LIVING TO BLESS

Posted by Pastor Greg Allen on January 9, 2019 under AM Bible Study |

AM Bible Study Group: January 9, 2019 from 1 Peter 3:8-12

Theme: One way that we are called to point to Jesus in evil times is by living to bless others.

(All Scripture is taken from The New King James Version, unless otherwise indicated).

We are living in evil times. Everywhere we look, there is increasing hostility toward our Christian faith. In fact, the days we’re living in are growing very much to be like the times in which Peter wrote his first letter.

How are we to respond to such times? It’s tempting to respond in kind—evil for evil, insult for insult, reviling for reviling. That is how the people of this world respond to one another; and sadly, many who profess a faith in Jesus also do the same. But Peter called the believers in his day to remember that the trying times in which they were living were really providentially given to them as an opportunity for their witness for the gospel.

In 1 Peter 2:11-12, he wrote;

Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul, having your conduct honorable among the Gentiles, that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may, by your good works which they observe, glorify God in the day of visitation (1 Peter 2:11-12).

Peter urged his brothers and sisters in Christ to live with diligent care before unbelieving people—living rightly, speaking properly, conducting themselves honorably in their sight—and all so that the cause of the gospel would be advanced by the way they lived. He stressed this through submission in different relationships; that is, in respect to civil government, in respect to the work-place, and in how husbands and wives treat one another. And now, in our passage today, he brings this to bear in a summary exhortation—showing that we witness to this world through the way we respond in times when we are mistreated. In 1 Peter 3:8-12, he writes;

Finally, all of you be of one mind, having compassion for one another; love as brothers, be tenderhearted, be courteous; not returning evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary blessing, knowing that you were called to this, that you may inherit a blessing. For

“He who would love life
And see good days,
Let him refrain 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 prayers;
But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil” (1 Peter 3:8-12).

Though in previous portions he spoke to specific groups and relationships, this passage is intended for all of us as followers of Jesus—whatever relationship of life we may be in. He begins this portion by saying, “Finally, all of you …” It looks ahead to specific instructions about suffering (3:13-4:6). And what it urges us to do in these evil times is to be a blessing—even to those who do us wrong. As the word “blessing” implies, we are to “confer favor” or “benefit” on others—being “generous” and “giving” to them in some way; or at least sincerely wishing for them that it to be so. In a world of ‘takers’, we bless by being ‘givers’. In a world of ‘slanderers’, we bless by being ‘appreciators’. In a world that is cold and hard, we bless by being warm and feeling. In a world of those who curse one another, we bless by wishing and doing good for one another. We are to be a people characterized by the act of blessing in an ‘unblessed’ time. That is a very practical way in which we are to point to Jesus in a dark world.

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Notice that Peter begins this passage with a focus on ‘us’ as believers toward one another. In dark and evil days, he urges first that …

1. WE ARE TO LIVE BLESSEDLY TOWARD EACH OTHER (v. 8).

He writes, “Finally, all of you be of one mind, having compassion for one another; love as brothers, be tenderhearted, be courteous” (v. 8). Note that, in our witness to the world, he calls us to begin our work of blessing by concentrating on our relationship with each other as members together of the body of Christ. That is to be our first priority. That’s very much what like what the Lord Jesus taught us when He said, “By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:35). In our church family and in our homes, we are to—first of all—live blessedly toward each other as members of God’s household.

And note the five specifics of how we are to do this. Peter began by saying that we are to “be of one mind”. We are to have an attitude of a unity of faith. This doesn’t mean that we must all agree on every point of theology and practice. There is room for some differences. But what we are to all be single-minded about, are (1) the basic essentials of the Christian faith and (2) our sacrificial commitment to deeply love and serve one another in spite of our minor differences. Next, Peter said that we’re to have “compassion for one another”. This means that we’re to be ‘sympathetic’ toward one another. We’re to share in one another’s feelings. As Paul puts it in Romans 12:15, we are to actively rejoice with those among us who rejoice, and weep with those among us who weep. Third, Peter says that we’re to “love as brothers”. Literally, we’re to be “brother-loving” one another. We’re to bear one another’s burdens as if they were our own; and we’re to give to one another as if we are of the same family. Fourth, we’re to be “tenderhearted” toward one another. This means that we’re to be the opposite of “closed-hearted” and “impenetrable” toward one another; but to instead be vulnerable, and open toward one another in church life. We’re not to keep our needs and our hurts and our failures to ourselves; but rather, share our hearts and our lives with one another. And finally, we’re to be humble toward one another. The New King James translation has it as “courteous”. Other translations have it as being of a “humble mind”. But the idea is basically the same. We aren’t to be “high-minded” toward one another or look down our noses at one another; but rather, to be humble in our approach to one another. We’re to show one another honor and respect.

One of the best ways to understand this is by a parallel passage that we find from the apostle Paul. In Philippians 2:1-4, he told the church;

Therefore if there is any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and mercy, fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others (Philippians 2:1-4).

When the world sees us treating each other that way—truly behaving ‘blessedly’ toward one another—we stand out as something different. The people of this world see that Jesus is truly our Lord. We prove to the world that we are His authentic disciples.

So then; “blessedness” starts at home—within the body of Christ. And when we put our treatment of one another in the priority position, it’s then that we become properly prepared to turn our attention to those who are outside the body. Peter goes on to speaks of how, together …

2. WE ARE CALLED TO BLESS THOSE WHO DO US WRONG (v. 9).

Peter puts it this way: “not returning evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary blessing, knowing that you were called to this, that you may inherit a blessing” (v. 9). Notice carefully that Peter says that we were “called to this”; and the “this” that he speaks of is the whole pattern of enduring acts of wrongdoing and injustice patiently; and not responding to them in kind, but giving a blessing instead. This is the pattern that our Lord set for us in His own suffering for us on the cross (see 1 Peter 2:18-23). As someone has very wisely said: If we want to be a bridge to Jesus, then we have to be willing to be walked on now and then.

Apart from the grace of God, this would be humanly impossible. It’s our natural inclination to lash-out and try to ‘get even’ with those who treat us wrong. That, however, as someone once put it, is like trying to wash off dirt with more dirt. It only makes us dirtier. This doesn’t mean we’re to do nothing when we are mistreated, however. Instead, we are to ‘on the contrary’ bless those who do us evil. How would this look in practice? The Lord Jesus Himself told us what it would look like in the Sermon on The Mount when He said,

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the tax collectors do so? Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect” (Matthew 5:43-48).

Now; we might say that verses 8-9 tell us what to do; and verses 10-12 tell us why to do it. Why then are we to be a blessing to one another and to the world? Peter goes on to tell us that …

1. WE DO THIS BECAUSE WE’RE CALLED TO INHERIT A BLESSING (vv. 10-11).

Peter already said this in verse 9; “that you may inherit a blessing.” And certainly, this blessing involves heavenly reward. But Peter goes on to show us that he is specifically talking about current blessedness while still in this dark and fallen world. He quotes from Psalm 34 when he writes; “For, “He who would love life and see good days, let him refrain 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” (vv. 10-11; see Psalm 34:12-14).

Who is there among us who does not love life and desire to see good days? Well; these words from Psalm 34 tell us that this is achieved by, first, ‘refraining our tongues from evil, and our lips from speaking deceit’. We are to refrain from speaking evil of others who speak evil of us; and not try to fool people or manipulate situations by our words. In an evil world such as this one, that is a part of God’s pathway to blessedness! We’re also told to ‘turn away from evil and do good’. When we are being attacked as evil-doers, one of the worst things we can do for our witness to Christ is to give credibility to such accusation with our own bad behavior. Instead, we are to be characterized as people who confess evil, actively turn away from it, and do good instead. In an evil time, this leads to blessedness. Finally, this psalm says that blessedness in life comes from ‘seeking peace and pursuing it’. We can’t always be at peace with some of the unbelieving people of this world. But as much as we can do so, we are to ‘seek’ peace. In fact, this psalm says that we’re to ‘pursue’ it. We’re to chase it down—as if we’re on the hunt for something precious. We’re to be ready to give up our own rights and privileges if necessary, and seek and pursue peace with others as a thing to be earnestly desired and grabbed hold of by us.

And notice finally what Peter says at the end of his quote from Psalm 34. We don’t ever have to fear laying down our guard and refraining from our own efforts to defend ourselves. As he points out to us …

4. WE CAN TRUST GOD, IN ALL OF THIS, TO WATCH OUT FOR US (v. 12).

Peter quotes from this psalm (from verses 15-16), and says, “For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and His ears are open to their prayers …” (v. 12a). This can be taken as a positive statement of a basic spiritual principle: that God always watches over those who are His. He knows those who seek righteousness and hears them when they cry out to Him. He protects them, and preserves them, and blesses them. But this can also be taken in a negative way. He watches over the righteous and hears their prayers when they cry out to Him in times of injustice and oppression. As the psalm goes on to say, “But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil” (v. 12b). He is the defender of His people; and He is the righteous judge of those who do evil to them. We can leave things in His hands; just as our Lord Himself did (1 Peter 2:23).

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Peter doesn’t quote all of this passage from Psalm 34. He stops short in the middle of Psalm 34:16; which says, “The face of the LORD is against those who do evil, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth.” Why did Peter stop where he did, and leave that last few words of judgment out? Most likely, this was because it wasn’t Peter’s purpose to highlight the judgment of the lost. Rather, his purpose was to stress how we might win the lost to Christ.

One of the ways that God has called us to win others to Christ in this dark and evil age—an age in which we are mistreated, and misrepresented, and spoken against unjustly as evildoers—is by responding to such ill-treatment in a truly Christ-like manner. We do so by first being a blessing to each other, and then—together—by blessing those who do wrong to us.

May God help us to be a blessing—so that we might, indeed, inherit a blessing!

EA