1 Peter 3:12-17 For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil. 13 And who is he that will harm you, if ye be followers of that which is good? 14 But and if ye suffer for righteousness’ sake, happy are ye: and be not afraid of their terror, neither be troubled; 15 But sanctify {hagiazō, elevate above all, consecrate, dedicate solely} 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: 16 Having a good conscience; that, whereas they speak evil of you, as of evildoers, they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good conversation {anastrophḗ, manner of life, conduct} in Christ. 17 For it is better, if the will of God be so, that ye suffer for well doing, than for evil doing.

As humans, we often ask “Why is there suffering in this world we are in?” Sometimes we see suffering in children, such as those at St Jude’s Hospital. Open your newspaper and you don’t have far to look for suffering. I subscribe to “Main Street Maury”, our local newspaper. I like it because it seems to have balanced reporting. In the opinion section there is a liberal column right next to a Libertarian column. I don’t agree with all I read, but I do like balanced reporting. I look at my paper. On the front page, “SAFE Clinic helps victims of violence”. A wonderful ministry operated locally by the Center of Hope. It exists because of suffering. Turn the page. “Domestic incident leads to Columbia woman’s death; suspect hospitalized”. This is horrible. It’s suffering. Next page. “Free legal assistance to low income residents”. Suffering. The obituaries. Death and suffering. You see where I’m going.

If “God is good”, if there is a God Who created all things, why is there such suffering?

The Bible tells us that suffering entered our world because mankind chose to walk away from the God Who created all things “VERY GOOD” (Genesis 1:31). When God made us, He made us – both male and female – “in Our image, after Our likeness” (Genesis 1:26). God gave humans authority over the earth, telling us to “have dominion” and to “multiply and fill the earth”. God gave us authority over the animals and nature, but gave us a free will to make choices. We could choose to follow our Creator, or we could follow another created being.

Many of us, like Adam, choose to follow
the created rather than the Creator.

Adam chose to follow the created – a serpent that represented a fallen angel – rather than God. Making this choice Adam surrendered the world to evil. Evil leads to suffering. Evil began to move outward, to infect, to destroy. Rather than repent and return to our Creator, we, like Adam, blame God and others. Adam blamed Eve. Eve blamed the serpent. Nothing was fixed by playing the blame game. Humanity was barred from Paradise and became servants of suffering because of decisions we made. Cain followed in his father’s footsteps. Rather than do what God said, he chose to blame God and His creation. What happened? Cain murdered his innocent brother Abel (Genesis 4:8). The blame game never fixes anything. The end result of the blame game is suffering, and it can will to death.

I’ve been reading a book entitled “Who Made God? Answers To Tough Questions”. Written by Ravi Zacharias and Norman Geisler, it has some interesting statements in it on suffering and evil. This one caught my eye:

“Evil is not something that has an existence all its own; rather, it is a corruption of that which already exists. Evil is the absence or privation of something good. Rot, for example, can exist only as long as the tree exists. Tooth decay can exist only as long as the tooth exists. Rust on a car and a decaying carcass illustrate the same point. Evil exists as a corruption of something good; it is a privation and does not have essence by itself. Norman Geisler tells us, “Evil is like a wound in an arm or moth-holes in a garment. It exists only in another but not in itself” … Today we face the reality of both moral evil (evil committed by free moral agents) … and natural evil (involving such things as hurricanes, floods, earthquakes, and the like).”

Ironically one of the authors of this book, Ravi Zacharias, stopped following the Lord and suffered not only death, but the loss of his ministry for it. This Church is a safe place where God’s people are expected to live in the Light of Christ. We do not tolerate sexual abuse in any form. We follow the Lord, redeemed by the Blood of Christ, knowing that God is watching us and hearing us. Those who are saved by faith in Christ live their lives to please the Lord.

Live Your Life For Jesus Christ

1 Peter 3:12 For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil.

The Bible says “the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous”. First of all, WHO are the “righteous”? Is it the outwardly righteous? No, but it is those whose heart is right in God’s eyes. Jesus told the Pharisees – people who thought they were righteous:

John 8:42 If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of Myself, but he sent me.

The righteous love Jesus. Why do we love Jesus? Because the Bible tells us that we are all born sinners, all born with our hearts far from God. We read:

Romans 3:10 (ESV) … None is righteous, no, not one …

When Adam brought sin into the world by misusing his free will, he brought sin on us all. The Bible says in Romans 5:12, “sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned”. Adam brought a universal breach between us and God. And yet, the Father was not willing to leave us in this state. The Bible says that God sent His Son – His Eternal and Co-Powerful Son Jesus – into the world to save us. As Adam’s

Romans 5:18-19 (ESV) … one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness {this is Christ’s Cross} leads to justification and life for all men. 19 For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience {Christ’s death for us} the many will be made righteous.

Through faith in Christ’s death on Calvary, through belief that He rose from the grave, we are led to righteousness. Listen:

Every person has a BC. The believer has an AD.

Human time used to be divided BC and AD. BC stood for BEFORE CHRIST. AD stood for ANNO DOMINI which means “In the year of our Lord”. BEFORE CHRIST all people are naturally unrighteous, separated from God by sin and suffering. Jesus came to take us from BC to AD. Jesus came to bring sinners to salvation, and the unrighteous to righteousness. When the Pharisees (the religious right) and the Sadducees (the religious left) saw Jesus working with “sinners” they snarled, “Why do you sit with SINNERS?” (Matthew 9:11). Jesus quickly replied,

Matthew 9:13 (ESV) … I came not to call the RIGHTEOUS, but SINNERS ..

Sinners in the BC were required to bring a sacrifice (lamb, dove, bullock) without blemish to the Temple and the Priests to be sacrificed. The sins of the sinner were placed on the head of the animal, and the animal died in their place. When Jesus came, He came as the “Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29, 36). Those in BC had to repeatedly offer animals for sins, “in those sacrifices a remembrance is made of sins every year” (Hebrews 10:3). “It is not possible that the blood of animals take away sins” (Hebrews 10:4). What did Jesus do?

Hebrews 10:12 {Jesus} offered ONE SACRIFICE FOR SINS FOREVER …

In BC sacrifices were made frequently. But with AD, when Jesus comes into your life, Jesus Christ made one sacrifice for sins FOREVER. It is Jesus and Jesus alone Who “made PURIFICATION FOR SINS” (Hebrews 1:3). When we receive Christ as Lord and Savior, He as our High Priest “is at the RIGHT HAND OF GOD THE FATHER INTERCEDING FOR US” (Romans 8:34). Jesus Christ is not only the Christian’s ONE and ONLY COVERING FOR SIN, but Jesus is our HIGH PRIEST (Hebrews 8:1-2). It is Jesus Who “entered ONCE FOR ALL INTO THE HOLY PLACE” of God, and “by MEANS OF HIS OWN BLOOD SECURED ETERNAL REDEMPTION” (Hebrews 9:12) for those who believe in Him.

You were purchased from satan and sin at a great cost. You, dear Christian, belong to God!

1 Peter 3:12 For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers

The Christian is RIGHTEOUS because of what Christ has done for us. But the Christian is also RIGHTEOUS IN PRACTICE. The day you were saved, God sent the Holy Spirit to indwell you, to walk with you, to partner with you. The Holy Spirit is a PERSON, not a POWER. Jesus promised the believer:

John 14:17 {The Spirit} lives with you, and WILL BE IN YOU. …

The Bible reminds us in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, “Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies”

The intent of Christ in dying for us was not just to get us to Heaven, but to bring Heaven to us. The Holy Spirit washes us, and regenerates us (Titus 3:5). We become partakers of the Divine Nature (2 Peter 1:4), and are called to “honor God with our bodies”.

God watches OVER that which He has purchased at such a great cost. God listens to your prayers, and hears your words. The Bible says:

Proverbs 15:3 – The eyes of the Lord are everywhere, keeping watch on the wicked and the good.

God watches over and hears His Children, those adopted into the Family of God by the Blood of Christ.

Psalm 121:8 – The Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.

As God saved the Christian, the Christian is to live to please the Lord. Our text again notes:

1 Peter 3:12 For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil.

God watches this world. Those who “do evil” are eventually punished according to the evil they did. Sadly, there are times when believers who should know better do evil – and suffer for it. The “face of the Lord is against them that do evil”. This applies not to just unbelievers, but believers as well.

Consider Moses. This was a great man of God. As he led a murmuring Israel to the Promised Land, they made camp at a place called Kadesh. The Bible says “there was NO WATER for the congregation” (Numbers 20:2). Moses went bto God in prayer, and the Lord told him,

Numbers 20:8 (ESV) Take the staff, and assemble the congregation, you and Aaron your brother, and tell the rock before their eyes to yield its water. So you shall bring water out of the rock for them and give drink to the congregation and their cattle.

Moses was only to SPEAK to the rock, for “that ROCK was Christ” (1 Corinthians 10:4). Instead, Moses SPOKE the the congregation, saying:

Numbers 20:10 (ESV) … Hear now, you rebels: shall we bring water for you out of this rock?

Moses robbed God of His glory, claiming that he did the good rather than acknowledge this was an act of the Grace of our Lord. Because of this Moses was barred from entering the Promised Land, and his ministry was turned over to Joshua.

The wages of sin is DEATH.

I could tell you of King David who committed adultery with another man’s wife, then had her husband murdered. Though David repented, God told him:

2 Samuel 12:10 … the sword shall NEVER DEPART FROM YOUR HOUSE, because YOU DESPISED ME, and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife …

God’s eyes are over us. He watches us. The strongman and judge Samson learned this the hard way. Blinded and tied to pillars, mocked by Philistines, he killed himself and his enemies by pulling the stadium down on their heads.

The wages of sin is DEATH.

Everyone Suffers In This Life: Ensure You Suffer Well

1 Peter 3:13 And who is he that will harm you, if ye be followers of that which is good?

If you are a Christian, you are called to be “followers of that which is good”. What does that mean? Last Wednesday, we studied in the Gospel of John where our Lord Jesus said:

John 10:11, 14, 27-30 (ESV) I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 14 I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, 27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. 30 I and the Father are one.

Who will harm us if we follow that which is GOOD? People may attack us as Christians. They may persecute us for our belief in Christ. They may mock our morality. But if we are following the GOOD SHEPHERD, the Lord Jesus Christ, then He will make everything come out right. He is the Good Shepherd, and we are His sheep.

The Christian who never suffers for the faith is the Christian who is not following Christ. The world will hate the believer. Jesus said, “you shall be HATED OF ALL for My name’s sake” (Matthew 10:22). He said:

John 15:19 (ESV) If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.

We used to walk according to the ways of this world (Ephesians 2:2-5), but now walk following that which is good, that is, our Jesus. We are saved from what we were, and are daily sanctified to be more like what we will become (Titus 3:3-7). We are “called out of darkness into Christ’s marvelous light” (1 Peter 2:9-12). You will “suffer for righteousness’ sake”.

Good Christian music offends the world. The song “In Christ Alone” states:

“In Christ alone! – who took on flesh,
Fullness of God in helpless babe.
This gift of love and righteousness,
Scorned by the ones He came to save
Till on that cross as Jesus died,
The wrath of God was satisfied
For every sin on Him was laid
Here in the death of Christ I live.”

The Presbyterian Church USA dropped this song from their hymnal, because they don’t believe that God’s wrath hangs over the unrepentant sinner. The song is not inclusive enough – after all, God loves everyone. Yet the Scripture says:

John 3:18 (ESV) Whoever believes in {Jesus} is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.

John 3:36 (ESV) Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.

1 Peter 3:14 But and if ye suffer for righteousness’ sake, happy are ye: and be not afraid of their terror, neither be troubled;

Our Lord Jesus said this same thing in His Sermon on the Mount:

Matthew 5:10 Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Who will be in Heaven? Those who lived to please the King of Heaven while on this earth! If you live for hell on this earth, you need not expect Heaven beyond it!

You who are saved by Grace are Children of the Kingdom of Heaven. You are to live by Christ’s directive, not by the whim of this world. You are to be:

Ephesians 5:1-8 (ESV) Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. 2 And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. 3 But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints. 4 Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving. 5 For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. 6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. 7 Therefore do not become partners with them; 8 for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light…

Suffering Well Requires We Keep Our
Eyes On Our Shepherd

The devil and this fallen world will do its best to frighten us into following the darkness. The Lord tells us to not be “afraid of their terror, neither be troubled”. The word translated “troubled” is the Greek tarassō, which means “to cause inward commotion, to become anxious or distressed”. The world and its god will do what it can to get you to compromise your faith in Christ, to step away from truth and into the lie. The Lord gives us three things to do if we are to be overcomers in this darkened world:

1. “sanctify {hagiazō, elevate above all, consecrate, dedicate solely} the Lord God in your hearts”. Humans were designed to worship God. If we do not worship God, we will worship something. One thing I hear today is the saying, “Follow your heart”. This is the suggestion of Satan, who suggested to Adam and Eve to “follow your heart” rather than follow your Creator. The Bible says,

Jeremiah 17:9-10 The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it?

Rather than follow our hearts, we put Jesus on the Throne of our hearts and follow Him. That is the sense of “sanctify” the LORD GOD in your hearts. To “SANCTIFY” means “to set apart, to treat as holy, to regard with reverence and honor”. Jesus said, “where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Matthew 6:21). Who do you love MORE? You are to love God MOST.

Is it possible that some of our suffering comes about because we have forgotten our God? Is it possible that we have, like the Church at Ephesus, “Lost our first love”? (Revelation 2:4). Isaiah told Israel:

Isaiah 8:13-14a (NASB) It is the Lord of armies whom you are to regard as holy. And He shall be your fear, And He shall be your dread. 14 Then He will become a sanctuary;

If you are a sheep, you need to be with the Good Shepherd. Stay close to Him. Be obedient to Him.

2. Be prepared to tell others about Jesus. We are told in verse 15, “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”. The phrase “” is the Greek etoimos, which means “to prepare ahead mentally and be on the alert”. We do not know when nour Jesus is coming again – it might be today. Jesus used this same word when He told us:

Matthew 24:44 Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.

We are in a battle for the soul of America. Be ready. Prepare ahead what you might say in different circumstances. Do you know why you love Jesus? How will you tell it?

3. Work as unto the Lord, not unto man. Finally, we are told:

1 Peter 3:16-17 Having a good conscience; that, whereas they speak evil of you, as of evildoers, they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good conversation {anastrophḗ, manner of life, conduct} in Christ.

Live your lives for Jesus. Honor Him in all that you do. Know that “it is better … that ye suffer for well doing, than for evil doing.” Those who follow Satan and the way of the world bring suffering upon themselves and upon this nation. May I ask you ….

Are YOU saved?
Are YOU ready to see Jesus?

The difference between ac lost person and a saved person is see in what they cling to. The saved may sin, but will not cling to that sin, but fall under conviction, and repent, returning to Christ. The lost will sin and cling to the sin, embrace the sin, normalize the sin, and live in the sin. If you are not saved, today is the day of salvation. Call upon the Lord Jesus Christ for cleansing. Give yourself fully to Him, and allow Him to embrace your life. Do not delay. Amen and amen.