Written by David Self Monday, 03 October :00 - Last Updated Thursday, 29 September :58

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1 Explore the Bible Lesson Preview October 9, 2016 Always Ready Background and Lesson: 1 Peter 3:13-22 Motivation: It s been said that many church members share a common ailment with the Arctic River: they re frozen at the mouth. How do we become comfortable talking about our faith? Peter writes that we re under an obligation to be prepared - to know what we believe and to be able to verbalize it. Of course, we must learn to depend on the Holy Spirit and Christ s resurrection power in witnessing. I. Ready to Defend And who will harm you if you are deeply committed to what is good? 14 But even if you should suffer for righteousness, you are blessed. Do not fear what they fear or be disturbed, 15 but honor the Messiah as Lord in your hearts. Always be ready to give a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you. 16 However, do this with gentleness and respect, keeping your conscience clear, so that when you are accused, those who denounce your Christian life will be put to shame. 17 For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God s will, than for doing evil. (13-17) 1 / 9

2 A. Barriers to Proclamation Who will harm you? (13) Judging from the number of Christians who never publicly share their faith, many obviously are fearful of some harm. D. James Kennedy suggests several reasons that Christians give for failing to witness (taken from a clinic lecture at Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church.) 1. Witnessing is the job of the Pastor Compare Acts 8:1 with 8:4; in the early church every member was an evangelist. In fact, an early church critic, Celsus, complained that Christianity was not spread by accredited professionals but by shopkeepers, bakers, and slaves. (Acts 4:13, 19-20) 2. I witness by my life, not my lips You can t catch Christianity any more than you can catch geometry. (Gal. 2:20) Spending time with non-christians is no guarantee that they ll be attracted to Christianity (Demas, Lot). Without public witness to Jesus, a silent witness is a witness to your own goodness. 3. I don t have the gift of evangelism It s important to separate gifts, of which every Christian possesses at least one, from responsibilities for which every Christian is accountable to all. Even though giving is a gift (Romans 12:8), it is also something every Christian is supposed to do (2 Cor. 9:7). We re to worship, walk, work, war, watch, wait and yes, witness (Acts 1:8) among other things. (Matt. 28:19-20) 4. I don t have time to witness Every person has 168 hours in a week; time management is a priority issue. (Matt. 6:33) 5. I m too shy The vast majority of Americans believe themselves to be shy to some extent. When shyness keeps us from doing God s will, it becomes an inverted form of pride we re basically saying to God My feelings are more important to me than obedience. 6. I m afraid I ll offend Witnessing need not be confrontational or obtrusive. It should flow out of a heart of love and compassion. No one has ever been turned away from Christ by a sincere, loving witness, one who had that person s best interest at heart. (John 14:6; 2 Cor. 5:11) 2 / 9

3 7. I don t know what to say Lack of equipping is perhaps the number one reason why church members fail to share their faith. (Heb. 5:11-6:3) That s why HFBC offers two semesters of evangelism training per year which combines classroom lectures, homework and on-the-job training. B. Blessings of Public Witnessing But even if you should suffer for righteousness, you are blessed (14) A soul winner is: 1) Blessed by obedience (Luke 8:21), 2) Blessed with wisdom (Prov. 11:30), 3) Blessed with dependence upon the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:8), 4) Blessed with preparation (3:15) A soul winner will inevitably have his/her faith challenged by unbelievers which motivates greater study and more prayer, 5) Blessed with new friends. (I Thes. 2:19), 6) Blessed with rewards, (5:4) (Heb. 6:10). C. Boldness and Peace Always be ready to give a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you, with gentleness and respect (15) Boldness and peace come from a right relationship with Christ sanctify the Lord God in your hearts. Practically, they also result in witnessing from knowing what you re going to say and having confidence in the Holy Spirit to take what you say and bless it. 1. A Prepared Witness be ready - William Barclay writes (The Letters of James and Peter, pp ): It is a log os that the Christian must give, and a logos is a reasonable and intelligent statement of his position. A cultivated Greek believed that it was the mark of an intelligent man that he was able to give and to receive a logos concerning his actions and belief. As Bigg puts it, he was expected intelligently and temperately to discuss matters of conduct. To do so we must know what we believe; we must have thought it out; we must be able to state it intelligently and intelligibly. Our faith must be a first-hand discovery and not a second-hand story. It is one of the tragedies of the modern situation that there are so many church members who, if they were asked what they believe, could not tell, and who, if they were asked why they believe it, would be equally helpless. The Christian must go through the mental and spiritual toil of thinking out his faith, so that he can tell 3 / 9

4 what he believes and why. We re commanded by the word to be ready in and out of season (2 Tim. 4:2), to make the most of every opportunity (Colossians 4:5), to take the gospel to all nations (Matt. 28:19-20), and to share our faith effectively ( Philemon 6). Mark McCloskey writes: This process cannot be confined to classroom lectures, but will necessarily branch out into practical situations. It will demand much time logged in these experiences. A half-hearted, let-the-chips-fall-where-they-may attitude does not do justice to the Word. Nothing less than a rigorous, practical approach can do justice to the biblical goal of evangelistic training, which is to equip workers, who are few, for the harvest, which is plentiful. ( Tell It Often, Tell It Well, p. 257) 2. A Sensitive Witness with gentleness Paul writes in Colossians be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone. (4:5-6 NIV) The best witness is a humble witness, fully aware of his/her inability to convert and fully dependent upon God s Holy Spirit to convict and convince. 3. A Reverent Witness and respect (The NKJV uses fear and most of us would say I ve got plenty of fear already - that s the problem! In this case, fear refers to a reverential awe of the power of God. (Prov. 1:7) It s so easy to get self and pride involved in the process. These become very evident when we show pride over acceptance of Jesus and are defeated over rejection. Fear involves a total understanding that witnessing is all about God; it s His business. People accept or reject His message, not us. Therefore, we prepare with prayer, present in His presence, and purpose to praise His name for the results. D. Behavior in Public keeping your conscience clear (16) We might add another reason that church members do not witness. In the Billy Graham Schools of Evangelism participants are asked Why do you not witness more to family and friends? The overwhelming first response is The life I lead. Sometimes our inappropriate actions speak so loudly that people can t hear the good things we re saying. 1. Let your walk match your talk - Live such a Godly life that your critics will be put to 4 / 9

5 shame. 2. Don t wait to become perfect before witnessing - None of us are perfect; Satan is the acc user of the brothers (Rev. 12:10) and will try to convince you that you have no right to witness because of your sins. Deal with sin as you are instructed (I John 1:9-10); at the same time, go forth boldly preaching the gospel. E. Bearing Up Under Persecution For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God s will than for doing evil. (17) We never want to consider that it would be God s will for us to be anything but comfortable and convenienced. However, those are not the optimum conditions for Christian growth. God does not send suffering our way simply to punish us (although He will allow us to reap the bad consequences of wrong actions - Galatians 6:7). However, we live in an imperfect world and bad things happen to good people, sometimes as a result of doing good. (I Peter 2:20) So, in general sense, God allows suffering to happen and as a result we can become closer to Christ. II. Point to Christ s Work For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, that He might bring you to God, after being put to death in the fleshly realm but made alive in the spiritual realm. 19 In that state He also went and made a proclamation to the spirits in prison 20 who in the past were disobedient, when God patiently waited in the days of Noah while an ark was being prepared. (18-20a) A. Propitiation For Christ also suffered for sins, once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, that He might bring you to God (18) (cf. I Peter 2:21-25). 5 / 9

6 1. Christ s death was sufficient once for all (18) No other atonement is needed - Jesus paid it all. Notice that He died for us because of sin. (I Cor. 15:3; Gal. 1:4; Heb. 5:1, 3) 2. Christ s death was substitutionary the righteous for the unrighteous (18) He died in your place. (2 Cor. 5:21) Peter makes sure we understand that Christ was dead in the flesh - He didn t just swoon or appear to die. His physical death was necessary for Him to be made alive in the Spirit. 3. Christ s death was sensible that He might bring you to God (18) We may not understand why God had to allow Christ s death; but, had there been another way to atone for sin, would not God have chosen it? Christ s death provided access to grace (Rom. 5:1), to God (Eph. 2:18) and to the boldness needed to approach God. (Eph. 3:12) Relating verse 18 to 17, we see a vivid portrait of how an innocent person s suffering can bring about a great good. When we are falsely accused or persecuted for righteousness sake, we need look no further than the example of our Lord. B. Preaching He also went and made a proclamation to the spirits in prison (19) There are more than 90 different written interpretations of this passage explaining where Jesus was during the three days in the grave. Since this particular fact is not necessary to our salvation or contributory to our daily walk, we re not given a full-blown itinerary. Probably, Christ accomplished two things: 1) He delivered the good news of the gospel to all the saints who had looked in faith to the Messiah. Ephesians 4:8-10 states that he led captivity captive presumably a reference to taking the Old Testament Saints from paradise to heaven, 2) Next, He could have announced His victory to the other side with no second chance. (Heb. 9:28) The reference to disobedient spirits in the days of Noah may relate to fallen angels (Gen. 6:1) and people throughout history who had rejected God s ways. God s patience with them is analogous to His patience with a rebellious world today that persecutes the Saints. (Rev. 6:10) C. Protection while an ark was being prepared. (20a) The ark is an enduring symbol of God s provision and protection. While the perishing struggled by their human efforts to survive the flood, only those in the ark survived. III. Display Your Faith 6 / 9

7 In it a few - that is, eight people - were saved through water. 21 Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you (not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the pledge of a good conscience toward God) through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. 22 Now that He has gone into heaven, He is at God s right hand with angels, authorities, and powers subject to Him. (20b-22) A. Picture Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you (not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the pledge of a good conscience toward God) through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. (21) Peter is comparing the salvation in the ark which floated on the water with the salvation in the church which is joined by water baptism. HCSB, p. 2153; 3:20b-21 Noah and his family were saved through water, or brought safely through the floodwaters, whereas the wicked were destroyed (Gn. 7:22-23). Baptism in the NT corresponds to this OT event in that both involve breaks from past lives and a fresh start and entrance into new life. Water cannot save, but baptism with water does symbolically depict the changed life of a person whose conscience is at peace with God through faith in Christ. That the act of baptism is viewed symbolically and does not actually save us is explained by Peter in the latter half of verse 21 with the words not the removal of the filth of the flesh. B. Power He has gone into heaven. He is at God s right hand (22) Peter brings His illustration full circle from verse 17. Jesus, an innocent person had to suffer to accomplish God s will. His submission and obedience are rewarded by putting every other created thing under His authority. (Phil. 2:9; I Cor. 15:28) Application: 1. Witnessing to the gospel of Jesus Christ is the responsibility of every Christian. 7 / 9

8 2. Witnessing requires preparation and the power of the Holy Spirit. 3. Witnessing may bring trials and persecution which lead us to emulate our Lord. Explore the Bible Leader Pack Item 13: Poster: 1 Peter 3:15 No Illustrator article Notes: **You may access David s Lesson Preview in MP3 format at: g Dates: /7-8 Women s Omni; 10/9 Parent Commitment; 10/13 Lifeway/UBA Pastors Dinner; 10/14 KSBJ Concert w/ Lauren Daigle; 10/15 Celebration Tickets go on sale; 10/16 Lord s Supper; 10/16 SPF B-day Bash; 10/21 MS the Farm; 10/29 Summit Hoedown; 10/31 First Fest; 11/5 - Men: Serve; 11/7-8 Grow Team Retreat; 11/11-12 HUB As We Go Wknd; 11/13 8 / 9

9 SPF B-day Bash; 11/13 DTW Appreciation Luncheon; 11/20 Make It Your Church Orientation; 11/20 Christmas Store Gift Collection; 11/24-25 Thanksgiving Holidays; 12/4 HUB Christmas Palooza; 12/7-11 Celebration; 12/18 SPF Birthday Bash; 12/24 Christmas Eve Candlelight 2, 4 & 6; 12/23 & 26 Christmas Holiday offices closed; 12/25 NO LBS 5:00pm Service only; 12/31 Summit NYE Party; 1/1/17 No LBS 10:00 am Service only. 9 / 9