Tracing Christ (Part A)

Peter understood what it means to be an employer but as a servant of Jesus Christ for 3 1/2 years. He also understood what it meant this to be a servant when Jesus did Peter need to go to market get this I need that he's gone to do it. We knew both sides not to be had to because he has strength of God's commandment on his side, but he happens to know what he's talking about my experience also to disregard Peter's command would hand the enemy. The victim this is cross reference radio with our pastor and teacher Rick Gaston.

Rick is the pastor of Calvary Chapel Mechanicsville. Pastor Rick is currently teaching through the book of first Peter, please stay with us after today's message to hear more information about cross reference radio, specifically how you can get a free copy of this teaching, but for now let's join Pastor Rick in the book of first Peter chapter 2 as he begins his message tracing Christ.

If you have your Bibles please turn to chapter 2 of first Peter verses 18 through 25, beginning at verse 18 servant to be submissive to your masters with all fear not only to good and gentle but also to the harsh, but this is commendable if because of conscience toward God. One endures grief, suffering wrongfully.

What credit is it if when you are beaten for your faults, you take it patiently. But when you do good and suffer if you take it patiently, this is commendable before God to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example that you should follow his steps who committed no sin, nor was deceit found in his mouth when he was reviled did not revile in return when he suffered, he did not threaten, but committed himself to him who judges righteously who himself bore our sins in his own body on a tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness by whose stripes you were healed for you are like sheep going astray. Now return to the Shepherd and overseer of your soul tracing Christ. That's this morning's title for the consideration I have tracing Christ and he, our Lord has given us an example of how to face hardship, especially when it is unfairly unfairly faced by us. The reason why we are to face it this way thereof.

There are quite a few of them. The biggest one being recommended to live like Christ to face things as he face them as best we can in his spirit I was going to entitle this session. Things I don't like and others are serious about that because reading this chapter I don't like what I'm told to do.

Sometimes it's very nice. If I'm just in a spiritual mood feeling pretty good about my relationship with Christ is another thing, though, and I'm faced with people I want to punch in the nose and that's when accounts though and I I hope you like many of you, if not all of you. We try to fashion our lives after Christ all the time. Always mindful of what is right and what is wrong in matters such as this are looking at verse 18. Let's get right to it service be submissive to your masters with all fear not only to the good and gentle but also the harsh the time this letter was written 1/3 of the population within the Roman Empire. Just the Roman Empire is outside the Roman Empire. There were slaves also but 1/3 of the population were slaves, household slaves, many of them. In fact, in the church in the early church household slaves make it up.

Eventually a great number of the attendees in the congregation. And so when he talks here about them being beaten means a slaves were to be beaten by the owners in the state government was totally behind slave masters and could kill a slave and nobody would even care essays writing to his congregation.

This extended congregation that is going to persecution as Christian slave and free ally with any zeros in a little bit down to even the servants because if the servants are to receive this commandment so other free Christians.

Paul wrote this to the Corinthians is very eye-opening is true to this day.

You see your calling, brethren, not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called God's chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise God's chosen the weak things of the world put Shane to think of better mighty is talking also about slaves in the church. The people who are not the upper crust of society. The common people. The blue-collar workers, the middle or middle class white collar workers go to and he continues. Paul does and the base things of the world not of God the world and the things which are discussed by God has chosen the things which are not to bring to nothing the things that are no flesh should glory in his presence.

I did not want to leave out that last word of Paul that no flesh shall glory in his presence. No one holds a boast against God. Oh yeah, you owe me because I've been a good boy.

I get to heaven because of all the nice things I've done or compared to so-and-so look out good I am. That won't fly with God at all. In fact will condemn anyone foolish enough to have that position. Peter himself shift a little bit now from slave master relationship to the employer employee relationship today.

Peter was once an employer is a fisherman. He was in business with John and James and their father and they had slaves or servants I should say that servants Peter understood what it means to be an employer but as a servant of Jesus Christ for 3 1/2 years. He also understood what you meant this to be a servant when when Jesus said Peter I need to go to market get this I need to go get that he's gone and when to do it renew both sides not to be had to because he has a strength of God's commandment on his side, but he happens to know what he's talking about my experience also to disregard Peter's command would hand the enemy. The victory tree. That first clause.

Again watch at first. Verse 18 servants, be submissive to your masters with all fear. Well, what if they were submissive.

What would happen then was I mentioned they would hand the enemy victory. Chris didn't say preach love and obedience within the worst service I have.

How would that fly is a testimony in those days with his servants. What about today Christians in the workplace. They preach submission and love and obedience to the worst workers I have on staff there lazy. They argue they fuss the rebels they try to sway people against the company. What kind of testimony would that be, so it makes perfect sense. He says submit not there to be to bring trouble upon yourself. We are not entitled as Christians to special treatment. This is especially so speaking from pastoral experience of Christian business owners having to deal with Christian employees who think because their brothers in Christ that somehow they are exempt or entitled to special treatments and they can become a big problem thank you Lord. This is not always the case, but once is too much may it not be us because God is not on our side. The slaves were told to submit to their masters in Christian employees are not to be usurping authority in the workplace.

He says not only to the good and gentle but also the harsh. In other words, we are to submit not only when we feel like which is very easy to do. It's easy to love your pastor when he's doing what you like him to do. It's easy to love your employer or like at least when things are going well. When you've gotten the bonus that you feel you deserve but what about when you are passed by when someone else is promoted over you someone who doesn't deserve it. I worked in an industry with a particular company.

Their practice was to make Foreman out of the worst workers in the gang. This was their strategy that lazy worker would not want to go back to being a worker again. He'd rather just point his finger to other people what they had to do burned a lot of good men that way. But that was there thinking. So not only to the gentle another wedge and by using that analogy can find yourself working for someone was very nasty to keep a good testimony, no matter what. When the pressure comes.

We are supposed to uphold the testimony. That's what makes it a testimony is not a testimony of everything is always smooth and wonderful and so are you becomes a testimony that cuts into the hearts of those watching paying attention and participating when we do it under fire and so we follow examples of such men in Scripture. As Joseph and Daniel, and believe it or not David King David. What he put up with from Saul Weiss.

He could've killed him. He did not do it. He suffered and eventually he became king, so we are not to be known as rebels we are to be obedient, not because not because we you know we are obedient because we are saved.

That's why we are obedient and pursue obedience and I saved because of it, but because we are saved we pursue first John chapter 2 verse five but whoever keeps his word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in him all of us should be maturing as Christians.

I don't want to be, you know, when you're young Christian, you may be a little silly little sloppy with your behavior as a Christian I don't want to stay that way.

I want to mature. I want to show some progress. I want to look back in my Christian life and say I don't struggle so much in that area anymore or gotten more victories in that area now than before God is given me a second chance at something and I don't want to mess this one up and I want to recognize when I have a second chance. Even if someone else gives it to me always seeking perfection to be more mature to be that one that others say I admire that Christian that the younger Christians would say I want to be like you when I'm at your age mature stage in the walk.

That's what all of us should be going after verse 19 for this is commendable because of conscience toward God.

One endures grief, suffering wrongfully is not commendable.

God says you don't take you heads commendable. Therefore, this is commendable. That word is Caras in the Greek grace grace has within it.

So many things but the biggest thing it has within grace is that it is mindful of God's presence. That's what makes it grace.

That's what makes it spiritual to the world has its definitions of grace in their good. And then there there decent, but ours is supposed to be notches above, there's our behavior is based on the one whom we love who saved us.

We are mindful of this. Everyone is tested as a Christian and as a not a Christian will it keep it tight to Christianity because this is who Peter is writing to Christians.

Everyone is tested, especially when suffering injustice to be wrongfully treated accused of something that you did not do that easy to endure abuses and abuses of those things that pile up on us gang up on us can be administered by one person or group of people, and I hope there none of you here that are abusive. It is cowardly to be abusive to family members because they can't opt out I can get rid of you.

They do sometimes it's crime but may it not come to that, we moved by what God wants is God, to us. Jesus Christ is a personal matter that a machine person with feelings care one whom we love, we adore adore.

It just heightens love, does it not froze my feelings into very special way.

I want to be interested in what he is interested in now. This creates a principal within our core who we are become to we become people of principle we have beliefs and we believe that we are going to uphold these beliefs no matter what is what a moderate is not backing away from what I believe because you don't like it because you going to hurt me. I'm going to stick by what I believe when we suffer for our principal. I have found the first times not as difficult it could be difficult not as difficult as the second time the second time. It's harder to stand for my belief or my principal subsequent challenges they will. Here's how it works. You stand for your principal.

You do a good thing to do the right thing folks turn on people that you thought were with you, turn on you. The second time you're at a fork in the road. It's a crisis which way you going to go you going to say going to this again. I don't need the drama don't need a headache I'm just going to look the other way.

I'm just gonna not be part of or we say and I'm not backing down again.

I get what they do at this time the next time five times after this is right.

Paul is what made him so gallant as a martyr facing things over and over again how many spellings is a man have to receive well as many as they come. He suffered without abandonment. He did not abandon his principles to take one beating is good, but to take them all that is grand. That's the guy I want to be because I watched so many people cave we we say this about politicians do they do we not they came.

Then they gave into the wrong side succumb to the pressure because their unprincipled they did not do what was right, they did what was convenient as a way says this is grace that you be obedient to Christ. Your mindful of him, you don't become a rebel. He's going to intensify what he is saying to them, he himself having experience with Dave explore experiencing and knows it is going to get worse for him. Verse 24. What credit is it if when you are beaten for your fault. You take it patiently.

But when you do good and suffer if you take it patiently, this is commendable before God. Well, this suffering in this enduring grief and being wrongfully treated is keeping it in front of them. He says honor is reserved for innocent suffers not guilty sufferers. It's hard to say sufferers punishment. Punishment for something that you did not do wrong, God says I will reward you for that, see the world has the advantage in this sense, they offer our flesh everything out flesh wants to be accepted to be liked to be free from marketing and abuse Christianity throws us into an arena where those things are coming our way in the spirit. Better get the upper hand of the flesh will give in. Behold, I send you out as sheep among wolves. But he is going to be with us to that experience.

So again we remember is writing to slaves when he says when you are beaten while we are not in this country.

As a rule were not beaten for our performance physically, but we can be beaten in other ways. Even when we do right and in these days it is writing some of the slaves had a pretty bad some of them did have harsh masters as he otherwise would say this and this was all over the Empire wasn't just his audience wherever Peter found himself.

This was the culture. This is what was going on, and so he could not get them out of it. There's nothing he could say or do that would emancipate the slaves or stop them or you know create laws that would be in their favor so he doesn't even try. What he does do is encourage them to be blameless in the face of these things.

Sometimes we feel as though we must take some action any action, even if it's not going to work. We just have to do something that could create larger problems even in the way we perceive things. For instance, the Scripture we could look at this. The saints in the Scripture and begin to question their decisions to suffer references back to David. How many of you would've done Saul in but daring to come and kill me for nothing for messing up my life. I've got a live in caves.

I better stay on the run because of you, but I just ended right now for you where he could not because he linked Saul's existence is King to the throne of God.

God put them on the throne of God can take them off. That's the kind of approach I want.

If you want to have that approach, you better stick by your principal, because the going to be bills going to try to move you off of it with reason.

Think it through body, its dependence, full dependency on God to make it through these things. But when you do good and suffer. He says here in verse 22 Peter uses the Greek word for suffering where we get our English word pathos from 15 times in his two letters he really uses that word a lot more than anybody else and you get the idea that he understands what's happening. I wonder now reference. One of my favorites which would pretty much be all the great characters of the Bible, but in particular there.

This moment is Jeremiah. What a man the prophet was. He didn't see what was coming his way. He thought he thought because he was a priest and love Yahweh that all the other priest of Yahweh would feel the same way they did not. Jeremiah 1119 talking about suffering as a servant, getting to going to get to the tracing Christ a little bit but I was like a domicile lamb brought to the slaughter, and I did not know that they had devised schemes against me, saying, let us destroy the tree with its fruit. Let us cut them off from the land of the living that his name may be remembered no more.

The prophet was totally naïve unsuspecting that there were those in Israel that wanted to kill him.

It was like a lamb going to the slaughter lamb doesn't know they can kill you. Another not. They do this all the time.

We just following them to the ghosts going.

There's fine tribute brings his picture that it's him again, thinking that since he loved God and hated idols that those other others who claimed Yahweh share his zeal and his priestly village even in his own family of priest blood brothers. He was very wrong. They hated his loyalty to God.

They hated that he stood by what he believed what was in the Scripture what he was called to be just like them.

They hated him for it loyalty to God was rebuke on their treachery and so they said let us cut them off from the land of living. Let's chop down this route tree, no matter the fruit is on it. We hate it so much, would rather kill it than have it so we we find these lessons throughout our Bible there there to cause us to pause and think about things and connect a life to them with the lives of those around us to it.

And these things contribute to our sobriety that we become mature followers of Christ.

This is commendable.

He says again at the bottom of verse 20 the same Greek word for Gracie says this is grace. This is what it looks like to be a believer, mindful of Jesus Christ. Grace shows up in each chapter of Peter's letters.

I just those kind of those little details to me are profound.

This is the Holy Spirit saying I did it on purpose. One purpose of speaking to you not just called you, though the shoe fits you have, where it so that you won't have to wear the second batch. There are better issues to the shoes being schooled move.

We are so glad you tuned in today to study the book of first Peter on cross reference radio cross reference radio is the daily radio ministry of Pastor Rick Gaston of Calvary Chapel in Mechanicsville, Virginia, and we are blessed to bring you God's word with each broadcast. If you'd like more information about this program or want to listen to additional teachings from Pastor Rick please visit our website cross reference radio.com. We also encourage you to subscribe to our podcast so you'll never have to miss a program.

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