1Peter 3: 8-17 The Pursuit of Holiness: From Good To Godly

⁸ Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind.

⁹ Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing.

¹⁰ For "Whoever desires to love life and see good days, let him keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit;

¹¹ let him turn away 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 are open to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil."

¹³ Now who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good?

¹⁴ But even if you should suffer for righteousness' sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled,

¹⁵ but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect,

¹⁶ having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame.

¹⁷ For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God's will, than for doing evil.

¹⁸ For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit,

 

We live in a crazy world where through media control we are experience "compassion fatigue." We are told what we are to feel about which news story selected for our emotional manipulation.  The media manages our sensibility and our insensibilities.

Peter introduces us to the real issues of real holiness. Real holiness has to do with our relationships.

Peter has begun talking about relationships as a Christian citizen, as a Christian slave or employee and as a Christian husband and wife. And the key word is submission; learning to contain our pride and self-will and order our lives under the Lord and those whom the Lord places in our lives.

Somebody said "How can I soar like an eagle when I am surrounded by turkeys?"

This passage tonight calls us to holiness through learning how to handle our relationships inside the church and outside the church.

·         Keep Your Compassion Credible

·         Keep Your Confidence Complete

·         Keep Your Convictions Constant

·         Keep Your Conduct Clean

·         Keep Your Conscience Clear

We all want a peaceful and quiet life. But.. its not going to happen.. and sometimes that troubled life tells you that you are right in the centre of God's will.

17 For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God's will, than for doing evil.

There are some terrible situations in life: you were faithful to your spouse: but he/she wasn't.

You were honest in your business but the boss wasn't.

You were put in the place where you had to blow the whistle, and you suffered horrendously for it.

Just the mention of these things from the pulpit triggers deep hurts and emotions swell to the forefront of your heart. And you may have trouble listening to me tonight. Try hard to listen to me.  What we are going to talk about tonight is important stuff.   

Sometimes the difficult people problems you experience are about God developing graces in you. God sometimes does His work to discipline us for our sins. Sometimes He allows persecutions and trials to develop us.

Keep Your Compassion Credible

8 Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind.

9 Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing.

10 For "Whoever desires to love life and see good days, let him keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit;

11 let him turn away 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 are open to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil."

Finally this relates back to the theme of submission as being an important factor in developing holiness.

Prov 19: 2 Also it is not good for a soul to be without knowledge, And he sins who hastens with his feet. 11 The discretion of a man makes him slow to anger, And his glory is to overlook a transgression.

Prov 20: 24 A man's steps are of the LORD; How then can a man understand his own way?

In this case we need to learn submission to the Lord, living under the Lord's eyes.

 

Have

unity of mind, strive to have a unity of mind about things with other believers. Figure out what is important. Have unity around our confession of faith. Have unity around our understanding of the moral obligations of scripture.  Have unity of mind about the purposes of the church. Grow by reading God's word so you attain to the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God.

sympathy, have a fellow feeling together with one another. If one member suffers we all suffer  together. Prov 10: 12 Hatred stirs up strife, But love covers all transgressions.

brotherly love, the new commandment to love one another is a sign of spiritual resurrection.

 a tender heart  Good hearted towards others. Kind. Everyone you meet with this week needs kindness, because everyone carries their own hurts. Prov 10: 11     The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life, But the mouth of the wicked conceals violence. 32 The lips of the righteous know what is acceptable, but the mouth of the wicked, what is perverse.

a humble mind

Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless

Taxi driver: besides the job itself I enjoy the people I run into.

The Lord is asking  you to replace the natural response of payback for a supernatural one.

The natural response is evident in PNG with the One Tok (one talk)  system. Offend one member of the tribe and someone else will get you sooner or later.

How do we get out of this natural desire for revenge. The Lord is saying over and over again: refocus on Him, see Him as sovereign over each situation and each person you face.

How??  Remember:

The eyes of the Lord are on you.

 

The ears of the Lord are open to your prayer.

 

The face of the Lord is against those who do evil.

Keep Your Confidence Complete

13 Now who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good?

14 But even if you should suffer for righteousness' sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled,

 

Fear of others is often the real problem at heart.

Isaiah 8 stands behind Peter's short quote.

11 For the LORD spoke thus to me with his strong hand upon me, and warned me not to walk in the way of this people, saying: 12 "Do not call conspiracy all that this people calls conspiracy, and do not fear what they fear, nor be in dread. 13 But the LORD of hosts, him you shall honor as holy. Let him be your fear, and let him be your dread. 14 And he will become a sanctuary and a stone of offense and a rock of stumbling to both houses of Israel, a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 15 And many shall stumble on it. They shall fall and be broken; they shall be snared and taken." 16 Bind up the testimony; seal the teaching among my disciples. 17 I will wait for the LORD, who is hiding his face from the house of Jacob, and I will hope in him. 18 Behold, I and the children whom the LORD has given me are signs and portents in Israel from the LORD of hosts, who dwells on Mount Zion.

 

Isaiah 8:12 and do not fear what they fear, nor be in dread.

Isaiah 8:13 But the LORD of hosts, him you shall honor as holy.

1Peter 3:14 Have no fear of them, nor be troubled,15  but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy

 

Refocus on Christ.  Get your eyes off the guy that's hurt you.

The background issue at heart is that you and I have a choice about where we are going to focus our thoughts. You can let the other person be sovereign over you, controlling how you think and feel. Or you can recognise that the Lord is King, He is over all the situations you face.

I was confronted by the Lord over this issue. Who is really sovereign in my life? Am I a Christian or an atheist? Do I believe the Lord is sovereign over it all, and that each situation I face however uncomfortable it might be, however difficult the person may be, is Sovereignly ordered by God for my holiness and their salvation? Or will I let someone else take control of my feelings and thoughts? Will I secretly be an atheist who refuses to trust God with the problem people I face?  The choice is mine and the choice is yours. 

Let the Lord develop you. Or the Lord will discipline you. If you don't get it right the first time He will allow you to keep having these problems until you do get it right.

Keep Your Convictions Constant

15 but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect,

 

How you respond to your persecutors is on exhibition to all.  You can become bitter and angry, or you can let it pass. Is the Lord sovereign over them or not? Your gentle response is the proof of the reverence and fear you have for the Lord.  Who are you going to fear? Them or the Lord?

Apologia  Our persecutions give us a platform for sharing the gospel! This is sometimes how people are converted. Paul.

Gently reasoning with our persecutors works a whole lot better than trying to win an argument. If you are set for winning arguments you won't win hearts.

Hope:  not looking for retribution, not looking for revenge, looking ahead to return of Christ. An other-worldly hope lifts us above the need for solutions  in this world.

Keep Your Conduct Clean

yet do it with gentleness and respect,

having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame.

Good 619 times in the bible.  We won't study them all tonight.

1Peter 2: 20 For what credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? But if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God.

3John 11 Beloved, do not imitate evil but imitate good. Whoever does good is from God; whoever does evil has not seen God.

Even as believers we need exhortations to do what is good. So often we just don't want to. We would rather treat people poorly. That is not what the Lord intends for your life.

 

Keep Your Conscience Clear

16 having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame.

 

You know what that means? If when you come to the end of your life will your conscience convict you that you did the wrong thing by that man or woman?  But you know too there are things on your mind tonight that are just a bad conscience. Sort those out tonight if you can. Don't let them continue any longer.

Conclusion

17 For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God's will, than for doing evil.

Are you interested in doing God's will? Get your relationships right.

Get your reactions right. Don't repay evil for evil.

Get your responses right. Point people to Christ, no-where else. 

Get your eyes focussed right on the Lord who is sovereign and on the hope that you have ahead of you.

Many years ago I attempted to help my eldest daughter ride a pushbike in the church car park. It was a big car park. As she began to ride I was holding the bike  upright. She said "I think I am going to hit the power pole!"   I said "no we won't just keep peddling." She kept looking at the pole and saying "I think I am going to run into it!"  Guess what, we did!  Needless to say I didn't tach my daughters to drive!

What you focus on determines where you will go.  If you focus on the Lord and the reward of your eternal hope you won't run into the painful desire for revenge. Focus on Christ. Get your mind off the other person, the painful situation, the hurt that follows you.