Keep turning with me in your
Bibles to 1 Peter chapter 2. 1 Peter chapter 2. I thought
me and Fred were really good friends too. I really did. A man asks you
to come preach for him. Then he gets up before you to
preach. Preaches the whole Bible. I guess I can preach my genealogy and takes my illustrations and then preaches a message like
that that we just heard. I think that was my favorite
message we've heard this weekend, Fred. I really do. I will let you know this, though.
My favorite one is usually the last one I heard. That was a message, and I'm so
grateful the Lord gave you that, Fred. I appreciate that. That
was good. That was a blessing to my heart.
I want you to turn here to 1 Peter chapter 2. Now, if you can't
hear me in the back, just point to the ceiling, and I'll talk
louder. 1 Peter chapter 2. Peter here is speaking about
submission in verse 13. He says, Submit yourselves to
every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake, whether it be to
the king as supreme or to governors as unto them that are sent by
him for the punishment of evildoers and for the praise of them that
do well. For so is the will of God that with well-doing you
may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men, as free and not
using your liberty for a cloak of maliciousness, but as the
servants of God. Honor all. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king. Servants, be subject to your
masters with all fear. I know that we're living in a
day when nobody wants to submit to anybody and you see it all
over the news, you see it all over internet where people are
rebelling against the police and all the authorities that
the Lord's put in place. Submit to the authorities that
the Lord's put in place. They are ordained of God, God's
ruling them, and they're put there on purpose for the good
of His people. They're there for that reason.
But I want you to notice here now, speaking of all these different
rulers, he says in verse 18, not only to the good and gentle,
but also to the froward. Not only to the good and gentle,
but also to the froward, to the perverse, to the wicked. He says, for this is thankworthy,
if a man for conscience toward God endure grief, suffering wrongfully. Now he's talking about powers
that be, but I want to talk to you now about you that want to serve the Lord
and minister to His people, and all God's saints do. I want to
talk to you. And I want to talk to you about
when you are opposed by men. Child of God, are you trying
to serve our Lord and suffering wrongfully? If so, I think I have a message
from the Lord for you, and I hope he'll give you grace to hear
it for you. Now this exhortation, it applies
not only to rulers and governors and people in authority, it applies
if we're serving our Lord and have done well and we suffer
for it. You know, you get this idea,
I want to serve the Lord, I want to be the minister of the Lord,
and then you begin to encounter opposition from men who don't
believe the gospel or from men who have a problem with the pastor,
or for men that have a problem with their brethren, or whatever
it is, and you think, this is getting in the way of me serving
the Lord and ministering. Well, that's the reason that the Lord
sends his people and uses his people as his witnesses to minister. This exhortation here applies
to all God's saints because all God's saints have been made willing
bond servants to Christ our master. He's the one ruling all. And
we've been made willing bond servants to Christ our master. Our submission by his grace is
to him. With fear and reverence to Christ,
our conscience in what we do is toward Christ, toward God
our Savior. And it's thankworthy if a man
for conscience toward God endure grief, suffering wrongfully. Now be sure to get verse 20.
There's no thankworthiness if we're buffeted for our faults.
Now this is not to the one who's causing the offense. This is
to the one on the receiving end of the offense. You don't want
to be the one who is committing the faults and being buffeted
for your faults. This is not to the forward man,
to God's saints who for conscience sake toward God are enduring
grief, suffering wrongfully. That's who this is to. Look here
at verse 24. What glory is it if when you
be buffeted for your faults you shall take it patiently? But
if, when you do well and suffer, you take it patiently, this is
acceptable with God. For even hereunto were you called. This is what you were called
to. That's what he's saying. This is what you were called
to. For even hereunto were you called because Christ also suffered
for us, leaving us an example that you should follow His steps. I have two divisions. I want
to show you how Christ suffered for us. And then I want to show
you the example that Christ left us. And I'm really picking up
right where Brother Fred left off. I told Jonathan on the way
over here, I said, I think we have a theme this morning. I think you're going to see what
I'm talking about. First of all, let's look at Christ and how
he suffered for us. Christ is our substitute. He's
the substitute. Some false religions present
our Savior as being just a man who was a martyr for his religion. He died for his religion. That's
how they present him. And some religions, false religions,
present him as nothing but an example. And I use this verse
to say he's an example of how you're supposed to suffer patiently
and how you can get through that and suffer patiently. But the
Spirit of God first declares him to be our substitute. That's
what the Spirit of God declares here. He's our substitute. Verse
21, for even here unto were you called because Christ also suffered
for us. Our great shepherd said, I laid
down my life for the sheep. That's who he said he laid down
his life for. I laid down my life for the sheep. That sounds good. That sounds
good. Somebody will hear that and they'll
say, well, I'm one of the sheep. Well, who are the sheep? Look
down at verse 25. You were a sheep going astray. We went astray in our first father
Adam. Just like brother Fred said,
you were in that garden. Everybody that came from Adam
was in that garden, and all God's elect were in that garden. All
Christ's sheep were in that garden. And we trespassed against God. We transgressed against God in
the garden. We became guilty of breaking
the whole law of God in the garden. Those laws that were given later
was so that the offense might abound. They were given so that
we might know how heinous and horrible and wicked that one
transgression was in the garden. And so we died. Death passed
upon all men. And then we were born. And as
we came forth, we were a sheep going astray. That's what we
were, sheep going astray, conceived in sin in our mother's womb. Thanks, dad. And dad can say to his dad, thanks,
dad. All the way back to Adam. The
wicked are estranged from the womb. They go astray as soon
as they be born, speaking lie. So you're being opposed and you're
suffering as you try to serve the Lord and minister. Well, we went astray as soon
as we were born, speak in line. But here's the good news. We
were sheep before we went astray. We were as sheep going astray. We were sheep before we went
astray. In eternity we were sheep because God the Father chose
us in Christ freely by His grace. He chooses whom He will. He has
mercy on whom He will and He chose whom He would in eternity
in Christ. He loved His people in Christ
simply because He would. We were sheep given to the shepherd
in eternity. And that's why we read in verse
21, Christ also hath suffered for us. He said, I laid down
my life for the sheep. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 15
3, I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received,
how that Christ died for our sins according to the scripture. This book from Genesis all the
way through Revelation has substitution running all the way through it.
The Lord Jesus Christ is the one typified in the animals that
were slain in place of Adam and Eve to make coats of skins by
which God covered their nakedness. Christ is Abel's lamb. in whom
Abel was accepted. Christ is the God providing himself
a lamb that was typified and that lamb caught in the thicket
that took Isaac's place. All through this book is substitution. Galatians 1.4 says Christ gave
himself for our sins. that he might deliver us from
this present evil world according to the will of God and our Father. I'm being opposed as I try to
serve the Lord. I'm being made to suffer as I
try to minister to sheep going astray. Christ
came and gave himself for our sins. We were the sheep going
astray. He came and gave himself for
our sins to deliver us from this present evil. Look in 1 Peter
2, 24. Who his own self bare our sins
and his own body on the tree. That we being dead to sins should
live unto righteousness, by whose stripes you were healed." Before
we ever knew it, before we ever knew what he had done for us,
our substitute bore our sins in his own body on the tree. That's what he did. He bore our
sins in his... Do you think that caused him
to suffer? He bore our sins in His body
on the tree. He was made a curse for us. And we died in Christ. As real
as we sinned in Adam, we died in Christ. We being dead to sins. And we arose in Christ. By whose
stripes ye are healed. And by sending us the gospel,
Here we were with the sheep going astray. We didn't want to have
anything to do with the Lord Jesus Christ. We were the one
doing the opposing. We were the one causing grief.
We were the one causing the suffering. And he took an earthen vessel,
just like you, and he sent that earthen vessel with the gospel
of the Lord Jesus Christ. And we opposed them. and we caused
them grief. Try to tell them how they ought
to be preaching and how they ought to be pastoring and all
they ought to be doing. And if we didn't do that directly
to them, we did it behind their back. And if we didn't do it
behind their back, we got with brethren and we found some way
we could cause this earthen vessel grief. That's what we did. But you know what he came to
do? He came to give us life. He sent that earthen vessel.
Christ was in that earthen vessel. Christ was working through that
earthen vessel. And he came to give us life.
And he was not only teaching you, who he eventually called
through that gospel, he was teaching that earthen vessel too. And now, because he gave you
faith and he gave you repentance. In the New Birth, verse 25 says,
you were as sheep going astray, but are now returned unto the
shepherd and bishop of your souls. Turn over with me to Romans chapter
6. I read some of this the other night, but I want to read the
whole thing to you because I want you to get this. I want you to
see this. Romans chapter 6. Romans chapter 6. Now listen
to this. Get this good news down in your heart. Peter said, by
his stripes we're healed. You've been raised in Christ
to newness of life, to live unto righteousness, he said, to live
unto Christ our righteousness, to look to him who is our righteousness,
to trust him who came and did this work and is the righteousness
of a people. That's why he raised you, to
look to him and trust him, as he uses you now to bear witness
of him to others that are opposing and causing grief, just like
you were doing. That's what he's called us for.
And here's what he says to you now. Here's the power. You take
a car. Men like to preach on works.
Men like to preach on what you do this and don't do the other
thing. And that's like having a beautiful sports car and walking
around it and looking at all the features it has on it and
how nice the paint job is and what great wheels it's got on
it and all that. And then pop in the hood and
it don't have an engine in it. Christ is the engine. And this
is the power right here. This is what's going to strengthen
us inwardly. This is what's going to give us grace to move forward
and bear the suffering right here. Verse six, knowing this,
that our old man, Romans 6, 6, knowing this, our old man is
crucified with him. That part of you that is a sinner
before God in Christ, that old man is crucified before the law. that the body of sin might be
destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he
that, watch now, that is dead is freed from sin. That word
is freed from sin means he is justified from sin. He that's dead is justified from
sin. You can't die but once. There's only one judgment after
that. We already died in Christ and we already bore the judgment
in Christ. He that's dead is justified. Now, if we be dead
with Christ, we believe we shall also live with him. Knowing that
Christ being raised from the dead doth no more, death has
no more dominion over him. For in that he died, he died
unto sin once. But in that he liveth, he liveth
unto God. He said in Peter, he raised you
to live unto righteousness. That's a person, to live unto
Christ. He's living under God. He raised
you to live under him. So, here's the conclusion. This
is the part I read the other night. I should have read the
whole thing. Look here. Likewise, reckon ye also yourselves just
like God imputes you to be. Just like God says you are. God
accounts you to be dead indeed unto sin. Now you encounter yourself
to be dead indeed unto sin. But you are alive unto God through
Jesus Christ our Lord Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal
body that you should obey it in the lust thereof. You see,
you are a sheep going astray. But now, because of what Christ
did as the substitute in laying down his life for the sheep,
and because of what Christ did in sending an earthen vessel
with his gospel, and preaching to you, and preaching to you,
and not taking no from you, and not just turning away when things
got hard. He just kept preaching to you,
preaching to you, preaching to you. Christ sent the gospel to
you, and now you were a sheep going astray. But you are returned
to the shepherd and the bishop of your souls. I'll tell you
this. He's the shepherd. He's the good
shepherd. That word shepherd means pastor.
He's the pastor. He's the one who sent the earth
and vessel. He's the one who preached to
that pastor. He's the one who who made that
word of fiction in your heart. He's the pastor. of your soul. That's where he's communing.
That's where he's abiding. That's where he's speaking into
your soul. That's where he's renewing you
in your soul. He's the pastor of your soul.
He's the bishop of your soul. And I can guarantee you this
because this one who is your pastor is your high priest who
laid down his life for you. And he is your king who sovereignly
ruled and everything. He is not going to lose one of
his sheep. because he bought you with his
precious blood. He said, My sheep hear my voice,
and I know them, and they follow me, and I give unto them eternal
life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them
out of my hand. My Father which gave them me
greater than all, and no man is able to pluck them out of
my Father's hand. So there you have what the Lord did for you
as your substitute. There's what he did for you when
he's called. He would not take no for an answer. Oh, we tried to say no. We opposed,
and we caused grief, and we caused trouble, and we pushed, and we
hooked, and bulled, and tried to. No, we won't have this man
reign over us, but he didn't take no for an answer, and he
never does. He always succeeds. God said,
behold, mine elect. in whom my soul delighteth. He
shall not fail. He shall not be discouraged till
he hath set judgment in the earth. He did it on the cross and he
does it in the hearts of his people. He puts discernment to
know him and live unto righteousness. All right, now secondly, let's
see Christ our example. False religion preaches him as
only an example. We've seen here now so far, he's
far more than only an example. But you won't find a greater
example. You won't find a greater example. He says here, child
of God, now hear what your shepherd says to you in verse 20. He endured grief, he suffered
patiently. Now hear what your shepherd says
to you in verse 20 as you serve Christ your master. He says,
if when you do well and suffer for it, you take it patiently,
That's acceptable to God for even here unto where you called. Now we're not talking about just
when you do something that you shouldn't have done and somebody
gets in your face about that. You ought to take that patiently.
You did wrong. We're not talking about that.
We're talking about when you do well, when you're ministering
to the Lord's people, when you're serving the Lord and ministering
to His people, and you're preaching the gospel, and you're bearing
witness of Christ, and you're doing whatever God's given you
to do to help in the church, and you're promoting the gospel,
and whatever you're doing, and you start to be opposed by somebody,
He's talking about that. And if you take it patiently,
suffering, you take it patiently, this is acceptable, You were
called to this. You were called to this. Now
listen. Philippians 1 29 says, unto you it is given in the behalf
of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for
his sake. You see, you were called to this. Verse 21, for even here unto
were you called because Christ also suffered for us, leaving
us an example that you should follow in his step. I want you
to turn with Matthew 20. Christ has given you a heart
to willingly be his willing bondservant, to serve him. And the way we
serve him is we preach him. Everybody here that knows him,
that's been called by him, you're a preacher. Every one of you,
you're a witness of Christ. Fred's not the only pastor here.
Well, he's the only pastor here, but he's not the only witness
here. This is Christ's ministry using you to minister in the
search of His lost sheep and to minister to those sheep that
He's already called. All of you together. And so Christ
has given you a heart to serve the Lord in ministering and serving
His sheep. And you've done well. That's
what He's talking about in doing well. You've done well. But now
you're suffering. I don't know a thing about what
anything is going on in this church. Me and Fred don't talk
about y'all's family business. I don't know about that. But
I'm just saying to you, if you're suffering now, if any of you
are suffering now for something like this he's talking about
here, I want you to hear and remember what our Savior said
here in Matthew 20 verse 26. He said, well first verse 25,
he said, You know that the princes of
the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are
great exercise authority upon them. But it shall not be so
among you. But whosoever will be great among
you, let him be your minister. And whosoever will be chief among
you, let him be your servant." What he's saying is, If you want
to be great in the kingdom of God, in the church of God, what
he considers being great is being a minister, being leased. What he considers being cheap
is being a servant. Remember he took that little
child and set him in their midst and said, except you be converted
and become as this little child, you won't enter the kingdom of
heaven. He's to be the least. That's how Christ saved us. He
made himself the least. He that ascended, what is it
but that he first also descended into the lowest parts of the
earth. That's what you just preached. And here's how we're to do it. Verse 28. Even as the Son of
Man came not to be ministered unto, we couldn't do anything
for him. But he came to minister and give
his life a ransom for many. He came to minister to us. Now
he's saying, this is what you were called to. You weren't called
to be ministered to. You were called to minister.
You were called to serve these sick ones, and these opposing
ones, and these ones that think they know it all, and these ones
that think they know best how to do everything you do. They're
the sick ones. And you're hoping they're one
of God's sheep, and you're sent to try to minister to them, and
pray the Lord to call them out. And if He has called them out,
and they're still sick, and they're still doing that, they're sick,
and you're sent to minister to them and serve them. And the
only way they're going to live is Christ. and hearing what he's
done for his people, everything I said in that first point, that's
how he's gonna make them heal. Now, when we think of the word
minister, we often think of a preacher. And you know, the word minister
means, it's like if you're sick and you're laid out here and
you're helpless, can't do anything, and I go over and administer
some medicine to you, like a physician would do. or you need me to come and take
your place and stand between you and somebody that is condemning
you, and I stand in the way between you and that condemning person
to serve for you, to save you from being condemned, like the
Lord stood between the woman caught in adultery and the Pharisees,
just like Christ stood between the law and his people. And he said, which one's greater?
We think the greater is to be a minister. Oh, that's a great.
Listen, a real minister, I'm saying it's all these people,
and a real minister is not this thing of walking around like
he's some great thing. He said, which is greater, he
that sits at meat or he that serves? You're in a restaurant
eating sometime and a server comes up And we'll be just sitting
there carrying on a conversation, talking, and we don't even pay
that server any attention. Christ said, that server is the
greatest one around that whole table. The one serving you. And that's what he's called you
to, to serve. Just serve. Called you to serve. minister to needy sinners. Don't have anything. Only medicine
we got's the gospel. Only bread we got's the bread
from heaven. Only wine we have's the wine of the blood of his
grace. This is it. The bomb. Now, how
did he endure suffering for you, child of God? When He began to
be pushed back and He began to be opposed and men didn't want
this medicine, men didn't want to have anything to do with Him,
how did He serve for you? How did He bear that patiently? Verse 22 says, 1 Peter 2.22 says,
He did no sin, neither was guile found in His mouth. Our Savior
did no sin. That means He was righteous in
everything He did. Perfectly righteous in everything
He did. Even when He was opposed, He was righteous in everything
He did. He said, I do always those things that please the
Father. Our Savior is the Holy One. His heart was pure, so neither
was there guile found in His mouth. He never lied, he never
used deceit, no guile in his mouth because his heart was perfect,
holy. Christ has created a new man
in you in which is no guile. You've been born of the incorruptible
seed and that new man in you is no guile, holy. John said
he cannot sin because his seed remaineth in you. Holy, you old
man. Nothing but sin. The old man,
nothing but corruption. The old man, oh wretched man
that I am. That's all the old man is. What
is the Lord telling us here? The first thing he does in saying,
bear this opposition patiently, like Christ did. And he starts
by saying, who did no sin and whose mouth was no guile. He
wasn't doing anything underhanded from a malicious heart. He did
everything from a pure heart and He did everything right.
What's He telling us? Turn over to 1 Peter 3 and look
at verse 4. Here's what He's saying to you. He's saying, in this service
to you as you minister to others, He says, verse 4, 1 Peter 3 verse
4, let the adorning, let your adorning be the hidden man of
the heart. in that which is not corruptible,
even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which in the sight
of God is of great price." He's saying, don't be Christ's servant
and minister in the old man. Do it from that hidden man of
the heart, quietly and meekly trusting Christ. That's what
he's saying. See, that new man is righteous.
That new man is holy, just like Christ is, complete in Christ. He's saying, do this ministry
from the hidden man of that heart that can't be corrupted, but
don't do it in your flesh. We'll mess up if we do it in
our flesh when we're afraid. We mess up if we try to minister
in our flesh. All right, have you been reviled?
How did Christ bear that? Verse 23, 1 Peter 2, 23. Who when he was reviled, reviled
not again. When he suffered, he threatened
not. You recognize Peter's preaching
from Isaiah 53. Let me read Isaiah 53, verse
7. He was oppressed. That means
he was pressed down hard and he was afflicted. Now remember,
He bore our sins in His body on the tree. And He bore, that
was the oppression He was bearing in His body on the tree. And
we see the men and women around the cross, and we hear what they're
saying, what they're doing, and what they're inflicting on Him.
Just remember, that's our sin nature. We oppressed Him and we afflicted
Him. John Trapp said our iniquities were the weapons. and ourselves
the traitors that put to death the Lord of life. Judas and the
Jews were but our workmen." This should draw tears from us. He said, they shall look upon
me whom they hath pierced. and mourn for him. He not only
bore our sin in his body on a tree, that was our sin nature in those
Pharisees around the tree who oppressed and afflicted him.
That's what we did all our days in our rebellion when we didn't
know him. And we made fun of every, we poured contempt on
every office he has. His kingly office, crowned him
with thorns and put a purple robe on him and bowed the knee
and mocked and said, hail king of the Jews. Have you been mocked
as you try to serve the Lord? I have. But not like that. They made
fun of his prophetical office. You ever been made fun of as
a preacher? They blindfolded him. So he couldn't see anything
and they slapped him and they said, now tell us who slapped
you if you're a prophet. I've never endured anything like
that. His priestly office reviled him saying, he saved others,
himself he can't save. And all the while, hammering
those nails, nailing him to the cross. He was oppressed. He was afflicted. Yet, he opened not his mouth. He's brought as a lamb to the
slaughter, and as a sheep before his shearers is dumb, so he openeth
not his mouth. I can't come to God in anything
I do, because I've opened my mouth. I can't come to God for
anything I do. I have opened my mouth. If he'd
opened his mouth, he'd have condemned me and you and all his elect.
And he wouldn't open his mouth. All right, what did our substitute
do instead of reviling those who reviled him? What did he
do instead of throwing it back on them? Verse 23. When he was
reviled, reviled not again. When he suffered, he threatened
not, but committed himself to him that judgeth. Righteously,
that's what brother Fred's message showed us Christ did he committed
himself to him that judges righteously I Want to hear I want you to
hear what it sounds like Isaiah 50 Isaiah 50 We saw we heard
what brother Fred priest and how he prayed Lord preserved
me He was submitting completely in perfect faith to the Father.
And here is the faith of his faith right here. This is what
he was trusting in right here. Isaiah 50 and verse 6. Committing
it. He's committing it to him that
judges righteously. He said, I gave my back to the
smiters and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair. I
hid not my face from shame and spitting. For the Lord God will
help me. That's committing it to him that
judges righteously. Therefore shall I not be confounded. I won't be ashamed. Therefore
if I set my face like a flint, I know that I shall not be ashamed. Here it is. He is near that justifieth
me. will contend with me. Let us
stand together. Who's my adversary? Let him come
near to me. Behold, the Lord God will help
me. Who is he that shall condemn
me? Lo, they all shall wax old as
a garment. The moth shall eat them up. Now, hold your place right there
in Isaiah 50. Our Lord exhorts you to do something
as you suffer. Here's His Word to you as you
suffer. Verse 10, Who is among you that
feareth the Lord? You believe the Lord Jesus Christ.
He's given you a new heart. Who are you that fears Him? That
obeys the voice of Christ His servant? You believe Him. You obey Him. And yet you're walking in darkness. You're oppressed. You're afflicted. You're opposed. You're suffering
wrongly. And you're in darkness. And you
have no light. What do you do? Let him trust
in the name of the Lord and stay upon his God. You know what he's
saying? You commit it to me. like I committed
it to my father. You commit it to Christ like
Christ committed it to his father. He's the one that judges righteously.
You commit it to him. And I'll show you something. Romans 8, 31, you saw just what
our Lord said when he committed it to him that judges righteously.
I read this the other night too, but I just want you to see it
in this context. And I want you to see how much this is like
what he said, because he's telling you, you do what I did. I didn't
do anything to save myself. I trusted the Father. Now you're
not going to do that in perfect faith, because we got this old
man. But he dealt with that old man.
Christ has dealt with that. That old man's dead. He died
on the cross. So that man's dead. So don't live to him now. Live
to Christ your righteousness. And you heard what he said, now
look what you can say now. Romans 8, 31. Now put this in
the first person. What shall I then say to these
things? If God be for me, who can be
against me? Isn't that what Christ just said?
He's saying that you do what I did, I committed it to the
Father, you just commit it to me. And you can say this, who
can be against me? He that spared not his own son,
but delivered him up for us all, how shall ye not with him also
freely give me all things? Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? Who's gonna lay anything to my
charge? It's God that justifies me. Who
is he that condemneth me? It's Christ that died for me.
Yea rather than risen again for me. Who's at the right hand of
God for me. Who's making intercession for
me. That's what Christ was saying in Isaiah 50 as he looked to
the Father. Now he's telling you and me.
Now you say that concerning yourself as you look to me. Do you get
what I'm saying? That's why he laid down his life
for you, child of God. that we, being dead to sins,
should live unto righteousness, to Christ our righteousness,
to commit it to Him who judges righteously, to trust Him to
save us. You didn't think the saving was
done when He called you to faith in Him, did you? It wasn't over yet. We're still
going through the wilderness. And as we go through the wilderness,
he's calling out other lost sheep that were going astray. And sometimes
you, as a saint of God, holy and beloved, have to cry out
like David did when he said at the end of Psalm 119, oh Lord,
I've gone astray like a lost sheep. Save me. Restore me. But he said, He called us to
live to Him, to trust Him, to commit it all to Him that judges
righteously. That means somebody's opposing,
I don't have to talk back. I don't even have to answer that.
I can just go to Him and say, Lord, will you help me with this?
He promised, we saw Friday night, he promised, I will strengthen
you, I will help you, I will carry you, I'll uphold you. Lord,
would you do what you said you'll do? Would you make good on that
promise for me? Are you suffering because you're
trying to serve him and people don't understand that you got
the one thing they need and they won't just shut up and sit down
and hear it. Neither would you. I call my
pastor a lot of times and say, Marvin, I am so sorry for the
grief I caused you. Obey them that have the rule
over you. Submit yourselves to them as
to those that must give account that they might minister to you
with joy and not with grief, because that's not profitable
to you. You know the one that bears no profit from trying to
push back against their pastor? Or if you're witnessing to somebody
and they're trying to push back, you know who gets no profit from
that? The person that needs it. It's given to you not only to
believe on Him, but to suffer for his name's sake. That's what
he's called you to do. It's not gonna be easy. He's
called you to suffer as you serve him and minister this gospel
for him. That's what he called you to
do. You think about, you see these pictures of somebody sick,
it comes in the ER and there's somebody that's been shot or
maimed in some way and they don't wanna, they're in pain and they
don't wanna be there and they're flailing and they're punching
the nurses and the cop and the, The doctor and everybody in there,
and they have to strap them down just so they can minister the
medicine to them. Sometimes there's people I want to strap down. I have wanted to strap them down
sometimes, but you just can't. But what you do is you just keep
your mouth shut, accept to commit it to the Lord, and preach the
gospel. That's it. Listen now, Psalm
37 5. Listen to this. Commit thy way
unto the Lord. Not only that, though. Commit
thy way unto the Lord. Trust also in Him. Commit it to Him. Commit the
whole way to Him. Commit your cause to Him. He
judges righteously. But now once you cast the burden
on Him and cast all your care on Him, now trust Him. This is what it says, he shall
bring it to pass. He shall bring it to pass. Listen,
and he shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light and
thy judgment as the noonday. What's that gonna look like? I'm not gonna read it to you,
but I'll give you a hint. He said he returns you to the
shepherd and bishop of your soul. I'll tell you what, when he brings
it to pass, you commit it to him, you trust him. When he brings
your righteousness past and your judgment is a new day, it's going
to look like this. You're going to say, the Lord
is my shepherd. I shall not want. He maketh me
to lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside the still
water. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness
for his name's sake. I'm walking through the valley
of the shadow of death, but I don't have to fear any evil. You're
with me. Your rod and your staff, they
comfort me. This is his righteous, him bringing
forth your righteousness and your judgment and leading you
the whole way and carrying you the whole way. Rod, the gospel and his staff
comforting you and pulling you back into his bosom. preparing
a table, you prepare a table for me in the midst of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil,
you keep me hearing the gospel and rejoicing in him. My cup
runs over. It don't mean your literal cup
won't necessarily run over, your cupboard might be bare. But you
got bread from heaven. What did the little boy say in
the Depression? They gave him a little bowl of
soup that didn't even have anything in it, just some soup. He goes,
all this in Christ too? And I'll dwell in the house,
what'd he say, mercy, goodness and mercy will follow me all
the days of my life. He said, I'm leading you and
I'm following you. I'm mercy and goodness following
you all the days of your life. I will dwell in the house of
the Lord forever. He said, He'll bring that judgment
to pass. He said, commit it to him and
trust him. Make it too hard, don't we? Commit it to him and trust him.
Thank y'all so much. Thank you for everything you've
done. I know it's a lot of work, and you did a great job. And
I thank you. Thank you for everything. And
thank you for the message, brother Fred. Cheryl, thank you. I like
your piano playing. I really do. I think it's tasteful
and I like it. Thank y'all all. Love you. Pray the Lord bless you.