1 Peter chapter 2. In chapter 1, Peter spoke of
God's electing, saving, keeping, redeeming grace. The true grace
of God wherein you stand. The whole chapter is grace bestowed. It tells us how God has bestowed
this grace. This chapter is going to tell
us about grace tasted. Grace bestowed and grace tasted. And this is the word, verse 25
of chapter 1, says, this is the word which by the gospel is preached
unto you. The word of His grace. The message
of the gospel. Paul called this, hearing the
gospel, a high calling. He called it a heavenly calling,
a holy calling. That is, for a human being to
hear the gospel and believe is the greatest honor and highest
privilege afforded to a human being. To participate in what
you're doing right now is the highest honor a human being can
have. It's unbelievable that some sleep
through what angels desire to look into. But Peter says in light of God's
graciously choosing us, God graciously electing us, God graciously saving
us, God graciously keeping us, God graciously sending the gospel
to us. In light of all that, he says
in verse 1 of chapter 2, wherefore. You see why he says wherefore?
Wherefore? Laying aside all malice. Laying aside all malice. Laying aside That laying, that
means continuing. It means it's going to be a lifetime
thing. It's going to be a lifelong work. Lay it aside. Put that off. Quit that. Stop that. Drop that. Quit that. Push that. Lay it aside. Laying aside all
malice. Malice means many things, but
chiefly, it's meanness. against all. Laying aside, he
said, all guile. Look at that. All guile. That's
any deception of any sort. That's scheming, conniving. Lay
it aside, he said. Hypocrisies. Oh, Lord, let me
lay aside hypocrisy. Let me quit saying and not doing. Let me quit saying I'm a this
or that and not doing. Lay aside. Don't be a hypocrite. If you're not going to do it,
he says, don't say it. That's what hypocrisy is. Say, say and do not. That's hypocrisy. Lord, just shut my mouth. If
I'm not going to do what I say, what you say, don't let me say
anything. Lay aside all hypocrisy. Read
on. And evil speaking. Envy. And
envy. Love envyeth not. Love is not
jealous of or envious of any other brother's happiness in
favor of its own. Put that back. Quit that. Don't
do that, he said. Lay that aside. You can't be
envious of someone you love. It can't be done. It can't be
done. That's selfishness. You would
rather have it than them. Don't do that. Lay that aside,
he said. And evil speaking. Lay aside all evil speaking.
Evil speaking. Evil speaking. Chiefly. You know, any murmuring
and complaining is, number one, against God. Don't do it. Don't say anything. It's against
God. Evil speaking. Especially not
against others, he said. Lay it aside. Lay it aside. Because of the grace of God to
you. The grace of God to us. Considering
the grace of God to us. Lay all this aside. Well, read on verse 2. He says,
As newborn babies. Except we be converted and become
as little children, we're not going to enter the kingdom of
heaven. How long have we been hearing
the gospel? Have we learned it? Well, then let's start all over
again, huh? Let's hear this message this
morning like it's the first time we ever heard it, huh? As newborn babies. Oh, I've heard
that before. If you said that, you've never
heard it. If I say that, I've never heard it. I've heard all
this before. You've never really heard it. Mercy. It's new. Mercy's new. The gospel's called
good news. New. As newborn baby, as little
children, Paul said, in malice, that is, don't have any. But
be men, put yourself like men, put yourself like women in understanding. Be not unwise, but understanding
what the will of the Lord is. This is, whatever it is, this
is the will of God concerning you in Christ Jesus. Be a man
of that. Be children in malice, but be
like babes, he said. Desire the sincere milk of the
Word, that you may what? Grow thereby. We want to grow in grace, don't
we, in the knowledge of Christ? We want to grow. There's not
one area, there's not one area, there's not one grace that I
feel like I've made much progress in. I need to grow. The principle thing being faith. Where does faith come? By hearing. Hearing by the Word of God. The
grace of faith. Lord, I believe. Do you now?
Do you now? Our Lord said, if you had the
faith of a grain of mustard seed. All right, then, let's desire
the sincere milk of the Word. 1 Peter 2. That newborn baby. Lord, I've never heard this before.
Would you let me hear it? Oh, isn't that wonderful? Love. You want to grow in love? Hope. Peace. I want to grow in
peace. I want to have that peace that
Christ said no man can take from me. My peace. The peace that He had. Nothing troubled Him. How? The
Word of God. Desire the sincere milk of the
Word of Jesus. Grow in peace, in love, in joy, in hope. Right now, pray, Lord, let me
hear this Word for the first time in my life. Like a baby. How's a baby when it comes out
of that womb? Where is that breast? Give me
that breast of consolation. That's what the Word of God is
called. The breast of consolation. In this world you have tribulation.
In this world you have consolation. If there's anything more, you
talk about the hearing of God's word and the reading of God's
word, which is more important? Which is more important, the
hearing of God's word or the reading of God's word? Can't do without either, but
if there's one that's more important, according to Romans 10, how shall
they hear without a preacher? That the Ethiopian eunuch said,
how can I? I said, some man tell me. And I've told you before, and
hence the need for that preparation of worship, that article in the
bulletin. This morning is a twenty-five
course meal prepared. Twenty-five courses. Twenty-five
verses prepared of precious milk, food, need for every word, every
jot and tittle, vital, vital. And if God uses one of it, just
one upon you, upon me, it'll be just what the great physician
ordered. Newborn babes desire. Desire,
the hearing of the Word. Here we are, ready to hear it.
Desire. Can one make oneself desire? Can you make yourself desire
something? Can you now, really? Can you?
Not really. But I know who can and who does. I know who does. He said, ask and you shall receive. Didn't he? Huh? He who cannot
lie said, you asked me. Oh, this is something the Lord
is well pleased with. Lord, give me a desire for your
word. Better yet, give so-and-so a
desire. And he'll give you a desire.
I guarantee it. That's the way the Lord operates.
Bless so-and-so. Not me, me, me, me, me, me. Bless
so and so. I guarantee the Lord will bless
you. I guarantee it happens. He does it every time. Every time. That's the way he
is. Desire. All right, so he says,
lay aside, lay aside all these things. Desire the sincere miracle
of the Word that you may grow thereby, if so be, verse 3, if
so be. You have tasted. The Lord is
gracious. The Lord is gracious. Have you
tasted? Has the Lord been gracious? How good has the Lord been to
you? Has the Lord been good to you? Let me ask you again. Has the Lord been good to you? Are you like that woman who said,
Lord ain't nothing for me? Has the Lord been good to you? How good? He made all his goodness
pass before him. There's nothing that we have
that we haven't received. There's nothing God has that
we haven't received. All his goodness passed before him. Name
something we haven't received from another. Huh? All his goodness. The grace of God. All his grace. He tasted it all. He calls it
a taste. it a taste, if so be ye have
tasted. Because we have not eaten and
drunk to the fullest. We haven't eaten and drunk to
fullness yet with just a taste. But oh, what a taste. The psalm
calls it a foretaste of glory divine. And let me tell you now,
this gospel, this grace is, you get a taste of it. If you get
a taste of this grace, you want more. That's why he calls it
a taste. You know, I know some that have
never tasted what you eat, what we eat. I know some who have
never even tasted of this. I've spoken with them. I've tried
to speak with them, but it has no sweet smell and savor. It
has no taste. They find it distasteful. I often pity poor husbands who
are married to women who cannot cook. Poor fellows. They haven't tasted
what I have. Oh, my. But to my shame, I take
for granted that good cooking. Even more to our shame. What
we taste here, what we eat, time and again, there's not one message
we don't hear that's full of God's Word. And it's honey out
of the rock. Sweet smelling savor of Christ.
Not one. Taste it. Some have never tasted
the sovereignty of God. Some have never even tasted Do
you remember the first time you tasted sand? The first time you
heard the sovereign God proclaim? Was it the best thing you'd ever
heard? Like you say about food sometimes,
don't you? Oh, this is the best meal I've
ever... This is it, don't you? Didn't
you? Sovereign God. How much do we
hear that? every message, taste the sovereign
grace of God, the glory of his person, the glory of his grace,
his sovereign mercy and grace. You remember the first time you
tasted that? The satisfaction of Christ, a particular successful
Redeemer. Christ in all his glory. You
remember, huh? Ah, we've tasted that the Lord
is gracious, haven't we? Continually. And so he says in
verse 4, to whom coming? To whom coming? We came to Christ. Those who heard and tasted the
grace of God. When you first heard this gospel,
you came to Him. What did you find God to be?
You heard of this sovereign God, but then you came to a throne
of what? Grace. Mercy. You found, you heard yourself,
you tasted guilt. And you heard of your own guilt
and sinfulness and worthlessness. And so you came to God for mercy.
What did you find? Oh, merciful God, much more merciful
than you ever dreamed of. You thought this is too good
to be true. You mean it's all by grace? Huh? Yeah, grace. And now you come later. You keep
coming. Continue it. What are you going
to find? I'll tell you what you're going to find. You're going to
find the same God yesterday, today, forever. Merciful God,
whose mercy endures forever. You're going to find yourself
to be more and more sinful. The older we live, the more we
grow in grace and the knowledge of Christ. We grow in knowledge
of ourselves, too. We realize we're We don't grow
better. It's like this stalk of corn
that gets heavier and heavier with fruit. What does it do?
It starts hanging its head. Believers that grow and understand
who God is, they understand themselves. And they realize they're worse
sinners now than they were to begin with. So what do they do? To whom coming? To whom coming? To this merciful God and gracious
God. We find him more merciful than
he was to begin with. And that's not possible. We find
he gives more grace. I thought he gave me all I could,
was entitled to. You weren't entitled to any. Come to Christ, he says, verse
4, as unto a living stone, stone disallowed indeed of men, but
chosen of God, precious. Christ, a living stone. This
is what he says in verses 6 and 7. It's quoted in Isaiah 28,
a chief cornerstone, elects, precious, that is, God chose
this stone, elects. Precious, that means there's
only one. Precious stones means they're
rare or one of a kind. Ah, he that believeth. God said,
I lay in Zion. This is Zion. This is Zion. Over there in Jerusalem is not
Zion. This is Zion. Mount Zion, the church of the
living God. God says, I lay a stone right
in the middle of Zion. A rock, a stone, a rock, solid
foundation to stand on. A stone to stand on. A stone, a fortress, a rock,
a stone fortress to hide in. A rock, refuge to flee to. A stone, a rock, a stone is an
unmovable, solid, safe, secure, it's always there. A stone is
always there. That's Christ, a living stone.
He said a living stone. Why do you say a living stone?
You think of a rock, you think of something living? No, you
think of something cold and hard. Well, that's not our Lord. He's
a living stone. He is a rock, yeah, unmovable,
grounded, settled, a safe hiding place to stand. Yeah, he's a
living stone. He said, touch me. I'm flesh
and bones, flesh and bones, but strong as a rock. Unmovable,
but moved with compassion. Verse 4 says, to whom coming
disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God. Disallowed, but
God's chosen. And verse 7 says, to you therefore
which believe. Do you believe everything that's
been said thus far? unto you therefore which believe
by his grace," he says he is precious. It is a high honor,
a blessed undeserved privilege to be counted his disciple. Verse
5, look what it says in verse 5, you are living stones, you
are also living stones, built up a spiritual house. He says
you are lively stones also. Where did this come from? Peter. Do you remember Peter? The Lord
said, whom do men say that I am? They said, well, some say this
and some say that. As they do in our day. Some say
Jesus this and Jesus that. Who do you say that I am? Huh?
Simon. Huh? Who do you say that Christ
is? Who do you say that Christ is? Who do you say to Christ? Who
do you think He is? I'm sure that Thou art Christ,
the Son of the living God. Flesh and blood didn't reveal
it to you. But my Father which is in heaven, living stone. And
He said, Thou art Peter. Little stone, little rock, little
rock. And upon this rock, Christ, I'll
build my church out of little stones. Little stones, living
stones, cut from the same rock. You see? Molded in the same image
of the rod. Built upon him. A spiritual house.
Temple. God's temple is his people. A
holy priesthood, it says, verse 5. A holy priesthood. Holy priesthood. Not this corrupt bunch going
around with robes on. God's people are true priests.
Not these corrupt ones. Not these hypocritical ones.
They don't wear a robe. God's people don't wear an outward
robe anyway. But they're a holy priesthood. Read on. A holy priesthood
to offer up what? What does He create us for? Why
did He save us? Verse 5. Offer up spiritual sacrifice. What sacrifice is that? What
sacrifice does a believer offer up? Not blood. Christ did that. Thanksgiving and praise. Offer
up the sacrifice, the fruit of our lips. Sacrifice. Thanksgiving
and praise. That's why we're here. Not to
think about ourselves. Not to do anything but praise
Him. The sooner we do that, the quicker
we'll worship. Forget about ourselves, the song
says. Concentrate on Him. That's why
we're here. To offer up spirit to sacrifice
it. Acceptable to God. by Jesus Christ. That's the only
way you'll accept them is by Jesus Christ. Read, go on down
to verse 7 now. You that believe he's precious,
an honor, a privilege, you're highly honored to have a seat
in here tonight, or today. Highly honored to sit where you're
sitting. Some of you got front. Well, no you don't. Near to front row seats, people
all over this world clamoring to see that worms of this world. And it's sure not a standing
room only in here. If you want to, you can get a
front row seat to see the Lord Jesus Christ himself. No. He said so. Two or three are gathered. That's
where I'm at. He said, my sheep want to hear my voice. Yes, my
voice, he said. Just as really as if I was there.
They either hear you or hear me, he said. Whatever you say,
I said it. Front row seat. What a privilege. What an honor. It's free. It's
free. I didn't pay a dime. He paid it all. the right to
sit here. He paid it off. I happen to sit
there. And this is a taste. This is
a taste, all right, now. It's a taste. If you get a taste
of this gospel, if I get a taste of this gospel, oh, it's a foretaste
of glory divine, and when we get there. For you that have tasted. If
so big, you have tasted. If so big, you have tasted. He is an honor, he is a privilege,
a precious honor, a privilege, unto you therefore which believe
he is precious. Privilege, an honor, unto them
which be disobedient. What does disobedient mean? It
means unbelieving. Here is what God says, God commandeth
men everywhere to repent. Not asks, commandeth. God says, believe on the Son.
Not asks, not an option, it's command. Believe on the Son.
Men don't do it. And we wouldn't do it if it wasn't
by His grace. By His grace we believe. Oh my,
help my unbelief. We believe. Disobedient they
are. Stone which the builders disallowed,
the same is made the head of the corner. I like that. Stone
of stumbling, a rock of offense. Unbelievable as it may be, there
are many people, most people, who hear the things that we hear
and stumble at and are offended by. Proverbs 8 says this, it says, all things are plain to them
that understand them, and right to them that find knowledge.
All things are plain to them that understand it. Whatever
God says is plain. Why would I be offended at that?
That's what God's saying. And right to them that understand it. Did you catch why we think it's
right and plain? Because God's revealed it to
them. But, you know, We have a hard time realizing, understanding
why people are offended at such a glorious message, don't you?
Why would anybody be offended at that? Huh? Like that blind man, you know,
went home and said, look what happened. He got angry. Ah, a
rock of offense, stumble at the word, being disobedient. Verse
8 says, they're appointed. That's why I said that they were
appointed, reprobate. But now you, you're a chosen generation. Chosen generation, there it is
again, that word chosen. Now, there's some people, Ed,
there's some people that you say that word, oh, don't say that. Elect, you're
elect. That's what Peter started this
whole thing out with, wasn't it? Elect, according to the foreknowledge
of God. Yeah, you're a chosen generation.
Some people stumble at that, don't they? You stumble at that
word there, Barry? Or do you rejoice at that word? Well, who made you to live for
it, Barry? The flesh and blood didn't. My father, which isn't
him. Your father. A chosen generation. Chosen,
yep. A royal priesthood. Verse 9.
A royal priesthood. Kings and priests. A holy nation. I sure don't feel holy. A holy
nation. Hey, peculiar. Yeah, that's a
good word. Peculiar. People. The word's purchased. But peculiar, too. Strange to
this world. Why? Here it is again. Why? Why
did he choose you? Why did he make you a priest?
Why are you his people? Verse 9, that you should show
forth the praises. What praises? What praises? Of him that hath called you. That you should show forth the
praise of the glory of his grace. What grace? Sovereign electing,
calling grace. Sovereign electing, keeping grace.
Sovereign, electing, saving, keeping, calling, redeeming,
grace, eternal grace. That you should show forth the
praises of his grace, him that hath called you by his grace. That's why. Out of darkness into
his marvelous light. Verse 10. Which in time past
were not a people. At one time you were not a people.
A non-person. But now a people of God. You're
a man, like the psalm says, and a worm. No man. Until God reveals the gospel
to us, we're worms. We're worthless worms. Fear not
thou worm, Jacob. Now you're no more Jacob. You're
Israel. You're not a people. You're not
a person. You're not a man. If you weren't
a man, I wouldn't be a man. till God revealed the man. You
know what's that? We weren't even close to a man
till God revealed the man in us. We're still far short, aren't
we, buddy? The man, Christ Jesus. Read on. It says, Not a people of God,
but now the people of God, which had not obtained mercy, but now
have obtained mercy. Have obtained mercy. Like that
redemption. We have obtained. that mercy,
dearly beloved. Not of its thoughts, not of its
ways, not of its opinions, not of its pursuits, not of its desires,
not of its ambitions, not of this world. They're not of this
world, Christ said. But I have chosen them out of
the world. I beseech you, he said, as strangers
and pilgrim. Strangers and pilgrim, read on.
To abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul. You
know, how do we grow in grace and the knowledge of Christ?
How do we grow? The milk of the world. All right? We'll grow. How do we grow in
grace and peace and love and joy and hope and faith and goodness,
gentleness, goodness, meekness, temperance? By the Word of God. Hearing of the Word of God. what's
going on right now, reading of the Word. Take just the Word
of God, a steady diet of it. That's how you grow. I tell you
this, we'll grow mean, we'll grow envious, we'll grow jealous,
we'll grow covetous, we'll grow spiteful, we'll grow resentful,
we'll grow begrudging, we'll grow that way by feeding on this
world. We feed on this world, that's
what this world is. We feed on this world, it'll
feed the old man and we'll grow mean. We'll grow jealous, just
like the world. We'll grow envious. We'll grow
proud. We'll grow covetous. We'll grow
hateful. We'll grow murmuring, complaining. We feed on this world. Feed on the word. Grow in grace. the grace of God. He says, that's how we grow.
Verse 11, a war against the soul. Verse 12, having your conversation
and your life honest. It's a lost virtue today, and
honesty. Believers don't need a contract.
You see, they're words like they're God's
word. Believers' word is just like
their God's word. Our God is true to his word.
Whatever God says, he'll do it. So will believers. Well, I'll
read on. And he says, They speak evil
of you as evildoers, but now by your conversation, your life,
by your good works, which they behold, glorify God in the day
of visitation, the day of trial. That's what it's all about, what
trials are all about. Give glory to your God who's
worthy, who's been so good, been so good, that this world will
see grace is real. That's what it's all about. God's
going to give glory out of us one way or another. And let it
be through praise, honor, and glory. Let it be found unto that,
he said in chapter one. Let the trial of your faith be
found unto praise and honor and glory, not murmuring and complaining. But praise and glory that they
may glorify God in that day of visitation, submit. My pastor
said this, you know what the key to happiness, the key to
peace is, the key to joy is? Submit. As long as we're saying,
no, no, no, I don't like it. Submit is the Lord. And then Job will say, well,
I've received good, shall I not receive evil also? He said to
his wife, you're talking like a foolish woman. Submit. That's all our problem. The key to joy. Now, listen to a man who's been
preaching and been through the ropes. Submit, he said. The key to happiness. Might as well. Take the oath. Might as well. Huh? Might as well. Submit. And he says submit to
every ordinance of man. For the Lord's sake. For the
Lord's sake. Who are you working for? Who
are we working for? I say you. I don't work for Lane or M. W. or Christoff. Now, who are
you working for? That's right, as unto the Lord,
who gave you the job. Well, do it as unto the Lord, he said,
as unto the Lord. Whether it be the King or the
Supreme, oh, I need to hear this, I need to hear this, I need to
hear this. The President, whoever, whatever President we have, no
matter who it is, God sent him. He's my President. You know who
Elijah's President was? Elisha? Was it Elisha? Ahab. You know who his wife was? Poor,
it would be hard to submit to that governor, wouldn't it? He
did. You know who Paul's king was? You know who Paul's governor
was? You know who Paul the Apostle
was under the rule of? Nero, the meanest man to walk
this planet. We start to get into that in
the Bible study. You just wait. You come back Sunday. We're going
to talk about what they went through. And if we can listen
to what they went through and still complain, we didn't hear
a thing. Submit. As unto them that are
sent by him. You see that? Sent by him. Verse
14. Sent by him for the punishment
of evildoers. A lot of complaining today. Let
me just touch on this. A lot of people, oh, free speech. They're murmuring and complaining
against, they want their rights protected and all that. If you're
a law-abiding citizen, you don't have to worry about police brutality. Do you? Do you? The police are mean. Well, don't
you be mean. You want the police, they won't
even touch you. Huh? Don't be where you're not supposed
to be at 3 a.m. They won't touch you. Don't act
like you're acting. They won't bother you. When they
approach you, say, Hello, officer, sir. Good to see you. Boy, I'm
sure glad. I love the police. If it wasn't for the police,
there would be all kinds of crime in my area. Oh, thank God for
the authorities. Huh? They're not sent for the
punishment of good doers, but evil doers. Who's complaining? Evil doers. Not God. The law is not made for a righteous
man. That's what Paul said. sent by him to punish evildoers,
but for the praise of them that do well." Buy you a bumper sticker,
supporter of the FOP, paternal order of the police. We are.
I love the law. I sure do. I sure do. Try living without
it. Read on. This is the will of
God, verse fifteen. The will of God that with well-doing
may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men." Oh, boy. Verse 16 says you're free. You're free, yes, but don't use
your liberty for a cloak of maliciousness or meanness. Servants of God. Now, are we free? No, we're servants of God. He is
the one we serve. get service, free to get bond
slaves, free to do as we please, yet restrained by wisdom to serve
the best interests of our God. Restrained by wisdom. Read on. This is God's Word. Verse 17,
honor all, honor all, whoever deserves honor. Honor them. Drop down to whoever brings you
a glass of water. Give them thanks. Tell them,
I appreciate that. I sure didn't deserve it, but
thank you. Brother John yesterday was in
the study, studying, and he came in to empty the trash can. Here
I was sitting, you know, in my big cherry desk, in my big leather
chair, studying. And in comes the janitor and
empties the wastebasket. I'm telling you, he's greatest
in the kingdom of God. That's a greater work than me
sitting there saying, I'm telling you for a fact, that's what Christ
said. Nothing done in the service of
our God, no matter how little, is little. You know the story
of two angels sent from heaven? Spurgeon said it, if two angels
had been sent from heaven, one to sweep the streets to the glory
of his God and the other to rule the kingdom, he said they wouldn't
argue about who got which job. They'd probably argue about,
no, you deserve, you're better, you take that. That's just a
privilege to empty the wastebasket. John, didn't he say that whoever,
a cup of water will receive the profits? What's a prophet's reward, John? Christ. Get the same thing. Get the same thing. Same one. Christ. A prophet's reward. For
a glass of water. Servants of God. Verse 18. Honor
all. So we honor all. We honor. Honor. What you're doing, Sherry? Stan and Henry take up that offer.
It's great. It's great. A good work. Done what you could and it's
good. One of the brethren went out there. I didn't have a lawn
mowing list up yet. Lawn needed mowing. He did it.
He did it without asking. That's a good work. That is a
good work. Honor all. Love the brotherhood. Not love ourselves, love the
brotherhood. See that he said in verse 22
of chapter 1, see that you do this, see that you do this, see
that you love one another. See, look on every man, look
on the things of others. This is how to know you're my
disciples. My disciples aren't self-seeking, aren't self-this
and that and the other. I'm not, Christ said. I didn't
do anything for myself, although I had trouble from beginning
to end. I wasn't thinking of myself, I was thinking of others.
I looked on the things of others. That's all I did. Let this man
be in you, which was in Christ Jesus, who in the form of God
washed feet. And my peace you'll have, he
said, in serving others. My peace, my love. You love somebody
else, you'll get it in return. God! If you seek the peace of others,
you'll get it in return. From who? God. If you seek out the joy and the
good and the help of others, you'll be helped in return. By
who? God. Well done. You did it to them,
you did it to me. Tear into the joy of the Lord.
Yes, sir. Subjects. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Verse 17. Fear God. Fear God. These things Peter's
telling us are not options. Commands. We should fear not
to do these things. Fear God. Honor the king. Honor the king. Verse 18. Servants. Servants, employees,
be subject. to your employers with all fear. With all fear. Fear of who? Employers? No. Fear of God. And be subject not
only to the good and the gentle. I've got a good boss now. I can
serve him well. Good or bad. Be subject. Verse
19. This is thankworthy. If a man
for conscience toward God endure grief, suffering wrongfully,
What glory is it when, if we buffeted for our faults, we take
it patiently? But when you do well and suffer
for it, take it patiently? This, now this, this is acceptable
to God. This is what you're called, you
see that, verse 21? This is what you're called to.
And not only, he said to the Philippians, not only given unto
us to believe, but to because grace won't mean a thing
until they see it. If you recall, because Christ
also suffered for us, leaving us an example that we should
follow in his step, who did no sin, neither was guile found
in his mouth. Oh, when the Lord was putting
sin on him, did he, oh, when the Lord was charging him with
everything, none of which he did? Talking about suffering
wrongfully, John. You're talking about the innocent. Who, when he was reviled, verse
23, reviled not again. We've said this before, that
people say bad things about us. We should really be thankful
that they really don't know us. You know what? Boy, if somebody,
you know, gives us a hard time, we ought to really be thankful
that they really don't know us or they'd tell it all. And so you're a rotten, no-good,
low-down snake. Is that all? A no-good, worthless... Yeah? Is that it? That's all
I can think of. The half wasn't told on me. Lord sent him to cuss me. Lord sent him to cuss me like
shimmy-eye. Ay, boy. Christ was reviled and reviled
not again. When he suffered, he threatened
not. What did he do? He committed himself to him. I've been wronged. God had them
wrong me. Why is this happening? No. God
did this to me. He knows best. Huh? He committed himself to the judge.
It just shall not the judge. That's what Abraham said when
he was coming. Lord, you going to destroy everybody in that
city? You going to destroy the righteous? Far be it from the
Lord to destroy the righteous. No, he never has. Well, Lord, if you find ten righteous,
will you spare the city? Yes. Yes, I will. Shall not the judge
of the earth do right? Yes. Every time. Ten? Yeah, ten. What did he do? Destroyed the city. But Lot,
who should have been destroyed, John, found mercy. We have a room full of lots here
this morning. Now, let me ask you how good the Lord has been
to you. There are a bunch of lots living inside of us. And there are times when we look
just like Lot, act just like Lot. But God called Lot just
Lot, didn't he? Lot found mercy. Why? Look at verse 24. Because Christ,
his own self, bear our sins in his body on the tree. That's
why. That's why. That's why we're
accepted. That's what's on our tombstone.
Do you know that? Huh? We're accepted in the blood. Because Christ bear our sins
in his own body on the tree. Christ took my place. You know
why? You know why Christ didn't speak up when they started accusing
him of that? When Christ stood before Pilate,
Christ said, Do you hear what they're saying about you? He
didn't say anything. He said, Don't you know I have...
He didn't speak. He was dumb. As a sheep before
her shearers is dumb, the Scripture says. He did not speak. He opened
not his mouth. Why? He took my blood. My substitute,
he said. Starting in the garden, when
he first said, if it be possible, nevertheless, this is your will,
he began to be made sin for us. And when they came to get him
in the garden, he said, if you seek me, my substitute, you've
got to let them go. You can't touch them. You can't
lay a hand on these. Take me, smite the shepherd,
the sheep will be scattered, but the sheep will be saved."
It took him before Pilate, and he said, leveled all these charges
against him, all these false witnesses against him. They had
to be false, because in him is no sin. They wouldn't have had
to find false witnesses against us, would they? Every witness
would have been true. But they had to find false ones
against him, and leveled all kinds of charges against him,
but Christ didn't open his mouth. Why? He was me. Who our, in his own self, bear
our body, our sin, in his own body. And then we went to Calvary
tree and they hung him on that tree and dropped it in the ground,
spit in his face and all that. That's me. That's God's anger
and justice against this old worm, this son of Adam. that
we being dead to sin, verse 24, should live under righteousness
by whose stripes you were healed. He took my weapon. He took my
weapon. He took my weapon. Now how good has God been to
you? Now what have we got to complain
about? Now what can I say about the
goodness of God? Now how should I present my body,
by the mercies of God, as a living sacrifice? Huh? When He actually,
literally, presented His body. Huh? By whose stripes I will
probably never be called on to endure. Cat of nine tails, thirty-nine
stripes, with pieces of bone and glass. Probably medical.
Christ did. He actually did, Mary Forrest.
He actually did. Let them. You know what he could
have done to that man inflicting that pain on him? They came to get him in the garden,
a whole slew of them, with swords and all that. He said, who are
you looking for? And one last display of who he
was. They said, Jesus. Hundreds of them fell out on
the ground like that. Now, who is it? And then they took him and bound
his hands. Bound his hands. Spit in his face. Knocked him
in the face. What would you do? We deserve
it. What did he do? For the joy that was set before
him, endured the cross, despised the shame, felt nothing of it,
be paraded naked, just hang naked in front of everybody. Why? Now,
how good has the Lord been to you? You were a sheep going astray,
he said, but now return. Let's return on the shepherd
and bishop of our soul, the Lord Jesus Christ. Return to him. Oh, we like sheep
have gone astray. Ah, but let's return. Let's return,
let's go back to Bethel, back where it started, as little newborn
babies, and hear the gospel. What's the gospel? Christ, His
own self, in His own body, bore our sins on the tree. By whose
stripes were healed. That's where it all started.
That's what it's all about. that the holy, spotless Son of
God, well-pleasing to God, came to this earth, didn't need to,
didn't have to, would you? I wouldn't have. Came down to
this cesspool of nickel and found an old scallywag like me. Found
a, I mean, a worth of a bottom, scraped the bottom of the barrel,
Sam, took me and went to the cross to do what He did for me
in light of that. Nothing too good. Demands my
soul's best song, the scriptures say. Love so amazing, so divine. Demands my soul's best song. Well, all right, let's see if
we can sing a little bit. You know, I like that hymn, Come
Holy Spirit, Heavenly Dove. Listen to the words of it. with
all thy quickening powers, kindle a flame of sacred love in these
cold hearts of our own. How could we hear this and be
cold? God, we grovel here below. We're groveling. We're groveling
here below, fond of these earthly toys. That's the big problem.
Our souls, how heavily they go to reach eternal joys. In vain
we tune. We're going to strive. We're
going to tune this formal song. In vain we strive to writhe.
Hosannas, we just can't quite lift up our voice, our devotion.
Dear Lord, shall we ever live at this poor dying rate? Our love so faint, so cold to
Thee, and Thine to us so great? Come, Holy Spirit, heavenly God,
in these poor hearts of ours, with our quickening hour. should
have brought a Savior's love. What's that? His love. His love. Let us be consumed with His love
for us. His mercy toward us. His grace
toward us. That's the only thing that will
fill us. His love. Love so amazing, so
divine. And that shall kindle our Now, let's see if we can sing
this. Stand with me. 158, 158. Isaac walks. 158. Come, Holy Spirit, heavenly
dove. With all that quickening power,
Kindle a flame of sacred love In these cold hearts of ours. Look how we grovel here below,
Under these earthly toils. Our stores now heavily they go
to reach eternal joy. Verse four. Dear Lord, and shall
we ever live at this foredying reign? Our love's so plain, so
cold to me. And thine to us, so great Come
Holy Spirit, heavenly love Pray the Lord will not allow the spouts
of the air or the thorns to choke out His Word.