The Beauty of Blessedness
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Last week we looked at verse 8 the Holy Virtues that those within the Household of Faith should have, unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind. These virtues should be held primarily toward our adopted family those of us with God as our Father and in as much as possible to those who are outside of Christ. In verses 9-12 Peter turns to the way we are supposed to respond to persecution from those outside of the Church, those who persecuting the church.
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. For “Whoever desires to love life and see good days, let him keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit; let him turn away from evil and do good; let him seek peace and pursue it. For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”
I. The Call to Bless (9)
I. The Call to Bless (9)
A. Do Not Return Harm
A. Do Not Return Harm
Do not repay evil for evil
The exiles are suffering in a way that we can’t imagine. They are being shunned, mocked, made fun of, and even physically beaten. Many are even being martyred during this time. It would have been easy to have a desire to “repay” those who were dealing out this abuse.
There is no doubt these believer’s still had to battle the flesh in their response to the wrongs they were receiving. Their initial reaction was probably a lot like ours may have been,
“I am going to show them”,
“I am going to go after him for,”
“He is not going to get away with treating me that way.”
But, Peter writes, Do not repay evil for evil. Just because these evil sinful men have sinned against you this doesn’t give you the right or authority to return that evil. They are not our example, Jesus is and He showed us how to respond to evil treatment.
For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth.
He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth.
He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.
Another persons sinning against us does not give us the right to return evil sinful behavior towards them. When we suffer and endure while doing good, remember, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God!
Hear the words of,
If anyone returns evil for good, evil will not depart from his house.
The crucible is for silver, and the furnace is for gold, and the Lord tests hearts.
We not only avoid returning sinful behavior, we also,
B. Do Not Return Slander
B. Do Not Return Slander
This is what Peter is referring to when he writes,
Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling.
Peter is saying,
It is not okay for us to avoid physically abusing someone and then turn around and verbally abuse them.
It is not okay for believers to repay with injury or with insults.
It is not okay for sojourners to seek to repay with physical harm or hateful speech.
Vickie and I are reading, The Mute Christian Under the Smarting Rod by Thomas Brooks. Listen to what he says to Christian’s under affliction.
A holy, prudent silence, does not exclude a just and sober complaining against the authors, contrivers, abettors, or instruments of our affliction.
Now, is he saying the opposite of what Peter is saying? No, he is not saying we can slander or speak evil of the abusers, but that we can justly and soberly complain against them. Do you agree? Is it ok to complain rightly against persecutors? Where is he getting this idea from?
Alexander the coppersmith did me great harm; the Lord will repay him according to his deeds.
Paul is letting Timothy know that Alexander has paid me with harm or with evil, but is he slandering Alexander? No, who is he leaving the vengeance to?
Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one.
Again, Paul is not slandering the Jews, he is just speaking about the afflictions he suffered. He is not necessarily rejoicing in the abuse, but telling of it.
Thomas Brooks closes this section writing,
Yes, though God will make his people’s enemies to be the workmen that shall fit them and square them for his building; to be goldsmiths to add pearls to their crown; to be rods to beat off their dust; to be scullions to scour off their rust; to be fire to purge away their dross; and water to cleanse away their filthiness, and earthliness; yet may they point at them and pour out their complaints to God against them.
Now here is the important thing to remember earlier in the the book, Thomas Brooks discussed the difference between Groaning and Grumbling. God does not mind his children coming to him with a loving, dependent heart, and crying out in pain, but he does not like us coming to him with a spoiled, self-righteous, self-entitled heart grumbling as if we deserve better.
Do you see the difference in a just complaining and just complaining?
Now, in the Christians call to respond rightly to persecution and affliction we are not only to avoid repaying with evil, and reviling, we are to,
C. Speak Well Of Those Who Sin Against Us
C. Speak Well Of Those Who Sin Against Us
Notice what Paul says,
but on the contrary bless
Tom Schreiner explains, “by ‘blessing’ Peter means that believers are to ask God to show his favor and grace upon those who have conferred injury upon them.’
We are to do the exact opposite of what or flesh desires to do. We are to respond to being wronged in a manner which the world sees as weak and foolish.
When someone speaks evil of us we are to speak kindly of them.
When someone takes advantage of us we are to commend them,
When someone physically abuses us we are to verbally exalt them.
Not that we are approving of their wrong, but we are humbling ourselves to the point we are placing a higher importance on their well being than we are own. We are showing that we have a desire to see them come to faith, repent, and become a fellow worshiper of God.
Peter, reminds us....
for to this you were called,
Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament based on Semantic Domains 33.312 καλέω; κλῆσις, εως; προσκαλέομαι
προσκαλέομαιb: to urgently invite someone to accept responsibilities for a particular task, implying a new relationship to the one who does the calling—‘to call, to call to a task
This is our new task, our new duty, our new responsibility because of our new relationship. Before we were born again, our relationships with others were all about self-preservation and self-promotion. Our relationships now that we are in Christ are about his exaltation. In other words we respond to persecution and affliction now in a way to point people to Christ not to protect our own name. We are not as concerned for our own earthly protection because we know we are kept by the power of God for salvation. Therefore when wronged we don’t repay with evil, we don’t revile, instead we bless.
Paul tells the Corinthians,
and we labor, working with our own hands. When reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we endure;
1 Corinthians
Jesus teaches,
bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. To one who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also, and from one who takes away your cloak do not withhold your tunic either.
Luke 6:28-29
Dan Doriani states, the prime example of nonretaliation is our conversion, for God called us when we were still his enemies. May we therefore seek ways to bless friend and foe, even if they fail us. Doriani,
Doriani, D. M. (2014). 1 Peter. (R. D. Phillips, P. G. Ryken, & D. M. Doriani, Eds.) (p. 130). Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing.
Doriani, D. M. (2014). 1 Peter. (R. D. Phillips, P. G. Ryken, & D. M. Doriani, Eds.) (p. 130). Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing.
The first reason Peter tells us to bless is because we are called to do so. But there is an another reason that we are to bless those who persecute us. This brings us to our second point.
II. The Reward of Blessing (9c-10)
II. The Reward of Blessing (9c-10)
After Peter exhorts sojourners and exiles to bless because of their calling, he follows that ups with another reason for not repaying evil for evil and reviling for reviling, he says.....bless your persecutors,
that you may obtain a blessing.
Here is the question, is Peter referring to future eternal blessing or temporal blessings in this life. Does he mean when Christ returns and gathers his bride will experience a great blessing (yes). Or does he mean that righteous living in this life will bring blessing while we are on this earth (yes).
1 Peter: An Introduction and Commentary 2. Return Blessing When Evil Is Done to You (3:9–12)
Verse
Right conduct
Resulting blessing in this life
1:8
loving Christ
unutterable joy
1:9
continuing faith
more benefits of salvation
1:17
holy life with fear
avoiding God’s fatherly discipline
2:2
partaking of spiritual milk
growing up toward salvation
2:19–20
trusting God and doing right while suffering
God’s approval
3:1–2
submitting to husbands
husbands won for Christ
3:7
living considerately with wives
prayers not hindered
4:14
enduring reproach for Christ
spirit of glory and of God rests upon you
5:7
casting cares on God
(implied) he will care for your needs
5:9–10
resist the devil
God will restore, establish, strengthen you
Do you get the picture? We may not blessed with hundred dollar bills, bigger homes, and better cars, but we will be blessed with priceless spiritual blessings. The approval, protection, and strengthening of God. The inexpressible joy, brotherly love, and love for Christ that cannot be bought.
Robert Leighton explains the obtaining or inheritance of blessing this way, “Not called to be exempted from troubles and injuries here, and to be extolled and favored by the world, but, on the contrary, rather to suffer the utmost of their malice, and to be the mark of their arrows, of wrongs, and scoffs, and reproaches. But it matters not,this wieghs down all you are called to inherit a blessing which all their cursings and hatred cannot deprive you of.”
Peter goes on to quote the psalmist saying these blessings are,
For whoever desires to love life
and see good days,
Who doesn’t desire to love life, who doesn’t desire to see good days? Here is who will, those who live a righteous and holy life, following the example of Jesus Christ. Those who have been called out of darkness and into his marvelous light.
How many of us love life more now than when we were slaves to sin? We might have thought we were loving life, living it up, but if you were like me you were always under a cloud of guilt and shame knowing something wasn’t right knowing we living contrary to law written on our hearts?
Even though believers experience suffering and affliction in this life we still have an inexpressible joy, because,
We see the blessings of God in the midst of suffering.
the blessings of God in the midst of suffering.
We see the goodness of God in the midst of pain.
We see the providential care of God in the midst of affliction.
Therefore we know we love life and see good days, even in the midst of darkness and evil around us. But we also look forward to the eschatological hope we have in Christ. That day when we will be caught up in the air with Jesus and be with Him forever. When every tear will be wiped away and we will worship, fellowship, and serve our Savior with all the saints!
Now, Peter doesn’t stop here. He goes on to tell his readers of the things that will hinder a good life, a blessed life. He want us to see ultimately how it looks to live.....
III. The Life of the Blessed (10b-11)
III. The Life of the Blessed (10b-11)
A. The blessed speak no evil.
A. The blessed speak no evil.
let him keep his tongue from evil
In other words those who have been given a new heart no longer speak in a way that is socially or morally reprehensible, bad (BDAG). I don’t know how many of you before you were saved had a mouth or tongue that revealed your heart. I did, and it is one of the blessings that the Lord has given me by freeing me from the language I used to use.
There is no place for evil, immoral speaking in the life of the believer. When our heart is made holy, our tongue is made holy. The more we grow in holiness the more we repent of saying things that we see as contrary to the way Christ spoke.
If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless.
Not only are we not to speak evil,
B. The blessed speak no lies.
B. The blessed speak no lies.
and his lips from speaking deceit;
There are times when a believer may be tempted to deceive. Especially, when the pain of persecution comes. When pressure from the world becomes great and we are at risk of great loss. Remember this is the context of Peter’s letter. These brothers and sisters in Christ were trying to survive as they come to faith in Christ and were receiving costly, and painful persecution. That is when it would be really easy to seek to deceive your those who are bringing about the affliction.
How about us today?
Can young folks be tempted to speak deceit to be accepted by their peers?
Can working folks be tempted to deceive to protect their paycheck?
Can anyone be tempted to deceive to maintain friendship with the world?
Here is the only way we will keep from lying, keep our eye on the Lamb that was slain.
When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly.
The one who did not speak evil and no deceit was found in His mouth. He is our example, that we might follow in His steps!
C. The blessed turn to do good.
C. The blessed turn to do good.
let him turn away form evil and do good;
Not only are the blessed to to stop talking evil and immorality, we are to completely turn from it. Again, think about the audience, yes there were many moralistic Jews turning to Christ, but there were also thousands of immoral, idolatrous pagans turning to Christ (like us). They were turning from drunkeness, sexual sin, idolatrous worship, and all the evil sins of the heart.
Peter explains just turning from the evil was not enough, but a new creation in Christ is turn to do good. It is not enough just to stop doing evil. There are times we probably all recognize that something we were/are doing is sinful and wrong, but why is just quitting the evil not enough?
Stopping is not turning. If we just stop doing evil and we don’t turn to do good we will just replace one evil with another. However, if we turn from doing evil and turn to Christ, we will ultimately turn to doing good.
Instead of reviling, threatening, lying about, gossiping about, or slandering our enemies we will seek to honor them, praise them, bless them, pray for them, and ultimately seek to win them to Christ through the declaration of the gospel and dicscipling them in the Word.
In turning from evil and doing good,
D. The blessed pursue peace.
D. The blessed pursue peace.
let him seek peace and pursue it.
What is peace, how would you define it? If we are to seek it and pursue it we need to know what we are looking for.
Here are a couple definitions.
a state of concord, peace harmony - BDAG
Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament based on Semantic Domains 22.42 εἰρήνη, ης
a set of favorable circumstances involving peace and tranquility—‘peace, tranquility.’
You want to see the fruit of a changed heart? Is a person’s demeanor one that seeks and pursues peace? I love the words used in this phrase. It is not like as believers we are just to be looking for peace, we are also to long for and run after peace. We should always be looking out for any relationships where peace has been disrupted and then run and see if we can work to restore it.
Everything Peter has addressed in these few verses lead us to this phrase think about even the adjectives we looked at last week.
1. Unity of mind ensures peace
2. Sympathy protects peace
3. Brotherly love guarantees peace
4. A tender heart promotes peace
5. Refusing to revile and repay evil for evil enables peace.
6. Prayers and acts of blessing encourage peace.
7. Avoiding deceitful speech protects peace.
8. Sanctification (turning from evil to good) strengthens peace.
There is nothing more clear in Scripture than the way Christians are to treat, respond, to and love one another. We ought to be a people who desires peace with all men, because we long for all men to have peace with God.
Jesus calls us to bless those who persecute and to pray for our enemies. Paul calls for peace among men. And here Peter points us to the posture we should have toward those inside and outside the body of Christ.
Here are a few application questions?
Do we drive division in the body or demonstrate peaceful unity in the body?
Do we repay evil with evil or turn from evil to us and do good to those who persecute us?
Do we bridle out tongue to ensure we are not dividing the body?
Why is this holy, righteous life so vital to every believer? Peter answer’s this for us in verse 12. Here we see,
IV. The Lord’s Response to the Blessed. (12)
IV. The Lord’s Response to the Blessed. (12)
A. The Lord sees the righteous
A. The Lord sees the righteous
For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous,
Notice first of all God is watching the righteous. He has his eyes set on those who are his. This mean he sees who may be afflicting us, He sees what suffering we may be going through. The best thing about God is he doesn’t just see it, He knows why we need it and what this suffering will work out in our sanctification.
He has perfect vision, and foreknowledge of our situation and even if we don’t know the result of the affliction we may be facing in this life. We have the promise of the next! We know all this suffering will one day come to an end, and every tear will be wiped away and all who are His righteous people will reside with Him forever.
Spurgeon Commentary: 1 Peter Exposition
There is not a righteous man upon the earth whom God does not see. He may be in a very obscure position, his circumstances may be those of poverty, he may be anything but famous. But so long as he is righteous, God delights to look upon him. He looks upon him so as to take care of him.
But he doesn’t just see us, Peter says His eyes are on us,
B. The Lord Hears the righteous
B. The Lord Hears the righteous
and his ears are open to their prayer.
How much confidence and assurance would it give God’s people knowing when they were in the midst of Great suffering and persecution that God hear their cries, he heard the pleas for help, and God does not ignore those who are righteous. Think of the words we often repeat Sunday after Sunday at the end of a service.
For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
Paul of course here is speaking of salvation. Paul is speaking of being saved from the wrath of God. Being saved from the torments of Hell. Being saved from slavery to sin. Being saved from condemnation.
And who does Paul make this promise to?
Everyone…Everyone whom He wills. Everyone whom God has foreknown, everyone whom God has predestined to salvation, justification, and glorification.
Now if He saves His own in that manner, would he not save us from the sufferings of this present world? We may not be saved from them the way we think. Ask Stephen, he was stoned to death, but as he died he was looking up into heaven knowing what was waiting for Him.
God hears our call to Him for salvation, he also hears our prayers for deliverance from persecution, and from suffering.
His church in Peter’s day and in our day should take great comfort in knowing that we have a God who hears us.
Paul uses this anthropomorphic language to show us God sees and hears those who desire to love life, and see good days, but he close out his quote from the Psalmist telling us,
C. The Lord is set against the unrighteous
C. The Lord is set against the unrighteous
But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”
Think about this final statement we will examine this morning. David wrote it during a time of when he was so scared the acted psychotic to escape. And he assures us even when he wasn’t sure if he would get free, His God was faithful. His God wold fulfill His promise to bless the righteous and curse the unrighteous.
Then Peter quotes the text during a time of great persecution to the church. He reminds the body of Christ that their God is faithful, powerful, and will be victorious over His enemies.
God has his face set against the unrighteous, against those who are against Him. Therefore we should not fear no matter how desperate our situation seems. Not matter how hard these days seem, we can continue to desire good days, loving this life because or God is the author and finisher of our faith. In other words are that we believe in Christ was set in stone by the Father and He will crush the head of the serpent, and ultimately feed the flesh of the unrighteous to the birds.
Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and with a loud voice he called to all the birds that fly directly overhead, “Come, gather for the great supper of God, to eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of captains, the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all men, both free and slave, both small and great.” And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth with their armies gathered to make war against him who was sitting on the horse and against his army. And the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who in its presence had done the signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped its image. These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur. And the rest were slain by the sword that came from the mouth of him who was sitting on the horse, and all the birds were gorged with their flesh.
The righteous will be feasting at the Marriage supper of the Lamb while the flesh of the unrighteous will be feasted on by the birds. It is a serious thing when God sets His face against these evil doers. May this cause us to stay strong in the midst of persecution and seek peace among all men, to that all of God’s people can find peace in Christ!