EverGrace Church

Dennis White: We can open our Bibles to 1 Peter chapter 3. We've been working our way through 1 Peter and we are excited that hopefully, we finish it actually before the 27th. That's kind of the idea. But we're going to read verses 8 through 12.

Heavenly Father, we thank You for this day. We thank You that You have given us this day and that we can gather together in boldness and confidence and joy and open Your Bible with such freedom, Lord. We never want to take advantage or be familiar with that opportunity. We want to come here and gather and just have so much joy in the midst of it.

Lord, as we come and as we open, we seek one thing: not the words of men, but the words of God. So today, I ask that You will just use me as an empty vessel to pour out the words of God. Open our ears, Lord. For those of us that have a burden today with maybe a laundry list of problems that would distract us from hearing what You have to say, Lord, take that burden and help us to concentrate.

But also, maybe there are presumptions in our hearts where something might be said and therefore we can't receive it. Lord, we ask that You'll melt away those presumptions and stops in our hearts. We just thank You. In Jesus' precious name, amen.

1 Peter chapter 3, verses 8 through 12 says, "Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind. Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing. For whoever desires to love this life and see good days, let him keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit; let him turn away from evil and do good; let him seek peace and pursue it. For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against all those who do evil."

This is an interesting passage. Actually, in verses 8 and 9, Peter is kind of giving his own summary of verses 10 through 12, which is a quotation of Psalm 34. You could read that on your own time, but it says it right there as we read it. Verses 8 through 9 is his own summary.

What Peter is doing is, now that he's entering back into this concept of speaking to a church that has been persecuted—and he knows and we know through history that it will be persecuted even more—if you were to look back at some of the phrases that Peter uses in chapter 1, verse 6, he says to the church that you have endured all kinds of trials. Chapter 2, verse 12, he says that there have been accusations against you for doing all kinds of wrong, that the church has been doing wrong things.

Chapter 2, verse 15, they have endured all kinds of pain, the pain of ignorant men talking about them. Chapter 2, verse 19, it says they have also endured the physical pain of unjust suffering. So we look through this book of 1 Peter, and it really is speaking to a group of people that are suffering for the sake of Jesus in the midst of a pagan-worshiping society.

Are we in much like that today? I would actually dare to say yes. The gods might be different, but yet it is still very pagan. It is a society that is very adverse to a Christian lifestyle. But I would not go as far as to say that we are suffering persecution. I don't know what you think about it, but if you look at the definition of persecution, persecution is the targeting and abuse of people that follow Jesus.

In the United States today, I would say persecution does not exist. If you study this idea through what persecution really is and its definition and implications, you'll see that persecution is too strong of a word. Although we may suffer from discrimination or that we actually may be in a society where there is a lot of social hostility towards who we are, especially here in the city of Frederick, I would not dare to say that there is persecution.

Nonetheless, whether society is hostile towards us, whether we're being discriminated against, or whether it goes as far—and if we've read our Bible, we know that one day we will suffer persecution—it doesn't matter so much. But the context here is that when evil happens to you, what is our response?

In these passages, that is what Peter is saying. In reality, what he's saying is that I want you, when the world reviles you, I want the world to bring out the good that is within your own hearts, not the evil that is there.

We see that Peter's passage today is not a message to share, to prepare one or to warn people against persecution. It’s not preparing them for persecution, but is actually teaching them how to respond in the midst of persecution. Now, this is very relevant to us, isn't it? Because no matter where we are, who we are, though we are not suffering persecution, do we not suffer evils in this world? Do we not suffer from people criticizing our belief system or maybe causing problems in our work? You will suffer these things.

So it is important for us to understand how it is that we are to respond in a world that is anti-Christ. We could say that this passage here is how we should conduct ourselves with compassion. If I were to title this message, that would be the title: A Compassionate Conduct of the Believer.

Peter's exhortation here is for believers to live in a pagan world and often how they could live peacefully in the midst of such hostility. He does it in three different layers. I like to think about these different layers. Number one, the first layer is that we should be speaking life. We see that in verse 10. Number two, it says that we should be giving life in verse 9, kind of going backwards here. Then also in verse 11, we see the same thing, that we should pursue life.

Number one is speak life. Number two is give life. Number three is pursue life. This is the conduct that a believer should have in the midst of a world that reviles them. I've talked to a few of you and I know that a few of you have had these experiences in the places that you live, where people have reviled you just for being a Christian. They tried to stop us having Thursday night Bible studies at Grace's building. They tried to replace it with bingo.

What is our response system? This is very important. Actually, we're going to get to it at the end, where in the depths of our heart does this response system come from? But the first thing that Peter tells us to do is he says that we should speak life. What is it that gives power to the tongue? It says actually elsewhere in the Bible that the tongue has the power to give life and to give death.

But what is it that gives the power to the tongue? Is it simply your will to say something nicer, or is it simply that you have a desire to be more positive or have the wisdom to keep silent? What is it that gives power to your tongue? I thought this was really interesting because sometimes I don't have the power to keep my tongue from saying something I shouldn't say, so I just don't say anything. Maybe it's better that I just don't open my mouth at all because if I do, I will prove myself to be an idiot.

So I have the wisdom to keep my mouth shut, to remain silent. But maybe some of you are a better demeanor in your character where you have the ability to stand up straight and be disciplined and actually not say what you are thinking. Anyone here like that? I am trying to learn it, but it is very impossible.

Peter understands that this is true, that in our own nature, it is highly improbable and very much impossible for us to stop the tongue from saying negative things, to stop the tongue period, so you stop talking so you don't make a fool of yourself. Peter knows this to be true.

So he gives us in verse 8 some markers or, as one author says, he gives us Christian virtues so that way we know how to live, which will transform the power of our tongue. He lists these five things. The first thing he says is that there should be unity, harmony. I think the ESV says it. There's harmony, meaning that there is like-mindedness, that we are in some ways we are thinking the same.

I want to be careful here because unity does not mean that there is uniformity, meaning that there is sameness in our experience. That is very important. Each one of us here in this place, we have a different experience in life. In many ways, because of those life experiences, do we also not have a different experience with God? The overarching theme of our experience with God could be that God is love or God is gracious, God is forgiving, but each one of us has experienced that in a different way.

Unity does not mean that there is sameness in our experience, but it also does not mean that there is sameness in our thoughts. I think in this room, there's not one of us that thinks the same way. From this message today, each one of us will have a different seed that we take home, a different thought that we take home, mainly because God is speaking to you right now in a different way, but also because you are a different being. Therefore, you have different thoughts.

We can come together, actually, and we can have a common problem and we could desire to solve this problem. But when we are gathering together and try to solve this problem, what happens is that most of our thoughts appear to be very different. So if unity is not uniformity, then what is it? I like this definition—I forget where I got it from—but it actually means that there is cooperation in the midst of diversity.

For the believer, I am not being told that there has to be uniformity in my experience and thoughts, but there should be cooperation in the midst of all of this diversity. Each one of us has a different way of thinking with God. There is a right way to think with God. That's not what I'm saying. But when it comes in our relationship with God, we have different thoughts. I am the pastor of the church, yes, but I am not the musician of the church. I am not the deacon of the church. I don't run everything. Why? Because it is not in my mind, it's not in my thoughts to think this way and direct and lead everything.

God has given members in the church. Very intentionally, each member in this church thinks completely different from one another, which often causes a lot of problems in the church because there is so much diversity. But actually, inside the church, what do we do but we embrace the diversity because it becomes an opportunity for us to be a full reflection of the image of God. That is exactly what the body of Christ is.

Isn't that amazing? I have never once been a proponent that this church is a certain type of church or a certain type of people in here. It actually brings great joy in my heart when there's all types of people in this church, whether it be different countries or different dollar signs that are in their bank accounts or different things that they like, or even different political parties. It doesn't matter to me because there should be something that is similar. There is something that unifies us. That is Christ and Him crucified. Not only are we all forgiven, but the reality is that we were all sinners. Isn't that amazing?

I want to read the story. It's really funny. A man criticized D.L. Moody's methods of evangelism. D.L. Moody was a great evangelist. Many got saved. He preached to many different people. So one man criticized him and Moody said, "Well, I am always ready for improvement. What are your methods?" he says to the man. The man confessed and said that I have none. "Well, then," Moody says, "I will stick to my own methods."

It is very possible for us to have a tongue, right, that is very critical, that can lie and cause deceit. But let me ask this question. Is there cooperation in the same direction in the midst of our diversity? Christians may differ on how things should be done, but they must agree on what should be done and why. Do we agree that we should evangelize? Yes. How can we do it? Anyone, we could have many ideas. We go out on the streets and we pass out little flyers and we say, "Hey, do you know Jesus?" Very confrontational, very uncomfortable. Is there another way? Absolutely, yes.

It could be knocking on a door. It could be giving of a gift. It could be helping an older lady at the grocery store put the groceries into the car. It could be mowing the neighbor's lawn. It could be ministering to my own wife. Are there not many ways to evangelize? Did Jesus come and say there's only one way for you to reach the world? No, He didn't say that. He said the only way for the world to be reached actually is by the cross that I am going to bear. I want you to go and exemplify that.

It's not that we are differing on how things should be done, but the issue arises when we don't agree on what should be done and why it should be done. But even then, there can still be harmony because of Jesus Christ. Peter is encouraging us to live this way because when you are living in unity, what happens is that my tongue and my confession begins to change. "Hey, Tim, you're doing it all wrong." That doesn't come out of my mouth because I realize actually that there are many diverse ways for it to be done and there is unity in the same direction.

That unity controls my confession. What also controls my confession is sympathy. That's what the ESV says. I like this. It says it means to feel the needs of others. Do you feel the needs of others? Are you sympathetic? Do you feel the needs that other people have? Another way to define it means—one author said this way—says that we dare not get hard-hearted towards each other.

This happens in churches, doesn't it? Where there's someone in the church that is just different personality, different way of thinking, different experiences. Maybe now there's unity and that unity feels like it's being broken. But then, because of that agitation in my life, I become unsympathetic towards people. Actually, my heart becomes hard towards them.

I quickly shut off conversations that I am having with them because I don't want to listen to them. I don't care about their problems in life. I don't care about their experiences. I just look at those problems and experiences as excuses for them not following holy the Lord as I am doing. But a heart that is sympathetic says, "I'm going to keep my heart soft, and when they speak, I am going to listen and I am going to hear and I am going to feel what they feel."

Isn't that amazing? I think it says that elsewhere in the Bible, doesn't it? That we weep when others weep, we celebrate when others celebrate. Where does that come from but very much here, that we have a heart that is sympathetic towards others? It continues. Peter says there should be brotherly love, there should be compassion, and there should be humility.

I want to talk about humility for a minute here because humility in our life as a Christian should be one of the highest virtues that we hold. Humility in the Greek culture when the Bible was being written was not held very highly because it was a sign of weakness in people's lives. But actually, humility is a sign of great strength.

A humble mind speaks of a mindset that a believer has to serve someone else. If I see someone and I am feeling their needs and there is unity, there's brotherly love, there's compassion, what I see is that in my life that I am able to serve someone else in the midst of their need. A person who is humble, he is not too proud and he is not too right to be a servant to another's needs.

I love this idea. I love actually these five characteristics and Peter lays these five characteristics in verse 8 out intentionally because if this is our heart attitude, what changes is the way we speak. I love that. I always thought, how can I change the way I think and the way I speak? It has to be the way I think about others. It has to be the way I treat other people. If I treat other people like trash, then what am I going to be speaking out? I’m going to be speaking out death versus the life of God.

In your confession, in your speech, in the way that you talk to one another, you have the ability to take someone who is being dragged through the mud and raise them up on a cliff and cleanse them and value them and show them that they are important in the kingdom of God. Through that confession and through those words, that they become a mighty part of the body of Christ.

That is why, often times, the way we confess, the way we speak, is different than the world. We can look at someone and how do we see them, but we see them through the eyes of God. We look at them through humility. We look at them through compassion. We look at them through sympathy. We look at them through unity. We look at them through brotherly love. We see them through the eyes of God and we can bring them along and we can elevate them.

It's not about me and what I am doing for the kingdom of God and if I am right. Remember that Peter is telling this to the church in their relationship to the world. He's not saying, "Church, do this to the church." That's already been talked about. That's already been expected from them. He's saying, "Now I want you to do this to those that speak evil against you, to those who revile you, to those who persecute you."

Impossible, isn't it? Well, I guess more impossible because he doesn't only say speak life, but he also says that we should be givers of life. Here Peter speaks to the church in a way that is so very unnatural for any one of us as a human being. This is our physical response to those who revile and do evil to us, that we don't give life, but we decide to take it.

Actually, that word there, it says to repay. Take that prefix "re" off and you have "pay." Pay evil for evil. It means to give a gift that is worthy of the gift that was received. Actually, in many ways, this word for giving a gift is the word that is used of God, that He is the giver of life. He gives life to us. It's also the word that is used that He has given us the gift of repentance. He has given us the gift of forgiveness. He has given us the gift of joy, the gift of love. We could go through all these different things and we could say that God has given us this gift. Isn't it amazing? I am so thankful for it.

But then you add that prefix on in the Greek, and now that word becomes a negative connotation. Oh, now someone has reviled me or they have done evil. Now what am I going to give? A gift that is worth the evil that they have given me.

I grew up in a house where we always did a lot of practical jokes, and they always escalated. They'd start kind of low. We toilet papered a friend's car one time and hosed it down with water. That doesn't harm anyone, right? But it's a nuisance, it's kind of funny. But then what has to happen? They have to repay that practical joke, but it can't be like equal handed. It has to be a little bit worse, right? Then you find that there's glitter in your air conditioning ducts of the car, which is terrible, by the way. Then it keeps going on and on and then it gets very dangerous.

These are the kind of things that happen in the world where we can tend to say, "Hey, you have done evil to me, therefore I am going to repay that evil back towards you." God says do not do this. There is no gift of evil that could ever repay someone else's evil. Actually, it's the opposite.

We see in the Mosaic law that required justice be served, right? It was an eye for an eye. I believe Matthew chapter 5 says it towards the end of chapter 5. He says, "You have heard it said an eye for an eye." It says that in the Mosaic law. Oftentimes, we have that kind of mentality. "Hey, you have cheated me. I'm going to cheat you."

God here says something very different. Actually, Jesus says in Matthew 5:39, he says that if someone strikes your right cheek, turn the other side to them also. What do we do with that kind of a verse? What do we do with those kind of verses? I don't know. Does this mean that I am a doormat where people walk all over me and take advantage of me? Sometimes the answer might be yes.

It is quite amazing to have Jesus as our compassion, right? Jesus became a doormat for us before we get there. Because we find in our own nature we have this strong sense of justice, don't we? Where we want justice to be served and the quicker that it's served, the better off humanity is. Don't get me wrong. Justice should be served and it should be quick. But we're not talking about those things. We're not talking about the guilty person and how are they being treated. We're talking about my own heart and what is my response to the evil that the world might do to me. That's the question that's being asked right now. Where is my heart with God?

Last thing, we're running out of time here, is pursuing life. Number one was that we speak life. Number two is that we give life. The last one we're just going to be here for a second is to pursue life. Verse 11 of 1 Peter 3 says that we are to pursue and to seek peace. This is actually really interesting. The first word is to seek, which means that we are to look and we are to desire for these certain things. Do you desire to have peace with those who do evil to you? It's a good question, isn't it? Not an easy answer.

Seeking peace often means that there is some sort of relationship that is being restored. But listen to this, the word "pursue." I thought this word was really funny because Peter is using a play on words. The word "pursue" actually in a different context means to persecute. The very people that are persecuting us with that same zealous heart, with that same kind of tenacity, that same kind of vigor, that same kind of life, that they are so angry and they are so hating and they want to put us to death, they hate us so much because of our virtue and the way we live our life, that very same zealous heart that they pursue us, Peter says that you should be pursuing them the same way with peace.

It actually says, not only, "Hey, you and I, we're good. We have peace, right? Oh yeah, we're good. Thank you. Let's go on with our life." No, it has the idea that I come bearing a gift. So I am not repaying the evil for evil, but now that I come with a gift. And you know what? That's amazing because that could be a physical gift that I bring to someone and I try to restore that relationship and bring peace to their life. All of these things that we are talking about today, Peter is saying that you are to do that to those who hate you and revile you.

Isn't that amazing? That is your conduct of compassion in the midst of persecution. Doing good and pouring people coals on their head. It's been said, right? That's true. Maybe they haven't been loved.

What do I want you to take home today? Three things, and we'll go through this quickly. Number one is that I want you to react in love. Love is not only an emotion, but it is an action that we have. So when someone decides to do evil towards you or to persecute you or to degrade you, what is our response system? What is our reaction? Our reaction is a heart of love.

We're going to work our way backwards because that is a tall order, isn't it? There are many people that I do not want to give love to. So what has to happen in the inside of my own heart? There has to be reservoirs of love, like a reservoir of love. In my own life, are there reservoirs of God's love in my life? See, our action will be impossible naturally, but actually supernaturally becomes possible because within my own life there is actually something that can flow out.

I am not in a place where I am receiving constant evil, I'm receiving constant negativity. This is why we say be careful what you listen to on the radio. Now it's become popular like, "Oh, you know, you can listen and don't tell me what to do. You're being legalistic." Well, I understand. You can watch and you can listen to whatever you want and you can relate to the world in any way you want in that way. But you know what? The things that you listen to, the things that you take in with your eyes, that affects the reservoirs of your own soul. That is actually what's going to pour out when these trials and these tribulations come.

That is exactly what's going to come out. It's what's reserved in the depths of your heart. That's what's be poured out in the midst of these trials. You can't fake your Christianity when you're under severe persecution. You can't fake your walk with You can fake your walk with God in America easily. Go to church on Sunday, dress right and sing a song and make sure you give in the offering, and everyone says, "Wow, look at this Christian. They are so good." You can fake it. But when the rubber meets the road, when people come and they revile you and they hate you, when your own family does so, when your workplace, your apartment, everything falls apart, what happens is that reservoir in your heart is exposed. What's in there?

That goes to the third and final thing, is what are we receiving? See, if you are not in a place where you are receiving the mind of God, the love of God, then you will not have reservoirs in your soul of love and you will not react in love. The place you find yourself seated at, the table that you are seated at, will determine how you react.

Many believers can't treat other believers with a heart of God because they're not in a place where they are receiving the love of God. Forget about treating an enemy the way God has told me to treat them. I can't even treat believers the way God has told me. Why? Because I am not in a place where I'm receiving God.

I'm thankful today that I am preaching the choir, but some people come to church and they come in super late, then they leave super early. They're there for an hour, and within that hour, they are scrolling on Instagram on their phone. They're not paying any attention to what God is having to say to them. They are not receiving the love of God. They're not receiving the Word of God. So therefore, in the midst of trouble, they don't have any reservoirs of love. They don't have any reaction of love because they've never been in a place where they could receive it. It's amazing that you can be in a church and still not receive the love of God. It has nothing to do with the preacher. It has nothing to do with the programs of the church. It often has to do with our own hearts.

There's plenty to say against preachers in churches. The Bible has lots to say about those wolves. But today, that's not the message. The message is, am I coming with a prepared heart where I am ready to hear and receive what God has to say?

Matthew chapter 5, 44. This is how we could sum it all up in the words of Jesus. He says, "But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you." Actually, if you have time when you go home, look up the message version of this. It's really cool. Matthew chapter 5, starting in verse 39. The way that Eugene Peterson words it is really cool and it just brings it home in such a new way where we have to care for how we speak, how we treat, and how we pursue unbelievers.

Let's bow in a prayer. Heavenly Father, we thank You so much for today and we look at this and we say, hey, this is difficult, Lord. It is hard for us. It is hard for us to treat those who have hated us and been so bad to us: family members, co-workers, and on and on the list can go. We have our little black book of people that we pray they suffer trouble.

David often prays it. But here, Peter is teaching us that we should be speaking life towards them. We should be giving them life, the life of God, and we should be pursuing life. Lord, we ask that You would just fill our hearts with all that You are so that way we can be ministers of the gospel. Then we can go out in boldness and that same kind of zeal that those who persecute, we go out with that same kind of zeal and win people in the name of Jesus.

Think of the city of Frederick and those that hate You, Lord, the ones that detest You, the ones that are running from You. We pray for them right now. We think of each of them. That something would happen in their lives, whether a circumstance or whether it's a dream as they lay their head down at night, or maybe it's one of us or someone else that might come and share the gospel.

Lord, we pray that we would pursue those people that hate You. I am thankful for those who come here that love You. I'm thankful for people who come from other churches and they find this to be their church and this is their new home. I thank You. But I pray for all those that are out there right now confessing their hatred towards You.

In this next week, people will be knocking on their doors. They'll come across us on the internet. We'll find them on the streets. We might even help them at the grocery store or the gas station. But that those would be little gifts, little blessings that would reveal the peace of God. We pray for them and we thank You for this day. In Jesus' name, amen.