Amen. Alright, we are in 1st Peter chapter number 3. And just a couple things before
we get into the actual chapter here. If you were to really break down chapter 3, you can
basically say that it's broken up into three different topics. You have the topic of marriage
being explained in the very beginning. Then you have the topic of suffering for Christ's
sake. And then the very last portion of this chapter focuses on this subject of Christ
preaching to the spirits in prison and also how baptism saves us. And I'm going to get
into that in the latter portion. But verses 1 through 9 deals with marriage. And I find
it kind of funny because in verses 1 through 9, the majority of the verses is being addressed
to the women, believe it or not. You have verses 1 through 6 being addressed to the
wife and then you only have one verse being addressed to the husband. You know, I don't
know if ladies have a problem with that or anything like that, but it's fact, right?
But then you have verses 8 through 9 where it's kind of all inclusive to both, okay?
So that's verses 1 through 9. Then verses 10 through 17 is the suffering. Verses 18
to 22 is the preaching to the spirits in prison, etc. So let's go ahead and start and look
at verse number 1. It says, Likewise, ye wives, be in subjection to your own husbands that
if any obey not the word, they also may without the word be won by the conversation of the
wives. So chapter 3 starts off immediately instructing the wives to what? To be in subjection
to their husbands. Now what does that word subjection mean? It simply means to submit,
okay? That's not a popular word today, but the Bible is not a popular Bible. It's not
a popular book. But it's fact that what the Bible says that ladies' wives ought to submit
unto their husbands, and in fact the Bible says as unto the Lord. Be in subjection, submit,
reverence your husband. This is a common teaching in the New Testament in regards to marriage
and a wife and how she's supposed to behave towards her husband. But notice that it says
this, Likewise, ye wives, be in subjection to your own husbands that if any obey not
the word. So now this any that it's referred to as the husband who's not being obedient
to the word. Now if I were to assert who this is specifically talking about, I would
say it's referring to a believing husband, okay? And the reason I say that is because
it's not saying that if any obey not the gospel, it's referring to the word. It says there
they also may without the word be won by the conversation of the wives. So here we see
a situation where a wife potentially may be married to some husband that's not on fire
for God, or maybe they're just not being obedient to the word. And by the way, this is something
that commonly happens today, isn't it? Vice versa. You have a wife who's on fire and maybe
a husband who's not, or you may have a husband who's on fire for God, and the wife isn't.
The wife is the one who's reading the Bible, praying, going sowing faithful to church,
or maybe the husband is not, or vice versa. This is something that commonly happens today.
It shouldn't be that way. The ideal situation is for both to be on the same page, amen?
The ideal situation is for both to be in church, both to be growing, and the ideal situation
would be for the husband to lead his wife, to be far more ahead than his wife, spiritually
speaking, to lead his wife in the word of God, to teach the children, to just be a good
example in the home. But here we see a situation where the husband potentially is not obeying
the word. He's not being obedient to God. He's probably not in church. He's not adhering
to biblical principles. This is a tough situation. And any woman who does not have her husband
in church can attest to that. It's a difficult situation. So what's the solution? What says
here, that if anybody not in the word, they also may without the word, keep that in mind,
they may also without the word. What does that mean? You don't have to preach to your
husband. Okay, amen? You know, today we consider like nagging, right? Oh, you need to read
the Bible. You need to get right with God. And the Bible says this. No, it says without
the word. It says without the word, be won by the conversation of the wives. Now, the
word conversation is not used here the way we will use it today, such as a conversation
like after church, we're going to have fellowship, and we're going to converse with one with
another, we're going to talk about things just have fellowship conversation there is
referring to the conduct or the behavior. So it's telling the ladies here, the wives,
that the way you can basically restore your husband back to church back into the Word
of God is not by preaching to him, no matter how much Bible you know, because it says there,
they also may without the word be won how? By your conversation, by your conduct, by
your behavior. You say, well, what kind of behavior are you talking about? Well, verse
one says, be in subjection to your own husband. Talk about submitting. Now, if you twitch
at that, just kind of like you've been influenced by this wicked culture. You know, you've been
influenced by the feminazis of this world, who are trying to get you to be independent,
who not not to be dependent upon your own husbands, people who hate the Word of God
and hate the order of God. Okay, but this is a Baptist church. We believe in the Bible
and the Bible tells us that this is the order of things. Now, we don't believe a husband
should be just as mean dictator, who just abuses his power and his authority over his
wife and children. There's obviously has to be a balance to this, we're supposed to love
our wives as Christ loved the church. But on the opposite side of that spectrum is the
wife is supposed to be in subjection to her husband. Now, notice it doesn't say being
subjection to your husband, if your husband is God, or if he's reading this Bible, or
if he's, or if he's saved. Get that. Because people make mistakes, they marry someone who's
not saved, or maybe they weren't saved and they get saved later on. And then you have
this unequally yoked relationship. Well, the rule still applies. Because you made that
covenant, you made that covenant before God, to be married, to be with one with another.
And so the rule still applies. But notice that it says that you can win them, not by
your words, not by your nagging, not by your preaching, but by your conversation. Now,
here's the funny thing about this is that most ladies think that there are exceptions
to this rule. I know it says that, but you know, he needs to hear it from me though.
You know, I know what the Bible says and I know what's gonna get him going. My words
are like goats, it's gonna encourage him to get right with God. No, it's not. It's gonna
push him away, actually. Because men have this thing called ego. Okay? And ego is easily
deflated. By whom? By their wife. That's why the Bible encourages the wife to reverence
her husband. Amen? Now, this situation that we see here is a difficult situation and in
fact, obviously, it's easier said than done, right? But the reason it's telling us this
is because, you know, there's time, in fact, in context of chapter two and chapter three,
it's highlighting a marriage that, you know, it's not going very well. Because the reality
is if you are a believing wife but you have an unbelieving husband, you go through a lot
of suffering. Right? There's a lot of trial, there's a lot of affliction, there's a lot
of grief that you have to endure because of the fact that you are with someone who maybe
is not saved or even if someone is saved but they don't want to be in church. That grieves
you. If you're a godly person who loves the Lord, that's gonna grieve you that your spouse
is not right with God, is not in church, etc. So this is why this is being said. And in
fact, look at 1 Peter chapter two verse 21. Look what it says here. For even here unto
were ye called because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example that ye should
follow his steps. Now in verse number one of chapter three, it says likewise. Right?
Well there's a reason why it's saying likewise. Because the likewise that it's referring to
is chapter two in verse 21 through 23. Look at verse 22. Who did no sin? Neither was guile
found in his mouth. Who when he was reviled, reviled not again. When he suffered, he threatened
not but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously. Then it rolls into chapter three
in verse number one. Likewise ye wives, be in subjection to your own husbands. So what
is it telling us here based upon the example of Christ? Well sometimes wives, you're gonna
suffer unrighteously. But don't worry, you're in good company because Christ suffered unrighteously
too. You know, maybe your husband is not right with God and he's not treating you well. Well,
you know what? Join the club. Jesus Christ was in that same position because he was rejected
by people. He was rejected by sinners. Okay? He suffered at the hands of sinful men even
though he committed no sin. He received the biggest reproach out of anybody in this world.
He was innocent. Therefore a wife can kind of get a feel for that and understand if Christ
went through that, then I can suffer righteously too. And in fact, it says there in verse number
23, when he was reviled, reviled not again. So apply that to a marriage. When your husband
reviles you, you know, tugs down on you or starts arguing with you, what are you supposed
to do? Preach the word of God unto them? Hey, you're supposed to love me as Christ loved
the church and gave himself for it. You know? No, it says there, you're reviled not again.
When he suffered, he threatened not. Oh, man. You know, when you suffer at the hand of your
husband, you're not threatened to whoop him or something, you know? There's situations
like that. It's unfortunate, but it exists. When he suffered, he threatened not. So you
know what this shows is that a lot of these things have to do with your words. So when
a wife is reviled, when a wife suffers, they're to revile not again, they're to threaten not.
So what are we supposed to do? Well, it says there, he committed himself to him that judgeth
righteously. So what did he do? He submitted, he allowed himself to be persecuted, he allowed
himself to be reviled, and he didn't backlash. He didn't try to get back, get even with the
people who were doing this to him. And this is the example that we see that wives are
supposed to follow. Later on in the chapter, we'll see the same thing with the men. But
the difference is this is not a principle that is primarily for the men. Now, we do
have a similar principle, but it's in regards to the world. Why? Because when we preach
the word of God, we take a stand for truth, people are going to revile us. People are
going to cause us to suffer, and therefore we need to follow that same example there.
So we see that the admonishment that we see there is that a wife who has a believing husband
who's not right with God, you're not going to win them over by preaching to him. How
are you going to win them over? Your conversation, being in subjection, reverencing your husband,
fulfilling your role. Yeah, but he doesn't deserve it. Well, that's why the Bible says,
as unto Christ. Because you can serve Christ, right? You can serve Christ. You can love
the Lord. You can love him. He's worthy of your worship. He's worthy of your praise.
He's worthy of your service. He's worthy of your subjection. So in times when your husband
doesn't qualify in your eyes, well, remember that you're supposed to do it as unto Christ.
Now, go to 1 Corinthians chapter 7. Now, a principle like this goes over like a screen
door on a submarine to most people. They don't like it, you know? Ladies don't like to hear
stuff like that, but you know what? It's still in the Bible, and we want to make sure that
we raise up a next generation that embraces these principles, embraces this doctrine,
embraces the role of a biblical woman. Not some independent floozy who just wants to
just have it her own way, have no ruler over her head. No, we want to make sure that we
follow the rules of the Bible, amen? And we raise our daughters as such, okay? Now, you
say, well, what if my husband is not saved? You know, he's not a believer. He's just not
saved, okay? Now, one thing I despise about this entire argument is because most ladies,
unfortunately, not everyone, but the vast majority of them of those who I've spoken
to, if they have an unsaved husband, they'll just write them off as a reprobate. Oh, my
husband's a reprobate. It's like, is he really a reprobate? It's like, well, you know, I
think so. Like, why? Because he's like mistreating you or something? You know, there's saved
husbands in churches who mistreat their wives. There's nothing new under the sun. Don't write
off your spouse as a reprobate because you want to have an excuse to divorce them. And
by the way, there is no clause to divorce your husband, okay? We don't believe in divorce.
We reject divorce. The Bible says that God hateth putting away. There's no exception
to the rule. There's no fine print in the Bible. There's not an escape clause in the
Bible that doesn't exist except to be for the cost of fornication. Fornication between
two people who aren't married. Take a next shot. What else you got? Because it doesn't
exist. The Bible tells us that divorce is prohibited, okay? God hated putting away.
Go to 1 Corinthians 7 verse 13. Look what it says, and the woman which hath on husband
that believeth not, and if he be pleased to dwell with her, let her not leave him. For
the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified
by the husband, else were your children unclean, but now are they holy. But if the unbelieving
depart, let him depart and remarry. Oh wait, it doesn't say that now, does it? Whoops.
But you know that's how a lot of people read it. Well it says unbelieving depart, but somewhere
in the Greek it says that you can remarry again. Nice try with that one. It says let
him depart, period. It doesn't insinuate to remarry. And the Bible tells us that whosoever
shall put away his wife except to be for fornication and shall marry another, comitteth adultery,
and whoso maryeth her which is put away doth commit adultery. So this is how we know that
divorce is prohibited, but even if for some reason it's out of your control and your husband
or your wife divorces you, you still can't remarry. It just says let him depart, why?
Because you have no control over the volition of your spouse. You have no control over their
will and their actions. You can't control what they do. You can only try to influence
their actions based upon your conversation, conduct, behavior, and your adherence to God's
word. But you can't determine what they're going to do with their actions if they depart,
let them depart. Look what it says. A brother or sister is not under bondage in such cases.
I, you know, I just, I got to remarry. I'm not under bondage anymore. That's not what
it's saying. In fact, look what it says. But God, a lot of people just miss this and just
completely ignore this part. But God hath called us to peace. Now they're either ignore
that or they're misconstrued to say, well, God gave me peace to divorce. I have that
peace in my heart. You know, I just, you know, I just have peace in my heart that God wants.
You already talked to God about this. He's already confirmed it. You know, you're full
of it. That's, that's garbage. And this is not what this is teaching because a synonym
for the word peace is what? Reconciled. Right? Now look at verse 11 of chapter seven because
he's reiterating in verse 15 what he said in verse 11, but, and if she depart, let her
remain unmarried or here's your next option. Be reconciled to her husband and let not the
wife, the husband put away his wife. So here are your options. Remain unmarried or you
can make peace, which is what? Reconciling yourself back to your former husband. Now,
if you're a former husband or wife remarries, then that option is no longer available. But
if they depart or they divorce, you still have, and they have not remarried, you still
have that option to be reconciled into your spouse. And in fact, the Bible tells us that
God has called you to peace. He has called you, you know, to reconcile that relationship.
You see, everyone wants the easy way out, don't they? Whereas the Bible tells us that
it's not always going to be roses and daisies. Sometimes you have to suffer. I mean, did
you see Jesus Christ? Does the Bible record Jesus Christ skipping to the cross? Does it
record him just taking? No, he suffered for righteousness sake. Therefore he's called
us as well to suffer. And God forbid if you're in such a case, yeah, that's your lot in life.
That's what you chose. Oh, you don't want to, you don't know him, you don't, but you
chose them. Hey, let me give you a wake up call. You chose them. No one put a gun to
your head, a shotgun to your belly and said, you know, you didn't have a shotgun wedding.
You chose. Now you're going to make your bed. Okay. So here are your options. You can just
remain unmarried or you can reconcile that relationship. And in fact, the Bible tells
us that we'll got to join together. Let no man put asunder. Jesus said that. So now you
got to go through the process of trying to reconcile that relationship. Yeah, but it
might take years. Yeah. It might take, it might take a lifetime. It might take a lifetime,
but you know what? It's, it's worth obeying the word of the Lord to do that and, and potentially
restore that relationship. Okay. Verse 16 of chapter seven says, for what knowest thou
old wife, whether thou shall save thy husband or how knowest thou old man, whether thou
shall save thy wife. You know what this is telling us here? Don't be wise in thine own
eyes. You know, you see the commandments of God and you automatically think you're the
exception to the rule. Well, how knowest thou old wife, whether thou shall save thy husband.
You don't know. And look, if you don't save your husband, if he doesn't get saved, if
it's not restored, you can at least rest assured knowing that you did everything you can on
your part throughout your entire life to try to restore that relationship. You know, and
look, most people say, well, I tried that. I tried that. They, they, they mean like once,
you know, try a lifetime. And look, this church and myself and the members of this church,
we despise divorce. You know, I don't care what it does to your emotions. Why don't you
think about the children? It screws up lives. And we will never condone divorce. We will
never say, well, you know, it's okay. And you can just, no, we will never condone divorce.
In fact, we'll ardently preach against it, look down on it and say that it's wicked.
Now, if you've been divorced, we're not preaching at you. You know what I'm preaching? I'm preaching
on those who have not yet been married or married and are potentially going through
a tough time. You know, divorce is wicked. It's wrong. Okay. And that's a sermon for
another day. Go back to first Peter chapter three. So we're talking about winning your
spouse and the way a woman can do that is by your chase conversation is by your submission
to your husband. You don't know my husband. Yeah. But you know, your husband's probably
like every other guy that's ever existed in this world. And God designed your husband,
right? He made him as less. So therefore God knows what he's talking about. If this is
what he commands you to do, have faith in him. And in fact, we'll see here of a woman
who had faith and guess what God rewarded her abundantly for it. Look at verse number
two, while they behold your chase conversation, coupled with fear, who's adorning, let it
not be the outward adorning of plaiting the hair and of wearing of gold or of putting
on of apparel, but let it be the hidden man of the heart and that which is not corruptible.
Even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price.
Now this is not stating that the plaiting of hair wearing of gold is sinful, because
if you're going to write that off as being sinful, then you have to write off putting
on of apparel as sinful as well. But you know what? Girls need to be dressed. Amen. What
this is saying is that the outward adorning is not as important as the ornament of a meek
and quiet spirit. So it's where the emphasis is placed. Okay. You know, you got the hoochie
mamas out in the world, who they, you know, they're dressed a certain way, provocative,
they may be beautiful looking on the outwardly, but inwardly they're full of dead men's bones.
Some of the most wicked, annoying ladies you ever meet in your life. You know what? You
can marry someone like that, but that gets old real fast. And after a while, I was just
like, man, this, I hate this girl. Okay. I've met people who feel that way because, you
know, looks are important. Don't get me wrong. You know, this should be important to you,
especially because you're going to spend the rest of your life with that person. You should
be happy with how your spouse looks like. But at the end of the day, you're going to
get old and so is she. And after a while, your love is supposed to grow to the point
where you admire the spirit. Okay. You know, we get old, we're going to get wrinkly. Okay.
I heard a joke one time where it was just like, what's up with these girls putting butterflies
in the, on their lower back tattoos? You know, he was like, they get, they get a tattoo at
the age of 20 of a butterfly. By the time they're 80, it's a pterodactyl. You know,
the outward is not as important. It's true though. It's true. You know, it's, it's not
as important as the inward man. And in fact, God says that's of great price. God says that
that's valuable. So what does this tell us? This tells us that a woman, you know, obviously
pay attention to your outward appearance. Don't, you know, don't be sloppy. Same thing
with the guys, you know, but at the same time, don't overemphasize the outward where you
completely neglect your inward man, where you're not reading your Bible. You're not
learning how to be being meek and quiet. You're not learning the virtue of submission,
the virtue of just having a meek and quiet spirit. This is valuable. Let me say this.
It's not only valuable in the sight of God. It's very valuable to men, specifically the
man who loves the Lord. That's the qualities that they seek in a woman is to have a meek
and quiet spirit. Someone who just loves the Lord. That's important. Okay. Why? Because
if a guy's reading this Bible, he's reading Proverbs chapter six, he's reading Proverbs
seven and nine, and just warning them about the, the, the, the clamorous woman. What is
clamorous woman? Well, it's someone who just yells all the time, just nagging, yelling,
nagging gets you nowhere. You know, nagging will get your husband and do the exact opposite
of what you're trying to get them to do. Cause it's just like, you know what to spite you
because you're nagging me. I'm just going to go ahead and do the opposite. Okay. That's
a fact. So that doesn't get anything done. What gets, what, what can influence your husband
to get, to get them to do what you want them to do? Your reverence, your submission, your
meek and quiet spirit. Okay. Now it says there, the, the meek and quiet spirit, which is in
the sight of God of great price. Let me see here. Go to a Proverbs chapter 21. Let's look
up some verses here. The Bible says in Proverbs nine 13, a foolish woman is clamorous. She
is simple and knoweth nothing. Proverbs 21 verse nine says it is better to dwell in the
corner of a house top than with the brawling woman in a wide house. Man, that stinks. So
if you have a wide house, it's like, yeah, I've always wanted this big house. Yeah. But
if you get yourself a, a brawling woman, you're going to, you're going to be residing on that
corner of that house top. That is more pleasurable for you than to dwell in a white house. If
you have a brawling contentious woman, okay. Who always wants to fight. They're argumentative.
You know, look at Proverbs 19 verse 13. It says here, a foolish son is the calamity of
his father and the contentions of a wife are a continual dropping. Now what does that refer
to when a continuous, has anybody ever had a leaky faucet that echoes really loud? It's like,
do it, do it, do it, do it, do it. You just go crazy. Well, God compares that to a contentious
wife. You're just annoying, right? That's what it means. Cause when you hear a continuous
driver, it's like, man, this is annoying. Well, a wife who's contentious, contentious,
who is brawling is annoying. Okay. The Bible says in Proverbs 21 verse 19, it's better to dwell in
the wilderness than with the contentious and an angry woman. What? So you, it's better to go bear
grills, just like eating rattlesnakes and drinking, you know, the Lord knows what. And then to be with
a contentious and an angry woman. Look, this is God's word. He's not exaggerating. I mean,
is God a man that he should lie? He's telling the truth. And in fact, you know, when men read this,
they know exactly what this means. Okay. So look, ladies, don't get mad at me. Okay. Don't be giving
me those looks. You know, this is the Bible and this is areas, look, and look, the men need to
grow obviously as well. They need to learn how to love the church and not be abrasive and mean to
their wives and talk down on them. And why are you so fat? And you know, that's not loving. That's
not loving at all. It's like, why don't you look, look at yourself in the mirror, buddy. So we,
we both have the responsibility. You said, why aren't you getting in on the men? Because, you
know, first Peter chapter three is focusing a lot of the ladies. Okay. Sorry. You know, go back to
first Peter chapter three. So this is important. You know, we don't need some psychological book
on how to deal with marriage. No, it's right here. You know, be in subjection, chaste and meek
and quiet spirit. These things are important. Okay. Look at verse five for after this manner,
the manner that we just read about in verses one through four, after this manner in the old time,
the holy women also who trusted in God, adorn themselves being in subjection to their own
husbands, even as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him Lord. Now don't breeze over that. Cause do
you remember how many mistakes Abraham made? And what does Sarah do? She just followed him. She
obeyed him. She referenced him. And in fact, she called him Lord. And if you study all the times
that she called him Lord, you'll never see her actually verbalizing it. The only time you see
her calling him Lord was in her heart. What does that say of Sarah? She had a great inward man. She
had a great perspective, even to the point where she wasn't just saying the right things. She
actually believed the right things in her heart. She said my Lord in reference to Abraham. That's
what she believed in her heart. This is for after this manner in the old time, the holy women also
who trusted in God, adorn themselves being in subjection to their own husband, even as Sarah
obeyed Abraham, calling him Lord, whose daughters ye are, as long as you do well and are not afraid
with any amazement. Go to Genesis chapter 18. Hold your place there in first Peter chapter three. So
here in verse six, we see some phrases and some terminologies that we see that are kind of
confusing. It can be confusing because it says whose daughters ye are, as long as you do well.
Now what does that refer to? Well, I believe it's in reference to just being in the spirit or in the
flesh. You know, it's almost like what we see in second Corinthians chapter six, where it says be
separate, say the Lord and touch not the unclean thing, and I will receive you and be a father
unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters. Obviously, when we believe on Christ, we're
children of God, but it's when we're walking in the spirit, we're obeying his commands, we're behaving
as children of God. So it says there whose daughters ye are, as long as you do well and are
not afraid with any amazement. Now what is that referring to? Well, if you remember the prior
verses in first Peter chapter three, it says that women are supposed to have a chase conversation
coupled with what? Fear. But here in verse six, it says and are not afraid with any amazement. What
is amazement? Well, it's something that just catches you by surprise. Okay, now let me read to you from
Hebrews 11 verse 11. It says through faith also Sarah herself received strength to conceive seed
and was delivered of a child when she was past age because she judged him faithful who had promised.
Now, I don't know if you noticed this, but when you read like Hebrews chapter 11, you read Romans
chapter 4, God tends to esteem Abraham and Sarah as being great people of faith, right? He's
staggering out at the promises of God. He was fully persuaded of that which he had promised.
He's able also to perform. But if you study their lives, it doesn't necessarily match up to that all
the time, does it? Because you see Abraham having a relapse in faith. You'll see him staggering at
times, but overall, he was a man of faith. And the same goes with Sarah. In Hebrews chapter 11
verse 11, it's esteeming her of being a woman of faith. But let's look at Genesis 18 verse 11. Now,
Abraham and Sarah were old and well-stricken in age, and it ceased to be with Sarah after the
manner of women. Therefore, Sarah laughed within herself saying, after I am waxed old, shall I have
pleasure, my Lord being old also? And the Lord said unto Abraham, wherefore did Sarah laugh,
saying, shall I of surety bear a child which am old? Is anything too hard for the Lord? At the
time appointed, I will return unto thee according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son.
Then Sarah denied, saying, I laughed not, for she was afraid. And he said, nay, but thou didst laugh.
You see, what happened here? She was afraid with amazement. Why is that? Because she wasn't
trusting in God. So the concept that we see in 1 Peter chapter 3 is that a woman's supposed to
be, have a chaste conversation coupled with fear, but at the same time, trust the Lord. Why? Because
there's going to be times when your husband makes a stupid decision. You're like, there's going to
be times when your husband makes mistakes. He's going to do stupid things. I'm a prophet. I'm
prophesying this. It's going to come to pass. They're going to do stupid things. They're going
to say dumb things. Why? Because they are fallible. Okay. They're going to make unwise decisions. So
you're like, man, how am I supposed to be in subjection and reverence when he's always making
stupid decisions? Well, be not afraid with any amazement. You trust in the Lord. You reverence
him and respect him and follow him as unto the Lord. I'm not talking about this, you know,
sinful things, by the way. I'm referring to just mistakes that we make because we have bad judgment
at whatever point, you know, but it says there that Sarah laughed because she didn't believe
that it could happen. So she wasn't trusting in the Lord. So that word amazement, that's what it's
referring to is that she was just like, it's not going to happen. You know, and the Bible says,
be not afraid of sudden fear. It says the fear of man bringeth the snare, but he that trusted
in the Lord shall be safe. So in times when your husband makes a dumb mistake, you know what you
do? You trust the Lord. It's like, I don't know if this is a good idea. Cause here's the thing,
you know, and by the way, there's nothing wrong with, if you think it's a bad idea to voice your
opinion and say, Hey, you know, what do you think about this? You see your husband will accept your
opinion. It all depends on how you deliver it though. You know what I mean? It's like,
that's a stupid idea. You always come up with the stupidest ideas. You know that I got a better
idea. It's just like, did you, who, the trigger, the husband is just triggered. He's like, you want
to trigger your husband? You know, you say, well, how am I supposed to do it? You'd say,
that's a great idea. How about this idea? What do you think about this? You know, or how about this?
You know, here's maybe a different way of seeing him. You know, I'm definitely all I'm all for.
And then at the end of that idea, delivering that idea, you say this, but whatever you want to do,
I'm all for it. You're like, but I'd be lying. Well then believe it before you say it. Right?
So if your husband comes up with a bad idea, say, well, what do you think about this? You know,
and then you lay it out for him and then you say, but whatever you decide, I'm all for it.
And you want more than likely your husband will do. He would adhere to your idea. If he's wise,
if he's walking with God, cause he's not trying to make your life a living hell. He wants to do
that, which is best for the family. But here's the thing. If you deliver your idea in a bad way,
he's just not going to do it. Okay. He'll eat his words later. He rather, he rather eat humble pie
later cause he's wrong than to just adhere to your talking down on him in the present. Okay.
Anyways, let's see here. Go back to first Peter. You know, during that time you trust in the Lord,
you commit yourself unto him that judges righteously is what you do. Okay. And pray for
your husband. You know, pray that God gives him wisdom, that God would lead him. Okay. Now verse
seven is the instruction to the husband. It says, likewise he husbands dwell with them according to
knowledge, giving honor unto the wife as into the weaker vessel and as being heirs together
with the grace of life that your prayers be not hindered. So here we see that the responsibility
of the husband, aside from what we see in Ephesians chapter five is that they dwell with their wives,
according to knowledge. What does that mean? You need to know your wife, know her emotionally,
spiritually, physically, what they're capable of handling and what they're not capable of handling.
Okay. Giving honor unto the wife, recognize that she's the weaker vessel. So you can't expect her
to take on bad news the way you would take bad news. When men take bad news, it's like, man,
well that stinks. You know, you just move on. Women are not like that. They dwell on certain
things. You know, we can just, we just need, you know, point A, point B, point C, just give me a
solution and move on. Give me a slice of pizza. I'll get over it. Ladies are not like that. You
know, they need security. We can sleep in our cars. They can't do that. Okay. Guys can rough
it out. Women cannot. Why? Because they are the weaker vessel. And obviously physically, mentally,
spiritually. Okay. So make sure you dwell with your wives according to knowledge. Give them honor.
And the Bible says here, if you don't do these things, your prayers are going to be hindered. So
that's a good incentive that God gives you to make sure that you are fulfilling your role as
a husband. Why? Because if you are a man of God who desires to do something for God, you're
praying. You're, you're requesting for things. But if you want to get those things, you need to make
sure you fulfill your role as a husband. See the responsibility becomes a lot greater when you get
married. Okay. These are the responsibilities that you have to take. Verse eight says, finally
be all of one mind, having compassion in one of another. Love is brethren, be pitiful, be courteous.
When it says love as brethren, what does that mean? Just be best friends. The relationship between
the husband and wife should be just relationship of best friends. You love as brethren. So it's not
like you just have this cold relationship, wife, husband, you know, we have children and you keep
the house. No, you got to get along. You know, she should be your best friend. He should be your best
friend. You guys should get along great. He said, well, we're not getting along right now. Then do
what you used to do when you got along. You know, do you remember the times you did get along? What
were you doing? Oh, you know, going out to eat, dating, laughing together. Well, you need to kind
of re-implement those things back in your life in order to establish that attitude once again. Look
what it says, not rendering evil for evil. So if he's like mean towards you, you don't become mean
back to get back at him. Not rendering evil for evil and likewise, or railing for railing. But
contrary wise, blessing, knowing that ye are there unto called that ye should inherit a blessing. See,
people who are married, we're blessed. It's a blessing to be married. We get to inherit a
blessing when we are married. That's what we're called unto. God is allowing a special blessing
upon those who are married if you fall into these roles. Okay. Now, verse 10 through 16, I'm not
going to spend a whole lot of time on because this is in reference to suffering. And there's a
lot of good truth in here, but a lot of this I already hit on in previous sermons. So I'm not
going to go over it completely. Let's see here. But we do see something in verse 10 through 16
that these sufferings are basically the sufferings that a man can go through. That it's not just for
a woman to go through with her husband, but sometimes a man can receive railing or sufferings
at the hand of the world, at the hand of the enemies of God. That's why it tells us in verse
15, but sanctify the Lord God in your hearts and be ready always to give an answer to every man,
to asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear. So just as the woman's
supposed to have meekness and fear towards her husband, we're just supposed to have meekness and
fear towards the world or people who were trying to win to Christ, to represent Christ well. Okay.
Now, let's see here. Okay. Now we're going to get into some meaty stuff. Okay. And this is
going to require for you to pay attention because it's verses 18 through 22, it's a meaty portion
of scripture. And unfortunately, a lot of false teachers and false prophets have used these
portions of scripture to really teach a lot of stupid doctrine. Okay. And it's interesting
because it was Peter who penned the words that, you know, things that are hard to be understood,
they that are unlearned and unstable, rest. You see false prophets and false teachers don't go
for John 3 16. That's too clear. They go for the more obscure scriptures. They can be very
confusing at times. If you don't, if you haven't read through the Bible multiple times, if you
don't compare scripture with scripture, but let me give you a list of false doctrines that are
taught from here. Number one, Abraham's bosom. It's false. It's stupid. It's the dumbest doctrine
ever. Okay. You said, what is Abraham's bosom? Well, Abraham's bosom, according to them,
the hyper dipsticks, as I like to call them, is the second compartment next to hell.
So you have hell in the center of the earth and, you know, you go, you go through all the layers
of, of, of, of rock. You get into hell. Well, right next to it, there's a little place called Abraham's
bosom. Now, I don't know how that works if it's, you know, people who believe in Abraham's bosom
have to believe that the earth is flat. They can't believe it's, it's, it's, it's a sphere because
how would that, you know, how does that work? So it's the second compartment of hell, but they also
call it paradise. And they get that from Luke 23. Okay. When Jesus told the thief on the cross,
today, thou shall be with me in paradise. And they're like, Abraham's bosom.
That's the second compartment right there. It's paradise. Okay. And then they also call it prison
and they get that from first Peter chapter three. So Abraham's bosom is paradise, but it's also
prison. Thank you. Okay. So it's prison, but it's paradise. Okay. Now these are the false doctrines
that have been taught from these scriptures. And they'll take a statement like verse 19,
where it says that Jesus went and preached unto the spirits in prison and they'll say,
there you go. He went, when he died, he went into that second compartment,
preaches greatest sermon ever on the gospel. They got saved. And I'm not joking with you.
This is what they believe because what they believe in regards to Abraham's bosom is that
people who died in the old Testament, under the old covenant, if they believed on Christ
and they also did works, they, they went to Abraham's bosom. It was like level one.
You got to the level one. So they get to level one, which is Abraham's bosom.
Jesus Christ dies. He goes to the second compartment and then he preaches the gospel
unto them. Now this is so stupid because you have the story of the Richmond and Lazarus.
You know, Lazarus is seeing the rich man burn in hell, according to them. Right.
And then you, so you think like when Jesus Christ came, it was just like,
he's preaching to God. He's like, I don't know, man. It looks pretty good over there where,
where the Richmond is, you know, it looks pretty good. I think I'm gonna just stay here.
So what they're saying is that these people who are in Abraham's bosom have a choice to deny the
gospel. So you think people who've been there for like hundreds of years and I'm not, I don't
believe in Abraham's bosom, but according to them, you think people who've been there for
hundreds of years who have viewed hell, then Jesus Christ comes and is like, yeah,
let's see what you got. You know, get me out of here. You know, bless me. I dare you. You know,
it's just like, it's such a stupid doctrine. So Jesus Christ comes, he preaches the gospel.
Everyone believes. And then they're all taking up. And now there's this just like vacancy,
you know, now there's a vacant lot and people were burning in hell. I was like, what's that,
what's that thing over there? It was called Abraham's bosom. There's people over there back
in the day, you know, and then Jesus came and stupid stuff, but they get it from verses like
this. They take verses like this and completely twist it and construe it and pervert it to, to,
to mean this stupid doctrine. Look at verse 18. It says, for Christ also had 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 by which also he went and preach unto the spirits in prison.
So what they'll state is that when it says being put to death in the flesh,
verse 19 says by which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison. So what they think
there were that it's stating or what they're twisting it to say is that when he died,
by that death of his flesh, he went and preached unto the spirits of prison. But that's not what
it says. It says, but quickened by the spirit, by the witch, by what? By the spirit. He went
and preach unto the spirits in prison. Very simple. How do you preach the Bible? By the
spirit. Yup. Amen. Pretty simple. Ah, that's a stretch. Go to Isaiah 42.
No, a stretch is Abraham. That's such a stretch. It's a terror. Okay. You're pulling a muscle at
that point. Look at verse six. It says here, I, the Lord have called thee in righteousness
and will hold thine hand and will keep thee and give thee for a covenant of the people,
for a light of the Gentiles to open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from prison,
from the prison and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house. Now, is this referring
to a literal prison? No. What is this referring to? Well, someone who is not saved is often
referred to as being bound. You see that in Romans chapter six, you see that throughout the Bible,
the new Testament, that someone who is unsaved is bound in sin. They're bound by the wages of sin.
They're what the Bible referred to as being imprisoned. Okay. And this is talking about
Jesus Christ and he's going to open the blind eyes. He's going to bring out the prisoners
from the prison and then them sit in darkness out of the prison house. Go to Isaiah 61.
So when it says that he's preaching to the spirits in prison, it's not referring to the fact that
Jesus went to Abraham's bosom and preached to the Old Testament saints. Spirit is just referring to
people. No, it's not. Every person has a spirit. And in fact, when someone gets saved, let me give
you a new slash here. What gets saved is your spirit. Because when we're preaching to someone,
we're not preaching to their flesh. We're preaching to their spirit. Why? Because the flesh
does not adhere to the things of God. You know, it doesn't want to adhere to the law of God,
but the spirit does. Okay. Look at Isaiah 61 and verse number one, the spirit of the Lord God is
upon me. This is Jesus Christ because the Lord has anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meat.
He has sent me to bind up the broken hearted, to proclaim liberties to the captives and the
opening of the prison to them that are bound. So by the witch is referring to the spirit,
by the witch he preached unto them. Okay. Now go to Luke chapter four. I think that's pretty
easy to understand and see according to the scriptures that this is not, Abraham's bosom
is not mentioned here. Paradise is not mentioned here. What's being mentioned? Jesus Christ
preaching to spirits who are in prison, which means to be bound by the spirit. It makes more
sense and goes along with every other verse in the Bible in regards to preaching the gospel.
Because in order to preach the gospel, you gotta be filled with the spirit. You do it by the spirit.
Now look at Luke four verse 18. This is Jesus Christ reading this. He says,
the spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor.
He has sent me to heal the broken hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives and
recovering of sight to the blind, to sit at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the
acceptable year of the Lord. And he closed the book and gave it again to the minister and sat
down and the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him. And he began to
say to them, this day is the scripture fulfilled in your ears. So was it fulfilled when he died?
No, it was not fulfilled when he died. According to them it was, but according to the Bible,
according to Isaiah 61, according to Luke chapter four, this scripture was fulfilled right then and
there because he's preaching the word of God unto people who are not saved. And when they get saved,
they're no longer bound under the law. Okay. Does that make sense? Pretty simple. Okay.
Now go back to first Peter, go to chapter four. I'm going to steal some more of your time tonight.
Okay. Cause I want to get to this baptism thing because this is important. Okay. So, you know,
sorry, if you're going to miss your show afterwards and you know,
Hey, uh, little Caesars is open until 10. Arts is open until 12. So, you know,
in and out is open until one o'clock. So you're in good company. Okay.
Look at first Peter chapter four versus number, uh, look at verse number six.
It says for this cause for, for this cause was the gospel preached also to them that are dead,
that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit.
Now this is important because in first Peter chapter three, go, go back to chapter three
and verse 20, look what it says, which sometime were disobedient. So these
spirits in prison were sometimes disobedient, disobedient to what the gospel, because you look
at chapter number two, you know, where it talks about that Christ was rejected of the Pharisees.
At times they were disobedient. They rejected the, the, the, the cornerstone. The Bible says
that's what that's referring to because you can become disobedient to the gospel,
which sometime were disobedient when once the long suffering of God waited in the days of Noah,
while the art was a preparing where in few that is eight souls were saved by water.
Now, a lot of false doctrine has been taught from this right here. And verse number 21.
So he uses Noah as an example. Okay. To show, and look the most perplexing verse to a lot of people
is the latter end of verse 20, eight souls were saved by water. Okay. Now let me ask you this,
did the water save Noah and his family? No, not a trick question guys. You know,
water drowned a lot of people. Water killed the entire world, but Noah. Okay. Let me, let's go
back to Noah's story. Okay. What saved Noah? The ark, which is a picture of salvation. Okay.
The ark saved them. Go to Genesis chapter six, hold your place there in first Peter. Let's look
at that real quick. Okay. But it says in first Peter chapter three, the eight were saved by
water. Okay. Look at Genesis chapter six and verse number one, it says, and it came to pass
when men began to multiply on the face of the earth and daughters were born into them, that the
sons of God saw the daughters of men, that they were fair. And they looked them. Why are, excuse
me? They took them wives of all which they chose. And the Lord said, my spirit shall not always
strive with man for that he also has flesh. Yet his days shall be 120 years. There were giants
in the earth in those days. And also after that, when the sons of God came in, came in onto the
daughters of men and they bear children to them, the same became mighty men, which were of old men
of renown. And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth and that every imagination
of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And it repented the Lord that he
had made man on earth and agreed them at his heart. And the Lord said, I will destroy man
whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man and beast and the creeping thing and the
fowls of the air for it repented me that I have made them, but Noah found grace in the eyes of
the Lord. So what's taking place here? The world has become wicked. The only people that are saved
are Noah and his family. Eight people were saved. Okay. The rest were destroyed by water. Okay.
So you said, well, how is it that they were saved by water then if they were rescued by the ark?
Well, when we talk about being saved, we're talking about going to heaven,
but what does that also include? Not going to hell. You see what I'm saying? So when you remove
the wickedness from the land, you are basically saved because of the fact that that wickedness
is no longer there. You didn't die with the people in that water. So to say that they were saved by
water would make sense simply for the fact that they were not under that judgment, that wrath
of God. In fact, that wrath fell upon someone else. And because of that, they were able to be
saved by the ark. For example, if we're to pay for our sins, we would go to hell, but who went
to hell for us? Jesus Christ. So through his suffering, through his sacrifice, through him
receiving the wrath of God, we are saved. Does that make sense? Now here's where it gets deep.
Look at verse 21. It says, the like figure, where unto 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. Now about a year and a half ago, I went to war with this
church of Christ rejecter guy, Caleb Robinson. Yeah. Thanks. This little faggot looking guy on
YouTube, you know, his little queer perjured little mouth, just line up and down. He's his
baptism regeneration guy. Right. And this is obviously his favorite verse right here,
you know, and he was just, he just believed baptism can save him. I rather than just have
him keep believing that, you know, I believe the guy's a reprobate and you know, he's twice
dead, plucked up by the roots, but unfortunately, you know, there's a lot of people that get caught
up in this and they don't know how to answer this. Now, different people will say different things.
They'll state that the baptism that does also now save us. Obviously we remove, if you remove
the parentheses there, you can basically say the light figure we're into even baptism does also now
save us by the resurrection of Jesus Christ. And we can go home because that would make sense.
But here's the thing. This is not referring to our baptism, which a lot of people view it that way.
They believe where it says the light figure referring to the water and the flood is referring
to us when it says baptism that also now save us. The baptism there is not referring to us
because it states by the resurrection of Jesus Christ. You see, one thing you have to understand
is that in the Bible there's different baptisms. Right. Okay. Now obviously the Bible states one
baptism, one faith, but that one baptism, one faith is not referring to the physical
water baptism. Okay. What is it referring to? Well, go with me if you would to,
let's see here, go to Colossians chapter two. Let's look at some things here.
See the flood was a figure of what saves us by the putting away of the flesh.
Because in verse 21 it says not the putting away of the flesh. So why is it saying not the putting
away of the flesh? Because in Noah's day, the putting away of the flesh is what saved Noah
and his family because they received the wrath of God whereas the Noah and his family did not.
The difference is here is that though it's a light figure, it's not the putting away of the
filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God. You say, what does that
mean? It's when we profess Christ to be our savior. Okay. The answer of a good conscience
toward God. The answer by the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Now, let me read to you from
1 Corinthians 12, 13 says, for by one spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews
or Gentiles, whether we be bond and free and have been all made to drink into one spirit. Look at
Colossians two verse 11, in whom also you are circumcised with the circumcision made without
hands and the putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ,
buried with them in baptism, wherein also you're arisen with him through the faith of the operation
of God who hath raised him from the dead and you being dead in your sins and your circumcision
uncircumcision of your flesh hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all
trespasses. Go to Luke chapter 12. He said, well, that still doesn't answer what kind of baptism
you're talking about. Okay. Well, we're not referring to a water baptism.
The baptism that we're referring to, because remember in verse 20 and 21, it says by the
resurrection of Jesus Christ. So when we baptize someone physically, we say, we get him in water,
we say buried in the likeness of his death, raised in the likeness of his resurrection,
right? It's supposed to picture something there. Well, look at Luke 12 verse 49.
Jesus Christ speaking here says, by the way, this is after he was physically baptized.
Just keep that in mind. So he's not referring to his physical baptism by John the Baptist.
Look at verse 49. I am come to send fire on the earth and what will I if it be kindled already,
but I have a baptism to be baptized with and how am I straightened till it be accomplished? Let me
give you a little news flash here. He's not referring to water baptism. What is the baptism
he's referring to? Going to hell. Being immersed and going to hell. That is the baptism that he
was going to be baptized with, which is complete fire, which would make sense. According to first
Peter chapter three, verse 20 and 21, that it says, baptism does also now save us by the
resurrection of Jesus Christ. Who's baptism. Jesus is baptism. So how does baptism save us? Well,
not our baptism, but the baptism of Jesus Christ, the fact that he died, he went to hell and he
resurrected. That's how we're saved. Why? Because he was delivered for our offenses
and raised again for our justification. So a lot of people get confused in regards to baptism
does also now save us. They automatically apply that to themselves when in actuality,
the baptism that it's talking about there is actually Jesus Christ's baptism by his
resurrection. Okay. Does that make sense to everyone? Now go to Romans chapter number six.
So the Noah's flood gives us a good picture of what this is because what happened? Flesh died,
right? Flesh died and these eight people were saved. Okay. Now when we get saved,
what does the Bible say? That we're crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, we live yet not I,
but Christ liveth in me and the life which I now live. I live by the faith of the son of God
who loved me and gave himself for me. And the Bible says that our flesh is crucified
with Christ when we, when we got saved. Okay. Now look at Romans six, verse three,
know ye not that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death.
Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death that like as Christ was raised up from the
dead by the glory of the father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have
been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall also be in the likeness of his
resurrection, knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin
might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. So what is it telling us here?
It's telling us that when we were baptized with Jesus Christ into his death, the flesh was
crucified. And in fact, in Galatians, it says, and they that have, that are Christ have crucified the
flesh with the affections and lust. Now I know this is deep. Okay. And you're probably like,
he said, arts, he said, little Caesars. And he said, in and out. Okay. But that's all right.
Okay. That's okay. You can, it's being recorded. So you can listen to this later. Okay.
After you had your food, what I'm trying to get across here is the fact that the Bible's teaching
us through the example of Noah and the flood that just as in Noah's day, flesh was destroyed.
No, the, the, the, the filth of the flesh was destroyed. Right. And Noah and his family were
saved in like a manner in like manner, our salvation, when we got saved through the
baptism of Jesus Christ, by him dying for us being our propitiation. Okay. You know,
our flesh was also crucified with him that the body of sin might be destroyed. Now, obviously
we still have, we still live in this flesh. And in fact, no parable, no example is ever perfect.
Okay. Because the difference with us is that we're still waiting the redemption of our body.
Okay. Now let's see here. Okay. Go back to first Peter chapter three.
So it says there, the light figure we're into even baptism does also now save us. Not the
putting away of the filth of the flesh like in Noah's day. Okay. But the answer of a good
conscience toward God by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who's gone into heaven is on the
right hand of God, angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto him. So what do
we see in verses 19 to 22? Well, we see that Jesus Christ, okay. Preached unto the spirits in prison
when he came, just as Noah preached by that same spirit in the days of Noah. You know, we talk
about the, the, the spirit and power of Elijah, the John, the Baptist had same spirit by which
they preached. He was a preacher of righteousness who preached to those who were disobedient in his
day. Okay. Does that make sense? While the ark was a preparing wherein few that is eight souls
were saved by fire by water, excuse me. And how were they saved? Well, it wasn't the putting away
the filth of the flesh. Those people died in the flood. They were saved just like us. So when we
get saved, our flesh is not put away. We don't die like automatically when we get saved, but
spiritually speaking, our flesh is crucified with them, that the body of sin might be destroyed.
So it's pretty simple. And this is not, I know this is deep and a lot of people who are
perverts of the Bible, they'll say, Oh yeah, that's why you got to go so deep. Cause you
can't really explain it. No, that's why you got to pervert it. You know, these people pervert it
because they get these obscure scriptures and thank God that the Bible is profound. Amen.
I'm thankful that it's not like a book that you just completely understand what you read. Once
you read it through from cover to cover once there are some difficult doctrines to understand and to
explain, but once you study it out and you compare scripture with scripture, it's right there. Okay.
So we're not saved by a physical baptism. We're saved by the baptism of Jesus Christ. The fact
that he was baptized, he was, he died, he was buried and he resurrected from the grave. Amen.
Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Father, we thank you so much for your word
and we thank you for the depth thereof. I pray that you'd continue to help us Lord to understand
your word and Lord to close the mouth of the gainsayers. So many people out there that wanted
to discredit the Bible. I pray that you continue to endow us with wisdom and knowledge that the
Holy Spirit of God will continue to teach us. We're thankful for the death, the burial and the
resurrection of Jesus Christ. And that's something that we're going to be celebrating. We celebrate
every Sunday, but obviously there's a time once a year that we celebrate that as a church just to
remember that. And I pray God that we take this into account. The fact that when Jesus Christ
died, he did go to hell and he resurrected. And by that we are saved, Lord. We're so thankful for it
and bless us as we go on our way. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.