Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Evening Sermon Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/ev/ev20110724.htm

THRU THE BIBLE EXPOSITION
1 Peter: Effective Christian Living In A Spiritually Hostile World
Part XI: Living In Holiness Under Spiritual Persecution, 1 Peter 3:8-4:19
A. Building Relationships In The Church For Handling Persecution From The World
(1 Peter 3:8-12)
  1. Introduction
    1. Christ predicted the believer would be hated by the unsaved world because God has spiritually separated him from it (John 15:18-21) and since the believer's life exposes the world's sin, John 15:22; 1 John 2:6.
    2. Accordingly, it is always wise for the believer to be prepared to face persecution from the lost world, and 1 Peter 3:8-12 in its context directs us on making that preparation (as follows):
  2. Building Relationships In The Church For Handling Persecution From The World, 1 Peter 3:8-12.
    1. 1 Peter was written to believers about to face the brunt of Nero's infamous persecution of the Christian Church, a persecution that may already have begun in Rome and be about to spread out to the provinces where Peter's readers lived, cf. 1 Peter 1:1; Bible Knowledge Commentary, New Testament, p. 838.
    2. Accordingly, he began a new section in 1 Peter 3:8 with the introductory word, "Finally" (Ibid., p. 849), a section on handling such open persecution (1 Peter 3:8-4:19) with 1 Peter 3:8-12 giving a comprehensive directive on preparing for such persecution (as follows):
      1. To face godless persecution from the world, we believers need to build a spiritual support base in the Christian body by living harmoniously with one another, 1 Peter 3:8a: the Greek term, homophrones means "likeness of sentiment or disposition' rather than of opinion,'" U. B. S. Greek New Testament, 1966, p. 797; Moulton & Milligan, The Vocabulary of the Greek New Testament , 1972, p. 450. God does not expect us all to hold to identical beliefs, but to live in harmony with one another in Christ.
      2. Precisely how we are to live in harmony this way is described in 1 Peter 3:8b-12 (as follows):
        1. We must be sympathetic to each other, 1 Pet. 3:8b NIV. (sumpatheis, Ibid., U. B. S. Greek N. T.)
        2. We must love each other as Christian brothers, 1 Peter 3:8c NIV. (philadelphoi, Ibid.)
        3. We must be compassionate toward one another, 1 Peter 3:8d NIV. (eusplagchnoi, Ibid.) The word literally means "with healthy intestines" because tender feelings were thought to originate in the intestines. The word thus meant "tenderhearted, compassionate," Arndt & Gingrich, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, 1967, p. 326-327.
        4. We must adopt a humble attitude in relating to one another, 1 Peter 3:8e ESV. (tapeinophrones, Ibid., U. B. S. Grk. N. T.) This Greek word unites tapeinoo , "to be humble," with phroneisis, "frame of mind" (Ibid., Arndt & Gingrich, p. 812, 874), meaning a humble way of thinking.
        5. We must not return evil for evil or "abusive action'" for "abusive action'" (loidorian anti loidorias, Ibid., U. B. S. Grk. N. T.; Ibid., Moulton & Milligan, p. 380) with one another (1 Peter 3:9a NIV), be it verbal or physical abuse; rather, we must bless, for we been called by God to such a response to mistreatment that we might inherit a blessing from the Lord for doing so, 1 Peter 3:9b.
        6. Peter then expanded on how God blesses His people when they do good versus evil in various situations in life, using as his text Psalm 34:12-16 in 1 Peter 3:10-12 ESV as follows: (1) He who desires to love (a long) life and to see good in living should keep his speech from evil and deceit, 1 Peter 3:10. In the context, Peter would apply this to the use of deceit to abuse another party. (2) He should turn away from evil and practice what is good (1 Peter 3:11a), (3) and seek peace and pursue it in his relationships with others, 1 Peter 3:11b. (4) The basis for such action is the fact that God views one's actions, watching the upright and hearing their prayers for help, but He turns His face (of blessing, cf. Numbers 6:22-26) away from those who do evil, 1 Peter 3:12.
Lesson: To prepare for godless persecution from the world, we believers should build a good support base in the Christian community by living in harmony with one another. This involves being sympathetic, showing brotherly love, being compassionate, adopting a humble attitude, not returning evil for evil or abuse for abuse in any way, knowing God will bless us if we function this way.

Application: May we relate in harmony with others in the body to offset persecution trials in the world.