Boldly Unfurl Hope, Part 2

Welcome to Delight in Grace, the teaching ministry of Rich Powell, pastor of Grace Bible Church in Winston-Salem. Today's message titled Boldly Unfurl Hope pulls from 1 Peter 3, 14-22. As Rich digs into this passage, he challenges us to champion what is right, true, and good, regardless of what it may cost. Because of our reality in Christ, our position before God and the promises that become ours in Christ, we can face suffering and ridicule with calm assurance and trust for the sake of the Gospel. We're listening to the second segment from this message, which was first preached November 20, 2022.

Adult Bible Fellowship about the lives of the apostles this morning. Part of that conclusion is recapping how each one of them died. One of them was skinned alive. And I'm sitting there thinking, how many people would look at that and think, where was God?

Here, this man was a called apostle of Jesus Christ, and he spread the Gospel around the world in this sacrifice that he made, and God let him be skinned alive. Where is God? That's a question you and I would ask, isn't it?

You know why? Because we are so prone to judge the goodness of God by our circumstances. That's what it's come to in our culture and our society. The answer to that question comes down to this. The longevity of your physical life is not the point.

The comfort of your circumstances is not the point. God is the point. God's mission of reconciling people to himself is the point. Peter makes that abundantly clear. Peter here, who at one point denied Jesus when things got a little rough for him, and then afterwards, after the resurrection, and then they were indwelt with the Spirit of God, Peter was unstoppable. It comes out clearly in the New Testament narrative, as were all 12 apostles.

They were unstoppable. And that made the Gospel unstoppable. Suffering is not the opposite of blessing. In the economy of God's kingdom, blessing comes through suffering. In the economy of God's kingdom, blessing comes through suffering. And so all the resource that we put into avoiding suffering, all the things that we are willing to sacrifice just so we won't suffer, we're missing out on so much blessing. Now be careful with that, okay?

I don't want to go too far with that. But that's a message that comes clear in the Scriptures. And who gives us the supreme example of that? But the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul said as much, 2 Corinthians chapter 12 verse 10. He says, for the sake of Christ, for the sake... Don't stop there. Don't keep reading.

Stop right there. What does the first phrase say? For the sake of Christ. That makes all the difference right there, all right? For the sake of Christ then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong. It's an admission that I am not the point. I am not the point. The longevity and comfort of my life is not the point.

Not at all. And then he says here at verse 14, but if any of you should suffer for righteousness sake, you will be blessed. What does he mean by that? It sounds very similar to what Jesus said in the Beatitudes, doesn't it? Blessed.

Blessed is a word that means the transcendent happiness of life beyond care, labor, and death. In other words, you are one who can rise above the mayhem and the hurt of the here and now. And you can rise above with a sense of calm, satisfaction, and hope. Because you know what is going on here and now is not the end.

It is not what defines me. This, too, shall pass. And the best is yet to come. To rise above because your source is beyond this earthbound circumstance. Jesus said as much, didn't he? Matthew 5, you know this in the Beatitudes. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are you and others. Revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you. Falsely are those who are persecuted falsely on my account. Jesus said that.

That word blessed means happy. Now that doesn't mean we go out looking to be persecuted, but we should expect it and never be surprised that it does because there are kingdoms in conflict. There is the kingdom of light and love that has waged war against the kingdom of darkness, which you and I belonged to at one time. And the kingdom of light and love will prevail. Do you believe that, Christians? We have been rescued from the domain of darkness and transferred into the kingdom of the son of his love. For that reason, we are people of hope. And he said blessed when people persecute you and they say all evil against you. And you know what? We, in our very comfortable context, having experienced for all of our lives being the dominant worldview, we read a verse like this and we think about other people.

Right? Say, But we don't apply this to ourselves because the moment I get pushed back, I either run and hide or I get outraged as if this isn't supposed to happen to me. Do we read this and agree with it as some kind of a religious platitude? Or can you read this as a promise from Jesus Christ? Blessed, happy are you when you get pushed back for your faith.

Boy, that leaves us with something to think about, doesn't it? And when that happens, here Peter is going to prescribe for us a free person's response. A free person's response to the disdain, the reviling, all the pushback that we may get for being a follower, a committed follower of Jesus Christ.

And a free person's response, first, there's two of them. The first one is appropriate fear. Appropriate fear. And by fear, the word is phobos. Okay, which means what? Fear.

All right? That's what it means. He says in verse 14, look at the end of verse 14 with me, the last sentence of verse 14, Have no fear of them, nor be troubled.

Any questions? That's pretty clear, isn't it? Have no fear of them, nor be troubled. He's speaking of a mental distress. And when we, when we allow ourselves to be captivated by mental distress, then what happens to us?

We become isolated and paralyzed and become useless for the gospel. And we're not a light. We take that light and we hide it under a bushel.

You remember that little kid's song that we learned? This little light of mine, I'm going to let it shine. Hide it under a bushel. This is what Peter is saying. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled. Here's the truth.

You ready for this? How do you overcome anxiety? I know that's a deep, broad subject for a lot of people. I've been reading a really good book, an anxiety field guide for, an anxiety field guide by Jason Cusick.

I think I might start an APF with that. But he says very, because he's one that has experienced a lot of it himself. You overcome anxiety by facing it, not avoiding it. If you avoid what causes you anxiety, you only increase your anxiety.

What is Peter asking us to do in this? He's asking us, he's directing us to replace the fear of man with the fear of God. One is an unhealthy, paralyzing fear. The other is a very healthy, sanctifying fear.

Replace the fear of man, and what is the fear of man? What you think others will think of you or do to you. If you follow Christ boldly in the context of darkness and pushback, I could be afraid what others are going to think of me, and therefore I assume that they will slander me, gossip about me, call me names behind my back, yada yada, all this stuff, or what they might even do to me. They might cancel me on social media.

They might go to HR and say that I don't meet up to the DEI regulations of this corporation, diversity, equity, and inclusion. They might do that, and I might be afraid of that, and am I going to be willing to not follow follow Christ faithfully because I'm afraid of what they might think of me or do to me? Peter says here very clearly, have no fear of them nor be troubled, but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy. Replace the fear of man with the fear of God. What is the fear of God?

Let me define that for you. You have to do that every time because we can, you know, reverent awe, okay, that's, you know, that's, that's true. We have reverence and respect, but it's more than that, okay. Fear, when the Bible talks about the fear of God, it's not just about reverence for God or respecting. It is those, it includes those, but it goes beyond that, and the fear of God is this. The fear of God means if I fear God, it means I am gripped by his perfections and my accountability to him.

What do I mean? Let's think about his perfections for a minute. What about God's love? It is perfect. What about his power? It is perfect.

What about his justice? It is perfect. What about his holiness? It is perfect.

Are you getting the point? That I am gripped by his perfections and my accountability to him, meaning what? When it's all said and done, it is before him and him alone that I stand, and I will give an account. We're so glad you've joined us for Delight in Grace, the teaching ministry of Rich Powell, pastor of Grace Bible Church in Winston-Salem. You can hear this message and others anytime by visiting our website, www.delightingrace.com. You can also check out Pastor Rich's book, Seven Words That Can Change Your Life, where he unpacks from God's Word the very purpose for which you were designed. Seven Words That Can Change Your Life is available wherever books are sold. As always, tune in to Delight in Grace, weekdays at 10 a.m.