Silent sermon
Key Scriptures: 1 Peter 2:11-12
Beloved, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul. Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.
“The world takes its notions of God most of all from the people who say that they belong to God’s family. They read us a great deal more than they read the Bible. In fact, they see us, they only hear about Jesus Christ.”—Alexander MacLaren
Summary: We have an evangelistic mission that attempts to silence critics and win the hearts of unbelievers through holy living.
Lesson One: A Godly life begins with inward transformation.
• A life of holiness turns and runs away from sinful desires.
1 Peter 2:11, Beloved, I urge you as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires which wage war against your soul.
Galatians 5:16-21, So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
Lesson Two: Outward behavior that reflects an inward transformation.
• Inner purity that produces a visible fruitfulness.
• Our lives should be lived as silent sermons.
1 Peter 2:12, Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.
Philippians 1:27, Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ.
“Show me your redeemed life and I might be inclined to believe in your Redeemer”—Heinrich Heine