It’s great to be here, isn’t it? It’s great to be here for many reasons, but one is because this is base camp. Here we are surrounded by comrades. Here we don’t worry about what might come at us when we’re open about whose side we’re on. Here we’re not threatened. We’re not pressured. We’re not put down. We’re not tempted, or at least not as much. There’s safety. There’s relaxing. There’s refreshment. At least there should be. And it’s that way here for many of us. I hope we make it that way if it’s not for you.
But tomorrow many of us go back behind enemy lines at high school, at the store, at the office, at the shop, at the work site. Some of us go back behind enemy lines this afternoon even at our own homes, because those at home are not on the same side. We go back to where we can be targeted if we’re open about whose side we’re on. We go back to the areas where many many comrades have lost their lives eternally. The enemy has taken them in various ways. Some have been lured and entrapped in sin. Some have fallen when ambushed with persecution. Some have surrendered to intimidation or when benefits were offered to change sides. Some have been worn down with a constant barrage of difficulty out there until they gave up. And many of us are heading back out there soon.
Every military knows when it sends soldiers behind enemy lines their odds of survival and mission success depend much on their mental preparation. There’s a little book I came across written by a former Navy Seal called SEAL SURVIVAL GUIDE: A Navy SEAL’s Secrets to Surviving Any Disaster. And I looked at the chapter headings and read a few sections and I noticed that some of the book was about physical fitness, skills, and toughness. But much more of it is about mental preparation and mindset. And there are different aspects of mental preparation soldiers need.
They need certainly, for one thing, strategy. They need a plan regarding how they’re going to approach the enemy and they need a plan B if A doesn’t work. And a plan C if B doesn’t work either. And they need to have already thought through and rehearsed what they will do if this or that happens. I remember when the police chief (I think it was) was here one evening with several of us to talk about some security matters, such as what to do if an active shooter entered our building. And I remember there was a statement that he repeated several times that went something like this: “If the mind has never been there before, the body will not know what to do.” In other words, if you have not previously thought seriously about the situation and figured out what would be the best way to handle it, then when the situation arises, you will be making split second decisions that likely will not be the best decisions. This is why schools have fire drills and flight attendants give a little demonstration on emergency procedures before the plane takes off. Before we encounter a crisis we need to have already rehearsed in our minds what we will do.
Soldiers also need their highest motivations for living and for the mission, fresh in their minds. They need, for instance, those mental pictures of their wife and children that they want to be there for to come to mind when they’re in a struggle to survive.
Though our war is spiritual in nature, mental preparation is just as important to our survival and mission. And that I think is the intent of our text this morning, I Peter 3:13-17. Peter wants to prepare his readers for going into hostile territory.
I want to read to you this passage first. Listen to these words of the Lord’s representative. “Who is there to harm you if you prove zealous for what is good? 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, 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; 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.”
So we are given here some perspectives and instructions that will not only keep us alive in the field, but help us even to advance the kingdom.
First of all, before you head back to school or work or wherever else, realize and remember this…
You will win the favor of most by being zealous for what is good.
This is the point, I think, of the rhetorical question in verse 13, “Who is there to harm you if you prove zealous for what is good?” Who is going to want to hurt you if you are always kind, honest, humble, unselfish, and bent on helping everybody around you as much as you can? Even to unbelievers, Christ-like behavior is attractive and admirable.
Scripture says this often.
Proverbs 3:3, “Do not let kindness and truthfulness leave you; Bind them around your neck, Write them on the tablet of your heart. So you will find favor and good repute In the sight of God and man.” Everywhere you go, always be kind and truthful, and God will like you and people will too.
Luke 2:52, summarizing the adolescent years of Jesus, “Jesus kept increasing in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.” Most people thought highly of Jesus as He was growing up.
So realize this before you go interact with people; to not be self-centered, focused on impressing them or being the center of attention, or on everything being fair and good for you… rather think about the people around you, their needs and feelings and show concern for them and go about doing what you can to encourage, help, bless them in some way, forgiving and patient when wronged, and always honest. When you do those things, generally you are going to get along with everyone. They may not agree with your beliefs, but they’re going to like you and say good things about you.
You’re going to have less conflict (most likely) with people by being Christ-like. That’s the first thing to bear in mind.
But Peter was not naïve. He knew by experience that there are some people out there who will not care if you’re kind and honest. They will hate you anyway because of your faith or they’re jealous of the attention you got or feel that you make them look bad.
So here’s the second thing to realize and remember…
It would be a blessing if someone attacked you for believing or doing what is right.
Verse 14 says, “But even if you should suffer for the sake of righteousness, you are blessed.” I used to understand that to mean simply that you’ll still go to heaven even if you’re persecuted, that God still likes you even when people don’t, which is true. But I think Peter is saying something even more powerful and encouraging than that. I think he is saying, should you be attacked for believing or doing what is right, that suffering in itself would be a blessing from God. God would be giving you a great gift if He allowed you to suffer for righteousness. Now that’s a weird perspective. We think if someone ridiculed or beat us up for our faith that would be very unfortunate and sad. But Peter’s understanding was the opposite.
Acts 5, Peter was in the group that was arrested and brought before the Jewish supreme court. The court said to them, “We gave you strict orders not to teach in the name of Jesus.” The court then had them flogged, as in they had soldiers tie their hands to something, strip their clothes off, and flay them with a whip of some sort until they were thoroughly covered with red stripes. Let me read you Peter and the other’s reaction to the experience. Acts 5:41, “So they went on their way from the presence of the Council, rejoicing that they had been considered worthy to suffer shame for His name. 42 And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they kept right on teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ.” Is that not interesting? They were thrilled to have their own blood shed. They said without any sarcasm, “Thank you Lord for that. You didn’t have to do that. Thank you for the honor. Thank you for that blessing. You’re too kind.” Is that what you’d say if the guys at work broke your jaw because of what you believe? “Oh thank you Lord for that experience.”
In Acts 6 there is this guy named Stephen who was one of the “seven men of good reputation, full of the Spirit and of wisdom” that the church selected to be put in charge of the distribution of food to the poor in the church. He was a standout Christian fella. It says he was “a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit.” (verse 5) “full of grace and power.” (verse 8) An exceptional man. If one was worthy of some extra kindness from God, it was Stephen. But then remember what happened to Stephen? Acts 7, he was stoned to death for preaching of Jesus to the Jewish Council. That doesn’t seem right. But I’m suggesting to you that, that was an honor and blessing that God bestowed on Stephen.
For at least two reasons, suffering for righteousness I think is a special blessing from God.
The first reason I see, is in Philippians 1:29 where it speaks of persecution as a sign of destruction for them, but of salvation for you.
It’s a sign of God’s favor and that you’re on the right road. When I’m on a road trip on roads I’ve not driven before I like those signs along the way that tell me which town I’m headed toward. It gives me reassurance. Suffering for righteousness, the Bible says, is like those signs. It says you’re doing well. You’re headed where you want to go. Or I think of it like those gold stars I would get next to my name on the chart in first grade if I had a good day at school. Suffering for righteousness is God giving you a gold star.
A second reason I think it’s a special blessing is one day we get to cash in our gold stars.
I seem to remember in first grade we’d get to cash in our gold stars for Skittles or M&Ms. Jesus spoke about degrees of reward in the hereafter. He illustrated it in parables about what will happen when He comes back and calls His servants to account. In one parable the master comes back and puts one good servant in charge of 10 cities and another in charge of 5 cities. When James and John came to Jesus asking for the top positions in the kingdom, Jesus acknowledged there are those positions, but “they’re not Mine to give, they are for those for whom it has been prepared.”
And one of the factors involved in how much the Lord will reward each of His servants is how they suffered for Him on earth. When James and John wanted the top spots, Jesus said, “Are you able to drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?” (Talking about His suffering) “You want the highest honors, are you able to endure the trial of suffering I’m about to endure?”
Matthew 5:10, “Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Which will happen to a degree probably for all of us. “All who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted,” says II Timothy 3:12. But then Jesus said, “Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” I think the sense of it is, when you’re more than just persecuted, but really persecuted and people are insulting you and falsely saying all kinds of evil against you, then you’re not just going to be rewarded as all Christians. But your reward will be great like that of the prophets.
Listen to Paul, II Corinthians 4:17, talking about how he doesn’t lose heart despite all the extreme persecution that he faced, “For momentary, light affliction is producing [or achieving] for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison“. In other words, as we suffer more for the Lord, the glory that awaits us increases.
So before you go to work or school, realize and remember these two things. First, if I will be Christlike and just be really looking to be a blessing and do good for people, I will win the favor of most people around me. I’ll have a lot of good relationships. Second, if I happen to be attacked in some way for my faith or doing what is right, that would be a wonderful blessing, like the God of heaven handing me a gold star that I get to cash in when I see Him. Now, that perspective, if you really believe it, will almost make you hope someone will punch you in the face… as long as it’s for your faith not just because you’ve been obnoxious.
Verse 14, “Do not fear their intimidation and do not be troubled.” Whatever temporary pain they can inflict will be abundantly repaid by the Lord.
Now, with those perspectives in mind here’s something we need to do in our minds and hearts before we head back into hostile territory. Verse 15…
Sanctify Christ as Lord in your heart.
Sanctify means set apart. Set apart Christ as Lord, as master, as ruler in your heart.
I think we sing the idea sometimes when we sing, “I am resolved no longer to linger,
Charmed by the world’s delight”. And when we sing, “I have decided to follow Jesus; No turning back, no turning back… Tho’ none go with me, I still will follow… I have decided to follow Jesus.”
Resolve, decide, determine to make up your mind, Jesus is my Lord, my king, my master. I will follow no other voice over His. Ridicule me, throw things at me, jail me, threaten me, burn me at the stake, Jesus will still be Lord of my life. Determine that before you find yourself in a situation where obedience to Jesus will bring suffering. Because if we wait until we are in one of those situations, we most likely will choose not to serve Jesus; because we won’t have time to think it through, we’ll only know what the immediate consequence of serving Jesus will be, and it will be hard to see much else than that.
Another important preparation is the rest of verse 15. “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 [literally] fear“. So some of us have some homework. Peter says not just preachers and elders and Bible class teachers. But all of us who are capable of reasoning logically and communicating are to…
Be ready to give, at a moment’s notice, a gentle but God honoring defense for what we believe.
We believe Jesus of Nazareth, two millenniums ago, was God in the flesh who died for our sins and was raised from the dead and made Lord of all creation and He saves from sin and death all who trust and obey Him. We believe as we follow Jesus He will lead us to eternal life. But can you give me a reasonable explanation for believing that? Say I think that’s all a myth or wishful thinking as many today do, could you tell me anything that might make me reconsider? Can you make a case for Christ? We sing sometimes, “You ask me how I know He lives, He lives within my heart.” Well, okay, but that’s not a very convincing answer to an unbeliever.
When I was a new Christian and a teenager, the church I was a part of had a door knocking campaign to invite the community to a gospel meeting we were going to have and also to see if anyone would like to have a Bible study. I felt obligated to participate and go out and knock doors. I would not have admitted it back then, but I’ll admit it now. As I walked up to each door, honestly I hoped that people would not want to talk with me about what we believe. I hoped they’d just want to come to the gospel meeting we were having, and leave it at that. It’s not because I didn’t care about people or want them to be saved. But it’s that I was not prepared to give a reasonable defense for my faith. I knew that what I believed made sense to me. I’d heard good reasons for it before. But I could not recall those reasons, let alone explain them in an effective way. I didn’t want to get into a conversation with someone about it and misrepresent the Lord or look stupid like I believe stuff for no good reason. And at that point in my life, unprepared to make a case for what I believe, it was much harder to be open about my faith and talk and act in Christlike ways that may invite those kind of questions. But if you’re ready to present a convincing case, it will give you boldness to talk and act in a way that invites that kind of conversation.
I get excited now when I find someone interested in talking about the Lord. When you sort out why our faith is logical and reasonable and understand it well enough to explain it to others, it will also give you greater confidence in what you believe and strengthen your commitment, as well as enable you to lead some people to the truth.
So if I were to ask you, why do you believe this stuff, could you right now give me some convincing reasons? If not, you have some homework to do, for your own spiritual strength and so you can perhaps save a soul.
There are at least a dozen pillars that support my faith that I can think of, that I’m somewhat prepared to talk about at a moment’s notice, though I need to brush up on some of them. If you are interested in what I would say about some of those you can find it in the “apologetics” section of this website.
- The testimony of the NT about Jesus and why that’s credible testimony.
- The testimony of many non-Christian sources from the 1st and 2nd century about Jesus.
- The prophecies of the OT that we know were written long before He was even born.
- The empty tomb.
- The conviction of those who knew Jesus best to the point of giving their lives for Him, like His own brothers and the apostles. They had enough confidence that Jesus is the risen Lord, to suffer and die for Him.
- The greatness of His teaching; it is brilliant, psychiatrists write books based on the principles of His teachings, it transforms people into beautiful, loving, joyful people.
- The impact He’s had on the world though He was just a poor peasant carpenter.
- The abundant archaeological confirmation of what we read in the Scriptures.
- The abundance of evidence that Jesus and Hid apostles really did do supernatural miraculous deeds.
- Scientific knowledge expressed in God’s Law in the OT way too advanced for the time.
- And then some personal reasons. My own personal experience as I’ve followed Jesus. I’m finding joy and peace. It really seems to me He answers my prayers sometimes. And I know what a mess I would be had I not learned to trust and follow Him.
- And this book… I have studied it almost every day for 14 years and I am still constantly amazed at the wisdom and beauty and consistency and sense it makes and how unfounded the charges are that some people bring against it. My work in this book has convinced me it’s not a book of just men.
Do a little homework, get some help from some of us here if you need it, to prepare your own reasonable explanation for what you believe, and it will be a powerful tool in your life.
We Listen to Our Conscience
One last instruction real quick. You know, soldiers need a strategy, a plan, if this happens or that happens. And the Bible doesn’t address specifically the countless situations we may find ourselves in and what we should do and not do in them. And we’re probably sometimes going to find ourselves in gray areas where we’re not sure what to do. But the Bible tells us that in every situation we are to listen to our conscience. I Peter 3:16, “having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame.” To violate our conscience, to do something you’re not sure is acceptable to God, is to sin.
Romans 14:14, “I know and am convinced in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself [talking about food, all food in and of itself is okay to eat]; but to him who thinks anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean.” If you think it’s wrong, for you it is wrong.
Rom 14:23, “But he who doubts is condemned if he eats, because his eating is not from faith; and whatever is not from faith is sin.” If you doubt that it’s okay, if you don’t have faith that the Lord approves, then it’s sin for you.
So whatever situation you find yourself, whatever gray area you’re in and you can’t think of a Bible verse that tells you what to do, do what you know is okay, don’t do what you doubt is okay. Listen to your conscience.
And by that, Peter says you’ll not only survive, but may win some souls, as they’re attracted and drawn to your character and the Lord who has made you the way you are.
Are we ready for Monday?
Do you have these perspectives?
You will win the favor of most by being zealous for what is good, but should someone attack your righteousness it would be a blessing; it’d be an honor.
Have you decided for real, come what may, Christ is your Lord? No matter what I will serve Him?
Have you prepared yourself to give a reasonable defense for you faith?
Are you ready when in doubt to listen to your conscience?
-James Williams