Apologetics Session 3

All right, Now let's go ahead and get into the actual paragraph. I hope you were helped by the background work that we did in the last session, and I think that as we get into this familiar text, it'll be helpful. So let's look at that paragraph first, per three, beginning verse thirteen. Its look at thirteen through seventeen. Now, who is that to harm you? If you prove zealous for what is good? But even if you should suffer for righteousness sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled. But in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for the reason for the hope that is in you. Yet do it with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience, so that when you are slendered, those who revalue your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame. For it is better to suffer for doing good, if it should be God's will, than for doing evil. So first we look at this, and we see that our righteousness actually makes us strangers and aliens. We've already noted that Peter referred to believers as sojourners and exiles. In chapter two, verse eleven. However, his statement prior to that explains why we are such. Look at Chapter two, verses nine to ten. But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people. Once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. So there's a real sense in which Christians, regardless of where their earthly citizenship may be, are a people within and among a people. So this is the first issue. The first issue is that we actually are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation. Okay, we we are a people within a people. We and when when you have an opportunity to go outside of your own environment, even even if you just get to go across town to another church. You don't have to go to another country, right, you just go across town to another church and you find people, you recognize that there is something that we share that is more significant than just the songs we sing or the place we go, and the and the more and deeper we go in our walk with Christ, the more we realize that in a very real sense. And for those of you who've been walking with Christ for a long time, you've probably already had this experience in your family to a very real extent. The people of God become more family to you than your blood relatives. Okay, this is a real thing, and oftentimes they don't understand that. Don't get offended by that, right, But we are a people, right. It really is a mystery. It's not really the only one. There's another example of it. So my wife and I are not blood relatives, but she's my next of kin. Huh, she's my closest living relative and we're not related by blood. Okay, this is a real phenomenon. It's like children who come into a family by adoption. There are children, for real, we have, you know, adopted children in our family. And I'm always you know, people will come, Okay, well, which one are your real children? I'm like, no, they're all real, you know. Well, I mean, but which one of your natural children? And they're all natural too? Well, I don't know about that one, but for the most part, you know, they're natural. Now, you know what I mean, which one are yours? Yeah, they're all ours. You know what I'm trying to ask you. Yeah, I know what you're trying to ask me. But the point I'm making is you don't. And that's a problem because you're a Christian and God only has adopted children. So if you don't understand that these are our real children, that these are our natural children, that these are our own children, then you don't understand your relationship to God. You don't have security in your salvation. You're probably always worried about God stopping loving you. Nine times out of ten, they just kind of go, you know what I do? Of course, you do the doctrine of adoption. You know, we always talk about salvation. We talk about justification and sanctification and glorification. The order salutist goes like this, justification, adoption, sanctification, glorification. You can't understand theologically what it means to be a child of God if you don't get that adopted children are real, natural yours. We're a people. God has adopted us into his family. And the more and deeper we go into this and the more we walk with God and the more we live in communion with God's people. The more we begin to see this, these people are my real family. And some of you may have even had that discussion, you know, yeah, but I'm your real family, I'm your blood. No, that's my real family. My brothers and sisters in Christ, they're my real family. They're my natural family. They're my own family. And the bond that we have, Ah, you can't even you know, yeah, well it's not a bond by blood. Actually it is, huh, it is the blood of the lamb is what makes us want so understand this. Eventually, our Christian citizenship manifests itself in ways that are irreconcilable with our non Christian neighbors. Eventually, when you begin to live as a citizen of the Kingdom of God, Eventually, as you begin to manifest the likeness that we're being conformed to, that we begin to see irreconcilable differences between us and the world. And when that happens, we face opposition, sometimes persecution, and suffering, all of which relate directly to our righteousness in Christ as we're confers to His image. Remember, people know that there's a God. There's no such thing as an atheist. God does not believe in atheists. Everybody knows that there's a God, according to Romans Chapter one, but they suppress the knowledge in unrighteousness. What Romans one says, everybody knows there's a God, but they suppress the knowledge in unrighteousness. So here you come displaying righteousness. That's a problem. Okay, that's a problem. Secondly, our righteousness brings suffering and opposition thirteen fourteen. Now, who is there to harm you if you prove zealous for what is good? But even if you should suffer for righteousness sake, you will be blessed. With these ominous words, Peter introduces what is und doutaly the best known apologetics texts in the Bible, from which we derived the very word fro apologetics. It's therefore important to note the tone his words set, as well as their connection to the overall theme. Listen to this in one Peter two twenty four For to this you have been called because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example so that you might follow in his steps. This is about told you, it's about suffering. And by the way, listen the first Peter kills the prosperity gospel slays it hits it in the forehead with a stone, cuts off his head, and then opens up the ground to swallow it up. Okay, you simply cannot read First Peter in its context and come away with anything remotely resembling the prosperity Gospel. You just can't. For to this you have been called to be the head and not the tale. No, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example so that you might follow in his steps and do what suffer. He committed. No sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return. We just talked about that. When he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued in trusting himself to him who judges justly. He himself bore our sins and his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. It's important to note that Peter is talking about more than people thinking ill of us are calling us names. This is about more than that. The analogy he draws here is the suffering of Christ and his death at the hands of sinful men. You don't get this. You don't understand what he's dealing with, Nor were Jesus faithful followers spared this fate. Philip was scourged and thrown into prison, and afterwards crucified. Matthew was slain with a halbard in the city of Nadaba. Andrew was crucified on a cross, the two ends of which were transfixed, were fixed transversally in the ground. Mark was dragged to pieces by the people of Alexandria. Peter himself was crucified, his head being down and his feet being upward, himself so requiring because he was he said unworthy to be crucide after the same form and manner as the Lord Jesus was. Again, how do you preach the prosperity gospel and lighten? What happened to the apostles? Only one died of natural death, that he died in exile on the island of Patmos. Come on, now, did they not believe enough? We know? Then, Apologetics is not a tool to make people like or accept us. Can't be in this context. It's not what Peter's talking about, although that is precisely the way many of us engage the culture, as though we believe that if we just make the right argument, refute the right falsehood, unpack the right set of facts, then people will bow the knee and rendered to Christ, or at least lay down their weapons and leave us alone. However, as Peter notes here, the opposite is actually more likely. Instead of being a tool that alleviates the tension between us and the world, apologetics is often a tool that heightens the tension. Nevertheless, we echo the words of Luther's Great hymn. Though this world, with devils filled, should threaten to undo us, we will not fear. For God hath willed his truth to triumph through us. The prince of darkness grim. We tremble not for him his rage we can endure, for low his doom is sure, one little word shall fell him. We also see that our righteousness is actually born of our devotion to Christ. In words reminiscent of Isaiah, Peter urges, but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy. Peter is here adapting the prophet's words in Isaiah thirteen. He says, but the Lord of host him you shall honor as holy. Let him be your fear, and let him be your dread. This one is a huge problem for the Jehovah's witnesses because it couldn't be more obvious that Peter is quoting Isaiah talking about Jesus, and Isaiah is talking about Jehovah. Jesus is Jehovah, Amn, Hallelujah, Praise the Lord. Right. The context here in Isaiah is informative. Simon kiss theemacher observes, in his day, Isaiah told the people not to fear the invading Assyrian armies, but to revere God, and his epistle Peter has the same encouraging message. Remember Isaiah's saying, Hey, uh, don't don't do not respond out of fear for the Assyrian army. The Lord of host him you shall honor as holy. Let him be your fear, let him be your dread. Don't fear these people who are marching at us. In light of the context, is clear that Peter is not calling for a mere spiritual devotion to Christ, though that is certainly in view, but a choice to honor Christ in the face of a culture that opposes and even punishes our devotion. That's what he's talking about. Moreover, the reason for this choice is clear. Jesus is the Lord Almighty Again Christ, the marker notes, Peter changes Isaiah's wording by honoring Christ as the Lord Almighty, so that he is the Lord Christ. Thus, the Christian does not merely choose Christ as one among many options. Instead, Christ is set apart as the only one we fear, as the only one we worship. Most Christians do not engage in apologetics because we're afraid. However, now we see the true nature of this fear. Ultimately, it's fear of man. This is a result of holding men and their approval in higher regard than we do the Lord. This is what we're being called to to regard him as holy and higher than anything else. Therefore, unless I remind myself constantly of my need to honor Christ the Lord as Holy, I will end up honoring my reputation, or worse yet, the opinions of men as most prized and precious in my heart. The result is compromise that dishonors Christ and deprives my hearers of the greatest news that they will ever know. Oh how I need to sanctify Christ in my heart. This goes right back to what we talked about in the first session, right and Jude. This whole idea of the fear of men and this horizontal relationship being held above all, being esteemed above all, and caring more about what you think about me than I do, not only about what God thinks about me, but more than I care about you. I don't care enough about you to tell you the greatest truth that you could ever know. Our righteousness also requires an explanation. And here's where we get to apologetics. Okay, it's just rooted in our righteousness, too, right, Our righteousness makes us, it really makes us outsiders. It causes the opposition, and it requires an explanation, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for the reason for the hope that is in you. It's amazing that the context here. You know a lot of people are like, well, you know apologetics. You know, you only do apologetics if somebody asks you. That's that's not his point. His point here is that you know what, we are righteous, and because we're righteous, we're gonna be outsiders. Because we're outsiders, we're gonna suffer and we're gonna be persecuted. Right, so we have to be devoted to Christ and not have fear of men. And then what's going to happen is that's going to require an explanation, an explanation of what why you suffer the way you suffer? But how do we think about apologetics an explanation of you know, my understanding of the problem of evil and suffering. No, that's not what Peter's talking about here. It's great, it's great if you can answer people's questions. But I think sometimes because we have changed our understanding of what apologetics is all about, and because we've made it this sort of philosophical exercise, we completely miss what Peter is saying. Everything in this section before this is about suffering for righteousness sake. Everything in this paragraph is about suffering for righteousness sake. And when he finally gets to the verse that gives us the word for apologetics, what he's saying is when you suffer in a way that they've never seen before, be ready to answer when they ask you, why, Flord, how we've missed this? This is nothing like the way we look at this words. This is the hope that is in you. This is the object and subject of your faith. Without this, there'd be no reason for anyone to ask you anything about God or the Gospel, since without this you wouldn't be a Christian spout knowing what we believe. Peter makes it clear, have a reason for the hope that is in us. And this is where I get my definition from right knowing what we believe, knowing why we believe it, being able to communicate that in an effective and winsome way, we know the reason for the hope that is in us. We don't merely hope for hope's sake. We hope because we've come to believe. Amen, we have a reason to hope. This, of course, assumes that we actually believe something. There is some objective reality out there in which we believe. We believe the Gospel. Amen. That's why we've come to the Lord in repentance and faith, because we believe the Gospel. Right. Paul's admonition to Timothy sewo Timothy one thirteen and fourteen follow the pattern of sound words that you have heard from me in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus, by the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, guard the good deposit entrusted to you. This is some objective truth he's talking about here. Second Timothy two two, chapter two. The ammunition includes a call to pass it on to others what you have heard from me and the presence of many witnesses, and trust the faithful men who will be able to teach others also. So there's something that has been deposited in you. It is the truth. It is the truth of the Gospel. Here's what I want you to do. I want you to preach this gospel faithfully. By the way, they're killing us, right. The context of the letter of two Timothy is I'm getting ready to die. Fought the good fight, fence the course, kept the faith right, I'm about to die. Hope I get to see you. It'd be great if I get to see you before I die. But if I don't, here's what I want you to do. Hey, guard that could deposit that's been entrusted to you. And oh, by the way, if they kill me, they're probably gonna kill you two, So pass it on to somebody else so that when your turn comes, it doesn't die with you. And then the third chapter, Paul reminds young Timothy of the source of his hope when he urges continue, you and what you have learned and firmly believed, knowing from whom you've learned it. Every one of these is about that objective truth that we hold on to. It is about the Gospel, that is everything Hebrews two one to four. Therefore, we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. For since the message declared by angels proved to be reliable, and every transgression of disobedience received a just retribution, how should we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was declared at first by the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard. While God also bore witness by signs and wonders and various miracles, and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to His will. We can't neglect this. We have to hold on to it. Explain what you believe. Technically, this DeFi this epilogia means to give a verbal defense. It's actually a legal term. Essentially, a lawyer gives an apology in a courtroom. The goal is not merely to give information in a dispassionate matter. The goal is to convince. Hence, we must be winsome in our delivery. This too, is a product of our righteousness in Christ. This is where our winsomeness comes from. Our righteousness doesn't just call for an explanation. Our righteousness actually also shapes our explanation. Yet do it with gentleness and respect. Gentleness is not a lack of strength, It is actually strength under control. Gentleness is me wrestling with my three year old. That's gentleness. Okay. And again, in our feminized culture, we don't even understand what gentleness is. Because of our feminized culture, where again we try to stamp out every vestige of masculinity we can for men and try to instill every bit of masculinity we can in our young girls. Right in this we don't understand. And so because of that, we don't understand what gentleness even is. General is not about being emasculated or effeminine. It is power under control. It is strength under control. That's gentleness. So as Christians, listen, if you want to see gentleness, gentleness is Christ on the cross. He could have called legions of angels. He was in control of the whole thing, because he is the creator of the universe. He made the tree from which they got the wood to hang him on. He called together the molecules that made the nails, breathed breath into the life of the ones who were crucifying him, and yet he allowed himself to be killed. That's gentleness, strength under control, power under control. So here's what's amazing. Peter says, you're gonna suffer. You're gonna suffer for the sake of your righteousness. You're gonna suffer. And here we are, he says, we're this peculiar people, We're this nation where it again, we are powerful people. The power that raised Christ from the dead resides in us, and yet we're humble. We don't return reviling for reviling. See, that's gentleness, this power under control. Respect, on the other hand, is a word. It can also be translated fear. However, it is not seeking the approval of man. Instead, it's fear and respect for God. It an interesting Remember we talked about those two audiences. Gentleness, that's our dealing with our horizontal audience. And respect fear reverence that's our dealing with our vertical audience. In other words, our defense should be given as though we are keenly aware of the fact that God is watching. I remember, a soft word turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. This is what we keep in mind in our horizontal exchange. Our righteousness also vindicates our explanation sixteen and seventeen. Having a good conscience, so that when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame. For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God's will, than for doing evil. Again, man, this just slays the prosperity gospel, right, suffering in accordance with the will of God. Yes, because you don't have enough faith. Get that out of here. So in where we begin, remember you open the paragraph with the words, Now, who is there to harm you? If you prove zealous for what is good? But even if you should suffer for righteousness sake, you'll be less. And now we've come full circle. We've come full circle. We've given our answer. We've done it with gentleness and with reverence, and now we're suffering. But we're suffering for righteousness sake. And we're doing it so that these guys are the ones let me put to shame verse eighteen. By framing the discussion with suffering on either side, Peter makes it clear that he's not offering a means by which Christians dominate discussions overthrow empires or change public opinion. Apologetics is ultimately an expression of our willingness to suffer rather than to compromise. It is the explanation for our suffering, both in terms of why we suffer and how we suffer. Apologetics is our answer to those at whose hands we suffer, as well as those witnessing our suffering. Apologetics says to a watching world, we have been captured by something so profound that we are willing not only to be considered fools, but to suffer as such Verse eighteen. For Christ also suffered once for sins the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit. That last phrase, That last phrase is awesome, right, that last phrase is the answer. Like, wait a minute, And this kind of sounded a little crazy. They're persecuting me in I'm suffering. I'm worried about suffering in the right way. I'm worried about, you know, suffering for righteousness sake. But still at the end, I'm suffering. In the end, I'm persecuted. In the end, I'm dead, Yes, just like Jesus was for three days and then death couldn't hold him, and it won't hold you either. M This is the key. This is the answer. Why why? And when they ask us right where they? Who are they asking? How is it that you can suffer like this? How is it that you can endure like this? Because this is not my home. I am living in anxious anticipation of a city whose builder and maker is God. What can you do to me? I mean, ultimately, last time I checked, the death rate was one per person. Huh. But there is one who has overcome death. There is one who has overcome the grave, and I am found in him, so I too will be raised on the last day. That's my hope. That's why I'm not afraid of you. Oh yeah, I have fear in the immediate sense, but ultimately I fear God more than I fear you. But He's my daddy. Man. What a far cry this is from this whole attitude of arrogant, obnoxious. You know, when you know I'm better than you, put you in your place? How do we ever get that from this text? I'll tell you how by ripping verse fifteen, kicking and screaming out of context. That's how you just take verse you know, chapter three and verse fifteen, we just just rip it out of context, and it's going, no, no, no, I need my mother verses. You gotta go back to the baraground before and the whole argument about suffering or you want to understand me. That's what he was saying, you know, but we didn't hear it. There's some more concernive winning arguments than winning souls. Okay, I'm telling you. When we see this text this way, it hasn't just changed our attitude about apologics, It just it changes everything. It changes our entire disposition, right, our entire disposition. And then here in the midst of this amazing context where in terms of history, we've had this freakish inconsistent experience in America, you know, for the last two hundred plus years, where Christianity here and in the West in general has not experienced what most Christians in the world throughout history have experienced, and it's given us this overrealized eschatology, you know, where we believe that this is the Promised Land and that apologetics exists in order to you know, to get our side back in control. Right, come on, that's not what Peter's talking about, not at all. And so we rejoice in the freedoms that we have. Amen, we rejoice in them, but we don't allow them to transform the very way we understand apologetics, the very way we approach those with whom we disagree, and the very way in which we give a response to those who are asking us the reason for the hope that is in this. Okay, all right, we've left a few minutes before we have to go. Do you have questions before we close out