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Voddie Baucham - Sharp Minds, Warm Hearts, Steel Spines - 1 Peter 3 13-17 · Voddie Baucham Sermons

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  Speaker 1: It is indeed a great honor to stand here before
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  Speaker 1: you today. A great honor that an overwhelming honor to
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  Speaker 1: be a part of what God is doing in this place.
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  Speaker 1: I think back in history and those moments where God
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  Speaker 1: has ignited the hearts of men to do things like this.
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  Speaker 1: And the fruit that it has borne. And I'm overwhelmed
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  Speaker 1: to think about what God will do as a result
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  Speaker 1: of the work that he has begun here in this place.
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  Speaker 1: We didn't come together to start Founders Seminary because we
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  Speaker 1: did market research. We didn't do this because we believed
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  Speaker 1: that somehow if we did, we would make a name
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  Speaker 1: for ourselves. We didn't do this because we thought that
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  Speaker 1: perhaps doing so would allow us to amass some kind
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  Speaker 1: of political power. We did this because we believe that
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  Speaker 1: there is a need for an institution that will equip
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  Speaker 1: men with sharp minds, warm hearts, and steel spines. And
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  Speaker 1: every time you say that to people, there is a
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  Speaker 1: sense in which we know it to be true, that
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  Speaker 1: this is such a moment. However, in some instances, there
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  Speaker 1: is a bit of hesitation. And the hesitation comes with
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  Speaker 1: that last phrase, steel spines. What do we mean by that? Again,
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  Speaker 1: for those who know, for those who understand, no explanation
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  Speaker 1: is necessary. It is just yes and amen. But for
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  Speaker 1: those who have fallen prey to the spirit of the age,
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  Speaker 1: The response is, what do you mean by steel spines?
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  Speaker 1: That sounds aggressive. That sounds combative. That sounds like it
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  Speaker 1: contradicts the others. When you think about men with steel spines,
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  Speaker 1: you often think about men who don't necessarily have keen
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  Speaker 1: minds and certainly don't have warm hearts. but I beg
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  Speaker 1: to differ. And this is not the only time, nor
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  Speaker 1: are we the only people who have understood such a need.
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  Speaker 1: About 100 years ago, there was another individual, J. Gresham Machen,
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  Speaker 1: who understood this. And in his seminal work, Christianity and Liberalism,
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  Speaker 1: He writes this in his introduction. Presenting an issue sharply
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  Speaker 1: is indeed by no means a popular business at the
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  Speaker 1: present time. There are many who prefer to fight their
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  Speaker 1: intellectual battles in what Dr. Francis Patton has aptly called
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  Speaker 1: a condition of low visibility. Clear-cut definition of terms in
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  Speaker 1: religious matters bold facing of the logical implications of religious
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  Speaker 1: views is by many persons regarded as an impious proceeding.
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  Speaker 1: May it not discourage contribution to mission boards. May it
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  Speaker 1: not hinder the progress of consolidation and produce a poor
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  Speaker 1: showing in columns and church statistics. But with such person's
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  Speaker 1: we cannot possibly bring ourselves to agree. Light may seem
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  Speaker 1: at times to be an impertinent intruder, but it is
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  Speaker 1: always beneficial in the end. The type of religion which
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  Speaker 1: rejoices in the pious sound of traditional phrases, regardless of
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  Speaker 1: their meaning, or shrinks from controversial matters, will never stand
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  Speaker 1: amid the shocks of life. In the sphere of religion,
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  Speaker 1: as in other spheres, the things about which men are
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  Speaker 1: agreed are apt to be the things that are least
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  Speaker 1: worth holding. The really important things are the things about
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  Speaker 1: which men will fight. And it's because that is true,
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  Speaker 1: today as it was in Machen's day, that we need
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  Speaker 1: men with steel spines. But it's not enough for me
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  Speaker 1: to say that. It's not enough for Founders Seminary to
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  Speaker 1: say that. It's not enough for J. Gresham Machen to
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  Speaker 1: have said that. We should not make that claim unless
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  Speaker 1: it is consistent with the teaching of Scripture. Well, I
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  Speaker 1: believe it absolutely is. And there are a number of
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  Speaker 1: places to which we could turn and see this combination
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  Speaker 1: of sharp minds, warm hearts, steel spines. But I want
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  Speaker 1: us to look today at Peter's first epistle. 1 Peter
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  Speaker 1: chapter 3. 1 Peter chapter 3. Interestingly enough, 1 Peter
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  Speaker 1: chapter 3 And verse 15 is where we get our
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  Speaker 1: word for apologetics. It's one of those New Testament words
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  Speaker 1: that we don't translate, we just transliterate. We just bring
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  Speaker 1: it over into the English. Kind of like deacon. In
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  Speaker 1: the Greek it's diakonos, and we just transliterate it to deacon.
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  Speaker 1: The word for apologetics is the word apologia. It means
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  Speaker 1: a reasoned response, a defense. And we don't translate that word,
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  Speaker 1: we just transliterate it and bring it over. Sometimes that
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  Speaker 1: makes it difficult for people to understand. They think apologetics
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  Speaker 1: is somehow about apologizing for the gospel. Nothing could be
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  Speaker 1: further from the truth. It is about giving a reasoned response.
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  Speaker 1: And in that paragraph, wherein we find verse 15, we
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  Speaker 1: find a nod to each of these characteristics. We find
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  Speaker 1: a nod to sharp minds. We find a nod to
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  Speaker 1: warm hearts. And we absolutely find a nod to steel spines.
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  Speaker 1: And what we mean by that needs to be understood
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  Speaker 1: from a biblical perspective. You see, because unfortunately when we
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  Speaker 1: say that, people hear us through a contemporary cultural lens.
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  Speaker 1: And all they can think about when we say steel
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  Speaker 1: spines is that somehow What we're referring to is being callous.
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  Speaker 1: Somehow what we're referring to is just being combative for
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  Speaker 1: the sake of being combative. Somehow what we're referring to
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  Speaker 1: is being hard-hearted, which is why they think it contradicts
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  Speaker 1: our commitment to warm hearts. But when we refer to
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  Speaker 1: steel spines, that's not what we're referring to. When we
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  Speaker 1: refer to steel spines, what we're referring to is the
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  Speaker 1: kind of people who say, let goods and kindred go.
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  Speaker 1: It's mortal life also. The body they may kill. God's truth,
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  Speaker 1: the body is still. His kingdom is forever. That's a
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  Speaker 1: steel spine statement. Not combative for combat's sake, but firmly
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  Speaker 1: rooted in faith that stands in the face of opposition
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  Speaker 1: and difficulty. And that's precisely what we see here in
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  Speaker 1: 1 Peter chapter 3. Look with me, if you will,
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  Speaker 1: here at that passage. Beginning at verse 13. Peter writes,
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  Speaker 1: Now who is there to harm you if you prove
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  Speaker 1: zealous for what is good? But even if you should
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  Speaker 1: suffer for righteousness' sake, you will be blessed. Have no
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  Speaker 1: fear of them, nor be troubled. There's your steel spine.
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  Speaker 1: Verse 15. But in your hearts, honor Christ the Lord
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  Speaker 1: as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to
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  Speaker 1: anyone who asks you the reason for the hope that
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  Speaker 1: is in you. There's your sharp mind. Yet do it
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  Speaker 1: with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience, so that
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  Speaker 1: when you are slandered, notice he doesn't say if, when
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  Speaker 1: you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in
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  Speaker 1: Christ may be put to shame. For it is better
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  Speaker 1: to suffer for doing good, if that should be God's will,
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  Speaker 1: than for doing evil. There's your warm heart. right there together.
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  Speaker 1: And it is a beautiful picture of pastoral responsibility. We
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  Speaker 1: often forget that, for example, in that seminal passage about
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  Speaker 1: the elder in Titus chapter 1, Paul concludes that section
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  Speaker 1: in verse 9. And when he concludes that section, he
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  Speaker 1: says that we not only have to be able to
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  Speaker 1: exhort in sound doctrine, to which we all say, amen,
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  Speaker 1: but the next phrase, and refute those who contradict it.
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  Speaker 1: It's part of the job. It's part of the shepherd's responsibility,
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  Speaker 1: not just to lead and feed the sheep, but also
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  Speaker 1: to fight off the wolves. Exhort in sound doctrine and
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  Speaker 1: refute those who contradict it. There are many who like
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  Speaker 1: to argue that we're far too negative in our public stances.
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  Speaker 1: And one of the ways that they make this argument
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  Speaker 1: is they say that we're always talking about what we're against.
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  Speaker 1: And we need to be more about what we're for.
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  Speaker 1: I could not disagree more. I don't really know what
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  Speaker 1: you're for. unless I know what you're against. Exhort in
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  Speaker 1: sound doctrine and refute those who contradict it. Say, yes,
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  Speaker 1: this is what I mean. And by the way, that
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  Speaker 1: is not what I mean. This is what I stand for,
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  Speaker 1: and that is not what I stand for. Both of
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  Speaker 1: those things are absolutely necessary. And Peter says, explains them
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  Speaker 1: not only in terms of the factual aspects of the
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  Speaker 1: job description, but also in terms of the character that
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  Speaker 1: is required. Let's look at this a bit more closely. First,
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  Speaker 1: look at verse 13. He says, Now who is there
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  Speaker 1: to harm you if you prove zealous for what is good?
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  Speaker 1: But even if you should suffer for righteousness' sake, you
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  Speaker 1: will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled. Obviously,
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  Speaker 1: Peter is speaking here to people who find themselves in
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  Speaker 1: a context of disagreement, of hostility. Earlier on in chapter 2,
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  Speaker 1: he makes it very clear. Look at chapter 2 and
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  Speaker 1: verse 9. You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood,
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  Speaker 1: a holy nation, a people for his own possession. that
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  Speaker 1: you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you
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  Speaker 1: out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were
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  Speaker 1: not a people, but now you are God's people. Once
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  Speaker 1: you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
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  Speaker 1: And then look what he says. Beloved, I urge you
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  Speaker 1: as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of flesh,
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  Speaker 1: which wage war against your soul. Keep your conduct among
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  Speaker 1: the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you
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  Speaker 1: as evildoers, they may see your good deeds. and glorify
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  Speaker 1: God on the day of visitation. We are sojourners. We
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  Speaker 1: are strangers. We are exiles. We are in this world,
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  Speaker 1: but not of this world. We are in the same
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  Speaker 1: world that hated our Lord Jesus Christ, whose name we
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  Speaker 1: wear as his followers. And as a result, this world
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  Speaker 1: hates us as well. This world despises our God. This
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  Speaker 1: world despises our gospel. And the more identified we are
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  Speaker 1: with our God and with his gospel, the more this
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  Speaker 1: world despises us. Hence Peter's words. Hence his encouragement to
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  Speaker 1: put steel in our spines by asking the rhetorical question,
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  Speaker 1: now who is there to harm you if you prove
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  Speaker 1: zealous for what is good? At the end of the day,
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  Speaker 1: what can they do to us? What can they take
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  Speaker 1: from us? If ultimately we have come to the conclusion
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  Speaker 1: that for me to live is Christ and to die
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  Speaker 1: is gain, what can you do to me? What can
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  Speaker 1: you take from me? My life? No. My life is
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  Speaker 1: hidden with Christ. You can't take that from me. Because
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  Speaker 1: I place my faith in Christ, I have eternal life
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  Speaker 1: as a present possession. You cannot take that from me.
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  Speaker 1: That's the source of a steel spine. Not because we're
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  Speaker 1: bigger or stronger. Not because we're meaner. Not because there
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  Speaker 1: are more of us. Not because we are marching in
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  Speaker 1: with an army to take over. No, we have steel
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  Speaker 1: spines because we realize that the victory has already been won.
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  Speaker 1: Our lives are hidden with Christ. It goes on in
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  Speaker 1: verse 15. In your hearts, honor Christ the Lord as holy,
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  Speaker 1: paraphrasing Isaiah here. Always being prepared to make defense to
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  Speaker 1: anyone who asks you the reason for the hope that
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  Speaker 1: is in you. Here's where the sharp mind comes in.
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  Speaker 1: Know what you believe. Know why you believe it. And
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  Speaker 1: be able to communicate that effectively. Ultimately, that's what seminary
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  Speaker 1: education is all about. Ultimately, if we boil it down
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  Speaker 1: in its simplest terms, our goal, our duty, our job,
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  Speaker 1: our responsibility is to take students and deeply root them
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  Speaker 1: in knowing what they believe and knowing why they believe
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  Speaker 1: it and being able to communicate that effectively. That's the calling.
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  Speaker 1: That's the job. That's the sharp mind. We are not
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  Speaker 1: here in order to create the kinds of minds that
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  Speaker 1: dabble in any and everything under the sun. If you
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  Speaker 1: want to do that, God bless you. Go for it.
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  Speaker 1: But here, we're honing in sharp minds that understand the
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  Speaker 1: word of God We're developing sharp minds who have a
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  Speaker 1: desire to know what God has spoken. And beyond that,
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  Speaker 1: to communicate that effectively to others to the end that
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  Speaker 1: they might hear and respond to the gospel. To the
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  Speaker 1: end that the kingdom of God might expand. To the
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  Speaker 1: end that Christ might have the fullness of the reward
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  Speaker 1: for which he died. That's what we're sharpening our minds for.
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  Speaker 1: To know God and to make Him known. That's what
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  Speaker 1: apologetics is all about. And then there's this final piece.
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  Speaker 1: This warm heart. Yet do it with gentleness and respect.
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  Speaker 1: Yet do it with gentleness and respect. We have to
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  Speaker 1: be very careful with that word gentleness. Our adversaries love
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  Speaker 1: to use our commitments against us, love to use our
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  Speaker 1: convictions against us, and this is no exception. They love
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  Speaker 1: to use our commitment to gentleness, and oftentimes when you
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  Speaker 1: find yourself engaged in verbal combat, if you will, when
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  Speaker 1: you find yourself engaged in debate, and if you find
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  Speaker 1: yourself succeeding and winning, One of the things that you
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  Speaker 1: will come up against is this attempt to use gentleness
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  Speaker 1: against us. And people will say something like, well, okay,
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  Speaker 1: I get it. Maybe it's not what you're saying. It's
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  Speaker 1: just your tone. And when they say it's just your tone,
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  Speaker 1: they don't mean that you're swearing like a drunken sailor.
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  Speaker 1: When they say it's just your tone, they don't mean
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  Speaker 1: that you're standing over them pointing your finger in their face.
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  Speaker 1: They can be talking about a tweet. When they say
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  Speaker 1: it's just your tone, what they mean is you sound
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  Speaker 1: like you're standing with your feet firmly planted on the ground.
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  Speaker 1: with your shoulders squared, with your chin held high, and
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  Speaker 1: saying what you're saying like you believe it with all
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  Speaker 1: your heart. That's the tone to which they refer. That's
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  Speaker 1: what they believe is inconsistent with gentleness. Listen, gentleness does
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  Speaker 1: not mean that we're effeminate. Gentleness is power under control.
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  Speaker 1: Gentleness is me wrestling with my little grandson. I could
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  Speaker 1: crush him. I have the power to do so. But
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  Speaker 1: I wouldn't dare. I control myself so that I don't
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  Speaker 1: fall on him too hard. I control myself so that
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  Speaker 1: I don't grab him too hard. I control myself. I
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  Speaker 1: control my power. so as not to do harm. That's gentleness.
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  Speaker 1: That's gentleness. And that's warm-hearted. You can be warm-hearted and confident.
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  Speaker 1: You can be warm-hearted and direct. Warm-hearted and firm. And
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  Speaker 1: that's what we're called to. Why? Having a good conscience
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  Speaker 1: so that when you are slandered, those who revile your
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  Speaker 1: good behavior in Christ may be put to shame. That's
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  Speaker 1: what our warm heart does. Our warm heart puts us
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  Speaker 1: in a position so that when people come and they say,
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  Speaker 1: you know, this is who he really is. They're put
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  Speaker 1: to shame because It's just not true. It's better to
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  Speaker 1: suffer for doing good, if that should be God's will,
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  Speaker 1: than for doing evil. Earlier on, Peter explains the theological
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  Speaker 1: root and foundation of this kind of thinking. Back in
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  Speaker 1: chapter 2, beginning in verse 19. For this is a
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  Speaker 1: gracious thing, when mindful of God, one endures sorrows while
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  Speaker 1: suffering unjustly. For what credit is it when you sin
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  Speaker 1: and are beaten for it? You endure. But if when
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  Speaker 1: you do good and suffer for it, you endure. This
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  Speaker 1: is a gracious thing in the sight of God. For
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  Speaker 1: to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered
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  Speaker 1: for you, leaving you an example so that you might
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  Speaker 1: follow in his steps. He committed no sin, neither was
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  Speaker 1: there deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled,
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  Speaker 1: he did not revile in return. When he suffered, he
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  Speaker 1: did not threaten, but continued to entrust himself to him
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  Speaker 1: who judges him. Justly. This wasn't just theoretical. Verse 24.
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  Speaker 1: He himself bore our sins in his body on the
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  Speaker 1: tree that we might die to sin and live to righteousness.
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  Speaker 1: By his wounds you have been healed. There's the ultimate
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  Speaker 1: warm heart. That's who we're called to be. This is
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  Speaker 1: what it means and this is what it looks like.
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  Speaker 1: And my prayer is that for all of us who
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  Speaker 1: have come to know and love Founders Seminary, when someone
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  Speaker 1: asks us what we mean by steel spines, this would
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  Speaker 1: be our answer. Our answer would be that our desire
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  Speaker 1: is to be the kind of people who proclaim the
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  Speaker 1: gospel who know what we believe and why we believe it,
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  Speaker 1: and communicate that effectively. And that we've sharpened our minds
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  Speaker 1: to be able to do so. That we're the kind
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  Speaker 1: of people who do that with warm hearts. And so
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  Speaker 1: we do it with gentleness and respect. Willing to suffer
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  Speaker 1: if necessary. And the only way that we can be
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  Speaker 1: those kinds of people is if we are people with
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  Speaker 1: steel spines. Ready and willing to take our stand no
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  Speaker 1: matter the cost. First, because Christ is our Savior and
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  Speaker 1: our example. And because he's our Savior and our example,
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  Speaker 1: we know what it looks like to stand firm and
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  Speaker 1: we know what the reward is. for all those who
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  Speaker 1: do so. This is what we mean when we say
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  Speaker 1: sharp minds, warm hearts, steel spines. And by God's grace,
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  Speaker 1: this is absolutely who we intend to be. And more importantly,
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  Speaker 1: it's what we intend to reproduce and all of those
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  Speaker 1: And God will grant us the grace to steward as
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  Speaker 1: our students. Pray for us as we do so. Pray
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  Speaker 1: for those who will stand with us and partner with
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  Speaker 1: us to do so. And pray for those who will
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  Speaker 1: enter into our care and instruction. so that God might
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  Speaker 1: seed the field with these kinds of men. Let's pray.
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  Speaker 1: Our gracious God, we do thank you and praise you
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  Speaker 1: for your wondrous mercy and kindness toward us. Providence that
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  Speaker 1: has brought us to this place. For the privilege that
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  Speaker 1: has been ours to see you bring this to pass.
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  Speaker 1: Grant by your grace that we might be good stewards
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  Speaker 1: of the work to which we've been called. Grant that
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  Speaker 1: we might be a picture of those who stand as
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  Speaker 1: Christ stood, reviled but not reviling in return. That we
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  Speaker 1: might stand firm on the truth of the gospel, never
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  Speaker 1: wavering no matter the cost. That we might walk in
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  Speaker 1: godliness so that when we are slandered, those who do
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  Speaker 1: so would be put to shame. Grant us strength so
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  Speaker 1: that we might see this through. Grant us grace so
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  Speaker 1: that we might overcome our weaknesses and our frailties. Do this,
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  Speaker 1: we pray, not so that we might make much of ourselves,
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  Speaker 1: but so that we might make much of Christ. For
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  Speaker 1: we do pray these things and we do ask these
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  Speaker 1: things in Christ's name and for his sake. Amen. Grant
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  Speaker 1: us grace so that we might overcome our weaknesses and
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  Speaker 1: our frailties. Do this, we pray. Not so that we
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  Speaker 1: might make much of ourselves, but so that we might
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  Speaker 1: make much of Christ. For we do pray these things
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  Speaker 1: and we do ask these things in Christ's name and
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  Speaker 1: for his sake. Amen.