Walking in Love and Holiness - Peter's Principles for Prevailing Over Problems

Hey, I'm Pastor Steve Hole.

I want to empower you today to walk in your true identity as a worshiper and warrior.

Embrace the power of God's Word and the Holy Spirit.

Today be encouraged with a word from my guest speaker.

Welcome to the Born for War podcast.

Today we're talking about 1 Peter chapter 3 from verse 8 to 12.

1 Peter 3 · chapter mention

So let's turn our Bibles to that.

And this is obviously the main passage we'll be in.

So maybe put a bookmarker there.

Because we'll be looking at other verses as we go along.

And then last service, I remember I realized I forgot my Bible at home, so I'm gonna have to use my phone.

Okay, let's all read.

I'm just reading.

Let's not all of us read together.

Finally, all of you be of one mind, having compassion for one another.

Love us brothers, be tender-hearted, be courteous, not returning evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, blessing, knowing that you are called to this, that you may inherit a blessing.

For he who would love life and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil and his lips from seeking deceit.

Let him turn away from evil and do good.

Let him seek peace and pursue it.

For the eyes of the Lord are the righteous and his ears are open to their prayers, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.

Before we start, let's just pray real quick.

Thank you, Lord, for this time together.

I pray that their hearts will be ready to receive what you have me say.

I pray, Lord, that I will only say what you intended for me to say.

I come against any demonic distractions, any demonic strongholds, anything that will try to prevent the word from being received.

I come against it right now in the name of Jesus.

And I just pray, Lord, that we'll all be attentive, not to me, but to you.

In his name we pray.

Amen.

So when I read that passage, there are two things that the Holy Spirit revealed to me, and that's what we'll talk about.

They are walking in love and walking in holiness.

He commands us to walk in love and to walk in holiness.

You see that in Ephesians 5.

Therefore, be imitators of God as their children and walk in love as Christ also has loved us and given himself for us an offering and sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling aroma.

We are commanded to walk in love because Christ loved us.

We are commanded to walk in love because we are commanded to look like him.

That's the whole point of this message in our Christian life.

Is the goal is for us to look like him.

So when it says walk in love, walk in love because I walked in love when I came and died on the cross for you.

So now you walk in love in your area of influence.

It's not a maybe walk in love, is you were called to walk in love.

You are commanded to walk in love because the goal is for us to look like him.

So when he created us in his image and likeness, the expectation was and is for us to look like him.

It didn't change.

That's always the goal.

When the Holy Spirit comes and dwells in us, the goal is for him to make us to look like Jesus.

So walk in love, because I walk in love.

And then in 1 Peter chapter 1, verse 15 and 16, be holy.

1 Peter 1:15

I mean, be as he who calls you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct.

Because it is written, be holy, for I am what?

For I am holy.

Once again, look like me.

Because I'm holy, I'm expecting you to be holy.

And parents.

We just did a whole father thing.

Well, you understand this, so it's not something crazy.

When you see your child acting like you, when you see them pursuing the things that you pursued, what does that make you?

It makes you happy, it makes you proud.

Because your child is looking like you.

And the same thing, our father in heaven has the same desire for us to look like him.

Be holy, for I am holy.

Look like me because I am holy.

So now let's jump into our first Peter verse.

And so we'll kind of divide into two.

I'll talk about verses 8 to 9 and then 10 to 12.

So we're gonna start with 8 to 9 right now.

Finally, all of you be of one mind, having compassion for one another, love as brothers, be tenderhearted, be courteous, not returning evil for evil or reviling for reviling.

But on the contrary, blessing, knowing that you are called to this, that you may inherit a blessing.

When I read that, the very first thing that came to my mind was a summon on the mount.

On the summon on the mount, it's a very counter-culture message because Jesus sidestepped all the actions and went straight from the for the heart.

What makes the summon on the mount counterculture is the fact that Jesus bypasses our actions and goes straight from the heart.

A lot of people know how to act holy.

They know how to pretend like I'm walking in love, but then you look at their hearts, it's very different.

It's all about our hearts.

Our hearts determine who we are.

If you're a lustful person in your heart, doesn't matter how pure you try to act, you're still lustful.

If your heart is full of pride, doesn't matter how humble you try to act, you are a prideful person.

Our hearts determine who we are.

You see that in Proverbs 23:7.

Proverbs 23:7

As a man thinks in his heart, so is he.

Not how you act.

What is in your heart?

Because our hearts determine who we are.

And I'm not saying this to condemn you.

I'm not saying this to make you feel guilty.

Maybe a little bit.

But I'm saying this so that I can remind you that we serve a powerful God who can change our hearts.

And you see that in Hebrews 8, verse 10.

Hebrews 8:10

He says, For this is a covenant that I will make with the house of Israel.

After those days, says the Lord, I will put my laws in their mind and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

It doesn't matter what you're struggling with.

We have a God who will put his law in your mind and write it in your heart, and as a result, you will fulfill his law.

It doesn't matter what wounds you're carrying.

If you live long enough on this earth, you will be hurt.

People will abuse you, you'll be taken advantage of.

And all those things that happen over time that will wound our hearts.

And so we become bitter.

We become selfish.

And not because you want to be bitter or selfish, it's because you've been hurt so many times, you just cannot let anybody else do that to you.

But we serve a God who can go in and heal our hearts, who can revive our hearts, who can change our hearts and write his law in our hearts.

The law I'm talking about for us New Testament believers is the law of love.

And you see that in 1 John chapter 1 from 4 to 6.

1 John 1 · chapter mention

I rejoice greatly that I have found some of your children walking in truth, as we received commandment from the Father.

And now I plead with you, lady, not as though I wrote a new commandment to you, but that which we have had from the beginning.

That we love one another.

This is love, that we walk according to his commandment.

This is the commandment that, as you have heard from the beginning, you should walk in it.

We are commanded to walk in love.

From the beginning, that's never changed, it's not something new.

And God promised us that He will write His law of love in our hearts so that we can walk in love.

And that's the beautiful thing about God.

He will never command you to do something He's not equipped you to do.

He's commanded you to walk in love, so you know what He did?

I'm gonna equip them with love so that they can walk in it.

He's commanded you to be holy, so He has equipped you with the ability to walk in holiness so that you can walk in it.

And you see that in creation, He didn't just create man in the middle of chaos, He didn't create the fish in the middle of chaos, all the stars, He first created the environment and then He put the thing in there so that he can survive.

And so when He says walk in love, walk in holiness, you can do it.

So now let's go into a verse.

Finally, all of you be of one mind.

What mind is he talking about?

The mind that has the law of love in it.

Because when you have the law of love in your mind, you will have compassion on one another.

If you have the law of love in your mind, you love your brothers.

If you have the law of love in your mind, you'll be tender-hearted, you'll be courteous, you will not return evil for evil or reviling for reviling, because of what you have, and that is the law of love.

You will start blessing people because you have the law of love.

Why does he want us to do that?

Why does he want us to walk in love?

Because he walks in love, because he is love, and that is the goal for us to look like him, for us to look like his son, Jesus.

So when you're walking in love and holiness, you're becoming more like his son.

So that first word blessing, when he says, but on the contrary, blessing.

Look, the Greek of that word is eulogia.

And before I even read the definition, all this Greek stuff I'm gonna say, if you go to blueletterbible.org, it's a web free website and app, you'll find them, you'll find all of them there.

Thank God for technology.

Because I back in the yeah, I remember when the preachers used to come with all those concordants when they come to preach, and they just like lay it on.

And it's like if as you're watching, you're like, oh my goodness, what am I what kind of service is this?

Now it's just right here.

So I am very grateful.

But this word blessing is the Greek word eulogia, and it means fine discourse, polished language, in a bad sense, language artifully adapted to captivate the hearer.

Fair speaking, fine speeches, an invocation of blessing or benediction.

So, what the Holy Spirit is telling us through the Apostle Peter is that instead of returning evil for evil or reviling for reviling, walk in love by using language etiquely adapted to captivate the hearer.

In other words, bless them with your words.

Don't stoop to their level and start returning insult for insult, but stand in love and bless them.

Stand in love and don't let their anger, bitterness influence you.

And I think we're in the generation where we're really gonna be tested in this.

Because it's election year, first of all, and everybody has their opinion, and so we'll be tested.

Are we gonna stoop to their level and come back with their ideology, or are we gonna stand in love and choose to bless them with our words?

Say words that will encourage them, words that will sh will change their hearts.

Because when you start looking at people like Christ looks at people, you'll completely ignore all they're talking.

Because remember, our hearts determine who we are.

So when they are coming at you with all these crazy ideas, listen for their heart.

What are they really saying in their heart?

And then empower that.

Let the Lord use you to change their hearts.

That's how you minister the gospel, that's how you become an evangelist, when you let the Holy Spirit speak through you.

So when you get in this battle of like choo, choop, choop, choop, bad word, bad word, bad word.

You completely just miss the whole assignment in that time.

But walk in love by choosing to bless them because blessings come out of love.

Blessings come out of love.

Say that with me.

Blessings come out of and the next thing in verse 9: knowing that you are called to this, you are called to bless others because you are called to love.

You are called to walk in love and bless others, because that's what our father did in heaven when he created the heavens and the earth.

What did he do?

He blessed them in like manner.

Be imitators of him and bless others.

The goal is for us to look like him, and so if he's walking in love and blessing, what are we gonna do?

We're gonna walk in love and bless others.

We will not stoop to their level, but we will stay on the plane of love.

And this is not supposed to be easy.

That's why we're supposed to die to self and then walk in love.

You cannot walk in self and in love at the same time.

You either choose to walk in self or choose to walk in love, and that's the test every single day.

That's why Christ says, carry your cross daily.

Carry your cross and choose me over your fleshly desires.

Carry your cross daily and choose to bless others rather than returning insult for insult.

Carry your cross daily and be an example of me.

Because sometimes it's okay to just let them say mean things to you and don't return and just stay there because you might get in this argument, you might win the battle, but then you've lost the wall of their heart.

Just carry my cross daily and reveal my love to them.

And let's continue in verse 9.

That you may inherit a blessing.

Love comes out of blessing.

And God the Father walks in love and He will bless you.

So now that word blessing is the root word of the first blessing word that we read, and it means eulogio.

That one is eulogia, this is eulogio.

And if you look at the definition in the blue letter Bible, there's a bunch of definitions, and then at the bottom, towards the end, it will say of God.

Of God to cause to prosper, to make happy, to bestow blessings on, favored of God, blessed.

God will cause us to prosper because we are favored by Him.

We are called to walk in love so that we can be a blessing to others, and as a result, our Father in heaven will bless us because love blesses.

Love blesses.

We use language to empower and encourage others.

Our God in heaven will begin to cause us to prosper.

Because that's his desire.

His desire is for us to prosper.

That's what he wants.

He's not about just holding off, like, no, you can't come and experience this blessing.

No, that's not him.

Because love blesses.

Same thing with your kids.

If you can't help your kids, what will you do?

You'll help them.

So let's move on to walking in holiness.

So this is the next section of verses, uh, verse 10 to 12.

For he who will love life and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit.

Let him turn away from evil and do good.

Let him speak peace and pursue it.

For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayers.

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

In this section, God, Holy Spirit, is challenging us to walk in holiness.

So I'm going to read the same passage of verses, but in the complete Jewish Bible.

Whoever wants to love life and see good days must keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit.

Turn from evil and do good, seek peace and chase after it.

For Adonai keeps his eyes on the righteous and his ears are open to their prayers.

But the face of Adonai is against those who do evil.

Whoever wants to love life and see good days must walk in holiness.

Now the word holy is the Greek word ageos.

So if there's a Greek scholar in here, I'm sorry, I have an accent.

And so when I'm saying these words, I'm doing the best I can.

And so if you really, really, really guess on your nerves, choose to walk in love.

So a geos means set apart for God to be as it were exclusively his.

God wants us to be exclusively his.

Oh, one last point.

All these notes are in the uh app.

So if you're curious and want to keep up with me, just go on the app and you'll see them.

God wants us to be exclusively his.

That's his desire to show himself to us.

And we all know this in our relationship.

If you're dating someone or marrying someone, and and probably a lot of us have experienced this, where in this relationship with the the givers, and this other person, they only call us when they need us.

It's like you when you see that number ring, you just, oh, they want something.

We've all experienced that.

Oh, in the if you're in a relationship, you're the one who's always calling, always planning, always giving, giving, giving, and the other person is now giving in return.

How does that make you feel?

You either block that number or you break up with him.

Those are the two options.

And so the same thing, God feels the same way.

Without when our hearts are not exclusively His, He feels the same way.

That's what holiness is about.

Holiness is not about walking with long dresses and having no makeup on.

And the black high socks, the reach all the way up here.

Like call it tight.

And I'm holy now.

That's not being holy.

That's just being dressed for the cold.

Holiness is a heart issue.

Holiness is a heart issue, and the question is are our hearts exclusively his?

Or are we part time lovers?

Just see me on Sunday.

And if I was talking to young adult, Doors, is God your side chick?

Is it just you just become a Christian when it's convenient for you?

Because for those who are married, you know your spouse never goes home.

They are right there with you at all times.

When you're mad, right there.

When you're happy, right there.

That's the commitment God is expecting.

He's expecting us to be exclusively His at all times.

Don't just be a Christian in time of need.

On Sunday morning, or Wednesday night, Tuesday night.

It's a 24-7 kind of commitment where we pursue Him with everything that we got.

It's not I'm giving God 50%, it's I'm giving God a hundred percent and extra if He asks of it.

That's what holiness is.

I am giving you everything that I have because you are worth it.

Let's choose to commit ourselves to Him.

Let's choose to say no to these fleshly desires and fully commit to Him.

Now let's jump in back to our verses.

So verse 10.

For he who would love life and seek good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit.

When our hearts are exclusively his, our hearts will be filled with truth, and that is what we will speak.

And you see that in Luke 6.45.

Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth will what?

Whatever you have in there will come out.

And the connection between walking in love and holiness is this love fills our hearts and holiness protects our hearts.

Love fills our hearts and holiness protects our hearts.

In Romans 5:5, you see that.

Romans 5:5

Now hope does not disappoint because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

This verse tells us that God has filled our heart with love.

And that's the promise that you see in Hebrews 8:10.

Hebrews 8:10

That He will write the law of love in our hearts.

And so all of us are filled with the love of God.

And then holiness comes in and puts safeguards around it.

And the question is, how does it do that?

And you see that in Psalms chapter 1 from verse 1 to 3.

Psalms 1 · chapter mention

Bless is a man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful, but his delight is in the law of the Lord.

And his in his law he meditates day and night.

He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither, but whatever he does shall prosper.

Holiness protects our hearts by helping us shun evil.

When we say, I'm not gonna be involved in that, because that is gonna hurt God's heart.

When we choose to exclude ourselves from people, from TV, from things that enslave us to sin and say, God, I am choosing to commit myself 100% to you.

Bless is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly.

You have to say no to the uncounsel of the ungodly.

Holiness will tell you, tell them no.

They were good friends at one point, but when I'm taking you, you must say no.

I want to reveal myself to you, but they are they are gonna impede on limit how much I will reveal to you because sin will dominate you when you're around them.

Holiness will say, No, I am going to choose him over you.

Job makes this proclamation in Job 31.

I will make a covenant with my eyes so that I may now look upon a young woman.

He chose to make a covenant with his eyes.

And I'm challenging you this morning, make a covenant with your heart that you will not let the filth of the world to come in and impede what God wants to do in you.

Make a covenant with your heart.

When our hearts are exclusively God the Father's, and we cling to Jesus, we will then begin to walk in love and holiness.

Love fills our heart and holiness protects our heart.

So now let's go to verse 11.

Let him turn away from evil and do good.

Let him seek peace and pursue it.

When you're walking in love and holiness, and your heart is exclusively God the Father, and you are clinging to Jesus, where will your attention be?

What will be your heart desires?

Verse 11 tells us that.

Let him seek peace and pursue it.

That's gonna be your heart desire to seek peace.

And who is our peace?

Who is our peace?

Oh wow, I was going, wow.

Gotta go to Sunday school now.

Jesus is our peace.

Jesus is our comfort.

Jesus is our safe place.

That is the whole point of this passage.

And that's the whole point of the word of God.

To motivate us to pursue Jesus.

If you are studying theology and all these different things and your heart is not burned for is not burning for Jesus, then you're doing something wrong.

If you are studying the word, leading all these different things, and your heart is now burning for Jesus, you might need to change what you're doing.

Because at the end of the day, we're supposed to pursue him, and his word is supposed to motivate us to pursue him.

Remember when Jesus was talking to the disciples on the road to Emmaus?

And what did they say after he disappeared and left?

He said, Wasn't our hearts burning when he was talking to us?

That's what the word is supposed to do.

It's supposed to burn your heart, and you it excites you to pursue him.

So if you're coming to church and you're not getting motivated to pursue Jesus, you might need to rethink the church you're going to.

You might need to rethink what you're doing.

If the end result of your Christian is not pursuing Him.

Because that's how you end up in religion.

Because if He's not in the middle of what we are doing, then what are we doing?

We're just acting in religion.

We're just doing the works, but it's not touching our hearts because Jesus will come for our hearts.

Even in worship, and you can see in worship is how we express what he's doing in our hearts.

That's why he likes when we worship him.

Because that's how we're expressing all the things he's done and revealed to us.

We are called to pursue him with everything we've got.

Now let's go to verse 12.

For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayers.

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

For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous.

Righteousness has nothing to do with you earning it.

And matter of fact, you'll never get to earn it.

There's nothing that you will do today, tomorrow.

You will not come to a million services and yes, I'm righteous now.

There's nothing, and that is the lie.

We probably have you ever heard of people saying, I want to come to church, but be but first, before I do that, let me fix myself.

Let me let me deal with this issue first, and then I'll come.

And you're like, dummy, you can't fix yourself.

That's why we need a savior.

You only become righteous when you choose to believe in Jesus.

You only become righteous when you choose to say yes to him.

You can never earn his righteousness because there will always be something that you're not good at.

Have you ever heard this analogy of grace?

Where you have two people swimming, and I think the analogy goes, you gotta swim to this island, and then one person falls short, like almost at a meter, but then I remembered I'm in America, but a yard away from the island, and then someone else dies in the middle of the of the journey.

They both failed, but then you have Jesus who covers the gap, who comes in and helps us, kind of like when Peter was sinking.

Jesus came in and pulled him out.

That's what that's his role, that's what he does for us.

He comes in and covers what we can't do.

So when we say yes to Jesus, he instantly makes us righteous.

He made us righteous, and as a result of Jesus making us righteous, he commands us to walk in love and holiness.

With that understanding, now let's look at verse 12.

In this verse, Peter mentions three things: the eyes of the Lord, the ears of the Lord, and the face of the Lord.

And these three represent the different ways that God desires to be intimate with us.

This is why he commands us to walk in holiness and love.

Because walking in love and holiness puts us in a place where we can now be intimate with him.

If you're not walking in love in holiness, then you're not gonna be in a place where he will reveal himself.

And so now he says, the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, the ears of his ears are open to their prayers, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.

So let's start with the first one.

For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous.

For those who are married, how many of you have ever done that staring into each other's thing, eyes with your spouse?

And the idea there is when you're looking into each other's eyes, that's a deeper level of intimacy.

When my wife and I were talking, she's up there, she would, I gotta be nice, because I'm gonna hear about this.

So let me choose my words wisely.

So she would say, I don't like you, I don't think this is it.

But then I look her in into her eyes, and she's just I'm like, no, we're not supposed to be together.

So what I decided to do, I'm just gonna wait till your mouth catches up to your eyes.

Because eyes convey intimacy.

Through the eyes of the Lord, He He is He begins to be intimate with us.

Eyes reveal how much that person loves you, and that's the Lord's desire is to be intimate with His righteous people.

He wants that's it, that's the whole point of this whole message and the Bible.

Walk in love and holiness so that God can reveal Himself to you and be intimate with you.

Eyes convey intimacy, and then the ears are open to their prayers.

Whoever you are intimate with, you'll be attentive to.

Whatever she asks me to do, I'll do.

Not because I'm scared, but because I love her.

That's the first time I've said that publicly.

And parents, you know this when you love that child, it's hard to say no, because they have your heart, and God says, I want to give you my heart, and once He does that, whatever you ask, He'll say yes, and you see that in John 15:7.

John 15:7

If you abide in me and my words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.

That is a father's cry.

Be intimate with me, know me, and whatever you want, you want my heart, I'll give that.

His eyes are open to the righteous prayers because the righteous abide in him and his words abide in them.

So when the righteous pray, they're praying his words.

When you know him, you'll just repeat what he's putting on your heart.

He'll say yes to your prayers because you're just saying what he's put in your heart.

And the last thing but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.

The Lord will not reveal himself to the evildoers, he will only reveal himself to those who walk in love and holiness.

And we can flip that verse and say, But the face of the Lord is for those who walk in love and holiness.

The face of the Lord being for us who walk in love and holiness is referring to the Lord choosing to reveal to reveal himself to us.

His face is upon us to reveal, and so when you're walking in love and holiness, you're putting yourself in the proper place so that he can reveal himself to you.

And you see this exchange between Moses and God in Exodus 33.

Now, therefore, I pray if I found grace in your sight.

Show me now your way that I may know you and that I may find grace in your sight.

And God responds in verse 19 through 23.

Lack of time, I'm not gonna be able to read that.

But God says this, I'm gonna show you everything else but my face.

But when Jesus came, what does the Bible say in Hebrews?

His expressed image of him.

So through Jesus, we can see the face of the Lord, and so when we are being intimate with Jesus, we're getting to see his face, we're getting to know him more and more and more.

And in this time here on earth, there's only so much you can receive of him, but in the age to come, we'll get the full revelation.

But I've decided I'm just gonna start early.

I'm gonna start learning now, so when I go to heaven, I don't have to start from scratch.

Through his eyes, he draws us in for intimacy, through his ears, we get to commune with him and we get to share our hearts with him.

Through his face, we get to see and know him.

That's the whole point for us to see him and knowing him.

For this is eternal life that you may know him who sent me.

Thank you for listening to the Forn for War podcast.

We hope today's message has empowered you to make a difference in your world.

To connect with Pastor Steve's sermons, books, and blog, visit Steve Holtonline.org.

God bless.