Peter Exhorts the Persecuted Believers Volume 34

 Suffering for Jesus Part 4

1 Peter 3:13 And who is he that will harm you, if ye be followers of that which is good? KJV Note: NKJV= New King James Version

In the early days, weeks, months, and years of my conversion/new birth/resurrection to my Lord, Master, and Savior Jesus Christ, I remember reading an article or watching an interview of the late Dr. Jerry Falwell in which he was questioned as to why he did not have security or body guards with him when he went to conferences or preaching engagements or elsewhere that took him away from his home Church ⛪ and city and his response at first to me was interesting and even peculiar but after spending more time ⌚ in the Word of God being taught the Word by the Author of the Word God the Holy Spirit, Dr. Falwell's answer made so much sense to me as his response to the questioner was, "I am bullet proof until my Lord Jesus Christ finishes the work He is doing through me on the earth 🌎." This is the very concept being resounded, rang out, and reverberated by the Apostle Peter to all of those early Jewish men and women converted to Christ with these words, "And who is he that will harm you, if ye be followers of that which is good?" (1 Peter 3:13) (KJV). These sons and daughters of our Lord Jesus Christ were being murdered/martyred by the unconverted/spiritually dead Jews in the city of Jerusalem and some were able to leave the city which is exactly what the Apostle Peter acknowledged concerning them in the very opening of this his first letter ✉ written to them, "Peter, an Apostle of Jesus Christ, to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia," (1 Peter 1:1) (KJV). They had been scattered because of persecution, yet Peter wanted them to know and understand as well as we true believers today and of every era and generation that despite the raging attacks from the devil 👿, his demons, and his two-legged devils that they then and we now are safe even though our Lord Jesus might allow our physical murder to take place as He did with the Apostle James, as it is written here, "Now about that time Herod the king stretched out his hand to harass some from the Church. Then he killed James the brother of John with the sword." (Acts 12:1-2) (NKJV). Herod surmised to do the same thing to the Apostle Peter, but our Lord Jesus Christ was not finished with the work that He would do through Peter, so He(Christ) saved Peter from death at that time ⌚. Why did He(Christ) not save the physical earthly life of James the brother of John? Simple answer, He was finished with the work He would do through James. The Lord Jesus is the One in control of all things and He determines when, where, and how His servants come to Him in Heaven. The little English phrase in 1 Peter 3:13 'is he that will harm' is translated by one Greek word kakoō meaning to injure; figuratively to exasperate: - make evil affected, entreat evil, harm, hurt, vex. This is one of the ways the devils seeks to come against those of us who are true born from above sons and daughters of Yahweh/Jesus/The Most High by trying to exasperate us or aggravate us or make us annoyed and frustrated during our walking/living as sojourners and pilgrims on our way home to Heaven to be with our Lord Jesus. However, as we are reminded above by the life and death of James the brother of John the devils first priority is to kill us physically, but he cannot hurt or harm or kill the real us our soul. Herod thought he was the one who determined, declared, or decided the time ⌚and place, and manner of death of James, but he did nothing that was not allowed by Christ Jesus. We true believers can know and be certain that our enemy can do NOTHING to pull us away from or apart from union with our Lord Jesus Christ as it is so eloquently written with these words by the Apostle Paul to the Church ⛪ @Rome, "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written: 'For Your sake we are killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.' Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:35-39) (NKJV). We also know who is with us everyday and everywhere and will never leave us on our own and that is our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ as it is written with these passages of Scripture, "Be strong and of good courage, do not fear nor be afraid of them; for the LORD your God, He is the One who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you." (Deuteronomy 31:6) (NKJV) and "No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life; as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you nor forsake you." (Joshua 1:5) (NKJV) and "And David said to his son Solomon, 'Be strong and of good courage, and do it; do not fear nor be dismayed, for the LORD God—my God—will be with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you, until you have finished all the work for the service of the house of the LORD.'" (1 Chronicles 28:20) (NKJV) and lastly "Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, 'I will never leave you nor forsake you.'" (Hebrews 13:5) (NKJV).

Here is what Dr. John Gill had to say of 1 Peter 3:13, "And who is he that will harm you,.... Or 'can harm you'. God will not; for His eyes are upon the righteous, to protect and defend them, and, His ears are open to their cries, to avenge them; He is on their side, and He is the only lawgiver that is able to save, and to destroy. Christ will not; for when He came the first time, it was not to condemn, but to save; and when He comes a second time, though He will rule the wicked with a rod of iron, and dash them in pieces as a potter's vessel; yet His people, who are His jewels, He will spare, as a man spares his only son. Good angels will not; these rejoice at the conversion, and in the salvation of sinful men, encamp about the saints, and are ministering spirits to them: nor the devil; though he would devour, he cannot; for greater is He that is in the saints, than he that is in the world: nor can sin; for though it wars against them, it shall not have the dominion over them; and though it often breaks in upon their peace and comfort, it cannot damn and destroy their souls: nor the law; for though it pronounces guilty, and curses those that are under it, and are of the works of it, yet since Christ has fulfilled it for His people, by obeying its precepts, and bearing its penalty, the curse, it lies not against them, nor can it inflict any punishment on them: nor the men of the world; who hate and persecute the saints; these can do them no real harm; they cannot hurt their grace, which shines the brighter, being tried and proved in the furnace of affliction; they cannot destroy their peace and comfort by all the trouble they give them; all the harm they can do them is to their bodies; they can do none to their souls; and even all the evil things they do to their bodies work together for their good; and they must be very wicked men that will do harm in any respect to such as behave well in states, cities, towns, or neighbourhoods: if ye be followers of that which is good; of God, who is essentially, originally, and infinitely good, and does good to all His creatures, by imitating Him in holiness and righteousness, in kindness, mercy, and beneficence; and of Christ, the good Shepherd, following Him in the exercise of grace, as of humility, love, patience, etc. and in the discharge of duty; and of good men, the Apostles of Christ, the first Churches, faithful ministers, and all such who through faith and patience have inherited the promises, and that both in doctrine and practice; and of all good things, whatever is true, honest, just, pure, lovely, and of good report, particularly righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, and meekness. Some copies, as the Alexandrian, and others, read, 'zealots', or 'zealous of good'; of good works, as in Titus 2:14 and so the Vulgate Latin, Syriac, and Ethiopic versions."

If you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ and His amazing healing power, pray this from your heart to the Lord Jesus Christ (you speaking directly to Him), Dear Lord Jesus, I confess to You that I am a sinner and I need Your forgiveness. I believe You shed Your Blood and died for my sins. I believe that You rose from the dead proving that You alone are God. I repent of my sins. I want to turn from my sins. I ask You Dear Lord Jesus to come into my heart and take control of my life. I want You to be my Lord, Savior, and my God. Amen...


Sincerely in Christ,


Clifford D. Tate, Sr.


Author of “Silent Assassins of the Soul - Are you Broken by Pornography and Masturbation? You can be Restored by the Lord Jesus Christ and brought into Deliverance, Freedom, and Victory! A Guide for Men and Women in the Enemy’s Crosshairs” e-book available now @ Amazon Kindle, @ Apple I Bookstore for IPod, Barnes and Noble for Nook, Reader Store for Sony Reade, Kobo, Copia, Gardners, Baker and Taylor, and eBookPie…