Introduction

Introduction When I got Trevor's message for the LAB this week, I just wanted to laugh. This assignment which covers two LABs on hospitality is exactly what I needed to hear! How God finds so many ways to capture our, my attention. And how good He is to be the Father who disciplines, who teaches, who corrects, who exhorts and who encourages. You see, it's been a busy season. December was Advent. January is full of events leading up to Chinese New Year. Unlike any other time I can remember, my household has been full of hospitality invitations. All of a sudden, we're having an influx of people who want to connect, want a place for home cooked food, for fellowship, for conversation, for welcoming! The blessing has been great but so has the inconveniences. I confess I have grumbled! Argggh! Oh how I just had to laugh. LOL! Oh God, how good You are to get my attention. Oh teach me in these LABs! There are two LABs on 1 Peter 4:9 which Pastor Piper covered over two consecutive days. I decided to look at both LABs: www.desiringgod.org/labs/how-to-be-more-hospitable and www.desiringgod.org/labs/what-grumbling-says-about-god .

notes

Varied contextual support

NT

1 Peter 4:9

esv

mine

Hospitality one of many good deeds in 1 Peter

Show hospitality to one another without grumbling.

1 Peter 2:15 For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people.

(personal note: I like how Pastor John says that showing hospitality is not easy, and how we need God to do so without grumbling. This is very helpful for me!)

1 Peter 2:20 For what credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? But if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God.

1 Peter 3:6 as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord. And you are her children, if you do good and do not fear anything that is frightening.

1 Peter 3:11 let him turn away from evil and do good; let him seek peace and pursue it.

1 Peter 3:17 For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God’s will, than for doing evil.

1 Peter 4:19 Therefore let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good.

Not grumbling while doing good is what makes us shine as lights

What is good about hospitality

Matt 25:35 For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in,

1 Peter 2:12 Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.

1 Peter 5:2 Give a shepherd’s care to God’s flock among you, exercising oversight not merely as a duty but willingly under God’s direction, not for shameful profit but eagerly.

Phil 2:14-15 Do all things without grumbling or disputing, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world,

2 Cor 9:7 Each one of you should give just as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, because God loves a cheerful giver.

Matt 5:11-16 “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. “You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet. “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

1 Peter 2:21 For to this you were called, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving an example for you to follow in his steps.

1 Peter 3:9 Do not return evil for evil or insult for insult, but instead bless others because you were called to inherit a blessing.

1 Peter 5:2-4 Give a shepherd’s care to God’s flock among you, exercising oversight not merely as a duty but willingly under God’s direction, not for shameful profit but eagerly. And do not lord it over those entrusted to you, but be examples to the flock. Then when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that never fades away.

Heb 13:2 Do not neglect hospitality, because through it some have entertained angels without knowing it.

Luke 14:13-14 But when you host an elaborate meal, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. Then you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you, for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”

Pastor John cites this verse where hospitality is something good that can be extended to those who are unjust to believers.

phrasing

Study Questions

Study Questions Principles: From LAB webpages Word Searches Word searches are important for deep study of the Bible. To conduct one, search for a particular word throughout the Bible to help clarify meaning and make connections to other Scriptures. A concordance makes these searches easy as they list words and where each is used in the Bible. Beyond this you can usually search Bible apps or online texts for instances of where specific words are found throughout the Bible. Searching in Concentric Circles When seeking for answers concerning how a biblical author uses a word or phrase in a particular verse, it is often helpful to start by seeking answers in the immediate context and then moving outward. When wrestling with a text, good Bible reading, like a stone dropped in a pond, starts at the word or phrase in question and ripples out to other places in the Bible to get help for understanding. Starting your search in the immediate verse and moving outward is often called searching in concentric circles. After searching in the immediate verse, it is key to look for the author’s meaning in: The paragraph which contains the verse Then the chapter Then its book as a whole Then other books written by the same author Then the same Testament (New or Old) as a whole Then the whole Bible Note: This order may be rearranged depending on the verse. If you are dealing with the meaning of a verse cited from the Old Testament for example, going to the Old Testament would move up in priority. 1. Would friends classify you as a hospitable person? What makes you hospitable? What prevents you from it? They would think I am a hospitable person in general, and in outward appearance. What makes me hospitable is opening the household to others, and in spending time with people. What prevents me from true hospitality is at times my busyness, and others my grumbling. 2. Would friends classify you as a grumbling person? What makes you grumble most? Why do you grumble? Close friends would classify me as a grumbling person I grumble when I am inconvenienced, and put out I grumble because I don't value enough and have good faith in the goodness and provision of God, and I don't realise the lessons of this verse in 1 Peter 4:9. 3. Read 1 Peter 4:9 . When you don’t want to be hospitable, does this verse tell you to just suck it up and do it? This verse does not tell me to suck it up. Further explanations in the questions below. 4. When was the last time you showed hospitality? Did you grumble while you did it? The last time I showed hospitality was this past Sunday. Yes I did grumble while I did it. 5. Read 1 Peter 4:9 , Philippians 2:14–15 , and Matthew 5:11–16 . What do these passages say about grumbling and the Christian? 1 Peter 4:9 says not to grumble. The Greek word used is γογγυσμοῦ. Double clicking on the word in Biblearc gave this meaning: gongusmos, gongusmou, ho (gonguzō , which see), a murmur, murmuring, muttering ; applied to a. secret debate: peri tinos , John 7:12 . b. secret displeasure, not openly avowed: pros tina , Acts 6:1 ; in plural chōris or aneu gongusmōn without querulous discontent, without murmurings, i.e. with a cheerful and willing mind, Phil. 2:14 ; 1 Pet. 4:9 (where L T Tr WH read the singular). ( Exo. 16:7ff ; WisSol 1:10f; Antoninus 9, 37.) Philippians 2:14-15 shows how it is by NOT grumbling or disputing that we may be blameless and innocent before God, shining as lights in a crooked world. This is helpful because having worked in social services, I always wondered what good I could do that set me apart from the good done by many other believers. Matthew 5:11-16 shows how it is our very LORD Jesus Christ Himself who wants us to shine as lights -- connecting the idea of not grumbling to being a light to the command by Christ Himself. 6. What are you most prone to complain about? What might an angel think who watches you grumble from heaven? I am most prone to complain when I am inconvenienced and put out. I think an angel who watches me from heaven when I complain must think how I make an idol out of leisure, and think my time and my life my own. I must I do not understand the gospel, and how much I have yet to know and trust and value God, especially Christ.