If anyone speaks, he should speak as one conveying the words of God. If anyone serves, he should serve with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory and the power forever and ever. Amen. If anyone speaks, he should speak as one conveying the words of God.This phrase emphasizes the responsibility of those who speak within the Christian community, particularly leaders and teachers. The speaker is urged to ensure that their words align with divine truth, reflecting the authority and purity of God's message. This echoes James 3:1, which warns that teachers will be judged more strictly. The phrase also connects to the prophetic tradition in the Old Testament, where prophets were seen as mouthpieces of God, such as in Jeremiah 1:9, where God puts His words in the prophet's mouth. The emphasis is on the integrity and divine origin of the message being conveyed. If anyone serves, he should serve with the strength God provides,
Service in the Christian context is not merely a human effort but is empowered by divine strength. This reflects the biblical principle found in Philippians 4:13, where Paul states, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." The idea is that God equips believers with the necessary strength to fulfill their roles, whether in the church or in the world. This reliance on God's provision underscores the humility and dependence expected of believers, recognizing that all abilities and opportunities come from Him. so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ,
The ultimate purpose of speaking and serving is to bring glory to God, a central theme throughout Scripture. This aligns with 1 Corinthians 10:31, which instructs believers to do everything for the glory of God. The phrase "through Jesus Christ" highlights the mediatory role of Christ, through whom believers have access to God and whose life and work exemplify perfect obedience and glorification of the Father. This reflects the Christocentric focus of the New Testament, where Jesus is the means by which God's purposes are fulfilled. to whom be the glory and the power forever and ever. Amen.
This doxology attributes eternal glory and power to Jesus Christ, affirming His divine nature and eternal reign. It echoes similar doxologies found in Revelation 5:13 and Jude 1:25, which ascribe glory and dominion to God and Christ. The use of "forever and ever" emphasizes the eternal and unchanging nature of Christ's authority and the perpetual worship He is due. The concluding "Amen" signifies agreement and affirmation, a common liturgical response in both Jewish and Christian traditions, underscoring the communal acknowledgment of these truths. Persons / Places / Events 1. PeterThe apostle Peter, one of Jesus' closest disciples, is the author of this epistle. He writes to encourage and instruct believers in their faith and conduct. 2. Recipients of the EpistleThe letter is addressed to the "elect exiles" scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, regions in Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey). 3. Jesus ChristCentral to the message of the epistle, Jesus is the one through whom God is glorified, and to whom glory and power belong forever. Teaching Points Speaking as God's MessengerWhen we speak, we should do so with the awareness that our words can convey God's truth. This requires us to be diligent in our study of Scripture and sensitive to the Holy Spirit's guidance. Serving with God's StrengthOur service should not rely on our own strength but on the strength that God provides. This means acknowledging our dependence on Him and seeking His empowerment in all our endeavors. Glorifying God in All ThingsThe ultimate purpose of our speaking and serving is to glorify God. This perspective shifts our focus from self-centered motives to a God-centered life. The Role of Jesus ChristRecognizing that all glory and power belong to Jesus Christ helps us maintain a posture of humility and worship, acknowledging His lordship in every aspect of our lives. Bible Study Questions 1. How can you ensure that your words reflect the truth and love of God in your daily interactions? 2. In what ways can you rely more on God's strength rather than your own abilities when serving others? 3. Reflect on a recent situation where you had the opportunity to glorify God. How did you respond, and what might you do differently in the future? 4. How does understanding that all glory and power belong to Jesus Christ influence your approach to challenges and successes? 5. Consider the spiritual gifts you have been given. How can you use them more effectively to serve others and glorify God, as encouraged in 1 Peter 4:11 and related scriptures? Connections to Other Scriptures Romans 12:6-8This passage discusses the use of spiritual gifts, emphasizing that each person should use their gifts according to the grace given to them, similar to the call in 1 Peter 4:11 to speak and serve with God's provision. Colossians 3:17This verse encourages believers to do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him, aligning with the call to glorify God in all things. Ephesians 4:29This scripture advises believers to speak only what is helpful for building others up, which complements the instruction in 1 Peter 4:11 to speak as conveying the words of God. | Christian Speech | J.R. Thomson | 1 Peter 4:11 | | Above All Things -- Love | F. B. Meyer, B. A. | 1 Peter 4:7-11 | | As and So -- the Method of Ministry | W. H. M. H. Aitken, M. A. | 1 Peter 4:7-11 | | Charity Covering a Multitude of Sins | T. Ainger, M. A. | 1 Peter 4:7-11 | | Charity Covering Faults | Great Thoughts | 1 Peter 4:7-11 | | Christian Sobriety | C. Vince. | 1 Peter 4:7-11 | | Christian Stewardship | A. L. Simpson, D. D. | 1 Peter 4:7-11 | | Dissuasives from Uncharitableness | H. W. Beecher. | 1 Peter 4:7-11 | | Duty | Hugh Ross. | 1 Peter 4:7-11 | | Duty in View of the Nearness of the End | R. Finlayson | 1 Peter 4:7-11 | | Fervent Charity | P. Witherspoon. | 1 Peter 4:7-11 | | Fervent Charity | W. H. Hutchings, M. A. | 1 Peter 4:7-11 | | Gifts | Homiletic Quarterly | 1 Peter 4:7-11 | | Gifts and Responsibility | Bishop of Lichfield. | 1 Peter 4:7-11 | | Gifts to be Communicated for the Good of Others | John Rogers. | 1 Peter 4:7-11 | | God Glorified by Christ | F. B. Meyer, B. A. | 1 Peter 4:7-11 | | God's Gifts and Their Purpose | Canon Vernon Hutton. | 1 Peter 4:7-11 | | God's Gifts and Their Use | T. Griffith, M. A. | 1 Peter 4:7-11 | | How Christians May Glorify God | | 1 Peter 4:7-11 | | In What a Variety of Ways We May Serve and Benefit Others | G. J. Zollikofer. | 1 Peter 4:7-11 | | Love Covereth All Sins | J. Vaughan, M. A. | 1 Peter 4:7-11 | | Love Covers Sins | F. B. Meyer, B. A. | 1 Peter 4:7-11 | | Love Must be Fervent | John Rogers. | 1 Peter 4:7-11 | | Mutual Obligations | J. N. Pearson, M. A. | 1 Peter 4:7-11 | | Personal Christliness | Homilist | 1 Peter 4:7-11 | | Receiving and Ministering | J. Trapp. | 1 Peter 4:7-11 | | Reflected Glory | A. Maclaren, D. D. | 1 Peter 4:7-11 | | Soberness and Watchfulness | D. Moore, M. A. | 1 Peter 4:7-11 | | The Christian Stewardship | Dean Alford. | 1 Peter 4:7-11 | | The End of All Things | Pulpit Studies | 1 Peter 4:7-11 | | The End of All Things At Hand | W. J. Armstrong. | 1 Peter 4:7-11 | | The Greatness of Love | P. H. Sharpe. | 1 Peter 4:7-11 | | The Idea and Duty of Human Life | W. L. Watkinson. | 1 Peter 4:7-11 | | The Import and Application of Glorifying God Through Jesus Christ | J. B. Beard. | 1 Peter 4:7-11 | | The Nearness of Eternity | G. S. Noel, M. A. | 1 Peter 4:7-11 | | The Nearness of Eternity | F. B. Meyer, B. A. | 1 Peter 4:7-11 | | The Oracles of God | W. G. Barrett. | 1 Peter 4:7-11 | | The Preaching of the Word | Abp. Leighton. | 1 Peter 4:7-11 | | The Preeminence of Charity | F. W. Robertson, M. A. | 1 Peter 4:7-11 | | The Warmth of Hospitality | Scientific Illustrations | 1 Peter 4:7-11 | | Uugrudging Hospitality | F. B. Meyer, B. A. | 1 Peter 4:7-11 | | Waiting for the End | H. J. Wilmot Buxton, M. A. | 1 Peter 4:7-11 | | Watch unto Prayer | G. F. Prescott, M. A. | 1 Peter 4:7-11 | | Watchfulness and Prayerfulness | J. T. Shedd, D. D. | 1 Peter 4:7-11 | | Watchfulness Associated with Prayerfulness | J. Imrie, M. A. | 1 Peter 4:7-11 | | Watching for Answers to Prayer | J. Edmond, D. D. | 1 Peter 4:7-11 | | Watching in Relation to Prayer | C. Vince. | 1 Peter 4:7-11 | | The Persecuted Christian Reminded of the Help of Brotherly Love | C. New | 1 Peter 4:8-11 | | Christian Love as a Service | U.R. Thomas | 1 Peter 4:9-11 |
People PeterPlaces Asia, Bithynia, Cappadocia, Galatia, PontusTopics Amen, Anyone, Belong, Christ, Dominion, Forever, Glorified, Glory, Power, Praised, Provides, Serves, Speaking, Speaks, Strength, SuppliesDictionary of Bible Themes 1 Peter 4:11 1105 God, power of
1512 Trinity, equality of
1690 word of God
5630 work, divine and human
5909 motives, importance
5955 strength, divine
7939 ministry
8409 decision-making, and providence
8634 amen
8664 praise 1 Peter 4:10-11 5556 stewardship
7026 church, leadership
7968 spiritual gifts, nature of
8437 giving, of talents 1 Peter 4:10-13 8440 glorifying God Library Christian Asceticism
'Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin. 2. That he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God. 3. For the time past of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles, when we walked in lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wine, revellings, banquetings, and abominable idolatries: 4. Wherein they think it …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture Ephesians, Peter,JohnJune the Twenty-Sixth Crucifying the Flesh
"Arm yourselves likewise with the same mind." --1 PETER iv. 1-8. Let not the body be dominant, but the soul. Let me study the example and counsel of the Apostle Paul. "I keep my body under." Literally, I pummel it! If it is obtrusive and aggressive, its appetites clamouring for supremacy, I pummel it! Paul was not afraid of severe measures where carnality was concerned. He would fast a whole day in order to put the flesh in its place. And so should it be with all the Lord's children. We are …
John Henry Jowett—My Daily Meditation for the Circling Year Personal Experience
In conclusion I desire to add my humble testimony of a personal experience of the glorious work of entire sanctification. At the age of seventeen years I was converted. All who were acquainted with me had no reason to doubt the genuine, inwrought grace of pardon and the new life which at once began to bring forth fruit unto God. But the one to whom this mighty change seemed the most marvelous was myself. My poor soul, which for several years had been held under the terrible bondage and darkness of …
J. W. Byers—Sanctification The Old Man and the New.
"That we being dead unto sin should live unto righteousness."--1 Peter iv. 24. The Psalmist sings: "They go from strength to strength, every one of them in Zion appeareth before God." (Psalm lxxxiv. 7) We must maintain this glorious testimony, altho our own experience often seems to contradict it. Not experience, but the Scripture, teaches us divine truth; nor is it as tho the procedure of the divine operation in our own heart could differ from the testimony of the Sacred Scripture, but that our …
Abraham Kuyper—The Work of the Holy Spirit Man's Chief End
Q-I: WHAT IS THE CHIEF END OF MAN? A: Man's chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him for ever. Here are two ends of life specified. 1: The glorifying of God. 2: The enjoying of God. I. The glorifying of God, I Pet 4:4: That God in all things may be glorified.' The glory of God is a silver thread which must run through all our actions. I Cor 10:01. Whether therefore ye eat or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.' Everything works to some end in things natural and artificial; …
Thomas Watson—A Body of Divinity A Battle with Smallpox
Soon after we began work in the city, my brother George went out to assist in a meeting at Edgewood, Iowa. A mother desired prayer for her little girl, so my brother and another minister laid hands on her and prayed for her healing. The mother said that some one thought her child was taking smallpox, but that she was sure it was a mistake. The ministers saw a few little pimples on the child's lip and asked her if the same breaking-out was on other parts of her body. The mother's answer was, "None …
Mary Cole—Trials and Triumphs of Faith A Nickname Accepted
'The disciples were called Christians first in Antioch' --ACTS xi. 26. Nations and parties, both political and religious, very often call themselves by one name, and are known to the outside world by another. These outside names are generally given in contempt; and yet they sometimes manage to hit the very centre of the characteristics of the people on whom they are bestowed, and so by degrees get to be adopted by them, and worn as an honour. So it has been with the name 'Christian.' It was given …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture: The Acts Of Avoiding of Curious Inquiry into the Life of Another
"My Son, be not curious, nor trouble thyself with vain cares. What is that to thee? Follow thou Me.(1) For what is it to thee whether a man be this or that, or say or do thus or thus? Thou hast no need to answer for others, but thou must give an answer for thyself. Why therefore dost thou entangle thyself? Behold, I know all men, and I behold all things which are done under the sun; and I know how it standeth with each one, what he thinketh, what he willeth, and to what end his thoughts reach. …
Thomas A Kempis—Imitation of Christ Some Other Writers of the New Testament
[Illustration: (drop cap L) Ancient engraving of man reading scroll] Let us now look at the rest of the books which make up the New Testament. In the days when Paul preached at Athens, the old capital of Greece, much of the ancient splendour and power of the Greek people had passed away, for the Romans had conquered their country, and they were no longer a free nation. Yet, although the Greeks had been forced to yield to Rome, their conquerors knew that the Grecian scholars and artists were far …
Mildred Duff—The Bible in its Making John Bunyan on the Terms of Communion and Fellowship of Christians at the Table of the Lord;
COMPRISING I. HIS CONFESSION OF FAITH, AND REASON OF HIS PRACTICE; II. DIFFERENCES ABOUT WATER BAPTISM NO BAR TO COMMUNION; AND III. PEACEABLE PRINCIPLES AND TRUE[1] ADVERTISEMENT BY THE EDITOR. Reader, these are extraordinary productions that will well repay an attentive perusal. It is the confession of faith of a Christian who had suffered nearly twelve years' imprisonment, under persecution for conscience sake. Shut up with his Bible, you have here the result of a prayerful study of those holy …
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3 The Wilderness State
"Ye now have sorrow: But I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you." John 16:22. 1. After God had wrought a great deliverance for Israel, by bringing them out of the house of bondage, they did not immediately enter into the land which he had promised to their fathers; but "wandered out of the way in the wilderness," and were variously tempted and distressed. In like manner, after God has delivered them that fear him from the bondage of sin and Satan; …
John Wesley—Sermons on Several Occasions Of the Power of the Church in Articles of Faith. The Unbridled Licence of the Papal Church in Destroying Purity of Doctrine.
1. The marks and government of the Church having been considered in the seven previous chapters, the power of the Church is now considered under three heads--viz. Doctrine, Legislation, Jurisdiction. 2. The authority and power given to Church-officers not given to themselves, but their office. This shown in the case of Moses and the Levitical priesthood. 3. The same thing shown in the case of the Prophets. 4. Same thing shown in the case of the Apostles, and of Christ himself. 5. The Church astricted …
John Calvin—The Institutes of the Christian Religion The Disciple, -- what is the Meaning and Purpose of the Cross...
The Disciple,--What is the meaning and purpose of the cross, and why do pain and suffering exist in the world? The Master,--1. The cross is the key to heaven. At the moment when by My baptism I took the cross upon My shoulders for the sake of sinners, heaven was opened, and by means of My thirty-three years bearing of the cross and by death upon it, heaven, which by reason of sin was closed to believers, was for ever opened to them. Now as soon as believers take up their cross and follow Me they …
Sadhu Sundar Singh—At The Master's Feet Seasonable Counsel: Or, Advice to Sufferers.
BY JOHN BUNYAN. London: Printed for Benjamin Alsop, at the Angel and Bible in the Poultry, 1684. ADVERTISEMENT BY THE EDITOR. THIS valuable treatise was first published in a pocket volume in 1684, and has only been reprinted in Whitfield's edition of Bunyan's works, 2 vols. folio, 1767. No man could have been better qualified to give advice to sufferers for righteousness' sake, than John Bunyan: and this work is exclusively devoted to that object. Shut up in a noisome jail, under the iron hand of …
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3 Links 1 Peter 4:11 NIV1 Peter 4:11 NLT1 Peter 4:11 ESV1 Peter 4:11 NASB1 Peter 4:11 KJV
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