back to indexWed Bible Study (1 Peter) - 03-08-17
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Well, last week, you know, we had to take a break with all the things that were happening. 00:00:12.560 |
If you will, in terms of the schedule wise, because I know, again, that does affect some 00:00:16.240 |
of you guys in terms of when you'll be able to attend and stuff, we're going to still 00:00:25.300 |
So next week, we're just going to double up on the passages. 00:00:28.360 |
So next week's passage is going to be chapter 4, verses 1 through 11. 00:00:35.880 |
So just FYI on the schedule so that you know what's coming up. 00:00:41.640 |
Well, I want to start off, you know, by saying that you can already tell going through this 00:00:50.720 |
book, 1 Peter, that there is a lot of repetition. 00:00:57.080 |
So much of it is trying, again, to minister to people who have been hurting. 00:01:02.840 |
So much of the book is trying to constantly give both a rationale, it's both giving an 00:01:08.880 |
encouragement, it's giving admonition, and it's giving a challenge. 00:01:14.040 |
And we've been saying that in the beginning, he began with this great admonition to remember 00:01:21.080 |
But what's more, he's been raising the Christians to a higher standard of God that even in the 00:01:26.600 |
midst of this kind of suffering, that God desires and calls them to these greater standards 00:01:37.000 |
So in line with that, by way of review, starting from chapter 2, verse 13, he had given a sequence 00:01:44.200 |
of challenges for those Christians who are experiencing persecution and hardship. 00:01:50.680 |
And perhaps to some of us, that encouragement and challenge was a surprise. 00:01:56.320 |
Because it wasn't just simply, "Hey, you have to persevere." 00:02:01.440 |
It wasn't simply, "Hey, let's just try to make sure that we last until it ends." 00:02:07.160 |
But rather, the apostle Peter and God through that had challenged them to say, "I want you 00:02:13.240 |
to do something that's counterintuitive or even just simply counter-cultural, which is 00:02:25.940 |
And not simply wait underneath that, but actually thrive underneath that with the characteristics 00:02:32.880 |
And so in chapter 2, verse 13, he called everyone to submit to government and authority. 00:02:42.320 |
And then in verse 18, he called the servants to submit to their masters. 00:02:48.560 |
Not only to those who are fair, equitable, and pays you, right? 00:02:53.080 |
But even to those who are unruly, even to those who are unfair. 00:02:57.100 |
And then he gave in verse 21 this example, because Christ suffered for you in this way, 00:03:03.780 |
And then the previous two weeks ago, we talked about how even in the home, even when an individual 00:03:10.240 |
is married to an unbeliever and that unbeliever is being unfair, he says, "Know how to submit 00:03:17.140 |
to husbands who are disobedient, who are unbelieving." 00:03:20.420 |
That by your submission, by your character, you're glorifying God. 00:03:27.020 |
And through that, you're revealing who the Father is. 00:03:30.460 |
So with that being said, God has been teaching this high standard that is again, perhaps 00:03:35.720 |
surprising to us, that is challenging for us, because it goes against the natural inclinations 00:03:48.440 |
Let's take a moment to pray, we'll read our passage and then jump in. 00:03:55.120 |
Heavenly Father, we wanna pray that God, your spirit, your Holy Spirit would help us. 00:04:00.560 |
God, we need your spirit that we might be introspective to examine and know ourselves. 00:04:07.920 |
And God, that in our conscience, Lord, we would have clear eyes to see the things that 00:04:15.340 |
We also need your spirit to see truth, to see it clearly, and to realize, God, that 00:04:21.200 |
we need to constantly abide in your word and truth. 00:04:24.900 |
Help us tonight and always, Lord, to constantly receive and apply your word. 00:04:33.080 |
So I wanna read the passage in its total starting from verse eight. 00:04:38.980 |
I'm gonna be reading out of the NASB and it says, "To sum up, all of you be harmonious, 00:04:46.480 |
sympathetic, brotherly, kindhearted, and humble in spirit, not returning evil for evil or 00:04:52.300 |
insult for insult, but giving a blessing instead. 00:04:56.040 |
For you are called for the very purpose that you might inherit a blessing. 00:05:01.040 |
For the one who desires life to love and see good days must keep his tongue from evil and 00:05:13.440 |
For the eyes of the Lord are towards the righteous and his ears attend to their prayer. 00:05:18.120 |
But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil. 00:05:21.880 |
Who is there to harm you if you prove zealous for what is good? 00:05:25.240 |
But even if you should suffer for the sake of righteousness, you are blessed and do not 00:05:29.280 |
fear their intimidation and do not be troubled. 00:05:32.440 |
But sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone 00:05:37.960 |
who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence. 00:05:44.100 |
And keep a good conscience so that in the thing in which you are slandered, those who 00:05:48.520 |
revile your good behavior in Christ will be put to shame. 00:05:52.740 |
For it is better if God should will it so that you suffer for doing what is right rather 00:06:00.020 |
For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that he might 00:06:04.460 |
bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit. 00:06:10.020 |
In which also he went and made proclamation to the spirits now in prison, who once were 00:06:14.360 |
disobedient when the patience of God kept waiting in the days of Noah during the construction 00:06:19.660 |
of the ark in which a few, that is eight persons, were brought safely through the water. 00:06:24.980 |
Corresponding to that, baptism now saves you, not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but 00:06:30.260 |
an appeal to God for a good conscience through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who is at 00:06:35.700 |
the right hand of God, having gone into heaven after angels and authorities and powers have 00:06:45.340 |
Now that passage is a bit long and there's no way we're going to do a thorough, you know, 00:06:51.500 |
phrase by phrase study through the entire thing. 00:06:54.140 |
So I've broke it up into three sections and I hope to give a logical flow and rationale 00:07:04.100 |
The first section goes from verses one through 12 and he begins by saying, to sum it up, 00:07:12.060 |
Be harmonious, sympathetic, brotherly, kindhearted, humble in spirit. 00:07:17.620 |
So I left a little parenthetical blank for you there. 00:07:21.860 |
And what I like for you guys to write, whenever you see a section like this, when he's summarizing, 00:07:28.300 |
obviously that's something for us to take to heart. 00:07:30.500 |
That's something for us to say, I want to encapsulate his teaching and retain this. 00:07:35.820 |
So you have to write emphatic summary command. 00:07:42.780 |
And that's where you want to give your attention to and block off sections like that so that 00:07:46.700 |
you can say, Hey, this, I want to make sure I remember. 00:07:50.220 |
Now, as you look at that, we want to talk about this. 00:07:55.460 |
These character traits are actually heart attitudes. 00:08:05.780 |
There aren't just simple actions for you to do for the guy who's hurting you. 00:08:10.540 |
It is a heart attitude and perspective, a condition of even both your emotion, because 00:08:19.980 |
This kind heartedness, brotherly love, sympathetic, a lot of that happens to be emotional. 00:08:26.460 |
What's more, when you look at those commands, let me ask you a question. 00:08:29.100 |
Do you see a similarity or theme behind those commands? 00:08:36.900 |
When you look at things like harmony, sympathy, brotherly love, kind heartedness, and humility, 00:08:42.700 |
he is talking about the realm of relationships and the community and the kind of attitude 00:08:47.100 |
he wants you to have is a deep consideration for maintaining that peace within the body 00:08:55.900 |
To the degree that when he quotes later on a passage from Isaiah, in that quote he says, 00:09:09.160 |
We know very well that when life is hard, especially when things aren't going right, 00:09:20.620 |
That's when we feel perhaps an opportunity for us to just lash out. 00:09:26.500 |
That's when we're least understanding of other people. 00:09:28.860 |
Rather we expect people to be understanding of us. 00:09:34.840 |
But in that pressure and in that moment he says, and I want to just run through these 00:09:38.500 |
things as a way of application for us, he says be harmonious. 00:09:43.380 |
That term literally means to be of the same mind. 00:09:50.340 |
Now if you think about that, it's like so we're supposed to just think the same? 00:09:55.540 |
If you've ever been in an argument, you know that once you get into an argument, you realize 00:10:00.260 |
you think differently and then you're doing one of these and the other person's doing 00:10:03.340 |
one of these and you're communicating and typically when that argument goes sour, somebody 00:10:09.340 |
It's like, "Whoa, I don't want to talk about it." 00:10:13.780 |
Because trying to understand each other is hard work. 00:10:16.980 |
If you've ever been in an argument, sometimes you feel the frustration where you say, "Hey, 00:10:24.300 |
And then you don't want to continue the conversation. 00:10:26.940 |
Are you harmonious to the degree where you're seeking to understand that individual even 00:10:31.740 |
if it's frustrating to you, even if you're fed up, even if you're starting to get like, 00:10:39.700 |
But you're seeking that harmony where you can understand what the other person is thinking. 00:10:48.060 |
The idea of carrying each other's burden and feeling the pain of another individual. 00:10:53.300 |
Are you prone to typically sometimes, you know, there was this, you know, in my arrogance, 00:10:59.260 |
if sometimes you're doing a lot and someone else says like, "Oh my gosh, I'm so busy." 00:11:02.980 |
And you know, I automatically just be like, "Busy?" 00:11:09.660 |
But rather than being sympathetic, yeah, they're experiencing busyness to a certain degree. 00:11:16.360 |
But are you prone to that kind of, you diminish everybody else's suffering because you feel 00:11:21.700 |
Or do you sympathize and say, "Man, I feel you." 00:11:25.940 |
And you almost want to carry that burden with them because you share that kind of experience 00:11:32.820 |
The next word is, you know, you guys probably heard the four different terms for love. 00:11:38.900 |
It's a brotherly love that shows a kind of loyalty, an attachment. 00:11:44.900 |
There is kind-heartedness, where an individual who is kind-hearted is tender. 00:11:52.740 |
Actually in Ephesians chapter four, that same word is translated tender-hearted, right? 00:11:58.060 |
Where there is a tenderness of giving mercy, a tenderness of giving compassion. 00:12:04.820 |
Now it's not just a simple like, "Aww," you know, every time you see somebody doing something. 00:12:10.380 |
But it's an indication of you have this love to give. 00:12:14.420 |
We are paying careful attention and you have pity on those who are suffering. 00:12:20.300 |
And there is this kind-hearted intention in you. 00:12:28.380 |
A humility where in moments of suffering, there isn't this, "Look at my scars," you 00:12:35.460 |
I got my little scar right here that Pastor Peter mentioned in the sermon this past Sunday. 00:12:41.740 |
Whenever you get bumps and bruises, there's a temptation for you to be proud of your scars, 00:12:50.860 |
You can sit there competing with each other like, "Dude, I earned my stripes. 00:12:56.140 |
"Dude, you have no idea what suffering really is." 00:13:00.180 |
"Dude, X, Y, and Z," you can compete with each other even in the midst and context of 00:13:09.500 |
Well, I run through these to ask you, do these character traits, do they exist in your heart 00:13:19.860 |
even when, okay, key term here, even when you're under pressure? 00:13:28.380 |
Even when perhaps you're suffering more than the people around you? 00:13:31.700 |
And you just don't have that patience for the people who are complaining and whining 00:13:35.180 |
around you because you feel like you're suffering, but he says, "This is what I want you to 00:13:44.140 |
Your boss is on you, unfair treatment, not getting paid what you deserve, et cetera, 00:13:49.860 |
And even in the arena where you're most vulnerable, your house, even in the arena where you expect 00:13:55.100 |
peace, even in the arena where you expect to be safe, in your home it's not there. 00:14:01.820 |
In those times, be harmonious, sympathetic, brotherly, kindhearted, and humble." 00:14:10.220 |
So every time I'm going through these passages and I keep thinking of this idea like, man, 00:14:14.060 |
God is just challenging and challenging them to higher standards. 00:14:18.340 |
Not standards that we set for each other and not standards that I think is natural for 00:14:21.900 |
the situation, but truly ones that are godly. 00:14:26.420 |
And then in the next part in verse nine, he says, "Not returning evil for evil or insult 00:14:36.740 |
And I left another parenthetical underlined section, little space there, and I wanted 00:14:44.100 |
us to kind of get in the habit again of seeing flows of thought. 00:14:48.380 |
So here all you see is just, here's a command, right? 00:14:52.420 |
Here's a command of, this is what you need to be in your heart. 00:15:01.540 |
And a lot of times when the Bible is giving you something emphatic that he expects really 00:15:05.580 |
for you to pay attention to, he will do that. 00:15:08.740 |
He'll say, especially when you want to be super clear, "Hey, I needed you to do this, 00:15:16.460 |
That's exactly how verse eight and nine reads. 00:15:23.820 |
I don't want you to return evil for evil or insult for insult, but giving a blessing 00:15:34.660 |
Because to the Jew, hearing evil for evil, insult for insult, immediately he will think 00:15:39.100 |
of what's called a lex talionis, which is eye for an eye, tooth for tooth. 00:15:54.020 |
When was the last time you got in an argument, you got a little angry, and you didn't feel 00:16:01.760 |
Every time we get in an argument, of course we feel justified to get angry. 00:16:05.420 |
Every time we get into an argument at some point, it typically starts off with, "Well, 00:16:08.940 |
because you said this, and because it's your fault, that's why I did what I did." 00:16:14.260 |
I mean, that's how we normally talk in an argument, right? 00:16:18.380 |
And here, he's saying, "We are so prone that when we receive evil to give evil back, when 00:16:25.580 |
we receive insult to insult back, someone calls you, 'Hey fool, what, you're the fool.'" 00:16:34.820 |
Our natural reaction is just that, a reaction. 00:16:39.620 |
An impulse, fleshly reaction to what we receive, and it just bounces right back. 00:16:45.500 |
But the apostle is challenging us, and this is just kind of crazy to me. 00:16:49.860 |
Because when I think about what he's challenging us to do, it would be one thing to say, again, 00:16:57.380 |
"I know you're being persecuted, and I know people have evil intentions against you, but 00:17:09.420 |
But he's not just telling you to just absorb it, is he? 00:17:12.820 |
He is challenging the Christians to when you receive evil and when you receive insult, 00:17:18.500 |
not just to stop and hold your ground, but he says, "Rather, return with a blessing." 00:17:26.620 |
Because he's asking us to go far above and beyond just taking it, rather to turn around 00:17:36.960 |
If you guys remember, Matthew chapter 18, verse, well, let's turn over there. 00:17:44.740 |
It's the story about that servant who received grace from his master. 00:18:08.940 |
Jesus is teaching in a parable, and he says this, "For this reason, the kingdom of heaven 00:18:15.380 |
may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his slaves. 00:18:19.620 |
When he had begun to settle them, one who owed him 10,000 talents was brought to him." 00:18:24.500 |
I don't know what the guy did to owe him 10,000, but that's just a lot of money. 00:18:30.240 |
Verse 25, "But since he did not have the means to repay, his Lord commanded him to be sold 00:18:34.940 |
along with his wife and children and all that he had and repayment to be made. 00:18:40.500 |
So the slave fell to the ground, prostrated himself before him saying, 'Have patience 00:18:48.080 |
And the Lord of that slave felt compassion and released him and forgave him the debt. 00:18:52.460 |
But when that slave went out and found one of the fellow slaves who owed him 100 denarii, 00:18:56.940 |
when he sees him, he began to choke him saying, 'Pay back what you owe.' 00:19:00.780 |
So his fellow slave fell to the ground and began to plead with him saying, 'Have patience 00:19:06.860 |
But he was unwilling and went and threw him in prison until he should repay back what 00:19:12.120 |
So when his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were deeply grieved and came and reported 00:19:17.460 |
Now this is the portion I want you guys to pay attention to. 00:19:21.060 |
From the perspective of the master, how did he see this slave who perhaps did what was 00:19:29.660 |
Because what was just was he deserves his money. 00:19:33.900 |
He says this, "Then summoning him, his Lord said to him, 'You wicked slave, I forgave 00:19:41.060 |
you and all that debt because you pleaded with me. 00:19:43.540 |
So do you not also have mercy on your fellow slave in the same way that I have had mercy 00:19:51.100 |
And his Lord moved with anger, handed him over to the torturers until he should repay 00:19:58.400 |
My heavenly Father will also do the same to you if each of you does not forgive his brother 00:20:08.480 |
He is talking about from brother to brother giving that kind of mercy, right? 00:20:13.940 |
But it goes in line just with what we're talking about because the attitude of the heart that 00:20:18.580 |
Apostle Peter expects us to have is one of what? 00:20:22.100 |
Harmony, sympathy, brotherly love, and kind-hearted compassion. 00:20:27.260 |
And the opposite that he doesn't want us to have is this hardness of heart that wants 00:20:30.900 |
retaliation, rectification, and saying, "You better recognize what you did to me." 00:20:39.540 |
That is not just a, "Oh, you know, everybody does that." 00:20:43.420 |
That's not just a, "All of us when we're tired, all of us when we're mad, all of us when we're 00:20:50.380 |
According to the other passage, that is a very wicked heart, especially in context, 00:20:55.700 |
especially given the circumstance that you and I have received a blessing. 00:21:02.180 |
What's really interesting is in verse 9b, the second half of that, there are successive 00:21:14.540 |
And then verse 10, for the one who desires life, et cetera. 00:21:20.060 |
And the successive, these verses that come after kind of highlight this idea of why, 00:21:28.620 |
Why you should be giving a blessing instead of a return retaliation. 00:21:35.580 |
And he says, "For you were called for this very purpose." 00:21:41.060 |
Were you called for the purpose of just being nice? 00:21:44.500 |
Were you called for the purpose of making sure everybody has an encouraging time? 00:21:50.940 |
He says very interesting, "You were called for the purpose that you might inherit." 00:21:54.980 |
That's you, without working, receiving as an inheritance, something that's free to you, 00:22:04.220 |
And given that context that you've received that, he says, "You need to give a blessing. 00:22:08.800 |
You cannot just do what everybody else is doing." 00:22:13.500 |
And so he gives this quotation, "For the one who desires life to love and seek good 00:22:17.660 |
days must keep his tongue from evil, his lips from speaking deceit, and you must turn away 00:22:26.460 |
You need to be doing good in the sight of God. 00:22:28.700 |
You need to make sure that before you're right with the other person and demanding justice, 00:22:32.760 |
that you are abiding by the demands of the Father. 00:22:36.580 |
And he says in verse 12, "For the eyes of the Lord are towards the righteous, and his 00:22:43.580 |
But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil." 00:22:52.700 |
Again, I don't know if you guys have ever been, I don't know, let's say in a heated 00:22:58.420 |
argument with a family member, like an older brother, sibling. 00:23:02.760 |
If you were ever in a really just deadlock argument with a good friend and you guys are 00:23:09.180 |
all on the verge of breaking your friendship, I don't know if you guys have ever experienced, 00:23:13.580 |
you know, for those of you guys who are married, of course, you know, at some point or other, 00:23:16.940 |
maybe you misunderstood your spouse, got into this argument, couldn't understand, and there 00:23:21.340 |
was no resolve, whatever it may be, you know? 00:23:25.780 |
In that moment, there has to be an intentional break from the natural progression of argumentation. 00:23:34.180 |
There has to be an intentional break of trying to find and pinpoint, it's because you did 00:23:42.460 |
There has to be a break from whatever your flesh is saying, "I want to win." 00:23:53.420 |
It's not always just to yield, just to give up and say, "I'm so sorry." 00:23:57.900 |
If you do that, your spouse can get really frustrated too. 00:24:02.340 |
You need to make sure you're thinking intentionally. 00:24:06.380 |
Right here, right now, I'm not just trying to win, I'm not just trying to overtake this 00:24:10.500 |
person, I'm not just trying to get the last word in. 00:24:16.380 |
Not because if I do everything by God's way, then everything's going to work out in the 00:24:19.580 |
end, and they're going to love me, and they're going to do this. 00:24:21.460 |
It might turn out that it keeps perpetuating, but why? 00:24:26.860 |
Because of the grace of God and His good pleasure is upon you when you do good, even in that 00:24:34.940 |
It's because God's good pleasure is worth it all. 00:24:38.540 |
It's because His countenance, it says, "His eyes are upon those who are seeking this good, 00:24:52.420 |
You guys know exactly what I'm talking about. 00:24:54.260 |
When your mind and the flesh starts running in an argument, it's so hard to stop. 00:25:02.020 |
You have to discipline yourself to learn to do that. 00:25:11.980 |
Again, we could have stayed there and studied more on that passage, but we're going to move 00:25:17.700 |
So verses eight through 12 was a summary command for us to exhibit the character traits that's 00:25:26.020 |
going to maintain the peace and good in your relationships in the community of God. 00:25:33.620 |
And then in verse 13 through 17, let's first read it. 00:25:37.140 |
He says, "Who is there to harm you if you prove zealous for what is good?" 00:25:43.500 |
And I asked a question, "How could he ask that question?" 00:25:50.300 |
And there might be like all these people, that guy, this guy, this guy, you know? 00:25:54.100 |
And he goes on to say, "But even if you should suffer," so he says, "Even if you should suffer," 00:25:59.460 |
they are, "for the sake of righteousness," he redefines that and says, "you are blessed." 00:26:12.840 |
But sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone 00:26:18.980 |
who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you. 00:26:23.260 |
Do it with gentleness and reverence, and keep a good conscience so that in the thing in 00:26:28.180 |
which you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ will be put to 00:26:33.900 |
For it is better if God should will it so that you suffer for doing what is right rather 00:26:41.980 |
So, what he's done there is I kind of gave us just a two-part outline. 00:26:49.380 |
Numbers 13 through 17 is an explanation rationale. 00:26:55.140 |
A lot of times if you guys have ever been in a teaching moment, whether it's you're 00:26:59.180 |
teaching youth or maybe you're teaching something in a class or whatever it may be, you know 00:27:04.300 |
that asking questions is a great way to teach. 00:27:08.060 |
And asking questions, oftentimes you give a question to teach an important point. 00:27:16.540 |
And he's using that by means of explaining and redefining what they perceive to be the 00:27:22.940 |
They're thinking, "Oh my goodness, we're suffering. 00:27:27.700 |
I mean, all these questions perhaps, you know, is pervading their minds. 00:27:30.740 |
And that's why chapter one, he went at such length to say, "No, God has blessed you. 00:27:35.140 |
He has blessed you thoroughly and he's been working and he's chosen you." 00:27:39.820 |
Well, here he asks this question, "Who is there to harm you if you prove zealous for 00:27:49.580 |
Now throughout this whole segment from chapter two, verses 13 and all the way, you're going 00:27:56.100 |
to see that all the way to chapter four, verses 11, he's going to constantly repeat this idea. 00:28:11.940 |
And by asking this question, he pretty much, you know, kind of states this case. 00:28:17.500 |
Typically speaking, as you're seeking the good and seeking not simply your own ambition, 00:28:22.860 |
not simply seeking your own security, not simply seeking your own ends. 00:28:27.900 |
When you're seeking what's good, peaceable, and all the things that he listed, who is 00:28:37.380 |
But by contrast, so the rhetorical question, he kind of gives this explanation that regardless 00:28:43.100 |
of circumstance, you need to be zealous for doing what is good. 00:28:46.660 |
And typically, typically people aren't going to harm you for that. 00:28:51.940 |
But in contrast, even if you should suffer, you are blessed. 00:29:01.040 |
He gives this, I guess, redefinition of reality. 00:29:04.300 |
That even in the midst of suffering, they're actually blessed by God, right? 00:29:09.580 |
Now I want to kind of get to the middle section, the second half of verse 14 and verse 16, 00:29:17.620 |
by way of the explanation, by way of the encouragement, by way of admonition, right? 00:29:24.540 |
Typically the hurdle that arises for when we're trying to do good are the things that 00:29:31.900 |
First he starts off with by saying, "Do not fear their intimidation and do not be troubled." 00:29:37.180 |
There's a quotation from Isaiah chapter eight, I'm just going to read it for us, verses 12 00:29:43.260 |
This is where that passage is from, Isaiah chapter eight, verses 12 through 13. 00:29:48.260 |
Isaiah says to King Ahaz, "Do not cause conspiracy, all that this people cause conspiracy, and 00:29:59.100 |
But the Lord of hosts, him you shall honor as holy. 00:30:03.300 |
Let him be your fear and let him be your dread." 00:30:08.140 |
So as I kind of explain this a little bit, I'm going to try to make sense of verse 13 00:30:16.900 |
A little bit of context about that passage in Isaiah. 00:30:21.140 |
King Ahaz in his situation, he is king of Judah, southern kingdom. 00:30:27.540 |
The Assyrians who are vicious, huge nation, overthrowing many kingdoms around the known 00:30:38.580 |
So northern kingdom says, "Hey you guys, they're not necessarily, they've already split. 00:30:44.460 |
But they say, "Let's make an alliance with the Assyrians, with Israelites, with Judah, 00:30:58.260 |
So what he does is he sends word and makes an alliance with the Assyrians themselves 00:31:05.940 |
To that Isaiah is thinking, "Oh my goodness, are you serious? 00:31:10.620 |
Why are you acting like those individuals who have no God? 00:31:14.660 |
They have wood, they have stone, they don't have a God. 00:31:27.860 |
So the challenge here is, rather than fearing them, rather than being intimidated by them, 00:31:37.020 |
You should sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts. 00:31:40.300 |
So now that question, who is there to harm you, starts to make sense. 00:31:45.340 |
You might be sitting there thinking, "Who's there to harm you? 00:31:49.140 |
The kings, the governors, the people, my boss, everybody, even my husband. 00:31:59.020 |
In the Gospel of Matthew chapter 10, Jesus himself says to the disciples, "When you go 00:32:03.860 |
out you're going to be persecuted to the degree," and he gives that description, "There's going 00:32:10.220 |
There's going to be all these people who despise you." 00:32:13.620 |
But fear not those individuals who only can harm the body. 00:32:27.700 |
But rather the challenge for us, and this is the main point of section number two, the 00:32:32.900 |
rationale behind the command, why you should, in the moment when your natural flesh is trying 00:32:38.380 |
to fight back and you've taken taekwondo since we were young and you have always learned 00:32:54.020 |
You've always learned to defend yourself and what's natural to you since you've been taught 00:32:57.300 |
when you're young is, yeah, if somebody tries to punch you, hurt them back. 00:33:07.100 |
Because it's Christ, the Lord whom you sanctified in your heart that even in that moment when 00:33:11.780 |
your rationale is saying, "Fight back, fight back," you have a much greater voice to listen 00:33:23.340 |
Here's a rationale of why you need to do these things that Apostle Peter is saying. 00:33:35.140 |
You guys know the typical definition of sanctify. 00:33:41.660 |
So does it simply mean, does it simply mean to value him? 00:33:49.620 |
I want to make sure he's the most valuable thing in my greatest allegiance. 00:33:56.180 |
But do you guys remember the disciples' prayer? 00:34:00.900 |
I learned that from our professor in seminary, Dr. Harris. 00:34:04.660 |
Because although it's the Lord's prayer, he's teaching the disciples how to pray. 00:34:07.620 |
And it's our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. 00:34:14.460 |
Now we're never ever going to change that prayer. 00:34:18.580 |
But that word for hallowed be thy name, hallowed, in the Greek is the same word here as sanctify 00:34:27.580 |
We need to regard Christ with an incredible amount of reverence, where we are giving consideration 00:34:34.780 |
What does my Savior Jesus Christ think of me in this moment? 00:34:39.840 |
And you need to set him apart as Lord over your life. 00:34:43.100 |
You need to set him apart both Lord over your heart in terms of both what you are thinking, 00:34:53.820 |
That Christ needs to be set apart and hallowed in the same way that God himself was hallowed 00:34:58.460 |
in our lives by the way that we behave, by the way that we react, by everything that 00:35:03.260 |
we're doing that we're acknowledging him as a king over our lives. 00:35:09.420 |
So right now I'm using a lot of analogy of conflict and strife. 00:35:15.700 |
In moments of conflict, before you make any demands that somebody, somebody should pay, 00:35:22.660 |
that somebody should make things right, that somebody to do right by you, remember before 00:35:28.140 |
you make any demands that God has a demand of you, before you think to enact justice 00:35:34.380 |
on somebody else, remember God is going to start with you. 00:35:39.100 |
That his justice come first and whatever demand and expectation you have of the people, that 00:35:50.820 |
Yes, you're given the circumstance where it's difficult. 00:35:54.340 |
Yes, the people around you might be overbearing, pressing you, but even in that moment, you 00:36:01.300 |
have a calling of the Lord that you need to abide by. 00:36:06.820 |
So as a challenge to us, I'm going to, for our memory verse, this is going to be our 00:36:12.060 |
memory verse, verse 15, to sanctify Christ as Lord in our hearts, always being ready 00:36:17.340 |
to make a defense to everyone who asks you, why are you operating by this crazy high standard 00:36:25.300 |
What is causing you to do something that's so natural? 00:36:29.300 |
And you're going to be able to say, because I have set Christ as Lord in my life. 00:36:38.460 |
So we have the first section, summary and command, second section, verses 13 through 00:36:43.020 |
17, the rationale and the exhortation for us, that Christ takes that place of Lordship 00:36:50.660 |
And then we have this last section, verses 18 down to verse 22, which is a crazy one. 00:36:59.300 |
And if you guys have thoughts about it, I want you to share. 00:37:02.300 |
Verse 18, for Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that 00:37:08.620 |
he might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the 00:37:15.980 |
And then verse 19, in which, also he went and made proclamation to the spirits now in 00:37:22.820 |
prison who once were disobedient when the patience of God kept waiting in the days of 00:37:27.320 |
Noah during the construction of the ark, in which a few, that is eight persons, were brought 00:37:34.820 |
And then verse 21, corresponding to that, baptism now saves you, not the removal of 00:37:39.900 |
dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to God for a good conscience, to the resurrection 00:37:43.940 |
of Jesus Christ, who is at the right hand of God, having gone into heaven after angels 00:37:48.540 |
and authorities and powers have been subjected to him. 00:37:54.060 |
As we read that, if you just kind of read it, and then you're trying to just think about 00:38:07.420 |
He's talked about, okay, Christ has died and his sacrifice, you know, was the just for 00:38:17.460 |
And he talks about how he went to make proclamation in the spirit. 00:38:22.300 |
He brings up, you know, the patience of God's waiting and all these disobedient people are 00:38:31.900 |
So in the section heading, if you, if I were to make just an outline, I would just make 00:38:41.620 |
You have section versus eight through 12 summary command versus 13 through 17 rationale. 00:38:47.580 |
And this section, it begins with four, which is typically like a, because, but actually 00:38:54.180 |
in this case, it's more of a, as in this case, meaning example. 00:38:59.740 |
So in the blank that I've provided you, you should put something to the extent of, and 00:39:09.900 |
You've been given the command, you've been given an explanation of why and et cetera, 00:39:14.740 |
but here is the example further giving you that push so that you can receive this teaching. 00:39:27.180 |
If you take a look at your Bibles and you go to first Peter chapter four, verses one, 00:39:36.360 |
It doesn't just stop there, but he says, therefore, look at this, since Christ has suffered in 00:39:41.220 |
the flesh, then arm yourselves also with this same purpose because he who has suffered in 00:39:48.900 |
So actually this idea of suffering and it says idea of purpose of that suffering is 00:39:55.220 |
And then he says, since therefore you need to arm yourselves with that same purpose. 00:40:00.360 |
So you see what I'm saying by, I think this is him saying, look at this example that he's 00:40:05.540 |
given you in this case with what Jesus has done. 00:40:10.620 |
That's going to encourage you to keep obeying what is hard, which is to exhibit this kind 00:40:15.280 |
of kindness and harmony and this composure even in the midst of persecution. 00:40:25.140 |
First in verse 18 he says for Christ also died and this part, I'm just going to read 00:40:29.700 |
like a running commentary and then get to an emphatic point. 00:40:34.060 |
He says Christ also died for sins once for all the just for the unjust so that he might 00:40:38.620 |
bring us to God having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive by the spirit. 00:40:43.000 |
If you take a moment to stop there, he is still drawing our attention just like he did 00:40:48.460 |
in chapter two verse 21 I don't want you to forget if you're still feeling emotion like 00:41:01.660 |
But Christ also suffered and God loved Jesus Christ. 00:41:10.000 |
So it doesn't just go to say as an encouragement to you just because life is hard, that does 00:41:18.940 |
As a matter of fact, he can be showing his love on you. 00:41:21.660 |
He could be guiding you, teaching you, disciplining you, waking you up, whatever it may be. 00:41:25.500 |
It could be a plethora of things, but he has not forgotten you just because things aren't 00:41:31.140 |
As a matter of fact, and he's thinking here, look at all the injustice wrapped up in this 00:41:51.540 |
It was he who was inculpable, sinless for those who were culprits, for those who are 00:42:00.860 |
He might bring us successfully to the Father. 00:42:03.420 |
And he says, "Having put to death and the flesh the mouth made alive in the spirit." 00:42:07.460 |
You think about all this and think about the injustice and the things that were suffered 00:42:14.580 |
When he was put on trial, even his trial was unjust. 00:42:17.720 |
When he was mocked, when he was beaten, when he was spat upon, everything was so magnanimously 00:42:26.460 |
So as we think about that, he's constantly bringing our attention back to this idea, 00:42:36.700 |
But as we think about this, remember, this is an example that's supposed to somehow encourage 00:42:48.500 |
Jesus went through suffering far beyond what I can imagine. 00:42:52.860 |
I'm going through suffering, some of which I deserve. 00:42:59.260 |
Just knowing, or at least just knowing that, you know, these things are still in the plan 00:43:04.380 |
But in verse 19, the example goes further to describe, he says, "In which also he went 00:43:11.700 |
and made proclamation to the spirits now in prison, and who once were disobedient, when 00:43:16.100 |
the patience of God kept waiting in the days of Noah, during the construction of the ark, 00:43:20.540 |
in which a few," that is eight persons, "were brought safely through the water." 00:43:26.140 |
Now, as we're looking at this, I'm going to take a little detour. 00:43:33.260 |
This little passage has elicited a lot of debate and a lot of questions. 00:43:43.700 |
Did Jesus, when he died, died, sorry, when he died, grammar, when he died, did he go 00:43:52.260 |
Did he go to hell and like preach to demons or dead people, or what did he do? 00:43:57.860 |
Now, there's a lot of research that can be done, and for the sake of our own Bible study, 00:44:03.220 |
I'm just going to say that there are various views, which I will summarize now, but I'm 00:44:09.300 |
If you are interested, you can do research, and I'm going to post up in that drop box 00:44:17.340 |
But here's view number one, which I've listed for you there. 00:44:20.540 |
View number one is, hey, there's nothing crazy supernatural going on here, except that any 00:44:26.100 |
time there is a preaching going on by prophets, by apostles, the spirit of Christ is there. 00:44:33.760 |
So view number one essentially says is, in spirit, Noah preached, and Christ was spiritually 00:44:42.020 |
And as he preached, people were disobedient, and because they were disobedient, they went 00:44:51.100 |
Now, that view has some grounds, because again, yes, when Jesus says in the Great Commission, 00:44:58.580 |
"Preach, go make disciples, lo I'm with you," when you preach, you got to believe Jesus' 00:45:05.500 |
And as a matter of fact, other passages that talk mainly about everything about the Old 00:45:09.140 |
Testament would talk constantly, refer to the fact that this was Jesus, that was Jesus, 00:45:13.380 |
and so was the presence of Christ there in the Old Testament as the preaching was going 00:45:18.740 |
But unfortunately, that view doesn't take into account some of the other details about 00:45:24.820 |
this passage specifically, and it doesn't take into account the fact that other passages 00:45:30.340 |
in the Bible, namely like 2 Peter and the letter of Jude, it references the same incident 00:45:37.940 |
with Noah and the people who were disobedient, and which God particularly saw as wicked. 00:45:45.420 |
So, view number two is, in his bodily death, Jesus spiritually went to prison, which is 00:45:52.580 |
called the pit of abyss in Revelations, to proclaim victory, not the gospel, between 00:46:01.260 |
So, that view simply says, no, like he literally went to some place spiritually, which is the 00:46:10.820 |
But in view number three, it's same as number two, but it expands to say that not only did 00:46:17.380 |
Jesus just simply go, but specifically in the time of Noah, there were these spirits, 00:46:22.740 |
these demons who were particularly wicked and vicious in the eyes of God, namely Genesis 00:46:28.900 |
chapter six, when it says that in that time of Noah, there were sons of God who came down 00:46:35.180 |
and they saw the daughters of men, they saw what they liked, they saw they were beautiful, 00:46:42.060 |
And then it talks about how these individuals were wicked in the eyes of God, and then God 00:46:51.560 |
And so many people believe that that generation was like a half-breed, a demonic breed, and 00:46:58.220 |
that generation was demonized by these disobedient individuals who left their abode and did that 00:47:17.260 |
If you're curious, I'm going to post up a bunch of research articles and stuff, just 00:47:20.980 |
don't have time to go over all that stuff now. 00:47:23.980 |
But I wanted to address that because that's where a lot of people's attention goes to, 00:47:31.060 |
But that's weird, because this is supposed to somehow encourage us to obey. 00:47:36.820 |
This is supposed to somehow encourage you to persevere in the midst of suffering, to 00:47:41.460 |
still hold your composure, be peaceable, be hopeful, be so secure that you could bless 00:47:53.660 |
Well, let's observe what we know from this passage. 00:48:00.660 |
During the time of Noah, clearly there was some kind of vicious disobedience. 00:48:07.500 |
Specifically, was it all just people being nasty? 00:48:10.180 |
I don't know the exact details, but it was heinous. 00:48:13.580 |
It was disobedience, and God was incredibly upset and angered by that. 00:48:21.060 |
Now, because God was patient, for that time being, guess what? 00:48:36.340 |
Realize that because of the patience of God in this generation, you have to suffer. 00:48:43.140 |
If we desire for us to say, "God, remove this suffering right now," you got to realize 00:48:48.740 |
that that's also saying, "God, stop being patient. 00:48:54.220 |
I'm not sure if you guys ever thought about it that way, but the patience of God entails 00:49:03.460 |
Secondly, you notice that he's talking about this idea that Christ suffered, but after 00:49:16.660 |
And so the thing that you should be thinking about is triumph. 00:49:19.820 |
The concept that should be entering your mind isn't like, "Who are these demons? 00:49:28.060 |
Through that which Christ suffered, it wasn't just he suffered, and then life goes on. 00:49:35.540 |
And sometimes whatever will be includes hardship. 00:49:39.260 |
That's the way that some people think about existential Christianity, which is life sometimes 00:49:43.420 |
is horrible, but you just got to be Christian anyway. 00:49:46.120 |
That's not what the gospel is trying to teach us. 00:49:49.540 |
That even the suffering that we experience is very purposeful, is very intentional, and 00:49:53.620 |
Christ at the end of that is giving victory by what he's proclaiming to all those who 00:49:58.300 |
would oppose the gospel, "Look what I have done." 00:50:11.660 |
You think about the days of Noah and how many people, I mean talk about standing against 00:50:15.460 |
the grain, how many people actually entered that ark and survived? 00:50:22.260 |
So for you, if you feel like you're alone, if you feel like there's nobody with you, 00:50:26.460 |
if you feel like the world is against me, if you feel like the suffering is so immense, 00:50:30.140 |
if you feel like the suffering is so long, remember this story. 00:50:37.340 |
My expectation was that if you try to live a life of godliness, you many days will feel 00:50:44.420 |
I mean think about this even for a little bit. 00:50:47.380 |
If you so desire to take everything in the scripture seriously, and you stopped doing 00:50:52.700 |
things like the rest of the world, so not only just worship, scripture says don't worship 00:50:56.180 |
like the world, but do you realize scripture also says basically don't party like the 00:51:00.940 |
Don't hope like the world, don't grieve like the world, don't even eat like the world. 00:51:05.340 |
Your every single thing is going to be different because of your savior. 00:51:09.300 |
When you do that, in this generation here in America, even amongst Christians you'll 00:51:16.540 |
Even amongst Christians you'll feel a sense of like hmm, there's not, I don't know, it's 00:51:23.940 |
But the fact of the matter is, scripture has already given us warning. 00:51:32.940 |
Super wide is the gate, and super narrow is this one. 00:51:37.460 |
But if our expectation was like, but I wanted to do this and I wanted to do that, this is 00:51:42.300 |
where we need to constantly change how we perceive life to be. 00:51:46.480 |
And then in verse 20 to 22, this is what he talks about, that Jesus Christ through the 00:51:50.780 |
resurrection who is now seated at the right hand of God, having gone into heaven after 00:51:55.300 |
angels and authorities and powers have been subjected to him. 00:52:02.580 |
Satan is not all powerful, he's not omniscient, and he is not free. 00:52:08.420 |
Yes, does Satan roam around like a lion and all that kind of stuff, waiting to try to 00:52:14.940 |
Yes, but he is still completely underneath the sovereignty of Christ. 00:52:20.260 |
I mean just think about all the stories of Christ. 00:52:23.740 |
You get out, you out, and then everyone's just like, wah, pigs, and die, you know? 00:52:41.980 |
And should they feel like the world is crumbling and the dark forces of the world is winning, 00:52:47.500 |
Apostle Peter is saying, look at the actual reality spiritually. 00:52:54.500 |
So by way of challenge, he's given this exhortation in this specific event of the case of Noah, 00:53:05.580 |
But I think what that tells me is no matter the scheme, no matter the attempt, no matter 00:53:12.100 |
the strength, no matter the numbers, even if Satan threw all that he had, Christ is 00:53:22.700 |
He is still triumphant, and that's what we've got to believe. 00:53:26.940 |
Now by way of conclusion, every time I'm preparing a lesson in 1 Peter, and I, you know, like 00:53:32.940 |
the whole idea with sermon prep is first I got to see, like, I always ask myself, what's 00:53:39.660 |
You know, like I asked myself the question, like, hmm, how do I respond to suffering? 00:53:44.220 |
How do I, and I'm going to be 100% honest with you, half the time I'm sitting there 00:53:57.620 |
Like I don't have crazy people trying to kill me. 00:54:01.620 |
I don't have people stripping me of my goods and property. 00:54:06.460 |
I don't have the risk of having to lose my home, run away, be a refugee, but these people 00:54:11.580 |
had their families broken, their children ripped away from them, their property confiscated, 00:54:16.940 |
and they're run out of their home, and they're now scattered across Asia. 00:54:21.660 |
So half of me always sitting here as I prepare these passages, like, man, how do I apply 00:54:29.140 |
I'm going to be honest, we're very well protected here, you know? 00:54:34.600 |
And we have to remember, we really are a minority in all the world. 00:54:40.180 |
To live in this kind of security, this kind of comfort, we're insulated with like a layer 00:54:47.540 |
And the fact of the matter is, yeah, we can freely worship, and I know some of us, especially 00:54:51.740 |
in this time, are thinking like, but the liberals are coming, and they're getting pervading 00:54:55.460 |
into everything from education to this and churches, and we got to get America back, 00:55:06.500 |
We have it so good, and even statistically speaking, I mean, we have it the best. 00:55:12.140 |
I mean, we're literally the minority, like 2% of all the world, of the 7 billion people 00:55:22.120 |
So as I think about that, I want to conclude, as we hear these admonitions for us, first, 00:55:32.420 |
Let's be so thankful that Christ is my Savior, that He has had victory, and He's guiding 00:55:38.700 |
me to be something greater than my flesh wants to bound me to, right? 00:55:46.840 |
Even if we're not suffering, even if we're not being persecuted, let's make our hearts 00:55:51.840 |
so grateful and continue to sanctify Christ in our hearts and say, "Thank you that you 00:56:01.900 |
But number two, let's prepare for future suffering and never assume and never presume that God 00:56:09.340 |
will make tomorrow exactly as it's happened today, right? 00:56:17.260 |
Let's make sure that we won't be surprised as Apostle Peter would say, "Don't be surprised. 00:56:22.340 |
Don't sit there shaking your head like, 'What's going on? 00:56:28.540 |
I think Apostle Peter would say, "Man, I've gone through several chapters trying to explain 00:56:34.660 |
This world will never accept you as their own. 00:56:42.300 |
But number three, and this is a challenge, we have the freedom to be like hardship-free, 00:56:59.380 |
Let's take upon the burden of loving an individual to go and speak to them the gospel and see 00:57:04.820 |
that as a burden I will voluntarily carry, for that is the great example of Jesus Christ. 00:57:11.220 |
It was the just for the unjust, but it was the just voluntarily taking the unjust pain. 00:57:17.620 |
It was the righteous voluntarily taking the burden and suffering that he did not deserve, 00:57:25.700 |
That was not something circumstantially he just had to go through. 00:57:36.220 |
That in our gospel preaching and ministering to others, we just assume if I try to get 00:57:40.460 |
involved in your life, I'm going to get hurt, but I want to. 00:57:45.060 |
My Savior did so and he's given me love in my heart for you and I've got love to give. 00:57:52.660 |
That's the way we should be thinking, especially if we're blessed, that we would take upon 00:57:57.580 |
the burden and we would take upon the suffering and when he calls us to be harmonious, sympathetic, 00:58:04.860 |
you know, to bear along with side people, that's what he's calling us to do. 00:58:09.820 |
So for a generation who have been privileged and given much, I believe Christ will also 00:58:27.380 |
God, we thank you so much that you had pity on us, that you had mercy on us, and that 00:58:36.180 |
That in our feeble and weak and helpless state, Lord, that you condescend to us. 00:58:42.620 |
Lord God, I pray that if we have a worldview that is not in line with Scripture, if we 00:58:49.940 |
have a worldview that has been so bordered up by this world and constructed out of, you 00:58:57.340 |
know, fantasies that we've learned from the world, I pray God that you would take those 00:59:03.180 |
things and put them away and give us, Lord, just the expectation that in this life we 00:59:09.660 |
will go through much suffering and difficulty, but there that, Lord, that we are waiting 00:59:14.380 |
such a reward, that we're waiting such an inheritance to be found in Christ our Savior. 00:59:19.500 |
Lord, I ask that you would challenge every single one of us, that God, we would be ministers 00:59:24.820 |
of the gospel to people around us, Lord, that we would never simply be content of being 00:59:29.260 |
safe but rather, God, that we would take upon your call for us to be a light, that we would 00:59:34.140 |
proclaim the excellencies of him who's given us such grace. 00:59:39.220 |
And Lord, if there's anyone here feeling this need to continue to follow after you, would 00:59:43.820 |
you give them that conviction in their heart through the Spirit, Lord, that you have called 00:59:47.460 |
us first and foremost in this life to be a great light to your gospel. 00:59:51.660 |
Lord, we thank you it's in Christ's name we pray, amen. 00:59:55.740 |
Okay, before we wrap up the study, is there any questions?