Bible Survey: 1 Peter

First Peter is a letter to Christians who were suffering, and the words suffer and suffering run all through it. The key verse promises that God uses those trials: But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you (1 Peter 5:10).

Peter had been a fisherman when the Lord said, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men (Matthew 4:19), and it was his brother Andrew who first brought him to Jesus. There is plenty of fishing in southwest Florida, but not nearly enough fishing for men.

Peter calls himself an apostle and an elder, never a pope or a priest. The Bible never places him in Rome, and he was a married man. Every believer, he says, belongs to a holy priesthood and can come to God through Christ with no human go-between.

The sufferings Peter writes about were real persecution. Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you (1 Peter 4:12). Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed (1 Peter 4:16). In some countries Christians are being killed for their faith today, and even here it is getting harder to say what the Bible says without being shouted down.

Christ is our example. Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps (1 Peter 2:21). Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again (1 Peter 2:23). And His suffering was for us: For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God (1 Peter 3:18).

Peter warns that your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour (1 Peter 5:8). And to faithful pastors he gives a promise: when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away (1 Peter 5:4).

Next in the series: 2 Peter.

Taught by Brother James Barker in Sunday School at Naples Independent Baptist Church, June 13, 2021. Watch the lesson.