1 Peter 3 The title and the subject, if
you looked at the bulletin, is the ornament of meekness or the
beauty of meekness. You know how the Lord says, talks
often about the beauty of holiness. Worship the Lord in the beauty
of holiness. Meekness. Meekness means humility. Meekness. And there's nothing
more beautiful than humility, is there? I think it was John
Calvin, John Bunyan, I don't know, one of those Johns, said
the three most beautiful characteristics are humility, humility, and humility. Our Lord was, as a man, meek
and lowly. Didn't He say that? Take my yoke
upon you and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart,
as a man. And He said, you'll find rest
for your soul. There's rest, there's peace.
wearing this adornment, this ornament of meekness. It means
to be submissive. Meek is not weak. Our Lord was
anything but weak. Moses was the meekest man on
earth. He was not weak. He stood in
the face of the most powerful man on earth and said, let my
people go. He had to be a strong man to
lead two million people It means to be submissive. That means to submit to God. Be patient. Endure. Quietly endure
whatever the Lord sends your way. And whatever it is, it is
the Lord. Right? Moses knew that. Our Lord certainly knew that.
So he begins with verse 1, likewise, you wives, be in subjection,
subject to the authority of your own husbands. And if any obey
not the word, they also may an unbelieving husband, or vice
versa, may, without the word, be won by the conversation of
the wife. Now it begins likewise. This
is another unfortunate, I hate to use the term unfortunate,
it's providential, Lord, but it's just not a good chapter
division. Likewise. You don't begin a thought
with likewise. He was speaking of servants. He just spoke of servants being
subject to their masters or their employees with all fear. Not fear of man, but the fear
of God. So likewise, he said, ye wives
be in subjection, subject to, under the authority of your husband. in the fear of the Lord. Look
at verse 6 here. It says, Sarah obeyed Abraham,
calling him Lord, or Sir. The term, small l, it means Sir. It means a title of great respect
and honor. Mr. That's where, you know, we
get the term Mr. and Mrs., master and mistress. Mistress is short for Mrs., and
mister is master, and that's where we get those terms, mister.
And, you know, young people in the South are taught to say yes
sir and yes ma'am and not refer to adults by their first name.
Usually this is called Mr. John or Miss Jeanette, right? It's just a term. of honor and
respect is what it is. And verse 6 says, Sarah obeyed
Abraham. Now, this day and age, there's
not a word more goes against the flesh more than
obey. They've taken this out of marriage
vows. All right? Why obey your husband? Where'd that come from? God's
Word, right? 2 Timothy 3, which speaks of the
last days and perilous time, begins this way. They're lovers
of self. It's all about me. No, it's not
about you. Nothing's about you. You're just
one of the billions of others just like you, you're just part
of it all. And it's not about you. We come
into this world crying, why? Me, mine, help me, somebody tend
to me. No, no, it ain't about you. You're
brought into this world, we're put in this world not for you,
but for others. Number one, for God's glory.
God's glory. And for others, right? Serve. Lovers of self, it talks about
being proud, boasters. This generation is no other. Heady. The word means attitude. And that's lauded today, that's
encouraged today. That's not the exception, it's
the rule now. And young people are even encouraged
to have an attitude. Meaning, act up, rebel, question
authority. That's not what God says. That
all authority is of God. And you disobey. You're a rebel
against authority. You're a rebel against God. Rebels. That's the rule today. Question all authority. Mankind
hates authority because he hates God. He hates law. He hates any
restraints upon his sin, his passions, his freedom to do as
his will. When God saves a rebel, when
God saves, and we're all rebels by nature, that's Romans 1, Romans
3, it talks about all of us by nature. Psalm 14. When God saves a rebel, he breaks
his or her heart. First thing, breaks their stubborn,
rebellious will. subdues him or her, subdues,
yes, puts them in subjection. He takes a God-hating rebel and
makes them willing to submit. Yea, not just willing, but wanting
to submit, wanting to be under the will, the rule, the reign
of their Lord. Humble, obedient, humbles them. He makes them meek and mild,
like that wild ass's coat that no one had ever ridden. The Lord
said, you go and loose him and bring him to me. I'm going to
ride him. That was the purpose of that
wild ass's cult. To be in submission, subjection
to his Lord. His Lord may be glorified in
breaking such a wild creature. So, and this, so this is to wives,
it's to servants, husbands, children, and it says submit, be in subjection,
be in subjection. All authority is of the Lord. He that resisteth, resisteth
the Lord. Be in subjection. Patiently take what comes your
way. Whatever it is, it is the Lord. Okay? Whatever it is. The children
of Israel were under hard taskmasters, weren't they? Who did that? God did. It turned out good,
didn't it? So, and look at verse 16, it
talks about a good conscience. And verse 16, a good conversation. Scripture says, Our Lord witnessed
a good profession before Pontius Pilate. Our Lord, as a man, as
our second Adam, as our covenant head, witnessed a good profession,
meek and lowly and submissive. Good conversation, conduct before
a godless world, for a world that hates authority. God's people
say, no, we love authority. We will have this man reign over
us. We honor the king. Verses 1 and 2 says that maybe
the unbelieving husband will be won without the word by the
conversation, the good conversation of the wife. Verse 2, while they
behold your chaste conversation or conduct or life coupled with
fear. Now, no one is saved without
God's Word. He's not talking about salvation
yet. The Word of God is His power. There's only one way any rebel
is saved. It's by the Gospel of our Savior.
You know that. What he's saying here is maybe
a husband, an unbelieving husband, or wife for that matter, will
be won over, subdued, or conquered by this submissive attitude,
this godly, Christ-like attitude. The hardest heart or tempered,
or a domineering man, may be, may be, not always, but may be,
won over. Verse 16, we just read that,
it says that they may speak of you as evildoers, but maybe they'll
be ashamed that falsely accuse your good conversation in Christ. Even Judas, and I'm not saying
Judas was convicted unto salvation, but even Judas, after he betrayed
the Lord, said, I betrayed him. I had betrayed a good man. A good man. And you know, the goodness
of God leads us to repentance. So this is the rule here. This
is the principle. This principle is taught throughout
the scriptures. Our Lord began his earthly ministry
with these words, blessed. Blessed are the poor. Blessed
are the meek. They shall inherit the earth.
No, the world says the strong, only the strong will survive.
Walk over anybody it takes to get what you want. No, no, no,
no. Our Lord said, you'll be trodden underfoot sometime. If
you bite and devour, you'll be a devourer. But no, blessed are
the meek. They shall inherit the earth.
This is what the Lord said. Our Lord said, turn the other
cheek. Didn't He? Did He do that? He
said, I gave my cheeks for them to pluck out my beard. Yes, He
did. Chapter 2, verse 23 says, When
he was reviled, reviled not again, he suffered, he threatened not,
he committed himself to him that judges righteous. Scriptures
tells us overcome evil with good. Verse 9 of chapter 3, look at
it. Not rendering evil for evil, railing for railing, but contrary
wise, blessing, knowing that ye are there unto called. To
do what? Not curse, but bless. And the scriptures, this is the
principle, overcome evil with good, a soft answer turns away
wrath. This is wisdom, and it's true. Where no wood is, a fire will
go out. Our Lord said, avenge not yourself. He said, vengeance is mine. I
will repay the Lord's. I will repay the Lord's just.
Every sin shall receive a just recompense of reward. All our
sins were laid on crack. Our Lord suffered justly at the
hands of God for every sin we committed. And every sin, every
wrong will be paid for. Every right will be rewarded. Everything. Nobody gets away
with anything. Why? Because God is just. And His eyes behold, His eyelids
try the sons of men. He reigns, He rules over all.
He is just. He deals justly. Don't take vengeance
upon yourself. The Lord, that belongs to Him. But verse 9 says, contrarywise,
blessing. The opposite. And the opposite
effect will bring the opposite effect. That's what we want,
isn't it? Peace. Blessed are the peacemakers. So, the fruit
of righteousness is sown in peace by them that make peace. Make
peace. Alright, look at verse 2 in chapter
3. It says, while these unbelieving husbands, and the other way,
there are people married to unbelieving wives. They behold your chaste
conversation coupled with fear. Chaste means clean. It means
pure. It means innocent. It means modest. That's what
it means. It's a sad day when we don't
want to hear these words. Godliness, meekness, holiness,
purity, modesty, chastity. That's our Lord. I just described
our Lord. You know what makes Him so beautiful?
He's chaste. He's pure. He's holy. He's godly. Holy. Harmless. Separate from sinners.
Undefiled. Separate from sinners. That's
the way I want to be. I hope to hold His face in righteousness.
Not my own, but His. But I'm not going to be satisfied
until I awake with that light. I hate this old man in me. He's
a source of all my troubles. And everybody else is around
me. I want to be done with this fella. Don't you? Lord, subdue
this wild ass's cult. Isn't that what you're saying? Oh, make me like our Lord. Holy,
harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners. He was a friend
of sinners. He was among sinners. He dwelt
among sinners. He wasn't like them. It says, verse 2, coupled with
fear. Fear God. You know we're not
supposed to fear any man. That brings a snare. I'm not
telling women to fear your husband. Oh, no. I've already said if
a man tells a woman to do something contrary to God's Word, no sir,
don't do it. Don't do it because you're married
to another. You're married to Christ first. So, these words,
and these words about submission and subjection are not good advice. The Lord doesn't give advice. My father never gave me advice. Whatever he told me was coupled
with fear. Son, but it was good. You had a good dad, didn't you?
Oh, such a good man. I did too. Such a good father. He did what he said, what he
said in love and what was best for me. And the name I adore. So verse 3 says, who's adorning,
and this is the title, adorning, the adornment of meekness, the
beauty of meekness. Let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting
the hair and wearing of gold or putting on apparel. He's not
forbidding these things. He's not forbidding you to put
on apparel. Do you understand? We put on apparel. We better
when we come here. I can't tell you how many times
I've ever dreamed that you've been naked. All the time. Standing out in the middle of
the street naked. Why do I have those dreams? Because all things
are naked before the eyes of him or to whomever. One time
I dreamed that I showed up preaching and didn't have my pants on.
And my dad was there and he chewed me. He took me back in the back.
He chewed me. What do you think you're doing?
Why'd they bring you there? Just because it's funny. That's
why. We all have that dream, don't we? He's not talking about
don't put on gold or these things. Not at all. He's talking about
this is the adornment. that we're speaking of, it's
not the putting on of corruptible things. We know we're not redeemed
with corruptible things such as silver and gold and your vain
conversation, but what? With the precious blood of Christ.
We're not redeemed with those things, and we don't adorn ourselves
with these corruptible things. This is not what makes us beautiful. Adorn him. Adorn him means make
beautiful. What is it that makes, just say
it, what made our Lord so beautiful is this holy character? Well,
this is what he's saying. And there are people all over
that adorn themselves, you know, the Amish and the German Baptists
and people like that, the Mennonites and all that, and they adorn
themselves in such a way to make you think that they're holy.
That doesn't prove that they're holy. The Jews are certainly
strict. The Muslims are more strict than
anybody. No women cover themselves more
like than the Muslim women do. They're covering everything with
their eyes and showing. I mean, hidden. They only show with their
eyes. Are they holy people? Yeah, my
God. That's just what he's saying. That doesn't prove you're holy.
That doesn't make you beautiful. What does? Look at verse 4, the
hidden man of the heart, that new creature in Christ, and that
which is not corruptible, the ornament of a meek and quiet
spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price. What did
it take to create a new creature in you of great price? The blood
of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanses this. Oh my, what it took. Our Lord who was holy, God sent him to this cesspool. We can't even enter into that.
What is it like for our Lord to come to this despicable place?
Everything and everyone was obnoxious to His holy nature. And God sent
Him down here. Why? To redeem us. Us gomers. To buy us gomers off the auction
block of sin. To beautify us like that child
thrown out in the field. And the Lord adorned her, didn't
He? The pearls and gold covered her, didn't it? What price did
it take to make us His people? The price of God's Son. It'd
be like if somehow or another I could save people, those men
on death's row. You've seen some of those families,
haven't you? Would you give your child to save one of those despicable
families? Would I take little Sophie and
cast her in the midst of that and say, have at her? No, I wouldn't. But that's what
God did. Ah, great pride. And inside of
God is commendable. Commendable. A meek and quiet
spirit. I was going to go to Ephesians
4, Philippians, Colossians, all the way through, put off, put
on, put off, put on, put off, put on, over and over and over
and over again, put off, put off that despicable fellow, put
on the new man, over and over again. We're told this. This is the adornment. And again,
I say this, remind us, our Lord did. Pray without ceasing. Without
Him, we can do nothing. We ask Him, wake up in the morning,
Lord, put this old man off and let me adorn Thy doctrine, Thy
gospel. I do want you to turn there,
Titus 2. This is what the gospel does. This is why God saves sinners,
okay? It tells us this, Titus chapter
2. Titus chapter 2, and it begins
in chapter 1 about the truth which is after godliness. That's
what chapter 1 verse 1 says. The whole gospel, the whole thing
of salvation is after godliness. Why? To make us like Christ.
That's what we wanted. In chapter 2, he says, speak
the things which become sound doctrines, whether instructions
to old men, instructions to old women, to teach, verse 3, that
they be in behavior that becometh holiness, becoming to, adorning,
not false accusers, not giving them wine, but teachers of good
things, to teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands,
to love their children, to be discreet, chaste. Keepers at
home, obedient to their husband. Do you like that? If you don't,
you're not a daughter of Abraham. You're not a daughter of God.
I hear women. I hear them all. I hear their
women. I know. I hear them roar in numbers too
big to ignore. I hear them. God hears them too. I can't imagine a believing woman
not submitting, not liking this. You know, all of God's... Paul
talked about marriage as being a picture of Christ in the church.
That's what it is. And every one of us are Christ's
bride. We're kept women. We're weak. We're the weaker vessel. That's
just true of it. We want Him to take care of us. I don't want to rule. Do you?
Do you want to rule your life? I don't know. I want Him to. This is a godly woman. This is a woman saved by the
grace of God. Look at chapter 2 of Titus. It
says down in verse 9, exhort servants to be obedient. Not
arguing, not back-talking. Verse 11, the grace of God that
brings salvation hath appeared to all men. Have they not all
heard? Yes, barely everyone. It teaches us denying ungodliness
and worldly lust. This is what the Gospel teaches
us. To live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world,
looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearance of the
great God and our Savior Jesus Christ. who gave himself for
us, here's why, that he might redeem us from all iniquity,
purify unto himself a peculiar people. The longer, the more
wicked and vile and perverse this world become, the more peculiar
these things will be. A people zealous of good work,
that whereas they speak, and these things speak, And down
in verse, let's see, where is it? Adorn the Doctrine. Somebody
tell me. Let me adorn the Doctrine. Verse 7, good works, the Doctrine
showing goodness. It's there. All right, go back
to the tape. 1 Peter. This was our Lord and this is
His people that knew man. He says, take my yoke upon you,
submit, wait, just wait, you'll settle. And then He gives Sarah
as an example. Sarah, my dad pronounces the
name, Sarah. After this matter, verse 5, holy
women who trusted in God adorned themselves, being in subjection
unto their own husbands. Now Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling
him Lord, or Sir, whose daughters are you, as long as you do well,
or are like her, and not afraid with any amazement, that is,
fearful of your rights being violated, afraid of your husband? No, no, no, no. Let me just read
you my pastor's comments on these following verses. It cannot be
improved upon. It says, this is the example
set for us by all the women of the past who trusted in God.
Their adorning and their marks of beauty came not from outward
wardrobes or jewelry and so forth, but they were in subjection to
the rule of God, the law of God, submissive wives, and good mothers. And we just read in Titus 2. less attractive, nothing is uglier
than a woman trying to rule her home or rule the church. And
I do want to show you a passage of scripture, Isaiah chapter
3. I have, people, I literally have
hundreds of verses of scripture to give you and every son, every
Lord, hundreds, but we just don't have time to look them up. But
Isaiah 3, as you know, Isaiah 1 talks about God's professing
people, the whole head is sick, the whole heart is faint. It's
a picture of today. In chapter 2, the land is full
of silver and gold and idols and so forth. He tells his people,
enter into the rock, hide in the dust, the lofty looks of
man, they're going to come down. In chapter 3, you know these
verses, but I want you to look at them. Verse 9. It says, The
show of their countenance doth witness against them. They declare
their sin as Sodom. They hide it not. Act up. Woe unto their soul! They have
rewarded this evil unto themselves. Say to the righteous, It will
be well with him. Don't you love that? They shall eat the fruit of their
doing. Woe unto the wicked! It shall be ill with him. The
reward of his hands shall be given him. Ask for my people.
Here it is, verse 12. Children are their oppressor.
Children used to be seen and not heard. Children used to be
in subjection. Children are just that. Children. They're not supposed
to run the show. How is it now, Brother Stephen?
It's the other way around here. Disobedient to parents. Read
on. And women, cruel over there. It's not supposed to be that
way. You know what? There was one woman ruler in
the scriptures. It was Deborah. Why? You know why that is? Judges. Why? Because there was
no king in history. It was so decadent. It was so
vile. It was so ungodly. There was
no man. There was not one man worth ruling
over the people. and Deborah, but she had Merrick
with her who fought her battles for her. That's just now, isn't it?
It's now. And if our Vice President became
President, I'd call her Madam President. Wouldn't we? Yes, we would. But it's not supposed
to be that way. That's the order that God has
given. And anyone who doesn't like that, I doubt that they
know God. Sarah journeyed, here's what
my pastor said, she journeyed with Abraham wherever he went,
did the things he asked her to do, respectfully called him,
sir. He says, you women, this is my
pastor, he was a strong man. He said, you women can be called
the true daughters of Sarah if you follow her example. Don't
be shaken by fear, Don't be out for your rights and fear for
your pride and so forth, but seeking God's glory and God's
honor, not the praise of men, but the praise of the Lord. Verse
7 ends this way, likewise. Boy, I need to devote a whole
message to this verse. I was talking to the women, but
let me go ahead, okay? Likewise, ye husbands, dwell
with them according to knowledge. In the same manner, dwell with
your wives according to knowledge. Dwell with. What does a woman
want from her husband? What's the thing she wants more
than anything from her husband? Him. Right? To be with her. To be for her. To become one. Dwell with her. Live with. Be with. Commune with. commune with. The two become
one. We're not two separate people.
When we get married, we become one. And our will and our wishes
and our wants, we give them up for the other person when we
get married. You know that? It's the same as old truth. The
husband is not, little woman, now that you're married to me,
you're going to serve me from now on. No, no, no. Likewise, you husbands, You're
her servant. Isn't that what Christ did? Huh? Oh, do we not have a good husband
or what? He served. He said, he was the
king. John 13, he said, I'm among you
as one that serveth. He got down and washed their
stinking feet. He says, if you know these things,
happy are you if you don't. He's more blessed to give than
to receive, to serve than to be served. Submission and meekness
and humility and service. Why? Because love. Love. And so He served. He dwelled with us according
to knowledge. He knows our prayer. He knows our frame. And this
is the same sense, that dwell with your wives according to
knowledge, knowing their needs, their wants, and give honor. Look at verse 7. Give honor to
the wife. My pastor said there's several
honors that the Lord crowns the head of a woman with. And once
she's created by God as a helpmate to the man. That's why the woman... Is that what it said? That's
what it says. Created for the man. Anybody
got a problem with that? That's why we're created. That's
why we're recreated. That's why we're saved. We're
saved not just so we can, you know, have fun, but we're saved
to serve our Lord. He's bright. But honor. She's honored to be a wife, created
by God, a man's wife. Closer or more importance to
that husband on this earth than his wife should not be. No one
takes precedent over a man's wife on this earth, humanly related. Children don't do it. Get married
to that wife first. Now, children, don't take precedent
over your spouse. No, sir. No, sir. And if the Lord gives her children,
she has one of the highest honors on earth to bear a soul, a child. Highest honor on earth. And what could carry more respect
and honor, he says, He says, treat her as a weaker vessel.
Are you weak? Ladies, are you weak? You just
don't know. I am. We are. We are. We just
don't know how weak we are. A weaker vessel is nothing. This
is a blow to pride, and it needs it bad. That pride needs to be
killed. Weaker vessel. So she's to be
treated with tenderness, gentleness, kindness, He said, great strength is real
strength shines brighter when a man can carry a great load
and yet caress a flower. So she's to be looked at, verse
7, as an heir together of the grace of life. A joint heir with
me. of Christ. You know what she
is first, before she was my bride. Now this is why the Lord says
don't be unequally yoked with unbelief. Don't marry an unbeliever.
Because you will be unequally yoked. You'll be pulled in a
different direction. And that's how this whole thing started.
A woman married to a man that doesn't know the Lord. And that's You're both going in a different
direction. He doesn't have those principles. Or she. She doesn't
know them. She doesn't have those principles. But you're hoping and praying
that the Lord will make you do something and act in such a way
that it might influence this person. You know what I'm saying?
But if you're both together, pulling together, it's a sweet,
blessed union, isn't it? You both want to serve each other.
You want to serve God's glory. There's no question about going
to worship the Lord. It's both of your lives. Whereas
if not, it's got to be one of the most difficult trials on
this earth for a believer to be married to an unbeliever.
You want to go worship the Lord? They don't. You think about the
Lord? They don't. You want to talk
about the message afterward? They don't. That would be so
just, I can't imagine. Mandy and I have such sweet fellowship
around the gospel, don't we? All the time. We go home talking
about it. We sit at the table talking about
it. At night, in the morning, we talk about this day. It's
blessed fellowship. We're joint heirs together of
this grace of eternal life, first of all, and then God has given
us each other in this life. And that's the good life. Isn't
it Ed? How many years y'all been married
now? You better come up with fast, buddy. Fifty-six. John, how many? Fifty-eight.
Fifty-eight. My parents were married seventy-two
years. Bliss? No, there ain't no such
thing. Because you've got two centers
dwelling together, right? You've got man and woman. And women are so strange. But
no, it's the grace of God that brings together two believers.
The grace of life. The grace of eternal life. What
a blessed union. What a blessed fellowship. Joint
heirs. And that woman you're married
to, that man you're married to, if they're a believer, But before
they were your husband or wife, they were God's child. That's
God's daughter, John. That's God's daughter. That's
how you treat her. You know how I want a gay to
treat my daughter? That's how God says treat his
daughter. Men. She's the daughter of our blessed
King. To abuse her, mistreat her, treat her with contempt,
to incur the wrath of your God. You don't want that. So, meekness. It's a beautiful
thing. Beautiful thing. Alright.