The Christian's Duty in a Hostile World, Part 1

And now he comes to the third section of the epistle, and he says, you should go on with your Christian living, focused on the Word, on Christ, and on holiness, not only because of your precious salvation, your present situation, but thirdly, because of His personal second coming. Welcome to Grace To You with John MacArthur.

I'm your host, Phil Johnson. The money in your wallet may say, In God We Trust, but the sad truth is, much of America rejects God, even spews hate towards him, and often works to marginalize those who follow Christ. So how do you honor God while surrounded by a culture that doesn't? Consider that today on Grace To You as John MacArthur begins his study called Faith Through the Fire.

Now, John, let me set the stage for this series. You've been the pastor of Grace Community Church for 52 years. You've been in ministry for 60-plus years. Over the course of your ministry, would you say that hostility towards Christ and Christianity has ever been more pronounced or more public or a bigger problem than it is today?

No, I think this is the worst. I think there's always been individual hostility. Jesus said you might have to put a sword to relationships.

He came to bring a sword, not peace, and that could show up with father, mother, sister, brother. There could be hostility toward Christianity in the workplace with people who are around you in work or maybe even a boss, but never has the government stepped in to essentially pick up the responsibility of persecution of the church and persecution of the truth as an actual government function, a government activity. And I think what we have in America now and in Canada, as we well know, is basically the government beginning to take persecution seriously because there are so many lies now that dominate the culture that in order to protect the culture of lies, they have to tackle the truth. They have to go after the truth with a vengeance, and the most offensive truth of all truth is the initial message of the gospel, which is you're alienated from God, you're a sinner, you're on your way to eternal hell, and you need to repent and believe in Jesus Christ.

So, no, there's always been individual hostility, but I've never, ever seen, and I don't think anybody in America has seen because it's never happened before, the government begin to criminalize righteous behavior and righteous truth and legalize sin, but that's where we are. So, we have to be ready for this, and because of that, we're doing a series called Faith Through the Fire, looking at 1 Peter 3 and 4, powerful, powerful teaching, critical for the time in which we live. Don't miss a day of our study, Faith Through the Fire.

Right. When you're persecuted, how should you respond? How has God equipped you to stand strong against any suffering? What are the spiritual resources at your disposal? Get the encouraging biblical truth you need in the study John begins right now, Faith Through the Fire. 1 Peter chapter 4 is our text, 1 Peter chapter 4 and verses 7 through 11. Let me read them to you as the setting for what the Spirit of God will teach us.

The end of all things is at hand. Therefore, be of sound judgment and sober spirit for the purpose of prayer. Above all, keep fervent in your love for one another because love covers a multitude of sins.

Be hospitable to one another without complaint. As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. Whoever speaks, let him speak as it were the utterances of God. Whoever serves, let him do so as by the strength which God supplies so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ to whom belongs the glory and dominion forever and ever.

Amen. I want to speak to you out of this text on the subject, The Christian's Duty in a Hostile World. And I might begin by just setting the scenario a little bit of the time in which we find ourselves, particularly with regard to the church. The church today urgently is in need of spiritual revival. And that spiritual revival can only occur when we as Christians begin to do our spiritual duty. So what Peter is saying to us here is germane to the whole matter of Christian living.

If we are to be what we are to be by God's plan and design in this world, then it behooves us to fall in line in obedience to the truths that are given in these great verses. The church does need revival and it will come when Christians get serious about their Christian life. And only when the church is revived and restored will the world begin to really take notice of us. It is an interesting thing to even say that the church needs revival in our time because it seems that not long ago we were experiencing a kind of revival.

In fact, this desperate condition of the church seems to have been somewhat new. If you go back, for illustration's sake, into the 70's, you will remember something called the Jesus movement. The Jesus movement frankly witnessed an unprecedented rise in conservative biblical evangelicalism. It was in my lifetime the greatest flourishing of interest in the Bible, the greatest flourishing of interest in evangelism, Bible study, discipleship, all of those things which are the heartbeat of conservative evangelicalism. There was the explosion of new translations of the Bible starting with the New American Standard and then came the Living Bible which is not really a translation but a paraphrase. And an awful lot of interest in personal Bible study came as a result of that. Christian broadcasting began to explode in an exponential way far beyond the wildest imagination of most predictors of the future of the church. Along came Christian publishing and every time we turned around there was a new publisher publishing new material for the Christian life. And then came tapes and then came an absolute unbelievable inundation of Christian music proliferating to the point where we no longer have to listen to anything that isn't Christian and we could never get through all that is available. There was a tremendous explosion in Bible believing churches but frankly it becomes more and more apparent that the prevailing trend in the church has departed from that time of revival. There is no longer what I would call a revival movement in the church, a flourishing movement driven by the Holy Spirit. What has happened now is a sort of a popularized institutionalization of the church. It is a socially favorable form of Christianity and in fact becoming more and more socially acceptable as it more and more denudes itself of any offensive message. It's amazing how fast this movement came but frankly with a high speed, high tech media communication capability I question whether any movement will last very long.

They move very rapidly because communication moves so very rapidly. So here we are coming into a completely different mindset in the church, a time of self-centered living in the church, a time of psychology in the church, a time of popularized Christianity, a time of pragmatized Christianity where the questions are being asked, does it work, what will it do for me, how much success will it produce, how much money will it bring in instead of the things that would honor the heart of God. And the pop church frankly is everywhere, everywhere, most evident I suppose on Christian television and secondarily on Christian radio.

Celebrity entertainment has replaced worship and along with it pride has replaced humility and success has replaced excellence and cleverness has replaced character and on and on we go. Christian phone-in radio shows feature any guest that you can imagine with little comment on whether that guest is right, wrong or indifferent. Christian talk shows have hosts who sit there in a ubiquitous fashion with a string of people coming across the scene claiming every imaginable kind of thing from God and the host makes no comment on everything or anything other than to give a platform to it all. Christian radio is proliferated with psychotherapy replacing Bible teaching as the staple.

Local churches are fast becoming comfort zones, Christian country clubs, community centers with less and less redemptive impact and very little threat against sin. And the trends of this sort of pop Christianity I believe are more subtle than theological liberalism. Theological liberalism attacks the church head on. It's very easy to see it.

It's very easy to deal with it. But the pop church gives lip service to the truth while quietly undermining it. Popular Christianity has a tendency to make the basis of faith something other than the Word of God. The basis of faith now is experience. The basis of faith is emotion. The basis of faith is solving problems. It's the need theology again. The Charismatic movement has led the way with a new basis of faith and that is private revelation, private words from God, private insights, private prophecies, private visions and so forth. Secular psychology has been somewhat quasi-sanctified and offers self-help therapy that also reflects this drift away from the Word of God as the basis of the living of the Christian life. Christian ministry has become riddled from top to bottom with pragmatism, with manipulation, with professionalism, with consumerism. All of those things indicate a less than biblical foundation to our faith. And along that line, the focus of pop Christianity and the pop church has not only moved away from the biblical basis of faith, but it has moved away from the person of Jesus Christ.

That needs to be stressed. Something or someone else is on center stage, not Christ. It is the celebrity. It is the evangelist. It is the project. It is the fundraising campaign.

It is the new building. It is the miracles, supposedly. It is the so-called healings. It is anything and everything but Jesus Christ.

And we have a pop Christianity that is not Christ-centered and not biblically based. It has a new basis of faith. It is a new object of affection. They are in love with the celebrity. They are in love with the system.

They are in love with the building, the facility, the program or whatever. There is a sort of fantasy faith, not affixed on Christ, but a sort of nebulous faith that wants to attach itself to miracles, healings, health, wealth, prosperity, comfort, personal gain. And of course, in that kind of environment, easy believism, a cheap gospel flourishes, flourishes. And we have to ask ourselves, where is that strong faith? Where is that Christ-centered faith that stands and holds its ground in the midst of hard trials rather than that fragile emotionalism called faith that is little more than selfish escapism? Christ is not the message any longer.

Though he is named from time to time, the focus is on man. Man is the message and how man can solve his problems and live a more comfortable life is the issue. The pop Christian focus of the church is least of all interested in the second coming of Jesus Christ because that would be to end their enjoyable trip on this particular pop train. In fact, I would add a third note and that is that the focus of the pop church is on something other than holiness. It is happiness.

It is satisfaction. The pursuit of the church today, its basis is not that of the Word of God. Its focus is not on Christ and so its goal is not holiness. Its goal is happiness.

Whatever makes you happy, whatever satisfies you is what you pursue. And I really believe that all of this is eating out the heart of the church. Think about it. What could Satan do to try to destroy the church that would be more effective than undermining the basis of faith, which is the Word of God, the object of faith, which is Christ, and the goal of faith, which is holiness? Still talking about faith, still talking about Christ, still talking about virtue, but really undermining all of that. A new basis of faith, my experience. A new object of faith, my hero, my program, my spiritual kingdom, whatever it is, and a new goal in life, happiness not holiness. There couldn't be a better strategy. That's the strategy of Satan. Well, what is it going to take to bring revival to the church?

Where is the focus to be placed? How are we to live so as not to lose our power and so as to be useful to God? Peter gives us the answer right here in this text. And I believe what you have in these very few verses, verses 7 to 11, is really an insight into the unimaginable genius of the Holy Spirit of God. It is only the Holy Spirit who in an economy of words can say an eternity of truth.

And that's what you have here. Everything in our Christian life can be boiled down to these statements in verses 7 through 11. Now let me just give you a little bit of a feeling of the background of the text as we move into verse 7.

We can find here several motives for their Christian living in suffering. He starts out, for example, by saying you ought to live the Christian life even though you suffer, one, because of our precious salvation. And from chapter 1 verse 1 through chapter 2 verse 10, he talked about our precious salvation. Our salvation is so precious it should demand the best out of you. And then secondly, in chapter 2 verse 11 through chapter 4 verse 6, he says you ought to live a holy life in the midst of suffering not only because of your precious salvation but because of your present situation.

And your present situation is that you are called upon to be a witnessing community no matter how difficult it is. And now he comes to the third section of the epistle and he says you should go on with your Christian living focused on the Word, on Christ, and on holiness not only because of your precious salvation, your present situation, but thirdly because of his personal second coming. You must live in the light of the return of Jesus Christ and that is his theme from chapter 4 verse 7 through chapter 5 verse 11. That whole section is given in view of the second coming of Jesus Christ.

In fact, he mentions the second coming, alludes to it in verse 7, mentions it specifically in verse 13, the revelation of his glory, refers to it again in verse 4 of chapter 5, the appearing of the chief shepherd who will bring the unfading crown of glory. And so here he is taking his suffering church and moving them from a view of their salvation and a view of their situation to a view of the second coming. These three sections then lay out the basic motives for which we are to live the Christian life. Now, how are we then to live? What is our Christian duty as we suffer in this world pursuing holiness in the light of Christ's return? First point comes in verse 7. Let's call it the incentive, the incentive.

Then we'll look at the instructions and finally the intention. But for right now, the incentive. Verse 7, the end of all things is at hand. Stop right there.

That's the incentive. The end of all things is at hand. I want you to get a grip, if nothing else, on this statement. The term end is the Greek word telos, a very familiar word to any Bible student. And when it is translated end, it could convey the wrong idea. It could convey the idea of cessation. It could convey the idea of termination.

It does not mean either of those things. It is never used of a temporal end in all of the New Testament. It is never used of some kind of chronological end as if it simply means something stops. It always has the idea of a consummation. To put it another way, it has the idea of a goal achieved or a result attained or a purpose consummated. It has the idea of fulfillment realized, of ultimate destiny. It's not just the end of something.

It is the culmination, the conclusion, the success, the goal, the realization, the fulfillment, the consummation. So he says, the consummation of all things is at hand. Now, beloved, that has to refer to the return of Christ. If he had said the consummation of your trouble is at hand, we could say, well, maybe he was referring to something temporal. Or if he said the consummation of your persecution is at hand, we could have assumed that maybe a different kind of government might come into play in their lives and treat them more kindly.

But he doesn't say that. He doesn't say the consummation of your difficulty, your trouble, your situation. He says the consummation of all things. And the consummation of all things points directly to the second coming of Jesus Christ.

It must refer to that. It can't refer to anything less than that, for that and that alone is when all things are consummated. And it takes us back to 1 Peter 1.5 again where he says we are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. And then verse 7, he says that we will be found in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. So he has the revelation of Christ, which is another way of speaking of his second coming, connected to the end times there in chapter 1.

And that is what he is referring to here. When he says the end of all things is at hand, he is referring to the consummation, the time of great reward at the coming of Jesus Christ. Now notice the word there, very simple one but needs our understanding, is at hand.

That is only one word in the Greek. It is the word to come near. It could be read this way, the end of all things is about to arrive or to come near. It is a perfect tense and has the idea of a process consummated with a resulting nearness. And I believe it refers to imminency. That is the coming of Christ is imminent. The next event can happen at any time.

It is near. Peter is reminding them then that they are to live in anticipation of the nearness of the return of Jesus Christ. We could say that they are to live with, here's the word, expectancy. Expectancy. Do you realize that every generation since then has therefore lived in that same expectancy?

All of us live today or should live in the expectancy of the coming of Jesus Christ. Not to do that is not to be a faithful church. 1 Thessalonians was written to a faithful church and you'll remember that he commended them because they were waiting for Jesus Christ from heaven, 1 Thessalonians 1.

There they were 2,000 years ago and they then were waiting for Jesus Christ. And that waiting creates a pilgrim mentality. It creates a sojourner mentality.

It creates a sense of my alienation. It reminds me that I am a citizen of heaven. I'm just waiting to be taken there. I'm just waiting for Christ to show up, to arrive. You say, well how could they be waiting then and we waiting now? When is he going to come? Well, in Acts 1, 7 here are the words of Jesus, it is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has fixed by his own authority. Bottom line, God hasn't chosen to tell us when Jesus will come.

He hasn't been willing to do that for obvious reasons. If we knew when Jesus was going to come, it would take away one of the driving motives in the life of the church. In other words, we would get very lazy if we knew he wasn't coming soon and if he knew he was coming soon, we'd get very panicked.

So he's eliminated both of those and all of us have to live in expectancy. To show you how secretive this whole matter is, I remind you of Matthew 24, 36 where Jesus said, But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone. God knows and Jesus in his self-imposed incarnational limitations did not even know. Peter is saying to his readers, you must live in constant expectancy as if Jesus was to come at any moment. And I remind you again, beloved, that that is an unpopular doctrine today and most people are not interested in that. In fact, I believe with all my heart that one of the compelling reasons why people today want to teach a post-tribulational rapture is because at least it gives them a lot of warning before Jesus gets here. And they would like to think they're going to live through all of that time.

It removes that pressure of imminence, of expectancy that calls us to a high level of accountability. After all, if I'm going to live through the tribulation, hey, I can live any way I want now because I'll recognize the abomination of desolation in the middle when they sacrifice on the altar in the temple of Jerusalem. That will be in the newspaper. I'll know when we're there and I'll know when the seals are broken and all that stuff starts to happen and all those terrible plagues come on the world. We'll know that.

I'll see that. And when the sea turns to blood, I'll see that. And I'll be able to see all of that so I'll know exactly where I am and I can deal with it when I get there.

That removes any responsibility that I have to deal with it now. You take away expectancy and you take away imminency and you feed the monster in a way, and that's not why you make your decision, but I think that's part of the motivation of this new wave of preoccupation with the post-tribulationalism, which means that Jesus won't come till the end of the seven-year tribulation. And we can chart our way through that real easy so we're going to know when He'll arrive, or at least pretty close. But that's not Peter's message. Peter's message is, hey, that is near. And if you go back to verse 5 of 1 Peter 4, it says there that they will give account to Him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. Now God has committed all judgment unto Christ.

Christ, when He comes, will judge the living and the dead in His great second coming. And so Peter is talking about that. He says in verse 5 He's ready to come. And in verse 7 He says the end of all things is very near. It is imminent.

It is next on God's calendar. So we are to live in expectancy, that the one who is coming will come as judge of the living and the dead, and that that is very near. That concludes John MacArthur's lesson today on Grace to You. His current study is titled Faith Through the Fire. It's a practical look at how to thrive in a world that's hostile to God.

And friend, with animosity toward the church and God's word on the rise, it has never been more important to know how to respond to persecution at work, at school, or maybe even in your own home. To dig deep into what the New Testament says about suffering for Christ, pick up John's current study titled Faith Through the Fire when you contact us today. You can order this 6-CD album by calling 800-55-GRACE or go to gty.org. The cost for Faith Through the Fire is $27, and shipping is free. Again, call 800-55-GRACE or visit gty.org. And remember, you can download the Faith Through the Fire lessons free of charge in MP3 or transcript format at our website. That study is part of our sermon archive. The archive features 3,500 sermons from John, all available free in MP3 or transcript format.

You can start downloading today at gty.org. And if Grace to You is helping you learn and grow in God's truth, remember that it's the support of friends like you that allows us to reach people in your community and beyond with verse-by-verse Bible teaching. You can mail your tax-deductible donation to Grace to You, Box 4000, Panorama City, CA 91412. Or call us at 800-55-GRACE or donate online at gty.org. And thank you for praying for us. That's really your most important ministry to us. Now for John MacArthur and the entire Grace to You staff, I'm Phil Johnson, encouraging you to come back tomorrow when John continues his series, Faith Through the Fire, with another 30 minutes of unleashing God's truth, one verse at a time, on Grace to You.