Preparation for Religious Persecution (Part 2). 06/06/2021

First Baptist Church Leominster

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In Christ Jesus, you are a chosen race.

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You are a royal priesthood. You are a holy nation. You are a people for God's own possession.

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So that you might proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

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Beloved, as a chosen race, as a royal priesthood, as a holy nation, the

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Lord God has set us apart. The Lord God has set us apart to be his special people, a people for his own possession.

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And the Lord God has set us apart for a purpose, for a divine and glorious purpose.

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In the midst of a godless and wicked world, the Lord God has strategically placed each one of us to live amongst the world as his witnesses.

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In each one of our individual contexts, the Lord God has called and ordained us to proclaim his excellencies.

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To proclaim the excellencies of God means to tell forth. It means to tell something that is not otherwise known.

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To proclaim is to make something widely known, to announce, to broadcast, and to declare it everywhere to everyone.

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And what is the truth to which we are to proclaim? The excellencies of God.

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The truth of God. The truth that we are to proclaim are the mighty and heroic works of the

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Lord God. We are to proclaim the excellencies of his character. We are to proclaim the excellencies of his works.

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We are to proclaim the Lord Jesus Christ and the hope that is found in him alone.

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We are to proclaim the gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ and him crucified.

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We are called to proclaim to the world that Jesus Christ is

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Lord. As those who have been called out of the world, as pilgrims, as sojourners, as aliens, as exiles, it is our distinct privilege to tell the world that Jesus Christ is

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Lord. That Jesus Christ is the Savior. And that salvation is found in him alone.

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Beloved, the world in which we live is darkness. The world is ignorant of the excellencies of God.

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The world has suppressed the truth of God in unrighteousness and cannot see his excellencies.

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The world is unable to see his excellencies. So we must proclaim it to them.

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At one time we too were darkness. But now we are light in the

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Lord. And we must shine brightly in the darkness by proclaiming the truth.

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This message of truth is not always easy to proclaim. The excellencies of God are not always met with acceptance or applause.

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In fact, many times proclaiming this message is met with mockery and hostility and persecution.

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Throughout the history of the church, those who have faithfully proclaimed the excellencies of God have been met with opposition, enmity.

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And many times, death. In my last sermon,

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I asked the question, are you prepared to suffer and die for the

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Lord Jesus Christ? In the midst of severe hostility and persecution, will you stand firm in the faith or will you renounce the faith?

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Beloved, the society in which we live is rapidly deteriorating. America is becoming more and more hostile to the exclusivity of the

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Lord Jesus Christ. When persecution arrives at your door, will you be ready?

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Are you ready? Are you prepared to suffer for the Lord Jesus Christ?

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Please join with me to the book of 1 Peter, 1 Peter 3 verses 13 through 17.

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Last month, we began this passage looking at verses 13 through 14. And this morning, we will conclude with verses 15 through 17.

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By way of reminder, Peter has been preparing his readers for hostility and persecution as they live as aliens and sojourners in this world.

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In this life, those who follow the Lord Jesus Christ will be persecuted.

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Those who proclaim His excellencies will be persecuted.

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You will experience suffering. You will experience persecution. In this passage,

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Peter provides five principles that will help prepare his readers to stand firm as a faithful witness of the

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Lord Jesus Christ, steadfast and immovable even in the face of the most severe and life -threatening opposition.

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Let's read the text together. First Peter 13, 3 verses 13 through 17.

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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.

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Have no fear of them, nor be troubled. But in your hearts, honor

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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 within you.

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Yet do it with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience so that when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame.

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For it is better to suffer for doing good if that should be God's will than for doing evil.

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To be well -prepared to suffer, you must have the right perspective, verses 13 through 14.

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The first principle to help prepare us for suffering is to have the right perspective. Christians should expect trials.

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We should expect tribulation. We should expect suffering. However, we should also expect blessing.

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We should respect, expect rewards. If you suffer for righteousness sake, you are blessed.

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You are fortunate. You are privileged. Why? Because righteous suffering prepares us for glory.

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Righteous suffering gives us endurance. It completes us. It restores us. It confirms us.

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It strengthens and establishes us. Righteous suffering produces in us a spiritual maturity and a spiritual completeness so that we are lacking in nothing of spiritual value and importance.

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To be well -prepared to suffer, you must also, principle two, have the right attitude, verse 14b.

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The second principle to help prepare us for suffering is to have the right attitude. And what is the right attitude?

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Christians are to be fearless. Christians are to be unshakable.

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We are to have no fear of them, nor be troubled. In the midst of suffering, persecution, and difficulties, believers are to be bold.

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Believers are to be courageous. Perfect love casts out fear.

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And there is no fear in love. Good fear results in respect and humility before the

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Lord God. But bad fear is the fear of man, the fear of circumstances, or any other irrational fear that hinders us from loving the

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Lord God and loving our neighbor. In order to be well -prepared to suffer for the

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Lord Jesus Christ, you must have no fear of them. You must not be troubled by them.

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But rather, cast your fears by loving the Lord God and by loving others.

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This morning we conclude this passage by reviewing points three through five. To be well -prepared to suffer, you must also have the right heart, the right answer, and the right conscience.

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Let's take a look at each one of these in detail. Principle number three, have the right heart.

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First Peter 315, 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.

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Yet do it with gentleness and respect. In the previous verse, verse 14,

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Peter reminds us that when we suffer or when we are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, we are blessed.

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And because we are blessed, because we have this perspective, we are to have no fear of them nor be troubled.

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In verse 15, Peter elaborates this thought. Because we are blessed, not only are we not to fear them, but we are also to honor

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Christ the Lord as holy in our hearts. And so here, Peter gives us both a negative and a positive.

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The negative, do not fear, do not be troubled, do not be agitated or distressed by those who persecute you.

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The positive is to honor Christ as Lord in your hearts.

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Now this is once again a reference to the Old Testament book of Isaiah. In writing to the faithful remnant who stood against King Ahaz and his alliance with the ungodly

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Assyrians, Isaiah writes in Isaiah chapter 8, verses 11 through 13, for the

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Lord spoke thus to me with his strong hand upon me and warned me not to walk in the way of this people, saying, do not call conspiracy all that this people calls conspiracy.

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And do not fear what they fear, nor be in dread. But the

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Lord of hosts, him you shall honor as holy. Let him be your fear, and let him be your dread.

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It's interesting that in our passage this morning, in 1 Peter 3 .15, through the inspiration and influence of the

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Spirit of God, Peter changes the Lord of hosts into Christ the

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Lord. Now this is a very significant change. This change reflects Peter's conviction that Jesus Christ is

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Lord. That Jesus Christ is God. And who is to be our fear?

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Who is to be honored as holy? It's the Lord of hosts, Jesus Christ, who is to be our fear.

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It is the Lord of hosts, Jesus Christ, who is to be honored as holy. We must fear and honor

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Christ the Lord as holy in our hearts. Well, what does this mean?

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What does it mean to honor Christ the Lord as holy in our hearts? How do we honor

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Christ the Lord as holy in our hearts? The Greek translation of the word honor is hagiadzo, which means to render or to acknowledge.

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In other words, you are to render or acknowledge Christ the Lord as holy in your hearts.

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The human heart is to render or to acknowledge the Lordship of Jesus Christ, and that in everything he might be preeminent.

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To honor Christ the Lord as holy means that you will give the Lord Jesus Christ his due.

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You will give the Lord Jesus Christ the supreme position in your life, the primary place in your life.

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It means that you will honor him as the highest and greatest over everything and everyone else in your life, including yourself.

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To honor Christ as holy is to give him preeminence. In honoring

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Christ the Lord as holy, you are recognizing his deity. You are recognizing his sovereign majesty, his rule, and his authority over your life.

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It is to recognize that he is the sole object of your reverence. It is to recognize that he is the sole object of your awe.

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Christ the Lord is the highest and the greatest, and nothing can compare to him.

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Practically speaking, I honor Christ the Lord as holy in my heart when I submit my will to his will, when

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I surrender my desires to his desires. I submit myself to him and to his plan for my life.

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And in doing this, who is there to harm me? Who will bring a charge against me?

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Who am I to fear? No matter what comes against you, no matter what attacks you, to honor

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Christ the Lord as holy is to believe and affirm in your heart that Jesus Christ is

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Lord. It is to affirm that he is the only one who is worthy of fear.

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You must not fear your circumstances. You must not fear man.

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You must not fear the world. You must not fear the powers of this present darkness. But rather, you must fear the

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Lord. This was the intent of the prophet Isaiah in Isaiah 8, 11 through 13.

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And this is the intent of Peter. You must honor Christ the Lord as holy.

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So put him in a category all by himself. Give him the highest place.

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Give him the greatest place of honor. Place upon him the greatest value.

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Esteem him as the most supreme treasure, the most cherished prize, the one whom you celebrate and love the most out of all the people and all the things in this world.

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Ascribe to the Lord all praise, glory, and honor. To be well prepared to suffer, you must have the right heart, a heart that has set apart, a heart that has sanctified and honored

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Christ the Lord as holy. Even when facing unjust suffering and persecution.

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Beloved, regardless of your circumstances, you must recognize, you must worship and exalt the

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Lord Jesus Christ alone. For he is worthy. He is to be your fear.

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He is to be your dread. And he is to be honored as holy. To be well prepared to suffer, you must also, principle number four, have the right answer.

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First Peter 315. 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.

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In this pilgrim life, in the midst of an irrational and ungodly world, in the midst of death and disease, pain and suffering, confusion and uncertainty, the

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Lord God has given us a purpose. Our God -ordained purpose is to be his witness.

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We are to be his ambassadors. We are to be his hands and his feet. The Lord God has called us to proclaim his excellencies.

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The Lord God has called us to make him known. We are to make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the

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Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that the

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Lord God has commanded. Regardless of the difficulty or the persecution that you presently faced, you must always be ready to fulfill this purpose.

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You must always be ready to give a defense of the faith. You must always be ready to give a defense for the hope that is in you.

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The Greek term for defense is apologia, and it refers to a verbal defense or a reasoned statement or argument in both formal and informal settings.

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In other words, whether it is in a judicial court of law or on the front lawn of your house, you must always be prepared to give an answer.

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You must always be prepared to give an answer. And what answer must we be prepared to give?

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We must give a reason for the hope that is within us. And what reason is the hope that is within us?

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It is Christ crucified. It is Christ in us. The hope that is in you is your hope in the

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Lord Jesus Christ, in his life, in his death, in his burial, in his resurrection, in his ascension.

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Beloved, you must be prepared and ready to give a rational explanation and a defense of the truth of the scriptures.

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You must be prepared and ready to give a rational explanation and defense of the gospel.

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This is what it means to be prepared. Let me tell you what it doesn't mean.

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It doesn't mean that you need to know every answer to every religious or philosophical question.

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It doesn't mean that you need to know every answer to every theological question or theological controversy.

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It doesn't mean that you need to know the intricacies of the Hebrew and Greek languages. What it means is that you know what you believe and why you believe it.

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In other words, you clearly understand the gospel message and you are clearly able to articulate the gospel to others.

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On this passage, Charles Spurgeon remarked, have your doctrinal views and all your knowledge of Christ packed away in a handy form so that when people want to know what you believe, you can tell them.

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If they wish to know why you believe that you are saved, have your answer already in a few plain simple sentences and in the gentlest and most modest spirit, make your confession of faith to the praise and glory of God.

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Who knows but what such good seed will bring forth an abundant harvest.

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Now this may sound fairly straightforward, but in reality, there are many professing believers who are unable to articulate the faith.

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There are many professing believers who are unprepared to give an answer for the reason for the hope that is in them.

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There are many who are unprepared and unable to proclaim the excellencies of God.

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Beloved, are you prepared? Are you prepared?

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Some of you have attended church for your entire lives. Do you understand what you believe?

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Do you understand why you believe what you believe? Children, young adults, newly saved, seasoned saints, are you able to articulate the gospel message?

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Are you able to articulate the Christian faith? Are you able to correct error with the truth of Scripture?

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Are you prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is within you?

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My fear is that some of you are not. Well, what needs to be communicated in order to accurately and faithfully give a reason for the hope that is within us?

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What needs to be communicated in order to accurately articulate the gospel?

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Now the answer to these questions would be a sermon series in itself, but let me give you a few pointers.

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In proclaiming the excellencies of God, you must make God known as He is revealed in the

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Scriptures. God is a spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable in His being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth.

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There is only one God, the living and true God, and God is triune.

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There are three persons in the Godhead, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, and these three are one

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God, the same substance, equal in power and glory. God is the

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Creator. God is King. God is sovereign. He is over all things.

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He is control of all things. The Lord God ordains all things. God is righteous.

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God is love. God is light. God is holy, holy, holy.

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The Lord God is entirely just. He will always do what is right.

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Therefore, the Lord God is the judge of all men. All men are accountable to the

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Lord God. All men are accountable to Him because all men have sinned against Him. All men have fallen short of the glory of God.

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All men walk in the futility of their minds. Man is darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to their hardness of heart.

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Man is calloused and has given themselves up to sensuality. Man is greedy to practice every kind of impurity.

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All mankind, by their fall into sin, has lost communion with God and are under His wrath, under His curse.

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And so all men are made liable to the miseries of this life, to death itself, and to the pains of hell for all eternity.

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The consequence for sinning against an infinite and eternal God is an infinite and eternal punishment, hell.

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Hell is instantaneous. Hell is a place of unquenchable fire. It is a place of darkness.

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It is a place of solitude. It is a place of weeping and gnashing of teeth. It is a place of unending torment and tear, and it is something that all men rightly deserve.

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All men rightly deserve this appalling and terrible end. But not all men will receive this end.

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Not all men will receive what they have earned. Ephesians 2, 4, but God, being rich in mercy because of the great love with which

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He loved us even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ, by grace you have been saved.

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But God, out of His great mercy, but God, out of His great love, even when we were dead in our trespasses and sins, even when we were

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His enemies, even when we waged war against Him, God made us alive together with Christ.

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While we were still sinners, God sent His Son. God sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

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God sent His Son to appease, to placate, to satisfy His wrath against man.

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Romans 3, 23 -25, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God and are justified by His grace as a gift through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom

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God put forward as a propitiation by His blood to be received by faith.

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This was to show God's righteousness because in His divine forbearance He had passed over former sins.

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The Lord God put Jesus Christ forward as a propitiation. He put

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Him forward as the satisfaction for sin. Jesus Christ bore in His body on the cross our sin and He took upon Himself the full wrath of God as a substitute in our place for our sins, making reconciliation between God and man.

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Ephesians 2, 13, now in Christ Jesus, you who were once far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

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For He Himself is our peace who made us both one and has broken down in His flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances that He might create in Himself one new man in the place of two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility.

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Upon the cross, Jesus Christ absorbed the full wrath of God and in doing so,

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He has forever changed our status before the Lord God. Prior to the

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Lord Jesus Christ, we stood before God guilty, but have been declared righteous because of Christ.

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Prior to the Lord Jesus Christ, we stood before God as debtors, but our debt was canceled because of Christ.

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Prior to the Lord Jesus Christ, we stood before God as strangers, but we were made sons and daughters because of Christ.

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We stood before God as His enemies, but we were made to be His friends because of Christ.

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We stood before God as slaves, but we received freedom because of Christ.

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These are things that we never could have accomplished by ourselves. Man could never pay back what is owed to God.

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Man could never pay back the tremendous amount of debt, 10 ,000 talents worth, that we owe to the

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Lord God. This is why hell is eternal, because it literally takes an eternity to pay for our transgressions against an infinite, holy, and eternal

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God. But the Lord God took that certificate of debt which was hostile toward us, which stood against us with all its legal demands, and He canceled it out through propitiation, by placing it in the hand of the

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Lord Jesus Christ and driving a nail through it. By His wounds, we are healed.

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The truth of it is, man cannot become righteous on his own, and so the Lord God intervened.

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The Lord God graciously provided for our redemption through the atoning sacrifice of His Son, Jesus Christ.

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God put Jesus Christ forward. God publicly displayed Him as our propitiation, and in doing so, forever removed us from the wrath that we so rightly deserved.

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And it is in this that the love of God was manifest. The Lord Jesus Christ, who was in the form of God, He did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped.

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But He made Himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, and being born in the likeness of men.

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And being found in human form, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

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Jesus Christ is our Savior. Jesus Christ is Lord, and He is the reason for the hope that is within us.

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Beloved Jesus Christ and His work, these are the truths, these are the excellencies which we are to make known, which we are to proclaim boldly to the world.

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Well, what is the best way to proclaim these truths? What is the manner of our proclamation?

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1 Peter 3 .15, 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.

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Our proclamation of the excellencies of God must be characterized by gentleness and respect.

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Gentleness refers to meekness or humility, not in the sense of weakness, but in the sense of not being domineering.

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Gentleness describes a gracious attitude which expresses itself in submission to others.

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To speak with gentleness is to bear hostility and reproof without taking offense, without feeling slighted or annoyed.

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It's the ability to provide a calming influence over someone who is angry, bitter, or resentful.

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Respect refers to a sense of reverence or fear. Peter is once again referring to the fear of the

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Lord. Here the term respect expresses our devotion to the Lord God, having a deep regard for the

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Lord God, a regard for His person, a regard for His work, His word, and not wanting to blemish or mar

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His reputation because of our sinfulness. Regarding our proclamation,

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Colossians 4 verses 5 through 6, walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time.

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Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.

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2 Timothy 2 verses 24 through 26, and the Lord's servant must not be quarrelsome, but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness.

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God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth so that they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil after being captured by him to do his will.

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Our proclamation to the lost must be wise. It must be gracious.

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Our speech must be seasoned with salt. Our proclamation to the lost must not be quarrelsome, but kind and patient and gentle, recognizing that the actual saving of souls is done by the

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Lord God. We are His ambassadors. We are His heralds. We are the broadcasters who proclaim

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His truth. In a word, our proclamation is to be loving.

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1 Corinthians 13 verses 1 through 7, if I speak in the tongues of men and of angels but have not love,

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I'm a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith so as to remove mountains but have not love,

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I am nothing. If I give away all that I have and if I deliver my body to be burned but not have love,

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I gain nothing. Love is patient and kind. Love does not envy or boast.

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It is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way. It is not irritable or resentful.

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It does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices in truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

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Beloved, if your proclamation of the excellencies of God does not manifest these qualities, then you are a noisy gong.

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You are a clanging cymbal. And the world will not hear the truth that it so desperately needs to hear.

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The manner by which we proclaim the excellencies of God is just as important as the proclamation itself.

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In 1521, Martin Luther stood before the Diet at Worms and was commanded to recant his teaching.

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And years later, Luther commented on this trial. He said, then you must not answer with proud words and bring out the matter with a defiance and with violence as if you would tear up trees, but with such fear and lowliness as if you stood before God's tribunal.

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So you must stand in fear and not rest on your own strength, but on the word and promise of Christ.

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In our conduct, in our proclamation, we must be fearful and lowly.

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We must make every effort to show honor and respect, not only to the Lord God, but to those whom we are proclaiming his truth.

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To be well prepared to suffer, you must have the right perspective. You must have the right attitude, the right heart, the right answer.

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And lastly, principle number five, you must have the right conscience.

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1 Peter 3, 16 through 17, having a good conscience so that when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame.

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For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God's will, than for doing evil.

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Well, what is the conscience? Webster defines it as the sense of the moral goodness or blameworthiness of one's own conduct, intentions, or character, together with a feeling of obligation to do right or be good.

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In other words, it carries with it the idea of knowing yourself, the inner sense of right and wrong.

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The conscience is the soul reflecting upon itself, and it either affirms right behavior or it condemns sinful behavior.

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All men have an instinctive built -in sense of right and wrong that activates their guilt, and this is the conscience.

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The conscience may be compared to a window that lets in the light of God's truth. If we persist in disobeying the truth of God, that window gets dirtier and dirtier until the light cannot enter.

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This leads to a defiled conscience. A seared conscience is one that has been so sinned against that it is no longer sensitive to what is right and what is wrong.

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It's even possible for the conscience to become so poisoned that it actually approves things that are bad, and it accuses things that are good.

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The Bible calls this an evil conscience. But what about a good conscience?

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What does it mean to have a good conscience? Well, it means that your conscience is not accusing you.

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Your conscience is a mechanism that either accuses you or it excuses you. Your conscience is a device that the

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Lord God has planted within you to act as a source of conviction or as a source of affirmation.

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If you have a good conscience, a clear conscience, it will be telling you that all is well between you and the

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Lord God. If you have an evil conscience, it will be reminding you that all is not well because there is sin in your life.

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And Peter's point is that believers must keep their lives right with the Lord God. We must walk in obedience to the

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Lord God. We must follow the Lord God. Our lives must be consistent with His will, with His word.

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We must walk and we must keep in step with the Spirit of God, which will result in a pure conscience.

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And when we are slandered, we will not be the ones who feel ashamed, but our accusers will feel ashamed because their slander is unjustified.

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A good conscience removes from us the fear of what other people may know about us or say about us or do to us.

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If we honor Christ the Lord as holy in our hearts, if it is the Lord God who is our fear, then we need not fear anyone or anything else, not their threats, not their opinions or their actions.

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Psalm 118 .6, the Lord is on my side, I will not fear. What can man do to me?

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Take a look at the last verse in our passage. Here we're given two different alternatives regarding our suffering.

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First Peter 3 .17, for it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be

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God's will, than for doing evil. In this life, you can either suffer for doing good or you can suffer for doing evil.

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You can suffer for righteousness sake or you can suffer for unrighteousness sake.

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You can suffer according to the will of God or you can suffer for your sin. According to Peter, it is better to suffer for doing what is good.

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So, do good. Pursue good. Walk in the good works that the

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Lord God has prepared beforehand and entrust your suffering, entrust your circumstances, entrust your soul into the hands of your heavenly

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Father who is faithful. To be well prepared to suffer, principle one, you need to have the right perspective.

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Expect trials, expect persecution, expect suffering, but also expect rewards, expect blessing.

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Principle number two, you must have the right attitude. You must have no fear of them. You must not be troubled.

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Cast out your fears by loving God. Cast out your fears by loving others.

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Principle number three, you must have the right heart, a heart that has set apart, that has sanctified, that has honored

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Christ the Lord as holy, even when facing unjust suffering and persecution.

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Principle number four, you must have the right answer. You must be prepared and able to give a rational explanation and a defense of why you believe what you believe, of why you are a

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Christian. And principle five, you must have the right conscience.

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Our lives must be pleasing to the Lord God so that our conscience does not accuse us of our behavior but rather affirms our behavior.

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For the Christian, the sojourner, and the exile in this world, suffering is a certainty.

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Suffering and persecution will come, but there is nothing to fear.

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There is no one to harm you if you are zealous for what is good. And even if you do suffer for righteousness' sake, you'll be blessed.

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So be bold, be courageous, have no fear of them, nor be troubled, but in your hearts honor

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Christ the Lord as holy. The Lord God has called and ordained each one of us for a purpose.

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So always be ready, always be prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you.

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And do this in love. Do this in gentleness. Do this with respect.

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Make sure that you have a good conscience so that if you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ will be put to shame.

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And always remember, it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God's will, than for doing evil.

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So beloved, choose good and trust the Lord God. Let's pray.

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Our Father, it is so encouraging to know that you are on the throne and that you are ruling, that you are sovereign over all things.

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Lord, we often forget that. We take our focus off of Christ and we look at the world around us and we begin to sink.

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Lord, we confess this to you. Help us, Lord, to see Christ clearly.

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Help us to see you clearly as we look to you in the scriptures. We pray,

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Lord, that as suffering comes that we would be faithful, that we would honor Christ the Lord as holy, that we would give you the preeminent spot in our lives.

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Lord, we thank you that we are found in you. Lord, we are so undeserving and yet you are so good to us.

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We thank you for the gift of Christ. We thank you that he absorbed the full wrath of God on our behalf.

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Lord, we pray for those who may be struggling in their understanding of who you are.

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We pray that they would be given clarity. Help them, Lord, as they look at the scriptures. We pray that the

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Spirit would do a work, that they would be granted the salvation, the faith that leads to salvation.

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So Lord, help us to be bold in our proclamation of your truth. Help us to proclaim your excellencies and live a life in accordance with them.