WEBVTT 00:00:00.430 --> 00:00:02.649 All right, let's get into the word this morning. 00:00:03.450 --> 00:00:05.269 If you have your Bibles, go ahead and turn over 00:00:05.269 --> 00:00:10.710 to 1 Peter, 1 Peter chapter three. We are making 00:00:10.710 --> 00:00:14.009 our way through 1 Peter in this letter to exiles 00:00:14.009 --> 00:00:17.190 and strangers. And Peter is instructing them 00:00:17.190 --> 00:00:19.010 now in the second half of the book on how to 00:00:19.010 --> 00:00:22.829 live the practical conduct of what it means to 00:00:22.829 --> 00:00:25.429 live out the gospel in everyday life, especially 00:00:25.429 --> 00:00:28.190 as those who are exiles and strangers, meaning 00:00:28.190 --> 00:00:31.449 that we are in a world and in a place that is 00:00:31.449 --> 00:00:33.929 not our ultimate home, not our ultimate place, 00:00:33.950 --> 00:00:36.289 and doesn't necessarily always share our values 00:00:36.289 --> 00:00:39.149 or our systems or the way the kingdom of God 00:00:39.149 --> 00:00:42.219 works. But we get to experience a level of the 00:00:42.219 --> 00:00:45.060 kingdom of God together as well as we live out 00:00:45.060 --> 00:00:47.780 the kingdom in the ways that Peter is laying 00:00:47.780 --> 00:00:51.000 out for us. And so 1 Peter chapter 3, we're going 00:00:51.000 --> 00:00:52.619 to start in verse 8, and I'm going to go ahead 00:00:52.619 --> 00:00:54.000 and read all the way to the end of the chapter. 00:00:54.119 --> 00:00:56.200 So if you have your Bibles, follow along. It 00:00:56.200 --> 00:00:58.479 should also be up here on the board as well. 00:00:59.200 --> 00:01:02.140 Finally, all of you be like -minded and sympathetic. 00:01:02.960 --> 00:01:05.599 Love one another and be compassionate and humble. 00:01:06.310 --> 00:01:09.489 not paying back evil for evil or insult for insult, 00:01:09.689 --> 00:01:12.930 but on the contrary, giving a blessing since 00:01:12.930 --> 00:01:15.689 you were called for this so that you may inherit 00:01:15.689 --> 00:01:19.090 a blessing. For the one who wants to love life 00:01:19.090 --> 00:01:21.790 and to see good days, let him keep his tongue 00:01:21.790 --> 00:01:25.090 from evil and his lips from speaking deceit and 00:01:25.090 --> 00:01:27.590 let him turn away from evil and do what is good. 00:01:27.750 --> 00:01:31.010 Let him seek peace and pursue it because the 00:01:31.010 --> 00:01:33.730 eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his 00:01:33.730 --> 00:01:36.890 ears are open to their prayer. but the face of 00:01:36.890 --> 00:01:39.349 the Lord is against those who do what is evil. 00:01:39.989 --> 00:01:42.469 Who then will harm you if you are devoted to 00:01:42.469 --> 00:01:45.090 what is good? But even if you should suffer for 00:01:45.090 --> 00:01:48.390 righteousness, you are blessed. Do not fear them 00:01:48.390 --> 00:01:51.209 or be intimidated, but in your hearts regard 00:01:51.209 --> 00:01:54.829 Christ the Lord as holy, ready at any time to 00:01:54.829 --> 00:01:57.950 give a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason 00:01:57.950 --> 00:02:01.939 for the hope that is in you. Yet do this with 00:02:01.939 --> 00:02:04.620 gentleness and reverence, keeping a clear conscience, 00:02:04.659 --> 00:02:07.560 so that when you are accused, those who disparage 00:02:07.560 --> 00:02:10.520 your good conduct in Christ will be put to shame. 00:02:10.840 --> 00:02:13.840 For it is better to suffer for doing good, if 00:02:13.840 --> 00:02:16.740 that should be God's will, than for doing evil. 00:02:17.659 --> 00:02:20.699 For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, 00:02:20.780 --> 00:02:23.099 the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might 00:02:23.099 --> 00:02:26.330 bring you to God. He was put to death in the 00:02:26.330 --> 00:02:28.990 flesh, but made alive by the Spirit, in which 00:02:28.990 --> 00:02:31.969 he also went and made proclamation to the spirits 00:02:31.969 --> 00:02:34.810 in prison, who in the past were disobedient, 00:02:34.870 --> 00:02:37.610 when God patiently waited in the days of Noah 00:02:37.610 --> 00:02:41.169 while the ark was being prepared. In it, a few, 00:02:41.210 --> 00:02:43.990 that is eight people, were saved through water. 00:02:45.170 --> 00:02:48.169 Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves 00:02:48.169 --> 00:02:50.169 you, not as the removal of dirt from the body, 00:02:50.289 --> 00:02:52.909 but the pledge of a good conscience toward God 00:02:52.909 --> 00:02:55.849 through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who 00:02:55.849 --> 00:02:58.590 has gone into heaven and is at the right hand 00:02:58.590 --> 00:03:02.849 of God with angels, authorities, and powers subject 00:03:02.849 --> 00:03:09.550 to him. This is God's word. Have you ever been 00:03:09.550 --> 00:03:13.680 mocked or hated? Or maybe misrepresented or misunderstood, 00:03:13.979 --> 00:03:17.520 not for doing something wrong, not because you 00:03:17.520 --> 00:03:21.199 were ornery or rude, but for doing something 00:03:21.199 --> 00:03:25.319 right or because you held a certain belief. Maybe 00:03:25.319 --> 00:03:27.199 it was a moment that you shared your convictions 00:03:27.199 --> 00:03:31.479 and got labeled as judgmental. Or maybe it was 00:03:31.479 --> 00:03:33.759 a relationship where someone rolled their eyes 00:03:33.759 --> 00:03:37.669 when you mentioned your faith. Or maybe it's 00:03:37.669 --> 00:03:40.310 just that quiet tension that you feel when your 00:03:40.310 --> 00:03:42.550 values don't line up with the world's values 00:03:42.550 --> 00:03:45.050 and the pressure is always pushing back on you. 00:03:45.569 --> 00:03:50.729 Anyone feel that? It's tempting in those moments 00:03:50.729 --> 00:03:54.669 to respond just like everyone else does, to return 00:03:54.669 --> 00:03:59.050 insult for insult, or to go silent and avoid 00:03:59.050 --> 00:04:03.900 conflict. There's usually... With everyone, you 00:04:03.900 --> 00:04:06.340 fall into one of those two categories, right? 00:04:06.960 --> 00:04:10.400 Fight or flight, right? Someone comes at you 00:04:10.400 --> 00:04:12.840 and accuses you of something or someone disparages 00:04:12.840 --> 00:04:15.479 you and you either sling an insult back to one 00:04:15.479 --> 00:04:19.459 -up them, right? Any one -uppers in here? Yeah? 00:04:20.120 --> 00:04:23.160 Some of you are lying by keeping your hand down. 00:04:23.699 --> 00:04:29.480 We got some one -uppers in here. Anyone go silent 00:04:29.480 --> 00:04:32.870 and avoid conflict? Get out of there, run away, 00:04:33.170 --> 00:04:35.889 find a room somewhere, get away from conflict, 00:04:36.029 --> 00:04:39.610 right? Everyone else responds the same way, one 00:04:39.610 --> 00:04:42.350 of two ways, insult for insult, go silent, avoid 00:04:42.350 --> 00:04:45.949 conflict, or compromise just a little bit in 00:04:45.949 --> 00:04:50.730 order to fit in and ride under the radar. But 00:04:50.730 --> 00:04:53.189 Peter, writing to Christians who were mocked, 00:04:53.189 --> 00:04:57.009 who were slandered and marginalized, he tells 00:04:57.009 --> 00:05:00.709 us that there's another way, a better way, a 00:05:00.709 --> 00:05:04.769 Jesus -shaped way. One that doesn't mirror the 00:05:04.769 --> 00:05:07.490 mess around us and one that doesn't muzzle the 00:05:07.490 --> 00:05:10.149 message and one that doesn't miss the meaning 00:05:10.149 --> 00:05:14.089 of suffering. Because we don't just suffer like 00:05:14.089 --> 00:05:16.850 Christ, we are told that we suffer with Jesus 00:05:16.850 --> 00:05:20.290 and he has already won and that is a great promise. 00:05:21.740 --> 00:05:23.720 And so we're going to walk through Peter's encouragement 00:05:23.720 --> 00:05:26.019 here to exiles today, and we're going to receive 00:05:26.019 --> 00:05:28.519 it for ourselves. And if you take notes, go ahead 00:05:28.519 --> 00:05:30.660 and write down. And I encourage you, if you can, 00:05:30.759 --> 00:05:32.680 take notes. We also have the Church Center app. 00:05:32.699 --> 00:05:34.779 You can take notes right in the app, and they'll 00:05:34.779 --> 00:05:37.560 save on there. The first point is don't mirror 00:05:37.560 --> 00:05:44.449 the mess. Don't mirror the mess. I don't know 00:05:44.449 --> 00:05:46.470 about you guys, but there are these things called 00:05:46.470 --> 00:05:51.449 shorts on social media. Instagram, YouTube, everyone 00:05:51.449 --> 00:05:53.310 started doing it. They're kind of following suit 00:05:53.310 --> 00:05:55.649 from TikTok. And there are these short little 00:05:55.649 --> 00:05:59.089 videos. And you start to scroll through and watch. 00:05:59.230 --> 00:06:02.370 And if you stop for two seconds on a video, the 00:06:02.370 --> 00:06:06.500 algorithm. calculates that you must like that 00:06:06.500 --> 00:06:08.160 video a little bit more than the previous video. 00:06:08.459 --> 00:06:10.759 And then you scroll through a few more and then 00:06:10.759 --> 00:06:12.660 you stop for a little longer on that one. And 00:06:12.660 --> 00:06:15.420 what it does is it starts to calculate what your 00:06:15.420 --> 00:06:17.939 tastes are and it starts to feed you exactly 00:06:17.939 --> 00:06:21.579 what you want. And pretty soon you get caught 00:06:21.579 --> 00:06:24.480 in this feedback loop. It's intentionally designed 00:06:24.480 --> 00:06:26.980 because the whole point of these apps is to keep 00:06:26.980 --> 00:06:30.720 you on there as long as possible. You are the 00:06:30.720 --> 00:06:34.189 product. Keep you on there as long as possible 00:06:34.189 --> 00:06:36.029 so they can rack up the advertising dollars. 00:06:36.089 --> 00:06:38.790 That's the way it works. There's a business run 00:06:38.790 --> 00:06:41.449 there. But what's interesting about these algorithms 00:06:41.449 --> 00:06:44.149 is you can learn a whole lot about yourself and 00:06:44.149 --> 00:06:47.170 your interests from these algorithms. So for 00:06:47.170 --> 00:06:51.490 some reason, my algorithm on Facebook, if I swap 00:06:51.490 --> 00:06:54.790 over to the videos, what you'll find, first and 00:06:54.790 --> 00:06:58.269 foremost, is a whole lot of police videos where 00:06:58.269 --> 00:07:02.779 people are running from police officers. So I 00:07:02.779 --> 00:07:04.660 don't know how much time I spend on that, but 00:07:04.660 --> 00:07:06.800 it must be a whole lot because it's like, I'm 00:07:06.800 --> 00:07:08.920 going to keep feeding you these like traffic 00:07:08.920 --> 00:07:12.579 stops gone wrong, you know, one after the other, 00:07:12.620 --> 00:07:16.139 after the other. But probably my second one on 00:07:16.139 --> 00:07:21.040 there that you'll find is confrontations that 00:07:21.040 --> 00:07:25.899 escalate in airports. It's really specific, right? 00:07:27.139 --> 00:07:29.139 Confrontations that escalate out and go out of 00:07:29.139 --> 00:07:32.430 hand in airports. And maybe some of you guys 00:07:32.430 --> 00:07:35.170 have seen these videos. These are like train 00:07:35.170 --> 00:07:37.230 wrecks that you shouldn't watch. You should turn 00:07:37.230 --> 00:07:41.430 away. But they just suck you into these ticket 00:07:41.430 --> 00:07:45.050 counter meltdowns that happen. And by the end 00:07:45.050 --> 00:07:47.750 of it, someone is on the ground. Someone's getting 00:07:47.750 --> 00:07:52.009 tased. And I'm like, next. And then I get another 00:07:52.009 --> 00:07:57.079 one, right? And it's all centered around someone, 00:07:57.199 --> 00:07:59.379 you know, someone has their boarding pass and 00:07:59.379 --> 00:08:01.759 it won't scan properly. Or someone is getting 00:08:01.759 --> 00:08:05.079 bumped from a flight. And they're already frustrated, 00:08:05.259 --> 00:08:09.160 right? And then the agent doesn't give them the 00:08:09.160 --> 00:08:11.040 pleasantries that they were hoping for, right? 00:08:11.240 --> 00:08:13.699 So they're frustrated. The agent kind of gives 00:08:13.699 --> 00:08:16.620 them a dry response. And so what does the traveler 00:08:16.620 --> 00:08:20.220 do? The traveler raises their voice. And then 00:08:20.220 --> 00:08:23.730 the agent snaps back at them, right? And then 00:08:23.730 --> 00:08:26.149 pretty soon there's yelling and there's pointing 00:08:26.149 --> 00:08:29.389 and threats and security is involved. The tasers 00:08:29.389 --> 00:08:33.429 are flying everywhere, right? And all of it over 00:08:33.429 --> 00:08:37.350 the seat on an airplane. And here's the thing. 00:08:37.389 --> 00:08:39.549 Things in these confrontations, they don't start 00:08:39.549 --> 00:08:45.629 at level 10. They escalate. What you have is 00:08:45.629 --> 00:08:49.190 you have two people who start mirroring each 00:08:49.190 --> 00:08:53.970 other. Each person's tone, just one level above 00:08:53.970 --> 00:08:59.250 the last. And that's what we do, isn't it? You 00:08:59.250 --> 00:09:02.450 roll your eyes at me, and so I roll mine harder. 00:09:03.529 --> 00:09:06.549 I have a young, my youngest son, when he was 00:09:06.549 --> 00:09:10.090 a little kid, he would roll his eyes because 00:09:10.090 --> 00:09:12.210 I would, one of my favorite things with the boys 00:09:12.210 --> 00:09:15.039 is just to annoy them with dad jokes. So I'll 00:09:15.039 --> 00:09:16.940 look them up on my phone and just be like, hey, 00:09:16.960 --> 00:09:19.059 boys, and tell a dad joke. And they'll be like, 00:09:19.139 --> 00:09:21.799 dad, come on. And when he was younger, even when 00:09:21.799 --> 00:09:23.659 he was a lot younger, he would get annoyed. But 00:09:23.659 --> 00:09:25.580 he would roll his eyes. But I don't know if you've 00:09:25.580 --> 00:09:27.440 ever seen a kid try to roll their eyes. They 00:09:27.440 --> 00:09:29.299 roll their eyes, but they also roll their head, 00:09:29.419 --> 00:09:34.559 right? It's like, dad, dad, come on, right? It's 00:09:34.559 --> 00:09:36.120 like, you roll your eyes. I'm going to roll my 00:09:36.120 --> 00:09:40.500 eyes harder. You post about me, I'm gonna post 00:09:40.500 --> 00:09:43.299 louder, more frequently. You hurt me, I'll hurt 00:09:43.299 --> 00:09:46.500 you back. Maybe not in the same way, but I wanna 00:09:46.500 --> 00:09:49.159 make sure that my hurt lands. We mirror each 00:09:49.159 --> 00:09:53.039 other. And some Christians mirror the mess around 00:09:53.039 --> 00:09:57.279 them. They react to the outrage of the day. The 00:09:57.279 --> 00:10:00.000 mess gets louder, so the Christian gets louder. 00:10:00.659 --> 00:10:04.440 And Peter instructs the churches to live a different 00:10:04.440 --> 00:10:08.500 way. First, in how you treat one another, brothers 00:10:08.500 --> 00:10:13.080 and sisters. And second, how you interact with 00:10:13.080 --> 00:10:16.840 the mess of the evil and the insults of the world. 00:10:17.980 --> 00:10:20.519 And he starts that section by saying, be like 00:10:20.519 --> 00:10:23.879 -minded and sympathetic. Love one another and 00:10:23.879 --> 00:10:28.980 be compassionate and humble. And what does this 00:10:28.980 --> 00:10:32.769 mean? Well, like -minded. is where he starts. 00:10:32.929 --> 00:10:34.950 And like -minded can sound like he's saying, 00:10:35.029 --> 00:10:36.669 hey, we need to all be the same. We need to have 00:10:36.669 --> 00:10:38.830 all the same opinions, preferences. We need to 00:10:38.830 --> 00:10:40.710 dress the same. We need to talk the same. We 00:10:40.710 --> 00:10:42.110 need to be all the same. And that's not what 00:10:42.110 --> 00:10:45.210 he's saying. He's not talking about unified in 00:10:45.210 --> 00:10:48.490 our sameness. What he's talking about is just 00:10:48.490 --> 00:10:52.169 like your body has different parts and every 00:10:52.169 --> 00:10:54.529 part is uniquely different from the other ones 00:10:54.529 --> 00:10:57.429 and they have a special function and a special 00:10:57.429 --> 00:11:00.610 use. Just like you have different parts of the 00:11:00.610 --> 00:11:04.610 body, you also have the same DNA that is the 00:11:04.610 --> 00:11:08.370 master plan that is controlling all the parts 00:11:08.370 --> 00:11:12.029 of the body. The same master plan is running 00:11:12.029 --> 00:11:16.350 through it all. And so the people of God, though 00:11:16.350 --> 00:11:18.370 different parts and different functions, have 00:11:18.370 --> 00:11:22.049 the same spirit and the same word working a common 00:11:22.049 --> 00:11:25.710 master plan for the glory of God. This is what 00:11:25.710 --> 00:11:29.480 it means to be like -minded. In 1 Corinthians 00:11:29.480 --> 00:11:32.240 chapter 2, Paul says that believers, all who 00:11:32.240 --> 00:11:35.500 have received the Holy Spirit, have the mind 00:11:35.500 --> 00:11:39.200 of Christ. We all have the mind of Christ together 00:11:39.200 --> 00:11:41.899 as the body. We have the mind of Christ if we 00:11:41.899 --> 00:11:44.379 are in Christ. And he goes on to say in Philippians 00:11:44.379 --> 00:11:47.220 chapter 2, that if then there is any encouragement 00:11:47.220 --> 00:11:50.860 in Christ, if any consolation of love, if any 00:11:50.860 --> 00:11:53.000 fellowship with the Spirit, if any affection 00:11:53.000 --> 00:11:57.039 and mercy, make my joy complete by thinking the 00:11:57.039 --> 00:12:01.419 same way. Having the same love, united in spirit 00:12:01.419 --> 00:12:05.759 and intent on one purpose. Do nothing out of 00:12:05.759 --> 00:12:08.700 selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility 00:12:08.700 --> 00:12:11.679 consider others as more important than yourself. 00:12:12.500 --> 00:12:15.580 Everyone should not look to his own interests, 00:12:15.779 --> 00:12:21.299 but rather to the interests of others. Peter 00:12:21.299 --> 00:12:25.639 says, don't mirror the mess. But instead, have 00:12:25.639 --> 00:12:28.559 the mind of Christ, the attitude of Christ, the 00:12:28.559 --> 00:12:31.899 humility of Christ, showing the love of Christ. 00:12:33.539 --> 00:12:36.460 And the greatest challenge to us, to our love 00:12:36.460 --> 00:12:39.159 for one another, even within the context of a 00:12:39.159 --> 00:12:42.580 church, is when we are wronged. Amen? When we 00:12:42.580 --> 00:12:47.820 feel wronged, it's really hard to love. And Peter, 00:12:47.860 --> 00:12:52.450 he quotes from Psalm 34. Right there in the middle 00:12:52.450 --> 00:12:54.710 of passage 10, verse 10 through 12. And he says, 00:12:54.789 --> 00:12:59.169 the one who wants to love life and to see good 00:12:59.169 --> 00:13:02.029 days, let him keep his tongue from evil and his 00:13:02.029 --> 00:13:04.509 lips from speaking deceit. Let him turn away 00:13:04.509 --> 00:13:07.750 from evil and do what is good. Let him seek peace 00:13:07.750 --> 00:13:09.809 and pursue it because the eyes of the Lord are 00:13:09.809 --> 00:13:12.789 on the righteous and his ears are open to their 00:13:12.789 --> 00:13:15.409 prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those 00:13:15.409 --> 00:13:18.629 who do what is evil. Doing good is difficult. 00:13:19.800 --> 00:13:23.559 especially in the face of evil and insults. In 00:13:23.559 --> 00:13:26.480 fact, doing evil oftentimes has a more immediate 00:13:26.480 --> 00:13:31.899 reward than doing good does. With evil, you can 00:13:31.899 --> 00:13:34.379 snap back at someone and immediately see the 00:13:34.379 --> 00:13:37.740 injury you caused and immediately get a feedback 00:13:37.740 --> 00:13:41.929 that you landed that one. But with good, oftentimes 00:13:41.929 --> 00:13:44.610 you don't see the result of it, sometimes for 00:13:44.610 --> 00:13:46.750 a very long time as it works in the background. 00:13:46.929 --> 00:13:49.350 Sometimes the good that we do as believers, we 00:13:49.350 --> 00:13:52.870 will never see in this life. Someone who watches 00:13:52.870 --> 00:13:55.570 your life from afar, someone who is influenced 00:13:55.570 --> 00:13:58.509 by your kindness that you thought was just regular 00:13:58.509 --> 00:14:00.909 day and you just moved on and their life was 00:14:00.909 --> 00:14:03.029 influenced and changed. You may never see the 00:14:03.029 --> 00:14:06.029 result of that, but often with our insults and 00:14:06.029 --> 00:14:08.210 our evil, we can pretty much see the result right 00:14:08.210 --> 00:14:13.720 away. But verse 12 tells us that the righteous 00:14:13.720 --> 00:14:20.220 who live in a right relationship with God, the 00:14:20.220 --> 00:14:23.799 righteous, that the Lord turns his eyes to them 00:14:23.799 --> 00:14:26.700 and the Lord opens his ears to their prayers. 00:14:26.860 --> 00:14:29.460 How many want the eyes of the Lord looking on 00:14:29.460 --> 00:14:32.240 you and your prayers to be heard by the Lord? 00:14:32.320 --> 00:14:37.860 This is good, yes? He says, the righteous, those 00:14:37.860 --> 00:14:40.019 who keep their tongue from evil and their lips 00:14:40.019 --> 00:14:42.120 from deceit, those who turn away from evil and 00:14:42.120 --> 00:14:45.200 do what is good, who seek peace and pursue it, 00:14:45.240 --> 00:14:48.120 the eyes of the Lord are on them and his ears 00:14:48.120 --> 00:14:51.139 are open to their prayer. God sees and watches 00:14:51.139 --> 00:14:55.000 over. God actively cares for the righteous. This 00:14:55.000 --> 00:14:58.179 isn't some distant observation of an absent God. 00:14:58.259 --> 00:15:01.879 It implies favor and protection. An involvement, 00:15:02.019 --> 00:15:05.720 intimate awareness. God is watching with the 00:15:05.720 --> 00:15:09.539 intent to bless. You want a blessing from the 00:15:09.539 --> 00:15:16.120 Lord? Do what is right. He hears. He's attentive 00:15:16.120 --> 00:15:18.220 and responsive to the prayers of the righteous. 00:15:18.419 --> 00:15:21.740 And this is relational nearness. The father leans 00:15:21.740 --> 00:15:25.539 in when his righteous children pray. The father 00:15:25.539 --> 00:15:30.299 leans in to hear the prayers. But it ends by 00:15:30.299 --> 00:15:33.940 saying, but the face of the Lord is against those 00:15:33.940 --> 00:15:38.299 who do what is evil. In other words, God is actively, 00:15:38.440 --> 00:15:42.860 not passively, God is actively opposed to evildoers. 00:15:45.320 --> 00:15:48.320 The idea of the face in the Old Testament often 00:15:48.320 --> 00:15:51.120 represented God's presence and his favor. In 00:15:51.120 --> 00:15:53.240 Numbers, we learned the prayer that many of you 00:15:53.240 --> 00:15:55.820 have prayed probably before, which is the prayer 00:15:55.820 --> 00:15:58.480 that God would make his face to shine upon us. 00:15:59.240 --> 00:16:01.240 God, make your face to shine upon us. What is 00:16:01.240 --> 00:16:03.100 that saying? It's talking about the presence 00:16:03.100 --> 00:16:07.019 and the favor of God to rest upon us. And there 00:16:07.019 --> 00:16:09.840 is a blessing for obedience and there is a blessing 00:16:09.840 --> 00:16:12.720 for right relationship and there is divine resistance 00:16:12.720 --> 00:16:16.779 and distance for unbelief, intentional disobedience 00:16:16.779 --> 00:16:20.940 and unfaithfulness. Remember earlier, we talked 00:16:20.940 --> 00:16:22.860 about husbands and wives and it said that if 00:16:22.860 --> 00:16:24.840 husbands, if you don't live with your wives in 00:16:24.840 --> 00:16:28.220 an understanding way, And understanding how your 00:16:28.220 --> 00:16:31.559 position you can use to dominate her. Instead, 00:16:31.700 --> 00:16:35.240 you should see her as an heir to the glory and 00:16:35.240 --> 00:16:38.399 the grace of salvation. And you should do all 00:16:38.399 --> 00:16:40.019 this. Why? Do you guys remember where it ended? 00:16:41.200 --> 00:16:45.279 Otherwise, your prayers will be hindered. If 00:16:45.279 --> 00:16:48.139 you mistreat, if you act in a way that is not 00:16:48.139 --> 00:16:50.700 right, that is not commanded by God, in a way 00:16:50.700 --> 00:16:53.000 that is not in right relationship with God and 00:16:53.000 --> 00:16:55.299 with her, your prayers will be hindered. And 00:16:55.299 --> 00:16:58.990 here he's saying, The Lord turns his face against 00:16:58.990 --> 00:17:06.269 those who do what is evil. Don't be a people 00:17:06.269 --> 00:17:09.509 under judgment and divine opposition. Be a people 00:17:09.509 --> 00:17:12.170 who instead have the mind of Christ, who love 00:17:12.170 --> 00:17:15.349 one another, who bless instead of curse, and 00:17:15.349 --> 00:17:19.069 who live humbly. He ends with saying, be humble. 00:17:20.990 --> 00:17:24.740 What does that mean? And I'll say this, if you 00:17:24.740 --> 00:17:27.920 get nothing else today, listen up for the next 00:17:27.920 --> 00:17:30.740 few minutes right here. What does humble mean? 00:17:32.819 --> 00:17:39.640 It means self -forgetfulness. Self -forgetfulness. 00:17:41.180 --> 00:17:45.299 Humble does not mean self -loathing. Humble is 00:17:45.299 --> 00:17:48.019 not represented by saying, oh, I'm stupid or 00:17:48.019 --> 00:17:51.319 I suck or I'm worthless. That is not humility. 00:17:52.519 --> 00:17:57.460 Humility is self -forgetfulness. Tim Keller says 00:17:57.460 --> 00:18:00.599 it this way. The essence of gospel humility is 00:18:00.599 --> 00:18:03.779 not thinking more of yourself, an elevated view, 00:18:03.960 --> 00:18:07.400 and not thinking less of yourself, a disparaging 00:18:07.400 --> 00:18:12.460 view. The essence of gospel humility is thinking 00:18:12.460 --> 00:18:18.160 of yourself less. That's the essence of gospel 00:18:18.160 --> 00:18:23.549 humility. Gospel humility frees you from obsessing 00:18:23.549 --> 00:18:28.069 over yourself, your performance, your reputation, 00:18:28.430 --> 00:18:32.250 your conference, your preferences. When you stop 00:18:32.250 --> 00:18:35.210 constantly thinking, how am I doing? How am I 00:18:35.210 --> 00:18:38.849 being treated? What do people think of me? You're 00:18:38.849 --> 00:18:45.150 finally free to focus on other people. A lot 00:18:45.150 --> 00:18:47.730 of conflict and a lot of strife would be avoided 00:18:47.730 --> 00:18:50.170 if we just lived with simple gospel humility. 00:18:51.490 --> 00:18:56.289 Thinking of myself less. How many times in a 00:18:56.289 --> 00:18:59.849 church setting like this have you heard, oh, 00:18:59.849 --> 00:19:04.029 no one said hi to me. No one's very nice to me. 00:19:05.150 --> 00:19:09.130 Or no one asked me out to lunch. It's been a 00:19:09.130 --> 00:19:13.940 while. Or why doesn't anyone go out of their 00:19:13.940 --> 00:19:18.519 way to encourage me? I see all these groups of 00:19:18.519 --> 00:19:21.240 people encouraging one another and excited and 00:19:21.240 --> 00:19:24.000 no one goes out of their way to encourage me. 00:19:24.079 --> 00:19:27.680 And I think gospel humility says, stop thinking 00:19:27.680 --> 00:19:32.299 of yourself so much. And it flips every one of 00:19:32.299 --> 00:19:35.279 those questions around to, did you go out of 00:19:35.279 --> 00:19:40.500 your way to say hi to someone? Who did you invite 00:19:40.500 --> 00:19:44.680 out to lunch today or over to your house? Did 00:19:44.680 --> 00:19:47.700 you come ready and prepared this morning and 00:19:47.700 --> 00:19:50.680 every morning we gather together to share a word 00:19:50.680 --> 00:19:53.519 of encouragement, to spur someone on to love 00:19:53.519 --> 00:19:56.480 and good deeds, to deliver that to someone so 00:19:56.480 --> 00:19:58.099 that they would be encouraged and built up? Did 00:19:58.099 --> 00:20:02.079 you do that? Gospel humility brings us to that 00:20:02.079 --> 00:20:04.640 set of questions, not the first one. Why didn't 00:20:04.640 --> 00:20:11.460 anyone do that? No one ever does. Are you looking 00:20:11.460 --> 00:20:14.359 out for you or are you thinking of yourself less 00:20:14.359 --> 00:20:19.960 and others more and more? How often have we observed 00:20:19.960 --> 00:20:23.359 someone's actions or words and we just assume 00:20:23.359 --> 00:20:26.619 their motive? We jump to a conclusion, assume 00:20:26.619 --> 00:20:29.960 their motive. They said this or that because 00:20:29.960 --> 00:20:33.099 they must think this or that. But gospel humility 00:20:33.099 --> 00:20:36.299 and gospel love takes the most charitable perspective. 00:20:37.319 --> 00:20:40.240 on someone else's motives and attitudes and actions. 00:20:40.519 --> 00:20:43.440 Do you guys get that point, the charitable perspective? 00:20:44.180 --> 00:20:47.240 When someone says something and my first inclination 00:20:47.240 --> 00:20:51.400 is to assume that they have a bad motive, I am 00:20:51.400 --> 00:20:54.339 to stop. Gospel humility and gospel love says 00:20:54.339 --> 00:21:00.309 I am to slow down and to begin to think of the 00:21:00.309 --> 00:21:02.849 most charitable reason why they said or did what 00:21:02.849 --> 00:21:05.670 they did. In other words, I'm to give them the 00:21:05.670 --> 00:21:10.549 benefit of the doubt and assume that they didn't 00:21:10.549 --> 00:21:14.089 mean malice or hurt, but they actually were trying 00:21:14.089 --> 00:21:16.509 to do something good. I'm to give them that, 00:21:16.609 --> 00:21:20.730 and the only time I'm to take that back is if 00:21:20.730 --> 00:21:23.069 there's insurmountable evidence adding up over 00:21:23.069 --> 00:21:25.950 time. But over and over again, my posture, my 00:21:25.950 --> 00:21:29.500 disposition is to give them the most charitable 00:21:29.500 --> 00:21:32.900 perspective of what they did. That's gospel humility. 00:21:33.420 --> 00:21:37.480 You know why? Because it doesn't hold your own 00:21:37.480 --> 00:21:42.880 opinion in the highest regard. When we make assumptions 00:21:42.880 --> 00:21:46.160 about someone's motives or someone's attitude 00:21:46.160 --> 00:21:49.160 or the reason someone did something, that part 00:21:49.160 --> 00:21:52.039 of the person that you actually can't see or 00:21:52.039 --> 00:21:55.460 know, When you make those assumptions, you elevate 00:21:55.460 --> 00:21:57.920 your opinion to a high place. You put it in a 00:21:57.920 --> 00:22:00.680 high regard over that person. Gospel humility 00:22:00.680 --> 00:22:04.400 says, bring that down. Sister, brother, bring 00:22:04.400 --> 00:22:10.180 that down. Down low. Give them the benefit of 00:22:10.180 --> 00:22:13.700 the doubt. Give them the most charitable explanation 00:22:13.700 --> 00:22:19.200 for why they did what they did. Be a people who 00:22:19.200 --> 00:22:22.789 don't mirror the mess. But instead, live the 00:22:22.789 --> 00:22:26.089 Jesus -shaped life that we're called to. Number 00:22:26.089 --> 00:22:31.710 two, don't muzzle the message. I don't know if 00:22:31.710 --> 00:22:33.309 you know this, but suffering for righteousness 00:22:33.309 --> 00:22:38.250 is a legit thing. Not just for them back then 00:22:38.250 --> 00:22:42.019 in the first century. But it's a real life thing 00:22:42.019 --> 00:22:44.619 today, suffering for righteousness. Why? Because 00:22:44.619 --> 00:22:47.200 righteousness isn't just about what we do. It's 00:22:47.200 --> 00:22:49.380 also about the affections of our heart. Do we 00:22:49.380 --> 00:22:52.640 love Jesus? Do we love his word? Do we treasure 00:22:52.640 --> 00:22:56.660 what is right in God's eyes? Do we value human 00:22:56.660 --> 00:22:59.380 flourishing and want to see the kingdom of God 00:22:59.380 --> 00:23:02.279 invade homes and neighborhoods and families and 00:23:02.279 --> 00:23:07.069 cities? Do we want that? Because if we want that, 00:23:07.089 --> 00:23:09.650 the kingdom is otherworldly. It's not like this 00:23:09.650 --> 00:23:12.109 world. And that means at times the kingdom values 00:23:12.109 --> 00:23:14.849 will conflict with this world and we will encounter 00:23:14.849 --> 00:23:18.430 suffering for doing what is right, for speaking 00:23:18.430 --> 00:23:20.390 what is right, for preaching and declaring what 00:23:20.390 --> 00:23:24.490 is right. You will encounter suffering. When 00:23:24.490 --> 00:23:27.230 Peter says that we should always be ready to 00:23:27.230 --> 00:23:31.539 give a defense, this is his way of saying, accusations 00:23:31.539 --> 00:23:34.039 going to come and you need to be prepared to 00:23:34.039 --> 00:23:38.819 respond to that accusation. What are some modern 00:23:38.819 --> 00:23:42.119 accusations of wrongdoing that Christians are 00:23:42.119 --> 00:23:46.299 regularly accused of? I'll just name a couple 00:23:46.299 --> 00:23:50.460 of them that are immediately come to mind. Christians 00:23:50.460 --> 00:23:55.480 are often accused of being intolerant. And tolerance 00:23:55.480 --> 00:24:03.049 is the religion of the day. Tolerance and the 00:24:03.049 --> 00:24:06.990 idea that everyone is entitled to define themselves 00:24:06.990 --> 00:24:10.730 according to themselves however they want is 00:24:10.730 --> 00:24:13.809 the religion of the day. It's the religion that 00:24:13.809 --> 00:24:17.029 says, hey, I am the locus, the center of reality, 00:24:17.349 --> 00:24:20.750 and I get to choose my reality and shape it. 00:24:20.869 --> 00:24:23.910 And if you don't accept my reality that I have 00:24:23.910 --> 00:24:29.250 shaped, you are intolerant. And this is a self. 00:24:30.319 --> 00:24:35.099 God -centered way of life instead of a God -shaped, 00:24:35.160 --> 00:24:38.380 Jesus -shaped, God -centered way of life. And 00:24:38.380 --> 00:24:42.960 Christians who gather and pray and earnestly 00:24:42.960 --> 00:24:44.980 look at their life and allow the Spirit to change 00:24:44.980 --> 00:24:48.319 them are trying to move and live this godly life, 00:24:48.400 --> 00:24:51.279 this God -centered life, and that necessarily 00:24:51.279 --> 00:24:53.480 means that it's going to push back against the 00:24:53.480 --> 00:24:56.990 prevailing religion of the day. It's going to 00:24:56.990 --> 00:25:00.089 be in opposition to it. And you as a Christian, 00:25:00.190 --> 00:25:02.589 if you are to hold what you believe and what 00:25:02.589 --> 00:25:05.210 the scripture tells you is God's will for mankind 00:25:05.210 --> 00:25:07.890 and what human flourishing looks like and what 00:25:07.890 --> 00:25:10.230 his intention is so that we might flourish as 00:25:10.230 --> 00:25:13.789 a people, that's going to be in opposition to 00:25:13.789 --> 00:25:16.710 what the world holds. And Christians will be 00:25:16.710 --> 00:25:19.869 labeled intolerant. Just the claim that Jesus 00:25:19.869 --> 00:25:26.430 is the only way. is a heresy in today's religion, 00:25:26.630 --> 00:25:30.130 the religion out there. Because in a pluralistic 00:25:30.130 --> 00:25:36.109 society, there are many ways to God. And to hold 00:25:36.109 --> 00:25:40.410 the biblical truth that Jesus is the only way 00:25:40.410 --> 00:25:48.089 is intolerance. To claim a historical biblical 00:25:48.089 --> 00:25:51.390 sexual ethic is intolerance in today's religion. 00:25:52.680 --> 00:25:56.200 To say that God has created humanity in a way, 00:25:56.319 --> 00:25:59.799 he defined it, he's the center of it. God has 00:25:59.799 --> 00:26:02.339 created humanity in a way, and we are to orient 00:26:02.339 --> 00:26:06.440 around his truth, not our self -defining. That 00:26:06.440 --> 00:26:11.980 is bigotry in today's society. Whatever it is 00:26:11.980 --> 00:26:14.000 that we're opposing, whatever it is that we stand 00:26:14.000 --> 00:26:16.299 for, whatever it is that you might preach, it 00:26:16.299 --> 00:26:18.339 will be labeled not just a simple disagreement, 00:26:18.519 --> 00:26:25.059 but hatred. You hate them. Or harmful. You want 00:26:25.059 --> 00:26:29.339 to harm them. And Peter says to us that we have 00:26:29.339 --> 00:26:32.339 to be ready. Christians must be ready to clarify 00:26:32.339 --> 00:26:37.390 that their convictions Their convictions related 00:26:37.390 --> 00:26:40.349 to Jesus is the only way. Their convictions related 00:26:40.349 --> 00:26:43.369 to the prevailing religion of the day, the self 00:26:43.369 --> 00:26:45.690 -centeredness. Their convictions related to the 00:26:45.690 --> 00:26:48.089 biblical sexual ethic, which is a part of that 00:26:48.089 --> 00:26:51.230 religion today. Their convictions are founded 00:26:51.230 --> 00:26:53.970 not in the desire for self -righteousness to 00:26:53.970 --> 00:26:56.329 lord it over someone, but in a true desire, a 00:26:56.329 --> 00:26:58.589 conviction to love God and love our neighbor. 00:26:59.269 --> 00:27:02.069 If you truly believe that God's design is best 00:27:02.069 --> 00:27:05.440 because God knows best, then you keep going back 00:27:05.440 --> 00:27:07.400 to it and going, anything living, anyone living 00:27:07.400 --> 00:27:10.400 less than God's design, anyone who's living outside 00:27:10.400 --> 00:27:13.299 of it is not experiencing the flourishing that 00:27:13.299 --> 00:27:16.339 they're intended to experience. And not only 00:27:16.339 --> 00:27:19.019 that, they very well might be in disobedience 00:27:19.019 --> 00:27:21.240 to God and therefore his face might be against 00:27:21.240 --> 00:27:23.099 them and they're not experiencing the blessing 00:27:23.099 --> 00:27:25.339 and favor of God. And the heart of a Christian 00:27:25.339 --> 00:27:27.200 shouldn't be to stand in self -righteousness 00:27:27.200 --> 00:27:30.920 over them, but to plead and to beg and to go 00:27:30.920 --> 00:27:34.579 before the Lord in prayer and to weep tears to 00:27:34.579 --> 00:27:37.160 say, come and experience the life that you can 00:27:37.160 --> 00:27:39.460 have in Christ, the life that is truly oriented 00:27:39.460 --> 00:27:47.119 around God and not yourself. It's motivated by 00:27:47.119 --> 00:27:51.079 love and not self -righteousness. And it's motivated 00:27:51.079 --> 00:27:54.279 on the reality that nothing about how any of 00:27:54.279 --> 00:27:56.700 us lived, if you are in Christ, nothing about 00:27:56.700 --> 00:27:59.700 how any of us lived when we were outside of Christ 00:27:59.700 --> 00:28:04.759 was life -giving. Any of us in this room, I could 00:28:04.759 --> 00:28:07.099 go around, it doesn't matter what your sin or 00:28:07.099 --> 00:28:08.880 the way that you were living and contrary to 00:28:08.880 --> 00:28:11.440 God's will and way, we could all go around and 00:28:11.440 --> 00:28:14.480 say, yeah, that didn't give me life. Yeah, that 00:28:14.480 --> 00:28:17.160 didn't give me hope. I wasn't flourishing over 00:28:17.160 --> 00:28:19.119 there. I didn't feel the face of God shining 00:28:19.119 --> 00:28:21.980 upon me over there. In fact, I came to a breaking 00:28:21.980 --> 00:28:23.900 point and that's when I turned and I needed God. 00:28:24.000 --> 00:28:26.599 And then he shone on me when I repented and I 00:28:26.599 --> 00:28:28.660 turned my face to him and I began to follow him. 00:28:28.799 --> 00:28:31.220 That's when I experienced his favor. All of us 00:28:31.220 --> 00:28:33.559 have that same testimony and we're just repeating 00:28:33.559 --> 00:28:36.160 that. We want others to understand that come 00:28:36.160 --> 00:28:39.500 into the light, come into God's way, understand 00:28:39.500 --> 00:28:44.099 that he has a better plan than the one that centers 00:28:44.099 --> 00:28:51.059 around myself. That's just one of a prevalent 00:28:51.059 --> 00:28:55.599 accusation of wrongdoing that a Christian might 00:28:55.599 --> 00:28:57.880 encounter. And Peter says Christians must be 00:28:57.880 --> 00:29:00.640 ready to respond. You need to be ready to respond 00:29:00.640 --> 00:29:06.400 to that because you may be accused of that. Hypocrisy 00:29:06.400 --> 00:29:07.980 would be another one. And there's many others 00:29:07.980 --> 00:29:10.380 that you could go down the line. Holding a Christian, 00:29:10.539 --> 00:29:13.680 a biblical worldview will get you into all kinds 00:29:13.680 --> 00:29:19.079 of mess today. And Peter says, be ready to give 00:29:19.079 --> 00:29:21.960 a defense. But when you give that defense, when 00:29:21.960 --> 00:29:23.680 you're talking to people who are in opposition 00:29:23.680 --> 00:29:26.680 to you, he says that how you make that defense, 00:29:26.900 --> 00:29:29.279 the way that you communicate that defense is 00:29:29.279 --> 00:29:34.680 equally important. He says, yet do this with 00:29:34.680 --> 00:29:39.940 gentleness and reverence, keeping a clear conscience 00:29:39.940 --> 00:29:43.400 so that when you are accused, those who disparage 00:29:43.400 --> 00:29:45.779 you. Your good conduct in Christ will be put 00:29:45.779 --> 00:29:47.900 to shame. For it is better to suffer for doing 00:29:47.900 --> 00:29:49.859 good, if that should be God's will, than for 00:29:49.859 --> 00:29:51.880 doing evil. What is Peter instructing here? He's 00:29:51.880 --> 00:29:57.359 saying, because even accusation, even accusation 00:29:57.359 --> 00:30:01.839 is a gospel opportunity. That's not our typical 00:30:01.839 --> 00:30:05.140 posture, is it? An accusation or a pushback against 00:30:05.140 --> 00:30:07.140 us, we usually could jump into defensive mode, 00:30:07.200 --> 00:30:11.339 don't we? Like, I've got to defend Jesus. Like, 00:30:11.339 --> 00:30:15.380 somehow he needs me. master apologist to defend 00:30:15.380 --> 00:30:17.579 him. Like, Jesus, don't worry. You hired the 00:30:17.579 --> 00:30:21.700 right lawyer. I got you. We jump into that mode. 00:30:21.779 --> 00:30:24.880 Instead, Peter says, whoa, whoa, how you do this 00:30:24.880 --> 00:30:28.059 is going to matter all the more. How you conduct 00:30:28.059 --> 00:30:30.599 yourself, but also how you make this defense. 00:30:31.819 --> 00:30:35.000 It matters because what you need to understand 00:30:35.000 --> 00:30:39.019 is it's not just a dispute or a conflict. It's 00:30:39.019 --> 00:30:42.420 a gospel opportunity. Right there in the middle 00:30:42.420 --> 00:30:44.680 of the accusation. Right there when you feel 00:30:44.680 --> 00:30:46.759 most defense of this is a gospel opportunity, 00:30:46.980 --> 00:30:49.480 if you'll view it from this perspective. And 00:30:49.480 --> 00:30:51.319 if you'll understand that when you respond, you 00:30:51.319 --> 00:30:54.900 need to do it in gentleness. What is gentleness? 00:30:55.019 --> 00:30:59.380 A spirit that is calm. A spirit that is calm 00:30:59.380 --> 00:31:04.380 and patient. That is not harsh. That is not aggressive, 00:31:04.440 --> 00:31:09.170 even under pressure. You weren't... If you're 00:31:09.170 --> 00:31:11.150 a note taker right now, I want to see pens moving. 00:31:11.210 --> 00:31:16.509 Okay, ready? Get ready. You are not trying to 00:31:16.509 --> 00:31:20.869 win an argument. You are trying to win a person. 00:31:22.670 --> 00:31:25.049 If someone comes against you and accuses you 00:31:25.049 --> 00:31:28.410 of wrongdoing, accuses you in your belief in 00:31:28.410 --> 00:31:30.490 God and you're centering around him, that something 00:31:30.490 --> 00:31:32.390 about what you're doing is wrong because it is 00:31:32.390 --> 00:31:35.789 wrongdoing in the eyes of the prevailing religions 00:31:35.789 --> 00:31:38.940 of the day. But if they accuse you of it, your 00:31:38.940 --> 00:31:40.859 first reaction is going to be defensiveness. 00:31:41.259 --> 00:31:44.039 And Peter says, no, no, no. You're not trying 00:31:44.039 --> 00:31:47.160 to win an argument. You're trying to win a person 00:31:47.160 --> 00:31:51.539 and that changes how you do it, right? And the 00:31:51.539 --> 00:31:53.519 second way he says is reverence. Reverence is 00:31:53.519 --> 00:31:57.599 important. And that's not about timidity, but 00:31:57.599 --> 00:32:01.279 this deep awareness of God's presence when you 00:32:01.279 --> 00:32:03.460 speak. Note takers, get the pen ready again. 00:32:03.500 --> 00:32:06.450 Here you go. The first one was, you are not trying 00:32:06.450 --> 00:32:08.289 to win an argument, you are trying to win a person. 00:32:08.750 --> 00:32:12.130 Reverence, well, when you speak for Jesus, you're 00:32:12.130 --> 00:32:18.789 standing on holy ground. Be careful. If you're 00:32:18.789 --> 00:32:20.809 going to mount a defense for why you have the 00:32:20.809 --> 00:32:22.529 hope that you have, and you're going to speak 00:32:22.529 --> 00:32:25.410 for Jesus, you're standing on holy ground. Watch 00:32:25.410 --> 00:32:31.190 your mouth. Watch your attitude. Watch your aggression. 00:32:34.920 --> 00:32:36.900 And do it with a clear conscience. Don't just 00:32:36.900 --> 00:32:39.220 say the right things. Don't have all the right 00:32:39.220 --> 00:32:41.539 answers. But live in a way that doesn't betray 00:32:41.539 --> 00:32:46.000 your faith. And then above all, in verse 15, 00:32:46.059 --> 00:32:48.660 Peter reminds us, his listeners, that when we 00:32:48.660 --> 00:32:50.779 suffer for doing what is right, even unjustly, 00:32:50.839 --> 00:32:53.779 that in your hearts you're to regard Christ the 00:32:53.779 --> 00:32:57.359 Lord as holy. And this means that even when we're 00:32:57.359 --> 00:33:00.980 suffering, even when we're accused, we're called 00:33:00.980 --> 00:33:04.339 to have reverence for Christ as Lord. believing 00:33:04.339 --> 00:33:07.339 that Christ, not our human opponent, is truly 00:33:07.339 --> 00:33:11.079 in control of all events. And to have such reverence 00:33:11.079 --> 00:33:15.559 in our heart is to maintain a continually deep 00:33:15.559 --> 00:33:18.019 -seated inward confidence in Christ as the reigning 00:33:18.019 --> 00:33:20.299 king, that he is on his throne now and everything 00:33:20.299 --> 00:33:24.880 is okay. The final point, if you're taking notes, 00:33:25.119 --> 00:33:30.359 don't miss the meaning. Don't miss the meaning. 00:33:32.099 --> 00:33:35.559 Don't mirror the mess. Don't muzzle the message 00:33:35.559 --> 00:33:39.480 and don't miss the meaning. Right here in 18 00:33:39.480 --> 00:33:43.099 to 22, this is the final point. 18 to 22, this 00:33:43.099 --> 00:33:44.880 is somewhat of a confusing passage. If you're 00:33:44.880 --> 00:33:46.680 kind of a Bible nerd and you're reading it, you're 00:33:46.680 --> 00:33:50.319 going, this is weird. Like we're talking about 00:33:50.319 --> 00:33:53.420 Jesus preaching to spirits in prisons. We're 00:33:53.420 --> 00:33:55.660 talking about Noah suddenly, like he's transported 00:33:55.660 --> 00:33:57.819 into the New Testament and then we're shooting 00:33:57.819 --> 00:34:00.019 over to baptism. Like what's happening here? 00:34:01.390 --> 00:34:03.230 And I don't want us to get lost in the weeds 00:34:03.230 --> 00:34:05.190 and miss the main idea. So I'll give you the 00:34:05.190 --> 00:34:10.329 main idea. Jesus Christ has won. And everything, 00:34:10.570 --> 00:34:13.409 every being, every story, every symbol of the 00:34:13.409 --> 00:34:16.150 Old Testament now points to his finished work. 00:34:16.929 --> 00:34:19.710 That's the point. Jesus Christ is victorious. 00:34:21.409 --> 00:34:23.769 And so under this point, if you're taking notes, 00:34:23.789 --> 00:34:27.489 A, Christ suffered for you. Verse 18 is the anchor. 00:34:27.630 --> 00:34:30.329 For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, 00:34:30.409 --> 00:34:32.409 the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might 00:34:32.409 --> 00:34:35.630 bring you to God. This is the gospel diluted 00:34:35.630 --> 00:34:41.309 right there in one verse. Christ suffered. He 00:34:41.309 --> 00:34:46.190 suffered a violent, unjust death for sins, not 00:34:46.190 --> 00:34:49.789 his own. 2 Corinthians says, God made him who 00:34:49.789 --> 00:34:53.269 knew no sin to become sin so that in him we could 00:34:53.269 --> 00:34:57.250 become the righteousness of God. Christ suffered 00:34:57.250 --> 00:34:59.889 a violent, unjust death for sins that were not 00:34:59.889 --> 00:35:02.969 his own, but he did it once for all. It's finished, 00:35:03.070 --> 00:35:06.329 never to be repeated. The righteous for the unrighteous. 00:35:06.409 --> 00:35:09.130 This is substitution language. This is the atonement. 00:35:09.130 --> 00:35:13.170 He made payment for us. Why? That he might bring 00:35:13.170 --> 00:35:18.710 you to God. And the great joy of the gospel is 00:35:18.710 --> 00:35:21.230 not just forgiveness. Forgiveness of sins is 00:35:21.230 --> 00:35:25.000 awesome. And it's not just freedom. Freedom from 00:35:25.000 --> 00:35:27.099 what holds us and binds us. That is awesome. 00:35:27.320 --> 00:35:31.900 But you know what the big thing, the apex, the 00:35:31.900 --> 00:35:37.559 climax of it all is? Fellowship with God. See, 00:35:37.639 --> 00:35:39.599 these other things, forgiveness of sins and freedom 00:35:39.599 --> 00:35:41.780 from our sins, these are what we're standing 00:35:41.780 --> 00:35:46.239 in the way. They're not the end all be all. The 00:35:46.239 --> 00:35:48.980 end all be all is fellowship with God. He did 00:35:48.980 --> 00:35:54.750 all that to bring us to God. Not just forgiveness, 00:35:54.869 --> 00:35:57.150 not just freedom, but fellowship and reconciliation 00:35:57.150 --> 00:36:02.030 and access to the Father. And Peter says, don't 00:36:02.030 --> 00:36:04.469 miss the meaning of the text. Everything Jesus 00:36:04.469 --> 00:36:07.650 did was to bridge the gap between a holy God 00:36:07.650 --> 00:36:10.590 and unholy people, and he made a way for us. 00:36:12.809 --> 00:36:15.949 B, if you take notes, B, Christ's victory is 00:36:15.949 --> 00:36:18.429 universal. Peter continues and he says that he 00:36:18.429 --> 00:36:21.110 put to death in the flesh, he was put to death 00:36:21.110 --> 00:36:23.070 in the flesh, but made alive by the Spirit in 00:36:23.070 --> 00:36:25.809 which he also went and made proclamation to the 00:36:25.809 --> 00:36:27.769 spirits of prison. This is the weird, crazy one 00:36:27.769 --> 00:36:30.289 that a lot of commentators have tried to write 00:36:30.289 --> 00:36:32.789 down. What does this mean? Think through. What 00:36:32.789 --> 00:36:35.289 does it mean that he went and preached? made 00:36:35.289 --> 00:36:37.630 proclamation to spirits in prison. And here's 00:36:37.630 --> 00:36:39.070 what I don't think it means. Some people have 00:36:39.070 --> 00:36:41.250 thought this in the past. Some people have written 00:36:41.250 --> 00:36:43.530 about it. I don't think it means this. It doesn't 00:36:43.530 --> 00:36:46.349 mean that Jesus gave a second chance after death 00:36:46.349 --> 00:36:49.389 to some people who had died in unbelief. That's 00:36:49.389 --> 00:36:51.949 what it doesn't mean. When it says he went and 00:36:51.949 --> 00:36:54.010 preached to the spirits in prison, it doesn't 00:36:54.010 --> 00:36:56.170 mean he went and found some people who died in 00:36:56.170 --> 00:36:59.719 their unbelief. Hadn't followed God, hadn't committed 00:36:59.719 --> 00:37:01.840 their way to God. He found them and he preached 00:37:01.840 --> 00:37:03.360 the message to them and gave them a second chance 00:37:03.360 --> 00:37:05.500 at salvation. I don't believe that's it at all. 00:37:05.699 --> 00:37:09.460 What's actually happening? We think of preach 00:37:09.460 --> 00:37:11.480 and we always think of positive, but that's why 00:37:11.480 --> 00:37:13.739 I think CSB using proclamation is actually a 00:37:13.739 --> 00:37:15.920 really good word because what Jesus is doing 00:37:15.920 --> 00:37:21.300 is after his resurrection, he went and proclaimed 00:37:21.300 --> 00:37:26.690 his victory over every rebellious power. Whether 00:37:26.690 --> 00:37:29.130 spiritual beings or demonic forces or those who 00:37:29.130 --> 00:37:33.130 oppose God in Noah's day, it was the cosmic victory 00:37:33.130 --> 00:37:37.289 march that God went on. Think of a victorious 00:37:37.289 --> 00:37:39.710 king who's returning from battle and shouting 00:37:39.710 --> 00:37:43.269 to every stronghold along the way, I win, death 00:37:43.269 --> 00:37:47.989 is defeated. I win, death loses. I win, sin loses. 00:37:48.190 --> 00:37:51.429 I win, evil loses. This is what his proclamation 00:37:51.429 --> 00:37:55.539 was. It's like you thought you got away, you 00:37:55.539 --> 00:37:59.280 didn't get away with it. And Peter reaches back 00:37:59.280 --> 00:38:02.159 to Noah's story because just like the ark saved 00:38:02.159 --> 00:38:04.480 a few through the floodwaters, it was actually 00:38:04.480 --> 00:38:07.420 a symbol and a sign pointing forward to Jesus 00:38:07.420 --> 00:38:10.059 who would save those who trust in him through 00:38:10.059 --> 00:38:15.039 the waters of judgment and death. And baptism 00:38:15.039 --> 00:38:17.860 now saves you, not as the removal of dirt from 00:38:17.860 --> 00:38:20.039 the body, but the pledge of a good conscience 00:38:20.039 --> 00:38:22.400 toward God through the resurrection of Jesus 00:38:22.400 --> 00:38:25.820 Christ. He uses the imagery of baptism because 00:38:25.820 --> 00:38:27.940 he's introduced the idea of the ark. And remember, 00:38:28.000 --> 00:38:30.659 Noah and his family got into the ark, and the 00:38:30.659 --> 00:38:35.019 ark was closed up. And the ark, then the rains 00:38:35.019 --> 00:38:37.940 began to come, and the floods came up, and the 00:38:37.940 --> 00:38:42.179 people who were in the ark were safe. They were 00:38:42.179 --> 00:38:44.059 safe from all of the floods. What were the floods 00:38:44.059 --> 00:38:46.239 there from? The floods were judgment on the earth 00:38:46.239 --> 00:38:51.059 for the sinfulness of humanity. Judgment was 00:38:51.059 --> 00:38:53.679 pronounced. And those who were in the ark were 00:38:53.679 --> 00:38:56.500 safe. And Peter says, hey, that whole imagery 00:38:56.500 --> 00:38:58.860 of Noah, it was actually pointing forward to 00:38:58.860 --> 00:39:03.940 Jesus. Jesus is the ark. And everyone who is 00:39:03.940 --> 00:39:06.940 in Jesus, when the floodwaters of judgment come, 00:39:07.079 --> 00:39:11.619 they're safe. And he will deliver them to a land 00:39:11.619 --> 00:39:17.500 and prosper with a blessing. Baptism points to 00:39:17.500 --> 00:39:21.000 that. Baptism is the sign of that. Baptism isn't 00:39:21.000 --> 00:39:23.659 some magic water. It's not about a physical bath. 00:39:23.860 --> 00:39:26.500 It's about a spiritual reality. Baptism is the 00:39:26.500 --> 00:39:30.699 external expression of an internal faith, a pledge 00:39:30.699 --> 00:39:33.079 and a commitment of loyalty to Christ Jesus. 00:39:33.420 --> 00:39:36.619 It's you and I saying, my old life is buried 00:39:36.619 --> 00:39:40.320 and my new life is yours. And truly, it is a 00:39:40.320 --> 00:39:44.940 whole new life in Christ. But it's only effective 00:39:44.940 --> 00:39:48.000 because of the resurrection. Baptism points to 00:39:48.000 --> 00:39:51.059 the union with Christ. You died with him. You 00:39:51.059 --> 00:39:57.500 rise with him. You live with him. And so finally, 00:39:57.539 --> 00:40:01.199 I'll say, Peter ends by saying, who has gone, 00:40:01.300 --> 00:40:04.000 Jesus, who has gone into heaven and is at the 00:40:04.000 --> 00:40:06.719 right hand of God with angels, authorities, and 00:40:06.719 --> 00:40:10.980 powers subject to him. This is where Peter wants 00:40:10.980 --> 00:40:15.170 to land the plane. Jesus is not in the grave. 00:40:16.889 --> 00:40:20.210 Jesus isn't still hanging on the cross and he's 00:40:20.210 --> 00:40:23.070 not distant or indifferent. He's on the throne 00:40:23.070 --> 00:40:26.730 ruling today and every angel, every demon, every 00:40:26.730 --> 00:40:30.030 ruler, every force, they all answer to him, praise 00:40:30.030 --> 00:40:35.809 God. And church, Peter is saying, don't get distracted. 00:40:36.650 --> 00:40:39.329 By these hard to understand verses or miss the 00:40:39.329 --> 00:40:42.949 point that Jesus wins and in him, so do you. 00:40:45.949 --> 00:40:48.349 Baptism tells a better story than just water 00:40:48.349 --> 00:40:52.230 in some ceremony. It tells the story of rescue 00:40:52.230 --> 00:40:54.590 through judgment, new life through death and 00:40:54.590 --> 00:40:57.929 victory through Christ. And just as the ark bore 00:40:57.929 --> 00:41:01.650 Noah through the judgment waters, so Christ bears 00:41:01.650 --> 00:41:05.039 us through the flood of sin and death. And that 00:41:05.039 --> 00:41:08.619 ark pointed forward to Jesus, the only safe shelter 00:41:08.619 --> 00:41:13.380 in the storms of God's judgment. Don't miss the 00:41:13.380 --> 00:41:17.719 meaning and don't miss the Savior. Don't mirror 00:41:17.719 --> 00:41:21.860 the mess. Don't muzzle the message. And don't 00:41:21.860 --> 00:41:22.400 miss the meaning.