1 Peter 3.10-17

1 Peter 3:10-17 (NKJV) 10 For “He who would love life And see good days, Let him refrain 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 prayers; But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.” 13 And who is he who will harm you if you become followers of what is good? 14 But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you are blessed. “And do not be afraid of their threats, nor be troubled.” 15 But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear; 16 having a good conscience, that when they defame you as evildoers, those who revile your good conduct in Christ may be ashamed. 17 For it is better, if it is the will of God, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil. Psalms 34:12-16 ESV (12) What man is there who desires life and loves many days, that he may see good? (13) Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceit. (14) Turn away from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it. (15) The eyes of the LORD are toward the righteous and his ears toward their cry. (16) The face of the LORD is against those who do evil, to cut off the memory of them from the earth.

Peter, in this section, is giving us a sermon. First he quotes his text from Psalms and then he goes on to explain it. If you will note please, evil speaking or loshon hara is again spoken of. Hmm, must be pretty important to get such attention eh? Learn, (1.) Good people under the Old and new Testament were obliged to the same moral duties; to refrain the tongue from evil, and the lips from guile, was a duty in David’s time as well as now. (2.) It is lawful to consider temporal advantages as motives and encouragements to religion. (3.) The practice of religion, particularly the right government of the tongue, is the best way to make this life comfortable and prosperous; a sincere, inoffensive, discreet tongue, is a singular means to pass us peaceably and comfortably through the world. (4.) The avoiding of evil, and doing of good, is the way to contentment and happiness both here and hereafter. (5.) It is the duty of Christians not only to embrace peace when it is offered, but to seek and pursue it when it is denied: peace with societies, as well as peace with particular persons, in opposition to division and contention, is what is here intended. Matthew Henry's commentary To turn away from or shun evil is to run in the opposite direction. This means we don’t see how close to the world we can get and still be Christian. It means, how close can we get to God and still remain on the earth without being taken up like Enoch? And his lips that they speak no guile - No deceit; nothing that will lead others astray. The words should be an exact representation of the truth. Rosenmuller quotes a passage from the Hebrew book Musar, which may be not an inappropriate illustration of this: “A certain Assyrian wandering through the city, cried and said, “Who will receive the

elixir of life?” The daughter of Rabbi Jodus heard him, and went and told her father. “Call him in,” said he. When he came in, Rabbi Jannei said to him, “What is that elixir of life which thou art selling?” He said to him, “Is it not written, What man is he that desireth life, and loveth days that he may see good? Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips that they speak no guile. Lo, this is the elixir of life which is in the mouth of a man!”” Barnes Sooner or later, you are going to learn that guarding your tongue is at the crux of being sanctified or holy. True Christians, set apart for God, don’t have time for gossip or nitpicking fellow Christians – they are too busy doing the things of God. A Christian should have such intelligent views of the truth of his religion, and such constant evidence in his own heart and life that he is a child of God, as to be able at any time to satisfy a candid inquirer that the Bible is a revelation from heaven, and that it is proper for him to cherish the hope of salvation. Barnes G627 - defense απολογια apologia Thayer Definition: 1) verbal defence, speech in defence 2) a reasoned statement or argument

3:15 “Sanctify” means “set apart.” Having established a special dwelling for God in the heart, the Christian ought to be ready always to give an answer to those who seek a reason for his hope. The word “defense” is apologia (Gk.), from which the English word “apology” is derived. However, closer to the intent of Greek thought is the idea of Christian “apologetics,” an organized, thoughtful defense of the faith. The believer’s task is to know well the truths of the faith and to prepare to present them in a persuasive fashion. Believer’s Study Bible Can you present the plan of salvation from your heart as well as your head? We may not all be called to a ministry of apologetics like Ravi Zacharias, but we can have the basics down pat and be ready to discuss our faith with those who ask. Finally, Peter talks about being persecuted and bearing up under it. Persecuted is being attacked because of your faith, not for running red lights! There are Christians all over the world today being persecuted for their faith. For those of us in Western countries who aren’t, let’s pray that they stand strong and finish well the course that God has for them.