Keeping Our Conduct Honorable

[00:00:06] Amen. [00:00:09] Let's pray. Lord God, as we now approach the preaching of Your word and the reading of Your word, pray for your Holy Spirit. Working that the Holy Spirit inspired words here would indeed impact us. [00:00:30] They would impact our hearts, our very passions and desires flowing outward into our conduct. So use Your Word to conform us evermore to the image of Christ. I seek your spirit's unction. In Jesus name, amen. [00:00:49] Our sermon text this evening is from First Peter. [00:00:53] We're kind of going backwards. [00:00:56] We looked a little later in chapter two. Now we're going backwards a little bit to verses eleven and twelve. Here in one. Peter chapter Two. [00:01:07] First Peter two, verse eleven. [00:01:10] Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles, to abstain from the passions of the flesh which wage war against your soul. Keep your conduct among the gentiles honorable so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation. This is the word of the Lord. Amen. You may be seated. [00:01:48] Well, something, as many of you are aware, has been a change in our society. [00:01:56] It's been taking place. We tend to especially mark the shift with the 1960s. [00:02:04] And something I have in mind is that Christians are coming under a greater and greater criticism, rejection our ethics, our morals, our stances on certain topics. And so, while in our society, Christians and still compared to many places in the world, have enjoyed relative peace with society at large, it's getting worse. In which we are spoken against as evildoers, which we have here in our passage, and that's ever increasing. And thus we're increasingly realizing that Peter is right when in verse eleven he describes us as sojourners, as exiles in relation to the fallen world, the fallen humanity. [00:03:05] This is not our home. [00:03:09] We are, in a sense, literally just passing through this fallen world, headed for heaven and really the new heaven and the new earth, the kingdom of God. [00:03:22] So here's the great question that we face as we're sojourners in this present world, in society and exiles living in a world in which fallen men and women and even children are speaking against us, calling us evildoers. [00:03:43] Well, how are we to act in a society in which what we believe, what God's Word teaches, is being accused of being bad, of being accused of being evil? How are we to live? How are we to conduct ourselves even in the presence of fallen men and women? [00:04:05] And that really is the question, isn't it? Here this morning we looked a little bit later in chapter two and we saw that we are called to follow Christ's example in suffering and being called evildoers and having what we value and treasure denigrated hurts that can be a part of suffering. But how do we actually then conduct ourselves? [00:04:32] You see, following Christ's example of suffering is part of the equation of how we're to live, but really, how do we actually act? Well, Peter's answer is found in verse twelve. Keep your conduct among the general, the gentiles, honorable. [00:04:50] Keep your conduct honorable so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds. And this is the surprise and glorify God on the day of visitation. [00:05:06] This is really something right now, today, such as online, on university campuses and political places, et cetera, we're being accused of promoting, believing in bad things. We're being called evildoers. And yet Peter here talks about them in response to our conduct glorifying God on the day of visitation. What's that about? Well, let's look into this here. So let's start with verse eleven here. Beloved, notice how he begins. Beloved, we're loved of the Lord and we love one another. I urge you as sojourners as exiles. That's one of those themes in Peter. This is not our home. I urge you as sojourners in exiles. We need to get it really deep down in our understanding that this present world is not all that there is. [00:06:09] We need to get it deep down that in regards to this fallen world, in terms of its disconnected from God, it's alienated from God reasoning, in terms of its darkened understanding, in terms of what's really good, what's true in regards to all of this, if you are a believer in Jesus Christ, you no longer fit in. [00:06:39] We no longer fit in. We no longer belong to Satan's kingdom. [00:06:45] And that's actually good. Okay? The moment we become Christians, a huge change takes place. [00:06:54] We become followers of Christ. We become citizens of Christ's kingdom, the kingdom of God, the kingdom of heaven. And as Paul reminds us in Philippians three, verse 20, our citizenship excuse me, our citizenship is now in heaven. [00:07:13] Our citizenship is now in heaven. And this means that we now listen to God. We believe in God. We follow God. We follow his ways as they are revealed in scripture. And very often, as is happening in our own day, being citizens of a different kingdom, being citizens of God's kingdom often places us at odds. Not always, but it often places us at odds with the fallen world's ways and thinking and reasoning and attempts at living life and overcoming life's difficulties and problems. And because we've been born again, whereas we were like them, once dead to God in our sins, we have now become alive to God and to his ways. [00:08:11] We are given new eyes to see. [00:08:17] We learn new ways. We learn new ethics, new morals. [00:08:22] We learn that what we previously thought was good is actually bad, right? And what we thought was bad is actually good. [00:08:35] We learned that God's ways really are better. Whereas previously we thought God's ways were bad, they got in the way of really enjoying and pursuing life. [00:08:49] And so this is where the problem is located in terms of our relationship to God, man's, fallen man's, sinful, sin enslaved thinking and reasoning believes that it knows better than God as to where the best life is found. [00:09:11] And that's so much of what's going on in the political fights today. [00:09:17] They believe they know better than God as to where the good life human flourishing is to be found. [00:09:24] The fallen human heart, which actually God's word reveals is captive to sin, is unable to truly believe that God's ways are really good, that they are actually the path to human flourishing. When your reasoning is darkened, you just can't see that. You can't grasp that. And so this path which fallen man is on can then it does. It puts us at ODS with our neighbors because they believe that we, because of our allegiance to this book, to God, they believe that we're against good things. And this is part of why then Peter describes us as different. We're sojourners we're exiles in terms of this present world in its system, in its allegiance to Satan. [00:10:18] We really don't fully fit in anymore. [00:10:23] And again, our true home isn't fallen, this fallen world, fallen society, our true home is with Jesus. [00:10:33] One of my commentaries says this about our being sojourners and exiles the knowledge that we do not belong does not lead to withdrawal. That's the first statement. [00:10:47] That's a mistake Christians often make. They withdraw from the world. [00:10:52] The knowledge that we do not belong does not lead to withdrawal, but to our taking our standards of behavior not from the culture in which we live, but from our home culture of heaven, so that our life always fits the place we are headed to rather than our temporary lodging in this world. Do you see what this is a commentary on first, Peter? Do you see what he's saying? [00:11:17] Our temptation is to take our standards from the world around us, but rather we're to take our standards from our true home, heaven, from God. [00:11:33] That's what our life is to be in accordance with so we're sojourners and we're exiles. That's the first part of verse eleven. Moving on. [00:11:44] In verse eleven, we read that as soldiers, as exiles, we are to abstain from the passions of the flesh which wage war against your soul. And then that leads into keep your conduct honorable. [00:12:01] So we're to abstain from the passions of our flesh which wage war against our soul. [00:12:08] This is more significant than we often understand and realize this whole matter about dealing with what's going on in our hearts, what's going on in our thinking, and abstaining from sinful passions, desires, cravings, reasoning and so forth. So if we're going to truly keep our conduct honorable among the Gentiles, and do this in such a manner that it's not merely outward conduct, not phony legalism, but such that our conduct really does glorify God, because it comes from inside, it comes from within, it comes from the heart. [00:12:52] We need to first address the root source from which wrong conduct originates and flows. [00:13:03] And what this means is we need to go down to the level of the heart. And that's what Peter is doing here in the second part of verse two. To abstain from the passions of the flesh which wage war against your soul. The Puritans call this heart work. [00:13:20] And when I do premarital counseling, part of my premarital counseling is something that more reform ministers are starting to add into their premarital counseling. We study and we talk about for the young man and for the young woman, become aware of what's going on in your heart because that's where your fights and quarrels. This is James One and Four. That's where they come from. It's not just learning how to I don't know how to fight. In a sense, it's realizing that those conflicts you have are coming from desires within you. You want something your spouse is getting in the way of what you want, and so you fight for what you want. And brothers and sisters do that. We do that in the workplace. We do that all over. [00:14:14] That's part of how I prepare young couples for marriage, is to become aware of what's going on in your heart. So as you become aware, you can stop yourself realizing what's motivating you, and even, if necessary, confess it and repent of it. [00:14:32] Again. James Four, verses one through three and following. Read that. [00:14:38] So Peter here is getting at again what the Puritans call heart work. If we're really going to keep our conduct, our outward behavior, honorable among the Gentiles, we have to keep in mind that our outward conduct starts with the heart. And so that brings us, for example, to Mark seven, where Jesus teaches, for from within, out of the heart of man come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, covetousness, wickedness. He goes on down the list. All these evil things come from within. [00:15:15] They come from within. And it's those things inside of our hearts that's what defiles us. [00:15:25] So James, I mentioned that earlier, james One, he says, but each person is tempted when he's lured and enticed by his own desire. [00:15:34] So often those outward things that are luring us and tempting us, they aren't necessarily sinful. It's what's going on in our heart. And then James Four. What causes quarrels? What causes fights among you? Is it not this that the other person is getting in your way? No, that's not what he writes. He says, what causes fights, what causes quarrels? Is it not your desires that battle within you? [00:16:00] I want I need you're in my way and I'm going to fight you. That's where it comes from, little kids. I want that toy. Your sibling has the toy. What are you going to do? Sometimes you're going to POW, right? But it's a heart thing, see? [00:16:21] So Peter takes us if we're going to have verse twelve, keep your conduct honorable. You got to look inside. [00:16:31] So here in verse eleven Peter describes this something in our hearts as the passions of the flesh. And this is where at least I think it gets really interesting because the passions of the flesh, what Peter writes here is actually a single word in Greek it's epithemia. Epithelia. [00:16:56] And that word epithemia refers to strong desires and cravings inside of us. I mean really strong desires and cravings. I've heard them described as over much desires. [00:17:15] And what we have to realize is that these epithemia, these passions of the flesh, these cravings, these desires, these I wants, I needs, I'm lured by these drives. [00:17:32] They can literally come to dominate us and control us and they can lead us then to compromise how we should then live and compromise biblical principles and thereby Godly conduct goes out the window, right? [00:17:53] Even church splits. What's underlying a church split epithemia two sides with incredibly strong passions about something that they're opposed to one another. That's where it really comes from. It's not the external matters as much because they're flowing from the heart. And so Peter warns, it's these deep, strong, over much passions within us that they wage war against our soul, against being Godly. [00:18:24] And so we have to realize that already I've discussed there's a spiritual war going on outside of us, around us, in our society, right? And that causes us problems. That's why we're exiles and strangers. But you have to realize there's also a war going on, a spiritual war in our heart, in our soul and it's a battle for our allegiance, it's a battle for our desires, it's really a battle for our everything. [00:18:55] And I suspect that Peter is especially concerned about these over much desires, this epithemia. He's concerned that part of what they do is they grab us, they lure us and they grab us and they hold on to us. They can literally seize our attention, they can literally turn our head and we fix on that and we'll fight for it. Even we'll compromise for it. In Mark chapter four, verse 19, jesus uses that word epithemia in the parable of the soils when he says but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word. [00:19:42] See we can become so captured by desires in us that even God's word gets choked out in that parable of the soils. One of my Greek resources describes the biblical use of this passions of the flesh, this epithemia, in this manner. I really like this. It is a power that draws, entices and lures people so as to bring them under its domination. It promises complete freedom and liberty but in reality it enslaves a sinner. It's always lying in wait within us. [00:20:20] The little child there's the cookie jar and mommy says no, hands off. And little child looks at the cookie jar. They think of the pleasures of the chocolate chip cookies in it. And even though Mommy said no and they know mommy said no and they know they're not supposed to, those over much desires and cravings capture the heart. And a little stool comes out and the child gets up on the stool so they can reach the cookie jar. And I'm seeing agreement here on this one. And up open, off comes the lid and there we go. [00:21:00] And everything's wonderful until you're caught. [00:21:07] This is part of our problem. [00:21:10] This author goes on, it's always lying in wait within us so that at the right moment we may yield our will to it and become subject to it. When that happens, it gives birth to our sinful action. Maybe we should rename the Cookie Monster from Sesame Street. Epithemia Monster. I don't know. [00:21:33] Anyway, that's for free. I won't charge for that. Anyway, since Epithemia is so bound up with our human nature, he continues, since it's so bound up with our human nature, believers need constantly to be attentive and awake in turning from it. We can conquer it if we constantly allow ourselves to be controlled by the Spirit of God and live for the will of God. [00:21:58] That's what we do. We allow God's word to control us, god's Spirit to control us. So what Peter is getting at here is that if we're to do as verse Twelve commands keep your conduct honorable among the Gentiles, if we're to live God honoring lives and really, if we're to be at peace with one another, then we need to realize that we're in the midst of a war on the level of our hearts, on the level of our desires. We need to realize there are powerful internal cravings, things that lure us, capture us, urges which are in opposition to God and what's good and true and beautiful. [00:22:40] And so you need to become aware of what's going on in us and you need to abstain, seek God's strength to be able to abstain from indulging those desires even for a moment. [00:22:56] Even for a moment. [00:23:02] The moment you become aware of it, flee from it, kill it, take a hammer and pam. [00:23:12] That's how quick you need to deal with that. When you become aware of it, you need to rouse yourself from your stupor and flee from indulging it anymore. The indulging is why there are things like addictions. [00:23:24] Because the person that craving for whatever it is didn't deal with it right away. And they gave in and they gave in and so forth. So that then brings us actually to verse twelve. Now keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable. [00:23:40] If you're going to do that, you got to deal with what's going on in the heart. Okay? So that's a great order in which Peter has written this. Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable so that when they speak against you as evildoers and notice he says, when they do this, not. Maybe they will. [00:23:59] They may see our good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation. [00:24:04] Now, perhaps the question at this point is exactly what kind of honorable conduct among the Gentiles does Peter have in mind? [00:24:16] What is it that Peter might be thinking of or examples that Peter has here of how we should then live, what our conduct should be? And if you keep moving through first Peter, you're going to find some of the examples of what Peter considers to be honorable conduct in this fallen world, what a virtuous life looks like. One author describes it this way peter expects that his readers can live in a way that will be recognized as good even by the standards of unbelieving pagans. [00:24:52] Isn't that interesting? In the midst of our culture wars right now, you see, all people, even though we spend a lifetime this is RC. Sproul, we spend a lifetime adjusting our standards downwards, okay? [00:25:07] Still, all people, everyone knows that things like stealing, adultery, lying, murder and so forth, they're wrong. Those things are wrong. So there are things which even fallen men and women can recognize as wrong. So exactly what kind of conduct does Peter have in mind as he continues through first Peter here? Well, let's peek at a few of those things. [00:25:38] Beginning in verse 13 of chapter two, peter begins to give us practical examples. So verses 13 and 14 be subject, for the Lord's sake, to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme or to governors ascent by him, to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good. In other words, Peter there is saying, what's good conduct? Be law abiding citizens, be law abiding citizens. And then look at verse 17 here. [00:26:09] Honor everyone, love the brotherhood, fear God, honor the emperor. [00:26:16] That's conduct that even non believers can see in us. And go, that's good. You see? [00:26:25] Continuing on verse 18 servants, be subject to your masters with all respect, not only to the good and gentle, but also to the unjust. And so for us, we can bring that into our own culture in the workplace. [00:26:44] Don't talk back at your boss. [00:26:47] Do your work, do what you're told to, do what you're paid to do, those kinds of things. And other people can respect that. Now, in chapter three, we have marriage and we have likewise verses one and two, likewise, wives, be subject to your own husbands so that even if they do not obey the word, they may be one without a word by the conduct of their wives when they see your respectful and pure conduct. In the culture of Peter's Day, that was recognized as really honorable conduct in our own day. [00:27:21] Let's just say it this way people can respect a wife who loves her husband, right? And vice versa. People can respect a husband who loves their wife. To give a few examples here and so what this does is bring us to the question of what Peter means by the very last part of verse twelve. [00:27:44] I don't know if you've ever scratched your head over this, but that they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the Day of Visitation. What is that day of Visitation? [00:27:56] It's a reference to the Day of Judgment. [00:28:00] And we know that it's when Jesus Christ returns, because you find this phrase in the Greek translation of Isaiah, chapter ten, verse three. It's when Jesus returns on the Day of Judgment. So, putting this together, there are two ways to understand the idea that when nonchristians see our good deeds that they glorify God on the Day of Visitation. There's two ways to understand this whole thing. First, it means that when non believers accuse us of being evildoers, okay, when they say, you guys believe in bad things, you teach bad things. On the Day of Judgment, they will have no choice but to give glory to God because of our exemplary conduct. [00:28:49] Even though we hold to teachings that the world is opposed to because of our good conduct, they still will have to give glory to God for our good conduct. And secondly, it can mean that there are going to be those who are attracted to Christ by our good conduct. And so on the Day of Judgment, they will give glory to God because God had examples of proper conduct, godly living, and that drew them to Christ. So that's two ways that this can take place. [00:29:22] So what we've learned here is God is concerned about the heart and he's also concerned about our outward conduct. [00:29:34] Because we're no longer a part of fallen humanity, and because we've been born again to a newness of life, and because Christ has redeemed us by his precious blood, our conduct is to be different from the world around us. In fact, God's glory is at stake. [00:29:52] And our conduct and our views and our beliefs may cause an unbelieving world to not like us, to be opposed to us, to accuse us of evil. But even then we are to keep our conduct honorable, and God will bring glory to Himself through it. [00:30:12] And in this call to keep our conduct honorable, we need to always remember that there are powerful passions within us drawing us away from Godly living, christlike living, honorable conduct. There are passions within us that lure us to follow the ways of this fallen world rather than the ways of heaven in Christ. And so we need to seek God's grace, to recognize what's going on in our hearts and seek his grace to begin to crucify, to put to death, to mortify, to just say no to those cravings and desires. [00:30:54] And even in this there's hope. [00:30:57] And I'm going to close with this there is hope and strength and power in the Gospel in this war, both for what's within us and our outward conduct. And the lure to conform to the world. There's hope and strength. Because as Peter goes on in chapter two and verse 24, he writes this he himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness in the Gospel, in Christ's suffering, his crucifixion and our union, to that we die to sin and we are raised again with Christ. We are born again to live to righteousness. There is grace, there is help, there is hope in this battle to be found in our Savior. Let's pray. [00:31:52] Lord God, living in this fallen world, even in our current day, where so many things which you teach us are good and true and wonderful and proper and right, the world is saying, that's bad, that's wrong. [00:32:08] Help us to remember that we're sojourners we're exiles passing through this fallen world with its mess and its misery. [00:32:21] Help us to be aware of what's going on even in our hearts so we no longer act like them and think like them and are lured by the things that they are lured by. [00:32:30] Help us to keep our conduct honorable and to even grow in that so that you would be glorified. [00:32:38] Grant us the grace and the strength to do this. We pray this in Jesus'wonderful name. Amen. [00:32:47] Well, please take your hymnals. Let's turn.