1 00:00:00,400 --> 00:00:03,720 Good. OK, awesome. 2 00:00:04,920 --> 00:00:08,080 Well good evening. Welcome to renewed mind Bible 3 00:00:08,080 --> 00:00:09,960 studies. Normally I am here to do it in 4 00:00:09,960 --> 00:00:11,680 person. If you're here in person. 5 00:00:11,920 --> 00:00:15,000 I wish I could be here but had some some some church family 6 00:00:15,000 --> 00:00:18,840 emergencies going on. So this one is pre recorded, so 7 00:00:19,360 --> 00:00:21,120 I'll just jump right into it. This is session 6. 8 00:00:21,120 --> 00:00:24,040 We're going through both first and second Peter, and this 9 00:00:24,040 --> 00:00:26,600 session is called Exiles with Courage under Fire. 10 00:00:26,600 --> 00:00:30,720 As a reminder, Exiles is in every single title for this 11 00:00:30,920 --> 00:00:34,240 Bible study series because it's all about speaking to believers 12 00:00:34,240 --> 00:00:36,920 that are exiles. And while yes, we do consider 13 00:00:36,920 --> 00:00:39,520 America to be overall a Christian nation, there's a lot 14 00:00:39,520 --> 00:00:42,800 of times we feel like outsiders amongst culture and so it really 15 00:00:42,800 --> 00:00:45,880 does apply to us. So let's go ahead and jump in to 16 00:00:45,880 --> 00:00:49,280 the introduction as we finish the back half of First Peter 3. 17 00:00:49,880 --> 00:00:52,840 That's verses 13 through 22. Before we get to the verses, 18 00:00:52,840 --> 00:00:55,160 here's just something I'd like to lay out for you. 19 00:00:55,960 --> 00:00:59,640 Faith is not always applauded. I wish that it was. 20 00:01:00,160 --> 00:01:02,320 We like to think that doing the right thing will lead to the 21 00:01:02,320 --> 00:01:04,200 right outcome. And even if we know that's not 22 00:01:04,200 --> 00:01:06,480 always the case here, we feel like it is here. 23 00:01:06,840 --> 00:01:09,600 And so we tend to feel like if you're kind, you'll be treated 24 00:01:09,600 --> 00:01:11,520 kindly. And if you stand for truth, 25 00:01:11,520 --> 00:01:13,120 other people will always respect you. 26 00:01:13,120 --> 00:01:15,240 And people tend to think if you live for God, you'll be 27 00:01:15,240 --> 00:01:18,840 protected from pain. But Peter knew better. 28 00:01:19,600 --> 00:01:22,640 The believers that he wrote to were not being cheered on for 29 00:01:22,640 --> 00:01:24,160 their faith. They were actually being 30 00:01:24,160 --> 00:01:26,600 criticized. They were being sidelined and in 31 00:01:26,600 --> 00:01:30,000 some cases full out persecuted. And they were doing good and 32 00:01:30,000 --> 00:01:33,120 still being misunderstood, speaking hope. 33 00:01:33,320 --> 00:01:34,720 And they were still being slandered. 34 00:01:34,960 --> 00:01:37,680 And Peter doesn't tell them to fight back or to disappear. 35 00:01:37,920 --> 00:01:42,560 He just tells them to respond differently, to set apart Christ 36 00:01:42,560 --> 00:01:46,280 in their hearts to suffer. Well, that's not a popular 37 00:01:46,280 --> 00:01:48,840 sentence, is it? He's telling them to speak 38 00:01:48,840 --> 00:01:51,480 gently and to live in such a way that even their enemies have to 39 00:01:51,480 --> 00:01:54,960 take notice. Honestly, that is how it feels 40 00:01:54,960 --> 00:01:58,120 for many of us today. Think about Tim Tebow. 41 00:01:58,120 --> 00:02:01,360 Just a random illustration I thought of when I was writing 42 00:02:01,360 --> 00:02:02,760 this. Tim Tebow was one of the most 43 00:02:02,760 --> 00:02:06,040 accomplished college quarterbacks in history, but 44 00:02:06,040 --> 00:02:09,080 from the moment he entered the NFL, his faith drew more 45 00:02:09,080 --> 00:02:11,800 attention than his stats ever did and he was mocked for 46 00:02:11,800 --> 00:02:14,480 kneeling to pray. He was criticized for speaking 47 00:02:14,480 --> 00:02:18,320 openly about Jesus, and he was labeled as controversial just 48 00:02:18,320 --> 00:02:20,720 for living out his convictions. But through it all, he never 49 00:02:20,720 --> 00:02:23,120 lashed out. The reason he's a good example 50 00:02:23,120 --> 00:02:26,520 is because how he didn't come back and try and swing back at 51 00:02:26,520 --> 00:02:29,720 those that swung at him. He always kept honoring God, 52 00:02:29,880 --> 00:02:33,520 loving people, and stood firm both on the field and in 53 00:02:33,520 --> 00:02:35,960 interviews. Actually, now in ministry, he 54 00:02:35,960 --> 00:02:38,600 still stands firm. His faith was not always 55 00:02:38,600 --> 00:02:40,600 applauded, but it was consistent. 56 00:02:41,600 --> 00:02:43,880 So this section of Peter's letter is not just for 1st 57 00:02:43,880 --> 00:02:46,680 century exiles. It is actually for anyone who's 58 00:02:46,680 --> 00:02:50,120 ever felt the sting of doing the right thing and being rejected. 59 00:02:51,640 --> 00:02:54,480 This is for anybody who's ever felt like their convictions cost 60 00:02:54,480 --> 00:02:56,840 them something. For anybody who's ever wrestled 61 00:02:56,840 --> 00:02:59,960 with the fear of speaking up or standing firm or living boldly 62 00:02:59,960 --> 00:03:01,640 in a world that doesn't always get it. 63 00:03:02,480 --> 00:03:04,800 And just when it starts to feel overwhelming, Peter is here to 64 00:03:04,800 --> 00:03:07,560 remind you. And remind me Jesus suffered 65 00:03:07,560 --> 00:03:10,440 too. And Jesus suffering was not a 66 00:03:10,440 --> 00:03:12,640 defeat. It was actually a declaration of 67 00:03:12,640 --> 00:03:15,680 victory. This session is for every 68 00:03:15,680 --> 00:03:18,600 believer who's ever wondered how to hold on to hope when the heat 69 00:03:18,600 --> 00:03:21,160 gets turned up. It's for the student who gets 70 00:03:21,160 --> 00:03:22,880 mocked for their faith at school. 71 00:03:22,880 --> 00:03:25,720 It's for the employee who was punished for their integrity. 72 00:03:26,280 --> 00:03:28,800 It's for the parent who feels the weight of leading their home 73 00:03:28,800 --> 00:03:31,280 differently than the other homes around them. 74 00:03:31,760 --> 00:03:34,640 It's for the Christian who wants to live boldly but also needs to 75 00:03:34,640 --> 00:03:37,600 learn how to do it gently. Peter doesn't promise an easy 76 00:03:37,600 --> 00:03:40,760 Rd. but he does show us how to walk it well with both courage 77 00:03:40,760 --> 00:03:42,720 and confidence. So let's go and jump in. 78 00:03:42,720 --> 00:03:45,240 The very first verses we're going to talk about are 13 79 00:03:45,240 --> 00:03:47,920 through 15. Courage starts in the heart. 80 00:03:48,160 --> 00:03:52,120 Here's what Peter says. Now, who will want to harm you 81 00:03:52,120 --> 00:03:57,160 if you're eager to do good? We'll come to that, he says. 82 00:03:57,160 --> 00:04:00,480 But even if you suffer for doing what is right, God will reward 83 00:04:00,480 --> 00:04:02,680 you for it. So don't worry or be afraid of 84 00:04:02,680 --> 00:04:05,680 their threats. Instead, you must worship Christ 85 00:04:05,680 --> 00:04:09,000 as Lord of your life. And if someone asks about your 86 00:04:09,000 --> 00:04:12,160 hope as a believer, always be ready to explain it. 87 00:04:13,640 --> 00:04:16,200 Always. Now it's not popular to say in 88 00:04:16,200 --> 00:04:20,560 church, but I'm going to say it. Doing good does not always 89 00:04:20,560 --> 00:04:23,480 protect you from getting hurt. A lot of times we have the 90 00:04:23,480 --> 00:04:25,720 encouragement of doing the right thing and the Lord will have 91 00:04:25,720 --> 00:04:27,400 your back. That's true, but it doesn't mean 92 00:04:27,400 --> 00:04:30,840 you get a reward. Peter opens this section with a 93 00:04:30,840 --> 00:04:33,560 rhetorical question. You can breathe a sigh of 94 00:04:33,560 --> 00:04:35,120 relief. It's a rhetorical question when 95 00:04:35,120 --> 00:04:37,960 he says who will want to harm you if you're eager to do good, 96 00:04:37,960 --> 00:04:41,240 well, we know the answer. Plenty of people actually might 97 00:04:41,240 --> 00:04:42,640 want to harm you when you do good. 98 00:04:43,240 --> 00:04:45,720 Living faithfully doesn't mean living pain free. 99 00:04:46,200 --> 00:04:47,680 And sometimes, here's your blanks. 100 00:04:47,880 --> 00:04:51,200 Sometimes your obedience will actually put a target on your 101 00:04:51,200 --> 00:04:54,160 back. Peter's not trying to be naive. 102 00:04:54,160 --> 00:04:57,080 He's just helping believers reframe what it means to suffer 103 00:04:57,080 --> 00:05:00,600 for doing what is right. In other words, he's saying it's 104 00:05:00,600 --> 00:05:02,680 one thing to suffer the consequences of your own 105 00:05:02,680 --> 00:05:05,600 mistakes, which, by the way, we all do and should. 106 00:05:06,440 --> 00:05:08,920 It's another to face hardship because you stayed faithful. 107 00:05:10,080 --> 00:05:13,000 And Peter wants us to see that the kind of suffering that 108 00:05:13,000 --> 00:05:16,040 happens there is honorable. It matters to God. 109 00:05:16,040 --> 00:05:18,520 In fact, he says clearly God will reward you for it. 110 00:05:19,280 --> 00:05:22,600 And that Greek phrase there, don't be afraid in verse 14. 111 00:05:22,600 --> 00:05:25,640 It's actually a direct quote. Here's a blank for you from 112 00:05:25,640 --> 00:05:29,920 Isaiah chapter 8, verse 12. This is where the prophet warned 113 00:05:29,920 --> 00:05:32,200 people not to fear what the world fears. 114 00:05:32,880 --> 00:05:35,480 And that really does matter. Peter is not encouraging us to 115 00:05:35,480 --> 00:05:38,160 fake bravery or act like persecution doesn't hurt. 116 00:05:38,360 --> 00:05:40,200 I am not a believer at whatsoever. 117 00:05:40,200 --> 00:05:43,480 And fake it till you make it. He's reminding us that our fear 118 00:05:43,480 --> 00:05:45,560 doesn't belong to them. It doesn't belong to our 119 00:05:45,560 --> 00:05:49,080 enemies, it doesn't belong to the world, and it doesn't belong 120 00:05:49,080 --> 00:05:51,440 to the devil. Your fear, even your fear, 121 00:05:51,440 --> 00:05:53,760 belongs to the Lord. We submit it to him. 122 00:05:53,760 --> 00:05:57,280 And when we keep Christ set apart in our hearts as Lord, it 123 00:05:57,280 --> 00:05:59,360 reframes everything else about our life. 124 00:06:00,360 --> 00:06:03,200 And that phrase in verse 15, it says worship Christ as the Lord 125 00:06:03,200 --> 00:06:07,240 of your life is probably more literally translated as sanctify 126 00:06:07,240 --> 00:06:11,960 Christ as Lord in your hearts. That Greek word there, it's 127 00:06:12,000 --> 00:06:15,120 hagiasite. It's from Hagiazo, which we've 128 00:06:15,120 --> 00:06:16,600 talked about a couple times in the study. 129 00:06:16,600 --> 00:06:20,600 It means to set apart consecrate or to treat as here's your blank 130 00:06:20,720 --> 00:06:24,080 holy. So we have to treat Christ as a 131 00:06:24,080 --> 00:06:26,640 holy Lord in our life, not just the one that we pledge 132 00:06:26,640 --> 00:06:29,200 allegiance to. And he's saying, before you ever 133 00:06:29,200 --> 00:06:32,880 answer your critics, before you ever defend your faith, before 134 00:06:32,880 --> 00:06:37,000 you ever speak a single word, anchor your heart to Jesus. 135 00:06:37,200 --> 00:06:39,400 You have to remember who's really in charge before you 136 00:06:39,400 --> 00:06:41,840 respond to people. Now, this is really where 137 00:06:41,840 --> 00:06:45,160 courage starts, right? Never with shouting louder or 138 00:06:45,160 --> 00:06:48,680 getting in an online debate. It does not start with a 139 00:06:48,680 --> 00:06:52,400 perfectly rehearsed defense. It starts with settling into a 140 00:06:52,400 --> 00:06:54,840 life that really is surrendered to Christ, not just the lip 141 00:06:54,840 --> 00:06:57,520 service, because when Christ is the Lord of your heart, you 142 00:06:57,520 --> 00:06:59,400 don't panic when your faith is challenged. 143 00:06:59,800 --> 00:07:01,560 You prepare to give hope in response. 144 00:07:02,000 --> 00:07:05,160 And that is the next line. He says always be ready to 145 00:07:05,160 --> 00:07:07,520 explain your hope. A lot of times just that one 146 00:07:07,520 --> 00:07:10,680 verse is used as an encouragement for evangelism or 147 00:07:10,680 --> 00:07:13,560 how to give your testimony. But the word for explain there 148 00:07:13,560 --> 00:07:17,840 is apollogion, and it's where we get the word apologetics. 149 00:07:18,520 --> 00:07:21,440 Peter is not telling believers to become philosophers. 150 00:07:21,760 --> 00:07:24,040 This should be another relief for many of us. 151 00:07:24,320 --> 00:07:26,200 He's just telling them to be witnesses. 152 00:07:26,200 --> 00:07:27,520 Well, in court, what's a witness? 153 00:07:27,520 --> 00:07:29,080 You just talk about what you've seen. 154 00:07:29,440 --> 00:07:31,400 So you don't have to have all the answers. 155 00:07:31,400 --> 00:07:33,960 You just need to be ready to share why you still have hope, 156 00:07:34,200 --> 00:07:38,720 especially when life is hard. Don't miss the assumed context 157 00:07:38,720 --> 00:07:40,360 here. By the way, if someone is asking 158 00:07:40,360 --> 00:07:42,920 you about your hope, it's probably because you're living 159 00:07:42,920 --> 00:07:44,720 in a way that doesn't make sense to them. 160 00:07:45,040 --> 00:07:47,040 I've had this happen before. Hopefully you have to where 161 00:07:47,040 --> 00:07:49,600 you've got somebody who's not quite the same believer, but 162 00:07:49,600 --> 00:07:52,320 they're asking you why do you do what you do? 163 00:07:53,520 --> 00:07:56,880 So it's probably those moments you are forgiving, maybe when 164 00:07:56,920 --> 00:07:59,640 other people would retaliate, or you're calm when most of the 165 00:07:59,640 --> 00:08:02,120 world would panic. Maybe you're just very loving 166 00:08:02,120 --> 00:08:05,200 even when it's not returned. That kind of life always raises 167 00:08:05,200 --> 00:08:08,400 questions, and so all Peter is saying is to be ready when it 168 00:08:08,400 --> 00:08:11,560 does. In the early church, evangelism 169 00:08:11,560 --> 00:08:14,840 was not driven by marketing or mass events, and that's 170 00:08:14,840 --> 00:08:16,600 important. I'm saying this because that 171 00:08:16,600 --> 00:08:18,680 really is how a lot of churches operate today. 172 00:08:18,680 --> 00:08:21,200 We send out mailers. I say we because I'm part of the 173 00:08:21,200 --> 00:08:24,320 church, but send out mailers or do big events and say maybe we 174 00:08:24,320 --> 00:08:27,280 can draw people in this way. Whatever happened to equipping 175 00:08:27,280 --> 00:08:30,320 the men and women who love Jesus to actually go out grassroots 176 00:08:30,320 --> 00:08:32,640 and spread the gospel the way it was always designed in the Great 177 00:08:32,640 --> 00:08:35,000 Commission? It's almost like Jesus gave us a 178 00:08:35,000 --> 00:08:37,440 Great Commission and we're like, yeah, but what if we do mailers 179 00:08:37,440 --> 00:08:39,240 or we do an E event or something? 180 00:08:39,760 --> 00:08:42,400 That's not even in my notes. It's just a tangent of mine, but 181 00:08:42,400 --> 00:08:43,760 you're welcome. It's a bonus. 182 00:08:44,760 --> 00:08:46,680 It wasn't driven by these things in the early church. 183 00:08:46,680 --> 00:08:48,520 It was always driven by one word. 184 00:08:48,520 --> 00:08:53,640 And here's your blank contrast. Contrast because in a world of 185 00:08:53,640 --> 00:08:55,560 vengeance, Christians would forgive. 186 00:08:56,040 --> 00:08:59,240 In a culture that was centered around hierarchy, they always 187 00:08:59,240 --> 00:09:02,680 welcomed slaves and women and foreigners as equals. 188 00:09:03,040 --> 00:09:06,120 When plagues swept through the cities and most people fled or 189 00:09:06,200 --> 00:09:09,400 locked themselves indoors, Christians would stay behind to 190 00:09:09,400 --> 00:09:12,560 care for the sick, sometimes actually dying in the process. 191 00:09:13,440 --> 00:09:15,520 Their hope was not something that was just preached, it was 192 00:09:15,520 --> 00:09:18,920 always demonstrated publicly and that made people curious, even 193 00:09:18,920 --> 00:09:20,680 if they didn't convert to Christianity. 194 00:09:21,200 --> 00:09:23,280 And I need you to know that that is still one of the most 195 00:09:23,280 --> 00:09:25,360 powerful forms of a witness today. 196 00:09:25,840 --> 00:09:28,400 You do not have to be on a street corner with a bullhorn 197 00:09:28,400 --> 00:09:31,280 and a poster board sign. In fact, please don't. 198 00:09:32,280 --> 00:09:34,840 You do not have to debate atheists or quote Greek 199 00:09:34,840 --> 00:09:37,600 philosophy. Sometimes the most powerful way 200 00:09:37,600 --> 00:09:41,120 to share your faith is just to live it with consistency and 201 00:09:41,120 --> 00:09:43,840 humility, especially in a pressure filled moment. 202 00:09:45,080 --> 00:09:47,320 But we're talking a lot about what happened then. 203 00:09:47,720 --> 00:09:49,560 How do we live this out practically today? 204 00:09:50,080 --> 00:09:52,760 Well, we live it out when we do forgive somebody who doesn't 205 00:09:52,760 --> 00:09:56,480 deserve it and we let them know it's because we've been forgiven 206 00:09:56,480 --> 00:09:58,120 too. Today. 207 00:09:58,120 --> 00:10:00,680 We live it out when we choose integrity at work, even when it 208 00:10:00,680 --> 00:10:03,760 costs us something and our Co workers start to notice that 209 00:10:03,760 --> 00:10:06,400 we're not like everyone else and we feel isolated and alone. 210 00:10:07,200 --> 00:10:11,000 We live it when we show kindness and traffic, or patience with 211 00:10:11,000 --> 00:10:14,800 our kids, or patience with other people's kids, or when we show 212 00:10:14,800 --> 00:10:18,880 compassion in a crisis. We show it when we have peace 213 00:10:19,400 --> 00:10:22,560 when things look uncertain. We always live it when we serve 214 00:10:22,560 --> 00:10:24,320 people who can't do anything for us. 215 00:10:24,560 --> 00:10:26,920 We live it when we pray with someone instead of just 216 00:10:26,920 --> 00:10:28,440 promising that we'll pray for them. 217 00:10:29,320 --> 00:10:31,760 And the last thing I'll say is we live it when we give Jesus 218 00:10:31,760 --> 00:10:34,080 the credit in an everyday conversation instead of just 219 00:10:34,080 --> 00:10:38,040 hiding behind him in some vague spirituality or sending somebody 220 00:10:38,040 --> 00:10:42,200 good vibes, whatever that is. Sometimes people just won't 221 00:10:42,200 --> 00:10:44,760 understand it, and sometimes they'll go out of their way to 222 00:10:44,760 --> 00:10:47,080 mock it, but other times they will ask. 223 00:10:47,640 --> 00:10:49,840 And when they do, you don't need to panic. 224 00:10:50,200 --> 00:10:51,760 You don't need to preach a sermon. 225 00:10:52,280 --> 00:10:54,320 You just have to be ready to share your hope and what you've 226 00:10:54,320 --> 00:10:56,600 witnessed. I want you to know before I move 227 00:10:56,600 --> 00:11:01,040 on to the other verses, you can do this because it is something 228 00:11:01,040 --> 00:11:04,160 that you don't have to memorize. It's a story that you already 229 00:11:04,160 --> 00:11:06,120 know well. It's your story. 230 00:11:07,120 --> 00:11:10,000 Less of this is what you should believe and a little bit more of 231 00:11:10,080 --> 00:11:11,640 here's what Jesus has done for me. 232 00:11:11,880 --> 00:11:13,480 That's all Peter's calling you to do. 233 00:11:14,240 --> 00:11:17,920 And when you're ready, when your heart is already anchored in the 234 00:11:17,920 --> 00:11:21,680 Lordship of Christ as your first priority, you won't just know 235 00:11:21,680 --> 00:11:23,560 what to say. You'll also know why you're 236 00:11:23,560 --> 00:11:25,760 saying it and God will bring the people to you. 237 00:11:26,480 --> 00:11:28,120 So a couple personal insights for you. 238 00:11:28,640 --> 00:11:31,280 Is there a situation in my life where I'm more focused on being 239 00:11:31,280 --> 00:11:33,640 right than ready to reflect Christ? 240 00:11:34,560 --> 00:11:37,200 And also, where am I tempted to shrink back in fear instead of 241 00:11:37,200 --> 00:11:39,720 honoring Christ as my Lord of my heart? 242 00:11:40,800 --> 00:11:44,760 All right, the next two verses, a little personal for me, 16 and 243 00:11:44,760 --> 00:11:46,080 17. I'm calling this one when 244 00:11:46,080 --> 00:11:52,040 accusations come first, Peter 316 and 17 says, but do this in 245 00:11:52,040 --> 00:11:55,320 a gentle and respectful way. Keep your conscience clear. 246 00:11:55,800 --> 00:11:59,440 Then if people speak against you, they will be ashamed when 247 00:11:59,440 --> 00:12:01,800 they see what a good life you live because you belong to 248 00:12:01,800 --> 00:12:04,640 Christ. And then he says in verse 17, 249 00:12:04,640 --> 00:12:07,840 remember, it's better to suffer for doing good if that's what 250 00:12:07,840 --> 00:12:10,480 God wants than to suffer for doing wrong. 251 00:12:12,320 --> 00:12:16,120 OK, there is a strange kind of comfort in these verses. 252 00:12:16,320 --> 00:12:18,880 And not because Peter guarantees that things will go well, but 253 00:12:18,880 --> 00:12:21,840 because he tells you what to expect and how to stand. 254 00:12:22,640 --> 00:12:25,840 Peter assumes that people are going to speak against you, not 255 00:12:25,840 --> 00:12:28,760 if, but when. And faithfulness in the Kingdom 256 00:12:28,760 --> 00:12:32,080 will always draw fire to you, even what feels like here's your 257 00:12:32,080 --> 00:12:34,040 blanks. Even if it is what feels like 258 00:12:34,040 --> 00:12:36,880 friendly fire. So in a world that prizes 259 00:12:36,880 --> 00:12:39,800 reputation and public image and getting the last word and social 260 00:12:39,800 --> 00:12:42,200 status, this is a really hard word to swallow. 261 00:12:42,200 --> 00:12:44,720 Trust me, I had to swallow it while I was writing this and 262 00:12:44,720 --> 00:12:47,440 reading it. But Peter is telling us that we 263 00:12:47,440 --> 00:12:51,000 don't get to defend ourselves with rage or retaliation. 264 00:12:51,520 --> 00:12:54,560 He has already said set apart Christ in your heart 1st. 265 00:12:54,920 --> 00:12:58,080 And now he adds that you should respond in a gentle and 266 00:12:58,080 --> 00:13:00,400 respectful way. That alone would have been 267 00:13:00,400 --> 00:13:03,400 radical in a culture built on power and pride and public 268 00:13:03,400 --> 00:13:05,280 dominance. That would be radical in a 269 00:13:05,280 --> 00:13:06,760 presidential debate today, wouldn't it? 270 00:13:08,000 --> 00:13:10,760 This might be a news flash for some of us because particularly 271 00:13:10,760 --> 00:13:13,160 when it comes to watching political polls or things on the 272 00:13:13,160 --> 00:13:17,280 news, Christians sometimes have snappy comebacks and they're 273 00:13:17,280 --> 00:13:19,480 aggressive. And Christians, I hate to tell 274 00:13:19,480 --> 00:13:21,600 you this, we are not called to win arguments. 275 00:13:21,880 --> 00:13:24,920 We are called to live in such a way that even our enemies have 276 00:13:24,920 --> 00:13:26,920 to stop and say something's different about them. 277 00:13:27,440 --> 00:13:30,240 It's totally different goal. This was really important. 278 00:13:30,240 --> 00:13:33,040 In Peter's time, Christians were already viewed with suspicion. 279 00:13:33,320 --> 00:13:36,160 They were outsiders. Believers in the 1st century 280 00:13:36,160 --> 00:13:39,400 suffered not because they broke laws, but because they broke 281 00:13:39,400 --> 00:13:41,960 expectations of the culture around them. 282 00:13:42,560 --> 00:13:45,120 They refused to worship Caesar, they wouldn't participate in 283 00:13:45,120 --> 00:13:48,480 Roman temple sacrifices, and they would not swear allegiance 284 00:13:48,480 --> 00:13:50,120 to the empire the way that others did. 285 00:13:50,880 --> 00:13:56,280 This made them look rebellious, anti Roman, unpatriotic, and 286 00:13:56,280 --> 00:13:59,680 many of them were labeled as threats to the social order just 287 00:13:59,680 --> 00:14:02,440 for living out their lives. A lot of believers lost their 288 00:14:02,440 --> 00:14:06,000 jobs, other people were shunned by their families, some of them 289 00:14:06,000 --> 00:14:08,280 even got beaten or imprisoned without a trial. 290 00:14:08,280 --> 00:14:12,600 And it would only get worse under emperors like Nero, who 291 00:14:12,600 --> 00:14:15,640 eventually had Christians burned alive as human torches or thrown 292 00:14:15,640 --> 00:14:19,800 to wild animals in an arena, all for refusing to deny the name of 293 00:14:19,880 --> 00:14:22,280 Jesus. That's the kind of suffering 294 00:14:22,280 --> 00:14:24,440 that Peter is addressing. When Peter said honor the 295 00:14:24,440 --> 00:14:27,480 emperor in a previous lesson, he was talking about Nero. 296 00:14:28,880 --> 00:14:30,960 So that being said, we're supposed to answer with 297 00:14:30,960 --> 00:14:33,880 gentleness and live with a clean conscience and to keep doing 298 00:14:33,880 --> 00:14:36,800 good. What we deal with in America is 299 00:14:36,800 --> 00:14:39,680 not even half as difficult as what these Christians were 300 00:14:39,680 --> 00:14:41,880 dealing with. But we get twice as angry with 301 00:14:41,880 --> 00:14:45,600 what happens to us, don't we? Why is that? 302 00:14:45,960 --> 00:14:48,960 It's because we feel insulated and protected within the system 303 00:14:48,960 --> 00:14:50,560 or culture that we find ourselves in. 304 00:14:50,840 --> 00:14:53,360 So instead of fully relying on Jesus, we rely on other things 305 00:14:53,360 --> 00:14:55,440 and other people. We have Christian music and 306 00:14:55,440 --> 00:14:58,360 Christian clothes and Christian businesses and Christian media. 307 00:14:58,480 --> 00:15:00,680 So we can just separate from the world that we're supposed to 308 00:15:00,680 --> 00:15:03,520 help, but we're pretty lazy evangelists because of it. 309 00:15:05,040 --> 00:15:07,840 So that phrase, if people speak against you, is the Greek word 310 00:15:08,160 --> 00:15:11,920 catalaleo. It means to slander or speak 311 00:15:11,920 --> 00:15:15,840 maliciously, or more specifically to talk down with 312 00:15:15,840 --> 00:15:17,640 intent to harm. That's your blank. 313 00:15:18,480 --> 00:15:21,360 This is not like teasing, sarcasm, disagreement. 314 00:15:21,600 --> 00:15:24,920 We are talking about targeted defamation of character. 315 00:15:25,480 --> 00:15:29,280 Peter knew that believers would be misrepresented and lied about 316 00:15:30,040 --> 00:15:31,920 even in the face of intentional attacks. 317 00:15:32,240 --> 00:15:36,000 His instruction was clear. Don't fight fire with fire. 318 00:15:36,520 --> 00:15:39,440 Live in such a way that the lies eventually fall flat. 319 00:15:40,520 --> 00:15:44,240 Emphasis on eventually. Peter says keep your conscience 320 00:15:44,240 --> 00:15:45,360 clear. And the Greek word for 321 00:15:45,360 --> 00:15:49,400 conscience is suno E dasis. It means your inner sense of 322 00:15:49,400 --> 00:15:50,760 right and wrong. And here's your blank. 323 00:15:50,760 --> 00:15:54,440 It means a moral compass that is guided by God. 324 00:15:55,160 --> 00:15:57,960 A clear conscience doesn't mean you are never accused. 325 00:15:58,400 --> 00:16:00,840 It means you've lived with such integrity that the accusations 326 00:16:00,840 --> 00:16:03,680 just can't stick for long. It means you've already examined 327 00:16:03,680 --> 00:16:06,560 your own heart before someone else tries to examine it. 328 00:16:06,560 --> 00:16:09,200 And it does matter because Peter makes the bold claim that if you 329 00:16:09,200 --> 00:16:12,200 suffer for doing good and if your life really reflects 330 00:16:12,200 --> 00:16:15,000 Christ, eventually your critics will feel the weight of it. 331 00:16:15,560 --> 00:16:18,000 He says that they're going to be ashamed when they see the fruit 332 00:16:18,000 --> 00:16:21,760 of your life, not because you shamed them, but because your 333 00:16:21,760 --> 00:16:23,920 conduct spoke louder than their criticism. 334 00:16:24,840 --> 00:16:27,240 And finally, he brings it all home in verse 17. 335 00:16:27,240 --> 00:16:30,200 This one's heavy. It is better to suffer for doing 336 00:16:30,200 --> 00:16:33,840 good if that's what God wants, then to suffer for doing wrong. 337 00:16:34,520 --> 00:16:37,200 First of all, again, not in my notes, but I know there's a lot 338 00:16:37,200 --> 00:16:39,840 of believers that do what they think is good for the Kingdom 339 00:16:39,840 --> 00:16:41,560 and then they feel like they suffer for it. 340 00:16:41,760 --> 00:16:44,120 But God never asked them to do that for the Kingdom. 341 00:16:44,480 --> 00:16:47,280 And So what ends up happening there is they suffer for doing 342 00:16:47,280 --> 00:16:50,840 good and it wasn't God's will. That's bad on your own personal 343 00:16:50,840 --> 00:16:52,920 faith, but I would just tell you this. 344 00:16:52,920 --> 00:16:57,480 Suffering is hard either way, but suffering for doing good, as 345 00:16:57,480 --> 00:17:01,560 Peter says, if God allows it and that's his will, it has a 346 00:17:01,560 --> 00:17:04,760 purpose. When you suffer for doing good, 347 00:17:05,160 --> 00:17:08,640 the suffering refines you and it shapes your witness and more 348 00:17:08,640 --> 00:17:10,800 importantly, it makes you more like Jesus. 349 00:17:11,440 --> 00:17:14,440 Jesus is often depicted as a suffering servant. 350 00:17:14,440 --> 00:17:16,079 Most of us have heard that at some point. 351 00:17:16,480 --> 00:17:19,520 And in other words, I guess what I'm here to encourage you with 352 00:17:20,119 --> 00:17:24,119 is you are going to suffer. But if you're going to suffer 353 00:17:24,160 --> 00:17:26,599 either way, you might as well make it something that counts 354 00:17:26,599 --> 00:17:29,520 for something eternal. This doesn't mean that you go 355 00:17:29,520 --> 00:17:32,120 looking for suffering. It does mean you don't run from 356 00:17:32,120 --> 00:17:34,600 it when it comes. Certainly not if it's the result 357 00:17:34,600 --> 00:17:37,840 of faithful obedience. A clear conscience won't always 358 00:17:37,840 --> 00:17:40,480 protect your comfort, but it will protect your soul. 359 00:17:41,440 --> 00:17:44,080 So, personal insights. Am I more focused on keeping my 360 00:17:44,080 --> 00:17:47,640 image clean or keeping my conscience clean before God? 361 00:17:48,920 --> 00:17:51,160 And how can I respond with gentleness and respect the next 362 00:17:51,160 --> 00:17:54,040 time that I feel misunderstood, judged, or attacked? 363 00:17:56,520 --> 00:17:59,440 All right, verses 18 through 20, we're calling this victory 364 00:17:59,760 --> 00:18:01,080 through the flood. And we're going to get into a 365 00:18:01,080 --> 00:18:03,800 little bit of theology in these next final two sections of 366 00:18:03,800 --> 00:18:05,680 Scripture. So any theology nerds, you're 367 00:18:05,680 --> 00:18:09,120 going to love this. He says in verses 18 through 20, 368 00:18:09,160 --> 00:18:11,560 Christ suffered for our sins once for all time. 369 00:18:11,840 --> 00:18:15,320 He never sinned, but he died for sinners to bring you safely home 370 00:18:15,320 --> 00:18:18,440 to God. He suffered physical death, but 371 00:18:18,440 --> 00:18:19,920 he was raised to life in the Spirit. 372 00:18:20,400 --> 00:18:24,120 So he went, and he preached to the spirits in prison those who 373 00:18:24,120 --> 00:18:26,480 disobeyed God. Long ago, when God waited 374 00:18:26,480 --> 00:18:29,560 patiently while Noah was building his boat, only eight 375 00:18:29,560 --> 00:18:31,920 people were saved from drowning in that terrible flood. 376 00:18:32,440 --> 00:18:35,360 So let's start with what's clear before we get into what is 377 00:18:35,360 --> 00:18:38,080 confusing. Verse 18 gives us one of the 378 00:18:38,080 --> 00:18:41,000 clearest summaries of the gospel in the New Testament. 379 00:18:41,480 --> 00:18:46,440 Christ, who is perfect, sinless, and holy, suffered once for all 380 00:18:46,440 --> 00:18:49,480 to bring us back to God. Your blanks here. 381 00:18:49,800 --> 00:18:53,000 The righteous died for the unrighteous. 382 00:18:54,400 --> 00:19:00,400 It's powerful and it only had to happen once, just once. 383 00:19:00,400 --> 00:19:02,680 That phrase once for all. Hey, Pax. 384 00:19:03,160 --> 00:19:05,480 It is incredibly important because it means complete, 385 00:19:05,600 --> 00:19:08,720 final, finished. There is no repeat needed. 386 00:19:08,880 --> 00:19:10,520 The death of Jesus wasn't partial. 387 00:19:10,520 --> 00:19:13,240 It was perfect. And then Peter says something 388 00:19:13,240 --> 00:19:15,240 wild. He says Jesus was raised to life 389 00:19:15,240 --> 00:19:18,440 in the spirit and then he went and preached to the spirits in 390 00:19:18,440 --> 00:19:20,160 prison. And that's where things get 391 00:19:20,160 --> 00:19:22,080 really interesting and a little complex. 392 00:19:23,200 --> 00:19:25,200 This phrase preached to the spirits in prison has sparked 393 00:19:25,200 --> 00:19:27,560 centuries of debate. And there are three major 394 00:19:27,560 --> 00:19:31,080 interpretations that have emerged, sort of, and all of 395 00:19:31,080 --> 00:19:33,640 them have some sort of merit, depending on how you read the 396 00:19:33,640 --> 00:19:36,720 original Greek, how you understand the timeline of the 397 00:19:36,720 --> 00:19:38,320 death of Jesus and his resurrection. 398 00:19:38,320 --> 00:19:39,640 And we're going to talk about all three of them. 399 00:19:39,640 --> 00:19:41,120 I've got them written down in your notes for you. 400 00:19:41,400 --> 00:19:44,680 The first interpretation is what it means is that Christ preached 401 00:19:44,760 --> 00:19:47,640 through Noah to the people of his day. 402 00:19:48,520 --> 00:19:51,240 This view is held by certain theologians throughout history, 403 00:19:51,240 --> 00:19:55,400 like Augustine or John Calvin. Yes, the father of Calvinism. 404 00:19:56,000 --> 00:19:59,080 It suggests that Jesus was preaching through Noah as Noah 405 00:19:59,080 --> 00:20:02,480 warned his generation of judgement, and the spirits in 406 00:20:02,480 --> 00:20:05,360 prison would then be people who are now dead. 407 00:20:06,800 --> 00:20:09,800 But they were alive in Noah's time, and now they're in prison 408 00:20:09,800 --> 00:20:12,000 or simply just awaiting judgement of some sort. 409 00:20:12,360 --> 00:20:14,720 According to this view, the spirit of Jesus was at work 410 00:20:14,720 --> 00:20:16,720 through Noah's obedience. That's your blank. 411 00:20:17,760 --> 00:20:20,800 Preaching repentance even then And if you remember, it does 412 00:20:20,800 --> 00:20:23,760 connect with second Peter 25 where Noah is called a preacher 413 00:20:23,760 --> 00:20:26,920 of righteousness. The strengths of this view is 414 00:20:26,920 --> 00:20:29,760 that it fits with Peter's emphasis on Noah, but the 415 00:20:29,760 --> 00:20:31,560 weaknesses is just to be honest with you. 416 00:20:31,560 --> 00:20:34,280 It feels like a stretch. Grammatically, the passage 417 00:20:34,280 --> 00:20:36,440 sounds like he's describing something that happened after 418 00:20:36,440 --> 00:20:38,440 the death of Jesus, not centuries before it. 419 00:20:38,600 --> 00:20:40,840 So personally I don't adhere to that viewpoint. 420 00:20:41,720 --> 00:20:45,720 Second interpretation, Christ declared victory to fallen 421 00:20:45,720 --> 00:20:50,200 angels or demonic powers. This view which is supported by 422 00:20:50,200 --> 00:20:53,200 a lot of modern evangelical scholars, people like Wayne 423 00:20:53,200 --> 00:20:56,520 Grudem and RC Sprole, it sees the spirits in prison. 424 00:20:56,520 --> 00:21:00,000 Here's your your blanks as rebellious spiritual beings, 425 00:21:00,440 --> 00:21:03,480 possibly in reference to Genesis 6 one through 4 where it talks 426 00:21:03,480 --> 00:21:06,560 about the sons of God. These are ones who left their 427 00:21:06,560 --> 00:21:08,840 proper domain. So according to this reading, 428 00:21:08,840 --> 00:21:12,120 after the death of Jesus and before his resurrection, He made 429 00:21:12,120 --> 00:21:14,480 a proclamation. Your Greek word there, since we 430 00:21:14,480 --> 00:21:18,320 love Greek, is a que ruksen. It means to declare or herald. 431 00:21:18,320 --> 00:21:21,200 It does not mean to evangelize. So you can write that down. 432 00:21:22,320 --> 00:21:24,840 But He was there to proclaim to these imprisoned spirits, 433 00:21:24,840 --> 00:21:27,600 announcing their defeat and His triumph over sin and death. 434 00:21:28,360 --> 00:21:31,240 So strength of this viewpoint is it does line up with other 435 00:21:31,240 --> 00:21:32,960 passages. If you want to write down extra 436 00:21:32,960 --> 00:21:37,000 scriptures, it lines up with passages like Colossians 215, 437 00:21:37,240 --> 00:21:39,760 which says Christ disarmed the spiritual rulers and 438 00:21:39,760 --> 00:21:42,120 authorities. And it also lines up with Jude 6 439 00:21:42,720 --> 00:21:45,160 which talks about angels kept in chains until judgement. 440 00:21:45,720 --> 00:21:48,640 A weakness to this viewpoint is it assumes a lot of theological 441 00:21:48,640 --> 00:21:51,760 background knowledge, and it hinges very heavily on Genesis 6 442 00:21:51,760 --> 00:21:55,760 being about fallen angels, which is not universally held as a 443 00:21:55,760 --> 00:21:59,440 view. So the third view is that Christ 444 00:21:59,440 --> 00:22:01,560 was preaching the gospel to the dead. 445 00:22:02,240 --> 00:22:05,520 This third view is suggesting that Jesus actually descended 446 00:22:05,520 --> 00:22:08,880 into the realm of the dead and preached the gospel to the 447 00:22:08,880 --> 00:22:11,920 righteous who had died before the cross, like the faithful men 448 00:22:11,920 --> 00:22:15,160 and women in the Old Testament, and offered them the fullness of 449 00:22:15,160 --> 00:22:18,080 salvation now that his sacrifice was complete. 450 00:22:18,840 --> 00:22:22,520 This interpretation is supported in part by some of the readings 451 00:22:22,520 --> 00:22:25,600 in First Peter 4/6, which we'll get to in a few weeks. 452 00:22:26,000 --> 00:22:28,800 But just so you know, it says the Gospel was preached even to 453 00:22:28,800 --> 00:22:31,960 those who are now dead. And it's also echoed in the 454 00:22:31,960 --> 00:22:35,600 Apostles Creed. He descended to the dead. 455 00:22:35,600 --> 00:22:36,800 That's part of the Apostles Creed. 456 00:22:36,800 --> 00:22:39,160 So the strength there is it emphasizes the total reach of 457 00:22:39,160 --> 00:22:41,760 Christ's victory, and it connects with the early church 458 00:22:41,760 --> 00:22:43,840 creeds. A weakness there is that the 459 00:22:43,840 --> 00:22:46,680 Greek word for preached in this passage, the one that's used it 460 00:22:46,680 --> 00:22:50,280 means to proclaim good news. But Caruso is the one that means 461 00:22:50,280 --> 00:22:52,640 to announce our herald. So this suggests it was a 462 00:22:52,640 --> 00:22:55,840 proclamation of victory, not necessarily an evangelistic 463 00:22:55,840 --> 00:22:58,400 attempt. So what did Jesus do when he was 464 00:22:58,400 --> 00:22:59,720 down there? Well, I told you there were 465 00:22:59,720 --> 00:23:04,240 three normally held views, and here's your 4th. 466 00:23:06,120 --> 00:23:09,720 It's sort of a hybrid view that Christ proclaimed victory across 467 00:23:09,800 --> 00:23:12,040 all the realms. Personally, this is what I 468 00:23:12,040 --> 00:23:15,280 adhere to because this view actually combines elements of 469 00:23:15,280 --> 00:23:17,840 both interpretations 2 and three. 470 00:23:18,480 --> 00:23:21,280 To me it suggests that between his death and resurrection, 471 00:23:21,600 --> 00:23:24,880 Jesus descended into the realm of the dead, often referred to 472 00:23:24,880 --> 00:23:28,440 as Sheol or Hades, sometimes even Abraham's bosom. 473 00:23:28,440 --> 00:23:30,280 And he made a 2 fold proclamation. 474 00:23:30,520 --> 00:23:32,400 First of all, here's your blanks. 475 00:23:32,400 --> 00:23:35,800 He made a proclamation to fallen spiritual beings, maybe 476 00:23:35,800 --> 00:23:38,640 connected to Genesis 6 like we were talking about, and declared 477 00:23:38,640 --> 00:23:41,400 their final judgement and his triumph over sin and death. 478 00:23:42,080 --> 00:23:44,680 But he also made a proclamation to the righteous dead, those who 479 00:23:44,680 --> 00:23:46,600 had trusted God before the cross. 480 00:23:47,080 --> 00:23:49,240 He announced that the long-awaited redemption had 481 00:23:49,240 --> 00:23:52,280 come, fulfilling promises that they had hope in when they were 482 00:23:52,280 --> 00:23:54,680 alive. All of this supports the idea 483 00:23:54,680 --> 00:23:56,960 that Christ made an authoritative declaration of 484 00:23:56,960 --> 00:23:59,720 victory, not a second offer of salvation. 485 00:23:59,800 --> 00:24:01,720 And I want to make that very clear because some people 486 00:24:01,720 --> 00:24:04,120 believe that there's a second offer of salvation after death. 487 00:24:04,640 --> 00:24:08,240 There is not. This view is supported by a lot 488 00:24:08,240 --> 00:24:11,280 of early church traditions, a lot of creeds like the Apostles 489 00:24:11,280 --> 00:24:14,200 Creed, and it connects to other scriptures like Ephesians 490 00:24:14,200 --> 00:24:17,240 chapter 4, eight through 10 and what I mentioned earlier, 491 00:24:17,240 --> 00:24:21,120 Colossians 215, even the Book of Revelation chapter one, verse 492 00:24:21,120 --> 00:24:24,320 18, this is where Christ is portrayed as descending, 493 00:24:24,400 --> 00:24:27,000 ascending and holding the keys to death and the grave. 494 00:24:27,360 --> 00:24:30,920 So I think it was His lordship on display for anybody who was 495 00:24:30,920 --> 00:24:33,600 in that realm. It balances the whole full scope 496 00:24:33,600 --> 00:24:36,960 of Christ's victory. This hybrid interpretation, just 497 00:24:36,960 --> 00:24:40,040 so you know, is growing in popularity today among scholars 498 00:24:40,040 --> 00:24:43,840 and pastors who genuinely want to remain faithful to the text 499 00:24:44,000 --> 00:24:47,320 while also honoring the fullness of Christ's redemptive work. 500 00:24:47,680 --> 00:24:50,640 This was not, again, a second chance for salvation, but this 501 00:24:50,640 --> 00:24:54,600 was a bold cosmic announcement. Jesus said I've conquered death 502 00:24:54,800 --> 00:24:56,960 and the Kingdom of darkness has lost. 503 00:24:57,600 --> 00:25:00,240 And that's exactly what Peter's point in these verses was. 504 00:25:00,240 --> 00:25:04,040 He said the Christ's suffering was not weakness, it was 505 00:25:04,040 --> 00:25:06,640 warfare. And his death didn't end the 506 00:25:06,640 --> 00:25:10,920 story, it launched our victory. So that being said, why does 507 00:25:10,920 --> 00:25:13,680 Peter bring up Noah? Well, because no one knew what 508 00:25:13,680 --> 00:25:15,320 it was like to suffer for doing good. 509 00:25:15,600 --> 00:25:18,240 He obeyed God while the world mocked him. 510 00:25:18,640 --> 00:25:21,600 He preached righteousness while everyone else ignored him. 511 00:25:22,000 --> 00:25:25,440 And when the judgement came, Noah and his family were saved, 512 00:25:25,640 --> 00:25:28,240 and obviously not because of the boat itself, but because they 513 00:25:28,240 --> 00:25:31,840 trusted God. Peter is saying that's you. 514 00:25:32,920 --> 00:25:36,240 You might feel alone, You might feel misunderstood, you might 515 00:25:36,240 --> 00:25:37,720 feel mocked for doing what's right. 516 00:25:38,120 --> 00:25:41,040 But God sees. And just like in the days of 517 00:25:41,040 --> 00:25:43,640 Noah, he will preserve those who trust in him. 518 00:25:43,640 --> 00:25:47,520 A couple of insights here. How does knowing Jesus publicly 519 00:25:47,520 --> 00:25:51,960 declared victory over evil evil deepen your confidence in him 520 00:25:52,400 --> 00:25:55,360 during times of hardship? And second of all, are you 521 00:25:55,360 --> 00:25:58,520 willing to be misunderstood now if it means being vindicated by 522 00:25:58,520 --> 00:26:01,480 God later? Now, we're not done talking 523 00:26:01,480 --> 00:26:02,840 about Noah. I've got one more patch of 524 00:26:02,840 --> 00:26:04,960 Scripture, just two verses to to unpack. 525 00:26:04,960 --> 00:26:06,680 And it's sort of a big one because we're going to tackle 526 00:26:06,680 --> 00:26:13,240 baptism in verses 21 through 22, Peter says, and that water, he's 527 00:26:13,240 --> 00:26:16,240 talking about Noah, remember? And that water is a picture of 528 00:26:16,360 --> 00:26:20,480 baptism, which now saves you not by removing dirt from your body, 529 00:26:20,720 --> 00:26:23,360 but as a response to God from a clean conscience. 530 00:26:23,720 --> 00:26:27,200 It is effective because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. 531 00:26:28,120 --> 00:26:31,000 So he says in verse 22, now Christ has gone to heaven. 532 00:26:31,160 --> 00:26:33,760 He is seated at the place of honor next to God and all the 533 00:26:33,800 --> 00:26:37,760 angels and authorities and powers except his authority. 534 00:26:39,040 --> 00:26:40,920 So Peter now makes a very unique comparison. 535 00:26:40,920 --> 00:26:43,920 He talks about the flood waters in Noah's day, pointing forward 536 00:26:43,920 --> 00:26:46,760 to the waters of here's your blank baptism. 537 00:26:47,360 --> 00:26:49,280 But the flood represented judgement, didn't it? 538 00:26:49,960 --> 00:26:52,720 That's how I've always read it. Well, you need to know that both 539 00:26:52,720 --> 00:26:56,200 the flood and baptism involve judgement, and both of them 540 00:26:56,200 --> 00:27:00,240 involve salvation. But as with Noah, the salvation 541 00:27:00,240 --> 00:27:01,960 is not found in the water itself. 542 00:27:02,160 --> 00:27:05,080 It's found in the faith that leads someone to trust God and 543 00:27:05,080 --> 00:27:07,800 enter into his rescue. That goes for Noah's Noah's 544 00:27:07,800 --> 00:27:10,160 story, and it also goes for yours. 545 00:27:11,160 --> 00:27:14,560 Peter is very quick to clarify that baptism is not just outward 546 00:27:14,560 --> 00:27:16,800 washing. The word he uses here for 547 00:27:16,800 --> 00:27:19,760 removing dirt is the word apotheosis. 548 00:27:20,000 --> 00:27:24,280 Apotheosis, it means a literal taking off or stripping away, 549 00:27:24,280 --> 00:27:26,920 and it was commonly used in undressing or washing external 550 00:27:26,920 --> 00:27:29,280 filth. But Peter says that's not what 551 00:27:29,280 --> 00:27:31,880 baptism is about. It's not even a ceremonial bath. 552 00:27:32,320 --> 00:27:35,120 It's not magical water. It's about the heart behind the 553 00:27:35,120 --> 00:27:38,880 act of baptism. So what baptism is, he says, is 554 00:27:38,880 --> 00:27:41,640 a response to God from a clean conscience. 555 00:27:41,920 --> 00:27:44,280 That full Greek phrase that Peter uses? 556 00:27:44,440 --> 00:27:50,920 I'm only going to do this once is sunai de Osei agathes EPE 557 00:27:50,920 --> 00:27:52,960 rote ma? I wanted to do a really long 558 00:27:52,960 --> 00:27:55,160 one. That whole phrase literally 559 00:27:55,160 --> 00:27:59,320 means it's an appeal or pledge from a good here's your blank 560 00:27:59,840 --> 00:28:03,000 conscience. It's a good appeal from a good 561 00:28:03,000 --> 00:28:04,640 conscience. Now let's break that down. 562 00:28:06,280 --> 00:28:10,480 When Peter says baptism saves you, it is as a response to God 563 00:28:10,480 --> 00:28:12,920 from a clean conscience. He is painting a picture of a 564 00:28:12,920 --> 00:28:15,880 sincere internal response. It's the cry of a cleanse 565 00:28:15,880 --> 00:28:18,440 conscience, not somebody who was very moved during a sermon and 566 00:28:18,560 --> 00:28:20,280 just wanted to have their moment and feel better. 567 00:28:20,280 --> 00:28:22,720 Somebody who already feels God moving in their heart and 568 00:28:22,720 --> 00:28:24,640 responds. Somebody who's saying God, I'm 569 00:28:24,640 --> 00:28:27,440 yours. Baptism is not magic or 570 00:28:27,440 --> 00:28:28,840 mechanical. It's not a religious 571 00:28:28,840 --> 00:28:31,000 performance. It's a personal vow of 572 00:28:31,000 --> 00:28:34,000 allegiance. So that being said, what does 573 00:28:34,000 --> 00:28:36,480 baptism do? And why don't we at Liberty 574 00:28:36,480 --> 00:28:38,920 Church baptize infants? I get asked this sometimes. 575 00:28:40,200 --> 00:28:42,880 Well, first of all, there's a couple different views on 576 00:28:42,880 --> 00:28:44,480 baptism, and the first one is this. 577 00:28:44,840 --> 00:28:48,400 It's called full immersion believers baptism. 578 00:28:48,720 --> 00:28:50,440 This is the practice that we follow. 579 00:28:51,320 --> 00:28:53,760 It reflects the New Testament model where people believed in 580 00:28:53,760 --> 00:28:56,600 the gospel, they confessed Christ, and then they were 581 00:28:56,600 --> 00:28:59,080 baptized. And the Greek word for baptism, 582 00:28:59,080 --> 00:29:03,360 which is baptizo, it literally means to immerse, submerge, or 583 00:29:03,560 --> 00:29:07,000 dip fully under. Now that being said, we do our 584 00:29:07,000 --> 00:29:09,560 best to dip people fully under if the tip of their nose is 585 00:29:09,560 --> 00:29:11,960 sticking out. It's not like how the baptism 586 00:29:11,960 --> 00:29:13,680 didn't take. You don't end up in heaven, but 587 00:29:13,680 --> 00:29:15,160 the tip of your nose ends up in hell. 588 00:29:15,160 --> 00:29:17,440 That's not the way this works, but the goal is you're 589 00:29:17,440 --> 00:29:20,600 symbolically being submerged. This is the same term that was 590 00:29:20,600 --> 00:29:23,720 used for washing clothes or plunging an object in the water 591 00:29:23,720 --> 00:29:26,760 until it was fully soaked. The whole goal is that you have 592 00:29:26,760 --> 00:29:29,200 committed yourself to Christ and it permeates everything. 593 00:29:29,200 --> 00:29:31,600 You are immersed and surrounded in Christ. 594 00:29:32,240 --> 00:29:35,520 That's the symbolism of burial and resurrection, and it's an 595 00:29:35,520 --> 00:29:38,200 obedient decision of someone who is choosing to follow Jesus. 596 00:29:38,200 --> 00:29:39,640 Again, that's the one that we adhere to. 597 00:29:40,640 --> 00:29:43,560 Now, some Christian traditions we'll talk about #2 which is 598 00:29:43,560 --> 00:29:46,360 sprinkling or pouring. It's called pedo baptism or 599 00:29:46,360 --> 00:29:50,600 infant baptism. And Catholic churches, Orthodox 600 00:29:50,600 --> 00:29:53,160 churches, actually a lot of Reformed churches, baptize 601 00:29:53,160 --> 00:29:55,920 infants as a sign of God's covenant with the family, 602 00:29:56,280 --> 00:29:58,640 similar to circumcision in the Old Testament. 603 00:29:59,160 --> 00:30:00,480 And I want to be really clear on this. 604 00:30:00,480 --> 00:30:03,640 I believe that the intention behind infant baptisms is 605 00:30:03,640 --> 00:30:06,000 beautiful. It is dedicating a child to 606 00:30:06,000 --> 00:30:08,120 God's family. We pray for infants and for 607 00:30:08,120 --> 00:30:11,880 children here many Sundays. But I also want to be clear and 608 00:30:11,880 --> 00:30:15,280 say the biblical pattern always shows baptism as a response to 609 00:30:15,280 --> 00:30:17,680 faith, not a substitute for faith. 610 00:30:18,120 --> 00:30:21,080 And an infant cannot make a personal appeal to God from a 611 00:30:21,080 --> 00:30:22,720 clean conscience like we just read. 612 00:30:23,360 --> 00:30:26,680 That's why we view infant dedication as meaningful, but 613 00:30:26,680 --> 00:30:29,640 infant baptism as something that should not happen. 614 00:30:29,640 --> 00:30:32,760 We believe baptism should be something that somebody decides 615 00:30:32,760 --> 00:30:35,960 to out of a personal decision. The one other thing that I want 616 00:30:36,040 --> 00:30:39,080 to try to debunk, because some people do believe this, They 617 00:30:39,080 --> 00:30:43,120 believe in this concept #3 of baptismal regeneration. 618 00:30:43,560 --> 00:30:46,600 In other words, they believe that baptism equals salvation. 619 00:30:46,600 --> 00:30:49,320 And to be fair to them, we just read now you're saved through 620 00:30:49,320 --> 00:30:51,920 the waters of baptism. If you just take that one verse 621 00:30:51,920 --> 00:30:53,920 and read it, that sounds pretty compelling. 622 00:30:54,560 --> 00:30:57,080 Some traditions really do believe that baptism itself is 623 00:30:57,080 --> 00:31:00,440 what saves a person, that the act of being baptized is what 624 00:31:00,440 --> 00:31:04,600 causes someone to be born again. And while that verse does sound 625 00:31:04,600 --> 00:31:08,360 like it when it says now saves you, keep reading because Peter 626 00:31:08,360 --> 00:31:11,360 immediately qualifies it and says it's not the water and it's 627 00:31:11,360 --> 00:31:14,040 not the ritual. It's the appeal to God through 628 00:31:14,040 --> 00:31:17,280 the resurrection of Jesus. Please remember that your 629 00:31:17,280 --> 00:31:20,280 salvation is always by grace through faith. 630 00:31:20,520 --> 00:31:24,120 That's Ephesians chapter 2. It is not by works and it's not 631 00:31:24,120 --> 00:31:27,320 by any religious ritual. Baptism can never save you. 632 00:31:27,800 --> 00:31:30,920 Jesus saves you. Baptism is your public yes to 633 00:31:30,920 --> 00:31:33,960 what he already did. And that being said, I mean, 634 00:31:33,960 --> 00:31:36,280 just think about it. If somebody gets saved tonight 635 00:31:36,280 --> 00:31:38,960 in this building and they walk out and they get hit by a bus, 636 00:31:39,360 --> 00:31:41,640 are they saved? I believe they're saved. 637 00:31:42,120 --> 00:31:45,120 But I also would challenge believers who have been saved 638 00:31:45,120 --> 00:31:46,960 for a long time and not been baptized. 639 00:31:48,000 --> 00:31:50,920 If he's the Lord of your life, you better publicly make it so. 640 00:31:52,520 --> 00:31:55,040 Now, what does baptism really mean? 641 00:31:55,920 --> 00:31:57,520 It's a burial. You go under the water. 642 00:31:57,600 --> 00:32:00,160 It's a resurrection. When you come back up, it is a 643 00:32:00,160 --> 00:32:03,080 declaration from you, and it is a response from your heart to 644 00:32:03,080 --> 00:32:05,640 Jesus. It is you saying, I've died with 645 00:32:05,640 --> 00:32:08,560 Christ. I now live in him, and I want 646 00:32:08,560 --> 00:32:10,160 the world to know that I belong to him. 647 00:32:11,640 --> 00:32:15,160 And Peter ends this chapter by zooming out to remind us just 648 00:32:15,160 --> 00:32:17,880 who this Jesus is. He says that Christ has gone to 649 00:32:17,880 --> 00:32:20,640 heaven and is seated at the place of honor next to God. 650 00:32:21,280 --> 00:32:25,720 In the Greek, that phrase is indexia to Theo, and it means 651 00:32:25,720 --> 00:32:29,760 literally at the right hand of God, the place of authority and 652 00:32:29,760 --> 00:32:31,360 the place of honor and ultimate rule. 653 00:32:32,720 --> 00:32:35,080 It's important for Christians to know that Jesus reigns above 654 00:32:35,080 --> 00:32:38,840 every other power, every Angel, every authority, every 655 00:32:38,840 --> 00:32:41,240 accusation. He reigns over every fear that 656 00:32:41,240 --> 00:32:43,880 you have to. So when you go into the water of 657 00:32:43,880 --> 00:32:47,920 baptism, you are not just taking a step of obedience, you're 658 00:32:47,920 --> 00:32:51,520 publicly aligning yourself with the risen and reigning King 659 00:32:51,560 --> 00:32:54,480 Jesus. You're saying I'm with him and 660 00:32:54,480 --> 00:32:57,000 once you are his, there's no power in heaven or hell that 661 00:32:57,000 --> 00:32:58,400 could ever separate you from him. 662 00:32:58,760 --> 00:33:01,640 That's pretty encouraging to me. So a couple personal insights 663 00:33:01,640 --> 00:33:04,760 just to wrap this up. Have I responded to Jesus with 664 00:33:04,760 --> 00:33:08,400 personal faith and obedience or have I settled for a ritual 665 00:33:08,400 --> 00:33:10,120 without actually surrendering to him? 666 00:33:10,760 --> 00:33:13,320 And the other one is what part of my life do I need to bring 667 00:33:13,320 --> 00:33:16,960 under his authority, under the authority of the risen Jesus who 668 00:33:16,960 --> 00:33:18,560 now reigns at the right hand of God. 669 00:33:18,560 --> 00:33:21,680 Sometimes we call him Lord of our life, but there is a part or 670 00:33:21,680 --> 00:33:24,680 two of our lives that we have not submitted to them. 671 00:33:25,200 --> 00:33:27,640 Now, if you're here in person, you know what's about to happen. 672 00:33:27,680 --> 00:33:29,280 We're about to have group discussion at all these 673 00:33:29,280 --> 00:33:30,960 different tables. If you're watching on the 674 00:33:30,960 --> 00:33:32,560 Liberty live stream, thanks for joining us. 675 00:33:32,560 --> 00:33:34,840 We don't live stream the group conversations. 676 00:33:34,840 --> 00:33:37,240 It would just be too difficult, too chaotic with all the tables. 677 00:33:37,800 --> 00:33:41,760 Plus I signed up to be on here. They didn't, but we've got the 678 00:33:41,760 --> 00:33:44,480 notes attached to this event and hopefully you've got some people 679 00:33:44,480 --> 00:33:46,960 you can discuss this with. Thanks for tuning in to Renewed 680 00:33:46,960 --> 00:33:49,280 Mind Bible Studies. The next two weeks we've got a 681 00:33:49,280 --> 00:33:51,280 leadership meeting and we've got a night of worship. 682 00:33:51,280 --> 00:33:54,440 So we will pick this up three weeks from tonight as we jump 683 00:33:54,440 --> 00:33:56,920 into First Peter Chapter 4. Have a great night.