Amos 1:1

 Amos 1:1 says, The words of Amos, who was among the herdmen of Tekoa, which he saw concerning Israel in the days of Uzziah king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash king of Israel, two years before the earthquake.  Matthew Henry says that Amos prophesied shortly before Isaiah, but that he was not the father of Isaiah as someone evidently thought.  We are told that Amos, a herdman, saw the word of God,  which to me would imply it came to him in a vision.   He dated it in during the rule of Uzziah 8n Judah and Jeroboam the son of Joash, two years before an earthquake which must have been significant.  Verse two adds, And he said, The LORD will roar from Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the habitations of the shepherds shall mourn, and the top of Carmel shall wither.  Amos said that God's word was going to shake the people of Isreal, causing them to mourn.  God's people as was often the case had turned away from Him, and now they were going to face His judgment.  Verse three states, Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Damascus, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they have threshed Gilead with threshing instruments of iron:  Amos said that God had revealed to him that He was judging Damascus for their multiple sins.  God first begins with the judgment of some of the neighbors of Israel, which is Damascus in this case.  Damascus had been severely mistreating the people of Gilead, and for this God was going to send His punishment.  Those who mistreat God's people will one day be brought to judgment by God.  Verse four adds, But I will send a fire into the house of Hazael, which shall devour the palaces of Benhadad.  God said He was going to destroy their palaces, or seats of power.  Verse five continues, I will break also the bar of Damascus, and cut off the inhabitant from the plain of Aven, and him that holdeth the sceptre from the house of Eden: and the people of Syria shall go into captivity unto Kir, saith the LORD.  God said that He was going to cause the people of Syria to go away into captivity.  Even though another nation may have defeated them, the Syrians were defeated because of God's judgment.  Verse six declares, Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Gaza, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they carried away captive the whole captivity, to deliver them up to Edom:  Amos next revealed God's word concerning Gaza, and states the specific sin they were being judged for out of the many.  These were the Philistines, who had carried the people Edom captive.  Verse seven adds, But I will send a fire on the wall of Gaza, which shall devour the palaces thereof: The judgment sounds the same as that of the Syrians, and God's judgment will be the same for all who refuse to answer His call to salvation.  Verse eight continues, And I will cut off the inhabitant from Ashdod, and him that holdeth the sceptre from Ashkelon, and I will turn mine hand against Ekron: and the remnant of the Philistines shall perish, saith the Lord GOD.  God said that He was going to destroy all the Philistines, just as He will one day destroy all who stand against Him today.   Verse nine states, Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Tyrus, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they delivered up the whole captivity to Edom, and remembered not the brotherly covenant:  The people of Tyre were the next tobe judged.  They had misused the people of Edom, who were supposed to be in a protective relationship with them.  Verse ten adds, But I will send a fire on the wall of Tyrus, which shall devour the palaces thereof.  Once more,  God said He would send fire on their palaces as He had said He would on the others.  One day, all those who refuse to accept God's gift of salvation will face the fires of hell.  Verse eleven declares, Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Edom, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because he did pursue his brother with the sword, and did cast off all pity, and his anger did tear perpetually, and he kept his wrath for ever:  Though Tyre was judged for their mistreatment of Edom, that did not mean that Edom was going to escape punishment for their sins.  Just because someone else is punished for their sins against someone doesn't mean that they will escape God's punishment themselves if they have not come to God through faith in Jesus Christ.  Verse twelve continues, But I will send a fire upon Teman, which shall devour the palaces of Bozrah.  Fire was also to destroy them.  Verse thirteen says, Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of the children of Ammon, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they have ripped up the women with child of Gilead, that they might enlarge their border:  The Ammonites were the next to be judged, and their specific sin was ripping up the pregnant women of Gilead.  Matthew Henry says it is hard to imagine such a barbaric act, yet we in America today call this a woman's right.  Verse fourteen adds, But I will kindle a fire in the wall of Rabbah, and it shall devour the palaces thereof, with shouting in the day of battle, with a tempest in the day of the whirlwind:   Verse fifteen continues, And their king shall go into captivity, he and his princes together, saith the LORD.  The cities of Ammonites were to be destroyed and their king taken away captive.  God's judgment is just as certain today.

1 Peter review concluded

Peter tells us that Jesus Christ is our example to follow.  He suffered in the flesh, because He was human like any other person, but He never gave in to sin.  Once we accept Him as our personal Savior, then we must live with Him as Lord of our life.  We are freed from sin, but not freed to sin.  Peter says that the gospel is preached to the dead, but this means those who are spiritually dead and not physically dead.  Though some people who profess to be Christians pray for the dead and some are even baptized for them, it is in this life alone that we can accept the salvation of Christ.  This is why Peter realized the urgency of reaching out to the lost people of the world with the gospel of Christ, and so must we.  Peter also tells us that when we speak that we are to speak God's word under the leadership of the Holy Spirit and if we minister to the needs of others that we are to do so willingly and not grudgingly.   If God is in control of our life, then we will rejoice in the opportunities that He gives us to help others, and especially in the opportunities He gives us to share the gospel.  Peter tells us to not be guilty of suffering because we have sinned or broken the law.  If we do, there is no honor to God or to oneself because of this.  Finally, Peter tells the elders, the leaders of the church, to serve in such a way that people will want to follow Christ because of the example that they set and never are they to try to force people to believe.  He also says that the elders are never to lead for the sake of filthy lucre, or money.  The leaders of the church must be in the position of leadership because God has placed them there and are never to simply go where the material rewards are the best. 

1 Peter review continued

Peter tells us to obey the law, as long as it does not conflict with God's law.  We cannot pick and choose which laws to obey and still glorify God.  Peter also told servants to subject themselves to their masters.  We today may not have a master, but most of us have a boss, and we should subject ourselves to their authority, even if we don't like them.   We are to do this to bring glory to God.  Peter tells us that it is noteworthy if we suffer for our faith.  Peter tells us that Jesus Christ set the example for us.  He was innocent of any sin but subjected Himself to the authorities to be put to death.  Peter tells wives that they are to be subjected to their husbands, even if the husband is not a Christian.  I don't believe that this means that they are to allow themselves to be physically abused, but that they are not to be constantly going against everything their husband says.  They are to show a Christ like love so that the husband might be saved.  Of course, ideally the husband will be a follower of Christ, and as such his decisions will be made under the leadership of the Holy Spirit and will be what is best for the family.  Peter then tells us that we are to be happy if we suffer for righteousness's sake.  There is no place for self-pity in our Christian life.  Peter then says it is better to suffer for well doing than for evil doing.  If we suffer in the world today, we need to be sure that it because of our obedience to God and not simply because we broke the law.  

1 Peter review

We will look at some things we learned from Peter.  First, we learn that past failure does not keep a person from being a very effective witness for Jesus Christ.   Peter had denied Jesus at His arrest, but after Jesus' resurrection, Peter accepted Him as his Savior and Lord, and he called on everyone to do the same.   Peter said this should bring us peace in life, no matter what is going on in the world around us.  Peter tells us that our salvation is incorruptible, kept by the power of God.  Nothing can steal our salvation once we are born again by faith in Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord.   Peter also tells us that the trial of our faith is much more precious than silver or gold.  If we are following Jesus for material riches, then we are following Him for the wrong reason.  Peter also tells us that salvation through Christ was always the only way to salvation.  The prophets of old pointed to Him, and the people since His coming have pointed back to Christ.  God gave people free will, even knowing what it would cost Him to redeem them.  Peter calls on us to get ready to work for God, and not to be ruled by our former lusts of the flesh.  As Christians, we are to live by a different standard than the standard that the world lives by, and that standard is faith in Jesus Christ.  We are to be born again spiritually, and this should lead us to a real love for our fellow believers, but even more than that, for the lost people of the world as well.  We cannot effectively witness for Christ if we hate the people that we are witnessing to.   Peter also tells us that we are to lay aside malice, guile and hypocrisies and to live on the spiritual milk of the word of God.  The more we grow in Christ, the less we should see of these attitudes in our life.  Peter said that though the world rejected Him as such that Jesus Christ is the cornerstone of salvation upon whom we must build our life.  We are not to follow the values of the world but the values of God through faith in an obedience to Jesus Christ.  Peter tells us that as Christians we are a royal priesthood.  This does not mean that we were to act superior to other people, because he then tells us that we are to be subjected to the laws of the world, as long as they do not conflict with the laws of God.  Peter tells us that this world is not our home but that we are simply passing through, but that does not make us free from the law of the land.  We are to live in our freedom through Christ in such a way as to bring shame to the lost people of the world.   

1 Peter 5:8

1 Peter 5:8 says, Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:  Peter gave them and gives us a very specific warning that we are to be sober and vigilant, because the Devil is our adversary. Peter tells us that the Devil is a roaring lion seeking those that he can devour.  We never really have to fear the Devil as long as we are following the leadership of the Holy Spirit, but if we begin to feel that we no longer are open to his temptations, then we need to really be alert.  Verse nine adds, Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.  Peter calls on us to remain steadfast in our faith and tells us also that we are not immune to trouble in the world.  I don't believe that once you become a Christian that all your troubles are going to disappear, nor do I believe that the Bible teaches this.  The troubles in life may increase.  As a matter of fact, in Peter's day, and in many countries today, this was and is a fact.  Verse ten continues, 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.  The reason we do not have to fear the Devil is because of the God of all grace.  The grace of God is always sufficient to overcome any evil or temptation for now and for all time.  Even if we lose our life because of our faith in God, we are still secure in His loving grace. Verse eleven states, To him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.  We are to acknowledge that honor and dominion belong to God forever.   No matter how bad things may get here in the world, we are to honor God and acknowledge that He alone is God.  Verse twelve adds, By Silvanus, a faithful brother unto you, as I suppose, I have written briefly, exhorting, and testifying that this is the true grace of God wherein ye stand.  Peter said that he had written this letter by Silvanus, who he knew to be a faithful brother to the others that he was writing to.  We need to acknowledge the fact that there are many other faithful Christians in the world today and uplift them in our thoughts, and prayers and give them recognition when we can.  Verse thirteen continues, The church that is at Babylon, elected together with you, saluteth you; and so doth Marcus my son.  When we hear the name Babylon, we usually think of a bad place, but Peter said that there was a church there.  He also said that the Christians there were equal to all others.  Peter also called Marcus, or Mark, his beloved son.  Verse fourteen concludes, Greet ye one another with a kiss of charity. Peace be with you all that are in Christ Jesus. Amen.   Peter told these Christians to greet one another with a holy kiss.  We used to handshake or give a hug more today than a kiss, or at least we did before the pandemic, but the real statement is that we should have a genuine affection for one another through our faith in Jesus Christ.  Peter also called for peace to be with all who were in Christ, and I believe that this was a call to spiritual peace no matter what is going on around us in the world.

1 Peter 5:1

1 Peter 5:1 says, The elders which are among you I exhort, who am also an elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed:  Peter address the elders, or church leaders I believe, and declared himself to be an elder, and one who had witnessed the sufferings of Christ.  Peter also said that he would partake in the glory to be revealed.  We need to exhort, to uplift each other as followers of Christ, because even though we may not have seen the sufferings of Christ personally, we know of them, and because of them, we will participate in the glory when He calls us home.  Verse two adds, Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind;  The elders were called on to feed the flock of God spiritually, with love and never for the riches of this world.  God places people over His people today to guide them spiritually, and He never does it to make them rich materially.  Peter also said that the elders were not to attempt to force anyone to follow them, but that they were to do so willingly.  Verse three continues, Neither as being lords over God’s heritage, but being ensamples to the flock.  Peter said that the elders, or church leaders, were not to act as lords over other Christians, but were to be an example to the flock, or the other Christians.  If a pastor or preacher starts acting morally superior to his congregation, then something is wrong.  Verse four states, And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away.  Peter tells us that our reward for following Christ will never be in this world, but will come with the return of Christ, the chief Shepherd.  Verse five adds, Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble.  Peter calls on the younger to submit themselves to the elder, and I don't believe this Is always a physical age but may refer to spiritual age.  Whichever Peter meant; he also tells them to be subject to one another in all humility.  Peter tells us that God resists the proud.  We are never to feel that we are morally superior to another Christian. Verse six continues, Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time:  We, as Christians, are to humble ourselves before God, even if we are a leader in the church.  Verse seven concludes, Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.  Peter calls on us to cast all our cares upon God, because He cares for us.  We often drag around our cares and concerns instead of casting them on God.

1 Peter 4:11

1 Peter 4:11 says, If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God; if any man minister, let him do it as of the ability which God giveth: that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.  Peter tells us that everything we say and do should be said and done under the leadership of God.  We are to use the abilities that God gives us for His honor and glory though our obedience to Jesus Christ.  Verse twelve adds, Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you:  Peter does not say that fiery trials may try us, but that they will.  If we have not encountered any fiery trials in the world, it may be that we are too much like the world for anyone to recognize us as followers of Christ.  Verse thirteen continues, But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.  Peter tells us that we are to rejoice in our suffering for Christ.  Still, not all suffering is for Christ, and we should never seek to suffer simply as a sign of our faithfulness.  We are also told that if do suffer because of our faith in Christ that we will also rejoice with exceeding joy when He returns victorious.  Verse fourteen declares, If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part, he is glorified.  Peter says if we are reproached for our faith that we should be happy, because the Spirit of the glory of God rests on us.  We too often moan and complain that the world is not fair to us as Christians, but God says when this happens, we are to rejoice.  Verse fifteen adds, But let none of you suffer as a murderer, or as a thief, or as an evildoer, or as a busybody in other men’s matters.  Peter calls on us as followers of Christ to not be guilty of breaking the law or of causing trouble for someone else, and therefore suffer punishment.  Verse sixteen continues, Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf.  Peter then returns to suffering for our Christian faith.  When this happens, we are to not be ashamed.  There is never a time when we should feel down if we suffer for Christ.  Verse seventeen declares, For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?  Peter said the time had come for judgment to begin and it was to begin in the house of God.  The house of God was corrupted by those who were supposed to be His people, and Jesus Christ came to bring the people of God to Him once more in spirit and truth and not in name only.  Verse eighteen adds, And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?  Peter said if the righteous, or those who were called God's people, could barely be saved, what was to happen to the ungodly and the sinners, or those who were not called God's people.  The answer to salvation for both groups is faith in Jesus Christ.  Verse nineteen concludes, Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator.  Peter calls on those who suffer for their faith to continue in their faith.   If we suffer for our obedience to God, then God keeps our souls safe in His hand.