Give your life was with you open them to look at 1st Peter 1st Peter chapter 3 1st Peter chapter 3 as you open Still allow me to say once again what a joy it is to be here This is kind of a home away from home for me. I don't even know how many times it's been now that I've been here to praise mill and I look forward to it every time if we're no other reason than to stand in the pulpit where I Will be reminded to preach the word. I love that every time I go here, right and right here. It says preach the word That's what we're about. That's what praise mill is about And that's why I'm here this morning, and then in many ways If If if you cut me out bleed apologetics, that's just kind of what I do. It's the way I think it's the way I'm put together But what I've learned over the years is that many people assume they understand what that means When they don't when we think about apologetics a lot of Christians are Intimidated by the idea of apologetics Because we feel like you know apologetics is about knowing everything about everything all the time And so we say no, I can't do a apologetics because I don't know everything about everything all the time In fact, I don't know a lot about anything most of the time, right? So we can't do apologetics And that's not true Some people feel like apologetics, you know, that's for the the the green miree Navy seal, right marine force recon Christians only those special forces Christians get to go and do the apologetic stuff And so since that's not me, obviously I'm not supposed to be involved in that apologetic stuff again, not true Some people are offended by the idea of apologetics because we've gotten this idea Mostly from some apologists that you know in order to do apologetics, you have to be a bit of a jerk If it's not a no at all, it has to be arrogant and condescending and so you know since we're not Errogant condescending know it all we feel like well, maybe I'm not called to apologetics No, that's not that's not what apologetics is all about And the fact that we think that is one of the reasons that most of the people who talked to me about Eagrally wanting to be a apologist or teenage boys. I mean they are they love to argue they love the sound of their own voice Right arrogant condescending. They're like I found my calling, right? But no, it's it's it's not that it's not that at all And in an era like the one that we find ourselves in today Many see apologetics really as a way for our side to gain the upper hand We look at what's happening around us in the culture and we feel like we need to we need to win back the culture Right, we hit that a lot, right? We need to win back the culture And oftentimes it's like we need to win back the culture by doing what the culture did to win Right, so we look at what the culture did to win and we say look look at the things that they did if we Could just get ourselves organized like they've gotten themselves organized. Then we could well first of all they're not organized Amen somebody They're not having secret meetings out there to do the craziness that they do They just do craziness and the prince of the power of the air is doing the organizing Amen somebody, right? But but the other thing is like like we're not called to do things the way that they do things Amen The way we do things is different and one of the ways that we need to be engaging right now Is in and with and through apologetics, but apologetics understood rightly So what I want to do It'd be a little bit unorthodox today and I know it's me right me doing something unorthodox just imagine that um, but the the passage that we're most with Is here in second peter three beginning there verse 13 I don't want to concentrate there. I want to concentrate on the passage that comes immediately before it okay But let's let's look at first peter three 13 to 17 What did I say I said second I've been saying second oh Yeah, okay first peter three it happens Yeah, okay, so yesterday yesterday I did an event Somewhere else where I was in second peter So that's why y'all look at me crazy because I'm still talking about second peter Um, I did that But thank you for that. I remember our church in Houston Um, I did something similar to that we were going we had we had finished a series in Um, I don't know some we finished the series the new test book gone to an Old Testament book and for the whole sermon I was saying Paul For the whole sermon right and Paul's like Know where in the Old Testament for those of you don't know right And it wasn't until I was done That one of my fellow elders told me that I was doing at the hotel. So thank you for letting me know and not just going to social media saying I don't know which book this Because people do that right all right first peter chapter three And this is where we get the word Actually a polygenics from a polygenics is a it's a transliteration of a Greek word sometimes we translate a Greek word right this word means This but sometimes we just transliterate and we don't translate it. We just take the word deachanus Right, we don't translate that. We don't say that that's one who serves or we just say Deacon Um, Apostolus right apostle. We just say apostle. We don't say one who sent that would be the translation We just say apostle Apologetics same thing apologia is a a reasoned response That's what the word means, but we don't translate the word. We just transliterate it and we just bring it over into English Um, and sometimes that's problematic because apologetics sounds like you're Apologizing for something. Amen um, I yeah, there's a There's a Anyway, I won't do it, but we're not apologizing for anything. We're giving a a a reasoned response That that's what this means. That's what it refers to But look at first peter three beginning of verse 13 And I want us to look here so that I can give you the working definition To find that it's helpful when we have a working definition We think all of these things about apologetics and it's intimidating or it's offensive or whatever um, but Follow me here Verse 13 now who is there harm you if you are zealous for what is good But even if you should suffer for righteousness sake you'll be blessed have no fear of them nor be troubled But in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as fully always being prepared to make a defense To anyone in that word that make a defense That's that's apologia to make a defense to anyone who asks you for the 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 revolve your good behavior in Christ Maybe you put your shame for it is better to suffer for doing good if that should be God's will then for doing evil Everything around that verse is incredibly important and we're gonna come back to that. I want you to get that But if you just read Verse 15 right In your hearts honor Christ the Lord is holy always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for the reason for the hope that is in you That you get a definition of a apologetics and here's here's a working definition Apologetics is knowing what you believe Knowing why you believe it and being able to communicate that Effectively to others You say it again It's knowing what you believe. It's not knowing everything about everything all the time It's knowing what you believe Apologetics is knowing what you believe You don't know you don't have to know what every other religion believes you don't have to know what every cult believes You don't have to know what every Christian believes you need to know what you believe Okay, and why you believe it and and because is not an acceptable answer You need to know why you believe it. What do you believe and why do you believe it? And then finally because that's useless if you can't communicate Hey man It's useless if you can't communicate it So you must be able to communicate that to others and you have to be able to communicate it Effectively Effectively Remember one of my my college professors is an economics professor and Incredibly well-known and renowned and and and um Just all of this stuff. And so I'm like this is cool man being able to learn You know from from somebody of this caliber and it was horrible It was so hard to understand him It's books But him so so what good is it it was almost no good to go to class Better to just go and get the book and not listen to what he was saying at all So you must know what you believe you must know why you believe it and you must be able to communicate that To others and do so effectively and I would also add Winsomely Winsomely Okay, so there's our working definition Now let's back up and look at the paragraph before it because we often don't pay attention to the paragraph before it Beginning there at verse 8 And there are a number of things that we discover from that paragraph just before The first thing that we discover is the identity of an apologist The identity of the apologist and he says Finally all of you Finally all of you Or in the Texas version. I know we have all the bunch of versions of the bible and all this and then we got the the new Legacy standard bible and legacy standard bible is fine But but but but but the legacy standard bible there's there's one glaring weakness and it's the same glaring weakness You know that that that all of the translations have and so I'm just want to say here publicly We need to come up with a Texas version The Texas update of the legacy standard bible so people can understand the difference you know but but between the singular and the plural second person singular second person plural second person singular you most translations Right even even the second person plural they still say you and you got to look at the context to know if it's singular or plural You do a Texas update and it becomes clear to everybody second person singular you second person plural y'all
I don't know why they won't listen to me on this one
But this one would actually read finally all y'all
Why is that significant? Because remember what I said earlier we think apologetics is only for certain Christians Apologetics is only for certain people Apologetics is only people with a certain gift or my favorite right is the ones who say yeah brother that you I'm glad you're out there you're doing that because you have that anointing right you have that apologetics anointing no this is for all y'all Finally all y'all now in order to grasp that we got to go back And look at where he begins this section begins this train of thought go back to First Peter chapter two Because almost this began to make the first Peter chapter two And look beginning at verse nine. I want to just sort of orient you To what Peter's doing here so we can grasp this Verse nine you are chosen race a royal priesthood a holy nation a people for God's own possession That you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light once you are not a people But now you are God's people once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy
Then look at what he says In verse 13 Be subject for the Lord's sake to every human institution Who's that that's that's all y'all Right he's he's still plural here, but then he goes in verse 18 Slaves be subject to your masters now he's not talking about everybody, but particularly people who are slaves Look at chapter three verse one likewise wives be subject to your own husbands again That's not everyone, but that's people who happen to be wives Chapter three verse seven likewise Husbands that's not everyone but that's specifically the husbands So he's making a statement there at the beginning and then he's talking to particular groups of people about how they apply the statement We'll get to that statement in a moment We're talking to particularly groups of people about how they apply This teaching and then in verse eight he says finally all y'all to know that we've gone From the specific to the general again That what he's saying here is for everyone who names the name of the Lord Jesus Christ Go with me to the book of Jude Don't ask what chapter Jude starts off with a call to apologetics in verse three But although I was very eager to write to you about our comments salvation I found it necessary to write appealing to you to Contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints Contend for the faith and this is another one that in the original language really gives you a picture The word picture that he uses here is one of wrestling hand-to-hand combat for the faith Fight for the faith That's what he's saying here. He's calling us to apologetics the next verse makes that clear because people are perverting the gospel but to whom Is he speaking? Go back to verse one Jude a servant of Christ Jesus and brother of James to those who are called amen Beloved in God the Father Amen again and kept Jesus Christ Now he's referring to the same group of people three different ways right That this is a this is a rhetorical tool He's emphasizing his point and the point that he's emphasizing here is that whatever he's about to call You too He's calling everybody who is called everybody Who is beloved everybody who is kept in other words all Christians are being called to apologetics All Christians and again when you understand that the definition of Apologetics is know what you believe know why you believe it And be ready and be able to communicate that effectively to others it makes sense that every Christian would be called to that That's why we started with the definition Because part of our problem It's definitely But that's not our only problem The identity of the Apologist But Look here at the mindset of the Apologist For speed of three eight again Finally all of you Think about what we said earlier about the the the mindset that you think the Apologist has right It's this this this special forces go crush everybody You know mindset Often told the story of My first real apologetic encounter as a new believer Never heard the gospel. I didn't grow up in church or around Christians Christianity I was raised by a single teenage Buddhist mother Never heard the gospel's all went to university And so as a new believer I had some Some teammates of mine who they bought me my first Bible. They mentored me disciples me And somebody came to visit me at my apartment and Something was a bit off in the conversation So it practiced the next day. I'm telling my buddies about this person who came and visited and something was just off You know, they were talking about the Bible, but they weren't talking about it the way we talked about it And so they asked me Mormons are to homeless witnesses And I said So who are they and how am I supposed to know that they didn't say and they go name tag or no name tag
And I said no name tag and they looked at each other and they went the JWs, right? And so I'm like we can let me in on this right and so they told me about the whole witnesses They told me I just went to the library started devouring information and looking up every this is before we had you know these little things where you just go Hey, you know, I had to go and look stuff up and I did I went and look stuff up and The guys came back. I was so ready so ready After the encounter I went back to practice the next day and I said They came back Now like oh really how to go I see it was ugly It was a I was so ready I beat them like tied up goats. I mean it was just It was it was you know, and I'm just going on and on and on and one of them Brent and after I'll never get Brent looks at me and he says you think they'll ever come back. I was like Brent They never coming back to my apartment And he said What a shame and he walked off I hated him like Good 10 minutes. I just I could not stand him Because instantly I understood what he was talking about Because I was that caricature of an apologist That caricature that makes everybody not want to do apologetics That's not what we find in the text finally all y'all Have unity of mind sympathy brotherly love out a tender heart out And a humble mind. I was none of that I was none of that but but that's the mindset of an apologist Unity of mind sympathy brotherly love a tender heart and a humble Mind it seems almost counterintuitive doesn't That's because we don't understand what apologetics is By the way, here's a new splash apologetics is defensive Not offensive. We said that again apologetics is defensive Not offensive So if we were going to put a sports analogy Apologetics is the way we play defense evangelism is the way we play offense The two go hand in hand Right but apologetics is different right always be ready to give an answer that's not offensive. That's defensive Always be ready to give an answer to anyone who asks you They're on offense You're on defense. Are you seeing this Are you seeing this? So that's why we have this attitude Also because of the character of the apologist Look at the character of the apologist 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
That's the character not evil for evil Not reviling for reviling It's not a war of words It's a war of ideas I'm not at war with an individual We are not fighting against flesh and blood. Amen
principalities powers
Though we walk in the flesh we do not wage war according to the flesh We are not against individuals This is not about one upmanship
How words must be seasoned with salt again, remember what said here in verse 15 Look at the last part of verse 15 always make a defense anyone who asks you for the reason for the hope that is in you yet do it with gentleness and respect having a good conscience With gentleness and respect Having a good consciousness a good conscience. By the way gentleness is not weakness
gentleness from a biblical perspective is actually power under control gentleness is me wrestling with my two-year-old grandson I could crush him like a one but I don't I Control myself So that I take care of him and don't hurt him don't harm him I absolutely have the ability to do so But gentleness is why and how I don't
That's the attitude that we call to have that's the character that we're called to have Why is it so important for us to have that character Again go back with me We looked at the beginning of this In verses 9 and 10 Look in verse 11 chapter 2 Look in verse 11 of chapter 2 So we see in verses 9 and 10 that we're chosen raised we're a royal priesthood We're a holy nation we're a people for God's own possession Okay That's who and what we are Yet in verse 11 Beloved I urge you as solejourners and exiles So look at these two things A chosen race a royal priesthood a holy nation of people for God's own possession right that that that sounds Sounds geopolitical But but it's not a spiritual and supernatural Right that's why wherever we go in the world We find brothers and sisters It's an amazing thing I find it's I find that it to be especially true when I go someplace where I don't speak the language I go someplace and I'm looking around and I you know I'm seeing I can't even read the signs in the airport right and then I meet brothers and sisters and you know And then somebody who speaks English and they're gonna interpret for me and that's great It's wonderful and I go and I'm at a church and I'm meeting brothers and sisters at the church and I can't understand what they're saying They can understand what I'm saying and the church service starts and they start singing a familiar here
And I could probably only make out one word Jesus Usually I can make out that that word right and all of a sudden It doesn't matter It doesn't matter that I don't speak their language and they don't speak mine And then I get up and I'll preach and my interpreter is interpreting for me And I'm looking out and there's this connection that's being made between my brothers and sister it doesn't matter I don't look like them
I don't sound like them But that's my family Amen that's my family
Yet verse 11 I urge you as sojourners and exiles Because that's what we all are Everywhere that we've been sent We're sojourners and exiles in the world, but not of the world Amen To abstain from the passions of the flesh which wage war against your souls keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable So that when they speak against you as evil doers not if But when they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of Visitation Why is the character of the Apologist so important? The character of the Apologist is important because we are sojourners and exiles We don't belong here It becomes obvious that we don't belong here To the degree that we represent our Lord and master and Savior as his people who are exiles and sojourners in this foreign land And what that always results in eventually is us being despised and rejected because Christ was despised and rejected And down later in chapter 3 how does he end? 316 having a good conscience so that when you are slander right away again, not if but when 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 We're sojourners were exiles. We're in the world. We're not of the world They watch us long enough and even though we speak the like the same language we don't speak the same language Even though we may look the same We don't look the same We're outsiders Which means eventually we will be revived Eventually we will be despised And eventually Because of the way that we respond to being despised and reviled somebody's going to say What's the reason for that hope that I see in you?
By the way, that's when we get to go on offense Amen Back in our passage Look at verse 10 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
You see our speech Now just our character But our speech Now this does not mean for example, again, let me be very clear about this This does not mean that we can never be forceful in the things that we say Again, I've often said we we live in a time and in a culture where people believe the eleventh commandment They'll show up be nice And they don't believe the other ten And any time you say anything forceful or anytime you act in a way that is at all masculine Amen Right you plant your feet square your shoulders lift up your chin and say something like you mean it And all of a sudden It's just not being very Christ like
You mean I'm not leaving what way hold time out I'm not being like the Christ who flipped over the tables In the temple and ran people out with a whip Or I'm not being like the Christ who's coming back Fire in his eyes and a sword on his thigh to wreck things which one am I not being like
There is a time For ferocity Amen There is a time for it Now if I'm being ferocious because I'm defending me myself and I know No But if it's the righteousness of God on the table that's a different thing If my goal is to vindicate God's righteousness That's a different thing and sometimes if I'm meeting force with force That's a different thing
If I'm just being obnoxious for the sake of being obnoxious then I miss this right Because because now They're not being put the shame when they were about when they're about me. They're not They're saying yeah that guy over there who's whatever and people are like yeah, I know
Instead of yeah that guy over there who's a terrible person and who's a yeah not my experience I mean that Jesus stuff I could do it out, but you know I kind of wish I didn't like him so much
verse 12 Why Why why is this Who and what the Apologist ought to be for the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous His ears are open to their prayers But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil if I engage in Apologetics so that I can win arguments So that I can destroy people So that I can control people so that I can be Thought well of I am I am out of bounds I'm outside Of God's will and I'll be outside of God's protection Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world For since in the wisdom of God the world did not know God through wisdom It pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe Not through being able to give them sophisticated philosophical answers
For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom But we preach Christ crucified a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles But to those who are called both Jews and Greeks Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God For the foolishness of God is wiser than men and the weakness of God is stronger than men That's the Apologist that that's what we're engaging in This this weakness of God that's stronger than men. So here we are. We're We're these exiles with these sojourners Strangers in a strange land Easily identifiable Because we're we're chosen race. We're we're all priesthood We're other and because of that eventually we're reviled and we're despised And persecuted but in the midst of reviling us and despising us and persecuting us Questions are raised about why and how we endure but we endure And we need to always be ready to give an answer when people ask us that And our answer to that is Christ It's because of Christ It's because we belong to Christ what you see in me that's so different It's me belonging to Christ. It's Christ and me the hope of glory What you see in me that's so different Is that I'm a new creature all things have passed away new things have come What you see in me that is different is that I've died with Christ My life is hidden with Christ. That's what you see in me that's so different And what you see in me when you despise me and when you revile me Is not my strength It's not my restraint. I don't have those things What you see in me it's Christ The one who spoke the world into existence and yet was hated by the very things he created And mailed to a cross by them And for them Makes no sense Unless unless when you come to him in repentance and faith You get it when your heart breaks over the things that break his you get it When you'd rather win a soul than win an argument You get it because then you're an apologist
You're just one beggar telling other beggars where you found bread
knowing what you believe knowing why you believe it And always being ready to communicate that to others And as effective and win some away As you possibly can But Christ's sake let's pray