Be Ready to Defend! ; Eastside Pittsburgh Church. Scripture Reading: 1 Peter 3:13-17

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1 Be Ready to Defend! ; Eastside Pittsburgh Church Scripture Reading: 1 Peter 3:13-17 It was dangerous world to live in during the first century if you had faith in Jesus Christ. Peter in his first epistle seeks to encourage his brothers and sisters in Christ and to prepare them for the trials that were going to come upon them because of their faith. They needed to have a mindset that was willing to suffer, even if that meant death. Their willingness to suffer for Christ showed how genuine their faith was and how convicted they were of the truth of the Gospel. They needed to live their lives, unashamed to be Christians (1 Peter 4:16), confessing the name of Christ in the face of persecution from Jew and Gentile alike, and in so doing, possibly persuade others of the truth they were convicted of. Peter says in 1 Peter 3:13-17: Who is there to harm you if you prove zealous for what is good? 14 But even if you should suffer for the sake of righteousness, you are blessed. AND DO NOT FEAR THEIR INTIMIDATION, AND DO NOT BE TROUBLED, 15 but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence; 16 and keep a good conscience so that in the thing in which you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ will be put to shame. 17 For it is better, if God should will it so, that you suffer for doing what is right rather than for doing what is wrong. At times, our brethren in the first century did not know if the next person they talked to would be the person who would respond negatively to the point of persecution being brought against them. Any conversation could cost them their lives. It is in this context that Peter tells them to not be afraid, but to be ready to give a defense, to give some kind of explanation or argument for the hope that you have in Christ. The word used for giving a defense is the Greek word from which we get our word apologetics, which will be the focus of our lessons for the month. In the face of opposition, they were commanded to not fear the opposition, and to do apologetics; and to give a reason for the hope that was in them.

2 We face similar challenges today. We may not at any moment be in danger of death as we confess Christ to others, but we do have challenges before us that can challenge our faith and at times make us feel like we cannot stand up for the truth before opposition. There are always temptations to bury our head in the sand and to cower in fear and say nothing for Christ. Instead, we need to be ready to face the opposition, and as Peter said, DO NOT FEAR THEIR INTIMIDATION, AND DO NOT BE TROUBLED, 15 but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense This will be what the lessons for this month will be focused on. Helping us to be strengthened in our convictions and to prepare us to give a defense for what we believe. Of course, the area of Apologetics as it exists today covers any topic that someone may oppose in regards to the Christian faith. We will not be able to even deal with the tip of the ice berg in these lessons. Outside of this introductory lesson, we will deal with mainly one subject in the following lessons; the word of God. We will look at the topic of supposed Bible contradictions, look at why we can trust the Bible that we have, and look at the internal evidence of its inspiration by God. For this, I would like to answer three questions: 1. Why were people rejecting the truth and persecuting Christians? 2. What were they to say to their opposition? 3. Attitudes they were to have towards the opposition? WHY WERE PEOPLE REJECTING THE TRUTH? At times there are things that get in the way of people wanting to obey Jesus Christ. I believe it is important to keep in mind what some of these things are so we can be better ready to interact with people who are rejecting the truth, and even have some things to use to guard ourselves against so that we do not end up rejecting the truth. IT IS USUALLY DUE TO ONE OF THREE REASONS...

3 1. INTELLECTUAL REASONS 2. MORAL REASONS 3. EMOTIONAL REASONS I do believe that the intellectual reasons and the emotional reasons do fit in the category of moral reasons, but we will deal with them separately. 1. INTELLECTUAL REASONS: IGNORANCE & FALSE TEACHING It is amazing how many times in conversations that unbelievers and believers alike show that they will listen to what anyone they trust says before checking the facts to see if they are true. This happened even as Jesus would preach. In John 7:40-43, some rejected Jesus as the Christ because they were ignorant of the historical facts concerning His birth. Many today reject the truth for a similar reason: LACK OF ACCURATE INFORMATION! There are many arguments that people give against the Biblical Jesus, the resurrection, the plan of salvation, morality, etc. because they just do not know what the Bible teaches about these things. They just parrot what they have heard from family and friends not knowing whether or not they are giving accurate information. Some of those who reject the truth for intellectual reasons may have certain presuppositions that make it hard for them (if not impossible) to accept certain lines of evidence. These presuppositions are caused by false teaching given to them by others, either from society or from their religious teachers. These false teachings that have been held for long periods of time can seem to be impossible to get through. 2. MORAL REASONS:

4 Jesus says in John 3:19-20, And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20 For everyone practicing evil does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. Some people reject the evidence because they know in their heart of hearts that they are doing things that are wrong and do not want to stop. They have a sin that they love way too much. I have had many people say to me that they would rather keep on committing their sin than spend an eternity with God. There short term pleasure is more important than an eternity of suffering in Hell. One man I talked to said that he would rather burn in hell than give up hatred that he has towards someone who mistreated him. Some people will stop at nothing to try to justify their immorality... Some will accept only that evidence which supports theories which allows them to continue their lifestyle, and then reject any evidence which may contradict an action that they do not want to stop. They can deceive themselves in thinking that since they can even make a Biblical argument for practicing a certain sin that this means they are right with God in practicing it. It is the case that people can twist scripture and take passages of scripture out of context to prove just about anything. But this of course does not mean that they are making arguments that God agrees with! They, as Paul says in Romans 1:18, are suppressing the truth in unrighteousness. They exchange the truth for a lie so they can serve themselves instead of God. 3. EMOTIONAL REASONS There are some who just cannot stand the idea of confessing Christ as Lord because of what it would mean for their reputation. They are scared that their coworkers, family, or friends will not like them, ridicule them, or reject them, and they cannot handle this emotionally, so they decide not to obey the gospel. This is the sin of pride. They would rather be approved by men instead of God. That would be better for them professionally, academically, and for some reason, they can handle that emotionally. To paraphrase what Jesus says in John 5:44; how can one believe in Him if they would rather accept the praise of men instead of the praise of God. The answer is: they cannot. Denying themselves to confess and serve Christ is too much of a cost for them.

5 Some cannot emotionally accept a God who would send people to Hell. Some cannot emotionally deal with some of the things that God commands in the Old Testament that they find unsettling. Some may have been hurt by those who claim to be Christians, and because of it, are unwilling to accept the truth. At times it often boils down to is this: The rejection of Christ the majority of time is not so much a problem of the "MIND" but of the "WILL"! Is not so much "I CAN'T" but "I WON'T"! There is enough evidence to convince the honest and sincere seeker, but there is not enough evidence to force a man against his will when he is determined to reject it! There are many who hate the light, as Jesus puts it in John 3:20. They hate the word of God, and they hate God. Many modern atheists are in this group of people. They may argue strongly that they do not believe in God or that there is not enough evidence for them to believe, but they often speak of God in ways that show that, in reality, they hate Him. They will not have anyone, including God, telling them what to do or how to run their lives. I have asked many atheists this question, if I could prove to your satisfaction that the God of the Bible exists, would you bow the knee to Jesus Christ and call Him Lord? The answer I get by almost every one of them is NO. These are all reasons why people at the time of Jesus and His Apostles rejected the truth, and they are all reasons why people reject the truth today. One of the main goals of apologetics is to remove the stumbling blocks that get in the way of those who are rejecting the gospel that has been given to them. Some of these obstacles may not be possible to overcome. They may through these things harden their hearts so much that the gospel cannot get through. But until we see that this is the case, we need to try to reason with them. We need to have compassion for them and share the truth with them. WHAT WERE THEY TO SAY TO THEIR OPPOSITION? Once again, Peter says in 1 Peter 3:15, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you. My question is, what does this look like? I believe in the context of 1 Peter, he makes it clear what the reasons for our hope are. The

6 main reason that the Christians gave in the New Testament to tell unbelievers why they believed what they did and why they lived with the hope they did: Christ died, and Christ was raised. Peter makes it clear in his epistle what the reason for their hope was: Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade--kept in heaven for you (1 Peter 1:3-4). Corresponding to that, baptism now saves you not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to God for a good conscience through the resurrection of Jesus Christ (1 Peter 3:21). It seems that when Peter wrote 1 Peter 3:15, he had in mind exactly what these Christians needed to tell their persecutors about as they defended the faith. They needed to tell them about the gospel, and especially the resurrection, because this is the greatest evidence for what we believe. It was prophesied that the Messiah would be raised from His tomb. It happened, and He was seen by multitudes of eyewitnesses. Apologetics, in and of itself, is not going to convert a lost person, unless what you say in your defense includes the gospel message. The evidence for the historicity of the gospel message; that Jesus died and was raised, is why we have the hope that we do. Within the context of 1 Peter, this is the evidence that we have for the hope that is within us. If Jesus was not raised, we are without hope, and we are still in our sins! Of course, this reason we give, in and of itself, will not lead every person we talk to to fall to their knees in worship of God. There may be other obstacles we need to overcome as we encourage people to obey the gospel, as we talked about in our last point, but we need to make sure that every person receives the gospel and has the evidence for it presented before them if they doubt it. ATTITUDES THEY WERE TO HAVE WHILE DEFENDING THE FAITH

7 With gentleness and respect. In other words, don t be a jerk about it! There is too much at stake to defend the truth and to share the Gospel with a wrong demeanor. If we are harsh and disrespectful towards those we talk to, we can push them farther away from obeying the gospel! Even if those who we are defending the truth of the Gospel to are our enemies, we are to be gentle and respectful towards them. Jesus says, Love your enemies! Surely this would include showing gentleness and respect towards them, showing them, as we share the gospel with them and defend it s claims, that we care about them and where they spend eternity. Paul says to Timothy in 2 Tim 2:24-26: The Lord's bond-servant must not be quarrelsome, but be kind to all, able to teach, patient when wronged, 25 with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth, 26 and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, having been held captive by him to do his will I believe Paul is speaking specifically in this verse of Timothy s interactions with false teachers who were coming into the church, but I believe we can apply this verse farther than that. When we show kindness and respect towards the person we are talking to, it is possible that the Spirit may use the arguments we give to bring people to repentance and a knowledge of the truth. We must keep this in mind because we may be the only Christian that God may use to bring someone to the truth. CONCLUSION Before I close, there is one phrase in 1 Peter 3:15 that I have not talked about yet that is a good note to end on. Peter says at the beginning of the verse to Sanctify Christ as Lord in their hearts. Some other translations say, But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord (NIV); but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy (ESV), etc. They all have the same idea. How were they to do this? Peter actually answers the question right after this: we do it by always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you. We show that we honor Christ by being ready to confess Him and His truth to others. So in

8 conclusion, I would encourage you to ask yourself the question, are you ready to give reasons to others about the hope that is within you? If you are a Christian, you should be. You know why you have the hope you do. If not, I would encourage you to honor your Lord. Get prepared to tell others why you have the hope you do.