10/14/2012
· The early Christians surely did suffer for their faith, for persecution was on their every side; both from the Romans and from the Jewish community and leaders!
· Peter and the other apostles did not try to tell the new converts that they would have a bed of roses if they would have faith in the Lord Jesus Christ
· Instead, Peter and the others, tried to prepare the new converts and us, to understand what would happen and to explain the purpose of it, how to endure it, and what their attitude to suffering should be.
1. FOCUS ON YOUR BLESSINGS (1 PETER 3:13-14)
13 And who is there to harm you if you prove zealous for what is good?
NASB
· The Bible does not teach that even the best Christian will escape hard times and sufferings.
· Instead it does teach that the best way to avoid the worst that can happen to us, i.e., to maximize the possibility that good will happen to us; is to live the best life that we can, follow after that which we are taught by the Scriptures, and do our best to obey the commands of the Lord.
· Peter is not blind or oblivious to the possibility of physical or material attacks on Christians who are zealous to do good; but he does know that God does not forsake us when we do His will.
14 But even if you should suffer for the sake of righteousness, you are blessed. And do not fear their intimidation, and do not be troubled,
NASB
· This is the final reason that should motivate us to do that which is good even in the presence of suffering!
· That reason is simply this; we will be blessed by God for doing so!
2 Timothy 2:11-12b
11 It is a trustworthy statement:
For if we died with Him, we shall also live with Him;
12 If we endure, we shall also reign with Him;
NASB
Matthew 5:11-12
11 "Blessed are you when men cast insults at you, and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely, on account of Me. 12 "Rejoice, and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
NASB
· If Christians on occasion should suffer for doing what is right, they suffer for the sake of a righteous God. And God promises that He will bless them.
· This refers to the terror of them who persecuted the Christians in the time of Peter
· The force of the passage is this; do not let the fear of any evil they can inflict on you cause you to deny your Lord.
· The aim of unbelievers today is still the same as it was then; to get us to deny that Christ!
· Here is a sample of recent news headlines
o Do Crosses at Catholic University
o Air Force Removes ‘God’ From Logo
o Obama Leaves God Out of Thanksgiving Address
o School Removes “God” From Lee Greenwood Song
o Rahm: “Chick-fil-A Values Are Not Chicago
o Anti-Bullying Speaker Curses Christian Teens
o Elderly Woman Told She Can’t Fly American Flags
Isaiah 51:7-8
7 "Listen to Me, you who know righteousness,
A people in whose heart is My law;
Do not fear the reproach of man,
Neither be dismayed at their revilings.
8 "For the moth will eat them like a garment,
And the grub will eat them like wool.
But My righteousness shall be forever,
And My salvation to all generations."
NASB
2. KEEP A CLEAR CONSCIENCE (1 PETER 3:15-17)
15 but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence;
· This is the first step in conquering fear in our lives.
· The heart is where it all starts.
· The things that I am doing; can moth and rust destroy it?
· If it can, then our heart is in the wrong place.
· Why do we think the lord can save us from our sins?
· Why do we feel that all people are sinners?
· In short, can we say, “This is what I believe and this is why I believe it!”
16 and keep a good conscience so that in the thing in which you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame.
· Live each day as best as you know how, and who do not knowingly commit any sin.
· A good conscience enables a person to stand strong.
· If we maintain a good conscience, our accusers will be ashamed; although this may not happen until the time of judgment.
Matthew 6:22-24
22 "The lamp of the body is the eye; if therefore your eye is clear, your whole body will be full of light. 23 "But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!
NASB
17 For it is better, if God should will it so, that you suffer for doing what is right rather than for doing what is wrong.
NASB
· Doing evil certainly will result in suffering after Christ comes again.
· Doing good may result in suffering in this life!
· But be assured that when Christ comes again, only blessings will accrue to His own!
3. CLAIM VICTORY IN CHRIST (1 PETER 3:18-22)
18 For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, in order that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit;
· Peter places the Christians suffering next to that of Christ, although, in serving as an example to the Christian, the suffering of Christ is most unique.
19 in which also He went and made proclamation to the spirits now in prison,
· Peter does not say "the spirits ‘of men’ who once were disobedient;" so we conclude that the "spirits" were supernatural beings – possibly angels who did not fall or those who did fall.
· Since Bible doctrine teaches that man does not have a second chance for repentance after death, " the spirits now in prison " most likely refers to supernatural beings.
20 who once were disobedient, when the patience of God kept waiting in the days of Noah, during the construction of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through the water.
· It was the Spirit of Christ who spoke through Noah in Noah's day.
Genesis 6:1-4
6:1 Now it came about, when men began to multiply on the face of the land, and daughters were born to them, 2 that the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful; and they took wives for themselves, whomever they chose. 3 Then the LORD said, "My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, because he also is flesh; nevertheless his days shall be one hundred and twenty years." 4 The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men, and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown.
NASB
· This is speculation: Could it be that these were the “sons of God” that were “the spirits now in prison”?
Revelation 9:1-4, 11
9:1 And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star from heaven which had fallen to the earth; and the key of the bottomless pit was given to him. 2 And he opened the bottomless pit; and smoke went up out of the pit, like the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by the smoke of the pit. 3 And out of the smoke came forth locusts upon the earth; and power was given them, as the scorpions of the earth have power.
11 They have as king over them, the angel of the abyss; his name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in the Greek he has the name Apollyon.
NASB
· More speculation: Are these the “spirits” that come out of “the bottomless pit” seen in Revelation Chapter 9?
21 And corresponding to that, baptism now saves you — not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to God for a good conscience — through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,
· It is the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
· Water baptism is ritual baptism. It is the baptism of the Holy Spirit which puts you into the body of Christ.
· As the flood waters cleansed the earth of man's wickedness, so the water of baptism is a symbol of the sinner's cleansing from sin.
· A faith in the resurrection of Jesus Christ which is basic to the Christian faith.
· In respect to baptism, without the resurrection of Christ, baptism is worthless.
22 who is at the right hand of God, having gone into heaven, after angels and authorities and powers had been subjected to Him.
NASB
· Christ received the highest honor imaginable: He is next to God the Father.
· Both the good angels and the fallen angels are " subjected to Him," for the " authorities and powers " most likely refers to evil angels.
· We are baptized by the Holy Spirit into the body of Christ because He is raised form the dead and is today at God's right hand.
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