Get Up and Grow: Goodness

Good morning everyone.

It's a pleasure to be back here at St Paul's bringing the Word of God this morning and to have been asked to share with you.

My wife Vanessa and I are here from Africa for roughly two to three months and we'd love to catch up with you during that time.

Vanessa arrives tonight, late tonight on a plane from Perth and we'll probably be having a rest for a few days but after that we'd love to catch up with any and all of you.

Now the epistle of Peter, the first epistle of Peter is an epistle that Peter has written to Christians who are scattered throughout a pagan society.

And it is a letter written to Christians who in their context will be undergoing suffering and persecution and where the values of the society around them are putting a pressure upon them to live a particular way.

And so it's in this context that we look at the passage here today.

It's quite applicable this passage really in that light for us here in Sydney and the church in Sydney.

And although persecution here is not as overt as it was in the Roman Empire, it is nonetheless it is there and it is underlying a lot of the fabric of our society.

And you will hear Christians and the Christian faith openly mocked on television or on the radio.

There is so much media coming through with anti-God values.

And so in that way our society in Sydney has a lot of things that are similar to the society back in the days of the Roman Empire.

And of course they had gladiator events, then we have the rugby league.

But there's a lot of similarities there and there is nonetheless a pressure on us as Christians to be living and responding a certain way when confronted and surrounded by people from a pagan society.

So when this passage opens, we see it says,

Dear friends, I urge you as aliens and strangers in the world to abstain from sinful desires which war against your soul.

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.

These desires actually wage war against our soul.

And in the passage, I don't actually think Peter is so much talking about the sinful desires of the flesh

or about anger or greed or coveting as much as I think he is talking about things simply like submitting to authorities,

respecting one another, respecting one another, loving one another, and honouring the king, fearing God.

These are all temptations that with the pressure of the society around them, acting upon them,

it is a temptation not to do these things.

Not only are these things waging war against our soul and against their soul,

but we have an enemy, as Sam points out, we are in a war against an enemy who roams around like a roaring lion

waiting for someone to devour.

And you see, the devil knows that Christians have a righteousness that is by faith.

Our righteousness is because we believe that Jesus has died for our sins,

and because of that, we are made completely righteous before God.

And that is based on what we believe.

And so the devil knows that while ever we believe that,

and while ever our faith is at this level,

then the life we live will accordingly be at an equal level.

And so the devil's main aim is to get us to doubt,

to get us to not believe that Jesus has paid the full penalty,

not just for our sins, but for all our brothers' and sisters' sins.

He does this through our conscience.

That is the main weapon he uses, is our conscience.

You know, Peter says later in the passage,

he talks about not using our freedom as a cloak for evil,

to hide sin.

It is very easy in that society and in our society

to compromise our values as Christians,

to compromise our walk with God,

and actually say, well, that's okay, I'm under grace.

I'm under grace, so I'm under freedom,

so it doesn't really matter what I do so much.

But, you see, because we have an enemy,

and that enemy will use a pure conscience,

and he will come to someone with a pure conscience,

and he will try and get them to stop believing

they are righteous because of what Christ has done,

let alone if we go forward with an impure conscience.

If we go forward and go forward willingly in sin,

then the devil will use the fact that our conscience is muddied,

he will use that to get us to doubt

that we are righteous before God,

and that we are completely forgiven

because he knows that our walk

will be always equivalent with what we believe.

In 2 Peter 1, verses 5 to 9, it says,

2 Peter 1:5–9

for this very reason, make every effort

to add to your faith goodness,

and to goodness knowledge,

and to knowledge self-control,

and to self-control perseverance,

and to perseverance godliness,

and to godliness brotherly kindness,

and to brotherly kindness love.

For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure,

they will keep you from being ineffective

and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

But if anyone does not have them,

he is nearsighted and blind,

and has forgotten that he has been cleansed

from his past sins.

You see, the problem with a backslidden Christian

is not primarily about what he is doing.

The problem with the backslidden Christian

is about what they have started to believe.

And what they have started to believe,

their faith will naturally come out in what they do.

If we are living lives

where our conscience gets seared,

we will start forgetting

that we have been cleansed from our past sins,

because that is what the devil will be helping us do

by saying,

you're guilty,

you're not forgiven.

And we will forget

we have been cleansed from past sins,

and as a result,

we will live accordingly to that.

Our faith has to issue itself in action.

What we believe

will always be demonstrated by what we do.

And in a context

where the society's values have decayed,

and Christians are suffering

and are being persecuted,

the threat of Christians

using the freedom they have in Christ

as a cover-up for evil,

and subsequently forgetting

their cleansing from past sins,

was a very real one to Peter.

So when Peter goes through this passage,

there are really primarily three things

that he is on about,

and the first thing he is on about,

it is God's will that by doing good,

you should silence the ignorant talk

of foolish men.

That is the first thing

in this passage he is addressing.

The Christians are in a context

where for the Lord's sake,

they need to submit to all those authorities,

and we need to submit authorities

always anyway,

but especially in this pagan world

where they are under such scrutiny.

See, the unbelieving world

watches us like a hawk.

They watch us so carefully

and try and find where we slip up.

And so what Peter is saying

is that we have to live such blameless lives

in that world

by submitting to authorities,

by honouring the king,

by fearing God,

by loving one another,

that they have absolutely no substance

to any of the foolish accusations

that they make

against the people of God.

And so that those accusations

have no substance.

We might remember back in Genesis chapter 41

Genesis 41 · chapter mention

when we saw Joseph,

and he was in Egypt,

and he was there

with a pagan king

and a pagan society,

and yet this pharaoh

was able to say,

was able to say,

can we find anyone

like this man,

one in whom

is the Spirit of God?

A pagan pharaoh.

And back then, of course,

there was no, you know,

no one really

officially knew

the Holy Spirit

in that way.

But see,

the pharaoh could look at Joseph

and he could see

that inside that man

was something different,

and he could tell

by the way he conducted himself,

by the insight he was given,

and by the man that he was,

he could tell

that in that society

this was someone

who stood out,

and he could tell

that within him,

even though being a pagan,

he could tell

that within him

was a holy God,

was a Holy Spirit.

And similarly,

in Babylon,

when Daniel had been

taken into captivity

with the rest of Israel,

King Nebuchadnezzar

said of Daniel,

he had named him

Belteshazzar

after the name

of his God,

and he said,

he is called Belteshazzar

after the name

of my God,

and the Spirit

of the Holy Gods

is in him.

This is coming

from a king

who made giant golden statues

and asked people

to come and bow down

to them,

or he was going

to chuck them

into a furnace.

This is a pagan king,

and yet he was able

to look at Daniel

and say,

the Spirit

of the Holy God

is in him.

You are the light

of the world.

A city on a hill

cannot be hidden.

Neither do people

light a lamp

and put it under a bowl.

Instead,

they put it on its stand,

and it gives light

to everyone

in the house.

In the same way,

let your light

shine before men

that they may see

your good deeds,

and praise your Father

in heaven.

It brings God glory

when the people of God

are living in such a way

that the pagan world

looks at them

as blameless,

and that when they are

making their accusations,

everyone can see

that they've got

no substance to it.

That brings glory

to God.

Similarly,

it brings slander

and blasphemy

to the way

of Christians

and to Christ himself

if we are living

in society

and we are walking

forward in sin.

And so,

part of that,

and what Peter

is saying,

is that to silence

the talk of foolish men,

we need to submit

to the authorities

that have been put

in place.

And of course,

we learn in Romans 13,

Romans 13:1–3

verses 1 to 3,

everyone must submit

himself to the

governing authorities,

for there is no authority

except that which God

has established,

and the authorities

that exist

have been established

by God.

Consequently,

he who rebels

against the authority

is rebelling

against what God

has instituted,

and those who do so

will bring judgment

on themselves.

I mean,

it's pretty straightforward.

Unfortunately,

as Aussies,

we come from

originally

a settlement

of convicts,

so we have a bit

of an attitude

to authority,

which works

a little bit like this.

I figured it out

from being,

well,

it's not that hard

to figure out,

actually,

but you see it

very clearly

when you're living

in another culture

where submission

to authority

is a very,

very different thing.

So,

the way our thinking

works is like this.

This man is in authority.

What's he doing?

What's he saying?

And so,

we sort of judge

and rate what he is doing

and saying,

and then determine

from our judgment

and our rating

as to whether

we should submit

to his authority

or not.

Now,

in Africa,

submission to authority

can be authorities

who are treating them

very badly,

but they will always

submit to the authority

because submission

to authority

is not about

what the person

in authority

does or says,

it is about

his position.

Completely unconditional.

It is about

his position.

It is a position

that we know

that God

has given

to that person

and so,

like they do

in Africa,

we should submit

to the authorities

that have been

put in place

simply because

of the position

they have been

given

by God.

And in so doing,

we are acknowledging

that it is God

who put them there

and we are confirming

that the word of God

is true.

And so,

it is for the Lord's

sake that we do this.

Now,

the second point

that Peter is making

here is suffering

for doing good

is commendable.

Suffering for doing

good is commendable.

And I am sure

at this stage,

Peter was recalling

Jesus' words

in Luke chapter 6

Luke 6 · chapter mention

which are also

recorded in Matthew

Matthew 5 · chapter mention

chapter 5.

He says,

But I tell you

who hear me,

love your enemies,

do good to those

who hate you,

bless those

who curse you,

pray for those

who mistreat you.

If someone

strikes you

on one cheek,

turn to him

the other also.

And if someone

takes your cloak,

do not stop him

from taking your tunic.

Give to everyone

who asks you

and if anyone

takes what belongs

to you,

do not demand it back.

Do to others

as you would have

them do to you.

If you love

those who love

you,

what credit

is that to you?

If you just

love those

who love you?

Even sinners

love those

who love them

and if you do

good to those

who are good

to you,

what credit

is that to you?

Even sinners

do that.

And if you lend

to those

from you

what credit

is that to you?

Even sinners

lend to sinners

expecting

to be repaid

in full

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'll be sons of the Most High

because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.

Be merciful just as your father is merciful.

And so it is only in the light of being mistreated

and being harshly spoken to

and being unfairly done by,

it is only in the light of our response to that

that people will see that we are in actual fact different

and the one that is in us

is different to the one that is in the world.

Otherwise we're just doing what the world does.

We just, I mean, we can be Christians

and we can be really nice people

who are really nice to the people who are really nice to us.

But let me ask you a question.

Is there anyone on your heart

who you do not look at as absolutely righteous

and spotless before God?

Is there another human being in your heart,

in your mind,

who you do not look at as absolutely spotless?

And if they don't know Christ,

that they potentially could

and therefore that you should still treat them in that light.

Or are we storing up all the faults that people have,

all the things they've said wrong against us,

all the times they've ticked us off a bit?

You see, Jesus has wiped our slate completely clean

and we have got to do that right now

with anyone we are storing things up about

that we should not be storing up about.

Because in God's sight,

they are completely holy and righteous.

In God's sight,

they are completely holy and righteous.

So if there's anyone in the body of believers

that we have got a problem with,

then we are really having a problem with God

because God has declared them innocent.

God has declared them righteous.

God has declared them pure and faultless.

And that's how we have to treat them

and that's how God expects us to treat them.

So if your enemy is hungry,

give him food to eat.

If he is thirsty,

give him water to drink.

And in doing this,

you will heap burning coals on his head

and the Lord will reward you.

And doing this is a powerful testimony

to the one we worship

and is a form of spiritual warfare.

I think in 2 Corinthians 10,

2 Corinthians 10:3–4

verses 3 to 4,

it says,

For though we live in the world,

we do not wage war as the world does.

The weapons we fight with

are not the weapons of the world.

On the contrary,

they have divine power

to demolish strongholds.

And we can be very spiritual

and we can say,

well, that's the prayers of the saints.

And I think it definitely includes that.

But I tell you,

when you turn the other cheek

when someone strikes you,

it demolishes strongholds.

When you love those who hate you,

when you bless those who curse you,

when you pray for those who persecute you,

you demolish strongholds.

It is a form of warfare.

Jesus didn't say these things

without demonstrating them in his life.

He demonstrated all these principles

through what he did.

And we might remember

in Matthew chapter 27,

Matthew 27:12–14

verses 12 to 14,

when he was accused by the chief priests

and the elders,

he gave no answer.

Then Pilate asked him,

Don't you hear the testimony

they are bringing against you?

But Jesus made no reply,

not even to a single charge,

to the great amazement of the governor.

I don't know about you,

but if I was Jesus

and I had people saying to me,

are you the king of the Jews?

I'd start pointing them

to all the miracles I'd done.

I'd start saying,

am I the king?

I mean, have a look.

I walked on water.

I mean, I made the lame walk.

I made the blind see.

I cast demons out of men.

But he doesn't do any of that.

He just says, so you say.

You see, the powers of darkness

are baffled

when we do not wage war

on the same terms

and in the same fashion

that they wage war.

That's what confuses them.

And Jesus said to his disciples,

if anyone would come after me,

he must deny himself,

take up his cross and follow me.

For whoever wants to save his life

will lose it,

but whoever loses his life for me

will find it.

Whoever loses his life for me

will find it.

Are we prepared to do that?

Are we prepared,

just as Jesus set us an example

and going before us,

are we prepared

to follow in that example

and lose our lives

for Christ's sake?

Are we prepared

to suffer ridicule

and meet it with love?

Are we prepared

to bless those who persecute us

and pray for those

who are bad to us?

Are we prepared

if our enemy is hungry

to feed him

or if he is thirsty

to give him a drink?

You see,

as Brian said earlier,

we are in a war.

We are in a war

and the people of this world

are suffering

because they are under

the power of slavery

to fear of death.

And the powers of darkness

use the fact

that there are

handwritten requirements

of the law

which are built up

in their conscience

against them

and they know

that the handwritten

requirements of the law,

the wages of those requirements

is death.

Everyone knows it.

You might have people

saying,

I'm an atheist,

but they know it.

They know it.

We all know

because in our conscience

we know

when we've done

something wrong.

And those things

build up and up

and up and up

and up

and the powers

of darkness

use those things

and constantly

hold them up

to people

to show them

you're going to die,

you're under sin,

you're going to hell

and it keeps them

in that guilt

and it keeps them

pinned down

in a sinful lifestyle.

And the way

to battle it

is to proclaim

that those powers

have been defeated

at the cross of Christ.

That's the irony

is we defeat

those powers

by proclaiming

that they have

been defeated.

It says that

Christ paraded them

and he took

that handwritten

requirements,

that list of

handwritten requirements

and he nailed it

to the cross.

Taking us up

with him

into that cross

and purging us

of all our sin,

all our judgment,

all our guilt.

so that we are

completely pure.

So that we can

live a godly life.

Because the grace

of God

that brings salvation

has appeared

to all men

and it teaches us

to say no

to ungodliness

and worldly passions

while we wait

for the blessed hope,

the glorious appearing

of our great God

and Saviour,

the Lord Jesus Christ.

So my friends,

surrounded by a similar

world that the Christians

were surrounded in then,

there's not as much

overt violence

in our society,

but given the right

pressures,

there would be.

But surrounded

by a pagan society,

we have to be those

whose goodness

is shining out of us,

who are shining

the light of Christ

to a dark

and sinful world.

God bless you.