Part 1 - 12-03-18

Title: Experiencing The Son in Stormy Days, Part 1

Teacher: Brother Bennett

Date: December 3, 2018

Attendance: 5

Premise: Being the Channels Through Which Blessings Flow

Scripture Ref: 1 Peter 3:8-16

Opening Prayer: N/A

Sermon: Good morning everyone! It is a beautiful day today, can I get an Amen?! (congregation says, AMEN) Amen. Let’s turn in God’s Word to 1 Peter Chapter 3. We will begin looking at Verse 8 in a moment as we begin a message titled, “Experiencing the Son in Stormy Days.”

God desires every Christian to become a functional part of a local body of believers. He wants everyone to contribute to the greater needs of the household of God. He wants others to look into this family from the outside and see what the members do for one another, and be attracted to want to experience it themselves.

Have you ever experienced the joy and love of a close-knit family, where the members are really into one another, and help one another out of genuine love and concern? Families like this are indeed rare but when they exist, others will look in and want to have a family like that.

A family is attractive and appealing when its members truly love and care for one another’s needs and emotions. –God Wants This Happening In The Family of God – He wants us experiencing loving one another in ways that are so dynamic that others see it and give Glory to God. They see the love and core as we experience it and as a result they are not only drawn to the family of God but to God Himself.

This does not happen because everyone is perfect or because we all get along all the time. It happens as a result of unity, sympathy, brotherly love, kindheartedness and humility. It is as we exercise in these things that our experience and also our expression increases. Let’s look at 1 Peter 3:8, “To sum up, let all be of one mind, sympathetic, brotherly, kindhearted and humble in spirit.” Our first point in how we experience the Son in Stormy days is, we must cherish our family. We will be breaking down the five virtues we just read in Verse 8 to learn what it means to cherish our family. Let’s look at Verse 8:

“To sum up, let all be of one mind…

We must cherish our family by being of one mind. The context of the word, “one mind” means to be “like-minded, harmonious.” This does not mean unascend or uniformity, as we are all different. Still, there can be unity without uniformity. Because we are all different this does not prevent us from working together. A great example is the human body. All the members of the body are different but as they function in obedience to the head, there is a glorious unity.

It is not expected that we as members of God’s household will see eye to eye on everything. That would be uniformity, not unity. God never intended that everyone should agree on matters of minor importance, matters that are morally neutral. However, when it comes to fundamental doctrines of the Christian Faith there is no room for individual opinions. We can disagree on whether Jesus Christ died and was resurrected is not something we can disagree on and still be of one mind. The best formula is illustrated in the known saying: “In fundamentals, unity, in non-essentials, liberty, in everything, love.”

Let’s read Romans 15:5-6, “Now may the God of perseverance and encouragement grant you to be of the same mind with one another according to Christ Jesus’ that with one accord you may with one voice, glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Notice the three examples here “Same Mind, One Accord, and One Voice.” The definition of unity is oneness of purpose or function, not sameness of being. Philippians 2:2 tells us we are “united in spirit intent on one purpose.” God speaks repeatedly of believers as one body in Christ. Our identity and unity in Christ transcends human labels. Galatians 3:28 tells us “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male or female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”

Human labels are not our chief identity, nor are they what unites us. Our identity is in Christ alone. Galatians 2:20, “It is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me.” This is a great example of humility. Unity demands humility. It’s not about me, it’s about the family of God.

One of the reasons God calls us to unity is so that the family of God will be a witness to the world of the life, character and sacrifice of Christ, and the love of God the Father. Let’s read John 17:21-23, “that they may all be one; just as You and I are one – as You are in Me Father, and I am in You and may they be in Us so that the world will believe You sent Me. I have given them the glory You gave Me, so they may be One as We are One. I am in them and You are in Me. May they experience such perfect unity that the world will know that You sent Me and that You love them as much as You love me.”

Amen Dear Brothers! God’s Glory, Jesus Christ, is experienced and manifested in unity. Unity is a greater preamble to the presentation of the gospel than anything else we could ever do. Let’s look at

Psalm 133:1-3, “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to dwell together in unity! It is like the precious oil upon the head, coming down upon the beard, even Aaron’s beard, Coming down upon the edge of his robes. It is like the dew of Hermon coming down upon the mountains of Zion; For there the Lord commanded the blessing – life forever.”

Unity sets the stage for God of Acts, which is the acts of Holy Spirit, the unity of the early church led to Holy Spirit manifesting the glory of God in and through the children of God. To sum up, let’s all be of one mind, dear brothers. Everyone say, ‘Amen’ (Congregation says Amen)

Acts 1:14, “These all with one mind were continually devoting themselves to prayer, along with the women, and Mary, the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers.”

These all with one mind…this is one of the elven times in the book of Acts the expression “With One Mind” is used. Acts 2:1, 2:46, 4:24, and 5:12 are a few others. As the disciples gathered it was with one mind. The basis of our unity is the Holy Spirit. If the Holy Spirit is not free to rile in our lives we cannot preserve or maintain the unity. We are not called to create unity, we are called to keep it, to exercise in it, to experience it and ultimately demonstrate it.

In this epistle, through the Apostle Peter speaks to various classes of individuals, such as servants in 1Peter 2:18, to wives in 1Peter 3:1, to husbands in 1Peter 3:7, and now in 1Peter 3:8. He has a Word for us all. “To sum up, or finally, let all of you be of one mind..” Again, we are not called to create unity but rather to preserve it. Ephesians 4:1-3 tells us “Keep the unity of the Spirit.” We do not need to invent it – We just need to live in it. Let’s read Ephesians 4:15-16, “But speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him, who is the head – Christ – from whom the whole body being fitted and held together by that which every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.”

What this is saying is, the body causes the growth of the body. This means that the growth of the body is stimulated by the body itself, as the members of the body feed on the Word of God, pray, worship and witness for Jesus Christ in unity. As we dwell in unity, growing closer to one another with one another we cherish one another. When we dwell together in unity we experience a greater flow of Holy Spirit.

The second way we must cherish our family is we must be sympathetic. 1Peter 3:8 tells us “to sum up, let all be of one mind, sympathetic.” The word sympathetic here literally means ‘to suffer with’

1Corinthians 12:26, “And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is glorified, all the members rejoice with it.” What affects one member affects us all. We must learn how to feel, dear brothers. It is as we suffer and rejoice with one another, we learn and experience this. As we identify with one another, in our pain, we learn how to feel, and how to have compassion for one another.

Let’s turn to Job 2:11, “Now when Job’s three friends heard of all this adversity that had come upon him, they came each one from his own place, Eliphac the Temonite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zopher the Naamathite, and they made an appointment together to come to sympathize with him.”

Romans 12:15, “Weep with those who weep.” Empathy is the capacity for sharing in the feelings and emotions of others, this is what it means to be sympathetic. When we see our brother going through hardships, we must come by their side like Job’s friends. As we do this to one another we learn and experience what it means to be sympathetic. We must cherish our family by being sympathetic.

The next way we must cherish our family is by being brotherly. 1Peter 3:8, “To sum up, let all be of one mind, sympathetic, brotherly…” Let’s turn to 1Thessalonians 4:9-10, “Now as to the love of the brethren, you have no need for anyone to write to you, for you, yourselves are taught by God to love one another; for indeed you do practice it toward all the brethren who are in all Macedonia. But we urge you, brethren, to excel still more.”

God Himself has undertaken to teach brotherly love; all that we can add is to remember His divine instruction and His admonition to excel in it, in Him, more and more. When God was merciful, when He revealed Jesus Christ to us as Brother; when He won our hearts by His love, this was the beginning of our instruction in divine love.

When God was merciful to us, we learned to be merciful to our brothers. When we received forgiveness instead of judgment, we too were made ready to forgive our brothers. What God has done to us we now owe to others. The more we receive, the more we are able to give; and the more meager our brotherly love, the less we are living in and by God’s love and mercy.

Let’s turn to 1John 3 (Everyone there say, Amen – congregation says ‘Amen’) We will read verses 14, 16, 23, and 24.

(14) “We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love abides in death.

(16) “We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.”

(23/24) “And this is His commandment, that we believe in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as He commanded us. And the one who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. And we know by this that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us.”

God Himself taught us to meet one another as God has met us in Christ Jesus.

Romans 15:7, “Wherefore, accept one another, just as Christ also accepted us to the Glory of God.”

The word “brotherly” used in 1Peter 3:8 comes from the Greek word “Phila Delphos” meaning to be fond of the brethren.

Romans 12:10, “Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; giving preference to one another in honor.” When it comes to our relations with those in the family of God we should demonstrate our love by tender affection, not cool indifference or routine acceptance. The Believers Bible Commentary gives a quote by an unknown author I really like, they wrote:

“Providence does not ask us whom we would like to be our brothers and sisters – that is settled for us; but we are bidden to love them, irrespective of our natural predilections and tastes. You say, that is impossible but remember that true love, Godly Love, does not necessarily originate in the emotions but in the Will it consist not in feeling, but in doing; not in sentiment but in action; not in soft words, but in noble and unselfish deeds.”

Let’s wrap up this virtue of brotherly love with 1Corinthians 13:4-7, “Love is patient, love is kind, and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek it’s own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, endures all things.”

We cherish our family as we experience and express brotherly love to and with one another. The next way we must cherish our family is by being kindhearted. Let’s read 1Peter 3:8, “To sum up, let all be of one mind, sympathetic, brotherly, kindhearted..” Let’s all be kindhearted, some translations may say ‘tender-hearted’ The meaning is to be pitiful; when I began this study I was like, “ain’t this something as being sympathetic?” I have learned albeit there are some similarities they are different. Earlier in discussing the virtue of being sympathetic we read Job 2:11, and I told you we would return to it later. Let’s do that…

Job 2:11, “Now when Job’s three friends heard of all this adversity that had come upon him, they came each one from his own place, Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar; and they made an appointment together to come to sympathize with him and comfort him.” Let’s read the latter part of verse II again… “and they made an appointment together to come sympathize with him and comfort him.”

Being sympathetic is an inward affection we experience as we learn how to feel. Being kindhearted is the outward expression of these inward affections we experience as we suffer with one another. There is purpose in learning how to feel.

Like Job’s friends, not only must we be sympathetic but in brotherly love we must also be kindhearted. Let’s turn to 2Corinthians 1:3-7 (Everybody there say, Jesus! – congregation says, Jesus!) “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort; who comforts us in all our affliction so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For just as the sufferings of Christ are ours in abundance, so also our comfort is abundant in Christ. But if we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; or if we are comforted, it is for your comfort which is effective in the patient enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer, and our hope for you is firmly grounded, knowing that as you are shearers of our sufferings, so also you are shearers of our comfort.”

When we think of comfort, we typically think of things like comfort food, comfort clothes or comfortable seats. We have comfort slippers, comfort beds, comfort cushions, even comfort music to play when we are sad or stressed. Yeah creature comforts are endless in the world we live. Of course, Paul is not talking about any of those things. Paul is talking about the same thing Peter is talking about is 1Peter 3:8, us coming alongside a brother to provide comfort, just as the Holy Spirit does us. God has put His Word into the hearts of man, in order that it may be communicated to other men, by Word and deed. When one person is struck by God’s Word, they demonstrate it ot others. God has designed and willed that we should seek and find His living Word in the witness of another brother. Therefore, the Christian needs another Christian who speaks the Word of Love, Hope, Peace, and Joy to be comfort to them. Again, this comfort can be demonstrated by Word and deed.

Romans 15:4 tells us that “through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.” We need them again and again, when we become uncertain and discouraged, for by our self we cannot help our self without belying the truth. I need my brother as a bearer and demonstrator of the Devine Word. I need my brother solely because of Jesus Christ. The Christ in my heart may be weaker than the Christ in the Word of my brother. When my heart is uncertain or discouraged, yours is sure and steadfast.

Isaiah 50:4, “The Lord God has given me the tongue of disciples, that I may know how to sustain the weary one with a word.” – By showing compassion, being kindhearted, we Cherish one another.

Let’s look again at 1Peter 3:8; -- As we wrap up part 1 of this message: “To sum up, let all be of one mind, sympathetic, brotherly, kindhearted, and humble in spirit.” – Humble in Spirit…

The context here means to be courteous…Courtesy is a definite act of humility in putting others before yourself. This dear brothers is not natural to man as it defies the very meaning of self. Courtesy serves others before self, jumps at opportunities to help, and expresses prompt appreciation for kindness received. It is never course. Vulgar or rude. Let’s turn to… (Everybody there say ‘Amen’ – Congregation says Amen!)

Philippians 2:3-8; “Do nothing from selfish or empty conceit but with humility of mind let each of you regard one another as more important than himself, do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. Have the attitude in yourselves, which was also in Christ Jesus, 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 band-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”

Nothing whatsoever should be done through selfish ambition or conceit, since these are two of the greatest enemies among the children of God. The remedy to this is found in the latter part of

verse 3 “but with humility of mind let each of you regard one another as more important than himself.”

Do you feel that? That is Pride raising up in your carnal nature. As I stated earlier, this is not natural to man as it defines the meaning of self. Let’s read

Philippians 2:2-5 (read) “Have the attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus.”

What is this attitude we are to have? Some translations say, “Let the mind be in you that was also in Christ Jesus.” What is this mind? It is not the five virtues we have been discussing today in 1Peter 3:8; I’m going to show you each one of these using Christ.

You can jot down the corresponding scriptures:

The Mind of Christ is Unity – John 17:21-23;

The Mind of Christ is Sympathetic – Matthew 15:32;

The Mind of Christ is Love –1 John 4:7-9;

The Mind of Christ is Kindhearted –John 14:16;

Philippians 2:3-8, “Jesus was the first comforter, then He sent another Comforter. And lastly, bringing us full circle, the mind of Christ is courteous.”

We are told to have this mind in us. To have this mind of service, as Christ did. Philippians 2:8 tells us:

”He Humbled Himself.”

What Jesus did we are called to do. We are called to empty ourselves of self by exercising these virtues demonstrated by Jesus Christ. Who now lives in each of us.

God calls for a life of humility and service in order to live out His desires for us, we need to bend our wants, schedules, desires, expectations, and more in order to meet other peoples needs. In doing so we will not only experience more of the Son in our own lives, but we will Shine Him into others live also, ultimately bringing God glory.

To do this we must cherish our brothers and sisters in Christ. We are all on the same team. We are all in this together. The more we look to the interest of others, the more we will bring God glory. It is as we embrace a lifestyle of service that we become the transformational force we were intended to be. It is through the family of God, in relationship that we experience the Son more and it is as we experience the unity, sympathy, brotherly, love, Kindheartedness and Courtesy in Christ in one another that those looking in will want to experience the same.

REMEMBER Dear BROTHERS…

We are the reflection of the greater love not only to our brothers and sisters within the household of God but to all those in the world still in stormy days…

This will conclude Part I of the message…Next week, Lord Willing, we will begin Part 2 of the message, we must confront our foes..

BENEDICTION: N/A