are not surprised,
therefore, to find His faithfulness the theme of Holy Writ; but why
does Peter lay emphasis on His faithfulness as Creator, when
ministering to the special circumstances of suffering believers? Is
not this the reason? We are apt to concentrate our thoughts on the
Birth, the Cross, the Grave, the Intercession of our Lord, and to
forget that behind all these, deep in the nature of God--the Almighty
Creator--there are ever-welling fountains of faithfulness, love, and
tenderness. We are summoned to go back beyond the story of Redemption
to the infinite silence of Eternity, when each of us was a distinct
thought in the mind of God. In His book, all our members were written,
when as yet there was none of them.
Whether we have realised that eternal purpose is open to serious
questioning, but everyone of us has a right to look into the face of
God, and say
"Thine hands have made me, and
fashioned me; give me understanding that I may learn Thy
commandments."
We may not question God's dealings
with us. They are immutably wise and right. But we may claim that in
some way He should make good our deficiencies, so that though
sorrowful, we should be always rejoicing; though poor we should make
many rich; though having nothing, we should scatter our wealth, as
though possessing all things. There is no reason why our life should
be a failure, no reason why we should not minister richly to others,
no reason why, by His grace, we should not be more than conquerors! We
may humbly make this claim on the Almighty Creator, and He will not
allow His faithfulness to fail!
PRAYER: Help us to commit ourselves to Thee in well-doing, O God, our
Faithful Creator. May we find a solace for our own griefs and
disappointments, in sympathy and ministry to others. AMEN.
God Hath Not Promised
Annie
Johnson Flint
Click Biography
God hath not promised skies always blue,
Flower-strewn pathways all our lives through;
God hath not promised sun without rain,
Joy without sorrow, peace without pain.
God hath not promised we shall not know
Toil and temptation, trouble and woe;
He hath not told us we shall not bear
Many a burden, many a care.
God hath not promised smooth roads and wide,
Swift, easy travel, needing no guide;
Never a mountain, rocky and steep,
Never a river, turbid and deep.
But God hath promised strength for the day,
Rest for the laborer, light for the way,
Grace for the trials, help from above,
Unfailing sympathy, undying love. |
