1 Peter 3:13-22

8 Now finally, all of you should be like-minded and sympathetic, should love believers, and be compassionate and humble, 9 not paying back evil for evil or insult for insult but, on the contrary, giving a blessing, since you were called for this, so that you can inherit a blessing. 10 For the one who wants to love life and to see good days must keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit, 11 and he must turn away from evil and do what is good. He must seek peace and pursue it, 12 because the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and His ears are open to their request. But the face of the Lord is against those who do what is evil. 13 And who will harm you if you are deeply committed to what is good? 14 But even if you should suffer for righteousness, you are blessed. Do not fear what they fear or be disturbed, 15 but honor the Messiah as Lord in your hearts. Always be ready to give a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you. 16 However, do this with gentleness and respect, keeping your conscience clear, so that when you are accused, those who denounce your Christian life will be put to shame. 17 For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God’s will, than for doing evil. 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.

Pray

(Illustration)

Kids are in with us today so I would like to involve them in the sermon this morning.

I need two volunteers

paper, rock, scissors

Loser gets a candy bar...

Winner gets nothing

The winner should have immediately gotten the prize.

The idea of this illustration is to explain suffering for doing what is good.

The Fear of the Lord Conquers Every Other Fear

1 Peter 3:13–15 HCSB

13 And who will harm you if you are deeply committed to what is good? 14 But even if you should suffer for righteousness, you are blessed. Do not fear what they fear or be disturbed, 15 but honor the Messiah as Lord in your hearts. Always be ready to give a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you.

Verse 15 he says honor the Messiah as Lord in your hearts.

Here Peter quotes

Isaiah 8:13–14 HCSB

13 You are to regard only the Lord of Hosts as holy. Only He should be feared; only He should be held in awe. 14 He will be a sanctuary; but for the two houses of Israel, He will be a stone to stumble over and a rock to trip over, and a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

Making alliances with the Enemy

The Bible Exposition Commentary Chapter Seven: Preparing for the Best! (1 Peter 3:8–17)

The setting of the Isaiah quotation is significant. Ahaz, King of Judah, faced a crisis because of an impending invasion by the Assyrian army. The kings of Israel and Syria wanted Ahaz to join them in an alliance, but Ahaz refused; so Israel and Syria threatened to invade Judah! Behind the scenes, Ahaz confederated himself with Assyria! The Prophet Isaiah warned him against ungodly alliances and urged him to trust God for deliverance. “Sanctify the Lord of hosts [armies] Himself; and let Him be your fear, and let Him be your dread” (Isa. 8:13).

Sanctify Christ as Lord in our hearts

Be fully committed to Christ in your hearts.

Verse 13 ask the question who will harm you if you are deeply committed to what is good?

Our enemies might hurt us but they can’t harm us.

The only harm we face is when we fail to trust God in the suffering.

Our deep commitment to doing good is because of our commitment to Christ.

Generally speaking people do not oppose us if we do good; but even if they do, it is better to suffer for righteousness sake than to destroy our witness for Christ.

1 Peter 3:14 HCSB

14 But even if you should suffer for righteousness, you are blessed. Do not fear what they fear or be disturbed,

If you suffer for righteousness, then scripture says you are blessed.

Do not fear what they fear or be disturbed

Rather than fear, Christians can experience blessing.

The word “blessed” is the same as Matthew 5:10

Matthew 5:10–12 HCSB

10 Those who are persecuted for righteousness are blessed, for the kingdom of heaven is theirs. 11 “You are blessed when they insult and persecute you and falsely say every kind of evil against you because of Me. 12 Be glad and rejoice, because your reward is great in heaven. For that is how they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

When you suffer for doing good, blessing is the result.

(kids in school)

1 Peter 3:15 HCSB

15 but honor the Messiah as Lord in your hearts. Always be ready to give a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you.

When Jesus Christ is Lord of our lives, suffering becomes an opportunity to show the love of Christ.

Always be ready to give a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you.

I get the mental image being a sports guy of the losing team standing with pride and waving at the winning team just like the winning team waves back.

Yesterday the game before our game free throw with 1.9 seconds left to win it.

That’s the image. You suffer for righteousness sake or for doing good and when the enemy “defeats you” you be ready with a defense or a response for the hope that is in you.

You suffer differently and your suffering will beg questions. People will want to know where your hope comes from.

The Bible Exposition Commentary Chapter Seven: Preparing for the Best! (1 Peter 3:8–17)

Every Christian should be able to give a reasoned defense of his hope in Christ, especially in hopeless situations. A crisis creates the opportunity for witness when a believer behaves with faith and hope, because the unbelievers will then sit up and take notice.

How do we do this?

1 Peter 3:16 HCSB

16 However, do this with gentleness and respect, keeping your conscience clear, so that when you are accused, those who denounce your Christian life will be put to shame.

The Bible Exposition Commentary Chapter Seven: Preparing for the Best! (1 Peter 3:8–17)

This witness must be given “with meekness and fear [respect]” and not with arrogance and a know-it-all attitude. We are witnesses, not prosecuting attorneys! We must also be sure that our lives back up our defense. Peter did not suggest that Christians argue with lost people, but rather that we present to the unsaved an account of what we believe and why we believe it, in a loving manner. The purpose is not to win an argument but to win lost souls to Christ.

Keeping your conscience clear

Conscience: Latin words con “with” scio “to know” the conscience is that internal judge that witnesses to us, that enables us to “know with”, either approving our actions or accusing.

The Bible Exposition Commentary Chapter Seven: Preparing for the Best! (1 Peter 3:8–17)

Conscience may be compared to a window that lets in the light of God’s truth. If we persist in disobeying, the window gets dirtier and dirtier, until the light cannot enter. This leads to a “defiled conscience” (Titus 1:15). A “seared conscience” is one that has been so sinned against that it no longer is sensitive to what is right and wrong (1 Tim. 4:2). It is even possible for the conscience to be so poisoned that it approves things that are bad and accuses when the person does good! This the Bible calls “an evil conscience” (Heb. 10:22).

Conscience depends on knowledge, the “light” coming through the window.

This means we study the word of God to let the light in and better understand the will of God.

A good conscience is one that accuses when we actually do wrong and one that approves when we actually do right.

A good conscience brings peace. When we live in line with God’s word, it brings peace to our soul. Did I think and act Biblically.

A good conscience eliminates the fear of what others think because you have acted in line with the word of God.

Psalm 118:6 HCSB

6 The Lord is for me; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?

The Bible Exposition Commentary Chapter Seven: Preparing for the Best! (1 Peter 3:8–17)

Peter made it clear that conscience alone is not the test of what is right or wrong. A person can be involved in either “welldoing” or “evildoing.” For a person to disobey God’s Word and claim it is right simply because his conscience does not convict him, is to admit that something is radically wrong with his conscience. Conscience is a safe guide only when the Word of God is the teacher.

We must maintain a good conscience. We must deal with the sin in our lives and confess it according 1 John 1:9. We must spend time in the word of God to know what is right and what is wrong.

1 Peter 3:17 HCSB

17 For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God’s will, than for doing evil.

No Christian should ever suffer because of evildoing, and no Christian should be surprised if he suffers for welldoing

Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 2, p. 415). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.

The Bible Exposition Commentary Chapter Seven: Preparing for the Best! (1 Peter 3:8–17)

“Shame arises from the fear of men,” said Samuel Johnson. “Conscience, from the fear of God.”

The example of Jesus

1 Peter 3:18 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.

He was a substitute

1 Peter 2:12 HCSB

12 Conduct yourselves honorably among the Gentiles, so that in a case where they speak against you as those who do what is evil, they will, by observing your good works, glorify God on the day of visitation.

He died only once

Hebrews 9:24–28 HCSB

24 For the Messiah did not enter a sanctuary made with hands (only a model of the true one) but into heaven itself, so that He might now appear in the presence of God for us. 25 He did not do this to offer Himself many times, as the high priest enters the sanctuary yearly with the blood of another. 26 Otherwise, He would have had to suffer many times since the foundation of the world. But now He has appeared one time, at the end of the ages, for the removal of sin by the sacrifice of Himself. 27 And just as it is appointed for people to die once—and after this, judgment — 28 so also the Messiah, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for Him.

Jesus suffered for well-doing. He did not have sin.

1 Peter 3:18 HCSB

The Bible Exposition Commentary Chapter Eight: Learning from Noah (1 Peter 3:18–22)

The phrase “bring us to God” is a technical term that means “gain audience at court.” Because of the work of Christ on the cross, we now have an open access to God (Eph. 2:18; 3:12). We may come boldly to His throne! (Heb. 10:19ff) We also have access to His marvelous grace to meet our daily needs (Rom. 5:2). When the veil of the temple was torn, it symbolized the new and open way to God through Jesus Christ.

1 Peter 3:19–22 HCSB

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 Bible Exposition Commentary Chapter Eight: Learning from Noah (1 Peter 3:18–22)

We must never minimize the importance of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. It declares that He is God (Rom. 1:4), that the work of salvation is completed and accepted by the Father (Rom. 4:25), and that death has been conquered (1 Thes. 4:13–18; Rev. 1:17–18). The Gospel message includes the Resurrection (1 Cor. 15:1–4), for a dead Saviour can save nobody. It is the risen Christ who gives us the power we need on a daily basis for life and service (Gal. 2:20).

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