We thank the Lord for His mercy and for giving us a beautiful day today. As we drove here from New York and from other places, what a wonderful mercy of the Lord to have gathered us together safely. Again, we thank the Lord.
We pray for those who are coming even now, that as they join with us, they could enter right into what the Lord is saying.
We have three speakers this weekend in these main meetings. Our brother Stephen is going to speak on the stewardship of the mysteries of God. I’ve been asked to speak on the stewardship of the manifold grace of God, and our brother Ernie is going to share on the character of God’s steward.
So I’d like for us to turn and read the portion that has been given to me in 1 Peter. If you’ll turn there in 1 Peter 4, you’ll see this phrase, “stewards of the manifold grace of God,” there in verse 10.
As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.
So this is what I’ll be sharing on in the two sessions that I will have with you. But tonight, since people have come in here and I know everybody is tired—and we’ll trust the Lord to refresh us—I’d like to begin by more or less showing an example of a steward, namely the Apostle Peter himself.
I’d like us, therefore, to read 1 Peter 4, from verses 1 through 13, just to get a little larger context of the Apostle Peter as he is being a good steward himself and encouraging others in this stewardship.
Therefore, since Christ has suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same purpose,
because he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin,
so as to live the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for the lusts of men, but for the will of God.For the time already past is sufficient for you to have carried out the desire of the Gentiles,
having pursued a course of sensuality, lusts, drunkenness, carousing, drinking parties, and abominable idolatries.In all this, they are surprised that you do not run with them into the same excesses of dissipation, and they malign you;
but they will give account to Him who is ready to judge the living and the dead.For the gospel has for this purpose been preached even to those who are dead,
that though they are judged in the flesh as men, they may live in the Spirit according to the will of God.
The end of all things is near; therefore, be of sound judgment and sober spirit for the purpose of prayer.
Above all, keep fervent in your love for one another, because love covers a multitude of sins.
Be hospitable to one another without complaint.As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.
Whoever speaks is to do so as one who is speaking the utterances of God;
whoever serves is to do so as one who is serving by the strength which God supplies;
so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belongs the glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you;
but to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing,
so that also at the revelation of His glory you may rejoice with exultation.
We’ll stop there, and let’s just have another prayer.
Our Father, we’re so aware of Your grace in our lives—so rich, with so many various colors of that love and that grace. We sense that grace has drawn us together for this important gathering this weekend.
You have entrusted to us the mysteries and the grace. We would come back to You and say, “Lord, You have entrusted these things to us, but without the help of the Holy Spirit, we can neither faithfully nor prudently dispense these things. Help us.”
We ask that You, by the Spirit, would refresh our bodies and our minds tonight; that You would take our minds from distracting things that we have driven from into the very house of God, where Your Spirit can minister to us as the Steward of stewards, even as we share things one with another.
Thank You, Lord, for the precious fellowship of the saints, for just the gladness of being together in the name of the Lord Jesus. We pray that our time would be profitable as we look at these precious stewardships that we have been entrusted with. We want to commit this time now into Your hands, in Jesus’ precious name. Amen.
Peter is writing this letter, probably from Rome, many people think, to the sojourners, as he calls them—that is, the various saints strewn out across the Roman Empire. He wants to encourage them by this letter.
But the Word of God has been gracious to us in allowing us to watch Peter’s growth. From those early days of impetuous speech and frequent blunders, we see him now writing this letter in his maturity, with Christlikeness.
He has grown from being a fisherman to a fisher of men, from a disciple to an apostle, and from a servant to a steward. Because, as we’ll see this weekend, a steward is only a servant who realizes that what they have been given by the grace of God has been entrusted to them—not for themselves, but for the glory of God.
Whoever speaks is to do so as one who is speaking the utterances of God;
whoever serves is to do so as one who is serving by the strength which God supplies;
so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ.
That’s why we have been given grace. If we realize it, we are stewards of this grace and these gifts for the glory of God.
Peter has grown in Christlikeness. At this time in his life, we see him before us as an example of a faithful and prudent steward. It’s an amazing thing, the change in Peter’s life. It’s an amazing thing, the change in our lives, as the Lord changes us and teaches us how to be good stewards of all that He has given to us.
But we know that, in this stewardship, Peter had the advantage of watching Jesus, who, while He was upon this earth, was the Servant of God and the Steward of stewards. No one stewarded that which God had given Him better than the Lord Jesus Himself when He was upon the earth. Peter watched that stewardship as he was with Jesus those three-plus years.
For the sake of teaching simplicity, I want to explain these stewardships in this way: Peter saw Jesus on the mountaintops as a steward of the mysteries of God. But Peter also saw Jesus in the valley as a steward of the manifold grace of God.
If you think of the privilege of Peter to follow and travel with Jesus, we often find Jesus and Peter together in a mountain setting. In those settings, Jesus often was stewarding and revealing the mysteries of God.
We find this first in the Sermon on the Mount: a discovery of the mysteries of the kingdom being explained by Jesus to His disciples. Then, after a period of time, we see Jesus again with Peter up on the foothills of Mount Hermon.
There, the Lord Jesus opened up to Peter, as a steward of the mysteries of God, the mystery of who He was: “Who do you say that I am?” Of course, Peter had that revelation, and the mystery of Christ was opened to Peter on that mountain.
But it must have been overwhelming that within the next few minutes the Lord began to minister on other mysteries of the things of God, including the mystery of the church. You’ll remember His immediate response:
Upon this rock I will build My church.
As far as we know, this is the first time that Jesus mentioned this word, “church,” to His disciples. Then, very soon after that, Jesus began to speak to His disciples on the mystery of the cross. There on the mountaintop, we’re led to understand that the disciples didn’t really quite understand that at all.
It was only eight days after that that they were up, perhaps on another mountain or perhaps higher up on Mount Hermon, when those three disciples, including Peter, saw Jesus transfigured and saw something of the mystery of the glory of the Son of God. What a time of fireworks in Peter’s life—our Lord Jesus sharing with these men a stewardship of the mysteries of God.
Of course, it was on Mount Calvary that Peter saw firsthand the mystery of the gospel worked out before his eyes. Then again, on the Mount of Olives, the Steward Jesus revealed to Peter and the other apostles the whole matter of the mystery of the Second Coming.
So we see Jesus—faithful Steward Jesus. Praise God. Jesus was faithful to reveal these things of God and give them to the disciples, that they might become stewards of these same things.
But it is also just as true that they only spent some brief days in the mountains. Day by day, Jesus was a steward of the grace of God. John said, “Our beholding of Jesus was full of grace and truth.” Jesus just manifested grace in everything He did.
I wonder how the disciples must have felt as they looked at Jesus and saw how He could love the riffraff—the broken people, the lepers, the lame, the poor, the sinners. Jesus was a steward of the grace of God and brought many of them to a saving understanding just by His love and His care.
But it goes much deeper than that, because Peter saw in an indelible way Jesus’ stewardship of the grace and love of God toward him and the other disciples. I mean, you had to be pretty patient to deal with that twelve.
Jesus was gracious and patient, so often in His journey taking them aside. When He felt pressed to go from here to there, yet He would have to stop and say, “Okay, let Me explain the parable,” because they seemed not to get any of the parables at the first shot. But He was so patient and so understanding of their frame.
As He said to the Father when He prayed before Calvary, “Father, I have kept them,” which to me is a miracle. I feel like any mom and dad who actually keep their children as they are growing up in the Lord have done a miraculous thing. But certainly more so for Jesus, to be able to say, “I have kept them, and none of them have been lost, except the son of perdition.”
What a faithful, what a prudent stewardship that is. And then, of course, when it came down to crunch time, to know the unfathomable mercy of a Lord who could forgive a betrayer—who could forgive Peter for his falling away at the end and betrayal. Oh, such a wonderful, wonderful Lord.
Peter saw all of these things. He saw Jesus in all of these wonderful ways. When Peter himself was filled with the Holy Spirit and commissioned to go out, he, of course, became and grew as a servant of God into a steward of both the mysteries of God and the manifold grace of God Himself.
Now, I think we most often think of Peter in terms of being the one who was a steward of the mysteries of God. Wherever he went, he turned the key and the door of the kingdom opened up. So many were saved as he preached the gospel. He drew people into the kingdom.
Then, because of his apostleship, along with the other apostles and prophets, he laid the foundation of the church in Christ Jesus. What a tremendous stewardship that is.
This man who was—well, I don’t want to say that Peter was undependable, but he certainly was a little bit fickle—yet now, under the training of the work of the cross and the Holy Spirit, Peter is becoming faithful, laying the foundation in people’s lives of Jesus Christ.
Story after story, teaching after teaching: what a faithful steward he was of the mysteries of the church, of the Christ, and of the kingdom. We think of him that way, and of course he was that way.
But remember, the last time Peter saw Jesus before Jesus was taken up was there at the Sea of Galilee. You remember what happened there. The Lord specifically charged Peter with being a steward of the manifold grace of God when He said, “Peter, do you love Me? Feed My sheep. Tend My lambs.”
Peter not only was a steward of the mysteries of God; he was also a steward of the manifold grace of God—the love of God. We find him here in this passage before us as a faithful steward, preferring in this book to call himself, as it were, a fellow elder and talking to the saints as one who is a fellow shepherd among the other shepherds.
You see, these two stewardships go hand in hand. The Lord wants to recover both of these realities in the church life, doesn’t He? Not just those who study the mysteries, the deep things of God, and are all head and no heart.
Too often, people who are called deeper-life churches seem to be that way. They don’t have time for one another; they’re too busy in the clouds. Yet, at the same time, there are other churches that seem to emphasize loving one another, caring for one another, and forgiving one another. It’s like you feel you’re in a nursery.
But without a vision, this nursery will perish. There must be a goal to this gathering. The Lord would want us to be together in these stewardships.
I think of one particular gift that the Lord gave to the church which, to me, exemplifies the way these two are inseparable: the shepherd-teacher.
In Ephesians 4, it mentions the different gifts that the Lord has given to the church: apostles, prophets, evangelists. But when it mentions pastors and teachers, it does not mention them as two more separate entities. According to the Greek, it seems to imply that the pastor is also the teacher and the teacher is also the shepherd. That, to me, is a wonderful picture.
Who is this shepherd-teacher? Well, he needs to be one apt to teach and, hopefully, knowledgeable of the stewardship of the mysteries of God in order to teach effectively. Yet, at the same time, he needs to care for the sheep.
What a vital ministry this is in the body of Christ. I know that in every assembly where there is growth and there is life, there are these brothers. Some tend to be better teachers than shepherds, and some better shepherds than teachers. But the fact that the two of them are together is so fine, so vital to the health of the church.
Peter was one of these examples. If the Lord is going to recover this in the church today, He needs to recover this among us as well: stewards of the mysteries of God and stewards of the manifold grace of God.
Now, if you read the whole letter of 1 Peter through a few times, you begin to see that Peter has two things in view when he talks about stewards of the manifold grace of God.
He is thinking, first of all, of those men in leadership—and those sisters, even in leadership—those who are taking responsibility, who are entrusted with other people.
The Lord desires fullness. Manifold grace means grace in many, many forms: many gifts, many lives, many blessings, many little testimonies of Jesus. We need fullness in our assemblies—that is to say, grace in its many colors.
It is important for those who are stewards in the assembly to be those who promote that largeness, that grace in its manifestation. It’s so large. We shouldn’t shrink it down to one guy doing all the talking, or three guys making all the decisions, or five people giving all the money. You know what I’m saying.
The grace of God is something that should be expressed through every member of the body. It behooves those who are stewards in the assembly—some shepherds, or whatever you want to say—to promote that, allow that, encourage it, and build it.
As surely as Peter, as an apostle, was laying the foundation of the church through his ministry, so our responsibility is to make sure that that brother and that sister are revealing some of that grace that has been given to them in their salvation.
Yet, when you look at these specific verses, 1 Peter 4:10-11, Peter is actually saying that everybody who has the grace of God is a steward. It isn’t just a couple of guys, or a few, or some kind of a remnant, but every brother and sister. Everyone has a gift, and therefore everyone is a steward. What are you doing with the grace that has been supplied?
This is a large context here. Actually, next time I speak, I think tomorrow night, we will delve into that. But tonight, since it’s just an introductory night, having presented Peter as it were as a steward, I would like to do just one final thing as we study this chapter and this letter together.
I wonder if, by the help of the Holy Spirit, we couldn’t enter into a sense of the context and the spirit in which these things are spoken. It’s important to understand the times that Peter was speaking in—important for the sake of understanding why he was saying what he was saying—but even more important for us to realize how similar our times are to the times that Peter was in.
It’s at just such a time that the Lord brings to the forefront the priority of certain graces to be revealed. As the seasons and the times in the church change, there are called forth different priorities of ministry, service, and grace. You know what I’m saying?
In a season of harvest, I think we need evangelists to the fore. In a time of establishment and growth, I hope we have teachers who can help in that edifying process. If it’s a season of repentance, surely we need some prophets who can speak that word that brings conviction to our hearts. Different times call for different emphases and different priorities.
The times that Peter was writing in to these sojourners demanded a certain priority in their lives. Brothers and sisters, the priorities of our lives must be shaped by the times in which we live. An awareness of the time makes us good and prudent stewards.
I would like to share three aspects of the time and the three necessary responses that we find in 1 Peter when you look at the letter as a whole. Tucked within this, then, we can begin to understand what it means to be good stewards of the manifold grace of God.
The first thing is this: Peter says what time it is—it’s the last days. Because it’s the last days, it necessitates us having sound judgment and sober prayer.
Secondly, we see in 1 Peter that they were in a time of trial. In a time of trial and testing, it necessitates fervent love. When the saints and the church are in a time of trial and tribulation, there needs to be this grace manifested: “Be fervent in your love for one another.”
Thirdly, Peter was also very aware that these saints, through all their trials, were in a time of public scrutiny. That is to say, the world is watching, examining, testing. This necessitates holy living. When the world is watching, we need to be faithful with sanctified lives, so that they can see the reason for the hope that is within us.
The first thing I said was that it’s the last days. We saw that in 1 Peter 4:7:
The end of all things is near; therefore, be of sound judgment and sober spirit for the purpose of prayer.
The last days necessitate watchfulness, sobriety, sound judgment, and prayer. Now, let’s look at some other verses regarding the last days. It’s interesting: Peter always refers to the Second Coming and the end as “the revelation of Jesus Christ.”
So that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire,
may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
—1 Peter 1:7
I can’t help thinking of this. Peter walked with Jesus and saw an amazing Man. Then the revelation came, and he saw that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. Now Peter is waiting—waiting for Jesus to come back. “Could I just see Him once more?” A revelation of Jesus, now in His glory.
You can almost sense, I think, in Peter an anticipation as he talks about the last days, because they will be the days of the revelation of Jesus Christ. That’s wonderful good news, isn’t it, for Christians?
Therefore, prepare your minds for action, keep sober in spirit,
fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
—1 Peter 1:13
But to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing,
so that also at the revelation of His glory you may rejoice with exultation.
—1 Peter 4:13
Oh, that’s so wonderful. Here’s how we should think of the end times. Don’t think of the last days as, “Oh, tribulation. Oh, the antichrist.” We should think of the end times as a revelation of Jesus Christ.
Peter’s heart was awaiting. But Peter also sensed in his stewardship that, if we are living in the last days, we must live with sound judgment and sobriety unto prayer.
Therefore, prepare your minds for action, keep sober in spirit,
fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
—1 Peter 1:13
The understanding that the Lord is coming back soon needs to change our way of thinking.
Therefore, since Christ has suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same purpose.
—1 Peter 4:1Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
—1 Peter 5:8
This term, “sound judgment,” in 1 Peter 4:7—“The end of all things is near; therefore, be of sound judgment”—means to have a saved mind. It is a combination of the words for saved and mind. Have a saved mindset. Let your mind be clear. Be sound. Be healthy. Understand what’s going on.
This word is used when Jesus cast the demons out of Legion, and he was found clothed and in his right mind. There’s a sense of prudence, a sense of understanding, a clarity.
In one of the brothers’ prayers, I heard this alluded to. In the last days, for most people, there is dissipation and chaos and a losing of the grip. But for those who know the Lord in the last days, there is prudence and sound judgment and stability by the grace of God.
There is also the necessity of sober prayer. Of course, we know our Lord Jesus exhorted His disciples, and us as well, to watch and pray, for we do not know when He is coming.
Do we understand this mark of the times that we are in right now? Sometimes, when I see Christians completely casual and unconcerned about their spiritual development—not serious about the Word of God nor their prayer life—I feel badly, because I feel like it represents so much of the church that is asleep right now, at a time when we need to be awake.
We are asleep because, of course, we’re trusting in the banks. What can go wrong? Wall Street—that will last forever. Certainly the U.S. government; you can bank on that.
Many people casually say, “Oh, everything will be all right.” Well, maybe it will, for now. But there is this understanding, for those who love the Lord: you know He is coming soon. It changes our attitude and our thinking. It changes our prayer to being alert and aware of what’s going on.
The second thing, as I mentioned before, is this: these sojourners that Peter was writing to were going through various trials.
Therefore, since Christ has suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same purpose,
because he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin.
—1 Peter 4:1
Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you.
—1 Peter 4:12
In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials.
—1 Peter 1:6
Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
But resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world.
After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.
—1 Peter 5:8-10
Times of trial call for a response of grace in the body of Christ. Our natural response in times of trial is to get a bunker mentality, sort of close the doors and hide, cut off any sense of generosity, and pull back.
Exactly the opposite is called for when the saints are going through trials. It’s a time for fervent love, for generous hospitality, for a sense of home and keeping and protection, forgiveness. Chapter 4 is full of “one another”: loving one another, being hospitable to one another.
It is exactly the time to open up and be charitable among the saints because they are going through trial. This manifests the way the Lord was toward us.
Since you have in obedience to the truth purified your souls for a sincere love of the brethren, fervently love one another from the heart.
—1 Peter 1:22
To sum up, all of you be harmonious, sympathetic, brotherly, kindhearted, humble in spirit;
not returning evil for evil or insult for insult, but giving a blessing instead;
for you were called for the very purpose that you might inherit a blessing.
—1 Peter 3:8-9
Here, in times of trouble, we give blessing to others. We show love.
You know what is so interesting to me about 1 Peter? You remember at the shore of the Sea of Galilee, when Jesus said to Peter, “Do you agape Me?” Peter just couldn’t say it. He stammered and said, “Well, well, I like You.” He just couldn’t say it.
Now his letter, nine times, is full of agape—agape one another, fervently. What has he discovered? The agape of God shed abroad in his heart by the Holy Spirit. Of course, he can agape God because God gave him the agape first. For those of you who are confused, agape is the Greek word for love. That’s all.
Peter, who couldn’t use that word at the Sea of Galilee, now is speaking of this agape among the brothers. He uses the double on two occasions. He says, “Philadelphia,” which means brotherly love—Philadelphia with agape. Show brotherly love with agape love.
That’s what we do in times of trial. That’s what we do when the saints are going through a rough patch. You know, it’s difficult to serve the Lord today and go on.
You sit in a prayer meeting, and you see somebody coming in when it’s halfway through. You almost want to say, “Hey, why don’t you come on time? What’s the matter with you?”
Or you see somebody in a prayer meeting, and they sit there for the whole hour and twenty minutes, or whatever, and they don’t say a word. You just want to kick them. “Come on, you’re here to pray. Pray.”
But, you know, behind everybody’s life is a story. Up in New York, if somebody had to take the subway and the subway broke down, they had to take the bus from this street to that street, then get back on the subway, and finally get there.
You know what? We should just praise God that somebody made the meeting. You know what I’m saying? These are tough times. Somebody comes in late, sure, but they drove thirty-five miles to get there.
Let’s love one another fervently. How wonderful that we could gather together even this weekend. Behind every shining face, or sleepy face, there’s a story here tonight—how you made it here anyhow. So, I’m glad you’re here.
The third thing that Peter speaks about is this: can you believe, through the trials and everything, we’re under public scrutiny? Oh, how the world watches Christians. They poke Christians to see what they’ll do. They test and watch. They use foul language in front of you just to see how you are going to react.
First Peter is full of this testimony to that sort of scrutiny. Look at 1 Peter 2:11-12.
Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul.
Keep your behavior excellent among the Gentiles,
so that in the thing in which they slander you as evildoers,
they may because of your good deeds, as they observe them, glorify God in the day of visitation.
Isn’t that wonderful? Under public scrutiny.
For such is the will of God that by doing right you may silence the ignorance of foolish men.
Act as free men, and do not use your freedom as a covering for evil, but use it as bondslaves of God.
Honor all people, love the brethren, fear God, honor the king.
—1 Peter 2:15-17
What credit is there if, when you sin and are harshly treated, you endure it with patience?
But if when you do what is right and suffer for it, you patiently endure it, this finds favor with God.
—1 Peter 2:20
Chapter 3, verses 1-2, even says that your unbelieving husband is watching to see your life before him. We are under this public scrutiny.
What is to be our response? Holy living.
Therefore, prepare your minds for action, keep sober in spirit,
fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance,
but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior;
because it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”
—1 Peter 1:13-16
In 1 Peter 4:1-5, he reminds them that they have already spent enough time with the Gentiles in dissipation, drunken parties, and all kinds of lusts and sensuality. But now, in verse 4, your worldly, non-Christian friends are quite surprised that you no longer run this way. What a change is happening in our lives.
But sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you,
yet with gentleness and reverence.
—1 Peter 3:15
Make sure that none of you suffers as a murderer, or thief, or evildoer, or troublesome meddler;
but if anyone suffers as a Christian, he is not to be ashamed, but is to glorify God in this name.
—1 Peter 4:15-16
In the time of public inspection, it is all the more important for us to be aware of the fact that we need to sanctify our lives in daily consecration and live in a different way than the world.
Young people can have a reaction today, and I understand it. It sounds reasonable. They see sometimes the strictures of the church and the caricature of the goody-goody church, and everything like that.
Some young people are tempted to show their non-Christian friends that they are just as human as their friends. They can talk just like their friends—even the language. They can wear the same stuff, even put on the same tattoos. They can drink with the best of them.
They can otherwise act in dissipation, completely involved in worldly matters, whether it is video games, betting on horses, doing sports all the time—just all the time, all the time, in the world, in the world. The young people think, “This will attract my non-Christian friends to Christ.”
But it doesn’t.
What they see is somebody—and they can tell there is something different. It’s mostly your words. But your actions show you are just the same. You’ll find, in the long run, people are not drawn to the Lord by this.
As a matter of fact, what happens is the dissipation of their lives begins to become the dissipation in your life.
When your non-Christian friends can laugh with you about the time you had a hangover, now there is something wrong with your life. It is a shame to the Lord. You may think it’s funny.
Or for us to be completely involved in the world and worldly things, whatever they might be—I don’t mean necessarily bad things even—with no sense of sanctity, no sense of sanctification, no separation.
The Bible says this, and all I can say is we must test the Bible on this. Now, the Bible does not say, “Let’s all wear black clothes with hooks.” It’s not saying we act abnormal.
The Lord expects us to live modestly in this world and not to make a point of how different we are. But the Word of God says that if you will have a testimony of holiness, sanctifying Christ as Lord in your heart, your non-Christian friends will see it. They will be convicted and come to Christ.
But if they cannot see a difference between you and them, then there is nothing to do. It’s just that, “Hey, this guy talks Christian talk, and I talk my foul language. We might as well just be the same.”
It is very much different. You must realize that this public scrutiny you are under is not just men who are looking. Indeed, the angels are watching, and the Lord Himself, to see if you are stewarding your holiness in a way that gives glory to God.
Now we have seen the context in which we can appreciate it when Peter says, “Be good stewards of the manifold grace of God.” But turn to Luke 12, finally, and the verse that is used in the brochure—the parable spoken by the Lord.
I want you to notice something here, because it was this same Peter who was writing this letter, and this parable of the steward was an answer to him.
The Lord was speaking there in Luke 12. If you’ll just scan verses 35 through 40, He comes to verse 40 after talking about being ready:
You too, be ready; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour that you do not expect.
Then Peter said—thank God, Peter always spoke up and said what we would have said but were afraid to say—“Lord, are You addressing this parable to us, or to everyone else?”
Who then is the faithful and sensible steward, whom his master will put in charge of his servants, to give them their rations at the proper time?
Blessed is that slave whom his master finds so doing when he comes.
Truly I say to you that he will put him in charge of all his possessions.But if that slave says in his heart, “My master will be a long time in coming,”
and begins to beat the slaves, both men and women, and to eat and drink and get drunk,
the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know,
and will cut him in pieces and assign him a place with the unbelievers.
—Luke 12:42-46
That’s a very hard word. But it is speaking about knowing the times that we are in. Are we asleep, or do we know it is the last days? Then let us be awake—sound, sober-minded, in prayer.
Do we know we are in a time of trial? Certainly. We seem to be knocking on the door of a time of tribulation. It is a time to be open and to pour forth the fervent love of God among brothers and sisters.
Do we realize that even now we are under public scrutiny? Then it is a time to live a life that is different because Christ is the center of our heart, and to live in such a way that those who are seeking after truth find the Lord Jesus and are saved in these last days.
Are we faithful and prudent stewards?
May the Lord help the church to be stewards of the manifold grace of God. Let’s pray.
Our dear Father, we thank You that You sent Jesus to this earth to show us the perfect Steward. Then You have sent others before us, like Peter, faithful and prudent as a steward of the mysteries of God and the manifold grace of God.
Now You charge us. You entrust us with the grace of God in this generation. Oh, Lord, I pray that we could be made aware of Your purpose in our lives, that we are not just somebody out there flying on a sea of nothingness.
You have given us a personal and holy calling to take those things You have given us, distribute them, and use them wisely for the glory of God and Jesus Christ. Teach us how to live in these days, Lord. We want to be good stewards.
We know our rewards are all involved in this matter of stewardship. Lord, teach us Thy ways. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.