December 12th

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Welcome to On the Way with Tony Crisp. Each weekday, Dr. Crisp will be discussing biblical passages, people, places, and prophecies. Tune in daily to start your day right and deepen your understanding of how to better walk the way and enjoy the journey. Here's your host, Dr. Tony Chris.

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Welcome to On the Way. This is Tony Crisp, and this is the 365 Bible Reading Plan. Today is December the 12th, and our chapter for today is 1 Peter chapter 4. Now, before we get into chapter 4, I want to deal with just a very familiar passage to all of those who have been through evangelism training, those who have looked at this verse really just selectively by itself outside of its context, and that is first Peter chapter 3 and verse 15, where it says, But set apart, sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to every one who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you with meekness and in fear. Now, first of all, I want to remind you of what I have taught you from the very beginning, that one of the key components of properly interpreting the scriptures, a good hermeneutic method of discovery, always takes into consideration context, the immediate context, that is the words and verses that are right around the verse that you're dealing with. It's greater context, which would be the chapters in the book, perhaps. Maybe if it is the Pauline writings, his greater writings, not just that book, but others, and how he relates scripture, both the Old Testament and what the Lord Jesus said and what the other apostles said, how that all works together. All of that's to be taken into consideration. And so you need to understand that verse 15 is not just a verse that talks about our testimony, although it does that, but it is in a greater context of persecution. It's not a matter of if we are going to be persecuted in the West. It's just a matter of when. And when I talk about persecution in the West, I'm talking about Western Europe, I'm talking about the United States, Canada, and the Western countries in not just our location from the Middle East, but also our lifestyle, our way of life, our philosophy, the basis, uh moral basis, the philosophical basis upon which our governments are built in the West is the Judeo-Christian Bible. It is both the Old and New Testaments. It is the foundation of what we call democracy, because democracy in any form does not work without a Judeo-Christian base. And so persecution is going to come to us, and this is why in verse 13 he says, the ones that are going to harm us are going to be those that are going to come against us not because we're doing something evil, but because we're doing something good. It's going to be for righteousness' sake, not for being evil. And so he said, Don't worry about their threats, don't let those people intimidate you and cower you down from doing the right thing and saying the right thing and speaking up in Jesus' name for who he is and what he's done. And so he says, But set apart the Lord in your heart always, always be ready to give an answer, a defense. And the word there is apologia. Apo means from or away from. Logia is from the word logos, which has to do with content with the word. In other words, we need to, from a solid rationale, we need to give a defense. An apology in our language is likened unto saying you're sorry for something. This is not what an apology in the classical sense, in its original sense, was not saying I'm sorry, it was giving a defense for what you believe or how you've acted. And so this is what he says. We need to be able to give a defense to everyone who asks us for the analytics, for why it is. What's the rationale for believing the Bible is the Word of God and different than any other book? Why would you believe that the Bible is the foundation upon which all of life is built and what you say, what you think, how you live? Why would you do that? Is it reliable? How do you know it's reliable? I can tell you from my personal experience, and this is a very limited frame of reference, I understand, but I have talked with thousands upon thousands of people, priest of thousands upon thousands of people, and interacted with thousands of people. And what I'm telling you is that most people really don't know why they believe what they do. They just know they've had an experience with Jesus and they've given their life to him and they're beginning to go through the processes of growing at different stages. But we need to understand why we can trust God and His reliability in every area, who He says he is, what He's done, and why we believe that. Why do you believe what you do? How do you know the Bible's the Word of God? How do you know that it's any different than the Quran? Or how do you know it's any different than any other ancient book? These are things that we need to put time and effort into learning. Is the Bible reliable? Can God be trusted? How do we know that? How do we know Him? Those are the kinds of things that Peter's talking about. We need to give a reason. We need to give a logical reason for why we believe. You can't just say, well, I just believe and that's it. Well then that's no different than anyone else. People say they can't challenge your testimony. Well, yes, they can. By the way, if they challenge your testimony and you don't even know why you believe what you believe, then why would they want to believe what you believe? And so this is very important. So he said, when we do find out and we are able to give a defense, we need to do that with gentleness, with meekness, not condescending, not prideful, and with phobos. With do you respect? He said, having a good conscience that when they defame you, notice he didn't say if they talk evil about you, if they defame you, if they're ugly toward you, if they lie about you, they're going to. Why? Because that's the only defense that they have, because they can't speak if you know what you believe and why you believe it. They're not going to be able to speak against that. Oh, they can, but they're going to be ashamed when they look at your conduct, look at their lives, when they see they're having to lie, to cheat, to steal, to try to overturn what you say. When they look at your life and your good conduct, they're going to be ashamed. And after all, God is the one that deals with the heart. If someone lies against us and someone tries to ruin us, God will take up for us. God will validate and vindicate us in the end. Years ago, I met with Dr. Stanley. As a matter of fact, Bailey Smith and I met with Charles Stanley in downtown Atlanta, and we spent several hours together. Bailey was going through a very difficult time in his life, and I was as well. Both of us were being lied about and saying things that are not true. Now listen, there's plenty that you can say about me that is true that I wish had never happened, but the reality is that's usually not what people talk about. But if somebody's going to say something about you and you're seeking to live a godly life, then more than likely they're going to make up something or it's going to be a half-truth or something like that. So what do you do? What do you do when somebody is lying about you and you know it's a lie, and uh matter of fact, they know it's a lie. What do you do? Do you come after them and try to tit for tat and try to take vengeance on them? No, vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord. And so Dr. Stanley sat and told us about when he first went to First Baptist Atlanta and the persecution he went through, the rancor and bitterness that was against him, how they tried to overthrow him and relieve him from his duties as pastor, and he told us stories that would make the hair stand on your head. Quite honestly, it made what I was going through look very light at the time, and so I was somewhat ashamed of that. But as Bailey and I talked with him, he looked over at me and he said, Tony, listen to me, and you can just hear him saying that with his southern accent, and he said to me, Tony, he said, just remember this. Truth and time walk hand in hand. Truth and time walk hand in hand. Time and truth walk hand in hand. You see, in time, if indeed you are righteous before God, and what people are saying about you is untrue, truth will prevail in the end. It will come out in the end, and you will be validated, you'll be vindicated. And after all, when we are validated and vindicated, even if it is time, even past our lifetime, God has a way of honoring those who honor Him. And so He says, having a good conscience, that is you and me having a good conscience, that when they defame us as evildoers, that those who refile your good conduct in Christ may be ashamed. That is, when they see how you're living, that they'd be ashamed that they even talked about you the way that they did. And so he says, For it is better if it is the will of God to suffer for doing good rather than evil. In other words, if we end up in prison, it needs to be because of Jesus, not because of our evil, not because we've done something bad, but because we've done something good. And so after he goes on and talks about the righteousness of Jesus, the righteous one suffering for those of us who were unjust, he says in verse one of chapter four, Therefore, since Christ suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same mind. Why? Because we are in Jesus. For he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, that he should no longer live the rest of his time in the lust of men. And what he's saying is, just as Jesus, through his suffering, it revealed his righteousness, so it will through ours. Because you see, when we are going through persecution, there is a cleansing effect of that. There is a catharsis that takes place. Those who are undergoing persecution, there's no time to be dabbling with sin and playing with sin. You see, one of the reasons why we get caught up in various types of sin and wrong thinking and ungodly things is because we've got a lot of time on our hands and it's costing us nothing to be a follower of Jesus. But if we were on the run and people were constantly after us, I want to tell you it'll get you down on your face pretty quickly. And so that's what he's talking about. Those who are suffering, they don't have the same temptations as those who are free as birds. And so he says we don't need to walk as we once walked, and as we go through suffering and we go through persecution, the lust of the flesh begins to die down simply because we've got to walk with God. We've got to walk with God because we know that our life is dependent on it, and that our testimony is dependent upon it. And so he says you need to quit walking the way that you once walked. And that's what all of the passage is saying as you go down through verse 6. And so he is just simply saying, You and I are going to give an account to the judge. So we need to remember that we're not living for the people that are persecuting us. We're not living even for our own selves and our own well being. We are wanting to do the will of God and live according to God in the spirit. And then he gives us an incentive for doing that. He says the end of all things is at hand. You need to understand, you need to be good to one another. He says in verse eight, and above all these things, have fervent love one for another. For love will cover a multitude of sins. You know, when I hear somebody running someone else down, a brother rang another brother down, a church member rang another church member down, a brother running another brother down, a sister running another sister down, you know what I know? I know that they have not realized who they are in Jesus, and they have not realized that the Lord could come at any time, and if he were to come while they were in the middle of trashing that brother or sister, they would be totally ashamed and embarrassed at his coming. The incentive of the imminent return of Jesus to godly living and to evangelism and to those things which mean the most to the heart of our Father in heaven, it incentivizes us to live a godly life because Jesus could really come at any moment. Now I know that's been used in a manipulative way. It's been used by evangelists in ways that have been manipulative to try to get decisions and so forth. And I can't get into the heart and mind of those people, but I can tell you this much. The coming of Jesus at any moment is a great incentive for godly living. And to love one another and to let the little things go. I'm telling you, we need to quit sweating so many little things and worrying about nitpicking other brothers and sisters in Christ because it's absolutely killing us to the core. If we truly love someone, we need to seek to not shame them openly and publicly, but do what we do in private in relationship to another brother's sin or sister's sin and not try to get it out in the open, but not cover it up in the sense of trying to hide it, but in the sense of dealing with them personally and privately and not publicly, unless there is something that calls for that, and then the elders can do that openly and publicly in the context of a local assembly. He says be hospitable one to another without grumbling. In other words, if you're going to have somebody in your home, don't gripe about it, and don't go speaking good to the people who you're trying to show hospitality to and then turn around and go, I wish they'd leave quickly. They're driving me crazy. Either do it or don't do it. Be hospitable to one another without grumbling, without grumbling. As each one has received a gift, let him minister it to the other. As good stewards of the manifold grace of God, you and I have been blessed so much, could we not share what we have been given with others? I just know people that are given ungodly amounts to secular universities and to all kinds of maybe good things, but not eternal things. And here others that are trying to do ministry, they do good to get a small gift from someone. But yet tens of thousands of dollars will be given to all kinds of entities that have no eternal value whatsoever. I want to encourage you, give to those entities that have eternal value. I'm not asking you for money, but if God were to put upon your heart and you want to invest in something for eternity, you're welcome to give a gift. But I would say there's a lot of great ministries out there. And you find out where God wants you to give a gift. If God's brought somebody across your path and they blessed your heart, and you have means and you already tied to your local church or you're already giving to your local church, you want to give above and beyond that, and you want to help a ministry, then do that in Jesus' name. God will bless you. And don't be grumbling about things. We have been given so much, and whatever you've been given, whatever's in your hand, give that in Jesus' name and God will bless you. And there's going to be times of suffering that are coming down the road. And when they are, it's going to be those that are already in great relationships and already hooked up in local ministries and local churches and assemblies and already supporting the work of Jesus around the world. Those are the ones that are going to be used by God to do the greatest work during these times. I would encourage you to read verses 12 through the end of the chapter. I read these verses often, especially when I'm going through times of great pressure and persecution when people are coming against me. I cannot tell you how many times I've read verses 12 through the end of that chapter through verse 19. I've read them over and over again, and God has encouraged my heart. I pray that this will be an encouragement to you as you walk on the way. This is Tony Crisp.

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Thanks for listening to On the Way with Tony Crisp. Tune in every weekday for information on biblical passages, people, places, and prophecies. Fridays are for your questions. Email your questions to questions at TonyCrisp.org. Then just listen for your question to be answered on Friday's podcast. That's Questions at Tony C R I S P dot org. Thanks for listening and have a blessed day on the way.