The Topeka, Kan.-based Westboro Baptist Church (WBC), which is not affiliated with any national Baptist organization, announced plans to protest at Virgina Tech victims’ funerals only hours after 32 people were killed in the worst mass shooting in U.S. history. They also may protest at other events on the Virginia Tech campus.
The organization, founded and led by Fred Phelps, believes the United States has condemned itself to destruction by accepting homosexuality and other "sins of the flesh. Phelps’ daughter, Shirley Phelps-Roper, said the Virginia Tech teachers and students who died on Monday brought their fate upon themselves by not being true Christians. "The evidence is they were not Christian. God does not do that to his servants, Phelps-Roper said. "You don’t need to look any further for evidence those people are in hell.
Cho Seung-Hui, the Virginia Tech student responsible for the killings who took his own life after the shootings, was sent by God to punish those he killed, and America as a whole, for moral decline, said Phelps-Roper, while adding that she believes Cho is also in hell for violating God’s commandment to not kill. "He is in hell, Phelps-Roper said. "But he was also fulfilling the word of God.
It is often the scandalous conduct of so-called Christians that provides fuel for the critics’ and skeptics’ vicious accusations, whereas the godliness of true Christians does the most to silence Christianity’s opponents. Commentator Robert Leighton wrote: "When a Christian walks irreprovably, his enemies have no where to fasten their teeth on him, but are forced to gnaw their own malignant tongues. As it secures the godly, thus to stop the lying mouths of foolish men, so it is as painful to them to be thus stopped, as muzzling is to beasts, and it punishes their malice. And this is a wise Christian’s way, instead of impatiently fretting at the mistakes or wilful miscensures of men, to keep still on his calm temper of mind, and upright course of life, and silent innocence, this, as a rock, breaks the waves into foam that roar about it. (Commentary on First Peter [reprint, Grand Rapids: Kregel, 1972], 195)
The nineteenth-century Scottish preacher Alexander MacLaren commented: "The world takes its notions of God, most of all, from the people who say that they belong to God’s family. They read us a great deal more than they read the Bible. They see us, they only hear about Jesus Christ. (First and Second Peter and First John [New York: Eaton and Maines, 1910], 105).
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus told all who would seriously follow Him:
Matthew 5:16 [16]In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. (ESV)
I was at a funeral yesterday. It is the time when people reflect on a life gone and the implication for those who remain.
Illustration: The Eulogy
A brief, simple, but expressive eulogy was pronounce by Martin Luther upon a pastor at Zwickau in 1522 named Nicholas Haussmann.
"What we preach, he lived, said the great reformer.
I would not give much for your religion unless it can be seen. Lamps do not talk, but they do shine
That is the essence of what Peter in this passage exhorted his readers to do: live godly lives, which is the single most effective foundation for making the gospel attractive and believable. Peter called his readers to fortify their testimonies with two crucial aspects of righteous living: 1) a personal, godly discipline that is inward and private, and a 2) personal, godly deportment that is outward and public.
1) GODLY INNER DISCIPLINE 1 PT 2 :11
1 PT 2 :11 Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. (ESV)
Peter began his exhortation by addressing his readers as beloved, which implied that they, as objects of God’s immeasurable love, had a duty to obey the One who loved them. On that basis he could urge (parakaleo, "to beseech or "to encourage, as in Rom. 12:1) them to reciprocate God’s love by living for Him.
Peter further identified his audience as sojourners/aliens and exiles/strangers, which reminded them that they were not truly members of the world’s society.
Paul wrote:
Phil. 3:20 But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, (ESV).
As spiritual sojourners/aliens, believers must shun the things of this world (1 John 2:15-17, cf. Mark 4:19, John 12:25, 15:19, Rom. 12:2, Col. 2:8, 20, James 1:27, 1 John 5:4). Sojourners/Aliens (paroikous) literally means "alongside the house. The word came to denote any person who lives in a country not his own and is therefore a foreigner. The term fits Christians who do not belong to this world’s system but live alongside those who do.
Peter also used the term exiles/strangers (parepidemous), which is a synonym for sojourners/aliens. It refers to a visitor (the KJV renders the word "pilgrims) who travels through a country and perhaps makes a brief stay there.
The writer of Hebrews reminded believers:
Heb. 13:14 For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come. (ESV). (cf.11:13-16).
Since Christians are not part of the world, they must abstain from passions of the flesh/fleshly lusts (cf. Rom. 8:5-9, 12-13, 13:14, Gal. 5:13, 16-17). Even though regeneration produces a new disposition with holy longings, that new life force remains incarcerated within the old, unredeemed human flesh, precipitating an ongoing battle between the spirit and the flesh. Nevertheless, believers are no longer slaves of unrighteousness, and sin is not their masterthey are free from its dominant and exclusive power.
The command to abstain signifies that saints have the ability by the new life and the indwelling Spirit to restrain the lustful flesh,even in a postmodern culture dominated by sensuality, immorality, and moral relativism.
The term passions of the flesh/fleshly lusts is not limited to sexual immorality, but rather encompasses the evils of humanity’s sinful nature.
The apostle Paul warned the Galatians:
Gal. 5:19-21 [19]Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, [20]idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, [21]envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. (ESV)
Quote: Behavior and belief - If you don’t live it, you don’t believe it.
Please turn to Romans 7
Peter, by use of the phrase which wage war against your soul, intensified his discussion of passions of the flesh/fleshly lusts.
In the Greek, which indicates that it is the character of such lusts and cravings to wage war against the new heart God has created within the soul of every believer.
Even Paul found himself in the midst of intense struggle that every Christian experiences:
(READ EXTRA SLOW: EXTREME LANGUAGE DIFFICULTIES)
Rom. 7:14-23 [14]For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin. [15]For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. [16]Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. [17]So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. [18]For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. [19]For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. [20]Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. [21]So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. [22]For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, [23]but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. (ESV), cf. Gal. 5:17-18)
Wage war is a strong term that generally means to carry out a long-term military campaign. It implies not just antagonism but a relentless, malicious aggression. Since it takes place in the soul, it is a kind of civil war. Joined with the concept of passions of the flesh/fleshly lusts, the image is of an army of lustful terrorists waging an internal search and destroy mission to conquer the soul of the believer.
Prior to conversion, all sinners live under the dominance of fleshly lust:
Eph. 2:1-3 [2:1]And you were dead in the trespasses and sins [2]in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience-- [3]among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. (ESV) (cf. 4:25-28, 5:8-11, Col. 3:5-11)
-Just as an aside: For those who think that they were able to pull themselves up by their own spiritual boots and make the decision to come to God all on their own power, they fail to see the description in v. 1:
-"dead in the trespasses and sins describes the radical corruption (total depravity/total inability) for people to come to faith on their own decision. It is God, in His grace, which irresistibly draws us to himself. If he waited for us to decide on our own power, then we would never come to faith, for we are "dead in trespasses and sins before He draws us to Himself.
Quotation: In his book I Surrender, Patrick Morley writes that the church’s integrity problem is in the misconception "that we can add Christ to our lives, but not subtract sin. It is a change in belief without a change in behavior. He goes on to say, "It is revival without reformation, without repentance.
Once saved, however, God commands believers to abstain from being driven by lust:
1 John 2:15-17 [15]Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. [16]For all that is in the world--the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions--is not from the Father but is from the world. [17]And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever. (ESV), cf. 2 Cor. 6:16-7:1)
The key to abstaining from passions of the flesh /fleshly desires and defeating fleshly temptations lies in walking in the Spirit’s power (Gal. 5:16), and exercising a godly discipline (1 Cor. 9:27, 2 Cor. 7:1).
The battle is won or lost on the inside, as James reports:
James 1:13-15 [13]Let no one say when he is tempted, "I am being tempted by God," for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. [14]But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. [15]Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death. (ESV)
Quote: Sowing & Reaping: An anomous author wrote:
Sow a thought, reap an act,
sow an act, reap a habit,
sow a habit, reap a character,
sow a character, reap a destiny.
This follows James’s call in verse 12 for the same kind of behavior Peter speaks of: James 1:12 [12]Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him. (ESV)
Fortify your testimonies with 1) a personal, godly discipline that is inward and private, and
2) GODLY OUTWARD DEPORTMENT 1 PETER 2:12
1 Peter 2:12 [12]Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation. (ESV)
In order to effectively evangelize, Christians’ transformed inner lives must be visible to the outside world. Peter thus commanded his readers to keep their daily conduct/behavior at a high level.
Honorable/Excellent translates a word (kalen) rich and varied in significance, usually meaning "beautiful of outward form. At least six other English words and expressions offer insight into its meaning: lovely, fine, winsome, gracious, fair to look at, and noble. The term connotes the loveliest kind of visible goodness.
Gentiles (ethnos) refers to "nations, or the unsaved world (cf. Luke 2:32, Rom. 2:14, 15:9-12, 16, 1 Cor. 5:1, 12:2, KJV, Gal. 3:8, 1 Thess. 4:5, 3 John 7).
If Peter’s readers were to witness effectively among the Gentiles, it was essential for them to manifest behavior beyond reproach.
Quote: Reputation & Character
Character is the one thing we make in this world and take with us into the next. The circumstances amid which you live determine your reputation, the truth you believe determines your character. William Hershey Davis said:
-Reputation is what you are supposed to be, Character is what you are.
-Reputation is what you have when you come to a new community, Character is what you have when you go away.
-Reputation is made in a moment, Character is built in a lifetime.
-Reputation grows like a mushroom, Character grows like an oak.
-Your reputation is learned in an hour, Your character is does not come to light for a year.
-A single newspaper report gives your reputation, a life of toil gives you your character.
-Reputation makes you rich or makes you poor, Character makes you happy or makes you miserable.
-Reputation is what men say about you on your tombstone, Character is what angels say about you before the throne of God.
-Your character is what God knows you to be. Your reputation is what men think you are.
In the first century, the label evildoers (kakopoion) brought to mind many of the specific accusations pagans made against Christiansthat they rebelled against the Roman government, practiced cannibalism, engaged in incest, engaged in subversive activities that threatened the Empire’s economic and social progress, opposed slavery, and practiced atheism by not worshiping Caesar or the Roman gods (cf. Acts 16:18-21, 19:19, 24-27).
Observing the exceptional life of believers, some will believe, be saved, and glorify God on the day of visitation.
Day of visitation is an Old Testament concept (cf. Judg. 13:2-23, Ruth 1:6, 1 Sam. 3:2-21, Pss. 65:9, 106:4, Zech. 10:3) referring to occasions when God visited mankind for either judgment or blessing.
The prophet Isaiah wrote of divine visitation for the purpose of judgment:
Isa. 10:3 What will you do on the day of punishment (visitation KJV), in the ruin that will come from afar? To whom will you flee for help, and where will you leave your wealth?, (cf. 23:17).
On the other hand, Jeremiah prophesied God’s visitation to deliver the Jews from Babylon:
Jer. 29:10 "For thus says the LORD: When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place. (ESV)cf. 27:22).
Usually in the New Testament visitation indicates blessing and redemption.
In the immediate aftermath of John the Baptist’s birth, his father Zacharias prophesied:
Luke 1:68 "Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people (cf. v. 78, 7:16).
On the other hand, concerning the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70, Jesus said:
Luke 19:43-44 [43] For the days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up a barricade around you and surround you and hem you in on every side [44] and tear you down to the ground, you and your children within you. And they will not leave one stone upon another in you, because you did not know the time of your visitation." (ESV)
-Because the Jews rejected Christ’s visitation of salvation, it turned to a visitation of judgment (cf. Matt. 11:20-24, 21:37-43, Rom. 11:17, 20, 1 Thess. 2:14-16).
God’s redemption is inherent in Peter’s reference to the day of visitation. The apostle used the expression to show that because of observation of Christian virtue and good works in the lives of believers, some would be privileged to glorify God when He also visited them with salvation.
Illustration: A Father’s Prayer 1: The responsibility is profound, the implication staggering. One that often hits close to home is the responsibility of a father. An anonymous author wrote:
A teardrop crept into my eye as I knelt on bended knee,
Next to a gold haired tiny lad whose age was just past three. He prayed with such simplicity "Please make me big and strong, Just like Daddy, don’t you see? Watch o’er me all night long. "Jesus, make me tall and brave, like my Daddy next to me. This simple prayer he prayed tonight filled my heart with humility. As I heard his voice so wee and small offer his prayer to God,I thought these little footsteps someday my path may trod! Oh, Lord, as I turn my eyes above and guidance ask from Thee, Keep my walk ever so straight for the little feet that follow me. Buoy me when I stumble, and lift me when I fail,Guard this tiny bit of boy as he travels down life’s trail.Make me what he thinks I am is my humble gracious plea Help me ever be the man this small lad sees in me!
Source unknown
A Father’s Prayer 2
A careful man I ought to be,
A little fellow follows me.
I do not dare to go astray
For fear he’ll go the selfsame way.
I cannot once escape his eyes,
What e’re he sees me do he tries.
Like me he says he’s going to be
The little chap that follows me.
He thinks that I am good and fine,
Believes in every word of mine.
The base in me he must not see
The little chap who follows me.
I must remember as I go,
Thru summer’s sun and winter’s snow
I’m building for the years to be
That little chap who follows me.
