Helps For Daily Life 3

TELL YOUR FRIENDS ABOUT THE WEBSITE BIBLE STUDIES!

(www.growingtogetherinchristslove.org)

BIBLE STUDY 2: HELPS FOR DAILY LIFE

 

A SERIES:  THERE IS HOPE

LESSON 3: 1st PETER 3:8-17  HOW TO LOVE LIFE AND HAVE GOOD DAYS


8 Finally, be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous:  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.  10 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:  11 Let him eschew evil, and do good; let him seek peace, and ensue it.  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.  13 And who is he that will harm you, if ye be followers of that which is good?  14 But and if ye suffer for righteousness’ sake, happy are ye: and be not afraid of their terror, neither be troubled;  15 But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear: 16 Having a good conscience; that, whereas they speak evil of you, as of evildoers, they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good conversation in Christ.  17 For it is better, if the will of God be so, that ye suffer for well doing, than for evil doing.

 

INTRODUCTION

 

The subject of this lesson is found in verse 10.  ”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.”  In this verse, Simon Peter, the human author of this book, is quoting, actually, from his Bible.  He is quoting from the Old Testament Psalm 34, verse 12.  It says, "What man is he who desireth life, and loveth many days, that he may see good?"  

 

I believe that is the desire of everyone.  I believe everyone wants to love life.  I believe everybody would like to see good days.  However, I wonder, are you loving life?  Are you seeing good days?

 

It is rather interesting to notice that there were many people in the Bible who did not seem to love life.  Take Solomon for instance.  You would think Solomon had everything that would make a person happy and that he would love life.  He was a multimillionaire.  He had all kinds of things.  When you study what he said in the book of Ecclesiastes, you will find that he rehearses all of the things that he had that we would think would cause a person to love life and see good days; and yet in the midst of it all Solomon said, "I hated life." 

 

There was a man named Jacob.  He was one of the great heroes of the faith.  Jacob lived to be 130 years old.  Yet, before he died, this man Jacob said, "Few and evil have been the days of the years of my life.”  Somehow through all of those years he did not love life.  Somehow he could not see any good days.

 

Did you know there is a lot of pessimism about life today?  There are many people today who are very pessimistic about life.  Let me just read some quotations I picked up from certain people.  For instance, one of them said, "Life is a disease for which the only cure is death."  That is a very pessimistic view of life.  "Earth is like a gigantic fly wheel making ten thousand revolutions a minute.  Man is a sick fly taking a dizzy ride on it."  What a pessimistic view of life.  Listen to the words of a song that was popular at one time.  "Living is what you do while you're waiting to die."  It is obvious that there are many people who are looking for life in all the wrong places.

 

INTERPRETATION

 

I am giving a lesson to people who are serious enough about the Bible and what God has to say that I feel I can assume are predisposed to agree with what I'm about to say.  If you really want life with a capital "L" then you come to experience that kind of life by a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.  Jesus said, "I give unto them eternal life and they shall never perish."  When you know Jesus, you get eternal life.  When you know Jesus, you are going to heaven when you die.  However, that's not all.  Jesus also said, “I am come that they might have life…” here and now “…and have it more abundantly."  Every Christian should know that even though some days are tougher than others, you can love life and you can see good days, if you have a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

There are three basic ways to live life.  There Are Some People Who Just Endure Life.  They just try to get through it.  They don't love it.  They just endure it.  There Are Others Who Try To Escape Life.  Life is just too painful for them.  They try to escape life through alcohol or through drugs or some even through suicide.  Some try to escape life.  There are others who enjoy life.  I hope you are one of those people.  He says in verse 10, "for he that will…"  Did you notice the little word "will"?  "For he that will love life."  What he's saying is that loving life and seeing good days is a choice. 

 

I read a book a number of years ago by a Christian psychiatrist entitled, "Happiness is a Choice."  Loving life and seeing good days is a choice.  "For he that will’[s] (or chooses), love’[s] life and see’[s] good days."

 

I want us to think about How To Love Life And How To Have Good Days.  We all understand that even as a Christian you have your bad days.  There are some days when you get up on the wrong side of the bed and you kick the cat and it is a bad day.  However, I think you will agree with me, if you know Jesus Christ as your Savior, your worst day as a Christian is better than your best day was when you were living for the devil!

 

When you read these verses which are wrapped around this key verse of verse 10, you will discover that a great deal of loving life and seeing good days has to do with relationships.  As I have already suggested, the first relationship and the ultimate relationship and the primary relationship is your relationship to the Lord.  However, you will notice also in these verses that Simon Peter wraps this matter of loving life and seeing good days around two other relationships, your relationships to other believers and your relationships to those who are non-believers. 

 

I.    WE NEED TO CONSIDER OUR RELATIONSHIPS TO OTHER BELIEVERS.  He is saying that if you want to love life, really love living, and see good days, then you need to properly relate to those who share your faith.  As a Christian, when you go to Worship, you are in the midst of people who share your faith.  You are talking to people and fellowshipping with people who share the same relationship with Jesus Christ that you do and so now you are in a relationship with them. 

 

If you want to love life and see good days in relationship to those who share your faith, he tells us what our attitudes should be and what our actions should be.  Therefore, in verses 8 and following he lays out a series of attitudes that should be characteristic of those who know Jesus as Lord and Savior. 

 

EXPLANATION and APPLICATION

 

  1. IF YOU WANT TO LOVE LIFE AND HAVE GOOD DAYS THEN CONSIDER YOUR RELATIONSHIPS TO OTHER BELIEVERS AND BE CHRIST-LIKE IN YOUR ATTITUDES.

 

  1. THERE SHOULD BE A ONENESS OF PURPOSE.  For instance, he says in verse 8, "finally, be ye all of one mind."  When people come to know Christ as Savior they should identify themselves with a local fellowship of believers and be involved with them in a unity of purpose.  There should be a oneness of purpose with other believers.  Those who have been Christians for a long time need to be reminded of this sometimes.  Especially when there may be those who start feeling like they have some kind of ownership or seniority because of family ties or tenure or even leadership responsibilities.  There is never a big “i” or a little “u” in the fellowship of any church.  The ground is always level at the cross.  We are all sinners who were saved by God’s wonderful grace because of what Jesus did for us, not because of who we are, or what we do or have done for Him.  We are all the same and there should always be a oneness of purpose – all of one mind – the mind of Christ.

 

  1. THERE SHOULD BE A ONENESS OF FUNCTION.  There should be oneness of mind that goes even further.  The local church clearly has had an individual mission for all of these years of its existence.  That mission is that your community might know Christ, that people might come to know the Lord.  That is the church fellowship’s primary purpose!

 

Nevertheless, when there is this oneness of mind, that does not mean that you sacrifice your individuality.  Some people think that oneness of mind means “uniformity”.  Some are suspect of that word and have the idea that this means everyone is to be like a pile of sticks that have all been cut exactly the same way.  However that is not the meaning or the reference of the term at all.  Rather, oneness of mind is like all of the parts of a flower that are combined together to make a flower of beauty.  It's kind of like a football team where all the players have different positions and different assignments on the football team.  On that team every member has one assignment, one unity of purpose, a oneness of mind, and that is to win the game.  You have different parts of your body, and they all have individuality, yet each part of your body has a specific function.  If the different parts of your body are working properly, there is a oneness of mind, a unity of purpose and your body is healthy.  God tells us through Peter, if you want to love life and have good days, get involved, and let there be oneness of function in this oneness of mind as the body of Christ, the Church, the children of God.

 

  1. THERE SHOULD BE ONENESS OF FEELING.  He says in verse 8, "having compassion one of another”.  The word “compassion” means sympathy with one another.  If you want to love life, you need to learn to have sympathy with your fellow believers in the Lord.

 

Romans 12, verse 15, says, "Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep”.  Unfortunately, sometimes our fallen nature makes it a lot easier for us to weep with those that weep than to rejoice with those that rejoice.  Sometimes, people will talk and say in a passive way, “Bless his poor heart.  He lost his job.  We've got to pray for him.”  Sometimes people will say in an envious way, "My, can you believe that?  He got a brand-new car and paid cash for it!  How in the world did he pull that off?"  What I am saying is that Christians should have oneness in feelings with one another.  Christians, more than anyone else should be the examples of expressing true hurt and regret with one another.  Also rather than being jealous and envious, Christians need to be compassionate, encouraging, and joyful toward one another.  You will learn to love life and have good days when you learn to get involved and interested in the problems, burdens, joys, and successes of other people and begin to pray and care about what is going on in the lives of other people.

 

  1. THERE SHOULD BE ONENESS OF AFFECTION.  He moves on and says, "love as brethren”.  Peter is talking about the love that God's people are to have for one another at all times and in all situations.  One of the things I enjoy about the fellowship where I am a member, the Union Grove Baptist, is the great spirit of love between God's people.  There is genuine love extended when you enter.  There is genuine love experienced while you are there.  There is genuine love expressed when you leave.  Among the fellowship where I worship, in a Christ-like way, I know I am loved and I feel free to love and want to love in return.  The word "brethren" is used generically.  It means the brothers and the sisters love one another in a pure Godly, Christ-like love, openly and freely.  That is true; not only at the Worship Center or building, but everywhere we meet or see each other in the community. 

 

I hope most of you in this study love and know the Lord Jesus as your Savior.  However, there are some of you who are desperate for Christian love and for a loving Christian relationship with other brothers and sisters in Christ.  That is why everyone has the same need to be involved in a local church fellowship where there is the spirit of love.  You need to receive the love that a Christian fellowship has to give.  You also need to be willing and ready to pass the love that God has given to you along to other believers.

 

Unfortunately, there are those who have held back from God’s love all their life.  There are those who believe there is “a Jesus” and who believe there is “a God”.  “YOU” may be the one God is speaking to this very moment about this matter.  You have a yearning and a desire deep down in your heart to know more and to experience what I am talking about.  For some reason, or for many reasons, you have made one excuse after another over the years and you have never settled your personal affairs with the Lord.  That is why you need to be involved with “One”, and His name is Jesus.  That is why you need to become a part of “Something”, and that is the family of God where there is Christian love.  That is why you need to come to Christ, let Him save you, and make you a child of God - so you can experience the love of the Heavenly Father.  That is is the only way you can be, and why you need to be, an active part of a fellowship of Christians NOW where there is love and "love as brethren”.

 

When I think about “love as brethren” I think about that beautiful Old Testament story of Jonathan and David.  These men had a marvelous Godly love for one another. They became blood brothers by mingling their blood, one with the other.  That is what we do when we receive Jesus.  We become blood brothers with Him by mingling our sinful blood with His sinless blood that He shed for us on the cross.  That wonderful old song says, “There is a fountain filled with blood Drawn from Emmanuel’s veins; And sinners, plunged beneath that flood, Lose all their guilty stains.  And since, by faith, I saw that stream Thy flowing wounds supply, Redeeming love has been my theme, And shall be ‘til I die.  A-men.” 

 

I think about what Jesus said in John 13 when He said, "By this shall all men know that you are My disciples if you have love one toward another."  The identifying mark of God's people should be, "Behold how these Christians love one another”.  You learn to love life and have good days when there is a oneness of affection and you learn to love your fellow brothers and sisters in the Lord.

 

  1. THERE SHOULD BE ONENESS OF SYMPATHY.  Then he says, "be pitiful”.  That King James word may give the wrong meaning.  That word “pitiful” does not mean to be “deplorable, disgraceful, or pathetic”.  What it really means is to “be tenderhearted”.  Are you tenderhearted?  Life has a way of hardening you if you're not careful.  We have become almost desensitized in our culture.  Television has played a huge role in that.  When you turn on your television, no matter what you may be watching, you never know what may be in the story line or what may be in the next scene.  Some things that were once considered personal, private, and certainly not to appear on television are now displayed for all ages to see and we have lost our ability to blush.  Today, people are more interested in “blood and guts entertainment”, if you want to call it that, than anything else.  When I was growing up the most violent thing I saw on the three TV channels we could pick up with our antenna was a cowboy show where there was a shoot out or a bank robbery, but we never saw any blood.  Lucy and Ricky Ricardo were husband and wife, but they couldn’t even sleep in the same bed on television.  Certainly there was nothing that would come close to what we are seeing in our living rooms today.  I truly believe one of the reasons much of the violence in our city streets and around our country today is directly linked to what is seen on television.  Our children and our young people are brought up with a regular, daily diet of blood and guts, murders and killings, and sex and abuse.  However, it is not limited to television; it is on the software that is loaded into our Computers, I-Pads, Cell Phones, and Video Games everywhere.  Not only are children and young people hooked on this “blood and guts” stuff but adults are just as addicted.  Psychologists talk sometime about emotional breakdown, or emotional wear down, or emotional overdrive.  Our society sees so much horrible stuff that we lose our sensitivity and we do not have the capacity to have a Christ-like tender heart as we should until something tragic happens to our community that is personal to us and even then it seems to be short lived. 

 

Society tries to tell us that the expression of tenderhearted emotions is a sign of weakness.  They tell us that when bad things happen we just need to suck it up and move on.  Society even looks at prospective leaders and evaluates them on their ability to control their emotions.  The shedding of a tear is thought to be a sign of a person who would be unfit and unbecoming for leadership.  “Men don’t cry,” some say!  Much of society doesn’t know and many of those who do know, have forgotten that the Greatest Leader this world has ever known was the One who had the power to heal the sick, make the blind to see, make the lame to walk, and raise the dead to life again.  He was the sinless One who had the love, determination, and commitment to die alone on a Roman cross for the sins of this hateful world and rise to life again three days later.  Yet, this same Great Leader that has never and will never be matched, WEPT at the graveside of a friend named Lazarus!  Are you a tenderhearted person?  Do you weep easily?  Is your heart broken when you hear of the loss, hurt, tragedy, hopelessness, or misfortune of someone else?

 

Someone once said, “What we need to do is develop a hide as tough as a rhino and a heart as tender as a baby.  However, the trick is how to toughen the one without toughening the other.”

 

There are also times when life hits you with so many blows from so many directions you don’t know if you are coming or going.  Life can get so tough sometimes that if you are not very careful, you will develop this hard veneer about your life, and you will become so unemotional that you will lose your ability to sympathize or empathize with anyone else.  Nevertheless, the Lord says here that if you want to love life and have good days, then be pitiful, be tenderhearted, be like Jesus.  Let there be oneness of sympathy.

 

  1. THERE SHOULD BE ONENESS OF COURTESY.  Notice that he says, "be courteous”.  Think about that very practically for a moment.  I want to get as practical and as down to earth as I know how to be.  Let me use this as an illustration.  All around us in our communities and families we have thousands of people who are in the service industry.  For one example, there are a number of people who are servers in restaurants of all sizes and kinds.  There is a “Grandma’s Greasy Spoon” to “The Greatest Steak and Lobster”.  There is “The Corner Corndog Stand” to “Mac Donald’s” most every direction we look.  However, behind the counters and tables of these establishments are people, young, old, and in between,  who work very hard trying to serve customers everything they ask for and make them happy.

 

God has really convicted me in this area and I am sharing second hand news with you because He talked to me about this first.  We go into a restaurant and in those restaurants are people who serve.  That is not an easy job.  They have a tough job.  Think of all that they have to do and all the nonsense that some of them have to endure.  If you are a Christian, and specifically a Christian who is a member of the local church where you live, when the servers in your city, town or community see you come walking in their restaurant they should be shouting, "Hot diggedy dog.  Here comes a Christian from the church.  Finally there is going to be someone who is courteous to me."  Let me also remind you, do not be cheap when you finish eating and leave a good tip!  That is how most of them earn their pay.  I have seen people in a group of ten around a table and those servers are working as hard as they could to make everyone happy and help them enjoy their meal.  There would be constant demands, "Go get me some tea.  I don't have enough tea.  I need some more lemon."  Then when it's over, some old lug of a guy takes a dollar bill and pops it on the table and walks out.  That person even makes me feel ashamed.  That is like robbing someone, or not paying someone after doing hard labor for you, it’s almost like shoplifting.  Learn to be courteous in your relationships.

 

  1. THERE SHOULD BE ONENESS OF CIVILITY.  In verse 9 he says, "not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing”.  He is saying that if you really want to learn to love life don't retaliate when people are unkind to you.  You know the normal tendency of our fallen nature, is “railing for railing” when somebody puts it on us.  Then we want to put it back on them.  "I'll show you.  I can hit you just as hard as you hit me."  Some say, “I do not get angry, I get even!”

 

Simon Peter says if you want to love life and see good days, then don't retaliate.  Just say something kind.  When somebody says something ugly about you, then you say something sweet about them.  When somebody fusses at you, then you just be sweet to them.  How often do you do that?  Is that your reaction? 

 

To be honest with you, a restaurant is one of the weak points of my patience.  That is the one place I seem to have the least patience when I feel I am not receiving the attention or service I deserve as a courteous paying customer.  However, I want to be quick to say I do leave a generous tip when I have finished the meal.  For the purpose of my point I am going to tell you of an experience I had once.  This is an experience I have failed to even discuss with my wife over the years.  I was at a Southern Baptist Convention many years ago and I went out to a restaurant for dinner.  I was blessed to have one of the worst mannered, ill tempered, inconsiderate waitresses in the entire establishment.  She was rude when taking my order and short with me when I would ask a question.  When she brought the meal out she just dropped the plate of food on the table.  She ran the glass over with tea and did not clean it up, after I had asked for tea several times and waited forever to get it.  I did not enjoy the meal.  This waitress was terrible.  My old fallen nature wanted to say, “I’ll show you gal."  However, thankfully my new nature took over and I said to her, "It appears to me that you have had a tough day and you may be going through some rough times right now.  Is there something I can pray for you about?"  At first she looked at me with scorn in her eyes like, “Why don’t you tend to your own business.”  My first thought was, “There is going to be war!  This gal is gun barrel hot” However, before I knew it, thankfully there was a complete and shocking change that came over her.  She actually sat down with tears in her eyes and said, "My husband walked off and left me and the children this morning.  I do not know what to do and I do not feel like I can keep working much longer today.  Will you please pray for me?"  That experience proved to me that when people fire at you, it may be that there are other things going on in their life that you have not even imagined or dreamed.  Therefore learn oneness of civility as a Christian.

 

IF YOU WANT TO LOVE LIFE AND HAVE GOOD DAYS THEN CONSIDER YOUR RELATIONSHIPS TO OTHER BELIEVERS AND BE CHRIST-LIKE IN YOUR ATTITUDES.

 

a. Go back and list these attitudes Peter listed in verses 8-9    b. Then put them in your own words.

1.____________-___________________________________________________________________________

2.____________-___________________________________________________________________________

3.____________-___________________________________________________________________________

4.____________-___________________________________________________________________________

5.____________-___________________________________________________________________________

6.____________-___________________________________________________________________________

7.____________-___________________________________________________________________________

****DID I MISS ANY?****

?-______________ -__________________________________________________________________________________________

 

B. IF YOU WANT TO LOVE LIFE AND HAVE GOOD DAYS THEN CONSIDER YOUR RELATIONSHIPS TO OTHER BELIEVERS AND BE CHRIST-LIKE IN YOUR ATTITUDES.

 

EXPLANATION and APPLICATION

 

  1. WATCH WHAT YOU SAY.  Verse 10 says, "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.”  Be careful of your words and the things you say.  Even James teaches us about the danger of the tongue.  In short order, you have two ears and one tongue which means you should use your tongue half as much as you use your ears.  It is always better to never argue with someone that many may think is a fool, than to argue with them and take away all doubt about you both.  Watch what you say.

 

  1. WATCH WHAT YOU DO.  Verse 11 says "let him eschew evil," That is, “avoid evil”.  Be careful of the things you do.  Christians preach sermons louder and more lasting everyday than I ever have preached from a pulpit.  The message we preach by our life and living will be remembered long after our words are forgotten.  The places you go, the activities in which you participate, the company you keep will speak volumes to others about you as a Christian and the Christian faith itself.  If you sleep with the dogs, you are going to get up with flees.  If you lie with the hogs you are going to have an odor about you.  Watch what you do.

 

  1. WATCH WHAT YOU THINK.  Then he says, "do good; let him seek peace, and pursue it."  Be careful of the things you think.  What is in the heart will go through the mind and right out of your mouth if you are out of step with Jesus.  I have heard it said, “It is better to think it than it is to say it.”  I guess that sounds pretty good, but it is not good to have bad thoughts either.  “Let this mind be in you”- the mind of Christ, and you will do good.  This will bring peace and you will do all you can to pursue it.  If you want to love life and have good days, then you have to be careful about your relationship with those who share your faith.

 

When he moves into verse 12 he points out why we should have the right attitude and actions.  Did you know it is because the Lord is looking and listening?  He says, "For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and His ears are open unto their prayers…"  Did you know the Bible plainly says that His ears are open unto our prayers?  Literally, the preposition “unto” is "into”.  The ears of the Lord are open “into” their prayers.  That means that the Lord is interested in you, and when you pray He gets into your prayers.  He gets into your life.  The secret to loving life and having good days is to get the Lord into every area of your life.

 

Watch what you?________!                Watch what you?__________!               Watch what you?_________!

 

THAT IS WHY IT IS SO IMPORTANT FOR US TO CONSIDER OUR RELATIONSHIPS TO OTHER BELIEVERS.  "For the eyes of the lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers,…"  The lord is watching us and the lord is listening to us!

 

INTERPRETATION

 

II. WE NEED TO ALSO CONSIDER OUR RELATIONSHIPS TO NON–BELIEVERS.  Just think about those who scrutinize and criticize our faith.  If you want to love life and have good days you have to develop a right relationship with those who scrutinize your faith.  He is not talking about just your fellow Christians, your brothers and sisters in the Lord.  He is talking about those who are not saved, those who scrutinize and criticize your faith.  He's talking about those who do not know the Lord, to whom you are a witness.

 

Did you know you are a witness to the lost even when you don’t want to be?  You say, "Oh, no.  I'm not a witness.  I don't ever tell anybody about Jesus.”  Oh, but friend Yes, you are a witness.  You are either a good witness or you are a bad witness.  Those who do not know our Savior are scrutinizing your faith every day you are around them and sometimes when you do not even know you are around them.  They're listening, watching, evaluating, judging, scrutinizing, and just checking out your life and living.  They are talking among themselves.  They are wanting to see if you are the same person in private that you appear to be in a crowd.  They want to see if that “religious halo” shines as brightly during the week as it does on Sunday.  They want to see if your walk matches your talk.  They want to see how you hold up under pressure and hard times.  They want to see what you do when you get angry.  They want to see how you handle fear, worry, and mishap.

 

Let me hit some things here that have to do with being a good witness.  If you really want to love life and have good days, you need to learn to be a good witness to those who criticize and scrutinize your faith, those who are watching it.

 

He talks about your relationship to the Lord first in verse 15.  It says, "but sanctify the Lord God in your hearts”.  That statement troubled me for a while.  "Sanctify the Lord God."  The word “sanctify” means “consecrate”.  It means to “set apart the Lord god in your heart”.  My first thought was that sounded impossible.  That sounds contradictory.  How can I sanctify God?  That's like trying to say make water wet or make fire hot or make ice cold. 

 

EXPLANATION AND APPLICATION

 

What does it mean to sanctify the Lord God in your hearts?  It means that if you really want to love life and have good days, here is how you begin every day of your life,

A.  ENTHRONE JESUS AS LORD IN YOUR LIFE.  We need to do that in our prayer time every morning of our life.  Every morning of our life we need acknowledge Jesus as the Lord of our life.  We must voluntarily, openly, and definitely yield to Him as the Lord of our life.  We need to just put Jesus on the throne of our life.

 

In every heart there is a cross and a throne.  If self is on the throne of your heart, then Jesus is on the cross in your heart.  However, if you'll put self on the cross in your heart, by doing so, you will enthrone Jesus on the throne of your heart.  Therefore, every day “set apart” Jesus as Lord of your life. 

 

That's the key to witnessing.  It is not your lips, it is the Lord.  It is not your religion; it is your relationship to the Lord.  If you're not a witness for the Lord Jesus Christ right now, chances are the reason is because Jesus Christ has not been “set apart” as Lord of your life.  Every day of your life acknowledge His lordship.  Yield to His lordship and that day will be a day when you will love life and you will see good days.

 

He says in verse 13, "And who is he that will harm you if ye be followers of that which is good?"  In other words, chances are that if you just pursue that which is good, if you do that which is right, nobody is going to give you any problems when you speak of Jesus and His love.  This is not true in every instance but a lot of Christians create their own problems.  If you are inconsistent in your life as a Christian, if you don't live the way you should live, if you are a reproach to the name of Jesus and to your church fellowship, it is no wonder people give you a hard time when you try to witness. 

 

He goes on and says in verse 14, "but and if ye suffer for righteousness sake," if you are living a consistent life and then if they give you a hard time ,“happy are ye; and be not afraid of their terror, neither be troubled."  The word “troubled” means “inward agitation”.  He's saying here that your life sets the stage for your witness with your lips.  The testimony of your life, the way you are living prepares for the witness that you give.  You cannot go out and live like the Devil and ever expect to gain an audience with a lost person.  If you are credible in your living, it is more likely that others will give more credit to your language.

 

He has talked about Jesus being Lord of your life in verse 15, "but sanctify the Lord God in your hearts” If they give you a hard time for righteousness sake, then don't worry about it.  Verse 16 says, "Having a good conscience, that, whereas they speak evil of you, as of evildoers, they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good conversation in Christ”.  If you're not living the life you should live, then you ought to be ashamed.  If you're living the life you should live, then it will make them ashamed.  That's something, isn't it?  However, Peter does not stop with Jesus being enthroned as Lord in your life but carries it further.

 

What does it mean to sanctify the Lord God in your hearts?  It means that if you really want to love life, here is an additional way to begin every day of your life,

B.  ENTHRONE JESUS AS LORD OF YOUR LIPS.  Notice that he talks about the witness of your lips, in verse 15.  "And be ready always."  Your witness to those who scrutinize your faith, first of all you should be ready to witness.  Are you ready to witness?  In other words, when the opportunity comes to be a witness, are you ready to do it?

 

We miss so many opportunities for the Lord sometimes.  I'm so thick headed sometimes.  The Lord just lays an opportunity right there in front of me; and old thick headed me, sometimes it just goes right by, and I miss it. 

 

1.   "BE READY."  Are you ready?  If you walked out today and the Lord opened up a door for you to be a witness for the Lord Jesus Christ, are you ready to do it?  Do you know how to do it?  Can you be a witness for the Lord?

 

I heard about a man who was working at a job with some big equipment in a factory.  He fell and was injured fatally.  He was dying right in front of them.  The people were gathered around, and the man said, "I'm dying and I'm unprepared to die.  Is there anybody here who could tell me how to go to heaven?  I'm about to die."  There were several church members standing around and not a one of them could tell him how to go to heaven when he died.

 

Do you know how to tell someone how to go to heaven?  You may have that opportunity in the morning.  You may have it before this day is over.  Be ready.  Wake up every day and say, "Lord, help me to have eyes to see the opportunities that are mine."  Be ready.

 

2.   BE REASONABLE.  "Be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you."  The word “answer” is the Greek word from which we get the word “apology”.  However, it doesn't mean apology in the sense that we use it.  "Forgive me.  I apologize for what I said."  That's not the meaning here.  When he says to “be ready to give an answer” he uses the Greek word “apology” which was “a word that was used in a court of law”.  We use it in the Christian faith which is the word “apologetics.” which means “a logical, clear, reasoned defense of the faith”.  Are you ready to give an answer to anybody who asks you?

 

3. BE RESPECTABLE.  He says in the last part of verse 15, "give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you, with meekness… (that is, with gentleness) …and fear."  That means “reverence”.

 

Colossians 4, verse 6, says, "Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man”.

 

Your witness doesn't have to be rude and crude.  Some people think that witnessing is like Bible bushwhacking.  They get a big old family Bible and just beat people over the head with it.  That's not the way you witness for the Lord.  You can woo more people to Jesus than you can bully to Jesus.  If you will just live for the Lord, have a consistent Christian life, when the time comes for you to speak a reasonable, respectable word for your faith, it will have its impact on their life.  You may not see it, but God’s Word will not return unto Him void.  It will find its lodging place in the heart by the Holy Spirit.  He that will love life will also see good days.

 

THERE IS HOPE FOR YOU TO LOVE LIFE AND SEE GOOD DAYS

NOW THAT YOU KNOW THIS – WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO?

 

To find more help in receiving Jesus Christ as your personal Savior please go to the Bible Study Title Page “ETERNAL LIFE”.  Please send me an email and respond to me about any decision for Christ you make so that I may pray for you.  Feel free to send me any questions, comments, or responses you may have as well.  For those who are already Christians I invite you to also please let me know of any decisions you make in your Christian life for Jesus.  Feel free to send me any questions, comments, or responses you may have and let me know if the Bible Studies are helping you.  [ rfdenning1951@gmail.com]

 

ALWAYS REMEMBER!

The support of your local Church ministry and the ministry of your Pastor should be the first priority of your Christian life and your service to the Lord.  Be faithful to prayerfully prepare and attend Sunday School and Worship Service this Sunday and participate in worship as your Pastor preaches the Word.  Do not forget to give the Lord at least your TITHE through your local church from your gross income – that is your first fruits.  Any other other giving is an offering to a ministry unto the Lord.  Honor the Lord in all you do and with all that you have.  Always remember that everything you have and all you are belongs to the Lord.  It is on loan to you – so manage it well!  There will be an audit one day!  Make sure the Books Balance!