The Benefits of a Bold Faith
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Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Welcome
Bold vs Blended
Bold
fearless before danger
ASSURED, CONFIDENT
Standing out prominently
Blended
To mix
to combine or associate so that the separate constituents or the line of demarcation cannot be distinguished
MIT - Faith does not lead you to suffering. Instead, faith leads you through suffering. Our text this morning will reveal two benefits of a bold faith. A bold faith reveals the reality of your salvation and displays the glory of Christ.
Reading
Our text this morning is 1 Peter 3:8-17. Please join us for the reading of God’s Word.
Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind. 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.” Now who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good? But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame. For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God’s will, than for doing evil.
Prayer
Exposition
In 1 Peter 3:8-9, we see Peter addressing all of his audience, no longer identifying select readers based on the types of roles they have within society, but instead addressing each one of them, all at once. He urges his readers to persist in doing good, to live out their faith boldly, even in the face of suffering.
If you remember, Peter is writing to a group of Christians who are being slandered and treated like outcasts. People were treating them badly. People were gossiping about them, slandering their reputation. They were being accused of doing bad, when in reality, they were simply following Jesus. And yet, Peter doesn’t tell them to shrink back, to stay silent, or to practice their faith within the privacy of their homes. Instead, he shows them what it looks like to live out their faith in an unbelieving culture.
How were they to respond when they were treated badly? Peter addresses this in verses 8-9, writing, “Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind. 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.”
As we read verses 8-9, we’re likely to read them as separate commands. In verse 8, Peter is giving his readers a list of attitudes that he wants them to adopt. In verse 9, Peter is telling them how to respond when they suffer injustice. These two verses seem independent and unrelated, but they’re not. Rather, they are very much dependent upon each other.
Although it’s hard to see in our English translations, Peter’s first commands come in verse 9, as he instructs them, “Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless...”
What Peter is saying here sounds insane, because it goes against our natural reaction. When we’re wronged, our first instinct is retaliation.
If someone hits you, then you hit back.
If someone yells at you, then you yell back.
If someone tarnishes your reputation, you do everything you can to tarnish theirs.
After all, doesn’t the bible tell us,
But if there is harm, then you shall pay life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.
Everyone knows what it’s like to be wronged. You know what it’s like for someone to treat you harshly, to talk about you behind your back, to trample over your rights. And yet, here, Peter tells us “Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you have been called.”
Does this contradict what’s written in Exodus? How and when were we called to this life of retaliation? Can we reasonably be expected bless others, even after they harm us, knowing this is unnatural to us?
What we learn from the Bible, what we learn from the Law of Christ, is that the people of God have been placed on this earth to be a blessing to the rest of the world. In our society, where there is injustice, we seek justice. Our aim is to model and promote all that is pleasing to God in every situation.
However, when we suffer injustice personally, the people of God have a higher calling - to patiently endure, as we entrust ourselves to God, who judges justly, as we read in 2:23.
This reminds me of the account in 2 Samuel 16, when David and his army are traveling outside of Jerusalem. As they walked near a village, a man named Shimei began cursing him and throwing stones at him. We read his response in 2 Samuel 16:12,
It may be that the Lord will look on the wrong done to me, and that the Lord will repay me with good for his cursing today.”
Remember Jesus’ words in Luke 6:27-28,
“But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.
Peter tells us not to retaliate, but to bless. The command is clear, but it’s not easy. When someone cuts me off on my way to work, my first inclination isn’t to sound the car horn and say, “bless you.” So, how do we do it?
Now, we’ll return back to verse 8. Remember, verses 8-9 are to be seen as a single unit. Sometimes, biblical writers like to tell us the how, before they tell us the what.
In 1 Peter 3:8, we read,
Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind.
How can we bless others, especially those who have sinned against us? Peter urges us to adopt 5 attitudes:
Have unity of mind - literally, be of the same mind, seeking to understand others by looking at things from their perspective.
Have sympathy - that is, be sensitive to the brokenness and the hurts that others may have suffered or endured.
Have brotherly love - That is, to show familial affection toward others, recognizing the shared experiences and struggles.
Have a tender heart - That is, be compassionate, recognizing the plight others often find themselves in
Have a humble mind - That is, take the focus off of yourself.
Peter tells us that we have been called to bless others, to do good, even if it means we have to endure suffering. This is what a bold faith looks like. It’s a commitment to model our lives after Christ, without fear of suffering, without shrinking back from opposition, without being deterred from the life that we’ve been called to.
Now, as we work through the remainder of the text, as we continue in verses 10-17, we’ll discover two benefits of a bold faith. in verses 10-12, Peter reveals the first benefit of a bold faith. In 1 Peter 3:10-12, we discover that a bold faith reflects the reality of our salvation.
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.”
Peter didn’t write verses 10-12, but instead borrows from Psalm 34. Looking back to the Old Testament, we learn that Psalm 34 was written by David and recounts how the LORD delivered him from his enemies. David had been delivered from the hands of Saul and from the king of Gath. He didn’t look at the fact that he was still alive and think that it was due to his own cunning and resilience. Instead, he looked at the fact that he was still alive and attributed it to the mercy of God. Specifically, he concluded that God will bless the righteous.
According to the Psalm, if you want to love life and see good days, if you want to experience the blessing of God, you will do 3 things:
Refuse evil words
Perhaps the easiest way for Christians to participate and to promote evil is through their words. It doesn’t take a whole lot of courage to speak out of anger or hurt. It doesn’t take a whole lot of faith to injure someone verbally, and yet it happens all the time. On social media, in the work place, at home. If you want to experience God’s blessing, if you want to have deeper intimacy with God, make sure the things that come out of your mouth are true and edifying.
Forsake evil practices, do good
The text tells us to turn away from evil. Literally, the turning away here means to cease or to stop. And this is something I think that many Christians have trouble doing. We know that God calls us to do good and to be a blessing to others. But so many of us struggle to leave evil behind. We think that as long as we’re doing good, we can continue to do bad. Perhaps, there are some areas in your life that you haven’t surrendered to God, some areas where you’re not pursuing holiness. Peter says here, if you want to have deeper intimacy with God, leave the evil behind and do good.
Seek peace in the world around you
Within our culture,
The benefit of a bold faith, according to Peter and according to this Psalm, is intimacy with God. The text says, “For the eyes of the LORD on the righteous and his ears are open to their prayer. But the face of the LORD is against those who do evil.”
In 1 Peter 3:13-17, we discover that a bold faith will display the glory of Christ.
Application
Luke 6:35-36
Prayer