The Bible Breakdown

1 Peter 03: Jesus Makes it Look Easy

• Brandon Cannon • Episode 648

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Speaker 1:

Hello everybody, welcome back to the Bible Breakdown podcast with your host, pastor Brandon. Today. 1 Peter, chapter 3, and today's title is Jesus Makes it Look Easy. Okay, jesus makes it look easy. I don't know about you, but I always just didn't like those armbands that said what would Jesus do? Right, but God's Word tells us how we should imitate Christ and His character by how we look at one another and how we treat one another, and today's one of those that's probably going to hurt everybody's feelings. Okay, so we're just going to dive in together in Jesus' name.

Speaker 1:

But before we do that, if you're new here, make sure you like, share and subscribe to the YouTube channel and the podcast. Make sure you're leaving us comments on the YouTube channel I love interacting with you. Make sure you're leaving us comments on the YouTube channel I love interacting with you. Make sure that you leave us a five-star review on the podcast. And make sure you're doing two things. Number one go into the Facebook discussion group called Bible Breakdown Discussion. There's an amazing group of people doing wonderful devotions every day. And make sure you're going to thebiblebreakdowncom where we are archiving all of this. We're slowly building what will one day be, hopefully, a full Bible commentary completely free of charge. It is a lifetime pursuit and we're going to do it together, all right? Well, if you have your Bibles, want to open up with me to 1 Peter, chapter 3.

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Remember, peter is writing from Rome and persecution and all this kind of stuff is starting to ramp up. And so he's writing to the surrounding cities and different things, and he's writing about how, even though persecution is happening, it's happening to all of us, but Christ is our living hope. And he's doing this, not talking about how, hey, guys, if we'll just hold on, everything's going to be all right right, here and now. Instead, he's saying, man, in the light of eternity, it's all going to be okay. Can I tell you, hey, pete, I don't want to know about the light of eternity, I want to know about how good it's going to be right now. But the reality is is it's not always going to be okay right now, but in the light of eternity, it's going to be okay, and so that's awesome, right. But today he's going to say, okay, this is how we suffer well, together, you know what I mean. Thanks, peter. But he's going to talk about it as it relates to husbands and as it relates to wives and different ones. And I'm just going to be honest with you, it's kind of hard. It kind of goes against our modern sensibilities on some things, but don't worry, it went against the modern sensibilities back in the first century, right, it's just. This is what it looks like to serve one another. And it reminds me of the fact that Jesus makes it look easy and is not okay. Jesus is God. So he kind of cheated a little bit. But it reminds me too of I was listening to a comedian one time and he talked about the most trouble he ever got in in his life.

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And he said that about that time, uh, the WWJD bracelets were out and everybody was like, hey, just do what Jesus would do right. And he said one day he was a teenager or something like that and he was getting in trouble by his mom and his mom was constantly trying to tell him he need to act right. And he said that his mom just was so frustrated. She said, son, why don't you act more like Jesus? And he said I didn't think about it. I know it wasn't right, but I looked at her and I said, mom, I would if you would start acting a little bit more like Jesus and he said I don't really remember anything after that, so he must have got in a lot of trouble.

Speaker 1:

And I do not recommend if anyone is listening to this and you are a kid still living at home do not recommend that you ask your parents to act more like Jesus. Okay, trouble will follow, but it's that idea of all of us could act a little bit more like Jesus, and that's one of the things I love about God's word. It doesn't tell us what we want to hear. It tells us the truth and it helps us to understand how to relate to each other better. And so, as you can already tell from the first two chapters of 1 Peter, there's so much in here. If we just stop along the way, it's just awesome, but we can get bogged down. So we're trying to get too bogged down, but we want to share God's word, and so we're going to read about how the apostle Peter talks about wives and how they can relate in the marriage relationship, and then husbands and then everybody.

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But I do want to give you this one caveat Peter was one of the disciples that we know for sure was married. I don't know if you know that or not, but Peter was married because at one point Jesus goes and heals Peter's mother-in-law, and so we know he was married, which meant he most likely had kids too. So Peter was a family man. And so we know he was married, which meant he most likely had kids too. So Peter was a family man. And so the fact that he is writing this also means that he saw this in action. And so he's not writing this as a theorist, but as a practitioner of what it looks like to honor God in the marriage relationship. And so let's read this 1 Peter 3, verse 1. And don't worry, ladies, because he's going to pick on husbands too. You ready.

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Verse one is about you, ladies. In the same way, you wives must accept the authority of your husbands. Thanks, peter. Then, even if some refuse to obey the good news, your godly lives will speak to them without any words. They will be won over by observing your pure and reverent lives. Don't be concerned about outwardly beauty of fancy hairstyles, expensive jewelry or beautiful clothes. You should close yourselves instead with the beauty that comes from within, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is so precious to God. This is how the holy women of old made themselves beautiful. They put their trust in God and accepted the authority of their husbands. For instance, sarah obeyed her husband, abraham and called him her master. You are her daughters when you do what is right Without fear of what your husbands might do. So, wow, there we go, and if you want to really make your husband feel good, call him master, see what happens.

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But let's dig deeper for just a moment. Do you see what he's saying in the first two verses? He is saying that you accept the authority of your husband within the marriage relationship. Once again, remember we talked about this in Ephesians that God has set up the divine order of the home. There has to be a system, has to be order or there's chaos. And so there's husband, wife, children. Now, positionally, is all we're talking about. We're not talking about value. Husbands have just as much value as wives, wives have just as much value as children, and all the way around. But we all have different roles in the relationship, which also means when we stand before God one day, that's the order at which God will look to that person to see how that family went. So the first person who he's going to look at for how that family turned out is not going to be the wife, it's going to be the husband, because he is ultimately responsible.

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But look at what God's word says.

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It says, even if some refuse to obey the good news talking about the husbands, your godly lives will speak to them without any words. They will be won over by observing your pure and reverent lives. In other words, if you have a husband who doesn't obey God, doesn't love God, doesn't serve God, he said, your actions will speak louder than any words you could speak. So his, so the inspiration of the Holy Spirit says what you should do then is live the life in front of your husband and then watch what God does. And then he goes from there and he says and don't try to keep up with the Joneses, don't try to use the things of the world to gain your value, but rather your value should come from who God says you are.

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And guys have their own issues, but one of the things I've heard from women over and over and over again is that they are constantly just bombarded with things on the outside, with media and sometimes the pressure of other women and all of this to try to look a certain way and to have value and acceptance from the wider world, whereas what God's word is saying is make sure that you don't use outward beauty, expensive jewelry, beautiful clothes and all of that to get your value and identity. Your value and identity must be your trust in God. Even as you accept the authority of your husband, you realize that God is leading him as well and so, even if he is doing that, ultimately he's responsible for God and you just accept that. You know what husband you're in charge. Good luck with that. I'm going to do everything I can do and I'm going to obey you, as long as it doesn't contradict God's word, and you're going to get held accountable for it. And realizing that God is doing a work in his life, even if you don't see it, and you live the life in front of him and watch what God does.

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Now I understand that's not in a vacuum. There are situations and things where you have to obey the principle, but the practical is a little bit different. So use wisdom and common sense in that. Husbands you ready? This is now you Number seven in the same way. In other words, he said, just like I just told her, that she needs to make sure her identity comes from Christ. And you accept the authority, you do the same. And you husbands must give honor to your wives. Treat your wife with understanding as you live together. She may be weaker than you are, but she is your equal partner in God's gift of new life.

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Now pause. So in other words, he said in the same way so, just like her identity must come from Christ, just how she accepts your authority as her husband and all that, you must give honor to your wives, so you honor her, just like that. Treat your wives with understanding as you live together. And then, even though she may be weaker than you she's got different gifts you're equal partners when it comes to the gift of new life. And then he says treat her as you would, as you should, so your prayers will not be hindered.

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So God's word says that their prayers are hindered if they dishonor their wife. Wow, you know what. It doesn't say that about wives. I don't know how you feel about that. So apparently, if you're having a bad day, god hears your prayer. If a guy has a bad day, nope, go make it right with your wife. I don't like that at all, but apparently you can get that out of the Scripture.

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And so sometimes I've had husbands come to me and we'll say you know this and this, this is wrong. And I say, hey, listen, man, this is just tween us. I don't like this at all. But how are you treating your wife? Hey, man, I ain't got nothing to say to her, blah, blah, blah. I said well, here's the problem. You might want to go talk to her, because apparently God really cares about how we honor our wives, even to the point that he's saying I'm not going to listen to you until you listen to her. I don't like that, but that's the way it is. And so, positionally, yes, guys, we have the authority, but that is now the accountability that goes with that. And if we're not listening to our wife, if we're not paying attention to her, if we're not seeing her in our life, god's saying I don't have any time for you because you haven't had any time for her.

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So, selah, pray on that, right, all right, verse 8. Finally, all of you Thank you, peter, you're helping us out, get us back to all. All of you should be of one mind. And what is that, sy? Oh, this is what God has called you to do, and he will grant you his blessing, for the scriptures say you his blessing, for the scriptures say if you want to enjoy life and see many happy days, keep your tongue from speaking evil and your lips from telling lies. Turn away from evil and do good, search for peace and work to maintain it. The eyes of the Lord will watch over those who do right and his ears are open to their prayers. But the Lord turns his face against those who do evil. But the Lord turns his face against those who do evil. So you're saying, god, if I want to enjoy life and have many happy days, I should be good to people who are bad to me. Well, can we split the difference? And what if I kind of enjoy life and have a few happy days? But he's saying you want to enjoy this. Honor me, honor people as my children and watch what I will do Verse 13.

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Now, who will want to harm you if you are eager to do good? But even if you suffer for doing what is right, god will reward you. So don't worry or be afraid of their threats. Instead, you must worship Christ as Lord of your life and if someone asks you about the hope you have as a believer, always be ready to explain it, but do this in a gentle and respectful way. Keep your conscience clear. Then, if people speak against you, they will be ashamed when they see what a good life you live because you belong to Christ. Remember it is better to suffer for doing good, if that is what God wants, than to suffer for doing wrong.

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Christ suffered for our sins once for all time. He never sinned, but he died for sinners to bring you safely home to God. He suffered physical death, but he was raised to life in Christ. So he went and preached to the spirits in prison, those who disobeyed God. Long ago, when God waited patiently while Noah was building his boat, only eight people were saved from drowning in the terrible flood, and the water is a picture of baptism which now saves you, not by removing dirt from your body, but as a response to God from the clean conscience. It is effective because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Now Christ has gone to heaven. He is seated in the place of honor next to God, and the angels and the authorities and powers accept his authority. Wow, once again.

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First, peter is so full of so many things that we can't get to. So I will be honest with you and tell you once we have read through the Bible all the way. One of the books I want to come back and study verse by verse is first Peter, because there's so much here even about him preaching to spirits in prison, those who disobeyed God long ago when God waited patiently. There's a whole lot there, so I would encourage you to go to biblehubcom and read into that more, because there's so many good things there that we don't have time to cover today. What I want to do is get ready to end our time together is.

Speaker 1:

I want to go back to this verse that says in verse 15, it says you must worship Christ as Lord of your life and if someone asks about your hope as a believer, always be ready to explain it. Now, in that phrase it says always be ready to give an apologia. That is where we get the word apologetics from, which means defense, of Give a defense for your faith. But he says too, though, do it with a gentle and a respectful spirit, and so that is one of the reasons why we've been going through a book once a month during our Bible Breakdown Extras, called 12 Points that Show Christianity is True, and the reason why is because we need to know what we believe, not just so we can have faith, but so that, when God opens the door for people around us, we know how to share our faith. Now, that doesn't mean we have to have all the answers for all the things, but it does mean that we can defend what we know and what we believe. And so I want to ask you this question If someone were to ask you not some gotcha question out here, but someone were to ask you what does it mean to be saved?

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What does it mean to know God? Is there a heaven? Is there a hell? If I wanted to give my life to Christ, how would I do it? Could you give an answer? Could you give an answer If someone wanted you to explain Christianity not all of it, but a good idea could you explain it?

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If no, don't worry, a lot of people are in that boat. But can I tell you, if you prepare yourself to defend the faith, defend God's word, you'll be surprised at how many doors God will open of people to send to you. So I want to encourage you to do something. You can type out on Google 12 points that show Christianity is true, or you can go to the Bible Breakdown podcast and you can see these different ones where we walk through this one chapter at a time, and what it is is. It's awesome because it starts with just understanding what truth is and it ends all the way with Jesus is the Christ and you really ought to serve him right, but to have your faith as something. You understand. That I understand why I believe that Jesus is the Son of God, why confessing my sins to him can save me, like understanding that, and when you do, it's amazing how many doors God will open. Because here's the thing you are God's primary plan for all of your lost friends and family around you. You're it. You're the first one, you're the first line of defense. God wants to open doors to send people to you, but why would he send them to you if you're not ready for them? And so you do that and watch what God will do. And there's a lot in here.

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And for some of you, wives, you need to really go back and read the first part, where it talks about how your life will speak so much more than anything else to maybe a husband who's not following God right now, to you husbands. Maybe you should go back and read that part where it talks about honoring your wives, honoring your position as her spiritual leader, so that your prayers will not be hindered. And then for all of us, we should go through and read about how persecutions will come. Notice how he said in there at one point that when persecutions come, if that's what God has wanted for you, then you suffer well, which means God does not always keep us from suffering. I know some of you have heard incorrect theology that says that if you pray enough and if you read your Bible enough, you'll never have a bad day and you'll never have suffering. Can I tell you that's not God's Word. As a matter of fact, god's Word says in this life we will have trouble, and so trouble sometimes just comes, and sometimes it's God's will for us to walk through trouble. What are you going to do when it happens? Are you going to give up on God, or are you going to realize God has a plan and I'm here for it Because it's always good? Let's pray together right now.

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God, thank you so much for today. Thank you, god. That life is so complex and it's full of ups and downs and ins and outs and relationships that are hard, but your word is strong, and so we apply your word to our heart, lord. I pray for all the wives who are maybe grappling with different difficult aspects of their relationship. I pray for husbands, lord, who are also grappling and they want to be good men of God, but they struggle sometimes to know what that looks like.

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Lord, I pray for all of us that we will know our faith in you and that that will give us the courage to step into any difficult conversation. God, you are doing more and preparing us for more than we can understand. I pray you'll prepare us for that today. In Jesus' name, we pray Amen, amen. Well, god's word says in 1 Peter 1, or chapter 1, verse 3, all praise to God. It is by his great mercy that we have been born again. Now we live with great expectation and we have a priceless inheritance. I love you. I'll see you tomorrow. 1 Peter, chapter 4.

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Brandon Cannon

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