1 Peter 3:8-12, Life Together and Blessing Others in the Fear of the LORD

Introduction

We once again have the incredible privilege of worshiping together through the reading and preaching of God’s Word. With that, I ask you to open your Bible with me to 1 Peter 3. This morning we will be looking at 1 Peter 3:8-12. As is our custom, I will first read the passage for us. Then, we will pray and ask the LORD to bless our time together studying His Word. Please follow along as I read 1 Peter 3:8-12.

READ 1 PETER 3:8-12

[Matthew 4:4 Responsive Reading - “‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”]

PRAY

What does a church that is pleasing to the LORD look and feel like? What are the primary marks, traits, characteristics, of the LORD’s gathered people that bring Him great joy? Is it the quantity of large numbers and filling up a room? Is it a full calendar of programs and activities doing a lot of stuff? Is it the same kind of metrics that would satisfy the board of any Fortune 500 company leading them to say, “business is good”? Or is there another standard by which we might consider ourselves a people pleasing to the LORD?

Certainly it can be a good thing for a church to have a lot of people. After all, we desire to see people saved. We desire to see the gospel advancing and people coming to know the living God and be reconciled to Him through faith in the LORD Jesus Christ. It can be a good thing for a lot to be happening in so far as it is effectively accomplishing that goal of seeing sinners saved by God through faith in Christ. I don’t mean to diminish or totally negate those things. But are such things––size and activity––the primary marks of true faithfulness that delight the LORD?

For instance, would it be good and pleasing to the LORD if we had the fullest sanctuary and busiest calendar, but we were totally devoid of godliness, unity, and love? Would the LORD be pleased with crowds of people who sing his praises with their lips and then persistently deny the truth and power of the gospel with constant division and a people who do nothing but bite and devour one another? Who cares more about their own interests and ways of doing things and cares more about their own reputation than that of Christ and His people? I don’t think so.

Biblically, it is clear that the LORD cares a lot about our life together––our unity with and love toward one another. He cares very much about our character and that our lives match up with what we say we believe for the sake of the gospel. As I was thinking about this I couldn’t help being reminded of Jesus’ High Priestly prayer in John 17. I’d encourage you to read it maybe this afternoon. He prays for the unity of His people. Not just those alive with him on that day. Do you know that He also prayed for us?

Listen to these words from John 17:20-23:

“I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word,

that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.”

There’s many other places we could go to see the significance of our life together and what the LORD desires for us together as a church family. But let’s just see what that looks like in Peter’s words to these believers. Again, what does a church that is pleasing to the LORD look and feel like?

MAIN POINT––Walk in unity and love together, blessing others together, all in the fear of the LORD.

Life Together

Look at verse 8 again with me––“Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind.” That “finally” might seem confusing initially. Is Peter beginning the end of the letter with another two chapters to go? Just another example of a long-winded preacher who doesn’t know how to end the sermon? No, that’s not what’s happening. He is finishing a particular section that seems to have begun all the way back in 1 Peter 2:11.

It was there that he began a series of exhortations for how we are to live as the people of God for the glory of God in a variety of ways and circumstances. He then addressed particular groups of people who found themselves in particular situations. Every Christian is to submit to governing authorities. Servants are to submit to their masters, even if they are unjust. Wives are to submit to their own husbands, even if they do not obey the Word. Husbands are to cherish their wives and honor them.

Here, he returns to addressing the entire Christian community. We see that with his address to “all of you.” No group or subset is singled out. For our Georgia folks––like the Buehler’s and my lovely wife, Jamie––you can imagine Peter saying “all y’all listen up.” This is a word for every believer in their life together as the people of God. Here in verse 8 he focuses on their relationships with one another. Then, when we get to verse 9, we’ll see how they are to relate to those outside of the church. Particularly those who persecute them. We’ll get there in a moment.

Here in verse 8, describing what their life together ought to look like, Peter provides five adjectives with imperative force. Five attributes they ought to cultivate in their life and ministry together––unity of mind; sympathy; brotherly love; a tender heart; and a humble mind. He seems to use a particular pattern, such that these traits, or virtues, could be summed up in three ways––which is how we’ll progress through them. The people of God are to have a shared mind, a shared heart, and a shared love.

Shared Mind

First, we’ll note the shared mind. Both the first and last adjectives are used to describe this shared mind. We are to have “unity of mind” and “a humble mind”. We’ll take each of those in turn. First, what is it for us to have “unity of mind”? Well, first of all it does not mean that we all think the same about everything. Unity of mind does not mean that we all have to agree on everything or like all of the same things. Particularly when it comes to less important, more tertiary issues.

We don’t all have to agree on the end times and how we think all of that will unfold. We don’t all have to have the same likes and dislikes when it comes to food or drink or activities. Don’t get me wrong, there are things we must agree on. Most notably we must agree on the gospel, right? Without that essential matter, we wouldn’t have a church. Things like that are a given, or they at least should be. Primarily, what Peter has in mind––what the New Testament has in mind––when it speaks of this “unity of mind” it is speaking of a unity of purpose. A harmony.

Harmony is a great way to think of it. Consider a musical set played with multiple instruments. Each instrument plays its own distinct notes. Yet, when played correctly with the right key and timing those notes come together with the other instruments. All the parts form one united whole, played in harmony together. It is pleasant to listen to. There is a common purpose in all their distinct parts that brings them together. But if one is out of key or timing or playing to the beat of its own drum without any regard for the whole, it’s a noticeable mess, right?

Then, we are also to be marked with “a humble mind.” Humility is not thinking less of oneself. It is thinking of oneself less. To put it another way, you consider others as more significant than yourself. It is a mindset that is others-focused, rather than self-focused. This pairs nicely with the harmony we just considered––the idea of having unity of purpose. Having a common goal. If we’re all about ourselves and what we think is best, it’s going to be hard to live in harmony, portraying a beautiful unity to the watching world around us.

Shared Heart

Not only must we have a shared mind, we also see that we are to have a shared heart. We see this with the exhortations to “sympathy” and having a “tender heart.” To have sympathy is to feel with others. Sympathy doesn’t say “I’m sorry you’re hurting.” Sympathy says “you’re pain is my pain”; “you’re grief is my grief.” Sympathy is what you have when you “weep with those who weep.”

The greatest display of this is of course the LORD Jesus Christ. We see that in Hebrews 4:15 where it is written, “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.” Jesus did not stay aloof or far off from us. He entered into our very existence. He experienced the difficulty of life in this fallen world. He experienced pain and suffering. He experienced temptation. He faced all that we face and did so without ever sinning. He is acquainted with all our griefs and sorrows.

Another aspect of our shared heart is that we are to have a tender heart. Which simply is another way of saying compassion. In fact, some of your translations might even say that. We are to be compassionate toward one another. To have compassion is similar to sympathy, but it’s still distinct. Where sympathy is to feel with another (i.e. weeping with those who weep), compassion is feeling for others. You feel a brokenness and contrite heart for those who are struggling––either in pain or suffering or in sin.

Once again, consider the LORD Jesus Christ. We see in Matthew 9:36, “When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.” When someone is hurting, for any reason, we’re not to rush to conclusions or cynical judgments. We are to have compassion for them. Loved ones, is that how we treat one another when we are hurting or seeing someone stray away from the faith?

Do we look at them with compassion? Do we weep when those we love sin or make a shipwreck of the faith? And out of that love and compassion––a tenderness of heart––lovingly call them to repentance perhaps even with tears in our eyes? Or do we become cynical and bitter and perhaps even gossip about them? We’ll get to this more in a moment, but I’d even say that compassion, like that we saw in Matthew regarding Jesus as he looked on the crowds, is something to be exercised by us toward the unbelievers around us as well.

How do you look at the unbelieving world around you? Are we more concerned with vengeance against those who reject the LORD and us? Winning the arguments online and at the Thanksgiving table? Or do we look at them with compassion, like sheep without a Shepherd? After all, was it not Jesus’ compassion for you that led Him to lay down His life for you so that you might be reconciled to God through Him? Shouldn’t we desire that same compassion we’ve experienced to be effective in the lives of others?

Shared Love

We are also to have a shared love. The way Peter writes this brings the main emphasis to this central description of brotherly love. It is a mutual affection that we are to have for one another as brothers and sisters in Christ. We are to cherish one another. Willing to do anything for our common good. When we think of one another there ought to be a depth and warmth of love and affection that we have and feel toward one another. Does this describe you in your relationship with your church family?

One of the things I have observed and admired about many of you is your deep family ties and commitments. Hearing about this reunion or that reunion. All the family gatherings that happen. That is so wonderful. Jamie and I pray for that with our children and those who come after us as long as we live. It’s such a wonderful gift that many of you have in your very tight knit families. Really, in many ways, it’s a good picture for how we ought to be as a church family.

Loved ones, as good as it is to maintain tight bonds with our earthly family, how much more important is it to maintain those bonds with your church family––those who share the far more precious blood of Jesus with you. For some, the two overlap. Praise God for that! But for many of us that is not the case. Loved ones, one of the great gifts of salvation is that we are gathered together into local churches like this one. We worship together. We serve together. We love one another. All because, whether we admit it or not, we need one another.

When life is hard, we need encouragement from one another. When we are tempted or give in to sin, we need admonishment and warning from one another. We speak God’s word to one another as fits the occasion. We pray with and for one another. Again, does this describe you in your relationship with your church family? Do we have this shared mind, shared heart, and shared love with one another that Peter describes here? And if we do, are we complacent? Or are we seeking to grow in it all the more?

This is the kind of community that portrays the truth, beauty, and power of the gospel.

Blessing Others

Now, in verse 9, Peter seems to turn outwards to address how we are to respond to the unbelieving world around us. Particularly those who speak evil about us and revile us. Look at what he says there––“Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing.” There’s a few things we need to unpack here. The first is really straightforward.

First we have a command regarding how we respond when others commit evil against us or revile us. We are not to return evil for evil. We are not to revile in return. No exceptions. No way to squirm away from that. Now, that is hard work. Just simply not returning evil or reviling is really hard. Left to ourselves, we naturally want to get back at others who hurt us. It’s hard to take one on the chin, so to speak. Just that alone is hard enough for us. But, Peter takes it a step further to something even harder.

You see, it’s not enough to simply bite our tongue when we are treated wrongly. Peter tells us we are to actually bless them in return. When people mock you for what you believe. You are to bless them in return. When people speak evil of you, you’re not to start a war of words campaign against them. You are to bless them in return. Of course this instruction is not unique to Peter. He had heard this instruction before from another.

Peter was paying attention when Jesus taught the same thing in the Sermon on the Mount. In Matthew 5:43-45 Jesus said, ““You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven.” In fact, not only did Jesus teach this very same thing, He lived it out. As He hung on the cross dying and the crowds reviled Him He prayed for them––“Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” (Luke 23:34)

Similarly, the first Christian martyr, Stephen, in Acts 7:60 as he was being stoned to death fell to his knees and cried out, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” It is in those two examples that I think we get a clear depiction of what it means to bless others in the way Peter is instructing us. It is to ask God’s favor toward those who have wronged us. It is to ask God to show them the same grace and mercy that He has shown us. After all, did not God bless us when we were enemies by sending His own Son to die in our place?

Stephen prayed for those who were putting him to death. They had all laid their garments at the feet of Saul who would go on persecuting the church. But then, He would experience God’s grace and mercy on the road to Damascus. A man who approved of Stephen’s execution and persecuted the church violently went on to become an apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ and the Lord used him mightily to save others.

That is our calling, beloved. To bless others just as we have been blessed. Rather than seek revenge, we are to seek their good. Namely, their good in Christ Jesus. That is our calling. That’s what Peter clearly tells us. As a result of our blessing others in this way, we too will obtain a blessing from God. What does that mean? What kind of blessing are we to receive as a result of this? Peter goes on to explain that with verses 10-12.

The Blessing Obtained

Peter grounds all that he has said in verses 8 and 9 by quoting Psalm 34:12-16. That’s the connection being made with the word “for” there in verse 10. He’s appealing to this Psalm from the Old Testament to support his instructions for us here. In other words, this has been God’s calling on His people all along in how we are to relate to others. God has always intended His people to be those who keep their tongue from evil and speaking deceit. Turning away from evil to do good and pursuing peace. But there’s more there for us to understand.

Why Psalm 34? What is Peter trying to explain here? Knowing the context of Psalm 34 will help us. It is a Psalm of David in which he gives thanks to the LORD for delivering him from King Achish of Gath in 1 Samuel 21. He is giving thanks to the LORD for this deliverance and calling others to give thanks. Then, he progresses to calling others to fear the LORD because of His care for His people in such times. No doubt this would have served as a comforting reminder for Peter’s original readers who were facing hardship and persecution for their faith.

What are we to make of this particular citation from the Psalm though? He speaks of “whoever desires to love life and see good days.” Quite regularly throughout the Old Testament, the biblical authors hold out the hope of long life in the land and blessing from the LORD if they remain faithful and obedient to the LORD. Then, when you get to the New Testament, the biblical authors pick this idea up and apply it to our eternal inheritance with the LORD in the world to come.

We see Paul do the same thing when addressing believing children in Ephesians 6:1-3––

Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. “Honor your father and mother” (this is the first commandment with a promise), “that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land.”

To try and put it simply, Peter is using this citation from Psalm 34 in that way. He’s reminding them that if they will live in this way, they will experience God’s eternal blessings. He’s reminding them primarily of the inheritance that awaits those who live in this way. I think verse 12 makes that all the more clear. Just as David made clear in the original Psalm, Peter reminds us that God favors righteousness and opposes evil. Those who do not obey him will not receive His blessing. The LORD is against those who do evil.

Here’s where we need to be careful and very clear. This does not imply some kind of works righteousness or salvation by works. Peter is not undoing justification by faith alone. Why not? If you are a Christian––born again by the Spirit––these traits and behaviors are present in you in seed form. This is something so badly misunderstood in our day among so many Christians. We do not rightly understand and apply the work of regeneration, the new birth.

If you are a Christian, you have been made alive together with Christ. You have the Holy Spirit dwelling in you, day after day making you more and more like Christ. This is why Paul is able to say to the Philippians “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.” (Philippians 2:12-13) Because of that gracious and glorious work, loved ones, you are able to bless others even when they revile you. God has enabled you to do that by His grace and the Holy Spirit at work in you.

This is exactly what we considered a couple of weeks ago as we delighted in the person and work of Christ. There at the end of 1 Peter 2 we are told that Christ bore our sins in His body on the tree, why? That we might die to sin and live to righteousness. Beloved, we are not saved by our good works. But we are saved to do good works, which God has prepared beforehand for us to walk in them. This is our calling, beloved. To be a blessing to others and by God’s grace then receive His eternal blessings as we walk together in the fear of the LORD.

Conclusion

Loved ones, life and ministry in the church is a wonderful thing. But we will also experience bumpy roads together. Such is life in a fallen world. But God has not left us to our own to figure out how to navigate such times. He has given us his Word and He has given us His Spirit. We have been born again to a living hope. We have been freed from sins dominion over us. Christ’s Spirit is at work enabling us to walk in this way together––in unity with one another and blessing others who revile us. All in the fear of the LORD. When we live in this way, or repent when we fail, it is evidence of God’s favor and blessing in our lives now and in the inheritance to come.

Walk in unity and love together, blessing others together, all in the fear of the LORD.