Rev. James Lincoln
November 18, 2012
Love One Another Fervently (1Peter 4:8)
Try to imagine what life was like for the followers of Christ to whom Peter wrote. Soon, Nero would
line the streets of Rome with the burning and impaled bodies of crucified Christians. In the coliseum,
Christians were killed for sport by wild beasts. Although Peter did not predict the form their persecution would
take, he did say that a “fiery ordeal was inevitable.”
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; (1Peter 4:12)
Comfort and encouragement were in short supply, so Peter writes to strengthen those about to face horrific
persecution. He does so by calling them to focus their attention, not on their trials per se, but on what God had
done for them and what He would be doing in their future. He does not call them to thrive in spite of their
troubles, but to thrive through them. Instead of despairing under the heavy weight of circumstances, Peter calls
them to humble themselves, “under the mighty hand of God, who would in due time lift them up” (1Peter 5:6).
What has captured your attention? The heavy weight of circumstances or the mighty hand of God? Critical to
their sense of well-being was that they keep their hearts and minds focused on God and not on those who appear
to have the upper hand at the moment.
Since these Christians had placed their faith in Jesus, they could be certain that God had set upon them
all the resources of His might and His covenant love. Like the Prodigal Son, even though so much spoke
against them, God had graciously welcomed them, forgiven them and accepted them. Where was God while
they were enduring many hardships? Through the new birth, God had taken up His home in their hearts through
His Holy Spirit. He was closer to them than their very breath, as David said, “holding them fast.”
God was now calling them to live by His many promises. Among them is the promise of an eternal
inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled and that could never fade away. He promised to protect them by His
power. He promised that any and every tribulation, instead of destroying them, was under His watchful eye,
refining them like gold in the furnace. Nothing entering into their lives would be arbitrary or random. Instead
of over-identifying with the world, as their home, Peter calls them to see themselves as aliens and strangers in
this world. Before God, Christians are a chosen people, royal priesthood, a holy nation and a people who belong
to God. Christians have been called to proclaim the excellencies of Him who called them out of darkness and
into His marvelous light. Therefore, on the basis of God’s extravagant promises, they can live free of the
passions of fear, bitterness, desperation, sensuality and hopelessness. Peter calls them to live with clear and
sober minds and to let their minds orbit about the truth of who they are in Christ.
Two Fixed Points: Throughout his letter, Peter returns to two fixed points in human history on which
they can hang their faith and hope. The first is the crucifixion of Jesus, who at Calvary died on their behalf. At
the cross, Jesus died: the righteous for the unrighteous. In doing so, He cast our sins as far as the East is from
the West to be remembered no more. At the cross, He made believers acceptable to God and won for Christians
God’s peace. At the cross, He also triumphed over the forces of evil, disarming them and making a public
spectacle of them. So, the devil and his minions have no authority over a Christian. Peter calls these Christians
to focus on this crucial fixed point in human history and what it has accomplished for them.
The other fixed point is the promise of the return of Christ, who is coming back to judge the living and
the dead and usher in His eternal reign of peace and justice. If you trust in Jesus’ sacrificial love for you on the
cross, you will not have to stand before Him as Judge. He stepped down off the bench and took our guilty
verdict on Himself. This pardon is for those who turn to Jesus, lean on Jesus and cast their hope on Jesus.
Moreover, Jesus gives them the promise of His second coming and promises to establish a new heaven
and a new earth. He promises a future where the lion will lie down with the lamb, all that is crooked will be
made straight, children will play with the cobra without a hint of fear, and justice will roll down like a river and
fill the earth as the waters now cover the seas. Then all humanity will turn to God, lean on God, rest and rejoice
in God. All nature will be benign. This means no more cancer, bi-polarism, Alzheimer’s, PTSD, no more
scams, spin, no more depression, worries and no more tears. Can’t wait. How about you?
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Since Jesus’ victory on the cross was so overwhelmingly and decisively victorious and since His victory
crushed the head of Satan, we can say, “Game over!” By saying that the end is “at hand,” Peter does not mean
there is not more to be done or even serious challenges to negotiate. In 2 Peter, he clarifies that by “near” he is
not speaking in terms of literal days, but from a cosmic perspective, “But do not overlook this one fact, beloved,
that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day” (2 Peter 3:8). Because
Christians know how this is all going to end, its nearness is made palpable. In a similar way, the overwhelming
and decisive victory at Normandy made the end of Nazi oppression palpable, even though there was much war
to be waged.
Hear, Peter’s exhortation to focus on these two fixed points in human history (the cross and Jesus’
return) was critical to their capacity to thrive under hardship. Christians are not to let their minds be possessed
by fearful speculations, opposition, anger and worry. Rather they are to be self-controlled by clear and sober
thinking for prayer. If God did not spare His only Son, but gave Him up for you, will He not give you all
things? With the promise of Jesus’ return to judge the living and the dead ushering in His perfect kingdom,
Christians have an inviolate and future hope to anticipate.
God may be forging some steel in the Christian’s soul by the means of serious hardship. Can we say
with Paul, “our present sufferings are not [even] worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.”
Can you sing with Thomas Chisholm, that God gives “strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow?”1 If
not, where are our heads and hope? What captivates our attention? What are we letting have control over our
hearts? He who trusts in the Lord Jesus has nothing ultimately to fear. No matter how challenging and even
painful our circumstances, the worst our spiritual enemy can do to us will only make us stronger. The worst he
did to Jesus on the cross only made Jesus and His love for us stronger. Remember that God used the greatest
act of injustice ever committed against a righteous person to break the tyrannical power of injustice. Since
Christians have been called to take up the cross and follow Jesus, God will use the same pattern to conform us
to Christ’s image. So, “Don’t be surprised at the fiery ordeal that is coming upon you as if something strange
were happening to you” (1Peter 5:1).
Love one another with a forbearing and forgiving love: Although our struggles today cannot be
compared to those of Peter’s audience, the principle for thriving under hardship is the same. A key piece of
Peter’s counsel has to do with community, “Above all, keep fervent in your love for one another, because love
covers a multitude of sins” (1Peter 4:8).
In other words, do not attempt to live as a Christian alone. An ember out of the fire is dangerous and
quickly grows cold. Peter’s “Above all” stresses how important it is for these battered Christians to participate
in a loving community of faith and resist the temptation to privatize their faith. This is the third time Peter calls
them to love one another (1:22; 2:17; 3:8). In that culture, shame was often attached to those who suffered. By
confessing faith in Jesus, Jewish Christians especially would have been excommunicated from their synagogue,
renounced by their families and boycotted by their business associates.
In first century Rome, there was no Social Security or public assistance. Moreover, since Christians
introduced a new god into the culture, they were blamed for every natural disaster by their pagan neighbors.
Natural crises were attributed to the anger of the gods. Who would carry on business with those responsible for
angering the gods? Also, some Christians didn’t want to be marginalized, so they adapted to the pagan culture
so as not to offend it. Some were weaker than others. What if you worked hard for all that you had and then
some poor Christian finds himself in need? What are you going to do? Are you going to move toward that
person in love or guard your savings? What if you were the next one to lose work and be in need? Is it not a
wise thing to save for an emergency? Can you feel the tensions their circumstances created? Certainly they
faced internal conflict about who was truly faithful and who was not. Turning against and blaming one another
was a natural temptation. As the circumstances for the Christians worsened, the passions of fear, blame,
resentment and the protective influences to guard their stuff could easily make their love grow cold. They were
like porcupines in winter. They need each other desperately to stay warm, but when they get too close the stick
each other with their needles and sharp elbows. At their most vulnerable moment, Peter calls them to love each
other deeply. That is when they would need it the most. Yet, the decision to love one another was not an easy
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From the hymn, Great is Thy Faithfulness
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one because it called for serious sacrifices. It is much easier to maintain an arms-length relationship with the
church, where one attends occasionally without getting too close or involved. That way not too much will be
asked of us.
The word Peter uses for “fervently” literally means “from a full stretch.” It pictures a horse in full stride
or at full gallop. Why did Peter use such a word? Because the love Peter calls them to embrace would stretch
them to the limit by the demands it would make upon them. Since many just do not have the capacity required
for this, their love grows cold. It is a sign of the end times. We hunker down and insulate ourselves, protecting,
hoarding, bound by fear and isolation. Withdrawing privatization like this is how Jesus spoke of hell.
According to Jesus, hell is a very cold place, (i.e., the outer darkness - Mtt. 25:30). In hell, souls put the
satisfaction and wellbeing of themselves before others. Hell is the frigid status of self-service, self-indulgence
and self-protection. Although surrounded by other souls, in hell everyone suffers a deep sense of loneliness.
So Peter says “Love one another fervently” or “stretchingly”.
Love must be fervent or a full stretch because of the demands it makes on us. Susan has a halitosis
problem. Bill wears you out with incessant talking. Robert doesn’t get along with Evelyn. Fred treats his wife
badly and everyone knows it. Jim preaches way too long. Gene is like a bull in a china shop. He is so
insensitive that he unwittingly hurts everyone’s feeling. Lucy has mastered the art of complaining. Hilary
necklines are way too revealing. Kevin has a short fuse. Roberta believes that her instincts and intuitions are to
be equated with God’s will and so to disagree with her is to be out of step with God. Tommy was offended by
Steve and they haven’t spoken in years. Betty offends Marsha, Marsha tell Bernice (of course it’s a matter for
prayer). Bernice tells Dorothy ad infinitum. Bill’s a pre-mil. Calvinist, Bob’s a post mil. Armenian. Dick is an
a-mil. post tribulation rapturist. And Victor is a preterist. Nobody but Victor and the pastor even know what a
preterist is. Of course, they all believe they are right and those who disagree with them are wrong. Adding to
that, they have sharp political opinions. Susan believes in joining an assassination plot to take Nero out and
Sally believes in passive civil disobedience. You get it. Why does Peter say, love one another fervently or
stretchingly? He does so because true love stretches you to the limit.
Moreover, love covers a “multitude of sins.” Notice the word multitude. How many is a multitude?
Well, it’s certainly more once or twice. Jesus said to forgive 70 times 7. What does Peter expect will be the
stresses of the fellowship? Sin! James says, “Confess your sins to one another and pray for one another.” He
did not say “Confess for one another and pray to one another.” Love covers a multitude of sins. What does it
mean to cover? It means to hide something from view. The first thing the Father of the prodigal son said to his
son who had returned to him covered in the muck and mud of a pig sty was, “Quickly, bring out the best robe
and put it on him.” The first thing the father did after hugging and kissing his son, who was once lost, was to
make sure that the shameful evidence of his son’s sin, the muck and mud of the pig sty, was covered up and
hidden from sight. Beloved, that’s what God does for you when you trust in the Lord Jesus. He covers your
sins…all of them.
I have a parts car sitting in the RV parking along my back yard. It’s covered with rust. It leaks so the
interior is rotten. Moss is growing inside. The old car is resting on blocks and in general it is just a mess. So to
cover the eye sore up, I bought a fancy car cover and covered it up. Visitors think I have a fancy sports car that
I’m preserving in my back yard. Peter says true love covers up the sins and flaws of others or as Paul says,
“love keeps no record of wrongs.” True love burns the list. It lives free of bitterness, resentment and retaliation
because the source of all of that, in love, has been covered up.
I have now been doing pre-marital counseling for over 30 years. There is one challenge that we can
count on 99% of the time. It is called “Idealistic Distortion”. Consistently, couples underestimate their own
selfishness and the selfishness of their spouses. Some can ignore offenses for a while, but eventually reality sets
in and a couple has to decide if they are going to love each other by facing each other’s sins and then to cover
them over or not.
Imagine what it would be like to be free in your head of any wrong ever done to you. Imagine if the hurt
someone caused you never had the power to pull the strings of your life again, or lead you into bitterness, pay
back or protective strategies. Some have never known liberation like this. And yet, Peter says, “Love covers a
multitude of sins.” He doesn’t mean that we live in denial about the sins we have committed or that others have
committed against us. Sins and their consequences don’t just evaporate into thin air. When you forgive
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someone you pay the debt they owe you by absorbing the pain of that injustice instead of making them pay it
back by gossiping about them, cutting them down to size, giving them the cold shoulder, hurting their reputation
or just dismissing them. To forgive means to refuse to payback another for their offence. To forgive means that
you pay it back by absorbing the pain of the injustice yourself and entrusting yourself to the Lord who did the
same for you. Here’s how you know if you have forgiven someone: If you are still making the one who
offended pay for their offence, you have yet to forgive them. Love actively covers or puts a manhole cover over
the sins of others and welds it shut so that we won’t be tempted to reopen it. Peter is realistic about what
sinners like us need to thrive in relationship, especially when Christians were facing serious opposition.
Where can we find the deep resources of love Peter is calling from us here? Again, return to that fixed
point in the history of humanity. The cross. The cross is where we get the power to do this, because on the
cross, Jesus covered over or forgave the multitude of our own sins. On the cross Jesus voluntarily took on
Himself and absorbed into Himself the debt our sins owed to God. On the cross, Jesus loved us, by making our
well-being and peace with God more important than that of His very own. On the cross, He bore our sins and
iniquities. They didn’t evaporate into thin air. He took the pain and penalty of the muck and the mud of our
sins and their eternal consequences upon Himself, all so that we could be brought to God accepted and loved
forever. Here’s the gospel: Jesus lived the life we should have lived and then He offers to us the record of His
perfect righteousness as a gift to be received by faith. The gospel is a gift. You cannot earn or merit God’s love
and favor. But you can receive it as a gift. Moreover, Jesus died the death we should have died, on our behalf.
Whatever punishment your sins and mine deserve, Jesus stepped up before God the Father and said, I will take
that for them. And He did. The gospel is a miracle of love and grace. In it He covered a multitude of our sins.
During the Old Testament, whoever got inside the home covered by the blood of the unblemished lamb
was safe from the judgment of God. Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. His body
was killed and His blood spilt to take away the sin of the world. To be safe from God’s judgment is to trust that
the Lord Jesus has given His life for you, covering your sins and mine. If you have trusted in Jesus, your sins,
no matter how many, have been covered forever, for your life is now hidden in Christ. Since He has done all of
this for us, Peter calls us to do the same for others. And no matter what trials and struggles we may face,
together we can remind each other of the love of God poured out for us even though so much speaks against us.
In Him, we can love one another with a love so strong that we will be reminded through our love for each other
that the worst that can be done to uswill only make us stronger. No one can ever love you like Jesus. Love Him
and fervently love one another.
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