Let's get our Bibles, and again, you need your pen, you need your outline. Let's turn to 1 Peter 3. 1 Peter 3. And lots of things to fill in on this one this afternoon. I'm going to begin the reading in verse 8, and we'll read through to the 17th verse. And again, let's bow in prayer briefly before we begin and ask for God's blessing on this Word. Father, thank You for giving us Your written Word, and we would pray and we would acknowledge to You that we need a greater hunger and thirst for it. And so, please create in us an insatiable desire to know Your Word and to know You through it. We thank You that You have given us this light to our feet and a lamp to our path. And we pray that this afternoon as we look into it in 1 Peter, that You would lead and guide us and teach us more about how we should be living in this world for Your glory, and how we should be interacting with unbelievers concerning the great faith that you have brought us into. And so, please bless our time now. We ask in Jesus' name, Amen. 1 Peter 3, verses 8-17. Let's give our careful attention now to God's Word. Finally, all of you, Have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind. Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless. For to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing. For, whoever desires to love life and see good days, let him keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit. Let him turn away from evil and do good. Let him seek peace and pursue it. For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil. Now, who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good? But even if you should suffer for righteousness' sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, but 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, having a good conscience, so that when you are slandered, those who revile your good conduct in Christ may be put to shame. For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God's will, than for doing evil. Well, so far, in our consideration of this idea of relational apologetics, we have considered, first of all, our relationship with God. That's our own individual relationship with God. Secondly, this morning we looked at the unbelievers' relationship with God. And in the present section, so our final lecture for today, we're going to consider a third facet of relational apologetics, and that is our relationship with them. In other words, our relationship with the unbeliever. Because your conduct And this is going to be the theme. Your conduct in the various areas of your life, that is your main witness and argument to the world. Your conduct in the various areas of your life is your main witness and your main argument in this world. In other words, the way that you conduct yourself as a son or a daughter of your parents, or with your friends, the way that you act at school, that will either be a good witness to the unbelieving world that sees you, or it will be a bad witness. In fact, here's your first fill-in there. You will, by your conduct, either give opportunity for unbelievers, and here's your first one, to blaspheme God, or you'll give opportunity for them to believe God. And the contrast between these two outcomes could not be sharper, I think, nor taught clearer than they are in the New Testament. Christian witness and defending the faith is usually lived out and done at the conduct level. And I want us to leave 1 Peter just for a moment here and look at two passages briefly which will set something of a framework for hearing what we're going to look at in 1 Peter. I want you to turn to Romans 2 for a minute. Romans 2 to the 17th verse. Romans 2.17. We're going to read through the 24th verse, so it would be good to have that in front of you. And I'd like you, just for the sake of an application, if we can hear the first phrase there, let's put ourselves in that position where Paul begins in verse 17 there. Romans 2.17, but if you call yourself a Jew, and rely on the law and boast in God. Let's consider that if you call yourself a Christian, and you rely on the Word of God, and you boast in God. Let's go on and read that. "...and know His will, and approve what is excellent, because you are instructed from the law. And if you are sure that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of children, having in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth, you then, who teach others, do you not teach yourself while you preach against stealing? Do you steal? You who say that one must not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? And notice this final, you who boast in the law dishonor God by breaking the law. For as it is written, the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you. Now I'd like you to turn to Matthew chapter 5. Matthew chapter 5. And pick up our reading in the 14th verse. Matthew chapter 5 verse 14 through 16. Jesus says, you are the light of the world A city set on a hill cannot be hidden, nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven." Now, do you see the contrast and the emphasis? Our conduct either gives opportunity to unbelievers to blaspheme God on the one hand, or our conduct will give opportunity for unbelievers to glorify God, to actually believe Him. If your life gives If your life, and you claim to be a Christian, if your life gives no evidence that there's any change or that there's no difference if one is in relationship with God, then unbelievers will blaspheme the name of God. But if your life exhibits good works and actually shows a difference and a change because you are in relationship with God, then as Jesus says, they will give glory to God. My simple challenge to you is, can you see that? And can you grasp that? Because that is what witness and testimony are. Witnessing, and we tend to talk about, let's go out and let's go witnessing. Like, let's maybe go down to Santa Monica Pier, and we quote, we go witnessing. It's actually not the way the Bible uses the terminology. Witness in the scriptures is not something you go out and do, it is something that you are. You are a witness. The question is, are you a good witness or are you a bad witness? The way that this terminology works is there is a question that is before the world. Various kinds of questions concerning our faith. Like, does this God really have power to actually save someone from their sin? Does this God really have power to change a life? Is this God really able to set a person free? from sin and death, which is what the gospel preaches. Is Jesus really alive, and is he powerful enough to be with his people, to bring them safely to heaven? Well, that's the question that's in a sense before the court, and you are the witnesses, or you are the evidence, either giving support, to the claims of Christ, or giving reason for the world to blaspheme the name of Christ. And here's how it works, and this is your second fill-in there in the introduction. The first one, the proclamation. The proclamation of the church is that Jesus can save you from your sin. That's the proclamation. That's what the message that goes out from the church is. The people of the church are the evidence that it is true. The church proclaims this good news that a person can be set free. And then they look at our lives to see whether or not that message is actually true. Do the lives of the people who say that they trust in Christ, are they actually any different? And thus, Peter's emphasis throughout the book of 1 Peter is on conduct as witness. I'd like you to go back to 1 Peter, but this time, let's go back to the first chapter and notice verse 15 in the first chapter. Go back to chapter 1 of 1 Peter. Notice verse 15. But as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct. Now look at verse 17. And if you call on Him as Father who judges impartially according to each one's deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile. Look at verse 12 of chapter 2. Turn forward there to chapter 2, verse 12. Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation. Look at verse 15 of chapter 2. For this is the will of God, that by doing good, you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. Go into chapter 3 now. Look at verses 1 and 2 of chapter 3. Wives, be subject to your own husbands, so that even if some do not obey the word, they may be won without a word by the conduct of their wives. When they see your respectful and pure conduct. This then brings us right into our passage a little later here in chapter 3, and particularly to the subject of our relationship with them. In other words, our relationship with the unbeliever. You see, Peter is given this letter to us, and he's writing this letter to Christians to encourage us in our faith and to instruct us in how we are to interact with the world. That's his point in writing the book of 1 Peter. I want you to notice verses 13 and 14. Notice there, in what he's doing in verses 13 and 14, he's telling us about what we might call our no-lose, in other words, a no-lose situation. He says that you're going to be blessed. As a believer, you're going to be blessed no matter what happens. Whether we get the blessing of a peaceful life for our good conduct and everybody leaves us alone and doesn't mock us, doesn't persecute us, Peter says, if that's what ends up happening by your good conduct and your desire to live at peace with people, you're going to be blessed with this peaceful life, or you're going to be blessed with suffering for righteousness' sake." So whichever happens, you're in a no-lose situation. You're going to either be blessed with peace, or you're going to be blessed with persecution. We're going to come back to that in a little while. Look at verse 15 though. Peter says there, and he begins talking about what we might call our ready defense. And Peter's point in verse 15 is that the defense is not in what you know, it's in who you know. The power of our apologetic is not in how smart you are, how many proofs you've memorized. It's not in what you know, but it's in who you know. In other words, God Himself is your ready defense and you need then to set apart Christ as Lord and always be ready to give a defense to anyone who asks you about the hope that is within you. That's what we were dealing with in that very first session from Psalm 119. When we love the Lord, when we have a relationship with Him, then we have an answer for people who mock. Well, now Peter, in verse 16, the end of verse 15 and the beginning of verse 16, Peter is telling you that you have an irrefutable argument. And that's his point. You have an irrefutable argument to offer the world. And Peter's first direction for us concerning our relationship with the unbelieving world is that we must give a defense for our faith without offense. We must give defense without offense. We can say it that way. Here's maybe a way to think about it, and you can fill this in. We're called to always Be ready to give a defense. We're called to always be ready to give a defense to anyone who asks about the hope that is within us, but never in an offensive manner. Peter is saying here, you are always to give a defense. You're always to be ready to give a defense to anyone, but never. in an offensive manner. And Peter means first and foremost, and this is interesting because we don't often think this way, Peter means first and foremost, without offense to God. Without offense to God. Now, I realize it's not very clear in our English translations, but the concern that Peter has here is not first and foremost that we do not offend unbelievers, but rather that we do not offend God. as we're giving our defense of the faith, that we don't offend Him. In other words, the main import of answering unbelievers' questions with gentleness and respect and a good conscience is that we answer them with humility, with respect, with a good conscience towards God, first and foremost. In other words, fearing the Lord, fear towards Him, gentleness and quietness before God. This first section here, the first sub-point there, is one of the ways that we do this is, first of all, with respect. That's the first fill-in. That's actually the second characteristic that Peter mentions here, is this with respect. What the word there is, is the word fear. With fear. Some translations will translate it respect, some will translate fear, some will translate it reverence. And it's important to see that Peter has already called us to not fear men. Again, let me take you back to chapter 1 real quick. Notice in verse 17 of chapter 1, if you can turn back there, see the way Peter uses these words. In verse 17, what we're being called to do there is we're called to walk our pilgrimage on earth in the fear of the Lord. That's the point of verse 17. Turn to the second chapter, to the 17th verse. Notice that there in verse 17 of chapter 2, Peter deliberately called for honoring the emperor, but fearing only God. God is the only one we're to fear. We're to honor others, but God alone is the one that we're to fear. Look at chapter 3, verse 6. Wives are called in their witness before their unbelieving husbands to not fear them or anything. And then get to chapter 3 again. Look at the 14th verse now. Just two verses ago, Peter says comprehensively, have no fear of them, but rather set apart Christ the Lord as holy. In other words, what Peter's calling for here in your witness is you need to go about your life, living your life and your interaction with unbelievers, not fearing them, but actually fearing Him. This is a massively important point because so often we're afraid when we get into a conversation with an unbeliever and they begin to mock us in our faith. We're afraid, oh no, am I going to have the right thing to say? We can get flustered. And Peter's saying, no, you need to go in not fearing them, you need to fear the Lord. The way that we have a defense of the faith without offense, and particularly, is that we're not offending God, we're fearing Him more than we're fearing them. And so, we need to understand that second characteristic there of how we're to be, It would be inconsistent if Peter was saying, fear the unbelievers, do this with fear. Well, let's look at the second one. This is with gentleness. And I think that we could probably understand, okay, I see how that fear is to be toward God, but it seems like it's a bit harder to understand how that first word there and the characteristics is to be toward God. How are we to be gentle towards God? Well, the word that's translated gentleness there, or sometimes some of your translations, does anyone have the word meekness in your translation? Or does anyone have the word humility? Those are all valid ways to translate that. Or courteously is actually some translations have courteously. But notice, Peter's already used this word when talking about the qualities of women that are precious in God's sight. Look at verse 4 of the chapter that we're in. Chapter 3, verse 4. Peter gives instruction to ladies and he says, let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of, and this is that same word, a gentle and quiet spirit which in God's sight is very precious. And therefore, the emphasis is clearly that above all, you are being called in your witness, the way that you conduct yourselves with unbelievers, and especially in those times that you're called upon to give a reason for the hope that's within you, that you're to do it with humility in the fear of the Lord. So you don't go in thinking, man, I've got to crush this guy. You go in with the thought of, Lord, if you wish to use me for your glory in this situation, then so be it. You go in with a gentleness and a humility which is pleasing to God. Again, your first obligation in apologetics is to please Him, is to not offend the Lord. That means then that you're going to have to, as part of the whole engagement in apologetics, you have to set apart Jesus Christ as Lord in your heart. He has to be the one that you're submitted to. This means that you recognize your strength is in God, and you're going to have to trust Him in that moment. It can't be that you trust in your own smarts, or your own abilities to talk well, or anything like that. It means that you're going to be dependent upon Him, not your own intelligence, not your own skill in debate, not your own ability to use logic. Well, finally, we're to be so walking in faith with Christ, so we're to be fearing God, we're to have that gentleness and that humility about us which is pleasing to God. But we're also, notice Peter goes on here in verse 16, right at the very beginning, that we're to be so walking by faith in Christ that we're resting upon Him for the deliverance from the penalty of sin and the power of it, and thus we should be living, every believer should be living with a clear conscience. That's the final characteristic, a clear conscience. That is, we are those who have had our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience by the blood of Christ. And we are to be holding fast the confession of our hope without wavering, because He who promised is faithful. And to the extent that you are resting in Jesus Christ, The more that you are resting in Christ, your witness and your defense of the faith will be powerful. It is entirely proportional to your resting in Christ. The more confident you are that Jesus is an adequate, sufficient Savior, and that your life is hidden in Him, the more powerful your defense of the faith is going to be. Not only are we to not give offense to God, but we are to also do our defending of the faith without offense to man as well. And it's here that I think we need to recall Peter's comment in verse 13. Peter writes there in verse 13, now, who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good? And just as individual wives who have observable, respectful, and pure conduct, and they may win their husbands, well, all believers who walk in the meekness of Christ, all believers who live in the fear of the Lord, all believers who have a clear conscience before God because of Christ, will be giving no cause for offense to man either. And this too is their witness. This is our witness as well. And this is the thing that may win the unbeliever to Christ, just like the unbelieving husband may be won to Christ by the wife's conduct. And so Peter calls for a defense of the faith without offense. And that's accomplished when one entrusts themselves fully to the Lord and puts glorifying Him before them as their number one priority. And I realize I skipped over one of the fill-ins. Can anyone think about that phrase there for a second? Your goal is What do you think your goal is in apologetics? Let's just open it up for a second. Versus what? We've been talking about this now for a few sessions. What would your goal be in apologetics? What is your hope? First and foremost, when you are engaged with somebody in a dialogue with them. I'll give you the second part. Is your goal to win an argument with them? No. That's not your goal. So the second part there is not win an argument. The first part is your goal is to glorify God. You're called to defend the faith without offense to God first and foremost, and secondly, without offense to man. And as you set apart Christ as Lord, in your heart, always being ready to give a defense for the hope that's in you, you answer then in the meekness and fear of the Lord and with a clear conscience that comes from resting in and walking by faith in Christ." And so Peter calls us here to a defense of the faith without offending the people we are talking to and without being an offense to God. Well, Peter's second direction to us here And this brings us to that second point, which is that the best defense is actually a good offense. a good offense, and so let's consider offense as our defense. Now, I realize, and you probably are wondering, I'm deliberately what we call equivocating on the word offense when I use that. Before, I meant that we should not offend other people. We shouldn't offend God in the defense of the faith. Here, I mean that the best defense of our faith is actually proactively living out our faith in a gracious manner. The best defense of the Christian faith is to proactively live out your Christian faith in a gracious manner among people who do not believe. In other words, we're supposed to be on the offensive We're on the offensive by way of our godly life in our society, the way that we live in our families, the way that we conduct ourselves at our schools, or on the sports field, or with our friends. Because, and here's the fill-in there, the greatest defense of the faith is actually living it. The greatest defense of the faith, what the scriptures focus on over and over again, what the New Testament directs us to as the greatest defense of the faith is the actual living of it. So being on the offensive, striking out, living in such a way that consciously desires to see the Kingdom of God expand and increase in the world. And therefore, the assumption here, and what Peter is saying, what should happen if we're living our lives following Christ, if Jesus Christ is Lord, and our lives are controlled by Him, and our desire in life is to please our Lord Jesus Christ, then Peter says that your life provokes the question. Your life should be the thing that provokes the question among the unbeliever. And you've got to become, I think, convinced that it's your life that matters the way that you conduct yourself. It's your life that matters in your witness. It's supposed to be your life that shows evidence of the power of God in such a manifest way that unbelievers ask you about the hope that is within you. In fact, in Peter's mind, it is most commonly in the event of persecution or affliction, or unfair treatment, or some kind of ordeal that the difference between the Christian and the non-Christian is clearly manifested in the world. In other words, how we suffer is actually the thing that shows the world the difference between a Christian and a non-Christian. that way because of Christ. Peter is so evangelistically minded, and this is why he said back up there in verse 13, that one of the ways that you might be blessed in the living out of the Christian life is you might be blessed with suffering for Christ. And that's a huge challenge. We live in such comfort in the Western world, and particularly in America. We have such comfort. We hardly know what it is to suffer. But Peter says that if we're called to suffer for Jesus Christ, that that's a great blessing. Now, why does Peter say that? Why would he say that that when we're in trial, it's a blessing. Peter sees hard times as opportunities to witness for Christ and to give evidence for the truth of the faith. And the reason why is, he says, because when Christians, those who bear the name of Christ, suffer, they get to exhibit very Christ-like behavior. Let me show you real quick. Because of Christ's suffering, because He takes on, well let me put it this way, what is the great penalty for sin? What is the great penalty for sin? Death. How did Christ defeat sin? How did He deal with the greatest ramification of sin in this world? He died. In other words, there was the death of death and the death of Christ. And when we suffer, when we actually undergo in our Christian life, and through that are victorious and upheld by the power of God, when we actually pass through the great ramification of sin, the great result of sin, when we actually suffer, we render a very Christ-like witness to the world. So Christians who are like Christ, they're used for the salvation of others very often by their suffering. Because it's through suffering that sin is actually overcome. It's through suffering that no longer does a Christian just live their life in a normal way, but it's actually through suffering that the power of God is demonstrated through our lives. I'd like you to turn real quick to 2 Corinthians 12, verse 9. 2 Corinthians 12, verse 9. You see, when Satan thinks that he has got us, when he shoots his biggest guns at us, Just as it is with Christ, and because of Christ, Satan is actually defeating himself when he brings Christians into persecution. Because it's in our weakness, it's actually in our suffering that God's power is manifested, and God is shown to be strong. This is why Paul tells us, what God said to him when he was suffering. 2 Corinthians 12, verse 9. But he said to me, my grace is sufficient for you. My power is made perfect in weakness. Paul says, therefore, I will boast all the more gladly of my weakness so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. You understand the connection here The great evidence to the world is when a Christian is suffering, ultimately, if we're resting upon Christ, the power of God is manifested in our lives, in our weakness. So, in a sense, we're pushed aside and God's power is able to shine forth in our life. That's the powerful witness. They see in our very conduct in our life the power of God at work and it's usually in the context of suffering. How are you going through this suffering in joy? How are you dealing with this ordeal in this way? Very often we're in our job or at school. Have you ever been in a classroom and you have a really unfair teacher? And everybody in the classroom is talking behind the teacher's back and talking about how lame this teacher is. Well, what a difference if a Christian student doesn't engage in that. Someone says, well, how come you don't think this teacher's lame? Well, you say, well, I'm trying to be submitted, you know, Christ is my Lord, I'm trying to live my life in a way that glorifies God, and this is who God has for us in this class at this time. That's just radically different. You're set apart in your actions and your attitude. You might have a job where you have a really mean manager. To continue to render good service there and to try to work as under the Lord, not your manager, set you apart, and it will show a difference in that situation. And what Peter says is that when they see you, when the unbeliever sees you, that's what will provoke the question. Your conduct is what they observe. And once you claim the name of Christ, and once your friends know that you're a Christian, your friends are watching you. It's not so important what you say. It's what you do. Tons of people claim to be a Christian. A lot of people don't live like Christians. It's actually how you conduct your life that will provoke the question. And then finally, this brings us to the last point here. Again, very briefly though, that your life, and this is the fill-in, the final fill-in, Your life answers the question. Your life provokes the question, but your life also answers the question. Not only does your life bring it up, your life gives the answer. Peter says that it is precisely your good behavior that will silence the slanderer of the believers. of the unbeliever. That's to say that your life begins and ends the discussion, and thus the absolute importance of your life in your witness and in your apologetics. Why are you different? Because it is not I who live, but it's Christ who lives in me. Why don't you get all riled up here? Well, because Jesus Christ has given me His Spirit And His Spirit produces in me love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, self-control." Now, there's no guarantee that you're going to prevail in an argument with an unbeliever, but your words and your deeds have to be consistent so that if the unbeliever reviles your life or mocks your faith, your good behavior, your Christian conduct that brought up the discussion in the first place, your life will ultimately, should be the thing that ultimately silences them. In other words, it works like this. Your friend might say, why is your life so different? So your life ultimately should bring it up. Well, because of Jesus Christ, it could be a simple answer. It's because I'm a follower of Christ, I've been saved. But why should I believe in Christ? Why should I trust Him? Well, because Jesus gives His people new lives. He gives sinners new lives. And your life then should be evidence that that's true. You tell them the gospel, and then your life should prove the assertion. Your life provokes the question, and your life proves it. And thus, your irrefutable argument is not really in your words. Your irrefutable argument is in your deeds. The argument is not going to be won at a philosophical level. It's going to be proved at the relational level. Your changed life, your consistently godly conduct, your peace under pressure, your gentleness, your respect, those will refute the gainsayer. Those will vindicate your faith and the claims of Christ. There's a story from last century, the 1900s, about a famous American evangelist who was going around, it wasn't Billy Graham, it was another guy, and he was challenged by an atheist to a public debate. And so this was a public challenge, This man took the debate, but he publicly said, I'll take the debate upon one condition. I will bring two dozen people who have had their lives changed by the faith by Jesus Christ and I'll take the debate if you can find 24 people, two dozen people who have had their lives changed by atheism and the debate actually never took place the atheist reneged on it would not do it because he could not find he could not find people who had radically changed lives for the better because of what they believed And that's because the world cannot refute a truly changed life. The world cannot refute a godly person going through trial. There really is no more powerful testimony to a lost world of the saving power of Jesus Christ than a converted person living a godly life. And thus, your concern in apologetics and in evangelism is not primarily, again, I'm beating this horse over and over again, but it's not primarily what you say, it's primarily how you live. And may God help the church to recover the main priorities again in evangelism and apologetics. And we need to do this because of the sake of lost souls, for the sake of God's own glory, because He's powerful to save. If we don't get back to the very things that we're called to in Scripture, I don't think we're going to see people actually coming to faith in Christ. When we've directed all of our apologetic endeavors to trying to outsmart the atheist, it hasn't really changed much. Not many people are coming to faith in Christ. It's the power of a changed life. That's the irrefutable argument, the one that really is convincing, the one the Lord uses to bring people to Himself. And may the world see that in you and in me. Let's pray together. Father, we... Thank you again for your word, and we pray that you would help us to prioritize, as we think about apologetics, the living of the Christian life that we would settle into and take serious, the walking by faith in Christ. We pray that we would be the kind of people, I pray for the young men and the young women here, that as they live their lives around their friends, as they live their lives within their families, as they live their lives at school, as they interact with their teachers or at work, that people who know that they are Christians would see the evidence and the proof of that in their life. And so, Father, make us a humble people who desire to be gentle, God-fearing people living in the fear of the Lord. May we trust in Christ and may we trust in His Spirit to give us the strength to walk each day. We pray, Lord, that You could use our lives, that there would be enough in them, and there would be evidence of the work of Your Holy Spirit that would be compelling to those around us. That people might ask us why we have hope, and that as we've set apart Christ, we would have an answer for them. because Jesus has made such a change in our lives. So Lord, bring us back to a seriousness of walking the Christian life and make our witness and our apologetic powerful in the world. We pray you would do this for your own glory. May people see our good works and glorify you, our Father in heaven. We plead with you for this and we ask you this in Jesus' name. Amen.