The book of 1 Peter chapter 3. I am so thankful that I was able
to join you this morning. You say, well, what are you talking
about? Well, I had slipped into the
office to look over my notes. I don't know whether folks didn't
know I was in there or they just wanted to keep me away from the
service, but I got locked in. And I pounded on the door and
finally somebody heard my cry and unlocked the door and let
me in. So I am thankful, Aaron, that
you let me into the uh, let me out. I was in prison. You let
me out. Thank you. I'm just now learning
the way you do things around here. Did they do bill that way? Did the, uh, anyway, it's good to be free. Somebody opened the birdcage
door and I got out. All right. Let me read one verse
to you. 1 Peter chapter 3. The first I want to read is verse
18 to begin with and try to bring you a message on this subject,
bringing sinners to God. We'll start here in 1 Peter chapter
3 and verse 18. where we read, for Christ also
hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that
he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but
quickened by the Spirit. We know that only the Lord Jesus
can bring sinners to God. Nobody else could. You know,
men can bring sinners to reformation, but no man can bring sinners
to regeneration. The Lord must do that. Men can
bring sinners to a decision, but nobody save the Lord Himself
can bring sinners to utter dependence upon Christ Jesus. Men can bring
sinners to works. Only the Lord can bring sinners
to cease from their labors and rest in the Savior and in His
finished work. Men can bring sinners to religion. But only the Lord can bring sinners
to a revelation of God Himself. Men can bring sinners to the
front through an altar call, but only the Lord can bring sinners
to faith in the Lord Himself. Men can bring sinners to baptism, but only the Lord can bring a
man to bow in His heart to Christ Jesus and believe on him as prophet,
priest, and king. Men can bring sinners to right
living, but only the Lord can bring a
man to true righteousness in the Savior. Men can bring sinners to recite
a prayer, only the Lord can bring a man
to truly pray. The Lord said to Ananias, when
He sent him to speak to Saul of Tarsus, He said, Behold, he
prayeth. I expect Saul of Tarsus had recited
many a prayer before that, don't you? Being a Pharisee. But you know, really crying out
to God is not reciting some words. It's speaking to God from the
heart. And if the Lord deals with us in His sovereign, saving
mercy, nobody has to tell you what to say. Nobody has to say,
well, repeat after me, or you go ahead and say the sinner's
prayer, whatever that is. In your own heart, if you see
yourself sinking beneath the waves of divine justice, vindictive
wrath, You'll say like Peter did when he was sinking beneath
the waves, Lord save me or I perish. You'll know what to say. You'll
know what to say. There's only one who can bring
us to God, and that is the God-man, Christ Jesus. And he brings us
to God safely, And He brings us to God savingly. He brings us to Him. And He has
to bring us. He has to bring us. Because by
nature, we don't want to go to God. We're like Adam in the garden. When he fell, he didn't run to
the Lord and say, oh, I'm sorry. Oh God, forgive me. Oh God, I
have messed up now. Oh God, show me mercy upon the
basis of the sacrifice and the shed blood. No. He ran from God. It's the Lord who brought him
to himself, who brought him to a knowledge of his sad state
of being. And it's the Lord who brought
him to a knowledge of the only way that God could remain just
and keep his word of judgment, and yet show mercy to Adam and
to Eve. And God illustrated for our fallen
parents the very gospel of substitution and satisfaction. When he took
those animals and he killed them, and he shed the blood, He robed
Adam and Eve in garments not their own. In garments of innocent,
sinless victims that had not been participants in the fall
and in the rebellion. They lived through the death
of a substitute. The Lord went after Adam. The
Lord went after Eve. It's the Lord who must bring
us to God. Because no man can come to Me,
the Savior said, except the Father which has sent Me, draw him. And I'll raise him up at the
last day. The Savior said to the Jewish
leaders in John chapter 5, and ye will not come to Me that you
might have life. Men will not come and men cannot
come. Will not and cannot. Unless somebody
brings us. And the Savior brings us to God. He brings us effectually. He brings us by His sovereign
power. He has come to seek and to save
that which was lost. And he fetches the lost one.
And he brings him to himself. He brings him to the Father. We must be brought. Now let me
show you what Peter has said that leads up to this. This is
a monumental verse. Speaking about our Savior, what
has he said before this? that sort of sets the stage for
his remarks now, these inspired words of the Lord. We know Peter
has been speaking to believers who were suffering in the providence
of God and in the purpose of God. They had been called upon
to suffer persecution for the Lord's sake. They loved the gospel. They loved the message of redemption.
They delighted in the glorious glad tidings of free and full
salvation by the accomplishments of the Redeemer. And as a result
of loving this gospel of glad tidings, they had been scattered
abroad and they were being persecuted. They knew something about persecution. They knew something about hardships. They knew something about suffering
for the cause of Christ Jesus. So, Peter is led to write this
epistle to these suffering saints. Go back to chapter 1. In chapter
1, he speaks and he says in verse 6, wherein ye greatly rejoice,
though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness, or you
are put to grief. You're put to grief through manifold
temptations or trials or troubles. That the trial of your faith,
being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though
it be tried with fire, might be found under the praise and
honor and the glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ. These saints
of God were being tried. Their faith was being tested.
God had put them in a position where they were suffering. Listen,
all things are of God. And if you're ever put in a position
where you suffer, where you're tried, where your faith is tested,
this precious faith that God gives, He will test it, you know.
Because both true faith and false faith will be tested. These folks
were being tested. And if you are tested by the
Lord, remember this, He is the One who has arranged all things,
designed all things, so that you will be tested, so that you
will be trialed. For all things are of God, whether
they are pleasant to the flesh or unpleasant to the flesh, all
things are of God. These saints of God were suffering,
real sufferings. Some of them in prison. Some
of them beaten. Some of them neglected by their
families who ostracized them. They were put out of Judaism.
The Jews would have nothing to do with them. Many of them died
for the cause of Christ. Peter writes to those who had
not been killed, who had not been martyred, but who were then
suffering for the cause of Jesus Christ, and he writes to encourage
them, to encourage them in the midst of their sufferings. These
sufferings, he says, they are a trial of your faith, of your
faith. Look over in the second chapter
of 1 Peter, And look at verse 19, chapter 2 in verse 19. For this is thankworthy, if a
man for conscience toward God endure grief, suffering wrongfully. What glory is it, if when you
be buffeted for your faults, you shall take it patiently?
But if when you do well, when you do what's right, and you
suffer for it, You take it patiently, this is acceptable with God. For even hereunto were you called. Now listen, we have been called
to faith, effectually called to faith. You weren't looking
for the Lord, the Lord was looking for you, and He effectually called
you to believe the Gospel. The Gospel went forth in power.
The Gospel of this finished redemption, the Gospel of substitution, the
Gospel of satisfaction, it went forth. The blood and righteousness
of Jesus Christ the Lord was declared, and God effectually
called you to the Savior. It was an irresistible call,
wasn't it? It was an effectual call. It was a call that got
the job done. Well, even as God calls us to
faith in Christ Jesus, He also calls us to suffer. Now, we may
not suffer persecution for the cause of Christ, certainly not
to the degree that these people did, in a physical way. But we still suffer persecution
today from our families who sometimes shun us. Maybe you suffer persecution
at the workplace when people mock you or make fun of you or
make light of the gospel that you believe. People suffer different
ways today. But watch this. Even the suffering,
we're called to it. That's what I want you to see.
It doesn't happen by happenchance, by just, you know, bad luck. It wasn't that you was in the
wrong place at the wrong time. No, you were right where you
were supposed to be and you're suffering because God effectually,
irresistibly called you to suffer. That's what it says. Now watch this, for even here
unto where you call, and then He brings us to that one who
really suffered, who supremely suffered, the Lord Jesus. Because Christ also suffered
for us, leaving us an example. An example of what? An example
of how we are to endure hardships. How we are to endure this suffering.
When God, according to His eternal purpose, and by His providence,
brings suffering your way, be it disease, illness, sickness,
family troubles, financial troubles, job troubles, mental agonies,
you name it, there are lots of them out there. When He brings
these troubles to you, and you suffer, remember how our Lord
Jesus responded to suffering. Now, we know that our Savior
came to save His people from their sins. That's why He came.
He is also, however, our example in suffering. He is always our
example. Now we know the world, and the
religious world especially, they proclaim Christ as the example
and not the Savior. We proclaim Him as the Savior,
as the one who accomplished redemption. But let's not forget, He is still
our example in suffering. Well, how did he respond to suffering? Lord, here I am in a trial to
which you called me to. I've been irresistibly, effectually
called to endure this hardship. Whatever it is, how am I to respond
to it? Well, look at the Savior. Look
at the Savior. Verse 22, who did no sin, Neither was guile found in his
mouth. This Savior who, when He was reviled, He reviled not
again. When people say mean things to
you, don't say mean things back. When He suffered, He threatened
not. but committed himself to him
that judgeth righteously." In other words, vengeance isn't
ours. So if somebody wrongs us, you say, but they said bad things
against preacher. You don't know what they said.
You don't know what people have done to me. No, I don't. It's
none of my business. Please don't tell me because
I don't have a shingle hung outside my locked door that says counselor. I don't know, but He knows. Because whatever degree of suffering
you're being called upon, effectually, irresistibly called upon to endure,
He knows. And He sits and watches as the
refiner, as you're put into the fire, And you may rest assured the
flames will not consume you. Because He who is the refiner
watches over you. He sits and He watches most carefully. And He gives you grace sufficient
for your needs. Peter is writing to people who
suffer. Suffering great hardships. Look
over into chapter four. Chapter four. Start at the twelfth verse. Beloved,
think it not strange, think it not unusual, something that's
out of the ordinary, Think it not strange concerning the fiery
trial, which is to try you as though some strange thing happened
unto you. But rejoice, rejoice, insomuch as ye are partakers
of Christ's sufferings, not of his personal sufferings, of course,
but of the sufferings of the body of Christ Jesus. that when
His glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding
joy. And if you be reproached for
the name of Christ, happy are you. The word happy is blessed. Blessed are you. For the Spirit
of glory and of God resteth upon you. On their part He is evil
spoken of, but on your part He is glorified. Look at verse 15.
But let none of you suffer as a murderer, or as a thief, or
as an evildoer, or as a busybody in other men's matters. Yet if
any man suffer as a Christian, he suffers for the cause of Christ.
He suffers because he believes the gospel. He suffers because
he worships Christ Jesus the Lord. Let him not be ashamed. but let him glorify God on this
behalf. That is, in the midst of the
trouble, glorify God. That God has enabled you to suffer
for the cause of Jesus Christ. These persecutions, these troubles,
these trials, they can be difficult. They can be painful. But Peter
says, endure them patiently, patiently. And so, having spoken extensively
through this epistle of the sufferings of the people of God, and of
the general troubles and trials of life, and I don't know anybody
that doesn't have some troubles and trials in life, do you? And
right here in this congregation this morning, I suspect there
are several who bear heavy burdens. And some of you bear some burdens
that maybe we know about. But there are undoubtedly some
of God's elect, some of the shepherd's sheep. Some for whom Jesus died
and arose and ascended on high. Some of those beloved of God
right here this morning are suffering some sort of mental anguish or
some kind of trouble that you just haven't felt led to unburden
yourself to other believers. Be encouraged. The Lord has called
you to this. And in the midst of these troubles,
He knows, He watches, He loves you, and He will work all things
together for your good and for His glory. Which brings us back to the suffering
Savior. What did it cost to redeem us? Our God spoke the world into
existence with a word. Light to be, light came into
being. In the beginning, God created
the heavens and the earth. But if God would save us, it's
going to take more than a spoken word. It's going to take the
sufferings of the Son of Man. It's going to take his death.
It's going to take his blood shedding. It's going to take
him agonizing. It means that he'll have to agonize.
and endure the wrath of God in His body and in His soul. And
that's the subject I'll be speaking about tonight. He suffered body
and soul. The suffering Savior, He suffered
bodily and He suffered in His soul. That's what it took to
redeem us. In order that man be reconciled
with God, a just and a holy God had to kill His only begotten
Son. There was no other way of salvation. There was no other way of redemption
save the way of Salvation by a crucified Savior. It's the
only way. And now God is just and the justifier
of all who believe on Jesus. Do you believe? I do. I do. I know the faith didn't
come from me. I know the Spirit of God gave
it to me, but He brought me to believe. He brought me to embrace
the Savior. He brought me to see my neediness,
my filthiness, my separation from God. The Spirit of God quickened
me from the dead. He gave me a new heart. He took
away the old heart of stone. He gave me a heart of flesh,
which is nothing more and nothing less than a heart of faith. He
gave me a heart of faith to believe Christ Jesus, to look to Him
for life, for pardon, for forgiveness, for righteousness, for acceptance,
for salvation, for everything. I looked to the suffering Savior,
the one who lived and bled and died for me and arose again for
me. He's the one who suffered. So
give back to verse 18 then. Having said in verse 17 of chapter
3, for it is better if the will of God be so that ye suffer for
well-doing than for evil doing. Now we don't want to suffer for
evil doing. If we suffer, let it be for well-doing. Then he says for or because. Christ hath also once suffered
for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God,
being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit.
Let me show you seven things from this text. Seven things. Number one, here's the Savior.
Here's the Savior. Who was it that suffered for
our sins? The Savior of sinners. And He's identified as being
Christ. He is Christ. What does that
mean? He is the Anointed One. He is
the Messiah. This name Christ is another word
used to describe our Savior who is Mediator, Redeemer and Savior. His proper name was Jesus. So
we read that He is Jesus the Christ. The Christ. This was Peter's confession.
The man who wrote this made this great confession back in Matthew's
Gospel. Our Savior said, Who do men say
that I the Son of Man am? And Peter said, Thou art the
Christ, the Son of the living God. And the Savior said, Flesh
and blood didn't teach you that. My Father which is in heaven
revealed that to you. Right after that, in Matthew
chapter 16 and verse 20, the Savior said, Then charged he
his disciples that they should tell no man that he was Jesus
the Christ. The Christ. In Matthew 26, 63,
Jesus held his peace before the high priest. Then the high priest answered
and said unto him, I adjure thee by the living God, that thou
tell us whether thou be the Christ, the Son of God. Jesus said unto
him, Thou hast said. Thou hast said. John says in the end of the book
of John, he says, but these are written that ye might believe
that Jesus is The Christ, the Son of God, and that believing
you might have life through His name. John says again in 1 John
chapter 2 and verse 22, Who is a liar but he that denieth that
Jesus is the Christ? He is the Christ. He is the sent
one. You must know this Christ. He's
the one who suffered, so you must know who suffered. He is
a real man. But He is more than a real man.
He is a perfect man. He is the sinless man. We know
the scripture says, there is not a just man upon the earth
that doeth good and sinneth not. Not a just man born of Adam.
But our Lord Jesus wasn't born of Adam. He is the seed of the
woman. He's the spotless one. He's the
holy one. He's no ordinary man. He knew
no sin. Look back at the second chapter
again. In verse 22. Who did no sin, neither was guile
found in his mouth. He did no sin. Now listen. He
had no original sin. He had no motivation that involved
sin. He had no thought of sin. He
performed no deed of sin. He had no imparted sin. Even
when He died for us, He remained the sinless One. His deity remained
sinless. His humanity remained sinless. Because one sinner cannot die
for another sinner. He is the sinless One who died
in the stead of sinners. This is our hope. This is our
glorious hope that He who is sinless took upon Himself our
flesh. He was born in fashion as a man. He humbled Himself and He died
as the sinless one dying in the stead of the sinful ones to bring
us to God. He is the Savior. He is the Savior. And this just man is God. He is God. He is the sinless
man and He is God. The centurion said, surely this
was the Son of God. It took God to save us. But God
can't die. So God became a man. And He suffered
and He bled and died. the God-man, Christ Jesus. He's the Savior. Here's the second
thing I want you to see, the substitute. Verse 18, For Christ
hath once suffered for sins the just for the unjust. That is, in the stead of, in
the place of. Romans 5.19. For by one man's
disobedience, many were made sinners. Even so, by the obedience of
one, shall many be made righteous. Made righteous before God, declared
righteous by God himself. Who are these for whom he was
the substitute? Well, they're called God's elect.
Those chosen unto salvation from before the foundation of the
world. These were saved by His blood. These are the sheep of
the shepherd. And they will be manifested as
being God's elect by regeneration. Which results in repentance toward
God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Here then is the substitute
and those in whose stead He died. They're described this way. He's
described as the just who died for the unjust. Just is what
he is by nature. Unjust is what we are by nature. He died in our stead. He died
in our place. Thirdly, his sufferings. His
sufferings. One writer said of this statement,
Christ also hath once suffered for sins. He said on this, here
is a summary without any details. For Christ hath once suffered
for sins. No details. A summary with no
details. Who can really enter into what
he suffered? Who can really enter into the
agonies of Calvary? I know men graphically talk about
and speak of and describe the wounds that he had, the crown
of thorns and how they pierced his brow and the nails in his
hands and in his feet and the beatings before that. Men can
talk about that, but who can really enter into his sufferings?
Because His sufferings were not only physical, although those
were horrible enough, but the soul of His sufferings was that
His soul suffered. Because God the Father laid on
His soul stripes. He was wounded and bruised for
our transgressions. Who wounded Him? Who bruised
Him? God did. And as I've said before, for
anybody to even suggest God could have saved sinners some other
way than this way is to call into question the very wisdom
of God Himself. And to charge Him with the needless
murder of His Son. The question is sometimes asked,
who killed Jesus? Well, people say the Romans.
Well, that's true. The Jews led up to it. That's
true. Judas was the one who betrayed
Him. That's true. But who really killed
Jesus? The Father did. God did it. God did it. God provided the Lamb. God appointed
the Lamb. God killed the Lamb. And so He
saved sinners like us without compromising His justice. That's
the gospel. That's the good news. He died,
we live. Well, surely I've got to make
some contribution. No. Well, your only contribution
was the sinning part. You contributed the sin. He did
all the saving. Jonah's doctrine is our doctrine. Salvation is of the Lord. From
beginning to end, in the purpose of God, in the purchase of Christ
Jesus, in the power of the Spirit of God, in the perfection of
this salvation, in the preservation of this salvation, salvation
is of the Lord. Christ suffered for us. He suffered
and will never suffer. We'll never suffer the wrath
of God. There is therefore now no condemnation to them who are
in Christ Jesus. He's already endured the judgment. I said in the Bible class this
morning, judgment day for the people of God took place 2,000
years ago. That was judgment day. Now I
stand pure before God. I'm in Christ Jesus. The Father
sees his beauties, sees his faithfulness, sees his loveliness, and I'm accepted. And I'll always
be accepted. I'm justified and I'll never
be any more justified than I am right now. And I may not look
like much to you or to anybody else, but that doesn't matter
because God sees me in Christ Jesus. And I'm beautiful to Him. I'm lovely to Him. And someday
I'll get to glory and He'll say, well done, thou good and faithful
servant. Say that to you, preacher. Oh yeah. Yeah. Because He sees
me in Christ Jesus. And all of His obedience reckoned
to me. Is that too much grace for you?
That's not too much grace for me. It's not too much grace for
a Spirit-convinced sinner, is it? Because we know it's all
got to be Christ Jesus. There's the sufferings of Christ,
then quickly here's the sacrifice, being put to death in the flesh.
After all, death's the penalty for sin. Well, Christ died. And then here is the satisfaction.
How do you know God was satisfied? It says, He is put to death in
the flesh, quickened by the Spirit. I know God is satisfied with
what He did because He raised Him from the grave. That empty
tomb announces God is satisfied, sin has been put away, righteousness
has been brought in. And everybody for whom Jesus
Christ was the substitute, they're safe and saved forever. That's what it announces. The
satisfaction, here's the success that it might bring us to God.
Now the word might, it doesn't mean maybe he will, maybe he
won't. What are you going to do for
lunch, preacher? Well, I might go out to lunch if somebody invites
me. That's might. Maybe I will, maybe
I won't. I might have to go home and eat
a bologna sandwich. I don't know. Might. Might to
us means maybe, maybe not. That's not what the word means
right here. This word means in order that. In order that. He's being put to death Watch,
the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God in order
that He would bring us to God by His death. That's why He died.
And His death is not a failure. It can never be ruled a failure.
It's a success. That He might bring us to God.
And doesn't this mean that we were far off from God? That He
might bring us to God? And doesn't it mean that we won't
willingly come unless He makes us willing in the day of His
power? which is what he does. And then the last thing, the
subjection. Look down at verse 22. Who has
gone into heaven and is on the right hand of God, angels and
authorities and powers being made subject unto him. All things
are in subjection to the Lord Jesus Christ. This is what that
means. Since all things in subjection
to him, he can stop the sufferings and the trials if he wants to. But if he doesn't want to, they'll
continue. Remember his theme. He's talking
about the sufferings of saints. Whatever trouble, whatever trial
you're facing, oh child of God, All of those things are in subjection
to King Jesus. And He's ruling over all things,
governing everything in your life according to His eternal
purpose. And He will guarantee that all
these things will work together with everything else for your
good. What a glorious promise is that
to us. It's all because of the sufferings,
the death of our Savior. Amen. Let's sing a hymn.