To God's elect, strangers in the world, scattered throughout the earth, who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and sprinkling by his blood:

Grace and peace be yours in abundance. You are invited to come to the Wednesday evening prayer meeting and pray. (8:30 PM EDT Wed., Nov. 21, 2001) (If you have e-mail prayer requests, please send them before 5:00 PM.)

"Who is going to harm you if you are eager to do good? But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. 'Do not fear what they fear; do not be frightened.' But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord." (1 Peter 3:13-15a - NIV)

Last week, I didn't say much about verses 10 through 12, except that Peter used the Old Testament scriptures to back up his exhortation for us to live in harmony with one another. So I included verse 12 as part of today's passage. Verse 12 says, "For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous..." This is in contrast with the fact that, "...the face of the Lord is against those who do evil."

Who are the righteous? The righteous are "God's elect, strangers in the world, scattered throughout the earth, who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and sprinkling by his blood." The righteous are all of those who have been made righteous through sprinkling by the blood of Jesus Christ. We are the righteous. God's ears are attentive to or prayers. On the other hand, "those who do evil" are everyone who hasn't been chosen by God and sprinkled by the blood of Jesus -- that is, everyone else.

God is asking us through Peter (v13), if anyone is going to harm us if we are eager to do good. The implied answer is, "No. No one is going to harm us." It's not reasonable to expect to suffer for doing good. But we all know that God's people do suffer for doing good. Jesus "went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil." (Acts 10:38) He never did anything that was evil. He was without sin and yet they persecuted him to death. He told his disciples, "If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also." (John 15:20) Peter says, "But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed."

Why are we blessed if we suffer for what is right? First of all, "what is right" means much more than doing good as opposed to evil. The text literally says, "...suffer on account of righteousness." (see NASB) Jesus is righteous and he is our righteousness (see 1 Cor. 1:30). We have received righteousness as a gift from God (see Rom. 5:17) and Jesus is that gift. "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16)

But why are we blessed if we suffer on account of righteousness? Why are we blessed if we suffer on account of Jesus? Well, we have much to look forward to. There will be no more tears, no more crying, mourning or death. There will be no more pain. God himself will wipe every tear from out eyes (Rev.21:3,4) Also, Jesus says he is coming soon and his reward is with him (Rev. 22:12). His reward is a new body and an inheritance that can never perish spoil or fade (1 Peter 1:4). His reward is that we will be in his presence and see him as he is (1 John 3:2). Peter says that we have a living hope which God has given us through the resurrection of Jesus from the dead (1 Peter 1:3) and that, even though for now, we may have to suffer many trials so that our faith may be refined, we greatly rejoice and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy because we are receiving the goal of our faith, the salvation of our souls (1 Peter 1:6-9).

Have you ever rejoiced to suffer, knowing that God is refining your faith and is pleased that you are willing for him to do so? Do you rejoice now? If you have a hard time rejoicing when trouble comes, Peter is going to give some hints (that is, commands).

Peter says, in the second part of verse 14, "Do not fear what they fear. Do not be frightened." (Some translators understand this sentence to say, "Do not fear their intimidation." But the NIV translation seems more literal, so I am going with it.) What is it that they fear? I'm not going to try to make an exhaustive list, but first of all, they fear death. I can remember when I was very young, being terrified of dying. I didn't think about it all the time, but when I did, I thought that to know that I was about to die would be utterly terrifying. I had a materialistic view then and thought that I would simply go out of existence. I thought that I wouldn't be able to deal with the knowledge that I was about to cease to exist, so I thought that it would be better for me to die in my sleep, so that I would not know it was happening. But for them, it's much worse. They not only have the first death to fear, they also have the second death: "But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars-- their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death." (Rev. 21:8)

They also have to worry about material security, health care and many concerns of this life. But we have Jesus's promise that if we seek God's kingdom first, all these thing will be given to us as well (Matt. 6:33). And finally, they have to worry about avenging themselves -- getting even (1 Peter 3:9). They have to make sure that evil is repaid with evil and insult with insult. We don't have to worry about that. And that's a tremendous blessing. Do not fear what they fear.

Finally, if, frequently, you don't feel blessed, here's what to do. "In your heart, set apart Christ as Lord." Now, before I go on to talk about verse 15a, "But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord." I'm going to propose an alternate, and I think equally valid, translation. Verse 14b, "Do not fear what they fear; do not be frightened," is a quote from Isaiah 8:12, as indicated by the quotes in the NIV and by the footnote. The translators ended the quote at the end of verse 14, but I believe that Peter actually continued the quote into verse 15. The NIV and other translations don't bring this out. Here's my translation: "The Lord (Christ) regard (in your heart) as holy." The words I have put in parentheses were added by Peter to the quote from Isaiah. Now let me give the text from Isaiah. I will continue it a little past where Peter left off:

"Do not fear what they fear, and do not dread it. The LORD Almighty is the one you are to regard as holy, he is the one you are to fear, he is the one you are to dread, and he will be a sanctuary;" (Isaiah 8:12b-14a)

One of the things that struck me about this quote is that it refers to God by name. The word LORD, in all caps, is the way the translators render God's name, Jehovah. In the New Testament, the writers never use God's name when they quote the Old Testament. They always substitute "the Lord." So, by saying, "The Lord (Christ)," Peter is telling us that when Isaiah says, "The LORD Almighty is the one you are to regard as holy," he is referring to Jesus. He is the one we are to regard as holy.

So in case you didn't already know who Jesus is, he is Jehovah, the commander of the armies of heaven! The NIV translators use the word "Almighty" to translate the Hebrew for hosts (Sabaoth). God the Father is also referred to by name as Jehovah, but we really need to know that Jesus is too. David Sloan has just pointed out that the Hebrew word for armies (Sabaoth) is not just used to refer to armies of angels or armies of men, but of the stars of heaven, so that the commander of armies might very well mean the commander of all creation.

So, if you want to be blessed, even when you are being persecuted, if you want to be blessed especially when you are being persecuted, if you want to not fear what they fear, set apart Christ in your heart. Regard him as holy -- as the one you are to fear -- as the one you are to dread -- and he will be a sanctuary.

Let's pray to have in our hearts and minds, more and more, who Jesus really is -- and to know that he is our sanctuary.

Come and let's pray for each other as well as for the whole church. Come and encourage your brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus. Love them.

Love in Christ,
Dean

PS: If you absolutely can't make it to the prayer meeting, send your prayer requests back to me by e-mail and we'll pray for them.