“Inherit a Blessing” [Matt's Messages]

“Inherit a Blessing”

As Foreigners and Exiles - The Message of 1 Peter

“Inherit a Blessing”

As Foreigners and Exiles - The Message of 1 Peter

Lanse Evangelical Free Church

November 28, 2021 :: 1 Peter 3:8-12

Remember our “marching orders” from the Apostle Peter:

“Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage 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” (1 Peter 2:11-12, NIV84).

Peter wants us to live good lives. Beautiful lives. On the inside (fighting the temptations of our sinful desires) and on outside, doing good deeds that our unbelieving neighbors can’t help but notice. So that, even though they want to dismiss us as troublemakers, many of them will actually be drawn to our Lord and all of them will bring Him glory when Jesus Christ makes His return visit.

And we are all to do all of that as foreigners and exiles. 

That’s a tall order! 

This letter is full of tall orders. Peter has some hard stuff for us to do.

For example, he wants us to submit ourselves to human authorities, good and no-so-good. That’s hard to do. 

But, apparently, it’s important for us to do because the world is watching.

And now in this next section, Peter is going to take things to another level of difficulty.

He’s not just going to ask us to passively submit to human authorities (which can be hard enough) and to not fight back and retaliate (which is even harder), but he’s going to ask us to actively bless those who persecute us.

That is where this letter is headed. Peter is not going to talk so much now about submission but about suffering. He’s already been talking about it, unjust suffering (since chapter 1 and especially at the end of chapter 2), but that’s going to become more and more the focus as the letter goes on towards chapter 4.

The Christians in Asia Minor were experiencing painful trials at the hands of persecutors. And Peter wants them to know that this is not abnormal. Unjust suffering is normal and expected for Christians during this age. 

Our Lord Jesus went through it, and He told us to expect it for ourselves.

And He told us how we should respond to it when it comes our way.

It’s not going to be easy.

But, the great thing about today’s passage is that Peter tells us that it is worth it.

I pulled 3 words from the end of verse 9 to be the title of this message, and they sound really good. 3 words: “Inherit a Blessing.”

Doesn’t that just sound good? “Inherit a blessing.”

Well, I’ve got some great news for you today: This is really good!

“Inherit a Blessing.”

That last word “blessing” is a favorite word for Christians. We use it a lot, especially this time of year, right?

Last Saturday, we had “Blessed to Be a Blessing” with the Ministerium. And last week we sang, “Count Your Many Blessings,” and “We Are So Blessed,” and “Blessings All Mine with 10,000 Beside.” And this morning we sang, “Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing.”

Probably every one of us thanked God around the table on Thursday for all of God’s many blessings to us.

Blessings are good things, good gifts from God’s good hand.

Or they are good words about good things, good things conveyed in words over and on to others.

We give others our blessing when we speak good over or towards someone else.

And Peter says that God has even more blessing in store for us to inherit and receive!

Do you want to inherit a blessing from Lord Himself?

You might want to wait a second and hear again what comes first before you answer that.

Not because the blessing isn’t great. It truly is. It is worth everything!

But because our part first is not so easy.

I want to summarize today’s message in three short points of application. 

#1. BE A BLESSING TO YOUR CHURCH FAMILY.

And here I’m trying to summarize verse 8.

Peter is rounding off the last section where he’s been painting a picture of a submissive Christian who does good works that turn the heads of the pagans. V.8

“Finally, all of you [not just citizens, slaves, or wives and husbands, all of you], live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble.”

Now this is a beautiful and inspiring short list of 5 virtues for every Christian to cultivate. 

I could preach a five point sermon on just that verse.

Beautiful! But not so easy, is it?

It’s not real easy to “live in harmony” with other Christians. Or literally, to be “of one mind.” Christians often dis-agree. 

We have to work at unity. It doesn’t just come naturally.

Sometimes we have to work on sympathy, as well. Especially when we see other Christians having trouble perhaps because of what we think were bad choices that we saw them making.

But if they are having trouble, Peter says that we need to do our best to be sympathetic. Sharing their feelings with them. Caring about what they care about, what they are going through.

He says we need to “love as brothers.” The Greek word there is “philadelphoi,” where we get our “City of Brotherly Love.” The church is supposed to be a community of brotherly love.

Peter says that we need to be compassionate or “tenderhearted” towards each other. Caring about each other, being kind to one another. Caring in such a way that we do something about it. That we act in compassionate ways.

And “humble” or “humble-minded.” Putting each other before ourselves.

This is the Christian ideal for living in spiritual community, and it is beautiful, but it is not always easy.

How are you doing at being a blessing to your church family?

Our church family has grown tremendously in the last couple of years. It’s not always obvious because we are spread out on Sundays, and because of various schedules, we are spread out in attendance over several Sundays. But Marilynn tells me that we consistently have at least 200 people worshipping together every three weeks. And there are many more than that who call this church family, their church family.

So we have to work at this. We have to work at being a blessing to our church family. How are we each doing at living in harmony, being sympathetic, loving each other as brothers and sisters in Christ, being compassionate, and being humble?

It might be hard to answer that question about ourselves for ourselves. It might be good to ask someone you trust how they think you are doing at those things. And how they think you might improve.

But we should be asking those questions.

It’s important for us each to cultivate these virtues not just because it will make our church fellowship thrive, but because the world is watching.

“Live such good lives [together] among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds [towards one another] and glorify God on the day he visits us.”

People are watching Lanse Free Church to see if we live out verse 8.

When the outside world sees Christians living like verse 8, they will sit up and take notice. As long as they see Christians living the opposite of verse 8–dissonance instead of harmony, apathy or worse antipathy instead of sympathy, love, and compassion, and pride instead of humility–as long as the world sees Christians living like that, they won’t care what our message is. And they won’t want to know about our Lord Jesus.

But when they see us living like verse 8, they will want to know more.

And when they see us living like verse 9?! That’s when it will really get interesting.

Look at verse 9. While you’re being a blessing to your church family...

“Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing.”

#2. RETURN A BLESSING TO YOUR ENEMIES.

Be a blessing to your spiritual community.

Return a blessing to the enemies of your spiritual community.

That’s not easy, is it?

It’s certainly not natural.

It’s fairly easy to love those who love you.

It’s fairly easy to bless those who bless you.

Someone gives you a gift at Christmastime, you want to respond with a gift in kind. Someone allows you to move ahead of them in the checkout line, so you feel like letting their car go first out of the parking lot.

Someone says, “Merry Christmas,” it takes a Scrooge to say, “Bah, Humbug.” No, you want to say, “Merry Christmas to you!”

But repaying evil with good is a lot harder.

Repaying insult with blessing and well-wishing is not easy to do.

We either want to walk away or we want to respond in kind. Evil for evil. Insult for insult. Tit for tat. That’s what’s natural.

Someone stiffs you, you stiff them.

Someone calls you a name, you have one for them.

Someone cuts in front of you, you speed past them at the first chance.

Someone blocks on you social media, you block them.

It’s human nature to respond evil to evil, insult to insult.

But Peter says we are not to do the natural thing. Listen to verse 9 again.

“Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing...”

Peter expects these followers of Jesus to have evil come at them from others. 

It could come from others inside the church who are not living out verse 8, but it’s more likely to come from others outside of the church who are bringing evil on them because they don’t like their religion!

And it could be pagan governmental authorities like we saw in chapter 2 verses 13 through 17 or harsh masters like we saw in chapter 2, verses 13 through 21, or unbelieving husbands like we saw (last week) in chapter 3, verses 1 through 6.

And it could from a lot of other vectors, as well.

Here’s what to do when evil comes at you:

Do not retaliate. 

Do not pay back evil with evil.

Do not repay insult with insult.

But more than just “don’t retaliate.” Peter says to repay insults with blessings.

Bless them back.

If they come with a beating, you come back with a blessing.

That’s what Peter is saying.

Where did Peter get this strange teaching? Who taught it to him?

Who said this? 

“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” (Luke 6:28-29)?

If you don’t know, that was the teaching our Lord Jesus Christ.

And He didn’t just say it. He lived it.

Remember what we just saw at the end of the last chapter (2:23-24), “When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly. [And He did more than that. He died for His enemies!] He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed.”

Peter is telling us to be like Jesus and return a blessing to our enemies.

Now, this does not mean that we should run towards persecution or that we are not allowed to try to escape it.

Christians are not masochists who just love being mistreated. “Ooh. Give me some more of those beatings! I just love it when you insult me!”

No. The Apostle Paul and the Apostle Peter tried to get out of trouble. At times, Paul even used his rights as a Roman citizen to escape persecution. 

We are allowed and even encouraged to seek justice.

But we are not allowed or encouraged to seek revenge.

To retaliate. To blast back. To return reviling with reviling, but instead we’re to return beatings with blessings.

You know that takes a strong person, doesn’t it?

And the world is watching.

The world will stare at something like this.

“How come you aren’t fighting back?”

“How can you be so sweet to that person who did that to you?”

The world will stare. They may not agree. It may be unsettling to them. They may think you are crazy. But they won’t be able to ignore you either.

I want you to think right now about your enemy. 

Who comes to your mind right now when I say that? Enemy.

You might not have an enemy right now that hates you because you love Jesus. Be ready for that. There will be more of that in the days to come.

But who was the person who most recently insulted you? Called you a name? Made fun of you? Made your life hard? Brought evil into your life.

How could you bless them?

How could you bless them back?

I’m not saying that you help them to hurt you more or certainly to help them to hurt someone else.

And I’m not saying that you can’t try to resolve the problem between you by showing them the error of their ways and asking for reconciliation and even restitution.

But instead of running away, or stabbing them in the back, or blasting them back– which is probably what you feel like when you get that person in your mind–what could you do to bless them back?

It might just be prayer for them.

One of the books I read this week to prepare was for this messages was by a Bible scholar named Karen Jobes. And she says this about applying this passage:

“Those who are able not to simply clench their teeth and remain silent but to maintain an inner attitude that allows one to pray sincerely for the well-being of one’s adversaries, are truly a witness to the life-changing power of a new identity in Christ.

When I asked students in class one day to come up with specific practical examples of how someone might bless an adversary, the story was shared of a Christian soldier living in a barracks with his unit. Each evening, when he would read his Bible and pray before retiring, he was reviled and insulted by the soldier across the aisle. One night a pair of muddy combat boots came flying at the Christian. The next morning, the hostile soldier found his boots at the foot of his bed, cleaned and polished and ready for inspection. Several soldiers in this company eventually became Christians as a result of the inner strength of one who could return blessing for insult” (1 Peter. Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament, pg. 218).

This is not being passive-aggressive and pretending to be nice and faking it. It is genuinely loving your enemy and paying them back with blessing.

Peter says that we are “called” to that.

Same language as chapter 2 verse 21 when he said that we are called to walk in Jesus’ footsteps.

We are called to repay insult with blessing.

And here’s the payoff. Look at verse 9 again.

“Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing.”

In other words, it’s worth it. God has something so good in store for you that it is worth not only taking the beating and receiving the insult but repaying it with good! The blessing is that fabulous! It’s worth it!

Now, don’t get me wrong. The blessing here is not earned by your good works of blessing your enemies. You don’t grit your teeth and speak a few words of blessing on your adversary, and then God says, “Okay, that’s enough, you’ve earned your blessing.”

Notice that it says, “inherit” a blessing in the NIV. Nobody ever earns an inheritance. It’s all a gift. It’s all of grace.

But this is our part, what we do to position ourselves to receive it.

“Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing...so that you may inherit a blessing.”

Point number three.

#3. INHERIT A BLESSING FROM YOUR LORD.

Be a blessing to your church family, and return a blessing to your enemies, so that you inherit a blessing from your Lord.

Which will make it all worth it.

To prove this point, Peter reaches back into the Old Testament which should not surprise us by this point in this letter. Peter loves his Old Testament, and he’s actually already quoted this Psalm, Psalm 34. We studied it together here back in the Spring.

Peter quotes Psalm 34 to show that God blesses His people when they keep from evil and instead hand out good (even to their enemies).  Look at verse 10.

Inherit a blessing...“For, ‘Whoever would love life and see good days must keep his tongue from evil and his lips from deceitful speech. He must turn from evil and do good; he must seek peace and pursue it.”

Do you hear the blessing words from King David? Loving life and seeing good days.

That was a Old Testament shadow of the blessing to come in the eternal Kingdom!

How do you come about it? “Keep [your] tongue from evil.” 

“But what if they tongue evil at me?”

“Keep [your] tongue from evil...He must turn from evil.”

“But what if they are bringing evil at me?”

“He must turn from evil and do good.”

It’s not enough to just keep from doing evil. We must do good to our enemies!

“He must seek peace and pursue.” This is actively seeking to bless our adversaries.

Because the Lord is watching. V.12

“For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.’”

And you do not want the Lord’s face to be against you.

The Lord’s face is against the unrepentant. “He must turn from evil.”

But His eyes and ears are watching and listening to the righteous to bless them beyond belief as they bless, not just their friends but their enemies, in the name of Jesus Christ.

Is this what we are known for?

Until the Church is known for acting like this, in a counter-cultural, counter-intuitive, counter-natural way, we will be fairly ineffective in our witness.

Jesus will still save Who He will save, but we will not be very instrumental in the process.

Peter says that we should live such good lives among the pagans that they will see us blessing our enemies, and glorify God on the day He visits us.

Who are our enemies?

And what we can we be doing to bless them?

Because when we do...we will inherit a blessing!

Imagine if someone told you that they would give you one billion dollars if you consented to being insulted for one month and just smiling in return.

What would you do? Personally, I would start spending that money in my head as I smiled through a month of insults.

And that illustration doesn't begin [doesn't begin!] to compare with the blessings, the good things, the rewards that God is promising in this letter!

Bless them back.

“Because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing.”

***

Previous Messages in This Series

01. "Elect Exiles" 1 Peter 1:1-2
02. "A Living Hope" 1 Peter 1:3-7
03. "Angels Long To Look Into These Things" 1 Peter 1:8-12
04. "Be Holy In All You Do" 1 Peter 1:13-16
05. "Live Your Lives As Strangers Here In Reverent Fear" 1 Peter 1:17-21
06. "Love Each Other Deeply, From the Heart" 1 Peter 1:22-2:3
07. "But Now You Are..." 1 Peter 2:4-10
08. “As Foreigners And Exiles” 1 Peter 2:11-12
09. "Submit Yourselves For the Lord's Sake 1 Peter 2:13-17
10. "Follow In His Steps" 1 Peter 2:18-25

11. "Do What Is Right And Do Not Give Way To Fear" 1 Peter 3:1-7

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Advent Candle #1: "O Come, Emmanuel"

Photo by George Becker from Pexels

LEFC Family Advent Readings: O Come, O Come, Emmanuel

Isaiah 7:14 & Matthew 1:20-23 :: November 28, 2021

Week #1: O Come, Emmanuel

“Advent” means “coming.” Christmas is coming. Jesus has come and is coming again.

During this year’s Advent Season, our readings will reflect the ancient hymn, “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel.”

Hear the plaintive cry of verse one:

“O come, O come, Emmanuel,

And ransom captive Israel,

That mourns in lonely exile here,

Until the Son of God appear.”

[LIGHT FIRST CANDLE.]

The first verse names the longed-for Coming One as “Emmanuel.”

In the Old Testament, the prophet Isaiah promised that God would be with His people so that they should not be afraid no matter what was threatening them. Isaiah prophesied, “The Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.” This mysterious promise established a pattern of God’s rescuing presence for His people.

More than 700 years later, this prophecy was fulfilled beyond everyone’s greatest imagination when a virgin named Mary gave birth to a son named Jesus. In the Gospel of Matthew, the angel of the Lord explained this to Mary’s husband Joseph.

           

[READ MATTHEW 1:20-23]

Amazingly, the Son of God Himself would appear and ransom His people from their sins.

Let this first candle remind us that we are not alone, and that, in Jesus, God’s salvation is on the way.

“Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel!”

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“Do What Is Right And Do Not Give Way To Fear” [Matt's Messages]

“Do What Is Right And Do Not Give Way To Fear”

As Foreigners and Exiles - The Message of 1 Peter

Lanse Evangelical Free Church

November 21, 2021 :: 1 Peter 3:1-7

I want to remind you that this part of Peter’s letter flows out of our current memory verse which we have been hiding in our hearts now since the end of August. 1 Peter 2:11-12.

“Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage 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.”

You and I are a family of foreigners, sojourners, pilgrims, resident aliens, elect exiles, citizens of the kingdom of heaven embedded in the kingdoms of earth. And our Heavenly King is calling us to fight against the evil desires inside of us and to live shiningly beautiful lives in our neighborhoods, doing good deeds in front of our unbelieving neighbors, that silence our accusers and even attract them to glorify our God on the day He visits us.

And one of the key ways that we do that is to submit to other humans.

For the last two Sundays, we’ve heard the Apostle Peter tell us to submit ourselves for the Lord’s sake to various human authorities, good and not-so-good.

Chapter 2 verses 13-17 was submission of citizens or subjects to governmental authorities. “Honor the king.”

Chapter 2, verses 18-21 was submission of servants to masters, mindful of our True Master and following in Jesus’ steps.

There at the end of chapter 2, Peter got almost carried away as he described our Lord’s unique example of submission as the sinless suffering Servant who bore our sins in His body on the tree so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by His wounds we are healed. We all like sheep had gone astray, but now we have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of our souls. 

Isn’t that wonderful? Peter sure thought so. 

But he was also not done urging his readers to practice Christ-like submission.

What group of people do you think that Peter will speak to next?

It turns out that it is Christian wives. Wives that are followers of Jesus Christ. Let me read it to you. 1 Peter chapter 3, verses 1 through 6. And then he has one verse, as well, for Christian husbands. I think that might be because we husbands can only handle one verse before we get into trouble. I don’t know. 

Everybody needs to tune-in this morning to this message. It is actually for everybody.

Some of you might have thought that you could tune-out because you are not currently married. Some of us husbands might have thought that we could tune-out at least until we got to verse 7. 

But while this passage applies directly to Christians who are married right now, it applies indirectly to all Christians. And while 6 verses are specifically for Christian wives and 1 verse is specifically for Christian husbands, it’s all God’s Word to all of us, and we all can profit from understanding the logic and purpose and heart of this passage and apply that to all of our lives today.

In fact, I’ve titled this message with the last 11 words of verse 6 in the NIV:

“Do What Is Right and Do Not Give Way To Fear.”

And that applies to everybody, doesn’t it? Some of us just need to hear those words to receive God’s Word for us today.

“Do what is right.”

In the Greek, that’s actually just one word, “agathopoiousai.” “Do the good.”

Which is actually one of Peter’s favorite words. He uses it 4 times in this one short letter!

He used it two weeks ago in chapter 2:15, “For it is God's will that by doing good [agathopoiousai] you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish men.”

And he used it last week in verse 20 of chapter 2, “But if you suffer for doing good [agathopoiountes, same word] and you endure it, this is commendable before God.” 

And he’s going to use it again in just a few more verses, chapter 3, verse 17.

I think that Peter wants us to do to good, to do what is right. And to do it without giving way to fear.

There’s actually a double fear in the Greek in verse 6. “Without fearing any fear.” “Without giving in to a fear of a fearful thing.”

Those two things go together a lot, don’t they? Doing the right thing and being scared.

It often takes courage to do the good thing.

One of you sent me a text this week asking for prayer because you had done what you thought was the right thing, and it didn’t go over well with others. You had stood up for someone else, and the people you had stood up around felt stood up to, and it was  uncomfortable all of a sudden.

Foreigners feel that a lot, don’t they? Because foreigners can’t often get comfortable. They don’t quite fit in, and when they stand up, they stand out. So over and over again in this letter, Peter wants to build our courage. He tells us again and again to not fear other humans (even when he’s telling us to submit to them!). 

But instead to fear God and God alone.

Remember: “Live your lives as [foreigners] here in reverent fear.”

“Do what is right and do not give way to fear.”

And what he’s specifically talking about as “right” and “good” in verse 6 is Christian wives submitting to their husbands. Look up at verse 1.

“Wives, in the same way be submissive to your husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives,  when they see the purity and reverence of your lives.”

I want to summarize the application of this passage this morning in three points for Christian wives, and one point for Christian husbands. And we all should be taking notes.

#1. CHRISTIAN WIVES, SUBMIT TO YOUR OWN HUSBANDS.

How does that hit you this morning?

Some of us here may struggle with receiving this teaching this morning. Perhaps because of our culture, perhaps because of our experiences, our backgrounds and current situation, perhaps because of misunderstandings and misinterpretations, and also perhaps because of our own sinful hearts and desires.

This may not sit well with you the first time you hear it, so let’s spend a little bit of time thinking about it together more deeply.

The first thing I want to point out is how this command dignifies and honors Christian wives.

This command elevates married Christian women.

That might surprise you, but think about it.

To whom does Peter address this command?

Is it to the husbands? “Husbands, get your wives under control?” It certainly does not say that! “Husbands, subjugate your wives.”

No. Even verse 7 doesn’t say anything like that!

No, Peter talks directly to the married women hearing this letter read to them in the churches of Asia Minor. He talks directly to them! Same as he talked to the servants in the last section. He treats these married women as free moral agents under God and encourages them to freely choose, as Christians, to voluntarily put themselves under the authority of their husbands.

This is not demeaning in the slightest.

In fact, who is specifically he asking them to follow?

He’s asking them to follow the example of the Lord Jesus Christ Himself.

These ladies are the first followers directly addressed after the example of Jesus is extolled at the end of the last chapter.

Peter is asking these Christian wives to follow in Jesus’ steps.

By submitting to their husbands. Their own husbands. Not every husband. Just their own husband.

Heather Joy, the Lord is asking you to submit to me as your husband, but not to any other husband in this church or in this world. That might be hard enough! Just following me. I’m sure you don’t feel like it all the time, and I make it more difficult than it needs to be. But it doesn’t have to be any harder. 

Same with all of the rest of you wives. You are not called to submit to every husband, just your own.

And it’s going to look different for different couples. Peter doesn’t spell out a lot of specifics here. There aren’t a lot of details in this passage. I think that’s great because culture changes and there are all kind of couples out there that will do this in different ways.

But every Christian wife is supposed to do it.

Christian wives, submit to your own husbands. Why?

Well, the Apostle Paul tells us that Christians wives are to submit to their husbands because they are living parables of the relationship of Jesus Christ to His church (see Ephesians 5:22).

But that’s not where Peter goes with it here. Remember, Peter is chiefly concerned with our witness to the unbelieving world.

“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.”

Peter is mainly concerned here with Christian wives that have non-Christian husbands. Pagan husbands. Listen to verse 1 again.

“Wives, in the same way [as Jesus Christ!] be submissive to your husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word [if they refuse to believe the word of the gospel], they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives, when they see the purity and reverence of your lives.”

Do you see the pattern?

Ladies, your unbelieving husbands are watching you. They are watching your life.

And they want to know what this “Jesus thing” is going to do to you and to your marriage.

It would be very unusual and uncomfortable in the first century Roman Empire for a married couple to worship different, separate gods. The wife would be expected to worship the god of her husband.

Can a Christian wife do that? No, she cannot. And she has to “do what is right” and “not give way to fear” and refuse to worship her husband’s god, no matter what. And she didn’t have the rights and freedoms that women in our society enjoy right now.

A Christian wife in a marriage like that was a “foreigner” and an “exile” in her own home!

And the unbelieving husband would be watching and watching her life to see if this “Jesus thing” was going to cause him trouble. 

And it might. Jesus changes lives and that changes relationships. If the husband wants the wife to sin, she has to say, “No.” If he says, “We’re going to cheat on our taxes, sign right here.” She says, “I can’t do that.” This “Jesus thing” may make things harder for him in significant ways.

But not in every way. Peter tells the Christian wives to submit themselves to their husbands for the good of the gospel.

Not because they are in any way inferior to their husbands.

They are just as valuable, just as precious, made in just the same image of God.

But because their husbands are watching, and so is the rest of the world.

People are watching our marriages.

The world is watching our marriages. Are they seeing Jesus in them?

I know that it is really hard to be what we call “spiritually single.” To be the only Christian in a marriage. Maybe the only Christian in a family. There are several of you ladies in this church that have walked that road, some of you for many many miles.

I honor you! You do not have it easy.

Years ago, I preached on this passage and posted it online, and it was for several years on the first page of search results on Google for “married to an unbeliever.” Thousands and thousands of hits. Ladies in this kind of a “spiritually mixed marriage” are looking for support and encouragement.

If that’s you, I want you to know that I honor you and are behind you all the way. Because it’s living like that, Peter says, that will win over unbelieving husbands “without words.”

It’s not by nagging or being preachy or pressuring or badgering or complaining to your husband about going to church, but by living a life of purity and reverence and submission.

It’s by living a beautiful life.

#2. CHRISTIAN WIVES, BEAUTIFY YOUR INSIDES.

What does this submission look like? It’s very attractive, but not through externals. Look at verse 3.

“Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes. Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight.”

Now, Peter is not saying that Christian women can never dress up.

No. He’s saying that no matter how beautiful you make your outsides, that’s not going to win your husband to Christ, and it’s not what God really cares about either.

Sadly, some Christian women often get this wrong. They can spend hours in front of the mirror and almost no time at all in their Bibles or in prayer.

Peter is not saying you can’t look in the mirror. Peter is not saying, “Be as ugly as you can!” Peter is not saying you can’t be outwardly beautiful. My wife is extraordinarily outwardly beautiful!

But outward beauty can fade or be taken away in heartbeat. And it’s not where it’s at.

Here’s where it’s at. Verse 4. You beauty “should be that of your inner self [literally “the hidden heart”], the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight.”

Peter loves that word “unfading,” as well. He uses it several times in this letter. It’s the same word he used to described our living hope in the first chapter. Our inheritance that can never perish, spoil, or fade.

This is a beauty that cannot be taken away from you ladies!

The “beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit.”

Now, these words “gentle and quiet” can also be taken wrongly.

Peter is not saying that women with loud personalities are ungodly.

Peter is not talking about how loud your personality is. If God made you loud, then be loud. If God made you to make a splash, make a splash.

There are lots of different kinds of godly women in the Bible, and some of them are loud and feisty and forceful. Praise God! The church needs you!

Peter is talking about your heart. Not your personality, but your character.

He’s asking if you are noisy inside. If you are angry and frustrated inside. If you are chaotic and destructive and selfish and violent on the inside.

Or are you gentle and quiet in your spirit?

Do you have peace?

Do you have serenity?

Are you calm?

That word “gentle” there in verse 4 is the same word in Greek our Lord Jesus used to describe Himself in the title of that book we’re all reading as a church, Gentle and Lowly.

Are you like Jesus on the inside, ladies?

That’s what Peter is saying.

That’s “of great worth in God’s sight.”

Ladies, don’t let the world tell you what is beautiful.

Don’t let the world tell you how to act.

Don’t let social media tell you what is beautiful and chase after that.

Let God tell you what is beautiful, and run after that in your hearts!

Christian wives cultivate beauty on the inside.

You know, the world is not going to know exactly what to do with Christian wives submitting to their husbands. The world is going to scoff at it and mock it and even warn everybody about how dangerous it is.

And when done wrong, it can be dangerous.

But when the world sees women who are beautiful on the inside with the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, some of them will get curious. Some of them will want a piece of that.

And some of them will to come to know Christ.

And so will some of the unbelieving husbands.

It’s always been like that. Peter goes back to the Old Testament to show the pattern. Look at verse 5.

“For this is the way the holy women of the past who put their hope in God used to make themselves beautiful. They were submissive to their own husbands, like Sarah, who obeyed Abraham and called him her master. You are her daughters if you do what is right and do not give way to fear.”

#3. CHRISTIAN WIVES, PUT YOUR HOPE IN GOD.

Just like Sarah did.

The Apostle Peter loved his Old Testament, so he reaches back to the first book of the Bible to put forward the first lady of faith, Sarah, Abraham’s wife, as an example of wifely submission.

In Genesis 18, she called Abraham, her “Lord” which doesn’t mean “god” in this context, it means something more like “Captain” or “Chief” or “Leader.”

Abraham wasn’t always the easiest guy to follow, either, though he was a believer.

So Sarah had a rocky ride at times. But she respected Abraham and followed him and submitted to him, not because he was so great, but because Sarah’s God was so great and had promised great things.

And she was putting her hope Him.

And Sarah was beautiful, too, even in her old age! But her true beauty was on the inside when she put her hope in YHWH.

Sarah was a model for the Christian wives of Peter’s day and our day.

We need more women like that to be models.

We need “super-models” of inner beauty who hope in God and do the right thing no matter what.

“You are her daughters if you do what is right and do not give way to fear.”

Ladies, find a woman like that and model your life after her.

Are you getting a better sense of what it means to submit to your husband like this? Sarah obeyed Abraham, so at least, on some level, submission means obedience. But not like a child or like a slave or an employee. A married couple are both adults and also equals, as we’ll see in a minute in verse 7.

But a Christian wife puts herself under the authority of her husband and follows his leadership.

Being submissive means, at least:

- Desiring to follow him

- Looking to her husband as her leader, calling him that

- Being fiercely loyal to him  

- Not talking him down or gossiping about him or incessantly complaining about him

- Not selfishly fighting him or insisting on her own way

- Not being fiercely independent

- Not going her own way, devil may care

- Not being reckless, brash, hateful, chaotic, destructive, demanding in the home

- Not being defiant, resistant, unentreatable

Wives do all of those things wrong when they put their hope in everything else than God.

Ladies, do you see how putting your hope in God enables you to submit to your own husband?

You aren’t putting your hope in your husband.

You aren’t putting your hope in your outward beauty.

You aren’t putting your hope in your rights.

You are putting your hope in your God, and believing everything He says about you and about your future. About how loved you are. About how you are chosen. About how you are precious to Him. Of how your spirit is of “great worth in God’s sight.”

And then you can be fearless and do the right thing.

“Do what is right and do not give way to fear.”

Some of you gals who are not married, are thinking, “Hmm. I thought I wanted to get married, but now I’m hearing more of what’s involved, I want to re-think this!”

Heather Joy, you do not have to call me, “Lord,” but thank you for treating me like one. 

By the way, there is a word that’s been on many of your minds as I’ve been talking.

And it’s the word “abuse.”

What about abusive situations?

Is Peter saying that Christian wives should just grin and bear it?

I don’t think so.

The Bible tells us that God hates oppression which is what abuse is.

If you are being abused: physically, sexually, mentally, get out. Get help. Go to the authorities. Come up with a plan and get to safety if you can.

Come see me. I will do my best to help you. Heather and I have helped other women.

I know it’s hard. It’s sometimes even hard to know if what is happening to you is actually abuse.

I’ve been reading a great book by Darby Strickland called Is It Abuse? A Biblical Guide to Identifying Domestic Abuse and Helping Victims.

God hates oppression, and calls followers of Christ to help the oppressed.

Just as Peter is not saying you should go along with your husband’s sin, he’s not saying that you should just simply submit to his abuse.

And, Husbands, do not abuse your wives.

In fact, we are called to do the exact opposite of that. Look at verse 7.

“Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers.”

Talk about getting serious! When Christian men sin against their wives, God can cut off answers to our prayers! He says, “Talk to me again when you have made things right with your wife.”

#4. CHRISTIAN HUSBANDS, INTENTLY STUDY AND HONOR YOUR WIVES.

Peter says that Christian husbands are to be considerate or to “dwell according to knowledge” with your wives.

In other words, to really know them and really know what they really need. To be sensitive to your wives.

Guys are not always known for being sensitive. Christians husbands should be.

By the way, I think the reason why there’s only one verse for husbands here is that there were much fewer men in the situation of being a Christian husband with a non-Christian wife at this time.

 

And Peter is primarily addressing those who are more vulnerable in society. But I also think that he wants to make some really big points that were really revolutionary.

He says that Christians husbands not only need to study their wives...

By the way, husbands, do you know what your wife wants for Christmas?

Do you know what your wife needs this week from you?

I don’t know what your wife needs, but I have a pretty good idea what mine does.

And I’ve already ordered her Christmas gifts. (I hope I got it right! I’ve been studying for the test.)

Peter says that Christian husbands not only need to study their wives, but to respect them as the weaker partner. 

The word for respect means to “show honor.”

Husbands honoring their wives.

And not just honoring them because they are so wonderful, but because they are in some sense weaker than you are.

Most commentators think the “weaker” here means weaker physically, and I’m inclined to agree. That’s generally true of most guys and gals. 

But I also think that the weaker could be socially. In almost all societies (aside from Amazon ones) wives inhabit the weaker social position.

And Christian husbands are aware of that and lift them up.

And instead of taking advantage of their relative weakness physically, they honor them physically, socially, sexually, mentally.

This is the polar opposite of abuse!

And here’s the kicker:

It’s not just because they can be weaker, but because they are our equals, guys.

See what Peter says there in verse 7?

See how subversive this was socially in that day and age?

Peter is undermining both unchecked feminism and unchecked patriarchalism.

Christian Husbands, “treat [your wives] with respect...as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life...”

Fellow participants in grace.

Co-heirs with your Christian wife in salvation!

Neither of you is ahead of each other at the Cross. The Bible says that male and female are One in Christ (Galatians 3:28).

That doesn’t mean that there isn’t voluntary submission in the marriage relationship. Obviously there is.

But there is no superiority or inferiority.

There should just be honor.

Christian husbands should so honor their wives by listening to them, respecting their opinions, taking their advice, heeding their counsel, working so closely with them that their wives hardly ever have to think about submitting to their husbands because they are so in sync.

And when the world sees Christian marriages like that?

Watch out! They will see our good deeds and glorify God on the day He visits us.

Christian husbands, intently study and honor your wives.

Pardon me while I do it right here and right now:

Heather Joy, I honor you. Thank you for following me. I honor you. You are what I am most thankful for, here on Earth, this Thanksgiving Season. You are a daughter of Sarah.  I honor how you do what is right and do not give way to fear.

***

Previous Messages in This Series

01. "Elect Exiles" 1 Peter 1:1-2
02. "A Living Hope" 1 Peter 1:3-7
03. "Angels Long To Look Into These Things" 1 Peter 1:8-12
04. "Be Holy In All You Do" 1 Peter 1:13-16
05. "Live Your Lives As Strangers Here In Reverent Fear" 1 Peter 1:17-21
06. "Love Each Other Deeply, From the Heart" 1 Peter 1:22-2:3
07. "But Now You Are..." 1 Peter 2:4-10
08. “As Foreigners And Exiles” 1 Peter 2:11-12
09. "Submit Yourselves For the Lord's Sake 1 Peter 2:13-17
10. "Follow In His Steps" 1 Peter 2:18-25

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“Follow In His Steps” [Matt's Messages]

“Follow In His Steps”

As Foreigners and Exiles - The Message of 1 Peter

Lanse Evangelical Free Church

November 14, 2021 :: 1 Peter 2:18-25

This part of Peter’s letter flows out of our current memory verse that I studied closely two weeks ago, 1 Peter 2:11&12. Let’s recite it together again:

“Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage 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.”

In looking at today’s passage of holy Scripture, I have some good news and some hard news.

I have some good news–really really really good news!

And I also have some hard news. It’s not bad news, but it’s not light or easy to receive either.

Here’s the good news: The sinless Savior Jesus Christ Himself bore our sins in his  body on the Cross, so that you and I might die to sins and live for righteousness; by Jesus’ wounds we have been spiritually healed! You and I were like sheep going astray, but now we have been returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of our souls!

Isn’t that good news?! That’s the best of news. That’s the gospel. That’s the story of our salvation. You can see that I’ve pulled that news from verses 24 and 25. Some of my favorite words in the whole Bible.

The good news, the really really good news is that Jesus suffered for us, suffered a terrible injustice for us on the Cross, and that suffering has saved us for all eternity!

So here’s the hard news: 

God wants you and me to follow in Jesus’ steps.

God wants you and me to follow Jesus in His steps.

That’s the title of this message, and it’s drawn right out of the last four words of verse 21, “Follow In His Steps.”

The famous novel by Charles Sheldon comes out of this verse, In His Steps. When  I was a kid, I had a comic book version of that.

The old WWJD bracelets came out of asking the question, “What Would Jesus Do?” inspired in large part by verse 21.

We are called by God to follow in Jesus’ steps.

Which sounds really nice, doesn’t it?

I mean look at that cover of our bulletin! Cute little sandals.

Where Jesus goes, we’re supposed to go.

Jesus is our example.

It’s sounds nice...until you realize where Jesus actually walked.

Jesus walked right into injustice. Jesus stepped right into unjust suffering. Jesus stepped to the Cross.

And apparently, God wants us to follow Him there.

Not in all of the same ways, of course. Only He is the Savior. Only Jesus can die for our sins and heal us by His wounds.

But we can and should suffer injustice well.

Twenty years ago this weekend, I entitled my message on this very same passage, “What Would Jesus Do With a Raw Deal?”

I warned you that this was going to be hard.

It’s tempting to skip over this part or just skim over this part of 1 Peter. Because it’s not what we want to hear. I want to hear that I am loved. I want to hear that I am saved. I want to hear that I’ve been returned to the Chief Pastor and Overseer of my soul. 

But I don’t want to hear that I’m going to have to suffer along the way.

And yet that is God’s Word to us today. Do not listen to smiling TV or Internet Preachers who teach a “Prosperity Gospel” of health, wealth, and blessing, blessing, blessing all of the time, time, time.

We have lots of blessings! We should count them one by one. Especially this time of year. But God has not just called us to follow Jesus into blessing but also into suffering. Even unjust suffering. In His Steps.

The Apostle Peter’s main concern in this section of his letter is evangelistic. He is concerned about our witness to the world. Peter wants the family of foreigners, the elect exiles to live such beautiful shiningly good lives among our unbelieving neighbors that though they want to say that Christians are trouble, they are proved wrong in the end and instead are drawn to Jesus and glorify God on the day that He visits us.

And we saw last week (vv.13-17), that one key way of doing that was for Christians to submit ourselves for the Lord’s sake[!] to human authorities.

And we said last week that that’s not easy for a whole mess of reasons. But that when we do, it silences the slander and does not besmirch the good name of Jesus.

Jesus gets the glory!

That’s the big idea here. Submission for the Lord’s sake.

And last week, it was submission as citizens or subjects in civil society. V.17

“Show proper respect to everyone: Love the brotherhood of believers, fear God, honor the king.”

In this next passage (our passage for today, verses 18 through 25), Peter turns to the slaves among the churches in Asia Minor and directly addresses them.

Now, you and I in the United States in 2021 probably cannot read the word “slave” without connecting it in our minds to race and to the evil, barbaric, iniquitous race-based chattel slavery that was a terrible injustice practiced for 250 years on American soil and which continues to have evil effects in its ramifications on our society 150 years after its abolition.

This slavery, however, the slavery that Peter knew in the Roman world was not exactly the same thing as what often jumps into our minds. Roman slavery wasn’t necessarily race based or built upon kidnaping, man-stealing. And the slaves (the word here is for a household servant, the servants) were not intentionally kept uneducated as so many in the American South were. In fact, Roman empire servants were often better educated than their masters! Slaves could be teachers, musicians, actors, secretaries, even doctors. And in many cases, there were ways of working out of slavery. So, for many, it was more like indentured servanthood or long, protracted employment which one was stuck with, with very few if any rights.

But that still didn’t make it a great way to live.

Slavery is never called “good” in the Bible.

It was not like marriage, something God designed to be good.

Slavery a human invention that is always problematic. We were not designed to own each other. And we were not designed to be owned by other humans either.

But sometimes we find ourselves living under human authorities that we would not choose. And God cares about how we act, as His representatives, when we do.

Now, elsewhere, the Bible says that if you are enslaved and you can gain your freedom, do so (1 Corinthians 7). This passage is not saying that there is no time to get out of slavery. It’s just telling us how we should behave when we are in it.

In fact, all of the seeds it takes to undermine and eventually overturn the human institution of slavery are found in the Bible, as well. I wish I had more time to go into that. But that’s not what Peter is talking about here.

What Peter is talking about here is our witness as Christians.

Specifically, how we witness to our Lord when we are treated badly. As slaves so often are.

Let’s look at it. Verse 18. Peter is going to tell the slaves the same thing he told all of us to do in verse 13. Look at verse 18.

“Slaves, submit yourselves to your masters with all respect, not only to those who are good and considerate, but also to those who are harsh.”

So just like last week, the command is to submit ourselves for the Lord’s sake[!] to our earthly masters.

And I think that we could easily translate this to our worklives. We should submit ourselves to our bosses, our supervisors. The people we work for. Our employers.

To submit means to place yourself under the authority of another.

It’s not easy, but it’s good.

And when we do it well, the Lord gets the glory. 

When we do our jobs well, our God gets the glory, right?

That’s one of the things we pray for each other when we do our Worship at Work interviews here on Sunday mornings? We pray that we would submit ourselves to our bosses so that our Lord would get the glory.

Because people are watching.

They are watching how we do our work.

And they are watching to see if and how our God affects how we serve in our worklives.

Especially when things are not going well there.

Now, I have to point out how Peter is both calling for our submission and also being subversive at the exact same time.

Yes, Peter is saying that we need to be submissive our human authorities even the ones that stink.

But who does he say that to? Peter doesn’t talk to the masters here. He doesn’t say, “Make sure you get those household servants in line.”

Whom does he talk to?

He talks to the slaves. And he treats them as free moral agents.

Peter tells them to make the voluntary choice to submit to their masters in all respect.

Remember what he just said in verse 16! Look up at verse 16. “Live as free men!”

That’s just 2 verses away. He is telling the Christians in the first century that are enslaved in Asia Minor that they are actually free people.

Those men don’t own you. Just like last week when I said that America does not own us. Those “masters” don’t own you. They aren’t better than you. You are not inferior. You have dignity and value and worth. Verse 16 says that you “live as servants of God.” Not of man!  (Do you see how subversive this is?)

And now that you know who you are, you can choose for the time being to submit, to respect.

Not because those men are stronger than you or have bigger guns or have some piece of paper. Don’t submit for those reasons.

Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake.

This is a free moral choice that Peter is calling them to.

But it’s still not easy. Because some masters are good and considerate, but others are simply rotten.

And Peter says that we need to submit to both kinds! Look at verse 18 again.

“Slaves, submit yourselves to your masters with all respect, not only to those who are good and considerate, but also to those who are harsh.” 

The Greek word is “skolios” where we eventually get our medical word “scoliosis.” Some bosses are crooked. Some bosses are cruel, unjust, rotten. And we are still supposed to submit to them with all respect.

Now, this does not mean that we should do crooked things if our crooked bosses tell us to. We should be holy in all that we do. Always do the right thing.

But just because our boss is harsh and we don’t like their harshness, does not mean that we stop submitting to their authority when they tell us to do legitimate things.

If your boss says to meet you at the Kwik Fill tonight because you’re going to rob the till, you say, “No!” even if it gets you fired.

But if your boss says to empty the trash, but he’s a real pain about it, what do you do?

You empty the trash, with all respect.

Again, if you want to make a change and have the freedom to make a change, then go ahead by all means make a change. But while you’re there, be a model employee.

Even for the bad bosses. Especially for the bad bosses!

Because people are watching.

And they are making decisions about your God by watching your life.

“Submit yourselves to your masters with all respect.”

That’s not what we want to do, is it? No. We want revenge.

We want to get someone back. We want payback.

Have you noticed how much revenge plays into our entertainment these days?

Every show is about getting what’s due you. Payback.

Clap back.

Fight back!

Strike back!

Fight fire with fire!

All of the movies are revenge movies.

“So and so lost his family, and now he’s getting his revenge.”

And that tells you something about what our culture thinks is important.

And there’s always a funny little throwaway line as the “good guy” blasts away the “bad guy” or as he drops the match onto the oil slick. 

Or if it’s somebody quitting because they had a bad boss, it’s “I’ll show you what to do with this job!”

But Peter says, “Submit yourselves to your masters with all respect, not only to those who are good and considerate, but also to those who are harsh.”

Why? Three reasons. Here’s number one:

#1. BECAUSE WE ARE CONSCIOUS OF GOD. Verse 19.

Submit like this, “For it is commendable if a man bears up under the pain of unjust suffering because he is conscious of God.”

Because he has God on his mind. “For the Lord’s sake.”

The slave isn’t just thinking about himself in this situation. He’s thinking about God.

Do you think about God when you’re at work?

See, other people are watching you when you work, you should be watching God.

Other people are keeping their eyes on you when you work, you should be keeping your eyes on God.

He should always be on the back of your mind.

Reminding yourself that you are loved by Him.

Reminding yourself that you are chosen by Him.

Reminding yourself that you are seen by Him.

And that He will someday fix everything.

And that He will reward your good works.

“For it is commendable [by God!] if a man bears up under the pain of unjust suffering because he is [mindful] of God.”

Now, that word “unjust” is very important to Peter.

There is no reward on the way, according to Peter, if the suffering you suffer is deserved. Look at verse 20.

“But how is it to your credit if you receive a beating for doing wrong and endure it? But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God.”

Now, this is what I call “a raw deal.” You didn’t do anything bad to deserve it, and you get a reprimand. You didn’t do anything bad to deserve it, and you get a beating. You didn’t do bad anything to deserve it (in fact, you may have done something really morally good), but you got chewed out for it, or docked pay for it, or worse.

And Peter says, “People are watching how you respond.”

Of course you can pursue justice. You can pursue it within the system of your work and the legal system around you (Acts 16:35-4). Those are good and godly things to do, too. This is not saying you can’t or shouldn’t file a grievance. 

But how to do you treat that person who has mistreated you?

You go onto Facebook and tear off a rant, right? You tear them down. You make sure that everybody hears your rage-filled side of things.

And what if the justice system is unjust?

Then it’s bitterness and rage and burn the whole thing to ground!

It’s retaliation and payback time!

Peter says, “be conscious of God” and act accordingly.

#2. BECAUSE WE ARE CALLED BY GOD.  V.21

“To this you were called...”

This whole follow in Jesus’ steps thing is not something that we will do naturally. It takes supernature. It takes grace. It takes calling.

God is calling!

God is calling you and me to suffer FOR DOING GOOD.

I told you it was going to be hard today.

I don’t want to say this.

I don’t want to hear this.

I don’t want to hear that God has called me to suffer unjustly and endure it.

I don’t want to bear up under the pain of unjust suffering.

What button do I push to get out of that?

I want to be the master not the servant.

But what I really want is to answer God’s call. Verse 21.

“To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.”

#3. BECAUSE WE ARE TO COPY GOD THE SON.

Because we are conscious of God.

Because we are called by God.

Because we are to copy God the Son.

Jesus was a servant Himself.

And He shows us the way.

The word there for leaving you “an example” is like a drawing placed under another sheet of paper and then retraced by a student. Our life is to be a copy of Jesus’: His priorities, His values, His loves, His character, His choices.

And Jesus CHOSE to endure unjust suffering.

Jesus was handed the “rawest” deal of all. V.22

In the words of Isaiah 53, “He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth.”

Jesus did not ever do anything sinful or wrong. 

He was perfect and spotless and holy and clean, and YET, He suffered.

The sinless Son of God suffered! V.21 said He suffered for us!

The one Person in all of the universe who deserved to suffer the least, suffered the most.

And how did He handle it? Like a Boss. V.23

“When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate [‘Hail, King of the Jews!’ ‘Prophesy! Who hit you?’ “He saved others, let him save himself.’] When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate!” when he suffered [the pains of crucifixion!], he made no threats.”

Remember this from the end of the Gospel of Matthew a few years ago?

Remember how majestic Jesus was?

No retaliation. No threats. No bluster and swagger and insisting on His rights. No clap back. No trolling the trolls. No fighting fire with fire. No giving someone their comeuppance.

Also no weak and servile wimpishness either. Right?

Jesus was no doormat. He held His head up high.

He was a freeman! He was owned by no man. Jesus was no slave of man even when He was the suffering servant.

He was conscious of God! Look at the end of verse 23.

“Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly.”

Instead of mistreating those who had mistreated Him, Jesus gave Himself over to His Father.

Jesus remembered that He was loved.

Jesus remembered that He was chosen.

Jesus remembered that He was seen.

And that His Father would reward Him for doing what was good even when He was suffering unjustly. “[He] entrusted himself to him who judges justly.”

Jesus knew that justice would be done and be seen to be done in God’s perfect timing.

And three days later, He was vindicated!

And that’s our model!

We don’t ultimately look for justice from the people around us. The best they will ever do is approximate justice.

But God’s justice will be perfect. Every wrong done to us (and they are major wrongs!) will be made right either in the Cross or in eternity.

So we don’t have to live for revenge.

We have something better coming. We have perfect justice on the way.

So we can be like Jesus holding up our heads high.

Imagine these noble slaves holding up their heads as they submit with all respect.

I am loved.

I am chosen.

I am seen by God. So I can do the right thing. 

So we can be like Jesus holding up our heads high even when the world comes at us!

And taking it with grace and graciousness and peace and submission and respect.

Wouldn’t that blow the minds of the world around us?

Is that how the Christians you know act?

Is that what we are known for?

Loving our enemies like our Lord told us to? Like our Lord showed us to?

I don’t know how things are going for you right now.

Maybe you’re getting a raw deal. You’re doing what is good, and you’re getting blasted for it.

For Christians, that’s normal. We are supposed to expect that.

The question is what we do next.

We can try to solve it. We pray for that and work towards that. We certainly don’t go along with evil. We abstain from sinful desires that wage war against our souls.

We will be tempted to do the wrong thing in our worklives.

And we will be tempted to retaliate and blast those who blast us.

But we are supposed to follow our Lord’s example.

No sin, no deceit, no revenge, no threats.

Just entrusting ourselves to Him who judges justly and follow in Jesus’ steps.

That is hard to do.

But remember the good news! Jesus did it all before us showing us the way and changing the direction of our lives for all eternity. Verse 24.

“He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins [abstain from sinful desires] and live for righteousness [doing good]; by his wounds you have been healed. For you were like sheep going astray, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.”

Follow in His steps.

***

Previous Messages in This Series

01. "Elect Exiles" 1 Peter 1:1-2
02. "A Living Hope" 1 Peter 1:3-7
03. "Angels Long To Look Into These Things" 1 Peter 1:8-12
04. "Be Holy In All You Do" 1 Peter 1:13-16
05. "Live Your Lives As Strangers Here In Reverent Fear" 1 Peter 1:17-21
06. "Love Each Other Deeply, From the Heart" 1 Peter 1:22-2:3
07. "But Now You Are..." 1 Peter 2:4-10
08. “As Foreigners And Exiles” 1 Peter 2:11-12
09. "Submit Yourselves For the Lord's Sake 1 Peter 2:13-17

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“Submit Yourselves for the Lord’s Sake” [Matt's Messages]

“Submit Yourselves for the Lord’s Sake”

As Foreigners and Exiles - The Message of 1 Peter

Lanse Evangelical Free Church

November 7, 2021 :: 1 Peter 2:13-17

We are a family of foreigners. 

We saw and felt that last week as we reached the key passage that we have been memorizing as a church family for the last few months. 1 Peter chapter 2, verses 11 and 12.

Let’s say it together:

“Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage 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.”

And what a day that will be!

The Apostle Peter says that we are very loved.

And he also says that we are very displaced.

We are “foreigners and exiles.”

We are sojourners and pilgrims.

We are strangers and resident aliens.

We are not from around here, and we are not home yet.

We are a citizens of another kingdom, the kingdom of heaven, living in and among the kingdoms of this world. And so we are called to live a particular and different way.

Not giving in to or giving up in the internal war of our sinful desires.

And living beautiful lives, lives full of shining goodness, so that our unbelieving neighbors are drawn to our Lord.

We said last week that those words “As Foreigners and Exiles” are the context for the whole book especially for what Peter is going to ask us to do next.

And it’s not going to be easy.

Are you ready to hear what Peter is going to ask us to do as foreigners and exiles?

Are you ready for God’s Word to us today?

I warn you that it is not something that comes naturally to most of us humans, and even less so to those of us who are born and bred Americans.

In today’s passage (and in the next several weeks’ worth of passages), the Apostle Peter is going to ask us to submit ourselves to other humans.

The title of this message is the first five words of the first verse, “Submit Yourselves for the Lord’s Sake.”

Peter is establishing the main principle here, and then he’s going to bring it to bear on different relationships from here to the end of the next chapter.

But the main focus is on submission.

“Submit yourselves.” That’s something that most of us are not very good at.

To submit yourself means to put yourself under someone else’s authority.

It means to follow their orders. It means to obey. It means to “be subject” to someone else.

And we are already beginning to chafe, right?

Raise your hand or honk if you love this word: MANDATES.

(For yourself, I mean. If you like to be mandated. Not if you like to give mandates.)

Raise your hand or honk if you love this word: TAXES.

Raise your hand or honk if you love these words: SPEED LIMITS.

Raise your hand or honk if you love these words: GAME LIMITS.

Raise your hand or honk if you love this word: PERMITS.

Raise your hand or honk if you love this word: BEDTIMES.

Again if someone else is giving it to you. Someone else’s requirements.

Some people do like to be told what to do, some of the time.

Nobody likes it all of the time.

And we Americans are famous for hating it most of the time.

So the Apostle Peter comes along and says that you and I as followers of Christ as foreigners and exiles are to “submit [ourselves] for the Lord’s sake to every authority instituted among men...”

How do you like that?

I have three points I want to bring out this morning, and here’s number one:

“Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake...”

#1. TO HUMAN AUTHORITIES.

Let me ask you to do something today, okay?

Try to apply this passage to yourself and not to the guy sitting next to you or across the way. Try to apply this passage to yourself and not to somebody else somewhere else. “Those people.” It’s a lot easier to see where someone else somewhere else is doing this poorly. And it’s harder to see yourself here. 

So do the hard thing! Think about yourself and the human authorities to whom you are to submit yourself. Parents, bosses, and especially governmental authorities. Because that’s where Peter starts. Verse 13 again.

“Submit yourselves for the Lord's sake to every authority instituted among men: whether to the king, as the supreme authority, or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right.”

Now at that time for Peter, “the king” was the Roman Emperor who was probably the cruel and godless Emperor Nero. Nero was the supreme human authority in Peter’s world. And Nero had governors or rulers or princes under him that he had sent out and commissioned also to give orders.

What was Peter’s word for the Christians in Asia Minor to do in regards to Emperor Nero and his governors?

Were they to say, “Not My Emperor!” 

Like some said, “Not my President!” from 2017 to 2020 and others have said “Not my President!” in 2021?

No, Peter says, “Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every authority instituted among men.”

Now, I can hear you saying, “But what about this?”

And there are a bunch of exceptions and questions and complexities.

I mean, for one thing, our American President is not a king, praise God!

He’s just an elected official.

But he is an authority. And so is his administration. And so is the US Congress. And so is the US Supreme Court. And so are our state and local governing authorities. And our courts and our judges in this commonwealth. And our police. And our game wardens. And our township supervisors. And our health department officials.

And they don’t always make good decisions! Or pass good laws!

They are just human. That’s one of the things that makes it so hard for us.

I preached this passage before twenty years ago this month. Back then we were building our home in Lanse. And the sewer system was just coming in. Do you remember that? Some of you will.

So, I was going to get onto the sewer without having to put in a sand mound first, but while we waited for the sewer system to come, through, I had to put in a holding tank in the ground for my waste water.

And at the time, I thought it would make sense for me to just run my toilets into the holding tank, and not my grey water. You know what I mean? Like our showers and washing machines and stuff like that? Not that dirty of water. 

But the authorities said that I had to put all of my waste water no matter how light it was into that holding tank and have it pumped out and away at $175 a pop. It was a 1500 gallon holding tank, and we had 1 baby and 1 on the way, and we used 3000 gallons of water every month at that time. I couldn’t see how I could afford that.

 

I did not like what this human authority was telling me. It didn’t make sense to me! So what did I do?

I submitted myself for the Lord’s sake. 

[And by the way, the Lord took good care of us (sometimes miraculously) through that whole time.]

Now, of course, we are blessed in the US of A to have an actual say in our government. Tuesday was Election Day, and we have the privilege, under our Constitution, of being able to be a part of the ultimate governing body in the United States.

And we can run for office, and sign petitions, and advocate for different public policies, and respectfully challenge laws and mandates in court. So many privileges we have in America with our experiment in self-government. Thank you, veterans, for securing those privileges!

So you would think that that would make it easier for American Christians to submit to human authorities. But, sadly, this is an area of weakness, blindness, and stubborn disobedience for many American Christians. 

How about you?

The world is watching.

Submit yourselves to human authorities.

Now, there are genuine exceptions. There just should be no excuses.

There are genuine exceptions. The Apostle Peter himself did NOT submit to the human governing authorities when they told him in Acts chapter 5 to stop preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Peter said, “No way! We must obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29).

We must be holy in all we do. So, if there is a divergence between what God has clearly told us we must do in His Word and what humans tell us we must to do in this world, we must not submit to the human authorities. Like Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego!

And be ready to go into the fire for it.

But that same Peter who said “No” to the Sanhedrin, says that we need to say “Yes” in most cases to the governing authorities over us.

Even the terrible ones, like Nero!

By the way, if you do go into government–and we need more genuine followers of Christ to run for office–try to effect laws and policies that do what verse 14 says, “to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right” (see also Romans 13:1-7, especially verse 4). That’s what the gift of government does when it’s at its best.

Let’s vote, as Christians, for those we believe will do the best job of effecting a just society like that. Not for those who will just make decisions that benefit us, but that bring justice to our whole society whether our particular group benefits or not.

We will often disagree about who the best people are for that job (and even what justice looks like in various situations), but regardless, let’s make this our goal. Even Nero was doing it to some degree!

Submit yourselves to human authorities. Why?

What are the most important words, do you think, in the title for today’s message? In the first five words of verse 13?

“For the Lord’s sake,” right? 

Peter doesn’t want us to submit to human authorities because they have the biggest guns.

Peter doesn’t want us to submit to human authorities because they can level fines.

Peter wants us to submit to human authorities because it affects our witness.

Remember, we’re foreigners here.

We’re exiles.

We’re strangers.

And our pagan neighbors are watching us and learning about our God in the process.

Are Christians troublemakers?

Well, if the gospel is stirring up trouble, then yeah. And we don’t apologize for it.

But if we are just being troublemakers for our own selfish sakes, then we are giving the Lord’s name a black eye.

“Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake...”

#2. TO SILENCE THE SLANDER. 

Look at verse 15.

“For it is God's will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish men.”

This is what God wants!

You see, people are watching, and they are talking. And they are going to talk Christians down.

Christians will get a bad reputation in all societies over time.

Satan will see to it. We will get a bad rap.

But we should not feed that narrative any ammunition ourselves.

There shouldn’t be anything that our unbelieving neighbors can point to and legitimately say, “Those ‘Christians’ are a bad influence.”

We need to live that reputation down.

We need to prove them wrong.

We need to not prove them right.

“For it is God's will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish men.”

It’s just simply the idea of verse 12 that we’ve been memorizing. 

“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.”

Because if they don’t see our good deeds, it blasphemes our God.

So, it’s much more important for you and I to submit to human authorities than it is to have good human authorities.

We are so wrapped up in politics in our culture, and complain about “those people” out there, and do so very little searching evaluation on ourselves in here.

Well, we can’t do that much about “those people” out there, but we can do something about us in here.

And silence the slander.

The world should come to say, “Hey, those Christians aren’t as bad as I’ve heard. They are actually model citizens. They are good neighbors. They are kind. They are generous. I’m Muslim, but I feel welcome and loved. I’m LGBTQ, and I know they aren’t allies, but they look out for me. I feel safe around them. I feel seen around them. I’m an immigrant. I’m a refugee. I’m glad that these Christians are helping me. They aren’t cheating me. They actually follow the rules and don’t take advantage of me. They are not so bad after all.”

“For it is God's will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish men.”

Let’s stopping giving them something to talk about.

Because WE are foreigners and exiles. 

Remember that. We have to get it into our thick skulls.

We’re too used to thinking of ourselves as natives and as running the show.

I was talking with Tobi last night when she and Judy came to set up her table, and we were talking about what it’s like to be a foreigner working for a missions organization in Papua New Guinea. And especially what it’s like to submit to human authorities in country.

And one of the things she said was that as foreigners, they could get kicked out at any time. They realize that they are not calling the shots.

But even more importantly, they are representing Jesus there.

And they have actually achieved a favored status with the government because of their good behavior. 

And while that could go away at any time, as well, the whole point is to be worthy of it because it reflects on our King and His Kingdom.

“Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake...”

#3. AS SERVANTS OF GOD. 

Look with me at verse 16.

“Live as free men, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as servants of God.”

So, yes, in a very real sense, “The US President is not my president.” Because I am ultimately not an American. I’m a Christian. I’m totally free!

I am not owned by America. I am owned by God and nobody else.

But my God will not allow me to use my freedom as a pretext or cloak or a cover-up for evil. He calls me to be good and voluntarily submit to human authorities whenever I should.

Even when I don’t feel like it.

We are free! Evangelical Free! Free in the gospel. Free in grace. Free from sin.

And free to freely submit as servants of God.

And what does that look like in practical terms? In verse 17, Peter gives us four short little commands to tell us what a servant of God should be doing. V.17.

“Show proper respect to everyone.”

And, no, there are no loopholes here. “Everyone” there means “everyone.”

It doesn’t just say that we should tolerate everyone. It says that we should show proper respect. Some versions have “honor.” It’s the same word in Greek that will be the last command in this verse.

Every human being is made in the image of God, and as Christians we can show even the most despicable humans respect as image bearers.

They have intrinsic value.

They have intrinsic dignity.

How are you doing at this one, Servant of God?

What does your social media say about how you’re doing?

Are you treating people with proper respect?

Even people of the opposite political party as you are?

Even that guy in your neighborhood that flies a flag that offends you? Maybe it’s Black Lives Matter. Maybe it’s the Confederate Flag. Maybe it’s the Rainbow Pride Flag. Maybe it’s “Don’t Tread on Me.” Maybe it’s even the Stars and Stripes.

How do you treat them, Servant of God?

I’m not asking if they are respectable. I’m asking if you show them respect.

Next one. Verse 17. “Love the brotherhood of believers.”

A servant of God is committed to the family of God.

They don’t just get involved in church when it’s convenient. They sacrifice convenience and love each other deeply from the heart.

We show respect to everybody as image-bearers, but we show special love to the family of believers.

Third, “fear God.”

That’s simple isn’t it? But it’s profound.

We don’t fear the authorities here. We fear God.

You know, there was a lot a pressure in this society to actually worship the emperor. There was a whole cult of worship surrounding the Roman Emperor.

And I think that our culture heads that way, too. Not so much worshiping the guy at the top of the political party, but worshiping the political party and putting all of your faith and trust in its political success.

But you and I are to worship God, not man.

Fear God, Servant of God! Fear God!

And last of all, “Honor the king.”

Like I said, this is the same word in Greek as “show proper respect” at the beginning of the verse.

We are to show honor and respect to those in authority over us. At least the same respect as we show other people!

It’s a little known fact, but it turns out that politicians are people, too. Those who are in authority are humans made in the image of God, and we are to treat them as we would want to be treated.

Would you want other people to talk about you, the way you talk about our government officials?

How about on social media?

Over the last couple years, I have stopped scrolling through Facebook because it depresses and angers me. I go a little bit in and then I quit. I try to put good things in there, but I can’t spend much time on there because it depresses and angers me.

And what depresses and angers me the most is not what is going on out there in our godless culture.

What depresses and angers me the most are the dishonoring things I see so many professing Christians post about others, especially about our rulers.

Dishonoring.

Disrespecting.

Rude and sometimes crude.

There is this thing right now with the name “Brandon” and a saying being used as an alternate obscenity directed at the President of the United States.

It’s not funny.

And even if it was funny, it is not holy.

And you say, “Well, these people do not deserve my respect. They have not earned it.” (This is people on either and both sides.)

Do you know what Nero did to Peter?

Tradition says that Nero had Peter crucified upside down.

And Peter said, “Honor the king.”

Servants of God, honor the king.

This afternoon, do a trip down your social media accounts, if you have them, and ask yourself 1 Peter 2:17 about every single post you’ve posted.

And delete all of the posts that break it.

I’m serious.

“Show proper respect to everyone: Love the brotherhood of believers, fear God, honor the king.”

What would happen if every single follower of Christ in America just followed 1 Peter 2:17 on every single social media post, everything single call-in to a talk show, every single appearance on cable news, every single podcast interview, and they only supported other Christians who did, as well?

“Show proper respect to everyone: Love the brotherhood of believers, fear God, honor the king.”

For the Lord’s sake, we need to do this.

We need to submit to human authorities to silence the slander of God as His own servants.

So that our neighbors will glorify our God on the day He visits us.

***

Previous Messages in This Series

01. "Elect Exiles" 1 Peter 1:1-2
02. "A Living Hope" 1 Peter 1:3-7
03. "Angels Long To Look Into These Things" 1 Peter 1:8-12
04. "Be Holy In All You Do" 1 Peter 1:13-16
05. "Live Your Lives As Strangers Here In Reverent Fear" 1 Peter 1:17-21
06. "Love Each Other Deeply, From the Heart" 1 Peter 1:22-2:3
07. "But Now You Are..." 1 Peter 2:4-10

08. “As Foreigners And Exiles”  1 Peter 2:11-12

Read More