Security in a Hostile World
Published by Stanley Pouw in 2010 · 18 July 2010
“Now who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good? 14 But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, 15but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, 16 having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame.”
Remember now that the Apostle Peter has been giving some clear and essential instruction to the believers about living in a hostile world. They, in fact, were undergoing persecution, great difficulty and they were being rejected by the society they were in. They were experiencing real hostilities.
So in chapter 2, Peter begins to describe all the right human relationships that are essential for us as we attempt to reach this world for Christ. He explains how our relationship to government should be. He talks about our relationship to authority. And He teaches us about the correct relationship to our employer.
In chapter 3 he talks about our relationship to our marital partner, husband to wife, wife to husband. How we are to live as citizens under the government with an evangelistic goal in mind, how we are to live as employees under an employer with evangelistic purpose in mind, and how we are to live as a Christian married to an unbeliever with an evangelistic purpose in mind.
Then coming down to verses 8 to 12 he talks about the general attitude with which we live in the world which touches everyone that we meet that we discussed last week. Up until now he has really been laying a foundation, this is who you are and here is how you are to act in the midst of a hostile society.
Now given that you live this way in a hostile society, here are securities from God when society comes against you. How we are to trust in the power of righteousness, to triumph over hostility and to triumph over suffering? Our Father in heaven wants us to have a confident joy rather than being alarmed or having anxiety.
Now in Peter's time the situation was not much different from our time. There was direct hostility and some direct persecution against the people of God, which is also happening in many parts of the world. Although in the United States it is not as overt and aggressive, at least not officially, I believe there is mounting hostility toward Christianity here as well.
You can see it in a number of ways. I saw this little catalog; it's one of those kind of catalogs that you get in the mail. It's called "Casual Living USA," It's a catalog of various gifts and it has bird feeders, little computers, puzzles and little barometers and coffee cups etc.
And then in the middle of it is a most interesting new game that is introduced. The name of the game is "Fleece The Flock, The TV Evangelist Game." It is called a "signs of the times board game." Everybody in the game is a TV evangelist who prefers new limos to the Old Testament, it says.
The game is about getting as money as you can while you're gripped by intrigue, strategy pressures and subterfuge that keep everyone in suspense. Two to eight players, the game box includes $400 million, devil cards, angel cards and God's will cards, 30 TV stations, 90 tokens for power assets, corporate jets, etc. This is the new TV evangelist game.
Tongue in cheek, yes, but also betraying an underlying hostility to the faults of Christianity, obviously. We are in a society that has a flourishing secularism, a flourishing materialism, a flourishing humanism, a society that is bent on fornication.
We are in a society that has made homosexuality nothing but an alternate life style, a society that is drowning in pornography, a society that is deep into man solving his own problems in whatever way he chooses to feel comfortable about himself.
And in this society you have an emerging hostility toward anything related to Christianity. And I know that as we live in days ahead, we may sense more and more of this hostility if not on an official governmental level, on an unofficial personal level, to be sure.
So God is providing these verses for us right now. These verses are for every person who lives a godly life in an ungodly culture, and these verses teach us how to defend ourselves against these hostile threats. And we will hold up well under slander if they cannot find some direct evil in our behavior.
Well God is giving us through Peter principles that will provide us with the security that we need. As we discussed before the first thing God teaches us is to have a passion for doing good.
The first verse tonight says, “Now who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good?”(1 Peter 3:13). It is rare anywhere that you are mistreated because you do good. Even in a hostile country the people that are benefitting society, those who help others and care are seldom hurt.
Do you know what being zealous means in the bible? The zealots in Israel were fanatical patriots that pledged to liberate Israel from foreign rule even if it would cost them their lives. They would do anything for this purpose and this included violence and assassinations.
Peter is saying that we should be just as fanatical in doing good, willing to sacrifice your comforts and your worldly possessions for the purpose of loving all the people that you come into contact with.
And anything good that you are willing to do for God requires sacrifice. This concept of sacrificial giving is taught early in the Old Testament where there is a substantial cost related to each lamb or calf sacrifice.
Similarly in the New Testament loving God and your neighbor also requires much sacrifice. Ephesians 5:2 says, “And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” Christ gives us the example by paying the ultimate sacrifice of giving His life for us to save us.
This does not mean that every Christian that suffers is blessed. Many times Christians suffer because they are not doing good, or they refuse to get involved, or they refuse to give up their time, energy and money to help other people.
Many Christians often forget that all the money, and all their possessions that they have are just on loan to them from God. God wants to know what they will do with all those blessings, God wants to test them to see if they are doers of the Word where they become blessings to others and if they really put God first by tithing faithfully to the church.
Sometimes in doing good and showing love we sacrifice our time, effort, health or maybe our freedom and we suffer. So God is teaching us through Peter in verse 14, “But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled.”
So even if by chance you should suffer for righteousness, you will have God’s blessing. Our God who knows everything and sees that you are suffering, here gives us comfort and security by saying that He blesses us when we suffer for His sake.
Let us jump ahead for a moment and look at 1 Peter 4:12, “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you.” Don’t be surprised if you suffer because you are loving others and preaching the gospel.
Here again Peter says the same thing, you will suffer even for doing good, accept that. The Spirit of glory from God will rest on you. God will have a purpose in it all should it happen, because God wants to prepare you, for it may happen. In fact, if you go back into chapter 2 and verse 21, you might even consider it a privilege. Christ also suffered, it says, leaving you an example.
The time will come where our society will not tolerate even a good life. They will not tolerate a righteous man or a righteous woman. The very presence of holy virtue will irritate them to the point that they will have to act aggressively against you. But, says Peter, as long as we suffer for what is right, we are blessed.
Now what does "blessed" mean? It's not so much the idea of happy, not so much the idea of joyful as it is the idea of privileged, or honored. Do you remember where the bible says of Mary, "Blessed are you among women?" This does not mean "happy." In fact, her heart was pierced with many sorrows (Luke 2:35). But it meant privileged and it can mean honored.
It meant that she was the object of divine favor and divine grace and divine goodness and special dispensation from God was granted to her to do a special task and to enjoy special goodness at the hand of God. And that's exactly what it means here.
Even if you should suffer for the sake of righteousness, you're privileged, you are honored. Why? Because you can join, as it were, in the sufferings of Christ, you can fellowship in His sufferings. Philippians 3:10 says, “that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death.”
What else does Peter say in the beginning of verse 15? It says. “Have no fear of them (suffering), nor be troubled, 15but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy.” It means that no matter what comes against you, no matter what attacks you, you affirm in your heart that Christ is Lord.
The only one I really have to fear, the only one I really have to dread is the Lord. It does not bother me what men may do to me. It does bother me what God may do to me. It means that you recognize the sovereign majesty of Christ.
Christianity means that in whatever happens in our life, good or bad, we exalt Christ above everything else. Christ is more important than everything that has to do with me, my dreams, my satisfaction and my goals.
Only He is the object of my love, my loyalty and commitment. Only He is the object of my awe, my reverence and my worship. I recognize His perfection. I magnify His glory. I exalt His greatness. I honor the living Christ as my Lord and therefore I submit myself to Him and His plan for me.
Then says Peter there is yet another reason we can feel secure. Verse 15, "always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect." God gives us "a preparedness to answer." It's a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you.
What is that? Very simply that's the Christian faith. In other words, you are to be able to give a rational explanation and defense of why you are a Christian. Christian hope and Christian faith really mean the same thing.
So, he's simply saying be able to defend your Christianity, be able to tell people why you believe what you believe. Understand why you believe what you believe and then be able to articulate it. And then he adds in verse 15, "Yet with gentleness and reverence."
The word "gentleness" is actually the word for meekness or humility, power under control is one way that we think about that word. And then the word reverence is actually the word for fear. It's the word phobou from which we get phobias. In other words, have reverence, a healthy fear for God, a healthy reverence for truth and even a healthy reverence for the person to whom you speak.
Now understand that God is willing to help you in being able to defend your Christianity. And God will give you the right things to say when the time comes. After all if you depend on Him to do good for Him, He will also help you in your confrontation with unbelievers.
Now what does Peter say next in verse 16? While you give your defense with gentleness and respect, also have a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame.”
Maintain a good conscience. That means that your conscience is not accusing you. Your conscience is a mechanism which either accuses you or excuses you. Your conscience is a device that God has planted within you to act as a source of conviction or affirmation. And the closer you are to God the more useful it becomes.
If you have a good conscience, it will be telling you that all is well. But if you have an evil conscience, it will be reminding you that all is not well because there is sin in your life. And what Peter is saying is live with a clear conscience so that when you face criticism, hostility or persecution you don't feel any guilt.
What should you do when you are criticized? First, you should look into your heart to see if the criticism is valid. Many people right away feel offended when criticized, but we all make mistakes and we all should be willing to look at ourselves to see how we can improve ourselves. Maybe God is using that person to change something within you that needs changing.
1 Peter 3:16 says, “having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame.” This world loves to see a Christian fall and automatically they will feel self-righteous and condemn that person. And then they try to put all Christians in that same category and justify their criticism and unbelief.
Slander is the world’s way to trouble you, to make you fear them. Many of us want to have a good reputation, and that is what the devil uses to keep you from doing good, from loving others. And sometimes our fear “to save face” will prevent us from doing what God wants us to do. But God says to us, do not fear, I will bless you instead! Amen?