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December 6, 2021 7:00 am
Today on the Fellowship in the Word pastor Bill Gebhardt challenges you to become a fully functioning follower of Jesus Christ, for such is the will of God will rarely ever find out almost never. People always asking. I just want to know what the will of God is.
I wish I knew what the will of God is. I wish I know what the will of God is my life be so important to know what the will of God is in my life is a phrase we had not God, that you submit your government.
You like that joining us today on this additional Fellowship in the Word pastor Bill Gebhardt fellowship and words the radio ministry of Fellowship Bible church located in Metairie, Louisiana when Pastor Bill Gebhardt now is once again he shows us how God's word. Life isn't fair like this consistently, blatantly and unapologetically unfair. If you're waiting for your life to show a tremendous amount of fairness in the way that your treated you're going to have a very long wait. Life isn't fair in our parish.
It's not fair in our state. It's not fair in our country. It's not fair in the workplace and it's not fair in your home. The question is something else. The only decision that you can make when it comes to the fairness of life is how you want to respond you will be faced with the choice you are every day concerning the unfairness of life. You have the choice of responding the way you want to and you have a response.
A choice of responding the way the Lord wants you to. You have the choice between a natural response in the spiritual response.
Almost always, you'll choose the natural I could imagine of no text that I'll have dealt with in the last couple years that you'll be more unhappy within this one. If you choose a natural response. You may get even. But you won't get peace. You may feel better and then a short term but you'll have no lasting satisfaction you may assert yourself, but you will never bring glory to God using the natural response to the unfairness of life sorta falls into three categories.
The first one, the aggressive pattern. We blame others.
The goal, and that pattern is to get even the stand up for number one to assert yourself in any way that you can usually goes from simple sort of anger to Alpine outrage because of life being unfair. Reminds me of a story I use many years ago where man was bitten by a dog and he feared that the dog was rabbit and he went to his doctor and the doctor said to them, I've given you the test and yes he said I hate to say this, he said, but that you have rabies and he said, but we can treat it and just when he started to say but we can treat the man took out a piece of paper and just started writing as fast as he possibly could and the doctor said, tell you this is not fatal to writing a will or what is not fatal, we can treat this is a no I'm not writing a will, I'm writing a list of the people I want to bite lives in fear. We want to be aggressive when blame people. Romans 1219 vengeance is mine says the Lord, not yours. I will repay vendors.
The passive pattern.
The passive pattern is we feel sorry for ourselves when life is unfair.
We have pity parties. We invented a term in America victimization we been victimized again pulled the shades withdraw a lifetime of feeling sorry for ourselves, our aggression is almost always then passive.
We gossip and demeaning people complain and whine rather than confront the third pattern is what I would call the holding pattern we just try to deny our feelings. We try not to think about it at all. We repress them as much as we can, but that takes a huge toll in our lives to.
That's the natural way we respond because of how unfair life is. But there's an alternative, you may not like it, open your Bibles to first Peter chapter 2 first Peter chapter 2 we are dealing with Peter from a particular perspective here in this epistle were dealing with the with the idea of hope. What this hope to in the last time we finished up in verses 11 and 12, but they sorta set the context here in verse 11, Peter says, beloved, that's us.
I urge you, as aliens and strangers in other words, our citizenship is not of this world.
Jesus kingdom is not of this world. That's what he told Pilate he said I urge you, as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly lust that wage war against the soul.
Don't take the natural approach or I urge you. He says keep your behavior. Excellent among the Gentiles, so that in the thing in which they slander you as evildoers, that they may be because of your good deeds as they observe them, glorify God in the day of visitation, that sort of the idea is a look, don't serve your natural instincts here, don't do that they have to understand their lives were blatantly unfair, unbelievably, from our point of view, unfair.
The context is that they are being ruled by an insane demagogue's name is Nero.
He is going to feed them to wild animals in the Coliseum because they are believers in Jesus Christ. Nero was the one by the way, they said that the engine writer said it was oil but it's more like a like a tar pitch, but he rounded up a whole bunch of Christians and he doused them in oil were tar and pitch, and then he had a huge party and he lit them for the light of his party. That's how the government treated them that's Nero. That's what it's like they were betrayed by their family and friends ostracized and then he says in verse 13, submit yourselves what audacity. How many say that, submit yourselves to that to that kind of treatment to a government that's that terrible.
Yes, that's what he said, submit yourselves to someone with that it's against my instincts.
When a fight. By the way, remember that government was in place when Jesus came so whether the Jewish they were being again unfairly treated by the Roman so what there was the culture of Israel come on Messiah elitist in a revolution. Come on, let's get them here fight. Jesus said no, no coming back later.
Well, he then says submit yourselves for the Lord's sake. Now I know why I do it, my Lord told me to my for my sake, for his sake submit yourself for the Lord's sake. He says, and then something really interesting to every human institution, every human institution.
It's worse than you think.
I'd I was really fascinated because the word institution just didn't seem right to me.
I understand why the translators use it but it's the work and to so of all the times could to so is ever used in it in the New Testament.
It it's only translated institution here worlds. It's always translated creature or creation. Now that's a broad scale, submit yourselves that every creature or creation.
Creation that's astounding that you could say something like that. When does he mean by that one morning and when I understand her something he doesn't mean there is going to be talking about human government is not talking about it. The sense of the expense of my relationship with God. You remember that Peter and John were told that they were arrested and then were told that we will let you go but there'll be no more preaching of this gospel and they said were sorry will you have to print you see if the government says to me you can't assemble together with other believers in worship. I'm sorry. Then do what you need to do with me but were going to assemble. The government says you can own a Bible. I'm sorry about all the Bible and read the word of God you can do with me as you please. You see is not talking about that aspect.
But notice what he says. He says the command here is to submit it's an imperative mood. There's no wiggle room here. He says submit yourselves for the Lord's sake to every human institution rather to a king as the one in authority while the king is the Emperor here. As I said is insane. He's insane and he's killing them. He said you submit and then he says, or to governors as sent by him, and he says for the punishment of evildoers in the praise of those who do right now. He gives us the ideal human government and institution of God supports you need to have human government because well I don't want to offend you but all of us are sinners and so you need human government. We need a human government in some way.
Mel peters has no allusion here. He said you know what some human governments are better than others. Some of them are believed only unfair like Nero, he said, but that doesn't change anything.
It doesn't matter how the government is verse 14.
He gives a reason. He says, for such is the will of God, you know, rarely do you ever find out in Scripture almost never. People always asking. I just want to know what the will of God is. I wish I knew what the will of God is a witch and I know what the will of God is my life would be so important to know what the will of God is in my life when there is a phrase we actually have the will of God is the will of God, that you submit dear government, there you go you like that you want to know the will of God.
You see how unnatural we don't want to respond this way at all, for such is the will of God, that by doing right. You may silence muzzle was the literal word the ignorance of foolish men. You see, they were being criticized. You know why they said they follow a different number they serve a different king. You see, these are people who are going to plot against the Emperor of Rome. These people see all the things he says don't you do, don't let them have that done with them criticize you that way you submit to the governors and the provinces you submit to the Emperor of Rome.
No matter how unfair he is that idea of submitting is Kubota also it means to place yourself under.
It's the way that would relate to everybody as Christians.
Paul spends a lot of time in Ephesians talking about that says that place yourself under becomes a military term to following the rank of someone to authority. That's what it became what tonsil became the military term. Could you imagine that somebody is a Lieut. Col. you walk up the private investment news on because I don't really want to out of the got fair that the way the military works know it's a military term. He said you submit yourself you and you have to submit yourself.
He says in this context, for such is the will of God, that by doing right.
You may silence the ignorance of foolish men. He said as free men. He said do not use your freedom as a covering for evil. He says we use it as bond slaves of God wanted paradox.
He says you know what Christ has done. He has set me free. And you know what now that I'm free.
What I am. I'm a slave of God.
It's a word to us. He said I'm now a slave of God Christ to set me free and now I'm his slave. I would do whatever he asked and he said always ask it here. He said as under the Lord. And then he goes into a whole series of the like. Pat pat pat pat rule short phrases every one of them a command. Let me summarize these.
He said honor all people love the brotherhood, fear God. Honor the king and all present tenses. Keep on. He says honoring all people keep on loving the brotherhood people and fearing God keep on honoring the king honor all people, even when life's not fair.
Fear God, don't fear don't fear the unfair unsaved culture.
Fear God. God is the one who is giving you this commandment. And then he says love the brotherhood. We need to support each other. Honor the king not because he deserves it, but because your King told you to. That's what he is speaking of civil keep saying the government's unfair want to fight want to complain.
I want to sow discord, but I want to hide out Brown. He said you think that's unfair.
Let me show you how unfair you might think this goes that's moving the unfairness of human government to the unfairness of people owning other people know that's really unfair. He says servants orca tie the please understand what we see that it can be translated slaves does not belies its orca tie servants in the Roman world at this time there may have been as many as 60 million servants or slaves. 60 million but they're not what you and I think it's not hard labor. Some good hard labor, but not all. In fact, almost all of your teachers, all of your doctors.
Almost everyone who did everything were servants or slaves.
There was of the highest educated people. The Romans didn't want to do anything. They simply conquered everybody will make all of you servants and slaves and you'll do everything for us was that was the beginning of their downfall.
But the point of it is. He says servants, be submissive to your masters with all respect, he says not only to those who are good in general but to those who are unreasonable.
Unfair, even the ones who are unfair law. Some of this was really unfair in a lot of cases. By the way, if you were servant or slave in Rome and you fell in love with another server or slave you weren't allowed to marry you had to cohabitate if you cohabitate it had children. The children belong to the master. In fact, under Roman law, by the way, when you were servant or slave.
The only law that applied to you was the law the master. In other words, a master could do anything to you. They wanted to do without any reprisal from wrong. They could do anything and then unfair but that's about as unfair and why would he say that what we say be submissive to them fight well.
Notice verse 19 he said, for this finds favor with who God I don't get that right as I find favor with God. He said, for this finds favor if for the sake of conscience toward God. A person bears up under sorrows when suffering unjustly, he knows the sufferings unjust.
Is it somehow this finds favor with God. He says for what credit is there when you sin in your harshly treated. You endured with patients, but if you do he says what is right and suffer for it. He says you patiently endure finds favor with God.
That's astounding to us. How can I possibly be as interesting and that that the we don't face slavery, but we face unfair workplace situations all the time sheet. All of us except the guys on the staff have bosses that are unfair.
You see others runs against the grain for you is just runs against regarding this doesn't make any sense not to us all. He says something there in 20 though.
He said if you do what is right and suffer for patient and patiently endure this finds favor with God.
Now when you go to Hebrews chapter 10, 11 and 12. These are the great chapters on faith and you know what the writer of Hebrews says what's the great test of faith. What will it indoor but will faith indoor that's what chapter 10 it brings up at the chapter 11's a whole list of people in chapter 12. He says that we are to fix our eyes. He said as we live the Christian life run this race before fix our eyes on Jesus, and then it says what did Jesus do, he endured what the cross. What's interesting about this, by the way is that this methodology as anti-instinctive as it is for you. One the world for Jesus Christ. It one of the Roman world. It's astounding how this works who you think might know that God I think so many of us as Christians when it comes the unfairness of life basically don't buy, don't buy but basically the philosophy of Scripture as we by the philosophy of Islam fight just like them. Christ is no endured submit verse 21, for you have been called for this purpose. Since and he says now if you want to know what unfairness is as you say who should suffer when it's unfair. You should why he did, he says, for you have been called for this purpose.
Since Christ also suffered for you is anything ever been more unfair in the history of this world than to take a sinless, perfect human being.
Nail him to the cross and then pour all of the wrath of God on them for the sins of everybody. Nothing is that unfair to glad he submitted.
Aren't you glad he endured.
You see what happened. Out of that millions and millions of us have our sins forgiven in a relationship with God. Because Christ did that, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in his steps can be clearer than that didn't seem so unfair. They belittled him and they came and they arrested him and then he grabbed him he had those illegal trials and they spit on him and they slapped them and they punched him. Then they mocked him, and they took him and they scourged them with a Roman cat of nine tails and tore his flesh off of him and then he marks them up the Name nailed him to a cross. Then they hung them there. How unfair could that be is if you follow my example, while he said who committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in his mouth and while being reviled. He did not revile in return noticed no fighting.
He did not revile in return while suffering he uttered no threats heat and here's hope he kept entrusting himself to him who judges righteously, there is the real reason why when I submit when lives unfair. I trust myself to him who judges righteously. That's why because Hebrews 12 says that he endured the cross for the joy set before him. What a day.
We entrusted the father and said you know what this is all going to work out, to the glory of God, there can be millions of people say because of the submission of mine in the unfairness of life.
You see, whenever we submit in that way.
That's what were saying. I am trust God. God doesn't miss anything. He is righteous as a judge he doesn't let anything slide forever but I have to entrust myself to him judge at the appropriate time not the time that I things and not in the way that I think would be best have to entrust myself to pass through your if you ever miss one of our broadcast or maybe you just like to listen to the message one more time. Remember, you can Google a great website called one place.com that's one place.com and you can listen the fellowship and the word online that website you will find on with today's broadcast but also many of her previous audio program, had Fellowship in the Word. We are thankful for those who financially support our ministry and make his broadcast possible with all of our listeners to prayerfully consider how you might help his radio ministry continuous broadcast on this radio station by supporting a monthly with just a one-time gift support for ministry can be sent to Fellowship in the Word. 4600 Clearview Pkwy., Metairie, LA 7006 if you would be interested in hearing today's message in its original format that is is a sermon, the pastor will delivered during a Sunday morning service of fellowship monitored visit our website SBC Nola.org that SBC and of LA.O RG at our website you will find hundreds of possible sermon you can browse through our sermon archives to find sermon series you're looking for or you can search by title. Once you find the message you are looking for.
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