Sermon Tone Analysis

-Introduction:

Isaiah 53 (AV)

Who hath believed our report?

and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed?

For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.

He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of 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.

All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.

He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.

He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation?

for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken.

And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth.

Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: 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 of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.

Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

Explanation:

I open with Isaiah 53 because it is the chief passage that informs the Apostle Peter’s understanding of Jesus as the Christ.

Most of 1 Peter 2:21-25, which will be our text for this evening, is Peter’s paraphrase and condensed form of this theologically rich chapter: Isaiah 53.

This is significant considering Peter was an eyewitness to Jesus’ life, ministry, atoning death, and resurrection.

It speaks volumes to Peter’s understanding of the doctrine of Scripture, as I see it.

As we will see tonight, the theme of unjust suffering is the central focus of both Isaiah 53 and 1 Peter 2:21-25.

Suffering causes all of us to look deep inside and ask the hard questions of life.

“What does my suffering mean?

Why is this happening to me?

What do I need to learn from my suffering?”

Sometimes when we are placed in the grip of suffering (whether mental, physical, or spiritual), the answers to these questions become a little bit clearer.

The road of righteousness leads through the Cross.

Just check the map (The Bible, of course).

Suffering and persecution are on the way.

Suffering: African Inland Missionary

A Spirit-filled worker connected with the African Inland Mission was giving his testimony after returning from a very dangerous service in the World War.

He said that if someone sent him on a journey and told him the road to take, warning him that at a certain point he would come to a dangerous crossing of the river, at another point to a forest infested with wild beasts, he would come to that dangerous river crossing with the satisfaction of knowing that he was on the right road.

So he told them that the Lord had predicted that Christians would have tribulation, and when the tribulations came he knew he was on the right road.

Troubles in this world are to be expected.

As someone once wisely said:

“The true believer doesn’t complain about the thorns; he just praises God that He loves us enough to put beautiful roses on the top of every stem.”

As we address this central focus of unjust suffering in 1 Peter 2:21-25, we will work under the title: “To This You Are Called”

Let’s take a look at 1 Peter 2:21-25 together:

1 Peter 2:21–25 (AV)

For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow 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 judgeth 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 ye were healed.

For ye were as sheep going astray; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls.

The first concept to recognize, from v. 21, is that “The Christian’s Call Requires Suffering Submission.”

-Body:

1.

The Christian’s Call Requires Suffering Submission (v.

21)

Peter’s opening line is, “For even hereunto were ye called...”

‘Called’ is significant in the Greek, meaning “to be called to a task.”

The word is used in the same sense in 2 Thes.

2:14, where Paul writes:

2 Thes.

2:13-14 “But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth: Whereunto he called you by our gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Paul is here explaining to the believers that this Salvation, through belief in the truth and sanctification, they have been called to.

This isn’t a general call, it is a call to a specific task.

The same is true in 1 Peter 2:21.

The calling is found in the verses prior, where Peter asserts that “For this is thankworthy, if a man for conscience toward God endure grief, suffering wrongfully...” (1 Peter 2:19)

The calling of v. 21 is clearly a calling to endure unjust suffering.

So, with that established, lets examine this calling to a task here in v. 21.

The first thing to note about the call is The Basis of the Call.

a.

The Basis of the Call - “...because Christ also suffered for us leaving us an example...”

Jesus, at the last supper with His disciples, told them:

Luke 22:15 “...With desire I have desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer:”

Of course, you and I are keenly aware of what that suffering looked like for Jesus.

We know He was:

Beaten, Scorned, mocked, spit upon, thorns shoved upon his head as a crown of pain & torment, nailed to a cross by his hands and feet, and left there to writhe in pain until his death.

Additionally, we are all keenly aware of the truth that Jesus neither merited nor justly deserved this treatment for anything He had done or said.

In the very next chapter Peter points out that 1 Peter 3:18 “For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust...”

Peter explains to this scattered group of believers, as well as you and I this evening, that this suffering Jesus experienced is an example to you and I. Jesus’s suffering is an example you and I are to follow in our lives as we endure unjust suffering.

This is the basis and the foundation of this calling here in v. 21.

Jesus suffered not only to provide salvation for you, but to leave you an example to live by.

Which leads us to the second thing to not about this call, The Purpose of the Call.

b.

The Purpose of the Call - “...that ye should follow his steps...”

The word ‘example’ here is vivid and illuminating.

It is the Greek word hypogrammon.

Hypogrammon is a Greek word used as ‘to model.’

It is most closely associated with a grammar teacher modeling for a student how to write.

The teacher would write a word or statement for the purpose of teaching.

The student would then take that writing and trace the letters as way of learning to form them through writing.

It’s similar to those worksheets we see in preschool and kindergarten classrooms on which letters are formed by dots.

The student is instructed to connect the dots as a method of learning to form the letters on a page.

This is the underlying picture found in hypogrammon.

The purpose of Jesus’s example in enduring unjust suffering is so that we might use His model as an example for our own lives, similar to the way in which the student traces out those letters.

So, now that we’ve laid out the basis of the call and the purpose of the call, as Peter expresses them in v. 21, let’s move to the next thought in our passage.

The second concept to recognize is that “The Christian’s Example Requires Suffering Submission.”

2. The Christian’s Example Requires Suffering Submission (v.

21b-24)

a. Jesus as The Perfect Picture - “Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth...”

One of the most amazing things about Jesus, that often doesn’t get near the attention it should in gospel presentations, is the sinless perfection of Jesus.

It will turn your brain to mush trying to think about what sinless perfection must have looked like.

We are so used to sin and war with our flesh, it may even be impossible to picture it.

Jesus is set up in the entirety of the Bible as the Perfect picture of sinless.

He was the spotless, perfect, and complete sacrifice necessary to purchase redemption for all those who would believe.

The writer of Hebrews tells us that, “...we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.”

(Hebrews 4:15)

You know....the greatest thing about the Christian’s glorification isn’t having a healthy new body, but existing for all eternity, free from war with the flesh and sin, to worship and serve God.

Jesus, in the midst of unjust suffering and torment, remained sinless and perfect.

He maintained that sinless perfection even to the point to having no guile in his mouth.

There wasn’t a word of deceit, trickery, or sly attempts to avoid the mistreatment or to get one over on the oppressors.

This points us to the next aspect of Jesus’s Example.