1 Peter 3:8-12
Notes
Transcript
1 Peter 3:8-12
Turn to the third chapter of 1 Peter. Back in verse 11 of chapter 2, Peter began talking about the three major areas of social interaction: our relationship to the government, workplace, and home. The instructions Peter have given in all of those areas can be summed up by one word: submission. We are to submit to government authorities, we are to submit to bosses, and we saw last week that believing wives are to submit to their unbelieving husbands.
While the subject for these verses has been submission, this was the minor theme. The major theme and the ultimate reason Peter has been instructing his readers to submit is evangelism. Let’s review just a few verses.
1 Peter 2:12 Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.
1 Peter 2:15 For it is God’s will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish people.
1 Peter 3:1-2 1 Wives, in the same way submit yourselves to your own husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives, 2 when they see the purity and reverence of your lives.
The goal has been the conversion of the unbelieving. They are watching us to see how we respond in stressful situations. They want to know if our faith helps us in any way.
In our passage tonight Peter continues with how we are to live by writing about how Christian believers interact with each other. He has been addressing how we interact with those outside the church, but he now addresses an area of our lives most unbelievers will never see – how we act inside church. Most people are not going to come into the church building for a worship service to check us out. Peter is going to give some advice about how we are to treat other believers.
We are to treat others rightly.
Peter is going to give six descriptions of how we are to treat others. The first five are found in verse 8.
1 Peter 3:8 Finally, all of you, be like-minded, be sympathetic, love one another, be compassionate and humble.
There’s a lot being said in these two short verses. Peter begins with the word “Finally.” He is coming to a conclusion of his topic. These are his final words on the subject which has been about our witness to unbelievers. And when he says “all of you” he is referring to believers. He’s not writing to unbelievers, but to those who call themselves followers of Jesus or Christians.
First, we are to be like minded.Is that really possible though? Is it really possible for us to all think alike? It’s sometimes difficult for me and Mary Anne to agree on where to eat after services on Sunday morning. Does Peter really think that all of us are going to be able to agree on other things which are far more important and far more divisive? Some think being like minded means you agreeing with me. But that’s not being like minded. There will always be differences of opinion. That’s because none of us is perfect. Therefore, we don’t have perfect knowledge. As a result, you won’t always share the same view on everything that I have and that’s OK. I always want to be gracious enough to allow you to be wrong. As one man said though, “If two people agree on everything, one of them isn’t thinking.” So we will occasionally have differences of opinion.
The early church didn’t always agree. There were disagreements and arguments and divisions over things like meat sacrificed to idols, over keeping the Sabbath, and over which days are appropriate to worship. Paul and Barnabas argued over John Mark. The twelve apostles argued over who would be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. These are just examples of the disagreements found in the New Testament. Someone once said that the church is a lot like Noah’s ark, were it not for the flood on the outside, you sometimes couldn’t stand the stench on the inside. That’s because we are fallen humans all gathered together with different opinions and conclusions.
That means that in order to be like-minded we don’t all have to think alike. However, we do have to have one mind. We might define having one mind or like-minded as having cooperation in the midst of diversity.
Perhaps the best example and it’s the example Paul used when writing to the Corinthians is that of the body. In the human body there are different parts with different purposes. There is diversity, but there is cooperation in that diversity. They all work toward the same goal and in that they are unified. Jesus prayed for our unity.
John 17:20-21 20 My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.
We are to be liked minded and agree on those issues of the faith that are important such as salvation being a free gift of God because Jesus died for our sins. But there are other things that aren’t essential that we shouldn’t worry about. Should the carpet be red or green? It doesn’t matter. It does matter that we be like minded about winning the lost to Jesus though.
Second, we are to be sympathetic.The word in Greek is a compound word. It’s made from the word meaning “to feel” and the word “together.” It literally means “to feel the same thing.” First, Peter says we are to be like minded, now he says we are to be like feeling. Here’s a good definition for sympathy: your hurt and your pain in my heart. In other words, we can’t be callous towards the hurts and pains of others. As Paul wrote to the Romans:
Romans 12:15 Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn.
And as we read in 1 Corinthians:
1 Corinthians 12:26 If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.
That’s having compassion, feeling together.
Third, we are to love one another.In the second century there was a church historian named Tertullian who said that the Roman government was suspicious of churches because they were growing so rapidly. As a result they would send spies into the church to check them out. One of the spies reported back to the Roman government with this account:
These Christians are very strange people. They meet in an empty room to worship. They have no image. They speak of one by the name of Jesus, who is absent, but whom they seem to be expecting at any moment.
He then concluded by saying:
And my, how they love him and how they love one another.
Think about that comment. One of the most intriguing things he noticed about these Christians was their love for Jesus and for each other. If spies came to our church from an atheistic government to see whether Christianity is genuine, what would they find? What would be the verdict? Would they go back to report how we love each other? That’s the way Jesus said it should be though. Jesus told the apostles in the Upper Room:
John 13:35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.
Fourth, we are to be compassionate.Some translations have “tenderhearted.” The Greek word for this is really interesting. The literal translation would be “have good bowels.” The reason is because at that time it was believed that the deepest emotions a person could feel came from the intestinal region of the body and not the heart as we would think today. We still talk like that sometimes though. We might ask, “So, what is your gut saying?” We’ll talk about someone having intestinal fortitude or we’ll say that we feel it in our gut.
So the deepest emotions were felt in the intestinal region. It’s translated as compassion, but it means that we should be deeply concerned for others. The church should be a place where those who are hurting feel welcomed and at home because we care enough to listen and help.
Fifth, we are to be humble.This doesn’t get our attention, but it would have been revolutionary when Paul wrote it. As I recently mentioned in our study of Ephesians is a word that’s used to describe Christians in the New Testament, but it’s not a word that Greeks would have used to describe themselves. The word literally means “the lowliness of mind” and was used to describe the attitude a slave should about themselves in relationship to their master. Humility was not considered a virtue as it is today, it was considered a weakness. Only weak people were humble. But Peter says that this is the attitude we should have when thinking about other believers. F. B. Meyer said it well when he wrote:
I used to think that God’s gifts were on shelves one above the other and the taller you grow in Christian grace, the more easily you could take them. I have now come to realize that God’s gifts are on shelves one below the other. And it’s not a matter of growing taller, but of stooping lower.
That’s humility, lowering yourself for the good of others.
And sixth, in verse 9, we’re to bless others.
1 Peter 3:9 Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult. On the contrary, repay evil with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing.
The first five can be difficult sometimes, but I think this is the hardest. Peter is talking about being nice to someone who hasn’t been nice to you. In fact, it’s being nice to someone who has deliberately been mean to you. It’s a good thing that never happens in the church though. I’m sure you’ve never encountered someone that was really grouchy or insulted you or tried to hurt you? But if you ever do, how do you treat them? You don’t fight back or you don’t yell back, you bless back. They may be cursing at you, but you are to bless them.
If you are looking for something that distinguishes Christianity from other religions this will be at the top of the list. We are to love and seek the good of even those who aren’t being nice to us. Human nature is to get even, but Jesus said that we are to love.
Luke 6:32-36 32 If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. 33 And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that. 34 And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, expecting to be repaid in full. 35 But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. 36 Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.
Juan Carlos Ortiz was a preacher from Argentina. Ortiz wrote about speaking at a leadership conference when he said he saw a man who was from his former denomination. He went over to him but the other man refused. When the man saw Ortiz coming he stood back and said, “Don’t hug me, we’re enemies.” Ortiz said he replied, “Oh, I didn’t know we were enemies.” And then he said, “Praise God! Now I have an opportunity to love my enemy.” After walking up to him and hugged him anyway, Ortiz prayed so everyone nearby could hear, “Lord, thank you for my precious enemy. Bless his life, in Jesus’ name.” You can imagine the guy was shocked, but Ortiz said within a year he was preaching at that man’s church.
Jesus tells us to love everyone and especially those who don’t love us. Then he adds that our reward will be greater when we do. Peter echoed this when he said that we will be blessed when we are a blessing to others.
We are to treat others rightly.
Next, we are to guard our tongues.
1 Peter 3:10 For, “Whoever would love life and see good days must keep their tongue from evil and their lips from deceitful speech.”
If this is printed like it’s a poem in your Bible that’s because it’s a quote from Psalm 34. Psalm 34 must be one of his favorite psalms because he quotes from it at least three times in this letter. This builds on what Peter wrote in verse 9 about returning a curse with a blessing. We are to stay in control of what we say. Turn to James 3.
Many of our problems in life are caused by the wrong words spoken in the wrong spirit. Perhaps we need to regularly read from James 3. James had some powerful and helpful things to say about the tongue.
James 3:5-10 5 Likewise, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. 6 The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell. 7 All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and sea creatures are being tamed and have been tamed by mankind, 8 but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. 9 With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness. 10 Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be.
These words should sound familiar, it’s not been that long since we studied them, but in the heat of a moment they are so easy to forget. Another passage that would be good to read and perhaps memorize is Psalm 141:3.
Psalm 141:3 Set a guard over my mouth, Lord; keep watch over the door of my lips.
What do you think it means to keep our tongues from evil? Certainly it means that we shouldn’t let any unwholesome and ungodly speech come out of our mouths. As you well know, people’s language has become pretty atrocious in the last decade – that includes people in high places, like presidents and congressmen. Unfortunately that also includes young people and children. But this must never be the case for those of us who love God. However, it also means we should not allow our tongues to be used to harm others and tear them down.
Peter also mentioned that we shouldn’t have deceitful speech on our lips. We should tell the truth. Lies should be far from us. When we open our mouths and allow our tongues to speak, what comes out should be filled with grace and goodness. And when we tell someone something, they should be able to take us at our word. If we keep our tongues from evil then we will be loving life and we will see good days.
Next, still quoting from Psalm 34, Peter says we are to do good.
1 Peter 3:11a They must turn from evil and do good. . . .
In order to do good we must turn from evil. Whatever is good and virtuous is going to be the opposite of what is evil. We must have nothing to do with that which is evil and everything to do with that which is good.
We need to be aware of the filth that calls itself entertainment in music, television, movies, and the internet – all promoting evil and ungodly life-styles. We live in a time when there is so much evil that we have become desensitized to it and so much evil has become so accepted.
People living together before marriage and outside of marriage is no longer taboo. The US Census Bureau says there are over twelve million unmarried partners living together. That number has increased tenfold since 1960, and 88% since 1990. While 55% of cohabiters do marry within five years of moving in together, 40% break up within that same time period.
Having babies out of wedlock was once considered taboo. No more. About two million babies are born to unmarried women each year, almost half of all births.
I don’t have to tell you that homosexuality is becoming more and more accepted. The world around us is becoming more and more evil all the time.
We cannot completely avoid everything that is evil. We live in a fallen world and are completely surrounded by it. However, Peter tells us that we are to avoid those things that would lead us to evil and Paul wrote to the Thessalonians:
1 Thessalonians 5:21-22 21 but test them all; hold on to what is good, 22 reject every kind of evil.
This kind of teaching is so foreign to our culture today where everyone is encouraged to do their own thing. For decades the motto has been, “If it feels good, do it.” I don’t think that’s a motto anymore, it’s just the unspoken and accepted way of life. We’re being told that everyone has their own truth and they should act accordingly. There’s no one standard for right or wrong, good or evil. But that’s not what God says. God has given us His commands and they are good. We must turn away from evil and do good.
And lastly, we are to seek peace.
10 For, “Whoever would love life and see good days . . . 11 must seek peace and pursue it. (
1 Peter 3:10-11 10 For, “Whoever would love life and see good days . . . 11 They must turn from evil and do good; they must seek peace and pursue it.
The verbs translated “seek peace” and “pursue it” both convey an intensity and aggressiveness of action. Picture a hunter vigorously tracking down his prey. We are to seek peace and hunt for it aggressively – even peace with our enemies and persecutors.
As Christians we are to be known in the world as peacemakers. That’s what Jesus is calling us to be when he says:
Matthew 5:9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
There are other verses that amplify this teaching. James wrote:
James 3:18 Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness.
And Paul said that:
Romans 12:18 If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.
Peace begins with you and me. What difference would it make in our homes if we were to seek peace and pursue it? What difference would it make in our schools or neighborhoods if we were to seek peace and pursue it? What difference would it make in our church family if we were to seek peace and pursue it?
Paul spent a couple of chapters in the book of Romans addressing the need for congregational peace. I’ll just read one important verse that summarizes that section:
Romans 14:19 Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification.
Make every effort you can to do everything you can to bring peace.
We’ll close looking at the last verse in our passage for tonight. Peter is still quoting Psalm 34 when he writes:
1 Peter 3:12 For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.
Peter wants us to help motivate us toward godly living and getting along with each other. He reminds us that God is the sovereign God who sees all and knows all and he’s a God who holds people accountable for their behavior. But for Peter, the primary issue here is not judgment but God’s gracious care for his people. The Lord’s eyes are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayers. Isn’t that what we want? We want to know that God watches out for and listens to hi’s children. God knows what’s going on in our lives, and he is ready to supply all that we need. God is so pleased with us when we live for him and get along with each other. He supplies the needs of those who are faithful to him.
Bill Vukovich won the famed Indianapolis 500 race in 1953 and 1954, a record of success few other drivers have matched. He was asked the secret of his success and he replied:
There’s no secret. You just press the accelerator to the floor and steer left.
We all know there’s a little more to it than that. I wish living for God and getting along with others was that simple and easy, but Peter does give us some helpful suggestions.
Treat Others Rightly
Guard Your Tongue
Do Good
Seek Peace
Look over the list and decide to begin working on at least one of them. Ask God to help you improve in that area.