1 Peter 3:13-22

(1 Peter 3:13-22)

And who is he that will harm you, if ye be followers of that which is good?  But and if ye suffer for righteousness' sake, happy are ye: and be not afraid of their terror, neither be troubled;  But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:  Having a good conscience; that, whereas they speak evil of you, as of evildoers, they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good conversation in Christ.  For it is better, if the will of God be so, that ye suffer for well doing, than for evil doing.  For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:  By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison;  Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water.  The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ:  Who is gone into heaven, and is on the right hand of God; angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto him.

 

Peter speaks of suffering to Christians scattered across the islands, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Vidonia. Peter exhorted the Saints positively, "Before suffering, go beyond the passive response that a turtle folds and endures, and do good against the many evils that cause suffering."『And who is he that will harm you, if ye be followers of that which is good? 』

 

As Peter said, even if the Saints do good, they will not mean that anyone does not harm them. To the saints who do good toward the world, the world never pays back with good, but with evil. Just as a weak animal's life is sacrificed to a strong animal in the world of weak meat, the world pushes the saints who do good to the threshold of death. Nevertheless, the reason Saints should do good and endure suffering is 『For it is better, if the will of God be so, that ye suffer for well doing, than for evil doing. 』

 

A saint is a person who gave all his initiative to God. Because he gave his life to God, he is not a person who is never happy with the result again. Therefore, the resistance and suffering that the Saints receive while actively unfolding the good of God's will is because God counts them all. However, the troubles that come to the wicked are different. Their suffering means ultimate suffering, God's judgment. The suffering of the saints is God's measure, but the suffering of the wicked is God's judgment.

 

Peter speaks of God's absolute sovereignty. He believed that God is the one who judges those who do evil, and rewards those who do good. But Peter did not have that belief from the beginning. When Jesus said that he had to suffer and die from the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders, he took hold of the murmur and pleaded, and he struck down a man with a sword, against those who came to seize Jesus.

 

Before the chicken crowed three times, he denied Jesus three times. He said Jesus was the Son of God, but eventually Peter denied Jesus three times. However, the Lord raised him up. Saints are not judges. We are only sinners who need God's helping hand. The Bible tells us why sinners can do good.『For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit: 』

 

The Lord was not hesitant in doing good. He trusted God and knew that God's will was to lead more people to God. The Lord has made a cross for us. His death made the Saints able to go before God and be born again.

 

『It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes.』 (Psalm 119:71) Applying this to us today, the reason we have no peace in our lives is not because there is no love, but because there is no righteousness. Christianity today is important to a loving God. The prodigal son just needs to return. Christianity that emphasizes only the God of love without repentance is wrong. The Bible says that Noah was a righteous man of his day. Noah did not preach the Lord's love, but preaching righteousness. We too must preach the kingdom and righteousness of the Lord. There is no peace without righteousness. Even if you lose money, you must keep righteousness. Noah's day or today's time or sin will be the same. For man without God, it is the same then and now. The murder occurred in Adam's family after Adam sinned. It is an incident where an older brother kills his brother for worship. Sin is lying at the door immediately. Cain killed Abel even though he had never seen murder.

 

God made Noah preach righteousness. Where there is righteousness, love is with it. Righteousness and love cannot be separated. In other words, love without righteousness is a lie. Therefore, if you only say God's love, you are lying. Knowing God can bring true repentance. God is not unjust. God gave Noah a period of one hundred and twenty years. During this period, the word of God's judgment would have been preached to all. Noah's parents and siblings do not listen, and many have not heard Noah. They were deceived by the devil.

 

And it was a hundred and twenty years old. God's Word has not changed, but only 8 men and noahs and family members entered the ark. 『Man that is in honor, and understandeth not, is like the beasts that perish. 』. This is what David said in the Psalms, but it means the time of Noah. People only think of the value of being a child of God, and think of "I am a precious child of God." Soon the fire judgment will come. Because it is a world as evil as Noah's day. A person's thinking is evil since he was young. The Lord wants to burn everything. Noah built the ark, and God commanded the inside and outside of the ark to be painted with bitumen. Bitumen is a black color. There are no windows on this ark. Even in the daytime, when you enter the ark, it becomes dark. Everyone except 8 people hated entering the ark. Many people thought that Noah was a person who preached the righteousness of God. The world at that time would have been much more beautiful than it is now. But the ark was dark. It was darkness in Noah's Ark. Everyone did not follow the preacher of righteousness.

 

Many people feel God's love in a beautiful place created. They feel the success of my family, our beautiful home, happy situation, and God's love there. The devil is deceiving us with beauty. Satan is a deceiver. And take him to hell. Noah's parents and brothers at that time would have also worshiped God. "Thank God for giving us beautiful nature. Thank you for giving me such a happy family.”

 

However, Noah exclaimed, "If 200 years are full, everything will be destroyed." He may have made a dark ark by shouting, "God is angry." But the ark was the only love. Since there was a premise that God would judge, the ark is seen as love only to those who accept it. God is angry. Jesus died on the cross. This cross is the wrath of God. Just as those who enter the ark survive, only those who are united with the cross will be saved. The cross represents God's righteousness, but it is also where God's love is. Only those who wish the cross to be thought of as an ark can enter the cross. If all the churches in the world seek only "God without repentance," there is only a church without a black ark and a beautifully created church. You should try to get through the narrow door.