That's a blessing to be gathered
together with God's people. A mercy that the Lord has visited
upon his people. We've been looking in First Peter,
chapter three. Peter's been giving instruction
to the Lord's people in light of
those things that he has set forth for them concerning Christ. He said, for even here unto where
ye called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an
example, that ye should follow his steps. Who did no sin, neither
was God found in his mouth who when he was reviled, he reviled
not again. When he suffered, he threatened
not, but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously. 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 ye were healed. For ye
were as sheep going astray, but are now returned unto the shepherd
and bishops of your souls. And then he goes into an instruction
here for the children of God, beginning with wives, and telling
them to be in subjection to their own husbands. Now we've already
talked about that, and that's in our culture. present time,
that is almost a cursed thing in the minds of modern day people. But the scripture very
plainly says that's so, and the reason that it is, is not simply
to subjugate women. It's not to bring women down,
but it is to show the opportunity that there is to exalt Christ
in that subjection because that's the purpose of the Lord making
the woman subject to the man is so that we might see the relationship
that God's people have to Christ. Christ is the head. He's made
man the head of the woman. Now you can balk at that, or
you can not like that, what it said, but that is the truth of
what the Lord did, because he created man first, and he created
the woman from the man. But lest that a man should get this thing blown out of proportion
in his mind, as many do, and in some cultures, women are made
more or less property. That's not what the Lord set
forth, as I believe it was Charles Wesley said, or who was it, not
Charles Wesley, John Newton. I can't remember who said, but
anyway, somebody said this, that the Lord did not take when he
created the woman, he created the woman from Adam's rib. He didn't create him with a bone
from his head so that she might rule over him. He did not create her from a
bone from his foot that he might trample upon her. But he created
her from a rib from his side. that he might protect her, that
he might hold her, and that he might be to her even as Christ
is to the church. He is our protector. We don't
desire to overrule him. We desire that he be exalted.
And that is what marriage is designed to do. is to picture
the love of Jesus Christ for the church. That's what he tells
us in Ephesians 5. This is a great mystery, he said,
but I speak to you concerning Christ and the church. And so
it is that he says, as he says to the women, be in subjection to their husbands.
He also says to the man, dwell with them according to knowledge,
giving honor to the wife as a weaker vessel. Now that doesn't mean
she doesn't have strength, but it means that she is the weaker
vessel, even as we are weaker vessels in the kingdom of God.
I mean, our strength comes from the Lord. And so it is that he
honors us And so, you know, these are those things that the Lord
instructs God's people as. And he says, you know, don't
let your adorning be that of the outward man. Now, he doesn't
forbid or in any wise say that there is no place for the outward
adorning. of the flesh, when he says here,
who's adorning, let it not be the outward adorning of plaiting
the hair, wearing of gold, or putting on apparel, but rather
the more important thing, and this is the place where God's
people are instructed to spend their consideration, is not in
all these outward things. They have their place, but all
of the outward things perish. They pass away. It doesn't make
any difference how beautiful somebody may be in the present
moment. There will come a time when that
beauty fades and that is not the way that it is anymore. And
so he says, rather than those outward things being the consideration or the thing that
you're pursuing, he said, but let it be the hidden man of the
heart, which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and
quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price. That is a glorious thing. A meek
and a quiet spirit. whether it be found in a woman
or if it be found in a man. That's an outward adorning that
is most precious and glorious. And so he goes on from that.
He says, finally, be ye all of one mind, having compassion one
of another. Love his brethren, be pitiful,
be courteous. Of course, he's addressing all
of the saints of God. and that is our relationship
to one another. As Brother Al pointed out this
morning, you know, we have many varied formals and differences
of thought and action and mind and speech and all of these different
things, different ideas about stuff. But we are not to seek
division among ourselves, but rather he says, Be all of one
mind. Now in that, you know, it's impossible
that we all be of one mind because different people are gonna like
different things and have different desires and that sort of thing
as we walk through this world. But we can, even in the midst
of all of these differences, have one mind. And what mind
is that? It's the mind of Christ. You
know, it's that wherein we seek His glory, not our own, but we
seek to exalt and honor Him. And so, you know, as men seek
the honor of Christ in all things, then of necessity that means
there is a lessening of any honor we desire for ourself. John said,
you know, I'm not worthy to unlatch his shoes. He said he must increase
and I must decrease. And because that, he had that
understanding given to him by the Lord that Christ is the one
who's to be exalted. And so we ought never to take
umbrage, to be upset when people disrespect us. Now, you know,
this is a difficult thing in life because of the flesh. But when we understand that Christ,
who's worthy of all respect, was disrespected more than any
man ever was, and the scripture says, so openeth not his mouth.
He never gave back railing for railing. He had great reason
to. I mean, he could have slain them all with the words of his
mouth. But he did not defend himself, even when he was brought
up before Pilate. He never spoke one word in his
defense. But he said, this is what I,
he said, he didn't even claim to be a king. See, Pilate said,
well, they say you're a king. Are you a king? He didn't say,
no, I'm not. He didn't say I'm a king. He
said, you say I'm a king. He said, this is the reason I
came, to do my father's will, to bring glory to him. He said,
that's my purpose in life, even And at that point, when he could
have easily taken to say, yes, I'm the king, I'm the one who
came to rule and to reign, he could have said that to Pilate,
but he said, you say that. He said, what I say to you is
I came to do my father's will. Now, dear brethren, that's what
we're called to do. Finally, be all of one mind,
having compassion. Why is that? When he was reviled,
he reviled not again. When he suffered, he threatened
not, but committed himself to him that judges righteously,
who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree. That's our guide. He's our example,
that we should follow his steps. He said, if a man smites you
on the right cheek, turn to him the left. It's impossible. That's impossible in the flesh. You can't do that. Because your
flesh says no. And the Lord, you know, he wasn't
trying to make men to be doormats, nor was he trying to instruct
them not to defend themselves, but what he was telling them,
he was pointing out to them, was that the kingdom of God is
not about all of that. That's not what it's about. It's
not about us being right. It's not about us showing what
we are or whatever, but it's in giving glory to Him. If a
man smites you, if he sues you at the law to take away your
coat, he said, give him your cloak also. That's impossible. Man can't do that. apart from
the grace of God. Only as the Lord works in His
people, both willing to do of His good pleasure, can such a
thing ever be witnessed. But let us never forget that
that's what we're commanded to do. That's what we are taught
to do. And not only taught, but given
the example. The Lord gave everything that
He had to a people that didn't respect Him, to a people that
didn't love Him, to people that misunderstood him, to people
that thought he ought to do something different. He said, what do I
mean by that? Well, remember Peter? The Lord
said, I'm gonna lay down my life. Peter said, no, no, Lord, it's
not gonna be so. I mean, we're gonna get this
thing together here. I got a sword here and these
other guys, we're ready to fight to the end. You're not gonna
die. And he said, get thee behind
me, Satan, because I have one thing that I will do, and that
is to do the will of my Father. And He has sent me into the world
to die for your sins, and I will do that. Oh, what a glorious
Savior He is, and what we would learn as the Spirit of God is
pleased to lead us into all truth, to know who He is and what He
did, and that's our example. We can't improve on it. I mean,
you can't learn enough to ever improve or even learn one thing
about what this is. See, you can't teach a man to
love his neighbor. as himself. You can't do it.
Now you can tell him that he ought to do that, but you can't
teach him to do it. The Spirit of God can, however,
and He does as He leads God's people into all truth. What a
glorious Lord He is that we are His workmanship created in Christ
Jesus unto good works. What a glorious one He is that
He's given us a privilege, you see, to be the examples of Christ
in this world. And I can't quite fathom that. I mean, he set the perfect example,
but yet he said to his disciples, he said, ye are the light of
the world. Isn't that amazing? I mean, he
said, I am come as the light of the world. But then he said,
ye are the light of the world. And he has given us a charge.
Oh, that we might be given grace to walk in it. even as he's taught
us. And that's what these exhortations
are for, to remind us of that. Having compassion one of another,
love is brethren. Be pitiful, be courteous. Now
brothers don't always love one another, do they? but they don't
always express love for one another, but generally speaking, they
do actually love one another, even when they're not getting
along, you know, because when somebody else comes along, they
want to defend their brother, because they do love him. And
that's how our love, he's our brother, and he has defended
us to the very end. And he's made us brethren. And
he said, love as brethren. And now what the Lord prayed,
he said, Father, make them one even as we are one. Now some
people have misunderstood that and they have thought that he
was saying to make God's people one with him as he is one with
his father. We can't ever be one with him
as he is with his father. because we proceed from him.
He's eternal, but all that we have comes from him. But what
he prayed for was that we might be one with one another as brethren,
even as he and his father are one, that we might be united,
that there be no division, that there be no discord with one
another. Be pitiful. and is tenderhearted,
be courteous, not rendering evil for evil, railing for railing,
contrary wise, blessing." You know, I remember, a story by
Brother Simeon, or it wasn't a story, it was actually a thing
that happened. Brother Simeon Motz shared this
with us. He was a fellow that was from
Romania. Some of you remember him, but many years ago we came
into his acquaintance. He said when he was in Romania
that one of the men in his church took real pride as a gardener. And in this little village where
they lived, he was known for his gardening, his vegetables,
and different things that he had. And this was really a thing
he worked at on a constant basis. And one of the neighbors, and
this gentleman was a believer, was a follower of Christ, a member
of Brother Mott's church. And this fellow that lived down
the street, was an unbeliever to the point that he sought to
do things to persecute those that claimed to be followers
of Christ. And he would occasionally, he had a cow, dairy cow, and
he would let this cow get out of his pen knowing that this
cow was gonna go down to this man's garden and eat some of
it. And of course, you know what
the flesh says. We're gonna show him, you know. But he said, this gentleman says
he would, when he found the cow in his garden, and it happened
on more than one occasion, says he would take it, he would clean
the cow all up and comb him and everything and carry the cow
back down to this gentleman's house. And he told him, you know,
evidently your cow got out and I just want to bring him back
to you. And this went on for a long period of time until ultimately
this man's heart was broken and he too became a believer. Now did he become a believer
because of this? No, but God was showing him.
You see, he was showing him who Christ was. through this man. And he didn't, you see, he didn't
bring evil for evil or railing for railing, but rather blessing. He blessed the man who sought
to hurt him. And in that, the Spirit of God
used that to teach this man who Christ was. See, what a glorious
thing. Knowing that ye are there unto
called that ye should inherit the blessing. See, there's great
blessing in being given grace to walk in the light that Christ
has given us. I mean, you know, this can't
be, we don't get blessing because we do stuff, but we're blessed
to do stuff because God blesses us. You know, that's a glorious
thing. There's great, it's like Brother
Barnard said, there's a lot of hell on the road to hell, but
he said there's a lot of heaven on the road to heaven. Because
God pleased to teach his people, to show us that we are the light
of the world, and to give us grace that we might honor him. And in honoring him, he would
be lifted up and men would see. He said, you are the light of
the world. A city which is set on a hill
can't be hid. May the Lord give us grace.