Sermons
The Good Life
Series: 1 PeterKeys to a Good Life
I. Introduction
Many people today are in search of happiness. It’s even written into our declaration of independence: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
Many today would take it a step further and say that God wants me to be happy.
Is that true? Well, perhaps it would be more accurate to say “God wants me to be blessed.” Being blessed and being happy are very close cousins. God definitely wants us to be blessed. But here’s the important thing to understand: God’s blessings come when we do things God’s way.
The pursuit of happiness implies that we go out and go in search of what makes you and me happy. The scriptures tell us that there are many dead-end paths that promise happiness, but only one that leads to God’s blessings, and that’s God’s way.
Another thing that is clear from Scripture is that God’s way is very often different from our own way. So if we want to be blessed, we must humbly come to God and say “show me how to live.” And then when he tells us, we must trust him and obey.
In today’s text, continuing in our study of 1 Peter, we are given three keys to living a blessed life. Actually, Peter borrows these points from psalm 34, which was a psalm of David. But of course the same Spirit inspired both Peter and David, and it’s interesting to note that the same keys to a blessed life were true in the Old Law and in the New:
1 Pet. 3:9-12 Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing. 10 For “Whoever desires to love life and see good days, let him keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit; 11 let him turn away from evil and do good; let him seek peace and pursue it. 12 For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”
II. Context
Before we get into the three keys, let’s look at the context. Leading up to this, he has been talking about how we are to be honorable in our conduct, even when others are not doing what’s right, even when we are mistreated.
Verse 9 begins with the premise that someone has done you wrong. So let’s imagine some scenarios. You’re at a ballgame and someone yells an ugly insult at you. You’re in traffic and someone cuts you off. Someone spreads an terrible rumor about you. Whatever it is that you can think of that would make you instantly see red. Think quick: how are you going to respond?
Let’s assume you could press pause and think it through. The Lord says: do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary bless.
Not only must you not give the sorry bum what’s he’s got coming, you should say something nice. Wait, what? How? Why?
First of all because “to this you were called.” This is the life you are called to live. Jesus teaches us this very lesson:
Luke 6:27-28 But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.
Why, Lord?
Luke 6:35-36 But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. 36 Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.
This is what you were called to: to be like your Father. And Jesus not only taught this lesson, he lived it.
1 Pet. 2:21-23 For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. 22 He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. 23 When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly.
You be like Jesus. Follow his example. That’s what you have been called to do.
And here’s a surprise: following this way will actually make your life here better. You will be blessed. That’s Peter’s next point:
1 Pet. 3:9 Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing.
What blessing comes with following this way? That’s the quotation from David.
1 Pet. 3:10 For “Whoever desires to love life and see good days…”
That’s the good life. That’s true happiness. Who doesn’t want to love life and see good days? The Lord is telling us something important here. When you humbly submit to his instructions, no matter how counter-intuitive they may be, you will find that his way is better. He knows what is best for us. When you follow his way, you will be happier and have a better life.
Can anyone here attest to that?
1 Pet. 2:3 if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.
Is the Lord good? We sing a song that says:
I’ve tried the road of sin and found,
Its prospects all deceive;
I’ve proved the Lord, and joys abound,
More than I could believe.
His yoke is easy, His burden is light,
I’ve found it so, I’ve found it so;
His service is my sweetest delight,
His blessings ever flow.
So if we trust the Lord that he knows what is best, then we will trust that his way of handling problems is better than our own. So with all that in mind, let’s look at these three keys.
III. The Keys
A. Control your tongue
1 Pet. 3:10 For “Whoever desires to love life and see good days, let him keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit;
Living the good life starts with controlling the tongue. Now when is that the hardest? Usually when you’re angry.
Someone does or says something hurtful to you, and what’s the natural reaction? But when that happens, it almost always makes whatever the problem is worse, right? How many times have you seen a problem start out with an insult, which leads to a come-back, and back and forth until an actual fight starts?
Prov. 18:6 A fool's lips walk into a fight, and his mouth invites a beating.
That’s not the blessed life. That’s the foolish life.
On the other hand:
Prov. 15:1 A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.
There was a story in the news this past week that exemplified this principle. A man was told by a judge to leave a courtroom during a sentencing hearing because he had been laughing. The judge ordered him to leave and called him a clown because of the disrespectful way he was behaving. As he left, a woman got up and followed him out, I’m guessing it was his wife. The judge said, “You can leave, too.” The woman fired back something at the judge on the way out. So the judge called her back. As she came in, she was still running her mouth. So the judge sentenced her to 93 days in jail for criminal contempt. She got 3 months in jail because she couldn’t control her tongue. That’s not the blessed life.
Controlling your tongue requires maturity.
Jam. 3:2 For we all stumble in many ways. And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body.
Perfect here means complete, mature. Being able to control your mouth is a sign of maturity.
Now there’s another side of this besides verbally firing back at someone. “And his lips from speaking deceit.” Deceit, or guile, is using trickery or subtlety to deceive someone.
The blessed life is about telling the truth. The foolish, sinful life almost always involves lying. And here’s the question: when someone gets caught in an uncomfortable position, they are often tempted to lie, thinking that will make things better. But does it? How often does it make things worse?
B. Turn away from evil
The second key has to do with choosing the right path.
1 Pet. 3:11 let him turn away from evil and do good…
Again, Peter’s primary point is about how we respond to evil. Someone does something mean to you, and now you have options for how you respond. You could pay them back. That’s probably the most natural choice.
But it’s not the honorable path.
Rom. 12:17 Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all.
You could also do nothing. That’s much better than repaying evil for evil. But it’s not easy. Probably because we think if I don’t respond, they’ll get away with it. That’s fine. It’s not your place to punish people for being evil. It’s not your place to exact vengeance.
Rom. 12:19 Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.”
God says, “that’s my job.” That requires trust on our part.
Doing nothing is better than taking vengeance.
But there’s a third option. The hardest of all: do good. “Turn away from evil and do good.” Even to someone who is mean to you? Yep.
Rom. 12:20-21 To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
How often do we think this way? If someone does something mean or hateful to you, do you think, “I’m going to think of something nice I can do for them”?
Is that natural? No, definitely not. But it’s the Lord’s way. The normal thing is to be nice to people who are nice to you. But Jesus says that’s what everybody does.
Luke 6:32-33 “If you love those who love you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. 33 And if you do good to those who do good to you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners do the same.
Are you a good friend to those who are nice to you? Well you know what? So is practically everybody. Here’s a quote I’ve seen friends share on Facebook: “I don’t care if you’re black, white, straight, bisexual, gay, lesbian, short, tall, fat, skinny, rich or poor. If you’re nice to me, I’ll be nice to you. Simple as that.” You know who said it? The rapper, Eminem.
That’s just a baseline requirement for being a halfway decent human being. Christians, we are called to be better than that.
C. Pursue peace
Finally, the third key:
1 Pet. 3:11 … let him seek peace and pursue it.
Seek peace and pursue it. Peace between people is something that must be pursued.
Rom. 14:19 So then let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding.
You know what that tells me? It doesn’t come easy. It’s something we have to try for. If we just do what comes naturally, conflict is inevitable. If we want to be at peace, which is a big part of having a good life, we’re going to have to work at it.
Matt. 5:9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
This means we have to evaluate circumstances and conflicts and look down the various paths and ask ourselves, “Which way leads to peace?” “Which way will resolve this conflict?” “How can I be a peacemaker?” Then pursue that path.
That’s going to require that we have the right kind of attitude, which he mentioned right before our text:
1 Pet. 3:8 Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind.
This is the way to peace. The opposite of these things is being divisive, selfish, bitter, harsh, and proud. That’s the way of Satan. We are following Jesus.
Peace will not always be possible. But peace should be our goal.
Rom. 12:18 If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.
V. Conclusion
Now we said that this path leads to the good life. Blessings. But what kind of blessings can we look forward to? How about this one:
1 Pet. 3:12 For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”
Do you want to have God watching over you? Do you want to be able to speak to him and know he hears your prayers? If God is on our side, who can be against us?
This is the way of blessing. This is the good life. Not many people take this path. It goes against what comes naturally to us. It requires trust and faith. But if you’ve walked this path, you know it’s the best way to live. Not to mention the eternal benefits.
INVITATION
