Chapter 2. First Peter 2. is Christ more than an example. Now truly, he is an example. If there ever was an example,
it is the Lord Jesus Christ, but he is much, much more, I
believe, than an example. I wanna read these last five
verses here where Brother Jason stopped. Let me begin with 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 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 bare 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.
For ye were as sheep going astray, but are now returned unto the
shepherd and bishop of your souls. Christ, more than an example. Just a few points here this evening,
and the first one is this. It says this, that Christ suffered
for us. He suffered for us. for us. He, the Lord Jesus Christ, the
Lamb slain from before the foundation of the world. He that was one
with the Father. That's what he said. He said,
I and my Father are one. In John chapter one, verse one,
it says, in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with
God, And the word was God. He, that man, he suffered for
us. The Lord Jesus Christ. John 1.14,
he was made flesh. You know, we read that, but I
don't believe we could ever truly enter into that. Almighty God,
he was made flesh. The Word was made flesh and dwelt
among us, dwelt among sinful men, and we beheld His glory,
the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace
and truth. Jesus Christ, the Lord Jesus
Christ, who being in the form of God, He thought it not proper,
not a thing to be grasped at. He thought it not robbery to
be equal with God. But what does the scripture say?
He made himself of no reputation, took upon himself a form of a
servant, and was made in the likeness of men. And being found
in fashion as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto
death, even He suffered. He suffered for
us. Listen, when he was, consider
his suffering, how he suffered. He was scourged. He was beaten. He was stripped
of his raiment, hung on a cross. He was mocked by those soldiers
and by all those around. And as he hung on that cross,
He endured the punishment of sin for his people. He did that. He did that. When that sword was thrust in
his side, he suffered. And he suffered. Scripture says
he suffered for us. Us. As our substitute. As our redeemer. suffered for
us. He had to suffer. My friends,
God is, God's holy. God is absolutely holy. You know, our children, our children
do things, and I, hey, you grandparents, your grandchildren do things,
and you great-grandparents, your great-grandchildren do things.
And you, you're able to laugh about that, you just kind of
turn a blind eye sometimes, right? He's just. He's righteous. Scripture says he will by no
means clear the guilty. His law, it has to be honored. His justice, it must be satisfied. And the Lord Jesus Christ, he
came. He came and he obeyed the law
perfectly. Every job, too, perfectly. and he died on the cross that
his father, that almighty God might be holy and righteous and
just in his love and mercy to us. He suffered for us, us who
disobeyed God's holy law, us who sinned against God, us who
are guilty and deserving of death and punishment. Do you see that? Christ suffered
for us. That's what scripture says there.
Now, look back at our text here. 1 Peter 2, verse 22. Here we
read, Christ who did no sin. Neither was God found in his
mouth. Back there in Exodus, that Passover
lamb, how was it described? It was a lamb without spot and
without blemish. I believe it's in Leviticus we
read it. It must be perfect. It must be perfect to be accepted. Not my best, not the best I can
bring, It must be perfect to be accepted. The Lord Jesus Christ
was made in the likeness of sinful flesh. He kept company with sinners. Republicans like Matthew and
Zacchaeus He was called, this is what men said of him. They
said he's gluttonous. He's a gluttonous man. He's a
wine-bearer. Turn to Luke. Hold your place
there, 1 Peter. Turn to Luke chapter 7. Luke chapter 7. Let's begin in the verse. Luke chapter 7 verse 36. And one of the Pharisees desired
him that he would eat with him. And he went to the Pharisee's
house and he sat down to eat. And behold, a woman in the city
which was a sinner. When she knew that Jesus sat
at me in the Pharisee's house, she brought an alabaster box
of ointment, and she stood at his feet, behind him weeping,
and began to wash his feet with tears, and did wipe him with
the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with
the ointment. Now when the Pharisee, which
had bidden him, saw it, when he saw this happen, this was
a religious man, this was a Pharisee, he saw this, and he spake within himself,
saying, this man, if he were a prophet, would have known who
And what manner of woman this is that touches him, for she
is a sinner. You know, I believe those Pharisees
thought they were insulting him when they said this, when they
said he's a friend of Republicans and sinners. Are we thankful that he's a friend
of publicans? I'll tell you who's thankful.
Centerists, right? You know, after 40 days of fasting,
he was tempted in the wilderness. You remember that. Satan said,
if thou be the Son of God, command these stones to be made bread.
And our Lord replied, it's written, man shall not live by bread alone,
but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. And
every time Satan tempted him, our Lord would respond with scripture. He was tempted in all... Look
at Hebrews, Hebrews chapter four. He was tempted. He was tempted. Look at Hebrews
four. Look at the beginning of verse
14. Hebrews four. Verse 14, seeing
then that we have a great high priest that is passed into the
heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us go fast in our profession. For we have not a high priest
which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities. was in all points tempted, like
as we are, yet without sin. Think about that. He's our high
priest. He's the one that intercedes
on our behalf. He understands our weakness, our infirmities. He knows our pain. He knows our temptation. It's hard to imagine that God
could have been hungry. But in the form of a man, the
Lord Jesus Christ, he hungered. He became tired. Remember, he
was out there on that ship. He laid down his head and took
a nap. He grew weary. He wept. The Lord Jesus Christ wept. like we are, but without, without
sin. That was revealed. Those two
thieves there on the cross, the one thief, actually at one time
they both, they both railed on him. But at some point, something
happened. Because while that one thief
was railing on our Lord, there as he hung on the cross, the
other one rebuked him. And he said, Don't you fear God? Don't you fear God? Seeing that
we're in the same condemnation, and we indeed justly, listen,
we're gonna get what's coming to us. I believe that's what
he was saying there. He said, we indeed justly. Because
he said this, he said, we receive the due reward of our deeds. We're gonna get what we deserve
for what we did. You know, a man thinks he wants a reward
for what he's done, what he's earned. The only way, the way it's described
in scripture is this, the wages of sin is death. That thief said, we're getting
what we deserve. We're getting what we earned. He said, this is the Lord Jesus
Christ. But this man, this man has done nothing amiss. The Lord Jesus Christ did no
sin. Isaiah 53, 9 says, he had done
no violence, neither was there any deceit found in his mouth. He did no sin. He did no sin.
A lamb without blemish and without spot. Christ, we read up here,
did no sin. He's much more. He's much more
than an example. He suffered for us. He suffered
for us. He did no sin. And the third one is this, when
he was reviled, he reviled none. Think of how he was abused by
men, how he was reviled, when he was called a gluttonous man,
he was called a wine believer. You know, there's a lot of names
each and every one of us in this room could be called, and though
we would not like it, it's probably true. But the Lord Jesus Christ, he's
perfect. Listen, they said he's a friend
of publicans and sinners. I'm so happy. I'm so happy he's
a friend of publicans and sinners. You know, when men say wicked
things, I can't speak for everyone in this room, But I know when
men speak wicked things about me or about my family, whether
they're false, whether they're true, I typically have something to
say back. But this man, the Lord Jesus
Christ, when he was reviled, He didn't speak in anger. He didn't speak in haste. He
said this, he said this one time, he said, wisdom is justified
of her children. When the Jews said he was a Samaritan
and that he had a devil, he simply answered back, I am
not a devil. He said, I honor, I honor the
Father. And on the cross, when he was
reviled, when he was, when he suffered and he was threatened,
when he was scourged, I think about that, just that scourging,
how, just the wickedness of man, but the suffering of our Lord
in that. Those officers, they spit on him. Anything more disgusting than
being spit upon? They smote him on the head. They
took that reed out of his head, and they smote him on the head,
and they said, prophesy. They mocked him. They said, prophesy,
and that was who did that. They plucked the hair of his
beard. They just pulled out chunks from
his beard. In Isaiah 50, verse five, it
says, the Lord God hath opened my ear, I was not rebellious,
neither turned away my back. I gave my back to the spiders
and my cheeks to them that plucked off my hair. I hid not my face
from shame and spitting. That's our Lord. And as he suffered,
as he suffered being crucified in all that pain and in all that
agony, he didn't threaten. He didn't take vengeance. Imagine
what he could have done. He didn't execute his wrath.
No, he prayed this. He said, Father, forgive them
for they know not what they do. And if we read here in our text,
1 Peter 2, 23, it says, but he committed himself to him that
judges righteously. shall not the judge of the earth
do right. He suffered for us. He did no
sin. When he was reviled, he reviled
not again and forth. He, he, his own self, bear our
sins in his own body on the tree. Was it him and then I helped
out a little bit with that? Absolutely not. He bore our sins
in his own body on the tree. Let that settle in for a minute. His own self. By himself, he
walked the winepress of God's wrath alone. There was none to
help. His own self, bear our sins in
his own body on the tree, that we being dead to sin should live
unto righteousness. By whose stripes we were healed. He, Christ who suffered for us,
Christ who bore our sins, Christ who when he was reviled, reviled
not again. who his own self bore our sins,
he took our sins upon himself. He carried our sins. He endured
the punishment of sin. The wrath of God was poured out
upon his son. Sin was punished. His own self. Just as that high priest back
there in the Old Testament, he went in to the Holy Home, he
went alone, but not without the blood, for himself and for the
sins of the people. Christ alone, Christ himself,
he alone bore our sin, original sin, actual sin, every act of
sin of his people. Put away. Put away by the suffering
and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. He bore the guilt of it. What? He bore the guilt of it.
The punishment of that which wasn't his own. It was made his. Not of all men. Not the sins
of all men. But the sins of his elect, the
sins of his people, all those ordained to eternal life. Scripture says this, call his
name Jesus or he shall save his people from their sin. And as the surety and substitute
of his people, our sin was laid on him. We quote this often,
we read it often, and we love it. It's 2 Corinthians 5.21. That great transaction. He was
made sin. God made him to be sin for us
who knew no sin that we might be made the righteousness of
God in him. Gil wrote this, he said, as a
man takes up a burden and lays it on himself, so Christ took
up our sins and he carried them up. By one offering, by one offering,
he himself, by himself, perfected forever them that are sanctified,
them that are set apart. Turn to Isaiah 53. You got to
hold your place there. Turn to Isaiah 53. I love the commentators, but
this is the best commentary on Scripture. It's Scripture. Isaiah
53, let me begin with verse 4. It's hard not to read the whole
book, but look here beginning with verse four. Surely he hath
borne our griefs and carried our sorrows, yet we did esteem
him stricken, submittent to God, and afflicted. But he was wounded
for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace
was upon him, and with his stripes we are healed. We, like sheep,
have gone astray. We've turned everyone to his
own way. And the Lord has laid on him
the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and he was afflicted,
yet he opened not his mouth. He brought the lamb to the slaughter,
and as a sheep before her shears its dumb, so he opened not his
mouth. He was taken from prison and
judgment. Who shall declare this generation?
For he was cut off out of the land of the living, for the transgression
of my people was he stricken. He made his grave with the wicked. And with the rich in his debt,
because he done no violence, neither was there any deceit
in his mouth. Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise
him. It satisfied Almighty God to
bruise him. He hath put him to grieve, when
thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed,
he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall
prosper in his hand. He shall see the travail of his
soul and shall be satisfied. By his knowledge shall my righteous
servant justify me, for he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore will I divide him a
portion with the great, and he shall divide the small with the
strong, because he hath poured out his soul unto death. He was
numbered with the transgressors, he bared the sin of many, and
he made intercession for the transgressors. Sin paid for. Paid in full. He, his own self,
bared our sins. Now back to our text here. First Peter two, Twenty-five. This is the fifth point here. I'll stop here. For ye were a
sheep going astray, but are now returned unto the shepherd and
bishop of your souls. You know, even when we were going
astray, Never a time we were not his
in Christ. But now, but now we are returned. That's not, that's not our, that's
not our doing. It's by his power. It's by his
grace. It's by his doing that we're,
that we're turned. We just read that there in Isaiah.
All we, like sheep, We've turned everyone to our own way. That's the way we turn. By nature, that's what we desire. Our own way. The way that seems
right. The end of the ways of death. his sheep, throughout the word
of God, his church, his bride, his people, were his sheep. He says this, he says, my sheep,
hear my voice. There's some that don't. There
was a time many of us didn't. There was a time all of us didn't.
So he's pleased to open the ear and let us hear, my sheep, hear
my voice. Hear my voice and hear we read
here that we are returned. Returned to him, returned to
the shepherd and bishop of our souls. Listen to just a few verses
of scripture here. Psalm 23, this thing is, he's
our shepherd. Psalm 23 verse one, the Lord
is my shepherd, I shall not want. And Isaiah 40 verse 11, it says,
he shall feed his flock like a shepherd. We don't have to
worry about going hungry, do we? He'll feed his flock like
a shepherd. He shall gather the lambs with
his arm and carry them in his bosom and
shall gently lead those that are young, every one of his sheep. Our Lord is described in scripture
as good Shepherd he's the good Shepherd he's a great Shepherd
he's the chief Shepherd first Peter 5 verse 4 when the chief
Shepherd shall appear ye shall receive a crown of glory that
fadeth not away He's the shepherd, the good shepherd, the great
shepherd, the chief shepherd. But I think David gave him my
favorite title of all. He said, he's my shepherd. Can you say that? Has God revealed
that to you? He's my shepherd. And in our text, he's the bishop
or overseer of the souls of his people. He watches over his flock. He visits them. He never forsakes
them. He'll never leave them. And listen,
each one, each one shall be saved by him, by his obedience, by
his suffering, by his death. We went astray. That's the one
thing we did on our own. We went astray, but we're returned
to him. Isn't that good news? Over there
in Luke 15, one more thought on this thing of being returned. Luke 15 is the account there
of the prodigal son. I was reading this earlier this
week. You know that young man, he had, he came to his father
and he said, give me what's due me. Give me what's due to me.
And he took his inheritance and he went into a far country and
he spent it all. He wasted every dime of it. His brother, if you want to get
a little more detail about his brother, he said he basically
spent it on harlots. He did that. That young man,
that young man, he went away, wasted away his substance with
Christ's living. I don't doubt for a minute he
ruined not only his name, but he probably brought reproach
on his father's name as well. He ended up taking a job feeding
pigs. And he was so hungry, he said
he would just take those husks and ate the husks. That's how
hungry he was. You know, despite that boy taking
his father's inheritance, and wasting it away, and despite
the fact that he had left his father and went into a far country, didn't change the fact that he
was still his father's son. His father still loved him. He'd always loved him. That had
never, I don't believe that ever changed. You know, when he, Scripture
says this, that he came to himself. He came to himself and he said,
no doubt God opened his eyes to see what a miserable condition
he was in. And the son said this, I'll go
to my father. He rehearsed, I'll go to my father
and I'll say I've sinned against heaven and before they, I'm not
worthy to be called a son. Just make me a servant. Make me a servant in thy house.
And he arose. And he came to his father. He returned. He returned to his
father. He confessed his sin. He said,
I'm not worthy to be called a son. He confessed his need. He said,
just make me a servant. But what did the father do? He said, you know, sir, bring
the best rope and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger. Go
out there and, no accident, they slay an animal, is it? Go kill
the fattest calf. My son, he was dead, but now he's alive. He was lost, but now he's found. He was returned to his father. We read in one place that the
father saw him far off. Before the son even saw him,
the father was there looking. The Lord Jesus Christ, he suffered
for us. He did no sin. He's sinless. When he was reviled, he reviled
not again. He bore our sin. He took those
sins upon himself. He bore our sin in his body on
the tree. And here we read, we were a sheep He returns us to himself. You were sheep going astray,
but now are returned to the bishop and shepherd of your souls. Oh, he's much more than an example,
isn't he? Listen, he's my substitute. He's
my savior. He is all my salvation. I pray the Lord would enable
us to rest in Him, in Him. And if He hasn't, that we would
continually seek Him and ask Him, have mercy on me, save me,
save me.