Peter message 10
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Submission
Submission
18 Servants, be submissive to your masters with all fear, not only to the good and gentle, but also to the harsh.
19 For this is commendable, if because of conscience toward God one endures grief, suffering wrongfully.
20 For what credit is it if, when you are beaten for your faults, you take it patiently? But when you do good and suffer, if you take it patiently, this is commendable before God.
21 For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps:
22 “Who committed no sin, Nor was deceit found in His mouth”;
23 who, when He was reviled, did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously;
24 who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed.
25 For you were like sheep going astray, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.
1. Peter turns now from the Christian’s submission to the State to his submission to those over him in the everyday affairs of life.
a. VS 18 Servants: 2 meanings. GW dakonos bondservant.
b. Here the word servant GW oiketna Slave, household slave. II Peter 1:1 Paul, James, Jude all refer to themselves.
c. Today, we are not slaves, we do not have masters. But we have people that are over us. The work place, your employer, supervise, foreman. But a lot of you are retired, so you no longer have a boss.
d. If you are retired you no longer have an employer.
d. But you may live in an appointment, HOA, or some place with rules you have to go by. How you react is how the lost world see you. This goes for everyday life.
Not going to have 3 point in order, give 3 that will all tie in together.
1. Christians have a responsibility to submit to earthly authority.
1. Christians have a responsibility to submit to earthly authority.
2. Jesus submitting set the example for us.
2. Jesus submitting set the example for us.
3. The main purpose of submission is to give glory to God.
3. The main purpose of submission is to give glory to God.
18 Servants, be submissive to your masters with all fear, not only to the good and gentle, but also to the harsh.
19 For this is commendable, if because of conscience toward God one endures grief, suffering wrongfully.
20 For what credit is it if, when you are beaten for your faults, you take it patiently? But when you do good and suffer, if you take it patiently, this is commendable before God.
We talked about a servant. Master. here comes from despotēs. This is the word that gives us our English word despot, meaning “owner” Someone who has absolute power.
a. This goes back to last week government. Anyone that is over you. Where you work, where you live (ELab)
“not only to the good and gentle” Speaking for someone being fair, good hearted.
b. It’s easy to submit to someone who is fair, and good hearted. It’s to live a godly life in front of people. But, people are not always fair, and good hearted.
“but also harsh”
c. Sometimes people can be harsh (those who are over you) Harsh: Cruel, unpleasantly rough.
d. We are to submit, to the fair, good hearted, and the cruel mean hearted unfair.
e. That doesn’t sound like a lot of fun does it.
19 For this is commendable, if because of conscience toward God one endures grief, suffering wrongfully.
20 For what credit is it if, when you are beaten for your faults, you take it patiently? But when you do good and suffer, if you take it patiently, this is commendable before God.
1. Peter does not deny the abuse factor in servant-master relations. READ VERSE AGIAN.
a. It may well happen that a boss might want an employee to tell lies for him or to do something illegal. Refusal to do so could have unpleasant consequences.
b. Or it could be just a bad boss. When we look at this verse from this perspective it is saying, “Employees be submissive to your Employers!...even those bosses that are BAD BOSSES!”
c. So often we have NO problem being submissive to the boss when he treats us good and fair, but when our boss is ugly and mean, we find it terribly difficult to submit to his authority.
d. But not only are we to submit in a general sense, we are to submit in all facets of our service to our boss… let’s face it he is the boss because the company has placed him in that position, so in serving the company, we are actually serving the boss!
e. What about times when the boss is hard on you and maybe even disciplines you? Well God’s word shares with us that we are to be submissive in discipline regardless of whether we deserve it or not!
f. It is easier to submit to discipline when we know we have done something wrong, but when it comes our way when we have NOT done anything wrong… WOW! That is a hard thing to do!
h. But God’s plan for the life of the believer is to be submissive (not passive and weak) but submissive in the fear of the Lord to those ‘masters’ in our lives! Be submissive when they are good to you… be submissive when they are bad to you… be submissive when they correct you… be submissive when their correction is NOT warranted!
i. We are to live our live in the work place like Jesus is our boss.
j. God has called us to submit to the ‘masters’ in our lives. We may not fully understand His plan or why we have to submit as He has called us to do, but we need to remember that God’s ways are NOT our ways… we are called to submit and we need to be obedient to God’s calling on our lives!
k. Peter uses v.21-25 to clarify WHY we are called to be submissive to God’s plan in our lives. It is here, in these verses, that we find Peter actually giving us a template for not only submission, but really ALL Christian behavior… because we are called to follow the example of Christ…let’s read what he has to say!
21 For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps:
22 “Who committed no sin, Nor was deceit found in His mouth”;
23 who, when He was reviled, did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously;
24 who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed.
25 For you were like sheep going astray, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.
1. I want us to notice what Peter says in the 1st part of v.21, “…for to this you were called…” what is the ‘this’ that Peter is talking about? The ‘this’ is our willingness and obedience in submission to God’s calling on our lives!
a. We are called to submit to God’s great plan for this world! We are called to do this because Christ was 1st called to submit and suffer because of His submission! Christ has given us a blueprint for obedience and submission to God!
b. Jesus was submissive, yet He was ridiculed and mocked by the ‘popular people’ of the day (religious leaders)! Jesus was obedient and submissive, yet He suffered greatly at the injustice of people who treated Him unfairly. And in the eyes of the world, Jesus was debased and viewed as something beneath them…
c. But we find that because of the submission of Christ to the plan of the Father, we can now know salvation! Because of His submission and obedience God exalted Him to a higher level! We are called to ‘submit’ as Christ submitted!
d. Peter reminds these believers that they are part of God’s family now and that they have been called to a new way of life… a life of submissive obedience that will bring about suffering!
e. Peter reminds them that they were once like sheep with NO shepherd and lost and could not find their way… but because Christ was submissive to the plan of the Father, they now had found their way because Christ had led them out of their ‘spiritual’ wilderness!
2. Do you remember the Garden of Gethsemane? It was there where Christ fully submitted to the plan of the Father and resolved Himself to do what He was called to do…
a. When Christ fully submitted to the will of the Father…
b. When Jesus was totally submissive to what God desired for Him…
c. We find that this is when Christ was able to face His captors and accusers with a godly dignity. V.23 tells us that, “…when He was reviled, [He] did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously…”
d. When we fully submit to the will of the Father…
e. When we are totally submissive to what God desires for our lives…
f. We will find that we are able to face whatever the world throws our way, and when we are abused, we do not return that abuse… when we suffer, we do not look at those causing our suffering and threaten them…
g. When we are focused on being submissive we are willing to fully and totally commit to Him… because we know in our hearts that God will judge ALL peoples on that final day, those who have reviled and rejected Him are going to be punished and put to shame! But to those who have accepted and submitted to Him, God is going to judge them as righteous and blameless on that final day…and they will not be put to shame!
CONCLUSION:
Today, where are you? Are you willing to be submissive in ANY area of your life? Are you willing to submit to that mean and abusive boss at work, even though you know you don’t deserve it!
I know that it is human nature to NOT want to submit, especially to someone we believe is in the wrong… but I can guarantee you that when you submit to that boss at work… God is going to honor it and bless it!
As believers we must realize that submission is NOT an option but a command of Christ! Are you submitting in your life today?