1 Peter 3:13-17

1 Peter 3:13–17 KJV (WS)

13 And who is he that will harm you, if ye be followers of that which is good? 14 But and if ye suffer for righteousness' sake, happy are ye: and be not afraid of their terror, neither be troubled; 15 But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear: 16 Having a good conscience; that, whereas they speak evil of you, as of evildoers, they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good conversation in Christ. 17 For it is better, if the will of God be so, that ye suffer for well doing, than for evil doing.

Introduction

Our world is full of injustice.

Christians aren’t the only ones who notice things that we feel are unjust.

People have seemingly coalesced on the method of dealing with these things that we don’t agree with in the world.

Protests!

How well is that working?

There has to be a better way.

Peter starts this passage with a question. vss 13-15

Peter is anticipating a future increase in persecution against Christians.

He understands that the threat of harm is often worse or more debilitating than the attempt to harm itself.

Humans have a natural self-preservation instinct.

When we think that we are going to be harmed, we initiate defensive countermeasures, that for many people includes withdrawal.

Peter offers an alternative.

Rather than withdraw at the threat of harm, Peter challenges his believers to increase their ministry to others at this time.

His premise is pretty simple.

Who will hurt you if you are a zealot for doing good?

That is the word for follower, in that verse.

If we do good, most people will respond with good.

The harm referenced here appears to be fear and anxiety caused by verbal attacks.

Now, sometimes Christians do legitimately face persecution.

This is not something to be mourned, though, at least not in Peter’s mind.

Instead, he says, Happy are ye.

Or, in other words, blessed are ye.

Matthew 5:10 “10 Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

How can he say that?

So much of being a Christian only makes sense if we allow our perspectives and priorities to be ordered by God and not the world.

This is true about our own personal fears.

Peter alludes to the language of Is 8:12 where God assures the prophet that he need not fear the way others fear.

Isaiah 8:12 KJV (WS)

12 Say ye not, A confederacy, to all them to whom this people shall say, A confederacy; neither fear ye their fear, nor be afraid.

Do not fear with the fear of the people.

What do people fear in our world?

Pain

Loss

Ridicule

Failure

The fear of the Lord conquers all other fears.

I’ll show you why in a second.

How do we conquer all other fears?

We sanctify God in our hearts.

Sanctify means set apart.

We typically use this to refer to our own spiritual growth.

Sanctifying Christ in our hearts means turning everything over to him.

If we sanctify God in our hearts we need never fear men or circumstances.

Wilberforce said that Lordship is summarized in 4 words, admit, submit, commit, and transmit.

Sanctifying Christ in our hearts means turning everything over to him.

How does that help us with our fear?

If He is the only one I seek to glorify.

If He is the only one I fear to fail.

I do not fear personal ridicule if it means bringing glory to my God.

I do not fear personal loss if it means I do not fail my God.

This change in perspective, this lack of fear when every one else is losing it, will not go unnoticed.

You will stand out.

People will want to know why you are responding differently than other people.

In times of crisis.

In times of loss.

In times of persecution.

In times of disappointment.

It is in this context that Peter tells his readers to always be ready to give an answer.

Answer = Apologia

Answer is not make an apology, it is give a defense.

Give an answer means give a defense.

An old ABC news report found that people were more willing to talk about their sex life than their religion.

We must graduate from lifestyle testimony to verbal testimony with the goal of conversion.

Meekness = gentleness

We are witnesses, not prosecuting attorneys.

Fear = reverence.

We have an answer, especially in hopeless situations.

We must be ready to explain to people why Jesus makes us confident in the face of fear.

Because some people will be curious.

Others, will only dislike us more.

Peter explains what do with those that dislike us because of our lack of fear. vss 16-17

Some people will see our good works and our patient faith in times of trouble and be curious.

Others will see this things and they will respond by making accusations against us.

Yeah I would be that way too if I…

One of the most heart breaking experiences of the ministry is when you hear people make judgments about your motivations for doing certain things.

My flesh would really like to get revenge on them.

Sometimes my flesh wants to just give up.

Peter tells us what God would have us do when people accuse us of things that are not true.

Peter wants believers to put their accusers to shame by their good actions.

Don’t be surprised if, as you are seeking to serve God, some, few, people will try to treat you as an evildoer.

The best response to this is to keep doing good.

Judaism successfully used this tactic at different points in history.

Christians can use this as well, but they will have to fill their life with good actions.

It can be hard to know what is the right thing to do when people are telling you you are the one that is wrong.

Thankfully God gave us a tool to help us stay in the right.

It’s your old friend, the conscience.

The word conscience means “to know with.”

Our conscience helps us to know if our actions are approving or accusing.

The conscience is a window that must be kept clean.

As a believer studies the Bible, the more his conscience becomes sensitive to right and wrong.

A good conscience gives us peace within so we can withstand the storms without.

If we will continue to move towards what is right despite the accusations of our enemies, we can put them to shame.

Now that doesn’t mean that we will never suffer for doing right.

As we have seen before, the preference for suffering for good rather than evil is repeated in vs 17.

Christians should never give others a legitimate reason for hostility.

To summarize, Threats of persecution are an opportunity for believers to demonstrate the change Christ has made in their life, not an excuse to live in fear.

Application

We have to deal with our own fear of persecution.

For as long as I can remember, preachers have been warning that persecution is going to come to Christian Americans.

It very well may come to that.

Rather than wringing our hands about it, we should look for ways to act the way that God has told us to act.

Put God first in our hearts. (no one can see this)

Fear not. (they can see this)

Do good to others. (they can see this too)

Be ready to give a reason for why we are not afraid and do good to all people.

Does your life show that God has changed you?

When was the last time your lifestyle led someone to ask you why you are different?

Conclusion

A Christian that living the authentic Christian life will stand out from the crowd.

They must be ready to talk about their faith.

Are you ready?