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We come now, brethren, to the preaching of God's Word. And I invite you to open your Bibles this morning to the book of 1 Peter and the third chapter of the book of 1 Peter and the third chapter this morning as we continue our study through this epistle. And I will be reading and preaching this morning from one verse, 1 Peter chapter 3 and verse 8. 1 Peter chapter 3. And verse 8, I invite you to read along silently as I read aloud this passage of scripture this morning. Here, Peter writes, finally, all of you have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind. Let's pray. Our God and Father, we thank you for your mercy and grace today, for the privilege that we have to worship you in spirit and in truth. And we would now ask for the work of your Holy Spirit that he and his power and sovereignty would reveal to us the meaning of this text this morning and apply it to our lives in such a way that our thinking and our behavior is transformed for the glory of God, for the good of your church. We ask these things this morning in Jesus' blessed name. Amen. Brethren, this morning we want to address one final time in this third chapter of 1 Peter the topic of biblical submission. The topic of biblical submission. You know we've been addressing this theme for some weeks now. And this morning, what we have to consider is of equal importance to all that we've considered thus far. For having already considered our duty to submit to those institutions that God has established for our well-being, and having also considered our duties in marriage, we now come to our duty as believers in the same body to submit to one another, to submit to one another, to willingly lay our lives and our own agendas aside for the good of Christ's body, for the good of others within our own circle of Christian fellowship. For even within the relationships that we have with believers in general, our lives are to be characterized by mutual submission to one another, by submission not only to God, but to the service of others as well. For we are not called to demand the submission of others, But we are called to be examples of what true submission consists of. In fact, brethren, we see a powerful example of this principle in the work of pastors or shepherds as they minister to the needs of the flock of God. In fact, we've been talking a lot lately about the need for leadership and the type of men who God calls to be leaders. For men who labor as pastors or shepherds have great spiritual responsibility, and when they serve faithfully, they are worthy of respect and honor. In fact, they are to be obeyed and submitted to as they faithfully carry out their ministries as defined by God's word in Christ's name, Hebrews chapter 13 and verse 17. For it is a blessing to a pastor to have the submission of the people he serves. And yet pastors or shepherds are also to be men who must be characterized by submission also. They must submit. For they are not only to promote the glory of God, but they are to promote the glory of the Spirit's work within the church. They are not to promote their own glory, but the glory of Christ. And it should be evident to all that pastors or shepherds are submitting to Christ in the way that they handle God's Word, which they do not twist or pervert for their own purposes, and in the way they display servant leadership to God's flock. Peter informs us that leaders in the church must be godly men who understand and appreciate the concept of mutual submission. Mutual submission. For if any men were to be placed in positions of leadership who did not understand this concept, who were only concerned that everyone submit to them, they could do tremendous damage to the flock of God. And so men who are chosen to lead God's people must be models of what we're going to consider in our text this morning. They must be men who not only submit to God, who not only have a sense of calling from God, which they are determined to obey and fulfill, but they must also know what it means to submit themselves. Church leaders must be committed to, engaged in, mutual submission to the body of believers that they serve. And yet this duty to practice mutual submission is not limited to church officers only. Yes, they are to be an example of this, but this duty is not limited simply to church officers. but it is the duty of all of God's people, especially those who are gathered together in the context of worship and fellowship. And of course, the Apostle Peter makes this clear here in the first part of our text this morning in verse eight. For in introducing this topic, this subject of mutual submission in and among and between God's people gathered for fellowship, The Apostle Peter addresses every Christian within the churches of Jesus Christ by writing these words, finally, all of you, notice that, all of you, every one of you, without exception, all of God's people do the following. For what Peter writes here in our text this morning applies to all of us, whether we are leaders within the church or not. And what the Apostle Peter admonishes us to do here in this verse is absolutely necessary if Christ is going to be honored by us and if we're going to have an effective testimony for Christ in the world. for a group or body of believers who will not practice mutual submission to one another will not stay together long. They will not stay together long. And even if they do stay together, they will not know, they will not enjoy the kind of support and sympathy and sensitivity to one another that is needed for a body of believers to grow up to maturity, to grow in grace together. So we need to carefully and prayerfully consider what we as God's people must all do to promote a spirit of mutual submission where we fellowship. And of course, Peter tells us here in the rest of verse 8 what we and every assembly of believers who are interested in God's glory must pursue, and we must pursue these things continually for such a spirit of mutual submission to prevail among us, as well as to hold us together as a united body. And what must we do? What must we actively pursue in order to mutually submit to one another? Well, let us notice here in verse 8 that Peter mentions five things that we must pursue in practice if we want to be characterized by submission to God and submission to one another. And the first thing that we must pursue in practice according to Peter here is unity of mind. Unity of mind. For unless the members of a group, a body of believers are united in their thinking and setting their thoughts collectively on the same thing, they cannot possibly submit to the same purpose or to one another for long. In fact, when the members of a given assembly are all thinking and settling their convictions along different lines, when they're all separately insisting that everyone else submits to their agenda, there can only be chaos. There can only be division. And so there must be some practical way that unity of mind is actively promoted within the church, and every member of that fellowship willingly submits to the same thing. How is this to be done? Well, with respect to our doctrine, what we believe. Our confession of faith, which is a summary of what Scripture teaches, helps us to be united in what we as believers collectively believe. And there is great oneness of mind when we hold to our confession and we confess it together. In fact, I thank God for our confession. I thank God that we are bound together by allegiance and loyalty to our confession as an accurate summary of those things that are most surely taught and believed in scripture. We need to be united in doctrine. However, in this context, in verse 8 of 1 Peter 3, it does not appear that Peter is stressing doctrinal unity, but practical unity, practical unity in terms of our mutual obligations. He's speaking here of unity of mind, or oneness of mind, or agreement with respect to our mutual obligations to one another as brethren in Jesus Christ. And what is our primary obligation to one another? What is the one common conviction that should occupy and guide our thinking, guide our thoughts, when we are together? Well, there should be a common belief among all of us that we are not here for ourselves, individually. We are not here for ourselves individually, but we are here for the glory of God and to serve one another. We are not here to be served. We are not here to be submitted to by others, but we are here to serve Christ. and to submit to the greater needs of our brethren who are assembled with us. In fact, the Apostle Paul, in another place in the New Testament, when talking about the things that actually promote practical oneness of mind or unity of mind, wrote these words, let nothing be done through self-ambition or conceit, but in humility count others as being more significant than yourselves. Let each of you, Paul continues, look not only to his or her own interests, but also to the interests of others. Philippians chapter 2, verses 3 and 4. For true unity in God's assembly, unity of mind, involves setting aside our own interests and making them subservient to the interests of others. How do we know that this is what Paul had in mind with this language regarding unity of mind? Well, we know this, and we know that this is what Peter has in mind, because the next four duties that are mentioned here in verse eight are focused on our response to others. They're focused on our response to others, to the type of submissiveness that we need to display and model when we are presented with the real needs of others. And what are we to do, given this mutual responsibility to one another? Well, first, here in verse 8, Peter admonishes us to have sympathy for one another. Notice that here in the text, to have sympathy for one another. And by this word, sympathy, Peter is not suggesting that we should feel sorry for one another. That's not the sense in which he intends this. But rather, when Peter urges us to have sympathy for one another here in verse 8, he is instructing us to be far less concerned about ourselves and far more in tune, as it were, to the sufferings and struggles of others, the suffering and struggles of others. You see, we all have a choice. We can come here this morning and focus only on our struggles and our sufferings, or we can decide in obedience to the word of God to make the struggles and the sufferings of others a greater priority. In fact, the word Peter uses here literally means to suffer beside others, to enter into their experience of suffering or grief or whatever with the intent of sharing it or easing it or of mutually bearing that burden. For in the family of God, and of course this is what we are, the members of the same family, there is to be mutual sympathy for one another, not mutual indifference to one another. not indifference to the difficulties and sufferings of the person sitting beside you or in front of you or behind you, not a mutual denial that suffering is real or that people around us are in need of relief, but a common conviction, a common mindset among us that what we owe to one another, what we need from one another during these times is genuine sympathy. Not pity, not lecturing, certainly not criticism, but a genuine willingness to enter into one another's feelings, to enter into one another's pain. for the purpose of bringing relief to one another. For truly there is a sense in which we are never more Christ-like in terms of our service to others than when we are showing genuine sympathy for the needs and the weaknesses of others. For Christ himself, I challenge you to think about this, Christ himself is characterized by his sympathy. by his sympathy. In fact, in Hebrews chapter 4, verses 15 and 16, we read these words, For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, meaning that Christ does sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin For His knowledge of our weakness compels Him in mercy to respond to us. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and grace to help in a time of need. And no doubt, brethren, there are some even within our gathering this morning. here in this very place, at this very hour, who are in need of our sympathy, again, not our pity, in need of our sympathy, our concern, if it is biblically and authentically displayed. We need to extend our hearts to them. We need to give them a shoulder to lean on. We need to give them hands to help carry their load. And therefore, as a fundamental and vital part of our willingness to mutually submit to one another, as God calls us to do, we need to cultivate hearts that are full of genuine sympathy. for the struggles and sufferings of others, for without genuine sympathy, we simply can't pursue the remaining duties because all of these duties are linked together. What should accompany our sympathy? Peter exhorts us next year in verse eight to have brotherly love. Brotherly love. And you might ask the question this morning, Pastor, what exactly is the difference between genuine sympathy and brotherly love? Well, one commentator has stated that sympathy is the soil or the state of heart out of which true brotherly love grows. Brotherly love then speaks of the specific actions that each of us display in clear, tangible ways to express our sympathy. For without action, without a demonstration of genuine sympathy that is upon our hearts, our words can actually mean very little. Our words can have a very hollow sound to them, to say the least, when they are not accompanied by those acts that give them meaning. In fact, this is why the Apostle John wrote in 1 John 3, verse 18, these words, Little children, let us not love in word or in talk only, but in deed and in truth. For as one commentator wrote, sympathy and brotherly love are what the root and the fruit are to lively, flourishing trees. And therefore, if we are to flourish in our individual lives, if we are to flourish as a church, as a gathering of God's people in need of one another, we must pursue, we must practice brotherly love. But then you ask, Pastor Massey, how do we know if we possess such love? Well, We might say in response to this question, are we laying down our lives freely? Are we willing to sacrifice what we hold dear? Are we willing to submit to our brothers and sisters in Christ for Christ's sake? For Jesus said in John chapter 15 and verse 13 that there is no greater love than that love. which is willing to lay down its life for a friend, where there is a sense in which our love for our brothers can be measured by what we're willing to give, or better yet, what we're willing to give up on their behalf. And I ask us all this morning, what are we willing to give? What are we willing to give up? Are we willing to put the physical and spiritual needs of others first? Are we willing to seek their best interest above our own? Or the way that we answer these questions reveal much about our attitude regarding mutual submission. And I sense that many of us today And this is a generalization, I admit, but I think it's generally true that many of us today tend to be more concerned about whether we are getting the love that we feel that we're entitled to than whether we are fulfilling our duty to love others. And this should not be. This should not be. This should not continue to be the case with us. But our sympathy and our brotherly love should go hand-in-hand. And thirdly, brethren, let us notice here, continuing in verse 8 of 1 Peter chapter 3, that we are to serve one another, we are to willingly submit to one another with a tender heart. A tender heart. Many of these things sound similar, but they're different. The emphasis is different. the focus is different. How does having a tender heart differ from having genuine sympathy for others or from expressing brotherly love to another? Well, I think the best way to understand true tender heartedness in this particular context is to contrast it with the opposite response. to contrast it with the opposite response, and that being hard-heartedness. Let's think about that for a few. Hard-heartedness. Or when we possess a hard heart with reference to another person, And in this case, another brother in Christ, we are no longer moved by genuine sympathy for them. We are no longer inclined to act lovingly as a brother or sister in response to them, but rather there is a coldness. There is a noticeable indifference. towards others that is often associated, in its worst case, with bitterness or even with resentment towards others, such as the human heart, right? Such as our own hearts, so prone to be hard, so prone to be cold, so prone to be indifferent. I confess it to you this morning. It's true with me. And no doubt it's true with you. And yet Peter is saying here in essence, don't let that happen. Don't let that happen. Don't let that tenderness of heart, that sensitivity that should be peaked whenever your brother or sister is in genuine need and distress to wax hard or to become indifferent for what is necessary for growth within the assembly of God's people. What is needed to maintain a spirit of concern and graciousness between all of us as God's redeemed people is a tender heart. A heart that is easily moved by the struggles and the difficulties of others. A heart that is quick to express itself in loving actions. A heart that is not easily offended. A heart that is not closed off. For truly, brothers and sisters, the circumstances within our lives will test our tender-heartedness towards one another, won't they? Life will bring many challenges our way to test whether we will maintain a tender heart to the people of God. And if life's circumstances are not enough of a problem or a test, our adversary, as you know, is always at work trying to steal away our tenderheartedness towards one another. Always. I see this all the time as a pastor. I experienced this in my own life as well. The adversary is always trying to steal away a tender heart. always diligently laboring to create and foster hard-heartedness and animosity between brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ. In fact, when it comes to trying to create and foster hard-heartedness and animosity between us as believers, Satan will attempt anything to magnify our differences. to magnify our shortcomings in one another's eyes. He will call attention to what can go wrong between us. He will encourage us to easily take offense at one another, where the goal of our adversary is to decrease or to diminish, if he can, the tenderheartedness that now exists between you and me. between all of us as a spiritual family, because if he is successful, he can stop the flow of true sympathy in our lives. He can interrupt our expressions of brotherly love. He can turn our tenderness into distrust. Therefore, we must, by the grace of God, maintain tenderheartedness towards one another. When is the last time you prayed, believer, for a tender heart? Not just a tender heart towards God, but a tender heart toward your brother and sister in Jesus Christ. We must recognize when our hearts are beginning to shut down. We must recognize when we begin to withdraw from our brothers and sisters in Christ. And when that happens, we need to ask why. Why is this happening? We must be willing to deal honestly with whatever it is within our own hearts that causes our sympathetic and loving response to one another to die down, to cease from flowing as it should. For it is only when we have tender heartedness coupled with genuine sympathy and brotherly love that we're able to submit to one another in a way that honors the Lord Jesus Christ and edifies or builds up the church. It would be a tragedy, a real tragedy, if we allowed our adversary to gain the upper hand by failing to maintain hearts that believe and do the best regarding one another. Then lastly, brethren, in order to mutually submit to one another according to Peter here in verse 8 of 1 Peter 3, there must be within each of us a humble mind, a humble mind. And this refers not just to a mind that is willing to humbly receive the Word of God. And we mentioned that already in our readings today and in the things that we've said. We want to receive the Word of God as humble students of the Word. But this refers more directly to the submissive mind of a servant. the submissive mind of a servant to the kind of mind that Jesus Christ possessed in his own submission to God. in his willing sacrifice for his people, for although Peter does not go into detail here about the kind of humility of mind that freely cements to God and to others, the Apostle Paul clearly does, back in Philippians chapter 2, which I quoted from earlier, for in that chapter, which again deals with unity, Paul urges us to have the mind of Christ. Remember that? The mind of Christ expresses itself how? In unity and in humility. In humility. Where Paul wrote in Philippians chapter 2, have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus. who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men, and being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Several things stand out to us, brethren, regarding the humble mind of Christ leading up to and during His humiliation. First, we are given by Scripture some insight into the mindset of Christ as He submitted to His Father prior to His humiliation. where Christ, as the second person of the Trinity, was aware of his equality with the Father, fully aware of that from all eternity, he could have exercised his full rights and entitlements without submitting at all. That's the mystery and the glory of his humiliation. He could have obeyed his father perfectly without submitting at all. And yet he chose to submit. Jesus Christ had nothing to prove in coming to this earth. Nothing to prove in terms of submission, given that his obedience to the father was never ever in question. and yet Christ submitted willingly, not under force, not under compulsion, but to bring about the greatest good, not for himself, but for God the Father, the glory of the Father, and for us. Such should be our mindset as well. Such should be our mindset. Our thoughts and our minds should be grounded in this same principle of humility. All thoughts of what we are entitled to must be subservient, must be pushed aside for the greater good, for the glory of God and for our brother and sister in Christ. Oh, imagine a church where this was the rule. where this was the practice, the commitment, the fulfillment by the Spirit of God. Then secondly, regarding the humble mind of Christ, which we can only assume is the model that Peter has in mind here in 1 Peter chapter 8. In fact, there are many references throughout 1 Peter to the sufferings of Christ. the humiliation of Christ, but let us trace for a moment its connection to Christ's obedience. Its connection to Christ's obedience. For Peter states that it was in humbling himself that Christ became obedient. Christ became obedient. It was not that he needed to be humble. but that he might establish through his own example the path for obedience. Of course, this is the path that is set before us also. I want you to think about this. We want to walk in his steps. He set the example for obedience, and he did so with a humble mind, with the mind of a servant. That is the path that we're called to as well, for as His people, we're called to a life of submission just as He was. In fact, the only way we can fulfill our calling, the only way that we can have unity of mind and sympathy and brotherly love and tenderheartedness and humbleness of mind is to follow Christ's example. the only one. And what's really beautiful about God's plan and purpose and provision is that scripture promises us, in fact we'll see this when we get to 1 Peter chapter 5 and verse 5, scripture promises us that there is grace for those who pursue humility. God resists Let those words sink in for a moment. God resists wrath, but God gives grace. We need grace. God gives it generously. And yet the way that we obtain it through God's glorious provision is through a commitment to humility. Let us look to Jesus Christ as the one who can supply these things, who can supply these graces. And may we be committed to submitting to one another. As your pastor this morning, may I be more committed to submitting to God and submitting to you as my brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ. And I am concerned about being submitted to you. God, deliver me from a selfish spirit that thinks that the ministry is only about me. May God deliver you from that kind of Christianity as well. It's not about you. It's about the glory of God, the honor of God, and the good of His Church. May God give us grace to see that today. For His own good, let's pray. Our God and Father, we thank You so much for Your Word today. We would ask now for the work of Your Holy Spirit, that He would seal to our hearts that which we have heard, that we might be the people that You have called us to be. here in this passage of scripture, that we might truly possess the graces that Peter describes here, that we might have unity of mind and sympathy, brotherly love and tenderheartedness and humble minds, that we might fulfill the purpose that you've called us here to fulfill, that we might bring you glory. with our lives, with our service, and with our sacrifice. We ask now for the work of your spirit in all of our lives. Draw us close to the Lord Jesus Christ, that we might see him as our example, that we might cling to him, that we might learn from him, that we might sit at his feet through the word of God and know what it is to be his disciples. Make us disciples of Jesus today. In Jesus' name, amen.
Submitting to One Another
ស៊េរី 1st Peter
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