Midweek Bible Study | 1 Peter 3:8-22 | Gary Hamrick

let me pray first and then we'll pick up here where we left off right around verse 8 of chapter 3 chapter 3 right around verse 8 let's pray first father it's good to be in your house tonight it's good to just settle ourselves before you to draw near to you through worship and to enjoy the fellowship of one another in the body of Christ and Lord as we open up your word now speak to us there's so much of our lives that we need to be challenged in your word and so many rough spots that need to be sanded down so many areas that could be improved as we wrestle with our own flesh and as we deal with the various temptations of our world and just the work of the enemy and just the toll that the things take on us it's good to come in your house in the middle of the week and just draw near to you so fill us up afresh with your Holy Spirit and use this time in your word to just minister to our hearts we love you and we praise you we thank you that you first loved us and died on a cross for our sins we pray these things in Jesus name and everybody said amen well if you've been with us here for the past couple of weeks in 1st Peter you will note with me that the key word for the section that we're in here is harmony where Peter is writing here about the kind of harmony that we need to have in various areas of our lives and he basically breaks it down into four areas three of which we talked about last week he talks about how to have harmony in the world and he spent some time back in chapter 2 between verses 13 and 14 and and through verse 16 having to do with submission to government that's the idea of the world that there's no authority except that which God has established Romans chapter 13 and so we are to respect government we are to respect those in authority Paul says in first Timothy chapter 2 we were to pray for all our kings and all of our leaders and and those in authority that we might live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness so there's there supposed to be a respect for government and for a and for leaders obviously as I mentioned last week and I touched on this past Sunday there might be times when in fact civil disobedience is necessary whenever the laws of man contradict the higher law of God we must always as Christ followers obey the higher law of God and so it might result sometimes in some civil disobedience but nevertheless without that there needs to be this constant reminder that there are some people in authority that we need to respect and so if you if we're to have harmony in the world and our government we are to be Christ's followers who respect government authority and then also harmony in the workplace the section starting at verse 18 of chapter 2 down through the end of chapter 2 having to do with even that though you might find yourself in an otherwise not ideal situation you still have to as Paul writes in Colossians 3 verses 23 and 24 you have to serve people work for people do your job well as unto the Lord that that everything that we do is to be done as unto the Lord and that the Lord will reward us for our faithfulness to him and so there needs to be this awareness how do we maintain harmony in in the workplace and then harmony in the home that's where we left off last week at chapter three the first seven verses having to do with husbands and wives and how God has ordained a certain structure that's even the word submission is Hoopa Tazo meaning and an orderly arrangement that God has arranged things in an orderly way so that there might be harmony in the home he calls husbands to step it up and to be loving spiritual leaders in a home and he calls wives to understand that in times where there's a tiebreaker that they should yield that to their husband and ladies try to refrain from being the Holy Spirit in your husband's lives I know sometimes you want us to be better spiritual leaders but pray for us instead of trying to be the voice of the Holy Spirit just pray for your husbands and and so and guys step it up and be loving leaders and honoring your wives and and so Peter talks about that as well and then there's this fourth category that we'll get to maybe by that by before we break for the baptisms tonight at the end of chapter three when he talks about harmony in heaven but again just understanding the main theme here harmony in a musical sense is the use of simultaneous tones working together in an orderly arrangement to achieve a pleasant unified sound or effect we know what what the term means musically but the idea here biblically is that harmony assumes differences among people who were brought together in unity under a master composer obviously that's Jesus so that's the whole idea that you know there's going to be differences in every area there's going to be differences among in all of these arenas there's going to be differences in government we see that all the time on the news 24/7 there's a lot of differences there's going to be differences in the workplace there's going to be differences in the home there are differences wherever you have people people are different which is good I mean all of the differences add to the richness the diversity adds to the richness of whatever the relationship that the key is how do we work towards harmony rather than conflict because our differences can sometimes serve to be conflicts in our relationships rather than working together serving one another under the leadership and lordship of Jesus so that we might really gain harmony in in these different areas and so this is the challenge to all of us we are called to live in harmony we are called to be at peace with one another and so here in chapter three verse eight which is really the verse that is the theme behind all of this he writes this finally all of you be of one mind and that's that Greek word homo frog meaning say mind or harmonious and Ivy says live in harmony with one another having compassion for one another love his brothers be tender-hearted be courteous not returning evil for evil or reviling for reviling but on the contrary blessing knowing that you were called to this that you may inherit a blessing so if you just look at those verses they're verses 8 and 9 he basically just outlines for us in general terms that if we want to really be people of harmony we need to first of all be people of one mind now that that already assumes differences again we are different people but the idea is that we should all be striving to share the same mind attitudes and thoughts of Christ that if he truly is Lord of our lives Lord of our homes Lord of our businesses Lord of everything that wherever we have differences among us and there are plenty we need to strive together even in our differences to to go after what is the mind of Christ on matters what is what is the attitude of Christ in a situation Paul would write to in Philippians 2 verse 5 let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus we should always be striving together despite our differences in finding out well what is the heart of God on this matter what is the mind of Christ on this matter you know if he is truly Lord of our lives and our homes and our marriages and everything about us then we should always be striving to find out what is the mind of Christ on this having one mind being being under Christ having compassion Circle outward in your Bible compassion we're gonna be compassionate towards one another love as brothers and sisters this is phileo in the Greek it is that that brotherly love we should be loving towards one another to be tender-hearted is the other word there in verse eight to be tender-hearted courteous some of your translations might say the word humble instead of courteous this is how we maintain harmony when we demonstrate these kind of attitudes compassionate sympathetic loving tender-hearted courteous or humble again verse nine not returning evil for evil in other words an NIV says not insult for insult we are not to be vengeful we are to leave that up to the Lord and on the contrary he says here blessing so instead of returning evil for evil or reviling for reviling we're to be people who bless one another and just in the name of the lord encourage one another knowing he says that you were called to this we were called to this God calls us to be compassionate sympathetic loving tender-hearted courteous humble not vengeful not insulting but blessing others because he says to this you were called that you may inherit a blessing and then he adds in verse 10 and he quotes out of Psalm 34 here for he who would love life and see good days let him refrain 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 prayers but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil and so Peter basically is writing here saying listen Psalm 34 verses 12 to 16 which is basically what he's quoting here are fulfilled for righteous living you want it you want to love life and see good days he says well refrain your tongue from evil how about we start there how many of you could use a little restraint on your tongue all right his lips from speaking to see turn away from evil do good seek peace pursue it so in other words he's saying here listen if we want the blessing of the Lord we have to you know consciously be working on these things we have to be guarding our lips and watching what we say we have to be living lives that are honorable and glorifying to God if we if we want to inherit a blessing we need to be a blessing and so he's challenging his readers to live a life that is glorifying to God and honoring of other people and this is important for us as believers living our lives in a way that glorifies God and honors others this is what he calls us he says this is what you were called to the Christian life should be characterized by these things and then he adds in verse 13 and who is he who will harm you if you become followers of what is good but even if you should suffer circle that word there in your Bibles even if you should suffer for righteousness sake you are blessed and do not be afraid of their threats nor be troubled but sanctify the Lord God in your hearts and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you with meekness and fear having a good conscience that when they defame you as evildoers those who revile your good conduct in Christ may be ashamed for it is better if it is the will of God to suffer there's the word again for doing good than for doing evil so let's pause there and just break down this section you'll notice with me I ask you to circle the word sufferance appears twice in this section here and actually the word suffer or some form of that word appears 17 times in the book of first Peter alone 17 times this is a major theme in the book of first Peter because if you remember in our opening of chapter 1 Peter is writing this during a time when Christians are being martyred like never before between the years 80 64 and 67 this is when Christians under the Emperor Nero who were the Christians who were blamed for Rome burning were were martyred and they were dying by the tens of thousands they were being rounded up and persecuted and killed for their faith and that's the climate all right and that's what's happening and Peter writes to Christians living during this time and he encourages them about their suffering because he says basically Christ has suffered for us so be prepared for a little suffering yourselves and he says even if you should suffer for righteousness sake there in verse 13 you blast like God's gonna take care of you and he says don't be afraid of their threats now again he's writing to Christians whose lives are on the line during this particular time and he says don't be afraid of their threats don't be troubled he says sanctify the Lord your God in your hearts now the word sanctified just means to set apart as Holy so he's calling us to holy living and we're not even living under the threat of of death like they were and but yet they're being challenged in this way does I want you even in the face of suffering to the point where your lives might even be required of you to be sanctifying Christ in your heart set him apart is holy living for the Lord sanctify the Lord God in your hearts and always be ready notice this verse 15 to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you with meekness and fear having a good conscience that when they defame you as evildoers those who revile you your good conduct in Christ may be ashamed so let's part get here for just a minute because he's going to tell us here about being ready to give a defense of the faith and it's an important point that he makes for us to be challenged in our own lives today so he says there in verse 15 that we need to be ready to give a defense that phrase to give a defense is one word in the Greek in its apologia we get the English word apologetics apologetics in in Christian terms is one who is able to give a defence of his or her faith that's what apologetics means we get the English word apology out of it too but when we think of apology we you know we're we're sorry and ashamed of something but apologetics and the truest the strictest Greek way means that we are to be prepared to given a defence for something and in this case in this context the apology the defense the apologetics is to be prepared to defend your faith and what he's going to tell us here in this passage is that there are three things and we'll just go over these three things that are necessary if you and I want to be ready to give a defense of our faith and the first one is a good example a good example and I've got questions after each of these three points then we need to ask ourselves and the question that corresponds to point number one example is the question is my life a good example of Christ because people will only ask if they notice something different right and this is what Peter is saying here he says always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you the implication is there's something about your life in my life that gives reason for people to ask us and the only reason people would want to ask us what's going on with us is if they notice something different about us so the first key in order to really give a defence of our faith if you and I want to be a good witness if we want to have an an evangelistic impact in people's lives it first starts with being a good example we have to be people who are not Christians in name only but also in action because if it's name only without action then it's hypocrisy if we say we're a Christian but we're not living like one then we're not setting a good example and people are certainly not going to want what we have because we look too much like they live so if we offer them something as an example of Christ that is different from the life that they're living they might be more inclined to ask us what's the deal with you what's going on with your life how come when you just got that bad news you just seem to be at peace how come how come you you seem to be able to deal with things in your marriage that my wife and I aren't able to deal with or my husband and I aren't able to and they'll start to ask questions like how do you have your life together what's the deal because hopefully we're living a life that is a good example of Christ the second thing that's important in order for us to be ready to give a defense of the faith number two is explanation and the question with that is am i growing in the knowledge of scripture so that I can adequately explain what I believe if people are going to asked us we have to be ready to actually share something okay I think it was st. Francis of Assisi who said preach the gospel at all times and if necessary use words so our lives are always on display that's the example part but then we should also be prepared to use words that's the explanation part and you're not going to be able to use words to defend your faith to tell people why you believe what you believe without having an adequate understanding the Bible now don't get don't get overwhelmed by the idea that if I don't know everything from Genesis to Revelation I won't be able to be a good witness to somebody trust me I've been doing this full-time for 32 years I'm the first one to say there's a lot of passages of the Bible I don't know I can't quote off the top of my head okay that's the issue is not how much of the Bible are you prepared to answer the issue is are you growing in your faith such that you're able to use enough scripture to adequately communicate what you believe and why you believe so that people can have an understanding of who Christ is how in just the basics who Christ is that he died for you in a cross that he loves you that he opened the way to heaven for all who would believe and receive that it's a free gift that God gives us that if we accept him by faith we can be forgiven we can go to heaven I mean the simplicity of the gospel shouldn't be over complicated but we have to at least be growing in our faith enough to be able to adequately explain what we believe in why we believe it and then number three it also goes hand in hand with all this and that's expression and the question is am i careful to express myself and these are the words that the Peter uses here with meekness some of your translations say gentleness with fear some of your translations say respect and with a good conscience so as we express ourselves and our faith we need to make sure that we're not coming across in some arrogant abrasive judgmental way in other words Peters calling us to be a good witness to be prepared to give an answer for all those who ask us but when we do when we explain it make sure we're doing it with meekness gentleness make sure we're doing it with fear or respect for people make sure that we're doing this out of a good conscience that there's not hypocrisy in any of this so that others might come to know Christ in the same way and he adds there if they defame you if people say malicious things against you or about you as evildoers those who revile your good conduct in Christ you know if you just continue to just live your life faithful to the Lord let people say what they might in the end they'll probably be ashamed of saying what they do about you because your good conduct will prove your integrity for if he says for it in verse 17 is better if it is the will of God to suffer for doing good than for doing evil verse 18 for christ also suffered is the same theme once for sins the just for the unjust that he might bring us to God being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the spirit by whom also he went and preached to the spirits in prison we'll talk about this in a minute who formerly were disobedient when once the divine long-suffering waited in the days of Noah while the ark was being prepared in which a few that is eight souls were saved through water there is also an antitype which now saves us baptism not the removal of the filth of the flesh but the answer of a good conscience toward god through the resurrection of Jesus Christ who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God angels and authorities and powers having been made subject to him so let me just touch on that last verse and we'll go back up and talk about what in the world does all that mean that last verse there about how Christ is going into heaven where angels and authorities and powers having been made subject to him that's the fourth one on our list about the order of harmony there's also order in heaven and the same word here to be subject to is Hoopa Tazo meaning there's there's an order of submission in heaven the angels and authorities they are under submission to the lordship of Jesus who now presently is in heaven seated at the right hand of God but what is all this other stuff here that he talks about Christ suffered once for our sins we get this right died on the cross paid the price for us and then it talks about in verse 19 that he also went and preached to the spirits in prison I didn't know Jesus had a prison ministry what is it what in the world is this talking about what so I'm gonna read another passage out of Ephesians chapter 4 and you can turn there if you want or you can just listen but but I want to talk about this in just the few minutes we have left here before our baptisms tonight and try to tie this together and the lead question before I read from Ephesians chapter 4 is this what happened to Christ during the three days that his body lay in the tomb because in order to understand what we're talking about here we have to ask that question what happened to Jesus during the three days that his body lay in the tomb Peter here refers to the idea of Jesus going to preach to the spirits in prison this is not a literal prison but nevertheless they are held captive in a certain place it is important to note that Peter uses the word he preached Jesus preached it is the Greek word Caruso and it means to Harold or to proclaim it is a different word than Evangelion which means to evangelize keep that in mind because it'll make more sense when I unpack this with you he goes to prison to a place where people's souls that says here are kept captive and Peter specifically references people who in the days of Noah disobeyed and they end up here captive so where is Jesus where are these souls who are being held captive and what does all this mean so in Ephesians chapter 4 there's another kind of parallel passage that helps us to make sense of this and in Ephesians 4 this is what it says in verses 7 8 & 9 it's us but to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ of Christ's gift therefore he says when he ascended on high he led captivity captive and gave gifts to men now this he ascended what does it mean but that he also first descended into the lower parts of the earth he who descended is also the one who ascended far above all the heavens that he might fill all things so let me try to make sense of this and and put Ephesians 4 together with first Peter chapter 3 in the last few minutes we have left here you can also go home later and read out of Luke chapter 16 there is a parable it's actually a true story that has given to us in parabolic terms about a rich man who dies and a who is not a righteous guy and Lazarus who is a righteous guy who also dies and they go to two different places separated by a golf or a chasm and in Luke chapter 16 in this parable the idea is that Lazarus who was righteous went to Abraham's side which was a place of paradise and the guy who was unright just went to a place of torment in fact in the parable he talks about how he's on fire in torment where did Jesus go for the three days that his body lay in the tomb the answer is before Christ died on the cross every spirit every soul when a person dies their spirit separates from their body their body decays goes back into the ground it returns to dust but before Christ dies on a cross where did the people go because before Christ dies on the cross people who are righteous can't go to heaven there's no provision that's been made before Christ died on the cross the animal sacrifice was just a temporary way of providing temporary atonement for the sins of people it was not sufficient to gain people access to heaven so what happens to those people where did they go where were their souls and what happened to the unrighteous people who died the people who didn't practice the animal sacrificial system which was God's only provision for temporary righteousness so here's the answer when you put first Peter 3 together with Ephesians chapter 4 Luke chapter 16 let me sew it together for us during the three days that Jesus body lay in the tomb his spirit was absent from his body the place where all departed souls went prior to the crucifixion of Christ was called in Hebrew Sheol or in the Greek Hades now we typically translate Hades or shield to mean the grave or to mean how but I don't want you to think of it entirely as a place of torment because Hades or Sheol was a broad term that was used for the entire place where all departed souls were capped and that place of Hades was separated into two sections Luke 16 tells us in that parable that there was a place of torment a place of fire a place of punishment and the other side was a place of paradise where Abraham was it was also called Abraham's side or the place of paradise remember on the cross in Luke chapter 23 jesus promised the one repentant thief today you will be with me in paradise both of those places were separated by a great gulf or a great chasm Luke 16 tells us when Christ died on the cross his spirit separates from his body and his spirit went to the paradise side of Hades where across the chasm where the unrighteous were because they refused to believe even in the temporary provision of atonement for their sins they didn't practice the sacrifice of waiting for the Messiah they rejected God especially those Peter talks about in the days of Noah who refused to follow God Jesus then 1st Peter 3:15 he caruso he heralds he proclaims that he is the Messiah it's basically he's announcing the judgment of those people in the torment side who have made a choice that they have rejected God and now it's coming full circle that Messiah there on the paradise side is proclaiming himself to be the long-awaited one that God had for ordained and promised but to the people on the paradise side this is good news because Jesus then comes into the paradise I'd announces that he is Messiah proclaims it heralds it Carosa it's the word that Peter uses there in first Peter 3 and then Ephesians 4 he leads the captives free and he takes the spirits of those who were temporarily made righteous by the sacrificial system and empties paradise side of Hell and takes those spirits to heaven we're now all Christians all believers in Christ when you die there's no holding tank there's no paradise there's no purgatory okay you make a decision this side you're either for Christ or against him and if you make a decision for Christ the day you die your spirit separates from your body and immediately goes to heaven because now Christ has given us access to heaven whereas before the cross you didn't have access to heaven it was only through the blood of Christ so you were kept in the paradise side so the paradise side of Hades has been emptied now only the torment side is the place that remains and so this is the the reality of our choices either we accept what Christ has done for us and we have our sins forgiven and we have access to heaven we reject him and we suffer the eternal punishment and consequences for those decisions but this is what Peter's talking about now I want to wrap it up back here in first Peter chapter 3 because this ties it actually but you know here we are about ready to go and and baptize some folks tonight and it almost sounds like and let's like comment on this that baptism saves somebody which is which is not true but at the end of chapter 3 there notice when he talks about how Noah and his family were saved eight people in all during the time of the flood saved through water and then verse 21 says there is also an antitype which now saves us baptism ok baptism not the removal of the filth of the flesh but the answer of a good conscience toward god through the resurrection of jesus christ some people read this passage and say ok see baptism is necessary for salvation ok listen to me on this the water in Noah's day did not save them God did they were saved through the water the water was a v8 that showed the salvation of God it was God's providential hand that preserved them the water itself didn't save them there was a boat that God provided for them and the water on which the boat you know sailed was a vehicle through which they experienced quote salvation but it was it was the salvation of God it was his it was his divine providential hand that sustained them and saved them baptism in a similar way is just a vehicle the water is symbolic of something it doesn't save us you cannot add anything to what Christ has done by dying for us on the cross it is faith in Christ alone it is not faith plus baptism it is not faith plus speaking in tongues it is not faith plus good works it is not faith plus penance it is faith in Christ alone otherwise if you add anything to faith in Christ alone for what Christ has done for us you have just polluted and corrupted the truth of the gospel and so Christ dies on a cross we don't deserve it there's nothing we can do to earn it it is a free gift that he gives to all who would believe and receive and then baptism is simply this symbolic sign that we identify with the death burial and resurrection of Christ and this is why we practice immersion here which you'll see in a few minutes when a person goes under the water he or she is identifying with the the the the dead life the old life I'm dead to my previous life just as Christ died for us and just as Christ was raised from the dead we also rise in a sense to live a new life for the glory of God the old man the old woman dead and now the new person raised in newness of life and so a good place for us to end as we celebrate those this evening we're gonna be baptized we'll pick it up there at chapter four next week but let's pause and pray together father we thank you for grace we thank you for the cross we can't improve upon it and forgive us when we try to with all of our good works as if somehow you might be impressed or thank you that the only good work that really counts for anything is the good work of Jesus Christ dying on a cross for our sins thank you that you've opened the way to gain us access to heaven through faith in what you've done for us Lord and we thank you for that free gift you've opened heaven to us to all who would believe and receive you want none to perish no not one and yet none of us is righteous in ourselves so we thank you that you made a way for us as Savior to be with us now Lord as we carry on our way we love you and give you praise glory and honor together a Jesus name and everybody said amen and amen

Channel: Cornerstone Chapel - Leesburg, VA

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Keywords: Cornerstone Chapel, Calvary Chapel, Gary Hamrick, Cornerstone Chapel Leesburg Va, Bible, Sermons, Teaching, Faith, Christian, Jesus, God, Holy Spirit

Id: 58iw0RHTLew

Length: 34min 34sec (2074 seconds)

Published: Thu Sep 26 2019