1 Peter 3:13-16
Fearing God Rather than Men

1. Those who suffer for righteousness are blessed
   1. Who will harm you if you follow the advice of vv. 10-12?
      1. Connection between v. 12 and v. 13
         1. face of Lord against those "who do evil"
         2. But who will harm (literally: "do evil to") you if you're eager for good
      2. Those who love life and have been called to inherit a blessing
         1. Have a great eagerness to do what is good (13)
         2. They do not speak evil against even those who slander them (9,10)
         3. They turn from evil to do good (not as the basis of their salvation, nor as a means of retaining it, but as that which the H.S. urges them toward in the grace and power of Christ)
         4. They seek and pursue peace with all men
      3. And who could possibly object to that?
         1. Why would anyone speak evil of you if you're like this
         2. Why would anyone want to harm someone who means them no harm, but good?
         3. As we hope in Christ and rest in his strength, let us burst forth into every good work that such questions may be asked.
      4. It is a rhetorical question, but one tinged with irony
         1. The initially obvious answer is, "No one! Why would anyone be crazy enough to hate and attack a peace-loving, hard-working, good-deed-doing believer?"
         2. Yet this is exactly the problem Peter addresses in this letter. People are wanting to harm them for doing good.
            1. They're being maligned as evildoers, and Peter says make sure your conduct is honorable and the charges baseless (2:12)
            2. The slaves have already been counseled that it's commendable to God if they do good and suffer because they've been called to the imitation of Christ (2:19)
            3. And he'll mention again that they are being spoken evil of and persecuted (4.4, 12) even indicating that this is an expected part of the Christian life (5:10)
         3. No one should harm them for their conduct. But they do.
         4. So the more nuanced answer is: Men may, but God won't
            1. His eyes are on the righteous and he hears their prayer (v. 12)
            2. So orient yourself according to his judgment and forget about the faulty judgment of men.
   2. But even if someone does, you are blessed
      1. Even if somehow it happens
         1. Peter deliberately uses language that suggests such suffering is very unlikely
         2. He doesn't do this because it is actually unlikely (4:12) but to emphasize the absurdity of it
      2. You are still blessed (contrary to appearance)
         1. It doesn't seem as though one who is being attacked by his fellow citizens is enjoying the blessing of God
         2. After all, God is powerful enough to stop it and doesn't. Why doesn't God "bless" this person? Clearly because he chooses not to.
         3. In spite of this, Peter says the blessing of God rests on those who suffer for righteousness (because they are following in the footsteps of Christ).
         4. Peter will later get to the point that you are especially blessed (4:13)
         5. But for now, "still" is enough
      3. Peter is reminding his hearers of the words of Jesus
         1. Matt 5:10-12 "Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. ¹¹Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely [N.B.] for My sake. ¹²Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you."
         2. Jesus clarifies that the "harm" may be verbal or physical (something about which Peter has been very clear in his letter).
         3. Jesus himself pronounced this blessing and gave you its location (heaven) and its reason (the prophets were persecuted)
         4. Now Peter one-ups Jesus with an even better reason (because Jesus was persecuted)
      4. The slaves who did good work and were nevertheless beaten my masters suspicious of their religion
      5. The wives who silently submitted to their husbands except in the matter of abandoning their religion and embracing his and were ridiculed or denied privileges or emotionally tortured or physically abused
      6. The citizens who lived exemplary lives
         1. Yet the government at times persecuted them for "atheism," the refusal to acknowledge Roman and local gods
         2. And judges, prejudiced against their cult, who wouldn't give them justice when they pursued lawsuits
         3. And fellow-citizens who pursued lawsuits against them on whatever charges they could dream up, hoping to find such a judge who would steal the Christian's property in the name of the state and give it to the unbeliever
      7. So today, Christians who homeschool are reviled as those who refuse to "socialize" their children (when in fact their hope is to produce better "socialized" children). And Christian schools are hardly looked upon with favor either. The alternative? Put your children in a public school and have your values ridiculed by the official curriculum and be branded as anti-intellectual troublemakers.
      8. Christian workers who work diligently for their employers but will not lie for the company or engage in any unethical business practice.
      9. Christians who work diligently for their employers but insist that the Lord's Day be set apart for Christ
      10. Even you children as well are looked on as strange and denied privileges when you refuse to compete in gymnastics or soccer or whatever else on the Lord's Day
      11. And when they can't find anything specific to complain about, they wait with suspicion and baited breath to nitpick at any chink in your integrity and make things up if nothing presents itself.
      12. Our persecution is slight today, but we ought to be more sensitive to it and conscious that we should suffer for doing right.

   TRANSITION: In all this the unbeliever seeks to confiscate our property, sully our reputation, and even — in the case of those to whom Peter writes and many today as well — to take our lives. It is in this context that Peter says, "Don't Fear"

2. So do not fear men but God
   1. Don't fear those who would harm you
      1. Not "Don't fear what they fear" but "Don't be frightened with the fear of them"
      2. Peter calls to mind Isaiah 8:12,13 in which Isaiah prophesied that Assyria would invade Israel and take the country captive.
         1. In this context he says, don't fear the Assyrians
         2. And isn't this the situation of the Asian Christians, surrounded by a hostile society that cares nothing for their God or their Savior?
      3. Surely Peter must also call to mind that awful night when he denied Jesus three times.
         1. Out of fear he swore he didn't know the man
         2. And Jesus turned and looked at him and he wept.
      4. This is exactly Jesus's point in the meditation passage as well
      5. In each case the fear of men would dictate that we do everything we can to appease them (by worshiping their gods and running with them in the same sorts of vices that they love.
      6. But there are only two reasons to fear the ungodly
         1. Because we are attached to the things they can take away — goods, comfort, reputation, life itself
         2. Because we fear they can take away our salvation (that their triumph in this life is a sign that God cannot save)
         3. In either case, the answer is the same....
   2. But sanctify Christ the Lord in your hearts
      1. Not "the Lord God" as in NKJV but "Christ, the Lord" or "the Lord, Christ" or "Christ as Lord"
      2. Peter's still following Isaiah 8:12,13 "Don't be afraid of their threats or be troubled. The Lord of hosts, him you shall hallow. Let Him be your fear, and let Him be your dread."
         1. You see the direct contrast
         2. Don't fear them, but do fear the Lord by hallowing or sanctifying him
      3. Sanctify him
         1. When God sanctifies us, he makes us holy
         2. When we sanctify God, we speak of him as holy and think of him that way; we exalt and praise him
         3. Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.
      4. Sanctify Christ
         1. Look to him and him alone for help (Christ the Messiah)
         2. Look to him and him alone for direction (the Lord)
      5. Sanctify him in your hearts
         1. Right where the fear of men strikes
         2. There, you must constantly be telling yourself, only Christ matters
         3. I encourage you with this; and you must encourage each other.
         4. The world may oppose you in this or that action. But what does Christ say? That is all that matters. What do you care for the opinions of men?
         5. The world may come against you to take everything it can from you. But what does Christ say?
            1. Don't fear those who can't kill the soul
            2. Lo, I am with you always
            3. No one shall snatch you out of my hand
            4. In all these things you overwhelmingly conquer because I love you.
         6. Because he is your refuge (Is 8:14 He will be as a sanctuary) when you exalt him and fly to him
            1. What can man do for you?
            2. But when you fly to Christ and hide yourself in him, you confess that he can do all things (and then you can do all things through Christ who strengthens you)
         7. Repeat to yourself over and over, only Christ matters — what he promises and what he calls me to
            1. Hear this word preached and preach it to yourself
            2. Pray from day to day to Christ as God, the only source of help and the only one with a right to command you
            3. Meditate on this fact each time the world lures you and makes promises it can't fulfil
         8. Then your treasure will be in heaven and your hope fixed on his return and the resurrection. Then you'll be ready.
3. And thus be ready to answer men in word and deed
   1. Be ready to make a "defense" for your hope
      1. "Be ready" isn't a separate command but a part of sanctifying Christ as Lord.
      2. Peter deliberately plays off the saying of Jesus in Luke 12
         1. He said fear God, not men
         2. Then went on to say, don't worry about what you'll say when they accuse you; I'll speak through you
         3. But Peter says, "Be prepared." He's not contradicting Jesus but clarifying how it is that the Spirit will give us words to say
            1. Not by preparing careful speeches or memorizing arguments or defending ourselves before the courts on the basis of legal loopholes
            2. Rather, by sanctifying Christ as Lord in our hearts, our mouths will speak out of that which fills our heart.
      3. The "defense" is simply a description of our hope — the coming of Christ and the resurrection
         1. The word has legal overtones
         2. But when Paul makes his "defenses" before Festus and Felix and Agrippa, they consist of a brief statement that he has committed no civil crime, but that the Jews are angry with him because he bases his hope of the resurrection on the fact that Jesus has already been resurrected. He also sometimes includes a description of his conversion.
         3. We are not being called to memorize all kinds of clever arguments but to keep the knowledge and the hope of the coming of Christ alive in our hearts so that we speak freely of it when asked.
         4. And when we are not crushed by the slander and the persecution we will be asked why.
   2. And let your demeanor and deeds match your testimony
      1. With meekness and fear
         1. Meekness before men (not argumentative or sullen)
         2. Fear before God (sanctifying Christ as Lord)
      2. With a good conscience — i.e. as far as it lies with us, not letting anyone have anything against us.
      3. So they'll have nothing to slander us about but our good conduct
      4. And they'll be ashamed when Christ returns

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