Our reading this morning is from
1 Peter 3, 1 Peter 3, and I'm going to be reading from verse
8. 1 Peter 3, and verse 8. Finally, be ye all of one mind. having compassion one of another,
love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous, not rendering evil
for evil or railing for railing, but contrary wise 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 ye 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. 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. Amen, may God bless to us this
reading from his word. The Lord Jesus Christ, our gracious,
our ever-blessed saviour, promised his people that he would never
leave them nor forsake them. Whether as a congregation or
whether as individuals, we should lay hold upon that promise every
day. He said he would never leave
us nor forsake us. And if you are one of his, then
he is with you always. And such promises are precious
to the Lord's people. They're precious to those who
experience trials, who know hardship, who feel pain, and who endure
sorrow. And I encourage you, if you're
challenged this morning, if you are weary today, if you are hurting
in your heart, as that Shunammite woman was hurting. Then remember
that the Lord Jesus Christ has promised to be with you every
day, every hour and every moment. If you are anxious and tired
and weary and sad, take the Lord Jesus Christ at his word. Take
your burden to Him, you can do no better. And there is a beautiful
verse in this passage that we have just read that I want to
draw to your attention at this moment. And you'll find it in
verse 12. Verse 12 of the passage that
we read together, it says this, the eyes of the Lord are over
the righteous. and his ears are open unto their
prayers. It's sad. I speak for myself. It's sad when we read the scriptures
and we pass over these precious truths, these golden nuggets,
these diamonds, and we give them not a second thought. And yet
every word of this book is precious and valuable and blessed and
glorious if we had but just eyes to see all that the Lord is promising
to us. Whether it's in the examples
of the Old Testament with the prophets and the people there,
or whether it's in the writings of the apostles in the New Testament,
or the testimony granted of Christ in his life here upon earth.
These things are all written for our comfort and for our help. The eyes of the Lord are over
the righteous. He sees you. He sees you. He knows your circumstances. He knows your heart. He knows
the situation that life has brought to your experience. and His ears
are open to our prayers. Our Saviour is watching us today
and our Saviour is listening to us today. Now that should
make some people fearful because when we do things that we shouldn't
do and we hide ourselves away in the dark place or in the corner,
or when we're mixing with people that we think don't really care
and it doesn't really matter. The Lord's eyes are over his
people. And when we have a need, then
we can take those needs to the Lord in prayer. In 2 Chronicles 16 verse 9, the
writer tells us, That's where Peter got this verse that he
has given to us this morning. He read it here in the Old Testament,
and he read the enduring testimony of God on behalf of his people,
that the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole
world, wherever his people are, in order to protect them, in
order to demonstrate his strength and his glory and his protection
over those that he loves. Those of us who are parents or
grandparents, we know something about protecting our children
and having a desire to do them good. That is a picture of our
Lord's dealings with us. And Peter desires this morning
to comfort and to encourage us, the Lord's people, and to show
us the Lord Jesus Christ in his true nature and in his true testimony
towards us, because nothing passes the Saviour by. He doesn't miss
anything. He is good to his people. He
calls his people righteous. He calls his people perfect.
not in their own strength, not in their own abilities, but in
that perfection that He has bestowed, in that righteousness that He
has given. He has made us clean, freely
granted by God as a gift, a cleanliness, a holiness, a purity that the
Lord delights in. He embraces us and He draws us
to Himself and He says to us, it will be well, it will be well. And you can say to one another,
say to the people amongst whom you dwell, it will be well. For the Lord's eyes are upon
His people and His ears hear our prayers. The Lord delights
to do us good, to show himself strong on our behalf. Well, that really was just by
way of introduction to the passage here, because what I want to
do is look and see what the apostle has else for us to think about
this morning. And I've got four subheadings
that I want to leave with you, I want you to think about, and
I want you to note from this passage. and they are, each subheading,
clustered around the little phrase that we see in verse 15. 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. ready to give an answer. That's what Peter is saying to
those to whom he's writing and saying to us, be ready to give
an answer. Be ready to give an answer to
anyone who asks you for the hope that you have within you. And just before I start to develop
my thoughts this morning, let me just ask a question here. What does it mean to sanctify
God? Isn't that the wrong way around?
Am I not here in this pulpit telling you repeatedly that the
Lord has sanctified us? How do we sanctify God? It's
not that we can make him holy. It's not that we can make him
pure in any way. How do we sanctify God in our
hearts? Well, we declare what he has
done. We honour him and we proclaim
that which is characteristic of him. as we learn about Him
in Scripture, as the prophets and as the apostles, as the Lord
Jesus Christ Himself, as the fullness of the revelation of
God, teaches us about the Lord God. We store up those things
which we learn. We hear them. We have an appetite
for them. We come together to hear the
gospel preached so that we might store up these truths. These
blessed revelations that the Holy Scriptures provide for us
and the Gospel unfolds and reveals to us, we store them up in our
hearts. They become part of us. And as
we store them up in our hearts, so our vision and our view of
God is enlarged. And we sanctify the Lord in our
hearts. by praising Him and glorifying
Him, proclaiming His holiness and His goodness, declaring His
majesty, admiring His perfections. And if we do that in our heart,
it'll spill over into our lives. If we do it in our hearts, it
will affect our conversation. If we do it in our hearts, it
will alter the way that we act. And the accomplishments of our
Saviour will inspire us, and it will give us hope, and it
will give us peace in our day-to-day life, to such a point that we
will be able to testify with the Shunammite, it will be well. So here then are the four qualities
that Peter is encouraging in our witness, where he says that
we are to be ready to give an answer to everyone, to anyone
who would ask a reason for the hope that is within us. Ready
to give an answer. Here are four qualities, four
characteristics that should attach to us in order for us to be able
so to do. The first one, at the beginning
of verse eight, we need to have agreement in our doctrine. Agreement
in our doctrine. The second one, second part of
verse eight through to verse 11, we need to have faithfulness
to our calling, faithfulness to our calling. From verses 12
and 13, confidence in our Saviour. And in verses 14 to 16, composure
in our testimony. So let us take these one by one.
The first one was verse eight. Let us have agreement in our
doctrine. The apostle says to those to
whom he writes, be ye all of one mind. Be all of one mind. The Lord's people have to be
united and settled in our faith and belief of the gospel of the
Lord Jesus Christ. There is no value in us biting
at one another, fighting with one another, disagreeing with
one another, being contentious. There is no value in that. Rather
we are to be humble and we are to come under the sound of the
gospel and we are to be united and settled in that gospel as
it is revealed to us in scripture. This is the gospel of the Lord
Jesus Christ, and we are called to believe it, not sit in judgment
on it, not weigh it up and test it one part against another,
not have our favourite parts and bits that we leave aside
and ignore, but we are to take the wholeness of the revelation
of God to us in the Lord Jesus Christ and in the gospel of Christ,
and we are to be united in this truth. converted by the truth because
that truth constrains us to follow the Lord Jesus Christ. We've
been converted by that truth. We've been convinced by that
truth. We have seen it to be the revealed
message of God and the means of salvation to sinners. And we are to be committed to
that truth. It was taught by the Lord Jesus
Christ himself. These are the words that fell
from God. God spoke these things. God said
how it is. God has revealed himself in this
way. And we don't get to second guess
him. We don't get to pick and mix.
We don't get to select the bits that we want and to leave the
other bits behind. This is the Lord's Word. This
is His gospel. And He calls us to be in agreement
with the truths that He has revealed. He has granted us prophets and
apostles. the holy scriptures and preachers
to bring these things to our attention and to our notice.
And he calls us to be united in this matter. A preacher must
be a faithful man, of course, and the message that the preacher
brings must be consistent with the word. Where the Lord has
provided such an individual for us, then let us hear that word
and believe it, and let us be united in it. And if we struggle
with something, then let us be reserved. and let us be quiet
and let us wait until the Lord is pleased to reveal these things
to us and to teach us what others perhaps have learned a little
bit sooner than us. Each of us is to be settled in
our understanding because this is the word of God to our souls. This is the very truth of God
from heaven. the means of salvation to sinners. This is how he gathers his church. This is how he builds up his
people. This is how he strengthens us
in the faith. I looked it up in preparation
for the service. There are 43 times in the New
Testament that the word of God speaks of the faith, the faith. It's an objective body of truth. It is the revealed gospel of
the Lord Jesus Christ and it is there to be believed. This
is the faith and we are to be united in it. Faith isn't a hodgepodge
of take it or leave it ideas. It's a body of truth. It's a
revealed message. It's clear, it's unambiguous,
and it's true. 1 Corinthians 16, verse 13 says,
Watch ye, watch ye. Be careful, be aware, be discerning. Watch ye. Stand fast in the faith. Stand fast in the faith, quit
you like men. That was a saying that was made
many years ago when two men were taken to the stake. I didn't
think about this beforehand. I think it was Cranmer and Ridley,
who it was that spoke the words, I'm not sure. But the testimony
was made as they went to be burned at the stake. Quitchie like men. Let us be those who stand fast
and stand firm for the truth, for the faith that we have been
given. For this is God's word to us. If we would be ready to give
an answer to anyone who asks, a reason for the hope that is
within us, then let us be united in that gospel that we have been
given and believe. That was the first point. And
let it be, secondly, that we are faithful in our calling.
because we've been called to follow the Lord Jesus Christ. Let's just read the verses again
from verse eight. So we read, be ye all of one
mind. This is where the reference is
to following our calling. Having compassion one to another. Having compassion one to another.
Love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous in our dealings
with one another. Pitiful and courteous, these
are good, these are kind attitudes for the people of God to have. not rendering evil for evil,
or railing for railing, but contrary-wise, blessing, knowing that ye are
thereunto called, and ye should inherit a blessing. So being
faithful to our calling is exhibiting these characteristics, and remind
ourselves that the Lord has imbued us with these characteristics.
There would have been a time when we would have found it to
be very difficult not to give as good as we get. There would
have been a time when the natural reaction would be to return evil
for evil. To give as good as we get, to
do unto others before they do unto us. But the Lord's people are called
to love one another and to leave judgment and vengeance to the
Lord. He has converted us. He has changed
us. He has made us into something
that we once were not. And that has made all the difference. The worst that this world can
do to us, the worst that any man in this world can do to you,
if you are a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ, is just to
bring your promotion to glory one little bit closer. That's
the worst they can do to you. is bring your entrance into the
presence of Christ a little bit closer. These graces that we are called
to fulfil and to follow are not graces that we manufacture by
ourselves, but are qualities that are implanted in our hearts
and in our lives by the one who calls us to follow him. and where
he implants them, he calls us to exercise them. These graces
are in accordance with the nature of our Saviour and we are called
to follow him. Remember Lazarus when he was
dead and in the grave and the Lord went to the grave where
Lazarus was and he called out, Lazarus, come forth. And Lazarus
did what he was told. Why? Because he had the power
to do it? No, he was dead. But the power was in the word. The power was in the precept.
The power was in the command. The power was in the instruction.
And as the Lord calls us, so he enables us. The power is in
the call. and he calls us to follow him,
and we are to be faithful to our calling. 1 Peter 3, verse
12 and 13, 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 ye be followers of that which is good? Let us be
followers of that which is good. Let us be faithful to our calling. Here's the third point that we
have before us this morning. Verses 12 to 13 tell us that
we are to have confidence in our Saviour. So we have to be
united in this faith, the Gospel. We have to be faithful to our
calling and we have to have confidence in our Saviour. Ah, is he not worthy of our confidence? Is he not worth putting our trust
in? Have we not found it to be so
before? And has he changed the one who
is the same yesterday, today and forever? Those beautiful eyes of the Lord
Jesus Christ that see us. Those blessed ears that hear
us. I'm reminded of the rich young
ruler. Scripture tells us that Jesus
beholding him loved him. He looked on him and he loved
him. Mark 5, verse 36, we're told,
as soon as Jesus heard the word that was spoken, he saith, be
not afraid, only believe. So here is the eyes of our Lord,
looking upon us in love. Here is the ear of our Lord,
hearing the prayers of his people. And as soon as he heard the word
that was spoken, we're told in the scriptures, the Lord Jesus
Christ's immediate response to his people was, be not afraid,
only believe. Let us have confidence in our
Savior. Let us trust him. I love my daughter and my son-in-law
and their children. I love my son and my daughter-in-law
and their little boy. And there is nothing within my
power that I wouldn't do for their good if they called upon me and asked
for my help. Why don't we call upon the Lord
and ask for his help? He is more powerful than I could
ever be or you could ever be. And yet we know that longing
to do good for one another. I would be hurt if they thought
that I could help and didn't come and ask for my help. And yet we shun the Lord Jesus
Christ so very often when we demonstrate that we have a lack
of confidence in him and in his help. I want them to have confidence
in me that my affection and my love for them is true and I'm
called to have confidence in my Saviour, that His affection
for me is true and is powerful. Our Lord will have us go to Him,
go with confidence. He gave His blood for our sins,
His life for our salvation, and for our everlasting happiness. What will He withhold from His
people? Let us be confident in our saviour
as we are called to give a reason for the hope that is within us.
And finally and fourthly, we are called to have composure
in our testimony. What I mean by that, what I mean
is this. Let us be calm. and let us be
at peace when we give that reason for the hope that is within us. If there is one characteristic
of the people of God, it should be that they are a people of
hope. We have a blessed hope. We have a lively hope. The scripture says we have a
better hope than the men and women of this world. We have
the hope of salvation, hope through grace, hope of eternal life. These are all apostolic phrases
telling us of that hope that we possess. We have hope set
before us. We have hope to the end. We have hope by the resurrection
of Jesus Christ from the dead. We are the people of hope. So we should have composure in
our testimony. Colossians 1 verse 27 says, Christ
in you. the hope of glory. That's us. We have Christ. And if we have
Christ, If we have His doctrine, if we are faithful to His calling,
if we have these blessed truths revealed to us by which we can
have confidence in our Saviour, then why is there any doubt about
composure in our testimony? We have a message for this world
and we are to be at peace delivering it. So if a man asks you for the
reason for the hope that is in you, tell them of the Lord Jesus
Christ, for he is the one who is in you the hope of glory. And you don't tell it proudly
or pompously. You tell it with meekness and
with fear. but you tell it with confidence
in the veracity of the truth that it is, and with the knowledge
that it comes with power, the very power of Jesus Christ. Tell it reverently. So much goes on in the name of
Christianity these days that is just like a comedy. We have a message to give that
is the message of life to sinners. Declare it reverently. Declare
it sincerely. Recently I saw a phrase which
grabbed my attention, and I don't know the origin of this. I tried
to find out, and the only thing that I could find out was that
it was the name of a group or something. But here is the phrase,
and I thought it was just lovely. If it has some other origin that
you know about, then please put me right. Here it is. Speak the
truth. even if your voice shakes. Isn't
that lovely? Speak the truth even if your
voice shakes. If the world can aspire to such
a motto, then why not the people of God? How much more should
the Church of Jesus Christ be bold in these truths which have
been delivered to us? Romans 5 verse 5 says, And hope
maketh not ashamed, because the love of God is shed abroad in
our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us. Brothers and sisters, we have
a gospel of which we are not ashamed, a hope in Christ, a
calling and an honour and a privilege to follow. We have Christ. We have everything. Let us, therefore,
sanctify the Lord in our hearts. and be ready always to give an
answer to every man that asketh us a reason of the hope that
is in us with meekness and fear. Amen.