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Advent HOPE Sabbath School

Norman McNulty

1 Peter 3:11-22 - Suffering For Well-Doing

Well, good morning and happy Sabbath again.

So we will be continuing through our study in the book of 1 Peter, and then we'll be done for the morning with Adam and Hope.

Let's go ahead and begin with a word of prayer and we'll get started.

Father in heaven we thank you for the Sabbath day.

We pray as we study from the book of 1st Peter that you would give us further insight into the power of your Word.

Alright, so we got through the first 10 verses of 1st Peter chapter 3 last week, and we have covered several ideas in this book so far.

The first chapter talks about how we've been elect according to the foreknowledge of God through sanctification and obedience to an inheritance that's incorruptible.

And then we talked about how we have the trials of our faith and that our faith is more precious than gold tried with fire.

And towards the end of chapter 1 it talks about being born again of incorruptible seed, that human flesh is like grass that withereth when the sun beats down upon it.

And yet those who are born again when the trials come are like incorruptible seed who fade not away.

Chapter 2 then gets into a discussion of what it means to be born again and it starts off by talking about how as newborn babes we desire the sincere milk of the Word and then we grow from that and eventually it talks about how we are living stones built upon the foundation of Jesus Christ, who is the foundation or chief cornerstone.

And then, as we continue on, the question may be, well how can I be born again And how is it possible that I wither not or fade not when the trials of life come?

And the illustration is given of Jesus Christ in verses 20 through 25 and the experience that He went through when he was on trial, his trial and his crucifixion.

And in verse 21 it tells us that he leaves us an example that we should follow.

His steps who did no sin neither was guile found in his mouth who when he was reviled, reviled not again.

When he suffered, he threatened not, but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously." And then it talks about his death on the cross.

And so that's the example that Christ has left for us that we should follow in his steps.

This is what it means to be born again of incorruptible seed.

And then Peter gets into some illustrations of, you know, in what way will we be tried or tested so that when we do the right thing, we get falsely accused for it and yet we're called to have the example of Christ.

The first illustration he gives are wives who are married to husbands that are not Christian.

And they may mistreat you, but your duty as a Christian is to respond the way Christ would.

So that's his first example that he gives.

And he says you're not going to win them, you know, by the adornment and that kind of thing, but by a meek and quiet spirit.

And then he's going to get into some other illustrations now that we're going to pick it up here in verse 11.

So that's kind of where we've gone so far in the book of 1 Peter.

So picking up in 1 Peter 3, verse 11, says, "...let him eschew evil and do good, let him seek peace and ensue it.

For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers, but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil." So it's interesting, we've talked about being falsely accused and in verse 9 of this chapter it talks about not rendering evil for evil or railing for railing but contrary wise blessing and in verse 11 it says, eschew evil or turn away from evil, do good and seek peace.

And it's like, okay, maybe you're being falsely accused.

Maybe you feel like you're being misunderstood, but nonetheless seek peace.

And in verse 12 it says, the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous.

Now who are the righteous based on this context?

It's those who eschew evil, do good, seek peace, and ensue it, instead of fighting back.

That's 1 biblical definition for being righteous.

And it says, his ears are open unto their prayers, but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil.

Just earlier in this passage it says, look, in verse 9 it says, don't render evil for evil.

So it's like if you're fighting back, if you're being falsely accused and you're fighting back in the same spirit, that's considered doing evil.

And the Bible says the face of the Lord is against them that do evil.

So, not only has 1 Peter said, look, follow the example of Christ.

When he was falsely accused, he didn't fight back.

But in addition to that, if you're fighting back, that is doing evil, and the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.

And so Peter is saying, look, if you're going to be a Christian, if you're going to be righteous, follow the example of Christ and learn how to endure the trial of your faith without fighting back.

And so he's going to continue this idea here.

Verse 13 says, And who is he that will harm you if he be followers of that which is good?

And so he's asking a rhetorical question.

It's like, you know, why would you fight back against someone who's putting you down for doing good.

In the long run, in the big picture, if you're doing the right thing, God's going to bless and honor you.

So why do you have to worry about fighting back for yourself?

And so, it's like, humanly speaking, we feel that our reputation is being damaged, that we're being put down, and we've got to fight back and let people know where they're wrong and put them in their place, but it's like, wait a minute, who is it that will harm you if you're followers of that which is good?

If you're doing the right thing and being accused for doing the right thing, at the end of the day, at the end of this world, they can't harm you.

And then he continues this point in verse 14 by saying, "...but and if you suffer for righteousness' sake, happy are ye, and be not afraid of their terror, neither be troubled." So he's like, look, if you're suffering for righteousness sake, you should be happy.

Don't be troubled, because you know what the end result is going to be.

Now, humanly speaking, this is difficult, but If we follow the example of Christ, then it becomes possible.

And verse 15, then he gives us the next illustration of how we suffer for righteousness' sake.

The first illustration he gave was, look, here's Christ.

He went through the judgment and the crucifixion and he suffered for righteousness sake and he's left us an example to follow in his steps.

The next illustration he gives is converted Christians who used to be unbelievers who are married to husbands who have remained unbelievers and how they suffer for righteousness sake.

Now he's going to give the next illustration of how believers suffer for righteousness sake and that starts here in verse 15.

And we use this as a proof text to talk about how we need to know our faith, but here's the context of what this verse is talking about.

So verse 15 says, But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you, a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear." So we always use this verse to say, you know, we should be able to tell anybody why we believe what we believe, and that's true.

I mean that verse certainly is saying that.

Here's the broader context of this passage.

It's like, okay, what do you do when someone comes to you and asks you what you believe and you know what the truth is, you know what the biblical answer is, and you know when you give that answer, you're going to be persecuted for giving that answer.

That's the context of what Peter's talking about, because he's talking to first century Christians who to take the name of Christ, to profess the name of Christ was to put your life on the line.

And so he's saying look be ready always to give an answer to every man that asks of you.

He's not saying, you know, try to, you know, get around the question and give a political answer so they'll think that you believe the same thing that they believe and we all are headed in the same direction.

He's like, no, with meekness and fear, give the reason for the hope that is in you.

Verse 16 says, having a good conscience that whereas they speak evil of you as of evildoers, they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good conversation in Christ, " verse 17, "'for it is better if the will of God be so that you suffer for well-doing than for evil-doing." So the context is, okay, you're asked, okay, do you really believe that the seventh day is the Sabbath?

And you know that if you give the answer and you show from the Bible that the seventh day is the Sabbath, this is just an illustration, you know that if you do that you're going to get locked up in prison.

And are you going to give the reason for the hope that is within you with meekness and fear, Or are you going to say, well, you know, God works with everyone and for some people, you know, they worship on Sunday and that's their sincere day and, you know, I go on the Sabbath and, you know, that's good for me.

Well, that's not really answering their question.

The question is, is, do you believe the seventh day is the true Sabbath?

And the challenge of course is to give the answer with meekness and fear.

You're not saying, yeah, I believe the seventh day is the Sabbath and you're a heretic because you worship on Sunday.

That's not, I mean Peter clearly says don't answer like that, but you're going to answer in such a way that it convicts the hearer and they know that what you're saying is true and because of that you will be falsely accused and suffer for righteousness sake.

So the only way we can do that is to sanctify the Lord God in our hearts because if you don't have the Lord in your heart you're going to look for the human way out so that you won't be put on the line and your head on the chopping block.

And a fine illustration of people, at least 1 example of people who gave an answer with meekness and fear even when their lives were on the line were Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego.

And they said, you know what, Our God can deliver us, but even if He doesn't, we're not going to worship Your image.

And that's the way God's last day people will also be.

So that was interesting to me as I studied through 1 Peter chapter 3, it's like, you know, we always use 1 Peter 3 15 to say, you know, we should be able to give an answer for what we believe to anyone at any time, and that's true, but the context is when your life is on the line and you're going to suffer for righteousness' sake, God wants us to still speak the truth in meekness and fear.

And we may be facing a time like that in the very near future, Lord willing.

And we know that someday that time will come and God is looking for modern day Shadrachs, Meshachs and Abednego's who will say, hey, you know what, our God can deliver us but even if He doesn't, we're not going to bow down and worship your image.

So, So again, we have a good conscience, verse 16, that even if they speak evil of us, they'll be ashamed because they're falsely accusing our good conversation in Christ.

And it's interesting, if you look at Daniel chapter 6 for example, the advisors to the king of Persia said, the only way we're going to get Daniel is if we get him to be faithful to the law of his God.

So if we put Daniel up against choosing to be faithful to his God versus the king, that's the only way we're going to get him, because we can't find anything else wrong with him.

And so, that is the type of people that God is looking for in this time.

And again, verse 17, for it is better if the will of God be so that you suffer for well-doing than for evil-doing.

And hopefully we've grown in our Christian experience so that we aren't suffering for evil doing.

And we talked about this earlier in 1 Peter 2, that it's, you know, if you suffer for doing the wrong thing, that's just par for the course, so to speak.

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1 Peter 3:11-22 - Suffering For Well-Doing

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