Almighty Father in heaven, your authority and sovereign rule is splendid and worthy and good. We rejoice this morning that you are the King of kings and the Lord of lords. You are the blessed and the only sovereign forevermore. We confess our foolish attempts to be our own authority in our lives. We are not able to govern our own hearts, much less those around us. We need your grace and mercy to sustain us and to keep us every day. So thank you for Jesus Christ, whom you have promised to be our shield and our help. You Lord Jesus, you are our King who subdues us to yourself, who rules over our hearts and defends us, restraining and conquering all of your and our enemies. Blessed be your name. Grant by your spirit this morning, Father, repentance when we attempt to be our own king. Turn us to you. Cause us to seek your face. And grant, I pray, faith this morning by your spirit that we might trust fully in your reign and rule over our lives, that we might rest in the peace and hope that only you can provide. We ask these things in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen. Amen. Well, keep your Bibles open there to 1 Peter chapter 2. And I want to turn and I want you to listen with me for just a moment to our Old Testament scripture reading that Lee read for us this morning. And I did not grow up in the church, actually. came to faith in my late teens. And so we were, our family was in and out of church a good bit. And I remember as a little guy, though, going to Sunday school and hearing about these superheroes that were in the Bible. men like Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And then I remember coming to faith in my late teens and reading those things in the scriptures and thinking, these guys are not superheroes. These guys, their lives are just as messed up as mine. They are constantly going away from the faith. They are not examples for us in any way, in way of their faithfulness, but their sin and the ugliness of their sin constantly came forward as I read these narratives. The display of the misery that's the consequence of that kept coming forward as well. We have something of that this morning as we look at Genesis chapter 21. A lot of sin has taken place between Abraham and Sarah. And to speak of, they have Hagar, which is there in the midst of their home. And she is a slave, not only to Abraham, but also to Sarah. And it's really a tragic thing. In the midst of a great, wonderful blessing, we see here in chapter 1 of Genesis, keep your Bibles in 1 Peter chapter 2, but in Genesis chapter 21, it speaks of Sarah having a baby. That's a wonderful blessing. It's a wonderful time for Isaac to be born there. And then out of that, what comes out of that is something that's very ugly and horrible. It says in Genesis chapter 21 verse 8, And the child grew and was weaned. This is speaking of Isaac. And Abraham made a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned. But Sarah saw the son of Hagar, the Egyptian, when she had borne to Abraham laughing. And so she said to Abraham, this is Sarah telling Abraham, her husband, she said to Abraham, cast out this slave woman with her son, for the son and the slave woman shall not be heir with my son Isaac." In other words, Sarah is saying, I don't want them any longer in our home. And the thing was very displeasing to Abraham on account of his son. But God said to Abraham, be not displeased because of the boy and because of your slave woman. Whatever Sarah says to you, do as she tells you for through Isaac shall your offspring be named. And I will make a nation of the son of the slave woman also because he is your offspring. So Abraham rose early in the morning and took bread and a wine, a skin of water and gave it to Hagar, putting it on her shoulder along with the child and sent her away. And she departed and wandered in the wilderness of Beersheba, vulnerable and cast out. And it goes on and speaks of Hagar when the water in the skin was gone. She put the child under one of the bushes. When she went and sat down opposite him a good way off, about a distance of a bow shot, For she said, let me not look on the death of my child. You hear the dire situation that this woman was put in? All because the authorities that were in her life, Abraham and Sarah, chose not to be gentle and kind and gracious, but instead harsh and unruly. I would encourage you to read this later today here on Lord's Day. It's a good time to read scripture, extra scripture, maybe more than you would normally do. Read Genesis 21 and notice how many times it speaks of Hagar looking and seeing things. This is my prayer this morning. As it continues in Genesis 21, it says, up, the Lord says, up, lift up the boy and hold him fast with your hand, for I will make him into a great nation. In other words, the Lord saying, I'm going to care for you, even though the authorities that I placed over you are not caring for you. This is my prayer for us this morning. The Lord says, then God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water. My prayer this morning is that the Lord will open our eyes. that the Lord will grant his grace, that as we look at this passage together this morning concerning a very difficult topic, the authorities that God has placed around us, that the Lord will open our eyes and help us see that he's the one who is our authority and that he's the one who will care for us, especially when those authorities that God has placed around us often are very cruel and unkind. So this morning as we come back to 1 Peter chapter 2, we've been working through this book together and we've been very careful to discuss the fact that these saints that Peter is talking to are exiled saints. cast out and scattered throughout the dispersion according to chapter 1, verses 1 and 2. And that the common benefits to the modern Roman culture that all others would have, these Christians no longer have because they are no longer a part of that culture. And Peter here is encouraging them that though they have been cast out, that they should not then assume that they have the right to withdraw or to remove themselves from the society, but instead to contribute and to be faithful to especially the authorities that are around them. Peter is saying this because according to chapter 2 verse 12, look with me there, chapter 2 verse 12, he's encouraging them that though they're cast out and they've been removed, they're exiles, they are to, according to this, keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable. You're supposed to be honorable among those that are around you, those that are outside of Christ. You're to be faithful and honorable to them and be subject to them. And so he goes on and he begins explaining with great detail, very specific detail, on exactly how they're to be honorable among the Gentiles. And that is to submit to the authorities that God has given to them. We see this. said in a very generic way, kind of an umbrella banner over this whole section in verse 13 of chapter 2. You see here it says, be subject for the Lord's sake to every human institution. This is how you're going to keep your conduct honorable among those who are outside of Christ, those who are the Gentiles, those who are not a part of the church. We are to be subject, for the Lord's sake, to every human institution. Last Lord's Day, we looked at verses 13 through 17 and considered the emperor and the governors, in other words, the governing authorities. This week, we're going to turn now and look together at verses 18 through 20, and we're going to consider what I'm going to call the vocational authorities, or you might want to say the occupational authorities, those that have authority over us in the workplace. And this morning as we do that, I want us to notice in verses 18 through 20, I want us to notice two points from our text this morning. These are the two points for the sermon this morning. And I want you to note these as we work through them. First is a servant's submission. A servant's submission. This is verse 18. And then verses 19 through 20 is a servant's motivation. A servant's submission, verse 18, and then a servant's motivation. Now, if you're looking at your Bibles, you can see that verses 18 actually goes all the way down through the end of this chapter. But I want you to notice that verses 21 through 25 is thick theologically. There's a lot there. And I felt that if I tried to cover this entire text, verses 18 through 25, first, I'm not sure if I've ever covered that much text in one sermon or not. But if I tried to cover all of that text, that I would be overlooking some very significant, important things. that I wanted us as a congregation to hone in on. So next Lord's Day, Lord's Willing, we'll be looking together at verses 21 through 25 together. But today we're only going to focus in on verses 18 through 20. So a servant's submission and a servant's motivation. Let's look first at a servant's submission here in verse 18 and consider the submission as we look together at verse 18. Follow with me. Verse 18 says, the Word of God says, Servants, be subject to your masters with all respect, not only to the good and gentle, but also to the unjust. Now, as we begin our time, as we look at this together and understand this servant's submission, we need to deal with some terms that may lead us in the wrong direction and sabotage us right as we get out of the chute here, because some of these terms are not terms that we understand in our modern culture today. So let's take a few moments and let's look at these terms together as we look at verse 18 together. Here we find Peter drawing a very specific lines on who and what he is commanding us to do. Who and what? We have to take our time and care to understand a few terms. This first one is one that we need to understand. Servants. Servants. This is most commonly translated in most English translations as servants. Elsewhere, in some translations, it's considered or translated as slave. There's one other translation that tries to draw this out and it translates it this way, household slave. And the reason there's these different terms here is because this actual word, this term in the original, is not the normal word for slave, which is doulos, but instead it is a category of slaves that speaks specifically of or primarily to the slave that is in the home or the household slave. And in this way then, what we find here is that this one is one who will be serving within the home and in close proximity with people in that home. In other words, there's this intimacy with this service that's being done. And in this way, we must see how Peter then is really putting his finger on a very personal, day-to-day part of the lives of these saints. thus causing us then to think about the fact that we need to be mindful of our day-to-day responsibilities and who God's called in our lives to be our authorities day-to-day regularly in our homes and around us. Now, most commentaries spend a lot of time attempting to give a clear picture of what exactly this servant or slave or household slave is. In our day and age, there are pages and pages, especially in the newer commentaries. That's why I like the older ones. They cut straight to the chase. But these newer commentaries spend a lot of time trying to say what this slave is and what this slave is not. And really, they're all over the map. So I felt it was very helpful then for me to be very concise and careful to help you understand a little bit of the struggle that's taking place. And so I want to read from a commentator that I read often here in First Peter. Tom Schreiner has a commentary on First Peter, and I want to read his section on the slave or the servant and help you understand some of the things that are kind of difficult as we try to understand this particular term. Let me read this for you as he explains what this servant or slave is. People became slaves by being captured in wars, kidnapped, or born into a slave household. Okay, so those are some of the ways that people come into this. Those facing economic hardships might choose to sell themselves into slavery in order to survive. Many slaves lived miserably, particularly those who served in the mines. Now, let me just make a note that most would say that these household slaves did not necessarily live miserable lives because they were really a part of the family. That's not a part of what Tom Schreiner says, but that's what that's implied here. Other slaves, let me continue with Tom Schreiner, other slaves, however, served as doctors, teachers, managers, musicians, and other artisans, and could even own their own slaves themselves. It would not be shocking for slaves to have a better education than their masters. I found that interesting. Those who are familiar with slavery from the history of the United States must beware of imposing our historical experience on the New Testament times since slavery in the Greco-Roman world was not based on race. and American slave owners discouraged education of the slaves. And so you see what's happening here. We can easily hear this word servant or slave, and our mind will automatically think of something that's not what it's meant by this historic biblical understanding of servant or slave. He goes on, Tom Schreiner goes on, and I'll finish. Still, slaves in the Greco-Roman world were under the control of their masters, and hence they had no independent existence. All right. Hopefully that sums up some of the difficulty and struggle in trying to explain this. Because none of us, I don't think this morning, none of you have the job title of servant or slave in our society today. I think it's appropriate then for us to relate this calling of servant or slave to the vocation of us as employees, or not just employees, in other words, the place where we go and receive a paycheck, but in all of our callings, the different things that we've been called to. So not just people that may go and work to get money, but also those who fulfill the vocations of even the children, to their parents, and so many others that are caring for different vocations, and those who have authorities over them in that realm. So employees today would be a good relation or association with this understanding of servant in our text. Granted, there are several significant differences, but the principles that are set forward here in our text, though being applied directly to this calling, is nonetheless principles that stand even outside this specific calling of servants to their masters and can be applied to any or all who are serving others or another person in his or her vocations or callings that have been given to you. So I suggest that it is common and correct to associate what we will learn here in our text this morning with our daily vocations. And I hope to show you how the specifics of the biblical servant-master relationship like For example, there's a lot of ink spilled on whether or why the New Testament didn't attack this institution, and why didn't Peter or Paul or the other apostles decide to eradicate slavery? Why didn't they just say, slavery's wrong, run for your life, don't be a part of that? Why did they not do that? The scriptures don't affirm slavery as a good thing, nor does it attempt to eradicate it. Really, all of these things distract us from really applying this Christian ethic to our daily lives. So these servants are called servants, also slaves, and they are to subject themselves to their masters. This idea of being subject we looked at last week, if you remember. This command was given first in verse 13, as I mentioned earlier, be subject for the Lord's sake to every human institution. And then what we see here Peter doing is he works through and in verses 13 through 17, he talks about here the social or political authorities. And then today we're going to look at the vocational or occupational authorities. This is in verses 18 all the way down to verse 25. And then a few weeks from now, a couple of weeks from now, we're going to look together at 1 Peter 3, verses 1 through 7. If you notice there, likewise, wives be subject to your own husbands. And so there is speaking of what I want to call the familial or domestic authorities. And in each of these, we notice how Peter is calling us to be subject to the authorities that the Lord has placed over us. And last week I talked about the fact that this subjection is not only the necessary, this inward deference and respect that you would give to another, but instead it's also an outward obedience for the Lord's sake. If you want to listen to that, you can go to the sermon from last week. Willing, but not absolute obedience. If you remember, that's what I spoke of last Lord's Day as we looked at the subjection that's being spoken of there in verse 13. Willing, but not absolute obedience is what is implied by this verb or this command. to be subject. And that's what it means here. But notice with me in our passage that here it brings out a new particular attitude by which we are to be subject. It says, servants be subject to your masters. And notice what it says, with all respect. Do you see that there? Do you see that the text is actually bringing forward an attitude, how we're supposed to be approaching this subjection? And this respect is most literally defined, and in some translations it's actually translated this way, as with all fear. The term fear does rightly have this idea of respect and reverence that's connected to it. However, here is a problem with this particular idea is that as we read this text, because we're reading it here and it says, Servants, be subject to your masters with all respect." The idea here seems to be that this respect or this fear should be directed toward the master. However, Peter mentions fear many times in the book of 1 Peter. Every single time he mentions the command to fear, he speaks of it as being toward God, and that's the only time he uses it. In fact, there's two instances in 1 Peter where Peter himself directs us and says, do not fear humans. Don't fear humans, but fear God and God alone. Look with me, if you will, at the very previous verse here, verse 17 of chapter 2. Here's one of the occurrences of fear. And notice it says, honor everyone very clearly. Love the brotherhood. That's the congregation. Last week we looked at this. Fear who? Fear God. You see that there? And then it goes on, it says, and what are we to do with the emperor? Are we to fear the emperor? No, we're to honor the emperor, but not fear the emperor. We're to fear no man, only fear God. And so here. It seems that what we're looking at is that we're to be servants. We're to be subject to our masters with a fear of God in our hearts. This is the attitude that we're to have as we subject ourselves to those authorities, those vocational authorities that are in our lives. This all respect or all fear spoken of here is speaking of the servants being subject to their masters with their allegiance, their ultimate allegiance and fear finally being in the Lord and in the Lord alone. This being subject for the Lord's sake, according to verse 13, our relationship with the Lord, our love for Him, our fear of dishonoring our Lord is what should motivate us and cause us to be subject to those that God has put over us in the workplace. So notice with me not only this attitude, but it goes on and it speaks of the scope by which we are to subject ourselves to these masters. And notice as it speaks of here, this being subject with all fear and respect of the Lord Jesus is important that this objection is out of this fear of the Lord. And the reason is because our text goes on and says, not only to the good, do you see that there? Not only to the good and gentle, But Peter goes on and says, but also to the unjust. Now, most of us would agree that a good and gentle master would deserve deference and obedience, would deserve subjection. But what makes this command that Peter is calling these Christians to distinctly Christian? What difference is there from what the world does and how Peter is here calling us to live? It is that when we are called to submit, we're called not only to submit and subject ourselves to those who are good and gentle, but also to those, it says here, that are unjust. Those unjust masters. Unjust has been variously translated as well as crooked, or harsh, or cruel, or perverse. Also, froward, where's that from? King James, right? Froward. The reason for all these different terms is because this term actually is broader than simply a person or a master doing a bad deed or a bad act. This word actually, this idea for unjust actually highlights the fact that there's not this just occasional outward acts of hostility. But the idea here is that this master is morally bankrupt. Totally and absolutely wicked in all that he does. How are we to understand then that Peter here is calling us, the servants of the Lord, to be subject to masters who are not just the ones that are gentle and kind and good, but also to those that are unjust, that are morally bankrupt. I want to be clear here that we are never called to be subject absolutely. We're being called, according to verse 13, to be subject for the Lord's sake. And then here in our passage, we're being called to be subject with respect or fear of God as we reverence the Lord in this objection. So this means that we are never to submit to sinful or evil demands. No, as one who is fearing God and in the subjection of who God is and committed to never sin against the Lord, to find our disfavor with the Lord, we are to be willing to even suffer if need be to not sin if we're being asked to sin in some particular way. The point here, however, is that we are not allowed, get this, according to our passage, we are not allowed to exempt ourselves from our authorities over us, even when they are knowingly wicked. Now, finally, I'd like for us to notice here that what Peter is not doing is trying to transform the society's structures. I want to make note of this. We don't find in the Scriptures The scriptures, specifically the New Testament, affirming this institution, this Roman institution, this is not an institution that God created, slavery. It's an institution that the Roman culture created and sadly many cultures throughout the history of humanity has brought forward. But what we find here is that Peter is not declaring that they change things, that they make things different, but instead he's calling them and encouraging them to live under this objection faithfully and carefully. And he's doing this by giving to us the very breathe out God's words. In other words, this isn't some suggestion. This is God himself speaking by the power of the Holy Spirit through Peter to us today to help us see how we're to handle even unjust rulers and authorities that may be around us. Let's look now at verses 19 through 20, and let's consider the servant's motivation. How could the Lord call us to submit to such harsh and perverse injustice? And what could possibly motivate a saint, any of us here this morning, to live under such cruel circumstances? What would motivate us to continue in such harsh treatment and circumstances that Peter here is calling the saints of his day and us today to live under? We have considered the what of our calling And that's in verse 18. Now, let's look together at how we will be motivated to endure under these difficult circumstances that Peter is calling us to. We will see this motivation. in the next two verses. But in these two verses, there are three sentences. Notice with me. There's two verses, but three sentences. And so in these two verses and three sentences, I want you to notice how Peter here is calling the saints to endure. Notice in every sentence, the main verb in every sentence is endure. So listen with me, if you will. Look with me at verse 19 of chapter two. For this is a gracious thing, when mindful of God, one endures." There's the verb. One endures sorrows while suffering unjustly. Second sentence. For what credit is it when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? Last sentence, the end of verse 20. But if when you do good and suffer for it, you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God. So notice with me these three sentences, and I want us to look at three different sections, three different truths that are connected to this endurance. The first is the principle of endurance. This is in verse 19. Under the service motivation, this principle of endurance is verse 19. I want us to read here, notice with me, I want to reread it again, how this principle is set before us that we might endure. Verse 19, for this, that is, this submitting ourselves under the unjust master, this is a gracious thing. When mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly. Notice the sentence begins with four. And with that conjunction, we see that the sentence is then explaining just how we are to be motivated to practice this very uncommon submission that we're being called to in verse 18. Peter explains what we must find our motivation in, and here's the truth that he brings forward. It is this, the subjection to masters, especially when they are unjust and cause us to suffer, this is, according to our passage, a gracious thing. Do you see that there? Well, what does this a gracious thing mean? It means that it is a circumstance that the Lord looks on with favor. Not only that, but he also is gracious to provide resources and support in that very circumstance. That's what's understood by this gracious thing. Now, let's tease that out and look at that a little more carefully. We can see how this is not automatic, meaning that this is not a gracious thing for anybody that suffers for any numerous things. Many of us may suffer because we've made a dumb choice, we've made a wrong decision, or we may have even sinned or gone in the wrong direction or made a sinful choice. Now, that is not a gracious thing, according to the Lord. According to our passage, instead the text explains that the Lord favors and supports our suffering under an unjust master when, specifically, look what it says, when mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly. You see, it is not any and all suffering, but explicitly when we are suffering because our faith in God through Christ has caused that suffering under this unjust master. being mindful of God or being conscious of God, that's what some other translations say, aware that the primary authority, the ultimate master that we have is the Father in Heaven. And when we live under His authority and we're mindful of Him, that may cause then this cruel and unjust master to pour out his contempt, his sorrow, and his suffering upon us. When that happens then, You need to hear this. Then our Lord sees this and favors that person, that saint, that one who's seeking to be faithful to the Lord. And he is not only willing to be favoring him, but he also seeks the comfort and support him in the midst of his suffering and sorrow. Now, this truth is very important. for Peter to make sure that he fixes in the minds of those who are the scattered and wearied saints of his day. You can understand, right? They're all over the place. They're suffering and weary. They're being offended and sorrow is everywhere in the midst of this congregation. They're losing everything. And so Peter here is trying to fix this truth in their hearts and minds. But this truth is also vital for us to fix our hearts on and to remind one another of often. Now, where did Peter get this truth from? Where's Peter bringing this from? Peter received this principle or this truth while sitting at the feet of Jesus, especially and specifically as he was sitting right before Jesus, as he was teaching on what we call the Sermon on the Mount. Now, the Sermon on the Mount is in three of the Gospels. And I want us to remember that Jesus taught these truths to bless these disciples that were there. And he speaks here of the fact that he not only will be with and favor those who are suffering because of their faith, but he's also going to reward them and support them. Listen to what Jesus says in Matthew 5 verse 11 and 12. This is in the Sermon on the Mount. Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account because they're faithful to the Lord. Rejoice and be glad. for what? For your reward is great in heaven. You see, he's saying, I'm not only going to encourage you and support you, or not only going to encourage you and favor you, but I'm going to support you. Your reward is great in heaven. So, and he goes on, he says, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. So Matthew, Jesus is saying here in Matthew's gospel, as he's preaching the sermon on the mountain, Peter's sitting right there on the grass in front of Jesus, that What Jesus is saying is that this is the way the very prophets understood this, that the Lord was going to support and care for his people, even if they went through intense and amazing suffering. We know that the prophets were not only persecuted, but many of them were killed and all of them were looking for the reward that wasn't on this earth. Luke then records this in the gospel, and he says, as Jesus is articulating this truth, listen to what Luke is saying as Jesus is articulating these things in Luke's gospel, in the Sermon on the Mount. He speaks of benefit, credit, and reward. All of these are how Jesus is being gracious to those who are suffering. Now, I want you to notice with me, if you will, at verse 20. Verse 20 of our passage, it says, for what credit is it if when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? You hear that? What credit is it? Now, listen to the Luke passage and tell me if you think Jesus, or excuse me, Peter might've been drawing this from Jesus' teaching here. Listen, Luke chapter six, verse 32. If you love those who love you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them, And if you do good to those who do good to you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. Now, if you remember earlier, I made the comment, what makes this submission distinctly Christian? That's not like the rest of the world. Well, here Jesus is saying that there's there's those who are in the world that love everybody that loves them. There's those in the world who do good to those who do good to them. But then Jesus goes on and says, for even sinners do the same. They do that. And if you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners to get back the same amount. But love your enemies and do good and lend expecting nothing in return. Listen, and your reward will be great. And you will be called the sons of the Most High. You see, this principle is so very important. that Peter is declaring to these weary and beaten up saints in the days of first Peter. He received this truth from Jesus himself when he was teaching. And it's important for all of us who follow after Christ to know that it's absolute necessity for us to understand that it is the Lord that's walking with us through our sorrows. And he shows favor to those, especially when we're going through our struggles and sorrows for faith's sake. We need to pray. for our own hearts to believe this truth. That as we go through difficulties and struggles and the callings that God has given to us, and they're hard callings, they become very difficult for us, more difficult than we can imagine. We need to believe that the Lord is with us as we are faithful to go out and be faithful in the calling that the Lord has given to us. We're not only to pray for our own hearts to believe this truth, but we are to pray for those in our congregation, those who are sitting around you this morning. You need to pray for them, that they will believe this truth. When we refuse to retaliate and sin against those who punish us for seeking to be faithful, we are declaring that Christ is our final Lord and that his gracious favor toward us is more valuable to us than anything this world can take away. In other words, we're being mindful of God and we're being called to endure and to be faithful. Not only do we have the principle of endurance, that was verse 19, but I want you to notice as we dip into verse 20, the first sentence there, which is actually a question. Peter wants to appeal to us. All of us have suffered for various unfaithful reasons in the past. All of us can attest to that. All of us have done something dumb or maybe even sinful in anger, have lashed out at another person or spoke harshly or unkind to another. sinfully? And what was the consequence of that? Suffering was the consequence of that. Sorrow was the consequence of that. We have all experienced this. Peter is making this very argument. He is saying enduring suffering is a part of our everyday lives. Everybody's going to do it. So the first sentence in verse 20 explains a common occurrence that serves as an everyday example between servant and master, but also an everyday example in all of our lives. And as I read this verse, the beginning of verse 20, I want you to notice the question that's also being asked. Verse 20, look with me. For what credit is it if when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? We have all sinned against another person and have received the consequences for that. And yet, here all of us sit this morning. We've endured. We've gone through that. Our hearts are given to endurance. We want to keep going. We want to keep moving. We know that we need to continue and endure, even in the hardships and sorrows and the consequences of our sin. Are you, this morning, Enduring in your sin. Are you continuing to live your life for yourself, under your own authority, for your own sake? Are you continuing to live not with any regard or mindfulness to the Lord, but only to your own wants and needs? If you are living in that way, brothers and sisters, I want you to see your friends. I want you to see in verse 20 that it says here that there is no credit in that. There is no reward in that. There's no good that comes from that. Continue to live in your own in your own strength, enduring under your own sin, and it will not turn out well. Many of us in our culture today think that my life is so hard. I'm doing the best I can and the Lord's going to give me credit for that. That is not the gospel. And that is not true. It is only when we turn by faith to Christ in repentance of our sin, when we turn away from our sin and our desire to live according to our own authority, that we will then be received by our Father. There is no credit. There's no credit to those who seek to continue to endure under your sin. Let me say this as well. Many times life For all of us, and many of us have learned this, the older you get, the more you learn this, life is just hard. And our tendency is to make choices based more on comfort than on pleasing the Lord. Many of us will be given a choice this week. to either bear down, take a hit, and have sorrow and struggle, or I can avoid all that if I only sin a little. You will ask yourself, what is best? That's what you'll ask. And I have no idea how you're framing the word best. You need to determine what that means. Best is always to be pleasing in God's eyes. Best is never to go toward the effort of comfort and ease. Sadly, we often make these choices based on what will cause the least amount of pain, discomfort and sorrow. And we found that many times when we go down that route, it doesn't in fact deliver. It's only a lie that is given to us by the enemy, that if we choose not to be faithful, then somehow it'll be more comfortable for us. We're not mindful of God. We're not mindful to ask the question. And this is a question you need to placard before your eyes. What is faithful? What will please the Lord? That's how we are to make decisions. What is faithful? What will please the Lord? Seldom is that the easy path. Seldom is that the path of comfort and ease. Peter is simply saying here that hard is inevitable in verse 20. Hard is inevitable for everyone and in this life. And there is no credit or reward or favor if you're going to go down the path of hard by choosing sin. It's important for us to understand that, that we're to be faithful knowing that life is just going to be hard. But the lie is, is that if I choose to sin or go my own way or choose to shun what God has told me or follow God's commands, that somehow it'll be easier. That is not true. Now, It's important for me this morning to state a few things that I think is important for us to understand as we deal with this. I'll be reiterating some of these principles again or practices maybe next week as well. It's important for us to understand this. There are various difficult circumstances that many of us are sitting here this morning are in the midst of. And so there's three categories that I want to speak to this morning, three categories. The first are those who need to faithfully leave where they are. There are those who may be in very difficult circumstances where the authority or authorities that are in your life are subjecting incredible and cruel, harsh punishment upon you, especially as you seek to be faithful to the Lord and to obey his word and to honor the Lord, and you're being treated harshly in that regard, and you are able to leave. You're able to remove yourself from that unjust circumstance. My encouragement to you is that that is right and faithful for you to leave. But I would encourage you to talk to brothers and sisters before you make that decision so that you can move forward rightly and faithfully and without sinning. It is fateful to leave harsh and difficult circumstances when those authorities in your life are pressing you and treating you cruelly. I want you to hear that. Faithfully leave, but do that by counsel of the brothers and sisters that are sitting around you. That's the first category. Did you hear that category? All right, I hope you did. The second is those who have to faithfully stay. There are those who may be here this morning that may be in jobs or other circumstances where the authorities in your life are harsh and difficult. They're constantly making life difficult for you. They're constantly turning and twisting their agreements with you. They're making things very, very difficult. And you can't leave because it is something that you're tied into, that you've made a commitment to, that you are being cared for in a certain way. And there's no way you can get out of that circumstance. My encouragement to you this morning is to look to this scripture and know, being mindful of the Lord's promise that He'll be gracious to you, and my encouragement to you is to keep the Lord in mind and endure in that circumstance. Again, I ask brothers and sisters around you to pray for you and to encourage you to endure and to be faithful, even when it's hard in that particular circumstance with the authorities pressing upon you. That's the second category. First is faithfully leave. Second is when you have to stay to faithfully stay. And then the third category that I need to mention this morning is this one. There are others here this morning. Your life has become something that you had no idea it would become. There's responsibilities and callings in your life, demands and difficulties in your life that are harder, far more demanding than you ever expected. And yet, here they are and here you are. Every day in this life that you have with all the responsibilities and things that are pressing in on you and all of the difficulty and struggles that are in your life, you want to flee. You want to get out. You want to run. You want to walk away from the demands and the callings that the Lord has clearly placed in your life. I'm here to say this morning that it would be a sin for you to do that. It would be a sin for you to do that. It would be sin for you to run away from those things that God has given to you, even though they are hard. The Lord in his grace is going to be gracious to you as you endure those difficulties and struggles. He did not place you by happenstance. There wasn't some accident that happened and somehow your life now is difficult. It is difficult because life is difficult. And my encouragement to you that though the demands of your life and demands that are around you are harsh and difficult, and pressing always, Don't sin by abandoning your post. Do what God's called you to do. Keep your head in what God has given to you to do. Now, this is hard. And let me encourage you, as I did for the last two, leaning into the body of Christ. That's what we're here for. That's why Peter's writing this letter to saints and not just to an individual. We are to encourage and pray for one another. We're to constantly point one another that the Lord is going to be gracious to us. And we are to be mindful of the Lord when we're in these difficulties. My encouragement to you is to look to Christ and to endure and to call brothers and sisters around you that you may be faithful in the calling that you've been given. If you were in that place this morning, I want to encourage you to go to 1 Corinthians chapter 7. 1 Corinthians chapter 7 verse 17. You can read it later today. 1 Corinthians chapter 7 verse 17 and following it says this. Only let this is Paul commending the church there in Corinth. Only let each person lead the life that the Lord has assigned to him. In other words, the Lord has given you the life that he's given you. And it's hard. And that's because we live in this world and life is hard. lead the life that the Lord has assigned to him, and to which God has called him." In other words, it's not just that you've been assigned this, but the Lord's actually given you this calling, this vocation, and He's seeking to do something through it. 1 Corinthians 7.20 says this, each one should remain in the condition in which he was called. That's interesting, isn't it? Now let me continue as Paul goes, were you a bondservant when you were called? Meaning called into Christ? Do not Do not be concerned about it. And then in parenthesis it says, but if you can gain your freedom, avail yourself to that opportunity. And then it goes on. For he who was called in the Lord as a bondservant is a free man of the Lord. In other words, if you were a slave or servant when you were called, try to free yourself of that. But if you can't, know that you're free in the Lord and continue to be faithful as a bondservant. Likewise, he who was free when called is a bondservant of Christ. You were bought with a price. Do not become bond servants of men. Listen to this last verse, verse 24 of chapter seven of First Corinthians. So brothers, brothers and sisters, in whatever condition each was called, there let him remain with God. Keep turning your heart to him, be mindful of the Lord and endure in the callings that the Lord has given to you. In these verses, we have seen the motivation to endure. We've seen first the principle of endurance, that's in verse 19. And then the pattern for endurance, that's in verse 20 at the very beginning, this pattern of everybody is going to have to endure hardship, either the wicked or the sinner or the saint is going to have to endure hardship. So choose faithfulness. That's at the beginning of verse 20. Principle of endurance, pattern of endurance. And now I'd like for us to close this morning looking at the end of verse 20 and notice the promise for endurance. this promise for endurance. This is the last sentence in verse 20. It says this, but if when you do good and suffer for it, you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God. It is very important for us to endure under these often harsh circumstances that we have been given. We understand that not only will the Lord be gracious to us, but he will also support us and reward us The very Jesus himself, notice in verse 21, if you will, dipping into next week, it says for this is the reason why we're to live this way. This crazy, uncommon way of submission for to this you have been called because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example so that you might follow in his steps. So we are being like Christ when we do this. We're going to talk about that next week. I want to spend the entire sermon on that passage. But here in this last sentence, I want you to notice how very good it is for us to do good and suffer for it. That's what it says in our passage, do good and suffer for it. By doing so, we can endure. Why? Because the Lord himself has promised that he will sustain and stabilize and supply everything we need because this is a gracious thing. And then he says, in our passage, he goes on, he says, it's not only a gracious thing, but then he continues. He says, this is a gracious thing. And he adds, in the sight of God. And this is our aim. This is our joy. This is the promise that we have, that we are pleasing in the eyes of the Lord. That should be everything to us. That should be what causes us to make other decisions that we're making. Peter insists that the exiles look to the Lord and desire the smile of our Savior. In our living our lives, though we may be despised and raged against by the world, the smile of the Savior will cause us to endure. Peter tells them even earlier in chapter one that they are to look to as elect exiles, they're to look to a future hope, this living hope, this inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, unfading, kept in heaven for us. When they will see their Savior's face in glory, that will definitely motivate us to endure, will it not? But I began asking the question, well, what about now? We can look to heaven one day. We can have that treasured hope of one day seeing our savior in his sight, being pleasing to him. But what about today? Because we're leaving here today and many of us are going to go into this week and the things that are around us, the authorities that are making decisions in our lives are going to be pressing on us. And as we seek to be faithful, it's going to be hard and harsh and difficult. Peter, as well as Paul, both of these apostles, give us clear promises of not only what we're to look to in the future, but also how we can rest in the hope that the Lord has given to us even now, today. What promises are given to all who are in Christ that we might be secure and steady in our hearts to endure in these shaky days that are ahead of us? Another way to ask the question is according to our catechism, question 39. What are the benefits which in this life do accompany or flow from our justification, adoption, and sanctification? What are the benefits in this life that accompany these things? Listen, if you will, question 39 of our Baptist catechism. The benefits which in this life do accompany or flow from justification, adoption, and sanctification are these, and they are five. Listen, they are assurance of God's love. Can you live and endure if you're absolutely confident that God loves you? We can. That's Romans 8, isn't it? Nothing will separate me from the love of God. Second, peace of conscience. Peace of conscience. You're sitting there today saying, Shane, you don't know what my week was like. I didn't just struggle, I ended up laying on the ground most of the time this week spiritually. Well, it's a good thing that the Lord doesn't look at us and count and merit our righteousness, but he looks to the Savior. And by faith in Christ, he sees us as righteous and blameless before him. And one day he will declare us such. Brothers and sisters, if you are in Christ by faith, you have a peace of conscience before the Lord. That'll cause you to endure. Thirdly, Not only assurance of God's love, second, peace of conscience. Thirdly, a joy in the Holy Spirit. A joy in the Holy Spirit. Bow your head in prayer and smile. Because the God of heaven, who is enthroned above all that is, is listening to the prayers of his saints and desiring to do their bidding as he is seeking to be gracious to them as they cry out to their Savior. Assurance of God's love. Second, peace of conscience. Third, joy in the Holy Spirit. Fourth, increase of grace. We need grace upon grace. We need more grace to sustain us in tomorrow. We get worried about tomorrow and next week and next month and the years ahead. The Lord has given us grace for today. And He's promised us that He'll give us grace tomorrow. We don't need to worry about tomorrow. We worry about leaning into and using the grace that the Lord has given to us today, leaning upon Him to be gracious to us today to sustain our lives. And then finally and fifthly, and perseverance therein to the end. Assurance of God's love, peace of conscience. Third, joy in the Holy Spirit. Fourth, increase of grace. Fifth, and perseverance therein to the end. These are the benefits that the Lord gives to all of those who are justified, adopted, and sanctified in Christ. Now, in closing, there are not many hymnals in the world today that does not include at least a few of the 8,000 hymns of this lady. You're wondering who this is. You're likely guessing Fanny Crosby. living from 1820 to 1915. She was best known for being a hymn writer. She was also well known as being blind from her childhood. One of the hymns that she is most known for is Blessed Assurance. And our hymnal that we use, it's hymn 403. And many of you know the song, the hymn, well. Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine. Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine. Heir of salvation, purchase of God. Born of his spirit, washed in his blood. And then the refrain is, this is my story, this is my song. Praising my savior all the day long. Now listen to me if you will, listen if you will to the third and fourth stanzas as they begin. The third and fourth stanzas as they begin, I want you to notice she is declaring Something about submission, but she's also making a declaration about one day when she'll have sight again. And it's just beautiful to hear this blind woman writing this hymn and having us sing it about one day when our eyes will be open like her eyes to see her savior. Listen, the second stanza says, perfect submission, perfect delight. Today we're talking about servants being subject to their masters. Do you ever connect perfect delight with perfect submission to your savior? That's what this hymn is calling us to. The third stanza starts this way. Perfect submission. All is at rest. I and my savior am happy and blessed. Watching and waiting. Do you hear that? She's watching and waiting, looking above. filled with His goodness, lost in His love. May our hearts desire this perfect submission that we may indeed know the delight of the Lord. Let us pray together.