Quieting the Critics, Part 1a

1st Peter chapter 2, if you have your Bible, 1st Peter chapter 2. And here begins the second half of this epistle as Peter explains exactly how we are to be holy amidst all kinds of hostility. And that holy life is going to silence the scoffer, it will quiet the critic.

I don't know if you've ever been criticized before. I don't know if anybody's ever mocked you or scoffed you because of your belief or because of your stand or just because of who you are. But you know, Peter is very practical. I mean, the principles he lays out for us are so practical. I mean, you could just take them and apply them as if he was writing to us today.

Listen to what Paul says about people seeing your life. He says in verse number one of 2nd Corinthians chapter 3: "Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, as some, letters of commendation to you or from you? You are our letter, written in our hearts, known and read by all men, being manifested that you are a letter of Christ, cared for by us, written not with ink but with the spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on the tablets of human hearts."

Paul is dealing with the false leaders and how they come into a town and how they would bring with them letters of commendation to prove that they were men of honor. And they would seek to receive letters of commendation from, i.e., those in Corinth so they may go to the next town and spread their false gospel. And Paul says, "Do I need to commend myself among you?" The fact is, he didn't, because the Corinthians know that when Paul came to them, he didn't come with persuasive words, but he came with a godly message. And he says very clearly these words: "You are our letter. We don't need a letter written in ink because you're the letter. Your life is the living letter." And he says that letter is now being read by all men.

"We don't need to have some kind of private correspondence in our satchel when we arrive in Corinth and show it to a few of you that we might be leaders among you. No, we have all of you in the church here at Corinth. You are all living letters, and everybody who sees you reads you. And what do they read? They read something not put down with ink, but because of the influence of the Spirit of God." Why? He says this: he says, "Not on tablets of stone, but on tablets of human hearts." The ten commandments, you know, were written on tablets of stone with the finger of God, but we have something a little different than that. It's the fulfillment of Jeremiah Ezekiel's prophecy in Ezekiel 36 and in Ezekiel chapter 11 where God says, "I'm gonna give you a new heart, a new heart, and you'll walk in my ways."

Well, these Corinthians were walking in the ways of God, and they became the proof, the credibility of Paul's message, because the message he preached was the message of God. And the Word of God has the power to transform people's lives, right? And so he was saying that the proof of the ministry lies in the lives of the people who have a Redeemer, whose lives have been transformed by the Spirit of God. And everybody's reading that letter. They're reading that epistle.

And I guess if I was to ask you today, when you go to work, I wonder what people read about your life, your attitudes, your actions? What about when your ministry here at the church? How people read you? You know, it's interesting to watch people in ministry and to see how they interact with other people, especially in times of conflict. You know, to see how they respond when someone lashes out against them and their leadership in the ministry or their style of ministry. And to be able to sit back and watch that, to see how is it they can be a living epistle? How? Because God has written his law on their hearts. They are willing to live that law every single day, not out of duty, but out of devotion to their God.

You see, all of us receive criticism. Every one of us do. Whenever you make a decision about something, it will go against someone else who wishes it would go their direction and not the direction you took it. And so you have to deal with that criticism. Whenever you take a stand on truth, on the gospel, people come against that because they think you're too dogmatic, too hard, too narrow-minded. And yet you have to deal with that criticism. Whenever you take a stand to live for Jesus Christ, there'll be those who don't want to live for Jesus Christ who will criticize you, who will mock you, who will scoff at you.

What do you do? How do you handle that? Well, Peter tells you, makes it very clear. And how you handle it is going to be determined on what people think about your Redeemer, right? They're gonna get some kind of idea about Christ by watching you in the midst of conflict. And these people in Peter's epistle were going through great conflict. So this was the pristine time for them to shine for the Lord Jesus Christ. This was the best time. Peter knew that, and so he was going to try to encourage them.

Tonight I want to cover two points with you. There are three we're going to cover in verses 11 down through verse number 17, but what there's going to cover two verses tonight, verse 11 and verse number 12. And that will set the tone for verses 13 through 17 next week, which will be the practice of godly conduct. We'll begin with the plea for godly conduct, and then we're going to look at the principles for godly conduct, and then we're going to look at the practice of godly conduct. Peter's going to give you the opportunity to practice the principles that he gives right away. But we'll begin just with verse 11, 12 this evening.

He says: "Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul. Keep your behavior excellent among the Gentiles, so that in the thing in which they slander you as evildoers, they may on account of your good deeds, as they observe them, glorify God in the day of visitation."

It says that in verse number 13: "Submit yourselves for the Lord's sake to every human institution, whether to a king as the one in authority, or to governors as sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and the praise of those who do right. For such as the will of God that by doing right you may silence the ignorance of foolish men."

Peter says that when you live the right way, when you live a godly way, you will silence the critics. You will quiet them. So he begins with the plea. "Beloved," he says, "I urge you. I urge you. I beseech you. I want to encourage you, strongly encourage you, that this is what you need to do." In the verses 11 and 12 provide for us an introduction to what Peter is going to cover in verses 13 and chapter 2 all the way through verse 11 of chapter 5. So you need to get verses 11 and 12 and understand the rest of the Bible, or excuse me, the rest of Peter, okay, to understand exactly what he's going to say.

And he has just reminded them how to prepare themselves for lowly service. He's already given them the privileges of being in the family of God. He's talked about their union. He's talked about their admission. He's talked about their possession. He's talked about their satisfaction. He's talked about their proclamation. He's talked about all the privileges they have because of the people of God. And now he says, "I urge you to live a certain way." And in the back of his mind, he has the picture of Christ. Now he's going to give us an illustration of that at the end of chapter 2, but throughout this whole epistle, you realize that Peter is picturing in his mind Jesus Christ and how he handled hostility, how you learn to handle the heat. And that will be in the back of Peter's mind throughout this epistle, throughout the rest of this epistle as we study it together.

But he says, "Beloved." He reminds them that they are loved by God. They are part of the beloved family of God. Remember in Ephesians chapter 1 verse number 6, because the faith in Jesus Christ, we are accepted in the beloved. Now Peter would remind them several times. In fact, eight times in 1st Peter and 2nd Peter he calls them beloved. He says it here in verse 11, chapter 2. And then over in verse number 12 in chapter 4, he says, "Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you." He reminds them once again that in the midst of the fiery trial, that they are the loved ones. They are the ones that are loved by God, and they are a part of a brotherhood of love in the family of God.

And over in chapter 3 of 2nd Peter, several times he says in verse number 1, he says this: "Now beloved, the second letter I am writing to you, in which I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder." And then now verse number 8: "But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved." Verse number 17: "You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, be on your God." He constantly reminds them of the fact that they are a part of a loved group of people, loved of course by God himself.

Now that relationship ought to be that which motivates us to live for the Lord, right? We love him because he first loved us. You know, a lot of people look at the Christian life and in terms of its duty, but we need to look at it in terms of our devotion to God. We are devoted to God. We want to serve him. We want to live for him. We want to love him. Christianity is not a bunch of "I have to do this" and "I have to go here" and "I have to be this way." That's not what Christianity is. If that's your perception of Christianity, you don't know Christ. That's not what it's about. You want to serve the Lord. You want to honor the Lord because you're part of the beloved family of God. And therefore you long to serve your God.

He gives a plea, and there are three reasons behind the plea for godly conduct. Number one is because you're strangers in this country. You're strangers in this country. That's number one. "Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers." "Aliens" is rather unique, is the word. It means "alongside the house." Now that word is rather unique because, you see, we live alongside those whose home is earth. You need to understand that we are the aliens.

If you were with us in our study of the book of Revelation, there was a phrase used in the book of Revelation 10 different times, and that word is "earth dwellers." That word is used 10 times: "those who dwell upon the earth." And we told you when we say the book of Revelation that that phrase is used significantly of the unbeliever in the book of Revelation. It doesn't talk about a geographical location. It talks about a moral classification. "Earth dwellers" - that is all they have is what is here. All they have is what you can see. And therefore, those people, those earth dwellers, have a different perception than those who are not earth dwellers.

Peter says we live alongside those earth dwellers. We are not the earth dwellers. We are not the ones who have our homes here. We are the aliens. That's a rather important term because we know about aliens, right? We think of an alien, we think of a nasty, ugly, rotten creature. We've seen the movies about aliens, and we think of some foreign creature. But we have to realize that that's not too far off the mark. I mean, we are foreign creatures.

One of our problems is that we like to mix and mingle among the world. We like to fit in with the world. My folks used to always tell me, tell me growing up, they said, "You know, son, if you fit in, you have a problem." But, but, but shouldn't they like me? Shouldn't, when I go to high school and when I go to my classes, when I interact with my, shouldn't they like me? And they said, "What's not about them liking you. It's about how you look when you're around them. It's about how you act when you're around them. It's about what you say when you're around them, because you're different. You're an alien."

When I traveled with Sports Ambassadors right out of college, I played baseball for them for the summer months, and we traveled down to Central America. And we went down to Venezuela and to Guatemala and to El Salvador. And we went down there specifically to share Christ through means of baseball. So we'd play a baseball game, and in between doubleheaders we would have a time where we'd, there'd be some singing, some testimonies, different ones of us would preach and give the gospel. And I can recall a time we went to Venezuela, and we had spent some time talking to different young people after a game that they would come up to me and they would want to touch my hair, you know, and they'd want to touch the hair on my arms. Because, you know, I was right out of college, I was 22 years of age, and whenever I was in the sun, my hair were turned bleach white, just whiten up, and the hair on my arms would turn really white. Well, they'd never seen anything like that before. They'd never seen a blonde-haired, blonde-armed person before. And so they would just come up to me and they would just want to touch my arm and they just want to touch my hair.

You see, I was foreign to them. I was different than them. And I was thinking about that the other day, thinking, you know, that's how we are to be in the world. When people look at us, there should be a distinct difference about us from them. We're aliens. We're strangers. We're pilgrims or foreigners. We're different than the world. The writer of Hebrews said it well in Hebrews chapter 13 verse number 14: "For here we do not have a lasting city, but we are seeking the city which is to come." Paul would say in Philippians 3 that we are citizens of heaven and we are eagerly awaiting our Savior. You see, there's a sense of eagerness behind our waiting. There's a sense of anticipation about the coming glory of the King. And so we realize that we're strangers here on this earth.

Not only we strangers in this country, but we are soldiers engaged in combat. The reason he pleads with us to live a godly life is because we are strangers in this country, and number two, because we are soldiers engaged in combat. Listen to what he says: "I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul." Fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul. Listen, we are in the midst of a heavy battle. If you don't recognize that, there's something wrong. We are in the midst of great combat daily. Fleshly lusts which, as Peter says, wage war against the soul. That word carries with it the idea of a military campaign. It carries with it the idea of constant warfare, day after day, so much so that you must be on your guard. It speaks of malicious aggression. That's the way our lives are because we are involved in a war.

When we become Christians, we don't automatically enter a life of comfort and ease. We enter a life with Christ. Well, to enter that life with Christ means we enter a tremendous battle. And the fleshly lusts, it's a general term that designates all desires that a man has. You say, "Well, what are those desires?" Well, Paul would say a little bit about them in the book of Galatians, the fifth chapter, when he said this in verse number 19. He says, "Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarned you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God." Those are the fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul. And we are in a constant battle daily as we seek to honor our God.

You see, our battle is not about the people around us. It's about the passions within us. Once you understand that, your life will get a whole lot easier. It's not about your neighbor. It's not about your boss. It's not even about your spouse. That's not your problem. Your problem are the passions within, the fleshly lusts which wage war continually against your soul. There's a constant battle. And Paul would speak about it in Romans chapter 7, didn't he? "For the things I don't want to do, I find myself doing," he says. "And the things are supposed to be doing, I'm not doing. All wretched man that I am." He found himself in a constant battle with the lusts of the flesh because they're there constantly.

It was D.L. Moody who said that he had more trouble with D.L. Moody than with any other man he knew. And that's the truth. See, our biggest problem is us. See, we think our biggest problem is so-and-so, that if we just got rid of them, if they weren't in the church, our church would be a great church. No, maybe if you weren't in the church, the church would be a little greater than it is. See, the problem is us. It's not the other person. And we have to learn to deal with those passions. We have to learn to deal with that battle that's constant.

You know, I've been doing my study in Exodus, you know, on Sunday mornings, and I just finished Exodus chapter 17 about winning life's war. In Exodus chapter 17 verse number 8, let me read to you just the first part of this verse. Well, I guess it's the whole verse, really. It says this: "Then Amalek came and fought against Israel at Rephidim." That one verse, that one sentence, speaks volumes.

You see, Israel had just come off of a great hardship. They had no water, and once again they would murmur and they would complain. And Moses would cry out to God, and of course water would spring forth from the rock, and a great miracle would take place in the first seven verses of Exodus chapter 7. And then it says, "Then Amalek..." Amalek is the grandson of Esau. Esau, listen, was given over to fleshly desires, fleshly appetites. And what happens physically in Exodus chapter 17, verses 8 and following in the chapter, is the exact same thing that happens spiritually in the life of a Christian. It says, "Then Amalek came and fought against Israel at Rephidim."

When did Amalek come and fight Israel? Right after a great triumph. Right after that. That's when Amalek came. When do you have the biggest problem with fleshly passions? And when do they wage war against your soul? Right after a triumph. Those of you who just got back from Russia, those you just got back from a high, then Amalek comes. Then the fleshly desires wage war against your soul. Because you see, Satan is not interested in your triumphs. He's not interested in the joy you experience from them. He wants to bring you down. You see, because he knows that that great joy and testimony that you have is going to impact other people. Well, he wants you to be down in the dumps so that you don't impact other people.

And it was at that time that Amalek came and fought against Israel at Rephidim. But I want you to notice something. It's all about how Amalek attacked Israel, which shows you how the fleshly desires attack you. Exodus 17 doesn't record it, but Deuteronomy 25 does. So listen to Deuteronomy 25 verse number 17. Moses says this: "Remember what Amalek did to you along the way when you came out from Egypt, how he met you along the way and attacked among you, listen, all the stragglers at your rear when you were faint and weary, and he did not fear God."

Where did Amalek attack Israel? At the rear. At the place of their greatest vulnerability. He didn't attack them from the front. He didn't attack them at their source of strength. He attacked them at their weakest point, where there was access to the whole group of them, to bring them down at the areas of our weaknesses. And that's how evil is. Evil never fights fair. It always fights unjustly. Evil always attacks in your area of vulnerability.