Lord's Day Sermon, August 2, 2020: "Stewards of God's Grace" 1 Peter 4:7-11

First Christian Church, Owensville, IN
August 2, 2020
Bart W. Newton, Preaching Minister

A video of the sermon from 1 Peter 4:7-11 may be viewed by clicking on the following link: “Stewards of God’s Grace”

(Abbreviations for Bible translations that may be quoted: ESV = English Standard Version; NLT = New Living Translation; CSB = Christian Standard Bible; GW = God’s Word; Amplified Bible = AMP; KJV = King James Version; New King James Version = NKJV; The Message = MSG; KNT = Kingdom New Testament)

• When you watch, read or listen to local, state, national and international news these days, what comes to your mind? Chaos? Wickedness? Disgust? Hope or despair? Do you ask yourself questions like: What will happen if Pres. Trump is re-elected? What will happen if Pres. Trump is defeated in November? What will happen if the Democrats take control of the Senate? What will happen if the Republicans take control of the House?
• I hear some folks say, “The Lord is trying to tell us something.” Or “I think perhaps we must be living in the end times or last days.” (According to the New Testament, we have been since the resurrection of Jesus.)
• But do you ever think, “Yes, there is evil and wickedness and chaos, but you know, God is in control and is bringing His history—His story—to completion. And I and the rest of His church get to be a part of bringing His kingdom in its fullness which was inaugurated at Jesus’ resurrection!”
• In today’s passage, Peter reminds us of this and some of what we are to do as God brings His story to completion.
• Last week, we considered 1 Peter4:1-6. We Christians were encouraged by the apostle Peter to do two things:

1. For the rest of our earthly lives make doing God’s will our passion (vv. 1-3).
2. We must fortify ourselves with the same mindset as that of Jesus (4-6).
• Hebrews 12:2-3: 2 We must focus on Jesus, the source and goal of our faith. He saw the joy ahead of him, so he endured death on the cross and ignored the disgrace it brought him. Now he holds the honored position—the one next to God the Father on the heavenly throne. 3 Think about Jesus, who endured opposition from sinners, so that you don’t become tired and give up. (GW)

• Now let’s move onto the next paragraph of Peter’s first letter to us:

1 Peter 4:7-11: 7 The end of all things is at hand; therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers. 8 Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins. 9 Show hospitality to one another without grumbling. 10 As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God's varied grace: 11 whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. (ESV)

• Peter reminds his initial listeners who were facing persecution of a NT truth which should also serve as a wake-up call of encouragement and devotion for us:

7 The end of all things is at hand;…

• In the letter of James, the same encouragement is given: James 5:8: You, too, must be patient. Don’t give up hope. The Lord will soon be here. (GW)

• The apostles taught and lived as if the Second Coming of King Jesus was imminent. They seemed to believe that for the most part, everything was in place for Jesus to return to judge the world and fully consummate His kingdom.
• But even then, as now, there were doubters. Peter addresses this in his second letter and gives some perspective:

• 2 Peter 3:8-10: 8 But you must not forget this one thing, dear friends: A day is like a thousand years to the Lord, and a thousand years is like a day. 9 The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent. (He’s not only giving sinners opportunity to repent and turn to Christ, but He’s giving the church—Christians like you and me—to get on the ball and start living and proclaiming the gospel so, with the power of the Holy Spirit, people will turn to Jesus!) 10 But the day of the Lord will come as unexpectedly as a thief. Then the heavens will pass away with a terrible noise, and the very elements themselves will disappear in fire, and the earth and everything on it will be found to deserve judgment. (NLT)

• Let’s return to how we view current events in light of this verse. The idea behind it is how the Amplified Bible translates it:

• v. 7a, Amplified: The end and culmination of all things is near.

• The climax, the summit, the crescendo, the crown, the high-water mark of God’s story is near!
• I’d like to recommend a book that I think is timely and may help Christians get a clearer picture of how as citizens of heaven, we are to live within society.
• I don’t know that I agree with all of it. It’s liking eating good fish—swallow the meat but spit out the bones. There is lots of meat in it. It Biblically challenges the way most American Christians approach US politics whether we currently lean Democrat, Republican, Independent, Green Party, Libertarian, etc.
• The book is entitled Scandalous Christianity: A Little Political Manifesto for Christians. Author is Lee C. Camp, professor of theology and ethics at Lipscomb University in Nashville, TN.
• Let me share a few quotes from it:

• “Human history is not one…meaningless thing after another… History has a goal, a direction toward a climax: the author of life shall write a tale, has written tale, in which all lies and greed and ugliness and war; prisons and lusts, oppression and hate; hostility, disease, contempt, and envy; all shall be undone and set right, and there shall come a triumph of truth and goodness and beauty, which no ear has yet heard, and no eye has yet seen.: --Lee C. Camp, Scandalous Witness: A Little Political Manifesto for Christians, p. 12

• “Historic Christianity insists precisely this: that history is headed toward a glorious re-creation the likes of which only poets can begin to voice.” Lee C. Camp, Scandalous Witness: A Little Political Manifesto for Christians, p.14

• “For Christians the resurrection of the crucified Christ is the central historical claim on which Christians stake their lives: it ushers in the end of history, vindicates the way of Christ, and inaugurates a new political possibility in the world. We are invited by the resurrected Christ to live according to the end of history already inaugurated, but not yet fully realized, not yet consummated.” Lee C. Camp, Scandalous Witness: A Little Political Manifesto for Christians, p. 22

• We are called to live in a way that cuts across the various grains of all political parties. Remember how we are to pray and live?

• Matthew 6:10: Your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven. (ESV)

• What was the context of Jesus’ Model Prayer for us? “The Sermon on the Mount,” Matthew 5-7. What does Jesus say at the end of the sermon?

• Matthew 7:24-27: 24 “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. 26 And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. 27 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.” (ESV)

• What were some of His words within this sermon?

• Matthew 5:43-48: 43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. 46 For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? 47 And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? 48 You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect. (ESV)

• What does He mean by being perfect like our Father? He does some good things for His enemies. Do likewise.
• So the point is, God is bringing His story to completion, so live like the partners in it that He’s called us to be.
• So, if the end of all things is near,

…therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers.

• V. 7, NLT: Therefore, be earnest and disciplined in your prayers.

Christians are to be a sober-thinking, self-disciplined people, just like Jesus was:

• 1 Peter 1:13: So prepare your minds for action and exercise self-control. Put all your hope in the gracious salvation that will come to you when Jesus Christ is revealed to the world. (NLT)

• We do it to help us get around to praying instead of panicking and losing our cool and so on: GW, 7: …keep your minds clear so that you can pray.

• And one of the reasons we need to pray is so we can do what Peter says next:
8 Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins.

• It takes a lot of prayer to do that doesn’t it? To choose to love one another in God’s family?

• v. 8, Amplified: …love covers a multitude of sins [it overlooks unkindness and unselfishly seeks the best for others].

• Not only does my choosing to love you despite your sins and faults enable me to look over them. My loving you earnestly helps you look over some of mine.
• Have you ever had a brother or sister do or say something to you that didn’t set right or was a bit offensive or hurt your feelings? But then they turned around did the most loving thing to or for you. Suddenly, you’re not quite so upset with them anymore.

• Proverbs 10:12: Hatred starts fights,
but love pulls a quilt over the bickering. (MSG)

• How can we Christians love our enemies if we fail to choose to keep earnestly loving one another all of whom have been covered by the same blood of Christ?
• Peter now comes to one of the greatest but least practiced ways to demonstrate love to fellow Christians in need:

9 Show hospitality to one another without grumbling.

• What comes to mind when you hear the word hospitality?
• What about giving a fellow Christian in need of a place to stay a bed for a night or two or 30?
• When Peter wrote this the inns were known for being filthy and places of immorality. What was a traveling Christian to do?
• What if the church needed a place to worship and your house had the space needed?
• This kind of hospitality could be inconvenient and could result in financial expenses or all kinds of frustrations. So no wonder Peter says:

• V. 9, NLT: Cheerfully share your home with those who need a meal or a place to stay.

• V. 9, MSG: Be quick to give a meal to the hungry, a bed to the homeless—cheerfully.

• My mother-in-law (a widow) does this kind of thing a lot, such as providing a room for summer interns with her church. (1 Timothy 5:10 says that’s one of the characteristics of a Christian widow who is worthy of the church’s financial assistance.)

• Hebrews 13:2: Don’t forget to show hospitality to believers you don’t know. By doing this some believers have shown hospitality to angels without being aware of it. (GW)

• Romans 12:13: When God’s people are in need, be ready to help them. Always be eager to practice hospitality. (NLT) (CSB: …pursue hospitality)

• Hospitality is to be one of the primary characteristics of an elder (shepherd, bishop, overseer) (1 Timothy 3:2; Titus 1:8).
• How was your hospitality going pre-COVID-19?

• “Those who live out radically ordinary hospitality see their homes not as theirs at all but as God’s gift to use for the furtherance of his kingdom. They open doors; they seek out he underprivileged. They know that the gospel comes with a house key. They take biblical theology seriously, as well as Christian creeds and confessions and traditions.” —Rosaria Butterfield, The Gospel Comes with a House Key, p. 11

• Hospitality is just one way to demonstrate love for one another in Christ’s name.
• All of us have been gifted in ways that are conducive to service:

10 As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God's varied grace:

• 1 Corinthians 7:7b: But each has his own gift from God, one person has this gift, another has that. (CSB)

• Romans 12:6a: In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well. (NLT)

• v. 10, GW: Each of you as a good manager must use the gift that God has given you to serve others.

• V. 10: NLT: God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another.

• Some people are gifted in preaching, teaching, counseling, spiritual directing, etc. and should take it seriously:

11 whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God;

• NLT: Do you have the gift of speaking? Then speak as though God himself were speaking through you.

• Those of us who are teachers of God’s Word, what kind of Facebook posts are we posting?

…whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—

• NLT: Do you have the gift of helping others? Do it with all the strength and energy that God supplies

• Why do we do all that Peter has just instructed us to do?

…in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ.

• The order that Peter wrote these things has a natural, logical progression doesn’t it? Read it one more time:

1 Peter 4:7-11: 7 The end of all things is at hand; therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers. 8 Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins. 9 Show hospitality to one another without grumbling. 10 As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God's varied grace: 11 whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ…

…To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. (ESV)

• V. 11c, MSG: That way, God’s bright presence will be evident in everything through Jesus, and he’ll get all the credit as the One mighty in everything—encores to the end of time. Oh, yes!

Let’s spend some time reflecting on what God’s Word has shown us, using the acronym SPECKS:
• Sin to confess?
• Prayer, promise or praise to hold onto?
• Example to follow?
• Command to obey?
• Knowledge to retain?
• Share the passage with whom?

Prayer Guide for the Week of July 26, 2020

NOTE: Except for section headings, bold type indicates the unison response of everyone when praying in a group.

Quotes on prayer:

“Scripture calls us to pray for many things: for all saints; for all men; for kings and all rulers; for all who are in adversity; for the sending forth of laborers; for those who labor in the gospel; for all converts; for believers who have fallen into sin; for one another in our immediate circles.”—Andrew Murray

“The sin of prayerlessness is a proof…..that the life of God in the soul is in deadly sickness and weakness.”—Andrew Murray

Adoration: Praise Sovereign God for His attributes, for who He is and what He is like in this passage:

Hebrews 12:2-3: 2 We must focus on Jesus, the source and goal of our faith. He saw the joy ahead of him, so he endured death on the cross and ignored the disgrace it brought him. Now he holds the honored position—the one next to God the Father on the heavenly throne. 3 Think about Jesus, who endured opposition from sinners, so that you don’t become tired and give up. (GW)

Acts 10:42: “And he ordered us to preach everywhere and to testify that Jesus is the one appointed by God to be the judge of all—the living and the dead.” (NLT)

For ________________, Mighty God. We give you praise!

Confession:
2 Corinthians 5:14b-15: Since we believe that Christ died for all, we also believe that we have all died to our old life. 15 He died for everyone so that those who receive his new life will no longer live for themselves. Instead, they will live for Christ, who died and was raised for them. (NLT)

1 John 1:9: God is faithful and reliable. If we confess our sins, he forgives them and cleanses us from everything we’ve done wrong. (GW)

• Ask the Holy Spirit to show you anything in your life that is displeasing to Him and confess it to Him.

I confess ______________, forgiving God. Forgive us our sins. (If prayed aloud with others.)

Thanksgiving: In light of the following passage and anything else the Spirit reminds you of, let us thank God for what he’s done.

Ephesians 5:4: Obscene stories, foolish talk, and coarse jokes—these are not for you. Instead, let there be thankfulness to God. (NLT)

For _______________, loving God. We give you thanks.

Supplication (Humble Petitions) & Intercession:

1 Timothy 2:1-4: First of all, then, I urge that petitions, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for everyone, 2 for kings and all those who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. 3 This is good, and it pleases God our Savior, 4 who wants everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. (CSB)

• Pray to our merciful God about anything/anyone the Spirit puts on your heart to pray.

For _____________, Merciful God. Hear our prayer.

• As you read each of the following passages, consider how you might translate them back to God in the form of prayer.

1 Peter 1:14-15: 14 So you must live as God’s obedient children. Don’t slip back into your old ways of living to satisfy your own desires. You didn’t know any better then. 15 But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God who chose you is holy. (NLT)

1 Peter 4:1-2: Since Jesus went through everything you’re going through and more, learn to think like him. Think of your sufferings as a weaning from that old sinful habit of always expecting to get your own way. Then you’ll be able to live out your days free to pursue what God wants instead of being tyrannized by what you want. (Message)

For _____________, Merciful God. Hear our prayer.

Benediction: The Lord’s Model Prayer

Our Father which art in heaven,
Hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come,
Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen. (Matthew 6:9-13, KJV)

Lord's Day Sermon, July 26, 2020: "Living for God's Will Only"

A video of the sermon from 1 Peter 4:1-6 may be viewed by clicking on the following link: “Living for God’s Will Only”

1 Peter 4:1-6
First Christian Church, Owensville, IN
July 26, 2020

Bart W. Newton, Preaching Minister
(Abbreviations for Bible translations that may be quoted: ESV = English Standard Version; NLT = New Living Translation; CSB = Christian Standard Bible; GW = God’s Word; Amplified Bible = AMP; KJV = King James Version; New King James Version = NKJV; The Message = MSG; KNT = Kingdom New Testament)

• For what are you yearning? What is your passion? For what do you long most?
• I recently started meeting one time per month with a certified spiritual director. During our first session, Immediately following his opening prayer, he asked me this question: For what are you yearning?
• This morning, the Scripture before us asks us a similar if not the same questions: What is your passion in life? For what are you yearning? As a church, what are we yearning and where does our passion lie?

• In our study of Peter’s first letter, we’ve come to 1 Peter 4:6.
Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same way of thinking, for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, 2 so as to live for the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for human passions but for the will of God. 3 For the time that is past suffices for doing what the Gentiles want to do, living in sensuality, passions, drunkenness, orgies, drinking parties, and lawless idolatry. 4 With respect to this they are surprised when you do not join them in the same flood of debauchery, and they malign you; 5 but they will give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. 6 For this is why the gospel was preached even to those who are dead, that though judged in the flesh the way people are, they might live in the spirit the way God does. (ESV)

• By examining verses 1-3, it seems that the apostle Peter is telling us:
Christians, for the rest of your earthly lives make doing God’s will your passion (vv. 1-3).

• Jesus lived for doing His Father’s will. To His disciples in John 4:34: Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work. (ESV)

• That is to be our prayer, too!
• Matthew 6:10: Your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven. (ESV)

• Because Jesus lived faithfully according to the Father’s will even though it brought Him suffering,…

…We must fortify ourselves with the same mindset as that of Jesus: …arm yourselves with the same way of thinking…

• This is how all believers throughout the centuries have maintained faithfulness to Jesus in the midst of suffering.
• After listing several examples of faithful saints, some of whom lived to tell about their battles, others lost their lives because of their allegiance to God, the writer of Hebrews exhorts us with these words:
• Hebrews 12:2-3: 2 We must focus on Jesus, the source and goal of our faith. He saw the joy ahead of him, so he endured death on the cross and ignored the disgrace it brought him. Now he holds the honored position—the one next to God the Father on the heavenly throne. 3 Think about Jesus, who endured opposition from sinners, so that you don’t become tired and give up. (GW)

• In our society, the ability to focus deeply on anything that really matters is becoming rare. And yet we’re called to focus on Jesus who suffered carrying out the Father’s will, leaving us an example to follow.
• The suffering we do experience as a result of obeying God’s will, has a refining influence, making it easier to give up sinful passions: for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, 2 so as to live for the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for human passions but for the will of God.

• Consider the Message Bible wording of these two verses:
• Vv. 1-2, MSG: 1-2 Since Jesus went through everything you’re going through and more, learn to think like him. Think of your sufferings as a weaning from that old sinful habit of always expecting to get your own way. Then you’ll be able to live out your days free to pursue what God wants instead of being tyrannized by what you want.

• Besides, Peter reminds us that we’ve wasted enough time living like the heathens of whom we use to belong:

3 For the time that is past suffices for doing what the Gentiles want to do, living in sensuality, passions, drunkenness, orgies, drinking parties, and lawless idolatry.

• These attitudes and practices are to be left behind with our old life. Peter says there is no time for or benefit in backsliding:
• 1 Peter 1:14-15: 14 So you must live as God’s obedient children. Don’t slip back into your old ways of living to satisfy your own desires. You didn’t know any better then. 15 But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God who chose you is holy. (NLT)

• And yet, how often do those who profess to follow Jesus spend time looking at pornography on their laptops and smart phones?
• And what about cohabitation among Christians? You know, what we use to call shackin’ up. People who have professed faith in Jesus and been baptized live with another person who they are not married to and practice physical intimacy which is sexual immorality?
• Before we start throwing stones, every one of us must remember that Jesus said that if a man just looks at a woman lustfully he’s committed adultery in his heart and is therefore guilty of adultery!
• So what must we do? Think rightly. Remember carefully. And live purposefully holy:
• Colossians 3:2-5: 2 Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth. 3 For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 And when Christ, who is your life, is revealed to the whole world, you will share in all his glory.
5 So put to death the sinful, earthly things lurking within you. Have nothing to do with sexual immorality, impurity, lust, and evil desires. Don’t be greedy, for a greedy person is an idolater, worshiping the things of this world. (NLT)

• Romans 6: 12-17a: 12 Do not let sin control the way you live; do not give in to sinful desires…. 13b … Instead, give yourselves completely to God, for you were dead, but now you have new life. So use your whole body as an instrument to do what is right for the glory of God. 14 Sin is no longer your master, for you no longer live under the requirements of the law. Instead, you live under the freedom of God’s grace.
15 Well then, since God’s grace has set us free from the law, does that mean we can go on sinning? Of course not! 16 Don’t you realize that you become the slave of whatever you choose to obey? You can be a slave to sin, which leads to death, or you can choose to obey God, which leads to righteous living. 17 Thank God! (NLT)

• Don’t expect non-believers to understand your devotion to Jesus and your new lifestyle. (v. 4)

4 With respect to this they are surprised when you do not join them in the same flood of debauchery,…

• “So, what do you Christians do for fun and pleasure?” they ask us, some out of sincerity, others mockingly.
• Expect some non-Christians to give you a hard time because of your passion to do God’s will:

… and they malign you;

• That is, they slander you, ridicule you, make fun of you, laugh at you, and so on.
• How many devoted, Christian middle school, high school, and college-age students are made fun of for not drinking and participating in drinking parties, for not having premarital sex, for not watching/reading pornography?
• How many adult Christians are poked fun at for not drinking heavily with their old drinking buddies or telling/laughing at filthy jokes?
• You know there are times when we must be willing to be unpopular with family friends and cease watching a show or movie that we know is not pleasing to Jesus.
• What must we do in such cases? Stay humble, stay strong, pray for our maligners as Jesus said to in the Sermon on the Mount and hope and pray that after watching your faithful lifestyle long enough they might be won to Christ also:
• 1 Peter 2:12: Be careful to live properly among your unbelieving neighbors. Then even if they accuse you of doing wrong, they will see your honorable behavior, and they will give honor to God when he judges the world.

• But on top of all that, remember that King Jesus will deal with those who malign you on Judgment Day and hold them accountable:

5 but they will give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead.

• Remember what Jesus declared in John 5:22-23a: 22 “The Father doesn’t judge anyone. He has entrusted judgment entirely to the Son 23 so that everyone will honor the Son as they honor the Father. (GW)

• Luke records Peter’s words in Acts 10:42: And he ordered us to preach everywhere and to testify that Jesus is the one appointed by God to be the judge of all—the living and the dead. (NLT)

• John the apostle wrote of Jesus’ revelation to him of the coming day of judgment in Revelation 20:11-15: 11 Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. 12 And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. 13 And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. 14 Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. 15 And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. (ESV)

• Is not a primary reason for sharing the Good News of Jesus with others while we can is because King Jesus, who is at the right hand of the Father, is coming again to judge the world and He doesn’t want them to go to Hell for eternity but to experience eternal life and be with Him in the new heaven and earth? This is what Peter is getting at in verse six:

6 For this is why the gospel was preached even to those who are dead, that though judged in the flesh the way people are, they might live in the spirit the way God does.

• This is a hard verse to interpret and I’m not sure I’m going to get it right. In fact, there are three or four major interpretations of this. Instead of sharing all of them with you, I’m going to share what I think is the right way. However, even if it’s not exactly correct, it isn’t against the teaching of the New Testament.
• I think Peter means that the Good News was preached to some people while they were alive and they received Jesus as Savior and Lord before they died:

6 For this is why the gospel was preached even to those who are dead,…

• V. 6, NIV: …are now dead…

• They since have physically died like all people die as a result of sin coming into the world. Remember, we’ve all sinned:

….that though judged in the flesh the way people are,…

• Romans 5:12: When Adam sinned, sin entered the world. Adam’s sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned. (NLT)

• Here’s another way of interpreting it. Perhaps Peter means that having received Jesus they were judged by non-believers to not be worthy of living and so they martyred them. (This could be especially true in light of the fact that the initial readers were experiencing persecution.)
• Nevertheless,

… they might live in the spirit the way God does.

• Romans 14:7-9: 7 For we don’t live for ourselves or die for ourselves. 8 If we live, it’s to honor the Lord. And if we die, it’s to honor the Lord. So whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. 9 Christ died and rose again for this very purpose—to be Lord both of the living and of the dead. (NLT)

• This seems to be how the NLT translates verses 5 and 6:

• Vv. 5-6, NLT: 5 But remember that they will have to face God, who stands ready to judge everyone, both the living and the dead. 6 That is why the Good News was preached to those who are now dead—so although they were destined to die like all people, they now live forever with God in the Spirit. (I prefer lower case “s”—spirit; even so we cannot live in the spirit as God does without the Holy Spirit!)

• I think that The Message Bible gets it the best:

• V. 6, MSG: Listen to the Message. It was preached to those believers who are now dead, and yet even though they died (just as all people must), they will still get in on the life that God has given in Jesus.

• Isn’t that beautiful!
• With results like that, why do we who know Jesus not share Him more and live radically devoted lives that have been and are being transformed by the Holy Spirit?
• So, for what are you yearning? What is your passion in life?
• When I was asked this question, my reply was that I want to make my last years count. I want to live purposefully. I don’t want to just fizzle or fade away or become complacent. I want to grow in Christlikeness. I want to be a more faithful disciple of Jesus worth reproducing who make disciples of Jesus who are worth reproducing!
• Let me read the passage again from The Message Bible:

1 Peter 4:1-6:
1-2 Since Jesus went through everything you’re going through and more, learn to think like him. Think of your sufferings as a weaning from that old sinful habit of always expecting to get your own way. Then you’ll be able to live out your days free to pursue what God wants instead of being tyrannized by what you want.
3-5 You’ve already put in your time in that God-ignorant way of life, partying night after night, a drunken and profligate life. Now it’s time to be done with it for good. Of course, your old friends don’t understand why you don’t join in with the old gang anymore. But you don’t have to give an account to them. They’re the ones who will be called on the carpet—and before God himself.
6 Listen to the Message. It was preached to those believers who are now dead, and yet even though they died (just as all people must), they will still get in on the life that God has given in Jesus. (MSG)

Let’s spend some time reflecting on what God’s Word has shown us, using the acronym SPECKS:

• Sin to confess?
• Prayer, promise or praise to hold onto?
• Example to follow?
• Command to obey?
• Knowledge to retain?
• Share the passage with whom?

2 Corinthians 5:14b-15: Since we believe that Christ died for all, we also believe that we have all died to our old life. 15 He died for everyone so that those who receive his new life will no longer live for themselves. Instead, they will live for Christ, who died and was raised for them. (NLT)

• As we receive communion or Eucharist or Lord’s Supper, we can ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to us if we are living for ourselves or for Jesus. We can ask if we are being faithful to the covenant we entered into with God.

Communion Prayer

The Lord’s Supper

Luke 22: 19 And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying,

“This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”

20 And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying,

“This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.

Meditation and prayer

For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.

King Jesus has died. King Jesus has risen. And King Jesus will come again.!

Prayer Guide for the Week of July 19, 2020

NOTE: Except for section headings, bold type indicates the unison response of everyone when praying in a group.

Quotes on prayer:
“None can believe how powerful prayer is, and what it is able to effect, but those who have learned it by experience.”—Martin Luther

“Every great movement of God can be traced to a kneeling figure.”—D.L. Moody

“We have to pray with our eyes on God, not on the difficulties.”—Oswald Chambers

Adoration: Praise Sovereign God for His attributes, for who He is and what He is like in this passage:

Colossians 1:17-18: [Christ] existed before everything
and holds everything together.
He is also the head of the church, which is his body.
He is the beginning,
the first to come back to life
so that he would have first place in everything. (GW)

1 Peter 3:21b-22: …Jesus Christ, 22 who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him. (ESV)

For ________________, Mighty God. We give you praise!

Confession:

2 Corinthians 5:21: For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ. (NLT)

• Ask the Holy Spirit to show you anything in your life that is displeasing to Him and confess it to Him.

I confess ______________, forgiving God. Forgive us our sins. (If prayed aloud with others.)

Thanksgiving: In light of the following passages and anything else the Spirit reminds you of, let us thank God for what he’s done.

Romans 6:3-5: 3 Or have you forgotten that when we were joined with Christ Jesus in baptism, we joined him in his death? 4 For we died and were buried with Christ by baptism. And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives. (NLT)

For _______________, loving God. We give you thanks.

Supplication (Humble Petitions) & Intercession:

1 Timothy 2:1-4: First of all, then, I urge that petitions, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for everyone, 2 for kings and all those who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. 3 This is good, and it pleases God our Savior, 4 who wants everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. (CSB)

• Pray to our merciful God about anything/anyone the Spirit puts on your heart to pray.

For _____________, Merciful God. Hear our prayer.

• After reading and thinking about the following passages, pray to our merciful God as the Spirit guides you to for those who have yet decide to follow Jesus:

1 Peter 3:21: Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you (not as the removal of dirt from the body, but the pledge of a good conscience toward God) through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. (CSB)

Matthew 7:21: “Not everyone who calls out to me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Only those who actually do the will of my Father in heaven will enter. (NLT)

Matthew 7:13-14: 13 “You can enter God’s Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose that way. 14 But the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it. (NLT)

For _____________, Merciful God. Hear our prayer.

Pray that we of FCC will follow Paul’s instructions in this passage:

2 Timothy 2:24-26: 24 And the Lord's servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, 25 correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, 26 and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will. (ESV)

For _____________, Merciful God. Hear our prayer.

Benediction: The Lord’s Prayer

Our Father which art in heaven,
Hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come,
Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen. (Matthew 6:9-13, KJV)

Lord's Day Sermon, July 19, 2020: "Suffering for Good May Bring Us New Opportunites to Serve" Part 2

A video of the sermon from 1 Peter 3:20-22 may be viewed by clicking on the following link: "Suffering for Good May Bring Us New Opportunities to Serve" Pt 2

1 Peter 3:18-22
First Christian Church, Owensville, IN
July 19, 2020

Bart W. Newton, Preaching Minister

(Abbreviations for Bible translations that may be quoted: ESV = English Standard Version; NLT = New Living Translation; CSB = Christian Standard Bible; GW = God’s Word; Amplified Bible = AMP; KJV = King James Version; New King James Version = NKJV; The Message = MSG; KNT = Kingdom New Testament)

• If you are a follower, a disciple of Jesus, think back to the moment of your baptism. What were you thinking about? What were you professing during that event? What (or Who) were you receiving? Why did you voluntarily allow someone to submerge you under water in the name of the Father, Jesus Christ the Son, and the Holy Spirit? What was it like when you came up out of the water? What was going on in your conscience then? How was your relationship with God affected in your baptism?
• We’re going to see what Peter has to say about our baptism and how it relates to conscience, suffering, and service.

1 Peter 3:18-22: 18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit, 19 in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison, 20 because they formerly did not obey, when God's patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water. 21 Baptism, which corresponds to this, now 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 Christ, 22 who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him. (ESV)

• Last week we focused on verses 18b-20a to find out what Jesus was up to between His death and His resurrection. Today, we’re considering verses 20-22 and how baptism relates not just to the salvation experience, but perhaps also to future service, not just in this life but maybe even after our death!
• The passage reminds us that when God flooded the world during the days of Noah, out of all the world’s population, only eight were saved!

…God's patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is,eight persons, were brought safely through water.

• The very water that destroyed the unrighteous was the very water that carried Noah and his family to a newly cleansed world!
• This sets us up to look closely at verses 21.
21 Baptism, which corresponds to this, now 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 Christ,…

Three initial observations about Peter’s reference to baptism to note right off the bat.
• 1) Baptism has something to do with the salvation process and experience and of the individual believer in Christ. (v.21)
• 2) Baptism has something to do with the individual believer’s conscience. (v. 21)
• 3) Baptism is directly associated with the resurrection of Jesus from the dead after His crucifixion. (v.21)

21 Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you,…

• Notice that the flood waters symbolize baptism and not the other way around.
• The flood waters correspond or symbolize the reality or fulfillment of baptism.
• The great event of the flood was a portrayal of the greater event of baptism.

• Peter says that Baptism… now saves you,…

• “now” perhaps mean in this age or dispensation, the church era.
• John Mark Hicks and Greg Taylor: “Baptism, just like the Flood, is a saving event. Just as God saved Noah through the cleansing of the old world with water, so God saves his people from their old life through baptism. ..Noah passed through the waters into a new world, just as Christians pass through baptism into a new life.”—Hicks & Taylor, Down in the River to Pray, p. 25.

• “As the waters of the flood lifted Noah and his family out of the sinful world and brought them safely to a cleansed earth, so baptism in water is the line of demarcation between the kingdom of darkness and the kingdom of light. Before one is immersed, he is outside of Christ, after a penitent believers is immersed, he is in Christ (Rom 6:3; Gal 3:27). Before one is baptized he has the guilt of sin upon him; when he is baptized his sins are washed away (Acts 2:38; 22:16).” –Raymond C. Kelsey, The Letters of Peter and Jude, p. 80.

• Romans 6:3-5: 3 Or have you forgotten that when we were joined with Christ Jesus in baptism, we joined him in his death? 4 For we died and were buried with Christ by baptism. And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives. (NLT)

• Colossians 2:12: … you were placed in the tomb with Christ through baptism. In baptism you were also brought back to life with Christ through faith in the power of God, who brought him back to life. (GW)

• “In every NT passage that says anything at all about the meaning of baptism, the only purpose with which it is connected is the salvation of sinners. The various aspects of salvation are described as being bestowed upon the believing, repentant sinner in the act of baptism. This is the consistent and exclusive NT witness; no other purpose for baptism is mentioned or even hinted at…This is…why we may speak of baptism (along with faith, repentance, and confession) as a condition for salvation.” –Jack Cottrell, The Faith Once for All, p. 360

• But now listen, we mustn’t treat baptism as providing salvation in and of itself. Baptism isn’t magical.
• So we are not talking about baptismal regeneration, that is, the mere act of submerging someone under water causes the new birth to happen.
• And Peter makes very clear that not the act itself that saves. Baptism isn’t just some ceremonial washing:

…not as a removal of dirt from the body…

• Rather, baptism involves the moral sense and mindfulness of the one being baptized:

…but as an appeal to God for a good conscience,…

• GW: … baptism is a request to God for a clear conscience.
• In baptism, I’m asking God for forgiveness of my sins leading to a clear conscience.

• Acts 2:36-38: 36 Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.”
37 Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” 38 And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. (ESV)

• Ananias to Saul (Paul) Acts 22:16: ‘What are you waiting for now? Get up! Be baptized, and have your sins washed away as you call on his name.’(GW)

• Some scholars believe it’s not an appeal or request to God but a pledge to God, such as in the translation of the CSB: …but the pledge of a good conscience toward God…

• In other words, the person is saying through baptism, “Yes, Father, I accept the terms, privileges, and promises of entering into this covenant with You and therefore I pledge to maintain a good conscience by living a life of allegiance to Christ by your grace.

• V. 21—If baptism has to do with the conscience of the one being baptized, what is the purpose of what is referred to as infant baptism (Christening)? Do any of you remember having a conscience as an infant?

• Peter further qualifies what he’s written. The water in and of itself doesn’t save. It is…

…..through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,…

• V. 21b, NLT: It is effective because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

• God saves through the water by the power of Christ’s work on the cross validated by His resurrection from the dead.

• 1 Peter 1:3: Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead…(ESV)

1 Corinthians 15-17-20: 17 And if Christ has not been raised, then your faith is useless and you are still guilty of your sins. 18 In that case, all who have died believing in Christ are lost! 19 And if our hope in Christ is only for this life, we are more to be pitied than anyone in the world.
20 But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead. He is the first of a great harvest of all who have died. (NLT)

• Why does Peter bring up baptism at this time?

• 1. Baptism was the time and place where they were born again. It’s worth suffering over.
• Well, in many cultures, non-Christians are free to investigate and read about Christianity all they want. But when they are baptized is when their non-believing friends begin to persecute them.
• So perhaps some of the believers were thinking that maybe if they hadn’t been baptized, they wouldn’t have to suffer persecution. To which Peter says, “Baptism now saves you!”

• Secondly, when did Jesus begin His ministry? At the time of His baptism that fulfilled all righteousness.
• When do we begin ours as God’s children? At the completion of our baptism.
• And Jesus suffered persecution during His time of ministry and service.
• Peter says we do, too.
• Between Jesus’ physical death and resurrection, He served by making proclamation to the spirits in prison (Hades).
• 2. Perhaps Christians have further opportunities to serve between our death and our resurrection when we get our new bodies.
• “Just like ‘new life’ after baptism was a whole new area of service, so the ‘new life’ after a Christian’s death opens to the Christian a whole new area of service. This is the point Peter is making, that what happens when a Christian dies was pre-figured in what happened at his baptism.”—Gareth Reese, Peter & Jude, p. 95

22 who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him. (ESV)

• NLT: He is seated in the place of honor next to God…

• Amplified: …at the right hand of God [that is, the place of honor and authority]

• Romans 8:34: Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. (ESV)

• With a Savior and King like Jesus, what do we have to fear in this life and the life to come?

• No wonder Paul writes to us in Colossians 3:1: If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. (ESV)

Let’s spend some time reflecting on what God’s Word has shown us, using the acronym SPECKS:
• Sin to confess?
• Prayer, promise or praise to hold onto?
• Example to follow?
• Command to obey?
• Knowledge to retain?
• Share the passage with whom?

• 1 Peter 3:18-22 begins with Christ’s once and for all suffering and death. It ends with His resurrection and ascension to and sovereign rule from the Father’s right hand until He comes to judge the world.

• Each week during communion we celebrate Gods grace and renew our pledge to live gracious, grateful, humble lives of loving obedience to our King Jesus.

• Hebrews 10:21-23: 21 We have a superior priest in charge of God’s house. 22 We have been sprinkled with his blood to free us from a guilty conscience, and our bodies have been washed with clean water. So we must continue to come to him with a sincere heart and strong faith. 23 We must continue to hold firmly to our declaration of faith. The one who made the promise is faithful. (GW)

• Lee C. Camp writes in his book Scandalous Witness, “The sacraments [of baptism and the Lord’s Supper]…are intended to form us into a particular kind of people who share gracious, risky hospitality, abundant generosity, and long-suffering patience.” (p. 131)

The Lord’s Supper

Luke 22: 19 And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying,
“This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”
20 And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying,
“This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.

For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.
King Jesus has died. King Jesus has risen. And King Jesus will come again.

Lord's Day Sermon, July 12, 2020 "Suffering for Good May Bring Us New Opportunities to Minister” Part 1

To view today’s message from 1 Peter 3:18-22, please click on this link: “Suffering for Good May Bring Us New Opportunities to Minister” Part 1

1 Peter 3:18-22
First Christian Church, Owensville, IN
July 12, 2020

Bart W. Newton, Preaching Minister

(Abbreviations for Bible translations that may be quoted: ESV = English Standard Version; NLT = New Living Translation; CSB = Christian Standard Bible; GW = God’s Word; Amplified Bible = AMP; KJV = King James Version; New King James Version = NKJV; The Message = MSG; KNT = Kingdom New Testament)

1 Peter 3:18-22:
18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit, 19 in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison, 20 because they formerly did not obey, when God's patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water. 21 Baptism, which corresponds to this, now 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 Christ, 22 who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him. (ESV)

Review of verses 16-18: The benefits of maintaining a good conscience while suffering according to God’s will:
• It might convict your persecutors that they are wrong to ridicule your Christian lifestyle (v. 16).
• It follows Jesus’ example (vv. 17- 18)
• It assists Jesus in bringing others to God (v. 18).

• Today’s passage is known to be one of the most difficult passages in the NT to translate from Greek to English and interpret.
• That said, it is easy to see some basic truths. It contains most of the basic components of the Good News, either directly or implied: the death, burial, resurrection, ascension of Jesus, including His current rule from heaven.
• One fascinating aspect of this passage is that it also tells us what Jesus’ spirit was up to while His body was in the tomb for three days.
• It also tells us part of the role baptism plays in the salvation experience of the repentant believer.
• Today we’re going to focus on verses 18-20 to find out what Jesus was up to between His death and His resurrection. Next Sunday, we’ll look at verses 20-22 and how baptism relates not just to the salvation experience, but ministry as well.
• So let’s begin trying to understand these words so we can better allow them to shape our lives and Christian witness.

18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God,…

• Paul echoes this in 2 Corinthians 5:21: For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ. (NLT)

• And the writer of Hebrews emphasizes the sufficiency of Jesus’ one-time self-sacrifice for the world’s sins: Hebrews 9:26b-28: But now, once for all time, he has appeared at the end of the age to remove sin by his own death as a sacrifice.
27 And just as each person is destined to die once and after that comes judgment, 28 so also Christ was offered once for all time as a sacrifice to take away the sins of many people. He will come again, not to deal with our sins, but to bring salvation to all who are eagerly waiting for him. (NLT)

• Now with the last phrase of verse 18, the passage begins to get a bit challenging.
• Many godly people wiser and more knowledgeable than me have various opinions and conclusions regarding the proper interpretation of this passage.
• Rather than sharing the various possibilities, I’m going to share the one I think Peter is trying to communicate.
• Last part of verse 18 tells us that Jesus was…
... put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit,

• 18c, GW: His body was put to death, but he was brought to life through his spirit.

• It appears that Jesus’ physical body died but His spirit continued to live on. (Soul and spirit do not die.)
• So it seems that Jesus resumed the spiritual nature He had before He took on His human body. (Reese, p. 87):

19 in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison,…

• “went’ = change in locality, just like Jesus went to heaven after His resurrection.
• Without His physical body, Jesus was enabled to perform activity in the spiritual realm.
• Where did Jesus go?
• He went from Paradise to that part of Hades in which the souls of the ungodly are held until Judgment Day.

• Remember Jesus’s words to the repentant thief on the cross: Luke 23:42-43: 42 And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” 43 And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.” (ESV)

• Hades is not Hell. It is the place where the souls go after death to await Judgment Day.
• Hades appears to be made up of two parts—Paradise—the abode of the righteous—and the place where the souls of the ungodly go to await condemnation on the Day of Judgment.
• Remember the story of the rich man and Lazarus that Jesus told?

• Luke 16:22-26: 22 The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried, 23 and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. 24 And he called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.’ 25 But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner bad things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish. 26 And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us.’ (ESV)

• In Acts 2, On the Day of Pentecost, Peter preached that Jesus went to Hades in fulfillment of prophecy of Psalm 16:8-11:

• Acts 2:29-31: 29 “Brothers, I may say to you with confidence about the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. 30 Being therefore a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants on his throne, 31 he foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption. (ESV)

• While He was there, what did He do?
• “proclaimed” = heralding, announcing. It’s not the word for evangelizing such as gospel preaching.

• 19, GW: In it he also went to proclaim his victory to the spirits kept in prison.

• It seems that Christ made a proclamation of His victory over sin, death, and the powers of evil. Maybe He was making known to them His sovereignty over all things.
• To whom was He proclaiming in Hades?

… to the spirits in prison…

• “spirits” = human beings who have left their bodies while in the intermediate state.
• The spirits of evil people who had physically died and were awaiting the final judgment. That’s why they were there:

20 because they formerly did not obey, when God's patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared,…

• Jesus probably proclaimed to more than to just those who were evil in the days of Noah leading up to God’s judgment on evil by way of the Great Flood. God’s Word translation captures this idea:

• 20a, GW: They are like those who disobeyed long ago in the days of Noah when God waited patiently while Noah built the ship.

• What was their disobedience like?

• Genesis 6:5: The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. (ESV)

• But how did Noah live and what did he do?

• Hebrews 11:7: By faith Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household. By this he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith. (ESV)

…in which a few, that is, eight persons,..were brought safely through the water…

• Few (8). Noah, his wife, three sons and their wives.
• 2 Peter 2:5: And God did not spare the ancient world—except for Noah and the seven others in his family. Noah warned the world of God’s righteous judgment. So God protected Noah when he destroyed the world of ungodly people with a vast flood. (NLT)

• Out of all the world’s population at that time, only eight were saved! Today only a few live faithfully and are willing to suffer for it compared to the rest of the population. Jesus said it would be so:

• Matthew 7:13-14: 13 “You can enter God’s Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose that way. 14 But the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it. (NLT)

• Matthew 7:21: “Not everyone who calls out to me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Only those who actually do the will of my Father in heaven will enter. (NLT)

• The unbelievers at the time of the Flood perished though those saved had to suffer persecution at the hands of the unbelievers.

…when God's patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared,…

• God’s patience has a limit, but He is patient.
• 2 Peter 3:9: The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.(ESV)
• God’s patience put Noah in a position that required patience. And it’s the same for you and me! We are to participate in God’s patience so that perhaps some will turn to Jesus:

• 2 Timothy 2:24-26: 24 And the Lord's servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, 25 correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, 26 and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will. (ESV)

…were brought safely through water.
• The very water that destroyed the unrighteous was the very water that carried Noah and his family to a newly cleansed world! This sets us up for next week’s study of verses 20-22.

Let’s spend some time reflecting on what God’s Word has shown us, using the acronym SPECKS:

• Sin to confess?
• Prayer, promise or praise to hold onto?
• E xample to follow?
• Command to obey?
• Knowledge to retain?
• Share the passage with whom?

Lord's Day Sermon, July 5, 2020: "Keeping a Good Conscience While Suffering for Doing Good" (1 Peter 3:16-18)

Click on this title to listen to the message: “Keeping a Good Conscience While Suffering for Doing Good”

NOTE: What follows is only a basic outline of the sermon, not a word-for-word manuscript.

1 Peter 3:16-18
First Christian Church, Owensville, IN
July 5, 2020

Bart W. Newton, Preaching Minister

(Abbreviations for Bible translations that may be quoted: ESV = English Standard Version; NLT = New Living Translation; CSB = Christian Standard Bible; GW = God’s Word; Amplified Bible = AMP; KJV = King James Version; New King James Version = NKJV; The Message = MSG; KNT = Kingdom New Testament)

• It is amazing the courage that a good conscience can do for a godly person of faith in Christ.
• On Martin Luther’s monument at Worms, Germany are his words spoken before the church council on April 18, 1521, “Here I stand; I can do no other. God help me. Amen.” Trained by God’s Word, Luther’s good conscience, along with the Holy Spirit, gave him the courage to stand against the whole established Catholic church of that day. (Wiersbe, Be Hopeful, p. 86).
• Luther understood how we are to handle situations in which we run the risk of suffering for obedience to Jesus.
• As we learned last Lord’s Day, the original recipients of Peter’s first letter needed to know and so do we.
• Remember, Rome had suffered a tragic fire. Christians were falsely accused of setting it. Peter was doctrinally trying to prepare Christians for possible suffering due to persecution by the government. (Reese, Peter & Jude, p. 78)
• So let’s return to the passage of interest: 1 Peter 3:13-18.

13 Now who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good? 14 But even if you should suffer for righteousness' sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, 15 but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, 16 having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame. 17 For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God's will, than for doing evil.
18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit…(ESV)

Review of verses 13-16a:
• To suffer for choosing what’s best, means by God you’ll be blessed. (vv. 13-14a)
• People we won’t fear, if Jesus we revere (vv. 14b-15a) .
• When asked, humbly share the reason why it’s Jesus you’re pleasin’ (vv. 15b-16:a)
• Main Point: When the Lord in your heart is most dear, of others’ threats there is no reason to fear.

• Now let’s pick up where we left off last Sunday.
16 having a good conscience,

• GW: 16 Keep your conscience clear.

• What is a conscience?
• Gareth Reese defines it as “that innate faculty which urges us to do what our mind thinks is right, and criticizes us when we do what our mind thinks is wrong. A ‘clear conscience is one that doesn’t bother us, or criticize us concerning our behavior.” (Jude & Peter, p. 82)
• Different types of consciences:
• Defiled conscience: Like a window that has gotten so dirty it cannot let in the light to see things clearly.
• Seared conscience: So sinned against it no longer is sensitive to what is right and wrong.
• Evil conscience: Approves of things that are bad and accuses of things that are good! (Wiersbe, p. 85)

• “Conscience is a safe guide only when the Word of God is the teacher.”
• “A strong conscience is the result of obedience based on knowledge, and a strong conscience makes for a strong Christian witness to the lost. It also gives us strength in times of persecution and difficulty.” One of the benefits of a good, clear conscience is that it “removes from us the fear of what other people may know about us, say against us, or do to us. When Christ is Lord and we fear only God, we need to fear the threats, opinions, or actions of our enemies.”–Warren Wiersbe, Be Hopeful, pages 85-87

• It is that kind of conscience the Christian needs when suffering for doing good, according to Peter, …

… so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame.

• When motive and conduct are honorable, once people hear the reason for our hope, perhaps some will reconsider their accusation, and go home feeling ashamed to falsely accusing us for our obedience to Christ.
• Peter has already alluded to this earlier in this letter:
• 1 Peter 3:1-2: Wives, in a similar way, place yourselves under your husbands’ authority. Some husbands may not obey God’s word. Their wives could win these men for Christ by the way they live without saying anything. 2 Their husbands would see how pure and reverent their lives are. (GW)

• Within a couple of weeks after George Floyd’s tragic death, I was introduced to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “Rule of Life.”
• It was Dr. King’s rule for participants in the civil rights movement. In it you see his desire for protestors to be able to protest from a good conscience. Here are King’s requirements:
• Meditate daily on the teaching and life of Jesus.
• Remember always that the nonviolent movement in Birmingham seeks justice and reconciliation, not victory.
• Walk and talk in the manner of love, for God is love.
• Pray daily to be used by God in order that all might be free.
• Sacrifice personal wishes in order that all might be free.
• Observe with both friend and foe the ordinary rules of courtesy.
• Seek to perform regular service for others and the world.
• Refrain from violence of fist, tongue, or heart.
• Strive to be in good spiritual and bodily health.
• Follow the directions of the movement and the captains of a demonstration.

• Peter continues:
17 For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God's will, than for doing evil.

• 1 Peter 4:19: So then, let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust themselves to a faithful Creator while doing what is good. (CSB).
• 1 Peter 2:23 tells us that when Jesus suffered unjustly, instead of threatening He just kept right on entrusting Himself to His Father who judges justly and was willingly allowing His son to suffer though innocent, just like Isaiah prophesied:

• Isaiah 53:10a: Yet, it was the Lord’s will to crush him with suffering.

18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous,…

• Verse 18 has been described by others as “’as one of the shortest and simplest, and yet one of the richest, summaries given in the New Testament of the meaning of the cross of Jesus.’ (Ross)” (In Gareth Reese’s Jude & Peter, p. 84)

• Isaiah 53:10-11: 10 Yet, it was the Lord’s will to crush him with suffering.
When the Lord has made his life a sacrifice for our wrongdoings,
he will see his descendants for many days.
The will of the Lord will succeed through him.
11 He will see and be satisfied
because of his suffering.
My righteous servant will acquit many people
because of what he has learned through suffering.
He will carry their sins as a burden. (GW)

18…that he might bring us to God…

• Mark 10:45: “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (ESV)

• 2 Corinthians 5:21: For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ. (NLT)

• God is moving history along the pathway of renewal that was inaugurated at the death, burial and resurrection of Christ.
• He desires all people to repent and be saved.
• Reminder, America is not the last, best hope for the world, as some have said and say in speeches. Rather, as the New Testament clearly teaches, Jesus is the only hope of the world.
• And we are His ambassadors to help with that!

Some of the benefits of a good conscience while suffering according to God’s will:

• It proves the genuineness of our faith while at the same time purifying it.
• 1 Peter 1:7: These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world. (NLT)
• It might convict your persecutors that they are wrong to ridicule your Christian lifestyle (v. 16).
• It follows Jesus’ example (vv.. 17- 18).
• It assists Jesus in bringing others to God (v. 18).
• 1 Peter 2:12: Be careful to live properly among your unbelieving neighbors. Then even if they accuse you of doing wrong, they will see your honorable behavior, and they will give honor to God when he judges the world. (NLT)

Let’s spend some time reflecting on what God’s Word has shown us, using the acronym SPECKS:
• Sin to confess?
• Prayer, promise or praise to hold onto?
• Example to follow?
• Command to obey?
• Knowledge to retain?
• Share the passage with whom?

From the Heart of Bart

This article was first published in the July 2020 print edition of the Owensville First Christian Church Newsletter.

Half of 2020 has past and what a six months it has been! In light of what we’ve experienced and read or viewed in the news of recent events, it’s quite apparent why the Word came into the world and took on a human body. Jesus is The Answer. Let’s keep in mind, as someone rightly said, that the Christian’s allegiance must not be to a donkey or an elephant but to the Lamb of God. So here are a few sets of quotes for us to slowly ponder in view of the reality in which we are living:

The God-Human Gap:
For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard (Romans 3:23, NLT).

For while we were still helpless, at the right time, Christ died for the ungodly… But God proves his own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:6, 8, CSB).

“The God-human gap always exists in two forms:
• The Actual Gap – the infinite moral, spiritual and relational gap between God and humans that requires grace.
• The Perceived Gap - we live as if the God-human gap is smaller than it really is.”—Dr. Jody Owens

“The grace of God that affects us (grace as God’s transforming and healing power) generally does not exceed our perceived need for grace. People who assume the gap between them and God is small will conclude that they need little grace and thus will receive little transforming grace.” --James Wilhoit, Spiritual Formation as if the Church Mattered

Two Kinds of Sorrow:
For the kind of sorrow God wants us to experience leads us away from sin and results in salvation. There’s no regret for that kind of sorrow. But worldly sorrow, which lacks repentance, results in spiritual death (2 Corinthians 7:10, NLT).

• “Godly Sorrow and Brokenness: broken, humbled and softened. Encounter the tragic with wisdom, appropriate acceptance and reliance on God.
• Worldly Sorrow and Brokenness: Wounded, hardened and cynical. Understand themselves as being wounded and hurt, they desire to escape the pain and respond with a bitter spirit marked by making excuses, defending self and blaming others.”—Dr. Jody Owens

From Out of Our Hearts:
For from the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, sexual immoralities, thefts, false testimonies, slander. (Matthew 15:19, CSB )

“The ‘sudden’ failures that appear in the lives of some are never really sudden, but are the surfacing of long-standing deficiencies in the ‘hidden person of the heart.’—Dallas Willard

The Need for Spiritual Transformation:
Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect (Romans 12:2, ESV).

But we Christians have no veil over our faces; we can be mirrors that brightly reflect the glory of the Lord. And as the Spirit of the Lord works within us, we become more and more like him (2 Corinthians 3:18, TLB).

“The quality of our souls will indelibly touch others for good or ill. So we must never forget that the most important thing happening at any moment… is the kind of persons we are becoming.”—Dallas Willard

May the peace of Christ be with you all!

Bart Newton,

Preaching Minister

Lord's Day Sermon, June 28, 2020: "Nothing to Fear When Jesus Is Your Lord" (1 Peter 3:13-16)

Click on this title to listen to the message: Nothing to Fear When Jesus Is Lord

Below is a basic outline of the sermon:

1 Peter 3:13-16
First Christian Church, Owensville, IN
June 28, 2020

Bart W. Newton, Preaching Minister

(Abbreviations for Bible translations that may be quoted: ESV = English Standard Version; NLT = New Living Translation; CSB = Christian Standard Bible; GW = God’s Word; Amplified Bible = AMP; KJV = King James Version; New King James Version = NKJV; The Message = MSG; KNT = Kingdom New Testament)

• When was the last time you were afraid of suffering for doing something you knew was good?
• Let me ask the same question in a slightly different way. When was the last time you were afraid of suffering for doing something you knew was right.
• Most of us don’t fear suffering something that we think of in terms of being good—take a meal to a neighbor who is sick; return someone’s lost wallet to its rightful owner.
• We might fear suffering for doing something that is right. For example, your boss tells you to do something ethically questionable and you know the right thing would be not to do it might mean losing your job.
• How are we to handle situations in which we run the risk of suffering for obedience to Jesus? Gareth Reese tells us, “The gist of what [Peter] writes in the rest of chapter 3 is this—suffering while doing good may open up new areas of service. It did for Jesus, it can for the Christian. –Gareth Reese, Jude & Peter, p. 78.
• Background: Rome had suffered a tragic fire. Christians were falsely accused of setting it. Peter was doctrinally trying to prepare Christians for possible suffering due to persecution by the government. (Reese, p. 78)

8 Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind. 9 Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing. 10 For
“Whoever desires to love life
and see good days,
let him keep his tongue from evil
and his lips from speaking deceit;
11 let him turn away from evil and do good;
let him seek peace and pursue it.
12 For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous,
and his ears are open to their prayer.
But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”
13 Now who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good? 14 But even if you should suffer for righteousness' sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, 15 but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, 16 having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame. 17 For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God's will, than for doing evil.
18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit… (ESV)

Peter begins by asking a question::
13 Now who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good?
• V. 13, Amplified: Now who is there to hurt you if you become enthusiastic for what is good?

• Taking verse 13 by itself, it seems that Peter is asking a rhetorical question, the answer being that usually no reasonable person would harm us for doing good.
• But maybe Peter is referring back to verse 12: For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous,
and his ears are open to their prayer.
But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”
• In other words, God sees and rewards the righteous, no ultimate harm can result.
• “Our enemies might hurt us but they cannot harm us.” –Warren Wiersbe, Be Hopeful, p. 84
• Think of it this way: They can kill you but they cannot take away your salvation inheritance!

14 But even if you should suffer for righteousness' sake, you will be blessed.

Three rhyming thoughts leading to Peter’s main point:

1. To suffer for choosing what’s best, means by God you’ll be blessed. (vv. 13-14a)

• “blessed” = spiritually prosperous
• Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5:10-11: 10 God blesses those who are persecuted for doing right,
for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs.
11 “God blesses you when people mock you and persecute you and lie about you and say all sorts of evil things against you because you are my followers. (NLT)

• Peter brings this up later in the letter:
• 1 Peter 4:12-14: 12 Dear friends, don’t be surprised when the fiery ordeal comes among you to test you, as if something unusual were happening to you. 13 Instead, rejoice as you share in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may also rejoice with great joy when his glory is revealed. 14 If you are ridiculed for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. (CSB)

• The main blessing that ultimately comes if we remain faithful is growing in our Christ-likeness. Remember, Christ suffered, leaving an example for us.
• The challenge is that even though God will bless us for doing what pleases Him, it’s easy to become fearful of those who can hurt us. So Peter continues:

14bHave no fear of them, nor be troubled, 15 but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy,…

2. People we won’t fear if Jesus we revere (vv. 14b-15a) .

• Peter references Isaiah 8:12-13 from the Greek OT.
• As Wiersbe describes, Ahaz, King of Judah is facing a crisis because of an impending invasion of the Assyrian army. Kings of Israel and Syria wanted Ahaz to join them in an alliance, but Ahaz refused. So, Israel and Syria threated to invade Judah. Behind the scenes, Ahaz confederated himself Assyria! The Prophet Isaiah then warns Ahaz not to align himself with ungodly alliances, but instead trust in God (p. 89).
• Isaiah 8:12b-13: 12b And you are not to fear what they fear nor be in dread of it.
13 “It is the Lord of hosts whom you are to regard as holy and awesome.
He shall be your [source of] fear,
He shall be your [source of] dread [not man]. (Amp)

• So, how do we keep from cowarding in fear?

15 but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy,… (or “in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord.”)

• If we can just remember that Jesus is God; man is not.
• If we fear Jesus reverently out of love and awe, we don’t need to fear others.

• Vv. 14b-15a, GW: Don’t be afraid of those who want to harm you. Don’t get upset. 15 But dedicate your lives to Christ as Lord.
• V. 15a: But in your hearts set Christ apart [as holy—acknowledging Him, giving Him first place in your lives] as Lord. (Amplified)

• Our verbal profession of faith and our behavior and lifestyle choices must align under the lordship of Jesus Christ.
• “[Sanctifying Christ as Lord in our hearts] means to turn everything over to Him, and to live only to please Him and glorify Him.”—Warren Wiersbe, Be Hopeful, p. 85
• In fact Wiersbe says its combining Matthew 6:33 and Romans 12:1-2 “into a daily attitude of faith that obeys God’s Word in spite of consequences.” (Be Hopeful, p. 85).

• Setting apart King Jesus as Lord of our minds, hearts has to do with giving our ultimate allegiance to Him, an allegiance that replaces or supersedes all other others.
• When did we give Jesus our pledge of allegiance to Jesus and His Kingdom? Was it not upon our confession of faith, repentance and time of our baptism?
• In his book, Scandalous Witness, Lee C. Camp writes, “Baptism is a voluntary induction into a new way of life in which our ultimate allegiance is the lordship of Christ. His lordship teaches us how to tell the truth, love our enemies, keep our marriage vows, and share our wealth. Baptism is the Christian’s pledge of allegiance. The voluntary nature of this commitment is itself a profound political alternative…
“[B]aptism—which is to say, induction into citizenship in the kingdom of God—is …an alternative political act in that it explicitly transcends sociopolitical barriers…
“Baptism is…no mere religious ritual. It is a pledge of allegiance to trump all other pledges of allegiance. Thus when we are called to pledge allegiance to other political authorities, we must either reject such a call or do so only with a highly qualified pledge.” –pp. 126-127

• If you truly live with Jesus as your Lord, someone is going to ask questions about it. So be ready to explain it:
… always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect,…

• v. 15b, in other words, “Why are you living like that? Why are you so zealous to do what is right and good in the eyes of Jesus even if you suffer at the hands of men for doing it? “

3. When asked, humbly share the reason why it’s Jesus you’re pleasin’ (vv. 15b-16:a)
…to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you..

• Hope = faith. Peter speaks of hope several times just in the first chapter:
• 1 Peter 1:3: 3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Because of his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. (CSB)
• 1 Peter 1:13: So prepare your minds for action and exercise self-control. Put all your hope in the gracious salvation that will come to you when Jesus Christ is revealed to the world. (NLT)
• 1 Peter 1:21: Through Christ you have come to trust in God. And you have placed your faith and hope in God because he raised Christ from the dead and gave him great glory. (NLT)

• Would you be able to give a reason for your hope if a non-Christian asked you? If not, I suggest you sit down, pray, and write it out so you can tell people in 3 minutes or less.
• Remember, how we give the reason for our hope matters:

…yet do it with gentleness and respect,…

• Does Peter mean gentleness and respect toward the person your answering or Someone else?

• V. 15, CSB: Yet do this with gentleness and reverence…

•Who are we to revere? King Jesus.
• I cannot answer with gentleness and respect toward others if I’m not being humble and reverent toward King Jesus. If we do that, then our tone will be as it ought to be.
• I’m not sure many of us have reverent and humble before God or respectful and gentle towards others lately (especially in some social media posts). We’ve been pridefully partisan. We need to communicate in a way that enables us to:

… 16 having a good conscience…

• If I respond to my critics and agitators in a way that compromises my witness, my conscience is compromised before God. Such as by insult for insult or giving in to pressure and compromising my faith.
• Remember, our purpose is not to win the argument but to win the soul to Christ.
• 1 Peter 3:9: Don’t repay evil for evil. Don’t retaliate with insults when people insult you. Instead, pay them back with a blessing. That is what God has called you to do, and he will grant you his blessing. (NLT)

• Our earthly nation is in a crisis. But as citizens of the kingdom of God, we know that the answer is Jesus! We’ve been reminded why the Incarnation—God taking on a human body in the Person of Jesus Christ—was necessary!
• Only He can transform our minds, hearts and lives…if we truly let Him be Lord, Ruler, of our lives!
Review:
• To suffer for choosing what’s best, means by God you’ll be blessed. (vv. 13-14a)
• People we won’t fear, if Jesus we revere (vv. 14b-15a) .
• When asked, humbly share the reason why it’s Jesus you’re pleasin’ (vv. 15b-16:a)

Main Point: When Jesus is Lord of your heart, there is no reason to fear.

Let’s spend some time reflecting on what God’s Word has shown us, using the acronym SPECKS:
• Sin to confess?
• Prayer, promise or praise to hold onto?
• Example to follow?
• Command to obey?
• Knowledge to retain?
• Share the passage with whom?

Lord's Day Sermon, June 21, 2020: “Husband, Treat Your Wife with Understanding & Honor”

1 Peter 3:7
First Christian Church, Owensville, IN

Bart W. Newton, Preaching Minister

(Abbreviations for Bible translations that may be quoted: ESV = English Standard Version; NLT = New Living Translation; CSB = Christian Standard Bible; GW = God’s Word; Amplified Bible = AMP; KJV = King James Version; New King James Version = NKJV; The Message = MSG; KNT = Kingdom New Testament)

• If you’ve been participating in our online worship, you know that I’ve been teaching through 1 Peter.
• Last week, I taught from 3:1-6. Today, I’m teaching verse 7.
• So, let’s read together 3:1-7 to get a sense of the context.

Likewise, wives, be subject to your own husbands, so that even if some do not obey the word, they may be won without a word by the conduct of their wives, 2 when they see your respectful and pure conduct. 3 Do not let your adorning be external—the braiding of hair and the putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothing you wear— 4 but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God's sight is very precious. 5 For this is how the holy women who hoped in God used to adorn themselves, by submitting to their own husbands, 6 as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord. And you are her children, if you do good and do not fear anything that is frightening.
7 Likewise, husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered. (ESV)

• As I’ve said more than once in this study, there are primarily four God-ordained institutions within the world—marriage & family, government, work, and the church.
• 1 Peter addresses all four at least once.
• 1 Peter 3:1-7 gives some of the New Testament instruction on the institution of marriage.
• In verses 1-6, Peter reminds wives that a godly, respectful conduct born out of a heart transformed by Jesus can be powerfully and positively influential on her husband. A respectful, quiet and gentle spirit is the adornment that gets the best attention because it’s the kind that can truly win the husband’s heart and soul.
• In verse 7, Peter turns his attention to Christian husbands.
• Before we look it closely, remember that the NT teaches that within the family, the husband is considered the head of his household, following the creation order. Two verses from Paul’s letters:

• 1 Corinthians 11:3: But I want you to understand that the head of every man is Christ, the head of a wife is her husband, and the head of Christ is God. (ESV)

• Ephesians 5:23: For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. (ESV)

• Since this is Father’s Day, let me just say that if you are the right kind of husband, you’re probably going to develop into the right kind of father.
• You might think it’s too late for that. Maybe your children are already grown and you were not the right kind of dad when you were raising them. Isn’t it better to be or become the right kind of dad while they are adults than to never become the right kind of dad?
• And maybe you are a dad but your are divorced or never married your children’s mother. Listen, if you’ll let the principles of 1 Peter 3:7 guide you in your attitude toward women in general, you’ll be a better dad to your children.
• OK, husbands, it’s our turn today. Let’s look at verse 7 closely because I’m sure our wives are! And we need to anyway!

7 Likewise, husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered.

• Again, we find the God-ordained & God-created institution of marriage and that it is between a biological man and a biological woman: 7… husbands, live with your wives … showing honor to the woman…

• In this one verse, Peter gives…
Two commands to the husband:

• The Christian husband is to be understanding toward his wife as they share their lives together under the same roof.

…live with your wives in an understanding way…

• NLT: …Treat your wife with understanding as you live together.
• NIV: …be considerate as you live with your wives…

• What does it mean to demonstrate understanding or consideration toward your wife?
• It has to do with “knowledge”. It could literally be translated “live with your wife according to knowledge.” In this context, it means “’according to a knowledge of what God requires.’” (1 & 2 Peter, CPNIVC, Black & Black, p. 90)

• That’s why the Amplified Bible reads like this: 7a: In the same way, you husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way [with great gentleness and tact, and with an intelligent regard for the marriage relationship]….

• Gareth Reese comments on this by writing, “The husband, being a Christian, has a view of marriage learned from Jesus, and acts towards his wife in harmony with this knowledge. Christians have God’s revelation regarding marriage and are supposed to demonstrate that knowledge in their every-day relationships with their mates.” –Gareth Reese, Peter & Jude, p. 72

• Listen husbands, this is one of the reasons we are to spend time in the Bible on our own and with others—to learn how to treat others in a Christ-like fashion, including our family members and in this case our wives.
• So, that knowledge from God’s Word teaches us in…

• Colossians 3:19: Husbands, love your wives, and do not be harsh with them. (ESV)
• Also, CSB, : …don’t be bitter towards them.

• If you want to say it in the positive: “Husbands, love your wives and be gentle to them.” (ICB, ERV)

• Colossians 3:19: Amplified Bible: Husbands, love your wives [with an affectionate, sympathetic, selfless love that always seeks the best for them] and do not be embittered or resentful toward them [because of the responsibilities of marriage].

• Since this is Father’s Day, the knowledge from the Bible teaches us dads in Colossians 3:21: Fathers, do not exasperate your children, so that they will not lose heart. (NASB)

• Incidentally, husbands with children or men with children, one of the ways you can exasperate or aggravate your kids unnecessarily is by not trying to treat their mother according to God’s Word.
• Now let me say this to husbands and future husbands. Treating her with understanding or consideration should begin before marriage.
• Husbands, some of us did that pretty good before we got married, which is a big reason why they paid any attention to us at all!
• We were kind to them; we did nice things for them (opened the car door); helped them do things that needed help with; did things with them they liked to do that we really didn’t want to do; etc.
• We should keep doing those kinds of things.
• Incidentally, chivalry was really born out of the Bible’s teaching on how men ought to treat women.
• So, the first command is that he Christian husband is to be understanding toward his wife as they share their lives together under the same roof.

• The second command that husbands are to follow is this:
• The Christian husband is to show his wife honor as the weaker partner.

ESV:…showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel…

• First, what does Peter mean by calling the wife “the weaker vessel” or “weaker partner”?
• Does he mean the wife is weaker intellectually? No!
• Does Peter mean the wife is weaker emotionally? I don’t think so. There are many emotionally strong wives and many emotionally weak husbands.
• Does he mean that she’s weaker spiritually? No! Verses 1-6 make that clear, not to mention Galatians 3:28.
• Does Peter mean that the wife is weaker physically? Generally speaking, probably. (Although Gareth Reese makes the point that though men may generally be stronger physically they are not necessarily stronger in stamina. Most of us can think of wives who day in and day out, night after night nursed sick family members while doing all of the other tasks and responsibilities that go with being a wife and mom.)

• “Most recent interpreters believe he had in mind the fact that women are generally physically weaker than men and perhaps the [accompanying] fact that they are therefore more vulnerable to mistreatment.” –Black & Black, 1 & 2 Peter, Jude, CPNIVNTC, p. 91

• This would be true especially in light of the wife taking the vow of submission to the husband’s authority. It puts her in a potentially vulnerable position and the Christian husband better not abuse or misuse his authority.
• What does he mean by “vessel”? Many other translations use the word partner.
• Vessel is a container or jar, dish, or vase.
• So, men and women are vessels. If the wife is the weaker vessel, think of her this way in light of her being both your wife and child God—think of her as being an exquisite vase of great value to be cherished with the utmost care and appreciation.

• Therefore, you are to show her honor and respect…(Amplified).

• Just as treating your wife with understanding should begin before marriage, so should showing her honor and respect begin before marriage.
• For example, show her honor by not having intimate physical relations before marriage. Save it for marriage as God intends you to do. You can do it. You won’t die.
• Show honor by not living together before marriage (cohabitation/shacking up).
• Listen, Christian men and women. If you are not married and living together and having intimate, physical relations, you are living outside of God’s will and practicing sinful behavior. And if there are children involved, all the more reason to get with God’s program and start trying to do this family thing His way.
• You might say, “Well, we live together but we are practicing abstinence.” That’s obviously better, and you must have more self-control than most men. You are putting yourself in a vulnerable situation of great temptation.

• 1 Corinthians 7:2: But in order to avoid sexual sins, each man should have his own wife, and each woman should have her own husband. (GW)

• Secondly, even if you are practicing abstinence as you live together, most people won’t believe you. And you say, “Well, I don’t care what other people think!”

• The Bible says in 1 Thessalonians 5:22: Abstain from all appearance of evil (KJV).

• Think about how your personal choices affect the church’s witness!
• Husbands show honor to their wives by not viewing or reading pornographic material.
• Husbands show honor by not flirting with other women.

• Hebrews 13:4: Marriage is to be held in honor among all [that is, regarded as something of great value], and the marriage bed undefiled [by immorality or by any sexual sin]; for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous. (Amplified)

• If he is physically and mentally capable, the husband shows honor by working hard to provide for his wife.

• 1 Timothy 5:8: But if anyone does not provide for his own family, especially for his own household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever. (ESV)

• On the flip side of that, the husband shows honor and respect to his wife by spending time with her—talking, listening, doing things together that enrich the marriage. (I did not do this well as our children were growing up. I was a workaholic.)
• Husband shows honor and respect to his wife by striving to grow in his relationship with Christ and by being with her and the rest of the church assembly on the Lord’s Day to worship Jesus. (This I think I’ve done fairly well but know I’ve got some growing up to do yet. I’ve not always been a preaching minister during our marriage, but I’ve ensured that my family and I worshiped together on the Lord’s Day.
• Show your wife honor by learning to be the spiritual leader in your household.
• Sometimes I just want to give husbands and dads a spiritual kick in the rear for not making the Lord’s Day assembly a priority with your family.

• Hebrews 10:25: We should not stop gathering together with other believers, as some of you are doing. Instead, we must continue to encourage each other even more as we see the day of the Lord coming. (GW)

• It’s one thing if your employer requires you to work. It’s quite another when you choose to participate in activities of entertainment, recreation, athletics and hobbies.
• Husbands show honor and respect to our wives by making sure they know that we value their opinion and wisdom.
• Husbands we show honor, respect and understanding to their wives by speaking to them with the right tone of voice. I don’t always succeed at this.
• Deloris, my wife, graciously reminds me from time to time, “Honey, it’s not always what you say but how you say it.”
• Husbands, we would do good to learn to admit when we are wrong, to confess our wrong, to apologize and ask for forgiveness: “Honey, I was wrong when I ______. I’m sorry. Will you forgive me?” (Wives, in the rare instances that you are ever wrong, you ought to learn to do the same thing!)
• So 2 commands—Treat your wife with understanding and show her honor.
• But why?

Two Reasons:
• She’s a coheir with you of the grace of life.

…since they are heirs with you of the grace of life,

• NLT: …she is your equal partner in God’s gift of new life.

• Galatians 3:28: There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. (ESV)

• Galatians 3:28, Amplified: There is [now no distinction in regard to salvation] neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you [who believe] are all one in Christ Jesus [no one can claim a spiritual superiority].

• That doesn’t mean that men and women don’t have different roles to fill within God’s creation order.
• “Although spiritual equality does not negate all social differences, it does have social implications. Husbands who recognize their wives as equal partners in the grace of God must not misuse their headship of the home, but must be considerate of their wives and show them honor.” –Allen Black and Mark Black, 1 & 2 Peter, CPNIVNTC, p. 91

• So the husband’s prayers won’t be hindered.

… so that your prayers may not be hindered.

• Amplified: … so that your prayers will not be hindered or ineffective.
• GW: … so that nothing will interfere with your prayers.

• Husbands, do you ever feel like your prayers don’t get passed the ceiling? Ask yourself and God if you’ve been treating your wife with understanding and honor.

• 1 Peter 4:7: The end of everything is near. Therefore, practice self-control, and keep your minds clear so that you can pray. (GW)

• Listen, the truth that our relationship to God may be hindered by our poor relationship to others is very clear in the Bible:

• Matthew 5:23-24: 23 “So if you are offering your gift at the altar and remember there that another believer has something against you, 24 leave your gift at the altar. First go away and make peace with that person. Then come back and offer your gift (GW)

• Mark 11:25: But when you are praying, first forgive anyone you are holding a grudge against, so that your Father in heaven will forgive your sins, too.” (NLT)

• Now, some of you wives might be thinking, “Boy, I wish my husband treated me the way the apostle Peter said he should.”
• Wife, the first thing to ask yourself is if you are treating him as God’s word says to. Are you being the example?
• Secondly, are you praying for him?

• And some of you husbands might be thinking, “I wish my wife acted like the apostle Peter said she should act in verses 1-6.
• Husband, first ask yourself if you are treating her as God’s Word says you are to treat her. Are you being a godly husband who treats his wife with understanding and honor?
• Secondly, are you praying for your wife?

• Let me read 1 Peter 3:1-7 once again from the Amplified Bible: In the same way, you wives, be submissive to your own husbands [subordinate, not as inferior, but out of respect for the responsibilities entrusted to husbands and their accountability to God, and so partnering with them] so that even if some do not obey the word [of God], they may be won over [to Christ] without discussion by the godly lives of their wives, 2 when they see your modest and respectful behavior [together with your devotion and appreciation—love your husband, encourage him, and enjoy him as a blessing from God]. 3 Your adornment must not be merely external—with interweaving and elaborate knotting of the hair, and wearing gold jewelry, or [being superficially preoccupied with] dressing in expensive clothes; 4 but let it be [the inner beauty of] the hidden person of the heart, with the imperishable quality and unfading charm of a gentle and peaceful spirit, [one that is calm and self-controlled, not overanxious, but serene and spiritually mature] which is very precious in the sight of God. 5 For in this way in former times the holy women, who hoped in God, used to adorn themselves, being submissive to their own husbands and adapting themselves to them; 6 just as Sarah obeyed Abraham [following him and having regard for him as head of their house], calling him lord. And you have become her daughters if you do what is right without being frightened by any fear [that is, being respectful toward your husband but not giving in to intimidation, nor allowing yourself to be led into sin, nor to be harmed].
7 In the same way, you husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way [with great gentleness and tact, and with an intelligent regard for the marriage relationship], as with someone physically weaker, since she is a woman. Show her honor and respect as a fellow heir of the grace of life, so that your prayers will not be hindered or ineffective.

Let’s spend some time reflecting on what God’s Word has shown us—all of us, men and women alike—using the S.P.E.C.K. acronym:
• Sin to confess?
• Prayer, promise or praise to hold onto?
• Example to follow?
• Command to obey?
• Knowledge to retain?
• With whom does God want me to share this passage.

Lord's Day Sermon, June 14, 2020: "“The Christian Wife and Her Non-Christian Husband”

1 Peter 3:1-6
First Christian Church, Owensville, IN
June 14, 2020

Bart W. Newton, Preaching Minister

Below is only a skeleton outline of main points, Scriptures and quotations of the message presented via Facebook Live on June 14, 2020.

(Abbreviations for Bible translations that may be quoted: ESV = English Standard Version; NLT = New Living Translation; CSB = Christian Standard Bible; GW = God’s Word; Amplified Bible = AMP; KJV = King James Version; New King James Version = NKJV; The Message = MSG; KNT = Kingdom New Testament)

1 Peter 3:1-7: Likewise, wives, be subject to your own husbands, so that even if some do not obey the word, they may be won without a word by the conduct of their wives, 2 when they see your respectful and pure conduct. 3 Do not let your adorning be external—the braiding of hair and the putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothing you wear— 4 but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God's sight is very precious. 5 For this is how the holy women who hoped in God used to adorn themselves, by submitting to their own husbands, 6 as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord. And you are her children, if you do good and do not fear anything that is frightening.
7 Likewise, husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered (ESV).

• Lord willing, next Lord’s Day, which is Father’s Day, I plan to teach to the husbands from verse 7. So guys, our turn is coming next week.
• Some jokingly and some not so jokingly, have asked why does Peter devote four sentences to Christian wives and only one sentence to Christian husbands?
• Once we understand the culture of Peter’s original recipients of this letter, it makes sense.
• In the culture of Peter’s day, husbands, whether they followed pagan gods or the God of Jews and Christians, were in positions of authority over their wives and children.
• Today’s passage is dealing with Christian wives who had converted from paganism to Christianity after they were already married.
• Gareth Reese does an excellent job at providing the cultural background in which these Christian women lived. He writes:

“The emperor was…the head (father) of the “household” (the state). His subordinates and functionaries derived their authority from his position. Likewise in each family the father had…the absolute right to do anything he wished as head of the family. Everyone in the family (wife, children, [household servants]) was under his power. Anything (be it rebellion or religion) that might tend to undermine the father’s power was viewed as dangerous to the fabric of society and would hardly be tolerated. Now we begin to appreciate the position newly made converts to Christianity were in. If she were converted and the husband was not, her problem was far more difficult than that of her husband. If the husband became a Christian, he would automatically extend his ‘father power’ and expect his wife [and everyone else in his household]…to join him in his new religion. If they followed him, there would be no problem….But if a wife became a Christian, while her husband had not, she had taken a step which in the ancient world was viewed as dangerous, and which could produce the acutest problems. The attitude of the Roman world was that no woman dared make any decision without her husband’s permission. What then, must have been the problems of the wife who became a Christian while her husband remained faithful to the ancestral gods?”—1 & 2 Peter & Jude, p. 65
• So you see, the non-Christian husbands had much to lose socially by giving allegiance to Jesus. Their Christian wives ran the risk of great hardship by not worshiping their husbands’ gods. In fact, they were accused of being atheists. They were called atheists because they believed in only one God, the God of the Bible, and not the gods of Greek and Roman culture.
• So how was a wife who was a devoted follower of Jesus supposed to relate to her husband who was not a follower of Jesus but a follower of the gods?

1 Likewise, wives, be subject to your own husbands,…

• In this statement, Peter acknowledges the God-created institution of marriage with the phrase “your own husband.”
• In fact, there are primarily four God-ordained institutions within the world—marriage & family, government, work, and the church.
• And from 1 Peter 2:13-17 he deals with submission to government authority; 2:18-25 submission to work/employment authority; all of 1 Peter deals with the institution of the church in the world; and today’s passage, 3:1-6 (with v. 7 for next week) submission to authority within the family.
• However, we must remember that for the Christian, first and foremost, our allegiance is to God. When Christians are ordered to do something contrary to God’s will by the government, a spouse, an employer, or especially and sadly church leadership, the Christian is to obey God, to entrust himself or herself to God, and if suffering happens, know for certain that God knows and considers it a gracious thing and will reward them at the appropriate time.

Likewise, wives, be subject to your own husbands,…

• V. 1a, GW: Wives, in a similar way, place yourselves under your husbands’ authority.

• Whether or not the husband is a follower of Jesus, the NT indicates that within the family, the husband is considered the head of his household, following the creation order. Two verses from Paul’s letters:

• 1 Corinthians 11:3: But I want you to understand that the head of every man is Christ, the head of a wife is her husband, and the head of Christ is God. (ESV)

• Ephesians 5:23: For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. (ESV)

• We’ll look at this next week, but understand, husbands, with your authority as head over the wife comes great responsibility to God.
• Regarding the context of 1 Peter 3:1-6, the next question is why should these women who once were pagans but converted to Christianity still be subject to their unbelieving husbands’ authority? Peter answers:

…so that even if some do not obey the word, they may be won without a word by the conduct of their wives, 2 when they see your respectful and pure conduct.

• …so that…indicates the purpose of the command—it’s evangelistic; it’s missions oriented; it’s about the Christian wife, through her behavior, trying to disciple into the family of God her husband who has heard the Good News but is either indifferent to it or has flat out rejected it.
• Vv. 1b-2, GW: Some husbands may not obey God’s word. Their wives could win these men for Christ by the way they live without saying anything. 2 Their husbands would see how pure and reverent their lives are.

• I know some of you have heard this little story before but I’ll tell it again for the sake of those of you who haven’t. And by the way, I was already a Christian when it happened. Nevertheless, I was a Christian who still had some growing up to do. (I still do by the way.)
• Anyway, my wife and I were talking with another believer one day and I suppose I was trying to be a bit humorous and was probably more obnoxious than anything.
• The person we were conversing with looked at Deloris and said, “Why did you marry this guy?” Without hesitation, Deloris replied, “Missions project!”
• Which, you know, is true. Good missionaries not only work to lead people into a saving relationship with Jesus, but also help them mature in that relationship with Jesus. Deloris has certainly influenced me positively in my walk with Christ.
• Getting back to the passage, Peter is saying to these believing wives: “You might just win your husband over to Christ with a wordless sermon of purity and respectful conduct towards him and reverence toward God.
• Godly, respectful conduct born out of a heart transformed by Jesus is powerfully influential on non-believers.
• It’s more powerful than nagging him about following Jesus. He might take the verbal sermonizing as disrespectful to his authority.
• Now later in the chapter, Peter tells us that we are to be ready to tell people the reason of our hope in Christ when appropriate opportunity arises.
• However, our conduct, our behavior, the choices we make in our everyday lives, our routines, attitudes, speech, ethics and so on are to be in agreement with our profession of faith in Jesus. And when we consistently do that, it leads to some people who are initially opposed to the message of the Good News being won over to Christ through the behavior that corresponds to the Good News.

• 1 Peter 2:12: Live decent lives among unbelievers. Then, although they ridicule you as if you were doing wrong while they are watching you do good things, they will praise God on the day he comes to help you. (GW)

• Peter now gives a bit more detail that is applicable today as it was when it was put to paper:

….3 Do not let your adorning be external—the braiding of hair and the putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothing you wear—

• Peter is not saying that women cannot fix their hair or wear any jewelry any more than he’s not saying women should not wear clothes.
• Peter is not saying that a wife should not put forth any effort in making herself presentable and attractive to her husband.
• I had a professor in Bible college who said, “A little bit of makeup applied well never hurt any woman.”
• What Peter is talking about is gaudy, immodest dress, jewelry and hairstyles worn for the purpose of drawing attention.
• “Braiding” is not like what we think of braiding—weaving three strands of hair together. It referred to elaborate knots decorated with jewels and combs and whatnot to catch people’s attention. (Reese)
• Today, some women still go to the hairdresser once a week for an hour or so and go home. In the first century, some well-to-do women spent 10 hours a day, one day a week, at the salon just to get all fixed up into something showy that stuck up 12 inches or more atop her head!
• “putting on of gold” meant an excessive “wrapping around” jewelry.
• Apparently, some Christian wives thought they could win their husbands over to Christ by following the example of the well-to-do pagan wives.
• Peter says that doesn’t work. Paul gives similar guidance:
• 1 Timothy 2:9-10: And I want women to be modest in their appearance…. (There are women and men who profess to follow Jesus who need to look up the definition of modest in the dictionary. There are far too many Christian women wearing blouses cut too low, skirts and shorts cut too high, everything too tight.)… They should wear decent and appropriate clothing and not draw attention to themselves by the way they fix their hair or by wearing gold or pearls or expensive clothes. 10 For women who claim to be devoted to God should make themselves attractive by the good things they do. (NLT)

• Beautiful conduct wins the day… and the husband!
• And it is conduct that comes to the surface from a transformed heart:

4 but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit,…

• This respectful and pure conduct is not superficial. It comes from the deep place of the heart.
• It’s a matter of disposition sanctified by the Spirit and through obedience to the Word of Christ.
• Peter isn’t talking about being weak or a pushover. He’s talking about the very opposite—a persuasive, gentle strength that over time may very well draw the husband to the Christ being exalted by her consistent, reverent conduct!
• Like all Christian character, a gentle and quiet spirit is a matter of spiritual transformation over time.

• 2 Corinthians 4:16b: That is why we are not discouraged. Though outwardly we are wearing out, inwardly we are renewed day by day. (GW)

• Notice:… the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit,…
• Lawrence Richards writes, “Outward appearance fades. Inward beauty increases with the years.” 365-Day Devotional Commentary, p. 1112
• And even if the husband doesn’t seem to notice or appreciate this gentle and quiet spirit as he should, God does: the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God's sight is very precious.

• Now Peter goes back into Jewish history for a prime example of what he’s written:

…5 For this is how the holy women who hoped in God used to adorn themselves, by submitting to their own husbands, 6 as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord.

• Of all the godly women recorded in the OT, Peter singles out Sarah as the prime example of the character he’s talking about. Sarah wasn’t perfect at it, but over a long period of time, that was the tone of her conduct.
• Peter is specifically referring to Genesis 18:12 when Sarah finds out that in her and Abraham’s old age, she’s going to have a baby: So she laughed to herself: “After I am worn out and my lord is old, will I have delight?” (ESV)
• She referred to her husband respectfully.
• Husbands, don’t be telling your wife to call you “lord”! Just pay attention to her respectful behavior that flows out of a quiet, gentle spirit from the heart.
• Wives, even if your husband is already a Christian, letting Christ transform your character into what Peter describes will help make him more Christlike if he’s wise enough to notice.
• I know I’m a bit biased, but when I think of a lady who demonstrates the character Peter describes, I think of my wife, Deloris.
• And even though I’m already a follower of Jesus, Deloris’ gentle and quiet spirit has consistently persuaded me to see things in a better light—God’s light.
• She is no pushover. She’s a godly woman of great spiritual strength of gentleness and quiet that is also powerfully persuasive. I know that I married up, that I got the better side of the deal!
• In my view, Deloris is a daughter of Sarah:

…And you are her children, if you do good and do not fear anything that is frightening.

• Peter now indicates that by practicing allegiance to Jesus, the husband still might get upset and be intimidating to her.

• V. 6b, NLT: You are her daughters when you do what is right without fear of what your husbands might do.
• V. 6b, CSB: You have become her children when you do what is good and do not fear any intimidation.

• Christian wives of non-Christian husbands were limited in their options, but Peter wanted them to pursue peace without being intimidated.
• “The Christian’s ultimate allegiance is to God, and when God and husband contradict, the wife obeys God!”—Gareth Reese, 1 & 2 Peter & Jude, p. 67
• By entrusting themselves to God the Father as Jesus did when he suffered will give them courage not to be intimidated by their husbands.

Vv. 1-6, The Message: 1-4 The same goes for you wives: Be good wives to your husbands, responsive to their needs. There are husbands who, indifferent as they are to any words about God, will be captivated by your life of holy beauty. What matters is not your outer appearance—the styling of your hair, the jewelry you wear, the cut of your clothes—but your inner disposition.
4-6 Cultivate inner beauty, the gentle, gracious kind that God delights in. The holy women of old were beautiful before God that way, and were good, loyal wives to their husbands. Sarah, for instance, taking care of Abraham, would address him as “my dear husband.” You’ll be true daughters of Sarah if you do the same, unanxious and unintimidated.

Let’s spend some time reflecting on what God’s Word has shown us—all of us, men and women alike. Please write down your answers to these questions using the acronym SPECK
• Sin to confess?
• Prayer, promise or praise to hold onto?
• Example to follow?
• Command to obey?
• Knowledge to retain?

Prayer Guide for Week of June 14, 2020

First Christian Church, Owensville, IN

NOTE: Except for section headings, bold type indicates the unison response of everyone when praying in a group.

Quotes on prayer:

“Anyone who, neglecting that fixed hour of prayer, [will] say he can pray at all times but will probably end in praying at no time.” ― Eric Liddell

“Do not have your concert first, and then tune your instrument afterwards. Begin the day with the Word of God and prayer, and get first of all into harmony with Him.”—Hudson Taylor

Colossians 4:2: Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving. (ESV)

Adoration: Praise Sovereign God for His attributes, for who He is and what He is like in this passage:

2 Corinthians 1:3-5: 3 All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is our merciful Father and the source of all comfort. 4 He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us. 5 For the more we suffer for Christ, the more God will shower us with his comfort through Christ. (NLT)

For ________________, Mighty God. We give you praise!

Confession:
Proverbs 28:13: People who conceal their sins will not prosper, but if they confess and turn from them, they will receive mercy. (NLT)

Romans 5:8-9: 8 But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. 9 And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God’s condemnation. (NLT)

• Ask the Holy Spirit to show you anything in your life that is displeasing to Him and confess it to Him.

I confess ______________, forgiving God. Forgive us our sins. (If prayed aloud with others.)

Thanksgiving: In light of the following passages and anything else the Spirit reminds you of, let us thank God for what he’s done.

Revelation 7:11-12: 11 And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living beings. And they fell before the throne with their faces to the ground and worshiped God. 12 They sang,
“Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom
and thanksgiving and honor
and power and strength belong to our God
forever and ever! Amen.” (NLT)

For _______________, loving God. We give you thanks.

Supplication (Humble Petitions) & Intercession:

1 Timothy 2:1-4: First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, 2 for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. 3 This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. (ESV)

• Pray to our merciful God about anything/anyone the Spirit puts on your heart to pray.

For _____________, Merciful God. Hear our prayer.

• After reading and thinking about the following passage, pray to our merciful God as the Spirit guides you.

1 Peter 3:1-4: Likewise, wives, be subject to your own husbands, so that even if some do not obey the word, they may be won without a word by the conduct of their wives, 2 when they see your respectful and pure conduct. 3 Do not let your adorning be external—the braiding of hair and the putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothing you wear— 4 but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God's sight is very precious. (ESV)

For _____________, Merciful God. Hear our prayer.

Benediction: The Lord’s Model Prayer

Our Father which art in heaven,
Hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come,
Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen. (Matthew 6:9-13, KJV)

Lord's Day Sermon, June 7, 2020: "Returning Good for Evil"

1 Peter 3:8-12
First Christian Church, Owensville, IN
June 7, 2020

Bart W. Newton, Preaching Minister

Below is only a skeleton outline of main points, Scriptures and quotations of the message presented via Facebook Live on June 7, 2020.

(Abbreviations for Bible translations that may be quoted: ESV = English Standard Version; NLT = New Living Translation; CSB = Christian Standard Bible; GW = God’s Word; Amplified Bible = AMP; KJV = King James Version; New King James Version = NKJV; The Message = MSG; KNT = Kingdom New Testament)

• Through the Word of God the Son, God the Father created all things.
• When God created human beings, He created us in His image.
• We sinned, we rebelled, against God, separating us from His intimate presence and casting us out of His family.
• But according to God’s plan that was already made, through Christ, He made a way for us—His image bearers, to be brought back into His family through faith in Jesus.
• Jesus Christ, fully divine and fully human, God-Man, bore the sins of God’s image bearers in His body on the cross that we might be dead to sin and able to live right lives before God. Through Christ’s unjustly received wounds, we were healed of our self-inflicted wounds of sin.
• Through faith in/allegiance to Jesus, not only are we forgiven of our sins, but our relationship with God is restored. We’re adopted into His family and His Holy Spirit is given to us to live in us, to be God’s immediate presence to guide, comfort, correct us and to identify us as His children.
• Jesus died for all mankind regardless of the color of our skin for all mankind bears His image and all mankind sinned against Him.
• Not only that, but all mankind rebels against all mankind because of selfishness, including racial, ethnic and socio-economic differences
• Over the past week and a half, we have once again been reminded of the necessity of the Incarnation—the taking on of human flesh—of the eternal Word, Jesus.
• Only a genuine, transforming relationship with Jesus is the solution to our racist tendencies, regardless of the color of our skin.
• Only through the Spirit of Christ and humble obedience to His Word can we be transformed into His likeness.
• George Floyd died needlessly and unjustly. Lives were disrupted, hearts were broken, pain was inflicted, families wounded.
• At the same time that legitimate, peaceful protests began, opportunists of various colors inflicted more pain and needless destruction onto the Floyd family, as well as to thousands upon thousands of innocent others.
• How does our local white church respond, particularly in regards to our brothers and sisters in Christ who are black and who are our equals before God?

• Galatians 3:26-28: 26 For you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus. 27 And all who have been united with Christ in baptism have put on Christ, like putting on new clothes. 28 There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female. (And we can legitimately say black and or white or Latino or Asian). For you are all one in Christ Jesus. (NLT)

• Well for one, Paul tells us in Romans 12:15b: …weep with those who weep. (CSB)
• Jesus tells us in Luke 6:31: Just as you want others to do for you, do the same for them. (CSB)
• James, the ½ brother of Jesus, commands us in James 1:19-20: 19 My dear brothers and sisters, understand this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger, 20 for human anger does not accomplish God’s righteousness. (CSB)

• In our study of 1 Peter, the apostle Peter has reminded us that everything God calls us to do throughout this letter flows out of the hope of our eternal salvation (1:3-13) and our identity as God’s children (2:4-10).
• Our identity includes being a royal, holy priesthood, a holy nation, a chosen race (regardless of the color of our skin).
• And today’s passage provides us eternal truth applicable to this country’s current events.

1 Peter 3:8-12: 8 Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind. 9 Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing. 10 For
“Whoever desires to love life
and see good days,
let him keep his tongue from evil
and his lips from speaking deceit;
11 let him turn away from evil and do good;
let him seek peace and pursue it.
12 For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous,
and his ears are open to their prayer.
But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.” (ESV)

Prayer

8 Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind.

What Peter writes is for every Christian—“Finally, all of you.” No exceptions!... have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind.

• “If as a whole [Christians] behave positively and beautifully towards each other, Christianity will be more attractive to the outsiders…Each of the members of a congregation are part of a team, and it hurts when one or more of the church members is not consistent in his witness, for if one of the team lets down, the whole team suffers.” --Gareth Reese, 1 & 2 Peter & Jude, p. 74

• Remember, whatever the individual Christian chooses to do at any given time is what the church is choosing to do at any given time for each of us are living stones that make up the spiritual temple of God in the world!
• If you or I choose to do good, the church is doing good. If you or I choose to do bad, the church is doing bad.
• What Peter instructs is directed primarily with relations between fellow Christians, but can mostly apply with non-believers as well. The instructions have to do with how we relate to one another.
• So Peter says to…

…have unity of mind,… (harmonious, like-minded)

…sympathy, …

• “sympathetic” carries with it the idea of getting involved in the other person’s life as opposed to being aloof and indifferent. It speaks of entering into each other’s feelings and showing regard and concern for each other’s welfare.” –Gareth Reese, p. 74

… brotherly love,…

• My education hero is Booker T. Washington. I’ve read a few biographies of him, including his classic autobiography Up from Slavery, which I encourage everyone to read.
• When I was in graduate school studying adult education, I chose to write a term paper regarding Booker T. Washington’s holistic view of education of adults.
• When I had the privilege of serving of as director of a brand new, public alternative school for middle and high school students who had chronic behavior problems and/or academic failure, the staff and I tried to operate it following Booker T. Washington’s view that education should involve not just one’s head, but the hands and heart as well.
• Washington rightly declared, “Great men cultivate love...only little men cherish a spirit of hatred.”—Booker T. Washington (via azquotes.com)

…a tender heart,… (kindhearted, compassionate)

• You ever notice how often in the Gospel accounts Jesus is described as feeling compassion or being moved with compassion toward sinners so much so that he would spend time teaching them, healing them, feeding them?
• I remember the late Jim Reed, a former elder of FCC, counseling me in my driveway around 19 years ago, saying, “Bart, you need to have a tough skin and a tender heart.”

…and a humble mind.

• “Humble in spirit” = inner attitude of voluntary submissiveness to authority. It’s 180 degrees from haughtiness and high mindedness.
• It’s what Jesus did when He voluntarily submitted to the Father’s will, and laid aside His privileges, took on human flesh, became a servant, and humbled Himself even to the point of death on a cross in order for people to be reunited with God’s intimate presence.

9 Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling,

• v. 9a, GW: Don’t pay people back with evil for the evil they do to you, or ridicule those who ridicule you.

• Remember 1 Peter 2:23: When [Jesus] was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly?

• v. 9: Andreas (7th Century) writes, “What is humility? It is to bear the insults of others, to accept sins against oneself, to bear punishments. Indeed this is not just humility, but prudence as well.” –Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture, New Testament, Vol. XI, p. 102

…but on the contrary, bless,

• Luke 6:28: Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who insult you. (GW)

• v. 9, to bless: “Bless means to speak well of, to call down God’s blessings on them, and to actively do appropriate deeds to minister to them” –Gareth Reese

…for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing.

• Instead, bless them, because you were called to inherit a blessing by blessing those who insult you!
• Just as we were called to follow in Jesus’s steps and go through periods of enduring the sorrows of unjust suffering, we are called to inherit the blessing that comes from doing good to those who do evil and insult us!

Remember, it isn’t the conduct of others that is to determine our conduct, but the example of our Lord to whom we belong!

• vv. 10-12 see Psalm 34:12-16:
• At the beginning of our time together, Corey read Psalm 34.
• Psalm 34 has been called “’an ancient recipe for a happy life.’” (Reese)

10 For
“Whoever desires to love life
and see good days,
let him keep his tongue from evil
and his lips from speaking deceit;
11 let him turn away from evil and do good;

• 1 Peter 2:15: For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. (ESV)
• 1 Peter 4:19: Therefore let those who suffer according to God's will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good. (ESV)

… let him seek peace and pursue it.

• v. 11b, NLT: Search for peace, and work to maintain it.

• “The followers of Christ have been called to peace. . . . And they must not only have peace but make it. And to that end they renounce all violence and tumult. In the cause of Christ nothing is to be gained by such methods . . . . His disciples keep the peace by choosing to endure suffering themselves rather than inflict it on others. They maintain fellowship where others would break it off. They renounce hatred and wrong. In so doing they overcome evil with good, and establish the peace of God in the midst of a world of war and hate.”—Dietrich Bonhoeffer via azquotes.com

12 For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous,
and his ears are open to their prayer.

• “The first service one owes to others in a community involves listening to them. Just as our love for God begins with listening to God’s Word, the beginning of love for others is learning to listen to them. God’s love for us is shown by the fact that God not only gives God’s Word but also lends us God’s ear. . . . We do God’s work for our brothers and sisters when we learn to listen to them." —Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together

• Perhaps the best supervisor I ever had is an African-American man. Though I’ve not seen him for over 20 years, his good example of what it means to be Christian image-bearer of God, still influences me. My experience with him was one in which he demonstrated a character of love, strength, integrity, grace, humility, and Christian faith. He happened to be very intelligent, wise, and discerning. He loved people of every shade, and he particularly loved the underprivileged and did all he could do to help them. One of the chief ways he helped was by first listening with a Christian ear.

• This past week, I spent some time talking with a black brother in Christ whom I also consider a friend. He’s a man I respect highly and whose opinion and insights on society and the church I value.
• He said to me that Christians of all people should know how to enter into the space where people are suffering in order to suffer with them.
• And though American churches have struggled with addressing social challenges, one thing we can do and need to do is to listen to our brothers and sisters who are suffering, including, and especially now, our black brothers and sisters.
• I asked him how could I and the rest of this congregation rightly respond to the events surrounding George Floyd’s unjust treatment and death and all it represents.
• His simple, initial answer was to the effect that if we are truly seeking God’s way to respond, God will provide it.
• You know what, He does. But, we must listen to Him through whatever avenue He speaks!
• And it’s often in simple, everyday acts of kindness that happen when you least expect it.
• Jesus has not given me permission to share with you the details of what happened two days after our discussion, but let me share with you that right here in our small, almost entirely white community, God provided me a way to promote peace and both bless (I hope) and be blessed by (I know) some African Americans through kindness and simple hospitality. God even provided us a little time to be in prayer together though we were strangers to one another.
• The eyes of the Lord are on those trying to do right in His eyes, and his ears are open to our prayers.

…But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.” (ESV)

• Regarding Peter’s referencing of Psalm 34:12-16, Bede (late 7th, early 8th Centuries) writes that “Peter reminds us…that God keeps an eye on both the good and bad and will reward us in eternity for the kindness which we show when we choose to do good to those who persecute us. Furthermore, he will also punish our persecutors if they do not repent, but if they do repent we shall also receive a crown of thanksgiving, because we have prayed to the Lord for their salvation.” – “On 1 Peter”, Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture, New Testament, Vol. XI, p. 102
• Let me read today’s passage again, this time from The Message translation:

vv. 8-12, The Message: Summing up: Be agreeable, be sympathetic, be loving, be compassionate, be humble. That goes for all of you, no exceptions. No retaliation. No sharp-tongued sarcasm. Instead, bless—that’s your job, to bless. You’ll be a blessing and also get a blessing.
Whoever wants to embrace life
and see the day fill up with good,
Here’s what you do:
Say nothing evil or hurtful;
Snub evil and cultivate good;
run after peace for all you’re worth.
God looks on all this with approval,
listening and responding well to what he’s asked;
But he turns his back
on those who do evil things.

In light of the Holy Scripture referenced in this sermon, please write down your answers to these questions using the acronym SPECK:

• Sin to confess?
• Prayer, promise or praise to hold onto?
• Example to follow?
• Command to obey?
• Knowledge to retain?

Prayer Guide for the Week of June 7, 2020

First Christian Church, Owensville, IN
June 7, 2020

NOTE: Except for section headings, bold type indicates the unison response of everyone when praying in a group.

Quotes on Prayer:

“A Christian fellowship lives and exists by the intercession of its members for one another, or it collapses. I can no longer condemn or hate a brother for whom I pray, no matter how much trouble he causes me. His face, that hitherto may have been strange and intolerable to me, is transformed in intercession into the countenance of a brother for whom Christ died, the face of a forgiven sinner. Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Life Together, p.65

1 Peter 3:12: The eyes of the Lord watch over those who do right,
and his ears are open to their prayers.
But the Lord turns his face
against those who do evil.” (NLT)

Adoration: Praise Sovereign God for His attributes, for who He is and what He is like in this passage:

1 Timothy 3:16: The mystery that gives us our reverence for God is acknowledged to be great:
He appeared in his human nature,
was approved by the Spirit,
was seen by angels,
was announced throughout the nations,
was believed in the world,
and was taken to heaven in glory. (GW)

For ________________, Mighty God. We give you praise!

Confession: Ask the Holy Spirit to show you anything in your life that is displeasing to Him and confess it to Him.

Colossians 1:21-23a: Once you were separated from God. The evil things you did showed your hostile attitude. But now Christ has brought you back to God by dying in his physical body. He did this so that you could come into God’s presence without sin, fault, or blame. This is on the condition that you continue in faith without being moved from the solid foundation of the hope that the Good News contains. (GW)

I confess ______________, forgiving God. Forgive us our sins. (If prayed aloud with others.)

Thanksgiving: In light of the following passages and anything else the Spirit reminds you of, let us thank God for what he’s done.

Galatians 3:26-28: For you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus. And all who have been united with Christ in baptism have put on Christ, like putting on new clothes. There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus. (NLT)

For _______________, loving God. We give you thanks.

Supplication (Humble Petitions) & Intercession:

1 Timothy 2:1-2: I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people. Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them. Pray this way for kings and all who are in authority so that we can live peaceful and quiet lives marked by godliness and dignity. (NLT)

• Pray to our merciful God about anything/anyone the Spirit puts on your heart to pray.

For _____________, Merciful God. Hear our prayer.

• After reading and thinking about the following passages, pray to our merciful God as the Spirit guides you.

James 1:19-20: My dear brothers and sisters, understand this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger, for human anger does not accomplish God’s righteousness. (CSB)

For _____________, Merciful God. Hear our prayer.

1 Peter 3:8-9: Finally, all of you should be of one mind. Sympathize with each other. Love each other as brothers and sisters. Be tenderhearted, and keep a humble attitude. Don’t repay evil for evil. Don’t retaliate with insults when people insult you. Instead, pay them back with a blessing. That is what God has called you to do, and he will grant you his blessing.

For _____________, Merciful God. Hear our prayer.

Benediction: The Lord’s Prayer

Our Father which art in heaven,
Hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come,
Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen. (Matthew 6:9-13, KJV)

Lord's Day Sermon, May 31, 2020: "Doing the Gracious Thing when Suffering for Doing Good”

1 Peter 2:18-25
First Christian Church, Owensville, IN
May 31, 2020

Below is only a skeleton outline of main points, Scriptures and quotations of the message presented via Facebook Live on May 31, 2020.

(Abbreviations for Bible translations that may be quoted: ESV = English Standard Version; NLT = New Living Translation; CSB = Christian Standard Bible; GW = God’s Word; Amplified Bible = AMP; KJV = King James Version; New King James Version = NKJV; The Message = MSG; KNT = Kingdom New Testament)

• Have you every suffered unjustly for doing what is right in God’s eyes? Maybe you were asked/told to do something unethical or even illegal by your boss or by someone with authority over you but you chose to do the right thing you knew God wanted you to do. And then you suffered for it. You didn’t lose your job, but you also didn’t get that promotion or maybe you were demoted or received a cut in pay. How did you respond? How should you respond?
• Peter tells us to do the gracious thing. What is that? Well, let’s see.
• To set the context, let’s read verses 11-25, realizing that we’ve already studied verses 11-17.

1 Peter 2:11-25:
11 Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. 12 Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.

13 Be subject for the Lord's sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, 14 or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good. 15 For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. 16 Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God. 17 Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor.
18 Servants, be subject to your masters with all respect, not only to the good and gentle but also to the unjust. 19 For this is a gracious thing, when, mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly. 20 For what credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? But if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God. 21 For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. 22 He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. 23 When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. 24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. 25 For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls. (ESV)

Prayer

• Everything God calls us to do in 1 Peter flows out of the hope of our eternal salvation (1:3-13) and our identity as God’s children (2:4-10)
• It’s important for us to remember that when Peter emphasizes the importance of our conduct (behavior) he does it on the basis of who we are in Christ—our identity—and the hope of eternal salvation.
• Peter isn’t being legalistic; he’s not promoting salvation by good works.
• No, it’s a matter of honoring God by showing Him gratitude for our new identities, benefiting the church universal, and being faithful witness to the lost world for which Christ died and rose from the grave.
• We do good because we’ve received God’s mercy and become God’s people.

How do we live good lives among unbelievers when it comes to relating to governing authorities, work superiors, and marriage?

• Back in late March or early April, we studied verses 13-17.

We learned:
• Christians are to submit to the governing authorities in order to seek the common good because that is pleasing to Jesus (vv. 13-17).
• But remember, God wants Christians to submit to human rulers insofar as they do not demand disobedience to his will. However, we must not cross any line that compromises our obedience to God’s will. And even if we must go against the State, we mustn’t promote rebellion and violence. We must bear faithful witness to Christ.
• When Christians conduct ourselves responsibly as citizens in our nation, there are three positive results.
• First, we silence ignorant talk (v. 15)
• Second, we demonstrate the proper use of freedom (v. 16)
• Third, we establish a healthy climate for relationships with others (v. 17)

• Appropriate submission within the marriage relationship (3:1-7)

• Today, we’re going to focus on 2:18-25, submission to authorities in our work (employers, bosses, supervisors, etc.)
• And even within the boss/worker relationship, there are things we can apply to all relationships.
• So let’s begin looking at verses 18-25.

18 Servants, be subject to your masters with all respect, not only to the good and gentle but also to the unjust.

• Servants is a reference to household servants or household slaves which made up a large portion of the Roman Empire population of Peter’s day.
• Apparently, there was a significant number of them who converted to Christianity; Peter gives them these specific instructions.
• And even though they were the property of their masters, they were still members of God’s royal and holy priesthood, still members of God’s holy nation and chosen race, and were not just the property of their earthly masters, they were people of God’s own possession!
• Their loyalty to God was to outrank their loyalty to their masters which was not necessarily easy because many of them were not treated well by their masters.
• In fact, verse 20 indicates that some of them were beaten by their masters on a regular basis.
• Even so, Peter tells them to be subject to their masters, even if they are not good and gentle towards them.
• However, their submission to their masters is to done “with all respect” or “with all reverence,” meaning not just toward their masters, but especially to God.
• Remember that in verse 17, Christians are to honor everyone, while at the same time have a reverential fear of God.
• And if they do that, it will mean that they will choose to do good—to do what is right—even if it is against their master’s wishes.
• “The Christian slaves are to carry out their role in such a way that their primary allegiance [to God] is not compromised.” –Gareth L. Reese, Peter and Jude, p. 57
• So, Peter’s emphasis has to do with suffering for doing absolutely nothing wrong and even more so, choosing to do what is right in God’s eyes against the master’s wishes because God has authority even over the master.

• Colossians 3:22-24: 22 Bondservants, obey in everything those who are your earthly masters, not by way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord. 23 Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, 24 knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ. (ESV)

• Let’s pause here for a moment to make application to today’s work environment in the U.S.
• Gratefully, we no longer have slavery in the United States. All of us are created equal in God’s sight regardless of color and ethnicity. We are all equally loved by God and bear His image, though all of us have sinned.
• But we do have the institution of work. We have employers and employees, business owners over managers, supervisors over workers.
• And these relationships are not always harmonious and sometimes employers and supervisors don’t like it when a Christian employee chooses to do what is good and right and honest against the employers’/supervisors’ wishes.
• How are Christians to respond when our employer, supervisor, or board of directors or anyone for that matter, treats us unjustly, especially if there seems to not be the option of finding another job right away? How does God view the situation?

19 For this is a gracious thing, when, mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly.
• mindful of God =aware of His presence and His will.

• V. 19, GW: God is pleased if a person is aware of him while enduring the pains of unjust suffering.

• “unjustly” means the servant/employee had done nothing to deserve the bad treatment.
• “Every Christian who is wronged has a wonderful opportunity to show a spirit which will honor the gospel.” –Gareth L. Reese, Jude & Peter, p. 58.

20 For what credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure?

…But if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God.

• Did you notice that two times, once in verse 19 and once in verse 20, Peter says that to suffer unjustly for doing what pleases God is a “gracious thing”?
• At the same time we’re mindful of God as we choose to do right even though we suffer for it (v. 19), God is watching us make that choice and suffer for it!
• And God says that our loyalty to Him, even if it means suffering for doing good, is a gracious thing!
• It is gracious because it reflects the attitude and choice Christ demonstrated during the crucifixion ordeal:

21 For to this you have been called,…

• When we entered into a saving relationship with God the Father through faith in Christ the Son, we also received our calling to obey God’s will even if it means suffering like Jesus suffered—unjustly.

So how do we fulfill this calling?

…because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps.

• Jesus suffered unjustly, not only to pay for our sins, but leave us an example, a pattern, to follow.
• Example = means like a pattern to copy, such as an alphabet.
• Remember in school, the alphabet in either print/manuscript or cursive above the chalk (white board) that we would try to copy?
• Fulfilling the call to be holy may very well involve suffering unjustly at the hands of unbelievers.
• Christ suffered for us; we suffer for Him by following in His steps.
• Remember Charles Sheldon’s classic book In His Steps (WWJD)? It was inspired by this very verse. And the book is what inspired WWJD—”What would Jesus do?”
• 2 Timothy 3:12: Those who try to live a godly life because they believe in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. (GW)
• Christians often say, and rightly so, that we want to become more like Jesus. We want to experience transformation into His likeness. We want to progress in our sanctification. And we want to lead people to Christ.
• Well, if we’re going to become more like Him, we’re going to be called to experience some of what He experienced.
• We cannot die to pay for ours or anyone else’s sins. Jesus was the only one who could do that because He was sinless. Besides, His death was sufficient to pay for our sins and satisfied God’s wrath.
• But we can suffer at the hands of sinful people for doing the will of the Father! And we can patiently endure suffering so that we might eventually bring those who cause us unjust suffering to Christ so their lives will be changed as ours have been changed!
• “We will never find the full freedom promised in the gospel if all we want from Jesus is relief.”—James Wilhoit, Spiritual Formation as if the Church Mattered
• By the gift of the Holy Spirit, the direction of His Word, the fellowship of the Church, and our free will, Jesus has enabled us to handle unfair treatment the way He handled it.
• Maybe you’re going through something right now at work.
• Maybe it has nothing to do with work, maybe it’s another sphere of your life in which others are treating you unjustly, falsely accusing and slandering you, spreading unfounded gossip about you.

• What do we do? Follow the example of the sinless Jesus:

22 He committed no sin,…

• Not one time did Jesus ever disobey God’s law. Not one time did Jesus fail to do what was right; not one time did He choose to do what was wrong.
• We are not sinless, but through Jesus our lives no longer are to be sinful.
• 1 John 1:7: 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. (ESV)
• 1 John 2:3-6: 3 And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. 4 Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, 5 but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him: 6 whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked. (ESV)

… neither was deceit found in his mouth.

• Jesus was always truthful; He never lied or tricked anyone.

23 When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; …

• V. 23a, GW: Christ never verbally abused those who verbally abused him.
• Jesus was called many bad things and falsely accused of bad things, but He never threatened retaliation even when He spoke.
• Prophesying about the actual trial and crucifixion event, we find….
• Isaiah 53:7: He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,
yet he opened not his mouth;
like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,
and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,
so he opened not his mouth.

…when he suffered, he did not threaten…
• Jesus was struck in the face, crowned with thorns, beaten with a reed, scourged, and nailed to a tree/cross.
• And how did He respond? “Father, forgive them for they don’t know what they are doing.”
• How was Jesus able to do that?

…but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly.

• Jesus never stopped trusting and obeying His Father’s will.
• Remember that God knows, God cares, and He’s the final judge.
• Romans 12:19-20: 19 Dear friends, never take revenge. Leave that to the righteous anger of God. For the Scriptures say,
“I will take revenge;
I will pay them back,”
says the Lord.
20 Instead,
“If your enemies are hungry, feed them.
If they are thirsty, give them something to drink.
In doing this, you will heap
burning coals of shame on their heads.” (NLT)

It isn’t the conduct of others that is to determine our conduct, but the example of our Lord to whom we belong!

• Remember, just as our primary identity is being a child of God; so our primary allegiance is to Him who gave us our identity through faith in Christ.
• So by patiently enduring unjust suffering, we might just win others to Christ by our example!
• When Jesus was setting the example of how to bare up under unjust treatment for doing God’s will, what else was He doing?
• Peter now shares what he saw with his own eyes:

24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree,

• Isaiah 53:4-5: 4 Surely he has borne our griefs
and carried our sorrows…
5 But he was pierced for our transgressions;
he was crushed for our iniquities…
6band the Lord has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.
12... he bore the sin of many,

• Why, simply that we might be forgiven our sins? That and much, much more:

…that we might die to sin and live to righteousness.

• V. 24a, GW: Christ carried our sins in his body on the cross so that freed from our sins, we could live a life that has God’s approval.

• Romans 6:11-12: 11 So you also should consider yourselves to be dead to the power of sin and alive to God through Christ Jesus. 12 Do not let sin control the way you live; do not give in to sinful desires (NLT)

24bBy his wounds you have been healed.

• Isaiah 53:5b…upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
and with his wounds we are healed.
• We are not only healed from our wrongs, but from wrongs done to us. It may take some time for the scars to heal, but the wounds are healed.

25 For you were straying like sheep,…

• Isaiah 53:6a: All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have turned—every one—to his own way

…but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.

• Overseer = guardian, protector, guide, director.
• Jesus is here to help us endure unjust suffering that comes from doing what is good and right in or Father’s eyes.

Reread and meditate on 1 Peter 2:18-25. Based upon the passage, please write down your answers to these questions which make up the acrostic SPECK. Is there a(n)…
• Sin to confess?
• Prayer, promise or praise to hold onto?
• Example to follow?
• Command to obey?
• Knowledge to retain?

Prayer Guide for the Week of May 31, 2020

First Christian Church, Owensville, IN
May 31, 2020

Quotes on prayer:

“Prayer is essentially the practice of the presence of God, and that is the road to Heaven. There is no alternative. God is the only game in town. All other roads are dead ends. Since we must give our all to the one true God, we must not give any part to idols, to the many false gods that now bite away at our lives.”— Peter Kreeft (2000). Prayer for Beginners, p.93, Ignatius Press via azquotes.com

“Prayer is fundamentally a transformation of will, a lifting of the heart and will to God.”—Peter Kreeft via azquotes.com

Adoration: After reflecting on the following verses, praise Sovereign God for His attributes, for who He is and what He is like:

Revelation 1:8: “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”(ESV)

1 Peter 2:25: 25 For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls. (ESV)

For ________________, Mighty God. We give you praise!

Confession: Ask the Holy Spirit to show you anything in your life that is displeasing to Him and confess it to Him. Are there any sinful desires you’ve given in to that should be confessed and repented of?

1 John 1:8-10: If we say that we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and refusing to accept the truth. But if we confess our sins to him, he can be depended on to forgive us and to cleanse us from every wrong. And it is perfectly proper for God to do this for us because Christ died to wash away our sins.* If we claim we have not sinned, we are lying and calling God a liar, for he says we have sinned. (TLB)

I confess ______________, forgiving God. Forgive us our sins. (If prayed aloud with others.)

Thanksgiving: In light of the following passages and anything else the Spirit reminds you of, let us thank God for what He has done & does.

Ephesians 5:20: Always thank God the Father for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. (GW)

For _______________, loving God. We give you thanks.

Supplication (Humble Petitions) & Intercession:

1 Timothy 2:1-2: I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people. Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them. 2 Pray this way for kings and all who are in authority so that we can live peaceful and quiet lives marked by godliness and dignity. (NLT)

• In addition to our nation’s current civil unrest, pray to our merciful God about anything/anyone the Spirit puts on your heart to pray.

For _____________, Merciful God. Hear our prayer.

After reading and thinking about the following passages, pray to our merciful God as the Spirit guides you.

1 Peter 2:13-17: Make the Master proud of you by being good citizens. Respect the authorities, whatever their level; they are God’s emissaries for keeping order. It is God’s will that by doing good, you might cure the ignorance of the fools who think you’re a danger to society. Exercise your freedom by serving God, not by breaking the rules. Treat everyone you meet with dignity. Love your spiritual family. Revere God. Respect the government. (Msg)

For _____________, Merciful God. Hear our prayer.

1 Peter 2:21-23: This is the kind of life you’ve been invited into, the kind of life Christ lived. He suffered everything that came his way so you would know that it could be done, and also know how to do it, step-by-step.
He never did one thing wrong,
Not once said anything amiss.
They called him every name in the book and he said nothing back. He suffered in silence, content to let God set things right. (TLB)

For _____________, Merciful God. Hear our prayer.

1 Peter 3:8-12: 8 Finally, all of you should be of one mind. Sympathize with each other. Love each other as brothers and sisters. Be tenderhearted, and keep a humble attitude. 9 Don’t repay evil for evil. Don’t retaliate with insults when people insult you. Instead, pay them back with a blessing. That is what God has called you to do, and he will grant you his blessing. 10 For the Scriptures say,
“If you want to enjoy life
and see many happy days,
keep your tongue from speaking evil
and your lips from telling lies.
11 Turn away from evil and do good.
Search for peace, and work to maintain it.
12 The eyes of the Lord watch over those who do right,
and his ears are open to their prayers.
But the Lord turns his face
against those who do evil.” (NLT)

For _____________, Merciful God. Hear our prayer.

Benediction: The Lord’s Model Prayer

Our Father which art in heaven,
Hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come,
Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen. (Matthew 6:9-13, KJV)

From the Heart of Bart

This article was first published in the June 2020 print edition of the Owensville First Christian Church Newsletter.

Moving forward through this COVID-19 season, there is so much we do not know except that God is sovereign. Lord willing, according to the “Back on Track Indiana” plan, the state will be fully “reopened” on July 4, 2020. When we get to that point, I hope we can share with each other the many ways the Lord provided and guided FCC and her leadership since mid-March. However, I will share with you a few things our Father revealed to me thus far through His Word, sometimes from my own reading of it and sometimes through other children of His.

Early on, while viewing the COVID-19-related webinar “Transformation in a Changing World” led by Dr. Jody Owens, I was introduced to this prayer by Thomas Merton from his book Thoughts in Solitude:

My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going.
I do not see the road ahead of me.
I cannot know for certain where it will end.
nor do I really know myself,
and the fact that I think I am following your will
does not mean that I am actually doing so.
But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you.
And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing.
I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire.
And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road,
though I may know nothing about it.
Therefore will I trust you always though
I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death.
I will not fear, for you are ever with me,
and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.

Can you identify with Merton’s sentiments? It’s pretty much how I’ve felt along the way. The elders, deacons and I often expressed hints of this prayer in our prayers.

As we moved along day by day, week by week, God taught some of us reading this that He’s stayed with us, taught us new things about worship, being the church, and the importance of striving after God’s heart in prayer as individuals, families, and church. He used grief, anxieties, uncertainties, ancient practices and newer technologies to draw us to Him in trust and to one another for comfort, accountability, encouragement, and mutual spiritual transformation by the Spirit. Therefore, He caught my heart when I read one morning before dawn:

Let me hear what God the Lord will speak,
for he will speak peace to his people, to his saints;
but let them not turn back to folly (Psalm 85:8, ESV).

That last phrase is a reminder to me—to us—that we don’t necessarily want everything to go back to “normal.” What we should want comes through the prophet Jeremiah:

This is what the Lord says:
“Stand at the crossroads and look;
ask for the ancient paths,
ask where the good way is, and walk in it,
and you will find rest for your souls. (Jeremiah 6:16, NIV)

Remember this bit of counsel I received from Dr. Jody Owens: “The goal isn’t to preserve what we had, but to ask ‘What will we be in this new reality?’”

May the peace of Christ be with you,

Bart W. Newton

Preaching Minister

Prayer Guide for the Week of May 24, 2020

First Christian Church, Owensville, IN
May 24, 2020

Quotes on prayer:

“Jesus's resurrection is the beginning of God's new project not to snatch people away from earth to heaven but to colonize earth with the life of heaven. That, after all, is what the Lord's Prayer is about.”—N.T. Wright

“The greatness of prayer is nothing but an extension of the greatness and glory of God in our lives To fail to pray, then, is not to merely break some religious rule - it is a failure to treat God as God. It is a sin against his glory.” –Timothy Keller

Adoration: Praise Sovereign God for His attributes, for who He is and what He is like in this passage:

Ephesians 1:3-8: 3 All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ. 4 Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. 5 God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure. 6 So we praise God for the glorious grace he has poured out on us who belong to his dear Son. 7 He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins. 8 He has showered his kindness on us, along with all wisdom and understanding. (NLT)

For ________________, Mighty God. We give you praise!

Confession: Ask the Holy Spirit to show you anything in your life that is displeasing to Him and confess it to Him. Are there any sinful desires you’ve given in to that should be confessed and repented of?

Romans 6:11-12: 11 So you also should consider yourselves to be dead to the power of sin and alive to God through Christ Jesus. 12 Do not let sin control the way you live; do not give in to sinful desires…(NLT)

I confess ______________, forgiving God. Forgive us our sins. (If prayed aloud with others.)

Thanksgiving: In light of the following passages and anything else the Spirit reminds you of, let us thank God for what He has done & does.

1 Peter 1:14, 18: 14As obedient children, do not be conformed to the desires of your former ignorance….18 For you know that you were redeemed from your empty way of life inherited from your ancestors…(CSB)

Philippians 3:20: We, however, are citizens of heaven. We look forward to the Lord Jesus Christ coming from heaven as our Savior.(GW)

For _______________, loving God. We give you thanks.

Supplication (Humble Petitions) & Intercession:

1 Timothy 2:1-2: I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people. Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them. 2 Pray this way for kings and all who are in authority so that we can live peaceful and quiet lives marked by godliness and dignity. (NLT)

• Pray to our merciful God about anything/anyone the Spirit puts on your heart to pray.

For _____________, Merciful God. Hear our prayer.

• After reading and thinking about the following passages, pray to our merciful God as the Spirit guides you.

Matthew 5:16: “In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.” (NIV84)—Jesus

1 Peter 2:12: Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation (ESV).

Philippians 1:27: Above all, you must live as citizens of heaven, conducting yourselves in a manner worthy of the Good News about Christ. (NLT)

For _____________, Merciful God. Hear our prayer.

• For what shall you pray after pondering these related verses:

1 Peter 2:11: Beloved, I urge you to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul (ESV)

1 Peter 4:3: You spent enough time in the past doing what unbelievers like to do. You were promiscuous, had sinful desires, got drunk, went to wild parties, and took part in the forbidden worship of false gods.

Galatians 5:19-21: 19 Now the works of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, moral impurity, promiscuity, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hatreds, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambitions, dissensions, factions, 21 envy, drunkenness, carousing, and anything similar. I am warning you about these things—as I warned you before—that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. (CSB)

For _____________, Merciful God. Hear our prayer.

Benediction: The Lord’s Model Prayer

Our Father which art in heaven,
Hallowed be thy name.
10 Thy kingdom come,
Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
11 Give us this day our daily bread.
12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen. (Matthew 6:9-13, KJV)

Lord's Day Sermon, May 24, 2020: "Live Holy Lives for the Sake of the Lost"

1 Peter 2:11-12
First Christian Church, Owensville, IN
May 24, 2020

Below is only a skeleton outline of main points, Scriptures and quotations of the message presented via Facebook Live on May 24, 2020.

(Abbreviations for Bible translations that may be quoted: ESV = English Standard Version; NLT = New Living Translation; CSB = Christian Standard Bible; GW = God’s Word; Amplified Bible = AMP; KJV = King James Version; New King James Version = NKJV; The Message = MSG; KNT = Kingdom New Testament)

• Tomorrow is Memorial Day, a day primarily for the purpose of remembering the men and women who died honorably serving our country.
• If you have ever served in the military, you know that when you separate from service, you want to receive an Honorable Discharge. You do not want to receive a Dishonorable Discharge or a Less Than Honorable Discharge. You want to be recognized for honorably serving during your term of enlistment.
• God wants His children to serve Him honorably as well. How we go about that is what the apostle Peter addresses, or begins to address in 2:11-12.

• Everything God calls us to do in 1 Peter flows out of the hope of our eternal salvation (1:3-13) and our identity as God’s children (2:4-10)
• In 2:4-10, Peter says, “This is who we are if we are in Christ!”
• In verses 11 -12, he tells us “This is what you do based on who you are! This is how you offer spiritual sacrifices to God!”
• So verses 11-12 serve as an introduction as to how Christians are to conduct ourselves toward the institutions of the state, work, marriage & family and church.

1 Peter 2:11-12: Beloved, I urge you to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation (ESV).

• “beloved, I urge you”: “Dearly and divinely loved people of God, I’m begging you to pay attention to what follows!”
• John 14:15: “If you love me, you will obey my commandments. (GW)

Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles…

• Visitors who tarry in a foreign country for a time before moving on to their homeland.
• Christians are temporary residents of the earthly communities they live in. Why?
• Philippians 3:20: We, however, are citizens of heaven. We look forward to the Lord Jesus Christ coming from heaven as our Savior.(GW)

• We are strangers; true citizenship is in heaven.

• Abstain = keep a distance from the passions of the flesh!
• Peter says practice some moral distancing!
• I’m begging you not to practice the desires that motivate unsaved people which is how we use to live before we were made new in Christ:
• Romans 6:11-12: 11 So you also should consider yourselves to be dead to the power of sin and alive to God through Christ Jesus. 12 Do not let sin control the way you live; do not give in to sinful desires…(NLT)

• Galatians 5:19-21: 19 Now the works of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, moral impurity, promiscuity, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hatreds, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambitions, dissensions, factions, 21 envy, drunkenness, carousing, and anything similar. I am warning you about these things—as I warned you before—that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. (CSB)

• Listen, the standards of our native land—the kingdom of heaven/God, the new heaven and earth—are superior to this foreign land we temporarily call home.

• Our real battle is not with people around us, but with fleshly desires that tempt us.
…which wage war against your soul.
• …wage war…= Satan launches a planned expedition with a destructive objective toward your very person.
• Ephesians 6:16: … take the Christian faith as your shield. With it you can put out all the flaming arrows of the evil one. (NLT)
• What are these flaming arrows? Temptations from sinful thinking! Satan tempting your thought life.
• That’s why we need the indwelling Holy Spirit’s power and a willingness to yield to the Holy Spirit and obey.
• God wants us to refuse to adopt the culture around us; we lived in it long enough before we submitted our lives to Jesus Christ.
• 1 Peter 1:14, 18: 14As obedient children, do not be conformed to the desires of your former ignorance….18 For you know that you were redeemed from your empty way of life inherited from your ancestors…(CSB)
• 1 Peter 4:3: You spent enough time in the past doing what unbelievers like to do. You were promiscuous, had sinful desires, got drunk, went to wild parties, and took part in the forbidden worship of false gods.

• So, what is the alternative to abstaining from living like an unbeliever, a pagan/heathen?

12 Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable…

• Gentiles = “Pagans” = non-Christians or unbelievers, heathens.
• It is clear that God doesn’t call us to become recluses, to isolate ourselves from non-believers, but live among them and practice excellent behavior as we bear the witness of Christ to them!
• Remember, whatever you as an individual Christian do with your life is what the church is doing! How you live is how the church lives! You are a living stone within the spiritual temple structure, the church of the living God!
• Philippians 1:27: Above all, you must live as citizens of heaven, conducting yourselves in a manner worthy of the Good News about Christ. (NLT)

• Ask ourselves: Are my Facebook posts honorable or course or envious? Is my speech clean or filthy? Am I truthful? Do I dress modestly or too revealing? Am I respectful or disrespectful toward others? Do I have a good work ethic? Am I honest in my business dealings? Am I generous or stingy? Am I considerate of others or more concerned about myself?
• What does it means to live a holy life in the business world, as a factory worker, as a farmer, as teachers, truck drivers, sociologists, physicians, preaching ministers, salesmen and saleswomen, barbers and stylists, etc.
• But why is honorable conduct so important?

…so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds…

• Why would faithful Christians be accused of being “evildoers”?
• Throughout NT, criticisms are leveled against Christians by nonbelievers—accused of taking away business; of being atheists for not having idols, etc. and Peter is about to address some areas that they could be criticized:
• Undermining government authorities (2:13-17).
• Accused of failing to submit to their masters (2:18-25).
• Christian wives might be accused of rebelling against non-Christian husbands (3:1-6).
• History tells us that Christians were accused of being cannibals because they “ate” the body and blood of Jesus.
• Today, Christians are falsely accused of all kinds of things. (Unfortunately, some accusation are true because our lifestyles don’t agree with our profession of faith in Jesus.)
• Listen, Christians. It often doesn’t matter how calm, loving and empathetic you may be toward someone living a sinful lifestyle, if you disagree with their lifestyle there will probably be a backlash against you!
• But, we have to be faithful and patient because…

…when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds…

• “see” means a close, ongoing examination.
• Day after day we are to hold up an attractive lifestyle of good behavior! God says to live a lovely, attractive lifestyle!

• “The most convincing defense is the silent integrity of our character, not how vociferously we deny the charges.” —Chuck Swindoll
• Our deeds are what clean out people’s ears so they’ll listen to what we have to say about their needs for a Savior.

”In the summer of 1805, a number of Indian chiefs and warriors met in council at Buffalo Creek, New York, to hear a presentation of the Christian message by a Mr. Cram from the Boston Missionary Society. After the sermon, a response was given by Red Jacket, one of the leading chiefs. Among other things, the chief said…
“Brother, we are told that you have been preaching to the white people in this place. The people are our neighbors. We are acquainted with them. We will wait a little while and see what effect your preaching has upon them. If we find it does them good, makes them honest and less disposed to cheat Indians, we will then consider again what you have said.”—Warren Wiersbe, Be Hopeful, p. 57:

“The best argument for Christianity is a real Christian: and therefore, whether we like it or not, every Christian is an advertisement for Christianity. By his life and words he either commends Christianity to others, or he makes others thinks less of Christianity. Commending Christianity is part of our ‘priestly job.’” –Gareth L. Reece, Peter and Jude: A Commentary, p. 50

.. they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.

• “day of visitation” is, I think, a reference to Judgment Day, the day of the Second Coming of Jesus.
• If what we profess to believe matches how we live, then people are more apt to submit to Jesus Christ as Lord—“and glorify God when Jesus returns because they’ve already born again and are living for Him!
• Jesus said, Matthew 5:16: “In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.” (NIV84)

The Point: Live honorably for the sake of the salvation of the lost!
• As we offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God, we also perform the evangelistic/missionary work of making reproducing disciples!
• Scott McKnight wrote that Peter’s essential message is “Live holy lives in the midst of secular chaos, and let God take care of the results” (p. 135).

Please write down your answers to these questions:
• What does God want me to accept and cherish from today’s passage?
• What does God want me to put into practice or obey from today’s passage?
• With whom does God want me to share this passage or His story?

Lord's Day Sermon, May 17, 2020: “Great Honors Replace Great Hopelessness”*

1 Peter 2:4-10
First Christian Church, Owensville, IN
May 17, 2020
Below is only a skeleton outline of main points, Scriptures and quotations of the message presented via Facebook Live on May 17, 2020.

(Abbreviations for Bible translations that may be quoted: ESV = English Standard Version; NLT = New Living Translation; CSB = Christian Standard Bible; GW = God’s Word; Amplified Bible = AMP; KJV = King James Version; New King James Version = NKJV; The Message = MSG; KNT = Kingdom New Testament)

• We hear a lot about identity these days: identity politics, gender identity, etc. The government requires us to have a SSN & card; the state requires a picture ID such as a driver’s license. Companies require employee IDs.
• None of these really get to the heart of who we are at the core of our being.

• Followers of Jesus Christ are called Christians. Acts 11:26b: And in Antioch the disciples were first called Christians. (ESV) (disciples & Christians)

• If we are Christians, we know what our primary identity is: 1 John 3:1a: See how very much our Father loves us, for he calls us his children, and that is what we are! (NLT)

• In today’s passage, Peter further identifies who Christians are as God’s children.

2:4-10: Focuses on our identity as God’s own people.
1:3-13: Focuses on our eternal hope.

• Peter uses these two foundational truths as motivations for obedience and loving service. Everything God calls us to do in 1 Peter flows out of the hope of our eternal salvation and our identity as God’s children.

1 Peter 2:4-10: 4 As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, 5 you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6 For it stands in Scripture:
“Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone,
a cornerstone chosen and precious,
and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.”
7 So the honor is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe,
“The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone,”
8 and
“A stone of stumbling,
and a rock of offense.”
They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do.
9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. (ESV)


Christ is identified as a living, chosen, precious cornerstone over whom those who reject and disobey Him stumble (vv. 4, 6, 8; Peter’s imagery is drawn from the Messianic passages of Psalm 118:22; Isaiah 8:14; 28:16).

• V. 4: …a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious…
• V. 6 …cornerstone chosen and precious…

• In ancient times the cornerstone was the anchor of a building’s foundation.
• Jesus is the foundation of our faith, and also of the church in which believers are living stones.

• V. 8: …“A stone of stumbling,
and a rock of offense.”

Christians are identified in many ways (vv. 5, 9, 10):

5 you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

• Living stones (v. 5)
• Spiritual house/temple (v. 5)

• “Each time someone trusts Christ, another stone is quarried out of the pit of sin and cemented by grace into the building. It may look to us that the church on earth is a pile of rubble and ruins, but God sees the total structure as it grows.” –Warren Wiersbe, Be Hopeful, p. 48

• Ephesians 2:20-22: 20 Together, we are his house, built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. And the cornerstone is Christ Jesus himself. 21 We are carefully joined together in him, becoming a holy temple for the Lord. 22 Through him you Gentiles are also being made part of this dwelling where God lives by his Spirit. (NLT)

• Hebrews 3:6b: And we are God’s house, if we keep our courage and remain confident in our hope in Christ. (NLT)

• Holy priesthood (v. 5)
• Every Christian is a priest within a priesthood. Each of us has direct access to God the Father through Christ the Son who is also High Priest and by way of the Holy Spirit!
• “The priest represents God to the people, but he also takes the people’s concerns to God. Is there someone around you who desperately needs the intercession of one of God’s priests? Perhaps someone will only come to know God by seeing Him in your life.” –Henry Blackaby, Experiencing God Day by Day, p. 21
• Whenever you intercede by prayer for someone, you are serving as a priest.
• When you teach someone truths of God by word, example and deed, you are functioning as a priest!

9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

• Chosen race (v. 9)
• Regardless of our skin color, ethnicity, earthly heritage, etc.

• Royal priesthood (v. 9)
• “It is the responsibility of a priest to work within a priesthood. Scripture does not promote the practice of individual priests, each with a separate ministry. Rather, priests function together (Lev. 9:1). An unbiblical sense of individualism can isolate you from functioning within God’s royal priesthood as he intended.” –Henry Blackaby, Experiencing God Day by Day

• Holy nation (v. 9)
• God’s own possession (9)
• 1 Corinthians 6:9-10: 19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, 20 for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body. (ESV)

• God’s people (vv. 9, 10)

10 Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

• Merciful God took us from being lost nobodies made in His image to saved and sanctified somebodies made in His image (v. 10).
• No wonder, Peter writes in v. 7: So the honor is for you who believe…

• V. 10, NLT: “Once you had no identity as a people;
now you are God’s people.
Once you received no mercy;
now you have received God’s mercy.”

• Think about it, brothers and sisters. Regardless if you have been raised or treated to believe you are no one, if you have been born again, you are not nobody! You are God’s children, a holy, royal priest among priests, a stone among stones that make up God’s temple, a member of the chosen race and a citizen of God’s holy nation, a person among God’s people, a recipient of God’s saving mercy!

• So think about this:

• If you got laid off, put on furlough or lost your job, your identity did not change!
• When we could not assemble together in person on the Lord’s Day, our identity and purposes did not change!
• Our identity as Gods house is not determined by whether or not our place or places of assembly is within this church building.
• You were given instructions on how to have church at home by yourself, with your family, you were qualified to do that!

• “There are a variety of offices in the community of faith…but throughout the church, the primary emphasis is on the people. All the offices/jobs are servant positions for assisting and encouraging men and women to be the people of God and not merely a crowd of religious consumers.” –Eugene Peterson, Faith that Matters, Feb 28, p. 61.

• Remember: With the titles come the tasks. With the labels come the labors. With the positions come the purposes.

Peter identifies two purposes of God’s people:

v. 5…to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ

• We are to offer God the Father in the name of Christ acceptable, spiritual sacrifices (v. 5) such as:

• Self: Romans 12:1: I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. (ESV)
• Jesus offered His entire earthly life to His Father.
• We are to do the same.

• Faithfulness: Philippians 2:17: But I will rejoice even if I lose my life, pouring it out like a liquid offering to God, just like your faithful service is an offering to God. And I want all of you to share that joy. (NLT)

• Financial/material gifts: Philippians 4:18: I have received full payment, and more. I am well supplied, having received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent, a fragrant offering, a sacrifice acceptable and pleasing to God. (ESV)

• Praise: Hebrews 13:15: Therefore, let us offer through Jesus a continual sacrifice of praise to God, proclaiming our allegiance to his name. (NLT)

• Making new disciples: Romans 15:16b: I serve as a priest by spreading the Good News of God. I do this in order that I might bring the nations to God as an acceptable offering, made holy by the Holy Spirit. (GW)

• Wearing a mask during the COVID-19 pandemic can be a spiritual offering when worn in Christ’s name out of love for someone else.
I appreciate it when others wear a mask around me if they are going to be within 6 ft of me. (I have responsibilities too, not just as a preacher, but as a husband, son, father, grandfather, neighbor, etc.

• We are to proclaim God’s praises (v. 9)

V9: …that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

• GW: You were chosen to tell about the excellent qualities of God, who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
• CSB:… so that you may proclaim the praises of the one who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

• One of the praises to proclaim is what He has done for you through His Son!

• NLT: As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light.

• Colossians 1:12b-14: He [God the Father] has enabled you to share in the inheritance that belongs to his people, who live in the light. 13 For he has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear Son, 14 who purchased our freedom and forgave our sins. (NLT)

• “All of us who come to Christ move from purposelessness to privilege, from hopelessness to honor. Once we were outside of God’s saving mercy. Even when we didn’t realize it, we were wallowing in darkness and despair. But in Christ, things have changed. We’ve become new creations. Now we are ‘living stones’ God uses us to build a holy house where he will dwell…We’re no longer adrift, unanchored unstable. Jesus is the living stone on which we build our lives…Jesus is the foundation and the cornerstone of our faith…he is our great high priest, and we are ‘a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ’.” —David Faust, Faith Under Fire, pp. 53-54.

v. 4: As you come to him…again, write down your answers to these questions:
• What does God want me to accept and cherish from today’s passage?
• What does God want me to put into practice or obey from today’s passage?
• With whom does God want me to share this passage or His story?

*The title of this sermon was inspired by the title of a section of a chapter of David Faust’s book Faith Under Fire, pp. 53.