Suffering for Right and Wrong

1 Peter 3:13-17

V. 13 And who is he who will harm you if you become followers of what is good?

There are 43 Listing in my concordance for the word fear, not including feared, fearful, fearful-hearted, fearfully, fearfulness, fearing, and fears. Jesus puts this thought better in Matthew 10:28 “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” What Peter and our Lord are talking about is walking in fearless confidence in God’s protection from harm. Becoming followers of what is good is to walk in the ways of the Lord. It is seeking out His will for your lives and not following the ways of this world. Will this make you the subject of persecution? Certainly, I am sure that many of the things that have happened to me have come about because of my stand for Christ. Yet on the other hand I am sure that God has allowed some things in order that I would make a stand for Christ. Man can attack your reputation, cause you harm, financial ruin, or even death, yet we are to fear God, and walk in faith with boldness, knowing who we serve.

V. 14 But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you are blessed. “And do not be afraid of their threats, nor be troubled.”

Calvin said; “The promise of this life extends only so far as it is expedient to us that they may be fulfilled” There is a difference between suffering at our own hands and suffering for the cause of Christ. Augustine said; “not the suffering, but the cause for which one suffers, makes the martyr.” Will God protect us from our own mistakes? Yes, if it is His will, and will God protect us persecution because of our stand for Christ? Yes if it is His will. These things will come upon us in order to fulfill God’s will, or man’s will, but they will come. The importance of walking in God’s will is the difference between being blessed or walking with a troubled spirit, not knowing that God’s will is being completed. Sin is born in the hearts of men, God tells us not to be afraid of the hearts of men.

V. 15 but sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who ask you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear;

Godliness sparks curiosity in others, to ask why we have so much hope, no matter what comes upon us. An example of this is when a loved one is taken from another by violence, the Christian offers forgiveness instead of hatred, and the world marvels at this. Others marvel at the peace in the heart of the Christian that allows them to forgive and go on as though it never happened. The events of everyday living shape us into what we are to become, but the heart of the believer sees that love is a better response then violence. When we are hurt deeply it is hard to let these things go and move on with our lives. There are feeling of vengeance, and pain that come from living that tend to come between us and our walk with God. It is faith that allows us to go on knowing that God understands and cares for us and wants to heal us of this pain. The hardest thing is to let it go. I remember an instance when I harbored anger towards another, and God’s Spirit kept telling me to let it go. I told Him I did not want to let it go and to leave me alone and let me be angry. Thankfully He did not and I was able to let it go and let the peace of God come back into my spirit. At other times pain and fear gripped me and would not release its grip upon me. It was only through faith that I was able to shout to the devil that he would have no victory in this. As a Christian our battles are not our own, we have one who will fight for us who is greater, than any adversary.

To sanctify is to set aside, to honor, so to sanctify the Lord in your heart is to set aside a place in our hearts for Him that nobody else can have. The greatest example of this is marriage, in that when we are joined to another we have given that person a part of ourselves that we should not give to another. When we hold that relationship sacred in our hearts we are honoring the other person. The reward for honoring God in our hearts is a peace that carries us through any situation, and causes curiosity in others. Perhaps we should entertain Peter’s words thus: Entertain just notions of God; of His nature, power, will, justice and truth. Do not think of God as being controlled by the same passions as men; separate Him in your hearts from everything earthly, human, fickle, rigidly severe, or unpredictably merciful. Consider that He can not be like man, feel like man, nor act like man. Do not confine God to your finite thinking, for God cannot be contained in the human mind. Too many people try to put God in a box, by thinking they know how God will act in every situation. I have heard preachers say that if God does not destroy this generation, then He owes Sodom and Gomorrah an apology. This is to say we know the mind of God and that we are dictating the will of God to God Himself, this is a very dangerous attitude to take. “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord. “for as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.” Isaiah 55:8, 9. The will of God will be done according to His mercy and grace, and who are we to dictate the will of God. We can know the will of God through prayerfully reading His word, but we can no more control the will of God than we can number our own days. Conceive God in your mind, as infinitely free to act or not act, as He pleases. Consider the goodness of God, for goodness in every possible state of perfection and infinitude, belongs to Him. Remember that He was wisdom without error, power without limits, truth without falsity, love without hatred, holiness without evil, and justice without severity on one hand or tenderness on the other. In other words, God is not one of us, not a slob like one of us, not a stranger on the bus tying to make His way home. Joan Osbourne’s song always troubled me thinking that we could put God on the same playing field as us. Sanctify God in your hearts in this way and you will always have a reason for the hope that is in you.

V. 16. having in good conscience, that when they defame you as evildoers, those who revile your good conduct in Christ may be ashamed.

I have hope in God, which they themselves also accept, that there will be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and the unjust. This being so, I myself always strive to have a good conscience without offense towards God and men. Acts 24:15, 16.

Having a good conscience is essential to the readiness of your testimony. As believers we will sin before God, and the Spirit of God brings conviction upon us. It is a hard thing to give witness of the hope that is in you, when sin has come between you and God. Not to say that your salvation is lost, but that there is a separation in the fellowship that you enjoyed before that sin. Peter and Paul agree that a good conscience is something that we are to strive for. Once conviction comes upon us and we confess our sin before the Father, He is faithful to forgive us, for this is His nature as we discussed in the previous verse. There is also that fear that our sins will find us out before men and ruin our testimony. This is not to hinder our testimony to the hope that is in us, but when confronted by this sin we are to continue in meekness, still giving witness to the hope that is in us. We are to strive to have no offense between God and men, but when this offense does occur, we are to strive to mend the broken relationship, that we may continue in fellowship with God and man.

When your conscience is clear and others revile you and say evil things about you because of your testimony, take it in meekness that you do not give harm to the cause of Christ. In this way you do not hinder the work of the Holy Spirit in you and those that you are giving witness to. This is not to mean that all are called to preach and be vocal of their faith, but all are called to live right before man and God.

V. 17. For it is better, if it is the will of God, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil.

One may object, I would not bear it so ill if I had deserved it. Peter replies, it is better that you did not deserve it, in order that doing well and yet being spoken against, you may prove yourself a true Christian [GERHARD]. This is the greatest testimony of our faith, and the last testimony Christ gave before His death, that He suffered in silence.

Who, when He was reviled, did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously. 1 Peter 2:23

God is witness to our suffering, both of righteousness and unrighteousness, before Him and before man. We are to commit our hope to Him that He will judge between the unrighteous and righteous deeds of man.