Obeying God in the Workplace 1 Peter 2:18-25

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If you've lived long enough, you've probably had one of these in the workplace.
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You know what I'm talking about. A bad boss. Sometimes whether you like your job or not depends completely on this.
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Do you like your supervisor? My brother -in -law, before he was my brother -in -law, once had a summer job so he could be closer to my sister while they were dating in college.
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The job was at a local restaurant and the difficult part about this job was not the work itself, but the boss placed over him who had a quick temper.
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While he was working this job over the summer, my parents, brother, and I took a trip to Alaska.
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While we were away, we got a phone call from my sister telling us that this owner of the restaurant fired him on the spot because of a disagreement.
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When this happened, as you might expect, he was devastated. But he did not stay away for long.
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Over the next few days, he went back to work and to his surprise was welcomed back. A couple of the cooks who had worked there for years told him, you haven't worked here till you've been fired.
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Now in my life, I've done much more than just pastor.
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After my first year of college, I spent the summer painting, then in between my sophomore and junior year,
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I got a job at a running store. At this job, I had the most wonderful manager who made a wonderful work environment.
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It was the best work environment a college student could ask for. Then after college, I worked as a sales representative for a running shoe company and also was an assistant cross -country and track coach at a local high school.
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At these places, the people I worked under also made, largely speaking, a positive work environment.
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While I was in seminary, I also held another job. I was a guard, they called it a security officer to make it sound more fancy.
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This is when I had a similar experience to my brother -in -law. I had a boss with a quick temper and one time,
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I received a phone call from him and I picked up the phone and he started chewing me out and I didn't even know what it was about.
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He was just yelling at me through the phone and I was thinking, what did I do?
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What did I do that was wrong to receive that kind of treatment?
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But then I talked to a good friend who had worked under this guy for many years and he said, yeah, we've all been chewed out several times.
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But this experience was rare to me, largely speaking, because largely speaking, I've been blessed with pretty good bosses.
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And this morning, what we are going to look at is something that Christians of old dealt with.
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They dealt with the workplace just like we did, just like we do, I should say.
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And Peter, the Apostle Peter, is writing within this context where there's employees and then there's employers over them.
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And in ancient times, one of the main forces of the economy was the master -slave relationship, the master -slave relationship, which is comparable to employer and employee, and I'm going to talk about that in a little bit.
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So we're going to look at that this morning, this human institution. How are Christians supposed to live in the context of this employer and employee?
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So as we continue our sermon series through 1 Peter, we are going to look at this. And the text we are going to look at is 1
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Peter chapter 2, verses 18 through 25. That's where we will see this. So if you do not have a
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Bible, we do have the red Bibles in the pews, so I encourage you to turn there with me.
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This sermon is titled, Obeying God in the Workplace. Last Sunday it was,
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Obeying God's Government. This Sunday it's, Obeying God in the Workplace. And I'm going to begin by reading the text, 1
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Peter chapter 2, verses 18 through 25. When you do not even suffer for it, you endure.
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This is a gracious thing in the sight of God. For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps.
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He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return.
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When he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly.
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He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness.
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By his wounds you have been healed. For you were strained like sheep, but now have returned to the shepherd and overseer of your souls.
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Here's our big idea. What this text, what this sermon is calling you to do. Strive to be a model employee for the glory of God.
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Strive to be a model employee for the glory of God. We're going to see five instructions how in these verses, but before we jump in, let me give you a little recap of where we have been, as I've already alluded to.
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We looked at the submission to government last week, and what
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I explained there is that most of the time we are to submit to government. Government has been put in place by God for our good.
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It's been put in place to provide order in society. So by obeying government, what we are doing is we are contributing to the order of society that God has put in place.
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I did mention that there are occasions when we should disobey. There is a biblical category for civil disobedience, and we need the wisdom to know when that is.
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But most of the time we should be good, law -abiding citizens who does what the government tells us and then have the wisdom to know when that changes.
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Now we've already read the text this morning. Now we're going to zero in on what we have read, and we're going to begin by zeroing in on verse 18, where once again
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Peter writes, Servants, be subject to your masters with all respect, not only to the good and gentle, but also to the unjust.
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What you'll notice is that Peter addresses his readers as servants. This would have been the lot in life for some of his readers in the churches in Asia Minor to whom he is writing.
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Another word for servant is bondservant or slave. When we hear the word slave, immediately a chill goes through our bones.
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What comes to our mind is the slavery that took place in biblical history when the
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Israelites were in bondage to the Egyptians. What also comes to mind is the slavery in American history when blacks in the
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South were in slavery in that part of the country, and slavery of course came to an end in America after the
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Civil War in 1865. As I mentioned in the introduction, slavery was a huge deal in the
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Roman Empire. It was a huge part of the economy at this time in history, not just in the
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Roman Empire, but everywhere on the earth. Much of the economy was the master -slave relationship.
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One thing that may come to our minds is why did Peter and Paul write about this master -slave relationship and why did they not call for the end of slavery?
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I think that the question that comes up as we read this, slavery is an institution that is only present in a fallen world.
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There have been many Christians historically who have fought against slavery, and of course the
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Lord was pleased with these efforts. In the early 19th century, British politician
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William Wilberforce was the leading force in ending the slave trade. One source said
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Wilberforce's efforts helped to ban the slave trade in 1807 and abolish slavery in the
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British Empire in 1833, thus freeing millions of formerly enslaved people.
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But this is not what Peter and Paul did in the Bible. They desired that certain Christians would have the calling to do this, but this was not the focus of these two apostles.
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While the master -slave relationship was dominant in the Roman Empire, Peter and Paul instructed
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Christians how to live in this environment. This instruction here is not only for how slaves were to live under their masters, but also how employees were to live under their employers.
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So as we go through this text, this relationship of supervisor and employee should be on our minds.
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What Peter writes in verse 18 is that servants are to be subject to your masters with all respect.
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What does he mean by subject? Just like it sounds. What he means is that they need to understand who is an authority and who is not.
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Authority structures are given by God, and they are given by God for the benefit of humanity.
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Just like with government, these structures bring order to society. For things to run smoothly, there needs to be someone in charge.
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There needs to be a leader, and if there is someone in charge, then there is someone under their authority.
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In our day, the word submission is a naughty word. Immediately alarms go off. Immediately, people think inferiority.
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For someone to be under someone's authority means that person is somehow inferior, and we need to take that out of our minds.
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What we're talking about is roles. Someone is in charge, and someone is under their authority, and this is how things function properly, and one of the things we see in our society is there's a challenge to authority, and we know this comes from the devil, because if there's no authority, then there's chaos.
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So we need to understand his designs. Every authority structure in society ultimately mirrors the ultimate authority structure.
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That structure is humanity's submission to its creator. Whether people like it or not,
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God is in charge. He is the ultimate authority. Even the most rabid opponents, like an atheist, are owned by God.
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He is our creator, and as our creator, he always deserves honor and respect.
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Now the authority structures in society are flawed, yes, but we need to understand that they mirror the ultimate authority structure, creatures and the creator.
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What Peter is writing is an authority structure that is deeply flawed. It is the slave -master relationship, but it is still an authority structure.
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As I said, this is a workplace authority that all of us can relate to.
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Now some of you own your own business, but even if you own your own business, you can relate to this because, for one, you have not always been in that position, and two, even if you don't have a human boss above you, you have a boss, and that boss is
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God. As Colossians 4 .1 says, masters treat your bondservants justly and fairly, knowing that you also have a master in heaven.
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Furthermore, this should inspire all bosses to be a boss that people love working for, a boss that is easy to submit to.
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But the focus of this text is not bosses, but those working under their authority. Just as humans are to show respect to their creator, so employees are to show respect to their employers.
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As Peter writes, be subject with all respect. How does one show respect?
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It means being a reliable employee, working hard for your employer.
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It means showing kindness to your employer and not talking back. What Peter makes clear is that this respect should be shown no matter what kind of a boss you have.
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To think about this is convicting, because we might think that if you have a bad boss, then you have the right to throw off the gloves and no longer treat him or her well.
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But Peter is telling his readers and us, followers of Christ do not live in this way.
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Followers of Christ even treat bad bosses well. As he once again writes, be subject to your masters with all respect, not only to the good and gentle, but also to the unjust.
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Some bosses are easy to submit to. In the introduction, I explained that most of my bosses have been easy to work for.
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But I had one that was really hard. He chewed me out when I didn't think
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I did anything wrong. I also mentioned that my brother -in -law had a boss who fired not only him, but it was a regular thing.
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You're fired. And then the next day, okay, you're back. That's a hard person to respect.
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That's a hard person to submit to. But what Peter is saying is even that boss, we need to show a certain respect to.
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This is what the Lord calls you to in verse 18. So strive to be a model employee for the glory of God. And the first instruction how is by respecting every employer over you.
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The second instruction how you are to strive to be a model employee for the glory of God is by suffering in a manner where the
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Lord's favor is upon you. And we'll see this in verses 19 and 20. We'll start by looking closely at verse 19, where Peter writes once again, for this is a gracious thing when mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly.
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When Peter writes, this is a gracious thing, what he's saying is that God's favor is over you as you submit even to a bad boss.
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I like how the NIV translates this verse, for it is commendable if someone bears up under the pain of unjust suffering because they are conscious of God.
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The Lord is pleased because you are showing that you trust Him. You trust
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His care over you. You understand that He sees your sorrows. He sees the difficulty of your work environment.
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He sees your sighing and your tears as you go through your work day, as you drive home.
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He sees that you are not taking everything into your own hands. You do not need to make everything right.
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He will right every wrong. As one works faithfully in this environment, you are showing that you respect
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His authority structure. You might not think highly of your boss, but you respect that He puts certain people in charge and certain people under that person, and so you're showing respect to Him.
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As an employee, you recognize that your role is the role of submission. What you are doing is honoring
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God's order structure by submitting even when it is hard to. You don't have to worry about your employer getting away with what they are doing if they do something wrong.
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The Lord sees it all, but you honor Him as you obey how one in a subordinate position is supposed to behave.
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Your task in that position is to show respect to the one who in God's providence has been placed over you.
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It's very important for us to understand God's providence. What does this mean? His providence means that He ordains everything.
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Ephesians 111 says, He works all things according to the counsel of His will.
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He writes the story of your life. What boss you have,
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He gave you that boss. If you have a great boss, thank Him for that. But if you have a difficult boss, understand that you are not under this person's authority by accident.
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In this difficult environment, He calls you to show respect. So as you respect your boss, you are trusting
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His sovereign care over you. You are trusting that He knows what He is doing.
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You are there for a reason. You are to display His glory in different ways. Any wrong that is done to you,
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He will make right. Now Peter continues in verse 20 by explaining that those who suffer injustice in the workplace are blessed.
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What he says is, for what credit is it? If when you sin and are being for it, you endure.
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But if when you do good and suffer for it, you endure. This is a gracious thing in the sight of God.
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What Peter writes here, he actually writes in another place in 1 Peter 4 verses 14 -16, if you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed.
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Because the spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or as an evildoer or as a meddler.
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Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed but let him glorify
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God in that name. There are different kinds of suffering in this world.
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If someone commits a crime and gets caught, there is a suffering that comes from that and that suffering is the consequences.
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It is discipline. It is correction. That's why they call them correctional officers.
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As the old saying goes, you do the crime, you do the time.
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The suffering that comes from sins and crimes are the consequences for wrong actions.
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On the other hand, if you are placed in an environment where you are doing what you are supposed to do and you are mistreated, the
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Lord's blessing is upon you. When Joseph was put in prison by Potiphar, when he was falsely accused of trying to commit adultery by Potiphar's wife,
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Genesis 39 .21 says the Lord was with Joseph and showed him steadfast love.
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The Lord's blessing is upon those who suffer unjustly. The people who suffer unjustly can feel his sweet presence.
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As one does this, one is an inspiration to keep following the Lord in this difficult environment.
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This is what will keep you going, knowing that the Lord's blessing is upon you as you are mistreated in the workplace.
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In this environment, he does far more good than you can imagine. The fact that you know the
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Lord's favor is upon you will bring you great comfort as you endure the difficulty of working under an unjust boss.
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So strive to be a model employee for the glory of God. The second instruction how is by suffering in a manner that brings
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God's blessing, that brings his favor upon you. The third instruction how you are to strive to be a model employee for the glory of God is by following Jesus' example as you endure.
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And we'll see this in verses 21 through the first half of 23. Once Peter explains that you are to submit to your boss in your place of employment, he then gives
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Jesus as the ultimate example to follow, and he always is the ultimate example.
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And this is what Peter lays out in verse 21. Peter writes, For to this you have been called because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example so that you might follow in his steps.
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In the previous verses, Peter explained the position of the servant or employee who is mistreated by their boss.
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What we saw is that you are to submit by showing respect even to the worst of managers.
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What Peter explains is how Jesus carried himself as he was being mistreated at the cross by the governing authorities.
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Think about what the governing authorities did to Jesus. The Jewish leaders falsely accused him, and they delivered him over to the
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Romans to be crucified. And the Romans, they didn't mind doing the dirty work for the
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Jews as they crucified him. And yet through this whole thing, Jesus held himself tremendously.
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This is what Jesus did in verses 22 and 23. He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth.
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When he was reviled, he did not revile in return. When he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued in trusting himself.
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So during Jesus' entire suffering at the hands of evil men, he remarkably did not sin.
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He did not sin in this moment, nor did he sin during his entire life. Everything that Jesus did during his life through thought, word, and deed was done fully to the glory of his
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Father. As verse 22 says, he committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth.
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The temptation when being mistreated is to respond in anger, but Jesus did not do this.
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As verse 23 again says, when he was reviled, he did not revile in return. When he suffered, he did not threaten.
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We must understand that when we are mistreated, the reality is that we still have sin in us.
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Even when we're the innocent party, we are still sinners who need a
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Savior, who need to be made right before God, but this was not the case with Jesus.
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He's the only person who is 100 % innocent. He's the only man ever to live who deserved only praise, and yet he was treated the most horrible way when he was crucified.
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But even though this was the case, he did not revile and he did not threaten. As Jesus was being treated this horribly, he mostly remained silent, but he did say a few words and everything that he said was exactly what needed to be said.
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The words that Jesus said on the cross are known as Jesus' seven last words. What Peter writes at the end of verse 22 is that everything that came out of his mouth was truthful.
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There was no deceit ever found in him. Jesus said in Matthew 12, 34, that out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks, and every word that he spoke showed the purity of his heart.
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And what an example Jesus sets for you and me. He was treated horribly, and yet he carried himself with honor.
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Now there is a time to speak when being treated horribly, and we need to know when that is, but many times the best thing to do is to say nothing.
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In so doing, the truth will come out where the righteous will see the one who is truly in the right.
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Any honest person looking on at what happened to Jesus at the cross knows how evil the Jewish leaders and Roman soldiers were and how innocent he was.
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His father was pleased as his son carried himself with honor, and so too is the Lord pleased with you as you carry yourself with honor, as you are mistreated by those put in authority over you in the workplace.
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Next time you are mistreated, think of Jesus. Think of how he endured being horribly mistreated.
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Think of the honor he carried himself with. Most of the world doesn't do this, but how you will stand out as you reflect
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Jesus in this way. Most of the world just wants to shout back, right?
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Make a scene. Jesus just took it remarkably, and what an example he is, knowing that he would be vindicated in the end.
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So strive to be a model employee for the glory of God, and the third instruction how is by following Jesus' example as you endure.
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Now I've already alluded to this, the fourth point here, but here's the fourth point. The fourth instruction how is by trusting that God will right every wrong.
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I've said this throughout the sermon. The second half of verse 23 says that Jesus continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly.
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What Peter is communicating is that as one suffers unjustly in the workplace, the
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Lord notices everything that you face. The Lord is very pleased when his people trust in him in those times.
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When my boss, when I worked security, chewed me out, how tempting it was to share my mind with him.
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My flesh wanted to share that. Everything in me wanted to share that, but by the grace of God, it didn't happen, thankfully.
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One time when I was in seminary, a professor sent me an email. He didn't like what I wrote, and to drive home the point that he didn't like what
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I wrote, he put ten exclamation points after it. And I'm like, that doesn't sound professional.
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In fact, this professor was later let go because of some anger issues. And everything in me wanted to fight back, but I'm like, okay,
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I shouldn't do that. And thankfully the Lord held me back that I didn't do that.
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And this should be the usual pattern for us. If a boss or someone in authority insults you or mistreats you in some way, the biblical thing to do in most cases is to take it.
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As hard as that is, I remember when I was in college, I had a friend who just got under my skin, and maybe
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I shouldn't call him a friend, I don't know, but he really got under my skin. And another roommate used to tell me, because I would express my frustration, and he would say, be the bigger man.
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You don't need to go down to his level. Be the bigger man. And there's an interesting proverb that talks about what should we do when we're insulted, when we're treated horribly.
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Proverbs 26, verses 4 and 5. Verse 4 says, answer not a fool according to his folly, lest you be like him yourself.
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In this verse, Peter, or I should say the proverb, is communicating that when people say things incredibly foolish to us, sometimes it's not even worth responding.
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When my boss chewed me out, what he was saying was irrational. It was not appropriate to respond.
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My record as a worker spoke for itself. If I responded the way that he spoke to me,
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I would be entering the gutter with him. But to say nothing was the right thing to do.
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But sometimes, and we need the wisdom to know when this is, and it's probably a minority of times, but the next verse in Proverbs, Proverbs 26, 5, says this.
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Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own eyes. We're thinking, okay, that's a contradiction.
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It's not a contradiction. What it's saying is, most of the time, don't answer a fool according to their folly.
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But what if the fool is getting traction? What if he's getting somewhere with what he's saying?
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Well then there's a time to respond. What's interesting is that in 2 Corinthians, there were some false teachers that made their way in.
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They were the false apostles, and they were gaining traction. People were actually believing that they were the ones from Christ, and that Paul was not.
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They were better speakers than him. They were more eloquent. They knew what to say to deceive people, and so Paul set it straight.
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He defended his ministry because he needed to. But this is a minority of times.
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And while there are times to respond in the workplace, this doesn't mean never say anything. Maybe sometimes it's, you know what,
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I need to address this with the human resource department. That might be appropriate, and you need to pray about that.
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But most of the time, a Christian worker is to focus on being a good employee rather than calling out their boss.
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This should be the pattern in these imperfect environments. And this is what
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Peter is communicating. What you must understand is that revenge is never an option.
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When you are mistreated, there must be a deep trust in the Lord that He will make everything right, and the timing of when
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He makes everything right may not take place in this life, as hard as that is.
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I mean, sometimes we want to see justice. We just want to see it. We want to see it soon. But it doesn't always work that way.
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Sometimes people will get away with everything, and they will die. But they will meet the judge.
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And at the final judgment, every wrong will be righted. And so instead of seeking vengeance, we must trust in the
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Lord and say, Lord, You will take care of this. Romans 12, 19 says, Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God.
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For it is written, Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord. For the
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Christian, the judgment day is a good thing. For one, you will not be sent to hell, because Christ paid for your sins, and His righteousness is your righteousness.
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But it's also a good thing, because it's the day when nobody gets away with anything. Nobody gets away with anything.
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Anyone who has wronged you, you are not to hold bitterness, but rather to have a forgiving spirit, knowing that at the judgment, this wrong will be righted.
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Every wrong will be made right, either in hell, or at the cross of Jesus Christ. And if you are here today, and you have been mistreated in the workplace, or mistreated in general, take comfort in this.
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The Lord has it taken care of. So with this fourth point, strive to be a model employee for the glory of God.
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And the fourth instruction, how? Is by trusting that God will right every wrong. And here's our fifth and final instruction, how?
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You are to strive to be a model employee for the glory of God, and that is by understanding that Christ's sacrificial work enables you to carry this out.
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Verses 24 and 25, He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness.
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By His wounds you have been healed. For you were strained like sheep, but have now returned to the shepherd and overseer of your souls.
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These are two of the sweetest verses in the Bible. Some kids might know these verses, these are
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Awana verses. Some adults here, you might know these by heart. When Jesus went to the cross,
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He took your sins upon Himself, and He bore the holy wrath of His Father.
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It was justice. The cross is not just love, it's justice. Justice takes place at the cross.
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In theology, a really boring way of saying this, but this is the technical way, this is called the penal substitutionary atonement.
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The suffering that He endured is what makes you right with God. Before you believed, and my prayer is that everyone in this room would have that relationship with Christ through faith.
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Before you believed, you were lost and you didn't even know it. As Peter writes in verse 25, you were like strained sheep.
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You were just going your own way. The world doesn't know they're lost. Think about all the people today, all over planet earth.
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They're just going through their day and they have no clue that they're running a race with hell as the destination.
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What happens for every Christian is that you become aware of your sin. You become aware that you are guilty before a holy
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God. But you learn that a way has been made for you, and the only way is through the
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God -man, Jesus Christ, who suffered in your place and arose gloriously on the third day.
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What happens is that you go from being estranged from God to friends with Him.
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He is your, it's not just friends, but He's your family. He's your Father. You go from being a lost goat, far from the chief shepherd, to being one of the chief shepherd's sheep.
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As Peter writes at the end of verse 25, you have now returned to the shepherd and overseer of your souls.
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As your shepherd, He leads you in the way everlasting. He holds you tightly all the way to heaven.
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When He saves you, the second half of verse 24 tells us what happens to you. He died for you so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness.
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By His wounds you have been healed. What does it mean to die to sin? We learn in this passage that Jesus died for our sins, but that's not what
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Peter is communicating when he writes that we might die to sin. What he means is that sin's power is no longer over you.
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As the Apostle Paul writes in Romans 6, verses 12 through 14, let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body to make you obey its passions.
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Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness, for sin will have no dominion over you.
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When you believe in Jesus and the Holy Spirit enters your life, you no longer need to sin.
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This is true. Unbelievers, that's what they do. Even in their best times, their works are not done for the glory of God, so they're sinful.
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But as believers, you are freed from sin's power.
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As you belong to Jesus, you are now able to live a life pleasing to Him. And in this context, that the text we're looking at here, this is describing pleasing the
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Lord in the workplace, as an employee. You are able to honor
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God by being a good employee, by being one who is submissive, and even being submissive when you have a lousy boss.
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You are able to live this way not on your own strength, but only on His. Later on in this letter, in 1
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Peter 4 .11, Peter writes, do everything with the strength that He supplies.
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You might wonder, Lord, how can I do this? I don't want to go to work today. I don't want to deal with these people. You know they're difficult.
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And the Lord is telling you, work for me. I'm your boss.
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Honor me. Honor the structure that I've given here. Be a good example of what an employee is supposed to look like.
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So as we wrap this up, strive to be a model employee for the glory of God.
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And in this text, we've seen five ways how. By respecting every employer over you. By suffering in a manner where the
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Lord's favor is upon you. By following Jesus' example as you endure. By trusting that God will right every wrong.
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And as we just saw, understanding that Christ's sacrificial work enables you to carry this out.
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His sacrificial work enables you to carry this out. Unbelievers can't do it.
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But you can, through the power of the Holy Spirit. So this is your calling as a
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Christian in the workplace with those who are over you. As you carry yourself in this way, God is glorified through you.
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And he rewards his faithful servants. So always keep that in mind as you work for him.
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Now next Sunday, we will see another authority structure described, as I mentioned.
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And that is between a man and a woman in marriage. The most important human relationship there is.
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It's God's design. He wants us to live out his design. And when we do, it's a beautiful thing.
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So next week, we're going to look at what does this look like? What does submission look like?
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What does authority look like in this structure? So this time, as we close, let's bow our heads in prayer.
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Father in heaven, we are able to live out the faith if we have you.
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And so my prayer is that everyone in here would have a sincere relationship with Christ.
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That everyone would understand that Jesus died for their sins. That he rose from the dead to give them new life.
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And that they would believe in the Lord Jesus and be saved. And for the many Christians in this room,