1 Peter 3:8-22

Good evening, everybody. I'm really glad to be here tonight and be able to preach tonight with all of you.

This is my first time preaching, so I thought I'd introduce myself a bit first.

So my name is Thomas Lowen, and I'm joined by my wife Addie over here.

I've lived in Edinburgh for seven years now, and before coming to Brunsfield, I attended Crossroads.

I'm really glad to have a few from Crossroads here tonight.

And we got married two years ago, and since then Addie's lived here.

So it's really great to be part of this church and to be able to share tonight.

But enough about me and us, and I'll just pray before I start preaching.

Heavenly Father, I thank you for your word, and I thank you that you are with us.

I pray that you'd be speaking tonight, and they wouldn't be my words but yours.

God, I pray that you'd be blessing this church, and that your word would be active in our lives.

I pray in Jesus' name. Amen.

So, to get you thinking about the passage, I've got two questions to ask you.

So firstly, when was the last time someone asked you why you were a Christian?

And the second one is, what did you answer them?

So tonight we're looking at 1 Peter 3.

I have 8 to 22 there and 9 to 22 here.

But Peter's been talking in the last two chapters in his letter to Christians throughout the world

about suffering, about being holy, being made holy, and living in holy relationships with those around them.

So now in this passage, he's talking to us about how to live a holy life,

and he's giving us some examples from the Bible and some practical examples of how to live.

And then he talks about baptism and how it applies to suffering in our lives and salvation.

Finally, he talks about living a life submitted to Christ and how all things are submitted to Christ.

In life, we will have challenges, but throughout them all, we are meant to share the Lord.

So we're thinking about whether or not our life is different enough that people will ask us about it.

In verse 15, Peter says,

So we'll be breaking down the passage into a few parts.

So the first is, do we live a holy and different life?

The second is, how do we react to suffering?

Then, have we publicly declared our faith?

And finally, do we live in submission to Christ?

So to begin, we're asked, do we live a holy and different life?

Peter gives a couple examples of things to be doing in life,

and verse 8 is pretty self-explanatory.

He says,

Finally, all of you, be like-minded, be sympathetic, love one another, be compassionate, and humble.

I'm sure whether you're a Christian or not, these all sound like pretty good things to be doing.

It's a pretty good standard to live by.

Then in verse 9, Peter takes it to another level.

He's saying,

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.

So Peter's talking about a principle that Jesus had taught him back in the day.

Back when he lived with Jesus, he was quite the fiery-tempered young man,

and we most likely know the example of the Garden of Gethsemane,

where he chopped off the ear of the soldier.

Most of us, if we saw that in a movie or in life, would say that was pretty justified,

and even pretty admirable, that he was defending his master and trying to protect him.

But Jesus taught him to turn the other cheek.

He told Peter to put away the sword, and he healed the man instead.

Now this is different than what the world holds as admirable.

The world lives by an eye for an eye, and has done so for thousands of years and generations.

And whether it's as a child or in war, we've all pointed and said,

well, you started it.

And we take that as justification for getting retribution to people.

We think that getting revenge will make us feel better.

But we all know that that's not true.

It won't make anything better.

There's a famous quote by Coretta Scott King,

the wife of Martin Luther King Jr.,

that says,

an eye for an eye leaves everyone blind.

So Peter's calling us to be different to the world in this passage.

He says to not be conformed to it,

and we're to seek to bless and forgive all those around us.

By doing this and trusting the Lord,

the burdens of our suffering can be lifted from us.

These actions and paths that Christ has described

and that Peter's describing for us are the theme of this whole letter.

And they're not easy at all to live by, but they are better.

So next question is, how do we react to suffering?

In verses 10 to 12, Peter's quoting David from Psalm 34, verses 2 to 16.

Psalms 34:2–16

David reacted to suffering in this passage,

and he says,

If we go to the psalm, Psalm 34,

it reads as the title,

of David when he pretended to be insane before Abimelech,

who drove him away and he left.

So it's not the most famous story,

so we probably need a bit of backstory to it.

And it's quite interesting,

and I recommend you read it in your own time.

But to summarize,

he's remembering back on 1 Samuel chapter 21.

1 Samuel 21 · chapter mention

In the story,

David runs away from Saul,

because he's afraid of Saul,

and he runs to the Philistines.

But then he's afraid of the Philistines,

so he pretends to be insane.

So he's drooling all over the place,

acting crazy,

and then he runs away from them too.

So this psalm is about trusting the Lord,

and clearly he didn't trust the Lord in this situation.

He ran away from Saul,

ran away from the Philistines,

but now he's reflecting back on that time.

He sees that he should have been trusting the Lord

and living according to his ways.

But he suffered instead.

He imposed all that suffering on himself

by his actions,

and he didn't have to go through it,

and he didn't gain anything out of it.

But eventually he did learn to trust God.

So back to the question,

how do we react to suffering?

In the next verses,

Peter says,

Who is going to harm you if you are eager to do good?

But even if you should suffer for what is right,

you are blessed.

Do not fear their threats,

do not be frightened,

but in your hearts revere Christ as Lord.

Always be prepared to give an answer

to everyone who asks you

to give the reason for the hope that you have.

But do this with gentleness and respect,

keeping a clear conscience,

so that those who speak maliciously

against your good behavior in Christ

may be ashamed of their slander.

For it is better, if it is God's will,

to suffer for doing good than for doing evil.

For Christ also suffered,

once for sins,

the righteous for the unrighteous,

to bring you to God.

He was put to death in the body,

but made alive in the spirit.

So Peter interestingly asks,

Who's going to harm you

if you're eager to do good?

And most of us would expect,

Well, nobody's going to harm me for doing good.

But he answers,

Even if you should suffer for what is right,

you are blessed.

This isn't at all what we would expect

as an answer.

But if we think back on our lives,

we know it's true.

If we're good and kind to people,

yeah, we're less likely to suffer.

But we live in a fallen world,

and it's cruel,

and we will suffer even for doing good.

Whether it's spiteful people,

or out of malice,

or just completely unfortunate circumstances,

there will be suffering in life.

And that's the story of so many martyrs

around the world.

They loved people around them,

and were good,

and they shared the gospel,

and for that, they were killed.

Most importantly, though,

it's the story of Jesus.

He healed and loved

like nobody ever has before,

or ever will again.

But for that, they crucified him.

God knows the worst

and most unfair suffering

any of us could ever go through.

God's calling us to anticipate

and not fear suffering,

and it's not easy.

But he's promised us

and shown us

that he will be with us.

He's been through it himself.

On our own, we will be afraid.

But if we trust him

and cry out to the Lord,

we can face that fear.

He's given us the gift

of eternal life,

and it's worth suffering for.

Because it's nothing

compared to the joy of eternity.

His sacrifice and gift

should always be on our minds

and lips.

That suffering and trusting him

and proclaiming him

will be a light

to those around us.

Even beyond that salvation, though,

and that gift he's giving us,

there is more blessing

and suffering.

It's an opportunity to grow.

David grew through that suffering

and learned his lesson.

There's many cultures

around the world,

whether they're Christian or not,

that know that suffering

is a way to grow.

Even in our own culture,

we see that it's an opportunity

for growth.

In work and in school,

we talk about challenges

making us grow.

We have sayings like,

no pain, no gain,

or what doesn't kill you

only makes you stronger.

Yeah, they're cheesy,

and we might say them jokingly,

but there is truth to them.

Yeah, we'll make mistakes,

and we learn from them.

And we will suffer,

but if we turn to the Lord,

we can learn to trust him more.

Then in the way

we actually live our lives,

we live in a different way than this.

We run away from challenges,

and we run away from pain

as much as we can.

So there's a disconnect

between the two ways

of seeing life,

and we need to resolve them.

It is really hard,

but it's not worth

running away from pain

like David did.

It's worth suffering for God

and trusting him.

Is something you truly believe in

not worth suffering for?

Putting this into practice

is one of the strongest

and most visible testimonies

we can give to those around us.

When they see us

standing in the face

of persecution,

will this push them

to question

why we would ever believe

so strongly in something?

An example in the Bible

is Paul,

who was in prison for years,

and he suffered a great deal.

But how many

came to Christ in Rome

thanks to him?

So next,

we've got a bit

of an interesting verse.

So I call it

the detour through prison.

So I've added the context

of verse 18,

but verse 19

is the interesting one.

For Christ also suffered

once for sins,

the righteous for the unrighteous,

to bring you to God.

He was put to death

in the body,

but made alive in the spirit.

After being made alive,

he went and made proclamation

to the imprisoned spirits.

So it's kind of strange.

Who are these prisons

and who are these spirits

in prison?

And why is Peter

talking about this now?

It's pretty hard to know.

And there's lots of people

that have lots of

good explanations

and commentary on it,

on who they are

and what's going on.

But I'm not going to assume

anything tonight.

But in verse 22,

we read that Christ

has victory over everything.

So we can read this

as an example of that.

Whoever, whenever,

wherever,

whatever is going on here

with these spirits,

they're in submission to Christ,

and he has victory.

We can trust

that Christ is in control

and that he knows best.

And so that's all

the speculation

we'll get into

for that verse.

So moving on,

in verse 20,

Peter's starting to talk

about a public display

of faith.

So have we made

a public declaration

of our faith?

He's talking about baptism

and symbolizing,

or symbolically,

talking back on Noah

and Christ.

So to those

who were disobedient

long ago,

when God waited patiently

in the days of Noah

while the ark

was being built,

in it,

only a few people,

eight in all,

were saved through the water.

So in Noah's time,

the world was warned

that they were going

to die for their sin.

They rejected that

and kept on living

just as they had been,

which is quite similar today.

But Noah heard

and he listened.

He was willing

to suffer for his faith.

That suffering

was most likely

labor for a seemingly

meaningless task

and probably a lot

of ridicule,

which is actually

quite similar

to the suffering

we face today

in our culture.

Unfortunately,

around the world,

though,

there's many

who are believers

that face imprisonment,

torture,

or even death

for their faith.

We can thank the Lord

that we live

in a free country

where we can meet

on a night like tonight

and we can worship

the Lord

so that people

on the street

can hear it.

And yeah,

we might be made fun of

for our faith,

but it's worth it.

The fear is well-founded

of being made fun of

and it's not pleasant,

but we blow it

way out of proportion.

Is our faith

really so shallow

and fear so strong

that the knowledge

and relationship

with the Creator God

who has gifted us

salvation,

not worth sharing

based on a few

rolled eyes?

More insidious often

than this suffering,

though,

is for what feels

like a work in vain,

like Noah.

How many of us

have shared our faith

for years

or with some,

even decades,

with friends

and loved ones

but seen no results?

God assures us,

though,

that our prayers

and sharing

are worth it.

The Lord's called us

to it,

so we can trust Him.

And we don't know

God's ways or timing,

so we've got to have faith.

Noah built the ark,

putting aside

everything else,

because he trusted God

and what he had promised.

He trusted and suffered

for it,

but it made the biggest

and boldest

public proclamation

of faith

he ever could.

There's no way

people didn't ask him

why he was building

that giant ark.

Similarly,

we're called to make

a public declaration

of our faith.

In verse 21,

Peter says,

this water symbolizes

baptism

that now saves you

also,

not the removal

of dirt from the body

but the pledge

of a clear conscience

towards God.

It saves you

by the resurrection

of Jesus Christ.

So Peter's saying

baptism isn't just a bath,

it's a transformation,

but it's also symbolic

of Christ and Noah.

The symbolism of death

and being buried

for sins

by going into the water.

Because we were condemned

for our sins

and we deserve death

just like those

in Noah's time.

But like Noah,

we're saved not

by our own efforts

but by God's gift.

Noah's actions

and righteousness

were definitely

what God made note of

that he went to Noah.

But it's not Noah's actions

that saved him.

He couldn't save himself.

He was saved

because he did

what God told him to do.

It's his response

to God

that saved him.

He didn't know

he needed to build the ark

unless God told him

to build the ark.

So it's what God

told him to do

that saved him.

He believed

and he was saved.

Similarly,

we're called to faith

and we need

to respond to it.

It's not our actions

that will save us.

It's Christ's actions

that will.

So a normal,

typical path

to faith

is we pray

and accept him

as our Lord and Savior

for what he's done.

We accept

that we can't

save ourselves.

Then we have baptism

which is our public

declaration of faith.

faith.

We get

in the tank

or in the sea

or wherever

you do it

and you're there

with the pastor

or elder

and you answer them

admitting that you're

a sinner,

that you need Jesus

and that he is

your Lord.

You're then put

into the water

symbolizing death

for your sins.

And finally,

you're brought back

out of the water

symbolizing

new life in Christ,

eternal life

through his life,

death,

and resurrection.

So just like

the rainbow

was given to Noah,

we're given baptism

as a sign

of the new covenant

that we live under.

And likewise,

we have no clearer sign

that we can give.

Like the ark,

if we have a baptism,

everybody will know

exactly where we stand.

So finally,

are we living

in submission to Christ?

Christ.

In verse 22,

Peter says,

it saves you

by the resurrection

of Jesus Christ,

who has gone into heaven

and is at God's right hand

with angels,

authorities,

and powers

in submission to him.

So all things

are submitted to Christ,

whether they believe

or not.

No matter who we are,

one day we will face Christ

at the judgment seat.

The question is,

will we stand there

saved by Christ

or not?

It's not doing good

like Peter taught

at the start of the passage

about that's going

to save us.

It's not suffering

that he talked about

that's going to save us.

It's not being baptized

that's going to save us.

It's Christ dying

and being resurrected

for us

that will save us.

Christ has called us

to believe this,

have faith in him,

and repent.

Through this,

when we stand

at the throne,

we will be saved.

So what Peter's

been describing

in this passage

is the natural

reflection of our faith.

We're to suffer

for Christ,

to do good,

and by this

we will be a light

in the world.

So my prayer

is that as we go

into the world,

we go submitted

to Christ,

doing what he's

called us to do.

Linking back

to the start

of the message,

we're to live a life

that stands out

and be a light

around us

to those

who know us.

and our life

is to be a living

answer

to everyone

who asks you

to give the reason

for the hope

that you have.

By doing good,

by doing good

in response to evil,

by being willing

to suffer for Christ

when we inevitably

will,

and by publicly

declaring our faith,

all of this

is a natural reflection

of our submission

to Christ.

So how we live

should lead those

around us

to question

about Christ.

So next time

someone asks you

about your faith,

what will you answer?

Let's pray.

Heavenly Father,

I thank you

for this evening.

I thank you

for your word,

and I thank you

that you're

at work in us.

I pray that we

would do good,

that we would

be willing

to suffer for you,

for it is worth it.

I pray that we

will live submitted

to you,

and that we would

be a light

to the world.

I pray that you'd

be at work

in this city,

in this country,

and that people

would be coming

to know you,

Lord.

I pray in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.