Beloved, please turn with me in your Bibles to 1 Peter chapter 3. This evening we'll be looking at verses 13 through 18. 1 Peter chapter 3 verses 13 through 18. Please stand with me as we continue our evening study through this first epistle of the Apostle Peter. Now who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good? But even if you should suffer for righteousness' sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled. But in your hearts, honor Christ, the Lord is holy. Always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you, yet do it with gentleness and respect. having a good conscience, so that when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame, for it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God's will, than for doing evil. For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit. Here in the reading of God's word, let us pray. Our Father, we pray as we are here this Sunday evening to close out the day in your presence and under the proclamation of your truth and your word and coming to the Lord's table, we pray, Lord, that you would drive deeply into our hearts, our minds, our consciences, our souls, the truth of your word. Oh, Lord, by your Spirit, would you Would you impress upon our hearts your promises, your truth, that we might be transformed by it? I pray this in Jesus' name, amen. May be seated. Being a committed Christian and 1st century Asia Minor was no easy thing. Christians regularly experienced hostility for their beliefs and their way of life. They were often maligned, slandered, and socially ostracized. Not long after this letter was written, persecution would have greatly increased under the leadership of Emperor Nero. So the Apostle Peter wrote this letter to the churches in Asia Minor in order to encourage them to stand firm in the grace of God. It's that wonderful text at the end of chapter 5. Stand firm in the grace of God. and to remember their glorious future inheritance when they encounter present-day suffering. That's so much of what this book is about. It's the golden thread that's running throughout the entire letter. Stand firm in the grace of God, not in your own strength, not in your own willpower, not in the wisdom of this world. Stand firm in the grace of God by abiding in Christ And from there, we are living in spirit-led anticipation of the coming, the return of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ to gain our future inheritance. Peter also wrote these early believers to instruct them as to how they ought to live as Christian pilgrims in this present evil age. In other words, he wanted to answer the question, how shall we, as citizens of heaven, live amidst a hostile, ungodly, and unbelieving culture? And this, of course, is the same question we ought to be asking today. This is the question that should be on our minds. How do we live amidst a dark and depraved culture? We tried to consider some of those things even this morning in relation to digital technology. After providing instruction as to how Christians should relate to their civil rulers, how Christian workers should relate to their supervisors, how Christian wives and husbands ought to relate to each other, Peter exhorts all believers in chapter 3 and verse 8 to quote, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind. Moreover, in addition to providing this recipe for a healthy church, Peter exhorts believers to bless those who are evil to them and who revile them. We learned last week that this not only means using self-control when someone does something evil to you, It goes way beyond that. It means responding with sincere kindness and desiring actually to do them good, to be a blessing to them. It's not merely having self-control and not responding in anger. It's actually wishing good upon them. Remember that next time someone cuts you off on Highway 17. We learned that this kind of loving and patient response to those who seek to do us harm can only happen by the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit. We are powerless on our own to respond in these godly ways. And this response that will inevitably make some unbelievers, it will inevitably make some unbelievers stop and think about the truth that we profess. Again, this entire section that we're studying now was launched in chapter 2 and verse 12, where Peter exhorts God's people to quote, keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation. And what are these good works? We've learned in 1 Peter that good works are, first of all, our grateful response, our grateful and loving response to God's mercy. This is what it is, it's our grateful response to God's mercy. It's not us trying to earn God's favor or to get in good with God or to earn a place at the table in heaven. It's about responding to the grace that's already been poured out upon us in Christ. And so through that love, we are compelled to live for the glory of God. It's not by guilt or by personal striving. It's by standing from the grace of God and responding in gratitude. The second reason we do good works is to glorify God, is to glorify him. The third reason is to help cultivate a healthy and growing church. We ought to reflect upon our own walk with God in relationship to others around us. We are wired because of the fall to be selfish and everything's about us. Even our own spiritual growth is often just about us or just about our family. But it is not. It's about everybody else. It's about the church. It's one thing I've said before. Church attendance, for instance. If people are wondering, well, should I go to church or should I not? It shouldn't just be a decision made based on your own spirituality or your own walk with God and the health of it, even though that's very important. It's vital. It should also be a decision made in relation to other people in the church. because we, as we grow in the Lord, as we worship, as we are present with one another, we gather together, we are an encouragement to one another in Christ. So we do good works to help cultivate a healthy and growing church. Fourthly, we do good works to be a witness of God's life-transforming grace to the lost. When our lives are adorned with the fruit of the gospel, unbelievers, not always, not always, but sometimes they will take notice. and even sometimes be drawn to the gospel as a result. This evening's text is somewhat of a continuation of what we talked about last week and previous weeks, but it possesses some of these major themes that are found in the book of 1 Peter. There are three headings, three headings if you're taking notes. The first one is this, do not fear suffering for righteousness sake. Do not fear suffering for righteousness sake. Verses 13 and 14. Then number two, we'll see, we're commanded to be prepared to make a defense to anyone. Be prepared to make a defense to anyone. Verses 15 and 16. And finally, remember the pattern of suffering to glory. Remember the pattern of suffering to glory. All of these things, you remember this golden thread, it's exhorting us, it's encouraging us to live with eternity on our minds, that the Lord could come back at any moment. As Pastor Ross and I were praying before the service, it came to my mind to pray, Lord, thank us. Thank you so much for this closing out of this Sabbath day, this Lord's day. And we've made it to another evening service. The Lord could have come back this afternoon. He could have come back yesterday. He could have come back right before the service started. The Lord has blessed us with another evening service, and it is all a foretaste of the eternal Sabbath to come. These are the kinds of things we ought to be thinking about on the Lord's day. But all of these things are the suffering that we are called to endure, the defense that we are called to give to anyone who asks. All of these things are part of us living on the edge of our seats, as it were, in anticipation of the return of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And you know, as we've mentioned before, when you live in a place like Mount Pleasant, Charleston, we sometimes get comfortable with where we are. You know, it's so beautiful. So many beautiful sights, so many beautiful things to experience, so many beautiful places to walk, and we're like, this is pretty good. I can wait for heaven. But see, there's a big difference. It's a big difference. Here in Mount Pleasant, we only have a mediated walk with God. We do not see God face to face. We see him through a glass dimly. We do not experience God here. as we will in heaven. We only see him here and experience him here in part. And so really at the end of the day, it is a lack of yearning for God himself that makes us satisfied with where we are and not longing for heaven. The first point, though, is not to fear suffering for righteousness' sake. Look at verses 13 and 14 again with me. Now, who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good? But even if you should suffer for righteousness' sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, that is, those who persecute you, nor be troubled." Here Peter is continuing the thought from the previous verse. We're quoting Psalm 34. Peter writes that the Lord is for the righteous, but his face is against who? His face is against the wicked. Therefore, who can ultimately harm God's people if they are zealous for doing good? Indeed, even if they are killed for their faith and make the ultimate sacrifice, a glorious heavenly inheritance awaits them. That is why Peter says, but even if you should suffer for righteousness' sake, you will be blessed. Here, one can only think that Peter has in mind the words of his Lord as he was walking along with him and as he was there to listen to the Sermon on the Mountain. In Matthew 5, verses 10-12, we have these memorable verses. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. You hear that? For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven. For so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. Think about what Peter is saying here in 1 Peter and what is being said here by our Lord in Matthew 5. They're very similar. You are blessed if you are persecuted. Peter wanted to encourage his readers to remember Christ's promise. There is a great blessing for those who suffer for righteousness sake, for great is their reward in heaven. This, again, is the eternal perspective that God calls his children to live with in this world, even amidst soft or hard persecution. One of the most moving accounts of suffering for righteousness sake, one that perhaps you've read about before, it's found in the life of Polycarp. Polycarp was a 2nd century bishop of Smyrna, and according to the early church father, Irenaeus, he was a disciple of the apostle John. Despite Roman persecution in the 2nd century, the Christian church multiplied tremendously. This is what we often see, isn't it, in Asia and parts of Africa, where there is great persecution. We see the rapid spread of the gospel and the embracing and receiving of the gospel. But amidst all of this, Polycarp was arrested. And he was put on trial in front of a large crowd of unsympathetic, bloodthirsty Roman pagans. When this happened, Polycarp was no less than 86 years of age. So just imagine this infirm man who is now standing before these bloodthirsty Romans and under trial, Polycarp was urged to deny Christ and to forsake his Christian confession. The Roman official is reported to have said this, quote, revile Christ and I will release you. But the aged Christian answered by saying, 80 in six years I have served him, and he has never done me wrong. How can I blaspheme him, my king, who has saved me? I am a Christian. The official responded by shouting out to the crowd, Polycarp has confessed himself to be a Christian. The crowds cried out, let him be burned, let him be burned. So a pile of wood was gathered in order to put him to death. The official told him that he would be burned to death if he did not immediately disown his Christian confession. But Polycarp responded with these words, you threaten fire which burns for an hour and is soon quenched for you are ignorant of the fire of the coming judgment and eternal punishment received for the wicked. not wanting to be fastened to the wood, Polycarp is recorded to have said, quote, leave me thus. He who strengthens me to endure the flames will also enable me to stand firm at the stake without being fastened with nails. So after the wood was set on fire, Polycarp looked at his eyes to heaven and he prayed and he was consumed by the flames and he died in 156 AD. In verse 14 of our text, Peter exhorts Christians not to be fearful or to be troubled by persecution because their persecution will only bring more blessing. This is the perspective. Whether it's dealing with soft persecution, places like the United States or hard persecution in places like Asia or North Africa, this is how we are called This is the perspective we are called to have, one that is grounded in God's truth and in his love and promises in Christ. Things could get worse here in the United States. We should not fear or be troubled by it because God is on his sovereign throne and any suffering we endure in this brief life for the sake of the gospel, We are promised we'll only bring about greater blessings in the future. That is a great encouragement to live with. So that's the first heading, suffering for righteousness sake. The second one is one that deals a bit with apologetics. It's one of those verses we go to when we think about sharing the gospel. Be prepared to make a defense to anyone. Be prepared to make a defense to anyone. Look at verse 15 with me again. But in your hearts, honor Christ the Lord as holy. always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you, yet do it with gentleness and respect." Here Peter tells these suffering Christians in the first century to not be silent, to open their mouths in response to the questions that might arise or to the charges that may be leveled against them. But first, notice what Peter says. He says, honor Christ the Lord as holy. What does this mean? It simply means this. Rather than fear their hostile culture, rather than be troubled by the suffering that may come their way, they are to focus on Christ. Not just to focus on him, but focus on him in the inmost part of their being. In other words, he's saying, do not let fear and trouble and worry be that which overcomes you. Keep your focus on Christ. Set him apart and your heart is holy. Let him reign. Scottish pastor, Robert Layton, who I've shared with you about before, 17th century Scottish pastor, he writes this, quote, faith in God clears the mind and dispels carnal fears. It is the most sure help. It resolves the mind concerning the event and scatters the multitude of perplexing thoughts which arise. What shall become of this or that? What if such an enemy prevail? What if the place of our abode grow dangerous and we be not provided, as others are, for a removal? No matter, says faith, though all fail, I know of one thing that will not. I have a refuge which all the strength of nature cannot break in and demolish, a high defense, my rock in whom I trust. This firm belief of and resting on His power and wisdom and love gives clear, satisfying answer to all our fears. This is indeed to sanctify God and to give Him His own glory, to rest on Him. Sanctify the Lord as holy. Sanctify him in your heart, in your inmost being. Do not focus on the circumstances of your suffering or persecution. Are we allowing fear to grip and rule our hearts this evening? Are the troubles of this life overwhelming your heart and eclipsing the brightness of your faith? God's word says to us this evening, in your hearts, honor Christ as holy. Christ has saved you by grace through faith in him. And he's called you to walk with him, to not walk in fear, but to walk in faith and in love, to trust him, to trust him. Even as David did in Psalm 34, even as Polycarp did before, the Roman crowds. As you do so, as you trust him, as you set him apart as holy, Peter says, always be prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for the reason, for the hope that is in you. There's that wonderful theme of hope again, that resurrection hope that indwells our hearts and that motivates us and compels us to live the Christian life before the unbelieving world and to make a defense to those who ask. Now, traditionally, this verse has been a kind of primary proof text for the discipline of apologetics, and rightly so. But when Peter wrote this, of course, he was not thinking about professional apologists and defenders of the faith, like R.C. Sproul or Rabi Zacharias. This verse isn't sort of, we don't chop it out and just give it to people who are especially gifted in that. This is for all Christians. He was thinking primarily about folks like us, ordinary Christians, being prepared to respectfully and gently defend our hope in Christ. If anyone asks about it, notice all the connections. People see the way that we live, they begin to ask questions, and then we have an opportunity to share Some believe that Peter is referencing those occasions when believers are persecuted and dragged before the civil court that they should be ready to testify to the power and reality of Christ and the gospel. And this certainly is part of it. But the language in verse 15 seems to point to those ordinary occasions when people ask you why you are a Christian. Why do you go to church? Why do you read your Bible? Why do you pray before meals? Why do you do these things? Peter says, be prepared to have an answer for this hope that is in you. fresh and bubbling over because we are in the Word, and we're meditating upon the Word, and we're on our knees in prayer, and we're spending time with our families, communicating about the truth of God, and as we are involved in Lord's Day worship and fellowshipping throughout the week, as all of these things are happening, it's naturally bubbling out of you when somebody asks. The fear that we often demonstrate in the context of social settings when there is an opportunity to witness, it often comes because we ourselves are not walking with God. Now, I understand there are times when we get a little nervous or we're not exactly sure what to say, and I understand all that. Of course, that's true for so many of us. But I think in large part, the reason why our witness in the world is as weak as it is, is because we ourselves are not bubbling over. We have a kind of swamp. if we were to describe our Christian lives, it's not rivers of living water, it's like a swamp, where there's a bunch of things floating around in there, and some of those things are pretty good, but they're things that we've been thinking about for 15 years, and not really in a fresh way, and we're feeling stale. You see, we're gonna be less likely to reach out to someone who comes and asks us. or to take that opportunity to witness when there is an occasion to do so, if we are not ourselves walking with and delighting in the Lord Jesus Christ. We want to share what is most lovely to us in our lives. We want to share. So let us be prepared to have an answer. Again, this is not a clarion call to every Christian to be a part-time professional philosopher or theologian. Rather, it's a call for every Christian to be able to articulate the fundamentals of the faith and to give reasons for the hope that exists in your heart. How can we be prepared, you say? Pastor John, how do I get prepared? Well, You're doing part of that right now. You're preparing. You're in church. You're spending time under the word in morning and evening worship. You're sitting here in this meat locker on a Sunday evening, freezing and listening to the word of God being preached. This is what we all need. We need to sit under the word. We need to be trained by it, corrected by it, rebuked by it. We need to learn from God's word so that we can then share with others. Personal and family study. I mentioned this this morning, but we need to carve out time in our schedules to crack open, of course, our Bibles, but also good books to challenge us and good periodicals. We give table talk away because we actually want you to read it. We don't want it to just be on the coffee table looking cool and spiritual. We want you to actually open it up and read it. I was reading an article today in Christianity Today, which I do not encourage you to subscribe to Christianity Today. However, I read it to kind of keep up to date on some things and I can sift through some of the stuff going on there. But I opened up to this article and it said, it was an article on self-control. I'm like, oh, do I really want to read this right now? An article on self-control. That doesn't sound fun. I thought, you know, I need to read this. So I began reading. It's so helpful, so encouraging to my soul to read about self-control and to read about how this fruit of the spirit, really, when we exercise it, we need to be filled with the spirit. We also need to recognize it as like a muscle. And if you don't exercise a muscle, if you don't exercise self-control, then you won't be able to show self-control, the things you want to show self-control. And there's a lot of helpful things there, and it's an encouragement. But we need, all of us, to be more mindful about doing some reading. And I know it's not always easy. I know there's not always time, but often there is time. And I know that in my own life, I've had seasons where I haven't read as much, other seasons where I have, and I'm old enough now, as I look back on the years of my life, to know that the times where I am digging in and reading a lot, I am much more fresh, willing to talk to others about the Lord, wanting to engage, and there are rivers of living water. It's different. than when I'm not engaged in those things. Thirdly, active evangelism. This is how we are to prepare by actually doing it. We prepare for evangelism and apologetics by doing evangelism and apologetics. You get sharpened the more you do it. So we shouldn't be silent. Let us be prepared. This is not a suggestion, beloved. This is not a suggestion. When someone comes to you at work this week, which I'm gonna pray that they do, And they come to you at work and they say, what is this? You're praying before, who are you praying to? What's going on there? Or why is it that you are in church all day on Sundays? You can respond. You can respond. Yet do it, it says, with gentleness and respect. In other words, let not our evangelism and defense of the gospel be unkind or harsh or overbearing. But as we learned last week, let us be tenderhearted and compassionate and full of love as we defend the faith and as we share Christ. I'm always mindful of these things as I'm with unbelievers in various spheres of my life right now. I'm always aware, particularly in my position as a minister, the need to be gentle and compassionate in my engaging with them on this level. And let us remember to pray. Let us remember to pray. Our most persuasive arguments will fall on deaf ears and stony hearts apart from the work of the Holy Spirit. While back, I read a wonderful biography. I've probably encouraged some of you to read it over the years. It's a book that really impacted me. It was a biography of C.S. Lewis called The Narnian. And at one point, the author explains Lewis's change from an atheist, not to a Christian, but to a theist, with Christian leanings, but he had not yet been born again. But the author points out that it's highly likely that the character Eustace in the book, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, is a depiction of Lewis before and after his own conversion. Sort of going through the existential process that he was going through as he was moving from atheist to theist to Christian. Voyage of the Dawn Treader. You remember Eustace, don't you? He's the kid you want to just slap in the middle of the movie when you see it or in the middle of the book if you've read it. He's that selfish, moralistic, complaining little know-it-all. He always knows best. At one point in the story, you remember, Eustace turns into a huge dragon. He becomes on the outside what he already was on the inside. You remember that. In one powerful scene, Eustace becomes very sad about his life and his dragon-ness. So he begins to tear at his thick dragon skin with his sharp dragon claws. But as soon as he gets one layer off, what happens? There's another one that's there. And he gets another layer off, and then another one is there. And Eustace soon realizes that he cannot change himself. Eustace realizes he cannot save himself. But then Aslan the lion appears. And with his powerful claws, he begins to tear away at the dragon skin. And he removes it. and he changes Eustace's life. But the process hurt. It was painful. Eustace said that, quote, the very first tear he made was so deep that I thought it had gone right into my heart, end quote. The author of the Lewis biography explains that this was Lewis's experience. He was like Eustace, a selfish know-it-all who was trying to cleanse and change himself, but he could not. Only Christ could. And this is the fundamental difference between Christianity and all religions, is that in Christianity there is an acknowledgement that we cannot save ourselves. We can do nothing to save ourselves. We are helpless and hopeless apart from Christ. And Aslan, of course, is the Christ figure in the Narnia tales. The author writes the following, quote, it is characteristic of Aslan, Lord of Narnia, to do for his people what they cannot do for themselves. He heals, he saves, he even dies for them when there is no other remedy. But it is not clear that when Lewis was discovering his, quote, depth under depth of self-love and self-admiration, he yet understood the deepest character of the God in whom he now believed. He was still trying to strip away his own skin, but every day, whether he knew it or not, he was moving closer to the recognition that it was not just any God, but the God of Jesus Christ into whose hands he had fallen. And if any radical change in him were to ever happen, his own powers of insight and determination would not be adequate to the task. Only the claws of that God could penetrate to his very heart. Only the claws of that God, of Jesus Christ, could penetrate to his very heart. We must always be ready to give a reason for the hope that is within us, but we must remember to pray because only Christ can change hearts. And let us do so, verse 16 says, with a good conscience, so that when we are spoken ill of, when we are slandered, those who revile our good behavior may be put to shame at the coming of Christ. Once again, Peter puts together good behavior and godly responses in this life to the final judgment and life to come. He connects these things. And this brings us finally to our third point. Remember the pattern of suffering to glory. Look with me again at verses 17 and 18. Remember the pattern of suffering to glory. For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God's will, than for doing evil. For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit. Here, the inspired Peter wants his readers to understand not only that their God-ordained suffering will, in the end, manifest great blessing, but also that Christ himself is Exhibit A in proving this point. And he made this point back in chapter 2, verses 21-25, and he is making it here again. We know that God's people suffer, and that God, in his sovereign purposes, decrees that suffering. But it's not without a wonderful, often hidden purpose. and always with a marvelous eternal reward. Those to whom Peter was writing to needed to hear this. They needed to hear this if they were going to stand firm in the midst of their trials, and so do we. So do we, beloved. Once again, we are taught that the pattern of our lives as Christians corresponds to the life of our living head, the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ suffered, and then he entered into glory. His suffering and death purchased salvation for us guilty sinners, the righteous for the unrighteous. So we too, by grace through faith, would walk in the path of suffering in this world to the glory of the life to come. Christ was put to death in the flesh, but was raised from the dead in the spirit. And because Christ was raised, we who are united to him through faith shall also be raised. This is the reason for the hope that is within us. It's Christ, the perfect Lamb of God suffering once for sins on the cross of Calvary. Our sins upon his back. It's what this table reminds us of. Every one of our sins, every single solitary sin that we have committed or that we shall commit was on the Lord Jesus Christ. He bore our guilt. And he suffered God's unspeakable judgment, the righteous for the unrighteous, the good for the bad, the innocent for the guilty, the lovely for the unlovely. While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us, beloved. That is the gospel. Why did he do this? Verse 18 says it. Do you see it there? That he might bring us to God. That's why he did it, that he might present us to God as spotless, that he might present us as his bride to the Father, without stain, without blemish, washed clean with the blood of Christ. But even though he bore our sins and died a sinner's death, the grave could not hold him. Why? Because he did nothing wrong. He was innocent, and so he burst forth from the grave, declaring victory over death and hell. is why we can trust the Lord in the midst of suffering, in the midst of a hostile culture. This is why fear and trouble shouldn't reign in our hearts, but rather why Christ should reign as holy in our hearts. This is why we can gently and respectfully respond to inquirers about our faith, even harsh inquirers. This is why we have a good conscience when we are slandered. This is why we live with abounding hope and joy unspeakable because Christ suffered once for sins. And by grace through faith in him, because of our union with him, we are forgiven of all of our sins. We are robed in his very righteousness and we are given an eternal inheritance that is imperishable. Unlike the things in this world, it is imperishable, undefiled, unfading, and kept in heaven for us. You can't say these things about our possessions. Our homes could be getting robbed right now. Hope not. Could be. Those possessions are not gonna be kept in heaven for us. but we have an eternal inheritance that will be. Nothing can take that from us. Nothing can separate us from the greatest inheritance, the treasure of our hearts, the Lord Jesus Christ. This was Peter's reason for hope and it's ours as well. So let us go to the table this evening with that hope welling up in our hearts. Let us pray. Our Father and our God, we thank you for this wonderful text of scripture, which weaves together so many beautiful ideas from your words, and reminding us most of all to abide in Christ. Oh Lord, would you abide with us, even as we seek to commune with you at your table? And would you grant us by your grace, increasing measures of assurance that we are loved by you and kept by you and eternal inheritance awaits us in glory. Help us to live with an eternal perspective and not allow our culture or the news cycle or our own sinful flesh to overwhelm us with fear, doubt, trouble. Help us, Lord, to abide in your Son, the one who gave his life that he might bring us to you. I pray this in Jesus' name, amen.