1 Peter 3:10 For he that will love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile:

11 Let him eschew evil, and do good; let him seek peace, and ensue it.

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.

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 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 in Christ.

17 For it is better, if the will of God be so, that ye suffer for well doing, than for evil doing.

18 For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:

19 By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison;

20 Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water.

21 The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ:

22 Who is gone into heaven, and is on the right hand of God; angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto him.

MEMORY VERSE: 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. —1 Peter 3:12

CENTRAL THOUGHT: Just as God waited patiently for Noah to prepare to ride out the flood and escape the wrath of God, so is He now giving mankind time to prepare to meet Him in His final day of judgment and escape the destruction of eternal damnation to all who refuse to turn away from their sins.

WORD DEFINITIONS:

1 Peter 3:10, “refrain”: Quit and bring to an end.

Ver. 11, “eschew”: Shun. “ensue”: Pursue and strive for.

Ver. 13, “who is he that will harm you?” If we be faithful to God and follow that which is good, whatever harm anyone would throw on us will be but temporal and we will overcome it!

Ver. 15, “sanctify”: Possess in holy love and worship. “meekness”: Mild and gentle humility.

Ver. 19, “spirits in prison”: The souls of humanity in the prison house of sin who hear the gospel of Christ; if they are obedient and faithful they will enjoy the blessed liberty of salvation.

Ver. 20, “sometime were disobedient”: People in other past ages who had opportunity to escape the judgment of God and refused to submit to the will of God. “the longsuffering of God”: God’s patience in holding back His judgments to give people a chance to be saved. “waited in the days of Noah”: God was ready to destroy the wicked world, but He favored Noah and gave him time to build the ark in preparation for the flood God was to send. Noah was toward 500 years old when God decided to destroy the earth with a flood. And the flood came when Noah was 600 years old. (Genesis 7:6). We do not know the exact number, but we can be confident that it was a goodly number of years that God was suffering with sinful humanity as He gave Noah the space of time to build the ark. “wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water”: It was Noah, his wife, his three sons, and their wives who were carried safely through the flood waters. We are confident that this family was faithful and diligent to warn the surrounding humanity of the coming judgment of Almighty God.

Ver. 21, “The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us”: The salvation of Noah from the destruction of the flood is greatly similar to the salvation that baptism represents. We and all the faithful in Christ will escape the destruction of this world by being accounted worthy to be resurrected from death, the grave, and mortal vanity and to meet Him in the air as He comes in power and glory. This is what water baptism is pointing to as a like figure. One who partakes of water baptism is submerged under the water and brought up again. This is a type of all the truly saved who die, and in the resurrection come back to live again in eternal life.

Ver. 22, “Who is gone into heaven”: Jesus Christ ascended to the right hand of God to intercede for us for our victory, salvation and privilege to be in that eternal world with Him.

LESSON BACKGROUND

Verses 10-12 in our lesson are a clear quotation from the precious words in Psalm 34, verses 12 to 16. These scriptures manifest the wonderful grace of the salvation we can have and enjoy in our blessed Lord and Saviour! They list several wonderful blessings and benefits of the true life of a sincere, godly Christian, and correspond with the remaining verses of this precious chapter in the Peter’s first epistle.

Verse 13 asks the question, “Who is he that will harm you, if ye be followers of that which is good?” History proves that the true godly Christians down through the ages have suffered much physical harm, and many millions have been martyred because of their stand for Christ and His gospel. The harm they have suffered is but temporary; all who have drawn back from the way of Christ, to escape the suffering and shame thereof, are the ones who will really be harmed and suffer evil. As verse 14 declares, “If ye suffer for righteousness sake, happy are ye!” Thus, we must sanctify the Lord God in our hearts and not be afraid to testify of His grace and hope. While keeping a good conscience before God, we can prove that it is better to suffer for well-doing than for evil doing.

We know that our Lord and Savior once suffered and died on the cross to bring us to God, but He was made alive by the powerful Holy Spirit. He has been preached in this world to the spirits in the prison house of sin, and, though many are disobedient and have rejected Him, there is that number pictured in Revelation 7:9 -17 that no man can number! Oh, how we long and earnestly desire to be in that blessed number that will be led “unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes”!

–Bro. Leslie Busbee

QUESTIONS:

1. What must a person do who would love life and see good days?

2. How will we be blessed if we will thus faithfully follow the Lord?

3. Can we be happy even if we are suffering for righteousness’ sake? How?

4. Why is it better to suffer for well-doing than for evil doing?

5. How did Christ set a good example of suffering for well doing?

6. How did Noah and his family set a good example for us today?

7. In what way does being baptized in water speak as a testimony for us?

COMMENTS AND APPLICATION

We have the testimony that has been brought forth down through the ages, of the blessing of being faithful to the Lord Jesus Christ even in the time of suffering. The testimony of men and women and boys and girls have echoed and re-echoed in wonderful tones of love and sweet victory. Perhaps to the eyes of carnally minded people the Christian profession is empty and of no avail. But that is because they are looking at things seen and temporal. But, as 2 Corinthians 4:17, 18 declares: “Our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.” How blessed it is to be so sweetly inspired and enlightened by the Holy Spirit to know that our real treasures and possessions worthy of our desire and labor are not these old earthly vanities! No, the true treasures are above where Christ sits at the right hand of God! We are so thankful that God has drawn us to His kingdom and made us to realize what and where the true wealth and worth while possessions are!

—Bro. Leslie Busbee

REFLECTIONS

The Great Judgment Morning

Verse 1:

I dreamed that the great judgment morning

Had dawned, and the trumpet had blown;

I dreamed that the nations had gathered

To judgment before the white throne;

From the throne came a bright, shining angel,

And he stood on the land and the sea,

And he swore with his hand raised to Heaven,

That time was no longer to be.

Refrain:

And, oh, what a weeping and wailing,

As the lost were told of their fate;

They cried for the rocks and the mountains,

They prayed, but their prayer was too late.

Verse 2:

The rich man was there, but his money

Had melted and vanished away;

A pauper he stood in the judgment,

His debts were too heavy to pay;

The great man was there, but his greatness,

When death came, was left far behind!

The angel that opened the records,

Not a trace of his greatness could find.

Verse 3:

The widow was there with the orphans,

God heard and remembered their cries;

No sorrow in heaven forever,

God wiped all the tears from their eyes;

The gambler was there and the drunkard,

And the man that had sold them the drink,

With the people who gave him the license,

Together in hell they did sink.

Verse 4:

The moral man came to the judgment,

But his self-righteous rags would not do;

The men who had crucified Jesus

Had passed off as moral men, too;

The souls that had put off salvation—

“Not tonight; I’ll get saved by and by,

No time now to think of religion!”

At last they had found time to die.

By Bertham H. Shadduck 1894