Conduct in Suffering pt 1

So now we come to a section called Suffering for Righteousness Sake in our First Peter study. So last week we did up through verse 14, and I'm gonna review those two verses in just a second, but today we're gonna talk about God's remedy for suffering and it's really it's an interesting passage; not easy and then actually in the coming weeks we're going to have about Christ the perfect example of an undeserved suffering. Then we're going to have the proper attitude that kind of ends this section Paul's all about Paul. Peter's all about suffering here. I say Paul so much there. Anyway, so let's look at last week here a little bit. Interesting verses. This is verse 13. Who is there to harm you if you prove zealous for what is good? So just a couple of things from last week. The source of what is good, God is by definition good. He's the only one that's truly good. And we can only be good in him, obviously, when Christ lives his life through us. So Christ's work enables us to be zealous for good works.

And it's kind of interesting that being zealous is kind of, it's a conditional part of this statement. And it's actually a condition that, you may be zealous, you may not be zealous, but you probably will. So it's a third-class condition, we talked about that. It's likely that you will be zealous for God, which is encouraging.

And then this walking and abiding in Him, and our growth in Him is a proof of our faith. It talks about who can harm you. From God's perspective, He is, He's done everything that's possible to protect His believers. We saw last week about the idea of God kind of like leaning His ear and listening to it, the prayers of His saints and so on. But from our perspective, we're to walk and abide in Him.

And even though we may have some things happen to us, they can be for our growth and increase our faith. So that's verse 13. Then in 14, we talked about another conditional sentence. It says, but even if you should suffer for the sake of righteousness, you are blessed.

Do not fear their intimidation. Do not be troubled. So a couple of observations from here. So this is a cool part. And this is what made it hard to kind of get into our heads. When you suffer for doing good, you're blessed. We don't like to hear that. But that's God's, that's God's, and actually that's what he, that kind of suffering glorifies him. And this is kind of a wee little summary of kind of the part of this verse.

He says, don't be affected with fear of them by the fear which they strive to inspire in your hearts. And that's kind of the idea of, You know, your accusers are trying to put fear in you. It's sort of like in the football arena, the defense is always trying to scare the offense. Especially if you're in Cleveland.

I'm sorry, I couldn't pass it up. And then lastly, don't be troubled or agitated. And this is another conditional sentence. But actually, last week, if you have my notes, actually, I made a mistake. The optative mode, which is not very common in Greek mode, is actually considered a fourth class condition. This is kind of a knit. So if you have your notes and you put down third class, exit out. And what is interesting is, and Marilyn asked that question last week, this is a condition where maybe you will and maybe you won't, but it's not probable.

So what's interesting is it sounds like Peter is saying you're not going to suffer for righteousness, most likely. But if you do, then he has instructions for it. Don't fear the fear they try to get in your head. Don't let them get in your mind and cause you fear.

But it's not the first case. Proving zealous is likely, more likely, it's conditional. The second one is less likely. With that, hopefully that makes sense, Roger. Sure, go ahead. You know, verse 13 says, well, who's going to harm you for doing good, right? Right. It says, but even if you should. So it's not likely, but it does happen. Right. Yeah. That's good. OK.

So with that in mind, we're all ready to go into these verses for today. So I want to pick on Bonnie here, if you'd read them. She's close. She's my wife, too, so that helps. Oh, that's right. She is your wife. And is Cincinnati, not Cleveland. I apologize for that. I'm lost in here. Okay, go ahead.

But sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence. And keep a good conscience so that in the thing in which you are slandered, Those who revile your good behavior in Christ will be put to shame. For it is better, if God should will it so, that you suffer for doing what is right rather than for doing what is wrong. Interesting verse.

I mean, you know, Peter's been talking about this actually quite a bit, even back in the earlier chapters. And one observation, sanctify is the main verb. You know, 15 and 16 are one you know it is a pure actually start the sentence actually starts back before that according to the numeric standard but the main verb for this section is sanctify but sanctify the Lord so we're going to talk about that a bit here okay but sanctify the Lord Jesus in your heart so God's remedy or God's approach is in contrast to the fear of them or the agitation they're trying to place on you he instructs us to you sanctify, set apart, make unique the Lord Jesus in your heart. So he, and this is pretty typical of both of Peter and Paul.

When, when there's something that's attacking you or harming you, you don't try to go and, you know, address it directly. You go to him, you go to your father, right? And you go to him and your focus is to set him apart. So Christ is Lord in your heart is your focus, not the ones, who are trying to hurt you or harm you.

And Macaulay says, setting apart something or someone as esteemed or honorable and respected. And this is the case where God is in view, most likely, or something about God, but it can be used in other places. In the Old Testament and other places, it's used just to make something special. So I didn't put those verses down, but it can be used that way. If you guys have questions, you know, always, please.

So it's God's desire, and this is an imperative, sanctify imperative. And it's the main verb, as I pointed out. So it's God's desire for the believer to set the Lord Jesus apart in your heart. So what do we say about that? I have a few more things to say about that. So, you know, you observe, you go into revelation, right?

And you see when the Lord's return, He's called King of Kings and Lord of Lords. So we know by his very nature, he is Lord, right? And we know that Peter already, in the third verse of the book, he said, he called him the Lord Jesus. So he recognized that he is Lord. So in this case, he's saying, desire that you acknowledge that him as Lord. And I didn't really go off in the tangent of lordship, salvation, you could go off and do it. But anyway, this is, I'm not sure if this is one of their verses or not, but I haven't really said them enough to know.

But anyway, this is for your benefit. He's saying, but in contrast to what they're trying to do for you, I want you to basically focus on Christ, put him in your heart. So let's talk about the heart a little bit here in a second. So, but there's a parallel verse, but it's actually, you guys are, I know you guys are good Bible students and you know, the LXX, and that's kind of a, if you're really into Bible study, that's a abbreviation for the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible, Septuagint. So what's cool about that, you can go in there and people have, and you can find all the Greek words that occur in the New Testament in the Old Testament. So here's a case of a verse. And this, and it's to our point, it says, Isaiah 8, 13.

It's the Lord of hosts whom you shall regard as, the word from the Greek word is set up, same word, set apart or holy. And it isn't, no, the core word is a derivative of holy. and he shall be your fear. You're going to reverence him and he shall be your dread. So in a way, this is kind of the old Testament picture of God. You know, he is, he is a whole, he is a set apart God. He's different than all the gods of the, you know, the Egyptians or whatever. And you're to, you know, you're to fear him, have reverence for him and so on. So in your heart. So it's kind of interesting.

Merriman said, and I, you know, the heart, and we're going to see, if you look at the heart is the deepest part of your mind, soul, and spirit. If you look in four, it's a very familiar verse, 412. Can anybody quote that from memory? I'm not trying to be, I shouldn't be trying to be smart here, but anyway, that's the one about, Of course, I'm not gonna be able to quote from memory either. I mean, I'm going here, let's see. Say again? Right, right. And what does it say?

It's, it pierces to the division of soul and spirit. So it's, the heart is kind of like, that's the center of who you, that's where you believe. So the idea of making Lord in your heart, it's, you're down in the very, core of your being where you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. And here's a verse for with a heart a person believes resulting in righteousness. So the heart is the core.

Go ahead, Bob. Yeah. If you think about the Jewish nation, Paul spoke to them in terms of wanting to be circumcised in the heart, not in the flesh. Exactly. And Miles went over some of that recently, too. It's just great. Yeah, that's what was kind of in my mind, because I thought of that last week, you know, in that context there, and quite often the heart is seen as, you know, thoroughly wicked, right? Right, yeah. It's interesting how it's both, and we believe in our heart, too, which is interesting. Right. Yeah, yeah, exactly.

That's why this verse is very, very interesting, because, you know, and this kind of Well, anyway, there's a lot of stuff you can get into, but it's a hard thing for us to understand. It is. Because it's so, you know, deep within the core of our... But I like the first part of that verse, you know, but the claim of God's word is incredible. It's the only thing.

So I often think of people that try to help other people. And boy, God's word ought to be right at the top of the list, right? That's what's going to get down to where their real needs are. It's going to go, if you want to use anything to help anybody, really, certainly believers, God's word can go that deep.

Which is amazing. You know, Margaret didn't expect I could share this because of the personal experience when I was in Cincinnati a week ago to receive this very wonderful honor. Oh, that's great, Bob. Well, congratulations. Staying with three women at the table And Mercedes was asking me kind of about, she was curious about my spiritual life. And all of a sudden, this verse really applied. That's great.

And ultimately, she comes from a Catholic background. She had never seen anything like this at the end. Meaning, my own reflections of my life, I stated it there the day I got saved. I mean, so, always be ready in your heart if somebody asks you. I know, this is one of my favorite verses. Just apply to that situation, how the Lord's going to deal with that.

You know, the seed's been planted. Amen. That's great. That's great. All righty. Thanks, Bob. It's not about me, it's about Christianity. No, no, no, no. Amen. No, this verse is beautiful. But it's interesting, this verse, I always think, and we're going to see. It has a couple conditions here that are interesting. OK, let's go ahead here. Okay, always being ready to make a defense, okay? Perpetually at all times.

Actually, what's interesting is he's applying it in a situation you may not think. You applied it, Bob, in a situation where it was obvious, right? Here you are, these people are suffering, and he's saying, apply this verse in this situation when they're suffering, which is, In the context, boy, so I'm suffering, so I'm gonna make a defense. And it seems like maybe they're coming at him. So was it the, I'm getting confused here. Who was the opponent in this case in 1 Peter? I don't think it describes it exactly, but anyway, let me just carry on.

So you're always be ready at all times. not just situation, but all times. Being ready, prepared, ready for anything. So Timothy, Titus rather, says, remind them to be subject to rulers, authorities to be ready for every good deed. So the Lord is about the believer being ready. We should be ready in our Christian life. We should be the ready ones, right? We're ready to live our life for him. And here's the word that is interesting word. Defense is actually apologia. which comes from apology, the apologetics.

It kind of focuses on the gospel a little bit. But what's interesting is I kind of went down a path with, Weiss kind of helped me here a bit, and see what you think. So it's literally, this word is to talk off from, a little bit cumbersome, to talk off from. And it was used, according to Weiss, it was used by attorneys when they would do cases, they would talk off clients from a charge. Sounds like today, get your client off, right? So they would present an apologia to the judge to get their client off from the charge they were charged with. That's what Weiss kind of is pointing out.

So how do we take that word? That was in the Greek language of the day. So Merriman says, this apology is to be a positive verbalization of what you believe and why. And just like Bob, being ready is, you don't have to think, well, give me a second here. Let me look at my phone. What was that date? Give me a second here. He didn't have to do that. I mean, it was just there because it's so important. He knows it. And it should be on the tip of our tongue, so to speak.

It's kind of the picture, be ready. And then Philippians says, and this is interesting. So Paul, he had a special appointment by God to be an apologia of the gospel, okay? But this verse is telling us we're to be ready, we're to be ready with the apologia too, as every believer is to be ready with this apologia.

Okay? And here's a few more thoughts on it. Go ahead. One of my translations says to give an answer. Yes, yes, and that's right. Defense is not really in the... Well, defense is the numerical standard for apology, answer. I'm not sure, is answer the, I haven't looked at the King James, I don't know, it might be. I know the problem is you go between translations and sometimes it's not obvious, you know. I think answer actually is apologia. That's the answer you're giving, it is. Okay, good. Okay, some more ideas here on apologia.

So believers here are to be like Paul, we're to be ready, I kind of said this already, we're ready to make a defense of what God has said. But I notice we, He's going to point out, this is a little bit broader. He's going to broaden it to, you're defending everything that God has said. You're defending his word. He's going to kind of focus it that way. He's going to say, the exhortation to the Christian to talk the Bible off from, kind of cumbersome, to talk the Bible off. The charge is chosen against us, thus presenting it, the Bible, as a verbal defense.

So he's saying, you're defending what God has said in essence, you're defending his word, right? And that's what we do, right? When we say, you know, God is love, he's perfectly holy, we're defending who he is, right? So I like to kind of, he broadened a little bit from the gospel per se, which I don't think, I think the word allows that. Therefore you need to be able to verbalize this defense on the basis of God's word. which is, you know, and that's why we do Bible studies, right? So we'll be freshly in God's word, freshly in our minds and our hearts.

But this is all, this whole flow here is all about this. pressure, the suffering that's going on, and he's building his case for defense. And like I say, it seems, you know, it doesn't seem to fit, but it's in the word, it fits in this case, it seems to fit in a broader context, and it does. So I don't know if I'm making sense there.

You know, this is identification life, isn't it? That's true. Well, it makes me think of, you know, what Hal always said, you may be the only Bible anyone ever reads. Exactly. Because people are watching you. Right. They know you're a believer and how you react to different situations gives them a, you know, something to look at. Amen. Amen.

So here's the little caveat. Here's the conditional part of this. To make an offense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you. So this kind of condition that says, okay, To everyone who asks, so you don't get to choose. And that's not hard. I mean, you love to have people ask you. I wish people would ask me every day, all the day would be fine. But unfortunately, you don't see that. People don't tend to ask you. I'd like them to ask me, but they don't. And my unsaved relatives don't ask me either, because I think they already know what I'm going to say. Well, but they're watching you. They are. No, I am in. They're watching to see how you react to different situations. And that's just as... important as actually verbally telling you. I know. Well, it's interesting.

We just had a couple weeks ago, and Bob shared about the wife, the believing wife sharing this with her life for her unsaved husband. Now we come to one where it says, that's wonderful, and I give you instruction for the unsaved wife, which can apply to all of us. But here's the case where I want you to be ready with all the information. So we're going to do both, our life and our, we ought to have it, both are to be present. And the thing in the context here is that this is an unjust suffering situation.

Exactly, exactly. Which is going to elicit some questions from those who are close to you. Yeah. You know, more likely than anything else. Yeah. Well I think that's one of the strong, they, and Margaret mentioned, you know, if they see how you go, you go through a tough time, how did you, how did you make it? How did you do that? I couldn't, I couldn't have handled that or whatever. Anyway, that's great. OK, so let's carry on with this. Everyone who asks you to give an account, so it's to be logos is the word. It's to be a verbal word, a logical explanation, speech in defense of a position. So it's almost like you're in court.

You know, right? Somebody asks you, well, I hear you're a Christian or whatever they say to you, right? I don't like what you guys believe. Or like somebody said, I bet you watch Fox News. We were on this cruise. I could not believe it. And this guy, out of the blue, he just says, I bet you watch Fox News. I said, yeah, I watch it occasionally. I mean, it's not like that was an indictment against me. I watch Fox News.

But it's not anyway we could go on let's hope you get I'll track your too much, but anyway Okay, and this is a cool part so so what and this is kind of what Bob the hope that is in you This is this is you right? What's the hope in you and you tell them what what this means to you you tell them about your life That's the hope that's in you Yeah, just wonderful, wonderful stuff. So help us, favorable and confident expectation. Oh, and this is the cool word, you know, I like this.

So, you know, if you're a good student, I remember how to all the time, he always would render this absolute assurance. When God is a source of hope, right? Is there any doubt it's gonna happen, right? Is God gonna not come through for us? So if we're hoping in the Lord, It's the absolute assurance of what he has promised, whatever it might be. So you can render it the absolute assurance. Isn't that interesting? Yeah, that was one of her questions.

She doesn't know where she's going. She has concerns. what was part of that conversation. Catholics don't really know much about where they're going, even though they have all this elaborate system. They have no security whatsoever. But they need a priest around when they die. That's right. And really, really do. They really do. They can't do it themselves. They're not capable. OK, absolute assurance. So here the believer is to respond only when the unbeliever inquires concerning our hope as a believer. So in this case, he's saying you're to be ready, but don't jump the gun, so to speak. Don't be there. There's a story about our hairdresser, Victor. He's a guy from France. He's still alive now. Anyway, he was one of the few male hairdressers.

In this establishment that we went to and so but he had these ladies that were believers in the establishment But according to his account he kind of complained to us Or is that right Ronnie? Am I getting this right? Yeah, he said they're always trying to Get me saved. They're always trying to get me saved.

Now, of course, unbelievers are notorious for blogging out of proportion. I'm sorry, sometimes you can't trust what they say. But it kind of reminds me of... we can be too aggressive, we can be too, you know, let the person, let's listen to what the person has to say, don't just jump right on there and say, okay, you need to hear, how about the gospel, and you whip it out and give it to them, you know, get to know them, so they know you're not just trying to, you know, how many times did you share the gospel today, you know, check it off, do, do, do. That reminds me of Miles Stanford's testimony, that there was a pastor in Wheaton who was, you know, sharing the gospel with him.

And one day he said, well, I can see that you're not ready for this. And he just left him alone. Isn't that amazing? But he continued to pray for him, you know, all the time with some other young men. And months later, he was in Myles Accepted the Lord. That's interesting. But yeah, he just, you know, when he saw that he wasn't ready, he just, he even told him, he's like, oh, you're not ready. And he just stopped, stopped preaching to him.

Well, I don't, I hate to say it, I don't think I have that, He said the unbeliever is very conscious of the B.D.I. Christians ready to pounce on you. I never considered myself a B.D.I. The other thing is Paul calls the Gentile Christ is foolishness to them. They're intellectual, they have the world system view of life. Christ is foolishness.

I don't need him. Yeah, I know. Until something happens. Yes, that's true. I can change the weather. Do you watch Fox News? You watch Fox News. Okay, and then actually cover this verse in the main service note. which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Amen. Okay. So let's go on. Okay.

So now, now he's going to give us, we're to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you yet with gentleness or maybe better, but doing this with gentleness and reverence. So there are a couple of characteristics and this actually two in this verse and there's one in the next verse. They're the characteristics that the believer is to have when he shares the gospel. So I was just thinking about this. God is so And he goes into detail here.

He tells you, be ready. He tells you to get yourself right with me. Be ready to make a defense. Know what you're going to say about the hope that's in you. And then he says, oh, by the way, this is the attitude you're to have. He has it kind of nailed down pretty well.

And then you realize, well, I can't always be gentle and reverent. I can't always be all these things. I'm going to have to depend upon him. So it comes back around to him. You're going to have to depend upon him to have these characteristics. OK, the first one is gentleness or meekness.

It's a condition of mind and heart which demonstrates gentleness. And it's listed with the fruit of the spirit, which is singular. Singular fruit, multiple elements. This is one of the singular elements of the fruit of the spirit. And then the second one is reverence.

And this is actually the word for fear, reverential fear. So we must, so let me see one day, okay. Oh yeah, we must defend the faith. This is what we says, we must defend the faith, the faith, the body of truth with fear in his heart. The believer must defend the faith with fear in his heart.

This self-distrust is a tendency, is a tenderness of conscience. So, you know, it's kind of like this reverential fear is not that you, you want to be careful. You don't want to make a mistake. You want to accurately portray. This reverential fear, I think, has a purpose. It's not to say, well, I just, I know it so well, or I, you know, I'm so confident when I say this, things are going to happen.

You do it with, first with gentleness and meekness. And then secondly, with this reverential fear, this, And then now I, this is Paul kind of said, yeah, something like that. Now I, Paul, myself urge you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ. So again, these are characteristics that come, I mean, the first one's from the fruit of the spirit. These all have to be sourced in who you are in Christ.

And then there's a third one, which actually comes out in the next verse. And some have put them together. I thought putting them together made more sense. So the third one is having a good conscience. And I switched to the inner linear because it had having a good conscience. I like that.

So having a good conscience, it's imperative. So we're to be gentle, meek, we're to be reverently fearful of what we're saying, and we're to be having a good conscience. So this is, having a good conscience is an interesting topic. Good conscience, or actually just conscience by itself, is a knowledge of what is morally right, tied to personal conduct and responsibility, not violating God's will.

That's kind of a mouthful. So let's see if we can do a little bit more here. So here's a couple of verses. But the goal, so this is what Timothy is saying, he's gonna instruct these people, he's instructing them is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and sincere faith.

So conscience is one of those things that you have to know what is right, you know, that comes from God's word. So this good conscience, this isn't something you wake up one day, I have a good conscience today, no. As you live the Christian life, as you grow in grace, hopefully you acquire a good conscience, it seems like. And the next part, a little bit later on in 1 Timothy, it says, by them you fight the good fight, keeping the faith, and a good conscience.

And then he makes a statement, which I think is saying possibly that without a good conscience, which some have rejected, suffering shipwreck in regards to their faith. I didn't really too deep into that but just I was looking for good conscience. Okay and then lastly here He kind of tries to put it together here.

This, a good conscience, is possible when we rest completely on the work of Christ done for us on the cross. And that could be said of so much of our Christian life. We constantly are resting on what Christ has done for us. That's how we live the Christian life. And that's how we have a good conscience.

Go ahead. Paul used an example of that, but I forget where it was. One of them was Harmenius. that they had lost their faith. Okay, interesting. Okay. Or to do with a good conscience. And also, you know, scripture talks about a seer. I didn't really, I thought about expanding, we could get off a little rabbit trail. There's a seered conscience, other words about the conscience, but I didn't go down that path. Crucifixion but it's also the resurrection right amen Right and and you don't you know you and In a way, it's his it's his life.

So it's his conscience. I mean, so it's you know All right, so let's go on so now So now having good conscience and here's the purpose so when you see that or so that you know in the text if you guys probably already know this when you see that or so that you're pretty sure that it's going to give a conclusion or a summary or it's going to tell you something it's going to sum something up. So now Peters going to give us a purpose for these three attributes that we just talked about. So what's the purpose for that? And the thing or matter, and let's just skip this comment, I didn't, I might share it.

Anyway, so in the things or matters which you are slandered, so you're presently being slandered. Slander is to speak against, to speak evil of. They are speaking against you because of your testimony. The word, and here's the word, kata, it's actually the word for speech and the word for kata is down, the preposition down. So it's to talk down, or actually we have a English idiom which is to run someone down. You're running them down by your speech, you're talking evil of them, you're making them, you know, and it's largely untruthful many times. Let's see, let's go back a second, okay.

So you're, first you're, see, And the things in which you slander, those who revile you, your good behavior in Christ. So they're not, they're only slandering you, but they're reviling your good behavior in Christ. Revile is the idea to misuse, treat despisably, despicably, thank you. Insult or accuse falsely. So revile means to insult and threaten abusively, often telling lies about another person.

So these people, as it says here, this is what's coming at them. And we go to the context and we're to sanctify the Lord in our heart. Here's the things that they're doing against you. And then he's going to kind of sum this up in a second here. But he's going to talk about something here.

Those who revile your good behavior will be put to shame, which is interesting. They're accusing you of doing evil when you're doing good. And that's because of your behavior. I didn't actually, I noticed that this morning, I didn't actually cover good behavior. Anyway, I kind of skipped over that, but they're reviling you for basically your testimony, right?

You're living the Christian life and they're saying, I know, I don't, And for whatever reason, they're slandering or reviling you. So it says what's going to happen is we'll be put to shame or humiliated. So your good lifestyle in Christ makes them ashamed. And then we have some verses that actually the early part of chapter two talked about that as well. Well, I think, Roger, something that comes to mind here is that this life, the life of Christ, makes no sense to the unbeliever.

That's true. And so when they see it, they have to rationalize what's behind this. And so there's a lot of lies and false thinking, false accusations about, why are you really doing this? You've got some ulterior motive. Right. That's true. Or whatever it might be. But when they find out that it's real, not because it's me, but because it's Christ, they put the shame in their false accusations. No, that's good.

Well, many times in my life, when that happens, when they realize you really are serious about this, you're not making it up, this is who you are, sometimes it even makes them madder. They become more despicable to you. And I've seen that. And you see this, sorry, In cases of persecution, like I think of Richard Wurmbrand, you know, under the communists, they pushed and pushed and pushed because they're like, it can't be real. So they try to break you. You know what I mean? Because they're like, it can't be real. And so they, you know, try to... Yeah, that's true. That's good. That's good. It's not our job to look at the results. No. No. But it is interesting the flow here. We're setting, you know, we're to sanctify the Lord in our heart. We're, you know, he, Christ says to be Lord and that kind of flow.

And you're giving your testimony about who you are and that testimony seemed, and that seems to be what they're, what's causing them to slander and revile you. Your testimony in context, your testimony was causing them to revile and revile you and slander you. That's what it's causing you. So then the, then the verse 17 kind of sums it up here.

It says, and this is a statement, we've kind of had this before. For it is better, and we have another conditional thing I'll tell you about in a second. For if God should will it so that you suffer for doing what is right rather than for doing what is wrong. Okay, we'll just skip the if, we'll just carry on. I'll tell you about the if statement in a minute here. So the Amplified had very close, it says, but for it is better to suffer unjustly, as Miles pointed out, for doing what is right, they're suffering unjustly, If that should be God's will, then to suffer justly for what we're doing wrong.

And then actually there's a verse we had much earlier that talked about this exact topic. For what credit is there if when you sin and are harshly treated, you endure it with patience, but if when you do what is right and suffer, for it, you patiently endure it, which finds favor with God.

So he's, and he's come back to this topic. He was back in, you know, in chapter two, he talked about it now in chapter three. So what's interesting here is this if statement is another one of these fourth class optive conditions. And so what he's saying is that basically, maybe it's God's will. I hope I get this right. Maybe it's God's will for you. And let me see.

The bottom line is, it's a remote possibility, which is interesting. Apparently, he's saying God is not going to have everybody go through this, necessarily, if it should be God's will. It's a conditional clause, maybe yes, maybe no, but this is a remote condition. It's less likely.

Hopefully it didn't confuse you too much. Yeah, well, it's not the norm. Yeah, and it's not the norm. That's a good point. And the thing is, God hasn't asked everyone to do this. And we were talking about it the other day, last week, I guess it was. Really, in this country, and in Canada, too, we don't suffer too much for our faith.

I mean, it's rare. People do. Actually, the people put in jail during COVID, that probably is one of the few times. But usually we don't. Usually people, they just, either they agree with us and wanna hear what we have to say, or they ignore us, or they, whatever. We pretty well can do whatever we wanna do.

That's wonderful. So this is a remote possibility. OK, so next week. I actually have the two teachers right here. Bob, you're teaching next week. I'm going to ask if I can skip verses 19 and 20. Well, you could talk them. Miles is teaching after you. So Bob's teaching next week. Is it over two weeks? Yes. OK, Miles. So you guys need to divide this passage up. And it sounds like you're already jockeying for position here already. And don't leave too quickly.

This is one of the ones that we know. In fact, we were talking the other night about Noah, the days of Noah. Oh my goodness, there's different opinions about what's going on there and the giants of old and who knows. We'll see what Miles' opinion is. Well, we will.

That'll be good. That just now saves you. Oh boy, we need to start baptizing people. Yeah, baptizing saves you. This will be an interesting verse, so stay tuned, guys. Come back and listen. This will be an exciting time. It's a great verse. Verse 18.

The epitome of suffering is our Lord Jesus. He suffered totally unjustly. In fact, we went through that just recently. how he suffered totally unjustly, how they think it was, uh, was that in the Wednesday night? Somewhere we did that. I remember we went through it pretty in depth, but it was just pretty amazing and how pilot and all the rest of them, I know.

Yeah. I like that verse. Yeah. Yeah. It's two verse 18. Okay. Milo will take care of the rest of it, right? Yeah. There's going to be a discussion. It's all about the sons and daughters. It's a tough one, it really is. That's why I got Miles to take that after you. I didn't think what a great move that was. That was really kind of excellent of me. Okay, we better close them.

Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you so much, Lord. Thank you for the blessings we have in our Savior. Lord, thank you for your word. Sometimes we have difficulties, but Lord, we have your spirit to guide us, and we're thankful we have other brothers and sisters to encourage us and to Iron sharpens iron, you say? And we're thankful for that and how we can trust our brothers and sisters in the Lord. And then we can come to know you and understand your word and have a good conscience. In Christ's name, amen.