The Intimidated Christian
(I Peter 3:13-17)
1. By ANICK JESDANUN, AP Internet Writer Fri Jul 7, 2006 6:28 PM ET
NEW YORK - Some questions even stump Stephen Hawking.
The famed British astrophysicist and best-selling author has turned to Yahoo Answers, a new feature in which anyone can pose a question for fellow Internet users to try to answer. By Friday afternoon, nearly 17,000 Yahoo Inc. users had responded.
Hawking’s question: "In a world that is in chaos politically, socially and environmentally, how can the human race sustain another 100 years?"
Some of the answers were short — "get rid of nuclear weapons" — and others vague — "Somehow we will." Many were doubtful: "I don’t think it is possible unless we expand into space," one user wrote.
…In a June 13 speech in Hong Kong, Hawking said the survival of the human race depends on its ability to find new homes elsewhere in the universe because there’s an increasing risk that a disaster will destroy Earth.
He said that if humans can avoid killing themselves in the next 100 years, they should have space settlements that can continue without support from Earth.
2. If this sounds a bit extreme to you, I agree.
3. But, from a prophetic viewpoint, even lost society is recognizing that we are potentially approaching the end.
4. Life is such that there is always a lot to be afraid of.
5. When we think of fear, we need to think of the family of fear-related terms: fright, alarm, losing courage, dread, terror, panic, horror, scare, aversion anxiety, cowardice, trembling, faintheartedness, shyness, and apprehension, to name just some of them.
6. But another word in the fear family is "intimidation." It is something that someone or something does to us. It is a victim word. It means, "inducing fear or a sense of inferiority into another."
7. Because it is a victim word, that does not mean that we are not sometimes both victims and perpetrator; we can intimidate ourselves by our own imaginations. Many of us are intimidated, at times, by our own ideas and fears, apart from an intent to intimidate on the part of others.
8. But often times, intimidation is intentional. Every human being experiences intimidation. But the Christian, by virtue of taking a stand for the Lord, is asking for it. The
Main Idea: Our three enemies -- the world, the flesh, and the devil – work together to intimidate us, often successfully.
TS --> Peter warns us that we can be intimidated by about four sources.
I. Intimidated by HIGH Standards (13)
A. Not sinless, but doing GOOD
1. Frank Gabelein points out, "The use of this construction (optative) points to the fact that suffering is not the expected outcome of zeal for good."
2. God is concerned about our behavior, our actions; but his concern goes much deeper
B. Not perfect, but an EAGER attitude
1. I often do good grudgingly
2. God loves a cheerful giver, and He also loves a cheerful woker of good
3. In the world, the bottom line is all that matters; but not so with God; the process and our attitudes are as important as what we do…
3. But such high standards are intimidating; I have already confessed that I am not always eager to do good; but I am never going to be perfect
4. God has high standards that serve as a target to aim for, not to put us on a constant downer…
5. What matters most is "Do we have an eager attitude? Are we growing? Do we learn from our sins and mistakes?"
Our three enemies -- the world, the flesh, and the devil – work together to intimidate us, often successfully.
II. Intimidated by PERSECUTION (14)
A. Consider it a BLESSING
• this is counter-intuitive
• it does not feel like a blessing now, that’s for sure
• but the reward thing is real
• the strengthening of our faith thing is real
B. Do not give way to FEAR
1. Matthew 10:28, " Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell."
2. When it comes to destiny, we have nothing to fear; but everyone is afraid of pain and misery…don’t fear that God has forsaken you, though it seems like it…
3. The fear of the Lord helps reduce all other fears
"The Voice of the Martyrs’ New Book, IRAN: Desperate For God, Released
June 28, 2006
For decades, Iran has been a hotbed for terrorist activity. Little do most people know that Iran also houses the fastest-growing Muslim movement in the world: Muslims converting to Christianity. In IRAN: Desperate for God, seven Iranian Christian converts from Islam unveil their testimonies of courageously sharing Christ in a nation ranked among the top 10 persecutors of Christians in the world.
Doctors, students and housewives are leaving their empty lives governed by Islamic oppression and coming into the fullness of Christ. The ruthless and radical Islamic president of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, angrily declared that 500 to 600 Muslims were converting to Christianity monthly, but the numbers are actually much, much higher. Many risk everything?their homes, jobs, families, freedom and even their lives?to follow Christ, and IRAN: Desperate for God brings these stories to light."
Our three enemies -- the world, the flesh, and the devil – work together to intimidate us, often successfully.
III. Intimidated by QUESTIONS (15)
Peter probably has Isaiah 8:12b-13 in mind: "Do not fear what they fear,
do not dread it. The LORD Almighty is the one you are to regard as holy."
He quotes the first part of those Isaiah verses in verse 14 (read it), but verse 15 is an expansion of "The LORD Almighty is the one you are to regard as holy."
A. Seriously FOLLOW Christ
A.W. Tozer: “People who have ‘set apart Christ as Lord’ have three distinct marks:”
1. They are only facing one direction
2. They never turn back in the face of fear
3. They no longer have plans of their own
B. FEED your mind to have the answers
1. a)pologia/ (apologia) = "a defense presented in court" (Wiersbe)
2. 4 things every Christian should know:
1. Bible prophecies that evidence the reasonableness of believing in Jesus
2. The Gospel message (how to be saved)
3. Examples of Christ has changed my life and how I came to know him
4. Answers to common questions
3. An apologetic is an answer to an attack or objection leveled against the Christian faith. Apologetics is a systematic defense of the Bible which seeks to answer questions, objections, or seeming problems/conflicts within the Biblical belief system. In Christian Apologetics, we seek to demonstrate that it is reasonable to believe.
We must give a reasoned answer rather than merely sharing our own experience.
4. The Jews held to a similar concept. In the Mishna, Rabbi Eleazar said, "Be diligent to learn Torah, and know what to answer a skeptic." (Avot 2:14).
5. Note the casual way Christians witness; they are not constrained to witness to everyone they meet, but, rather, to live the Christian life and share when a door opens; this sharing, then, results in questions…
C. PREPARATION is part of what church is about
According to I and 2 Timothy, church leaders are to indoctrinate their people and expose error… the modern movement that turns church gatherings into mere worship experiences is producing a harvest of ill-prepared Christians…
Our three enemies -- the world, the flesh, and the devil – work together to intimidate us, often successfully.
IV. Intimidated by SLANDER (16-17)
A. SLANDER is best fought over time
1. You can often fight rumors quickly and decisively
2. But slander usually attacks your character and sometimes results in others viewing you through a distorted lens…
3. In a previous sermon, I mentioned that the more you try to defend yourself, the worse you look
B. A clear CONSCIENCE is crucial (16)
When we are slandered, we are tempted to fight fire with fire; we are tempted to break the rules and get even or expose liars for who they are, perhaps doing something unethical in the process.
1. we can defile our conscience (Titus 1:15)
2. we can sear our conscience (I Timothy 4:2)
3. we can reverse our conscience toward evil (Hebrew 10:22)
C. TRUTH will win out
D. But we may still SUFFER
1. Peter tells us that if we are to suffer, let us suffer for doing good.
2. The fact that he mentions this is that some early Christians suffered for dong wrong, as happened today (nothing new).
3. But he tells us more: suffering for doing good can be God’s will
Our three enemies -- the world, the flesh, and the devil – work together to intimidate us, often successfully.
Conclusion
1. Do you feel intimidated? Marty Springstead, supervisor of American League umpires, said he will never forget his first assignment behind the plate. It was in a 1966 game at Washington. Frank Howard was playing for the Senators, and on the first pitch to the mountainous slugger, Springstead called a knee-high fast ball a strike. Howard turned around and yelled, "Get something straight, buster! I don’t know where you came from or how you got to the major leagues, but they don’t call that pitch on me a strike. Understand?" The next pitch was in the same spot, and Springstead yelled, "Two!" "Two what?" Howard roared. "Too low," Springstead said, "Much too low."
Los Angeles Times, quoted in Reader’s Digest, July, 1988.
2. I have many times, and still do – and probably will until I am in heaven. The Biblical antidote for intimidation is courage.
3. So let me leave you with this one piece of advice that has often made the difference for me. It is, actually, a sort of definition:
4. "Courage does not mean you are not afraid. It means you do what you have to do, despite the fact that you are afraid."
