Sermon Transcript:Thank you so much. Appreciate that. Well, it's been one of those days where we've already been to church, we've already seen what God has done. And it was just an amazing time of worshiping with each other, and then to worship through what God's doing, and just new life and how he's connecting us as a family believers. And we get to celebrate that again, with a taco bar, this this Wednesday. And so I hope to get to rub shoulders with many of y'all there. Well, Iwant to remind us where we're at, we're going to series on First Peter, and this is the Peter, the Peter II think about in the Bible, and it is written to the scattered. And what he means by that is in that context, it would have been these cities around Asia Minor, but it's really to us who find ourselves scattered throughout the world. And you know, a lot of people find themselves in El Paso from other places, and it's how to thrive in an area that is not your home, especially if you feel like strangers, and wanders in your own land, Peter understood that sort of disposition of our hearts. And so what he wants to start out with in First Peter, chapter three verses one through 12, is going to address three different groups. And for the sake of time, we're not going to read those verses, but I want to give you a summary of what they are right up here. So again, if you were to read, First Peter, chapter three verses one through 12, you would see this, these three groups being addressed. And here's kind of the summary. So he addresses, wives. And he says, quite simply, you know, let the husband lead. And when you think about this, in terms of our Christian context, you may have wandered into church before and you get this idea that, that in the home that when it's ideal, that, that you have this idea of that men take the lead, and again, that sometimes gets all misconstrued on certain roles in the home. And, and it can get really squirrely pretty quick, because you might say, well, what if you know the wives in accounting? Or what if the husband is a cook? See, those are roles. And what we're talking about is just that disposition of a guy's heart that says, Let's do this. And that even if other people in the family are going to take the lead and certain things, you can see right from the get go that in this passage, Peter is trying to encourage us to say, here's how things are supposed to work. And so why is that the husband lead, pursue godliness, we understand what that is doing what God has for us. And you can see that in this passage, and others just focus on inner beauty, that the world is going to focus on the adornment of certain you know, jewelry, or certain outfits or certain hair and doesn't say Don't, don't worry about those things. Don't be concerned about those things. And saying, Don't let your focus merely be on those things. Focus on your inner beauty. And it talks about being like the women of old and he gives this example of Sarah, who had to follow Abraham, who became Abraham around in the ancient world. And he messed up in a lot of ways, sometimes saying, I don't know who this woman is, I think she's my sister. And yet, it went well, when she just obeyed God. And she didn't follow him into sin, but she obeyed God. And he's saying, like, be like the women of old, where they can do those kinds of activities, then he also addresses the husband. So again, you can see how the Bible is always what we call an equal opportunity offender. And it also gives hope. So you often see in the Bible and you read it, and I know many of y'all have started reading your Bibles in your well on in your Christian journey, you're always gonna see things that look like judgment, or they sound harsh, or they sound like they're hard to do. But if you keep reading long enough, then you'll always see the grace or the hope, or the strength to be able to do those things. Or you'll see if he addresses one group of people, he'll go ahead and address another group of people. And so that's what he's doing here. He addresses wives, then he addresses husbands, he says, You got to honor your wife, we understand what honor is. And again, it looks different in different households. But one of the things I would just say about biblical masculinity and biblical femininity, it's just those things right there, that when we interact in our workforces, and in our homes, that we maintain our masculinity for a man, biblical and holy and good masculinity for a man and as a woman, that you maintain your femininity, and we know what that means. Intuitively now, again, we find ourselves sometimes in a culture that's gone mad and is very confused about those kinds of things. We as the people of God can't be. And I think, again, we've gotten off track if you've been around churches long enough, where they start to define exactly what those roles look like in certain homes or workforces, and that can get confusing, and that can be disagreements. But what we don't disagree on is that God created men as men and God created women as women and then that leads to certain things. So if you're in a marriage relationship, you he addressed his wives, he addressed his husband's honor your wife, treat her with understanding. Again, men and women are different. There is equal, but they're different. And that is also addressed in this passage. She is your equal partner. It says in the passage, fellow heirs to the grace of life, and we say, of course, there's equality. But there's differences. Again, something that wasn't really wasn't up for debate and said for the last 20 or 40 years, distinctive differences between men and women. And then we can kind of figure that out, as we are faithful to God. And he says, Finally, to husbands, the reason why you want to do this is you don't want your prayers to be hindered. And what it basically says is, is if we can't figure out how to live with one another, and understanding way that honors God, then don't be surprised when it feels like your prayers hit a ceiling. I know that's true in my own life as well, in times where I'm not acting and being the husband that I'm called to be. It's almost like my relationship with God, isn't there either, because it's, it's not it's being hindered, because of the way you are treating your spouse she has. He dresses, wives, he dresses, husbands, then he dresses Christians at large, what is he trying to say? be of one mind that's so important. We gather in a place like this, that we're all here for we know what our purpose is, that we worship a risen Savior, that we celebrate the resurrected life that we can have. So it's being a one mine of one accord, that we sympathize and love each other. Now, sympathy in and of itself is in short supply right now. That's what we're talking about when we feel like strangers and wanders in our own land. The idea that we would have somebody who believes differently than us thinks differently than us looks different than us, does things differently than us that we can identify with them and really sympathize with our plot. That is a Christian biblical truth that we are to practice where the sympathize and love one another. This becomes hard, don't repay insult for insult so hard, whether it's in your home life, or your work life or your online life that you want to do, you get a snappy remark, you want to snap back. I do too. That's called our flesh. But as we walk and we live in the Spirit, we learn that what God has for us and Peter is telling us this. Don't repay evil for evil. don't repay insult for insult, ever, how much you feel like you're justified in that Jesus said the same thing. You've heard it said I've heard I. But that's not where we are to live in or personally. Now the rules are different. When you talk about rules of engagement with war from a governing body, I won't get into all that. But I'm talking about personal ethic, how we conduct ourselves to a watching world, in our home, in our work in our school. Last thing says pay back with a blessing and you will be blessed. How many times have you and I've been a part of situations where once we start biting at each other. And we start being snippy. And we start saying things that are insults and vulgar hate or anger or whatever. It's like a rolling thing that we can't stop, isn't it? It just keeps going. And what he's saying is one of us has got to be the bigger man or woman and say, Hey, I'm going to bless even though I've been cursed, I'm going to find a way to, to say the right thing to do the right thing and to bless, even though I've been insulted. And he did. And he says if we do this long enough, in the right direction, that we will basically these are my words, we will thrive. So that's my first point I want us to see this morning of these passages that I've summarized in chapter three verses one through 12. Let's find a way to thrive not simply survive. With any structure, you find yourself a part of this really goes back into last week, he talks a lot about authority. And we talked about authority situations. And of course, we know that if there's abuse, there's proper authorities to sort of report those two, but we're talking about just when you and I find ourselves in any sort of system or structure, be it at church, be it at home, be it in the workplace, being at school, we have to ask ourselves, okay, how can I thrive and not just survive in this and he again, that's why he addresses all these different groups in this passage. Being You guys know this, if you've been to any sort of counseling or therapy worth its salt, they cannot change your situation. None of them can. I've not been to a therapist yet that pulls out a big wad of money out of their pocket says hey, I know how to fix all your situation know, what do they help you? And I do. They helped change our perspective of what we're experiencing. They help if they're good, connect us to the God of the universe and how He cares for us. And what does it mean that he loves us? And that he knows us? And how can you then find a way to not just survive through life who wants to go through life where you just kind of grit and teeth and bear we have seasons like that for sure. I'm just trying to survive. I just tried to survive COVID. But then we find ourselves in a rut. And we need to get out of just surviving, but thriving, and that's what Peter wants for us. That's what God wants for us. And that's why he's giving all these different instructions about how we can do that in our lives. Let's do that. We all have different places we're at around the room. But let's find a way to thrive, not simply survive within the structure you may find yourself a part of again that doesn't And you don't need to switch careers or go down different paths or change. I understand all that. But what can you do immediately, and that is to try to figure out how to honor God, where you're at. Then he talks about, he turns a corner in the passage, he talks about suffering for what? For doing what is right, and he's already sort of brought up this thing, he says, is very basic. And we know this, if a cop pulls you over, and you haven't done anything wrong, by and large. And I know you can find the rare rare exceptions, but by and large, you don't have anything to be concerned about. But if you've done something wrong, then you should have fear of the law, because they're going to catch you in whatever it is that you're a part of that's shady or wrong. And so in the same way, he's saying, I'm not talking about that. But what happens when you're doing the right thing. You're doing what you're supposed to be doing, and you find yourself under suffering persecution, threat. And that's where I want to pick up the passage this morning, verse 13. Now, who will want to harm you if you are eager to do good, but even if you suffer for doing what is right, God will reward you for it. So don't worry or be afraid of their threats. Instead, you must worship Christ as Lord of your life. And if someone asks about your hope, as a believer, always be ready to explain it. But do this in a gentle and respectful way. Keep your conscience clear, then if people speak against you, they will be ashamed when they see what a good life you live, because you belong to Christ. Remember, it is better to suffer for doing good, if that is what God wants than to suffer for doing wrong. Now, this key passage in here, and you may have memorize this, if you like the idea of like studying to show yourself approved unto God, which is another passage, but you have this whole idea of that, always be ready to give an answer for the hope that is within you. I think sometimes when we come to church, and we think about the pastor, and we think about the spiritual leaders in our church, we think, Okay, those are the super Christians, and somehow, they're the ones leading everyone to Christ are the ones who are being faithful, to read their Bibles and do whatever the Spiritual things are that the church is, guys, it's just simply not true that for sure, we have to lead out in that. But think about who we just baptized, I think easily, we could say, half the people that we just baptized, how did they come to Christ? It's because you, you are in the room, you carry the hope of glory, and you opened your mouth, you held out your hand, you brought someone with you, it says, Look, my life was changed. What about your life, come with me come to know this God of the universe. And what I'm saying here is, you guys are being a part of this praise God, you're being faithful to do what First Peter is calling us to do, which is what second point this morning, always be ready to give an answer for the hope that is within you. Let's just say quotation of First Peter, chapter three, verse 15. It's another way to say this whole idea of being ready to give an answer and doing this with a gentle and respectful way. Again, you don't have to have a fancy book, you don't have to go to a fancy school, to be able to share the love of Christ with others. And you don't have to worry about what you're going to say. Because the Scriptures tell us in other places that when it comes time for you to give an answer or response to someone when they ask you about your faith, who's going to give you the words, who's going to give you the courage, who's going to ultimately give you their response. Well, God, God brings things to mind. And those of y'all that have had any conversation with friends, relatives, strangers on the street, or whatever, you begin to realize and recognize, oh, my gosh, this isn't happenstance. This is an accident. God has brought me here for such a time as this, I'm going to lean into this, I'm going to speak into this, and I'm going to do it in such a way. I don't care what the political pundits say, I don't care what people say about Christians and believers, I've got to say, God, what is it you have for me, I'm gonna be faithful in that. And that's what he's calling Peter. That's what Peter is calling the believers to do then. And he's calling us to do that. Now. Be ready, be ready. And of course, we know whether it's working out or, you know, eating right or whatever, we got to plan ahead a little bit, we ended up sort of coming out with what we take in. And so if your intake is very light on prayer, and scripture, reading and having fellowship with other people who love God and try to are trying to live lives, honor him, don't be surprised that you're well and my well is dry, to be able to give an answer for the hope that's within us. Why? Because we haven't stoke those fires of our hearts to love and to know God with with others and individually. All right. So he says, always be ready to give an answer for the hope that's within you. Then let's go to verse 18. And following Christ suffered for our sins once. All Time, okay, once for all time, He never sinned, but he died for sinners to bring you safely home to God. He suffered physical death. But he was raised to life in the Spirit, and I'm gonna stop right there. And that's what we're symbolizing. When we bring people out of the waters of baptism, you're gonna see this here in a minute because he actually talks about what baptism does for you. And for me, those of us that go through the waters of baptism, but he's saying quite clearly, we understand that Jesus Christ was buried and put into the grave, and that the very spirit of God raised him to life. That's what he's saying here. He suffered a physical death, but he was raised to live in the spirit, capital S, Father, Son, Holy Spirit. So he went, No, let's, let's hold on here to context go back one slide. So he went and preach to the spirits in prison, what is going on what's going on here? Let's read the context of what's going on those who disobeyed God, long ago, when God waited patiently while Noah was building his boat, only eight people were saved from the drowning in that terrible flood. So now you got to put your thinking caps on you got to put on your history that you know of the Bible, which you probably know some basic stories, or at least heard of them, Adam and Eve, that's Genesis one, two, and three, but quite quickly, in Genesis chapter six, so pre Genesis 12, pre Eve and Abraham, you've may have heard the story of Noah's Ark. And one of the things that we know about Noah and his ark is that is that God called him to save all the animals to about two, we know that. But you guys probably also realize if you're familiar with that story, that what happened to everybody else, what happened to all the other creatures and all the other men and women who inhabited the earth at that time? They died with the judgment of the flood. And again, we in our context, they know Wait a second, I mean, these were they poor, innocent folks know, if you go back and read the passage, it's obvious over and over and over again, you'll see this many times in the Scripture, whether it's talking about the time of Abraham the time of lot or the time of Noah, that people are given ample opportunity to do the right thing. And they mock the people of God, they mock God Himself, they don't believe they continue to go headlong into all kinds of sin and debauchery. And he's saying, if that keeps going long enough, and you can see this all the way back, if you look at Genesis, that there will ultimately be judgment that comes in this life, and in the life to come. And so that's what ends up happening is that God destroys the Earth, with water with a global one, I think, flood and you can see that from the Genesis account, but he says, who was saved, who was preserved? Only eight people were saved from the drowning of that terrible flood? Who was eight people? Well, no, and his wife and his three sons and their wives. But I didn't answer all the question who is going back and preaching in Noah's day, you can see this in the context that it must be some form of Noah that he is actually proclaiming what Christ is proclaiming, and what Peter is proclaiming. And that is that whole idea of repent and believe or trust Christ or, or he is the hope, whatever word you want to use. That is, it is obvious that something is going on here that these people who are in shackles, they are being preached to him. And saying here, he said, Well, what are you talking about spirits? Is it talking about a spirit of man or some sort of other ancient spiritual things? We don't know. Because when you go back and look at Genesis, there's some weird stuff that goes on, you have the the sons of God who come down and have relations with the daughter of men, and there's just some weird things that go on pre Genesis 12. But it doesn't matter because the points the same, whether you believe those as some sort of spiritual, angelic demonic beings, or spirits that reside in men and women who were ultimately judged by the flood, the point remains the same. That through Noah, Christ was preached, and yet they did not believe they were not saved. They were not preserved. So what's interesting here is water is used to what drown many people in that terrible flood. But, but let's not end there, because we've been talking about baptism and seeing a lot of water today. And that water is a picture of baptism. He's like, Whoa, what happened here? What's that 180 What's going on here, which now saves you not by removing dirt from your body, but as a response to God from a clean conscience is affected because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. So that's what's so cool about water is that it is used to preserve a people preserve a people know in his, in his wives and, and his children, or knowing his wife and know his sons and their wives. So eight people, but it's also saying that you and I are saved through that same water. So how it's not because I mean, you nobody came here and got baptized because it needed a bath because they were dirty because they had dirt on him and they just needed that washed off. That's not what was going on here. What was going on here. People in their heart in their conscience, were pricked to say, Man, I, I need Jesus. I've done stuff wrong. I need that God that I hear so much about that. I've read about that. That my own conscience a testifies is true. And he's saying that's what's going on here that when we are baptized in his response to God to say, God made me whole, I want to have fellowship with you. It says right here a clean conscience, oh, we all know what it is to live under a burden of guilt. And we understand that that Jesus takes that away initially when we come to Him. But then what ends up happening is that that more guilt and more sin gets piled on and what are we meant to do with that? Are we meant to just kind of bear under that, that guilt and that pressure? No, it's like giving to God and say, God, I want my conscience clean, because I've done things my own conscience condemned before. And then I go to the Scriptures. And as the other things that I've done, that the scriptures condemn me for. And so therefore, we look up to heaven and say, God made me whole. And that's what's going on here. And so when you're baptized, when I'm baptized when we baptize people, they're just saying, I wanted that Jesus, because I wanted to trust him. Because I knew that in myself, it wasn't enough. Because even my own conscience would condemn me for things. And so what is your baptism, it's not a removal of dirt from the body. It's a response to God, from a clean conscience, oh, my gosh, he's made me whole. He's made me hold in this moment.It's affected because of why? Because of the resurrection Jesus Christ, we know it's true. And we know that it actually has effect on your life in mind, because of the power of the resurrection. Now Christ has gone to heaven. He is seated in the place of honor next to God. So what's going on here, if you know anything about sort of Christendom, it's that whole idea of the death, burial and resurrection. But it doesn't end there does it? There's also what's called the ascension, that they're waiting around at the end of the four Gospels, and they're waiting around to the beginning of the book of Acts for what? For Christ to be ascended. And so after His ascension, he goes where he goes, and to his rightful place at the right hand of God the Father, that's what's going on there. And when that occurs, then all the angels and authorities and powers accept His authority. That's so important. Because again, we find ourselves all jacked up and messed up so often because right oh my gosh, like, I can't believe I have to live with him or her, I have to be under him or her at work, or that teacher and what they're making me do and oh, you know, God, like saved me from all this, like, you know, I just, it's all it's all oppressive. It's all wrong. And God saying, No, I see you, I see you, I hear you. And ultimately, I'm over at all. And what I want to do is I want to work in your life. And my life in the midst of that. He doesn't remove us from whatever situation or plight we have. He noticed that about Christianity and God and the gospel. It isn't we all you know, will, will say, if it was just about removing us from the effects of the fall, if it was just about removing us from sin and suffering, he would take us home. As soon as you know, we said yes to him. But that's not how it works. He's saying you got to learn to trust me in this life, and be ready for the life to come. last and third and final point is how's your conscience? How's your conscience this morning, individually? Christian, for sure. I can say that corporately as a church. But where do you find yourself in this Gospel story? Again, we could go around the room. And even if you're sort of iffy on the Bible, or whether it's true or whatever like that, you and I, we could go around the room and you yourself, would say, I've done things wrong. I know I've done some things that even my own conscience condemns me for. And then when you go to the scriptures in the Bible, again, I've already said this, but you see, oh, my god, like there's other things. And then that what drives us to our need for Christ. Many people, many people this morning already said yes to that. The waters are still here. We do this regularly. God's doing something in our church. But I am again asking you and me the question, how's your conscience? Is your conscience clear this morning? That doesn't mean is it? Is it perfect that you don't think you don't do anything wrong anymore? Don't play that game. It's the whole idea of Do you know, if you're right with God, and right with others, you can get right with God and with others, whether that starting your journey for the first time and going to the waters of baptism, or doing some business with Jesus, and doing some business with others where you have to ask for forgiveness that you have to move towards what's right. Even in the midst of great pain and suffering, even in the midst when you yourself can say I don't think I've done anything wrong in this situation. Yet you still find yourself not okay. Not whole. Jesus can make you whole he can make us whole as a people. Let's pray. Father, we thank You for Your Word. We thank you that you don't leave us alone, that you care for us that you come to us. I pray for many around this room that are thinking about coming to you that are considering your claims in your word. Father, I pray that you give them much grace and mercy this day to be able to lean in and to be able to do exactly what you have for them. Don't worry about their neighbor or their family member Are someone at work but school just just showing you and them they would get right with you and that that would lead to getting right with others we ask these things in Christ's name amen

Ver todos los episodios