Silencing Fools - [1 Peter 2:11-25]

As we continue through 1 Peter, I didn't quite make the board outside this week, and I think maybe it's because the title

I gave it, which was Silencing Fools. Maybe they didn't want to put that up there, I don't know. But anyway, please open your

Bibles to 1 Peter 2, and we're going to attempt with great gusto to get through verses 11 through 25.

We're going to do it. 1 Peter 2, verses 11 through 25.

You know, persecution against Christians, as we've seen in this book, is nothing new.

This has been from the beginning. If you read through the book of Acts, life was not simple or easy for Christians.

Following in the footsteps of the Lord Himself, beginning with Stephen, the list of Christians put to death for their faith is long, and it is growing daily.

Now, that doesn't happen in the United States. We don't see people put to death for being Christians. And for that, and I wrote yet, we haven't seen it yet in the

United States, and for that we should be grateful. That said, we should not be confused about the general attitude, even in our country, toward biblical

Christianity. In October, a TV show that I've never seen, amazing because it's a cop show, it's called

Cold Case, had an episode in which a group portrayed as Christians stoned a member of their own group to keep the sexual sins of the rest of the group a secret.

That's kind of convoluted. But the picture is one of judgmental Christians stoning one of their own.

And one of these alleged Christians used Deuteronomy 22, verse 21, to justify stoning the young woman to death.

Now, anybody who knows anything about Christianity would say, well, that's the Old Testament. That was that law.

We live under a different law. We're not a theocracy. But this group, as they were portrayed, was not only unbelievably hypocritical, but also extreme in every way, and that's the way

Christians are seen. That's the way they're portrayed in our society. Now, given that there are currently, at this time, eight women sentenced to death by stoning in Iran, an

Islamic theocratic state, for adultery. And the

New Testament never commands or commends stoning. Which religion is most likely to bring about such a death?

But what kind of outrage would there be? How many people would be marching in the streets if a group of Islamic young people were portrayed as stoning somebody?

And yet, it is acceptable to portray Christianity in that way. Why is that?

Because this is the world in which we live. It's not friendly towards God. It's not friendly toward the truth.

We live in a society where a religion founded in battle, and if you know anything about Islam, that is the way it was founded.

A religion founded in battle is proclaimed as a religion of peace. A religion that is inherently political, you can't separate the religious aspects from the political aspects of Islam, and crushes all freedom wherever it can, is seen as one that needs to be understood.

Meanwhile, a religion that was the basis of our thinking in this country, the Founding Fathers' thinking, is portrayed as a political threat to the country.

Well, has the world gone mad? Yeah. Basically, yeah.

Sure. Getting back to our text, how should we handle persecution?

How do we handle difficulty? How do we respond to oppression from the government?

Oppression from our bosses? Other difficult circumstances that come to pass?

Again, let's go to our text, 1 Peter 2, verse 11. Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers, to abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul.

Keep your behavior excellent among the Gentiles, so that in the thing in which they slander you as evildoers, they may, because of your good deeds as they observe them, glorify

God in the day of visitation. Submit yourselves for the

Lord's sake to every human institution, whether to a king as the one in authority, or to governors as sent by him for the punishment of evildoers, and the praise of those who do right.

For such is the will of God, that by doing right you may silence the ignorance of foolish men.

Act as free men, and do not use your freedom as a covering for evil, but use it as bond slaves of God.

Honor all people. Love the brotherhood. Fear God.

Honor the king. Servants. Be submissive to your masters with all respect, not only to those who are good and gentle, but also to those who are unreasonable.

For this finds favor. If for the sake of conscience toward God, a person bears up under sorrows when suffering unjustly, for what credit is there if, when you sin and are harshly treated, you endure it with patience?

But if when you do what is right and suffer for it, you patiently endure it, this finds favor with God.

For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in his steps.

Verse 22, Who committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in his mouth.

And while being reviled, he did not revile in return. While suffering, he uttered no threats, but kept entrusting himself to him who judges righteously.

And he himself bore our sins in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness.

For by his wounds you were healed. For you were continually straying like sheep, but now you have returned to the shepherd and guardian of your souls.

Now, this morning, I ambitiously, this morning

I want to draw your attention to six winsome behaviors in our text, and I'll explain winsome later.

Six winsome behaviors in our text, so that you will live a life pleasing to God, whether you are being persecuted or not.

These behaviors will also put the lie to false accusations made against Christians and Christianity.

As one of my professors in seminary used to say, you've got to be winsome to win some.

Lies are told about Christianity and Christians all the time. And as we look at these six commanded behaviors, please examine the way you live to see if you are living in such a way as to be an effective argument.

Are you a living argument against those lies? Thus, shutting the mouths, silencing the opponents of the truth.

We are all being molded and shaped. Not one of us has arrived in Christ -like glory.

Not one of us is perfect, but we can all have an impact on the unsaved world that surrounds us by our obedience to these commands.

First, winsome behavior. By the way, winsome means attractive.

It means, actually it could mean even as far as beautiful, but I don't want to say beautiful behavior.

I like winsome. Winsome behavior number one. You must keep your desires in check.

Verse 11. In it, Peter reemphasizes the need for sanctification.

You have to work on your personal holiness. Now, I start my church -wide emails, the

BBC announced emails, with beloved, usually, beloved comma, and then

I write my email. For the same reason, Peter uses it in verse 11. It is a word that is uncommon in ancient

Greek, except in the New Testament. In other words, it's not typically used in Greek literature generally, but it is used often in the

New Testament because it indicates a deep love and concern for the readers. Peter wants to emphasize that because the way he is concerned about them, the way he loves them, because he's about to ask them to do something difficult.

He did not command them. He urged them. He exhorted them. He encouraged them with passion to remember who they were and how they ought to behave.

He says he calls them aliens and strangers. He says,

I urge you as aliens and strangers. And that's imagery that we've talked about before, and basically, and he's used before.

And the concept is literally that they are strangers in a strange land. They do not belong to the people.

They're not part of the nation, and they're not part of the culture, and they're not part of the government, one might say.

Nevertheless, they are subject to it. They, like every believer, are residents and not citizens of this world.

Are you an American citizen? Yes, but your ultimate citizenship is in heaven.

Believers belong with God, but are here for a time for his purpose.

Now, because believers are citizens of heaven, they must behave like it. Look at 11 again.

Citizens are strangers, aliens, sojourners, and they must abstain from fleshly lusts.

These fleshly lusts are exactly the opposite of spiritual desires. As a new creature in Christ, as one of his new creations, you have spiritual desires, you have new desires, you have desires to read the

Bible, to pray, to have fellowship with your brothers and sisters in Christ.

And your slavery to sin, you used to be a slave of sin, has been broken, you've been set free.

But you remain subject to sinful desires, to fleshly lusts.

You have the ability to resist them, and that is exactly what Peter is urging you to do.

Before salvation, you could limit your sinfulness, but many sins appealed to you, and even seemed worthy of praise.

In Romans 1, how it talks about that they not only do such things, but they give hearty approval to those who do so.

But now post -salvation, after salvation, once God has brought about a new life in you, sin brings what?

Joy? Happiness? No. A sense of failure and sorrow, knowing that you've sinned against God.

And the Greek verb abstain means that they are to keep their distance, they are to stay away, to hold them off at length, these sinful desires.

Peter goes on to explain why. Because these sinful desires wage war against the flesh.

And the Greek word for waging war is stratoiomai. Stratoiomai, and I say that, and I go, it almost sounds like stratego or strategy, and that's exactly the word.

It is the root of our word strategy, or strategery.

And it means to engage in a battle, to fight, not in hand -to -hand, but literally it is the picture of one army against another.

So the picture is that your own desires are waging a war with your soul.

One writer says this, the pilgrim of God carries about a battlefield inside his own personality.

Romans 7 basically defines this. When Paul says he doesn't do the things he wants to do, and he does the things he doesn't want to do.

And that's this picture, elongated. So what are we to do?

Well, you are to fortify your defenses against the thoughts, desires, and lusts that used to control your life.

You are a new creation in Christ. And Peter says, act like one. There is an enemy seeking to bring about your ruin.

And guess what? It's not Satan. In this case, in this picture, it is not

Satan. It is your own desires. And you have to put them off. So that's the first winsome behavior.

Our second, you must prove your enemies wrong. You must prove your enemies wrong for their own good.

This isn't a matter of entering into a debate and proving them wrong. This is proving them wrong by the way you live.

What they see you do is important. Look again at verse 12. Keep your behavior excellent among the

Gentiles. Now, if you're working on your sanctification, if you're focused on how you think, if you're fighting against the desires of the flesh, if you're occupying your time in prayer,

Scripture, fellowship, service to the body, this may not be all that difficult. Showing the outside world the fruit of that may not be all that difficult.

This is a battle that is usually won before you even step onto the battlefield. But your conduct in the presence of unbelievers is to be such that, and basically that's the word there for Gentiles.

It's not Gentiles as opposed to Jews. It is a word that means it could be used for nations or large groups of peoples, people groups.

But what you want them to view you as a very honorable lady or gentleman, somebody with whom they disagree.

They don't agree with what you think, but they respect the way you behave, the way you carry yourself, the way you perform in day -to -day life.

This reminds me basically of what Paul, when he's writing to Timothy and he's describing the qualifications for an elder.

He says in 1 Timothy 3 .7, and he talking about a prospective elder, must have a good reputation with those outside the church so that he will not fall under reproach and the snare of the devil.

And as we've said on many occasions, the difference between the qualifications for an elder and what any

Christian ought to strive for is simply the capacity to teach.

In other words, everybody ought to try to live up to that standard. It is important to have a good reputation with those outside the church.

If people think you're a great guy on Sunday, and then during the rest of the week they think you're a vile cheat and a horrible person, well, what good is that?

It's also interesting to note or important to note here in verse 12 that enemies of the truth will slander you.

Look again at verse 12. So that in the thing in which they slander you as evildoers.

If you haven't experienced slander, if you haven't experienced attacks, maybe it's because you're an undercover

Christian. You're keeping your identity a secret because that information is given out on a need -to -know basis and people you hang out with have no need to know.

There is a change that takes place upon salvation, and the unsaved don't always like it.

They do not always understand why you will not do what you used to do with them, why you won't engage in the same activities you did.

So they begin a whispering campaign against you. And this verb where it says slander, it means to degrade, to degrade with speech, to speak with hostility about, to defame, they run your name through the mud.

The idea that they're talking about you as an evildoer. It can even carry the notion of criminality.

In other words, that you deserve some kind of a criminal penalty for what you've done.

One writer says this, Christians were, and this is going back to the time of Peter, they were specially attacked on political grounds as enemies of the state, on religious grounds as atheists.

Why atheists? Because they were rejecting the objects of heathen worship. They didn't worship the gods and the men that were portrayed as gods that everybody else did.

It is not surprising that strong prejudices were entertained, and that, I like this word, calumnies, had to look it up, maliciously false statements is what it means.

It's not surprising that maliciously false statements were invented by the deadly enemies of the cross, and that these were readily believed.

People didn't like Christians. They told untruths about them. They portrayed them in all manner of abominable ways, like putting them on TV shows as stoning somebody for sexual sin.

Today, what are the charges? If you're a Christian, what do people think? You want to impose your morality on everybody else.

You're stupid. You're a moron. Why? Because you don't believe in evolution. You're narrow -minded.

You're intolerant. Because you say there's only one way to heaven, and on it goes.

Even to, some people will say, well, you approve of murder. You have no problem when somebody kills someone in charge of an abortion clinic.

Well, yes, I do. No, you don't. Yes, I do. You believe in the death penalty.

Well, I only believe in the death penalty because it's what the Bible teaches, that the government can do that. Of course, these things are not true, but that's the whole point.

It's slander. They bring all these charges against you just as they brought false charges against believers in Peter's day.

And what was the defense he pointed them to? What was the defense we should look to today? Good works.

Look at 12C. Why good works? Because God may use you and your behavior to save someone.

12, verse 12. They may, because of your good deeds as they observe them, glorify

God in the day of visitation. Again, think about the spread of the early church,

Christianity. How did it happen, humanly speaking? Two ways. The spread of the gospel, the preaching of the gospel, and the spread of the blood of Christians.

It was their willingness to die for their beliefs that made the truth all the more compelling.

There's a song that's just running through my head. One by one, they chose to die rather than recant.

They chose to die. They would not back off of the truth. We have it so good compared to them.

This Greek verb, observe, when it says they're going to observe your behavior, your good works, it implies that Christians must be willing to undergo an extensive period of examination.

They're not just going to look at you quickly and look away. They are going to look at your life for a long period of time.

Let me give you an example. You know, there are basically two ways to get out of a street gang or a prison gang.

Two ways. One is to die. When you die, all your obligations are released.

The second way is to convert to Christianity. And you say, well, that sounds easy.

Why doesn't everybody just do that? Oh, they do. But here's the catch. They watch your behavior.

And guess what? If you don't live like a Christian consistently, there are consequences for that.

And that is exactly the kind of scrutiny to which we are to subject ourselves to.

When we go out into the world, we need to live our lives in such a way that we don't mind that people are watching.

We want them to watch. Now, you might reasonably ask at this point, well, Steve, how exactly does this play a part in the salvation of unbelievers?

Look again at our text, verse 12. The phrase, in the day of visitation. Well, that can either be a day of judgment or a day of blessing.

But in either case, it is a day of divine confrontation, direct contact of God with man.

Now, what sort of divine appointment would end with man glorifying

God? A day of judgment in which he wipes everybody out?

A day of blessing. The Greek verb means to glorify or praise, as it's translated glorify, which they can only do if they were converted.

No one, when they come face to face with God, is going to glorify him, praise him while they're getting sent to hell.

So the idea is they watch your behavior and something in them says, that is amazing that anyone could behave like that under those circumstances.

And we could call this, in one sense, we could call it lifestyle evangelism. And I'll just quickly say that in my own life, when

God was working in me, there was one person I believed in a nebulous concept of God.

But there was one person I knew of that by his behavior, even though I had treated him consistently like dirt,

I knew that he actually believed what he said. And I went to him and I said, I want to know about this

God that you believe in. And of course he thought I was joking, but that's neither here nor there.

This is the exact concept here. That no matter what kind of persecution you undergo, you keep behaving in a consistently

Christian God honoring way, so that if God chooses to work in the lives of these people, they come to you for the answers.

So we've seen two winsome behaviors. You must keep your own desires in check. You have to work on your sanctification constantly, pushing away sin.

And secondly, you must prove your enemies wrong for their own good by your behavior.

Thirdly, you must obey the government. I mean, this could be like a 12 -week series right here.

You must obey the government. Rebellion and revolution are not biblical options.

Why? Because you serve a risen Savior. Verse 13. Submit yourselves for the

Lord's sake to every human institution. This is a command.

The verb is an imperative. It is not an option. The Greek verb is hupotazo, which has at its root a meaning of putting in subjection.

It's in the middle voice, which means that you are to put yourself in subjection. And the picture is that it's this vast military system to which you are to put yourself into your rightful place.

And here, this verb suggests, one writer says, less to the continual course of submission than to the act of decision by which this policy of submission is adopted.

In other words, as my army drill sergeants used to say, get your mind right, boy.

Make the decision to submit to the government and then do it.

Get your mind right. Set your face like flint. Hebert says, it is not the cringing obedience of spineless weaklings, but the free acceptance of the duty of submission.

We have a duty, God -given duty to submit to government. Notice it says that you are to submit for the

Lord's sake. To not do so, to refuse to submit would bring shame upon the name of Christ.

He bought you with a price. One of those prices is submission to the government.

Your master did not rebel, and you may not either. Also, he is the one commanding your submission.

This is his word. How can you refuse? Furthermore, all authority is ordained by God.

Again, verse 13, whether to a king as the one in authority, verse 14, or to governors as sent by him.

Well, how does one get to be in authority? Is it luck?

Is it the Supreme Court? Is it popular vote?

Birthright? Well, the answer is it might be any number of those things to a lot of people, but it is only by God.

God decides who is in charge. Daniel, among other places, Daniel 4 .25,

the Most High, talking about God, is ruler over the realm of mankind, over the entire world, and he bestows it on whomever he wishes.

He sets kings up, and he brings them down. He puts people in office, and he takes them out.

God has placed the king, the president, the mayor, the police officer, over every form of authority, and therefore, we are to submit to these.

Why? Because they are, in effect, arms of God, even if they aren't godly. The term governor here in the

Greek is similar to ours in that he ruled a smaller area of the empire, but he wasn't elected.

He was appointed by the Caesar or by the Roman Senate. And the main point is that we must submit to government at all levels, whether or not we agree with them.

The idea of, for example, Christians being involved in tax rebellions, of refusing to pay their taxes,

I'll just tell you right now, it's sin. When is it okay to rebel against God -ordained government?

When that God -ordained government commands you to break God's word. That's it.

What is the purpose of government? Again, our text tells us that government is a restraint against evil and an encouragement of good.

Verse 14, For the punishment of evildoers and the praise of those who do right.

Now, have you ever seen those demonstrations by anarchists? Usually, I don't know why, but they always seem to be up in Seattle.

But they get dressed up, and they have as much riot gear as the police officers do. I mean, they are ready to go.

They are ready to do battle. And you know what? Here's the scary part. The number of these people is growing.

And they want no government whatsoever. Why would that be?

Because no government, I mean, it's foolish on its face, but no government equals no restraint on their behavior.

No restraint on sin. And even the most brutal government, and I think about our brother

Gladman in the country of Zimbabwe, which is just about the worst government on the face of the earth, but even the most brutal government ultimately is better than none at all.

Why? Because then you have no rule at all. You have absolute chaos, and people will do what?

They will fill that vacuum. They will live like bandits, steal from each other.

Governments that fail to do these things, that fail to bring about order, that fail to praise the good and punish the evildoers, are not fulfilling their

God -given obligations. But that's not our job, to protest against that or to try and change that.

We can do that within the law. Everything must be done within the law. Those who break the law must be justly punished.

And those whose actions are a benefit to society ought to be praised. That's why government exists.

Is there a perfect government in the world? No. Not the United States, not any government is perfect.

Why? Because they're all filled with sinners. When you vote next November, the key is when you go into that voting booth, you ought to know two things.

God will choose whomever he wants for president. That doesn't mean you shouldn't vote. It just means God will choose whom he wants.

And secondly, whomever the candidate is that you vote for, you can be assured of one thing. He or she will be a sinner.

That is guaranteed. She or he will be imperfect and will be a sinner.

Okay, back to the text. Your submission. Your submission proves the enemies of the gospel wrong.

Submission to the government proves the enemies of the gospel wrong. Verse 15. For such is the will of God that by doing right, you may silence the ignorance of foolish men.

Again, we must consider the world at the time of Peter. Nero, just a crazy man, a man who would commit unspeakable crimes against Christians, using them as human torches, peeling their skin off.

I mean, unbelievable things. This was the emperor. This was the

Caesar. This was the man that Peter wrote and said, you must submit to every human institution.

Peter did not put an asterisk in this section saying, well, you know, unless he's just unreasonable.

And if not then, when Nero was the king, the emperor, well, then when?

He tells us that the purpose of submitting to the government is to muzzle the mouths of unbelievers.

And that's what silence here means. It means literally to tie the mouth of those who would slander you shut.

They are not ignorant in the sense that they don't know any better. Ignorance in this case means that they willfully reject the truth.

They willfully spread lies about the truth and about you. And by your actions, you disprove their distortions.

You prove that you are not, as they would have been charged with back then, traitors.

You disprove their distortions whether or not they acknowledge it. And you are in effect the agent for further hardening and judgment upon them.

But that's God's design. He can use it to turn their hearts when they see your behavior or they can be further hardened by it.

That's up to God. It doesn't take any responsibility off you.

Winsome truth number four. You must exercise your liberty with restraint and reverence.

You must exercise your liberty with restraint and reverence. True or false, you are free in Christ.

Well, it's true and it says so in verse 16. Look, act as free men. And this is a spiritual reality.

Every believer has been set free by Christ. Whom the Son has set free is free indeed.

Right? That is just a fact. You are free in Christ. The question is, what does that mean?

Peter kind of challenges us on that. You are still under the command of Christ. You are free, but you are under obligation to the

Lord who saved you. Look at verse 16 again. 16, the second half of it. And do not use your freedom as a covering for evil.

Freedom from the power and penalty of sin is not equal to the freedom to sin.

This is a warning against antinomianism, which is a 25 cent word. And what does it mean? It's fancy schmancy and it basically means against the law.

Antinomianism, anti, against. Nomian, the law. Ism, you know, the philosophy or following against the law.

If you are antinomian, it means that you think you are free and therefore you can do whatever you like.

There are no restrictions on your behavior. You're saved by grace. And now you may sin that grace may abound even more.

And this is what the opponents of the gospel often say. I mean,

I come from a background where that's what they would say. Well, if you believe that you're saved by grace alone, then what you're saying is it doesn't matter what you do.

Right? You're saved no matter what you do, then you're probably living a life that reflects that. Why?

Because that's how they think. They think, boy, if I could just be forgiven for everything

I do, I'd really go nuts. And so that's what they project on you. You know, the truth is, it's rare that a week goes by, even a week without some major scandal in what is perceived to be

Christianity. This week, a name -it -and -claim -it preacher from the

South was forced to acknowledge his nephew, who had followed him into the ministry, was not his nephew at all, but his son.

These kind of scandals come out every single week, and they discredit the gospel. Why? Not because the gospel is not true, but because they look at it and they go, they look at these actions and go, well, that's what

Christians are like. They're big hypocrites. This is what they do. This is how they live in our lives.

The concept would be like this. We say we're Christians, but if our lives are indistinguishable from unbelievers, who cares?

We are dragging by our own actions the name of Christ through the mud. For some people, maybe they just go to church.

Maybe they talk Christianese, but they don't walk the walk.

They don't live the life. They don't put it out there. They're not consistent in their behavior.

Furthermore, Peter says, you must treat others as Christ would. You must treat others as Christ would.

Talking about our freedom, he says, but use it as bond slaves of God. Honor all people, love the brotherhood, fear

God, honor the king. You are to use your freedom from the penalty and power of sin in the voluntary service of God.

And if you do this, what are some of the fruits of that? You will show a high regard for or honor, as it says there, all people.

What does that mean? It means we don't discriminate on the basis of race, color, ethnicity, and may

I say, even sexual sin. Even sexual sin.

Why? Because every single man, woman, child is made in the image of God.

And they all have one need. Every single person is a sinner. And every single person, even though we hold them in the highest regard, we want to call them to repentance.

And I don't care what their, I don't even like to say orientation because that's a bogus category.

But every single person needs to be confronted with the truth claims of Christ. They need to know that they're a sinner, that they're bound for hell apart from the grace of God.

We need to preach Christ and him crucified to them. Not in some kind of judgmental way, but in a loving, truthful way.

He also says that we need to love the brotherhood and loving believers sacrificially is the idea.

There are special bonds. We honor everybody. We respect everybody. But there are special bonds that call for a higher level of commitment.

We also want to exhibit profound respect and reverence for God. That's what it means to fear

God. We're not shaking all the time. We just live in light of the truth that God reigns, that God has changed us, that God is in control of our lives.

And it is by living with this kind of respect and reverence for God consistently that you will not abuse your freedom in Christ and that you will honor others and love your brothers and sisters in Christ.

Finally, here, you are to constantly, consistently exhibit your reverence for the

God -given ruler over you. Honor the king. Why? Because God put him there.

He's God's king. So far, we've seen four winsome behaviors, four beautiful behaviors, four attractive behaviors to shut the mouths of fools.

First, you must keep your desires in check. Secondly, you must prove your enemies wrong for their own good.

Third, you must obey the government. Fourth, you must exercise your liberty with restraint and reverence.

Fifth, you must obey your boss. You must obey your boss.

Submit to your employer. Look at verse 18. Servants, be submissive to your masters with all respect.

Now, these servants, we're typically used to seeing bond servants, which is the Greek word doulos, but this is not that word.

But it is rather the Greek word for house slaves or house help, the ones who would work inside the house.

And the bigger picture, the big picture, is that whatever your line of work is, you are to submit to your boss.

Well, I do. I do what he says. And the question comes about, well, what's your attitude?

Is it grudging? It says with all respect or rather with fear.

But again, fear of whom? I don't fear my boss. I have a pretty nice boss as things go.

It's fear of God with all respect or fear of him. Because when you have the right view of God and you understand that he has placed you in this job, in this employment situation, with this boss, for your own good and for his glory.

When you think about it that way, you will submit to your sinful boss. And by the way, almost every boss is sinful.

No, they're all sinful. You have to submit to your employer.

Moving on to verse 18. And I wrote, see above. Submit to your employer. Yes. No matter how unreasonable he or she is.

I've had some pretty unreasonable bosses. 18B.

Not only to those who are good and gentle, but also to those who are unreasonable. Now, would there be any need for this command if all bosses were good and gentle?

In this case, if all masters were good and gentle. I mean, you have to understand that what would happen in those days.

And this is contained in the word unreasonable. What would happen is you would have beatings and all sort of mistreatment.

That doesn't happen to us. Maybe we don't get the evaluation that we wanted. Maybe our boss didn't give us a big enough pat on the back.

We have a great compared to what they had. This Greek word, by the way, unreasonable, is the root for our word for the disease or for the condition known as scoliosis.

And it means, in the Greek it means pertaining to being morally bent or twisted, crooked, unscrupulous, dishonest.

When we talk about somebody having scoliosis, they have a curved spine, they have some kind of issue with their spine being all out of whack.

And the idea of the word here is that their behavior is crooked. Their behavior is dishonest.

And so if you have an unreasonable boss, somebody who says one thing, does something else, who promises you this, that, or the other thing, and doesn't deliver, you are to submit to them joyfully.

Why? Because you are submitting to God. You are submitting to the person who brought that boss into your life.

That leads right into this. Submission to an unreasonable boss is actually evidence of salvation.

And it could be considered a spiritual sacrifice. That is an offering brought to Christ.

Look at verse 19. For this finds favor. For if for the sake of conscience toward God a person bears up under sorrows when suffering unjustly,

If I didn't read that right here. For this finds favor. If for the sake of conscience toward God a person bears up under sorrows when suffering unjustly.

For what credit is there if when you sin and are harshly treated, you endure it with patience.

But if when you do what is right and suffer for it, you patiently endure it, this finds favor with God.

Now quickly. Only a person with a conscience steeped in the word of God can bear the inevitable injustice that comes with working for an unjust, dishonest, and harsh, scoliosed, harsh boss.

Somebody who's crooked. And if you are punished, and in those days the punishment would have been physical, wouldn't have been a write up, it wouldn't have been a bad evaluation or less pay.

It would have been a beating. A flogging. No food. Whatever. It would have been something physical.

And you have disobeyed your master, your boss. There is no credit with God on the basis of that.

You did what was wrong and you deserve punishment. Maybe it's wrong the punishment they gave you, but you don't get credit for that.

Just because your boss sins in reproving your sin, you don't get credit for it.

However, when you are obedient, when you are punished unfairly, and suffer through that for the sake of God, that will be rewarded.

That is worthy of praise. What about unions?

Lawsuits? I mean, there are all kinds of legal questions here. Certainly, you know, is it wrong, for example, if you get some kind of harsh penalty that's out of line, and you have a union, you have some kind of means to address that.

Is it wrong? Ultimately, no, because it's legal. Again, you get into balancing the two things.

But would it be right to go up to your boss and say, you know what? You're not right, and I'm going to have my pound of flesh.

No. Take it. Take it. Our sixth, winsome behavior.

You must follow your shepherd's behavior. Why? Well, first of all, it is one of the reasons you were saved.

Look at verse 21. For you have been called for this purpose. Well, what happened to Jesus loves me and has a wonderful plan for my life, or Jesus loves me, this

I know, for the Bible tells me so. Well, that's all true. But God's purpose is not a life of ease.

He's not here to just shower you with blessing after blessing after blessing, riches upon riches upon riches.

There is a purpose for your life, but it's not always the purpose you would choose. Jesus set the standard for Christians to follow, again, 21.

Since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in his footsteps.

Now, this isn't some kind of example where you go to Rome and you walk up steps paved with broken glass, and that's not the suffering.

There is no benefit in that. You don't get blessings or time out of purgatory or anything like that for that.

Jesus suffered the ultimate penalty on your behalf, a death that he did not deserve, flogging and beating that he did not deserve on your behalf.

And your response is to be a willingness to suffer for his glory, that people might look at your actions and marvel not at you, but at the

God who enabled you to bear up under such circumstances. I mean, think about it.

The things that we just think are great indignities, and yet men were burned at the stake, men and women, burned at the stake for the sake of the truth.

And all God asks you to do is to put up with a boss who asks too much of you, doesn't pay you enough, and speaks ill of you.

That's it. Christ suffered immeasurably on your behalf.

You could suffer a little bit. You may not retaliate.

Why? Because you're following your Savior who did not retaliate. Look at verse 22. Who committed no sin.

Talking about Jesus. Nor was any deceit found in his mouth. Verse 23, And while being reviled, he did not revile in return.

While suffering, he uttered no threats. If Jesus, who had all power and ability, did not retaliate against those who insulted him, who are you to seek to do so?

Think about even what happened while he was up on the cross. You know, if you are the Son of God, well, take yourself off that cross.

He could have stopped it at any time. He didn't do that. His mind was set on two things, on honoring the desires of his

Father and redeeming his people. He did not promise to get even.

He did not utter threats, it tells us. He did not promise to get even. How can you do such things?

How can you leave that job site and scream, you haven't heard the last of this? Finally, not finally, but getting toward the end, you must trust

God to bring about justice. Looking in at the example of Jesus, but kept entrusting himself to him who judges righteously.

Again, Jesus could have stopped the whole proceeding. He could have not only threatened these people who did this to him, but he could have wiped them all out.

But he didn't do that. He entrusted himself to him who judges righteously.

He trusted God. The Lord knew the men who beat him, who falsely accused him, and murdered him would receive justice.

And it wasn't his to give out. And in that same way, you must trust

God to bring about justice. And may I add, you should pray,

Jesus said, Father, forgive them. When was the last time you were slighted?

You were insulted and you said, God, forgive them, please save them. You must also not allow sin in response.

Don't sin in response to their sin. Verse 24, again our example, Jesus. He himself bore our sins in his body on the cross so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness.

For by his wounds you were healed. Christians are not saved with a license to sin.

In fact, we are to be dead to sin. We are to consider our members dead to sin.

To push off sin. To fight it at every opportunity. Not to give in to it. God saved you so that you might live righteously.

So that your good works might shine before men. So that you might stop the mouths of the enemies of the gospel.

It may be long enough for you to give them the gospel. Our role is not to exact vengeance.

Our role is never to allow sin to overtake us. Not to revile in return.

Not to threaten people when threatened. Verse 25, and I think this is a fitting place to stop and it's good that it's the end of our passage.

Sheep follow their shepherd. Brother Lewis last Sunday night gave some really great insight into sheep.

Verse 25, for you were continually straying like sheep. And when sheep stray, they are stupid.

They are stuck. They can't go anywhere until their shepherd comes and gets them. But now you have returned to the shepherd and guardian of your souls.

It is by his power, by the great shepherd's power that you are in the flock of God.

You are to hear his voice. You are to listen to him. You are to do what he commands.

We are under his shepherding and we are under his protection. We need to live like that.

We need to obey him. Listen, we live in a world that is hostile to God.

It is hostile to the claims of Christianity. It is hostile to the son of God, to the gospel of God, and to the children of God.

Nevertheless, we are called to live lives that reflect the work of God within us.

It is by showing Christ to the world, it is by suffering and not returning threats, sin, vengeance, but instead trusting

God that we silence the fools. We show our good works to men in response to their slander.

That is how we close the mouths of those who are antagonistic to the gospel. Let's pray.

Father, this is a sobering reminder on a number of fronts.

First of all, just in thinking about the world that we don't live in. The world to whom this letter was written originally, one filled with persecution, cruelty, and harsh retaliation that really is beyond our grasp to even fully comprehend.

Nevertheless, Lord, we know that Christianity, as taught in the

Bible, is not a popular religion. It is not a popular truth.

Father, You have called us to exhibit our faith, to exhibit what

You are doing in our lives, to show unbelievers Your work by our behavior.

I pray that each one here, each one who knows You, Lord, would be reminded to live constantly in the proper fear and respect of You, that they might show

Your goodness to them, show Your faithfulness to a world that hates

You, that they might have their mouths stopped, that You might even draw them to Yourself.

Father, would You use Bethlehem Bible Church as a small light on a hill?

Would You draw people to Yourself, unbelievers to Christ, by the behavior of Your people here?