Alright, good morning, everybody. I'm excited to be up here. I haven't preached for probably almost a year.

Michael said, I trust you all had a Thanksgiving, a good Thanksgiving. You're like, yeah. So, did everybody have a good Thanksgiving? Merry Christmas! That's how it feels, right? Like, and I love it. I love Christmas. My kids put up the tree like a week ago. So, praise God, Christmas is coming. We celebrate the birth of Christ.

Alright, so, as Michael said, I'm one of the elders here. And I'm preaching and we're going through a sermon series on the book of 1st Peter. And today we're going to be in chapter 3. verse 8 through 17 if you want to turn there in your Bibles. I'm gonna preach on unity of mind. And, and unity of mind affects how we treat each other, how we talk to each other, and how we talk to each other affects our unity.

And then unity of mind also prepares us to be a witness for Christ when opportunities arise to proclaim the gospel. Now in this passage I see two common temptations that we're gonna face as Christians. Whenever we're opposed. Number one, we're tempted to react emotionally and fight dirty, out of anger.

Number two, we're tempted to fear and flee. And so, both of those are bad. What we need is solid faith and hope in Christ to stand clear with courage and to proclaim Christ clearly. So, the context, because there's kind of a turn in the passage today. To go back a little bit, chapter two and three, we've seen that Peter lays out God's design for authority.

First in government and in institutions, second in the workplace, and then in the home. And then when we get to verse 8, he broadens, he backs up and broadens his teaching to all Christians generally. So, verse 8, here we go.

Alright, this phrase unity of mind should stand out because often times we hear unity, but unity of mind is a very particular thing and I think you'll see why that is what we're after as Christians. That's what is commanded to us specifically right here. Unity of mind does not mean that everyone thinks exactly the same way, and we all do the things the same way.

But it does mean that we believe the same things as taught in scripture. So, unity of mind means agreement. Agreement on what? On biblical doctrine and practice. Right belief and right action. That's what it means. and then on to, you know what? 1 Corinthians 2:16 is helpful. Paul is writing, he says, the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him, but we have the mind of Christ.

In other words, we don't instruct Christ, but he does instruct us, and he gives us his mind. I think of Romans 12, where it says, do not be conformed to the patterns of the world, but be transformed by the renewal of the mind. That's what unifies us, is sound doctrine and Christian practice that aligns with Scripture.

Alright, the next word, and we're going to go through each one of these traits. Sympathy. We should have sympathy. Well, Webster defines it, and I think that's, Webster's a kid from a TV show in the 80s and 90s. But he wrote a dictionary, so we can follow that too. It's an affinity, an association, or a relationship between persons or things, wherein whatever affects one, similarly affects the other.

So, in 1 Corinthians 12, we see this when he talks about the body of Christ, and he says, when one suffers, we all suffer. And when one rejoices, we all rejoice. So, we should be connected together in such a way that we feel with each other. That we, we love each other, and we know each other close enough to where, you know, we feel that for the next person.

Brotherly love similarly means genuine affection for brothers and sisters in Christ and a tender heart. It's a soft heart. Not aggressive. Not angry. Not reactive. Not resistant. Not suspicious. And then lastly, humble mind. He says we need to have a humble mind. That means we're teachable specifically in areas of doctrine and practice from the scriptures.

So, this phrase that I'm about to say, I think it's a good one. I've known it for years, but my brother used to say this. We have to have an open mind with an open Bible. That's what it means. Open mind with an open Bible. So, these five traits in verse 8 are a package deal. And I'm going to read them in reverse and show you something here that I think is helpful.

A humble mind, a tender heart, brotherly love, and sympathy. These are all individual responsibilities. These are individual commands that together contribute to a corporate unity of mind. So, we need these things. Specifically, humility. Let me show you this connection in Philippians 2, where he says a very similar thing, but just as a parallel text.

Philippians 2:1-3, he says, “so if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind. Having the same love, being in full accord, and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility, count others more significant than yourselves.”

So, you count another person more significant. It doesn't mean that you count all of their beliefs more significant than yours. Because unity of mind is around doctrine. It's around the truth of scripture.

So, I want to lay out two major views of unity in our world. And I think this will be helpful. This was pointed out to me years ago, and it was really a good analogy. So, the first view I would call false unity, maybe superficial unity because it can feel like unity. And this is, this is the world's view of unity.

You’ve probably seen it on a t shirt or a logo where everybody's holding hands around the globe and smiling, singing Kumbaya. Except I think that might be a Christian song. I don't know for sure. So, they're unified with each other on the subjective basis of love and acceptance. So, inclusion, tolerance, and ultimately what I would say, what I would call radical egalitarianism.

So, what that means is not only are all people equal in value. Which is what the Bible states were made in God's image and all people are equally valuable, but all beliefs, all opinions, all viewpoints are equally plausible and respectable. Everybody has their opinion. Unless of course, your view is held as objective truth, and then they're not that tolerant.

You know they'll tolerate everybody who agrees with them, that tolerance is the final goal. So, this is really spiritual pluralism. This is the coexist bumper sticker of life that every view is equal. And Christians, look, we can fall into this way of thinking. And when someone starts to fall away from Christ, or fall away from sound doctrine, we'll grab their hand.

It's like they've fallen out of the circle, so we grab their hand, and now they're back in the circle. And we'll tell them, I love you no matter what, I accept you as you are, I know you're going through a hard time, and you're struggling, and I value your story. They might be holding your hand, but that doesn't mean anything because there's nothing subject.

There's nothing objectively true as a foundation now. The way to achieve this false kind of unity is to practice false humility. I think you'll recognize this- I saw this quote online from a nun from the 16th century, and there was this Christian therapist, psychologist guy, Chuck DeGroat, who quoted it.

And this guy, when I see the stuff that he writes, it kind of seems like he takes the Bible and blends it up and then spits it back out in therapeutic language. So, it's like, what even is he saying? But this is the quote. She said, even if I believe that I understand what I'm talking about, and that I'm telling the truth, I always preface it with, I think, or it seems to me.

I know that I may be mistaken. And so, I'm quite prepared to listen to those who have studied these matters deeply. Aww. This is false humility. That's what it is. Speaking 50 percent on something you know 100 percent sounds humble, but it is actually deceitful and manipulative. This is a common tactic now amongst preachers.

We have to fight when we're preaching the word to stay true to what is in the scripture because we want to kind of make it seem like we don't really fully believe it because then that opens us up and we can be unified and hold hands around the world. Stop it. We’ve got to stop that.

As a Christian, so don't say this. Here's one example and you can apply it to all sorts of things. As a Christian, I believe the Bible is true. Well, that's a true statement, right? But just say the Bible is true. I don't say, as a person who has gone to public school, I believe that 1 + 1 = 2. In this day and age, the word “believe” just means “this is my opinion”.

So, in the scripture, you'll see a couple examples where it says, “we believe.” But most of the time, the scripture just says it. Jesus died for our sins. He rose from the dead. Anyone who confesses that Jesus died and rose again will be saved. These are fact statements because the Bible is factual. So, we should practice talking like the Scripture.

We don't need to preface things with, “Well, it seems to me that the Bible might actually say that God is real.” You know, just stop it. So, here's biblical unity. It's like this. Imagine a wheel. At the center, there is a hub. That is Christ, and we are like spokes on that wheel.

So, we're grounded in Christ. We're unified with each other on the basis of Jesus Christ and His Word at the center. That's the objective. true basis for our unity. And so, God's Word then holds us accountable with the help of one another. And when someone starts to fall away, we grab their hand, but we bring their hand back to Christ who is at the center.

And we do that through rebuke, correction, teaching, prayer, and warning. This is why we debate doctrine, and we do it on the grounds of Scripture. Because it is true, and it is objective. It's the center point for our unity. So, of course, we're going to have different ways of approaching things. We're going to have different convictions and areas of free conscience, and that's totally fine.

But whenever we're talking about biblical doctrine. A biblical practice. We have to make arguments from the scriptures. We have to understand what it says, what it means. So, we have to do the work. If you can't make a clear argument from the Bible, then you have to hold your view in an open hand. It's just your view.

It's your opinion. And if that's the case, then say, this is my opinion. Just be honest. Speak at the level of certainty that you have. For further study, if you're taking notes at all, write down this, like, for freedom of conscience, which is relatable, but we're not going to go into it deeply. Romans 14 and 1 Corinthians 8.

So as Christians, we can debate anything, even as to whether or not a certain issue is a free conscience issue, if we're humble, and if we open up the Bible together. That's how we do it. So, some might say, “well, but isn't it good for a church to have a diversity of beliefs?” No. No. That's what this is saying.

We should have unity of mind. Paul says elsewhere, I write these things so that you all agree. We're fighting to agree, but we will, and I think this is part of the confusion, we will have a diverse body. I want to show you this from 1 Corinthians 12. Again, this is unity of and diversity perfectly together as God designed.

So, 1 Corinthians 12 talks about the body of Christ, and in verse 4 he says, now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are varieties of service, but the same Lord. And there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all and everyone. So, notice how the example of unity here references.

The Spirit, the Lord Jesus, and God the Father. So, our unity, obviously there's, God has one will. God is true, everything he does. Jesus said, I submit to the will of the Father. So, our unity in our diverse makeup as God's people should look like our Trinitarian God. One mission.

I love this, this example in Romans 15:5-6. He says, May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another. If you don't know, harmony in music is like two or three, four notes that sound good together. They're different notes, but they sound good together.

Harmony with one another. If you didn't know that that's fine. I'm a music guy, so I don't know who knows what and so live in such harmony with one another in accord with Christ Jesus That together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ So we all play different notes different instruments, but we're playing the same song We have the same sheet of music and it's the scriptures So the kind of church that is unified around the mind of Christ will be able to stand firm under attack And we'll be the kind of church that makes disciples.

That's the reality. That's who we need to be at CTK. Alright, moving on. Verse 9. We're going to fly for a little while. Alright, 1 Peter 3:9. Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling. But on the contrary, bless, to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing. Quick word here, it takes two to fight.

Kindness is cold water on a hot temper. Blessing is cold water on a hot temper. This is true in the home, this is true in the church, and this is true in the world. I just thought of Romans 15.

He says, those who are strong must bear with the failings of the weak. So, in a fight, somebody's fighting you, Humble yourself. Stop fighting back.

Start blessing. If somebody else is holding anger against you, let them hold all of it. Don't offer to take some off of their hands. This is, this is humility. This is how we stay unified. Somebody's gotta do it. At least one person. So, you be the one to do it. Proverbs 15:1 says, A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.

Alright, verse 10. For whoever desires to love life and see good days. Let him keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit. So, what are some sins of the tongue according to scripture? Insults, cursing your brother or sister, gossip, slander, grumbling, complaining, lying, a harsh tone, etc. It goes on and on.

James 3 says that the tongue is like a rudder of a ship, and it controls the whole thing. Or like a tiny Spark like a little fire that sets ablaze a whole forest. So right here we see that it's imperative that we watch our mouths, that we watch our tongues. There are two forms of an evil tongue that I want to point out.

One is an evil tongue. It's active. The second is a passive evil tongue. So evil plus deception is still an evil tongue. And I point this out because sometimes it's hard to see that in ourselves and in other people. I've noticed that sometimes the nicest, nicest people are the most aggressive. but it's passive.

So, it's trickier, it's more manipulative. You feel confused by their words. So, an evil tongue might say you are a bad mom, and that's an evil thing to say to a sister in Christ. But an evil and deceitful tongue might say some moms are just bad moms because they do this thing. They feed this way, they put them to bed at this point, and you're standing there as a mom and you're like, I do that.

Are you talking about me? And then, and then you just like, it sits on you. I'm going to tell you, yes, she's talking about you. Yes, he's talking about you, and he says, sometimes people do this thing, and you're like, wait, you know I do that thing. I'm right here. That's an evil tongue, and it's very manipulative and very tricky.

So, we have to watch ourselves, watch our tongues, watch our hearts, because out of the abundance of the heart is where the mouth speaks, Jesus says. So, people who are prone towards sins of the tongue, they will hate life and see bad days. They'll be in constant conflict, and honestly, they're not very likable people.

They bring pain to their closest relationships instead of peace. Ask yourself, is this true of me? Is there any bit of this that's true of me that I need to repent of today? Are there habits that I have that need, that need to be broken? Ephesians 4:29 says, but only such as is good for building up as fits the occasion that it may give grace to those who hear.

Alright, on onto chapter 11, one Peter, let him turn away from evil and do good. Let him seek peace and pursue it. For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are open to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil. So unrepentant sin in our lives as Christians will destroy our fellowship with God.

Now, the most clear example is like those who do not know Christ. Like in the Old Testament unrighteous and righteous means unbeliever and believer because we're made righteous by faith, right? Even Abraham was justified by faith. but it still applies to us as Christians. God will, if you're unrepentant, if you, if you're holding sin, it's unrepentant, and you know what I'm talking about right now, then God will seem distant.

So, today's the day. This is, come to Him, confess your sin, repent, and restore your fellowship with God. He says, seek peace and pursue it. Well, you will not, be able to seek peace with other people. If you don't have peace with God first, the priority always goes that way. First. Commandment, love God. Second commandment, love your neighbor.

You have to seek peace with God first, and then you can seek peace with other people. Alright, verse 13, now who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good?

Think about it. As Christians, we're zealous for what is good. Who's going to harm me for being kind to my neighbor? Or what if we're giving to the poor, or volunteering at the soup kitchen, or helping a coworker out in a pinch, or fostering or adopting a child, or, or maybe we're speaking out against racism, or child trafficking, or injustice of any kind.

Who's going to harm you for that? Maybe nobody. Those areas are safe. But what about speaking up against the murder of preborn babies? What about opting out of a pride celebration at work? Do you think anybody will, will, will hate you for that? The answer is yes. What about warning people that they are going to hell without Christ?

You think maybe anybody would harm you? Maybe. What about holding to biblical teaching on sexuality? What about refusing to put your gender pronouns in your work email signature? And this is coming, and we shouldn't do it. We don't go along with it. We just say no. And look, I think that it's very tempting.

To curate the things that we are zealous for, to be safe, and to avoid anything that might cause problems for us with our relationships. It's very tempting. We're all tempted by that, and so sometimes we call this being missional, but I'm saying no. It's fearing man rather than God. We need to hold to every doctrine of the scripture, and a lot of times the things, the things that the world loves, that they're gonna hate you when you, when you cut it down.

Those are the things they need to hear. We need to proclaim the gospel to real people in real life situations. So, then he says in verse 14, But even if you should suffer for righteousness’s sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled. Jesus says in Matthew 5:10-12, Memorize this.

Write this down. Know where this is. Because I'm hoping and praying that all of us need this next passage. On a regular, somewhat regular basis. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’s sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed, that means happy, by the way. 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. So, they persecuted the prophets who were before you. Brothers and sisters, we cannot lose. Blessed if they do, blessed if they don't, harm us. That's a saying I want to, you know, like, I want us to, like, learn that saying. Blessed if they do, blessed if they don't, harm us.

Anyways, but it's true. We're blessed by God. And there's a special blessing when people hate us because we stand with the truth of the word of God. So don't let the threats of your enemies for the enemies of Christ, silence your zeal for what is good. Don't let them control what you're allowed to say, what you're allowed to be excited about.

Don't let them squash your celebration back when Roe v. Wade was overturned. Well, I should be quiet, or maybe I shouldn't say anything. No! Let your zeal for Christ come through, and for His word, and what is good, and right, and true. If you're zealous for what is good. Alright, Peter knows a thing or two about fearing man.

Couple examples. And being silenced in those moments. Peter denied Jesus three times because he was afraid. A little girl said, weren't you with Jesus? No, no, I don't know him. And then the rooster crowed, and he wept bitterly. That may have been one of the most painful points of Peter's life, is recognizing that he just denied his Savior.

May we not do that. But when we do, if we do, Jesus forgave Peter. He'll forgive us. Jesus forgave him and said feed my sheep three times. So, Peter learned his lesson, right? Not totally. The second example is very interesting. About 15 years before the, the book of 1st Peter was written. Paul wrote a book called Galatians, to the Galatians.

Or maybe he wrote a book to the Galatians, we call it Galatians, however you want to put it. And so, look what Paul says in Galatians 2:11-12. By, by the way, before I start reading, Cephas and Peter are the same person. It's just a different name. But when Peter came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned.

For before certain men came from James, he was eating with the Gentiles. But when they came, he drew back and he separated himself, fearing the circumcision party. By the way, what a horrible party. I can't say that without making that joke. I'm sorry. It's like a little less awkward to make a joke than to just like keep going.

Terrible party. Alright, so the circumcision party were Christians in Antioch who gained the respect of the Jews and the religious elites because they said, Oh, you. If you're a Christian, you still have to follow the law. Specifically, you've got to be circumcised, you've got to follow the dietary restrictions.

So, they had added to the gospel, and Peter didn't want to get on their bad side. Why? Because they held all of this, you know, power and prestige. And so, he functionally added to the gospel by pandering to this party, this group of Christians who's really on the wrong side of things. And Paul said that that gospel is no gospel at all, and so he rebukes Peter to his face, and it says that he rebukes him in front of them all.

Peter's hand fell off of Christ, Paul grabbed Peter's hand, put it back on Christ, threw this rebuke, and Peter's faith lived to see another day. This letter is a direct fruit of Paul's faithful ministry for unity around the truth.

Mainstream Christianity today is obsessed with public image. I don't know, maybe you don't look at, like, read articles and see what's going on and whatever, and if so, fine, take it from me. They're obsessed with public image. They want so badly to be respectable in the eyes of the world. If only New York Times could endorse my book.

Thank you. They're laundering worldliness into the church. So, if you haven't heard this message, here's the message that's become common in like the mainstream Christian world. If you're a traditional, conservative, Bible believing Christian, you are the problem. You're a fundamentalist, you're a legalist, you're combative, you're a culture warrior, you're closed minded.

And it's because of Christians like you that people don't want anything to do with the church. Do not fear them. Let them say what they want, but do not fear them, nor be troubled. Verse 15. Instead, 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.

So, what does he mean by in your hearts? Is that just a way to make things sound a little more spiritual? No. This is what he means. While you're alone, with no one around to watch you, what do you think about? What do you do? What do you spend your time and your energy on? What do you talk about with people?

That's what's in your hearts. May it be Christ. This is the most important factor for us being able to be a witness. of the power of Christ and the gospel of Christ to those who are lost around us.

Down to earth. If you're looking at porn, you will be a bad evangelist. Your conscience is defiled. You feel like a hypocrite. How can you proclaim the power of Christ when you're not experiencing it yourself? How can you proclaim freedom when you're in bondage?

If you're bitter, you've been gossiping, you're ungrateful, faithless, joyless. If you're self-condemning, you're not living in grace. You're bored of the gospel. Maybe you're getting drunk. Maybe you're wasting your time on video games or YouTube or social media or you're lazy. Repent and turn to Christ. His grace is sufficient for us.

His forgiveness is more than enough. And 1 John 1:9 says if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. So come back to Him. When you devote your time, your energy, and your affections to Jesus daily because of love for God, you will be available, you will be ready to make a defense.

For any objection to Christianity, Jesus says this in Mark 13:11. And when they bring you to trial and deliver you over, do not be anxious beforehand what you were to say, but say whatever is given you in that hour. For it is not you who speak, but the Holy Spirit.

Our main problem is not that we don't know what to say, it's that we don't have the courage to say what we know is true. But when you're devoted to Christ, and when you fear God, you will not fear man. So, I'm not trying to negate the need for apologetics. We should study the Bible, study defense, and all that kind of stuff.

But what I am saying is that a genuine love for Christ on your daily life is way more important. than knowing all the answers to all the tough questions. Because people are not ultimately rejecting the gospel because of reason. They're rejecting Christ because they're suppressing the truth. They do not want to turn to Christ because they're enslaved to their sinful desires.

Now, they might not know this, but it is a fact. And we know it because Jesus said it in John 3:19-21. And we see it in Romans 1 as well. Jesus says this, and this is the judgment. The light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light, because their works were evil. For whoever does wicked things, hates the light, and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed.

But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God. So, preaching the gospel is like flipping the light switch on, and some people are asleep. And what happens when you turn the lights on when people are asleep? They're cranky, you know.

This is why people avoid Christ and avoid the gospel. So, when you have somebody asking questions, you can assume the Holy Spirit is working in this person to ask the question. Even if they're asking you a question with the wrong motives, they're asking you a question to make you squirm because they want you to look like an idiot.

I don't care. I'm gonna answer their question honestly because this is the Lord opening this opportunity. We should be ready to give a defense for the hope we have in Christ. Back to Peter. All right, having done all of this and having a good conscience, he says, have a good conscience so that when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior 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. You will be slandered for being a Christian. You already are. You might not see it, but if you watch any TV or movies or anything like that, Christians are doofuses. They're the dumb characters. Angela from The Office, I just thought of, she's supposed to be a Christian.

Cat Lady, which by the way, here's my confession, we just got a cat, and we love it. Alright, I'm Catman now. I guess the prophecy rings true. Alright, never mind. Angela, Catlady, never mind. But Christians are idiots. Look, this is what you'll hear if you pay attention. We're fools. And we know that. We're fools for Christ.

It's okay. Honoring Christ gives us a good conscience. So, we should talk and act in such a way that when we go to sleep at night we can say, I feared God today, not people. It is deceitful and unloving to answer objections to Christianity in a way that makes you seem nicer than God. Oftentimes the gospel is hard.

Hard words, soft tone. When he says gentle, like there are times where gentle with one person is a little harder than gentle with another person. And honestly, God opposes the proud, gives grace to the humble. So, there are other principles in scripture that we have to balance. But genuine, like generally speaking, soft words, hard, soft tone, hard words.

You know, take, take all the opportunity off. I mean, don't do it out of anger. Don't get, don't blow up on somebody. Oh yeah, well Jesus died for your sins. Yeah, don't do that.

So, keep your tongue from deceit, keep it from evil, have a good conscience. And when somebody asks you, here's one example. Is homosexuality a sin? The answer is yes. Don't get cute. I mean, I've seen this so many times from, from top Christian leaders. Well, it depends on what you mean by sin. First of all, they're trying to trap you, and they don't want you to admit that you believe the Bible.

They want you to squirm, so don't do it. Just say yes. You can explain it more if you want to, but we have to be clear about what the Bible says. We have to do that, and we have to stand firm. It's better to go to bed and sleep at night knowing that you told the truth, rather than I fabricated this really beautiful answer, and the guy was able to accept me, and now we're friends.

This question is going to come, and it's been asked of me oftentimes, and it always opens an opportunity to preach the gospel, because they don't expect you to answer it honestly. So, I have four practical tips for evangelism as we're... Number one, love God. That's what we've been talking about. Loving God is the most important thing to unity and to evangelism.

So read the Bible, learn it, study it, know it. Commit yourself to the church, to a city group. Grow in your knowledge of scripture and do that in community. You're not just studying a textbook. You're spending time with the Lord, so seek Him. Number two, tell the truth as clearly as you can. Just be honest with people.

Tell them the gospel message. Don't try to win all the arguments. Let the Spirit give you the words to say. Say, well, I don't know about that, but let me tell you, Jesus died for your sins. You are a sinner. Just, there, that's a good, what's it called when you go from one topic to another? Segway. Not the one you ride, anyway.

Oh, I don't know, but you're a sinner, and Jesus died for your sins, so you get eternal life. That's not the whole message, but I'm just, just saying. Let's preach the gospel to people. Warn people that their own sin is leading them to hell for eternity. We care about these people, right? Warn them. Tell the truth.

Tell them that Christ is their only hope. Tell them that God so loved the world that he gave his only son, Jesus. So that when he died, he died for our sins so that we could be saved from hell, and we could live with eternal life and abundant life starting today. Will you follow Christ? Ask them. Are you ready to give your heart and your life to Jesus?

Third, speak on Christ's authority. Jesus gave us the Great Commission in Matthew 28. He says,

This command is given to the church. We're all a part of that church. We all play a part. And then in 1 Peter, what we just read is that we're commanded to, to hope in Christ, always being prepared to give a defense. So, this is commanded to all of us. And so, we can do it. I have no authority to preach Christ in and of myself.

None. I'm not an expert. I don't know everything. Who am I? Most people I talk to, they don't know me that well. Why would you trust me? But Jesus has all authority. Me, I'm a fool. Apart from Christ, I, I'm nothing. I don't have some special, like, anointing. I don't have a perfect track record. I don't know everything.

If you know me, you know that I lose my Bible, like, every week at church. And I'm driving all around the city trying to find where I left it. yesterday I lost keys. I was working on a house and I, like, scrounged around in the trash and on the ground for two hours and never found them. I can barely remember my kids’ birthdays or what grade they're in.

My mind is all over the place. I need the mind of Christ, really. But look, I'm a child of God. That's who I am. Who cares about any of that? Look at your fingerprints. I got this from Keith Green. The God who put your fingerprints on your hand You can talk to Him anytime. That's crazy. He designed every detail of everything, and you can talk to Him.

Therefore, go! You don't have to make a case for your own authority and why you should be trusted. We just plainly state the truth of God's Word. We let Him do the heavy lifting because only God can change a person's hearts. And church, all of us can do this. All of you can do this. Fourth, see the open door and walk through.

We have to be aware. And when we're following Christ, we're going to be aware of the open conversations. Alright, two temptations in this passage. Backing up verses 9 through 12, it says, do not repay evil for evil. Keep your tongue from deceit. So, this is what I'm calling this fight and flight. When you're afraid, do you fight?

Do you, or do you flee? And the, the, the right answer is to stand firm. So, some of you react to opposition and anger with anger, with the lack of self-control and with harshness. And you get personally offended whenever somebody hates God and is zealous for what is evil. And you think of ways to retaliate, but listen, it's not about you.

It's about Jesus and He can handle Himself. Saul was on the road to Damascus. He got knocked off the horse by Jesus and Jesus said, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Barnabas? Like, he doesn't say people. He says, why are you persecuting me? So, when we are slandered, Christ is the aim. They're mad at their dad, not at me.

not their dad, yet. But Jesus can handle himself. So, reactive arguing. That is a sign of pride, and if this is your tendency, acknowledge it and repent of it today and ask the Lord to change you. He will. He'll forgive you and He'll change you. Number two is avoidance. It's flight. So, in verses 13 and 14, Do not fear nor be troubled.

Now, some of you are more tempted, and I think this is more common in our church and throughout Christianity today, but some of us are more tempted to avoid all topics that pertain to faith, especially the dangerous ones. Issues on abortion, homosexuality, transgenderism, feminism, Marxism, conscience, eternal torment in hell for the unbeliever.

Those are things we won't talk about. And so, if you spend time and energy thinking and planning how to avoid these conversations and these kinds of people, then you're missing a particular blessing from God and your faith is small, your fear is great. And this kind of fear is growing in your unbelief.

So, if this is your tendency, believe. Trust that the Lord is better. He will take care of you. He will bless you. The fruit of your, your belief or unbelief is your demeanor in these interactions. So, a calm, confident, fearless faith is what we're after. And Jesus, The, the apostles and the prophets, all of our heroes of the faith displayed this kind of resolve in the face of danger.

one example from Acts 5:40-42, and when they had called the apostles, they beat them and charged them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and they let them go. Then they left the presence of the council rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name. And every day in the temple and from house to house they did not cease teaching and preaching that the Christ is Jesus.

Do you understand that this is the message that got Jesus killed? And just a couple months later they're being beaten and they're rejoicing and they're preaching boldly this message. Oh Lord let us be like these apostles who loves Christ more than anything else. To a degree that our hearts are changed, and we stand stable, and we're not afraid of anything, but we fear God, our Creator.

Sometimes I wonder, do we even want to be blessed? It's not found in safety-anity, it's found in Christianity. I coined that. Hashtag, just kidding. But it, it, Christianity is not a safe religion. I mean, what does it mean to be a Christian? It means to be a little Christ. Well, what happened to Christ? Oh, he was murdered.

It's not safe, and if you try to play it safe, you're missing on God's blessings for your life. You will be less happy as you try to control the outcomes.

I'm done hearing that we're really not persecuted here in America because of emotional blackmail, manipulation, slander, and attempts to silence God's Word. Those are persecution, and some Christians are beheaded for their faith in Christ, and we're thankful that they would be willing to suffer in that way, even today.

But some are being silenced, scorned, ridiculed. and gaslighted. And I for one am saying bring on the blessings. Bring on the blessings. Now if you're being evil, then that's not a blessing. That's discipline. You, you reap what you sow. But if you're being true to the gospel and you love a person and you are speaking the truth in love to a person, bring it on.

So, I'm thankful that we do have unity of mind. As CTK, we have nothing to fear, and so let's hold each other to Scripture. Let's outdo each other in showing honor by speaking the truth in love to each other, and by guarding our tongues, keeping our tongues from evil. And when we honor Christ, we will love our neighbors, and we will, even when they hate the Jesus inside of us.

And so, a threefold cord is not easily broken. How much more a two-hundred-fold cord? That's us. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for, thank you for the good news of the gospel, Lord. We were all, whether we remember it or not, at one time we were your enemies. We didn't want anything to do with you, and even today we can still feel it in our flesh.

Our flesh is bored of the gospel. Our flesh is tired of reading the Bible. Our flesh wants the easy thing. Our flesh needs to be put to death, Lord. Holy Spirit, work in us today. Give us repentance, God. Each one of us has areas to repent in, and some, some of us don't know exactly what that is. So, Lord, show us today by your Spirit.

Let us be like these apostles. Who were so filled with the Spirit and filled with the power of the gospel that they could not stop from proclaiming you to people. And there was nothing, nothing that they were afraid to say if it was true. And if it was good for the hearers. And so, Lord, I pray that you would unify us around doctrine.

That we would not just agree to disagree on everything as a false solution, as false peace. But that we would know, we would know that we need to open up the scriptures together and do the work. And if the scriptures aren't clear on something, that we would hold those things with an open hand and we would love each other, and we wouldn't be so judgmental.

About little things, God, that we would all be able to walk with a clear conscience and we would, our conscience would be informed by your word. So, Lord, do this work in us. We trust you; we love you, and it's to your glory and for your honor, that we pray all these things in the name of Jesus. Amen.