WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:06.640 All righty, well, by show of hands, who was here either on Friday evening or yesterday? 00:00:07.640 --> 00:00:12.599 ! Oh, very good, a good few of you. So hopefully you're not too tired of hearing my voice at 00:00:12.599 --> 00:00:17.620 ! this stage, because we've been together for a little while. But yeah, this morning we're 00:00:17.620 --> 00:00:24.820 going to be in 1 Peter 3, verses 13 to 16. It is one of my favorite sections of Scripture, 00:00:25.280 --> 00:00:29.320 and hopefully I'll be able to share a little bit of why, you know, given the work that I 00:00:29.320 --> 00:00:35.000 feel the Lord has called me to be doing, but has also called every single one of us to be doing. 00:00:35.280 --> 00:00:40.140 I'll be able to share a bit of that. With Solus, you know, I mentioned the work that I do with going 00:00:40.140 --> 00:00:46.859 out to universities a lot of the time and speaking to students on campuses and really trying to show 00:00:46.859 --> 00:00:52.640 that the Christian faith is true and actually makes sense of life, I think, better than anything else, 00:00:52.679 --> 00:00:58.380 any other worldview or religion. And as I'm going about and doing that, what I encounter a lot of 00:00:58.380 --> 00:01:06.100 the time is misunderstandings. People have a lot of misunderstandings. And so on that note, 00:01:06.579 --> 00:01:12.760 there were three daughters who left home and went out to be on their own and all became quite 00:01:12.760 --> 00:01:17.560 successful. We can click to the next slide if you don't mind. But getting back together, they all 00:01:17.560 --> 00:01:22.780 discussed the lovely gifts that they'd gotten for their elderly mother, because it was her birthday 00:01:22.780 --> 00:01:29.620 coming up. The first said, I have built mom a big new house. She's absolutely going to love it. 00:01:30.400 --> 00:01:35.760 Not too bad. The second says, oh, you know, very, very good. But, you know, I have got her a brand new 00:01:35.760 --> 00:01:42.579 Mercedes with her own personal driver. Very good, said the third sister, but I've got you both beat. 00:01:42.980 --> 00:01:46.780 You know how mom enjoys reading the Bible, but, you know, her eyes are getting a bit bad and so she 00:01:46.780 --> 00:01:53.460 can't see that well anymore. So, I have got her a talking parrot that can recite the entire Bible. 00:01:54.000 --> 00:01:59.640 It took 12 monks in a monastery two years to teach him. I had to pledge to contribute 2,000 pounds a 00:01:59.640 --> 00:02:04.819 year for the next two years, but totally worth it. All mom has to do is name the chapter and the verse, 00:02:04.819 --> 00:02:13.080 and there you go. This parrot will recite it. Pretty cool. Soon after, their mother sent each of 00:02:13.080 --> 00:02:20.180 them a letter of thanks. To the first daughter, she wrote, Melinda, thank you so much for the gift, 00:02:20.340 --> 00:02:24.800 but this house you built is just too big. You know, I only really live in one room. It's too big for me 00:02:24.800 --> 00:02:31.180 to clean. Please can we make a plan and get something smaller? To the second daughter, she wrote, 00:02:31.420 --> 00:02:38.020 my dearest Mavis, I'm getting too old. I don't go out much. As lovely as this car is, it's just, 00:02:38.020 --> 00:02:43.600 you know, a bit extravagant. And frankly, the driver is a bit rude. Please can we sack him? 00:02:44.880 --> 00:02:53.600 Oops. To the third daughter, she wrote, my dearest Marigold, you were the only girl with the good 00:02:53.600 --> 00:03:00.400 sense to know what your dear old mother really likes. Thank you so much for the chicken you sent 00:03:00.400 --> 00:03:07.719 over. It was absolutely delicious. I think I like telling that more than people like hearing it. 00:03:08.020 --> 00:03:14.480 But it just tees up the reality of misunderstandings. Sometimes we can really just get the wrong 00:03:14.480 --> 00:03:21.900 impression of what's going on, and that happens when it comes to our faith. As I say, I'm going 00:03:21.900 --> 00:03:26.700 around campuses and speaking to people in different settings, and even in churches, a lot of the time 00:03:26.700 --> 00:03:32.200 we have misunderstandings. You know, who was Jesus? Sometimes is the question I get. Did he even exist? 00:03:32.320 --> 00:03:36.700 You know, what about the Bible? Isn't it just this corrupted tool used to oppress other people? 00:03:36.699 --> 00:03:43.259 Isn't it full of mistakes and contradictions? What about ethics? Aren't Christians bigots if they 00:03:43.259 --> 00:03:48.299 believe the Bible to be true? What about the sciences? I spend many years studying and working 00:03:48.299 --> 00:03:53.239 in the sciences, and the question comes up all the time, you know, doesn't science disprove God? 00:03:53.620 --> 00:03:57.979 You know, doesn't it? You know, God has closed, science has closed all the gaps that we once used to 00:03:57.979 --> 00:04:03.060 fill with this idea of God. You know, all these really big questions. And again, you know, 00:04:03.060 --> 00:04:08.500 you Christians are just so narrow. How dare you say that there's only one way to salvation? 00:04:09.360 --> 00:04:14.800 Right? Lots of big questions, lots of misunderstandings. And I think increasingly so, 00:04:14.879 --> 00:04:20.840 we've seen this over the years with a rise in antagonism to the Christian faith, where sticking 00:04:20.840 --> 00:04:26.060 to your Christian convictions might actually get you in a little bit of trouble, you know, 00:04:26.100 --> 00:04:30.560 in the face of these misunderstandings and all of that. And you hear this often. I mean, 00:04:30.560 --> 00:04:36.280 you look at the news, and you see headlines about people even losing their jobs for sticking to 00:04:36.280 --> 00:04:40.019 their guns and sticking to their faith. And just being, you know what, I just believe the Bible 00:04:40.019 --> 00:04:45.540 is true, and communicating that actually getting them in trouble. You look at the headlines recently 00:04:45.540 --> 00:04:51.060 about things happening around the world, specifically in places like Nigeria, where Christians are really 00:04:51.060 --> 00:04:57.779 being persecuted because of what they believe, because of their faith. So it's intense, and it's real, 00:04:57.779 --> 00:05:04.719 and we need to reckon with it. But at the same time, it's not all bad news. It's not all doom and gloom. 00:05:05.059 --> 00:05:10.179 It's a sort of bit of a down at the beginning, but it's not all bad. There's also a wonderful 00:05:10.179 --> 00:05:16.000 opportunity that we have. As you read the headlines about the term that's been used is this idea of a 00:05:16.000 --> 00:05:21.639 quiet revival and openness to spirituality that is really on the increase. And so people are, 00:05:21.639 --> 00:05:27.800 seems to be anyway, people are slightly more receptive to hearing about faith, hearing about 00:05:27.800 --> 00:05:33.860 the gospel. And I think more and more people, the reason for this is that people are really feeling 00:05:33.860 --> 00:05:39.860 disheartened, right? They're feeling disheartened as they look around in culture and see that the 00:05:39.860 --> 00:05:46.099 world hasn't delivered on its promises. You know, the promise of technology. It hasn't delivered 00:05:46.100 --> 00:05:52.860 all of the joy that it promised. Politics really just, you know, seemed to be an endless muddle, 00:05:53.240 --> 00:06:00.160 right? And science, as good as it is, seems to have, you know, also raised more questions than 00:06:00.160 --> 00:06:04.400 provided solutions a lot of the times. And it doesn't answer life's biggest questions. 00:06:05.600 --> 00:06:09.879 And so what this has led to, I think, in many ways, is this overarching mood of anxiety 00:06:09.879 --> 00:06:19.639 and worry, widespread confusion, and many times, hopelessness. Hopelessness. And so as we look 00:06:19.639 --> 00:06:24.800 around at the state of the world, I think people are honestly looking for something true and something 00:06:24.800 --> 00:06:31.379 lasting, something that can go the distance and bear the weight of our human hopes and desires. 00:06:32.500 --> 00:06:38.060 And so if you're a Christian here this morning, I think you would agree with me that we know what 00:06:38.060 --> 00:06:46.040 that hope is. We know what that fulfillment is. And that is the gospel. It is the true and lasting hope 00:06:46.040 --> 00:06:53.120 that we find in Jesus Christ. And the Christian worldview, I think, the Christian faith makes sense 00:06:53.120 --> 00:06:59.340 of the world, and we have something amazing to offer in terms of this hope of the gospel. 00:07:00.399 --> 00:07:06.879 And so we have the commission to do that and the opportunity. And that is where we come to this 00:07:06.879 --> 00:07:11.800 passage this morning that we've had read. It's very short, so I'm going to read it again for us. And 00:07:11.800 --> 00:07:16.259 you can just follow along if we can have that up on the screen again. Oh, very good. Head of the game. 00:07:17.180 --> 00:07:23.620 So 1 Peter 3, 13 to 16 says, Now who is there to harm you if you're zealous for what is good? 00:07:23.779 --> 00:07:28.659 I've got the ESV here. But even if you should suffer for righteousness' sake, you will be blessed. 00:07:28.660 --> 00:07:37.140 Have no fear of them, nor be troubled. But in your heart, honor Christ the Lord as holy. Always being 00:07:37.140 --> 00:07:42.460 prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you, yet do it 00:07:42.460 --> 00:07:49.580 with gentleness and respect. Having a good conscience, so that when you are slandered, those who revile your 00:07:49.580 --> 00:07:57.660 good behavior in Christ may be put to shame. So what's going on here? What's a bit of the context? 00:07:57.660 --> 00:08:03.180 You know, prior to this section, what has the Apostle Peter been doing in this letter to the 00:08:03.180 --> 00:08:09.520 church? And it is to the church very broadly. Well, he's been exhorting the church to holy living, 00:08:09.720 --> 00:08:16.620 to be living a life of love and compassion toward one another, not repaying evil for evil as the 00:08:16.620 --> 00:08:23.240 world would do, but rather, on the contrary, repaying evil with a blessing. And so if you go and read the 00:08:23.240 --> 00:08:29.340 section leading up to this, and I hope later today you would actually go and do that, I think as Peter 00:08:29.340 --> 00:08:35.460 does that, the words of Jesus are probably on his mind when he thinks to Jesus' radical teaching 00:08:35.460 --> 00:08:43.320 of turning the other cheek and loving your enemies, right? I think that's important because this 00:08:43.320 --> 00:08:50.259 exhortation that we see here that Peter has given us is to a church that is under intense persecution. 00:08:50.259 --> 00:08:55.879 And this is in Rome under the Emperor Nero at the time where Christians were being tortured and killed 00:08:55.879 --> 00:09:03.240 for their faith, and the church in Jerusalem was being scattered, right? And so it's into that 00:09:03.240 --> 00:09:11.200 when verse 13 he says, who then will harm you if you're devoted to what is good? But even if, 00:09:11.799 --> 00:09:18.700 even if you should suffer for righteousness, you are blessed. Do not fear them or be intimidated. 00:09:18.700 --> 00:09:27.320 And so just a couple of observations. The first is that we don't fear people. We fear God. We don't fear 00:09:27.320 --> 00:09:34.660 people. We fear God. Peter is not saying to go out and seek persecution, but he says even if it comes, 00:09:35.200 --> 00:09:43.340 don't be intimidated. Don't be intimidated. And I think reflecting on the Western church, especially 00:09:43.340 --> 00:09:49.639 and maybe in the UK and the West in general, I think in many times what we've been concerned with 00:09:49.639 --> 00:09:56.440 more than other things is our comfort. It's our comfort. And so we've pulled back from doing 00:09:56.440 --> 00:10:02.460 anything or saying anything that might cause offense to other people, because then it might lead to a 00:10:02.460 --> 00:10:07.060 tough conversation, and that's uncomfortable. It might lead to persecution, some real implications for 00:10:07.059 --> 00:10:11.000 my job and for my life. And so what we do is, okay, we're just going to take a step back and maybe 00:10:11.000 --> 00:10:17.139 another step back and maybe another step back until the idea of sharing our faith and going out there 00:10:17.139 --> 00:10:24.319 and not having fear is just so far from our minds. And so what Peter is doing here is exhorting us and 00:10:24.319 --> 00:10:30.579 saying, no, no, no, we don't fear people. We don't fear people. We have something amazing that we take out 00:10:30.580 --> 00:10:38.759 to the world, even if it leads to a bit of strife, even if it leads to persecution. And then he moves 00:10:38.759 --> 00:10:45.340 to verse 15, where we'll spend some time. It says, but in your hearts, regard Christ the Lord as holy, 00:10:45.879 --> 00:10:52.460 ready at any time to give a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you. 00:10:53.460 --> 00:11:00.100 Now, this is the classic verse that people go to for something called apologetics. 00:11:00.580 --> 00:11:04.639 Now, you may be hearing that word for the first time or maybe not, but you might be thinking, 00:11:04.980 --> 00:11:09.600 Apollo, what are you actually talking about? Is that about apologizing for our faith? 00:11:10.740 --> 00:11:18.639 Well, actually, no. This is taken from the Greek word apologia, right? Apologia, depends who you ask. 00:11:19.040 --> 00:11:26.100 But that word is translated defense, right? Always be prepared to give an apology, a defense, 00:11:26.100 --> 00:11:31.080 a reason, right? I remember when I first sort of discovered this whole thing of apologetics, 00:11:31.159 --> 00:11:34.779 and I thought, oh, this is great. I didn't even know this is a thing. And I went to my gran, 00:11:34.860 --> 00:11:39.300 who is a good, faithful Christian lady, and said, oh, gran, I just love this apologetic stuff. And 00:11:39.300 --> 00:11:45.680 she was like, oh, nonsense, nonsense. I will never apologize for my faith. I was like, I don't think 00:11:45.680 --> 00:11:51.620 that's what we're saying, gran, but thank you. Amen. Amen to that. It's a word that's really used in more 00:11:51.620 --> 00:11:56.799 legal type settings, right? It's not about apologizing. It's about giving a logical or 00:11:56.799 --> 00:12:03.720 reasoned or persuasive explanation or answer for something. And in particular here, it's about a 00:12:03.720 --> 00:12:09.620 reasonable and persuasive explanation of the Christian faith and our hope in the gospel. 00:12:10.779 --> 00:12:17.259 Okay, but before Peter really gets there to this whole reasoning and defending, I think he gives us 00:12:17.259 --> 00:12:23.779 three things to think about. Three thoughts related to that. And these are, and these will be sort of 00:12:23.779 --> 00:12:30.039 my main points, the heart of the Christian, the mind of the Christian, and the hope of the Christian. 00:12:30.200 --> 00:12:36.019 And so the first there is the heart of the Christian. Okay, before any of this reasoning and all that, he says, 00:12:36.399 --> 00:12:42.879 but in your hearts, this is the starting point, but in your hearts, regard Christ the Lord as holy. 00:12:42.879 --> 00:12:49.220 See, we're all called to be able to give a reason for the hope that we have. But before we get there, 00:12:49.600 --> 00:12:55.779 we have to have hearts that are orientated toward Jesus, hearts that know him, hearts that love him 00:12:55.779 --> 00:13:02.100 and serve him and worship him above all else. That is the starting place, right? And so if we haven't 00:13:02.100 --> 00:13:07.279 ourselves done that, if we haven't experienced the love of Christ and sat at his feet through intentional 00:13:07.279 --> 00:13:13.139 communion by being with him, being in his word, being in prayer, being in the body of Christ that 00:13:13.139 --> 00:13:18.919 is in community with other people, there is no way we're ever going to be able to fulfill this commission 00:13:18.919 --> 00:13:25.539 that we're called to by giving a reason and a defense, right? Our hearts should be so enamored 00:13:25.539 --> 00:13:31.740 by the gospel that it drives out all fear. If you don't have that, then there will be fear, 00:13:31.740 --> 00:13:38.019 right? But perfect love drives out fear. And so that is why it starts with knowing Jesus, 00:13:38.139 --> 00:13:46.080 really knowing him for ourselves. That is the starting point. And so you might not be the most 00:13:46.080 --> 00:13:52.860 eloquent person with all the answers. I definitely am not, as those who've been here this weekend will be 00:13:52.860 --> 00:14:00.680 like, he definitely is not. No, I'm joking. But what I have, and what you also do have, is a heart that you can 00:14:00.679 --> 00:14:08.000 daily commit to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. That is what all of us have, and that is the most 00:14:08.000 --> 00:14:14.120 important thing. That is the starting point. It's, but in your hearts, regard Christ the Lord as holy. 00:14:15.139 --> 00:14:22.819 The second point is the mind of the Christian. The mind of the Christian. It says, ready at any time 00:14:22.819 --> 00:14:27.939 to give a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you. 00:14:27.940 --> 00:14:36.260 A few years ago, I worked with a lady who is a very, very ardent atheist. And we got into discussions 00:14:36.260 --> 00:14:42.740 about religion quite often. If you hear here yesterday, you would have told the story of how 00:14:42.740 --> 00:14:46.960 I use questions of, you know, what do you mean by that? Or why do you think that when she asked very 00:14:46.960 --> 00:14:52.540 hard questions or had these objections? And I remember once, very early on in chatting to her, 00:14:52.620 --> 00:14:57.340 I said, oh no, yeah, I'm a Christian because I think there's great evidence for the truth of 00:14:57.340 --> 00:15:02.340 Christianity. And she like stopped in her tracks and looked at me as though I'd stolen cake from a 00:15:02.340 --> 00:15:09.080 child, like appalled. How could you say that? Evidence for your faith? In her mind, it's all just blind 00:15:09.080 --> 00:15:14.120 faith. Either you believe it or you don't. There's no evidence for it. You know, she'd never come across 00:15:14.120 --> 00:15:19.019 any of this stuff. The church that she'd been in, she told me, had really not been open to kind of 00:15:19.019 --> 00:15:23.960 questions and asking things and digging deep and trying to find answers. And that had left a mark on her. 00:15:23.960 --> 00:15:32.340 And so her mind, in her mind, it was all just blind faith. But on the contrary, the Christian faith, 00:15:33.019 --> 00:15:39.879 Christianity is grounded in reason and evidence. And I think sadly, and this is the point, I think the 00:15:39.879 --> 00:15:46.540 church has in so many ways listened to what the world has told us about this idea of blind faith. And 00:15:46.540 --> 00:15:52.340 so what we've done is we've retreated from engaging in the tough questions. We've just retreated from the 00:15:52.340 --> 00:15:56.540 me like, no, no, I have my faith and that's all that matters. I just got my faith. No, no, of course it 00:15:56.540 --> 00:16:02.639 starts with faith. Of course it's bathed in faith and undergirded by faith and faith permeates it. 00:16:02.860 --> 00:16:08.300 But there's reason and evidence at the same time. We're not called to switch our brains off, 00:16:08.800 --> 00:16:16.320 right? We've so often retreated from a discipleship of the mind. And that's the opposite of what Peter is 00:16:16.320 --> 00:16:23.840 calling us to, right? So now that is the rational side. There is the rational side, but of course 00:16:23.840 --> 00:16:33.160 there is also the side of the emotion. And that is something we cannot negate. But what Peter is 00:16:33.160 --> 00:16:39.960 saying here is engage the mind along with the heart. Here are just a couple of verses that speak to that. 00:16:40.160 --> 00:16:44.360 Matthew 22, 37 says, Jesus speaking, quoting Deuteronomy, he says, 00:16:44.360 --> 00:16:47.600 love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind. 00:16:48.000 --> 00:16:53.620 2 Corinthians 10, 5, we demolish arguments. This is Paul speaking. We demolish arguments and every 00:16:53.620 --> 00:17:00.860 pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God. And we take captive every thought to make 00:17:00.860 --> 00:17:05.940 it obedient to Christ, right? Sometimes that verse is used to say something around, you know, 00:17:06.160 --> 00:17:11.120 no, we take sinful thoughts captive. I think that is true. Obviously, we take them to the cross and 00:17:11.119 --> 00:17:16.239 to Christ. But in its context here, this is primarily about talking about philosophies and 00:17:16.239 --> 00:17:22.179 worldviews and religions that would deny the deity of Christ. They would deny that he is indeed God in 00:17:22.179 --> 00:17:26.619 the flesh. And he says those arguments, not the people, but the arguments need to be demolished. 00:17:27.079 --> 00:17:33.459 Well, that's tough. But that's what we're called to. Here are just very quickly a couple of 00:17:33.459 --> 00:17:39.019 instances I see through the book of Acts where this happens. It's not just a, hey, we're just going to 00:17:39.019 --> 00:17:43.359 have faith. It's like, no, no, engaging with people, understanding where they're at, understanding 00:17:43.359 --> 00:17:48.660 what their worldview is, and saying, okay, based on where they are, how do I engage them with the 00:17:48.660 --> 00:17:56.240 gospel? The first is Acts 2, where we see Peter. He reasons with the Jews from Scripture that Jesus is 00:17:56.240 --> 00:18:02.559 the Messiah. He reasons with them. That language is there. Acts 2, 5, devout Jews from every nation 00:18:02.559 --> 00:18:08.319 living under Jerusalem is how he starts speaking to them. He understands who they are, and then he speaks 00:18:08.319 --> 00:18:15.559 to them, pointing out that Jesus fulfills Old Testament prophecy, and he demonstrates that Jesus meets the 00:18:15.559 --> 00:18:22.779 specific expectations that they have. And so he understands that, no, they acknowledge the Old Testament as 00:18:22.779 --> 00:18:28.960 being something that is the source of authority, and so he appeals to that, and he uses this familiar language. 00:18:29.079 --> 00:18:34.700 He speaks about the Lord and the Messiah. And so he doesn't just assert with them that the resurrection 00:18:34.700 --> 00:18:41.680 is true. What he does is he interprets it to them. He interprets it to them. And so he's basically saying, 00:18:41.779 --> 00:18:47.880 did this really happen? Yes, it did. And what does that actually mean? What is the significance of that? 00:18:48.200 --> 00:18:55.640 Go and read Acts 2. It's brilliant. We see it again in Acts 17 now, and it's not Paul, it's Peter. I'm sorry, 00:18:55.700 --> 00:19:00.440 it's not Peter, but it's Paul now in Acts 17, where he takes a very, very different approach, 00:19:00.440 --> 00:19:05.580 understanding that these Greek philosophers that he's speaking to, they don't recognize the Old 00:19:05.580 --> 00:19:11.740 Testament as their source of authority. What does he do? He learns their philosophy. He learns about 00:19:11.740 --> 00:19:18.299 some of their poets, and they're big thinkers, and he knows about it. He can actually quote them, 00:19:18.519 --> 00:19:23.279 and that's where he meets them. He understands these Greeks were more Platonic in their thinking, 00:19:23.279 --> 00:19:29.660 and so he engages in philosophical reasoning with them at the Areopagus in Athens, right? And he 00:19:29.660 --> 00:19:35.339 appeals not to the Old Testament, but he appeals to the sense of divinity and what's called natural 00:19:35.339 --> 00:19:39.259 theology. He appeals to the world around us and saying, hey, you know, you know, there is this, 00:19:39.660 --> 00:19:46.379 you acknowledge there is this unknown God, and let me bring to you who he is, right? And so he finds 00:19:46.379 --> 00:19:51.019 another point of contact with them. It's not, hey, here's the Old Testament hope of the Messiah that he 00:19:51.019 --> 00:19:58.960 speaks to the Pharisees with and the Jews with, like we see with Peter in Acts 2, but here he says, 00:19:59.039 --> 00:20:04.039 oh, no, no, there's something else. There's this unknown God. Let me come and explain to you who that 00:20:04.039 --> 00:20:09.720 is. It's the point of contact, right? Because these guys, they didn't have any Old Testament 00:20:09.720 --> 00:20:14.400 background. They didn't know the Old Testament scriptures at all, and so Paul appealing to that 00:20:14.400 --> 00:20:20.740 wouldn't have made any sense, right? Yeah. So, I mean, Peter appeals in Acts 2 to the book of 00:20:20.740 --> 00:20:25.640 Scripture, the Old Testament that they would have been familiar with, but Paul appeals to the book 00:20:25.640 --> 00:20:30.620 of nature, right? And so we see this happening. It's different engagement with people in different 00:20:30.620 --> 00:20:37.660 ways, understanding their background, understanding the audience. And so Paul believed in the theological 00:20:37.660 --> 00:20:45.500 truth and the apologetic importance of this, right? And then later in Acts again, we see another 00:20:45.500 --> 00:20:51.740 really different approach. Acts 24 to 26, we see Paul again, but he doesn't interact in the way he 00:20:51.740 --> 00:20:58.220 did in Acts 17. Rather, he's now in the Roman legal system. And he, as you look at the structure that he 00:20:58.220 --> 00:21:04.259 gives, experts on the time and the text there would say, oh, no, what he's doing here is he's entering in 00:21:04.259 --> 00:21:09.660 to the Roman legal system, and he puts forth a defense that would have been structured according to the 00:21:09.660 --> 00:21:14.779 rules and regulations of sort of legal system interaction. And that's, again, really important. 00:21:15.180 --> 00:21:19.279 He understood, okay, now I'm stepping into this setting. I have to understand the people that I'm 00:21:19.279 --> 00:21:25.400 going to speak to. And so the way I communicate the gospel is different. It's not a different gospel, 00:21:25.540 --> 00:21:30.779 but the way I interact with them is different. And so that's basically the point of just showing those 00:21:30.779 --> 00:21:38.019 three instances is, in a nutshell, to say we, it's not a cookie cutter approach. And it's understanding 00:21:38.019 --> 00:21:43.399 people. It's doing them the service of saying, hey, let's sit together as I'm going to bring a reason and a 00:21:43.399 --> 00:21:49.559 defense for the hope of the gospel. Do I understand the person sitting in front of me? Or do I just view them as 00:21:49.559 --> 00:21:56.259 some kind of project? That won't work, right? We have to understand and love people well, understand what's going on in 00:21:56.259 --> 00:22:04.079 their lives before we can reach them properly with the gospel, I think. So how do we do that better 00:22:04.079 --> 00:22:12.279 ourselves? To make a start, you know, I've thrown a lot at you there. Go to the Solus website. You'll find some 00:22:12.279 --> 00:22:18.819 good resources to start that. Find a decent book on apologetics or evangelism. Lots out there. Come chat to me 00:22:18.819 --> 00:22:25.119 afterwards. Speak to your pastor. Speak to James. Speak to the elders here. Find an older, wiser Christian who can help 00:22:25.119 --> 00:22:29.739 point you in the right direction of, hey, where do I find these answers? How do I interact with this 00:22:29.739 --> 00:22:33.579 kind of person or this kind of person who might be dealing with this or that? How does the gospel 00:22:33.579 --> 00:22:39.759 meet that person in their need? And then pray that God will bring you opportunities to engage with people 00:22:39.759 --> 00:22:46.759 about your faith. And I think he definitely will. The point is that I think we're all called to train our 00:22:46.759 --> 00:22:53.279 minds to be able to give a defense and a reason for our faith, as Peter calls us to. Some of us are more 00:22:53.279 --> 00:23:00.759 gifted than that, you know, at that or better equipped maybe, but all of us have a reason for 00:23:00.759 --> 00:23:07.399 the hope that we have. All of us have that reason. Do you know what that reason is? I suppose, have you 00:23:07.399 --> 00:23:13.039 ever actually stopped to think about what is your hope in? What is the gospel all about? How is that 00:23:13.039 --> 00:23:20.180 impacting your life? You need to stop and dwell on that for a little while. You don't necessarily need 00:23:20.180 --> 00:23:25.140 to be able to rattle off like 10 lines of evidence for the resurrection, although, you know, that would 00:23:25.140 --> 00:23:30.640 be useful. But what you can do when you're interacting with someone is just calmly and honestly share about 00:23:30.640 --> 00:23:37.759 what the Lord has done and is doing for you and to you. And that is all part of sharing the hope. 00:23:37.960 --> 00:23:41.580 It is the rational. It is the experiential at the same time. 00:23:43.580 --> 00:23:47.680 So then next is the heart. Sorry, we've seen the heart of the Christian, the mind of the Christian, 00:23:47.680 --> 00:23:52.340 and now third, the hope of the Christian. I've been alluding to this a lot. You know, in verse 15, 00:23:52.700 --> 00:23:57.840 always in your hearts regard Christ the Lord is holy, ready at any time to give a defense to anyone 00:23:57.840 --> 00:24:02.060 who asks for a reason. It doesn't end there, not just a reason for anything, a random reason, but a 00:24:02.060 --> 00:24:08.680 reason for the hope that is in you, right? What is that Christian hope? I don't want to assume that 00:24:08.680 --> 00:24:15.740 everyone sitting here knows what that hope is today or has fully laid hold of that hope. Maybe you 00:24:15.740 --> 00:24:21.259 might think it's all about me getting myself together, having my life in order, having followed 00:24:21.259 --> 00:24:26.180 all the rules, having done enough good deeds for a while and not done all the crazy stuff that I've 00:24:26.180 --> 00:24:31.019 kept on doing because then I'll be good enough to God and then God will hear my prayers and then 00:24:31.019 --> 00:24:38.779 God will enter me into his presence and I'll be able to come to him. But I have to get there first. 00:24:38.779 --> 00:24:45.660 It's not at all that. That is not the gospel. That is not the hope. That is what any other worldview and 00:24:45.660 --> 00:24:51.399 religion would say. It's all about you working your way up to God, right? That is where Christianity is so 00:24:51.399 --> 00:24:58.299 radically different. Radically different. It's basically saying all of us have fallen short. All of us have 00:24:58.299 --> 00:25:03.599 sinned and fallen short of the glory of God and we can't make it up. We can't climb the ladder. We can't get 00:25:03.599 --> 00:25:11.179 close enough to him ever, any of us. And so God in his mercy sees us in that fallen state and he himself 00:25:11.179 --> 00:25:18.359 steps in to find us. And that is what the coming of Christ is all about. God himself was born into this 00:25:18.359 --> 00:25:23.819 world in the person of Jesus Christ. He lived the perfect life. He died the death we deserve and then 00:25:23.819 --> 00:25:30.139 he was resurrected to new life, proving that he is God in the flesh, proving that death is not the end 00:25:30.140 --> 00:25:37.520 and proving that there is forgiveness when we come to him, just as he taught. John 3, 16, God so loved 00:25:37.520 --> 00:25:43.420 the world that he gave his one and only son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have 00:25:43.420 --> 00:25:49.380 everlasting life. Not whoever works their way up, whoever follows enough rules, you know, follow these 12 00:25:49.380 --> 00:25:54.860 rules and you'll find, you know, a better life and success or follow these five steps and these, this 00:25:54.860 --> 00:25:59.860 program and you'll find transcendence and enlightenment and then you'll have eternal life. No, no, it's 00:25:59.859 --> 00:26:07.099 it's whoever believes. It is faith. It is receiving God's gift of grace that we do not deserve. 00:26:07.500 --> 00:26:16.039 That is the hope. That is what Christianity is all about. Right? And that's what Jesus has done. And 00:26:16.039 --> 00:26:22.539 as you come to him and experience his love and experience his regeneration from the Holy Spirit, 00:26:22.619 --> 00:26:27.719 you are then transformed from the inside to live a new kind of life, to be free of your continual 00:26:27.720 --> 00:26:33.819 brokenness and actually live a life with your creator who loves you. That is the hope, or just 00:26:33.819 --> 00:26:40.259 part of anyway, the hope of Christianity and the truth of it. And it is true. So we have the heart of 00:26:40.259 --> 00:26:45.240 the Christian, the mind of the Christian, the hope of the Christian. I'm going to throw in the last one 00:26:45.240 --> 00:26:53.000 here, the character of the Christian, the character of the Christian. In verse 16, yet do this. All of this 00:26:53.000 --> 00:26:57.720 that we speak about, this, this answering, this engaging, all of it, do it with gentleness and 00:26:57.720 --> 00:27:03.799 reverence, keeping a clear conscience so that when you are accused by those who disparage your good 00:27:03.799 --> 00:27:11.579 conduct, they will be put to shame. You may not be able to keep people speaking evil of you or 00:27:11.579 --> 00:27:17.619 speaking badly about your faith, but what you can do, and this is something, it's sad we have to even 00:27:17.619 --> 00:27:24.079 say that something you can do is stop giving them ammunition for that, right? And the reason I say 00:27:24.079 --> 00:27:29.619 that is not too long ago, I was out speaking at a university, and a question, a young guy stood up, 00:27:29.659 --> 00:27:36.019 and he said, you know, if Christianity is so good, why are so many Christians jerks? I was like, 00:27:36.379 --> 00:27:43.339 thank you for your honesty, and it is true. It is true. So much of the time, and social media is just 00:27:43.339 --> 00:27:47.639 where you go for this. You don't, like, just don't go to comment sections on videos sometimes. It's like, 00:27:47.899 --> 00:27:53.919 it's where hope goes to die, really. But this, it's just too true. Sometimes the way that we engage 00:27:53.919 --> 00:28:00.240 people, often, I think more of the time, the way that we engage people says so much more than what 00:28:00.240 --> 00:28:05.279 we're actually saying, okay? And so that, and that is exactly what Peter says. He's saying, do this 00:28:05.279 --> 00:28:12.619 with the reverence, your whole life in reverence to Christ. That means living out the love and the 00:28:12.619 --> 00:28:18.719 generosity and the gentleness that Christ displayed as we go to love a broken world that so desperately 00:28:18.719 --> 00:28:23.799 needs the gospel. As people see that, they see that you take an interest in them, that you really love 00:28:23.799 --> 00:28:31.419 them, then they will actually listen to what we have to say. And so the life that we live and the 00:28:31.419 --> 00:28:38.239 reason that we give will then sing in harmony of the redemptive power and truth of Jesus Christ 00:28:38.240 --> 00:28:46.140 and the eternal hope that we have in him. Won't you bow your heads and pray with me before we sing again?