A Charitable Church

Well, I've been looking forward to saying this and I know that many of you have been looking forward to me saying this, but take your Bibles and turn back to one Peter, one Peter chapter three, and we are going to pick up where we left off back in May when we took a little break and a long detour talking about the spiritual warfare and the armor of God and some other things along the way. But one Peter chapter three, we're going to be looking at verses eight through 12 this morning so you can follow along as I read our text one Peter chapter three, verse eight. To sum up all of you, be harmonious, sympathetic, brotherly, kindhearted, and humble in spirit. Not returning evil for evil or insult for insult, but giving a blessing instead for you are called for the very purpose that you might inherit a blessing for the one who desires life to love and see good days must keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit.

He must turn away from evil and do good. He must seek peace and pursue it. For the eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous and his ears attend to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil. Father, we thank you for the opportunity to dive back into this helpful practical letter written by Your spirit through the pen of Peter here. And Lord, we know that not only did you have the believers in his generation in mind when you inspired him to write these words, you also had us in mind and that you knew there was going to be a church in Montgomery, Texas that was going to be reading this text and studying this text this morning. And so I pray that that same spirit who inspired these words of Peter would also illuminate our minds and enable us and empower us to put them into practice in our lives. For your glory we pray in Jesus' name. Amen.

Well, there's a well-known saying that you may have heard in regards to how Christians are to handle their differences and areas of disagreement in order to get along with one another. It goes like this in essentials unity in non-essentials, liberty, and in all things charity. I like that word, charity. It's a word that is typically used in our day to refer to giving financial assistance to someone or contributing to some philanthropic cause or providing humanitarian aid or making some donation to a charitable. But the word charity or charitable has another meaning. And if you look up in a dictionary, the word charitable, there's lots of different synonyms for this word. For example, magnanimous, generous, considerate, sympathetic, gracious, thoughtful, understanding, forgiving, kind, compassionate tenderhearted, brotherly love, and the antonym or the opposite of charitable is of course un charitable. Listen to some of the synonyms for the word uncharitable, unkind, inconsiderate, thoughtless, insensitive, self-centered, mean-spirited, unsympathetic, uncaring, ungracious, lacking compassion, unforgiving, merciless, hard-hearted.

What type of person are you? Are you a charitable person or are you an un charitable person? And if you had your choice, which type of church would you want to be a part of? Would you want to be a part of a charitable church or an uncharitable church? I chose this title A charitable church since so many synonyms for the word charitable are mentioned in this passage. And Peter was painting a picture here of the ideal church and he used this list of similar words to describe what life should be like in a local church and how we as church members should relate to one another in a way that reflects the head of the church. And so what I want you to see with me this morning are nine characteristics of a charitable church, all of which were modeled by the head of the church, Jesus Christ himself.

And these characteristics are essential for building and maintaining strong, healthy relationships within the body of Christ. So let's go ahead and look at these nine characteristics. Number one, we must be harmonious. We must be harmonious. Notice how he begins. Verse eight, to sum up now, Paul wasn't introducing the conclusion of this letter since he was only halfway through it. He was actually summarizing what he had written up to this point, particularly what he had just covered in the previous verses. And I thought this would be an appropriate time and place to remind you where we've been and where we're going here. Especially those of you that maybe have just joined our church or started coming to our church in the last year or so kind of gets you up to speed with our study in here in one Peter about this time last year, we launched into an expositional study of one Peter.

And before we took a break for the summer, we made it to chapter three, verse seven, which is essentially the halfway point of the letter. And in these brief five chapters containing a mere 105 verses, Peter provided a compact version of the Christian faith and the Christian life, some likened one peter to a traveler's guide for pilgrims. And that's why I decided to title our study A Pocket Guide for Pilgrims. A pocket guide is a concise manual or reference book providing specific information or instruction about a subject or a place. For those of you that travel, you're familiar with a pocket guide, right? You can purchase a little guide that tells you everything you need to know to navigate a certain city. Well, in this letter Peter summarized everything that we as Christians need to know to navigate our way through this world as aliens and strangers and foreigners and sojourners on our way home to heaven.

And he was writing originally to believers who were scattered all over Asia Minor, who were being persecuted for their faith in Jesus Christ. And his main goal was to provide them with an eternal perspective on suffering so that they would have hope and they would be helped to stand firm and to stay faithful in a hostile world that misunderstands and maligns and mistreats those who have committed their lives to Christ. But he didn't want them or us to just hunker down and huddle up and hide out until we get to heaven like a bunch of spiritual preppers who out of fear isolate ourselves from the world. Rather, he presents a strategy for how we as exiles can evangelize the lost and win over a watching world that is growing more antagonistic to the gospel by living holy lives and behaving in a way that convicts unbelievers and leads them to Christ.

So he said, we need to be alien ambassadors or exile evangelists or winsome wanderers. And the better that we learn and apply the principles that Peter taught in this book, the better prepared we'll be to face the gathering storm of opposition that is coming against Christians in the church in our day. John mentioned that in his prayer after we read Psalm 1 23. But all that to say, I tried to pack all that into the subtitle, how to Live Holy Hope filled Lives. I actually added another line, it just wouldn't fit over there that can win over others in a hostile world that is not our home. How to live holy hope filled lives that can win over others in a hostile world that is not our home. And one of the key passages from where I got this title and subtitle is chapter two verse 11. Notice what it says there one Peter chapter two, verse 11, beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly lust, which wages war against the soul, keep your behavior excellent among the Gentiles. So and the thing in which they slander you as evil doers, they may because of your good deeds as they observe them, glorify God in the day of visitation.

And he goes on to give particular examples of what those good deeds that perhaps would lead people to Christ as they observe them look like in three broad areas. He looked at society in verses 13 through 17. He looked at the workplace in verses 18 through 25, and then he looked at the home in chapter three verses one through seven, and he specifically focused on those who were under authority, citizens, slaves and wives. And he emphasized their duty to submit to the authorities that God placed over them even when those authorities fail and treat them unreasonably and unjustly. And then he also called out the husbands there in verse seven of chapter three as those in authority over their wives and he reminded them not to abuse their authority but instead to treat their wives as the daughters of God whom he had entrusted to their loving care.

And that brings us to verse eight here where Peter sits down the rifle that he'd been using to pick off certain individuals or groups in the church and he picks up his shotgun and he takes aim at everyone in the church. And so he says to sum up all of you, so now he expanded his instruction and exhortation beyond citizens, beyond slaves, beyond wives and husbands to include all Christians, and he mentions the first characteristic here of a charitable church to sum up all of you, be harmonious. Literally same think. In other words, we're to be like-minded, we're to have one mind. We're to share a common commitment to the truths that are essential to our salvation, primarily the gospel. Paul talked about this in Philippians chapter one, verse 27. He said, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ so that whether I come and see you or remain absent, I'll hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel.

He went on in the next chapter, Philippians chapter two, verse two. He said, make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love united in spirit intent on one purpose. And that if you may remember that there were two women in the church and Philippi that had gotten sideways with one another and Paul called them out in front of the whole church. In this letter, Philippians chapter four, verse two, he said, I urge you Oia and I urge tiki to live in harmony in the Lord. Paul was passionate about unity in the church. Seemed like every church that he wrote a letter to, he included some reference to unity. In one Corinthians chapter one, verse 10, he says, now I exhort you brethren by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all agree and that there be no divisions among you but that you be made complete in the same mind and in the same judgment for I've been informed that there are quarrels among you.

In other words, there was not harmony in the church in Corinth and Paul was going to confront it to the believers and Ephesus, the church and Ephesus, he said this, Ephesians chapter four verse two, with all humility and gentleness with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love being diligent to preserve the unity of the spirit and the bond of peace. There is one body, one spirit just as also you were called in one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is overall and through all and in all again the emphasis here is on the unity of the body of Christ. Now, unity is not uniformity. Uniformity is when everyone thinks and looks exactly the same.

Unity is not unanimity, unanimity is when everyone agrees on everything think, which by the way, that is a principle that we strive for and that we apply as elders when we make decisions on behalf of the life of this church. We feel like if we can't achieve unanimity on a matter, how in the world would we ever think our church is going to stay unified? So we hold the high standard for ourselves and we start there so that we can maintain the unity on the leadership level and hoping that that will also trickle down into the life of our church.

But that doesn't mean that everyone agrees on everything in the life of this church. And that's again where we have to keep in mind that well-worn saying that I began with an essentials, unity and non-essentials, liberty and an all things charity. In other words, God doesn't expect us to see eye to eye on everything. And there are times when it's okay to agree to disagree, which by the way can be a beautiful thing. Psalm 1 33 verse behold how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to dwell together in unity. You think about how musical harmony works, everyone doesn't sing or play the same part at the same time. Everyone sings and plays different parts all at the same time, but it all blends together beautifully. I love listening to four part harmony, right? When you've got people singing four different parts, but it just blends together seamlessly and it sounds so pretty.

One of Paul's favorite analogies of the unity of the body of Christ was an actual physical body, how our physical body works. One Corinthians chapter 12, verse 12, he says, for even as the body is one and yet as many members and all the members of the body, though they are many are one body. So also as Christ for by one spirit we are all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves are free and we are all made to drink of one spirit. For the body is not one member but many. He says, if the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be If the whole were hearing, where would the sense of smell be? But now God has placed the members, each one of them in the body just as he desired, he goes on talking about the less honorable members and the honorable members.

And he did that so that there would be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. And then he ends with this line, he says, now you are Christ's body and individually members of it. All that to say there is room for individuality in the church. There's room for variety when it comes to different denomination backgrounds or doctrinal distinctions or personal opinions or personal preferences or personal convictions. And just like musical harmony works just like the physical body works, there can be a beautiful blending together of all of these things and all sorts of unique individuals in the life of a local church, which by the way was Christ's not just desire but his prayer. And again, we see Jesus modeling. We will see this in each one of these, how Jesus models every one of these characteristics.

But if you remember in John 17, the high priestly prayer, this is what Jesus prayed, verse 20, John 1720, I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in me through their word, what was he going to pray that they may all be one even as you father are in me and I in you, they also may be in us so that the world may believe that you sent me the glory which you have given me. I have given to them that they may be one just as we are one I and them, you and me, that they may be perfected in unity. And so he was referring there, he was appealing to God the Father. This is the son appealing to the Father that the body of Christ, we would be one like he and the Father were one.

And he's talking about the unity of the Trinity even though there's an individuality there of the Father, son, the Holy Spirit, three distinct individuals, but they're all one. And so again, there's an example of being harmonious even within the trinity itself. So we must be harmonious, number one. Number two, we must be sympathetic. We must be sympathetic or compassionate. Might be another word for this. And by the way, I'm sure you already know this, but our natural tendency is not to be sympathetic. We typically only care about things that affect us. But Peter is saying that we need to be concerned about the physical and spiritual welfare of others. Interesting in Matthew chapter 25 where Jesus tells the parable there of the sheep and the goats and it's the sheep and goat judgment. And you say, well, what's the determining factor? How do you know if you're a sheep or a goat, whether you're saved or not, whether you're going to heaven or going to hell.

Interesting. It says this. And the king will say to those on his right, come you who are blessed of my father and inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world, for I was hungry and you gave me something to eat. I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink. I was a stranger and you invited me in naked and you clothed me. I was sick and you visited me. I was in prison and you came to me. Then the righteous will answer him, Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you or thirsty and give you something to drink? And when did we see you as stranger invite you in or naked and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and come to you? The king will answer and say to them, truly, I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of mine, even the least of them, you did it to me.

So we are to care for the physical and spiritual welfare of others. Hebrews chapter 13, verse three says it this way, remember the prisoners as though in prison with them and those who are ill-treated since you, yourselves also are in the body. You're part of the same body and whatever happens to another part of the body affects you. That's what Paul said in one Corinthians 1226, if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it. If one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it. So what Peter is suggesting here when he says that we be sympathetic, we need to put ourselves in each other's shoes. That's what it means to sympathize, to enter into another person's experience, to share their feelings, to feel what they feel to hurt when they hurt and to rejoice when they rejoice. Romans 1215, Paul said, rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep.

So the question is how do you respond when you see someone going through a difficult time or suffering through some kind of trial or enduring some kind of pain or struggling with some problem? Are you cold? Are you calloused? Are you indifferent? Or does your heart go out to them? And what's more? Do you act on what you feel? Do you seek to help them and care for them in practical ways? James chapter two, verse 15 says, if a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, go in peace, be warmed and filled, and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that?

And again, Jesus modeled this kind of sympathy. He sympathized with Mary and Martha when they were grieving the death of their brother Lazarus. John 11, verse 33 says, when Jesus therefore saw Mary weeping and the Jews who came with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and was troubled. And then it just simply says, Jesus wept. When's the last time you wept with someone or for someone, Jesus sympathizes with us as our great high priest, Hebrews four 15. If we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in all things as we are yet without sin, so we are to be sympathetic.

Thirdly, we must be loving, we must be loving. Notice he says, to sum up all of you, be harmonious, sympathetic, brotherly. Literally the word there is Philadelphia fo where we get the word Philadelphia, the city of brotherly shove. I mean love the city of brotherly love. And the root word here is philos, which is the Greek word that describes the kind of love family members have for each other. And so we need to understand that as believers in Christ, we are not just friends with one another, we're members of the same family because when we received Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, we became God's children and members of his family. And as such, we became brothers and sisters in Christ. Like the old saying goes, you can't choose your brothers and sisters, right? Well, here we are, take a look around. You're stuck with us.

So we should view each other and relate to each other and treat each other and love each other like a family. We saw that last week when Paul was instructing Timothy how to interact with the other members of the church in Ephesus. In one Timothy chapter five verse one, he said, do not sharply rebuke an older man but rather repeal to him as a father to younger men as brothers, the older women as mothers and the younger women as sisters in all purity. So the reality is we are blood relatives who are connected by the blood of Christ, which is stronger than human blood ties. And so our love for our fellow believers should match that reality.

Peter frequently exhorted his readers in this letter to love each other. You may remember chapter one, verse 22, since you have been have obedience to the truth, purified your souls for a sincere love of the brethren fervently love one another from the heart. Chapter two verse 17. Love the brotherhood chapter four verse eight. Above all, keep fervent in your love for one another because love covers a multitude of sins. And then he ends the letter in chapter five, verse 14, greet one another with a kiss of love in our generation, in our culture, I think a hug will do, but you get the point. And we know that this is a dominant theme throughout the New Testament. Romans 1210, be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Colossians three 14. Beyond all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity, it's like the superglue love is the superglue of the church. One Thessalonians chapter four, verse nine, Paul commended the Thessalonians that they were loving one another well, but he says, now I want you to excel still more. Hebrews 13, one, let love of the brethren continue. First John three 14, we know that we've passed out of death into life because we love the brethren. In other words, it's evidence of our salvation that we love one another.

And again, it was Jesus himself who set the standard of brotherly love when he humbly washed his disciples feet and he followed up that act of love with John 13, verse 34, A new commandment I give to you that you love one another even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this, all men will know that you're my disciples if you, you have love for one another. So we need to be loving. Number four, we must be kind. We must be kind. He says there we must be harmonious, sympathetic, brotherly, kind hearted. If you're using an ESV, I like the way they translated that a tender heart.

And really the root of this word refers to one's internal and is sometimes translated as bowels or intestines. I know it sounds a little gross there, but it's basically we say, we have an expression, I hate your guts or I love your guts, right? It talks about the deep deepest center of our emotions and our feelings. And so the idea here is similar to that of being sympathetic that our heart should go out to one another. We should show genuine concern for each other. We should seek to practically meet each other's needs. I think the good Samaritan would be a good example of this. He had a tender heart toward the man left for dead alongside the road. In contrast to the cold-hearted indifference of the priest and the Levite, Paul drilled down a little deeper on what does it look like to be kind-hearted or tender hearted? Ephesians chapter four, verse 32, be kind to one another tender hearted. Here it is forgiving each other just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.

And again, Jesus responded with a kind tender hearted of compassion and concern when he saw the multitudes who were helpless and hopeless apart from him. Matthew chapter nine, verse 36 says, seeing the people, he felt compassion for them because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd. In Luke 13, he cried out verse 34, oh Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones, those who sent to her, how often I wanted to gather your children together just as a hen gathers her brooded under her wings and you would not have it just showing his tender heartedness towards the Jewish people.

And then in Luke 19 for 41, this is not what we typically think of when we think of the triumphal entry. We just think of this exciting celebratory scene. But this is way that Luke records the triumphal entry. When he approached Jerusalem, he saw the city and wept over it saying, if you had known in this day even knew the things which make for peace, but you did not recognize the time of your visitation, he was sad. And he wasn't just like, I'm going to judge you. All his heart was broken, that he was being rejected by his own people. So we need to be kind. And then number five, we must be humble. We must be humble. Notice he says, to sum up all of you, be harmonious, sympathetic, brotherly, kind-hearted and humble in spirit.

He goes on to repeat this idea of being humble in chapter five, look at what he says in verse five. You younger men likewise be subject to your elders. And all of you clothe yourselves with humility toward one another for God as opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble, therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God that he may exalt you at the proper time. So being humble towards others starts with being humble before God. And the opposite of being humble is obviously being proud and selfish. Philippians chapter two, verse three, do nothing from selfishness or empty, concede or pride, but with humility of mind. Regard one another as more important than yourselves. Do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others and based on the context of these verses. In Philippians, Paul was pointing out that the key to unity is humility. In other words, being humble is the secret to being unified. Ephesians chapter two, chapter four, verse two. We already read this with all humility and gentleness with patience, showing tolerance for one another, love being diligent to preserve the unity of spirit and the bond of peace. The way the very first thing that Paul said is necessary in order to preserve the unity of spirit and the bond of peace is humility.

Why? Because prideful people who think more highly of themselves and their personal opinions than they ought, and who always put themselves first and push their own personal agendas and don't know how to defer to others, they'll inevitably clash with one another. You got a train wreck coming. Whereas humble people who have a proper view of themselves and don't have personal agendas and are not jealously, jockeying for position and always putting, and they always put others first and they know how to defer to one another, guess what? They're going to get along with each other. And lemme just remind you, humility is not self-deprecation, but self-denial. In other words, humility is not like, oh, woe is me, I'm just terrible. And you say all these bad things about yourself, self-deprecation, it's self denial. In other words, you don't think of yourself at all.

And again, Jesus was the greatest example of humility. In fact, he refers to himself as humble. By the way, he's the only one that could do that. If you refer to yourself as humble, guess what? You're no longer humble. But Jesus said, Matthew 11, verse 29, take my yoke upon you and learn from me. For I am gentle and humble in. And Paul followed up his instructions to the Philippians when he was talking about not doing anything from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility mind regarding one another as more important than themselves. Don't merely look out for your own interest, but also for the interests of others. He said this, have this attitude in yourself which was also in Christ Jesus. In other words, this attitude I'm talking about this humble, selfless attitude Jesus had that who although he existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God, a thing to be grasped but emptied himself, taking the form of a bond servant and being made in the likeness of men being found in appearance as a man. He humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. So we must be humbled.

Number six, we must be gracious. We must be gracious. Notice he says this, not returning evil for evil or insult for insult, which by the way is our natural instinct. When others do mean things to us or say mean things to us or about us, what do we want? We want to get even by doing mean things to them or saying mean things to them or about them. And the last thing on our minds in that moment is doing something nice to them or saying something nice to them or about them. All we want to do is retaliate and get revenge, but we know the Bible commands us not to do that. First Thessalonians chapter five verse 15, see that no one repays another with evil for evil, but all we seeks after that which is good for one another. You may remember from our study in Romans that classic text in Romans chapter 12 verse 17, never pay back evil for evil to anyone. Respect what is right in the sight of all men. Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God. For it is written venge his mind, I'll replace as the Lord. But if your enemy is hungry, feed him. And if he is thirsty, give him a drink for in so doing, you'll heap burning coals on his head. Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

That's how Christians get even. Oh, you're being mean to me. You're being harsh with me. Can I get you something to eat? Can I get you something to drink? We repay evil with good. We respond to reviling with blessing. Paul said in one Corinthians four 12, when we are reviled, we bless. That's what Peter said. Not returning for evil or insult for insult, but giving a blessing instead. In other words, we're to consider how we can be a blessing to one another, especially when we're being treated ungraciously harshly or unfairly. Some of the most radical words that ever came out of Jesus' mouth are found in Luke chapter six, verse 27 in regards to our enemies. He says, but I say to you, who here? This is Luke 6 27. I say to you here, love your enemies and do good to those who hate you.

Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who mistreat you. Whoever hits you on the cheek, offer 'em the other. Also, whoever takes away your coat, do not withhold your shirt from men, neither give to everyone who asks of you and over takes what is yours? Do not demand it back. Treat others the same way you want them to treat you. If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same If you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners in order to receive back at the same amount. I mean that's what unbelievers do. You scratch my back, I'll scratch yours. Believers get unbelievers, get that they can do that, but it's only followers of Christ who can love your enemies and do good and lend expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great and you'll be sons of the most high for he himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men be merciful. Just as your father is merciful, God endures multiple evils and countless insults from sinful human beings all day every day. And yet he continues to show mercy and grace by causing the sun to shine on them and reign to fall on them.

And as those who not only recognize God's common grace in the sun and the rain, but we've also experienced God's special saving grace, we should treat others mercifully and graciously like he is treated us when we were his enemies. Peter goes on, he says, for you, were called for the very purpose that you might inherit a blessing. In other words, we're recipients of God's undeserved and unearned blessings. We know what it's like to be freely forgiven for all the ways that we reviled him and rebelled against him. And therefore more than anyone else, we are under obligation to be quick to forgive others and seek to be a blessing to them since this is the kind of life we were called to when we were converted to Christ. And God promises to reward us now and in the future when we overcome evil with good, we receive temporal blessings here on earth and we'll receive eternal blessings when we get to heaven. Matthew chapter five, verse 11. Jesus said, blessed are you and people insult you and persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad for your reward in heaven is great.

And Peter had already mentioned in this letter how Jesus modeled the graciousness that he was referring or referring to in this verse. Look at chapter two, verse 21. Peter says, for you have been called for this purpose, uses the same language there, excuse me, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in his steps, who committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in his mouth. And while being reviled, he did not reval and return while suffering. He utter no threats but kept and trusting himself to him who judges righteously.

Back to our text in chapter three verse 10. Notice in your Bibles, I assume that the next three verses are set apart in some way by maybe being in all capital letters may be italicized, which tips us off that Peter is quoting scripture. And so in order to confirm and clarify what he just wrote about God's blessing, resting on those who refrain from doing and saying evil things, Peter quoted Psalm 34 verses 12 through 16, Psalm 34, verses 12 through 16. And what makes this the ideal passage for Peter to include here is who it was written by, but also when it was written according to the title that you can find when you look at Psalm 34, David wrote it during an extremely difficult season in his life. He had been anointed by Samuel to be the new king of Israel, but he was forced to flee into the wilderness to escape the madman. Saul and David feared for his life. And at one point he failed to trust God, to protect him. And so he acted like a drooling maniac before one of the Philistine kings. The point is here was God's elect suffering as an exile, wandering around in the desert, living in caves, waiting for the day that he would return to his home and ascend to his rightful throne in Jerusalem.

But in the meantime, he had to endure being persecuted and mistreated by an unreasonable, unjust authority. And he continued to honor that authority and he refused to take revenge against Saul even though he had two opportunities to kill him. Time, he was using the restroom in the cave and David just happened to be hiding in that cave. And he came out and he cut a little piece of the robe off, and another time Saul was asleep out in the field and David snuck up and he could have taken his spear and rammed it through his skull, and he decided just to take the spear and the jug and spare Saul's life. Interesting how Saul responded. Saul got this principle. First Samuel chapter 24, verse 17. Listen to what he said the first time when David cried out to him out of the cave and said, Hey, just so you know, I was in here and I could have killed you, but I didn't because you're the Lord's anointed. He said to David, you are more righteous than I for you have dealt well with me while I have dealt wickedly with you. For if a man finds his enemy, will he let him go away safely? May the Lord therefore rewards you with good in return for what you have done to me this day.

So in Peter's mind, David exemplified what it looks like to live as an exile in an ungodly world. And his life proves Peter's point that God blesses those who live righteous lives, who don't retaliate when they're treated wrongly, but respond graciously. Instead, someone described these three verses here as an ancient recipe for a happy life, or we could say instructions for a blessed life. And in these three remaining verses, we see just a few more characteristics of the kind of people who make up a charitable church. And we'll go quickly through these. Number seven, we must be self-controlled. We must be self-controlled, the one who desires life, the love and see good deeds must keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking to see. He must turn away from evil and do good. So if you want to experience the good life or the abundant life that Christ came to provide us, we must exercise control over our words and over our actions.

James chapter three, verse eight says, no one can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil and full of deadly poison. With it, we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men who have been made in the likeness of God from the same mouth come blessing and cursing. And in Ephesians chapter four, verse 29, Paul said, let no and wholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such as a word is good for edification according to the need of the moment so that it will give grace to those who hear. So we need to restrain our lips from any kind of a speech that tears others down, that destroys relationships, which could be lying or gossiping or slandering or sharing things that are true but not edifying or constructive. We should always ask three simple questions before anything comes out of our mouth. Number one, is it helpful? Number two, is it necessary? And number three, is it gracious? Notice not is it true because there's a lot of true things that you could share about one another, but is it really helpful? Is it really necessary? And is it gracious?

Colossians four, six, let your speech always be with grace, seasoned as it were with salt, so that you may know how you should respond to each person. Charitable peoples speak charitably, they say charitable things, they use charitable words, they speak the truth, but they do it in a loving, gracious way. He also said they must turn away from evil and do good. In other words, we should lean away or swerve aside from anything sinful. As de Edmund Hebert said it so well, he said, we need to take evasive action because of our holy aversion to evil. Just veer away from those things that we know. Don't please the Lord. Psalm 1 41, verse three could be our prayer. Set a guard, oh Lord, over my mouth, keep watch over the door of my lips. Do not incline my heart to any evil thing to practice Ds of wickedness with men who do iniquity and do not let me eat of their delicacies.

By the way, in regards to the need to be self-controlled here, obviously Jesus was a stellar example of that. And number eight, quickly number eight, we must be peaceable. We must be peaceable. Notice he says at the end of verse 11, he must seek peace and pursue it. That word pursue is a hunting term which implies the need to pursue peace with Leonard like a hunter pursuing his prey. So we need to be diligent and persistent, even aggressive. Why? Because peace does not come naturally. Conflict comes naturally. That's why we need to pursue peace. Matthew five, nine. Blessed are the peacemakers Romans 1218 if possible so far it depends on you, be at peace with all men. Romans 14, 19. So then we pursue the things which make for peace and the building up of one another. Verse Thessalonians five 13, live in peace with one another. So we need to be peaceable. And then finally number nine, we need to be righteous. We must be righteous. Notice he says in verse 12, for the eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous and his ears attend to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.

This is a common Old Testament phrase here that refers to God's providential care of his people and how he intently watches over us and attentively listens for our cries for help. God answered Solomon's prayer at the dedication of the temple, two COR seven 15 with these words, he says, now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place. And so the fact that God is constantly watching us, he's listening to us, should provide us great comfort because he sees, we know he sees, and we know he knows what we're going through and he will come to our aid when we cry for help.

But this should also provide us great incentive to do and say the right things. We knowing that he sees everything right, we want to make sure that he approves of our lives, that he's pleased with our lives. And then in contrast to those who God looks on with approval, Peter concluded with one more verse from David Psalm there he says, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil. This is a strong warning to all those whose life is characterized or marked by a pursuit of the things that are evil in God's eyes. And if that's you, guess what? God is not for you. He's against you. God is not your friend. He's your enemy. And the day of judgment is fast approaching. And unless you obey God's call to repent of your sin, to turn from your life of sin, to place your faith alone in his son Jesus Christ and his work on the cross on your behalf, you are in a dangerous place with a terrifying reality ahead of you.

That's the bad news. The good news is that there's still hope. And I think it's interesting that Peter didn't include the end of verse 16 from Psalm 34, which says, quote, to cut off the memory of them from the earth. In other words, Peter wanted us to know that as long as we are on this earth, there's hope for salvation. It's not over till it's over. And as long as you have breath in your lungs, you still have an opportunity to repent. So if we are going to be a charitable church who experiences strong, healthy relationships with one another, we need to cultivate these nine characteristics in our lives. And really it all comes down to acting in a Christ-like way. I mean, that's always the choice. You can either act in a Christ-like way or you can act in an UNC Christ-like way. And the more we're all like Christ, the more we'll all get along.

And let's not forget that Christ not only serves as our example in these things, but he also enables and empowers us to be these things. And so let's make sure that we abide in him, that we depend on him and seek his help to relate to one another in a way that reflects him. Amen. Let's pray. Father, thank you for this. A word from you today. Lord, you pray for desire, unity in this church. And Lord, you have given it to us in Christ. You've made us one in Christ. And we confess that we have a tendency to mess that up. And so help us all to be diligent, to preserve the unity of spirit and the bond of peace. And we know that these characteristics are critical for us to do that. And so would your spirit work in us and amongst us? Would you cultivate these characteristics in us as we abide in Christ that we'd become more like Christ? We pray this in His name. Amen.