Good morning, elect exiles. If you're new with us, we're walking through the book of 1 Peter. We've considered the high calling of God and the good work he's done by sending Jesus to give us new life, and we're considering the life of the exile. Those who have been called by God to his salvation are now foreigners here in this world, and we're waiting for that heavenly kingdom. So we, we want to know what it means to live in God's will here, what it means to, to obey God's calling here. And we, we looked last week at God's will for us regarding relating to a human institution, the government, and now we're looking at, uh, something more specific, more focused servants in their relationship to masters. And we'll have to wrestle with what that means for us today. You gotta see here that God's calling on us affects every aspect of life. Your relationship with the government, your relationship at work, your relationship with the home, that's next week. All of life is meant to be transformed by the great mercy of God, by the God who saves us. This morning we're looking at specifically actually even more where Peter leads us to How do we relate to suffering? How do we relate to the many trials and the various trials we're going to face in this world? And they might be trials with a harsh overseer of a boss or a teacher or a parent. We can think about what that really looks like, but this world is full of suffering. This world is not the way it's supposed to be. Because we as image bearers decided to reject God and then drew sin into this world. It's important to think, how are we going to relate to suffering? There's two basic self-help approaches. One is the victimization model where we just think about all the pain and how to make sure we remove the pain and get rid of the pain and blame someone else for the pain. And well, we compound that pain because we typically isolate and become lonely in the pain. The other is the victorization of suffering, and I made that word up. Sorry for the translator. I've already apologized to him for the sermon. This is the, whatever doesn't kill me makes me stronger mentality. That if we just go through suffering, we'll always become a better person. And there's some truth to both of these ideas, that suffering is real, and we need to face that suffering and get healing. And suffering actually does help us, in many ways, become better people. But God gives us a whole nother approach to suffering here. That there's a way to suffer for God's glory. There's a way to see this earthly suffering, no matter what shape it takes, can have a heavenly purpose. That the way we suffer, being mindful of God, can be done in the sight of God, and as we just sang, and be still my soul, acknowledge him in all thy words and the ways, so he shall view these with a well-pleased eye. For the Christian who seeks to obey God, there's no such thing as meaningless suffering. This is a difficult text because it addresses a difficult topic, and Peter pastorally takes us into a deep dive of a theology of suffering. It's challenging, so part of me wants to say buckle up, but really it's receive the balm for your soul in suffering. for what God provides us in his word. Here's the message this morning. Christian, submit even to suffering by following Christ's example. Submit even to suffering by following Christ's example. There's four sections we'll look at the passage with. What the Lord commands, be subject. What the Lord commands, be subject. Second, why he commands, be subject. It's submission even to suffering. Why he commands this. Third, how to suffer by following Christ's example. How to suffer by following Christ's example. And then finally, how we can obey because of salvation. First, what the Lord commands, be subject. And that's just simply verse 18. Servants, be subject to your masters with all respect, not only to the good and gentle, but also to the unjust. Now, this is a very specific command that he begins with, and it's for servants, to their masters. There's a clear emphasis, and the word master here is the word we get desperate from, there's an absolute rule that these servants are being called to submit to, and there might be a tendency here to say, well, this isn't me, I'm not a servant. Well, let me just lay out here that 90% of Rome's population were servants, and servants would have included doctors, lawyers, teachers, all kinds of occupations would have fallen under the role of servant in many ways. We can also look over to 1 Peter 3, 13 to 22, where he transitions to all of us and says basically the same thing, so good news for us, we'll get to hear it again soon. We need to understand that the call to serve a master can't easily be translated over to an employee, to a boss. And especially helpful as we think about an employee who's subordinate, who has a direct report, who's harsh, inconsistent, the commands be subject. Could be a student to a teacher relationship, who's difficult. Could be seen as a child being subject to a parent, call to honor. Now, the idea of servant master, we need to take that into consideration and translate that over The most basic posture of what's being commanded is submit. And the qualifier he gives is important. It's not just to the good, but to the unjust. Well, submit, it's a posture and a practice of showing deference. To submit requires some form of honor. It means being happily led and directed to seek the good of the one who you're submitting to, to seek to understand what their will is and to abide and to obey. Last week, we looked at the call to be subject to the government. And just a quick refresher for a understanding of God's command to submit, the qualifications are always so important. 1 Peter 2.13, regarding the government, be subject for the Lord's sake because of God. We could go to Ephesians 5.21, submit to one another out of reverence for God. Our relationship with God is always related to his command to be subject or to submit. We could say it another way, our reverence for God is demonstrated in how we subject ourselves to whom God calls us to be submissive to. Servants here are called to be subject to someone who has absolute rule, a master. Notice one of the qualifications in verse 18. Servants be subject to your masters with all respect. The word behind respect is where we get phobia from, fear. Respect is a good translation if the idea is that the servant should be respecting the master, but I don't think that's what Peter's saying. I believe he's saying here, be subject to your masters with all fear of God. If we look back at the section before, I told you to memorize it. Honor everyone, love the brotherhood, Oh, you didn't memorize it. Fear God, honor the emperor. Let's say that together. Fear God, honor the emperor. The reason I believe God is in view here is he's just said fear God, and I wrestled with this when I first thought, okay, this is odd if he would say fear God in relation to honor the emperor, but fear your master? If you look at the word fear throughout 1 Peter, it's always connected to God. After declaring us to be holy as God is holy, conduct yourself with fear of him who will judge us. The fear here, I believe, is, again, the motivation for the being subject. Now, I believe this means if you fear God and are subject to your master, you're going to have respect for that master. You're going to respect and seek to honor that master, but the key motivation, the key declaration for why you would be subject and how, it's with all fear of God, be subject to those who are overseeing you, who are your masters, your direct report. Now, the second qualification is also important because we typically want to give ourselves some outs. Yeah, but he's not so good. Well, praise God, there is such a thing as a good and gentle master. We do have to believe in good rule because God is a good ruler, and in common grace, he gives good rulers. But here, it's be subject to the good and the gentle, but also to the unjust. Be subject to the one who is harsh, who is difficult, who's unjust, he's not righteous. Peter's point is that the ruler, the master, just like the governing authority, their behavior and their conduct and their character shouldn't change your posture and your practice because it's first directed towards God. Now, as we look at this text and we see where it's gonna go with a focus on all the suffering, and that's where he's gonna focus in on is that whenever you're subject to an unjust master, he's gonna give us a rich theology of suffering. It's very pastoral of him. We need to be appreciative of that. He wants to give an instruction because, well, the one to be subject to the good master, well, that's not too difficult, but the one who's called to be subject to the unjust master, That needs more explanation. That needs more help. Because any time we're called to submit to someone, there is a right instinctive pause because we know people. I'm afraid of submitting. We are, by nature, afraid of submitting because we're afraid of being taken advantage of. I only see Mitch nodding his head, and nobody else is afraid of that. We're afraid of being abused. We're afraid of being run over, destroyed. Real fear. Real fear. Because people are sinners. It's an important recognition of the call to submit, and, well, it's a scary possibility, and sometimes it's a probability. But submitting is dangerous. So we have to ask, why would God command it? Where is God in it? This passage of Peter is very helpful to think through what suffering is and how we suffer and why we suffer. And as I was preparing the message, I kept wanting to add qualifications because I kept thinking of many in this room that I know are suffering. Many who are up into their chin in the waters of suffering. And I kept wanting to give you a balm. I kept wanting to give you the qualifications of when you reach out for help. I had to resist that to make sure we get the full force of the text that I think is a balm itself. But I want you to hear this. The call to endure doesn't mean you're by yourself. It also doesn't mean we're gonna erase an entire theology of deliverance and rescue. Right? There's a time where you call the police, the governing authority who punishes evil. There's a time for you to call a pastor and a friend to come and give you help and care and rescue. I hope this opens up many conversations for healing and rescue. He gives the straightforward call to service, be subject to your masters with all fear of God, all respect to the good, the gentle, and the unjust, and now he gives that reason, point number two, why he commands submission even to suffering, why he would command even to suffering that we're to submit. Listen for a few things before I read. Notice gracious thing is repeated at the beginning and the end of this declaration. Notice the word endure is repeated regarding suffering. That's the primary action, endure suffering. Notice God, that we're to be mindful of God and what we do is in the sight of God. Here, 19 to 20. A rationale for submitting even to suffering. For this is a gracious thing when, mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly. For what credit is it when you sin and are beaten for it? You endure. But if when you do good and suffer for it, you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God. Now, he's making it clear that the focus is when you're suffering for something unjust, you're suffering under someone who's harsh, that it's more difficult. Now, we first need to find what is this gracious thing? This is a gracious thing. When you're being subject to an unjust ruler, when you're being subject to that suffering, this is a grace, is what he says. I believe the word should be translated or helped if we understood it as it's favorable before God. It's commendable in the sight of God. What we just read and what I quoted earlier from Be Still My Soul. There's a favorable, a commendable, a pleasing to God in the presence of God when we are submitting out of fear of him to someone who's unjust. It's grace, it's favorable. Now, that deserves a big qualifier. God does not delight in your harm or humiliation. God delights in you, in your love for him, in your growth in him, in being near you. God is not distant or disinterested in suffering. It's important, we see this call of suffering in unjust ways throughout all of scripture, and if you want to really have a meditation beyond this passage, I encourage you to read somewhere between Exodus 6 to 14. Just take that chunk, it's a big chunk, but that's a, oh man, that's a good chunk. Let's go over to Exodus 1, let's take the whole thing. Because Israel starts receiving affliction from the king, and they cry out to God, and God hears them. He's not distant. God hears them, he sees them, he promises they're good, then Pharaoh treats them more harshly, then they complain to God, and what does God do? He doubles down, I will do it. I will deliver you. And we see the beginnings of a great, the God who is with us in the midst of our suffering, the God who is for us to deliver us out of that suffering. Exodus provides us a rich understanding of who God is in the midst of suffering under a harsh master. Notice what he says, this is a gracious thing, when we are mindful of God. The call is to be mindful of God in the midst of this unjust suffering so that we are doing what is gracious in the sight of God. We have to know God is with us. We have to know God is for us. We have to be mindful of a God who we fear, have a reverence for, that he sees us when we're enduring and it's favorable. It's commendable before God. This is kind of like a parent who when watching their child play a sport and in that game, either the umpire or the ref makes a really bad call or another athlete, another player does something, a harsh foul. And what you want to see your child doing is getting up, continuing on with good sportsmanship. You don't want to see your kid retaliate. You don't see your kid fight back and mouth off to the umpire or push the other athlete down. God sees us and he sees how we're mistreated and it's a pleasing thing before God to see us endure, to continue on and trusting him, not fighting for our own rights, but trusting him with patience and kindness in the presence of God. Your endurance through suffering is commendable. It's favorable. It kind of takes us back to the previous section in 1 Peter. Remember, we're like living stones being built up on the living stone. As a holy temple, as holy priests, to do what? To offer to God acceptable sacrifices. An acceptable sacrifice is to endure suffering, mindful of God. An acceptable sacrifice, a way we worship, is in the midst of suffering, enduring false accusations, real accusations, unhelpful punishment. To endure is a way in which we can please God in worship, offering to Him one of those acceptable sacrifices. Be mindful of this. Believer, let's just step back and think about how encouraging this is. You can worship God in the way you serve and suffer. That should be encouraging. You can worship God by simply the way you endure in serving and suffering. You can worship God by the way we submit to our masters. We can worship God by the way we endure the unjust suffering. It means there's no such thing as meaningless suffering for the believer because it's an opportunity to delight the God above who created us and saved us. There's also something I think practically helpful if you're a servant, a student, an employee. We're designed for honor. We're designed to have relationships where Someone is telling us what to do, and we know what that is to do. We know how to do it well, and we can feel like a job well done. One of the worst kind of bosses is someone who constantly moves the field goal post. A teacher who is constantly telling you, well, this is what's going to be on the test, and then it's something altogether different. So when you feel like you can never please, that's exasperating. In the midst of that, a servant can know he can please God. How relieving is that? In a world where someone is demanding but never happy or pleased, you can know that what you do and how you endure and how you serve, if your master's ever pleased, your God is by the way you conduct yourself. Let that wash over you so that you're mindful of God who calls you to endure, who calls you to be mindful of him, to know that it's pleasing in his sight to endure this unjust judgment. Now, Peter's transition in verse 20 is challenging. For what credit is it if, when, all right, we have lots of qualifications here, all right, When you sin or are beaten for it, if you are receiving just punishment, there's no credit. But if, assume, when you suffer for doing what's good, you endure it, it's a gracious thing. We gotta wrestle with this idea of credit. Why would he say there's credit, reward? We can go back to, remember 1 Peter 1, 6-7, where he did tell us that through your faith is tested and trials the result for you as praise, glory, and honor. That's the most natural way of reading the text. Verse 20 references a credit. We have a theology of credit. Now next Sunday is Reformation Sunday, and we're going to sing and rejoice in faith alone, by grace alone that you are saved. It is not by your works. And with that in mind, there's a theology of credit. You're not saved by anything you've done. You cannot earn any kind of credit towards your salvation. But Jesus said you're supposed to be storing something up in heaven. That sounds like credit. Jesus taught there's a storing up for a reward, a treasure in heaven. Here there's some kind of credit for the believer who has been saved. He is speaking to those who are elect, who have been given new life. There is a credit if you're enduring now through suffering. You are not saved by your works, but you are saved for good works. There's a reward to receive for the faithful endurance of good works. The principle here is endure suffering. The word endure, it means to remain under, to not throw it off so quickly, to get the help you need, but to not throw it off, to not grumble, but to remain faithful. I believe this passage is helpful because it should give us a buoyancy in the midst of trials, to not be beaten down, in the trial, but to know that there is a God who is seeing us, a God who we can be mindful of, a God who is with us, who comforts us, a God who will ultimately deliver us. There's a buoyancy provided in this passage in the midst of unjust suffering. But that doesn't mean what he's calling us to isn't difficult. We've seen the call, be subject to your masters, even those unjust, then the reason why you would submit even to that unjust suffering and endure it, that's verses 19 to 20, and now we're gonna see how. How to suffer. By following the example of Christ. Beginning in verse 21. For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example so that you might follow in his footsteps. He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return. When he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. There's many ways we want to think about how Christ relates to who we are now and how we behave now. The author of Hebrews will tell us that Christ suffered for us in every way and like us in every way so they can sympathize. We read a little bit earlier before the pastoral prayer and before the offering from Corinthians where it's a comfort we get in the midst of suffering. But here there's Christ suffered to give us an example. There's a clear calling to follow Jesus. There's a clear understanding that there's a way you can suffer well because Jesus did. That's gonna be difficult for us to wrestle with. There's a clear way to suffer well, to submit to his word, to suffer well. Christ suffered for us to save us, and Christ suffered for us to lead us into the way of suffering well. Let's just remember the three basic commands for disciples. Deny yourself, carry your cross, follow Jesus. Well, two of those are being combined here, aren't they? Following Jesus means you're following in his suffering. He is our example, he is Christus exemplar. We are called to carry our cross, which is suffering. That's what the cross is. We're to follow Him in His suffering. If we go back to 1 Peter 1, 11, where Peter's telling us how we need to be assured of the faith we have because of how God has promised it from before. Well, the promise was that the Christ would suffer and then have the glory that follows. We have to remember that is the pattern of Christ and the pattern for ourselves. suffering, and then the glory. Romans 8, 17 teaches this, we suffer with him in order that we might be glorified with him. We can't get confused about the order of suffering and then glory for Christ or for ourselves. Suffering is a central part of what we confess. I believe in Jesus Christ, our Lord, God's only Son, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of a virgin, who suffered under Pontius Pilate, He's died, crucified, was buried. We confess his suffering and it is central to our faith. Let's look at those first few words. For to this, that is the suffering unjustly, enduring suffering unjustly, submitting to endure in the unjust suffering, this you have been called. Last week I said you should mark up those sections of scripture that said this is God's will. You should mark these up too. God's calling is God's will. What God calls you to is what he wills. In seminary class last, a couple weeks ago, we talked about God's effectual call. And praise God for this, because we can look back at 1 Peter 2.9 and see God called us out of darkness and into his light. God called us out of sin and into Jesus Christ's righteousness. God called us out of guilt and into forgiveness. This one is also an effectual call. To this you have been called. You've been called to endure suffering because you have to follow your Savior. You being called to Christ in his light means there's a suffering and a need to endure that suffering and a need to trust him in the midst of that suffering. This is a calling, Christian, to participate and share in the suffering of Christ. And that must be seen as an honor and a joy. The call to participate and share in the suffering of Christ must be seen as an honor and a joy because it also means we're called to participate and share in his glory. There's three specific things that Christ has done for us as an example listed. He suffered for us, that is, he saved us by his suffering. You are not saved by following the example, but now that you are saved, you are to follow his example. He's left behind this example to follow in his steps. Do you see the repetition of how important it is to follow Jesus in suffering? The three things that Peter lists It's kind of amazing. At some level, he's weaving in Isaiah 53, and he's giving us three things that Jesus did not do. He did not sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. That's verse 22. Verse 23, when he was reviled, he did not return. He didn't retaliate. When he suffered, he did not Those are the three things he did not do, but he did entrust himself to the God who judges justly. One of the things that I believe is the best understanding of why the disciples never understood who Jesus was while he was on earth during the Gospels, other than God hiding himself in that way, is that they seem to have neglected that suffering precedes glory. that they seem to miss that the Messiah was gonna first come to serve, to seek out sinners and suffer before the glory. Peter is referring with these passages, and he's gonna refer later on in verse 24 to Isaiah 53 very thickly, very intentionally. Well, Isaiah 53 is one of the suffering servant songs that give one of the most amazing pictures of Jesus is. In David's prayer, he alluded that it's kind of amazing how clear God went ahead and had already made, hundreds of years before Christ, who the Christ would be and what he would come and do and how suffering was so significant. He's addressing servants. And he's using Christ as an example. Quoting from the servant songs of Isaiah. See, Jesus wasn't a servant to any master here on earth. He's a free man, but he came as the ultimate, absolute servant, coming to serve all of us by coming to suffer for us. He is the creator, the ruler, the sustainer of this world, and he came down to be the ultimate, absolute servant who suffered for us. This is why we look and we see how glorious suffering can be because he who is most glorious, the master and creator and savior, he came down to be the final and absolute true servant that we get to follow. This is why we can rejoice and share in the Lord's sufferings as Peter's gonna say in chapter four, verse 13. Suffering is now meaningful because of Jesus. So what does it look like to follow his example? No sinning, no lying. As we look at how he's citing there Isaiah 53, the word sin could be translated also violent. That's how it reads in Isaiah 53. He's not denying Christ. He's not denying God. When we're suffering, we're to deny Jesus. There's not a violence in our activity. There's not a wickedness, a cruelness that we respond with when suffering. Further, there's no retaliation. When reviled, he did not revile. Fighting fire with fire is not what a Christian does. He did not threaten. One of the great emphases there from Isaiah 53 about not threatening is he remains silent. If you go back to the Gospel of John, Jesus promises the Holy Spirit will come and when you're put before the courts, he'll tell you what to say. That's a great relief, isn't it? I'm not going on a limb here, I'm pretty sure we can also say the Holy Spirit will also give you the self-control to not say anything. But a fruit of the Spirit is self-control. A fruit of the Spirit can't actually be silenced in the midst of reviling and unjust suffering. To quietly suffer following the model of Christ. As we think about Jesus as an example, the most significant suffering, unjust suffering, was the cross, and then we can go to the trial, and then the constant mockery. We see his entire ministry was really just an ongoing unjust attack on who he was, constantly being misrepresented. And it heightens that last week, where he's falsely accused. He's beaten, spat upon, mocked. His back is ripped apart with a whip. He's in such difficult pain and sorrow, being so mistreated, he can't even carry his own cross. Then they nail him to the cross where the whole goal is to cause him to suffocate because he can't push himself up and they're mocking him and beating him. What he says and does not say is really important. My God, My God, why have you forsaken me? He says that for us, Christian. He says that for us because he takes the punishment that we deserve, he takes the suffering for sin that we deserve, he says that for us. It's very important we understand what he did not say. He did not say, this isn't fair. I'm not sure that should be in the Christian's vocabulary. There needs to be a way that we know how to cry out to God. We need to understand there's a way to cry out to God, how long, oh Lord, but Jesus is an example. There's a way in which we rejoice it's not fair. Christ, If he says that, we're not saved. If on the cross, Jesus cries out, it's not fair, we're still in our sin. Instead, instead of saying it's not fair, he says, Father, forgive them. That's the example. That's the model of Jesus Christ. Notice that last affirmation. He entrusted himself who judges justly. Praise God, he is the just God who is also the justifier. He is just in that every sin we punish and he is a justifier in that he has declared those who believe in Jesus forgiven because Christ went through with his death and burial and resurrection. But here it's, he knew God would have the final judgment. He's modeling for us as the Messiah in the flesh that he knows there is going to be a final judgment. As those who are seeking to follow Christ, there's a, a parallel passage is Romans 13 where we do not seek our own vengeance. We trust God. who's the perfect vindicator. We trust God who knows exactly how to judge every unjust ruler. This is an important parallel. This is the only reason we would ever submit to an unjust ruler, because of God, because of the fear of God, who is a just judge. He is the just vindicator who will bring right judgment on everyone who punishes unjustly his children. God is rich in mercy. We praise God, he's our savior. God is the just judge. He is the vindicator. Final section, final point. The salvation. of our assurance, an assurance for why we would follow Jesus, why we would submit, why we would endure. Verse 24 and 25, really following from 23, but I want us to see here it's not just what he did for an example, but what he did to save us. Jesus, he himself bore our sins in his body on the tree. that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed, for you were straying like sheep, but have now returned the shepherd and overseer of your souls. Peter's given the clear command, verse 18, be subject to even the unjust masters. He's given the rationale. It's pleasing to God for you to endure this kind of unjust suffering. He's given us Christ's example who endured the greatest act of injustice, of denying God and punishing someone unnecessarily, who was righteous. And now he gives us this great assurance. You follow Christ, verse 24, because he himself bore our sins in his body on the tree. That's a wonderful summary of the gospel. That's worthy of your meditation. And like this week, there might be a quiz next week. Honor everyone, love the brotherhood. Ah, there we go. He bore our sins in his body on the tree. God's own son took on our flesh so that he could be our substitute when he was nailed to the cross, the tree. He who is truly sinless in that body, he who was without sin in his human nature died to bear our sin, to take upon our sin. That's the gospel. He came to be the substitute for the punishment we deserve so that God is just and the justifier. If you're not a believer, that's what you need to hear and believe today. We're all sinners. We've all gone astray. And the only hope is to come to the Savior, the only one who died in your place for your salvation. We are all guilty and will face a just judge. And he will demand an answer that we cannot give for our sin. And the only hope any of us have is that Jesus would speak on our behalf and say, I died to satisfy the wrath of God for his or her sin. It is only by faith in Jesus that you can be forgiven. Believe in him. Christian, the application for you is if you have believed in him, notice the purpose for why he died for you. That you might die to sin and live to righteousness. You might die to sin and live to righteousness. Well, what kind of sins might you die to? You might Die to disrespecting those in authority, even when they're unjust. You might die to refusing to submit to those God has appointed as rulers or masters. You die to threatening those who punish you. You die to retaliating when you feel wrong. You die to not trusting God who judges justly. You die to not seeking to follow Jesus' example. These are sins that have been pointed out in our own text. As much as we're afraid of, should be afraid of submitting to someone, we're afraid of not having control over justice. So I get why we wanna pull that back in. I get why we're afraid of trusting God, the just judge, in the midst of every circumstance. But isn't the whole gospel about how we cause so much trouble by taking matters into our own hands? Isn't the whole gospel a solution to our problem of trying to fix things in our own way? The sins Jesus died for are the sins we now die to. The sins Jesus died for are the sins we now died to. Praise God, he forgives us and calls us out of those sins. The righteousness imputed to us, declared for us, is the righteousness we now live to. If you've been, if Christ bore your sin on the tree in his body, that you might die to a sin and now live to righteousness. That means we submit with all fear of God. We endure suffering with joy, with being mindful of God. We follow Christ's righteous pattern. We trust him who judges justly. Notice the end of verse 24, we see another allusion back to Isaiah 53. By his wounds, you've been healed. You have been saved by believing in Jesus who died on the cross for your sin. You're now free from sin, you can die to sin. You can now follow Jesus, especially his, it's called a suffer. But what a sweet balm here. By His wounds, you have been healed. And that first absolutely means your sin problem, your need for forgiveness, your need for renewal and washing by His wounds, by His suffering on that cross, through His death, you are saved. I believe we can also understand that looking to the cross And seeking grace provided through the cross is how we actually find healing now for current suffering and the wounds that come from it. You're called to endure suffering and there's a great promise of a deliverance from suffering. And there's an incredible way in which we read earlier, there's a comfort in the midst of suffering. Trust the healing power of Christ. Trust the healing power that's provided through his own wounds, that's applied to you by the very power of the Holy Spirit who indwells you. His gospel saves us and heals us. It restores us. In that last declaration of verse 25, for you were straying like sheep. You were causing all that incredible self-harm and inflicting your own punishment. in addition to being treated unjustly. But we were straying like sheep away from God. Notice the change. But have now returned to the shepherd and overseer of your souls. We who have believed in Jesus have returned to God who protects us. That is the beauty of it. In the midst of the unjust suffering, there is a God who is protecting you. He provides for you. In the midst of the unjust suffering, there's a God who's providing for you. When we doubt, we see Christ gave up His own life. The Father sent His own Son. There is a constant care from God. He is not distant. He draws near to comfort us, to care for us, to lead us. especially whenever we're enduring the kind of suffering he's calling us to submit to and endure. This morning's high calling is that we can worship God even in the midst of suffering. We can know the God who has great mercy even in the midst of this suffering. That suffering is not meaningless in Christ. Will you pray with me? Father, we thank you for not leaving us alone in our straying away from you. We thank you that we can see you are the just judge whom we can trust. We thank you that we can see you have the power to care for us. You've demonstrated your love for us in Christ's own death. where we pray that we would know how to find the healing we need in his death. We would know how to help each other in that healing as we care for one another, encourage one another, build each other up, and help each other endure and find deliverance from suffering. We thank you that we can trust you, know you, and make you known. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.