I want you to turn your Bibles
to 1 Peter chapter 2, if you would please. 1 Peter chapter
2, and I've entitled today's message, A Message to God's Dearly
Beloved. And if I could have fit it all
in there, I would have said a lot more, but. God's suffering people
is dearly beloved. And this really starts in verse
11. So I want to read from verse 11 to the end of chapter two. Dearly beloved, this is the apostle
Peter, by the spirit of God, speaking to the church. The Church
of Jesus Christ, which then was made up of these churches, scattered
throughout Asia, and all these places listed in verse 1. These
people were scattered. They were an afflicted and suffering
people. Peter himself was facing imminent
martyrdom. He was going to be killed for
Christ's sake. The Lord Jesus had told him this.
and he's now writing as one who knows his death is imminent and
yet he wants to leave with these people throughout time, the Church
of God, the ones Christ purchased with his precious blood, he wants
to leave them this final message. And he does it in these two letters
and so we see the way he addresses them throughout this is very
tender and dear, expressing to them things here. And he is going to, on the basis
of that, give them an admonition. He says, dearly beloved. Beloved
means they're loved, loved of God. I beseech you. as strangers and pilgrims abstain
from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul, having your
conversation or your manner of life honest among the Gentiles,
that whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may by
your good works, which they shall behold, glorify God in the day
of visitation." So these believers were spoken of as evildoers.
They were not. or they should not be, and so
he tells them that you should abstain from fleshly lust and
have an honest conversation or lifestyle among the Gentiles,
the unbelievers, so that when the Lord returns, they will glorify
God, having given you this salvation that caused you to live by faith
in Him. Verse 13. He goes on now, and
there's gonna be a series of people here he addresses. He
says to all of us, submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for
the Lord's sake, whether it be to the king as supreme or unto
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 men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king. Servants, be
subject to your masters with all fear, not only to the good
and gentle, but also to the froward, those who are arrogant and rough,
19, for this is thankworthy if a
man for conscience toward God endure grief, suffering wrongfully. For 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 for it, you take it patiently,
this is acceptable with God. For even here unto where you
called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example
that you should follow his steps. who did no sin, neither was guile
found in his mouth, who, when he was reviled, reviled not again. When he suffered, he threatened
not, but committed himself to him that judges righteously,
who his own self bear our sins in his own body on the tree,
that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness
by whose stripes you were healed. That's a quotation from where
Brad just read. For you were as sheep going astray, but are
now returned unto the shepherd and bishop of your souls. And
in the next chapter, he opens it this way. I'm just going to
touch on these two things. Likewise, wives, ye wives, be
in subjection to your own husbands. And then in verse seven, likewise
ye husbands dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honor unto
the wife as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of
the grace of life, that your prayers be not hindered. And
so he goes on in all of this to exhort God's people, these
dearly beloved ones, in this way. First, in our subjection
to those delegated authorities God has put in this world, for
the punishment of evildoers and for the praise of those who do
well. Second, servants to be subject to your masters in everything,
as unto the Lord. Third, wives to their husbands.
And fourth, husbands in consideration of their wives. So all these
things add up to an exhortation and an admonition. Now, in the
book of Peter, especially, and throughout the New Testament,
whenever God wants to communicate to his children in this way,
or the Lord Jesus Christ communicate to his disciples, his brethren,
those for whom he died, he speaks to them in these tender tones.
And he starts this way in verse one of chapter two, wherefore?
Wherefore. Now that means he's gathering
up, based on everything previously said, and setting out an expectation
on them. Wherefore. All the wherefores
are given to exhort. but then they're followed up
by because of. In fact, they're preceded by
because ofs. They're given the because ofs
first, the wherefores in the middle, and then another because
of that follows it. So God, in his mercy, he sandwiches
between these layers the foundation of our salvation which he has
accomplished in Christ, with the wherefores, and then on top
of that he returns back to all the grace God has for us as his
people. So this is important that we
see this. He wants us to reflect on what
God has done for us in bringing us from this pit, this deep pit,
that which we had plunged ourself in our sin, how God has lifted
us up to the heights of glory by the Lord Jesus Christ, and
what it cost our Redeemer to do that. That's the basis, that's
the reflection he wants us to consider as he gives us these
admonitions and exhortations. And what he says to us to do
runs entirely counter in opposition to what we are by nature. Our
old nature, our old man, as scripture calls it, that part of us which
God calls our flesh, which is our carnal mind, which we're
left with right now, is in opposition to the new man, or the spirit
of God in us, which is born of God. And so when he gives us
these things that are the foundation of our salvation, That is then
followed up with what he admonishes us to do, so that in our new
man, that born of God nature which he has given to us, we
look to Christ and see what he's done for us. And we also, by
faith in Him, walk in that faith, trusting that what He's done
for us is the basis to expect all grace, all deliverance and
salvation, even though we have this constant warfare. Now that's
what he calls it in verse 11. And so he takes these things
that precede the exhortation, the foundation of this grace
towards us. And we see it here in this first
chapter in the work of God the Father. In verse two, he says,
the Father, God the Father, has elected his people. He chose
us. He chose to save us. God did
this. In our salvation, this is very
important. We did all the sinning. God did
all the choosing. Christ did all the obeying. He
did all the suffering. And the Spirit of God does all
the drawing and bringing. Salvation by God's eternal appointment
is set down and inflexibly will not change, the salvation is
of the Lord. First of all, we were opposed
to our own salvation. It's all of grace, it arose out
of God's own character, had nothing to do with any influence from
the outside. Certainly nothing in us, because
we were ungodly sinners, even in our minds and by our wicked
works, enemies of God. There's none righteous, none
that doeth good, none that seek after God. Therefore, this salvation
must be of God. And this truth is fixed. unchangeably
from all eternity, and it will be proven at last to be the only
way any of us are ever saved. From first to last, it will be
by God's grace alone in Christ alone. Okay, and that's very
important. So what we see in chapter one
is in verse, if you look at verse 10, he says, of which salvation
the prophets have inquired. So God spoke of this salvation
that he would accomplish in the Old Testament prophets. This
is not a new thing. This is not something that just
suddenly came on the scene when Christ came and the apostles
started preaching and the people heard it as if this was some
new thing. No, Peter is assuring them this is God's promise and
prophecy from the beginning, salvation. And so he speaks of
it here. And in that same section here,
in verse 12, he says, unto whom those prophets it was revealed.
It was not to themselves, but to us. they did minister. Here's that foundation of grace
and favor God has given to us. You mean to tell me that all
of that Old Testament time, thousands of years, God was sending his
word by his faithful prophets, these men chosen of God and given
his word and revelation of what would come, that that was all
given for this time? Since the cross, we've been the
beneficiaries of God's, not only His promises, but the work of
these men who spent their lives prophesying for us. These are just some of the things
that the Lord has laid down in this chapter. God's electing
grace, His purpose of salvation. He chose us, according to 2 Thessalonians
2.13, unto salvation. He chose us to salvation. No
one is saved unless God chooses us to salvation. We don't choose
God, He chooses us. And this is what the word elect
here means. He not only chose us to salvation,
but he chose the means by which he would accomplish that salvation,
which was the sanctification of the spirit, being born of
God. The spirit of God giving us this
new nature, giving us life in our souls, and that thing, that
part of us which is born of God is holy, it's born of God, it
cannot sin. And this nature now is ours,
we're children of God. And all of this was by the obedience
and sprinkling of the Lord Jesus Christ, the sprinkling of his
precious blood. And that's what verse two is talking about. And
we could go on and on back through all of the blessings God has
set down, but the important point here is that the theme is that
salvation is of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit.
His work. We did all the sinning, God did
all the saving. If we understand that, now we've
got a foundation. And we can see this throughout,
expanded in chapter 1 and in chapter 2. Notice in chapter
2, he says, after he says, wherefore, in verse 1, laying aside, here's
that middle layer of this sandwich, he's exhorting us, lay aside
these things you used to, in your old nature, thrive on. Now
thrive on what your new nature must live upon, which is the
milk of God's word, the gospel of our salvation. As newborn
babes, this is referring us back to God our Father. We're children
born of God. What love this was of God. Behold what manner of love the
Father has bestowed upon us that we should be called the sons
of God. children of God, brethren of Christ, purchased by his blood.
God did this out of love and out of grace. And then he says
in verse three, if so be you've tasted that the Lord is gracious.
And this is not the end of it. He says, to whom coming Christ
is the living stone. He was rejected of men, but he
was chosen of God and he's precious to God. And now you as living
stones, verse five, are built up. God has built you up as a
spiritual house. You're not only children, but
you're built as God's dwelling, God's temple, God's inheritance. He purchased and possesses his
people. That's God's inheritance. What
a stoop of condescending grace this is. And what a cost it was
to him. And because of this, he says,
furthermore, in verse 11, you're a chosen generation. You are
royal, meaning we're kingly, priesthood. God did this through
Christ. We're made priests to God. We
have access to God. We have God's ear through Christ. We offer up the sacrifices by
which we come to God, which is the blood and righteousness of
our Savior. And we come to God by Him. We're
a holy nation, verse 9. We're a peculiar purchased possession
of God. that you should show forth, and
here's the reason that we should show forth what? The praises
of him who has called us out of darkness into his marvelous
light. And in time past, we were not
a people. In all appearances, in all of the experiences of
our life, we were not connected in any way with the promises
of God. But now through the gospel, it's revealed that in Christ,
we have been chosen, redeemed, and brought into the kingdom
of God. by the work of God, by his saving
mercy. So to these suffering people in this time who were
scattered about, Peter writes the most comforting news to them,
their salvation by God in Jesus Christ, given to them out of
pure grace and resulting in an eternal inheritance which would
be given to them in their experience at the end of time when Christ
appears again, which he says in verse four of chapter one,
to an inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not
away, reserved in heaven for you. Everything is of God. We're kept by God. We're saved
by God's power. And it's all through faith. He
has ordained not only our salvation in Christ, but the means Christ
redeeming blood, the Spirit of God giving us life in faith in
Him, and that faith is how we understand these things and are
persuaded of it and enter into it in our own experience. All
we have now is God's word and faith in Christ. And that's the
way we live, in hope of God's promises, in the fulfillment
of them in our own personal experience. And we live in confidence, not
because we find reason in ourselves, but as we sang, because Christ
is the solid rock on which we stand. Okay, now in chapter 2
in verse 11, he talks to these people with this foundation laid,
dearly beloved. How could you not see God's particular,
distinguishing, saving love of his people? Are all men dearly
beloved? Well, we know that God said Esau
wasn't. We know that Judas was a son
of perdition. We know that Pharaoh wasn't.
There's so many people in scripture are given to us and held up as
examples who were not dearly beloved. Jesus told his disciples,
to you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God,
but to those which are without, it is not given. And so many
things we could refer to here, but the point is, is that those
God loves, He loved before, He never stops loving, and He will
love them for everlasting ages. He has made them His children
by Jesus Christ. What love the Father has bestowed
upon us. All those God loves, He chastens. Every son whom He receives. And
so this love of God is spoken of here, dearly beloved, dearly. He adds this adverb to this,
or adjective, I'm not sure what it is. Dearly beloved, I beseech
you as strangers and pilgrims, you're strangers in this world
because of this saving work of God, abstain from fleshly lusts
which war against the soul. All right, how are we gonna do
this? Our old nature is so natural to lust and to pride that we
live and breathe sin. How are we going to be free from
this? In our new nature, we look to Christ. The way we abstain
is looking unto Jesus. That's it. We have to be delivered. We were the servants of sin,
but God be thanked, Romans 6, 17. You were the servants of
sin, but you have obeyed from the heart. Where does that come
from? It comes from faith in Christ, God's grace. Everything
in our lives is by God's grace given to us so that we can see
Christ, know him, and follow him. This situation we experience
is called a warfare, a warfare. It's continual, it's constant,
it's always with us. We won't be free from it until
the Lord comes again, or until we die and we go to be with the
Lord. At our death, every believer is absent from the body and is
present with the Lord. The Apostle Paul says, for me
to live is Christ, but to die is gain. There's an immediate
deliverance from this body of death when we go to be with the
Lord. At our death, our greatest victory
that we have in our experience is we'll be liberated from our
sinful selves. But until then, we have this
warfare. And how do we live when we're at war? Well, we live like
those in the Old Testament who lived when they faced all their
enemies. Lord, I have no power against this enemy, and I don't
know what to do. But my eyes are upon you. That's what King Jehoshaphat
said. Okay, so he exhorts us. He says, now, I want you to behave
in a way that's consistent with what you've been taught, what
you've received by faith, and what you are according to God's
word and his promises, the work of God. Live out what God works
in. Isn't that what Philippians 2,
verse 12 and 13 says? It is God who is at work in you,
both to will and to do of his good pleasure. He has to have
that. The new covenant fulfilled in Christ's blood according to
Hebrews 13, 21. God has to perfect that work
in us. He has to do it. And he does
it as we look to Christ, the author and finisher of our faith.
He says in verse 13, submit yourself to every ordinance of man for
the Lord's sake, whether it be to the king as supreme or unto
governors as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment
of evildoers and for the praise of them to do well. The delegated
authority God has placed in this world is of God. It has a purpose. They are to punish evildoers,
and they are to give praise to those that do well. But unfortunately,
Throughout time, we see that they don't fulfill their delegated
role. So what are we going to do? Well,
there's a good justification for me to act out in opposition
to them. Is that what we're supposed to
do? That's not what he says here. Look at verse 15. For so is the
will of God, that with well-doing you may put to silence the ignorance
of foolish men. Look at verse 16 carefully with
me. As free, yet not using your liberty for a cloak of maliciousness,
but as the servants of God. Now, the servants of God here.
Notice that every word is important here. Peter was an apostle of
Jesus Christ. He speaks to us as the children
of God. And now here, though, he says,
as the servants of God. The lowest service to God, The
lowest service to God through Christ is our highest privilege. That's our highest privilege.
I say that based on what? Well, first of all, because God,
who, what are the angels? They're servants to God. Well,
we're children of God. We say, well, I'm free from any
service. No, a son who loves his father
does his father's will. Remember, Jesus gave the parable
of the two sons. One was told, go work in the
vineyard or the field, and he said no. And then later he said,
oh, yeah, OK, I will. And he spoke to the second one,
you go work. He says, I will. And he didn't.
And Jesus said, which of them did the will of his father and
all those? His enemies had to admit it was the first son. And
he says, and why didn't you believe? When John came preaching and
the sinners and the publicans turned and believed his message
concerning Christ to come, whereas you, after seeing them repent
and believe the gospel, you hardened yourself against it. You're like
the second son. You said, I will, but you didn't.
So our highest privilege, therefore, our highest privilege is to take
the lowest service of God and to do it. That's why he speaks
to us as servants of God. And he says here, don't use your
liberty as a cloak of maliciousness. I was thinking about these words,
turning them over and over in my mind as we were back in Texas.
So I looked up these words, cloak, it's something you put on. Like
when it's cold, you might put on your shirt, your jacket, and
then over that, a cloak, an outward garment that protects you. It's
fully covering you. But what is cloak in this sense?
It's not a physical garment. He says, don't use your liberty.
You're free, but don't use your liberty as a cloak of maliciousness. So the word cloak. According
to the dictionary definition here, it's a pretext. or a reason
that we put forward in pretense seeming to be the reason why
we do something, but it's an excuse for bad motives and bad
behavior. It's something that we put on
in order to justify what we're thinking and doing on the inside
or the outside. So he says here, we're free.
Yet don't use your liberty as a cloak to hide something else
on the inside, which is maliciousness. And maliciousness or malice means
bearing hatred and spite. with an ill will or a will for
ill to come on that person or thing, it can be an attitude
or a motive or something we say, something we do. Maliciousness
is this desire that evil come on somebody else. Ill will, maliciousness. So don't use your liberty to
act in a way that you want or bring ill on others. And he's talking in the context
here of being in subjection to those delegated authorities.
But it's not limited to them. He goes on to talk about servants.
He talks about wives. And he talks about husbands.
So if you consider all these, and later on he says, all of
you be subject one to another. So what this is saying here is
that we have this natural tendency to be arrogant and proud and
self-willed. And when the gospel comes to
us, we realize that we were set free. We were set free from the
guilt of our sin and the debt of our sin. And we may wrongfully
take that view that, well, because I'm free, I can do whatever I
want to. And I can say the reason I'm
doing it is because I'm free. And I can even justify it inwardly.
I'm not under that law. I don't have to do that. Because
I'm the child of God. Denise and I were traveling,
and there was this lady with her luggage there. And on the
luggage, it says, God says I am. And then there were all these
stickers all over it, beautiful and wonderful and I don't know,
just any kind of adjective, praise, description of herself. I thought,
that's interesting. She's taken the Word of God about
what we are in Christ and misinterpreted it as what we are in ourselves. And this is a mistake. I deserve
to be prosperous because I'm a child of the King. This is
rubbish. Yeah, you are prosperous if you
are the child of the King. You have all things in Christ.
He's the fullness of the Godhead bodily and you're complete in
Him. But to seek after the things of this world which are temporal
and connected with the world and all that it pursues as your
riches, that's a complete misunderstanding and a distortion of the truth.
And so it is with our pride. We don't say, well, I'm at liberty,
therefore I'm at liberty to seek, by my own ambition, attention
to myself, and praise to myself, and give things to myself, and
always be trying to enhance my comfort and position in this
world. No. And I'm not under any man's
rule. No, that's also not true. You
are not free to be without rule. That's what he's saying here.
We're all subject to these delegated authorities. Now, he doesn't
just stop there. Remember, the sandwich has this
foundation laid down first with what's in the middle, and then
there's something on top of it. There's the wherefores of what
we are admonished to do because of what came before, but then
he follows it up with, and here's why, again. And that's what I
want you to look at here with me. We've been set free in Christ. We've been set free by Christ.
Not to sin, but from sin. Now, if we thought anything else,
then we're misinformed. We've been set free. His name
shall be called Jesus, for He shall save His people from their
sins. And so knowing this, what do
we do? As the children of God, as the
newborn babes, as those built up a spiritual house, the dwelling
of God, the chosen generation, the royal priesthood, those who
were made this by God in order to show for the praises of Him
who saved us, what do we do? Well, we go to Him again for
the grace we need, the one who sits on the throne, and we appeal
to Him to deliver us from our sins, don't we? Not to continue
in them, but to deliver us from them in every part. And this
is the reason, this was the end goal God predestinated us to,
to be conformed to the image of his dear son. Well, if all
this is true, then we have a different end goal. destination in mind. We have the destination God predestinated
us to, which is to be conformed to the image of His Son. And
we have the expectation, because all of that depends on God's
grace and how He receives us in Christ for Christ's sake and
not for ourselves, that the strength to do this will flow to us from
the throne of the risen, exalted, enthroned Christ. who lived and
died for his people. Now, this is basically what he
says here and what follows here. You've been set free by Christ,
not to sin, but from sin. He freed us to believe him, didn't
he? We didn't used to know him. We
didn't understand. We didn't seek God. But we were
drawn to the Lord Jesus Christ by the operation of God's Holy
Spirit by the will of the Father. Jesus said, I said to you, no
man can come to me except the Father which has sent me draw
him. And so we know we've been drawn
to God because we believe on him. Faith doesn't come from
ourselves. Ephesians 2.8 says faith is not
of yourselves, it's the gift of God, and it's of His grace. You are saved by grace. By grace you are saved through
faith. So we can take great comfort
that if we're saved by grace through faith, then believing
Christ indicates as evidence that God is at work in us. We're
looking to Christ alone. But if we look to Him and also
look to our own righteousness, then we prove we don't truly
have faith. So we look to Him, we come to Him for the grace,
We understand that he saved us from our sins and we expect him
to finish that work in us. God who began a good work in
you will complete it unto the day of Christ Jesus, Philippians
1.6. And so we're designed, we were
saved to show forth his praises, to shine the light of his grace
in our own humility, in our own condescension, stepping down
from the platform of our pride, stepping off of the self-serving
desire to seek after things for our own selves. and in humility
following Christ as he did in order to save us. And this is
what follows. Look at this in the verses that
follow. He says in verse 19, for this
is thank worthy if a man for conscience toward God endure
grief, suffering wrongfully. Okay? What glory is it if when
you are buffeted for your faults, if you tell a lie and someone
catches you in that, you go, you get all red-faced, you go,
oh man, I guess I won't defend myself against that. That's true.
I lied about that. Well, you took that patiently.
But what good is that? You're just admitting that you
were a liar. It's true. Or what if you were caught stealing?
See, you were stealing. You tried to take credit for
what someone else did. That's stealing. You're right.
and you take it patiently. Well, there's some measure of
humility, but that's not what he's talking about here. He's
saying, this is thankworthy if a man for conscience toward God,
if in the light of the gospel, knowing what Christ did for us,
we ourselves endure grief, suffering wrongfully. If we're accused
but we're not guilty, and we take it patiently, or if we're
persecuted and we take it patiently, trusting ourselves to God, it's
because that's what Christ did. And why did he do that? To save
us from our sins. Notice he says, verse 21, for
even here unto were you called. This is why we were called. because
Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example that you
should follow his steps. This is bizarre. This goes against the grain.
It's like rubbing the cat the wrong way, doesn't it? Jesus said this in Mark chapter
8. When he called the people to
him with his disciples also, he said to them, whosoever will
come after me, that's to follow, whoever wants to be my disciple,
whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself and take
up his cross and follow me. That's where he was going. in
Matthew chapter 16, it says, from that time forth, Jesus began
to show his disciples how that he must go to Jerusalem. This
is Jesus now. Suffer many things of the elders
and chief priests and scribes, which we know were corrupt. They
had this mandate from God, this delegated authority to open God's
word to his people and direct them to Christ, they completely
failed, and they turned their delegated authority for a corrupt
purpose to enrich themselves, to lift themselves up in the
eyes of people, to seek the praise of men, and to hold on to their
power. And Jesus is going to these people
in that God-delegated government, he says, to suffer many things
of them, and to be killed by them, and then to be raised again
the third day. The victory would come. It was
by God's predeterminate counsel and foreknowledge that by wicked
hands Christ would be taken and suffered, as Brad read from Isaiah
53. It was for our offenses, our
iniquities, our transgressions. He was bruised, he was beaten,
and he bore our stripes. And that's the way we were healed.
He who was high, the Son of God, made himself of no reputation. in order that he might save us
from our sins. Notice what he says now. Even here unto where
you called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an
example that we should follow his steps. He did no sin. We've done sin. Neither was guile
found in his mouth. He didn't speak any deceit. who
when he was reviled, now look at the master here. Jesus is
always in the position of the master. We're the disciples,
he's the Lord, we're the servants. But the master always speaks
not as one who's just telling us the way, but pointing to himself
who is the way. He doesn't just say truth, he
lived this truth. So he himself did this in an
infinitely higher degree than we ever could or will. He says,
he did no sin. There was no deceit in his mouth.
When he was reviled, if anyone had a just basis for reviling,
again, he was the one God said would be the judge of all, that
all men should honor the Son. But read about it in the Psalms.
He never took up his own defense. He was like a sheep brought to
the slaughter, dumb before his shearers. Why? because he bore
my sins before God, because he was answering with himself, poured
out like water, because that's what I deserved. And he didn't
open his mouth. He took all that I deserved,
and every believer He took what we deserved and He bore it all.
He made satisfaction to God in justice and His humility and
love in submission of obedience is the perfect righteousness
with which we are clothed and stand before God. He did no sin,
neither was guile found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he
reviled not again. When he suffered, he threatened
not, but he committed himself. He did not rise up in his own
defense. He didn't take out a sword, a spear, a dagger, or anything. He didn't even use his words.
He was silent. He didn't defend himself. He
left his case with God. He pleaded to God to plead for
him to accomplish his cause, which was to save his people
by his own submission in obedience and suffering unto death. That
was his plea. Lord, save my people through
my. He says, don't let them be ashamed
because of my reproaches. Because for thy sake I have borne
reproach, Psalm 69. And so we see this, this is our
Lord now. He did this. Notice in verse
24, who his own self, what precious words. It's an anaphorism here. He takes and stacks up these
personal pronouns in order to emphasize he did it by himself
and this is what he did. Who his own self bear our sins
in his own body on the tree that we He died, but we now are dead
to sins that we should live unto righteousness by whose stripes
you were healed. By the beating we deserved that
he received, we are healed. We're presented to God spotless
and without sin. He washed us from our sins in
his own blood. amazing grace. He suffered these
things in quiet dependence upon his God, even though he was in
the right. He suffered wrong, quietly, in
order to save his people. And that's what we're called
to do. whether we be servants, whether we be subjects, whether
we be wives, whether we be husbands, we are to entrust our lives to
Him. We are to follow Him, take up
our cross daily and follow Him, deny ourselves. It goes contrary
to what we are. We should never miss an opportunity
to do this. Never miss an opportunity to
confess to God what we have done. Never miss an opportunity to
confess to God what we are. I'm a great sinner and nothing
at all. But Jesus Christ is my all in
all. And never miss an opportunity
to take the words God has given to us and say with these words,
oh, he says, oh Israel, return to the Lord thy God, for thou
hast fallen by thine iniquity. Now take with you words and turn
to the Lord and say to him, take away all iniquity and receive
us graciously. So will we render that, not the
calves on this stone altar, but the calves of our lips. Asher
or Assyria will not save us, we will not ride upon horses,
neither will we say any more to the work of our hands, you
are our gods, for in thee the fatherless find mercy. I will
heal their backsliding, I will love them freely, for mine anger,
God says, is turned away from him, from the Lord Jesus Christ. With this, we are to never miss
an opportunity to confess our sins and take those words to
God. Never miss an opportunity, dear child of God, dearly beloved,
to say, I was wrong, I'm wrong, I'm sorry, please forgive me.
Never miss an opportunity to pray that God would forgive those
who wrong you. And never miss an opportunity
to forgive them yourself. It says in Job 42, the Lord turned
the captivity of Job when he prayed for his friends, who you
know proved to be hypocrites. Also, the Lord gave Job twice
as much as he had before. And as a sinner, never miss the
opportunity to look to Christ alone. And in meekness, to direct
other sinners to look to him also. Always look to Christ,
exalted, lifted up, and for grace to think and speak and act and
to conform you to that image who laid his life down. And let
me read this in closing with you in Philippians chapter 2.
It really lays it out here, doesn't it? Philippians chapter 2 and
verse 1 through 6, or 1 through 8, he says, if there be any comfort
or consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, and we know
how comforting the love of Christ is to us, don't we? If any fellowship
of the Spirit, we have communion with God through His Spirit in
the Lord Jesus Christ. If any bowels of mercies, fulfill
ye my joy, and that you be like-minded, having the same love, being of
one accord, of one mind. Let nothing be done through strife
or vain glory, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other
better than themselves. Take the lowest place. It's the
place we deserve, isn't it? Look not every man on his own
things, but every man also on the things of others. Let this
mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in
the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God,
because he was equal with God, but made himself of no reputation
and took upon him the form of a servant, the Son of God, a
servant to God, a servant to his people. and he was made in
the likeness of men, and found in fashion as a man, he humbled
himself, being as a man, he humbled himself, and he became obedient
unto death, even the shameful death of the cross. In humiliation,
notice what happened, wherefore, wherefore, God has also highly
exalted him. Let's pray. Father, we pray that
as your children, what you've done for us in saving our souls,
we would be given this grace to see Christ who made himself
so low, we can't imagine it, and suffered so much, all of
it, at the hands of wicked men, and on their account it was unjust,
but on God's account it was perfect justice. because He laid Him
in the balance in order to satisfy for our sins and to fulfill our
righteousness. Let us forever look to Him, Lord,
and to be thankful and show forth the praises of Him who has called
us to this, to follow our Master. He did all that He tells us to
do infinitely more than we will ever be able to do. Let us count
it our highest privilege to serve in the lowest place because we're
the servants of God, children of God by the by the blood of
our Lord Jesus Christ, by the electing choice and predestinating
work of God the Father from eternity, that faithful love of God, in
Jesus' name we pray, amen.