Be Ready

Q: What does the Bible say about being ready to share my hope in Christ?

The Bible teaches us to always be ready to give an answer for the hope that is in us, specifically by sanctifying Christ in our hearts. 1 Peter 3:15 instructs believers to sanctify the Lord in their hearts and to be ready to give an answer to everyone who asks about the hope within them. This readiness involves recognizing our need for hope and the transformative work of Christ in our lives. Those who have been genuinely changed by Christ are equipped to share their faith, as their understanding of their own need for grace compels them to witness to others. It is crucial that we approach this task with meekness and fear, acknowledging that the source of our hope is rooted in the holiness of Christ and not in our own merit.

Q: How do we know our hope in Christ is true?

Our hope in Christ is true because it is based on His redemptive work and the assurance of God's promises. The certainty of our hope in Christ is affirmed by His sacrificial death and resurrection, which is foundational to the Christian faith. In Lamentations 3:21-24, we read that our hope is grounded in the Lord's mercies and faithfulness, which are new every morning. This hope is not contingent on our feelings or circumstances, but on the steadfast character of God, who fulfills His covenant promises. By recognizing our own inability to achieve righteousness and understanding that Christ's sacrifice was sufficient for our salvation, we gain a confident hope that rests secure in Him. Therefore, our hope in Christ is rooted deeply in His finished work and the assurance of His eternal covenant.

Q: Why is sanctifying Christ in our hearts important?

Sanctifying Christ in our hearts is essential for a genuine relationship with Him and readiness to share our faith. Sanctifying Christ in our hearts means acknowledging His holiness and setting Him apart as central to our lives. This act is critical because it prepares us to proclaim the hope we possess in Him to others. In 1 Peter 3:15, the call to be ready to give an answer hinges upon first recognizing the significance of Christ's holiness in our hearts. Without this understanding, our capacity to effectively share our faith diminishes. As we cultivate a relationship with Christ and acknowledge His lordship in our lives, we are empowered to testify to others about His grace and mercy. Essentially, the act of sanctifying Christ leads to a transformed life that naturally overflows in gospel witness.

Sovereign Grace Chapel, located at 135 Annabel Lane in Beaver, West Virginia, invites you to listen to a gospel message concerning Jesus Christ our Lord. If you will, turn back to 1 Peter in chapter 3 this time. 1 Peter chapter 3. 1 Peter chapter 3, and I'm going to read verses 8 through 22. End of the chapter. 1 Peter 3, verse 8.

Finally, be ye all of one mind, having compassions one of another. Love us, brethren, be pitiful, be courteous, not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing, but contrarywise, blessing, knowing that ye are thereunto called, that ye should inherit a blessing. For he that will love life and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil and his lips that they speak no guile. Let him eschew evil and do good. Let him seek peace and ensue it.

For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous and his ears are open unto their prayers. But the face of the Lord is against them that do evil. And who is he that will harm you if you be followers of that which is good? But and if ye suffer for righteousness' sake, happy are ye, and be not afraid of their terror, neither be troubled. But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear. having a good conscience that whereas they speak evil of you as of evildoers, they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good conversation in Christ. For it is better if the will of God be so that ye suffer for well-doing than for evil-doing.

For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit. By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison, which sometimes were disobedient when once the long-suffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a-preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water. The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also save us, not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God by the resurrection of Jesus Christ. who has gone into heaven and is on the right hand of God, angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto him.

So I'm continuing to go through 1 Peter here, and I'm not going through every single verse, but I kind of pick out a highlight verse, I guess, if you will, of these passages that I'm reading. But from my text today, the verse I want to look at specifically is verse 15.

And there's some things that stick out in this verse, and they're simple enough. It's actually what it says. Sanctifying Christ in your hearts, be ready, give an answer to every man that asketh, the hope that is in you. And when I first looked at this verse, I had a wrong thought about this. I thought, this is something that all can do. That is, give an answer. But that's not really true. because what it says in this verse is a description of those who can do this.

All of these things must be true before you can give an answer, at least of this hope that's spoken of here. You certainly must have a need, for if you have no need of hope, I mean, if you have no need, you don't have any need of hope. If you do not sanctify the Lord in your heart, you will not be ready to give an answer. That's right. Certainly this is talking to God's people. For those who are not His might have a hope, but their hope is not a good hope. It is in fact a false hope. If they have hope at all, it's a false hope. But it says to be ready, and that's my title, be ready. This word means adjusted.

You kind of get the sense of this word if you think about those sprinters you see in races. The commands are ready, set, go. If they do not pay attention to these commands, they will likely get started out late and lose the race. The command comes for ready, and they get on their mark. That is, they're in their lane. They have those things that they put their feet on, and they get in their lanes. They get adjusted to get a good start. Then the command set comes.

And this is when they usually throw that arm back behind them like this. And that's so when they hear the command, go, that they can get off as quickly as they possibly can. In a sprint, you want to be the first one off the mark because that gives you the advantage that you could help you win the race.

When it comes to God's people, what are we told in Hebrews 12, 11? Wherefore, seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us. We are not in a race to beat someone else. We're not trying to beat someone else.

This is the race to get where you are going. You know what the word race means there? It means assembly, a contest. And what do you generally see at a contest? An assembly of people. There are a great many things that can be said about that, but there is a race that is told us in Hebrews that is set before us, and we with patience run this race. It is a race to attain something, but not because of anything that we've done. but all and by because of what he has done. Paul says he presses toward the mark. He behaves and his thoughts are such that he is trying to attain something, even though by the promise of God, Joe, he's already attained it. And if you would turn over with me to Philippians 3, Philippians 3. Philippians 3, verses 8 through 12. Philippians 3, verse 8.

Yea, doubtless, and I count all things but lost for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but done that I may win Christ. and be found in him not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith. that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being made conformable unto His death, if by any means that I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead, not as though I have already attained, either were already perfect, but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Jesus Christ. We see here that Paul is saying, we do not presume on God, not as though I have already attained, but I want to apprehend that for which I am also apprehended of Christ.

It's like this, you are following Christ if he has gone ahead, and you are running to catch him and apprehend him because he has come and laid hold of you, he has arrested you. If Christ has apprehended you, then you will want to apprehend him. So here in our text, we have a readiness to be able to give an answer. Just how are we to ready ourselves? It tells us, sanctify the Lord in your hearts.

And I want to be clear here. We, by doing this, are not adding one thing to Jesus Christ. That's not what it's saying. This is also not saying that this is done to gain us anything in and that in and of ourselves, I mean. Christ tells us in John 15, he says, without me, you can do nothing. This is not us sanctifying Christ because he is our sanctification.

This is us doing this in our hearts. This is telling us to, the word means to, to render or acknowledge that Jesus Christ is holy. We are doing something here, but we are doing it because he deserves it, not to gain us anything towards our salvation. What we gain is a knowing that he is absolutely holy, and apart from him, we will be consumed by this Christ's holy God. This brings us to a place where we see he is our holiness.

But because he loved us, then by his power we also love him and we hold him as holy right here in our heart. That is our seat of affections. A child of God's affections are changed once he, that is Christ, does something for him. Their affections are on things above, not beneath, where there is nothing but corruption. Their affections are on the Holy Christ being seated on his throne. But we do this by grace that he's given us.

For if he takes his finger off of us for just a moment, we will go down into a spiral deep, down spiral. And we won't do these things. We'll start to not do these things. What does that cause? It causes us to not be ready. It may even give us thoughts of no hope again.

That's why we are told to be ready. I know myself when I first hear this text, my mind always runs to the answering part first. It's the only thing that my mind really sees. But if we are not ready, if we do not sanctify the Lord in our hearts, we will not be ready to give an answer. We will cumber ourselves with too many other things if we do not do this. We will not have an answer.

But there is also here a defined answer, a specific answer that we're to give. The hope that is in you. Do you have a hope? What is it that comes to mind when we read this? In my mind, I think this. I have to have a hope to begin with, right? Do I have a hope? In order for me to have a hope, there has to be some kind of need, correct? If you do not need anything, then there's nothing for me to hope for.

What are we told, even God's people, what are we told in Ephesians 2.12? That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope. and without God in the world. What a place to be.

But if, by God's grace, I know myself to be bankrupt with nothing to give, nothing to offer to the Holy One who I'm told to sanctify my heart, then it is possible that I just might have a hope to tell others about. Those who might know something of this hope spoken of here in this verse are those who have been brought low. They have been brought down to rock bottom, you might say. They are brought to a place where they know if they lay their hands to anything, especially if it concerns their salvation before God, they will plunge themselves into that great abyss of being totally separated from God. They are they who have been stuck in a miry clay. And here's the ones that have been brought low. If you would turn with me to Lamentations 3. Lamentations 3. As you're turning to Lamentations 3, let me say a few things here.

The one spoken of here is none other than Jesus Christ the Lord. He's the only true one who has seen affliction by the rod of God's raft. But the sovereign God sends his law and teaches us something. His law is our schoolmaster. What else does scripture say? Until faith comes. So let's look at verse two of Lamentations. This is where God brings one of his to feel. And I'm gonna go through these verses and kind of paraphrase them after I read them. So verse two of Lamentations three.

He hath led me and brought me into darkness, but not into light. When God comes to us in this way, we see nothing but darkness in myself. I can in no way do what he has commanded me to do. Verse three, surely against me as he turned, he turneth his hand against me all the day.

I am on the precipice. I'm about to be plunged over. I feel this way when God brings me here knowing I deserve it. I feel he is about to do this because God says in his law to do this and live. But I have not done it and I cannot do it. Verse four through seven.

My flesh and my skin hath he made old. He hath broken my bones. He hath builded against me and compassed me with gall and travail. He hath set me in dark places as they that be dead of old. He hath hedged me about that I cannot get out. He hath made my chain heavy.

I've been crushed to where I cannot do anything to affect my salvation. I have nothing but poison and heavy labor. I'm in a grave. The walls I am surrounded with are insurpassable and I am chained with a heavy burden to carry. It is a yoke upon me that I cannot bear.

He does not hear my prayers. God is going to consume me in the fires of hell. I cannot taste anything good nor speak anything good because he has broken my teeth. I do not know any peace. It is all turmoil with me. My hope is perished from the Lord is what it goes on to say.

And do you see that? When God first brings me to this place, I have no hope. But then, faith comes. Faith comes and those that are taught, they are reminded by Jesus Christ. If they are one of these who have a hope in 1 Peter 3, they are reminded of this, Psalms 42. He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay and set my feet upon a rock and established my goings. These that are in this place may not even recognize it like the speaker here in Psalm says right away.

But they will come to know exactly what this is saying. They were in a place where there was a sticky mud, that's what miry clay means, means sticky mud. This is the mud you can't get off of you. Dirty all the time and when you try to get it off, when you try to clean yourself up, you can't get it off, you get more dirty.

This is certainly the meaning in the passage there in Psalm 40. I cannot clean myself up that I am acceptable with God. But those who are in this place, they feel this way. These are those people who, if God is their holiness, then and only then have they hope. Their feet are then set upon a rock. This rock is not your mother, it's not your daughter, it's not your son, it's not your dad or any friend you might have. This rock is Jesus Christ. He is the only one we sanctify in our hearts. It is this one who we know is our holiness, our sanctification, our righteousness, our wisdom, and our redemption. And let me tell you one more thing as it concerns one that has a hope spoken up here, an analogy, if you will.

Most of you here know that I'm afraid of heights, you know, and some of it was witnessed yesterday. You know, I get up to a place that's overlooking a high place, you know, and I'm going up to it like this, you know, trying to get over. I'm afraid, you know, I don't want nobody behind me, because I'm afraid they're going to push me over or, you know, maybe say, boo, you know. But I'm afraid of heights. And it kind of grips me.

But there was a time when I worked construction when I was younger, a couple years ago. And we built these rack systems at this one time. And they were I mean, they were taught they were maybe five stories tall, really tall. I don't know remember exactly how and they use these, they were for these robots where they could go get the stuff out of the rack system. And the bottom ones were okay but then we had to build them all the way atop so the top was pretty scary but then there was one other thing once we were done with just the rack systems on the end they had these real heavy things that had to be bolted on on the end i don't remember the purpose what they were for but um guess whose job it was to put those on mine but you know what they gave me something to do this job They had a belt that wrapped around me.

This belt wrapped around this rack system. And, you know, I was able to do that job with no problems, no fear, because I felt that strap was holding me. It was keeping me falling down to my death. I had a safety belt which was preventing me from falling. I had a good hope, so to speak, that I would at least not fall from that rack system.

This is what Jesus Christ is to his people. He is their hope of never falling away, of never falling so that they are condemned of God. This hope has nothing to do with what they have done. It's all based on, this hope is based on who Jesus Christ is and what Jesus Christ did in your place.

Back in Lamentations, if you're still there, if not, just listen to verses 21 through 24. And this is good. This is what He brings us to know. This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope. It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning. Great is thy faithfulness. The Lord is my portion, saith my soul. Therefore will I have, will I hope in him.

I recall this to my mind because he put this in my mind by faith. Christ has this in his mind all the time. So this is certainly him as well that is talking about here because he knew no sin. His thoughts were on God the Father continually, but he was guilty because of me. He bore my sins in his own body, and because of that, and because God has been pleased for us to know this in this life, so to speak, I mean right now, he's been pleased for us to know this now, he gives us faith.

If he never gives you faith, you will never believe this, and you will perish in your sins. I'm not talking about a head knowledge of Christ. I'm talking about those who know this deep down in their soul. They know without Christ, I am condemned forever. But we, even as believers for some time, we recall this and it does us good to recall this. To render him holy and that is sanctifying the Lord in our hearts.

It is of the Lord's mercies we are not consumed. Because His compassions, they fail not. What is it about His mercies that it says here? They are new every morning. His faithfulness fails not. But now we see the following. The Lord is my portion, therefore will I have hope, but don't miss it, in Him. If Jesus Christ has us, then God the Father has us, because there's no doubt that he loves the Son. If I am in him, if I am held by him, then there's nothing that will ever take me away from that.

You know what that is? That is hope, a sure foundation, a rock. What else are we told in Scripture? For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. And I want to show you this illustration. I've done it before, but Earl did this a long time ago, and I just like how he did this with this verse. This is Jesus Christ. This is me. I'm in Christ, and I'm in God. That just boggles my mind. When Jesus Christ took our place and he died, we died with him. When he arose, we arose with him. When he sat down at the right hand of God, we sat down with him.

Folks, who is going to lay anything to the charge of God's elect? Not the devil, not others, and not myself. It is God that justifies, for He took His people's place, being condemned of God the Father, forsaken of God the Father. If that's not a hope to you, then you don't know Him.

God has said He is satisfied with the sacrifice of His Son. He is satisfied with Jesus Christ because He is precious, as we've already read in 1 Peter. It says here, He died the just for the unjust. He being just was made sin for the unjust, and because of that, he died and was forsaken of God the Father. But he did not stay there. He was quickened. That is, he arose from the grave because he satisfied God. In satisfying God, what did he accomplish?

He brought us to God. But listen, not to face punishment or condemnation, but as friends of God, as the people of God. He made us the righteousness of God in him. This is what we see when we sanctify him in our hearts. We see that one who is so holy that he was able to take our sins in his own body and then take them away.

Verse 22 of our text says, who has gone into heaven and is on the right hand of God, angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto him. He is in absolute sovereign control of all things. That is what our text is talking about. What we've been reading in 1 Peter, our immediate context goes back to chapter two because we are told where we just started reading, finally, my brethren, Prior to this, Peter is talking about submission. We submit to everything that God has us under. Because God has put all these things in place for our good. We submit to authorities, to our loved ones, to each other, because we are told to do that which is right. If we do wrong and we suffer for it, what glory does that give God? it will only serve to cumber us about with anything other than Jesus Christ.

Because Christ, when he suffered for our sins in being put to death on that tree and forsaken of God the Father, what did he do or not do? He opened not his mouth. When he was being subjected to all he was subjected to being the just holy God, why did he not open his mouth? I heard Todd Nybert say this and I like it. Christ said nothing and did nothing because he knew he was guilty, having been made sin for us. Because he knew no sin and it was his whole purpose for being here was to go to the cross. He was guilty because of our sin. Our sins were laid on him. So what does that mean? We are no longer guilty.

Be Ready

What does the Bible say about being ready to share my hope in Christ?

How do we know our hope in Christ is true?

Why is sanctifying Christ in our hearts important?

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Be Ready

What does the Bible say about being ready to share my hope in Christ?

How do we know our hope in Christ is true?

Why is sanctifying Christ in our hearts important?

Sermon Transcript

Comments

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