Participants: Tom Shepherd & Deyvy Rodriguez
Series Code: PBOTB
Program Code: PBOTB00014B
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00:01 And we're back with "Books of the Book."
00:03 Dr. Shepherd, so how does the world react 00:06 when someone decides to follow Jesus? 00:10 You know, every Christian can think of this 00:12 in their own personal experience of becoming a Christian. 00:16 And usually the reaction is not positive. 00:19 Because the truth shines in the darkness 00:24 and as Jesus said in John 3, 00:26 "Men love the darkness rather than the light." 00:29 So they don't come to the light. 00:31 But that's exactly what Peter says here in verse 4. 00:34 We find their reaction and so we just read it again 00:39 verse 4, "With respect to this, 00:42 they are surprised when you do not join them 00:45 in the same flood of debauchery and they malign you." 00:49 Okay, so the first reaction of the world 00:53 to Christian faith is surprise. 00:56 That's interesting. 00:58 You know, my verse uses the word 'strange,' 01:00 so they think it's strange for-- 01:04 Then for you to take that route. 01:06 Yes, it's strange, it's surprise, 01:10 it's something foreign to them. 01:12 It doesn't fit with their way of life 01:15 and they expect things to go in a certain way 01:18 and when they don't, you know, how can you do that? 01:23 Now, you know, what they are involved in 01:26 is all the things that were the vice list, 01:29 we call it a vice list, listed in verse 3. 01:32 "They living in sensuality, passions, drunkenness, 01:37 orgies, drinking parties, lawless idolatry." 01:42 This is typical kind of list of what 01:45 the Pagans were all about in their festivals 01:49 and in their lifestyle and you might think today that, 01:54 I mean, while we don't have people bowing down to idols, 01:58 there's still a plenty of idols in the land. 02:01 And you think, "Well, why are these people upset? 02:04 I mean, they're just going to their parties 02:05 and why should it bother them? 02:08 There are there old friends who, you know, 02:10 used to go with them, don't go with them anymore. 02:13 What's the big deal? Why should that be a problem?" 02:18 Well, there's a certain what shall we say, 02:23 a conscience speaking to them or this is out of step 02:26 and they feel that tension that it doesn't fit together anymore. 02:32 And sometimes we say they protest too much. 02:37 They protested too much. 02:38 You know, the words I think of Shakespeare 02:41 or some famous author that when you're going 02:44 in a different way and then they say why don't go with us? 02:48 They want to force you to be like them because 02:50 the voice of conscience speaks to their hearts too. 02:53 So the light shines on them and they don't like it. 02:56 So what do they do? 02:57 They're not just surprised, now they persecute you. 03:04 They speak evil of you, okay? 03:06 Now how will all of this be resolved? 03:08 Uh, well, that's what verses 5 and 6 teach us. 03:11 So we need to read those again because 03:13 they give us the answer about how everything will be resolved. 03:16 "They will give an account to him 03:18 who is ready to judge the living and the dead. 03:21 For this reason, the gospel was preached 03:23 also to those who are dead 03:25 that they might be judged according to men in the flesh 03:28 but live according to God in the spirit." 03:33 Now this is one of those difficult, 03:36 another one of those difficult passages to--Comprehend. 03:39 And this is one of those passages 03:41 that people like to call "a problem text." 03:43 Now we already said, no, there are no problem texts. 03:47 Is it describing may be another second chance to be saved? 03:51 Yeah, well, we'll have to kind 03:53 of arrive there to get that list. 03:55 Let's put it all within its context. 03:56 That's the best way. 03:58 Whenever you're reading a passage of scripture 04:00 and you come across something that is-- 04:02 Just strikes you. 04:03 "Oh, I don't understand this. This is crazy, how can that be?" 04:07 The first thing to do is to read the verses around it. 04:10 The context we call it to place those words in their setting. 04:15 And if you look at them very carefully 04:17 sometimes you start to see, 04:18 oh, there's certainly linkages here. 04:20 There's certain words that are similar here 04:23 and it helps you to start to understand it. 04:26 This is why we have good commentaries they help to, 04:29 you know, fill things out. 04:31 We're working to produce 04:33 a new Seventh-day Adventist Bible commentary. 04:35 It's a very exciting project that's in process now. 04:38 And hope that it will become a great reality 04:41 and a great blessing to God's people. 04:43 So we notice here in verse 4, 04:46 "That they are surprised and they malign you." 04:49 So then Peter says in verse 5, "But." 04:53 So this is going to be a contrast of verse 4. 04:56 So here we had "The Christians had left off 05:00 doing what was wrong. 05:02 The gentiles were going to these drinking parties, 05:05 and idolatry and everything. 05:07 They were surprised a Christian student do that 05:10 and so they come and they persecute them." 05:13 "But," but means that there's gonna be some change. 05:18 But they, who's they? The ones just mentioned. 05:22 The Pagans. Yeah, okay. 05:23 But they will give account to him 05:27 who is ready to judge the living and the dead. 05:29 Who's that? God. 05:33 And this is, you know, linked in with all of the teaching 05:38 of the message of judgment that the Book of First Peter 05:43 has lots of comments about judgment actually. 05:46 And we find here that he says, 05:48 they will give an account to him. 05:51 They have to answer to God 05:53 who is ready to judge the living and the dead. 05:57 Now we need to think about this living. 06:00 He says "the living and the dead." 06:01 Who is he talking about? He is talking about people. 06:05 Yes, and now our question is, which people? 06:09 Well, the living and the dead. 06:11 The living and the dead. Very simple. 06:12 Now how many people does that include? 06:16 All of the ones that have ever lived. 06:18 And all of the ones that are currently living. 06:21 Yeah, so this is all of humanity. 06:24 So this phrase, "The living and the dead," 06:27 there's a really cool word. 06:29 The word is merism. 06:31 Merism means the totality that it covers all of the groups 06:36 the two, the living and the dead, 06:38 is a way of talking about all of humanity. 06:43 This is a very important point though 06:44 because in verse 6 he goes on, "For..." 06:50 So now this is going to be support for verse 5. 06:54 "For this is why the gospel was preached 06:56 even to those who are dead. 06:58 That though judged in the flesh they may the way people are 07:01 they might live in the spirit the way God does." 07:05 Okay? So the question is who are the dead in verse 6? 07:11 Who does this refer to? Got any ideas. 07:15 Who are the dead he's talking about? 07:17 The wicked dead? The wicked dead? Okay. 07:22 Well, if it's the wicked dead then perhaps they have 07:27 a second chance at salvation because "For this reason 07:32 this is why the gospel was preached even to the dead." 07:34 And somebody says, "Uh, wait a minute. 07:36 I remember back in Chapter 3, verse 19, 07:40 didn't he go to preach to the spirits in prison? 07:42 That must be what this verse is talking about?" 07:46 And the answer is no. 07:49 That is not what this verse is talking about. 07:51 Somebody says, "Well, wait a minute. 07:54 You've got to prove that to me. 07:55 You've got to show me that because I thought that sounded 07:58 like a really good connection back at verse 19 of Chapter 3. 08:02 And in fact that's where some people get this idea 08:04 that Christ goes to those in hell 08:06 and He preaches to them. 08:07 They have a second chance at salvation. 08:09 Okay, first we have to notice 08:12 that there is a very intimate tie 08:13 between verse 5 and verse 6. 08:16 When he says 4 in verse 6, he's using verse 6 08:20 as a support for his statement in verse 5. 08:23 Okay, that's the first step. 08:24 Second, we notice that in verse 5, 08:28 he used the word 'dead' 08:30 and in verse 6, he used the word 'dead.' 08:34 Okay, so if he uses the word 'dead ' in verse 5, 08:41 and there's like a logical connection 08:44 between the 2 verses. 08:46 It would be very strange if he changed 08:48 the meaning of the word 'dead' in verse 6. 08:52 All right, so the dead in verse 5 08:55 are people who are dead, all right? 08:57 So the people in verse 6 who're dead 09:00 must be people who are dead. 09:02 They're not alive. All right. 09:03 So far so good, all right? 09:06 Third, this seems to suggest 09:11 if you take that the dead in verse 6 09:17 are the same as the dead in verse 5 09:19 and yet they're preached to, it almost makes you think 09:21 that the dead in verse 6 are somehow conscious 09:27 because they were evangelized, weren't they? 09:30 Okay. But we notice it says they were evangelized. 09:35 It doesn't say they are being evangelized, 09:38 they were evangelized. 09:40 And so we wonder, well, just when did that happen, okay? 09:46 Now at this point we take a little pause 09:48 from this statement and we think about 09:50 Peter's whole concept of judgment, all right? 09:54 And Peter is teaching about judgment, 09:58 there is no second chance. 10:00 If you read the verses in Chapter 1 verse 17, 10:04 God judges everyone without partiality 10:08 according to their deeds what they've done in this life. 10:11 In Chapter 2, verse 23, Christ entrusted Himself 10:14 to the one who judges justly. 10:17 And in Chapter 4 verse 5 the gentiles must give 10:21 an account to God in the judgment, all right? 10:23 In 4:17 which come after our passage, 10:27 judgment begins with the household of God 10:29 and proceeds to those who do not believe the gospel. 10:32 In every one of these other parts 10:34 of the Book of First Peter, judgment does not have 10:38 the concept that, "Oh, that, you know, 10:40 there's gonna be a second chance for you. 10:42 If you die, you know, 10:44 you don't have to believe in the gospel now. 10:46 You can wait till then and there will be another chance for you." 10:49 That whole kind of perspective 10:51 emasculates the concept of judgment in 1 Peter. 10:55 It goes completely contrary to the idea of judgment. 10:58 There is no second chance. 11:00 You face judgment and that is what 11:03 should call you back to God now, all right? 11:06 So if verse 6 is going a different way oh, my, 11:10 it's going against the whole rest of the book. 11:13 It doesn't seem that that's actually 11:15 the case of what's happening. 11:17 This leads us to the conclusion that in 4:6, 11:22 Peter is talking about the people who are now dead, 11:26 who are now dead. 11:28 And when were they evangelized? 11:30 They were evangelized earlier. When they were living. 11:33 When they were living, before they died, okay? 11:37 You see but why does He say that way. 11:40 Because remember, He is arguing 11:43 about the Christians facing gentile persecution. 11:47 And so he says in verse 6, "This is why 11:50 the gospel was preached even to those who are dead." 11:54 You see they became Christians. And so then what happened. 11:59 "That though judged in the flesh the way people are," 12:02 that is they're judged by their surrounding culture, 12:04 the Pagans who are persecuting them are putting them down. 12:08 "Though judged in the flesh by people that they might live 12:11 in the spirit in accordance with God," 12:14 or in the way God does. 12:16 So God is affirming them when He will judge the world. 12:21 So as the wicked now are up and the righteous are down, 12:28 what's going to happen in the judgment 12:30 is the tables will be turned and the righteous will go down 12:34 and the wicked will be affirmed by God. 12:37 This makes total sense of the passage then 12:40 of who these dead were. 12:41 These were the dead Christians. And they are being affirmed. 12:45 God is bringing the whole world to account. 12:47 And He's going to affirm His people. 12:49 It reminds us of Daniel 7 12:51 where the beasts are persecuting God's people. 12:53 What does God do in the judgment? 12:55 He comes to the aid of His people. 12:57 He comes and saves them and gives the kingdom to them 13:00 because they've been faithful to Him. 13:02 And that's exactly the case of these people here. 13:04 So there's a no linkage between Chapter 4:6 and Chapter 3:19. 13:10 Those two are separate ideas. All right. 13:13 Dr. Shepherd, I want to thank you again 13:15 for joining us in this program of "Books of the Book." 13:18 And we also want to thank our viewers, 13:20 our listening audience for being with us 13:22 studying these very important books in the Bible. 13:25 And I also encourage you ask the Holy Spirit 13:28 as you open the Bible, as you begin to read it. 13:32 Ask God to allow you to hear the voice of God. 13:36 Perhaps, there's something that He wants to talk to you as well. 13:40 Well, God bless you till next time. |
Revised 2014-12-17