Response of the Godly to Persecution

Introduction: The Christian as Perpetual Loser and Winner

0:02 The following sermon was delivered on Sunday morning, July 11th, 1999, at the Trinity Baptist Church in Montville, New Jersey. May I encourage you to turn in your own Bibles with me to 1 Peter, 1 Peter chapter 3, and follow please as I read verses 13 through 17. 1 Peter 3 at verse 13. 1 Peter 3 at verse 13.

1:13 Yet with meekness and fear, having a good conscience, that wherein you are spoken against, they may be put to shame who revile your good manner of life in Christ. For it is better, if the will of God should so will, that you suffer for well-doing than for evil-doing. Now I'm sure that most of us at one time were, or another, have heard the saying, Everybody loves a winner, nobody loves a loser.

1:55 Well, in a real sense, every true Christian is at one and the same time the perpetual loser, and yet the perpetual winner. The scripture says that he who loses his life, the same shall save it. The Christian, the true Christian, is both a perpetual loser, but a perpetual winner. He has the word of Jesus to validate it.

2:33 He who loses his life, the same shall find it. He loses the friendship, the acceptance, the approbation of the world. He's a loser. That he may gain the friendship, the acceptance, and the favor of his God.

2:51 He's a winner. One such vivid example of this is found in Hebrews 11, when speaking of Moses. The scripture says that by faith, when Moses was come to years, that is, years of maturity, he refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season, for he had respect, for he had respect, for he had respect to the recompense of the reward. Moses was a great loser.

3:28 He lost the name and title that would be his there in Egypt. He lost the wealth, the ease, the comfort, the praise, the adulation that would have been his as a great military and political leader. Moses was the great loser. And yet he was the great winner.

3:50 For it says he had respect. He had respect to the recompense of the reward. He won. He got the reward.

3:58 The reward of knowing God face to face in life and of being with God face to face in heaven itself. Now why do I mention this? Well, I mention it because we've come to that part in the letter that Peter wrote to these struggling young believers in what was then Asia Minor. Five Roman provinces in the outer reaches of the existing Roman Empire in the part of the world we now call Turkey.

Peter's Focus on Suffering in 1 Peter

4:32 And at this point in the letter, Peter is now going to concentrate on this subject of the suffering of the true people of God. Suffering received at the hands of those who oppose them because of their commitment to the Lord Jesus Christ. Suffering received at the hands of those who oppose them because of their commitment to the Lord Jesus Christ. While Peter has made several references to suffering, they have been very limited.

4:59 For example, he spoke of Christian slaves who were suffering wrongfully. Chapter 2 and verse 19. Suffering wrongfully at the hand of unrighteous and unreasonable masters. He spoke in the way of trials that would come upon the people of God in chapter 1 and verse 6.

5:20 But it is only here that he addresses the people of God. But it is only here that he addresses the people of God. But it is only here that he addresses the people of God. But it is only here that he addresses the people of God.

5:25 But it is only here that he addresses the people of God. But it is only here that he addresses the people of God. But it is only here that he addresses the people of God. But it is only here that he addresses the people of God.

5:29 But it is only here that he addresses the people of God. But it is only here that he addresses the people of God. But it is only here that he addresses the people of God. But it is only here that he addresses the people of God.

5:33 But it is only here that he addresses the people of God. But it is only here that he addresses the people of God. But it is only here that he addresses the people of God. of the letter. Seven times from here to the end of the letter, he uses the verb to suffer, pasco. He uses a noun from a different family of words three times from here to the end of the letter. So there are no fewer than ten explicit references to suffering of one kind or another. And I can do no better in standing on the threshold of this section of the epistle that extends all the way from chapter 3, verse 13, to chapter 5 and verse 11, than to read the very helpful introductory summary by a commentator of whom reference has been made previously by the name of Hebert. He writes, the third cycle of exhortation

6:28 devoted to the problem of suffering of suffering of suffering of suffering of suffering of suffering of suffering of suffering of suffering of suffering of suffering of suffering of Christian suffering again flows naturally out of what has gone before. The position of God's people amidst a hostile world leads to the development of the theme of suffering inflicted by those who reject Christ. The opening word in verse 13 and Greek chi indicates a connection with what is preceded but does not define its nature. The truth set forth in chapter 3 and verse 12 that God watches over his own as well as has his eye upon those who practice evil forms an easy and natural transition into this final segment of practical exhortations. One commentator calls it the main section of the letter since it deals with the primary reason for its composition. The thought of suffering for the Christian world has thus far hovered in the background, has occasionally been brought into the open and I've mentioned those passages, but from now on it constitutes the central theme of the letter. Peter wrote to enlighten and comfort his afflicted readers, to encourage and to

7:49 strengthen them to stand firm in the midst of sufferings and to fortify them for what loomed ahead. In developing this theme of suffering, Peter wrote to enlighten and comfort his afflicted readers, to encourage and to strengthen them for what loomed ahead. Then he elaborates on Christ's experience of suffering for righteousness verses 18 to 22. Then he elaborates on Christ's experience of suffering for righteousness verses 18 to 22. Then in chapter 4 verses 1 to 11 he discusses what the believer needs to be equipped for a life of suffering. And then in chapter 4, verses 12 to 19, he gives appropriate appeals, I'm sorry, he stresses the need to be steadfast in suffering. And then in chapter 5, verses 1 to 11, he gives appropriate appeals to both leaders and members of churches who are carrying out their life together in a context of suffering. Now that this is not far-fetched, I would try to persuade you by simply noting, in verse 13 we read,

9:02 Who is he that will harm you, if you be zealous of that which is good? Verse 14. But even if you should suffer, there's our first reference explicitly to suffering among all the people of God. And then right through to chapter 5 and verse 10, notice, The God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after that you have suffered a little while, shall himself perfect, establish, strengthen you to him, be the dominion forever and ever.

9:40 And in between those two references to suffering, this is the great theme that is brought before you. Another one has written, The real purpose for which the letter was written has not...

9:54 Now it's important, as we mention the word suffering, many different things flood into our minds. But Peter has a very limited kind of suffering in mind. He is not referring to that general or generic suffering that is part of life in a fallen world. God's people are not exactly...

10:24 He doesn't represent from that generic suffering. Man is born to trouble, the scripture says, as the sparks fly upward. And in Romans 8, 19, Paul is referring to that more general suffering. I reckon that the sufferings of this present age are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed to usward.

10:47 Suffering of every kind is not what Peter has in mind in this section of the letter. He is speaking specifically...

10:54 He is speaking specifically of suffering that comes to the child of God because he is a child of God. Suffering that comes at the hands of the ungodly. Suffering in the way of verbal abuse. Suffering in the way of physical abuse.

Suffering 101: The Introductory Question (1 Peter 3:13)

11:13 Suffering that comes from the ungodly to the child of God because of what the child of God is in his life. And in his witness. Before the unconverted. Now then, in this passage that we will study, God willing, tomorrow, this morning, and again this evening, the central concern of Peter is, as it were, to take us into the class called Suffering 101.

11:43 If you enroll in a local college and you're going to take the elementary course in English literature, it will be English Lit 101. Prerequisite for 102 is 101. Well, this is what Peter is doing. He's taking us into the classroom over which is emblazoned the word Suffering 101.

12:04 Here are the initial perspectives regarding this subject that will dominate in the remainder of the letter. And because, as I intimated earlier, there is a closely reasoned, tightly packed unfolding of the mind of God, and my task as a preacher is to seek to...

12:24 ...represent the mind of God as it is in the text.

12:28 Not in a way that is easier for me, but in a way that is accurate. And to do that, as I've indicated, we must meditate upon this passage, God helping us both this morning and this evening. And as we do, we note, first of all, those of you who take your notes, Roman numeral number one is the introductory question, verse 13. And who is he that will harm me?

12:55 If you be zealous of that which is good. Here is the introductory question to this whole subject of suffering for righteousness' sake. At the conclusion of the previous section, Peter has indicated that God's people are to be marked by those five pearls of Christian grace in their relationship to one another, verse 8. They are, in verse 9, be marked as those who do not engage in pit-for-tatism, not rendering evil for evil, or reviling for reviling, but contrary wise blessing.

13:35 And they have this marvelous promise from Psalm 34, that in living out such a life, they will have a life worth loving, they will see good days, they will know the blessedness of having the Lord's eyes upon them in favor, and His ears open to their cries, as for help. Now, with someone living in that way, the question is raised, who is he that will harm you if you be zealous of that which is good? Now, just a word about the language and the grammar of this rhetorical question. If I were to give it a literal rendering, it would be this.

14:17 Who is he that will harm you if, of the good, zealots, Z-E-A-L-O-T-S, zealots, you may become?

14:32 Now, you see the difference? He's saying, who is he that will harm you? If, of the good, that is, of the very thing I've been describing in verses 8 through 12, if you are marked as those who are committed to wearing these pearls of grace in your relationship to one another, marked by like-mindedness, compassionate, loving as brethren, tender-hearted, humble-minded, in your relationship to those who oppose you, not reviling for reviling, not evil for evil, but contrary wise blessing, if you are zealots of the good, the good being defined by God, the good being the very things that He's described in the previous verses, turning away from, from evil, passionately pursuing the good, seeking peace and pursuing it, who is he that will harm you? If, of the good, the good as defined by God, zealots you have become. In other words, Peter's assuming that these people would take the directives of the previous verses and not go away after they hear them preached and say, good sermon, pastor, now let's get back to business as usual.

15:56 He's assuming that the good as he has defined it is that concerning which they could be called zealots. Now you know what a zealot is? A zealot is someone passionately concerned about a given cause. And Peter is describing these believers as those who have become zealots.

16:20 Yes, he uses the subjunctive, but it's a kind way of describing what in the charity, the hope and perspective of charity they have and will continue to be. Who is he that will harm you, if you believers in those five provinces of Asia Minor, taking to heart what I've written to you, if of this kind of good, zealots you may become? Now then, he's asking the question, who will harm you? What does he mean by that?

16:53 Well, he means one of two things. He either means, who will be able to do you any real harm, or who would be so perverse as to even desire to do you harm? He may be saying, who's able to really do you any harm? If what he's already written is true, that in living this kind of life by the grace of God, the eyes of the Lord are upon you, his ears are unto your supplication, you, you know the presence and blessing of Almighty God, who in the world can harm you living this way?

17:34 And it may be that what he's expressing is the truth of Romans 8. If God before us, who is against us?

17:45 Paul could go on to say, in all these things, we are more than conquerors. If this is what Peter's saying, he's captured the truth, you see, that even if the enemies of righteousness kill the righteous, they do them a favor. For the righteous can say, for to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. I shall never forget that inscription on the headstone of one of the covenanters.

18:12 This is a group of people in Scotland who would not acknowledge any rule in Christ's church, but Christ and his word. And there were ecclesiastical leaders seeking to impose their will upon them, and these dear people, many of them even children, were chased around the hills and valleys of Scotland and martyred because they said, Christ alone shall rule in his church. And by the gravestone of one of them, or it may have been several in that gravestone, in that grave, there was this inscription, Prelates, which stands for bishops and ecclesiastical leaders, Prelates Rage, did but chase them up to heaven.

18:57 That's all they can do. People rage against, against God's people. Fill their blood. What do they do?

19:05 They don't harm them. They just chase them up to heaven. They send them home sooner than they thought they were going to go. They send them home more quickly.

19:16 Maybe Peter is saying, and who is he that can really do you any harm, if of the good zealots you may become? Or, he may be asking the question, who in the world would be disposed, to do you harm, if you are living this kind of a life? Does not the word of God say, when a man's ways please the Lord, he makes even his enemies to be at peace with him? Yes, the scriptures say that.

19:49 Did not Jesus say, do not sinners love them that love them, and do good to those who do good to them? So if we find a group of believers, who are being hassled and harassed, and pressured by the ungodly, not returning reviling for reviling, not evil for evil, but contrary wise blessing, could we not expect that that would break down any native antipathy, and ill will, and cause them to treat them with kindness? Do not the scriptures give us the record of how Joseph lived a godly blameless life, in a pagan setting, there in Egypt? Do not the scriptures record, how Daniel and the three Hebrew friends, lived blameless lives, and apart from a couple of glitches, for the most part, had a sphere of influence and acceptability? Perhaps Peter is saying, who would be disposed to harm you, if you live this kind of life? Had not Peter already stated, as far as government is concerned, what does the government do?

21:04 Verse 14 of chapter 2, Governors is sent by him for vengeance on evil doers, and for praise to them that do well. Romans 13, Paul says, Do well and you will have praise of the civil authority. Now which is it? Well again, you can't find any two commentators that agree, because there is nothing in the language, nothing in the grammar that determines it.

The Possible Reaction of the Ungodly: Suffering for Righteousness' Sake (1 Peter 3:14a)

21:27 There is nothing in the context, that determines it, with any degree, of certainty, that I can be dogmatic. I personally believe, what Peter is saying is this, who is he that would be disposed to harm you, if of the good, you are zealous? And why do I believe that's the right way to understand it? Because, Roman numeral two, having looked at the introductory question, note with me, the possible reaction of the ungodly.

22:00 The possible reaction, of the ungodly. Verse 14, But even if you should, suffer for righteousness sake, blessed are you. You see what he's saying? By the use of a rare form, for you Greek students, it's an optative.

22:17 It is the mood of possibility. Peter says, And who is he, that would be so perverse, and leap over even the traces, of the restraints of God's common grace? Who is he, that would be so perverse, as to harm you, if of the good, zealous you have become? But, but, but, even if you should possibly, experience suffering, for righteousness sake.

22:49 This is why I tend toward believing the question is in the second category. Ordinarily, Peter says, as the people of God, we can expect the fulfillment of God's promise, when a man's ways please the Lord, he makes even his enemies to be at peace with him. Let your light so shine before men, that they may glorify your Father which is in heaven. I'm personally convinced, as I've pondered the epistle, that Peter is taking them into suffering 101.

23:24 By the time he gets to chapter 4 and verse 12, it's a graduate course, that you only take, by special invitation. And he says, things are really going to get hot for you. Think it not strange, concerning the fiery trial, which is among you. So he is a wise pastor, saying now we're going to take up the subject of suffering.

23:45 Now don't all of you go around, and think everywhere I turn, there's going to be an enemy. Who is he that would harm you? If you pursue the good, as I've described the good, in God's common grace, you can expect by and large, that God will vindicate your walk before him, and you'll know a measure of peace. But, but, even if you should suffer for righteousness, not if you are suffering, the present tense, not when you will suffer, future, or have suffered past, but even if you may suffer, even if you may suffer. And notice the occasion of the suffering, it is for righteousness sake, on account of righteousness. Not the suffering that is common to all men, disease and disappointment in our parental endeavors, and disappointment in career ambitions. No, no, it's speaking specifically, of suffering that comes on account of righteousness.

25:00 On account of their commitment, to walk in the path of righteousness. In the context, it comes as they are zealots for the good. They are zealots for that which God has marked out as the good, and they are determined to pursue the good as defined by God, and are prepared to suffer for righteousness sake. Surely, Peter had echoing in his ear the words that fell from Jesus' lips, and that he heard the last beatitude.

25:38 Matthew chapter 5. Matthew chapter 5 and verse 10. Blessed are they that have been persecuted for righteousness sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when men shall reproach you and persecute you, and say all manner of evil against you, falsely for my sake.

26:02 Surely, Peter is hearing the words of the Lord Jesus, echoing in his own ear, but in it, you should suffer for righteousness sake. Now, if and when this happens, how are these believers to view this ugly reality? Here they are committed to be zealots of the good. When someone speaks evil of them, they manifest the grace of not returning evil for evil, reviling for reviling, but contrary wise, they pray God's blessing upon their heads.

26:39 They do good to those that despitefully use them. In spite of this, they find themselves suffering. In this context, the suffering is primarily verbal. They are described later on in the passage as those who are receiving that which is reviled.

26:58 This is reviling. They are being spoken against. No indication of political persecution at this point. They are being verbally abused and verbally pummeled and falsely accused.

27:13 How are they to regard themselves if and when this suffering comes upon them? Are the promises of the previous verses negated? He that would live a life worth loving see good days? Is all of this suspended?

27:33 No longer good days? No longer a life worth loving? No, this is what Peter does. He says, but even if you should suffer for righteousness' sake, there's no verb, just one word, makarioi, the very word that stands at the head of every one of the Beatitudes.

27:53 And if we could put it into an English format, it would be, but and even if you should suffer for righteousness' sake, blessed! Two exclamation points. In other words, at the very outset of the first lesson in Suffering 101, he wants them to know that suffering for righteousness' sake puts them in the category of the blessed ones. What does blessed mean?

28:30 It means the happy ones, but happy with what? Happy because of the covenant favor of God resting upon us. God owns us as his own. God is committed to preserve and protect us.

28:46 And as Jesus said, we are to rejoice and be exceeding glad, for great is your reward in heaven. God is committed to take us through the opposition, through the suffering, purified, and brought home at last into his presence. And so he says, if and when this happens, you are to regard yourselves as the blessed ones. And it's interesting, and I'd forgotten this until my preparation, shame on me, but the only beatitude that gets a double blessed is this one of being persecuted for righteousness' sake.

29:26 Look at it in Matthew 5. One blessed upon the poor in spirit, one blessed those who mourn, the meek, all the way through until we come to verse 10. Blessed are they that have been persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you.

29:45 He pronounces double blessing upon those who in the way of righteousness suffer for his name. Blessed, blessed. And as Lily, the commentator, writes, but even if, and this must be confessed, is only too supposable, even if you should suffer for righteousness' sake, without your giving any just cause or offense to any, or even on account of whatever in you is most pleasing to God, you are blessed, blessed in a special sense, heirs of that double blessing which, as I well remember, our Lord's own lip pronounced on his innocent sufferers. In your very innocence you are blessed, blessed in the favor of God, blessed in the sympathies of Jesus, blessed in the presence and power of the Spirit of all consolation, blessed in the immediate fruit of your heroic faith and patience in the church and in the world, and finally blessed forever in the exceeding great reward that awaits Christ's followers who endure even unto death. When this possible reaction of the world to your lifestyle as a zealot of the good becomes a reality, the first thing you and I are to do is to bring to remembrance the word blessed.

The Required Response of the Godly: Negatively (1 Peter 3:14b)

31:13 When I experience suffering for righteousness' sake, over my head hangs a banner, blessed one, I ought to see tattooed upon my forehead God's word blessed, blessed, blessed. Blessed, blessed one. And this indeed is the nature and the foundation of facing suffering for righteousness' sake as it ought to be faced. For there is nothing that comes in the way of suffering for righteousness' sake that can touch what is the very cap root and the ultimate spring of my blessing. I am blessed because I am in Christ and I am on my way to be with Christ. And all that comes to me in the intervening bracket of time that is suffered for Christ can only increase the reward I receive from Christ. Well, we've looked at the introductory question.

32:21 That question is who is he will harm you if you be of the good zealots? Then we've considered, secondly, the possible reaction of the ungodly, but even if you should suffer for righteousness' sake, blessed. And now we begin to consider the required response of the godly. The required response of the godly.

32:48 And this goes from 14b down through verse 16. And so often scripture defines duty negatively and positively and that's exactly what we have here. And as Peter defines the duty of the godly when suffering for righteousness comes into their lives, he does so now not with the words of Jesus echoing in his ear, but the words of the prophet Isaiah. Isaiah 8, 12, and 13 are the background for the counsel that Peter's about to give.

33:24 And he gives the counsel first of all in negative terms and then in the positive. Let me read the Isaiah passage so that you're at least familiar with it and you'll see the echoes and the overtones of this passage in the directives that Peter gives to these believers. Isaiah 8, 12, and 13. Isaiah 8, 12, and 13.

33:48 Say not a conspiracy concerning all whereof this people shall say a conspiracy Here are our words now. Neither fear their fear nor be in dread thereof Jehovah of hosts Jehovah of hosts, him shall you sanctify, and let him be your fear, and let him be your dread. So what is the required response of the godly? When suffering for righteousness' sake comes upon them, negatively, two things.

34:23 Do not be afraid. Do not be troubled. Do not be afraid. But even if you should suffer, fear not their fear.

34:32 Now, what do those words mean? Well, some say, well, it's obvious what they mean. You are not to fear the things that others fear when the going gets rough for them. In the context of the Isaiah passage, it was the Assyrian army that was their threat.

34:49 And he says, don't be afraid of the things that they are afraid of. And some say, that's what Peter is saying. Others say, no. Don't be afraid of the things which they are threatening to do to you.

35:01 Don't be afraid of their fear. That is, the thing by which they are seeking to intimidate you. And others say, no, it's just a generic warning. Don't be afraid of them.

35:13 What they can do, what they can threaten, whatever comes from them, whatever may issue from them, don't be afraid in the presence of those who would oppose you for righteousness' sake. And such who hold that conviction would say this was just taking the words of the Lord Jesus that Peter again had heard. Matthew 10. 28.

35:33 Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after this have no more that they can take. But fear him who after he hath killed the soul, who after he hath killed the soul, I'm sorry, who can kill both soul and body in hell. So whatever it is, it's obvious that the negative is when in the midst of this opposition and there are threats, there are intimidating words and gestures, you are not to be panicked. You are not to be paralyzed by fear.

36:05 You are not to allow fear to budge you from the course of zealously pursuing the good. You came into your opposition in the way of being zealots of the good. This is suffering for righteousness' sake. Don't allow the opposition to move your wheels off the rails of the revealed will of God.

36:30 God's will for you does not change. God's claims over you do not change. Your obligations as a debtor to the grace of God and one living in hope of the consummation of the salvation of God. Nothing that matters really changes because threats and intimidation are coming into your ears.

36:52 Therefore, do not be afraid. Do not fear their fear. Do not be troubled. Now this word for troubled means to be disturbed.

37:02 To be agitated. It's the word Jesus used in the familiar words of John 14.1. He told them, I'm going to leave you.

37:10 And this was devastating to his disciples. He said, let not your heart be troubled. It's the word used in John 5 to describe the troubling of the waters by the pool. When the waters were troubled, agitated, disturbed, fomented, boiling.

37:27 It's the word used in Mark, Matthew 14.26. When? In the middle of the night and in a storm, the disciples see Jesus walking on the water.

37:37 And it says they were troubled for they thought they saw a ghost. Now what do you kids feel like if you think you've seen a ghost? That makes the hair go up in the back of your neck. Agitation and disturbance that affects the whole of your being.

37:54 Peter says, this is the required response. Do not be afraid. Don't be agitated. Don't be disturbed.

38:02 Don't be troubled. That's the negative.

The Required Response of the Godly: Positively – Sanctify Christ as Lord (1 Peter 3:15a)

38:08 In the midst of the suffering, do not fear their fear. Do not be troubled. But now what's the positive? And it's a strong adversative with which he brings in the positive.

38:19 Do not fear their fear, neither be troubled, dare. But, but, and then in this whole section, you have but one imperative. That's the central duty. And that's to sanctify Christ as Lord.

38:35 And all of the other things hang around that duty as supportive and supplemental to it. Sanctify in your hearts Christ as Lord, ready to give an answer. Verse 16, having a good conscience, it is better at the will of God, etc. And this morning in the time that remains, we'll only have time to look at this central duty.

39:03 And how crucial it is. As some of you may now be suffering for righteousness sake, but many of you are enjoying the reality that Peter assumes would be the ordinary course in the experience of these believers. But if we should suffer at the hands of the ungodly in the way of righteousness and account of righteousness, determined by the grace of God that we will not be paralyzed by carnal fear, nor allow ourselves to be agitated and disturbed in our spirits, what is our central duty? It is bound up in the words, but sanctify in your hearts Christ as Lord. Now again, there is a debate among the exegetes. Should it be rendered, sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts? Or should it be, sanctify the Lord Christ?

40:05 Or as Lord the Christ, sanctify? And I'll not go into that linguistic discussion. I'm personally satisfied that the translation of the ASV that has good exegetical support is the right one. But sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts.

40:28 Sanctify Christ as Lord. Now many of you know that the word sanctify means to set apart. unto God. To set apart something or someone from a common use to a special use for God. And when we see the word sanctify in conjunction with Christ, we say, wait a minute, I can't sanctify Christ. He is already sanctified. He's already set apart unto God. He came forth from God. He's gone back to God.

41:01 And in the whole process of living out his life, he lived as one set apart unto God. How in the world can we sanctify Christ as Lord? How can we sanctify him? Well, the word sanctify with reference to Christ in this passage is similar to the way it is used in the Lord's Prayer. After this manner pray ye, our Father who art in heaven, what's the next word?

41:33 Hallowed? That's a translation of the same verb. Sanctified be your name. Well, God's name is already sanctified. He is the set apart one, the one who is set apart from all that is defiling and common.

41:51 But what we are praying is, may your name be set apart in the thinking and in the attitudes and in the disposition of men. May your name be sanctified, who you are and what you are, as known among all. Among men, may men regard you for who and what you are. And in a similar way, when Peter says, this is what you're to do, you are to sanctify Christ as Lord, that is, you are to set him apart in your thinking and in your affections and in your perspective.

42:24 When suffering for righteousness comes, you must affirm afresh and determine afresh. That Christ will have that place where, in your hearts, that is his rightful place. Now, is he saying, when tribulation and persecution come, you who've merely accepted Christ as Savior, you ought now to acknowledge him as Lord? Well, that's not what he's saying. These people have already embraced Christ as both Savior and Lord.

43:01 He described them in chapter 1 and verse 2. As those who were God's people, according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood. No one is a true Christian who is not brought into a life of sanctification by the Spirit and obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Christ. He could describe them in chapter 1 and verse 14, as children of obedience.

43:34 He isn't telling them what they ought to become, but what they already are. So he is not saying, well, when things get hot, to make sure you don't cave in because you're just a carnal Christian who's only trusted Jesus as Savior and haven't been living for him, now set him apart as Lord. Now, look at the context. They are suffering because they are zealots of the good.

43:58 They're not living half-baked, half-hearted Christian lives. These are people serious about their Christianity. This is a Christian faith. Context.

44:07 How people can read stuff into a passage, rip it out of its setting, and build such a nonsensical, God-dishonoring doctrine is beyond me. He's not saying, Christ is your Savior. When things get hot, you take him as Lord. No, what he's saying to people who've embraced Christ as Savior and Lord, who love him, he described them in chapter 1 and verse 8.

44:29 Whom having not seen, you love. They love Christ. They are seeking to walk before Christ. It's in obedience to Christ that they suffer for righteousness' sake.

44:39 So what's he telling them to do? He is saying in the crucible of opposition and suffering for righteousness' sake, affirm afresh and come, as it were, to a deeper level of heart commitment to all that Christ is in himself and all that he is to be to his believing people. Give him afreshness. Give him afresh the place of unrivaled affection and allegiance.

45:09 Give him afresh the place of unreserved submission to his will. Give him afresh the place of unquestioned confidence in his protection and his power. But in if you suffer for righteousness' sake, as a blessed one, determined that you will not heal to fear or be agitated, what you're to do is get your spiritual...

45:35 spiritual bearings by coming to a fresh, deep, internal experience of saying, Lord Jesus, you've brought me here. I'm in this position in obedience to you, in the strength that you alone provide. Lord Jesus, I enshrine you afresh in your rightful place. Unrivaled affection, loving you more than mother, father, brother, sister, and my own life also.

46:05 If the opposition, Lord Jesus, is determined to kill me, Lord Jesus, what is my life? Lord Jesus, you have the place of supreme affection. Lord Jesus, I'm not going to allow the taunts of my enemies, the threats of my enemies to budge me from my unreserved submission to your will. I am determined to obey you.

46:29 I'm one of your sheep, determined to hear your voice and to follow you. And Lord Jesus, Lord Jesus, I affirm afresh my unquestioned confidence in your protection and power. You've said, lo, I am with you always. You have said, no weapon that is formed against you shall prosper.

46:47 You have said, when you walk through the waters, I will be with you. And through the floods, they will not overflow you. Lord Jesus, I set you apart. Not formally, not in some surface manner, but Peter says, in your hearts.

47:04 In your hearts. Sanctify Christ as Lord.

Christ and Heart: The Fundamental Issue

47:11 That's the central duty. And in setting out that central duty, do you see what Peter does? In Suffering 101, he brings into the closest conjunction these two realities, Christ and the heart.

47:29 And as I was wrestling with this whole issue, my wife would bear witness to this, saying, honey, I don't know how to divide the thing up. It's all hung together. I'm low. I don't have the strength to stop at 15a.

47:41 It's so hung together grammatically and in the symmetry of biblical truth. But as I pondered this last night, it struck me with tremendous force how the Spirit of God has cut away all the fat and said, now listen. You Christians there in Asia Minor, as you give yourself to being zealots of the good, ordinarily God will give you favor even with your enemies. But!

48:09 If and when suffering for righteousness should come, my dear young Christians in Asia Minor, Peter says, at the end of the day, the issue that matters can be reduced to two words, Christ and heart and heart. And for every one of us sitting here this morning, that's the most fundamental issue, no matter where you stand on the spectrum of spiritual experience. Jesus Christ and who he is and what he's done in your heart. In relationship to him.

48:46 That's it. If you were to die right now, and your state in the day of judgment is fixed, the last breath you draw, the issue that would be unfolded in the day of judgment would be Christ in your heart. That's it. Not that complicated, is it?

49:08 Christ in your heart. That's the issue on the way out end of the spectrum when we first are confused. Confronted with the Bible's teaching of our sinfulness, that we are hell-deserving creatures who have rebelled against God, who fell in our first father Adam, and we have, as it were, ratified that fall, times without number by our own sin. And we're confronted with our sin on the one hand, and God's infinite grace and mercy in sending his only begotten son to die for sin.

49:46 He raised him from the dead, and we are informed that in Jesus Christ, God has made a way whereby hell-deserving sinners can be right with God, not based upon what they do, but on the basis of what he has done. And Christ is pressed upon us that we might embrace him. What's the issue? Your heart?

50:07 In all of its sin and Christ in all of his grace. And the scripture says, If you will confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you will be saved. Christ in your heart. Romans 10, 9 and 10.

50:29 That's the issue. Christ in your heart. And that's the issue all along the way. Who has your heart?

50:38 Christ or the world? Christ or sin? Sitting here this morning. That's the issue.

50:45 Christ in your heart.

50:50 No matter at what point we are found in the Christian experience. That's the issue. And that's why Peter can go right to that issue. And give as the central duty in giving instruction to the people of God as to how they are to respond to suffering for righteousness sake.

51:08 He says, Sanctify Christ as Lord in your heart. Now, do we need to wait for a baptism of suffering to do that? No. The best preparation for whatever may come to us in the way of future opposition is to live as those in whom Christ and the heart are where they ought to be.

51:36 Your heart, the inner shrine of unrivaled devotion to the person of Christ. Your heart, the seedbed of a principled life of unswerving obedience. To the word of Christ. Your heart, the source and seat of unwavering confidence in the protection and presence and provision of Christ.

52:04 That's the issue. It's not all that complicated. That's why Solomon said, Guard your heart above all that you guard for out of it are the issues of life. What's the central duty?

Conclusion and Prayer

52:21 Sanctify Christ as Lord in your heart. God willing, tonight we'll look at what I'm calling the accompanying graces. Constant readiness to give an answer. Readiness with the right disposition, meekness and fear.

52:41 Readiness in the context of a blameless, authentic Christian life. Having a good conscience that whereas they speak against you. But all of those matters hang around the central issue. If we miss the...

52:56 central issue. The other is just good information. May God grant that Christ shall know his rightful place in your heart and mine here in this place this morning. Let's pray. Our Father, we thank you for your word. We thank you for moving your servant Peter hundreds of years ago to pen the words that have fed our souls this morning. We pray that you would help us to understand, to internalize, and to live out the truth of your holy word. We pray for those who sit among us whose hearts have never known the embrace of Christ, whose hearts have never gone out in faith and trust to Christ. We pray that your spirit would so work in them that they,

53:56 in their hearts, would be able to understand and live out the truth of your holy word. We pray that your spirit would so work in them that they, may see that this is their great need, to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and with the heart to embrace him as the supreme object of trust and affection. And we pray, Lord, that you would be merciful to us who are your children, that if any thing, if any one, if any perspective, if any ambition has come in to rival the place which Christ the Lord should have in our hearts, that you would help us to see that rivaling affection and to repent of it, that ere this day closes, he may again occupy his rightful place in our hearts. Seal then your word to our good and to your glory, we ask in his worthy name. Amen.