I Peter 3:8-12
How to Have a Happy Church
Verse 8, Finally, be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous:
I. Finally, be ye all of one mind.
A. Peter doesn't give instructions in proper church relationships until he first instructs in proper family relationships.
B. Your church can't be right until you get your family right.
1. A lot of people believe Christians ought to be Christians, but they don't practice it themselves.
2. When they come to church, they bring with them the disagreements from the home; therefore, they are the ones causing church disagreements, while they point their fingers at somebody else.
3. Your family won't be right until you get right.
4. You won't be right until you get right with God.
5. There have been many churches destroyed because the members expected everybody else to follow these commands, while they didn't.
C. Be ye all of one mind.
1. No husband and wife think alike, just like no two church members think alike.
2. The scripture doesn't say we ought to think alike, but that we ought to give the other person credit for thinking of the welfare of the group.
II. Here are some positive things to do: (1) Compassion, (2) love, (3) pitiful, (4) courteous. Remembering these four will help a church to have harmony.
A. Compassion (summorphoo) means having a "fellow feeling" toward one another.
1. To be touched with our brothers troubles and joys and Christ was touched with the feeling of our infirmity, Heb. 4:15.
2.
B. Love (Philadelphia) means "to be fond of", as fond of brethren.
1. Verse 10, love (agapao) is to love in a social or moral sense.
2. Or self sacrificing giving love (Agape) ought to be directed toward God, not toward our fellow worshippers.
C. Pitiful means to be "tenderhearted".
D. Courteous means "friendly thoughtfulness".
1. We cannot allow familiarity to develop contempt.
2.
Verse 9, Not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing: but contrariwise blessing; knowing that ye are thereunto called, that ye should inherit a blessing.
I. Some negative things not to do, (1) render evil for evil (2) railing for railing.
II. It is possible that people in the local church will treat each other wrong.
A. It is very evident that the sinful nature is still working in saved people.
1. Some people believe that saved people don't have any erroneous thoughts or deeds at all.
2. Saved people are not perfect, but they should be trying to be.
B. Evil for evil
1. Evil - that which is morally or ethically evil, whether of persons, qualities, emotions, passions, or deeds.
2. The government is to render evil for evil, but the private person cannot.
C. Railing for railing.
1. Railing - abuse, reviling.
2. Ministers are to preach against sin, but this is not railing, it is rebuking.
D. Matt. 5:38-42 - Some believe "an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth" is appropriate in all circumstances.
1. If this scripture is used for vengeance, it is error.
2. The rest of Jesus saying instructs us to give more than is expected.
E. Evil for evil and railing for railing is what the world does.
1. Every church member must deal with this destructive exchange every day.
2. There should be relief from this stress in the company of saints.
3. The local church should be a haven from the discomforts of this world.
4. The only way it will be a haven is for each member to do his part, not to expect everybody else to do their part.
III. The result of these actions.
A. While it is true that these things happen, the end result is the destruction of the church, and the people involved.
B. The result of sin is always the same - destruction of the people involved.
Verse 10-11, For he that will love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile: Let him eschew evil, and do good; let him seek peace, and ensue it.
I. This is a quote from Psalms 34:12-16.
II. The duties of the Old Testament and the New Testament are the same.
A. There are people who believe God requires different things in the Old Testament and the New Testament.
B. The requirements "under the law" and "under grace" are the same.
1. The truth is that there is no such thing as "under the law" or "under grace".
2. Grace extends from eternity to eternity.
a. God saved Adam when he was running from God.
b. The law of sin and death were still in effect when God, by grace, saved Adam.
3. Law extends from eternity to eternity.
a. God gave Adam a law in the Garden of Eden.
b. Before Adam sinned.
III. The result of obedience.
A. Evil people won't "walk all over you", because God won't allow it.
1. God will let those people that constantly "take up for themselves", take up for themselves.
2. God will take care of evil doers for us if we will take care of our duties in serving Him.
Verse 12, For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil.
I. Eyes over the righteous.
A. Matt. 18:10, "Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, That in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven."
1. This verse makes it very clear that guardian angels are presently in heaven in the very presence of God.
2. Their job is to protect His children lest they dash their foot against a stone, or just in case someone decides to do something against them which God has not commanded.
B. Psalms 80:3,7,19, "Turn us again, O LORD God of hosts, cause thy face to shine; and we shall be saved." This verse appears three times in this Psalm.
1. Notice that each time God is asked to turn us again. It is not possible for us to turn ourselves, God must do it for us.
2. In some scriptures, the word "saved" does not mean deliverance from eternal damnation, but deliverance from the snare of Satan in this life.
a. Philippians 1:19, "For I know that this shall turn to my salvation through your prayer, and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ,"
b. Paul does not mean that his imprisonment and the prayer of the Philippian church will save him from eternal hell, but that these things will show that he is saved and doing the will of God.
C. Psalms 119:135, "Make thy face to shine upon thy servant; and teach me thy statutes."
1. This verse is saying the same thing in two different ways. These are both things that are done by God, not by us.
2. The first is that God's face will shine upon us, and the second teaches us that learning the statutes of God will cause God's face to shine upon us.
II. Hears their prayers. Here is a combination of God hearing our prayers, and His face being toward them.
A. Daniel 9:17, "Now therefore, O our God, hear the prayer of thy servant, and his supplications, and cause thy face to thine upon thy sanctuary that is desolate, for the Lord's sake."
1. Daniel is here praying for the Lord's will to be done. He has just read in Jeremiah 25:11 (See Daniel 9:1) that Israel's captivity shall be 70 years.
2. The seventy years are now ended, and Daniel is praying that God will once again turn Israel and bless them as He did in days gone by.
3. Notice two things:
a. Daniel is praying for these blessings for the Lord's sake, not for the sake of Israel. This is a secret to successful praying, that things will be done for the Lord's sake, not for our sake.
b. Daniel is praying according to the will of God.
1a. We know what the will of God is by finding that will in the Bible.
2a. All true, "successful" praying will be based on a scripture.
III. Face against the wicked.
SECTION # 1
We will first discuss how sin breaks fellowship
with God and causes Him to hid His face.
A. Isaiah 59:1, "Behold, the LORD'S hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear: But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear."
1. If we wonder why we sometimes cannot pray, it is because we have tried to hide our sins from God.
2. We can hid our sins from our friends, family, and even from ourselves, but we cannot hide them from God.
3. We can engage in a lot of "Christian" service (going to church, inviting people to church, reading the Bible, teaching a class, singing, even kneeling and pretending to pray).
4. All of these things are just empty (vain) before God, even though we may fool those around us.
5. In your heart of hearts, you know when you pray and when you only make a show of praying.
6. When you come before God in earnest prayer, you'll either keep on pretending to pray, or you'll get right with God.
7. One or the other, you won't do both.
B. Ezekiel 39:23,24, "And the heathen shall know that the house of Israel went into captivity for their iniquity: because they trespassed against me, therefore hid I my face from them, and gave them into the hand of their enemies: so fell they all by the sword. According to their uncleanness and according to their transgressions have I done unto them, and hid my face from them."
1. Can there be any doubt that Israel's sin caused God to hid his face from them?
2. Notice that not only will Israel know what God has done, but the heathen will also know.
3. Heathens are those people who make no profession of knowing the true God, they worship idols and all sorts of false Gods.
4. They will know what God has done to Israel because of their sins.
5. Is it not also true that when God punishes His children that lost people know what he is doing?
6. Sometimes saved people fool themselves into believing that they have not sinned, when even a heathen knows!
C. Micah 3:4, "Then shall they cry unto the LORD, but he will not hear them: he will even hide his face from them at that time, as they have behaved themselves ill in their doings."
1. This verse will surely convince the severest skeptic that not behaving right brings the judgment of God.
2. The only person who would not believe should proof is a fool (a person who denies there is a God).
3. If people today fail to behave according to the demands of God, He will surely hid his face from them.
SECTION # 2
The face of God against sinners.
It is one thing for the face of God to be hidden, but it is quite another for his face to be against a person. If God simply hides his face, that means He ceases to bless as he did when his face was toward us. If God's face is against us, that means he begins to chastise us any way He desires that we might begin behaving correctly.
A. Lev. 17:10,11, "And whatsoever man there be of the house of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn among you, that eateth any manner of blood; I will even set my face against that soul that eateth blood, and will cut him off from among his people. For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul."
1. This commandment is for Israel, not for us today. In that day, animal blood was poured out to God as a symbol of the pure blood of Christ that would be shed one day.
2. Today, no animal sacrifice is necessary since Christ has already shed his perfect blood for our sins.
B. Lev. 20:3, "And I will set my face against that man, and will cut him off from among his people; because he hath given of his seed unto Molech, to defile my sanctuary, and to profane my holy name." Verse 5, "Then I will set my face against that man, and against his family, and will cut him off, and all that go a whoring after him, to commit whoredom with Molech, from among their people."
1. God will do more than hid his face from the person, family, or tribe that leads anybody to worship a false God.
2. He will be against that person, because their sin is very grievous indeed.
C. Lev. 20:6, "And that soul that turneth after such as have familiar spirits, and after wizards, to go a whoring after them, I will even set my face against that soul, and will cut him off from among his people."
1. God will do more than simply hide his face from Satan's worshippers. He will be against them.
2. This does not mean that He will punish them in this life, or that he will stop them from worshipping Satan, and leading others into that worship.
3. It means that He is against them, and at the Great White Throne Judgment, he will judge their works and cast them into the Lake of Fire.
D. Lev. 26:17, "And I will set my face against you, and ye shall be slain before your enemies: they that hate you shall reign over you; and ye shall flee when none pursueth you."
1. This is a promise given to Israel if they fail to obey God's commands.
2. Israel did not follow God, and He brought upon them all the judgment He promised them.
E. The judgments of God upon Israel.
1. Psalms 34:16, "The face of the LORD is against them that do evil, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth." David declared the promise of God to totally destroy evil doers from the earth.
2. Jeremiah 21:10, "For I have set my face against this city for evil, and not for good, saith the LORD: it shall be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire." When Jeremiah preached the coming judgment of God, the elders of Israel refused to believe God would judge them. But Jeremiah was only preaching what Moses preached in Leviticus 26:17 and what David has declared in Psalms 34:16. Israel just couldn't believe God would judge them. They could readily believe God would judge somebody else, but they couldn't believed He would judge them.
SECTION # 3
Now we will discuss how lost people pray
that they will be hidden from the face of God.
A. When God faces wicked men, they pray that they won't see Him.
1. Rev. 6:16, "And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb." These are lost people who have lived a life of sin, and desire to continue in that same way. God has his face turned toward them, (in other words, He will soon physically be among them in fiery judgment) and they cry that God will turn his face away. This is quite a contrast to David in Psalms 27:8, who said he would willingly seek the face of God. The difference in these two categories of people is that David is saved, and the people in Rev. 6:16 are lost.