I was up early this morning and I was reading first Peter chapter three, which I had planned to start preaching in a couple of weeks. And as I'm looking at it, I'm thinking, I think the next time I get an opportunity to preach from Peter in a few weeks, I'm going to do kind of a general overview of where we're headed in chapter three. So while I'm sitting there thinking that through, I get a text from our dear brother, Steve, who is struggling physically with some health issues and was not able to make it today. So he leaned on me to fill the gap, and I'm glad to do that. God has given me some thoughts that I look forward to sharing with you this morning. First Peter chapter number three, if you would please. Just a few fragments to gather up and then we will look at an overview of the next section of Peter that we're going to break down into all of its parts as we move through it. But I wanted to just see the big picture first. And we'll do that this morning. Remember, Peter, in the second chapter, in verse number 18, has shifted his focus to the subject of suffering in the believer's life. And we realize, as we begin to unfold and develop this idea, that Christians are not protected from suffering. but we do have the promise of our father to use our suffering for both his glory and our benefit. Remember how Peter gave us this? Look at chapter one, right at the beginning of his letter, he gave us some information that fits so well and the remaining portions of his letter. But here in chapter one, verse number six, he's talking about the anticipation of faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time. And then he says, wherein you greatly rejoice. And in that anticipation of that, which is to come, Though now for a season at this time in history, our life, whenever we live, wherever we live, though now for a season, if need be, as God deems it necessary, you are in heaviness. You're experiencing a lot of suffering and pain in your life. God decides that these things are necessary. And so he has said here that they are necessary if God deems them to be so. And so we are in heaviness through the manifold temptations, the many trials and tests, all kinds, all shapes, all degrees that come our way. And then he says, so that the trial of your faith God does all of this for a purpose. It's not meaningless. It's by design that the trial of your faith being much more precious than of gold that perisheth though it be tried with intensity with fire might be found. So God is doing us a favor to purify our faith so that when the Lord returns, and we stand before him, we are going to be offering unto him a faith that has been purified by fire and found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ. So, suffering in a Christian life is very different than suffering in general. We suffer with a purpose, a God-ordained, designed purpose. so that our faith might be purged and made more as it were after the design and intention of God, that it would be fully relying on him no matter what we experience in life. That's the faith that God is out to cultivate in his people. A faith that is enduring, a faith that can go through all kinds of experiences, and in the process actually be purified, refined, and then turn around and use that to the praise and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ. God is doing all of that for us. And Peter is kind of unfolding this whole idea and concept of suffering in the believer's life. And you remember in chapter two in verse 18, What lies between that statement and chapter two in verse 18 is a lot of wonderful instruction and teaching, but he doesn't pick up again on suffering until we come to the second chapter, verse 18. Remember where he deals with servants and slaves, believers who are servants and slaves. converted in that condition of life, not rescued out of it, but now have to learn to live their faith as servants and slaves. And so now he's turning his attention to those who suffer in life. And he begins with those that everybody was aware of. So vast was this issue in the Roman empire. 60% of its people were servants and slaves to the Roman people. So it's a big deal. Christians and churches who were also suffering. And Peter deals with the fact that many servants and slaves who are believers will suffer wrongfully. They don't deserve to be mistreated. And he deals with that because I'm sure many of them felt that way. And so he's opening this idea of suffering wrongfully. How do you respond when you suffer wrongfully? And we've spent a lot of time unfolding that for you in the past several months. Undeserved treatment. It means that these servants and slaves or any believer can live well and still be mistreated. just like the servants and slaves. So how do they respond? How should they respond when they are mistreated or suffering, even though they're doing the right thing? How should they respond? And this is where Peter brings in the example of Christ. You remember in verses 21 through the end of that of chapter two, We are to look to Christ and consider how he suffered because he suffered wrongfully and we learn from him and we take his example, Peter says, and we follow in his footsteps. We behave and conduct ourself as we live in the world under difficult circumstances using Christ as our pattern. So that's the continued thinking of Peter as he's guiding us through this matter of suffering. And Christ, Peter makes this a pivotal point here that we need to be aware of and use in our life is the point that Jesus completely put his trust in the righteous judgments of his father. He trusted him wholly. And that is an example in a pattern that we are meant to imitate. That's the goal of faith, is that in life, when we suffer, we can put our faith in our father who judges righteously. He does all things right. We never have to question whether or not God is doing the right thing. Doesn't matter how we suffer, the degree of our suffering, the unfairness of our suffering, he is doing all things right. And these conditions that he puts us in, we can fully believe that it is for our best, it is for the testing and the refining of our faith, so that it will be to the praise and the glory of our Redeemer when he returns. So as we go through these trials, we are strengthened by the consideration, Peter says, Our Christ is the suffering servant. And when we think about our suffering, we need to keep in mind the suffering servant of God. And we drew from Isaiah 53, particularly as Peter does, that one of the things that helps us deal with the difficulties of life is to know that our Savior has been there. And not only has he been there, as we learned in our Sunday school class this morning, about Jesus' physical life as it was directed and influenced by the Spirit of God, but as we go through these things like Christ did, there is a fellowship of sufferings that we experience with Christ. Paul talks about the desire even to experience that more fully in his life, the fellowship of his sufferings, becoming a part of that suffering experience of the life of Christ. He is the suffering servant. And in that image that Peter gives to us here, we are to find great comfort and encouragement as God's people. He suffered for us. And we ought to be ready and willing to engage in suffering for him and his cause in this world to identify with the suffering servant who has given his life for us. He also gives us, uh, and strengthens us in our suffering by identifying that our suffering servant is also the shepherd, my shepherd, the shepherd of your soul. And how we have that worked out for us in Psalm 23 is we spent time thinking about that a little bit last Sunday, in fact. He is my shepherd. And as my shepherd, even in suffering, we have the assurance that he is there with us, leading us, comforting us, guiding us, supporting us. He is the shepherd of his sheep. We are his sheep. By choice, we are his sheep. He selected us. He made us his own. He died for us. He doesn't abandon us. Now he's with us and he's shepherding us through life. That's meant to be a great comfort to us. And also one more thing here before we get into chapter three is that Peter mentions that he is the Episcopalists. He is the bishop of our soul. And this means that we have a shepherd watching over us, but we also have an Episcopalists who watches over us and keeps his eyes on our condition and knows what we need to correct our ways and make us ready for greater service. That's the Bishop. He is the Episcopalists of his people. He knows your needs. He knows where you need to improve. He knows your armor is not ready for the next fight. That's the Episcopus. Remember the Greek Episcopus, the examiner of the Greek soldiers who investigates, sees where things need to be improved. This is Christ to us. That's a good thing. He doesn't just let us flounder and remain weak and careless and undisciplined in our life. He is our Episcopalists of our own souls. And so Peter is giving us all of these images to encourage us as we go through this life. And yes, we suffer. We have so many benefits that God has provided for us to help us on our journey. When you come to chapter three, sometimes we, in our mind, when we see chapter divisions, we think, okay, we're beginning a new subject or a new theme. Remember, these were added many, some hundred years ago, but they're beneficial to help us reference pages and verses in the Bible. So they've been organized very well for us. But sometimes when we read, we forget that there's really no division here. And so when we conclude chapter two, where it says that he is the shepherd and bishop of our souls, he's still dealing with suffering and the benefits that we have that are provided for us through Christ. He then goes immediately likewise. So there is no break here. Likewise. And the first thing that he is going to do is he's dealing with wives and husbands who live in difficult marriages and those marriages bring suffering mentally and emotionally to their lives. They're trying. And so Peter is sensitive to suffering even that occurs in a marriage. And he begins with a wife and we'll get into all the details of, of his council here in the coming weeks. But I want to read this to you and I want you to follow as I do. And then we'll make some observations. Likewise, in a similar way is what he's saying in a similar way to what? to what he's just been talking about. In a similar way, as he's talked about suffering, suffering wrongfully, he encouraged servants and slaves to look to Jesus and how to suffer wrongfully. and to remind us that we have the benefits of this great suffering servant and a shepherd and a bishop. He says, likewise, wives, in a similar way, you need to follow and consider these things and apply them to your situation. And so he begins, likewise, ye wives, be in subjection to your own husbands, that if any obey not the word, they also may without the word be one. Isn't that an amazing statement? We put great importance on the word of God, do we not? Think of the reality what he's saying to this woman who's married to a difficult husband, that that man can be one without the word of God preached to him. but it must come through you, by your example and by the way that you live out your life. And many wonderful details here that we'll investigate. She, through her own conversation, her own manner of living and behavior, she is able to win her husband. Powerful, isn't it? While your husband beholds your chase conversation, coupled with reverence or high regard, not only to God, but even to his position in the marriage. A woman, a wife who's adorning, Peter says, it's not about your outward appearance. It's not about your plating of your hair and a wearing of gold and putting on apparel. That external influence to try to manipulate or change your husband will not last. It's temporary. but rather let it be of the hidden man of the heart in the which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price. Wonderful things I'm looking forward to developing with you out of this text. For after this manner in the old time, the holy women also, who trusted in God. There's that idea of what do we do in the difficulties of life? Like Christ, we trust God as he trusted the father, even so women married to a difficult husband, he does not obey unbeliever. He has no regard for the truth or he's disobedient to it in his life. She still has the power to influence him. and even the promise that he can be changed by her conduct. Look to the old women in the Old Testament who trusted, he says, in God, in the old time, who adorned themselves being in subjection unto their own husbands. That was their adornment, was they wore openly the requirement that God gave to the woman in the garden of Eden after the fall that she is to be in submission. There's something about that that often appears negative and something nobody, women really don't like to talk about, but there is such power in it. It is not something to be pushed away, but rather embraced. a powerful influence that God has ordained to have an impact even on a husband that is disobedient to the word, even as Sarah. And he uses the example of Sarah who obeyed Abraham. Abraham was a rascal, by the way. He made a lot of bad decisions. He put his wife's own safety in jeopardy. I mean, he just, he stumbled along growing in faith slowly. She trusted him. She put herself under his authority and God blessed her. So, Peter is sensitive when it comes to the subject of suffering. He is aware by he was a married man and he was an elder in the church that is up there around the Babylon at this time as he tells us. So Peter had seen probably counseled many marriages and he understood that many wives are married to difficult men. And many women experience grief and sorrow from his failures. And so he addresses how to deal with that. Very sensitive that he would take the time, go into great detail here about how a wife in that condition, those conditions can find, can find joy and peace and victory for her own life. And we'll look at those details more. But then he says, likewise, she husbands. And here's Peter recognizing that some husbands are married to difficult women. And they struggle the same way. They are not as obedient to the word of God. Maybe they're not even believers. Or maybe they profess to be one and are now demonstrating that they are not. Likewise, in a similar way, husbands, just like the wife, in a similar way to what Peter has already stated, he tells the husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge. Some wonderful information here will open up in the coming weeks. Giving honor unto the wife as unto the weaker vessel. or fragile, delicate vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life. Recipients of so many benefits that have been poured out upon you and your life. She's a partner with you in those benefits. So he needs to conduct himself in a way that is appropriate, even though it's a difficult marriage, so that his prayers are not hindered. God will hold him accountable for how he treats her, and his own communication with God is either going to be positive or restricted, depending on how he communicates and ministers to his own wife. So there's a correlation there, a connection. that Peter is making for men. It's a difficult wife, okay. Now what? Well, Peter's giving his counsel as to how to live and to influence a wife. And then he goes into kind of a general overview here for us of of some good general counsel that can be applied to all believers who are experiencing suffering, either in body life, he definitely has that in mind here as he talks about this. So listen to what he says here in verses eight through 17. He says, finally, and so he's going to draw this together, be ye all of one mind, And here it's, is it marriage? Yes, but it's more than that. It's wherever believers are linked together. He's emphasizing these things be all of one mind, having compassion, one of another love as brethren be pitiful, be courteous. And this would apply to marriage, both sides, but also to body life. This is how we ought to conduct ourselves. Not rendering evil for evil or railing for railing, but contrary wise, give blessings. Don't respond in kind like you've received it. That was not kind. It was ugly. It was mean. Don't do that. Don't give back the same kind. Contrary wise, bless them. Give them a blessing. knowing that you are here unto called that you should inherit a blessing. So there's a unique beauty and connection here that we'll explore for he that will love life and see good days. Let him refrain his tongue from evil and his lips that they speak no guile, just like Christ. Just as Christ did, Peter's already told us the same thing concerning Christ. Let him is to evil, turn away from evil and instead do good. Let him seek peace and pursue it. These are the traits that ought to be found in relationships, especially a marriage, but even in body life and church life. but the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous. What an encouragement that is, is it not? The eyes of the Lord are over the righteous. He is taking note of your life. He's not indifferent, he's not distracted. The eyes of the Lord are over the righteous and his ears are open unto their prayers. There's times you don't think he is, that he's not really hearing you, but here we're reminded of the truth. Your father is observing you. Your father is hearing you, your pain, your sorrow, your grief. He hears it, but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil. And who is he that will harm you if he be followers of that which is good? Here's the idea of something happening that's really negative and has no value. Is that possible with God? That events will happen that just suddenly out of nowhere cause great damage and it's harmful to your life. Was that possible? No. No, it's not. Who is he that will harm you if you are followers of that which is good? But, and here he kind of circles back now, but and if you suffer for righteousness sake, Happy are you? You're blessed. If you are suffering for righteousness sake, if you're living your life in an environment, wherever that environment is, it could be your marriage, right? If you are living right and you suffer, let your sadness be turned to joy. How is that possible? Don't be afraid with their terror, their effort to intimidate. Neither be troubled and overwhelmed with discouragement by the way you're being treated. Peter is saying, don't let those things invade upon what is real in your own relationship with God. But sanctify the Lord. Sanctify the Lord God in your hearts. Set him apart, designate him as the focus of your efforts and desires. Sanctify him, put him in his right place. And be ready always to give an answer to everyone that asks you the reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear. So people are going to be observing. They're going to be wondering, how can you do this? How can you be happy? How can you have such a spirit of blessed joy? I see the grief. I see how you're being treated. You're being mistreated. I see how you're suffering. How can you do this? Well, there's the opportunity. Peter says, now we're able to tell them how we have set God aside and he is the focus of our journey and our life and all of our experiences. When the opportunity comes, draw attention to him. He's why. He's why I can endure. He's why I'm happy. Focus on him. Give him the honor. Give him the credit. and having a good conscience that whereas they speak evil of you as evil doers, they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good behavior in Christ for it is better if the will of God be so that we suffer for well-doing rather than evil doing. So he kind of circles back, doesn't he? The same phrases and ideas that he has stated. just in the last chapter. This is going to take some weeks to work through, but there's some great stuff here. And I want you to anticipate where Peter's going to take us on this journey of discovery of how to find victory in the most difficult challenges of life. We don't need to be intimidated. We don't need to focus on ourself, but rather look at the conditions that God has orchestrated that we find ourselves in and see them as God's opportunity for me to bring honor and glory to his name and to be refined in my own faith, trust in his righteous judgments. So we have to have a shift of attitude, don't we? It's about Peter's convincing us, he's arguing on behalf of God. It doesn't matter what your circumstances are. It gets pretty personal, marriage, right? Kind of a jerk for a husband, A difficult wife? Doesn't matter. Doesn't matter what the circumstances are. God has provided you through your circumstances and for you to say, well, these are not circumstances that God gave me, then you're denying that he's at work in all the details of your life. His eye is upon you. His ear is open to you. And so we're being challenged here. And Peter's presentation of this wonderful information that we should be ready and willing to trust God. And this is good counsel. And I, I pray as we go through this, uh, the details of this, um, just by looking at the overall picture here, we get a sense of what Peter is teaching and what his focus is on and all of the things that we can gather up and profit from it. Sometimes we get stuck on the details and we don't see the big picture. Sometimes it's good to see the big picture and then focus on the details. And so I wanted to make sure this morning, providentially, as I was thinking about this, in finding out that Brother Steve was not able to bring us First John, which I was disappointed. I really appreciate his teaching on First John. But I said, okay, I'll take what you've given me this morning, Lord, and I'll share it with the folks, with your people. So I consider it a privilege to have spent the time thinking on these things this morning and being able to have the opportunity to present them to you today. May God take his word and bless it to your life and get you in the vein of thinking, get you excited about where Peter's going, that we'll share this journey together in our studies. Father, thank you for the time that we could share these truths with your people, kind of give them a bird's eye view of how the spirit of God guided this apostle, set these things before us, things that we all experience and go through. And sometimes we go through them in an intense way. And other times it's not quite as to the same degree, but we know you have a purpose in all of this. We want to be attentive and aware. We want to find joy in serving and counted joy when we suffer difficulties of life and not resent them or become frustrated with you for having brought them to our life. how important it is we have a right attitude about this subject. I pray that you will take our thoughts this morning and help to set frame the mind of our people as we begin this journey in the coming weeks. Thank you, Father. We praise you in Christ's name.