Latest / INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living / Hope Beyond Unfairness Pressing On Even Though Ripped Off Msg 617

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Hope Beyond Unfairness Pressing On Even Though Ripped Off Msg 617 · INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living

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  Speaker 1: Hey, let me ask you something. Ever bought a used
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  Speaker 1: car and realized a few weeks later that what you
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  Speaker 1: really bought was a lemon? Ever dropped eight bucks, maybe
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  Speaker 1: ten bucks on a movie that made last summer's home
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  Speaker 1: video of your family vacation look like the sound of music?
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  Speaker 1: Who hasn't been hoodwinked by a smooth-talking salesman in a
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  Speaker 1: striped suit with styled hair and patent leather shoes? And,
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  Speaker 1: by the way, Who hasn't been burned by a glitzy
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  Speaker 1: ad campaign that promised a lot more than it delivered?
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  Speaker 1: You see, rip-offs like these are relatively often and easy
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  Speaker 1: to recover from. What's a lot more difficult to endure
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  Speaker 1: is when the suffering gets more personal. For example, when
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  Speaker 1: someone slanders your reputation or gossips about you behind your back.
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  Speaker 1: or maybe pulls the economic rug out from under you,
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  Speaker 1: or even worse than all of that, threatens your life.
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  Speaker 1: If you've ever been treated like that, you're in good company.
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  Speaker 1: That may surprise you to hear that. Well, you'll find
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  Speaker 1: out today what good company you're in. However, pressed between
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  Speaker 1: the pages of 1 Peter is a rose-like reminder that
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  Speaker 1: fragrantly informs all of us how to keep going on
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  Speaker 1: even when we've been ripped off. And I should tell
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  Speaker 1: you ahead of time, it isn't the normal way of
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  Speaker 1: the world system. You'll realize that as we read the
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  Speaker 1: scriptures today and as you hear this message. First off,
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  Speaker 1: turn with me to 1 Peter 2. And let me
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  Speaker 1: read for you verses 13 through 25. Once again, it's
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  Speaker 1: 1 Peter 2. 2 beginning at verse 13. Submit yourselves
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  Speaker 1: for the Lord's sake to every human institution, whether to
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  Speaker 1: a king as the one in authority or to governors
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  Speaker 1: as sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and
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  Speaker 1: the praise of those who do right. For such is
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  Speaker 1: the will of God that by doing right you may
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  Speaker 1: silence the ignorance of foolish men. Act as free men,
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  Speaker 1: and do not use your freedom as a covering for evil,
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  Speaker 1: but use it as bond-slaves of God. Honor all people.
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  Speaker 1: Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king. Servants, be
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  Speaker 1: submissive to your masters with all respect. not only to
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  Speaker 1: those who are good and gentle, but also to those
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  Speaker 1: who are unreasonable. For this finds favor if, for the
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  Speaker 1: sake of conscience toward God, a person bears up under
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  Speaker 1: sorrows when suffering unjustly. For what credit is there if,
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  Speaker 1: when you sin and are harshly treated, you endure it
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  Speaker 1: with patience? But if, when you do what is right—
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  Speaker 1: and suffer for it, you patiently endure it, this finds
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  Speaker 1: favor with God. I want to read that verse again.
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  Speaker 1: For what credit is there if when you sin and
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  Speaker 1: are harshly treated, you endure it with patience? But if
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  Speaker 1: when you do what is right and suffer for it,
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  Speaker 1: you patiently endure it, this finds favor with God. For
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  Speaker 1: you have been called for this purpose. since Christ also
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  Speaker 1: suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to
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  Speaker 1: follow in his steps, who committed no sin, nor was
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  Speaker 1: any deceit found in his mouth. And while being reviled,
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  Speaker 1: he did not revile in return. While suffering, he uttered
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  Speaker 1: no threats, but kept entrusting himself to him who judges righteously.
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  Speaker 1: And he himself bore our sins in in his body
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  Speaker 1: on the cross, so that we might die to sin
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  Speaker 1: and live to righteousness. For by his wounds you were healed.
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  Speaker 1: For you were continually straying like sheep, but now you
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  Speaker 1: have returned to the shepherd and guardian of your souls.
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  Speaker 1: Who hasn't been burned? Hardly a week of my life
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  Speaker 1: passes without someone telling me of their being taken advantage
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  Speaker 1: of or victimized or someone they know having gone through
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  Speaker 1: the difficulty of what we call today being ripped off.
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  Speaker 1: Sometime it is from some scam that one is caught
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  Speaker 1: in inadvertently. And with good faith begins a project that
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  Speaker 1: looks right and best, but it blows up in his face.
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  Speaker 1: It's hard enough in life to deal with all the
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  Speaker 1: contingencies that hit us and to deal with the wrongs
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  Speaker 1: that we have committed and the consequences that follow. But
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  Speaker 1: it is at times the next thing to unbearable to
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  Speaker 1: go through occasions when we do not deserve the treatment
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  Speaker 1: we get, but it comes to us in full force.
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  Speaker 1: It occurred to me while thinking about these thoughts from
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  Speaker 1: Peter's letter that the Bible does not ignore the problem
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  Speaker 1: of being victimized. Think with me of some examples. David,
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  Speaker 1: who had done nothing more than kill a giant, became
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  Speaker 1: popular among the people and without asking for it became
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  Speaker 1: the object of King Saul's rage. He had done only
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  Speaker 1: good to Saul. He had done what Saul was unwilling
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  Speaker 1: to do. He had fought Goliath and won. And simply
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  Speaker 1: by winning, he became a popular man in the nation.
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  Speaker 1: And people sang their praises to David. Saul has slain
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  Speaker 1: his thousands, but David his 10,000. And that one popular
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  Speaker 1: song caused Saul to turn into a maddening, revengeful rage
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  Speaker 1: against young David. And if I figure correctly, somewhere between
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  Speaker 1: 10 and 14 years, you hear that? For more than
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  Speaker 1: a decade, David ran for his life while Saul was
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  Speaker 1: seeking to kill him. Didn't deserve it, but it happened.
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  Speaker 1: Another one that comes to my mind is Joseph. He
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  Speaker 1: didn't ask to be his father's favorite. Jacob made the
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  Speaker 1: mistake of showing favoritism to his youngest son, Joseph. And
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  Speaker 1: the brothers, in a moment of absolute hatred for the boy,
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  Speaker 1: sold him to a caravan on its way to Egypt,
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  Speaker 1: lied to their dad, left Joseph in that unbearable setting
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  Speaker 1: of another culture, another language, forgotten, rejected, and for all
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  Speaker 1: they knew, never to be seen again by the family.
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  Speaker 1: And Joseph finally turned the corner, and through a series
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  Speaker 1: of wonderful events recorded in the last part of Genesis,
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  Speaker 1: came to the place where he could show his brothers
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  Speaker 1: full forgiveness, and he did, much to their amazement. Joseph
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  Speaker 1: was ripped off by his brothers. Jacob himself had chiseled
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  Speaker 1: Esau out of his birthright. Now there's another example. Esau
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  Speaker 1: was hungry, having been hunting through the day, and in
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  Speaker 1: a rash and irresponsible moment, admittedly, he turned over his birthright,
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  Speaker 1: And all the blessings pertaining to the oldest child. To
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  Speaker 1: Jacob his brother. And Jacob took advantage of his brother.
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  Speaker 1: In a hungry moment. And they lived at odds against
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  Speaker 1: one another for years. Because of that. How about Job?
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  Speaker 1: Job according to the scriptures had done nothing overtly wrong.
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  Speaker 1: But the Sabaeans and the Chaldeans attacked the homestead. and
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  Speaker 1: not only destroyed the buildings and killed the servants, but
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  Speaker 1: Job even lost all ten of his children. Think of that.
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  Speaker 1: Ten fresh graves. And you could not state a cause
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  Speaker 1: against Job had you lived in his day. Now, some
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  Speaker 1: of you could tell your own horror stories. I realize that.
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  Speaker 1: As a matter of fact, I don't believe there is
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  Speaker 1: anybody listening to me right now who doesn't have a
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  Speaker 1: story of having been taken advantage of. Every one of
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  Speaker 1: us can tell at least one account of somebody who
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  Speaker 1: took unfair advantage of us. They ripped us off. And
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  Speaker 1: we look back on it with a mixture of, well,
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  Speaker 1: a number of reactions. In fact, let me get into
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  Speaker 1: that right now. There are three, as I think about
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  Speaker 1: this business of being ripped off, being done wrong, there
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  Speaker 1: are three very common reactions. First is what I will
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  Speaker 1: call an aggressive pattern. The aggressive pattern, which says, I
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  Speaker 1: don't just get mad. I'm going to get even. And
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  Speaker 1: the aggression grows from simple anger all the way to rage.
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  Speaker 1: It starts with resentment. It builds toward plans for revenge.
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  Speaker 1: Incredible amount of hostility grows within us and ultimately leaves
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  Speaker 1: us bitter and determined to get back at every person
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  Speaker 1: who has done that to us or played a role
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  Speaker 1: in it. Maybe you heard about the fellow who was
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  Speaker 1: told by his physician, yes, indeed, you do have rabies.
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  Speaker 1: And the man immediately pulled out a pad and pencil
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  Speaker 1: and began to write. And the doctor thought, my goodness,
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  Speaker 1: he's writing his will. He said, listen, it doesn't mean
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  Speaker 1: you're going to die. He says, I know that. I'm
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  Speaker 1: making a list of people I'm going to bite. You
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  Speaker 1: tend to do that when you have a chance to
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  Speaker 1: get back. You don't hesitate to make your list. Some
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  Speaker 1: of you are making lists right now in your mind
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  Speaker 1: of people you're going to bite. The very next chance
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  Speaker 1: you get, you're going to bite. Some of you are
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  Speaker 1: already engaged in doing it, subtle ways, which I'll not
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  Speaker 1: even go into. The second pattern is not the pattern
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  Speaker 1: of showing blame and aggressiveness. It's the opposite. It's the
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  Speaker 1: passivity pattern. The passive pattern. And that turns into feeling
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  Speaker 1: sorry for yourself. You've been ripped off. Life, you say,
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  Speaker 1: hasn't been fair. You sometimes call it fate. Fate has
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  Speaker 1: not been fair to me. And so you live your
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  Speaker 1: life with the shades drawn. Oh, you go out to
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  Speaker 1: buy gas and to buy groceries and to pick up
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  Speaker 1: the cleaning and to do some of the essential necessities
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  Speaker 1: of life, but virtually you're not going to be vulnerable
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  Speaker 1: to anybody ever again. You're just passively holding back. There's
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  Speaker 1: a lot of anger in that as well. One of
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  Speaker 1: my all-time favorite stories is about the fellows who were
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  Speaker 1: in the Korean War and they had a houseboy that
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  Speaker 1: they hired to to take care of their things. And,
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  Speaker 1: you know, they took advantage of him. They'd put Vaseline
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  Speaker 1: on the stove so that when he'd go to turn
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  Speaker 1: the stove on in the morning, he'd grease all over
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  Speaker 1: his fingers. And they'd put little water buckets over the door,
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  Speaker 1: and when he'd push the door open, water would fall
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  Speaker 1: on him. They'd nail his shoes to the floor, and
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  Speaker 1: he'd get up in the morning and put his feet
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  Speaker 1: in time. He couldn't move. And Finally, it just grew
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  Speaker 1: to where one of them just couldn't live with the
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  Speaker 1: guilt of what they were doing. And Christmas time, they
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  Speaker 1: called me and they said, look, we're sorry. We're never
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  Speaker 1: going to do that again. They said to their cook
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  Speaker 1: and their houseboy, we're never going to take advantage of
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  Speaker 1: you again. Oh, no more sticky on stove. Nope, no
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  Speaker 1: more sticky on stove. No more water on door. No,
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  Speaker 1: no more. No more nail shoes to the floor. No. Okay.
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  Speaker 1: No more spit in soup. You know, in a passive mode,
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  Speaker 1: you can just spit in the soup. Can't you just
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  Speaker 1: see him fixing chili one night? The third reaction is
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  Speaker 1: a holding pattern, I call it. There's an aggressive pattern,
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  Speaker 1: there's a passive pattern, there's a holding pattern. And that's
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  Speaker 1: to postpone one's feelings or to deny one's feelings. To
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  Speaker 1: literally say to oneself, it doesn't bother me. And all
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  Speaker 1: the while it's eating away like an acid deep within us.
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  Speaker 1: That leads to doubt and disillusionment. That weakens the fiber
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  Speaker 1: inside our lives. You will not find in Peter's wonderful
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  Speaker 1: letter as he addresses this subject any of those three reactions,
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  Speaker 1: though they are all very common. Aggressive is the most common.
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  Speaker 1: Passive is next. The holding pattern is going on right
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  Speaker 1: now in many lives. You're waiting for the moment. You're
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  Speaker 1: just biding your time. Peter writes in the last part
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  Speaker 1: of his second chapter words of great wisdom and wise counsel.
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  Speaker 1: And you will be, if you're not familiar with this section,
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  Speaker 1: you will be absolutely amazed. Because you will not hear
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  Speaker 1: the counsel you're going to hear from God's word. From
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  Speaker 1: most counselors today. From most preachers today. And certainly from
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  Speaker 1: most friends. You would ask about your situation. It is
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  Speaker 1: all wrapped up in one word. Chapter 2. Verse 13. Submit.
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  Speaker 1: Just letting that word come out of your mouth kind
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  Speaker 1: of creates feelings. Here were Christians scattered all over the country.
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  Speaker 1: They are named for us in the first verse of
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  Speaker 1: chapter 1. Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, Bithynia. Five different regions.
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  Speaker 1: They're away from home. They have been blasted out of
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  Speaker 1: their houses. Unfair persecution has come from an absolutely insane
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  Speaker 1: ruler named Nero. The bodies of their friends have lit
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  Speaker 1: the Colosseum in Rome and it will happen again and
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  Speaker 1: again and again. Lives have been slaughtered and will continue
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  Speaker 1: to be. It's fitting that Peter addresses unfair treatment These
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  Speaker 1: believers were the target of mistreatment by government, by neighbors,
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  Speaker 1: people notorious for cruelty had the faces of Christians on
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  Speaker 1: their dartboard. And Peter writes to these people and he
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  Speaker 1: has the audacity to say, submit. Nowhere in scripture is
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  Speaker 1: anarchy promoted. Nowhere in scripture is insurrection against the government promoted.
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  Speaker 1: Now before you write me and remind me of Acts,
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  Speaker 1: I'm talking about an insurrection against the government as a whole.
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  Speaker 1: Overthrowing whole governments. Yes, as we will see, there are
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  Speaker 1: times when one must stand his or her ground as
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  Speaker 1: a Christian. There are times you must stand firm and
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  Speaker 1: disobey a law that is beneath the law of God.
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  Speaker 1: But interestingly, Peter in no section here or anywhere in
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  Speaker 1: scripture encourages the overthrow of the Roman government. On the contrary,
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  Speaker 1: Jesus said, render to Caesar what Caesar has coming due.
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  Speaker 1: Render to God what God has coming due. Interesting the order,
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  Speaker 1: isn't it? Paul exhorts us to pray for those who
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  Speaker 1: are in authority over us. And he wrote that when
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  Speaker 1: there were emperors on the throne who despised the name
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  Speaker 1: of Christ. He said, pray for those in authority over you.
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  Speaker 1: For kings, for all who are in authority. 1 Timothy
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  Speaker 1: chapter 2. And Peter says, as we're going to develop
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  Speaker 1: the thoughts, submit. You have a pencil, circle the word
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  Speaker 1: in verse 13, which is the command. Submit yourselves for
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  Speaker 1: the Lord's sake to, and then he describes what? In
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  Speaker 1: chapter 2, verse 18, again, circle the word, be submissive.
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  Speaker 1: Same root word as submit in verse 13. In chapter 3,
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  Speaker 1: verse 1, the husband's favorite verse. In the same way, wives,
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  Speaker 1: be submissive, circle that, to your husband's. Chapter 3, verse 5,
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  Speaker 1: in this way, in former times, holy women also who
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  Speaker 1: hoped in God used to adorn themselves, being submissive. There's
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  Speaker 1: the word again. He's on to it. He stays on
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  Speaker 1: it even through verse 22, the end of chapter 3,
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  Speaker 1: speaking of the Lord Jesus, who is at the right
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  Speaker 1: hand of God, having gone into heaven after angels and
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  Speaker 1: authorities and powers had been, there's the same word, subjected
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  Speaker 1: to To him, same root word, submit. Hupo taso. Taso,
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  Speaker 1: the root of it means to appoint, to order, or
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  Speaker 1: to arrange something. The little prefix, hupo, means under. It
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  Speaker 1: means to arrange oneself under the authority of another. Clearly,
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  Speaker 1: it's a good translation, submit. To be subject to. To
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  Speaker 1: subordinate oneself to. That's the root of it. You can't
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  Speaker 1: make it say anything else. And no amount of semantic
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  Speaker 1: or psychological footwork will get you away from the command
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  Speaker 1: to submit. And I'm convinced in my heart that if
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  Speaker 1: we were good students of subordination, submission, we would get
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  Speaker 1: along a lot better.
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  Speaker 2: In life.
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  Speaker 1: But it is the one thing that works against our nature.
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  Speaker 1: I don't want to submit. I don't want to give in.
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  Speaker 1: I won't let him have his way in this. And
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  Speaker 1: so we live abrasively. Now let's unravel this knot because
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  Speaker 1: some of you are churning. I can feel it. You're
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  Speaker 1: churning with me already. You're thinking, if you only knew what... Okay,
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  Speaker 1: don't bother. Look at verse 13 again, chapter 2. Submit
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  Speaker 1: yourselves for the Lord's sake. not for your enemy's sake,
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  Speaker 1: for the Lord's sake, to every human institution. Remember, Nero's
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  Speaker 1: the king, whether to a king as the one in
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  Speaker 1: authority or to governors as sent by the king for
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  Speaker 1: the punishment of evildoers and the praise of those who
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  Speaker 1: do right. You don't need me to fuss around with
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  Speaker 1: the verse. You understand English. It's the very same in
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  Speaker 1: the original. There's nothing I can add to it. Our
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  Speaker 1: problem is not understanding what it means. Our problem is
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  Speaker 1: doing what it says.
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  Speaker 2: Isn't it?
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  Speaker 1: Now, why? What's the reason behind the command? Verse 15.
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  Speaker 1: For such is the will of God that by doing right...
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  Speaker 1: You may silence the ignorance of foolish men. See the
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  Speaker 1: word silence? You may silence the ignorance of foolish men.
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  Speaker 1: It's the word for muzzle. 1 Corinthians 9 verse 9
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  Speaker 1: talks about not muzzling the ox that treads out the corn.
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  Speaker 1: Same root word as this one, silence. Silence. You see,
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  Speaker 1: prejudice rumors were flying in those days about Christians. They're
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  Speaker 1: a secret sect. They are people of another kingdom. They
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  Speaker 1: follow another lord. They have plans to overthrow, and they
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  Speaker 1: were the target of those kind of slanderous rumors. Peter says,
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  Speaker 1: by submitting, by doing right before God, you will muzzle
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  Speaker 1: the mouth's of those passing around those rumors. Let's make
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  Speaker 1: it in light of today's terms because we're not living
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  Speaker 1: in Rome. There's not a Nero on the throne, not yet.
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  Speaker 1: Civil authorities have responsibilities in our day. We live in
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  Speaker 1: a city. We build a church building in a city
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  Speaker 1: where the civil authorities have rights that are to be
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  Speaker 1: acknowledged and obeyed. They have no right to tell us
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  Speaker 1: what to preach, what to teach, or which philosophy to
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  Speaker 1: adopt as a church. They've gone too far if they
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  Speaker 1: attempt to do that. If they do that, we rebel
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  Speaker 1: because there is a higher law than their law as
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  Speaker 1: it relates to the declaration of truth. However, they have
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  Speaker 1: the right to say, in this room, you may put
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  Speaker 1: 150 people and no more. It is not our right
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  Speaker 1: and it is not wise for us to put more
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  Speaker 1: than the amount stated by the civil authorities. The fire
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  Speaker 1: department says you are not to put seats that are open,
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  Speaker 1: that are folding seats, that aren't fixed in a worship
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  Speaker 1: auditorium like this one where we meet. To do that
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  Speaker 1: is to rebel against the authority. They have a ratio
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  Speaker 1: between authority. How many cars are parked in a parking
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  Speaker 1: lot and how many people may sit in an auditorium?
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  Speaker 1: Two to one or three to one. You may figure
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  Speaker 1: that way. And when you build, you've got to provide
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  Speaker 1: the parking for that X number of people if you're
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  Speaker 1: going to have this particular size worship gathering. And we're
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  Speaker 1: to cooperate with that. We are to submit to the
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  Speaker 1: authority of those rulers. That helps muzzle the rumors that
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  Speaker 1: we are just a maverick group that will do as
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  Speaker 1: we please, thank you. We prove and we gain nothing
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  Speaker 1: by rebelling against the civic authorities. In fact, we lose.
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  Speaker 1: Now note two phrases in these two verses. 15, for
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  Speaker 1: such is the will of God. And verse 16 says,
• 24:53
  Speaker 1: but use it as bond slaves of God. Very important
• 24:59
  Speaker 1: that we have the right perspective. We do not submit
• 25:02
  Speaker 1: because we necessarily agree. We do not submit because we
• 25:08
  Speaker 1: deep within could support the rules, the codes, the regulations.
• 25:15
  Speaker 1: At times they seem galling and terribly restrictive. We do
• 25:19
  Speaker 1: it for, you just read it, Because it is the
• 25:26
  Speaker 1: will of God and because we are bond slaves of God.
• 25:30
  Speaker 1: Now you see the principle comes to the surface. Right
• 25:35
  Speaker 1: in verse 16, I've got the principle underlined. Do not
• 25:39
  Speaker 1: use your freedom as a covering for evil. Sounds familiar,
• 25:44
  Speaker 1: doesn't it? If you're studying the doctrine of grace with us,
• 25:49
  Speaker 1: you know that we are dealing with We have recently
• 25:52
  Speaker 1: dealt with using or abusing grace so that our freedom
• 25:57
  Speaker 1: is a cloak for evil. And how unwise that is.
• 26:02
  Speaker 1: Peter says the same thing Paul writes about in Romans.
• 26:06
  Speaker 1: In fact, he gives you in little staccato bursts five commands.
• 26:10
  Speaker 1: And wrapped within the commands is that main principle. See
• 26:14
  Speaker 1: the commands? Act as free men. Only do not use
• 26:18
  Speaker 1: your freedom as a covering for evil. Use it as
• 26:21
  Speaker 1: bond slaves of God is another command. Honor all men.
• 26:26
  Speaker 1: Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king. We must
• 26:34
  Speaker 1: forever be aware of our temptation to abuse liberty. So
• 26:38
  Speaker 1: easy to stretch it. So easy to make it work
• 26:40
  Speaker 1: for us rather than for the glory of God. Moffat writes,
• 26:46
  Speaker 1: the warning of a wise leader here who knows how
• 26:49
  Speaker 1: fanatical tendencies need to be disciplined. Now there is an
• 26:55
  Speaker 1: example followed by the example. An example that Peter turns
• 27:03
  Speaker 1: to in verse 18 is slavery. Slavery. Let me read
• 27:09
  Speaker 1: you just an excerpt from a man's study of the
• 27:14
  Speaker 1: subject of slavery in the first century. To understand the
• 27:18
  Speaker 1: real meaning of what Peter is saying, we must understand
• 27:21
  Speaker 1: something of the nature of slavery in the time of
• 27:24
  Speaker 1: the early church. In the Roman Empire, there were as
• 27:28
  Speaker 1: many as 60 million slaves. In very early times, there
• 27:35
  Speaker 1: had been few slaves in Rome. Slavery began with Roman conquests,
• 27:40
  Speaker 1: for slaves were originally prisoners taken in wars. By New
• 27:45
  Speaker 1: Testament times, as we have said, slaves were counted by
• 27:49
  Speaker 1: the millions. It was by no means only menial tasks
• 27:53
  Speaker 1: which were performed by slaves. I found this interesting. Doctors, teachers, musicians, actors, secretaries,
• 28:01
  Speaker 1: stewards were slaves. In fact, all the work of Rome
• 28:06
  Speaker 1: was done by slaves. In fact, all the, in fact,
• 28:12
  Speaker 1: I just read that. The next sentence, by this time,
• 28:16
  Speaker 1: by this time, the Roman attitude was that there was
• 28:19
  Speaker 1: no point in being master of the world and doing
• 28:22
  Speaker 1: one's own work. I believe that for years, but it
• 28:26
  Speaker 1: doesn't work in my family. Let the slaves do that
• 28:29
  Speaker 1: and let the citizens live in pampered idleness. The supply
• 28:34
  Speaker 1: of slaves would never go done. Slaves were not allowed
• 28:39
  Speaker 1: to marry, but they cohabited. And the children born of
• 28:43
  Speaker 1: such a partnership were the property of the master, not
• 28:46
  Speaker 1: of the parents. Just as the lambs born to the
• 28:49
  Speaker 1: sheep belong to the owner of the flock, not to
• 28:52
  Speaker 1: the sheep. One more paragraph. It would be quite wrong
• 28:57
  Speaker 1: to think that the lot of slaves was always wretched
• 29:00
  Speaker 1: and unhappy. And that they were always treated with cruelty.
• 29:06
  Speaker 1: Many slaves were loved and trusted members of the family.
• 29:09
  Speaker 1: But one great inescapable fact dominated the whole situation. In
• 29:16
  Speaker 1: Roman law a slave was not a person he was
• 29:19
  Speaker 1: a thing and he had absolutely no legal rights whatsoever.
• 29:28
  Speaker 1: However well he might be treated he remained a thing
• 29:32
  Speaker 1: with nothing in the world to call his own not
• 29:35
  Speaker 1: even himself. For that reason there could be no such
• 29:40
  Speaker 1: thing as justice where a slave was concerned. Aristotle writes,
• 29:46
  Speaker 1: there could be no friendship nor justice toward inanimate things. Indeed,
• 29:52
  Speaker 1: not even towards a horse or an ox, nor yet
• 29:57
  Speaker 1: towards a slave. For master and slave have nothing in common,
• 30:04
  Speaker 1: wrote Aristotle. A slave is a living tool. Just as
• 30:13
  Speaker 1: a tool is an inanimate slave. The only difference between
• 30:18
  Speaker 1: a slave and a beast or a farmyard cart is
• 30:23
  Speaker 1: that a slave happens to be able to speak. Peter
• 30:31
  Speaker 1: Chrysologus sums the matter up. Whatever a master does to
• 30:35
  Speaker 1: a slave undeservedly, in anger, willingly, unwillingly, in forgetfulness after
• 30:42
  Speaker 1: careful thought, knowingly, unknowingly, is judgment, justice, and law. That
• 30:50
  Speaker 1: is simply to say that in regard to a slave,
• 30:56
  Speaker 1: His master's will and even his master's caprice was the
• 31:00
  Speaker 1: only law. Now I want you to hear that a
• 31:06
  Speaker 1: little bit lengthy, but I wanted you to hear that
• 31:08
  Speaker 1: because Peter addresses slaves. I suppose the only analogy might
• 31:15
  Speaker 1: be today our employment where we work for bosses. Maybe
• 31:19
  Speaker 1: that would be an appropriate analogy and I want to
• 31:23
  Speaker 1: draw some some comparisons as we step into verse 18
• 31:27
  Speaker 1: and following, because I think there's something analogous here. Slaves,
• 31:33
  Speaker 1: verse 18 begins. Lead an insurrection? No. Challenge your master? No.
• 31:43
  Speaker 1: We're back to our word again. Christianity, by the way,
• 31:51
  Speaker 1: did ultimately overcome slavery. But it was not in God's
• 31:56
  Speaker 1: agenda for it to happen in the first century. As
• 32:02
  Speaker 1: a matter of fact, hold your place. It just dawns
• 32:04
  Speaker 1: on me. 1 Corinthians 7, I believe, says something about
• 32:09
  Speaker 1: staying a slave if you are a slave. 1 Corinthians 7,
• 32:14
  Speaker 1: where is it? Verse 20. 720, let each man remain
• 32:21
  Speaker 1: in that condition in which he was called. Were you
• 32:24
  Speaker 1: called while a slave? Do not worry about it. But
• 32:31
  Speaker 1: if you are able also to become free, rather do that.
• 32:35
  Speaker 1: For he who was called in the Lord while a
• 32:37
  Speaker 1: slave is the Lord's freed man. In your spirit, you're
• 32:41
  Speaker 1: still free. That'll make it bearable is the implication. Likewise,
• 32:45
  Speaker 1: he who was called while free is Christ's slave. You
• 32:49
  Speaker 1: were bought with a price. Do not become slaves of men, brethren.
• 32:55
  Speaker 1: Let each man or each one remain with God in
• 32:58
  Speaker 1: that condition in which he was called. Pretty clear, isn't it?
• 33:03
  Speaker 1: Back to Peter. It's awful hard for us in America
• 33:08
  Speaker 1: to read verses like we're going to be reading correctly
• 33:11
  Speaker 1: because our frame of reference is so American. It's so Western.
• 33:17
  Speaker 1: It's so 20th century. that we try to rewrite it
• 33:20
  Speaker 1: to make it fit us, but we shouldn't do that.
• 33:23
  Speaker 1: Let's let it speak for itself. Slaves, be submissive to
• 33:27
  Speaker 1: your masters with all respect. Well, that's great if you
• 33:31
  Speaker 1: have a good master. It's wonderful if you're a slave
• 33:34
  Speaker 1: of St. Francis, you know, if you're working for some
• 33:40
  Speaker 1: marvelous saint like a boss or slave master. But verse
• 33:45
  Speaker 1: 18 doesn't talk to slaves in that situation. Not only
• 33:49
  Speaker 1: to those who are good and gentle, but also to
• 33:55
  Speaker 1: those who are unreasonable. Let me go through this very carefully.
• 34:04
  Speaker 1: For this finds favor. If for the sake of conscience
• 34:09
  Speaker 1: toward God, a man bears up under sorrows when suffering unjustly.
• 34:19
  Speaker 1: For what credit is there if when you sin and
• 34:23
  Speaker 1: are harshly treated, you endure it with patience? But if
• 34:30
  Speaker 1: when you do what is right and suffer for it,
• 34:35
  Speaker 1: patiently enduring it, this finds favor with God. For you
• 34:42
  Speaker 1: were called for this purpose. Peter is writing to believers
• 34:47
  Speaker 1: who have the Lord Jesus living within. He is appealing
• 34:52
  Speaker 1: to believers in their situation to live with what is occurring.
• 35:00
  Speaker 1: Submissive ultimately to the Lord and then on this earth
• 35:05
  Speaker 1: to those with whom or for whom they work. Not
• 35:09
  Speaker 1: only to the good and gentle but also to the unreasonable.
• 35:13
  Speaker 1: Do you have an uncaring boss? Do you have a
• 35:18
  Speaker 1: superior who isn't fair? Do you deal with unreasonableness where
• 35:25
  Speaker 1: you are employed? There's a lot for you in verses
• 35:28
  Speaker 1: 18 and 19. Now, there's no credit due a person
• 35:35
  Speaker 1: who suffers for what he has coming to him. If
• 35:39
  Speaker 1: you break and enter a home, if you steal from
• 35:43
  Speaker 1: that home and sell the goods you stole for drugs
• 35:47
  Speaker 1: and then you deal drugs and then you are caught
• 35:52
  Speaker 1: You will be brought before the authorities. You will hopefully
• 35:57
  Speaker 1: be found guilty and hopefully have to pay for your
• 36:01
  Speaker 1: crime over a period of months, maybe even years, because
• 36:06
  Speaker 1: you have done wrong. Now, if you patiently endure your
• 36:12
  Speaker 1: jail sentence, no one in society is going to think, good,
• 36:20
  Speaker 1: that's wonderful that you were such a patient prisoner. You've
• 36:24
  Speaker 1: gotten what you had coming to you. You deserve the punishment.
• 36:29
  Speaker 1: So you've taken it and hopefully done so patiently. And
• 36:32
  Speaker 1: you've learned from it. You've learned from the wrongdoing and
• 36:37
  Speaker 1: the punishment that followed that it doesn't pay. Now, verse
• 36:45
  Speaker 1: 19 says, I want you to go a step further.
• 36:51
  Speaker 1: For this finds favor. In fact, if you have a
• 36:55
  Speaker 1: new American Standard Bible, the margin, you may notice, renders
• 37:00
  Speaker 1: it correctly. Grace. Here we are again. This is grace.
• 37:07
  Speaker 1: This is grace on the block. If for the sake
• 37:12
  Speaker 1: of conscience toward God, you bear up under sorrows when
• 37:16
  Speaker 1: you're suffering unjustly. Here you are, a hardworking, faithful employee Diligent, thoughtful, prompt, caring,
• 37:26
  Speaker 1: working for a boss who is belligerent and stubborn and
• 37:29
  Speaker 1: short-sighted and unthankful. If you patiently endure that situation, aha,
• 37:39
  Speaker 1: that causes grace to be on display. And I've got
• 37:44
  Speaker 1: news for you. It finds favor with God. It finds
• 37:52
  Speaker 1: favor with God. Hold your place and look at two
• 37:58
  Speaker 1: verses of scripture. 1 Corinthians 10.31 and Colossians 3.17. Locate
• 38:07
  Speaker 1: them both and we'll just read them kind of back
• 38:09
  Speaker 1: to back. 1 Corinthians 10.31 and Colossians 3.17. Got it?
• 38:23
  Speaker 1: 1 Corinthians 10, 31. Whether then you eat or drink
• 38:27
  Speaker 1: or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.
• 38:36
  Speaker 1: That'll revolutionize your employment, if you really believe it. And
• 38:41
  Speaker 1: some need employment revolutionizing. Colossians 3, 17. Whatever you do
• 38:50
  Speaker 1: in word or deed... Whatever you do on the job,
• 38:55
  Speaker 1: whatever you do, wherever you are, do all in the
• 38:59
  Speaker 1: name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to
• 39:04
  Speaker 1: God the Father. Now, can you see by now the
• 39:09
  Speaker 1: Christian philosophy is absolutely radical and revolutionary? You begin to
• 39:14
  Speaker 1: see it pulsating from the page of Scripture. We don't
• 39:18
  Speaker 1: work for the glory or for the credit or the
• 39:20
  Speaker 1: prestige or the salary or the perks. We work for
• 39:24
  Speaker 1: the glory of God in whatever we do. If you don't,
• 39:28
  Speaker 1: you will take offense. at a stubborn boss. You will
• 39:33
  Speaker 1: fight your boss. You will resist your boss. You'll make
• 39:37
  Speaker 1: it hard for your company and your boss and your
• 39:40
  Speaker 1: fellow employees. The purpose of the believer in society is
• 39:46
  Speaker 1: to bring glory and honor to the name of Christ.
• 39:52
  Speaker 1: Not to be treated well or to have life easy
• 39:57
  Speaker 1: or even to be happy as wonderful as all those
• 40:01
  Speaker 1: things are. It's from that perspective that Peter writes. Remember
• 40:07
  Speaker 1: who he's walked with for three of Jesus' 33 years.
• 40:10
  Speaker 1: Back to 1 Peter chapter 2. In fact, you may be,
• 40:18
  Speaker 1: as I was, surprised at the statement that appears at
• 40:20
  Speaker 1: the initial part of verse 21. You're called for this purpose.
• 40:26
  Speaker 1: That's the reason you're in that company. That's the reason
• 40:31
  Speaker 1: you're filling that role. For you have been called for
• 40:38
  Speaker 1: this purpose. Now, here's the example you anticipated. Since Christ
• 40:47
  Speaker 1: also suffered for us, leaving you an example for you
• 40:53
  Speaker 1: to follow in his steps. I deliberately left him off
• 40:57
  Speaker 1: the list at the beginning of my talk. No one
• 41:00
  Speaker 1: was ever more ripped off by the public than our Savior.
• 41:04
  Speaker 1: No one. The only perfect man who ever lived but
• 41:10
  Speaker 1: suffered continually in his ministry. Misunderstood, maligned, ultimately evil. Scourged, arrested, scourged, crucified.
• 41:23
  Speaker 2: Hated.
• 41:25
  Speaker 1: What an example. Peter saw him in that situation. He
• 41:30
  Speaker 1: left you to walk in his steps. Now look at him.
• 41:32
  Speaker 1: Who committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in
• 41:39
  Speaker 1: his mouth. While being reviled, Did not revile in return.
• 41:47
  Speaker 1: While suffering, he uttered no threats. Kept entrusting himself to
• 41:52
  Speaker 1: him who judges righteously. Look at his focus. He kept
• 41:58
  Speaker 1: entrusting himself to him. That's a good thing to do
• 42:00
  Speaker 1: through the day. Lord, this is a hard moment for me.
• 42:04
  Speaker 1: I'm having a tough time today on my job. Here
• 42:08
  Speaker 1: we are again dealing with a man or the woman
• 42:10
  Speaker 1: that I'm working for that is difficult to deal with. Lord,
• 42:14
  Speaker 1: help me. I entrust myself to you. I give you
• 42:17
  Speaker 1: my struggle. Help me in this conflicting relationship. He himself
• 42:27
  Speaker 1: bore our sins in his body on the cross. That
• 42:30
  Speaker 1: we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By
• 42:35
  Speaker 1: his wounds you were healed. I am impressed with the
• 42:39
  Speaker 1: words he committed no sin nor was any deceit. found
• 42:44
  Speaker 1: in his mouth. John Henry Jowett writes of Jesus' perfection.
• 42:50
  Speaker 1: I love this. The fine, sensitive membrane of the soul
• 42:55
  Speaker 1: had in no wise been scorched by the fire of iniquity.
• 43:01
  Speaker 1: No sin. He was perfectly pure and healthy. No power
• 43:06
  Speaker 1: had been blasted by the lightening of passion. No nerve
• 43:11
  Speaker 1: had been atrophied by the wasting blight of criminal neglect.
• 43:16
  Speaker 1: The entire surface of his life was as finely sensitive
• 43:21
  Speaker 1: as the fair healthy skin of a little child. There
• 43:26
  Speaker 1: was no duplicity. There were no secret foals or convolutions
• 43:32
  Speaker 1: in his life concealing ulterior motives. There was nothing underhand.
• 43:39
  Speaker 1: His life lay exposed in perfect truthfulness and candor The
• 43:44
  Speaker 1: real inner meaning of his life was presented upon a
• 43:48
  Speaker 1: plain surface of undisturbed simplicity. Man, that's great, isn't it?
• 43:54
  Speaker 1: No sin. Nothing blunted or benumbed. Nothing hardened by the
• 44:00
  Speaker 1: effrontery of deceit. That's Christ. But they hit him and
• 44:07
  Speaker 1: they bruised him and they maligned him and they crucified him. Now,
• 44:17
  Speaker 1: men and women, he is the example. I know there
• 44:26
  Speaker 1: is a point to which you can go in this
• 44:29
  Speaker 1: that is absolutely unwise and unhealthy. I know that. Most
• 44:35
  Speaker 1: of us don't get anywhere near that. We are so
• 44:39
  Speaker 1: quick to defend ourselves. We know our lawyer's phone number
• 44:43
  Speaker 1: better than we do a verse of scripture. On self-restraint.
• 44:48
  Speaker 1: Quick to sue. Quick to fight back. Quick to answer back.
• 44:54
  Speaker 1: Quick to get back. Don't you dare step across that line.
• 44:58
  Speaker 1: I've got my rights. You can't even figure out who's
• 45:02
  Speaker 1: a Christian it seems. When is the last time you
• 45:06
  Speaker 1: literally and deliberately for the glory of Christ took it
• 45:10
  Speaker 1: on the chin. Gave him all the glory and just
• 45:14
  Speaker 1: kept your mouth shut. It's a rare, rare thing. I
• 45:21
  Speaker 1: say to our shame, we are a fight back generation,
• 45:26
  Speaker 1: Christians alike, as well as non-Christians. I love the way
• 45:34
  Speaker 1: the verse reads. He bore our sins in his body
• 45:39
  Speaker 1: on the cross that we might die to the domination
• 45:45
  Speaker 1: of Of self-will and sinfulness. And live to righteousness. Ties
• 45:50
  Speaker 1: in beautifully with Romans 6. By the way. See the
• 45:53
  Speaker 1: words by his wounds you were healed. You talk about vivid.
• 45:57
  Speaker 1: Wounds is in the singular. In the original. By his welt.
• 46:04
  Speaker 1: Peter remembers. Thinks back to that moment. When he saw
• 46:08
  Speaker 1: that body staggering. Along the Via Dolorosa. To the cross.
• 46:13
  Speaker 1: To Golgotha. And he remembers that scene and he recalled
• 46:19
  Speaker 1: one massive bruise, one oozing sore. Isaiah says his visage,
• 46:25
  Speaker 1: his appearance was not even that of a man. One
• 46:30
  Speaker 1: swollen mass of flesh. His eyes were like slits. And
• 46:38
  Speaker 1: he was as one wound. By that, He heals us.
• 46:49
  Speaker 1: Now you may wonder why. I would suggest such a
• 46:54
  Speaker 1: radical way to respond. When you are the brunt of
• 46:59
  Speaker 1: such treatment. Verse 25. Because you were continually straying like sheep.
• 47:04
  Speaker 1: But now. Now with the right perspective. Now with that
• 47:09
  Speaker 1: submissive spirit. You return to the shepherd and guardian of
• 47:12
  Speaker 1: your souls. Here it is. Submission causes us to return
• 47:17
  Speaker 1: to our shepherd for his protection. I encourage you to
• 47:22
  Speaker 1: do that. Submission causes us to return to our shepherd
• 47:29
  Speaker 1: for his protection. Rather than defending ourselves, fighting, always fighting,
• 47:43
  Speaker 1: For our rights. You know what? It just may be
• 47:53
  Speaker 1: that it's become so much a part of our lifestyle
• 47:55
  Speaker 1: and reaction and culture that we don't even know what
• 47:58
  Speaker 1: the public's opinion of us is. You may think that
• 48:04
  Speaker 1: you're known pretty well in your group as a Christian.
• 48:08
  Speaker 1: Just for a moment, tolerate the thought you may not be.
• 48:11
  Speaker 1: you may not really be that different from those who
• 48:13
  Speaker 1: work around you. With that in mind, I close with
• 48:18
  Speaker 1: a true story written by Nicholas Halas. Listen to this.
• 48:24
  Speaker 1: One morning in 1888, Alfred Nobel, inventor of dynamite, the
• 48:29
  Speaker 1: man who had spent his life amassing a fortune from
• 48:32
  Speaker 1: the manufacture and sale of weapons, awoke to read his
• 48:37
  Speaker 1: own obituary. The obituary was printed as a result of
• 48:43
  Speaker 1: a simple journalistic error. Alfred's brother had died. And a
• 48:49
  Speaker 1: French reporter carelessly reported the death of the wrong brother.
• 48:56
  Speaker 1: That must have been a bit of a shock to
• 48:58
  Speaker 1: read his own obituary. Any man would be disturbed under
• 49:03
  Speaker 1: the circumstances, but to Alfred the shock was overwhelming. Because
• 49:09
  Speaker 1: he saw himself as the world saw him. The dynamite king.
• 49:17
  Speaker 1: The weapon maker. the great industrialist who had made an
• 49:21
  Speaker 1: immense fortune from explosives. This, as far as the general
• 49:26
  Speaker 1: public was concerned, was the entire purpose of his life,
• 49:30
  Speaker 1: so said the obituary. None of his true intentions To
• 49:37
  Speaker 1: break down the barriers that separated men and ideas were
• 49:41
  Speaker 1: recognized or given serious consideration. He was quite simply, in
• 49:46
  Speaker 1: the eyes of the public, a merchant of death. And
• 49:50
  Speaker 1: for that alone, he would be remembered. As he read
• 49:55
  Speaker 1: his obituary with shocking horror, he resolved to make clear
• 50:01
  Speaker 1: to the world the true meaning and purpose of his life.
• 50:04
  Speaker 1: This could be done through the final disposition of his fortune.
• 50:09
  Speaker 1: His last will and testament would be the expression of
• 50:12
  Speaker 1: his life's ideals. And the result was the most valued
• 50:17
  Speaker 1: of prizes given to this day to those who have
• 50:21
  Speaker 1: done most for the cause of world peace, the Nobel
• 50:25
  Speaker 1: Peace Prize. What caught my eye Because I at times
• 50:36
  Speaker 1: wonder what it would read if my obituary suddenly appeared.
• 50:41
  Speaker 1: And I ask you to entertain that frightful thought for
• 50:46
  Speaker 1: a moment. What is your life known for? What will
• 50:54
  Speaker 1: you be remembered for? If you could read it today,
• 51:00
  Speaker 1: would you have to suddenly alter your Deliberately alter the
• 51:04
  Speaker 1: way you've. Reacted. To mistreatment. Some would. Wouldn't it be
• 51:18
  Speaker 1: good if we would bow together. And for a few
• 51:21
  Speaker 1: moments did a little soul searching. I think so. I
• 51:27
  Speaker 1: think so. Just. Block out all other. Interruptions for a moment.
• 51:37
  Speaker 1: How about for the rest of your life, rewriting your obituary?
• 51:42
  Speaker 1: Just re-etching on the stone and then deliberately carrying out
• 51:49
  Speaker 1: that objective or that series of objectives. A follower of Christ...
• 52:02
  Speaker 1: A true servant who lived like his example or her example.
• 52:10
  Speaker 1: A person who didn't first think of my own rights,
• 52:16
  Speaker 1: my own comfort. How about this on the stone? Truly unselfish.
• 52:28
  Speaker 1: An exemplary servant. Who caused others to succeed. Someone who
• 52:38
  Speaker 1: could live with offense. But didn't cause offense to others.
• 52:47
  Speaker 1: That is not deliberately. Brings us back to the cross
• 52:53
  Speaker 1: doesn't it. You sure you know the one who hung there.
• 52:57
  Speaker 1: You absolutely positive you got a relationship with him. Maybe
• 53:02
  Speaker 1: the fight's going on within you these days because you've
• 53:06
  Speaker 1: really not submitted to begin with your will, submitted your
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  Speaker 1: will to the Savior. That's where it all starts. Dear Lord,
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  Speaker 1: find within us a yielded and still spirit and come
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  Speaker 1: in like a flood. Occupy as waters finding empty spaces.
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  Speaker 1: Occupy reserved portions of our lives. Walk through our house.
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  Speaker 1: Claim closets and beneath rug areas as much as you
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  Speaker 1: claim the living quarters and the kitchen. Let nothing go
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  Speaker 1: unnoticed as you take full control of motives As well
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  Speaker 1: as action. Deep within our hearts. We pray sincerely. In
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  Speaker 1: Jesus name.
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  Speaker 2: Amen. The preceding message. Hope beyond unfairness. Pressing on even
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  Speaker 2: though ripped off. Was copyrighted in 1988. 1990. 1996.
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  Speaker 1: 2006. And 2010.
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  Speaker 2: And the sound recording was copyrighted in 2011. All rights
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  Speaker 2: are reserved worldwide. Duplication of copyrighted material for commercial use
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  Speaker 2: is strictly prohibited.