I would invite you all to please stand for the reading of God's Word. And turn with me to 1 Peter 3, the book of 1 Peter 3. I will read verses eight through 17, but we will be focusing on verses 13 through 17. Finally, all of you have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind. Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing. For whoever desires to love life and see good days, let him keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit. Let him turn away from evil and do good. Let him seek peace and pursue it. For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer. But the faith of the Lord is against those who do evil. 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 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, 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, then for doing evil. Thus far, the reading of God's word, you may be seated. Let's pray. Father, this evening we've come to be fed by your word. We are a needy and hungry people. And so we pray that you would take away any distractions that we might have, that your spirit would grant us a laser-like focus that we might hear from you. And above all, Lord, illumine our minds so we might behold Jesus Christ, our Savior, whom we love and whom we desire to follow. In his name we pray, amen. What comes to mind when you hear the word apologetics? I mean, maybe you don't think about that word at all if you're not in the seminary. But the word carries with it the idea of making a defense. It's a legal term and typically used in a legal context. Naturally, we might think of defending the faith with intellectual arguments. We naturally might think of our favorite theologians whom we love to read, like R.C. Sproul. But I imagine few of us, when hearing apologetics, will think of suffering, and godliness. And if you did think of that, come talk to me afterwards. But that's what Peter is talking about here. We often will rip these verses out of context, particularly verse 14. where it says, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you. We just tear that right out of context when Peter is talking about suffering. Peter is talking about the Christian life here. In fact, his main point is that the foundation of defending the faith is Christian character. The foundation of defending the faith is Christian character. In other words, faithfulness in the Christian life and in defending the faith go hand in hand. Peter writes this letter to Gentile Christians. We're not going through the book in its entirety, but if you flip back to chapter one, you'll see that he writes in chapter one, verse one, to those who are elect exiles of the dispersion. And then he has several regions, Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, and Asia. But you will notice that he calls him exile. But usually in the Old Testament, exile is associated with God's judgment. Remember Israel, when they're sent off into Israel, they're carried away into slavery. So here in chapter one, actually, there's a different nuance of exile being used. God's people are called exiles, not because of anything wrong that they've done. No, they're called exiles because of how the world treats them, how the world views them. Peter's audience would have known that being a Christian would cost them something. They knew that being a Christian was a call to suffer. We don't know the exact circumstances that were happening, but there would have been an intense pressure to conform to cultural and religious practices during that time, which would have included emperor worship. There was no cultural Christianity that believers could benefit from. Becoming a Christian meant being ridiculed by your family, by your friends, and by your co-workers, those who were very close to you even. And knowing that this was the kind of world that Christians lived in, a Peter wants to answer a fundamental question. How should Christians respond when we are mistreated in the world? How do we respond? Do we take up arms against tyranny? Do we fight fire with fire? How do Christians respond? And that's the question he's answering throughout his letter. And his answer is that the church is called to holiness and godliness. Holiness and godliness that is rooted in the hope of the gospel. He reminds his audience of their regeneration, their redemption, and their renewed identity. Chapter 1 verse 3, God has caused us to be born again unto a living hope. Chapter 1 verse 18, we are ransomed from futile ways with the precious blood of Christ. And then chapter two, verse nine, we are now a chosen race, a royal priesthood. And because all of this is true of God's people. And this is all true of you as well by faith, because you have this new identity. How do we live in this fallen world now where we're surrounded by unbelievers, surrounded by those who treat Christians with contempt? How do we respond? In other words, Peter would have us know that being a Christian involves godly conduct and character in the face of opposition and suffering and justice. In the face of opposition, we are called to have our eyes on heaven, heavenward, to future realities. Peter's not talking about a general kind of suffering that we all might experience in this world, that even unbelievers might experience. Our catechism says that In our fall, we were plunged into an estate of sin and misery. And there are certain things that believers and unbelievers experience. No, there's a particular kind of suffering he's talking about. Suffering for Christ, our Savior. And with that, we come to the character of apologetics, where we will spend the majority of our time. So if you would look down with me at verse 13 again, He says, now who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good? Here we see that the Christian exemplifies a zeal for good works. And here, here's the only time Peter uses this word for zeal. And in the Old Testament, it's used to describe God, and it's translated, God is a jealous God. Usually in context of God's worship, God will not tolerate idolatry. He will have no other gods before him. God is a jealous God. How fitting then that Peter uses this word to show how the Christian ought to care for the things of God, despite in a context where the world is calling the Christian to bow down and serve the idols of the day. This intense passion that God himself has for his own worship, the Christian is also to display this passion, this fervor for good works, for godliness, for piety. And if you take that approach to the Christian life, if you adopt that mindset, then the rhetorical question in verse 13 begins to make more sense. What believer will cause you trouble if you are consumed with living a godly life? And you might be thinking, well, there are plenty of unbelievers willing to cause me trouble. Perhaps you're not convinced. You might be thinking, well, there are plenty of people who are persecuted for doing the right thing. In fact, just a couple days ago, that happened to me. And while Peter has not forgotten that reality, that the Christian will be persecuted, and we'll get to that in a little bit, he also doesn't want us to forget this important point, that unbelievers are made in the image of God and they experience common grace. God restrains their evil and their wickedness. Even the unbeliever can't deny that your Christian conduct can benefit society, can benefit them even. And maybe you've experienced this at your job. Your honesty and your diligence has a way of benefiting your company. Your hard work ethic has a way of benefiting those around you. Though there are certain common grace benefits that unbelievers receive when we live out the Christian life. And yet we don't live in this ideal world. Do we? And so Peter, as the word brings us back to reality in verse 14, verse 14. But even if you suffer for righteousness sake, you will be blessed. We can appreciate what Peter does here. He doesn't leave us in a fantasy world where Christians never experienced adversity. He's not a theologian of glory where Christians take over the world with little to no trouble. No, Peter lives in the real world where Christians suffer, where Christians are martyred even. So he acknowledges this possibility of suffering. Oftentimes your striving after godliness will make people persecute you even more. They'll talk behind your back. They'll say things like, well, you just think you're better than everyone because you're a Christian. Or you just have a holier than thou attitude. And yet the good news is that when you do experience the mockery and the mistreatment, we read in verse 14 that you're blessed. You're blessed. This actually, Peter doesn't come up with an original idea here. This actually comes directly from the mouth of our Savior, from the Sermon on the Mount, particularly the Beatitudes, right? Jesus says, blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. We have to admit this runs contrary to our feelings at times. We naturally don't feel blessed when we suffer for Christ. In fact, we feel the opposite. We are afraid to suffer for Christ. But when that fear rises in our hearts, I would argue, and I think Peter would argue that, it's likely because we have a warped vision of what blessing truly is. We don't understand what blessing is. We think blessing is when everything in my life is put together. I go to school, I put the work in, and I get the A. I'm blessed. I go to In-N-Out, I would never go to In-N-Out, but go to In-N-Out, eat a good burger, I'm blessed, right? Even in the Old Testament, they thought blessing correlated with your obedience. And yet in reality, that's not often the case. God's word tells us we're blessed when our world is falling apart. There's a simple math. There's an inverse correlation between what we feel at times and whether we're actually blessed. God says when you're down in the mud, when the world treats you with contempt, you are all the more blessed in those moments. Some translations will translate it as happy. And I think that can be a little misleading here, because in our day and age, we associate happiness with a subjective feeling. We think I'm happy one day, and then I'm not happy another day. Happiness is so fleeting. And I think the idea is not subjective happiness. The idea is rather objective, that you have God's favor. If we could put it in an analogical or accommodated way, you could say, God is eternally happy and pleased with you. And that's good news. that we have God's favor. When the minister comes up and gives a benediction, I don't know about you, but oftentimes we don't feel blessed at times. We have a long work week ahead, right? But he lifts his arms and he pronounces that benediction. And you can know objectively, if you're a child of God by faith, you are blessed. no matter what comes during the week, no matter what happened the week before, God is pleased with you. And if you have God's favor, then you can conclude with Peter in verse 17. This is what Peter concludes in verse 17. He says, for it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God's will, than for doing evil. Persecution is not evidence that God has forsaken you or forgotten you. No, persecution is evidence that God is with you, that he's with you in those moments. When others revile you, you can know you're on the right side of history. Why? Because they reviled and persecuted your savior as well. Peter knows our hearts quite well though. He knows how afraid and fearful we can be. Perhaps here's his own heart coming out. Remember the night on which Jesus would be betrayed and Peter demonstrated a fear of man. He would eventually deny his savior three times. So he would know what it was like to be afraid. And yet he anticipates our fear in verses 14 and 15. Verses 14 and 15. Note that he gives three commands. Two of the commands are negative and then one is positive. He says, verse 14, have no fear of them, nor be troubled. And then the positive command in your hearts, honor Christ the Lord as holy. So here we see the solution or remedy to the fear of man is the fear of the Lord. The character of apologetics entails the fear of the Lord. We looked at zeal for godliness, now the fear of the Lord. Peter's audience would have dealt with the same kinds of fears we deal with today. Fear of losing your job because you won't speak how the culture wants you to speak. Fear that the emperor would drag you before a court, a kangaroo court, based on trumped-up charges. And yet Peter calls us to honor and fear Christ above men. Here he draws on imagery almost word for word from Isaiah chapter eight. Now in Isaiah chapter eight, Israel, the Northern tribes are colluding with Syria to destroy the Southern tribes. And then the Southern tribes, they respond by colluding with Assyria. So there's political chaos and turmoil happening. And in the middle of that political turmoil and chaos, what does God tell Isaiah? God tells Isaiah, do not fear, rather fear the Lord of hosts, him you shall honor as holy. And if you go back to Isaiah chapter eight, you will notice that the Lord is in all caps in your Bible. That's the covenant name of God, Yahweh of hosts is used there. And so here, back into our context, Peter clearly identifies Christ as Israel's God. He identifies Christ as God in the flesh. And he draws on this background because the new covenant church also has the temptation. The new covenant church has the temptation to look elsewhere other than their Lord for help. We're tempted to look to the world, to look to politics and make unholy and political alliances. Ultimately, because we're afraid of what might happen to us. Because we're afraid of men. And yet what we need to do is allow the fear of the Lord to drown out any fear of man that we have. In fact, we have another relationship here. The more you fear God, the less you will fear men. And the more you fear men, well, the less you will fear God. Peter has already commanded his audience in chapter two, verse 17, to honor the emperor. But here in verse 15 of our text, he uses a different word. A better translation, I think, would be sanctify the Lord in your hearts or hollow the Lord in your hearts. The idea is setting Christ apart in a category all by himself. The honor we give to Christ is fundamentally religious in nature. In other words, there's a kind of respect you give to the emperor. You pay your taxes, you render to Caesar what belongs to him. And then there's a kind of honor and respect you give to Christ, and you ought not conflate or confuse the two. We honor Christ by worshiping him, by giving him our hearts, the whole heart. I like chapter 20 of our confession gets at this idea of the supreme authority of God when it says, God alone is Lord. of the conscience. God alone is Lord of the conscience. And that's the kind of devotion we have for Christ because he is God. Augustine talks about having rightly ordered love. Here, Peter wants us to have rightly ordered authority. We are to bow the knee to Christ our King. Whatever he says in his word, we are to do it. Do not delay obedience. We are to do it immediately. He's our king. Whatever he tells me to do, Lord, I will do it. Your wish is my command. Our boss is not Lord. Our parents are not the Lord. There is only one Lord, and he is above all authority. Now that does not mean that we abandon all authority. Peter just talked about all the authority figures that we have earlier in chapter three and also in chapter two. But when it comes to authority, there is only one who truly has our heart. Christ must take preeminence in our hearts. And the result of dishonoring and fearing the Lord with your whole heart is that you will all, this is an organic outworking. You will always be ready to give a defense for the hope that is within you. Many of you read, many read this as a command. I know I often read this as a command, like a general to his, um, to his soldiers, be ready to defend the faith. Always be ready. Read the right books, right? And yet the emphasis, the command is actually to honor Christ. That's the emphasis right here. And the outworking, the result is that you will always be ready to give a reason. It's the outworking. Apologetics is not just about giving a reasoned intellectual defense of the faith. It can include that. But we ought not forget the foundation. And that's what Peter is giving us here. The foundation of our apologetics is Christian character. He even points out that the way we share our hope is important. How, the manner we share our hope, also matters. Peter's concern is your piety under persecution. He says in verse 15, 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. And then, yet do it with gentleness and respect. Then he gives a reason for why we do it with gentleness and respect. So that when you are slandered, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior might be put to shame. So character, godly character, is what undergirds and fuels our apologetics. But when you take piety out of the equation, then of course it becomes how good you are at arguing. Of course it becomes, well, I need to be quick on my feet. I have to have the right answer at all time. No. Apologetics is founded upon a Christian life that looks to Christ that follows Him wherever He tells them to go. And in doing so, you will always be ready. You will always be ready. Now, this assumes that we have hope to share. If we're always ready to share something, what is it that we are to share? And this is something true about every Christian. R.C. Sproul wrote a book called Everyone is a Theologian. You could also say every Christian is an apologist, right? Because everything we've talked about applies to every Christian. Every Christian is called to be holy, even as God is holy. Every Christian is called to sanctify the Lord in their hearts. This applies to all Christians. And so what are we to share with other people? And I think it's quite clear as we come to the content of our apologetics. He says, um, our, our hope is founded in the gospel. Um, our good behavior, verse 16 is done in Christ and If you look earlier in chapter one, he says, we have this hope. Chapter one, verse six, he says, in this you rejoice. Though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith, more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. So he says, we've been born again unto a living hope, but what is this hope we have? The revelation of Jesus Christ. The revelation of the inheritance that he is guarding right now, waiting to be revealed when he returns. The gospel, this is our hope. The gospel, of course, is that Jesus died for my sin and rose for my justification. That's the heart of the gospel. But part of the gospel is also that he's coming back. That Jesus will return in time and space, in history, as we confess in the Apostles' Creed, that he will come to judge the living and the dead. And what will he do? He will gather us up. He will vindicate his people. before the entire world, we will be shown to be His people. It'll be shown who was truly on the right side of history on that great day. And your suffering will not have been for nothing. No, we look forward to that day when Christ returns. Our hope is bound up in Him. That's the language of our text, right? Our good behavior is done in Christ, in union with Christ. And if you're in union with Christ, then the world cannot take away your hope. To take away your hope, they would have to take away Christ himself. They would have to uncrucify him. They would have to unraise him from the dead. No, your hope is not in your circumstances that they might get better. No, your hope is in the exalted, resurrected Christ, and he will come back and rescue you from this evil world. And that's good news for us. And until that day, the world might mock you all day long, just like they mocked your savior. They might ridicule you all day long, but they cannot take away your hope. So may the Lord train us in his school of apologetics. May he make us all bold to stand in that day of trouble. Some of you may have already experienced that kind of persecution. but may he make us strong and bold for him. And may we experience the blessing it is, the privilege even it is to suffer for Christ. Let's pray. Father, if we're honest, we're often fearful. We don't know when we will suffer, but your word tells us that we ought not be surprised when we do. And so Lord, it is only by your spirit that we can endure trials and tribulations. It is only by your spirit that you will give us the words to speak in those moments. And so we pray that we would not trust in our own intellect and ingenuity, Lord, but that we would trust in you. And that we would know one day the Lord Jesus will return And he will rescue his persecuted and suffering church. And until that day, may we be bold for him. Lord transform us by this word. Even this week, we pray. We pray this in Jesus name. Amen.