FRIDAY March 14th
1 Peter 3:13-17
‘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. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, but in your hearts honour Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defence to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behaviour in Christ may be put to shame. For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God’s will, than for doing evil.’
Every one of us who has come to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ will face difficult and challenging times, despite how well we seek to live out our lives for the glory of God there will be those who will seek to cause us to suffer, to mock us, try to slander us and try to put us to shame. Jesus himself at the commencement of his ministry said while preaching from the mountain, ‘“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you’, Matthew 5:10-12.
Persecution has always come to the people of God, for some it is extremely intense and leads to great suffering, both emotionally and physically, for others it is not so severe but can still cause us to fear and to have a feeling of rejection or unwantedness, but thank God we have the help of the Holy Spirit, the blessing of the written and preached word of God and the fellowship of one another to help us to be encouraged and spurred on. And God will always give to us a great dollop of grace to give us the much-needed strength to carry on.
But as we are encouraged here in our verses today, we should also be prepared when going through the times of trial to be able to make a defence to anyone who asks for the reason for the hope that is in us.
We need not only to have believed in the gospel, but we need also to understand the gospel. I think of Stephen in Acts 6 and 7, and we need to remember that this was still during the infancy of the Church, and when Stephen was seized and persecuted for his faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, he was able to give an answer in defence of the hope that he had. He knew what he believed, and he knew why he believed. We don’t need to be theologians, but we should be able to understand the basic truths concerning the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ to enable us to be always prepared to give an answer when it is asked of us.