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1 Peter 3. If you don't have a Bible, we've
got a couple up here for you guys. If you don't have a Bible
and you need one, once again, as your Turning back to 1 Peter
3, we do have a unique and a really powerful passage to address this
week. This passage builds very specifically
off of our previous text that we looked at last week. And remember
last week, Peter encouraged the believers to live their lives
as a faithful example of the work that Christ has started
in them. We looked at verses 8 through 15. And so Peter encouraged
the believers to essentially walk the talk. As they're doing
that, Peter says the believers must be defined by unity, sympathy,
brotherly love, tenderheartedness towards one another. He says
this in verse 8. And Peter's referring to the characteristics
that should define the body of Christ. We should be unified. We should have genuine love for
one another. We should be tenderhearted towards one another. And these
characteristics in the body, they should draw outsiders in. Remember, this is the responsibility
for all believers to be growing individually in these characteristics.
And of course, as we do that and we grow individually, we
will be able to strengthen the body in this way. And so as you
engage with these characteristics, once again, it's important to
keep in mind, you can either build up the body by your own
personal sanctification, or you can help to tear down the body
to make it worse. And while Peter was on the topic
of impacting the lost for Christ, reaching out to the lost, drawing
them in through our testimony in verse 8. He moves into verse
9 and speaks again on the importance of suffering for righteousness
sake. He writes this, do not repay evil for evil or reviling
for reviling, but on the contrary, do what? Bless. And this truly
is an incredible admonishment. Very rarely today do we see examples
of this kind of behavior in our culture. Yet Peter, once again,
he commands the believers to put on characteristics that were
not admired, they were not desired by the Greco-Roman culture that
these believers lived in. These individuals, these pagans,
did not value humility, meekness, or gentleness. Instead, they
valued characteristics like pride, arrogance, confidence. And so
Peter wants the believers to stand out. He wants the exiles
to be markedly different in the way that they live. And in order
to be different in this sinful culture, they were required to
put on characteristics that the outside world, the unsaved world,
would not espouse. And ultimately, it's because
also they are not seeking the approval of the lost, right? Unsaved individuals, this is
all they have. They're constantly seeking each other's approval.
As believers, we don't need to live this way. We can put on
the characteristics that God requires of us. We can suffer
even for righteousness sake, even when we're being harmed
or mistreated. We can suffer and not answer
back, not retaliate the way that the lost world does. We can do
all this because we trust God. We trust that we serve the Good
Shepherd and the God of perfect justice to care for our needs.
And so this separates us. And as you look back at our passage,
verses 8 through 15 from last week, specifically in verses
13 to 15, Peter commands the believers to also be prepared
to evangelize. And so throughout 1 Peter, we've
been looking at the example, the real impact that your testimony
can have to the lost world. And then in verses 13 to 15,
Peter, almost as if to come back and say, you're not excused from
verbal witness either, though, right? It's not all of our testimony. We also have to be prepared to
give an answer for the hope that is in you. This is a convicting
command, and it's convicting for a couple reasons. First of
all, because Peter essentially implies in verse 15 that the
believers' lives must be so unique that the unsaved culture would
just naturally be compelled to ask them what is different. You
grasp that if you look at verse 15 and you read this, Peter says,
This hope in you is so evident and so clear, overflowing out
of your life that unbelievers are compelled to ask why you have
such unique hope. Secondly, as believers, we must
know what we believe and why. That's the second command that
we draw from this verse. We must know what we believe and why. We talked very specifically last
week, Peter doesn't command us to know of every pagan religion
in the world. He doesn't command us to have
an answer for every pagan religion that we may come across or every
objection that someone may make. But instead, Peter commands the
believers to have such a faithful knowledge of their own beliefs
that they could explain them to someone else. This is all
Peter requires. And so in our passage this week,
we're going to look at verses 16 through 22, and we're going
to close out chapter 3. And Peter beautifully interweaves
all of these same themes that we've seen from verses 8 through
15 and he kind of interweaves them into verses 16 to 22. As
you consider this, verses 8 through 15, we're commanded to share
our faith. Verses 16 to 22, Peter explains
why we must share our faith. In verses 8 to 15, Peter commands
us to bless those who curse us because we can trust in God's
justice. And then in verses 16 to 22,
Peter will demonstrate again God's just wrath against unbelievers. So again, verses 18 to 15, trust
God, trust His justice. You don't need to execute God's
justice. And then in verses 16 to 22,
we will see God execute His justice. Once again, thirdly, in our passage
last week, Peter commands us to live pure lives of obedience. And in our text this week, Peter
explains that our obedience is motivated by Christ's sacrificial
death. And so, as you consider this,
really some excellent overlap and some real interweaving between
these themes. And so, again, we just need to
totally, totally take in the context of verses 8 through 15
as we look at verses 16 to 22. So with that being said, Let's
begin reading. We'll include verse 15 in our
reading so that we just get all of that context looking at verses
16 and following. God's Word says this, Yet, do
it with gentleness and respect. having a good conscience, so
that when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior
in Christ may be put to shame. For it is better to suffer for
doing good, if that should be God's will, than for doing evil.
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, in which he went
and proclaimed to the spirits in prison, 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 the water. 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 who has gone into heaven and
is at the right hand of God with angels, authorities, and powers,
having been subjected to him. Let's go ahead and pray, open
our time together, ask for God's grace as we look at his word.
Let's pray. Dear Lord, we're thankful for your word and we're
thankful for really just a beautiful summary of what Jesus has done
for us on the cross of his redemption and truly a pardon that we receive
through the righteousness of Christ that is granted to us.
We've done nothing to deserve it, but God, We ask for your
grace this evening as we look to your word. We ask to be convicted.
We ask for humility as we examine our hearts and lives. And Lord,
would you give us eyes to see areas of our hearts that we need
to grow and that we need to shape ourselves more after the image
of our Savior, Jesus Christ. Would you give us the grace to
do this, Lord? We're thankful for your love and we love you
because you first loved us in Jesus name. Amen. In 1829, two
men, George Wilson and James Porter, robbed a United States
mail carrier. Both were subsequently captured.
They were tried in a court of law. And in May of 1830, both
men were found guilty of six charges, including robbery of
the mail and putting the life of the driver in jeopardy. Both
Wilson and Porter received their sentences. They were to be executed
by hanging. They were to be carried out in
July 2nd, that is just a couple months later. Porter was executed
on schedule, but Wilson was not. Influential friends had pleaded
for mercy to the president, who at the time was Andrew Jackson,
and they begged for a pardon on his behalf. President Jackson
issued a formal pardon, dropping all charges. Wilson would have
to serve only a prison term of 20 years for the other crimes,
but incredibly, George Wilson refused the pardon. An official
report stated that Wilson chose to waive and decline any advantage
or protection which might be supposed to arise from the pardon.
Wilson stated he had nothing to say and did not wish in any
manner to avail himself in order to avoid sentence. And this was
truly a strange situation. This is a complete anomaly within
the US justice system. People really didn't know how
to respond. A man had been granted a full
presidential pardon, pardoning him from the death penalty, execution
by hanging, and he refused it. The reality is this happens all
the time. While we don't see it on a government
or a physical level very often, we certainly see it take place
on a spiritual level. Through the sacrifice of Jesus
Christ, we have all been offered a pardon. Humanity has been offered
a pardon. All they must do is accept it. Yet many refuse the offer of
Jesus Christ. They instead continue to live
in their sin. They pursue selfish desires. And so Peter instructs the believers
in verse 15 on the importance of personal evangelism. Again,
that is what verse 15 is all about. You need to be prepared
to explain your faith to the lost. You must share the hope
of your salvation with the lost. And Peter explains this in verse
15. And this thought is continued
then in verse 16. So let's continue reading there.
Peter says, having a good conscience so that when you are slandered,
those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame. Now, Peter clearly did not want
the believers engaging in debates or arguments regarding their
character. He didn't want them jumping to
their personal defense. Instead, he commanded the believers
to live such morally pure lives that their character spoke for
itself. They had no need to defend themselves. that there was no
accusation to levy against the believers. The believers' character,
again, not their words, did all the arguing necessary. This is
the instruction that Peter's given on numerous occasions.
You look back to 1 Peter 2, verse 12, again, just one chapter prior,
Peter said this, 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. And
so there's silence when confronted by evil accusations. It was not driven by fear. The
believers are not afraid to speak up and defend themselves. Instead,
Peter saw this as a gospel opportunity. You have to remember the circumstances
under which this epistle is being written to the believers. These
believers are being intensely persecuted. They're being falsely
accused on a regular basis. The city of Rome was burned down
by a corrupt ruler, and he blamed it on the Jews, and they were
being persecuted in this way. And so, Peter says, your quiet,
righteous testimony can point an unbeliever to their own need
for salvation. Don't defend yourself. Instead,
let your character speak for itself. It should be able to
speak for itself. That's a critical distinction.
Peter also gave the same admonition to wives with unbelieving husbands. They're commanded to act in the
very same way. Don't preach at your husbands.
Don't leave your husbands. Instead, what should you do?
Let your character speak for itself. Gently submit to your
husband as a testimony to God's work in your life. As you do
that, you will win your unbelieving husband. And so hopefully we
recognize after several chapters, we recognize the why behind these
commands, but how can we practice having a clear conscience before
God in this way that Peter commands? He begins verse 16 again saying,
having a clear conscience, having a good conscience. And so how
can we practice this idea? We know why we're to practice
it so that we point unbelievers to God, but there are two primary
ways that we can practice this. First, we avoid sin. Very simply, we avoid sin. And
you may think, well, that's obvious, certainly easier said than done,
but we must be particularly careful to avoid any conscious or willful
rebellion against God's commands or against our human authorities
to say, I understand this is what God requires of me, but
I'm simply not going to do it. This is what Peter encourages
us to avoid. Secondly, when we do recognize
areas of sin in our lives, we should be very, very quick to
repent and confess those areas and to seek forgiveness from
God and to be restored in our relationship with God. These
are the two primary ways that we can practice having a clean
conscience, is by avoiding sin and walking with God faithfully
through prayer and the regular reading of God's word, but then
secondly, regularly confessing sin. Again, understand clearly,
assurance of your salvation is a gift that is given to obedient
believers. Assurance of salvation is a gift
that is given to obedient believers, and I really can't express to
you how many young people in particular I've talked to about
assurance of salvation, and as we begin to talk and we work
through their life and their scenario, you come to find out
they're really not obeying God at all. They're really not even
doing the basic things that they can do to demonstrate their love
for God and to grow in their own personal sanctification in
the likeness of Jesus Christ. They're not reading their Bible.
They're not praying regularly. They're not regularly confessing
sin through prayer. And so when you do these things,
this is one way that we can have a good conscience before God,
a clear conscience in this way. So if you're clinging to sin
patterns in your life, this could certainly have a negative effect
on your spiritual walk with God, but particularly, again, it could
have a very negative effect on your witness to the lost. And
these are the two reasons that Peter commands us to live this
way is, number one, because we do want a good conscience before
God. We do want a clear conscience before God, but also because
this is a testimony to the lost that has been repeatedly Peter's
core foundational reason for why we must live this way, for
why we must put on these characteristics, is because it points the lost
to Christ. And so if you're not living with
a clear conscience or a good conscience, you very well may
be damaging your testimony. I remember several years ago,
I worked at a lumberyard in northern Indiana, and we worked with contractors
at this lumberyard, and I worked with several other young men,
and The language was just uniquely foul at this job. I frequently
had men from the job site ask me how I had even survived working
at the job as a Christian, because ultimately even they recognized
how unbelievably filthy their language was. And I formed a
friendship with another young guy who was about my age at the
job, and he actually attended a Christian college. I didn't
realize that. I didn't even know that he was a believer. But as
I talked to him, he had a very strong salvation testimony. But
I never realized that he was saved because of the way he spoke.
Once again, I never even realized that this young man was a believer
because of the way he spoke. I was shocked to find out that
he was a believer because he used all of the same language
that all the other men used at that workplace. So one day we
had been assigned to work on a specific task together. I think
that I'd mentioned to him that I didn't even realize that he
was He was a Christian because of his language. And he had confessed
to me. He had been very convicted about
his speech. He realized that the words he was using, the subject
matter that he spoke about, was most likely damaging his testimony
with what was otherwise a totally unbelieving staff. It was him
and I in that lumberyard. We were the only believers. And
he was regularly using this language that wouldn't demonstrate to
anyone that he was a Christ follower. And so this language, it definitely
was damaging his testimony, but I say all that to say this, this
is exactly what Peter's talking about. This is the same point
Peter is trying to communicate. You need to avoid open sin against
God. You need to keep your heart clean
in the same way that Peter describes in verse 16, have a good conscience
because this ultimately benefits your testimony. It points others
back to Christ. As you consider even the immediate
context of verse 15, could you say that your conscience is blameless
in terms of your witness? Maybe tonight you would say,
I really am not struggling with any immediate sin areas in my
life. I don't know of anything that
I'm actively rebelling against God, but could you say that in
terms of your personal witness, that your conscience is clean?
Are there individuals that you've had a poor testimony with, maybe?
Perhaps you've not engaged some individuals with the gospel at
all. Peter's calling the believers to holy character that draws
unsaved people to Christ. Does your character draw the
lost to Christ? Peter's going to continue developing
this theme in verse 17. Notice what he says, And so Peter continues to hammer
away at the importance of a blameless character by stating the blessing
of suffering for doing good. Again, there is no blessing when
you are justly punished. It's of no value for believers
to suffer justly when they act wickedly. The real blessing is
when believers are unjustly persecuted. And Peter's made this point,
again, this is another point that Peter has made repeatedly. He says in chapter 2, verse 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. And
you may be wondering at this point, we're three chapters into
Peter's epistle. What is the big deal with suffering
for righteousness sake? Why does he keep bringing up
this point? Why is it so critical that the
believers are willing to suffer for righteousness sake? And I
think our answer to that question is really tied to the unique
parallel that Peter draws each time he talks about suffering
for righteousness sake. Every time Peter discusses, you
should be willing to suffer for righteousness sake, he brings
up a very unique illustration. He spoke at length about this
in chapter two, verse 20. So just turn over there quickly
one page back and look at verse 20 of chapter two. Verse 20,
Peter says, for what credit is it if when you sin you are beaten
for it and you endure, but when you do good and you suffer for
it, you endure? This is a gracious thing in the
sight of God. 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. He committed no sin, neither
was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he did not
revile in return. When he suffered, he did not
threaten, but continued what? Entrusting himself to him who
judges justly. 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,
for you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the
shepherd and overseer of your souls." And so, Peter, each time
he talks about suffering for righteousness sake, suffering
unjust punishment, he points to the picture of Jesus. Jesus
is the purest illustration of one who couldn't be found guilty
on any possible charge, and yet was put to death in one of the
most brutal ways imaginable. We even talked about this past
Sunday, the Pharisees, the scribes and Pharisees, they have to pay
two witnesses to kind of combine their stories, to line up their
stories and present this false witness against Jesus because
there was no way they were indicting him otherwise. And so back in
chapter three, Peter references suffering for righteousness sake,
and he follows his pattern. He immediately moves to the example
of Jesus in verse 18. Several times Peter makes this
connection and he commands the believers to follow the example
of Jesus. Why? Because it points the lost
to Jesus. Are you sensing a theme so far
in Peter's epistle? Your number one mission as a
believer is point the lost to Christ. Glorify God by the way
that you live. Point others to Jesus. That is
your base function as a Christ follower. ultimately in the same
way that Jesus Christ's unjust suffering provided salvation
for the world, Christ comes, he lives a perfect life, he dies,
he's sacrificed for our sins, and we'll look at that later
in verse 18, you and I can have a unique testimony, a testimony
that can even draw people to faith in Christ by suffering
unjustly when we're persecuted. One commentator says this, why
is it better to suffer for doing right than for doing wrong? In
this context, it is because such wrongful suffering patiently
endured is so remarkable that it becomes a powerful form of
witness leading unbelievers to salvation. Just as Christ endured
unjust suffering for our salvation, Peter reasons so we are blessed
by God if we endure unjust suffering for the salvation of others.
So do you catch that? In the same way that Jesus Christ suffers
unjustly and brings us salvation through his suffering, Peter's
purpose is this, your unique testimony by suffering for righteousness
sake can draw someone to faith in Christ. What a powerful, powerful
testimony. Once again, it's certainly not
easy for us to do, but notice verse 18 as Peter moves ahead
to give us that example of Jesus Christ. His example, once again,
it motivates our testimony. Look at verse 18. that He might bring us to God,
being put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the Spirit."
And this verse truly is a beautiful summary of the salvation that
we experience in Christ. In one verse, Peter beautifully
summarizes everything that we experience as unbelievers brought
to faith in Christ, the sacrifice of Christ, His atonement for
us as a righteous individual for unrighteous people. The phrase,
for Christ also suffered once for sins, it makes Peter's connection
unmistakable. The testimony of a believer can
have an eternal impact on a lost soul. Again, what a powerful
truth that Peter's communicating. He encourages the believers in
verses 16 through 17 to suffer for righteousness sake, and then
he says, for Christ also suffered. Once for sins. Again, he's drawing
that comparison. Look at the way Jesus Christ
suffered. You can suffer in the same way and point people to
him by your testimony. And again, this verse is very,
very theologically loaded. It's very, very doctrinally loaded. And so as we begin to break this
down, you notice that word suffered even more powerful is the tense
of the Greek verb that's used here. Peter uses the aorist tense. In the Greek, the aorist tense
is speaking to a past action that is definitively done. You
might think of it as saying, Micah closed the door. It's done. The door is closed. And so it's
a once-for-all action. The action is done. Christ suffered
once for sins. This phraseology, it's incredibly
powerful. As the Jews were all well acquainted
with the Old Testament sacrificial system, they were used to sacrificing
animals for their sins on a regular basis. During the Passover celebration,
streets in Jerusalem would run with blood from the sheer number
of lambs that were being sacrificed in the temple. And so the statement
demonstrates the sufficiency of Jesus Christ's sacrifice on
our behalf. Christ suffered once for sins. He didn't need to do it over
and over again. This is very powerful because once again,
the Jews have been living with an imperfect system over and
over and over again. They're taking a lamb, taking
it to the temple, slaughtering it. They do this repeatedly. And again, this is demonstrating
Christ's sufficiency for us. We don't need to sacrifice bulls,
lambs for the atonement of sins because Jesus Christ, the perfect
son of God, has taken our sin upon himself so that we might
have life. Peter illustrates this exchange
in verse 18, saying, the righteous for the unrighteous. He suffered
once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous. The phrase
could be more literally translated, the righteous one, singular,
for unrighteous people, plural. This is, again, this is a weighty
doctrinal statement. If not for the righteousness
of Jesus Christ, we could not be made righteous before God.
So once again, why did Jesus have to die? Why did Jesus have
to live a perfect life? Did Jesus live a perfect life?
These are critical questions that we need to be versed to
answer. And Peter's giving us the explanation
here in verse 18. Jesus absolutely had to be perfect
or else we would not be made righteous by his sacrifice. His
sacrifice is perfect, it is sufficient, it is final, because Jesus was
the righteous one, the only righteous one. And again, what's fascinating
about this text is just a few verses earlier, in verse 18,
Peter says, in your hearts honor Christ, the Lord is holy, and
always be prepared to make an answer. And then what does he
do? He immediately, three verses later, he lays out a perfect
example for the salvation that we receive in Christ. It's almost
like he's equipping the believers to fulfill the mission he's given
them from the previous passage. Peter in verse 18, he is equipping
you and me. These are the fundamentals. These
are the core elements of salvation that as you are prepared to give
an answer, you know these things. You have a firm grasp on these
doctrines. Peter says, the righteous one
died for unrighteous sinners. Why? So that he might bring us
to God. In this statement, we see the
sole purpose for the sacrificial death of Jesus. The sole purpose
is the reconciliation of sinful man. Paul describes this work
of reconciliation in Romans 5 too, and he says this, You notice
that theme, in hope of the glory of God. The apostles loved the
idea of hope in the salvation that we have from Jesus Christ. Again, in Colossians 1, 21 through
23, Paul writes this, and you, who were once alienated and hostile
in mind, doing evil deeds, Paul's making very clear, you were formerly
the enemy of God. And people like to kind of go
through life with this idea that God is this benevolent guy and
we read Psalms like Psalm 23 and say, the Lord is my shepherd,
I take comfort in that Psalm. No, no, no, this is referring
Here in 1 Peter 3.18, in Romans 5.2, in Colossians 1.21, you
were hostile towards God. You were unrighteous prior to
the righteous one sacrificing himself for you. There is no
friendship here. There's not a decent relationship,
we just disagree on how things are going to go in the end. We'll
all get to heaven our own way. No, no, the Bible's very clear.
The Bible's very dogmatic when it comes to salvation. And these
critical doctrines, you were hostile, you were God's enemy.
So is everyone who has not repented and placed their faith in Jesus
Christ. And so Paul continues, you're hostile in mind, you're
doing evil deeds. and he is now reconciled in his
body of flesh by his death in order to present you holy and
blameless and above reproach before him. And so you recognize
this transition that takes place. This is a dramatic transition
that's taking place. You were once alienated, you're
hostile in mind, you're doing evil deeds, but now what happens?
God's presenting you holy, blameless, above reproach before him, And
this is through the sacrifice of who? Jesus Christ. This is
incredible. Paul says in verse 23, Once again,
it is ultimately this glorious hope of salvation. You notice
even in that passage in Colossians, Paul references the hope of the
gospel. This hope should be overflowing
out of our lives. It should be impacting the unsaved. And this is ultimately the same
characteristic that Peter says should draw unbelievers to you,
your hope. You have a unique hope. I was actually listening to a
podcast just today, and one of the guests on the podcast got
on the show they kind of started, and he immediately started talking
about just how unsatisfied he was in life. how nothing is ever
enough. He's very wealthy, he went to
a car dealership, bought a specific car, he liked the car, drove
it for seven months, went to get it serviced, saw a different
car that he liked, he bought that car, and it's just never
enough. And for probably 10 minutes, he just talked about this, how
his life is never enough. This is what Peter is referring
to. This is what the apostles are referring to. In the circumstances
that these believers were in, unbearable persecution, many
of them giving their lives for the gospel, and they say, your
life should be defined by what? Hope. Of any characteristic. They say, hope. Why? Because
you have Jesus Christ. Because you have an imperishable
inheritance, Peter says, waiting for you in heaven. It's kept
for you. And so this is Peter's point.
This is Paul's point in both of these passages as well. We
have hope in the gospel. And so Peter continues in verse
18, being put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the
spirit. This phrase, Peter wants his
readers to understand that for all intents and purposes, those
who belong to Christ, they have died physically, being put to
death in the flesh. They should no longer be consumed
with physical realities. Paul writes similarly in Colossians
3, 1 through 4, excuse me. If then you have been raised
with Christ, seek the things that are above. Where Christ
is, seated at the right hand of God, set your minds on things
that are above, not on things that are on the earth. Why? For
you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When
Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with
Him in glory. Again, it's very clear based
on this passage, based on Peter's passage, being put to death in
the flesh, but made alive in the Spirit. It's very clear.
One of the marks of being a regenerative, a regenerated, believing Christ
follower is that they desire the things that are above. You're
not fixated on the temporal. Like the example from the podcast
I just referenced. Again, these believers, they
model their lifestyle around Christ and their relationship
with Him. This is the center. Everything
in my life gets built around this. Everything in my life gets
prioritized around Jesus Christ and my relationship with Him.
And this parallels closely even with our study through John.
We walked through John 7 and 8 recently and Jesus indicts
the religious leaders on the grounds that they were from below,
he says. Now what he means by this is
that their lives are dominated by earthly, fleshly desires. And so what about us this evening?
What about you? What are you passionate about? What do you desire? What do you
chase after? Jesus tells us in Luke 6, 45,
out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. Typically,
you talk about what you love. What you love, you will talk
about. Do you talk about Jesus? You notice how this ties us right
back into 1 Peter 3, 15. Be prepared to give an answer.
Do you talk about Jesus? Do you love him? Are you passionate
about him? Peter commands us to be as believers,
and now Peter's gonna transition in verse 19. He transitions, you may even
be struggling somewhat to track what Peter's saying in these
final verses, but honestly, as we look at verses 19 to 22, what
we really have here is a very cool passage, a fascinating text,
what Peter does with his imagery. He presents some really elaborate
imagery tying in the Old Testament and Old Testament stories. And
so, it's really not too difficult to understand as we really get
into it and break it down. And so, we'll just do that. We'll
break it down section by section. Let's read through verses 19
and 20 together to get a feel for this text. Peter says, He says, being put to death in
the flesh, but made alive in the spirit, in which he went,
that's referring to Christ, and proclaimed to the spirits in
prison, 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 the
water. So again, really a fascinating
text. Peter is tying in Old Testament
imagery. We see anti-types in this passage,
and so it's a great text. Verse 19 begins, in which he
went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison. And so we have some
major questions to deal with between verses 19 and 20. And
let me lay those out for you. If you're taking notes, you'll
want to write these down because we'll go through the answers
specifically as we work through the passage. Number one, we want
to answer this. Who are the spirits in prison?
What is Peter talking about when he says Jesus went and ministered
to spirits in prison? Who are they? Who are those individuals? Number two, what did Christ preach? He went and proclaimed to the
spirits in prison. This word proclaimed literally
means to preach to them. So what is he preaching? And
finally, when did Christ preach? Is he preaching in the days of
Noah? I mean, this is kind of a story about Noah. He's tying
in Old Testament imagery. Is this in the days of Noah?
Is this between Christ's death and resurrection? Is it after
his resurrection? I mean, where is this kind of
landing? And so, the first question we see in verse 19, we see Jesus
went and proclaimed to spirits in prison. So, we can answer
the first question right off the bat in verse 19, who are
the spirits in prison? Who is Jesus preaching to? And as you look at verse 20,
Peter answers our question a little bit. Notice verse 20. He says,
because they, that's clearly referring back to the spirits
in prison, because they formerly did not obey when God's patience
waited in the days of Noah while the ark was being prepared. And
so it appears that the entire context of verse 19, and even
the first part of verse 20, it's grounded in the illustration
of Noah and the ark. And so you remember the account
of Noah and the ark, right? And if you don't, we're gonna
take you back to your days as tiny little toddlers in Sunday
school, okay? And so Noah's first son, Japheth,
he is born when Noah is roughly seven, or excuse me, when Noah
is roughly 500 years old. The flood comes sometime in between
when Noah is 500 years old. The flood comes when Noah is
600 years old. So somewhere in that time, The
flood begins when Noah is 600 years old. Again, somewhere in
between 500 and 600 years old, God comes to Noah. He says, you're
gonna build an ark. People have gotten very, very wicked. We're
gonna destroy humanity. We're gonna wipe out humanity.
And so this entire time, we don't know exactly how long it is,
but over a span of 100 years, maybe something like 50 years,
maybe something like 75 years, we don't know exactly, But Noah
is building the ark, and we know that Noah was preaching and calling
people to repentance. And so during this entire time,
no one, no one responds to the gospel. Shockingly, not one person
repents and God floods the earth, destroying all of mankind, except
for eight people, Noah and his sons and their wives. And so
we have three sons of Noah, their wives, three wives, Noah, and
his wife. We have eight people, Peter says.
And so he refers to this in verse 20. As you consider this, Peter
is drawing parallels to the days of Noah and what believers were
experiencing in that present day. Just as God used Noah to
preach to wicked humans who inhabited the earth in Genesis 6, it's
the believer's responsibility today to faithfully preach the
gospel until the second coming of Christ. And just as God judged
the earth with a flood in Genesis 6, we know that God will judge
the earth again with fire after the second coming of Christ.
And so, I know that's a lot of information there for verse 19,
but as we go back to our original question, who are the spirits
that Jesus is preaching to in prison, Who are they? Those are
the individuals, the wicked individuals that are alive during the days
of Noah. Noah is preaching to them. They
will not respond, and so God destroys them. Now, you may be
questioning as you read that text, and Peter's referring to
them as spirits. He does so several times, you
may wonder. Well, why does Peter call humans in Noah's day, why
does he refer to them as spirits? And where are they imprisoned,
right? I mean, we know that in Noah's day, they're wandering
around on the earth. So why does he call them spirits? Why are
they imprisoned? Again, the answer to this question,
it really is fairly simple. Peter is writing his epistle
at this time that he's writing his epistle. Those individuals
who were alive, who were roaming the earth back in Noah's day,
they have died. They were killed in the flood
and they were judged. As their judge, they're clearly
imprisoned in hell, and this is why he refers to them as imprisoned
spirits, because he's referencing them in their current state,
okay? Does that make sense? Everybody just kind of nod your
head, no, maybe yes, okay. So Peter, again, he's referencing
people who were alive, they were wandering the planet, but in
their current state, as he's writing this, they were spirits.
They had been judged. They were condemned to hell because
of their unbelief, their refusal to repent. And we even do this
in English sometimes. You might say that Pastor Micah
was born in 2001. Now, hopefully when you say that,
you recognize Pastor Micah being born in 2001. I was not a pastor
when I was born in 2001. In the same way, Peter's not
saying, back in Genesis 6, these were spirits that were imprisoned. No, he's saying, right now, There
are spirits who are in prison. Back then, we recognize they
were humans who roamed the earth like everybody else. And so as
you consider that, notice verse 20, as Peter continues to build,
he says, So Peter, now he gives us the reason that Christ went
and preached to these people, because clearly they did not
obey. And despite God's patience and
the preaching of Noah during the construction of the ark,
none of the individuals repented. None of them pursued God. This
demonstrates to us, really, this is a testament to God's incredible
patience with humanity. These individuals, as you read
through Genesis 6, they're incredibly violent, immoral, wicked, wicked
people. They're 100% deserving of all
of God's wrath, of all of this judgment. They deserve to be
annihilated. And it would have been incredibly simple for God
to simply wipe out everyone and start fresh, And yet God, through
the Spirit of Christ, He preaches to them. He gives them the opportunity
to repent. None of them do so. And this,
of course, it parallels very closely to what we see in our
world today. Again, notice Peter's drawing connections. He's saying,
just in the same way that God, through the Spirit of Christ,
He preached to these individuals, repent, you can repent. Here's
Noah building the ark. God could have annihilated him.
He could have wiped him out immediately. We have potentially 75 or more
years that Noah's building the ark and there's preaching, repent,
repent, repent, you're wicked. Judgment is coming. They won't
do it. This parallels very closely to
what we see today as we, as believers, we faithfully await the second
coming. Peter himself writes in 2 Peter 3, 9, Why? Not wishing
that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. We can very clearly see Peter's
comparison between the faithfulness of Noah as Noah is patiently
awaiting the just judgment of God upon sinful humanity. And
we as believers today, we are also awaiting the judgment of
God upon humanity as well. And so Peter's making this similar
connection. Peter says that God is actively
still today, just as he did in Noah's day. He is actively delaying
his judgment so that people might repent. Again, this is an incredible
truth. One small phrase from verse 20
I think might go unnoticed generally is Peter's reference to eight
people that God saved from the flood. I think Peter's purpose
in mentioning this is to encourage what was a ravaged group of believers. No matter how small the faithful
remnant is, God can be trusted to be faithful to his promises. God saved eight people from the
global flood. How much more will he save us
as believers? Again, we can trust, we can have
confidence in the promises of God. This is an amazing truth
that Peter is drawing out, amazing Old Testament connections that
he's making. So notice verse 21, Peter continues
to build, he says, 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. Initially, this may appear to be kind of another confusing
verse. Is Peter trying to say that baptism
is salvific in this way? No, again, he's tying the imagery
of baptism into the analogy of the flood. He says, very literally,
baptism, which corresponds to this. That demonstrates he's
still clearly speaking in allegorical terms, clearly speaking in metaphoric
terms, He's not saying baptism is salvific. In fact, notice
what he does say. Baptism now saves you, not as
a removal of dirt from the body. He's making very clear, I'm not
talking about the physical ceremony of baptism, of being physically
immersed into water. I'm not talking about dirt being
washed off of your body. Instead, He says, as an appeal
to God for a good conscience through the resurrection of Jesus
Christ. This is clearly referring to the spiritual transformation
which baptism represents. You notice we don't baptize for
no reason. Baptism represents something
important. It represents our death and burial
with Christ, our resurrection to new life. One commentator
writes this, baptism now saves you. He writes, we could paraphrase
it like this, not the outward physical ceremony of baptism,
but the inward spiritual reality, which baptism represents. Thus
Peter guards against any magical view of baptism, which would
attribute saving power to the physical ceremony itself. And
Paul actually writes in Romans 6, 4, we were buried therefore
with him by baptism into death in order that just as Christ
was raised from the dead to the glory of the Father, we too might
walk in newness of life. Have you heard anybody say that
as they baptize someone? They say, raised to walk in newness
of life. This is what we're picturing
when we baptize. So Paul references it as well in Romans 6, 4. Peter
concludes in verse 22 saying this, who has gone into heaven,
that's referring to Jesus, is at the right hand of God with
angels, authorities, and powers, having been subjected to him.
Peter concludes this chapter with a picture of Jesus Christ
having finished his work of salvation. He has ascended into heaven triumphantly.
He's seated at the right hand of the Father with all authorities
and powers subjected to him. This is the Lion of Judah that
we read about in Revelation. He is patiently waiting, wishing
that none should perish, but that all would reach repentance. As we think about the illustration
that I started off with, given the peculiar and unusual nature
of the situation, Wilson's case was eventually taken before the
Supreme Court. Does a man even have the right to deny a presidential
pardon? Renowned Chief Justice John Marshall
submitted a commanding determination, which reads as follows. The court
cannot give the prisoner the benefit of the pardon unless
he claims the benefit of it. It is a grant to him. It is his
property, and he may accept it or not as he pleases. A pardon
is an act of grace proceeding from the power entrusted with
the execution of the laws, which exempts the individual on whom
it is bestowed from the punishment the law inflicts for a crime
he has committed. A pardon is a deed to the validity
of which delivery is essential, and delivery is not complete
without acceptance. It may then be rejected by the
person to whom it is tendered, and we have no power in a court
to force it on him. As we look back over this passage,
certainly some incredible theological doctrinal truths for us to unpack.
The overriding theme, however, that we must take away is that
you and I, through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, we have been
restored to God. We have missed the judgment. God has safely taken us through
the waters just as he took Noah and his family through the waters
of judgment. He has granted us a pardon. Today,
have you responded to the work of Jesus Christ on your behalf? If you have, and if you're a
believer today, are you living like it? Do the characteristics
that Peter prescribes line up with your life? And most importantly,
are you sharing the glorious hope of your salvation with the
lost world around you? Let's go ahead and close with
a word of prayer. Dear Lord, we are so thankful
for your son, Jesus Christ. We're thankful for forgiveness
that we have through him. We're thankful that we have died
with Christ. Lord, we ask for grace to dwell
on things that are above, that our perspective would not be
temporal, that we would not be burdened down with concerns of
this life, but that we would look only and always to you,
that we would have a spiritual perspective that overrides our
physical earthly concerns. God, we cannot do this in our
own willpower, and so we ask for your grace this evening.
Lord, I pray for any, even in this room, who may not truly
have a relationship with you. I pray that you would give them
the grace to see you have extended them a pardon. All they must
do is respond. If they don't, Delivery of the
pardon has not been completed. And so, God, I pray that we would
take this seriously. You do patiently wait for those
who reject you to respond to the gospel. We love you, and
we are so thankful for your patience with us this evening. In Jesus'
name, we pray. Amen.
The Hope that is in You
Series Living in Babylon
| Sermon ID | 417251348254181 |
| Duration | 51:09 |
| Date | |
| Category | Midweek Service |
| Bible Text | 1 Peter 3:16-22 |
| Language | English |
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