In this teaching we examine what kinds of relationships in the Body of Christ exalt God. The beauty is that as we display God-exalting relationships, God exalts and blesses us. This message did not record during our Wednesday night Bible Study, so Brian recorded it again while he was all alone. We trust it builds you up toward Christ-honoring, edifying relationships!
Teaching Notes:
God-Exalting Relationships In The Body
1 Peter 3:8-12
Intro: Peter is concluding a section in which he is urging the church to live a certain way before a hostile watching world (1 Pet.2:11-12). His exhortations have been focused on 3 basic social relationships: the Government, the Workplace, the Family. Now, in vs.8 Peter says, “To sum up, all of you…” In other words, Peter is summing up what our response needs to be before a watching world. In this last section, Peter is describing what our relationships with others should be like in the Body, the Church. Government – Workplace – Family – Church. “All of you” refers to all the believers he’s writing to (1 Peter1:1). Thus, this is Peter’s summation of his exhortations to believers about living before a watching world in the various social spheres of life. We might think that relationships in the Church are optional; not really all that important. We can take them or leave them. If we choose, we can just avoid relationships in the body. We can sneak in to the meeting late, and leave early. We can remain aloof and distant. We can go just for the teaching, and avoid the relationships. It’s no big deal. However, that is NOT the will of God! God has called us into close, vital relationships with one another in the Body. He has called us to love one another, which requires knowing and serving one another. Relationships in the body ARE a big deal! So, what kind of relationships in the body will exalt God? How are we to interact and relate to one another in a way that honors and pleases God? Let’s see what Peter says.
1. Harmonious: means “like-minded” or “of one mind.” It is the Greek word, Homofren. “Homo” means the same, as in homosexual or homogenous. “Fren” means the feelings or the mind. So, this word means that we are to be of the same mind. What does it mean for people to be like-minded? It means that are to be in unity; they are to get along together. The Bible In Basic English puts it this way, “see that you are all in agreement.” The ESV translates it “unity of mind.” The New Century Version says “be in agreement.” The basic idea seems to be “unity.” God wants us to be in unity, in agreement with one another. Notice how the NT uses the expression “one mind.” Acts 1:14; 2:46; 15:25; Philippians 1:27. 1 Corinthians 1:10 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.” Paul is not talking in this passage about having exact doctrinal and theological unity. He’s talking about the Corinthians agreeing that they will not divide themselves up according to favorite personalities (Paul, Apollos, Cephas, and Christ). So, being of one mind, must have to do with all the brethren seeking to have the mind of Christ on a matter. If all have the mind of Christ, then they are all of the same mind. When we need to make a decision as a church, whether it be supporting missionaries, changing a meeting time or location, or starting a new church, we need to seek to be of one mind on the matter. That will involve prayer and searching the Scriptures. The worst thing we can do is to be stubborn, pig-headed, and insist on doing things “our way”, even if we have nothing in Scripture to base it on. Let us all seek to move together as a Church, as one body, having one mind.
2. Sympathetic: The prefix “sym” means together with. The root “pathos” has to do with feelings. This word, then, means to feel together with someone else. The New Englishman’s Greek Concordance says it means having like feelings. It means to commiserate with others. Or as Paul puts it in Romans 12:15 “weep with those who weep”. God wants us to enter into the pain, sufferings, and misery of others in the body. Debbie has a little nick-nack on our bookshelf in the bedroom that says, “Friends share the joy and divide the sorrow.” That’s what it means to sympathize with others. You enter into their sufferings so you divide their sorrows and they don’t feel all alone. They feel they can get through this because of the support of their church family. We experienced that when Josiah died. We received over 100 sympathy letters in the mail, the church was over constantly, people brought food. It’s amazing what sympathy can do to strengthen a person.
3. Brotherly: this is the Greek word, “filadelfos.” It is a compound word made up of “fil” and “adelphos.” “Fil” is short for fileo, which means fondness or affection. “Adelphos” means brother. So this word refers to brotherly fondness or affection; brotherly love. God wants us to have a fondness for one another. In other words, he wants us to like each other, show affection for each other, feel a kinship for one another. We should reach out and help one another as brothers and sisters in the same family. 1 John 3:16-18 tells us we are to manifest brotherly love by meeting each other’s needs. Are you loving others in this church in practical ways? How can we do this? By calling someone to pray for them, get together for lunch, send a card, help them with a task they can’t do on their own, give a gift in time of need.
4. Kindhearted: the Greek word is “eusplangchnos”. Eu means good or well. Spangchnos means compassioned. This word means “well-compassioned.” Literally the splangchnon referred to the spleen or intestines. The KJV translates it in other places as “bowels” of mercy. 1st century Hebrews used this word to speak of the seat of emotions and feelings. We would say I love you with all my heart. They would say I love you from my bowels. God pities us and is tenderhearted toward us. Jesus was moved with compassion. In Eph.4:32 the same Greek word is translated “tenderhearted.” It is the opposite of being hard hearted or unmoved toward others. How about you? Are you kindhearted or tenderhearted towards your brothers and sisters? Are you well-compassioned towards others in distress or need? You can see that this word is related to “sympathetic.” Both words speak of being moved by the distress of another.
5. Humble In Spirit: this word literally means “humble-minded.” The word means “to abase, or bring low.” It is the opposite of having exalted opinions of yourself. All throughout this section, Peter has been emphasizing submission (2:13; 2:18; 3:1). But only the humble person is willing to submit to others. Paul puts it this way in Philippians 2:3 “Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves.” Jesus said, “I am gentle and humble in heart” (Mt.11:29). What about you? Are you humble in spirit? Or are you proud, haughty, and arrogant. Do you demand your own way, insist on your rights? Or, are you willing to stoop, to put others first, to be the one serving instead of the one being served? What a beautiful virtue! Oh, Lord, make us like that!
Segway: before moving on to verse 9, let’s stop and make some observations.
- 4 of the 5 words used in verse 8, are never used anywhere else in the NT! The other word (kindhearted) is used only one other time (Eph.4:32). Peter seems to be deliberately choosing unique words to describe the quality of our relationships in the body.
- 3 of those 5 words have to do with how we feel and our emotions – sympathetic, brotherly, kindhearted. Yes, our emotions can be God-exalting, and God cares about them too. We should desire to have the kinds of emotions toward our brothers and sisters that God describes here.
- Circle the word be in verse 8. Before moving on to verse 9, which is what we are to do (or really, what we are not to do), Peter tells us what we are to be. Verse 8 is all about what kind of people we are to be. We need to be before we can do. A tadpole must become a frog, before it can act like a frog! We must be born of the Spirit, before we can walk according to the Spirit.
6. Non-Retaliatory: not returning evil for evil or insult for insult: To have relationships in the Body which exalt God, you must make up your mind that you won’t return evil for evil, or insult for insult. Instead, of lashing out you must be willing to absorb the injury. Now, this doesn’t mean you will never talk to the person that is hurting you. Good relationships in the body require that we have good communication with one another. In fact, Jesus said “if your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault in private.” But there is a big difference between reproving him in private, and lashing out to hurt him back. The purpose of reproving in private is to “win” your brother; or to make sure he is not lost. It is not to get revenge. In all our relationships we must test our motives to make sure they are right before the Lord. Let’s say that one of your relationships with someone else in the Church goes sour, and they start gossiping about you to others in the Church. The natural instinct is to gossip about them. Attack back. Make them hurt, like they made you hurt, only make them hurt more! But that is exactly the opposite approach that God wants you to take. Romans 12:17-21.
But giving a blessing instead: instead of doing evil to your enemy, do him good! Paul says we are to overcome evil with good; in so doing we are to heap burning coals upon his head. We once were living in a duplex, and had neighbors that lived right next door to us. They accused us of stealing something of theirs in the laundry room, which we used in common. The tension became very hot and heavy between our 2 families. Well, we decided to go out and buy them a Christmas present and deliver it to them on their front door step. It was very difficult to do, because we felt certain that they would reject us. However, it had the opposite effect, and the animosity melted away from that day on. So, when someone is attacking you or hurting you, try to think of something that you can do to bless them! Then just step back and watch God work. It’s great! As Christians we can live on 1 of 3 levels: 1. We can return evil for good – this is the Satanic level 2. We can return good for good – this is the Human level 3. We can return good for evil – this is the Divine level (and it is what Jesus did) “The only way to overcome evil is to let it run its course, so that it does not find the resistance it is looking for. Resistance merely creates further evil and adds fuel to the flames. But when evil meets no opposition and encounters no obstacle but only patient endurance, its sting is drawn, and at last it meets an opponent which is more than its match. Of course, this can only happen when the last ounce of resistance is abandoned, and the renunciation of revenge is complete. Then evil cannot find its mark, it can breed no further evil, and is left barren.” (Author unknown – taken from the Believer’s Bible Commentary, by William MacDonald)
Why Are We Supposed To Live This Way With Others In The Body?
You were called for the very purpose that you might inherit a blessing: you can give a blessing to those that attack and injure you because God called you to inherit a blessing. In other words, you can give blessings, because you have received blessings. Someone with an empty glass of water can’t give someone else a drink. But God has filled our cups to overflowing.
What is the blessing we have been called to inherit? Peter is going to quote from Psalm 34 to prove that the person who lives this way inherits a blessing. Vs.10 – the blessing is life and good days. Vs.12 – the blessing is that the eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous. His ears attend to their prayer. As I go throughout my day, people are constantly saying, “have a good day!” Well, here is the way to have good days! A good day is when the eyes of the Lord are toward you, and His ears are inclined to your prayers. In other words, when you have a close relationship with God. Now, in order for that fellowship with God to take place, what do we need to do?
Keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit: this goes back to “not returning insult for insult.”
- He must turn away from evil and do good: this goes back to “not returning evil for evil.”
- He must seek peace and pursue it: this goes back to “harmonious, sympathetic, brotherly, kindhearted, and humble in spirit.”
Do you want the good life? Do you want to see good days? Do you want God’s ear attending to your prayers and His eyes upon you to protect and bless you? Then give heed to Peter’s exhortation. Cultivate God-exalting relationships in the Body. Make these relationships priority. Even if you are not a people person, put time and energy into being the kind of person God wants you to be in His body. His blessings are on their way!
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