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From
the very beginning it is drilled into the heads of military sailors that the
captain is the supreme authority on a sea going vessel. And with good reason.
When
a ship takes to the open ocean, it’s no longer in friendly territory,
especially at a time of war. For a ship and all of its occupants to remain
safe, decisions must be weighed, and made, by a smart and well informed
captain.
The
safety of the ship and passengers rests squarely on the shoulders of the
captain. If the ship is going down, it is the captain’s duty to make sure that
all crew and passengers are safe before seeking his own rescue.
The
great responsibility laid on a captain comes with great authority. A captain’s
crew are required to carry out the captain’s orders quickly and
efficiently—with no questioning or second guessing of the captain’s orders.
Sailors who mutiny have faced the serious consequences of court-martial, and in
some cases—even execution.
Even
though a young sailor may know that he captain has supreme authority, this fact
must be drilled into their heads—for their own safety, and the safety of the
other souls on board.
A
young sailor must learn to put the captain’s order first in every situation.
▬
As
we continue our study of the apostle Peter’s first letter today, we’ll see that
Christians have a captain too. And even though we know that Christ is our Lord,
our Master, our Captain—we too must learn to set him apart as Lord in our
hearts. We do this for our own safety and blessing, as well as for the safety
and blessing of those around us.
1 Peter 3:8-15 (NASB)
8 To sum up, all of you be harmonious,
sympathetic, brotherly, kindhearted, and humble in spirit; 9not
returning evil for evil or insult for insult, but giving a blessing instead;
for you were called for the very purpose that you might inherit a blessing. 10For,
“The one who desires life, to love and see good days,
Must keep his tongue from evil and his lips from
speaking deceit.
11He must turn away from evil and do good;
He must seek peace and pursue it.
12For the eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous,
And His ears attend to their prayer,
But the face
of the Lord is against those who do evil.”
13Who is there to harm you if you
prove zealous for what is good? 14But even if you should suffer for
the sake of righteousness, you are blessed. And do not fear their intimidation,
and do not be troubled, 15but
sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an
account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence; and
keep a good conscience so that in the thing in which you are slandered, those
who revile your good behavior in Christ will be put to shame.
▬
The
theme of our sermon mediation today is “Savior Please Pilot Me.” This
theme comes from verse 15.
“…sanctify Christ as Lord in your
hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who ask you to
give an account for the hope that is in you…” (1 Peter 3:15 NASB).
To
sanctify Christ as Lord in our hearts means to set him apart as the supreme
commander in our lives. It means to trust that Jesus is the Son of God, and our
Savior from all sin. It means to trust that whatever the Son of God directs us
to do is the best thing for us to do.
In
the first two verses of our sermon reading, Peter directs his fellow Christians
to set apart Christ as their Captain when interacting with each other.
Peter
has just got done talking about how God wants Christians to submit to human
authorities like the government, and other masters. Peter also spoke of how
submission plays a role in Christian marriage—with each spouse putting each
other first in the way that God directs.
Now
Peter turns away from addressing married Christians to talk to the whole
congregation. He says…
“8To
sum up, all of you be harmonious, sympathetic, brotherly, kindhearted, and
humble in spirit; 9not returning evil for evil or insult for insult,
but giving a blessing instead; for you were called for the very purpose that
you might inherit a blessing” (1 Peter 3:8-9 NASB).
Peter
is speaking to Christians about how they should interact with one another. They
are to be harmonious. That is, like-minded, united in spirit. They are to be
sympathetic—concerned about one another. There is to be a brotherly love among
them so that they are not easily separated by disagreements and conflicts. For
conflicts will come.
Peter
tells his Christian brothers and sisters not to repay evil for evil or insult
for insult. Remember, he’s talking primarily about how they should treat each
other. Peter knows that they’re sinners just like him. Peter know that in a
group of sinners conflicts are going to arise. Feelings are going to get hurt.
Harsh words are going to be said. Hurtful things are going to be done.
That’s
why the Holy Spirit moved Peter to tell the congregations he was writing to be
kindhearted—that is, compassionate toward one another, not cold and uncaringly
selfish. That’s why the Holy Spirit has Peter instruct them to be humble.
When
a couple puts on wedding rings and lights a unity candle, that doesn’t make a
marriage work! It takes compassion, communication, and forgiveness to make a
marriage relationship what God intends it to be.
And
the same is true when it comes to a Christian fellowship. Just because we
profess to believe the same thing doesn’t make a fellowship work! A vibrant
Christian fellowship takes individuals who put the Lord’s directives, like the
ones we’ve just reviewed, into practice. Repeatedly!
A
vibrant Christian fellowship begins with people who sanctify Christ as Lord in
their hearts, through faith, and then let the Lord determine how to react to
others in any given situation.
Truly
letting Christ be our Captain is what brings blessing into our lives, and into
our Church.
Peter
says that we are not to repay bad behavior with our own bad behavior. Instead
we are to repay evil and insult with blessing. And the purpose is that we might
inherit a blessing from the Lord.
▬
Look
at verse 10-12 again. There Peter quotes Psalm 34 saying…
“10For,
‘The one who desires life, to love and see good days,
Must keep his tongue from evil and his lips from
speaking deceit. 11He must turn away from evil and do good;
He must seek peace and pursue it. 12For the eyes of the Lord are toward the
righteous, And His ears attend to
their prayer,
But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil’” (1 Peter 3:10-12 NASB).
God
desires to bless us daily. And his path to blessing follows the way of godly
behavior. We’re not to just trust that Jesus died to take away our sins and
continue living as we always have. We’re to CHANGE! No longer are we to pass
along rumors. No longer are we to badmouth people when they’re not around. No
longer are we to use lies and manipulation to get what we want.
We’re
to turn away from any of these things, and do good instead. We’re to do what we
can to establish peace with our fellow Christians.
Peter
says that the blessing that flows from this kind of godly behavior is that the
Lord’s eyes are watching over our days. The Lord’s ears are open to our
prayers.
These
promises are NOT extended to the wicked. On the contrary, Psalm 34 says
that the Lord’s face is set AGAINST those who do evil. Instead of protection,
they fall into their own traps. Instead of security in God, those who pursue
evil find their prayers fall on deaf ears.
▬
Now,
if we only look at our personal record of sins, these words would are
terrifying. We do wicked things each and every day. But the difference is
Christ. Through faith in Christ, his perfect sinless ness covers us.
Peter
isn’t saying, “Eliminate all sins in your life, then God’ll watch over you and
answer your prayers.” Peter is simply describing the Christian as a person who
looks to Christ for the gift of forgiveness, and then seeks to change their
life to match Christ’s leading. That’s a righteous person in the sight of God.
That’s the Christian that we all seek to be. And the Christian who God watches
over.
▬
For
a sailor on a ship, it’s easy to follow the captain’s orders when they make
sense to the sailor. And when all the rest of the sailors are following orders
as well.
What
makes it difficult is when the captains orders don’t make sense to us. And when
others around us are talking about mutiny. That’s the situation Christians find
themselves in when they step out of the church and into the world.
Look
at verses 13-15 again. There Peter writes…
“13Who is there to harm
you if you prove zealous for what is good? 14But even if you should
suffer for the sake of righteousness, you
are blessed. And do not fear their intimidation,
and do not be troubled, 15but
sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an
account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence; and
keep a good conscience so that in the thing in which you are slandered, those
who revile your good behavior in Christ will be put to shame” (1 Peter
3:13-15 NASB).
The
world admires a lot of Christian virtues. Kindness, love, compassion,
generosity. When we put God’s directives into practice, most of the time that
leads to safety in this world, and a good reputation. But not always.
The
world of sinners doesn’t agree with God in everything. And that’s where
suffering comes in for the Christian. But Peter says that even if the Christian
is made to suffer because they follow Christ as their Captain, God is still
there to bless his children of faith.
Remember,
Peter was writing to congregations in Asia Minor who were experiencing
persecution because they trusted in Jesus as their Savior from sin. To them he
says, Don’t be intimidated by the godless world. Don’t be troubled. The Savior
who suffered and died to take away your sins wasn’t accepted by the sinful
world either. The Savior who was raised from the dead three days after the
cross still lives to watch over your souls, and to bless you in this life. And
he will bless you in ways far greater than financial security and large
estates.
In
Christ Jesus our Savior we stand forgiven of our sins before the Almighty God.
And therefore, we have a sure, and eternal hope.
Like
Jesus told his disciples on the night before his crucifixion…
“27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as
the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let
them be afraid” (John
14:27 ESV).
And…
“14 “Let not your
hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. 2 In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were
not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and
prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that
where I am you may be also”
(John 14:1-3 ESV).
This
is the hope that we have in Christ that Peter speaks of when he says,
“…sanctify Christ as Lord in your
hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who ask you to
give an account for the hope that is in you…” (1 Peter 3:15 NASB).
Even
in the face of persecution for our faith, we who hope in Christ are to be ready
to tell others why we trust in him. And we’re to do this with gentleness and
reverence. Thinking about the fact that Christ didn’t just die for our sins on
that cross, but for the sins of the whole world. And he would invite all
sinners, even those who hate Christians, to see Christ Jesus as their Savior,
and Captain.
▬
In
the early years of Christianity, churches that got built had a similar shape.
The floor plan looked like a cross, with one long hall like this, and two
little arms that extended to the left
and the right. The arms of the cross, if you will.
The
place where the congregation sat was called the “nave”. Which isn’t an insult,
it’s the Latin word for “ship.” We get our word “Navy” from this Latin word.
This part of the church building was probably called the “nave” because the
arched ceiling above looked like a ship turned upside down over the
congregation.
But
there’s a spiritual connection here also. As a congregation that professes
faith in the one Savior sent from heaven, we look to Christ Jesus as the
Captain of our ship. Jesus is a captain who took his charge seriously. To
ensure our safety in the final judgment, he went down with our ship. He took
each and every one of our failures and wicked sins on his shoulders, and washed
them clean away when he suffered hell in our place on the cross.
Because
of Christ, we have a hope that is as sure as God’s own promise. We are redeemed
in Christ.
So
then, let us look to our selfless Captain with awe. And let’s drill that lesson
into our own heads, for our safety in life, and the eternal safety of those
around us. Christ Jesus is the supreme authority in this boat. We will hear his
words, and put them into practice. We will trust in his sacrifice for our
forgiveness, and we will walk in his ways.
PRAYER: Savior
please, Pilot me. Be the Master that sits on the highest throne in my heart.
Guide me constantly to bring my sins to you for cleansing. Guide me to walk in
your ways as I interact with my fellow Christians, and as I face life in a
world that doesn’t know your grace. And in the end Lord, guide me to the place
you’ve prepared for me, by your unfathomable mercy. Savior please, Pilot me. Amen.
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