Three Doctrinal Gleanings

Introduction: The Inevitability of Suffering for Christ

0:02 The following sermon was delivered on Sunday morning, July 18th, 1999, at the Trinity Baptist Church in Montville, New Jersey. Now may I urge you to turn in your own Bibles to 1 Peter chapter 3.

0:22 For those who may be visiting with us when we are in consecutive exposition, we do like to have people having the Word of God come not only through the ear gate, but through the eye gate. Over the years I have often said to the people of God in this place, believe nothing until you see it with your own eyes, in your own Bibles, and then believe it because you see it in your Bible regardless of who the human instrument was to help you to see it. Then should that human instrument eventually deny it, you will still cling to the truth because it is the truth of the Word of God. Follow then, please, as I read 1 Peter 3, verses 13 through 17.

1:13 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 fear not their fear, neither be troubled. But sanctify in your hearts Christ as Lord, being ready always to...

1:36 Give answer to everyone that asks a reason concerning 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 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. In one way or another, to one degree or another, at one time or another,

2:22 suffering for the cause of Christ is an inevitable and an indispensable aspect of authentic Christian experience. I'm going to repeat that because I found over the years there is always a number...

2:41 who really don't begin to listen until about the third or fourth sentence in an introduction. And because I labor over that first sentence, and it's not filler, and it's not just warming me up and hoping it'll warm you up to listening, I want you to listen with all three ears. You say, I don't have three ears. Well, that shows you're listening.

3:05 In one way or another, to one degree or another, At one time or another, suffering for the sake of Christ is an inevitable and an indispensable aspect of authentic Christian experience. To put it more simply, more succinctly, and perhaps a little more bluntly, if you are the real thing in Christ, you will eventually suffer for Christ. Now, that truth is explicitly stated in such verses as Romans 8 and verse 17. And if sons, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ. If sons. So be that we suffer with him that we may be glorified together.

4:08 Or 2 Timothy 3 and verse 12. Yes, and all who will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.

4:24 Now, this being true, if you sitting here this morning are an authentic, a real, a genuine Christian, then you are or are not. Yet will experience some form of suffering for the sake of your Savior. This being so, no true Christian sitting here this morning can afford the luxury of being indifferent or perpetually ignorant of this section in 1 Peter, beginning in chapter 3 and verse 13 and going all the way through, almost to the end of the epistle. For in this section, Peter comes to the heart.

5:03 For in this section, Peter comes to the heart of his burden for these Christians in Asia Minor as he writes to them in this letter. In this section, he is writing to enlighten, to comfort, and strengthen his readers in the face of present and future suffering and trial. And that this is his basic theme from here all the way through is clear when we come to chapter 5 and verse 10. And the God of all grace who called you to his eternal glory.

5:33 To Christ, after you have suffered a little while, shall himself perfect, establish, strengthen you. To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen. Now, what I sought to do last Lord's Day as we came the first time to this section, 1 Peter 3, 13 to 17, was simply to unpack this passage.

5:57 It comes to us in a very tightly knit bundle of divinely inspired, ideas and concepts and because not only are the words of Scripture inspired and the arrangement of those words into grammar, but the connection of those words into main clauses and subordinate clauses and different forms of verbs and participles, I felt that the only responsible thing to do in seeking to grasp the meaning of this section was to take morning and evening and primarily unpack it with very little digression into observation and application and in that unpacking of the verses we saw together that in verse 13 we have the question raised the introductory question who is he that will harm you if you be zealous of that which is good then in verse 14 we have the possible reaction of the ungodly anticipated but even if you should suffer for righteousness sake blessed exclamation point no verbs he says you must immediately think of the words of your lord and the only beatitude that has a double blessed is the beatitude pertaining to those who suffer for righteousness sake and then in verse

7:24 14b through verse 16 we have the required response of the godly articulated you what is the required response of the godly in the face of suffering for righteousness sake well they are given directives that are first of all negative they are not to fear their fear nor be agitated and disturbed positively here's the central duty sanctify in your hearts christ is lord and then there are three accompanying realities that are to be present wherever the child of god is sanctifying christ as lord in his heart in the face of suffering for righteousness sake there's to be a constant readiness to give an answer there is to be a readiness to give an answer with a right demeanor with meekness and fear and to give an answer in the context of a godly life having a good conscience and a good manner of life and a good conscience and a good manner of life and a good manner of life and a good manner of life and a good manner of life and a good manner of life and a good manner of life and a right manner of life in christ and then peter points the two of this intend to result in all of this it is that good retractors maybe put to shame and that their shame might lead them to consider their own state before god and the claims of christ

8:50 and then he points to the source of their power in responding this way it is in christ but they sold bid and are enabled sold to respond And then he gives the crowning encouragement in verse 13. By this word of comparison, it is better. And this word of affirmation, it is the will of God that ultimately determines both the time and the nature of their suffering for Christ's sake. Now, in five minutes, that's a distillation of an hour and 45 minutes of exposition. If you want to look into the matter further, the tapes are available from the Trinity Pulpit.

Principles of Responsible Biblical Interpretation: Concentrated, Illustrated, and Unassuming Doctrines

9:29 Now, because I was determined to open up and explain the meaning of the passage, I had to pass over much in this passage that I believe is for our edification. And what I want to do this morning and again this evening is to go back into this passage and take out of it what I'm going to. What I'm going to call gleanings of both doctrinal, for one or two British friends here, doctrinal, they pronounce the long I, the doctrinal or the doctrinal, and the practical observations. We're going to go back and take some gleanings out of the passage in both a doctrinal and a practical area.

10:11 In other words, I'll be doing this morning what you would find in a typical Puritan sermon after the exposition. You will find that I'm going to be doing this morning. You will find that I'm going to be doing this morning. You will find a section entitled Observations and Applications.

10:24 And so this morning, and God willing again this evening, Observations and Applications from this passage. Now remember, this is not the exposition. That was done last Lord's Day. And based upon the exposition that was conscious of giving due respect to the structure, the grammar, the connections, this morning we go back and we put together a passage.

10:49 And based upon the exposition that was conscious of giving due respect to the structure, the grammar, the connections, this morning we go back and we put together a passage. And based upon the exposition that was conscious of giving due respect to the structure, the grammar, the connections, this morning we go back and we put together a passage. We pick the gleanings in these areas of the doctrinal and the practical. This morning, I want to set before you the doctrinal gleanings from this passage.

11:02 And as I begin to do this, I want to underscore some principles of responsible biblical interpretation. Some doctrines are set forth in the scripture in what we would call concentrated formal statements. For example, if I were to ask you, where in the Bible is there a concentrated formal statement of the doctrine of the bodily resurrection of the dead?

11:32 What portion of the word of God comes to your mind?

11:37 Well, I hope you're either thinking 1 Corinthians chapter 15 or perhaps a more limited passage, John chapter 5. Passages in which the teaching of the Bible, and that's what we mean by the doctrine, the teaching of the Bible, the doctrine of the bodily resurrection is set forth under the guidance of the Spirit, whoever the particular biblical author was, in a concentrated and formal way. If I were to say, where do you have a concentrated formal statement of the majesty and sovereignty of God contrasted with dumb idols?

12:18 Well, I would hope among several passages you would think immediately of Isaiah chapter 40. There, there is a dense, concentrated, almost formal, albeit majestic, statement of the majesty and sovereignty of God contrasted with dumb idols. If I were to say, what passage or passages in the word of God give us a concentrated formal statement of the judgment of the last day? I hope you would think Matthew 25, Revelation 20.

12:52 All right? So you get the idea of what I mean when I say, some doctrines are set forth in the Scriptures in a concentrated, formal statement. And if we are serious about knowing the doctrines of the Bible, those chapters ought to be ready at hand for us to refer to for our own confirmation in the faith and for use in our witness to others. However, at times these doctrines are set forth not in formal, concentrated statements, but in vivid, concrete illustrations in history and in biography.

13:31 God is not giving us a formal statement of the doctrine. He's given us a vivid picture of the doctrine fleshed out in human life and human experience. If you were in the previous hour, almost all of the texts that Pastor Lamar was using to demonstrate the doctrine of God's all-pervasive providence, they were taken out of historical situations in which, those doctrines are beautifully and powerfully illustrated. The absolute sovereignty of God celebrated in a formal statement in Isaiah 40, is amply illustrated in the history of the life of Joseph.

14:12 So that he can look back over all of the windings of his life and say, you meant it for evil, God meant it for good. Or we see the absolute sovereignty of God, illustrated again and again in the life of the prophet Elijah. God describes in 1st Kings 17 that when he needs to be fed and he's hiding his servant, God takes ravens, birds of prey, and moves them to go into the king's kitchen and carry food and drop it in the hands or in the lap of the prophet. God sovereignly restrains the disposition of that bird, not to eat the food for himself and to carry it to his servant. Or we see the absolute sovereignty of God in the story of the life of Jonah. God prepares a great fish, and the fish is at the right place at the right time, and he's hungry at the right time. You can't get a fish that ain't hungry to bite at anything.

15:19 And when Jonah's floating by, the fish is good and hungry, boom, he's got Jonah. But somehow he got indigestion. And after three days, and he vomits him out. God makes the fish hungry at the right time, God gives him indigestion at the right time.

15:34 Not one word about the sovereignty of God in formal statement, but you see it in vivid illustration. And then at other times, by unassuming references, great doctrinal truths are both stated and wonderfully enforced. And you can pass right over them and miss it. I want you to turn with me.

15:57 For an example of this, and I haven't lost the track. This is crucial in terms of what we're going to do with 1 Peter 3 this morning. I want you to turn to Matthew chapter 22. I'm not rambling.

16:11 I haven't forgotten where we're going. Just hang in there with me. The Lord Jesus is in that part of this ministry just before his crucifixion, when the opposition of the religious leaders reaches its zenith, and one group after another is seeking to trap him. And in such a setting, we read in Matthew chapter 22, verse 23, On that day there came to him Sadducees, they that say there is no resurrection, one of the tenets of the faith of the Sadducees, or the unbelief or non-faith, no bodily resurrection.

16:51 They regarded the doctrine of the resurrection of the body as nonsense. And they come to Jesus, saying, Teacher, Moses said, If a man die, having sinned, he shall not be saved. If a woman die, having no children, his brother shall marry his wife and raise up seed to his brother. Now there were with us seven brethren, and the first married and died, and having no seed, left his wife.

17:11 Likewise all the way to the seven, and after them all the woman died. In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife shall she be of the seven? For they all had her. Now we've really got him.

17:25 We've really got him. Seven people can say, That's my wife. Who's going to claim her in the resurrection? After such a thing as the resurrection of the body?

17:36 Who is going to claim this woman, in her bodily experience, as their spouse since all seven had her? I think they really have him. But Jesus answered and said unto them, You do err, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God. For in the resurrection, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are as angels in heaven.

18:02 other words, he dispenses with their first so-called problem by saying, if you only knew the scriptures and the power of God, you wouldn't have this, quote, problem. And I'm not going to go into what scriptures they should have known that would have resolved that issue with respect to no marriage as we now know it in heaven. But now he turns to this whole issue of bodily resurrection itself. But as touching the resurrection of the dead, now he's focusing in upon not the matter of whose wife will she be in the resurrection, but the issue of bodily resurrection itself. And he's going to tell them, here is an area where you are ignorant of your Bible. And if you only read your Bible as you ought, you would not have this question. But as touching the resurrection of the dead, you would not have this question. But as touching the resurrection of the dead, have you not

18:59 read that which was spoken unto you by God, saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living. And when the multitudes heard it, they were astonished at his teaching. What does Jesus do? He says, if you never read, and in the parallel passages it says that which Moses said, that which is written in Exodus. In Exodus chapter 3, when God appears in the burning bush to Moses, God identifies himself with these words, I am the God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Jacob. Now he says, in reading that passage, you should know that there's such a thing as bodily resurrection.

19:48 Isn't that what he says? Now how does that verse prove bodily resurrection? Well, go back and think of the passage. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

20:01 Jacob have been dead for a long, long time. And when God appears to Moses as the living God, he says not, I was the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, but I am. As surely as I exist, I exist in a living relationship to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And he does not say, I was, nor does he say.

20:32 I am the God of the souls of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, souls that were now with him, but bodies in their graves. He says, I am the God of all that makes Abraham, Abraham, and Isaac, Isaac, and Jacob, Jacob. I am not the God of the dead, but of the living. As I commit myself in covenant grace and faithfulness to my people, I am committed to the salvation and the preservation of all that makes them who and what they are.

21:08 If only you read that passage as you ought to have read it, you would know there is such a thing as bodily resurrection. Now, what's the principle? The principle is that some very vital doctrines are locked up in passages where, upon a first reading, we would not think that they were being explicitly stated or even implicitly affirmed. But in passage after passage, God has given us confirmations and illustrations of basic biblical doctrines, and we are responsible, as the Lord held them responsible, to read our Bibles in such a way that by the illumination of the Spirit, we say, We see those doctrines confirmed and illustrated. Now, a word of caution. When someone thinks he discovers novel and bizarre doctrines in obscure passages and seeks to teach those doctrines that are not found in any explicit, concentrated statement of the doctrine, illustrated profusely in historical and biographical parts, that is doing what Peter says the ignorant and the unlearned do. They twist the Scriptures to their own destruction, although they appear very clever in doing it.

Doctrinal Gleaning 1: The Bold and Undeniable Affirmation of the Deity of Christ

22:35 And what I'm proposing to do with you this morning, not only for immediate edification, but from a pastoral perspective, to stir you up to read your Bible more reflectively and carefully, is to highlight three basic doctrines that are not novelties, but are very important to us. But are the stuff of the Biblical revelation, particularly the New Testament revelation. And now let's come to those three doctrinal observations, those three gleanings. First of all, behold in this passage of bold and undeniable affirmation of the Deity of Our Lord Jesus Christ. Behold in this passage a bold and undeniable affirmation of the deity of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now you say, preacher, what do you mean by deity? Well, simply this.

23:39 When we speak of the deity of our Lord Jesus Christ, we mean this. All that makes God, God, Jesus is.

23:51 Now you don't need to be a theologian to grasp that, do you? All that makes God, God, Jesus is.

24:01 Whatever it means, when the scripture says in John 1.14, And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. Whatever it meant for Him to take a true human soul and body to Himself, who had been the eternal Word, who was with God and was Himself God, whatever it means for Him to take to Himself a human soul and body, what He is as God is neither altered, nor diluted, nor diminished or compromised in any way whatsoever. He takes to Himself a true human soul and body. And as the God-man, He places Himself in a posture of dependence upon His throne, a father, a posture of subordination to the will of His father. But He loses nothing of the integrity of who and what He is as God. And when we speak of the deity of our Lord Jesus Christ, we are saying all that makes God, God, Jesus is.

25:17 Now, you look at the passage with me and say, Where is His deity? Boldly and on denial. Boldly affirmed in this passage. Who is He that will harm you?

25:30 If you be zealous of that which is good. Even if you should suffer for righteousness' sake, blessed are you. Fear not their fear, neither be troubled, but sanctify in your hearts Christ as Lord. Well, is it that He is called Lord?

25:49 And can it be that the title Lord, here as in other places, is a direct reference to His, deity, that may well be, but there is a more bold and a more undeniable assertion of His deity in this passage. Well, you say, I'm not sure I see it. Well, I indicated last week, without taking any time to open it up, that when Peter wrote these words, and the Spirit of God was guiding him to write to those scattered saints over there in Asia Minor, at this point in the back of Peter's mind, filtering through his mental processes, he says, was a passage from Isaiah. And though he is not directly quoting, it is evident that this passage was there.

26:33 Turn to Isaiah chapter 8. Here in Isaiah chapter 8,

26:42 Isaiah the prophet has been prophesying in very unusual circumstances that took in the matter of his own family, the coming of Assyria to invade and to conquer God's people. And in that context, the prophesying of the Assyrian invasion, we read in verse 11 of Isaiah 8, for the Lord spoke thus with me with a strong hand and instructed me not to walk in the way of this people, saying, say not a conspiracy concerning all whereof this people shall say a conspiracy. Now notice the language. Neither fear their fear, nor be in dread thereof, but and if you should suffer for righteousness, do not fear their fear, nor be dismayed. You see the language? But sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts. What did the prophet Isaiah say?

27:46 Jehovah of hosts, Him shall you sanctify.

27:53 Jehovah of hosts, Him shall you sanctify. Let Him be your fear. Let Him be your dread. When Isaiah, when Isaiah prophesied to his people in the setting of his own calling and is telling them not to be afraid of that which causes fear or that which could be the occasion of fear from the invading Assyrians, he says it is Jehovah of hosts who should be the object of your fear and he expresses it in this way, you are to sanctify Jehovah of hosts.

28:31 You are to set apart, you are to sanctify Jehovah in your own minds and hearts in His rightful place as the sovereign Lord of the nations, as the God to whom you owe covenant love and obedience and trust and in the spite of all the disruptions that will come as a judgment of God, you are not to be unstrung and you are not to tremble with carnal fear. You are to sanctify Jehovah of hosts. And for any Israelite, to set apart in his mind and heart and trust anyone other than Jehovah of hosts would be idolatry. It was a call to renewed covenant trust and commitment. Now, think of Peter, reared as a strict Jew. From the time he could remember anything, he remembers mom and dad quoting the Shema, Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one and you shall worship the Lord your God serve Him with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength. The thought of calling upon anyone as deity other than that one whose name they would not even pronounce it was held so sacred.

29:53 Hear this monotheistic Jew who is brought to the faith in Christ is now writing to a group of Christians way off in the outer fields, fringes of the Roman Empire. And he tells them that if they should suffer, they must regard themselves as the blessed ones and when the suffering for righteousness sake comes, they are not to fear, they are not to be troubled, they are not to be disturbed and unstrung, but they are to sanctify Christ as Lord in their hearts. You see what Peter's doing? He is saying that for Him, Jehovah of hosts, is Jesus manifested in the flesh.

30:49 That Jesus of Nazareth, whom He had confessed, you are Son of God, you are Messiah. Flesh and blood is not revealed unto you, Peter, but my Father who is in heaven. Peter now unashamedly, with the language of Isaiah 8, 12, in his mind, transfers to Jesus of Nazareth that trust, that covenant love and commitment that is required of a faithful Israelite under the old covenant with respect to Jehovah of hosts. Now I can't read you.

31:30 Some of you are actually falling asleep and it's grievous to me. I'm up here working and I've worked to try to get the truth out of the Word of God and it's grievous to see you're not working to keep up. But others of you are very much awake but I can't read what's going on. Do you see what Peter is doing?

31:49 Transferring to Jesus, the same Jesus whom he saw sleeping on a pillow in the middle of a storm. So bone weary that he's fast asleep in the middle of a storm and he has to be shaken to wake him up. The same Jesus whom Peter saw in the Garden of Gethsemane staggering like a drunken man. Under the weight of the world's sin that begins to press in upon him in dimensions of substitutionary sin bearing that we cannot conceive and he falls upon the ground and he prays with intensity and rises and falls and visits them and goes back.

32:32 And so intense is his agony that blood vessels burst and blood mingles with his sweat and falls down to the ground and stains his garments. That's the judgmental sin. That's the Jesus whom he saw. He saw him there when he was mocked and when he was beaten and he saw him when he was impaled upon the cross.

32:54 Bless God he saw him when he said go tell his disciples and Peter. And he came and Peter was part of that group huddling together with doors locked for fear of the Jews and suddenly there appears in their midst this very same Jesus.

33:12 And Peter was there on that day when as he was speaking to them suddenly he began to levitate and enveloped in clouds he was received out of their sight. And the two men in white apparel said you men of Galilee why stand you gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus who is taken up from you shall so come in like manner. For Peter there is no thought that he's become an idolater.

33:41 When he says sanctify Christ as Lord in your heart he does so without any reservations because he has come to the conviction that Jesus of Nazareth is none other than God incarnate. And therefore he unashamedly adds to the faith of these young believers this fresh affirmation of the full deity of their Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And furthermore in this very passage when he comes toward the end of this first section that we called last week Suffering 101 he uses that little phrase in Christ verse 16 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. And here he is pointing to the glorious doctrine of union with Christ. And he is saying that all of those believers in those churches in those five Roman provinces of Asia Minor that they are though in Asia Minor they are in Christ. They have a union with Christ that from Christ's standpoint is his ability to unite himself to sinners

35:06 in a living bond of shared life so that wherever they are he is.

35:15 And conversely it is the ability of Christ to communicate the fullness of life and power to all of his people in all places at the same time who but one possessed of an infinite fullness of deity can communicate himself to his people out there and everywhere they may be and continue to communicate all that they need to live in the face of opposition in such a way that we can describe them as living out a good manner of life not in their own resolve not in their own strength but in Christ that he can communicate all of that grace to them and yet lose nothing of his own inherent power and dignity and the plenitude of all the sufficiency that is in him. The scripture says that in Christ dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. And you see you have what our dear friend Jack Seton calls Pastor Seton these are the little throwaways and we need to look for God's throwaways when he is underscoring for us some of these precious truths of his word. And the question that comes then is who led Peter to such convictions?

36:38 Well according to Matthew 16 it was Jesus himself who confirms Peter's confession you are the Christ the son of the living God and we come back to one of the old dictums if Jesus then is not God he is not good because he encouraged Peter to be an idolater. He encouraged Thomas to be an idolater when Thomas fell at his feet and said my Lord and my God ha-kuryos mu-kai ha-feos mu my God my Lord what did Jesus say? Oh Thomas I appreciate your enthusiasm but to call me Lord and God as a Jew knowing the significance of those words Thomas don't you know there is but one God Jehovah and I'm the leader of the Jehovah's Witnesses and I've come from heaven to tell you you're only to worship Jehovah don't worship me I'm a lesser God made by Jehovah back before the creation of the world the doctrine of the Jehovah's Witnesses is nothing but blasphemy.

Doctrinal Gleaning 2: The Bold and Undeniable Affirmation of the Centrality of Hope

37:44 Jesus did not discourage Thomas he said blessed are you because having seen you've believed believed what? you've believed that I am who I am yea blessed are those who having not seen believe believe what? that I am whom you have seen me and acknowledge me to be Thomas Lord and God but now I must hasten to look at the second doctrinal truth that is illustrated in this passage and I'm expressing it this way behold in this passage not only a bold and undeniable affirmation of the deity of our Lord Jesus Christ but behold in this passage a bold and undeniable affirmation of the centrality of hope in the Christian faith a bold and undeniable affirmation of the centrality of hope in the Christian faith look at the text as we saw in our study last week when the apostle gives the main directive it's the only imperative verb in this passage verse 15 sanctify you in your hearts Christ as Lord and what is the first accompaniment of that sanctifying Christ as Lord ready always to give answer to every man that asks you a reason concerning what? the hope that is in you

39:13 now according to the passage what constitutes the focus of the unbeliever's question what is it in the believers in the midst of facing suffering and opposition that precipitates the question whether it's a needling question whether it's an irritated question whether it's a sincere question what is it that triggers the question is it the source of their joy in the face of opposition does Peter say ready always to give to every man who asks you a reason concerning the joy you have in the face of opposition when we read the New Testament we find that those who suffered were filled with joy and with the Holy Ghost the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking but righteousness peace and joy in the Holy Ghost they counted it a privilege and were joyful that they were able to suffer for his name but it's not joy is it the source of their power to respond as they were responding Peter's assuming that they are not rendering evil for evil they are not rendering reviling for reviling but contrary wise they like their Lord or even blessing their enemies they are turning away from evil and doing good

40:42 seeking peace and pursuing it that's the kind of life by God's grace they are living surely the question will be where do you get the power to respond as you do to the kind of treatment we're giving you that's not what the text isolates of the source of their joy in the face of opposition not the source of their power to respond as they do nor the source of their courage when you see women and perhaps young people suffering for righteousness sake and they are doing what Peter commanded them in the language of Isaiah 8 they are not afraid of their fear they are not troubled and agitated and disturbed the question is not what is the source of your courage the text says you are to respond to the question that focuses on the hope that is in you what does that tell us I say it is a bold and undeniable affirmation of the centrality of hope in the Christian faith you say Pastor Martin what is hope hope is all we expect from God in the future based on the person and work of Christ and promised and promised in the word of God that is what hope is hope is not the way we use it I will see you tomorrow or I hope so I have a good will and wish that what you say will be true

42:11 that is not the Bible concept of hope the Bible concept of hope is nothing less than all we expect from God in the future based on the person and work of Christ and promised in the word of God the whole orientation of hope is future hope is future Paul states this clearly in Romans 8 24 and 25 he says in that critical passage he said in hope were we saved hope is so central that it is described as the very climate and atmosphere in which we were saved in hope we were saved but hope that is seen is not hope for who hopes for that which he sees but if we hope for that which we see not then do we with patience wait for it here is an enduring faith that waits for what for all that we've been led to expect from God in the future based on the person and work of Christ and promised to us in the word of God and Peter's assuming and this is critical and God has raked my heart over with this truth in preparation last week and again for today Peter's assuming that as these relatively young believers are interacting with the ungodly and living so consistently and such authentic radical Christian lives

43:40 that they're suffering for righteousness sake that as they suffer and as they give expression to who and what they are it comes through again and again this world is not our home Peter had identified them in the old opening words of his epistle with language that resonated in their experience Peter an apostle of Jesus Christ to the elect sojourners those who are not residents they are temporary I'm sorry they are not permanent residents they are temporary residents they are aliens and right from the outset that's how we identified them as elect sojourners and so not sojourners in the five Roman provinces materially and physically and literally but spiritually they are God's chosen sojourners they were once earth dwellers with a title to this earth and all that it stands for but when God in grace laid hold of them he made them strangers to this present world and set their heart upon a world to come and filled them with hope so much so that when he comes to verse 3 he says blessed be God who has begotten us again unto what

45:08 unto a living hope the very end of our divine beginning is unto this hope then when he gives his first imperative in chapter 1 what is it verse 13 wherefore girding up the loins of your mind be sober and set your hope perfectly on the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ you see this matter of hope was not something that came near and suddenly got discovered when they're on the deathbed and they know that this world is no longer going to be their oyster that's where hope for many American Christians just begins to come in to the horizon and the crosshairs of how they live shame on us shame on us shame on us Peter assumes that for these Christians hope was central to their Christian experience hope would leak out as the unconverted heard them speak to one another think of those slaves that Peter had instructed in the earlier chapter think of those wives earlier in chapter 3 who had unconverted husbands they overhear this wife speaking to another Christian and she says yes it's rough at home my husband is a churl he has nothing to do with God and even decency but heaven is in my eye and it won't be long before I see my savior face to face

46:37 and it will be worth it all when I see Jesus and there's that slave with that unreasonable master and by the grace of God that slave is seeking to be an exemplary servant and live out his life before God and that unreasonable master overhears him speaking to one of his fellow slaves and says yes it's rough but a few more breaths a few more whacks on the back a few more frowns and cusses from my master and then I'll see my true master and I'll see my true master and I'll hear him say well done hope hope hope what is hope that expectation of all that God has stored up for us in the future based on the person and work of Christ and promised in the word of God I say this passage is a bold undeniable affirmation that hope is central to the Christian faith I wonder I wonder I only ask the question I wonder how much unconverted people can interact with us in the neighborhood in the shop in the workplace in our own homes I wonder if they'd ever get the idea that we are living in hope that hope is the dominant perspective as we think of the future not our retirement not the next vacation

48:06 not the next new car not the next this or that that has anything to do with this present life I wonder but the next thing to come and the voice of the archangel and the trump of God's sound and the returning Lord comes in clouds of glory we are caught up together to be with him did Peter have his Lord's words in mind I wonder I believe he did earlier when he said but in if you should suffer for righteousness sake makarioi blessed that's all he said no verb just blessed think of the words of the Savior that he said that you've heard as men who had heard him or heard his apostles preached unto you we are told that there is clear evidence that the Beatitudes and the stuff of the Sermon on the Mount was one of the dominant elements of the oral tradition before it even found embodiment in our present documents he says blessed you're the blessed ones and when Christ is pronouncing blessing upon those who suffer for righteousness sake what's the focus blessed are you when men revile you and persecute you and say all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake for great is your reward where in heaven in heaven hope hope hope hope the Lord says

49:34 to the persecuted ones fix your eye upon the prize great is your reward in heaven for so persecuted they the prophets that were before you but then I must hasten to look at one other doctrinal cleaning in this passage not only are we to see in the passage an undeniable affirmation the deity of Christ an undeniable affirmation of the centrality of hope in the Christian faith but consider in this passage a bold and undeniable affirmation of the reasonableness of the reasonableness of the Christian faith again back to the passage when Peter identifies that first accompaniment of sanctifying the church sanctifying Christ as Lord he does so with these words ready always to give answer to every man that ask you a reason concerning the hope that is in you there is to be in every believer who is sanctifying Christ as Lord in his heart giving him his rightful place of unrivaled affection his rightful place of unquestioned obedience his rightful place of undiminished trust, that's to sanctify Christ as Lord in our hearts, there's to be a readiness

Doctrinal Gleaning 3: The Bold and Undeniable Affirmation of the Reasonableness of the Christian Faith

50:56 to do what? A readiness at all times with respect to everyone to give what Peter identifies with two very significant words. He said, ready always to give answer, apologia, from which we get our English word apologetics, an apology, an answer, or a defense, and then he uses the word that asks you a reason, a logos, a rational account of something. And by the use of these two words, apologia and logos, Peter is boldly and undeniably asserting the reasonableness of the Christian faith. We can give what can be called an apology, an apologia, a defense, an answer with respect to our hope, and we can give it in the form of a reason, a rational account. Now here we're not left to speculation as to whether that's what these words mean. Turn to Acts chapter 22. We're going to just

52:14 look briefly at an excerpt of someone. I'm giving his apologia, his apology, his defense. In Acts chapter 22 and verse 1, we find the Apostle Paul, brethren and fathers, hear, and here's our word, hear the defense, hear the apology which I now make unto you. And when they heard that he spoke unto them in the Hebrew language, they were the more quiet. And he said, And then he said, Then we read the account of Paul's apology. And what is it? In great measure, it is a well-ordered, clearly structured, factual account of how God dealt with him in sovereign grace and mercy to reveal himself in Jesus Christ. Paul does not make his defense by saying, Whoa! If only you felt what I felt, it'd be wonderful! As though somehow the Christian faith

53:17 is something to put you up in orbit beyond the realm of rational discourse, and the only way someone can get in touch with you is to be shot up in a rocket of some undefinable experience, and you find yourselves locked together in orbit above the stratosphere of mere human thought. Now that's the way some people view the Christian faith. Paul says, I'm going to give my apology. And he gives a rational, clear, structured, well-ordered response to these.

53:47 In whose presence he is seeking to bear witness. He does the same in 1 Corinthians 9, in verse 3, in a section dealing with the subject of Christian liberty. And Paul is going to use himself as an example of someone who's willing to forego lawful liberties for higher ends. And in verse 3, he says, My defense, my apologia, my defense to them that examine me is this. And then you read his defense.

54:17 And he uses questions to make you think, to get your mind on his side on the issue. Have we no right to eat and drink? Answer? Well, of course you do. That's right, Paul, you do.

54:29 All right, next question. Have we no right to lead about a wife that is a believer, even as the rest of the apostles, and the brethren of our Lord, and even the first pope, Cephas? Oh yes, you've got a right to do that. What's he doing? His defense, his apology, is a closely reasoned...

54:47 Argument, with a specific end in view. And he's seeking to carry the Corinthians to that end in his apology. Similarly, for the verb form of this word apology, apologia, oh my, turn to Acts 26, verses 1 and 2. This is very interesting, because of what happens at the end of this making of an apology.

55:12 This is not the apology noun, this is making an apology, the verb. Acts chapter 26, verses 1 and 2. And Agrippus said unto Paul, you are permitted to speak for yourself. Then Paul stretched forth his hand, and made his defense. He made an oratorical gesture. Isn't it interesting the Spirit of God underscores that?

55:35 Some people want preachers to tie their hands behind their back and just talk like a robot. Well, apparently the apostle Paul didn't buy that. He stretched forth his hand. Now, they say he waved them all over the place, but he did stretch it forth.

55:48 And he made his apology. He made his defense. I think myself happy King Agrippa, that I am, here we are, to make my defense. And then you read his defense. And it's a powerful, closely reasoned argument, aiming at a given direction.

56:07 And when it comes to its conclusion, look at verse 24. And as he thus made his defense, his apology, Festus said with a loud voice, Paul! You're mad. You're out of your tree. Your much learning is turning you mad.

56:24 Paul said, I am not mad, most excellent Festus, but speak forth words of truth and soberness. For the king knows of these things unto whom I speak freely. For I am persuaded that none of these things is hidden from him. For this thing has not been done in a corner.

56:42 And then he goes on the offensive again. King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? Ah, don't answer. I know that you believe.

56:49 And Agrippa said unto Paul, with but little persuasion, you would fain make me a Christian. You see, though the truth was beginning to get unto the skin of Festus, and he tries to blow the thing away by saying, ah, these are the ravings of a madman. Paul said, no, no, my defense has not been the ravings of a madman. Words of soberness, words of truth.

Application: The Rationality of the Gospel and the Believer's Responsibility

57:15 And then it's evident the way they had fashioned upon King Agrippa that they had been an effective, so what's the point in this? Sanctify Christ as Lord in your heart. Ready always to give apology, a reason, of the hope that is in you. Now granted, these things that constitute our hope are revealed, not invented by us, not discovered by us.

57:49 They are revealed, and they are embodied in the scriptures, and they are subdued. Subdued. Subdued. Subdued.

57:54 Subjectively revealed by the power of the Holy Spirit in the hearts of God's people. But they are not made of the stuff of mindless, irrational myths and fables. Peter could say we have not followed comingly devised fables when we made known unto you the coming of our Lord Jesus. But his coming had a preview in what we saw in the Mount of Transfiguration.

58:17 And then he gives that historical fact. Furthermore, when you open up the book of Acts, the writer of the book of Acts, whom we believe, who we believe to be Luke, says the former treatise I made, O Theopolis, concerning all the things that Jesus both began to do and to teach. And when you turn to the book of Luke, he says others have tried to put down in some form the things that have happened, but after careful and painstaking research, I give my account. This is an apology.

58:47 In a sense, the whole gospel of Luke is Luke's apology. His reason, structured well, is that he has done a great deal of research to count of the life, the ministry, the death, the resurrection of the Lord Jesus.

59:03 Now, more could be said, but let me just pause to say, because of this truth, that the Christian faith is a reasonable faith. If you're sitting here and you're not a Christian, I want to ask you a question. What good reason do you have to reject a Christian?

59:20 Have you ever even examined it? Or have you treated it, oh, this is just some kind of emotional crutch for weak people, or people that have got cancer in the family, or things are rough and they need something to lean upon, but I'm self-sufficient. Is that why you've dismissed the Christian faith? My friend, listen.

59:41 Don't dismiss the Christian faith without considering the reasonableness of that faith. It is a reasonable faith that can be rationally stated. The great issues that pertain to your salvation can be rationally stated before you. You are...

59:59 You are God's creature. You are accountable to God. You are a sinner. You deserve judgment.

60:05 God loved the world and sent His only begotten Son. He lived the life you should live. Died the death you deserve to die. He was raised from the dead.

60:15 He was taken to the right hand of His Father. He now issues from His throne in the word of the gospel a promise. If you will turn from your sin and trust in Him, He will forgive you and cleanse you and take you as His child and keep you and at last take you home to heaven with all of His redeemed one.

60:38 Dear people of God, if the Christian faith is a reasonable and a rational faith, then it is not in your interest as a Christian to be a stable Christian as we'll see tonight, to be ignorant of the great pillars of your faith, to be ignorant of the connections of the basic storyline of the Bible and how it hangs together. And it's a beautiful mosaic of God's self-disclosure in redemptive love and mercy. Well, our time is gone. And looking back over these gleanings that we have taken from this passage, I trust that you sitting here this morning will have a new appreciation of how good God is to give us a Bible so rich. Yes, it has its formal concentrated statements of its great truths. And doctrines, it has its vivid, historical and biographical illustrations. But the stuff that constitutes the faith of God's people is by and large, particularly in the epistles, it is just there as the very air and fabric of all that is revealed in these wonderful letters inspired by the Spirit of God.

61:55 And I trust that this morning you will find your heart reaching out and embracing with gratitude that God has revealed who Christ is. He is really the God-man that he has in grace and mercy set before his people, the hope of all that God has promised to his people. And that we as his people do not need to be bullied into some kind of timidity that we have followed just old wives' fables in stating all that we hope for time and eternity. Upon God's revelation in the Gospel.

62:35 May the Lord be pleased to bless these truths to our hearts. And I would ask you to pray that God would help us and bless us as we come back to the passage tonight, God willing. And we look at three very practical observations from this same portion of the word of God. Let's pray.