Peter the
apostle asked the “scattered”
Christians, “who is
he that will harm you, if you be followers of that which is good?”,
and in chapter three and verse fourteen of his letter, Peter tells
the Christians they are “happy”
when they “suffer for righteousness' sake”
where we read:
and be not
afraid of their terror, neither be troubled;
The
verse begins, “But and if you suffer
for righteousness' sake, happy are you:”
Peter began
with the word, “But”
which is a disassociation conjunction that means what is about to be
written takes precedence over what was just stated, “moreover,
nevertheless and notwithstanding” “and
if you”
which refers to a conditional position for the “scattered”
Christians “suffer”
or “to be affected or have been affected, to reel, have a sensible
experience, to undergo, feel, have passion and vexation” “for
righteousness sake”
which means “the condition acceptable to God, integrity, virtue,
purity of life, rightness, correctness of thinking, feeling and
acting” “happy”
or “blessed, fortunate and well” “are
you” which
again refers to the “scattered”
Christians. Though these Christians might face “suffering”
because of their “righteous”
behavior, they could still be in a “well” state.
The verse goes on to
say, “and be not afraid of their
terror, neither be troubled;” Peter
continued with the phrase, “and be
not afraid”
which in Greek is “phobeō mē
phobeō”or
“to put to flight by terrifying, scare away, fear, reverence,
venerate and treat with deference or reverential obedience” “of
their terror”
which means “exceedingly fearful, dreaded and reverenced”,
“neither”
or “not, in negation and nor” “be
troubled”
which means “to agitate, cause one inward commotion, take away
calmness of mind, disturb equanimity, disquieted and made restless”.
The charge to the Christians was not “to be put to flight” by
those who might “terrorize” them.
When
we think about these words of Peter, we may understand what it means
to be “intimidated” by people who make us pay a price for living
righteously. Nonetheless, Peter's idea is that we will be “happy”
or “blessed, fortunate and well” should we live in a “righteous”
manner. Since this verse has such a wonderful promise with it, should
we not seek with all our hearts to live in a manner that is
“righteous” before
God? May the Lord Jesus help us to live as He desires.
Next
time Peter tells the Christians to “be
ready always to give
an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is
in” them,
and we shall join together then.
Until tomorrow…there is more…
Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, and the new devotional “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.
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