When you suffer share your hope

The theme of this passage is the difficulties facing Christians in the Roman World of Peter’s time. Even though I and you have not suffered greatly for our faith, we all have faced the fear of witnessing to people about the Lord. For Christians of the past to suffer was not unusual. For the first 300 years no legal protection was available. Today in Iraq and the Islamic world, China and India, life for Christians is very difficult. For 200 million Christians, their lives are in serious difficulties, 500 million more face opposition. Where there is a great deal of opposition and hardship, very often people are converted. Why should this be? We all face the fear of witnessing.
A POSSIBLE OUTCOME WHEN WE DO GOOD.
All Christians are eager to do good. Few would normally harm a believer who does good. These believers are gracious and kind. This is a general principle, Proverbs 16:7. It does have exceptions but is a general maxim. An upright life is a peaceful life.
A SECOND OUTCOME WHEN WE DO GOOD.
A zeal for goodness isn’t a guarantee against persecution. When our life is above reproach we will still have critics. Jesus experienced this, he suffered hostility to the point of death.
WE OUGHT TO REMEMBER WE ARE BLESSED. Matthew 5:10
A life pleasing to God will receive an eternal reward. To be blessed is be privileged or honoured. Peter reminds us, don’t fear those who can only kill the body but fear him who can kill body and soul in hell/.
4. WE OUGHT NOT TO LET OPPOSITION ALARM US–Isaiah 8:12
God plus one is a majority – always. Hebrews 13:5-6. Isaiah spoke to a frightened people, Israel, who faced a vastly greater super power, Assyria. Isaiah said do not fear the mighty army before you. They had no allies. Isaiah was proved right. When we feel surrounded and afraid and do not seem to have a way to escape, we have God on our side. Nothing can separate us from the Love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Polycarp, Luther and others stood alone against tyranny knowing God was on their side. Opposition need not be personal, it can be on TV, the press etc.
WE OUGHT TO REVERENCE GOD ABOVE ALL Isaiah 8:12-3
Set apart = sanctify = hallowed. These are all the same word in Greek. It should be determined in our hearts. Fear Christ as God above anyone who threatens to harm us. If we belong to God we can entrust our future to him. He will return and crush all opposition.
WE OUGHT TO BE READY TO ANSWER QUESTIONS
‘Answer’ is the Greek, is where we get the English ‘apology’, this apologia, a legal defence in a court room. A lawyer presents facts in a court room. It implies a thoughtful, logical presentation of the facts.
a) Answer readily. The church has people who have gifts to reason and confirm the face, for example, C S Lewis, Josh McDowell etc. We use the term ‘apologist’ to describe people like John Blanchard. He exposes the folly of an unbelieving life. A believer should be ready to explain about why they hope in God and their faith. It is not just the more able presenters. We may speak informally to people we meet. Peter had become frightened in the court yard when challenged by a little girl, he remembered he had not been ready to answer and he answered with oaths and curses.
b) Answer those who ask. If people ask it implies they have noticed something, prompted by our own testimony, or issues in the news. We may have hope and joy, even when we are mistreated. They may ask ‘why are you different?’ we cannot have Christ living within us without some of him leaking out. We feel afraid of saying the wrong thing, of not getting it right or not having the right answers. We ought to not be afraid of admitting we need look things up. But the Lord will help us. We may need to prepare to do it. The gospel message is simple. Try the 3 Rs: RUIN – mankind has a bad heart. REDEMPTION – God sent his son into the world to save sinners. REGENERATION – we live a new life. People’s objections are often simply a diversion. We need to think carefully about how we approach others. Our answer may have to do with the trustworthiness of the New Testament; or the self-authenticating teaching of Jesus; or the evidence of Christ’s resurrection and the fact of changed lives, or what a wonderful difference the Lord Jesus has made to our lives, but be ready.
c) Answer wisely. Show gentleness and respect in our approach. Colossians 4:5-6 We must be winsome if would win some. We must be careful how we speak, we can win the argument but lose the person. We can never bully people into the kingdom. We must respect people so they will respect the message. We need to silently pray for the person as we speak. People may know we are a Christian, hear we are a Christian or see we are and they ask us.
WE NEED TO KEEP A GOOD CONSCIENCE.
A clear conscience is essential for effective witness. A conscience is not an infallible guide, it needs to be exposed to God’s word in order to be kept sharp. We need to live beyond reproach. We need to live carefully at all times and pray that we can overcome our sin.
8. PETER SAYS ACCEPT GOD’S WILL
If our life belongs to Christ, nothing can take God’s love away from you. It may be that we do what is right and it gets us into difficulties as people turn against us. If we experience opposition because of our faith, it is evidence that we belong to him and we will go to Heaven to be with him. Christ will be will be glorified if we live this way.