2020-04-22 1 Pet 2.21-23
Notes
Transcript
21 For you were called to this, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.
22 He did not commit sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth;
23 when he was insulted, he did not insult in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten but entrusted himself to the one who judges justly.
I. You are not exempt from suffering.
I. You are not exempt from suffering.
21 For you were called to this, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.
A. God is calling you to follow in his steps.
A. God is calling you to follow in his steps.
21 For you were called to this, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.
Illus: We hold a false entitlement as human beings.
As people who have bought into the lie that life is all about our happieness, we have bought into the lie that any thing that deters from our comfort or happieness is unfair or wrong.
This has translated into the way we look at God.
When tragedy strikes we say, God is not fair. We look and question the character of God because the idol of comfort in our lives has been infringed upon.
What we fail to recognize is that we are holding expectations for a level of treatment from God that is above the level of treatment God himself embraced when he became a man.
Simplified, we expect happier and more comfortable lives that the one Jesus dealt with.
Put bluntly, We think we should have better lives than the God of the universe.
Yet here in our passage the passage clearly states that we are called to walk in the same suffering steps as Jesus.
In other words, if you follow Jesus, you embrace not only the great parts of faith, but everything that comes in following Christ.
In practice, that means that even in suffering, you embrace it, pursue God through it, and see God’s calling and hand using it for a greater purpose. An eternal purpose.
24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone wants to follow after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.
25 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of me will find it.
26 For what will it benefit someone if he gains the whole world yet loses his life? Or what will anyone give in exchange for his life?
B. It is in suffering that you most boldly communicate the gospel with your life.
B. It is in suffering that you most boldly communicate the gospel with your life.
21 For you were called to this, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.
Illus: There is no image more central to the christian faith than the cross.
It is on the cross that the love of God and justice of God is most audaciously seen.
We do not have just a soverign God who sits in the heavens away from us, but instead we have a sovereign God who became a suffering God for us.
When we look to the suffering of God on the cross we see our God who who He is.
THere is no picture of the love of God greater than suffering on the cross.
When we suffer well we boldly proclaim with our lives who God is.
When we faithfully endure suffering by faith we proclaim that our hope is not in this world.
When we look death in the face and remain hopeful we show who God is.
God is most clearly seen in us when we suffer. There is no moment the gospel is clear in our lives than when walking through trial.
You are called to be the living picture of Christ while in this suffering so that the world can see Jesus Christ through you.
24 Now I rejoice in my sufferings for you, and I am completing in my flesh what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for his body, that is, the church.
25 I have become its servant, according to God’s commission that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known,
II. God is calling you to suffer righteously.
II. God is calling you to suffer righteously.
22 He did not commit sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth;
A. Don’t excuse your sin because your are suffering.
A. Don’t excuse your sin because your are suffering.
22 He did not commit sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth;
Illus: I can hear it now, why did you do that, “well, I’m under a treamendous amount of stress.”
When we walk through days of tension, stress, we look for relief of some sort.
This is the moment that sin is waiting to pounce on. When you have that tension, stress, and pain, sin is waiting telling you that it can give you the relief that you need.
Don’t believe me… this year, wine saw a 95% increase compared to last. Beer was up 24%. I want to be clear… scripture teaches drunkeness is sin… but if you are looking at the bottom of a glass for relief, I guarantee that sin has a place over your heart.
I don’t want to just pick on drunkeness. With stay at home orders, many have embraced less than God honoring forms of entertainment to numb and sooth the stress and anxiety of the day.
For some, the always present dangers of porn is sitting just a few clicks away. For some the sin of gossip or vanity sits at the computer screen.
Perhaps it is the vanity of being noticed online so you magnify your words or live posting selfies so that you gain a name and the likes.
Perhaps it is just spending your days complaining about how others are not living up to your expectations.
Need I go on about the familure idols of politics or gluttony?
Every single one of these is waiting to capture your heart and lead you away from the hope of God.
Tension, stress, and pain can destroy your life if you give yourself over to sin.
On the other hand, tension, stress, and pain can lead you to know God as you learn to trust him and find the relief of life through these days.
look at how God will work if you turn to him and not sin...
3 And not only that, but we also rejoice in our afflictions, because we know that affliction produces endurance,
4 endurance produces proven character, and proven character produces hope.
5 This hope will not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
B. Your mouth reveals your heart in the midst of suffering.
B. Your mouth reveals your heart in the midst of suffering.
22 He did not commit sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth;
Illus: If you want to know who you really are deep down, listen to what comes out of your mouth… and more aptly look at what is coming off your keyboard.
The heart overflows into the mouth or onto the keyboard.
Before ever speaking, or posting, ask yourself the question… Would my words at this moment lead the person I am talking about closer to, or farther away from Jesus.
Would my insult of their political party, race, economic reality, weight, looks, ect. display the love of Jesus Christ?
If you call yourself a follower of Christ and your online presence is spent mocking/exposing/ridiculing your fellow man, your are not leading people to Christ, but actually pushing them away from Christ.
Deep within each of us is a sinful pride which wants to show how we are better than them. In the midst of suffering, many times our outlet is in trying to blame others or use them as a scapegoat for our suffering.
They question for you is, what are your words exposing right now.
6 And the tongue is a fire. The tongue, a world of unrighteousness, is placed among our members. It stains the whole body, sets the course of life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.
7 Every kind of animal, bird, reptile, and fish is tamed and has been tamed by humankind,
8 but no one can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.
9 With the tongue we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in God’s likeness.
10 Blessing and cursing come out of the same mouth. My brothers and sisters, these things should not be this way.
III. God is calling you to suffer in faith.
III. God is calling you to suffer in faith.
23 when he was insulted, he did not insult in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten but entrusted himself to the one who judges justly.
A. While suffering entrust yourself to God.
A. While suffering entrust yourself to God.
Illus: How can you embody the suffering of Jesus, righteously, hopefully… honoring God?
Wes, don’t you know what others are doing…
Peter says trust that God will make all things right. He will judge justly.
You, live your life Godward, placing your hope solely in God, pursuing holiness, and embodying the suffering of Christ. Trust that God is in control.
33 I have told you these things so that in me you may have peace. You will have suffering in this world. Be courageous! I have conquered the world.”