2-18-24 Sermon "Jesus' Example" 15 Minutes

1 Peter 3:18-22

This morning I'll be reading 1 Peter chapter 3 verses 18 through 22. And I'll be reading from the Holman Christian Standard Bible. 1 Peter 3:18-22 1 Peter was written to new Christians so that they would be encouraged and hold on to their faith even in the face of persecution. The verses that we will read this morning are talking about the example we have as Jesus went through His own suffering. 1 Peter 3:18–22 (HCSB) 18 For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, that He might bring you to God, after being put to death in the fleshly realm but made alive in the spiritual realm. 19 In that state He also went and made a proclamation to the spirits in prison 20 who in the past were disobedient, when God patiently waited in the days of Noah while an ark was being prepared. In it a few—that is, eight people —were saved through water. 21 Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you (not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the pledge of a good conscience toward God) through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. 22 Now that He has gone into heaven, He is at God’s right hand with angels, authorities, and powers subject to Him. The word of God for the people of God,,, thanks be to God! God bless the reading and the hearing of your word this morning. Let us pray: Dear Lord,,, as we begin this morning,,, with everyone here today and all that are listening and watching by video,,, we ask that you open our ears to hear and our hearts and minds to receive the message that you have for us today,,, In Jesus' name I pray,,, Amen. ___________________________________ Last Sunday we looked at Psalm 50:1-6,,, and we learned that God wanted the people to give from the joy that they experienced once they truly understood what God meant to them.

He wants us to give from our joy as well.

And that giving needs to be genuine,,, not fake,,, just for show.

I told you that if you read further into this psalm you will see that God lets them know that He doesn't need their sacrifices,,, especially when you understand that they were offering these sacrifices without their hearts being in the right place.

They were going through the motions without trusting God the way that they should,,, which is what God really needed from them.

What He was trying to do,,, was to show them what He truly wanted from them,,, and He wants to show us today as well,,, and we must have our hearts in the right place.

We don't need to just go through the motions of worship,,, God doesn't want that!

No more than He didn't want the sacrifices from the Israelites if their hearts weren't in the right place.

As a result,,, of this time of year that we prepare for Easter,,, as we go through these 40 days of Lent,,, we must remember to keep our focus on God,,, be true in our worship,,, and honest with ourselves and others about what truly matters to us!

Spending these days preparing our hearts for the celebration to come,,, must involve honest evaluation of ourselves and what God is expecting from us.

Prayer will answer many questions going forward,,, seek His guidance as to what you need to do,,, what you need to give up,,, or what you need to do to help others,,, or,,, yourself.

Use this time to draw closer to God each and every day,,, as we get closer and closer,,, to that celebration day,,, called,,, Easter!

This morning we will look at these verses in 1 Peter 3:18-22,,, and see how they will help us in our walk with God this week.

___________________________________ Verse 18 said: 18 For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, that He might bring you to God, after being put to death in the fleshly realm but made alive in the spiritual realm.

My Bible Knowledge Commentary says that,,, J.M.E. Ross wrote,,, that verse 18 is “one of the shortest and simplest,,, and yet one of the richest summaries given in the New Testament of the meaning of the Cross of Jesus”.

Jesus died on the cross,,, once for all of our sins.

He did this because of His love for us,,, even though we were sinners and didn't deserve His love.

God's love and Jesus' sacrifice,,, allows us to be in a relationship with God where nothing can separate us.

Verse 18 ends with Jesus being put to death in the fleshly realm but made alive in the spiritual realm.

___________________________________ Verse 19 said: 19 In that state He also went and made a proclamation to the spirits in prison

My Bible Knowledge Commentary says this has been subject to many interpretations,,, and gave several examples,,, but none of them gave an absolute answer.

It says that some believe Peter here referred to the descent of Christ’s Spirit into hades between His death and resurrection to offer people who lived before the Flood a second chance for salvation.

However,,, this interpretation has no scriptural support.

It goes on to say that others have said this passage refers to Christ’s descent into hell after His crucifixion to proclaim His victory to the imprisoned fallen angels referred to in 2 Peter 2:4–5,,, equating them with “the sons of God” that Moses wrote about in Genesis 6:1–2.

Though there's a lot that makes this view a possible interpretation,,, the context seems more likely to be referring to humans rather than angels.

The “spirits”,,, again according to my Bible Knowledge Commentary,,, are described in 1 Peter 3:20 as those who were disobedient when God waited patiently for Noah to finish building the ark.

___________________________________ Verse 20 said: 20 who in the past were disobedient, when God patiently waited in the days of Noah while an ark was being prepared. In it a few—that is, eight people—were saved through water.

The people of Noah's time had rebelled against the message of God during the years the ark was being built.

God declared He would not tolerate the people’s wickedness forever, but would extend His patience for 120 more years,,, and that's found in Genesis 6:3.

Since the entire human race except Noah was evil,,, also found in Genesis 6,,, God determined to “wipe mankind … from the face of the earth.”

The “spirits” referred to in 1 Peter 3:20 are probably the souls of the evil human race that existed in the days of Noah.

Those “spirits” are now “in prison” awaiting the final judgment of God at the end of the Age.

And the Wesleyan Commentary says: It is relatively easy to observe what Peter said,,, but extremely difficult to understand what he meant.

The labor and effort of scholars to interpret the passage are not to be made light of,,, but at the same time,,, neither are some of their fanciful theories to be blindly accepted.

It would seem best to be concerned with what one does understand,,, and someday perhaps,,, Peter himself will tell us what he had in mind.

In other words,,, that may be a question that gets answered after we get to heaven!

___________________________________ Verse 21 said: 21 Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you (not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the pledge of a good conscience toward God) through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

My Wesleyan Commentary says The baptism reference,,, has been taken by some as a definite support of “baptismal regeneration” and by others as the teaching of the traditional view of the “believer’s baptism”,,, which is an outward witness to an inward grace,,, and of course,,, that's what we believe today.

But Wesley wanted us to understand that the difficult understanding of verses 19–21 should not over shadow the glories of the conclusion that's shown in verse 22.

___________________________________ Verse 22 said: 22 Now that He has gone into heaven, He is at God’s right hand with angels, authorities, and powers subject to Him.

Christ is credited with the ultimate victory,,, because it's through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,,, who is now at the right hand of God,,, having gone into heaven,,, where angels,,, and authorities,,, and powers,,, are subject unto him.

Every part of the Christian gospel depended upon the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

It's to Jesus Christ that we must look for strength,,, and from Him,,, that help will come,,, and victory is assured.

___________________________________ So as we continue our Lenten journey,,, we need to remember that God has everything in place for our success.

If we fall short we only have ourselves to blame.

Jesus handled His time on earth by staying in touch with the Father through prayer.

He made it a priority,,, no matter what was going on at the time,,, or where He was at!

He gave us a great example by the things that He did that will show us the way to live our life,,, if we follow His example.

Peter used these words to strengthen those that were being persecuted,,, and therefore we can use them in the same way when we are either struggling through trials,,, or,,, even while we are just trying to live our life in a way that glorifies God!

And if we can strengthen our relationship with God in a way that glorifies God,,, by giving something up,,, or figuring out what we need to do to help others,,, or,,, to help ourselves,,, during these days of Lent,,, then,,, we need to make that a priority.

That should be our purpose going forward!

Maybe you are struggling with something today that just seems like it will over-take you,,, or defeat you,,, use the words as a guide going forward so that they can help you,,, and strengthen you!

That was Peter's intent,,, to help them hold onto their faith in spite of their persecutions,,, and they are great advice for any time of our life when we are facing our on persecutions or trials.

And using Jesus' example to guide us through Lent,,, is always the first decision that we should make,,, whether it involves questions about Lent,,, or any trials in front of us,,, today!

Because it's always the best decision we can make,,, no matter what we are facing,,, "Jesus example" should always,,, be our guide,,, going forward!

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