Our Great Enemy
YES ... THERE IS HOPE!
Ernest Easley
1 Peter 5.5-11
February 11, 2007
Tonight as we conclude our study of 1st Peter .. we come to chapter 5 verse 5 thinking under the heading: YES .. THERE IS HOPE and of course that hope is found in the person of Jesus Christ!
Well .. if anybody ever needed a word of hope it was those scattered believers to whom Peter was writing. Persecution was on the rise for those believers and it could very well be on the rise for believers today. I know it is in certain parts of the world today where we read of believers being jailed and executed for their faith.
I do not believe that there has ever been a time since the birth of our nation when there has been so much hatred and aggression against us. Just a couple of weeks ago .. the streets of Beirut were filled with Muslims carrying signs and shouting death to America.
Don't be so naïve as to think that Christians in America are safe and free from persecution. And Peter has helped us to know how to be prepared and how to prepare our children and grandchildren for persecution. And don't let persecution catch you off guard. Jesus said in John 16.33, "In this world you will have persecution." And in John 15.20, "If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you."
Now beginning in chapter 5 ... Peter explains the kind of spiritual leadership that God has provided His church and how critical that leadership is when persecution strikes. The New Testament churches were Pastor-led .. Deacon-Served .. Committee-Operated and Congregation-Affirmed. And that's still God's leadership model for His church.
Now as we come to chapter 5 verse 5 .. Peter reminds us why persecution comes to believers .. why we can anticipate persecution .. why there is so much hatred in the world today toward us. There is one behind it .. one producing it .. one who is out to destroy us and beginning in verse 5 we read about:
Our Great Enemy
1 Peter 5.5-11
"Likewise you yo ...
YES ... THERE IS HOPE!
Ernest Easley
1 Peter 5.5-11
February 11, 2007
Tonight as we conclude our study of 1st Peter .. we come to chapter 5 verse 5 thinking under the heading: YES .. THERE IS HOPE and of course that hope is found in the person of Jesus Christ!
Well .. if anybody ever needed a word of hope it was those scattered believers to whom Peter was writing. Persecution was on the rise for those believers and it could very well be on the rise for believers today. I know it is in certain parts of the world today where we read of believers being jailed and executed for their faith.
I do not believe that there has ever been a time since the birth of our nation when there has been so much hatred and aggression against us. Just a couple of weeks ago .. the streets of Beirut were filled with Muslims carrying signs and shouting death to America.
Don't be so naïve as to think that Christians in America are safe and free from persecution. And Peter has helped us to know how to be prepared and how to prepare our children and grandchildren for persecution. And don't let persecution catch you off guard. Jesus said in John 16.33, "In this world you will have persecution." And in John 15.20, "If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you."
Now beginning in chapter 5 ... Peter explains the kind of spiritual leadership that God has provided His church and how critical that leadership is when persecution strikes. The New Testament churches were Pastor-led .. Deacon-Served .. Committee-Operated and Congregation-Affirmed. And that's still God's leadership model for His church.
Now as we come to chapter 5 verse 5 .. Peter reminds us why persecution comes to believers .. why we can anticipate persecution .. why there is so much hatred in the world today toward us. There is one behind it .. one producing it .. one who is out to destroy us and beginning in verse 5 we read about:
Our Great Enemy
1 Peter 5.5-11
"Likewise you yo ...
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