Accompanying Graces for the Persecuted

Introduction: The Central Theme of Suffering in 1 Peter

0:02 The following sermon was delivered on Sunday evening, July 11th, 1999, at the Trinity Baptist Church in Montville, New Jersey. Now let us turn together to 1 Peter chapter 3, turning in the word of God to 1 Peter chapter 3, and will you follow please as I read verses 13 through 17. 1 Peter 3 and verse 13, And who is he that will harm you if you be zealous of that which is good? But even if you should suffer for righteousness' sake, blessed are you. And do not fear their fear, neither be troubled, but sanctify in your hearts Christ as Lord, being ready always to give answer to every man that asks you a reason.

1:09 2 Peter 3 and verse 13, And who is he that will harm you if you be zealous of that which is good? But even if you should suffer for righteousness' sake, blessed are you. One of the marks of every authentic Christian is to suffer for the sake of his attachment to Christ, his ways, and his people. It is a fundamental reality that the Lord Jesus Christ himself said, He that would love his life shall lose it, but he that will lose his life for my sake and the gospel shall be saved.

2:22 It is this fact that caused the Apostle Peter to write, to the saints of God in Asia Minor, in order to enlighten, to comfort, and to strengthen them in the face of the present and even greater yet to come suffering for the sake of the Lord Jesus. And as we return tonight to our studies in 1 Peter, let me take a few minutes to review what we considered in our examination of this passage, 1 Peter 3 and verse 13, And who is he that will harm you if you be zealous of that which is good? And as we return tonight to our morning hour of worship, we noted that beginning in chapter 3 and verse 13, in this third major section of the letter, Peter introduces the central theme and concern of the letter, namely to give exhortations in the view of the Christian's experience of suffering. Beginning here in chapter 3 and verse 13, and particularly in verse 14, he uses the word suffer seven times throughout the epistle. That, again, is the subject that he brings before us.

Suffering 101: The Question Raised and Ungodly Reaction

3:42 And I suggested that we should view this first section, verses 13 through 17, as though it were entitled Suffering 101. Peter gives us a basic overview of the major elements that the Christian ought to keep in mind, in the prospect and in the experience of suffering for the sake of righteousness. As we began to examine the passage this morning, we noted in verse 13 what I called the question raised. Peter begins with the rhetorical question, He that will harm you, in the previous verse, committed to turning away from evil and doing good. That good being defined by, God Himself, particularly, in the immediately preceding verses. And he asks the question, Who is He that will harm you, if, in your commitment to good, you could be called a zealot,

5:05 one passionately pursuing the good, as defined by God? And in that question, he is either asking, Who is able to do you any real harm, in which case, would be paralleled to the, the Apostle asking the question, Who would be disposed, inclined to, for the good? And in my own judgment, I lean toward that second understanding of the question, because, in verse 14, where he states the possible reaction of the ungodly, he uses a form of the verb that points to possibility. But even if you should, in spite of the fact that generally, those whose ways please the Lord, God makes even their enemies to be at peace with Him. Peter now says, there is a possible negative reaction from the ungodly, and even if you should suffer for righteousness sake, and then, as we indicated this morning, there is no verb. He says, blessed.

6:29 You are immediately, upon confrontation with suffering, for righteousness sake, to think of this whole complex of suffering in a biblical way. You are to regard yourselves as those who are the blessed ones. Immediately bringing to mind the words of our Lord from Matthew chapter 5, verses 10 through 12. And then, having considered the question raised, the possible reaction of the ungodly, we began to unpack, in the third place, the required response of the godly, in verses 14b through verse 16.

The Required Response of the Godly: Sanctifying Christ as Lord

7:11 The required response of the godly. Negatively, with Isaiah 8, 12 and 13 as the background of his thinking, Peter says, this is what you are not to do. Even if you should suffer for righteousness sake, blessed, and do not fear their fear, neither be troubled. You are not to allow yourself to be paralyzed with fear and agitated and disturbed in your spirit, but positively, and then we have the central duty set before us, but sanctify in your hearts Christ as Lord. Here is the central, the fundamental duty, to sanctify Christ as Lord, in our hearts. That is, consciously and deliberately, to give to Christ, in fresh, concentrated spiritual activity, His rightful place in the deepest citadel of our being. Christ is to be set apart for who and what He is in Himself, and in His saving relationship to His people, in the very depths of our being,

8:31 He is to be set apart as Lord. That is, we are to recognize afresh His place of unrivaled affection and devotion, His place of unreserved submission and obedience to His will, and the unquestioned confidence in His protection and His power. And we noted in our closing application how in this fundamental duty, Peter brings into the closest conjunction Christ and the heart of the believer. And I sought to underscore the truth that that is the fundamental issue at every point of Christian experience.

Accompanying Reality 1: Constant Readiness to Give a Reasonable Response

9:13 Christ, in all the virtue of who He is, and what He has done and continues to do for His people, and the heart of His believing people. Now then, having considered this central duty, in what I've called the required response of the godly, I want you to notice with me secondly, under that required response, moving on from the negative to the positive, the first of those positive directives, the central duty, notice secondly the accompanying realities. The accompanying realities. And there are three such realities that are to accompany this state, of having Christ set apart as Lord in our hearts. Three accompanying realities, and the first is this. Sanctify in your hearts Christ as Lord, being ready always to give answer to every man that asks you a reason concerning the hope that is in you. The first accompanying reality is to be of constant readiness to give a reasonable response to all inquiries concerning our Christian hope.

10:37 Now I wish I could give you a nice, clever little ditty of a heading, but in so doing I would not be true to the word of God. And this is the simplest way I've been able to reduce the force of the text itself. Sanctify Christ as Lord. That's to be the constant state in the depths of our being.

11:00 This is to be done in our hearts. And accompanying that reality, there is to be first of all a constant readiness to give a reasonable response to all inquiries concerning our Christian life. Peter assumes that those who are zealots of the good, who are persecuted, and will respond as verses 9 to verses 8 through 11 indicate, that in the course of that response they will make it clear that what motivates them is their hope. It is their hope that becomes the focal point of the inquiry of the ungodly. Now it's crucial then that we understand what this hope is. And one of the finest, uninspired definitions of the Christian's hope that I've encountered is this. I've altered it a little bit.

12:03 Hope is all we expect from God in the future because of the person and work of Christ as promised in the word of God. What is the Christian's hope? The Christian's hope is all he expects from God in the future upon the person and work of Christ promised in the word of God. That is the Christian's hope.

12:39 It is this confident expectation that points to the future upon what Christ has done and who Christ is and all of this as embodied in the word of God. Now as Christ has his rightful place in the heart, the lips are to be ready to give an answer to every man who asks us a reason concerning the hope that is within us. Now the language used for this being ready always, there is no verb being, should simply be rendered ready always to give answer is the word from which we get our English words the word apologetics and often it was used with reference to a formal defense that someone would make before a court of law. It is used in this sense in the experience of the Apostle Paul in Acts 22.1, in Acts 25.16 and in 2 Timothy 4.16

13:51 Paul speaks of I will make my defense, my apology, my apologia, my apology. Sometimes it means a more informal answer or reason or defense. We find that usage in a passage such as 1 Corinthians 9.2 and in 2 Corinthians 7.11.

14:15 Now look at the text. It says that this apology, this defense is to be made to be one setting, a criminal setting but that answer that we would give to anyone who inquires concerning our hope. Furthermore the text says that this readiness always to give answer to everyone that asks is with reference to a reason concerning the hope. And that is the Greek word from which we get our English word logic, a logon, a reason, rational account. So what is the focus of this defense?

15:25 This reasonable answer? It is the hope that is within us. As the Christian is opposed in the way of righteousness, as men do evil to him and he does not respond with evil, when they speak evil of him and he does not give reviling for reviling, in the midst of pressure and opposition he is seeking peace and he is pursuing it. Along the way it is going to leak out.

16:01 I live the way I live and I respond the way I respond because my whole focus is not this life and this world. My heart is set upon another world. I am according to chapter 1 in verse 1 gladly identified as a sojourner. This world is not my home.

16:26 I am just passing through. I have an inheritance, undefiled, incorruptible, reserved in heaven. My heart is where my inheritance is. And on the way there I am to reflect the Lord of the place to which I am going.

16:42 I sanctify Him as Lord in my heart. I am committed to be like Him. I am committed to respond as He tells me to respond to opposition. All that I am and do that you see is because of my hope.

16:58 And he says, sooner or later your detractors, your enemies, your persecutors are going to say, please give me an answer, a reasoned response for the hope that is in you. This one commentator has so beautifully stated it. It is at that point that the child of God gladly responds and speaks of the nature, the ground, the object and the influences of his hope. Tell him how you too, like your heathen neighbors, were lately living without hope in the world, with no hope to God, with no hope for a dying hour, no hope for eternity. Then speak to him of God our Savior and the Lord Jesus Christ our hope. Speak of the glorious miracle and mystery of his person and work and death and resurrection and ascension to the Father's right hand and his future return as judge of the living and the dead and king of all the earth. Explain to the inquirer your personal interest in all of this through your living union by faith with the Son of God, the world's Redeemer, and the consequent indwelling and gracious witness of the Spirit with your spirit that you are now children of God and if children then heirs, heirs indeed of God

18:26 and joint heirs with Christ. Do you see that in the text? Sanctify Christ as Lord, ready always to give answer, to give apology to everyone that asks you a reason concerning the hope that is in you. The first accompanying reality in the face of the opposition of the ungodly suffering for righteousness sake, having sanctified Christ as Lord, there is to be a constant readiness to give a reasonable response to all inquiries concerning our Christian hope.

Accompanying Reality 2: Gracious, Respectful, and Cautious Demeanor

19:09 But then there is a second accompanying reality highlighted in the text. There is to be a gracious, respectful and cautious demeanor in the manner of giving our reasonable response. Again, look at the text. This reasonable response is to be given yet with meekness and fear.

19:34 The adversity of Allah. You are to be in constant readiness to give this reasoned response, but Peter says, but with meekness and fear. Meekness. The absence of carnal, carnal abrasiveness and combativeness.

19:55 A disposition of gentleness and of evident goodwill. Remember in chapter 3 and verse 4, with respect to the woman's true beauty, let it be the hidden man of the heart in the incorruptible apparel of a meek and quiet spirit. That meekness that is to characterize a woman's true beauty is to characterize the suffering saint. He stands in readiness, anxious as it were, chomping at the bit to tell anyone who will ask, what in the world makes you tick, man?

20:32 Why do you live the way you live? And he's in readiness to give this apology, this response, this defense in a reasoned explanation of his hope. But he is to do it with this proper disposition characterized by meekness, and then by fear. Now what's the fear?

20:54 Obviously not the fear of man. Some suggest, well, respect to the one who asked the question, so we could say respect. Others say no. Peter's constant emphasis on the fear of God.

21:08 Chapter 1 and verse 17, pass the time of your sojourning in fear. Chapter 2 and verse 17, fear God. Chapter 2 and further, where these slaves are to respond, verse 18, be in subjection to your masters with all fear. Surely Peter's referring to the fear of God.

21:29 But one commentator suggests that neither of these responses really suits the context and suggests the following. The reference is not to the fear of man that produces timidity, nor does the view that it means the fear of God seem to satisfy the context. And then this commentator says, Peter goes on to quote another commentator and says, fear may be understood to mean both reverence and caution. Reverence because of the solemnity of the subject and caution, lest in the earnestness of discussion anything might be said which would give an opponent occasion to accuse the Christian before the civil magistrate.

22:13 There should be a conscious concern lest through their personal infirmity or lack of restraint, the truth of God should be brought into disrepute. Such a fear was needed whenever inquirers poured scorn and ridicule upon Christians and their faith. Remember the context. These inquirers are the very ones we shall see described as reviling their good manner of life.

22:40 They're not coming with the humble spirit of inquiry saying, please, it is more a frustrated spirit of inquiry, and so this commentator suggests your response must be marked by meekness and by fear. And then there is a quote from Luther that I found in several of the commentators. Luther said, then must you not answer with proud words and bring out the matter with a defiance and with a violence as if you would tear up trees, but with such fear and lowliness as if you stood before God's tribunal, so must you stand in fear and not rest in your own strength, but on the word and promise of Christ. And so I've tried to capture all of those nuances by saying the second accompanying reality is to be a gracious meekness, respectful and cautious fear, demeanor in the manner of giving your reasonable response. So you see what Peter's doing. He's saying as you sanctify Christ, as Lord, central duty, sanctifying him as Lord in your heart.

23:54 That's the central duty. Don't forget it. Everything hangs onto it. Take that out of place.

24:00 Everything else falls to its own death without that central duty in place. But accompanying it, there is to be a constant readiness to give a reasonable response. There is readiness of head and of lip, but that's not enough. There must also be readiness of heart and of disposition.

24:24 A clear head joined now to a sensitive Christ-like heart. But then there is a third accompanying reality. Notice it in the text. Sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, ready always to give answer to everyone that asks a reason concerning the hope that is in you, yet with meekness in 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.

Accompanying Reality 3: Consistent, Authentic Christian Life

25:03 The third accompanying reality is this. A consistent, authentic Christian life before God and man as the context of your reasonable response. See the progression? You're to be in readiness to give a reasonable response.

25:26 That response is to be given in a gracious demeanor. That response is to be given in the context of an authentic Christian life. Captured in the two phrases a good conscience and a good manner of life. Verse 16a, having a good conscience.

25:50 Present partisan. Constant action. Continually having, possessing a good conscience. What is a good conscience?

26:02 Conscience is that little moral monitor that makes judgment on our actions. Right? Wrong? Sin?

26:11 Or virtuous? A good conscience is a conscience that is constantly under the light of God's Word. And when conscience speaks, it's condemnation. A good conscience is one that is taken immediately to the blood of cleansing.

26:30 In fresh acts of repentance and confession for sin. That there might be purging and cleansing. According to 1 John 1.9 that conscience might not stand condemning and pointing his finger at unresolved controversies with God.

26:49 A good conscience is a conscience whose promptings are heeded. Whose promptings in the realm of accusation are heeded. And then a good conscience is one that can also in the language of Paul in Acts 24.16 look out at our fellow men and know that if we have wronged them we have been prepared to eat crow and own our sin and seek forgiveness.

27:17 And again, as much as I've emphasized it in this pulpit, I'm appalled at how much I still hear of the language of I'm sorry. Frankly, I don't care to know if you wronged me if you're sorry. That's simply a statement of how you feel. I'm not interested in how you feel.

27:35 If I've wronged you and come to you and say I'm sorry, that's an interesting bit of information. I feel sad. I'm sorry. So what?

27:44 What you need to hear from me is my brother, my sister, I sinned against you. I've asked God's forgiveness will you forgive me? Oh, you say, Pastor, that's playing with words. No, it's not playing with words.

28:00 The Scripture says we are to forgive one another as God, for Christ's sake, forgives us. When does God forgive sinners? When sinners come before God and say I'm sorry? God says that's an interesting bit of information.

28:13 I knew it before you told me. No, you get forgiveness when you own your sin. God, be merciful to me. I'm so sorry.

28:21 No, be merciful to me. The sinner. If we confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. A good conscience is that which is maintained as Paul said, a conscience void of offense to God and man when its promptings are heeded.

28:42 When they are not heeded, its accusations are heeded and we go to the fountain open for sin and uncleanness and where necessary we go to the fellow human being and say I sin will you forgive me? So we can look them in the eye and not have conscience and say you've got unfinished business with him you've got unfinished business with her and I trust this is the daily if not daily repeated experience between you husbands and wives I hope you've gotten beyond the idea of I'm sorry or whether or not you're sorry. I want to know have you faced the issue that's caused the breach? You spoke a sharp nasty word to your wife don't tell her you're sorry. Say I'm grieved that I sinned against you will you forgive me? Now you've put the ball right at her feet and she's either got the stubbornness in her I won't forgive you in which case she will not be forgiven by God or she's got to say sweetheart I do forgive you and there is a fresh reconciliation a good conscience. I don't have time to open up the whole doctrine of conscience but this is what Peter's talking about he says as Christ is sanctified as Lord in the midst of this cloud of suffering for righteousness sake there must be this accompaniment

30:10 of a good conscience and not periodically and occasionally but having as much as your skin is something you have and cleaves to your muscles and to your bones having a good conscience your constant companion as part of a consistent authentic Christian life before God and man as the context of your reasonable response but then he says join to a good conscience which is inward here's God's check so we're not guilty of self-deception and delusion skip down to the last part of verse 16 these who revile themselves fill your good manner of life so a good conscience is joined to a good manner of life one of Peter's favorite words the anastrophe the lifestyle word used six times in first Peter here for the last time this is use number six of that favorite word and again the word good is used every time we turn around in these verses we're getting good good good isn't it a shame that anyone described in our day as a do-gooder is looked down upon as somebody a little bit odd this passage shows the believer is a do-gooder he wants to see good days

31:38 he turns away from evil and does good and who will harm you if you be a zealot of the good see the matter of goodness and moral uprightness is a passionate concern for the true child of God that authentic Christian life that forms the context of his verbal witness is described as comprised of a good conscience and of a good manner of life now then back off and see these three accompaniments of this central duty sanctifying Christ as Lord with these three things flanking that fundamental duty being experienced in the heart of the Christian constant readiness to give a reasonable response to inquiries regarding our hope that points to an informed mind and a ready tongue it's to be an apology it is to be an answer in the form of a reason it is not some mindless thing oh Jesus is sweet to me I hope he'll get sweet to you how is he sweet oh I don't know he's just sweet to me well how did you come to you oh I don't know it's just great trust Jesus who is Jesus what did Jesus come for

33:06 oh what did he do it is to be an intelligent rational response our apology is not a mindless effusion of our feelings there is to be a ready mind and a ready tongue but there's to be more than that there is to be a gracious respectful and cautious demeanor in giving a reasonable response but with meekness and fear so that goes from a ready mind and tongue to a right heart but then that's not enough he says the third accompaniment is a consistent authentic Christian walk before God and man as the context of your reasonable response that points to your proven manifest patterns of character before God and before man this is why I have little sympathy with weekend seminars that are going to make all Christians into vibrant witnesses for Jesus it ain't that simple the best thing we could do for the cause of the gospel with some people is to shut their mouth for six months they have a ready tongue and a furnished

34:34 they don't have the meekness and the fear and they don't have the validating life now someone said of some Christians they're like the silent letters in some of our words you could drop them and it would change nothing the word light l-i-g-h-t you don't say lack do you I don't you turn on the lack you drop the g and the h turn on the light turn out the light and I thought it was a very catchy little way to remind us some Christians are so silent they're like those silent letters you drop them out and lose nothing and I'm not in any way putting forth a brief for a non-verbal defense of who and what we are and what we believe and what is our hope but I'm saying that this passage points us to this trilogy of the accompaniments of setting apart Christ as Lord readiness graciousness and reality of life well we've looked at the central duty sanctify Christ as Lord we've looked at the accompanying realities now note thirdly in the passage the intended result of these things what's the intended result

The Intended Result: Shame for Persecutors

36:04 well you'll find it there in the text having a good conscience that wherein you are spoken against they may be put to shame or revile your good manner of life in Christ the intended result focuses upon the persecutors of the people of God and they are described in terms of two activities they are speaking against the people of God do you see that in the text you are spoken against by these people wherein you are spoken against same thing that was said in verse 12 of chapter 2 that wherein they speak against you as evil doers and again in verse 15 so is the will of God that by well doing you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish men these people that speak against God's people and then they revile they threaten they insult the people of God for no good reason it's spoken of later on in the text that they may be put to shame who revile who threaten who insult some lexicographers say this word will even bear something beyond threatening and may even involve actual abuse so here are the persecutors and they are speaking against the people of God in a general way

37:31 accusing them of being evil doers when they are not they are reviling them threatening them in terms of exalting them heaping verbal abuse upon them and when the people of God respond as they do sanctifying Christ as Lord in their hearts readiness to give this reasoned response to their questions in a gracious demeanor out of the context of a consistent life what is the intended result you have a clause of purpose here is the intended result that they may be put to shame that they may be put to shame now it's hard for us to have an immediate reaction to the word shame in this generation this is a shameless generation it is one of the tragedies of the erosion of common grace and the opening up of the floodgates of iniquity one of the condemnations of the days of Jeremiah the prophet God said to the prophet to Israel you have a to Judah you have a whore's forehead you refuse to be ashamed what a graphic picture

38:56 the harlot can go prancing down the street with no shame that she sells her body for a few bucks to any buyer and God says to Israel you're like a whore you say Pastor Martin that's crude I didn't say it God did God says you're like a whore you have no sense of shame this is the age when perverts are out of the closet to have their picture on the front page of the New York Times dressed in drag on gay rights and lesbian rights celebration shameless out of the closet means no shame no shame so it's hard to preach a text that uses the word shame you see shame is that emotional reaction that comes in the presence of discovered and felt guilt that's what Adam and Eve felt when they sinned against God and they heard God coming in a theophany they went to hide among the trees of the garden ashamed ashamed and I say it's hard to preach anything with the word shame in it in this generation but it's here in the text and it's the intended result

40:25 of all that Peter has said by way of apostolic directive to these Christians about to face new dimensions of suffering for righteousness sake he said do these things in the strength of Christ with this intended result that those who oppose you and those who are persecuting you may be brought to shame now obviously Peter doesn't say brought to shame so you can have a triumphal as spirit and see them grubble all the way through this epistle any impact believers make upon the unbelievers it has an evangelistic intention you remember that back in chapter 2 verse 12 that they may behold your good works which they behold and glorify God in the day of visitation the godly wife who has an unconverted husband she's to do what she's told to do that she may be gained without a word the great end of this is that that sense of shame may be the beginning of those who persecute the people of God acknowledging their sinfulness and further inquire now in a spirit of humility and be pointed to the way of life and salvation that's the intended result may I say and I've deliberately refused to make all kinds of applications I've wanted to make in the opening up of the passage

41:51 because I'm determined that you should see the passage and its connections and not have it broken up into too many expositions but may I say to some of you unconverted people the best thing that could happen to some of you tonight is to leave this place with your head hung in shame you can stand bold faced before almighty God with no more shame than those lesbians and sexual perverts manifested when they look boldly and smiling into the camera proud to be gay no shame you come to another Lord's day no shame that you robbed the God who made you of the glory due to his name through your life that's the shame of being an impenitent unbelieving sinner no shame that Christ is freely offered to you another Lord's day and you despise his blood and the overtures of his blood I say the first ray of hope for some of you would be a baptism of shame shame on you that you robbed the God who made you of the glory due from your life shame on you that you don't go to the Christ who died for sinners and lovingly invite you to come and partake of his grace shame on you shame on you oh may God give you shame

The Source of Power: Union with Christ

43:19 it might lead you to seek cleansing in the blood of Christ well we go on from the intended result notice fourthly the source of power for such a lifestyle I hope along the way you've been saying but pastor how in the world can we live this way it's so against nature it's so against everything that my own instincts tell me and all that society tells me notice how Peter tucks away in one little prepositional phrase the source of power for such a lifestyle do you see it in verse 16 having a good conscience that where in your life that wherein you are spoken against they may be put to shame who revile your good manner of life in Christ who are reviling your good manner of life in Christ more literally it is your good in Christ manner of life Peter even throws the little prepositional phrase forward for emphasis he could have said and it would have been good grief your manner of life in Christ your good manner of life in Christ but he says your good in Christ

44:47 manner of life and that little phrase in Christ is one of the most crucial phrases in all of the New Testament the apostle Paul uses it approximately a hundred and fifty times Peter only uses it three times in this epistle but I want you to look at the other one the other two usages he uses it here and then again in chapter 5 in verse 10 the God of all grace who called you into his eternal glory in Christ all that they are called to all that constitutes their hope is to be found in Christ verse 14 greet one another with a kiss of love peace be unto you all that are he closes his epistle with that little phrase in Christ that's his description of what a Christian is a Christian is someone who is in Christ he is in vital union with Christ not only is Christ in him sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts but he is in Christ by a living faith by the indwelling of the spirit who constitutes the bond between the sinner and Christ he is in Christ and as Paul says if any man be in Christ new creation the old is past the new has come

46:14 Ephesians 2 10 we are his workmanship created anew in Christ Jesus unto good works it is in Christ and in the virtue of union with Christ that the good works flow it takes us into the heart of John 15 Christ is divine we are the branches there is vital life flowing from Christ to us when we look at a passage like this and we say this kind of life no one can live with the stuff that he had from his mother's womb that's true no one can live this kind of life in and of himself but it is in Christ it is your in Christ manner of life Peter says this manner of life that will awaken the interest of those who even persecute you and eventually cause them to ask albeit perhaps with a cynical pinch in their question what makes you tick man he says this whole life is one that flows out of your union with Christ that's the source of power for such a lifestyle and if you are not in Christ you can't live this way you can't do it you can try you can perhaps seem to do it for a while but sooner or later you will come to grips with the words of Jesus without me you can do nothing make the tree good

47:42 and the fruit good or the tree corrupt and its fruit corrupt a tree is known by its fruit a good tree cannot bring forth corrupt fruit a corrupt tree cannot bring forth good fruit that's the problem with some of you you've tried you've made efforts but you're still a corrupt tree you can't bring forth this kind of fruit you see nowhere everywhere I'm sorry everywhere you preach as long as you preach divine standards you're pressing people to see that the only way those standards can be attained is in Christ in Christ in Christ and Peter is not at all ashamed to point to the source of power for such a lifestyle in Christ now finally having set forth from the passage the introductory question verse 13 the possible reaction of the ungodly verse 14a the required response of the godly 14b through 16 now we come finally to the crowning encouragement verse 17 for as a capstone over this whole section Peter writes for it is better if the will of God should so will that you suffer for well doing than for evil doing as a capstone of his course in suffering 101 Peter gives what I'm calling this

Crowning Encouragement: Suffering by God's Will is Better

49:11 crowning encouragement and it has two parts to it a word of comparison and a word of instruction or affirmation I couldn't settle on which was the best word it's a word of comparison see how he states it for it is better and drop out the next qualifying statement and slip right over which we could do grammatically for it is better that you suffer for well doing than for evil doing Peter said now look I've been laying out how you are to respond to suffering for righteousness sake and as a crowning encouragement I want to tell you something it is better to suffer in the way of doing good than to suffer in the way of doing evil now in what way is it better he makes this comparison well it is better in terms of your own conscience Peter had already said to these slaves in verse 20 of chapter 2 what glory is it if when you sin and are buffeted for it you take it patiently who goes around bragging you know I was a scoundrel and I got whipped for it and I took it patiently bully me no but he said if when you do well and suffer for it this is thank worthy this is praise worthy this is acceptable to God this brings the smile of God remember he has already said that and he expects them to remember that he has already

50:39 underscored that principle it is better you will have a conscience aware of the fact that suffering for doing good suffering while doing good rather than doing evil is better you have the marvelous companion of a good conscience and the knowledge that you have the smile of God furthermore it is better in terms of your witness and your testimony what testimony is it for you to talk about your hope and then to live in such a way that you deny the power of the gospel you speak of your hope in a context other than a good conscience and a blameless life a good life shame on you it is better if you are going to suffer to suffer for well doing than for evil doing better in terms of your own conscience and the awareness of the smile of God better in terms of your witness before the ungodly but supremely better because such suffering brings you into the fellowship of Christ Paul says that I may know him in the fellowship of his suffering and the more I am brought into the fellowship of Christ's sufferings the more precious he becomes and the more precious he becomes the more I am willing to suffer and it is a blessed cycle one feeding into the other surely this must be something of what Peter had in mind when he says as his crowning encouragement

52:08 it is better a word of comparison but then he gives this word of instruction in a very strange construction for it is better if the will of God should so will why didn't he just simply say if it's God's will he could have said that in nice smooth Greek but he uses what the Greek scholars call a pleonism he uses an abundance of words to make his point and he uses that in a very strange tense that we talked about this morning the optative the tense of possibility and what Peter says in his word of instruction is if the will of God should so will it is better in other words Peter wants to make it very very plain that no suffering for doing good ever comes to a child of God except it comes by the sovereign will of his God no blind chance is putting together the factors that precipitate this suffering no wild sinister powers have been let loose in the world outside the control of God there is no dualism evil powers that work out their will and good powers and somehow the good cannot overpower or restrain the evil no Peter says as his crowning encouragement to those saints in that far off place

53:38 far off to him as he writes from Rome that this is your crowning encouragement is better if the will of God so will this truth that no suffering ever comes to the righteous apart from the will of God is most clearly illustrated in the most unrighteous suffering that ever was inflicted upon the most righteous one who ever lived the most righteous one was our blessed Lord the most unrighteous suffering was that which was inflicted upon him and the scripture tells us he was delivered up by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God Acts 2.23 Acts 4 and verse 27 and 28 those who are being opposed go back and have a prayer meeting with their own company and they said now Lord look upon this situation the kings and the rulers were gathered together to do whatsoever your hand and your counsel determined before to be done it could not be more clear and now all of his people come in his train and they know whatever suffering comes to them while doing good it is the will of God that wills it so you see to chafe against it to fight against it

55:05 is to fight against God how stupid the God who sent his son to die for us the God who in Christ has begotten us again to a living hope by the resurrection of Christ from the dead unto an inheritance incorruptible undefiled and that fades not away reserved in heaven for us and he is committed not only to keep the inheritance for us but to keep us for the inheritance who wants to fight against a God like that it is ludicrous it is madness and so Peter gives us the crowning and crowning encouragement whatever comes to you in the way of doing good that is suffering know this it comes to you by the will of God by the will of God it is better yes and it comes from the will of your loving Father well dear people that is my effort to try to open up the passage and I beg you the fact that you and I can go home to homes and not wonder if someone will meet us at the door to inquire about what is going on in the world and what is happening in the world to inquire about our faith or drag us out of our beds in the middle of the night to question us I am not prophesying but I think the clouds are quickly gathering that our dream world may end sooner than some of us think and we may know what it is to enter into the fellowship of our brothers and sisters

Call to Prepare for Future Persecution

56:34 in many parts of the world who this very day have sealed their witness with their blood others have sealed it by being dragged off to prison the opposition to anything distinctively Christian becomes more and more bold the antipathy to anything good as I said earlier is shameless may I give you an illustration just catching a few minutes of the news section dealing with sporting events one of the few things that I try to catch sometimes at 10 minutes to 11 at night and there was John McEnroe being inducted into the tennis hall of fame the tennis brand known for his foul mouth cursing and throwing out invectives and foul four letter words to umpires when he was ranked number one it struck me how goodness is despised he stands before I don't know how many people gives a 45 minute speech apparently at the end of which he says to the assembled crowd do you want me to apologize to all the umpires that I cursed he showed no no he shamelessly said that's what I thought to etch

58:01 with the whole bunch of them and then what broke my heart is the news commentators all laughed with an and not a one of them had the guts to say isn't it a shame that John McEnroe has no sense of show of America in the present hour and if you're a zealot for good

58:32 You're marked. You're marked in the marketplace. You're marked in the workplace. You're marked in the college classroom.

58:42 You'll be marked wherever you go. And it may yet be that that antipathy to anything good, in the presence of those who are zealots of the good, is going to break out in ever more aggressive opposition and persecution, and perhaps we would wish we had prayed in this passage that is suffering for righteousness' sake 101.

59:16 This is just the beginning. Peter goes on to say in chapter 4, Think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is coming among you. May God help us. And may you who are wrestling with where am I, is mom's God and dad's God my God, and their Christ my Christ.

59:40 I believe God has done a work in me. I believe my trust is out of myself and in Christ alone. You precious young men and women, you count the cost to own Christ from the heart in this wicked and perverse generation. You may have to pay a price that some of us have never had to pay.

60:04 The most some of us have received is a pretty good battering with nasty words. I got that as a 17-year-old kid when I got converted. When the windows were rolled down and the hot rods that drove down the hill on Strawberry Road in Stanford, Connecticut. Hail Holy Rock!

60:24 Walk on your heels! Save your soul! Ha ha ha! The words through the years have gotten a little more nasty and a little more biting, but I don't have one blow on my body for my attachment to the Lord Jesus Christ.

60:39 I can't say with Paul I bear in my body, the marks of the Lord Jesus. I do believe some parts have worn out a bit more quickly because of the current that's run over this body and ministering and preaching for 45 years. And in that sense, I thank God for aches and pains that some of my fellow budding geriatrics don't have. But I have no marks that I can say these are the stigmata of the Lord Jesus.

61:11 I don't know what it is, some of you may. Who is he that will harm you? If you become a zealot of the good, but, but, even if you should suffer for righteousness' sake, blessed, blessed, and do not fear their fear, neither be troubled, but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, ready always to give answer to every man who asks you a reason of the hope that is in you. Yet, with meekness and fear, having a good conscience, that wherein you are spoken against, they may be put to shame.

61:49 Who revives you? They will 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. Our Father, we are so thankful for your word.

62:13 We marvel at how it addresses us at the point of our need. And we pray that you will write this portion upon the hearts of all of your people. And for those, our Father, who have never known the shame of Holy Spirit conviction, may tonight be the night when they begin to feel ashamed that they do not give you the honor and the glory and the praise and the service of which you are worthy, that they may begin to feel a deep and inescapable shame that they despise your dear Son. O God, shame them unto life and unto salvation.

62:55 And we pray for your dear people, that you will help us not to treat lightly this portion of your word. Grant, O God, that we may so feed our souls upon it, that should days of greater affliction and suffering come upon us, we may not be caught unprepared, but that by your grace you will bring to remembrance what we have learned this day in your courts. Hear our prayers. Help us as we go out into a world that hates goodness and hates the Lord Jesus.

63:33 May we so walk that we will, by your grace, be given opportunities to speak of that hope that is in us. Hear our prayers, accept our thanks, as together we come before you through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.