Amen. Our scripture again is taken from 1 Peter, look at chapter 3, and verse 15. That's 1 Peter, chapter 3, verse 15. Amen. Verse Peter and chapter 3, reading only verse 15, and it reads as follows. 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. May God richly bless both the reading and the hearing of his holy word. Now of course I've read from the ESP which reads a little bit differently from the NAB or the King James, but that's a good rendition of Peter's words here. Now this particular verse, and it's only a single verse, but it provides really a good summary for how we are as Christians are to live out our faith in a fallen and sometimes hostile world. I say sometimes hostile, I say that with an asterisk. It's with the understanding that sometimes the world doesn't intend to be hostile to the faith, but their belief systems and their manner of living is just inherently contrary to what God Himself has ordained. And so therefore they are hostile to the faith sometimes intentionally because they simply don't like the things that come from the people of God. And sometimes they are hostile simply because their mindset is contrary to the things of God. But in any event this a good summary of this verse as we'll see in a moment is how Christians, how we as Christians are to live out our faith in a hostile, sometime in a fallen and sometimes hostile world. Now I also need to qualify it in this way that every place that we live is hostile to the things of God. And by that what I mean is we can't allow ourselves to be duped into thinking that one culture, one nation, one particular people, one country is somehow aligned with the kingdom of God because the truth of the matter is everything that is outside of the church. And we know that the church is the kingdom of God is is antithetical to the kingdom of God. Even when they we get along at various points along the way there is a distinction between nation states and the kingdom of God. And so what Peter is addressing in his letter is how we as believers, whether the nation itself considers itself to be friendly to the church or hostile to the church that ultimately as we live out our faith, there are enough points of disagreement that we will understand that living out our faith in this fallen world is to live out our faith in a world that is hostile to the king of glory and to the things of the kingdom. So therefore that's what Peter is is writing about how should we live out our faith that I would argue as we'll see momentarily that he really gives us in this single verse three simple things that and I say simple but three things that really summarize what it means to live out our faith. However I want to lead up to it in this way we shouldn't be surprised that we would get such an exhortation in this particular letter or from this particular author because Peter is is is writing to those who as he tells us in chapter one those who are scattered throughout the Roman Empire. So he's writing to believers who are scattered or dispersed throughout various parts of the Roman Empire and he knows that some may live in this area and that area whether it's Asia Minor or whether it's in some portions of Palestine they are still under the overarching rule of the Roman Empire. So this becomes clear even in his greetings in chapter one where he makes it makes it clear that he is writing to Christians who are scattered throughout the Empire and isn't that a good description of all of us in this in this point in Christian history that that we are but Christians who are scattered throughout the Empire wherever that Empire may be. Whether it's in North America South America Europe Asia we are Christians we are citizens of the kingdom of God who have been dispersed and scattered in this world for the glory of the God who rules the world. Never confusing the kingdoms of this earth with the kingdom of God but we are therefore we that's why we will always be at odds at some point in the world in which we live. Therefore we never need to we should never lose sight of the fact that we are living in a fallen world and it's for that reason that Peter also in chapter four since we he's talking to those who are scattered throughout a fallen world. He reminds us in chapter four to not be surprised when we experience fiery trials even as we serve God in this world we shouldn't be surprised and the reason we shouldn't be surprised is because we're pilgrims because we are pilgrims and because we live in a hostile world and because this world is not as it is set up. This world is does not represent the kingdom of God and it's for this reason that God has interspersed us within the fabric of this world as as embassies of the heavenly kingdom. We know who truly reigns and he reigns in us and through us and through our collective gathering but this world is of the kingdoms of this world or always no matter how nice how hostile how how docel they are to the things of faith and to the people of faith. This world is still not the kingdom of God and so Peter is writing to pilgrims who are dispersed within the kingdoms of this world and that's why it's still relevant even for us and even as he writes in this third chapter of first Peter the point of this chapter is to provide exhortations for God we living. He goes with all of the relationships he follows somewhat the pattern of Peter or of Paul when he gives in the writing of his letters he usually begins with grand and broad theological statements concerning our position with Christ or in Christ and then he breaks it down to the level of our living out our faith and he gives practical exhortations and that's what Peter is doing beginning in chapter three. He's giving practical exhortations for those who are scattered among with throughout the Roman Empire who are citizens of the heavenly kingdom as well as the empire wherever it is that they live and for this reason again he follows the pattern of Paul where his exhortation deals with how we are to conduct ourselves within the context of our marriages and our homes and families and then even as we conduct ourselves broadly in the broader context of the world and therefore he makes his readers conscious of the fact that they do live in a world where doing these things living out their faith serving God in the context of family and country and the different places that the Lord calls them to he reminds them that as they live out their faith he reminds them of something that's very subtle. But they need to be mindful of and that is they live in a world where doing good is not only not always recognized but doing good in a world that sometimes may actually cause them to suffer as the point that he makes leading up to our text in verses 13 and 14 and then also in verses 16 and 17. Our text kind of lies in the middle of all of this that he reminds them beginning in verse 13 he says now who is there to whom harm to harm you if you are zealous for what is good and that's that's a rhetorical question who who would think to do you harm while you're doing good and then in verse 14 he gives the answer. But even if you should suffer for righteousness sake you will be blessed have no fear of them nor be troubled or nor be troubled and then in verses 16 and 17 he says 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 if that should be God's will then for doing evil. Imagine what Peter is saying in essence that it's possible to not only do good in a world that's fallen but in doing good you might even suffer. For a number of years I served on the board of directors for the Rafiki foundation which as you know we do work with Rafiki even still and we support sister Shaquilla Solomon who serves Rafiki in Joss Nigeria but when I served on the board of directors directors we actually had letters that would come in at various points because some of the places where we had Rafiki villages really were suffering persecution. And at one point we had missionaries that were stationed in certain places and we had a board meeting where we had letters that came in where people were wondering are you going to call your missionaries home because they are in the midst of persecution. I never will forget Rosemary Jensen who was the president and over the organization at that time and Rosemary read the letter out loud and she said I hope we are all prepared to stand behind me when I say this no we are not calling our missionaries home because they are in harm's way. This is the world in which we live and it was hostile to the things of God before our missionaries went it was hostile when we sent them and they knew what they were getting into even when we sent them out. Now that's not harsh that is a reminder that serving God and doing good is not always recognized by the outside world and sometimes not only is it not only not recognized but sometimes it is actually met with disdain, with suffering and with hostility. And so therefore Peter gives these exhortations in chapter three and he admonishes the people of God to always be driven by this when doing good not that it's always safe but the reason we do good is not because it's safe and we don't do good simply so that we can be rewarded. We do good because doing good is the right thing to do that's what Peter the mind is believers up that doing good is the right thing to do and because we live in a fallen world we should not be surprised nor should we be discouraged when our good deeds are either a not recognized or be they are not appreciated. And may I even add that when it comes to doing the things of God in the church I remind preachers of this all the time that we don't serve God because people always appreciate the service that we render serve God because it's right. And we do the things of God because it's good and we do what is good and what is right because that's what God has called us to and he's called us to do these things against hostility against non-appreciation and against sometimes people who would go with you until you start doing good and then they don't understand. So therefore we do good in the world because it's right and because it's good and because it honors and because it glorifies the God that we serve. I pray that whatever area of Christian service the Lord calls us to that if we ever find ourselves wondering if we should stop doing and stop serving it would never be because people don't appreciate it. I hope that what we do for the Lord is not just so that people would appreciate it and blow our horns and pat us on the back and tell us we love what you do. No that's not what we do and by the way when people appreciate our service for the Lord for what it is we should appreciate their appreciation but it's never our motivation. We don't serve God so that people can applaud we don't serve God so that people would like us we serve God and we honor God and we do the things of God because it's good. And when we ever find ourselves not serving God because it's good and it's not always good to us in terms of the results that we experience but we do the things of God because it's good and when we ever do things for God not because it's good it will become even more laborious. Therefore what I want to do this evening is just take a few moments to look at three things that Peter says in this verse that should guide us and help us in terms of understanding our service to God in a living in a fallen world. And the reason I say that is because the fact that it's a fallen world increases the difficulty factor in doing our service. I never will forget I had a manager once an office manager in another job and he said if you take a two by four piece of plywood and you lay it on the floor and you tell people to walk across it we'll usually walk across it with no difficulty with no second thought. No second thought with no problems whatsoever but you take that same width of board and you place it between two 20 store buildings and you then connect one end of the board to the other building and you say now walk across it it becomes a little more hard. Not that the board has changed not that your ability to walk across a two by four piece of wood changes or four by five piece of wood changes but what changes is the difficulty factor. It is a joy to do the work of the Lord but when we do the work of the Lord in a fallen world among fallen people even doing the work of the Lord in the context of the church amongst fallen Christians who are redeemed and indwelt by the spirit there is a difficulty factor because of the fall. And therefore I want to look at three things that Peter gives us that should again guide us in living out our faith in this present world the first thing is this honoring Christ as holy should be the engine that drives all of our actions. That's what Peter says in verse 15 he says but but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy that is the engine that drives all of our service to God in this world that we serve not only a risen savior but we serve a sovereign and holy savior and he is holy and the fact that we get to serve this holy sovereign savior is really the motivation that drives all of our actions in this world. I think of Isaiah chapter 6 when Isaiah was called into the temple of the Lord in the year that King Uzziah died and he says that I saw the Lord high and lifted up in his and his role filled the whole temple and the temple was filled with smoke and then he says he heard a loud hearth he saw the cherubums and they were scrying out holy holy holy and he saw this glimpse of the Lord's glory and seeing the Lord in the fullness of his glory he says woe is me because I'm a man undone and I have seen the Lord in his glory and I don't deserve to see it and then though he says that the cherubum that the cherubum that he saw they took live calls from off of the altar and they put it to his mouth to purge his mouth because he says I'm a man of unclean lips and I come from a people of unclean lips and the angelic beings purge the filthiness of his nature and then he says he heard the voice say to him now who will go for me who will go and who will serve me and his and Isaiah in the temple as it were perhaps by himself didn't want anyone to jump in and so he says Lord here I am sin me who is it that he is saying sin me it's the one who has come who has encountered the holy God and he has encountered him and he has been purged of his sinfulness and the one who feels worthy to serve the Lord is not because of his merits and it's not because of his goodness but he feels compelled to serve the Lord because he's become conscious of his uncleanness and he is the recipient of divine cleansing of his ancestors what is it that propels us to serve the Lord why do we preach why do we serve why do we do the things that we do it's not because we're just because we think we might be good at it the reason behind every service unto the Lord in this world is because we have an have had an encounter with the holiness of the triune God that we serve and that's what Peter says he says let this let this be the thing that propels you into a service that you are honoring the holiness of Christ that you recognize that Christ is Lord of all and you honor him as being holy brothers and sisters isn't that the missing ingredient when we don't feel appreciated by the ones that we serve isn't that the missing ingredient when we serve in a world that seems to be driven by a different agenda isn't that the missing ingredient why do we continue to get up and do what we do because we know that the one that we serve is holy and our efforts of worship our efforts of service is to respond to the fact that the holy other has enlisted us into his service that he has he has called us he has enlisted us to represent him in this world and yes people may change and affections may change sometimes we're in and sometimes we're out sometimes we're popular and other times we're unpopular but the one thing that doesn't change for those who serve the Lord is the holiness of the one that we serve let everything that we do whether it's I like what David says I'd rather be a doorkeeper in the house of the Lord than to be the guest of honors in a in a din of sinners so whether we are respected or disrespected honored or dishonored whether we are recognized or unrecognized whether we are appreciated or unappreciated what drives us in our service is that we serve a God who is holy and has drafted us who are the exact opposite into his service again that's why I like what Isaiah says and the Lord gives us that scenario because it doesn't say of anyone else who was in the temple but when the Lord has purged his mouth and his and had just clinched him of his uncleanness and he says now who will go for me Isaiah doesn't want anyone to speak up for him Lord I'll go send me and isn't that what serves us isn't that what propels us into the King's service I grew up in an old school national Baptist black church and when I first came to my pastor to tell him I think the Lord has called me to preach he says go and Terry he said go and Terry go think about it and then I came back he said well pastor Newman I think I'm called to the ministry says well he asked this question he says can you not preach I thought about it I said no I don't think I cannot preach he says okay well if you if you can't not do it then we can talk but if you can say that you cannot do it then go ahead and do whatever else that you can think you you think you need to do isn't that what it is whether we are serving the Lord in our auxiliaries in our mission areas if we cannot do it then don't but if you can't help but do it like Jeremiah that's like fire shut up in your bones and you can't help but do it then do it to the glory of the Lord whether anybody recognizes it or not because as Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15 that we do this to the glory of the Lord. We do it and we do it to the glory of the Lord and we are always abounding in the work of the Lord because we know that serving the Holy God who saves us and who has called us into a service is never in vain.
So here's the first thing honoring Christ as holy is the engine that drives all of our actions and our service in honoring God. We are doing it in honor of the Holy One we're not doing it in order to earn favor from him we are doing it in honor of him because the Holy One has purged us of our sins. So let all of our service be driven by the fact that we are seeking to honor God we are seeking to honor God particularly God the Son who has called us into his holy service. Here's the second thing we should be able to defend our actions of service and and our actions as as being reasonable and the logical consequences of our convictions. The motive of our service to God is because we recognize that Christ is holy but in serving him that's going to put us at odds with certain things within the culture and so we should be able to defend the service that we render unto God on the basis of our convictions about his personhood. Now at this point that first Peter 315 the thing that is most famous for is that word defend we should be able in the ESV it says that we should be able to defend our faith in other words that we should be able to give as it says in the King James given answer for everyone that asked for the reasons that of the hope that is within us. It's from this that we get the word the Greek word that glints to our English term of apologetics that we should be able to defend our faith it doesn't mean defend in the same way that you defend your home but it simply means that we should be able to give a reason for the hope that causes us to act antithetical to the world and the way that we should defend our faith. We should be able to defend our actions that put us at odds with the culture and with the people that are around us we should be able to defend it in a way that says our service to God is a logical consequence and a reasonable consequence of our convictions. But for instance in the book of Acts we are told that one of the the the mantras of the early church is that Jesus is Lord Jesus is Lord that was the mantra of the early church that Jesus is Lord and what they meant by that is yes Caesar is Caesar but Jesus is Lord. And the Lordship of Christ is greater than the Caesarship of whoever it is that is ruling and that's why early on the logical consequence of this is when the disciples found themselves at odds with the political leaders of the day and they said okay here's what we'll do we will let you go free as long as you don't preach and teach in the name of Jesus. And it was Peter that answered that we must obey God because he is Lord rather than men in other words brothers and sisters when we serve God we know that there will be those who don't understand when we serve God in the manner in which we are supposed to serve him then it's going to put us at odds and here's what Peter is saying. We need to when our obedience to Christ conflicts with the expected expected standards of men then we should be able to give a reason for why we obey God rather than men. We're able to explain why we do it and why we refuse to do this that or the other you see it's not just well I'm a Christian and I don't know that's not enough because we have been given a responsibility in the world in which we serve. And so in honor of the times and in honor of the world and in honor of the Christ that we serve here's what Peter is saying here's the first thing serve him in honor of his holiness. And when his and when service to his and obedience to his holiness brings you into conflict with the minds of men and the expected expect or the expectations of men then you need to be able to explain why you are honoring him over men. I wish contemporary American evangelicals would learn that lesson that we are subservient to God and we have no we don't have to give excuses for serving God and serving God is sometimes going to put us on the on the other side of particular issues and even individuals. But our obedience is to God. I like the way Joseph explains it when potterfers wife came on to him you remember in the book of of Genesis and potterfers wife came on to him and and and made advancements towards him and he answered it this way he says how can I do this thing before God. And he yes he has been honored by potterfers husband but his allegiance wasn't first and foremost to potterfers it is allegiance was first and foremost to God. You say wait a minute but Joseph serving God got you thrown into a pit and written off as dead by your brothers but God is still faithful. So here he is he says I can't do this thing against God. Others and sisters yes we should be able to defend our actions our actions that sometimes put us at odds with the ways of the world we should defend it because we should be able to explain it in light of what we believe. The reason we serve God is because he is sovereign the reason we do a Y or A B and C and we don't do D E and F is because of what we believe about A B and C. We must be grounded in what we understand about A B and C not why this verse has been used to defend the whole discipline of Christian apologetics and apologetics really doctrine is it says what we believe and apologetics is the defense of what we believe it's the reason that we give for what we believe. Let me just put it this way here's the basic bottom line reason for what we believe about Jesus because he rose from the dead. Amen he rose from the dead everything else that he said everything else that he claimed if we thought we understood it and believed it it is underlying it is it is highlighted by the fact that he rose. If he did not rise from the dead we wouldn't have Matthew Mark Luke or John but he did and we do and because he rose we believe and because we believe we serve and so we need to be able to explain and that's why I know some songs they they they go in a particular direction but I and I love the song about up to a point you know he lives and say and you ask. And you ask me why I know he lived that's my point of departure why do I say he lives not because he lives in my heart but I believe he lives because the scripture says he lives because the scripture says the grave is empty and since the grave is empty we know that he lives in first Corinthians 15 we are told that there were over 500 people that saw him at one time. So the people who were alive at that time said that they know that he died and he lives so the proof for the fact that he lives is not what lives in my heart is what's not in that grave in Jerusalem. We need to be able to give a reason for the hope that is within us and brothers and sisters the end of the road of all of the reasons for our belief can never be what's in us. It always has to be outside of us remember as a child listening to this sermon and preacher was going on and he was preaching and he gave an illustration about a boy who was flying the kite and he was the kite was out there and he says and it went higher and higher and finally it went behind the clouds. And and and someone came by and they saw him holding this string and they said little young man what are you doing he says I'm flying my kite he said well I don't see a kite out there how do you know that is still there and he says well because I every now and then I feel it moving I said well that's cute but that's not the reason he knew he was flying the kite. He knew he was flying his kite because physically and objectively it was a kite that he let up into the air and it was a kite that he released with the twine and it was a kite when it went behind the clouds and just because there clouds there it doesn't cease to be a cloud. How does he know that the cloud that the kite is still there is because it hasn't come down how do we know that Jesus lives. Because the grave is empty because a Roman soldier was willing to take his life because he couldn't explain the absence in the grave. We know that he lives and he lives and because he lives brothers and sisters we serve. Why do we serve Jesus as Lord because he rose and after he rose he said all authority. Heaven and earth has been given to me and so since he died and he rose we tend to believe people who have come back from the grave. And so therefore our hope the reason the logical consequence of our service to the living Savior is grounded in the fact that he is Jesus which is confer or he is Jesus. He is the Christ the son of the living God which is confirmed by the fact not just that he died or that he was buried but by the fact that he is risen and he is send it to the right hand of the Father. That brings us to the third thing here. Peter says not only should we the engine that drives all of our obedience to God is because we are setting out our lives to honor the holiness of Christ. And then we should be able to give a logical explanation for our service to him over anything that we owe to men that everything else is subservient to our service to Christ. And we should explain the fact that because he was born of a virgin and because he was crucified on our behalf and because he was raised on the third day by the power of God and he ascended into the heavens forty days hence we believe that. And that's why we serve him and until you can disprove that you can't take away my faith. Then thirdly Peter says the spirit in which we both render our service and the spirit in which we defend our faith should reflect the one that we serve. Notice what he says. He says that we should give a reason for our faith with respect and with honor. One of the things that characterizes much of Christian discourse in this generation is this combativeness. Whether it's unbelievers or whether it's people from different tribes in different belief systems we love to get in a fight. And in doing so we dishonor and we disrespect the ones that we have disagreements with. And Peter says no that's not the way we do this. He says no because we are seeking to honor him with our service and then we give a logical explanation for our service because the one that we serve is meek and mild then we should give a defense for what we believe. In a spirit of meekness and a spirit of humility and certainly in a spirit that gives honor to the ones that we disagree with. Others and sisters we should not boast in our ability to destroy our enemies. It's one of the things that we see in our present political environment that we otherwise the people who are on the other side of the aisle whether we believe or whether we agree or disagree. Our disagreements are still coming from people who are committed to the service of the risen savior. And the best respect that we can give to the risen savior is to defend what we believe in the proper spirit and the proper spirit as honor and respect. Can you imagine getting into a theological with Saul of Tarsus before he became the Apostle Paul? Number one he probably would shred us to bits because he was well grounded in what he believed. But if we are dismissive of him because his position before his conversion was on the other side of the Christian faith in such a way that he thought it was okay to bring persecution to those who called upon the name of the Lord. And then the Lord changed his heart. Brothers and sisters it's not we are not the ones who condemn people to hell. That's God's responsibility. But he has left us here to tell others no matter what camp you are in even if you were in the business of putting others say to death that the mercies and grace of God can reach you. And so we defend our faith we defend what we do what we do it in a spirit in which we are not unnecessarily attacking others because of what they do or do not believe. Peter says do it in a spirit of meekness old King James has it in a spirit of humility but I still love the way the ESB reads it that we are to do it with gentleness and respect. We can disagree with people and still respect that they are image bearers of the most high God. We will wash our hands with their arguments they might be crazy they are still they're crazy and God's but we do not show disrespect in the things that we do in the name of the Lord. Here's how we serve God in this present generation. We serve him by honoring the holiness of Christ and we serve him by being able to reason from our convictions that lead to our actions explaining why we do what we do. We worship and one week let me just throw this in here we should we should be able to explain why we worship the Lord on Sunday and not on Saturday. Saturday is the biblical Sabbath so why then do we serve the Lord on Sunday because he rose on Sunday and the scripture calls it the Lord's day. And it's not that the Sabbath is is no longer valid in the substance of the Sabbath is no that is no longer valid but Jesus is the beginning of the new creation and he worship he rose on the third day so the Christian church worships on the Lord's day. Be able to explain what you believe and be able to do it in a spirit of gentleness and respect why because we are honoring the holiness of the one that we serve. That's what Peter says so how do we serve God in this generation by honoring Christ's holiness by understanding what we do and why we do it and by doing it in a spirit that reflects the holiness of the one that we serve. That's our good news brothers and sisters we are not serving God so we can get home we serve God because he is already brought us home. We are not serving God so we can get to heaven we are already in heaven we're not serving God so that we can so that he'll take us in he's already taken us in and because he's taken us in we serve him and we serve him knowing what we believe and why. And we do this in a spirit of respect even if it draws the iron and the irritation of men we will do it because we are doing it in a spirit that honors the one that we serve. Let's pray. Our God and our Father we do thank you for this another Lord's day and another opportunity of praise and worship. We thank you for our time of fellowship with our brothers and sisters we lift before you all of those that we have worshiped and fellowship with on this day. We thank you for your word that has been opened up for us. Strengthen us by these things for your service and for your glory and we ask this in Christ name. Amen. Would you please stand now on to him who was able to keep you from stumbling and present you fought list before his presence to the only wise God our savior be power majesty and dominion both now and forever let all of God's people say amen.