Participants: Tom Shepherd & Deyvy Rodriguez
Series Code: PBOTB
Program Code: PBOTB00012B
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00:01 And we're back. Thank you for joining us.
00:02 We are in 1 Peter Chapter 3 00:05 and right now we are in verse 15. 00:09 And we're also here with Dr. Shepherd. 00:12 Dr. Shepherd, in verse 15 it starts, 00:14 "But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts." 00:18 What does this mean? All right. 00:20 Well, we'll look at this idea of sanctify, 00:23 but I want to notice an interesting 00:25 variation between our two versions. 00:28 You're using the New King James. 00:29 I've got the English Standard Version here. 00:32 And in the English Standard Version, 00:34 in verse 15 it says, 00:35 "but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, 00:40 always being prepared to make a defense to anyone 00:42 who asks a reason for the hope that is in you." 00:48 There are many manuscripts of the New Testament. 00:51 We're greatly blessed, thousands of them, 00:54 thousands of manuscripts 00:55 of the New Testament from the ancient world. 00:58 No two of them exactly agree with one another. 01:00 They are this little variants, you know. 01:02 There'll be a the here or there'll be a comma-- 01:04 not commas but, you know, a phrase here is put in another. 01:08 So there's always variants and scholars look 01:10 very carefully to try to figure out. 01:12 Okay, so which one probably 01:15 has the original reading that we're looking for. 01:18 And they have a whole series of rules 01:19 that they use to do this. 01:21 But we can just illustrate a little bit in this. 01:25 The apostle is actually quoting from Isaiah, right? 01:29 And we noticed back in Isaiah 8, 01:34 it says in verse 13. 01:39 Isaiah 8:13. You want to read that verse? 01:41 "The Lord of hosts, Him you shall hallow; 01:44 Let Him be your fear, And let Him be your dread." 01:48 Okay, so you're supposed to hallow the Lord God, all right? 01:52 The Lord of hosts is the one that you're supposed to hallow. 01:54 Okay. And over here in 1 Peter, 01:58 it says, "You are to honor 02:00 or you are to hallow or to sanctify the Lord." 02:05 And some manuscripts not the oldest and the, 02:10 you know, the strongest ones, say the Lord God, 02:13 because they're probably 02:14 conforming it to the text of Isaiah. 02:16 That would be the tendency that scribes would have this. 02:19 Oh, yes, he's misquoting the text. 02:20 And then they make a correction, you see. 02:22 When actually probably what Peter said 02:25 was that you should sanctify Christ as Lord in your heart. 02:29 And the term Lord in the New Testament 02:31 often refers to the Lord Jesus. 02:33 And so he's quoting Isaiah but he's taking 02:37 those terminologies that apply to Yahweh, 02:39 to Jehovah of the Old Testament 02:41 and he's applying this now to Jesus. 02:43 So when he says sanctify or honor 02:48 this is the word to make holy. 02:50 It is to consecrate, to set apart, 02:53 to venerate. Okay? 02:55 So Christ has already been noted in 1 Peter 02:59 to be the lamb without spot and blemish. 03:02 He's been lifted up very high in Peter. 03:04 And that is the designation that God has given him 03:08 in history as the spotless lamb and as the resurrected Lord. 03:13 Now the Christian is called on to recognize this 03:17 and to affirm it in their heart and in their mind. 03:21 It's an action that you take to recognize the truth 03:24 about Christ, that God has set forth 03:29 and in relationship to the world who has rejected Him, 03:32 you are standing and affirming what God has said. Okay? 03:36 Going back to that idea of listening 03:39 to what God's viewpoint is and His values are. 03:42 So we set Him apart as Lord in our hearts. 03:46 That's where it starts. 03:47 Before you give any witness to people on the outside, 03:51 you have to have the witness on the inside. 03:53 You have to have the personal experience, 03:56 a personal acknowledgment that Christ is Lord 03:59 that He belongs to you, that you are His and He is yours. 04:04 Unlike the world around us we do not recognize 04:07 their valuation of Christ. 04:09 Remember, he was to them the rejected stone. 04:12 But we don't feel what they feel. 04:15 We're not gonna go in with their intimidation. 04:17 Our primary group is God. 04:20 We are listening to His value system. 04:22 We're conscious of that. We value what He values. 04:25 I like verse 15 where it talks about giving a defense. 04:29 Does this have anything to do with witnessing 04:32 and defense to everyone who asks of the hope that is in us? 04:35 Yeah, it's a very interesting word. 04:37 The Greek word is apologia 04:40 from which we get the word apology. 04:43 And today we say, did you apologize? 04:48 Did you-- we take it as saying 04:51 you're sorry for something, you know. 04:53 Almost sounds like being sorry for the hope that is in me? 04:55 Yeah, yeah, and that's not what it means. 04:58 That's not what it means at all, no. 05:00 The word apology here is to give a defense. 05:04 We have another phrase or word in English, 05:06 we call it apologetics. 05:09 This is when you give a defense of the faith, 05:12 where you show that God's message is logical 05:17 that it's in line with reason in reality 05:20 and that you should trust it. 05:22 So an apologia in the ancient world, 05:26 you would defend yourself when you were accused of something. 05:30 But it's kind of clear here that, 05:32 that there's more than just people 05:35 who are attacking you that are in mind. 05:38 These are people who are enquiring 'cause he says, 05:44 it's like they're curious about you. 05:47 You know, they, they notice 05:50 who you are being prepared to make a defense to anyone 05:53 who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you. 06:00 I believe in witnessing to people. 06:04 And people are taught how to witness. 06:07 Many are not taught how to witness. 06:10 And there's an old story about the dentist 06:14 who decided that he really should share his faith 06:19 and he wasn't quite sure how to do it 06:21 but he knew it was all about, you know, 06:23 getting ready for heaven and being ready for dying and. 06:27 So, you know, he got the guy in the chair 06:29 and he was about to give him the-- 06:34 he was about to give him the shot of Novocain 06:36 and he leaned over him and he said to him, 06:38 "Are you ready to die?" 06:43 That's the wrong way to witness. 06:45 You know, verse 15 does say with meekness and fear. 06:49 Yeah. How to win this-- 06:50 Yeah, with gentleness and fear in a reverent way 06:52 that you're supposed to do it. So that's not-- 06:54 the dentist, sorry to any dentist out there. 06:57 I'm sure that this was just may be a made up story. The-- 07:02 So there must be apparently a tactical way to win this-- 07:05 Not just meekness and fear but also a way 07:10 that we can actually reach to certain people. 07:11 And the same way does not always apply 07:14 to all the people, is that right? 07:16 A very useful way to witness to people 07:18 is what has been called by some, tagging. 07:22 You know, when we were kids we played tag. 07:24 I touch you and tag, you're it and then you chase me, 07:27 you know, and then you tag somebody else 07:29 that kind of thing. Yeah. 07:31 Tagging and witnessing is a very low key-- 07:35 I found it's actually 07:37 a very delightful way to witness to people. 07:40 And here's how it works. 07:41 When you meet somebody you just start talking to them 07:44 because you, you know, you're in the same place 07:47 and you start to get acquainted with them. 07:49 You ask them questions about who they are 07:51 and they start to talk and most people love to talk 07:54 about themselves and tell you, you know, what they are. 07:57 You can affirm them along the way, 07:59 "That's really interesting. That must be-- 08:00 you're going to see your grand children, that's really nice." 08:03 And they'll show you pictures, you know, and everything. 08:05 And somewhere in the conversation 08:09 you mention something about yourself 08:11 that deals with your spiritual life. Okay. 08:15 You mention something in the conversation that deals 08:17 with your spiritual life, it should be natural. 08:19 It shouldn't be, you know, out of the ordinary or something. 08:22 "Let me change the subject," you know, it's not like that. 08:25 It's something that fits right into it, you know. 08:27 Like you might say, "Our pastor was just talking 08:29 about that in church last week." 08:31 So that just gives me the assumption 08:34 that you go to church? Yeah. 08:36 Or for me it's very natural because they say, 08:38 "Well, what do you do?" 08:39 "I'm a teacher." "Oh, what do you teach?" 08:41 "I teach the New Testament. I teach the Bible." 08:43 I've just said that I'm a spiritual person. 08:45 Now I've tagged them. 08:47 Now the question is what they will do with that tag? 08:50 If they lean over and they say, 08:51 "Really? That's really interesting." 08:54 Now they have said that they want to talk 08:56 about spiritual things, you see? 08:59 But if they say, "Oh, 09:02 what was the temperature at the North Pole today? 09:04 Do you know what it is?" 09:06 Then they obviously don't want to do that. 09:08 Now they don't want to go there. 09:09 So I'm not gonna, you know, push it on them, no. 09:13 I'm at the place of mine. 09:14 I guess I'm kind of this outgoing guy or something. 09:17 I'm not at the place in my life where I will. 09:19 I will tag them more than once. 09:20 I'm not gonna let them just go often to the dark easily. 09:24 But I'm not gonna force it on them. 09:26 And I've had amazing conversations with people. 09:29 I had a conversation with a fellow. 09:31 I was flying to professional meetings 09:33 and he was a fellow who makes videos. 09:35 He was going to the same city to-- 09:37 he makes this kind of videos of pictures 09:39 that you're flying over mars, you know, and things like that. 09:42 And we just started talking about our life 09:44 and he was been away from his children and everything 09:46 and you miss them and things like that. 09:49 And, oh, it's such a busy life and everything. 09:52 And I said, "Well, I have something in my experience that, 09:56 you know, really helps me to stop." 09:59 I told him about the Sabbath of all things, you know. 10:02 It came out naturally. 10:03 It wasn't like, I need to tell, you know. 10:06 It wasn't like he was this deep spiritual person or something. 10:11 But it was just a natural linkage. 10:13 All these natural linkages are everywhere around us. 10:16 And he says, you're supposed to do it gently 10:18 and with fear, with reverence, remember focused on God. 10:22 Interestingly enough, the phrase gentle 10:24 and with fear are the two same concepts 10:28 that he talked about the wives in Chapter 3, 10:32 that she has the reverence, spirit, 10:35 and she has a gentle spirit. First Peter 3: 2, 4. 10:40 So it's not as though these only apply to women. 10:44 Or another way we could say it is that the wives 10:49 are an example to the whole church. 10:52 In verse 16 here we see that Peter seems to return 10:55 to the negative possibilities. 10:58 Yes, he returns to negative possibilities 11:01 but not without discussing these three ideas, 11:05 these three ideas, the gentle spirit. 11:07 There's no need to be harsh when you're sharing your faith, 11:10 the reverent fear that is reverence for God, 11:13 God mindedness, dependant on God, 11:15 respect for His view of things. 11:17 And then he talks about this good conscience 11:19 that we talked about before that is a conscience 11:23 that is the more consciousness of God 11:26 as the primary value system. 11:28 Peter speaks of the opponents who speak badly 11:30 about the Christians, being put to shame. 11:34 Well, when will they be put to shame? 11:36 Well, it could be in the marketplace of ideas 11:38 because he just kind of described 11:40 that kind of thing at other times. 11:42 But this is probably talking about the judgment to come. 11:45 Verse 17 it says that, 11:47 "It is better if it is the will of God 11:48 to suffer for doing good than doing evil." 11:51 Is it God's will for me to suffer? 11:53 I think many people might be asking that question. 11:55 Yes. The answer is no. 11:57 It is not God's will for suffering. 11:59 God is not sadistic God just, you know, 12:03 trying to put on the screws here and see what will happen. 12:07 He puts-- if we take out the phrase, 12:10 if it is the will of God, is not the central sentence 12:13 that's been used here, okay. 12:15 The central sentence says, it is better to do good 12:18 and suffer than to do bad. 12:22 Okay, it is better to do good and suffer than to do bad. 12:25 We've already talked about the will of God earlier 12:27 in these passages in 1 Peter. 12:30 And what is the will of God? 12:32 The will of God is that we should do good 12:34 and we should eschew evil. 12:36 That is we should stay away from that which is evil. 12:38 So He says, if it should be the will of God, okay, 12:42 this is unjust suffering that's gonna come on the Christian. 12:45 They're doing good and they're still suffering. 12:48 So God's will in such innocent suffering 12:51 is that you should still go through it. 12:54 God is not imposing the suffering. 12:56 God is calling you to the good and when you do what is good 12:59 and you suffer, God will come to your aid 13:02 in the end and He will protect you 13:04 and overcome those who are trying to crush you. 13:09 Well, thank you, Dr. Shepherd. 13:11 We are studying the Books of 1 and 2 Peter. 13:14 And Dr. Shepherd, I just want to give you the final thought. 13:17 May be someone is suffering 13:18 you want to give them words of encouragement to them? 13:23 I know that suffering is like a fog that encompasses you. 13:27 Don't give up. God is smiling at you even now. 13:30 He's caring for you. 13:32 Read the scripture and find His grace. 13:34 He'll carry you through. |
Revised 2014-12-17