Hello, and welcome
to "Books of the Book."
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Have you ever felt unjustly
treated for doing what's right?
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What do you do about it?
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Well, on today's program
we're gonna talk about this,
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sharing from the books of Peter.
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And with me is Dr. Tom Shepherd.
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He will be guiding us
through this study today.
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Dr. Shepherd,
welcome back. Thank you.
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We have been studying
now the Book of 1 Peter.
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We are in Chapter 3 and we
are picking up on verse 13,
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is that right? That is correct.
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And this section seems
to begin with a question,
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why don't we read it?
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Yeah, I think let's start with,
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we're gonna be
studying a longer section.
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It's all tied together actually.
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It's 1 Peter 3:13-22. Okay.
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But it kind of
breaks into two sections,
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so in this time together,
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we're gonna
look at verses 13-17.
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And then next time
we'll look at verses 18-22.
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There are some
rather big questions
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in this section of Peter.
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Lot of people
have many questions
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about what Peter says here.
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But we'll find out
that it all fits together
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quite logically and has
got a great message for us.
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So we should read
verses 13-17. Okay.
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"And who is he who will harm you
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if you become
followers of what is good?
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But even if you should suffer
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for righteousness'
sake, you are blessed.
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And do not be afraid of
their threats, nor be troubled.
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But sanctify the
Lord God in your hearts,
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and always be ready to
give a defense to everyone
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who asks you a reason
for the hope that is in you,
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with meekness and fear,
having a good conscience,
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that when they
defame you as evildoers,
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those who revile
your good conduct
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in Christ may be ashamed.
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For it is better, if
it is the will of God,
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to suffer for doing good
than for doing evil." Okay.
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So indeed verse 13
begins with a question.
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Yeah, and it's
an unusual question.
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I mean, maybe in other contexts
it might not be unusual.
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But in the way that
Peter has been emphasizing
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the concept of suffering
and Christians being persecuted
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and, you know, the outsiders
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reviling them
and punishing them.
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And we just talked
about that last time.
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Here he starts this
question in verse 13.
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Now who is there to harm you,
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if you are
zealous for what is good?
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You think, like,
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"Well, all the people
you've been talking about,
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all the people that
are outside the church
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that are pushing in on us
and trying to persecute us."
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Why would he start
with a question that is,
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you know, so odd
in that kind of sense?
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So this is very
interesting that he starts
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with such a
positive view, you know,
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who is gonna do you wrong
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if you're zealous
for doing what's right?
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But there is a parallel in
our book and it's in Chapter 2.
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It seems parallel
to his expectation
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regarding government officials.
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So let's read 2:14 again
so we just get that context.
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What did Peter say
about government officials?
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What were they supposed to do?
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Okay, verse 14. Yeah, 2:14.
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"Or to governors, as to
those who are sent by him
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for the punishment of evildoers
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and for the praise
of those who do good."
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All right. So what were
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the government
officials supposed to do?
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Good? They were supposed to--
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well, there are
two things actually.
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Okay, they are
supposed to praise be--
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they are supposed to
praise those who do good.
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Yes, praise those who do good
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and punish those
who do bad. Okay.
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Right, so they have these two
rolls they're supposed to have.
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So it's as though
Peter is describing
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that same scene and he
has that same expectation
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and he says in our
verse, who is there to harm you,
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you know, to punish you,
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if you are
zealous for what is good?
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It's almost as though he picked
up where he left off in 2:14.
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Of course, he's put a whole
lot of stuff in between there,
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but he is giving a picture
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that God as the moral
arbiter of the world has set
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standards of what is
right and what is wrong.
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And the government
officials, remember
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who are in middle management,
they are subordinate to God.
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God is the super ordinate power.
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They are the middle management,
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and there are
subordinate people.
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But they have a
certain role that God has set.
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And so Peter has,
he asked this question
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within that expectation
that those who were given
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the responsibility
to affirm what is right
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and to punish what is
wrong should do their duty.
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And when you do good,
they should recognize it.
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Now we know of course that,
that's not always the case.
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That's not always what happens.
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But again there is
right and there is wrong.
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There is this moral sense
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and really most
people in the world,
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we sometimes get a
little cynical about this.
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But most people in the world
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recognize these
ideas of right and wrong.
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That's why newspapers
get sold because newspapers,
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the news is all about when
people do it wrong, you know.
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There will be a news
article that says, scandal,
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you know,
senator, mayor or somebody
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has affair with
somebody, you know.
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You don't see a
newspaper article that says,
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"Man is faithful to his wife.
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World takes note,
you know, what I mean.
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Now if he's been faithful to his
wife for 40 years or something.
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But we expect
people to do what is right.
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And so that's where
this question comes from.
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But in verse 14,
Peter seems to reverse?
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Yeah, well, not really.
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He gives a
conditional statement.
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I notice yours read a
little differently than mine.
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Would you read verse 14 again?
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"But even if you should suffer
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for righteousness'
sake, you are blessed.
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And do not be afraid of
their threats, nor be troubled."
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Okay, that is very
much similar to mine.
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It says even if
you should suffer,
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it doesn't have to be this way.
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But even if you should,
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even if something should
go wrong and you do suffer
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okay, what could happen?
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All right,
suffering for the sake
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of righteousness is
what he's talking about.
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And then he says
what the result is.
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He says, you will be blessed.
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Now the question
is, where did he get
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that idea that you'd
be blessed by suffering.
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Well, we think of
Matthew 5:11 in the Beatitudes.
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We should read
that text. Matthew 5:11.
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The words of Jesus, the
timeless words of Jesus.
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Okay, Matthew 5. Matthew 5:11.
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This is at the
end of the Beatitudes.
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"Blessed are
you when they revile
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and persecute you,
and say all kinds of evil
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against you
falsely for My sake."
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Read verse 12 as well.
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"Rejoice, and be
exceedingly glad,
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for great is
your reward in heaven,
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for so they persecuted the
prophets who were with you."
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You're blessed
when you're persecuted
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for righteousness sake.
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Is the blessing found
in the persecution itself?
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"Blessed are you when others
revile you and persecute you,
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and utter all manner of evil
words against you falsely, no.
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Rejoice and be glad,
why should you rejoice?
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For your reward
is great in heaven.
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God has something
planned better for you.
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He's going to set things right.
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He's going to bring things
back to proper balance, you see.
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The challenge of the
Christian is to ever remember
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that our
citizenship is in heaven.
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God is the leader of our
life and that the world's view
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is just about exactly
opposite of what God's view is.
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What the world
values, God depreciates.
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What the world
depreciates, God values.
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Actually this is a fairly common
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kind of theme in
the New Testament.
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Once look through this and it
maintains that there's about 40,
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40 such blessings
that are found throughout
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the New Testament over and over,
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challenging the
typical view of the world.
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The world's view is, you know,
get all the money that you can,
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get all the fame that you
can, get to the highest place
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that you can because that's
when you'll really be happy.
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And Jesus says, "No, it's not.
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It's when you bless
those who curse you.
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It's when
you're meek and humble.
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It's when you seek
after righteousness.
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It's when you're pure in heart.
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These are the things
that make you blessed.
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This is what
gives you a full life."
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As he said, you know,
the sum of a person's life
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is not found in the number
of possessions that they have.
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You know, life is
much more than that. Okay?
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Now the last part of the verse,
of verse 14 has a quotation.
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It's kind of
just slipped in there
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but it's a quotation
from Isaiah Chapter 8.
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So let's read the context of
Isaiah 8 to kind of see this,
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but he is actually quoted Isaiah
before--in Isaiah 8 as well.
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We want to read Isaiah 8:5-15.
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But we'll see that he's
quoted part of this before.
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Isaiah is one of his
favorite books to quote.
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He quotes Isaiah.
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He quotes Psalms
and he quotes Proverbs.
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It seems like more than
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almost anything else
in this Book of 1 Peter.
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Okay, beginning in verse 5.
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"The Lord also
spoke to me again,
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saying "Inasmuch
as the people refused
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The waters of
Shiloah that flow softly,
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And rejoice in Rezin
and in Remaliah's son.
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Now therefore, behold,
the Lord brings up over them
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The waters of the
River, strong and mighty--
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The king of
Assyria and all his glory.
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He will go up
over all his channels
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And go over all his banks.
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He will pass through Judah.
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He will overflow and pass over.
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He will reach up to the neck
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And the
stretching out of his wings
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Will fill the breadth
of Your land, O Immanuel.
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'Be shattered, O you peoples,
and be broken in pieces.
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Give ear, all you
from far countries.
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Gird yourselves,
but be broken in pieces,
00:11:16.03\00:11:18.57
gird yourselves,
but be broken in pieces.
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Take counsel together,
but it will come to nothing,
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speak the word, but it will
not stand, For God is with us.'
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For the Lord spoke thus
to me with a strong hand,
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and instructed me
that I should not walk
00:11:33.29\00:11:35.36
in the way of
this people, saying,
00:11:35.39\00:11:38.02
'Do not say, 'A conspiracy,'
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Concerning all that this
people call a conspiracy,
00:11:40.18\00:11:43.77
Nor be afraid of their
threats, nor be troubled.
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The Lord of
hosts, Him shall hallow.
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Let Him be your fear,
And let Him be your dread.
00:11:49.79\00:11:52.84
He will be as a sanctuary,
But a stone of stumbling
00:11:52.87\00:11:56.14
and a rock of offense To
both the houses of Israel,
00:11:56.17\00:12:00.02
as a trap and a snare to
the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
00:12:00.05\00:12:04.65
And many among
them shall stumble,
00:12:04.68\00:12:06.55
and They shall
fall and be broken,
00:12:06.58\00:12:08.77
Be snared and taken." Yes.
00:12:08.80\00:12:11.68
It's a troubling kind of
a passage here in Isaiah 8
00:12:11.71\00:12:16.08
because the people
are very intimidated
00:12:16.11\00:12:21.30
by these
outsiders by the Assyrians.
00:12:21.33\00:12:24.13
And they are very fearful of
what's going to happen to them.
00:12:24.16\00:12:27.71
And Isaiah says, the
Assyrians are gonna come in.
00:12:27.74\00:12:31.40
They're gonna smash
everything like this, you know.
00:12:31.43\00:12:34.15
It's just really kind of scary.
00:12:34.18\00:12:36.27
But he puts in
the middle of this,
00:12:36.30\00:12:38.57
he talks to Isaiah in verse 12.
00:12:38.60\00:12:40.36
He says "Do not call conspiracy
00:12:40.39\00:12:41.92
all that this
people call conspiracy,
00:12:41.95\00:12:44.30
and do not fear what
they fear, nor be in dread.
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Don't be afraid like they are.
00:12:47.77\00:12:49.22
You have to be
different from them.
00:12:49.25\00:12:51.64
The Christians in 1 Peter
are instructed not to be afraid
00:12:51.67\00:12:56.59
of the persecution of
the people from the outside
00:12:56.62\00:13:00.26
that are pressing in on them
00:13:00.29\00:13:02.06
trying to overcome
them and pressure them.
00:13:02.09\00:13:05.21
And then he goes on
and he says, then verse 14,
00:13:05.24\00:13:09.16
"And he will become a
sanctuary and a stone of offense
00:13:09.19\00:13:11.41
and a rock of stumbling
to both houses of Israel,
00:13:11.44\00:13:14.43
a trap and a snare to the
inhabitants of Jerusalem."
00:13:14.46\00:13:17.69
That was the same
thing we read about before,
00:13:17.72\00:13:19.34
Jesus as the stumbling block,
00:13:19.37\00:13:21.48
that cornerstone
that God had set up.
00:13:21.51\00:13:24.09
So as we continue
to look at this passage
00:13:24.12\00:13:28.00
we're going to learn some
more about how Peter is trying
00:13:28.03\00:13:31.86
to encourage the Christians
00:13:31.89\00:13:34.33
as they face
persecution from the outside.
00:13:34.36\00:13:38.16
Well, thank you,
Dr. Shepherd, again.
00:13:38.19\00:13:39.75
We will just-- we
will take a short break
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and after these messages
will be right back in our study.
00:13:41.55\00:13:44.74