First Epistle of Peter
MORE EXHORTATIONS
Scripture Reading: 1 Peter 3:10 (KJV)
This verse, along with the next two, is quoted from Psalm 34:12-16. Peter consistently quotes from or alludes to portions of the Old Testament. This he has done starting with verse 10 of the first chapter. If someone asked Peter what the Old Testament was good for, no doubt he would say, "I could not preach or write without it." Peter quotes this portion to prove what he has said in verse 9 about inheriting a blessing.
"For he that will love life, and see good days"
Many in the world do not want to die, but neither do they love the life they are living. Sin always brings its sorrow and a sinner is not happy. Instead, he is always in trouble and worrying about how to get out of it.
A Christian loves life because his life is worth living. He arises on a new morning and rejoices in the fact that here is another day he can live for God. He does not love the world or the sins of the world, but he does love the opportunity to live for the Lord in the midst of the world's wickedness. And what joy it brings to be used of Him in some special way; to speak to a sinner about Christ or help someone along life's pathway. As night comes around and he lays his head on the pillow he can say, "This was a good day".
"let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile"
These evils of the tongue, as well as the evils of verse 11, are the things that make life a burden. The tongue can harm other people. What trouble a lie can bring sometimes. Satan lied to Eve and sin came into the world. Humans have been telling lies ever since and this has been a great source of grief to humanity. What damage sarcasm has done in the world, as well as evil-speaking and railing. These things have spoiled many a good day even for Christians.
The word "refrain" just means "to cause to cease". Evil words and words of guile flow naturally from the human lips. These must be stopped. If we find them coming, we need to clench our teeth and press our lips. Close them up; do not let them out. They will spoil life and bring bad days.
Men of the world think they must strenuously defend their rights and battle for them with their tongues. And what a battle we have sometimes. Who has not observed neighborhood squabbles and even quarrels within homes. A sharp tongue has wrecked many a friendship, many a home, many a business, and sad to say even some works for the Lord. Many a man has laid awake nights because of someone else's tongue or perhaps even his own. A man who cannot control his tongue will never be a bright, happy Christian. It we are going to rejoice, we need to keep this wild beast chained.
Scripture Reading: 1 Peter 3:11 (KJV)
"Let him eschew evil"
This is a continuation of verse 10. If we would love life and see good days we must not only guard our tongues, but our actions as well. We must not only refrain our tongues from evil, but we must shun evil of every kind. The word "eschew" does not mean to chew evil and roll it under our tongue as a sweet morsel, but to shun it – run from it. As we have in Romans 12:9, "Abhor that which is evil". "Abhor" means to hate, detest, despise. Anything sinful should be put far away from us. No matter what its form, if indulged in it will spoil our life. Many are haunted for years by some mean act or the thought of sensual evil.
"and do good"
To do evil brings bad days and to do good brings good days. Most people think that the way to enjoy life is to get as much of this world's goods as possible. It's a great pleasure, they think, when they can have others serve them and do for them. The Word teaches the opposite. The Lord Jesus said, "It is more blessed to give than to receive," and so, too, it makes for greater joy to serve than to be served. Many have not yet learned this lesson and so they are missing one of the greatest joys in life. We are not likely to have trouble when doing good.
"seek peace, and ensue it"
"Ensure" is an old English word which means to pursue after something very diligently. Peace is something worth catching, but not so easily caught.
The world knows little of it. In Romans 3:17 we read, "The way of peace have they not known." The sinner is not at peace with God, so how can he expect to have peace with others. So we see unrest and trouble in the home, in the neighborhood, in industry, among nations, and sad to say, sometimes even among Christians. As long as men reject the "Prince of Peace" there can be little hope for world peace.
The first need for each individual is to receive Christ and thus obtain "peace with God". "Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ" (Rom. 5:1); "He made peace through the blood of his cross" (Col. 1:20).
Then there is the peace of God. What a wonderful thing it is to know that all is well between our souls and the Lord. No more troubled fears of judgment – "And the peace of God which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus" (Phil. 4:7).
However, our verse in Peter is speaking primarily of pursuing peace with our fellow man. A Christian should do his utmost to be at peace with others. It is not always easy. A young Christian lamented the fact that he could not get along with his sister. He loved to talk about the Lord, but she did not like it and it always ended in a quarrel. He thought to himself, "Doesn't the Bible say we should live peaceably with all men?" Then he studied Romans 12:18, where it says, "If it be possible" and also, "as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men". Some people just will not let us live at peace with them; but from our side we should do everything possible to prevent trouble.
A life at peace with God; a life filled with the peace of God; a life of peace with fellow-Christians and even with sinful men is wonderful – it's a life worth living and loving, a life filled with good days. Praise the Lord.
Scripture Reading: 1 Peter 3:12 (KJV)
This is a continuation of the quotation from Psalm 34; all of verse 15 and part of 16. Being righteous, we have the Lord's favor and this is the real reason for having a life worth living and loving and for seeing our good days. Those who have not His favor but His frown will have a sad life indeed. In this verse we have the eyes of the Lord, the ears of the Lord, and the face of the Lord. How personal and human-like this makes Him.
"the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous"
We read of the eyes of the Lord very frequently, especially in the Old Testament. He observes everything that man does whether good or bad. In Job 34:21 we read, "For his eyes are upon the ways of man, and he seeth all his goings." Hagar discovered this one time and it filled her with awe. Sarah had not treated her well and she ran away. An angel of the Lord met her in the way and told her to return. She exclaims, "Thou God seest me".
Some are careful to either be seen or not to be seen of men. There are certain things they would not do if they thought someone in their congregation was watching. It is well to remember the Lord always has His eye on us. He sees both the good and the bad. If the world really understood this, it would fill them with fear. If a Christian fully realized this, it would cause him to be cautious.
However, if we are living a righteous life we have nothing to fear – His eyes are over us for good. He watches over us, protecting from harm, desiring to help us along. Realizing He is watching over us we need fear neither man nor devil.
"over the righteous"
It is well to notice this expression. This does not mean righteous in Christ, which is true of every Christian. It is in contrast to those that do evil. It means those who live righteous lives. We cannot expect to have the eyes of the Lord upon us for good if we are not living righteous. Nor can we expect Him to answer our prayers.
"and His eyes are open unto their prayers"
The word "their" refers back to "the righteous". If we live a righteous life the Lord will hear and answer our prayers. If not, we have no right to expect Him to do so. Sometimes folks say, "I pray, but the Lord does not seem to answer me." There may be more than one reason for this.
Sometimes even unsaved people think they pray. No use asking God for things if He is not your Father. He is good and gives things to all mankind, but He grants special favors only to His children who have been born into His family. However, even they may be denied if it’s not for their good or if they do not behave. There was a time in America when even earthly parents did that. In times pasted, parents would deny children things if they did not need it, but not so much in this age. In Psalm 66:18, we read, "If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me".
Peter does not say much about prayer. We have it twice in this chapter and once in verse 7 of chapter 4. He also refers to it, but does not name it, in verse 10 of chapter 1. This does not mean he does not think it important. The purpose of the epistle is to exhort them to Godliness in spite of suffering and He brings in prayer alongside this.
We ought to value prayer very highly. It is a great privilege to be able to speak to our Father. When thinking of His greatness, His Holiness, His majesty, etc., it’s truly a wonder that
He has time or a desire to listen to us at all.
What is the secret? Could it be that the secret lies in the fact that even though he's busy a father loves the chatter of His child, even though what the child says is not so important? It is comforting to know that we are welcome into our Father's presence anytime, night or day, and that His ear is bent to hear our every word. This ought to encourage us to pray a great deal but not selfish things.
"but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil"
Some might wonder about this expression, "the face of the Lord". Being a spirit, does the Lord have a face? In our verse we have His eyes and ears as well as His face mentioned. His hands and feet are also spoken of in the Bible. Of course, Christ is in heaven and is the Lord; but what about the Father? There are many verses that would seem to indicate that He is only Spirit and yet verses like this one seem to indicate He has a body as well. A human being is a spirit, but he has a soul and body, too. However, perhaps the expressions eyes, ears, and face are used so that we who are human can better understand what the Lord would say. In other words, God uses human examples to explain to us something in His world that cannot be explained to a human being in any other way. We call that an "an-thro-po-mor-phism," i.e.,"an interpretation of what is not human or personal in terms of human or personal characteristics".
