October 14, 2018
Morning Service

In the first part of chapter 3, Peter spoke to us about the God’s plan for the roles of the man and woman in the marriage relationship.  He also gave us the comparison of how the marriage relationship between a husband and wife mirrors the relationship of Jesus (groom) and the Church (bride).  He asks the wife to be submission to her husband just as He asks the church to be in submission to Him.  He asks the husband to love his wife and give his all for her just as Jesus did for the Church.  I love how God uses things we understand to explain to us deep spiritual truths.  As we begin today where we left off, I found it very interesting how the message this morning ties in directly with what we talked about last week at Home Coming.

1 Peter 3:8 And finally, all be of one mind, having compassion on one another, loving the brothers, tenderhearted, humble.

·        Peter describes 5 key elements that should characterize us as a church.  We are to be in unity being of the same mind as we follow Jesus together.  We are to have compassion for one another being responsive to each other’s needs; taking care of each other.  Love should always have preeminence even defining who we are.  “Let all that you do be done with love.” (I Cor. 16:14)  Our hearts will always be tender towards one another being sensitive and caring deeply for our brothers; laughing together and crying together.  Finally Peter calls us to possess a humble spirit encouraging, serving, and supporting each other along our journey together to see God.

·        I find it interesting that this is the same strong willed and impulsive man (Peter) that often displayed the opposite of these qualities earlier in his life that is now instructing us to live with these qualities.  Meeting Jesus has a way of changing us all doesn’t it?  He continues now and goes even deeper.

 

 1 Peter 3:9  Never give back evil for evil, or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, giving blessing, knowing that you are called to this so that you might inherit blessing. 

·        Our flesh cries out within us to return evil with evil.  You have heard the saying “I don’t get mad, I get even.”  The world tells us that revenge is sweet and brings lasting joy and peace (not true).  But Peter calls us out to do the exact opposite; return blessings for reviling.  Is this easy? No, but it can be done as we submit to the calling within us to imitate our Savior and desire to receive the blessing he has promised to those who obey. It is His blessing that brings true joy, peace, and contentment to our lives. Jesus said it this way in His Sermon on the Mount as He magnified the Law.

 

Matthew 5:43-48 You have heard that it was said, "You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy."  (44)  But I say to you, “Love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who despitefully use you and persecute you, (45) so that you may become sons of your Father in Heaven. For He makes His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.  (46)  For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax-collectors do the same?  (47)  And if you greet your brothers only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the tax-collectors do so?  (48) Therefore be perfect, even as your Father in Heaven is perfect.”

·        Only a heart that is totally submitted to God can act this way.  To love, bless, do good and pray for those who hate, curse, despitefully use and persecute you is not done with our own power alone.  It is the Holy Spirit in us imitating our Savior as He asked God to forgive those who placed Him upon the cross.  Jesus sets our goal in verse 48; “Be perfect even as you Father in Heaven is perfect.”  That is what we should be striving for.  To be perfect we must return blessings for cursing.

·        So let’s do a little “self-evaluation.”  We are hearing the Word how are we on the doing part?  How do you treat those who don’t treat you well or are downright cruel to you?  Do you return evil for evil; word for word?  How often are you good to those people?  How often are you praying for them instead of talking about them?

·         I didn’t do so well here; especially in the prayer part.  I find myself talking about my problem people more than praying for them.  I need to recognize when that attitude flares up in me and I need to turn that emotion 180 degrees and instead of showing resentment or hate; I will choose love. I will continue to work on this with the Lord’s help because I want to be perfect. Peter now continues instructing us as he quotes a beautiful passage from Psalms 34.

 

  1 Peter 3:10-12  For he that wants to love life and to see good days, let him restrain his tongue from evil, and his lips from speaking guile.  (11)  Let him turn aside from evil and do good. Let him seek peace and pursue it.  (12)  For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and His ears open to their prayers. But the Lord's face is against those who do evil.

·        Peter requotes the Psalm writer’s instructions on how to “love life and to see good days.”  First he touches upon our controlling our tongue.  That should remind you that James gave us the exact same warnings.  We must be careful to think before we speak showing restraint to say the right thing at the right time and never saying anything we would regret later.  Stay far away from talk that includes any form of gossip, manipulation, exaggerating, complaining or lying.  Use your speech as positive influence for those around you.  Be an encourager who uses his voice to build his brother up and does not tear him down with his words.

·        Secondly we are to “turn aside from evil and do good.”  The Psalmist just reinforces what Peter and Jesus have just instructed us to do.  We are not to seek after evil, but avoid it at all cost and look for opportunities to do good.  In our fast-pace life styles we must be able to slow down and make the time to pause and help someone that is in need.  An opportunity to gauge how y is you are doing is to observe the attitude you display as you are in traffic and others aren’t driving up to your standard.

·        Thirdly the Psalmist encourages us to “seek peace and pursue it.”  Our first reaction to this is that peace is simply the absence of conflict and comes about by us taking a passive role.  Here notice though that we are encouraged to take an active role of “pursuing peace.”  We have to be looking for coming conflict and diffuse it before it begins always resolving them with love and understanding.  An effective peacemaker pursues peace by building strong relationships that are based on truth, trust and honesty.  The pursuit of peace can be difficult but rewarding.  Jesus said this in the “Be attitudes” part of His Sermon on the Mount.

Matthew 5:9 Blessed are the peacemakers! For they shall be called the sons of God.

·        We are most like our Father when we love one another.  We shall be called His children when we are pursuing peace.  Paul simply encourages us to do our part for peace.

 

Romans 12:18 If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men.

·        Relationships are a two way street, but we are commanded to do our part to bring peace.

 

 

 

Notice the true principle that is related to us in verse 12.  When we are trying our best to follow Jesus, God is lovingly watching us and listens to our prayers.  Living for Christ can give us a strong confident faith that when call on Him, He will answer us.  The opposite is also true as well.  If we allow ourselves to slide away from God and pursue our own will over His; there is a certain fearful expectation that God is not pleased with us and does not bless in our disobedience.  To love life and to enjoy good days is accomplished not only to choose to follow Jesus, but to be zealous in your pursuit of Him and His ways.  “For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and His ears open to prayers.”

 

Heavenly Father, we thank You for Your Word and the instructions it gives us.  Please grant us the courage, strength and desire to pursue You in our lives.