Shabbat Shalom. Please turn with me to the first epistle of Peter. The chapter we are going to begin today is the third chapter, 1 Peter chapter 3 and verses 1 to 12. The apostle Peter is writing now to the wives and the husbands, as well as to the believers, how are they to behave, the responsibility that they have towards one another, and this is a very important portion, and we always have to bear in mind that he is writing to believers who are scattered abroad. Believers, believers specifically in first century Jewish believers, he is also speaking to you and I today, but we have always to bear this in mind as we study the epistle of Peter.

And I am reading 1 Peter 3 verses 1 to 12. 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. While they behold your chaste conversation coupled with fear, whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plating the hair and of wearing of gold or of putting on of apparel, but let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price. For after this manner, in the old time, the holy women also, who trusted in God, adorned themselves, being in subjection unto their own husbands, even as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him Lord, whose daughters ye are as long as ye do well and are not afraid with any amazement.

Likewise ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honor unto the wife as unto a weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life, that your prayers be not hindered. Finally, be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another. Love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous, not rendering evil for evil or railing for railing, but contrarywise, blessing, knowing that ye are there unto cold, that ye should inherit a blessing. 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. Let him eschew evil and do good, let him seek peace and ensue it.

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. And I'm stopping here in verse 12. Now, what we see here, brothers and sisters, we just finished the second chapter of 1 Peter. And if you remember, the climax of this second chapter was the sufferings of Yeshua the Messiah, and the obedience that we saw in the life of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah. Now, those early believers have accepted Yeshua the Messiah. They were scattered, and they were now living away from the land. They were away from the privileges that they have had in the past.

They were persecuted, they were being rejected, and so on. And he's just encouraging them, and he said to them, now you are to continue on to seek to live your life in such a way that the Lord will be honored, and the Lord will bless you. And he gives them a responsibility that we have wherever we are, whether we are in an area that we have our families and our friends and being protected, and all seems to be well, or whether we are in a place where people are not necessarily appreciating the believer. He's giving the instruction to the believers and the importance of the responsibilities that we have.

And there are responsibilities, and in this portion, verses 1 to 7, he's talking specifically of the responsibilities of the wives and the husbands. Now, I know that today, in the society in which we live in, if things do not go so well in a marriage relationship, one might say, well, you know, you could just go on and change your life and seek to have different ways in your life. Well, of course, there are situations that you can't change. There are situations that one comes into, and it's very difficult, and one needs a lot of wisdom and grace from the Lord and patience from the Lord. But nevertheless, the main principle that we have in Scripture still maintain, and the Lord seeks for us to follow these instructions.

Now, it is interesting that in the first seven verses, we have the responsibility of the wives and the husbands. Six of those seven verses are allotted to the wives, and one of these verses is allotted to the husband. Now, it is not because the wives are more responsible to do what God told them, and the husbands are less responsible, not at all. But Peter wrote to Jewish believers who were scattered abroad, and apparently some of these women came to faith in the Messiah, while their own husband, Jewish person, did not yet come to faith. So, he is now specifically giving instruction to Jewish women who became believers in the Messiah, while their husbands were not yet a believer.

Now, of course, again, I'm emphasizing, the context, that's the context. The larger information and instruction were given to every believer, wherever they are, Jewish or non-Jewish, wherever they live, this instruction is given to the body of Christ, the body of the Messiah. So, look at this, how interesting, first of all, in the first seven verses, the responsibility of the wives and the husbands in light of this great salvation that he has spoken about in chapter 1. The first six verses apply to the wives, the seventh verse apply to the husband, and there are two things that he's pointing out specifically to the wives in verses 1 to 6.

The first thing that he's telling to the wives is to be submissive to their own husbands. Now, remember, brothers and sisters, here in the context, he's speaking to believers that their husbands are not believers. And what do you do when your husband is not a believer, and you are a child of God? How are you to conduct yourself? And how are you to live your life as a believer while your husband is not a believer? Now, notice the responsibility of the wives. In verse 1 and 2, he gives them the importance of submissiveness to their husbands. And in verses 3 to 6, he's telling them, Here is your adornment.

How their adornment is going to be in order to be useful and helpful to their husbands. So, notice that in verse 1 we begin, Likewise, 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 or by the behavior of their wives, while they look or behold your pure, modest behavior coupled with fear. Here's the first thing that he's pointing to these dear believing wives. Now, the husband is not a believer, and he is now, even though he is the man, the head of the house, how are they going to conduct themselves?

Apparently, the husbands were not appreciating their faith in the Messiah. The husbands, perhaps, didn't want to hear anything about the message of the gospel, and maybe the wife was talking to him many, many times and told him, Listen, here is the way to turn to the Lord. You need Yeshua. You need Jesus, the Messiah, as your Lord and Savior. And they rejected that message, at least at this point. So, what does the wife do, as she is still his wife, he is still her husband, how is she to win him to the Lord? How is she to minister to him in order to reach him to come to faith in the Messiah?

The important lesson that we learn here is the word subjection, subject, or submissiveness. It's mentioned here more than once in this text, in chapter 3, even in the previous chapter. The subjection or submissiveness of all believers in any relationship that we have in this world have never changed because we became a believer. We are to submit to authority. The servant is to submit to his master. The submissiveness that we all have to the Lord and to his will is the responsibility of all believers. And so, the wife, here, is to be in subjection to their own husbands, even though he is not a believer, providing he doesn't ask her to do things that are dishonoring to the Lord, things that are not right with God, the wife is still to recognize the headship of her husband.

Why it is? Because it is a God-given order in the Scripture. Now, remember, the word subjection here does not mean that the wife is lesser or inferior. Not at all. The Bible never called the wife an inferior person in that relationship. The opposite. There is equality in the marriage union, but there is order in the marriage union, just the same like there is order in every area of life. Now, I want you to turn to Ephesians, chapter 5. I want you to see how the Apostle Paul instructed the wives of the Ephesian believers. And he said in verse 22 of Ephesians, chapter 5, Wives, submit yourself unto your own husbands.

And look, he adds there, S unto the Lord. When we are submissive to the husband in this context, or to the authority in another context, or to the superior, to our bosses in another situation, we are really submissive to the Lord. And the important here is to highlight the word, S unto the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, even as the Messiah is the head of the church, and he is the Savior of the body. Therefore, as the church or the assembly is subject unto the Messiah, so let the wives be to their own husbands. And notice this word at the end, in everything.

Now, brothers and sisters, again, I want to point out that expression in everything means in everything in a proper way, in something that is honoring, in a right way. Of course, we know today what's going on in many, many home relationships, that the husbands abusing their wives and do not treat them in a right way, and expecting from them to do things that are not honoring to the Lord. Of course, there are things that one need wisdom and discernment how to conduct oneself, but nevertheless, the truth of subjection and submissiveness is a character that we are to develop in every relationship. So, wives, likewise, be in subjection to your own husbands, and now notice, why are they to be in subjection to their own unbelieving husbands?

Why? Listen, in verse 1b and verse 2, If any obey nor the word, they also may without the word be won by the conversation of their wife, or the conversation, the behavior of their wife, while they look or behold their pure and modest behavior coupled with fear. They will look at the life of the Messiah follower, of the Christian, of the Meshichi. They would look at the wife, and they will see her behavior is honoring to the Lord. It used the word here, pure conversation, or pure and modest behavior. When they look at the wife, they're going to be won to the Lord by seeing their conduct, by seeing their behavior.

And this is so beautiful to see that. Now, how many wives have led their unbelieving husbands to the Lord just by their behavior and conduct, the way they conducted themselves. And how precious to see here this chapter, 1 Peter 3, verses 1 and 2. The purpose of the submissiveness of the wife, even if the husband is unbeliever, is in order that she will win an unbelieving husband to become a believer in Yeshua, the Messiah. And when they look at their wives, and they see their conduct, it is so attractive to draw them to the person of the Lord Jesus. Now, notice he used the word that if any obey nor the word, maybe you have taken your Bible and you shared with him every sermon that you have ever heard.

You read to him the text from the Bible. And he heard the word. And he heard again the word that he need to be saved. He need to turn to Yeshua, the Messiah. He need to turn to him. Otherwise, he will be eternally lost. And you show him your love towards him and you desire for him to come to know the Savior. So, maybe he was not won by the reading of the text from the word of God. But he, by the grace of God, will be won by the behavior of the wife. Being pure, modest behavior of the wife will be used by the Lord to reach him to come to our Lord Yeshua, our Lord Jesus, the Messiah.

Notice he says in verse 2, coupled with fear. Now, that word fear does not mean to be afraid, but to have reverence to the Lord. You know, there is an attractiveness in a wife that has a pure, modest behavior with reverence to God. It reminds us, of course, of the woman that we read in the book of Proverbs, the virtuous woman. Who can found? Her value is higher than rubies. She is so precious in her conduct and behavior to the heart of God that God is so pleased to see such a conduct. It's not easy. It is, especially in a world which we live in today where if the husband does not behave in a right way, does not conduct himself always in a right way, in a pleasing way, it's so difficult.

And yet, there is honoring to the Lord by the submissiveness of the wife to her husband. Again, I want to emphasize in the context here is a believing wife and an unbelieving husband. But in a proper relationship, believing husband and a believing wife, the wife is still to be subject to a husband as the head as we read in Ephesians chapter 5 and verse 22 and 23. Why be subject to your own husband as unto the Lord, recognizing that the man, that the husband is the head of the wife just the same as the Messiah is the head of the body of Christ. Let me read to you another verse if you don't mind in the book of Titus chapter 2.

And here, Paul wrote to Titus in chapter 2 and verses 4 and 5. He said, the older women, that they may teach the younger women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, and listen to verse 5, to be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, and listen to this, obedient to their own husband, that the word of God be not blessed. Now, I know that what we are saying here today in the world in which we live in today, in the society in which we live in, this obedience to the husband is not always appreciated and understood. But this is the divine order. The Lord gave us this order and of course everything had to be tempered with wisdom in light of the situation that existed in a home in that relationship and a wife that is being abused and mistreated and being looked upon in the wrong way and in a dangerous situation, she is not to remain in such a state.

Nevertheless, she is to be subject to her own husband as unto the Lord. This is the divine order that we have in Scripture. Now, notice the second thing that the Apostle Peter is pointing out. Not only that he's saying to the wife to be submissive to their own husbands in order to win them to the Messiah, but secondly, the adornment of the wife is to be emphasizing the inner person rather than the outer person. The adornment is to be emphasizing in her life the inner man or the inner person rather than the outer person. he's mentioning here in verses three to six a few points and I want to emphasize this right now.

First of all, in verse three, he's speaking to the wives still who has their husbands unbelievers and he's saying to them in verse three, let it not be the outward adornment. Notice it said whose adorning, the word for adorning comes from the Greek word cosmos and cosmos simply mean world. In other words, whose adorning not to be worldly, in other words, the influence by the world, the adornment is the way that they will appear, whose adornment, let it not be that which is an outward adorning of plating of hair and of wearing of gold and of putting of an apparel, but let it be the hidden man of the heart, the inner person.

In other words, again, the word adorning is coming from the Greek word cosmos, which means world, simply world, the inhabited world, the influence of the world and what he's saying, don't you believing wives be influenced by the world and its outward appearance? Men look on outward appearance, the Lord looketh on the heart, God had to say to Shmuel, to Samuel when he went to establish a king in Bethlehem. Men look on outward appearance, but the Lord look on the heart. And here he's emphasizing in verse 3 that the adorning of the wife should be the inner person. The inner person whose adorning, let it not be the outward adorning of a plating of the hair, of a wearing of gold and of putting off an apparel, but let it be verse 4 the hidden person of the heart.

And then he continues, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which in the sight of God its value of a great price. You know, the beauty of a wife or a sister is the inner beauty that she expresses in her conduct and behavior. And that beauty will be carrying her throughout her life as a wife. Even as time passes by and one gets older, the inner beauty, the inner character is that which is attractive and the Bible tells us in the sight of God it's of great price. God looks at the external adornment and the internal adornment what impresses God and gives God joy and its great value when there is the inner adornment rather than the outward.

Now, that does not mean that a woman is not to look nice and pretty. That does not mean at all. But they're emphasizing more to the internal because after all, when we get married we are no longer remaining the same in our appearance. You know, we used to look this way a few years ago but we don't look that way 10, 15, 20, 30 years after all but the internal beauty of the heart remain and we carry this with us the rest of our lives until we meet our blessed Lord Yeshua in the air. that is that is the instruction that the apostle Peter is giving here to the wives and again beloved brothers and sisters remember the context their husbands are not believers.

Their husbands haven't come yet to faith in the Messiah and if they are to win their husbands to Yeshua the Messiah they have to win him by the internal adornment by their conduct and their behavior. That's why I emphasize the word adorning in verse 3 that the word is cosmos. You can see the word cosmos in Matthew 4 and verse 8 and Matthew 5 and verse 14. it has to do with the world and the world ways and when we became a believer in Yeshua the Messiah the world's influence had to remain outside as much as possible if we are to please the Lord Yeshua the Messiah. So in verse 1 and 2 submissiveness to their husbands even though their husbands are not believers verses 3 and 4 is the adornment the internal adornment of the inner person that is very important and now I want you to notice in verses 5 and 6 he speaks here about the godly women of old.

And you know it was very easy for those women to understand it because after all their Jewish background taking them back to their history and so he's telling them in verse 5 for after this manner in the old time taking them back in history the holy women also who trusted in God adorned themselves being in subjection unto their own husbands now again he's connecting an internal adornment with the subjection to their husbands and he's talking about the old time the holy women who trusted in God they adorned themselves being in subjection to their own husband he must have taken them to the history of Israel for example you know Israel has three fathers and four

mothers many times in Pesach the Passover when we sing one who knows speaking about the only one God that we have and we go down the line and we have various numbers that we sing about we sing about number two the two tablets of the law number three the three fathers of Israel number four the four mothers of Israel and the four mothers of Israel is Sarah Sarah Rivka Rebecca Lea and Rachel Rachel the four mothers of Israel now I don't know if he has specific reference to those four mothers but he was talking about the women of the past in the history of Israel of the nation of Israel after verse 5 after this

manner in all the time these holy women also who trusted in God adorned themselves being in subjection unto their own husband he calling them holy women he calling them the godly women of all time and he's calling them those who were in subjection to their own husband now those holy women of old submitted themselves to their own husband recognized their headship before God now again brothers and sisters those women called holy women in other words they looked at this submissiveness to their husband and to the Lord like Paul said it in Ephesians 5 22 be subject to your own husband and to the Lord it is to the Lord when we subject ourselves to our

husband it is really being submissive to our blessed Lord so the godly women of all who trusted in God adorned themselves being in subjection to their own husband and then he gives us one of these women a woman by the name of Sarah you can see how we can understand that in Peter's mind looking back to the mothers of Israel specifically he is calling Sarah notice it even as Sarah obeyed Abraham she called him Lord Adon whose daughters ye are as long as you do well and are not afraid with any amazement he is bringing before them Sarah you remember the story of Sarah and Abraham you remember very well that Sarah was not always

submissive but there was a general application presentation of Sarah that she did submit to her husband she called Abraham Lord she obeyed her Lord her master her husband and she did it as she obeyed the God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob you know this expression a mother in Israel is applied to a woman by the name of Deborah Dvorah we call her in Hebrew in Judges chapter 5 she is called a mother in Israel even where all the men have been in a rebellious state in the time of the judges the shoftim there was this godly woman by the name of Deborah who stood a right before the Lord who was the one that was

judging Israel and yet she took her place in submissiveness she could have led the nation of Israel to victory but she was rather giving it to this man by the name of Barak she said Barak you come you take the leadership you take the authority and she submitted herself unto the leadership of that man he was not her husband but nevertheless I'm just putting this in context because these women of all time submitted themselves unto their own husband and they have been an example to the rest of the nation of Israel so those two statements that he says responsibility of the wives is to submit to their husband and the internal adornment which was so

attractive to draw others unto the Lord so these are the instructions that was given to the wives while their husbands are unbelievers it is very difficult and some of us in our midst and elsewhere that have a husband who is an unbeliever how do you handle that how do you conduct yourself you want to please the Lord you want to follow Yeshua and yet at the same time your husband is not a believer what do you do how do you handle that only God can give the grace and the wisdom to practice this on the day-by-day basis it is very uneasy very difficult for those who have their husbands as unbelievers and do not want

to follow the Lord very difficult and yet we want to give this as an encouragement to our sisters to follow the Lord because that is the way that they always can be happy and joyful because when they trust Yeshua the Messiah and follow his instruction they always will benefit and be blessed because God is honored when they follow his instruction well 1st Peter chapter 3 verses 1 to 6 the responsibility of the wives in relationship to their husbands now here's a verse for those of us who are husbands and for those men in olden time in verse 7 the apostle Peter gives us the responsibility of the husband and I want you to notice that

he says likewise just the same as he said in verse 1 likewise ye wives just the same as the Messiah obeyed God the husband is to obey God in relationship to his wife and listen to this what he's saying to the husband ye husbands dwell with them with your wives according to knowledge giving honor unto the wife as unto a weaker vessel and then he says and as being heirs together of the grace of life that your prayers be not hindered that is a very important verse and I just want to highlight a few things about this verse two things the apostle is saying now to the husband and the husband is saying number one

to dwell with your wives according to knowledge secondly he says give honor to your wife number one dwell with them according to knowledge number two give honor unto your wives now just look at this for a second first of all he says dwell with them according to knowledge we got to look at it in two ways first of all the knowledge that God had given us in his word concerning the responsibility of the husband secondly the knowledge that we have of the needs of the wives first of all the knowledge that God had given us in scripture and in scripture God had given us the responsibility of the husband and again I'm referring to Ephesians

chapter 5 and verse 25 listen what he's saying there to the husbands husbands love your wives even as the Messiah also loved the assembly and gave himself for the assembly for it that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of the water by the word that he might present to himself a glorious church a glorious assembly not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing but that it should be holy and without blemish so art men to love their wives as their own bodies he that loves his wife love himself you know sometimes the mistake that men that husbands do they think that by not treating their wives proper they benefit from that

they think or we think that if we get our own way and not treating properly our own wife we think that we are ahead we say after all I'm the head I'm the boss I'm superior but we don't realize the responsibility that we have towards our wife that will only benefit ourselves and that's why he's saying in this passage in Ephesians chapter 1 that the husband is love his wife as the Messiah loved the assembly loved the church and gave himself for it you remember when Jesus when Yeshua came to this world he said really he loved the believers the purpose of the coming of Yeshua the Messiah to this world is really to lay

down his life to produce a bride to produce a wife for himself to redeem lost sinners for himself that is the reason that he came to this world and the husbands are to love their wives as the Messiah as Christ loved the church and what did he do he gave his life in order to bring about an assembly to bring about a church and so we are to dwell with our wives number one according to biblical knowledge concerning the responsibility of the husband but secondly is to deal with our wife according to knowledge in relationship to her need you see the woman is not made the same way man is made man is more dealing

with the intellect with the mind a woman is more dealing with the heart with the affection a woman her ways are different her look is different her appearance is different her desires are different and the husband is to recognize that and to recognize the emotional need the physical need the mental need the spiritual need of the wife and to dwell with the wife according to knowledge that word for dwelling also speaks of material provision it is the responsibility of the husband to care for his wife and to provide as he dwell with the wife to provide for the wife the necessity the shelter the home the food and all the things that the wife have

a need of the responsibility of the husband to dwell with them according to knowledge then he adds here in this verse 7 the second half is giving honor unto his wife and to the wife giving honor because three reasons number one she is a weaker vessel number two being heir together of the grace of life and number three that your prayers be not hindered now do you see what we learn here that the wife is called according to this text a weaker vessel I remember years ago we had a bible study and one brother got up and he says yes the wife is a weaker vessel but the bible doesn't say that the wife is

weak and the man is strong it says that the wife is weaker out of the two weak individuals don't you think that you are much stronger in many ways emotionally wives are many times much stronger than the husband spiritually and we know it in the body of Christ today that more wives are more spiritual than their own husband and in many ways the only way that we might say that she's weaker is in connection with men usually is built physically stronger than a wife and a woman and a woman is physically speaking on a normal situation the abnormal situation that a wife are even stronger physically and you don't want to get into this trouble

but nevertheless on a normal way on a physical way a wife is weaker physically but don't you think that you are strong you are still weak yourself deal with them in such a way recognizing that she is a weaker vessel treat her with respect recognize that she needs assistance and help because she is a weaker out of the two weak vessels he continues and he tells him remember that you are being heirs together of the grace of life what does that mean heir you know an heir is a person who is receiving something from someone else he is an heir in the case of a marriage we are heirs together God has given us something

together then he continues he says you are heirs together of the grace of life he is now not talking about heavenly heritage that we are going to receive in the coming day when we are going to be in heaven he is talking about here and now of life when you get married you become heir together with your wife of the grace that is needed for a day by day living here in this world you need to be supporting each other you need to be assisting each other you need to be building each other up because you need grace for the life that is ahead of you here in this world which is filled with complications

and problems and conflicts that exist here in this world so if the husband does not deal with his wife according to knowledge what does he do he hurt himself in that special unique relationship as together the heirs of the grace that is needed for life to live here in this world that's why there are so many broken homes relationships why because we didn't realize that we need the grace of God to live our life together in a conflict that exists in this world where there are so many pitholes and so many difficulties in the life of the believer here in this world and so he's telling to the husband listen you deal with them knowing

your head ship knowing your responsibility to love them and to lay down your life for your wife but also give your wife honor recognizing that she is a weaker of the two weak vessels and that she and you are together heirs of the grace that you need to live your life here in this world but notice he continues and he tells them something that is very very important he says in verse 7 at the end that your prayers be not hindered now brothers and sisters how true it is when we all day long treat our wives in a way that is not pleasing to the Lord and then the time come that we need to

go to sleep and go to bed and give thanks to the Lord for the day or maybe get up in the morning and start the day in prayer and there is no liberty to pray together no joy in our prayer with one another why is this is because the treatment of the wife in this context in an unbecoming way hinders the prayer life of the family of the husband and wife it hinders them it is not possible to treat one in a negative way putting them down rejecting them treating them wrongfully and then to expect that your prayers together will not be hindered it is not possible now you know in the life of the

believer we have four areas in which the Lord have challenged or encouraged the believers to pray the first area we can say it is a personal prayer every person needs to pray in his or her life every time every day in fact Yeshua the Messiah and I want to point out to death in Matthew chapter 6 verses 5 to 7 Yeshua said when you pray you shall not be as the hypocrites are for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets that they may be seen of men verily I say unto you that they have their reward but when you pray individually enter into your closet and when

you have shut the door pray to your father which is in secret and your father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly but when you pray use not vain repetition as the heathen do for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking this is a personal individual prayer that every believer ought to have in his or her life individual prayer secondly the Bible teaches us also not only about individual prayer but also for a believer to have what is known to be as a public prayer and I'm reading you the verse in 1st Timothy chapter 2 and verse 8 the apostle Paul said to Timothy I I will I will therefore

that men pray everywhere lifting up all hands without wrath and without doubting men we are to pray everywhere wherever we are publicly wherever we are anywhere we are to pray everywhere lifting up all hands without wrath and without doubting so we have a personal prayer Matthew chapter 6 we have a public prayer 1st Timothy chapter 2 then thirdly beloved brothers and sisters we have what you call an assembly prayer prayer that we as believers pray in the local assembly and I'm going to read these verses in Matthew chapter 18 in verse 18 Yeshua said this and I want to emphasize this as well verily I say unto you whatsoever ye shall bind here on earth

it shall be bound in heaven for whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven again I say unto you that if two of you shall agree on earth as touching anything that they ask it shall be done unto them of my father which is in heaven for where two or three are gathered together unto my name there am I in midst of them this is an assembly prayer where the believers gather together and pray together as an assembly as a local church so personal prayer Matthew 5 public prayer 1st Timothy 2 assembly prayer Matthew chapter 18 but here we learn in 1st Peter chapter 3 and this verse 7 the day is

what is known to be family prayer or a husband and wife prayer and in that relationship prayer can be hindered when the husband does not deal with his wife according to knowledge and does not give her the honor that God have intended for him to give unto her you know what happened it break down the prayer all together there is no liberty to pray together there is no joy in communicating our need to the Lord and the husband and wife prayers are being hindered all together and so what's the responsibility of the husband in verse 7 is to dwell with the wives according to knowledge that God had given us in his word and secondly

to give honor unto his wife as a weaker vessel in recognizing that they are heirs together of the grace of life in order that his or their prayers be not hindered now somebody pointed out that in this verse 7 we have the physical provision that man is to provide for his wife we have the intellectual provision in verse 7 we have the emotional needs that she have in verse 7b and we have the spiritual need of the wife so we have physical intellectual spiritual and emotional that is mentioned here in 1st Peter chapter 3 in verse 7 so this context here in 1st Peter chapter 3 giving the responsibility of the husbands and the wife

now before I'm going to move on in one Bible study that we have just recently a brother asked this question and he said how can it say here that the prayers be not hindered if we assume that one has a husband or wife who are unbelievers if one is an unbeliever and the other is a believer how can their prayers be hindered and so we were you know thinking about this and we were praying about this and really the only answer that we can say is really twofold the first answer we can say really that the wife in verses 1 to 6 clearly had an unbelieving husband and and the and the husband in and

the husband had a believing wife that's the first answer the second answer that we can say is that if all these seven verses talking about a wife that has an unbelieving husband and a husband that have an unbelieving wife the only way that we can see it in light of the Jewish people to whom he wrote Jewish people pray pray to God all along those Jewish people before they became believers in Yeshua the Messiah already had been praying to the God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob so they were in prayer and to the true and living God all along we are not talking about now of people who did not know Abraham Isaac Jacob or

did not know the Old Testament we are talking about people who knew their Bible that's why Peter always quoting from the Old Testament so they were praying before one became a believer now one became a believer the husband or the wife and then their prayers continued even though the one believed only in the living God of Israel and the other one now became a believer through Yeshua the Messiah they still continue to pray to God to the God of the Bible Israel so if we will take it in this way still the prayers can be hindered when the husband does not behave in a proper way to his own wife not recognizing that she had

been given to him by the Lord and he is to dwell with the wife according to knowledge and to give honor unto his wife well I trust that this at least explain to us just these thoughts that we have concerning the relationship of the husband and the wife in any case beloved brothers and sisters the ultimate is that there will be two believing husbands and wives and still we are to relate to each other in a way that God had given us in the word the man is the head the woman is the heart and that work together as we submit to the authority of the Lord now let's move on from verse 8 to

verse 12 we have the next responsibility now it's not so much the husband and a wife but now it's a responsibility that all believers have one towards another and here is three things that the apostle Peter is pointing out and I think here it is also very important in our relationship to each other in verse 8 he is saying this finally be all of one mind having compassion one to another and then he says love as brethren be pitiful be courteous these are instructions now given to all believers wherever they are they are to love the brethren and notice this expression here love as brethren is right in the middle of this verse in order

for us to be of one mind in order for the believers to have compassion one to another we have to recognize that love is a fulfillment of the whole law if if we do love the brethren we would never be able to be at all of one mind now to be of one mind does not here mean to be of one mind in worldly things or in your opinion or my opinion this is to have the mind of the Lord the mind of Christ be of one mind having the Lord Jesus as the object having compassion one towards another you know it's so needful today to have compassion towards our brothers and sisters to be

sensitive not to be insensitive to the needs of the believers compassion towards one another is extremely important he continues he says be pitiful be courteous that is part of the life of the assembly of the church where believers are acting towards one another in compassion in love having one mind being pitiful being courteous this is part of the relationship that we have one towards another otherwise if we don't have this if our attitudes towards one another is different we will never be able to please the Lord and to honor him in our life here in this world in verse 9 he continue and he says not rendering evil for evil or railing for railing but

contrary wise blessing knowing that ye are there unto called that you should inherit a blessing now not rendering evil for evil a brother wrote that every believer is capable to do three things a believer now one thing he's able to return evil for good even if somebody have done so good to you we because of our old nature are able to do evil for the good that one have done to us this is demonic this is satanic the second level is as he mentioned here we are able to return evil for evil if somebody has done something wrong to us we are capable even though we are believers to return bad for something bad that

somebody have done for us this is the human nature that is terrible as well when we return evil for evil but the highest standard with the divine standard is returning good for evil this is so unique the apostle Peter is saying to us here don't return evil for evil you know if somebody has done something wrong to you or to me how do we react when that thing have happened unto us the natural inclination is if you have done something wrong to me I'm going to get you back I'm going to respond to you in an evil way the way you have treated me the apostle Peter say don't do so that is not the

divine if you are returning evil for evil this is totally of the flesh that is not from the Lord that is not from the spirit of God and so he's telling brethren he says don't render evil for evil don't render evil or railing for railing but contrary wise return blessing even though someone have treated us in an evil way the spiritual minded believer is to return blessing even though one have done to them evil there are certain verses that I think we must place here in this context that the Lord Yeshua have taught the disciples before he went to the cross in Matthew chapter 5 turn back for a moment to the fifth chapter of

the gospel of Matthew verse 38 in chapter 5 we read this ye have heard that it had been said an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth evil for evil but I said to you Yeshua said that ye resist not evil but whosoever shall smite thee on the right cheek turn to him the other also and if any man will sue thee at the law and take away thy coat let him have thy cloak also and whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile go with him twain give to him that ask thee and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away ye have heard that it had been

said thou shall love thy neighbor and hate thine enemy but I say unto you Yeshua said love your enemy bless them that curse you do good to them that hate you pray for them that despitefully use you and persecute you that ye may be children of your father which is in heaven for he maketh the sun to rise on the evil and on the good and he sendeth rain on the just and the unjust for if you love them that love you what reward have ye do not even the publican do the same and if ye salute your brethren only what do ye more than the others do not even the publican so be be

mature perfect even as your father which is in heaven is perfect the standard that Yeshua had given to the earlier disciples it's tremendous it's so high and we should seek to rise up to some small measure of the requirement of the Lord and not to fall beloved brothers and sisters not to fall to the enemy who love to see believers first of all rendering evil for the good that one had done to them how terrible it is or even rendering evil for an evil that another one have done to them how fleshly and carnal it is but to render good for evil that is the standard that the believers are called to rise to by

the grace of God as the Lord enable us to do so the thought here as well that we have is Peter learned this from a personal relationship to the Lord you remember when Yeshua was in the garden of Gethsemane and they captured him and they wanted to take him so Peter took a sword and he was ready to cut Malchus here you remember that and what Yeshua said to him he didn't want to render evil what an example our Lord have been and you remember what he said to Peter that was in connection of course with Judas but took the ear of Malchus and put it back on his head and he didn't want Peter

he said put the sword back into the she's he didn't want this sword to be put down and you remember what Judas did to the Lord as well in Luke chapter 22 in verses 47 to verse 52 Judas betrayed the Lord Jesus and the Lord said to him Judas do you betrayed the son of man with a kiss when they which were about him saw what would follow they said unto him Lord shall we smite with a sword and one of them smote the servant of the high priest and cut of his ears and Yeshua said unto him suffer ye thus far and he touched his ear and he healed his ear and Jesus said

unto the chief priest and the thief with swords and with stairs Yeshua behaved in a very becoming way what an example he was to Peter and by healing the ear of Malkus by telling to Judas you betrayed the son of man with a kiss Peter had this lesson that he had to learn and he is saying to the believers there don't render evil for evil it is not pleasing to the Lord but the contrary wise render blessing knowing that ye are called to be in such a way that ye should inherit blessing you see God want to bless his people whom he called and if his people behave like the world and the ways of

the world it is not pleasing to him and therefore there is no blessing blessings flow out of obedience to the word of God now the third thing that he mentioned here as we head towards the end of this portion is he encourages the believers to love life meaning to love the good things here in life to love the right things here in this world to love life and to love good days not bad days bad days will come evil days will come but the believer because of his association with the Lord he and she are to love that which is good in life and if we do so we will seek to honor the Lord

and so in verses 10 and 11 the believer is called to do three things in relationship to love life and to love good days the first thing is to refrain your tongue from evil and your lips from deceit to refrain notice he says here in verse 10 he that will love life and see good days let him refrain his tongue from evil and his lips that they will speak no guile now the tongue brothers and sisters here Peter is using the tongue and he says listen if you really love that which is good in life you are to refrain the tongue from evil you know the tongue that you and I have it's one of

the smallest members of our body the Bible tells us that the tongue James chapter 3 is like a file you know with the same tongue we can bless God with the same tongue we can be an encouragement to people and a blessing to them but then we turn around and we can use the very same tongue to curse people and to seek their harm this is how the apostle Peter says listen you as a believer are to love the good in this world the good in this life yes things are evil around us the world is headed up for that which is destruction and judgment that is coming in the coming day but the believer

if he is to please the Lord if he is to love life and to love good days he is to refrain his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking God I'm going to read Psalm 141 in verse 3 here's a prayer of the psalmist to the Lord David is praying to God and he's asking God in verse 3 this he says set a watch or Lord before my mouth keep the door of my lips why David asked God to do so because alone we are unable to watch what we say in our nature we are not capable to keep a door of our lips shut when we need it shut and open when it's

needed to be open that's why David is praying it says let my prayer be set before thee God as an incense and the lifting up of my hands as an evening sacrifice God Lord set a watch oh Lord before my mouth and keep the doors of my lips because I'm capable to use my tongue for destruction and to cause harm a tongue James said in chapter 3 is like a fire a tongue it's like a rudder of a big ship a small rudder in the back able to control the direction of all this huge ship with a small rudder at the end of the ship and and tongue and tongue if a person cannot control

his or her tongue ultimately they can only cause a lot of harm to the people of God and he's saying to the believers to you and I he says if you really love the good in life and you ought to keep your tongue from that which is evil and your lips from speaking guile because this only harm here and it does not edify the people of God notice the next thing that he says in verse 11 turn from evil and do that which is good let him as true evil and do good let him seek peace and ensue peace and follow peace the word for peace of course is shalom in the Hebrew and the

believer is to run away from evil or turn away from evil but also to follow that which is good this is so important as well in order for us to be a blessing to the people of God we are to seek peace in Romans chapter 12 the apostles say as much as it is within you you should seek to have peace with all men seek to have peace it is so unfortunate when at time you see believers having friction with each other to certain extent that they don't talk with each other they are not enjoying their fellowship together we're not talking about unbelievers we're talking about believers that the relationship with each other is so

broken and torn down that they can't even stand each other and yet both of them are on the way to the presence of the Lord in glory because of what the Lord have done for them and we are a time in danger of this so turn from evil do that which is good seek peace and pursue that peace in order to be a blessing and here is the final and I'm going to stop here the reason for all this is because God sees everything in verse 12 the apostle Peter says listen yes you are saved wife husband brothers and sisters you are saved he's saying to them but I want you to see he's saying

to them that God will judge even his own people behaving in a way that is not right in verse 12 he says for the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous his ears are open unto their prayers but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil now Peter again quoting the Psalms he's quoting Psalm 34 verses 15 and 16 but what Peter is quoting in a Psalm that has the relationship between Israel as a nation and the world around the ungodly world Peter brings it into the relationship between believers and he says listen God will also discipline his own people when they are following that which is evil and that's why

he says the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous the ears of the Lord open to his prayers but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil and you notice the three words here eyes ears and face the eyes of the Lord he sees all things you know that tells us of the fact that there's nothing hidden from the Lord he sees he knows our hearts he knows our action secondly his ears when we confess repent and cry to him for help and assistance his ears are always open he's always willing to hear he delight the saints to lift up their voice because his ears are open to their cry to

their confession to their prayers his ears are open to their prayers but listen to the end he says the face of the Lord is against them that do evil do you remember in Sodom and Gomorrah when the angels went down to Sodom and they were speaking to Lot and the angels said to Lot listen the evil that existed in Sodom rose up before the face of the Lord and the Lord sent us to judge this city because of the condition of this city God is not pleased with those that are doing evil and not judge it and repent of it and turn to him and that's why his face is against those that habitually continually

do evil if evil have happened and we have failed the Lord in sin we are to turn to him and repent and confess it and get up and change our ways and our manners in order to honor him in our life well brothers and sisters 1st Peter chapter 3 verses 1 to 12 we we have the responsibility of the wives the responsibility of the husbands and the responsibility of every believer towards his brothers and his sisters may the Lord help us in this so we can live a life that will be pleasing unto the Lord