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*Finding Power for Success*
*Letters of Peter October 13, 2002*
* *
*Scripture Reading: *Ephesians 3:14-21
*Introduction:*
How can we be identified as God's people?
What makes us different from the world around us?
How can we be encouraged by the answers to these questions?
We have been discovering topical truth from the letters that Peter wrote to the churches.
These topics give detail to the theology of what the church is supposed to be.
For those of you who are into big words, the word for this theology of the church is called ecclesiology.
Maybe you have heard of this word before.
But Peter intends his ecclesiology to give us, the people of the church throughout the ages, a clear picture of our cause in Christ and the victory he will bring to us and through us.
He wants us to know the reality of our hope in the struggle for holiness.
Let us recap some of what we have learned so far in this series since the message today will bring it to a close.
* I.
The People of God are Set Apart by How They Live *
The people of God must make a difference in the world by their new way of life in Christ.
- Our new way of life must be different from the world (different living).
- Our new way of life must identify with God (godly living).
- Our new way of life must remember the future (future living).
/How should Christians remember the future in light of the past?/
We should remember that God has a longstanding plan that he has privileged us to know about and be a part of.
We should remember that there will always be those who don't believe that God has any plan at all.
We should remember that God's future plan has proven credibility in the past.
We should remember that God's plan is not on our time schedule.
We should remember that God's plan has saving power.
We should remember that God's plan has cleansing power.
We should remember that God's plan has present power.
We should remember that God's plan has eternal power.
We should remember that God's plan brings perfect peace for those who remember the future.
- Our new way of life must have practical present effect (effective living).
/How can our lives as Christians have practical present effect to those around us?/
We must live in Christian submission to government, to employers, to spouses, to others, and to church leadership.
*II.
The People of God are Set Apart by How They Suffer *
/What does suffering accomplish for us as Christians?/
Suffering trials helps us to refine faith.
Suffering injustice helps us to trust God.
Suffering for others helps us to overcome sin.
Suffering joyfully helps us to promote Christ.
* III.
The People of God are Set Apart by What They Know *
/What must I know in order to endure as a Christian?/
I can endure as a Christian because I know that God knew me first.
I can endure as a Christian because I know my value to God.
I can endure as a Christian because I know others have value to God.
I can endure as a Christian because I know I am not alone in my situation.
I can endure as a Christian because I know the blessings of faith in Christ.
I can endure as a Christian because I know the judgment of denying Christ.
I can endure as a Christian because I know what I know about Christ.
So Peter is writing to us, the scattered people of God, as the church in the world.
As such, we live like the people of God in the world but not of it since we are sure of the future.
We are willing to live lives of submission and even suffer for it because we are aware of God's purpose in suffering.
We are sustained by our knowledge of divine truth.
And now, lastly, we are assured of success through the outworking of divine power.
God's power is another theme that occurs six times as it works its way through Peter's letters.
It is divine power works in concert with divine knowledge.
This is what makes the knowledge of God effective for his people.
The several aspects of God's power protect, connect, exalt, subject, keep, deliver, provide and reveal.
In finality, the people of God are set apart and given success by God's power.
*Big Question:*
/How does God's power give me success in Christ?// (How do I benefit from God's power?
How does it work for me?
What effect does it have?)/
Have you ever felt absolutely powerless in the face of what was happening to you or to those around you?
Have you ever felt abandoned by God in the midst of your pain and struggle?
It is a fact of this fallen world that we will have trouble just as Jesus has said, "In this world you will have trouble."
(John 16:33)
But he also went on to say, "But take heart for I have overcome the world."
Nevertheless, life is hard for many.
/Feelings of powerlessness:/
ABWE Magazine for October – Article on oppression of women, especially in India.
Many baby girls killed at birth because of economic liability and cultural conditions.
It was recorded even in the earliest colonial times that many villages had either no little girls or that boys outnumbered girls even 2 to 1.
The government has passed laws to prohibit infanticide but to little avail.
The condition still exists today.
There are 3 reasons why.
(1) Baby girls are killed to spare them a life of misery since women have little status and are treated as slaves.
(2) Daughters are an economic liability on the family since a large dowry must be given at her marriage.
This too has been prohibited but without much impact.
(3) Daughters do not contribute to the economic health of the family since only sons can get jobs and care for aged parents.
When a girl is married she is obliged to treat her husband as a god.
If he dies she cannot remarry and has no social status.
Often a wife will place herself upon his funeral pyre even though this too has been prohibited by law.
Girls are often sold by families to become temple slaves and prostitutes.
Essentially they have little or no power.
Many try to take power inappropriately into their own hands when they feel powerless.
/Taking Power into your own hands:/
Chicago Tribune for Friday, Oct. 4, 2002 – "Suicide note foretold end: 'Everybody loses'.
Before he killed his daughter and then turned the gun on himself, John Brunson tried to explain the seemingly unexplainable.
He scribbled on a suicide not that if he could not be a part of young Mary Elizabeth's life, nobody could.
"Everybody loses," Brunson wrote.
Family members say Brunson cared so deeply for his daughter that he couldn't stand the thought of losing her.
His ex-wife, Kathy, had been granted sole custody in a nasty divorce.
Brunson was scheduled to return to court the next week and feared losing his visitation privileges.
"Sole custody is child abduction," Brunson wrote in his note.
"Four nights and four dinners a month are insufficient time for parenting."
Then, in a portion directed to his ex-wife, Brunson wrote: "Kathy, if you can't raise our daughter with me then you simply can't raise our daughter.
Everybody loses."
Brunson's relatives did not try to justify his actions, but they did say he was pushed to the brink by a court system that did not treat him fairly, and by his ex-wife, who did not treat him like the child's father.
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