Good evening, everybody. I'm really glad to be here tonight and be able to preach tonight with all of you.
This is my first time preaching, so I thought I'd introduce myself a bit first.
So my name is Thomas Lowen, and I'm joined by my wife Addie over here.
I've lived in Edinburgh for seven years now, and before coming to Brunsfield, I attended Crossroads.
I'm really glad to have a few from Crossroads here tonight.
And we got married two years ago, and since then Addie's lived here.
So it's really great to be part of this church and to be able to share tonight.
But enough about me and us, and I'll just pray before I start preaching.
Heavenly Father, I thank you for your word, and I thank you that you are with us.
I pray that you'd be speaking tonight, and they wouldn't be my words but yours.
God, I pray that you'd be blessing this church, and that your word would be active in our lives.
I pray in Jesus' name. Amen.
So, to get you thinking about the passage, I've got two questions to ask you.
So firstly, when was the last time someone asked you why you were a Christian?
And the second one is, what did you answer them?
So tonight we're looking at 1 Peter 3.
I have 8 to 22 there and 9 to 22 here.
But Peter's been talking in the last two chapters in his letter to Christians throughout the world
about suffering, about being holy, being made holy, and living in holy relationships with those around them.
So now in this passage, he's talking to us about how to live a holy life,
and he's giving us some examples from the Bible and some practical examples of how to live.
And then he talks about baptism and how it applies to suffering in our lives and salvation.
Finally, he talks about living a life submitted to Christ and how all things are submitted to Christ.
In life, we will have challenges, but throughout them all, we are meant to share the Lord.
So we're thinking about whether or not our life is different enough that people will ask us about it.
In verse 15, Peter says,
So we'll be breaking down the passage into a few parts.
So the first is, do we live a holy and different life?
The second is, how do we react to suffering?
Then, have we publicly declared our faith?
And finally, do we live in submission to Christ?
So to begin, we're asked, do we live a holy and different life?
Peter gives a couple examples of things to be doing in life,
and verse 8 is pretty self-explanatory.
He says,
Finally, all of you, be like-minded, be sympathetic, love one another, be compassionate, and humble.
I'm sure whether you're a Christian or not, these all sound like pretty good things to be doing.
It's a pretty good standard to live by.
Then in verse 9, Peter takes it to another level.
He's saying,
Do not repay evil with evil, or insult with insult.
On the contrary, repay evil with blessing,
because to this you were called, so that you may inherit a blessing.
So Peter's talking about a principle that Jesus had taught him back in the day.
Back when he lived with Jesus, he was quite the fiery-tempered young man,
and we most likely know the example of the Garden of Gethsemane,
where he chopped off the ear of the soldier.
Most of us, if we saw that in a movie or in life, would say that was pretty justified,
and even pretty admirable, that he was defending his master and trying to protect him.
But Jesus taught him to turn the other cheek.
He told Peter to put away the sword, and he healed the man instead.
Now this is different than what the world holds as admirable.
The world lives by an eye for an eye, and has done so for thousands of years and generations.
And whether it's as a child or in war, we've all pointed and said,
well, you started it.
And we take that as justification for getting retribution to people.
We think that getting revenge will make us feel better.
But we all know that that's not true.
It won't make anything better.
There's a famous quote by Coretta Scott King,
the wife of Martin Luther King Jr.,
that says,
an eye for an eye leaves everyone blind.
So Peter's calling us to be different to the world in this passage.
He says to not be conformed to it,
and we're to seek to bless and forgive all those around us.
By doing this and trusting the Lord,
the burdens of our suffering can be lifted from us.
These actions and paths that Christ has described
and that Peter's describing for us are the theme of this whole letter.
And they're not easy at all to live by, but they are better.
So next question is, how do we react to suffering?
In verses 10 to 12, Peter's quoting David from Psalm 34, verses 2 to 16.
David reacted to suffering in this passage,
and he says,
If we go to the psalm, Psalm 34,
it reads as the title,
of David when he pretended to be insane before Abimelech,
who drove him away and he left.
So it's not the most famous story,
so we probably need a bit of backstory to it.
And it's quite interesting,
and I recommend you read it in your own time.
But to summarize,
he's remembering back on 1 Samuel chapter 21.
In the story,
David runs away from Saul,
because he's afraid of Saul,
and he runs to the Philistines.
But then he's afraid of the Philistines,
so he pretends to be insane.
So he's drooling all over the place,
acting crazy,
and then he runs away from them too.
So this psalm is about trusting the Lord,
and clearly he didn't trust the Lord in this situation.
He ran away from Saul,
ran away from the Philistines,
but now he's reflecting back on that time.
He sees that he should have been trusting the Lord
and living according to his ways.
But he suffered instead.
He imposed all that suffering on himself
by his actions,
and he didn't have to go through it,
and he didn't gain anything out of it.
But eventually he did learn to trust God.
So back to the question,
how do we react to suffering?
In the next verses,
Peter says,
Who is going to harm you if you are eager to do good?
But even if you should suffer for what is right,
you are blessed.
Do not fear their threats,
do not be frightened,
but in your hearts revere Christ as Lord.
Always be prepared to give an answer
to everyone who asks you
to give the reason for the hope that you have.
But do this with gentleness and respect,
keeping a clear conscience,
so that those who speak maliciously
against your good behavior in Christ
may be ashamed of their slander.
For it is better, if it is God's will,
to suffer for doing good than for doing evil.
For Christ also suffered,
once for sins,
the righteous for the unrighteous,
to bring you to God.
He was put to death in the body,
but made alive in the spirit.
So Peter interestingly asks,
Who's going to harm you
if you're eager to do good?
And most of us would expect,
Well, nobody's going to harm me for doing good.
But he answers,
Even if you should suffer for what is right,
you are blessed.
This isn't at all what we would expect
as an answer.
But if we think back on our lives,
we know it's true.
If we're good and kind to people,
yeah, we're less likely to suffer.
But we live in a fallen world,
and it's cruel,
and we will suffer even for doing good.
Whether it's spiteful people,
or out of malice,
or just completely unfortunate circumstances,
there will be suffering in life.
And that's the story of so many martyrs
around the world.
They loved people around them,
and were good,
and they shared the gospel,
and for that, they were killed.
Most importantly, though,
it's the story of Jesus.
He healed and loved
like nobody ever has before,
or ever will again.
But for that, they crucified him.
God knows the worst
and most unfair suffering
any of us could ever go through.
God's calling us to anticipate
and not fear suffering,
and it's not easy.
But he's promised us
and shown us
that he will be with us.
He's been through it himself.
On our own, we will be afraid.
But if we trust him
and cry out to the Lord,
we can face that fear.
He's given us the gift
of eternal life,
and it's worth suffering for.
Because it's nothing
compared to the joy of eternity.
His sacrifice and gift
should always be on our minds
and lips.
That suffering and trusting him
and proclaiming him
will be a light
to those around us.
Even beyond that salvation, though,
and that gift he's giving us,
there is more blessing
and suffering.
It's an opportunity to grow.
David grew through that suffering
and learned his lesson.
There's many cultures
around the world,
whether they're Christian or not,
that know that suffering
is a way to grow.
Even in our own culture,
we see that it's an opportunity
for growth.
In work and in school,
we talk about challenges
making us grow.
We have sayings like,
no pain, no gain,
or what doesn't kill you
only makes you stronger.
Yeah, they're cheesy,
and we might say them jokingly,
but there is truth to them.
Yeah, we'll make mistakes,
and we learn from them.
And we will suffer,
but if we turn to the Lord,
we can learn to trust him more.
Then in the way
we actually live our lives,
we live in a different way than this.
We run away from challenges,
and we run away from pain
as much as we can.
So there's a disconnect
between the two ways
of seeing life,
and we need to resolve them.
It is really hard,
but it's not worth
running away from pain
like David did.
It's worth suffering for God
and trusting him.
Is something you truly believe in
not worth suffering for?
Putting this into practice
is one of the strongest
and most visible testimonies
we can give to those around us.
When they see us
standing in the face
of persecution,
will this push them
to question
why we would ever believe
so strongly in something?
An example in the Bible
is Paul,
who was in prison for years,
and he suffered a great deal.
But how many
came to Christ in Rome
thanks to him?
So next,
we've got a bit
of an interesting verse.
So I call it
the detour through prison.
So I've added the context
of verse 18,
but verse 19
is the interesting one.
For Christ also suffered
once for sins,
the righteous for the unrighteous,
to bring you to God.
He was put to death
in the body,
but made alive in the spirit.
After being made alive,
he went and made proclamation
to the imprisoned spirits.
So it's kind of strange.
Who are these prisons
and who are these spirits
in prison?
And why is Peter
talking about this now?
It's pretty hard to know.
And there's lots of people
that have lots of
good explanations
and commentary on it,
on who they are
and what's going on.
But I'm not going to assume
anything tonight.
But in verse 22,
we read that Christ
has victory over everything.
So we can read this
as an example of that.
Whoever, whenever,
wherever,
whatever is going on here
with these spirits,
they're in submission to Christ,
and he has victory.
We can trust
that Christ is in control
and that he knows best.
And so that's all
the speculation
we'll get into
for that verse.
So moving on,
in verse 20,
Peter's starting to talk
about a public display
of faith.
So have we made
a public declaration
of our faith?
He's talking about baptism
and symbolizing,
or symbolically,
talking back on Noah
and Christ.
So to those
who were disobedient
long ago,
when God waited patiently
in the days of Noah
while the ark
was being built,
in it,
only a few people,
eight in all,
were saved through the water.
So in Noah's time,
the world was warned
that they were going
to die for their sin.
They rejected that
and kept on living
just as they had been,
which is quite similar today.
But Noah heard
and he listened.
He was willing
to suffer for his faith.
That suffering
was most likely
labor for a seemingly
meaningless task
and probably a lot
of ridicule,
which is actually
quite similar
to the suffering
we face today
in our culture.
Unfortunately,
around the world,
though,
there's many
who are believers
that face imprisonment,
torture,
or even death
for their faith.
We can thank the Lord
that we live
in a free country
where we can meet
on a night like tonight
and we can worship
the Lord
so that people
on the street
can hear it.
And yeah,
we might be made fun of
for our faith,
but it's worth it.
The fear is well-founded
of being made fun of
and it's not pleasant,
but we blow it
way out of proportion.
Is our faith
really so shallow
and fear so strong
that the knowledge
and relationship
with the Creator God
who has gifted us
salvation,
not worth sharing
based on a few
rolled eyes?
More insidious often
than this suffering,
though,
is for what feels
like a work in vain,
like Noah.
How many of us
have shared our faith
for years
or with some,
even decades,
with friends
and loved ones
but seen no results?
God assures us,
though,
that our prayers
and sharing
are worth it.
The Lord's called us
to it,
so we can trust Him.
And we don't know
God's ways or timing,
so we've got to have faith.
Noah built the ark,
putting aside
everything else,
because he trusted God
and what he had promised.
He trusted and suffered
for it,
but it made the biggest
and boldest
public proclamation
of faith
he ever could.
There's no way
people didn't ask him
why he was building
that giant ark.
Similarly,
we're called to make
a public declaration
of our faith.
In verse 21,
Peter says,
this water symbolizes
baptism
that now saves you
also,
not the removal
of dirt from the body
but the pledge
of a clear conscience
towards God.
It saves you
by the resurrection
of Jesus Christ.
So Peter's saying
baptism isn't just a bath,
it's a transformation,
but it's also symbolic
of Christ and Noah.
The symbolism of death
and being buried
for sins
by going into the water.
Because we were condemned
for our sins
and we deserve death
just like those
in Noah's time.
But like Noah,
we're saved not
by our own efforts
but by God's gift.
Noah's actions
and righteousness
were definitely
what God made note of
that he went to Noah.
But it's not Noah's actions
that saved him.
He couldn't save himself.
He was saved
because he did
what God told him to do.
It's his response
to God
that saved him.
He didn't know
he needed to build the ark
unless God told him
to build the ark.
So it's what God
told him to do
that saved him.
He believed
and he was saved.
Similarly,
we're called to faith
and we need
to respond to it.
It's not our actions
that will save us.
It's Christ's actions
that will.
So a normal,
typical path
to faith
is we pray
and accept him
as our Lord and Savior
for what he's done.
We accept
that we can't
save ourselves.
Then we have baptism
which is our public
declaration of faith.
faith.
We get
in the tank
or in the sea
or wherever
you do it
and you're there
with the pastor
or elder
and you answer them
admitting that you're
a sinner,
that you need Jesus
and that he is
your Lord.
You're then put
into the water
symbolizing death
for your sins.
And finally,
you're brought back
out of the water
symbolizing
new life in Christ,
eternal life
through his life,
death,
and resurrection.
So just like
the rainbow
was given to Noah,
we're given baptism
as a sign
of the new covenant
that we live under.
And likewise,
we have no clearer sign
that we can give.
Like the ark,
if we have a baptism,
everybody will know
exactly where we stand.
So finally,
are we living
in submission to Christ?
Christ.
In verse 22,
Peter says,
it saves you
by the resurrection
of Jesus Christ,
who has gone into heaven
and is at God's right hand
with angels,
authorities,
and powers
in submission to him.
So all things
are submitted to Christ,
whether they believe
or not.
No matter who we are,
one day we will face Christ
at the judgment seat.
The question is,
will we stand there
saved by Christ
or not?
It's not doing good
like Peter taught
at the start of the passage
about that's going
to save us.
It's not suffering
that he talked about
that's going to save us.
It's not being baptized
that's going to save us.
It's Christ dying
and being resurrected
for us
that will save us.
Christ has called us
to believe this,
have faith in him,
and repent.
Through this,
when we stand
at the throne,
we will be saved.
So what Peter's
been describing
in this passage
is the natural
reflection of our faith.
We're to suffer
for Christ,
to do good,
and by this
we will be a light
in the world.
So my prayer
is that as we go
into the world,
we go submitted
to Christ,
doing what he's
called us to do.
Linking back
to the start
of the message,
we're to live a life
that stands out
and be a light
around us
to those
who know us.
and our life
is to be a living
answer
to everyone
who asks you
to give the reason
for the hope
that you have.
By doing good,
by doing good
in response to evil,
by being willing
to suffer for Christ
when we inevitably
will,
and by publicly
declaring our faith,
all of this
is a natural reflection
of our submission
to Christ.
So how we live
should lead those
around us
to question
about Christ.
So next time
someone asks you
about your faith,
what will you answer?
Let's pray.
Heavenly Father,
I thank you
for this evening.
I thank you
for your word,
and I thank you
that you're
at work in us.
I pray that we
would do good,
that we would
be willing
to suffer for you,
for it is worth it.
I pray that we
will live submitted
to you,
and that we would
be a light
to the world.
I pray that you'd
be at work
in this city,
in this country,
and that people
would be coming
to know you,
Lord.
I pray in Jesus' name.
Amen.