Okay, good morning everybody. This sounds very loud. I'm sure Millen can sort it out.
Firstly, just a warm welcome to Danny and Laura. I know you guys are hiding anonymously there.
You were a minute ago. Danny and Laura lead the church in DB, DB International Community Church.
Is that right? Something along those lines. And they've just moved to Hong Kong six weeks ago or so
to take up that role. And they're with us this morning. Guys, great to have you with us. So just
a warm welcome to you. It's great to have you with us today. Now, I do apologize for this very
boring weather. I know last week was a little bit more exciting. And this is a bit tame after last
Sunday. But it is good to be back together today. Last Sunday was our first typhoon we have ever
experienced in our lives before. And so thank you for welcoming us with such a gentle little intro
to Hong Kong. It is great to be with you though together. Now this morning we continue our series
called The Splendor in the Furnace as we work through the book of 1 Peter. And I hope you
got to listen to last week's sermon. I do apologize for the way it sounded. I was recording it in
my bedroom looking at the mirror, which is not as good looking as you folk. I tried to preach
with much conviction and authority and excitement, but it wasn't quite the same. And so I listened
to a little bit of it afterwards and I thought that sounds dreadful. But anyway, I hope it served
some purpose. But if you didn't get to listen to last week's message, it is the previous seven
verses, which is a very contentious passage because it starts off like this. It says,
likewise, wives submit to your husbands. Okay? And then it goes on for the next six verses
to talk about how God calls Christian wives not to live a life of self-assertion of their rights,
but a selfless, sacrificial life of surrender. Now ladies, before you stone me or storm out,
at the end of that passage, Peter says the exact same thing to the husbands. He says,
likewise, husbands. And then he calls husbands to live a life of selfless, sacrificial,
servant-heartedness towards their spouses. And Peter starts with both those sentences,
likewise, wives, likewise, husbands. And the reason is because just before that,
he said, employees submit to your masters, even those that treat you unjustly. And then before
that, he says, all Christians surrender to the government, to authorities and those in leadership.
And so for two chapters, Peter has called all Christians in all circumstances to rather than
living a life where they demand their rights and what they feel is fair, to live a life of selfless,
selfless, sacrificial surrender. And Elizabeth Elliot said it like this,
the secular world looks for happiness through self-assertion, asserting my rights, my privileges.
The Christian knows that joy is found in self-abandonment. And the grand motivation of this,
of course, is Jesus Christ. Right in the middle of that passage, Christ, the perfect example,
who suffered unjustly for our sins is raised as the great example. Now, if you're anything like me,
the natural response to this radical call from the scriptures to live lives of selfless,
self-surrender is you've got to be joking, right? And maybe you think, Kevin, that might work for you
guys in the office. You work in a Christian office and you can pray together and everyone's nice and
kind to each other. But where I work, it's dog eat dog, okay? People are out to get one another. No
one cares about one another. You trample on top of one another. All of this turn the other cheek,
be nice to each other. That's pie in the sky stuff. That doesn't work in the real world.
And so my job this morning is to help convince us from the scriptures that God's word does work.
And that the very best thing we can do with our one and only lives is to trust Christ and to
bank our lives on him and to follow Christ's example by living radical lives of self-sacrifice
and self-abandonment for others. That's when suffering for the gospel comes, God's call is
don't retreat into self-preservation, but continue to give yourself for the sake of others, okay?
And so the big idea this morning is this. When you're persecuted for being a follower of Jesus,
bless those who persecute you and keep your eyes fixed on the hope that is found in Jesus.
Okay, when you're persecuted for following Jesus, bless those who persecute you and keep your eyes
fixed on the hope that is found in Jesus. And there's two kind of main points this morning. The
first one is a scandalous response to persecution and then secondly, a scandalous reason for this
response, okay? So let's dive in. We're looking at 1 Peter chapter 3 verses 8 to 22. Now I must just
tell you, the second half of this passage, Martin Luther, who is a wonderful Bible commentator and
reformer, he wrote, I think I actually took it out, he wrote something like, of all the passages in the
New Testament, this is probably the most difficult to understand. I still have no idea what the Apostle
Paul was trying to say. So we're going to try our best to see if we can make some sense of this passage
today. Okay, so, but firstly, let's look at verse 8 to 17 together. So if you're new this morning, the
context of the book of 1 Peter is that these Christians are being persecuted, they're being
oppressed, they're being harassed because they are followers of Jesus, they won't follow the household
gods and society's gods, and so their honor is being disgraced, they are being publicly shamed for
following Jesus. And some of this is coming from their families, their spouses, some of it's coming from
their parents, because they won't follow the family gods, some of it's coming from the employers, and
some of it from the government. But friends, it's important for us to realize that this is not just
a unique time in history at the beginning of the church. Jesus said that if you follow Jesus, you will
endure persecution. Jesus said, the way they treated me is the same way that they will treat you.
And so as you read the history of the church throughout the ages, Christ's followers have always endured
such persecution. This is not an obscure incident that just happened 2,000 years ago. If you follow
Jesus, the chances are that this will happen to you as well. And so the question is, how do we respond?
Do we just silently endure it and turn the other cheek? Do we retaliate and say, I'm going to show you
just who's boss? How do we respond when persecution comes our way? Well, let's look at verse 9.
Peter writes this. He says,
Now, when we think of blessing someone, we often think of just saying something nice back to them.
Somebody says something unkind and you retaliate with some kindness. My three-year-old daughter,
she's now four, but earlier this year, a great example of this. I don't know where this came
from. Well, actually I do. It came from her mother. Okay, let me just say this. But she was at school,
she's three years old, and her one friend says to her, Shiloh, you can't come to my birthday party.
And Shiloh says, that's okay, you can still come to mine. I don't know where she got that from other
than from Claire's kindness. It certainly wasn't from me. But Jesus is not just, I mean, Peter,
Jesus through Peter, is not just saying that. He's not just saying when somebody says something
unkind, you say something kind back to them. In the Bible, to bless somebody is to pray for God's
favor to rest upon them. It's to get on your knees and call on God and say, God, I pray for your
blessing on this person. And so look at what Peter says. When somebody persecutes you and oppresses you,
do not repay their evil with evil, but instead bless them, pray for them. Karen Jobes tells the story of
a Christian military serviceman in the United States. Every night he stayed in a barracks with
a whole bunch of other soldiers. And every night, just before going to bed, he would spend some time
reading the scriptures and praying. And he had a fellow soldier in his barracks that stayed across
the aisle from him. And this guy just thought this was ridiculous. And so every night he would mock him
and laugh at him and ridicule him and say all sorts of things. And one day, this particular soldier had
a bad day. And so as this Christian's reading his Bible, this guy grabs whatever he can find, which
happens to be some muddy boots, combat boots. And he throws them across the aisle at this guy. And he hits this
guy. And so now he's got mud on his pillow and on his Bible and on him and just before they go to bed.
Well, the next morning, you've got to get up early for inspection, you know, dressed, ready for
inspection, inspect your boots. And so this guy that threw this boot across the aisle gets up to look for
his boots so he can clean them quickly. And he finds them neatly put at the end of his bed, washed,
cleaned, cleaned, and polished. What happened was this Christian, after the lights had gone out,
had got and found his boots, stayed up and polished his boots and got them ready for inspection the
next morning. And this is what Peter calls us to. He says, respond to insults with blessing.
Respond to scoffing and mocking with prayers and acts of divine favor. Now the question is,
why do we find this so hard to do? Why is this hard? Well, one of the things I'm learning about
our culture here is that we as a culture hate to be outdone by anybody else. Is that right?
Somebody does something good for you and you feel like you can't just receive it without paying them
back. Is that right? We had this in the lift the other day. We were going up our lift and a couple
walked in and the wife was very large and about to give birth any day now. And so we said to her,
hey, when are you due? She said, I'm past my due date any day now. And so two weeks later,
Claire and I took some flowers down to them. I said, hey, congratulations on your new baby,
et cetera, et cetera. Two weeks later, we get a knock on our door and this couple come with a big
box of strawberries, right? And so I thought, ah, I know how this game works. As long as I
continually being nice to them, they'll be nice back to me. And so then I wrote a card and put it in
their mailbox and it ended there. They didn't respond. My game didn't work, right?
But then last Sunday, we had this typhoon. And so Claire says, hey, let's invite Matt and Fiona up to
our house for tea. And so we text them and they say, hey, why don't you come for tea to our house?
We're all locked indoors anyway. And so then they arrive with this big parcel of goodies and things,
right? Why? Because in Hong Kong, we hate to be outdone by anybody. Nobody can get one better at us.
If somebody pays for something, we want to pay them back. Is that right? Sort of, okay?
Well, it also works when somebody harms us. We hate to be outdone. We don't want to lose face. And so
when somebody does something to us, we don't want to lose face. And so we feel like I can't be shown
to have been weak. And so I've got to do something back to them. And then what happens? They feel like
they've got to do something back to us, right? And it just escalates. Friends, where does that go?
Where does it end when you repay evil for evil? Who wins in the end? I read a great line this week
in a book the author wrote, those who fought together to overthrow the king now quarreled
amongst themselves. They had won the war, but they lost all peace. They defeated their enemies,
but in their hearts, they were just as bitter as ever before. And so when this retaliation, you repay
evil for evil, where does it get you? Who wins in the end? Well, friends, there is a way to win.
There is a way to win the war when somebody gets back at you and you're tempted to get back at them.
The way to win the battle is to bless them, is to pray for them, to find it within yourself,
to pray for God's favor, to rest upon them. You see, in blessing those who curse you, you're both
uprooting evil and self-imprisonment, and at the same time, you're sowing seeds of redemption.
You're cutting at the root the tree of bitterness and self-preservation, and you're planting instead
seeds of redemption and seeds of healing. And part of the reason why this is so hard is that because
when somebody does something wrong to us, or somebody oppresses us, or somebody persecutes us,
and when you ask God to be gracious to such a person, it feels like a part of your soul is dying.
Or is it only me that feels like that? Right? When somebody does something wrong, and I feel like
God calls me to respond with blessing and praying for God's favor, it feels like I'm dying inside.
But friends, that's exactly what is happening, because my self-centeredness and my pride
is being crucified in that very moment. In that very moment, I'm praying and saying,
God, let your kingdom come. Let your will be done in my heart as it is in heaven,
and a part of my pride is dying. And so look at what Peter says here. He says in verse 9,
he says,
It's counterintuitive, but God promises that as we respond counterintuitively and counterculturally,
that something of his favor and his blessing rests upon those who bless their enemies.
I remember many years ago as a student at university, and I listened to a man that I really
respected talk about praying for his enemies. And I thought, man, I'm going to try that. And I didn't
have too many enemies, but there were a couple of people that used to rub me the wrong way, right?
There were a couple of people that just could get on my nerves. And so I decided that I'm going to try
and pray for them every time they do that. I'm going to pray the very best prayer that I can pray for
myself. I'm going to pray for them. I'm going to pray for their jobs. I'm going to pray for their
marriages. I'm going to pray for their finances. I'm going to pray for their children. Whatever I
would love someone to pray for me, I decided I'm going to try and pray for them. For instance,
you know who was blessed the most in that whole situation? I was. You know how many relationships
were turned around overnight? People that we weren't quite seeing eye to eye. People where there's
tension. The relationships are healed and restored. I can tell you story after story after story of how
God healed relationships just because somehow God inspired me to pray for them. That story of the
soldier that Karen Jobe tells, the story goes on because in the coming weeks and months, that
Christian soldier led countless other soldiers to Christ in his barracks. Men that were hardened by
battle were suddenly softened by the gospel as they saw him responding to persecution with kindness.
You see, friends, this is the scandalous call of the gospel, that because of Jesus and who he is,
that we are those who are able to bless even when oppressed, to pray for those who hurt us.
And of course, the supreme example of this is Jesus Christ himself. Christ having been flogged
beyond recognition, having been subject to the vilest hatred and animosity. Jesus being just
scorned and mocked and beaten beyond recognition. Jesus who is treated worse than people would have
treated their enemies and their enemies and their animals. Jesus finally is nailed to the cross and
he's suffocating to death and he cries out, Father, forgive them. They know not what they do.
Friends, where's our world going to find such a love like that? It's not going to find us in the sinful
heart of humanity. It's going to find us, it's going to find it in the everlasting heart of Christ himself.
Jesus Christ, our Father, forgive them. They don't know what they do.
And then look at what Peter does here. Peter quotes, for the second time in this letter, Psalm 34.
And Psalm 34 is a psalm that is written when King David is on the run. Remember, David, he's not yet
king, but he has been anointed king by Samuel. Samuel's promised David, you're going to be king. But the king
at the moment is who? It's King Saul. And so David is on the run because Saul is jealous of David and
Saul wants to kill him. And so David has tried to avoid him and eventually he can't avoid him anymore.
And so David skips the border and runs across the border to where the Philistines are. But while he's
in the Philistine territory, the Philistines recognize him and they start to say amongst themselves, hang on,
isn't this David who used to come and defeat our enemy, our army? And so the Philistines start to
talk amongst themselves. And David hears this and thinks, this is not looking good. I'm an enemy at
home and now I'm an enemy here. He's being squeezed by both sides. Both sides want to take David out.
And in this moment, David writes this psalm, Psalm 34. And so look at what he says. Peter quotes it here.
He says, whoever desires to love life and to see good days. Friends, if I was being persecuted on
every side, I would write a psalm about how terrible life was and how miserable and unfair God was to
me. But David writes about loving life and seeing good days. He says, if you want to see this, let him
keep his tongue from evil. Let us keep his lips from speaking deceit against his enemies. Let him turn
away from reviling, from doing evil and let him do good. Let him seek peace and pursue it.
That's an amazing thing to write. Just after this, David goes back to Israel and he's hiding in the
caves. Saul wants him dead. Saul has sent an army after him and David is hiding in the caves. And at
that moment, Saul is chasing him and he doesn't know where David is. He knows he's somewhere around here
and Saul needs to relieve himself. He needs to go to the washroom, right? But there's no washrooms in
the desert. So Saul decides to go into this cave to go and relieve himself. And David is hiding in the
cave. And so Saul is at his most vulnerable. And David's friends say to him, he's right there.
There's your enemy. Go and take him out. And David says, forget it. I will not touch my enemy or repay his
evil with evil. We will bless him who has given evil to us. Now friends, why does David do that?
God gives his enemy into his hands. Why does David not take him out? Well, look at what David says here
in verse 12. He says, for the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are open to their prayers.
The face of the Lord is against those who do evil. Friends, do you want the face of the sovereign God,
the majestic God who made all the world? Do you want his face to shine upon you or to be turned
against you? Remember the great blessing of Numbers chapter 6. May the Lord bless you and keep you.
May he make his face shine upon you. May he be gracious to you. May the Lord turn his face towards
you and give you peace. Friends, do you want God to turn his face towards you and give you peace?
There is a way. There is a way. And David says it's for those who bless those who revile them.
Friends, if you're a Christian this morning, is there somebody that you may need to pray God's
blessing over them? Friends, you have parents that have hurt you and scarred you and left you wounded.
Maybe it's a spouse that has spoken words that have broken your spirit and broken your heart.
Can you pray for them? Friends, is there somebody at work to whom you can repay their words of mocking
and scorn with kindness and blessing? Friends, maybe there's somebody who gives you a hard time
because you're a Christian. Maybe someone who opposes your faith and makes you feel small and
insignificant. Can you pray for them? Can you pray for God's blessing upon them? Peter writes this and
says, do not repay evil for evil, but on the contrary, bless them. For to this you've been called
that you may obtain a blessing. For the eyes of the Lord are on those who are on the righteous and his
ears are open to their prayers. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil. A radical,
scandalous response to persecution. Secondly, a scandalous reason for doing so. Now, again, if you're like
me, you might think this has got to be a joke, right? This just doesn't make any sense. What kind
of world do you live in, Kevin and Peter and everyone else? Now, let's look at what happens in
the second half of this passage. In verse 14, Peter says here briefly, he says, have no fear, don't be
troubled, in your hearts honor Christ as Lord. So he's saying, don't be scared. People persecute you,
they oppress you, they oppose you, don't be scared. Verse 13, he says, who's there to harm you?
Because God is sovereign. Your hands are not in the hands of your enemies. Your life is in the
hands of the sovereign God. So don't be scared of them. Don't be afraid of them. But keep your heart
fixed on King Jesus, okay? And now look at what he says, verse 17. He says, for it is better to suffer
for doing good, if that should be the Lord's will, than for doing evil. Okay, so better that you suffer
temporarily in this life than you take vengeance on your enemies and then you face God's judgment.
And now he wants us to know that our life, he wants to call us to fix our eyes on Jesus.
And so Peter wants to drive this home. He wants to lift the heads of weary Christians who are
caught up in their circumstances. And he says, lift your eyes to Jesus and see him who's seated
on the throne. And Peter's going to say two things. He says, look to Jesus because Jesus,
just as Jesus' death brought life, so your suffering will produce good. And secondly, he says, because
what appeared as defeat for Jesus actually resulted in victory. Okay? He says, look to Jesus, follow his
example, because just as Jesus' death brought life, so your suffering will produce good. And just as Jesus'
death looked like defeat, actually it resulted in victory. And so look at what he says here, verse 17.
It is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God's will, than for doing evil, for or because
Christ also suffered for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God.
Friends, in the midst of your suffering, in the midst of your persecution, in the midst of people mocking
you and reviling you and pouring evil on your life, look to Jesus and take courage. And if you doubt it,
if you're not sure if your suffering will ever produce any good, remember Jesus. Remember Christ,
the example of the only righteous man who ever suffered. And look at how his suffering produced life.
Friends, if Jesus had not been willing to go to the cross, to suffer unjustly, to endure the shame,
to experience the ultimate dishonor, you and I would be stuck in our sin. You and I would be left without hope.
But friends, Jesus did suffer, and therefore we do get the one thing that our hearts desperately need,
and our hearts were made for, we get to be brought back to God. Out of his suffering came renewed hope.
Out of his rejection came acceptance. Out of his death came life.
And Peter says, if you're a follower of Jesus, and you follow his example, the pattern of Christ's life is the pattern of your life.
Out of his death came life. Out of your suffering comes life as well.
You remember the story of Joseph in the Old Testament?
Joseph is a young man, and he's got a whole bunch of brothers, and his brothers are jealous of him, right?
He's got the father's favor, and he can be a little bit irritating, let's be honest.
But so his brothers decide, this guy, we've had enough of him. Let's just get rid of him.
And so Joseph's brothers decide to kill him.
And they're busy plotting how to get rid of him.
And then some people, some slave traders drive past, and they say, well, let's just sell him to the slave traders.
That way we can make some money off his life and get rid of him in the process, right?
Double honor.
And so they sell their brother to these slave traders on the way to Egypt.
So Joseph goes to Egypt, and he's working as a slave, and God's favor's upon him, and he works his way up.
And then he gets thrown into jail unjustly.
And while he's in jail, he finds somebody that can get him out of jail.
And so he says, hey, remember me when you leave jail.
And as this guy leaves jail, he forgets all about Joseph.
And so Joseph's life just goes from bad to worse.
But eventually, God hasn't forgotten about him.
And so God releases him from jail, his favor's upon him, and Joseph actually becomes kind of the prime minister of Egypt.
And many years later, 40 years later or so, he meets his brothers.
And his brothers are now petrified because his brothers think he's going to get us back.
But look at what Joseph says.
Joseph says to him this.
He says, what you intended for evil, God intended for good.
To bring it about that many people should be saved, just as is the case today.
You see, his unjust suffering, his humiliation was the very thing that saved Israel.
And think about what Jesus said.
Jesus said, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains alone.
But if it dies, there it produces fruit.
Jesus said this.
He said, when I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw all people to myself.
Jesus wasn't talking about being lifted up in honor and being exalted and being raised to the heavens.
He said, when I am lifted up on the cross, when they hoist me up on the cross and they mock me and they scorn me and they crucify me,
in that moment I will draw people and save people and draw them to myself.
And friends, that's what Peter is saying.
He's saying, just as Jesus was hoisted on the cross unjustly, illegitimately, without any legality, his death brought life.
And friends, in the same way that as you and I face persecution, as you and I face oppression,
as you and I face maybe ridicule and opposition,
that in the economy of God's kingdom, that injustice produces life.
If we'll be those who respond to evil with blessing.
Friends, if you're a Christian this morning, it may well be that you'll suffer for it.
Friends, if you're a young lady here,
your boyfriend may break up with you because you won't sleep with him.
Friends, maybe you won't get that promotion at job
because you won't flirt with your boss or dress inappropriately.
Maybe if you're here this morning,
your girlfriend might break up with you
because she's not a follower of Jesus
and doesn't want to follow Jesus with you.
Friends, it may mean that you remain single all of your life
because you're attracted to the people of the same gender as yourself
and yet you choose to honor God with your sexuality.
Friends, it may mean that you suffer financially
because you won't cut corners
or you disclose some information which was previously hidden.
It may mean that your parents or your family shame you
because you won't worship the family ancestors like they want you to.
Friends, it may feel like your soul is being put to death in the furnace.
But in that furnace, you'll find a splendor.
In that furnace, you'll find some gold.
In that furnace, your heart will be purified like gold in a furnace.
And you'll find something about Christ
and you'll discover a beauty and a purity and a majesty about Christ
that you'll never have discovered outside of the furnace.
Friends, in that furnace, your soul will sing.
You'll find that you'll get to know Jesus
and the beauty of the gospel in a way you never would have apart from that suffering.
Friends, if you follow Jesus to Calvary,
a part of your sinful nature will be crucified
and it will feel like you're being crucified.
It'll feel like you're dying.
And yet in that place, you'll find life.
Friends, if you fix your eyes on Jesus,
if you pay back evil with blessing,
if you pray for those who persecute you.
And then finally, Peter gives us one last reason.
He says,
if you follow Jesus and blessing those who persecute you,
remember how Jesus' death,
which seemed like defeat,
actually resulted in victory.
Look at verse 18.
He says here,
Christ suffered once for sins,
the righteous for the unrighteous,
that's you and I,
that he might bring us to God,
being put to death in the flesh,
but being made alive in the spirit.
And then verse 22 says,
this same Lord Jesus,
who has gone into heaven,
is now at the right hand of God,
with angels and authorities and powers
now being subject to him.
See, friends,
on that awful Friday afternoon,
when Easter Friday,
Jesus,
they put a coat,
a purple coat on him,
that's the colors of royalty.
They're mocking him
and they put a crown of thorns on his head.
They're laughing at him and saying,
you pretend to be a king,
we'll make you a king.
They mock him,
they beat him,
they scorn him.
As Jesus,
his nine inch nails smashed through his hands.
As Jesus is on the cross
and they put a spear in his side
just to make sure that he really is dead,
friends,
in that afternoon,
later in the evening,
when Pilate comes to the soldiers
and says,
is Jesus really dead?
And they come back and they say,
he's dead.
That day,
the Pharisees and the religious leaders
must have been celebrating.
They must have thought,
we've got him.
That day,
the religious leaders must have thought,
we finally got rid of that man.
That day,
the disciples were locked away
in the upper room
for fear of the people that killed Jesus.
And every single person in Jerusalem
must have thought,
he's dead.
It's over.
It's gone.
And every person must have thought
that what a complete waste,
that frauds like Judas Iscariot had won.
Friends,
imagine you're in the upper room
with your disciples
and you think to yourself,
that,
I was going to say something
I won't say.
That person,
Judas Iscariot,
won.
He won.
He betrayed Jesus
and Judas
got away with it.
He didn't in the end.
And Jesus is dead.
Friends,
they must have thought
that hypocrites
like the religious leaders
had won.
Self-serving cowards
like Pontius Pilate
had won.
But friends,
the hope-preserving,
faith-building,
confidence-giving truth
of the gospel
is that what seemed like defeat
ended in victory.
What seemed like Satan
had triumphed over Christ,
actually Satan
was digging his own grave.
Because by dying on the cross,
Jesus was taking upon himself
the punishment
for the sins of the world.
He removed the power of death.
He dissolved the sting
and the accusation
of the devil forever.
Jesus' apparent defeat
was actually his greatest victory
over all creation,
over all angels,
over all authorities,
over all powers,
over all spirits,
even death himself.
And now all those things
are subject to him.
Karen Jobes,
the greatest,
probably the best commentator
on what Peter writes this,
she says,
what Peter is telling us
is this,
that even if a Christian
were to suffer,
let me move this side,
to the point of unjust martyrdom
for the sake of Christ,
even such a suffering
is both purposeful
and victorious.
Because death
is not the final word.
Christians following
Christ's footstep
through death
to victory.
Although the death of Christ
was uniquely redemptive,
those who suffer
and even die unjustly
simply because
they are Christians
are actually
on the right side
of the mysterious way
in which God
has chosen
to work out his plan
throughout the history
of the world.
And then Peter
gives us
these two great examples.
You see that?
So Karen Jobes
is saying this,
she's saying,
even though it looked
like defeat,
in the end
it was victory.
Jesus won
even though he died.
And Peter now
gives us two examples.
He says,
think about Noah.
In the days of Noah,
the world was filled
with such wickedness
and rebellion
that God says
he regretted
making mankind
such evil
in the world.
Mankind was meant
to be the pinnacle
of God's creation,
meant to be
the image of God
to show the world
what God is like
and the end
mankind was a mess
filled with such
rebellion and sin.
And so God
calls a man,
a family
to trust him
and to build an ark.
And the building
of the ark
was a proclamation
of the gospel.
As Noah's building
the ark,
he's saying to the people
around him,
turn from your sin
and trust him,
find refuge
in this ark,
find refuge in God
and you'll be saved
from the coming judgment.
So as Noah's building
the ark,
he's proclaiming
the gospel.
He's saying,
there's the problem
of sin,
but find refuge
in God
and you will be saved.
And yet this ark
must have been
a ridiculous thing.
Imagine they're
in the desert
and Noah's building
this gigantic
big box
and he's telling people
that if you come
and hide in here,
you'll be saved.
Friends,
the ark must have
involved or invited
a whole lot of ridicule
and scoffing.
Must have seemed
like the most ridiculous
thing in the world.
Nonsensical.
You don't hide
in a boat,
right?
And yet that was
Noah's deliverance.
What seemed
like nonsensical
was his path to life.
What seemed
ridiculous
was actually
his salvation.
What seemed
like judgment
was actually
his path to life.
And then Peter
gives us the example
of baptism
and so look at
what he says.
He says,
baptism saves you
not as a removal
of dirt from the body
but as an appeal
to God
for a good conscience
through the resurrection
of Jesus.
Now he's not saying
baptism saves you
because you earn
your salvation.
He's saying
when you get baptized
it's an expression
of your faith
in Jesus
and that's what
saves you.
The fact that
Jesus is enough.
But he's saying
that when you get
baptized,
as all Christians
should,
you're making a pledge.
You're making a promise.
When you get baptized
you're saying
just as I go
under the waters
and come up
again,
my old life
is dying
and I'm coming
back a new person.
My old life
has died to sin
and now I'm alive
to Christ again.
He's saying
my old life
of sin is dead
and now I'm
a new person
in Jesus.
And so when you
suffer for Jesus
you're living out
your baptism pledge.
When you are
persecuted
you're saying
hey my old life
is dead
but in this death
I come alive.
This old way
has died
but now I get
a new life
in Jesus.
Friends,
your baptism
is a picture,
it's a dramatization
of that the old
is dead
but through that death
you find new life.
And Peter's saying
this,
he says remember
your baptism.
Remember the picture
painted for you.
Remember that as
people revile you
and ridicule you
and scoff you
and mock you
and you feel like
you're dying
a thousand deaths
remember that
that death
produces
life.
Remember how
Jesus' death
tragic and as awful
as it was
was not the final word.
It was just
his way to new life.
Friends,
when you're persecuted
and you're rejected
you're ashamed
for doing good
when people
laugh at you
or scoff you
because you're
pursuing holiness
because you're
saying no
to ungodliness
when people
don't understand
you because
you will not
worship their
idols
when people
jeer at you
because you
will not
turn from sin
friends
when you pray
for those
who persecute
you
and you
respond to
their wickedness
with blessing
you may feel
like you're
dying a thousand
deaths
but that death
is not the
final word.
The final word
is that it
leads to life.
It leads
to life.
Christians
follow Jesus'
footsteps
through death
to victory.
Mark Ballinger
said this
to be willing
to free people
from the debts
that they owe you
to release them
from the punishment
they deserve
and to bless them
you must have
a greater reason
to choose love.
God
his glory
and the gospel
is that reason.
Friends,
every Christian
in every church
is constantly
going to be
tempted
in one of two
ways.
Either
we'll try
we'll preserve
gospel doctrine
gospel truth
but it'll be
divorced from
real life
we'll listen
to a sermon
on Sunday
but on Monday
it'll be
divorced from
the realities
of life
and we'll go
on with
our own
life
or we'll be
a church
that tries
to live
a good
Christian life
but is
divorced from
the gospel
of who
Christ is.
Peter comes
and he says
remember Jesus
remember how
Christ suffered
on the cross
the only righteous
one
suffered unjustly
died for your
sins and my
sins to bring
us to God
remember how
Jesus through
his death
brought life
and in the same
way as you go
into your week
as you go to
work tomorrow
as you
at home
as people
revile you
let the gospel
of Christ
result in gospel
life.
Peter's urging us
to lift our eyes
off of our
circumstances
to lift our eyes
to Christ
and because of
who Jesus is
to live this
radically
counterintuitive
countercultural
scandalous
message of
the gospel.
In this passage
Peter calls us
to be a church
which is rich
in gospel
theology
and rich
in gospel
life
knowing that
Christ suffered
for our sins
for your sins
and my sins
and not just
sins long ago
your sin this
week
my sin this
week
my sin this
very day
the righteous
for the unrighteous
that he
might bring us
to God.
Friends can we
be such a church
that lives this
out?
Can we be a church
that is
countercultural
and swims
upstream?
Can we be
those that
repay evil
with blessing
and praying
for our enemies?
Can we be
those that are
so in love
with Christ
and his gospel
and his glory
that we even
be willing
to endure
such opposition
for him?
Let's pray
together.
Friends I
I want to
pray for us
together
but my
guess is that
there's some
of us here
who
maybe for the
first time
ever
need to pray
for people
who your
whole life
you've wanted
to just
see
maybe those
that you've
wanted to
retaliate
maybe those
that you've
wanted to
repay their
wickedness
to you
with wickedness
friends
maybe there's
some people
in our
life who
have made
your life
so difficult
so
unbearable
the Bible
doesn't say
that they
are
immune
from facing
the consequences
of what
they've done
but it
does say
it does
ask us
to pray
for them
friends
this morning
will you
allow yourself
to
be
crucified
will you
allow yourself
to
embrace
and do
probably the
hardest thing
you've ever
done in your
life
and to
bless
them
this morning
will you
allow a
part of
your
self
preservation
self
sufficiency
maybe even
self
righteousness
be crucified
this morning
as you
respond to
their
wickedness
and evil
with blessing
and prayer
as I was
praying for
this week
I was
praying that
some of us
would be
set free
from the
imprisonment
that bitterness
holds on us
friends
some of us
are slaves
to our
own resentment
there is a
way to be
free from
it but
it's the
hardest thing
in the
world
it's to
follow Jesus
to Calvary
it's to
die to
ourselves
that Christ
may make
us
alive again
it's to
pray for
those that
have hurt
us
friends
why don't
you do
that
why don't
you ask
God to
give you
the faith
to do
that
maybe
some of
us
have
never
experienced
that
that's
not our
reality
right now
friends
this morning
as we've
sang about
this
sure and
steady
anchor
we continue
to worship
let's draw
near to
this
sure and
steady
anchor
let's
draw
near to
the one
who
went to
the cross
for us
that we
could find
life
let's
confess
our sin
and let's
ask him
to heal
us and
restore us
and make
us alive
again