Participants: Tom Shepherd & Deyvy Rodriguez
Series Code: PBOTB
Program Code: PBOTB00012A
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00:22 Hello, and welcome to "Books of the Book."
00:24 Have you ever felt unjustly treated for doing what's right? 00:27 What do you do about it? 00:29 Well, on today's program we're gonna talk about this, 00:32 sharing from the books of Peter. 00:34 And with me is Dr. Tom Shepherd. 00:36 He will be guiding us through this study today. 00:39 Dr. Shepherd, welcome back. Thank you. 00:41 We have been studying now the Book of 1 Peter. 00:44 We are in Chapter 3 and we are picking up on verse 13, 00:47 is that right? That is correct. 00:49 And this section seems to begin with a question, 00:52 why don't we read it? 00:54 Yeah, I think let's start with, 00:56 we're gonna be studying a longer section. 00:59 It's all tied together actually. 01:01 It's 1 Peter 3:13-22. Okay. 01:07 But it kind of breaks into two sections, 01:10 so in this time together, 01:12 we're gonna look at verses 13-17. 01:15 And then next time we'll look at verses 18-22. 01:19 There are some rather big questions 01:21 in this section of Peter. 01:23 Lot of people have many questions 01:26 about what Peter says here. 01:28 But we'll find out that it all fits together 01:30 quite logically and has got a great message for us. 01:35 So we should read verses 13-17. Okay. 01:40 "And who is he who will harm you 01:42 if you become followers of what is good? 01:45 But even if you should suffer 01:47 for righteousness' sake, you are blessed. 01:49 And do not be afraid of their threats, nor be troubled. 01:52 But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, 01:54 and always be ready to give a defense to everyone 01:57 who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, 02:02 with meekness and fear, having a good conscience, 02:05 that when they defame you as evildoers, 02:07 those who revile your good conduct 02:10 in Christ may be ashamed. 02:12 For it is better, if it is the will of God, 02:14 to suffer for doing good than for doing evil." Okay. 02:19 So indeed verse 13 begins with a question. 02:23 Yeah, and it's an unusual question. 02:25 I mean, maybe in other contexts it might not be unusual. 02:30 But in the way that Peter has been emphasizing 02:33 the concept of suffering and Christians being persecuted 02:36 and, you know, the outsiders 02:38 reviling them and punishing them. 02:40 And we just talked about that last time. 02:43 Here he starts this question in verse 13. 02:46 Now who is there to harm you, 02:48 if you are zealous for what is good? 02:51 You think, like, 02:53 "Well, all the people you've been talking about, 02:55 all the people that are outside the church 02:57 that are pushing in on us and trying to persecute us." 03:01 Why would he start with a question that is, 03:04 you know, so odd in that kind of sense? 03:08 So this is very interesting that he starts 03:14 with such a positive view, you know, 03:16 who is gonna do you wrong 03:18 if you're zealous for doing what's right? 03:21 But there is a parallel in our book and it's in Chapter 2. 03:29 It seems parallel to his expectation 03:32 regarding government officials. 03:34 So let's read 2:14 again so we just get that context. 03:39 What did Peter say about government officials? 03:42 What were they supposed to do? 03:44 Okay, verse 14. Yeah, 2:14. 03:47 "Or to governors, as to those who are sent by him 03:50 for the punishment of evildoers 03:52 and for the praise of those who do good." 03:56 All right. So what were 03:57 the government officials supposed to do? 04:00 Good? They were supposed to-- 04:02 well, there are two things actually. 04:04 Okay, they are supposed to praise be-- 04:09 they are supposed to praise those who do good. 04:11 Yes, praise those who do good 04:12 and punish those who do bad. Okay. 04:15 Right, so they have these two rolls they're supposed to have. 04:18 So it's as though Peter is describing 04:22 that same scene and he has that same expectation 04:26 and he says in our verse, who is there to harm you, 04:31 you know, to punish you, 04:33 if you are zealous for what is good? 04:36 It's almost as though he picked up where he left off in 2:14. 04:39 Of course, he's put a whole lot of stuff in between there, 04:42 but he is giving a picture 04:46 that God as the moral arbiter of the world has set 04:51 standards of what is right and what is wrong. 04:55 And the government officials, remember 04:57 who are in middle management, they are subordinate to God. 05:00 God is the super ordinate power. 05:03 They are the middle management, 05:05 and there are subordinate people. 05:06 But they have a certain role that God has set. 05:09 And so Peter has, he asked this question 05:12 within that expectation that those who were given 05:16 the responsibility to affirm what is right 05:18 and to punish what is wrong should do their duty. 05:21 And when you do good, they should recognize it. 05:25 Now we know of course that, that's not always the case. 05:28 That's not always what happens. 05:30 But again there is right and there is wrong. 05:34 There is this moral sense 05:37 and really most people in the world, 05:39 we sometimes get a little cynical about this. 05:42 But most people in the world 05:44 recognize these ideas of right and wrong. 05:48 That's why newspapers get sold because newspapers, 05:54 the news is all about when people do it wrong, you know. 05:58 There will be a news article that says, scandal, 06:02 you know, senator, mayor or somebody 06:05 has affair with somebody, you know. 06:07 You don't see a newspaper article that says, 06:10 "Man is faithful to his wife. 06:13 World takes note, you know, what I mean. 06:15 Now if he's been faithful to his wife for 40 years or something. 06:18 But we expect people to do what is right. 06:21 And so that's where this question comes from. 06:25 But in verse 14, Peter seems to reverse? 06:28 Yeah, well, not really. 06:31 He gives a conditional statement. 06:34 I notice yours read a little differently than mine. 06:36 Would you read verse 14 again? 06:38 "But even if you should suffer 06:39 for righteousness' sake, you are blessed. 06:42 And do not be afraid of their threats, nor be troubled." 06:45 Okay, that is very much similar to mine. 06:47 It says even if you should suffer, 06:50 it doesn't have to be this way. 06:53 But even if you should, 06:54 even if something should go wrong and you do suffer 06:59 okay, what could happen? 07:02 All right, suffering for the sake 07:03 of righteousness is what he's talking about. 07:06 And then he says what the result is. 07:09 He says, you will be blessed. 07:11 Now the question is, where did he get 07:13 that idea that you'd be blessed by suffering. 07:17 Well, we think of Matthew 5:11 in the Beatitudes. 07:21 We should read that text. Matthew 5:11. 07:25 The words of Jesus, the timeless words of Jesus. 07:31 Okay, Matthew 5. Matthew 5:11. 07:34 This is at the end of the Beatitudes. 07:37 "Blessed are you when they revile 07:39 and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil 07:42 against you falsely for My sake." 07:44 Read verse 12 as well. 07:46 "Rejoice, and be exceedingly glad, 07:48 for great is your reward in heaven, 07:51 for so they persecuted the prophets who were with you." 07:55 You're blessed when you're persecuted 07:56 for righteousness sake. 07:59 Is the blessing found in the persecution itself? 08:05 "Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you, 08:07 and utter all manner of evil words against you falsely, no. 08:11 Rejoice and be glad, why should you rejoice? 08:13 For your reward is great in heaven. 08:17 God has something planned better for you. 08:20 He's going to set things right. 08:22 He's going to bring things back to proper balance, you see. 08:28 The challenge of the Christian is to ever remember 08:33 that our citizenship is in heaven. 08:36 God is the leader of our life and that the world's view 08:43 is just about exactly opposite of what God's view is. 08:47 What the world values, God depreciates. 08:50 What the world depreciates, God values. 08:52 Actually this is a fairly common 08:55 kind of theme in the New Testament. 08:57 Once look through this and it maintains that there's about 40, 09:03 40 such blessings that are found throughout 09:06 the New Testament over and over, 09:08 challenging the typical view of the world. 09:12 The world's view is, you know, get all the money that you can, 09:15 get all the fame that you can, get to the highest place 09:20 that you can because that's when you'll really be happy. 09:23 And Jesus says, "No, it's not. 09:27 It's when you bless those who curse you. 09:30 It's when you're meek and humble. 09:31 It's when you seek after righteousness. 09:33 It's when you're pure in heart. 09:35 These are the things that make you blessed. 09:37 This is what gives you a full life." 09:40 As he said, you know, the sum of a person's life 09:43 is not found in the number of possessions that they have. 09:47 You know, life is much more than that. Okay? 09:50 Now the last part of the verse, of verse 14 has a quotation. 09:57 It's kind of just slipped in there 09:58 but it's a quotation from Isaiah Chapter 8. 10:02 So let's read the context of Isaiah 8 to kind of see this, 10:08 but he is actually quoted Isaiah before--in Isaiah 8 as well. 10:13 We want to read Isaiah 8:5-15. 10:16 But we'll see that he's quoted part of this before. 10:18 Isaiah is one of his favorite books to quote. 10:21 He quotes Isaiah. 10:22 He quotes Psalms and he quotes Proverbs. 10:24 It seems like more than 10:26 almost anything else in this Book of 1 Peter. 10:28 Okay, beginning in verse 5. 10:31 "The Lord also spoke to me again, 10:33 saying "Inasmuch as the people refused 10:36 The waters of Shiloah that flow softly, 10:39 And rejoice in Rezin and in Remaliah's son. 10:43 Now therefore, behold, the Lord brings up over them 10:47 The waters of the River, strong and mighty-- 10:50 The king of Assyria and all his glory. 10:53 He will go up over all his channels 10:56 And go over all his banks. 10:58 He will pass through Judah. 10:59 He will overflow and pass over. 11:01 He will reach up to the neck 11:03 And the stretching out of his wings 11:05 Will fill the breadth of Your land, O Immanuel. 11:09 'Be shattered, O you peoples, and be broken in pieces. 11:13 Give ear, all you from far countries. 11:16 Gird yourselves, but be broken in pieces, 11:18 gird yourselves, but be broken in pieces. 11:22 Take counsel together, but it will come to nothing, 11:25 speak the word, but it will not stand, For God is with us.' 11:30 For the Lord spoke thus to me with a strong hand, 11:33 and instructed me that I should not walk 11:35 in the way of this people, saying, 11:38 'Do not say, 'A conspiracy,' 11:40 Concerning all that this people call a conspiracy, 11:43 Nor be afraid of their threats, nor be troubled. 11:47 The Lord of hosts, Him shall hallow. 11:49 Let Him be your fear, And let Him be your dread. 11:52 He will be as a sanctuary, But a stone of stumbling 11:56 and a rock of offense To both the houses of Israel, 12:00 as a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 12:04 And many among them shall stumble, 12:06 and They shall fall and be broken, 12:08 Be snared and taken." Yes. 12:11 It's a troubling kind of a passage here in Isaiah 8 12:16 because the people are very intimidated 12:21 by these outsiders by the Assyrians. 12:24 And they are very fearful of what's going to happen to them. 12:27 And Isaiah says, the Assyrians are gonna come in. 12:31 They're gonna smash everything like this, you know. 12:34 It's just really kind of scary. 12:36 But he puts in the middle of this, 12:38 he talks to Isaiah in verse 12. 12:40 He says "Do not call conspiracy 12:41 all that this people call conspiracy, 12:44 and do not fear what they fear, nor be in dread. 12:47 Don't be afraid like they are. 12:49 You have to be different from them. 12:51 The Christians in 1 Peter are instructed not to be afraid 12:56 of the persecution of the people from the outside 13:00 that are pressing in on them 13:02 trying to overcome them and pressure them. 13:05 And then he goes on and he says, then verse 14, 13:09 "And he will become a sanctuary and a stone of offense 13:11 and a rock of stumbling to both houses of Israel, 13:14 a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem." 13:17 That was the same thing we read about before, 13:19 Jesus as the stumbling block, 13:21 that cornerstone that God had set up. 13:24 So as we continue to look at this passage 13:28 we're going to learn some more about how Peter is trying 13:31 to encourage the Christians 13:34 as they face persecution from the outside. 13:38 Well, thank you, Dr. Shepherd, again. 13:39 We will just-- we will take a short break 13:41 and after these messages will be right back in our study. |
Revised 2014-12-17