I concluded the previous post
in this series with:
"We must beware the red horse.
We must fear lest we invite the red horse into our souls, our families, our
churches, our friendships. We must also be prepared to suffer, for I think that
it is only through suffering that we can know peace – I will pick this up on
the next post in this series."
Peter writes (1 Peter 5:6 –
11), “Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may
exalt you at the proper time, casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares
for you. Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil prowls
around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. But resist him, firm in
your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being
accomplished by your brethren who are in the world. After you have suffered for
a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in
Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you. To Him be
dominion forever and ever. Amen.”
One of the many dimensions of
suffering is that in suffering we have to decide whether or not to surrender
our will to God; when we surrender to God in the midst of suffering we enter
into His peace. A temptation when the red horse is running rampant in society
(Revelation 6:4) is to respond in kind. We return anger for anger, hatred for
hatred, vengeance for vengeance – we enter into the downward spiral of the
abyss – for that which rises from the abyss will eventually descend into the
abyss.
In a red horse culture we are
called to “humble” ourselves “under the mighty hand of God” casting all our
anxiety on Him because He cares for us. Peter also writes (4:19), “Therefore,
those also who suffer according to the will of God shall entrust their souls to
a faithful Creator in doing what is right.” Peter (4:13) reminds his readers
that to the degree that they share in the sufferings of Christ that they are to
“keep on rejoicing, so that also at the revelation of His glory you may rejoice
with exultation.” This is a mirror of Paul's words to the Romans, “For I consider
that the sufferings of the present time are not worthy to be compared with the
glory that is to be revealed to us,” (Romans 8:18).
Jesus speaks of a time when
men’s hearts will fail them for fear – we live in such times. Stress, anxiety,
and fear are agents of the red horse removing peace from the earth. Men and
women no longer sleep – for sleep only comes to those at rest, only those who
dwell in safety – sleep deprivation is a major health concern in the West. Due
to stress and anxiety we have become a nation that consumes drugs, alcohol and
counseling sessions. We do not just consume material things to gratify our
cravings for “more” – we consume products, including entertainment, to deaden
our anxieties and fears. Peace has departed our land, peace (what little there
ever was of it) is departing our world. The most materially prosperous culture
in history is devoid of peace – we lock our doors and we medicate ourselves.
Even food has become medication – we have lost religious ritual in sacred
places and have replaced it with food ritual – the loaf of bread along with
wine or beer is no longer enough for us to simply enjoy and give thanks for,
for simplicity leads to contemplation and contemplation to eternal questions
and the red horse would have us avoid eternal questions at all cost.
Those who surrender their will
to God in the midst of a society in which the roaring lion and red horse rant
and rage and lie in wait are those who in surrender will know the peace of
Christ. We resist the enemy as we submit to Christ, we resist the enemy as we
commit our souls to our loving gracious heavenly Father in the midst of
suffering – in the Cross is the ironic victory of resurrection. In dying in
Christ we live in Christ.
As Peter’s first letter makes
clear, we are called to suffer, but in suffering we find the peace and glory of
God (1 Peter 1:6 – 9). In suffering we learn to resist the enemy while at the
same time we learn to submit to God, our heavenly Potter. In suffering we learn
that resistance includes turning the other cheek, and that turning the other
cheek means submitting to our Lord Jesus Christ. Submission to Christ means
resisting the enemy. The temptation is to take matters into our own hands, the
call of God is to surrender our will to our Lord Jesus. The red horse and the
roaring lion want us to respond in kind, they want us to play their game, they
want us to view things as the “earth dwellers” of Revelation – but the cry of
Revelation is “woe to the earth dwellers!” We must not be deceived by
appearances – this deception will lead us into anger and fear and anxiety and
will rob us of the peace that is ours in Christ – this deception will leave us
destitute and afflicted and unable to help others, this deception will
debilitate us in evangelism, in worship, and in building up the body of Christ.
We cannot “achieve” peace
through suffering – that is not the Gospel message. The Gospel message is that
in Christ, through suffering, we can know the peace of God as Jesus Christ and
His Word live within us by the Holy Spirit; and that in our union with the
Trinity we can experience the peace of the Trinity and be conduits of that
peace to others. We cannot “achieve” anything, but our Lord Jesus Christ will
work His good will within us as we surrender our will to Him – a surrender that is only possible through the enabling and the work of the Holy
Spirit.
“Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall
be called sons of God.”
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