I Peter 3:13-17 "Ready to Defend"

Introduction:

Doing Evangelism is not something that is gladly embraced by the modern day culture.

We know that the gospel is offensive because it exposes the sinful heart of fallen man. But it also defines what the love of God truly is that He extends to us in Jesus Christ.

If you are in Jesus Christ today by grace through faith alone you have never been loved more than you are loved at this very moment by God. And it will go through all of eternity.

God could never love you more but in our current state in this fallen world we have a hard time understanding the depth of love that God loves us with because of our limited perception.

The world needs to know of the truth of the gospel and the love of God extended to them but this message is not so readily recieved by our hearers.

And that can be intimidating in a world that is increasing in hostility towards the truth claims of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

I don’t think it will be getting better anytime soon but as Christians Peter tells us in verses 13-17 of our text that even in the face of opposition and suffering for the gospel there is a certain mindset that we should maintain. Notice the perspective that he prescribes for us to have in 13-14a:

I. The Perspective (13-14a).

13 Now who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good? 14a But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you will be blessed.

What you experience in this world when it comes to suffering for Christ will result in the blessing of God upon your life.

Now Peter could only say this if he understands that this world does not carry the eternal weight of blessing.

Suffering in this world for what is good and righteous before God is something that Peter’s audience knew something about.

They had been driven from their homes due to persecution for their faith in Christ. But Peter points them to the reality of God’s blessing upon their lives. I think it refers to both the temporal and eternal aspects of the blessings of God.

But it is not just blessings to come that Peter points them to. You see there is a priority of focus that Peter wants them to have. Look to verses 14b-16:

II. The Priority (14b-16).

14b Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, 15 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, 16 having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame.

Peter doesn’t believe that Christians have anything to fear from those who bring the persecution.

The implication is that we should be fearless of those who inflict suffering on us because of our faith in Christ and our stand for His righteousness.

But in order to live in this reality means that there must be a certain priority that over arches everything else. And we see it right there in verse 15: “but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who ask you for a reason for the hope that is in you;”

Christ is the priority and that should be reflected in the way that our hearts honor Him above all else. But it also should be reflected in the way we are always prepared to make a defense to anyone who ask us regarding the reason for our hope.

This word, “defense” is the Greek term apologia. It is where we get the word apologetics from.

I remember when I entered MBI seeing the class labeled “apologetics” on my schedule for my major in Evangelism/Discipleship.

I wondered what that was. Initially I thought it was something you did in order to be really sorry for what you did wrong.

I soon found out it meant to defend the Christian faith against attacks in an attempt to stand for Christ ans His gospel of righteousness. This is something that was tied to how Jesus and His Apostles ministered the gospel message to those they encountered.

Apologetics go hand in hand with the ministry of evangelism. Some argue that we shouldn’t do Apologetics in keeping with our evangelism. They say the gospel is all we need.

Certainly that is true but we are commanded here by the word of God to be prepared to give a defense for the hope that is within us and to do it in a respectful manner as to put your persecutors to shame in the end.

Christian if by all indications and appearances the things you prioritize are no different than the world; don’t expect those in the world to inquire of you regarding the hope that is in you. Our hope shows forth in a number of ways:

It shows up in how our priorities reflect the sanctity of Christ as Lord over our lives.

It shows up, when the time comes, in how we are willing to suffer for Christ and defend His righteousness even in the face of hostility. And defending Him with gentleness and respect towards those who inquire. Sometimes you can find such hostility even in the church.

It shows when even we are slandered and reviled we know that in the end every false claim over the truth of Christ will be refuted and those who espouse such things will be put to shame.

It show when we value gospel proclamation so much that we are willing to learn why we have hope and to proclaim it to others. Even if that means sacrificing our comfort in life.

I have found that comfort can be one of my idols. God has often revealed to me that I can easily value my own sense of security more than I value Him.

Prioritizing Christ shows when we are willing to love Christ more than our life and reputation to risk being rejected by others just so we can share the gospel with them and stand for righteousness (Lady at Goodwill).

This is getting harder and harder to do in our current cultural setting. But it seems to me that this battle is a battle between Christ as Lord and the demands of this world system. There is a tension that we are caught in.

And it is a tension in which God means to sanctify our hearts by directing us to the Supreme value of His Son. That is the only way that the Principle of verse 17 makes sense. Look back at your text.

III. The Principle (17).

17 For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God’s will, than for doing evil.

That principle makes no sense in this context if Christ is not the Supreme glory and purpose of our existence. That means that if He is the priority our suffering for His sake according to the will of God is better than suffering for evil.

This contextualizes any and all suffering for the sake of Christ in the world.

When we sanctify Christ as Lord in our hearts and live with Him as our priority and defend Him and His righteousness this will clash with the world.

But it helps us live focused in on the hope of eternity. I need this because hope in this world and from the world can be like fishing in a dried up river bed.

The perspective and the priority are the theological substance undergirding the principle that the goodness of God is worth suffering for.

This doesn’t pack out stadiums nor does it sell books but it emphasizes to a fallen world that Christ is everything even to the point of suffering for Him.

Conclusion:

When Jesus called His first disciples they left everything to follow Him.

They preached the gospel and defended the Christian faith all over the known Roman World in their day.

Christian in my fear of doing evangelism through the years I have found that the more I was trained the more courage I had.

But my desire to please Christ helped me to face my fears. And what I learned was that once I started doing it at the opportunities that God gave me it, became easier and easier and it became more like a lifestyle.

Proclaiming and defending the gospel is more natural when we sanctify Christ as Lord in our hearts.

I always want to live that way. I want God to help me live that way until it is as natural as breathing.

Confessing our sin brings us to encounter the gospel again and to cultivate in us a deeper sense of God’s love. confess and receive.

Unbeliever- Believe the gospel. Let’s pray!